Day Zero - Finale

[x-juggernaut.livejournal.com]

The Citadel has fallen, but Apocalypse makes one last defiant stand.




The Citadel was left in ruins - no, more than ruins. It was rubble and dust, returned to the basic materials it had been constructed from. The crater that remained was wide and shallow, and Apocalypse slowly pushed a pile of half-melted girders to the side and rose to his feet. Deceived, betrayed, and backstabbed as he was, he was not beaten. Not while his army still drew breath --

-- and reaching out with his power, extending himself to feed off the faith of his loyal followers, he found nothing. Those who'd sworn loyalty to him, the ones that still remained had been scattered and broken. The Horsemen were vanquished - some dead, some beaten into submission.

Weak, all weak. But he remained Strong.

Bellowing a rebellious cry to the smoky skies, he began to rise out of the crater, then paused. Arranged around the rim were dozens of mutants, but not come to declare fealty or pay homage. They had come to oppose him.

Angrily, he raised one hand and simply snarled, "No."

It did not have the effect that Apocalypse intended.

"Oh Dude, you so chose the wrong group of people to fuck with." Jubilee noted, her eyes bordering on crazed as she lifted her hands and started sending a stream of pyrotechnics directly at Apocalypse's face.

The former warlord of Manhattan screamed and backed away, batting at his face to extinguish the flames. His eyes opened and he looked out through a soot-stained visage at the mutants opposing him. "No!" he repeated. "I deny this! I am still strong!"

In defiance, Apocalypse charged the assembled throng.

When the Citadel started coming down, Kyle had stayed back, away from falling rubble and debris - he was too bruised and sore and still healing a variety of minor injuries to count on being able to avoid it. But once it had come down, he had crept forward, following the others. When Jubilee attacked, he covered his face with one hand, slightly exasperated. And people said -he- was impulsive and didn't think before he acted? He wasn't the one shooting people in the face with fireworks!

But as Apocalypse charged, Kyle found himself diving between the dark-skinned man and the little firecracker and grabbing the man's ankles and digging in with his claws. "Some HELP HERE!" he yelled, holding on as tightly as he could. He'd slowed Apocalypse down enough for Jubilee to dart away, but it wasn't enough.

Jay was going to hang back initially and do only what he was good at, helping others. Not attacking. But when Kyle jumped into it, Jay found himself impulsively diving forward. "Kyle! No!" Swooping down, Jay made a grab for Kyle, pulling him up again his body and flying away as fast as possible. "What are you doin'? You got a death wish or somethin'?" he gasped between breaths, wings beating hard until he was able to deposit his ex down to the ground, safely out of the line of fire.

Tiny wings flitted about fifteen feet over and to the side of Apocalypse, Jan watching both him and the crowd around him. I thought he'd be a lot bigger, she mused. The situation seemed to be well in hand, and there was no reason to risk a squashing just to get a zap or two of her own in. Still, Jan remained on guard just in case it was all a trick or something and maybe a nice, big, surprise blast of her bioelectricity could help. You never knew when an unseen, practically invisible tiny girl could come in handy.

Apocalypse had twisted towards the movement and gained ground for a moment. It was but a small moment. Red energy sliced through the ground at his feet, pieces of it flying everywhere as a chunk just vanished. The crowd surrounding him wisely gave way, many knowing full well what would happen if they were to get in the cross fire, and Wanda appeared, bloodied on the face, clothes torn. She was grinning a little, a tight look, but didn't say anything as she threw another hex bolt.

He dodged and it ate away at more ground before she shook her head and thrust both arms towards him; the rings around her wrists had expanded and were writhing as if alive. It looked like she had living fire circling her arms as twin blasts finally found their mark.

The left arm suddenly twisted around and convulsed; muscles twisted and cramped, freezing in place as he staggered backwards, until it was an atrophied mess, weakened and emaciated.

Mark came up behind Wanda, his face twisted with a rage no one had ever seen. It provided a bizarre contrast to the calm, almost poetic music that played from his iPhone. "This is my city, asshole. My people." He found he couldn't say any more, so he clenched his fists as the now familiar blue-yellow bubble manifested over Apocalypse's head to cut him off from air. But so exhausted, Mark couldn't keep it up long and let go before he hurt himself any further.

"No!" he shouted again, this time obviously pained and staggered. "You're traitors! All of you! You don't understand! This is the way it has to be! We're above humanity, above them! We can't turn on each other like this! We have to stand together! You have... you have to stand with me!" He kept staggering forward towards the edge of the crater, madness in his eyes.

"Oh, like hell," Forge drawled as he unholstered a pistol from his belt. Racking back the slide, he chambered a solid-nitrogen nonlethal gas round and fired into the advancing mutant madman's chest. The shot barely staggered Apocalypse, but the next six took the large mutant off his feet.

Not permanently, though, as Apocalypse once more rose, coughing up blood. "Traitors!" he accused, pointing a finger blindly.

"Yes," Clarice responded, steel in her voice. Reaching out with her powers, she did something she swore she'd never do again. She took his finger, a flash of purple light severing it at the knuckle, sending it to drop with a sickly thunk next to him. Her eyes were cold and unforgiving, but her breath caught in her throat. She hadn't killed him. She could have, but she didn't. Somehow, that was less than reassuring right now, but this was how X-Men were. They didn't kill. "We'll always oppose people like you."

The New Mutants weren't as close as the rest of the group, but close enough to see what was going on. Yvette's eyes widened as Clarice cut off Apocalypse's finger, but she remembered what had been done to the people of New York, let alone what had been done to herself and her friends. She held her head up high and said, clearly enough to be heard by everyone there: "You are not one of us. You are the monster, and we will never be like you."

Marius flashed a look at Yvette, then turned a nasty grin at Apocalypse. "Ah, did that hurt? Imagine it must, what with most of your supporters bein' gone now. Which I notice appears to have left you" his voice began to thrum with deepening sonics, "shall we say, less than impressive."

Meggan had gasped as Clarice had severed Apocalypse's finger. Taking the hint from Yvette and the others, she added her voice to the rejection of Apocalypse. "We won't become like you. We're nothing like you." She looked exhausted and disgusted, but she wasn't about to leave the fray. Even if she couldn't physically hurt him.

Kurt was next to her, one arm wrapped protectively around his little sister despite his own injuries and fatigue. "I may seem as though I would follow you, looking as I do. But it is baseline humans who took me in as a mutant baby, and I will never turn against them."

In BigCat form, Catseye left her group of friends and leapt at the creature threatening to hurt them, the thing who would have hurt Kyle. She aimed for his other arm, slammed her jaws down as she was airborne, causing the appendage to tear as momentum kept her moving, landing on four paws a foot away from him. She darted back quickly to pick up a souvenir- the severed finger, which she chomped down on eagerly as she raced back to her friends.

Bracing himself, Apocalypse roared and held his ground. "Kill you!" he bellowed.

"You can't kill us," Jennie said, smiling. Her body ached still, and her broken ribs protested with every breath, but her face was calm and her voice controlled, almost flat. "You can push us down, but we'll get up stronger," and a flash of red took Apocalypse's feet out from under him. The usage of her powers made Jennie's body break out in cold sweat and she leaned heavily on the person next to her. But she would see this to the end.

Julio shook the ground so that Apocalypse could not stand back up. "Pathetic," he sneered, and then spat on the ground in front of him.

A pillar of golden fire descended onto Apocalypse, and from above one could see Shiro clad in his fire form, calling down nuclear flame. It lasted but a few seconds, and Shiro landed gracefully next to his teammates. "Worse than pathetic," he spat. "No better than a terrified flatscan, ne?"

Angel stood near her friends, arms wrapped tight around her ribs. "You don't scare me anymore," she said, closing her eyes for a moment. They snapped back open and she straightened, shoulders back, head held high. "You're not the boogey man or the man I feared while we ran. I am not afraid."

"Damn right," Inez agreed, putting an arm around Angel's shoulders. "Who's pathetic now?"

Noriko didn't have the eloquence of her classmates, but she also lacked any desire to go easy on this man who'd been behind the last four days. She raised her hands and let loose with almost all of the energy she had left, draining her reserves near to empty as more than a million volts of electricity arced into and through Apocalypse.

Cessily stood close to the other girls, silent support, trying to be strong like them.

Angelo had a similar expression of disgust and scorn, and he lashed out with ten sharp strips of skin, slicing neat lines down the fallen man's face. "That's for everyone that died here. Somethin' to remember them by."

"Fuck yeah." Monet kicked him in the ribs, floating just above the moving ground.

When Monet was clear of her target, Adrienne took aim with the gun she'd swiped from one of the dead SHIELD agents she'd come across, emptying the clip into Apocalypse's chest with clinical efficiency. "I'm never leaving home without a rocket launcher again," she muttered under her breath.

Apocalypse roared, one arm tucked to his chest, face full of blood. "You will remember me, all of you! This won't end here."

"Looks like it just did." Bishop had watched the other mutants attacking the man, physically resisting him and pushing him to the ground. They were more then enough. He had found, throughout his life, that many people thrive off others and he could care less about anyone that used others like this beaten man did. His decision was simply to treat this man like any other bully and walk off; he had more worthwhile things to spend his attention on.

Remy took a look around, catching the eyes of the X-Force people. Given the option, he'd have fulfilled Langstrom's contract and taken the man all the way out. But with the X-Men here in force, that wasn't going to be a possibility. Instead, he confirmed with Farouk that Fury had been notified, and the USAF high explosive air strike was a thing of the past. With that out of the way, the Cajun used Farouk to convey a message to his X-Force team.

"Dis battle is over. Better dat we not here when de authorities arrive." His message said mentally, and with a tired smile at Ororo, Remy shook Jubilee from her rage by the back of the collar and started away from the crater. "From now on, you training involves cutting down on de damn coffee, petite. Let de X-Men finish dere fun. Dere's still work for us to do before today is done."

"Like finding a place to doss down. I doubt they're going to let us back in here any time soon." Amanda wiped at the cut on her forehead with the edge of a dirty sleeve and nudged Sarah with her shoulder. "C'mon mate. This great soddin' plonker's not worth our time."

Sarah moved to follow, but suddenly she turned to face the beaten warlord. Just for a moment. "Stay the fuck out of my tunnels, jackass."

Whether or not she knew it, her subsequent exit was watched, and at distance echoed, by her fellow ex-Morlock, as Callisto turned her gaze from the 'action' and made her own way out of the scene. Home, I think. The thought gave her a moment's pause, and something a little like a smile crossed her face, just briefly.

On her way out with her fellow X-Force team, Wanda diverted for a moment to place a hand on Jennie's shoulder. She bent her head to the younger woman's head and murmured a few words; when she straightened, the smile she had was more natural and the look in her eyes a little less haunted. Wanda patted her, gently, and then trotted to catch up with the others, falling into step next to Remy and Jubilee.

Up ahead, Sofia had sat herself on a pile of rubble, staring bleakly at the mob in front of her. She'd been meant as backup if something went wrong, but it was obvious now that she would not be needed. It was a pitiful sight. A cough stirred her, and she looked up to see the group, waiting for her. And smiled. Sliding down the rocks, Sofia took the hand offered to her and jumped down.

Jay kept his distance, watching on as those he thought he knew let loose unfamiliar personality traits, ones they left reserved for the field. He found a ledge higher up where he could observe them and it unnerved him, the way the X-men kicked a man when he was down and near beaten. Compassion made him step off the ledge, turn his back on them in flight and head to what he had considered a substitute home, but now seemed foreign.

Jane hovered on the back line, unsure what to do. Her anger earlier scared her, and she could feel it build again as she gazed on the downed figure. Before it could get the best of her again, she turned and retreated, leaving the others to deal with him.

Crystal stood off to the side, away from the others, her usually tidy blonde hair now a tangled burgundy mess. She could barely even catching a glimpse of the fallen Apocalypse through the throng of mutants apparently interested in getting in one last shot at the man who had brought about so much death, destruction, pain, and suffering. What she did see did not please her at all; she could understand that the people present would not wish to treat him gently, but like this? And in front of the students, who themselves had just been through a stressful experience? Crystal frowned, glad for the mask still covering most of her face.

Emma held back for a few moments from following the rest of X-Force, looking down at the beaten man. "Humanity has its flaws, little man, all the way through its heart. But I saw what your reign looked like, what you hold in your heart. And you know what? Humanity wins." She turned away then, stumbling slightly in her all-consuming weariness. Regaining her natural grace, she walked away, every line of her body a rejection of Apocalypse's creed.

Jean-Phillipe spat on the ground. He had barely enough power left to light a lamp, but the bruised and battered man hardly seemed worth the effort. Ironically, he could have easily followed Apocalypse's doctrine of superiority. But he had seen the excesses committed in his name, and they sickened him. And so he stood by and watched as the warlord staggered and stumbled.

Through most of this Dani had stood away from everyone, but now she came forward and looked down at Apocalypse. What a sight, "I can see your fears," she said, brown eyes wide, "You can pretend and boast and deny, but I see them anyways. Fear, Apocalypse. Because you have made your fears come true," with that, she turned around and walked off, head held high. He was such a little man when it came right down to it, not in stature or physical size, but inside, it was amazing.

Nathan was sitting on the edge of the crater, and, contrary to pretty much everything his teammates probably thought they knew about him, was making no move to join in. He wasn't even looking at Apocalypse, but at the broken, wounded city around them, the expression on his face that of a man who was a million miles away. Yet the tip of the psimitar resting across his lap was blazing gold. What he was doing, only another telepath would have noticed; there was a subtle, almost invisible form of the telepathic switchboard at work here, linking all the X-Men, all those minds so familiar to him. He took all their angry thoughts, their vehement rejection of the man below and let it coalesce, feeding it back through the psimitar and straight at Apocalypse.

He only wished he could feel something other than tired.

Across the crater, Scott sat down on a piece of broken masonry and just watched, bleakly. Part of him knew he should get up, see whether an optic blast or two would help to put Apocalypse down more conclusively, but with the sheer amount of power gathered here... they didn't need him. Not his optic blasts, and not his tactical input. It was over, and all he needed to do was make sure no one went too far.

Zanne stood nearby, gathering the images of horror that had played out here under Apocalypse's temporary rule. So much pain caused by one man, one monster. But as the first few moments flickered to life, she began to reconsider the need to force him and all around them to relive the events of the past few days, even through the ghostly veil of memory. Shutting down the link, she went to sit by Scott and waited for it all to end.

Terry was exhausted. Her uniform was torn, she was missing a glove and a sleeve. Her hair had long since fallen out of its braids and now tumbled in a tangled fall down her back. Her voice was failing, the forces of her massively powerful screams finally wearing away at even her throat. She from experience, she knew she had some power left, one lance, one broad force sweep. But instead, Terry wove into her voice hope and faith. Wove into it belief and understanding. Wove into it strength not through force but through love. And she lifted her voice in song, letting it carry over the battlefield--heartening her companions: team and students and staff and friends alike, all those who stood with them here--gave them her last song as a gift. And ruthlessly, gave Apocalypse his own song. One of mourning, one of despair, one of defeat. No one cared.

Marie stood behind Scott and reached out to her teacher, her leader, and more importantly her friend. She was barely recognizable, still covered in the black metallic armor of Cyttorak that had once belonged to Cain. While the battle was over, the aftermath was going to have more of an impact than most of the X-men had yet realized. Pulling Scott up, she lead the man away. What they had left to do, it could be done at home.

Spent beyond her limits, physically and mentally, Tabitha pushed dirty hair out of her face. She could only sigh tiredly as she turned to follow Scott and Marie. It was just too much, she couldn't even think any more.

Jean was tempted, just for a moment, to let loose with the anger and fear of the last few days. To unleash her dark side and lash out at this man, at him and his cause; beat him down until either he or she could stand it no longer. For a moment, she teetered on the edge, and then she saw Marie help Scott to his feet, and the need for revenge was nothing next to the need to be with her husband now. "It's over, Apocalypse," she told him, lifting herself into the air. "You've lost."

"Well, I think that's about done." Kane finally moved forward from behind the X-Men. He had reached the Citadel late enough to see that Apocalypse was done. But there was one more important thing left to make his defeat complete, something only Kane could do. He fought the finger away from a hissing Catseye and walked down into the crater where Apocalypse lay, still feebly protesting that this wasn't over. Kane ignored the words, hoisting the man firmly, but not roughly into a sitting position, and pulled his arms behind his back. He tied a rag over the stump of his finger, and applied the zipcord plastic restraints around his wrists.

"I'm Agent Kane of the FBI. I'm placing you under arrest for acts of terrorism against the United States of America." He said, pulling the man to his feet. "You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to have an attorney present during questioning. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed for you. Do you understand these rights?" Apocalypse's response didn't really matter as Kane began to pull him out of the crater, to find some medical attention for him and turn him over to SHIELD. "Take a look at the city you tried to destroy. It's the last thing outside of a cell you're going to see for a long long time."