" I declare myself Emperor Vulcan Ruler of the Shi'Ar Imperium! And my first act as emperor is to secure my throne from threat..." Vulcan exclaimed. He looked down at Lilandra and sneered at the woman.
" No... You can't. You're mad!" Lilandra told the man and Vulcan laughed.
" Haven't you learned by now, Lilandra? That your people prefer a mad emperor?" Vulcan asked the woman. " Your ways are done. It's time for the return of Conquest... Of expansion... Of Wrath!" Vulcan told the woman. He raised his hand as he prepared to kill the woman, but before he could Corsair lunged at the boy and swatted his hand away with his sword, forcing Vulcan to back off momentarily.
" No!" Corsair yelled. " Take your hands off her! Leave her alone and listen to me- You little fool! You listen to your father!"
" Father? You mean you, Corsair?" Vulcan asked the man. " No. You're just the man who was too weak to save me or my mother... I have no father!" Vulcan told the man. He then blasted Corsair in his face with a blast of energy and killed the man.
" DAD! NO!" Alex yelled. He and Lorna ran through the crowd of soldiers and grabbed Corsair's falling body before it hit the ground.
So many felt the loss, of Corsair, his son and crew alike.
" Christopher." Ch'od whispered. He watched as his friend of twenty plus years took his last breaths.
And poor Hepzibah, she now had to mourn the loss of her lover.
" No." The woman whispered. Her usual confidence breaking for just a moment to show how tragic the captain's death was.
" I have no father. And now Alex, neither do you." Vulcan gloated.
" You bastard! You freaking bastard!" Alex yelled. He ran towards Vulcan and tried blasting him with energy, but Vulcan effortlessly deflected the blast.
Lorna and the others watched as Alex tried to Vulcan, much to no effect, and knew that they had to help the man before he too was killed.
" Ch'od... We have to do something before he kills Alex, too." Lorna told the lizard man.
" I... Think that's being done for us." Ch'od stated.
The two watched as Hepzibah darted across the battlefield cursing her own native language, that no one else could understand, but before she could reach the men the force of the energy, they were using created an explosion that radiated out across the battlefield. Thankfully, Warpath managed to grab Hepzibah and throw her down before the blast could hit her.
" Get it through your head, big brother.... You can't hurt me." Vulcan told the man.
The man was reveling in his seeming victory, he had power, he had a wife, and now he had an empire. Oh yes, things were finally looking up for Vulcan. But some others were not too sure of this new revelation.
" My lady... What are our orders?" Gladiator asked. " Is this Vulcan truly."
" Your emperor? Yes, Gladiator... He is." Deathbird explained to the man. " And you and your imperial guard had better protect him." Deathbird ordered the man.
" RAAAHHHH!" Taking advantage of the chaos, Korvus struck Deathbird and Gladiator with the energy from the phoenix blade forcing them both to retreat back a bit. " Now you die like your brother, witch!" Korvus yelled. He slashed Deathbird across her back, creating a wide gash across her back.
" Deathbird!" Vulcan turned his attention to his wounded wife and attacked her attacker. He flew towards Korvus and tried blasting him with as much power as he could manage. " I'll roast your flesh!" Vulcan yelled.
" Not this time, jerk." Rachel told the man. She waved her hand, and the energy blasts were both bending away from Korvus.
" Rachel..." Korvus spoke.
" I've got this. Molecular telekinesis... Moved the atmosphere around his energy." Rachel explained.
" Lorna now, while he's focused on Rachel... His armor. You can take him down." Alex told the woman.
" I intend to... Assuming he's got a heart to crush!" Lorna yelled. She raised her hands and began bending the metal around Vulcan's body, crushing the man with his own suit.
Vulcan yelled in agony as his own armor began to kill him. He dropped to the ground hard in front of the crystal, writhing in pain.
" Remember me? I helped send you into space once." Lorna told the man.
With Vulcan incapacitated, Alex rushed the man and punched him in the face.
" Maybe I can't touch you with my powers, but that doesn't mean I can't hurt you!" Alex shouted as he continued to punch Vulcan.
Alex and Lorna continued assaulting Vulcan, meanwhile Lilandra was mourning the loss of her lover.
" They're all going to die... I've gotten them all killed." Lilandra spoke.
" Empress, we must get you to safety." Kurt approached the woman from behind and spoke to her. " We may yet save your empire, but you must live to rule." Kurt told the woman.
" I won't leave you to fight in my place." Lilandra told the man.
" Listen to me." Kurt told the woman. He walked up to her and grabbed her shoulders.
Lilandra prepared herself to say something, however the sight that would unfurl before her left her in shock.
" By the holy stars!" Lilandra yelled.
Kurt looked towards where Lilandra was and saw what had her startled. It was Darwin, carrying Xavier and Ian out of the M'Kraan Crystal.
" A little help?" Darwin asked. He and the two others both fell to the ground. Xavier and Ian both were smoking.
" Charles! Tell me he's alive." Lilandra asked as Kurt went to check on the three.
" They all are. But none of them are in shape for battle." Kurt explained to the woman.
" We need to get them to your ship." Lilandra told the man.
" I know." Kurt replied. " I'll be right back with help." Kurt told the woman. He then Bamfed away and then returned momentarily with Warpath.
Warpath grabbed Ian and Xavier, while Kurt grabbed Lilandra and Darwin and the four quickly returned to the X-Bug to help tend to the injuries the three men had suffered inside the M'Kraan crystal.
" I don't understand what is happening!" Kurt yelled.
" What is it, Kurt? Is Charles?" Lilandra asked.
" Charles and Darwin are fine. They're vitals are just fine. But Ian, his body is damaged. He's bleeding badly." Kurt explained as he looked over Ian's body.
" Why is that so surprising?" Warpath asked as he entered the room.
" Because he heals nearly as well as Logan does. Rest usually helps it go faster, but right now it's like his body isn't healing at all." Kurt explained to the man.
" That's bad." Warpath stated. " What about Darwin?"
" He's in fair shape, like Xavier." Kurt told the man.
" That's good. Because Hepzibah's gonna be done raiding the weapons locker soon. And she's not gonna want to wait around. She's got blood on her mind." Warpath explained to Kurt.
" Will you stay with them, Lilandra?" Kurt asked the woman.
Lilandra was quiet, deathly so.
" I'm sorry my friends... But now that I know that Charles is safe, my place is with my people... While yours is far from this nightmare." Lilandra explained. " Forgive me." And with those last words, Lilandra began to vanish.
Kurt and Warpath both lunged at the woman to grab her, but she vanished from the ship before they could.
" She activated her teleportation node. Went back to the battle." Kurt explained.
" Then we need to follow her." Warpath told the man.
" We cannot... She did something to the ship's computer. It won't let us drop its shields to let us. What did she..." Kurt was asking when a more than angry Hepzibah entered the room, carrying every single gun, bow, and launcher from the arsenal on her back.
" You two-- Better explain why jump engines counting down!" Hepzibah demanded to know.
" Oh Shit!" Warpath cursed. " She's trying to save the professor."
" Shut engines down!" Hepzibah demanded.
" I can't! She locked the controls." Kurt told the two as he continued to try and shut down the ship's engines. But it was too late, the X-bug launched off into space, carrying Darwin, Ian, Xavier, Hepzibah, Warpath, and Kurt all back to their home planet. Earth.
The ship burst through multiple stargates and hurtled right towards the planet in a blaze of fire, tossing the inhabitants inside the ship around like ragdolls.
" What the hell is going on? What's wrong?!" Warpath asked.
" Damned bird empress set ship to jump into Atmosphere We going down!" Hepzibah yelled to the man.
The ship crash landed right into a thick forested area. Kurt grabbed the others and bamfed them out just as the ship landed.
" We need to get away from here now... Move!" Kurt yelled. He grabbed everyone and bamfed away one more time to avoid the ship's explosion.
Kurt and the others landed on a plateau above the fiery wreck and looked down over it.
" That was my way home... I'm stuck on your world." Hepzibah huffed.
" They'll come for you... The Starjammers will." Warpath told the woman.
" What is point?" Hepzibah asked sadly. " There is nothing for me back there now." Hepzibah stated sadly.
Warpath left Hepzibah to mourn, while Kurt checked with Xavier who had awakened.
" Professor? Are you unharmed?" Kurt asked the man.
" I'm better than I've been in a long time... Physically at least." Xavier told the man.
" He's got his mutation back." Darwin spoke. " The M'Kraan Crystal fixed him."
" What?" Kurt asked.
Xavier, who had been depowered by the scarlet witch, now had his powers returned by the M'Kraan Crystal.
' It's true, Kurt.' Xavier told the man telepathically. ' But if the images in your mind are true, as well, then I wish I hadn't. So, let us pray we can make contact with Alex and the others... And let us pray we get back to the school as soon as possible.' Xavier looked down at Ian, who was still unconscious, and sighed.
A few hours later, after sending out a distress signal, The X-men, led by Scott, arrived to pick the group up.
" Xavier, where's my brother?" Scott asked the man. " Where's Rachel?"
" I do not know Scott. I can only presume they are still somewhere in Shi'ar space." Xavier told the man.
" Why you old bastard." Scott cursed. He grabbed Xavier by his collar and lifted him off the ground.
" Scott, now's not the time for this." Xavier told the man.
" Not the time?! My brother and daughter are lost in space!" Scott yelled.
" Yes, but they were alive and fine when we left... Mister Sinclair doesn't have that luxury right now." Xavier told the man.
" Hey, Scott! You need to see this!" Bobby yelled. Scott dropped Xavier and looked over at Iceman and saw the bloody body of Ian Sinclair lying on the grass. He grit his teeth in anger and started barking out orders again. " Grab him. We need to get back to the mansion as fast as possible. And then, we will talk Xavier." Scott told the man.