Early Recruitment (Rose, Ian, Apocalypse)

[ian]

Remember, you're to locate the mutant and report back to me. Nothing else.

Those were the orders that Merfonde had intrusted him. It took him more then his fair share of missions for her to decided that he had improved enough to try his own reconnaisance mission. He had to go to France and locate a mutant that had been causing disruption, and by disruption the mutant was manipulating time and space. They weren't sure of the reason or what fashion the manipulations were happening, and that's what he was suppose to find out.

He followed the mutant, which happened to be a young female about the age of eighteen, into a small apartment building. He was about to enter the apartment after her when he felt he was being watched. He looked around, thinking it was just his mind playing tricks on him.

"Ian Snyder."

He heard the voice and looked up, seeing a rather large being in blue armor. He took a few steps back, seeing the being land from the air and in front of him. He stood stunned, partly because of the man, and partly because he seemed so familiar.

"Do...do I know you?"

Ian asked, but the man only smirked. He looked down to his arms that Ian just now noticed were cross, and craddled in them was a girl. She didn't look to good either, her pale skin and frale looking form told him that something was really wrong with her.

[Rose North]

Rose wasn't nearly as bad as she'd been those days before Apocalypse 'came to her rescue', but that didn't mean she was that great either. She didn't have the energy to stay awake an entire day, or even half a day. Actually, you were lucky if she could stay awake for more then a few hours at a time. And that was just when she was when she was trying to preserve as much energy as possible. Today wasn't going to be one of those days.

She was in another half asleep, half awake, state. Apocalypse would find Ian, and take her to him. That was all that mattered to the girl right now. It was the only thing she cared about.

In the days it took to find Ian, Rose's renewed strength had started to dwindle again. Her delusions had returned, though not nearly as strongly as before, and most of her symptoms were back. Rose hung on though.

She wasn't even aware of Apocalypse finding Ian... Until Ian's voice reached her ears. That voice.... It was to real to be a delusion..! Her eyes opened, her feverish gaze raising enough that she could look at Apocalypse for half a moment, before using what little strength she had to get out of his hold. She didn't like him carrying her, he knew that, she knew that, but in her weakened state she hadn't put up a fight. After all, it was the only way to get her to Ian...

Staggering to her feet, her movements were sluggish. Her body instantly protested the new weight, her legs trembling a little as if they might cave on her. Miraculously she remained standing. Again, a sign of just how strong her will was. Finally balanced her gaze sought for Ian frantically, and when she they finally found him... Rose let out a sigh of relief.

This was the real Ian.... But he probably wouldn't recognize her. He'd lost his memories.... His older self had told her that. "Ian...." She sounded just as sick as she looked. "I'm sorry..." He wouldn't know what she was apologizing for. She didn't want him to forget her. She was stupid for ever considering it. Slowly, she reached into her pocket... And pulled out the small recorder his older self had given her. Still trembling from lack of energy she held it out for him. "Take it... It's from... someone close to you..."

[ian]

"Hey, you ok?"

He noticed the girl moving in the giant man's arms. The man set her down, but kept a slightly firm hold on her to keep her from falling. When she looked at Ian, that pounding in his head began, only this time it was worse then ever. He winced and gritted his teeth, closing his eyes tightly. Her voice echoed in his mind and after the pain subsided, he looked at her.

"You...I know you..."

She held out some sort of device to him. His curiosity about everything that's happened in the past and now made him reach out for it. Merfonde had been keeping secrets from him, and something told him that this girl held the key to remembering everything. He reached out and took the recorder, looking over it. It was a small rectangular device that looked like a cross between a flash drive and an ipod. A red light at the end glowed as he looked into it, and a small beam of light scanned over his face.

Subject located: Ian Snyder. Commencing memory restoration.

Small claws came out and latched onto Ian hand, and before he could do anything, he began to feel really faint. He struggled to stand, which was almost as hard as Rose. He closed his eyes as memories began to come back to him. It wasn't long before he began to remember things that he had blocked out, and even the people those memories belonged to. Ian's eyes opened with renewed life, staring at the two, then focusing on Rose.

"Rose...Apocalypse...what's going-"

Once again the red light began to glow, and this time an image appeared. Ian stared intently at it, the cyborg figure staring back at him with a kind smile. Something deep down told him that this man looked familiar, and even as the figure began to speak, he couldn't seem to think of why.

"Ian, if you're watching this, then the person Jason brought back succeeded in his mission. I don't have much time, so listen well. There's danger ahead, and compaired to this, that little assault Rose and the others did on Nightmare Island will be playtime at the sandbox. Cain's gotten stronger with the combined technology of the X-Men and the Brotherhood. What's worse is he got Alice on his side."

This caused Ian's eyes to widen in fear. He heard of Alice and seen what she could do with her powers. He watched as the image moved from the figure to the window, showing a decimated city.

"This use to be Tokyo, but since Alice's powers took control and Cain's daughter teamed up with her, the whole world has become a living hell. What's worse, Cain's used a technology known as nanobites to become indestructable. You and Rose are the only ones who can stop this because the two of you have faced him before. There's not much else I can tell you, only that by killing Cain, Alice's powers will take over and she will become a force of darkness known only as Corruption. You have to stop them, or my world will become yours. Attatch this device to the X-Mansion's computer, you'll find a few surprises in there that'll help. Good luck, Ian, hopefully when we meet again, I'll be better looking than this mess."

The image faded, and the light went out. Ian looked to Rose and Apocalypse and for the first time in his life he was at a loss for words.

[Rose North]

Rose seemed to ignore Apocalypse grip on her, nodding slowly when he said he knew her. She should have been glad that he remembered her… Or remembered her enough that he realized they’d met before. In her current state though… Well she had a pretty good reason not to be that vocal about her emotions. Her hand dropped when he finally took it, a relieved sigh escaping her. It was as if a weight had just been lifted off her shoulders.

With the delivery, Rose’s will to keep going deteriorated. If it hadn’t been for Apocalypse holding on to her so tightly she would have collapsed then and there. She was in a haze, not even aware of what was happened, of the projection or Ian’s future self, or what was said. Actually, she didn’t even look aware of anything, her eyes shut and breathing shallow. Some of the color to her skin had drained, leaving her sickly gray.

A few moments passed, before she managed to get her eyes open again, just in time to hear the last part of what was being said by the transmission. “It’s…. worse than that... already…” It wasn’t that she meant to pause here, she was just short of breath. “Cain…. He did something... to Jason… Jason became…. A copy of Cain…. With all the memories and knowledge…. Of his future self…”

[ian]

"Huh? Future Cain? Jason? What do you mean?"

He looked to Rose curiously, pocketing the device and looking from Rose to Apocalypse. There was silence for a while before Apocalypse shifted Rose so that she would be able to stand properly and lean against him, then focused his attention on Ian.

"All will be explained in time. Rose is dieing, and if we cannot get her to safety, she will die within days."

Ian's eyes widened at this, dropping all Merfonde had sent him to do. He had watched Rose die before, and he was damed if he was going to watch it happen again. He closed the distance between him and Rose, picking her up in his own arms and holding her close, allowing Apocalypse freedom from being the supporter. He could tell the brotherhood leader was a little more than happy for this.

"Merfonde's going to kill me when she finds out about this."

Apocalypse looked to Ian and placed his hand on the boy's head. After what seemed like a minute his hand was taken away. Apocalypse looked up at the building and stared for a few moments before looking back to Ian.

"The mutant she is after will be held here until she returns. You will not fail in your mission."

"No, I won't fail in my mission." Ian said, looking to Rose with loving eyes, "Not this time."

[Rose North]

Dammit! Why had Apocalypse told him?! She'd had no plans on telling him! She didn't even believe he'd remember her! So why.... Why did Apocalypse have to tell Ian what was happening? If this had been any other time she would have shot him a dangerous glare, but with her current... health issues, she found most of her effort going into staying awake. She felt drained, the pounding in her head suddenly growing louder and louder. Now in Ian's arms, she didn't struggle or curse nearly as much as she had with Apocalypse. He was probably glad to be rid of the burden, considering how she reacted every time. Rose wasn't much into being touched after all...

"Dammit...."

The pounding in her head was growing... Not quite intolerable, but she knew what happened every time this happened. Once the pounding reached the point of head splitting.... She lost control. Her skin was gray, sweat starting to bead on her forehead. Apocalypse would recognize the early signs of one of her episodes, Ian though.... He didn't know. He didn't know what was really happening to Rose. He didn't know why she was dieing....

[/justify]

[ian]

Ian could tell something was wrong. It was a gut feeling in the pit of his stomache that usually happened when bad things were about to happen. Apocalypse sensed it to, placing a barrier around Rose and looking to Ian as Ian looked up at him a little curiously.

"You will see."

It was all Apocalypse said before returning his attention to the building where the mutant was no doubt trying to escape. Ian looked back to Rose and held her close, giving Apocalypse one last look as he took off down the street, sending papers and other small objects into different directions. His speed was faster than he'd ever gone before in his life.

"Hang in there Rose, I'll get you better, you'll see. I won't let you die on me, not again."

His heart raced as he could already see Liberty Island in site. If his mind was on anything else, he'd wonder if he actually broke the any barrier records. Right now though, he was focused on getting Rose to safety. He sped past the Daily Bugel, past the Baxter Building and Stark Industries, and didn't even stop when he saw a man in black surrounded by the X-Men, Freya and Cain.