Chapter 6- Friend or Foe?


The teenage passengers aboard the Blackbird stared, with complete awe, at their companion, Rogue. Her skin was covered with black and gold metal, and her hair (also covered with the metal) stood on its ends. As far as they knew, Rogue had loaned her body to an entity called Warlock. Warlock is also a member of the Phalanx. However, he seems to have a different agenda than that of Harvest.

"Okay, Warlock," began Scott, "let me get this straight. Rogue has given you permission to use her body until you’re strong enough to act on your own?"

"That is correct," Warlock replied. It was weird to for them to talk to Rogue as if she were another person. Nevertheless, they knew they had to accept what was happening in order to save their friends.

"I hate to sound skeptical," said Kitty, "but how do we know that we can trust you? How do we know that this isn’t a trap set by Harvest to lure us in?"

"He’s telling the truth," reported Monet. "I can sense Rogue within Warlock. She’s safe and content within him. She hasn’t been harmed. As a matter of fact, it seems that Warlock saved her life."

"What are you talking about?" asked Evan.

"Perhaps it’s best that I explained what happened," interrupted Warlock. "Perhaps I should start from the beginning."

The teens all eyed each other with looks of concern. Then, they all found themselves a seat, and turned their attention to Warlock. Once everyone was paying attention, Warlock began.

"For almost three of your solar cycles, Harvest has run amok across the galaxy. He has ventured to several planets, and done exactly what he has done here. Our race has the ability to assimilate matter and make it apart of ourselves. However, the consumption of biological matter has a different effect. The consumption of biological matter is probably best understood as a form of reproduction for our race.

"Harvest disobeyed the directives our people and left our collective. He began to travel to planets and consume the beings of those worlds, creating his own Phalanx Empire. He returned to our home world and destroyed all those that would not convert to his directive. Only a few of us escaped his wrath, and we have spent most of that time trying to stop Harvest.

"However, Harvest eventually found us, and as punishment absorbed us so that we had no choice but to follow his will. We lost our individuality, and became a part of his consciousness. But, when Rogue tried to absorb Harvest’s powers, she severed my consciousness from Harvest, and set me free."

"What about our friends?" asked Paige. "There has to be some way to stop Harvest without hurting our friends?"

"Most likely your friends are no longer within Harvest," answered Warlock.

"You mean we’re too late?!" exclaimed Kitty.

"No, the complete metamorphosis takes nearly 12 of your Earth hours. There is still time to reverse the process and free your companions," said Warlock. "Harvest uses his body to detain whomever he absorbs in stasis until he places them inside an assimilation unit. If the biological specimen is removed from the unit before the process is complete, then their assimilation is aborted."

"Then, we don’t have a lot of time!" exclaimed Paige. "We only have about four hours before the first assimilations are complete."

"That’s not true, Paige," said Warlock. "For some reason, Harvest is having trouble assimilating your mutant DNA. The activation of each of your individual X-factor genes makes it difficult to completely graph your genes onto his template."

"If he cannot graph our genes onto his templates, then how is he using our friends’ powers?" asked Wanda.

"Harvest has found a way to mechanically mimic the powers of your friends. He hasn’t gained their powers, but uses his mechanical enhancements to make you believe that he has," answered Warlock. "He generates ultrasonic pitches to mimic Sean Cassidy’s sonic scream, and sends sonic pulses into the ground to simulate the powers of Lance Alvers."

"And what about our friends, Warlock?" asked Evan. "What happens to them if Harvest doesn’t find a way to assimilate them?"

Warlock hesitated before answering. He allowed his gaze to fall upon each of the members of the cabin before speaking. "They will be terminated."


"Kurt! Look!" said Clarice. Kurt followed her finger to find what she was pointing at. His glance fell upon a mansion, which looked very similar to the Xavier Institute in Bayville.

"All right, Elf," grumbled Logan. "Maintain this position, while I alert the others." Logan got out of his seat and headed back into the cabin. Once he left the cockpit, Clarice slid into his seat and continued to stare out the window at her home. Kurt could tell that she was worried, by the look on her face.

"Everything vill be fine Clarice. I promise," said Kurt. Then, he looked down at his hand to find that it was now resting on top of Clarice’s. His gaze slowly left his hand and focused on Clarice. She allowed a thin smile to spread across her face. She trusted Kurt. And after only a knowing him a few hours, she felt as if she had known him for a lifetime. At that moment, everything felt just right: the touch of his hand on hers, both of them alone together. Nothing had ever seemed so perfect.

"All right, Kurt," said Logan as he re-entered the cockpit. The hands of the teens quickly separated and disappeared from sight. "Set us down in the back. There should be a landing pad there." Kurt maneuvered the Blackbird steadily into the back of the mansion. He allowed the stealth jet to descend on the landing pad and shut the engines down. Then, both he and Clarice accompanied Logan into the cabin where the rest of their friends were waiting.

"All right here’s the deal," began Logan. "Our main objective is to get our friends out of those tubes without hurtin’ ‘em. So, while some of us go in for the rescue, the others are runnin’ interference for Harvest." Logan looked around at the faces of the teens before continuing. Luckily, none of them seemed to have lost their nerves, except the Toad who was shaking like leaf. "Nightcrawler, you and Blink are on re-con. You two are going to have to sneak in, find out where Bozo the alien his keepin’ everyone and get ‘em outta there."

Logan scanned the crowd of teens once more. His eyes landed on Evan and Wanda. "Evan, you and… what’s your name again?" asked Logan as he looked at Wanda.

"My name is Wanda, Wanda Maximoff," she answered.

"Maximoff?! Maximoff as in Pietro Maximoff?!" asked Evan.

"Yes," she replied. "Pietro is my twin brother."

Evan seemed slightly disappointed. Just when he thought he had found the perfect girl, she turns out to be the sister of his biggest rival. He knew she had been a member of the Brotherhood, but he figured he could turn her like the X-Men did Rogue. However, trying to get her to turn her back on her own brother would be next to impossible.

"Vat about your code name?" asked Kurt. He could sense his friend’s tension, and tried to lighten things up.

"Oh boy, here we go again?" said Scott softly.

"A code name?" asked Wanda.

"Yeah, something that describes you and your powers," added Clarice. "You know, like a code name from a James Bond movie."

Wanda looked at the colorful mutants, and was slightly confused by their enthusiastic behavior. "Okay, how about… Scarlet?" she asked. Clarice and Kurt looked at each other after hearing the name. It obviously didn’t sit very well with them.

"Vell, to be honest, ve vere shooting for something not so…" began Kurt.

"Gone with the Wind," added Clarice.

"How about the Scarlet Witch," Evan suggested.

"Yes," said Wanda with a hint of relief. She turned to face Evan. "Thank you, I like it... Scarlet Witch. It has a nice ring to it."

"Are you guys are done playin’ the freakin’ name game?! Can we get back to business?" asked Logan. Silence began to fall over the teens as the noticed Logan’s annoyance with their last exchange. "Good. Cyclops, Shadowcat, Husk, M, Toad and Rogue… uh Warlock, whatever… you guys are with me. We’re runnin’ interference."

"Uh, excuse me, but how are exactly are we going to do that?" asked the Toad.

"The old-fashioned way. We’re goin’ outside and makin’ a whole lot o’ noise," replied Logan. "All right, you four get a move on it. We’ll cover ya." Blink instantly made a golden disc appear in the air. Then, she, Spyke, Scarlet Witch, and Nightcrawler disappeared into the disc. The golden portal disappeared after Blink entered.

Logan pulled his cowl over his face and stepped towards the door. He paused and turned to face the rest of his team. "All right, kiddies. It’s showtime." He pressed he button and the door slip open. All of them exited the Blackbird cautiously and with stealth.

The teens followed Wolverine’s lead, as they moved quietly to the back door of Snow Valley mansion. M paused briefly as she felt something tug on her leg. She turned to find Penance pulling her leg and gesturing in the opposite direction. "Uh, guys?" called M. "I think we just lost the element of surprise."

Everyone turned to see what M was talking about. Standing only a few yards away was Harvest, only he wasn’t alone. Angelo, Sean Cassidy and Emma Frost were with Harvest, as well as the remaining members of the Brotherhood. However, their skin was covered with the same gold and black metal of the Phalanx.

"Oh my God. Angelo?" whispered Husk. "Ms. Frost? Mr. Cassidy?"

"Welcome, my friends," said Harvest as he stepped forward. An evil smile began to spread across his face. "I am truly pleased that you’re here. You may all witness the fall of humanity. Because as of now, Earth belongs to the Phalanx Empire."

"No, Harvest! You are wrong!" shouted Warlock. Warlock stepped forward and stared into Harvest’s eyes.

"Warlock? You have already failed once," said Harvest. "How can you possibly foresee a victory against me this time?"

"These kids are special," said Warlock. "They know what you are capable of, and they will not allow you to do it ever again. They will stop you!"

"It’s not me that they have to fight," said Harvest. Harvest raised his hands, and the figures behind him stepped forward. The members of the Brotherhood, along with the Generation X members Angelo Espinosa, Sean Cassidy and Emma Frost, began to approach Harvest. "In order to save their precious planet, they’ll have to fight those they wish to save." And without warning, they attacked.

"Take it easy guys!" called Wolverine. The Blob’s fist came smashing in his direction. Wolverine leaped back and flipped in the air. When he landed on his feet, he found the Blob was charging him once again. This time, he leaped up and grabbed a tree branch. He pulled himself up, and rested on the limb as the Blob pounded at the trunk of the tree. "Remember we can’t hurt ‘em."

The base of the tree finally gave way, and Wolverine came tumbling down. Just as Wolverine was about to fall into the waiting clutches of the Blob, he felt something grab his arms. It was M. "Thanks for the lift," said Wolverine.

"How are we going to win this thing, Mr. Logan?" asked M, as she turned back towards the battle.

"Have a little faith darlin’," said Wolverine. "‘Cause Harvest just made a big mistake."

"What’s that?" asked M.

"He just ticked me off!" answered Wolverine. Then, he and M disappeared once again in the midst of the battle.


The portal opened into a room filled with darkness. Nightcrawler, Blink, Spyke and the Scarlet Witch stepped through the portal and began to gaze into the darkness. Blink took the lead, and the others followed her as they moved through the mansion.

"Where are we?" asked the Scarlet Witch.

"This is Mrs. Frost’s room," said Blink.

Scarlet Witch stepped away from the others and found a pair of sliding doors. She pulled the doors apart, and a loud gasp escaped her lips. The others immediately ran to her side, and whatever fear they once had were replaced with confusion.

"Look!" shouted the Scarlet Witch. She stared fascinated beyond the sliding doors and marveled at the contents inside.

"It’s a closet," said Spyke stilled perplexed by the Scarlet Witch’s excitement.

"I know! Look at all these clothes!" The Scarlet Witch began to dive in the closet and search through the entire wardrobe. Nightcrawler and Spyke exchanged a look of wonder. How could she possibly be concerned about clothes right now? When they turned their attention back to the closet, they found that Blink had joined Scarlet Witch in her search through the wardrobe.

"Women," chimed the boys as they slapped their hands against their foreheads.

"Here try this!" cried Blink. The Scarlet Witch turned around as Blink placed a dark red cape over her shoulders. The frenzy inside the closet lasted only a minute, but when the Scarlet Witch re-emerged from the closet she was also wearing a pair of heeled go-go boots, a red tiara, and the red cape.

"What do you think boys?" asked the Scarlet Witch.

Both of the boys remained silent as they stared in complete awe. Nightcrawler shook his head, and brought his attention back to reality. The look he was getting from Blink helped him shake it off a lot sooner than Spyke. "Come on," said Nightcrawler. "Ve’ve vasted enough time. Ve still have to find the others."

Nightcrawler went to the door, and turned the knob. Once he pulled the door open, and saw what was waiting outside the door, he gasped. He quickly slammed the door shut, and turned to face the others.

"What’s wrong, Elf?" asked Spyke. "You look like you just seen a ghost."

"Not quite," said Nightcrawler. Then, a fist smashed through the wooden door and started to wrap its arm around Nightcrawler’s neck. The blue-furred teen quickly disappeared in a mist of brimstone and reappeared next to his friends.

The rest of the door shattered to pieces as the assailants on the other side entered the room. It was Storm, Synch, Jean, and Chamber. Their bodies were totally covered with gold and black metal. They trampled into the room and glared at their one-time friends.

"Well looks like found them," said Blink.

"Yeah, but they don’t look too happy to see us," said Spyke. "Come on, we can get out through the other door." The four teens raced for the other door, which exploded just before they reached the room. Shards of wood fell to the floor as Spyke and the others tried to get to their feet. Standing in the doorway were the metallic Jubilee and Professor X.

"Ve’re too late!" cried Nightcrawler. "Harvest must have found a vay to assimilate the X-factor gene too."

The teens huddled closer together completely unaware of what do next. If they fought, they friends could get hurt. If they did nothing, they would be assimilated by the Phalanx as well. They continued to back away as the new members of the Phalanx came closer. Suddenly, they felt their backs bump against the wall, and their hopes of survival began to fade away.