Date: Mon, 1 Jun 2009 18:25:28 -0700 (PDT)
From: P G <phoenixfire543@yahoo.com>
Subject: Mutation: Chapter 18

*Disclaimer*

I do not own the rights to any of the original 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 18 -- "Invincible"

"Hope begins in the dark, the stubborn hope that if you just show up and
try to do the right thing, the dawn will come." - Anne Lamott



Belial sat on the Seat of Winter, enjoying the regality and power of it.
Though the chair was glacial underneath him, he was not uncomfortable.  As
IceHeart's newly appointed Regent, Belial ruled the city while the King was
away.  But he would be back soon, he never stayed away from his throne for
long.

He looked out the massive window on the other side of the throne room at
the city of Chicago.  The once vibrant city was cold and desolate.  The
majority of the buildings were frosted over, the streets ice rinks.
Directly in view was the river down which IceHeart had made his first
devastating entrance into the city.  The city on either side of the river
was ruined, the frozen waters having shattered the stone barriers which
were supposed to contain them.  The stone bases of the buildings had
broken, bringing skyscrapers down to their doom.  The bridges spanning the
river were gone, nothing but broken stone remained atop the ice.  Only a
few buildings were destroyed, the majority had remained intact after the
city had surrendered.  Despite how it looked, almost all of the city's
population remained, they merely stayed indoors where they felt safe and
warm.

Belial found himself troubled as he looked out at the city.  He was a
mutant sitting on a throne ruling over a human city, what more could he ask
for?  And yet he could not help wonder if all of this was truly necessary.
He did what he could, made sure that the population was well fed, that the
power plants worked well to keep lights and heat functioning.  He
reestablished television for the city, though few stations produced
anything to watch anymore.

Belial felt himself growing less and less devoted to his King.  He had
joined the Brotherhood like so many others, in response to the
U.S. government's Mutant Registration Act, an unacceptable act of
discrimination.  Having to live his daily life as a second class citizen
had been bad enough, but to be treated like a criminal waiting to happen
was too much.  After joining the Brotherhood, he had served as one of the
Phoenix's personal guards and agents, as she preferred to enlist fire
mutants.  He had learned much under her tutelage, the depth of her
knowledge about fire and about powers in general was incredible.  But the
Phoenix had been going in the wrong direction for him, her aims more
towards furthering her own power and proving her own superiority than
establishing a world where humans and mutants could be equal.  Then
IceHeart had emerged, a more focused and equally powerful leader.  Belial
had volunteered to accompany the Phoenix's new ally to Salt Lake City to
establish a new front.

But IceHeart was not what Belial had hoped either.  While he was indeed
cooler headed than his counterpart, he was too much so.  He was so
emotionally detached from his desire to 'serve the greater good' that he
was committing deplorable acts to do so.  He was immeasurably powerful and
shockingly ruthless.  His brutal tactics had steamrolled every adversary he
had come against without exception.  His enemies fled before him and
retreated without engagement, though Belial knew that could not last.
IceHeart would have to fight a major battle soon, because nobody could give
any more ground.  He would either turn to battle the combined forces of the
Hero's Alliance and the militaries of the nations of North America, or
against the Phoenix and her Brotherhood.  One of the three would be
destroyed, and there was little doubt that the death and destruction
involved would be cataclysmic.

Regent Belial surveyed his borrowed throne room with his dark eyes, his
mind clouded with uncertainty.  He was on the verge of a world he had
always wanted, but now he was unsure.  What if the ends really do justify
the means?  Does the peaceful world left over after slaughtering your
enemies really count as peaceful?  Does crushing a small number underfoot
in order to secure a future for the masses tarnish the goal?  He found
himself trapped in the middle of a three-way war, and an internal struggle.

If he served faithfully until the end, and retained all of the power given
to him when the world was remade, would he regret it?

If he turned his back on the best chance for a world without greed and
dissension, could he live with himself?

****************************************

The IceHeart King stood atop the ocean, lingering with the sensation of
being connected to so large a body of water.  The water gave him perfectly
detailed information about the entire space it occupied.  In this case, he
received a snapshot of the entire Pacific Ocean, including all of the ships
of the fleet the Alliance tried so hard to hide from him.  He saw the
distant coasts of countries had had not yet invaded, undersea mountains,
undiscovered islands, and even the remains of long lost civilizations
buried by centuries of ocean.  But none of these were of interest to
IceHeart.  His mind was focused on the outlines of the city he could just
barely see through his enhanced eyes.  Seattle, the only West Coast city to
be captured by the Brotherhood, under a long-standing siege by Alliance
forces.

IceHeart had long pondered his strategic position.  He was the dominant
force of the world, with most of Europe and Asia under his foot, and the
U.S. broken into pieces.  He needed to choose a direction to go in next.
Should he focus on the most powerful remaining human civilization, and
crush the immense army of China? Or should he turn to one of his closer
neighbors, the real threats, the Alliance and the Brotherhood?  Of course,
the logical choice was to destroy one of the true threats to his power.
Humans could always be conquered later.  After all, he was not about to run
out of water now was he?

But which should he destroy first? The Phoenix was the most powerful single
opponent he had, and had a vast army of humans-turned-mutant and clones
behind her.  But, the Alliance had a large number of very powerful
individuals and groups, and had the advantage of feeling that they were the
good guys.  Their leader, Professor Xavier was himself extremely
formidable, his telepathic powers a difficult roadblock for IceHeart.  It
was through Xavier's mental ministrations that he had not been able to
raise his frozen armies from the water within the borders of the Alliance.
IceHeart's instinct was to destroy Xavier first, beheading the Alliance and
ripping them apart from within with legions of elementals.  But the forces
of the Hero's Alliance were strong of heart; they would not fall by the
wayside if they lost their leader.  He could spend months hunting down all
the small pockets of resistance that would form after they splintered.  The
Brotherhood however, was full of weak minds.  They had a core of strong
lead mutants, but the vast majority of their forces were disgruntled
mutants, former criminals given artificial mutations, and clones.  If the
head was taken off of their operation, the whole thing would fall apart
neatly.  The splinter groups which formed afterward would be too small to
be meaningful, easily torn apart by his elemental army.

Should he make the cleaner kill, and take on the brotherhood first?  Or
should he save his greatest enemy for last and wipe out the Alliance?  The
decision was difficult, and the fate of the world depended on him making
the correct one.  But for now it did not matter.  He had found a way to
hurt both of his enemies, and wipe out a great symbol of the useless
infighting he was trying to save humanity from.  Seattle, a strategically
useless city, was being fought over day and night by both sides, and had
been for months.  Countless lives were being wasted in the effort.  It was
disgusting.

So he would end it.  IceHeart grasped firmly in his mind the vast quantity
of water surrounding him, and began to gather it together.  The ocean's
surface surged and began to rise as water pulled together.  The water rose
up, causing the horizon to change for those standing on the distant shore.
An immense wave formed and surged forward, growing taller and taller as it
approached the shore.  Soon those in the city began to realize what was
happening as a wall of water slowly blocked out the western sky.

Even though he was miles away, IceHeart could still hear the people scream
as their doom fell upon them.  The water at the shore retreated to join the
tsunami as it neared the city, leaving the shallower waters of the
coastline nothing but bare sand and exposed sea life.  The tidal wave
struck hard, the water seemingly as solid as steel as it smashed apart
everything in its path.  Brotherhood, Alliance, and civilian, it did not
matter, all were crushed by the destructive wave, by the hand of the god of
water.  IceHeart felt every bit of it, as he remained attached to the water
molecules of the wave in his mind.  The wave progressed for miles inland
before it was stopped by the earth, but it had long since taken its toll.
The city was leveled.  Much of the wreckage was pulled out to sea when the
wave pulled back to the ocean, leaving bare ground.  The damage to the
coast was catastrophic, and the shape of the western coat of Washington
State was never
 the same again.

IceHeart watched the ruination, and wondered at how he felt nothing for it.
He barely remembered a time when he felt anything for anything.  He no
longer grieved for his broken and dead heart.

****************************************

Scott Summers approached his bedroom door, eager to finally sleep in his
own bed again.  He was run down, exhausted.  His black leather X-Men
uniform was unzipped completely to the waist, and Scott's lightly haired,
sweaty, muscled torso was on display for anyone walking by. He had been
sent from base to base all over Alliance territory, sent to take care of
all manner of problems.  He had fought many skirmishes, though the number
of major battles was greatly reduced recently.  His entire body ached from
fighting, from sleeping on the ground, and from trying to do everything he
could as the leader of the Professor's X-Men.

Scott opened the door, and stepped into the dark room, grateful that it was
cool and quiet. He dropped his black duffel unceremoniously to the floor.
He pushed the door shut behind him and stretched his sore muscles.  He did
not take more than a step further into the room when he was hit from the
side by a shadow in the darkness.  The assailant shoved him hard, and he
flew several feet and landed on the bed face down.  He felt the weight of
his attacker on top of him, felt their hands grasp his wrists in powerful
grips, and pinning his body to the bed.  He struggled against the extremely
heavy body pinning him down, but could not shift the weight from his weak
position.  A rough surface rubbed against Scott's neck, and he heard the
sound of a deep inhalation.  His attacker ran his unshaven jaw along
Scott's skin and breathed deep his scent.  Scott knew he smelled ripe with
sweat and exhaustion, but he also knew that his lover preferred him that
way.

Wolverine growled from deep in his chest, the smell of his man filthy and
sweating turned him on even more than he already was.  A scraping sound
rang out as he extended one of his claws, and sliced straight down the back
of Scott's uniform.  Wolverine pulled the uniform open, and began smelling
down Cyclops's back, licking the sweat droplets off as he went.  He worked
his way down, and tore the opening further to expose Scott's perfect, solid
ass. Logan buried his face in the beautiful ass, inhaling his man's scent,
and tonguing his hole.

Scott moaned loudly, and bucked his hips backward, grinding his ass back
into Wolverine's face.  His cock was rock hard beneath him, pinned to the
bed where he couldn't get to it.  Logan delved deeper and deeper into him,
and brought his hand down on his ass hard.  Scott yelped, and then growled
in appreciation.  Wolverine gripped his meaty ass in his hands, spreading
them wider and diving in deeper.

It didn't take long to loosen up Cyclops.  He was eager for Logan's cock,
desperate for it.  He felt Logan climb up his body, and felt the man's big
hairy pecs against his own muscular back.  Wolverine laid down atop his
lover, and Scott sighed as the weight settled on him.  He squirmed when
Wolverine's thick cock settled between his ass cheeks, teasing him with
what he wanted but without giving it to him.  Logan growled in Scott's ear,
and the sound only turned him on.  Scott felt the man's stubble against his
own, and then felt his sharp teeth sliding against his neck.  He bucked
upward, grinding his ass and Logan's cock together harder, and fought the
urge to beg for it.  It turned him on more when Wolverine just took what he
wanted.

Logan positioned his slicked-up cock at the wet and loosened entrance to
Scott's ass, and gently eased forward.  Scott grunted loudly as the fat
head popped in.  Logan breathed deeply into his lover's ear as he pushed
his hips forward, sliding the entire 9" length in at once.  Scott buried
his face in the sheets to keep from screaming in delight.  His cock swelled
when Logan's hips rested against his ass, knowing he was fully impaled.

The pace Wolverine set was not gentle or loving.  He pulled out and thrust
full-length into Scott, slamming forward as hard as he could manage.
Scott's body rocked beneath him, being pushed into the bed.  A slapping
sound filled the air each time they two sweat-covered men came together.
Scott's face knocked into the bed hard, and his red sunglasses fell off of
his face.  He had to close his eyes tightly to keep his optic blasts
contained.  The result was that he was pinned down, effectively
blindfolded, and getting fucked savagely by a muscle-covered man with a
long thick cock.

Wolverine was braced with one hand holding Scott's tot he bed and the other
on his lover's sweat-slick back.  He admired the curves of muscle which
shone through the skin on the man's back.  He loved the way they bulged out
as Scott squirmed beneath him.  He loved the way the solid muscle ass
bounced every time his hips slammed into it.  And he loved how just
treating his man this roughly would make him cum.

Soon Cyclop's shouts of pleasure were too loud to be stifled by the bed.
Wolverine's grunts as he thrust became deeper and more bestial, and loud
enough to be heard down the hallway.  He felt his cum boiling in his loins,
eager to be released.  He tried to hold out, but it had been so long and
Scott was so hot.  Wolverine screamed savagely as the first shot od cum
burst forth from his cock deep into Cyclops's ass.

Cyclops' breath left him as he felt Logan's thick cock grow even thicker
within him.  The combination of the time since his last release, the kink
of being dominated and used, his love of the man doing it, and the fact
that his ass was being bred threw him over the edge.  His cock exploded
beneath him, firing wave after wave of cum into the sheets.  The two men
came together, each shot forcing Scott's ass backward and Logan's cock
forward.

For a minute, the two men stayed together, each gasping for air and bathing
in the afterglow.  Logan released Scott's hands, and settled down to lay
beside him.  Scott felt around and found his sunglasses.  Once he was able
to, he opened his eyes and turned to look at the man he had missed so much.
They shared a long, tender needy kiss, then Logan wrapped his arms around
Scott as he settled his face onto his chest.

"I missed you" said Scott, his hand tracing the lines of Logan's chest.

"I missed you too" Logan answered, and kissed him on the forehead.

****************************************

"I don't understand" said Wolverine to the Professor.  "Why can't you just
invade IceHeart's mind and shut him down?"

Professor Xavier looked up from the report he was reading.  He sat in his
new office in Alliance HQ in San Francisco with his leading X-Men.  They
sat around a map not dissimilar to Admiral Nealson's, examining the swiftly
growing white space that denoted the area of influence surrounding the Seat
of Winter.  "IceHeart's mind has extended much too far.  To reach out and
subdue a man's mind is not a very difficult task for me, even with Cerebro
destroyed.  But IceHeart has spread his mind out further than any I have
ever encountered, his consciousness is literally permeating the frozen
earth of most of the Northern Hemisphere.  Each of the possibly millions of
elementals he has is another vessel for him.  All of the ice of his
territory adds to his power, gives him more to draw upon.  This adds to
both his physical and mental strength."

"Is he more powerful than you Professor?" asked Scott.

"With a team of psychics, it may be possible that he could be restrained or
overwhelmed at his current power level, but he would need to draw his
consciousness back together first.  Otherwise, it would be like poking
holes in a blanket, there is no place to concentrate the attack."

"How can we get him to draw his mind entirely to one place?" asked Storm.

"We give him something very, very interesting to pay attention to" answered
Scott.

"Got any ideas One-Eye?" Logan asked.  Cyclops smirked at the teasing name.

"As a matter of fact I do."

***************************************

Iceman moved quietly through the frozen streets of Salt Lake City, careful
to keep out of sight of the regular patrols of elementals.  In the past
month the city had become a bit more hospitable, with the temperature
increased to a more tolerable level and the citizens allowed outdoors
during daylight hours.  He wore plainclothes rather than his leather X-Men
uniform, but was still afraid that IceHeart would recognize him in the eyes
of his slaves.  He moved down a different street, this one devoid of
elemental guards.  He nodded to passing citizens who shuffled along and
barely noticed him.  He held his long black jacket close to him, more for
show than because he was actually cold.  Gradually he made his way toward
the meeting of the Salt Lake resistance movement.

Bobby slipped into the abandoned school and made his way to the auditorium
where the meeting was held this week.  Over 40 people, mostly humans but
some mutants, crowded the area toward the front of the auditorium.  Heads
raised to see him enter, and he was beckoned over to the front.  He strode
forward to stand next to a middle aged man with red hair, a speedster
mutant.  Many of the people here treated him with suspicion, since he was
not from this city and because his powers were similar to those of
IceHeart, at least from a human perspective.

"Bobby, I need your help" said the man with red hair.  "They won't listen
to reason."

"What's wrong Streak?"

"It's been over a month since Castle IceHeart flew off, we're sitting here
under the watchful eyes of elementals and the handful of mutants he left
behind.  We need to take to the streets, wipe them out and take back our
city."

"And what happens when that monster comes back?" asked a woman.  "He'll
kill us all for defying him."

"Then why are we here?" asked a younger girl, a teenager.  "If we're afraid
of him killing us for fighting back, why are we organizing to resist?"

"We all want to fight this" answered another man, "but that doesn't mean we
shouldn't be smart about it."

"We ARE being smart" answered Streak.

"Can we at least TRY to remember that the Mayor asked us not to do this?
He made a deal!"

"We cannot accept LESS oppression, we have RIGHTS!" answered Streak.  "That
sociopath doesn't get to make decisions 'for the good of humanity'.  We
don't have the luxury of hiding and doing nothing while people are out
there dying!"

The room was silent for a full minute.  Bobby broke the silence.

"Alex was my friend once.  I'm sure some of you knew him too.  But he
cannot be allowed to continue as he is.  This fight isn't about whether or
not we can kill Iceheart when he returns, and he will.  It doesn't matter
if we die, it matters that we stood up and fought.  We have to show
IceHeart that we will not stand idly by while he destroys everything."

One by one, the majority of the room agreed, that to do nothing was to
surrender to a lifetime of oppression and servitude.  To fight may be to
die, but it would show their tyrant that he had not broken them, and show
the world that there was hope to resist.  They divided up, agreeing to
gather the rest of the resistance, their entire force, and all of their
weapons and resources.  Tonight, the people would rise up to destroy the
mindless occupying soldiers that had ravaged their home, or they would die
trying.

*******************************

It was time.  It was now or never.  The lines had been drawn, and further
violence was inevitable.  The only question left was who would make the
first move, and who would be standing at the end of it all.

They gathered, all of the fighters the Alliance could bear to commit to a
single engagement.  The X-Men, the Fantastic Four, Iron Man and War
machine, an assortment of other superheroes, and members of the
U.S. Special Forces and S.H.I.E.L.D. agents assembled on a field in San
Francisco, preparing themselves for the battle ahead.  They divided into
pre-arranged battle groups, in an attempt to maintain order once they were
in the fray.

The Shadow Man walked in front of the army, and faced away from the host.
He raised his hands, and purple-velvety darkness began to surround him.
The air in front of the army began to warp and shift, twisting like a
distorted television.  Through the twisted patch of reality the tall
buildings of a city could be seen.  They felt a chill wind grow in the air
with the opening of the portal, a gust from the frozen circle of hell.  The
army stepped forward, and with each step crossed miles, until mere moments
later they had traveled across the majority of United States.  They felt a
harsh change in temperature, and a sudden loss of traction beneath them.
Looking around, the army came out the other side of the temporary wormhole
connecting the two points in space.

The Alliance Army looked ahead, their collective gaze centering on Castle
IceHeart looming above the frozen Lake Michigan.  Beneath their feet was
only the frozen surface of the lake.

They came to cast down a king.

Dr. Halden, newly christened Chi, followed his squad commander Gambit, the
tall cajun mutant with a thick accent and sharp tongue.  Chi was serving in
this battle partially as combatant but primarily as field medic, being one
of the few with both mutant powers and medical expertise.  Beside him stood
his new friend and confidant Ghost, his wingman in this fight.  The squad
formed up on each other in their formal place amidst the battle group, and
announced their readiness.

Anole cracked his knuckles and flexed his large carapace-covered right arm.
He stood beside Spiderman, waiting on Iron Man and War Machine for their
signal.

Johnny Storm's body was outlined in orange, ready to burst into flame in a
moment.  Beside him stood The Thing, a massive rock of a man, and his
sister Susan.  Reed Richards, leader of the Fantastic Four, gave him an
unspoken sign to stay at the ready.  There would be no acting out of turn.

Barrier's gaze met Jubilee's, the girl gave him a reassuring smile.  She
knew this was hard for him, especially without Will beside him, his best
friend.  Each stood at the ready, looking toward Storm in preparation.

Caleb checked his weapons one final time, and hefted his heavy riot shield
in his left hand. He adjusted his body armor, and glanced around at the
other human soldiers he would be fighting with. They were all tense and
ready, waiting for their moment.  Colonel Nick Fury stood at the front of
the group, focused and prepared.

Echo looked toward Cyclops, his squad leader, and awaited the signal to
move.  The taller mutant, the leader of the X-men and General for this
battle, sounded the attack.  He raised his gaze into the air and let loose
a bright crimson optic blast into the sky.  The blast cut the cloud cover
and broke the silence, signaling the surge forward.  The army broke into
stride toward the ramp which lead to the gates of Castle Iceheart.  The
ramp was wide now, able to accommodate two dozen men abreast comfortably,
which greatly aided progress upward.

Nothing moved to stop them.  Their progress was so swift and unencumbered
that many began to get unnerved.  Surely the god of the ice had felt it
when an army stepped onto his frozen lake?

"Halt!" bellowed a voice as they approached the top of the ice ramp.  "Who
dares approach the gates of His Majesty, the Iceheart King?"  On the frozen
castle walls above the closed gate stood a single man, one that none in the
army recognized, a tall dark haired man wearing no sleeves in the bitterly
cold environment.

"We have come to demand your master's surrender" answered Cyclops, his
hands by his side but ready to fly to his visor in a moment.  "He has
committed terrible acts against the citizens of this country, against the
people of this world.  He must answer for his crimes."

"The King will do no such thing.  I am the Regent Belial, and I speak for
the King.  He does not recognize your authority and commands you to leave
this place."  The dark eyes of Belial met the red visor of Cyclops, and
they betrayed no fear.

"We will not leave until justice has been served" answered Cyclops.

"Very well then."  Belial smiled, a deceptively attractive smile He clapped
his hands together once, the sound echoed across the smooth ice of the
fortress.  Gasps escaped many mouths as water and ice elementals flowed out
of the walls of the castle, seeming to pass through them like air.  The
elementals advanced toward the army, their numbers growing by the second as
more and more flowed out from the fortress.  The Frost Legion advanced on
the Alliance army, which was quickly becoming outnumbered.

A brilliant flash of crimson cut through the blue tinted air as Cyclops cut
down a dozen elementals with an optic blast, shattering their bodies with
it's brute force.  More took their place however, and even more after that.
Elementals began to form out of the ice ramp itself, and soon the size
began to dwindle, and the army was pressed upon both from above and below.
The water elementals threw orbs of icy water at their enemies, chilling
them to the bone and sapping their strength.  The ice elementals sent large
needle-like ice shards towards their enemies like bullets.

The others joined the fray, a myriad of mutant powers and advanced
technologies lashing out to smash into the mindless soldiers.

Chi saw a water elemental surging toward him, and reached desperately for
his powers.  He saw before him the weak outline of the elemental, and the
bright center which contained a portion of the energy of IceHeart, it's
guiding presence.  Chi held out his hand and summoned the energy with his
mind.  The energy ripped from the body of it's prison, which fell away like
so much useless water, to form an orb of rainbow colored energy in Chi's
hand.  Chi then turned and unleashed the orb, using it to smash a large
chunk out of an ice elemental which had been about to hit Gambit from
behind.  The seasoned mutant took advantage of the borrowed time, and
smashed the elemental aside with his staff.  The staff released the kinetic
energy Gambit stored within it, and blew the elemental apart. He followed
with a blurred motion of his hand, releasing a playing card glowing with
reddish-purple energy at the next elemental in line.  The card exploded on
impact, shattering the ice soldier to ruins.

Echo dodged the incoming splinter of ice, a bullet-like projectile launched
by an elemental.  Harnessing the sound waves of the battle around him, he
released a sonic boom which knocked the elemental off the side of the ramp.
If the monster had had a mouth, it would have screamed before shattering
when it hit the frozen lake far below.

A flash of green light caught Barrier's attention, and he saw a brilliant
fireball of acid-green flames pass overhead.  The fireball slammed into the
midst of the army and splattered, sending globules of liquid green fire
raining over the combatants.  Battle-hardened warriors screamed in pain as
they burned on contact, the flames refusing to be snuffed out in normal
ways.  Another green fireball passed ahead, and another, and another.  The
rain of destruction cast the battle into chaos, those unable to protect
themselves sprinting for safe cover, of which there was little.  Barrier
raised a wall of energy before a group of Marine's, and the green fire
washed over them, leaving them unharmed.  Another streaked toward his own
battle group, and he shielded them likewise.  The fire would not go out
however, and continued to burn while resting atop his shield like burning
pitch, only inches from his skin.  The energy drain from the ever burning
fire was becoming too much for Barrier to hold up, and part slipped
through. A glob of green fel-fire splashed across his right arm, and he
screamed in agony as pain exploded into his mind.  His shield released by
instinct, sending the remaining fire to the ground.  Barrier's arm was
coated in liquid fire which refused to be rolled of stamped out.  He
resisted the urge to scream in agony as the pain spiked into hi mind.  A
sudden gust of icy wind crossed his path, and Barrier's pain quickly
lessened to a tolerable level.  A wind mutant had blown the globules away
over the side of the ramp.  Barrier looked at his right arm, which was
horribly burned and discolored all the way up to the shoulder.  He would
carry a scar forever.

Caleb dodged and rolled as a water elemental attempted to engulf him in its
arctic body.  As he went past his assailant, Caleb pulled one of the small
round explosives from his belt and tossed it into the water.  The explosive
clung in the center of the water elemental, and after 2 seconds exploded,
reducing the soldier to a myriad of puddles.

"DOWN!" yelled a soldier behind him, and Caleb hit the deck, diving to the
ground.  A bazooka missile streaked by above him and slammed into an
incoming cluster of elementals.  The missile drove completely through the
water elemental in front, and exploded on impact with an ice elemental
behind it.  The explosion tore the group apart, sending water droplets and
ice crystals in all directions.  Caleb rushed forward to take advantage of
the chaos caused by the explosion.  Only a few elementals were left of the
group, and several of those were crumbling beneath the explosive bullets of
the soldiers.  Caleb's huge bulk moved swiftly and gracefully as he dodged
right and left to avoid the elementals' attacks.  He raised his riot shield
high to stop the projectiles, and slammed full force into an ice soldier.
He pushed out with his riot shields, forcing the creature over the side of
the ramp and falling to its end.

Johnny Storm flew through the air, easily dodging the relatively slow green
fireballs of Belial.  A trail of orange flame flowed behind him, tracing
his path through the air.  He made his way toward the Regent, determined to
stop the bombardment which threatened the Alliance's entire offensive.
Tracing different patterns through the sky were Angel to his right and
Storm to his left, the latter riding a whirlwind of her own making.  Iron
Man and War Machine spiraled in from the side, the rockets in the feet of
their battle armor leaving trails of smoke in the sky.

Johnny whirled away as a green fireball streaked past him.  More and more
fire rose to meet the attackers, as well as many shards of ice.  They
dodged the attacks well, but there were too many.  Angel screamed when an
ice bullet punctured one of his wings, throwing him into a spiral.  He
screamed again as green fire caught him, setting his other wing ablaze.
Angel struggled to land on the ramp, not wanting to fall all the way down
to the lake surface.  Johnny saw an Alliance teleporter move to take him
out of the battle zone.  Storm unleashed lightning bolts from her hands,
the blinding white light streaking toward the Regent.  Elementals threw
themselves into the way, blocking the attacks but were destroyed in the
process.  Regent Belial turned his fire on her.  Storm countered with
whirlwinds, but the strange nature of the green fel-fire worked against
her.  The fireball broke up when it encountered the wind, but merely spread
out rather than dissipating, causing Storm's hair and cloak to catch fire.
Her concentration broke and she fell to the battlements not far below her.
Johnny intercepted a fireball headed toward Iron Man, knowing the heat
would not harm him.  He was correct, the heat of the green fire did not
harm him, but it still burned him with an acid-like quality, burning holes
all over his blue suit before he managed to extinguish it.

Johnny made a run at the Regent, launching his own fireballs.  The orange
and green fires crashed together in the air, and ripped each other apart
Where the orange fire hit the ice, it smoked and steamed, but little damage
appeared on the castle battlements.  After his first pass Johnny had wiped
out a dozen elemental guards, but had not gotten close to the Regent
himself.  Iron man and War Machine made a tandem pass, launching missiles
and energy blasts.  The rain of destruction was impressive, the kinetic
power of the missiles blasting elementals apart and blowing chunks out of
the castle walls.  But the Regent stood firm, destroying any missiles
heading his way long before they reached him.  The barrage of green fire he
launched in response was devastating, and sent both battle-armored men
careening from the sky trailing black smoke.

Johnny came around for a second pass, his fire burning brighter and hotter
so that he may fly faster.  He flew straight at the Regent, meeting his
green fireballs with orange.  The Human Torch landed atop the castle wall
at a run, and the two fire masters clashed above the gates of the fortress.
A wave of green fel-fire slammed into an onslaught of orange fire, and the
two forces strove against each other.  Green liquid fire poured down on the
center of the mutants, collecting like a pool, burning the blue ice beneath
it.  Johnny's entire body spewed flame, a firestorm poured from his body at
ever increasing temperatures.  Regent Belial's face was screwed up in
concentration, attempting to match the firepower of the Human Torch, He
stood alone, all the elemental guards in his immediate vicinity having been
destroyed.  Acid green fire filled his eyes and poured off both of his
arms, striving against his foe.

A blinding light and crackling sound pulled Belial's concentration from the
Human Torch.  Rising on a whirlwind, her singed silver cape flapping around
her, was Storm, her white eyes filled with fury.  White lightning crackled
around her, static filling the space between the strands of her hair.  Each
of her hands lashed out, pure stands of energy blasted from them and tore
through the intervening space faster than Belial could possibly counter.
The first bolt burned through Belial's right thigh, the second through his
left shoulder.  The electricity seared the nerves throughout the Regent's
body, filling his vision with white light and blocking out all else.  He
fell hard onto the ice, smoke trailing out of the holes that now lead
through his body.  The wounds were cauterized and would not bleed, but the
agony they inflicted was impossible to ignore.

Belial's vision came back slowly as some of his pain fell into the
background, and saw the faces of Johnny and Storm.  Johny's hands were both
filled with flames, and electricity crackled between Storms fingertips.

"Please" said Belial, his voice shaking pitifully, "don't kill me.  I
surrender."

The two heroes looked at each other, and both extinguished their powers.
They would not harm and injured man who had surrendered.  They called
teleporters to them to take the injured Regent into custody.

                              *****************************

The Phoenix sat upon her obsidian throne in Brotherhood-occupied New York
City.  Her eyes were closed, as she saw with her other senses.  Her mind
traveled many hundreds of miles to where she could watch her enemies fight
each other.  She could feel the pain and death being inflicted upon the
IceHeart King's foes, and grinned a sickening grin.  She felt the emotional
strain as IceHeart's former friends and loved ones pushed forward on their
grim quest to rid the world of his evil.

Noble sacrifice.  It was such a beautiful term for most, symbol of some of
the greatest qualities of mankind.  But it filled the Phoenix's mouth with
a foul taste.  She was intensely satisfied that her plan had worked out so
well, that at last she had set up IceHeart to destroy their mutual enemies.
She would have preferred that he not made such a solid run for ruler of the
world before he got around to it, but she was more than up to the task of
dealing with him.

The Phoenix was divided, unsure of which side she wished to prevail.
Either the X-Men would be destroyed, or IceHeart would be, and he would
take the heart and soul of the Alliance with him to the grave.  Either way,
her path to the throne of the world would be a short one.

The Phoenix settled back to watch the battle.

******************************

The battle at the gate was bloody and hard, but the Alliance forces slowly
gained ground.  A brilliant red blast from Cyclops shattered the gates,
granting them entrance.  The army began to move into the courtyard between
the outer walls and the main structure of the palace.  Without warning, a
host more elementals formed from the broken ice of the outer walls, and
surrounded the army.  More elementals emerged on the ramp behind them,
cutting off any escape.  They could not overcome the elemental army, their
numbers were limitless.  The Alliance had to make a break for it, before
the ice was dyed red with the blood of heroes.

A team of X-Men broke through; Cyclops, Storm, Wolverine, Colossus, and
Rogue ran through the smashed inner doors and entered the main body of the
fortress.  A huge contingent of elementals followed them through, desperate
to protect their master.  Following through the gap, The Human Torch, Echo,
Chi, Barrier and Ghost pursued the pursuers.  The remainder of the Alliance
army held off the bulk of the elementals outside.

The X-Men sprinted through a long, high ceilinged hall filled with pillars
of blue ice.  The elementals chased them through the hall while their own
pursuers picked them off from behind.  The X-Men turned to face the dozens
of attackers.

"No" shouted Johnny, how flew through the air above the elementals, "keep
going! We will hold them off!"  He landed between the elementals and the
X-Men, and threw a wave of intense orange fire in their path.  The X-Men
continued on, heading toward a huge ornately carved set of ice stairs
leading upward into the tower.

Echo sent sonic blasts tearing into the crowd of elementals, shattering
some and cracking many.  Chi and Ghost destroyed the creatures from within,
Ghost crushing their inner spirits, Chi stealing the energy from them and
wielding it against others.  Barrier protected the others, and used his
force fields to knock elementals away.  Johnny melted the elementals into
nonexistance.  But the group began to lose ground, the sheer number of
elementals proving to be too much.  The cuts and bruises began to compound,
the biting cold taking its toll.  They retreated back toward the gates,
leading the elementals away from the X-Men who had gone ahead.

"Go!" said Johnny, who turned to face the elementals.  The others were
behind him, closer to the gates to the outside.  They began to protest, but
he turned and they saw the white-hot fire in his eyes, and did as he said.
They ran with all the speed they had.  Dozens of elementals swarmed The
Human Torch, surrounding him, closing in.  Johnny's eyes closed, and his
body was surrounded with an aura of white flames.  As the elementals came
in to strike him down, he opened his eyes and spread his arms, and
unleashed Nova Flame, his ultimate attack.  Johnny released all of the fire
in his core at once, sending blazing white fire in an omnidirectional
assault.  The elementals were vaporized instantly, their molecules
scattered in the shock wave.  The blast ripped through the ice pillars of
the hall, tore apart the floor and brought the ceiling down. From outside,
the others saw a brilliant flash of white light come through the broken
fortress gate, and fire boiling out and vaporizing more frozen soldiers.
The heroes watched as the gateway collapsed, the front half of the great
hall falling in on itself.  A huge portion of the elemental army was
destroyed, but the way into the castle was shut.  No one would be joining
the X-Men in their final task.

                                     **********************************

The X-Men stopped just inside the entrance to the throne room, located far
above the great hall which had so recently collapsed.  Thick doors of ice
slammed shut behind them.  Ice sculptures were inset into alcoves in the
walls, formed into a dizzying array of shapes and figures.  Thick blue ice
columns lined either side of the walkway from the wide doors and the throne
itself.  The Seat of Winter was in full splendor, it's strange crystalline
form glowing with a faint inner light.

The IceHeart King sat upon the Seat of Winter, waiting.  He rose to his
feet as the X-Men entered, the light glinting off of his frozen blue-white
skin and silver eyes.  His hair was now snow white above his cold silver
eyes.  He was horrifying to behold, his face so altered by hatred and anger
that he was barely recognizable.

"Greetings, old friends" said the IceHeart King, his arms spread in
welcome.  Wisps of cold came off of his skin as he moved.  "How good of you
to come and pledge your support for our great cause."

"You know that isn't why we've come" said Cyclops.  "We're here to convince
you to stop what you are doing.  You know we could never support your
conquering and subjugation of the world."

"What I am doing is necessary for the greater good.  You will never
convince me otherwise.  What then, will you do?"  IceHeart's eyes glinted
with malicious amusement.

"Then we will have to stop you by force" answered Cyclops, his jaw set and
determined.  Red light filled the room as Cyclops released his optic blasts
at full force.  The destructive force dyed the ice crimson as it tore
through the air, slamming into the bubble-like shield which surrounded
IceHeart.  The red light bore into the shield with incredible force, but
still the shield held.  IceHeart's eyes focused on the air in front of him,
his entire will holding back the optic blasts.  He shoved back with all his
mental strength, breaking the attack and sending a red shock wave back
toward the X-Men.  They rocked backward from the blast, set off balance but
not knocked over.

Without motioning, without blinking or moving in any way, IceHeart reached
out with his mind and grasped Cyclops in a huge invisible hand comprised of
the water vapor in the air.  IceHeart squeezed the X-Man in this invisible
hand, crushing him with his mind and breaking several bones.  Cyclops cried
out in pain and surprise, and was thrown backward.  His back slammed into
the closed doors of the throne room and he fell face-down to the floor with
a sickening thud.

"You are ill equipped for the task" IceHeart said calmly, as though nothing
had happened.  "I expected the Professor to come against me himself, but I
can see he didn't have the gall.  That's too bad for you, since his help
would have delayed your unfortunate deaths slightly."

A wild roar ripped through the room as Wolverine charged across the
distance, followed closely by Storm and Colossus.  Rogue held back to check
on Cyclops, who groaned on the edge of consciousness.

White light flashed as lightning flew from Storm's hands, crossing the
distance far faster than the X-Men could.  IceHeart raised his hand and
summoned his own lightning, intercepting Storm's a feet yards from his
throne.  Electricity crackled into the columns and bounced off the walls
and floor as the two vied for supremacy.  IceHeart gestured to the right,
sending the combined energy into the wall and pulling Storm's aim to the
side momentarily.  IceHeart quickly lashed out with his left hand, sending
a fresh bolt of blue lightning toward Storm.  The bolt hit Storm square in
the chest, driving her back several feet before depositing her smoking body
onto the floor.

Colossus and Wolverine were undeterred by the lightning, and came barreling
in like a two-man stampede.  Wolverine dodged right to avoid a blue
frostbolt.  The bolt hit Colossus instead, instantly freezing the
metal-skinned man in place.  Wolverine, now alone, leaped toward IceHeart
and came down on the King with claws extended.  IceHeart dodged to the side
as Wolverine landed, the larger man's claws drove into the ice.  Wolverine
was up with blinding speed, driven by righteous fury He made an overhand
slash at Iceheart, fast enough and close enough that the king could not
possibly avoid it.  IceHeart thrust his left forearm up in instinctual
defense.  Wolverine slashed downward, and nearly cried out with surprise
when his arm stopped partway down.  He looked with shock at his claws, sunk
an inch into the icy flesh of IceHeart's forearm.  Wolverine pushed forward
but failed utterly to slice through the unyeilding ice-flesh.  Never before
had he failed to cut through anything with his adamantium claws and
enhanced strength.  But the mind and will of IceHeart vied against him now,
and his strength was as nothing.  After a split-second of surprise,
IceHeart recovered first and delivered a viscous right handed punch to
Wolverine's ribs, the super-hard ice rang against the metal-coated bones.
The force of the blow threw Wolverine off of him and into the nearest
column of ice.  The column cracked as he hit it, the sound echoed through
the throne room.  Wolverine fell to the floor on his hands and knees, dazed
but hardly finished.

Colossus, having broken free of his ice trap, crashed forward, his metal
feet shaking the ground with each step.  With a flash of blue-white light,
IceHeart's weapon, the Gelid Hammer, appeared in his hands.  He held the
over-long handle with his hands spread wide like a bo staff, hefting the
hammer's weight like it was nothing.  Colossus swing his fists, ready to
reduce IceHeart to ice pebbles, only to be deflected aside by a spinning
staff.  Two more swings and two more deflects and dodges later, IceHeart
had Colossus off balance.  With a full-force two-handed swing, IceHeart
slammed Colossus in the chest with the Gelid Hammer, producing a gong-like
sound from his metal body.  The massive mutant sailed across the length of
the throne room and landed not far from where Cyclops lay and Rogue knelt
tending to him.

Wolverine ran in at IceHeart once more, slashing with his claws.  Over and
over he slashed, but most of his attacks were knocked aside by the spinning
haft of the hammer.  The slashes that got through cut lines in IceHeart's
skin, the worst leaving a trio of gouges across his chest, and producing a
horrible sound of tearing metal.  IceHeart countered with a thrust forward
of his hammer, hitting Wolverine under the jaw with the staff handle.
Wolverine's head snapped back, a clang rang through the air.  A blue-ish
pulse flashed out from IceHeart's body, shoving Wolverine away from him.
The man with the metal skeleton slammed into the wall opposite the throne,
putting a crater into the ice before falling to the floor.

"You were fools to come here, thinking you could stop me.  You don't have
the power.  You cannot possibly..."

Any further speech was cut short as the room suddenly filled with a thick
white fog.  IceHeart looked around in wary surprise, the source of the fog
unknown.

"You think fog will help you?  I can command water in any form, your fog
will not hide you from me!"

A dark shape appeared suddenly in the air within the fog, and out of the
wall of cloud flew Rogue, having leapt far higher than she should ever be
capable of.  Her eyes opened and blazed with irradiant red light.  Red
optic blasts tore into IceHeart from point blank range, slamming him
backward.  His momentum stopped before he hit anything, and he hovered in
the air, a shimmering blue protective sphere surrounding him.  Rogue landed
hard, the ice cracking beneath her.  Her skin was shiny and chrome, having
taken on the metal flesh of Colossus, her weight many times that of normal.
She sprinted forward, leaped again and aimed a downward punch into
IceHeart's shield.  The shield held, but IceHeart was pushed downward, out
of the air and back to the floor.  When Rogue landed again, she raised her
hands and released twin bolts of lightning from her hands.  Blinding white
light filled the room as IceHeart held back Rogue's borrowed lightning with
his own.  Rogue pushed backward, breaking the locked attacks and punched
IceHeart in the chest.  IceHeart spun to the side at the last second taking
a glancing blow.  He spun around, maneuvering himself so as to be slightly
behind Rogue.  His left hand melted, flattened, and formed into a thin
diamond-hard blade, which he plunged into Rogue's armored back.  The
organic metal armor resisted the strike, allowing only a deep gouge to be
cut into it, rather than a mortal wound.  But IceHeart grasped onto Rogue's
back, holding his hand on the gouge, Water molecules worked into the flaw
in the armor and froze.  As the molecules moved from liquid to solid state
they expanded, spreading apart the gap forcefully and violently.  Rogue
struggled to drain IceHeart's energy from him, but the metal skin would not
facilitate her powers.  Rogue screamed as her back tore open along her left
shoulder blade, and IceHeart's knife-hand cut into her flesh, seeking a
vital target.  Rogue instinctually lashed out, surrounding her entire body
with lightning and blasting IceHeart off of her.  The metal flesh on her
back began to close, the skin itching intensely as Wolverine's healing
powers repaired her many times faster than normal.  She spun to face him
and unleashed white lightning from each hand, and crimson optic blasts from
her eyes at the same time.  The triple attack slammed into IceHeart's
defenses, driving him back slowly.  Though the force of Rogue's borrowed
attacks was intense, she did not have the inner strength or training to
maintain them.  Her attacks began to falter, losing intensity, and
IceHeart's shield was not lessened.

Rogue rose into the air, grasped tightly by the invisible force of
IceHeart's powers.  He squeezed her metal body, and the sound of tortured
metal filled the throne room, but he could not crush her borrowed meal
body.  With a scowl of frustration, IceHeart smashed her into the wall on
one side of the room, then sent her across to smash into the opposite wall.
Then, he slammed her downward, shattering a hole in the ice floor and
sending her crashing down to the bottom of the tower.  The floor refroze
itself seamlessly, leaving no trace of the violence.

The floor beneath the rest of the weakened X-Men melted and flowed up to
surround them.  As they were engulfed, the water pulled the heroes
apart. Soon Cyclops, Storm, Wolverine and Colossus were all trapped inside
different ice pillars lining the room, with only their faces open to the
air.  Cyclops' visor was throughly frozen into place.

IceHeart stalked between his captured attackers and former teammates.  His
bare feet made echoes as he walked in the silent hall.

"Now look what you made me do" said IceHeart.  "I told you you could not
stand against me, but you did it anyway.  Not even with all of your powers
combined in a single vessel could you defeat me.  Now, you force me to
punish you all.  I cannot make exceptions for you, no matter how close we
once were.  I cannot allow you to endanger the order i am trying to create.
You are criminals, and criminals must be punished.  No exceptions."  He
stalked around between the pillars, examining each of his former teammates
in turn.  "I am unstoppable."

"I'd like to test that theory" said another voice.  IceHeart whirled
around, looking for the source.  "You always were a stickler for following
the rules" said a voice from behind a pillar.  IceHeart spun to see a man's
shape made of pure darkness standing in what had been open air only moments
before.  "That is, when it was convenient for you."

"Who the hell are you?" asked IceHeart, legitimate surprise in his voice.
He regarded the intruder warily, unsure of how anyone could have gotten
into his throne room without his knowing.

"You mean you don't recognize me?" asked the Shadow Man, his voice filled
with amusement.  "I'm hurt.  Maybe this will help" he said.

IceHeart watched as the darkness covering the Shadow man faded away,
revealing the face beneath.  It was the last one he ever expected to see.

********************************

== 2 days earlier ==

He looked exactly like Alex, so much so that Caleb could scarcely believe
it.  The cheekbones, the jawline, even the expression of slightly veiled
mischief which seemed to be perpetually behind his eyes. There were
differences though, the soft green-brown eyes rather than blue, the
slighter shoulders, the more compact build, and the way he held himself
with more confidence than Alex ever had.  Aaron Wental, Alex's
non-identical twin brother, was here at Alliance HQ.  When the Shadow Man
had finally dropped his disguise, it was the last face Caleb, or anyone
else, had expected to see.  Caleb sat lounging on a love seat with his long
legs over one arm.  He, Rogue, Barrier, Echo, Ghost, and Aaron sat in a
private lounge in the large estate which housed Alliance HQ.

"So, you've had powers all this time, and you never showed up to fight?"
Barrier asked, his expression dark.  He didn't bother to look around at the
room for others who felt as he did, it was not his style to require popular
approval.

"Just because I haven't been a card carrying X-Man doesn't mean that I
haven't been fighting" Aaron replied.  "I have been present during several
of the major battles in this war, you just never saw me."  Nobody argued
the point, as he was clearly able to hide himself if he needed to.

"But what i don't understand" said Rogue, "is why you never told Alex.  He
could have used knowing a family member was a mutant."

"Yea, you don't know what he went through after he left" said Psionic.  "He
wouldn't have had to do those things if he had known you would have
understood that he was a mutant."

"I wanted to tell him, but he became so withdrawn once we were in high
school.  We used to be the best of friends, inseparable, and then he just
slowly drifted away.  Looking back, I know that it was because he was
dealing with discovering that he was gay and a mutant. But I didn't know
that at the time."

"So you really never knew that your twin brother was a mutant too?" asked
Echo.  He was eager to know more about the friend he thought he had known
so well.

"I had my suspicions that he was a mutant, but I never knew for sure.  I
was never sure it was anything more than hope.  After all, paternal twins
are no more genetically alike than any other pair of brothers."

"Yea, but you must have noticed that you and Alex are pretty shockingly
alike" commented Caleb.  Aaron smiled.

"Yea, I did.  Everyone did.  Though he always got ogled over because of
those damn eyes.  Anyway, I wanted to tell him, but then I waited too long,
and he vanished.  Then he came back, and I wanted to tell him, but then the
Phoenix showed up and set the Firebird on the city...and you know the rest
of that story."  Aaron's face looked pained as he spoke, but his voice
remained even.  "Don't think that I don't know my own role in his fall.
Maybe if he had had someone to turn to..."

"He had someone" Caleb said, a bit more sharply than he meant to.  "He had
all of us.  What happened is no more your fault than it is theirs" he said,
indicating Alex's other friends in the room.

"And what about you?" Aaron asked, picking up the fairly obvious clue.

"It's pretty much entirely my fault" Caleb said, though he said it while
looking out the window rather than meeting anyone's eyes.  His honey-brown
eyes glistened slightly as he looked out the window into the sunny sky.

"How do you figure?" asked Aaron, confused.

"Well" began Barrier, "Caleb developed a thing for Alex, and they slept
together.  Alex thought it was just a physical thing, cuz apparently he has
sex with a lot of guys, but Caleb thought it was a love thing.  Alex told
Caleb that he couldn't be with him.  They parted ways for awhile, then
Caleb encountered some mutant who could duplicate Alex perfectly, though we
don't know who it was.  Caleb slept with the fake Alex, and thought they
had reconciled.  Caleb went a little nuts when the fake Alex told him he
didn't love him.  Caleb and the real Alex fought after he got some crazy
new powers from the Phoenix, and Caleb sorta killed Alex.  Alex didn't die,
or came back or something, and they fought again.  Alex used the Cure on
Caleb to beat him, and they talked it out, and they discovered that the guy
Caleb slept with wasn't really Alex.  They professed undying love for each
other, then the Phoenix showed up and snapped Caleb's neck right in front
of Alex.  Alex couldn't save him it was so fast.  Alex went nuclear, and
took out a big chunk of New York City battling the Phoenix.  The Phoenix
won eventually and captured him.  Alex broke free of his imprisonment on
Superior Island, where he was apparently tortured, and freed Rogue and
Cyclops before destroying the whole island with all hands on board in the
name of 'the greater good'."

Aaron nodded, the convoluted story apparently making more sense to him than
it did to the others.

"What?" asked Rogue.

"Well, truth be told I always sort of wondered if this would happen one
day."

"You knew he would become a conquering tyrant?" asked Psionic, sounding a
bit incredulous.

"No, of course not.  But growing up, Alex always had an odd reaction to
pain or threats.  He has actually always been very difficult to anger,
seeing as empathy and compassion have always been his strengths.  But, if
someone actually managed to harm him or threaten someone he loved, all of
his compassion would vanish and he would do his best to destroy them.  What
he does, the way he lives his life, is that he will respond to all things
with the maximum level of diplomacy and understanding, to bend everything
in his power toward coming to a peaceful resolution.  But if he is harmed,
he will strike back so hard that his foe can never hurt him again.  I've
seen the cold look in his eyes before, the one he gets when he removes
morality from the equation of doing what is best.  Obviously this is
different, he never plotted to conquer the world or anything even close.
In fact, I've never seen it last for more than a few minutes. But
considering the amount of pain he has gone through, he must be desperate to
take control of something."

"But that can't be right" said Echo.  "He isn't even trying to persuade
people anymore, not even attempting diplomacy."

"Well actually, he is" said Aaron, drawing sharp glances from everyone.
"In his twisted perception of reality, he IS trying.  He offered the
Alliance a truce before attacking the Pacific Fleet, he offered amnesty to
the people of Chicago before attacking them.  The problem has become that
he now believes that there can be no way but his.  Something happened to
him which has caused the death of his conscience.  That part of him that
would normally be horrified by what he has done is gone, or buried so deep
that it may as well be gone.  He no longer cares HOW the world attains a
peaceful state, just so long as it does.  So he will take the fastest route
possible, which is to take control of everything and kill anyone who tries
to stop him, and keep peace with an iron fist, through absolute control.
Even if he has to sacrifice everything, his mind, his heart, his family,
his reputation, his soul, to achieve it."

The room was silent again.

"Maybe he's right" said Barrier, nearly choking on the words.  "Maybe we
have to kill IceHeart."

"Even if he is right, how can we do that?  He's stronger than all of us put
together." asked Psionic.

"Guys, I don't think we should even be talking about this" said Rogue.
"Killing our own friend?"

"Our friend is dead" said Echo, his voice pained, but adamant.  "And he
would want us to destroy the monster he has become.  I don't think we are
wrong to at least discuss it.  In fact, we may be the only ones who have
the right to decide what to do."

"IceHeart may be more powerful than us, but that doesn't mean we can't beat
him.  Our biggest advantage is what IceHeart doesn't know" said Caleb.

"And what is that?" asked Echo.

"That I am still alive, and that his brother has joined the fray.  I could
cause a great deal of confusion to him, perhaps buy us time.  I may even
have a chance to get him back.  All of your powers are known to IceHeart,
he will be ready for them.  But Aaron's powers are new to us, and unknown
to him."

"What is your power anyway?" asked Rogue, looking at Aaron.  "And what is
your code-name, unless you enjoy Shadow Man?"

Aaron grinned, amused by something that was unclear to the others.  He
raised his hand, and darkness filled it, something was preventing the light
from showing them what should have been empty air.  Inky purple-black
energy surrounded the edges of the darkness that lay in his hand.

"I am Gravity."

**********************************

"Aaron" IceHeart said.  It was not a question, or declaration, but a
statement of fact.  His brother was here, right in front of him, wearing a
suit of black leather with a deep purple X on the front.  Iceheart glared
at the face which so closely resembled his own, and saw the determined look
in his brother's green-brown eyes.  IceHeart's silver eyes were filled with
hatred and fury.  His own brother, his fraternal-twin brother, the person
who was most alike to him of anyone in the world, was a mutant.  He had run
from his family because he feared they would never accept him, and HIS
BROTHER WAS A MUTANT.  All the horrible things, all the pain and shame and
guilt he had felt since the day he left home never needed to happen.  He
could have endured his family's shame if he'd known his twin brother would
still have held him dear.  He felt humiliated and betrayed, he tasted bile
in his throat and saw red creeping in from the corners of his vision.

IceHeart reached out with his malice, intent to tear the life-giving water
molecules out of the body of his brother, to rip him from existence.  He
reached out and grasped them, the many many billions of molecules, and
pulled.  But nothing happened.  Try as he may the molecules remained where
they were, would not move for anything.  Some strange, irresistible force
held them in place, despite the incredible potency of IceHeart's will.  He
released the attack, too angry to push forward to overwhelm Aaron's power.

IceHeart summoned a frostbolt in under a second, and hurled the
absolute-zero projectile straight toward the face of his brother.  The
shimmering blue orb halted in midair directly in front of Gravity.  The air
itself seemed to twist, and then the frostbolt reversed course and slammed
IceHeart in the chest.  The cold energy could not damage him, but the
kinetic force staggered him back a step, and the shock itself was like a
physical blow.  Lightning crackled in his right hand and lashed out.  Aaron
gestured, used his powers to twist and shape gravity in the area
surrounding him, making the lightning's 'straight' course wrap around him.
The lightning curved around his side, traveled around his back, and went
straight back at IceHeart.  In the last moment IceHeart raised his left
hand and deflected the lightning away into a wall.

Aaron followed up with a gravimetric pulse, the air rippling between the
brothers and throwing IceHeart backward.  He went down on one knee as he
landed hard, then rose up and charged quickly.  With a white flash, the
Gelid Hammer appeared in his hands, which he swung with surprising speed.
But Gravity was the faster.  He slid to the right as the hammer came down
and slammed the floor.  A loud gong-like sound rang through the air, and a
large crack appeared in the ice floor.  IceHeart swung his hammer-staff at
his brother, trying to take him out at the knees, but Gravity deftly leaped
over the attack.  IceHeart continued to push his attack both with swift
staff attacks and with brute force hammer attacks, but nothing would land
on Gravity.

Gravity watched as IceHeart's attacks came, but he seemed to move in slow
motion Aaron had increased the gravity of his body to an enormous degree,
and just as time slows down as one approaches the event horizon of a black
hole, so did time slow for Gravity.  IceHeart seemed to be moving
underwater with exaggerated slowness.  IceHeart's speed was impressive
though, and some blows came very close.  When Gravity arced his back
backwards to avoid a particularly close swipe of the Gelid Hammer's staff,
IceHeart lashed out with a pulse of kinetic water, knocking him off
balance.  Aaron hit the ground hard on his back, the wind knocked out of
him.  As he rushed to sit up and raise to his feet, IceHeart delivered an
overhand downward swing toward Gravity's head.  From instinct, Gravity
summoned his powers to pull against the hammer, and it stopped cold an inch
from his face, close enough for him the feel the cold vapor coming off its
flat and shiny surface.  IceHeart pushed downward, his bicep and shoulder
muscles bulged with the effort, but he was fighting the wrong way against
gravity itself, and could not win.  Gravity stared forward, his eye fixed
with intensity on his brother's weapon in front of his face.  As IceHeart
pushed down, Gravity built up energy within the weapon's heart, condensing
the gravitational forces and releasing them suddenly, which pulled the ice
of the hammer in all directions.  With a great echoing CRACK, the Gelid
Hammer shattered into a thousand pieces, the released energy shoving
Gravity back down to the floor and throwing IceHeart backward.  IceHeart
hit the ground on his back, stunned by the resistance.

IceHeart rose straight back up to his feet, not even needing to bend his
knees.  Gravity arched his back, flipped himself into a standing position,
and charged.  He moved so fast, IceHeart could scarcely keep up.  He dodged
the first few punches, his bother's martial arts training becoming very
apparent with his skilled assault.  IceHeart lashed out with a right hook,
but Gravity moved so fast he was like a blur.  Aaron took a short step to
his left and brought up his right hand, placing his palm against IceHeart's
right elbow and deflecting the attack.  Almost simultaneously, Aaron struck
out as fast as a viper strike with his left fist.  His hand, cloaked in
gravimetric energy, smashed into the right side of IceHeart's jaw.
Gravity's fist was so dense that cracks appeared across the right side of
IceHeart's face, and the light glinted off of two small pieces of ice which
flew away, having broken off entirely.  IceHeart staggered back, stunned,
while Gravity followed up with a viscous right-handed punch to the gut.
Gravity put all the power he could manage in a short time into this second
strike, and hit IceHeart with the force of a meteor.

The King flew backward from the force of the strike, and smashed straight
through the Seat of Winter, reducing it to a pile of ice chucks.  IceHeart
hit the back wall of the throne room with enough force to crater it, and
then fell to the ground.

Everything was silent.  Aaron looked down at the blue-white ice crown of
IceHeart, which now lay at his feet.  A crunching noise broke the silence
as Aaron stepped on the crown, grinding it to dust.

The air filled with the sound of stones grinding together as IceHeart rose
to his feet.  A spiderweb of cracks covered his body, expanding out from
the impact crater on his stomach.  He appeared to be made of pieces of ice
held together by his mind alone.  His silver eyes were filled with rage,
his mangled jaw clenched tightly.

IceHeart stared at his brother, his rage kept in check only by his shock
and confusion.  Where had Aaron come from?  And what was this strange power
that he was using against him?  He changed tactics.  With a whirl, his body
spun apart into the various shards of ice which now made it up.  Chunks of
razor-sharp ice spun through the air in a deadly cyclone, breaking down
into smaller and sharper parts.

Gravity watched as his brother's form dissolved and came toward him as a
swirling mass of destruction.  The cyclone would soon engulf him, tearing
him to shreds and ending this desperate coup.  He was run down, exhausted,
and nearly spent.  He did the only thing he could think of, the one thing
he had sworn not to use his powers for.  But it was the only thing he could
do to try to save his own life, and those of the heroes who had risked
everything to take down a tyrant. He brought his hands together in front of
him, cupped them to create a small enclosed space between them.  Into this
space, Aaron threw all of his remaining power.  Dark purple energy
surrounded his hands, and the area around him seemed to darken.  As the
cyclone reached him, Aaron opened his hands and released his power.

Reality twisted and tore in between the two brothers, and suddenly there
was nothing in that space.  The light itself vanished from the immediate
vicinity of the anomaly, and a fierce wind picked up, drawing all things
toward the darkness.  Aaron had created and released one of the most
destructive forces in the universe, a singularity.

The black hole was a creation of such dense gravity that 'down' was no
longer toward the ground, but toward the singularity.  Anything which was
not securely fastened down quickly began to move toward it.  Aaron stood
behind the black hole, unaffected by its gravitational pull.  But IceHeart,
in the form of a whirling cyclone, was not immune.

IceHeart struggled to assert his control over the many small objects which
now comprised his being.  Try as he may, he continued to be drawn toward
the singularity, unable to compensate for the deadly pull.  He felt the
first portions of his body be pulled in, and felt those molecules vanish
from his mind.  He knew then that falling into the black hole would end
him.  IceHeart decided to abandon this body, to transfer his mind into
nearby water.  An inhuman scream sounded through the air as he realized he
was incapable of leaving the water he was inhabiting.  All the hatred and
anger vanished within IceHeart as pure terror struck him.  Fear filled his
mind as he panicked, trapped with no way out.

Aaron saw the insubstantial cloud of his brother struggling to resist the
pull of the black hole.  When he heard he king's inhuman scream, he knew
that the plan had worked.  The Professor, Emma Frost, Psionic, and almost
every well-trained telepath in the Alliance had used their combined powers
to trap IceHeart within his body, making him unable to escape its fate.
What was not part of the plan, was Aaron being forced to use this greatest
and worst aspect of his power.

Sweat poured off Aaron's forehead despite the cold.  He was running out of
power, and could not control the singularity much longer.  He struggled to
hold it together, determined to destroy IceHeart in the name of his
brother's memory.  But if he ran out of power while the black hole still
existed, it would continue to consume and grow until it destroyed the
entire planet. The first bits of IceHeart vanished within the event horizon
of the singularity, but the progress was much too slow.  Spots filled
Aaron's vision, and his heart began to beat irregularly.

He had failed.  IceHeart lived, but Aaron could hold on no longer.  If he
allowed the singularity to continue, he would be unable to stop it, and it
would destroy everything.  Aaron used the last bit of his power, and
commanded the gravity comprising the singularity to disperse.  The sudden
loss of a huge gravity well caused a shock wave to burst out from the black
hole's location.  A great CRACK deafened everyone around as fissures opened
in the thick ice floor and spread in several directions.  Cracks appeared
on the walls, floor and ceiling, and covered the ice pillars.  The X-Men
trapped within these pillars were now able to worm free.  As they watched,
the cracks spread throughout the Throne Room, widening, branching, and
meeting each other.  As IceHeart finally managed to return himself to a
solid body, the air filled with a twisting, groaning, painful noise.

"Oh no" said Gravity, fearing what he had caused.  As they all looked on
helplessly, the Castle IceHeart collapsed around them.

**********************************

Outside on the courtyard, the Alliance army was gathered, treating the
wounded and attempting to dig out the collapsed front gate of the fortress
to gain entrance.  They watched as the air rippled in a pulse outward from
the highest room of the central tower. Cracks suddenly bloomed out from the
tower and spread to encompass the entire structure.  The fortress began to
tremble, the tower began to sway.  The air sounded like tortured metal, and
then the fortress collapsed.  The main structure fell, but the outer walls
and the ice mountain remained intact.  The bridges which connected the
central castle to the outer walls fell down from above the army, but the
efforts of the teleporters and shield-mutants prevented anyone from being
hurt.

Caleb watched the fortress collapse, but noticed that it did not appear to
fall apart as disastrously as it could have.  The shards seemed to slow and
land more gently than they normally should have.  And from the very top
glided down a large circular portion of flat ice, which fell much slower
than the rest.

The platform was all that remained of the Throne Room floor, and on it
stood Storm and Wolverine supporting a weakened Gravity and injured
Cyclops, and IceHeart.  IceHeart stood facing his foes as the platform
settled down atop the pile which now was all that remained of his palace.
He looked worse for the wear, with cracks spiderwebbing out from his
abdomen and jawline, but his visage was still horrifying.  His face was no
longer frozen and emotionless, but the very picture of savagery; with his
lips pulled back over his teeth, so angry he was trembling.

Storm and Wolverine struggled to move their incapacitated charges to
safety, pulling them down off of the tall pile of ice chunks.  IceHeart
literally had the high ground over the Alliance army, but for a moment the
scene was still.

"Surrender IceHeart" said Reed Richards, commander of the army now that
Cyclops was incapacitated.  "Your soldiers are gone, your castle destroyed,
and your followers captured or killed.  You have been trapped within your
body, and can't escape."

"What did you hope to accomplish?" IceHeart bellowed.  "How long do you
think it will take me to reform this palace? And the army you have broken?
I have more than enough ice to do the task a hundred times."

"We won't let you.  This ends here, now."

"You're right Dr. Richards. This does end now."

IceHeart felt the pressure in his mind, the invisible chains holding him in
place.  With them present, he could not move his mind outside its current
vessel, and he could not access the power of the ice surrounding him.  With
sudden ferocity IceHeart lashed out with his mind, assailing his chains in
all directions.

**********************************

Psionic sat in his chair in the strange circular room the Professor had
constructed beneath Alliance HQ.  There were over a dozen other telepaths
arranged in a circle, including Professor Xavier, Emma Frost, and a few
others that he knew.  Everyone was seated in identical metal chairs,
wearing strange metal helmets.  The room itself looked hastily constructed,
with a domed ceiling mostly covered in shiny rectangular plates.  But
Psionic did not see the room.

He saw with his mind, was part of the combined force which held IceHeart's
mind in place.  They had hovered above the battle, waiting for their
opportunity.  They did not know exactly how to block the king's powers, not
until they had finally felt him use his ability to absorb more water into
his form, when he had at last been injured during his fight with Gravity
and the X-Men.  Then, the Professor and Ms. Frost had showed the others
exactly what needed to be done, and they joined together.  They clamped
down on the mental pathways which led into and out of IceHeart's mind,
effectively blocking him from leaving his body and from drawing on the
energies of the ice he had created.

Psionic had also been in much too close mental contact with the King.  His
former friend's mind was strange, and difficult to comprehend.  His mind
was a fortress, smooth all the way around with no weaknesses, and to touch
it too closely caused painful icy headaches.  It was like trying to grab
hold of a solid orb of super-cold ice.

The psychics felt IceHeart's powers flex as he slowed the fall of the chink
of ice that he and the X-Men stood upon.  They held fast, but Iceheart
could still move the ice, just not draw energies from it.  Hydrokinesis was
too much a part of his mind and body to separate him from without getting
closer to the dangerous inner areas of his mind.  Nobody knew what would
happen to them in there, within a mind which had held off the Phoenix even
before his rise to power.

Then it hit them.  A wall of power flashed out from the entity which was
surrounded by their minds, and struck against them all at once.  Psionic
gasped, it was like being doused with glacier water.  The ring of telepaths
reeled, but the Professor held them together, by far the strongest link in
the chain.  As the others attempted to re-collect themselves, IceHeart
threw himself at the Professor, while he was occupied holding the ring of
psychics together.

Psionic gasped as the Professor's pain transmitted through the psychic
link.  It was as though icy fingers were piercing his brain, traveling back
along the telepathic link.  The Professor's mind scrambled, and with a
tremendous effort he broke the link which connected him to the chain, and
thus to IceHeart.  It was not an effort of cowardice, for the Professor
would gladly have sacrificed himself to save others, especially his
students.  But in breaking the link, the Professor broke the chain holding
IceHeart, and separated the team of psychics from him to spare their lives.
Psionic felt the Professor lapse into unconsciousness from the pain.

Psionic struggled, but watched in helplessness as the chains caging the
IceHeart King broke.

**********************************

It lasted only a few moments.  IceHeart closed his eyes, and the people
surrounding him could feel the psychic battle raging around them, could
feel it in the charge of the air.  They attempted to seize the moment, to
hurl everything they had at him.  But the bullets, missiles, lightning,
fire, and many other types of attacks all impacted a perfect sphere of
protection, and he remained unharmed.  Before they could surround him,
before they could coordinate attacks or close the distance, it was over.

IceHeart opened his eyes, and a horrible grin crossed his face.  He spread
his arms out to either side and he lifted into the air.  He floated a few
feet above the top of the pile of broken ice, and his skin began to glow.
He reached out in all directions, as far as his mind could go.  IceHeart
drew upon the power of all the ice he had attached himself to.  The energy
flowed to him from across half of the world.  He threw back his head as his
eyes began to glow white.  Large chunks of ice floated into the air and
began to rotate of their own accord, glowing with inner power.  Energy
crackled beneath his skin, and his whole body soon glowed from within with
blue-white light.  His entire body trembled as he took on more power than
he ever had before.  With this much power he could move mountains, raise
oceans, remake the Earth.  He would release it all at once where he stood.
This quantity of energy would blast a crater miles wide, destroy the entire
Alliance army and the city of Chicago.  It would vaporize his enemies and
leave himself with some peace.

"Now you see what you are up against" shouted IceHeart, his voice echoing
over the crackling noise of the energy still flowing toward him.  "Now you
see why you never stood a chance.  Mere mortals cannot hope to stand
against gods."

Ghost watched IceHeart rise up, and saw the buildup of energy within him.
Before long the power was so great it was blinding for him to see, brighter
than any he had beheld.  Brighter even than the Phoenix.  Nothing could
stand against this much power.

<You have to stop this> they all heard in their minds.  IceHeart recognized
the voice: Psionic.  The weight of the psychic's mind was much greater than
it ever had been before, boosted by the strength of many.

"It's good that you are here, even if just in your mind.  It is good that
you can witness the folly of this action.  You can tell the world what
happened here.  You can show them what they should fear."

<Nothing is going to happen here.  You are going to stop what you are
doing.  You are going to surrender, and end this madness.>

IceHeart laughed.  Why would he ever stop?  What on earth could MAKE him
stop?  All this power flowing into him, it made him feel incredible.  He
had lived in cold emotionless for far too long, had forgotten how WONDERFUL
it felt to be powerful.  He felt as though the world itself was his for the
taking.  Nothing was beyond him.

But then suddenly, IceHeart began to feel other things.  Doubt, shock,
fear, horror.  He scanned his thoughts, could find no reason to be feeling
these things.  Then he realized, they were not coming from him.  The
emotions of the people all around him flowed toward him, pierced his mind
as if they were his own.  Having left his heart cold for so long, these
emotions felt all the more potent to him.  He could see through his friends
eyes, but the vision of himself was not accompanied by triumph or glory,
but sadness.  They all felt different things, but not one of them saw it as
he did, and they tainted his view of things.  He felt the remorse that his
former friends felt for him, for their memory of who he once was.  He felt
the guilt of the soldiers at having failed.  He felt the fear within them
all, to greater and lesser degrees.  And in some, and especially his
brother Aaron, he felt the grim determination of those who had come to do
what they had to do.

What they had to do.  Isn't that was he was doing?  What needed to be done
for the good of all?  There was a difference here however; it did not feel
the same within them as it did within him.  This key feeling, how was it
different?  When it was what connected them most, how had it divided them
so much?

Remorse.  They felt remorse for the things they had to do.  When he,
IceHeart, had done what he needed to, he had dismissed all emotions that
clouded the decision-making.  But when they did it, they grieved for it, it
tortured them.  The difference was simple: his friends, his allies, his
brother had committed themselves to doing what they had to do to protect
the people of the world.  But they would never, ever forgive themselves for
it.  These were the people who should be saving the world.  The ones who
had enough of a heart to stay their hands long enough to consider what they
were doing.  The ones who had hearts at all.

The light vanished.  The ice dropped, settling back into the rubble-pile or
falling over the edge to break upon the sides of the mountain.  IceHeart
settled back down, landing lightly atop the pile.  He walked slowly, and
came down the the level where the army waited for him.  He lifted his head,
and gasps sounded when they saw that there were frozen tears in his eyes.
IceHeart walked forward, and stopped several feet from his brother.

"Aaron.  You have to do it" IceHeart said.  "I see it in your thoughts,
through the connection.  You have to do it.  These powers, they are too
much for me.  I can't control them, I'm not responsible enough to wield
them."  Aaron looked into his brother's eyes, and he could see a glimmer of
the man he once knew.

"Please" IceHeart pleaded.

Aaron pulled his left hand from his jacket pocket and thrust forward.  Left
jutting out from IceHeart's chest was a large steel needle filled with the
Mutant Cure, a large enough dose that would leave no doubt that it would
remove the powers of its imbiber permanently.

IceHeart jolted as the chemical surged through his veins rapidly.  The skin
around the injection site immediately began to take on a more normal
healthy color.  The veins which contained the Cure began to revert to
normal human veins, and the spiderweb of red became visible throughout his
ice body.  The red quickly spread as IceHeart's body began to revert to
normal human tissue.  The effect reached his skin, and soon smooth normal
skin began to replace the deathly pale ice.  His hair changed from snow
white to its former brown, and his silver eyes turned to brilliant blue,
then drained away to soft brown.  The skirt made of sheets of water fell
away as his power ceased to be, and he fell to his knees, nude and crying.

"No....no no no" Alex whispered.  "It didn't go away.  I wanted it to go
away."

"What didn't go away?" Aaron asked, his face grim.  His hands twisted
tightly at his sides.

"The anger.  The pain came back, I knew it would.  But I was hoping,
without my powers, I wouldn't be so angry.  Like Caleb.  But it wasn't my
powers.  It was me.  I'm the monster."

"I know" said Aaron.  His right hand came from his side, holding a
glittering shard left over from the handle of the Gelid Hammer.  One side
was broken off cleanly, but the other side had a long sharp protrusion.
With a clenched jaw and a tortured look in his eyes, Aaron stabbed Alex in
the heart.

**********************************

Alex could feel himself dying.  He felt the pain of the makeshift blade rip
its way back out of his body.  He felt the warm wet splatter as blood
flowed in rivers out of the wound on his chest.  He felt the tattered
remains of his heart attempting to pump a rapidly diminishing reservoir of
blood.  He looked into his brother's eyes, the eyes of his killer, and saw
an unbearable amount of pain.  But Alex smiled at his brother.  His teeth
were dyed red, and the blood filling his throat made it impossible for him
to speak.  But his brother knew: Alex forgave him, and thanked him.

Alex fell backward into darkness, welcoming the oblivion.  Only there would
he find the forgiveness he could never give himself.

**********************************

The Phoenix slammed her fist down, and the wooden table beneath it burst
into flames.  She had felt the whole thing, had known the instant when her
plan had failed.  She had done everything right, EVERYTHING!  The Alliance
was nearly destroyed!  He even had Professor Xavier at his mercy and LET
HIM LIVE!!! So much work, wasted.

A wave of fire burst out from around her, sending her attendants fleeing in
terror.

The brother.  She had not factored in the brother.  And the continued life
of Caleb, her former Demon.  And those irritating emotions of GUILT and
LOVE, which she cared so little about.

They would pay for ruining her beautiful plans.  Every single one of them.

**********************************

Aaron blinked as the blood covering his brother's body vanished.  The hole
in his chest closed.  He flexed his fingers as the weapon in his hand
vanished.  He was confused for a moment before he remembered that none of
those things had really been there.

Psionic had told him the plan so quickly, the last minute attempt to save
them all.  The fight with his former friends and allies had actually
reopened IceHeart to the effect of emotions, even if those emotions were
hatred, rage and lust for power.  Psionic, being left in charge of the team
of psychics after the Professor was attacked and Emma Frost tended to him,
had linked them all, and let their emotions flow into the IceHeart King.
These emotions managed to reach through to what remained of Alex's
humanity.

What happened next had been an illusion.  Only Psionic and Gravity had know
this beforehand.  Alex had truly wanted his powers removed, and thus fell
for the illusion perfectly.  When he believed that his powers had been
removed, they completely deactivated in reality, and every elemental across
the face of the earth fell to pieces.  His body also returned to a
completely flesh-and-blood state.  And then, when he begged his brother to
die, he believed he had and fell into a deep slumber.  Now the illusion was
lifted, to the confusion of many.  But Alex slept, and would remain
sleeping for some time.

The battle was over.  They had overthrown a despot, cast down a king.  The
army was decimated, the fortress in ruins, and the crown broken.  They
could finally breathe and regroup.  The Alliance forces began to
systematically prepare their wounded and dead for transport back to HQ.
They began a rescue mission to unbury Johnny Storm and Rogue, both of whom
were alive and buried under the ice rubble.

Ghost, Caleb, Gravity, Echo and Barrier came together, drawn together to
ensure each other's health after the battle.

"I hope we did the right thing" said Caleb, who looked down at Alex's
sleeping blanket-wrapped body with sadness.

"It was the only thing we could do" said Aaron.

"Except actually kill him" added Echo.

"But we may not be able to win this war without him" finished Barrier.

**********************************

The night after the battle, Caleb woke from a sound sleep.  He lay in his
bed, the room lit only by moonlight through the large windows on the wall
behind the bed.  His feet hung over the bottom of his bed, an annoying fact
that he was accustomed to.  He scratched his bare chest absently, the itch
being the reason for his waking.  He rolled over again in an attempt to
fall back asleep.

He was amazed that he had slept at all this night.  Sure he was exhausted,
but it had been the most momentous day of his life.  He had fought -as a
human- in a battle for the fate of the word against the man he loved.  He
had watched that man die in front of him, and then return to life.  He
scratched his leg this time.

Caleb thought of Alex, who was now in a secluded building kept in a deep
medical coma until the bosses could decide what to do with him.  He
wondered if Alex would dream right now.  After the things he'd done and the
realizations he had come to, Caleb hoped not.  He did hope that Alex could
sleep well.  He would need to be well rested.  Caleb scratched again, this
time on his side.

Damn it.  Caleb got up, and proceed to the bathroom.  He turned on the
lights, and blinked away the brightness.  He saw himself in the large
mirror, examined his still-strangely different body.  His chest, arms and
shoulders were still coated in trim muscle.  But now they were covered by
smooth olive skin, and his chest had a gathering of hair growing across it.
The hair was even growing in between the ripples of his abs and diving down
into his black briefs.  He kind of liked the hair, which had never grown on
him before receiving the Cure.

But now across that chest and along his ribs and on his legs were patches
of bright red itchiness.  It must be spreading fast, as it had not existed
when he went to bed.  He tried to stop scratching it -he remembered hearing
that you weren't supposed to scratch too much.  He examined the rash on his
chest: it was smooth, with no bumps or raised areas.  It was exactly like
normal skin, only crimson red.  And there was no hair on the red areas of
skin.  Caleb's heart skipped a beat.  He recognized this rash.  It had come
on once before, only it had been much slower the first time.  He looked up
into the mirror to look himself in the eyes.

His eyes shone in the mirror, bright and beautiful as gemstones.  And they
were ruby red.


//////////////////////////////////////////

Thanks so much for being patient with me everyone.  But I think I finally
made this chapter all of the things I wanted it to be.  Please feel free to
write to me at phoenixfire543@yahoo.com, let me know what you think, or ask
any questions of give any suggestions you may have.  And for those who
aren't already, please feel free to join the yahoo group:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HydrogueFans/