Mutation

disclaimer

I do not own the rights to any of the Marvel characters in this story, and make no claims to the artistic visions of the marvel universe. I know nothing of the sexuality of any of the creators, actors, or characters involved in the Marvel universe. Similarly, this story contains graphic descriptions of gay male sex. If you don't like that, then you should probably avert your eyes.

This story takes place in an alternate X-Men universe from the one in which the 3rd movie took place. Certain events occurred after X2 which changed the timeline. Jean, Scott and Professor X are all still alive. The specifics of the timeline changes may be made apparent as the story progresses.

Chapter 15 -- "Duel of the Almighty"

Hydrogue gestured to one side, knocking one of his opponents aside and into the trees of the forest. He then ducked and rolled to avoid the swinging claws of another. A third came at him as he rose to his feet, and threw some sharp, bony object straight toward his chest. Hydrogue's body turned instantly to transparent water, and the object passed through him harmlessly. The thrower put his arms out to the side, and Hydrogue could see his skin bulge, move, and then split as another pair of bony spiked appeared in his hands. As the pair of self-made weapons flew towards him, Hydrogue put up a barrier shield of water molecules before him at an angle. The spikes deflected off the barrier and went to the side, landing in the chest of the mutant with the claws. That left Hydrogue with only 3 more enemies.

The mutant he had knocked aside came at him swinging some sort of electrical whip, created from energy emitted by his hands. In an instant Hydrogue materialized an icy sword from the water in the air and brought it up to block. The whip wrapped around his sword, crackling energy and fighting with the intense cold of the icy weapon. The electricity lost the battle, the intense cold slowing down the atoms to such an extent that the charge could no longer transfer to form the whip. The second Hydrogue felt the resistance break, he pushed forward and lashed out with his left fist, which was frozen solid. The strike landed at the base of the mutant's jaw, just below the ear, and he fell unconscious to the ground. Two to go.

The last two opponents played smart, keeping him between them. This forced him to keep turning to see what they were both up to. Fortunately, his water senses allowed him to keep an overall idea of what the man behind him was doing, he could feel the cluster of water molecules. He held his sword in his right hand in the `guard of wrath' position, held point down behind him. He appeared vulnerable, but that was the point. The man in front of him had nothing so fancy as a sword, but he was wielding a metal bat, having lost his gun in the beginning of the confrontation. His only apparent mutation was the ram-like horns emerging from his forehead, so he was unlikely to have some unknown quality to him. The two men came in at Hydrogue at the same time, one from ahead and one from behind. Hydrogue sent a water pulse behind himself to knock the sneaky attacker back a few feet. When the man with the bat swung at him, he leaned back, pulling his

head just enough that the bat passed by his face, hitting him only with a breeze. When the bat had passed, the man was now twisted to the side, overextended and vulnerable. Hydrogue pulled his sword around from behind him, using the long swing space for the very reason it was designed: massive power. The icy blade came around so fast and with such power that it cleaved the mutant's head from his shoulders. The ice sword was so cold that it cauterized the wound and caused no blood to spill. In and instant Hydrogue looked back toward his other opponent and gestured his left hand straight at him. A small, straight dagger of ice emerged from his hand and flew straight through the air and plunged into the last man's shoulder. It landed in a place which was ideal for causing intense pain and robbing the man of use of his arm, but would not kill him. Scott and Logan would be so proud.

Hydrogue looked to the side as the rustling over there stopped, and out stepped Anole, the green lizard-skinned teenager he had been patrolling with. His was a short, thin guy, but his right arm was very large and covered in green armor and spikes. His hair was replaced by the same hard substance and spikes. His real name was Victor Borkowski, and had been Hydrogue's patrol partner for the past two weeks.

"All set over there Vic?" asked Hydrogue.

"Yea, I only had 2 to deal with. Did you get any alive" asked Victor, the blood smeared on his arm spikes proof that his own enemies had no survived.

"Yea, two." They called in their whereabouts to the Baxter Building, who sent teleporter-telepath teams to take the prisoners in to be questioned.

Alex and Victor were patrolling some of the woods in northern New York State. Attacks from the Brotherhood had increased in this area, and many believed it was the beginning of the final push toward the largest city in the country. It was their job to ensure that no patrols snuck in to spy on or sabotage the defense effort. And they were doing very well.

The two X-Men teleported back the Baxter Building. It was time to rest, as they had put in 5 days straight of patrolling. But Alex went straight to the assignment board to find a hole he could fill in for.

"You've been pushing yourself too hard" said Victor. "You need to rest."

"I can't rest. There aren't enough of us, and I need to take up the slack." Alex had been like this for weeks.

"Why do you single handedly need to take up all the slack?"

"Because I can."

"Why, because you're Class 5? That doesn't mean you're inexhaustible."

"Actually that's exactly what it means. Power without limits. Inexhaustible."

"Yes, your POWER has no limits, but your body and mind do. You can't just keep working until you drop." Alex looked at Anole with a look that simultaneously told him he was right and that he needed to shut up about it. The truth was that he could not stop being in the thick of the action. He needed to be the one to encounter Demon when he showed up again. Already the drastically changed red man had been seen at the head of the Brotherhood Army during several major assaults, and he was winning many victories. His intimate knowledge of the Alliance and its operations had already proven devastating. Alex did not entirely know what he would do when he encountered his scorned love, but he knew he had to try to reason with him, to bring him back to the light. And if nothing else, he had to end the threat he had created. He had been training with Scott and Logan in between patrols, honing his skills, increasing his speed, and mentally preparing

himself to fight someone he loved.

"Oh look, Spiderman needs a partner for his patrol tonight" said Alex. He turned and strode for a window, and flew off to find Peter Parker. He was glad for the opportunity not only because Peter was a good guy to spend time with, but also because he could not afford to have Anole talk sense into him.

He had to find Demon.

Rogue had given up attempting to escape. She had tried everything she could think of, and had managed to get pretty far, but never got even close to succeeding. She kept her eyes open for opportunity, but few presented themselves. The guards had learned early on to never let her get close enough to touch them.

She spent her days staring out the barred window, which provided a beautiful but unchanging view of the ocean. She was tired of it now, and had been for a long time. They gave her the occasional newspaper, though those were filled with reports about how well the Brotherhood was doing in its conquering of America. She had read all the books they had given her several times each, and was pretty much so bored she was ready to kill herself.

Of course, none of that would ever make her tell them any of the things they wanted to know. She would not break, and she would not join them. They had tried to torture her once, but that proved difficult to do when they could not touch her. Of course, just looking at the man who had just walked into her cell was torture all by itself.

Demon stood just inside the doorway, his huge frame and giant black wings taking up a massive amount of space. The temperature in the room had increased about 20 degrees already, and would only continue to do so, despite the window. His eyes were almost back to normal, the fires only came out when he immersed himself fully in his rage. The ruby colored pupils did posses a fiery quality that they did not have before however. Rogue wanted to cry just looking at him. The last time she had seen this man, he was a cheery, fun loving guy, one who made his friends laugh and did things just for the fun of it. Now, he was a monster. His face had none of the perpetual grin it once had, but was stony and detached. The fire in his eyes hinted at a barely contained rage, and a thirst for vengeance.

"Hello Marie" said Demon, his voice sounding as though there was a raging fire in his throat.

"Hello Caleb" she responded. He winced at this, no longer even thinking of himself as anything other than Demon. There was nothing left of Caleb. "What on earth did they do to you?"

"Demon" he said simply, not answering her question. "They tell me that you have not been especially forthcoming with information. After a year of imprisonment, I must say that is impressive."

"What could they possibly want from me that you can't give them?"

"Well, you were a member of the X-Men for considerably longer than I was. I know a great deal about the resistance, but not so much about the Mansion itself, that remarkable jet the X-Men use, or the many unknown allies they may be able to call upon. You will tell me all about them." Demon stepped forward, and Rogue felt her skin grow hot, and she began to sweat profusely.

"And if I don't?"

Demon grabbed Rogue by the throat, and it was all she could do not to scream from the searing pain of his hot skin. She tried to absorb his energy, to weaken him and steal his powers, but she couldn't. The skin that came into contact with Demon died almost instantly due to extreme heat, and could not act as a proper channel. Her one power, one she normally considered a curse but in this place was her only hope, was useless.

"I think you will" Demon replied, smiling a malicious grin that flashed his new long white fangs.

Bobby Drake grunted and moaned as he felt another long powerful thrust into his ass, and pressed his face against the cool shower tiles as he took it. He turned his face to the side and looked back into Johnny Storm's blue eyes as the man picked up the pace. Bobby watched Johnny's hairy pecs bounce each time his hips slammed into the smaller boy's ass. Water cascaded down on both men, soaking them and filling the air with steam. Johnny's cock was blazing hot inside of Bobby, enhancing the sensations coming from his ass at the larger man's ministrations. Johnny repeatedly struck his prostate with his cock, hitting it from many different angles but always hitting it. Bobby grew closer and closer to climax from the onslaught. He moaned loudly, perhaps too loudly, since the shower they were in was the one attached to the gym in the Baxter building, and any number of people could have heard.

As Bobby grew closer to cumming, his hands pressed against the tile and the water on it froze. The ice spread all along the walls and floor of the shower, and only the intense heat from Johnny's body prevented the shower water from freezing over. Johnny pulled out of Bobby and spun the boy around and pushed him down to his knees. Bobby opened wide as Johnny slipped his 8" dick into his mouth and began to face fuck him hard. Bobby moaned around the thick cock and jerked his own furiously. Johnny held onto his head by keeping his hand gently but firmly entangled in Bobby's dirty blonde hair. Bobby looked up with his icy blue eyes and admired the incredible body of Johnny Storm. He watched the lightly haired six-pack come toward him, framed by a gorgeous V of muscle, driving that wonderful cock into his mouth and toward his throat, filling his mind with erotic joy. He watched those wonderful furry pecs swell and retract as Johnny breathed

heavily.

"Take my cock Iceman" said Johnny, his voice deepened with lust. "Take it all." Bobby could only moan in response. Johnny built up his speed, began long-dicking Bobby's mouth, and shouted "I'm gonna cum!"

Bobby felt the first spurt of cum hit his tongue, the unnatural heat of it surprising and delighting him. The taste was intoxicating, and he moaned loudly as he swallowed it and took more and more shots into his mouth and down his throat. Bobby loved the taste of it, and began shooting his own load onto the shower floor even as he continued to swallow Johnny's cum.

When they both finished cumming, Bobby sat back on the frozen floor, breathing heavily and covered in sweat, which had already begun to freeze on his chest. The result was that he was covered in a glistening layer of ice beads, reflecting the overhead lights. Johnny sat down beside him, also covered in sweat, the hair on his chest and stomach clinging to him with perspiration. The ice layer on the floor hissed and sizzled as it evaporated from contact with Johnny's hot skin.

"That was fucking hot" said Johnny between breaths. Bobby laughed and agreed.

Before any more words could be said, the lights overhead turned red. A voice came on the intercom, it was Susan Storm, Johnny's sister.

"Attention all personnel. Enemy forces have been detected. They are approaching the city and are in great numbers. Report immediately to the nearest dispatching station to receive instructions. New York City is under attack."

Johnny and Bobby looked at each other, and then sprang into action. They leaped to their feet and dressed as fast as possible, and ran to Central Control. It was go time.

"So when do we go?" asked Callisto as she rotated her shoulders, loosening up for super speed. She stood under a large tree next to Arclight, a strange boyish looking girl in gothic clothes and long gloves, her hair dyed black and deep purple. Callisto's question was directed at the huge form of Demon, who stood slightly further away on a blackened patch of earth. With the trio was a small group of lower level mutants, basically cannon fodder, though they tried not to point out this fact.

"Did you find the tunnel yet?" Demon asked, turning to one of the mutants Callisto didn't know, a small-framed older man with pebbly skin. The man was kneeling on the grass with his hands on the ground and his eyes closed. He had been moving around, but seemed to have settled now.

"Yes General" said the little man. "The earth beneath this spot opens up about 20 feet down, and goes straight toward the target." Demon nodded and then turned to his small force. He looked at them with his flaming eyes, and chills ran down all of their spines. The only one who was not afraid of him was Callisto, but she still kept her distance.

"You all know your jobs, get to it." The pawns ran forward, brandishing their guns and other weapons, needed due to their lack of offensive powers.

Arclight stepped forward and pulled off her gloves. She rubbed her hands together and an indiscernible energy began to build in the air. When she brought her hands together the gathered seismic energy released all at once. She directed this energy downward and the earth shifted, tearing a great trench in the ground. The grass flattened and the leaves of the trees shook from the powerful wave. She repeated this act 5 times, until the ground lay open and a hidden tunnel was accessible.

"Good, now go" Demon told Callisto and Arclight. He turned and dropped into the hole in the ground, vanishing into the darkness as he followed the tunnel. Callisto and Arclight ran forward, following the same line as Demon, only above ground. As they ran their target came into view, the ivy-covered walls of the Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters.

The pawns reached the mansion first, though this was by design. They opened the attack with conventional human weapons, since they lacked offensive powers. Most had guns, but one had a grenade launcher, and another directed a flamethrower at the mansion. As fires began to erupt defenders emerged from the building and attacked from the roof. It was clear to Callisto that they had not caught the X-Men base of operations completely by surprise, but they seemed no to have been given much notice from their psychic leader. The Phoenix had promised to disguise their presences from the old man, and Callisto was glad she had delivered.

Lightning and fireballs came down from the rooftops, taking down some of the attackers. Through the front doors came another three, two of the older students and the X-Man she recognized as Cyclops. With a single full-power optic blast Cyclops laid waste to the approaching pawns. One was killed instantly, and several others severely injured or thrown aside as the red beam cut deep into the earth at their feet. One of the students with Cyclops, a large heavily built boy, turned his entire body to stone, and came charging forward with a rumble. The earth shook as he ran and the air rang as bullets bounced harmlessly off of his impervious skin. Arclight cracked her hands together, blasting Golem with the shockwave, causing him to stagger back. Callisto surged forward, the world becoming a blur to her as she moved many times faster than the normal person. She drove at full speed into the female student, knocking her backward through the mansion doors

before she got off a single attack.

Cyclops turned to blast Callisto, but she was far too quick. She was around the back of him before he finished turning and delivered a savage blow to the base of his skull. Cyclops stumbled, his vision blurring and his head swimming, but he did not fall. He drove his elbow back and caught a surprised Callisto in the gut, doubling her over. He would have taken her down then if not for the bullet that caught him in the knee, blasting out his kneecap and driving him to the ground. He struggled to stay awake through the pain, and turned to drive another crimson bolt of energy into the group of armed mutants. Few were left standing.

As more mutants began to emerge from the mansion, the attacking Brotherhood mutants began to be overwhelmed, though frequent shock waves from Arclight served to keep the defenders scattered. There were not many powerful mutants at the school, as it was inside Alliance-controlled territory, but the shear number of students was too many. The small force could not succeed. But, they were never meant to.

Callisto could sense when Demon reached his target, and felt his fiery aura pulse as he released his power straight up and into the superstructure of the Xavier Mansion. The lower levels were built of solid metal, but the support beams and load bearing walls soon began to glow and soften with heat. Fires began to erupt spontaneously on the ground floor, as wood, carpet, and various other flammable substances grew too hot. Students ran screaming form the building, and the sound of the basketball court retracting filled the air. The X Jet, filled with the entire hospital wing, all of the remaining students, and anyone who was able to reach her in time lifted off and flew into the sky to safety. Cyclops managed to roll to the side on his remaining knee to avoid the belch of flame which erupted from the mansion's doors. As Demon exerted his fullest power, the bottom floor of the mansion was consumed by flame, with fireballs shattering through every

window and door, the support beams splintering. With a single horrifying CRASH, the mansion fell in upon itself, the upper floors coming crashing to earth as the structural integrity of the underground and first floors were compromised. Glass and shards of wood flew in every direction, heat rushed out like a wall as the hot air was forced out by the falling rubble. Everything was completely still and silent for a moment after the collapse ended.

The silence was broken when a lump of rubble in the center began to stir, and out from the ruin climbed Demon. He stood upon the heap of his former home, the symbol of mutant safety, spread is great bat-like wings, and roared. As his roar split the air, the rubble burst into flames, and soon it was all consumed. No help would come to this site, for the Alliance was far too busy already. Demon flapped his enormous black wings and flew into the air, heading towards the city.

Hydrogue flew through the streets of New York, following the red and blue blur that was Spiderman. Normally, he would have been amazed at the speed the man could travel using his web strings, but he was too distracted by the rain of fire which was descending upon the city. Small meteors were falling from the sky, tearing through the atmosphere to create missiles of fire that tore through buildings and cars and set numerous fires. The relatively small numbers of people still living in the city were running through the streets westward, away from the coming assault. The buildings ahead would be deserted. Hydrogue could sense the landing ships in the water, and the swirling portal they were coming out of. He could also feel the army entering the eastern border of the city, an army that hadn't been there before and had appeared very suddenly.

The pair of heroes traveled between the skyscrapers above street level until they could see the first groups of incoming Brotherhood mutants. From experience Hydrogue knew that these would be weaker mutants, lower level and armed with conventional weapons instead of broader powers. Magneto had a favorite saying, `in chess, the pawns go first'. What a model leader he was.

They did not even stop for the first group. They would be dealt with by troops from the U.S. Army who held checkpoints further into the city. Instead, as he flew over Hydrogue caused a water main under the street to burst, tearing a hole in the street and scattering the group. Only a few were killed or injured, but the confusion and disarray would slow them down considerably. Instead, Hydrogue followed Spiderman in as he descended upon the 2nd group, swift and silent and totally unexpected.

The strong and incredibly agile Spiderman spun through an impressive display of martial skill mixed with acrobatics. Hydorgue came in behind and let loose a pulse of water which knocked all of the enemies off their feet. Within minutes the pair had dispatched the entire group.

"Not bad" said Spiderman, who appeared not to be tired at all from the fight. His stamina was impressive.

"You weren't so bad yourself" replied Alex, winking at the costumed man. He did not hide his glance up and down the muscular man's body, poorly hidden in his skintight suit. Alex smiled, then leaped into the air and took flight, seeking out more enemies. There were always more.

Wolverine looked down from his perch, inside a window sill on the 2nd floor of an apartment building. He looked down at the small group of mutants who were passing by the building now. He had pounced on the first few smaller groups, overcoming the surprised pawns with sickening ease. He hid the bodies and lay in wait again. This next group was not made up of pawns, but was the first group of the real artillery. He listened to the grinding metal-on-metal sound as his claws extended, and barely noticed the pain the blossomed as they sliced open the skin of his hands in order to do so.

He made ready to leap down from on high, to drive his claws into the back of the mutant in the center of the group, the one he presumed to be the leader. But just before he jumped he heard an unexpected whooshing sound, and looked up to see a pair of small missiles descend on the group and detonate among the mutants. Fire blocked his view as bodies were blown apart and burned. When the flash faded, he looked to see that all of his targets were downed, killed or wounded or unconscious. From the sky descended two men in full suits of technological armor, the first in red and yellow, the second in gray and black; Iron Man and War Machine.

Wolverine swore, and stalked off to hunt for more prey.

Echo dodged yet another fiery missile from the sky. The meteor blasted through the pavement and into the subway system, sending fire back out through the hole. By now most of the buildings in the city had at least a few fires within them. Meteors hit cars and blew them apart, smashed windows in buildings and incinerated the rooms behind them. The night was lit with red light as the armies marched to war.

"Heads up!" shouted Barrier, as a bolt of golden lightning flashed towards them. The bolt slammed into a shimmering wall of blue energy before it could hit them as Barrier blocked the attack. Echo's radar style vision followed the sound of the lighting bolt back to its owner, a short blonde spiky haired mutant standing in the center of the street. Beside him stood Pyro and a petite teenage girl with short black hair in a pixie-style cut.

"Nice trick" said Pyro, a smug smile on his face. "How long can you hold out?" With that he gestured forward with both hands, the lighters attached to his wrists spat flame, and with his power he exponentially boosted the power of the fire and directed it towards Barrier. Barrier held the fire back, his shield wrapping the flame around him until he was within a swirling firestorm. Echo reached out to send sonic blasts towards Pyro, but the small black haired girl ran forward at many times normal speed and hit him across the jaw. Echo fell back from force and surprise as the girl looked down at him and grinned. Electrode, the blonde boy with spiked hair, began to rain golden lighting against Barrier's shield. Echo knew that Barrier was good, but his stamina had its limits. He would not be able to hold out against both fire and lightning forever.

Echo rolled to his feet, but wherever he went the girl was there first. She moved with amazing speed and agility, and dodged all of his sonic blasts. She ran, ducked, rolled, jumped, and even ran fast enough to climb walls. Sonic blasts tore chunks out of the street, walls, windows, cars, and even burst a fire hydrant, but the girl remained unharmed. Meanwhile, Echo received a barrage of punches and kicks that he was simply too slow to stop. Finally he threw back his head, opened his mouth, and screamed, the sound reaching an inhumanly high pitch. The street and the building walls shook, the air itself seemed to vibrate. Glass blew out in the surrounding buildings and cars and rained down on the combatants. The black haired girl screamed and clapped her hands over her ears, from which blood had begun to flow. Pyro and Electrode fell to their knees in pain and ceased their attacks on Barrier as they clapped their hands over their ears. Barrier

himself was unaffected, since Echo was preventing any sound waves from reaching him. The three Brotherhood mutants were helpless to the supersonic onslaught.

Echo's voice faltered as he felt an unexpected sensation. Deep within his chest, seemingly from his very soul, began to creep a chilling feeling of pure, undiluted terror. Fear swelled within him, and with it came irrational panic. This was a moment of victory and yet every instinct he had told him to run and hide. Echo was not an excessively courageous man, but he normally maintained a level enough head to stay on task and was utterly confused by this all-consuming terror.

A flapping noise filled the air, and Echo directed his gaze upwards. The night sky was blocked from view by smoke from the multitude of fires, but a dark shape soon took form. Descending from the sky, having flown in from the south, came a figure which looked for all the world like the Devil himself.

Demon landed heavily on the street, his dense mass cracking the tar and sending a rain of black pebbles into the air. His dark wings were fully spread in the landing, but soon pulled back behind him. A foul sulfurous vapor surrounded him, and an eerie glow came from the fiery cracks in his skin. Demon looked at Echo from his landing place, a dozen yards away. He stalked forward, and with a sick realization Echo understood that Demon was the source of the terror. He projected it forward like a weapon, bringing paralysis to even the bravest of souls. Demon came closer, his black claws extended, his tail whipping about with its black spear tip glinting in the firelight. Echo had heard about Caleb's transformation, but was shaken to the core to see it himself.

"Hello Kyle" said Demon, his fiery voice like a wound in Echo's ears. "It is unfortunate that you had to be here."

Alex had felt the spike of terror in his mind right before he felt it in his heart. The battle meld shared by him and his friends, mediated by Psionic, allowed him to feel the intense fear in Echo and Barrier before he himself came close enough to be effected by the emotional projection. Echo and Barrier were not highly emotional people, and this feeling was strange coming from the two of them. Alex left Spiderman with another group of Alliance fighters and flew off; heading in the direction he could feel in his heart was where Echo was.

The Alex flew through the flaming buildings surrounded by his own blue fire, a self guided meteor seeking to aid his friends. As he turned onto the street where his friends were, he could see the large figure approaching them, the one with the large wings and appeared to be on fire from within. Demon.

Demon approached Echo and Barrier, his body language difficult to gage. Based on what he had witnessed since Demon's change, Alex wasted no time wondering about his intentions. He flew at Demon at full speed, hitting him head on. Blue and orange flames swirled as the two collided, and Demon's considerable weight was thrown back into the wall of the building across the street. Hydrogue ignored the pain caused by the impact and stood facing his opponent. Pyro, Electrode, and the unknown girl lay unconscious on the pavement.

"Stay away from them" Hydrogue commanded. His eyes blazed with blue light as he surged with inner power. Echo and Barrier got to their feet and came up behind him to support, but he turned his head and said "you should run." They looked into his eyes and were afraid. His entire body was wreathed in blue fire, his fists coated in rigid ice. They dared not interfere with the fight, but could never leave a friend to fight alone.

"You're either very brave or very stupid to challenge me again" growled Demon. "Didn't I leave your brains splattered all over the floor last time?"

"I think you will find me a bit more difficult to deal with this time. But I'm not here to challenge you Caleb. I'm here to stop you from doing these terrible things, to convince you to come back."

"Here to beg for forgiveness again? That worked so well for you last time."

"I do wish you would forgive me, but I won't beg for it. I would settle for seeing you be the man you used to be, the man who would never inflict pain on others in order to deal with his own."

"That man was weak" Demon roared, the fires within him brightening. "And now that man is dead. You will join him soon." Demon outstretched his hands and launched a jet of fiery magma at Hydrogue. Hydrogue responded with a jet of such intense cold that the magma rapidly cooled and fell to the pavement. He gestured forward at Demon and sent a pulse of cold toward him, knocking him back, though not as far as he would have liked.

Demon leaped into the air and flew at Hydrogue, who spun out of the way and into the air himself. The two spun round and round in the space between the skyscrapers, fire and ice blasting back and forth. Demon spun in the air and sent his tail slashing at Hydrogue at high speed. The blade did not impact, but the strong, thick tail slammed him in the chest and spun him around, though the blade did not connect. Hydrogue went with the spin and came around much faster than expected. In his hand he held the weapon he had hoped to never use, but had been convinced to carry for this situation.

Hydrogue spun around and released from his hand 3 small, thin needles filled with the Mutant Cure, acquired from U.S. military stockpiles. The needles sailed through the air propelled by Hydrogue's powers. The intense heat of Demon's body threatened to melt the needles and denature the proteins which made up the Cure, but Hydrogue held them firmly in his mind and cooled them sufficiently. One needle bounced off the thick black bone of Demon's tail blade, another was incinerated by coming too close to the magma-oozing cracks in his skin. But the third needle struck Demon in the chest and released its payload.

Demon screamed in agony, a terrible demonic cry which split the air, a sound of pain and violence. The Cure returned his blood from the magma which now flowed through his veins, and quickly spread to all of his organs. He fell from the air and crashed to the street as the webbing in his wings dissolved into nothing. The wing bones shrank and retreated into his back before vanishing completely from sight. His nails returned to normal size and shape, and the cracks in his skin closed after the glow within them faded. As the mutated portions of this brain shrank into nonexistence, the transmitted terror ceased, and his unnaturally powerful rage began to subside. He lay on his knees on the street, shaking with pain and confusion as his body continued to change. His red skin began to grow blotchy, as swatches began to take on a more human tone, and his tail began to shrink. Soon the tail was gone altogether, and he looked up at Alex, who now stood in

front of him, unsure how to act. The orange fires in his eyes died away and they returned to their previous ruby red color. The ruby eyes then turned to a soft and sensitive brown, his red skin had changed to a smooth olive tone. Caleb was human.

"Alex?" he asked, seemingly dazed and confused.

"I'm here Caleb. I'm sorry, but I had no choice. I had to give you the Cure." The dose was small, but Dr. Halden had told him that it was difficult to predict how long such a dose would last, days, months or years. It could also be a permanent change.

"Where, what? It wasn't a dream? Did I really..." Caleb looked up, his eyes glistening with tears.

"Yes, you did. You were angry, you hated me, and the Phoenix used it to change you somehow."

"You don't understand. I was out of my mind. I couldn't stop. I wanted to stop but the anger, the rage was so much. I just NEEDED to destroy it all. Nothing else made me feel better. I'm so sorry..." Alex knelt down beside Caleb and put his arm around the shoulders of the much larger man.

"You don't need to be sorry. I need to be sorry." He apologized but could also barely contain his glee that he had been right, that Demon had not really been a traitor. Somehow his rage had been magnified and turned against him to control him. "I was stupid, and I hurt you, and I am so sorry for that. I didn't realize what I was doing. But I want to make it up to you, I want to beg you for forgiveness and I want you to come back with us. I don't expect you to be with me, I know that I forfeited the right to hope for that. But I want you to be the man you used to be, one of the best men I have ever met."

Caleb nodded, but did not respond at first.

"I understand almost all of it. I understand why you slept with me the first time; sex doesn't mean to you what it means for me, and you didn't know how I felt. I understand why you turned me down; you thought it was for the best. But I need to know why. That last time, in the club.....why did you lead me on, bring me to your room, and...." Caleb could barely bring himself to talk about it. "Why did we have sex, when you knew how I felt about you? Didn't you know how much that would hurt me?"

Alex was completely confused. What was he talking about? It didn't make any sense.

"Caleb, I never slept with you in any hotel room. We've only ever been together once, in our room at the mansion. What are you talking about?"

Caleb closed his eyes, tears squeezed out in pain and shame. He put the pieces together in an instant. He had been used, twisted and manipulated.

"It was all fake. It was one of the shapeshifters. They have so many of them..." Caleb stood up and looked Alex in the eye. "The Phoenix tricked me, used my feelings to get me to betray you. And it worked. But I need to know something. What you said to me last time we fought, before....before I killed you. Was it true?" Caleb's big brown eyes filled with tears and hope as he asked "do you love me?"

Alex smiled broadly; the question was so wonderful and so unexpected. He had never expected to be forgiven, or accepted back. He looked at the beautiful man, the one he loved just as much with olive skin as he had with red.

"Of course I love you. I always have. And I always will." Caleb wrapped his big arms around Alex and lifted him in a great big hug, swinging him around in glee. Alex smiled from ear to ear like a goof in Caleb's warm embrace, loving the feeling of those big arms wrapped around him once again. The two shared a brief kiss, one that was not flashy or lusting, but was tender and deep, and seemed to last much longer than the few seconds it was. They pulled apart when they heard the sound of slow, sarcastic clapping.

"How beautiful" said a sarcastic voice Caleb knew far too well. They both looked down the street, and there they saw the Phoenix. She lay atop a broad golden bed which was being lifted by four beautiful men in small golden shorts. The men kept their heads down despite clearly wanting desperately to look up at her, as though she was the sun. She was god to them.

"What do you want?" asked Alex, turning to face her.

"To say congratulations to the happy couple" she replied, smiling broadly though clearly not for the reason she claimed. "You robbed me of my favorite toy. I don't appreciate that very much. So, I will rob from you as well." The Phoenix made a tiny gesture with her left hand, barely more than a finger twitch. It was like an absent minded movement from her lazy perch, but the consequences were grave indeed. Alex heard a sickening, ungodly CRACK, and turned to see Caleb's eyes wide in pain and shock. His neck had shattered in an instant, the nerves of his spine were severed, and he fell to the ground like a bag of rocks. Alex fell with him, struggling to catch him as though it would do any good. He reached out with his powers, remembering the burn victims he had saved with them, but it was no use. There was no action he could take to save Caleb; the end came in mere seconds, before he even hit the ground. Alex caught him in his arms

and looked down into the already lifeless eyes. Caleb was dead, in less time than it took to take a single breath.

Alex was in complete and total shock. His mind could not deal with what had just happened. Having just gained what he had lost and then have it torn away in a moment was more than he could bear. The pain in his chest threatened to tear him apart, grew so intense that he could no longer stand it. His hands began to shake violently. He went from shock into total blinding rage in an instant. The pain became so great that he shut it out, denying all feelings of any kind. He descended down from fiery rage into the depths of utter cold hatred. His soul died and his heart stopped, frozen solid in his chest. His body temperature plummeted and his blood froze in his veins. Caleb's body was instantly coated in ice and was soon frozen completely solid in a block of steaming blue ice. Alex's skin paled rapidly with the dropping temperature until he was deathly white, his eyes turned from brilliant blue to eerie pale silver. His brown hair turned

black as it grew damp with arctic cold water, and then froze into a spiky mess. The Phoenix had brought this pain on him, had brought death to his love. The Phoenix brought pain to everyone, because she felt she was better than them, that she had the right. She though it was fun. She hurt others with no consequences because nobody could hurt her back. He would change that. He would show her the meaning of pain.

As Hydrogue stood up, leaving the frozen body of Caleb at his feet, the sky crackled with lighting and filled with black clouds. The clouds began to swirl and multiple dark funnel clouds descended into the city, crackling and flashing with inner lightning. First three, then ten, then twenty lighting filled tornadoes hit the ground, for blocks around, tearing great holes in the pavement between the buildings for several blocks around him. He rose into the air as lightning began to flash between the tornadoes. The electric energy funneled between the twisters and converged on Hydrogue, multiple bolts converging on him as he stored their energy in his icy body. The electricity from the buildings around the tornadoes flowed in to join the energy derived from the water molecules and flowed again into him. The lights in dozens of buildings went out as the power was drained from them. Hydorgue's body crackled and tiny blue tendrils of electrical energy

flashed around him, the water scarcely able to contain the enormous amount of energy.

The Phoenix looked on in joy and fascination, eager to see what the angry child would do now that she had broken his toy. She absent mindedly used her telekinesis to put his two friends through a nearby wall. She wanted no interruptions.

Hydrogue extended both hands and from each came a blinding white bolt of lightning. The bolts converged in front of him and continued on towards the Phoenix, the most potent and powerful bolt of lightning the world had ever seen. The Phoenix's worshipers leaped before her to protect their god, but they could do no good. All four were burned to ash in an instant. The Phoenix rose to her feet and took the full blast on a telekinetic shield. The orb of energy flashed bright as the intense bolt struck it like a hammer, tendrils of electricity leaped off to strike the buildings around her. The Phoenix was driven back several feet by sheer kinetic force, and for a brief moment, for the first time in her life, she wondered if she had made a mistake.

The lightning kept coming from Hydrogue's hands, and the powerful bolts bounced from the Phoenix's shield and around the street. The light show was blinding and intense as destruction rained on the city. A few stray tendrils of energy slipped between the molecules of the telekinetic shield and burned the Phoenix's arms, covering them with bright red scars. An aura of orange flames surrounded her as she gritted her teeth with the strain. Her eyes flashed red as she pushed back violently against the onslaught. The outthrust shield threw the lighting in all directions, disrupting Hydrogue's attack and sowing ruin through the streets. Bits of glass and stone rained down from wounded buildings and residual lighting crackled from metal to metal on its way to the ground. The Phoenix summoned the rain of glass into a single barrage and sent the stream of shards at Hydrogue. The shards crackled with a dark and sinister energy as they raced toward

their target. Hydrogue responded with his own defensive shield, the bits of glass were pulverized before they reached him.

Flames burst to life in each of the Phoenix's hands, and twin fiery torpedoes launched at Hydrogue, who blasted them away with an icy wind. The Phoenix vanished and reappeared in a burst of flame in the air behind him and flew straight at him, long flaming whips in each hand. The whips cracked at Hydrogue, wrapping around both of his forearms. Hydrogue's skin sizzled as intense heat met deep cold. He lowered the temperature of the water in his arms so low that the molecules in the flame whips slowed too much to maintain their cohesion. With a grunt he pulled his arms away, shattering the whips into wisps of flame. He brought his hands together and thrust out, sending a lance of diamond-hard ice aimed straight for the Phoenix's heart. The Phoenix grew faint looking, resembling a ghost, and the lance passed through her, doing no harm. She quickly returned to normal, and with an incredible telekinetic blast smashed Hydrogue out of the air,

slamming him into a nearby skyscraper. With a gesture from the Phoenix the entire building burst into an inferno.

The flames were so bright and hot that the building's supports quickly softened, and the entire structure came crashing down on Hydrogue. The stone, glass, and metal melted and liquefied, and the Phoenix manipulated the mass into a shrinking sphere, trapping Hydrogue in a hyper dense orb of superheated building materials. Soon the entire building's mass had been reduced to a glowing sphere the size of a small house, having been squeeze tightly by incredible telekinetic strength. As she constricted the sphere she also cooled it, solidifying the prison around Hydrogue.

Inside the cooling sphere, Hydrogue struggled to move at all. He could not breathe, but then he didn't need to breathe either. He could not move in any way, not even a millimeter. The superheated metal and stone inside the sphere threatened to burn him alive, but he would not allow that. His skin chilled to incredibly low temperatures, and the heated metal cooled so quickly that it began to crack. Then, with a powerful outward pulse of ice energy, the sphere shattered, raining superheated and supercooled shrapnel in all directions.

The Phoenix wasted no time directing a shower of her micro meteors in Hydrogue's direction, the flaming projectiles burning bright orange courses through the sky on their way to him. Hydrogue spread his arms wide and wrapped himself in a tornado of swirling blue arctic cold air. The flaming missiles were extinguished when they came close to him, falling from the air like the useless rocks they were. Hydrogue threw a barrage of his explosive hydrogen projectiles at the Phoenix, the blue shimmering orbs detonating into brilliant blue fire as they impacted the Phoenix's defensive shield.

The Phoenix's eyes flashed with red flames, and as she gestured upwards, fires pulled away from the surrounding buildings and came together, taking on a great and powerful shape, that of a fire golem five stories tall. The fire golem stalked forward toward Hydrogue, its flaming feet melting the pavement underneath. Hydrogue gestured towards two nearby fire hydrants, causing them to explode and release their precious contents. The water flowed unnaturally through the air and formed a great shape of its own. When the water resembled an enormous humanoid shape, it froze as solid as a glacier, becoming an immense ice golem. The two giant forms slammed together under the direction of their masters, the elemental battle sending crackling and sizzling noises echoing down the streets. The fire golem burned through the ice golem's arm, which fell to the street and shattered on impact. The ice golem placed its fist through the heart of the fire golem,

cooling it to the point that it lost cohesion. Both golems fell to the ground, the fire golem losing too much heat to sustain itself, and the ice golem melting beyond tolerance.

A bolt of blinding blue lightning lanced across the gulf left by the falling golems before they even hit the ground. The Phoenix matched with a bolt of crimson lightning, and the two met in the center, a flashing chaotic display of power. Stray bolts of power blasted cars and buildings apart, and caving in part of the street. With his spare hand Hydrogue launched another explosive orb, which the Phoenix deflected into a nearby building, causing it to collapse entirely and fall to the ground.

The dark clouds above began to spin, the temperature began to plummet. Lightning flashed down from above, impacting several buildings. Hail began to fall, smashing windows and denting vehicles. Rain started to fall and extinguish the fires, but soon the rain that fell began to freeze, coating the street and buildings in sheets of ice. The two godly beings continued to rain lighting on each other, neither managing to overwhelm the other. In the center, blue and red met and built into a great ball of crackling purple energy. The ball grew in size and power, fueled by the power of the two almighty beings. The ball reached critical mass and detonated, blowing a crater in the street and shattering the foundations of the buildings on either side, causing them to crumble to the ground. The blast knocked Hydrogue and the Phoenix away from each other, each protected from the energy blast in their own defensive shields. They landed several city blocks

apart, and glared at each other from either side of a field of destruction.

Hydrogue vanished in an instant from where he was standing, and reappeared suddenly behind the Phoenix, raising his hands to strike with the razor sharp ice claws at the ends of his fingers. The Phoenix spun with incredible speed and smashed him back with a telekinetic shove. As he flew backward Hydrogue caused forks of lightning to rain down from the sky at the Phoenix, who ceased her attack to shield herself from the rain of destruction. As she was distracted from above, ice grew upward from the frozen street to ensnare her feet and legs, holding her in place. Hydrogue flew in at high speed, his fists frozen solid. His punch smashed into the Phoenix's shield with incredible force, disrupting the dome and shattering the block. She staggered under the force of the blow, but would not allow herself to be unprotected.

The Phoenix lashed out with her powers, ripping apart the molecular bonds of everything before her, tearing apart the pavement and shattering the supports of three buildings. The wave of ruin hit Hydrogue full on, and he screamed in agony as the entire left side of his body began to tear apart on the molecular level. He struggled to reassert his dominance over the water that made up his body. The Phoenix could break down matter on a subatomic scale, but she was unable to tear apart the hydrogen and oxygen in his water molecules. She could not destroy his molecules but she could scatter them, and that is precisely what she did. Rather than struggle to remain in solid form, Hydrogue spun into a gas, whirling through the air like an icy rain of death. The impossibly cold molecules burned into the Phoenix's skin, tearing rents in her flesh and cauterizing them with extreme cold. The Phoenix responded with a blind outward pulse, scattering

Hydrogue's atoms to the four winds.

Hydrogue reappeared high in the air, above the level of the rooftops, and directed his storm's wrath down at the Phoenix. She flew through the air wrapped in fire, dodging lightning and hail. As she rose above the rooftops she came under fire from the defensive weapons mounted on the Baxter Building, which they were a mere block away from them by now. With a wide, sweeping gesture, the Phoenix tore the guns apart on an atomic scale, ripping open the top ten floors. Large sections of the building had no windows or walls, and some sections caved in altogether.

Hydrogue summoned from the storm above a huge black funnel cloud, curling it through the sky and enveloping the Phoenix within it. The cloud channeled lightning down its length, threatening to roast her alive. The Phoenix let loose such a powerful burst of heat that it tore the twister apart, reducing it to mere scattered breezes. She focused her powers on the molecules in the air, grasping electrons and inverting their electronic charges from negative to positive, turning them into antimatter positrons. She thrust out her hands toward Hydrogue, and from them she emitted a beam of antimatter energy, a stream of positrons in a brilliant yellow blast. When the positrons stuck the normal matter in the air, both molecules went through annihilation, destroying them both and releasing a shocking amount of energy. When the concentrated beam struck Hydrogue's water molecule shield, each and every molecule in the shield was annihilated, leaving him

unprotected. The remaining positrons struck him in the chest, and annihilation occurred within his body. The positrons and the water molecules that made up his body were both utterly destroyed, and every bit of energy within them released all at once. The explosion which occurred within his chest blew his frozen body apart into glittering shards of ice.

The silence that followed was tense and eerie. The Phoenix looked around, scanning with her mind to find her foe. She could sense that he was still alive; his mind had not dissipated as it would in death, and so he must have transferred to different water molecules, ones that were not being obliterated. He was proving much more irritating than she had predicted. She could feel his mind, but when she came into contact with it she was thrown back by a wall of bone chilling hatred. She spun when she heard a horrifying roar of water behind her. Rising up the skyline from the direction of the bay rose an immense tidal wave, a wall of water taller than New York City's buildings. The shoreline was exposed as the waters were drawn into the wave. At the peak appeared the shape of Hydrogue, his outstretched arms comprising the foaming crest of the wave. Hydrogue's giant watery form stared intensely at the Phoenix with brilliantly glowing silvery eyes

as he loomed over her and about twenty blocks of skyscrapers. Several of the Brotherhood landing boats were trapped in the wave, rising hundreds of feet into the air and then falling to the street and smashing apart. He did not care how much he had to destroy to get to her, anything in his way was forfeit.

The wave rose higher and higher, and the Phoenix grew gravely concerned. Hydrogue was endangering her city, the crown jewel of her future empire. If New York City was destroyed instead of taken, she would not have the credibility she needed to form a new government for this travesty of a country. Where else but New York could her throne be kept? She had to stop him.

The Phoenix reached out to Hydrogue with all of her mental strength. She focused all of her power into a single telepathic spike of power and drove it full force into Hydrogue's mind. He was strong, terribly strong, his hatred assailing her senses and chilling her to the core. But as strong as he was he was still not a telepath, and he was not well practiced in mental warfare. The Phoenix broke through his mental barriers and dove into his mind, and with the touch of a true expert, she forced him out of consciousness.

The effect was immediate. The clouds in the sky lost cohesion and the storm began to dissipate. Hail and rain stopped falling and lightning ceased to crackle and flash. The temperature began to raise back to normal and the ice coating half the city quickly began to melt. Hydrogue's body reformed from the wave and fell from up high. The wave crashed down, obliterating several entire streets full of buildings as billions of tons of water crushed them. Hydrogue slammed into the pavement with enough force to crack it open and drive several feet into the ground. He lay still, unmoving in his induced coma.

The Phoenix approached Hydrogue, walking through the field of ruin they had left behind. As she walked, the scars on her arms and face faded away into nothing, leaving no traces at all of the battle. Now that she could take the time to concentrate, she could manipulate her body to heal her wounds. She looked down at the fallen mutant, and smiled to herself. The challenging fight had given her a thrill she had never experienced before. In a flash of orange light, flames engulfed both mutants, and when they faded they were both gone, leaving behind a huge expanse of broken and shattered cityscape.

The battle was lost. Though the Alliance had put forth a tremendous effort, and had initially laid waste to the Brotherhood lines, their own losses had been too great. The Brotherhood's inexhaustible numbers were too much, while their own limited numbers were too precious to risk in such a large engagement. When the Phoenix had blasted the Baxter Building, the Alliance had lost their cohesion. Many had watched the duel in the skies above the city, and then their hopes died when Alex fell to the ground. The city was lost, and so were many valiant fighters. The Alliance forces fled with all possible speed. Behind them, the New York City burned, all except for a vast segment which had been reduced to rubble.

Psionic could scarcely handle his own emotions. He could not even fully define which emotions he was feeling, there were so many.

He had

He had been linked with his friends through the whole of the battle, and when Caleb had reverted back to normal, he had linked him to the meld for support. He had shared in the horror that he endured, and had felt the shock when he died. The hole left in his heart was like a gaping void, he had never given up hope that Caleb would return. But the feeling he had experienced through his link with Alex had disturbed him to his core.

Psionic had been connected to Alex's mind when Caleb had been killed, and the hole he felt in Alex's heart made his own seem like a pinprick. He had felt the initial blinding, all consuming rage, and had had the wind knocked out of him by it. And then, to his unending horror, he felt Alex lose his mind. He was connected when Alex cut off all emotions, stopped experiencing anything to avoid the pain. The only thing left coming from the corner of Psionic's mind where Alex usually resided was deep, chillingly cold hatred. It was so deep that his body had actually begun to cool down. Alex was hell-bent only on destroying the Phoenix, for retribution for the pain she had visited upon him. The means did not matter, and all morality had been suspended, and the only thing that mattered to him was causing her the most pain possible.

Psionic could not bear it, had cut Alex loose from the meld. The warmth had rushed back to him immediately, but it came as little comfort. One of his best friends was dead, and another may as well be. Alex was unrecognizable in this state, and Psionic could only hope that he would recover. But that hope was faint.

He had been in the Xavier Mansion during the attack, had been with the Professor when he suddenly doubled over in pain, grasping his head as invisible drills bored into his mind. The Phoenix had blasted him with telepathic energy in distraction, and so they had not seen the attack until it was too late. Psionic and the other teleporters, with the help of telepaths, teleported nearly everyone out before the collapse.

He had done what he could, had teleported both Echo and Barrier to safety, which was fortunate given the ruin which had been visited on that section of the city. He had even found the distant glimmers of Caleb, and had teleported his body to the Alliance's temporary base of operations in San Francisco.

"You did everything you could Michael" said Dr. Halden. The two of them stood beside a gurney upon which lay a solid block of strangely non-melting ice. The ice contained the perfectly preserved body of a strangely human looking Caleb. From Psionic's perspective, there seemed to be nothing wrong with him, there was no readily visible damage.

Tears came to Psionic's emerald green eyes at the sight of his friend. He had felt the man die, and so it came as no shock, but still it pained him to see the empty shell.

"I can't believe he's dead."

Dr. Halden stared at the frozen body, suddenly feeling very strange. His vision began to change as his eyes changed from green to violet. The image of Caleb shifted and he could see INSIDE him. He was finally experiencing his new mutant abilities, though was far from fully understanding them. Not only could he see the shattered bones of his neck, but could even see the normally invisible lines of precious life energy. He understood this wound far greater and in depth than any other he had ever encountered. He could see the pattern of Caleb's life, and where it had been broken. He looked up at Psionic, his violet eyes bright and unsettling to the younger man. He smiled broadly, an eerie expression given the circumstances.

"Maybe he doesn't have to be."

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Once again, I am shocked at how long this chapter turned out to be. I had originally planned Chapter 14 and 15 to be 1 chapter, but that clearly did not turn out that way. Also, I am once again forced to hope that you do not all hate me for the recent turn of events.

As always, I am willing and able to answer any questions or listen to any suggestions or comments you may have. I absolutely love feedback, so please feel free. My email is phoenixfire543@yahoo.com Thanks again everyone. -Matt