Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to any of the characters in this story other than those that I created. This story will contain homosexuality and I do not make any claims regarding the sexuality of anyof the characters in the story. All of the X-Men and Villains presented in the story (other than those I created) are the property of Marvel Comics.
Author's Notes:
With the disclaimer out of the way; I just want to say that this is my first submission to Nifty and would really love to get some comments about it. If you like the story, if you hate it, whatever send me an email silversummer88@yahoo.com. I forgot to mention in the previous chapter but I've taken some liberties with the ages of the X-Men and Brotherhood characters in the story . I'll be mixing in some really popular characters and some relative unknowns as well, so if you're an X fan you can skip the character section, if not then you may want to check it out for a bit of background. Oh and if there are any particular X-characters you want to see included in the story send me an email (don't worry about how obscure they are I probably still know them).
Characters:
Conner -- 16 year old high school student, our main character, frequency manipulation, new member of the Brotherhood
Pyro/John – 19 year old member of Brotherhood of Mutants, Australian, pyrokinetic
X-Redemption Chapter 7
Mystique and I have been in this town for the better part of a week now. We've established the cover of a father and son going on a little cross-country trip. The information we've received from Asteroid M indicates that the leaders of the Sons of Humanity are in this town, however we haven't had much luck in pinpointing their location. Much of our time has been spent prowling the town for information and heading out to the woods to train my powers. The past week has been significant because I've learned the ability to bend the frequency of sound waves in order to muffle noises as well as create extremely high-pitched, unbearable noises. I've also mastered how to hone in on a creature's heartbeat and cause both cardiac arrest and also how to "restart" someone's heart. I've also come across some limitations to my abilities, for instance while I am able to bend the frequency of light to make myself seem invisible it takes a tremendous toll on me that I can't sustain it for long and I've also realized that as hard as I try I can't bring creatures back from the dead if they have been dead for a prolonged period of time. Training with Mystique also entailed a lot of hand-to-hand combat and mental focus training. While I recognized that all of these were important I was desperate to accomplish the mission and return to Asteroid M.
A big breakthrough came about when we came across one of the surviving lieutenants of the Sons of Humanity. We managed to track him to his home and snuck in when he was asleep. Mystique proceeded to "extract some relevant information" from our friend. My task was pretty simple; use my powers to keep his screams subdued and keep him alive long enough to get the necessary information. This was my first experience with Mystique's "interrogation techniques". The amount of pain Mystique put this man through was tremendous. Even with my powers muffling this man's screams the pain in his voice and on his face was evident. There were a number of times when I felt his heart flatline and I brought him back only to face more humiliation and torture at the hands of Mystique. In the end Mystique was able to gather the information that pointed us in the direction of where the surviving heads of the Sons of Humanity were hiding out. Before we left Mystique looked at me and then looked at the man we had been torturing.
"I'll let you do the honours of finishing him." She said.
She then turned away leaving me with him. I desperately wanted to beat this guy even more but I also realized that I could exact an even greater level of revenge later on, when I finally got my hands on the leaders of this group. For now I focused on this man's heartbeat; I had learned that by increasing a man's beats per minute to extremely high levels I would be able to put a person through a significant amount of pain and give them the sensation of burning from the inside-out until the point that their heart gives out completely and they expire. That was what I did to this man; I looked directly in his eyes as his eyes became completely bloodshot and I could tell that some of his blood vessels began to burst from the pressure. This was the first time that I actually looked at someone directly as I took their life; the times in the past had been nothing more than accidents. As I could feel his heart begin to give way and his face contort as he tried to let out a scream all I could do was keep on staring at him. In that moment I came to understand what it was that Magento meant when I left Asteroid M.
"Conner, remember one thing when you are on this mission. God should not fear man."
I looked down at this pitiful creature and realized that I had nothing to be afraid with him and his kind. In relation to him I was a god and as a god I was simply exacting a tribute. I could feel the corner of lips curl as I finally felt his heart completely give way and he took in his last breath. As I left the room Mystique simply looked at my face, smiled, and said...
"I think you're ready to finish this."
We drove out to the location where the leaders of the Sons of Humanity were hiding. They decided to hide out in some old mining tunnels near to the town. From the information we gathered there were probably no more than 6 grown men along with some women and children. We got into the tunnel with Mystique shapeshifting to look like the man we had just captured. Our plan was for Mystique to present me as a new recruit to the Sons of Humanity and then we would exact our revenge once they had let their guard down. As we approached the level in which the leaders were said to be found we suddenly heard yelling. The voices were clearly a mix of grown men and women along with the voice of children.
"Hahaha yes boy take that mutant. They are freaks and they don't deserve to live."
"That's it...show that mutie who's boss!"
As we got closer there were other noises coming from the clearing, including that of strong sobbing. Upon entering the clearing I was shocked at what I saw. In the center of a huddle of people was a female mutant who had red skin. Her clothes had been completely torn from her body and she had bruises up and down her body. Her face was completely swollen and from what I could tell she had been raped by the men in the circle. A few feet from the group of people were the corpses of two other mutants. The crowd looked over to us as we approached and the leader of the group (I had received pictures from Magneto indicating who the leader was) spoke to Mystique.
"Brother Travis who have you brought with you today? Is this a new recruit to the Sons of Humanity?"
"Yes sir, he is." was Mystique's response.
"He looks to be a strong lad Brother. He looks like he will make a fine recruit, well done. For now though let us enjoy the festivities."
And with that he took Mystique by the hand and brought her to watch the continued humiliation of the female mutant in the room. I couldn't stand watching what was happening though and decided to instead get a better look at the corpses. Upon closer inspection I could tell that one of the two corpses was that of a young male mutant, probably no more than 12 years old. There was little that indicated that he was a mutant except for his feet that seemed to be webbed. I could tell that there were bruises all throughout his body. His clothes had been completely ripped apart and from what I could tell there were burn marks from either a cigarette or some kind of torch on his face, hands, and feet. I took an even closer look and could see that there were burn marks on his chest as well as his groin. While I was inspecting the young mutant's body a boy around 14 years old came up beside me.
"Admiring our handiwork Brother?" he said.
"That there mutant actually lived with me and my family for quite some time. He pretended to be my brother and we treated him like my brother until we discovered that he was a freakish mutant. The moment we did we dragged him down here and we really did a number on him. He cried and he cried for us to stop. Tried calling us "daddy, mommy, and bro". Those bruises on his face, I caused those with these here fists. And well there are some bruises you won't see but me and daddy really did a number on his insides as well. Guess he got what was... agh..."
"GUESS HE WHAT! GOT WHAT WAS COMING TO HIM...LIKE YOU GUYS GAVE JOHN WHAT WAS COMING TO HIM!!!"
I had heard enough of this and I had seen enough. As this boy tried to give me the story of how he and his dad raped and killed his own brother I had already chosen my first target. I honed in on his 14 year old heart and stopped it. He dropped on the mine's floor dead.
"A mutant!!!"
I heard the yelling and screaming coming from the various members of the Sons of Humanity. Mystique took this as her cue to shapeshift back into her regular blue-skinned form and begin to kick ass. She was flying around the room using a variety of martial arts techniques to take people out of the fight. I wasn't doing too shabby either, all the yelling and screaming gave me enough sonic energy to change into an extremely high-pitched noise that rendered most of the Sons of Humanity members incapacitated. Those that didn't fall to the noise were quickly knocked out by Mystique. We then tied up all the surviving members and set them in one of the tunnels. Mystique began to tend to the red-skinned mutant and said that I could deal with the leader of the Sons of Humanity as I chose. She then proceeded to help the red-skinned mutant to her feet and began to leave the mine.
I was left in the clearing with the leader of the Sons of Humanity all to myself. He was still out cold but I gave his heart a little jump which suddenly woke him up.
"You hurt a very good friend of mine. You piece of shit!" With that I punched the guy in his gut, putting my entire weight behind that punch.
"What do you want you filthy mutant..."
"Even after losing you're still indignant. I don't want anything other than to make you suffer. I'm guessing your wife and kids are among the members of your little posse, am I right?"
"What are you planning to do to my family...?!" I could sense that there was a little more fear and hesitation in his voice.
"Nothing that you havent already committed them to. You see originally I only wanted revenge against you and your lieutenants. I was more than happy to see your children survive this little mess and maybe even your wives. But after what I heard that boy do to his own brother simply because hes a mutant I realize that everyone in your group is a cancer. And as such this entire group needs to be wiped out. So in that tunnel right there are all the surviving members of the Sons of Humanity. However my friend that you really did a number on, John, really likes games and having fun so I thought we should have fun as well. Before that though I think you should know that you're family and friends are still alive."
With that I mumble a few words and change the sonic pitch to something that resembles an alarm. I then make it ring in the clearing and deeper into the tunnel.
"By the way it's pitch dark where we put your friends and family. So they must be pretty scared,"
Just as I said that we heard the unmistakable yelling of men, women, and children. There was panic and fear in their voices.
"You're a fucking monster!"yelled the man seated in front of me.
"No my friend, you are the monster. I'm merely someone seeking justice. But I'm also merciful and fair so what I'll let you do is I'll give you a chance to escape with your friends and family. I'll cut your bindings and you can run down the tunnel to join them and help them get out. Here's a flashlight so you can see. Now we've rigged this entire mine to come down in some time. If you are able to get to your friends and family and out of this mine in time then you will be set free. If not then you'll be trapped alive."
"What do you get out of this?!"
"Nothing really, maybe a little bit of amusement. But hey it's your only chance right? So you up for the challenge" as I say this I can't help but crack a little grin.
"Ok" he sounded determined and hopeful responding to my challenge.
"Alright then I'll cut your bindings and you should go save your family."
I cut his bindings and he gets up, grabs the flashlight and starts rushing down the tunnel. As he's running I keep a bead on his footsteps and to the voices from the children screaming and crying. I can tell that he's getting close. His pace starts to increase; he's probably 20 feet from them now and he can probably see them. 15 feet, he's now yelling that everything is going to be ok. 10 feet their close enough that he can make them out clearly at this point.
I lift my hands in front of me and place them in a position and begin to applaud his efforts. As the shockwaves leave my hand I begin to focus on them and make them travel the length of the tunnel.
Just as the leader of the Sons of Humanity reaches out to grab a hold of his wife my waves do their trick. They move up and shake the foundation of the tunnel collapsing it just inches away from those that he cares about. I then punch the mine wall beside me and push that wave in such a way that the ceiling behind him begins to collapse. Now this man is trapped, only inches away from his family and also unable to escape. As I leave the mine I begin to collapse even more tunnels behind me assuring that the Sons of Humanity remain forever trapped under miles and miles of rubble.
Upon exiting the tunnel into daylight I can see that one of the spheres from Asteroid M has come down to pick us up. Magneto emerges from the sphere and extends a hand to me.
"A job well done Conner. You've handled this mission well; you are more than ready to join the ranks of the Brotherhood."
"Thank you Magneto. And please from now on call me Pulse."
"Pulse, a fine codename. Well we should head back to Asteroid M but before we do there is someone else who wants to congratulate you."
And with that Magneto stepped aside and another figure began to emerge from the sphere. The figure began to speak and the voice that I heard surprised me.
"Hey there, mate, quite a job you did there."
"John!"