Chapter 2: Some Kind of... Apocalypse

"Her nightmares were different this time." Charles says as the other adults follow him.

"Different? How different?" Alyssa asks.

"Well, it could account for something I saw when I was in my lab earlier." Hank says, "There was some kind of tremor. Like an energy surge. I picked it up on one of my meters."

"You mean the one we just felt?" Janos asks.

"Yeah." Hank replies.

"And you're saying Jean created it?" Charles asks.

"No. I'm saying something else did." Hank says, "Maybe she was reacting to it. I don't know. But the epicenter was halfway around the world."

"Halfway around the world?" Charles asks.

"Yeah. That's why I was hoping you could take a look." Hank says.

"Let's see what we can find." Charles says as the door opens and the four enter Cerebro.

"The source came from Cairo." Hank explains as he sets up the device and hands Charles the helmet. "I'll put in the coordinates."

The lights dimmed as Cerebro came to life and Charles scanned through it. Something seemed to catch his attention, and the others noticed.

"What is it?" Janos asks.

"It's her." Charles replies.

"Who?" Alyssa asks.

"Moira." Charles says.

"What?" Hank asks, "Moira MacTaggert?"

"Mmm-hmm." Charles replies.

"Give me the details." Hank says.

"She looks amazing." Charles says, "She's barely aged a day."

"No." Hank says, "I meant... what is she doing there? What does the CIA want with this?"

"She's going back to Langley to deliver a report." Charles explains, "I'm going to go there. See if she knows something about the tremor."

"And you want to go see Moira." Hank teases.

"I want to go check her out. Check out... the situation." Charles says awkwardly.

"Hold on, is she that one woman that was with you guys way back then?" Alyssa asks.

"Yeah." Hank responds.

"I'm sure she'll be happy to see us." Alyssa remarks.

"I wouldn't worry about that." Charles says, "Janos, I want you to come with me. I'm also gonna bring Alex. Alyssa, you and Hank stay here and keep an eye on everyone."

The others gave a word or sound of acknowledgement before leaving the room.

The next day, Janos, Alex, and Charles left to go talk to Moira finding the building she worked in.

"So you really haven't seen her in all these years?" Alex asks, "YOu never looked her up? Not even in Cerebro?"

Charles laughs at this. "Alex! What do you take me for, some kind of pervert? Yes, I looked her up once. Twice. But not in a long time, all right?"

"How did you leave things?" Alex asks, "Any hard feelings?"

"Not likely." Charles responds before using his powers to stop everyone else in the room. "I wiped her mind of all memories of us. The beach, Cuba, that whole time."

"So that's why you said Alyssa and I wouldn't need to worry about her." Janos says, "She doesn't remember who we are."

"It was so long ago." Charles says, "Before the world knew about mutants. I felt it was the best thing for her."

"And for you?" Alex asks.

"Didn't really matter what was best for me." Charles says. The three then reached Moira's office and knocked on the door before entering. "Moira MacTaggert, hello!" Charles says, unfreezing the workers in the other room. "Allow me to introduce myself. I'm Professor-"

"Charles Xavier." Moira says, cutting him off. "I know exactly who you are."

"You do?" Charles asks.

"Of course I do." Moira says, "I've read all of your papers. It's a pleasure to finally meet you." She adds, standing to shake Charles's hand. She then turns to Alex and Janos, "Moira MacTaggert."

"Alex Summers." Alex responds, shaking hands with her.

"Janos Quested." Janos adds, doing the same as Alex.

"Please have a seat." Moira says, "Just throw that on the floor." She adds, referring to some boxes in the chairs.

"It's wonderful to see you again." Charles says as Alex and Janos sit down, before realizing what he said, "To meet you again, for the first time. You've got a son?"

"Yes." Moira responds.

"Does he have a husband? I mean, do you have a husband?" Charles asks.

"I had a husband..." Moira says, "but it's hard to do this job and make it home in time for dinner. We all make choices, right?"

"Yes, we do." Charles responds.

There was a short pause before Alex nudged him, reminding him why they were here.

"I was, we were hoping that you would tell us about what happened yesterday in Egypt." Charles says.

"I'm afraid that's classified information." Moira says, "And I don't mean to be rude, but how did you get in here?"

"I have level-five clearance." Charles responds.

This seemed to satisfy Moira, and she pulled out a stack of folders, opening them and explaining her findings.

"Ever since the world found out about mutants in '73, there have been cults who have seen them as some kind of Second Coming or sign of God. I was tracking one of them. They call themselves Ashir En Sabah Nur, named after an ancient being they believe to be the world's first."

"The world's first what?" Janos asks.

"The world's first mutant." Moira responds.

"I thought mutants didn't evolve until this century." Janos says.

"That's the common theory, yes, but these guys believe that the first mutant was born tens of thousands of years ago. And they believe he will rise again." Moira explains, "They've been searching ancient sites all around the world for clues. These hieroglyphs describe a specific set of powers greater than any man could possess."

"They think he lived all that time?" Charles asks.

"Yes and no." Moira says, "They believe he had the ability to transfer his consciousness from body to body. And whenever he was close to death he would just take on a new body. Some of these may have been the bodies of mutants, enabling him to take their powers, amassing various abilities over the years."

"An all-powerful mutant." Charles says.

"Exactly." Moira responds, "And wherever this being was he always had four principle followers. Disciples. Protectors he would imbue with powers."

"Like the Four Horsemen." Alex says, "Of the Apocalypse. He got that one from the Bible."

"Or the Bible got it from him." Moira adds, "And wherever he ruled, eventually, it would end in disaster. Cataclysm. Some kind of... apocalypse."

"The end of the world." Charles says.

"We should head back." Janos says, "The others might want to hear this."

Bạn đang đọc truyện trên: AzTruyen.Top