Mutation

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.

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.

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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/