Via Sanguinis: Scalphunter's Tale

by Phil Hartman

"A bullet could end this. Or a slingshot." -
Scott Summers (Cyclops), X-Men # 97.

I gate in - humid as hell down here, and that smell...

... machine oil. I can handle that.

I ignore the battle going on in the main chamber whatever the hell the Monolith is up to isn't my concern. The boss wants me to make sure his pet project doesn't screw this one up.

One hundred years of planning, and it comes down to a cripple, an anal-retentive whiner, a resurrected redhead, and a time traveler. And me.

I line up the shot and wait in the shadows. Pretty nice glow, Nur ... nice and easy for me to do whatever the hell Sinister sent me here to do.

Cable punches the field first real mature, "Dayspring." I never understood the religious crap Sinister says those Askani freaks force-fed the dork.

And our star goes flying backwards ... ! Blockbuster could'a done THAT.

Summers - One-Eye - makes this big production of blasting Apocalypse's force field. Whoops ! Nur sucks him dry, drops him like a cheap date ...

Oh-oh. Now things get interesting. Red gets it in her head to waste Nur -

- suh-weet ! She pops the big loser a nice one !

Damn. Reminds me of those Egyptian mummies underneath the armor when she rips Nur's mask off.

And she goes flying back ...

And I take the shot.

Buh-bye, big guy ...

***

Scott Summers looked up, aghast, as a sharp noise recoiled off of the chamber walls. He blinked through the exhaustion and the shards of his ruby quartz visor as the glow surrounding Apocalypse and Nate Grey intensified.

#I can't let this happen,# Cyclops thought, struggling to his feet. #For the first time, Apocalypse is truly vulnerable -#

"NATHAN !?" Jean Summers cried, seeing a gold-glowing figure shoot through the air at Apocalypse. A golden arc descended from Cable, his psimitar blazing as it slid towards Apocalypse's exposed head.

A loud crack filled the air, and three things happened in rapid succession.

Nate Grey screamed horribly, consumed in a blazing gold-blue glow.

Apocalypse exploded in a white blast, simply vanishing.

And a pile of clothing and a broken psimitar sat on the scorched floor.

"Nathan ... ?" Scott whispered, forcing himself forward. He stepped cautiously, hearing something rustle, and saw the clothing move.

A tousled pile of brown hair appeared amidst what had been Cable's shirt, followed by two very large and frightened blue eyes set amidst a scarred face. A small mouth trembled, smiling tentatively, and mouthed one word:

"Slym ?"

"NATE !" Scott exclaimed, running forward.

He shouted, Nate crying, as a crack and red haze dropped Scott.

"Oh, this is just too good to believe," Scalphunter chuckled, rolling to grab Nate and cover Scott with the rifle in his free hand. "You know what Sinister's gonna pay me for this ?"

"GET YOUR HANDS OFF OF HIM !" Phoenix screamed, taking to the air. She approached -

- and shrieked in frustration and fury as Scalphunter and Nate vanished.

"Scott - Jean, Scott's bleeding badly !" Xavier called, letting Colossus pick him up as the rest of the X-Men entered the chamber.

"FORGET MY LEG !" Scott bellowed, clutching his shin. "Sinister has my son, Professor ! Don't you CARE !? Apocalypse is dead, Nate Grey is dead, and Nathan has been deaged and carried off - by SCALPHUNTER !"

The X-Men gasped collectively in horror as Hank attended to Scott, a sympathetic look on his face. "We'll get after your departed offspring post-haste, fearless," Beast said gently.

"No. You won't."

Xavier looked over, panic replacing fear on his face as a low moan came from Magneto. Polaris was glowing brighter than ever before, one hand on Magnus' shoulder, as her biomagnetic field churned in an eerie fashion.

"Magneto shouldn't've tried to play with little Lorna's own powers," Lorna Dane said in a voice dripping with cold glee. "He should've remembered you can't always predict who's going to come out on a date."

"Dear Lord," Xavier breathed.

"MALICE ?"

Lorna cackled, her glow brightening.

And the room filled with emerald fire.

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