NOTE
This story is very AU, I took the basic story of Vulcan (Gabriel Summers) and warped it to my fantasy. So a little background info might help (or just skip this):
1) Vulcan - Gabriel Summers is Scott's youngest brother. Long story short: he was born/raised with Shiar, found his way to earth, and oined a group of X-men. "Died" while saving other X-men, reawakened by energies of M-Day. In the REAL world of the comic, he already confronted Xavier and Scott, and is now on his way to take revenge on the Shiar. I obviously have ignored that.
2) The Summers brothers are immune to each other's powers. I made it so Vulcan can absorb them to recharge himself as well, which makes sense when you consider the nature of their powers and stuff. Also, I made Vulcan, being an Omega, have formidable psychic powers.
3) This story has weird unexplanable plot points as you will discover. My original intentions were to expand this into a series of similar ficlets, which would be linked by said plot points that seem to be totally random. (i.e. Stryfe's appearance in this story)
4) Don't try fitting this story anywhere in the comic, it just won't work! Just go with the characters that appear and be happy )
Ok, happy reading and don't forget to comment!
"What is this," he sneered, "a family reunion?"
"Yes," Scott growled, "now tell us who you are and what you want right now!"
The dark haired man's face hardened immediately. "You mean you don't know?"
"Why the hell should I?" Scott answered, visor glowing and ready.
"Goddamn that old fool! I knew I should have disposed of him early on. Get out of my way Cyclops, I'm going to find Xavier and kill him for this, and I won't mind going through you, any of you!"
"I'd rethink that," Alex said, crouching low and readying himself; his fists began to glow as he gathered solar energy around him, "we may not always agree with Xavier, but we're sure as hell not gonna you kill him. Now, tell us who you are!"
"You can call me Vulcan. Now, get the hell out of my way!" His entire body began to glow and radiate raw energy. He roared and fired a blast of energy at them.
Jean immediately reacted and put up a protective force field. Vulcan's massive power struck the field, but was easily deflected, where it proceeded to do massive damage to the lawn of the Mansion.
Alex and Scott both immediately fired their own concussive blasts of energy, but Vulcan only laughed and leaped out of the way.
The other X-men, just exiting the Mansion, jumped into the fray. Psylocke fired her psychic javelins at Vulcan, who waved a hand and easily directed them back at her. She ducked, but wasn't quite fast enough, and grimaced as one of them slashed her side.
She flew towards Colossus, who jumped over her and aimed a punch at Vulcan. The mutant dodged and blasted Colossus with raw energy, the combined momentum of that and his already moving torso sent him flying.
Polaris took control of Colossus' metal body and, with a grunt, redirected his flight back at Vulcan, who tried to fly out of the way but not fast enough. The tank like force sent him staggering. He gasped a few breaths, then his eyes lit up and his entire body charged with energy, which he directed squarely at Polaris.
Jean quickly moved Polaris out of the way with her telepathy. Vulcan sensed her and turned, quick as a flash he sent a psi-wave at her. But the Phoenix is anything but weak, and only absorbed the wave. Jean gasped, she felt the power within her surge; she couldn't, she wouldn't let her powers spiral out of control. She quickly flew away from the battle and tried to calm herself. Deep breaths, she thought, don't let the power consume you.
Meanwhile, Havok charged himself, and fired at the unsuspecting Vulcan. The blast hit him full force, but strangely, nothing happened. Vulcan absorbed Alex's power easily and turned around, confusion and surprise written on his face. Polaris took full advantage and sent a metal spear flying his way. Vulcan quickly registered the attack and flew out of the way.
When he next turned, Vulcan saw, to his delight, Xavier and Iceman running out of the Mansion.
"Xavier," Vulcan spat, flying towards the bald man.
"Gabriel, what—" Xavier stuttered.
Iceman quickly fired a freezing stream at him, but Vulcan only charged himself, the energy emanating from his body melting the ice on contact. Iceman gasped and quickly formed an ice bridge, speeding himself and the Professor away into the air. Vulcan's eyes darted up and he turned to follow but was deterred by way of Psylocke, who was trying to telepathically bring him down. Vulcan smirked, he concentrated, and directed a psi-wave directly at her. Psylocke screamed and flew several meters away before landing, unconscious.
Cyclops was ready. He took advantage, and the minute Vulcan attacked Psylocke, he fired his own blast at the man. As quick as he was though, Vulcan was faster, and he hastily formed a shield that blocked most of the blast, but the impact still sent him reeling into the air.
Behind him, Polaris had taken flight, and was manipulating Colossus' rigid body in the air to give him maximum speed. Colossus head was tucked, and ready to be fired. When she saw Psylocke, Polaris, enraged, directed Colossus forward with all her strength. Vulcan sensed the presence and quickly turned, and fired a concussive blast of energy from his hands. Colossus continued surging forward, but his speed was greatly reduced. Vulcan's eyes glowed as he unleashed more power, slowing Colossus down, and then slowly sending him backwards straight into Polaris. The two of the crumpled.
Now on the ground again, Xavier pressed his fingers to his temple, and tried to stun the man, still not quite believing that he was back. Vulcan felt the attempt and laughed.
"Always with your tricks," he snarled, "I've prepared myself since then you asshole."
Vulcan's eyes glowed again and he too called on his telepathy, engaging with the Professor in a mental duel. But, as powerful as Xavier was, Vulcan's energy was fueled by anger and vengeance, and he had no problem unleashing all of his power. Coming from an Omega, Charles had no chance. He screamed in pain as Vulcan assaulted his mind. Iceman once again directed a beam of ice at him, momentarily distracting him. His hold on Xavier's mind weakened, and the Professor forcefully broke the connection, gasping for breath. Vulcan snarled and felt his lower half quickly succumbing to the ice. He charged his body once more, and the ice melted. But immediately, Havok's energy beam surrounded him. Vulcan felt the most warming sensation as his body absorbed Havok's discharged energy. Cyclops quickly joined his brother, but he took off his glasses, and released everything at the enemy.
Vulcan felt strain as his body tried to absorb the energy as fast as it was being unleashed. For a moment he felt he had control, but as Cyclops added his heat to the fray, Vulcan gasped and shot through the air, his body slamming through the Mansion and out the other side. Confused as to how he could possibly absorb the foreign energy at all, Vulcan lay on the ground for a moment, catching his breath. Seconds later, his body recharged and began glowing once more as he flew up into the air and surveyed the X-men. He smirked.
The first thing that happened next, was Cyclops heard Xavier yelling for help.
The second thing that happened was that Vulcan, prepared to destroy the man that had ruined his life, sent out a concentrated psionic blast, so powerful, it was tangible.
The third thing that happened was that Havok, seeing Cyclops running to help Xavier without noticing what Vulcan was doing, ran over and shoved Cyclops out of the way.
Scott stared, stunned as the psionic blast hit Alex full on, his little brother's expression a mixture of shock and anger. The strike immediately killed Havok, and Scott was left only with a lingering gaze as Alex's eyes went blank. It didn't stop there. The blast, full of raw power, the full unleashed potential of an Omega mutant, surged onward, and hit the Professor. Although it was now weakened by Alex's sacrifice, the Professor was already severely injured, and the attack completely destroyed his mind.
Vulcan smiled as both Havok and Xavier hit the ground, their bodies unmoving.
Scott was about to scream, to cry, was about to charge, was about to kill this murdering bastard.
But nothing like that could happen, because at that moment,
The Phoenix emerged.
Jean had tried to control the power in her. The minute she felt the arrogance, the urge to use her power, she quickly backed out. This weakness frustrated her. Although she had only fully merged with the Phoenix less than a year ago, the fact that she was unable to fully reign in her power was disappointing. She'd thought she had more control.
The Phoenix was no longer a dual personality within her, it was her. No longer could she blame her actions on a force beyond her control, she could fully manifest the powers of the Phoenix and then use them for good or evil. The only problem was, this power often overwhelmed her senses. Power intoxicates her, and that's when she craves destruction.
When Jean felt the psi-signatures of Xavier, and more importantly, her brother-in-law disappear off the face of the earth, she knew she could no longer stand by. Giving herself over to the pleasure that the Phoenix provided her, she embraced her power.
Now, hovering in the air, she smiled as she sensed a twinge of fear come over Vulcan. She saw her husband move to attack the murderer of his brother and mentor. She knew he, none of the X-men, had the power to destroy him. She easily shoved Cyclops aside with a telepathic nudge.
Jean took a deep breath. A fire grew in her, grew around her, consumed her. It took the Phoenix form, she struck out her right hand and caught Vulcan within the grasp of one of her talons.
"That wasn't nice, you murdering son of a bitch."
Jean stuck out her other hand, and Vulcan was doubly trapped. With a smile, she began to squeeze.
Vulcan felt the pressure coming on in waves. Not gonna make it that easy on you, he thought, and charged up his own energy. With a blast, he forcefully broke free of Jean's grasp and hovered in front of her. He smiled, this was certainly a real challenge.
Vulcan closed his eyes and opened his mind. Jean, noting this, followed suit. Their minds clashed. Each was grimacing with the effort.
Jean's eyebrows knit as she concentrated, willing Vulcan to break, to be destroyed. The other likewise focused on sending this energy back, on killing the Phoenix force.
The X-men left standing stared in awe as the two great Omega superpowers dueled in midair, the shockwaves from their mental battle slowly crossing the threshold into reality, rippling across the Mansion's grounds, tearing up the grass and causing catastrophic damage.
Scott just stood and watched, willing Jean to succeed. This man would pay, this man who killed his brother.
Vulcan's eyes flew opened and he surged all his energy in a mental storm against Jean. Jean felt its oncoming impact and prepared herself. She took the full force, but in this empowered state, nothing could stop her. Jean smiled, feeling that Vulcan's was indeed beginning to overexert himself. She laughed a loud and ended the mental connection. Not a second later, she began barraging Vulcan repeatedly with fire and psychic assaults at the same time. You can dodge, but not them all.
She hurled herself through the air at him, Vulcan prepared a quick shield that barely deflected the blow, as he still felt the shock. Jean smiled, she was just beginning to play. She telekinetically froze Vulcan in place, and then sent him careening into the ground, forming an immediate crater. She hovered over him, a pinprick from the air, concentrated, and directed a psionic shockwave at him.
Vulcan cried out in pain as he felt his body being compressed, compacted further into the ground. Iceman moved quickly, and bridged himself and Cyclops out of the way. The team leader had a set expression on his face, and wasn't saying anything. Iceman surveyed the scene worriedly. Jean laughed as she displaced more matter and the crater grew significantly, the struggling Vulcan at its epicenter.
Just as quickly as she started, she stopped, and once more, lifted the now battered Vulcan into the air with her claws.
But he tricked her. Feigning weakness, Vulcan let himself be maneuvered face to face with Jean. Once in place, he surged against her, and his massive energy concussion sent her reeling backwards. Jean stopped herself in midair. Enraged, the flaming Phoenix around her grew, and she launched himself at Vulcan, this time, letting her burning wings embrace him.
Vulcan struggled, but Jean quickly silenced his mind. While Vulcan was a formidable telepath himself, Jean was a god. She easily stripped his mental defenses and then, proceeded to gleefully roast his body within her flames.
In this form, she gently touched down on the ground. The Phoenix form melted away, and Jean stood there, looking down at Vulcan's smoking, but very much living, body. She glanced as Scott, who was now making his way towards them. In her eyes was no regret for what she had done, and what she was about to do. She stepped back, and caught Scott's eye for a moment. A flash of understanding passed. Cyclops stood over Vulcan's beaten body for a moment before kneeling down.
"WHY?!" he demanded, his anger was beyond words, beyond emotion. There was nothing he could feel but anger, but a hunger for vengeance. He felt no sadness, no pity. All that had been lost with Alex
Iceman made a move to help him, but Jean held him back, and shook her head.
Scott barely registered anything.
"Because—" Vulcan began, his voice raspy and dissonant.
Scott silenced him with a glare, and stood up again.
It took him a moment to realize that Vulcan had tears streaming down his face.
"You gonna kill me Scotty? Would you? Could you?"
"Give me one good reason I shouldn't."
It was then that Vulcan realized, to his horror, that the reason lay dead, lying a few feet away; dead by his own hand. How ironic, he thought, closing his eyes against the inevitable. He parted his lips—
"Don't," Scott interjected, "whatever you say, I wouldn't care. You've killed the Professor. But moreover, you killed Alex. And for that, you're going to die."
Never a cold-blooded murderer, Scott decided, in that instance, that exceptions had to be made. He slowly removed his visor, the only thing keeping his near limitless power in check. Eyes still closed, he aimed down.
Vulcan had opened his eyes by now. He made no sound, but the tears never stopped flowing. He felt the warmth of the blast before he registered the pain. He was enveloped in red, and he loved it. The energy recharged him, healed him. But his body was already too destroyed to recover. Vulcan, remembering the feeling from earlier, suddenly knew.
It's healing me, but then…no! Alex, he, he was…
He never finished that horrific thought. Scott's energy beams invaded his body, flowed into every cell, every molecule of his being.
There was nothing left.
The temporal rift opened on bleak grounds.
Cable stepped out, Stryfe in tow. He stared around in shock, not knowing what had happened, until he saw the still forms of three lone X-men. He saw Gabriel too, right before Scott's energy beam disintegrated his body. No, he thought, we're too late. Stryfe made a move, but Cable stopped him. No, not now, they'll kill you too, just go. His twin nodded in understanding, and silently moved away.
Cable inched forward, there was a ringing in his ears and a disbelief in his mind. He never thought Scott could kill, just like that.
It was Jean who first registered his presence. She looked up at him with a pained expression, almost as if to ask, why weren't you here to help?
He stared back at her, sadness written over his face. If only they knew…
"Scott," he hoarsely said, the words barely forming.
"Gabriel Summers, that man was Gabriel Summers; that was your brother."