He comes for all in time

[Ryan Gabriel]

"Because En Sabah Nur is eternal. He is the fire, and we are the sword, and those who pass through the trials he sets before them will know the power to take anything they want, be anything they want," he hissed back, before spinning in place and sending another silver-green beam of energy at Rick. "You should not be fighting me... you should be joining us."

[Byrna Cooper]

"Maybe.. Maybe I will.." she relied, falling to her knees.

[Aiden Mitchell]

"Fight damn you! He's a mere puppet. Apocalypse's plaything," Aiden roared before shooting another gout of fire in Ryan's direction

[Rick Ferguson]

The blast grazed Rick's right arm, which suddenly felt a little too...numb for his liking. For now, he was reduced to using only his left arm to channel the wind funnel towards Death, but he did just that whipping his arm in an arc to whip the cyclonic column onto Ryan.

"Bear, don't! Listen to what you're saying, get a hold of yourself!"

[Trev Anderson]

Trev grabbed Bear, pulling her back to her feet as well as he could, "No damnit! The Bear I know would never just give up and join some evil madman! Fight! Bring him back to us!" trev yelled over the din of the fight.

[Byrna Cooper]

Bear jerked about as Trev pulled her to her feet, looking about with dimmed eyes.

"What.. What is the point.. Rachel's gone.. Ryan's gone.. The two people I wanted to spend the rest of my life with.."

She looked up at Ryan's form, locked in combat with the others.

"Maybe with Rachel gone, this is the only way.."

[Trev Anderson]

"No!" he yelled. "You're not like this! You could never work for a madman like Apocalypse, Bear! You need to fight this, and maybe, just maybe we can get Ryan out from inside that THING that just looks like him."

[Nina Madaraki]

And that's when Nina landed nearby where Bear and Trev were.

She hit the ground hard, straightening up almost instantly. Above, a retreating jet could be spotted with SHIELD tags.

Nina was in a field uniform with a black container that looked suspiciously like a lunchpail slung around her shoulder.

"Carbon lattice enhanced bones, my foot," Nina grumbles, "That hurt."

Glancing around, Nina spots Bear and heads over to her.

"Bear!" Nina shouts, "I need your help. Well, I mean you need my help, but I need your help to help me help you."

[Ryan Gabriel]

This time, Death was ready for the gout of flame, his wings flaring brighter as they crossed in front of him. As the flame breath ended, they exploded into energy shards that streaked back down at Aiden. As fresh wings seemed to sprout from Death's back, he turned, scythe in hand, and streaked toward Rick.

[Byrna Cooper]

Bear looked at Nina approaching, still with dim eyes.

"I can't help anyone.. Ryans gone, Rachel's gone.."

[Rick Ferguson]

Rick, weary though he was from the last couple of times he was stricken by Death's life-sucking energy, still definitely had the presence of mind to know that being hit by that scythe would probably be Very Bad News. So he darted through the air, away from Death, weaving between building around the quad to try and shake him...though he knew that that was all but futile.

[Nina Madaraki]

Nina grabs the front of Bear's uniform, pulling her close.

"Then you get them back," Nina says, pushing the black bag into Bear's hands.

"Throw it at that jerk. I know you won't miss."

[Trev Anderson]

Trev stood by as Nina swooped in and seemed to be doing what he'd been trying to do far more effectively, and merely stood back, not quite sure what to do.

"C'mon. You can get him. It might even save him," he said to her.

[Byrna Cooper]

Bear took the bag without mush protest, even if she could muster some.

She pulled out what was inside, looked up at Ryan.

She took a deep breath, wiped away a tear, and threw the object at Ryan, straight and true.

[Nina Madaraki]

It looked like an egg, a smooth white projectile. As it neared death, jointed legs like a spider-crab broke out from the shell and latched onto him. It scurried up, shedding bits of shell to reveal a large crablike probe with an exposed brain in the center.

[Ryan Gabriel]

Ryan pulled back the scythe to swing at Rick... and that was when the legs of the crab stabbed into his neck. He cursed as he spun in midair, losing altitude until he spun out of it, leveling out... and fixing eyes filled with rage on Nina.

[Nina Madaraki]

Nina draws her gun from the holster, keeping it pointed at the ground.

"A hit. A very palpable hit," Nina says, "Good job, Ms. Cooper."

"...I really, really, really hope this works."

[Trev Anderson]

Trev fixed his gaze on the plummeting angel, ready to scream down any hostile advances he made towards Nina or Bear.

[Byrna Cooper]

Please, please come back, Ryan..

Bear watched, unable to really do anything else at the moment.

[Rick Ferguson]

While Rick was immensely thankful that he no longer had Death's eye, he still turned around as sharply as he could to follow him back toward the others, worried about those that Ryan was heading towards now on the ground.

[Aiden Mitchell]

Aiden had been rocked by the energy shards. He exhaled slowly and regained his footing all while watching what was happening with Ryan.

[Ryan Gabriel]

What the hell is happening to me?

"You!" he snarled, scythe forgotten as he dove at Nina, reaching for her with arm and wings.

[Nina Madaraki]

"Aw, nertz."

Before she could even raise her gun, Ryan barreled into her.

[Ryan Gabriel]

"You're all too late!" he snarled, his eyes snapping to the X-Men. "The..." he blinked, looking confused for a moment as he shook his head to clear it, his eyes flaring with rage again as he looked on them. "The Master will have his new disciples. By now, you'll be too late to stop him!"

"And you," he growled at Nina, holding her by the throat, "Are mine."

[Nina Madaraki]

"Frkrll," Nina said. Crushed windpipes make for poor banter.

[Trev Anderson]

Trev rushed up behind Ryan while his attention seemed focus on choking Nina, and screamed as loud as he could--right into his ear. If the shout louder than a jet engine taking off didn't distract him (and hurt like hell), he hoped that the force of the blast would at least get him off of Nina.

Of course he didn't really think about how much the sound would probably hurt Nina too...but better than a crushed windpipe, right?

[Ryan Gabriel]

Ryan's scream of pain was inaudible while Trev screamed, but he succeeded in making him drop Nina. Unfortunately, this seemed to tip the decisions in his head, lunging at Trev instead, scythe sweeping in low at Trev to sweep up his body as Death sought to drain the energy necessary to make his body heal itself.

[Trev Anderson]

Trev moved quickly, but not quickly enough to move away from Ryan after the scream. He did, however, at least have a likely disoriented attacker with inner ear damage as the blow came more at thigh level. He screamed in pain as the scythe takes across the front of his legs (at an again-deafening volume) and staggered backwards, before looking at the ground and his attacker in rapid succession.

Here's hoping this works...

Trev let out another huge shout, aimed at the ground, and found himself propelled through the air backwards, away from his opponent. It was clumsy, and he landed badly on one ankle, drawing a painful wince, but he'd bought himself some maneuvering space. The blow from the scythe and the rough landing definitely took it out of him though, and he panted with exertion.

He was honestly surprised it had worked, and that he'd remained on his feet.

[Rick Ferguson]

...and that was when Rick caught up to them and, swooping down low, attempted an airborne tackle on Death.

[Byrna Cooper]

Bear steeled herself, rushing to Nina's aid, cradling her and protecting her until her probes could heal her injuries.

[Nina Madaraki]

"You okay?" Nina wheezed out, looking worried.

[Byrna Cooper]

"I.. I think so. It was the shock, I think.."

She pulled out a flowery sphere and kept it trained on Ryan, hoping she wouldn't need to use it.

[Nina Madaraki]

"Good," Nina says, smiling, "He's going to need you."

"You're all he has. Don't forget that and don't let that go."

[Ryan Gabriel]

Ryan lashed out with another wave of energy at Rick, his wings slashing across his path. "Oh, but that's where you're wrong," he growled. "I have YOU!" He lunged at Nina and, before anyone else had a chance to interfere, took to the sky.

[Rick Ferguson]

Rick hit the ground hard, barely able to keep enough of the cyclone active around him to shield himself from the fall.

...And once again, Rick had inadvertently dug a trench in the landscaping of the Quad.

"God...dammit....." Rick looked up, helplessly for the moment, as Death made off with Nina.

[Nina Madaraki]

"Wheee!" Nina gasped out, holding onto his arm, "Do..do a barrel roll!"

[Byrna Cooper]

"I.. Come back to me, Ryan.."

Bear took out a ball, tossing it where it shattered and released a small unnoticeable disk, where she hoped her toss was good enough to get the tracer affixed to Death's fleeing form.

[Trev Anderson]

Trev hobbled over to Bear, cursing he wasn't in better shape--physically, emotionally, and tactically. He barely even knew how to control his powers anymore...

"Bear..." he said, his voice a bit hoarse.

[Byrna Cooper]

Bear latched onto Trev in a hug, tears streaming down her face.

[Trev Anderson]

Here was something even Trev couldn't fuck up. He held on to Bear in silence, just letting her cry, and gently rubbing her back.

I can't believe that was Ryan...