2014.03.17 - Back from the Future

The first thread of consciousness is that of alarm, worry. Something is nearby, something that makes the young telepath, Claire Clemmens, feel desperately WRONG. Her ability, to sense consciousness around her, slammed into something and was injured by it, and her mind naturally seeks for aid and cries out. She is a long way from school: she went home for a weekend with her parents. The distance is harsh for her-- but she casts out a tiny telepathic thread of distress, trying to reach somebody, to send the image of the sensation of the awareness that brushed her mind.

The thread contains a little bit of her pulling on a coat and rushing up towards the roof of her apartment-- an apartment roof in Queens near the airport---, seeking a visual on the source that she felt. The impression of the visual, of the shape in the black night, is vaguely /Sinister/-esque, in a swirling mush of thought, from the mutant girl.

It was a nice day back in Manhattan, but now it's over. Driving back to Westchester, Jean Grey has a smile on her lips, sound tuned up in her car, her hair flowing freely as she has the top down, letting her scarlet tresses flow freely in the wind. Everything about the whole day had been perfect, the shopping bags on the bag and the satisfied grin on Phoenix's face proof of it, but some things are not meant to be.

As soon as that distress signal is sent, and Jean captures all the feedback from it, the woman knows she has to stop the car, which she does over. All over some sidewalk, against a now very bent looking street post, looking like she is having a powerful migraine of sorts, face on the airbag. Claire's feelings and vibrations wash over the redhead as she tries to make sense of everything, and when she does, Jean's eyes snap open. Her comm? Broken. Her head? Scrambled. It will be hard to send any warnings like this, but Claire might not have the time.

Stumbling out of the vehicle Jean checks: her head and hands hurt, but they are not broken. Telepathy seems a bit off, but telekinesis...

Jean takes the air, the flaming manifestation of her mental abilities lighting the area around her before the woman goes to find the source of this mess. The car and the stuff she bought? She doesn't think of it. She'll hear the scolding later.

Oh, look. A little telepathic spark of something-- maybe a precognitive-- brushed at his mind. The massive, gray mutant deviates from his flight passing over the city, red eyes dropping to the rooftops under him. Usually telepaths don't feel him, his shields block them out: why this little mutant? Perhaps she is something of interest.

Apocalypse drops lower, the array of energy cannons currently at his elbows leaving long black streamers in his wake, which spawned much of the mental image for Claire: the spiraling streaks with a pallor of face.

Claire herself steels herself against fearing a mutant just on appearance alone: after all, it might just be unfortunate scary looks, and she attempts to reach out to him telepathically with a strong, 'fearless' probe at his mind. That, unfortunately, is a grave mistake, as her touch backlashes against the mind of the ancient, and her head explodes in a heat of dizzying pain. She collapses on the roof, barely awake, where Apocalypse is now arriving: with no interest in or attempt to mask the large flares of energy that come with his particular current flight style.

Jean Grey, the Phoenix Host, arrives after Claire's signature suddenly bursts in pain, the image of a mutant woman with blood-red hair, floating admist a ball of pure telekynetic fire right into Apocalypse's view. The X-Woman, herself, just looks at the giant of a man that casually drops by the rooftop, a frown on her face, as she decides to approach him carefully, but placing herself quickly (in contrast to the ancient's measured pace) between Claire and him.

"Who are you?", it's the first, obvious question, her eyes roaming over his entire body, trying to get a clue of what's before her. Jean, unlike most people in the world, doesn't fear En Sabah Nur just for his looks, although his eyes do make her shiver a bit.

Jean sends her mind out to the Mansion, not sure if it will work, especially since she needs to concentrate in the here and now.

Claire tries to kind of roll over. She gets about halfway and makes a sad little noise, her light brown hair completely concealing her face and head from her prone position on the ground, fingers digging into the cold concrete of the roof. Fortunately for her, perhaps, a new player arrived in a far more interesting ball of telekinetic fire.

Apocalypse casually finishes landing: and the manifestations that look ... very much like jet thrusters suddenly melt and fold into his arms, leaving his more natural curling silver tentacle forms that move smoothly, liquidly, back into place into his flesh and armor. His expression is mild, reserved, as he immediately meets her gaze and takes her in. A shield roars into presence around him, roiling and faintly red: but it is the tint of older, dried blood. A forcefield from one that anticipates an assault, or is taking her aura to be a show of force, and he's willing to play.

The question, though, makes his broad head tip just a little, and mutated lips move slowly as if fighting off some other expression. He does not approach her, nor seem interested in the girl beyond her. "You know me not? How /interesting/," Apocalypse murmers, in his deep, rumbling tone, as if talking to himself. "But I am willing to educate. You may call me Apocalypse," he says, conversationally, as if finding her to be amusing. "No relation to the planet Apokolips." A pause. "Similarities are... coincidental." He clearly thinks he made a nice joke.

Jean feels like she is way over her head right now, and briefly she wishes the others were here with her. Scott, Logan, Bobby, Rachel, Emma... anyone could make her feel like she isn't a child standing before a monster salivating at the sight of her.

This Phoenix doesn't show the aggressiveness, the silent strength or the austere behavior of her Age of Apocalypse part: she is akin to a teenager in that regard, jumpy and toying with forces far beyond her comprehension, be them the Phoenix or Apocalypse.

"Okay, Apocalypse... I am not here for trouble...", her flames slowly dying out as Jean concentrates, erecting an invisible shield this time. "I don't know what you did to her, but it is done, it is over. You are not doing anything else.", and she squints her eyes, the X-Woman's heart racing.

"Stand down.", her last, warning words, lips pursed.

It has been a strange, strange few days for Cable. When he arrived, everything was wrong. He felt like he was going mad. Weeks flashing into his mind in what he confirmed later to be seconds, absorbing in-depth information on a world he had only read about, thought about, but never visited. To a normal willpower, they would have been driven utterly and irrevocably mad. It felt like a year went by in only six minutes, and for a long while when he had brief moments of conscious thought, he wondered if his reckless leap into the timestream caused a temporal collapse, and he would soon be ripped apart. But it went away. It recovered. Knowing then the existance of Graymalkin, something that still befuddles him to exist so far in the past, he teleported to it immediately. Disoriented or not, he had little time. Apocalypse should have arrived nearly at the same time he did. He was half dead, desperate, within a new host that had not fully become the monster he is. He simply waited for three days, breath coming fast, sweat rolling down his brow, not daring to sleep, as Graymalkin scanned. And scanned. Finally, it registers. When Apocalypse throws up his shield, the scanner picks it up. Instantly he's on his feet, shouldering a massive plasma cannon, two pistols at his hips, and a massive futuristic bazooka-like item held under an arm. "Bodyslide by 1." In a zip, he vanishes.

"You would force the issue? That could be interesting. But... Fortunately for your sake... I really had little interest in her," Apocalypse comments with a loose gesture of hand, fingers relaxed, as if tossing a piece of trash aside. "I was merely curious, to see what happened to the foolish young child that tried to read my thoughts. As you can see... not the safest idea. That she still lives suggests she may be strong, though, so perhaps she'll recover," Apocalypse says, indicating past Jean to the girl. His stance and motions are those of someone that commands armies, expects respect and fear. For right now, though, the gesture also contains telekinetic pressure, intending to heave the girl up and forwards, towards both himself and, of course, Jean, who is in the way, but something intrudes on that. He'll lift and pull her partially, floating her towards Jean-- and then suddenly reorients.

Awareness of a potentially bigger issue than this, and Apocalypse is suddenly looking out to his left, his forcefields lunging in strength to a blistering level. A look is sent at Jean, suddenly dark, a rippling cunning crossing into his gaze that he lances at her. "...Clever," he compliments her.

Jean watches as the girl levitates, alarms ringing in her mind: is he trying to take the girl?! Because if he is... then Apocalypse is in for a surprise in defiance! Temperature around Jean and the elder mutant spikes as she looks at him furiously, fighting off his control over Claire until the male suddenly stops, letting the young mutant go. Although Jean catches the girl, and slowly moves her back into the building, her eyes are still to the man before her, his posture very disturbing. He doesn't seem bothered at all by her, and as his words the redhead just smirks some and nods. "Oh yeah."

She has no idea of what he is talking about.

Okay. So far so good. Cable shoulders the larger plasma cannon, instead equipping the much more imposing bazooka-like weapon in earnest. His metallic hand grasps it, focusing. Carefully he modifies the plasma core to work far beyond capacity. The weapon is only good for one shot. That's good. He should only need one. Yanking away his touch with a rasping sound like velcro, it's brought up. Cla-Click. The weapon flashes deep blue, ejecting a hiss of steam and energy from vents on the side. Focusing for a few moments, Cable suddenly is sheathed in a massively concentrated field of telekinetic energy. Graymalkin only gave him a general area... but when Apocalypse responds by charging up his shield, he's transmitted a direction. "Shit... he's still got this much power? Can't let him have another second." he grunts. Before kicking up off the rooftop. There's a great eruption of force, splintering concrete and making a sound like a thundercrack a few blocks away. A blue comet is coming so quickly that it may arrive before Jean even finishes turning her head to look. His wielded weapon is fired, erupting in an explosion of energy that sends fragments in all directions as a narrow, super-focused energy beam is launched right towards Apocalypse's face. And a fraction of a second later, the massively speed-boosted Future Nathan's heels intent to strike the exact spot the shield was weakened, with the intent to break through and find his face... hard enough to send him through the corner of the building and all the way to the street many stories below, if it lands true!!

There's no time for Apocalypse to respond to Jean before the speed of Cable's onslaught is on top of them both, and Apocalypse digs his heels in to take what's coming. He had minor warning, but not as much as he would have liked.

The blast impacts the shields with a shrieking whip of energy that pulses as it meets the weapon's bright blue impaction. The shield suddenly warps, the outside of the red halo of forcefield energy bending, entirely masking any kind of visual with it's direct explosion what may be going on underneath. Apocalypse is not soaking any of the energy, the forcefield is taking it head-on with quite a lot of visual display! The shield seems shredded, and warps, suddenly creating a strong upward force in a churn, as if the forcefield were quickly trying to cover the 'hole'.

But as the heels come in on the spot, Apocalypse has his retaliation. His shoulder and forearm morphed directly into a slanted metal looking plate, a shield that spreads to cover where his head was, with a thick slant upwards and aside. That, paired with the upwards force of energy and the attacker's own momentum, Apocalypse has created a little launchpad trap for Cable's arrival, intending to deflect.

Naturally, the girl's quiet crying is very drowned out, but she's showing signs of not being too damaged, at least. Not yet.

Not yet and not EVER!

Jean's first reaction to the cracking thunderbolt that seems to hit a spot not too far from her is enveloping both of them in shields so thick that her head simply seems to shrink around the brain, the pressure of suddenly mustering up that much energy making the redhead's whole world go white for a moment, even as she protects Claire.

And her world going white might not be a bad thing, as the futuritic tech explodes, ripples and crackles not too far from Phoenix, the whole dreadful expectacle beyond the woman's comprehension right now. Still, when she does get her eyes back, Jean is looking at Cable jumping on Apocalypse, something she takes as a cue to have Claire sent inside the building, levitating carefully, until she is safe in the first floor.

"Get him out of here, Nathan! Too many people here!", and yes, she says people, not the usual Scott-Nathan fave 'civilians', her powers now charging up again to help Nathan, even if she can barely keep up with his speed.

Damnit. He knew he was coming. That was Cable's hope; if he got the drop on En Sabah Nur like this, he could have done a lot of damage. Enough, perhaps, to knock him sufficiently senseless to try to rip his head off before he recovered. But... he's at full power. He's fully rejuvenated. How's that possible?! He should still be a shell, even after three days!! The impact of his heels with the shield is still insanely powerful, likely denting the moulded metal heavily and causing the hefty mutant to partially cave in the roof he stands upon. He's proven in another world that he's one of the few who were alive able to actually hurt him in physical combat... although that hardly means defeating him. He slides off, twisting around as he focuses his telekinetic powers with a flare of pain. His feet crack into the rooftop, shaking the entire building to the foundation as splits and cracks appear across it. Apocalypse is faster than him when he needs to be. But he knows that weakness... when his shield is up, Cable is going to take every bit of advantage he can. Swishing to circle around behind, careful to remain within the forcefield, a sudden barrage of shots are aimed right at the base of En Sabah Nur's spine with his left arm; moving in a blur like a machinegun, trying to slam into the same spot over and over. There are no words said. This is not a taunt. This a man trying to murder someone nearly a God. Somewhere, he hears a voice say 'Nathan'. Familiar. Too familiar. His mind begins to roar and burn with images and pictures, but he closes his eyes and tries to endure. If he finds out who it really is, he won't be able to fight. No. Not now. He has to finish it /NOW./

The bolts do more than dent up the spine column, leaving damage and marks, even as Apocalypse grows slightly in scale, reacting bodily with metal shielding on his body, and a quick decision is made by Apocalypse. Perhaps not the BEST decision, but he can't both track Cable's speed and use all of his other abilities at once. But it isn't necessary to chase a speedster that chooses to be up close and personal. The barrel openings of his jet pulse attachments return: they shift and appear up his arms... and mimic ones burst into form up his spine, taking the damage as the body under them forms and widens. He's taking the damage, willing to take some pain and keep the enemy close....

Because the main event comes with the energy turrets on his body formed up: To turn them on, with a slight.... energy adjustment to give power, less thrust. The cannons, several small on his back, and two more comfortable ones on his arms, fire in a heave of energy, intending to simply burn away anything that's close, and within the shield: thick bursts of greenish yellow energy, a stench of some kind attached to it. If he can't burn him, slamming him into the forcefield also works. And above that, a cruel, rippling laugh of Apocalypse. Caught between a forcefield and a jet engine isn't a great spot.

Plenty of civilians are active from the brawl on top of them, that feels a great deal like an earthquake, by now. Except for the use blast sounds, rather. The building is a mix of alarm and confusion, and someone sets off a fire alarm inside, and voices are raised, yelling, and some screams, as the apartment shudders under the battle. At least nobody's brave enough to come rushing up to the roof, as Apocalypse is not particularly being subtle about the energy he's starting to throw out.

Okay, Cable is not hearing. How could he, anyway? Jean is no super trained soldier nor she is a commanding presence. All she is, right now, is terrified as the mere ripples of plasm and energy make the whole place shake like an Earthquake. Instantly her mind goes to the fragile wisps of life that surround them, completely unaware of the dangers that surround them, and when she picks up the waking people, their fears and cries, Jean decides that enough is enough.

Glaring at Apocalypse and blowing the doors down in her own head, Jean allows all her energy to take over, knowing this will not end up well, but that it might be these peoples' only chance. Temperature rises around the fighting men as fire envelops them three and a chunk of the rooftop in a searing ball of flames that, suddenly, snaps off and flies away. To the two men nothing would change but the fact that there is not a city around them and their rooftop/arena, but a sea of fire.

The screeching sound is heard throughout the neighborhood as a fireball crosses the sky, whatever it was that made the screech nowhere to be seen as it echoes through the streets.

Jean's body gives up without warning, and she drops to a knee and the metallic taste of blood floods her mouth. Phoenix blinks and shakes her head, feeling her arms shake and her brain burn. She is going somewhere with this fight, and it could be Antarctica or the sea, but not close to innocent people.

Jean is not sure she can hold this for another second.

Cable's metal fist begins to deform from the force of impacting Apocalypse over and over, trying to bypass the plates, get to his spine, do some damage that will take some time to regenerate. But he grows larger as well, preventing him from getting through. Shit. The barrels and machinery shift open, Cable reflexively leaping backwards and smacking into the shield. "Bodyslide by one!!" Nothing happens. He may have gotten in, but Apocalypse is now KEEPING him in. "Damnit...!!" Whirling around, he turns to face Apocalypse, as the heat from his manifested cannons begins to kick in. His organic arm moving to catch the Immortal Scourge by the throat, there's nothing but sheer hate and spite on Cable's face as he uses the last seconds he has left to begin slugging him in the head, still sheathed in his telekinetic aura. And then the world becomes crimson fire and pain. That Jean did anything to save those too close to the superheated orb is really beyond his ability to notice. When Apocalypse finally shuts it off, the elder Nathan is upon the ground at his feet, sizzling and smoking as their little perch soars majestic through the air. His Techno-Organic virus can be seen creeping up his neck, grasped by a free hand before he abruptly shuts off his self-boosting telekinetics. Panting heavily, he glances up, trying to pull himself back to his feet. "How'd you... regenerate so fast... I leapt after you only a second after you created the rift...!!" War's never fair. But sometimes, it can be hopeless.

The world changing and altering around them is enough to pull Apocalypse to pay attention to Jean, and not JUST Cable. He's fought multiple opponents many other times: it just was more that he was discounting her as being important at the moment. An error. However, now she's become something more relevant, as the scenery is modified.

And a demonstration of power is in order. He redirects his strength: a mix of physical, and his own telekinetics, to battle to throw Cable off of him bodily (preferably on top of Jean), and throws his left hand up, physically channeling his own body's growth, his own mass, to increase. To increase, to scrape at the wall of the energy above them, with hand, blistering at first in the wrathful power of the Phoenix.

"/How/? You are more than just /one/ step behind me... in many, MANY ways," Apocalypse thunders, hand breaching out into the fire, and forcefully soaking from: drawing on it, pulling on it, ripping at the energy near his hand and channeling it in. The cannons at his shoulders and back pulse and flare with the channeled new flavor of unpredictable energy, as he builds it, a relaxed smile hiding a more clenched jaw against this energy that takes some work to deal with. Haunting glows surface on his face and body, finding features that throb and glow with the energy manipulation. "Now that I've answered YOUR question, answer mine: ....are you yet strong enough to /flee/ from me?" Apocalypse asks.

No forcefields hold them in. And, the way the energy channel is bending, he'll wreck the chunk of land under them, if they themselves are still present after the incoming burst to care about a lack of ground.

Jean can't handle this anymore. It's the second time in a week she has been pushing herself, but this time it's worse. Her body seems to be falling off, her legs and hands going numb until she is only kneeling there, looking at Apocalypse and Cable with some difficulty, her chin smeared with blood.

Okay. She is seeing those black dots around her eyes. That's oxygen deprivation, that's her consciousness slipping, that's her shutting down, and Phoenix knows it. With another grunt, as she can't do much more, Jean accelerates her energy field upwards and away, suddenly trying to trap the ancient mutant within: it would never kill him, but each second he spends trying to get out it's another few thousand miles between Apocalypse and them (and big cities).

So suddenly the sphere gets hot, and accelerates tremedously, forcing all it's impressions and fields upon the elder mutant.

And Jean falls on her face on the concrete below her. She didn't think this through: she cannot take herself out of this, her whispering thoughts enough only to keep the shields on cruise control.

Right now, Cable isn't in any condition to do anything to stop Apocalypse from manhandling him and hurtling away. He does a good impression of a limp noodle, making sure his first impression with Jean in this reality is almost landing directly upon her, only a shift in the broken roof causing her to slip aside. He's a heavy child now, all grown up and reinforced with bio-organic steel. To his credit, he managed to pull out one of his massive energy pistols in the midst of being hurled, firing a few accurate shots. That would just bounce off or be absorbed, depending on the whims of the overpowering mutant messiah opposite. "A step behind...? Funny you say that. I killed you once in the future. And lead the revolt that stopped you from succeeding a second time. ...This time, I'll make sure it's permanent." What the...? Someone just did something big. Also, he seems to have slid down atop them. There's not going to be another chance... and the echoes in his mind, the word 'Nathan' in that familiar voice... "Bodyslide... by two." Jean and Cable vanish in a whisk.

Those who noticed the hurtling shape over the sea may also witness the explosive burst, almost like a firework. A dark, fiery feel to it: not a celebration of a firework, more of a venting of rage...