“I am immortal, and I have no end.”
Apocalypse
X2 –The X-Men: The year one hundred.
The Temple of Concordance:
The Church of Ascendancy:
A priest preaches the gospel of man being the servant of machines, and against the heresy of improving man’s fatal design. He has a baby being turned into a cyborg. Better to serve in heaven than rule in human hell, he tells his worshippers.
Suddenly, a wall explodes, courtesy of Xorn, North, Rasputin and Cardinal. Xorn muses that, with his nihilist bent, one would think he would have some small affinity for human apocrypha, but look at him, on a sweet suicide mission and sure only of one thing: he had hoped for more from humanity. A little more pride. A little more grace. Yet here they are, Rasputin scoffs, in all their glory!
In Nimrod’s Tower, Omega Sentinel watches the conflagration and remarks that the Church of Ascendancy is on fire. And why should he care? a busy Nimrod replies. He is busy with their recent incursion and can’t be bothered with… man. Dare he say let it burn? He thinks so. It’s been far too long since they’ve made fire and ash of the humans. Omega adds the feed from the human response team says it was the mutants. The city has re-tasked all available Sentinel brigades to intercept. Nimrod wonders why the mutants would attack the church. In the past, they have always sought to free the humans, in the hope that together the might overcome the inevitability of, well… him.
Omega Sentinel doubts there is any common ground left between the two. She spent quite some time among them, observing and analyzing the branches of Homo sapiens. Any hope of cohabitation died long ago. In fact, while they use the same words, they don’t actually speak the same language anymore.
Such a pity, the tragedy Nimrod observes wryly. He wonders how he can sleep at night anymore. Rolling her eyes, Omega reminds him they don’t sleep. In fact, that’s what mutants think is wrong with machines, that they don’t dream.
Nimrod doesn’t see the point of dreams. The mutants’ dream is almost as extinct as they are. Omega doesn’t reply and just glares. What? he finally asks. She replies the mutants’ inconsistence of actions bothers her. The should investigate. Nimrod disagrees. This is either due to their flawed nature or implies another agenda not yet defined. Either way, he won’t be joining her. He cares for neither. She tells him to suit himself, as she flies away. He always does, he states.
Back at the church, Cardinal stabs the priest who asks why they are doing this. Cardinal replies that he is a pacifist who has been pushed to the brink. But even for those like him there comes a time when a point must be made. So today he ate a terminal Apocalypse Seed to overcome his genetic predisposition toward non-violence. But he’d choose this end over the priest’s any time. He betrays his own for what? The favor of those who find contempt in his very existence? He does it for the Great Machine who is their better! the priest replies. He does it for his god.
Suddenly, North is killed with a blast, courtesy of several Sentinels. Smiling, the priest tells Cardinal to see God. She is here right now! He refers to Omega Sentinel.
Finally, sweet annihilation! Xorn grins, He’s been waiting for this! Rasputin reminds Xorn that they need to keep them busy to buy the others time.
The others – Apocalypse, Wolverine and Krakoa – are in the Nexus. How long is it going to take? Wolverine asks Krakoa to find the info they need. Not long, is the reply. Thanks to the earlier sacrifice, he knows where to look in the archives to find out when Nimrod went online.
Nimrod is busy in his tower when he is alerted to what Apocalypse’s group is doing.
In the Nexus, Krakoa is finished and they intend to leave, but Wolverine warns them back. He senses something not quite right. A moment later, he gets blasted by Nimrod, who wonders why they are here. There is nothing in this sector except old data and machine lore. He wonders whatever were they looking for?
In the church, Cardinal lies buried under the rubble and Rasputin warns Omega to stay back. Omega replies she has just received word that Rasputin’s teammates are being dealt with. This distraction will not serve any greater purpose than bringing an end to them and being an inconvenience for her.
Here’s an inconvenience, Rasputin replies, referring to Xorn: he has a singularity in his head. If she removes his mask, all of this will be gone in an instant. She warns her again to stay back. Xorn beckons her closer instead. This is the ending he has always wanted.
Omega considers it a bluff. They care too much about what they got, even if it is nothing. Besides, do they know what lies at the heart of a black hole? She gives them a hint. It’s where they are all headed. Rasputin replies she doesn’t know, so let’s find out! She proves Omega wrong and removes the faceplate. The singularity kills them all and everything around them.
In the Nexus, Apocalypse blasts Nimrod and gives a data crystal to Wolverine, telling him he knows what to do with this. Wolverine refuses, announcing he will stay and Apocalypse should go. Apocalypse scoffs if he knew what he looked like he would know how foolish he sounds. He repeats his order, adding that he will be right behind him.
Krakoa opens the gate. Apocalypse turns to Nimrod who now consists of several units. Wolverine looks around a last time from the gate as they beat on Apocalypse. The mutant immortal they announce, older than the world, the fittest of all.
Wolverine, in the meantime, has reached a sarcophagus.
The Nimrods muse how sad it must be that natural selection has brought him here.
The sarcophagus opens, revealing a transformed but still youthful looking Moira Kinross. Wolverine explains that Apocalypse he created some mechanism to forcefeed the intel into her brain. Tentacles from her armor reach out to grasp the crystal. She screams as the knowledge is imprinted in her brain.
What now? she asks. Logan replies, the old man said to send her on her way because there is nothing left to save here.
He unsheathes his claws and apologizes. She assures him, it’s okay. She has what she needs now, and this is what he does. He impales her.
So ended the ninth life of Moira X.
“And should forever end, let me die in battle surrounded by my fallen enemies and with blood on my sword.”
Apocalypse
