Chapter 252 — Ashes in the Sky
The sky burned.
Logan's thermal vision cut through the heat haze of battle like a predator's eye through tall grass. His instincts screamed before his mind fully caught up — something long, metallic, falling like a damned meteor. His senses didn't lie. Heat waves rolled off it like a miniature sun ripping through the atmosphere.
That ain't no cargo drop…
His face drained of color.
"Flamin' hell—" he spat.
Then his voice exploded out of his chest:
"TAKE COVER! ROCKET FALLIN' FROM THE SKY!"
Both sides — X-Men, Marauders, Freedom Force — all scattered, swearing, scrambling for anything resembling safety. Even Sabretooth, who a moment ago looked like he was enjoying himself, bared fangs in a snarl and sprinted.
The ground convulsed as the projectile smashed between all three factions — a thunderous boom that swallowed the tunnels' echo. A blinding bloom of force gouged a crater deep into the earth. Dirt, steel, and fragments of rocks and boulders rained like shrapnel.
And then silence.
Just… breathing. Shocked, tense breathing.
Logan lifted his gaze slowly.
Through the dust, glowing pink eyes lit up the darkness — cold, calculating, merciless.
Nimrod.
A machine that walked like a man but was built for one purpose: mutant extermination.
Its voice was eerie in its flatness:
"Detecting… detecting complete.
No baseline humans. All mutants.
Assigning threat priority…
Priority: X-MEN."
Its body reassembled itself on the fly — arms splitting into cannons, shoulders into missile racks, spine into a railgun. Every weapon in its arsenal aimed at the X-Men.
Fear whispered across the mutants' expressions like a breeze before a storm.
Not Wolverine.
He wiped a streak of blood from his nose with the back of his hand. His body hurt everywhere — healing was slow today. But his eyes were sharp. Dangerous.
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small sphere. Innocent looking. Deadly as hell.
Sabretooth's nostrils flared across the field. "What you got there, runt?"
Logan ignored him and spoke loud enough for every enemy to hear.
"Since everyone wants us dead…"
He thumbed the sphere.
"…then let's die together."
Confusion broke like a wave over both sides.
"That little toy of mine has ten seconds 'fore it blows," Logan said, voice disturbingly calm. "Hope ya can run real fast."
His eyes slid sideways to his team.
"Anybody wants to back off… now's your chance. Won't hold it against ya. In Death."
But the X-Men didn't retreat.
Storm stood tall — powerless but regal even in the ruins. Colossus placed a massive hand on his shoulder. Rogue cracked her knuckles. Nightcrawler's tail coiled tight with resolve. Psylocke gave him a silent nod.
They didn't even think about leaving.
Logan's lips curled into a wolfish grin.
The sphere beeped.
Nimrod froze as numbers cascaded across its sensors.
"Analyzing… intent indicates self-destruction.
Probability of X-Men escape: near zero.
Retreat recommended."
The machine backed away. Fast.
The Marauders scrambled. Freedom Force too.
Sabretooth roared, voice cracking with fury:
"COWARD! FIGHT LIKE A MAN!"
Logan casually stuck a finger in his ear.
Sabretooth's rage was drowned by chaos — Polaris crying out, breaking through Malice's grip for a heartbeat:
"Alex—! Don't!!"
But Havok didn't look at her. Couldn't. His jaw locked like he'd swallowed his own guilt.
Colossus shouted at Blob, "I thought nothing could move you, tovarisch."
Blob clenched his fists and then hefted Mystique over his shoulder as she thrashed violently.
"Let me go! I order you—!"
"No way, boss lady," Blob grunted. "You're our leader. Ain't letting you die."
Mystique's eyes snapped to Rogue, pleading, desperate:
"Rogue—! Come here! NOW!"
Rogue stared at the ground, shoulders trembling, unable to meet the woman's gaze.
Mystique turned to Nightcrawler — her son — mouth partly open, words collapsing before they could form.
Beep. Beep. Beep.
Then the world became fire.
A colossal blast ripped outward, a mushroom cloud punching the earth open. A roar louder than thunder flung bodies like rag dolls — Marauders, Freedom Force, even Nimrod rag-dolled and tossed into the dark.
The ground smoked. The crater glowed.
Nimrod scanned.
"Detecting… life signs…"
Processing.
Processing.
"None detected.
Conclusion: X-Men eliminated."
Marauders stared into the abyss of the crater.
One muttered, "Mission accomplished. Sinister will be pleased."
Sabretooth's growl was low, primal.
"That runt ain't dead. He don't die like that."
No one listened.
Mystique clutched a fist so tight her knuckles cracked. Destiny only whispered:
"…I can't see the future anymore. Nimrod… scrambles everything. I don't know…"
And Nimrod rose, recalculating.
With the X-Men gone, it targeted whoever was left.
War reignited instantly — machine versus killers — screams, metal, gunfire, chaos.
But far away…
---
The light returned slowly.
Hot wind brushed against sweat-damp skin. The ground felt wrong… the air wrong… Logan's body still buzzing with the memory of fire.
He blinked and found desert.
A blistering sun overhead.
The X-Men beside him, blinking, breathing, alive.
Nightcrawler rubbed his eyes. "Are we… not dead? Or is this paradise? And if so… why is it so hot?"
Psylocke pressed two fingers against her temple. "Wait— I will restore everyone's memories."
Her psychic signal pulsed — and a cascade of realization, shock, relief crashed over the team as their plan snapped back into clarity.
Havok looked down at the metallic ring strapped around his bicep.
He kissed it. A silent thank-you.
"We survived… because of these."
Kitty practically bounced. "That was crazy! Like — the last second — boom— and then— teleport—!"
She held up her hands imitating explosion fireworks.
"Why didn't Wolvie's memories get sealed too?" she asked, curious.
Logan shrugged. "Healing factor clears psychic tampering eventually." He tapped his skull. "Even if Malice hopped in, she'd get nothin' but static for a bit. Long enough for Betsy to yank her out."
Nightcrawler scratched his head. "Vhy did we not stage this… near more people? To make our deaths public?"
"Because," Logan flicked his ruined cigar away, "I didn't wanna spend the next month explainin' to my list of companions why I'm still breathin'. As long as the Marauders know."
Kitty deflated. "I wanted to tell my parents goodbye… and my ballet teacher…"
Colossus rumbled softly, "And Illyana…"
Storm inhaled, voice gentle. "Rachel stays behind. The enemy doesn't know she exists. And she must protect her brother."
Rogue chewed her lip. "What about Destiny? Won't she see we're still alive?"
Storm shook her head. "Professor Xavier calculated that Nimrod's presence destabilizes all future probabilities.As he is a sentinel drom the future. Destiny is blind… so long as he remains."
Psylocke's voice slipped into Logan's mind, cool and silk-sharp:
I doubted this plan would work. Xavier teleporting us at the exact second… and the others trusting you enough to 'die' blindly with their memories sealed…
Logan's mental chuckle was low and proud:
That's the X-Men for ya, darlin'. We trust each other with more than our lives.
A shimmer then split the air in front of them — a circular hole in reality itself.
A thin, wiry man stepped out, barefoot and expressionless. A long wooden stick balanced in his grip like ancient ritual.
Logan's senses prickled.
He smelled… old. Like dust, time, and forgotten history. A relic made flesh.
He pressed claws out with a snikt. "This guy stinks like an antique store. We takin' him out?"
The stranger knelt and drew into the dirt with his stick:
X–MEN
Every instinct in Logan howled danger. He lunged—
Betsy grabbed his arm, but Storm's voice thundered stronger:
"ENOUGH!"
Logan froze but growled steadily.
Storm faced the newcomer. "You know us?"
A silent nod.
"Who are you?"
He wrote:
GATEWAY
Logan scoffed. "He's too lazy to talk? Let me put him outta his misery—"
Storm's glare said shut up louder than any words.
Kitty already had a spare twig and knelt down like a child meeting a new friend.
"You wanna play charades? Okay— what do you want?"
Gateway wrote a single word:
HELP
"Help with what?" Kitty asked.
He wrote:
REAVERS. HOSTAGES.
Kitty frowned and looked up at Storm for guidance.
Storm took a long breath. "We are the X-Men. We help those in need."
Logan snorted. "How we know he won't sell us the second we help?"
Gateway wrote quickly:
I HELP YOU
Then he slammed his staff downward.
A portal spiraled open — shimmering like heat off metal.
Colossus stepped closer, eyes wide. "Is teleportation… like Kurt?"
Kitty poked Nightcrawler's arm. "Except someone can take more than three passengers at once."
Nightcrawler huffed. "Fine. When you are dangling off a cliff, do not expect me to—"
"Shhh," Kitty grinned, leaning on him. "You're my fuzzy elf. You know you'll come."
He turned pink immediately. "Vell… yes. But I vould prefer a thank you…"
Storm raised a hand. "Before we go anywhere— where are we?"
Gateway wiped the ground clean and wrote:
AUSTRALIA
Everyone stared.
Rogue fanned her face dramatically. "That explains the grill heat."
Storm took something out of her belt — a small silver case. Inside: a syringe of glimmering golden fluid.
Storm whispered, voice trembling with joy:
"Finally…"
She injected herself. The wind answered instantly — swirling, swirling — then lifting her upward as though welcoming her home.
Rain clouds rolled in across a sun-blasted sky. Rain kissed her skin, laughter peeling out from her like thunder.
"My precious elements… I am back."
Dazzler shielded her face. "Hey! Some of us don't want a shower in the middle of a desert!"
Colossus smiled. "Let her enjoy, Alison. She vas caged too long."
Logan flicked water off his soaked stogie and grumbled.
Havok crossed his arms. "Why didn't she do that during the fight?"
Logan cracked his neck. "Cause we needed a trump card for round two. Otherwise, I'd have shown that rabid dog Sabretooth who's Alpha."
Storm soared higher, free as lightning.
The X-Men just watched her.