Subject: Onslaught: Redemption Chapter Eight Part Three (B) by Swp. Date: Sat, 28 Jun 97 21:19:53 +0000 From: Swpwarrior@aol.com Onslaught: Redemption Chapter Eight Part Three (B) 5. (Cont.) Narrative: Central Park. Bitter truths. {Panel reverts to New York as Magneto faces the reader, {his back turned to Onslaught in the foreground, having {just made an attacking pass -- VVRRRAAAMMM!!!! {Onslaught stands his ground.} Onslaught: Why do you now stand against me, Erik?! {Magneto rounds in for another pass, magnetically {grasping a wrecked Sentinel and hurtling it toward {Onslaught for massive impact -- WHAROOOM!!! -- {Onslaught merely rises in response, angry.} Onslaught: You, more than anyone, know what I am doing is right! You have seen the cruelty and hatred that have ruled man-kind! Why do you now stand in the way of my ending it?! {Human Torch flies in, heated flares with no effect. {Onslaught raises a hand, Human Torch is then turned {back bursting in wild flame, imploding -- FOOOM!!!! -- {GHHH!!! Onslaught's attention never diverts from {Magneto.} Onslaught: When you saved my life months ago in the Arctic... I repaid you in kind! I re-newed you, Erik! I re-newed your vision! Your power! Your rage! {Magneto flies directly in, magnetic power blazing {around him, as he confronts Onslaught head-on in {explosive panel.} Onslaught: It was I who gave you the will to look past your own morality and strike at humanity one last time! [10] {Onslaught unleashes another awesome psionic burst {-- SHOOOM!!! -- battering Magneto to the ground, wiping {blood from his lip, staring upward, enraged at Onslaught.} Onslaught: I knew this day was coming, Erik! I knew you were the only one capable of stopping me! Stopping this! I gave you the power to defeat me! I gave you the power and rage to at last make your vision a reality! {Magneto stumbles forward air-borne, as Storm fires a {lightning bolt -- KKKZZZAAAKKKTTT!!! -- without {effect.} Onslaught: And you failed! Now it is my vision that will come true! My reality! And whatever blood is shed this night, is on your hands, Erik! Your hands! {In wide-panel, Iceman struggles to reassemble his {shattered parts, rising slowly, Human Torch barely {able to walk, half human, half of flame, Storm and {Quicksilver, bruised and bleeding, on their knees {trying desperately to hold on amid the hurricane level {psionic storm. Cannonball lays battered, struggling to {rise with the rest, while the savage battle between {Magneto and Onslaught continues.} Cannonball: ...W-We're hittin' him with everythin' we got... and it ain't even annoyin' him! Iceman: Magneto's got the power, Sam... We need to give him the advantage! {Iceman turns to Human Torch.} Iceman: Johnny, can you fly?! Human Torch: I can barely stand, Bobby... but, yeah, I can fly... Narrative: Humanity lost. {William Stryker, wearing the garb of a Hound, {animalistic stripes across his face, runs wildly up {the interior spiral stairs of the Statue of Liberty in {pursuit of the escaped woman, seen staring over her {shoulder, screaming in terror, clutching to her child. {His narrative captions the panel.} Bastion's Narrative: I am cold. {Panel shows a young William Stryker in uniform driving {frantically down a desolate desert road, his pregnant wife, {hysterical beside him, screaming between sobs.} Marcy Stryker: No, William! It can't be true! God, no! William Stryker: Marcy, you have to stay calm! {The Hound-Bastion streaks, cat-quick, up the stairs, {as the woman disappears from view.} Bastion's Narrative: For the first time in decades, everything is clear. I feel no anger or hatred. Only lust. {Panel shows Stryker's terrified eyes through the rear {view mirror.} William Stryker: It's going to be all right, Marcy! I think they're gone! Marcy Stryker: Oh, my baby! My baby! This can't be happening! {Bastion nears a corner.} Bastion's Narrative: I am not clouded with thoughts of my wife and my child...or my horror. {Their car passes a road sign, "Los Alamos 10 Miles {Ahead". [11]} Marcy Stryker: Oh, God, William! What are we going to do?! William Stryker: Hold on, Marcy! We just have to make it to a phone! {Stryker turns the corner, they are inside the head of the {Statue of Liberty, the city's bright lights sparkle through {the statue's forehead, a bruised, battered, exhausted, {terrified Marcy huddled beneath the lights, holds tight {to her newborn baby.} Bastion's Narrative: And as I see my wife's face and hear my child's cries, I feel nothing....no love or guilt or regret. My child is a mutant. My wife gave him birth. They have no right to live. {Marcy Stryker clutches to her husband in terror staring {at something ahead of the car. William stares in stunned {disbelief as he swerves violently to avoid the figure and {loses control of the car.} Marcy Stryker: Oh my God, William! Look out! William Stryker: Dear, God, no. {Panel shadows against the wall, Stryker leaps to {attack his wife and child, Marcy holding her hand {up, ineffectually.} Bastion's Narrative: And as I tear my wife and child to pieces, I feel no remorse. No loyalty or betrayal. There is only savage hunger and murder and blood. I have done well. I have pleased my masters. {Silent panel shows Apocalypse standing alone in the {center of the road as the car passes, veering out of {control to avoid him, overturning.} {Panel pulls away from the Statue of Liberty, through {the view bars, William Stryker slashing, visible {through the bars.} Bastion's Narrative: I am fallen. {Silent panel shows the car overturning repeatedly as {it violently crashes beside the road.} {A helicopter passes the face of the Statue of Liberty {as the panel dissolves into the bright light.} Bastion's Narrative: I am free. {The image fades to the computer mainframe beneath {the Pentagon, as the technicians scramble away from {the mainframe, it's self-destruct countdown is heard. {Again William Stryker walks among them as ghost, {unseen.} Technician: It's no use! It's gonna blow! Mainframe Voice: Self-destruct in 19 seconds.... 18.... 17... Bastion: We were...betrayed...by the very country we believed in...fought for...died for.... I have betrayed... those that loved me. {Panel returns to Forge and Hawkeye, as Forge {rummages through the ruptured remains of another {Sentinel, literally holding wires with his teeth, {Hawkeye takes aim on the approaching Sentinels, {who fly fast overhead explosions rage around them {-- FFFZZZAAAMMM!!! FFFZZZAAAMMM!!! {FFFZZZAAAMMM!!! -- BUVHOOM!!!} Hawkeye: How's it comin'?! Forge: Just another-- Hawkeye: Watch out! {Panel switches to the rock formation where Magneto {explodes against Onslaught -- their energy counteracting, {with Onslaught on the defensive.} Magneto: I sought only peace, Charles! And you destroyed whatever chance I might have had at it! Onslaught: No, Erik! Don't you see?! It was I who gave you your peace! [12] I who can give it back to you! {Panel switches as Stryker stands ghostly before the {mainframe, Rachel beside him, the soldier flee for {cover.} Mainframe Voice: 16... 15... 14... Bastion: What was done to us...to my friends...to my wife. I couldn't take that with me.... I believed they had no right to live. {Panel switches again as Iceman flies ahead of {Human Torch in a straight line heading for the {luxury high-rises directly next to the Park where {Onslaught and Magneto battle.} Iceman: Follow my lead, Johnny! Human Torch: I'm right behind you, Bobby! {Panel back to Onslaught and Magneto, Onslaught {seems to plead with Magneto.} Onslaught: I took away your pain...your years...your memories...and left you finally at peace! Don't you see, Erik?! That is now what I offer all of man-kind! {Bastion looks to Rachel.} Mainframe Voice: 13... 12... 11... Bastion: What will happen now? {Rachel points to the mainframe terminal.} Mainframe Voice: 10... 9... 8... Rachel Summers: You decide. {Wide-panel of Nate Grey and Iron Man emerging {from the city to a massive aerial battle with the {SHIELD Hellicarrier literally covered in attacking {Sentinels, while a blinding sea of Sentinels battle {F-15 fighters as the nuclear missile still rockets {toward Manhattan. Nate momentarily stunned at {the sight.} Nate Grey: ...Whoa... {New York panel as Iceman bullets through a high-rise, {the entirety of the building -- all 90 floors -- freezes {immediately on contact. Progression panel shows {the Human Torch following the departed Iceman into {the ice building, melting the ice to water and emerging {following Iceman into the next immediate building -- {literally 10 - 15 feet from the other, directly adjacent.} Iceman: Fire and Ice one more time, right Johnny?! Human Torch: Just like old times! {Onslaught stands before a startled Magneto.} Onslaught: There will be no more death! No more hatred! No more anger! Only peace everlasting! What we always dreamed of, Erik! {Charles Xavier clearly visible from his armor as Magneto {falls to his knees before him, sunken. Xavier's face pleads {from mad compassion, not anger.} Onslaught: Erik, I beg you...let me give you that peace again! Join me and we will stand in triumph together at the dawning of a new golden age of man! {Panel shows Bastion's head close-up, bowed down, {crossed with a Washington, D.C. panel showing an {army of Sentinels flying in formation over the {Washington Monument, the psionic shockwave right {behind them consuming the city.} Mainframe Voice: 7... 6... 5... Bastion's Narrative: That is why right is far from us and justice does not reach us... We look for light, and lo darkness... {New York panel to Forge, emerging from the Sentinel {machinery ecstatic with a small metal device, frantically {handing it to Hawkeye who fastens it to an arrow, the {Sentinels near -- FFFZZZAAAMMM!!! FFFZZZAAA {-MMM!!!} Forge: It's done! Hurry, Hawkeye! Take it! Take the shot! {Panel focuses on Magneto, on his knees, he takes his {helmet off. Voice-over captions begin, set apart from {the story as narrative, written in handwritten font-style {within quotation marks in scroll-like caption.} Magneto's Voice: "I wanted so desperately to be safe." Magneto: ...I-I...cannot. {Panel shows Stryker entering a series of codes into {the mainframe -- the screen shows: "II Esdras 4:46[13] {"Sentinel Program Initiative: ABORT", crossed with {a Washington, D.C. panel of the army of Sentinels {flying over the Lincoln Memorial, the psionic {shockwave right behind them.} Bastion's Narrative: Like blind men we grope along the wall, we stumble at midday as at dusk... like people without eyes we feel our way... Mainframe Voice: 4... 3... 2.... {Panel focuses on Magneto's raised head as he looks to {Charles, proud tears fall from his eyes.} Magneto's Voice: "I am haunted." Magneto: Don't you understand, Charles? You took my pain ...but you also took those I loved... My parents... My sister... My children... Isabelle... Magda... As much as my nightmares... They are part of me, too... {The Sentinels approach as Forge screams in Hawkeye's {ear, as Hawkeye takes on Onslaught, an expressionless {aim he mutters back in total confidence holding his {concentration despite the mountain of water facing him {-- FFFZZZAAAMMM!!!} Forge: Hurry, Hawkeye! That psionic scrambler's only got one chance to work! [14] Do it! {Sentinels begin to plummet from the sky as they cease {functioning mid-flight, exploding violently -- BUVOOOM!!! {-- all around Hawkeye and Forge.} Hawkeye: Relax, Forge. I have the shot. {Panel of Iron Man, holding up the smoking, ruptured {missile with both hands, torso raised, Nate beside it {telekinetically holding it together, F-15 fighters {surround, heading into the city, all within Nate's {protective telekinetic bubble, struggling against a {constant barrage of Sentinel fire -- FFFZZZAAAM {-MM!!! An F-15 crashes into a high-rise beneath {them -- BUVOOOM!!! -- as the Sentinels begin to {plummet into the city.} Iron Man: Careful, Nate! It's already leaking radiation! You have to hold it together! Nate Grey: ... S-Straining... but I w-won't let go! {Stryker stares up for an instant, crossed with a panel of {the army of Sentinels approaching The White House.} Bastion's Narrative: We look for right, but it is not there; for salvation, and it is far from us... For our offenses against you are many... our sins bear witness against us... and our crimes we know. (Is. 59) Mainframe Voice: 1... 0... Detonation Commenced. {Magneto stands up, ascending mid-air to face Onslaught {for a final time.} Magneto's Voice: "With her there was a chance I might live." Magneto: ....And I cannot live without them. {New York panel shows Human Torch emerging from {the second melted ice building -- the ice breaks -- for {an instant two ninety story high walls of water stand {erect above the park side by side.} {Next panel, Stryker is consumed in a blast as the {mainframe detonates -- KRABOOM!!! -- his body {seen reacting and burning from the blast.} {Next panel, the water begins to collapse, a tidal wave {crashing down on Central Park.} {Next panel, Hawkeye releases his arrow which heads {for Onslaught.} {Next panel on Onslaught and Magneto, a massive 90 {story tidal wave about to crash down upon them from {one side, Hawkeye's arrow from the other.} {Next panel, just as the enormous wave crashes down {on Magneto and Onslaught and all the bracing heroes {on the rock formation, the wave curving downward, {Hawkeye's arrow latches on to Onslaught's armor {behind his neck.} {Next panel, the wave crashes down on all, total water, {flooding Central Park -- FWOOOMF WHOOSH {WHAROOM!!! Turn the page.} {Double-page spread as Magneto rises, clutching to {Onslaught, finally showing vulnerability, his armor {partially torn, enraged explode through the water -- {WHOOSH WHAROOM!!!} Magneto: You stayed your hand well, Charles...but in the end you are only playing at evil. {smaller panel on the spread, close-up of Erik's cold {face.} Magneto: Now... look within my soul, Charles...and know what darkness is. Narrative: The 21st Century. The Future's Past. {Panel explodes as an older looking Nightcrawler {materializes from teleport -- BAMF!!! -- above the {corner of a 3rd story of a high-rise. Beneath him, {Kate Pryde struggles exhaustedly running beside her {husband, an older Colossus, holding tightly to the {hands of adolescent Franklin Richards and Rachel {Summers as they run frantically beside her.} Nightcrawler: Run, Kitty! They're right behin-- {The corner blows as Nightcrawler is disintegrated {from a series of devastating Sentinel blasts -- FFFZZZ {-AAAMMM!!! -- AARRGGHH!!! Storm is brought {low, down to the feet of the others -- NNHHHH!!!!} Kitty Pryde: KURT!!!! Colossus: We cannot stop, Katya! We must bring the children to safety! {Panel ahead as Rogue is flying ahead, an airlift {shuttle steams preparing for takeoff as men, women, {and children in mutant concentration camp uniforms {frantically, guided by Wolverine standing guard. {Below Gambit screams, as Rogue turns to fly back to {help her teammates.} Wolverine: Come on, people! Move! Gambit: No, Chere! Rogue: We can't leave 'em, Remy! Help me! Narrative: A past that cannot be forgotten. {Panel turns to silence and dulled browns as a young {boy stands at the calm, hidden dock of a fishing hole, {holding his fishing pole, he looks up eagerly at his {father whose upper body is hidden from view.} {Panel returns to the future, Gambit throws charged {cards wildly at advancing Sentinels, while Rogue {punches through another.} Rogue: Hurry, Kate! You can still make it! Gambit: Chere! Look out! {A Sentinel blasts rocks Rogue head-on, contorting her {body in burning flame -- FWABOOOM!!! -- she falls to {Gambit's feet.} Bishop's Voice: ...To The Witness...the importance of the dream was lost... Gambit: ROGUE!!!! {By the muddy river, the young boy with the burning red {eyes, smiles as his father guides his pole into the water, {teaching him to fish.} {The building explodes as Magneto is hurled through, {a spike protruding from both ends of his upper torso, {piercing his spine -- AAAAARRRRGGGGHHH!!! {He falls at the feet of Colossus' feet, crippled as more {Sentinels pin them in, panel above. Kitty screams into {her comm.} Colossus: Magnus! Kitty Pryde: Magneto's down! We're pinned in, Logan! You're going to have leave without us! {Gambit cradles Rogue, bloodied and dying, frantic trying {to catch Rogue's closing eyes, she smiles at him weakly, {precociously.} Bishop's Voice: ...as though the darkness he was hiding was a hatred for the dream... Gambit: No, Chere! Don't go... Look at me! Look at me, Chere! Rogue: ...Hrrk.... R-Remy... D-Don't you know? Hrrk... could n-never... never take my eyes off you.... Gambit: Please, Chere! Please! Stay with me! Rogue: ... R-Remy... I love... I love... Nnnnn... {The pussy-willows of the river blow, as something {evil lurks in the shadows, the boy's father spins around {looking to the dock.} {Sabretooth grabs Gambit, who struggles to free {himself, he shouts to an exhausted and battered Blink, {who immediately teleports them to Wolverine's side {just outside the ship -- BLINK!!! [15]} Gambit: Chien! Sabretooth: We're leavin', Cajun! Get us outta here, Clarice! Blink: ...W-We're... on our... way, Mr. Creed.... {Something approaches in shadow, the boy's father {pushes his son behind him protectively.} {Colossus prepares to battle the surrounding Sentinels.} Sentinel: Surrender mutants or face immediate termination! {The figure's shadow looms across the plank, the boy {peeks around his father for a look.} {The Sentinels continue to surround, flying in, their {chest-implanted spotlights shining brightly, Kitty puts {her hand on Colossus' arm.} Kitty Pryde: Peter...we can't win. Not here. Not now. There will be another day. {Sabretooth looks back to Kitty, standing near Logan, yells {to Clarice, keeled over, wounded.} Sabretooth: Clarice, can you make another pass?! Blink: ...I-I c-can't... don't h-have... the strength... {Sabretooth continuing to hold back Gambit, as the last of {the civilian mutants board the transport.} Gambit: I'll kill you, Creed! Sabretooth: She's gone, Cajun! And we're getting out of here, alive! You know she'd want it that way! {Kitty looks back to Wolverine with a strong, expressionless {face. Wolverine looks down and silently retracts his claws {-- SNIKT!!! She silently whispers to him.} Kitty Pryde: ...The Dream will live on, Logan... The Dream lives on. {The boy looks up at his father with a terrified expression, {as the shadow crosses his face, the figure approaches.} {Gambit looks back at Rogue as he is being pulled onto the {ship, hydraulic boarding plank retracting, steaming. Rogue {is dead, her partially open eyes still fixed on Gambit.} Bishop's Voice: ...for all it cost him. Gambit: ROGUE!!!!! {The ship is departing, Sentinels fill the air, as Colossus {puts his hands on the back of his head submissively to the {Sentinels, now completely surrounding them, Kitty stares {back at the departing ship, Rachel and Franklin cling to {her, Magneto and Storm near death at her feet.} Sentinels: Mutants, prepare for return to South Bronx Internment Center. You will be punished accordingly. {The boy flinches in terror, as he is thrown into the water {and the water turns red with his father's blood.} {Gambit screams as the door closes and Rogue is gone.} Gambit: NOOOOOOOOO!!!! {Gambit wakes up screaming in the present, laying on top {of a desk in a high-rise luxury office-suite.} Gambit: NOOOOOOOOO!!!! {Panel to Sinister, standing before the window overlooking {Central Park, his back to Gambit, in a serious stance, his {arms crossed behind him studying the battlefield turning {his head to Gambit with a smug expression.} Sinister: Feeling better, LeBeau? End Chapter Eight Part Three. Scene 5 Continued in Chapter Eight Part Four...