Piotr Rasputin awoke to find two miniature suns in his view, coming from the forms of Warp Savant and another man, Joseph…more easily-recognized as Proteus. They were like two balls of green and yellow light that seemed to twirl and dance around like ballet in midair. He peered more closely at the man encircled in yellow energy—Kevin MacTaggart, the young man he was forced to kill all those years ago when the X-Men first encountered him on Muir Isle.

Colossus picked himself up and concentrated, transforming his flesh into organic steel. He knelt down beside Maggott and Pyro, who had almost been crushed to death when he was accidentally flung into them by Warp Savant—in his metal form. They appeared alright. It looked like Maggott took most of the impact; being that Maggott’s strength and durability were superhuman while in his blue form, it probably saved Pyro a broken spine.

Piotr’s footsteps clunked against the scorched, arid soil as he checked on Diode, who was bleeding from a wound through her shoulder. She had crawled over towards him, or tried to, at least. He looked over his shoulder and saw the giant Aztec sandstone calendar, the form his colleague, Xorn, had been cruelly transmuted into. His attention quickly returned to Diode as he ran his metal finger across her trembling form. There was an innate shock, a literal jolt of electricity that ran through Colossus. But it was nothing that could’ve harmed him, it was just a natural response and the laws of physics.

Roni Santiago’s pale face looked up towards her metallic savior and managed to put on a smile, “Hey, sex.” She grimaced as she gripped her shoulder, the blood oozed out between the grooves of her fingers.

“I’m married,” Colossus replied with a slight grin, but with a countenance of worry. “And you’re bleeding to death.”

“Seraphim’s down?” Diode asked with pain in her voice.

Colossus nodded, “I haven’t even checked on our bosses yet.”

“Think Xorn could…I know he said he couldn’t heal us after he brought us out of Feng Tu’s zombie-induced whatever you call it, but it’s worth a shot, huh?” Diode wondered.

“Xorn’s…,” Colossus stopped himself. He didn’t want to say it, “We may have to accept the possibility he’s dead.”

“Yeah…,” Diode said with a hint of acceptance. She shook as her vision blurred and her breathing became heavy, “Aw, jeez…I better not die.”

Colossus saw a small fire nearby. He looked down at Diode and said, “Stay here, I’ll be right back. Just stay here!” He ran off and stuck his hand in the flames and waited for his flesh to become super-heated. He flinched as some of his “skin” boiled and dripped off into tiny puddles of steel. He ran back and knelt next to Diode.

Diode laughed, delirious, “What’s Joe doing? He’s all like…glowy.”

Colossus sighed as he held up his heated hand, “He’s Proteus again.” He grabbed Diode with his other hand gently, “This is going to hurt…”

“…never tried sado-masochism,” Diode mumbled to herself as she began to drift off.

“Only way to stop the bleeding…,” Colossus said as he took a deep breath and placed his other hand over Diode’s shoulder wound.

“AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!” Diode’s scream sent millions of volts into Colossus’s body, but he held firm until he was sure the wound was sealed. He wasn’t sure if an artery was severed, but the only medical equipment was in the jet, and it was down. He had to make the choice.

When Diode’s natural shock reaction died down, Colossus yanked himself back and observed a black soot, “scarring,” over his smoldering hand. It didn’t hurt, it just looked like it did.

Diode bit her bottom lip as her breathing returned to normal. As tears ran down her face from the stress, she smiled without opening her eyes, “…that was kind of kinky. Kind of like pouring hot wax over my love slave, Regina.”

Colossus took off his blazer suit coat, what was left of it, and wrapped it around Roni, ignoring her potentially-disturbing statement thanks to the intensity of the situation. He looked up in the distant sky and saw Warp Savant and Joseph battling it out. Piotr sighed, “Try not to move. I’m going to see if Warren and Betsy are alright…”

Ionized molecules of green and yellow thrashed one another as Joseph, or Kevin MacTaggart, or Proteus, stood in an invisible choke hold with Warp Savant high above the air.

“Heh,” Savant grunted as his eyes almost carelessly vented energy, “frankly, I’m a little unimpressed. Then again, I guess this is a good indicator I could go toe-to-toe with Magneto for the hell of it…y’know…just because us potential omega mutants always have that…curiosity?”

Joseph grit his teeth, “I’m just getting started…”

“Scottish accent, huh? Whatever,” Savant mused as he in a slapdash fashion threw a fist of energy into Proteus’s gut. Joseph took the blow with effortlessness, as his form was made entirely of energy now. He was no longer bound by his genetic exterior. Still, the interactivity of energy almost made it…hurt.

He panted as he spoke quietly to himself, bewildered that his dialect had changed, “I’m Kevin MacTaggart…I’m Kevin? Where are m’ lucky bagpipes? Ah, Christ…”

“Gotta hand it to ya though…back when you were confused as to who you really were, you beat me fair an’ square,” Savant said as he bound Proteus in a twine of energy. “Now you’re just a little bitch.” Warp began laughing, “But then again, what if I threw the fight? What if I wanted to push X-Corp into the spotlight with the big leagues?”

“Then I’d say you might actually have some sanity,” Proteus said as he concentrated and generated his energy form to pulse outwards, breaking free of Savant’s hold. “The goal of X-Corp all along was to promote mutants positively.”

Savant laughed as he was repelled by the blast. He pointed at his temple, “Precognition, bitch. And I’m not talking your cryptic messages from Irene Adler or random visions Psylocke gets. I’m talking the absolute future. I’ve got nothing to fear because I already know what happens. I told you assholes from day one my mind operates differently…I’m God and you are my ants. I’m just moving the way I do, copying what I see myself do…our fates are sealed.”

“Fate’s a funny thing,” Proteus said as his eyes glowed with a murderous red, “because I’m supposed to be dead.”

“Energy doesn’t die, fucktard,” Savant bellowed. He smiled, “Unless I organize it all together into a bunch of hydrogen atoms and absorb it into myself, thereby increasing my power tenfold…”

“What--?!” Proteus wondered as he felt a sharp pain in his chest. Tiny yellow particles seemed to get suctioned out of his corporeal “template” and into Savant’s mouth.

As if savoring the flavor, Savant licked his lips, “Heh, needs a dash of salt. But I guess that can be said of all Scottish dishes…er…I think.”

“Betsy!” Colossus shouted as he tore away the metallic paneling of the Seraphim away like it was a thin sheet of aluminum foil. “Warren?!”

To the surprise of Piotr, Psylocke, of all people, held up her fiancé after almost dying of cardiac arrest due to an accidental jolt from Diode.

“You should rest,” Colossus implored.

Psylocke scoffed, “Bullocks…there’s enough psionic disturbance to wake the dead out there. Besides, I’ve dealt with much worse.”

Archangel grabbed his throbbing head, “What’s our situation, Peter?”

“Maggott and Pyro are alright—as far as I can tell—and I had to cauterize Diode’s wound. She might need medical attention. Xorn’s still…immobile,” Colossus reported.

“And Joseph?” Archangel asked as he stood upright on his own. Psylocke gently rubbed his chest and looked at Peter as well.

Colossus’s brow crinkled as his metallic visage became grim, “Proteus.”

Archangel’s own brow furrowed as he looked up into the sky, up at the two miniature suns of reality being torn and put back together at the same time…all in shades of green and yellow. His sharp eyesight did not lie and Warren became alarmed suddenly, “My God…”

“What?” Colossus wondered as he looked up towards the dueling reality-warpers.

Psylocke concentrated as a butterfly effect manifested around the contours of her face, “Savant’s trying to suck Joseph’s power directly into himself.”

“Joseph’s our only edge against him,” Archangel said.

“You think Mojoworld’s army is willing to help in the fight somehow?” Psylocke suggested, almost in passing.

“Oh, yeah…they must be loving this,” Colossus growled.

“I’m not risking a dimensional portal right in the middle this,” Archangel said as he pulled out two gold-plated guns from inside of his coat. “We’re on our own. Colossus, shift into human form. Psylocke, I want you to protect our minds while we fly up there. And get Pyro and Maggott back in action…stimulate some beta-endorphins—whatever.”

Psylocke smiled as she seductively shifted her body weight to one side, “I love when you get all strategic.”

Archangel shrugged, “I’m mainly mimicking what I think Cyke would do. So…yeah. Whatever works.” Colossus shifted back into human form.

“Is there a reason why I am doing this naked? Without armor?” Colossus wondered.

Archangel grabbed Colossus’s hand and took to the air with one flap of his wings, “You’re too heavy otherwise.” They continued to ascend as Warren yelled, “When we get close enough, armor up and grab onto Joseph!”

“But I’ll kill him…again!” Colossus yelled. “Metal hurts him!”

“We need to stop Savant from sucking on his power!” Archangel exclaimed. “We aren’t going to kill him! We just need to help out!” His wings began to pick up flapping frequency and speed. At the last possible moment, Archangel dropped the armored Colossus in freefall, allowing his forward progression to plow into both Savant and Joseph.

Sparks flew across Colossus’s body as Joseph screamed in agony. The backlash of energy traveled through Warp Savant’s nervous system, causing him to shout as well.

“Now, Psylocke!” Archangel shouted in his mind.

“Aw, fuck…,” Warp muttered, as he already knew the impending psionic assault to come. A pink butterfly formed around his face as his green eyes now became pink as well—causing enough disturbance to “let go” of Joseph’s power.

Colossus met eyes with the man he once “killed” and finally let go himself, plunging towards the land below. There was a rumble and explosion of discarded soil as Colossus nonchalantly rose from his self-made crater.

Joseph’s flickering energy form met alongside the still-airborne Archangel, who brandished his twin guns at the convulsing Savant…who was also still hovering.

“Thanks,” Proteus said.

Archangel cocked an eyebrow, “Nice accent, Joseph. Oh, and sorry about that. We had to…uh…improvise.”

Proteus smiled, “It’s all good. And call me Kevin.”

Archangel cleared his throat, “You’re not um…going to possess me or anything, are you?”

Proteus looked down at his hands and seemed to inspect himself, “I…don’t know. For some reason, I’m…completely fine. My energy form is stable.”

“Guess it was psychological, then,” Warren said. “Good work, by the way. Nice to have you back on the team.”

Proteus seemed to hesitate, “After this…I realized how much I just want a normal life. I know I said I thought I wanted to be on the field…but that was before my true self emerged…now I just want…to rest.”

*THOOM*

A massive fist of green energy pummeled Proteus and sent him sprawling through the air for miles.

“Your wish is my command, assface!” Warp shouted.

Realizing that Savant broke free of Psylocke’s psionic tampering, Archangel looked down and saw Colossus, Maggott, and Pyro helping her out. His attention immediately turned back to Savant, “You’re kinda pissing me off here.”

Savant’s lips curled up into a snarl, “The feeling’s mutual, gringo.” With a wave of his hand, the sound of Archangel’s flapping wings stopped.

Archangel felt the sudden inertia and saw a strange glimmer out of the corner of his eye. His wings were now dense gold. He even had a cheap halo glued to his head. He fumed at Savant as gravity took hold of him, “You asshole…”

“Just be glad I didn’t give you a vagina in your left armpit,” Savant snickered as he waved his hand good-bye. Archangel continued to fall downwards into the dense jungle until he was unseen by foliage.

“Heh,” Savant mused. He descended towards the four remaining members of X-Corp. “Ah, the cowering lackeys.”

Psylocke leapt forward and drove her heel into Savant’s chin, promptly following up with a psychic knife into his temple. Savant laughed and back-handed the female ninja, knocking her into Colossus’s armored hide.

“Son of a bitch!” Pyro yelled as an inferno erupted around his hands, swirling around Savant. However, the flames turned into dandelions soon after. Savant laughed again, exhaling smoke. Beams of light shot out of his eyes with violent precision and blasted Pyro in the abdomen.

Before Colossus or Maggott, the two strongest members of the team, could do anything, the very rock beneath them came to life and formed two giant statue versions of them.

Maggott looked up and rubbed his aching head just as the stone statue was about to squash him with its massive foot, “Man…” He winced and held out his hands as the massive weight drove him three feet into the ground. Maggott’s muscles tensed up as his back began to shake under the pressure.

“Suppertime, sexy mamas!” Maggott growled as his eyes became hollow and red. Eany and Meany burst from his stomach cavity and unhinged their unnatural jaws and began swirling around the stone structure at alarming speeds, devouring its profound mass. However, it seemed for whatever the slugs took away, more rock was grafted into it, courtesy of Warp Savant.

Colossus seemed to have the same predicament as he swung his massive fists into the living stone structure, but the damage appeared to repair itself. “Feeling alright over there?”

Maggott still held the massive heel of his adversary above his head as his knees began to give out and shake. He growled as he caught his second wind and toppled the statue over, allowing Eany and Meany to go to work on the body. Maggott pounded his fists together as he called his slugs back. They burrowed themselves into his abdomen as his own mass seemed to double in size, “Hell yeah.”

Maggott took a running start and leapt into the air, driving his feet into the back of Colossus’s stone goon. Colossus, in a defensive stance, allowed the statue to topple over him. Maggott had timed the trajectory just right as the structure fell on top of Colossus’s invulnerable form in just the right spot through the chest, shattering the granite monster.

Colossus emerged from the rubble and patted Maggott on the back, “Nice.”

Warp Savant applauded, “Yeah. Nice.” He pointed his finger as Colossus and Maggott were suddenly turned into the Tin Man from the Wizard of Oz, and a pile of rotting meat infested with hundreds of maggots, respectively so.

Colossus tried to move, but realized his joints were rusted up, and toppled over.

Savant wiped his nose as he yawned and stretched his arms out, “Christ. Didn’t think spanking you assholes would be this boring. I mean, I saw it played out in my premonitions my entire life.” He turned his head and smiled, “Right, sis?”

Diode hovered a few yards away from her brother as electricity, in its most pure, primal form, surrounded her body and randomly streamed out, shriveling up everything around her.

“You’re crazy, Raul,” Diode said coldly. “You don’t see the future. All you see are your own delusions and then you make them real with your powers!”

Savant smiled, “Don’t lecture me, Roni. I don’t care if you became a comedian, or an X-Man, or a board member to a multi-billion dollar corporation. When it all comes down to it, your success doesn’t mean a thing. You never had a life of your own. You attached yourself to others and rode in on other people’s accomplishments. You’re not self-made like me!”

Diode sighed, “When we were younger, you used to look after me. We were like…amigos. Familia. Do you remember that? Get off your high horse mutant powers for just a second and listen to me.”

“You killed mom!” Savant shouted as the energies which danced around him seemed to die down.

Diode closed her eyes, “Yeah. She died giving birth to me. So what? You said you gave the drugs to Humberto to kill himself…and that you killed dad?”

“I…,” Savant began. He closed his eyes and clenched his fists, shouting, “STOP IT! YOU’RE CONFUSING ME!” A massive pulse of green energy was directed at Diode, but with a simple bat of her hand, she deflected it.

“I told my team I was going to kill you,” Diode said as electricity crackled out of her eyes. “That’s how far it’s come, dude. I don’t want to kill the last member of my family left…but I guess I have to unless you give me one DAMN good reason not to, Raul.”

Savant fell to his knees on the scorched ground and sobbed, “…I just…”

“You’re looking for someone to blame?” Roni speculated. “For what? Being a mutant? Creating your own problems to inspire sympathy?! WHAT?!”

“I was alone!” Savant squealed. He sighed, “I…needed you.”

“You have one fucked up way of asking for help, vato,” Diode said as she shook her head. She sat down beside her brother and crossed her legs, leaning back on her hands.

Savant closed his eyes, “No one understands me the way you do. I tried to make Proteus understand me, but he’s just as clueless as all the others…”

Diode looked at her feet, “Joseph…Proteus…he’s got some issues, but who doesn’t? You can’t expect someone with similar powers to know what you’re going through.”

“Why didn’t Xavier or Magneto approach me?” Savant asked. “I thought I was special. I could have been special. Hell, I would have even settled for Apocalypse or Apollyon. Just anything to be a part of something…”

Diode turned towards her brother, “Just because you’re a mutant doesn’t mean you have to BE something. All you had to do was be yourself…as trite and pointless as that might sound coming from someone as unserious as I’ve been my entire life, but…”

Raul Santiago shook his head, “But that’s the whole point. I couldn’t do it alone. I thought I could, but I cracked…you’re right…I created these scenarios to help me get through the pain. I was so used to the pain, I just wanted more of it…to make the sweetest moments last like a sexual high.”

“So you killed dad and our brother?” Diode asked.

“No…,” Savant breathed. “I didn’t kill dad. I just said I did. Humberto was always a wild child. He OD’ed. I don’t know where he got the drugs, I just said I gave them to him.”

Tears welled up in Diode’s eyes as she began to feel the sympathy for her brother she talked about earlier, “Why?”

Savant’s tear-soaked eyes began to have a fatigue about them that alarmed Diode. He bobbled his head back and forth, as if hallucinating. He looked at Diode again as a smile crept onto his face, “You look like mom.”

“Diode!” came a shout.

Diode and Savant looked up to see Psylocke, Proteus, and Pyro standing a short distance away. The others, as far as Roni could tell, were incapacitated by Savant’s power—transmuted beyond comprehension.

“It’s alright,” Diode said. “We’re just talking.”

Proteus’s eyes glowed, “I’m done chatting.” Behind him, Colossus and Maggott’s bodies reformed into their former states. Befuddled, the two saw Proteus hover above the ground next to Pyro and Psylocke and rejoined them. The giant Aztec sandstone calendar broke apart and reformed into Xorn’s former state of being.

The Buddhist mutant’s hands reached for his face, but only felt the cold iron of his mask. Somberly, Xorn looked up and saw Proteus. Although he never actually saw him, he knew who he was based on his electromagnetic aura. He deducted that Joseph was able to attain his full power.

“You bastard! Ruined my work! My masterpieces!” Savant shouted at Proteus as he generated a massive pulse, knocking X-Corp back.

Diode grabbed her brother by his arm and sent a massive electrical shock into his system, “Get a hold of yourself!”

Savant shouted as his powers were cancelled out and continually weakened by his sister’s unique abilities, “AHHHH!!” He laughed despite the pain, “I get it now…should have seen it earlier!”

Psylocke recovered as she saw Savant and Diode twirling it midair. Pyro woke up as well and shouted, “What the feck?!”

Betsy concentrated, “Warren? I need you to get to the Seraphim. There’s a mutant nullifier in there. We have to use it on Savant.”

“Already here, I can see them… Bastard turned my wings into gold. My leg’s broken, too,” Archangel replied telepathically. “I might hit Roni.”

“We don’t have much of a choice!” Psylocke shouted.

Diode became worried as Savant pushed through the electrical tampering of his reality-warping and grabbed onto Diode. “Sorry, sis…this is the only way for it to end. I’m glad it’s you.”

Roni gasped.

For she knew it would be the last breath she would take.

Veronica Santiago’s body vaporized and sent out an electromagnetic pulse in all directions.

“RONI!!!” Pyro growled. An inferno erupted from his body, turning from bright orange, to blue—the hottest flames he could muster.

“NO!” Psylocke echoed in her grief.

“Pyro! Christ! You…made your own fire!” Maggott observed, astonished…at the same time, struck with the melancholy of the situation.

“I WONDER WHY!?! OH YEAH—I’M FECKING PISSED!!” Pyro shouted as his massive physically manifested emotions were thrust upon Savant. “NOT HOLDIN’ BACK ANYMORE! DON’T GIVE TWO SHITS ABOUT THE MEDIA! AND CERTAINLY DON’T GIVE TWO SHITS ABOUT THIS SOON-TO-BE DEEP-FRIED LATINO HOMO!”

Colossus gritted his teeth, “Proteus. Fastball special.”

“No time for games,” Proteus panted as he stared down Savant with absolute hatred.

“I meant me. Throw me,” Colossus yelled as he armored up. “Fast.” A yellow energy surrounded the Russian born mutant as he was suddenly flung at hundreds of miles per hour towards the laughing (and burning) Warp Savant. His metal fists hammered Savant’s ribcage, crushing it.

Pyro’s rage had already started a rapidly growing brush fire that soon began to spread into the rain forest of the area. It seemed the battle with Savant had used up a lot of the moisture in the air, making the jungle as dry and arid at the ground itself.

“COME ON!” Savant shouted with a devilish grin. The blackened skin on his third-degree burned face began to flake off. “Make me a star! Make Diode’s sacrifice matter! Come on! Don’t make me spell it out for you!”

Xorn suddenly flew into the air as his eye slots glowed with the blue brilliance of the stars themselves. Without warning, a relentless flare of heat and radiation poured out of Xorn’s mask, slicing Savant’s body in two. His bottom torso fell towards the ground below as the embers disintegrated.

“Yes!” Savant shouted. He coughed, “Aw, man…Bad. Ass. Dawg! Woo! Hehehehe.”

Below, Pyro discontinued his fiery assault and fell to the ground, emotionally distraught and exhausted. He looked up and saw Psylocke. Then he saw the very land around them burning and turning to ash. The forest fire echoed one of the plots of his novels. He grabbed her hand, “I can’t stop the fire, gel…”

“Proteus?” Psylocke shouted. “Joseph?”

Proteus’s energy form was hunched over, nearby. He held out his hand and shook his head, “I…can’t. I’m too weak from the fight…and fer the last time, call me Kevin…”

“Maggott?” Psylocke called.

Maggott shook his head, “The gels are too full…it’s too much burnt material to eat anyway…I don’t know what would happen if they tried to eat it all.”

There was suddenly a whoosh of air above as Archangel swooped in, carrying a bazooka-like weapon over his shoulder. He shouted, “His powers are weakening…s’why my wings are back to normal!”

"Aw fuck...this is kinda embarrassing. Getting defeated by a guy who used to call himself Angel. And they say I'm gay! Shit," Savant mumbled. He held his arms outstretched and smiled for the birdie.

Warren aimed the mutant nullifier weapon and coldly hit Savant in the chest, sending his powerless, lifeless torso plummeting to the rock hard ground—where it shattered upon impact and seemed to evaporate.

Archangel touched down, limping on his right foot. Traces of the Horseman of Death echoed in his voice, “It’s done.”

He dropped the mutant nullifier on the ground as he embraced Psylocke. As UN helicopters and firefighter planes began to dump tens of thousands of gallons of fire-retardant and water upon the inferno, X-Corp simply watched on. Everyone’s mind probably did not even begin to process the information. They were drunk on their own adrenaline and emotion.

However, they knew in their hearts and souls that Diode was gone. Despite her spontaneous and unpredictable nature, there was innocence to that. To her. And their dreams and ideals were forever changed.