And then, with the parts of the location finally collected within the Cube, the Skull simply vanished in a burst of light.
A moment later, the X-Men came crashing down onto the carpet, the hold over them released.
“Some host he is,” Rogue said sarcastically as she sat up. “Didn’ even say ‘good night’ before runnin’ out on us.”
“Let us just hope, mein freund,” Nightcrawler said, helping Ororo to her feet, “that he has not—what is the expression?—‘stuck us with the bill’?”
That was about the point where the first tremors began.
“I hate it when ya say stuff like that, elf,” Wolverine muttered. “It just puts a jinx on the whole flamin’ thing.”
“There are times when I am in complete agreement with you, Logan,” Kurt replied with a sigh. “Especially in this case, since I appear to have left my wallet in my other costume ..
The floor lurched again, and this time the quake created a fissure along one wall. It started at the base, then began working its way up. Chunks of stone fell as it reached the ceiling.
“We have to evacuate!” Scott yelled. Using the Skull’s executive desk for support, he raised himself up, then pointed to the group’s unconscious doppelgangers. “Let’s get these people out of here! Move!” Rogue, Ororo, and Jean were the first to respond, because their powers allowed them to fly over the shaking floor. Jean telekinetically grabbed hold of her alternates; Rogue did likewise. Ororo, however, was momentarily brought up short when she saw that one of her duplicates was wearing a wedding band. Jean didn’t have the heart to tell her the poor woman was married to Doctor Doom—the thought that, in another lifetime, she might have willingly devoted herself to that tyrant would only haunt Ororo for the rest of her days. Her surprise lasted only a moment, though, before she focused on the task at hand.
“Hey! What about me?” asked a panicked voice.
A man in his early twenties stumbled toward them. He wore a dark gray uniform and black leather jackboots, his blond hair cut short, in the style worn by most young Nazis.
“You’re the Skull’s assistant!” Jean said. “I saw you skulking in the back of the room when he brought me here.”
“Er ... yes ma’am,” he said sheepishly. Another rumble shook the building, and now pieces of the ceiling began raining down. He looked up, wide-eyed, then turned back to Jean. “But, could we talk about this when we get outside, though ... ?”
Amazingly, Magneto—Magneto, of all people!—used his powers to shatter the room’s outer wall, then gathered together the Skull’s assistant, as well as the rest of the X-Men and their counterparts, in a protective magnetic bubble, and floated them away from the castle. The three women quickly joined them, and set their charges on the grass, just as the ground finally settled.
“Hey!” Gambit said, and pointed to the stronghold. “Does everybody see dat, too?”
As one, the heroes and villain turned to look.
There were three versions of the castle standing before them—but not separately. They overlapped in a phantom-like state, changing size and design from one moment to the next, becoming solid, then fading. It was difficult to look at the effect for long without feeling a dull headache.
“I believe we are seeing what happens when the Cosmic Cube has been removed from Earth,” Magneto said. “Without its energies to sustain the illusion, the world is returning to normal.”
“ ‘Normal’?” Jean said. She pointed to their alternates. “You think three versions of the same thing is normal? Don’t you understand what’s going on here?” She waved a hand around; the effect the castle was experiencing had spread across the countryside. The landscape looked like a picture taken out of focus. “This isn’t an illusion—this is all real! All these worlds, all these people, are real! I learned as much from communing with my ... other selves. And from what I could piece together, I think I’ve finally figured out what the flaw in the Cube is: It’s not changing the world, it’s finding other versions from the multitude of choices in the omniverse—and laying one on top of the other!” Lensherr started. “But that would mean there are—”
“Yes! Three different Earths, all trying to occupy the same space!” Jean concluded.
“An’ us caught right in the middle of ’em,” Rogue said. “As usual.” “And without the Skull to control the situation,” Jean continued, “the reality-cancer created by the Cube is going to start spreading again.”
Scott nodded grimly. “Which puts us right back where we started from . . . only in an even worse situation.”
Lensherr suddenly turned to the professor. “Charles, where is my daughter? Where is Anya?”
Xavier paused, then shook his head. “I... don’t know, Eric. When the Red Skull transformed the world—”
“You swore to me, Charles!” Lensherr roared. “You swore you would protect her! You swore you would keep her safe from the monsters running this planet!” He grabbed Xavier by the lapels of his jacket and hauled him to his feet. “You lied to me, Charles. You kept telling me that, in order for reality to be stabilized, nothing I created with the Cube had to remain—friends, family, the very world itself. But that wasn’t true, was it? If Phoenix is correct, that world has always existed—one where my daughter never died!” The hardness in his eyes subsided. “Don’t you realize what that means, Charles? I could have had her back! I could have held onto the piece of my soul that was tom from my breast long ago, when the fire consumed her.” The steel suddenly returned to his gaze, and his lips curled back in a snarl. “BUT YOU LOST HER, DAMN YOU!"
“Let ’im go, Magnus,” Wolverine growled, and clasped a hand on his shoulder. “I ain’t gonna say it twice.”
Lensherr turned his head to glare at him. Dark eyes flashed within the depths of the battle helmet, and the feral mutant was sent hurtling across the lawn. Wolverine bounced once, then rolled to his feet—and triggered his claws.
“That one ya get fer free,” he said, holding his lethal bio-weapons at the ready. “Now, I get one.”
The mutant overlord relaxed his grip on Xavier, and let him slide to the grass. Then he turned to face his adversary.
“What of all your bluster about dealing with the Red Skull first, Logan?” Lensherr asked.
“Skull ain’t here, bub,” Wolverine replied. He smiled coldly. “Means you get t’move t’the front’a the line ...”
“STOP IT! BOTH OF YOU!" Cyclops shouted. The two men came to a halt, and looked at him. “We don’t have time for this nonsense, damn it! We have to do something about this!”
“And what would you have us do, Summers?” Lensherr asked. “Create a new Cube before the world comes to an end? I don’t believe we have the luxury of time to work out the specifics.”
“So, you’d rather spend your last moments engaged in some senseless brawl?” Scott replied. “What happened to the great man of peace, who fought so hard to unite humanity and mutantkind?” Lensherr started to reply. “And don’t say it’s one of your other selves I’m talking about. You were the one who held the Cube, Magnus; yours was the will that directed the dream.”
The mutant overlord halted. “You ... are right,” he finally said, then turned back to Xavier. “I... am sorry, Charles. I should have realized the Cube would affect you as well. Like the rest of us, you were trapped within your alternate. There would have been no way for you to learn of where Anya was placed in this hellish world.” He looked past the professor, toward the uniformed man standing a few feet behind him. “But there is someone, I believe, who might know . . .”
Lensherr raised a hand, seized him in a magnetic grip, and yanked him across the short distance. Eyes glowing with rage, the mutant overlord seized him by the throat. “You are the Skull’s lackey. You would know where the location of prisoners is recorded. Tell me where I might find my daughter—or your master will have to find a new whipping boy.”
“Erik—don’t,” Xavier said.
The X-Men leapt forward to intervene, bu
t Magneto formed a magnetic bubble around himself and his prey. The heroes’ strongest blows simply bounced off.
The Nazi’s eyes bulged from his head as Lensherr tightened his grip. “I... don’t know what... you’re talking about...” he gasped. “The Controller ... didn’t tell me ... anything . ..”
“How unfortunate—for you,” Lensherr replied. “To die so young, and so ignorant...” •
“Wait. Wait!” the man screamed. “What... what’s her name?” “Anya Lensherr, you miserable worm. Her name is Anya Lensherr.” His victim started gazing from side to side, then up and down, as though searching his memories. “I know that name ... I... I’ve heard it somewhere ...” Then a nervous smile lit his features, and he looked to his costumed assailant. “I know! I know where she is!” He waved a hand toward the valley below—and a collection of military-style buildings there. “She’s at the camp! I saw her!”
“Are you certain?” Lensherr asked through gritted teeth. He closed his hand again.
“Yes! YES!” the Nazi cried, his face turning an unhealthy shade of red. “She—she’s in the band!” He whimpered. “Please ... please don’t kill me,” he whispered.
Lensherr sneered in disgust. “You are not even worth the effort.” And with that, he lowered the magnetic bubble and tossed the man to the heroes. “Here, X-Men—do what you wish with him. I have more important concerns.”
He took to the air, then, and sped toward the concentration camp. The ground began to tremble—another earthquake created by the trio of worlds shifting positions.
“What do you want us to do, Professor?” Scott asked.
“There is not a great deal we can do, given the circumstances,” Xavier replied. “And yet, we must do something, if only to help ease the suffering of those few we can aid—before the end comes.” He gazed at the distant figure of Magneto as he swooped toward the valley, purple cape flapping behind him like great wings. “Perhaps Erik has the right idea...”
“Now yer talkin’, Charlie,” Wolverine agreed.
Xavier nodded. “Come, X-Men—let us do some good.”
And with that, they hurried to join Magneto in liberating the camp.
No, they couldn’t save the world—not this time. But then no one ever said being an X-Man would be an easy job.
They could only do their best.
And sometimes that was enough.
The throne room had been transformed into a war zone, in just a matter of seconds. Having realized who it was that invaded “his” sanctum, von Doom roared in anger, and lost no time in attacking his hated rival.
The sides were evenly matched, however. Von Doom might possess the powers of a Supreme Guardian, but the Skull had those of the Cosmic Cube to call upon. The result was that a lot of destructive energy was being unleashed, but it was the Starlight Citadel—and those trapped aboard it—that would end up being tom apart, not the two combatants.
Grabbing hold of Roma, Betsy and Warren retreated from the battle to a safer position, outside the throne room. “Safer,” though, was a relative term, since there was really nowhere to go to escape from this cosmic Armageddon.
The main doors flew open, and the Captain Britain Corps came charging past them, only to come to an abmpt halt as they saw what was happening. It was clear they had no idea how to respond to this bizarre crisis, but it didn’t stop them from launching themselves into the fray, if only to protect the Guardian as she withdrew.
“I’m not sure they’re going to be enough, Roma!” Betsy shouted over the din.
“Nor do I, Elisabeth,” Roma admitted. “Yet, I am not strong enough to intercede, despite my powers.”
“Well, is there someone else you can bring in?” Warren asked. “Some other security team you can call on that’s in the citadel?”
Roma shook her head.
“What about their associates, m’lady?” Satumyne suggested. “The X-Men?” She paused. “If they weren’t destroyed by the Skull already, that is.”
Roma gazed at her lieutenant for a few moments, then: “Yes . ..” she replied. “Yes, there may be a way...” She turned to Betsy and Warren. .. but it will require your assistance.”
“Just tell us what to do,” Betsy said.
Roma nodded. “Both of you have experienced the effects of the Cosmic Cube, and both of you have journeyed to and from the Infected Earth. It is possible, therefore, that your contact with the Cube’s energies will allow me to penetrate the barrier that has prevented me from seeing events on your world, and reach your teammates.” Gently, she placed the tips of her fingers against their foreheads. “I need you to concentrate on your friends. Picture them in your thoughts, feel them within your hearts. Focus on all they are, all they mean to you—and summon them.”
Betsy stared at the Guardian standing before her, then beyond. She could see the swirling energies of the vortex in her mind, hear the song of the Cube as the Skull drew upon its vast cosmic power. She closed her eyes and thought of the X-Men—the people who were always there for her, who stood by her in some of her darkest hours. The people who had saved her soul when she’d almost made a fatal decision on von Doom’s world. She loved them all, cherished their friendships, wished more than anything that they could be with her right now, when she and the universe needed their help so badly.
And when she opened her eyes, the X-Men were there.
They glanced at their surroundings, obviously surprised to find themselves suddenly back at the citadel. Wolverine noted the war raging between the Skull and von Doom, and turned to the Guardian and her entourage.
“Somebody call fer backup?” he asked.
“Wow ...” Warren whispered.
Betsy glanced at him, and smiled. “That, luv, is truly an understatement .. .”
22
T HERE WAS no time for a proper reunion. Once the situation be-I came clear to the X-Men, they immediately moved to assist the I * I remaining members of the Captain Britain Corps who were still standing. There weren’t many—most hadn’t lasted long against the kind of energies being cast about by the two villains.
The Skull charged the throne, apparently outraged that he’d already been beaten to the seat of power. The dictator responded by hurling bolts of black energy at the invader, but the Cube’s power was more than a match for them; under the Skull’s control, it absorbed the discharges, then fired them back at von Doom. The tyrant deflected the bolts, and they exploded against a wall—one extremely close to a certain pulpit-like stand... and the delicate slivers of quartz contained there.
“The crystals!” Roam shouted. “If they destroy the crystals, all is lost!”
That was all the X-Men needed to hear before they attacked, Betsy and Warren at their side. They had literally gone through hell to protect the omniverse from the taint of the flawed Cube; they weren’t about to let two of the villains who had so selfishly abused its power destroy the remaining dimensions in some cosmic territorial firefight.
The chamber shook as Storm created a miniature weather system high above, then summoned down bolts of lightning that struck their enemies time and again, without success. Rogue, and Wolverine tried a more physical approach, but their strongest blows only bounced off the protective barriers that had formed around the combatants. Cyclops’s eye beams, likewise, were ineffective, as were the kinetically-charged playing cards thrown by Gambit. And yet, despite the intensity of the attack, neither villain turned their attention toward the costumed men and women who kept trying to reach them.
“It is as if they do not even know we are here,” Nightcrawler observed.
“They don’t,” Jean said. “Their thoughts ... They’re so far removed from what’s going on around them, so focused on their hatred for one another, that nothing else exists for them.”
“Well, at the rate things are going around here,” Warren said, “that might not be too far off the mark. If this place comes down around our ears, the only ones who’ll still exist will be those two.”
“Then we’d better do something to get their attention, people!” Cyclops ordered.
They launched another attack, pooling their resources with those of the recovering Captain Britains—and slowly, they began to crack the barriers.
Von Doom’s, surprisingly, was the first to give, and Betsy couldn’t help but wonder if perhaps Roma had something to do with it. Maybe the power he’d stolen was finite, and would have needed recharging. Whatever the reason, the armored dictator suddenly found himself cast down from the metaphorical heavens he had sought to claim, reduced once more to the lowly status of just another human being—one who was quickly swarmed over by an army of Union Jack-clad warriors.
The X-Men, meanwhile, focused their attention on the Red Skull. He stumbled back under the attack, the heel of his boot catching on the lip of the very pit he’d created when he’d made his entrance. Unfortunately for him, his startled reflex to regain his balance instinctively caused his clenched hands to open—and the Cube to fall out of his grasp.
“NO!” he cried.
Without thinking, he twisted around and made a desperate jump to retrieve it, apparently too surprised to simply call it back to him.
But it was Betsy who caught it, leaping over him to wrap her hands around the device. Warren swooped in and caught her around the waist before she could fall, then deposited her on the far side of the pit.
The Skull, however, was not as fortunate. He plummeted into the pit, and continued falling. All the way to the bottom of the tunnel—and into the void that swirled beyond the walls of the citadel.
“Roma—I have the Cube!” Betsy called out.
“Then make use of it, Elisabeth!” the Guardian replied. “Return to Earth and undo the damage that has been wrought! Put matters to right, before it is too late!”
chaos engine trilogy Page 98
