Disclaimer* I do not own the rights to any of the characters in this story, and make no claims to the artistic visions of the marvel universe. I know nothing of the sexuality of any of the creators, actors, or characters involved in the Marvel universe. Similarly, this story contains graphic descriptions of gay male sex. If you don't like that, they you should probably avert your eyes.
This story takes place in an alternate X-Men universe from the one in which the 3rd movie took place. Certain events occurred after X2 which changed the timeline. Jean, Scott and Professor X are all still alive, and there was no cure. The specifics of the timeline changes may be made apparent as the story progresses.
Chapter 12 -- "Warsong"
Magneto sat behind a large black desk, with a plain gray wall behind him. The idea was to draw as much focus on him as possible. Not that that was difficult, given what he was saying.
"The rule of the homo sapiens is over. For too long have mutants been crushed underfoot out of fear, hatred, and jealousy. The unjust and misguided government of the United States has been destroyed, and will never rise again. The President, Vice President, the Joint Chiefs, the Cabinet, and the majority of the House and Senate are dead. Most of the upper echelons of the U.S. military are gone as well. The head of the beast has been cut off, and it is in its death throes. Soon members of the Brotherhood of Mutants will be moving in to reestablish order, and once we have done so, a new and just government will be formed, and peace will be had for all. I urge the human citizens to stay inside and stay out of our way, as we may be forced to fight to take down the tattered remains of the government. You will be safe as long as you stay out of it. I offer the mutant citizens an open invitation to join us in our victory, to become part of the movement toward change. If you refuse to help, I urge you to stay out of our way, and not make yourselves our enemy. Together, we CAN change this world for the better."
The message had been playing on repeat endlessly on all television stations in the 3 days since the sudden and utter destruction of Washington D.C. Somehow Magneto's people had managed to pirate the emergency broadcast network, cutting off the American citizens from news. Most did not even bother to turn their televisions on anymore.
They waited for the hammer to fall.
Alex sat alone beside a small pond at the edges of the mansion grounds, immersed in meditation. He let his mind wander free, allowing it to mingle with the water around him. He used the techniques he had learned from the Professor to spit his focus, to pay attention to many things at once. He felt the water in the river, the strong streaming flow, and the small eddies created by rocks on the bottom. He felt the water in the air, wandering aimlessly, often colliding with one another as paths crossed. He felt the water in the trees, the grass, and the plants. He even felt the very small amount of water in the rocks inside the earth, and found that he could manipulate them, lifting the objects up by lifting the water within it.
This was the first time since the incident with Holy that Alex had been outside of his room. He had spent 3 days in the room, speaking only with his friends who came to visit, and with Demon who shared the room with him. Demon had talked to him when he needed, and stayed silent when he didn't. He had listened, and had been reassuring, but honest at the same time.
"I'm no different from her am I?" Alex had asked.
"Who?"
"Jean Gray. Inside her was a power that was greater than her, and it split her personality. The person inside her grew angry and cruel, and has now been set loose upon the world. At first, I thought that I had escaped this fate, but I can see that I haven't. I am as much a danger as she is."
"No, you aren't. Jean's mind split because of what the Professor did to her when he restrained her powers. He suppressed the side of her that was strong and confident. He allowed Jean to grow to be a good, kind person, but that other personality hated every moment of it. The Phoenix was born form the rage and hatred that Jean's unconscious mind had for the Professor, and for anyone that feared or doubted her power. You are different. You lost control, because you have been hurt in the past, and very badly. You were unprepared to see the person who had so badly hurt you, and you snapped. You were not the first person to do this, and you won't be the last. You are a GOOD person, but you have pain in your heart that you haven't had time to deal with yet."
"You've been talking to Echo haven't you?" Alex had asked, somewhat joking. Demon was a good guy, but rarely came out with such long explanations, and was not especially knowledgeable about psychiatry.
Demon had never left his side that whole time, even brought him food so he would not have to show his face in the dining hall until he was ready. At night, Demon would slip into Alex's bed and hold him, because the nightmares were terrible and vivid, and always ended with screaming. Many times Alex had fallen to sleep with the large red boy stroking his dark hair, and whispering soothing words into his ear.
Now Alex was finally out of his room, but was still not totally ready to join the daily life at Mutant High. Thankfully, since he was now graduated, he was not required to attend classes unless he wished to learn. At the moment, he did not. He wanted to immerse himself in his powers slowly, to grant himself more control. His freak-out and subsequent transformation into a cruel icy villain had terrified him, and forced him to acknowledge that control was the key. His powers would always be great, but only with control could he keep them from mastering him.
At the edge of his sensory field, which now extended several miles, Alex felt a strange presence. No, presence was not the right word, more like ABSENCE. There was no water in a single area in the sky, and that area was moving. Fast.
Alex looked up, and saw on the furthest point of his vision a small bright pinprick in the sky. As the spot came nearer, he could sense it more clearly. He used layers of expertly bent water over his eyes to magnify his vision, and it came into focus, a fireball was hurtling through the sky. It was coming from the direction of the city, and headed generally towards the mansion. As it came closer, he could finally make out that it was in fact a MAN in the sky. A burning man was flying through the air towards the mansion.
While he tried to figure out who this flaming flying man could be, Alex also began to wonder if he was welcome in the mansion. An orb of icy energy formed in his palm as he considered whether or not to intervene. This was not exactly peaceful times, and what would normally be seen as a strange visitor could easily be an attack. Could this burning man explode too? Better not to take the chance, there were hundreds of mutants in the building. He could take the man down without killing him, probably.
The Professor's voice rang through Hydrogue's head before he took action. <He is a friend, and he is welcome. Please come to the War Room, we are having a meeting.>
He responded. Not having the time to walk back, Alex used the new trick he had discovered during his little freak out the previous week. He lifted up the water molecules in his body, and flew into the air toward the mansion. As he rose above the tree line he saw, at the edges of his vision, the burning man land at the doors of the mansion. As the flames vanished, Alex caught a glimpse of blue before the man entered the mansion.
Despite his haste, Alex was still the last person into the War Room for the meeting. The room was of course located in the hidden basement of the mansion, and like everything else down there, had solid steel floors, walls and ceilings. The room was dominated by a large round table, with an inner ring of some sort of shifting metallic looking material. Right now the metal was shaped into a large map of the United States. Around the table were the Professor, Beast, Cyclops, Storm, Wolverine, Iceman, Angel, Nightcrawler, Colossus, Elixir, Dr. Halden, Demon, Will, Psionic, Echo, Barrier, Ghost, and a stranger in an odd tight blue jumpsuit that Alex could only assume was the burning man. Even though there were so many people there, the absence of Jean and Rogue was very noticeable.
"Ah, welcome Alexander. Please, take a seat over next to Jonathan" the Professor said, indicating the burning man. Alex sat. "I was just introducing everyone to Jonathan Storm, also known as the Human Torch. He is a member of the Fantastic Four, a group of super powered humans who live and operate in New York City. They have allied themselves to us, and Jonathan has come to attend this meeting as their representative."
Alex turned to the man beside him, who had extended his hand to him.
"Call me Johnny" he said, a big kid-like grin on his face. Johnny looked like an angel descended. His brown hair was buzzed, and showed a strong widow's peak hair line. His eyes were lively and blue, shining with mischief. He had a strong jaw line, high cheekbones, and very soft-looking lips. His blue one piece jumpsuit, while looking a bit odd, showed every inch of his body, which was exceptional. Shoulder muscles bulged up, connecting his neck and his pumped up deltoids. The biceps were like baseballs, and a vein could be seen traveling along them even through the suit. His pectorals were perfect, pumped up and solid. His sides trimmed in to a thin waist, and through the suit the ridges of his abs could be seen, and so could the V of the muscles running between his lower abs and his groin. The basket between his legs was nothing to scoff at either. Alex took the extended hand, and noted how very very WARM Johnny's skin was. His grip was strong and firm, and his hand had just the right amount of hair on them.
Alex swallowed the saliva he had built upon seeing Johnny and said "Hi, nice to meet you."
"Alexander Wental is one of the newest to join us, he is a water elemental mutant." The Professor had evidently introduced the others already. "Now, let's begin the meeting."
Scott began by saying "as we all know, the head was cut off of the United States government 3 days ago. Since then, the emergency broadcast system has been under Magneto's control somehow, and news has been difficult to gather." The map on the table shifted, showing the individual state lines, and extremely accurate topography of the U.S. "The states have taken over control of themselves, and some of the larger cities are fending for themselves. This is all creating somewhat of a bloodless civil war. The U.S. military is attempting to establish temporary control, and has its hand deep into some of the more powerful states."
"Is there anyone at all attempting to reform the Federal Government?" asked Echo. Cyclops nodded.
"Yes, but unfortunately the Presidential line of succession only goes down 14 places after the President. All of the people on that list were killed, leaving a bit of a vacuum of power and no clear leader. There were a dozen or so Senators and Representatives who were not in the bombing, but none of them have any real claim to the Presidency. Unfortunately, one of the survivors is none other than Senator Robert Kelly, and he is gathering a following." Several of the X-Men groaned, though Storm managed to keep her surprise limited to widened eyes.
"Sorry if this makes me sound stupid, but who is he?" asked Hydrogue.
"Senator Kelly was the forerunner behind the original Mutant Registration Act. Although a few years ago he had a radical turnaround, which slowed down the Act considerably" answered Echo.
"Yes, but what you don't know is that Senator Kelly is dead" piped in Storm. At the look of confusion from the majority of the room (only Storm, Cyclops, Wolverine, Beast, and the Professor had known), she elaborated. "He died due to an experiment where Magneto tried to turn humans into mutants. I watched him die."
"But the significance is that Senator Kelly's role has been artfully played by Mystique since the Ellis Island incident" continued the Professor. "That means that if this power play works, Mystique may be running a good portion of the United States."
"Yes, well, she will have a fight on her hands. And not just with us. The Admiralty, the ruling council of the Navy, was untouched by the attack. Being the only branch of the military still in one piece, and with all three branches of the government in tatters, the Admirals are the other contending factor for rule of the U.S."
"Great, so the options are to have Magneto's right hand in charge, or marshal law" commented Wolverine.
"Those are IF Magneto isn't planning a full scale operation, which I doubt" said Johnny. "Obviously he is going to make his move, we just don't know when or where."
"Precisely" said the Professor. "We need to figure that part out."
"Now, New York City is a prime target, it is one of the centers of western civilization. But, it is also in our back yard" said Storm.
"Yes, I have set Cerebro to monitor all mutant activity in the city, we will know if the number of mutants increases or decreases quickly. Similarly, Cerebro will block psychic intrusions into the city, thought it's strength is limited."
"And the Phoenix's is not" added Alex.
"That is actually not true" corrected the Professor. At Alex's raised eyebrow, he elaborated. "The Phoenix has Class 5 TELEKINESIS, not telepathy. That being said, she is still the most powerful telepath I have ever known. But I do believe that if I, with Cerebro enhancing my powers, could resist her intrusions for a time. She would find a way through I am sure, but she would have to commit to it." Talk faded as everyone considered this.
"Now, we have a job to do" said Cyclops, bringing them all back to the subject at hand. "We are establishing information relays all over the U.S., largely reliant on telepathic mutants. We have no idea where the first attack will fall, but I am glad to hear that we all agree that it will come. Any ideas, please approach me, Storm, or the Professor with them. In the meantime, be ready to deploy at any moment. We have to play a reactive game for the time being."
After a review of some of the preparations being made, the meeting adjourned. Alex spent the walk back to the doors of the mansion talking to Johnny, who in addition to being beautiful was also very funny. He had a very cocky, confident air, but it wasn't quite bad enough for him to be perceived as an asshole. But alas, time was short.
"I have to get back to the others; we have our own plans to iron out. I'm sure Reed will have some new invention that will save the day pretty soon." Johnny smiled, the perfect white teeth spreading out, looking so amazing that it made Alex smile too. "I will see you again soon I'm sure, nice to meet you."
Johnny put his hand on Alex's shoulder in a gesture of good-bye, the obscenely warm touch traveling through his shirt and making his skin flush. With that, Johnny turned and stepped away, giving Alex an excellent view of his perfect ass in his skintight jumpsuit. Like it was nothing, he burst into flames so violently that it lifted him into the air, and he flew away like a rocket. Alex watched him go for a moment before he heard steps behind him. It was Demon.
"The Professor wants to talk to you." Demon looked at Alex with a blank expression, though in his eyes could be read a myriad of conflicting things. Alex either did not notice or did not understand, because he only thanked his friend and ran back up the stairs into the mansion. He found the Professor in the foyer with Storm, the two of them talking about some business or another.
"You wanted to talk to me sir?" The Professor smiled as he turned to him.
"Yes, Alexander. I considered your request, and I wanted to tell you that I agree with you, and I encourage you to go immediately."
"What? Really? Wow, with everything going on, I thought for sure that you would want me here."
"Yes well, I do. That is why you should go as soon as you can, tomorrow if possible. And I want you to go with Psionic, so that he can get you back as soon as possible should you be needed. I would also like you to bring Storm with you, as a representative of the school."
Alex had no words, was both terrified and excited. He was going home!!
Doppelganger sat on the floor, banging the back of his head against the concrete wall of his cell. Again. It was the most he had to do for entertainment in here. Sure they had given him books at first, but he was never much of a reader. Despite that fact, he had read all the books that interested him, but since he had been in here for months, he had nothing else to do. He no longer even had the occasional horrifying visits from the Phoenix for her to re-drain his powers. He had garnered from the guard who gave him food twice a day that she had found a way to stay in her `proper' form without him.
"Why am I still here then?" He had understood at first, since she feared he would run away and deprive her of a way to get to her usual body. But he had joined the Brotherhood willingly, and with the coming liberation of mutantkind coming, he wanted to be a part of it again! He had made several requests to talk to someone about begging for release, had even told the guards to forward that fact that he would pretend it never happened, but still he was here. He was starting to get a bit sick of it.
He had not minded quite as much when Pyro used to still visit him for sex. Since Doppelganger could assume the form of anyone he had ever touched, it made for a nice variety for Pyro. But even the visits had been reduced, and Doppelganger was lucky to have any contact in a week.
He was done with it. If the Brotherhood didn't want him, then he didn't want them either. Doppelganger ran through all the morphs he had available to him. Of course, he had tried to turn into Jean Gray, as he had touched her hair only briefly (thus starting his imprisonment), but it was to no avail. He had not absorbed enough of the DNA. He could turn into Pyro, but without a source of fire, that was useless. He could use Iceman, but his powers would take too long to take down the door, and it would give the guards too much time to notice.
Of course. As soon as he realized it, Doppelganger began to change. He began to grow significantly taller, and his muscles multiplied in size. As he grew in size, his shirt tore asunder, and he removed the pieces to ease his comfort. His waist grew too, but not much, and his pants remained in one piece, though were much tighter. When the morph was completed, he reveled in the shear POWER of this body. This is the way Colossus feels every day.
With a thought, Doppelganger changed his skin into an organic metal. He looked at the solid metal door which had barred his passage for the past few months. It didn't look so strong anymore.
The door flew off its hinges under the force of Doppelganger/Colossus' punch. It collided with the wall opposite with a loud clanging noise. As the guard outside his room turned, he was greeted by a similar punch, which shattered his jawbone and set him hurtling down the hallway. Doppelganger felt a twinge of remorse for the unnecessary pain he had caused, but forgot it soon as he stalked his way down the hall. He was in a high security area, and he knew he had limited time to get out before the place was swarming with guards. Already an alarm was sounding somewhere.
Doppelganger didn't look twice at the various faces which looked out of the other cells at him, several of whom begged him to help them. He was not trying to help anyone, only to escape.
He soon found his escape route. He came across a Plexiglas window, which was easily blasted out with the strength of his borrowed form. Doppelganger morphed back into his usual form in order to climb out the window hole, which was much too small for Colossus's body to fit through. Besides, he needed to return to his normal body before turning into a new one, the one witch would let him escape the island altogether. He felt his bones grinding, and a curious sensation as new ones grew that he didn't have before. Within seconds, huge white wings spread out from Doppelganger's back. As he grew taller and his hair grew blond, his eyes blue. He became the borrowed form of Angel, and he spread his large feathery wings and took flight, rising high above the hidden island of the Brotherhood.
Doppelganger looked down, and saw an amazing sight. On the beaches of Superior Isle, an army was amassed. There were more mutants on that beach than Doppelganger had believed existed in the entire world. When had the Brotherhood grown so large? Doppelganger had not been locked away so long, or so he had thought. Boats lined the beach, and the armies were boarding, readying for a huge attack. Where? When?
Such questions were not his to answer. For now, Doppelganger just flew to freedom, not knowing where to go or what to do. He knew he could find a way to be useful to the Brotherhood, but it had to be big.
For now, he just flew.
Alex blinked as his brain adjusted from the sudden change in location. A moment ago he had been outside the Xavier Mansion, and now^Ånow he was in a place that was all too familiar. Psionic had liked their minds and used Alex's mental image to bring the two of them and Storm to this very spot.
In front of him, Alex saw a familiar light blue 2 floor home. There was no fence in front of it, but there was one along the sides, secluding the back yard which contained a fairly large in-ground pool. There were two trees in front of the house, off to the left surrounded by a small flower garden which was well maintained. Large gray stepping stones led from the street to the front door, which was painted a familiar sapphire color.
Home. Alex could scarcely believe it, but he had finally come home. He was excited and anxious at the same time. He was glad to be able to see them all again, the people who had meant so much to him, but was worried that in the time he had been gone that they had distanced themselves from him emotionally, even rejected him from their family. He hoped that this was not the case.
"You ready?" Storm asked. Alex was suddenly aware that he had spent over a minute just staring at the house he had grown up in.
"Yea, I think so." He took his first step forward. After that, there was no stopping, he stepped from gray stone to gray stone until he stood at the door to his former home.
Should he knock? He had never knocked before, but then, he had never returned from nearly a year of absence before. There were 4 cars in the driveway, and it was past 7pm, so most of the family should be home. Should he knock?
He knocked. For a long, painful moment, the trio waited in silence for a response. The door opened quite suddenly, and neither Storm nor Psionic was entirely ready for the person that opened it.
He was practically the spitting image of Alex. The boy had the same brown hair, the same short 5'8" height, the same jaw line, cheekbones and smile. The differences between them were that Alex had a much more dense build, being an avid swimmer, where this stranger was just plain skinny, and that the answerer had intelligent greenish-brown eyes instead of the bright sapphire.
"Oh my god" the stranger said, as he stared at Alex as if he were the last person he expected to see.
"Aaron!" Alex exclaimed, and wrapped his paternal twin brother in a bear hug. The two looked alike in nearly every way, but were not identical. They even had similar body language, and Psionic noted the identical slightly lopsided smile on Aaron's face that he usually saw on his Alex's.
"Xander! What are you doing here? Where have you been? I missed you!"
"I missed you too Air" Alex said, as the two drew back from the hug. "I need to talk to you, and to mom and dad and anyone else who is here."
"I thought you might. Come on in." Aaron shook hands with Psionic and Storm, though introductions were brief.
Alex, Storm, and Psionic waited in the living room as Aaron went to gather the other Wentals. The room was nicely decorated, with large comfortable couches and chairs. Above one of the couches was a large framed photo of all 7 Wentals, with the twins Aaron and Alex together in the front. It was a lovely moment captured in time, where they all smiled and seemed truly happy.
"Xander?" said Psionic, his tone teasing and his emerald eyes twinkling. Alex smiled.
"Yea, that's what my family calls me. Don't tell the others ok?" He smiled as he said this, not being truly serious.
"You got it." They were interrupted by a voice before they could continue any further.
"Xander?" The voice came from behind them, from a doorway which led towards the kitchen of the house.
"Hi mom" said Alex, clearly happy but unsure of what to do.
Sheila Wental was a shorter woman, and her shoulder length hair, which once had a great strawberry blonde luster, now was muted and turned grey at the temples. Her eyes were blue, and shone with intelligence and kindness. Her voice wavered just a bit as she spoke, a rare weak moment for the strong woman.
"I thought I would never see you again." She came forward to wrap her arms around her son, almost as if to make sure that he was real. She pulled out from the hug and held him at arms length, inspecting him to see if he was in good health. "You lost weight, have you been eating?" Psionic barely stifled a laugh, Storm managed to keep it to a simple smile.
"Yes mom, I'm eating just fine." Before he could elaborate, 4 more Wentals entered the room. The first was a well built boy with dirty blonde hair in his mid twenties, the oldest brother Eric. The second was a taller boy with brown hair that was shot through with red highlights, Keith, who came in alongside Aaron. The last was a man in his late fourties, his hair still dark brown, but his beard beginning to become more salt than pepper. Jason Wental, Hydrogue's father.
"Hey bro, welcome back" said Eric, his deep and kind voice showing genuine gladness to se his brother. The other two were less excited.
"What are you doing here?" Keith's voice echoed none of the relief or gladness of his brother's. "You made the right decision when you fled town, freak."
Psionic's eyes flashed with anger, but he said nothing, chosing to think before he spoke. Storm was faster than him.
"Your brother is not a freak, he is a mutant."
"Same thing in my book" retorted Keith. "And he's a faggot on top of that."
"Who cares?" Eric asked. "He's our brother, who care's what gender he falls in love with?"
Jason spoke for the first time, saying "if you were only a fag Xander, I could probably learn to deal with that. But a mutant? A MUTANT? That^Å..I don't even know what to think."
"When I first heard that you had run away" Keith said, "I was upset, and I missed you. But then the full story came out. When we found out what you are^Å.it was over. You don't deserve to be my brother."
"Stop that" said Mrs. Wental, the sternness in her voice unmistakable. "He is no different from the person we have always known and loved."
"My name is Ororo," began Storm, "I am a teacher at a special school, a school where Alex has been for the past 8 months."
"What kind of school?" asked Eric.
"A school for freaks" muttered Keith. Storm ignored him, and focused on Mrs. Wental.
"At this school, we take in mutants, most of them teenage runaways. We give them a place to say, food, and education. We teach them their basic school subjects like they would learn at any other school, but we also teach them about their abilities. At Xavier's School, young mutants learn to understand and control their powers, and we help them to adjust to who they are, and how to put aside prejudice."
"They really have helped me so much" said Alex, speaking for the first time since seeing his family assembled. "I was a wreck when I left here, and I was so ashamed of myself. But they have helped me to grow, and to learn, and with their help I finished the classes needed for me to graduate high school." Sheila smiled, the relief on her face clear. It was obvious that she was not wholly in support of the parts of her son that she could not control, but seemed glad that he appeared happy, and that he was in good hands.
"Well that is all well and good" said Jason, "but I can't abide by mutants in my family. It's unacceptable, and if you had come to me when you discovered this part of you, we could have taken care of it, gotten you proper help."
"Proper help?!?" exclaimed Psionic. "Like what? Gene replacement? Antipsychotics? Shock therapy? That's what they do to people like us you know, make them think we are unbalanced, like it's all in our heads, a problem to be fixed. Well, you can't fix being a mutant, or being gay. They are facts of life, things you can't change any more that you can change to color of the sky."
"I changed it!!" exclaimed Jason Wental. The horror on his face made it evident that he had not planned on saying that out loud.
"What?" asked Keith, now seeming to lose steam in his hatred of his brother. Jason saw that he was caught, that he had said too much, and would have to explain.
"My parents brought me there when I was 13. They helped me, treated me, and now I am a normal human being. It is not impossible, no matter what you may think" he said, glaring at Psionic, but refusing to meet the eyes of his family.
"Is that why you take that pill every morning?" Sheila asked. "You told me you had an emotional disorder." He voice shook, not entirely with pain from being lied to, but with anger.
"I do have an emotional disorder. Without my pills, my emotions are too strong, and things^Åhappen." The room was silent for a moment.
"What's your power dad?" Alex asked, looking his father straight in the eye. "I control water" he said, holding out his hand, where an orb of water formed, then shifted into a glittering diamond of ice, which rotated in his hand. Jason stared at the ice, his face a mixture of pain and shame, but also a desire to tell his secret.
"I^Å.I^Åmanipulate energy."
"How so?" asked Psionic, the only one who seemed able to talk.
"I could alter the flow of energy, increasing or decreasing it however I wanted. I couldn't control it, and caused a blackout in my home town. That's when my parents had me treated."
"Oh my god" said Keith, who looked like he could vomit.
No one really had a chance to react to all of this, as they were very rudely interrupted by the door exploding. The wood splintered and shattered, as a blast of fire shot through it, reducing it to sparks and embers. Everyone turned to the door, and those who had been seated leapt to their feet. In the door stood a woman who only 3 of them recognized, The Phoenix. Her long crimson hair flowed around her in an imperceptible wind; her eyes glowed with a red-gold fire. She wore crimson leather which formed to a body, with a dark leather trench coat. She smiled an awful smile of supreme confidence.
"Did I interrupt?"
"Who are you?" demanded Mrs. Wental.
"I am the doom of all mankind" the Phoenix answered, her voice oddly pleasant sounding. "And I am here to offer your son a place at my side, for that is the only way that you will all continue to live."
She was here, The Phoenix, in his home with his family. Fear and anger grew within Hydrogue as he sought the courage to face a god to protect his family. In a single motion, he rose from the couch and thrust out his hands, launching from them twin bolts of water charged with electrical energy and shrouded by cold energy. The power of the blasts was considerable, but far short of what it needed to be. The Phoenix did not even have to move, but banished the blasts with a look from her fiery eyes. Her expression grew angry, and she waved her arm in Hydrogue's direction, a telekinetic blast sent him into the air. Hydrogue hurtled sidelong through the wall of the living room and into the kitchen, then through that wall and spilled into the backyard. His body dug a trench into the earth as he slid 20 feet until he came to a stop.
Hydrogue was covered in dirt, grass and drywall, his clothes were torn and his body ached badly. He was cut in many places, but the wounds closed as his body's watery structure reestablished itself. He got up and ran back into the house through the hole he had just exited.
The Phoenix stood above Psionic, who was on his knees but staring up at her defiantly. Storm was no longer in the living room, but a hole in the ceiling gave a good guess where she had gone. The Wentals were all in a corner in a heap, appearing to have been shoved there.
"Your mind is weak little one" The Phoenix said, as she looked down at Psionic. "Why do you fight that which you cannot possibly defeat?"
Psionic glared back at The Phoenix, his emerald eyes meeting her fiery ones. Blood trickled from both of his nostrils as the telepathic struggle proved too much for him.
"Because you are evil, and evil must be resisted, even by the weak" he responded, his voice surprisingly strong and even for the state he was in. He knew that this struggle would kill him, and that The Phoenix would not stop until it had. He would not give in; even to save his life, for if he did it would give her full access to his mind and everything he knew. The Phoenix must not learn of the plans to resist her attacks against humanity. Blood flowed freely form his nose, staining his green shirt and turning his otherwise pale skin pink.
As the world began to spin around him, Psionic reached out instinctively with his specialty ability, and found his friend Hydrogue's mind ready and waiting. Hydrogue had no telepathic powers whatsoever, but his mind was vast and his will strong. The Phoenix was caught off guard by the sudden addition of mental strength, and her crushing power faltered. She staggered back as Hydrogue and Psionic's combined power struck her mental defenses like a war hammer, doing no damage but breaking her hold on Psionic's mind temporarily.
At this moment, Hydrogue flew back into the living room through his previous exit hole and blasted The Phoenix again with his icy orbs. A protective sphere appeared around her, and when the blasts hit the barrier, they blasted it backwards. The sphere, and the Phoenix within it, was thrown through the front of the house and into the street.
The Phoenix was unharmed, but clearly surprised. She looked back at the house she was just ejected from, and saw Hydrogue, Psionic, and Storm (having taken the stairs back down) standing in the hole that used to be the living room wall, facing her. Psionic looked weakened but determined, and Hydrogue and Storm just looked pissed. But The Phoenix was not concerned. She laughed at them.
"Well, it looks like you have a few tricks up your sleeves after all. Not that I couldn't destroy you all anyway, but it is much more fun this way. But that isn't why I'm here. Since you clearly refuse my offer, I have a parting gift for you. Think of it as something to remember me by." With a wink, she reached within her long coat and pulled out a small baseball sized orb which was slightly oblong. The orb looked like it was made completely of fire caged within some transparent shell. With a flick of her wrist, The Phoenix sent the orb straight across the street and into the house across from the Wental home. The house exploded suddenly, shocking everyone who watched. The explosion tore the house apart, reducing it to an inferno within seconds. The Phoenix laughed as the X-Men ran towards the burning house and neighbors emerged from their homes to seek the source of the disturbance. In a burst of flame, The Phoenix vanished from the scene, knowing that her job there was done.
A piercing cry spilt the air before anyone reached the house. Storm, Hydrogue, and Psionic halted as they saw something rise from the ruin. A flame shaped as a small bird rose from the fires and hovered close to them. It began to draw the fires to it, and as it did, the firebird grew in size, and quickly became the size of a car by the time all the fires were absorbed into it. The X-Men were shocked at this, a living being of flame which had been unleashed by the Phoenix in her own image.
A creature of flame and ruin, the Firebird fed on the fires it set to grow more powerful, and that is exactly what it wanted to do. Its intelligence was limited, basically a ball of instincts and impulses. It had been programmed with a primary urge, to consume and to grow more powerful, and to use the nearby city to do it. The flames within the Firebird were several thousands of degrees hot, and objects near it blackened and burned. As it consumed more flame, the Firebird grew even hotter.
Hydrogue launched a jet of water at the Firebird, attempting to extinguish it. The bird dodged the jet narrowly, and flew towards the 3 X-Men. When it landed on the yard in front of the destroyed house, the grass withered and burned, and a wave of heat buffeted the X-Men, stopping them in their tracks. The living flame reared onto its legs and spread its wings to show its fullest glory. The Firebird was beautiful and terrible, glowing brightly in the dimming light of twilight. From its beak flew a ball of incredibly hot fire, fired straight at Hydrogue, who had attacked it. A dome of water formed above the X-Men, and the fires washed over it, leaving them unharmed. But in the time it took for the flames to clear, the Firebird took off, and was out of reach.
"Oh no" said Hydrogue, as he watched the flaming bird fly away.
"What?" asked Psionic.
"It's headed in the direction of downtown Salt Lake City" Hydrogue responded, dread clear in his voice. "If we don't stop it, it will burn the city to ashes."
Without any further words, Hydrogue jumped into the air and soared in the direction of the city, determined to save his hometown from the fire.
Cyclops had rarely had his hands so full. Being the Professor's right hand man put him in a position of huge responsibility. He was in the middle of contacting all the mutants who had gone through and were still friendly with Xavier's School and the X-Men, trying to muster as much support as possible. He also was trying to coordinate with the sects of the military that were willing to work with him, evaluate intelligence information, and figure out what the hell to do next.
He sat in his office in the hidden levels underneath the mansion. His desk was U shaped and lined 3 walls of the room. There were multiple computer screens on the desk, all showing different bits of data. The desk was littered with photographs, diagrams, reports, and several empty cups of coffee. He wore his X-Men uniform, the one piece black leather suit unzipped down to the waist, showing a nice view of his well formed and slightly hairy pecs. He smelled rank, and he had been in this office since the meeting the previous day, and had not stopped working except to eat (not enough) and sleep (barely). Logan had stopped by at least once an hour to make sure that Scott hadn't yet collapsed, but he had yet to succeed in persuading him to take a real nap or meal. Scott appreciated this, in fact appreciated everything Logan did for him. After Jean had died', both had had their hearts ripped from their chests, wounded so badly that they knew not how to go on. They had found solace in each others arms, and bodies. A physical relationship had developed between the two men, and that was all that it was for a while. They took out their anger and frustration on each other with loud, rough, angry sex, where Scott always took the bottom (but not always submissive) role. After a time, the two had developed a true friendship, and though they were not a couple' per se, they had an intimate relationship that had given them both something to hold on to.
Scott got up, hoping to find Logan and get some `stress relief', when they all ran out of time.
<Scott, I was just contacted by one of our telepaths in Boston> said the Professor inside Scott's head. <They have positive contacts coming into the city by sea, they are Magneto's forces. We must deploy as quickly as possible.>
<Yes Professor, I will ready the jet, will you inform the others?>
Scott had always marveled at the Professor's ability to hold multiple telepathic conversations at once.
<Ok, I will mobilize forces from outside the school, and get our satellites in place to give us intel on Boston. Will you contact Psionic and bring him Storm and Hydrogue in?>
<I have already tried. It seems that the Phoenix has launched an assault of some kind on Salt Lake City, they will be staying there to deal with it and join you later if possible.>
<Understood.>
What a mess, he thought. The first attack is on one of the biggest cities in the country, and his 2nd in command AND his biggest gun were out of the fight.
Oh well, no use in bitching about what you can't fix. Scott zipped up his jumpsuit as he ran toward the jet hanger. It was go time.
Hydrogue was flying as fast as he could, but still trailed behind the Firebird. The flames from the living legend lit the night sky, and heads turned as it passed. The Firebird flew low, and on several occasions taller houses and trees burst into flames from sheer proximity to the creature. It would circle around these stray fires and feed off of them before putting on a burst of speed and racing back towards downtown.
Hydrogue could only watch as the Firebird reached the city significantly ahead of him. The bird was the size of a large truck at this point, but that would soon change. On the edges of the city, the Firebird veered off course and landed, directly in the center of a gas station. It spread its fiery wings, sending a blast of heat from itself, igniting the gasoline tanks located underground.
The explosion was spectacular, and lit the sky like a new sun for a brief moment. Hydrogue had to blink his eyes shut to protect them from the glare. He watched in horror as a city block was turned into a flaming crater. The Firebird rose out from this ruin and drew upon the flames, creating a powerful heart of fire. The living core of flame within the Firebird grew to heats approaching 10 thousand degrees, far above the melting point of steel, and it grew to the size of a large house. As it rose into the air, the Firebird let loose a stream of fire from its beak, which blasted through a nearby office building and into the street behind it. The building burst into flames violently, the glass began to melt almost immediately.
The Firebird flew down one of the major roads of Salt Lake City, its wingtips brushing the buildings on the sides of the lane, setting them aflame. Crowds of people ran screaming from the creature, choking the streets with fleeing bodies. The bird circled around in a large intersection and landed on the other side of the fleers, halting them in their tracks. The Firebird reared up and let out a piercing cry, a sound of terror and power. It spread its wings out fully, and the blast of heat knocked many people down, leaving them helpless and at the creature's mercy. Over a hundred people were convinced they were about to die.
Seemingly out of nowhere, a barrage of blue orbs streamed in and drilled the Firebird just before it could loose its flaming jet, knocking it back slightly. Hydrogue flew into the square, and let loose another powerful barrage, rapid-firing orbs of icy energy from his hands at high speeds. As he circled around the square, dodging the Firebird's answering attacks; rain clouds formed over the city and let loose a torrent of water to fight the fires. The flames from the Firebird were much too hot to be extinguished this way, but the spreading was lessened, and wet objects are less likely to catch fire. The crowd cheered for the stranger who fought for them, though many were surprised to be glad to see a mutant.
Hydrogue circled around, and faced the Firebird head on. He flew down towards it, and let loose from both hands a powerful blast of water many times colder than ice. At the same time, the Firebird loosed from its beak a jet of its hottest fires, and the two attacks met in the center. The icy water weakened the fire considerable, but proved the lesser in the end. The fires consumed the water, and continued on to blast Hydrogue from the sky.
He landed in a heap on the ground, his clothes on fire. Hydrogue pulled the shirt from off his head, discarding the flaming garment. The Firebird leaned above him, and loosed another jet of flame straight down at the mutant. The fires met against a powerful barrier of water, and the two elemental powers struggled. The heat of the fire was incredible, and it was all that Hydrogue could do to keep up his defense. While the two powers struggled, many of the citizens ran for their lives, wanting nothing to do with the horror that had befallen their home.
The struggle was titanic, as the flames surrounded the barrier and melted the tar of the street. At this time, two things happened at once. First, Hydrogue loosed a built up burst of energy, blasting his protective dome outward with incredible force. The second was that twin bolts of lightning struck the Firebird in its side, sent from the hands of Storm, who had arrived on the scene via Psionic's teleportation. The Firebird's attack was shattered, and it was thrown back by the dual assault from the two powerful mutants. It screamed and soared into the air, blasting nearby buildings with its fire attacks.
"Nice timing" said Hydrogue, who had turned to water to resist the heat attack.
"Thank you" replied Storm, whose eyes where white from accessing her powers. The clouds overhead rumbled with thunder, and lightning crackled between them.
"I'm feeling a bit better now," piped in Psionic, "so I thought we would join the fun." He still looked pale, and his upper lip was still tinged red from blood, but Hydrogue would not refute his claim to be well enough to fight.
With a scream, the Firebird came swooping down on the three X-Men, fire jets streaking from its mouth. Psionic teleported out of the way just in time, as the street under his feet was melted into oblivion. Storm rained lighting down on the Firebird, but it seemed to do little damage to the creature. The Firebird was so hot, that there was a layer of ionized atoms surrounding it. The lightning bolts were dispersed by these ions, causing the majority of the energy to dissipate harmlessly. The creature lashed out with one of its whip-like tail feathers, striking Storm and sending her hurtling into a nearby building, her leather X-Men jumpsuit melting and burning. Hydrogue flew into the air, and sent a powerful arctic pulse, knocking the Firebird from its course, forcing it to circle around. Throwing a quick cold wave at Storm to extinguish the fires and re-solidify melted leather, Hydrogue flew off after the Firebird. Psionic kept up by teleporting from rooftop to rooftop. Once, the Firebird sent a fiery tail whip, but Psionic blocked it by telekinetically lifting a slab of concrete in the way. The Firebird reached the center of the city, and rose above the tallest buildings.
Hurtling in at high speed, Hydrogue channeled the electrical energy of his water atoms in a new way. Bolts of lightning flew from his hands, greater and more powerful than the ones wielded by Storm. At the same time, a tornado descended from the clouds above the Firebird, crackling with electricity, whirling with icy wind and rain. The creature was engulfed in the maelstrom, blasted form without by the rain of lightning from Hydrogue. Psionic sent orbs of collected icy rain from Hydrogue's storm at the creature, dousing it.
They thought they had won, that the fires were overcome. They were wrong. The Firebird loosed a portion of its inner flame, and a flaming blast burst forth from it, shattering the twister and obliterating the orbs of water and bolts of lightning coming towards it. The blast slammed Psionic off the roof of the building he was on, sending him across the alley and through the window of the next building. Psionic struck a wall before falling to the floor, and lay there unmoving. Hydrogue took a greater hit from the blast, and was smashed out of the air and sent hurtling away. He spun end over end head over heals until he smashed through the wall of a small 1 floor building a quarter mile from where he had been when hit.
Hydrogue looked up from the ground; his eyesight swam for a moment before focusing. He was surrounded by bright lights and loud music, and lots of people. As he stood up from the man shaped dent in the wooden floor, he realized that he knew this place. It was the gay club where Hydrogue used to work as a dancer, before he ran away. All around him were half naked young men covered in sweat and glitter, all looking at him at a safe distance. A circle of the onlookers had formed around the strange boy who had survived a meteor-like fall. He looked up and saw a hole in the ceiling and a hole in the wall of the second floor of the club, which had been ruined by his entry. Apparently with all the noise and booze, the club goers had no idea what was going on in their city.
"What the fuck?" someone yelled.
"It's a mutant!" yelled another. "How else would he survive that fall?"
"Wait a second, that's Xander!" Hydrogue looked to the side, and saw 2 guys he used to dance with when he worked at the club. It hadn't entirely hit him how far he has come until he saw his former coworkers standing there in skimpy underwear with dollar bills sticking out of the waistband. He had been there not even a year ago. Of course, this was not comforting enough for him to get over the person standing next to his former coworkers. The man had his dark hair buzzed short, his dark eyes were staring at Alex with a mixture of shock and fear. He was taller than Hydrogue, and broader shouldered, but these facts did not comfort him. For the man was Jared, Hydrogue's first and only boyfriend, the man who had led him on, pretended to love him, used him, and humiliated him in public. Jared had had suspicions of Hydrogue being a mutant after the strange incidents that occurred during their very public breakup, but had never known for sure until now.
"Hello Jared" said Hydrogue. Hydrogue rose to his feet, brushing off the dust from his bare torso. His pants had largely burned away with his shirt, leaving behind charred and hole-filled shorts behind. "How great to see you again" he said, his voice icy and emotionless. Jared rose into the air against his own volition, lifted by Hydrogue's power.
Any further exchange was interrupted by a group of people blasting their way into the club, screaming in terror. "Everyone run!" one of them yelled, "there is a giant flaming^Å.THING coming this way!"
The crowd poured out the doors, a stampede of young gay men. Hydrogue, knowing he should be at the front of the group should any dangers arise, released Jared and rose into the air. He flew above the heads of the humans, much to their dismay, and out the door.
The street was crammed completely full of people, every club and bar on the street had emptied in fear of the coming Firebird. But they were all trapped. One end of the street was blocked; a tall building had fallen in the Firebird's wrath, leaving a huge pile of burning rubble across the entire road. The other direction was free of debris, but that way was barred by the creature itself.
Believing there to be no time to lose, Hydrogue flew directly at the Firebird. The creature fired an orb of flaming plasma from its beak, aimed at the crowd below. Hydrogue launched a bolt of lightning from his hand, which met the plasma halfway. The ball exploded, showering the crowd with sparks and heat, and knocking many down from the shockwave, but harming none.
Hydrogue hovered above the crowd, and swept his arms in an upward motion. All at once, every fire hydrant on the street blasted open, a copious stream of water flowing upwards, and flowing together in front of the water mutant before surging forward in one massive geyser straight at the Firebird. The creature was too late with a responding attack, and was thrown back violently by the blast. The crowd, not knowing what to do about being assaulted by a monster and saved by a mutant, cheered for the one who was not trying to kill them at that particular moment.
The creature was thrown down the street, but not destroyed. The people were not saved, but merely bought a reprieve.
I have to destroy this thing, Hydrogue thought to himself. It is but a manifestation of the Phoenix's power, just a fraction of what she can do. If I can't defeat this thing, I won't stand a chance against her, and the world may as well surrender to her now.
Hydrogue switched tactics. He stopped thinking big, stopped thinking more. He thought smaller. He closed his eyes. In his hand he focused on a small orb of water molecules. The molecules vibrated strongly in his hand, a sign of activity and heat. He held them in his mind and he slowed them down. Since heat and power are manifestations of molecular movement and vibration, cold is the manifestation of molecular slowing. The molecules moved less and less, growing to the depths of utter cold. As the orb in his hand grew colder and glowed with an eerie blue light, the temperature around Hydrogue plummeted. The sweat and rain on his skin and hair frosted over. The water on the ground from the rain froze in an instant, windows around him began to ice over. Some glass broke entirely. The water still dribbling form the opened hydrants froze into strange still fountains. The rain began to freeze into ice and snow, the crowd began to shake. The molecules in Hydrogue's hand stopped moving entirely. They had reached the coldest possible temperature physically possible; -459.67 F, absolute zero, the point where all things freeze and all molecules cease to move in any way. It was only Hydrogue's existence as a Class 5 water elemental mutant that he was able to survive his proximity to such a phenomenon.
Hydrogue's eyes opened, and they glowed bluer and brighter than ever before, his hair appeared silvery-black from being wet and frozen solid. He held the frost bolt in his hand, the greatest weapon he had ever made. It was not powerful, but instead robbed the power from all other things around it, decreasing their energy with its shear presence.
The Firebird came flying straight back up the street, its fires bright and hot still. It let loose the greatest stream of fire yet from its beak, wishing to obliterate the annoying mutant who resisted it. At the same time, Hydrogue sent his frost bolt straight at the Firebird. The powerful attacks met in the center of the two powerful beings, but this time there was no explosion. The frost bolt drained the heat from the blast, traveling straight down the core of the jet, which died as a result. The bolt flew straight back down the jet until it reached its ultimate target, the Firebird. Entering the creature's mouth, and traveling to its heart of living flame.
The creature did not die in a spectacular explosion, or another such fantastical way. It reared into the air, and let out a sad cry, an almost beautiful note of music, a Phoenix's song. Its fiery body glowed less strong, and then began to die away. Like a flame over a leaf, it slowly glowed orange, then faded to black, and then, in a gust of wind, it fell apart into ashes, like so much burnt paper.
At first there was complete silence. But then there was outrageous applause and cheering. Hydrogue set down and looked around at hundreds of humans cheering for him. As someone who was chased out of his home and life by anti-mutant sentiment, it was very confusing turn of events.
After 5 minutes of handshakes and pats on the back (and ass in some cases), Hydrogue could barely take it anymore. Then there was Jared.
"I never thought I would say this, but I'm glad you were here, and I'm glad you are a mutant" he said, looking like he could scarcely believe his own words. "And I'm sorry for everything I did to you." He extended his hand in apology.
Hydrogue reached out and grasped the extended hand, a smile on his face. But that smile died quickly, and Jared's hand grew icy cold to the point of pain. Hydrogue pulled Jared closer to him, and looked him straight in the eyes. He spoke with a low, cold, unearthly voice.
"I don't forgive you."
Hydrogue flew into the air, and was not seen again by any humans in Salt Lake City again that day, though he did pick up his two unconscious friends and utilize his rainstorm to put out the remaining fires. The local news (produced by antiquated radio waves) covered the story non-stop for the next several days, but they only had a few photos of their heroic mutants to display.
Hydrogue was forced to fly himself, Storm, and Psionic back to the mansion, as he had never attempted a teleportation across such a distance before. He was unaware of the battle of Boston, which came and went in the hours it took him to fly across the United States.
"There were so many of them, it was an impossible battle" explained Cyclops. He lay in a bed in the hospital below the mansion, along with several dozen other mutants.
"How many were there?" asked Elixir, who was busy healing the deep cuts along Scott's side.
"More mutants than the Professor told us even existed in the world. I don't understand how that is possible, but that is how it seemed. The military was obliterated in minutes, they had no idea what they were up against. And us, well there were not nearly enough of us. And we lost several, so now there are even fewer."
"How is this possible? Do you think the Phoenix made it SEEM like there were that many, when in fact there really weren't?"
"I hope so, but I have no idea. The Professor will know more, once he finishes restoring the minds of the Phoenix's personal victims, we can ask."
The two of them looked over at the Professor, who was sitting beside the bed of an unconscious mutant, one of 18 who had had their mind, but not their body, shattered by the Phoenix. He looked weary beyond explanation, and he still had much work to do.
"We have a lot of work to do" said Scott, wishing he did not know how right he was.
Hydrogue sat in his room in the dark. He had faced a monstrous creature of living fire, and saved his hometown from being burned to the ground. But, the city would never have been in danger if he had not been there. And furthermore, if he had not begged to be allowed to visit his family, he could have fought in the battle of Boston. Now over half a million people and one of the largest cities in the United States was under the control of the Brotherhood. He didn't care if the Brotherhood army had had hundreds of thousands of mutants in it, he would have destroyed them all to get at the Phoenix.
Demon came in after a couple of hours. He said nothing, but sat behind his friend and put his arms around him, pulling him to his chest. Alex closed his eyes and leaned his head back, resting it on Demon's broad shoulder, enjoying the heat at his back.
It seemed so unexpected to Alex, but in fact was long awaited. He felt lips against his, very soft lips. They were gentle, but grew firmer after a moment as Demon kissed him. He felt his friend's tongue enter his mouth and he moaned softly. The kiss broke after a few seconds, and Alex opened his eyes. In the dark, he could still see Demon's ruby eyes looking at him and sparkling.
"We need to talk" said Demon.
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OK, that chapter turned out WAY longer than I thought it would, but I love it anyway. I hope you do too. Please let me know what you think, email me at phoenixfire543@yahoo.com with any comments, feedback, questions. And for those of you who are interested, there is a new yahoo group for the story, if you want to join, please go to http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HydrogueFans
Thank you to everyone, without readers, this story could not continue. I love you all.
-Matt