
Posted originally on the Archive_of_Our_Own at https://archiveofourown.org/
works/689816.
  Rating:
      Explicit
  Archive Warning:
      Graphic_Depictions_Of_Violence, Major_Character_Death, Underage
  Category:
      F/M, Multi
  Fandom:
      Harry_Potter_-_Fandom, X-Men_Evolution, X-Men_-_All_Media_Types, Marvel_
      (Comics)
  Relationship:
      Harry_Potter/Kitty_Pryde, Harry_Potter/Rogue, Harry_Potter/Rachel
      Summers, Harry_Potter/Laura_Kinney, Harry_Potter/Illyana_Rasputin, Harry
      Potter/Amara_Aquilla
  Character:
      Harry_Potter, Kitty_Pryde, Rogue_(X-Men), Rachel_Summers, Laura_Kinney,
      Illyana_Rasputin, Amara_Aquilla, Jean_Grey, Scott_Summers, Logan_(X-Men),
      Charles_Xavier, Erik_Lehnsherr, Mystique, Kurt_Wagner, Norman_Osborn,
      Peter_Parker, Gwen_Stacy, Mister_Sinister, Emma_Frost, Sebastian_Shaw,
      Tabitha_Smith, Bobby_Drake, Toad_(X-Men), Fred_Dukes, Wanda_Maximoff,
      Belasco, Pietro_Maximoff, Nick_Fury, Lance_Alvers, Graydon_Creed, The
      Juggernaut, Bastion_-_Character, Natasha_Romanov, Clint_Barton, Wade
      Wilson, Victor_Creed
  Additional Tags:
      Crossover_Pairings, Harems, Lemon, Alternate_Universe
  Series:
      Part 1 of Beyond_the_Veil
  Stats:
      Published: 2013-02-18 Completed: 2013-07-11 Chapters: 52/52 Words: 379051
****** Beyond the Veil Volume One: Arrival ******
by megamatt09
Summary
     X-Men Evolution and Harry Potter Crossover. After stepping through
     the veil in the Department of Mysteries, Harry finds himself in an
     alternate universe. He has to find a way to adapt to a war of a
     different kind. Harry/Kitty/Rogue/Rachel/Laura/Illyana/Amara.
***** Chapter 1 *****
Chapter 01: Arrival.
Loud footsteps thundered in the distance. A group of heavily uniformed army
personnel chased a dark haired youth through a maze of abandoned buildings in a
bad part of a town. The young man continued to gain further speed, but he was
finding it rather difficult to give the men and women chasing him the slip.
There were two things that were very plain to anyone who was watching.
The first thing was this young man was not from around here. His dress when he
arrived indicated this, and raised the alarm for suspicion from eyewitnesses.
He managed to swipe some clothes that would allow him to be more inconspicuous,
but first he had to shake these people off. That was easier said than done.
The second thing that was obvious was that he was way over his head, and pretty
much running on fumes. All he had was his wits, and any survival instincts he
could manage with. There were a few tricks up his sleeve, but he was reluctant
to use them, at least until the time was right.
The chase continued, and the young man dodged behind a fence area. He allowed
himself a few seconds to catch his breath. He wiped his dark hair away from his
face. His hair was normally messy, and quite unruly, but it was more so since
he had arrived here. It was a hair style that people would notice right away.
His breath continued to become more and more labored. He rushed forward, trying
to shake off his potential pursuers, and the whirling of helicopters from above
indicated that more people had joined in on the chase. He ran as fast as he
can. Eventually, he would run out of room, and his back would be against the
wall.
The dark haired young man wondered where he was going anywhere.
Harry Potter had no idea how he got himself into these messes sometimes. It
defied all conventional logic. He honestly did not go looking for trouble, but
trouble seemed to find him.
And he had never been in more trouble in his life. The military of wherever he
was continued to chase him. There was a bit of a misunderstanding a while back,
but they shot first. Harry just defended himself.
He continued to pick up the pace. Breathing came harder. Yet, he tried to push
on. Despite being a wizard, Harry's stamina had certain limits. Through the
ability of magic, he was able to push himself past those limits. Utilizing
magic could be a tricky process; especially the kind of magic Harry was
intending to do.
A few warning shots fired in the air. Harry remained alert, and ready to defend
himself should the shots get too close for comfort.
"Freeze right there, and come quietly!"
Harry deflected the bullets back before they could hit him. They disappeared
into the air, much to the shock and surprise to those people who fired to him.
'I really wish I didn't have to do that,'Harry thought to himself. His heart
sped up a little bit, as the situation continued to grow more serious. 'Now,
they're going to have even more reason to come after me.'
Harry felt he was perfectly justified in defending himself. For the past year
at Hogwarts, he had been pushed around by that foul woman. He had his skull
cracked up by Snape with torturous teaching sessions, and now he was being
chased halfway across the desert by this military.
He was not about to take it anymore. There was only so many times he could be
knocked around, before he determined enough was enough.
A purple shield appeared around him, and it blew everyone back. Desperate times
called for desperate actions. He never tried this before. In fact, he was
warned that there could be dire consequences if an untrained wizard tried this
type of magic.
There was no choice he felt. Either he got blown to bits, or he was ripped in
half when he failed to apparate. It was do or die. He closed his eyes, and
disappeared into the night.
He felt like he was being squeezed through a very thin tube. The urge to vomit
visited him immediately, but he shook it off. The important part was that he
was here, and he was safe.
Harry made a mental note that he still preferred flying.
At least through he was in one piece, and Harry wiggled his fingers and his
toes to verify this. He slumped against the wall, and inhaled and exhaled
heavily. The arrival, and then the chase had winded him.
At least he had given these people the slip. At least for now, but something
told him that it was easier said than done.
It was never that easy.
Now he had to figure out where he was. Harry allowed himself a look around, to
try and puzzle out where he was. He needed to find this important detail out,
for it would be the key factor of piecing together a way to get home.
Harry picked up the pace, and continued to press forward on his journey into
mystery. One instinct of survival he picked up was never to stay in the same
place for too long, especially when he was being chased. He learned that the
hard way during his childhood with Dudley and his gang. Stick around one area
for too long, and it is too easy to get cornered.
The street signs indicated that Harry was in New York, in the United States of
America. A country he knew very little about, other than of course there was an
entire ocean between it and the United Kingdom. Also, he knew that despite
technically being the same language, there were some slight differences between
American English and British English.
Harry remained on his toes. He kicked a newspaper on the street in the air .The
newspaper was called the Daily Bugle, and had the headline, "Spider-Man: Threat
or Menace" on it. Harry scarcely paid attention to this. He had to keep moving,
no matter what. His heart slowed down at least. He was not sure if magic users
could drop dead from a heart attack, a stroke, or suffer any other Muggle
ailment.
It was not wise to use himself as a living test subject to prove or disprove
the mortality of a witch or a wizard.
"You seem lost, lad."
Harry turned around. He saw a very outlandish out man wearing a blue suit. He
had grey hair and thick glasses. He had a bright, grandfatherly expression to
him, and Harry relaxed.
"You aren't a secret government agent, are you?" Harry asked, finally finding
his voice.
The man chuckled. "I tell you, if I was, I wouldn't be doing a very good job of
keeping a secret if I told you."
Harry nodded, but he remained on his guard. He learned many valuable lessons,
but appearances can be deceiving and always be on your guard seemed to be one
that stuck out in his mind more often than not.
"You're not from around here, are you?" the old man asked.
"No, I'm not, I just flew in a while ago, and I was wondering when the latest
subway train was," Harry said, remembering that in the United States the term
for Underground was subway.
"You just got here in time," the old man said. "Subway leaves in fifteen
minutes. I'd hurry if I were you."
"Thanks," Harry said.
"Not a problem, kid," the old man said. "Hope you enjoy your stay. Stay strong,
true believer. Excelsior!"
Harry stopped, pausing for a minute, and shook his head. This was a rather
strange man, but he had no time to dwell on that. While he was sure he had
given the military the slip, it was prudent for him to keep moving.
He recalled how he arrived here. It seemed like ages ago. Harry remembered
those moments in the Department of Mysteries, and took a deep breath, moving
towards the subway. He used a few small spells to bewitch the guards into
allowing him passage on the train. The past year, he learned a great deal about
magic, while preparing lessons for the D.A.
Looking at his grades, one might consider Harry Potter to be an underachiever,
especially given his status. Which in a way was true, but Harry managed to find
the motivation to learn what he could when it mattered. Most of the time, he
did struggle to find the motivation.
Harry made his way onto the train. There were tired looking businessmen who
were commuting from their jobs. The sun was going down, so it must have been
very late.
Now that he had a moment to sit down, Harry had time to reflect on the past
day's events. He honestly had no idea how much time passed between the moment
he stepped through the veil, and the moment he woke up in the desert somewhere
in the Southwest United States. He shook the cobwebs, and remembered the split
decision he made to get here.
Now, he regretted it, mostly because the perilous situation he had been put in.
'Live and learn, Potter,'Harry thought to himself.
===============================================================================
Harry could see it from his vantage point. His godfather, Sirius Black, engaged
Bellatrix Lestrange in battle. If he was not too concerned with staying alive
himself, he would have had a moment to appreciate a good spectacle of dueling
between two skilled magic users. Even through Bellatrix was twisted, he had to
give the devil her due.
Sirius let up on his attack for just one moment. His taunting voice echoed
throughout their chambers in the Department of Mysteries. "Ha, you're going to
have to do better than that…"
Bellatrix did do better than that. She shot a stunning spell at Sirius. He
thought all would be okay. Sirius staggered through a mysterious curtain and
fell through it.
During times like this, everything went by in super slow motion. Seconds could
seem like hours.
Time stood still, and Harry waited for him to come back. He continued to wait.
Sirius did not get back up, and resume the fight. In fact, his form
mysteriously was sucked through the curtain. Harry waited, but Sirius did not
return and pop back up, to rejoin the fight.
"Sirius!" Harry yelled, unable to believe that the closest thing he had ever
had to a parent had been blasted back like he was nothing.
This had to be a nightmare, but this was far worse.
This was reality.
The cruel and taunting laughter echoed throughout Harry's ears, and Harry
scrambled forward, nearly tripping over his feet in the haste. He had a hero
complex as big as Hogwarts. He knew that if he somehow passed through this
veil, he could save Sirius. Or at least he thought he knew.
He heard Remus's yells for him to stop. In another life, Remus would have been
able to hold Harry back, to prevent him from going through the veil.
In this life, Harry slipped by, and continued his sprint towards the veil. He
felt himself drawn closer. Any second thoughts left him the moment where the
rattling sounds behind the veil, the whispers drew him forward. His heart sped
up, and he knew what he had to do.
He took the plunge. Harry Potter dove through the veil.
On the other side of the veil, he saw nothing, but darkness around him from all
sides. Everything changed, and he became unsettled.
Harry could not hear anything, touch anything, smell anything, or see anything.
His senses had been shut off once he hit this void, and Harry Potter had no
sense of himself.
The next thing he knew, a blinding flash of white life engulfed him. The
whispers of a thousand torment souls attacked his psyche, and then something
from inside him was being ripped apart. The only sensation he could feel was
his scar, and it was much like if a hot poker had been jabbed into it, and then
twisted in.
Harry was pretty sure he screamed in absolute agony. Yet, he could not hear his
own screams. This caused his mind to be unable to piece anything coherent
together. He groped the air, and wondered if this was the price to pay through
stepping through this mysterious veil. He wondered if he had been condemned to
live a life without any senses.
Time once again crawled to a near stop.
The throbbing pain in Harry's head ceased, and he heard an inhumane shriek in
his head. He had no idea if he grabbed his head or not, but he made an honest
attempt of doing so. The shriek became more pained, like there was something
suffering in his head. The yells ceased after several spine chilling moments.
Another wave of blinding light engulfed him, and this time Harry blacked out
completely from what occurred. His mind shut down. He wondered if this was what
the end was supposed to be like.
There was nothing, but black. Harry had no sense that he ever existed for the
next several moments.
The next thing Harry knew he was face first in the sand in the middle of the
desert. He was dressed in wizard robes, which was never a good sign if he was
seen by anyone from the Muggle World. Shaking his head, he tried to regain his
bearings. He flexed his fingers. At least they did not seem to be broken, which
was an encouraging sign. He rolled over, trying to shield his eyes from the sun
beating down on him.
Harry pulled himself to his feet. He winced, rubbing his side. At least his
ribs were not cracked. He had cracked ribs before, and it was not a picnic. He
pivoted on his feet, and Harry rubbed his forehead. He heard the sound of
helicopters in the distance, and they landed in the desert. Several uniformed
figures stepped forward.
He had not been awake for five minutes, and already he was at the business end
of several guns.
'Of course,'Harry thought to himself in despair.
"Hands in the air where we can see them!"
Harry held his hands in the air, right where they could see him. He also found
out that he had no wand with him. That was a potentially problematic situation,
and he took a deep breath. Harry tilted his wrists upwards, and a blast of
bright light blinded the military troops.
He shook his head. It had been a long time since he had performed that kind of
accidental magic.
Harry was not about to look a gift horse in the mouth. He had only one
instinct, and that was to run.
"After him!"
Harry reminded himself that they started it. They were the ones who pointed the
guns at him, and they were the ones who threatened to shoot at him.
The grenades were uncalled for as well. Harry picked up the pace, and sped
forward. Instincts beaten into his head throughout his childhood gave him a
good sense of when to dodge projectiles that had been thrown at him. He
continued to run as fast as he can.
He had to give these guys the slip.
They were making it very hard, and continued to run on sheer instincts. He
needed a plan, but avoiding getting shot was high on the list of details he
needed to put in said plan.
===============================================================================
Harry shook his head, bringing himself back to the present. Something happened
to him when he stepped through the veil in the Department of Mysteries.
'What is that thing anyway?'Harry thought to himself. 'I thought for a moment
that I was going to die. Slowly, and painfully, but somehow I blacked out, and
ended up some place else. And why in America of all places? Well, I guess I'm
going to have to get some answers when I get back home.'
Harry took a deep breath. Running through the veil had been a stupid impulse,
and desperation was the biggest reason. He had rushed through the veil, without
any thought of what was going to happen afterwards.
He laughed. Despite the fact that the Sorting Hat thought he would do well in
Slytherin, actions like that made him worthy of the Gryffindor house. He shook
his head, and peaked around the corner. So far no one had figured out that he
had gotten on this train due to less than ethical means. As long as he kept his
head low, and did not attract too much attention, he could hopefully get out of
here.
'I have to find my way back,'Harry thought to himself. 'The thing is I don't
know how long I was gone. Any amount of time could have passed since the time I
left through the veil, and the time I got here.'
His mind flashed through the near-fatal injuries many of his friends had
received in the Department of Mysteries. His stomach turned when he thought of
the curses the Death Eaters used against them all. And he sensed that they were
holding back just a little bit, out of fear that they might get Harry. Thus if
they struck Harry they would incur the wrath of Lord Voldemort.
Harry took a deep breath. All he hoped for was everyone got out of there in the
end, and got the medical attention they needed. They never should have come
with him. If they died, the blood would have been on his hands.
It was not a game. Things seemed to be so much simpler before, but a troll in
the girl's bathroom almost seemed like a lifetime ago.
Harry shook his head. He could not worry about that right now. For once, he had
to put himself and his needs first and foremost. Then he could worry about
others, once he was safe and out of the woods.
A thought struck Harry suddenly. If he passed through the veil, and ended up
here, would Sirius have potentially ended up here as well?
He had no idea. He strained to remember any hint of how he got from Point A to
Point B. He struggled to remember, but he came up with nothing.
The train stopped, and Harry decided that it was best for him to get off. There
was no need to arouse suspicion. He stepped around into the shadows. He craned
his ear, hearing the radio in the distance.
"…A young man, around fourteen to sixteen years old has been sighted moving
across the United States. Witnesses state that he appeared out of nowhere. The
boy is hostile, and may be armed and extremely dangerous. Do not approach him
under any means. If you see this young man, call your local law enforcement
immediately. The young man is between the age of 14 and 16 years old, and has
unruly black hair and green eyes. He has been reported to shoot an energy blast
from his hand, potentially some kind of concealed weapon."
Harry winced. That was not good at all. He sped up his movements, careful not
allow anyone to get too close of a look at him.
He was in this country for only a short amount of time, and already was
spiraling up the most wanted list in record time.
Harry stepped forward, and kept to the shadows. He heard the hushed whispers.
He pulled the hood of the jacket he stole over his head. Thankfully he was able
to disappear into the crowd of people, before anyone noticed any resemblance to
the fugitive young man.
He snorted at the claims that he was dangerous. Last time he checked, they
pulled their guns on him first.
Harry slipped forward, and saw a street vendor selling food. When no one was
looking, Harry waved his hand, and the vendor's eyes glazed over. Harry managed
to help himself to a hotdog, some chips, and a soda.
It might have not been the most nutritious meal, but Harry was on the run.
There was little time to nitpick about nonessential details such as nutrition.
Harry pulled a face. The food didn't taste the best, but he managed to force it
down. He took a few steps forward into the shadows. He heard the whispers in
the distance. The uniformed personnel crowded around.
"Split up, the suspect was spotted here!"
Harry decided to give them something to chase. Even though that someone would
not be him, as he sent a loud bang into the air. It was a diversion charm that
he learned during the past year, when looking up spells to teach the D.A.
It worked like a charm, no pun intended. They moved in to circle the sense of
the disturbance. Harry gathered that he would not be able to keep up the
charade for very long. He had to keep moving, and find a place where he could
lose them.
Only then, could he take the very necessary step to find a way back home.
Harry shook his head. He might want to find out the date. If only he could have
gotten his hands on a newspaper long enough, he would have been able to piece
together that essential little fact. He slid across the floor, quick as a cat,
and continued to speed up his movements.
He slipped into a park. There were children playing in the distance, and a dog
barking. The sounds of laughter filled the air, and Harry knew that it must
have been getting very late.
Nothing happened, at least not now. Harry took a few steps forward, and managed
to climb up a tree. He struggled, but somehow he managed to get up on the tree.
He perched himself on the branches. This was not the most comfortable perch
point in the world, but it would have to do.
He watched from above. He could see people searching for him in the distance.
As long as he made no sudden movements to alert anyone that he was here, he was
perfectly safe and secure.
Harry made a mental note to learn Muggle repelling spells the next chance he
got. They would have been very useful at this point.
He wondered if the United States magical government would piece together what
happened before too long, or even recognize him. Harry had no idea what witches
and wizards from America were like, but he hoped that something could be sorted
out.
As stubborn as he might have been, Harry did realize something very clearly. No
matter how much he would like to think it would be different, he could not run
forever.
Once night fell, he would keep moving. The cover of darkness would hopefully
keep him from being caught.
In the meantime, he was marooned in America with no money, no allies, and no
means to contact home.
He was pretty sure he had been in a worse fix, although he had no idea what it
might have been. It would have been a lot easier if he would have had his
Invisibility Cloak, but it was back at Hogwarts in his trunk and thus not able
to help him.
===============================================================================
A bald man dressed in a suit sat underneath helmet. The man sat in a
wheelchair, having lost the use of his legs some years ago. He currently was
focused intently on a strange energy signature that had just popped up a number
of hours ago.
The man's name was Professor Charles Xavier. He was the headmaster of Xavier's
Institute for the Gifted. He was a man with a dream that many thought was
impossible.
There were an ever growing number of people with special gifts, and they
increased with each passing year. For lack of a better term, they would be
mutants. Some might consider them to be freaks of nature, but that was a
concept that Xavier would hope to correct over time. As much as he loathed to
admit it, there were some humans had had the knack of fearing those that were
different from them.
Someday, he would hope to be able to bridge the gap between mutants and humans.
Right now, he settled with trying to help younger mutants understand their
gifts, and train them to use those gifts safely. Xavier knew that when their
gifts had manifested, many were absolutely afraid. They had no clear idea how
to cope with everything that was happening to them, and how their bodies were
reacting strangely.
Xavier chuckled, thinking that could be an apt metaphor for many changes. He
had been afraid himself when his powers manifested. Hearing the thoughts of
other people had been an alarming experienced. At least until the moment where
he learned to block it out, and control it. It was much like closing a dam, and
it took a long time before it was as simple as breathing.
His experiences were something that drove his ambitions, and his dreams to
create this school for the gifted.
Right now, he focused on the strange energy signature he discovered a short
time ago. Cerebro managed to pick it up, but it was not like any other reading
he had ever seen in his life. It was completely odd and it fluctuated in an
erratic manner.
'Strange,'Xavier thought, and he tried to lock in on the energy signature. 'I
can't quite pinpoint what this young man's mutant power is, but I can sense
that he's alarmed greatly about something.'
A new arrival pulled Xavier out of his thoughts.
"Hello, Logan."
A short man with dark hair, wearing a black t-shirt and blue jeans stepped in.
His name was Logan, even if his past was a mystery, especially to him. He was
known primarily as Wolverine.
"You've been locked up in here for over two hours," Logan said. "What's up?"
"A strange visitor," Xavier said.
"This wouldn't have anything to do with the reports of the mysterious kid
that's been popping up all over the news all day," Logan said in his usual
gruff voice.
"We can't rule out a correlation," Xavier said, and he shook his head, to try
and get a fix. "His gifts are unlike anything that I have ever seen before."
"You're not the only one who noticed, Chuck," Logan said. "The government's out
for this kid's blood, and…they're chasing him like he's some kind of animal."
"It's possible that he's scared about the discovery of his powers," Xavier
said, and he turned around to face Logan. "We must locate him immediately, and
try and calm him down."
"Easier said than done," Logan answered gruffly.
Xavier just offered a ghost of a smile. "It always is."
The doors leading to the room with Cerebro slid open. In the room walked a dark
skinned woman with white hair, dressed in black. Her name was Ororo Munroe, but
her codename was Storm. This was because of her uncanny ability to control the
weather. She took a tentative step forward.
"Hello, Ororo, I'm glad you could join us," Xavier said with a smile. "A new
mutant has arrived the scene, but his power is unlike anything I have ever
seen. I have been unable to pin down a name, or any details regarding him."
"What are his powers?" Ororo asked.
Xavier shook his head. This was going to be more difficult to explain than he
would have thought.
"That is the problem," Xavier replied. He took a deep breath and continued to
speak. "His powers appear to be energy manipulation of some sort, but exactly
how or the limits I'm uncertain of. I wish for you and Logan to track him down,
and bring him back to the mansion. Be careful though, he may be confused about
his powers, so he may lash out if he considers you a threat. Try and take the
more diplomatic approach if you can when inviting him to come here."
Xavier's eyes turned to Logan. A small smile appeared on Ororo's face, when
Logan gritted his teeth and shook his head.
"I know, Chuck, I understand, this isn't my first go around," Logan remarked,
and he leaned back against a wall, casually. "So we get the kid, and then
what."
"Just bring him back here, and we give him the choice whether or not to stay or
not," Xavier said. "It does appear that he's on the run, so if he has any
friends and family, he may fear their reaction due to his powers. And try not
to attract the attention of the various government agents hovering around."
"Sounds like a kid who attracts a lot of attention," Ororo commented.
"Yes, unfortunately," Xavier agreed. "You know what to do by now, I will be in
contact if anything else comes through on Cerebro."
Ororo and Logan both nodded. They made their way towards the Blackbird.
"Saw a few images of the kid on the news that they were able to pick up," Logan
grunted. "He doesn't look too dangerous, but things aren't always what they
appear to be."
Ororo nodded. She knew what she had to do to remain on her guard. She joined
her teammate on the Blackbird, and it took flight. They were determined to
locate this young mutant, before he became some sort of government lab rat, or
hurt someone.
===============================================================================
Harry figured that he should be sleeping, but his mind was racing a mile a
minute. Sleep was hard to come by when he could barely think. He tried to clear
his mind, but found it rather hard to do. He took a deep breath, and climbed
down from the tree he was perched on. He was beginning to develop a slight
cramp in his leg.
He took a deep breath, and stepped forward. There was no one in the park. He
reminded himself that he had to get his hands on a newspaper, or at least find
out what the date was.
Harry noticed something right away. Now that he had time to rest, he noticed
for the first time he had no glasses. They must have been lost when he was
knocked through the veil.
For some reason, his vision was perfect. Not to mention, he saw better than he
ever did when he had glasses. He wiped his hand to his forehead, wiping the
sweat from it.
He stiffened immediately. He spotted several more government troops rushing in.
Harry threw himself in the bushes, hoping that would hide him from them. He
crouched down as low as he could. He could not even chance breathing too
loudly. He listened in carefully on what they were saying.
"This kid's a slippery one, isn't he?"
"What do you think he is?"
"I don't know, maybe he's some kind of extra-terrestrial."
"That would explain the weird energy blasts from his hand."
"Where do you think he went?"
"I don't know, maybe he phoned home or something?"
Harry continued to listen in. They stood around his hiding spot. He would have
to stun them to get out of here. The problem was, he suspected that there were
dozens more nearby. He chanced a slight look around. Two of the government
agents talked in hushed tones.
"We don't know what he is, or how to stop him?"
"He's running scared though."
"Yeah, he is, but that could be just survival instincts. Or him luring us into
a false sense of security, but I don't know. Fury wants him alive, for
questioning. The crater he left in the desert had energy spikes that were off
the charts."
Harry had no idea who this Fury person was, but if he sent these guys after
him, then he was sure that he would not like this guy. The dark haired wizard
allowed himself a moment to breath. He knew that he could not stay here
forever, but at the same time, he could not let them capture him.
There was a time for thinking, and a time for action. Harry made a split
decision, and decided that now was the time for action.
He blasted the bushes around him, and caused splintered pieces of wood to fly
in every direction. This allowed him a momentary distraction to rush off. Harry
quickened the pace, and continued to run.
He heard loud voices from behind him. Harry was sure some of those agents
suffered injuries, some potentially fatal. Since he was tired, hungry, and
lost, Harry found his sympathy at the lowest level possible.
Harry very nearly escaped them. He was a few inches away, but a wall of troops
blocked his path. There were eight of them, and he prepared to fight them.
Before Harry could do anything, the guns had been pulled from their hands. He
blinked, and a chain link fence was wrapped around the troops. They were pinned
into place, and Harry's eyes grew as wide as saucers.
He was doing some really weird accidental magic all day, but he was sure that
he was not capable of something like that.
Harry turned around, and saw a figure dressed in purple and red. He had a
helmet covering his face. Pieces of metal swirled around him, and the
helicopter above was being ripped apart and thrown around.
"You have caused quite a stir, young one," the mysterious man said. "Do not be
alarmed, child."
Harry frowned. If there was one thing that he detested, it was being called a
child.
"You have special gifts, which means you are above the limitations of
humanity," the man continued. "And your gifts in particular have caught the eye
of many. You will help the next evolution of this world rise above humanity.
Your gifts will aid the cause when they are fully mastered."
Harry eyed this man suspiciously. He decided to ask the obvious question.
"Just who are you?" Harry asked.
"You may refer to me as Magneto," the man said. "And we have much to discuss as
it pertains to your future."
***** Recruitment *****
Chapter 2: Recruitment.
Harry stood silently, and looked up this new player in the game. The person
called Magneto, who had just knocked aside these government troops like they
were absolutely nothing, hovered in the air with his arms folded. Harry
remained still, and assessed the situation. He knew that this man commanded a
great deal of power. He magnetized the metal around him, and used it to
accomplish his goals. It was a one sided beating, there were no two ways about
it. Harry blinked suddenly, trying to regain his bearings.
He was in this new place. Unfortunately, this was one situation that he had no
idea how to get out of. Magneto stood, patiently, and awaited for Harry to give
his answer. Harry had no idea what to say, and what to do. Yet, he had to do
something, so he decided to say the first thing that came to mind.
"What do you mean about my future?" Harry asked, and immediately he felt stupid
at saying that.
Magneto decided to elaborate. "Child, you have great power, and with that great
power, there is potential. The mutant race could use someone like you on our
side. As you can see, the humans went after you at the first sign that you
might not be something they can control. They will continue to go after you.
Not because of any misdeed you have done, but for the sheer fact that you are
different. People fear what they cannot understand."
Despite the situation he was in, Harry had to grudgingly admit that this
Magneto had a point. He had lived in through many situations where people did
fear what they were unable to understand. The events during his second year,
when people had judged him to be evil just because he spoke Parseltongue,
proved that much. His own relatives were proof of this, and there were many
other cases. Fear tended to make people lash out in the worst possible way.
Despite their common ground, Harry thought there was something suspicious about
this Magneto. He might have talked as if he had the best intentions, but there
was just something about him that wondered if those intentions had gone to a
certain extreme. The best intentions often could go wrong, and while Harry
tried to keep an open mind, he remained suspicious.
"You think I'm a mutant?" Harry asked. "I don't think…"
"This is a common reaction for those who have come into their powers, the fear
of being different," Magneto said. He spoke in an even and patient voice. "But
there is no reason to fear. You have risen above humanity, and their flaws.
Humanity will destroy each other for their own petty gains. If we do not band
together, what do you think they will do to us?"
This question was left unanswered. Harry stood before Magneto. He did not say
anything, so Magneto took this as his opening to continue.
"The choice is in your hands whether or not you come with me," Magneto said.
His gaze remained cold, and focused towards Harry from behind his helmet. "I
will say this, if it was not for my intervention, you would have been captured
and subjected to horrors which you can only scarcely imagine. You are running
around in circles. If you were to join me, then you would not fear. Your fellow
brothers and sisters will help shield you, and make you strong."
Harry's eyes narrowed. This guy thought he owed him something, because he saved
him. His hands curled into fists, but Magneto paid his body language no mind.
"Once again, the decision is yours," Magneto said in a cool and calm voice.
Harry folded his arms and thought about it. He knew that the wrong answer would
likely get him attacked. He knew that there were spells to transfigure metal
into plastic, but he wondered if he could actually perform them. His
transfiguration ranged from average to disappointing.
It was points like this where Harry wished he had taken his studies of magic
more seriously when he had the chance. That was in the past now, and Harry was
staring up at a problem for the present.
Harry took a deep breath, and stared up at Magneto. He took a deep breath, and
spoke. "So you want my answer. I'm…"
What Harry was going to say was interrupted by the arrival of an impressive
looking aircraft. Magneto stepped back, and his body tensed up. He prepared
himself for a fight against them. A dark skinned woman with white hair and a
man with dark hair, with a scowl on his face, exited the plane, and turned
their attention to Magneto.
===============================================================================
Storm and Wolverine exited the Blackbird, and sure enough the first thing they
saw was Magneto. Professor Xavier warned them there was a chance that Magneto
might try and recruit the young man. He saw the young man standing there. He
looked positively confused about the situation. Wolverine, not one known for
tact, stepped forward and stared down Magneto.
"Step away from the kid, Magneto," Wolverine growled, and with a skikt, his
claws popped up for emphasis. His teeth gritted before he offered his next
statement of declaration. "Now!"
Magneto hovered, his arms folded. Had one been able to get a clear shot of his
face, they would have detected amusement. He stared down Wolverine.
"You think you can threaten me, the Master of Magnetism?" Magneto asked in a
dry tone of voice. He lifted a hand, and Wolverine's legs and arms folded back.
He tried to push back through the sheer force of will. "You always never did
learn from your foolish blunders, Logan. One would think that one with a
skeleton coated with metal would not try and trifle with someone with my
powers."
Magneto flicked his wrist, and Wolverine grimaced. He tried to fight back.
Never one to go down easily, he tried to fight off his enemy.
"I could easily rip your foul metal coated bones from your body," Magneto
commented calmly. He used his powers to continue to knock Wolverine around like
he was nothing. "But what point would that serve? Charles should teach his pets
more obedience. I find that an animal that has learned obedience lives much
longer."
He forced Wolverine down on the ground. He smashed face first into the rocks
below. Wolverine struggled back up, and Magneto exerted more force. Wolverine
was like his puppet on a string to be used as he pleased.
"Again, I ask you, what did you hope to accomplish by trying to engage me?"
Magneto asked him. "What did you hope to foolishly do? Is it worth it to be
utterly humiliated?"
Wolverine managed to lift his head up, and look Magneto in the eye. He heard
thunder in the distance. He decided to enlighten Magneto on what was going on.
"It's call a diversion, bub."
Magneto's head snapped up, and he saw the storm clouds rolling in. Storm
floated into the air, and her eyes narrowed. Thunder cackled in the air, and a
wind began to kick up. This was even strong enough to be able to blow Magneto
slightly off balance. He summoned another part of the fence, but Storm blocked
the attack with a huge gust of wind, blowing the metal back.
Harry watched the battle as he edged away from it. He figured that both sides
of this battle had met before. And they had quite the past. It was something
that he had been stuck in the middle of, and he was not sure if he liked that.
There was another huge problem as well. He had no idea who to trust, and there
was a chance that both sides were completely out of their mind.
While the two sides were occupied with each other, Harry backed slowly to the
side. A strategic retreat was in order. At least until he found out more. He
turned around, and rushed off as fast as his legs could carry him.
Where he would go, he had no idea. All Harry knew was that he had to get away
from this battle until he considered his options. He saw the battle continue to
get intense over his shoulder, and he continued to run further into the park.
There was a wooded area that he hoped he would be able to lose everyone who had
been chasing him. His heart beat into his chest, and it thumped hard.
He had no idea what a mutant was to be honest. This Magneto seemed to think he
was one. He briefly wondered if that was some American term for a wizard. Were
witches and wizards known by Muggles and actively hunted in America? What Harry
knew about magical culture in America could be written on the head of a pin. He
would worry about figuring that out when he had time to catch his breath.
A part of him still wondered why the American Ministry still had not gotten
involved. Surely they would have been doing some heavy damage control by now.
Unless they were more incompetent than their British counterpart and that was a
thought that made Harry shudder.
Not to mention he had no clue where Sirius was, or even if he had made the
trip. Harry shook his head; he would worry about one thing at a time. It was
survival of the fittest out here, and Harry was not going to be taken down that
easily.
While Harry sped away to reassess his situation, Storm and Magneto continued to
engage in battle.
"I will not stand by idly and let another young mutant be lead astray by
foolish hopes and dreams," Magneto said, and he turned towards Storm. "Charles
has sent you here to poison the boy with lies. It is the dream of a fool that
mutants and humans can live together in harmony. Did you not see that this
government hunted a teenage boy like he was some dangerous fugitive?"
Storm had heard this statement from Magneto before, or at least variations. He
always had an uncanny ability to point out the harsh truth of the matter, but
that just made the cause of Charles Xavier to be more important.
"You cannot look me in the eye, and tell me that I'm wrong," Magneto said, and
he stopped attacking Storm.
"It isn't like you to surrender," Storm said.
"It is foolish to continue this fight, we should all be on the same side,"
Magneto said, and he looked over his shoulder. "Plus, in our conflict, we
seemed to have accomplished only one thing. That was driving our newest mutant
off. Do what you must to locate him, if you choose to. But I will conduct my
own search, and remember, if he chooses to join me, then any attempt to
persuade him will be judged as an attack against the mutant race."
Magneto moved off, and Wolverine finally was allowed up to his feet, just as
Magneto left them.
"Just one shot, I swear, I'll take him down," Wolverine growled.
"You played your role well, Logan," Storm said. "But we have a problem right
now."
"Yeah, the kid flew the coop," Wolverine said. He shook his head. "He's still
out there, and who knows what he'll encounter."
Storm nodded. She decided to voice something that she had been wondering about.
"I'm wondering if there is something about him that is beyond standard mutant
abilities," Storm said to Wolverine. "The readings that Charles gave us for
him, they are rather unique. He may have other gifts beyond the X-Gene."
"Well, let's work on finding the kid first, and then we can worry about what he
is, or what he isn't," Wolverine suggested. Storm looked at him. He shook off
the injuries and continued to speak in a low grunt. "I'll heal."
Storm and Wolverine turned around, and walked off. They both spotted another
wave of government troops closing in, which indicated to them they could not
stay here. They both entered the Blackbird, and prepared to report back in with
Professor Xavier of their status.
===============================================================================
"It was only to be expected that Erik would get involved," Xavier said in a
calm and patient voice. "He sensed this young man was vulnerable and acted to
use him to further his own aims. We should have been prepared for it, but he
managed to find this young man first. That is a lesson to be learned, but never
mind that. We must locate him before Magneto does."
Wolverine and Storm nodded.
"Do you have any idea who he is?" Wolverine asked.
"That remains a mystery to me, my friend," Xavier said. The truth was that he
had been combing every single detail. "Normally I was able to pinpoint
information, but whoever this young man is, he simply appears to have no
records whatsoever anywhere. His thought patterns are something that are an
enigma to me, but I do pick up brief frantic pulses infrequently."
"He has to exist somewhere," Storm argued. Then a thought visited her. "You
don't suppose that he is not from around here."
"Yes, that is my belief as well, there is a chance that something went awry,
and we may have a visitor from elsewhere," Xavier said. "I have been able to
locate this much, however. He has a latent mutant ability, buried beneath
several other powers. Yet, that is not his true power; rather his true power is
something else. It is something that is more among the mystical variety."
"You've got to be kidding me," Wolverine said. "You mean the kid is some kind
of magician?"
Xavier chuckled from the other end of the communication. "Actually the
preferred term is sorcerer, or wizard. You sound as if you don't believe it."
"I believe it, believe me, after what I've seen, there's nothing that I
wouldn't believe," Wolverine answered gruffly.
"These new powers, that would make him a more delicate situation than we had
previously thought," Storm said.
"Correct, Ororo," Xavier answered. He paused momentarily to check anything.
"His X-Gene is just an added gift for him beyond his other abilities. His
mystical abilities, well I may have to call upon a former colleague of mine to
get further insight on what I might expect from them. Naturally, he is
extremely difficult to get ahold of, but being the Sorcerer Supreme, he does
have many matters that dictate his time."
There was silence for a brief moment, before Xavier switched gears.
"We will worry about determining this young man's powers, and abilities should
he chose to join us," Xavier continued.
"What if he decides to join Magneto?" Storm asked.
"It will be unfortunate," Xavier admitted. He took a deep breath, and continued
in his most optimistic tone. "But let us assume that his mind has not been made
yet."
"Why don't we find him first, and ask him?" Wolverine suggested, and Storm
looked on, before she nodded. That seemed to be the best course of action.
"He couldn't have gotten too far," Storm said. She then paused, and added.
"Then again, if these reports are correct, he made it from the southwest to the
east coast in record time."
"Keep me posted on your progress, and I will do likewise if I find out any
tangible information that you can use," Xavier replied, and both Storm and
Wolverine nodded in agreement. "In the cover of night, it may be difficult to
locate him, but we must keep trying."
"Don't worry, I've got his scent, shouldn't be too hard," Wolverine said.
Wolverine's super heightened senses made him an expert tracker, and his nose
could not be fooled most of the time like tracking technology could. The nose
did in fact know, and Wolverine sniffed the air. The smell of the woods
intermingled with several other smells. It took Wolverine only a moment to pick
up the scent of the boy in any kind of distinct way.
"He's heading north," Wolverine said, and Storm piloted the Blackbird in that
direction.
Wolverine tensed up. He sensed something other than their runaway's scent. He
sensed something that could complicate things greatly. He shook his head,
trying to find a way to ignore it, but yet there was no ignoring that
particular foul scent. His teeth gritted and Storm noticed this action.
"What is it, Logan?" she asked.
"Sabretooth," Wolverine growled. Never had one word be spoken with more hatred
than what Wolverine had utilized with this name.
===============================================================================
Harry slumped against the tree. He wiped his forehead, and it took him a number
of minutes before a small amount of fear truly set in. It was rare for him to
be afraid, but under the circumstances it had to be accepted. He really had no
idea where he was.
This day had all started off with him stressing about completing his Ordinary
Wizarding Level exams, and not failing them. Knowing what he knew now, he would
have taken the OWLs a hundred times, if it meant not living through what
happened on this day. .
Sirius had gone through that veil. He just had to follow him through. Now he
was being chased by several groups. And he had no clue where Sirius was, or
even if he was anywhere. The few answers he had been able to piece together
just raised more questions.
He stepped forward, and wondered if he should chance lighting the trail. The
darkness was a double edged sword. On one hand, it would cloak him from any
parties. On the other hand, he would have a hell of a time seeing. Harry
reckoned this was one of those "damned if you do, damned if you don't type
things."
'If only you can see the famous Harry Potter right now,'Harry thought to
himself. 'On the run, and potentially this could be my last stand. Well, guess
what, the time for running is done. If I'm going down, I'm going down swinging.
Why should I run?"
Harry stood up, tall and proud. He did not hear anything for miles around, with
the exception of the chirping crickets. He had no idea how eerie that sounded
until now. He heard an owl hoot from a tree above.
"Don't suppose I could tie a letter to your leg, and send a message to someone
over in Britain, do you?" Harry asked the owl, half in a joking manner. The owl
flew off to another point, annoyed at being disturbed. "Yeah, that was a
longshot, but I had to try."
Harry stopped.
"Okay, Potter, talking to yourself when no one else is there is the first sign
of insanity," Harry said. He stood around, and tried to use a directional spell
to point him out of this wooded area.
He heard a snap in the distance. Immediately, he sent a stunning spell into the
distance at the direction. It was a bit weird to be doing magic without a wand,
but somehow he managed it. He wondered if this was some kind of side effect
from his trip through the veil that would wear off in time. Harry took a deep
breath, and he heard another loud footstep. Leaves and twigs crunched in the
distance.
There was someone stalking Harry. Harry had no idea if this was an animal or a
person, but it was unsettling no matter how you sliced it. Harry took a long
and deep breath. He remained rigid, on his feet, and ready to go at a moment's
notice. Another crack of twigs, and Harry fired off another spell.
At least, this was not the Forbidden Forest. There should be nothing in here
that could hurt him. The noises ceased at that moment, and everything had gone
completely silent. It was too silent for Harry's liking. He waited for the
other shoe to drop, and for something, anything could happen. Now, it was time
for Harry to light the path. He held his hand up, and a bright ball of light
erupted from it.
The path lit up, but there was nothing nearby. Some rustling in the bushes
caused Harry to stir. He heard the sounds of traffic, which meant he was not in
the woods much longer. He was getting much closer to the city. He turned
around. Yet, he could not move further on.
He bumped into a large and imposing figure. He was dressed in a trench coat,
with a black tank top, and white pants. He had wild hair and a sadistic
expression in his eyes that quite frankly Harry did not like. He gave Harry a
wide and toothy grin, as he took another step towards the wizard. To his
credit, Harry stood his ground, and braced himself for a battle.
"Awfully late to be out here alone," the wild man snarled. He eyed Harry, and a
sadistic expression continued to flicker in his eyes. "What the matter, did you
get lost?"
"No, not lost, just found my way out of here," Harry said firmly, as he stood
up proud.
"Ah, you better be careful, these woods can be dangerous," the man said. A
sadistic and knowing look appeared in his eyes. "All kinds of wild animals are
around here. Someone who is soft might lose their head."
The man closed in on Harry, and he looked like he was stalking his prey. Harry
lashed out, sending sparks into the face of this man. A stunning spell was
fired off, but the man had surprising speed and agility for someone his size.
"That was the stupidest thing you could have done!" he growled. He continued to
circle Harry, and tried to close in. He looked like a shark smelling blood. The
man kept stalking Harry, trying to close in for the kill.
All Harry had to do was get in one shot at this man. One of his slicing spells
appeared to have struck the man's leg, drawing blood. The wound healed over,
and Harry stepped back. His eyes widened in abject shock, and now fear set in.
"Your little light show can't stop me," he taunted, and laughed hard.
"Who are you?" Harry demanded, and he fired another series of spells off.
The array of spells fired off, and this hunter was sent back hard with one of
them. A high powered banishing spell sent him flying into a tree. Harry took
that as his sign that it was time to leave the wooded area, but that was easier
said than done.
His pursuer launched himself in front of Harry. He stuck the landing with
precision, and turned towards Harry.
"I'd sooner rip you apart, but the boss wants me to bring you back," he
growled, but then he stopped and sniffed the air. A grin spread across his
face, showing all of his teeth. "Excuse me; it's time I get reacquainted with
an old friend."
Harry had no idea what this man could have meant by that statement. He had a
feeling that he was about to find out. A loud growl echoed through the air from
the other end of the path, and Harry remained on his guard.
"Sabretooth!"
Harry recognized this man as one of the two who had engaged Magneto earlier.
Sabretooth's eyes narrowed in hatred, as the smaller man dove at him. Razor
sharp claws were bared, but Sabretooth blocked the attack. Sabretooth pushed
him back. Wolverine fought Sabretooth with brutality, and sent him crashing to
the ground hard.
Wolverine spun around, and focused on Harry.
"Get out of here," Wolverine told Harry.
Normally, Harry would not be the one to take orders, but that was the best idea
he had heard all day. He hastened his steps, but realized that nothing in his
life could be that simple. In his little ducking and dodging routine with this
Sabretooth bloke, he twisted his ankle. He winced at it, and cursed himself for
being so careless.
"I tell you Wolverine, we keep doing this, but it'd be a lot easier if you just
died," Sabretooth growled.
"Sorry, too stubborn to stay down," Wolverine growled, not sounding sorry at
all. He tried to move in for an attack, but Sabretooth blocked it.
A part of him could not tear his eyes away from the violence that occurred next
to him. Wolverine and Sabretooth ripped into each other with absolute fury.
Both fighters seemed to have a past, and tore each other apart. Sabretooth was
the more violent of the two. He was motivated by the bloodlust, and tore into
Wolverine.
Wolverine pushed back, and kicked Sabretooth in the leg hard to gain the
advantage. The two continued to maneuver around each other. Harry stood, and
tried to gingerly move out of the way. He could not help, but watch this
battle. Violence was not something that normally appealed to him, well for the
most part. The intensity these two fought was second to none.
The two continued to exchange violent punches, and Sabretooth got Wolverine
backed up into a tree. He throttled Wolverine, but Wolverine pushed back from
the efforts. The two continued to rumble.
"Stay down and take your medicine, runt," Sabretooth growled.
"Why don't you make me?" Wolverine challenged him.
Sabretooth violently flung Wolverine over the top of his head. Wolverine
crashed down to the ground hard, and Sabretooth pummeled him in the side with a
series of violent punches. Harry took a deep breath, and tried to study the
battle.
He was not running on a bum ankle, not any more. Healing spells were very
difficult to pull off, as the Lockhart fiasco in his second year proved. He
found himself studying Sabretooth's moves, and almost analyzing a way to defeat
him. Wolverine was coming up on the short end of the stick, and Harry limped
forward, having a clear idea what he had to do.
He had a clear shot right now, and he had to take it.
A red light shot forward, and impacted Sabretooth hard in the chest. The large
furry mutant slammed high into the trees in the distance, and was knocked out
for the impact. When he woke up, he would be rather sore to say the least.
Wolverine turned around, and stared at Harry. Said boy just stood there, and a
determined expression was on his face.
"I thought I told you to get out of here," Wolverine said. He then added. "And
thanks for the help."
"You're welcome," Harry said, and he turned around, but he winced as he stepped
wrong on his ankle. It did not hurt as much as it did a while ago, and he could
somewhat walk on it, but at the same time it still was tender. "I wish I didn't
twist my ankle like an idiot."
"Injury comes with the territory, kid," Wolverine said, and he sniffed the air.
"Sabretooth's going to be licking his wounds for a while. I can tell you that
much. We better go meet up with Storm, tell her that I found you."
"Why were you looking for me?" Harry demanded. His limp cleared up a little
bit, and he tried to remain on even footing.
"Everything will be explained," Wolverine said. "Just come with us…."
Harry held up his hand, and Wolverine stopped.
"What makes you think I'm going to come with you?" Harry asked. His eyes
narrowed, and suspicion was in his eyes. He was not about to trust these people
right off of the bat. He had no idea who was trustworthy. For all he knew, both
sides could have been utterly insane, and out to do him harm.
Wolverine stopped. He was about to protest, but found out that this kid was
making a logical argument. Hell, he would be distrustful of the circumstances
if he had been in this kid's shoes.
"Just give us time, hear us out," Wolverine said gruffly.
Harry decided he could allow them that much, but he prepared to defend himself
in case things got ugly.
"You have him, Logan?" Storm asked, and Wolverine nodded. Harry did not run
away, on account that his ankle was killing him. She turned to Harry with a
smile. "Hello, I'm Ororo Munroe, and you are…"
"Harry,' Harry replied. He remained calm, and decided not to offer much more
information that that, for now. "Just Harry."
Storm nodded. She understood that Harry, providing that was his real name, was
not going to trust them to give out much information, at least for right now.
There would come a time where he could hopefully trust them.
"The fog cover should allow us a safe getaway from any government officials,"
Storm said to Wolverine, and Harry sat. "Providing of course Harry consents to
join us."
"Join you, where?" Harry asked.
"We're from the Xavier Institute for Higher Learning," Storm explained. "It is
an institution that helps young mutants such as yourself understand your
powers, and use them in a way that cannot hurt themselves or others."
Harry heard that "mutant" word again, and continued to wonder what it meant. He
suspected the best way to find out these answers was to play along. Until he
could find a way to get home, but a place to stay was a place to stay. It sure
beat running from people that wanted to do him harm.
"So what do you say, Harry?" Storm asked.
"I'll come along, to see what this place is all about," Harry said with a
shrug.
"That's all we ask for you," Storm said. She focused on getting them out of
here, and safely back home. Harry buckled up in one of the seats, and they took
flight.
It was different than flying on a broom; Harry had to admit that much.
From the distant, Magneto watched as the new mutant consented to join the X-
Men. He stood, his expression never wavering beneath his helmet.
"A pity," he commented in a soft voice. "But not unexpected."
He knew one thing for sure. This was not over. He allowed the X-Men to have
their one moment of triumph, for now.
===============================================================================
A couple hours after the flight back, Harry was sitting in a study area. His
ankle was still a little sore, but it was mostly better. Magic did have
remarkable self-healing properties. He drank the juice, and sandwich that he
had been offered. It was better than the street vendor food that he had swiped
earlier that day. The mansion he was in looked rather safe. Then again, so was
Hogwarts, and Harry knew all too well how that turned out for him most years.
Still, he remained silent, and calm. He hoped that he would be able to get some
more answers here, and use these answers to find his way back. For now, it was
a long day, and all he wanted to do was get some rest.
A knock on the door brought Harry out of his thoughts.
"Yes, come in," Harry said.
The door opened, and five individuals walked in. Harry recognized two of them
right away, as Storm and Wolverine or rather Ororo and Logan as he found out,
who had brought him here. The third figure was a bald man in a wheelchair. The
fourth was a red haired girl with green eyes, dressed in a purple tank top and
jeans who looked at him with a smile. The fifth was a dark haired young man
with red sunglasses, and he nodded and smiled as well.
Why someone would wear sunglasses indoors, Harry had no idea whatsoever, but he
just went along with it.
"Hello, Harry, I trust you've had time to regain your bearings," the bald man
said. He rolled forward, and extended his hand. "I am Professor Charles Xavier,
the Headmaster of the Xavier Institute for the Gifted."
Harry reached forward, and politely shook the man's hand. He tried to keep an
open mind once more after everything that had transpired. Xavier turned towards
the red haired girl, and the dark haired boy.
"This is Jean Grey, and Scott Summers, they are students at the Institute,"
Xavier informed him.
"Nice to meet all of you," Harry said with a nod and a polite smile.
"The pleasure is ours, Harry," Scott said.
"Welcome to the Xavier Institute," Jean said with a bright smile. "Well, if you
choose to stay here anyway."
"Is there a choice?" Harry asked dryly.
Xavier just smiled. "There is always a choice. Not every mutant I have
discovered has entered this school. Some decide to take different roads in
life, while others opt to try and live a normal life, not embracing their
gifts. It is unfortunate, but we do not force anyone's hand here."
"What is a mutant?" Harry asked. He had a general idea, but he wanted to hear
Xavier's take on it.
"A common question I have had, as there are many definitions to it," Xavier
told him. "It is referred to those humans with special gifts, who have an
additional gene. Through my studies, it has been called the X-Gene. That is the
additional part of the genetic makeup of a human that will denote them as a
mutant. Some mutations are easier to hide than others, but most of us are able
to live normal lives, for the most part."
Harry did wonder what it was like to live a normal life. For his entire life,
he had been looking for that answer. Yet, he just about gave up on that, and
mentally shrugged his shoulders. He would have to just go to the flow, and see
where life would take him.
"For the most part, we are unknown to the public eye," Xavier continued when
Harry had no further questions. "However, there may come a day where we will be
known to a wide group of people. The more of us there are, the more difficult
it is to hide, and thus there will come a day soon where we will have to go
public."
Harry offered a nod to this.
"It's difficult to hide something like that," Harry said, for lack of anything
else better to say. The only thing he had to say kind about the Ministry was
that they were somehow able to keep a lid on the secrecy aspect of his world.
"So this is a school that will help, um mutants, use their gifts."
"Yes, we do what we can to help," Xavier agreed. "It can be a bit overwhelming
to take in for the most part; it is for many young mutants when they discover
their powers."
"All of us were confused by our powers, and did not understand how they
properly work," Scott said at one point. "But, it's not that bad."
Harry shook his head.
"I knew about my powers, for a very long time," Harry said. "For the past five
years, I've…."
"Yes, I realize about your other abilities, but you still have other abilities
beyond your magic that you have yet to realize," Xavier said.
"Abilities?" Harry asked.
"Your arrival here has caused your X-Gene to manifest," Xavier said.
"What exactly is my X-Gene power?" Harry wondered.
There was a moment of silence. Xavier still had not completely come up with an
explanation for what Harry's powers completely were.
"That is something that we will determine in time," Xavier admitted, and he
surveyed Harry. "If you choose to stay here at the Institute, then we will
determine what you are capable of. "
Harry wondered if something happened to him when he had stepped through the
veil. It was possible. His head was clearer than it had been previously. His
eyesight cleared up, and the scar on his forehead was gone. He looked at his
hand, and those hideous words carved into his hand were also gone.
That somehow made the unbearable pain that he suffered stepping through that
veil worth it. At least it almost did.
"Where did you come from, anyway?" Jean asked, and then she took a step back at
the look at Harry's face. "Sorry if you didn't…"
"No, I would have asked the same thing if someone showed up randomly," Harry
said, but he screwed his eyes shut. "The thing is, I can't quite remember what
happened. I was being chased, and then I woke up in the desert."
Harry waited. He hoped that they had bought that statement.
"Your friends and family must be worried about you," Jean said, and Harry
looked at her.
"I'd imagine my friends might be," Harry said, but he remained tight-lipped
about his family for now. "Once I figure out what happened, I think I might
need to find a way home."
"If that is what you feel you need to do, then we'll do what we can to help
you," Xavier said. "In the meantime, you may spend the night here, and get some
rest. Then we can talk about what you want to do in the future later on."
"Fair enough I suppose," Harry said. "I just have one more question."
"Of course," Xavier said, and he gave Harry the opportunity to ask the
question.
"You know how I said everything was a haze when I arrived here?" Harry asked
without preamble. He had been given the opportunity to continue. "This might
sound like a stupid question, but I'm not sure how long I was out. For all I
know, days could have passed. So I was wondering something. What's the date
today?"
"August Twentieth in the Year Two Thousand," Xavier said, and Harry paled
immediately, but he tried to remain calm and collected. "About when did you
think you left?"
"I don't quite know, but it's been a long time," Harry said, when he finally
found his voice. He took a deep breath, and turned around. He addressed the
entire group. "Sorry, if I seem a bit rude, but I think I'll head to bed. It
was a pleasure meeting all of you."
Harry spun around, and exited the study without another word. The five X-Men
watched him leave immediately. None of them knew what to say at the moment.
"He seemed to be a bit upset about the date thing," Jean said. "I wonder how
long he was gone."
"It does seem like a long time," Scott said, and he leaned against the wall. He
took a deep breath, and shook his head. "He seemed to be a bit….I don't know…"
"Reserved would be the word you may be looking for," Xavier said. "Harry does
seem to hold many secrets, and his trust seems to be one that is earned over
time."
The temptation to poke around in the mind of anyone had always been present for
a telepath like Charles Xavier. He only did this under extreme circumstances.
Harry seemed to be only dangerous if he had been provoked in some way. If he
stuck around here, perhaps Harry would open up. He just hoped that Harry did
not get too hung up trying to find a way home.
If his theory was correct, then Harry may have not come here by conventional
methods. That would explain his sudden arrival and lack of information about
his past. That was a mystery to solve in the future, especially when everyone
had a good night's sleep. It had been a long day, for many reasons.
===============================================================================
In the early part of the morning, past midnight, Harry sat in the dark, and he
was in deep in thought. He pondered the mystery of the veil and what happened
when he stepped through. Did he travel through time? He supposed any number of
things could have happened when he stepped on through the veil.
Harry hoped that he made the right choice agreeing to go with these X-Men as
they were called. They seemed to be nice and accommodating enough, for the most
heart. Harry suspected that everything he knew was turned upside down. He was
just going to have to go with the flow, and see what happened, until he got a
better feel for the rules of the game.
One thing was for certain, if he got here, there had to be a way to go back.
Without knowing more about the veil, it could potentially be difficult. And the
veil was in the Department of Mysteries. He took a deep breath, and tried to
piece together all he knew. He was sure that he died, or came pretty close to
it.
In time he would figure out what happened, and how, if possible, he would find
a way back home.
If he wanted to go back that was.
And right now, Harry had many reasons not to go back given what he had been put
through over the past year, than he had to return.
It would be something that he would think about after a good night's sleep.
For some reason, sleep did not come as easy as he had hoped. There was so much
on his mind, and the events of the day replayed over and over in his head. Also
the nagging question of Sirius's whereabouts, and if he made it continued to
dog him.
Not to mention the nagging thought that he might be stuck here for a very long
time.
'One step at a time, Potter,'he thought. 'One step at a time.'
***** Adaptation *****
Chapter 03: Adaption.
Harry Potter sat with his legs crossed, deep in thought. He was currently
sitting in the living room, after a few hours of sleep. He found it rather hard
to come by. The past day had been a revelation for him. He was a long way from
where he was yesterday. Not only a long way, but a long time, with the fact
that it had been over four years since the moment he had stepped through the
veil. He had gone over it in his mind time and time again.
What exactly happened when he stepped through the veil? Did he pass out for
what seemed like four years? Or was there something else that happened? Harry
knew there had to be an explanation about what happened. The weird amount of
time that passed really bothered him. He still felt like he was fifteen years
old, nearly sixteen years old.
Another explanation crossed his mind. Did Sirius make it? He had no indication
what happened to his godfather, if he was here or not. Harry only half heard
Remus's yells that he was all gone, but Harry paid him no mind about anything.
He managed a deep breath. All he knew was that he was here, at this place. The
Xavier Institute for the Gifted as it was called, and Harry tried to figure out
what he needed to do next.
What should he do? Should he try and return to the magical world? Did he even
want to return? He had friends, but Harry wondered if they were even alive
after four years that might have passed. Given the state some of them were when
he left them in the Department of Mysteries, he wondered. Or if they were
alive, did they move on?
Life did move on eventually. That was the most depressing reality of them all.
They had likely gotten on with their lives by now without him. The entire time
thing seemed to strike him a bit odd, given the fact that he still had nearly
the same appearance that he did when he left at fifteen, or sixteen years old.
The only difference was that his glasses were gone, and his scar had vanished.
It was almost as if he was frozen in time until the moment he woke up.
Oddly enough his mind was far clearer than it was not. It struck him odd how no
magical officials had descended upon the scene. Surely they would not want to
have the Muggles get any hint of what was going on?
"So, you couldn't sleep?"
Harry's eyes turned around. He had been a bit jumpy, but he had seen Jean Grey
standing there. She looked at Harry with a curious expression.
"Oh, hey, Jean," Harry said to her. Jean walked over, and sat down next to
Harry.
"Something's bothering you, isn't it?"
"I've had a long day," Harry admitted to her. "A really long day. Really, after
everything that happened. I wasn't expecting to wake up in a strange place, and
get chased."
"Professor Xavier is trying to sort out everything that happened," Jean told
him. "It isn't really your fault. You were scared and without help, but that's
what we're here to do, we're here to help."
Harry's jaw just remained set, and he nodded. He found himself unable to
properly relax properly. He was half tempted to say that he just wanted to go
home, but he realized how childish that sounded in the back of his head. He
remained calm, and cool.
"So, do you want to talk about what happened?" Jean asked in a tentative voice.
"No," Harry replied in a swift voice. "Sorry, but I'm trying to figure it out
myself"
Jean frowned. He seemed to be very guarded. He seemed to be one of those people
who was unwilling to confide in others, unless he absolutely had to. Curiosity
filled her that she tried to squash. She could almost tell that he had been
through some kind of ordeal recently. Professor Xavier had hinted about that
much.
"Okay," Jean said. "So when did you discover your powers?"
"Depending on what ones you're talking about," Harry retorted, and he took a
deep calming breath. "Strange things have always happened around me I guess."
'And trouble seems to happen everywhere I go,'Harry added to himself mentally.
"Professor Xavier knows about the magical aspect of your powers," Jean said.
"But he wouldn't have picked you up on Cerebro if you didn't have an X-Gene."
Harry just nodded. He was still deep in thought.
"I wonder what that particular um mutant power might be," Harry said, and he
shook his head for a moment. This was going to be a long and hard road. "Just
something else I have to figure out while I'm here."
"Well, that's what the Institute is for, to help young mutants figure out their
gifts and how to learn them," Jean told him. She turned towards Harry to see
him a bit better. She asked him in a honest voice. "Have you given any
consideration about whether or not you want to join the Institute?"
"I've thought about it but…I don' t know," Harry said. And this was the honest
truth; he was trying to figure out what his purpose was here. "I have a feeling
that I'm going to have to give an answer one way or another."
"You can take as much time as you need," Jean said. She smiled at Harry. "I
wasn't sure about joining at first, I don't think anyone is. It's a life
changing experience. But I realized that I needed help understanding my powers,
because if I got upset I could hurt someone else or even myself."
Harry just nodded. Mutant gifts were not too different from magic. They could
help or hurt people depending on how they were used. There were differences,
but power was power no matter how you sliced it.
"So, what are your powers?" Harry asked before he could help himself. He
quickly amended. "Sorry but…"
"No, you're curious," Jean said, and she took a deep breath and sighed. She
looked over at nearby table, and lifted it up into the air.
Harry watched the progress with the table.
"Telekinesis," Jean said to Harry. Harry nodded, he had heard of the power.
Even if pretty much anyone in the magical world could mimic it through the
proper levitation spells. "I can lift up to ten times my body weight, but I
don't think I've tried too much. The larger the object, the harder it is to
control and guide properly."
Harry responded with a nod. He watched Jean demonstrate her powers. "Very
nice."
"And that's not all I can do," Jean told him, but she took a deep breath. This
one might cause some problems. "I'm also a telepath."
Harry paused, and he shifted his gaze away from Jean at that moment. He tried
to act casual, and not accusatory. It was just that he had bad experiences with
mind reading gifts.
"So, you can interpret the thoughts of people and understand them on a
conceptual level," Harry said.
Jean blinked before she responded. "That's really a wordy way of saying that I
can read minds."
"Sorry, a Professor at my old boarding school wasn't fond of the term mind
reading," Harry said, and after several lessons, he had that pounded into his
head. As the headache pounded his head from when Snape attacked him mentally.
"He said that thoughts are complex, the human mind is not a book to be read at
will, and most thoughts are in complex patterns."
'At least most minds are,'Harry thought, frustrated that he had never been able
to learn what Snape had taught him. Then again, the instruction of "clear your
mind" had been very vague, and unhelpful.
"You've had a very bad experience with someone who could read minds," Jean said
knowingly.
Harry blinked once again. He shook his head.
"How do you figure that?" Harry asked suspiciously.
Jean caught onto what he was implying right away. "Well it's just obvious on
your face. People don't have to always read minds to know what a person is
thinking. Professor Xavier is a telepath as well, and he's sworn never to use
his powers unless given permission. I've tried to do that as well."
"What do you mean try?" Harry asked her.
Jean had a feeling that this was going to be an awkward conversation. "Well,
Professor Xavier's telepathy works slightly different than mine. He has to prod
his way into the mind to read thoughts. His is more active. Mine is more
passive, like a radar picking up thoughts, although it could become active with
time I guess. I had to work hard to shut it off, because…"
Jean paused at that moment, before she continued with a smile crossing her
face.
"Let's face it, there's nothing more awkward than reading people's thoughts,
and realizing that when they are looking at you, they're really picturing you
naked."
Harry laughed in spite the situation.
"I swear, I'll try to keep out of your thoughts, because I know they should
remain private and sacred," Jean told him, and Harry relaxed slightly.
'At least people here seem to be a bit more respectful of that fact,'Harry
thought to himself. He was sure that there were times where Snape and
Dumbledore used their powers to gain information, and he was sure they used
their gifts on him a few times. They would have claimed that they had their
reasons, and many would have agreed with them.
Jean and Harry sat for another couple of moments, until Scott Summers turned
up, yawning.
"Oh, hello, Jean…and Harry," Scott said, fixing his gaze on the newest prospect
of the Xavier Institute. "How are you enjoying your stay so far?"
"Everyone seems to be rather accommodating, and it's been nice to have a place
to be until I can figure out what happened," Harry said.
"Do you have any idea?" Scott asked.
"A few, but many of them are outlandish and defy all logic," Harry said,
shaking his head immediately at the thought.
"The Professor is trying to figure that one out as well," Scott informed him.
"He has a couple of theories. When you arrived, he couldn't pick up any
information on you. Which is strange, given that Cerebro is normally able to
pick up any information on new mutants, even the slightest scrap of it."
Harry looked confused. "Cerebro?"
"Right, that's the machine that helps Professor Xavier find and locate new
mutants," Scott explained. "When their powers manifest, and I guess the moment
that you arrived, your mutant power manifested, alongside your other powers.
Normally that's a bit clearer what the mutant power is. But there's something
that is hiding it."
Harry wondered if his magic had been masking what this mutant ability was. At
this point, he had no idea. He tried to rack his brain to think about what he
did differently. Sure he did magic without a wand, but somehow he doubted that
was it. He was able to Apparate despite never doing so previously, but that was
something that all witches and wizards were capable of.
He needed to go back over his day, mentally, and figure out what happened.
Retracing his steps were important.
"So are you planning to make the Institute a more permanent form of residence?"
Scott asked him.
Harry paused, and he shrugged at this point.
"I have to figure out some things first," Harry said.
"The Professor will be ready for your answer when you're ready," Scott said,
surveying Harry after a moment.
Both Jean and Scott had a sense that there was something that Harry was keeping
private. He might not speak much, but his emotions tended to be rather vivid on
his face at times. Harry noticed them frowning, and had a good idea what they
had figured out about him.
He resolved to keep his face more blank.
They spent the rest of the time before breakfast making light conversation,
with Harry carefully avoiding the subject of his past and where he came from.
===============================================================================
To close the book on one chapter of his life, Harry needed to be sure what
exactly happened. He knew that after his ordeal the previous day, he would be
risking a lot sneaking off to verify what happened. The truth would set him
free, and hopefully allow him to make a clearer decision on what was going on
with his life right now.
He had stretched his powers to their limits by making the trip over here. He
took a deep breath, and rehydrated himself with the water he had brought along.
The actual apparation was getting a bit easier as time passed. All he had to do
was keep a clear head, and concentration, while visualizing where he wanted to
be. And he was there.
That was the one huge limitation to the skill. He could not go anywhere that he
had not already been. A picture would not do with making the trip. He had to
get not only the sights correct, but the sounds and the smells as well. Getting
in the entire atmosphere was important for this particular magical skill.
King's Cross Station still stood, but that fact was not something Harry was
concerned with. He needed to make sure that one simple part of King's Cross
station was here. He took a step forward, and saw Platform Nine and Platform
Ten. They did not look too different. He took another step forward, and drew in
his breath.
He nudged the barrier in between the two platforms with his shoulder.
It was solid. There was no give, and there was no way for him to step through.
Harry tried to push the barrier, but there was nothing once again.
The barrier remained solid once again. It all sank in for Harry at the moment,
and it was something that he should have realized straight away.
The barrier did not exist because his world did not exist. The veil had not
technically transported him in time, but rather it transported him to an
entirely different world. A world where the hidden and secret world of witches
and wizards he had known for the past several years did not exist.
Did anyone from his world exist?
It was possible that they did, but they did not know him if they did. They
would be different, with different experiences that did not involve magic.
The more pressing question was, did an alternate version of him exist?
Harry really had no idea. He was leaning towards no, given what he found out
about Professor Xavier not finding out one bit of information about him in this
universe. He was in an entirely different world, where Harry Potter did not
exist until now. The names and the faces have changed entirely, and no one he
knew could help him, simply because they did not exist.
It was a crushing reality, but one that Harry felt like he had to accept to
move on. He did wonder if there was any way to return home. He wished he had
studied more about magic when he had the chance. He had just done the necessary
work for the classes, and that was it. The only times where he truly applied
himself was when he prepared for the Triwizard Tournament and then when he lead
the D.A.
He had a feeling that magic did exist in this world, but it was not as he or
anyone else from his world knew it. That would be an aspect that he would have
to explore.
'So much to do to figure out how I fit in in this new world,'Harry said.
He did wonder if any of his friends had tried to find him after the events of
the Department of Mysteries. Or even, and Harry shuddered to think about this,
any of his enemies tried to locate them. Or if they just all assumed that he
was dead.
Harry hoped for the sake of his friends that they did not try and go through
the veil. The journey was a vicious one, and one Harry thought that he was
lucky to survive.
He broke out of his thoughts when he heard a dog barking. He turned around, and
in the distance he saw a familiar looking dog running off into the distance. He
thought he had found a familiar face, but then his heart sank when reality
returned to him.
This dog was with a family, on a leash. He was just a normal dog, who had
gotten away when he had become too excited. He was barking at a squirrel in the
distance.
Harry thought for a moment that Sirius had managed to survive the journey as
well. Those hopes were dashed immediately. Harry took a deep breath, and closed
his eyes. He returned back to the Institute before he was missed.
If he was missed, no one stayed anything. He was certainly not going to.
===============================================================================
The next few days, Harry stayed at the Institute and ran over everything he
found out throughout his time. . He knew that there would come a time where he
would have to make a decision whether he should stay, or should be go. Right
now, he was trying to figure out his options, not that there were many. To be
honest, if he had left, it was not like he could go anywhere else.
Everyone at the Institute seemed to be patient with him, and it did have a
certain welcoming feeling that made a part of Harry smile. He did consider the
possibilities of being here.
"Hello, Harry."
Harry turned around, a bit tense, but relaxed. Charles Xavier wheeled towards
him in his wheelchair. There was a moment of silence.
"Professor Xavier," Harry said in a respectful voice, inclining his head as he
looked at Xavier.
There was a moment before Xavier had broken the silence.
"Have you made a decision of whether or not you wish to stay?" Xavier asked,
and he could tell by Harry's body language that he had not made that decision.
He suspected as much, and he did not even need to reach the young man's mind.
"Very well, I feel that it is prudent to give you information that might help
you make your decision a bit clearer. You have been around the grounds, and
have seen glimpses of what we have to offer."
"Yes, I have," Harry agreed.
Xavier nodded.
"Very good, but should you choose to join you will receive training of your
gifts. We can understand how they work, and how to use them an optimal level.
We do most of our training in the Danger Room, a high class facility to allow
young mutants to better train their powers, and be more in tune with how they
work."
For some reason, Harry had thought that the Danger Room might be a rather
accurate name. If he stayed, he would find that out for sure.
"We offer lessons to put our training to the test," Xavier said. "Most of the
exercises are put together by Logan, and I can assure you that while his
methods may seem extreme, he does tend to get results."
Harry could tell by his brief glimpses of Logan that he was intense. Right now
he had left the grounds on his bike. No one else seemed to be concerned about
this, so Harry speculated that this was something that was just another part of
life at the Institute.
"In addition to the training at the school, we feel that it is prudent for your
conventional studies not to slack," Xavier said. "All students at the Xavier
Institute for the Gifted are required to attend Bayville High School to get a
standard education. A strong body is not something that can stand alone, not
without the help of a strong mind."
Conventional education, well that could be a problem. He recalled what he knew
from his Muggle school days. The last time Harry had a regular non-magical
class he was ten years old. He had no idea how much that would help him. He
figured that he would have to voice these concerns to Professor Xavier.
"You remember my other non-mutant gifts," Harry told Xavier. Xavier nodded.
"Yes, well I attended a school to help learn about them. I learned a fair bit
about how they worked, but one thing that they were lacking is that they did
not offer a more conventional education."
Being the brilliant man he was, Charles Xavier caught onto this immediately.
"So they arranged for a magical education, but no grounding in the standardized
subjects?" Xavier asked him. This was not an accusation, just merely an
inquiry.
"We studied magic, and that was essentially it," Harry said. "The last time I
took a M…normal class was about when I was ten years old."
"You would be about fifteen, sixteen right now?" Xavier asked, and Harry
nodded. "So the American equivalent for your education would be if you skipped
all of your classes from the fifth grade all the way to your Sophomore year of
high school."
Harry had no idea, but he had a feeling that he missed a lot of Muggle
education. He just never thought that he would return to that point in his
life. Xavier pondered the problem for a minute.
"It could be difficult, but doable," Xavier said. "Along with the assessment of
your abilities, we will need to have you take some standardized tests to see
how much you remember, and where you would place in your knowledge Tutors may
need to be assigned to get you up to speed. It may be some hard work, but I
feel confident you will not let yourself down."
Harry was a bit shocked to see that Professor Xavier had such confidence in
him. Then again, he did seem like the type of man who seemed to want the best
from his pupils, and commanded a certain deal of respect.
"That will be a bridge we shall cross when you make your decision, although I
do encourage you to pursue a standard education no matter what path you
choose," Xavier said. "I'm arranging for papers to be put together so you can
attend Bayville High School, and not raise any questions."
Harry had no idea how this was being done, so he just nodded. He was going to
go with the flow, and see what happened. He decided to give Xavier his most
honest answer.
"I'll give you my answer, tomorrow," Harry told him. "I just need a bit more
time to think about it."
"Very well," Xavier said, and he could sense that Harry was on the edge of
joining up at the Institute. He seemed to be curious to learn about the nature
of these true powers, and Xavier was rather intrigued about them himself, if he
had to be honest.
At that moment, Xavier left, and Harry remained in solitude. He was almost sure
that he was going to join. He found himself unable to come up with any
compelling reason not to. He would have to sleep on it as the saying went.
===============================================================================
A grey hair man dressed in black stood with a surly expression on his face. He
wore an eye patch, and he stared down a group of government agents. The agents
backed up from him, and they appeared to be a bit nervous. Despite being
hardened agents of a secret government organization, they knew when they were
about to be chewed out. The man was someone who commanded a great deal of
respect from everyone around him. He was as tough as nails.
The floating government base was high above everyone, hidden to everyone
whether they would be friendly or otherwise. There were very few in the various
governments in the world who knew of its existence. It was a super-secret
government base, and organization. This flying fortress was called Helicarrier.
It was the headquarters of Strategic Homeland Intervention Espionage Logistics
Directorate, or SHIELD as it was most commonly known as.
The man in the eyepatch stared them down. He was Nick Fury, and he was not
someone to be messed with.
"Let me get his straight," Fury said, and his tone left no room for argument.
"Some of my best government agents were tripped up by a teenage boy. And then
you lost him, and have no further information about him or how he arrived
here!"
The Director of SHIELD snarled those last words. The agents understood that
this was the time to keep their mouths shut. Fury breathed in and out. He took
out a cigar, and took a puff on it. He stared down at his agents through a
narrowed eye.
"Powers or not, that kind of performance is inexcusable," Fury told them in a
gruff tone of voice. "I expected something like this from some wet behind the
ears rookie, but not from hardened government agents. And Magneto's
interference is even more troubling. He has interest in the boy."
"Our intelligence indicates that he left with Xavier's two associates," one of
the agents reported.
"Yes, Xavier and his institute, I do have that under close surveillance," Fury
said, and there was a moment of silence. The grizzled government agent took
another puff on his cigar. "I've been at this game since before most of you
were just a twitch in your Daddy's trousers. I've seen everything that you can
believe, and many things that you would not believe. Yet, this new arrival, the
readings that we scanned from this crater in Vegas…well you read the reports."
The government agents responded with swift nods. There was a moment of silence
and Fury continued to speak with them.
"We know little about this new arrival, where he came from, and how," Fury
said. "All we know is that he is capable of great power. That could make him a
potentially dangerous situation. We must keep a close eye on him, and be
prepared to strike in case he becomes too much of a problem."
SHIELD was in the business of protecting every single person in the world from
a variety of threats. Fury himself knew first had that was far from an easy
battle. Each and every day there were situations where everything that he knew
would be questioned. This was one of those situations. He tried to punch up the
satellite photos, and slow them down. There was a brief flash of light.
One minute their mysterious visitor was there, and the next minute he was not
there. And Fury was at a loss for words as to understand how.
"Information is our game, and when we don't have information, you know that
could be a problem," Fury said, and he turned around. "Once we gather the
intelligence we need, this may require further invention from SHIELD. For now,
we sit back, and we gather everything we can find."
Fury turned to his agents.
"Is that clear?" he barked. The agents of SHIELD nodded, and they took a few
steps back. "Good to see that we're on a common ground. And remember, your
training will double after what happened. We're not going to repeat another
mistake like you've done with your last mission. I don't need the cream of the
crop be embarrassed. If word gets out, SHIELD will be a laughing stock."
There were no protests about the fact that Magneto's involvement may have
tipped the odds. SHIELD would be waiting and watching. Fury looked at his men,
a swift grin spreading on his face as he stared them down. He was pretty sure
that they had gotten the message.
Now it was time to wait for the next move. He continued to study the latest
reports. Fury realized that if Magneto knew about this new player, other less
than friendly parties would be more than interested about finding out more.
Doctor Doom and HYDRA would be two of the potential players to worry about, and
Fury had his eye firmly on them. They were among the most dangerous threats
that SHIELD had on their radar.
===============================================================================
Harry leaned against the wall, the next day. He had a good idea what his
decision was going to be when he had promised Xavier that he would give it. The
truth of the matter was that he just needed a bit more time. It was not like he
had many options to consider. If someone was going to come for him from the
other side, then there was a chance that they would be stranded here as well.
Providing that they would make it, and Harry seriously had his doubts that
anyone could make it from the other side. He had thought that there was a
chance that Sirius somehow was here, but this was a one in a million fluke.
He still wanted answers about where he was, and how exactly he got here.
Something happened to him after he stepped through that veil. He suspected that
there had to be someone, somewhere that could shed some light. For now, he
decided that joining these X-Men was the best possible idea for him.
Harry paused, and then turned. With a swift knock, he announced his presence
outside the study.
"Yes, come in, Harry," Xavier said.
Harry did so. Xavier, along with Ororo, Jean, and Scott were standing there.
They all acknowledged him with polite nods and smiles. It was Scott who was the
first one to speak up, and address Harry.
"So, I heard that you were going to make a decision about whether or not you
were going to stick around."
"No matter what you decide, we will respect it," Ororo said, and Xavier
responded with a nod.
Harry sighed. He shifted himself, and took a deep breath. Now it was time to
speak up, and to tell them what he decided to do.
"You know what, I thought about it long and hard," Harry said. "I'm sure you
understand that I didn't want to make a decision that I would regret."
"Quite understandable, yes," Xavier agreed. He waved his hand and motioned for
him to continue. "Go on, Harry."
Harry did in fact go on.
"So, first of all, let me thank you for everything that you've done for me so
far here, and all of the questions that you've answered, I think I had a few of
them," Harry said.
"No problem, that's how we learn,' Jean said. "You should never be afraid to
ask questions."
Harry understood that, at least now he did.
"Well, I've decided that after thinking about it, there is only one thing that
I can do that's the best for me," Harry said. "And that is, I agree with to
join the school, and to learn what I can about whatever mutant gift I could
have."
"I may be biased, but that's a wise choice, Harry," Xavier said.
"You won't regret it," Scott said.
"Yeah, you can learn a lot here," Jean said. "Welcome to the Institute Harry."
"We are all confident that it's a decision that you did not make lightly, and
it was for the bests," Xavier said. "Logan, I'm sure, will agree once he
returns from his excursion."
Harry looked at them.
"What now?" Harry asked them.
"Well, I believe we have a number of tests to determine what your levels are,
both from an academic standpoint, and from a standpoint of where your gifts
are," Xavier said. "We can begin them as soon as you are ready."
"If it's alright with you, Professor, I'm ready right now," Harry said.
Xavier nodded, and he turned around. Professor Xavier hoped that Harry would be
up for the challenge. He could sense that he seemed rather determined to
understand what his powers would be. Perhaps that could shed some light onto
how he mysteriously arrived her less than a week ago.
"And to make things authentic for those papers, my last name is Potter," Harry
told them, almost as an afterthought. "Harry James Potter, that's my full
name."
Now that he knew that he was in a different universe where his world did not
exist, there would likely be no one tracking him down. So, really there was no
reason not to give Xavier and the rest of the X-Men the information about his
full name.
"I will make a note of that, thank you for that information," Xavier said. "And
I welcome you to the Institute."
Harry nodded, hopeful he would enjoy his stay.
===============================================================================
While the X-Men welcomed their newest member, the helmeted form of the Master
of Magnetism stood, and pondered everything. He did wonder what might have
happened if the X-Men had been a few seconds slower in arriving. It would not
matter if they were too much slower. It would just be a period of five minutes
at least. He could see that the new young mutant who arrived was considering
the merits of joining him.
He would have questions, but Magneto could tell that he was considering what he
had to say. It was just a minor setback that he had chosen to go with Xavier.
It was always a shame when those with optimism had been blinded by Xavier's
ideals. Yet it was not something that was unexpected. Xavier had believed in
his dream.
He turned around, and saw the arrival. A woman stood before him. She was
dressed in white. Her skin was blue, and she had red hair. Her name was Raven
Darkholme, but she was better known as the shapeshifting mutant known as
Mystique.
"So, the new mutant slipped through your fingers," Mystique said. She tried to
keep her tone calm.
"A minor setback," Magneto said. His voice was calm and crisp. Someone of his
power learned all they needed to know about control, and more importantly
patience. "A war is brewing, and we will need able bodies. The people we
recruit might not be the most skilled. However they will be useful. There is a
new age dawning, and humanity will try and bring us down to their level."
Mystique nodded. The fact she was a shapeshifter meant that there were many
that mistrusted her on sheer principal. Magneto had silently reminded her of
the debt that she owed him from all of those years ago. She was thus drafted
into his service.
"But what about this boy?" Mystique said. "What is so special about him?"
Magneto pulled out a set of pictures. He handed them to Mystique.
"I was able to liberate these images of our young friend," Magneto said. "His
powers are unlike anything that I have ever seen previously, and I think you
would agree once you have looked at them."
Mystique was handed the figures. She looked at them. The young man was an
interesting marvel. Yet, she failed to see exactly how this young man fit into
her employer's plans. She studied every single little bit of the photos
intently. The energy blasts could barely be caught in a photo. The more his
powers were displayed, the more unfocused the photos had become.
"The government already has made much of these photos,' Magneto said. He turned
around, and stepped back. "As has Xavier, and no doubt they have their own
theories. Yet, he may be the one to bring upon a new age for mutants, and allow
our brothers and sisters to finally gain the standing that they deserve."
Mystique's look seemed doubtful.
"He does have power. As raw as it might be, but I fail to see how he is
anything completely special."
Magneto folded his arms. There was a long moment of silence between her and
Magneto. The shapeshifter experienced the eerie silence, and it was a moment
before Magneto decided to indulge her in a response.
"The potential he has may be unlimited. I do hope that it is not squandered
underneath Xavier's thumb. I do see that a free spirit such as this young man
might find himself at odds with Xavier and his disciples in due time. We will
wait and watch. We'll continue to monitor this situation, and I trust you will
report back to me on your mission."
Mystique nodded. Posing as the principal at Bayville High School would allow
her to get a bird's eye view of potential new recruits.
"I expect regular updates on any progress you have made," Magneto said, and he
turned around. There was no more correspondence between him and Mystique. They
had their conversation, and the pair of them worked together out of necessity.
The war would occur soon, and all mutants would have to make a choice where
their loyalty lied.
 
***** Blending *****
Chapter 4: Blending.

In his day, Harry Potter had fought many fearsome creatures and won many deadly
battles. In his fifteen, nearly sixteen, years of life, he had been through a
great number of tough trials. He had fought dragons, giant snakes, soul sucking
monsters, deadly wizards, and had to sleep in the same room with Ron Weasley's
snoring. Yet, there seemed to be nothing that was more intimidating to him then
the challenge was ahead.

Harry Potter would be stepping into the realm of American High School for the
first time. He heard stories. Not many stories, but a few stories that made him
think rather carefully about what he had to deal with. Over the past couple of
days, he had been put through a battery of tests to determine the status of his
mutant power. Not to mention, Harry took a number of test to determine what he
remembered from the days of actually attending standard school.

Thankfully, it was not as damning as he had feared. He had remembered far more
than he thought he remembered. He would be spending some time trying to play
catch up in certain subjects, with a little assistance. He felt he had been a
solid student, perhaps not the most academically gifted, but he hung in there.
However, if he was motivated he was willing to work hard in certain aspects.
Perhaps this entire school thing would work out, and there would be tutors if
he started to struggle.

Harry would vow to win this battle on his own. However, there were going to be
many things that would be out of his control. All he could do was take one step
at a time. He stood outside the doors of Bayville High School. He took a deep
breath, and drank in his surroundings.

People chattered nearby, and he knew that this was going to be an entirely
different experience from his days of Hogwarts. It was an entirely different
world for many reasons, least of which being the lack of magic.

Then again, as he caught glimpses of the interactions, with all of the
gossiping, relationship drama, and cliques, he wondered if this would be too
much different from Hogwarts. Teenagers were in fact teenagers no matter the
world or dimension that they were in. They had the same personality traits
whether they had magic or not. He would just have to and see what happened. He
made sure that he had his papers in order. Once he verified they were, he could
proceed. Without another word, he took his first steps into the treacherous
jungle that was high school.

'First stop is the Principal's office to make sure everything is in order on
their end,' Harry thought to himself. He paused immediately, and his head
turned around. He felt stupid. 'And I have no idea where it is. At least this
place isn't as big as Hogwarts, and has no disappearing staircases, paintings,
or pesky poltergeists."

Harry inclined his head, and turned around. He felt stupid immediately. He
could have slapped himself in the head. All he needed to do to find the
Principal's office was to turn slightly to the left. The door was already open,
so Harry stepped inside.

It was not the experience that he had taking his frequent trips to the
Headmaster's office, or any of the teachers at Hogwarts for that matter.
Actually the understated and quite bland nature of the office was quite
refreshing.

The dark haired wizard took a step forward. He really had nothing to fear. He
stood at the front desk, where a student aid sat. The aid noticed Harry was
there, and cleared his throat.

"Yes, may I help you," the student aid said in a dry and rather uninterested
tone of voice. He was there and showed little interest for his job.

"I'm here to see Principal Darkholme, I'm a new student being transferred
here," Harry explained. "Harry Potter, er you should be expecting me."

The aid checked the notes on the desk in front of him. He offered a crisp nod.

"Yes, Principal Darkholme will want to speak with you, through that door to the
back office," the aid said in a dull voice. He pointed towards the direction,
as if Harry could not figure that out. Harry stepped forward into the back
office.

Waiting for him in the office was a rather severe looking woman. She had dark
hair and glasses. She seemed not to be one to be trifled with. The woman,
Principal Darkholme, looked at Harry over her glasses. She was surveying him
carefully, trying to figure out where he stood. It was an awkward couple of
moments before she decided to break the silence.

"Mr. Potter," Darkholme said to Harry in a crisp voice. "Another one of
Xavier's has been sent here, I take it."

"Yes, Principal Darkholme," Harry said. She took several moments to really look
at Harry. Almost like she was sizing him up for a noose and that made Harry a
bit uncomfortable. The woman remained seated behind her desk, and stared Harry
down. "My records are here, if you need to take a look at them."

Darkholme snapped the records from Harry's hands. She remained silent for a few
minutes. The seconds of the clock ticked by, and Harry sat himself down on the
chair to look up at Darkholme. She seemed to be assessing something, and taking
her time to do it. Harry decided it would be best not to speak. He just
remained silent, and still as the woman before he did what she felt she had to.

After a moment, the Principal of Bayville High School opened her mouth. "Well,
Mr. Potter, your records seem to be in order. There was a sizeable gap in your
education due to an extended stay in the hospital. I trust your health is in an
optimal state now."

"Yes, I feel much better than I have before," Harry answered. The story seemed
to be airtight. Xavier thought that there was going to be people who were going
to potentially poke holes into the story, although less if they had went with
some prolonged illness. Harry decided to trust the man's judgment. Darkholme
seemed to be particularly intent in picking together each and any hole with his
story. It was almost like she did not buy the cover story for one second.

"For your sake, I hope you remain in perfect health, and cause no trouble,"
Darkholme said. She placed the files on the desk. She put her hands on the
desk, and her eyes narrowed towards Harry. She peered at him from behind her
spectacles. "I will be watching your every single move Mr. Potter. Slip up one
time, and Xavier can pull as many strings as he wants, but that won't change
the fact that you'll be out of here. I have a zero tolerance policy. Is that
clear?"

Harry was reminded of Snape, only female. He shuddered at the rather horrifying
mental image that he just gave himself. He decided to reply in the calmest,
most polite voice he could manage.

"Crystal."

"Then everything that you need to do in this office is done," Darkholme said in
a calm and calculated tone of voice. "I trust you'll be able to find your way
to your first class. Remember, tardiness is not tolerated, as I'm sure you
found out when you read your copy of the school handbook."

"Yes, I read it, back to front," Harry said.

He had no idea what Darkholme's problem was with him. Normally he would call
her out on it, but he was trying to actually make an effort to stay out of
trouble when he can. He had just got here, the last thing he wanted to do was
to make a scene. A part of him wondered exactly how long that was going to
last.

"Am I excused?"

Without another word, and a nod of consent, Harry was excused from the office.
He looked up his locker number, and his combination. Actually having a locker
was something that was completely different for him. He struggled with the
combination a little bit. Then he realized no one was looking, so he just used
a tiny bit of magic to cheat it.

What people did not know, would not hurt them after all? Harry hastened to his
first class. Thankfully he was able to find it, before the bell rang. Less than
ten seconds before the bell was going to ring, and Harry was going to be marked
tardy.

He had cleared the first minefield. The day was still young, however.
===============================================================================


The very first day of standard High School had actually been a rather tiring
one for Harry. Perhaps he was used to the insanity of Hogwarts. High School
offered a different type of insanity that threw him off. There were some
similarities between both schools. There were teachers of different types. They
gave homework, they lectured, notes needed to be taken. Harry struggled to
focus. He reminded himself that he did not have his standard note-taker or
homework checker with him in this universe.

He had to work alone. He had to buckle down, and not be lazy. Perhaps a
stronger mind would allow him to have stronger powers.

On the bright side, he did not have a ghost teacher that did not drone on about
Goblin Rebellions. So that was a point in the win column.

Harry knew had to work hard to not to fall further behind. A charm lightened
his bag, actually allowing him to be able to carry all of his books without any
problem. How the teachers expected them to carry all of the books, without
getting a hernia that would be a mystery that he would have to solve on another
day. He did hear a few snatches of conversation from the senior class students,
who stated that their textbooks seemed to be getting bigger and bigger each and
every year.

He would have to take their word for it. He would not be surprised if that was
the case.

"Busy first day at school?"

Harry turned around, and saw Scott standing right behind him.

"Yeah, you could say that," Harry said. "It's a different experience than I'm
used to."

Scott nodded. Given where Harry came from, there had to be many differences
between the school systems. Plus as Harry told him, he was getting used to a
more normal school structure. The school where he came from focused on the
specialized classes that would center on mastering his powers.

"Don't get too frustrated by it too soon, Harry," Scott said to him. "Even
those of us who are used to it get overwhelmed by it."

"Yeah, I can imagine," Harry said dryly. He took a deep breath, and offered a
shadow of a smile. "It actually wasn't quite as bad as I thought it would be. A
bit weird and it's going to take some getting used to. I got to all my classes,
didn't cause any trouble, and hopefully I'll continue to get through the day."

It was not going to be that bad, Harry admitted. He was just going to take
things one step at a time, and hope for the best. He took a few breaths, and
suddenly he heard a message from inside his head.

'Harry, please report to my office at your earliest convenience. The results of
your tests are processed.'

Harry blinked.

"Still got to get used to being talk to in my head," Harry said.

Scott gave him a sympathetic expression. "It doesn't get any easier at all.
Trust me, it still throws me off. Especially when I'm in the middle of doing
something."

Harry nodded, and he made his way into the Mansion. It was a short walk to
Xavier's office. He reached forward, and was about ready to knock on the door,
but it turned out that he did not have to.

"Come in."

He proceeded to open the door. He walked inside Xavier's office. Xavier sat
behind his desk, and pointed towards the chair in front of his desk. Harry took
that as his invitation to sit down. He looked at Xavier, a curious expression
in his eyes.

"You said my test results were completed," Harry said. He paused, and he added
another thought he had. When he spoke, he tried not to sound too urgent or
paranoid. "There wasn't anything that was wrong in them, or anything I should
be worried about."

Xavier alleviated Harry's fears immediately. "No, Harry, there was nothing too
bad. Curious, but something that is curious is not necessarily bad. While I
don't claim to be an expert on magic, I have encountered it a time or two in
the past. You seemed to be fairly above average in your powers. The fact you
were able to perform it without a wand indicates that you might have received a
power boost when you had left your world."

Harry thought this was a better explanation than he could come with it. He had
not even thought of his wand, and a part of him was glad he did not have to use
it. It was a bit of a problem if he lost it. So, the fact his powers got
boosted because of it was a good thing.

"As for your actual mutant power, well that's an extremely curious one," Xavier
said and he looked at Harry. Harry was a bit agitated from being left in
suspense. "I could not say whether or not your powers manifested before or
after you entered this universe. It is possible they manifested when you
arrived here."

"What is it then, Professor?" Harry asked.

"You have super heightened stamina and reflexes, that are able to function on a
tenth of an energy as the normal human or even someone with the X-Gene," Xavier
said. "And I've observed that you have a keen ability to read the body
language, and adapt your fighting stance from that. I believe that is what
allowed you to dodge the attacks on your way here for as long as you did. I
have cleared up that particular misunderstanding."

"Thank you," Harry said. He wanted to live a mostly normal life, well as normal
as being a magical mutant would be. Something told him that was going to be
easier said than done. "I…I really thought that my powers would be more
physical, then passive."

"Well any power can be utilized in a physical matter depending on your
creativity," Xavier told him. He consulted the report a moment later. "But
there are numerous abilities that I have found that can be classified as just a
further manifestation of your magical abilities. There is a grey area between
the two, and it's difficult to determine what precisely your limits are.
Further training in our Danger Room will assess the full scope of your powers."

Harry nodded slowly. He hoped to get started with his training.

"Of course, that can wait for another day," Xavier said. "The first day at
public school, and I doubt they have wasted any time with giving you a fair
amount of homework."

Harry looked at Xavier. He chuckled.

"Trust me when I say that I don't need telepathy to know that the load is going
to be hard. I'll dismiss you so you can get a head start on that, and if you
struggle, do not be afraid to ask for help."

Harry nodded, and he took up his bag of books and homework. He moved over
towards the room that he had been staying with. He suspected that he had a good
couple of hours at the very least.

It was not for the first time where he questioned whether teachers understood
the actual passage of time and space. There were many times where he had
wondered that at Hogwarts, and now he wondered it here.

Harry started with exploring the wonders of Alegbra. He pulled a face at the
thought of the subject. The sour expression was on his face, as he continued to
press forward on his homework.
===============================================================================


The work load was something that he would have to work hard to adjust to over
time. Although he wondered exactly how much differently the workload was than
from Hogwarts. The subjects were different, but honestly teachers the world
other tended to get some kind of pleasure of causing a vacuum with the free
time of their students.

Harry bit his lip carefully. He shifted back and forth and tried to focus on
the work load he had. By a sheer miracle, he was almost done. He plugged away
at everything. The part he liked the most about High School so far is the fact
he was absolutely normal. He was just another face in the crowd. All he was
known as was that new guy with the accent, and that distinction would lose its
charm rather quickly. Or at least he hoped it would. Still Harry was relieved
to be as normal as he could be.

Or at least as normal as a wizard who had additional mutant abilities could be.
He had hardly realized that it was getting so late right now. He had only take
a brief break for dinner, and then he plowed through the homework. He found it
easier to retain the information the more he worked on it. It did work well in
a nice quiet room as opposed to the hustle and bustle of the Gryffindor Common
Room.

He heard the voices of Jean and Scott. He knew that he should not be
eavesdropping. Yet, he could not help himself. He listened a bit closely.

"Jean…you know it was an accident. My glasses got knocked off. I didn't mean to
hurt Duncan, I swear."

Harry's face flooded with understanding, and a bit pity. He shook his head. He
knew that Duncan referred to Duncan Matthews, Jean's boyfriend. The actual
dynamic of their relationship was something that Harry did not completely get.
Jean seemed to be rather nice, and Duncan…well he kind of seemed to be
arrogant. He figured that this was some kind of High School thing that he would
figure out in time.

"I know you didn't, but the Professor had to work hard to make sure no one
noticed. You need to be more careful of keeping your glasses on. One wrong
nudge and they could be knocked off. Then you could really hurt someone"

Harry knew that Scott had optic eye beams. He had trouble controlling them due
to a head injury that he suffered during a plane crash when he was younger. The
only thing that could block it was Ruby-Quartz. Exactly why that was, he had no
idea. Science was not one of Harry's strong points, and that was something that
remained constituent from his primary school days.

Speaking of which, he looked at his mostly completed homework. He figured that
if it got much harder, he would need tutors.

Harry stepped out of his room, nearly running into Scott. Jean had already left
to use the bathroom.

"What's up?" Harry asked. He acted like he had not been listening in.

"Oh, Harry, sorry I've had a rough night," Scott said in an apologetic voice.
"I had to break up a scuffle under the bleachers. There was a student who was
using his gifts to steal from others. A couple of the Football players roughed
him up."

"So there was another mutant?" Harry asked. "Just like us."

It was at this point where an expression crossed over Scott's face. "I'm not
sure if you could classify him just like us. In the sense he's a mutant, but
his sense of hygiene…well it left something to be desired."

Harry could tell that Scott did not approve. He shook his head. Jean popped up
at that moment, having exited the bathroom.

"His name is Todd Tolansky," Scott informed him, and Harry nodded. He had not
encountered this new mutant, but he had barely been at the school for a couple
of days. So he was going to keep an open mind, until he had a chance to
personally meet him. "I had to save him, no matter what he was. What would have
done?"

Harry did not answer, but he honestly thought that he would have done the same
thing. Immediately, the voice of Xavier projected into their minds. Even Jean
and Scott shifted, and Harry felt relieved that it was something that they were
not completely used to as well. They waited a few seconds, until Xavier
informed them why he had summoned them.

"Our newest guest has arrived. He is waiting in the office right now, ready to
meet you three."

Harry, Jean, and Scott all walked down the corridor and down the stairs until
they reached Xavier's office on the ground floor. The door was already open for
them as they walked. A knock on the door from Scott announced their arrival.

"Yes come in."

Harry, Jean, and Scott all stepped forward. They took several tentative steps
towards the room, and saw Xavier sitting there, and Ororo stood there. By their
side, stood a hunched over young man, dressed in a Monk's outfit. A hood was
pulled over his head. Harry, Jean, and Scott could not get a good look at his
face face, so they made their way closer, and closer.

"This is Kurt Wagner," Xavier said to the assembled group. "Kurt escaped his
home country in Germany to escape prosecution to regarding his unique
appearance. He has come to our school to hope to control his abilities. Kurt
this is Jean Grey, Scott Summers, and Harry Potter.

"Pleased to meet you, Kurt," Scott said, and he extended a hand forward. Kurt
extended a hand, and it was noticed by all that it was blue and fuzzy. Jean and
Scott were momentarily thrown off, although Harry seemed to take it stride. He
had seen some weird appearances in his day, so perhaps he was just a little be
desensitized to the entire thing.

Plus the appearance rarely mattered. It was how the person acted that mattered.

Kurt took Scott's hand, and shook it. He did the same to Jean, and then to
Harry. He took a step back.

"Welcome to the school, Kurt," Jean said with a bright smile.

"Yeah, welcome to the school, I hope you'll be here for a long time," Harry
said with what he hoped was an encouraging tone of voice. "It might seem a bit
intimidating at first, but you'll get used to him. I'm new as well."

Kurt nodded, and his hood was pulled down. He had the appearance of a fuzzy
looking blue elf, although it would be easy how certain people might mistake
him was more demonic. That type of prejudice was something that Harry knew all
too well, and could identify with.

"I do hope that none of you are alarmed by my appearance," Kurt said. Scott,
Jean, and Harry stared unblinking, and they shook their heads. "It has caused
many problems, where I got prosecuted for how I looked."

Kurt realized how he understated this fact. He was chased by a mob, and was
nearly crucified before he was saved by Professor Xavier and Storm. He laid low
for a while, before he came to America to be part of the school.

Harry was the one who spoke up at this point. "Then they're idiots. It isn't
how you look on the outside, but what you are on the inside that matters. It's
your actions that matter."

Kurt nodded gratefully at this sentiment.

"I share those sentiments exactly," Xavier said, and he nodded. He paused, and
considered his options. "Although until the moment that you are more
comfortable with mixing in, I have something that would ease the transition a
bit more."

He nodded to Ororo, who took out a watch.

"A free watch?" Kurt asked in awe.

Xavier chuckled. "Try it on, and see for yourself."

Without another word, Kurt strapped the wrist device on his wrist, and he
tapped it. He immediately morphed into something more conventional that would
not stand out in the crowd. He looked at Professor Xavier immediately, grateful
at what he did.

"Thank you, Professor," Kurt said graciously.

"It was no trouble at all," Xavier said. "Storm will show you to your room, so
you can settle in and enjoy your stay at the mansion. If you need anything,
don't hesitate to ask."

Kurt nodded immediately, and he caught glimpse of his new appearance more in
the mirror. Ororo smiled, and Kurt looked up with an apologetic expression in
his eyes. He was lead off.

"The three of you are excused," Xavier said. Jean and Harry left, but Scott was
the one that stayed behind.

Scott looked immediately apologetic. He tried to convey what he felt. "After
what happened tonight…"

"I know, and I doubt that much could be gained from a lecture at the moment,"
Xavier said. "The only advice I will give you is to be more careful in the
future. Even the best intentions are going to be something that goes awry."

Xavier remained rather calm. Scott shook his head. He hoped to obtain that
level of calmness and restraint.

"The thief, I believe he was a mutant as well," Scott said.

Xavier nodded, knowingly. "Yes, Mr. Tolansky, he was nearly victimized with a
brutal assault. Tell me everything you know, and have seen. He may have a spot
at the Institute yet."

Scott proceeded to launch into his explanation. There seemed to be a bit of
mistrust on his face and in his voice, but Xavier was willing to give anyone a
fair shake. Even though there was evidence that told him that might not be a
good idea.
===============================================================================


Todd Tolansky, or Toad as he had been dubbed, looked up at the mansion. His
eyes remained narrowed, and his fists clenched. He felt a high wind kick up
below him. To be honest, he was not sure about this. Yet, Principal Darkholme
was not the type of lady that one could really say no to. He was sent to the
mansion to gain information. No one would suspect him. He took a look at the
storm clouds and gulped. Without another word, Toad slid towards the Mansion.

A gust of wind picked up. Toad was caught off guard. The slimy mutant lost his
balance. He spiraled forward, and he managed to avoid crashing through the
window just narrowly. The door opened, and he looked inside. Another gust of
wind picked him up, and sent him flying through the doors. He spiraled down to
the ground, and landed with quite the embarrassing thud.

He shook off the expression. He saw a bald man with a wheelchair come forward.
He

"Greetings, Todd, I am Professor Charles Xavier," Xavier said in a calm and
reassuring voice. "I run Xavier's Institute for the Gifted."

Toad shook his head, to try and regain his bearings. This was not the reception
that he expected. It took him a couple of moments to adjust to his
surroundings. He stood up, and focused his stare at Xavier. He had a job to do.
Before he could say anything, he caught sight of Kurt standing in the room. He
glimpsed Kurt's unconventional appearance. He could not resist speaking his
mind.

"What are you supposed to be?" Toad asked in confusion. He took a long and
detailed look at Kurt. "Some kind of ratty plush toy or something?"

Kurt's eyes widened, and he looked at Toad.

"Oh, and have you looked in the mirror lately," Kurt fired back.

Toad looked at Kurt in confusion. "I have in fact, every morning. I say that I
look quite handsome."

Kurt looked at him incredulously. Before he could say anything, Toad's eyes
narrowed. He got immediately defensive, and his knees bent. He jumped forward
into the air towards the furry mutant. Before Toad can get his hands on him,
Kurt disappeared in a flash, and reappeared on the Chandelier above.

"What the…" Toad asked, and he shook his head. He was not about to be
embarrassed by this ball of fuzz. His knees bent, and he sprang up. Toad missed
him once again.

"So close, yet so far," Kurt commented.

Toad's fists curled up. "I'll show you too far, you fuzzy little gecko."

Toad jumped at Kurt once again. Once again, he teleported out of the way.

From the outside Harry watched the situation unfold before him. Toad was
persistent, he'd give him that. Even if he was completely outmatched, and his
hygiene sense left something to be desired, there was just something about him
that was persistent. He half listened to the conversation between Ororo and
Professor Xavier that went on several feet away from him.

"Do you think that Mr. Tolansky has potential to be part of this school?" Ororo
asked.

Xavier pondered the matter for a moment, before he gave his honest assessment.

"It remains to be seen, but we must give him a fair chance. He does have a
willingness never to give up. However, whether or not that actually means that
he is a young man that can join this group, that's something we can debate. We
must keep an open mind.

Ororo looked at her old friend and teacher with a knowing smile.

"I sometimes think that your willingness to see the best in others might blind
you to the obvious."

Xavier did not respond, rather he kept his focus from him above. Kurt and Todd
continued to circle each other. Todd got closer, and closer, before he grabbed
onto the furry mutant's tail.

"Gotcha," Toad said, but Kurt disappeared, and transported them away.

The two mutants dropped down onto the ground. Both of them landed hard. Toad
shook himself off first, and Toad gave his head a shake. He saw they were in a
training room of some sorts. Kurt looked at Toad in wonder.

"Where are we?"

"You asking me?" Toad asked. He massaged his throat, and cleared it. His eyes
snapped towards Kurt. "You were the one who brought me here."

Kurt opened his mouth to retort. Yet his eyes widened immediately, when he saw
a laser start up. It aimed at him, and blasted towards him. He disappeared with
a teleportation pop. He remained on his feet, and unsteady.

"I think that we're about to find out the hard way," Kurt said. He closed his
eyes, and avoided the attacks. Toad screamed and managed to hop out of the way.
He could barely hear the noises from up above, and there was a loud crack that
echoed that cause Toad to jump around, and try and get out of dodge.

The voice of Professor Xavier called from the other side of the door.

"Scott, Jean, our two newest guests have found their way into the Danger Room."

'And people accuse me of finding trouble too easily,' Harry thought to himself.

There was a moment where time stood still. Toad landed on the ground when his
attempt to hop out of the way had gone awry. His heart hammered on the inside
of his chest. He tried to move forward.

He buried his head in his hands, and waited for the worst. As it turned out, he
did not need to. Scott and Jean turned up. Scott aimed an optic blast to take
out the laser torrent. Kurt was safely guided out of the way, as was Toad. The
slimy mutant shook madly, unable to believe what happened. It took a moment to
regain his bearings.

"What kind of welcoming committee is this?" Toad asked in an incredulous voice.
Toad hopped away outside of the mansion. The entire group watched him.

Scott took a step forward, to chase down Toad, calling after him. Xavier
stopped him immediately.

"It appears that our friend has decided that his experience at the Mansion was
not the most accommodating," Xavier said. He shook his head. It was
unfortunate, but he could sense that Toad had some potentially malicious
intentions regarding the school. He did want to give him a chance, however it
was a test that he failed.

Toad ran forward, and his breath continued to quicken. His movements moved. He
ran into the imposing form of a dark haired man with claws. Logan stood there,
and popped his claws. The glint flickered in Toad's face, and Logan stood
there. Toad swallowed nervously, and gave a bit of a chuckle. He slowly backed
away from Logan and his legs twitched madly.

"What are you looking at?" Logan asked in a growl.

Toad shook his head. He tried to indicate that he never wanted to make any
trouble. The soothing tones of Professor Xavier could be heard by all
telepathically.

"Let him go, Logan," Xavier said to him, and Logan stepped back, grunting.

Toad took it as his cue to leave, and he immediately darted out. Logan's eyes
narrowed immediately, and he sniffed the air.

"I came back a bit earlier, thought I smelt trouble," Logan said. He stepped
forward towards the mansion. "Maybe it just turned out to be ol' stinkboy
there."

Logan watched Toad leave. His smelt something off about the mutant. Xavier had
suggested that he let the mutant leave.

"Still think you're getting too soft, Chuck," Logan said gruffly.

"You never fail to be critical, a refreshing change to be sure," Xavier said in
agreement. "It appears that our newest recruit, Kurt Wagner, has gotten into a
spot of trouble. His first day at the mansion, and he already got into a
scuffle."

Logan nodded. Kurt had just exited the Danger Room. His eyes remained
unfocused, and he blinked. He shook his head, and wondered if he would get
blamed for this. Harry, Scott, and Jean walked over here.

"Well, I didn't plan to make a first impression that way," Kurt said. "I'd
understand if you didn't want me to attend the school anymore."

Harry just shook his head, and offered an encouraging smile. "We all make
mistakes. If you think you're getting kicked out for one mistake, then you're
really giving this place an unfair shake."

Scott nodded beside Harry, and Jean gave Kurt an encouraging smile.

"Welcome to the school," Scott said to him. "Harry's right, you shouldn't beat
yourself up over what happened. Come this way, I have something to show you."

Harry knew that Scott was going to show Kurt the Blackbird. To be honest, Harry
was interested in learning how to fly it, after a while himself. It might be
different than a broomstick, but flight was flight.
===============================================================================


Toad's hands trembled so fast that they were nearly a blur. The mutant looked
up at the imposing figure of Mystique, or Principal Darkholme as he also knew
her as. The woman did not need to utilize her shape shifting powers to produce
the desired effect. She was rather intimidating without them.. A sadistic scowl
crossed over her face. Her arms folded over her chest, and she stood forward.
She peered at Toad behind her spectacles.

"You had one job, one simple job!" Mystique ranted. Her nostrils flared with
anger. Her fists were clenched, and Toad thought for one moment that he was
going to be strangled to death. "You were supposed to infiltrate Xavier's
school, and gain the necessary information that you could. Yet you get scared
off immediately."

Toad swallowed the lump in his throat. He remained calm, and collected, despite
the fact that he was more scared out of his life than he ever had been.

"Hey, me jumping out of there was just self-defense, it was nothing personal,"
Toad said, and he remained calm. "That Danger Room place, it's insane. There
are so many lasers moving around. I can't keep my eyes on all of them at once."

Mystique raised her hand. Toad covered, and dropped to his knees, almost
pleading for his life. The shape shifter's face contorted into pure rage. She
snarled, and stared down Toad. For a few seconds, Toad thought he was really
going to get it. Mystique relaxed her body language. Her demeanor remained
sadistic, and ice-cold. It was like she would gut Toad, and leave him for dead
if she thought she could get away with it.

"You were given one simple job," Mystique said in her most deadly voice. Toad
gulped, and he was about ready to respond that they had been over this, but an
incensed Mystique had cut him off. "You were supposed to gain valuable
intelligence for the Xavier Academy, and you couldn't even gain one shred of
information. You couldn't even smuggle in one camera, or hidden microphone.
Hell, Xavier or Grey likely have erased any memories of anything you've learned
from the pace."

It was at that moment where Toad had gone completely on the defensive. He
thought that this was a bit unfair. He shook his head, and tried to argue with
Mystique.

"Um, I don't remember getting my mind wiped."

This statement did not improve Mystique's mood. She picked up a letter opener
from her desk, and slammed it down, breaking the wood. She grabbed Toad around
the arms, and glared in his eyes.

"Of course, you don't remember if you got your mind wiped," Mystique said in a
breathy tone. She looked in Toad's eyes, as the young mutant recoiled in fear.
"That is the idea, so you don't remember anything!"

Toad shook his head frantically.

"It won't happen again, I swear, Boss Lady," Toad said in a trembling tone of
voice.

Mystique's face contorted in an angry expression. "It better not, for your
sake. You're dismissed, now get out of here before I change my mind."

Toad could not get up to his feet fast enough. He scrambled towards the door.
However Mystique stepped in front of him, and put up a hand.

"You now work for me, so report to this address," Mystique told him in a harsh
voice. She held the envelope in her hand, and passed it in Toad's grimy hand.
Toad seemed reluctant, and tried to drum up the courage to tell Mystique off.
"Unless you want to be reported to the law for the thefts you've done. Someone
like you won't last long. You may get dissected."

Toad shuddered at the thought. He could hardly believe it, but he remained calm
and collected. He looked up at Mystique.

"Is that all?" Toad asked a shaky voice.

Mystique waved her hand, and her eyes continued to simmer with fury.

"Yes, go before I change my mind."

Toad could not hop out of there fast enough. He nearly slammed into the door,
and tried to escape. Mystique sat down behind her desk. She needed a good round
with a punching bag after the idiotic bumbling that Toad did. She suspected she
had herself to blame. She sent an amateur to do a professional's job.

She heard a rattling on her desk. She saw the tin on her desk begin to come to
life. The paper clips rattled around. They were magnetized, and she followed
their progress with her eyes. She knew that the man in the shadows could
manipulate larger pieces of metal, and could bring anyone to their knees.

"That fool Toad bumbled the entire operation," Mystique said. She once again
held the letter opener in her hand. The blue skinned mutant found the letter
opener pulled out of her head by Magneto. "I suppose it was partially my fault
to allow a bumbling fool like Tolansky with such a delicate operation."

Magneto tapped the letter opener on the desk. Mystique followed the progress of
the object, and there were a few moments before the Master of Magnetism decided
to indulge her with speaking to her.

"I wouldn't be too hard on yourself or the boy, Raven," Magneto said in a cool
voice. The paper clips and the letter opener swirled around her head. Had
Magneto chose to, he could do some serious damage with it. "We could have
gained valuable intelligence had it succeeded. Since it failed, there was no
risk of losing a valuable asset."

Mystique had to agree with Magneto's answer. She found the letter opener spin
around above her head, before Magneto continued to launch it into the wall.

"And what is your assessment of young Mr. Potter after meeting him?" Magneto
asked.

"He remains an enigma," Mystique admitted to him. "At first he does not seem
capable of anything extraordinary at all."

Magneto just responded with a crisp nod at first. Then a few seconds later, he
spoke in a cool tone of voice.

"Keep monitoring him. Appearances may be deceiving as first. As someone of your
powers understands perfectly."

Mystique nodded. She had no choice, but to comply and continue her mission.

Magneto let her alone with her own thoughts of the events of today. There would
be a reckoning with Xavier and his students, sooner rather than later.
===============================================================================


"Alright Harry, it's your turn."

Harry stepped forward towards the Danger Room. His arms were relaxed by his
side. He kept his posture steady and firm. This could not be any worse with
undergoing Quidditch training with Oliver Wood. Harry remembered those days
fondly, in a way. He had to fly in all kinds of insane weather, and even with a
lack of sleep. Many would complain about it, but if Harry had to admit it, he
did not mind it at all. He took a nice and deep breath, and stepped into the
Danger Room.

His Quidditch training has given him enough of a sense when to duck. There was
many times where he had applied that training to dodge spells. Back in the
Department of Mysteries, he was able to dodge every single spell that the Death
Eaters threw at him. That did seem like a lifetime ago now. There was just a
built in instinct in him. He had a keen idea of how to dodge most spells.

Flying lasers should not be something that was too different. At least that's
where Harry hoped.

"This first exercise will be a solo run, until we integrate you into the team
proper," Xavier said to him.

Harry relaxed, and nodded. He looked up with a look of confidence spread across
his face. He shook his head and was ready to go.

"Ready to go when you are, Professor Xavier!"

Xavier nodded. Scott, Jean, Kurt, Ororo, and Logan all watched the progress of
Harry. He took a moment to calm himself. He made a mental rule to himself not
to use his magical abilities at first, unless he was in a sticky situation.
When he got more in tone with his mutant powers, he would figure out how he
mixed, and matched the powers.

He could not think much longer. He just had to switch to action. There was a
blast of laser energy. Harry dodged to the side, to the left and to the right.
He took several deep breaths, and rushed forward. He tucked his head, and
rolled underneath the blasts of the lasers. He tried to gauge the trajectory of
the lasers, and fight the traps in the room.

One by one, Harry managed to hold his own against everything that the Danger
Room threw against him. He was not a complete pro at it, but he immediately
ducked each and every attack. He ducked, and rolled his head. The X-Men watched
immediately from high above, and accessed his abilities and Xavier, Ororo, and
Logan were marking down suggestions that they would giave him for improvement.
He was not perfect, but he was good.

"So, what do you think?" Xavier asked after they had watched Harry in the
Danger Room for a few minutes.

"Kid has potential," Logan said. "He could try to keep a bit cooler head in
there."

"Speaking from experience, are we?" Ororo asked, and Logan just turned around
to follow Harry's progress further. "It's not too bad."

"Yes, it's not bad at all," Xavier agreed. He thought that before too long
Harry would be able to handle the higher levels. They did not want to overwhelm
him on the first day.

Harry could not dodge forever, he was caught off guard. The lasers were not
lethal, but they stung a little bit. He understood that he had to keep a cool
head in there, and become mindful of his surroundings.

He vowed to improve. He wondered if he was going to beat the high score in the
Danger Room any time soon. He decided that it would be best to improve upon his
own abilities.

Then he would worry about beating everyone else. He was coming up with his own
ideas how to best adapt, and he was sure that the instructors had their own
suggestions.

For some reason, he found the Danger Room to be something that he could adapt
much better to than High School. He smirked, and wondered how well that spoke
of his sanity, or lack there of.

He continued to press forward. As the levels kicked up, he had a feeling the
Danger Room would live up to his name. In the meantime, he would work himself
up.

And hopefully his body would be stronger, and he would be more able to defend
himself. Either by using his powers, or not using his powers.
***** Phase *****
Chapter 5: Phase.
The birds were chirping outside. The sun shined brightly, and it was a picture
perfect day. It was a day that should be enjoyed by all outside in nature.
Harry Potter sighed in relief. He would actually get to see some of it as it
turned out. The pile of homework he had been given was nearly completed. And
before the end of the weekend as well, that was the thing. Harry had some
tutoring, but once he had everything explained to him, he was able to move
through the work easily.
The tutors helped a little bit. Even though Harry thought that he managed to be
rather decent with schoolwork when he sat down, and blocked out the
distractions. His parents were supposed to be smart after all.
He had stepped forward, and he had finally put down the pile of homework. He
had to admit, this was getting easier and easier with each passing moment. He
walked forward to the Mansion. He made a movement to go outside, yet something
had caught his attention He spotted Professor Xavier hard at work underneath
Cerebro. A frown appeared on his face. Jean stood by his side.
"Another new mutant, Professor?" Jean asked.
Xavier responded with a crisp nod. "Yes, she just tapped into her powers
recently. I believe it was a surprise for her….yes do come in Harry, and don't
linger outside."
Harry was surprised, but he tried to remain calm and collected. He entered the
room, and saw Xavier and Jean begin to work through the system. There was a
long pause, and Xavier decided to announce to his two X-Men what he had found
out.
"Our young new mutant's name is Katherine Pryde," Xavier said. "She's currently
a sophomore in High School. She lives in Chicago. She discovered the power of
intangibility, or to put it in lamen's terms, she can walk through walls at
will."
Harry and Jean responded with a nod. They both exchanged an unspoken agreement
about the nature of this new young mutant's powers. They thought that was a
potentially useful power. And a potentially dangerous power if it was in the
wrong hands. There was so much potential to be able to walk through walls.
"She discovered her powers in the middle of the night last night," Xavier said.
The slightest hint of amusement crossed through her face. "I believe that she
did so when she had passed through the floor all the way to the basement. I
don't think it is too much of a stretch to say both herself and her parents
were completely shocked."
Harry thought that if something like that happened to him, he would be freaking
out just a little bit.
Jean would have to agree. "The poor girl, she must be confused."
"Yes and that confusion is something that could present a problem," Xavier
said. He turned to Harry. "We could use a bit of help to persuade her."
Harry was taken completely aback by this statement.
"Me?" Harry asked in confusion. "Why me?"
He took a good look at the girl on the screen. She was a rather cute brunette;
he had noticed that. So, he was interested, just a little bit about going on
this mission. Then again, what he knew about girls could be written on the head
of a thumbtack.
"I figure that someone closer to her age and peer group would be easily
relatable to her," Xavier explained to him. Harry nodded, that made perfect
sense to him. "Jean and I should be able to persuade her, but at the same time
it never hurts to have a little extra help. And you can consider this a bit of
a reward for your hard work in trying to keep up on your studies."
Harry shifted in agreement. He thought that it would be good to get out. The
last few days he had been itching for a chance to stretch his legs. He had
spent most of his time at the Mansion, and at school. Some new surroundings
would be something that would be a nice change. He nodded slowly, and smiled at
them.
"If you're so confident in my abilities, then I won't let you down," Harry said
to them.
Jean frowned, and took a good long look at Harry.
"Don't sell yourself short Harry, you're a part of this team," Jean told him.
Harry nodded calmly. He could tell that Xavier had more information. That would
be given to them on the way. Jean, Harry, and Xavier made their way to the
Blackbird. There was a moment where Xavier remained calm, and collected. He
then turned to them.
"Also, there is a second mutant who has manifested his powers within the same
time in the area," Xavier said, and Jean and Harry both perked up in interest.
This gave Xavier the opening to continue, and explain to both of the members of
his team. "His name is Lance Alvers. His power is that he can create seismic
vibrations with his hands."
Harry looked intrigued at this. He knew that there were certain charms that
could cause the ground to shake, and it would be something that he was
interested in tapping into when he had the time. He could only experiment with
magic, trying to build upon and improve on what he knew. There were times where
he got the sense that he retained magical spells that he never remembered
learning. There was almost like there was a second set of memories buried
inside his subconscious.
A frown spread across Jean's face, and she looked at Xavier. She could tell
that her mentor was holding out on some kind of information, although it was
unclear what at this point.
"Is that all of the information?" Jean asked.
"We must keep an open mind," Xavier told them, and Jean and Harry both knew
that Xavier sensed a problem. He would not judge anyone, everyone deserved a
chance. "However, Mr. Alvers has a history of being accused of petty theft and
vandalism even before he had tapped into his powers. We must try and reach out
to him as well as young Katherine. But do be prepared for hostility should we
push him too much."
Harry and Jean had a feeling of dread pouring into their minds. They tried to
push it out. Then again, they hoped that this would turn out well. Still the
prospect of one or two new recruits was something that they hoped to be a part
of. Harry had known from his role of teaching the D.A. that powers must be
taught, and honed. Being part of the X-Men had really continued to enhance
those lessons.
Jean piloted the Blackbird towards the intended destination. The flight was
nice and leisurely, without any problems. It gave them a moment to prepare.
Harry sat in the back, and wondered what surprises today would bring.
===============================================================================
Katherine Pryde, or Kitty as her friends and family knew her as, was not having
a good time right now in her life. The fifteen year old girl had a frown spread
across her face. Normally she tried to keep a happy face. Yet, she had been
pushed to the brink. Over the last couple of days, she had undergone changes in
her body that she was unable to cope with. It caused her a lot deal of
distress.
One could argue that this was just the part of maturing from childhood to a
teenager. However, the standard changes of puberty were something that Kitty
could perhaps deal with. Perhaps, maybe, but that was beside the point. These
changes were far different. The changes she experienced right now had her
falling through the floor.
All teenagers went through phases. However, Kitty phased through the floor,
which was not something that she had in mind. She just wanted to keep her head
down, work hard, and achieve her status as a straight "A" student. Well
straight "A's" except for gym class, which seemed to be a hurdle that she could
not overcome. Both in the figurative sense, and the literal sense, but that
were beside the point.
This change scared her to death. First she dreamed she was flying. She was
lighter than air. Then she dreamed that she was falling. No matter how hard she
tried to fight falling, she was falling lower and lower. It panicked her. She
always read that during falling dreams, the person would wake up the moment
they hit the ground. At least that was the most common theory, but that matter
was up for much debate.
However, there was no excuse for what happened. She had phased directly through
the floor. She was at the point where she found herself face-first in the
basement. Her blankets and pillows had been stuck in the ceiling.
Scientifically speaking, that should not be possible. However, she came to one
possible explanation. Her teenage mind could only come up with one conclusion.
It was absolutely elementary. She was a freak. Kitty felt she was a genetic
mistake and someone who was not going to fit in if word got out about her
condition.
She took a deep breath. Perhaps if she just was able to keep control, and not
accidentally shift her molecules, she would be okay. No one had to know what
was happening to her. Things were already awkward enough with her parents
knowing. Even though she was sorely tempted to do so right now, and she grabbed
onto the locker. She banged, and tried to push her way into the locker. She
tried to open it.
The laughter echoed through her ears. Every school had their tormentors, and
they tended to pick up the easiest target. The one who focused on academics
were often the most obvious targets. They were singled out as geeks, nerds, and
dorks. It seemed to be an unfortunate part of the high school social structure.
Many would just brush it off as kids will be cruel. It was easy to say that
when you were not the direct party of the torment.
Cruelty was something that was much harder to cope with when a person was
normal.
Kitty tried to push open her locker, and finally got it open. She tried to
ignore the two tormentors. Block it out. That was what was suggested to her by
her parents. Try and be the better person, do not engage them, do not stoop to
their level.
"Ah, I think Kitty-Cat is having a of trouble with her locker."
"Let's give Pretty-Kitty a hand."
Kitty hated the fact that some people just had to be the stereotypical bully
out of every single after school anti-bullying special on the planet. However
she found herself shoved into the locker, and it slammed behind her.
"Hey!" Kitty yelled in an incredulous tone of voice. She tried to bang her
fists on the locker, but it was no use.
'I didn't even know people actually shoved others into lockers in real
life,'Kitty thought to herself. Her desperation was at a higher height. She
gritted her teeth. The bell had long since rung. So not only was she trapped in
her locker, but she was going to mark up a tardy.
She wondered what happened. She tried to beat her fists against the locker.
There was no one outside, but then she heard footsteps outside. She remained
still. A part of her wondered if this would somehow be decided to be her fault.
It was possible.
Instinctively, Kitty popped her head outside. She shuddered, and unexpectedly,
she spiraled out of the locker. She went head over heels, and landed with a
crash. She saw a dark haired boy dressed in a black t-shirt, and jeans. He was
looking at her in awe, and perhaps a tiny bit of a calculating expression.
Almost as if he was considering the possibilities of what he just saw.
"What are you doing?" Kitty demanded, and she saw the spray paint can in his
hand. She put two and two together, when she saw the lockers that were
vandalized.
The young man, a Senior by the looks of things, looked at Kitty, with a raised
eyebrow. "That was amazing. You were in the locker, and then you were out of
the locker. It's like you walked through it"
Immediately, Kitty was on the defensive.
"No, I didn't," Kitty said, her voice rising in alarm. This was her worst fear
come true, someone had figured out what she was.
She tried to shake everything off. She had to keep it cool. There was no reason
that anyone had to know.
"I saw you, and heard you," the young man said. He looked at her. "I was
wondering if there was anyone out like me, with gifts like mine."
The young man lifted a hand, and the lockers vibrated. The seismic vibrations
rocked the school. He stopped before the trophy case, or the trophies inside
had cracked from the impact. He stood, with a calm expression on her face.
Kitty still seemed alarmed, unable to fully reconcile what had been going on.
"Um, yeah, but listen…I don't know what you thought you saw, but I didn't do
anything," Kitty said. Her voice shook a little bit, and she realized how
unconvincing she sounded.
"I won't tell, if you don't," the young man said. "Lance Alvers, Senior Class,
and I'll be glad when I get out of here, won't you?"
Kitty did not share those sentiments at all, but she had no reason to argue.
This was not a battle she could fight. She was a bit choked up.
"Kitty Pryde, and I'm so going to be late for gym," Kitty said, and she rushed
off immediately.
She left Lance in her wake. The young man watched her leave. The truth was that
he had been keeping an eye on her for a while, from afar. And to find out that
there was another one like him was interesting. He looked outside, and saw two
of the girls harass Kitty. Perhaps he would give her a hand as a gesture of
good faith.
He closed his eyes and raised his hands. The ground outside began to rock. The
two girls in question were confused, not to mention injured when he had
unleashed his powers. He watched Kitty's expression. She was utterly terrified.
However, she would learn that it would be best to embrace her powers, and
consider them a gift. It was just like that woman told him that met him on the
street; his powers could be used for something more than rocking a few lockers.
And taking a look at her, Lance had the perfect idea to take a nice little
shortcut to the top bracket of the class.
All he had to do was persuade the girl to help him.
===============================================================================
Kitty walked around in a funk. She tried to shake her head, and clear the
cobwebs. Given what happened today, living a normal life was something that she
felt slip away from her moment after moment. She tried to keep her head up. It
was all she could do not to lose it. She held her breath, and tried not to lose
it. The last time she lost it, she went through something. It didn't hurt for
her density to shift. However, it did feel weird never the less.
She heard a wheelchair roll up behind her. Kitty stood carefully, and spun
around to face him. After everything that happened today, she was tense. She
saw the bald man sitting in the wheel chair. A teenage girl of about seventeen
or eighteen years old stood before her. She gave Kitty an encouraging smile.
Kitty eyed them suspiciously.
Time stood still for her.
"Hello, Ms. Pryde, we'd like a few moments of your time if it's fine with you,"
the bald man said. Kitty let out the breath she was holding. Immediately she
was on guard completely. Her fists had been clenched, and she shifted her
weight from one side to the other. She continued stare at them She was careful
not to say anything. "I'm Professor Charles Xavier, Headmaster of the Xavier
Institute for the Gifted, and this is one of my students, Jean Grey."
"Hello, Kitty," Jean said.
She seemed nice enough. Curiosity got the better of Kitty.
"What do want with me?' Kitty asked. She balled up her fists, and took a deep
breath. "I so didn't ask for anything that happened to me."
Jean offered a reassuring smile. "No one asks for anything like this to happen
to them. Yet, the gifts mean that there is something special within you."
Xavier picked up where Jean left off. "Jean speaks great wisdom. It is easy to
be confused. Both for yourself and your parents, but I can assure you that your
parents understood what was happening. They were a bit concerned, but they
understand that this is something that is not going to change the person that
you are."
Kitty looked extremely skeptical. She relaxed a little bit. She saw Xavier and
Jean look at her.
"It's just something that I wasn't used to before; I woke up in the morning and
well…" Kitty said, and she trailed off. She seemed to be unable to articulate
the words that she wanted to say. She shook her head. She tried to speak once
more. "It was just something that totally messed with my head. I couldn't
believe it; I didn't want to believe it."
Kitty was trying to remain brave in the face of this new change in her life.
That was easier said than done.
"Kitty, it's okay," Jean told her in a reassuring voice. "The moment I got my
powers, I was scared too. It was hard to shut it off. All of the thoughts
around me, they flooded in my head."
Kitty's eyes snapped up towards Jean. Her breath began to go in and out. She
came to one conclusion. This conclusion alarmed her.
"Wait, you can read minds?" Kitty asked.
"Yes, but I can assure you…"
Kitty was not listening. Much like many teenagers, she was jumping to the worst
possible conclusion possible at this distressful news. She slowly backed away,
and closed her eyes.
"I can't believe it, you know what I'm thinking," Kitty said, and she turned
around, before she stormed off immediately.
"I didn't…"
Get out of my head!"
"Kitty, wait!"
Kitty was not listening. She rushed off immediately. Jean frowned, and watched
her leave. Xavier just closed his eyes, and sighed deeply.
"Perhaps you should not have shared that bit of information with her as of
yet," Xavier told her gently, and Jean nodded.
She had made a crucial error trying to relate. It was not hard to realize why
the mind reading thing could upset someone.
"I guess I really blew that one, Professor," Jean said.
"I wouldn't say that, we should have realized that Kitty was still coping with
the development of her powers," Xavier said. He sat straight in his wheelchair.
This opportunity was not completely blown. He wondered what he was going to go
now.
Thankfully, he had one more ace up his sleeve. Harry showed up at this point.
He had just missed the show apparently. He walked over, and turned to face the
Professor and Jean.
"I searched all over the school, but I didn't come across her," Harry said. He
saw the look on Jean's face. "Let me guess, you had better luck in finding
her."
A strained smile spread across Jean's face. "Finding her was the easy part.
Actually convincing her that we were here to help her was the bad part. Most
people don't react well to the fact that someone can read minds."
"No, they don't," Harry agreed. Xavier turned towards Harry. "Maybe I should go
and talk to her. I could have better luck."
This was part of the reason why he was brought here.
"Yes, Harry, but tread lightly," Xavier said.
Harry enjoyed a challenge more than anything else. He moved down the hallway.
He had a feeling that the girl would not have gone that far. He hoped that he
was not going to make this situation even worse than it was already. He walked
forward, and spotted the girl sitting on the desk of a locked classroom. She
could only get through that door if she had phased through it. It was locked
from the inside.
Immediately, Harry twisted the door knob, and with a little magic, had opened
the door. He really had no idea how he was going to deal with this. He just
decided to go with his instincts.
Kitty sat on the desks, arms folded, deep in thought. She made a total idiot
out of herself, and overreacted. Yet, it was too late. She heard footsteps.
Immediately, she jumped up.
"Look, I'm sorry that I snapped at you, but it's just kind of creepy that you
can do the entire mental probe thing and it kind of freaks me out!" Kitty
shouted and she looked up. She saw that it was not Professor Xavier or Jean
Grey. She blinked, and took a long look at the person who had shown up. For a
moment, she was tongue tied. "Oh, sorry, I…I thought you were…someone else."
Kitty wanted to crawl into a hole and die out of embarrassment. She had just
yelled at someone, and had taken out her bad day on a complete stranger. The
brunette spent a moment staring into his eyes, before she snapped out of it.
Harry watched the girl with a smile. He knew all about overreacting to simple
situations.
"its okay, given the situation, I perfectly understand" Harry said. He took a
step forward, and spoke in a gentle voice. "If I was going through what you
were going through, I might have reacted the same way."
Kitty looked at him and she relaxed a little bit. She looked at him, a bit
testily. He held his hands up.
"Don't worry, I come in peace," Harry said to her. "I remember the first day
that I discovered that there was something really different about me. It was a
bad situation."
"What happened?" Kitty asked, and she immediately realized that she was a bit
too nosy for her own good. "Sorry, but…"
"I was being chased by a group of bullies," Harry said. He was speaking about
this casually like he was discussing the weather. "One minute I was on the
ground. The next minute, I was on the roof. It wasn't for ages until I figured
out what I did."
Kitty nodded her head.
"Harry Potter, by the way," Harry said.
"Kitty Pryde," Kitty said in the calmest voice she could imagine. This Harry
really did make her feel a bit more comfortable. "It's just been a really
stressful last couple of days."
"Believe me, I understand, I've had days like I'm sure you've had," Harry said
to her. "Walking through walls, that can be very useful. Do you know how many
times where I got locked inside a room, with no way to get out?"
"Um, no," Kitty said.
Harry decided to elaborate. "Must have been loads, but the point is that your
power could be extremely useful. It's not shutting a door, but opening a
window. A window of opportunity, and it's not the end of your life, rather a
new beginning."
Kitty tried to piece together this Harry. He seemed so mature. He was not like
other boys her age that she ignored. She was interested.
"Jean and Professor Xavier were just trying to be friendly, and I don't think
either of them would really read your mind, without permission," Harry said to
her. "And if you think that they might try, just picture them in their
underwear. That will get them out of your mind quick."
Kitty laughed. Harry sat down next to her on the desk. Kitty tried not to do
anything to embarrass herself.
"So how did you get here?" Kitty asked. "How did you join up with that Xavier
guy I mean?"
Harry smirked a little bit. "That's a long story. Maybe if you join the school,
I could tell you a little bit of it."
Kitty thought that was a compelling enough reason. Still she was not completely
sure. Perhaps she was loopy from phasing through the wall one too many times,
but Harry just seemed like one of those guys that she could trust.
They had made some light conversation for a few minutes. Kitty felt more and
more at ease with Harry. There were times where Harry seemed sure of himself.
Then there were times where he seemed more confused that anyone she knew.
He was an enigma. And she was fascinated about learning more about him.
===============================================================================
Several moments later, Harry and Kitty walked down the hallway. She was in a
bit better spirits than she was an hour, or even ten minutes ago. It was just
that everything came crashing down on her ears immediately, and it was hard to
cope with. The minor trials and tribulations of a teenage girl who was
struggling to pass her gym class, and being bullied really paled in comparison.
Now she felt much better.
"So have we come to an understanding?" Harry asked her. "Your powers don't make
you a freak, rather they make you unique. And there's no shame in that."
Kitty could not resist smiling. It was the first genuine one she had in days.
"Nice slogan, you should really put that on a t-shirt," Kitty joked.
Harry looked at her. "I was being serious."
"I know, but it's actually a good point, really it is," Kitty said. Her eyes
looked up and down at Harry. "So…I feel like a total idiot for freaking out
like that."
"No, it's all good, you weren't a total idiot," Harry said, and Kitty crossed
her arms. "But, I think that we're good right now. Are you ready to go back to
Jean and Professor Xavier, and give them a chance? They won't read your mind."
"Yeah, I'm trying to keep a bit more of an open mind about that," Kitty agreed.
Harry offered her a smile.
"Good, because I don't like to see everyone at odds," Harry said. "All of the
angst gives me a headache. I'm trying to cut it out of my life."
"And yet you're a teenager," Kitty said. "Are you sure you're not much older?"
"People have accused me of acting immature in the past," Harry told her.
"Really, you?" Kitty said skeptically.
The two continued to walk down the hallway. Another party stepped in front of
them. Harry tensed up immediately. He tried to remain calm and collected. He
knew from sight that this was the other mutant that Xavier picked up on
Cerebro. Lance Alvers, and immediately Harry remained cautious. While there was
no reason to suspect hostile intentions right off the bat, there was also no
reason to be a fool, and expect that Lance would be completely trustworthy.
Harry braced himself. Kitty stood beside him.
"You really are going to walk away with this guy, like he's some knight in
shining armor, are you?" Lance asked.
Kitty opened her mouth. She was flummoxed by his aggressive actions. After a
moment, she spoke up.
"No, he made some good points. You know, I'm sure they'd help you with your
powers too. Everything would be all cool."
"I don't need any help with my powers, and you don't either," Lance said, and
he stood up straight. His gaze burned into Kitty. "When they say help you with
your powers, they really mean they're going to put you on a leash. I know what
teachers really mean when they say that they're going to help you. They're
going to help you be miserable."
Harry could tell that this young man had some bad experiences in the past. This
was not going to be fun. He tried to be the voice of reason, even though he
wondered if he was being a fool. Still he had to try, he was stubborn like
that.
"It's nothing like that," Harry said. "The Xavier Institute…"
"Yeah, I heard all about Xavier and his high and mighty ways," Lance said. His
eyes danced with hostile intentions "And you seem to already mixed in with his
holier than thou ways too."
Harry just shifted on his feet. This was not going as he had planned. He was
trying to keep a cool-head. He was trying to keep a level head. He was really
trying not to cause any trouble. He had gone a few weeks in this world without
causing too much of a stir.
"If you don't want anything to do with the Xavier Institute, that's fine,"
Harry said to Lance. He took a few calming breaths. He stared down the other
boy. "But, Kitty and I are going to return. So please step out of our way and…"
Lance did not move. Harry sighed. He was really making this difficult. He
reached forward, and lightly grabbed Kitty's wrist. Kitty phased out of his
grip, rather annoyed at his actions.
"You can't be serious, and buy his crap," Lance said. He decided to dangle the
carrot in front of Kitty's face. "I know how you're about to flunk in gym. I
can tell you where they're keeping the grades, and you can use your powers to
change them. Just think about it, you'd be in and out, and no one would
notice."
Harry now felt like the angel on the shoulder, and he hated having to be the
cooler head that had to prevail. He gently grabbed Kitty's shoulder, and
steered her to the side.
"Let me first say, that this is up to you, we're never going to force you to
join," Harry told her. He was completely serious when he said this. "No one
should force or pressure anyone into using their powers in a way that they
don't want to. My only request is that you think about what you're going to do
nice, and hard. How is it going to affect your future? There is a difference
between doing what is easy, and what is right. And that's a choice you're going
to make."
Kitty bit her lip. There was a temptation, and she was ashamed to admit this,
of changing her gym grade. Admitting was the first step. Then again, her desire
for perfect academics was beaten over the head by her conscience. She took a
deep breath, and looked at Harry.
"I told you, I made up my mind," Kitty said, shaking her head. She looked at
Harry honestly. "I really…I really do want to come with you. To the school, I
mean. I mean what if I lose my mind, and end up phasing out of my clothes in
public. Imagine the embarrassment. I mean, that would be really, really bad. I
think I would die of embarrassment."
Harry did imagine that would be a pretty mortifying situation. He turned
towards the brunette, and he looked at her, seriously.
"So, if you're sure, then Jean and Xavier are waiting for you in the other
room. I'm sure they're going to forgive your little outburst. It happens to the
best of us, even the most mature of us."
Harry remembered his frequent outbursts earlier that year. That summer he had
quite the temper. He was sure that he took a few years off of his friends'
hearing after what he did. Yet, he had grown beyond that. He realized that he
could have better control of his powers if he held better control of his
temper. Then, the dark haired wizard told to Lance, giving him a "no hard
feelings" look.
"Just remember, the offer is open for both of you," Harry said.
Lance's teeth gritted. Harry sensed trouble. He did more than sense trouble. He
sensed the floor vibrating beneath his feet. He cursed his luck. Kitty looked
at him, and Harry moved forward.
"You don't want to do this," Harry said. He was trying to stay out of trouble,
but he was not going to let anyone walk over him either.
The debris broke up from the ground. Dust flew everywhere. Harry threw his body
in the way, and a large chunk of debris smashed into him. He grimaced, and he
went through his head, racking his brain for a way to counteract the attack.
Perhaps he had gained greater clarity in his concussed state, but he had the
right idea.
Kitty dove forward, and grabbed Lance. She made both of them intangible. She
phased them halfway through the floor, before the vibrations were too much for
her to keep straight. She was back out, and Harry used a shield charm to block
the debris. He repelled them back at Lance. It was self-defense. He knocked him
out.
Lance was down on the ground, still breathing. Harry shook his head, and nearly
collapsed to the ground.
Harry staggered. All things considered he could have been better, but he could
have been worse. Blood dripped from his mouth. Kitty rushed over, kneeling down
beside Harry, and at that moment. Jean and Professor Xavier arrived. Xavier
surveyed the mess, most of it which Harry cleaned up. He had a nasty bump on
his head, and his mouth bled. Yet he seemed in rather good spirits.
"Harry, are you alright?" Jean asked.
Perhaps once again it was his concussed state, but Harry thought that was the
stupidest question he could ever imagine. He was perfectly fine.
"Yeah, peachy," Harry said in a dry voice. He noticed their questioning looks.
"I had to knock him out, he could have crushed, Kitty, and any innocent
bystanders."
"And you, too!" Jean yelled.
"Yes, and me," Harry said as an afterthought. He staggered around a bit dazed.
He tried to brush it off.
Kitty turned towards Jean and the Professor. A bit of a shifty smile crossed
her face. She looked at them. Things were kind of awkward.
"So, um, I made up my mind, and I'm going to try the school," Kitty said.
"Yes, I imagined that would be the case," Xavier said. "We will meet with your
parents to discuss your options for your future. After Harry gets medical
attention after what happened today."
"No need to worry about it, Professor, I'm fine," Harry said.
Jean looked at him through narrowed eyes.
"Yeah, the bloody mouth really indicates fine,' Jean said.
Harry was now annoyed once more.
"Merely a flesh wound," Harry said, shaking his head.
Jean shook her head. Logan was like this, but Logan had the amped up healing
factor. Harry had no such thing. Then again, she snuck a peak at the scans
Professor Xavier did on Harry. Magic had natural healing abilities. Maybe Harry
was not as strong as Logan for that, but he could heal from things that would
bring most men down to their knees.
Harry was eventually persuaded to get medical attention. Kitty could barely
hold back her laughter at the look on his face. It was like he was being
condemned to death row. It was kind of funny and a bit cute if she would have
to admit to herself.
Kitty shook her head, wondering if she got clonked on the head as well.
===============================================================================
After the events of the day, Kitty was both rather happy, and also kind of
nervous to be back at her home. Jean and Professor Xavier were right there with
her, and Harry was also sitting beside her. Jean seemed to have the uncanny
ability to pacify everything, and make things a little better with authority
figures. Yet, Kitty was still a bit nervous, and this was showed on her face.
"You aren't mad at me, are you Mom and Dad?" Kitty asked. A frown appeared on
her face. She could handle what anyone else thought of it. It was letting down
her parents that caused her to be a bit more stressed. "About the entire power
thing and how it's going to interfere with my life…"
"No, Kitty of course not, but it's just a shock to see your only daughter go
through a change like this," her mother said. She surveyed her daughter with a
reassuring look. "You are still the same girl that you were a week ago. It's
just…"
"You have found a special talent that you need to understand and train," her
father said. He tried to keep his expression neutral and fair. "Professor
Xavier has talked to us, and informed us that there are other people like you
out there. People who have abilities, and we think that it's best that you go
to that school, and learn what you can. Besides, you can get a fresh start."
"Yes, Kitty, if you are willing to join, we can have to enrolled in the Xavier
Institute, and Bayville High School by the end of the week," Xavier said. "Your
academics will not be interrupted, and you can begin learning how to train your
powers."
Kitty looked at them, looking at her parents, and the representatives of the
school. She nodded.
"Yes, this is something that I really have to do. I think I'll look forward to
doing this. I'll miss you guys, but it's not like I'm going to leave forever.
I'll e-mail you, every week, and I'll come home and visit when I can. There's
no way I'll ever forget you, ever, I promise."
Kitty's parents just nodded, and smiled. They knew she would not. Jean got to
her feet, and Xavier turned to Kitty's parents.
"Here is the contact information for the Institute, in the event that you need
to get in touch with the school in the case of a family emergency," Xavier
replied, and Kitty's parents nodded. "We'll be leaving now."
"I'll go pack," Kitty said, trying not to sound too eager. After some of the
things Harry told her about the school, she was more excited than ever before.
Plus for some reason, spending more time with Harry seemed rather enticing.
Kitty scrambled up the stairs, and began to pack. Jean ushered Harry over. She
looked at him with a knowing smile.
"What are you smiling about?" Harry asked her.
"Nothing, just glad to see that you seem to be back on your feet after what
happened," Jean told him. She grew suddenly serious, and looked over Harry.
"There are far better ways of getting someone's attention then to take a huge
chunk of debris on the top of your head."
Harry looked at Jean. A cross expression appeared on his face.
"I was trying to make sure no one got hurt," Harry said.
Jean looked at Harry in an exasperated manner.
"Well, some might argue that you're far from a nobody, Harry," Jean said.
Harry shifted in annoyance. He hated when people worried about him. While it
was understood where they were coming from, it was still annoying. He was more
durable then people gave him credit for. He could handle himself, and had many
times in the past. Jean did not press the matter anymore, so neither had
brought up the subject. There was an awkward silence. Professor Xavier gave the
Prydes a few more words.
Kitty made her way down the stairs, trying to lug her bag with her. Harry used
a charm to help her steady it.
"Thanks," Kitty said to him.
"No problem, looks like you could have packed a bit more evenly," Harry said.
Kitty looked at him with a frown, and a challenging expression.
"Oh, are you some kind of expert in how bags should be packed?"
"No, but I can tell that the bag would be ripped if you shifted it the wrong
way with how it was packed," Harry told her. Kitty shifted with a frown on her
face. "I managed to redistribute the weight, so you should have no problems
now."
"I don't know how I ever could have lived without you," Kitty said in a teasing
voice.
"Pretty easily, I'm sure," Harry said, and both teenagers laughed. Xavier
cleared his throat.
"I believe the Jet is warmed up, if that's all, we must be departing, so we can
return by dark," Xavier said.
Kitty nodded, and she rushed over to give her parents one last goodbye.
"So, Kitty, about that boy," her father said in a casual tone of voice.
"Dad!" Kitty yelled in an incredulous tone.
She could not believe that her parents would embarrass her like that. Then
again, she was pretty sure that was in the official parenting manual that you
had to embarrassing your children. If Harry had heard this conversation,
nothing was mentioned. Kitty intended to not bring anything up.
She acted like nothing happened.
Kitty prepared to leave with Jean, Harry, and Professor Xavier for a new life
of adventure and fun with the X-Men.
She just hoped she survived the experience.
Then again, it could not be any worse than High School, could it?
There was no way possible.
Was there?
===============================================================================
Lance walked outside. He stewed after what happened. The truth was what
happened today, he could have handled a bit better. His pride had taken a huge
hint. That other boy seemed to be a pushover, but he had turned his own powers
against him. And when he had woken up, he had hit his last strike. He had been
expelled from school after his attack. Not that he needed school. He sat
outside, and rubbed his forehead. He could barely hear a car pull up, and the
door slam.
"Having a bad day, Mr. Alvers?"
The same woman who had talked with him on the street had walked out for him.
She was dressed in a business suit, and wore glasses.
"Yeah, what's it to you?" Lance asked.
"No need to get hostile, I heard that you got expelled from school," the woman
said. Lance looked at her. She decided to elaborate. "I can offer you an
opportunity to get a fresh start, and right the wrongs. All I need is for you
do a little favor for me."
Lance folded his arms. There was a catch. There always had to be a catch. Yet,
despite that fact he was intrigued. His full attention was focused on the
woman, and he figured there was no harm in asking her any questions. What were
his options?
"What is it?" Lance asked.
"Move to Bayville, on the East Coast, and I can offer you a fresh start that
many only dream about," the woman said. "I am the Principal of Bayville High
School. I can offer you a spot at the school. You will get close to other
interesting students. Students from the Xavier Institute, who also attend my
school, and I believe that they are troublemakers. But, I am recruiting several
promising students to help keep an eye on them."
Lance thought the chance of retribution was rather promising. Perhaps his anger
had gotten the better of him. Yet, he had never been one to back down from a
fight. Calling it a side effect of how he grew up, and the fights he had, but
that was just how he felt. The woman seemed to be giving him all of the right
answers, for the most part. She warned him that there were those who did not
understand his powers, and sure enough he was right.
"So, where do I sign up?" Lance asked.
Principal Darkholme had a calculating look spread across her face. The fish had
swallowed the bait, and she had netted Magneto a second recruit. The recruits
might be scrapping the bottom of the barrel; however she could train them up.
Strict discipline would turn these teen recruits into an elite fighting force
on par of Xavier and his lackeys.
"Right now, Mr Alvers," Darkholme said.
"Please, call me Avalanche," Lance said.
Darkholme just responded in a very dry voice. "Lance Alvers…Avalanche, yes
that's very original of you."
Despite this, she had a new recruit. Said recruit was also willing to leave
immediately. She had struck while the iron was hot, and now another member for
the growing Brotherhood. Magneto would have his army, and hopefully would get
off her back.
If what she found out was right, she had a mission of the more personal nature
to deal with.
To Be Continued in Chapter 6 "Lessons." 
***** Lessons *****
Chapter 06: Lessons.
The Blackbird was boarded with the entire assembled group of X-Men. This was a
mission where Xavier suspected that the entire team should go on. Given the
fact that this was a weekend and thus not a school night, there was no reason
for any of them to stay in bed.
Ororo, or Storm, was the one who was designated to fly the plane. There was
space designated next to her, where Professor Xavier's wheelchair could be
placed. The ramp extended down, and Xavier rolled up it, and only place. The
next two seats on the plane back were occupied by Jean and Scott. Kitty took a
seat in the next row, and Harry sat down beside her. Kurt sat in the next one
on the plane. Logan, being Logan, sat away in the back, and propped his feet
up, waiting to go to their destination.
There was silence that was going to be broken in a matter of moments.
"So where are we going?" Logan asked. He was short, and to the point, always
one to get to the answers without cutting through the bullshit. "We pulled
everyone out of training, so it has to be important."
Logan had the air of someone who thought that was a mistake.
"It is Logan," Xavier said. "Another mutant was picked up on Cerebro, and her
mutant powers are quite intriguing. This will be a bit of a flight, so it's
best that I explain properly."
Scott spoke in a casual voice. "So, are we talking about the good kind of
interesting? Or are we talking about the bad kind of interesting?"
"Depends on what your perception is, Scott," Xavier said. "She can absorb the
memories of people through the touch of her bare skin."
"That must be a useful power," Harry mused.
"Well, providing if you can control it," Xavier said.
"She can't control it," Harry said, and he suddenly grew rather grim.
"That does seem to be the case, she touched just a tiny bit of her flesh on a
boy's hand today, and he blacked out," Xavier said. "The boy will recover in
time, but for now he's in a catatonic state. It's uncertain if he'll remember
what has transpired. The girl's assumed name is Rogue, at least that's what she
goes by."
"Well it seems like that name's already taken," Kitty said to Harry in a joking
manner. "That kind of sucks, it does fit you."
"Very funny," Harry said, and Kitty just nudged him.
"Oh come on, it's not like you're someone that stays out of trouble," Kitty
told Harry.
"Yeah, she does have a point," Kurt said. "You tend to attract the most trouble
for us in those Danger Room sessions."
"I get you out of the trouble don't I?" Harry inquired. His expression remained
firm and emotionless. Kitty and Kurt both nodded their heads.
"It's all part of your training," Ororo said, before this discussion could go
any further again. "Although one day, I hope that your training will progress
to the point where you don't get into trouble in the first place."
Harry would have to agree. He thought that as well. Contrary to popular belief,
he would have liked to be have avoided trouble. Yet, it seemed to follow him.
No matter what universe he was in.
There was silence on the Blackbird. Harry thought his Danger Room training was
moving nicely. The solo stuff he was better at than the team work. He had to
admit, for some reason he worked better alone. Still he was improving, so that
was actually something that encouraged him.
"It's going to be a long flight to Mississippi," Kitty commented lightly. She
looked at Harry with a smile. "And someone dodged out of the conversation about
the codenames yesterday, before we could properly finish it."
Harry opened his mouth, before he decided to go in with the only retort that he
could think of.
"Jean doesn't have a codename," Harry said.
"Hey, don't get me involved in this," Jean said. The truth was she thought of
one that sounded cool. When she was about sixteen, and now at the sophisticated
age of seventeen the name "Marvel Girl" did not sound that cool or anything but
cheesy. Scott was the only one who knew, and he was not going to say anything.
If he knew what was good for him.
"Come on, codename," Kurt said. "It's not that painless, its better you pick
out one, before Logan does or something like that."
"And what's that supposed to mean?" Logan asked.
Kurt shook his head.
"Nothing, nothing," Kurt said, changing the subject. "Still, I picked out
Nightcrawler, and Kitty…"
"Shadowcat, duh," Kitty said. She shook her head, and crossed her arms.
"So that was the one you finally decided on after the fifty million codenames
you threw out in the state of hyperactivity you were in," Harry said. He had a
grin on his face, and Kitty just shook her head.
"Hey, I couldn't decide, all of them were epic," Kitty said.
Scott turned around to look at Harry.
"You know you'll never here the end of this, if you don't pick a codename
soon," Scott said.
Harry sighed. Names were not something that he was good at. He closed his eyes,
and began to crack his brain.
'Firebolt…no naming myself after my old broom isn't going to work out,'Harry
thought to himself. 'Sparky…no I'll never here the end of that one. Wizard…too
generic. Sorcerer…yeah that's even more generic. Spanner…I have no idea where
that bit of stupidity came from. Who would want to be named after a wrench?
Downfall…no. Potter, think off something before you get saddled with something
that's going to stick."
The plane hit some temporary turbulence, but it was nothing that it could not
recover from. Harry was jolted out of his thought process.
"I've got it," Harry said. Kitty moved over, and nearly phased through her seat
belt in excitement. She could not wait to see what brainstorm her team mate had
come up with. "I think Arcane would be the perfect codename for me. I don't
know what, but there's just something about the codename that speaks to me."
Kitty looked at him, blinking in confusion, before she understood. She looked
impressed.
"Well given that it means something that's understood by few, mysterious and
secret, that fits you to a tee," Kitty said.
Harry thought that did fit him, even though that was not quite the direction he
was going for.
"Actually, I was going for the magic user aspect of it, more really," Harry
said.
"Although you really should have gone with the name Excalibur or something, I
mean that just sounds cool," Kitty said. Harry looked at her, with a raised
eyebrow. The brunette looked at him in an exasperated manner. "You know, like
the sword with King Arthur and Merlin and all that stuff."
"Yes, I'm aware of what Excalibur is," Harry said with a chuckle, and there was
laughter all around. "I just don't see it as a name fitting me. And are you
trying to say that Arcane isn't cool?"
"No, I'm not saying that all," Kitty said. "But you got to admit that the name
Excalibur just seems to be so much more epic."
Harry sighed. He looked at her, with a frown.
"Arcane's good too," Kitty added.
"Glad to see I have your vote of confidence," Harry said.
"Good, we finally got that settled," Kitty said. She turned to Kurt. "Unless
you can think of a better name."
"No, it's good," Kurt said.
"Well, I'll miss hearing that debate," Scott said dryly and suddenly they saw
that they were there.
The X-Men prepared to see what they could find from the newest mutant. The way
Xavier had briefed them on the situation, they knew that they would have to
take extra care not to terrify the girl, and cause her to lash out against
them, using her powers. The Blackbird landed, and they exited it to walk to the
last known spot where the girl was sighted.
Getting here was the easy part. Finding their mystery girl was going to be
something different all together.
===============================================================================
A young girl dressed in gothic clothing stepped forward. She was pale, with
dark hair, and white bangs. She looked around over to the side. Her heart began
to thump a mile a minute. She could hardly believe what had happened. Her
entire world had been turned topsy-turvy. She continued to run forward as fast
as her legs could carry her. The events of the last few hours had played
through her mind. She had gotten mostly a sense of herself. However, there were
just many more questions that were yet to be answered.
The girl known as Rogue leaned against the wall. She was at a party. It was a
rare outing that her guardian, Irene, had allowed her to attend. There was
something that was always different about her. She had been told that she had a
skin condition, and had to avoid contact with other children her age. Well,
skin condition would be one way to put it what she had. She held her arms
across her chest, and took a few deep breaths.
It all came back to her. There was this boy, at the party. His name was Cody.
He asked her to dance, they did. Suddenly their skin touched, and the lights
went out. His memories became hers. His talents on the Football field had
become hers. She was standing there, and took a deep breath. She still shook
her head.
'What's happening to me?'Rogue asked herself. She put her hands on her face.
'Is this what's going to happen every single time I go out in public. I can't
even stand to face anyone? I have to be afraid to accidentally bump into
someone, because this might happen. This is crazy. This is…no there's got to be
an explanation. I got to get out of here…get home."
Rogue put her hands on her head. She continued to be confused, and took a deep
breath. The solution had swam around her head. She needed to get home. However,
where was home? That was something that she had no idea. Was she home right
now? Was this her home or Cody's home? Where was she going? She wiped her hand
across her forehead.
She barely even remembered her real name any more. She could not sit around
here, gawkin' like some kind of idiot. She had to keep moving. It was useless
to try and think otherwise. She made sure her skin was completely covered, or
at least as covered as it was going to get. The last thing the girl wanted was
some relapse of the incident.
Suddenly she stopped. She heard growling from outside. Rogue felt faint, and
stopped.
"Who's…who's there," Rogue said, and she prepared to fight.
A short man dressed in orange had stepped out. He had dark hair.
"I've got you, right where I want you," he growled.
He charged forward, and jumped at Rogue. Rogue tucked her head, and rolled out
of the way. The man crashed into the bed, and Rogue decided to use that as her
opportunity to rush out of the backdoor, as fast as her legs could carry her.
Mystique watched Rogue leave. Her eyes followed the girl's progress out the
door, as she thought about the plan. Wearing the face of Wolverine was
something that she detested, but it would have to do for the plan to work. She
could not allow Rogue to be recruited by the X-Men. Xavier had already gotten
to one of them, and poisoned him with his lies. Mystique refused to allow
another one to get corrupted by that foolish man's even more foolish dream.
She watched Rogue leave. Her beady eyes were narrowly fixed on the girl. She
gave the girl a couple of moments to sweat things out. Then she turned into
Storm. She reached into her belt, and pulled out a miniature pellet. This would
simulate fake lightning.
"No one escapes the X-Men," the faux Storm bellowed in a commanding voice.
This performance would go on without a hitch, and Rogue's own confusion about
her powers planned into her plans perfectly. She pelleted in, and the flash of
light scorched the ground, it caused Rogue to tumble head over heels. She
landed on the ground with a thud.
She rolled over, and got back to her feet. The woman she saw kept in the
shadows, so she looked like an imposing figure. Rogue took a few deep breaths,
and tried to remain on her feet. She scrambled on her back, and kept running.
Mystique watched Rogue leave. It was a shame she had to do something like this.
The name of the game was deception. It was all about sticking to the plan.
Mystique turned around, and she got on her cell phone when she was sure Rogue
was running out of sight.
"She's running scared," Mystique said. There was a small bit of regret in her
voice. Yet, she was trying to keep neutral.
She had a job to do.
The X-Men had arrived. Already Rogue would be confused. Mystique morphed into a
raven. It was time to get a bird's eye view, and watch the show. Soon she would
continue to drive nails into the reputation of the X-Men.
The entire group exited their jet, unaware that they were being watched by
Mystique. As long as she remained hidden, and in the shadows, there should be
no way that any of them would know that she was here.
The game was afoot. Now it was the time to take things up to the next level
when Xavier and his disciples got involved.
The seeds of discontent will be sewed even further.
===============================================================================
Harry always found himself to be someone who could think really quickly on his
feet. He had never been much of a planner. That was the one reason why he kind
of was a bit reluctant about being a part of a team. It kind of stopped him
from thinking on his feet. He had to compensate for the follies of others.
He stood around. Scott, Jean, and Logan went one way. Ororo took to the air to
see if she could spot this Rogue girl. Harry was with Kitty and Kurt on the
ground. One of them could teleport away from trouble, and one of them could
become intangible to avoid attacks. And they could do so to other people.
Harry thought he heard something. It was merely a bird.
'Got to learn to relax, Potter,'Harry thought to himself.
Suddenly, he did spot something. The girl Professor Xavier described had been
running in the distance. He had gotten a glimpse of her. It took him a few
seconds to register what he saw.
"Look," Harry said to Kitty and Kurt. They both spun around.
"Yeah, that's so her," Kitty said. She pulled out the communication device that
she had on her. "Hey, Scott, Jean, we got her."
"Great, don't let her out of your sight, we're going in," Scott said.
"That shouldn't be too hard," Kurt said, and he teleported out of the way.
"Not all of this can do that," Kitty said. Harry disapparated away next and
left Kitty stranded. Kitty placed her hands on her hips. Harry returned.
"Hang onto my waist tightly," Harry advised her.
Kitty looked at him strangely. "Your waist?"
"That's what I said," Harry said, and he grabbed Kitty, pulling her in closely.
Kitty wrapped her around his waist. The two disapparated with a pop.
There was a moment where Kitty had her arm around Harry's waist. She paused,
and noticed that they were there.
"Um, right maybe I should let go," Kitty said.
"Take your time," Harry told her with a smile.
They joined Kurt over to the side. Kurt was standing there, and Logan hovered
in the background. The fuzzy mutant turned his attention to both Kitty and
Harry who stood and waiting.
"It looks like we don't have to worry too much, Jean's found her," Kurt said,
pointing them out.
Harry moved in to listen closely, and he caught snatches of conversation.
Jean walked up towards Rogue. She had collapsed on the ground, and was now
seated on the ground cross-legged. She looked up at Jean. She backed off.
"It's okay, there's no need to be upset," Jean said. "With your powers, you're
scared, and confused. But we're here to help."
"You are?" Rogue asked.
"We're here from the Xavier Institute for the Gifted, and you can learn how to
use your powers," Jean said.
"And you expect me to just get up, and walk off with you," Rogue said. There
was a great deal of distrust dripping from her voice.
Jean shook her head. She could see the suspicious look in Rogue's eyes.
"I don't expect you to do that. However, just think about it. Take this
communicator device, and if you consider going, just press that button. It
should contact one of us, and we can pick you up. We'll be around a little bit
longer tonight."
Rogue just pondered. She really didn't know what she wanted to do to be honest.
Suddenly she looked up, and spotted of the ones who attacked her. The man who
had tried to attack her in her room was now walking up towards her, and Rogue
panicked.
She saw the woman who had tried to zap her with lightning. Immediately, Rogue
ran off.
"I don't understand, it looked like she was going to join," Jean said.
"Something's rotten here," Logan said. He sniffed the air. "I can smell it."
"Yeah, the way she's running, could someone else be here?" Harry asked.
Logan considered that for a second.
"Possible, I'll keep an eye out," Logan said.
"So do you think that we should try and talk to her?" Scott asked.
Kurt popped up. This was his first official recruiting mission, and he thought
that this would be the perfect chance to do something useful.
"Maybe she ran away from you guys, but maybe I could talk to her," Kurt said.
Harry nodded. He thought that Kurt was more of a people person than he was. His
conventional regular appearance was not a reflection of what lied within. This
Rogue girl seemed rather more distressed than Kitty was when Harry had run into
her. Kitty was just dealing with her powers. If Harry did not know any better,
Rogue was attacked by someone.
"I'd be careful, someone might have been attacking her," Harry said.
"You mean trying to make us look bad," Ororo said.
"Yeah, that makes sense," Kitty said. Her eyes focused on Logan and Ororo.
"When she saw the two of you, she panicked."
"Elf, go see if you can talk some sense into her," Logan said shortly, and Kurt
nodded. "The rest of you, stick around here. If someone is attacking here, they
could be going after us."
Rogue nearly collapsed on the ground. She had been running for so long that she
was sick of it. She saw a dark haired boy on the swing set of a playground
area.
"Hey there's no need for alarm," the boy said with a smile. "We're not your
enemy, we're your friends."
"I don't know what's going on here," Rogue said. "Who are you?"
"My name's Kurt," he said. He dropped down, and looked at Rogue. "The X-Men are
here because they want to help you."
"The X-Men, two of them tried to attack me," Rogue said. A scowl appeared on
her face. "Look, you might be one of the good ones, but the one that attacked
me today were not good."
"None of us saw you until you were running," Kurt argued.
There was a long moment where Rogue looked at Kurt with abject disbelief. She
shook her head, and could not believe him at all. It just seemed so crazy. She
wanted to believe it, but she couldn't.
"I just want to try, and get home and get some answers," Rogue said.
"I understand, you think the entire world is out to get you," Kurt said.
Rogue thought that was an oddly accurate statement. Kurt got up to his feet.
"So, just let everyone have a chance to explain themselves, and it won't be so
bad," Kurt said to her. He paused, and gave Rogue an encouraging smile. "You'll
see."
Rogue shook her head. She took a step forward, but a figure jumped her from
behind. Before either Kurt or Rogue could see who it was, Rogue accidentally
brushed up against him. His powers had been absorbed and he dropped to the
ground, knocked completely unconscious. Rogue panicked. This was the second
time this happened, but she got something more than memories.
Rogue teleported immediately. All she intended to do was to get out of there.
However, all she could do was teleport.
Kitty and Harry arrived. They saw Kurt on the ground.
"Kurt!" Kitty yelled frantically.
Harry held her back. He performed a few diagnostic spells. It was determine if
Kurt was in any immediate danger.
"He's merely stunned," Harry told Kitty, before she could completely freak out.
"She barely touched him; he'll be up in a couple of minutes."
"How do you know?" Kitty asked him.
Harry looked at her seriously.
"Because, I saw it before we got here," Harry said. He turned around. His gaze
was in the shadows. "There's something else here, that attacked both of them."
"Is that the same thing you think is attacking Rogue?" Kitty asked.
Harry nodded. Scott and Jean were nearby in case they needed back up. It would
be another couple of minutes before Kurt would come too.
His breath quickened, as did his heartbeat. Harry began to pick up the pace a
little bit more. He hoped to reach Rogue before it was too late. She was still
teleporting like mad. Harry knew that this might get him absorbed too. He
grabbed Rogue's wrist to block her, and grounded her in place.
There was a long pause for a moment where it appeared that nothing happened.
Then Harry felt something wash over him. He passed out from the pain as quickly
as Rogue grabbed his wrist. He dropped to his hands and knees, and then blacked
out.
Rogue staggered back. She had gotten a taste of what it was like to have Harry
Potter's memories. This was not going to be pleasant for her at all. She began
to scream in pure agony. She managed to disapparate nearly halfway across the
town with a huge crack.
Harry was coming to. He felt like he had been dunked in ice water. His powers
had protected him for the most part. He had only felt a slight buzz when Rogue
absorbed him.
"I tried to stop her," Harry told Jean as she showed up.
"You did, but it seems like your powers aren't something that can block hers,"
Jean said. She paused, and added. "You weren't assuming they were, are there?"
Harry responded with a shrug.
"Magic makes an idiot out of most science," Harry said. He thought that this
was the most logical explanation at the time. "I had to take a guess."
Jean nodded. That was fair enough. Kitty moved over with them, and Kurt was
beginning to stir as well. They still had the problem of a rogue…well, Rogue.
Harry got a good look at how her powers worked, and if he would have had to
grab her next time, he would be able to negate them. His mind processed that
much. He could be completely of base, but he hoped not.
===============================================================================
Rogue shook her head. The longer she ran around, the more confused she was. The
moment she touched that second boy, his memories just did not make any sense to
her. At least for the most part, and the memories that made sense had
completely tortured her mind. What kind of life did he live to have something
like that in his head? That had to be the most messed up mind ever.
The X-Men were something else that caused her confusion. Sometimes, they seemed
to want to help her. Then there were other times where they wanted to attack
her. She took a step back, and ran into a building. She just needed a quiet
place to think and to recoup.
She heard the footsteps behind her.
"Who's there?" Rogue demanded. Her Southern temper flared up at this moment.
"Look, I'm so sick and tired of you all giving me the go around. I want some
answers, and I…"
She stopped, and the redhead who had given her the communicator had shown up at
that moment. She managed to straighten up, and take a deep breath.
"It seems like some people just don't want to be helped," "Jean" said.
Rogue looked up, and the columns behind her exploded. She scrambled towards the
nearest exit as fast as her legs could take her. The girl came to one
conclusion. This entire group was nuts and possibly fickle as well. Rogue took
her next steps, and scrambled away as fast as her feet could take her.
Mystique stood, under the guise of Jean Grey. So far, everything was going
towards plan. Pretty soon, Rogue would be turned away from the X-Men forever.
She closed her eyes, and then her form morphed into that of one Harry Potter.
Mystique took a step forward, and drew a breath.
"Going somewhere?"
Mystique turned around to come face to face with the real deal. This was not
part of the plan at all. How did he get here some quickly?
"You know if she sees us in the same place, at the same time, your little
deception is going to go down the tube," Harry told her.
Mystique fired a kick. Thanks to his reflexes, Harry ducked. He rolled out of
the way, and tried to back off. He tried to alert the team, but Mystique had
kicked the communicator out of his hand. Harry was now on his own, and he
turned to engage her. He tried to manipulate her into position to fire a spell
at her. She seemed to be able to dodge that accordingly, and they circled
around each other.
Rogue stepped back, and now she was really confused. Not to mention she was
very angry. She saw two versions of the same dark haired, green eyed boy that
she was fighting. This made no sense at all. One of the boys shot energy beams
from his hand of some sort. She felt stupid for describing what he did like
that. Yet, that was the only explanation she could think of.
The X-Men showed up at that moment. They were greeted by the sight of the two
Harry's fighting.
"So, which one is the real one?" Kurt asked. He had just woken back up, and was
still a little groggy from the battle.
Kitty frowned, and she pointed out the right Harry.
"I'm guessing the one that's shooting the magic stuff out of his hands," Kitty
said.
"Yeah, that makes sense," Logan grunted.
Mystique was getting more and more frustrated as time went on. No matter what
she did, she could not get one hit on this young man. Who had now ruined
everything, and it was not like he was skilled at fighting. He was not skilled
at fighting in the slightest. It was just that he was jumping around, and it
was beginning to drive her nuts. All he was doing was dodging.
She backed off when she saw the X-Men. The numbers had turned into odds that
she did not like. This was the last thing that went through her mind before an
orange light impacted her chest. She landed to the ground and her breath had
been knocked out of her.
Jean decided to ask the obvious question. "Professor is that…"
"Yes, that is, Jean," Xavier said. The other members of the X-Men looked
confused, especially the newer ones. "This is Mystique. She is a shape-shifter,
and a highly dangerous fighter. She's a master of deception."
"That much I gathered," Harry said dryly.
"So, she's the one who tried to go after her?" Logan asked.
Rogue stepped forward, and looked at the entire group of X-Men. Her eyes
widened at that moment, and her mouth opened.
"Will any of you explain to me what the hell is going on here?" Rogue asked.
Her eyes narrowed, as she looked at all of the X-Men. "Is this is some kind of
sick joke?"
"There's no kind of sick joke here, Rogue," Xavier said. Rogue looked rather
skeptical. Anyone would be given the circumstances. Thankfully Xavier was able
to pacify the situation as only he could. He sat on his wheelchair, and peered
up at her. "The X-Men are not your enemies. We can help you figure out your
powers."
Rogue looked dubious at best. Mystique's eyes flickered open. She slowly
managed to get to her feet, before she was missed. Logan had seen her rushing
from the window.
"We've got a runner," Logan growled.
Harry moved over to stun Mystique again. However he was stopped.
"Let her go," Xavier said.
Harry's eyes narrowed suspiciously.
"What?" Harry asked, unable to believe this.
Xavier sighed. This was going to be hard one to explain. Yet he had to.
"We must let her go, young Rogue here is of the most importance," Xavier said.
"We had a perfect opportunity to bring someone dangerous like that down, and
we're just going to let her go," Harry said. He spoke slowly, and deliberately
as if he was not sure he was hearing right. He was pretty sure he did not get
hit in the head during the battle.
"I got to go with him on this one, Chuck," Logan said.
'I'll explain my reasoning for it later, Logan,'Xavier told the mutant
telepathically.
Logan just grumbled.
"Harry could have got her easily you know," Kitty said. "The rest of you aren't
going to just stand around and let her get away, are you?"
"If the Professor has a good reason for it, then perhaps we should," Scott
said. He was in two minds about the situation, but Professor Xavier often did
have a good reason. Even if he was at a loss to figure out what that reason
might be.
Rogue stared.
"You can come with us Rogue, if you want, or we will drop you off back home,"
Xavier said.
"Fine, I'll come with you," Rogue said. She looked at them to make sure she let
them know this decision was completely in her hands. "Then I'll decide whether
or not if I'm staying."
Xavier nodded his head. All and all that was the best that he could hope for
given the situation. He would be able to talk to Rogue.
"We all got off on the wrong foot I think," Harry said. "I'm sorry."
"For what?" Rogue asked.
"You saw my memories," Harry said.
"Yeah, well I was the one who touched you, so I had it coming," Rogue said.
"I'm going to have to figure out why that keeps happening."
"Well come to the school, and you might," Kitty said.
Her cheery demeanor was something that threw Rogue off, and just annoyed her on
principle. It was nothing personal against the girl. It just was against her
nature. She just nodded. Perhaps that would be something that she had to
consider.
A black bird watched as Rogue left. Her beady little eyes were fixed on both
Harry Potter and Charles Xavier. She blamed both of them for what happened, and
she plotted her revenge.
There would come a day where both of them would pay.
===============================================================================
"So have to come to a consensus of whether or not you're going to stay, Rogue?"
Rogue stared at the assembled group of the X-Men. The truth was she had really
been trying to figure out where she stood. There were a million thoughts going
through her mind. She was quiet the entire trip back. No one seemed to want to
look at her. Then again, after this entire event she took a deep breath. She
looked at the group, and folded her arms. She delayed the answer, even if she
knew what it was going to be.
"I'll be honest, I thought that you people were out to get me," Rogue said.
"Then it was…that Mystique wasn't it?"
"Yeah that was her," Xavier said. "She is a master of trickery. Do not feel bad
that you nearly were tricked by her. There were many people who had fallen for
her tricks in the past. And there will be many more people who have fallen for
her tricks. Many of them far wiser, and it was lucky she was caught."
Harry had no idea whether or not luck had anything to do with it. Mystique was
there, and then she was gone. Harry took a step back. Kitty, Kurt, Jean, and
Scott stood in the background. He had wondered why Xavier made the decision
that he did. That one was going to annoy him for a long time.
He was hoping to avoid the standard answer of people having their reasons. And
Xavier likely had a good reason he was sure. The only thing that stopped Harry
from calling out Xavier on everything was the fact that he did not have a back-
up plan. He was still in this strange world.
Still one day, he would likely have to confront him on it.
"Yeah, Mystique is slippery," Harry told Rogue, for lack of anything better to
say.
"You took her down," Rogue said. "And then you let her go."
"Yeah, I'm at a loss for that one too," Harry said.
"Why did you tell Harry to let her go, Professor?" Kitty asked.
"Yeah, she was one of the bad guys, so we should have brought her in," Kurt
said.
Xavier knew this was not going to be a conversation that he would not relish
having with the younger members of the team. If he had taken in Mystique, he
would risk starting a war with Magneto. Humanity would be caught in the
crossfire. Their relationship had been tense. It was almost a truce, or a
ceasefire.
"No human prison would have been able to hold Mystique," Xavier said. The
answer was honest, and most would have bought it.
Rogue, Kurt, Kitty, and Harry all exchanged expressions of deep skepticism. The
older members of the team seemed about ready to buy this answer. Logan just
grunted, and scowled. Something told them that he did not believe it any more
than they did.
"Okay, Professor, you're the boss," Kurt said, shrugging his shoulders.
"Now, I hope that today's events will not sour our relationship," Xavier said.
Harry nodded. He was still getting used to being a part of a team. Perhaps this
is one of those team building exercises, and things he had to learn to deal
with.
The more answers he got, the more questions he got.
"I'd like to stay, Professor, give the X-Men a shot," Rogue said. She shifted
her shoulders.
"We'd appreciate you giving us the chance," Xavier said.
"Welcome to the team, Rogue," Jean said in a bright voice.
"Yeah, you won't regret it," Scott said.
Rogue nodded. She hoped that she would not. Harry looked at her, and she
followed him out of the room.
"I want to talk to you for a minute," Harry told Rogue. His voice was low and
urgent. "What did you see?'
Rogue thought this was a good question. The memories when she absorbed them
barely made sense.
"I don't really know," Rogue said. "None of your memories that I absorbed were
that vivid. Even your powers, I couldn't really control them."
"My powers are far different than most," Harry said. "It's a wonder you didn't
black out yourself when you absorbed them."
Rogue blinked when Harry had dropped this statement on her.
"You can't be that powerful," Rogue said.
Harry chuckled. This was going to be fun. He looked at the gothic girl
seriously. This was going to be one of those things where he would have to
explain it carefully. He felt a bit more at ease that she had not seen
something that would come back to haunt him later on.
"No, trust me, power has nothing to do with it," Harry said. "And it's a wonder
that you didn't start blowing things up. But that's beside the point. I just
want to know if you saw anything. There are some things in my mind that I don't
think anyone really deserves to see, or have to experience."
Rogue shifted. She had gotten a sense of that.
"You've had a hard life," Rogue said.
"That's one way of putting it," Harry said.
"And you're not happy about letting Mystique go," Rogue said. Harry did not
blink. He opened his mouth to try for the diplomatic approach, not trying to
stir anything with the new student. "It's okay; I don't blame you at all for
thinking about that. I would have done the same thing."
Rogue turned around, and walked off. Accidentally, she brushed against Harry.
She winced immediately, but Harry kept watching. The girl was sure that their
skin touched together. She remembered what Mystique did today. She almost did
not go to this school, because of everything that she tried to pull. She had
enough problems with the fact that she could not touch anyone without knocking
them out.
Harry walked over, and sunk into the chair with a sigh. Kitty sat down on the
chair opposite of him.
"Tell me about it, it's been a long day," Kitty said. "I wonder why the
Professor wanted to let Mystique go."
"Damned if I know," Harry said, slumping in the chair, and he summoned over a
book to read. Kitty dodged it when it flew through the air.
"No, need to get all broody over it," Kitty said.
Harry jumped to the defensive mode immediately.
"I'm not getting broody," Harry said. He looked at the brunette with a smile.
"You'd know when I was getting broody."
"Oh, are there little storm clouds forming above your head or something?" Kitty
asked. "Because that's the only way people would be able to tell the difference
between now, and how you normally act."
Harry just smiled.
"Trust me, you'd know," Harry replied.
"And you were totally scared when Rogue energy-vampire you," Kitty said. "Is
the big bad Harry Potter keeping some deep dark secret?"
"Yeah, the bodies of brunettes who keep pestering me with questions," Harry
said dryly. He looked at her with a slight smile. "I keep them in my basement."
"Hey!" Kitty yelled.
"Seriously, I just like my privacy," Harry said. "And the past should remain in
the past."
Kitty nodded. That was fair enough. Harry barely talked about his friends, or
where he came from. Then again, he was never going to see them again.
Kitty would freak out if she went through what Harry did. She found herself
watching Harry, as he was reading. She found herself lost in his eyes.
"What do I have something on my face?" Harry asked her.
"No, just thinking," Kitty said.
Harry just smiled at her and went back to his book.
===============================================================================
The day that was had been a rather frustrating one for Mystique. She had
thought that she had everything under control. Then she had to deal with that
Potter. Potter had not only figured out her deception, but he had knocked her
unconscious. It was a small miracle that she managed to escape. Yet, there was
no miracle what she was up against. She found herself face to face with
Magneto.
"You failed to recruit her properly into the Brotherhood," Magneto said in a
calm voice.
Mystique wished Magneto had raged at her. This calm disappointment was far more
demeaning to her than mindless rage.
"My plan was compromised," Mystique said.
Magneto seemed to be not in the mood to listen to any excuses. He stared down
Mystique, and promptly began to speak. "Compromised, plans do tend to get
compromised, Raven. Yet, the true measure of a mutant is how well they are able
to adapt. If our brothers and sisters are able to withstand the onslaught, than
adaptation is something that you must learn. Do not disappoint me such again.
So far, you have gathered a few recruits to our group. And there will be many
more to come."
"Yes, I won't disappoint again," Mystique said.
She watched Magneto. These moments of long silence really did get to her much
of the time. She had thought Magneto was considering whether or not she was an
asset. Had she not proven her loyalty to that man time and time again? She
should be thanked for all that she had put on the line, and now all that she
had lost.
The Potter child would have a problem.
"I trust you will continue to keep an eye out, and give me further progress
reports on the situation," Magneto said.
Mystique nodded in a stiff manner. She had no choice, but to do that. Magneto
turned around to depart. This left Mystique standing there, a frustrated
expression spreading across her face. She took a deep breath, and turned around
to see a dark haired woman with glasses. This woman was her associate Irene
Adler. She was blind; however she had the gift for the foresight.
"You have encountered the one that walks between worlds," Irene said in a
cryptic voice.
Mystique's face was contorted with confusion. "The one that walks between
worlds?"
"He is not strictly classified as a mutant and he has great potential," Irene
continued. She stood in front of Mystique, and nodded carefully. "He will serve
to be an asset for whatever side commands him. He has the ability to inspire
great light inside darkness, and could lead mutants to a new age."
Mystique nodded. Her friend had told Rogue's powers would manifest. And warned
her not to be careless.
"He has influenced many already, even if his time here has been short," Irene
said cryptically. "He will be one for many to watch. And many will see fit to
end him, to prevent him from becoming a threat to their plans."
Mystique had no idea how much of this she wanted to believe. The mysterious
arrival of the boy only known as Harry Potter had completely vexed her. Yet,
the fact that he could be some kind inspiration to mutants intrigued her just a
little bit. Magneto seemed interested in monitoring the boy's progress.
For now, Mystique considered him a little more than a thorn in her side, and an
individual who disrupted her plans.
She would have to wait if that opinion was changed.
***** Sorcerer *****
Chapter 07: Sorcerer.
There was one thing that all of the students of the Xavier Institute for the
Gifted could say about the Danger Room. It kept them on their toes, and in
fighting shape each and every moment they had trained in it. The programs were
varied enough where they could expect the unexpected. Harry dodged a set of
lasers, and tucked his head. He used his agility to roll out of the way. He
deflected two of the blasts. His attack had knocked out the attacks.
It had been an interesting last few weeks at the Xavier Institute. Harry had
never thought he would have been able to fit in that well. Yet, he found his
way to a brand new home. He had a brand new life, with many of the same
challenges.
He deflected two of the attacks. It was important to learn to work as part of a
team, and not as a solo act.
"Kitty, dodge to your left, and turn!" Harry yelled. Kitty nodded, and did what
Harry had advised. Harry tried to get a handle of his surroundings, before he
continued to yell suggestions. "Kurt, go to your right, and turn, and Rogue
stay through the middle."
The lasers were deflected on that note. Harry thought he was coming into his
own at spotting certain patterns in the Danger Room. He did give Logan some
credit for changing everything up in the Danger Room. It would be foolish to
allow them to grow complacent. There were a set of lasers, and the shower began
to blast out them. The closing walls of the Danger Room nearly tripped them up.
Kitty went intangible, and disabled them.
"We're not going to make it!" Kitty yelled.
"Of course we're going to make it," Harry said. Kurt ported in front of Harry.
"Kurt, is Rogue behind you?"
"Present!" Rogue yelled, and she rushed forward. The Goth girl took a good look
around. "Is it just me, or is Logan trying to make an effort to kill us every
morning before breakfast? And lunch and dinner?"
Harry just offered her an encouraging smile. Kitty was the one that piped up
immediately. "It isn't just you. I swear, just because he has a healing factor,
doesn't mean the rest of us does."
"Keep focused!" Harry yelled at the top of his lungs. Which could be pretty
loud, given that Harry was capable of some volume.
Kurt, Kitty, and Rogue did keep focused. They continued to dodge the attacks,
bobbing and weaving around them. Harry looked at the clock. If they did not
complete this program in a certain amount of time, they would fail in this
Danger Room session. Harry did not intend to fail, even if he had to rely on
the other team members.
"Kitty, disable, Kurt teleport, Rogue up you go," Harry said.
No one was going to call out Harry on his strategy. He actually managed to get
them through most of the course. The energy rings were far ahead. The four
managed to get through most of the Danger Room.
"Could you use magic to disable them?" Kurt asked.
It was Rogue who answered.
"Remember, Logan said that would invalidate the entire point of the exercise,"
Rogue said.
Kitty was the one that piped up next. "Harry would use something like that in
real life though, so I don't know why it's not allowed."
Harry would have to concede that she had a point. Although, he did have to
train his other abilities, in addition to his magic. The three of them
continued to move forward. Each step they got closer towards the end of the
Danger Room. Harry's heart skipped a beat. He made sure his team members made
it through safely.
"Okay, we're going to the last leg, everyone stay together!" Harry yelled.
Kitty, Kurt, and Rogue nodded. The last hurdle did seem to be among the most
dangerous. They had to keep moving. Harry led the group down the final leg of
this training session in the Danger Room. It was a sharp turn. They could see
Professor Xavier watching from above. Logan was watching as well. The
expression on his face was unreadable.
"I think we're going to have to jump this one," Rogue told them.
Harry nodded. He would have to concur. Kitty and Harry rushed to the front of
the line. It was Harry that cleared the pit first. His knees had been bent, and
he landed on the ground. Harry staggered. He managed to adjust his footing.
Kitty was the next one that had made her way over the pit. She closed her eyes.
She could feel the floor tingle underneath her feet. This was pretty much a
warning shot for her to go through. Kitty bent her knees, and sprang up
forward.
Her balance was not as poised as Harry's. Most of it had to do with adjusting
for the development of her powers. She was getting better. However, her footing
was something that could use work. She nearly fell over. Harry caught her in
his arms for a moment, just to allow her to readjust herself. The two shared a
lingering stare. Harry looked at her, about to ask her if she was okay. Kitty
nodded immediately, trying to remain cool under the situation. Kurt followed
through next, and Rogue had brought up the rear. The four X-Men stood at the
end, and they knew the finishing line was there.
"We're going to actually make it!" Kitty yelled in a triumphant voice.
Rogue shook her head. "Yeah, by the skin of our teeth."
"We can argue about how close, or how far we came later," Harry said. He took
several steps forward, and reached the end. Kurt followed him next. Kitty
followed him next, and Rogue had landed.
They waited for the light to go off. The Danger Room session had been
completed. Harry shook his head. He thought he could have got through that a
bit faster if he had been able to use the full scope of his magical abilities,
or if he had done so by himself. Yet, he was rather pleased all things
considered with how well his team had done. They had all kept it mostly
together under fire.
This was the second time they did this particular Danger Room exercise. The
first time they did it, the less said about that the better. This was a few
weeks back. Harry thought Rogue in particular looked like she was going to
crawl into a hole and die out of frustration.
"So how do you think we did?" Kitty asked, tugging on Harry's sleeve to get his
attention.
Harry looked at her. "We did decently enough I think."
"Decently enough?'" Kitty asked.
"He means there's room for improvement," Rogue said to Kitty. "And I agree,
there were a couple of times where we looked like we were kind of cutting it
close."
Harry thought that a couple of times were something that was a generous
assessment. However, they had improved from the last time. The last time they
had failed this session.
Unfortunately, it was not Harry who was the one who had to give the final
assessment of the matter. It was Logan who had that happy role.
Kitty, Rogue, Kurt, and Harry all stood, and the Danger Room doors opened. They
had managed to all remain conscious throughout the entire session. Surely, that
was progress?"
===============================================================================
Logan stood outside of the Danger Room. He had watched the training session.
There was always something that he would have done different. However, even he
had to admit that they were doing decently enough. Under the circumstances,
they could have done much worse. He saw the Danger Room doors open. Kitty,
Kurt, Harry, and Rogue exited. Logan turned towards them. His eyes looked at
all of them. Logan stared at them, and they stared back. There was a few
seconds of silence before Logan decided to break the silence.
"Well, you didn't completely embarrass yourselves like you did last time,"
Logan said. He offered this gruff assessment, which the quartet took as praise.
"Not too bad in there, but if this was real life most of you would be dead. You
would have been skewed to bits."
Harry agreed with this. That is why they had these simulations, and training
sessions. It was to iron out all of the kinks in the teamwork before they were
out on the field. However, Harry did know one thing. More often than not there
was a huge world of difference between a simulation and between actually being
out. Harry learned that all of the training in the world would not prepare for
the impossible.
"Next time, we'll get out there easier," Harry said.
"This session was way too easy on all of you, especially you," Logan said to
Harry. Harry looked back at Logan, his expression firm. "You're someone who
should be handling tougher things in there. You're going to get some solo time
in the Danger Room on the higher levels."
Harry thought that he had did the best job he had in keeping the team together.
The team had made it out of the scenario one hundred percent. No one had passed
out; there was not even a scratch on them. To Harry, he thought everything had
turned out rather well. Still, he had to agree with Logan, there was room for
improvement. Teamwork was something that was the hardest thing to fine tune. If
more than one team member was out of sync, then they would have to compensate.
"I didn't think we'd get out of there in time," Kurt said. "And I thought we
improved."
"We did improve, it's just certain people here can't really see improvement,"
Kitty said.
Harry shook his head. "I told you we all did well. All I said was there is room
for improvement. Trust me, if we had been a step or two quicker, we would have
been able to finish that Danger Room session in quicker time."
Harry took a deep breath. He took a step forward into the hallways across from
the Danger Room. Jean, Scott, and Ororo disappeared into the shadows. Harry
took another step forward. Logan walked up, and had something else to say to
them.
"I need to up the difficulty in the Danger Room," Logan said. "The four of you
got through that a bit too easily."
"Easy," Kitty mouthed.
"In what world was that easy?" Kurt asked.
"Yeah, I didn't think that was too easy," Rogue said.
"Of course it wasn't," Logan said. He shook his head, and walked away.
"You really did think it was too easy," Kitty said to Harry. Harry just
shrugged.
"Not really, but we're going to get thrown in with the wolves if we complain
too much about it," Harry said.
Jean and Scott walked out around the corner. Harry stopped and looked at them.
"So, did you see that?" Harry asked them. Jean and Scott nodded. "So, what did
you think?"
"I think you did well in there, Harry," Jean said.
Scott gave his input. "A little rough around the edges, but you're not as bad
as you were a couple of months ago. Give it time and you'll be going through
there so well that even Logan won't find anything to critique."
Harry actually hoped not, because he was always looking for ways to improve.
Kitty just snorted at the very thought of Logan not finding something that they
could improve on. Then again, the first time she was in the Danger Room, she
blacked out after the training session. She had thankfully gotten better since
then. Kurt and Rogue both walked off; to do homework they had lingering. For
once in his life, Harry had actually taken the initiative and had completed his
homework Kitty had assisted him on it, a little bit, but for the most part
Harry had gotten it all done.
His grades in school had been improving, or at least he thought they did. It
was something that was hard to figure out when he was comparing grades from a
magical school to the grades of a normal school.
Harry sighed.
"What's up?" Kitty asked.
"Just thinking about that speech I have to give to the class on Monday," Harry
said. "I'm not the best public speaker in the world."
"Nerves, everyone has those, don't worry about it," Kitty said. She added with
a smile. "Just pretend that everyone's in their underwear."
"You do realize that you're in that class," Harry said. His voice remained
calm. However there was a slight hint of a smile. "So, wouldn't I be imagining
you in your underwear?"
"You mean you don't imagine me in my underwear," Kitty teased back.
Harry just gave her a smile.
"Wouldn't you like to know?" Harry asked.
Before this interplay could go on any further, Kitty and Harry noticed
something off to the side. They were about to head outside on the account of
having their homework done, and just hang out. The two took a couple of steps
forward, and saw a strange man with dark hair arrive. He was in the midst of a
conversation with Professor Xavier. The two could not resist listening to the
conversation.
"Sorry for not meeting with you sooner, Charles. There were extra-dimensional
manners that demanded a great deal of my time."
Xavier responded. "No problem at all, Stephen. The responsibilities of the
Sorcerer Supreme are something that demands a substantial amount of your time.
You did read the message that I read you about young Mr. Potter."
Now Harry was intrigued that they were talking about him. Kitty stood up
straight next to Harry. The two of them discreetly took a step forward, to
listen closely.
"Yes, I have heard about him, and I have studied the mystical energies that
surrounded his arrival to this plane," Strange said. "His powers have raw
potential, but they are unrefined. It seems as if the magical education he had
given had been the most rudimentary. It could have done him more harm than good
as regards to his magical prowess."
Kitty looked extremely curious. She nudged Harry to ask him a question, but
Harry hushed her.
"I believe that it would be prudent for you to talk to Harry himself," Xavier
said. "Perhaps you can shed some light on his strange arrival in this world."
Harry shook his head, and acted like he had not been listening in just a second
later. Kitty looked amused. Harry could not act innocent to save his life.
Although she had really appreciated the effort, and the door opened.
"Ah, Harry, I was hoping you were still available," Xavier said to Harry. If he
had noticed Harry was eavesdropping, he did not bring up the fact. "I wish for
you to speak with a friend of mine."
"I'll wait for you outside, Harry," Kitty said. She offered him a smile, which
Harry returned.
She figured Harry needed space. Perhaps he could find out the reason why he got
here, and maybe a way to get back.
Kitty wondered if Harry would want to go back. She kind of hoped that she did
not. She shook her head, and walked off.
'Stop being selfish, Pryde,'Kitty thought to herself. She shook those thoughts
off.
She watched Harry leave with Professor Xavier.
===============================================================================
Harry exited the room, and walked inside. He tried to not look too nervous, or
as if he had been eavesdropping just few seconds ago. He spotted Professor
Xavier the moment that he walked in first. There was a man that stood beside
him, dressed in black robes. There was a golden amulet around his neck. He
looked at Harry with a nod, and Harry wondered what this was all about. He had
a feeling that he would find out all too soon.
"Harry, this is an old colleague of mine, Doctor Stephen Strange," Xavier said.
Harry looked at him with a curious expression on his face. "He is the Sorcerer
Supreme of Earth."
Harry was now intrigued. He figured there would be other magical users in this
dimension. Logic dictated that there had to be. He just had no idea where he
would have met them.
"Please to meet you, Doctor Strange," Harry said.
Strange offered a polite nod, and shook Harry's hand. Harry could tell this was
a man of great power. He had assumed that Dumbledore was the most powerful
wizard that he had ever meant. However, this guy just gave off the vibe that he
was in an entirely different class that might as well have made Dumbledore look
like a squib. Strange took a deep breath.
"I've been following your arrival here, as had the rest of the world," Strange
said. Harry nodded, and waved his hand to give Strange the opportunity to
continue. "Someone like you would have caught the attention of a lot of
eyeballs. I was alerted to your presence, but I decided not to intervene unless
necessary. I felt until the time was right, I would step back, and see where
you would fit in with this universe."
Harry nodded. He had been here for a little over a month right now, and he had
been settling in. The Sorcerer Supreme of all people had expressed that he had
watched him. Harry had no idea what the responsibilities of the Sorcerer
Supreme were, or how a person obtained such a title. He was interested in
finding out.
"So, you just decided to meet up with me now," Harry said.
Strange shifted on his feet. There was a moment before he addressed Harry.
"Yes, I sensed that there would be others who would be far interested with the
raw power that you command. Your magical abilities are something that remain an
anomaly. When combined with your mutant abilities, you are quite the unique
young man indeed. Less than one percent of population in the Earth dimension
would be able to obtain magic and mutant abilities simultaneously. The fact
that your body would be able to contain such a power proves that you are in the
top percentile of regarding power."
Harry nodded. It took a bit to sink all of these in. He thought that he had
been powerful, or at least that's what people told him. His confidence of his
powers tended to be all off the board. Then again, he could achieve things back
in his world that many other people could only dream about. There were not many
people who could master a Patronus. And not only master a Patronus, but master
them in the face of all of those Dementors. Performing a Patronus is one thing,
performing it under pressure while relieving your worst memories was another
thing entirely.
"Magic is a blank canvas," Strange continued. "The possibilities can be
endless, and only expanded by your own mind. However, it is very easy to allow
your powers to run away from you. There are times where powers can be used for
great things. And there are instances where powers can be used to corrupt."
Harry understood one potential example of how powers could be used to corrupt.
Lord Voldemort was at the top of the list. That was one part of his universe
where Harry did not miss. A part of Harry wondered what happened when he left.
With no Harry Potter, he wondered if anyone stepped up and defeated Voldemort.
"I believe between the two of us, we can figure out how you arrived here, and
if it is possible for you to return to your dimension," Strange said.
Harry took a deep breath. He was debating furiously about whether or not he
wanted to return if the opportunity had presented itself. There was a doubt
that the opportunity would even be there. He could actually be himself with no
pressure of being the Boy-Who-Lived there. He did not have to be the Chosen
One. In that world, the fame would be thrust back onto him. There were his
friends, but they could not be the sole reason why he was leaving. They would
be fine without him.
"With your permission, I will try and walk you through with your arrival
through this dimension," Strange said. "I can assure you that anything that
happens on this trip will stay between the two of us. I think that there are
many secrets that should only be yours to declare when they are ready."
Harry looked reluctant. On the one hand, he was intrigued about potentially
getting some tips from someone who appeared to be far more knowledgeable about
magic than he ever hoped to be. On the other hand, he was not sure if he wanted
anyone to know anything about what happened in his home dimension. Still, he
was curious about one thing. How did he get here, and if he wanted to go back,
could he?
"I think I would be interested in learning more," Harry said.
"I thought as much," Strange said. "I will be borrowing your student for the
day Charles, and perhaps depending on today, we can make further arrangements
regarding training about his other powers. I've been meaning to take an
apprentice."
"It's no problem at all, Stephen," Xavier said. He wished he could offer any
more insight with Harry's mystical abilities. If there was one person in the
world that he could trust giving one of his X-Men that kind of insight, it was
Stephen Strange.
Strange and Harry disappeared into a glowing purple light.
===============================================================================
Strange and Harry arrived from the Xavier Institute. They popped up outside of
a large manor house. Harry thought that it looked to be almost alive. Then
again, there were times where Hogwarts seemed to be alive. The days where the
stairways had shifted out from underneath them, where doors moved, and the fact
that there were magical portraits that could visit each other. So seeing a
building that was sentient did not faze Harry in the slightest. Harry stood,
and waited for Strange to tell him where he was.
"Welcome Harry, to the Sanctum Santorium," Strange said. Harry nodded slowly.
This was something that was completely new to him. "This is my official
residence, and where I have cataloged a great deal of my magical research
tomes. I hope that over time they will be of use to you, if you are willing to
learn."
Harry took the step forward, and the doors swung open. It allowed him entry
into the Sanctum Santorium. Strange walked behind Harry. There was a moment of
silence. Harry looked around, and was impressed. There was an eerie presence
within the fortress. Harry stood on his toes, and wished he had a few more sets
of eyes. He wondered if there was a spell to allow such an effect.
"Be careful not to touch anything," Strange told Harry. Harry stood on his
toes, and was once again careful not to brush anything. "While I do not doubt
your capabilities, there are many dangerous objects that I have obtained. It is
just a matter of keeping them out of certain hands of those who would use them
for harm. And some of them are rather alive."
"That would explain the feelings that I have been having, "Harry said. Strange
looked at the young wizard with a curious expression on his face. Harry decided
to elaborate what he meant to the Sorcerer Supreme. "It's just when I stepped
in here, I felt like everything in this place was calling out to me. It's
almost like I understood it, but at the same time I didn't understand it. It's
really hard to explain."
Strange nodded. "It is not anything out of the ordinary to feel those
sensations. Magic tends to call out to the strongest of us. I would not be too
off base with saying that the very nature of your mystical abilities have
changed the moment that you arrived here."
Harry responded with a nod in the affirmative. Strange did not offer any more
insight on the matter. The Sorcerer Supreme turned around and took a step
towards a dusty shelf of books. He blew the dust off of the book, and read the
contents of the book. Harry looked at him with a quizzical expression in his
eyes. Strange shook his head.
"I simply needed to verify something," Strange told Harry. Harry nodded. He
would accept that for now. "Now we must go through the method which you had
arrived here. I know you arrived in the desert as if you had never existed. I
must tell you that I am well versed in the methods of sudden appearances and
disappearances. My status as the Sorcerer Supreme has allowed me to deal with
the strange and the mysterious."
Harry could have figured out that Strange was someone that had his share of
strange experiences, for lack of a better term. He threw all caution to the
wind. Curiosity had got the better of him, and he decided to dive into the
explanation.
"I was fighting a group of servants of a rather powerful dark wizard in my
dimension. I had brought a group of my friends to help me. I insisted that they
stayed behind but…"
"They wished to fight alongside you despite the dangers," Strange offered him.
Harry nodded. That was one way of putting it, he supposed.
"So anyway, they came with me," Harry told them. Strange invited Harry to
continue. "All of us fought the servants of this dark wizard. They
underestimated us, because I think they thought they would get an easy ride
against young witches and wizards. A group of adult wizards arrived to help.
One of them was my godfather, his name was Sirius Black."
Harry took a deep breath.
"He was blasted through a curtain, and disappeared," Harry said. "I had thought
that I would follow him through the curtain, and try and find him. I felt….I
felt like every inch of my body was on fire. Then I felt more at ease than I
had ever been. It is hard to explain it."
"I have heard a legend about a mysterious curtain that could act as a
passageway, I will endeavor to research it later," Strange said, and Harry
looked on with a smile. He thought he would finally get some answers. "Is there
anything else you can remember?"
Harry shook his head. For some reason, he decided to keep the mysterious
flashes of memories that he had in his head to himself, for now. Learning to
open up to people was a new experience.
"Everything from the moment I stepped through that curtain, until the moment I
got here was a blank. It was four years ago that I left that dimension. Yet, I
didn't age a day."
"A combination of time travel and interdimensional travel is very potent
magic," Strange said. "One or the other can lead to a potentially dangerous
experience. Combining both disciplines of magic can lead to magic that could
rip someone apart."
Harry decided to address the elephant in the room.
"So my godfather…"
"I cannot say," Strange said, cutting Harry off before he could speak on
anything. "Without knowing the full nature of how you arrived here, there is
very little insight that I could offer. The mantle of the Sorcerer Supreme
offers me a deeper insight on many matters of magic than most. There is much
responsibility in wielding this position, and a constant job. However, I
believe that this is a mystery the two of us can solve."
Strange remained calm and he looked at Harry. Harry sensed that the Sorcerer
Supreme was determining how much to tell Harry.
"I believe that you have untapped potential Harry, but your power are rather
raw," Strange said. "We can discuss what can be done to refine it over time.
Presently, just relax, and we will try and determine what has gone wrong."
Harry did relax at that moment. Strange's spell allowed him to relive the
entire experience.
"You were dead for a minute, but something occurred," Strange said. "You passed
a test and instead of being sent beyond, you were sent to this dimension. I
will find more about this veil, and will tell you more when I can determine."
Harry sat and waited.
"You may read that entire back wall of books while you wait," Strange told
Harry. "I would need to supervise your attempts to perform any magic in any of
the other books given the nature of the content."
Harry nodded, and Strange disappeared. He picked up the books, and began to
read about the magic. It described sorcery that was far beyond anything that
had been taught at Hogwarts.
===============================================================================
Books did tend to be more worth a person's attention when there was material
that was conveyed in an interesting and enlightening manner. At least that was
what Harry thought when he had combed through the various books while he waited
for Doctor Strange to return. He realized how many books he had been assigned
at Hogwarts had been written in a dry-manner that really did not give the
desire to read the books.
To him, magic should have come alive on the pages of the books he read.
Although, how literal that statement would be, it would be something to be
determined in time. While he did not know about half of the spells or
enchantments on the pages, it would be something that he would have to learn in
due time. There was also something else pretty interesting. The theory actually
was more exciting than watching paint dry with the way it was conveyed. If he
had learned magic in this way, he might have gone further and applied himself.
There was no use to thinking about what could have been. Rather, he would have
rather think about what could be now. Some of the dark creatures described in
these books were nasty, and Harry shuddered at the thought of having to
encounter them.
Harry was so captivated with his reading, that he barely noticed that Strange
returned. The Sorcerer Supreme walked up from behind Harry.
"I thank you for waiting patiently," Strange said to Harry. Harry nodded, to
try and convey that this was not a problem at all. "I found some information
about that veil you eluded to, and also it may offer some insight about how you
have arrived here."
Harry's attention perked up just a little bit. Curiosity had got the better of
him. He had nodded his head. How did he get here?
"Years ago, a mysterious gateway was created by a group of wizards in medieval
times," Strange told Harry. Harry nodded, to indicate that he had his full
attention on him. "The gateway was created to execute criminals that were too
powerful to be killed by mundane means. A version appears to have existed in
your world as it has in this world. The gateway would be the ultimate method to
judge witches and wizards."
"You mean that it would actually determine whether or not they were guilty or
innocent?" Harry questioned.
Strange replied with a swift nod. "That was the intended purpose. However, the
creation of magical artifacts can be a tricky process. The gateway was intended
to destroy anything that passed through in the case of the guilt. One might
stand to reason that guilt had already been decided and assumed the moment that
they had passed through the veil. None had been known to survive, even if there
was a small chance that they could survive."
Harry just pulled a face. That was just the story of his life. He was always
surviving things that no one else should have been able to survive. The Killing
Curse was one thing, the veil was another, and he was sure that there were many
other examples. His body should not have been able to stave of Basilisk venom
for long enough for Fawkes to cry his tears. Maybe his real mutant power was
that he was able to survive the impossible. Which meant knowing his luck,
something utterly mundane would kill him.
He took a deep breath, and looked at Strange. "So I got here through the veil…"
"I believe the veil considered you to be different than anything that had ever
come into contact with it," Strange explained to Harry. "Therefore, since you
willingly walked through the curtain, it perceived you as innocent. With that
perception, it allowed you to enter this universe. A universe that is very
different from your own."
Harry took a deep breath, and looked at the Sorcerer Supreme. "So is there any
chance at all that I would be able to return home?"
Strange looked thoughtful at that moment, and took a moment to consider this.
Harry could tell that this was something that he spent most of his time trying
to determine when he left Harry to his own devices.
"Theoretically speaking you could return," Strange said. Harry sensed that
there was a "but" hanging in the air. "However, the trip back may in fact be
even more dangerous than the trip you took to come here. You would have to
return the same exact way that you arrived here, and there is a significant
margin for error."
Harry pondered this matter immediately. He thought that was the case. Once
again, he hoped that no one would walk through the veil. While he had the
ability to survive these things, a part of him wondered if other people would
survive. Given what Strange told him, that was highly unlikely.
"I can sense you have a desire to learn more about the mystical arts," Strange
said.
Harry paused, trying not to seem too eager. He did not want to seem like some
overindulgent child in front of the Sorcerer Supreme.
"Yes, I would appreciate learning more," Harry said. He spoke this statement in
a matter of fact manner.
"Then I would offer my services to assist you along the way of your training,"
Strange said. "Now, there is magic that may be beyond your capabilities, at
least at first. However, with hard work, and careful planning you can learn
about the mystical arts."
Harry pondered this.
"If you are willing to learn, and if you want to think about this, I will
understand," Strange said immediately.
It was something that he thought about. The past month he had been trying to
figure out a way to continue his magical training. Experimentation would only
get him so far without any guidance. Who better to get any guidance from than
the Sorcerer Supreme?
"I accept your offer for training, Doctor Strange," Harry said.
The Sorcerer Supreme nodded, and turned around. He was hoping that Harry would
accept his offer for training. That type of power should be trained up, and the
untapped power would interest those magical users of lesser scruples. During
his time of the Sorcerer Supreme, he had encountered many dark and dangerous
forces. Even with his power, there would always be someone out there with more
strength than him. That is why he sharpened his wits, and his resourcefulness.
"One of the most important aspects you can learn about magic is this," Strange
explained to Harry. "Magic is all about testing the limits. However, there are
times where if you try and tap into too much power, too soon, it can corrupt
even the most noble of minds. The books are there for your disposal, but only
these books on this shelf should be practiced without my direct supervision."
Harry nodded. He had a feeling that his training would just began. That he
would learn more from Doctor Strange than from all of his teachers so far.
Strange looked at his library. It was something that he was proud of. There was
only one person that he knew of in this realm who had collected as many books
on the occult as he did, and that was Victor Von Doom. But that was beside the
point.
Right now, he slowly gave Harry the benefit of some of his knowledge of magic.
He did not want to overwhelm the young man on his first day. The Sorcerer
Supreme had a feeling that he was still assimilating into this universe. And he
was still trying to find his place.
Each day a journey began with many steps. Every day was a winding road.
===============================================================================
The past few hours had been rather interesting and enlightened Harry a great
deal. However, he was rather glad to return back to the Xavier Institute. He
arranged to visit with Doctor Strange after lunch on the weekends for more
lessons, if there was not any kind of catastrophe on either end. Given Stephen
Strange was the Sorcerer Supreme, and he had many responsibilities, Harry felt
grateful for any of the time that the man had taken out of his day.
Harry had a feeling that there was going to be another Danger Room session
after dinner. He stashed away the book that he had been given about the nature
of magic. Strange suggested that would be read it for the weekend.
Kitty popped up, and greeted Harry.
"For some reason, I thought you wouldn't be coming back," Kitty told him.
Harry looked at Kitty, with a teasing smile. "What, are you trying to get rid
of me?"
Kitty laughed.
"No of course not," Kitty said shaking her head, and she stepped forward, to
look at Harry. "It's just; Professor Xavier mentioned that this Sorcerer
Supreme was going to see how you got there. And I figured that…well never mind.
I guess you're still here."
"I don't know if I would go home right now even if I could," Harry told her.
It was not really home, really. His life was far less complicated here in this
dimension, than it was in his home dimension. The lack of prophecy hanging over
his head really did relax him just a little bit. He had made friends, and had
created a new life.
"Do you miss them?" Kitty asked him.
Harry just gave a bittersweet smile. "A few of them, but really as long as go
I've left, they likely already forgot about me. So I don't think about it too
much."
Kitty stepped up, and looked at Harry.
"Well if they're truly your friends, I don't think they ever forgot about you,"
Kitty said. "I wonder if any of them tried to follow you."
Harry shuddered.
"Given how the veil killed everyone else that walked through it, I hope not,"
Harry said. Kitty looked at Harry quizzically. "Because the veil was a tool for
execution, and most were supposed to die. Somehow I didn't. That's the story of
my life."
"Only you would have some kind of negative spin on not dying when you should,"
Kitty said. Despite the fact she was shaking her head, she had a fond smile on
her face.
Harry looked at her seriously. "Well it's not the part about not dying that
bothers me. It's just…it's just complicated."
Kitty stepped forward, and instinctively reached for Harry's hand. Harry did
not say anything, and did not call her on her actions. She placed her hand on
his.
"Sometimes things don't have to be complicated," Kitty said. "You'd be
surprised how totally simple life could be."
Harry just looked into her eyes. They stood outside, with the breeze blowing.
"One day, I hope to figure out how simple life is," Harry said. Kitty took
another step towards Harry.
"Maybe we can figure that out together," Kitty told him. The space between them
was mere inches.
Kitty and Harry shared a quiet moment outside. Kurt popped up at that moment,
which caused the moment to be lost.
"Harry, good you're back," Kurt said. "See Kitty, you and Rogue were both
freaking out for no reason. Well Rogue wasn't freaking out, more like a quiet
brooding, but you get what I mean."
Harry's interest was piqued.
"I wasn't freaking out," Kitty told Kurt defensively.
Harry raised an eyebrow, but he had said nothing about it.
"I think Logan is trying to kill us before we have a last meal," Kurt said.
"Overreacting just a little bit, Kurt?" Harry asked him.
Kurt shook his head. "One hour Danger Room session before dinner and you think
he's not trying to kill us? He wants you both in there, five minutes ago."
Harry and Kitty exchanged a look, and nodded. They had walked inside.
"We're going to have to continue this at another time, I guess," Kitty said.
Harry looked at her with a playful smirk. "I wouldn't miss it for the world."
Kitty thought that was the type of smile that stopped girl's hearts. She nearly
lost control of her bearings, and phased through the ground. Thankfully, she
avoided that embarrassment. It was time to head off to the Danger Room for a
training session.
***** Field Trip *****
Chapter 8: Field Trip.
Time flew by for one Harry Potter, each and every single day passed through the
ether. He could hardly believe it. Time did have a nasty habit of running away
from people. The last few weekends he had been spending time learning some of
the most interesting magic in the universe from Doctor Strange. Strange was a
wealth of magic knowledge that had offered him many opportunities to expand on
the foundation that he learned on at Hogwarts. Granted, the foundation was
shaky. Strange theorized, and Harry agreed, that the best witches and wizards
from that world did some kind of independent study. There was no lack of power
that was the problem, but rather the lack of ambitions.
Harry found he was able to process information a lot faster. He had read
through five percent of the books Doctor Strange had in his library. Given the
vast amount of books that he had, five percent was not a statistic to sneeze
at. Harry had a smile on his face when he thought about that. He was reminded
anew how intriguing magic was, along with how much potential it had. . Although
Strange gave him theories about how magic could corrupt the mind and the soul,
and some of the incidents where people embraced a darker side of magic. Some of
the foes that Doctor Strange went against made Voldemort look like a girl
scout.
Harry shuddered at the mental image he gave himself. He doubted that anyone
would accept cookies from Voldemort.
That was the past, and Harry could not wait for another weekend trip to learn a
bit more about magic. He thought that he was learning at a quicker rate than
the past. Magic was a tool, and could be used in any number of creative ways.
Some had used the tool to hurt, and some had used it to help. Others had used
it to better their lives. There were a multitude of uses.
The veil had some interesting side effects, and they were all for the better.
It appeared that what did not kill you, must make you stronger. That was a
credo Harry would live by.
At this point, Harry exited the school bus. It was field trip day for the
students at Bayville High School. This was a rare day where they could get away
from the monotone of pencils, and books. Harry stepped forward, walking out
from the bus. Kitty was right beside him. Kurt and Rogue brought up the rear.
They were not the only school in the area to take this field trip. There were
several other school buses from across the nation.
"I can't wait; this is going to be so awesome!" Kitty yelled.
"Yeah, it's thrilling," Rogue said dryly. She seemed to be a bit disinterested.
"Rogue, you should be thrilled about this," Kitty told her fellow X-Men. "We're
taking a trip to the Baxter Building, and the lab of Reed Richards. Maybe we'll
see some great scientific invention that will change the world."
"You mean, Reed Richards, as in the leader of the Fantastic Four?" Kurt
inquired. He tried to keep the excitement out of his voice, but this was a
failed endeavor.
Amusement crossed Harry's face, and a chuckle escaped his throat.
"Yeah, that Reed Richards," Kitty said. She seemed to try to keep her
excitement to a minimum, even if she was failing a bit at doing that. "The
Fantastic Four are supposed to be the first family of super heroes."
Harry just nodded slowly. He had taken some time to read up about the Fantastic
Four. They had many interesting battles and were role models where all aspiring
superhero teams strived by. The real interesting thing was that the entire
world knew their real names, as they had gone public and come clean with their
secret identities.
"So, does anyone have money for the gift shop?" Kitty asked.
"They have a gift shop?" Kurt questioned, an eyebrow raised at the thought.
"They added it just last month," Kitty informed Kurt.
"Great, the first family of super heroes has gone commercial," Rogue said. She
stepped over and paused. "Harry, you don't have any money on you do you?"
"Loads," Harry told Rogue, with a smile crossing over his face as he said this
statement.
Kitty looked at Harry with a surprised expression. "I don't know how you have
the money that you do half of the time."
Harry just smiled a mysterious smile, and began to open his mouth to speak.
Rogue cut him off.
"I swear if you say it's magic, I'm going to groan and roll my eyes," Rogue
said. She smiled in spite of saying that statement.
"Well what else would it be?" Kurt asked. He suddenly looked serious. "You
haven't been duplicating money with magic, have you?"
"Don't be ridiculous, Kurt, Harry wouldn't do that," Rogue told Kurt. She
paused, and looked at Harry. "You wouldn't, would you?"
Harry just laughed, and a smile spread across his face. A mysterious smile, as
if he was keeping his friends in suspense. Kitty just nudged him, playfully.
"Spit it out already, what did you do?" Kitty asked them. She looked at him
with a pleading expression, and wide eyes "Please."
Harry decided to not leave them in suspense. In reality, he thought the idea
was so simple; it was amazing that many magical users did not think of it as a
way to make a little extra income. Of course, given their ignorance to the
Muggle world, and the profit potential, it was obvious why this was. Harry
turned to the entire group to share his findings.
"There are repairing charms that could make everything as good as new," Harry
said. "People bring me broken objects. A little wave of my hand and everything
is brand new. They don't ask, and I don't tell."
"Does this work for everything?" Rogue asked curiously.
Harry decided to elaborate. "Well, not everything. There are some electronics
where it is going to be hard to make the repair charms work right. Unless I
understand exactly how the electronics work, and find a way to get around them
without frying the circuits. Trust me, I can tell you horror stories about what
happens when magic and electronics mixed."
Harry paused, and continued to speak.
"If I can understand it, I can fix it. The simple stuff like chairs, books,
bags, and clothing, that's no problem. I don't want to do anything too
elaborate. I kind of want to keep the lid on my powers. And I'm sure Professor
Xavier would agree."
"I wonder how long that will last," Rogue said.
Harry shrugged, and shook his head. That was a good question. In addition, he
had been searching for dropped money that had been left on the streets of New
York. It was remarkable how careless people had been with their cash. Money
dropped on the sidewalks, in the streets, in the parking lot, and in the sewers
even. Money was money, and Harry was using every trick to his advantage. Also
there were a surprising amount of halfway decent items that people just threw
out. A few charms to fix them, and a couple charms to clean up, and Harry could
sell them.
"So, can you buy me something?" Kitty asked him. She looked at him with a
pleading look, and bit down on her bottom lip.
Harry smiled. "Of course, that's what friends are for. I've got plenty of
money. Just don't make a habit out of it."
Kitty nodded, and then looked nervous. "Right, the last thing I want is to turn
you into my own personal ATM. That would be totally taking advantage of your
friendship, and that would be wrong."
"I'm not opposed to helping out every once in a while," Harry said. He looked
at the brunette with a smile. "Just anything that you want from me, don't be
afraid to ask."
"Anything?" Kitty asked. A couple of naughty thoughts went through her head at
this point, but the brunette shook them off. This was not the time or the
place. She looked at Harry. He nodded, and a smile spread across her face.
"Thanks Harry, you're the best."
This interplay was interrupted when the teachers lead them into the Baxter
Building. The four X-Men saw Jean and Scott in the distance. They were in a
separate group, being herded in with the Junior and Senior students.
Harry walked into the Baxter Building, and prepared himself for what was to
come. He would be switching gears from magic, into the realm of science. The
two disciplines seemed to be rather similar, given the fact that they were hard
for many to understand.
It would be a change of surroundings. Harry resolved to enjoy a nice and
relaxing day where nothing would happen.
===============================================================================
The Baxter Building was a fantastic building deep within the heart of New York.
There were many individuals deep inside the building. Yet, there were four
individuals who were among the most interesting of them all. They were heroes
that many in the world had looked up for. These four had saved the world from
countless destruction numerous times. And in one memorable instance, they saved
the world from getting consumed by a cosmic force of pure destruction.
The Fantastic Four were considered the first family of super heroes. The brains
behind the outfit was Reed Richards, or Mister Fantastic as he was often
called. He had the ability to invent seemingly anything, and his powers would
be that he could stretch his body. Of course, not unlike most geniuses, he
tended to be rather absent minded and forgot many obvious things, despite his
knowledge for science being second to none. This caused him to get called on by
his teammates constantly, albeit in a good natured way. They would not change
Reed. He was their absent minded professor.
"Reed, the students for the field trip are coming down! The teachers are
expecting for you to pull your head out a test tube, and talk to them all."
That was the voice of Susan Storm, or the Invisible Woman. She was kind
hearted, but at the same time not one to be trifled with. Her powers were to
create fields of invisibility around her. These could be used to attack her
enemies to great success. Anyone who called her the weakest member of the team
was in for a painful surprise.
Another voice had further brought Reed out of his work.
"Yeah, Reed, stop geeking out, and get with the program!"
That was her brother, Johnny Storm, or he was better known as the Human Torch.
The Torch might have been a hothead, but he was still a valuable member of the
team. When he could get focused, he was rather skilled. And had been a valuable
part of the Fantastic Four for the time it had been around, despite the fact he
tended to be a hot head and impulsive. Johnny stepped forward. Reed snapped his
head up, a smile crossing his face as he looked at the Human Torch.
"In a minute, Johnny, Sue," Reed said. His eyes were fixed on what was in front
of him. "I'm just finishing cataloging this fascinating specimen."
"You might call it fascinating, but the rest of us people in the real world
call it dullsville," Johnny said. He did a mock yawn, and stood back, looking
around the lab. "Come on Reed, get with the program. This tour is going to
really get the rep of the Fantastic Four up."
"Yeah matchstick, and remind me why our rep is in the toilet in the first
place. Oh that's right, the fact you keep grandstanding."
The fourth and final member of the Fantastic Four was Ben Grimm, or the Thing.
One should not let the Thing's rocky demeanor fool them. Despite his gruff
exterior, the Thing was all heart. In fact, many might argue that he was the
heart of the Fantastic Four. Without the Thing, the team would not function as
a team.
"Hey, boulder brain, settle down, that wasn't really my fault," Human Torch
said.
Their good natured bickering was something that ensured there was never a dull
moment at the Baxter Building. Sue smiled at them, but she prepared to step in,
should things get too hostile. The fact was that ever since their parents had
died a few years back, Sue had taken responsibility for Johnny. Somehow that
had turned into keeping responsibility for the rest of the Fantastic Four team.
The nineteen year old woman thought that it had been an interesting two and a
half years. Even if Reed did spend most of his time in his test tubes, and not
enough time paying attention to certain other matters.
Yet, that was beside the point.
She peered through the doorway of the main lab. The teachers were filing in,
bringing the students. There were buses all over the state.
"The rest of us will be downstairs, Reed," Sue said to him. "Try and join us
when you can."
Reed tapped his fingers on the side of the desk. Sue cleared her throat, and
Reed sat up straight.
"Coming in a second," Reed said.
"For all of his inventions, he should really invent a watch that he can pay
attention to," Johnny said. This statement was agreed by with the remaining
members of the Fantastic Four.
Three of the four members of the Fantastic Four made their way down the stairs.
Reed continued to look at the equipment on the desk. He had been studying the
odd inter-dimensional disturbances that started a couple of months back. The
first influx had happened a month ago. It was like something arrived here. Was
that someone friend or foe? It would be a worthy subject of study.
Reed would have to find out later. He knew that if he found out the
disturbance, others would. It was highly advanced science, beyond anything this
world had ever seen or even Reed seen. And Reed Richards had seen everything.
The scientist walked out to join the tour. His mind was still half on his work
when exiting the lab.
===============================================================================
The group of students stood waiting for the presentation. Harry, Kurt, Kitty,
and Rogue stood off to the side a little bit. A group of girls squealed, which
caused Rogue no small amount of irritation. She turned to Harry, and rolled her
eyes.
"Great, the fan girl brigade is here," Rogue told herself.
Harry just patted Rogue on the arm, consolingly. Rogue smiled, that Harry
seemed to share her pain.
'I'm just glad they're not for me, for once,'Harry thought to himself.
Kitty frowned. She took a moment to look at them. "They're…really obsessive.
And a bit too bubbly for my taste. Talk about surgery sweet."
"Like you aren't," Rogue said.
"No, really, I'm not that bad, they're putting me on an entirely new level,"
Kitty said. The brunette mutant shook her head. "They're cavity inducing."
She stepped back. She nearly instinctively phased through the wall.
"Come on, let's find a space a bit closer," Harry said.
"Before or after we get trampled?" Rogue asked.
Harry just smiled, and he led the two girls over. Kurt was near them, and
followed closely. The Human Torch stood in the background. He seemed to be
milking this for all of his work. Until his sister pulled him into the
background, and gave him a stern reprimand. Johnny fell into line, and Harry
turned to the group with a smile.
"It seems like the first family of superheroes are just that," Harry said.
"Yeah, they're no different than any of us," Kurt replied. "So do you think the
X-Men will get the respect that the Fantastic Four do?"
Rogue just scoffed. "That would be the day."
"I don't know, that would be pretty cool," Kitty said to them all.
"We're going to have to stay in the shadows, we're not ready to be exposed,"
Harry said, reciting Professor Xavier's warning to them all. Harry found all of
the secrecy to be annoying. Once the veil of secrecy got knocked loose,
everything would come out.
For now he had to play the game.
"Yeah, but we have powers, why can't we use them?" Kitty questioned. She waved
her hands, and decided to go into a perfectly logical statement. "The Fantastic
Four saves the day three times before breakfast, and there's Spider-Man, and
Iron Man…"
"Iron Man doesn't have any powers though, that's a suit of armor," Kurt argued.
Kitty just sighed. "You get my point."
Harry just smiled. He scoped out the surroundings, to see what he was up
against. . The Fantastic Four were about ready to address the crowd. Everyone
was getting restless. Harry tapped his foot on the ground, and waited for their
arrival. Kitty and Rogue stood on either side of him, with Kurt standing in the
background. All four of them craned their necks over the crowd.
"Look, there he is," Kitty said, and a smile crossed her face. There he was
indeed. Reed Richards, one of the most brilliant scientific minds in the world,
walked out. His mind seemed to be elsewhere.
Harry had got the impression that he was a genius, even though he was a bit
scatterbrained. Then again, the best geniuses often were. The other three
members of the Fantastic Four stood by the side.
"We love you Johnny!"
The Human Torch waved at them, a bright smile on his face. He adopted a
businesslike expression at the looks from the Invisible Woman and the Thing.
Harry watched. He noticed Jean and Scott with their classmates a bit back in
the background.
"Oh for the love of God," Rogue groaned.
"It's not that bad," Kurt said. Rogue just stared at him, eyes narrowed. "Okay,
it's that bad, but it could be worse."
Rogue was about to question how it could get worse. However Harry was the one
who stepped in and evaded a potential crisis. He was getting rather good at
doing that for some reason. Then again, he had plenty of experiences.
"It's started," Harry said. Kitty stood by Harry's side. She walked in closer
to Harry. Kurt and Rogue stood, their eyes directed towards Reed Richards. He
tapped on the microphone a couple of times to test to see if it was working.
Reed cleared his throat.
"Thank you for coming out here today," Reed said. The scientist looked around,
to see each and every person who had come out. "My team managed to pull me out
of my lab long enough for me to address everyone. I must say, it is great to
see some of the potential bright minds of tomorrow. It just seemed like
yesterday I was experiencing the trials and tribulations of High School
myself."
Reed decided that it was prudent not to state that the real trials and
tribulations were due to the fact that he had a genius level intellect.
Therefore, he was rather bored with the entire process of education. Most
geniuses tended to get rather bored within the formal process of school. Things
simply went too slow for them, and forced them to think inside the box.
"The work I have had done as part of the Fantastic Four has allowed me to open
up new avenues of research," Reed added. He had a captive audience listening to
his every word. "And I hope that you will have many of the same opportunities
that I did. Even though I do hope that it does not happen due to being
bombarded by cosmic radiation. That's a life changing experience that many of
us could have done without."
"I'll give an amen to that," the Thing said under his breath. Harry thought
that he was the only one who heard what the rock hero had said.
"I must warn you that many of the inventions I created are dangerous, and
therefore are not for public view," Reed said. "That's why the top levels of my
lab have been sealed. Perhaps one day, they will be fit for actual use. I have
studied countless disciplines of science in the recent past. And there is so
much that I do not know. If there are any questions, then please do not
hesitate to ask them."
Kitty was the first one to chime in.
"Doctor Richards, you wrote a paper describing how what is perceived as magic
could be considered to be an advanced form of science, and thus did not exist,"
Kitty said. Reed nodded, and Harry looked rather curious. Kitty took this as
her invitation to continue. "However, wouldn't you agree that there are some
things that cannot be explained through any kind of conventional science?"
Reed remained calm, and tried to answer that question the best that he could.
"That's an intriguing question, but for every actual there is a scientifically
plausible explanation," Reed said. "For years, conventional science would be
considered to be that of sorcery. Science that we take for granted, but use
every day in our normal lives. Fifty years ago, cell phones and the Internet
would be something that we could scarcely dream about. If anyone described
them, they would be considered witchcraft. Yet, they exist. There is a
plausible, and logical explanation, even if one has not found it out as of
yet."
Sue decided to jump in. "I think what Doctor Richards means is there is a
correlation between science and magic. They are two elements where many people
struggle to understand. And there are certain laws to how they are governed."
Harry actually thought that made a certain degree of sense. There were laws to
magic; although Harry did wonder how much actually governed how magic worked
and how much that put limitations on them. There were more questions, many of
them about the battles the Fantastic Four had, and if it was true they once had
to stop Doctor Doom from launching the Baxter Building into space. They also
asked question about their battles with Mole Man and the Puppet Master. Harry
privately wondered who named these people.
"Let's keep moving, things are getting crowded around here," Harry said.
Kitty and Rogue were both grateful for different reasons. Kurt also nodded. The
two girls followed Harry.
"Let's take a look at that gift shop," Harry suggested. Kitty smiled back at
him.
"Yeah, let's buy some cheap trinket that will be forgotten after a while,"
Rogue said. Yet, Rogue's eyes were at the gift shop, with a little bit of
interest in them.
"Rogue, if you wanted me to buy you something, all you had to do was ask,"
Harry said.
Rogue blinked. She nodded, slowly.
"Maybe, I'll have a look around," Rogue said grudgingly.
"Let's go this way," Kitty said, grabbing Harry's hand.
The group walked towards the gift shop, to see what they could take a look at.
===============================================================================
The gift shop was an absolute madhouse, and brimming with all sorts of chaotic
activity. Harry wondered how he got talked into this. Then again, perhaps he
was a fool for thinking that that people would be more interested in the
science than the trinkets.
Another girl looked on. Kitty and Rogue were off to have a look around. She
stepped forward, and nudged Harry as he was busy watching Rogue and Kitty to
make sure he did not lose track of them.
"Excuse me," the girl said. She was blonde, wearing a black shirt, and jeans.
The girl had a black headband in her hair. "Sorry, I didn't mean to get in your
way. I had to get sucked back here in the madhouse."
Harry waved off her apologies. "It's alright, really it is."
"I just can't believe the Fantastic Four would actually think this was a good
idea," the girl said. She rolled her eyes, at some of these bandwagon jumpers
who only started to follow the FF because they were the hot new thing. . "Then
again, when they went public, they were like completely different people. They
were still heroic, still saved the day, but they just seem to be more
celebrities than superheroes."
Harry nodded. "Why couldn't they be both?"
"I suppose they could," the girl said with a shrug. She turned to Harry. A
smile spread across her face. "Gwen Stacy, Midtown High."
"Harry Potter, Bayville High School," Harry said.
A smile cracked across Gwen's face. Her blue eyes flickered with amusement.
"I suppose we're supposed to hate each other for sports team related reasons,"
Gwen said. She had an amused expression on her face. "Then again, I don't
really pay attention to sports, unless I can help it. Still for some people,
sports is really serious business."
"I don't really pay too much attention to sports either," Harry admitted. The
only sport he really enjoyed was not played in this universe, and that was more
for the love of flying than anything. "Then again, I'm afraid I'm not privy to
the big sports rivalries of the New York area. I just moved here a few months
ago."
"Oh, really, British right?" Gwen asked. Harry nodded. "Yeah, I guess I could
kind of tell from the accent. It's kind of a telltale thing. Are you adapting
well?"
"I do kind of wish that people would learn to drive on the other side of the
road, it's very off putting," Harry said. Gwen laughed, in spite herself.
"It's two different worlds, isn't it?" Gwen asked. "It's amazing how much the
people from two countries can be separated by a common language. For the
record, I apologize on behalf of my country for mangling you guy's language."
A slight smile appeared on Harry's face.
"So, are you waiting for someone?" Gwen asked.
"Yeah, my friends Kitty and Rogue are over at the gift shop," Harry said. He
looked over, seeing his fellow X-Men. "And Kurt's over there too."
Gwen thought that Rogue was a rather strange name. Then again, that had to be a
nickname. Not that she was going to judge. She tried not to be judgmental.
"Are you waiting for anyone?" Harry asked.
"Yeah, my friend Peter," Gwen said. A questioning look was on Harry's face, and
Gwen quickly defused everything. "He um had to go use the bathroom. He's been
in there a very long time, and I hope he gets back soon, and everything goes
alright."
Gwen knew the real reason why Peter had gone off. She was good at keeping her
friend's secrets, and she would not tell anyone. Peter tried to play dumb with
her about what the situation was, but Gwen figured it out right away.
"Well, hopefully he doesn't get lost," Harry said in a joking manner.
Gwen nodded. She realized how lame the bathroom excuse was all things
considered. Peter and her were in an rather frustrating spot in their life.
They were in the "just friends" phase, not that Peter would know a romantic
overture if it danced naked in front of him.
That was beside the point. Gwen found herself looking at this Harry Potter with
interest. Then again, someone like that already had a girlfriend, or at least
girls lining around the block. Of course, Gwen wondered if he would be
blissfully ignorant to that fact like Peter was.
Case in point, one of the girls stepped up to join them.
"Hey, Harry, I found something cool, you have to see this," Kitty said. She
looked at Gwen. "Oh, hello, I'm Kitty Pryde, and you're…"
"Gwen Stacy," Gwen said, with a smile which Kitty returned. She turned to
Harry. "It was nice meeting both of you, but I have to go check to see if Peter
returned and I just missed him."
Gwen walked off. Rogue stopped and looked at Harry.
"Another girl falls to the charms of Harry Potter," Rogue told him in an
undertone. "If I didn't know any better, you were trying to collect them."
Harry had no idea what to say to that. Rogue cracked a smile.
"Rogue, we just met each other," Harry said.
"Yeah, I know, and your heart is somewhere else," Rogue said. She smiled. It
was a bit of a forlorn smile.
Rogue turned around, and walked away to keep with the crowd. Harry pushed
through the crowd and joined Kitty.
"So, what do you think?" Kitty asked, and she held the necklace replica of the
Baxter Building.
"It looks like it suits you," Harry said.
"You mean it's tacky," Rogue commented.
Kitty gave her an incredulous look, but Rogue just smiled.
"Actually, that's far better than some of the stuff they're selling here,"
Rogue said.
"You don't have to ask, I'll buy one for both of you," Harry said.
Rogue and Kitty looked at Harry. Both girls had smiles on their face, even if
Rogue's was subtle. Kitty rushed over, and hugged Harry. Thankfully she did not
phase both of them through the wall this time. She was getting a bit better at
that.
"Thanks Harry, you're the greatest," Kitty told him, and she leaned over to
give him a slight kiss on the cheek. A slight smile crossed Harry's face.
Kitty was surprised at her own daring. Yet, Harry was not going to complain.
Her and Harry had been spending a lot of time together over the past couple of
weeks, with Kitty helping Harry with his school work when he struggled. Harry
actually was rather smart when he applied himself. All he needed was some
confidence, which Kitty thought he lacked from whatever happened in the world
he left. Without knowing about Harry's friends and family, Kitty could not draw
any conclusions.
The group continued to move around. The Thing and the Human Torch walked around
to talk to the tour group. The two signed autographs and mingled with the
people. They did seem to be two of the more popular members of the Fantastic
Four.
===============================================================================
Harry could have smiled. The day had gone rather smoothly all things
considered. It was just a normal day out, without any problems whatsoever. The
crowd at the Baxter Building was chaotic, but if that was the only thing he had
to complain about, then it was a satisfying day. He was about to say that this
was a perfect day.
A loud explosion echoed from outside of the Baxter Building. Kitty, Rogue, and
Kurt, along with several other students, looked on, backing up from the
explosions.
Rogue decided to ask the obvious question. "What was that?"
'The consequences of me trying to be a little bit optimistic,'Harry thought to
himself. He offered a bit of a long sigh, and braced himself for what was to
come. Another explosion echoed from outside, and Harry remained on his feet. He
was rigid, and shook his head. Surely, this could not really be happening.
"Everyone remain calm, I'm sure it's nothing," Reed Richards said, and he
walked forward to analyze the situation.
Harry stood on his guard. He turned to his fellow X-Men, who also tensed up.
Training in the Danger Room tended to do that to people, and they waited for
the other shoe to drop.
"Explosions rarely amount to nothing," Harry stated slowly.
"Where's Scott and Jean in all of this?" Kurt wondered.
"They're likely with the upper class, in that tour group in the next room,"
Harry replied to Kurt. He took a deep breath, and suddenly the windows cracked.
His eyes narrowed. Breath lightened, and Harry paused, eyes focused on what was
coming. "You've got to be kidding me."
Harry only said that because he wished that someone was kidding him. Yet he
could not deny what he had seen. He looked over his shoulder. Thankfully most
of the students had been ushered out, which would make what he had to do a lot
easier. There were less eyes to witness the magic that he must perform to get
them out alive.
"Everyone stay close, and don't get separated," Harry told his teammates. "I'm
going to see what I can do to them."
"And how are you going to do that?" Kurt asked.
It was Kitty who responded with the obvious answer. "Magic, duh."
Harry saw the robots before his yes. They were silver, with green cloaks. They
stood before him, and armed with a large assortment of lasers. The lasers had
been armed on Harry.
"Target detected, fire."
Harry immediately put shields up that would prevent any stray lasers from
hitting bystanders, and to a lesser extent, him. With a swift shot, he knocked
half of the robots out of commission. They exploded into debris. Harry waved
his hand, and caused the debris to disappear before it could hurt anyone. One
of the robots could have attacked him, but Kitty popped out from underneath the
floor. She phased her hand through the robot's chest plate, and shorted it out.
Sparks flew in every direction.
"What are these things?" Kurt asked.
"I'm guessing they're bad news," Rogue said.
The Human Torch heard the sounds of screaming, and for once it was not his
adoring public. He looked at the Doom Bots, and sighed. For most people, this
would be an alarming situation. For Johnny Storm, this was just another
Wednesday.
Sue, Ben, and Reed were on the next room, working crowd control. Reed having
slipped off a moment ago, to check his scanners. Johnny wished Reed would have
used his eyes more and his science less, but that was a discussion for another
time. He stood in a pose, and fried one of the Doom Bots. Another Doom Bot
swooped in and sprayed flame retardant foam on Johnny Storm. He was unable to
flame on, and he dropped to his knees, cursing his luck. One of the students
stepped in.
"Get back, you don't want to get hurt," Johnny said to the boy, but his green
eyes burned with determination, and three of the robots were demolished like
they were paper.
Harry smirked. It was rather new to him for anyone to tell him to get back
because he might get hurt. Immediately he blasted the robots, and sent them
flying in every direction. The robots crumbled to dust, and Harry rocked back
on his heels. Kitty, Rogue, and Kurt tried to discreetly help engage the
robots. Suddenly Kitty looked out the window. There was a drone outside of the
building, and it began to heat up.
"Um, guys," Kitty said, pointing frantically.
Harry tried to blast it, but a shield repelled his magical attacks.
"Oh you've got to be kidding me," Rogue said. There was an energy field around
that floor of the Baxter Building, and everyone who still stood within that
particular room felt themselves encased in an energy field.
Harry tried to figure out what this field was. If he could figure it out, he
could blast out. It seemed to be partially magic, some mix of sorcery and
science. Which made it a bit of a problem to deal with, as only someone who was
cunning could mix disciplines like that. Doctor Strange told him that mixing
science and sorcery was something that very few could master. The fact someone
managed that was very worrying.
Rogue, Kitty, Kurt, Harry, the Human Torch, and several other students had been
transported off in a flash of light. Harry wondered why they were the lucky
ones to be chosen. The group of them ended up in a dungeon. Harry had known
from past experiences that being inside a dungeon was never a good thing. Kitty
walked up behind Harry, and asked him the obvious question.
"They transported us somewhere, didn't they?" Kitty said.
"Yeah, they transported us somewhere," Johnny said, speaking up. He was trying
to think quickly on his feet. Reed was always the level headed one, to be able
to think out of any situation. "The question is where?"
"Yeah, that's the question."
They turned around and saw Gwen stand right there with them. The blonde haired
girl seemed a bit calm and collected, or maybe she was just good in keeping
cool. Harry wondered if she had to deal with something like this before.
"So did you ever find your friend?" Harry asked her.
"No," Gwen said shortly.
She hoped that her friend could find them. Gwen had a feeling he might come in
handy. Of course, she could take care of herself if push came to shove. Taking
out her cell phone, she tried to call for help. It was dead, and she could not
even dial anyone.
"It's not working," Harry prompted. Gwen shook her head. "I'm not surprised.
That much magic in the air, it's going to fry most electronics."
Gwen was caught off guard. Her eyes narrowed, and she slowly asked a question.
"Um, what does magic have to do with this?"
"Explanations later, right now we should find a way out of here," Kitty said.
The Human Torch was trying to get a communicator device working.
"Guess it must be something potent if Reed's technology has been fried," the
Human Torch said. "So, um, I guess we better keep moving."
They all nodded. The group walked down a long and cavernous hallway. There were
many things that Harry did not take too kindly with. One of them was being
transported somewhere against his own will.
Harry would be having stern words with whoever did this.
"Can't you just teleport us out of here or something?" Kitty asked him in
undertone.
"Don't you think I would have tried that if that was the case," Harry replied
back.
"Well, yeah," Kitty agreed.
"Yeah, I can't teleport either," Kurt admitted. "I just pop in and out at the
same place. Someone really big just smacked me across the face."
Now Harry was rather curious. Who was behind this?
"I'm sure you have a good idea who's behind this," Harry said to the Human
Torch.
Human Torch did not answer that question.
"Well?"
"Nothing good," Human Torch said, more seriously than anyone had seen him.
When Johnny Storm got serious, one could take it to the bank that there was a
problem. He closed his eyes, and tried to get the group through this problem.
While some members of the group exhibited powers, some of them were just normal
humans.
===============================================================================
It seemed like the group was in a maze. It was a giant Labyrinth of passageways
that never ended. Some of the members of the group were restless.
"Okay, we've been walking around forever," Kitty said.
"No kidding," Rogue said, and she shook her head. She looked up. "My blisters
have blisters."
"Yeah, well I'm getting a bit tired of being someone's prisoner," Harry said.
He crossed his arms. Rarely did he like get transported anywhere against his
will. And this was against his will for sure. Harry took a few steps forward.
His breath continued to quicken. He walked up the steps, and Kitty, Rogue, and
Kurt followed him.
Johnny returned from the other end. "Wherever he sent us, it's a maze."
"Who is he?" Harry asked.
Kitty opened her mouth to offer her theory. The door creaked open, and Harry
moved forward. He was at the end of a large torch lit room. There were guards
surrounding the room in every direction. Harry stood on his guard. The guards
stepped back, and allowed Harry and his group to continue to walk. Even though
Harry had an idea that they would jump him if he had performed any hostile
actions.
He looked up and saw a figure in the shadows on a throne room. The figure spoke
in a low voice, and one that commanded authority.
"Come closer, child."
Harry took a step forward. The wizard braced himself. There was no attack. It
was that tense moment before what was going to happen. That calm before the
storm. He wanted answers, and his temper was reaching its boiling point.
"I don't know who you think you are bringing me here!" Harry yelled. Kitty
winced was she began to put two and two together
"Harry, that's…."
"I want answers, and I want them now!" Harry continued. "You drag me and my
friends off to some castle, and now…"
"A being of great power and great impatience," the rumbling voice stated. "You
will be silent in the presence of Doom!"
Harry felt realization slap him like a cold burst of water.
"Wait, Doom?" Harry asked.
Silence occurred. Harry realized how serious everything had gone.
"Doom, as in Doctor Doom," Kitty told him gently. Harry felt the need to face
palm "You know, Doctor Doom, arch enemy of the Fantastic Four, the biggest bad
that ever did bad. That guy."
There was another pause. Harry slowly turned to Kitty.
"Why didn't you warn me?" Harry asked her.
"I tried," Kitty said meekly.
The group stood back. Doom leaned forward. His engraved metal mask showed
malevolent eyes. A green cloak was pulled over his body. He wore a suit of
armor that covered every inch of his body, which had been burned.
"Hey, Victor, looking good, is that a new polish job?" Johnny asked, trying to
break the tension.
Doom only barely acknowledged the Human Torch's flippant comment. His childish
antics were something that Doom had grown accustomed to, and only regarded them
with disdain.
"Rudeness all around and you do not appreciate my hospitality," Doom said. "No
matter, the Fantastic Four will be down a member shortly due to your insolence.
It's a pity it wasn't Richards. "
Harry stood around, and there were legions more of these robots that had
attacked them.
"Great, invasion of the Doom Bots Part Ten Million," Johnny said. He rolled his
eyes. Again, for him, Doom Bots was just another Wednesday.
The Doom Bots crowded around, ready for battle.
"In Latveria, Doom's word is law!" the Doom Bots droned.
Despite their powers, they could be overwhelmed by the sheer numbers just
bearing down upon them. Several of the non-powered students seemed frightened,
and faint. This was his first official mission that he led, and talk about
being thrown out into the deep end.
Doom might have been a bit out of his depth, but Harry would not give up.
"Protect the civilians!" Harry yelled out, taking leadership.
It was a good thing that robots tended to blow up easily in the face of magic.
It was a bad thing that sheer numbers were being used.
***** Doom's Law *****
Chapter 09: Doom's Law.
The Doom Bots began to arm themselves for battle. Harry looked at them, and
calculated the threat. Pressure was something that he could handle, it had only
happened too many times with him. And he was confident that it was something
that his teammates could handle as well.
Harry levitated Kitty up into the air, and he flung her magically through one
of the Doom Bots. Kitty shifted herself, and short shorted it. The Doom Bot
crashed down to the ground. Suddenly, Kitty tried to punch through another Doom
Bot, but it exploded back into her. The brunette mutant was unharmed, and
rather rattled.
"Guys, these things are becoming adaptable," Kitty said. She frowned, and Rogue
moved over, dodging the attacks.
It was just like in the Danger Room, only more real. Rogue maneuvered herself,
and two of the bots blew each other.
"Yeah, I got the message," Rogue dead panned.
The Doom Bots stampeded towards both of them. Kurt latched onto one of its
arms, and grabbed it. It was ripped off in the impact. The X-Men and the Doom
Bots continued to engage each other into battle. The Human Torch assisted, and
sent blasts of fire. Once again, he was extinguished, and dropped down to the
ground.
"Oh, come on," the Human Torch said.
He rolled over, and coughed. This was not one of his better days. Harry turned
to the X-Men, and tried to usher the shell-shocked civilians out. Some of them
were rather faint, and had frozen in battle.
"We better work on getting the civilians out, they can't…." Harry started. He
was stopped when he saw Gwen out of the corner of his eye pick up one of the
Doom bot arms that had been severed, and aim the laser in it, taking out three
of the robots at a time. The lasers cut through the Doom Bots like a hot knife
through butter. "Okay, never mind."
Gwen got her share of strange looks. She sighed.
"What?" Gwen asked. "Oh come on, I'm not going to hide in a corner and bawl my
eyes out because I don't have any super powers."
There was a bit of a pause, mostly so Harry could readjust his charm work, and
divide and conquer his enemies. Kitty nodded her head.
"Fair enough," Kitty said.
"Yeah, more power to you," Harry said.
Gwen began to fire more blasts at the bots. Harry managed to encircle them with
magical energy. Taking out multiple targets at once could be tricky, especially
so without hurting them. However, his training with the Sorcerer Supreme was
something that gave him a leg up beyond what most would have. Harry blew them
out with the magical energy.
Doom watched the battle, making sure to analyze every single move. The Human
Torch was once again into the battle. That annoyance was not something that was
within Doom's notice. Rather, he watched the dark haired child who had appeared
months ago in a flash of light. He was worthy of further observation. While his
skills were only blooming, he had potential. Potential was something that
Doctor Doom respected, and felt could grow. A blast of energy had shot through
his creations. Doom continued to watch, and wait for this battle to play out.
Kitty and Harry did a tandem attack. This set them up for Rogue dodging the
attack. The agility that had been formed through battles in the Danger Room had
caused her keep ducking, dodging, and bobbing around the attacks. The robots
blew up each other rather nicely. The other students were ushered out. Except
for Gwen, who despite her powers did not run away, and had stayed to help.
Harry's awestruck expression was kept on Gwen's face, and he decided to ask a
question once the dust had been cleared.
"How did you learn to fight like that?" Harry asked her.
"When your Dad is a police officer, you have to learn a few things about self-
defense," Gwen explained. She continued to keep up with everyone. "With all of
the drug dealers, mobsters, and just general nut-jobs…kind of have to learn
something to keep yourself from being picked apart as an easy target. You know,
there has been some level of survival instincts."
Harry would be hard pressed to disagree with that. He continued to help lead
his team through the battle. There were miniature explosions that rocked the
castle that they were at.
"Stay sharp!" Harry yelled.
"Staying sharp, and on our toes," Kitty agreed.
"I don't know how many of these tin cans he has," Rogue said.
"Too many," Johnny said, knowingly. He wondered how many of these things Doom
had on hand.
The explosions continued to ring out around them, and the battle intensified.
The Doom Bots dropped down to the ground. They formed a barrier in front of
their leader. Harry and Kitty saw that barrier as only another way to blast
through. Harry aimed his hands, and a powerful attack cut through the air. He
was getting closer and closer to the throne. He would have reached his
destination much sooner; however he also directed his shield charms to protect
his friends.
"Hey, um guy, see if you can get a close shot at Doom," the Human Torch said.
Harry focused his attention on Doom. "I've got your back!"
Harry did try and blast Doom at close range. An energy field appeared around
him, and bounced off the magical attack. That was just what Harry thought. He
would have had his throne shielded.
"Damn it Reed, why couldn't you make something that couldn't get fried?" Johnny
grumbled.
The Human Torch once again was knocked down. He flamed on once again, and
immediately was doused once again. Harry siphoned the foam off of him with a
charm, and he gave his nod of thanks. The Human Torch shot off like a cork into
the night, and flew around.
The Doom Bots were dropping like flies. Of course, the bots were one thing. The
man at the top of the throne was another thing entirely. Harry stood, and
watched, keeping an eye on the rela threat. He wondered if these robots
magically multiplied. The thought seemed absurd to most, but for Harry's life,
absurdity did seem to be the order of the day. A deep breath was taken, and
Harry continued to look forward, waiting for the opening that he needed to gain
the definite advantage.
By now, he was certain that they would have been missed. It was only
elementary. Fighting the battle was one part.
"Don't let up now, we're almost there," Harry grunted. "Keep it up, everyone
don't lose your heads, we're doing well!"
His words of encouragement were shouted to his teammates. A part of him hoped
that they could lead them onto victory. Everyone was still in the battle, which
raged on, and they choked in the smoke of the destroyed Doom bots.
Doom continued to watch, and wait. He was perched, and stared down his enemies.
The powers of this strange young man were something that he would find a use
for in due time. Right now, he was content to wait, and watch, and plot.
===============================================================================
Jean rushed around, breathing in and out. She tried not to panic, because bad
things happened when she panicked. A telepath was not someone to be trifled
with when she was in a state of distress. Scott treaded lightly as he stepped
behind her, and watched his friend. Jean folded her arms.
"So, you did see that?" Jean asked.
"If you mean that half of the students just disappeared, including our team
mates, than yes," Scott said. "Who did this?"
"Does it really matter?" Jean asked hotly.
Scott took a step back. Red heads and telepaths tended to be rather high
strung, and since Jean was both, he knew better than to agitate her right now.
"It matters, but the real question is whether or not we're going to get them
back."
Jean spun around, and saw Ororo and Logan walk up to join them. Jean's
expression was fixed, and rather calm, almost eerily so. She took a few seconds
to compose her thoughts before she began to address Logan.
"So, I take it you heard about what happen," Jean said.
"Yeah, I heard," Logan said. He sniffed the air, and the face of the mutant
turned into a scowl. "Smells like Doom Bots."
"Yes, I was afraid of that."
Reed Richards showed up at that time. Ben Grimm and Susan Storm followed him.
Three fourths of the Fantastic Four stood before them, and stared down the X-
Men.
"Hey, Logan, it's been a long time," Ben said in a gruff voice.
"Yeah, last time, I drank you under the table," Logan replied.
The Thing just looked at Logan. He waved his rocky hands. "Ah, I seem to
remember that happening a little bit differently than you do. But, hey, far be
it for me to get in the way of a good story. I do wish we could have met up
under better circumstances."
"You and me both," Logan said to the Thing. He looked out the window, and tried
to get a sense of what was going on. "If it's Doom, we could have a bit of
trouble."
"A bit of trouble does often come with the territory when one deals with
Victor," Reed said. He sighed. "His vendetta never seems to cease. In fact, it
gets stronger with each passing year. But, why did he come here, of all days?
He seems to be keeping the peace, and did not attack us for some time. I won't
say things are better between us, but it is different, almost like a cease
fire."
'I don't know if we should tell them about Harry,' Jean projected to the entire
group telepathically.
Logan, Ororo, and Scott all nodded, but kept their faces grim. Doom would have
noticed Harry's arrival, and would have been waiting for the right opportunity
for weeks. It would suit Doom's king sized ego to abduct someone out from
underneath the nose of Reed Richards, his most hated enemy. The rest of the
team mates, they could not say. Hostages, maybe, for some kind of collateral,
or perhaps they just got caught up in everything.
"I'm sure if we all work together, we can find out what Doom is up to and stop
him," Ororo said.
"Yeah, there's a bit of a problem with that," The Thing said. The member of the
Fantastic Four sighed. "Latveria is restricted space, and Doom has diplomatic
immunity. We don't like busting down his door any more than we have to, even if
we do it."
Sue was quick to notice the discomfort of at least one member of the group.
"However, given the circumstances, we might not have any choice. We don't want
to see anyone get hurt at all, and whatever Doom is after…"
Sue trailed off. Her brother had gone off with them. While Johnny could take
care of himself, well most of the time, it still did not stop her from
worrying.
"Yeah, Suzie, we know, and we'll get him back," The Thing said in a gentle
voice. He gave his team mate a reassuring look. Sue wished she could be a bit
more cheerful.
"What are we waiting for then?" Logan asked, breaking the uncomfortable
silence.
"Right, we need to go into there with a plan, because Victor will be expecting
us," Reed said. "If anything he's obsessively prepared."
"Ain't that the truth, stretch," Thing grumbled.
Reed Richards punched in a number of coordinates. If he could trace what
happened back to its source, then he could find out where Doom had taken the
guests in the Baxter Building. There were a few moments before he had struck
it.
"I believe we have it, where Doom has taken them," Reed said. "They're at the
Latverian Embassy."
"Just perfect," Logan said bitterly.
"Then we have little time to waste," Ororo said.
"What could Doom be doing to them?" Jean asked. She tried not to look worried,
but the expression betrayed the red headed telepath.
Logan shook his head. "They'll be fine. We've trained them for battles like
these. Even though someone like Doom is far beyond the most extreme levels of
the Danger Room. The guy's nuts."
"Took the words out of my mouth," the Thing said.
The members of the Fantastic Four and the X-Men all nodded. It was time to
separate the men and the women from the boys and the girls. The entire group
moved out, and was ready for action. Logan remembered the last time he tangled
with Doctor Doom. It did not end all that well, and Doom had humiliated him.
His teeth gritted when he remembered that moment. He knew that the Fantastic
Four had a handful of battles with this guy, and it was always a tough battle.
"The three of you better stay sharp, because Doom ain't a walk in the park,"
Logan warned them.
"We're not going to go down without a fight," Scott said. "He took some of
ours, and we're going to bring the fight to him."
"No, we get the kids and get out," Logan said firmly.
Logan was looked at strangely by the group.
"Never thought I'd see you of all people back down from a fight," Ororo said.
Logan shook his head. "I ain't backin' down, just playing it smart."
"I'd agree," Reed said. "We should try and to not indulge Victor in whatever he
is doing."
The Fantastic Four and the X-Men got the transport Reed had offered. It should
have cloaked them until their arrival. They were ready. Doom was not going to
be a day at the beach, and they just hoped that their young charges could hold
their own.
===============================================================================
Harry's teeth gritted together, and determination flashed through his green
eyes. Several of the Doom Bots froze in ice. That allowed the group to continue
to fight forward. Harry kept his eyes on both the Doom Bots. Suddenly, the man
on the throne clapped his hands, and his remaining metal servants took several
steps back. Harry looked up at this dangerous individual. Doom stood before
him, and there was a long moment where they exchanged a stare down.
The silence continued, passing through each moment. Doom's steel gaze fixed
upon the entire group. Everyone waited for the all shoe to drop.
"Is he going to say something?" Kurt wondered.
Kitty and Rogue wondered that as well. The Human Torch stepped forward. He had
never danced with Doom one on one himself. It had been always been with the
members of his team. Not that Doom was one to offer that much one on one time
with his adversaries. The ruler of Latveria was an individual who sent legions
of his Doom bots at his enemies.
"I have seen as much as I wish."
Doom spoke in a slow and deliberate voice. It was the tone that commanded
absolute respect. Harry only knew a small amount of information about Doom.
Knowing your enemy seemed to be the order of the day. However, without that
knowledge of an enemy, a person no matter how much power they had was
outgunned. Harry's gaze remained cool, and focused. Doom looked back to him,
not showing any emotion in his eyes. The eyes were the window's to the soul,
and the only visible part of Doom's costume.
"I noticed your arrive here, young sorcerer," Doom told him. His voice rumbled
throughout the castle. "And I have prepared for this opportunity. Much to my
dismay, you have decided to join up with a foolish dreamer in Charles Xavier.
Such untapped potential should not be at the disposal of a fool. Both Xavier
and the Sorcerer Supreme lack the imagination needed to properly understand
your gifts. Doom has an ample imagination, and could see the potential that you
have at your disposal."
Harry just allowed Doom to drone on. While Doom was speaking, Harry was trying
to calculate a way to get one good shot in on him.
"I sense your skepticism," Doom declared. "Many have likely told misguided
tales about Doom. Yet, I do what I must to take hold of the world, and to keep
it from following into decay. And I can sense a kindred spirit deep within you.
The two of us could do much together. There is great potential that is
untapped. A greater purpose that could be utilized, and the two of us could
work together. Harry Potter, join me and together we will rise above all of
these fools."
There was a long pause. During this pause, Harry focused his gaze up at Doom.
He gave the impression that this was done to stare down Doom. In reality, the
dark haired wizard scanned the throne, trying to find some flaw in the defenses
of Doom.
Gwen was the one that broke the silence. "Well, at least he didn't tell you he
was your father."
Kitty shook her head, and folded her arms. Harry looked eerily calm, and it was
almost like he pondered this. Kitty seemed a bit worried. Harry seemed too
independent to willingly follow someone like Doom.
"Harry?" Kitty asked.
"Your offer is interesting, Doom," Harry said, and Doom leaned forward, eyes
flashing with interest. The ruler of Latveria thought that he had Harry in the
palm of his hand. His gaze continued to linger on Harry's face. Harry decided
to drop the bombshell. "However, I will have to respectively decline your
offer. I don't know if you've figured this out, but people normally don't like
when they are kidnapped against their will. And I'm nobody's pawn."
Doom's demeanor remained unchanged. The calm before the storm was prominent.
Doom clutched the side of his throat. The monarch stood up to his full height,
and his eyes never waved.
Several more Doom bots were summoned. The group stood up on their feet. The
Human Torch shot up, to try and get his hands on Doom.
"No one will pass," Doom said. He raised his hand. The Human Torch was blasted
out of the air.
The Human Torch, never one to give up, pulled himself to his feet. The Doom
Bots stormed forward. Kitty, Rogue, Kurt, and Harry engaged them into battle,
swiftly and fiercely.
"Look on the bright side," Kurt said.
"There's a bright side to this?" Rogue asked.
"Well yeah, this will prepare us for the next time Logan throws us in the
Danger Room,' Kurt said.
Kitty grabbed the arm of one of the Doom bots, and phased it through the other.
While her bare hands would not do, this attack seemed to do well. Harry caused
a quarter of them to blow up with a well-placed Reducto field.
"Where does Doom find all of these things?" Rogue asked.
"Maybe he buys them in bulk,' Kitty suggested.
"That wouldn't surprise me," Harry concluded, and he sent another wave of
energy towards them.
The Doom Bots broke apart. They could tell that Doom was going to take a chance
to get out of there. Not that the X-Men had any delusions about their ability
to beat someone like Doom in at this point in their training. All they could do
was stall him Kitty dodged the attack, and Harry looked at her with an
encouraging expression.
Kitty took out three of the Doom Bots. Rogue blasted one of the Doom Bots with
the arm. The laser fire cut through it. Kitty jumped into the air, and tried
for another attack. One of the Doom Bots smashed into her, and knocked her to
the ground.
Kitty winced. Her elbow popped. She bit her lip, and a bit of pain folded at
her. The Doom Bot moved in for the kill. Harry's eyes narrowed.
"Everyone stand back!" Harry shouted at the top of his lungs.
Kitty tried to convey that she was okay. Sure her ribs and arm was sore, but
that came with the territory. Yet, perhaps that would fire Harry up, and Kitty
was too transfixed by the magic Harry was displaying.
Harry's magical field expanded. It was a trick that Doctor Strange taught him.
However, it was one that he was struggling with. The struggle was one of
Harry's more frustrating moments.
The right kind of motivation could allow him to do anything. The energy
concluded. The Doom Bots blew up into nothingness. The remaining Doom Bots that
Doom had were fried. The Ruler of Latveria pressed on a button. He stepped
back, and tried to escape. However, he looked up in the air.
"Richards," Doom said. The word was spoken with even more contempt then when
Snape spoke the word "Potter" back at Hogwarts. He stepped forward, and tried
to make his escape. This would be a situation that he would have to obtain
further information on.
Harry shot cords around Doom to bind him. He was surprised by his success that
he had caught one of the most dangerous criminals in the world in his grasp.
The entire group looked at him with amazed awe.
For some reason, Harry thought this was too easy, but he was not one to jinx
what happened. Doom seemed to grow silent and cold at that moment. Now Harry
really did wonder, but he was about to find out.
===============================================================================
Harry kept his eyes on what seemed to be Doom for another couple moments. The
Invisible Woman, Mister Fantastic, the Thing, Wolverine, Storm, Cyclops, and
Jean all stormed the palace. They half expected some kind of battle to walk
into. The last thing they expected to walk into was smoldering Doom Bot
remains, and Doctor Doom bound with Harry and the Human Torch standing by him.
"You actually captured him?" The Invisible Woman asked. Her mouth opened and
closed in absolute astonishment.
Johnny chuckled at the expression on his sister's face. It was a true Kodiak
moment.
"Hey, Sue, good to see you too, yeah I'm fine," the Human Torch said. He turned
and inclined his head towards Doom. "So, we've got old Victor wrapped up, and
ready to go."
Reed stepped forward. He was rather skeptical on sheer principal. The scientist
took a second to tap on the form of Doom. Sure enough, his theory was
justified.
"I'm afraid that's not Doom," Reed confirmed. Sure enough, Reed broke open the
bot, and there was a microphone inside.
"Figured it was too easy," Harry said.
"Oh you've got to be kidding me, a Doom bot again!" The Human Torch exclaimed.
He could hardly believe it, but it was true. There was some times where Johnny
wondered if they ever went up against the real Doctor Doom, or had fought a
never ending stream of Doom Bots, who answered to other Doom Bots.
"I wish I was, but the scientific proof is there," Reed said. His voice was
humorless. "This model is nearly flawless to the point where it could pass for
the original. In fact, until the moment Victor deactivated it, I would not be
far off from hypothesizing that it would think it was actually Victor Von
Doom."
Reed analyzed the Doom Bot. It would be foolish to bring it back to the Baxter
Building, at least until he gave it a detailed scan. Knowing Doom, there were a
few surprises that would have been left in behind. Reed expected a Trojan to be
left behind. Doom had done that before, and Reed had learned that lesson the
hard way.
Harry only half paid attention to this. He stepped over, and walked towards
Kitty. The brunette hunched over. Harry offered his hand to her. Kitty took it,
and Harry held her steady. A smile spread across her face. Harry held her close
to him, and concern flooded his face.
"Are you hurt badly?" Harry asked.
"Yeah, my ribs are a bit sore and my arm, but it could have been worse," Kitty
said. She shook it off. "I'll live. Maybe not comfortable for a while, but I'll
live. That was an advanced move, and I should have waited before trying it in
battle. Guess I just jumped the gun."
Harry looked at Kitty.
"But you have some great moves, I didn't think you could do that," Kitty added.
Harry just smiled his smile. "Well, we don't know what we are capable of, until
we do it. I guess I really just decided to throw all caution to the wind. And
it worked."
"Well it's robots, so it's not like you had to hold back," Kitty said. "And
keep doing it, if it saves people."
Harry would have to agree. They were robots where he was sure were shielded
from magic, at least most magic. The longer he fought, the easier it got. The
more he understood what he was fighting. Even highly advanced technology had
patterns. Kitty walked over, and Ororo looked at her.
"Don't worry, you'll get medical attention when you return to the Institute,"
Ororo told her in a consoling voice.
Kitty was about to protest to say that she was fine. Her breath went short. The
stabbing pain in her side had told her differently. The entire group moved
hastily to the transport. It was going to take some smoothing over to figure
this out.
Harry did not envy anyone having to explain what happened to all of the
parents. Gwen just shook her head and walked towards the transport that was
being offered off of the Latverian Embassy.
"My Dad's going to flip out, and lecture me," Gwen said. The blonde girl had a
smirk on her face. After the incident with the pepper spray, her dad should
have known better that Gwen was not going to sit back and be a good little girl
when people were in danger. "Especially when he finds out that I got involved
in the fight. Given that he's a cop, he really has no room to talk, but there
you go."
Gwen looked at Harry, Kitty, Kurt, and Rogue, and pondered on what to say.
"Right, and I'll see you around sometime," Gwen said. She jotted down her e-
mail address, and handed it to Harry. "If you need my help for any reason at
all, you shoot me an e-mail."
Kitty looked at Gwen with a quizzical expression.
"Don't worry, I'm not trying to steal your boyfriend," Gwen teased her. Kitty
just offered a brief smile, and Harry raised an eyebrow.
Neither Kitty nor Harry corrected that misconception. Mostly because of the
fact that time ran rather short and Gwen was on the transport the next moment.
The X-Men exited the building. Reed Richards had dismantled the Doom Bot, and
had taken it along for further study when he was certain that there were no
nasty surprises behind it.
'So any idea what happened to the real Doom?" Rogue asked.
Harry thought that was a good question.
"I hope we never run into him again," Kurt shuddered.
Kitty and Harry exchanged nods. That was a sentiment all of them agreed about.
The real Doctor Doom would be ten times more dangerous than this imposter they
fought today. The only thing all of them cared about was returning home. The
team boarded the jet, and it flew off. This would take some smoothing over, and
Harry wondered if his life would ever be anything, but complicated.
That would be food for thought for later. He had thought that his first
official mission where he was technically de-facto leader had gone better than
could be expected. Perhaps there was some kind of potential for this entire
team work mess. Harry had been having his reservations. Call it a gut feeling
if one might, but Harry tended to pay closer attention to his instincts.
Until he amassed some level of resources, Harry had to wait and ponder what to
do. As much as he hated to admit it, money did make the world go around. There
were a few ideas in his head, and there would be time to expand on them in the
not so-distant future.
===============================================================================
Doctor Doom's latest scheme had reached the ears of SHIELD Commander, Nick
Fury. He paced around, nearly wearing a hole in the Hellicarrier floor. Doom
had always been a national security threat ever since becoming the ruler of
Latveria. What pissed Fury off the most was that he had his hands tied, thanks
to the diplomatic immunity that Doom enjoyed, and flaunted in front of face.
Doom and Fury had gone around a few times, and Doom had slipped out of trouble.
Fury was only mildly interested about what Doctor Doom had done, and majorly
interested about the other results of the day's events. His intelligence had
revealed that some of the students from Xavier's school had been among those
kidnapped. Whatever Doom was after, no one was talking. Fury saw that as a
challenge. He would just have to dig even deeper, until he found what he
wanted. The Director of SHIELD tapped his fingers, and stood poised. He turned
to his agents.
"Did you at least get one stinking surveillance photo from the entire mess?"
Fury asked his agents.
The agents shook their heads. Fury stood up straight. The Director of SHIELD
brought himself to his full height. He continued to stare them down. People
would have backed off by now, and cowered.
"Just this one photo, sir but it's blurry," one of the agents aid timidly.
Fury snatched the photo in his hand. He studied it through a narrowed eye.
There was much that was interesting about the photo. He saw Xavier's students
in it. There were faces that he could scarcely make out.
"This was taken before Doom's security camera's short circuited," another agent
added as an afterthought.
Now Fury was interested. There were a number of theories that he could follow
up on, and investigate. A man like Nick Fury did not put much stock into
theories or guess work. In his line of work, there was much to be lost if he
did not have the right information. Teeth gritted, and Fury studied the photo.
Being a secret agent, he was used to picking out the details. It was the
difference between certain death and living to fight another day.
Fury looked up at the agents. He turned around.
"Barton!" Fury barked.
Clint Barton spun around, and his eyes were on Fury. Barton was an expert
archer, who could hit any target. It had earned him the nickname Hawkeye. He
was one of the most valued agents of SHIELD, even if he and Fury did not see
eye to eye. At this moment, Fury needed someone who would be able to be able to
think outside of the box.
"Yeah, Fury, what do you want now?' Clint asked. He leaned against the wall.
The archer was calm and collected.
"I need you on the Potter situation, and fast," Fury told him. Clint remained
calm, and waved Harry. "Someone shows up at random, and it isn't a coincidence.
Xavier and his group are harboring him. And that Institute has always been a
potential security snafu waiting to happen."
Barton nodded his head. He had seen the files. Maybe not read them from cover
to cover, because he was not that meticulous. However, Clint had scanned enough
of the files to be interested. Fury was collecting biographical information on
every single member of the Xavier Institute, every time a new student showed
up, Fury seemed to know. How he learned such things was one of the greatest
mysteries of SHIELD. New agents tended to act those questions. Older agents
just decided to go with the flow, and see what happened. Nick Fury knew things,
that seemed to be his super power.
So when he did not know something, he got on edge. This Potter situation put
Fury on edge.
"So what do you want me to go?" Barton asked. "Tail some kid twenty four
seven?"
"Just keep an eye on him, Barton," Fury replied. Fury cracked his knuckles and
his eye narrowed. "We need to know information about him. These biographical
details are just too clean, too arranged. Xavier might have fooled most, but
the lack of any kind of paper trail to follow up on anything. Potter seems to
be paranoid about making sure anyone sees him doing anything. Every one of his
actions has been mostly discreet. We've only been able to pick up the slightest
of hints on security camera footage."
Barton leaned against the wall. This was again not news to him. His eyes
flickered on Fury.
"Paranoid, and trying not to see, seems like he'd be a good fit in SHIELD,"
Clint said. "Maybe one day he'll take your job, Fury. Is that what you're
afraid of?"
Fury ignored the flippant comment from the archer.
"Yes, but that could mean he was a tactical mastermind," Fury said.
Barton blinked. "We are still talking about the sixteen year old mystery boy,
aren't we?"
"Don't let appearances fool you, things aren't always as they appear," Fury
said. "We have a bigger problem than this one boy. Xavier and Lehnsherr are on
the borderline of some kind of war. It's an arms race between the two of them
to collect mutants. SHIELD needs all of the information they need. Keep an eye
out Barton. I've gotten you a job at Bayville High to keep a closer eye on
everything. You will be cleaning up."
Barton stopped, and stared. Clint Barton cursed the very day that Nick Fury was
born. He had to work undercover at a high school as a janitor. That was not the
lowest mission he had, not even close.
"Can't Natasha do it?" Clint asked.
The archer realized that the woman in question would likely pummel him
senseless if she ever found out she was being volunteered for an undercover
work as a janior.
"You're more of the janitor type, Barton, and Agent Romanov is on a deep cover
mission," Fury said gruffly. Barton read that as something that was on a need
to know basis. "I trust that won't be a problem."
Clint offered a nod. Fury always had a way of talking people into things. So he
might as well skip the middle man, and do it. Perhaps he could get back in the
good graces of Fury after his last than stellar results on the last mission.
Fury remained calm, and kept his temper in check. Xavier and Magneto were
recruiting mutants for their respective groups. One might argue that these
super powered people could be used as weapons. Fury had no problem with
mutants; it was the damage that they could cause that worried him. And this
Harry Potter could potentially be a doomsday weapon.
===============================================================================
Harry thought about the events of today's impromptu mission. Things could have
gone much better. Everything could have gone much worse. Harry walked down the
hallway, towards Kitty's room. He went to visit her in the infirmary. However,
Harry had been informed that Kitty had been released. Harry knocked on the
door.
"Kitty, are you in there?" Harry asked.
"Yeah, come in, Harry!" Kitty called brightly.
Harry opened the door. He walked inside the room that Kitty and Rogue shared.
It was still early, and Rogue was down having recovering from the latest Danger
Room session. Harry stopped, and paused when he looked at Kitty. His heart
skipped a beat when he saw her.
Kitty was sitting cross legged on the bed. Her hair was not tied up, but rather
flowed freely down her back. The brunette wore a short black-shirt that stopped
before her waist. The shirt showed her midriff, and Harry found his eyes
lingering on it. She wore a pair of black panties. Harry's eyes traveled down
to her legs. He found himself staring at them. Kitty cleared her throat, and
Harry looked up to her. Harry saw the grin on her face, but she quickly shifted
her expression in an innocent expression.
"Kitty, I didn't know…you weren't…" Harry managed.
"What, decent?" Kitty asked. She slid to the side of her bed, and looked up at
Harry. "It's not that bad. It's not like you walked in on me when I was naked,
or anything."
That was not the mental image that Harry needed right now. Kitty patted her
hand on the side of the bed. Harry took the invite to sit down, and sat down
beside Kitty on the bed. The brunette looked at him. Her blue eyes met his
green ones. She smiled at him, and placed his hand on his leg.
"So why did you come in here?" Kitty asked.
"I just wanted to see if you were doing alright," Harry said.
Kitty could barely conceal the glee she had.
"I'm doing fine Harry," Kitty said. She scooted a bit closer to Harry, so she
could look at him properly. "I'm a bit sore after what happened. That will
teach me to remember I can, you know, go intangible more often."
Harry smiled. "It's a lot easier to think about what we should have done, then
what we did do out there."
Kitty fired back with a grin. Her hand still rested on Harry's knee. "I can see
what you say. There are a million things that we could have likely done
differently every time. However, everyone got out fine, and we learned a
valuable lesson. Doom is still out there, but he wasn't really there to begin
with, so that's not something that we can do anything about."
Harry just looked at her, and nodded. Kitty scooted just a little bit closer to
Harry.
"We need to talk about something," Kitty said.
Harry was curious. "What about?"
"The two of us," Kitty said to Harry. Her hand was still on his knee. She then
reached forward, and put her hand on Harry's. "We've kind of been dancing
around everything a little bit. We're out there, fighting together. And we've
been spending a lot of time together, and I enjoy your company. I don't know if
you feel the same."
"I do," Harry said. Kitty tightened her grip on his hand. "I really like
spending a lot of time with you."
"I'm glad," Kitty replied to Harry. She shifted by Harry, and it seemed like
she was choosing her next work. "The truth is, I really like you a lot."
Harry decided to have a bit of fun at Kitty's expense.
"Well we are friends," Harry said. "So I should hope you like me."
Kitty just shook her head. "No, I mean as more as friends, kind of like this."
The brunette leaned forward, and wrapped her slender arms around Harry's waist.
Kitty leaned forward, and her lips met Harry's in a kiss. Harry was caught
completely off guard by this action. His brain managed to kick into gear, and
he did the only thing that made sense. Harry kissed back. He felt her lips on
his. It was very nice. He put his hand on the small of Kitty's back, to pull
her in close to him.
The kiss continued to linger. The two were a bit nervous. They had never truly
kissed anyone. Both hoped that they did not screw up.
Harry and Kitty slowly pulled apart after a couple of minutes. Both wanted to
get an assessment of what the other felt. The two stared at each other, and
Harry was the first one to break the silence.
"That was…well wow," Harry said.
"Yes it was," Kitty concurred.
Kitty curled up into Harry's lap, and Harry wrapped an arm around her waist.
She shifted slightly, squirming against him. Harry decided to break the
silence.
"So, I guess that makes us boyfriend and girlfriend then," Harry said to her.
"Are you asking?" Kitty asked.
"Kitty, will you be my girlfriend?" Harry asked her.
Kitty spun around, and kissed Harry once again. Harry returned the kiss. Kitty
ran her fingers through Harry's hair. The brunette broke the kiss. She
practically straddled Harry on the bed, and was slowly pulling his shirt up
over his head. Kitty slowly traced patterns over his chest and abs. The
training in the Danger Room was starting to do him a lot of good. Kitty stroked
his chest, and a smile crossed her face.
"I'm sure you've done this sort of thing often," Kitty said to Harry.
Harry shifted, and was a bit nervous. "Actually, I didn't really have much time
for dating, with everything that happened. There were…complications. I had
about two dates. They both ended in disaster. One was to a school dance, and
one was with a girl a year older than me that I had a crush on. We kissed a few
times, but she was crying so it was not nearly as nice as yours."
"Why would she cry?" Kitty asked, completely confused. Harry was an amazing
kisser, and would likely get better with experience. She felt a little wet just
thinking about it, and what else Harry could do with his mouth.
Harry sighed. This was not a pleasant topic to talk about.
"Well, she was thinking about her dead boyfriend, and then she kissed me,"
Harry said.
Kitty's eyes snapped up. She felt a bit bad for Harry. "Talk about your mixed
messages."
"Tell me about it, that entire relationship was messed up," Harry said. Kitty
stroked his face, and looked into his eyes.
Kitty's wrapped her arms around Harry's neck. She was draped over his lap.
Kitty whispered into his ear. "So, Harry, you have a half-naked girl in your
lap? What are you going to do?"
Harry paused for a moment. He looked at her. The expression in her eyes danced
with mischief, and Kitty shifted over to the side of him.
"Kitty, don't you think we might be…"
"Going too fast?" Kitty asked. She pulled him into another kiss. This one was
short, but nice. It was enough for Harry to be eased slightly. "For some
people, maybe they could say that. Some people might argue that we're not
mature enough to do this. But, don't we have to go into deadly training
simulations every day, where we have to dodge lasers, robots, and all kinds of
insanity? If we're mature enough to do that, than I think we're mature enough
to do this. I think any norms for any relationship should be thrown out the
window, given the situation."
Harry had to concede that she had a point. Deep down, he would have to agree,
and he tightened his grip around Kitty. The brunette gave him a wicked grin.
Kitty placed her hand on Harry's pants, and slowly phased her fingers through
them. She brushed against him, and brought Harry no small amount of pleasure.
"Did you just…"
Kitty laughed. She withdrew her hand from within his pants.
"Do you like that Harry?" Kitty asked Harry in a sweet voice. "Would you like
me to touch you like that again?"
Harry's expression looked at her. He tried to hide his want. Even if his face
did not betray him, the bulge in his pants did.
"I think I'll take that as a yes," Kitty said.
"What about…"
"Contraceptives?" Kitty asked. "Um, would they even work on people like us?"
Harry looked at Kitty in confusion.
"Well, we're supposed to be evolved, so wouldn't we have something a bit
stronger."
"Yeah, that does make sense," Harry said. "I know they won't work on magical
users, at least normal ones. Condoms wouldn't work either. Because of the
magical discharge within wizards causes them to break or worse vanish. It
really depends on the power."
Harry looked thoughtful at that moment.
"There are contraceptive spells," Harry informed her. "I've been looking into
them, but I haven't really mastered them yet."
Kitty could not resist commenting on this news. "Oh, you've been looking into
contraceptive spells? I guess you've been scheming to get into my panties for a
while now."
She said this in a teasing manner. Harry reached forward, and placed his
fingers on the edge of her panties. This was a more bold action that he had
ever done. Kitty went intangible, and Harry's fingers passed through the fabric
of her panties.
"Judging by how wet you are, it seems like you've been thinking about me
getting in your panties too," Harry fired back.
"Alright, I guess two can play that game," Kitty conceded. She went solid, and
Harry's hand was "stuck" in her panties. Not that either was complaining. "So,
I guess the two of us can have a little fun, and then we can go all the way
once you learned those charms."
Kitty thought that she might be able to go intangible before Harry erupted in
her. However, she might get lost in the moment and forget. It was best to play
it safe, for now. There would be plenty of time for more fun later. They could
just pleasure each other, and go further later.
"So what do you have in mind?" Harry asked her.
Kitty just grinned, and arched her hips up, to meet Harry's hand. The fun had
just begun.
Smut/Lemon Begins.
Harry felt her pussy on his fingers. It was warm, and better than anything than
he had ever felt in his life. Kitty smiled, and the dark haired wizard paused
for a brief second. He decided that it was best to go with his instincts. Harry
stroked Kitty through her panties. Kitty's eyes glazed over, as Harry started
to play with her. A slight moan escaped from her mouth when Harry explored
every inch of her private parts.
"Feels good," Kitty told him. She paused, and then added. "It would be better
if you saw what you were doing."
The brunette mutant shifted herself. She slowly phased out of her clothes.
Harry was rendered speechless. His heart skipped a beat.
Kitty sat on the bed and spread her legs slightly. Harry took a good long look
at her. A mischievous grin played across her face. Harry watched all of her.
His eyes traveled towards from her cute face, with a winning smile. Her slender
shoulders were next, with freckles on her shoulders. Harry took a look at her
breasts. It had been the first pair that he had ever scene. They were not as
large as some, he suspected, but they looked like a decent handful. Her pink
nipples stood out, perky. Harry continued to look at her tight stomach muscles,
forged from the training in the danger room.
His heart fluttered when Harry took a look at her tight little pussy. It was
moist, with a small strip of brown hair visible. Her legs were sexy as well,
and caused Harry's mouth to water. Harry watched Kitty, who stared back at him
with a grin on her face.
"So, is this how you imagined me when you thought of me naked?" Kitty asked
mischievously.
"Better," Harry admitted. He grabbed Kitty by the shoulders, and pulled her in
close to him. "You look beautiful."
Kitty smiled, and pressed her naked body against Harry's. Harry felt every inch
of her skin on his. Immediately, Kitty grabbed his pants, tugging them firmly
in her hands.
"Only fair, to put us on equal footing," Kitty whispered in his ears. "Let's
see what you've been hiding behind those baggy pants."
Harry arched his hips up, and Kitty phased him out of his pants. Kitty's eyes
stopped at Harry's cock. She stared at it. It bulged in front of her, and Kitty
felt her mouth water when she looked at Harry.
Immediately, Kitty pounced Harry. She wrapped her legs around Harry's waist.
Harry placed his hands firmly on her ass. The two of them made out. Their lips
smashed against each other, as their hands explored each inch of their flesh.
Harry squeezed Kitty's ass, and she paused for a second. She grinded her wet
center across Harry's pelvis, to get him to continue. Harry arched his hips up,
and his cock brushed against her opening.
"Making it very hard to resist," Kitty breathed.
"Oh, am I?" Harry asked. He leaned her back onto her bed, and kissed her neck.
Kitty breathed out. Harry sucked on her neck. That would be leaving marks, but
somehow it was worth it. She placed her hands on Harry's back, and encouraged
him.
Harry's mouth found her tits at the next moment. Kitty thought she was going to
lose it immediately.
"Suck them Harry, please I need it," Kitty said. Her nipples were really
sensitive, and having Harry lick them was driving her into new levels of
pleasure. The brunette also was sure that he was using magic to drive her
pleasure up.
Harry was glad that Kitty was enjoying what he was doing. This was the first
time he had done anything more intimate with a girl then a kiss. Harry decided
to make attention to her body language, and what seemed to give her the most
pleasure. If that particular gift worked when delivering pain to his enemies,
maybe it could work well with delivering pleasure to his girlfriend.
His mouth planted a series of kisses on Kitty's stomach. Kitty arched her hips
up. Harry decided to take things to the next level. His fingers brushed her
slit. Kitty shivered.
"Stick them in me," Kitty told him, and Harry plunged a finger into the
brunette below him.
"You're so tight and wet," Harry whispered.
"Yeah, make me wetter them, if you can," Kitty encouraged him.
Harry rose to the challenge. A second finger was inserted into Kitty's pussy.
The third was entered, and Harry slowly gained a rhythm. His fingers pumped
into her, slowly at first. Kitty pushed her hips up, and Harry continued. Kitty
tugged on her hair, and her eyes glazed over.
"Feels so good," Kitty breathed shallowly.
Harry played with her a little bit more, before he responded with a grin. "It's
going to feel a little bit better, wait for this."
He pumped into her a few more times, and pulled out. Harry switched, licking
her pussy. Briefly, he sucked on Kitty's clit. Kitty was driven absolutely
insane, but bit her bottom lip. Harry thought it was the sexiest thing he had
ever seen. Kitty struggled to not convey pleasure vocally, but had failed.
Harry looked at her.
"I put up silencing charms, go nuts," Harry informed her.
Kitty loved magic at this point. She wondered what else it could do. Perhaps it
could allow them to heighten their pleasure in other ways. Kitty made a mental
note to encourage Harry to explore that later. Right now, she had lost sight of
all coherent thought when Harry had dove into her pussy.
Harry scraped his tongue on the inside of her core. Kitty placed her hands on
the back of his head. She encouraged Harry to continue to work her over with
his tongue. Harry's tongue managed to hit all of the pleasure spots deep within
her. Kitty slowly bucked her hips up.
"Harry, keep eating me," Kitty encouraged him.
Harry closed his eyes, and began to rattle his tongue on the inside of her. It
was at that point, Kitty had almost lost it. Harry was hissing into her pussy,
and it felt so good. Her eyes had been shut, and Kitty lost sense of where she
was. She had soaked Harry's face with her orgasm. The brunette girl saw stars
on the inside of her eyes.
The next thing she knew, she was becoming intangible. She nearly pulled Harry
through the bed with her. Harry had caught her, and Kitty pulled herself back
up. His green eyes locked onto her blue ones with an apologetic look.
"Kitty, I'm sorry."
Kitty could have laughed. "For what, for giving me a kick ass orgasm and nearly
making me phase through the floor?"
Harry was relieved that she was not mad at him. Kitty gave him a kiss.
"Maybe I should put some charms up to prevent you from going further than the
floor," Harry said. "We wouldn't want to give everyone on the floor below a
free show."
Kitty thought that would be for the best. She wrapped her arms around him. Her
eyes looked at him, and a smile spread across her face. "Could you do that?"
"I'm sure it's possible, magic is capable of many things," Harry said with a
shrug.
Kitty pushed back, and slowly wrapped her fingers around the head of Harry's
cock. Slowly, the girl teased it. "Speaking of magic, I think it's time that I
serviced your wand."
Harry rolled his eyes a little bit at that. Then again, between both of the
Weasley twins, he had heard enough wand jokes to last a lifetime.
"You just had to go there," Harry said. He would have to admit, having a
feminine hand on his member felt much better than his own.
Kitty smiled, and clutched Harry's cock in her soft hand. Her hand slowly ran
up and down his length. She needed both hands on it to firmly grasp it. Harry
was rather gifted. Kitty felt fortunate that she would always be Harry's first,
no matter what. The girl gave a slight lick to the head of Harry's cock. Harry
pushed his cock into her hand, and Kitty's mouth was towards it.
"Ready for your first blowjob, love?" Kitty asked in an adorable, but terrible
British accent.
"As long as you don't do that accent ever again," Harry said.
Kitty just smiled, and stroked his cock. Her tongue then tentatively licked it
up and down like a lollipop. She tasted it. Harry's cock tasted so good, but it
was the milky filling inside that Kitty could hardly wait to sample the most.
"Just think of this as incentive to learn those charms, so we can go further,"
Kitty purred in his ear.
Kitty slowly wrapped her lips around Harry's cock. She only managed to fit a
certain amount of Harry's length into her mouth. The rest of it, she grasped
firmly in her hand. Kitty slowly bobbed her head up and down on Harry's cock.
Harry placed his hands in her hair, and stroked it. He lifted his hips slowly,
and Kitty continued to go down on him.
"Use your tongue a bit more, that's it," Harry managed. Kitty stimulated Harry
with her mouth and tongue. "Your hot mouth, feels so good. I bet your hot pussy
would feel even better."
Kitty played with herself, and she continued to go down on Harry. She had never
thought about doing this before. Yet, Harry was responsive to her actions, so
she must be doing something right. Her mouth continued to pleasure him. Kitty
stroked the remaining length with her left hand, and squeezed his balls sac.
"I love it when you touch me like that," Harry grunted. He stroked his fingers
through her brunette hair. "Suck my dick, Kitty."
Kitty maintained eye contact. Harry was getting her hot as well. His cock in
her mouth was a wonderful feeling, and Harry reached around, to play with her
breasts and stiff nipples. Harry rubbed her. The brunette felt Harry's muscles
tighten in her mouth.
"I'm going to cum, Kitty," Harry whispered.
Kitty was quite ready to taste Harry's cum. Her bobbing never ceased. In fact,
she speeded up, and stroked Harry. She would coax the cum out of his balls, and
down her throat. She went faster and faster. The look of pleasure in Harry's
eyes while she went down on him encouraged the girl to go on.
Harry groaned.
"So good, cumming," Harry grunted, feeling his muscles tighten.
Harry spurted his cum into Kitty's mouth. Some of it dribbled out onto her
chin, but Kitty managed to swallow the vast majority of it. It left her with a
warm sensation in her. All of her bumps and bruises disappeared, like they were
a distant memory. She milked his cock until it was dry, and fell back on the
bed. A look of contentment spread across her face.
Smut/Lemon Ends.
Harry grew rigid. He looked at Kitty at that moment, and felt something.
"Someone's coming, I better go," Harry whispered.
He waved his hand, and his clothes were back on him. Harry leaned forward, and
kissed Kitty goodbye. He disappeared with a soft pop. Kitty immediately put her
clothes back on, and the door clicked open. Rogue entered the room. She looked
about ready to collapse.
"Rogue, how are you doing?" Kitty asked.
Rogue walked forward in a dazed state, resembling a zombie.
"Don't want to talk about it," Rogue said, and she stepped forward. "The good
news is that I survived the entire session in there. If you can call it
survival. Harry didn't break a sweat in there."
'Well not until now,'Kitty thought, barely suppressing a grin she had.
"Whatever Harry has, he should bottle it, he'd really make some money," Rogue
said.
Kitty could barely suppress a grin. She had some of what Harry had alright.
"I'm glad that someone's feeling better," Rogue told her. She looked at Kitty,
and her expression softened. "Seriously, are you doing alright?"
"Fine, everything's just great, a bit sore, but I'm recovering," Kitty said.
The truth was that Kitty was feeling much better after she had her fun with
Harry. She could not wait to go further. Kitty looked pleased. Rogue stared at
Kitty.
"There's something on your chin," Rogue said. "What is that?"
Kitty brushed her chin, and licked the excess off of her fingers. She responded
in a very casual and innocent voice. "Cream."
"Cream?" Rogue asked.
"Yeah cream, tastes good too," Kitty replied, smacking her lips.
Rogue looked at Kitty. Perhaps her mind just went in the gutter, but Harry
walked up here to visit Kitty. He did not return downstairs, and might have
been up there for a while. Kitty had something white on her face, and Rogue
just was struck by the sudden realization. Rogue was able to put two and two
together.
"You're lucky it was just me that almost walked in and not Logan or anyone
else," Rogue said, after a moment of silence.
Kitty's expression fixed to one of innocence. "I have no idea what you mean."
Rogue just looked at her roommate with a scandalous expression. The Goth girl
rolled her eyes. Innocence did not suit Kitty. She decided that she was going
to collapse on the bed. After today, that did seem to be logical.
"Harry came to visit me," Kitty said brightly.
"I'm sure he did," Rogue replied. She turned around, and closed her eyes. The
girl could crash right now and be dead to the world.
"And he asked me to be his girlfriend," Kitty said.
"That's great Kitty," Rogue replied dryly.
"He's amazing," Kitty said with a sigh.
Rogue's mind ran wild with the possibilities of what Kitty could be implying.
She shook her head to dislodge her mind from the gutter.
"I'm sure he is," Rogue remarked dully. The truth was she had given the matter
some thought, but Rogue dislodged her thoughts immediately.
Kitty just turned around. She had really not thought about boys in that way,
before she met Harry. Perhaps she was too distracted in academics, or
something.
She was confident that Harry would learn those charms. Then they could cut
loose, and had some real fun.
It was a great way to relieve stress that was for sure. Kitty had a feeling
that there would need to be a lot of stress relief if days like this became
common place.
***** Fatal Attraction *****
Chapter 10: Fatal Attraction.
It was not too long before the cat was out of the back, and it was known that
Kitty and Harry were dating. The fact it only took less than a week actually
was astonishing. Everyone in the Institute found out, and after the standard
words of warning about safe sex, everything was fine.
The High School rumor mill did tend to work fast. Once again, Harry thought
that there were very few differences the world over for teenagers. Harry and
Kitty walked into the High School, holding hands. There were several dirty
looks being given to Kitty by several girls. If looks could kill, Kitty Pryde
would be dead would be dead.
"Really, they're being really mature," Kitty said. She looked at Harry with a
smile. "You know, if they act like that, then they won't be in a very stable
relationship."
Harry would have to agree. Jealousy would be one of the more frustrating
emotions to deal with as a teenager. He had been down that road before, but had
matured and grown past that. Well for the most part, Harry would be lying if he
was not capable of some immaturity. His hand was held on Kitty's, and the two
walked forward. Rogue and Kurt joined them. Rogue looked at Harry and Kitty for
a few seconds, before she straightened her posture.
"I've never seen that many angry girls in one place," Kurt commented.
"Believe me, I have," Harry said, shaking his head.
"Where?" Kurt asked.
"It's a long story," Harry said.
"Is anything with you ever a short story?" Rogue asked. Harry just shrugged,
and offered her a smile. Rogue really wished he would quit doing that, it was
distracting. "Well, it's not hard to see where they are coming from. I mean,
you can't really blame them."
"No, I guess you couldn't," Kitty agreed. She leaned closer to Harry. Harry
wrapped his arm around her. She was honestly surprised that Harry only had less
than a handful of dates, and had not gone so far. He was such a natural, and
Kitty could hardly wait to go further. The two of them would be each other's
first, and whatever happened from there, would happen. "Good taste, bad
attitude, that's really a dangerous combination for sure."
Harry offered a smile, and the three of them walked. They saw a new student, or
at least one that they did not notice before. He was a rather large student.
"Well there's someone that's going to stand out in a crowd," Kitty commented.
Harry just looked at this young man, and tried to figure out what to make of
him. He could not help, but think that this large student had made Dudley look
positively anorexic. Not that Harry was one to judge, but he looked like he ate
Dudley and his gang.
"Yeah, in the worst ways, and looks like he has a bit of a temper," Rogue said,
watching the scene before her. She saw the young man get a bit agitated when he
walked by. Rogue winced, and saw the path he left.
Off in the distance, Todd and Lance stood by watching, the scene. One of them
simmered with rage and jealousy. Lance watched Harry and Kitty, barely guarded
contempt in his eyes. This caused him to lose some control of his powers. The
ground was beginning to shake beneath him.
"Hey man, cool it before you sink the school into the ground," Todd said. He
then paused, and added. "On second thought, keep it up, go nuts."
Lance just turned around and looked at Lance. "What does she see in him?"
Todd looked at Lance. Surely, he could not be for real. Granted, they were
friends, by default, but even Todd had to call a spade a spade.
"Well, I could start making a list, but we'd be here for a long time," Todd
said. "Hell, if I was a girl…"
"Enough," Lance said with a shudder. He did not need the mental images. He
stood back, and continued to watch. There were many things that were going
through his mind right now. "I wonder what that Darkholme woman wants us for.
She has us holed up in that dump, because of some grander plan."
"Hey, I don't question her, bad things happen when you question her," Todd said
with a shudder. His eyes looked up. "Hey, is that the new guy that she
mentioned the other day?"
Lance's attention was diverted towards the large blonde teenager that walked
up.
"What's his name?" Todd asked. He took a moment to think about it. He shook his
head. "Oh yeah, Fred Dukes."
"Looks like a blob," Lance said in a surly voice.
"Yeah, he kind of does," Todd agreed. "So, we better try and get to class.
Darkholme threatened pain on both of us, and I kind of believe she'll follow
through on it."
Lance just gritted his teeth. Darkholme tended to expect a lot of them, with
giving very little in return. And there were a number of threats. He had a
feeling that Darkholme worked for some higher power.
Speaking of the devil, Principal Darkholme walked up. She passed Todd and Lance
only with the barest amount of acknowledgement. She turned towards Fred.
"Mr. Dukes, I trust you are not having any troubles," Darkholme said.
"Yeah, no trouble," Fred grunted. He stared down Darkholme. His large form
stepped forward at that moment. "Just trying to fit in here, High School is a
new thing for me, after working at the freak show."
"Good, and I trust you'll find your way to class on time," Darkholme said. "The
first bell rings in three minutes, and it's unwise to linger. I trust you'll
not be late. I don't tolerate tardiness."
"Yeah, I won't be," Fred grunted. Did she think that he was stupid or
something. He took a thunderous step forward. He saw a group of Football team
members laughing. "What are you laughing at?"
"Nothing, man," one of the jocks said.
"Even if you're just a big joke."
Fred stopped walking in the school, and turned around. He tried to keep his
temper in check. It had been a problem. He hated when people laughed at him.
Everyone laughed at him, but he was not a joke. His fingers twitched.
Harry and Kitty walked by at that moment. Kitty noticed that Harry had a
calculating expression on his face. She decided to call him out on it.
"What is it, Harry?" Kitty asked.
"I'm beginning to think that Darkholme is someone else," Harry told her in an
undertone.
Kitty looked up at Harry in confusion. Harry seemed certain about this, so
curiosity got the better of Kitty.
"Okay, who do you think she is?" Kitty asked.
Harry decided to drop the bombshell. "I think she's that Mystique woman we
fought a few weeks back."
Kitty's eyes flickered, and suddenly she looked at Harry.
"Are you sure?" Kitty asked.
"You don't believe me," Harry said.
"Of course, I believe you," Kitty said. The girl was incredulous that Harry did
not believe that she would believe him. "You can read the body language of
people, can't you?"
"And that's how I picked out that she was Mystique," Harry whispered.
There was a moment of silence, which Kitty broke a bit later.
"Maybe you should tell the Professor about this," Kitty said.
"I wonder if he already knows," Harry said.
"Maybe, but if he doesn't, you could tell him," Kitty suggested. "It's up to
you, whatever you want to do."
Harry debated whether to tell the others as well. He knew that Rogue would
flip, given what Mystique did to her. Harry was reluctant to tell her, due to
this fact. Then again, Harry hated when people kept information from him.
"There's the bell," Kitty remarked, breaking Harry's attention.
"Yeah, don't want to be late," Harry said.
"Darkholme's a bit of a bitch, whether or not she is a shape shifting mutant in
disguise," Kitty said. She and Harry exchanged a brief kiss before they went
their separate ways to their first period classes.
Harry had a lot of things to think about and ponder on. He would need to think
about school, and keep his mind on that. Then he could worry about other
matters, later on.
===============================================================================
"Scott, I'm just showing him around, it's no big deal."
This had been the scene that Harry had walked in after school on that day.
Scott and Jean seemed to be having a heated discussion about something. Harry
would loath to have called it an argument, because it was not that heated. He
had seen some arguments in his day. They could be pretty violent, and sometimes
he had been stuck in the middle of them trying to play peacemaker.
"I know you're just being helpful with showing the new guy around the school,
and that's great. Really Jean, it's really great. However, Dukes does seem to
be…well there's just something about him that's wrong."
Jean folded her arms, and she inhaled for a moment. The red haired telepath
looked at Scott, and kept a calm expression on her face. "Fred's just trying to
fit in. He's in a new place, and he doesn't know anybody. You remember what
it's like, don't you?"
Scott did not answer, even if he did remember it with picture perfect clarity.
Harry tried to walk away slowly and casually before he had been sucked into
this argument. He tried to avoid being sucked into arguments on general
principle. Unfortunately, Scott had seen him, and called him over.
"Hey, Harry, did you hear?"
"Hear about what?" Harry asked. Feigning innocence was the best possible thing,
to keep him out of trouble. Granted, there was a fact that he heard many
things, so strictly speaking there would be many things they could be alluding
to. Harry always had keen observation skills. Of course once something was
heard, it could not be unheard. That was the biggest problem.
"Jean is showing this new guy, Fred Dukes around the school," Scott said. An
exasperated expression crossed on Jean's face. Harry could tell that Scott was
just concerned. He was just showing it in a way that was rubbing Jean the wrong
way. Harry could tell he was not going to like being drawn in this, if he could
help him. "You've seen him."
"He's rather large, kind of hard not to," Harry remarked in a flat and dry
voice.
Scott nodded. "And he has a bit of a temper…"
"I'm not denying that he is, Scott! It's just that…well Harry knows what it's
like to be in a new place."
"It's not exactly the same thing."
"Well, it kind of is."
Harry shook his head, frustration mounting. He waved off the argument. The
truth was that Harry desperately needed to have a word with Professor Xavier,
and did not have the time or energy to deal with this. He took a deep breath,
and decided to go for the most diplomatic answer he could.
"I'm sure both of you have valid points. I've only seen Dukes, and not met him.
Therefore, I can't say, and I kindly ask you to not ask me of my opinion. I
don't have an opinion either way, and I'll talk to both of you later."
Jean and Scott were left by Harry at this moment. Harry had no doubt the
conversation continued. He walked inside of the Xavier Institute. His mind was
going many miles a minute. The Mystique thing kind of bugged him when it
happened, and when Xavier just allowed her to leave, Harry did wonder. He
wanted answers, and insisted on getting them. He knocked on the door of
Xavier's office. He did not have to wait long for an answer.
"Come in."
Harry clicked the door opened, and walked in to face Professor Xavier. He sat
behind his desk, and began to file paperwork. Xavier looked up to Harry, with a
friendly and approachable smile.
"Harry, what can I do for you today?" Xavier asked.
"I noticed something odd at school, that you might want to know," Harry said.
Xavier made a motion with his hand, inviting for him to continue. "Principal
Darkholme I think she's Mystique."
Xavier looked at Harry, as if trying to figure out how he had come to this
conclusion.
"An interesting accusation to make Harry, and one that could be possible. Given
that Mystique is a shape shifter, she could pose as any person, including me or
you."
Harry noticed the lack of surprise in Xavier's tone. Perhaps he was being
paranoid, and seeing things that were not there. Yet, paranoia was the one
thing that often kept people alive. At least that was Moody told them all about
a year ago.
"Their movements were similar, and the way both carried themselves," Harry
said, and Xavier responded with a brief nod. The two of them exchanged an
expression. Time tended to stand still with the two of them. "I want to ask a
question about what happened a few weeks ago, with Mystique."
Xavier figured that this was coming. It actually was always interesting when
students questioned him, as it allowed him to gain an entirely new perspective
on a situation. Even if he sometimes did not agree with the disagreements,
Xavier did welcome all feedback. "Given the circumstances, an explanation is in
order. You did meet Magneto upon your arrival here."
Harry's mind flashed back to that night where he arrived here.
"Hard to forget something like that," Harry answered.
Xavier remained rather calm, and decided to explain the facts of the matter.
Harry folded his arms.
"Mystique is working for Magneto. I believe she may be recruiting troubled
mutants. These youngsters would be easy to entice, with a small amount of power
and respect, offered as a dangling carrot. Magneto and I are at a crossroads
with each other. Putting Mystique in prison would expose mutants before we are
ready."
"And when will we be ready?" Harry asked.
There was no harsh tone in Harry's voice. He framed his question as calm and
crisp. A year ago, he might have screamed, and came across as an angsty
teenager. A long time had passed, and Harry had kept his emotions in check.
"I cannot say that," Xavier said, and this was a rather honest answer. "I do
understand your concerns, and appreciate your information. Humans will know
that we exist in due time. It will be a long and hard road to achieve
tolerance."
Harry understood better than anyone that some people tended to be intolerant to
others that were different from them. The fanatical racism towards magical
creatures moved that much. And the less said about his experiences with the
Dursleys, the better.
He did know one thing. Harry would be keeping an eye on Mystique, and trying to
figure out what she was going to do. If she made a wrong move, Harry would step
in, consequences be damned. The last one was a free pass, this time; Harry was
going to take whatever heat he would get from Xavier and the others. Even if it
got him kicked out of the Institute, Harry had to do what he had to do. He was
accumulating a decent amount of resources, and training. He had been saving
every dollar he could find, and had been researching other potential avenues of
income. If push came to shove, he would be fine.
"Thank you for your time, Professor Xavier," Harry said.
Harry walked off, and nearly bumped into Rogue in the hallway. Rogue winced as
Harry brushed against her, and remembered that he could in fact touch her. It
was taking every single bit of her self-control to actually bring up this
subject with Harry. She figured he knew, and he knew that she knew, so Rogue
did not feel the need to bring it up. The fact that Harry was currently dating
Kitty had also caused Rogue a bit of pause, and reluctance to bring up the
subject.
"Sorry, Rogue," Harry told her in an apologetic voice.
Rogue waved off Harry's apology. She looked at him. "Don't apologize; I was the
one that wasn't looking where I was going. My mind was elsewhere."
Harry did not ask where her mind was, and Rogue was not about to tell him.
"Rogue, I need to tell you something, but promise you won't freak out on me,"
Harry said to her.
Rogue looked at Harry, and a frown spread over the Goth girl's face. That was
never a good thing when someone asked another person not to freak out on them.
She looked at him for a moment, and nodded.
"What is it?"
"Mystique is Darkholme," Harry told Rogue.
Rogue's expression darkened, and a bit of anger bubbled to the service.
"Rogue, calm down, please," Harry told her in a voice. Rogue took a deep
breath, and for Harry, she would remain calm.
"Did you tell the Professor?" Rogue asked.
"Yes," Harry replied.
"And what did he say about it?" Rogue asked.
"Not too much," Harry admitted.
Rogue thought that Professor Xavier meant well. However, if it was up to her,
she would not have let Mystique escape after what she did. Had she been given
the chance, the shapeshifter would have killed everyone. She was ruthless, and
Rogue had seen a bit of that first hand.
"We'll keep an eye on her," Harry said. "Kitty knows about it too."
Rogue agreed. If Mystique was posing as the Principal of a school, that meant
she was up to something. The real question was what. They all had to keep an
eye on Mystique. Whatever plan she was up to, they would find out, and stop
her.
===============================================================================
Fred Dukes was someone who was short of temper, and did not care who knew it.
The one thing that gave him clarity was the fact that no matter what, nothing
could move him. There had been people who had tried to budge him, to laughable
results. It would take a super natural force to knock him back even a few
inches. Since no one could move him, he figured that people should move out of
the way of him.
Harry stood in the hallway, preparing to head to his next class, when the
immovable object brushed into him. Cool as a cucumber, Harry stood his ground.
"Hey, you could watch where you're going," Fred grunted.
Harry just stood back. He was not about to take this, and braced himself for a
fight "Well, I was watching where I was going."
Fred did not look the way that this pipsqueak was looking at him. At that point
Jean showed up.
"Oh, hi, Jean," Fred said, and any anger was forgotten at that moment.
"I was just wondering if you were doing alright fitting in," Jean said in a
kind voice. Fred looked at Jean.
Harry could already sense that there was going to be some amount of trouble
with Fred. He could see it in his eyes, with the way he was looking at Jean.
Harry doubted a girl had showed Fred Dukes any kindness before. Or really
anyone for that matter, but that was beside the point. So it was going to
entice him, and in all of the wrong ways.
He prepared to deal with what was to come.
"Yeah, it's been great," Fred said. He shifted on his feet, and looked at Jean.
A hungry expression flickered through his eyes. "With my powers, I've been able
to cut a wide path. No one can get in my way."
It was at that point Jean frowned. "Fred, I know you're struggling to fit in.
But with your powers, they could really hurt people."
"Yeah, they could," Fred agreed.
Harry saw the red warning signs right away.
"So, I'll be going right now, I don't want to be late for lunch," Harry said.
Fred's eyes brightened up. Harry shook his head, way to play into the
stereotypes.
"See you around Jean, um…." Fred said.
"Harry," Harry replied helpfully. "Harry Potter."
"Right," Fred said, and he turned around, and walked off, or rather lumbered
off.
Jean looked at Harry. Harry turned to Jean at that moment, his expression was
questioning. The red head telepath threw her hands up. "He's really…"
"Jean, if you want to help people, it's your business," Harry told her.
"Would you have?" Jean asked.
Harry remained silent, a flicker of grin spreading over his face, and he
responded to Jean honestly.
"I think we've established that I'm not a people person," Harry responded.
Jean nodded, if that was not the truth, Harry did not know what was. Harry did
tend to open up to very few people. There were some rather prominent trust
issues that Harry was still working out. Although, the people that Harry did
open up, he would fight for, providing they wanted his help. So that was
something that could have been appreciated.
"I take it you didn't just want to talk to me for a casual conversation," Jean
said.
"What, did you read my mind?" Harry replied, with a teasing expression.
"I would never do that," Jean said. She then paused, and added. "I get the
impression that for some reason your mind is a very disturbing place to be."
Harry thought that Jean hit the nail on the head, and then some. The truth of
the matter was that he was afraid of the things that had been going around on
the inside of his mind. There were those thoughts and memories Harry was
certain that were not his.
He briefly debated on enlisting the help of someone, but after Snape, people
going around inside Harry's head was something that the wizard was a bit
tentative about signing off on. Harry was seriously considering asking,
although he did need a telepath who might not take some of these memories the
wrong way. The flashes could be disturbing. Xavier might be out on that note,
and Harry was not sure Jean would be in either. She was still mastering her
powers anyway, and Harry did not want a novice poking around on the inside of
his head.
"We may have a little bit of a problem," Harry said. Jean leaned in to listen
closely, and made sure no one else was around. "It's to do with one of our old
enemies, you know Mystique."
"I know her all too well," Jean said. She folded her arms. "Do you think she's
up to something?"
"Yeah, up to being the Principal of this school," Harry replied.
Jean cocked an eyebrow, and looked at Harry. "Please tell me you're kidding."
Harry just offered a smile. "I really did wish that I was. Did you notice her
demeanor?"
Jean frowned, and pondered the situation over in her mind. That was a problem
if Harry was onto something. Mystique being the Principal of this school could
allow her to keep an eye open for potential recruits. The redhead asked the one
question that had been on the tip of her tongue.
"Did you tell Professor Xavier about this?"
"Told him, he said that he would look into it," Harry said.
Jean seemed a bit miffed about this for some reason. While she did appreciate
everything the Professor did, there was sometimes where he did certain things
that Jean found herself rather skeptical about.
"Rogue and Kitty know too," Harry added.
Jean offered a knowing smile. "Of course they do, and we should really let
everyone know, but that's up to you."
Harry had thought about it. Logan likely would have flipped out, and maybe
called Xavier out on the entire mess, or at least kicked up a fuss about it.
Storm's reaction might have gone either way. Harry fully expected Scott to not
question the Professor too much, even if he was secretly miffed about
everything that had been going down. Harry tensed up before he could think of
much more about what was going on.
"Harry, what is it?" Jean asked.
"I thought I heard someone," Harry said.
"There's no one around here, but the janitor," Jean retorted, a frown spreading
across her face.
Harry relaxed, just a little bit. The truth was that this janitor did tend to
lurk around just a little bit too much for his liking. Harry wondered if he was
being more paranoid than Moody when he suspected the janitor to be part of any
wrong doings.
"We better get to lunch, before everyone takes all the edible food," Harry
said.
Jean nodded, that was actually a sensible suggestion. Her mind was still on
Mystique being in the school. Harry was right to be concerned, and be on his
guard. A shapeshifter proved to be a rather dangerous foe for the obvious
reasons. Jean walked off, and went her separate ways with Harry.
Clint Barton walked off into the shadows. This assignment had not been dynamic,
or exciting up until now. He might not have found out anything about Potter,
but he knew that one of Magneto's chief people had been put in a key position
at the high school thanks to overhearing that conversation. He had a feeling
that Fury would have kittens when he found out. Providing of course that the
Director of SHIELD did not already know, and Clint made a note of that. Perhaps
this janitorial gig did have its benefits, and the pay was halfway decent as
well.
On the other hand, Clint missed the glory days of being shot at by HYDRA
troops. The toilets awaited him.
===============================================================================
"The teachers didn't quite seem to bury us with too much homework tonight,"
Kitty said, as she compared notes with Harry outside. The two decided to walk
home together to the Xavier Institute, on the account of it being a beautiful
day. If the walk went long, Harry could always transport them home.
"Speak for yourself," Kurt said popping up as if he had teleported out of
nowhere, and Harry would not be surprised if that was the case. "I swear,
they're trying to kill us, or at least make us very miserable."
"Well, guess some teachers remembered we actually had something vaguely
resembling a social life," Kitty commented.
"Or they're just luring us in a false sense of security," Rogue inputted, when
she just walked over to join the group.
The four walked together in silence. Scott joined them after a little bit. He
decided that it would be prudent to ask the question that was on the tip of his
tongue.
"Hey, have any of you seen Jean lately?"
"Not since when I talked to her before lunch," Harry said.
"Yeah, she told me about that," Scott replied. His expression was neutral, and
Harry could not read what he was saying. Whether or not Harry would have asked
Scott his opinion was not important for now, that could wait until later. That
moment was lost for right now.
Harry's ears perked up, and he noticed something with his keen instincts. There
were a signs of a struggle. Harry's steps quickened. His instincts told him
that there was something that should not be. He left his fellow X-Men in his
wake, before Harry slid to the ground.
The dark haired wizard stopped, and stared at the situation that was before
him. Jean's boyfriend, Duncan, was currently on the ground. He had been knocked
out by some brutal force. Harry paid little mind to the jock on the ground,
just stepping over like he was a non-factor. It was not Harry's business to
meddle in other people's relationships, although he might have wondered what
Jean saw in Duncan that had made him a fitting relationship. Harry's steps got
closer and closer, and he zeroed in on the source.
Jean had been caught off guard by Fred Dukes. Something told Harry that
something like this was going to happen. The logical thing would be for Jean to
use her telekinetic powers to defend herself, or so Harry thought. Jean had
appeared to have frozen up, and lost every bit of her nerve. Her breath
quickened.
"Just want to talk to you, that's all," Fred grunted.
"Yeah, well I don't think…"
Harry stood before the large blond teenager. An expression appeared on his
face, and Harry folded his arms.
"You know, you might want to back away from her," Harry said. Fred Dukes
laughed. Harry thought that he had been underestimated. That was a mistake many
people had made. "There are other people around the corner, people who wouldn't
appreciate what you're doing."
"Yeah, and they'll be on the ground just like the Quarterback was," Fred said
with a chuckle. Duncan's pained breathing was all that Harry needed to know.
"And just like you're going to be. So get out of my way."
"Let her go," Harry stated in his most dangerous voice. "I'm not warning you
again."
Fred had thrown Jean onto the ground. The large mutant had tried to attack
Harry. Harry dodged underneath his arms, and spun around. He staggered and spun
around. Harry used a tripping spell to cause Dukes to fly onto the ground with
a crash. The impact no doubt got more than a few people's attention. Dukes
landed, and rolled over. Harry stood over him. The wind blew through his hair,
and the expression in his green eyes, was stoic.
Now Fred Dukes might have not been the brightest bulb in the box. However, when
someone moved him, when he was pretty sure that could not be done, something
was up. The real question was what, and Dukes pulled himself to his feet. An
energy field of some sort had blocked in.
The rest of the X-Men showed up at that moment. Other students and teachers had
crowded around. Jean regained her bearings at that point, and Fred Dukes found
himself stared down by Scott Summers. Scott had put two and two together about
what happened, and was not too pleased.
"Really, that's low, even for trash like you," Rogue said.
Dukes just grunted. "I'll take you all on, this pipsqueak got lucky."
Harry frowned. He thought that Dukes was the one that might as well be
considered lucky. Once again, magic utterly bitch slapped physics. He had moved
what was considered unmovable by his powers.
"Mr. Dukes!"
The large boy turned around. Darkholme marched out of the school doors, and
spun around, to turn her attention to Fred. The larger boy did show a modicum
of fear now, his bravado having been erased.
"I was just trying to…." Dukes said.
"You're coming with me," Darkholme demanded harshly. Dukes would have likely
gotten into a great deal of trouble for assaulting one student and trying to
kidnap another. She sensed an opportunity to pull another one into the
Brotherhood fold.
Harry frowned at what had transpired, and really it could have gone better.
Jean walked by, a bit tentative. She looked at Harry.
"Um, thanks," Jean muttered and shifted carefully.
"No problem, I'm sure you would have done the same for me," Harry replied.
"But, remember next time you do have mutant powers."
Jean suddenly looked a bit cross at that statement.
"Yeah, I froze a little bit, okay, Jean replied defensively.
Sympathy crossed over Harry's face.
"It happens, just learn from the experience," Harry stated.
Jean walked over to rejoin her fellow teammates. For some reason, she got the
impression that Harry was a bit too used to life endangering experiences, where
he had to think quickly on his feet. He was mysterious and an enigma in many
ways to Jean. Scott looked like he was going to say something to her. Kitty
walked over to join Harry.
"You really knocked him down, and made it look like he just tripped," Kitty
commented.
"Well that was the idea," Harry said to her in an undertone. "Now, I believe we
were walking home."
Kitty held out her hand, and Harry took it, squeezing it firmly in his. The two
leaned forward, and exchanged a kiss. Harry wrapped an arm around her waist,
and pulled her in. Kitty melted into his arms, and nearly phased into Harry.
Thankfully she got a grip on everything, and the two broke apart with an
unspoken promise to do a bit more later after they got their schoolwork and
training done. They bid their goodbyes to their fellow X-Men.
The walk home was nice, mostly because they were together.
===============================================================================
Fred Dukes sat in the office of one Principal Darkholme, his arms folded across
his broad chest and a surly expression etched over his face. The severe looking
woman had her eyes on Dukes. Today, he had lost his temper in the worst way.
What was worse was that little pipsqueak Potter had moved him. No one had moved
him before. Darkholme's gaze burned into the large teenager's forehead. Time
ticked by, before the principal began to speak to him.
"Well, it seems like we're in quite a tight corner Mr. Dukes," Darkholme said.
"Attempting kidnapping of a student, attacking another, and getting into a
fight. And it's not like I can punish Mr. Potter for what he did, because he
didn't put one finger on you."
Fred realized that the principal had a point. The fact of the matter was that
Potter did not put one finger on him. Which made the situation even more
humiliating and potentially demeaning, and the large teenager crossed his arms.
He looked at the woman.
"I brought you here, and it means that you're my responsibility," Darkholme
replied. Her gaze burned into the face of Fred Dukes. Silence occurred in the
office for a moment, with the tension being able to be cut with a knife. "I do
wonder what I would be able to do with you."
"You can't do anything to me, just give me another crack at Potter," Fred said.
Darkholme's face snapped towards the young mutant. Her gaze burned into his
face. Fred slid back into the chair, and thought that he had taken one step too
far with his bravado. Despite his girth being three times the size of
Darkholme, he still felt a small amount of humiliation. There was a lengthy
pause between the two of them, before Darkholme responded to him. Her voice was
cool, and deadly when she had spoken.
"I have a place for students that have potential like you. I know of your
abilities, and there are others like you. Others who need guidance, and rest
assure that will be something that you will be receiving. Just stop, and
consider the deal I'm offering you. Join this group, and I can choose to look
the other way. Fail to join, or do as I say. and the consequences will be harsh
to bare. Just consider what your future is."
Fred's eyes narrowed and the large mutant thought about it. To everyone else,
he was nothing, but a blob. Someone who would be cast aside, and someone who
would be mocked. Anyone who was nice to him would have been done so out of
pity. Fred thought that if he was going to be a misfit, at least there was
something that he was going to be in good company with.
"Yeah, I'm in," Fred grunted.
Darkholme folded her arms and nodded.
"Rest assure that your training will only be harsher from here," Darkholme
responded in a crisp voice. Her stern gaze focused on Fred's face once more.
"You can meet your fellow roommates. They are waiting for you outside the
office."
Fred got up to his feet, and took a large step forward outside of the office.
He pushed open the office door, and his eyes narrowed. He saw Todd and Lance
standing outside of the office. Lance surveyed Fred for a moment, before he
responded.
"So, you got taken out by Potter, too," Lance said.
Fred's expression twisted to gritted teeth. He would have not liked to be
reminded about that fact.
"No problem, we'll get him next time," Lance said.
Todd's expression changed. "I don't know. I mean the rest of those X-Men; they
look like they'll let you go the other way. Potter on the other hand, I don't
think that he's going to let us go without a fight. He could really mess us up.
Potter gives me the creeps, to be honest."
Todd shuddered at the thought. The slimy mutant's words were fallen on deaf
ears. He was not necessarily being afraid. Todd just enjoyed the fact that he
was alive, and that was always a positive thing. Messing with Potter might
change that fact.
Was it his fault that he enjoyed living?
===============================================================================
Logan watched the latest session in the Danger Room, and the doors opened up.
Harry stepped out, and brushed his hands off.
"I guess you can go to the next level," Logan grunted. There was almost an
approving vibe to voice, and an expression on his face that indicated that he
enjoyed the challenge Harry offered.
"Logan, I would advise not overwhelming him," Xavier said.
"No, it's not overwhelming me," Harry replied. "There were times that I was
getting a bit bored in there, to be honest."
"Don't get too cocky kid, you might not be able to take that back," Logan
warned him.
In truth, Logan had a sense that Harry was all too used to being in near death
experience. The young man had a sixth sense of when something was going to try
to kill him. Logan now saw it as a challenge to create a program that would
trip Potter up. The rest of the team was moving along well. The team sessions
did slow Potter down a tad, mostly because he had to adapt his surroundings for
the other team mates in his training.
Harry walked out of the area around the Danger Room, and felt rather pleased
with everything that had happened. A pair of hands popped out of the wall, and
grabbed him, before pulling him through wall into the next room. Harry
readjusted his surroundings, and Kitty stood before him. The brunette girl was
dressed in a blue t-shirt that showcased her midriff. She had changed into a
short black skirt, and black boots. A confident smirk spread across her face.
"Kitty, you know that I could have done something to you, with you catching me
off guard," Harry said.
A smile spread across Kitty's face. "You can't deny it isn't worth the risk."
Harry felt that he could not deny that fact. Harry placed his hands on Kitty's
waist, and he peered into her eyes. Kitty peered back, and she leaned against
Harry.
"So, Harry, are you ready to study?" Kitty asked to him. A smile spread across
her face.
"We got all of our homework done," Harry replied to her.
"Oh, I think that we could brush up on our biology," Kitty said. She placed her
hands on Harry's face, and Harry looked back into her eyes. "And maybe a bit on
our oral presentation as well. How are you coming along on the charms?"
"I believe I got them down," Harry answered her.
A mischievous grin spread over Kitty's face.
"Well, how are you supposed to master something when you don't have a living,
test subject?" Kitty asked. She posed for Harry, and Harry felt himself stir a
little bit. Kitty reached forward, and placed her hand on Harry's crotch.
"Maybe you need a little bit of motivation."
Smut/Lemon Begins.
With a grin on her face, and maintaining eye contact, Kitty rubbed Harry's
crotch through his pants. Slowly, her hand phased through his pants, and
touched his member through them. Kitty stroked Harry for a little time through
his pants, and took a step back. Kitty sat on the edge of the bed. She stood,
and smiled at Harry.
Harry waved his hand, and Kitty felt a tingling sensation through her being.
"Did you feeling a tingling through your spine?" Harry asked. Kitty responded
with a light nod. "Good, that means the charm is working."
"Like it wouldn't," Kitty said with confidence. She grabbed Harry by the
wrists, showing surprising strength for someone her size.
Kitty pushed Harry onto the bed, and pressed her lips against his. Harry
wrapped his arms around her waist, and deepened the kiss. The two indulged
themselves in each other's lips. The two got into the kiss, their fingers
trailing through the other's hairs. Kitty grabbed Harry's shoulders, and made
them both intangible. The brunette mutant pulled Harry through his clothes, and
then Kitty shifted out of hers. Harry saw her body and the girl reached
forward.
Harry arched his hips up, and Kitty clasped her hand around his cock. The
brunette stroked his length up and down. Harry felt her hand on him, and he
reached forward towards her.
"Feels so good," Harry breathed. Kitty's motions continued, and the girl pumped
up and down on his length. "Keep stroking my dick, Kitty."
"It's so big, and so hard," Kitty breathed.
"That's because of you and your tight little body," Harry told her, and Harry
reached into her pussy, fingering her. Kitty moaned, at the efforts. "I didn't
know how tight you are, or how wet. Just wait until my cock is in your pussy."
Kitty felt her pussy moisten with desire. She wanted that cock, in her, badly.
It was a burning desire within her. A few more minutes, she played with it,
feeling it, getting to know every single inch of Harry's throbbing member.
Kitty grinned, and then slid back, spreading her legs.
"Come and get it, Harry," Kitty told him.
Harry looked at her. "I heard the first time hurts."
"Yeah, but I can handle a couple of minutes of pain, for many more moments of
pleasure" Kitty replied. She stroked her fingers across her folds, and Harry
explored them as well. "Let's get the hard part over with, and yes I'm sure.
Shove it in me."
Harry aimed for her entrance, and slowly, gently pushed his cock in. Kitty bit
down on her lip, with to stave off the pain as her hymen was busted by Harry's
entrance. She felt blood drip down.
"I didn't hurt you," Harry whispered.
"No, not too bad, perfectly normal," Kitty said, and Harry waved his hand.
Kitty felt the pain numb, and then the blood vanish.
"How are you now?" Harry asked.
"Good, now take me, make me your woman," Kitty told him, a lustful expression
in her eyes.
Kitty pushed her hips up, and Harry decided to slowly pump his cock into her.
Kitty was not having any of it. She grabbed Harry's neck and looked him in the
eyes.
"Harry, fuck me like you mean it," Kitty demanded.
"If you think you can take it," Harry replied.
Kitty gave Harry a "bring it on" look, and Harry gripped her slim hips. He then
decided to push into her a little bit faster, and harder. Kitty started to
moan, but Harry could tell from her body language that she was enjoying it.
Harry slammed his cock inside her pussy. Kitty wrapped her hands around Harry's
back, encouraging him. He buried his cock deeper into her, fucking her pussy
all the way.
This was far better than anything that she could imagine. Kitty could feel
Harry's cock stuffing her full. She felt herself being brought to an orgasm,
her very first while having sex. The girl felt a bit of smug satisfaction that
she would be Harry's first. This was numbed by the pleasure. Harry rubbed his
thumbs onto her nipples, and Kitty moaned.
"I love your perky little breasts, I think I'm going to suck on them,": Harry
said.
Harry placed his mouth on them. Kitty breathed in and out, and the cock
continued to slam into her. Her tight crevice was being punished, and the
brunette enjoyed every single action Harry made in her. Harry's hands were all
over her body, sending little jolts onto her.
"Harry, do that, more," Kitty encouraged.
Harry obliged on both fronts. The time ticked by, how much he did not know. His
balls tightened, with Kitty's cunt squeezing into him. Kitty went intangible a
little bit, but Harry stopped. This encouraged Kitty to get a hold on her
powers, and Harry once again stopped back. The brunette pushed herself up to
meet Harry's cock. Her walls squeezed, and rubbed him, and Harry never felt
better.
"Feels so good, that tight pussy," Harry breathed.
"Wreck me Harry!" Kitty yelled.
Harry obliged, and thrust himself deep into the girl's cunt. Kitty grabbed her
hands around Harry, and thrust her hips upward, with Harry pumping deep into
her.
"Going to cum," Harry warned her.
"Do it in me," Kitty pleaded, tightening her grip. She felt her pussy muscles
tighten, and had no idea how much longer she could go.
Harry thrust into her a few more times. Kitty pushed her hips off of the bed,
and Harry's balls tightened. Kitty's pussy clenched around him, and both
reached their orgasm. Both mutants saw stars when Harry deposited his load into
Kitty's wet and willing pussy. Her walls had been painted white by his thick
and juicy seed. The mutual release from both of them had been enjoyed.
Smut/Lemon Ends.
Harry was on the bed, his arms wrapped around Kitty. Her face rested against
his chest. Kitty's eyes snapped towards Harry, and a smile crossed her face.
The brunette mutant took a moment to allow herself to regain her composure.
"That was amazing," Kitty commented.
"Glad you agree," Harry replied.
Kitty looked at Harry. She was sure that Harry only had the slightest idea what
he was capable of. Women would be lining up around the block for him, and
wanting a piece of that action. Kitty was just glad that she got on the ground
floor. The brunette wondered if she would mind if Harry had slept with other
girls than her.
The brunette mutant came to the conclusion that as long as she got her Harry
time, it was more than fine with her. A shifty grin crossed over Kitty's face,
as she thought of the kinky possibilities that multiple partners would create.
Her parents had told her never to be selfish. Although Kitty was not quite sure
this was what they had in mind, but the advice applied.
When the time was right, Kitty decided to gently break the subject to Harry.
And if she was honest, she wanted to go a few more rounds with Harry. Then they
could decide if they wanted to expand. Kitty already had one person in mind,
and she could almost tell that Harry was curious. And Kitty could tell that
this person was looking at Harry, and undressing him with her eyes when she
thought no one was looking.
Not that Kitty minded, because she could not fault someone for taste. And hey,
they were all friends, so what was the harm in a little fun? Even if Kitty
could not really touch Rogue, she could tell that Harry could, even if he had
not tested how long, or how intimate things could get.
"What are you smiling about?" Harry asked.
"Just thinking about something, tell you later," Kitty said. "We can sit here a
little bit, and relax, unless you want to go another round."
Harry smirked, and pulled Kitty into a long kiss. The brunette mutant sighed
into Harry's mouth, and Harry ran his hands over her body. Kitty responded in
kind.
Both enjoyed the sensations that each other gave them. Somehow, both felt
stronger than ever, and more relaxed, along with being less tense.
***** Inbetween *****
Chapter 11: Inbetween.
The fall wind blew, sending leaves scattering in every direction. The weather
was a bit cooler halfway into the month of October. Harry and Kitty walked
around the outside of the school, laughing at something. A smile spread across
Kitty's face at something that Harry was saying. The brunette mutant leaned in
closely, and gripped Harry's hands. She stood on her tiptoes. This action
allowed the girl to properly look Harry in his eyes.
"So he really made a big deal about you not being invited to his little party,"
Kitty remarked. The brunette shook her head. She shifted positions, and only
held one of Harry's hands. "I don't know what you did to him."
"Duncan does have many hang ups, and one of them is being a jerk, it seems,"
Harry said casually. He just threw his hands, like it was not really a big deal
at all "It just seems like half of these high school parties with the popular
kids are highly political, and just a way to gain some sort of bragging
rights."
Kitty nudged Harry, and a smile spread across the young mutant's face. "Are you
sure you aren't being overly cynical? That's kind of your thing."
Harry pondered about the matter for a few seconds, before he turned towards
Kitty, and addressed her.
"Or, I could be the only sane one," Harry said, blinking rapidly. With these
words, Harry placed a hand on the small of Kitty's back. Kitty smiled at him,
mischief dancing in her eyes.
"If that's the case, we're in trouble," Kitty retorted. Harry just pushed her
back slightly.
Harry's lips met Kitty's in a tender kiss. They were out of the way from prying
eyes at this point. Most of the other students had stayed closer to the school.
Harry thought that this was the perfect time to steal a moment with his
girlfriend. Kitty closed her eyes, and enjoyed the kiss. Harry's tongue invaded
the inside of her mouth. Kitty pushed back, and stroked Harry's hair.
Harry slowly backed off, and Kitty cocked an eyebrow at the sudden stoppage.
"Shapeshifting principal at ten o'clock," Harry whispered.
Kitty nodded. Public displays of affection might have gotten them in a bit of
trouble. Everyone did them, and few got called out upon them, it seemed, but
they were being careful. Yet since Darkholme had it out for Harry, and likely
Kitty by extension, it would be best to maintain some level of discretion. The
two walked by casually, seeing Darkholme exit her car.
Toad sat there, looking very miffed. He was just inches away from grabbing the
juiciest bug that he had ever seen. Granted, one might argue that it was
disgusting, and the mutant was living up to his namesake a bit more than he
should. However, Toad did a lot of research to live up to his reputation.
Certain bugs were high in protein, even more so than most food that people ate
and took for granted.
That was his story, and he was sticking to it.
Darkholme exited the car, and stopped halfway out. She peered at Toad, who sat
there, trying to act innocent. The act was not something that was bought by
Darkholme. Over her glasses, the woman glared at Toad.
"Mr. Tolansky, that car is brand new," Darkholme remarked in a crisp voice. Her
gaze burned a hole through Toad, and Toad scooted back, fear dancing in his
eyes. "If I see one bit of slime on it, I'll be displeased. Is that clear?"
"Yeah, crystal," Toad said dryly. The slimy mutant crossed his arms, and was
rather miffed at the situation. He waited until Darkholme was gone, before the
mutant offered one more comment. "Even if you cost me my lunch."
Toad decided to hop up to see if there was any more grub to be held. Harry and
Kitty made sure Darkholme was out of sight, before the two of them made their
way back towards the school. Kitty checked her watch, and an expression crossed
her face. Harry's gaze snapped towards her.
"Bell is about to ring in a couple of minutes," Kitty stated, looking anxious
at the moment. "We better get going."
Kitty leaned forward, and gave Harry a parting kiss to the lips. The kiss was
nice, and lingered just a few seconds. The two of them broke up all too soon,
to the sound of Jean's voice.
"Kurt, wait!"
Harry sensed some kind of impending doom, and normally these sorts of feelings
would be spot on. He hated when he was right. Harry and Kitty walked forward,
quickening their footsteps, and had been greeted to quite the sight. Scott was
sitting there a bit miffed. Jean looked at him like he had done something
wrong. Rogue was just standing in the middle, trying to be a neutral party.
"What happened?" Kitty inquired, eyes widened when she looked at the group.
Rogue was all too happy to get Kitty back up to speed.
"Oh, Kurt was just being himself, and he was showing tail," Rogue said, in a
crisp and casual tone of voice. Rogue realized what she was saying, shivered,
and decided to amend her statement. "The actual physical tail, that is, and
Scott grabbed him by it."
"I was just trying to get him to cool down, and not get us exposed," Scott
said, throwing his hands into the air.
Harry pinched the bridge of his nose, and offered a long sigh. He was sure that
Scott had meant well. However, there was something about what happened where he
could see Kurt had gotten a bit miffed.
"That could have come better," Scott admitted, shoulders slumping.
"Yeah, you think," Rogue responded in a dry voice. Her eyes narrowed at Scott.
"Kurt was really upset."
"He'll be back around," Kitty said, voice raising, trying to remain cheerful.
Jean smiled, trying to put a reassuring spin on the situation. "I'm sure he
will. He just popped off somewhere. Kurt can't teleport any further than what
he see."
Harry had to rain on their parade with his own commentary on the situation.
"Well he could have teleported a ways away from here. Several times, in the
time that were talking about what happened."
Scott shifted guiltily at this moment. Perhaps he could have exhibited a bit
more tact. That was one of the things that the Professor did tell him to work
on if he wanted to be a leader. Yet, didn't leaders have to make tough
decisions every single day?
"Don't worry about it, everything can be smoothed over later," Harry remarked,
waving them off.
"Yeah, for sure," Kitty agreed. She then shifted. "We better get to class. If
we don't, we'll be late, and Darkholme might kill us."
Rogue paused, and what they knew that might as well have been literal. So far,
Darkholme had not done anything, and had just stepped back. Of course, given
the master of deception part of her powers that did not mean anything, she was
just waiting for the best moment. Rogue was keeping a close eye on her
personally, and if Darkholme did anything suspicious, Rogue would bounce right
in.
Harry thought that it was a shame that Kurt and Scott had some kind of row.
There would be plenty of time to figure that out later. Right now, he had a
test in his first class after lunch. So Harry's focus moved over to take care
of them, for better or for worse.
===============================================================================
"I can't believe the nerve of that guy sometimes."
Kurt Wagner walked through the school grounds, and had a few bitter thoughts in
his head. The truth was that he needed a few moments to calm down, and reassess
the situation around him. Time he was offered when teleporting away from the
screen. Scott did tend to be wound tight.
At that moment, Kurt had arrived at the door of a basement; curiosity had
gotten the better of him. He knocked on the door, but there was no one inside.
With a swift movement, Kurt opened the door. A set of steps marked his
destination, and Kurt choked on the dust when he walked down the stairs. His
eyes watered as well when he moved down the stairs.
'No one has been down here for years,'Kurt thought to himself. The fuzzy
mutant's expression was one that was awestruck.
He made his way down to a makeshift lab. Kurt's arms folded over his chest, and
walked down the stairs, getting further and further into the basement area.
Kurt took a closer look. The equipment had not been touched. He wondered if
anyone had even been down here to clean in a while. The dead rats were a
telltale sign that he would have to lean towards no one cleaning anything down
here in an extremely long time. Kurt's arms folded together. He rocked on the
balls of his feet.
There was a brown device on the floor. Kurt tapped it, and a spark flew from
it.
"Hey, what are you doing down here, elf boy?"
Kurt turned, and saw Todd Tolansky perched down on the railing of the stairs.
The slimy mutant's expression was fixed on Kurt, and time stood still for a
minute. Toad hopped down to face Kurt. The mutant took a step back, and braced
himself for some kind of confrontation.
"What are you doing down here?" Kurt asked, standing and bracing himself for
what was going to happen.
Toad waved his hands. "I asked you first,"
"Oh that's real mature," Kurt retorted.
"It was a simple question," Toad said, throwing up his hands. He took a step
back, and stared down Kurt. "Then again, you X-Men think that you are so great,
and all that. I don't know what you're problem is half the time."
Todd hopped at Kurt. Kurt teleported out of the way in a cloud of blue smoke,
and landed on the other side. Todd dropped down on the other side, and grabbed
the device in his hand.
"What's this?" Toad asked.
"Hey, you better put that down," Kurt said.
"Looks like some kind of funky camera," Todd mused, taking a good look. He
began to play around with the buttons on the device.
"You don't know what you're doing!" Kurt yelled, nearly grabbing Toad in
frantic fury, but the mutant hopped back.
Todd's face just relaxed. "Hey, don't worry, I know exactly what I…"
A zap echoed, and a bright light engulfed Kurt at that moment. Toad watched,
dumbstruck, mouth hanging open. Kurt vanished into a bright light. One of the
X-Men had vanished before his eyes.
The slimy mutant blinked. He saw that the X-Men had disappeared, and just
shrugged his shoulders. He hopped off, with the object in his hands.
"Hey, get back here in and finish this!" Kurt yelled, with his fists clutched
in the fury. He tried to reach forward, and grab Toad. His fingers passed
through Toad. The blue mutant blinked, and tried to teleport forward. He landed
outside of the gym. He realized that his image inducer had failed. Something
about that machine had fried it when he passed through.
This was not something that would be considered an ideal situation. Kurt saw a
group walk towards him. They were laughing, and barely paid any attention to
anything around them. Kurt braced himself for them, and they passed through
him.
Confusion was something that passed through his mind. Kurt now had no idea what
was going on. He moved forward and towards the school. It was almost like he
was there, but at the same time he was not there. Kurt regained his bearings,
and blinked several times. Another step forward, and Kurt continued his
movements. The doors of the school opened, and Kurt heard the bell.
"Rogue!" Kurt yelled suddenly, and he reached forward, waving his hands
frantically.
Rogue walked right by Kurt, like he was not even there. Now Kurt was confused,
and pondered what happened.
"None of them can hear you."
Kurt spun around, and saw a young dark skinned man standing before him. He was
dressed in a white shirt, and jeans.
"Trust me, I've tried until my voice was hoarse," he said. At this point, he
offered a shrug and a shifty smile "The name's Forge."
"Kurt," Kurt replied dully, shaking hands with him. If this Forge was bothered
by his unconventional appearance, he did say anything. "What happened? I was in
a lab, and got in a fight with someone. The next thing I knew, no one could
hear me."
"Oh boy, that's not good," Forge said, shaking his head. "That was my lab, and
it looked like the school locked away my inventions after I disappeared."
"That lab didn't look like it had been visited in years," Kurt replied. Forge's
expression never left Kurt's face.
"That's because it hasn't," Forge said quietly. He took a step forward, and
looked at everyone who passed through him. "It hasn't been visited since the
year nineteen seventy eight. That was when I disappeared."
Kurt was caught completely off guard by this new development, and his mouth
hung open. Stepping back, Kurt tried to shake his head to gain some situation.
For a moment, the fuzzy mutant seemed dumbstruck, and then he spoke.
"You've really been here for this long."
Forge laughed it off. "Well, it's kind of hard to explain. Then again, we've
got all of the time in the world. I've heard every bit of gossip, who's dating
who, who is trying to start trouble behind each other's back. There's really
nothing else better to do, then just watch everyone and learn everyone's
business."
"How did you not go insane?" Kurt asked, eyes widened with astonishment. He was
visited by another question. "How did you eat if you been there for that long?"
Forge paused, and looked at Kurt. That was actually a good question, and one he
had thought about. He did not really think that much about it, and paused
before the answer was given.
"Well, it wasn't really a problem," Forge said, shrugging his shoulders. Kurt
looked at him with a quizzical expression. "Never mind, I've been trying to
find a way out of here, and you might be able to help."
"How could I help?" Kurt asked, standing on the balls of his feet, impatiently.
"I saw you out there, teleporting," Forge answered. The young man shook his
head. "I didn't think that there were other people like me, well not exactly
like me, but you get my point."
"So you're not bothered by my appearance?" Kurt asked, trying to keep his body
language relaxed. That might have always been a sticking point.
"Trust me, I've seen weirder," Forge said, dismissively shrugging the question
off. He added to try and lighten the mood. "I did live through the seventies."
Kurt's eyes snapped forward, and Forge looked at him. The two walked through
the gym doors, and saw a group of girls make their way towards the locker room.
"So how far does this pocket dimension go?" Kurt asked in a casual voice,
inclining forward, eyes focused.
Forge paused, thinking about it. "I've run some tests, and it seems to stop
just a few inches outside of the girl's locker room."
Kurt's face fell immediately. Forge just shook his head, and cleared his
throat.
"With you here, we can both find a way out of here," Forge replied, business as
usual. "There have been bits and pieces that were brought here during the
accident, and I've been trying to fit everything together. I haven't had
something to jump start it. I need your help."
The blue mutant nodded, and leaned in for Forge to tell him what the pair of
them needed to do.
===============================================================================
The school day had ended, and most of the people were untroubled. Rogue walked
outside the building, and her eyes moved forward. Harry and Kitty walked out
from behind her, and before they could get a word in edgewise, Jean and Scott
walked up. A look of worry and guilt crossed over Scott's face as he stared
down Harry. There was a moment before Scott decided to open his mouth, and
speak.
"Have any of you seen Kurt after lunch?"
"No," Harry replied, craning his neck to look over the shoulder, in hopes that
Kurt would appear. Then again, he did not have any classes with Kurt after
lunch. Kitty shook her head. Rogue was the one that decided to pop up.
"No, he wasn't in last period," Rogue informed them, and she turned around
where Jean and Scott stood there.
"So that means that he was gone for over two hours," Jean said, before biting
down on her lip. She sighed, and tried to regain her bearings, taking a deep
breath. "Almost three hours, and…"
"This is all my fault, he ran off," Scott grumbled, slumping in defeat.
Harry shook his head. "He's got to be around here somewhere. I mean, he can't
be gone forever. Where would you be if you were Kurt?"
"Somewhere where I wouldn't want to be bothered," Kitty suggested, before she
shrugged her shoulders. That's was all she had.
Harry nodded, and he took a step forward. The dark haired wizard saw a door
partially ajar. He wondered if anyone noticed anything. Performing a couple of
scanning spells, Harry saw there was someone there. Kitty and Rogue walked up
behind him. Both girls seemed to wait for Harry to say a word.
"So anything?" Rogue asked, leaning forward to peak at what Harry was peaking
at.
Harry paused for a moment, and decided to elaborate. "Someone has been down
here."
"Why?" Kitty inquired, impatiently standing on the balls of her feet.
"Yeah, that's a good question, why would anyone be down there?" Rogue asked,
wrinkling her nose at the dust. Harry looked at her, and Rogue just shrugged.
"No offense, but it doesn't look like anyone has been down there for years. In
fact, I could have sworn those doors are normally locked."
"They are," Scott told them, standing alert. The X-Men stood, and all of them
had a look around. Jean suddenly remained rigid, and she listened to something.
"Did you hear something?" Jean asked, spinning around, at the sounds that
occurred behind them. The members of the group shook their heads, except for
Harry, who nodded. Harry carefully took another step forward, and scoped out
the situation. His eyes narrowed, his tongue clicked, and the situation was
checked out. Harry could sense that there was something that he could not see,
and only barely perceive.
Harry spun around towards the rest of the group. They stood rigid, and waited
for Harry to give his input.
"Something really weird happened, and I think Kurt might have been transported
somewhere," Harry concluded, letting out the breath he was holding. The X-Men
all looked at him, pausing for a moment, and Harry elaborated on what he said.
"There are other worlds, realms that can exist between dust particles in the
air."
Kitty backed off, and her eyes widened in horror, and voice rose a pitch level.
"You mean we could be totally be crushing Kurt right now!"
Harry smiled at the similar reaction Kitty had to when he learned that there
was sentient life existing between dust particles.
"No, it doesn't work that way," Harry said in a reassuring voice, and placed a
hand on her shoulder. Kitty relaxed, and Harry placed his arms around her.
Kitty looked at Harry, waiting for an answer. "The universes exist when they
shift away from each other. They are on different levels. Whether Kurt is on a
level if he can see us, but we can't see him, I don't know. It's highly
possible."
"Fine, we have a theory on where he went," Scott said, and Harry invited for
Scott to continue. "But, how did he get there?"
Harry picked up a flash of light from the parking lot. A grimace appeared on
his face, when he watched the lightshow.
"I have a theory."
Harry walked forward. Someone had tapped into another plane of existence, some
kind of world between worlds, a Middleverse with science. And one of the
members of the Brotherhood had gotten ahold of it. Toad played with the device
like a toy, and several items disappeared into nothing. Including Mystique's
brand new car, and good riddance to it as far as he was concerned.
"Hem Hem!"
Toad spun around, nearly falling over in fear. Harry smirked; he always wanted
to do that to someone else. Now, the dark haired wizard understood why that
woman did that particular cough. It did work wonders in getting the attention
of people.
"Um, hey, how are you doing?" Toad asked, shifting around, and looking at the
green eyes of someone who could hurt him really bad.
"You're playing with something that is far beyond your comprehension," Harry
told him, without missing a beat.
"Nah, I got it to work, see," Toad said, waving the device in his hand when he
spoke. As a result, he demonstrated and blasted a bird from the sky.
Harry reached forward, and grabbed Toad.
"Listen, I know what you did to Kurt," Harry responded in an icy voice. He did
not yell, he did not scream, he did not shout in full force ballistic
intensity. Yet, Toad knew that he was miffed.
Toad backpeddled. "Hey, I didn't do anything to elf boy, he could have got out
of the way, you know."
Harry clicked his thumbs, and carefully looked at Toad. He clicked his fingers,
and narrowed his eyes. "Give me the device."
"Here!" Toad yelled, shoving the device into Harry's hands, and hopped
backwards, nearly landing on his feet.
Harry was glad that he did not have to threaten bodily harm to get him to act.
Toad scrambled back, getting as far away from Harry as possible.
'Whoever calls Toad the dumbest member of the Brotherhood really doesn't get
it,'Harry thought, a small smile crossing his face. He walked off to join his
fellow X-Men.
"We've got it, and it's easy to send there's there, but bring them back might
be another thing entirely," Harry informed them, holding the device for all of
them to see.
"Let's take it somewhere, and get a look at it," Kitty suggested, also
analyzing the device. "We better be careful though. If we press the wrong
button, it could send all of us to the fifth dimension or wherever."
Harry turned to Kitty, with a smile crossing his face, and Kitty wondered what
was up.
"Well, you're our resident genius, so I think you would figure it out," Harry
told her, placing a hand on her shoulder.
Kitty looked flushed at this compliment, but shook it off. "Um, I'll do my
best."
"That's all we could hope for," Harry replied back with a smile. The expression
on Kitty's face was determined, and her fists clutched together. She would not
fail, especially with Harry putting so much faith into her.
Kitty would not let him down; Harry just had that effect on people, when he put
his faith into a person, they did not want to let the dark haired wizard down.
===============================================================================
If there was one thing Kurt could say about his experience today, it was that
being nowhere, along with everywhere was just a tiny bit surreal. He stood, and
waited for the next moment. There were people passing him. Suddenly, a car had
flown into the scene. It slammed down onto the ground, and Kurt's eyes widened
when he saw it.
"Did you see that?" Kurt asked, on alert, and his eyes darting around wildly
for any more flying options.
Forge grumbled, before he recuperated.
"Someone's messing with my device," Forge said, clutching his fist. He tried to
remain calm under fire, but the time displaced mutant failed to do so. His hand
was on his head. "That's our only ticket out of here, and if he breaks it…"
"We'll be stuck here forever," Kurt concluded grimly, and Forge nodded.
There were a few instances where Kurt could hear faint voices. There seemed to
be a presence.
"I'm pretty sure Kurt is still there, but the question is finding the right
frequency to get him out!"
"Harry?" Kurt asked, eyes widened at the sound of his teammate. He paused, and
then yelled. "Yeah, I'm here, just hang on and be careful with that thing!"
The yelling fell upon deaf ears, and Kurt deflated when there was no response.
"Kurt, no matter how much you yell, he can't hear you," Forge said, shaking his
head. He turned his hand into a machine, which allowed the mutant to fix
together a power pack. "In this realm, you still can teleport, but you can't
teleport completely out. I'm hoping that with a small adjustment, you'll be
able to give your friends a warning, and tell them what to do."
Kurt allowed all of this to sink in, and asked the burning question.
"What do you want me to do?" Kurt asked, impatiently shifting on his feet from
the left to the right, and back again.
Forge held his hand, to motion for Kurt to wait a minute. This was delicate
work, and Forge did not want it disrupted. Especially given the supplies in
this place was not something that were plentiful. The mutant continued to work,
and managed to put together something.
"The good thing about these powers, is I can put together anything," Forge
said, holding up his arm which had converted into a tool that would allow him
to make anything with the proper materials. "I think you'd agree how handy that
is. We need anything to get out of here, and I have something that could help
us."
Forge took a moment and walked Kurt over. He double checked everything, and
relief flooded him when everything appeared to be in order. That was always a
plus, and a foundation that he could be built upon. He held the battery packs
in his hand, and tried to fasten them to Kurt. Kurt looked at him with a
questioning expression.
"Please stand still," Forge told Kurt, and Kurt did as he was told, careful not
to fidget. The young mutant tried to adjust everything that was needed to do
so. "This is a very delicate process, and I can only allow you thirty seconds
at the absolute maximum when going out there."
"That's thirty seconds more than we would have had," Kurt offered, once again
trying his best not to move, and Forge responded with a swift nod. He clicked
together a few more items, and made sure the battery back was tightened. If it
fell off when Kurt teleported, there was no telling what would happen.
Although, being the scientific genius, Forge would have to offer a hypothesis
that it was nothing good.
Forge took a deep breath, and looked at Kurt.
"Everything is set, and we need to get to the area of my lab, that was the
direction they seemed to be heading," Forge stated, resigning himself to what
may happen. Kurt followed Forge, passing more leaving teachers and students.
The two of them remained together. "We need to have them inverse the
fluctuation matrix."
Kurt's confusion was obvious, so Forge decided to elaborate.
"We switch off the yellow switch, and turn on the blue switch," Forge
explained.
"Why didn't you just say so?" Kurt asked, confusion flooding his face.
"I just did," Forge said, and he shook his head. They made their way outside
the doors. Kurt saw the Brotherhood mobilizing on the outside.
"Oh boy, that can't be good," Kurt said, his eyes focused on them, and cursing
his luck mentally.
"Those guys are trouble?" Forge asked.
Kurt suddenly looked exasperated. "More trouble than you could know. We better
hurry. They could bust that device if they get into a fight with my team."
Forge suddenly looked a bit nervous, and dread flooded his face. There was no
hypothesizing about it at that time, if the device was busted, they would be
there forever. Forge had been there for twenty years, and did not want to be
there a second longer. He had a feeling that Kurt felt the same way. The two of
them hurried, and saw the X-Men down in the lab.
"It's go time," Forge said, resolved to see this through.
"I'm ready," Kurt said firmly. "So I just need to teleport?"
Forge nodded, and Kurt prepared to teleport, with the battery packs fastened on
him. It was do, or die time. The fuzzy mutant knew what he had to do. Kurt just
hoped that he would not die over it.
"There is a point seven percent chance that you will be ping-ponged between the
dimensions, until you cease to exist," Forge added as an afterthought, and at
this point, alarm folded Kurt's face. "Relax, relax, that's not good odds, but
I'm just putting out the possibility."
Kurt braced himself. It was now or never. His eyes were shut, and at the very
least he had to try.
===============================================================================
Kitty placed the device down on the table, and tried to slowly piece together
what she needed to do. She was no idiot when it came to electronics, but this
seemed to be the strangest device the girl had ever come across. The wiring had
been all over the board, the switches did not seem to work out well, and there
was just something about the entire set up that just looked rather off. Then
again, it was likely homemade. Yet, Kitty had to try. The girl took a deep
breath, and prepared to figure out what needed to be done.
Jean, Scott, and Rogue all stood guard. While Harry's charm work would have
kept the Brotherhood out, and away from interfering from this very delicate
operation, the X-Men left nothing to chance. The ground outside rumbled.
"Avalanche," Rogue said, rolling her eyes. "Charms or not, if the ground
shakes, we're not going to be able to hold down the fort for much longer."
"They'll hold," Harry told Rogue, firm with his resolve.
"For how long?" Scott asked, a bit nervous.
"Five minutes, ten minutes, but the great thing about magic is that I can
always reapply the charms if they weaken somehow," Harry respond. He could feel
the ground rumble beneath them. If at all possible, Harry would have liked to
avoid a fight. It just would have complicated the delicate situation they were
in. "Although we might want to step it up quickly. The longer we're in there,
the more people are going to suspect something is up."
"This is completely messed up, whoever did this wiring," Kitty said,
frustration mounting. "This is like so messed up. I don't know if I should
start randomly pressing buttons, or not, or just smash the entire thing."
"You know, smashing it might reverse everything," Scott suggested.
Jean shook her head, trying to get some sense in this situation "It could free
Kurt, or it might be able to trap him in there forever."
The doors continued to rumble, and Harry's shoulders slumped. So far,
everything held tight, and he hoped it would stay that way. Spending five years
mostly away from any kind of electronics had caused him to be a bit behind the
curve of how modern convenience worked. Harry had just re-learned how to type
properly. Apparently typing with one finger was not something that was
accepted, but Harry shook that thought off.
"This might need a magical touch, but I don't know if I feel safe reaching
through dimensions or not," Harry said, closing his eyes, and pondering on the
situation. While it was true that he might one day be capable of pulling off
such a feat, Doctor Strange cautioned him about not doing anything that daring.
"This looks like a job for the Sorcerer Supreme."
"Well do you have him on speed dial or something?" Rogue asked, and Harry
thought this was a good idea, he should have thought of it earlier.
Harry decided to give Strange a try. Sure enough, Harry knew that solution
would not be that easy. He turned to his fellow X-Men and relayed the bad news
to them. "Busy, Strange is in another dimension, he's working on a problem
there, and can't be reached at this moment."
"Well don't bother leaving a message," Scott remarked, and Harry moved over to
reapply the charm work to keep the Brotherhood out. He was confident that
should hold, and allow them to finish up here.
There was a small burst of light. Kitty offered a surprised noise, and grabbed
Harry by the wrist. Harry turned around, and both saw Kurt. The other X-Men
looked at Kurt, and all noticed that they were faded.
"Listen to me….inverse the…switch off the….switch on…."
"Kurt, you're breaking up!" Kitty yelled, leaning forward to try and listen to
him, and Kurt suddenly faded back into nothingness. Kitty placed her hands on
her face, and tugged at her hair. "Oh, what I am going to do?"
Harry paused, and listened closely. He could hear something, faint.
"I think he said to inverse the fluctuation matrix," Harry said, slowly and
quietly. "Whatever that means."
"Are you sure?" Kitty asked, biting her lip nervously. Harry nodded. "I mean, I
guess that would make plenty of sense, yeah it would make total sense. So,
let's see on that thing, we turn off this yellow switch, flick on the blue
switch, and hope that I didn't just screw up all of reality."
Kitty closed her eyes, and her breath hitched. It was all or nothing. There was
a long pause, where Kitty thought for a brief moment that she buggered
everything up. However, a bright flash of light erupted from the machine, and
filled the lab. Kurt and Forge dropped down from the ceiling, and landed with a
solid thud. Both of them seemed to be rather shaken from everything.
"Kurt, it's glad to see you back!" Jean yelled, relieved.
"Yeah, it really is," Rogue said, taking a deep breath.
Kurt offered a smile, and he was glad to have returned to firm ground. "It's
good to be back."
Scott turned to Kurt, an apologetic expression on his face. "Kurt…."
"I know," Kurt replied, waving it off.
Kurt and Scott both nodded at each other.
"Well that was direct," Kitty said, and she looked pleased. "Um, do you think
we better bust this thing so no one gets zapped by it again?"
It was Forge who had piped up. He had gone pretty much unnoticed by the entire
group for the moment, but he had to get his two cents in. "There is truly no
harm in breaking it now. We're all back, and hopefully not returning."
Kitty took this as her cue to shift her hands through the device, and bust it
apart.
"The name's Forge," Forge said. He shook his head, clearing the cobwebs that
accumulated during his time. "As for where I've come from, well that's a long
story…."
"He's a mutant just like us," Kurt chimed in. He opened his mouth, but Scott
had sidestepped him.
"I'm sure Forge can tell us about his story on our way back," Scott said, and
the entire group pause, before they heard a frantic yell coming from within the
school.
"WHAT IS MY CAR DOING IN THE MIDDLE OF THE SCHOOL HALLWAY? Tolansky!"
The X-Men exchanged smiles, seeing the Brotherhood scramble away like thieves
in the night, to avoid any more trouble. Someone had been busted, and it was a
good feeling that it wasn't them. It was time to walk way, the lessons learned
from today filed back to think about at a later time.
===============================================================================
Forge had just finished relaying his tale to Professor Xavier. The young mutant
waited for the headmaster of the Xavier Institute to offer his final
assessment. There was a moment before Xavier did.
"Forge, your story is one that is unconventional," Xavier said with a nod of
his head, and Forge responded with a nod of his own. This gave Xavier the cue
to continue. "All mutants, even among those who are displace through the annals
of time, are welcomed always at the Institute. Such opportunities were not
offered during your youth, I have no hesitation in saying."
"No they were not," Forge agreed. He immediately took a moment to ponder what
Xavier had told him. "Your offer is very generous Professor, but I'm going to
have to pass. I'd like to look up my parents, to see if they are still around.
I might have a little explaining to do, and I'm very much past curfew."
The members of the X-Men laughed at this, and even Xavier cracked a slight
smile. He looked at the young mutant, before addressing him.
"Very well, it is your decision and I respect that. Allow me be the first to
tell you that if you change your mind, or if you need a place to say, room will
be offered at the Mansion."
"I thank you for that Professor," Forge said, with a gracious look in his eyes,
and he took a step back, before looking at the other X-Men. He really had no
idea what to say, so he settled for the absolute obvious. "I'll see you all
around, I guess, and I'll stay in touch."
Everyone said their goodbyes to Forge. To him, that was a muddled mess. In many
ways, Harry had a great deal of sympathy for the young man's plight. While it
was not exactly the same than his, being displaced in a world where you had
only a small amount of understanding what was going on and was far different
than the one that was known was a challenge.
Kitty offered a smile to Harry, having a shrewd idea what he was thinking.
"I'm sure he'll adapt like you adapted," Kitty remarked, standing next to
Harry.
Harry offered a smile towards the brunette mutant, and nudged her slightly.
"Stumbling around blindly, and hoping for the best."
"Hey, it worked didn't you," Kitty teased him. A fond smile spread over her
face "You're not that hopeless, well no more hopeless than any other teenage
boy out there."
"Nice to see you think so highly of me," Harry replied back, and Kitty stood up
on her tip-toes to give Harry a light kiss on the lips. She pulled back with a
grin.
"Harry, I think the world of you," Kitty told him, before deciding to switch
tracks. "So, did you get all of your homework done?"
"Actually, yes, there wasn't too much of that," Harry remarked. He lightly
gripped Kitty's hand, and offered her a smile. "The teachers must be slacking;
either that or they've been replaced by shape shifting aliens."
Kitty rolled her eyes at the absurdity of shape shifting aliens, but despite
that action, an amused glint appeared in her eyes. She grabbed Harry by the
arm. "Only you would try and put the most negative spin on it. But they would
go in well with the shape-shifting principal"
Harry just smiled, and managed to put a monitoring spell in the woman's office,
under the pretext of bringing her a note from one of his teachers. Naturally,
so far it did not yield anything worthwhile, but perhaps it would sometime.
Mystique might not have been foolish to do anything incriminating in a public
building.
"Some might call it negativity, and others might call it realism," Harry
replied, looking at her with a stoic expression.
"And I just call it, you being yourself," Kitty fired back. Harry stepped back,
smiling. "So, the two of us, you want to head out, and hang out?"
"Yeah, it might be nice to get out," Harry agreed.
Kitty turned, and saw Rogue standing off to the side. On a whim, Kitty asked a
question. "Hey, Rogue, do you want to come with us?"
"No, it's okay, I mean it'd be like I was a third wheel on your date," Rogue
said. She also hastily amended her statement, nearly tripping over her words to
do so. "Besides, I've got work to do, lots of homework."
Kitty frowned. "Well, that's too bad then. It's not really a date-date per say,
more like a hanging out between two friends thing. If you're sure…"
"Yeah, Kitty, I'm sure," Rogue told Kitty.
"You wouldn't be a bother," Harry added, in a reassuring tone of voice.
Rogue offered a slight shadow of a smile. She appreciated this sentiment.
"I know, but I really have a lot of homework to do," Rogue answered, which was
the truth. It was not an excuse, even if it was a handy explanation.
Kitty and Harry paused for a couple of moments, before they nodded.
"Fair enough, we'll catch you later," Kitty said, shrugging slightly.
"Good bye Rogue, try not to get too stressed out," Harry told her, watching her
leave, and looking towards Kitty with a curious expression.
"I won't," Rogue told them.
She wondered if Harry and Kitty had offered to let her tag along out of
friendship, or out of pity. Then again, Harry and Kitty were her friends. And
Harry was the only one who could touch her, even if was just brief touches,
without any complications. Rogue would be lying if she did not think about
Harry touching her in more intimate ways, but she shook her head to clear those
thoughts.
Right now, she had a huge pile of homework to focus on. The teachers might have
been trying to kill her, or at least trying to drive her nuts. Still in some
ways, a huge pile of homework was great. Rogue watched Harry and Kitty walk
off, laughing and bantering with each other. She buried herself in the History
assignment, and it took her mind off of a lot.
It was hard to think about relationship drama when one's entire grade hinged on
this assignment.
***** Web Slinger Part One *****
Chapter 12: Web Slinger Part One.
The bright lights of New York were wonderful at night, or at least that's what
the opinion of Harry was presently. To be honest, there was very little to
complain about. It was good to get out, and have some fresh air. Kitty stood
next to Harry, allowing herself to look around the city. The truth was that the
night was still young and curfew was still a couple hours away.
"And we only ran into one pickpocket," Harry told Kitty. That little adventure
had been short lived, but rather entertaining.
Kitty's amusement was obvious across her face. The brunette mutant crossed her
arms, and smirked. "Yeah, and you turned his knife into a rose."
The two laughed for a few minutes, enjoying the memory.
"No one will believe it," Harry told Kitty, and Kitty stood in the streets. New
York was a busy place at night. "I mean, before you knew all of this stuff,
would you have believed that some random guy on the street would have
transfigured someone's knife into a rose?"
Kitty shook her head. She stood on her tip-toes to get a closer look around,
before she sank back down, and looked at Harry. "I wouldn't have believed it
for a second. In fact, if you would have told me that even three months ago, I
would have thought that you were insane. Just amazing how everything has
happened a month away."
Kitty and Harry sat down on a bench that had been provided outside of a park.
They were directly across from a billboard, promoting Stark Industries. The two
of them paid little attention that, enjoying the time that they spent with each
other over the past month or so, especially enjoying the time they spent with
each other tonight.
Harry placed his arm around Kitty's waist, and the brunette scooted closer to
him on the park bench. It was a great night to be out together, just hanging
out. After some of the days they had, with the training and everything. Harry
had the communicator at hand, half expecting it to go off after some emergency.
Thankfully, Harry's notoriously bad luck had left him alone. Kitty grabbed
Harry's hand, and they walked the sights and the sounds of the city. The two of
them sat together, and enjoyed each other's company. After today was over, they
might be enjoying each other's company in a more intimate way, behind closed
doors.
The two of them rested on the bench against each other, and there was a bit of
silence.
"The last few weeks have been perfect Harry," Kitty replied, a warm expression
in her eyes and she looked at her boyfriend. "And I'm glad you trusted me to
take our relationship to the next level, when we did a couple days ago."
"I'm glad too," Harry replied, and he pulled her in. He wrapped his arms
tightly around Kitty, and pulled his girlfriend into a kiss.
The kiss lingered a long time. Kitty ran her hands through Harry's hand. People
making out in public was in fact most certainly an uninteresting sight in New
York, so they only got a few courtesy glances and shrugs. There had been far
weirder things to behold, with the large number of super powered criminals and
villains coming down the pike. Harry pulled away from Kitty, and stroked the
flesh on the small of her back. The two smiled, and looked in each other's
eyes.
"Just think, Harry, this is only the beginning," Kitty told him. Harry leaned
in closer, to see what she had in mind. "Someone like you, you're bound to have
many girls who would like to be in a relationship with you."
"Kitty, we're together now, you and me," Harry replied, a bit perplexed at what
Kitty was saying. Kitty just looked at Harry, with a slightly impatient
expression crossing her face. Harry could not resist teasing her a little bit.
"Don't tell me you're already bored of me?"
"No, I'm not, I can never be bored of you," Kitty replied, and she laughed at
the very thought. She looked at Harry, mind going wild with a few possibilities
"We just scratched the surface."
"I know teenage relationships are supposed to be fleeting, but shouldn't we at
least pretend that it might last a long time?" Harry asked the girl, wondering
what the game was.
Kitty smiled, Harry was powerful, handsome, but sometimes a bit slow on the
uptake. Or maybe he just enjoyed acting that way; it was hard to tell
sometimes. Kitty decided to how to best convey this to Harry. Sometimes it was
a lot easier to have some plan in her head, then to actually spit it out.
"Harry, I didn't say that we would break up any time soon," Kitty told Harry.
She looked in his face, stroking his hair, and smiling. "However, I'm open for
experimentation if you're comfortable with that."
Harry wondered if Kitty was implying what he thought she was implying. He
wrapped his arms around her, trying to get the slightest hint of what she had
in mind. Granted, Harry had thought about it. He was a guy, there were things
like that he thought about. To have his girlfriend come out, and say something
like that, Harry wondered if he was indulging in some wishful thinking.
Something that was rare to him, and he had seldom thought about himself.
An explosion had startled Harry immediately, and had ruined any moment the two
might have had. The mutant couple was greeted by a situation. In the skies,
Harry spotted a blur swing past him. There was a middle aged man who gave
chase, and was dressed in a leopard print vest and tight black pants. The man
in question carried a spear, and was in a crazed single minded pursuit for the
enemy above him.
'There's something you don't see every day,'Harry thought to himself.
"Even in New York, didn't that strike you a bit odd?" Harry asked, nudging
Kitty at this point.
Kitty cupped a hand to her chin, and looked thoughtful, nodding slowly. Truth
be told, that was something that looked on. Harry turned to her, and their eyes
locked with each other. He decided to ask a question on a foolish impulse.
"So do you want to check it out?" Harry asked, struck by a sudden daring
inspiration.
Kitty smiled, and nodded. Checking it out would be a good idea right about now,
given the fact that it was weird. And she would not rest until she had
determined what was going on. The two of them walked off. They had their
mission uniforms in their bag, after all it was best to be prepared. Perhaps
they would get to the bottom of this, and what was happening. The two had
changed with each other in the same room, having nothing to be ashamed about.
"I think it went over that way," Harry replied, and Kitty nodded, seeing the
scene above her.
Harry grabbed Kitty around, the waist, and on a sheer impulse, took up flying.
It was like riding a broom, only without a broom. Kitty turned to Harry, in
shock and awe, and her eyes widened. It took her a moment to catch her breath,
and reconcile what she saw.
"Um, since when could you fly?"
"Since about fifteen seconds ago," Harry retorted, mischief flashing in his
eyes.
'My boyfriend is like so totally awesome,'Kitty thought to herself, with a
smile.
Kitty thought that was a fair enough response and the two prepared to see what
the scene of the disturbance was. The two decided to take the plunge together,
peering out from behind the wall. They were in the fact finding part of the
mission, which was rather crucial. Only then could they jump into battle.
The unknown had awaited them.
===============================================================================
A figure swung over the rooftops of New York. He was being chased, or so his
hunter thought. In reality, he was luring his attacker into a false sense of
security. The man dropped down, but he was no mere man. He was the Amazing, the
Spectacular, the Sensational, Spider-Man, and he was being stalked by one of
his most persistent enemies.
It was amazing how much of a difference eleven months had made. Eleven months
ago, Peter Parker had been a normal high school student, and had been the
punching bag of the local jock. A field trip to Oscorp changed that, when one
of sixteen genetically altered spiders got loose, and bit Peter. It was no
ordinary spider bite; it gave him amazing spider powers. The ability to be
faster, jump higher, be stronger, and to climb walls, and just have heightened
stamina, was at his fingertips.
At the age of sixteen years older, Peter Parker learned one lesson, and that
was with great power there must also come great responsibility. He had allowed
a thief to get away, when he was too busy grandstanding. That same thief had
accidentally shot his Uncle Ben. The thief had been desperate, but Spider-Man
had been outraged. He barely held himself back from pummeling the thief to a
blood pulp, remembering that Uncle Ben would not approve.
It was from that day forward that Spider-Man dedicated himself from protecting
the city. It was not easy, especially adding onto school, dealing with friends,
and making sure he was home in time before Aunt May's curfew. Yet he managed
everything just as well as he could be expected.
However, none of that matter, as right now Spider-Man was being stalked by one
of his more persistent and annoying foes. The man's name was Sergei Kravinoff,
or as he had been dubbed by the Daily Bugle, Kraven the Hunter. Kravinoff was a
world renowned game hunter who had hunted some of the most deadly beasts in the
world, including endangered species. He had traveled to New York to hunt the
deadliest game of them all, that being Spider-Man.
"I can smell your fear," Kravinoff stated, dropping down and stalking Spider-
Man. The sadistic glint appeared in the eyes on the hunter. A spear extended
out, and a toothy grin appeared on Kraven's face.
"Are you sure that's what you smell?" Spider-Man asked, preparing to engage the
enemy. There were times where the web head felt bad about engaging on unarmed
opponent in a battle of wits, but that took the fun out of everything.
The web slinger tucked his head, and somersaulted out of the way. Kraven
charged him, but Spider-Man avoided another attack. "Because I'm getting a
distinct BO problem, and it's coming from you."
"Your bravado is almost amusing," Kraven declared, stalking his prey and he
stood ready to pounce. The web slinger dodged out of the way.
For Kraven, there was only one law that applied, and that was the law of the
jungle. When he was out there on the hunt, it was a game of survival of the
fittest, and it was kill or be killed. That was the only thing that mattered.
Kraven charged Spider-Man with his spear. The web slinger ducked around.
"You will be the greatest trophy I have ever mounted on my wall," Kraven
summarized, teeth gritted, and spear clenched in his fist.
Spider-Man pulled a face underneath his mask, and regained his bearings. "You
know, if you're someone who hunts people, you have a serious problem. And
here's the newsflash, the name's Spider-Man. There's a heavy emphasis on the
man in there."
Spider-Man dodged another attack, and web yanked the spear out of Kraven's
hand. He knocked the mighty hunter back with a series of rabid fire punches.
"And there's also a hyphen in there," Spider-Man added as an afterthought.
Kraven rushed Spider-Man, but the web slinger tripped up the mighty hunter.
"Which a lot of people tend to forget, that's always annoying."
"Enough, you will be prize trophy," Kraven growled, and he pulled out a pair of
daggers.
With a mighty roar, Kraven charged Spider-Man, but the web slinger dodged the
attacks once again. He avoided the stabs by the dagger.
"Didn't your mother tell you not to run with knives?" Spider-Man taunted him.
Kraven just growled, ripping the webbing off from around his eyes. Kraven once
again attacked, and once again Spider-Man avoided those attacks. "You could
hurt someone, likely me, with them."
Kraven knocked Spider-Man back, and he landed onto the ground with a thud. The
web slinger was back on his feet, and Kraven swung a huge punch. Spider-Man was
sent backwards. The web head popped back up, and shot a line of webbing at
Kraven. Kraven dodged it. His speed and reflexes were second to none, and they
had to be, given some of the dangerous wild animals he had to hunt. Kraven
reached forward, when suddenly a mysterious force had blown him back.
The hunter gave a pained yell, when he was thrown off of the edge of the
building, and crashed to the city streets below. Spider-Man took a moment to
look around, and he was taken aback by what happened. A new arrival had caused
the web head to be surprised, and he spun around.
The web head looked at a dark haired youth, who wore a black jacket with a
green t-shirt. There was a red belt with a green "X" in the middle, and he wore
black pants, along with boots. His companion was a brunette girl, wearing a
black top, a black jacket, and tight black pants. Spider-Man was caught
dumbstruck for a moment.
"Hi!" the girl yelled in an excited voice.
It took Spider-Man a moment to regain his composure, which had been rattled
after playing tag with the mighty hunter all night. He blinked, and stared at
them.
"So, wait, let me get this straight, you're the one who blasted Kraven off of
the roof," Spider-Man managed, speaking slowly and clearly. He was not sure
what he thought about that. The web head stared down to the alleyway below, and
was taken aback. He could not even spot Kraven, mangled body or not, and he had
no idea where to go from there.
"I didn't, he did," the girl responded, pointing to the young man with her.
Spider-Man had encountered more than a few heroes in this town. He had met up
with the Human Torch. The web head also teamed up with Daredevil and Luke Cage
to tackle street level crime. He also encountered some bad tempered guy with
claws who called himself Wolverine. Among other heroes, but these two were new
to him however.
"So, I'm sure you know who I am," Spider-Man said.
"Iron Man, right?" the boy asked.
"What..no?" Spider-Man asked, but both were laughing at the dumbfounded
expression on his face.
The two looked rather amused, and Spider-Man realized that he just got punked.
"Relax, we know who you are, Spider-Man," the girl said, trying to be serious.
"My name is Shadowcat, and this is Arcane."
Spider-Man took a good look at the young man, and he nodded.
'Mysterious and something that few people understand, that fits that guy to a
tee for some reason,'the web slinger thought. 'Then again, some people could
say that about your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man.'
"You knocked Kraven off of the roof," Spider-Man said slowly. "You could have
killed him."
"You mean, I didn't?" Arcane asked, and Spider-Man seemed to be flummoxed.
"Relax, he was a guy who was going to stuff and mount you on a wall. What's the
harm if we got a little rough with him?"
Spider-Man had no real way to answer that question, without looking like a
glorified boy scout who had always followed the rules. That was the dilemma of
a hero. It seemed like the press alternated between slamming him for being a
threat and a menace, or had said that Spider-Man was too soft. There were no
reasoning with some people.
"Um, thanks I guess, even if you were a bit extreme," Spider-Man remarked.
"No problem, happy to help," Arcane replied, with a nod, and he extended his
hand. Spider-Man, sensing no trouble with his spider sense, shook it.
Spider-Man turned around, and bid his goodbyes. He would have liked to stick
around for chat, but he was way late in meeting Gwen to hang out. It was not a
date, both of them had agreed to that. It was just two friends, doing what two
friends do, and that was hanging out. It was nothing more than that.
Harry turned to Kitty, and decided to address the elephant in the room.
"So any clue where the mighty hunter went?" Harry asked her, a questioning look
in his eyes.
Kitty shrugged. "As hard as you blasted him, he could have been sent half way
to Jersey for all I know."
Harry would have to agree. He did a few scanning spells, but Kraven did not
seem to be in the intermediate area. A scan with his own eyes had not seen
anything as well, as magic was wonderful, but not absolutely foolproof. Harry
scooped up Kitty in his arms, and lowered them both to the ground.
"I think he was a little bit freaked out that you knocked that guy off of the
roof," Kitty suggested.
Harry turned to her, before answering in a completely honest voice. "It was all
in the name of saving lives."
Kitty smiled, and nodded in agreement. There was some times where certain
brutality couldn't be avoided. It was a hard choice to make. Kitty preferred
not to have to take that route, even if it was unavoidable. Yet in the heat of
the battle, one seldom had a chance to worry about what was right. It was a
choice of what got them out alive, and that could be the difference between
life and death.
Harry thought similar thoughts, if people were going to try and attack him, and
others around him, well they were honestly taking their chances. Regardless,
the two of them tried to move off to enjoy the rest of the night, although they
had a feeling that any chances of a normal date might have been moot with these
two.
===============================================================================
Kraven was not the only one who was hunting Spider-Man throughout the concrete
jungle of New York City. Even though the hunt of this particular individual was
a more subtle kind of hunt, there were still observations that were being made
by one individual. Ever since Spider-Man came on the scene, and displayed the
powers he did, this man had been interested. Given the fact that there was
circumstantial evidence that the web slinger's powers came as a byproduct of
one of his experiments, it only stood to reason that he would take an interest.
The man's name was Norman Osborn. He was the CEO of Oscorp. The Osborn family
fortune had been squandered through many years of obsession and vices. Yet,
Norman spent most of his adult life rebuilding his fortune, often at the
expense of several other companies throughout New York. The sins of the Osborn
name had caused it to be a tough road. It was a family name that was strongly
connected with indulging in vices, and mental illness. Every single Osborn for
the past several generations had succumbed to a mental illness prior to the age
of forty.
The thirty seven year old owner of Oscorp turned his attention to the video
wall. The latest exploits of Spider-Man was played for him to see. Whether or
not Spider-Man was a hero or a menace, that fact did not concern Osborn. It was
the furthest thing from his mind. The fact of the matter was that Spider-Man
could be considered to be a valuable asset, and one that could bring Oscorp to
a higher level possible.
Norman Osborn could smell the type of opportunity someone like Spider-Man
presented from a mile away. All he needed to do was seize that opportunity, and
it would be his. Osborn tapped his fingers, and turned to the head of his
research division. This man was a portly man with dark eyes, and a bowl haircut
who went by the name of Otto Octavius.
"Progress report, Otto?" Osborn asked in a brisk voice.
Octavius proceeded to respond in an oily and rather tentative voice. "Um yes
sir, Mr. Osborn, I have collected a small sample of data regarding Spider-Man.
I would require a more significant sample of his blood to ensure what his full
capabilities are."
"Well, what are you doing just standing here?" Osborn demanded in a harsh
voice. Otto took a step back, knowing when to pick his battles. He secretly
longed for the day where he would be able to rise above, and take charge of
Osborn, instead of the other way around. "Spider-Man could be the secret to
Oscorp's success. It is unfortunate that the board of directions shut down the
experimentation we have done."
"Yes, quite unfortunate," Octavius droned.
Osborn turned around. When someone shut a door, a window had re-opened. He
would have some level of clarity, and progress past this point.
"Yet, despite all that, one spider got loose, and bit someone, the question is
whom?" Osborn asked. "These extraordinary powers are not something that just
popped up overnight. If we can offer this proof, then the government will be
eating out of our hands, any government for that matter. We will have an army
of super powered spider soldiers that will allow us to charge high dollar to
anyone."
Osborn paused, and thought about the matter that had ate away at him for a
number of months. The Board of Directors had been breathing down his neck, and
a few of them had called for his resignation. Those fools had no idea that they
would not be in the cushy position they were in, had it not been for his hard
work, his blood, sweat, and tears. They were ungrateful and greedy.
"And for that to matter, I need results and not just guess work from you,
Doctor Octavius," Osborn continued. His expression snapped fully on the oily
scientist before him. "I want you to find out every single thing you can about
Spider-Man, and I want greater samples. We will be able to replicate that, and
create our army, to sell to the highest bidder. If the United States government
won't pay, then we'll find someone who will."
Octavius offered a courtesy nod, and continued to punch up information to be
displayed on the screen in front of them. He suddenly caught some images of
Spider-Man's latest battle. Checking with the catalog he had placed together of
the various enemies the web slinger had fought; Octavius recognized that
particular foe as Kraven the Hunter. That was not the only interesting
observation that Octavius picked up.
Rather the interesting flash across the screen was some blur that had knocked
Kraven off of the roof. He rewound the few images that were presented. This
person never touched Kraven, never even laid one finger on him. Yet, Kraven was
knocked off the roof in one fluid motion, blasted away like he was nothing. The
scientist was keen in observing what had transpired.
'Interesting,'Octavius thought to himself, and he scratched his chin, pondering
certain possibilities.
"What are you staring at, Otto?" Osborn asked, suspicion lingering in his eyes.
"Nothing, Mr. Osborn, sir," Octavius said in a meek voice, and Osborn's eyes
just snapped towards his head scientist.
"Are you certain it was nothing?" Osborn inquired, pressing on further.
Octavius responded with a swift nod, and did not say another word.
"I had assumed that I had picked up another clue regarding Spider-Man," the
scientist said. "But I guess that it was a false alarm."
Osborn took a moment, and did not seem to completely buy that notion from
Octavius. There was something up.
"If I find out you've been hiding information from me, Otto, after everything
that I've done for you…"
"Just merely a camera glitch, sir," Octavius remarked dryly.
One day, he would be the master, and Osborn would be the slave. Otto Octavius
dreamed of the day that he would rise up, and take control of everything that
Osborn built.
Osborn on the other hand, his mind was firmly fixated on one goal. Spider-Man
continued to intrigue him. At first, he seemed to be annoyance, and someone who
stopped petty crime. Another do-gooder in a mask, but at each passing day,
there was more and more about it.
Ocatvius pondered web slinger's mysterious savior. If he had taken out the
hunter in one fell swoop, and then toppled the camera, there was some level of
power beyond his wildest dreams. Octavius was curious to what science this
person's powers was derived from. There was a feeling that it would be
interesting.
Yet, a great deal of his time was eaten up by his boss's futile studies on
Spider-Man. Otto Octavius tried to slow down and focus the security camera
footage, but once again found nothing. At least nothing he could derive
anything from.
'I'll just have to dig deeper,'the scientist thought to himself, and prepared
for the next faze of his operation.
===============================================================================
After that minor hiccup, Kitty and Harry walked across the sidewalks. Given
that this was the first proper date for either of them, both were a bit
tentative away.
"Maybe we can catch a movie?"
"That'd be a first for me."
"Oh, you've never seen a movie with someone?"
"No, watching a movie period, my relatives…well they were a bit movie phobic.
They were very strict, didn't approve of imagination."
Kitty just looked at Harry, and accepted that answer for now. For some reason,
Harry seemed to alternate between being too casual and not being casual enough
as it regarded to talking about his relatives and the rest of his world. Kitty
had wondered why. There were any number of theories that were floating around
the brunette girl's head, and all of them had made her curious.
The only reason why she did not really pry was the fact that it really was not
any of her business. Harry really only stated a few times that he missed his
friends, but what was done was done. He did not really miss his relatives, or
say anything to that extent. Then again, Kitty really could not blame Harry for
his detachment. If he was not going back, he should not work himself up.
"I wouldn't know what good movies are showing right now," Kitty replied shaking
her head. "Maybe we should have thought this entire date thing out."
"Hey, the night has been fun so far," Harry answered, putting his hand on hers.
"We saved Spider-Man from getting mounted as a wall trophy of some crazed game
hunter."
"Yeah, really romantic, wouldn't you say?" Kitty replied sarcastically, but she
was smiling in spite that fact. She was deep in thought. They had hung out
around the mansion, but this was the first time that Kitty had a date. Harry
had briefly remarked that he had one date, but he would rather not talk about
it. Kitty suspected that this was with the girl that cried when she kissed
Harry, and the less said about that relationship the better.
"Harry, is that you?"
Kitty and Harry turned around, and saw Gwen Stacy sitting outside at a table.
The blonde seemed anxious, and waiting for someone. Her foot tapped on the
ground, and her arms were folded. Her expression brightened when she saw it was
Harry.
"Hey, Gwen," Harry replied brightly. "You remember Kitty Pryde, my girlfriend."
"I seem to recall the last time we meant, something about some monarch trying
to kill us with a bunch of robots," Gwen said. At those words, a bit of a grin
crossed her face.
"So what are you doing here?" Kitty asked curiously.
Gwen offered a long sigh, and looked up. "I'm actually waiting for my friend
Peter."
"Oh the one who was in the bathroom," Kitty answered brightly.
"Yeah that one," Gwen said, worry flooding her. Peter had told her that he was
going for a patrol around the city before he met her. One quick patrol in the
city seldom meant one quick patrol around the city for Peter. His luck was
notoriously rotten, even before the spider bite. And it seemed to amplify
tenfold since the bite. "He should be around here any time soon."
"Oh, are you two going on a date?" Harry asked.
Gwen brushed off that statement, a bit too quickly, shaking her head.
"No, we're just hanging out like two friends, studying, there's a big test
coming up at school you see. We kind of want to keep our status as the two
highest grades in the school."
Harry nodded, and offered Gwen a smile. "A lofty goal."
"Well you know me, shooting for the stars," Gwen answered, and her expression
brightened up. "Peter! It's glad to see you can make it!"
Gwen offered Peter an expression that indicated that they would be talking
later about what happened. Peter tried to disguise a limp. Kitty didn't even
notice it, but Harry did. Harry frowned, and looked at Peter. Something was up,
but he kept his eyes off Peter for the most part.
"Peter, this is Kitty Pryde and Harry Potter, I met them on the field trip a
couple of weeks ago," Gwen announced to Peter.
Peter shifted with a minimal amount of guilt. There was something about these
two that seemed a bit familiar, but he shrugged it off as nothing.
Harry had thought for a moment that Peter had deduced that he and Kitty were
the two that saved him earlier today. The charms Harry had put on their mission
uniforms had worked like, well a charm, and Peter Parker did not connect
Shadowcat and Arcane with Kitty Pryde and Harry Potter.
"Gwen told me about what happened at the field trip," Peter said. He tried to
keep the guilt away from his voice. "That was quite a mess you got into, wish I
was kind of there to see it."
"It's no problem, given that you were indisposed," Harry told Peter.
Peter just nodded, he had been indisposed. Just not in the way everyone had
thought. He was playing tag with Rhino and Shocker, who had teamed up on their
latest crime spree. It was never a fun time when two of his criminals teamed
up, especially those who were that dangerous.
'Limp, disappears at all times, I'm beginning to think that this isn't the
first time we've met Peter Parker,'Harry thought to himself. He did not let
either Kitty or Gwen know about this. That was Peter's secret to tell people,
if he chose to. Although Harry did have a sense that Gwen knew, and was also
hiding it from other people.
The problem with Harry was that he was able to pick up little details that most
people would have missed, and had noticed pretty much anything. There were
little hints in the body language of people. Harry had thought about what he
wanted to do, but suddenly, he turned around and could have sworn that he heard
something.
Harry stopped and looked around; then again the city of New York would have
many people lurking around. So being paranoid about one sound would not do him
any good. Kitty's expression moved towards Harry, questioning him. Harry
decided to enlighten her a bit on what he was thinking.
"I think we better stick around for a little bit," Harry told Kitty, and Kitty
once again looked at him with a quizzical look. "The mighty hunter might still
be lurking around."
Kitty opened her mouth to protest, but Harry kissed her, both to silence her,
and under the pretext of letting anyone watching get lured into a false sense
of security. Not that this was a bad tactic, and Kitty enjoyed the kiss, as
long as it lasted.
"We'll just stick around, and everything will be okay," Harry said. He looked
at Gwen and Peter. "Do you mind if the two of us tag along with you for a
little bit, while you're going that way?"
It was not a problem at all for either Gwen or Peter. Kitty had no reservations
about it. Now that Harry had mentioned something, she kind of half sensed a
presence. This was one of those times where it would be useful to have Logan
around. Kitty shook her head at that, the last thing she wanted was him
chaperoning her date.
Kitty and Harry walked, trying to act natural, and have some semblance of a
good time. Both hoped that Harry was being over careful.
===============================================================================
The only and greatest rule of the jungle was that survival of the fittest had
occurred. A hunter learned more from a failed hunt, than from any perfect one,
but the hunt was not truly over until one party was dead. Kraven the Hunter
cracked his knuckles, and proceeded to pick up the trail of Spider-Man. He had
doused the web slinger with a special powder during the battle that would allow
him to track his greatest prey.
The fact he got blown off of the roof by this mysterious sorcerer was most
annoying, but the true hunter adapted and learned from those mistakes. Kraven's
keen senses had allowed him to brave most of the fall. The bumps and the
bruises had been mild compared to his hunt against the wildest game of them
all. Some of the species were among the deadliest in the land, yet Kraven had
brought them to his knees.
"You grow closer, Spider-Man," Kraven remarked to himself. A toothy grin spread
over his face, and the hunter was ready to jump into battle. Soon, the battle
would commence, and Kraven would be able to land himself the biggest prize.
The only game Kraven played was to hunt big game. He heard a few traces of
conversation. There were those who had misunderstood that there was nothing
personal with his hunt with Spider-Man. At least not at the moment, it was
merely a sport which he craved. In some ways, he did respect Spider-Man, and
that respect was what drove him deeper and deeper into the hunt. The respect
would make his ultimate triumph that much better.
Kraven could also sense the one who blasted him off of the roof was near. That
was a potential annoyance, but Kraven braced himself. He mentally reprimanded
himself for being caught off guard in such a careless manner. Had Kraven not
had the ability to jump at that time, it would have been his demise. That one
bit of carelessness was something that could shift the balance between life and
death in the jungle.
"Yes, Spider, your scent, I can smell you, and those who will hope to shield
you for your inevitable fate," Kraven remarked in a low growl. His teeth
gritted.
He pulled out a pair of binoculars, and continued to scope out the scene. With
each passing instance, the mighty hunter grew closer to his pretty. Thus, it
would be closer to his triumph. Those around him were ignorant that they were
being watched. Kraven picked his spots wisely, and prepared his tranquilizer
darts. If he needed to take out an obstacle, a long range attack would be best.
Against Spider-Man, Kraven preferred the glory of hand to hand comeback. It got
his heart pumping, blood racing, and allowed himself the full joy of the hunt.
Ever since his childhood, Kraven hunted. His father had put him outside to fend
for himself and that was how he ate. In the village he lived in, if one did not
hunt, one could not eat. And if one could not eat, than one would not survive.
Kraven had saved up an immense amount of money, and thus no longer needed to
hunt to eat. He hunted for the thrill of the hunt, and the sport it offered.
The deadlier the game, the better, and the more satisfying the actual capture
had been. Kraven showed no mercy on who he hunted, for these beasts would show
no mercy against him.
He envisioned taking out Spider-Man, and stuffing his body, before mounting it
on his wall as a trophy. Once that was done, Kraven had no idea what other
challenges he would have, for this was the ultimate hunt.
The hunter vowed not to get ahead of himself. Until the moment he captured
Spider-Man, and the last breath left his body, the hunt was still on. Kraven
sat, like a cat ready to pounce, and prepared for the final stages of the hunt.
The first step was to divide and conquer.
To Be Continued in Web Slinger Part Two. 
***** Web Slinger Part Two *****
Chapter 13: Web Slinger Part Two.
Harry stood outside, and took a long look around. So far so good, at least from
what he saw. Perhaps his paranoid suspicion was off the mark, perhaps there was
no threat. He had burned up about an hour just hanging around. Yet, Harry
needed to be completely sure that there was nothing around. He turned to Kitty,
with a smile.
"It's been great hanging around with you guys, really it has," Harry said, with
an honest expression on his face and Peter and Gwen nodded.
"Yeah, it was nice meeting you for the first time," Peter replied, trying to be
rather polite.
"We should really do this again sometime, if you're ever in the neighborhood,"
Gwen answered, looking at them with an honest smile. It was oddly refreshing
not to get attacked by Doom Bots, or whatever when they were out.
"So, if it's alright with you, we'll be heading on to enjoy the last few
minutes before we have to head back," Harry told Kitty, offering her an
encouraging squeeze of her hand.
Kitty nodded, even though she had a shrewd suspicion that Harry might be trying
to lure out whatever he had seen earlier. The brunette mutant locked arms with
Harry, and they waved goodbye to Peter and Gwen. Suddenly, there was a buzzing
in the air that had caused Harry to be on his toes, and look straight up into
the sky.
That was not the only thing that was buzzing. When there was danger nearby,
Peter had an early warning. The problem was being warned about the danger was
not nearly as good enough compared to what the danger was. However, it was
something useful, and Peter had dubbed it his spider sense.
Peter stood on his toes, with his spider sense going wild. A rocket shot
through the air, immediately impacting the ground, and the civilians scattered.
He could see Harry stand rigid, with his eyes on Peter. Peter found this to be
rather annoying, given the fact that he could not change into Spider-Man.
Harry wished Peter would just run off already, and some of the people would go
with him, so it would be a lot easier. He tried to scan for someone, and a
dagger flew through the air. With expert reflexes, Harry diverted it harmlessly
away from any targets. The hunter was spotted high above the roof tops, and
continued to stalk his prey. Everything was becoming rather tense, and the
entire situation was hard to deal with, given the fact that there were still
witnesses.
Gwen spotted Kraven out of the corner of her eyes, stalking in the shadows.
"Alright, the game is up, one of your cowards is Spider-Man, I can smell you,
and I can track you!"
Gwen had to take drastic action, to get Peter some time to change. So she
reached over, and pulled the fire alarm, to lead to the necessary distraction.
Funnily enough, the crazed hunter throwing daggers and explosives was not
enough to get everyone packing. The fire alarm on the other hand, got everyone
running quick enough. Harry had slipped by, and Kitty with him. Peter had moved
to the other direction.
Kraven stepped forward, ready for the attack. His voice was menacing, as was
his stance. "I know you're here Spider-Man, I have tracked you."
Spider-Man knocked the much larger hunter down from behind. Kraven landed on
his hand, and skillfully landed on his feet. He pulled out two discs and threw
them at Spider-Man. His reflexes dodged the attacks.
"Yes, yes, this is the ultimate thrill," Kraven declared, his eyes glassed over
with pleasure when he continued to stalk his prey. "You are the ultimate prey,
Spider-Man, it's such a shame that we have to reach a climax tonight. You will
be stuffed and mounted on my wall."
Spider-Man continued to dodge the attacks from Kraven.
"Um, that's just sick and wrong on so many levels," Spider-Man added, and he
tried to ensnare Kraven with his webbing. His webbing latched onto the soda
machine, and Spider-Man gave it a tug. Kraven dodged the flying machine, and
rolled around on the ground, before throwing daggers. Spider-Man dodged them
immediately. "Seriously, do you think you need to get a room before you act out
these sick fantasies?"
While the mighty hunter had been fighting Spider-Man, Harry was ready. He had
disabled the security cameras. All of the civilians had been evacuated from the
premises, and were safely out. Spider-Man and Kraven continued to fight.
Shadowcat and Arcane exchanged an expression with each other.
"Standard attack ploy, distract him from the front, while I get him from the
back," Arcane told her, eyes focused with a determined expression in them.
"Gotcha," Shadowcat said, and she tucked her head, before doing a roll.
Kraven knocked Spider-Man down to the ground. The web slinger crashed with a
thud, and Kraven stood above him, twirling his spear in his hand. He moved in
for the kill. Before Kraven could plunge down onto Spider-Man's chest,
Shadowcat stood in front of him, arms folded with a determined expression
crossed over her face.
"Get out of my way, little one," Kraven growled, not in the mood for games.
"Why don't you make me?" Shadowcat challenged. "Unless you don't think you can
beat one teenage girl."
Kraven just laughed. "Please, teenage girls are the least intimidating of
beasts."
"You've obviously never been at a mall then, have you?" Shadowcat asked,
rolling her eyes at the hunter.
Kraven was not about to be baited by one little girl.
"I'll say this one last time, get out of the way, before I move you out,"
Kraven growled.
Shadowcat stood tall and proud, and saw Arcane move into position. Kraven
rushed forward, to try and ram a spear into her. At the precise moment,
Shadowcat went intangible, and dropped through the ground. Kraven's eyes
widened, and he was knocked from behind, tripped up. His balance, normally
precise, had caused him to fall forward, and land on his spear.
The spear of which impaled him, straight into his heart. Kraven rolled over,
and blood gushed from his chest. Everyone could not believe what had happened.
Spider-Man was numb in shock. Gwen stepped forward, and the web slinger seemed
to be unable to articulate anything. She opened her mouth, but Spider-Man got
there first.
"You…you…just killed him!" Spider-Man said, barely able to string together a
coherent sentence.
"Last I checked, he impaled himself on his own spear," Arcane replied coolly.
Technically while that was true, Spider-Man was in too much of a numb shock to
really comprehend all that had happened around him.
"Arcane just did save your life, you know," Shadowcat answered, and she winced
at all of the blood. That was a messy way to go, especially impaled on one's
own spear. Arcane placed an arm around her, and looked into her bright eyes.
"Are you okay?" Arcane asked her.
"Piece of cake," Shadowcat replied, but the sirens had indicated the arrival of
New York's finest.
Arcane stood to look at Spider-Man, who was partially rattled form the battle,
and completely rattled by the fact that he just saw someone kill one of his
enemies. There was a conflict of emotions running through the web slingers head
at this point in time.
===============================================================================
Captain George Stacy walked onto the latest crime scene. After twenty years of
distinguished service, there was really nothing that surprised him anymore. One
could tell when the cops on the force were rookies. They were among those who
had been a bit squeamish and unable to handle the insanity that came with the
territory.
"There was this hunter, and he was screaming for Spider-Man."
'I should have known,'Captain Stacy thought, and he fixed his face into a stoic
and businesslike expression.
The truth was that Captain Stacy was following the exploits of Spider-Man,
along with the rest of the world, ever since he came onto the scene nearly a
year ago. Some had accused Spider-Man being a threat and a menace. Many accused
Spider-Man of being the cause to the growth of super powered criminals. Captain
Stacy took a different tact to the matter.
He felt that many of these people would be committing crimes, regardless of
whether or not Spider-Man existed. A few of them had been on the scene, and
perhaps many of them would still be on the streets, racking up the casualties
and the body count would be more than the NYPD could handle. Stacy thought that
Spider-Man was something that the city needed, even though as long as that mask
was on, people would wonder about him.
He also understood the necessity of wearing the mask. Everyone had loved ones
and Spider-Man was no exception. All of the dangerous enemies who went after
Spider-Man, would go after his loved ones with extreme prejudice.
Captain Stacy had been greeted to quite the grisly scene. Spider-Man stood
there in numb shock, and Kraven was down on the ground, dead with a nasty wound
in his chest. There were two other people standing there that Captain Stacy did
not recognize. Being the no-nonsense man he was, he decided to get the answers
he needed.
"Would anyone explain what is going on?" Captain Stacy asked in a crisp and
calm voice.
It was Gwen who had piped up, looking at her father, with pure conviction in
her eyes when she spoke. "It was Kraven, Dad. He attacked Spider-Man, and tried
to attack me and…Arcane and Shadowcat here."
Gwen pointed out the two heroes in mind, who stood there, with unreadable
expressions on their faces. Captain Stacy saw that the girl looked a bit more
scared than the boy, who seemed to be the type where nothing could really faze
him.
"Arcane and Shadowcat?" Captain Stacy asked, raising an eyebrow when he looked
at them. He just mentally filed that away, there were two more super powered
heroes, add them to the growing number. New York did seem to be overflowing
with both super powered heroes and villains. "Continue, Gwen."
"He tried to attack Shadowcat with his spear," Gwen continued, trying to remain
clam, and Spider-Man slumped against the wall, nodding. "Arcane had to defend
her, and one thing lead to another, and Kraven tripped, and got impaled with
his own spear."
Captain Stacy saw this Arcane having his arm around Shadowcat's waist, and held
her tight to him.
"It was an accident then?" Captain Stacy answered in a cool voice, trying to
get the facts of the situation.
"Yes, it was an accident, self-defense," Gwen said firmly.
Arcane really agreed that it was an accident. He was intending to take care of
Kraven, but not that messily. Something clean and painful, to compensate for
the fact that he put innocent people in danger.
There was a moment where Captain Stacy looked over the scene. There was no
clear evidence that Arcane had acted in pre-meditation. He understood as a
veteran police officer that there were times where deaths happened in the heat
of the moment. Sometimes, when protecting others, people could not think of a
way to bring in the prep alive. While this was not technically that situation,
he looked down at Kraven, and then looked at the group.
"I know this must be a shock, but there was nothing that you could have done,
given the circumstances," Captain Stacy replied. The veteran cop had his eyes
on both Shadowcat and Arcane. "I would tell you to endeavor to keep more
careful in the future."
Arcane and Shadowcat both nodded. Captain Stacy walked away to check out the
crime scene with his officers. Arcane and Shadowcat stepped forward.
'I better go talk to him,'Harry thought, when he looked at Spider-Man.
Spider-Man stood in the background; he still could hardly believe what
happened.
"For the record, I didn't mean for it to happen like that," Harry told him.
Spider-Man's head snapped around, and he looked at Harry. There was a moment
before he found his voice.
"You really can't just go around and killing everyone, he would have been
captured by the police…"
"For how long?" Harry asked, and Spider-Man just stopped.
Spider-Man really had no answer to that one.
"It'd make us as bad as them," Spider-Man said, and everything he stood for was
shaken to the core. "We have great power, and with great power there must also
come great responsibility"
"That's a nice sentiment, but great responsibility could be exercised in a
number of ways," Harry replied in a crisp manner, and Spider-Man stood rigid.
"What if one of your costumed enemies breaks free, and in their attempt to kill
you, kills a group of school children?"
Spider-Man winced at that thought and honestly, that was a fear that he had.
Yet, he had to do things the right way.
"They could still be rehabilitated," Spider-man argued.
"Some still could, but others are beyond hope," Arcane replied, not really
paying much attention to what Spider-Man said. "You must ask yourself after
about the third or fourth go around with some of these people, if they are
really worth trying to save, or if you're just sacrificing the needs of many to
protect a few."
Spider-Man looked at Arcane, trying to reconcile what he said.
"I would prefer that we didn't have to kill anyone," Shadowcat replied, her
expression gentle and her voice calm. She would really have preferred that she
did not get blood on her hands. Sometimes, it was sadly necessary. Especially
when the situation was either kill or be killed.
Logan had a long talk with all of them, telling that while killing was not
something that he preferred, there were sometimes where it was unavoidable, and
only they could know when it was necessary. Xavier seemed to want peace, but
Logan had tried to give them a nasty dose of reality, that sometimes peace was
not an option and there was a need for blood on their hands. It should be
avoided if possible, but at times it was impossible.
"Kraven would have broken free, and attacked you, maybe even hurting innocents
in the process," Arcane explained, his gaze fixed and determined on Spider-Man.
Spider-Man nodded grimly.
'He's right…but why does it have to feel so wrong that he's right?'Spider-Man
thought to himself.
"Um, yeah, I don't…see you around, I guess."
Spider-Man spun around, and took the buildings, swinging off.
"You didn't really want to do that, did you?" Shadowcat asked.
"If a person really wants to kill and gets pleasure out of it, then they have
something wrong with them," Arcane told her. "If a person avoids killing beyond
all reason, then there might be something wrong with them too. When someone
admits that it's necessary, and not relish it, that's the most balanced at
all."
That was Harry's story, and he was sticking to it. Any plans of a happy evening
had been ruined, and they were about to head home. Hopefully they would try
again at another time.
===============================================================================
Despite the night that was, Harry and Kitty found themselves returning to the
Xavier Institute, in rather good spirits, or at least as good spirits as they
could be given the situation. The two had their arms interlocked, when they
walked up the drive, and smiles were on their face. The moon was out tonight,
and there was a slight winter chill in the air. Harry offered Kitty a warming
spell, and the girl was rather pleased with this turn of events.
"You know, call me crazy, but that was fun," Kitty told Harry, a grin on her
face.
Harry fired back with a smile, and tightened his grip around her waist. "You
know, I'm sure no one would call you crazy, at least to your face."
"But you can't deny that you haven't thought about it," Kitty answered, and the
two stood next to each other, bright smiles on their face. Harry just smiled
back at her.
"Wouldn't you like to know?" Harry asked to Kitty, and he playfully nudged her.
"Actually, I thought that despite everything, it was a fairly decent night. No
innocent people died."
"That's always a good thing," Kitty answered to him, and the two took a step
forward towards the front door of the Xavier Institute. Harry reached forward,
and the door opened with a click. Kitty smiled, and walked in. "Good in bed,
and a gentleman, what did I do to deserve you?"
"I think I have other qualities that balance out, the entire finding trouble no
matter where it goes thing is one of them."
"I don't think you find trouble just as much as it seems to stalk you around
every single corner," Kitty argued, and she stood on her tip toes, and brushed
her lips against Harry's for a light kiss. She pulled back. "Maybe you should
get a restraining order on it."
Harry laughed at the joke, and the two of them entered inside. They spotted
Logan sitting in the chair, and his eyes were on the both of them. Harry
wondered if this was a good thing, or a bad thing.
"I guess you two couldn't stay out of trouble for one night, could you?" Logan
asked, looking at them.
"Given some of the things that you get up to, I don't think you have any room
to talk," Kitty replied, not really in the mood to deal with a reprimand right
now.
Logan would have to agree.
"Not criticizing, just making a point. Your little escapades made the news, and
I see you've run into the web head. I've met him before, once. Kid won't shut
his yap, but he has a good heart, and he won't ever give up."
Harry and Kitty both nodded, but they remained careful. Every single step they
took inside, and they heard the wheeling of a wheelchair before them. Professor
Xavier arrived, and Jean and Scott stood by him.
"For a normal night out, it seems like you two had a lot of excitement," Scott
said, trying to keep his voice even and neutral. "Although I do wonder if it
was such a good idea for you to get involved."
"People noticed Shadowcat and Arcane, but they couldn't tie it back to us,"
Harry answered, having a sinking feeling where this conversation was going to
go.
Jean was the next one who stepped in. "We're not blaming you, either of you.
It's just that there's a certain temptation to use your powers, and it can get
harder."
"I do hope from here on out, both of you will be more careful," Xavier replied.
"No one got hurt," Harry persisted.
Xavier had sensed some thoughts from Harry, and did suspect that the harsher
life had hardened his approach to many people. "Sergei Kravinoff's death might
have been no accident, and if it was an accident, then I will have to ask you
to be careful."
"Crazed hunter with a spear, who tries to attack people so he can stuff them as
trophies is not something I'm going to play nice with," Harry answered, his
eyes flickering in warning. If people's lives were in danger, then Harry vowed
to take corrective action. "We're thrown in that Danger Room every single day,
and for what?"
"I understand that it is hard to look the other way…"
"No, it's not hard to look the other way," Kitty replied quietly. "It is the
easiest thing in the world to do."
Jean decided to best pacify the situation, and the somewhat bitter thoughts
that were coming off gave her a headache. "Why don't we all just calm down, and
take five."
"That's a good idea actually," Xavier replied, deciding that emotions ran too
high to get any logic done. "With the adrenaline pumping after the battle, and
the shock of hearing what happened, none of us are in sound mind to discuss
what has occurred. Do remember that the aim is to train up your powers so that
you can use them for good, and use them safely."
Harry just nodded, and Kitty placed her hand on his. The two of them thought
they were doing that. Again, Kraven was not supposed to die that messily, but
Harry was going to take any situation where everyone got out in one piece to be
one where he considered it to be a victory.
"I believe all of us can learn much from what has transpired tonight," Xavier
added.
Harry would have to agree, everyone could learn something from any battle. That
was one thing that he had tried to take to heart. Granted, there was always a
chance that a lesson could be learned, and it was the wrong lesson. Logan
stood, and watched them.
"I ain't blamin' either of you for what happened," Logan told both of them.
"It's battle out there, and someone like Kraven, well never met the guy, but I
heard enough about him to know he's nuts. He would have taken both of you out,
like you were nothing."
Harry recalled that Kraven had tried to drill a spear into Kitty, so really
anyone who attacked his girlfriend was going to be high on his list of people
that he would not sympathize with their deaths.
"Let's see what the news is saying about us," Kitty replied in a bright voice.
"I'm not sure if I want to know," Harry replied.
"It would so totally be fun," Kitty added to him.
"No, it so totally wouldn't," Harry replied to her dully.
Kitty opened her mouth to protest, but Harry caught her open mouth with a kiss.
Rogue walked out at that moment.
"You two could get a room," Rogue said, shaking her head, in a half of daze.
"Well the only available one would be with you in it," Kitty fired back.
Rogue shook her head, and walked down the hallway to use the bathroom. The
truth was that she was now thinking about Harry pinning her against that wall,
and having his way with her.
Why did not being able to touch anyone make sexual fantasies so vivid?
"Remember our conversation from earlier, Harry," Kitty told him.
Harry was immediately alert, and Kitty looked at him.
"Are you thinking what I think you're thinking about?"
"Maybe," Kitty told him in a mischievous voice.
Harry placed a hand on her waist, and Logan walked by, just turning away. As
long as Harry treated her right, and it did not interfere with their training,
Logan found himself uncaring about the romantic drama. He knew better than
anyone else about how annoying it was for someone to stick their nose in
someone else's relationship.
Plus he had better things to do with his time than worry about who was dating
who.
===============================================================================
Obsession was a virtue that had driven the greatest of all men. It did not
matter what walk of life they stood in. Some people would be obsessed to obtain
any amount of greatness. Among those who could get the most obsessive would be
athletes, scientists, businessmen, and writers. This was a few of the people
who had obtained this level of obsession. On the streets and in many fields
there were people who had dove directly into this obsession.
One such man was Norman Osborn, and another such man was Otto Octavius. A
scientist, and a businessman, and very different in many ways, but they were
driven by one thing and one thing only. That was their mutual obsession, an
element that drove the both of them. Norman Osborn had tried to puzzle together
one key question, and that was, who was Spider-Man?
Osborn had many things that had driven him, and had demanded his time.
Everything in his life kept coming back to that one single moment of time,
where Spider-Man had gone the scene. It could only come from his research, and
if he could prove that, then he would be able to keep Oscorp in his hands where
it belonged.
There was one other burning question that had entered his mind, based on
revenge events. The beady little eyes of the New York businessman looked at the
screen, and there was a huge question that also echoed out. This only very
nearly snuffed out the question of who is Spider-Man, and that was, who was
Arcane?
One grainy image was in front of Osborn's face, and he had seen a flash of
something. Was he some government experiment who had escaped? Was he some
traveler from a long distant planet, or just something else entirely?
Many people feared the unknown, and Osborn could see it in front of his eyes,
the biggest unknown of them all. SHIELD would likely have wanted a piece of
him, every single government in the world, and every single business would have
seen this Arcane as a potential resource. The strange energy disturbance and
the arrival of the mysterious stranger was also not lost on Norman Osborn.
'Those who wait can find their opportunity,'Osborn mused to himself, and he
continued to look at the one grainy photograph.
Behind him, bubbled several containers of a green fluid. This formula was a
performance enhancer that would increase the stamina, strength, and durability
of anyone who had been doused in it. It was unfortunate that Osborn lacked
enough test subjects for it. The formula would not be able to be picked up on
any standardized drug tests, which made it a perfect source of revenue for
professional athletes.
"The fool doesn't understand what he's doing,' Otto murmured to himself, eyes
fixed on what was in front of him.
He twisted a few knobs, and had found one little bit of DNA. It was a hair, but
it was better than nothing. He analyzed everything, while Osborn had gone on
one of his latest flights of fancy. There would come a time where Otto would
unlock the secrets of the universe. He continued to keep up the
experimentations.
While others waited, and chased spiders, Otto was prepared to unlock the
genetic curiosities that had eluded men for quite some time. At least that was
what his intention was.
His equipment had a short circuit, and everything had failed. For many, this
would be frustration, but for Otto this represented something else. This
represented something that would be considered opportunity. This opportunity
would be his key to scientific potential, and a twisted grin spread across the
scientist's face when he had thought about what could be done.
First he had to unlock the secrets of that DNA, and that was where he hit a
snag.
"Inconclusive," Otto whispered to himself.
This little reading did not deter him. In fact, it caused him to be even more
curious about the secrets locked in this one strand of hair. Osborn continued
his obsessions, and walked by to check the progress of his precious formula.
The formula had power, but the potential within this one being, this Arcane
could be more powerful.
Yet there were more like him, Otto had heard rumors, and whispers about a
higher evolution of people. He found it well worth his while to keep up with
his studies, and ensure that he unlocked everything.
Power would be in his hands, and the scientist knew that something like this
would take months to barely scratch the surface. Working for a control freak
like Osborn had taught Otto many virtues, one of them would be patience. Once
he had uncovered these secrets, it would be Osborn who would grovel before him.
The very thought sent a sinister smile to the face of the scientist, and he
continued to plug away at his experiments. Information was at the tips of his
fingers, and it would be his to digest when the time was right.
As for Spider-Man, well Otto would prove his worth by capturing him. He would
prove his value to Osborn. All Otto needed was some help, a few bad men so to
speak.
Six did seem like a perfect number for some reason.
Plans formed in the mind of the demented scientist, using his robotic arms to
allow him to do his work four times as quickly.
Obsession was a most powerful motivator, and that was what drove this
scientist.
===============================================================================
Rogue pulled herself from her room, and stood at the edge of the hallway. The
fact of the matter was she had no idea how late it was, although she had a good
taste of what happened. She saw Kitty and Harry make their way towards Harry's
room. Rogue took a step forward, and looked at the two of them.
"So, did you two have a nice date?" Rogue asked them, for lack of anything
better to say. Her eyes fixed on both of them.
Kitty snickered, and looked at Rogue. "Yeah, it was very eventful. A bit of it
might have hit the news."
"Oh, did it?" Rogue inquired, and Kitty responded with a crisp nod. Rogue
placed a hand on the hair and ran her hand over it. It took a moment, before
Rogue had decided to look at her. "So, aren't you going to give me a hint?"
"Well, let's just say we ran into Spider-Man, and bailed him out of trouble,"
Kitty told Rogue, and Rogue looked at her, as if inviting her to give more
information. "And it was so totally awesome."
"I'm sure it was," Rogue answered barely suppressing a smile.
"Seems like you missed out on something, by not joining us, Rogue," Harry told
the girl, a slight smile appearing on his face.
Rogue just fired back at this moment. "Well, I might have just weighed the two
of you down. Although are you going to try and outing where you don't run into
any trouble?"
"It's hard not to run into trouble, when it keeps following me," Kitty answered
at that moment, and she nudged Harry, with a smile spreading his face. "It
doesn't matter; it's some good practical training. Really makes us think on our
feet, and it really makes the Danger Room training worth it in a way."
Rogue pondered, and would have to agree with that. The fact of the matter was
that there were many times where she did hope for a more practical application
of the training done in the Danger Room. She took a deep breath, and proceeded
to cross her arms. On Harry's advice, she worked on her reflexes, and dodging,
along with using her opponent's momentum against them. While her powers could
potentially be useful if harnessed, Rogue felt a desire to not use them, as it
left echoes of her "victims" in her head
"And we need to talk about something, the three of us," Kitty chimed in, and
Rogue just looked at Harry. "I can see you looking at Harry all of the time,
Rogue."
Harry did notice that as well, even if he was not about to bring it up.
Besides, he was in a relationship with Kitty, and did not really offer any hope
that it would expand beyond that, until the moment where Kitty had hinted that
she would be open to experimentation. Rogue just took a step back, and put her
hands up.
"Kitty, I wasn't…you're just imagining things," Rogue responded, her voice
completely reeking of someone who had gotten defensive. Kitty just smiled, and
shook her head. Rogue was taking things the wrong way, and she took a step
forward, a smile crossing her face.
"I'm not mad, it was just an observation I made," Kitty told Rogue, a smile
crossing her face. "And Harry is the only person who could touch you, without
any complications. Wouldn't you like to see how far that would go?"
Rogue just shook her head; this had to be a joke. Kitty just smiled.
"Rogue, we're all friends here, aren't we?" Kitty asked, and an innocent
expression flicked through the brunette's eyes
"Yeah, we're friends," Rogue agreed, blinking her eyes. There was no doubt in
her mind that they were friends.
"So, why don't we try something daring?" Kitty asked her, and Rogue leaned
forward, completely curious about Kitty's proposition, even if it was morbidly
so. "The two of us, we both like Harry, and I think it's safe to say that Harry
likes both of us."
"What are you trying to say?" Rogue asked, before Harry could even say one
word.
"Well, we could try some kind of arrangement," Kitty said to Rogue, and Rogue
crossed her arms, thinking.
She really did ponder this matter, nice and long, carefully and hard. The fact
of the matter was she was intrigued, but at the same time a bit suspicious.
Harry reached forward, and grabbed Rogue's hand.
"Rogue, if you want to do this, it's fine, but just think about the
possibilities it would offer," Harry told her, a smile crossing his face, and
Harry was nearly up towards her.
'Oh my God, is he going to kiss me?'Rogue thought, but Harry stepped back at
that moment.
Rogue took a step forward, froze a little bit. She took a deep breath, heart
fluttering and eyes blinking.
"This is a big thing to get into, and what will people say?" Rogue asked.
Kitty was the one who chimed in with an absolutely logical statement. "When
this entire mutant thing gets out, I don't think people are going to be too
concerned about some guy being involved in a relationship with two girls or
more."
"Or more?" Rogue asked, and she blinked.
"Hey, you never know," Kitty answered, shrugging her shoulders, and she stepped
forward. Harry stood on the other side of Rogue.
"Yeah, the two of you, you're extremely pretty, and any guy would be lucky to
have you," Harry replied.
Rogue just looked at her, and Harry placed a hand on her hair.
"Can….can I think about it a little bit?" Rogue asked, and Harry and Kitty
nodded.
"Take all of the time you need, we'll be ready," Harry replied to her, and he
pulled Rogue into a hug. Rogue stiffened, and felt Harry's body against hers.
This was more contact that she was used to having, and the girl's skin felt
like it was burning for even more. Rogue turned around in a daze. She wanted to
be sure this was something that she wanted because it was wanted, and not out
of desperation. Harry turned to Kitty, and Kitty grabbed Harry by the jacket,
before backing him off.
"She's about in, I think," Kitty replied, and Harry just blinked, looking at
her. "You can't tell me that you never thought about this."
"I thought about it, but I never thought it would happen," Harry admitted, with
a playful smile, and Kitty was steered onto his bed. The contraceptive charms
were second nature, and Harry applied them immediately to Kitty.
Kitty felt the tell-tale sign of the shivers down her spine, and pulled Harry
into her. Harry pinned her down on the bed, and kissed her. Kitty returned the
kiss, working her tongue. Harry pulled her hair down, and Kitty ran her hands
all over Harry's body. The two continued their kissing, before Kitty nudged
Harry. Harry pulled himself up, looking at the brunette girl beneath him, and a
smile spread across his face.
"So, do you know any binding spells?" Kitty asked, mischief dancing in her
eyes. "You know spells that can be used to tie people up."
Harry immediately got Kitty's meaning. A shifty grin spread across his face,
and he answered with, "A few"
Kitty immediately got excited, and Harry pushed her back on the bed. The
brunette's legs wrapped around Harry, and Kitty stopped, unable to phase.
"It's a charm I found that stops your powers," Harry replied, and Kitty
responded with a grin.
"Well, I guess I'm at your mercy," Kitty told him, and with those words, a grin
spread over her face, and she was excited about what was going to happen.
Harry ran his fingers through her hair, and the fun was just going to begin.
Smut/Lemon Begins.
Harry and Kitty wrapped their arms around each other. His hands felt underneath
her clothes, and Harry stroked her exposed flesh on her back. Kitty swung over,
straddling Harry's lap, and Harry cupped his hands around her cute rear. She
sighed deeply, feeling the bliss, when Harry continued to kiss her.
Kitty grinded her crotch up and down against Harry's, and Harry tilted her back
on the bed. Harry touched her body, and stroked her hair, before kissing her.
Kitty sighed immediately, and Harry stroked her neck, pressing his lips to the
side of it.
"Oh, Harry," Kitty breathed heavily, and she felt Harry's mouth working over
her neck. He was sucking on it, and it felt so good. He had a magical mouth,
for lack of a better term.
Harry pulled her up, and slowly pulled her shirt off of her body. He took a
good look at her upper body, and continued to run his hands over her. Kitty
pulled Harry's shirt over his head, and caused his hair to get messy. Kitty ran
her hands over Harry's chest and abs, and appreciated the feel of the muscles
underneath her hands. Harry appreciated the motions of Kitty, tracing around
his abs, and chest.
Harry reached around and removed her bra. Kitty's breasts stood perky, and
Harry pressed a mouth to her right tit. Harry sucked on it, and Kitty was
pushed back onto the bed. She arched her hips up, and Harry pulled her skirt
down. Harry kissed down her body, as Kitty rested on the bed, with a soaking
pair of black panties.
Reaching over, Harry skimmed the edge of her panties, which were damp. A smile
crossed his face as he looked at Kitty. "You're so wet."
"Yeah, you did that to me, with all of the teasing," Kitty retorted, and Kitty
immediately spun around.
Harry groaned, as Kitty squeezed his balls tightly in her small hand. She ran
her hand up the shaft, and flicked her little tongue over the head.
"Feels good, suck my cock, Kitty," Harry ordered.
Kitty obliged him, and slowly shoved Harry's cock into her mouth. It felt good,
it tasted good. Harry grabbed her hair, and pumped his cock into her little
mouth. Kitty enveloped it tightly around her mouth, and Harry pushed into her.
She hummed, and managed to experiment, using her tongue and mouth to stimulate
Harry.
Harry thought that there was no better feeling. It felt great to have her suck
his cock. Kitty played with his balls, causing pleasure to course through his
body. Harry spotted Kitty stroking her pussy, and the cock was pulled out of
Kitty's mouth.
Kitty was pushed down onto the bed. Harry used his thumb, and rubbed her clit
in circular motions. Kitty moaned, and felt good.
"Like that, like me to keep doing that," Harry whispered , blowing on her
pussy, which got Kitty excited, and he began to suck on her clit. Kitty nearly
lost it, and she felt the juices roll down her thighs.
"Yeah, that feels so good," Kitty moaned, and Harry switched.
Harry tasted the sweet juices between her legs. His tongue licked her out, and
Harry offered a few slight hints of a hiss. It was a hiss done every about
thirty seconds, as he licked Kitty's pussy. Kitty bucked her hips up, offering
Harry.
"Harry, use that Parseltongue on me, please," Kitty begged. She needed this,
and wanted this.
Harry obliged her, and his tongue rattled on the inside of her pussy. Kitty's
eyes glazed over, looking heavily lidded, and she began to breath heavily.
Harry licked out her pussy, and Kitty grabbed Harry's hair, to encourage him to
go down on her, deeper, and deeper.
Kitty's pussy convulsed around him, and her body deflated in pleasure. The next
thing she knew, once she had come down from her orgasm, she was flipped over
onto her front. Kitty's hands, and feet had been bound, and her rear and pussy
had been presented to Harry. Harry hovered above her, placing his hands on her
hips.
"You asked if I knew any binding charms," Harry retorted to her.
Kitty just looked over her shoulder at him, and Harry cupped her ass, and
played with her pussy as well. She needed Harry's cock inside her badly.
"Stick it in me, please, I can't take it," Kitty replied. "Please don't make me
beg for it."
Harry offered a smile to her. "You look so cute when you beg."
Kitty bit her lip in frustration, and gave a surprised yelp when Harry smacked
her ass. He was getting daring, and Kitty loved it. Harry alternated between
playing with her breasts, ass, and pussy, offering her pleasure, teasing her
and riling it up. Kitty felt herself burn in desire.
"I'm going to fuck you from behind," Harry whispered in her ear.
Kitty felt herself clench, and Harry grabbed her hair. She closed her eye, and
Harry stuck his cock inside her from behind. He slid into her pussy with
practiced ease, and Kitty felt pleasure. Harry impaled himself in and out of
her tight core, and hammered into her. He felt her pussy hug his cock, her
walls squeezed him in a magnificent way.
"Such a tight pussy," Harry breathed.
"Tight for you," Kitty told him, and Harry pounded into her. "Yes, that's it
Harry, fuck me hard."
"Oh, I'll fuck you hard alright," Harry said, and he sped up, banging into
Kitty from behind.
Kitty clutched the bed sheets. Harry continued to go into her pussy from
behind. Her eyes flickered shut, and she moaned. Harry made her feel so good,
and his balls slapped against her thighs. The large cock inside her, almost
splitting her in half, made her body feel absolute pleasure. Girls would line
up, and pay admission if they knew what Harry had, and he would only be getting
better.
Harry enjoyed having her wetness hug him, and he drove her to several mind
blowing orgasms. His balls throbbed with the desire. He pushed into her.
"I'm going to fuck you so hard," Harry whispered to her.
"Keep doing it," Kitty managed.
Harry pounded into her from behind, and Harry just reached around, playing with
her breasts, and rubbing his fingers across her nipples. They were really
sensitive and responsive, and Harry felt more pleasure when he pounded into
her.
The fucking continued throughout the hour, and Kitty tried to use her pussy
muscles to squeeze him.
"Are you getting tired already?" Harry asked her.
"So, am not, " Kitty managed, and Harry continued to speed up, pleasuring her
pussy with his cock.
"You're going to have a big one, and then, I'm going to have the big one,"
Harry replied, and Kitty's breathing got more and more.
Kitty thought it felt so good, and soon Harry would cum in her. The fact that
he was practically having his wicked way with her, as he pounded her pussy made
her gush over and over again. Kitty thought of even more possibilities, perhaps
involving straps and wall, but right now all she was really focused on is
making Harry cum.
"Give me your seed Harry," Kitty encouraged, wiggling her ass a little bit. "I
know you want to."
Harry did in fact unload his seed into Kitty. Several ropes of cum splattered
into her, and Harry continued to pump into her from behind. Kitty could not
believe Harry had so much cum in him, and for some realize, she always felt
refreshed and stronger after it. Harry unloaded into her, making sure he was
drained dry, and Kitty collapsed on the bed, absolutely content, about an hour
after they started.
Smut/Lemon Ends.
Kitty draped herself in Harry's arms after Harry had untied her, with the love
making session having concluded. The two lovers looked into each other's eyes.
"I love you, so very much," Kitty murmured, snuggling her head into his
shoulder.
Harry was taken off guard by these words, but those words flowed so naturally.
"I love you too," Harry replied, and he pulled Kitty into her, embracing her.
Kitty was visited by a naughty suggestion. "So, I wonder if the Danger Room has
any uses other than training?"
Harry just blinked, and smiled at her. If that was the case, the real danger
would be when Logan had found out what they were doing in there.
Then again, wasn't that part of the fun?
***** Unstoppable *****
Chapter 14: Unstoppable.
Harry currently sat in the domain of the sorcerer supreme for one of his
sessions with the powerful sorcerer. Strange was an able teacher, but the
Sorcerer Supreme did put his pupil through the paces. A few months ago, Harry
would have been annoyed by something like this, but a huge part of him
understood what was at stake. The Sorcerer Supreme wanted to test Harry, like
he had never been tested before, and put him through the paces.
The magic Harry learned had been advanced, and there were some spells that he
struggled with, while others he had mastered, it was an intriguing imbalance
that had confused him.
"I have observed a rather curious development with you, Harry," Strange
remarked, when Harry had nearly staggered, and almost collapsed, but at the
same time remained on his feet.
"What is this?" Harry asked, guarded and his eyes snapped up to face Strange.
The Sorcerer Supreme did often offer some cryptic commentary, but that was just
the station of an extremely powerful magic user.
Strange did not give Harry a long time to wait, and he continued to state the
theories that he had been formulating during his latest meetings with Harry
Potter.
"While I'd be loathed to call anything about the art of magic mundane, one
could argue that the necessary mechanics of magic are just that. What I find
rather peculiar is that you tend to find yourself struggling with the more
mundane parts of magic. Yet, when faced with advanced magic, you excel far
faster than anyone could hope for."
Given Harry's past, that was far from surprising. The fact of the matter was
that he noticed this in the past. The Patronus Charm was one major thing, but
the fact of the matter was that Harry just found himself bored with learning
about the basics of magic. The basics seemed to be something that many needed
to have pounded into the heads of Hogwarts students, and then by the time that
they got to the actual interesting spell work, Harry found himself rather
underwhelmed.
He just wanted to skip the pleasantries, and actually get to do magic, get to
the interesting things.
"I've experienced something like this happening before," Harry replied, and
Strange just pondered, looking at Harry, and motioned for him to continue.
"During my third year in my previous school, I mastered a charm that takes
adults much longer to master."
"Fascinating," Strange said, stroking his chin as he talked. "Gazing into your
mental layout, there seems to be an anomaly within it."
Harry sat up straight, and was about to protest that Strange had been taking a
peak into his mind, but the Sorcerer Supreme jumped straight in.
"I can assure you that I gazed no intimate memories, yet I have spotted several
threads that would give cause for alarm and lead to some inconsistences within
them."
"What kind of inconsistences?" Harry asked him, and he wondered if Strange had
noticed the same thing he head.
"I believe we both know the answer to that one, young wizard," Stranger told
Harry, and he held his amulet, before peering directly into the eyes of Harry.
"The fact is that there are certain memories that are foreign to your mind. And
have you ever found yourself in possession of skills that you do not recall
being taught?"
It slapped Harry suddenly, and his seamless ability for silent spell casting,
and magic without use of a wand had become far more obvious. It came from those
memories, and the flight came from it as well. He suspected there might be
others.
Needless to say, this was not the first time Harry had exhibited abilities for
something else, the Parseltongue ability being one of the first to pop up back
years ago.
"There are certain memories," Harry admitted, choosing his words carefully.
"Memories that I do not recall living."
"People often discuss the concept of past lives," Strange mused to Harry, and
Harry just looked at Strange, a look at deep skepticism in his eyes. "I am
uncertain whether or not this is what you may be experiencing, or if it might
be something entirely different. We could delve into the realm of the unknown."
Harry did ponder on that fact a little bit more. He had a theory, but at the
same time, thinking about something and discussing something was another matter
entirely. His great fear was that these memories could be removed from his
mind. Harry knew that whatever dark taint that had been in them had been gone,
and his head had been clearer than it was. All of the drawbacks of what
happened with Voldemort had disappeared, and Harry had gotten the full benefit
of his knowledge.
Providing of course he could make any sense of it.
"Getting your mind in order will be important in tapping into the full benefits
of your magical prowess," Strange added, and his gaze focused on Harry. He
collected his own thoughts. "I would suggest practicing meditation techniques
to help get your thoughts in order."
"In order to clear my mind, right?" Harry asked, and Strange offered Harry a
curious expression. "A teacher of mind tried to teach me a magical ability to
block intrusion. He told me to clear my mind, and then attacked it repeatedly,
forcing his way into my thoughts."
Strange paused, and thought about what was said. It was a wonder that Harry's
mind was not in further disarray than it was. He held himself back from
criticizing the methods of this teacher. He had never met the man, and it was
possible that this was the way that he learned the art. Even if it was
dangerous to learn any kind of mind blocking art in such a heavy handed way,
especially with a mind so young and potentially fragile due to the type of life
he expected life to live.
"It is a matter of collecting your thoughts together," Strange replied to
Harry. "It is much like organizing books on a shelf, and also placing false
books, to misdirect any intrusion. The mind arts is not so much clearing your
mind, but rather ensuring that it is in proper order. An untrained mind can be
dangerous for a novice in the mind arts to work with, for they could trip
themselves up. A master will be able to navigate around the obstacles."
"I see," Harry told him, slowly pondering on the matter.
"I would recommend allowing a telepath assist you, but this is merely a
recommendation and not a requirement," Strange answered, and Harry looked at
him, before nodding. "And now, it is time for one final session, before I allow
you to go today."
Harry braced himself, ready to go. The truth was that this made him appreciate
training with Logan in the Danger Room. The rest of the team was on some kind
of outdoor excursion at a camp, and was given the choice between that or hours
of weekend Danger Room training. Talk about forcing the hand.
Harry found himself on the mind scape, and saw the conjured monsters coming at
him. They were towering, and in many ways, representative of the demons in his
mind. At least that's what Strange had told him, and Harry conjured magical
weapons, to deflect them. The strength of the weapons reflected the strength of
he was developing in his own mind.
When the strength of his mind increased, so did the strength of his spells. At
least that's what Harry determined.
===============================================================================
Charles Xavier took a deep breath, given that the Institute was mostly cleared
out today, it would allow him to do some fine tuning with some of the finer
systems in the mansion, like the security system, the Danger Room, and Cerebro.
"Kids are going to be gone the entire day can actually hear myself think,"
Logan remarked, propping his elbows up, and peering forward. There was silence,
before it was broken "Guess we know that they'll brave anything, if it gets
them a day off from training."
"To be fair, we have been working all of them rather hard," Xavier remarked,
and he continued to make tweaks. "Thankfully, Cerebro is working at optimal
performance, and the security systems and the Danger Room are also working as
such."
"Yes, thankfully," Logan agreed, and suddenly he shifted with a start, when the
alarm at the mansion had gone off. He popped his claws instinctively, and took
a step forward. "And it looks like we're going to get a test run of it."
Xavier remained calm, and had punched up the security camera feeds. Outside the
Mansion, he saw two figures approach, both of them with bad intentions. One of
them was Mystique, but who she was leading right towards the Institute was
troubling. She had with her, Cain Marko, better known as the unstoppable
Juggernaut.
"I could have sworn you had him locked up," Logan remarked, and he popped his
claws, ready for a fight.
"That assumption was mine as well, but it appears as if Mystique has paroled
him rather early," Xavier remarked, and he activated the security system at the
moment.
"Something tells me that it wasn't for good behavior," Logan stated, and he
shifted himself. "And something tells me that security won't keep him out."
"No, it will merely slow him down, and hopefully impede his process, while you
get ready," Xavier told Logan, and Logan stood, understanding immediately what
he needed to do.
"On it, Chuck," Logan informed him, preparing himself for a fight, against this
unstoppable force.
Outside the Mansion, Mystique led the Juggernaut towards the mansion. Cain
Marko was the step brother of Charles Xavier, and had a great deal of
resentment towards his brother due to his gifts. However, while Xavier's mind
was strong, his body was weak. The Juggernaut was much stronger, and more
durable that Xavier was. He was ready to settle the score, and nothing would
stand in his way.
"Remember, you're here to help me steal Cerebro," Mystique informed the
Juggernaut, eyes narrowed and focused.
Juggernaut just cracked his knuckles, and stepped forward, walking slow and
steady, grumbling at this broad who was ordering him around. "Yeah, sure, heard
you the first ten times, lady."
Annoyance crossed the face of the Juggernaut beneath his helmet. For his
freedom, he would play this woman's little game, at least for now. There will
come a time where he would stop playing the game, and get ready to gain his
revenge on his little brother. Xavier was the one that had trapped him in the
cage.
"Hey, Charlie, can you come out and play?" the Juggernaut taunted, and he
smashed his way through the gates. The laser defenses popped up, and had begun
to shoot at the Juggernaut, but he just shrugged him off. "I've met grandmas
that hit harder than that."
Juggernaut pushed forward, and Mystique watched the monster continue his trek
further and further into the Institute. Magneto had put a lot of pressure on
her for a success, and one of his goals was to take Cerebro, and use it as a
means to find mutants. Mystique was under the impression that it needed a
telepath to function, but she would allow the finer details of that particular
scheme to her boss. Right now, she watched the Juggernaut dismantle the
security systems, and rip open the iron doors, allowing himself entry.
Logan stepped forward, and he was ready to face the Juggernaut. His claws
popped out, and he stood in a threatening pose.
"Let's dance, bub," Logan growled, and jumped forward for the fight.
"Out of my way, pip squeak," Juggernaut replied, right as he back handed Logan
down to the ground. Logan rolled over, and never one to admit defeat, he popped
back up, once again ready for a fight.
Juggernaut caught Logan in his grip, and slammed Logan against the wall. Logan
struggled, swinging his arms and his legs in an attempt to push off. Logan was
hurled across the room, and Mystique punctuated his pain by casually kicking
him in the face, before turning to the Juggernaut.
"Leave him!" Mystique demanded, eyes flaring.
"In a minute," Juggernaut replied, lifting up Logan, and curb stomping him,
before tossing him to the side like a chewing gum wrapper. Logan landed on the
ground with a sickening thud.
The Juggernaut turned around, and slowly like a mighty glacier, eased forward.
Mystique followed, and they were getting closer to their target, and closer to
Xavier.
Logan grumbled, clutching his ribs and his head. A healing factor was something
that had allowed him to sustain a lot of damage, but there was just one
fundamental flaw with it. It certainly did not cancel out the pain he felt once
he tried to struggle to his feet. Logan collapsed a couple of times, before he
got to his feet.
Determination spread across his face, despite being beaten up, battered, and
abused, and Logan got up, staggering, but determined.
"Hey, I don't recall saying we were finished," Logan taunted, and Juggernaut
turned around, with Logan charging him.
The battle raged on between Logan and the Juggernaut. Juggernaut outmatched
him, but Logan would not give up.
===============================================================================
For the third time today, Kitty had slapped away a mosquito that had been
annoying her. They were really annoying little insects. The mosquito buzzed
away, and Toad had decided to take a bite out of it, much to the disgust of
both the X-Men and the Brotherhood. He chowed down.
"Needs more salt," Toad offered, which got grimaces and groans from his
teammates.
Today was a great deal to be outside all things considered, well if one did not
take the insects into account, and it was hard not to take them into account.
The X-Men had been offered this camping trip, with Kitty standing with Jean,
Scott, Kurt, and Rogue, all of them regretting this outing, only slightly.
The alternate was Danger Zone training with Logan, and that was a way to
absolutely ruin their Saturday. Then again, they had to deal with the
Brotherhood being nearby for a long amount of time, and that made them really
doubt.
"I so envy Harry right about now,' Kitty replied, shaking her head, and her
shoulders slumped, taking a moment.
"No kidding," Kurt added, and he swapped a few insects away.
"It's not that bad," Jean offered them, but she got her share of cross looks.
"Okay, maybe it is a little bad, but we've handled worse than the great
outdoors."
"Don't remind me," Rogue managed at this moment, and she took a step forward,
to see the Brotherhood. Scott stood next to them all, and looked at his team
members.
"It builds character, and besides, would you want to be thrown into the deep
end on a Saturday?" Scott asked, and the four X-Men standing beside them shook
their heads.
"Yeah, Summers, you X-Men need to build character."
This was a statement of the newest member of the Brotherhood, and the apparent
leader, Pietro Maximoff, or Quicksilver as he was called. As his name would
have indicated, he ran around at super-fast speeds. His feet ran fast, nearly
as his mouth did. The X-Men had barely known this member of the Brotherhood for
too long, but one thing was certain, none of them really liked him all that
much.
"Hey, do you notice one of them missing?" Toad piped up suddenly.
"Yeah, where's their little green eyed twerp?" Blob asked, and he stood,
sinking into the ground when he stood.
Lance could not resist piping up, but the truth was he was disappointed that
there was not a chance to outshine Potter. Potter had been cruising for one
ever since he humiliated Lance all of those months ago. "Looks to me that
Potter isn't man enough to brave the wilderness."
"Please, Harry's all man," Kitty chimed in, and Rogue just nodded in agreement.
That caused the Brotherhood to step back, and glare at them. The camp they were
in was a survival course, and with every survival course, came a stereotypical
hard as nails drill sergeant named Hawke.
"Alright ladies, listen up," Hawke barked, glaring at them, and the Brotherhood
and the X-Men spun around. "You all seem to be all riled up over something, but
let's see how well all of you survive out there in Camp Ironback. This camp has
sent the most hardened of men crying home for their Mamas."
The Brotherhood stepped back, but they refused to show any fear in the face of
the X-Men, they would show up.
"Summers, you look like the leader type, you lead the charge with this group,"
Hawke ordered him.
This did not go down favorably with some people.
"Summers?" Pietro asked him in a scandalized voice, and the drill instructor
turned towards him, eyes narrowed. Anyone else would have shown fear at this
point, but Quicksilver was not anyone else. He was not going to show fear in
the face of what he perceived to be his inferior.
"Do you think that you should be the leader, Maximoff?" Hawke asked him, a
stern and fixed expression on his face.
"Yeah, I should be," Pietro said, looking rather smug, and he stepped to the
right and the left, staring down each of the X-Men, Scott especially, without
any fear.
"Yeah, you'd end up leading us off a cliff," Scott remarked, and Kurt just
nodded.
"Looks like you've trained Wagner to be your little flunky," Pietro fired back.
"Enough, we'll separate the tough from the weak," Hawke growled, and he turned
to them. "The two of you will lead teams through an obstacle course. Since you
two groups seem to have been at each other's throats all day, we'll work it out
the old fashioned way, to separate the winners from the losers. A good old
fashioned game of survival of the fittest, between your two teams, and the
first one to plant the flag at the top of the mountain is the winner."
"I'm game," Scott told them, and his teammates nodded.
"Yeah, we'll wipe the floor with these geeks," Pietro fired back, and the two
groups of mutants stared each other down. The glares were intense, and if looks
could kill, they would all be dead.
"Save it for the obstacle course!" Hawke barked at them.
"Let's make this interesting," Jean remarked when Hawke was out of earshot. The
Brotherhood stood up, the various members staring down the team. "How about we
don't use any of our powers?"
"Are you sure about this, Jean?" Scott asked, having his reservations about
this arrangement.
"What's the matter, Scottie, afraid we'd mop the floor with you?" Lance taunted
them, and Scott turned, his glare simmering.
"Yeah, he's nothing, but a chump," Pietro replied, and he looked around at
them. "We can beat you without our powers, and I bet you anything you couldn't
beat us if we had one hand tied behind our back and the other hand helping."
"Wow, bold man," Todd chimed in.
"We're game if you are," Rogue said, stepping forward.
"Yeah, we're going to so mop the floor with you guys," Kitty added.
"Why don't you put your money where your mouth is?" Pietro asked. "First one to
the top wins, try and keep up?"
Scott stood there at a moment, and the Brotherhood went their separate ways.
"Again, I ask, are you sure about this?" Scott asked, turning to Jean, and his
posture being less than certain.
"Scott, we have to be defined about more than our powers, you heard what the
Professor keeps drilling into our head," Jean replied in a patient, but
determined voice, seeing the steep mountain that they had to climb.
"You just know the Brotherhood is going to cheat," Kitty chimed in in a lowered
voice. "So why don't we just have Kurt teleport up there…"
"Because that wouldn't make us any better than them," Scott replied grudgingly,
at a look he got from Jean, and Jean nodded.
Kitty made a cracking motion with her hand, and Scott turned around, pretending
he did not see this. She turned around and smiled.
"I believe we can get up there, if we follow this path," Jean remarked,
studying the mountain. Being an athlete, she was used to physical activity that
did not use her powers.
The X-Men began their trek up the mountain, doing it the old fashioned way.
On the other side, the Brotherhood struggled. Fred gave Todd a boost onto his
shoulders, with Todd looking around from side to side. Fred's knees strained,
and Pietro turned to Lance, who was watching.
"We're taking a short cut," Pietro told them, and the other Brotherhood members
looked at him. "Hey, they said no powers, and we're sticking to that rule.
However, they didn't say no shortcuts."
Pietro and Lance pulled off the wood over the tunnel, to allow them a path
inside.
"Are you sure that's safe?" Todd asked, his eyes flickering around in a
tentative manner, and his hands shaking a little bit.
"Yeah, it's perfectly safe," Pietro fired back, unable to believe that such a
question was asked of him, and shaking his head. He took a step up, and saw a
rickety staircase. "One at a time, up through here….I SAID ONE AT A TIME
DUKES!"
Fred had collapsed the staircase, which had caused the rocks to shift in, and
block both the way in and the way out. The four Brotherhood members choked on
the dust.
"Alvers, can't you use your powers or something to get us out," Pietro
grumbled, and Lance tried, but the rocks just crumbled either more.
"Not without killing us all," Lance told them all, and the Brotherhood were
stuck, in a sick twist of karma.
"Ah man, the X-Men are going to beat us, and we could have beaten them too if
we would have just played fair," Todd groaned, and he flicked his tongue out,
to catch one of the insects.
"Would you stop doing that?" Pietro asked, his eyes flickering in annoyance,
and Todd just responded with an apologetic shrug.
The Brotherhood tried to struggle out of the hole that they had put themselves
into.
===============================================================================
Logan continued to tear into the Juggernaut, not that it did much good. The
unstoppable man was getting a bit sick of this runt's attempts to tear into
him. Eventually, the Juggernaut pressed forward, and nailed Logan right in the
face with a huge palm blow. Logan landed on the ground, but he grabbed the leg
of the Juggernaut, scissoring it. The two continued to brawl near Cerebro, with
Xavier in the background. Mystique watched, her expression of glee, shifting
into one of absolute horror at the next action of the Juggernaut.
Juggernaut stepped on the Cerebro helmet, rendering it to broken and useless
pieces.
"You fool!" Mystique howled, in complete rage. "You incompetent…."
Juggernaut smashed Mystique hard into the wall, and she fell with a resounding
crack.
"I think you don't get it, lady," Juggernaut told her, taking a step forward,
and looking down at her. "I ain't one of your Brotherhood brats that you can
just boss around. I'm the Juggernaut, b…"
This powerful declaration from the Juggernaut was cut off when a spell had
knocked him in the back. The intention was to stun the Juggernaut, but the
spell did not quite work out that way. The Juggernaut turned around, and stared
down the person who attacked him. There was one more door between him and his
younger brother, and they would be having a little familiar reunion.
Harry stood there, and sent another spell, not knowing why the first one did
not work. He sent an extremely powerful cutting curse, but Juggernaut stepped
forward, and deflected it. The Juggernaut took a good long look at Harry, and
began to look at him, taking his appearance in, and he began to laugh heartily.
Another spell was sent off, this time a bone breaking curse, but that did not
stop the Juggernaut.
"Man, I've taken shits that are bigger than you," The Juggernaut taunted.
"You really should get a doctor to look into that," Harry remarked in a cool
voice, without missing a beat.
The Juggernaut rushed forward. Harry ducked his head, did a forward roll to
evade the attack, spun around, shot up into the air like a cork, and fired off
another spell from his perch point in the air. He was unsure why this magic was
not working against the Juggernaut. It must have been something to do with the
attire he was wearing. Harry tried a different tactic, and several cords shot
from the air, circling around the Juggernaut. For a second, this held him, but
only a second.
"You don't get it, Houdini, your little magic tricks can't stop me," Juggernaut
growled, and he rushed Harry once again. Harry made a life dodging people that
were much larger than him, and making sure that he did not take the hit.
A trip jinx worked on the Blob, and should have worked here. However, it did
not, and the Juggernaut spun around, cracking his knuckles, a scowl crossing
his menacing face.
"Not even a love tap, really, kid, are you even trying?" The Juggernaut
taunted, waving him on, and egging him to try again. Which Harry did, to
minimal effect, blasting and firing away at the Juggernaut, trying to pinpoint
a weakness.
Mystique looked up, but Harry paid her no mind, given the fact that he had much
bigger fish to fry. The Juggernaut's charge once again was for nothing, and
Harry was at the height of desperation, firing spell after spell, but nothing
seemed to even ding the Juggernaut. He sent several magically conjured
fireballs at him, but once again, the Juggernaut stood there, immobile and
unstoppable.
"Thanks, been wanting to work on my suntan."
Harry was at the height of his desperation, and launched himself forward in
flight. The Juggernaut grabbed at Harry, but Harry grabbed onto his helmet. In
a fit of inspiration, Harry dug his fingers into the mask, and went straight
for the eyes of the Juggernaut, digging into them with his fingernails.
That seemed to do some damage, and Harry went one step forward, and sent bolts
of magic into the eyes, a conjunctivitis curse of sorts. The Juggernaut knocked
Harry off, and he was vision impaired, but still unstoppable.
"Alright, first you annoyed me kid, but now you've just missed me off!"
Juggernaut roared, and he tried to smash Harry, but the dark haired mage flew
out of the way. The teenage wizard dodged several more attacks.
Harry resolved to use the Juggernaut's mindless charging against him, although
it was hard to pick out a pattern. His powers did not work that well against
someone who had no pattern, so naturally he would have to improvise.
'Harry, Ororo is picking up the rest of the X-Men, along with the Brotherhood,
they should be arriving within the next twenty minutes,'Xavier projected to him
mentally. 'I know it may be difficult, but see what you can do to delay him.'
'Delay, right, got it,'Harry thought back in a frantic manner, dodging and
ducking the Juggernaut's attacks. 'Any ideas why magic doesn't seem to work
much about this guy.'
'The easiest explanation may be the most logical,'Xavier responded, and Logan,
never one to admit defeat, rejoined the fight, to assist Harry. The two fought
side by side against the Juggernaut, with Harry trying to knock the Juggernaut
off balance, and Logan going in for the more physical attacks. 'And that is
that since his powers are derived partially from magic, magic will have a
minimal amount of effect on him.'
'Makes sense, I suppose,'Harry thought back, and then he was visited by a sense
of inspiration. 'Don't worry, I've got a plan, to delay him, twenty minutes did
you say?
'Yes,'Xavier confirmed. 'If you can get the helmet off of him, then I can
mentally shut him down.'
'So the helmet protects him from telepathy?'Harry inquired.
'Yes,'Xavier confirmed.
'It would have been helpful if you would have told me about the helmet, oh
about ten minutes ago,'Harry responded in agitation over the link.
Harry took a step back, and waved for the Juggernaut to go on. The Juggernaut
had temporarily been tripped up, which allowed him to turn to Logan.
"Got a plan," Harry told him, and Logan turned to Harry, before nodding.
"Alright, any plan you've got, it's got to be better than us just standing
around here," Logan offered, and once again, the Juggernaut knocked him back.
"You mean better than you being knocked around?" Harry asked, and Logan just
glared at him, before offering a stoic nod.
Logan just waved Harry off, and Harry lured the Juggernaut towards the doors,
and right through to the Danger Room. If he was right, he might be able to
delay the Juggernaut, but at the same time, this plan hinged on the X-Men and
to a lesser extent the Brotherhood getting there.
Mystique took a step forward, carefully lurking in the background. She would
not be throwing herself in the line of fire, until she could pick her spots
wisely. It was a survival instinct that had been beaten into her.
===============================================================================
"We're almost to the top, and I told you we could do it without powers," Jean
replied, triumph appearing in her eyes.
There was a thump from below, and the X-Men stood, stopped, and stared.
"Let me guess, those idiots tried to use their powers, and it ended up blowing
up in their faces," Rogue remarked in a dry voice, adjusting her stance, and
peering downward. There was a small crack where they could see the Brotherhood.
"Look!" Kitty exclaimed, pointing and seeing the hatch above.
"So, they just tried to take a shortcut," Kurt replied, and he stood above
them. Scott moved over.
"Hey, let us out, Summers!" Pietro yelled, frantic.
A smirk crossed Scott's face, and he looked down at the Brotherhood, peering
down at them, not wasting a chance to rub their own failure into their faces.
"Surely your stirring leadership can get you out of this mess, Maximoff," Scott
retorted, looking down at them, enjoying the fact that the Brotherhood was
helpless.
"Fine, you're better, happy!" Pietro yelled back up, and Scott just looked at
them.
"Kitty, phase through, and shift the material away from the hatch, I'll blast
open an entrance, Jean lift them out of there," Scott ordered, taking control
of the situation.
Kitty did as she was told, and the X-Men stood back. Scott focused his visor,
and blasted a hole in the top of the mountain. Jean had lifted the members of
the Brotherhood out one by one, and they landed hard on their backsides when
she had dropped them down.
"You could have had him teleport in, and get us out easier!" Todd yelled,
pointing at Kurt.
"Sorry, must have slipped my mind," Scott answered dryly, but the X-Jet
arrived, and Storm looked down. The telepathic message of Charles Xavier could
be heard.
'X-Men, Brotherhood, both of you need to band together to defeat a common foe.'
"Why do we have to listen to that guy?" Lance asked, questioning it
immediately.
"Because they have Mystique," Jean told them, and the Brotherhood exchanged
looks at each other, before Lance spoke once again, his tone never changing at
this new piece of information.
"Again, why do we have to listen to that guy?"
"C'mon," Pietro told them in an undertone, and the Brotherhood perked up
immediately. "It will be a perfect chance to show them that the Brotherhood is
better."
"Is everything a competition with you guys?" Kitty asked, and once she learned
Harry was potentially in trouble, her determination became all that much more.
All of the mutants boarded, and were ready for a fight. They did not know what
they had to deal with exactly, but the Professor was briefing them with it on
the way.
===============================================================================
The Juggernaut gave a pained grunt, and he smashed through the defenses of the
Danger Room, and continued to stomp forward, having wrecked everything in his
path.
"Got any more ideas," Logan muttered in an undertone to Harry.
"Can you cut the clasps with your claws?" Harry replied to Logan, and Logan
paused, looking at them and studying them intently.
"Yeah, if you can get me up there," Logan replied, and Harry just nodded.
"Hang on," Harry replied, and the two of them dodged another charge from the
Juggernaut once again.
A magically propelled fastball special had allowed Harry to fling Logan with a
banishing charm of sorts into the Juggernaut. Logan was very close to cutting
the clasps, but the Juggernaut knocked him off into the wall. The mutant
slumped against the wall after cracking against it.
"What was that supposed to be?" Juggernaut asked.
"It's called a distraction, bub," Logan replied, eyes narrowing, and sure
enough, the assembled X-Men and Brotherhood had arrived at that moment, staring
down the Juggernaut.
"Showed up to the party, the more the merrier," The Juggernaut told them, and
he turned to the X-Men and the Brotherhood. "I don't know who you think you
are, but none of you can stop me."
"Let's see what happens with the unstoppable meets the immovable," Blob
answered, and rushed forward. The Juggernaut just lumbered forward, and the
Blob lumbered to the other direction, and the two forces clashed each other,
neither offering any movement, until the Juggernaut managed to push Blob a few
steps back. Fred Dukes staggered backwards.
'Remember, the helmet, that is protecting his mind, the most vulnerable part of
him,"Xavier projected to them.
Jean used the door the Juggernaut ripped off, and flung it at him. The
Juggernaut blocked it, and began to throw things. She stopped it with her
telekinesis, and avoided being smashed.
Kurt popped in mid-air, with Quicksilver rushing in in an attempt to keep the
Juggernaut off balance. The Juggernaut tried to grab the teleporting mutant.
"Too slow, so close, oh that was a near miss."
"Stand still!" The Juggernaut growled, and Kurt had grabbed one of the clasps,
before pulling it off.
The Juggernaut realized the danger he was in, and he began hurling things.
Harry grabbed Rogue around the waist, pulling her out of the way. Kitty grabbed
Harry, and the three of them went intangible, before popping through the floor
out of harm's way.
"Pop me up right behind him," Harry whispered to Kitty, and Kitty nodded, with
the Juggernaut swinging wildly at everyone. He nearly brought the room down on
everyone.
Harry had gotten to the final clasp on his helmet, and between him, Kitty, and
Rogue, they had pulled it off. The Juggernaut grabbed Harry in mid-air, and
knocked both girls back down to the ground.
"What do you got to say to yourself?" the Juggernaut growled, preparing to
shake Harry like a rag doll.
"Legilimens," Harry replied to him in a calm voice, and the Juggernaut's mind
was assaulted by the crude, yet useful, attack.
The distraction with Harry trying to enter the Juggernaut's mind, albeit
crudely, had allowed Xavier to pop in, and he shut down the Juggernaut. Harry
dropped down, carefully on his feet, and Xavier and Mystique both stood in the
doorway. It was Xavier who had spoken up first.
"The X-Men and the Brotherhood, working together," Xavier offered, turning
towards Mystique.
Mystique just remained numb, and in shock, watching everything, before she
offered her assessment.
"I see it, but I don't believe it," Mystique said, and she watched as her team
brushed themselves off. All things considered, their team work was sloppy, and
they would be getting put through the rigor for training every single moment of
their free time once they had gotten back.
"Perhaps it is a sign of things to come," Xavier told Mystique, and Mystique
just stood.
In many ways, she saw Xavier's bright eyed idealism to be nearly amusing, if it
had not been so absurd. The shape shifting mutant proceeded to shake her head.
She turned to her charges.
"Let's go!" Mystique barked, and Toad, Blob, Avalanche, and Quicksilver
followed her out the door, without another word.
"I can't believe that we actually were on the same side," Rogue commented,
shaking her head at the very thought.
"Hey, you know what they say, the enemy of my enemy, is my friend," Kurt said,
and the entire team just stood by their sides.
"I did hope that Cain would learn to let his rage go, but it appears that his
imprisonment had caused it to fester even more," Xavier said, in a voice filled
with regrets. Between both his and Harry's assaults, Marko would be down for a
very long count.
The assembled group just stood by, and tried to figure out what had happened,
along with the lessons learned from today's adventures. It was a long day for
them all.
===============================================================================
"So Logan wants us in the Danger Room in ten minutes."
"Apparently, so," Kitty replied, holding hands with Harry, with the two walking
down the hallway. "We should kind of give it a run through after what the
Juggernaut did today."
"So, if I got it right, he wants us to throw all caution to the wind with our
powers, no rules and no limitations, both him and the Professor said that,"
Harry replied, and a look of interest spread across his face, his mind dancing
wildly with the possibilities at what he could do.
Rogue stepped out in the hallway, and looked at Harry at that moment. She
shifted on her feet, and stared at him, before speaking. "Hi, Harry."
"Hey, Rogue," Harry told her, and Rogue grabbed his hands, and held onto them,
tightly.
"We need to talk," Rogue said, and she looked at Kitty, before she amended.
"All three of us."
Kitty and Harry responded with a nod, and Rogue stepped back, to allow the
three of them to step into the room. Rogue stood, and looked both of them,
before deciding to speak.
"Now, let me just ask a couple of questions about this," Rogue remarked, her
eyes locked on both Harry and Kitty. "No one is pressuring anyone into
anything?"
"No, no one is pressuring anyone," Harry replied, withdrawing his hands from
Rogue's and putting one hand on her cheek, and one on her waist. Rogue once
again shifted from the contact, although she was quite pleased with it. "But,
you don't really need much pressure, do you, Rogue?"
Rogue stepped forward, and peered into his eyes. She cursed those eyes, they
had to be the downfall of many women, but naturally Harry would have other
attributed. Harry held her tightly against him, and Rogue just shook her head.
She looked at Harry, with a look of pure need, but seemed reluctant to actually
articulate what she had felt at the moment.
Harry reached forward, and suddenly, and surprisingly, Rogue had been pulled
into a kiss. The girl was surprised, and the content had been intimate, with
the two of them on each other's mouths. Harry pushed Rogue against the wall
slightly, the small of her back hitting the cool surface. Instinctively, Rogue
grinded on his crotch, and she reached around, intertwining her fingers through
his hair.
Kitty watched the action, and could not believe that she was getting so turned
on from her boyfriend kissing another woman. Yet, they were all friends, so the
three of them seemed to be comfortable with this.
Rogue slumped against the wall, breathing heavily. She looked at Harry, and
gave him a light squeeze.
"So, I suppose that we can't do anything quickly before we head off, can we?"
Rogue asked in a husky voice.
"Trust me, with Harry, quick isn't an adjective I would use," Kitty replied,
licking her lips at the thought, and now Rogue was worked up.
Both of the girls were worked up, along with Harry, but unfortunately, the
Danger Room awaited, and Harry tried to get his thoughts back in order, before
the three of them joined the rest of the team.
'Only in my life would this actually be considered somewhat normal,'Harry
thought to himself, but he smiled, he was not complaining in the slightest.
After being denied affection for most of his life, Harry felt that a lucky
break was in order, and he could tell the girls appreciated the benefits as
much he did.
***** Downtime *****
Chapter 15: Downtime
The latest session in the Danger Room or rather the session where Logan had
tried to make sure the room was still in one piece had concluded. As it turned
out, the Juggernaut did not damage the Danger Room as much as he had previously
thought. That was a good thing, and Logan watched the group approvingly as they
ducked and dodged. Everything appeared to be in working order, and the six of
them inside the Danger Room seemed to be able to handle what it threw at them.
"Follow my lead!" Scott yelled to them, and he turned around to face the danger
ahead, motioning for the team.
Harry just deferred to Scott at this point, to allow him to let his leadership
skills grow. Xavier did tend to pick him as the team leader for these sessions,
even if there was much that Harry did not agree with. Kitty and Rogue however
were a bit less docile to their leadership.
"You nearly lead us into that wall!" Rogue yelled immediately, and she clutched
her fists to her side.
Scott took a deep breath, and tried to calm himself. In reality, leadership was
not as seamless as everyone made it out to be, it had to do with trying to
maneuver everyone around the room, to keep his focus on both what he was doing,
or on what every single other person in the mission was doing. The problem was
one moment of indecisive lead to the entire team missing.
"Just…try and improvise if you can," Jean chimed in at that point, and she had
blocked the attack with a telekinetic shield.
"Jean, you might want to focus your shield a bit to the right, and Kitty you
can slip around, and Rogue you follow, and Kurt you go to the left."
Scott looked at Harry, mouth a gap at that suggestion, but he had to admit that
it was a good suggestion to make given the circumstances. Harry might have
often talked about how he was not a team player, but at the same time, he paid
attention to his surroundings, and managed to adapt to every situation. Harry
used his powers to blast through the room and had caused everyone to stop,
before they nodded.
'Who needs the Juggernaut,'Logan mused, when he continued to watch everything,
eyes narrowed.
Harry lead the team through, and directed them. It was to the point where he
did not say any words, for they were not needed. Rather he implemented little
subtle cues that directed every single person around the Danger Room, and
caused them to keep moving forward, not giving up for one instant.
The simulation was nearly complete, and Scott tried to regain some control of
leadership.
"Right, we're right through to the final course, keep it up!" Scott yelled,
shifting his expression, and wondering if he was right to make such a
suggestion.
Harry, Kitty, and Rogue lead the way, followed by Kurt, and Jean tried to blast
through.
Suddenly, Harry managed to direct them a bit differently, avoiding the lasers.
Kitty phased through the ground, and disabled the grid.
The team had made it to the end of the training session, and all of them seemed
to be a bit winded, or at least most of them did anyway.
Harry staggered just a little bit, and turned to Logan. Logan just looked at
Harry for a moment, before he offered his assessment.
"You were holding back just a little bit in there, weren't you?" Logan asked
Harry, and Harry just responded with a nonchalant nod. Ororo and Professor
Xavier watched in the background, with appraising glares and widened eyes.
"Yeah, maybe," Harry replied to Logan, but he just blinked.
Kitty leaned forward, and kissed Harry on the lips, nice and softly. Harry
enjoyed the lingering kiss, before Kitty pulled away from him, smiling at him.
"You were awesome in there, Harry."
"Yeah, you really were," Rogue answered, and she leaned forward at that moment,
and kissed Harry on the lips. Harry returned the kiss, and that had caused more
than a few raised eyebrows from the team members.
There was silence for a matter of moments, as everyone tried to figure out what
happened.
Kurt was the one who was brave enough to bring up what had just happened.
"Um, can anyone just tell me what happened?" Kurt asked, looking rather
confused. Last he checked, Harry was dating Kitty, and she kissed him, which
was something that he was used to seeing. Then Rogue kissed Harry, and that was
not a friendly peck on the lips, but rather a full blown kiss.
"Elementary, my dear Nightcrawler," Kitty replied, with a teasing grin on her
face. "We're both dating Harry."
"At the same time?" Kurt asked, and his eyes widened at the thought.
"Yes, at the same time," Rogue confirmed for him, and the look on Kurt's face
was priceless, that the girl could not resist cracking a smile.
Ororo just stood there, blinking for a moment. "Well, this is most
unconventional."
"Quite," Xavier replied in a dry voice.
"Saw it coming a couple of weeks ago," Logan remarked, in a casual voice.
Logan knew that Harry would treat them both right, or they will be having
words. Then again, perhaps he should be offering some words of wisdom to the
young man. Given the fact that Logan had a few wild nights in his time with
multiple women, where they often ended involving chains and whip cream.
But that was another story for another time.
Scott just looked at Harry, and saw his arms around both of the girls, who just
seemed content and okay with this. He really did wonder about this sometimes.
Perhaps it was some cultural thing back from where Harry was from.
Jean just watched Harry, and the interactions with the two girls. He seemed to
care for both of them, and Jean was intrigued to see how this would play out,
not to mention a bit curious about how it would work. She just hoped that it
didn't affect the team dynamic too badly if things had gone south with either
of them.
Scott watched Jean watch Harry, and a couple of alarm bells went off his head.
He was sure he was just being paranoid, but Harry did have a certain bad boy
allure that could be potentially problematic. Harry did attract danger, and
some women were attracted to that.
Or so he heard.
"So, you all did well today," Xavier summarized, and the group nodded. "Harry,
I must commend you on your ability to improvise in there. Scott, you have some
marked improvement as well, but you tend to freeze up when you are greeted with
a problematic situation. Remember, improvisation is key."
Scott toed the line and nodded at the words of wisdom from Xavier.
Harry turned around with Rogue and Kitty on either side. The two girls
understood the benefits of being in such a relationship with Harry, but also
knew that they needed to learn how to take turns.
Rogue was itching to get a piece of Harry, but after the morning they had, it
was best for them to get out for a little bit and stretch their legs.
===============================================================================
Toad screamed when he was hurled across the room in a sparring room session.
The Brotherhood Boarding House was a ram-shackle place in one of the worst
parts of the city. The only room in the house that looked halfway decent was
Mystique's, and even that was not by much. Other than that, the roof leaked,
the floor creaked, there were infestations, and it was hard to get any kind of
hot water at all.
Right now the Brotherhood were being trained by Mystique. Even though trained
could be considered an extremely loose term for what was happening. Right now,
the entire lot of them were being knocked around. Toad mostly, and he rolled
over, and groaned.
"I don't know when I became the designated punching bag for this team," Toad
groaned under his breath, and Blob staggered just a little bit, out of breath
from the drills Mystique was making him do.
"She can't catch me," Quicksilver yelled triumphantly waving his arms around,
but Mystique tripped him up, the moment he paused, and knocked him on the
ground, before pinning his arm behind his back.
"The first lesson and the most important lesson you should learn is use your
powers more and your mouth less, Pietro," Mystique replied, folding the
speedster's arm behind his back, not breaking it, but at the same time, giving
him a great deal of pain to remember this lesson by.
Quicksilver rolled over, and Avalanche just looked at Mystique, anger flooding
his eyes. The woman must have gotten up on the wrong side of the bed, or they
caught her at the bad time of the month, or something. The shape shifting
mutant hammered Avalanche in the face with a vicious roundhouse kick. He flew
across the room, and landed with a deafening thud. Rolling over, Avalanche
nursed a split lip and a cracked head.
"I don't know what your problem is," Avalanche grumbled, as the floor rumbled
from his frustration. "But why did I sign on…"
Mystique knocked him down again. She could not budge the Blob, so she had him
do physical activity, and her eyes narrowed.
"You want to know what my problem is" Mystique asked them in her most deadly
voice, eyes flashing with fury. Her face contorted slightly, making her look
positively demonic. "The fact of the matter is your sloppy teamwork nearly got
yourselves all killed. If mutants are to thrive, then you four need to shape up
your act, and get motivated, or else."
"Yeah, or else what," Toad replied, sounding braver than he really was. The
mutant swallowed a lump in his throat, and twitched just a tiny bit.
Mystique grabbed him around the head, and flung him to the ground. She jumped
up, trying to punch him, but Toad rolled out the way. He hopped madly for the
exit, but Mystique rolled in front of him, and blocked him.
"Again!" Mystique barked, no sympathy in her voice for the Brotherhood. "All of
you, you made an utter disappointment out of yourself in front of Xavier and
his students. I won't have the Brotherhood embarrass me like that again,
especially in front of the X-Men."
Avalanche immediately jumped to the defensive. "Hey, I don't know where you get
off telling us we did horrible out there, because the last time I checked, we
held our own against the Juggernaut, and wasn't it you who busted him out in
the first place?"
"Yeah, that's what the lady said, that's what I heard," Quicksilver remarked,
but Mystique had rolled around, and flung them around a bit, with savage fury.
Mystique stood on the ground, and even the Blob collapsed. The entire
Brotherhood was on the floor, breathing heavily at their training session,
which honestly could have been classified as torture. She put her hands on her
hips, and Mystique spun around to look at them. Her nostrils flared, when she
looked down at the Brotherhood.
"Holding your own is not good enough when there is a war going on out there,"
Mystique told the entire Brotherhood, who had groaned and moaned on the floor,
their injuries obvious. Her eyes flashed with malice. "It's my responsibility
to make you shape up or ship out. Magneto wants you all ready for what's to
come."
Toad, Blob, and Avalanche all grumbled at the thought of Magneto. They had
never met this guy, and likely did not want to, for even Mystique was cowed a
little by his larger than life presence.
Mystique turned around, absolutely frustrated how useless this entire lot was.
Magneto had expected her to train this team into something decent, but they
lacked discipline and motivation. No matter how many times the woman drilled it
into their heads, with her fists, they refused to listen to her.
And now her role as principal of the school had been compromised, because there
were a couple of government agents coming in to ask questions. She wondered who
blew the whistle on her, even if she had her suspicions. Magneto was less than
pleased, and had been on her like a nagging spouse. That caused Mystique to re-
double her efforts with the Brotherhood, and in some ways take her frustration
out on the troubled teens.
The result was on the floor, moaning and groaning, but Mystique thought she was
going rather easy on them. A bit too easy, and a bit too soft, and she would
have to step up the training to whip them all into some kind of fighting shape.
"Two minute break, and then we commence with our drills," Mystique barked like
a drill instructor.
The Brotherhood wished they were back at that camp, with that drill instructor.
At least he was bright and sunny compared to what Mystique was. The boys
wondered if they had caught the woman at the wrong time of the month.
===============================================================================
The crisp Autumn breeze blew through the face and hair of Harry Potter, as he
reflected on the day that was. He had a notebook in front of him. From this
notebook, the dark haired wizard had hoped that he would be able to piece
together his thoughts in a coherent manner, and get together his mind.
Kitty sat across from him on the grass underneath a tree, and Rogue sat on the
other side of him on the grass. Both girls just enjoyed the beauty of being
outside, after a long and hard Danger Room session.
Harry took a moment to reflect on many things, including his lesson with the
Sorcerer Supreme, and realized how much magical knowledge he had already. There
was a brief hint of where this came from, and something Dumbledore told him all
those years ago had clicked in his head.
Voldemort had put a little bit of himself in Harry, unwittingly, that had
explained the Parseltongue abilities. Harry had used that ability to great
results, and he offered a shifty glance towards Kitty at this point. People
thought the ability was evil, because it had only been used for evil by those
who had lacked the imagination to see the good in it, and what it could really
accomplish.
Or they were jealous of the oral skills of the people who mastered
Parseltongue, that seemed likely feasible.
Imagination was the key to mastering powers that was observation number one
that Harry had scribbled down in the notebook laying across his lap. Harry took
a moment to close his eyes, and to get together his thoughts. Not so much clear
his mind, but to collect his thoughts all together so he could shift through
them.
He figured that if he could isolate his most familiar memories from his not so
familiar memories, then he would be able to figure out what was his, and what
was not his.
It was hard to do on his own, but Harry rather found a few isolated strands and
found that when time went on, he would be able to pick together more. One
particularly interesting memory was of a dark haired boy at an orphanage,
watching as several of the children were adopted, yet he was passed over every
time. Most children would consider this to be a sad experience, but the boy in
the memories regarded this with disdain and said that these children obviously
needed someone, to coddle and protect them, while he needed no one. He
considered them weak, and worthy of his contempt.
That was just one memory that really hammered home who Tom Marvolo Riddle was.
He had no empathy for his fellow humans, be they magical or mundane. Harry was
reluctant to delve too deep into the memories right away, as he suspected that
he had a bird's eye view of every single death Voldemort caused by his own
hand.
"Harry, are you alright?" Kitty asked, breaking the silence, a concerned
expression swimming in her eyes. Harry had been oddly quiet, like he was in
another dimension.
"Just getting my thoughts together, Doctor Strange told me that I should do it,
it would help me focus more on my spell casting," Harry told the two girls, who
nodded, and turned around, agreeing about it.
Harry just looked at both of them, and came to another observation. He found
his mind more focused after sexual intercourse, oddly enough. That was one
thing that Hogwarts glossed over a little bit. Then again, Harry wondered if
that was something that was known among pureblood wizards and witches, and
everyone else was kept in the dark. Harry heard faint whispers about some
rather seedy goings on in the Slytherin Common Room, and some pureblood wizards
had multiple witches at times.
Of course, these were just rumors, and not something that Harry had experienced
first-hand. He scribbled in another observation into the journal.
'Sex is essential for powerful wizards and witches to sustain their powers.'
Okay, Harry could have explained it a bit better, but that was his story. He
crossed his arms, and looked at both girls. In one way, he matured a lot, for a
year ago in his mind, he could barely handle one girl. Now that he had two, and
his powers were growing.
"So, tonight's going to be the night, Harry," Rogue remarked, scooting towards
him. "The first time between both of us right?"
"If you want it Rogue," Harry responded, taking a look at her, and putting an
arm around her.
"Of course I want it, I'm half tempted to take you right here on the lawn,"
Rogue told him, and she looked at Harry.
"We better wait a little bit, my minds still a bit foggy due to all of the
recalling that I've done," Harry replied to them, but he looked over the fence.
"There's a little park just a ways away from here. Let's move away from the
Mansion, and hang out there."
"I'd like that, Harry," Kitty replied, a smile crossing her face.
"I would too," Rogue answered, grabbing Harry's arm. Kitty copied Rogue's
motion, grabbing his other arm.
"Then it's settled, it's a date," Harry responded to the pair of them, a grin
crossing his face, and the three of them walked off towards the park.
The wind continued to blow outside. Logan sat outside, working on his bike.
After a mishap, it had been banged up pretty bad. Scott, Jean, and Kurt were
all inside, and Ororo sat above at a balcony, tending to the flowers. Xavier
was busy following up leads on potential new recruits, and hoping to get to
them before Mystique did.
None of this was any of Harry's concern. Right now he enjoyed being out there
with his two girls, and just taking a moment to enjoy nature.
In the shadows, Clint Barton arrived, noticing them they had arrived. The
SHIELD agent practiced the stealth that he had been trained with, and tailed
the three lovers closely.
It did not go unnoticed by Barton that Harry seemed to be in a relationship
with both girls, and they were okay with it.
A part of Barton really wanted to know his secret, but there was a job to do.
He also did not want to stick around for here too long, because Logan was
nearby and he would catch onto him before too long. The archer remembered Logan
and his talents all too well from the few SHIELD missions that they had gone on
together.
===============================================================================
The weather continued to be nice and pleasant, perhaps a bit warmer than the
autumn season would normally be. Not that Harry minded, and he doubted Kitty
and Rogue did either. At the very least, the nice weather allowed them to be
outdoors, and not cooped up at the Institute at this moment. There was a
moment, where Kitty and Rogue looked at each other, and knew that they needed
to talk.
"We're going to have to come to some kind of arrangement you know," Kitty
answered, a smile on her face, and Harry looked at both girls. "Fair is fair,
and so we get our equal share of time with Harry."
"I get him all to myself tonight," Rogue protested, and she looked at Harry,
leaning up against him.
"Yeah, that's fair, but after tonight, we're going to have to alternate between
the two of us, and maybe others," Kitty answered, and Rogue just looked at her
immediately, raising an eyebrow. "Given Harry's charm, don't you think there
might not be other girls who would want him?"
"Yeah, but I'm not sure about letting just any girl into this relationship,"
Rogue replied, and Kitty just nodded.
"I agree," Harry replied, and he pulled both of them tight into it. "The entire
relationship thing is still mostly new to me, but there are times where it can
get out of control, and I don't want people who would rip each other's hair out
because they don't know how to share."
Rogue and Kitty would have to agree. Kitty was intrigued about the
possibilities if this new relationship, and Rogue was as well. She cherished
the little touches Harry had given her at that point, and the fact was that
after that kiss, she had thought about them in certain situations even more.
She could hardly wait.
"You're thinking about sex right now, aren't you?" Kitty teased Rogue.
"Am not!" Rogue snapped, frustrated, and Harry just placed an arm tighter
around her.
Harry just sat with both of his girlfriends in the park. Rogue rested her head
on Harry's right shoulder, and Kitty laid her head on Harry's lap. The three of
them were content, and Harry just looked up. Suddenly he waved a charm that
would prevent anyone eavesdropping on the conversation. All they would hear
were angry bees, and Harry suspected he knew that charm from a memory he got
from someone, perhaps Voldemort.
"What is it now?" Rogue asked Harry suddenly.
Harry just tried to act natural, and stroked Kitty's hair, as her head rested
on his lap.
"The janitor from our school, he's lurking around," Harry whispered to both of
them.
"Well, he does have a life outside of school," Kitty suggested, rolling her
eyes just a little bit, but Harry was visited by a strange thought.
"I don't think that janitor is really a janitor," Harry whispered to both of
them.
The two of them perked up, and were suspicious at this, but Harry shook his
head, telling them to act natural.
"I wonder who sent him after you," Rogue answered, taking a moment to look at
him.
Harry on the other hand, was not about to let some janitor intimidate him, not
at the slightest. He wondered who had sent him, and more importantly who was he
working for. There was a moment where the dark haired wizard paused, and
decided to slip a subtle monitoring charm on this so-called janitor.
It was so subtle that it would take an expert wizard who knew what they were
looking for to pick it up. Whoever this person was, and more importantly
whoever they were answering to, Harry would know more before too long. The
tracking charm would lead him back to the archer.
Harry acted like nothing happened, and continued to sit outside in the park,
with these two lovely young ladies, until the time came for them to return home
for a nice dinner. He actually had been looking into more lucrative ventures
for his money. There were several uncovered treasures that had been rumored to
be lost at sea. The right spells could potentially uncover them, providing they
existed of course.
Harry thought about this, and realized that to allow himself to be more self-
sufficient, he was going to have to plunder some booty so to speak.
It was at this point that Rogue got up to stretch, and Harry looked at her.
Speaking of some booty he would like to plunder, and there was a grin on
Harry's face when he thought about that. The truth was he was having a few
naughtier thoughts than he normally would have. This trip had opened up new
doors in his mind.
Meanwhile Clint Barton decided to give this up as a failed mission, at least
for today. There was nothing interesting that he could report back. Unless one
would count that Harry Potter had somehow had two girls wrapped around his
finger, but really that was not something that Fury would be interested in, all
of the teenage dram and that, and all.
Barton shook his head, and he wondered where all of these bees were coming
from. It was rather strange, because there did not seem to be a beehive
anywhere around.
Then again, he had seen stranger things in his time, and Barton just took a
deep breath, before stepping forward, and moving off. The three had been
leaving anyway, and once they were inside the Institute, it was not going to be
until Monday he saw them.
'Time to report back to Fury,'Barton thought, and he picked up the few notes he
had been able to take, before he set off for the roach motel that Nick Fury had
told him to meet him at.
No one would really expect a secret government agent to meet there.
===============================================================================
Rogue sat at the edge of the bed in her and Kitty's room. The two of them had
wanted some time alone, for some girl talk, and Harry obliged, saying that he
would be back in ten minutes, after he made some more notes based off of what
he got together in his mind. Both girls were a bit curious about what Harry was
writing in that notebook, but were not about to pry.
"So, first time," Kitty told Rogue, and Rogue looked at Kitty at that moment.
She tried not to show any first time anxiety.
"Does it hurt?" Rogue asked suddenly, and Kitty looked at her. "I heard it hurt
the first time, but I never thought I'd actually experience it."
Kitty just smiled, and offered a girl a reassuring pat on her gloved hand. "It
does sting a little bit, but Harry is good at making the pain go away. He used
a charm on me, and it worked…well kind of like a charm."
Rogue just offered a little roll of her eyes at Kitty's little cheesy comment.
"That's good to know," Rogue replied, and she turned around, counting down the
seconds mentally for Harry's return.
"If you aren't quite ready, Harry will understand," Kitty replied, trying to
reassure Rogue.
Rogue sat up, she did not want Harry to think she was indecisive. Whilst she
understood that Harry would not pressure her into anything, the fact was she
wanted him, and was willing to go all of the way.
"No, I'm ready, I'm more than ready," Rogue answered, determined after she felt
like she was going to be resigned to a life of celibacy because of her
inability to touch anyone. That could drive anyone potentially insane, and
Rogue was glad Harry was there.
Kitty hummed, and tapped her fingers on the side of the bed. She looked at
Rogue at that moment, and nudged her briefly.
"So, um, do you want me to be there with you, or do you want to go through this
on your own?" Kitty asked Rogue, and Rogue just looked at her friend. "It's up
to you."
"I would prefer my first time with Harry to be one on one," Rogue replied, but
she found that she would not mind if anyone had watched, if she had an
audience. The truth was she just wanted the first time to be a special time
between her and Harry.
"Fine, that's fine, I understand," Kitty replied, a sympathetic look in her
eyes, and a soft knock on the door.
Harry entered at that moment. Kitty got to her feet, threw her arms around
Harry's waist, and greeted him with a kiss to the lips.
"Knock her socks off, Harry," Kitty told him with a smile, and a playful nudge.
Harry just stepped forward. Rogue swallowed a lump in her throat, and Harry
placed his hands on her legs, and looked in her eyes, before doing the
contraceptive spell to make sure she was nice and ready.
Smut/Lemon Begins.
Harry reached forward, and pulled Rogue into an embrace, smashing his lips
against hers in a long kiss. Rogue returned the favor, sliding her tongue
inside of Harry's mouth. The kiss made her want more, and Harry began feeling
her up. Rogue felt a trembling feeling in her very being, as Harry squeezed and
massaged her covered breasts, and then his hand snaked around, before reaching
down the back of her pants, to cup her ass. Rogue moaned, and grinded against
Harry, allowing herself to be lost to the pleasures of the kiss.
The dark haired wizard enjoyed the taste. His tongue scraped the inside of her
mouth, and Rogue pressed against him. He could feel her decent sized breasts
against his chest, and Harry felt her rear. It was so squeezable, and he pushed
Rogue down on the bed. Harry teased her breasts a little more.
"How's that for a touch?" Harry asked, and Rogue looked up at him, before she
reached forward, and gave his package a tight squeeze. "Oh, keep doing that,
see how hard my dick is getting?"
"It's so big," Rogue whispered, feeling the bulge in Harry's pants, and Harry
reached around, pulling Rogue's shirt off of her. She wore nothing, but a black
bra from the waist open, showcasing her wonderful bust. It would be the envy of
many girls her age, and Harry put a finger down in her cleavage, sending jolts
of pleasure towards her. Rogue gasped, and stated one simple word. "More."
"More of what?" Harry asked, playing it innocent.
"More of that," Rogue begged, and Harry decided to work his way down her
stomach muscles, tracing patterns around them. Rogue kept herself in good
shape, and he slowly worked off her pants, to reveal her thong covered ass.
Harry flipped Rogue over, causing her to be surprised by the unexpected act. He
took a good long gaze at her shapely rear, and drooled at the sight. He
squeezed and molded it, and gave it a good slap. Rogue stopped at that moment,
biting her lip in surprise, but she felt her pussy convulse at that movement.
The little moan of ecstasy did not go unnoticed by Harry. Harry placed his
hands on her ass, nearly taunting her, and massaged it.
"Do you like that?" Harry asked Rogue.
"Please keep doing that," Rogue moaned, unable to believe that she was getting
so wet.
Harry squeezed her ass, and rolled her over. With a quick movement, Harry
unclipped the bra, allowing her firm and round breasts to burst free from their
confinement.
"Your tits are so hot," Harry said, and he squeezed Rogue for emphasis.
Harry was still completely clothed, and getting this reaction out of Rogue. She
must have had some pent-up sexual frustration within her, and Harry had
released it all in a flood.
Harry reached down, tracing down from her breasts, to her stomach, and then
between her legs. Rogue's moist and juicy pussy could be felt, and Harry
skimmed her panties, before rubbing her slightly, and teasingly just a little
bit. With a tug, Harry pulled her panties down over her legs, and saw her
womanhood for the first time. It was damp, and Harry reached over, using his
fingers to manipulate her folds, and also rub her clit.
Rogue's heart beat against her ribcage, and suddenly wondered what more Harry
could do to torture her.
Harry flickered his tongue at her. "Do you want it, Rogue?"
Rogue had overheard Kitty talking about that thing Harry did with his tongue,
and the way she talked about it, it caused Rogue to get excited. It had caused
her to wake up in a cold sweat, along with other bodily fluids.
"Yes, stick it in me," Rogue begged, and Harry obliged her.
Harry placed his tongue into Rogue's juicy cunt. Her pussy was so wet, with
desire for him, that it inspired Harry to work his tongue against her. His
tongue scraped around the inside, lapping up her moisture, and he slowly
offered subtle hisses. Rogue cupped her breasts, playing with them, when Harry
had dove in to her pussy, eating her out, and randomly hissing within her.
"Oh god," Rogue managed, feeling her heart thump against her ribcage, and each
passing moment, Harry dove into her.
The marathon Danger Room sessions became a boon to Rogue, because it were not
those, she would not be able to survive the experience of Harry driving his
tongue deep within her, and licking her out. Rogue gave sensual sounds , in the
throes of passion.
Harry just grinned, looking up from her pussy briefly, before he dived down
into it. If this is what his tongue caused, he would have her moaning and
thrashing, when he had stuck his cock inside her.
Eventually, Harry's fun had ceased, and he gave Rogue's pussy a few more licks,
and a few more hisses into it. The stimulation had caused Rogue to lose it.
Thankfully, she did not black out, because she wanted more.
Rogue wanted more, and she would get more.
Immediately, when she had come down, Rogue bounced Harry, slamming him onto the
bed, and slamming her tongue into him with a kiss. She grinded herself against
him, gyrating and straddling him. Rogue could taste herself on Harry's lips,
and she always wondered what she had tasted like. Now she knew.
Rogue had saw Harry was overdressed, so being the resource girl she was, Rogue
quickly relieved Harry of his shirt. She took a moment to run her hands down
his chest, and abs, stroking the underside of his stomach, and reaching down
his pants.
Harry's pants were then slid off, and forgotten. They flew, and landed on the
floor. Rogue pulled off his boxers, and saw his cock, throb, and twitch before
her. Rogue found herself looking at it, mesmerized, and she stared it.
A cough broken the silence, and Rogue snapped her eyes towards Harry. "Are you
going to look at it, or are you going to do something about it?"
Rogue grabbed Harry's cock, and did not care if it hurt the first time. She
needed that thing inside her right now, the sooner the better. With primal
fury, Rogue pushed herself down onto Harry's cock.
The pain she felt had been beyond anything that she felt before, but Harry
offered a charm to numb it, and she felt nothing, but pleasure. Harry's cock
pushed into her tight canal.
"So tight," Harry commented, and continued to use his cock to stretch and push
against her walls.
The exercises Rogue did every day made sure her pussy stayed tight, for the
right guy, and her right guy was Harry. Harry's cock pushed into her again and
again, going deeper with each spot. Rogue's pussy burned with the desire for
him, and her eyes fluttered back. She bit on her fingers, and gave a long moan.
Harry explored the inside of this new pussy, and felt what Rogue liked. She
liked it when he gave three slow strokes, followed by a long and hard one; this
pattern seemed to give her the most response. Rogue was playing with her
nipples, and Harry decided to help. Rogue gave a low moan, and bounced on
Harry's cock.
"So wet, you like that, your nipples are so sensitive," Harry told her, as
Rogue bounced up and down him on. "I'm barely touching them."
Harry cupped her breasts, and Rogue nearly lost sense of what she was doing.
Harry reached around, and grabbed her hips, reminding her about what was
coming. Harry's cock thrust up, and into her pussy. Rogue felt it hitting her,
and she lost herself to the sensations.
"Fuck me harder," Harry encouraged Rogue, and Rogue sped up at that moment,
riding Harry for everything he was worth.
Rogue's heart beat sped up, and she was feeling so good right now. Harry
continued to play with her, and Rogue felt herself squeeze him, and wonder how
long Harry could go. She needed his cum inside her. The southern belle felt
that she would die without it.
"Damn it, fuck me, harder," Rogue moaned, and Harry speared up into her pussy,
feeling it around it. "That's it, sugah, fuck this tight twat, you know you
want it."
Harry obliged her, and continued to spear into her.
"So tight, squeeze me harder," Harry encouraged her, and Rogue matched him
motion for motion.
Harry felt at home inside this pussy, both of these girls had wonderful
pussies, so tight and so warm, around him. A part of him hoped that Xavier
would find a few new female recruits, so he could show them the ropes. But that
was for later. Right now, he pushed into the pussy that he had on top of him,
riding him hard, and long.
Rogue felt her peak coming, and Harry pushed into her hard, and long. Given
that this was her first time, Rogue felt like this was nothing better in the
world, but there was no doubt room for improvement. She could feel Harry twitch
and tighten.
"Ah, I think you're getting tired," Harry whispered to her, and squeezed her
tits, along with her ass.
"Not getting tired," Rogue told him, but her eyes glazed over in heavily lidded
pleasure. "Just cum for me."
Harry obliged Rogue, reaching the end of his tolerance, which had been getting
slowly longer with each passing round of intercourse. His balls tightened, and
the flood of semen had flooded into Rogue's pussy. Rogue screamed out loud, and
nearly fell from the rush of Harry cumming inside her.
Harry caught her around the waist, and pulled her into at tender embrace,
giving her a few light pecks on the mouth, and rolling her over on the bed.
Smut/Lemon Ends.
Rogue rested herself in Harry's tender embrace, coming down from the sex that
she had. It was absolutely amazing, wonderful, mind-shattering, breath-taking,
Rogue could come from the adjectives all day and all night long. Harry wrapped
his arms around her, pulling her into a brace. The feeling of their skin
touching each other was great, bare and naked. Rogue felt like she could fly if
given the proper motivation.
Oddly enough, she was in a bit cheerier mood, and the aches and pains she
suffered from today's adventure had mostly faded. Kitty seemed to be a lot
better off then she could a lot of the time. She turned, so she could look into
Harry's eyes.
"You're amazing," Rogue replied, and Harry pulled her in close. "I feel better,
but at the same time, I lack the motivation to really move."
Harry just offered a smile, and pulled Rogue in closely towards him, and gave
her a light kiss on the top of her head.
"Yeah, but this is Kitty's bed, so you might have to move," Harry replied.
Rogue just stopped, and looked at the mischievous expression on Harry's face.
"You just fucked one girlfriend in another girlfriend's bed."
"Yeah, and you don't mind at all, do you?" Harry asked, without fear.
"No, it's actually kind of kinky," Rogue whispered to him, and she ran her
fingers towards Harry's hair.
Kitty entered the room at this point, and saw the two of them.
"Damn it, I was a bit too late," Kitty replied, a grin spreading across the
girl's face.
"Sorry, you missed your chance to be a voyeur," Rogue teased back, and Kitty
just smiled.
"Well you're a bit more chipper than normal," Kitty replied, putting her hands
on the bed. "And I noticed you two ended up in my bed."
"It was Harry's idea," Rogue said, pointing at the boyfriend in question.
"Oh, that's nice, throw me under the bus," Harry replied to Rogue, and Rogue
just laughed. "Keep that off, and you might get cut off before you even begun."
"Actually, it wasn't completely Harry's fault," Rogue replied, but she knew
Harry was just kidding.
She hoped he was just kidding.
"No problem, but we're so returning the favor next time I get my time with
Harry," Kitty answered, and she sat on the bed.
"Fair enough," Rogue answered. She shifted. "Sorry, I just don't want to move
right now."
"That's fine, Harry will just have to act as a buffer zone between the two of
us, won't he?" Kitty asked, and Harry just looked at them. "I'm sure he'll get
over it."
"Oh no, sandwiched between two gorgeous young women, how will I survive?" Harry
asked in mock sorrow.
Kitty just kissed Harry, and tasted Rogue on his lips. It was not a bad taste
by any means.
The three had gotten into bed, with Harry in the middle. Harry wrapped his arms
around Rogue, as she pressed against his front, and Kitty wrapped her arms
around Harry, pressing against his back.
"You two might have to take care of any morning conditions," Harry teased them,
and the two girls just laughed, before offering him kisses goodnight.
To Be Continued in "Family Ties."
***** Family Ties *****
Chapter 16: A Family Affair.
Nick Fury, the commander of SHIELD, stood in the roach motel where he had
arranged the meeting with Clint Barton. The grizzled SHIELD commander puffed on
a cigar, and stood rigid, whilst he tapped his foot on the floor, and was ready
for anything. Rocking back and forth, Fury saw Barton walk up, and spoke
without any preamble, eyes snapped towards the face of Barton whilst he spoke.
"Status report!" Fury barked towards his agent, his one eye boring into
Barton's face like a drill, a sensation that the archer felt very often, given
he had dealt with Fury for many years.
Clint Barton cleared his throat, and read the status report, or rather what
passed as a status report. "So far, the only peculiar thing about Harry Potter
is the fact that he has two girlfriends."
"Good for him," Fury replied in a gruff voice, but he waved it off, not really
interested in the teenage drama that young mutants had enjoyed. "Is there any
tangible information that you've uncovered Barton?"
"No, Commander Fury, and I have studied his movements day and night, trying to
find any kind of pattern whatsoever," Barton replied, in a nearly apologetic
voice, and Fury just responded with a stiff nod, before inviting Barton to
continue. "The fact of the matter is that Potter does seem to be a normal
teenager for the most part."
Fury slammed his hands down on the desk, turned, and looked his agent straight
in the eye. "Except he's not, he has powers, and the way that he arrived here
was not conventional. You did report that he has been taken lessons from the
Sorcerer Supreme."
"Yes, I have, and I would have to conclude that he is a magic user of some
sort," Barton replied, and Fury just turned to one of his top field agents,
before nodding.
"An amazing leap of deduction, but one that is true. What about the other one
that you've been tracking, Magneto's top lieutenant, what has she been up to?"
"Other than terrorizing students at Bayville High School, and recruiting those
misfits to the Brotherhood, and subsequently terrorizing them, nothing that we
should be too alarmed about, at least for the moment, or at least nothing we
can't handle," Clint replied, realizing that this entire mission was going to
be one for the record books of how little information he had uncovered, but he
tried to save face with an explanation. "And it isn't for any lack of trying.
Mystique leaves, returns to that boarding house, and then trains those
students."
Fury just stepped forward, and stroked his chin in a thoughtful manner, placing
a hand to his chin whilst he pondered. There was a moment before he spoke in
his own way, his voice gruff, and where he carefully calculated each word he
spoke.
"Magneto is gearing up for something big, SHIELD has spotted him at least three
times in the past week," Fury replied, but frustration mounted on the face of
the Director of SHIELD. The grizzled agent looked Clint in the eye, and spoke
once again. "The problem is he has eluded capture every single time. And Xavier
isn't willing to lift a finger against his old friend, yet he is training
students at that school. Both of them are mobilizing for some kind of battle,
the question is what kind of battle?"
Fury had pondered this question, but at that moment, there was a minor crash
that caught the attention of the eagle-eyed government agent. It was not an
accidental crash either, but rather something to grab the attention of any
SHIELD agents who had listened in the vicinity.
The two, Barton and Fury, spun around; their eyes peered forward, when fiery
writing began to materialize before their very eyes. The two of them stopped,
and stared at what was before them, or rather what was burning in the air.
You seem to want to talk to me so bad. Well it is a common courtesy to talk
face to face instead of trying to spy on someone.
Fury motioned for the other agents who had been posing as hotel employees to
move in, and they did. They were armed, and ready to fire at anyone who had
made the slightest wrong movement.
Hello, Fury, you've been watching me ever since I had arrived here. And I must
say, surely a super-secret government agent has better things to do with their
time then spy on someone. Your flunky is not as good as he thinks he is,
because I've already caught him several times. How I'm onto you…well wouldn't
you like to know?
"Flunky!" Barton yelled in an incredulous tone, clutching his fists, but Fury
placed his hand up to silence his subordinate and Barton slowly fell back into
line, but his gaze remained irritated.
You want to meet me face to face, well Fury, here's your chance. You and me,
one week from now, we have a little meeting. A little Q and A session, but I
cannot guarantee that you will like the answers that I give you. Regardless,
those answers will be given, when I arrive. Leave your friends out of it, and
I'll leave mine out.
Fury was torn about what to do. On the one hand, he really wanted to know what
this young man's game and origins was. And it was not like he could not get any
more information later, for that was his game. On the other hand, Fury could
not help, but think that this young man was trying to goad him into doing
something that the SHIELD commander would end up living to regret.
Then again, Fury had one week to plan, and to plot. There were far worse
outcomes to what Fury was up to. The SHIELD agent stepped forward, and offered
a grizzled nod at what this young man was stating, but suspicion swam within
his eyes.
"I accept, Mr. Potter, but I don't think that you'll be getting out of this
building, without a few words," Fury replied, and his men and women were ready
for anything.
Oh, but I already have. Keep one eye open Fury, if you can spare it.
Without another word, the writing disappeared, and Fury figured it was some
kind of pre-recorded message done by magic. Fury did not pretend to even
understand the base essentials of magic, but that much he could determine and
knew that he should expect the unexpected.
All he knew was that Harry Potter had promised to be back here in one week for
a meeting. Fury doubted that it was going to be the easiest thing in the world,
and he expected the unexpected when dealing with this enigmatic young man.
If there was one thing that Nick Fury relished was a challenge, and he relished
this meeting; he would get to the bottom of this entire situation. Cracking his
knuckles, Fury prepared to give his men the orders. He debated the merits of
watching Potter now, but given that Potter had some way to determine that one
of his best agents had been watching him, the point was moot.
Fury had to plan, and had to plot, but there was one thing for sure, he would
not rest until he knew plenty more information before it was all said and done.
===============================================================================
Everyone was sleeping peacefully in the mansion, at least until the moment
where Rogue had woken up in a screaming fit. Rogue had been shaken awake, for
she had a nightmare, and it was one that she did not remember all of the
details of.
At first, Harry scrambled in, thinking that it was one of his memories that did
it to Rogue, and concern ramped up at this moment, along with guilt, a lot of
guilt.
Rogue shook her head, but there was a moment where she bit on her lip
nervously, and thought about everything that had transpired in that vision,
trying not to let herself get rattled.
"Are you sure it wasn't one of my memories?"
"No it was something else, I think something that I got from Kurt," Rogue
replied, as everyone walked into the hallway, Jean, Scott, and Kurt had all
joined Kitty, Harry ,and Rogue, wondering what was occurring. Kurt's ears
perked up suddenly, when Rogue mentioned his name, and his interest increased
at these words.
"What, how would you have a memory about me?" Kurt asked in a confused tone of
voice.
Rogue just offered a shrug; she really had no idea what had just happened, just
that it did happen. The young woman shook off her head, and made her way
towards the study, where Xavier was waiting.
"Professor, I had a nightmare, and I can't make any sense of it," Rogue
answered, and she sat down, with Harry holding her hand. She appreciated the
gesture, and it allowed Rogue to really just draw breath and get herself
together, before continuing to speak to the Professor. "It wasn't a nightmare,
as much of a memory…"
"At times, repressed memories can lead to a great nightmare," Xavier responded
in a crisp voice, and he stroked his chin thoughtfully, taking a moment to
reflect. "I can peer into your mind, and see what happened, with your
permission."
Rogue just paused, and looked at Harry, offering him a questioning, and kind of
tentative gaze. It was not just her memories or anyone else's memories that
were in there, it was some of Harry's memories.
She had no idea what they were half the time. Rogue's mind was a muddied mess,
but Harry just allowed Rogue a smile, a nod, and squeezed her hand, to allow
her to continue. Rogue turned to the Professor, set her jaw, and offered a
stiff nod.
"Have at it, Professor," Rogue encouraged him, taking a deep breath, and
waiting for the Professor to enter her mind, feeling the gentle, and mostly
subtle prod. If Rogue did not know Xavier was there, she would never have
thought he was ever in her head, and reading her mind.
"Just relax Rogue, and allow the memory to flow to the front of your mind, it
will allow me easier access."
It was at that moment where Xavier delved into Rogue's mind. There was a lab in
the mountains, and a baby crying. A woman showed up in the doorway, yelling at
what he was doing. The man stood, and the scene became rather garbled at that
point. The woman was running off, with the baby in her arms, and the man
stalking her, with the woman yelling that he won't get away with this.
Then at that point, the baby flew off of the side of the cliff. By a sheer
miracle, they landed in the water. The baby went down river, and that's where
the memory cut off.
Xavier pulled out of the memory, it was fuzzy and patchy, but he got the gist
of it, and understood that there was a cause for concern.
"I believe it has to do with your mother, Kurt, and you," Xavier responded in a
crisp voice, snapping his eyes towards one of his students, a serious
expression on them when he looked at Kurt.
Kurt got all excited and folded his arms, before looking at the Professor. "My
mother, my birth mother?"
Kurt had always wondered what happened to her, it was a wonder of all children
who had been adopted, they always were curious. His adopted parents had been
great, despite his less than conventional appearance, but the fact of the
matter was that the fuzzy mutant wanted to know where he came from.
"Yes, that does seem to be the case," Xavier responded, in a serious voice.
"Really, she just threw you off like that?" Kitty asked, in a skeptical voice.
"She didn't throw me off, she tripped," Kurt replied, and looked at Kitty,
trying to get her to understand everything. "Did you not hear what the
Professor said?"
Kurt turned to the Professor at that moment, and collected his thoughts, before
once again speaking, making an inquiry towards him.
"Do you think you could go deeper….see if the memory could be clearer, maybe?"
"No, we don't want to overwhelm Rogue's mind," Xavier responded, waving off
Kurt's question. The fuzzy mutant's face fell, and he was genuinely
disappointed at this brush-off form the Professor. "Let us try and get some
sleep, we have a few more hours before the morning."
Kurt wondered if he was going to be able to sleep, thanks to the excitement.
Harry walked by him, and felt as if he had to add some insight, offering Kurt
some genuine advice.
"Kurt, I know you're curious about your parents, but be careful about the
Pandora's box you're opening," Harry replied, and he looked directly at Kurt at
this moment, offering his team mate the benefit of his knowledge. "There are
some things that we are not meant to really know about our birth parents."
Harry thought about the memories that he uncovered regarding Snape of James
Potter and his bullying tendencies, during their time at Hogwarts. It really
did sour his image on his father, even if Sirius assured him that James had
changed. Sirius was another problem for Harry, as it was becoming very clear to
Harry that Sirius might not have made it through the veil after all. He had
used every scanning spell, but Harry had uncovered nothing.
"Wouldn't you want to know?" Kurt asked, the innocence in his voice still
prominent.
"Curiosity is not a sin, but we shall be careful how often we exercise it,"
Harry said in an evasive voice, and he turned towards Kitty and Rogue, a smile
spreading over his face.
"Rogue, are you going to be alright?" Kitty asked, looking at her, and Rogue
paused for a moment.
"Yeah, I'm fine," Rogue replied, inclining her head slightly. Rogue took a
moment to reflect, and stood on the ground. Her heart beat across her chest,
and Harry put an arm around her.
"As someone who said they were fine many times, and weren't, I know when
someone isn't fine," Harry answered, and he pulled Rogue in. "I won't press
you…"
"No, I did see a few flashes, a man in robes, sending green light at two
people, and trying to send green light at a baby, and it backfired," Rogue
answered, looking Harry in the eyes. "That was you."
Harry paused for the briefest moments, but he decided that there was no point
in lying.
"Yes."
"Wait, your parents were murdered?" Kitty whispered in a horrified voice, and
Harry nodded slowly, not really wanting to talk about it.
"It's not like it's something I talk about in casual conversation," Harry
replied, and at that moment, both girls stood on either side of him.
"Yeah, I understand," Rogue replied, and she would not bring up the other
memories she pieced together, including the one of a young boy in a cupboard,
wondering if he would ever be loved, and the pain suffered when he was alone on
Christmas morning.
Rogue did not want to dwell too much on these memories, for they made he
depressed, and they likely would have had an effect on Harry as well.
Harry turned, and kissed both of his girls, before they went to bed. They would
try to get back to sleep, at least what passed as sleep, with all that was on
their mind.
===============================================================================
Quicksilver sped up his movements, blowing past the gate of the Xavier
Institute, and agitated flickered through his eyes, with the teeth of the
speedy mutant gritted in pure distaste. He really felt demeaned that he would
have to play super powered courier for Mystique, but the woman and the higher
up had both convinced him to do so.
While Pietro was willing to defy Mystique, his father was another matter
entirely. Pietro barely saw any of the old man, yet his larger than life
personality still threatened him, and made him intimidated.
Not that he would ever admit it to the face of anyone, for the speedy mutant
had a certain amount of pride, and a bit of an ego.
Pietro pinned the note to the door, knocked on the door, and zoomed off, before
he was caught. Kitty opened the door, confused, and Harry followed. Jean and
Scott were on the scene next, and Scott took the note off of the door, before
taking a look at it.
"Kurt!" Scott called, and Kurt appeared almost instantly, teleporting next to
Scott. His eyes flicked curiously to Scott, and the X-Men turned, handing the
note to him. "It's for you."
"Me, who could it be from?" Kurt asked, and he tore open the note, to read it,
and his hands trembled when the mutant did. Kurt read the note, and his
expression became more and more intrigued when he got to it, and saw who it was
from. "It's from my mother."
Everyone stared at each other, and that piece of news was slowly settling in
with each, and every one of them.
"That's just too much of a coincidence," Jean remarked, after the silence had
occurred for at least a moment. "Why would your mother…"
"Does it really matter?" Kurt asked, trying to shake off their words. "It's my
mother and…"
"It matters, Kurt, for the security cameras caught who sent the letter."
Xavier rolled up at that point, and he looked his young charge in the eye. Kurt
shuffled around on his feet, a bit impatiently, as he waited for Xavier to
speak. There was a moment of silence before the leader of the X-Men elected to
speak, and let Kurt in on the news.
"The mutant who delivered it was the member of the Brotherhood known as
Quicksilver," Xavier added, and Kurt just stopped, and stared at that moment.
"That does explain how he managed to get past the security so fast, without
really tripping it," Harry chimed in, and there was just something about the
entire set-up that seemed fishy. Perhaps Harry was being paranoid, but the
words "constant vigilance" rang out in the back of his mind. "What did your
mother say, Kurt?"
Kurt was prompt to answer. "She wants me…she wants me to meet her, in the
junkyard, tomorrow after dark, you know the one that is downtime, by the
docks."
"Yes, I do recall the one," Xavier admitted, but his tone was impassive and
there was a bit of warning lingering in it.
Scott felt compelled to give his two cents at this point. "Kurt, you do realize
that this could be a trap?"
Harry did not feel it prudent to speak up about that fact, for he thought that
much was obvious. Kurt held the note in his hand, and shifted on his feet. His
mouth opened and shut, with the fuzzy mutant trying to gain some level of
coherence at this point.
"But still, if it's my mother…"
"Then we will do everything that we must to arrange this meeting goes on
without you getting hurt," Xavier replied, a part of his psyche sympathizing
with Kurt's need for closure.
Kurt just shuffled on his feet, and he had felt the need to enlighten Professor
Xavier about a very key part of the letter, and he leaned forward to speak to
him.
"The letter writer, they said to come alone, and bring no one, especially not
my teammates."
It was at this point where Xavier had become very skeptical about the
intentions of Mystique, not that the X-Men leader needed many reasons. There
was a plot to lure Kurt, but if he did not allow Kurt to leave, there was
always a chance that he would sneak off. If Xavier learned one thing about
teenagers was they could obsess in their quest for information, and often did
reckless things in that quest.
"Yes, Kurt, if you feel as it is necessary, then do depart at the intended
time, but make sure to take your communicator, and summon for help if it is a
trap," Xavier warned Kurt, and Kurt just stood, nodding his head up and down,
resembling a wind up toy.
"Thank you Professor, and I will," Kurt answered at that point, before he
counted down the moments to the meeting.
Kurt disappeared, holding the note. Scott just turned to Professor Xavier, and
Xavier motioned for him to come closer.
"Tail Kurt, and make sure he does not come to any harm, discreetly and from a
distance," Xavier replied, in a low voice so no one could hear.
It was his fear that the Brotherhood would be involved, whether by Mystique's
intentions or not, he had no idea. There was a chance that this was going to
happen. Xavier knew that this could happen from the time where Kurt had signed
up for the Institute.
Harry got the sense that Professor Xavier knew far more than he was letting on.
He did give out some information to the students, but only when needed and
Harry found himself a bit irritated by that trait. Keeping secrets was
something that Harry was not too much of a fan of, especially if there were
lives on the line. Harry would just have to wait and see what would transpire.
Xavier had pretty much expected that the Brotherhood would attack, that much
Harry had gotten from his body language. And that meant he knew Kurt's mother
was Mystique. Harry wondered if Kurt had made that connection. Somehow he
doubted that, given the circumstances, and Kurt's joy. Harry hated to be the
one who had to burst Kurt's bubble.
"We should prepare for tomorrow night," Scott said, and Rogue popped in, a bit
late, confused about what was happening.
"Why, what are we going to do tomorrow night?" Rogue asked, a look of confusion
on her face.
Kitty was the one who could not resist chiming in. "The same thing we do every
night, try and take over the world."
Some people laughed, even if Harry was clueless on the reference, but pretended
to go along with it. Kitty began to fill Rogue in on what had gone down
seriously.
"And Mystique might be Kurt's mother," Harry told Rogue, and suddenly Rogue
stood up a bit more rigid, and her fists curled, as if she imagined them around
Mystique's neck.
Rogue still seemed to have a bit of an ax to grind with Mystique, and Harry
really hoped that she would not get distracted from the mission at hand because
of that, because when things got personal, it was when they tended to go south.
===============================================================================
Kurt dropped down to the ground, but now that he was here, the fuzzy mutant had
no clue what to say, words had failed him. There was so many things that he
could have said to the woman who had given birth to him, and the woman who had
not seen since he was very young.
As he arrived at the junkyard, it hit him that this was not an ideal location
for a happy and cheerful family reunion. There was a moment where he dropped
down, and a robed figure walked out beside him.
"Are you…her?" Kurt asked, his voice shaking when he spoke, and he leaned
forward so she could hear him. "Are you…are you…my mother?"
The woman nodded, and Kurt could see the figure step forward. She had blue
skin, and red hair, and these were traits that Kurt recognized immediately.
"Wait, you're her," Kurt replied, jumping backwards nearly.
"Do not be alarmed, Kurt, I had my reasons for what happened," Mystique
replied, and Kurt kept his eyes on her. He would not take his eyes off of a
potential opponent, even though that opponent could have been his mother. "You
lived with a loving family, did you not?"
Kurt nodded, he would have to admit that this was true, and there were no
complaints right there, with him staring forward until the woman spoke.
"Then there should have been no problem with what happened," Mystique replied
in a crisp, and clear voice, and he stepped forward. Mother and son stepped
towards each other.
"Is this just a family affair, or can anyone join the party?"
Quicksilver, Blob, Toad, and Avalanche popped up at this moment, and stared
down Kurt, bad intentions in mind. Kurt slowly spun around, and clutched his
fists. He had assumed that they were meeting alone, and decided to call
Mystique out on this fact.
"You lied to me," Kurt replied, not in an angry voice, but a hurt voice, and
Mystique turned away, spinning around. The Brotherhood would have paid for
interfering on this situation, but Mystique figured out who put them up to
this.
"Hey, no sweat, Wagner, the more the merrier," Quicksilver replied, and he
rushed forward.
Quicksilver's feet suddenly were knocked out from underneath him at that point.
The member of the Brotherhood fell down onto the ground, and rolled over. The
speedster groaned, and the Brotherhood stepped up.
The X-Men arrived, with Arcane, Cyclops, Rogue, Shadowcat, and Jean showing up,
to engage them in battle.
"Hey, six on four, that's not fair!" Toad groaned, and he pointed to Harry,
jumping up an ddown, eyes bugging out frantically. "Especially with that guy,
it's like it's twenty on four or something."
"We can handle them," Avalanche stated, and he was ready for revenge, and ready
to rock. And so was the ground, with it rocking and rolling, ready to knock the
X-Men off balance.
The ground stopped rocking, with Harry standing there. This time he was ready
for his tricks, and the ground continued to rock at that moment. Avalanche was
propelled backwards up into the air. The Blob stepped forward, and Rogue dodged
Blob's slow charges, and Shadowcat dove into the ground, grabbing the ankles of
the large mutant.
Blob staggered into the ground, sinking like he was in quick sand.
"Come back, and fight," Blob managed, but Cyclops used his visor to send an
optic blast at Blob, once he pushed back up.
The Brotherhood's training seemed to not be that good. Toad turned around, and
saw the X-Men surrounding him.
"Um, I come in peace," Toad replied, realizing that the other members of the
Brotherhood had been taken out.
Toad had been knocked off to the side, smacked around like an afterthought.
Mystique spun around, and took a step back, incensed.
"You ruined this, you ruined this all!" Mystique yelled, and she turned to
Kurt, malice flooding her eyes. "You ruined your only chance to find out the
truth by getting your friends involved."
Rogue opened her mouth, about to note the hypocrisy of what Mystique was
talking about. However, there was a swirl of metal from the junkyard, and the
sharp jagged edges threatened to pierce into all of them. It appeared that
another figure had turned up, and that was Magneto, who had looked in the
shadows. Mystique took that as her cue to leave, and she turned into a bird,
before flying into the sky, becoming a face in the crowd.
Harry would have tracked her, but he was too busy repelling the debris with his
spell work. The Brotherhood was on the ground, and Quicksilver was the first
one to run off, as fast as his legs could go. Toad followed him next, with
Avalanche taking a look, and trying to decide whether or not to take a shot at
Harry whilst he was distracted.
"We better go, when the getting is good," Blob grunted towards him. As much as
he would have liked to stay and smash the X-Men, even Fred knew an opportunity
where he saw one.
Harry tried to push the limits of his magic, but there was so much metal in
this junkyard that it was hard to push back, and gain control. The dark haired
wizard had no choice, it would not be denied, and took a deep breath, summoning
more power.
He summoned his power, and suddenly the metal all fell to the ground. The
moment had been lost, and Magneto was gone, along with Mystique and the
Brotherhood.
Kurt took a step forward, and took a deep breath, a conflict of emotions
washing over the young mutant. He appreciated the X-Men backing him up, and he
could almost tell that Mystique was a bit surprised to see the Brotherhood.
There were so many conflicting emotions going through his mind, and it was hard
to keep that in mind.
===============================================================================
The team returned to the Xavier Institute at this point, and the entire group
gathered around, to reflect on the events of the battle today. The fact of the
matter was that Harry had taken charge, and knocked the Brotherhood around,
turning every single attack against them. That fact was not lost on Scott, and
he sat back, arms folded, and he sat back, with a sigh. Xavier wheeled forward,
and Kurt just sat in the background, in the shadows.
"I wouldn't blame yourself for anything that happened, Kurt," Xavier told him,
trying to convey his theory on what had occurred, at least from his
observations. "Mystique likely engineered the attack, and a potential
kidnapping."
"It was almost like she was surprised," Kurt offered, trying to hang onto that
little fact, for it was the only thing that gave him hope.
Kurt folded his arms, and just nodded. Harry took a moment to walk forward
towards Kurt, but Kurt just looked up at him, before sighing.
"Harry, you were right about everything," Kurt told him, and he sank back into
the chair. "I can't believe that I was so…"
"No you wanted to know, and there were times where I wanted to know about
things that happened in my past," Harry responded, but there were no words that
he could say. Kurt took this in stride.
The fact Harry had gotten so close to getting his hands on Mystique, after her
near escape last time frustrated him to no end whatsoever. He figured that
given the choice between protecting the team, and going after the criminal,
Harry knew what the answer was going to be every single time. He took a deep
breath at this point, and turned to walk off, without another word.
Kitty and Rogue followed Harry down the hallway at that point. It was Kitty who
at this point who was going to be the one who spoke up. A smile crossed her
face, and Kitty grabbed Harry.
"You, aren't too pleased because of how that mission went, are you?" Kitty
asked.
Harry shook his head at that point. To be honest, he was a bit frustrated, but
failure was part of the learning process. Kitty grabbed Harry and pulled him
into the next room.
"Hey, wait up, some of us have to use doors," Rogue stated in an agitated
voice, and Kitty laughed when the door was locked, preventing her from
entering. "You're not going to leave me hanging, are you?"
Kitty stepped forward, and walked inside, at that moment, before taking pity on
Rogue, and allowing her inside. Harry was on the bed, and the two girls were
ready to cheer Harry up, after what happened today. The dark haired wizard
understood what was about to happen, and it was only second nature that he had
performed the contraceptive spells on both girls.
"So, I wonder who's going to get a piece first," Kitty answered, a smile
crossing her face.
Smut/Lemon Begins.
The two girls played rock, paper scissors, and Rogue won. Kitty slid back,
holding her hands back, and propped herself up on the bed, allowing Rogue to
have her fun for once. The next time they should have a race through one of the
training missions in the Danger Room, to see who would get Harry first, to make
things more interesting.
"Ready," Harry whispered to Rogue, grabbing her tight towards him.
"Born ready for your cock," Rogue answered, her Southern accent making her
voice that sexier, and Harry pulled Rogue into a long kiss. Rogue opened her
mouth, allowing full access into her lips, and Harry groped her breasts,
rubbing them through her shirt, feeling them in their full roundness, and
molding them within his hands.
Rogue felt Harry play with her, but she wanted to give her boyfriend as much
pleasure as he gave her. The mutant got down on her knees, and worked off
Harry's pants, pulling them off. Rogue stroked him through his boxers, and felt
his length harden just a little bit.
"So big, and so hard," Rogue remarked, eyes widened, and she pulled Harry's
boxers off. She licked her lips at the thought of his large cock.
"Make it bigger," Harry responded to Rogue, challenging her with the expression
in his eyes, and she reached for his length.
Harry leaned back, and Rogue stroked Harry's length. She gave him slow strokes,
that allowed Harry to savor the moment, he swelled and twitched, growing with
each passing moment in Rogue's hand. Rogue licked around Harry's cock, and then
placed her mouth on his balls. She gave a slight suck, and gave him pleasure,
before Rogue shoved the cock into her mouth.
Rogue felt Harry's length go down into her mouth. She was trying to get it deep
down, knowing that Kitty had not managed to get the entire length into her
mouth as yet. Harry's cock was delicious, and she could taste it all day.
"That's it baby…suck it, suck it hard," Harry whispered, and he grabbed Rogue's
hair, stroking his fingers down the white stripe in the front, into her auburn
locks, stroking her. "Such a great fucking mouth, love your lips on me."
Rogue continued to spear her throat onto Harry's length. She felt it hit the
back of her throat, and Rogue managed to remember that she could breathe
through her nose. Harry hammered into her throat, and Rogue used her mouth,
tongue, and throat to stimulate Harry's member.
Harry waited for Rogue to continue to suck him off. "That's it, make me cum,
going to shoot it down your throat."
Harry pushed it forward, and Rogue snaked her hand around Harry's balls,
stroking, and fondling the balls. The dark haired wizard felt his balls tighten
up, and he sprayed a thick stream of his cum down Rogue's throat.
All of the way, Kitty had her hand down her pants, and was slowly playing with
herself, getting herself worked up. The brunette's fingers pumped in and out of
her pussy, matching Rogue's bobbing on Harry's cock, and she groaned with
disappointment when she stopped, being left hanging.
Rogue pushed off, licking her lips, and Harry squeezed her breasts, and pulled
her shirt over her head, to find her fleshy, and pale globes. Harry dove into
her breasts, and began to suck on them, blowing on them, and feasting on the
buffet of flesh.
"That's it, sugah, suck on my tits," Rogue whined, pushing Harry's face into
her tits. His mouth and tongue stimulated them, and Harry's hand made its way
down her panties, diddling with her pussy for a bit, feeling the heat around
her mound.
Harry pumped his fingers in and out of Rogue's wet cunt, trying to feel it
around his fingers, and he felt her glorious tightness, pressing against his
fingers. Rogue could get so wet as well, with Rogue pushing her hips up. Harry
continued to push in and out of her, with Rogue whining when Harry also
stimulated her clit. It was sensitive, and Rogue's moans led that through.
Rogue screamed out, racked with an orgasm, and she panted from Harry's efforts.
Harry stripped off the rest of her clothes, and flipped Rogue over on the bed,
and Harry moved down, with her legs spread from behind. The dark haired wizard
teased her from behind, stroking her.
"You're so wet," Harry whispered to Rogue. "Maybe I should plug that leak."
Rogue nodded, and Harry teased Rogue's opening with his member from behind her.
The girl's body felt like it was on fire, and Harry pushed his cock into her
tight opening. Rogue screamed, and Harry pumped into her, with slow and
deliberate strokes at first.
"Harry, fuck me like you mean it!" Rogue begged, and Harry's strokes sped up,
going in and out of her tight hole.
"You got it, I'm going to fuck you, and you're going to like it!" Harry yelled,
and he continued slam into her, pushing into her.
Rogue's pussy hugged his prick, and Harry pushed himself up, before slamming
his fleshy pole into her. He got himself off on her tight pussy, and his hands
found her breasts, finding them to be sensitive and responsive to his contact.
Harry slammed into her, pounding his thick meat into her tight hole.
"You want more?" Harry asked, his balls slapping against her thighs, and Rogue
clutched the sheets.
"Yes!" Rogue begged, clutching the bed sheets tightly in her hands.
Kitty got herself off, pumping more furiously. Her eyes were heavily lidded.
She nearly went intangible and slid through the bed. Harry was balls deep into
Rogue, and soon she would be fucked like that. Harry hammered into her, and
Kitty tried to match his motions, but he felt herself being driven to glorious
orgasm after glorious orgasm, she panted, and played with her nipples.
Rogue clutched the sheets, and whined, and moaned, feeling his expert work, his
prick pushed deep into her. Harry was driving into her, and he was fucking her
hard, harder than she could ever be imagined. Rogue felt the love, and the
pleasure that Harry pounding into her offered. Her mind was foggy, and this was
contact that was more intimate than ever before. Rogue had lost track of the
time.
Harry felt his balls tighten, and continued. "So tight…fucking you…cumming!"
Rogue barely had a chance to scream out, as her latest orgasm racked through
her body. The Southern Mutant fell down on the bed, and Harry unleashed a
steady amount of cum deep into her waiting pussy. Rogue was filled to the brim
with her lover's seed, and she collapsed, satisfied, at least for now.
"That was amazing," Rogue panted, eyes widened, and her body feeling warmth
from her head, down to the tips of the toes.
"Damn right it was," Kitty answered, and without warning, the moment Harry
pulled out, she tackled Harry's cock, putting it in her mouth, and slurping on
it, using her talented mouth to bring Harry back to full mast.
"Feels good, get me back up," Harry responded, with Kitty's mouth working on
him. "Such a good mouth, so warm, suck me, keep sucking me."
The sooner that she got Harry ready, the sooner that Kitty could have him stuff
his cock right into her willing and waiting pussy. There was a feeling between
her legs, and Kitty could hardly wait to have it inside her. She tingled with
desire, and could hardly wait what was to come. She spent a few minutes
slurping and tasting Harry's cock.
Then Kitty pushed herself back on the bed. Harry moaned at the loss, but Kitty
had already pushed herself out. Her slender body, B-Cup breasts, flat stomach,
and mouth-watering legs, along with her spread and wet pussy were out for him.
Kitty motioned towards Harry with a perfect "come fuck me" look in her eyes.
Harry obliged Kitty, and shoved his length deep into her, slamming his cock
into her tight body.
"How do you stay so tight?" Harry managed.
"Not sure, training, maybe," Kitty managed, as she laid back so Harry could
slam his cock into her tight body. Harry's cock shoved into her, its full
length pulsing in the inside. Kitty moved her hips up, matching his moments. It
always gave her a workout, as Harry had so much stamina, and might not burn
out.
Harry allowed himself to savor the moment. He had blown two loads with Rogue,
but was not the least bit tired, or done. Rogue remained on the bed, watching,
and playing with herself, just like Kitty had. Harry forced himself down into
her.
"Who does your pussy belong to?" Harry asked to her, eyes narrowed once he
looked at her.
"You Harry, all yours, keeping fucking me," Kitty moaned, and Harry speared
into her, his flesh pull stretching her insides.
Kitty felt Harry know his way around her body, and he knew what she liked.
Harry was careful to strike every pleasure point, not too fast, and not too
soon. She could be rendered into a pile of jelly by his actions, but Kitty
Pryde would be the happiest pile of jelly ever.
"Never stop fucking me, keep going," Kitty whined, her pussy clenching.
"Don't worry, like this pussy, like both of your pussies," Harry answered.
Kitty was determined to make Harry like her pussy a little bit more, and she
pushed back, before squeezing his cock, pushing her walls against him. Harry
managed to push back into her, and the two of them continued the dance, both of
their bodies drenched with sweat.
Rogue slammed her fingers into herself, eyes heavily lidded. Her heart thumped
against her chest, and the Southern goth had never thought she'd be turned on
by something like this. Then again, the passion Harry showed, it was hard not
to get turned on.
"Keep fucking me," Kitty whispered, locking her legs around Harry's waist, and
Harry pushed into her pussy.
"So tight, squeezing me, almost there," Harry whispered, and he sped up his
thrusts, preparing for the coming releases.
Harry did not slow down, and Kitty's eyes fluttered shut just a little bit.
Harry played with her nipples.
Harry came, Kitty came, and Rogue came by playing with herself. Kitty felt
herself get splattered full of the thickest cum she ever thought she would
know. It filled her up, and Harry had pumped into her, and she had pushed up
into him, milking him until both had seen stars after coming down from their
mutual orgasms.
Smut/Lemon Ends.
The three of them remained rather satisfied. There was really sometimes where
one had gotten pleasure, and there was really nothing to say. The three members
of the X-Men found that this was the best way to unwind after a long day of
battles. Some people might disagree, but it allowed them to focus, and get a
good night of sleep.
Harry remained with his arms around Kitty, with Rogue resting on his on other
side. The three of them did not need to say much, or feel compelled to move. In
case, they wanted to get a midnight snack, it would be best if they remained
close by, just in case.
===============================================================================
 
Mystique folded her arms, returning to the Brotherhood Boarding house. That
entire meeting could have gone rather better. The again, it had to be the X-Men
who showed up. Xavier would have never allowed her to reconnect with her
children. The Brotherhood showed up, and Mystique suspected that Quicksilver
had put them up to it, and Magneto had put Quicksilver up to it.
She wanted to punch a wall, or at least take her aggressions out on something.
Today did not go as planned, and very nearly she got caught. And the worst
thing of all was the fact that she was in the debt of Magneto, and that stung
the worst of all. That cut him immediately, and Mystique spun around, taking a
deep breath, before putting her hands through her hair.
The tapping echoed from outside, and Magneto arrived at this moment. Mystique
could barely look at Magneto, and there was a moment where the Master of
Magnetism responded.
"The X-Men once again humiliated your team," Magneto remarked in a crisp voice,
showing not one bit of empathy whatsoever to her plight.
Mystique clutched her fists, and glared forward, trying to keep her temper in
check, despite the situation. When the Brotherhood failed at something, they
somehow reverted back to being her team.
"It wasn't just the X-Men, it was one of them in particular," Mystique
answered, his eye completely on Mystique, and there was a moment where the two
mutants stared down at each other. "You do the know the one that we're talking
about, don't you?"
"I do know," Magneto replied, not even giving her a moment to speak. "You will
take a sabbatical from your role as the principal of Bayville High School, for
in three weeks, my plan come to light, for mutant kind."
Mystique had known the plan, and there was no need to speak about it. Magneto
had been preparing it, setting everything up, and smuggling the intended
equipment past the Earth defenses. Even SHIELD had been tricked, and that was
something that Magneto should have considered a feather in his cap.
Yet, the Master of Magnetism was not too pleased, for there were too many
unintended variables that had been thrown into the plan that threatened to
throw everything off kilter. One of them had been Harry Potter. Magneto still
thought that there was a potential for the boy for his revolution, although
that potential had not been realized. He seemed to be too fiercely independent
for his own good.
That fact in itself was a double edged sword. One hand, Potter was not going to
accept his word. On the other hand, Potter was not going to accept Xavier's
blind and wide eyed idealism. It was something where Magneto was just going to
wait, and see what happened, whilst he calculated the plan.
"The Brotherhood will need to step up their game if they hope to join this
revolution, and you will as well," Magneto replied to Mystique, and Mystique
leaned forward, gritting her teeth, and an incredulous expression flickering
through her eyes.
"Of course I will join this revolution," Mystique answered, unable to believe
that Magneto could state anything to the contrary.
Yet Magneto just leaned forward, and peered at Mystique from behind his helmet.
The tension between the two mutants could be cut with a knife.
"The only thing that is for certain is nothing is for certain, do remember
that, and don't grow complacent."
Mystique was left in the dust, and Magneto disappeared into the night, giving
the shape-shifter much to think about.
To Be Continued in "Old Wounds Part One."
***** Old Wounds Part One *****
Chapter 17: Old Wounds Part One.
It was the morning at the Xavier Institute, Sunday morning, quiet, and peaceful
all things considered, or at least what passed for quiet and peaceful. Kitty
sat herself down at the table, to draft her latest e-mail to her parents,
giving them all of the details of what has been going on at the Xavier
Institute. Well most of the details, there were a few of the more private bits
that Kitty had been leaving out, but she gave them the general overview of what
was going on her life.
A loud scream had brought Kitty out of her concentration, and ruined her focus,
causing the moment to be lost. Kurt had teleported out of nowhere. Scott and
Jean had arrived at that moment, and Rogue was right behind them. The chaotic
sounds of the morning echoed along with a combination of sounds. Kitty offered
a bit of a grimace, perhaps this was not the best time to attempt to draft some
kind of letter.
One could not blame the girl for trying, and, at that moment, Kitty tried to
move her letter writing to a more private venue. The living room was fine, and
Kitty had stopped at that moment, when Logan was watching something on the
television. There was news of a wild animal going through. Kitty could tell
that Logan was intent at what he was watching, and did not want to be
disturbed.
"Are you troubled, Logan?"
The voice of Professor Xavier cut through the air, and Logan spun around, but
he relaxed, completely on edge at that point.
"Yes, one could say I'm a bit troubled, Chuck, but do you blame me after what's
happened?" Logan asked him, and Xavier shook his head, no one could not blame
Logan for being the slightest bit frazzled, and he clutched his head, feeling
the buzz throughout his mind. Logan growled at the sensation he had felt. "It's
been happening for the past three days…now I've seen that place before."
"Could it be that your memories are coming back to focus?" Xavier asked, and
Logan just responded with a grunt, noncommittal.
Kitty walked off, before this conversation could go any further. Harry stepped
forward, and stood beside Kitty at that moment, startling her briefly, but the
brunette mutant recovered quickly.
"Oh, hey Harry, sorry if I'm not in the mood to chat right now, but I've got a
letter to type, to my parents, I'm so behind," Kitty answered, holding out the
laptop she had for emphasis Harry nodded in understanding.
"It's quite alright, I'm actually sneaking off in the confusion to have a
meeting with my stalker right now," Harry responded to Kitty, and Kitty just
tensed up at that moment, before she grabbed Harry's hands, tightening her
grip, and peering directly into his eyes.
"That's today?" Kitty asked, and Harry responded with a nod. "Well that's up to
you, but just…just don't get in over your head."
Harry placed his hands on his hips, and a winning smile on his lips, a warm
expression in his eyes once he looked at Kitty. "Come on now Kitty, when have I
ever got in over my head?"
Kitty was not going to dignify that comment with an answer, but she got on her
tip-toes, and gave Harry a kiss goodbye. She watched as Harry also exchanged a
goodbye with Rogue, before he slipped off to the mansion. He had learned a neat
trick where he could blend into his surroundings, practically becoming
invisible. Kitty had to admit, it was kind of useful for stealth, magic really
was cool when one really thought about it.
At that moment, Kitty really did need a private place to think, and what better
place to think would be out in the hanger, sitting in the back of the X-Jet.
Nothing could have gone wrong right there, and Kitty quickened her steps,
before reaching it.
Kitty pulled herself into the back of the hanger, and pulled out her laptop,
before she began to fight. Kurt popped up beside her before she could really
get going, and Kitty nearly elbowed him in the face.
"Sorry," Kitty replied, but her face crossed into a frown and her eyes looked
at Kurt, taking a moment to regain her bearings before she spoke. "But you
really shouldn't be teleporting behind people without warning them, because it
so totally freaks them out."
Kurt nodded, but he had some news that he needed to tell the brunette mutant.
"Logan is….well Logan wants you to know that we're skipping Danger Room
practice."
"Logan never cancels a Danger Room training session," Kitty replied, absolutely
flummoxed, and given how weird Logan had been acting this morning, Kitty
wondered if something was up. The brunette mutant racked it over in her mind,
over and over until she just shrugged her shoulders.
"I know weird, huh?" Kurt asked, and Kitty just offered a brief nod of her
head.
"Yeah, weird," Kitty agreed, and she placed her hands on her chin, preparing to
type, when suddenly, the X-Jet managed to take off, with both of them inside.
It had gotten off the ground, before any of them could react.
Kitty thought that she could phase through, but found out that would be too
risky, with the X-Jet off the ground. Kurt just looked through the window, and
saw Logan flying.
"He's a madman," Kurt remarked underneath his breath.
Kitty rolled her eyes. "Yeah, got that the moment where he took off the ground,
without buckling up, I mean healing factor or not, that's still kind of
reckless."
Logan turned around, and saw the two teenagers sitting in the back. His eyes
widened at that moment, and his teeth gritted, practically snarling at them.
"What are you doing here?" Logan snarled, but suddenly a ringing echoed through
his ear. Logan locked the door, his feral instincts returning, but the mutant
tried to suppress them, struggling and shutting his eyes, thinking that if he
did not see anything, there would be no potential targets attacked.
"He's fighting something, something painful," Kitty replied, trying to look
forward. "Maybe you can teleport us out of here…"
"Are you nuts, from this high up?" Kurt exclaimed, and he shuddered at the
sound.
"Okay, okay, fine, my powers can't get us out of this mess, your powers can't,
so…we're going to need some back up," Kitty remarked, finally catching her
breath, and whipping out her communicator. It was all about keeping cool under
pressure, and she tapped it, before activating it. "Um, Harry, hi, it's me, we
have a problem, get here is soon as you can."
Kitty tried hard not to freak out, but Logan's breathing was not something that
was normal. He continued to fly reckless, serving around in an erratic and
random matter.
"The way he's flying, I hope we don't crash," Kurt replied, and Kitty sat
rigid, hoping so as well, and hoped that Harry would answer soon, and soon
enough she got her wish.
===============================================================================
Nick Fury waited in the background of the meeting place, watched and tapped his
foot in an impatient matter. The SHIELD director took a long drag from the
cigarette that he was smoking. According to his watch, the mysterious Harry
Potter had agreed to a meeting, and he was close to being late. Fury waited and
watched, impatient, and he did not enjoy waiting for someone, but it turned out
he did not have to wait for long.
"I'm here, right on time, just as promised."
Fury paused, and looked forward, before his hands clutched at that moment. The
grizzled government agent took a step forward, and folded his arms, his voice
gruff. "I'd feel a lot better if I could see you."
"And I'd feel a lot better if there weren't a half a dozen SHIELD agents
waiting to nail me in the back of the head," Harry answered at that moment, and
there was a long pause, before both had stared each other down. Technically
Fury was staring in the general direction where Harry was, but the sentiment
was in fact there, and Fury still tried to gain some semblance of control.
"Very well, just who are you and where did you come from?" Fury demanded, and
he stepped forward. Fury was very much on edge, he did not like someone he
could not see, because that just left the government agent opened for some kind
of attack.
"As you well know, my name is Harry Potter, and I moved over from Britain, in
case you couldn't tell from my charming accent," Harry replied, and Fury
surveyed Harry at that moment.
"You came directly over from Britain?" Fury asked, not believing him for a
second.
Harry just paused, before he answered in a slightly casual tone of voice. "It
was a very long trip."
"I see, but how long is the question?" Fury asked, and there was a long moment
where both paused. Neither had really given the other that much information.
Both stared each other down, and they waited, watched, and just paused, Fury
getting more annoyed by the lack of answers. "Well?"
"It's a deep subject," Harry answered, and Fury looked at Harry, like he grew
two heads, or like he had finally gone insane. "Sorry, inside joke."
"Look kid, if I wanted some kind of comedy act, I'd hang around Spider-Man,"
Fury responded in a dry voice, and there was a moment where Harry just paused,
and snickered. "One day, I could find you, and we could have serious problems."
Harry just shuffled on his feet, and just responded with a slight smile that
crossed his face. Fury continued to stare intently towards the direct where he
thought Harry was, and both of them had really nothing to say right now. It was
an intense battle of wills, and while Harry was stubborn, so was Fury;
something had to give, but the real question was what. The two had their eyes
on each other, with Fury narrowing an eye on Harry and focusing on him.
"When you really think about this, I've done nothing more than come here, but
the real question is, how?" Harry asked, and Fury just responded with a nod.
"That's the problem, no one pops up, not without a reason," Fury answered, and
he stepped forward towards Harry. "So how did you do it?"
Harry responded with a smirk, even though Fury could not see it. It was the
principal of the matter.
"Fury, I've given you some information, basic details, have fun trying to
figure it out, the folder is right there on that box," Harry responded, and the
box glowed to give Fury a sign, since Harry was not about to give up his exact
location to Fury.
Fury took a step forward, and grabbed the folder, flipping over the
information. A shadow of a smile crossed his face, and he flipped through the
information, just vowing to study it at his next possible opportunity until he
could verify the validity of it, which he had doubts on. Fury took a look at
the boy's grades in school, and realized that he was not stupid, even if the
grades of Harry Potter was not the most stellar in the world.
Harry Potter had promised to give Fury information, but never once promised
accurate information would be given.
"So this is what you're going to give me?" Fury asked, taking a threatening
step towards where he perceived the voice to be.
"Did you expect a full account of my life, and my goals?" Harry retorted, and
once again his voice held a tiny hint of a taunt. "No trust me Fury, I'm not
going to give you something like that, not that easy. It's something that you
got to earn, and perhaps I may trust you with more information. Who knows,
maybe we'll work together."
"Maybe," Fury answered, and he cracked his knuckles in a knowing manner. The
truth was if he was skilled, and on the level, perhaps Fury might have a place
for this young man in the future, or at the very least, he could work together.
"We're just going to have to wait and see what happens."
"Yes, we shall," Harry answered, and there was a brief pop, where Fury
understood that Potter had left.
Containing someone like Harry was going to be a headache. That was the fact of
the matter, but Fury had to take this information. He would continue his watch
of Harry, and hoped for another hint. Perhaps Fury needed to go for more
unconventional methods, and it was at this point where he walked off.
Harry stepped out, hoping that would get Fury off of his back. He doubted it
however, the man seemed determined, and rather tough to shake. His communicator
went off, and Harry answered it at this moment.
"Yes, what is it?" Harry asked, to the person on the other side.
It was Kitty's voice that answered. "Um, Harry, hi, we might have a little
problem."
"What kind of problem?" Harry asked, feeling a sense of impending doom.
There was a loud growl and Kurt's voice chimed in at that moment. "Um, yeah, it
would be a problem like that Harry."
'Of course it was,'Harry thought to himself, and he shook his head, before
taking charge of the situation.
"Just try and keep calm, and stick by, I'll track you, and get there as soon as
I can," Harry answered, and he tried to figure out how to track them through
the communicator. Harry was still a bit rusty with the technology aspect, but
he managed to find a way to track, and once he tracked, he could get there.
One of his girlfriends, and one of his teammates were in trouble, but there was
something wrong with Logan, and Harry was determined to find out what, moving
towards the location quick as his feet could carry him.
===============================================================================
Trying to fly a plane, along with keeping one's head about themselves was
extremely hard, but that's what Logan tried to do. Yet, he was losing himself
and his mind to everything else, to the beast within side. Wolverine was a name
that was very appropriate right now, and he tried to fight it, yet the beast
within would not allow him to fight.
He struggled, the will power he suffered. Logan rubbed his temples, and
immediately, the plane was going down. He felt compelled to land it. Why here,
in the middle of nowhere, he had no clear idea? Logan landed the plan, and
jumped out the windows. His head continued to ring, and his claws popped out,
whilst he stalked into the woods, feral and mean.
Carefully, Kitty popped her head out of the plane, and landed on the ground.
Kurt followed her with a pop, teleporting into the scene, and let out the
breath he had been holding.
"I don't think that's normal, not even for Logan," Kurt remarked, eyes widened
when he watched Logan stalk forward. Kitty just took a step forward, and knew
that Harry would be here at any minute, now that they were stationary. All
Kitty had to do was wait, and be patient. Something that was a virtue for her,
but suddenly, her heart thumped across her ribcage.
Kitty stopped, and stared. She did not have the super heightened senses that
Logan did, or the ability to sense trouble that Harry did, but one did not need
to when the noises that were being made in the woods, were made. They were in
the wilderness, and very prone to anything.
"What was that?" Kurt asked, taking a step back, and nearly jumping in a
frightful manner. Kitty shook her head, and took a deep breath.
"I don't know, but something tells me that it isn't big foot," Kitty responded,
and she looked forward.
There was no noise at the moment, but that did not relax Kitty at the
slightest. In fact, if something was too quiet, that was just going to make her
a bit more nervous. The brunette mutant took a few steps forward, and waited
for the other shoe to drop. Harry should be turning up at any moment.
The problem was that the figure that swooped down next to them was not Harry at
all. Then they heard the growls suddenly. Kurt just barely teleported out of
the way, when Wolverine charged them, claws popped up. Kitty sunk down in the
ground, and Logan stumbled around, shaking his head, growling, and slashing at
the air out of his feral, most base instincts.
"Get out of here!" Logan demanded, trying to not hurt the children.
Harry flew through the air, and Logan dodged his attempt to attack. The dark
haired wizard flew around, circling Logan, and the mutant tried to stab at him
with the claws. Harry created a shield around him, Kitty and Kurt, managing to
block Logan from gutting the entire lot of them.
"Logan, just snap out of it!" Harry yelled, trying to get through to him. "I
don't want to hurt you but…if I have to, I will."
Harry flicked his hand, and Logan felt a ringing go through his ears, that was
not like the other ringing. He moved away, for his hearing was super sensitive,
and he growled at that moment, before moving away, crashing into the woods.
"We got him off of our backs, now we need to figure out what went wrong with
him," Harry replied, taking a deep breath, and Kitty sighed in relief.
"Logan's never acted like this before," Kitty responded, and Harry just gripped
her hand.
"Yeah, but it's likely a side of him he would prefer that none of us sees at
any given time," Harry responded, trying to figure out what he was going on
against. "Was there anything that either of you saw that could have pointed
towards why Logan was acting like this?"
"Unless you count the news broadcast Logan watched this morning, it kind of
made him act weird," Kitty said, and Harry just understood everything right
now. "Do you think…"
"I think someone might have lured Logan here, yes," Harry responded, and there
was a moment where he paused, before peering out to the woods, and figuring out
his next move.
Harry managed to slip a tracking spell on Logan, but his instincts kept him
moving, never staying in the same place more than once. This fact made
everything much more problematic, and Harry just mentally prepared himself for
what had to be done. Slowly, he turned to Kitty and Kurt.
"You two got your communicators, still, right?" Harry asked them, and Kitty and
Kurt responded with two brief nods. "Use the communicators if you see anything,
and stay on the path. I'm going to see if I can figure out who is doing this to
Logan."
Harry had left no room for argument, making sure his communicator was secure.
There were any number of spells to subdue Logan, but it would not solve the
problem of who was doing this to him. That was something that Harry would have
to find, and he had a feeling if he would have seen some kind of settlement, he
might be getting that much closer.
There was no time to delay, Harry had to focus on the task at hand, and looked
over his shoulder, to make sure Kitty and Kurt were safe on the path. His first
instinct was to get them back to the Institute, but it might have been useful
to have a little bit of backup.
Harry sensed that there was something, or someone out there that should not be.
The problem was finding out who, and now tracking down Logan. Who as Harry
noticed, was very close to his current location.
The dark haired wizard had to keep moving, and so he did.
===============================================================================
Doctor Abraham Cornelius watched as his property moved closer, just as he had
been lured. The doctor was part of the Weapon X project years ago, that had
created the weapon known as Wolverine. He had worked for a higher backer,
someone who paid him big bucks to use these mutants as weapons. The project had
been mostly shut down, but the backer had returned with more interest, and
there was time for one more round with these mutants.
Cornelius tapped his fingers, and clicked his pen. The fact of the matter was
that everything had gone smoothly, a bit too smoothly come to think about it.
He had allowed the news report, hoping that would trigger Logan, and lure the
Wolverine to him. Then once Logan was in range, he could activate the implant
that was in his head. He marveled at the technology that had been created, and
would be used to condition the weapon, the weapons, for their intended goal.
They had deviated a bit, but now that Cornelius was back in business, he was
ready.
"I trust you have reclaimed the asset," a voice stated from over the other end
of the line, garbled and unable to make out.
"Yes, sir, both of them are en route here, Sabertooth has been dispatched into
the woods as we speak," Cornelius replied, and the man on the other end of the
line had remained silence, before he spoke.
"Just make sure both weapons are in one piece. Leshnerr and Xavier have not
spotted the implants in the minds of either of their pets, which makes it all
the better. All will bow before the supreme rulers of the world. Heil HYDRA."
"Yes, heil HYDRA," Cornelius replied in a swift voice, and the call was
disconnected in a matter of moments. That allowed the scientist to continue to
go forward, and continue to monitor his weapon. "Yes, Logan, you are quite a
marvel. You make it worth every dime I have invested in you, and soon you will
be right before my feet. Just think, the magnificent Wolverine right at my
fingertips. You got away once my friend, but now I have you."
Cornelius spotted something peculiar at that moment, and his eyes snapped
towards the view screen. He saw Wolverine, and he spotted Sabertooth, but there
were three other guest, and they were not invited to this party. Two of the
guests remained stationary on the path leading to the woods, so they were not
an immediate threat, even though Cornelius could send Sabertooth and Wolverine
to take them out immediately. The third guest was on the move and Cornelius had
to admit his resourcefulness.
He very nearly eluded tracking, and kept a few steps ahead of everything.
Whoever this young man was, he was smart enough to stay three or four steps
ahead of any scientific equipment that could track him. Cornelius wondered how
anyone could move so fast, but he would allow himself to get some more
professional help.
Well professional might not have been the correct word to use to describe this
particular individual, but qualified would be a better word. Never the less, he
could get the job done, for the most part.
"I require your assistance," Cornelius said, and sure enough the assistance was
granted when a figure approached in the shadows.
"You rang, Abe, my boy!"
"Yes, I did, there is someone in the woods who could pose a threat," Cornelius
replied, use to the eccentric behavior of this particular individual by this
point.
The individual in the shadows offered a gasp of mock surprise, shock, and awe.
"You mean to tell me that there are some nefarious doings that are countering
your nefarious doings. Well, isn't that a kick in the pants."
"I need you to find out who this threat is, and neutralize him immediately,"
Cornelius replied, not really missing a beat, but knowing that he had to deal
with a potential wildcard. If his plans for Sabertooth and Wolverine, along
with the plans of his employers, would go without a hitch, he would need to
trusty this man.
"I'm on it, don't worry, Abe, we're going to have a lot of fun in the woods
tonight."
"Just make sure you get the job done," Cornelius remarked, and the man just
acted like he was outraged.
"I always get the job done, in a fashion. I mean, who do you think I am, some
Johnny come lately, fly by night act? Just put me in coach, and I'll take care
of the boy who lived to have his name be hyphenated in no time flat."
"I'm trusting you on this, Wilson, don't disappoint me," Cornelius said, but
the man had just disappeared, and the Project Weapon X doctor resumed his
tracking of Wolverine and Sabertooth. The two other guests were near on the
path, and he offered them a suitable reception.
"Of course, there's no need to fear, Deadpool is here!"
A malicious expression spread over his face at that moment, and Cornelius amped
up the volume on the implants, to make sure his little pets obeyed their
master's orders.
===============================================================================
Harry remained in the woods, and if he was honest, there was only a slight bit
of intimidation to him. Intimidation was something that should not be concerned
with fear, for Harry had entered the Forbidden Forest in Hogwarts many times,
and lived to tell the tale. However, there was just something about the
unknown, and the uncertainty that made Harry stand up, and take notice, prepare
himself for anything.
The words constant vigilance rang in his mind.
There was a slight thump, and Harry held his hand, scanning the woods for any
signs of life.
So far, there was nothing, at least nothing of value.
Yet, Harry did not ease up on what he was looking for. There was many times
where Harry wanted to be alert, and there were instances where he knew the
dangers of letting one's guard down. Moody, the fake one at least, drilled that
into their head, and while the man was an imposter, he spoke wisdom. Harry took
a swift step forward, ready to engage anyone who had showed up.
Another thump, and Harry had sent a spell through the trees, but it had not
connected with anything. Harry thought about calling out for Logan, but
realized the sheer potential danger that invited. He wanted to retain somewhat
of an element of surprise, even though it would be difficult to. The mutant
slipped into the woods, and Harry had a feeling that he was just biding his
time.
The time had been bided well, and Harry felt his heart thump against the side
of his chest. Time ticked on once again, and a growl could be heard. It could
have been a wild animal, or it could have been the person Harry was looking
for.
He was not going to take any chances, and Harry looked forward, when he saw a
figure move forward in the shadows. It was not Logan, which made Harry even
more inclined to blast him. A jet of purple light was sent into the shadows,
but the figure just dodged with skill, and determination. The movements of the
figure were random and helter-skelter, and Harry noticed that he would have to
focus extra hard to pick up a pattern.
"Be careful with that thing, you'll shoot your eye out kid!"
"Just who are you?" Harry asked, but he saw the figure step forward. He wore a
full red and black bodysuit with a mask, and he had two guns on either holster,
along with a pair of swords in his hands.
"Don't you read the Internet, kid?"
Harry wondered what this would have had to do with anything. He looked over his
shoulder, and waited.
"Since you asked so nicely, I'm the Man with the Plan, whose name isn't Stan,
Lee or otherwise. I am the one and only, Merc with the Mouth, the one, the
only, Deadpool!"
Harry just stood in the shadows, and just looked at him, unimpressed, and
shaking his head. It was at this point where Harry was trying to figure out
whether this Deadpool was a threat, or a nuisance.
"Not even a comment, not even one, really?" Deadpool asked, and suddenly the
Merc with the Mouth turned his head a half of an inch to the side. "Can you
believe this kid? I really think that he's unbelievable."
Harry began to perform scanning spells, as it was obvious Deadpool was talking
to someone. So he had hidden enemies somewhere, but the question was where? The
Boy-Who-Lived tried every scanning spell that he had picked up, but there was
nothing, other than a few squirrels.
"You know, we're just sitting here, shooting the breeze, but I think we're
supposed to fight now," Deadpool remarked, and without warning, he shot Harry.
Harry blocked the bullets with a spell and fired him back. Deadpool was struck
hard, and he staggered. "Oh dear, woe is me, cut down in the prime of my life,
oh the agony of it all, oh the pain, oh the suffering, oh and all of the fried
chicken."
Deadpool shrugged it off, and leapt at Harry. Harry dodged Deadpool at that
moment, and the two of them circled each other. Deadpool's sword was blown to
bits.
"Hey, I went all the way to Japan, and had that custom made from a part of a
soul of a long dead Samurai!" Deadpool shouted in an indignant voice, and Harry
tried to blast him again. Deadpool stopped. "No, wait, I bought it off of EBay
for thirty dollars, but the other story just sounds so much better."
Harry really had no idea who this guy was, and Deadpool teleported himself out
of the way. Harry spun around and turned his daggers into harmless paper
airplanes. The dark haired wizard stepped forward, and used every spell that he
could think of, but Deadpool seemed to not be there.
He could not pick out a fighting pattern.
Did this guy even have any kind of defined fighting pattern?
"So, you're starting a harem, are you?" Deadpool asked casually, and he dodged
an attack from Harry, who refused to answer. He just wanted this guy to shut
up, and fast. "Hey, I sympathize with your ambition kid, I've had a few harems
in my time too."
Deadpool ducked another attack, and pulled out another gun, trying to get
Harry, but it blew up in his face, and knocked him back. With a swift motion,
Deadpool sprang up to his feet.
"No, that's actually all of the dead nuns I keep in my basement, I tend to get
the two mixed up."
"Do you ever shut up?" Harry asked, trying to use a silencing charm on
Deadpool, just so he could focus on a way to kill him.
"No, don't sew my mouth shut, people hate that when I don't talk," Deadpool
said in a mock dramatic voice. The Merc with the Mouth continued to dodge and
duck. "Can't touch this!"
Harry conjured flaming spikes, but Deadpool screamed and dodged out of the way.
"Hey, careful with those things, you're going to kill someone with those
things, likely me!" Deadpool shouted, shaking his fist at Harry, and waggling
his finger at him like a stern parent.
"Why won't you go down?" Harry demanded, and Deadpool just raised his hands,
and shrugged his shoulders.
"Hey, if I go down in one spell, it wouldn't be that entertaining, now would
it?" Deadpool asked in a nonchalant voice, before he tried to attack Harry.
Deadpool knocked Harry off to the side, and the Merc with the Mouth was blasted
hard.
'Ah, he's pulling out the big guns,'Deadpool thought.
"Why are you attacking me anyway?" Harry said through gritted teeth, sending
another spell, which Deadpool dodged.
The mercenary just rolled his eyes at Harry, and stated in a matter of fact
voice. "Well, for the lolz mostly, and because I need to distract you so
Sabertooth and Wolverine can run amuck and tear your little friends to
ribbons."
Harry was not impressed with that, and he tried to go in.
"No, you can't stop now!" Deadpool yelled, and he sent flash powder at Harry.
"You know, there are fifteen different ways to kill me, seven of them involving
rabid rabies infested gophers, but that wouldn't be fun or dramatic, even if it
would make a lot of sense."
Deadpool jumped forward, and threw himself at Harry. Harry momentarily was
knocked to the side, where he hung onto the edge of the cliff, his legs
kicking.
"Now, that's a good spot for a Cliffhanger!" Deadpool cheered as Harry hung
from the cliff, just about to pull himself back up.
***** Old Wounds Part Two *****
Chapter 18: Old Wounds Part Two.
For a normal person, hanging over the side of a cliff, about ready to plummet
to their demise, it would be a bit of a problem, but Harry Potter was not most
people, far from it. There was just one simple thing that made him able to get
back up, and back into the battle rather quickly, as he gained flight velocity,
and smacked Deadpool hard, knocking him backwards.
Harry was back firmly on his feet, and Deadpool staggered backwards, trying to
regain his footing, with the Merc with the Mouth dodging another attack. The
young mutant continued to move forward, attacking, and sending spell after
spell towards him.
"Man, I liked you better when you were with the hot blonde alien chick,"
Deadpool remarked, and there was a moment where Harry did not say anything, by
this point he had learned to block Deadpool's words, as inane as they were, out
of his mind. He kept firing back, dodging and ducking, pivoting and spinning,
and he rushed forward, with Harry not backing down not for an instant.
For if Harry backed down, Harry would suffer for this, and the dark haired
wizard understood that much for sure. The dark haired wizard blasted him, but
Deadpool spun around, before dropping to his knees, and raising his hands for
the universal sign of begging off, when he screamed.
"What did you send at me?" Deadpool screamed, shooting the rodents that had
been transfigured from the rocks.
"Rabid gophers," Harry responded in a dead pan voice, without missing a beat,
and he moved in, before going after Deadpool, before pushing him back, but the
Merc with the Mouth teleported out of the way, and landed behind Harry. The two
circled each other, but there was a loud crash and a growl.
Sabertooth arrived from one side of the forest, crashing through the woods, and
landed on the ground, cracking, a feral growl echoing from his lips. From the
other side of the clearing, Wolverine sliced through the leaves, and turned
towards them. Both of them stood on either side, stalking them, and snarling at
them, their sense of smell heightened, with Deadpool slowly turning his
attention towards Harry.
"So, Harry, I was thinking…"
"What were you thinking?" Harry asked, almost afraid of what Deadpool had on
his mind, because in Harry's experience there was only one conclusion that
could be made. This man was completely and utterly nutters beyond anything
Harry had ever known."
"I was thinking we should work together against these guys," Deadpool started,
and Wolverine dove at him, trying to claw his face out, but Deadpool blocked
his claws with a sword, before pushing him back. "Back you swine, back I say!"
"Work together with you?" Harry asked, sounding out each word slowly, and not
really believing what was said. "You must be kidding."
Deadpool winced, and was nearly sliced into ribbons, he had enough scars on his
body without this lot adding to it. The Merc with the Mouth backed off, trying
to take a deep breath, and bent his knees, before blinking his eyes. He had a
resolved look underneath his mask, even though one could not see him due to the
mask.
"Come on, that's just how all of these things go between two super heroes, we
meet, and fight each other for a while, and eventually we decide to work
together. It is in the handbook, surely you've got your copy?"
Harry really wondered about this guy sometimes, but he had no time to think
about Deadpool and his insanity, for here was Sabertooth. Sabertooth was
blasted into the air, flying backwards, crashing through several branches, and
landed hard to the ground. Harry stood on his feet, and Sabertooth was once
again ready to fight, with Harry cursing the durability of both of these
beasts, deciding to step up his attack.
"So, what do you say?" Deadpool asked to Harry, trying to gauge his reaction,
and Harry just decided to work together with him, given that he seemed to know
more about this. "Because, I think I'm being sold up the river by good ol'
dishonest Abe in there."
"Who is Dishonest Abe?" Harry asked, and he tried to use a sonic spell to
rattle Wolverine, and the mutant staggered around, before dropping to his
knees. The clawed mutant gave a primal scream, but Harry reflected him back,
turning around, slashing, and firing back at Wolverine with his magic.
"I'll throw down some needless exposition later, if we get out of this alive,
just stick around," Deadpool answered at that moment, and there was a moment
where Deadpool grabbed his guns, before he fired him. "Don't know why I'm doing
this, maybe you can magically amplify my bullets to actually break through the
healing factor. I know, nutty and off the wall but…."
"It just might work," Harry snapped back, before waving his hand and Deadpools
guns glow, before he fired, catching Sabertooth, staggering back, and running
off. Wolverine moved off the other direction, and Harry's legs buckled, before
he adjusted his stance.
"That was almost too easy," Deadpool remarked, and Harry's eyes snapped towards
the face of Deadpool, trying to take a good and long look at him; just trying
to figure out what his major malfunction was.
"Easy, really, I think you might need to revise your definition of easy."
"No, I mean those two are not going to go down without a fight," Deadpool said,
and slapped his hand down on the side of his desk. There was a moment where the
Merc from the Mouth stood by, and Harry grabbed the communication device,
firing it up, and with another motion, put it up to his ear.
"Kitty, are you there?" Harry asked to her over the communication link, but
there was a moment where he tapped on it. "Kitty, hello, give me a sign…"
There was a moment where Harry stood there, and took a deep breath, before
closing his eyes, knowing that if Kitty was not answering, then something would
have happened. Harry tried to focus on any sounds, isolating them, before he
closed his eyes, and with another effort popped to the closest sound, leaving
Deadpool standing there, whistling.
"I guess he doesn't need my help, oh well, that was fun," Deadpool replied,
walking over, and reaching into a clearing of bushes, before pulling out
explosive devices, and he began to whistle a merry tune, practically skipping
as he did. "Time to let ol' Abe know the price of trying to double cross
Deadpool."
Deadpool hummed the theme to the Golden Girls as he prepared to get himself
some good old fashioned revenge.
===============================================================================
Kitty found that her communicator device was given off a lot of static when she
was frantically trying to get it to work, slamming her hand on it, trying to
get it to work. The brunette mutant found herself getting more and more
hysterical by each passing moment, and she took a deep breath, trying to figure
out where she would go from here. Kurt stood on the path, eyes widening at the
sounds he heard, and he reached over, really tugging Kitty by the sleeve,
causing her to spin around, eyes snapping open and wide at the moment.
"What, Kurt?" Kitty asked, snapping, but then she realized what happened, when
she saw the two charging them in the clearing. It was Sabertooth and Wolverine,
standing together, and rushing forward them. Kitty went through the ground, and
Kurt teleported out of the way, avoiding the attacks of the two mutants.
"Sabertooth, Wolverine, this isn't right, those two are mortal enemies."
"Yeah ours," Kurt gasped, trying to get out of the way, but Sabertooth rushed
Kurt, trying to grab him, claws extended and teeth bared. Kurt teleported out
of the way, dodged the attack with expert precision, and landed on the back of
his head; with Sabertooth grabbing him, but Kurt avoided it.
The attack was avoided again and again, with Kurt trying to get Sabertooth into
a compromising position where he could be easily defeated. Kitty was having her
own problems, and Wolverine charged the brunette mutant, sadistic intentions in
his eyes. Kitty took a deep breath, waiting for Wolverine to go after her,
waiting for the attack, and she just barely became intangible at that moment.
"Logan, snap out of it!" Kitty yelled suddenly, and Logan just stopped at that
moment, his eyes glossing over, before his teeth gritted, and he stepped back,
staring at Kitty. "Whoever this is, it isn't you, just…"
"Get out, now before…argh!"
Logan was bombarded by unbearable pain in his cerebral cortex, with the mutant
moving around, swinging his arms, and slashing his claws in mid-air. The
mutant's eyes were glazed over, and Kitty took a step back, watching in horror
as Logan's face contorted into an angry, nearly scary scowl. The best way to
describe his face would be that of a slasher smile, and his claws being out
indicated that was what he intended to do.
Kitty knew when it was time to duck, and like a corkscrew, Harry flew through
the air, blasting Logan with another sonic vibration spell once again, rattling
him, and it also appeared to cause havoc with whatever was controlling him.
"Kurt's fighting Sabertooth off in the woods, go help him," Kitty managed, and
Harry nodded, hearing the sounds of Kurt teleporting out of the way.
Harry saw that Sabertooth was under some kind of control as well, although it
was obviously less strong than Logan's, and the creature liked what he was
being told to do, relishing at the chance to rip, tear, and shred anyone to
pieces that got in his way. The dark haired wizard picked his spots wisely,
staring in the woods, and then he understood what was going to do.
With a swift motion, Harry fired a spell that caused Sabertooth's vision to be
rattled by sensations that caused him to nearly go blind. Sabertooth staggered
around, clutched his eyes and staggered from side to side, smashing into the
trees. Suddenly, he jumped into the air, and reported back to the lab.
"Are you alright?" Harry asked, Kurt, and Kurt nodded, trying to regain some
degree of sense and coherency.
"Yeah, who doesn't enjoy getting killed several times a day," Kurt answered
breathlessly, but he took it in stride, and several breaths later, the fuzzy
mutant climbed himself up to a standing position; where Kurt had shaken the
cobwebs loose.
It was a moment later that Kitty had rushed forward, frantically breathing, and
shaking her head. Harry grabbed her around the waist, and held her steady,
giving Kitty a chance to calm herself, before Kurt had chimed in with the
question that was the most likely to be asked.
"So where is Logan?" Kurt asked, and Kitty's eyes snapped towards Kurt, her
pupils wide, and she tried to regain her bearings. Harry pulled her in tightly,
before Kitty got over her nerves, and began to speak.
"I don't really know," Kitty replied, waving her hands in an apologetic matter,
and taking a moment to regain her bearings, even if this was a situation that
was taxing her nerves today. Then again, she was in good company. "He managed
to run away, and he went that way."
"Right, of course he went that way," Harry answered, taking a moment to try and
pick out the tracking charm that he placed on Logan. "He's going right to the
source, while he still has some kind of bearings to himself."
Kurt nodded his head, but Kitty chimed in with the obvious observation, her
frown crossing over the face. "You know that there is some kind of implant in
Logan's head, and it's making him act…well you know kind of off."
Harry and Kurt both nodded, this did not escape their notice, and Harry was
making plans to try and deal with the implant, without cooking Logan's brains.
The problem was that kind of technology was something that Harry was not
comfortable with messing with; unless of course he was completely sure, and
knew that such a thing could not be screwed up without any consequences.
The three mutants moved around, carefully sticking to the shadows as they
tracked, and Harry activated the tracking spell. Despite the fact that tracking
spells could be very imprecise, and have a slight margin for error depending on
how fast the target was moving; but it was better than nothing, so the three
mutants moved off.
Little did they know that Deadpool was also getting into position, and the Merc
with the Mouth was going to make things rather interesting, not to mention
explosive.
===============================================================================
Cornelius tapped his fingers on the console, and a blip echoed on the screen,
getting closer and closer, with the mad scientist knowing that one of his pets
were coming. One of the properties had moved in closer to the lab, and
Cornelius placed his hands down, with the door being cut up.
The morally depraved scientist spun around, coming face to face with Wolverine,
with all of his fury, and all of his bloodlust. Cornelius tapped his fingers on
the edge of the console, and Wolverine stepped forward, moving and making
strides.
"You!" Wolverine growled, spit flying from his mouth, but the doctor was not
afraid, he was in control, and he picked up a remote control device, before
twisting a knob, moving the setting up from a five to a six.
"You're not in control, not this time Logan," Cornelius stated, a smug
expression on his face, and he continued to torment Wolverine, just twisting,
but he tried to reach forward, another twist of the knob. "Your little friends
are outside, I want them dealt with. Do you hear me, you mongrel, I want them
dealt with?"
Wolverine snarled, before pushing his claws out, and tried to stab Cornelius,
but the knob was twisted again, while Kitty poked her head through the door to
check if the coast was clear. When the coast was clear, Kurt teleported in, and
tried to make a mad snatch for the remote control that was controlling
Wolverine.
An explosion rattled outside of the lab, and caused everyone to stagger, with
Kitty and Harry popping in. Harry summoned the remote control away from
Cornelius, and Wolverine staggered around, growling, and snarling, but suddenly
another explosion rattled them.
"Who is doing this?" Kitty demanded, shaking her head, and trying to regain
some semblance of herself, but the door cracked up, and Sabertooth flew in,
being knocked down, with Deadpool entering at that moment. Harry braced himself
for more trouble, but Deadpool reached over, and grabbed the form of Doctor
Cornelius.
"Thought you could double cross me, didn't you?" Deadpool asked, and he shoved
Cornelius into the wall. The doctor cracked against the wall, and Deadpool
stood over him, walking each and every step of the way, a cracked grin
appearing underneath his face. "Abe, I tell you, you're not going to double
cross me right then…"
"I made you, Wilson, I made you!" Cornelius yelled.
"No, that was Mr. and Mrs. Deadpool, and a couple of bottles of Jack, behind a
Porno theater, but that's beside the point," Deadpool answered, shaking his
head, and Harry just waited, the remote control device in his hand, with Kurt
reaching over, and tugging on his sleeve. Harry spun around, inclining his
eyebrow at that moment, and then Kurt just cleared his throat a bit.
"So…um do you think we should get involved?"
It was Kitty who chimed in with an answer, rolling her eyes at this point, and
seeing Wolverine slowly come too. "No, I want to see how this pans out, I don't
know about you, Harry."
"Yeah, let's just wait and see," Harry agreed, standing with the remote control
in one hand, and his hand on his hip, before watching the situation. Wolverine
growled, and Harry managed to figure out the device, toning it down just enough
not to overwhelm Wolverine.
Logan placed one hand to his forehead, snarling, and growling, but it was less
pronounced, and less prominent. Harry took a tentative step forward, and
decided to break the silence, with Logan just gritting his teeth at that
moment. "So…we're back to normal."
"Yeah, if you want to call it that," Logan growled, and he staggered, a bit
cross eyed, but he turned to them. "You kids better get out of here, it's going
to get really messy, really quick."
"What, and miss the show?" Harry asked, but he noticed that Deadpool was still
slapping Cornelius around, almost as if he was stalling for dramatic effect.
Logan's eyes narrowed at this point, and Kurt, Kitty, and Harry took a few
steps back, before Logan walked forward, grabbing the Merc with the Mouth
around the wrist.
"One side, Wilson," Logan growled, and Wade Wilson stepped back, Deadpool's
expression somehow becoming prominent underneath his mask, and he turned to
Logan, just nodding, understanding that someone is going to get it. Logan then
turned around to Cornelius, and backed him into the corner. "It's just you and
me now…"
"I helped make you, I made you who you are today, I helped make you…."
Logan grabbed Cornelius around the wrist, when suddenly another explosion had
rattled every single person inside the lab, and Cornelius just smiled, a
sadistic expression curling around his lip. The mutant popped his claws, but
stopped short of gutting him, morbid curiosity getting the better of him.
"What are you smiling about?" Logan demanded, and it was at this point where
Cornelius responded in his own way, a grin cracking over his face.
"You're not going to get out of here, not that easily, not without this entire
lab blowing up over your…"
Logan heard just about enough, and Cornelius gave a pained grunt, slumping to
the ground, blood dripping from his stomach, pulling his blood stained claws
about of his stomach. This was the same doctor who had turned him into a living
weapon, so Logan found his sympathy in limited supply.
"Project Weapon X is terminated," Logan growled, allowing the doctor to slump
to the ground, and the blood splattered on the floor.
With a pained grimace, Logan staggered, his eyes flickering in and out, before
Harry used a spell to slow his descent, and then he turned around to the other
two members of the X-Men, using a spell to slow the explosion, just long enough
where they could teleport Logan out, and get their way to the X-Jet.
Whether Sabertooth actually managed to get out, or had perished in the
explosion that was not something they would be concerned about right now. Logan
eventually passed completely out on their way to the X-Jet, with his knees
slumping to the ground. Lighting cracked through the sky, with raining dropping
down from the sky, but they loaded Logan onto the jet. Harry sat himself down
on the Jet.
"Can you fly it?" Kitty asked him, looking at him with impassive eyes, but
Harry just shrugged in response.
"First time for everything, I guess," Harry answered, he had been trying to
pick up some pointers.
As it turned out, he did more than okay. Deadpool just watched them leave,
nodding, before walking into the shadows. He stopped, turned his head, and
began to speak to no one in particular in his usual insane manner.
"You might have won this round, but I may or may not be returning, at some
undetermined point in the future, I don't really know, it depends."
Deadpool disappeared into the night, as the team sprinted Logan all the way
back to the Xavier Institute, and the Weapon X facility burned to the ground
all around them.
===============================================================================
With a pained growl, Logan sat up, and it took him over a few minutes to
realize that he had been in a bed. The last thing he remembered, the entire
Weapon X facility was blowing up around his ears, and he was there with Arcane,
Nightcrawler, and Shadowcat, with no idea if they had gotten out alive.
Logan settled himself, and tried to calm himself down, just in time to see
Professor Xavier wheeling into the room, with a relieved expression in his
back.
"Good you have to back, Logan," Xavier responded, breaking the tension in the
air, and he wheeled up to the bed.
"Wish it was good to be back, but it feels like the Juggernaut decided to use
my head as a super ball," Logan grumbled, shaking his head, and he slumped back
onto the pillows, barely able to move his head. "Did they get back alright?"
"Yes, fine, not even a scratch on any of them, but we were very fortunate not
to lose you, thanks to that implant that had been put in your head," Xavier
responded, and Logan's eyes snapped towards him, his expression demanding more
information, and Xavier was prompt to give more information. "The implant has
been removed, and we tried to trace the signal back, but with the facility
blown up, it appears that we can't trace back much of anything. Although I feel
that this Weapon X may not have been working alone."
"So you think there is some higher power?" Logan asked, and Xavier responded
with a swift nod. The mutant just responded with a grumbling, "Great."
"It seems as if it was a mystery that will have to wait for another day, but I
will inform the other students that you were out of the rooms," Xavier
responded, and Logan's eyes spun around. "Harry has taken over your normal
Danger Rooms sessions, and I must say, he has a certain knack for teaching. It
is almost like he was done this before."
"Maybe he has," Logan said thoughtfully, and Xavier allowed Logan a moment to
get piece. "Tell them all that I'll be back, and worse than ever in a couple of
days. We're going to make up for lost time."
"I'm sure they'll be relieved to see that you are back on your feet, and ready
to go, old friend," Xavier responded, and he turned around, wheeling out of the
room. Just as Xavier left, it was Harry who walked in.
"So, I heard you picked up the slack," Logan remarked.
"I guess you're back to your old jovial self," Harry answered, and he turned to
Logan, a bit of an expression on his face. "You know, as much as we bitch and
whine about your training sessions, it wouldn't be the same without you."
"Glad to know I'm appreciated," Logan responded, and he put a hand to his
temple, rubbing it. Harry opened his mouth, but Logan waved it off. "It's
nothing, nothing at all, just a ringing in my ears, guess it's going to be hard
to really get my head together after everything that's happened."
Harry nodded, really there was nothing much more to say, and Logan was not the
conversational type, so Harry turned around, quickening his movements and
leaving the vicinity of the hospital wing, taking a few steps at a time when he
left, and Logan seemed to appreciate the solitude. The mutant rested on the
bed, and just kicked back his feet.
He really wished that someone would bring him a beer, but that was just a minor
quibble, and one that Logan would have to deal with. It was a slow recovery,
but one that Logan would weather the storm of and come back, meaner and
stronger than ever.
As for Harry, he had other things to do with his time, quickening his strides
when he moved down the hall. Kitty was going to meet him at the Danger Room,
and the two of them were going to train, and spar, brushing up on their
physical fighting skills. Harry found that his powers could be a crutch if he
relied too much on them, and whilst he did want to refine his magic, he wanted
to refine his body as well.
Harry realized how many battles he could have won against the Death Eaters if
he had simply kicked them in the face, and took their wand away. What were they
going to do?
Live and learn, that's what Harry thought when he had moved closer, and closer.
He thought about a spell that he was researching, if he had mastered it, it
would allow Rogue to touch people other than him temporarily, for at least an
hour. If he could find a more permanent version, then that would be good, but
right now, baby steps were important.
===============================================================================
Kitty and Harry faced each other in the Danger Room, which had been shut down,
so it could serve as a normal sparring room. The two mutants stood across from
each other, and peered into each other's eyes, before Kitty was the one that
broke the silence.
"So what are the rules?"
"Normal sparring session, no powers, just hand to hand," Harry said, and Kitty
nodded at that moment. "And the winner gets to do what they want to loser. But
we warned, I play to win."
Kitty put her hands on her hips, and offered a smug expression, before she
spoke. "Well, so do I, Mr. Potter."
"We'll see who is better, Ms. Pryde," Harry fired back, and the two of them
surrounded each other. "So best of three?"
"Yeah, that'd be fine," Kitty replied, but she stopped when she realized
something. "Hey, wait a minute, don't you have powers that can read body
language? How is this a fair fight?"
Harry just smiled, this would be a test of Kitty's ability to improvise, and
hopefully be creative, even though he spent more time studying her and Rogue
than he did than anyone else at the Institute. The buzzer went off, and Kitty
immediately tried for a quick kick, knocking that the only way she was going to
have a fighting chance against Harry, was to strike hard and early.
The young mutant stepped to the side, and Kitty landed on the ground, before
she tried again, but Harry pivoted and spun around, avoiding her attacks.
"So not fair," Kitty responded, but she was determined to at least put a good
showing.
"Do you think our enemies are going to be fair?" Harry asked her, with a raised
eyebrow.
Kitty gritted her teeth, she hated when Harry had to be right, which happened
more often then she cared to admit. The brunette mutant struck hard, but Harry
dodged the attack again, and Kitty felt herself get dizzied. At this rate,
Harry was not going to have to lay one finger on her, and Kitty was just going
to burn herself out at this rate.
Kitty tried for a different tactic, going low, and sliding through Harry's
legs, but Harry grabbed her around the waist, brushing his hands on the
underside of her breasts, and causing tingles to go down her spine.
"Hey, no fair, that's cheating," Kitty responded through the wave of pleasure
that she felt.
"No powers, all is fair in love, and war," Harry answered to her, and pulled
Kitty up, before flipping her back to the ground, and then straddling her,
whilst pinning her to the ground. Kitty struggled, but she knew that she was
licked. "And I believe that first fall goes to me."
"I still got two more," Kitty answered, shaking her head. "You know, it would
be fairer if you would do this blindfolded."
"Again, would your enemies offer you the same courtesy if they had these
powers?" Harry asked, unable to figure out the exact point where he channeled
the spirit of Mad-Eye Moody, but he was just going to go for it. "Again, ready
when you are."
"I was born ready," Kitty said, trying to adopt a confident expression, despite
the fact that Harry had flustered her. The brunette mutant rushed Harry, but
Harry ducked, and Kitty rolled, trying to use some form of agility to bounce
off of the walls of the Danger Room.
Harry caught her in his arms, and he flipped Kitty over onto her feet. Kitty
tried to sweep the legs, taking out the wheels from underneath him, but Harry
jumped into the air, did a cartwheel, and landed on his feet.
"Oh, now you're just showing off," Kitty responded, and Harry just offered a
bow. Kitty tried to nail him why he was bowing, but Harry caught the foot, and
flipped it over onto her feet.
Kitty was not down yet, and she managed to scissor the leg, before taking Harry
down to the ground. The brunette mutant popped up, pumped her fist in a heroic
pose, and offered a bright smile. "Yeah, I got one!"
Harry just smiled, really he was proud of his girlfriend for getting a shot in
on him, and also took it as a chance to improve with his stance. Of course,
Kitty had let up on him a little bit, just grandstanding, and Harry swept the
legs out from underneath Kitty, before taking her down to the ground, and Harry
pinned her shoulders down to the ground, straddling her once again.
"I had you though," Kitty responded, eyes widened in surprise, but Harry just
grinned, offering a smile that caused Kitty to get weak in the knees.
"Yeah, you had me, but you didn't follow up on the advantage, it's easy enough
to get caught up in the moment," Harry responded, reciting something that he
told the members of the DA during one of the last meetings, and that was
getting the advantage was the easy part, it was keeping the advantage. "And I
believe that I've won."
Kitty's eyes snapped up, both of them focused directly on Harry's face, whilst
he still had her pinned down, and Kitty's chest rose and fell as she exhaled.
"I believe that you have won, but what are you going to do about it?"
Harry just grinned, bending down, and planting his lips upon hers, before he
proceeded to kiss the breath out of Kitty, tilting her head up slightly so the
two pairs of lips could meet in a fiery passion.
Smut/Lemon Begins.
Harry wasted little time pulling Kitty's shirt over her head, and saw her
breasts contained in a small black bra, but otherwise she was naked from the
waist up. Harry's shirt was pulled off next, and he pulled Kitty into a tight
embrace, kissing her, before Harry unclipped the bra, and it fell between them.
Kitty's breasts smashed against Harry's chest, and Harry continued to kiss her,
working her skirt off over her knees.
The skirt fell to the ground, and Kitty moaned, when she felt Harry tease her a
little bit, running his fingers off of the edge of her stomach, feeling around
her panties. His fingers touched everywhere, her face, her arms, her side, her
stomach, her legs, but Harry seemed to be avoiding her legs and ass in an
attempt to get her riled up.
Harry felt his hands over her beautiful body, and pushed her against the wall,
before pressing his lips against Kitty's further, and Kitty rubbed against him,
encouraging him to go faster. Harry reached over, and pealed her panties,
revealing her pussy. Harry backed off, feeling the dampness that rising from
her, and the heat from between her legs.
"Wow, you're wet already," Harry remarked, rubbing his fingers around her,
tracing against her lips, and Kitty was back against the wall. "Do you want
something?"
"Your fingers, your tongue, your cock, just pick one, and put them in me,"
Kitty begged, and Harry's thumb stroked her clit until Kitty's eyes closed, and
she was firmly pressed against the wall, offering a soft moan, when Harry
pleasured her. Harry scooped up Kitty, and walked her over, placing her on the
ground.
Kitty was laid on the ground, and suddenly, she found herself chained to the
ground. She tried to shift out of the binds, straining, and trying to get out,
but Kitty found that it was hard to get out, and she was at Harry's mercy, as
he stood over her, slowly unbuckling his pants.
"Please Harry," Kitty begged him, feeling an unbearable heat coming between her
legs, and Harry sat her up, so she was still chained, but in a sitting
position.
"Suck my cock," Harry commanded, and Kitty did as she was told, licking around
the head like a lollipop, before her wet tongue trailed around the base. Kitty
tasted Harry's cock, feeling every throb, twitch, and every vein it had with
her tongue, feeling the pinnacle of manhood, with Kitty leaning forward, and
putting her mouth on Harry's cock, before giving him a long and deep suck. "You
love sucking my cock, don't you?"
Kitty moaned in response, and bobbed her head up and down on Harry's member,
pushing it against the back of her throat, taking as much into her mouth as she
could. Half of the cock was in her mouth, and Harry grabbed her hair slightly,
giving it a tug.
"Better get more of that in your mouth, or I'll pull harder," Harry ordered,
and Kitty sped up her motions, getting off on Harry ordering her around, it
just made her feel all different. It was not without benefits. "That's it, a
good cocksucker, you suck a good cock, keep doing that, yeah, oh yeah."
Kitty bobbed up and down, to keep sucking on Harry, feeling him harden more and
more in her mouth. She speared Harry's cock down her throat, trying to get more
and more of the member down her throat, and she sped it. She loved sucking
Harry's cock, and it would be done all day long.
The sensation of her hot mouth around his hard rod was bringing Harry and Harry
closer, and closer to his completion.
"Going to blow, I want to see your load on your pretty face," Harry said,
pulling out of Kitty's mouth, and releasing her hands, so Kitty could jerk him
off. "That's it baby, jerk it, jerk it off."
"Cum Harry, shoot your load on my pretty face," Kitty encouraged him, giving
several hard tugs, and immediately, Harry's balls tighten, and he shot a thick
load into Kitty's face. His cum splattered against her face, and chest, sending
several streams out, painting Kitty white. The brunette slid back, with cum
dibbling down her face and chin. She caught it in her hand, and began to shovel
it into her mouth, eating his cum.
"You dirty girl, you like eating my cum, don't you? Harry teased Kitty, and
Kitty just smiled, the semen dribbling down her face.
With the contraceptive charm on, Harry grabbed Kitty by the hips, and pinned
her to the ground, before penetrating her with his stiff member without
warning.
"Oh, such a tight cunt, keep going, don't slow down," Harry breathed, and Kitty
moved her hips up, matching Harry's movements.
"Stretch me so much," Kitty breathed, Harry's cock slamming into her pussy,
going in and out. "I love a big cock, keep fucking me, fuck me harder, oh the
fact we're doing it in the Danger Room, that's so hot."
Harry would have to agree, and his cock kept slamming into Kitty, before
roughly grabbing her hair, and then squeezing her breasts, feeling them. They
were small, but they were sure sensitive, and Kitty moaned deeply, with Harry
continuing to plow into her with each passing step, the moments ticking by.
The large cock penetrated her tight pussy, and Kitty's eyes flickered shut,
feeling the thick girth of Harry penetrating her.
"Such a tight pussy," Harry groaned, with Kitty pushing her hips onto his
fleshy pole while he continued to fight her, and Harry grabbed Kitty's rear end
as it rose off the floor, stroking it, and fondling it. "Who does this pussy
belong to?"
"You Harry, only you, oh fuck me baby," Kitty moaned, eyes flickering open and
shut, heart beating steady, and the fact was this made her feel so good, the
long and hard fucking Harry was giving her. His cock went further and further
into her.
The two continued their sex session, better than any Danger Room Session, and
Kitty moaned, breathing heavily, with Harry penetrating deep into her, his cock
hitting every spot inside her, feeling her up with so much that she could
hardly stand it.
"Cumming, so hard," Kitty breathed, feeling her pussy clench and convulse, and
Harry just slowed down. "Don't you dare…"
"You want me to fuck you harder?" Harry asked, slowing down his strokes to
torturous crawl, and eventually Harry sped back up when Kitty whined, grabbing
the back of his head with her freed hands. "So close."
Kitty sped up her motions, raising her hips down, and letting them fall, until
they met Harry's motions. The two of them continued to make love to each other
on the floor, and eventually Harry's balls tightened. Kitty felt the end was
coming, so she looked in Harry's eyes, talking in a husky voice.
"Cum for me, do it."
"Going to fill you up with so much cum," Harry managed, and sure enough, he
unleashed his load into Kitty, who screamed out to the heavens, with the semen
splattering the inside of her walls. Harry felt the sweet sensation of
releasing his cum into another girl's pussy, feeling said pussy wrap around
him, and tugging on him, with it flooding into her waiting womb.
Kitty collapsed, with a goofy grin on her face, about an hour later, she felt
nice and fucked.
Smut/Lemon Ends.
***** Demons in My Mind *****
Chapter 19: Demons in My Mind.
Harry entered his room, after a long day of school, and training, in a bit of a
tired mood, yet he saw something that had gotten his attention, to bring the
dark haired mutant out of his dull mood, and get his motor running just a
little bit.
Kitty sat perched on the bed, her legs crossed, wearing a schoolgirl uniform.
She had a short white top that reached down to her midriff area, a mini-skirt
which wrapped around her hips, to showcase her rear end, and Harry caught sight
of her lovely legs, which were covered in a pair of white stockings and dress
shoes. To top off the entire picture, Kitty had her hair tied back in pigtails,
and she was slowly and seductively sucking on a lollipop.
Her tongue swirled around the lollipop, with Kitty's eyes locked upon Harry's,
and she offered a smile, crossing her legs over each other.
"Hi, Harry," Kitty remarked in a bright tone, licking her lips as she saw him,
or rather how a certain part of him. "Do you see something that you see?"
Harry's eyes widened and a smile crossed his face, when he drank in the vision
before him. "How about all of the above?"
"I can live with that…whoops," Kitty answered, as the lollipop slipped out of
her hand, and landed on the floor. She gave a little shrug, and got down on her
knees, a remorseful look spreading over her face. "I dropped my lollipop, I
hate it when that happens. I guess I'm going to have to suck on something
else."
Without warning, Kitty reached forward, and began to unbuckle the belt around
Harry's pants, before pulling it down to his ankles, and then removing his
boxer shorts.
Smut/Lemon Begins.
Harry looked down, with Kitty locking onto his eyes, and the eye contact was
made when she pulled his cock out, locking onto it with her hand, allowing her
to pump on it up and down until she got it to full fast. The young wizard felt
the desire with his girlfriend pumping on his cock, with her stroking it, and
feeling it in her hand.
Then the brunette mutant switched tactics, swirling her tongue around the head
of Harry's cock, moving up towards the base, and then circling Harry's entire
length on all sides, before she went down between his legs, and licked and
sucked on his balls. Harry grabbed her hair, and Kitty slowly edged Harry's
cock into her mouth.
Kitty felt the pleasure and the taste, of Harry's thick tool in her mouth, and
felt the reaction that she was giving him, it was great, and she proceeded to
go down on Harry, stroking his base.
"That's it, suck my cock, suck it hard," Harry managed, grabbing her hair, and
running his hands through her hair, where Kitty continued to bob up and down,
up and down onto his thick tool. "Suck it hard, such a good mouth, make me
blow!"
Not wanting to disappoint Harry, Kitty sped up her motions, and she could sense
the taste of his seed coming. The entire thought of it made Kitty wet, and the
moist heat rose between her legs, once she continued to go down on Harry, the
back of his cock hitting his throat.
"So close, getting closer," Harry managed, and Kitty bobbed her head up and
down, getting faster with each moment, stroking what she could not fit into her
mouth with her hands, even if it was more so than normally, and rubbing his
balls.
Harry began to work Kitty's shirt open, and play with her bra covered chest,
but there was little time to go much further than that, for Harry's balls
tightened and he felt that a release coming soon.
"Cumming right now," Harry warned her, and his balls tightened hard, before a
huge load had shot down Kitty's throat, splattering several thick ropes of cum
down her throat.
Kitty swallowed the tasty treat, making a smacking sound with her lips, and the
lewd sound was doing wonders in getting Harry geared up for a second round,
with the brunette schoolgirl circling, bending over to see her thong covered
ass.
She gave a surprised, but pleased scream when Harry smacked her hard on the
ass.
"Got to love a cute schoolgirl in a thong," Harry responded, and without
warning, he reached underneath her skirt, before her panties vanished with a
pop.
Kitty felt the breeze of cool air hit her nether regions, and she offered a
smile. "Oh, naughty."
Harry used his thumb to rub her clit, and Kitty moaned, feeling the pleasure of
Harry's sensations, her body feeling like it heated up, and it was one of the
best feelings in the world as well. The moist juices rolled down her legs, and
she felt wet, aching to feel his cock penetrate her in the worst way.
Immediately, Harry tossed Kitty down on the bed, flipped her skirt up, and
plunged his cock right into her warm, moist, folds.
"Oh, Harry, yes," Kitty breathed, feeling the sensation of Harry fucking her,
first slow and short, and then long and hard, with his balls slapping against
her thighs when his fucking sped up.
"Like me fucking you on the bed like this?" Harry asked her, grabbing Kitty's
hair, and slamming into her nice and hard.
"Yes, fuck me harder," Kitty begged him, not caring if she could not stand the
next day, and her pussy clenched, when his fingers rubbed over her nipples,
tracing circular motions around them.
"Who does this tight little body belong to?" Harry asked, whilst he continued
to pump deep into her, penetrating her, and feeling her warm tightness wrap
around him like a glove, screwing the life out of her.
Kitty was flat on the bed, and she panted only out two words. "Yours Harry, I'm
yours, make me your bitch, fuck me hard!"
Harry did so, his cock continuing to feel the inside of this tight pussy, and
the brunette girl was losing her mind to the sensations she felt, with Harry
slamming his cock into her, sliding into her, and pushing back into her waiting
pussy. It dripped her juices on the bed, and Harry slapped her ass, squeezing
it.
The tightness of her ass was the indication of a girl who worked out nice and
hard, and Harry continued to fuck her long and hard in her cunt, savoring the
feeling.
"So good feeling inside you, it's a feeling that's better than life," Harry
managed, fucking her tight. "Going to come, baby."
"Do it, I need it!" Kitty yelled, biting down on her lip, and Harry's balls
seized up, with Kitty expecting the flood that was about to come.
Sure enough, it did not disappoint, Harry's dick splattered the thick, creamy
fluids into her willing pussy, Kitty clenched Harry, riding out his extremely
powerful orgasm, and feeling herself become lighter than air, when Harry had
drained himself into her tight cavern.
Kitty collapsed down on the bed, feeling content, when suddenly a husky voice
with a Southern Accent could be heard.
"Is this a private party, or can anyone join?"
True to form, Rogue had popped up, and much to Harry's apparent and extremely
visual pleasure, she was completely naked, showing her curvy, but pale, form to
him.
Without warning, Harry grabbed Rogue, and pulled her onto the bed, before
smashing his lips against hers with a kiss, a gesture which Rogue reciprocated
happily. This allowed Kitty a moment to slide back, and take a deep breath
after the hard fucking that Harry gave her, but she knew full well that Harry
would have her back up.
Harry's skilled hands worked their magic on Rogue's breasts, and her moans got
more prominent feeling Harry fondle them, squeeze her, give them pleasure, to
her sensitive globes.
"You know how to treat a woman right, Harry," Rogue moaned, and she felt Harry
rub his hands all over her, before she was pushed back onto the bed, and Harry
lined up his cock with the crevice of her breasts.
"I'm going to fuck those juicy titties until you can't take it any more," Harry
said, cupping her breasts for emphasis, and then rocking back, to rub his cock
head over the standing nipples.
"Please, do it," Rogue begged, both sets of lips tingling with moisture.
And sure enough, Harry did it, sliding his cock deep into her cleavage, and
pumped it in and out, working it through her massive round breasts, feeling it
squeeze him hard. They felt so good wrapped around his cock, it was the most
natural thing in the world, just pushing his cock in and out, in and out of
these passive globes.
"Such nice fucking tits, yeah, going to fuck them hard," Harry said, plunging
his cock hard between her breasts for emphasis, and Rogue moaned, eyes glazed
back with the prominent pleasure, inhaling and exhaling from Harry's
stimulation.
"Yes, fuck them, fuck them hard, shoot your spunk all over them," Rogue
chanted, as Harry pushed his thick cock between the valley of her breasts.
"I'm going to cover you with so much of my seed," Harry told her through
gritted teeth, and Rogue squeezed her breasts together, smashing his cock
between them, but Harry pushed through and speared into her hard.
"Fuck them, fuck them, shoot your seed over me, I want it on my face," Rogue
told him.
Harry gave several more long and hard strokes, going long and hard into them,
and the massive tits squeezed hard. Rogue's hips lifted off of the bed, and she
was playing with herself when Harry felt his cock worked over by her lovely
fleshy globes.
A hard grunt, then Harry's tightened, a load of semen shooting out of it, and
Rogue gave a pleasurable scream, when a lot of it, splattered onto her face and
tits, covering them with the white, thick cum that Harry enjoyed, flowing out
long and hard.
Rogue slid back, and she grabbed Harry, flipping him onto the bed, sitting
perched and ready to go. Harry reached over, gripping onto her hips, and pulled
over the girl, setting her onto his hips, so she straddled him, and slowly
scooped the cum off of her breasts.
With the cum splattered on her hands, Rogue began to slowly, and seductively
lick her hands clean, watching Harry's motion, and feeling his cock grow
underneath her heated mound.
"So hot, you eating my cum, I'm going to be inside you now," Harry said, and
Rogue slipped onto him, moaning hotly once she felt Harry's length penetrate
her, and rose up, before coming back down again, establishing a moment of
riding Harry, clenching him hard with her pussy. Harry rose his hips up with
each and every passing moment, quickening his motions, and Rogue's breasts
bounced hard. "Ride me, while I squeeze your tits!"
Harry clutched her tits hard in his hand, and Rogue did not mind, the harder he
squeezed, the better she felt, and the harder she rode him. The best part about
this is Harry did not let her do all of the work, no he was thrusting up into
her, and squeezing her, giving her the encouragement that she needed when she
rode him.
Kitty watched on the other side of this bed, rubbing her clit furiously, and
really hoped that Harry would figure out how to get that shield spell working,
because this waiting her turn was kind of unbearable.
"Oh, oh, fuck me hard, lover, pound that twat," Rogue mewled, and Harry did as
his girlfriend told him, thrusting up long and hard into her, feeling her cunt
squeeze around him, feeling the pleasure and the pressure around him.
Rogue felt him stretch her, and it was such a wonderful feeling, this big thick
tool going up into her, with the moments ticking away, and the pleasure she
got, feeling herself be brought to the peak. Her juices lubricated the
movement, and allowed Rogue to continue to slide on and off of Harry, bringing
her tight cunt down onto him, squeezing him hard.
The little jolts of magic that Harry sent into her, was making squeeze, and
clench him hard, whilst she rode him long and hard. The bed creaked, with the
two lovers enjoying each other's motions.
Harry thought he was close.
"You're so tight, think I'm going to lose it," Harry voice, but he was not done
yet, he wanted to drive Rogue to the brink, before the young woman begged for
him to come.
"Cum for me Harry, please, shoot it inside me," Rogue managed , and the young
woman squeezed him nice and hard. "Fucking cum for me."
Harry's balls tightened, and after a long hard session later, his cum
splattered deep into Rogue, splattering her walls, and painting the inside of
her with its full whiteness.
Harry was not done for the night, as Kitty went over to take her turn, and they
switched off until all of them were spent, which was well past midnight.
Smut/Lemon Concludes.
===============================================================================
 
Harry breathed heavily, once he had made his way through the mountains that had
been erected through the magical simulation, and saw the flaming beasts of fire
peering down on him. They would be ready to pounce if he did not do anything
against them. Normal spells would not work on these things, as Harry quickly
found that point out the hard way. The dark haired wizard rushed forward,
dodging the flaming axe that had been created, before he blocked it with a
shield.
Harry closed his eyes tightly, and tried to master his surroundings to the
point where he could deal with these monsters, with the ground shifting, and
sure enough Harry managed to conjure heavy vines that cut through the fiery
creatures, before their flames had been snuffed out by a conjured tidal wave.
The young mage dropped to his knees, and waved his hand, blinking his eyes, and
had a feeling that the worst was not to come.
Sure enough, a large creature, a giant who breathed fire stomped the ground,
but Harry managed to do what anyone should do against any opponent much larger
than them. The legs should be taken out on all costs, and that's what Harry
did, blasting with a series of fiery spikes at the knees, trying to cut the
legs out from underneath the creature. Harry took a moment, taking a deep
breath, and Harry sprung up, flying high into the air, before sending a
blinding blast into the giant's eyes.
Harry dropped down, dropping to both knees, and taking a deep breath, before
the mist swirled around him, and Doctor Strange appeared before him, giving
Harry an appraising look.
"You have performed in an adequate matter, but there are times where you put a
bit too much power into your spells, when a simpler solution could be at hand,"
Strange remarked without taking much of a breath, and his eyes peered upon
Harry. There was times where Strange and Harry stared at each other. "But
regardless of that fact, you have shown marked improvement, and are getting
better at manipulating your surroundings. The more creatures you fight, the
harder it is, and then once there is a versatile enemy, you have to become more
adaptable."
Harry just allowed that all to set in, he had come leaps and bounds since the
moment he had left Hogwarts and his own dimension, with more than a couple of
months having passed, but he'd be lying if he said he was completely satisfied.
Feeling that there was more room for improvement, Harry resolved to push him
harder, nearly to the point of absurdity, and the dark haired young man sat
himself down on the ground.
"I feel as if my powers are growing every day," Harry said, before he spoke
himself.
"Power is a strange concept, when one really considers it," Strange mused,
taking a moment to reflect. "There is no true metric it could be measures. Even
the most powerful of sorcerers have a day where they seem to be weak. There are
many instances where I reflect upon past battles, and think of what I should
have done differently."
Harry found himself doing that as well more often than not.
"But, it is much easier to look at these things in hindsight, as opposed to
once you are in the moment. There are instances where the most logical step to
win, is not the most logical step to win the battle once we are in the moment."
"I understand," Harry answered, with a slight nod of his head, offering a
smile, and taking a long and deep breath, before fixing Strange. "There are
activities that seem to boost…my powers, shall we say."
"Shall I assume that you are speaking about your romantic relationships,"
Strange replied in a delicate and professional manner.
"Yes, that's exactly what I'm talking about," Harry responded to that moment,
and Strange seemed to be considering exactly how much he wanted to delve into
that particular topic.
The truth be told, there were many interesting ideas of how sex and magic
worked in term, and whilst Strange did not have ample opportunities to study
the matter up close, and personal, or at least to the extent that he wanted to,
it was a fascinating subject for study. He understood that Harry already had
two young ladies, and would likely captivate many more, both the right kind and
the wrong kind.
"Without understanding how magic works in your world, I can only offer a scant
few theories," Strange replied, and then he added in an afterthought. "Not to
mention whatever lineage that you might have throughout your bloodline."
Harry realized how little he knew about his bloodline from his old world, and
there was the fact that he never would know. For all he knew, the Potters could
have a rich and fascinating history.
"Intercourse has often been known to be an empowering activity in many
circumstances," Strange explained, and Harry responded with a nod. "Magic born
from such activities could be extremely powerful, and potentially dangerous."
'Never a good combination,'Harry thought to himself.
"I believe that you may have some kind of allure to you," Strange answered, and
Harry looked at him with a quizzical look. "It will lower the inhibitions of
girls who would otherwise be attracted to you, but may be hesitant to follow up
on it for various reasons."
Harry wondered about that, but that would make sense. This might have been
another mutant power, because if Harry had this power in this old world, he
would not have had the poor luck that he had with girls. Still that was the
past, and his luck was improving a lot with the girls.
"I can assure you that the allure will not force girls that would not be
willing," Strange answered, and Harry just looked at him with a smile.
"However, given someone of your power, and also the vibe of mystery that you
give, you may find that there are many girls that are willing. I would highly
suggest you choose wisely, for many of the girls who are willing, might not be
someone who have your best interests in mind."
Harry thought that was a good suggestion, and one that he was keeping in mind.
"And my powers seem much stronger ever since, well I started having sex at
least one time a day," Harry responded, and Strange just stroked his chin,
nodding. This was one of the last conversations that he expected to have with
an apprentice, but then again in his line of work, one would have to expect the
unexpected.
Strange got to his feet at that moment, and turned around, he would have to
consult more books, as many of the learned magical users of the world had many
interesting ideas about how this sexual intercourse would work. The Sorcerer
Supreme just adjusted his stance, and looked at Harry.
"We have been here for several hours, I believe it is time for you to return,"
Strange answered, and Harry nodded, thinking that he learned much today, with
his head swimming with information, too much to really consider. "I bid you
farewell, and hope your journey back is safe."
Harry nodded, before he walked off, another session having done, the hours just
flew by.
Strange meanwhile was left to ponder about his apprentice, and wondered if this
young man had any clue about the full scope of his power. There were many
instances where Strange could tell that there was a lot of untapped power that
Harry might be restraining, but it was just as well. Very few could have
handled that level of power this soon, and Strange knew if he had that level of
power at Harry's age, he might have been sorely tempted to misuse it.
Harry could be extremely powerful, but Strange decided to keep these
observations under his hat for the moment, not wanting Harry to rush his
development. There have been many who were far older, although perhaps not that
much wiser, who had allowed the power to get away from them. Strange was
impressed by how quickly he had come, as not many could obtain this level of
power before the age of thirty, or around that.
Yet, much like all users of magic, Harry had a lot to learn, and the Sorcerer
Supreme also thought that he would have more lessons to learn himself due to
this unique situation. Even Stephen Strange understood that each day that there
was more and more lessons to learn, whilst moments in time passed.
Strange paused and sat rigid, sensing a presence of some sort that was near,
but that was nothing new. There were many presences that were unsettling, and
as the Sorcerer Supreme, there were many dangerous sources of power that he
located. Yet, this presence was only around for a second, before it
disappeared.
Harry had sensed the presence as well, and quickened his strides to the Xavier
Institute, there was a sense that something was up, although Harry did not know
what. Until Harry could figure out what was happening, he was going to remain
worried, and most importantly, he would be on his guard.
===============================================================================
Harry made his way back to the Xavier Institute, but stopped the moment he
touched down outside of it. The dark haired wizard sensed a presence, and it
was not the good type of presence either, rather the presence was quite evil,
and extremely malevolent, and immediately, Harry took a step forward, his hand
on the door knob.
There was no time to shift around, and figure out what plan he was going to
make, for there was a loud scream that came inside the Mansion, before the
scream was silenced. Said scream sounded like Kitty, and that caused Harry to
break open the doors, not caring if he had bust it off the hinges, slide
inside, and look around.
There was no one around, and the silence was in fact deafening. Harry could
barely keep his head above the water, and there were times where he thought
that someone tried to poke into his mind.
Immediately, Harry dropped to his knees, and he felt something slam up within
his head, causing a ringing sensation that echoed for miles around. The dark
haired wizard continued to take a deep breath, pausing at the slightest
moments, and he entered the study, to see Kitty, Kurt, and Rogue sitting
around, looking positively catatonic.
Their eyes were opened, but no one was in fact home, even when Harry snapped
his fingers again and again. Harry tried to revive them with a few spells, but
still nothing. He would like to have slipped inside their minds to try and see
if he could bring them out of their state, but Harry was nowhere nearly as
confident with his mind magic abilities. The slightest wrong nudge at the wrong
part of the brain could turn one of them into a vegetable.
Harry was trying not to freak out, because bad things happened when he freaked
out.
Harry stepped back, hearing a thump in the wall, and there was another thump in
the wall, and once again, someone appeared to try to take hold of Harry, but
once again, something forced them out, all at great pain to Harry.
"Your mind may be strong, but you cannot evade my power forever, young one.'
A deep and mysterious voice with no body seldom meant something good, and Harry
quickened his steps, to see Scott downed in the hallway, his eyes closed, and
his visor knocked off. Jean was on the ground a few feet away from him, and
even Logan was down, even though his arms twitched every few minutes, and his
claws popped out.
"If they perish in my domain, they will perish in the real world. Do you think
that you can save them?'
The voice was taunting and tormenting, with Harry wondering where it had come
from, and the dark haired wizard continuing his movements, further and further
with each passing instance. There was some kind of problem that Harry needed to
solve, and the dark haired wizard took the deepest breath and his eyes snapped
to the windows which rattled.
This was done because Storm was yelling and thrashing in the next room,
lighting was crackling outside, and a heavy wind kicked up.
"No, I will not allow you to take me again, I escaped you, I escaped you!"
Storm yelled at the top of her lungs.
Whoever this person was, he knew Storm, or Storm knew him, and their past was
not a good memory for Storm. Harry thought that his roll call was all on line
except for one, and he noticed that the Professor was missing. Xavier was not
present, but Harry made his way over to his office, which had been barricaded
shut.
Barricaded shut to a normal person maybe, but not by magic, with Harry busting
open the office door, and entering, hands glowing with the personification of
power. There was a moment where he stood, to face Xavier.
Xavier like the others, had his eyes wide open, but there was no response, none
at all. The leader of the X-Men's breath had become shallow, and Harry could
tell that his face contorted in pain, with his mouth trying to articulate a
word. Whoever had a grip on Xavier's mind, they had a tight one, but the
headmaster was given quite the fight, despite someone outgunning him.
Harry summarized that Xavier could have only been taken by such a matter by
surprise, but he noticed something else. There was a slip of paper on his desk,
with a word hastily scrawled on it, which Harry deduced had happened when
Xavier was possessed, and whoever this mysterious force was, he utilized
Xavier's powers to ensnare the minds of the X-Men.
Snatching up the piece of paper in his hand, Harry read the sole word on it.
'Shadow King.'
Harry had no idea what it is, but he knew when he was outgunned, so he bolted
from the office, when suddenly, the whirling winds and thunder kicked up.
"Do you really think that I'm going to allow you to leave since I cannot
possess your mind. Now that you're here, you will not be leaving this place
alive."
"You'd be surprised of how many people tell me that," Harry managed in a dry
voice, and with the reflexes that were born in Quidditch and fine-tuned in the
Danger Room, Harry managed to throw his way through the hallway, before
deciding to throw himself through the nearest window.
A tornado kicked up outside, but all Harry had to do was fly behind the scope
of this anti-teleportation shield that this man put around the Institute,
before popping back away.
"What you do is futile, you cannot stop me."
Again, if Harry had a piece of gold for any time someone said something like
that to him, he would be far richer then he would be right now, and he flew
into the sky, high above the clouds, and made it past the wards, the tingling
sensation stopped, and Harry popped off without another word.
He just was glad that he had just left Doctor Strange, and Strange would be
unlikely to have disappeared after the events that occurred on this day.
Hopefully Strange could help him get to the bottom of this, and could save his
team, because Harry had a feeling that his time was running out.
===============================================================================
"I'm sorry to come to you about this for help," Harry responded, but Strange's
eyes just snapped forward, and he shook his head.
"No, Harry, you did the proper thing, it takes true strength of character to
admit and know your limitations," Strange replied, and the Sorcerer Supreme
just allowed the statement that Harry had given him to properly settle in. "So,
you said the Shadow King was behind this?"
"Yes, that's what it seemed by what Professor Xavier wrote on his paper," Harry
replied, and his green eyes were fixed upon the Sorcerer Supreme for the
briefest of instances. "Do you know of him?"
"Yes," Strange answered without pause, or pre-amble, before taking a long
breath. "He is a spirit that feeds off of the worst elements of humanity,
mostly hatred, but he is not picky to what he is fueled by. He has existed
since the dawn of me in many forms, and legend has it that he has influenced
many of history's greatest monsters."
Harry allowed this to all sink in.
"The last time he was present upon this plane was ten years ago, where he
possessed a man named Amahl Farouk, and led a group of street children in Cairo
to commit crimes, stealing from them, and one of them was Ororo Munroe, or
Storm as she was known," Strange explained briefly, as he consulted a book
whilst he explained. "Ororo picked the pocket of Charles Xavier, who discovered
that Farouk was a telepath. The two had a duel of the minds, and eventually,
Charles managed to banish the vile spirit, sealing it away upon the Astral
Plane, until the moment where he broke free apparently."
Harry wondered what he had to do, and opened his mouth.
"I believe I can assist you in recovering your team from his grip, but the
Shadow King is a dangerous foe and one that should not be taken lightly at
all," Strange told Harry in an admonishing tone, and Harry nodded in
understanding, taking it all in, resigning himself to the next battle. "Shadow
King might have been defeated by Xavier, but he took Xavier's legs from him
before he was able to finish the job. And he intends to take much more this
time."
Strange slammed the book shut.
"Now sit down, and focus your mind, open the door, and allow him to lead you
in, I will be right behind you," Strange responded, and truthfully he would not
be doing this if Harry was not prepared. "And remember to tread lightly, for if
you die on the Astral Plane, then your heart will give out in the real world."
Harry nodded, sitting down, cross legged, and his mind was opened, before a
strange sensation overflowed him.
The next thing Harry knew was that he appeared on the Astral Plane, and he
tried to focus his mind, and sure enough it worked. A layer of armor wrapped
around Harry, hopefully protecting him from the assault of the Shadow King,
thick, but not too thick where it would be cumbersome for his movement. Harry
stood, on the ground, which began to rumble underneath him.
The fiery demons appeared in the air, and Harry ducked his head, rolling,
before he sent a series of flaming spikes out of his hand. They were hot, but
his fire was hotter, and the demonic creatures screamed, their teeth bared at
him. The young mutant wizard rushed forward, and threw himself behind a set of
rocks, but suddenly the rocks had come to life, with a towering rock monster.
The rock monster tried to smash Harry with its fist, and swung around, but
Harry used a vibration spell to break the creatures apart. The broken bits
reformed into several rock monsters, but Harry had a good idea how to deal with
this as well. With expert spell, and agility, Harry dodged around, and caused
the rock monsters to crash into each other.
Harry focused his mind, and the debris vanished before they could be reformed,
before he took a step forward. A muffled scream was heard, and Harry knew that
he was close. The loud laughter of the Shadow King echoed, and Harry could
sense that Doctor Strange was behind him, offering him subtle guidance.
"You are a fool to enter this domain."
"We'll see," Harry replied, and the pillars had come to life, twisting it
hideous creatures, with many eyes, and many limbs. Once one had taken many
trips into the Forbidden Forests, and fought creatures like Dementors, these
creatures did not seem too bad. In fact, they seemed quite cuddly.
Well, Hagrid would find them quite cuddly at any rate.
Granted that did not mean they were good, and Harry sped up his attacks,
dodging them all, and once again, the blasting charms managed to work well,
with Harry super charging his attacks whenever he could. Harry had an inkling
that he was getting closer than the Shadow King wanted him to, and understood
the reason why Strange had sent him on ahead.
Harry would be underestimated, and treated as a light threat, whilst the
Sorcerer Supreme would be given the full intent and fury of the Shadow King and
his powers.
Harry reached one of the mystical pods in the Astral Plane, and saw Jean inside
in suspended animation, trying to fight. Her eyes were glowing yellow with
power, and her body thrashed in the confinement. Harry thought it would make
the most sense to free her first, and then Xavier, once he found him.
Harry grabbed Jean and tried to pull her away, but the red head was struggling
with all of her might, eyes flickering in and out of focus all of the time.
"Jean listen to me, whatever is happening, it's in your mind, nothing is real,
just it's a manifestation of the Astral Plane, and your mind is stronger than
his, just fight him," Harry said without taking much of a breath.
Jean's eyes began to fade, and flicker out of touch, before she managed to
comeback, dropping down, and collapsing into Harry's arms. Harry caught Jean,
and she looked into his eyes, trying to shake everything off, to clear the
cobwebs from her mind.
"Thanks," Jean murmured, trying to get rid of the splitting headache she felt,
and she managed to detach herself from Harry.
"Don't mention it," Harry replied with a smile, and Jean looked at him with a
quizzical expression on her face, which Harry took as a call for an
explanation. "I'll give you the short version. There's an evil spirit who
managed to catch the Professor off guard, and used his powers to trap all of
you on the Astral Plane, and we do need to get everyone out, before he destroys
us all."
Jean just nodded, taking those words in stride, and turning around, surprised
to see how calm Harry seemed to be in this situation, but then again it really
should not be a surprise any more. If he was freaking out on the inside, Harry
neglected to show that fact, and the two of them moved forward at that thought.
The two of them did not encounter any resistance, and they found Scott, Kurt,
Rogue, and Kitty all bound on the Astral Plane, and with Jean's help, Harry
managed to free them from their confinement. Kitty and Rogue landed to the
ground, and Harry went to check on them immediately.
"You two are alright, aren't you?" Harry asked Kitty and Rogue, and both girls
nodded their heads with a smile.
"We are now," Kitty answered, and Harry led them over. Kurt shook his head,
taking a deep breath.
"All we need to do is get Storm, Logan, and the Professor," Harry replied,
before Scott could open his mouth. "Which that might constitute as a problem,
with Storm and the Professor, it's personal for the Shadow King."
Harry led the team towards a large vortex of light, and there was a loud scream
of anguish, with a flood of darkness that surrounded the entire lot of them.
"What is it?" Rogue asked, and Harry took a sigh.
"We're about to enter the mind of Professor Xavier, I think," Harry answered,
and he saw a small speck of light. "The Shadow King is trying to rearrange it
to suit his needs."
The team walked forward, and Logan was tied in vines on the ground, trying to
cut himself through. Immediately, Scott lowered his visor, and a blast of light
cut through the vines, allowing Logan to rip himself out. Two bright lights
appeared from Harry's hands, and the vines had been blown up at that moment.
Logan staggered around, taking a deep breath, before he slumped to his knees.
Shaking his head, the mutant's eyes snapped up to his teammates. "What took you
so long?"
"Got lost along the way, I guess," Kitty answered with a shadow of a smile, and
the X-Men looked, to see Storm down on the ground, trapped in a box, in an
enclosed space.
Storm was freaking out because of this arrangement.
"Storm, it's all in your mind!" Jean yelled, trying to get through to her.
"None of this is real, snap out of it, fight it!"
"It's mind over matter!" Rogue yelled, trying to get through.
"Oh, man, she's not hearing us," Kurt answered, and Harry took a step forward,
but suddenly a ripple hit him.
Spinning around, Harry faced the rest of the team, and his expression never
waved from the stern look that flicked through his eyes.
"Jean, I'm going to need your help to get through here, if I can, we can break
down this barrier," Harry answered.
'Doctor Strange, I hope you're with me,'Harry projected to himself throughout
the astral plane.
"The door has been locked. Did you really think that you would be allowed to
leave this place alive?'
"Oh, for crying out loud, get a new one, that one's getting old," Kitty
answered, putting her hands on her hips, and rolling her eyes, offering a frown
at that moment. The brunette mutant moved her arms up, and folded them.
"You are merely children, scared children."
"You couldn't beat the Professor head on, so you had to back jump him," Harry
answered, not backing down.
"I find it amusing that you of all people are offering the bold statements that
are you. For, if it was not for your arrival in this dimension, I would have
remained dormant. You split the dimensional barriers when you went through, and
released a source of supreme evil, that empowered me."
Harry stopped, but shook his head, there was a moment of indecision, and doubt.
Could it have been possible?
"No, you're wrong, he's trying to play mind games," Kitty replied at that
moment, and grabbing Harry's hand, and Rogue grabbed his other hand. Kitty
proceeded to direct the Shadow King directly. "It's mind over matter. Hope you
don't mind, because to us, you don't matter."
Suddenly, Harry did what he needed to do, and he broke the Shadow King's grip
on Storm, just in the nick of time. The spell allowed him to break through, and
he peered down, with Storm breathing heavily. Kurt and Kitty moved over, to
help Ororo up to her feet, but the Shadow King appeared not to be concerned; in
fact there was a moment where he just laughed.
"As long as I have the Professor…"
Jean tried to strike the Shadow King with a powerful psychic blast, and Harry
had a point, on the Astral Plane, the things were only real in her own mind,
and she assaulted the mind of her opponent. The Shadow King was unconcerned,
despite the mild annoyance Jean's efforts had given him.
"You are merely like a fly on the windshield, little girl."
Jean tried block these taunts out of her mind, but she was losing rather badly,
with the two forces pushing at each other, back and forth, back and forth,
until Harry added his own input, than a wide blast of energy shot out, locking
onto the Shadow King.
The Sorcerer Supreme was in the house, and the three powerful forces managed to
loosen the grip that Shadow King had on Xavier, long enough for Xavier to take
control of his own mind.
"I believe once again, you have lost."
"No, I can't lose, I am…"
What the Shadow King was had never been stated, because he had been blasted
hard, and his grip shattered. The X-Men had woken back up in the real world,
where their physical selves remained. They were sore, and beaten, but they
would survive.
Xavier's head was ringing, but at least his mind was his own once more,
completely and utterly intact.
'Thank you, Stephen.'
'No need to thank me, if it were not for Harry and Jean, I would not have been
able to get as far into the Shadow King's realm as I did. They were the true
heroes of today.'
Charles Xavier responded with a nod, that was extremely true, and something
that he would keep in mind.
X-X-X
The X-Men had been beaten, battered, and amused from their little adventure on
the Astral Plane, and even Logan was feeling the burn. Harry was the only one
who seemed to be mostly one hundred percent, when he sank down next to Kitty
and Rogue at that point, and both of them leaned against Harry.
"I tell you, I hope I never have to go through another day like that ever
again," Kurt stated, and everyone nodded in agreement to that.
Ororo was the one who broke the silence, with a nod when she spoke. "I'll
second that notion, one hundred percent."
Harry, Rogue, and Kitty all could tell that Ororo had fought one of her own
personal boogeymen in the Shadow King.
"Yeah, well it's good to see that our minds were strong enough to take the
beating," Logan grumbled, shaking his head.
"Yes, that kind of strength is important for the coming challenges ahead."
Professor Xavier was the one who spoke, and wheeled indoors to face the other
members of the team, a smile crossing his face as he seemed to be back, and
raring to go.
"It is good to see you back on your feet, Professor," Scott remarked, being the
first to speak at that moment.
"Well so to speak," Professor Xavier said, indicating the wheelchair, and they
were all happy to see him in mostly good spirits. "The Shadow King is a
dangerous foe, so the fact that you all survived the battle today speaks well
of your future prospects."
"Do you think we've seen the last of him, Professor?" Kitty asked at that
moment.
Xavier responded at that moment, and shook his head. "Evil like that always has
a way of finding its way back no matter what. But, the fact is that he can
never win, no matter what, as long as we keep strong minds, and an able heart."
Those were words to live by, and team just allowed themselves some downtime,
knowing that there would be more challenges to come, all too soon.
===============================================================================
Destiny was a word that was thrown around way too often, in an attempt to get
people to justify their actions for some kind of greater good. Yet Magneto felt
it was his destiny to lead the mutant race to the promise land, and to a
brighter future. The Master of Magnetism stood, eyes glowing with power, while
checking several things to make sure that they were in order.
There was a time where people would either have to hang together, or they would
all hang separately, and that was a statement that was completely accurate for
the future of the mutant race. The X-Men and the Brotherhood would learn some
hard truths that he had a long time ago, once humans had learned of their
existence in a wider degree, they would turn on people they once considered
friends.
It did not matter who was in what group, all that mattered was that these
people were different. Magneto had seen the atrocities up close during his
childhood, watching in horror as his parents were led off never to be seen
again, likely to the gas chambers, but he was kept, experimented on by that
madman, to try and force his mutant powers up. Magneto managed to kill most of
the scientists who had done so upon his escape, but not the one who had been
behind it.
Magneto had no idea what happened of the scientist who had experimented upon
him, the man's name was Nathaniel Essex, and he was extremely tormented, those
barely spoke of him in kind terms, with the word Sinister being the mildest of
the insults that had been given to that sadistic menace.
One day, should he still be alive, Magneto would have to meet him again, and
pay him back for the years of torment that he suffered. But, in many ways,
Magneto felt he should be thanking that sinister scientist, for what does not
kill a person, made them stronger, and Magneto felt his strength grow. The
Master of Magnetism stood on the precipice of a revolution, and it was one that
he would lead.
Mutants would assume their rightful place, but there would be some that would
not pass the test into the new world order that Magneto had created. So be it,
only those who were considered to be worthy, would be offered a place, while
all of the others would be swept into the current that the change was given.
The winds of change had blown, and Magneto made sure that the shields around
his new base of operations were in working order. From his vantage point, Earth
looked but a mighty speck of dust. He had been planning this for weeks and
weeks, and the plan that he plotted would be delivered in spades.
In fact, if Magneto should choose to do so, he could lock into the Earth
satellites orbiting above the planet with his powers, and send them crashing
down upon the head of all of the hapless humans, but that was not in the cards.
Magneto had far loftier goals in mind then destruction, and given what he knew
about humans, they would end up destroying themselves before too long.
All Magneto felt concerned with was the fact that his fellow mutants did not
get swept into the undercurrent of that inferior race. His hands stood, and the
shields were in place, when he stood on the structure that had been dubbed,
Asteroid M. The technology aboard it was second to none, and he could hardly
wait to utilize its full capabilities.
The world would change for the better, he would make sure about it, and no
mutant would ever suffer like he did during his childhood.
Magneto could see the future, and it was one that would be bright for mutants,
when they took their proper place.
Humanity on the other hand, Magneto could see them get put in their place
properly, and suffer the indignity of defeat, but to be honest, they had
brought it upon themselves through their arrogant actions.
The future was now, and the future would be mutants first, with Magneto
preparing his next stage, to test only those who would be worthy.
Only some would pass the trials that were ahead.
***** Asteroid Part One *****
Chapter 20: Asteroid Part One.
The day was just getting started on the SHIELD hellicarrier, but Nick Fury was
already up and about, before the sun had barely risen above the horizon. The
Director of SHIELD was never one to sit back, and wait for the day to start;
rather it was Fury who started the day, each and every day. The SHIELD director
did not even need a morning cup of coffee like many of his subordinates did, he
was always on, and always, always watching.
Fury was the one that gave the rooster the kick up the ass as well to crow in
the morning. That was how early he always got out of bed.
The equipment on the flying fortress above the city came to life, and everyone
scrambled around the base, with Fury moving forward at a rate and speed that
was surprising. Fury continued to move, before he barked to the nearest agent
that he could find.
"I want to know what's going on, and I want to know it yesterday!"
Fury did not have to wait long for any answer to be given, even if said answers
had been given in a baffled and unassuming manner, with the SHIELD agents
struggling to really keep their heads above the situation, and taking several
pained breaths, before one of them began to spoke, practically stammering to
get his sentence out.
"S-sir, we might have a problem, there's some kind of magnetic disturbance, our
satellites have picked them up and…no they got shut off line."
Fury cursed, whilst slamming his fists down upon the table, the fact of the
matter was that those satellites were his means to monitor all air travel on
the planet. Furthermore, they extended above the Earth's atmosphere, which mean
someone shut them down for a reason, and that reason was that they did not want
anyone to know what they were moving.
"Spread out!" Fury barked, causing his subordinates to startle, and they
scrambled for back up. "I want those satellites back on line, yesterday, do you
hear me?"
They all nodded, looking like overgrown bobble heads, and the scene on the
SHIELD fortress was one of absolute chaos, coupled with a fair bit of anarchy,
as no one seemed to have the foggiest notion of what was going on. All of them
scrambled, and a few of them were in a bit of a panic, taking several deep
breaths to calm themselves, but there was no calm allowed, none at all.
Fury paced up and down the SHIELD fortress in the sky, and the scanners picked
up a faint trace, when suddenly, it all made sense to him. He should have
figured it out for the start, over the past few months; Fury's attention had
been directed to other matters. How he could have been so blind, that was the
question, but one that Fury would resolve to answer at a later date. Right now,
he stood, hands firmly on the ledge, and his eyes peering out of the windows,
high into the sky.
"Magneto," Fury growled, spitting out the name with the distaste that he
thought it deserved, knowing full well that the Master of Magnetism had
escalated the battle to the next level.
Now Fury was a man who was going to take many things in stride during his time,
for he had seen a lot in his day, but what was occurring at this moment took
the cake, and then some. Fury slammed his hands down, and many things became
clear to him, crystal in fact.
Magneto was recruiting members to his Brotherhood, and had stashed his key
lieutenant in a very public position, to divert Fury's attention from matters
that were higher up in the stratosphere, above the clouds, and into the stars.
It became clear that Magneto had some kind of base of operations up in space,
and now Fury felt himself sweating just a tiny bit.
Not many things could make Nick Fury sweat or to lose his composure at that
point. Yet, there was something in the offing that had made him lose just a bit
of his steely composure.
It was hard to tell what could have been up there, for all he knew; Magneto had
some kind of insane weapon up there, to really hammer home the point that Fury
was helpless. The SHIELD director gritted his teeth, and took a moment to
settle himself. Panic would not help him now, far from it, so Fury focused, and
turned to his men. His determination was swift, but something that had been
bred from handling situations like this for years.
"Keep on it, we need to find Magneto, and figure out what he's up to," Fury
managed, but he realized taking anything made of metal close to the Master of
Magnetism was going to be a problem.
Fortunately, SHIELD had tracking drones that were made of plastic, because
truly, plastics made it possible. Fury proceeded to have his men deploy them,
hopefully they could get close enough, to figure out what Magneto's game was,
and if necessary put a stop to him, once and for all. It was going to be gut
check time, time to separate the men from the boys.
It was not going to be easy, but Nick Fury didn't do easy, the harder it got,
the more thrilled he was. This was going to be hair raising.
===============================================================================
A rare moment to enjoy the downtime, and take a deep breath was something that
was appreciated by all, even if Harry had thought that it was the calm before
some kind of storm. There was just something about the entire situation that
seemed too calm. Perhaps Harry was being glorious pessimistic, but that was
just how he was feeling.
Professor Xavier, Scott, and Logan were all off to follow up on a new energy
signature that Cerebro picked up, Jean was on the grounds on the other end of
the property, Storm was inside, Kurt was elsewhere, and Harry was on the ground
with Rogue and Kitty, both girls leaned up against him, just enjoying the day.
The three watched the clouds, and enjoyed the moments of time they spent
together as music blared from a boom box that sat across from them.
"So, you think that this spell would make me able to touch people normally,"
Rogue said, looking a bit more hopeful than she would have liked to, not
wanting to show the slightest bit of vulnerability.
"I think it can," Harry told her, trying to give his second girlfriend an
encouraging smile, but he decided to add a warning. "The problem, as with many
magical spells, is that there is a drawback. It will only work for a period of
a few hours, before I have to reapply it. I'm trying to figure out how to work
the charm into a bracelet, or something, where you can wear it, and it's sell
applying. The problem is…"
"You're not nearly close to figuring it out as you would have liked," Kitty
offered, and Harry decided to nod at that moment, but Kitty just smiled,
leaning over, and offering Harry a light kiss on the lips. "Harry, don't work
yourself too hard, these things take time. I'm sure Rogue will wait."
"Yeah, some things are worth the wait," Rogue answered, with a slight smile,
and she leaned forward, to give Harry a light kiss on the lips. It was a
measure of encouragement to make sure Harry did not work himself up under heavy
amounts of stress.
Jean stood off to the side, towards the bushes, rubbing her temples to nurse
the headache that she had acquired. The fact of the matter was that she really
needed a bit more control of her abilities, for they were picking up some
rather strong and perverted thoughts regarding Harry from Kitty and Rogue. This
had made it rather hard to focus, given how vivid some of these thoughts were.
Harry at least had the decency, or perhaps the ability to shield his mind,
which Jean was grateful for, but still it was causing her to become very much
distracted.
Not to mention that she was in need of a cold shower sometimes because of some
of the images that had been put in her head. Jean tried to not focus on how
much that distracted her.
It was at that point, where there was a rustling in the bushes, and Toad hopped
out which caused Jean to step back at that moment. She had moved as far from
Harry, Kitty, Rogue, and really the Mansion in general as possible whilst
stilling be on the property. The slimy mutant had randomly hopped out of the
bushes, and looked ready to engage Jean into battle.
"Alright, it's open season on you X-Men, so give me your best shot," Toad
replied, putting his hands up in a fighting stance, and Jean looked at Toad
like he was completely, and utterly mental, for that's how he was acting. The
slimy mutant took a step back, and waved his hands. "Come on, X-Girl, I can
take your best shot, hit me with everything you got."
Jean would have been amused, but Toad pulled out a really big branch, and tried
to waffle Jean with it. The key word was that he tried, for Jean had blocked it
with her telekinetic abilities, and hoisted Toad up over the fence, before
dropping him in the fresh mud outside of the gates.
How he got in here, Jean had no idea, but perhaps she would be having a word
with the Professor about having tighter security. The Mansion could use a bit
of an upgrade.
"Ah man, I just had a bath last month!" Toad groaned, when he was in the mud,
utterly humiliated, and defeated as he thrashed around in the muck.
A smile crossed Jean's face, but that smile was wiped off of said face when a
humming large metallic orb could be heard across the distance. The orb dropped
down on the ground, and Jean could tell that it was a threat immediately. She
focused her telekinetic abilities to try and stop the orb, but it repelled her
attacks.
The attacks ricocheted back off of the orb towards her.
Without warning, several heavy cables shot from the orb, and wrapped around
Jean. She grunted in surprise, the cables nearly crushing her from the impact.
The red haired telepath tried to get out, so she did the next best thing, she
offered a muffled cry for help.
"Someone…ah!"
Jean was going to rip apart whoever did this, with the orb containing her body,
and going off into space.
Kitty, Rogue, and Harry appeared after they just barely heard Jean's screams
for help; just a few seconds late, with them seeing the orb carry Jean off into
the stratosphere. Kurt popped up behind them at that moment, after he had heard
the screams for help as well.
"What was that?"
Harry was the one who chimed in with a response, and pointed up in the sky.
"That was Jean, she got kidnapped in that thing."
Harry jumped high into the air, taking flight in an attempt to grab the orb,
but some defenses were activated, creating a field that repelled back. The orb
gained velocity, and it must have been powerful technology to be able to
maintain its field in such a matter, or at least that's what Harry thought in
his opinion.
An attack of magic barely caused the shield to bend, and Harry once again tried
to move closer. If the orb was not moving so fast, Harry could have analyzed
the shield, and broke through it, but now he had the problem of how to release
Jean safely.
Harry tried to slap a tracking spell on it, so he could follow it later, but
there was one problem. The tracking spell died once the orb got to a certain
height, and Harry flew back down, to join Kurt, Kitty, and Rogue, who had run
onto the pathway. The orb was merely nothing, but a silver dot high in the sky,
going further and further until it reached its destination.
It was not over yet, and Harry, Rogue, Kitty, and Kurt scrambled, with Harry
trying to see if he could lock onto the spell somehow. While the tracking spell
was not active, magic left a trace that he could hopefully pick up on in due
time.
Harry was about to go for help because this might be a situation where they
would be one situation where they might be in way over their heads. It was at
that moment where something happened that prevented Harry from going for an
attack.
Suddenly, at that moment, tremors rocked the ground, and Harry flew up into the
air over it.
"Avalanche," Kitty grumbled, and sure enough, the Brotherhood were in fact in
the house. "Really, are you guys sick of getting your butts kicked by now?"
Harry gave Kitty a warning look not to get too cocky but she seemed to be more
annoyed about their presence than anything. The Brotherhood just stood, they
had no time for this, but the truth was that the X-Men had to make the time.
It seemed like the Brotherhood were itching for a fight, and judging by their
attacks, were not going to go down easily this time. The X-Men moved in for
what proved to be a more even battle than previously.
===============================================================================
The day had started with a surprise, with the new version of Cerebro on line
after it had been destroyed during the Juggernaut's attack in the Mansion, and
it was new and improved as well. Immediately, it picked up the energy signature
of a new mutant, and Scott peered out the window, the truth was that this one
was someone who was near and dear to his heart. The Blackbird touched down,
with Logan and Scott exiting it, and Xavier wheeling himself out as well.
The mutant's name was named Alex Masters, and he shot optic energy from his
hands, much like Scott had done with his eyes. He was a surfer who lived in
Hawaii, but Xavier had been able to dig even deeper into the fact of who he
was.
When he was young, Scott was in a plane crash where his parents and younger
brother, Alex, had apparently died. Scott was left in a catatonic state for
months, with a head injury, that caused his powers to be the state they were
in, only being able to be controlled by the visor that he wore over his eyes.
Scott thought that he had come a long way, all things considered, but that was
beside the point.
Once Xavier had done some digging, there was only one conclusion that could be
drawn, and that was that Alex Masters and Alex Summers, his long lost brother,
were one and the same. Scott looked forward to reuniting, and he was also kind
of nervous. His eyes snapped towards the Professor's face, and the three of
them noticed a surfboard lying in the sand.
Scott frowned, taking a look at it, and he paused at that moment.
"Are you sure we're in the right place, Professor?" Scott asked at that moment,
and Xavier took a moment to survey the situation, when a young man with blond
hair rushed up to Scott, an excited expression on his face.
"Scott, I can't believe it, it's really you!" the young man said in a cheerful
voice, and he moved forward to greet his older brother.
"Alex?" Scott asked, hard to believe it, but the truth was one could not deny
the fact that Alex was standing before him, a bit of a grin on his face. "I
remember the last time I saw you, you were this high."
Scott held his hand to indicate that point, and Alex just responded with a bit
of a smirk, before looking at Scott.
"Hey, I might have been that high, but now I'm almost as tall as you," Alex
answered, looking at Scott, and shaking his head.
"Yeah, well I can still take you," Scott answered, and Alex just shrugged his
shoulders, a bit doubtful about that fact. Logan and Xavier hovered in the
background, taking a moment to allow the two brothers to get this reunion
underway. "So, how are you doing?"
"Man it's been wild, the last couple of days, my hands started hurting, and
these energy blasts just came out of them, it was insane," Alex answered,
without really missing a beat and Scott just nodded his head.
"I know, that's your mutant abilities coming to light, but you'll get used to
them, after a while," Scott answered, and Alex just responded with a nod.
"I know, that's what he told me, and he offered to give me help, to help me
evolve to my full abilities," Alex answered, and it was Xavier who popped up
and chimed in at that moment.
"Who was the one who told you that you would evolve to your full abilities?"
"He called himself Magneto, I thought for a minute he was pulling my leg about
this entire mutant thing, but his powers are the real deal," Alex answered,
nodding his head.
"Careful kid, Magneto is nothing, but trouble," Logan warned him, knowing full
well from many past experiences.
"It is charming you think so highly of me, Wolverine."
Sure enough, the group spun around, and speaking of the devil, the Master of
Magnetism stood there in the flesh, his face covered in a helmet, and his cape
billowing in the breeze. He stood on the island, tall and proud, facing the
assembled group before him. Xavier did not waste any time, before addressing
his once friend.
"What is your game this time, Erik?"
Magneto seemed to be calm and collected, the moment that he spoke. "There is no
game at all Charles, but rather the future, and the necessary steps that I
shall take to ensure that all live to see it."
"The future is still being written by the actions of the present," Xavier
warned Magneto, but the Master of Magnetism just allowed himself a moment to
lean back, and reflect about everything.
"Yes, and those actions that I choose to make will ensure the survival of the
entire mutant race, for all of us will now continue to thrive, and survive.
There is no question about it, my friend, either you are with the future, or
you against it. Either you are part of the solution, or you are a huge part of
the problem. That is my word on this entire situation."
"Yeah, I've got a word for you alright," Logan grumbled, taking a moment to
step forward, but Magneto waved a hand and Logan was down on the ground,
thrashing against the battle.
"You must learn to teach your pet some manners, Charles," Magneto remarked,
clicking his tongue in mock remorse, before he turned towards Scott, Alex, and
Xavier. "Do you wish to see the future? I can give you control over your
abilities, both of you, without the pain."
Scott seemed a bit reluctant to go along with it, but Magneto was about to make
his sale pitch.
"The world is a lot more wonderful place when one sees it in a multitude of
colors. There is a lot more in the world of seeing it in a shade of red. And
that is all you will see, as long as that visor is on your face. You can lead
better, and be a better person. Just think about it, Mr. Summers, you can be
part of the revolution, or you can be left behind. The choice is yours."
Scott felt seriously tempted by what he heard.
"Yes, Scott, remember the choice is yours, but there are other options," Xavier
answered, trying to convey his misgivings to Scott, but Scott was rather
reluctant to say much more than he did. "Consider the choice you make wisely,
and remember no matter what, the consequences will be yours to bare."
Scott took a moment to incline his head in a thoughtful manner, but at the same
time, there was no more choices to make, rather this was the one where he felt
would serve him the best. His eyes turned to Magneto, and offered a crisp nod,
with Alex agreeing with him. The pain in his hands was stabbing, and one that
Alex preferred to live without.
Xavier feared that this might have happened; the temptation to offer the easy
fix for powers, and knew that such a bargain did not come without a price.
"You naturally may come along Charles, to make sure that my intentions are,
hospitable," Magneto responded, latching onto the wheel chair with his powers,
and pulling it to the ship that he had stashed on the island.
Xavier decided to follow at that moment, allowing Magneto to lift his
wheelchair into the ship, and Alex and Scott followed without another word,
excited by the fact that there powers might have gotten control.
There was one thing about Magneto that no one could dispute, and that was that
he talked a good game, and one that he could back up more often than not.
Logan grumbled, pulling himself to his feet, and the ringing in his ears still
was prominent, but he saw Magneto leave. He was not going to let him go away,
at least not without a fight. Logan rushed Magneto on the ship, trying to jump
up, and latch on.
Magneto, it seemed, had seen Logan coming, and focused the full extent of his
abilities towards Logan, forcing him off of the ship. Logan tried to get back
to a standing position, but this was a futile endeavor. The ship flew out of
range, and Logan landed straight into the ocean with a splash, not injured,
unless one counted the fact his pride had been wounded.
It was now off to Asteroid M for the Master of Magnetism, and Xavier hoped to
find out more once they had arrived there. Given what happened in the past,
Xavier was less than trustful that his old friend's plans were benign.
===============================================================================
The ground rocked because of the efforts of Avalanche, but Harry transfigured
the ground below them slightly, causing the Brotherhood to get tripped up by
Avalanche's own attacks. It was to the point where Quicksilver turned towards
Avalanche, his eyes widened in an agitation manner, before he spoke.
"Quit doing that!" Quicksilver snapped, and the mutant took a deep breath,
before Kitty dodged the incoming attacks of the Blob. With a bamf, Kurt
appeared on the Blob's head, and the Blob tried to reach Kurt, but Kurt
vanished, causing Blob to smack himself on the top of the head.
"So close, oh try again!" Kurt yelled as he teleported out of the way and once
again Blob had smacked himself on the top of the head. He caught Kurt when he
tried the attack for the fuzzy mutant had gone to the well one too many times.
Rogue tripped up the incoming Blob, and he landed right onto the road, with
Avalanche rushing forward, for more. Toad tried to leap into the attack, but
Rogue ducked, and offered him a back hand, before Harry knocked him back,
causing him to land over the trucks. The spell only stung him, for the X-Men
wanted to keep the Brotherhood awake to learn their plans.
"Remember, we're superior to these guys!" Avalanche grumbled, and the ground
continued to rock, but the repelling field from Harry pushed back the assault.
"Really, try telling them that!" Toad exclaimed, once again knocked down, and
into the waiting arms of Blob.
"I got ya, buddy," Blob managed, and suddenly, Kitty popped out of the ground
that she phased through, grabbing onto Blob's ankles, and pulling him forward,
so Harry could blast him hard with a banishing spell, before ropes tied around
the Blob, momentarily holding him into place.
Quicksilver rushed forward at super speed, but the attack repelled him back and
to the ground, causing him to stagger. Avalanche was knocked back down onto the
ground as well, and the four X-Men stood, feeling like they got a mission well
done.
"I wonder if these guys any practice attacking a moving target," Harry remarked
casually, shaking his head, when suddenly four gigantic orbs appeared from the
sky, and barreled down towards the three of them.
The X-Men were ready for the attacks, but the Brotherhood saw their
opportunity, rushing the X-Men from behind, and there was a loud crash, when
they had jumped the X-Men from behind. The two teams engaged each other in a
short, titanic struggle.
Four of them had made a mad dash for the orbs, and four of them had been left
behind. It was not until the dust settled until the four who had been left
behind saw them all get left behind, and the orbs were long gone, on the way to
their destination.
===============================================================================
Ororo took a moment to walk around the grounds on the Mansion, things seemed a
bit quiet, and in many ways extremely unsettling with the entire group having
left the grounds. Still, in many ways, it was nice, allowing her some peace and
quiet, and peace of mind. The weather witch paused, hearing a sound that gave
her a short start, but relaxed her stance when she saw a cat on the outside of
the step.
"You know, you weren't the Kitty, that I was expecting," Ororo replied, and she
bent down. "Must be a stray, let's see if you have a collar."
The cat offered an angry hiss when Storm had touched it, and this took the
weather witch aback, when suddenly the cat shifted its form, turning into
Mystique. Mystique kicked Storm in the face hard, sending her through the open
door into the mansion, and tried to punctuate the attack by stomping her in the
face with a high heel shoe. Storm blocked her ankle, holding it tightly, and
twisted it, causing Mystique to tumble head over heels, and land on the ground.
Mystique landed on a table, causing it to crack into splintered wood, but she
bounced back to her feet at that point. A very angry weather controlling mutant
had bounded upon her.
"You dare enter our home, again!" Ororo bellowed, calling on the full fury of
the wind, and Mystique took a step back, raising her hands in the air, before
aiming another punch, but Storm dodged it at that moment.
Mystique was in a towering temper, finding it hard to believe that she was
reduced to having fight for her spot in Magneto's world order. After all of the
sacrifices she made for Magneto, this was something that was beneath her, and
in fact, it demeaned the shape-shifting mutant to an insane degree.
This caused her normally top not fighting skills to falter, and for Mystique to
not be as good against Storm as she would have liked. The weather witch took a
moment to blow Mystique off guard, and Mystique crashed to the ground. She did
a kip up to her feet, and turned into a bird, that tried to peck out Storm's
eyes, but Storm blocked it, and hurled Mystique into the wall.
The full force of lighting was called upon and Mystique was startled by the
lightning hitting the carpet, leaving a burn mark. This allowed Storm to swoop
in, pivot on her foot, and knock Mystique down hard to the ground. Mystique
tried to use a knife to stab Storm, however, Storm saw this coming, and blocked
it.
The two women struggled over the knife, neither giving the other any quarter,
and eventually Mystique slammed Storm into the wall, causing her back to hit.
Storm kicked up a huge whirlwind, which knocked the shape shifting mutant back
a bit, and caused her to drop to her knees, panting.
"No, I cannot lose, this is my right, my purpose, I won't allow you to beat
me," Mystique ranted, and raved at this moment, trying to get a drop on Storm,
but once again, Storm was a few steps ahead of her.
Storm knocked Mystique through the wall with an attack, and Mystique crumpled
down to the ground, utterly defeated, and humiliated.
Ororo moved over, to bend down, and interrogate Mystique, trying to determine
what her stake in this game was, but before any of that could happen, something
crashed through the windows. This caused the dark skinned mutant to be thrown
onto her guard, but the orb before her had shot cables out towards her.
Ororo tried to fight the cables off, but she had fought what amounted to a
losing battle, with the cables wrapping tightly around her, forcing the woman
to her knees. She tried to get out, by summoning the full force of the
lightning, but it just barely dinged the side of the orb.
The orb had encased Storm in it, like it had several others. She had been
proven to be worthy, more worthy than Mystique, and Mystique had been slumped
on the ground, completely and utterly out of it.
Mystique's fingers twitched and the feeling came back into them, along with the
anger in her being that she had been outgunned, and outmatched. Fury flashed in
the eyes of the shapeshifter for the next couple of moments, and her breath
became almost like a snarl, as she watched her chance for the future fly away.
This was not over, not by a long shot.
===============================================================================
Logan was on the ground at this moment, rolling over, and grumbling after
Magneto had thrown him into the ocean. The mutant made his way back into the
shores, and thought that he had many better days. Before he could collect his
thoughts, and old friend, or rather an old foe, dropped down, giving in a loud
growl, and Logan came face to face, with Sabretooth.
He thought the air had gotten a bit fouler around here.
"I was hoping that you'd die in that explosion up in Canada," Logan growled,
while he popped his claws, and faced his greatest enemy ready for battle.
"Ha, you can't get rid of me that easily, runt," Sabretooth growled, and with
another swift motion, Sabretooth charged Logan. Logan blocked the attack, and
both mutants took a moment to jockey for position, struggling to get the other
to move, shifting back and forth.
Logan stabbed his claws towards Sabretooth, but Sabretooth blocked the hand,
and knocked Logan down. He kicked his old enemy right in the ribs, staggering
him down to the ground, before he grabbed him around the arm, and flipped Logan
onto the ground.
Sabretooth was bending over Logan, his face snarling, and drool coming down
from his mouth, splashing on Logan's face.
"You think you're hard, don't you?" Sabretooth growled at that moment, and
Logan just grunted at that moment, before getting back to his feet, and
slashing away at Sabretooth, not giving any quarter up. "Well, it's just like
old times, I'm still whoopin' on you."
"We'll see about that, bub," Logan growled, and with feral fury, Logan rushed
Sabretooth, with the two mutants pushing back and forth against each other.
Neither of them backed down, not in the slightest, and both remained on their
feet, pushing back and forth.
Sabretooth sank his fist into Logan's ribs, smashing it several times, over and
over, with loud cracks. The healing factor sure did not cancel out the pain,
and Logan eventually went deep with the claws, trying to get Sabretooth off of
him. The battle continued, and suddenly, Logan felt a weak telepathic echo in
his head.
'Logan, can you hear me?' Xavier asked.
'Kind of busy, Chuck, what do you need, where are you?' Logan grumbled, and
continued to battle.
'I need you to throw the fight to Sabretooth,' Xavier projected, as Logan
pushed Sabretooth back at that moment, and his eyes bugled out at the thought.
'Are you nuts?' Logan asked as he wondered if the Professor had finally fried
his brain.
'No, I can assure you that I am in sound mind,' Xavier replied back, and there
was a pause, before Xavier responded back. 'Throw the fight, and get back to
the Mansion, and follow the coordinates that I placed in your mind.'
Logan paused at that moment, allowing Xavier to do so, and took a deep breath
at this point.
'Got it,' Logan growled, and Sabretooth knocked him down.
Logan had to make the throwing the fight thing rather convincing, or
Sabretooth, even in his lack of intelligence, would not have been able to
believe what was happening. He growled, and charged Sabretooth, going for him,
but Sabretooth grabbed him high into the air, before slamming him down, and
stomping the ever living snot out of Logan. Logan did a spasm underneath the
attack.
"Looks like my ride is here," Sabretooth growled, and he looked at the orb
which appeared. "Man, you really turned into a pussy. You're even less of man
than that waste of seed that I sadly call a son."
Sabretooth willingly entered the orb, and it flew off, with Logan watching him
leave.
"All part of the plan, Creed," Logan remarked gruffly, before he set off to do
as Xavier asked, hoping that this nutcase plan would work.
===============================================================================
The four hovering orbs that contained the Brotherhood landed in a front
corridor of a large fortress. Three of them cracked up, and Lance, Fred, and
Todd all exited the first three orbs. The Brotherhood were rather proud of
themselves for the fact that they had pulled the wool over the eyes of those X-
Geeks, and snuck on, leaving them stranded on Earth with the rest of the
humans.
"Hey, Pietro, we're here, you can come out of there now!" Todd yelled, and the
orb burst open, causing the mutant to jump back, and give a surprised scream.
"You!"
Pietro Maximoff had not been in the orb, like the Brotherhood had planned, but
rather Harry Potter had, and the dark haired mutant wizard popped like toast
out of a toaster, staring down the Brotherhood.
"You have two minutes to explain what's going on," Harry demanded to them, and
there was time where the Brotherhood shook their heads, not wanting to cause
much trouble, before backing off at that moment.
"Hey man, no…"
Lance was so sick and tired of Potter, just sick of looking at his face, and
the ground beneath him began to rock and shift, with Lance trying to attack
Harry, but a commanding voice yelled from the other side of the corridor.
"Stop!"
The three Brotherhood members fell into line, for he had shown up, that man
being Magneto, and the Master of Magnetism had surveyed the latest four guests
who were in attendance, and noted who was not in the house. "Very interesting,
my son appears to have missed his chance to join the revolution, a pity, but
not something that was completely unexpected. Still, I cannot help, but find
myself to be a bit disappointed because of the outcome."
Magneto stepped forward, and Harry was one that wanted answers, and he was
going to get them, one way or another. His expression remained resolved, and
with another motion, he stared down Magneto, his gaze fixed upon him.
"Just what is going on here?"
The Master of Magnetism surveyed Harry with a calculating expression, not
taking his eyes off of him, and opened his mouth, before speaking.
"This, young Harry, is the future. The future of the mutant kind, the future of
the world, this is Asteroid M, and aboard it, is the means for all of mutant
kind to achieve their full potential, when we evolve to the master race that we
were meant to be."
Despite the situation, Harry felt himself rather intrigued, and had a feeling
that Magneto would be enlightening him on what he meant by the future of this
Asteroid M. All Harry had to do was be patient, and wait a moment before
Magneto to speak, and sure enough the Master of Magnetism opened his mouth, to
inform Harry about the role that this asteroid would be playing in the future.
And as such, Harry was trying to determine what plan he was going to use. He
was taking a journey into the unknown.
***** Asteroid Part Two *****
Chapter Twenty One: Asteroid Part Two.
"I bring before you, the wave of the future," Magneto declared, and Harry
shrugged his shoulders, automatically skeptical about everything that the
Master of Magnetism had stated. On the other hand, Magneto had not attacked him
yet, and had called off the Brotherhood dogs, so Harry was not clear about what
he wanted to do.
It was that tense moment before battle where Harry stood there and just kept a
close eye on Magneto, barely allowing himself any time to blink. One of the
most important lessons to learn was to never take one's eye off of an enemy
that was what Harry was going to take to heart, until the bitter end.
Harry decided to wait this one out to stall for time as long as he could until
he had managed to figure out some kind of plan. He was skeptical about what
Magneto was selling for a number of reasons far too numerous to state here.
"I was just about to explain to my young friends Scott and Alex about the
procedure which would boost their mutant powers to their full potential, and
eliminate all flaws with them," Magneto continued, his eyes surveyed upon
Harry, and once again, the young wizard seemed to be extremely skeptical by
what Magneto was selling. "Do not underestimate what I can do, or what I can
offer those who are worthy, and among those who are worthy include you."
Scott walked over, with this young man, Alex, Harry presumed, and shook his
head, hoping that Scott would not buy what Magneto was selling. Another giant
orb popped up, and it opened up to reveal the nasty face of Sabretooth.
"Ah, so you have proven your superiority over Wolverine, well done," Magneto
declared, and Sabretooth nodded with a toothy grin, cracking his knuckles
whilst he did so. "As I was saying, this machine will restore your powers."
"And how prey tell are you going to do this?" Harry asked, his eyebrow raised
slightly, and then Magneto true to form had proceeded to explain the procedure.
"With this," Magneto informed him, and with another motion, he held it up into
the air, a glowing red gem that Harry recognized immediately from his studies
with the Sorcerer Supreme.
"The Gem of Cyttorak," Harry told him, and Magneto responded with a nod. "They
once were believed to have mystical properties that could unlock hidden gifts
among people, and amplify their strength to a tenth degree."
"Yes, and one of them empowered our good friend, the Juggernaut," Magneto
chimed in at that moment, holding the gem for all to see. "Whilst the gem is
not as potent in mystical power as it once was, it still has some uses, and one
of them is a huge amount of radiation that it emits that will unlock mutant
gifts."
Harry was now extremely skeptical, and wondered if what Magneto perceived as
radiation was really unstable magical energy that could blow them all to
smithereens if it had been used the wrong way. The new kid, Alex, seemed to
think among the same lines, or at least had seemed to be rather skeptical about
how the lethal amounts of radiation could help them.
"I don't know about this man, radiation just seems to be a bit…you know," Alex
replied, waving his hands, and shook his head from side to side. "Unstable, and
rather dangerous."
"I can assure you that I have fine-tuned the procedure to be perfectly safe,"
Magneto informed them, and Alex and Scott exchanged a skeptical raise of their
eyebrow, before they nodded. "As a gesture of faith, I will allow one of my own
to enter the machine first."
The Brotherhood seemed to be eager at this point for the power, but Magneto
proceeded to turn his attention in another direction, far away from them.
"Sabretooth, head to the machine," Magneto told the dangerous mutant, and
Sabretooth just gave him a toothy grin, walking over to the machine, as Magneto
installed the crystal he had removed for demonstration purposes. Sabretooth
stepped into the machine, ready to unlock his full potential. "Now, behold the
future."
Harry stood before Magneto, and watched him pull the switch, trying to figure
out what the process was to do this. He could see Sabretooth bombarded by high
levels of energy that flowed throughout his being, and the mutant gave a pained
grunt whilst being bombarded by the energy, with more and more enveloping him
with each passing moment.
The light stopped after a couple of moments, and the machine opened to allow
Sabretooth to stumble out, apparently empowered, but still mean and ugly as
ever. He gave a mighty growl, and turned to the group that was watching.
"Oh, what a rush," Sabretooth said in a low growl, and he jumped forward,
causing the members of the Brotherhood to stagger backwards in fear of this
particular monster eating them.
"And now, who will volunteer next?" Magneto asked at that moment, looking to
the group, and the Brotherhood seemed to be having second thoughts, but that
was beside the point, with Scott and Alex stepping up at that point to raise
their hands. "Ah yes, two brave souls who wish to do what they can to ensure
their future evolution. Step into the machine boys, and face your destiny."
"I don't think this is a good idea," Harry answered suddenly, and Scott turned
to him, a suspicious expression on his face.
"And why don't you think it's a good idea?" Scott asked, peering at him from
beneath his ruby red visors.
Harry adjusted his stance, and looked Scott directly in the eye. "Magneto has
dangled a carrot underneath your nose, and like a sap, you're taking it.
There's a catch with everything, there always is."
"I want to be able to see in a color other than red," Scott replied, unable to
see reason, and Harry just sighed, he was going to have to learn the hard way.
The truth was that he did not understand why the machine was a bad idea, just
that it was, and he was trying to divine more information with the scanning
spells. "You might know a lot, but you don't know everything, and I'm sorry
that all of us don't have the great natural leader instincts that you do. I can
lead this team better without a handicap getting in my way."
Harry felt a supreme amount of agitation coming his way and he decided to hit
Scott with a dose of reality.
"Your problem is not any handicap, the problem you have is your mind, and
you're unable to really think outside the box, like a true leader should. And
if you follow Magneto, then you surely aren't any leader of this team, or even
fit to lead a group of girl scouts."
Scott paused at that moment, hearing Harry's statement, but at the same time,
he blocked it out of his mind. Alex paused, and was having second thoughts, but
the pain through his hands when he fired those blasts mandated that he would
have to do something, and soon to alleviate the tension.
Without another word, Scott and Alex stepped into the machine, and Magneto,
with a stoic expression, pulled the switch.
The energy bombarded them, but for some reason, it seemed different to Harry
than the energy that Sabretooth had been bombarded with just a few minutes
previously. Suddenly, it struck Harry of what Magneto was trying to do, a few
moments too late, and all he could do now was fight them all.
He knew Xavier, Storm, and Jean were on this ship, but the question was where
were they at? Harry did not have much time to ponder on that fact, when the
doors of the machine opened, and Scott and Alex exited, looking like rejects
from a biker gang, and Scott had his eyes opened wide.
"I can see," Scott answered at that moment, and Magneto had a look of triumph
on his face, as Harry braced himself for a fight.
"So how about it Harry, do you see where the future lies?" Magneto asked at
this moment.
Harry decided to keep Magneto talking for as long as he could before he tried
to pinpoint a way to lower the defenses. There were many.
"You see, we are a superior race and you should step forward to join your
brothers in arms," Magneto continued.
"You know, the last time someone had prattled on about a master race, that
didn't really end so well for a lot of people," Harry responded as he looked
Magneto dead in the eye. The Brotherhood had grew tense and about ready to
attack. "Do you really want to be compared to that particular individual?"
Magneto's eye twitched before Harry had braced himself for a fight. No one
fought, at least not for the moment, for another problem had presented itself,
and the side of Asteroid M was being attacked by several ships in space.
Magneto had the shields up, but the Master of Magnetism wondered how long they
would hold against Fury's assault.
Harry used that distraction to make his plan to hopefully give the X-Men a way
inside. He never thought he'd say this but God bless Nick Fury.
===============================================================================
Kitty popped back up at the Mansion, followed by Rogue and Kurt, and she looked
around, a frantic expression spreading through her eye. The young brunette
mutant yelled at the top of her lungs.
"Ororo! Professor Xavier! Is anyone here?"
It turned out someone was here, and it was Mystique who was perched from the
rafters, dropping down from the ground. Rogue caught her immediately, and spun
around, trying to slam Mystique into the wall. Mystique turned the tables, and
swept the leg underneath from Rogue, before slamming her down onto the ground.
"I did not come here to fight, but rather to give you information," Mystique
answered, and Kurt just looked at her, raising a skeptical eyebrow, and Kitty
scoffed immediately at this moment. Rogue on the other hand, one could say that
she was mad, but she passed the point of mad a long time ago. She was beyond
mad.
"Better here what she's going to say before we knock her down."
Logan popped up at that moment, but he also was holding Quicksilver by the
shoulder, roughly shoving him into the mansion. The young mutant looked to be
positively agitated with the situation that he was in, and a smile cropped up
over Logan's face.
"Found him lurking outside the mansion, figured that I didn't want to let him
get picked up with the rest of the trash."
Quicksilver dropped to the ground before Mystique, and a look of surprise
appeared on the shapeshifter's face before she bent down to check on
Quicksilver.
"It was Pietro who was left behind, strange I would have assumed Toad,"
Mystique answered, and Pietro crossed his arms with a scowl, thinking about how
demeaning this was to be left behind, and Toad and Blob had managed to make the
cut. "But never mind that, I know what Magneto is up to. He is using an ancient
mystical gem to brainwash your leader into working for him, also amplifying his
powers in the process."
"And you expect us to believe that," Rogue answered, and Mystique decided to
twist the knife a bit further.
"And if young Mr. Potter is as brazen as I think he is, he would call Magneto
out on that fact before too long, and then he would be locked away temporarily
before Magneto elected to destroy Potter."
Rogue and Kitty exchanged a panicked expression, Harry could be in trouble, and
whilst they both knew he could take care of himself, there were situations that
he had gotten in way over his head. Mystique saw that her statement had gotten
the desired response, shifted her stance to look at Wolverine, and pressed on
with the information that she gave him.
"I can take you to Magneto's base, if you have a method of transport that does
not have any metal."
It was at that point Wolverine just cracked a smile, given the number of times
that they ran into Magneto, they made it a worthy investment to establish a
modes of transport that did not have the item that Magneto attracted. Still,
Wolverine's face twisted into a look of skepticism, he would not be able to
trust Mystique as far as he could throw you.
"I don't trust you," Wolverine voiced in a short and concise way.
A calculating expression appeared on Mystique's face, wondering if Logan had
understood the lesson that had be unwittingly learned before his memories had
been removed all of those years ago. At one point, he did trust Mystique, and
it had cost him dearly, but that was for Mystique to remember.
The shape shifting mutant had a little bit of pride on the line, and her
expression shifted into a smirk, when she looked at Logan.
"You need me, for you couldn't bypass Magneto's security without me," Mystique
answered, and Quicksilver nodded by Mystique's side.
"Guess, you do need us, what do you have to say about that, huh, huh, huh,
huh?"
With each huh, Quicksilver had went behind a different member of the X-Men at
super speed, until Mystique had offered him a nasty expression, and he fell
back into line.
Logan on the other hand, waved his fellow teammates over, and Kitty, Kurt, and
Rogue joined him, with their senior team member just grunting an order to them.
"Look, I don't like it, you don't like it, but we're going to have to deal with
it, because she does have a certain amount of inside information. We're going
to have to work with Mystique."
Kitty and Kurt both nodded in a reluctant manner, and Rogue responded with a
nod as well, not liking it, but having to go along with it for the good of
saving Harry in case he got in over his head. She offered a distrustful glance
to Mystique, and Logan turned around, talking to the shapeshifter.
Mystique cut him off before he could speak, a nasty expression flashing through
her eyes. "I know you don't like me any more than I like you, but we have to
work together. And believe me, when this is done, all bets between our teams
are off."
"Lady, I wouldn't have it any other way," Logan responded, not taking his eyes
off Mystique for one moment, knowing from experience that was a good way to get
a knife planted in his back. Healing factor or not, that tended to be a bitch
and a half.
===============================================================================
"Keep hammering the shields with everything that you've got men, and put a dent
in them at least, so we can slip through."
Nick Fury had ordered this declaration in a barking manner, causing his
subordinates in SHIELD to falter just a little bit. There was a moment where
all of them shuddered at the thought of how Fury was behaving at this moment,
but they had to do as he said for the fate of the world depended on it.
The scorecard was something that caused Fury a great deal of frustration, and
he ticked down all of the problems that this situation caused.
The first, and biggest problem was that Magneto was able to smuggle all of this
equipment on the Asteroid under the nose of SHIELD. Despite the fact that Fury
was hard-nosed, and detailed oriented, security was anything, but perfect.
Magneto proved this fact when he got the equipment up there, and flaunted it as
well. This mocked Fury and disgusted him.
The second problem was that Magneto could have easily had weapons up there,
that he could fire upon every major city on Earth should have chosen to. The
asteroid was not picked for the size, or even the view, Fury calculated that
there was a strategic motive to Magneto's madness.
That meant that Magneto did have the potential to be a terrorist, and for that,
Fury was going to shut him down with extreme prejudice. The Director of SHIELD
gritted his teeth, and watched several of the highest weapons that they had
firing into the side of the shield. Nothing seemed to work, and everything
seemed to bounce off.
Commander Nick Fury would not be denied, and he chewed on the cigar he was
smoking, before he offered a barking command. "Keep it up, don't let up, keep
pounding them hard!"
Fury shook his head, things were just about to get worse and worse, before they
got better, and Fury felt his ulcer getting an ulcer.
Suddenly, as if on cue, a booming declaration broke through the SHIELD
frequencies, and Magneto's voice could be heard by all on the ship. Fury leaned
in closer, to see what this powerful mutant had to say, but had a feeling that
it would not be to his liking.
"Your attempts to break through my defenses are rather quaint, but I would
suggest that they cease. You are just waiting valuable resources, and pretty
soon those resources will include the humans on the ship if you push my
patience. What makes you think that you could break through my defenses, once
you couldn't even detect me setting up this base until it was too late?"
Fury gritted his teeth, and clutched his fists, Magneto did opt to go straight
for the heart, but he was not about to back down. He had stared some of the
worst people one could imagine in the eye, and did not blink, for Nick Fury
feared no man, and certainly he feared no mutant.
"Do you hear me, Magneto, we'll find a way to shut you down!"
Fury wondered if Magneto had even heard this declaration, but if he did, the
mutant elected not to respond to it. Still Fury had said his piece, and just
waited for the other shoe to drop, whatever that might have been. The SHIELD
commander checked on the status of the shields around the base of that mutant's
and could have cursed out loud.
The shields were not damaged, not even the slightest dent had been put into
them, and Fury slammed his fists down on the metal part of the console, taking
his frustrations out on it. The SHIELD commander turned, and took a moment to
check himself, before continuing in a resolved, and calm manner, or at least
what passed as calm.
"Increase your barrage, keep firing, do not let up for any reason whatsoever,
and if weapons get fired, switch your attacks to them. Take them all out, and
make sure Magneto does not take any innocent human lives with whatever his mad
plan is!"
Fury fixed his eye on the scanner, when another presence had made themselves
known, and the Director of SHIELD could hardly believe it, things were about to
get interesting.
The X-Men had arrived in their little plane, and with that bit of information,
Fury just stepped back to enjoy the show. Somehow, he doubted that they would
be able to penetrate the defenses, which was surprising because his men had had
little luck.
Somehow, by a miracle, their little plane had made its way through, and Fury
threw his cigar down on the ground, before he stomped it out. He offered the
only statement that made any lick of sense at the moment.
"Well, I'll be a son of a bitch."
That was a sentiment that was echoed by all, and Fury just decided to see how
this little situation would play out at least for the moment.
"Sir, we're picking up trace amounts of radiation, and it's becoming rapidly
unstable."
Fury could have sworn out loud for the entire world to hear at this little
tidbit of news that he was given, and now the Commander of SHIELD dedicated
himself to finding a way to mitigate the risks for this particular problem. One
thing was for certain, this may have been a day that would be getting far worse
before it got better, but that was just an average day on the beach for Nick
Fury.
===============================================================================
"I believe the humans now understand what is on the line, and now it comes your
turn to make a choice, Harry Potter," Magneto told him, a sadistic grin
spreading across his face. It was now time to see whether or not this boy had
the ambition to take the next step forward. "Do you step into the machine, and
join the future, or would you be crushed by it? There will be no more need for
training, for you will have achieved your full potential."
Harry would be a liar if he would have said that he was not tempted, but there
was too many variables, plus the slight hiss that he heard from the machine,
and the rather blank cold stares that was coming from the eyes of Scott and
Alex had made him a bit gun shy on such a thing. Among many other reasons that
Harry could list and there was a fact that certain people important to him
would not be part of this new world that sealed the deal.
The two Summers brothers resembled catatonic zombies and that was far from a
good thing in Harry's book. He supposed that sense was beyond them and now he
had to quickly work on to reverse what was happening.
"Get bombarded with radiation that could bend my mind, and make me obedient to
you?" Harry asked, and he took a step forward to face Magneto. "Sorry, but I'll
pass."
Harry at that moment tried to fire off a spell, but Magneto summoned a huge
sheet of metal to block it. The spell dented the metal, but Magneto sent
several more at Harry. Harry was forced to transfigure the metal into plastic
and blast away the pieces of metal, but Magneto had moved from the location,
and turned to Scott and Alex.
"Cyclops, Havok, he intends to destroy the machine, and thus destroy the
future, protect it with all your worth."
Harry turned to Scott and Alex who seemed to be beyond all reason, so he was
not going to bother reasoning with them. Without any pause, Scott fired a beam
of optic energy at him, but with expert precision and swift reflexes, Harry
dodged the attack, and it ricocheted off of the wall. Alex did the same thing
with his hands, but Harry dodged that attack again and again.
This was getting to get bothersome and Harry was reaching the end of his
already thin patience, trying shake off what was happening. Their powers were
enhanced beyond what he had been used to and Scott's powers unchained were not
something that were pleasant.
"Snap out of it, or I'll snap you out of it!" Harry yelled, and he fired a high
impact banishing spell to Alex, knocking him back. Scott fired back with the
attack, and Harry dodged it, causing the doors to be blown open.
Harry peered over his shoulder, and saw Jean, Professor Xavier, and Storm
caught up in stasis pods of some sort. He moved over to go and free them from
the pods, although how he had no real idea.
"Oh no you don't!" Avalanche yelled at the top of his lungs, and he began to
rock the ground underneath Harry, but Harry flew up over the ground, and thus
above the pull of Avalanche's attacks.
Toad took a step back, hiding behind the Blob, but his eyes followed the
progress of the young mutant in the air. The fact that Arcane could fly was
both awesome, and kind of scary. The young mutant looked up, and the stasis
pods bust open, before Jean, Ororo, and Charles had been released.
"Don't look now, but the odds just got a lot worse," Toad groaned, feeling like
this was going to hurt, and sure enough, he jumped out of the way. He did not
want to find out what happened when a toad got struck by lightning, but the
slimy mutant had a feeling that he would not like the results.
"Thanks a lot Alvers, saved me from doing it myself," Harry responded, and
Lance's eyes widened, before he realized what happened, and realized that his
powers weren't as useful for engaging a Harry Potter that was airborne.
"Come back on the ground and fight like a man," Lance growled, the ground
shaking and he put more power, but Harry's face just spread into a smug grin,
as he peered down towards Lance.
"I prefer to stay up here, and fight like a winner," Harry retorted, and he had
his hands out, before causing Avalanche's own attack to be repelled back
towards him.
Lance learned from what happened last time, and forced more of his power
against Harry's reversal. He was not about to be shown up, but Blob and Toad
had been caught off guard. Jean held Blob in place, and Storm had caught Toad
in a whirlwind, taking him down. Toad screamed when he was flung around from
side to side. Blob on the other side tried to fray his arms and legs, and kept
pushing out.
"You're…not stronger than me!" Lance grunted, trying to force more of his power
into the attack, but Scott stepped aside, and shot a beam of optic energy at
Harry.
Harry dodged it immediately, and it repelled against the ceiling, cracking it
slightly. Another blast, but this time Harry flicked his wrist and repelled it
back, stinging Scott's own eyes for a moment. That would allow him time to move
and he dropped on the ground, where Avalanche tried to make his move. However,
this was a feint by Harry, and Avalanche gritted his teeth at this point.
Magneto saw that the equipment was becoming unstable from the fighting, and
Avalanche rattling the base. The Master of Magnetism saw his beautiful plan
slip away, but he could still salvage it, he was not a quitter, he was a
winner, and this future would be his. It was time for him to take control.
"Cease at this moment!" Magneto yelled at the top of his lungs, but the doors
cracked open, and the rest of the X-Men had appeared, along with Mystique.
"And again I say, the odds got a lot worse," Toad grumbled, when he looked up
to see the pair of X-Men.
Jean's eyes were focused on Scott, when she automatically gripped him around
the head telekinetically, causing him to drop to his knees. Scott struggled as
Jean tried to get through his thick skull to wake him up.
'Scott, listen to me, this isn't you, Magneto messed with your mind,' Jean
thought.
'Jean's right,' Xavier managed at that point. 'Let go of the power upgrades,
you and Alex both, and now..."
Scott screamed, he would not let go of the power, he needed this power, when
suddenly, a large blast of blue light shot out of Harry's hands. The spell was
to purge the body of negative energies, and Harry hoped that it would work on
Scott. Scott suffered a lot of pain when he was blasted hard, but it was better
to suffer a lot of pain then be someone's puppet. At least that's what Harry
thought.
"Compliments of the Sorcerer Supreme," Harry answered, and Scott fell to the
ground, his arms and legs twitching. No sooner did that happen, was when Kitty
had hugged Harry from behind in a surprising fashion. Harry felt the warmth and
welcomed embrace of his own of his girlfriend's and gave the oh so casual
statement of, "Hi Kitty."
Harry relaxed in the arms of his brunette girlfriend, and Rogue stood next to
them as well, when suddenly they spotted Mystique, who had knocked out
Sabretooth on the ground with a well-placed kick, and dove at Magneto with a
jagged piece of wood, murderous intentions dancing in her eyes.
"DIE!" Mystique practically snarled, trying to jab Magneto with the piece of
wood, but the Master of Magnetism dodged the attack, pushing it back, and
knocking Mystique backwards, but not before she managed to stab him once in the
leg with the jagged piece of wood. The glancing blow was a moral victory before
metal cables wrapped around Mystique's legs and snapped her back off of the
podium.
Magneto gimped away from the battle, summoning all of the metal that he could,
but blood had poured down his leg. Mystique was devious enough to stab him with
a piece of wood with no metal in it for him to magnetize.
Mystique smashed against the machine, and suddenly it activated, bombarding her
with a heavy dose of radiation. She screamed out loud, feeling her body change
and contort, and also sparks began to fly from the machine. Mystique lit up
like a Christmas light, screaming bloody murder at the top of her lungs.
Quicksilver picked his moment to show up, seeing his fellow Brotherhood members
laid out on the floor, and he looked down at them. The fastest mutant alive
blinked several times before he addressed his associates in the Brotherhood in
typical motor-mouth fashion talking a million miles a minute.
"What are you doing here, lollygagging or something, there's escape pods in the
other room, this place is going to blow, knew you'd be in trouble without me,
so come up, let's go, try and keep up, let's go, move it, hurry it up now!"
Pietro had said all of these words without taking a breath, or a break and
Toad, Blob, and Avalanche did not need to be told twice, for they followed
Pietro from the room, and there were several more sparks flying. The base was
coming down, and everything that Magneto had built so carefully was crumbling
to nothingness.
Scott got back up to his feet, as did Alex, both of them shook their heads, and
immediately Xavier turned his attention to his team. He surveyed the situation
and they could all agree that it was not good at all.
"The Brotherhood have decided to escape this place, and I would suggest that we
do the same," Xavier declared in a firm voice, and the X-Men did not need to be
told twice, all of them made their way to the transportation, which Logan had
started up immediately, and the jet flew from the exploding base.
Mystique and Magneto still were trapped on the Asteroid as it exploded, but
there was no time to save them. The jet passed the SHIELD vehicles that had
been trying to break through the defenses, but once they saw the carnage, they
did an about face, and there was a huge explosion that resounded on the
asteroid.
"No one could have survived that!" Jean managed in a gasp, her eyes following
the explosion and hearing everything rumble at that point, with debris flying
into space.
Harry just rolled his eyes, and chuckled. He sat in the backseat with Kitty
resting her head on his lap, and Rogue resting her head on his shoulder. Harry
decided that it was his duty to enlighten Jean on a few truths. "The less of a
chance someone has in surviving something, means the more of a chance that they
actually have of surviving."
Jean blinked trying to wrap her head around the logic that Harry had just
thrown down on her, but Logan had just nodded slowly as he continued to pilot
the vehicle away from the wreckage and back to Earth.
"Kid's got a point," Logan offered, knowing all too well, and he knew that his
old pal Sabretooth was very likely to have checked his own way out, as much as
he would have liked that see that bastard perish.
But as always, one could not get everything in life, and that was true, even if
someone was the best in the world at what they done.
Scott seemed to allow the awkward atmosphere to sink in and realized how wrong
that he was. It seemed that no matter what, he could not make the right
decision and he had made the wrong one. Harry warned him and if Scott did not
listen to Harry, what made it was that Professor Xavier had warned him as well.
That fact along was an extremely bitter pill to swallow.
"Scott, all things considered it's good to have you back to your normal self,"
Harry remarked in a casual voice and Scott offered a stoic nod, hating when
Harry took the high road. It just made Scott look so much worse.
"Yeah, and to think it was Harry who saved the day yet again," Kitty remarked
in a pleased voice, and Scott just seemed to flush at that statement, but said
nothing.
"He really did come through for us, didn't he, Scott?" Alex asked, and Scott
turned, crossing his arms, but nodded, knowing full well that some knives cut
deeper than others. He sighed, once again he had been outclassed in the
leadership department.
And what was worse was that Jean did not seem to be meeting his eyes. What
happened in there really made her disappointed in there and Scott felt the
desire to punch something hard.
Something that Harry said really was getting to him, and that was the fact that
he was not fit to be a leader. He had jumped to the chance to get his powers
fixed, and the quick fix. His powers had now been back to normal, and that much
gave him a little bit of heart ache for he was only going to see the world in
red for the foreseeable future.
Scott mulled that over, as they returned to the Institute, and realized that it
had been a long day for all of them.
Xavier had broken the silence when the team was back safely on the ground.
"Alex, if you would like to stay, there is a place for you at the school,"
Xavier told the young mutant. Alex offered a mild amount of interest at that
point. "I believe we can work together in allowing your powers to become a bit
more bearable."
"I…I need to think about it, Professor," Alex responded, and Xavier nodded, not
wanting to pressure anyone into joining. They would need to join on their own
accord and on their own time.
Xavier did fear that the news media would pick up what happened with the
Asteroid above the Earth, and hoped that some kind of damage control could be
carried out. The world was not ready to accept mutants, perhaps one day that
might be, but that day was not coming. Xavier just feared the fallout from the
time where they would find out.
===============================================================================
Mystique was not having a good day at all, and most of it, scratch that all of
it had to do with Magneto's grand plan. He should have offered her a spot as
part of his new world on the onset, and not have made her pass some kind of
trial. This caused her a great amount of rage and that rage was not lucky to
get her killed. Mystique bitterness stewed for a few moments, after all she had
done with Magneto, and this was how she repaid her. It just showed how much
gratitude Magneto showed those who had put their best years of their life on
the line for him.
Of course what happened with Magneto was something that barely scrapped the
iceberg, and Mystique turned around, getting a close look at the predicament
that she was currently in.
Right now, Mystique was in quite the pickle, given that she was currently in a
dark lab, on a surgical table of some sort. That was never a good sign, given
she had been strapped to a surgical table many times in her day, and very few
of the times were happy, fun, and joyous memories, that much she was certain
of.
Mystique shook her head, waking back up, and she took a deep and prominent
breath, trying to get back to life, and back to reality. A feeling of incoming
dread filled the mutant shapeshifter and she wondered what was going to happen
now. The heart thumped across her chest at that point.
"You have sustained quite the ordeal, have you not, Raven?"
Mystique's eyes blinked a few times, and she heard a deep voice in the
background, and a pair of hands had unstrapped her from the surgical table. She
was relieved and also rather suspicious by this kind gesture. She figured that
there was some kind of motive, but the question was what. At this moment, the
blue skinned mutant swung her legs to the side and pulled herself to a sitting
position, clearing the mental fog from her head.
"You are in optimal health, but at the same time, in my debt. Magneto had taken
the final escape pod, leaving you for dead, but thankfully I had intervened."
"I suppose you want me to get on my knees, and thank you for your kindness,"
Mystique answered in a sullen tone, but the mystery man in the shadows
responded with a cold and high laugh. The laughter caused chills to go down
Mystique's spine and that was quite a feat given all that she had seen. The
woman's blood ran cold and a frigid sensation tingled through her body.
The décor in the lab did not help either; it appeared to be positively
Victorian, coming out of some madman's torture chamber in the ninetieth
century. The laughter ceased and Mystique listened for what else her captor had
to say to her.
"Perhaps we can visit that particular option at another time, but as of now, we
have a matter of business to discuss. Magneto's plan was sound, but at the same
time did lack a certain amount of ambition. That is something that I will
endeavor to correct when I unleash my plan."
Mystique's heart thumped against her chest, and she wondered what kind of
madman's game she had been sucked into this time. Ever since her days as a
member of Weapon X, Mystique had gotten herself into many tight fixes, and the
arrangement she had with Magneto was just merely one of them. And she had a
shrewd suspicion that this was another situation where she was in a tight fix.
The creepy man in the shadows had decided to dangle a rather enticing carrot in
front of Mystique's nose.
"I can give you your daughter and your son back, save them from the influence
of Xavier and Potter, just do all of what I say, and follow my plan to the tee.
I intend to unleash something that will weed out the weak and only allow the
strong to survive."
"And just who are you?" Mystique asked, squinting to see the dark features of
this man in the shadows, and once again the man offered a thunderous round of
laughter. Once again, it was not the kind of laughter that invited jolly fun,
but rather the kind of laughter that made a person's skin crawl.
"I am called many things, but you may call me, Sinister."
To Be Continued in the Next Chapter "Aftermath."
***** Aftermath *****
Chapter 22: Aftermath.
The ordeal at Asteroid M would not be one where they would be forgetting for a
long time, yet the Brotherhood returned to the boarding house, and had been
there for a couple of weeks after that event. They had waited for the other
shoe to drop, and Mystique to storm through the front door, mean as ever, and
ready to resume her reign of terror against them.
However, there was a moment of clarity, and a moment where the four of them,
Quicksilver, Toad, Blob, and Avalanche began to take a deep breath, and
realized that Mystique was not going through those doors. Toad decided to voice
his response to the situation, in the only way that he could.
"Free at last, free at last, we're free at last!"
Toad cheered at that moment, and sank down onto the mouth ridden sofa at the
Brotherhood boarding house. Blob decided to celebrate this situation in the
only way that he knew how, and that was to get a snack. The large mutant ambled
off, walking each and every individual step of the way.
Avalanche's expression switched over to Quicksilver at that moment, who looked
a bit weary, almost as if Mystique had been posing as one of the Brotherhood
members.
"Hey, how about the big guy, you know Magneto?"
Quicksilver just scoffed at that, and shook his head. "Hey, don't worry about
Magneto, he's the past, the Brotherhood are the future, just got to get our
heads in the game, and we're going to be alright."
There was that moment where the Brotherhood seemed to have gotten a rather
large monkey off of their backs. A monkey that threatened to crush them, but
now they were going to accomplish something else, that being freedom.
Sure the X-Men knocked them around a fair few times, but what does not kill
you, makes you stronger. Or just hurt in the morning long enough to make them
wish that they were dead, whatever came first.
There was a moment where Lance reflected on the past battles, and realized that
the Brotherhood was in fact the future, if he could lead them as such. So far,
their luck against Potter had been scattered at best, and rather horrible at
worse. He clutched his fist, thinking about that dark haired little egomaniac,
so smug with all of his powers. One day Lance would personally make sure Potter
would get his as the Brotherhood would have their day.
If given the chance, Lance was going take Potter and the rest of the X-Men out,
but he did admit that as bad as Potter was, Summers was worse. Summers was the
kind of guy who people would not even bully for his lunch money, because he was
so pathetic, the real teacher's pet. The thought made him want to wretch and
his stomach turned in disgust, just thinking about the glorified boy scout of
the X-Men.
"Hey, we're out bread, we got to get some."
Blob had offered this rumbling declaration from the kitchen, and Quicksilver
could have smacked themselves, there was one rather key problem that he
overlooked with Mystique's departure from the Mansion. The fastest mutant alive
also prided himself on being a quick thinker, much quicker than this lot, he
would have to say.
"You want the bread, do you Dukes?"
"Yeah, we can't make a sandwich without bread," Fred grumbled, and his stomach
seemed to growl at that point. Pietro looked at Fred, shaking his head, and
offering a pitiful sigh.
Pietro would have felt sorry for Dukes except that he didn't really feel sorry
for him.
"Well, you know our boss, the lady we're cheering for the demise of, you know
Mystique, remember her?"
Toad shook his head, taking a deep breath, and placed his head in his hands.
"Hard to forget her, my bruises have bruises, and those bruises have more
bruises, and there is just a whole lot of bruises on bruises. If you get what
I'm saying."
The mutant offered an unfortunate grimace, and crossed his arms over his chest,
remembering the training sessions. The training sessions would not be an
accurate statement for what Mystique did to them, rather it would be legalized
torture. Toad would be seeing those sessions in his nightmares, and he took a
moment to draw breath. It was all over, there was no way in hell Mystique
survived what happened to her on that asteroid.
"Well that woman that we're not going to forget for a long time, she did offer
one important thing to this team," Quicksilver continued, his eyes locked onto
all three of his teammates, and Lance got it as well, even though Toad and Blob
were a bit a slow on the uptake. The speedy mutant drew a deep breath, and
turned to his fellow teammates articulating each word slowly. "The thing is,
she kind of pulled a big part of this team, because she was the one who footed
the food bill."
"And all of the other bills as well," Lance offered, and the Brotherhood just
suddenly had their eyes widened.
It slowly hit them how they were screwed with or without Mystique, and the lot
of them scrambled to make plans to figure out how to deal with this latest
handicap. The four members of the Brotherhood allowed a few moments to
scramble, before Lance decided to put a stop to it.
Lance closed his eyes tightly, and began to make the ground shake underneath
them, causing the Brotherhood to scramble. It took a moment for the entire team
to fall back into line and to calm down. Lance had to raise his voice a little
bit in addition to making the ground tremble to slap them all back into line.
"Okay, guys calm down, this isn't the end of the world!"
Todd and Fred looked extremely skeptical, but Pietro just nodded, that was an
accurate assessment, it was not going to be the end of the world. The two more
competent members of the Brotherhood looked at the hired muscle, and whatever
role Toad filled, before they took a deep breath.
"We're just going to figure out what we need to do, maybe Mystique will come
back, and…"
"Ah, man, speak of her too often, and she'll appear and get us all for not
finding her," Toad replied with a deep shudder and he folded his arms. The
slimy mutant took a few minutes to really calm himself down, and his eyes
snapped towards Lance, "So what do you think we should do, oh fearless leader."
Lance pondered this matter for a few seconds before it hit him hard and fast,
then he turned slowly towards the Brotherhood members.
"I've got a plan," Lance offered, and the Brotherhood did not seem to
understand whether they were going to be scared, or excited about the prospect
of Lance having a plan. All they had to do was focus on the situation. "Just
stick together, and we'll get this one, trust me. The Brotherhood will get the
respect we need."
The Brotherhood all nodded, as the entire group leaned in closely, hearing
Lance's grand plan, but only the three of them could hear it. He spoke of the
plan in a hushed tone and the Brotherhood just nodded, thinking that this plan
might be insane. It might be insane enough to almost work.
It was time to separate the men from the boys, and the mutants from the
pretenders, and the Brotherhood would get the respect they deserved. Just
because they did not have a fancy school like the X-Men did not mean they
didn't have power and influence.
===============================================================================
 
Much like the Brotherhood did after the incident on Asteroid M, the X-Men all
found their own ways to recover, and Harry noticed all of them in their own
ways. Scott seemed rather withdrawn as of late, and Harry doubted that was a
coincidence. His supreme leadership that Xavier had groomed him for had
faltered at that moment and Harry decided to take pity on him, picking up the
slack in the Danger Room training.
Harry found that this was just much easier than just looking at Scott who was
slumped over and looked like someone had shot his favorite bunny rabbit in the
face. As it turned out, the team was listening to Harry very well to begin
with, so leading the team was the next logical state that was going to take.
The team took their training extremely seriously and spent a great amount of
time in the Danger Room. This entire team dynamic was interesting and Harry
found himself working a lot more fluid with a team. Which was why it should be
interesting to see what would transpire when Xavier had managed to bring in a
few more recruits. Still they spent a great amount of their time in the Danger
Room.
Which the team was wrapping up another killer session, under the watchful eye
of Logan, who was critiquing their every single move, and this allowed them to
grow, and prosper, continue to get further and further away from the awkward
days of old. Rather the entire team prepared to prosper.
"Kitty, duck and turn, Rogue spin and slide, Kurt teleport out there, Jean take
out those barriers, Scott, help her, I'll take this barrier on the other side!"
Harry mentally chained together commands, and he felt that short and easy words
were the ways to get his team to understand what they should accomplish, and
Xavier watched closely. Since Harry had not been blessed for the natural
ability to read minds, he had no idea what the leader of the X-Men was thinking
at any given time. A little bit of mind magic with the sorcerer supreme was
practiced, but Harry was pretty much a novice in the grand scheme of the
universe.
Then again, the Sorcerer Supreme told Harry himself that he was always learning
even with his lofty role, so Harry doubted that there would be an end to his
knowledge. Which was really fine, because if one knew everything, then what was
the point in living?
There were rumblings that several new students would be joining the Institute
before too long, and Harry was hoping for some attractive young ladies, so he
could help them fit in. Of course, it would only be if they were a good fit
with Harry, Kitty, and Rogue, but that was another matter for another time.
They would cross that bridge when they got to know the girls.
"We're almost to the end of the session, everyone keep it up, and remember the
plan!"
The plan, that was something that Harry did in fact recall, the plan that he
made when he got here to become independent. In the other world, Harry at least
had a fortune to fall back on over the past number of years that might have
lasted for at least a decade or two if Harry did not spend any outrageous
amounts.
Of course, Harry always did intend to build upon that fortune, but if worst
came to worse, at least he knew in that world he had a cushion to fall back on.
That was why in this world, Harry was going to do the best he could to obtain
money, as he blasted the barrier hard, breaking up these musings. He did not
use his full magical powers, due to the fact that it would damage the Danger
Room.
The session wrapped up, and Harry found the treasure hunting business to be a
rather interesting one to say the very least. Some myths were true, and others
were false, but the fact was that he was able to follow that up. Harry somehow
doubted that he was the first one to have that idea, the entire notion just
seemed rather absurd.
"Through the final corridor, let's go!"
Gwen had also given Harry some information on the mysterious stashes of
notorious criminals that had never been found. Harry did not tell his friend
exactly what he wanted with them, although Gwen seemed like she knew, and did
coyly state that if Harry got caught with doing any wrongdoings, they had never
met.
Harry did not plan to get caught, but the sentiment was appreciated as was the
help.
That was beside the point, but it was another avenue that Harry was going to
have to research, but there was no more time for thoughts as the Danger Room
session wrapped up. The members of the X-Men slid to a stop, and Harry looked
up at Logan. He had long since learned not to ask Logan how he did, because
Logan would offer his most abrasive performance review possible if Harry or any
of the others did.
"Not too shabby, but it still needs work, decent improvising in there," Logan
grumbled, and he turned to Scott, his eyes on the supposed leader. "Summers, I
know your head is still screwed up after what happened at Asteroid M, but you
got to get your shit together, or this entire team will leave you behind."
Scott just looked at Logan with a set jaw, and nodded at that point, he had
some kind of mental block. It was driving him nuts how Harry never seemed to
have a case of the nerves at all, almost like his emotion could have been shut
off at wills. He just went in and did everything, and he once again saw Rogue
and Kitty stand next to Harry, linking arms with him, and the three of them
walked off.
What they did in their spare time was their own business, although Scott did in
fact wonder how Harry did it. That was another point for another time, and Kurt
walked up next to Scott. Jean seemed to be giving him a wide path, or maybe he
was avoiding her, it was hard to tell. Scott grimaced that Jean seemed to be
spending a lot of her time with Duncan. At least that's what he assumed Jean
was doing when she was not in the Mansion.
"Hey, Scott, you'll get it eventually," Kurt responded, and Scott just looked
at Kurt at that moment, before putting him on a spot with a question.
"Do you think Harry's a better leader than me, Kurt?"
Kurt grimaced at that point, and really did not want to be put on the spot,
racking his brain quickly to try find a way to answer this in a way that he
could hopefully pacify the situation.
"Scott, you're doing fine, really you're doing fine, you're just having a bad
day, a few bad days."
Scott's eyes snapped over towards Kurt, he did not answer the question at that
point.
"That doesn't really tell me anything!"
"Hey, is that the mail?" Kurt asked in a bright voice, and Scott was about to
inform Kurt that it was a Sunday, but Kurt teleported off at that moment,
leaving Scott in a lurch. In that lurch, he passed Jean, neither of them really
making eye contact with each other.
Scott walked off, and Xavier watched him leave at that point, with Storm and
Wolverine standing by his side. Xavier turned to two of the senior members of
the team.
"Scott's just going through a really bad time right now," Storm remarked, and
Xavier offered a long and protracted sigh.
"Yes, that's the point, Scott really does have the weight of the world on his
shoulders, and for him to be able to distribute that weight, he has to be able
to do that evenly."
Xavier did feel that Harry did offer more leadership qualities than Scott, but
he seemed to have certain extreme traits to him that made Xavier a bit gun shy
of putting him in any form of leadership. Logan was the same way come to think
about it, he was qualified to lead, but the extremes he took made Xavier also
not want to put him in a leadership role. Qualified as he may be to lead the
Danger Room sessions of course, but not so much to be in a leadership war.
Charles Xavier prepared to follow up the leads on the new mutant energy
signatures that had been detected with Cerebro. It was time to introduce some
fresh blood into the school, providing they would consent to join of course.
===============================================================================
 
"You do tend to push yourself past boundaries that would be considered sane by
most."
The Sorcerer Supreme had offered that particular pearl of wisdom on the next
training session, and Harry would have to agree to say the very least. The dark
haired young wizard just nodded, but he could not help and voice a question.
"So, do you think that limits are possible, or just something that we
subconsciously put on ourselves?"
That statement was one that got Harry a curious stare, and the Sorcerer Supreme
paused at that moment, regarding the young wizard. He recalled that he had many
similar questions during his training, and his mentor had only given him vague
answers. Those answers did not seem to be rather fulfilling at first, at least
until years down the line, and it was only then where they had all made sense.
So Strange decided to answer this question in what he hoped to be the clearest
and most obvious matter that he could manage, and addressed Harry in a slow,
and deliberate voice.
"If you recall one of our previous discussions about power, and how it cannot
really be truly measured, you might find the answer to that particular inquiry.
We do all have limits, but the answer is not to think too much about those
limits. Every single user of any kind of power, rather it be through magic, or
otherwise, will be able to pass them."
Harry responded with a nod at that moment, and Strange was not done imparting
the wisdom on him.
"You remember a month ago where you were having difficult with that shield that
blocked the combustion spells."
"Yes, I recall that," Harry answered at that moment, and Strange regarded Harry
with a pensive glare at that moment. "But I got that, I really got that after
dedication."
"It was because you found a way past those limits, and expanded upon that
limit," Strange answered Harry, offering a bit of a nod towards him.
Harry was inclined to agree with that point, and recalled his goals that he put
down for himself a long time ago. Those goals were match, and suppressed in
many instances, with Harry getting a bit more powerful at that time. He
reminded himself that magical powers were not the be all and end all.
As Strange rightfully told him, there was always the potential for someone who
was going to be more powerful and stronger than him, more skilled. Skill and
power often could be turned against an enemy, especially they believed their
hype.
At least that's what Harry and Strange had discussed.
"Limits that seem to be growing for each passing day," Harry answered, and he
could not help himself for offering one last statement. "I don't even know when
I'm going to hit any wall."
Strange just pondered the situation, keeping a close eye on Harry, and a few
moments appeared to pass, even if the time was really only very much less than
thirty seconds. The Sorcerer Supreme continued to survey Harry, and opened his
mouth to give him an assessment.
"Only you know about what you have the potential to do Harry, and only you
understand your limits."
Harry felt that was the answer that he was going to get, even though it was not
the answer that he really wanted at that point. Still his head had been
inclined at that point, and a smile crossed his face. It would be something
that would strike him one day and hit him with a sudden level of realization.
Strange really did give him useful input, without really outright saying every
single bit of information. One had to really only read between the lines and
that was what Harry learned how to do.
This had been a break the two had from their training, but Strange had Harry
get up to his feet, with Harry not quite understanding what Strange had him
doing. All Strange told him that this would test his ability to cope with the
unknown, something that was essential for any budding sorcerer.
Harry decided to agree at that point, and adjusted his stance, where Strange
proceeded to fire a barrage of spells towards the dark haired wizard. The
spells were a wide variety, some rather harmless, and some hurt a great deal,
but none were lethal. This was an exercise of Harry's abilities to gauge the
real threats, and focus on them, while brushing off any of the minor attacks.
At least that was what Harry interpreted about this; a person's mileage was
going to widely vary. The dark haired wizard continued to repel each and every
single attack his mentor threw at him, all of the attacks were varied.
"Make sure to adjust your posture so you can duck easily if need be," Strange
critiqued in a swift voice, and Harry nodded, understanding the reminder,
creating a shield, but also was prepared to move.
It was easy to stand there in a stationary matter, and hide behind a shield
that someone could blow a hole through if they were not careful.
Harry continued to fight the attacks, each and every assault pounding a hole
through the shield, and the battle continue with Harry learning more about
Strange's attacks. The Sorcerer Supreme did a good job of varying his attacks,
and motions, including a lot of last second fake outs.
That being said, there were a lot of last second last second fake-outs. Harry
picked up a subtle pattern, but there were enough attacks where there was in
fact a fair fight.
===============================================================================
 
Nick Fury gritted his teeth, peering out into the distance from the SHIELD
hellicarrier, and was trying to deal with the fallout of the events on Asteroid
M. There was a definite need to tighten the security SHIELD offered, given the
fact that Magneto slipped through, and made a fool of him. If there was one
thing Nick Fury detested looking like, that was a fool, but the Master of
Magnetism made him look like one.
Time seemed to grind by to an absolute halt, and Fury debated what he was going
to do next, only getting a scant few reports. Those reports indicated what
occurred between the X-Men and the Brotherhood, there was no need to go over
them again. The Brotherhood was back, the X-Men were back, and Mystique and
Magneto were missing, that's all Fury needed to know.
That was something that caused Fury a great deal of frustration, not knowing
what he had to go up against. Mystique had slipped through the cracks more than
a few times before, that much was certain before looking through the woman's
history. That woman could be anywhere, anyplace, anytime, and could even be on
the SHIELD hellicarrier right now.
It was at that point with that thought where Fury peered a bit over his
shoulder, a nervous glance being given. All of the SHIELD officials were
walking on egg shells after the fiasco that just occurred and Fury was like a
hot volcano about ready to explode. It was time for them to all tread lightly.
Indeed, it was time for Fury to tighten the security, and hopefully make sure
no one compromised anything. That was the problem with being a super-secret spy
organization, there was always room for improvement, and always new ways to get
compromised. Fury prided himself with being on the cusp of all security as he
was always one step ahead of the enemies that threatened the security of the
world.
There was just one problem, and that was that as much as he was on the cusp of
security, the other side was getting smarter and smarter with each passing day.
The Director of SHIELD reflected on a couple of potential security scares that
happened over the past several years, both of them predated him, but still they
were mistakes to learn from.
Learning from the mistakes of others was also extremely essential and that's
what Fury understood perfectly. The security guards circled around on the
mobile vessel, and the commander of SHIELD took many steps forward. Through one
beady eye, he gave them a look that indicated that he wanted results right
away.
"Status report!" Fury barked, his eyes focused on the SHIELD agents at hand,
and all of them stumbled around, trying to be the one who would be reporting to
him.
One of the SHIELD agents tripped over himself, and began to respond. "We're
studying those crystal fragments that we recovered from the Asteroid debris.
They're emitting high levels of radiation, sir."
Fury nodded, that was about right, Magneto was messing with something that was
extremely dangerous. The agent waved over a scientist, who would be able to
explain more information to Fury.
"We believe that these crystals would be able to unlock latent mutant gifts,
and enhance present mutant gifts, if they were refined with the right
substance. Magneto did not refine them properly."
Fury only offered the slightest bit of interest to this point, raising an
eyebrow, and keeping his one eye on the scientist who was studying the
fragments of the crystal. This gem was something that was rather potent, and
rather dangerous. SHIELD would need to keep a close eye on this situation as
with everything the gems would potentially contain.
It would be down to SHIELD to uncover the secrets behind these items, and put a
stop to them.
Commander Fury knew what was at stake, and prepared to issue the orders, along
with assembling a task force to scramble up more of these gems, providing they
existed of course. Magneto may have rounded up the remaining ones in the
scheme, but there should have been more in the space debris after the explosion
of Asteroid M.
===============================================================================
 
"Harry, I'd be happy if this works, really I would be," Rogue remarked, when
Harry had informed her of the charm that he had found. She wanted to live a
normal life without fear of putting someone in a coma, and a smile crossed her
face when she thought about what that could offer. "Even if it is only
temporary."
Temporary was far better than she would have thought of previously, in fact
that was the best Rogue could really hope for. Harry had told her about the
charm, and Rogue was beginning to get her hopes up more and more of something
happening.
Kitty sat on the side of the bed next to Rogue, and continued to offer a smile
to her, before peering directly into her eyes.
"And to make sure it works, I'll be here, and be your test dummy," Kitty
answered, a bright smile appearing on the brunette mutant's face. "That's all
you need, one touch of my hand without the glove."
"And how long will this charm work?" Rogue asked, trying not to sound all that
eager at this point, even if the eagerness crept through in her voice, and
Harry leaned forward, placing his hand on hers.
"Up to an hour, so we got to be mindful of the time," Harry answered Rogue at
that point. "Mutant powers and magic tend to be a rather intriguing mix to say
the very least, and one that I don't know how they're going to react to each
other."
Rogue just offered a brisk nod; she understood everything that Harry was
telling her. The young mutant was going to offer herself up for Harry to put
that particular spell on her, and she closed her eyes to do so. Harry locked
eyes with Kitty, who prepared herself to watch, and Harry unleashed the power.
It was at that action where Rogue felt a slight tingling going through her
spine, and she felt flushed at that point. The mutant shook off the attack, and
suddenly she felt the same, but also different. It was a weird combination of
everything, and Kitty leaned forward, touching Rogue's ungloved hand.
There was a long pause, where Harry and Kitty waited to see if the charm was
going to work, and Kitty kept her hand on Rogue's, long and lingering. Rogue
was relieved at that point when something did not go wrong, and a grin crossed
over her face. Kitty's face contorted in a grin likewise, and she spun around
to face Harry.
"Well Harry, you did it," Kitty cheered him, and Harry just offered them a
brief smile, of course he did it.
Now it was time for the real fun to be delivered, and Kitty pulled Rogue into a
brief embrace at that moment, a mischievous grin, while she stroked Rogue's
cheek. After all, they had to test to see if the charm really worked, and Kitty
knew that there was one way to do that.
With a swift moment, Kitty leaned forward, and Rogue was caught with a kiss on
the lips. Rogue was caught off guard by this, but certainly did not fight it.
The lip on lip contact with a fellow female was something that was interesting,
it was different, and Harry was certainly watching, captivated at what was
happening.
"I think it works," Kitty replied with a grin after she had dislodged herself
from Rogue's lips, and she saw the tent that was appearing in Harry's boxers.
"And that's not all that worked."
Smut/Lemon Begins.
With a smile crossing her face, Kitty yanked down the pair of boxers that Harry
was wearing, to expose his throbbing manhood.
"Kitty, suck my dick, Rogue lick my balls," Harry said to the two girls, and
the girls obeyed, deciding that this was a fair enough deal. Harry gripped onto
the bed sheets and Kitty slammed her mouth down on Harry's cock, bobbing up and
down on it, but pausing in between sucks to give a nice lick. Rogue on the
other hand, went between Harry's legs and slowly trailed her tongue down across
his nutsac, licking hid and tasting him in her mouth.
Harry saw these two mutant beauties link his cock and balls, and he reached
down underneath Rogue's shirt, fondling the mutant girl's breasts. The girl's
eyes glazed back, moaning in pleasure, and Kitty bobbed up and down Harry's
length, trying to take as much into her throat as possible. Rogue decided to
increase the pleasure by licking every bit of Harry that was not entering
Kitty's mouth.
A grunt escaped Harry's mouth, and he felt the two beauties continue to work
him over with their mouths.
"So hot," Harry breathed, and Kitty reached down her pants, playing with
herself, being spurred on by Harry's motions. "Going to cum."
Kitty pulled off and gripped Harry's cock, stroking up and down the base,
sticking out her tongue. Rogue went on her knees right by Kitty, and the two
girls looked up at Harry. They had wanton looks in their eyes, with Kitty
stroking on Harry's cock and Rogue fondling his balls, and after some teasing,
the pressure in Harry's loins burst.
The two girls felt pleasure as their faces had been splattered by the thick
seed of the wizard above them. Several white hot blasts of cum struck them in
the face, hitting their lips, nose, and mouth, with the girls whining at the
fact that it was over.
"Clean each other up," Harry encouraged them, and Kitty was extremely eager to
do so, pulling Rogue into a deep kiss, tasting the cum on their tongues. It was
not so much that they were attracted to the same sex, but rather through their
desire to give their same boyfriend a show. Or maybe they were, it was hard to
tell.
The two girls licked the cum off of their lips and tongues, and face, with the
two of them stripping each other from their clothes. Harry watched, feeling
himself grow at each and every moment these two girls played with each other
and there was a moment where Harry thought that they had forgotten he existed.
Harry decided to correct that notion, grabbing Rogue around the waist, and
placing her down on the bed, her ass sticking up in the air. With a huge slap,
Harry marked the luscious rump of the mutant and she felt herself clench at
these actions. Harry raised his hand and spanked her hard once again.
"Oh yes, spank me again, Harry," Rogue groaned, and Harry grabbed Rogue, before
whispering in her ear.
"I'm going to fuck you in the cunt from behind, and then I'm going to stick my
cock on your ass and fuck it until you can't sit down," Harry ordered her, and
Rogue felt herself thinking that this was a good idea, to be pleasured in such
a way. "And I'm going to reinforce the charm so we don't lose track of time. I
want you to eat Kitty's pussy while I do that, and don't slow down, not even
what, is that understood?"
"Yes," Rogue answered and Kitty sprawled herself on the bed and spread her legs
prompting Rogue to place her face deep into Kitty's sopping cunt. Rogue began
to lick around on the inside of the brunette girl's cunt and Harry offered a
smile.
"Almost as good as your cock," Kitty breathed, feeling Rogue's tongue work
around the inside of her cunt.
Harry smiled and worked on Rogue's cunt lips, stroking her, and teasing her,
spurring her to faster motions. He saw one girlfriend go down on the other as
Rogue seemed to relish the opportunity to touch. Especially if it was such an
intimate touch and Harry rubbed the head of his cock against her hot entrance,
teasing Rogue, tormenting her, and then he stuck his cock deep into her cunt.
Rogue gave a muffled groan as Harry plunged into her and the mutant licked
Kitty's cunt faster. The two sensations had caused her mind to overwhelm, with
Harry pounding into her slowly from behind and then he switched to hard and
past. His balls slapped hard against her thighs while Rogue felt the feeling of
the hard cock buried deep into her deeply from behind.
Kitty's eyes glazed over in pure pleasure, and felt the desire of Rogue's
tongue licking inside of her cunt. Her breathing became heavier and heavier,
and she rubbed her nipples, playing with them. She saw that Harry watched her
with a hungry look in his eyes.
"So tight, so tight," Harry groaned, pounding deeply into Rogue. "Eat her so
hard that she'll pass out."
Rogue went down on Kitty with absolute passion licking and nibbling on her
cunt. Kitty reached over grabbing Rogue's hair and pushing her deep into her
soaking snatch, breathing in and out, eyes glazed over. She made sure to keep
her eyes on Harry plowing Rogue from behind and his cock went deeper into her
tight snatch.
"Fuck, yeah, that's it!" Kitty screamed, thrusting her hips up to meet Rogue's
face encouraging her to lick more out.
"Keep licking that cunt," Harry encouraged Rogue and Rogue did so, with Harry's
thrust continuing to go hard into her and also Harry grabbed her breasts. He
squeezed them tightly banging into Rogue with each every single motion. "Going
to cum in you."
"Going to cum too, and I think she is too," Kitty panted heavily, and the three
of them tried to cum together.
Some time had passed with Harry wondering if he was going to have to reapply
the charms, but for now his balls tightened hard. He shot his load into Rogue
with rapid fire intensity and drained every single bit of his seed that he had
in his balls deep into the mutant's center. Rogue's pussy clenched with
multiple orgasms before Harry was finished.
Kitty nearly fell backwards, soaking Rogue's face, and Rogue continued to lick
her fellow girlfriend's cunt.
Harry watched Rogue eat Kitty's sopping wet peach for a couple moments and his
cock was hard again.
"What an ass!" Harry exclaimed, smacking Rogue hard. "And it's mine, I'm going
to fuck you so hard."
Rogue's cheeks were spread apart as Harry took aim and slammed his hard rod up
Rogue's ass. She screamed a bit, but Kitty shoved Rogue down onto her pussy to
muffle the screams, making sure Rogue kept to the plan.
"Take your cock like a woman and keep eating me," Kitty ordered her and Harry
slammed into Rogue hard, jamming his cock up in her ass long and hard.
"So tight, can't wait to blow your ass up with my cum," Harry whispered,
grabbing Rogue's hair for leverage and continued to slam into her ass.
Rogue was in heaven and his balls slapped against her. The mutant wanted more,
more, more of his cock up her ass, but she could not voice this desire because
her mouth was currently kind of busy pleasuring Kitty. Kitty's little moans
encouraged Rogue to go on, and the dick up her ass was going to drive her to
even more pleasure.
Time ticked up as Harry felt the tightness of a really hot ass around him, it
was like a furnace, and Harry kept pleasuring this tight hole at that point,
sliding his throbbing prick out of her. His balls tightened more and more,
slapping Rogue's ass and feeling the pleasure coming from Kitty and Rogue.
"Going to fill your ass up with cum," Harry grunted and with a few more quick
thrusts, his balls clenched together. The young wizard got a few more quick
thrusts out of it, feeling more and more pressure being built on his balls
before they burst and splattered a heavy stream of cum up Rogue's ass.
Harry thrust again, draining himself into her ass, and slowly pulled out, cum
dripping from his slit from the effort.
Without another word, Kitty pushed Rogue off of her cunt. Rogue grunted at the
loss as Kitty dove from behind and began to feast upon the cum that was on
Rogue's asschecks. Rogue's eyes glazed over as she began to pant heavily.
"Oh, Kitty, so wrong," Rogue said in a thick voice, but Kitty just grinned,
seeing Harry grow harder at her efforts.
"Harry seems to enjoy it," Kitty answered defensively, finishing feasting off
Harry's cum and put it on her finger, licking it, and sucking on it hard.
Harry could not hold himself out any longer. With a swift motion he dove at
Kitty with the brunette giving a squeal when Harry slammed her onto the bed and
Harry lined up his cock towards her hole, slamming himself into her with
another motion.
"How do you like that, you dirty girl?" Harry grunted, fucking Kitty's tight
body long and fast.
"Like it, punish me, punish this dirty cum loving slut!" Kitty yelled, raising
her hips to meet Harry's motions and the cock slamming hard into her nice and
long.
Rogue allowed her ass, mouth, and cunt a rest, watching Harry plunge his dick
deep into Kitty's sopping folds. She had to admit, the fact that Harry was
fucking Kitty to such an extent was really turning her on and Rogue found her
hand going between her legs, as she diddled herself.
"Fuck, Harry, yeah!" Kitty groaned, wrapping her legs around Harry's body, and
pushing herself up to meet his incoming thrusts hard. The brunette felt Harry's
cock punish her crevice long nad hard, really thrusting deep into her with each
movement.
Harry felt the warmth of her twat envelope him, there was no better feeling
them feeling his cock encased in a hot and warm cunt. Kitty reached her arms
around him and grabbed him around the neck, pushing his cock inside her. Her
eyes glazed over and there was a labored moan as Harry's thrusts got deeper and
harder as time rolled on.
Twenty minutes, thirty minutes, an hour, Kitty hardly could figure out how much
time had passed, all she cared about was Harry's large cock buried into her
folds. The massive member filled her up and punished her long and hard. The
brunette pushed her hips up and met each and every movement Harry had to offer.
"Going to ride you, raise your hips up, beg for my cum," Harry grunted hard,
and Kitty wrapped her arms around Harry tightly, her legs tightened.
"I need you in me, cumming in my tight pussy, painting my walls white!" Kitty
panted as she felt Harry's rod slam deep into her body again and again.
"You really want all my thick seed?" Harry asked, and he continued to thrust
into Kitty hard, before he slowed down his motions. This inspired Kitty to give
a loud whine as she was being brought down to Earth when Harry had slowed down
his thrusts.
"Harry!" Kitty screamed and Harry sped up once again, getting deeper and deeper
with each passing thrusts.
The end was coming so Harry sped up the process going deeper and deeper into
his girlfriend's tight cunt before his seed emptied into her body, his balls
drained completely. The two saw an explosive ending, with Harry's cock filling
her up to the brim.
Smut/Lemon Ends.
===============================================================================
 
For all of the faults of the present, there was no fault that could be compared
to what could potentially transpire down the line in the future. In the future,
mutants were exposed, and hunted down, enslaved at best, and slaughtered at
worst. Not to mention the fact that humans were just as bad off, if not worse.
The conclusion that mutants evolved from humans was made in the future, and so
for the mutant problem to be eradicated, all humans should perish.
That was the harsh truth that was present in the future, and it was not a
bright one, people looked to everything with fear, dismay. There was no such
thing as home security, for each and every person in the future lived in fear.
Humans, mutants, and everyone else that lived, even a few aliens hidden on the
planet, all of them were subjected to the same scrutiny, and the same harsh
reality.
A blinding flash erupted in the alleyway, and thankfully no one was there to
see her when she arrived. Otherwise that would have been a problem. Of course,
getting chased by the authorities of her time was something that was hell, so
being attacked by anyone from this time would seem like paradise. At least
that's what this young lady hoped, when she had arrived.
The young girl had shoulder length red hair that flowed in the breeze, and she
checked the date, it was March of 2001. That meant that she had traveled twenty
years into the past from her future, and the red haired girl took a deep
breath.
Green eyes peered into the distance, and a couple of subtle scars were on her
face, but not to detract from her beauty. She had been the last hope, part of a
resistance who had been sent back into the past to stop the really bad future
from happening.
The only downside to it was when she went into the past, there was no way to go
back, none at all. Of course, given the fact that there was not much of a past
to go back to, the young girl thought that this trip was actually a blessing in
disguise. Once she regained her bearings, there was something that she had to
do.
She had to get in touch with the X-Men, all of them, and hopefully find a way
to prevent this bad future from happening.
Time travel was a rather particular thing, and there were one of three things
that could have happened, as Forge had told her before she was sent back.
The first probable outcome was that no matter what she did, the future always
had a way of resetting itself to the point of where it was. One could not undo
what had already been done, and that was the most depressing thing to think
about, so the young girl tried not to think too much about it.
That was considered to be the absolutely worst case scenario of the three
things, and the young redhead reflected deeply. It did hurt to get here, and
the pain would have been amplified upon her ten fold.
The second potential outcome was that she did change the past, and succeeded,
but to the point where she no longer existed. If that was the case, then so be
it. That was a worthy sacrifice for her to make, to wipe herself out, and to
create a new timeline where humans and mutants alike were not enslaved. There
was such a thing as justifiable sacrifices, and if this young mutant girl had
to make one, then so be it.
This did seem to be the most likely out of the three, but there was a third
possibility that Forge had told her, one that was a complete and utter
wildcard. She reflected back upon it, and took a deep breath.
One could not completely travel back in time, but rather she was sent to a
timeline that was not quite set in stone. Her actions could lead to a better,
or an even worse fate. A separate version of her may or may not exist in due
time, and the two of them would merge together at that point. The redhead girl
took a deep breath, and tried to figure out what would be the most preferred
outcome.
To her, the third option would be the best, with the second being the most
likely, and the first being the absolute worst of them all. The first would
mean that the noble efforts of everyone who bought her time to escape that
monster in the future who had taken over would be all for nothing. Bastion had
been quite the dangerous foe, and had been the ultimate killing machine, having
a hand in killing both Charles Xavier and Magneto.
After that, the future of mutants were destroyed, without strong leadership,
and the young girl looked at the data she managed to collect.
Jean Grey and Scott Summers, those were two people she knew rather well. So
there was no need to go over them really that much.
Kitty Pryde, yeah they met a few times.
Kurt Wagner, heard of him, maybe met him once, he made a brave sacrifice.
Rogue, another one that she had only met once, and the young girl looked
forlorn thinking about how messily she was murdered.
Logan, or Wolverine, yes someone who had fought to the bitter end, although
there was a chance that he was still out there the moment she left the bad
future. If nothing else, Logan was a survivor.
Ororo Munroe, Storm, yes that was another one that was among one of the legends
in the X-Men, and another one who had died in the future that she came from.
The final member of this present team was Harry Potter, and the archives had no
records on him whatsoever, which made the girl rather curious.
Rachel Grey was in the past, and determined to make a better future.
The time had come for a change, and Rachel was not going to let that future
happen, not if she could help it anyway.
***** No Day at the Beach *****
Chapter 23: No Day at the Beach.
"Aren't you excited?
It was Kurt who said this statement at seven o'clock in the morning, before
Harry was functionally ready to be excited. The two of them walked down to
breakfast with Kitty and Rogue following both of them. Both girls looked highly
amused by this back and forth exchange between the two X-Men.
"Yes, Kurt, thrilled," Harry answered when his eyes narrowed towards the fuzzy
mutant but despite that fact a small flicker of a smile crossed his face.
"Come on, it's a trip to the beach, a nice outing, what's more exciting than
that?" Kurt asked when he waved his arms around and his eyes focused on Harry's
face . "Look at you, you could use some sun and some fresh air."
"Kurt's got a point, Harry," Rogue chimed in and Harry gave her a look of mock
agitation, like he felt she betrayed him. Rogue patted Harry on the arm in a
consoling manner.
"Yeah, it's not going to be that bad, besides Storm is chaperoning, so it could
be fun, at least she can keep any bad weather at bay," Kitty answered with a
bright smile as she grabbed an arm around Harry's arm as the couple sat
themselves down at the table.
"Nice to see you see me as useful, Kitty."
Ororo showed up out of the blue and Kitty opened her mouth, on the edge of an
apology, but the weather witch had just brushed it off with a smile. She had
walked out to join the team at the table with good grace.
Scott elected not to go to the beach, rather just staying home to help the
Professor and Logan track down the new mutant energy signatures that they had
found some time ago, to offer them a place to the school. Logan was not much of
a beach goer, so he was most certainly out, and Jean was off on an outing of
her own with friends.
Jean did invite Scott, but he had decided to stay behind, thinking that Jean
had done so out of pity. Even if that was furthest from the truth that was
beside the point, that was what Scott believed. After what happened on Asteroid
M, Scott was still going through a crisis of confidence and it was that point
where Kurt sat down at the table to help himself to the maple syrup.
"Scott ,you know you're welcomed to come with us," Kurt commented in a bright
voice and Scott appreciated Kurt's optimistic attitude even though Scott
himself did not have that much optimism to offer at this point. Kurt continued
his sale's pitch. "It's going to be a real fun time."
Scott felt sorely tempted but he shook off the temptation.
"I just think I should show some leadership qualities and stay behind, but
thanks for the offer," Scott replied in a swift voice, not even bothering to
look at the other members of the X-Men. He thought that after the recent
fiasco, he could regain some of his confidence as long as Harry was out of the
picture.
Ororo had picked up the newspaper and began to read it, a smile crossing her
face when she saw the weather forecast.
"Well it seems as if someone has smiled upon you, today is going to be a
picture perfect day without a cloud in the sky. So it does seem like you might
not need my help after all, Kitty."
Kitty had the decency to look a bit embarrassed, but she recovered quickly with
a smile on her face before she looked at Ororo with an apologetic expression
dancing in her eyes. Ororo found amusement in Kitty's attempt to apologize to
her.
"You know we always enjoy your company, no matter what," Kitty replied at that
moment and Harry shifted in his chair. "So do you got this little trip cleared
with the Sorcerer Supreme?"
"He's got pressing matters to attend to in another dimension, helping out a
friend of his, Clea, I think her name is," Harry responded to his girlfriend
when he recalled what Strange said.
"Are you sure she's just a friend?" Kurt asked raising his eyebrows when he
looked at Harry, but Harry just took a moment to look at his teammate. "Or
could this dimensional problem be just an excuse for something else."
Harry had a shrewd idea what Kurt was thinking about but he just responded with
a shrug.
"Maybe, maybe not, but that's none of my business if it is," Harry answered in
a swift voice which caused Kurt to shrug and Rogue and Kitty to look rather
amused, thinking that there might be something to Kurt's claims. "Besides, he
said that we're ahead of schedule with my progress, so a week off won't kill
us. And it's not as if I'm not practicing independently."
That point was true; Harry had been practicing his spells on an independent
level, growing stronger and stronger. Strange offered him suggestions on how to
improve, channeling the least amount of magic for the most amount of impact.
Those were lessons that served him rather nicely and he hoped to improve upon
them as he got more experienced. Perhaps even adapting magic in ways that even
Strange could have predicted.
Training in the Danger Room was going really well, especially with Harry
focusing a great deal on physical training as well. This was also encouraged by
the Sorcerer Supreme who stated that if Harry ever encountered a magical being
with more power than himself, than it would be useful to know how to defend
himself in the physical manner.
There were many magical beings that Strange fought in the past that were strong
from a magical perspective but weak as an insect from a physical perspective.
Providing one could be inventive enough to get around the actual shielding
spells that these enemies were likely to have and break through. There were
many magical beings that were in fact crafty enough and did engage in using an
underused organ known as the brain many times over.
Still Harry shook himself out of those thoughts and to be honest, he was kind
of excited to be able to get out and about, and head off to a trip. The drive
would be a bit long down to Florida, but it would be a great time to really get
out and do something.
The fact that Harry read some rumors that there was a treasure buried near the
beach they were going to had nothing to do with his excitement. No absolutely
nothing at all, nothing whatsoever, not even a bit, not at all, no sir, okay
maybe a little bit.
Of course that was far from the only reason that Harry wanted to get out and he
conceded that Kurt had a point that he could use a time off. He had been
training pretty much every single day since he had arrived here and on the days
that he had not been training, Harry had been fighting for his life against
some enemy.
Regardless, Harry resolved to enjoy a nice day in the sun with friends and
hopefully without any problems. There would be plenty when they got back, but
surely the crime rate was not as high in Florida as it was in New York?
Although it struck Harry as odd that there were a lot of super heroes in this
city, but at the same time there was a lot of crime. Harry wondered if the
heroes came first or was it the villains?
That was a chicken or the egg argument for another time, but right now it was
time to finish breakfast and then head on off for a day of fun and excitement.
===============================================================================
The Daily Bugle was one of the top newspaper companies in New York and one that
seemed to thrive despite the Internet really catching on big over the past
couple of years. Despite that fact, print media would not die as one particular
individual would see that it would not become a dinosaur to his dying breath.
"Parker, in my office, pronto!"
The booming voice of the publisher of the Daily Bugle J. Jonah Jameson echoed
for everyone in the entire building to hear and most of the city block. The
interesting fact was that while many would tell Jameson to use his indoor
voice, this voice was in fact his indoor voice. He could get much louder and
much more boisterous especially if he was in the mood to do so. That was just
the way that Jameson rolled as he conducted his day to day operations in his
business.
A young man entered the office, that young man was Peter Parker. Peter knew by
now that when Jameson said to jump, it was likely going to be some big news
that might have affected his other persona. The other persona that Peter
remembered was someone that Jameson had bashed constantly in the paper. There
were many claims that Spider-Man was either a threat, a menace, or both,
depending on what side of the bed that Jameson got out of on any given day.
"You wanted to see me, sir?" Peter inquired at that point, looking at Jameson
in all of his glory, a brown suit with a flat top haircut and a mustache that
Hitler would envy.
"Yes, Parker, why did you think I called for you?" Jameson boomed in a loud
voice as he stared down Peter, before he continued. "Word's coming in that
there are beach goers all across Florida who have been terrorized by some
monster on the beach."
Peter's eyes perked up at that point, there were beach goers that were
terrorized, sure that could potentially be a problem, but he failed to see what
that had to do with anything going on in New York City. Jameson was only all
too happy to enlighten Peter on the situation and he did so at that very moment
in his usual booming voice.
"Sources are saying that a hand came up from the sand and pulled some hapless
beachgoer deep underground. He was found a short time later, barely breathing,
and his watch had been missing, along with a wad of cash that he had on him."
Peter's eyes grew wide at that moment, he recognized the pattern, it seemed
like his old sparring partner, Flint Marko, also known as the Sandman, was at
it again. Sandman gave Peter a few fits in the past, but as far as Peter knew,
the Sandman had been put into police custody as of their battle a few months
ago.
'And remember, if it wasn't for Spider-Man, Marko would be just some petty
thief knocking off drug stores still,'Peter thought to himself, feeling a
twinge of guilt at the role that he had in the creation of the Sandman, but he
brushed his thoughts of guilt out of his mind. 'Never mind that Parker, focus.'
'This seems like the very sort of thing that wall crawling reprobate Spider-Man
would be in the middle of," Jameson continued with his usual demeanor when he
stared at Peter through beady little eyes.
"Do you think Sandman and Spider-Man are working together?" Peter asked at that
point and Jameson's eyes snapped towards Peter as they narrowed in suspicion.
There was a long awkward pause before the editor of the Daily Bugle had
responded to Peter's sudden inquiry.
"Sandman and Spider-Man, that's a dastardly duo if I ever heard one," Jameson
remarked as he looked directly at Peter, mulling over something in his mind.
"So I've decided that you are going to head off to Florida and get some
pictures what's happening at the beach, and fly coach Parker, that's about as
good as you're getting. I want pictures, pictures of Spider-Man!"
Peter nodded; he supposed that he could not get Jameson to unclench his fists
enough to get any kind of good treatment. These photos were helping Aunt May
out, even if he had to endure the constant bashing of his web slinging alter
ego from Jameson to the point where it was almost cartoonish. Peter decided
that was his cue to leave, if Jameson wanted pictures, then he'll get pictures,
plenty of pictures.
Peter decided that it would be a long trip to Florida and information would
need to be something that he would need to make it a successful one. He knew
one person who might be able to dig it up for him at the speed of light. She
would be able to help him, she had done so before.
After Peter had walked down the stairs, he moved into an alley off to the side,
between the Daily Bugle and the apartment complex next to it. He felt sorry for
any people who lived there who had to endure Jameson's constant shouting and
wondered if there were any noise nuisance reports that were directed at that
blowhard. That would not surprise Peter at the slightest, but right now he
dialed the number on his cell phone.
Peter waited for the phone to be picked up before Gwen had answered it on the
other end.
"Hello," Gwen responded on the other end of the phone and Peter was prompt to
answer.
"Hey, Gwen, can you run a check for the beaches that had been hit in Florida
recently?" Peter asked and if Gwen thought this question the least bit weird,
she did not say anything. There was a moment where Peter waited.
"Swing by my house, and I'll get you a print off of all of the beaches that he
hit, maybe there's a pattern," Gwen answered after a long moment's pause. "Is
there any particular reason why you want this list?"
"Jameson's sending me off to Florida to get photos, and he thinks that Spider-
Man might be down there as well," Peter responded swiftly to Gwen before he
paused and a smile crossed over his face. "Well, I wouldn't want to disappoint
him."
Gwen just snickered in this point and Peter left the alleyway talking to her.
"I'll be over there in a little bit, thanks Gwen, you're the best," Peter
responded over the phone.
"Glad to be appreciated," Gwen answered as the sounds of paper being printed
could be heard in the background with Peter moving off to leave, hoping that
this information would allow him to get to the bottom of the Sandman case and
predict his next move.
And after that it was off to Florida in coach, compliments of one J. Jonah
Jameson and his generous spirit.
===============================================================================
The sun was shining in the sky and the beach goers were rabid as the members of
the X-Men arrived at the beach. Harry stepped onto the sand, amused by the
craziness going on around him. Although to be fair, it was Spring Break, which
apparently was a huge thing in America or so he heard. He really could not say
any more than he heard and Kurt followed him at that moment, with Rogue and
Kitty moving closely behind. Ororo brought up the rear and smiled as she looked
into the sky.
There was not a cloud in the sky and a hitch in the arrangements today, so she
did not have to cause a bit of interference to make sure everything panned out
perfectly. That much was certain for the weather witch at this point as she
looked into the sky and saw the fluffy white clouds. The warm breeze and the
smell of the sea area just added to the actual picture perfect atmosphere.
All and all, it was a perfect day.
"I'm going to go see if I can catch some waves," Kurt commented in an excited
voice making sure his image inducer was secured.
"The Professor made that thing water proof, right?" Kitty asked him with a
raised eyebrow, but Harry just tapped his finger to it.
"If it wasn't water proof, now it is," Harry answered with a smile and Kurt
nodded graciously before he scrambled off to try and his hand at surfing.
Rogue's face contorted with a bit of amusement at Kurt's actions, as she
watched Kurt leave. She turned to Harry and Kitty, before she offered a remark.
"You know, he's just a bit eager, isn't he?"
"Just a little bit, totally," Kitty answered as she walked over towards the
beach and stood beside Harry before the pair of them had sat down on a towel
that Harry had magically conjured on the beach, with a boom box beside them and
a packed lunch. Rogue joined them and Kitty had handed Harry the sun screen
lotion. "You know what to do, Harry."
Harry knew what to do indeed as he saw Kitty in a blue bikini and Rogue was
wearing a black one as the two of them laid down on each other side by side on
their stomachs, before Harry squirted suntan lotion on the smalls of their
backs and began to rub it in.
"Oh, that's it, Harry," Rogue moaned as Harry rubbed the suntan lotion into the
shoulders and back for her.
"Yeah, do us, and then we'll do you," Kitty managed at that point, before she
paused and she smirked in amusement. "You know, that sounded a lot more PG in
my head."
Harry just responded with a smile as he continued to work the suntan lotion
into their backs and legs, feeling the nice and soft flesh. He hiked up their
bikini bottoms a little bit to rub the lotion deep on their cheeks and the two
girls moaned when Harry brushed up close to a sensitive area, teasing them, but
not taking the plunge.
"Hey guys, look at this!" Kurt yelled as he was going to try his hand at
surfing, the key word being try, but that was something that was done a bit
more in theory and not so much in practice.
Kitty, Rogue, and Harry paused their activities for a brief moment to watch
Kurt take to the waves and for a second it appeared that he was doing a good
job, or rather an adequate enough job where he did not embarrass himself too
much. At least that was to the point where he was able to remain upright for
more than a few moments.
Then a current hit hard and Kurt lost his balance, before he fell down on the
surfboard and got washed out to the beach. He took it in stride, bouncing back
in good graces.
What they did not take in stride was the fact that the beach shook underneath
them. The first shake was minor but the second shake was major, which rocked
more than the X-Men. Kitty, Harry, and Rogue got back to their feet and now
Kurt was joining them, struggling to get a standing position. He nearly tripped
and fell on his face, but had somehow managed to recover.
Another smash from beneath the sand had echoed and it was Ororo who had noticed
at that point that something was going rather wrong. What was going wrong they
could not say, but the beach goers had been spooked to the point where they
were in fact backing off in a bit of abject terror. They drew in a long breath
at that point as Harry in particular tried to find the source of the
disturbance.
"Look!" Kitty yelled pointing to a ripple in the sand and two beach patrons
jumped back from this action, when a hand was emerging from the sand.
"What's happening?" Kurt asked and Harry immediately performed a scanning
spell, trying to figure out what could be causing this.
"I think…I think the beach is alive," Harry answered, frowning when he tried to
interpret the results of the scanning spell. That could not be right at the
slightest.
Kurt, Kitty, and Rogue all looked numb in shock, before Kurt exclaimed in a
rather panicked voice. "The beach is alive? What do you mean the beach is
alive?"
"I mean it's sentient," Harry answered at that point without skipping a beat
and Kurt took a step back, his face contorting into a grimace when a pair of
hands erupted out of the beach near him.
He disappeared into a teleportation cloud of dust and dropped down, but it
turned out that there were many other hands appearing at other locations of the
beach, trying to attack them. One of the beach goers was about to be pulled
straight underneath the sand.
Thinking quickly, Harry rushed in and sent a slicing charm towards the hands.
The sand hands had been cut off at the wrists, but they slowly and surely began
to reform at this point, before they actually shifted into multiple hands.
Ororo motioned for them to step back and tried to temper the Earthquakes with
her powers, but a huge wall of sand rose up on the ground and knocked her for a
loop. She tried to fight back once again, but once again the sand storm had
been kicked up again and again. The sand walls closed around her and Ororo lost
her nerve, she did not like enclosed spaces at all.
She dropped to her knees in a panic when Rogue and Kitty moved over to check to
see if she was alright.
Harry once again tried to blast whatever this thing was with a wind storm
spell, but it was far from solid. In fact, there seemed to be a bit of the
consciousness spread between whatever this thing was. He might have to
transfigure this thing, but he had never transfigured anything that was this
big.
There was a first time for everything, and Harry hoped that he could do it
right, but as of this very moment, he was a bit outgunned. It was time for some
creative maneuvering.
===============================================================================
 
Flint Marko used to be a two-bit thug who knocked off grocery stores and gas
stations, but now he was a pure and dangerous force of nature. He was going to
crush anyone who had got in his way and too many people had gotten in his way
throughout his time as Sandman. He felt anger towards everyone in the world,
who thought that they were safe to go out on the beach.
As it turned out, Marko did not commit these crimes for his health at first, no
far from it. The sandy criminal started his criminal career when his daughter
had been struck by a terminal illness that only gave her a few years to live.
He was laid off his job as a construction worker and a string of bad luck
prevented him from getting a job. So, he had to use other means to supplement
his income.
Those means were knocking off a few places, a gas station here, a grocery store
there, even a rare bowling alley. At first Marko seemed to be a bit reluctant
to indulge in such wanton criminal activities, but damn if they got easier and
easier as time passed. The criminal career was going great.
Until Spider-Man stuck his nose where it did not belong and stopped his
criminal activities when he moved up to do a bank job. Marko was incensed that
the web slinger butted his nose in where it did not belong, but he was out
gunned in battle.
Cutting his losses, Marko fled the scene of the crime, but he had run into a
lab where they were conducting an experiment. One thing lead to another and
Marko was bombarded with silicon particles that sliced his skin, to turn him
into the Sandman that he was today.
What was worse as after he recovered from his ordeal, he got the news that his
daughter had tragically passed on. That news angered him and if Spider-Man had
just stood back, minded his own business, and allowed him to complete these
jobs, she might have gotten the treatments to be live to see her fifth
birthday. The first people Sandman killed were the doctors who refused to treat
her because he didn't have enough money.
Doctors were nothing but parasites, they did not help people, they only lined
their own pockets out of the greed and the desire to make money. Sandman was
not a killer per say but he took great pleasure in murdering those greedy
quacks. It was only fair after what those doctors had taken from him.
Right now, Sandman was about to line his pockets to get that one big score even
though it would not fill the void from when he lost his daughter. He heard a
rumor that there was a treasure off of the coast and he wanted to cash in big
time on it. Sandman was going to cash in on this treasure; no one was going to
stop him from doing that.
Sandman heard the sounds of Spider-Man swinging towards him and felt the
grimace of someone trying to stop him. That kid with the dark hair who was
throwing those weird energy bolts from his hands started to give on his nerves.
Sandman imagined smashing that brat into dust particles, yeah that would feel
good.
Spider-Man dropped down as he turned around to search for the Sandman, a frown
appearing on his face. The beach had suddenly gotten quiet.
"Marko?" Spider-Man called out into the beach, greatly unnerved by the
calmness. "Marko?"
"Polo!" Sandman growled as a large fist rose out from the beach, that barely
triggered Spider-Man's spider sense before he had been smashed down to the
ground from the impact of the fist connecting into his face.
'Oh come on, how am I supposed to be up an entire beach?'Spider-Man thought at
this moment, when suddenly several figures rose from the sand and advanced on
him.
Kurt, Rogue, Kitty, and Harry all spotted Spider-Man lying in the sand as Ororo
tried to keep the sand storm at bay that had terrorized the civilians. The cat
might be out of the bag regarding their powers, but they had no choice. This
was going to take some explaining to do, but they would worry about that after
the bad guy was defeated.
"Hey man, are you okay?" Kurt asked as he helped Spider-Man up to his feet but
the web slinger had to shake his head from side to side.
"Yeah, just fine, just dandy," Spider-Man answered at that point as several men
made of sand dressed in green sweaters and black pants rose from the sand with
murderous intentions in their eyes.
"We will crush you Spider-Man," the Sandmen chanted as they marched. "And we'll
get your little friends too!"
"Not if you can't catch us first!" Kurt yelled before he teleported out of the
way and caused two of the Sandman dupes to smash each other. Harry scattered
the sand with a well placed whirlwind spell.
Spider-Man made specialized webbing to contain Sandman but the problem was to
hit the right one, for if he grabbed the dupes, then what was the point?
"You can't win, I own this beach and I own you!" Sandman growled in a triumph
voice as a wave of sand cascaded down and nearly buried Kitty. She pulled
herself out as Harry pulled her to her feet.
"Alright, there?" Harry asked before he smashed several of the sand dupes and
ripped them apart. "I'm close to pinpointing the real Sandman….he's that hot
dog vendor over there."
The group blinked in surprise before they nodded at that point.
"That's actually kind of smart, posing as a hot dog vendor," Rogue answered as
she rushed over and tried to drain Sandman of his powers, but Sandman shifted
into sand particles and Rogue smashed against the vendor stand hard.
"I've got it!" Harry yelled as he conjured some water to saturate Sandman.
"So, you turned Sandman into mud man, that's just great," Kurt answered as the
villain in question had begun to throw glops of mud at the team.
"Wait for it Kurt, wait for it," Harry answered as he flicked his wrist.
A freezing wind had struck Sandman with the moisture saturated in his body and
froze it. Spider-Man's eyes widened as Sandman shattered into thousands of
pieces, all shattered into ice. Harry now waved his hand to vanish the ice
before Sandman could reform himself.
"Again, really?" Spider-Man asked at this point but Kurt just shook his head at
Spider-Man. He was not too fond about what happened either, not a big fan of
killing people, but on the other hand, Sandman could have killed a lot of
people by burying them in the sand.
It was a dirty job and a part of Kurt thought that while Harry could take
things too far sometimes, one could hardly fault him too much.
Harry just turned to Spider-Man at this moment and merely raised an eyebrow
towards him.
"So, if you keep killing off my rogue's gallery, then I'll be up for early
retirement, then," Spider-Man answered, trying to lighten the mood, and Harry
offered him a smile in return.
"If it makes you feel better, there will always be bad guys for you to smack
down. That's just the way things are, evil never truly dies, and it just takes
a vacation."
Spider-Man thought about that and slowly nodded his head, but the fact was that
he saw Sandman broken to pieces.
"Still, with him if a miniscule trace of him exists anywhere, he might still be
alive," Spider-Man informed the group and they all straightened up before they
knew what they had to do.
They spread out to make sure that all of the pieces were present and accounted
for.
===============================================================================
 
A few moments later after Spider-Man and Arcane searched the beach; they found
that there was no trace whatsoever of Sandman that was left over. The two
heroes found relief at this as Arcane rejoined his fellow X-Men. The web
slinger looked at them with an apologetic expression on his face, even if they
could not technically see it under his mask.
"So, it is nice meeting you guys…well the one's that I haven't met before, but
it was still nice to meet you and we should really get together and do this
again sometime and stuff."
The web slinger took a moment to adjust himself and Ororo had walked up to the
entire group before she spoke.
"Well, I doubt that this was the day at the beach that we were hoping for, but
it was a useful training exercise never the less, and even on vacation, you
kept mostly to form," Ororo commented lightly when she looked at the other team
members. "Logan would approve."
"Man, even on vacation, we can't get away from trouble," Kurt replied as he
felt there was a dark cloud on his sunny day that really put a damper on his
normally fun loving personality.
"Welcome to my life, hope you survive the experience," Harry answered before he
walked over and saw a chest halfway out from the beach, not quite submerged in
the sand, but close. "I think we found what Sandman was after."
'And what I'm after too,'Harry thought to himself.
"Ah man, this was so cool, he was after some kind of buried treasure," Kurt
answered at this point as he tried to open it up, but found himself unable to
do the deed.
"Allow me," Harry answered at this point as Kurt stepped to the side. Kitty,
Rogue, and even Spider-Man looked curious at this point. He waved his hand and
the trunk sprang open.
"No way, those can't be real," Rogue answered when she looked at the cargo
inside.
As it turned out, the booty in the chest was an accurate term for the team had
stumbled upon some pirate's collection of adult magazines. Harry, Kitty, Kurt,
and Rogue exchanged a look as Kitty moved over closely to inspect the cargo a
bit more closely.
"How does someone bend that way?" Kitty asked in a skeptical voice before she
added as an afterthought. "Harry, we're going to have to try that one."
"Yes, and put yourself in traction along the way," Rogue remarked with a smirk
and Kitty just shrugged before she offered a bit of a smile.
"You can't deny it would be worth it."
'Okay, that's more than I needed to hear or think about,'Spider-Man thought to
himself before something struck him. 'Hey wait, he has…two girls? Two of them?
Really? I barely have any luck with one, but he has two. It must be that bad
boy thing, chicks did that. I so need a different costume, maybe that will help
me. Maybe something in black, yeah that's it. And Gwen talks to him a lot."
Peter had no idea why his expression darkened at that moment, but he certainly
knew that it did. He shook his head at that point to try and regain some
semblance of his sanity before Storm turned to him with a smile crossing her
face.
"Spider-Man, you seem to be one who gets into trouble quite often," Storm
offered when her gaze fell on the web slinger.
"Yeah a few times," Spider-Man answered where Rogue, Kurt, Harry, and Kitty all
snorted at that point, that was a gross understatement. "Okay, that's a bit of
a stretch, it's more than a few than a few times, but you can't really blame
me, it's just that these people keep trying to kill me."
Harry looked at Spider-Man before he leaned forward to discuss a few matters
with him. The young man just peered at the web slinger before he handed him a
communication device.
"If you need any help, do feel free to call the X-Men," Arcane responded and
Spider-Man seemed surprised, but Kitty just looked at Harry.
"Are you sure you can just give him a communicator device?" Kitty asked slowly
widening her eyes, not that she didn't think that was a good idea.
"I'm a senior member of the team, shouldn't I have that right?" Harry responded
and Kitty could hardly fault that logic, but once again it was Ororo who had
spoken up.
"I believe that Harry is quite wise to give Spider-Man a communication device,
given that he could prove to be a valuable ally. The link does work both ways."
"Yeah, you got a point, after the two times we bailed him out, he could return
the favor every now and again," Kitty answered before she shifted on her feet
with a smile. "He so totally owes us for everything."
The group all nodded as they tried to return to their leisurely activities on
the beach, but for some reason it was hard to get back to the fun and games
after what happened. Yet, they really had to try to get back to normal, the day
was not over yet. They had no idea where Spider-Man had gone off to or how he
got to Florida.
Harry in particular found himself disappointed by the contents of the ultimate
stash. What kind of pirate steals porno? That was something that vexed Harry
and he took another look at the chest before he saw an inscription on it.
Property of Long John Deadpool.
Something about that bit of news made a lot of sense suddenly.
===============================================================================
 
Doctor Otto Octavius watched the scant few images that he received from the
beach in Florida and a frown spread over his face when he saw the battle with
the Sandman. He was curious about Spider-Man and these X-Men that he found out
that they called themselves. It took a great deal of digging to locate that
particular gem, but Otto was a brilliant man and he knew how to find out these
things, where many would give up prior to the clutch.
Right now he had the miniscule particular of sand that one of his drones had
managed to obtain before the rest disappeared from the efforts of that Arcane.
A smile crossed his face when he studied the sand particle incased in the ice
cube.
'I can rebuild him, stronger than ever,'Otto thought to himself when he had
studied the particle of sand.
Sandman would be the third member of the group that he was forming when Marko
was resurrected thanks to the power of science. Electro and Rhino had already
enjoyed to join up, with Otto promising them their revenge against Spider-Man
should they had agreed to join up with him.
Osborn was on his back about his lack of progress in determining what made
Spider-Man's DNA work but hopefully that would be pacified once Otto had gotten
his hands on the web head. The foolish child foiled a number of plans, even if
he had done so to the point where he was ignorant that he meddled in Otto's
affairs.
If anyone had excelled in ignorance that would be Spider-Man, he ran on pure
luck and was a foolish child given powers.
Otto also kept an eye on these X-Men; they were a threat especially the one
called Arcane. Given his stubbornness Otto had not quite given up the ghost on
his attempt to determine what exactly this Arcane was even if he went through
thousands of dollars of damaged equipment trying to analyze the hair sample.
Osborn demeaned him but soon Osborn would be the one who would be begging for
mercy from him and Otto would have none.
The fool had even called him the name Doctor Octopus, as if that was not a
title that he had not heard before. He had been made fun of by his fellow
classmates because of his last name, his love for science, and had been bullied
by them, being mockingly called "Doctor Octopus."
Come to think about it that name had a nice ring.
Otto remembered all of those who mocked him and Spider-Man had reminded him of
all of those bullies who belittled him, brain dead jocks and meatheads the lot
of them. If he had to make a hypothesis, Spider-Man was some jock who did not
have an ounce of brains at all and thought that his wit was actually comical.
Those with a few brain cells had laughed at him and not with him.
Still Otto would have his day and all who mocked him would perish, and it would
start with Spider-Man and Osborn. Doctor Octopus would have his day as the
world trembled before his might. Otto would gain his revenge on the entire
world.
To Be Continued In New Arrivals and Old Problems.
***** New Arrivals and Old Problems *****
Chapter Twenty Four: New Arrivals and Old Problems.
"The new group will be arriving today," Kitty commented to Harry as she peered
outside whilst she stood by Harry, Rogue, and Kurt. Jean, Scott, Ororo, and
Logan helped the Professor settle the new kids in and make them feel ready for
their arrival to the Mansion.
Harry nodded as he knew Xavier was busy over the past couple of weeks trying to
get the groundswell of new mutants sold on the Institute. The young wizard
mutant hybrid saw the files on these new mutants and the group intrigued him,
some more so than others. They may certainly bring some unique abilities to
light but it did remain to be seen whether or not they would fit in with the
rest of the team.
"And that's not the only new arrival today, there's going to be a new Principal
at the school when we get back," Kurt remarked at that moment and Harry just
shook his head at that moment. "Come on, it's got to be better than the one we
had."
Rogue, Kitty, and Harry exchanged skeptical looks but they did in fact share
Kurt's hope that things would be better. Then again, it was hard to see this
new principal being any worse than the one they had.
"Yeah, it's got to be, providing that Mystique didn't sneak back in the back
door," Rogue replied at this moment before she peered forward into the
distance. The sounds of several car doors could be heard and the young X-Men
took it as their cue to head outside.
Harry thought that his training had gone to the point where he could be
considered a senior member of the team, well the same could be said for Kitty,
Rogue, and Kurt as well. They had come a long way all things considered given
their initial shaky beginnings. It had been seven or eight months since most of
them had joined the team and they all thought that they had gone all of the way
together, making many great strides.
"Ah yes, you're here, excellent," Xavier responded when he saw Kitty, Kurt,
Rogue, and Harry exit the Xavier Institute at that moment. "We're just about to
bring in the new arrivals right now."
Harry looked over to the newest arrivals to take a good and long look at them
before he offered a bit of a snicker and responded in a deadpan tone of voice.
"They're just a bit spirited, don't you think?"
"Yeah, just a little bit," Jean responded in a voice that contained a great
deal of mirth when she watched the antics of the new recruits.
"Don't worry, I'll hose them down if they get out of control," Logan remarked
in a gruff voice as the group walked forward towards the Mansion.
Xavier was at the front of the group in his wheelchair as he put a hand up to
get their attention. The headmaster of the Xavier Institute was the type of
person who would have all eyes upon him at all times.
"I believe that introductions are in order," Professor Xavier responded to the
new members of the group at that point as they all nodded. Xavier waited for
that particular motion, along with the noise, to die down before he shook his
head. "Senior team members why don't you start. State your name and your powers
for the rest of the group."
The senior members did just that as they all spoke rather calmly.
"My name is Jean Grey, I'm one of the senior members of this team," Jean
answered in a bright voice with a smile as she looked at the newer mutants.
They all nodded before she had spoken some more. "My powers are telepathy and
telekinesis."
"Scott Summers, Cyclops, another senior member of the team," Scott answered
before he tapped on his visor for emphasis "I shoot optic blasts from my eyes."
Scott turned around at that moment and aimed his eyes to a set of rocks to
demonstrate at that moment to a series of ahs and oohs from the new class.
"Harry Potter, Arcane, and I can do all sorts of things, like clean up the
messes that Scott makes," Harry answered as he waved his hand and the rocks
Scott destroyed magically reconstructed themselves. Scott just looked at him
but said nothing. The applause for Harry's demonstration was loud and took
several moments before it died down. "I can perform magic but my mutant ability
is that I can read the body language of people and their intentions."
There were some gasps at how cool this was from various members of the team.
"Logan, Wolverine, I heal, have super senses, and I'm the best in the world at
what I do, and what I do isn't very nice," Logan answered in a gruff voice when
when eyes focused on the team.
The New Mutants all looked at Logan, even they could tell right off the bat
that Logan was the type of person that you wanted on your side and not as your
enemy.
"Ororo Munroe, Storm, one of your teachers, and I can control the elements,"
Ororo answered at that point before she waved her hand and storm clouds
appeared along with a thunderclap. Then the storm had subsided at another
moment.
"Kurt Wagner, Nightcrawler, and I can do this," Kurt answered when he addressed
the new recruits before he vanished in a pop before he reappeared in the middle
of the ground. "Ta-da!"
Kurt reappeared with the rest of the group before Rogue had picked up where
they had left off at that point.
"My name is Rogue, I can absorb memories and abilities through skin to skin
contact. I'm still working on my control a little bit, so try not and bump into
me."
Harry noted that he was coming closer to getting the charms self-sustaining on
the bracelet, he needed to have a bit more time to really get that particular
part done. He would have been done in about a week or so but Rogue had told him
that she would be patient enough to wait. Kitty was the final one who had
commented as she took a deep breath and smiled.
"My name is Kitty Pryde, Shadowcat, and I can walk through walls and doors,"
Kitty answered as she went intangible to demonstrate that she could walk
through the doors of the mansion before she popped her head back out with a
smile.
Now it was time for the new mutants to state their names and powers, even if
some of them had not quite come up with codenames yet, but they thought quickly
not to be shown up by the others. A beauty with dark skin and dark hair had
decided to be the first one to speak up.
"My name is Amara Aquilla, I'm the Princess of Nova-Roma, and I can manipulate
the magma beneath the Earth so I guess that makes me Magma."
"Makes perfect sense to me," Harry responded giving her a smile which Amara
returned at that point trying to keep her cool which was hard given her powers.
"My name's Tabitha Smith," a punk looking blonde stated at that point as she
took a long look at the entire team. "Guess you're going to call me Boom-Boom."
A dark haired young boy was the person who took the bait. "Why would you be
called Boom-Boom?"
Tabby just gave a wicked grin before she had unleashed a cherry bomb before it
had exploded to give the young man a bit of a scare causing him to stagger
backwards. He managed to recover and shook his head.
"Um, yeah, Bobby Drake, and I can turn my body into ice and control it, so call
me Iceman," Bobby said at this point before he blew his fingers off to send
mist in the air. "Now that's cool."
Bobby had gotten his fair share of groans and 'c'mon now' at the pun before a
young man with spiky orange hair had commented it.
"Ray Crisp and I give off an electrical discharge, and I'll go by the name of
Bezerker," the next mutant had said to give a short demonstration of his powers
to the approving nods.
A young Chinese girl dressed in bright colors at that point had spoken in a
cheerful voice. "I'm Jubilation Lee, but you can call me Jubilee, and I shoot
off fireworks with my hands, see!"
Jubilee had given them a bit of a show at this point but it seemed to not be as
refined. She offered an apologetic smile and she shrugged at this point.
"Sorry about that, I can normally control that a little bit better, okay maybe
not the first time, I kind of blew up the VCR and then the stereo and then half
of my room but I've got them under control for the most part."
There were a few laughs from the rest of the group.
"Sam Guthrie," a blonde young man stated at this point as he closed his eyes
before he shot into the air like a cork and landed on the ground. He dropped
down to the ground and gave a shrug. "You can call me Cannonball."
The youngest of the New Mutants was the one the next one who had spoken, at
about twelve or thirteen years old with dark hair. "I'm Jamie Madrox call me
Multiple because I can do this."
Sure enough he split himself into multiple copies and Harry could see how
something like that could be useful for multitasking. There were spells that
could be used to replicate that ability he was certain but he was just getting
up to the level where he could head out and do such a thing. Then again one
could say the same thing about many of the mutant powers even though it was
extremely advanced charm work.
"Roberto da Costa, I turn the sun into my strength, call me Sunspot," a
Brazilian young man stated at that point.
The final member of the New Mutants spoke up at this point, she was a shy
Scottish girl with red hair in pigtails. "Rahne Sinclair, I can turn into a
wolf, call me Wolfsbane."
She demonstrated her ability at that point with the entire group nodding.
Xavier turned to his fellow X-Men as he proceeded to go to the next step of the
introduction.
"Now that the entire team knows each other, I believe it is prudent to show you
to your rooms," Xavier answered before he wheeled forward with the senior
members of the X-Men team going and the New Mutants as they were following
them, awe struck at the sights around them.
There were many questions about what was going to happen as the team would take
a chance to scope out the new recruits when they had their first Danger Room
session this weekend. Right now it was time for them to settle in and get to
know each other, along with the rest of the team, along with getting settled
into school for their first week.
It was going to be an interesting time, they all knew that much but how
interesting it was, they only could begin to guess.
===============================================================================
"I don't even know why we bother to go to school, we're just going to get
ridiculed."
Those were the words that came out of the mouth of Toad on Monday morning the
day that they were due back to school after the holidays. It was a statement
that was justified and Blob nodded his head in response. These two particular
members of the Brotherhood felt now was the time to know when to go and when to
fold.
Lance shook his head as he looked at Fred and Todd, they always slacked off at
the worst possible times. It was an aspect of the pair of them that frustrated
him to a supreme degree. He tried his hardest to keep the Brotherhood running
all ship-shape and make sure they did not fall into any kind of rut. The
problem as he saw it was when his only competent subordinate was Pietro who had
his own ego problems which turned out to be huge problems to keep this team
running.
Still Lance refused to give up because up to this point he had worked too hard.
It was time for him to get some revenge on the X-Men, or in particular of one
of their members. And the revenge would be held on camera at that point because
the final months of the school year at Bayville High School was about to start
with a new principal as the school would be rebuilt.
It would be a new age for many reasons and one of them was going to be where
they would finally get the respect that the Brotherhood felt they deserved. It
was time for redemption and Lance was determined to keep the team focused. His
eyes snapped towards Todd and Fred before he spoke.
"Guys, you better focus," Lance answered when he talked to the team members.
"If you want to get some respect around here we got to go out there and seize
the day."
"Respect, jeez man you sound like that Dangerfield guy," Todd remarked when he
rolled his eyes but Lance had just brushed that off.
"After what happened on Asteroid M, the X-Men got the better of us and we ran.
Every time we've fought the X-Men one thing has happened."
Todd chimed in with what he thought was the best answer. "We get our butts
kicked?"
Lance pretended that he did not hear Toad before he pressed on. "They are
always prepared for us, but this time we're going to be prepared for them.
We're not going to let them push us around anymore. We're going to head into
that pep rally and strike hard and the X-Men are going to be the ones that's
going to be eating dirt."
Todd and Fred both nodded in response to this bold declaration but they were
not completely convinced by this speech that Lance gave them. The fact of the
matter was that with Mystique leading them the X-Men really did knock them
around most of the time and without Mystique to give them that focus they were
just a group of guys rooming together. They spent more time trying to get
together enough scratch to keep the lights on and food in the fridge then
anything.
Keeping food in the fridge was going to be an uphill battle with Blob in the
house but that was beside the point. Lance drew him a deep breath and turned to
his fellow brothers in arms in the Brotherhood.
"I've explained the plan to you," Lance continued when he tried to get these
two motivate. "The X-Men pride themselves on being anonymous, let's see what we
do when we expose what they really are to the entire world. Then we'll
embarrass them for the whole world to see."
Todd and Fred gave a half-hearted cheer as Pietro zipped in after Lance's
speech wrapped up as he looked around.
"I didn't miss anything important, did I?" Pietro asked before Lance gave him
an extremely agitated expression where if looks could kill, Pietro would be
dead. Pietro did seem to be late to the party more times than he cared to
remember. Which was really strange, given that Pietro was the fastest mutant
alive.
Lance's eyes just looked at his team at this point and annoyance filled them.
"Just stick with the plan and we'll be fine."
"Right stick with the plan, got it, got it, it's good," Pietro answered in his
usual hyperactive manner.
The Brotherhood were united, perhaps not cohesively, but it was time to right
the wrongs of the past, step in, and dominate each and every battle from this
point forward. Pietro, Lance, Todd, and Fred all prepared for what would happen
on the next day. The Brotherhood were all ready to go and ready to rock.
===============================================================================
All of the students of Bayville High School gathered around for an outside
assembly at that point and they all cheered nice and loudly as the new
principal stepped around with the assembled faculty who walked around a bit
before sitting down. After some of the weird rumors that the faculty heard
about things that happened around this school, they were all on pins and
needles as they waited for some kind of bomb to drop.
Harry, Kurt, Rogue, and Kitty sat in the stands. Kitty and Rogue were on either
side of Harry while Kurt was in the row behind them with several other students
surrounding them. Jean and Scott were off elsewhere on the bleachers, although
sitting far away from each other. While they put on a cordial relationship for
the new recruits, things were still frosty between them personally.
"So there's the new guy," Kurt whispered when he had looked up to take a look
at them.
"Yeah, that's the new guy," Harry confirmed at that moment as he spotted
several other members of the New Mutants, most of them freshmen, with a couple
of exceptions. "He doesn't seem overly malicious."
"I don't think he's Mystique," Kitty piped in as Rogue rolled her eyes and
spoke in a calm voice.
"Mystique is a shape-shifter she could be any of us."
Kurt suddenly sat up straight and his eyes shifted suspiciously but Harry shook
his head at Kurt which got him to sit back down.
"Unless Mystique has found a way to drastically change her body language, it's
not her," Harry responded as he peered out into the distance whilst he threw an
arm over both of his girlfriends. "Never seen that guy before, which might not
be a bad thing, but we'll see what he has to say."
The man was a typical run of the mill middle aged man with dark hair, a blue
suit, and thick glasses. He tapped on the microphone and looked up at them. He
resembled a politician more than an educator but Harry supposed that was just
as well because there were a great deal of politics involving high school.
"Greetings, I'm Edward Kelly, and I'm the new Principal of Bayville High
School," Kelly responded at that point. "After Principal Darkholme's unexpected
sabbatical, the school board has looked long and hard for a replacement and I
must say that I'm proud to be the one who they have chosen to step into the
lofty position."
There was the standard round of applause that had come with this opening
statement that someone would normally have given during one of these speeches.
Harry rocked back on the chair and remained on his guard, so far so good.
Nothing out of the ordinary happened and he preferred that it stayed that way.
"The theme of the rest of the year is change, change will be brought with only
the help of each and every one of you."
"Hey, Principal K, you want change, well we're bringing the change right here,
kicking it, Brotherhood style!"
Several eyes snapped over and Harry winced at that point before Kitty shook her
head long enough to give an exasperated sigh at that point.
"Do these guys ever take the hint?"
Harry held up a hand for a moment to see what this was all about but he had the
feeling that it was not going to be good. It seemed like Harry was going to be
proven right as he heard the half hearted protests of Principal Kelly but he
got shoved off to the side like he was nothing. Lance took center stage at this
point as he looked at everyone.
"Bayville, you've been lied to, deceived to by a group that is trying to hide
who they are!" Lance yelled at the top of his lungs. "You see, we're not like
you, and thank God for that. But you know what we are…"
"We're far better than ever are, we're the superior evolution of you geeks,"
Pietro answered as he cut in. "Why don't you tell him, Lance?"
Lance was going to tell him but he found his microphone short out in his hand
as did the loud speakers.
'Potter,'Lance thought in frustration as he caused the ground to rumble beneath
him as his teeth gritted. 'He always ruins everything.'
Sure enough Harry ruined everything when he had killed the loud speakers but
there were other things at this point that could leave evidence. A few people
had out their cell phones and Harry had to create a huge electro-magnetic field
to shut them all down. Lance stood on the ground and looked up before he yelled
at the top of his lungs.
"The time has come to tell you what we are. We're mutants, the Brotherhood, but
there are other people who are mutants and they are…"
Lance found himself struck unfortunately silent at that point with Harry having
gotten him with a silencing charm. He knew they knew what he did but no one
else would find out. A silencing charm was passive magic instead of active
magic without the tell-tale flash of magic as opposed to a stunning spell or a
banishing spell that could have been used.
"Hey, it's Potter, he's a witch, burn him!" Todd yelled feeling braver then he
ever was before and suddenly Lance decided to rock the ground beneath them to
try and cause some havoc to salvage the fact that he had been silenced.
Harry cursed his luck but he managed to use a charm to slow down most of the
falling debris that had been created by the tremor.
'Jean, I hope you can wipe their minds, or the Professor hears what happens,
because if I memory modify them, their brains are going to be Swiss
cheese,'Harry thought frantically as Kitty, Rogue, and Kurt all scrambled in to
try and help mitigate the damage.
Sure enough there were cameras on as the ground shifted in front of them when
suddenly a pulse that did not belong to Harry shorted them out at that time.
Harry managed to repair the debris with Principal Kelly looking at him strangle
but suddenly Kelly dropped to his knees, as did several other people.
Sure enough there was some force wiping their memories but Harry could not see
who it is. Jean seemed utterly baffled as well as they could not see who the
telepath was in question. However, with a quick peak into their minds, Harry
could sense that no one remembered anything from when the Brotherhood showed up
to cause havoc until now.
He could have sworn he saw someone in the light, but they disappeared. As did
the Brotherhood who had thought that they had proved their point. Little did
they know that the point was soon lost.
Whoever it was, Harry was thankful for them because he had a guardian angel on
his side today. Mutants could have gotten exposed big time today. And who knew
how much people could have overreacted.
There was a chance that they dodged a bullet, a really prominent bullet.
===============================================================================
The Brotherhood arrived back to the Boarding House as they thought that they
had been ones to pull something over the X-Men. However, that was furthest from
the truth, the Brotherhood had not struck at all. In fact, their little plan
had failed and it became clear in a matter of moments when there was no news
about their little stunt.
"I thought that would be top billing, top billing, who cares about some
celebrity getting a divorce after being married for three days?" Todd raged in
a disgusted voice as Lance just fumed silently as he put his jeep into park.
"So much for our plan to get us some respect," Pietro remarked in a caustic
voice as Lance just grumbled when he gritted his teeth. "Hey, there's no need
for that, did you get your voice back yet?"
Lance shook his head furiously as he climbed out of the jeep as he thought
about everything that had happened. To be honest this was a day that could have
gone much better but it had just went down the crapper. He gritted his teeth at
this point as he continued to walk towards the driveway.
"No need to give us the silent treatment man, just tell us what's really on
your mind," Todd responded with a bit of grin but the ground began to shake
beneath them. The slimy mutant staggered long enough to recover before he shook
his head. "Hey, given the intensity of the shakes I think he's pissed."
"Either that, or Fred's stomach's on the war path again," Pietro answered
before the mutant in question just nodded at that point. Come to think about
it, he was a bit hungry.
There was no question about it the Brotherhood had seen better days that much
was for sure. The entire group made their way inside and pulled the door open.
They half expected some bill collectors to show up or something because
Mystique had left and no one had paid a dime towards anything in their house.
Yet there was someone who was sitting in their house which caused the entire
Brotherhood to stop and stare. This was a guest that showed up to greet them
and they had most certainly not invited anyone. Todd, Lance, Fred, and Pietro
exchanged apprehensive expressions as they saw their newest arrival inside the
boarding house.
"Brotherhood, I was wondering when you returned back," the guest answered he
was dressed in a white cloak with a black skull like mask as he stared down at
them. His eyes radiated malevolence from beneath his mask.
"Just who are you?" Todd asked being the only one who was going to be able to
speak up and ask the question.
"You may call me...the Taskmaster," the man answered in a brisk voice. "And I
have observed you Brotherhood boys for a long time from afar, you're sloppy,
unrefined, but I will not deny that you have potential."
Pietro just raised an eyebrow when he saw this man enter his house and begin to
talk trash to him. He was not going to take that kind of trash talk lying down
before he tried to bum rush this Taskmaster guy at super speed. A funny thing
happened when the fastest mutant alive tried this attack.
Taskmaster read his attacks coming even if they had come at super speed before
he twisted Pietro's arm behind his back and twisted him down to the ground. The
silver haired mutant winced at this point when his arm was wrenched behind his
back before he was shoved down to the ground with excessive force.
"Too slow," Taskmaster responded as he stepped back at that point to appreciate
the irony of his statement. "You children are weak, soft, and lack discipline.
Mystique used you as punch bags but I can refine you in a well-trained force of
young mutant soldiers."
The Brotherhood realized that had just been owned by some guy who didn't appear
to have mutant powers. The Taskmaster stepped back as he looked at the
Brotherhood boys before he responded with another swift string of words.
"Unless you don't think you're hard enough."
"Just give me another shot and I'll take that guy out," Pietro answered at that
moment but Taskmaster looked him long in the eye long and cold.
The Taskmaster prided himself as being one of the top fighters in the world
where he had photographic memory that was second to none. He also could read
his enemy's body language to pinpoint their attacks with the precision and take
them down just like that. The fighter looked at the Brotherhood and he motioned
for Pietro to try and attack him again.
Once again Pietro tried to attack and once more the Taskmaster knocked him down
to the ground before he twisted his arm behind his back. Taskmaster popped back
up at this point to stare him directly in the eye as he pinned his enemy down.
"I do believe that I have proven my point," Taskmaster responded with his voice
remaining calm and crisp. "My first piece of advice is to engage your brain at
twice the speed of your mouth and actions."
Pietro offered a brisk nod of his head as he thought that he would get them
next time but right now he was on the ground to wince in pain. The young mutant
had never been so humiliated in his life. He rolled over to take a moment to
recall what had just went on, he had a feeling that some kind of learning
experience had been gifted upon him at that moment.
The Brotherhood could not really say no to a guy like this but they did wonder
what the catch was. There was no way a skilled guy like this showed up and
offered them training, not without a catch.
The Taskmaster folded his hands over his chest, they could be molded into
fighters. It was time for him to settle an old score with an old enemy named
Nick Fury. A reckoning between those two had been a long coming.
"And you need superior leadership, in addition to your training, but I've got
just the person in mind," Taskmaster answered when he stepped back and revealed
a young woman with quite the presence enter the room.
This dismissal of his leadership peeved Lance, even though he could not do
anything but shake the ground in discontent. The other Brotherhood members
found their attention diverted to the woman who entered the room dressed in red
leather with her red hair framing her face and she had a belt buckle with a
skull on it. Her eyes looked at the team before she turned with a smile to
address the Brotherhood.
"My name is Sinthea Shmidt, your new leader, and superior, but you can call me,
Sin," the young woman said in a brisk and seductive voice, with the hints of a
German accent.
"Babe, I'll call you anything you want," Pietro responded when he was in dream
land when he looked at this vision of womanhood but she turned around.
"Clean up this place, it's a pig sty, do you really have any pride in
yourself?" Sin asked when she looked at the other members of the Brotherhood.
"No one you cannot defeat those X-Men, the quality of this hovel represents the
quality of your mind."
Sin turned around, HYDRA briefed her on the X-Men, but the one she was most
interested in was the one she assumed was their leader. The one with the
codename of Arcane, she saw photos of him and she was intrigued.
The Taskmaster plotted his revenge on Fury, while he and Sin whipped the
Brotherhood into shape.
===============================================================================
Harry watched the Danger Room Session that had started up, the first one with
the New Mutants as he sat beside Professor Xavier. When Xavier offered him the
chance to help observe and critique the training sessions for the beginner
class Harry jumped on it as an exercise for his abilities. After all, it would
be an interesting exercise in his own abilities to keep an eye on the progress
and efforts of others.
Even if said progress and efforts were not really up to snuff at this point but
Harry recalled some of the earlier Danger Room training sessions that he had
with Kurt, Kitty, and Rogue. It was just something where he shuddered to think
about them but it was all part of the learning experience.
"So it wasn't you who had managed to wipe everyone's memories, Professor?"
Harry asked to confirm something that him and Xavier had been discussing
previously before the Danger Room Session had started.
Xavier had confirmed his statement with a shake of his head as the Danger Room
session had officially begun. "No, it was not I but we do have a telepath on
the loose so that is something that we must watch closely. Also there's the
fact that there is magnetic interference in the air beyond your magical
interference."
Jean and Scott popped up at this point of the conversation as they watched
Harry having his eyes glued to the Danger Room session.
"Magneto lives then," Jean concluded as she addressed Xavier, with Kitty,
Rogue, Kurt, Logan, and Ororo all filing in at that moment.
"Yes, we should have figured that without an identifiable body there was a good
chance," Xavier agreed as he turned to do his own observation as Harry did.
"So how's the fresh meat doing?" Logan asked to change the subjects, before
Xavier had given him a slightly reproachful look before he commented.
"The new students are doing quite nicely in their latest Danger Room training
session. No worse than any other group."
"That'd be kind of hard," Kitty answered at that point as she shuddered.
Given the benefit of hindsight, some of those early Danger Room sessions that
the four of them had when they had joined the team were kind of abysmal. Of
course whether or not it was abysmal with Harry leading them or not, that was
something that Kitty could not say.
"Hey, we weren't that bad, we didn't die in there," Kurt stated as he tried to
put a bright spin on things.
"Without the lethal protocols shut up, it is kind of impossible to die in
there," Harry responded before his eyes had remained on the Danger Room
training session.
That was a statement that was agreed to by all as the New Mutants had been
thrown into the deep end without a wading pool at that point. He could see them
make the rookie mistakes of checking to see the reactions of their supervisors
when they should be focusing on what was going on around them in the Danger
Room.
The key was to block out all of the distractions, the world did not exist
beyond those Danger Room walls when they were training. It was easy to get
tripped up by the fact that people were watching you in the Danger Room
training session as it lead to a lack of focus. That would be one of the
lessons that Harry hoped to impart upon them.
Harry winced as one of the flame throwers had nearly gotten Iceman, that one
looked like it hurt. Boom Boom could have used some work on her aim, okay her
aim was fine. It just needed to be directed more towards the targets in the
Danger Room than taking out her teammates.
Cannonball propelled himself into the air before he tried to smash himself into
the laser blasts from high above. Multiple tried to split himself into several
dupes but the key word was try at this point. His dupes began to trip over
themselves as he did not really have the control just yet.
Harry could see Magma looking for him for his response or maybe for other
reasons for as far as Harry knew. There was a moment to determine that later
for Harry had to watch every single member of the Danger Room training
sessions. There was a time where the team did seem to work a bit better with
each other even though they still tripped over each other.
"They aren't too bad, per say," Rogue answered as she looked at Kitty and Harry
who had watched closely. The pair of them responded with two identical nods.
"Yeah, but they aren't too good to say the very least," Kitty responded at that
point before Harry just put up a hand.
Scott could tell that the team had licked of discipline as he watched them all
at that point. He thought that they needed to step up their efforts just a
little bit. He could see Jean wince and Logan just snorted. It was obvious that
these new kids were a work in progress.
Harry continued to watch as the entire hour training session occurred with the
group who tried to keep their heads above the water. They flew into the battle
harder and harder as the clock continued to tick down just a little bit at a
time.
The Danger Room Session ticked by with Harry making notes on each individual
team member. He thought that it would be best if he had given them a status
report about things they did well and things they could improve on. Actually,
Harry thought about this when he was doing the DA, but never got around to
doing it before the club had gotten found out when that sneak had betrayed
them.
Harry watched the Danger Room session wrap to a close as the various members of
the New Mutants staggered out of it. They looked near on the verge of collapse
which caused a shadow of a smile to cross over Harry's face. He had most
certainly been down that road before.
None of them seemed to want to say anything for fear that if they opened their
mouths that they would throw up.
"There's room for improvement," Harry offered them before anyone else could say
anything. "I've taken some notes and tomorrow I'll give you a list of things
that you can improve on."
The New Mutants nodded as they had feared the worst.
"I'm sure Logan will have some suggestions as well," Harry added at that point
before Logan had offered a brisk nod, he might have a few suggestions for this
entire lot.
Right now Harry thought that they entire group should be pleased that they had
survived their first session in the Danger Room where there was many more to
come.
And it would only get tougher of them from here.
To Be Continued in "The Girl from the Edge of Tomorrow."
***** Girl from the Edge of Tommorow Part Two *****
Chapter 25: Girl From the Edge of Tomorrow Part One.
Rogue was not the type of girl to get giddy about jewelry but she was going to
have to make an exception for today. For right now Harry sat across from her
with Kitty and handed Rogue the bracelet before the Goth girl had put on her
wrist with a smile. This was one piece of jewelry that she could get behind and
really appreciate.
"The charms should hold, the slider can allow you to switch the field on and
off at will," Harry informed her as Rogue nodded before Harry continued. "You
can also set a passcode if you want to, but it's really down to what you think
is easier between that and the slider."
Rogue would have to keep that in mind before she had switched the slider on
before she pulled off her gloves. With another motion she put her hands on
Kitty's bare face at that point. Kitty smiled at that point before she turned
to Harry.
"It works," Kitty answered with a bit of a smile as she looked at Harry but she
then hastily amended. "Like it wouldn't work."
Rogue nodded she was completely confident that something like that would work
at all times but Harry had pulled her into an embrace. The three of them had a
busy day and it was time for all of them to unwind.
Harry cupped Rogue's face before he pulled her into a kiss which Rogue returned
at that moment. He kissed Rogue for about twenty seconds before he switched
over to Kitty and gave her a long kiss as well. At that moment, Harry switched
back and forth to kiss both of the girls before the real fun began.
Smut/Lemon Begins.
Harry cupped Rogue's breasts through her shirt and kissed her as Kitty got down
onto her knees and began to yank Harry's pants down. That was not what Harry
focused on at the moment as he focused on Rogue's breasts to feel them, touch
them, and squeeze them. After a moment of fondling and Rogue's moans, Harry
pulled the shirt off to reveal her nice pair of tits.
"Such great tits," Harry told her as he buried his face in between her cleavage
and began sucking on it.
Harry's pants were off as Kitty was down between his legs. She watched Harry
suck Rogue's tits as Kitty grabbed onto his balls before she fondled them a
little bit. Slowly but surely Kitty licked her tongue up and down the length of
Harry's cock before she switched tactics to tease the head. All of it felt good
to her at this point.
Harry removed his head from Rogue's breasts before he reached over and stripped
Kitty's clothes off before he ran his hands all over her tight body. Kitty
moaned in pleasure as Harry played with her at this point.
"Yeah Harry, that's it," Kitty breathed before Harry placed her down on the bed
before he aimed his cock towards her slit.
He teased the entrance with his head as Rogue stripped off her pants and also
pulled down her panties. Rogue sat back and allowed Harry to push his fingers
into her cunt. The girl's eyes glazed back in pleasure as Harry pumped his
fingers in and out of her willing cunt.
"Oh yes Harry, oh yes," Rogue breathed but she watched as Harry continued to
tease Kitty but then he backed off at this point with a mischievous expression
in his eyes.
Several ropes wrapped around Kitty and Rogue at this point. The two young
mutants were tied up, unable to move, and they were at Harry's mercy. A grin
spread across his face as he leaned down to grab both of their wet pussies.
"Harry, this is torture," Kitty begged when Harry cupped her with his hand
tightly.
"Yeah, it's called teasing," Harry retorted with a grin as he fingered and
played with the two of them while he made sure his cock stayed in both of their
lines of sight at all times.
Kitty and Rogue panted and begged for Harry to stick his cock into one of them
but after the necessary charms were performed Harry closed his eyes and
randomly picked one of the girls who would get his cock buried in her.
Rogue felt a rush of pleasure as Harry pushed into her twat and began to pump
in and out of her with expert precision. She managed to raise her hips up as
far as she could to meet Harry's incoming strokes. Harry pushed in and out of
her as he sawed away at her pussy with his cock, an action that caused Rogue
great pleasure.
Kitty had nothing to really complain about for Harry aimed his fingers before
he jammed them into her pussy and pumped it inside at the same speed as he had
fucked Rogue with his cock. Both of the girls moaned loudly and encouraged
Harry.
"Keep doing that.."
"Yeah, fuck me, fuck me hard!"
"Oh, that's just the beginning," Harry grunted as he waited for the magical
timer to go off before he pulled out of Rogue, his cock leaving her snug pussy.
With another motion Harry switched over and pushed himself into Kitty's cunt to
feel her tightness wrap around him. The pleasure of her pussy wrapped around
his throbbing prick was not missed when he pushed hard and fast into her tight
pussy.
"So tight," Harry grunted before he began to push in and out of Kitty long and
fast. He alternated between two long strokes and a rapid fire succession of
five short and fast ones. Harry could tell the desire that Kitty felt as he put
one set of fingers in her mouth so she could taste her own juices and kept
another set in Rogue's cunt.
"Mmm," Kitty groaned as she slurped her own juices off of Harry's fingers as
the two of them tried to struggle in their ropes but they could not get out.
Harry after a time had switched when Rogue had been brought to an orgasm and
once again had switched off. This time he had his cock inside Rogue's tight
pussy as he thrust in and out of her. He rode her with all it was worth as he
finger fucked Kitty on the other end. Rogue got a taste of her own pussy
juices.
"You two like eating your juices, don't you?" Harry asked them.
"Yeah, we're dirty little girls, we need to be punished," Kitty breathed as she
mentally counted down to when her turn was. For right now she would enjoy
Harry's able fingers working her over to send little jolts of magic deep into
her to cause her body to fill with warmth.
Harry responded for a second when he ceased all actions and then spanked their
tight asses. This had got the desired reaction as he alternated between Kitty's
ass and Rogue's ass at that point. He then switched at that point before his
cock went into Kitty and his fingers had gone into Rogue's pussy.
As it turned out the more powerful that Harry got, the longer he could keep up
this dance, not that his lovers minded being driven to several orgasms per love
making session. The fact that he could switch on and off increased the pleasure
and gave the pleasure.
"So tight, one of you is going to make me cum, but which one?" Harry asked at
that point as he continued to hammer into Rogue who tried to summon all of her
energy to her pussy for Harry.
"Cum for me, I need it, shoot that spunk in my twat, sugah," Rogue breathed at
this point but her time was up before she could make Harry cum.
Harry switched off before he aimed his cock at Kitty and pushed deep inside
her. It was another moment before he sped up and knew his release was about to
come.
"Fucking tight, yeah, going to cum, so going to cum," Harry groaned as he
speared into Kitty and Kitty did all she could to squeeze him.
"Cum for me, shoot me with your spunk, paint my walls white!" Kitty yelled
through the hazed lust that she felt when Harry's cock continued to pummel her
tight pussy harder and harder.
These words combined with the collective moans by both of the girls had caused
Harry's balls to tighten up a great deal. He knew the end was here as he also
made Rogue reach her peak. All three of them were going to cum together as he
moved faster and faster.
Three simultaneously orgasms were most certainly a spectacular sight and Harry
managed it as his loins blew his love juice deep into Kitty's inner chambers as
Rogue came all over his fingers. The three of them collapsed after they came
down, all satisfied for this night.
Smut/Lemon Ends.
===============================================================================
 
Harry sat himself down at a perch point outside of the Danger Room as he
watched the latest Danger Room session with the newest mutants. He continued to
observe them over the past few weeks. The new mutants did seem to have some raw
potential that much Harry was able to find out. The interesting thing was
whether or not they would fit into the team dynamic with the senior team
members as they got used to working with each other. That was something to
consider in the future.
That was a fact that Xavier seemed to not overlook at that point. The
Headmaster of the Xavier Institute turned towards Harry at that point before he
addressed Harry. "In a few sessions we should attempt to integrate them with
the rest of the team training sessions. Some of them might fit in better than
others."
Harry went over this theory in his head at this point, he knew that there might
be a time where these New Mutants had worked their way to the main team. Kitty,
Rogue, and Kurt showed up behind Harry's back with Harry only paying half
attention to any of them. The fact of the matter was that their Danger Room
training session was about ready to start after the New Mutant training session
was over.
"So, do you think that any of them will have the potential to graduate up to
the main team?" Kitty asked to Harry which broke him out of his thoughts.
"That's really not my place to say," Harry said at that moment.
"But saying that it was, would you recommend any of them to get the move up?"
Rogue asked as she gave Harry a brief smile as a nod before she looked at
Harry. "Well?"
Harry had to answer the question in the most honest manner that he could.
"Some of them are progressing better than others but others are struggling a
bit with their focus. They know who they are, don't worry. All of them have
tried to take my suggestions in mind, but I notice that there are some things
that they are doing wrong. And there are some things that we should work on."
Harry turned to his team members as Kurt peered at Harry at this point at time
before he shook his head. "You have a better eye for detail than Logan."
"I don't know about that one," Harry responded with a shrug at that point as
there was something in the Danger Room when two of the New Mutants had tripped
over each other, that being Boom Boom and Iceman. "Yeah, they could work a bit
more on their focus, and a bit less on any kind of showing off."
"To be young again," Kitty offered with a whistful sigh.
"Yeah, you at the old age of fifteen, almost sixteen," Harry remarked to her in
a teasing voice and Kitty shrugged at this particular statement, shaking her
head and taking a long breath before she responded to Harry.
"Okay, I guess I walked right into that one," Kitty answered with a shrug
before Harry just smiled back at her with Kitty and Kurt looking amuse.
Logan showed up as he looked at Harry before he offered a rather prominent nod.
He knew that he would not be leaving this responsibility in Harry's hands
unless he trusted Harry to keep an honest perspective. And Harry was extremely
honest, to the point where he was brutally honest to an insane degree. Logan
would not go as to say that Harry was harsh. He had said more critical things
to the students after all so it would be hard to criticize too much.
Jean popped in out of nowhere right now but she had a bit of a frantic
expression on her face. Harry did not pick this up. Scott had followed Jean in
and the dark haired young mutant had a feeling that he was about to find out
what they seemed so frantic about.
Another figure joined them at this point who had showed himself into the
mansion, a man with dark hair with streaks of grey in his head. Kitty, Rogue,
Kurt, and Harry all looked curious with the training session in the Danger Room
becoming second to the arrival of Reed Richards who had turned to Xavier.
"Doctor Richards, what do I owe the pleasure?" Xavier asked at this point.
"There has been a tear in the time-space continuum, the second in many months,"
Reed stated without preamble.
Harry stood up to take notice at this little statement from Richards and his
mind swarmed with some possibilities. Could it at all be possible that someone
else had found a way through? While it did seem to be impossible given what he
learned from the Sorcerer Supreme, Harry knew better than else that the
improbable can become very probable.
Regardless, his interest was piqued and curiosity bubbled within his mind.
"Did you determine out what had arrived?" Xavier asked as he tried to determine
this.
"We believe the tear occurred approximately a month ago but the energy pulse
had not been registered to this point," Reed answered as one could almost get a
sense that he was making calculations in his head. "It has yet to be determined
whether or not that person is friend or foe, or even a person."
Now that was a statement that interested them at this point, Harry more so, but
Kurt, Kitty, Rogue, Jean, Scott, and even Logan looked up at that moment. Jean
saw Reed and Xavier go off before she turned to Harry.
"So what do you think, Harry?" Jean asked curious about Harry's input which
Scott noticed.
"I don't know, whoever came through could be dangerous," Scott responded as he
seemed rather tense.
"Or it could be someone who might need our help," Kurt chimed in at this point.
Harry would have to consider all sides of the argument nice and hard, there was
a chance that this person did in fact need their help. In fact, Harry shook his
head and tried to figure out who had come through. There were countless
possibilities, many of them Harry could not even begin to consider, with many,
many angles.
Could it be...no Harry wasn't going to even get his hopes up for that one.
Although why he would arrive later than Harry, he had no clue.
"I don't really know," Harry said at this point as without more information it
was really hard to tell.
"I'm sure we're get sucked into it eventually, whatever it is," Rogue offered
with a smile crossing her face as the Danger Room had stopped.
'X-Men, report to me, the training session for today has been delayed, we have
a situation that needs prompt attention,'Xavier projected to them mentally as
the team had moved over to join them.
Harry, Jean, Scott, Kurt, Kitty, and Rogue walked out with Logan shooing the
new mutants out of the Danger Room.
"We believe our mysterious visitor and the telepath that meddled in the
Brotherhood's friends might be one and the same," Xavier responded as he looked
at the X-Men at this point as he turned to Reed who offered them a polite nod.
"Doctor Richards has data that we want to take a look at, and we need to find
this visitor before anyone else does."
'That much is for sure,'Harry thought who remembered the attention that he had
received when he had popped out of where he was to here. He did not relish
having anyone going through that ever again.
===============================================================================
 
Mystique drummed her fingers on the chair that she sat on deep within the lab
as she wondered what she had done to get sucked into this particular situation.
The shape shifter mutant took a long and deep breath before she leaned forward
at this point. The door of the lab opened before Mister Sinister entered the
lab with a malicious expression flickering through his eyes. The eyes of
Sinister were crazed before they snapped towards Mystique.
There was so much one could figure out from the eyes of Sinister and none of
those things were that good. Mystique shuddered at that point when the woman
thought about this man and what he was capable of at this point. The woman
shook her head with a long sigh before putting her hands on the table and she
snapped her eyes towards the face of Sinister.
"What do you want?" Mystique asked at that point as she knew fully well that
Sinister was about to enlighten her and sure enough his mouth opened to inform
her what he did want.
"The time for my plan grows near but a potential problem manifested herself in
the world," Sinister responded at that point. "One of my agents has detected a
mutant of great power who turned out. It was almost as if she appeared out of
nowhere."
Mystique's face contorted into a fury as the last mutant that had shown up out
of nowhere led to a bit of a problem for her and had foiled so many plans. She
personally blamed him for what happened on that Asteroid and this latest
situation that she was put on at this point. Magneto was still out there, she
knew it but Sinister had a grander plan that she could barely fathom.
All Sinister would tell her that he was in contact with some believers for a
cause that was far deeper than anything Magneto could ever dream upon. A force
who hoped to bring Earth to it's greatest prominence.
"She's an asset," Sinister answered at that moment as he peered out the lab
window with a sadistic glint in his eyes. "She's going to be an issue for
certain but only if the X-Men reach her."
Sinister stepped around as he had checked out the printouts that he had.
Mystique noticed that he had the DNA of several powerful mutants on file both
those who lived and many who had passed on. It seemed as if many of them had
died at the hands of Sinister himself when he had gotten his hands on them and
experimented on them.
"I believe it is time to allow Charles to know that this game has much higher
stakes than a ceasefire with Magneto," Sinister responded as his eyes flickered
off to the side.
He had been biding his time for years and year, ever since the end of the
second world war when his experiments had ended. There was no need to be as
active. The growing prominence of mutants had presented himself the right
opportunity to step forward and take advantage of them. Not to mention the fact
that Xavier gathered students for his school which piqued Sinister's interest
and allowed him to consider the potential consequences.
Of course there was another thing Sinister was intrigued by that he would help
release when the time was right. This individual would ensure that survival of
the fittest remained to be something that was the ultimate truth in this world.
The demented Darwinist allowed himself a moment to consider all of the
possibilities of what was on the line before he turned forward.
"I believe it's time to send an army to intercept the X-Men before they find
our runaway telepath," Sinister added with malicious intentions in his voice
but Mystique just seemed eager for a chance at redemption.
"Just say the word and I will take down the X-Men."
Sinister shook his head from side to side before he clasped his hands together
in malicious fury.
"No, while your lust to prove yourself is commendable, I require you to remain
here and not allow Xavier to know of our alliance until the time is right.
Until it is much too late for him to do anything."
A malicious grin spread over the face of Sinister before he exited the lab to
leave Mystique in his wake. He moved through the corridors and down a set of
stairs before he arrived at the bottom of them.
A group of sadistic mutants waited for Sinister, a group that was after
Sinister's own heart and the demented Darwinist took a moment to survey the
team that he had put together. It was time for them to step out and intercept
the X-Men before they could find the telepath. She was too much of an asset for
someone like Xavier to squander.
"Marauders, you have your orders."
The group of sadistic mutants nodded at this point, they were quite the nasty
crew.
The first mutant was a dark haired mutant named Arclight who had a sadistic
ability. With a wave of her hands she was able to create seismic waves that
could utterly demolish everyone and everything in her path.
The second mutant stood large, bald, and ugly as he cracked his knuckles. This
mutant had strength that could stand toe to toe with even the Incredible Hulk.
His name was Blockbuster, who was ready to do some damage for his master,
Mister Sinister.
The next mutant was a young man with purple hair who carried a spear in his
hand. This young mutant was named Harpoon as he could charge that weapon and
any other with an energy that could destroy anything that it touched.
The fourth mutant was a young man who could spin himself at super speeds and
fling metal objects at his enemies. The mutant went under the moniker of
Riptide and he could destroy anyone who stood in his way.
The fifth mutant was a woman who had long green hair and was dressed in a green
bodysuit. Her name was Vertigo and she could induce dizziness with her powers.
"Yes, we have our orders," Vertigo responded as her eyes snapped towards her
master like the obedient dog that she was. "And should the X-Men get in our
way, there is not a single one of them that can stop us."
Blockbuster grunted in response as Arclight, Harpoon, and Riptide all nodded
side by side. The five Marauders might have been outnumbered by the X-Men in
quantity but Sinister was confident that his Marauders were in better stock
than the X-Men. Soon the strong would survive and those who would not be worth
would be perish at that point.
"So it begins, the end," Sinister responded as he waved his Marauders off to
track down this young telepath and intercept the X-Men.
===============================================================================
 
Nick Fury studied one of the pieces of the gem that he obtained at that moment
but if there were any more, Shield had not found them as of yet. Something like
this, Fury need not leave any stone unturned when he continued his search for
the mystic gems. It was important for them to locate it before any unsavory
forces could track it down. The Commander of SHIELD spun around to read the
energy readings that had popped up a couple of weeks ago.
Two of his field agents showed up to walk up towards the commander with an
apologetic look on both of their faces. Fury knew the looks that were on those
faces immediately, he sensed that there might have been a problem.
"You lost her, didn't you?" Fury asked without preamble and they nodded in an
apologetic manner. "She has to be found."
Fury did not really have to tell his agents how important it was to find this
particular individual, because they could already tell by his tone. There were
many unsavory forces out there that were getting closer to snatching her up as
well. The SHIELD commander looked out into the horizon and he could realize
that there was some kind of storm brewing although what it was he did not know.
All Fury could tell was things had gotten far more complicated than just a
couple of crackpots with a lofty goal of world domination. That was something
that Fury could handle but for some reason the entire apple cart had been upset
to a degree that Fury had not really seen in an extremely long time. He tapped
his fingers on the side of the window.
"We're picking up another reading," one of his men had stated at this point
before Fury's one eye was on the entire team. "Whoever she is, she's making her
way towards that school of Xavier's."
"She's been lurking around for months, and now she just decides to pop up
there, I don't understand it at all," Fury responded in a gruff tone of voice
before he shook his head. It was best not to really worry about that as of now.
The SHIELD commander took a moment to allow himself to return to a situation
where he would be able to control what was transpiring once again. He knew what
he had to do now. "Keep monitoring her, do not let her out of her sight and
send for the Widow."
Fury had said all these orders without even taking the slightest breath before
the SHIELD agents ran off to do what he said. He continued to make his rounds
around the floors with his hands behind his back. One eye was on everything but
given that was all Fury could spare that was just as well. The SHIELD director
crossed his arms before his face twisted into a grimace. The incident at
Asteroid M just scraped the surface of what was possible to say the very least.
Fury tapped his foot on the floor and looked over his shoulder.
"You wanted to see me, Commander Fury."
Fury spun around to see a tall women with long red hair who there in a skin
tight black cat suit. Fury's eyes took a moment to look at her. She was one of
the top spies in SHIELD, her name was Natasha Romanov but she was best known
under her codename, the Black Widow. Fury nodded in response as he looked over
her.
To be honest, Fury preferred to put her on the Potter case a number of months
ago given her ability to obtain information even when the subject was
difficult. However, she was currently on another mission that Fury could not
pull her off of so he had to settle with Barton. Fury scrambled for every
single bit of information, every morsel that he could gobble up and the
Commander of SHIELD took a moment to cross his arms.
"Yes, Widow, I did," Fury responded when his arms had been crossed before he
pointed to a map where a blip had blinked. Black Widow's eyes turned to the map
while she knew that Fury was about to explain everything to her. "Three weeks
ago, a second tear opened as another force had dropped down. This was much like
the Harry Potter case but so far we have not been able to track her down."
Black Widow took a moment to allow these words to sink in before she faced
Fury.
"She could be more able to hide herself than the other one was," Black Widow
responded in a crisp voice.
"Yes, she is likely more able which is not something that should give SHIELD
any room to breath," Fury responded before the director proceeded to pace back
and forth as he drew a bit of a breath within himself and shook his head. "The
fact of the matter is that she's on her way to see the X-Men and if you monitor
them, you'll find out what her stake in this entire mess is."
Widow nodded, she had enjoyed a challenge, that was one of the reasons that she
sighed on for SHIELD and her eyes focused on Fury's one eye, not taking her
eyes off of him for an instance, not blinking either.
"I trust you understand what is at stake with all of us," Fury continued as his
eye was on the Black Widow. It was all seeing, all knowing, and the Black Widow
felt as if she was always under evaluation when Fury looked at her. "SHIELD has
much on the line in this situation and if we are caught in this mission, then
everything will be jeopardized."
The Black Widow carefully looked over the print out of the recent missions that
the X-Men seemed to be entangled in along with, and she offered her honest
observation towards Fury.
"It appears that Mr. Potter has some kind of sixth sense that allows him to
determine deception," Black Widow commented lightly as she paused and chose her
next words carefully. "Naturally this makes it all that more difficult and
increases the need for stealth."
"I have the utmost confidence that you will exhibit stealth, Widow," Fury
answered briskly before the Black Widow spun around as she had walked off and
quickened her movements to the nearest exit.
All Fury could do at this present time was wait and see how this situation
would go. The Black Widow would gain the necessary information to report back
to him but at the same time Fury would keep a delicate distance and continue to
find out what the best course of action was.
===============================================================================
 
"She seems to be moving rather fast, almost in an erratic manner."
These were the words that Charles Xavier stated in conclusion to his musings
when the entire team of X-Men had crowded around. The New Mutants were not
involved due to being merely students and not full term X-Men.
Going through everything in his mind Harry detected that this person, whoever
she was, was trying to get their attention. Exactly what her reasoning was,
Harry could not really say what her game was. However, there was just something
that had stood out to him like a sore thumb as Xavier printed out a line up at
this point. The team moved over to take a very close look at everything.
"There doesn't seem to be any sort of pattern," Kitty responded in confusion
but Harry just shook his head. "Really, because if there is a pattern, I don't
see it."
Harry decided to enlighten his girlfriend on the matter along with the rest of
the team before he took a deep breath. The dark haired wizard magically copied
the print out at this point and he had looked at him. The dots showed where the
energy spikes had been found as Harry's curiosity peaked and heightened. With a
quick movement, Harry traced over the dots one at a time.
It was a few movements later before Harry had managed to connect the dots in
more ways than one. Rogue and Kitty had noticed what Harry was doing first. It
seemed like his ability to find patterns that no one else could did not extend
to just physical fighting, it extended to other matters as well.
"So, you're saying that arrow is pointing to where she'll turn up?" Kurt asked
at that point.
"I don't know, it seems almost too easy," Scott responded as he spoke up for
the first time.
"That's exactly why I'd agree with Harry, there's a pattern that she's trying
to point us in the right direction of," Jean commented at that point before
Kurt was the next one to pipe up.
"And maybe a trap?"
The X-Men all stiffened at the thought of this new person having shown up
potentially leading them into a trap. Xavier took a moment to ponder the
situation when he looked at his students before he shook his head.
"It could very well be a trap, but is it a trap that's intended for us?" Xavier
mused to them before the entire team looked at him.
"What do you mean, Professor?" Kurt asked at this point.
Before Harry could answer, Scott was the one that chimed in. "She's trying to
get someone else's attention but exactly who, that's the problem."
Harry was willing to concede that point to Scott that could potentially be the
case. While they could find the pattern that this young girl had put in,
actually trying to piece together her intentions was another matter entirely as
they only had the data that Reed Richards had given to them to point them in
the right direction.
Now that they had been pointed in the right direction the team found themselves
ready and able to go. The X-Men prepared to go off before Harry had stopped and
voiced something that had been on his mind.
"We're not going to be the only one's that are going to pick out this pattern,"
Harry remarked for a moment and the X-Men all nodded when they realized where
Harry was coming from.
"Do you really think that the Brotherhood could have figured out something like
this?" Jean asked at that point.
"Could be something to watch for," Scott answered as Jean had given him a stiff
and diplomatic nod. "We need to work together in case someone tries to attack
us before we reach her."
Something in the back of Harry's mind wondered if there was someone who was far
more dangerous than the Brotherhood that they had to worry about. The
Brotherhood had given them a few anxious moments but there were other people
out there that were far more dangerous than they could ever hope to be. The
young man wondered if they were about to run into another problem. Something
that was sinister could be in fact be in the air and it was far more dangerous
than anything that they had ever battled against previously.
Then there was the fact that Nick Fury and the rest of SHIELD were out there.
If Harry knew Fury, he had his eye on the situation likely long before anyone
had found out about this. That was just what the Director of SHIELD was like,
he was able to obtain information that other people had tried to keep hiding.
Fury was annoyingly resourceful.
That fact both annoyed Harry and caused him admiration as the team had boarded
with determination on their faces. They had weathered many battles before but
this one just seemed to be different somewhere. For some reason, there seemed
to be even more on the line then there was before.
As it turned out, Harry was not the only one who had felt that there was
something sinister in the air. Jean had felt a feeling of dread and felt
compelled to tell her teammates. Those thoughts had gone through her head as
the red head telepath had leaned forward and voice them to her entire team.
"We should be careful, there is something out there, and I don't like it. Call
it a mad hunch."
"No not bad, there's likely something dangerous out there," Harry answered at
that moment before Kurt had to voice the question that had entered many of
their minds.
"But is it the person we're going for or is it something else?"
"We'll worry about that when we get there," Scott answered at that point as the
team looked from him before they looked at Harry.
Harry remained silent for a little bit but he did not say much of anything. His
mind was a different matter as it worked rather carefully as it reached a
certain conclusion. They were going to find out what was going on one way or
another before too long. Something told him that they might not like the
answers when they happened.
===============================================================================
 
Rachel Grey waited in an abandoned grocery store in Bayville that was set for
demolition years ago. She knew that her antics would have gotten the wrong kind
of attention but she had to get the attention of the X-Men. It was important
that they talked to her. In hindsight, she supposed that she should have tried
to head to the Mansion that way but what was done was done. In the future that
she came from, trust was not something that happened.
Especially given that there may or may not be a traitor in the midst of the X-
Men that could have betrayed the entire team to lead to the domino effect that
formed the future. Rachel thought about that long and hard, while she would
like to believe that all members of the team were trustworthy there was a huge
part of her that offered some doubt. It was more of a wait and see situation to
be honest.
She heard the sound of the jet that stopped outside but would it be the jet for
the X-Men or would it be a jet for someone else. Rachel would wait to see as
she hid behind a shelf and just prepared herself for the very worst. The young
mutant girl's heart thumped against her chest as she heard a creaking sound and
voices.
The doors blasted open and Rachel peered through the shelve space to see the X-
Men arrive sure enough. That was a good sign that someone else had not found
her first. The entire trip to the past had rattled her mind and it was really
something to see a world where she did not have to run from everything.
Rachel peaked out at that moment.
"I think I heard someone."
Rachel cursed at that point, she was being careful but she supposed that she
should have been a lot more careful. Nineteen, going on twenty years old, and
she should have learned to be a bit more careful. Yet there were sometimes
where she was annoyingly careless to the point where she just wanted to hit
herself.
"We come in peace," Harry said as he took the opening to talk to the person.
There was a moment's of pause where everyone was silent.
"Unless you want to attack us, then you're really kind of taking your chances,"
Kitty added at this point as she got her share of strange looks from her
teammates. "Well they kind of are taking their chances just being here with all
of the attention they're attracting and stuff."
Kitty took a moment to take a deep breath as she saw the red haired girl walk
out. She was taken aback when she saw how much she resembled Jean, sure her
hair was shorter and she had a few small scars on her face, but it was nothing
that detracted from her looks too much. The other team members had hitched in a
deep breath before she looked at them.
Harry was the one who had broken the silence. "Who are you?"
The red hair girl looked at them with an apprehensive look in her eyes, with
Harry able to tell one thing. She was someone who had come from a tough
background and life. "My name is Rachel. There's no need for you to tell me who
you guys are. You're the X-Men, Cyclops, Phoenix, Nightcrawler, Shadowcat,
Rogue, and…um Arcane."
"Phoenix?" Jean asked in a surprised voice, confused at what this girl told
her.
Rachel suddenly had her eyes widened. "Oh, that didn't happen yet, did it?"
"What didn't happen yet?" Jean asked as she wondered if something bad had
happened by the way this girl was now not quite meeting her eyes. She had
serious questions about this girl's sanity as well because quite frankly she
had no idea what she was blathering on about.
Harry decided to take control of the situation by he took a step forward and
looked at the young girl. Rachel took a step back at that moment but she
relaxed when she saw that they were not going to jump the gun and attack her.
"Look, Rachel, where did you come from?" Harry asked as he looked at the
redhead girl who offered a sigh at this moment.
Rachel took a moment to look at Harry and the rest of the team as she looked
like a deer in the headlights before she shook her head. The girl recovered
rather quickly before she decided to keep all emotion out of her eyes when all
of these people were seen alive. Then she spoke in a calm voice.
"Trust me, you wouldn't believe me if I told you."
Rachel got her share of strange looks at this point but Kitty just gave her a
reassuring smile before she spoke. "Trust me, after all of the things we saw,
there isn't much that surprises me."
"You can say that again," Kurt commented as he remembered everything that he
had encountered in his short time as one of the X-Men.
Rachel calmed herself down and offered a bit of a smile but she was really
reluctant. It was once again hard to look these people in the eyes given what
she experienced. She recovered rather quickly before she opened her mouth to
speak.
Suddenly the windows of the store blew open with a huge explosion that send
glass flying in every single direction. Harry raised his hand to block the
glass from cutting into them before he transfigured the glass into feathers and
caused it to harmlessly drop to the ground in one fluid motion.
Now the X-Men were on their toes, and Rachel was included in this. Her worst
fear had come true, she was about ready to try and help them fight off this
threat, whatever they were.
Suddenly an energy wave had struck the entire team before they could make any
move and dropped them to the ground. The entire group had felt rather dizzy,
their equilibrium having been thrown completely off.
"I think I'm going to hurl," Kitty managed as her hands twitched and she tried
to get back to her feet but she collapsed. Her knees wobbled a little bit.
Harry tried to find a way to block these attacks as he struggled to aim right
but he was visited by a bout of double and triple vision. The young man tried
to pull himself up and down as his legs twitched a little bit more. He
discovered one important thing at this point; magic was rather hard to do when
visited by a random bout of vertigo.
The wave seemed to effect the inner ear and cause illness as the X-Men were on
the ground.
The doors burst opened and five figures entered the store to look down at the
X-Men.
The group was ripe for the pickings as the Marauders moved in to finish them
off. They would bring their corpses back to Sinister to harvest their DNA. The
sadistic army of mutants walked over to rip them apart to destroy these X-Men
and they were going to take their sweet time to enjoy doing it.
There was one thing for certain, they were not the Brotherhood, this was
something new and something dangerous. And something that intended to kill
them.
To Be Continued in "Girl from the Edge of Tomorrow Part Two."
***** Girl from the Edge of Tommorow Part Two *****
Chapter 26: Girl from the Edge of Tomorrow Part Two.
If Harry could have only lifted his arm, they would have had a chance to
reverse the Vertigo effect and send it back at them. There was a moment where
the entire team was down on the ground sick to their stomach, as these
Marauders stood around and laughed with gleeful joy at the damage that they had
caused. They had a type of sadistic fury that had been unmatched by anyone that
they had ever seen.
The Marauders staggered by some force that surprised and caught Harry off
guard, but he was not going to be one that looked a gift horse in the mouth.
Especially since that force allowed Harry to gain control of his wits and lead
the team.
"NOW!" Harry yelled when he reversed the attacks which came back at the
Marauders who staggered. A second attempt of the vertigo effect did not work on
Harry, now that his magic analyzed the powers. He shielded the rest of his team
from the effects the best he could, before he turned around. "Cyclops, blast
that beam."
Scott felt very annoyed at being ordered but then he realized that was a good
idea. With a well placed optic blast, he cracked the beam and caused it to
topple on top of Blockbuster who was staggered.
Harpoon sent a super charged spear at Kitty but true to former she went
intangible and the spear went through her before it blew up the wall on the
other side. This distraction allowed Kurt to go behind Harpoon, grab his stash,
and teleport his entire arsenal away from him. Harpoon was taken down by a
telekinetic blast from Jean.
"Don't stop, keep it up!" Harry yelled as Arclight shook the ground, which
Harry noticed she had a far greater grip on her powers than Avalanche did. It
was obvious that she had a few more years to fine tune them, that much was for
sure, and the ground rattled and the windows busted.
'Jean, mental attack,'Harry projected to his teammate.
"Right," Jean managed as she nailed Arclight with a psychic blast but suddenly
she was taken down by Vertigo once again.
Rogue adjusted the slider on her wristband and grabbed Vertigo around the head,
before she removed a glove and placed a hand on the side of her face. Vertigo
dropped to her knees as Rogue felt an overwhelming dizziness to her. The
ringing in her ears was intense so much so that it made Rogue feel sick to her
stomach.
"Ah, I think the little vampire bit off a bit too much, Riptide taunted as
Rogue screamed out loud when her head felt like it was splitting in two. Harry
tried to aim a blasting spell at Riptide but he spun out of the way.
Super speed and now he flung several pieces of razor sharp metal, which was not
a good combination. With several quick wrist flicks, Harry had transfigured the
metal into harmless feathers before Rachel rolled in and psychically curb
stomped Riptide to take him out of the action.
Rogue's eyes glazed over in the back of her head and Blockbuster used this as
an advantage to knock her down to the side. A thunderous punch connected to her
but that was the last punch he delivered when Blockbuster had been lifted up
into the ground with a banishing spell and flew through a glass display.
Several thousand pieces of broken glass cut and sliced through him.
The X-Men had took a moment to recover from this battle, as they felt nauseous
from the vertigo at this moment. Harry rubbed the side of his temples and took
a deep breath when he turned to the other members of the X-Men team. They felt
the ravages of what was an intense battle.
"We got them," Harry told them before he helped Rogue up who shook her head.
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah, those powers were a bit more than I could handle," Rogue answered as she
wondered why she had bitten off a bit more than she could chew. "Bracelet
worked like a charm, no pun intended."
"Now what do we do with this trash?" Kitty asked when she looked down at the
downed Marauders who had been taken out.
"We finish them off so then can never hurt anyone again," Rachel responded
after a brief pause and this got her the evil eye from one Scott Summers.
"These are monsters who would kill people without blinking, there's only one
way to take care of them for good."
The future had hardened Rachel, it was either kill or be killed in that time.
Rachel had known which one she preferred but there was a pause when Scott shook
his head. Little did he know that he was looking in the face of his daughter,
but she would not be enlightening him or Jean on that fact any time soon.
"We don't do that, that's not the way things should be done," Scott replied
when Rachel just wanted to face palm.
"Wow, a dick and a pussy, how did you manage that one?" Rachael asked but Jean
just stepped in between the two of them. Rachel mused that this was not the
first time something like this happened, but again she would not be informing
them of that.
Rachel had to keep her secrets after all.
"Enough, it's not like they're going…we can't just let them go and if we turn
them into the government, they'll escape," Jean responded as she tried to wrap
her head around everything, when she realized that there were no real answers.
Harry was the one who had come up with a solution when he saw Harpoon was the
only one who was still breathing. It was an oversight that Harry was glad he
made, because they needed information. Harry turned his head when he looked at
Jean.
"Scan him," Harry said to Jean who nodded when she tried to dig into the mind
of the downed enemy but frowned. This frown did not go unnoticed by Harry who
turned to face Jean before he spoke in a calm voice."Is there a problem?"
"Sorry, I can't seem to get in his mind," Jean responded but it was Rachel who
took a step up and faced Harpoon.
With a vicious shove, she entered Harpoon's mind. The way she entered his mind
might be considered borderline unethical but at this point all rules were out
of the window. Rachel pulled out and nearly staggered from the effort. Harry
sped in and caught her. Oddly enough, she found some degree of comfort in his
arms.
Rachel took a moment to collect her thoughts and focused her mind.
"What did you find out?" Jean asked Rachel but Rachel took a moment to recover.
"Harpoon and the rest of them are working for a scientist name Mister
Sinister," Rachel responded when she looked at them. This name seemed to be new
to the X-Men, so Rachel decided to give them more information. "You better
asked Xavier what the name Nathaniel Essex means to him and why he's a menace."
"How do you know these things?" Scott asked when his eyes snapped towards her.
Rachel sighed deeply, he was always demanding of certain things about her, even
when she was grown up.
"I have my ways," Rachel responded and this question caused Scott to open his
mouth but Jean side stepped him.
"We better talk to the Professor about this Essex guy at any rate," Jean
responded as she tried to pacify the situation before things got ugly.
For some reason, she figured Rachel had an ax to grind with Scott, although she
had no idea why.
===============================================================================
 
"Who is Nathaniel Essex?"
Professor Xavier had been asked that question but it was not one that he was
prepared to really answer. At least it was not one that he was prepared to
answer this soon in the game yet he felt this day was coming. After the report
his X-Men had given him, it was a question that he needed to answer to
enlighten his students, given that they ran into Essex's minions.
"Essex is a scientist who has been around for longer than even I have been
alive," Xavier explained to the team who had their full eyes on them. "The most
reliable accounts was that he was alive since the days of Victorian England and
perhaps before them. His scheme at first was to pick up prostitutes off of the
side of road to experiment on them. They were found dead days later, with weird
deformities."
Harry was afraid that it would be something utterly messed up along these lines
when he took a moment to step back and recoup from everything.
"So he was like some Jack the Ripper type or something?" Kitty asked the
obvious question. Xavier seemed to eye Kitty for a brief moment before he had
spoken his piece.
"He was Jack the Ripper."
That was a statement that had turned a few heads but Harry picked up the fact
that Xavier seemed rather worried about what Sinister could mean. Magneto was
one game, but Sinister was an entirely other game entirely. This Sinister
seemed to be far more dangerous than anything Harry had ever faced, except for
maybe Voldemort at his worst, but Harry wondered if he had even truly fought
Voldemort at his worst.
The fact of the matter was that Harry braced himself for the worst, even though
he had the confidence in himself and in his team that they would seize the day.
He exchanged a tense expression with Kitty, Rogue, and to a lesser extent Kurt,
but all of them were mulling over the possibilities of what this Minister
Sister could bring.
"So, do we have any kind of plan?" Kurt asked when he broke the silence.
It was Harry who had chimed in response for Scott could even collect his
thoughts. "We need to find out much more about Sinister, as I'm certain that
even he is only a legend and an enigma to the Professor as well."
"You would assume correctly," Xavier agreed as he knew that there was so much
about Sinister that he did not know. "I fear that you're going to see a battle
that is far worse than any of you have ever imagined. Today, you were fortunate
that the Marauders did not destroy you."
Harry had to agree even if the other members of the X-Men did not seem to be
rather skeptical. All it took was one slip of themselves, just one time where
they had not been able to fight at their full abilities, and it was all over.
Harry even wondered if there was some divine intervention that allowed the X-
Men to turn the tides.
"We beat them, though," Kurt answered as he tried to put a cheerful spin on
this which Harry had shut down right away.
"Did we Kurt, did we?"
That was a question that none of them were going to answer, because it might
turn out that none of them would like the answer to that. The fact of the
matter was that they had gotten extremely fortunate with today's battle. Had
things panned out just a bit differently, well they would not be able to have
this conversation presently? The X-Men took a moment in solace to think how
things could have gone rather poorly had they been a bit less on the ball.
"Today was a bad hand, but we came through in the end," Scott answered as he
looked at Harry. There was a tense moment before Harry responded with a slight
sigh.
"Came through, but we came this close to suffering a humiliating defeat," Harry
replied back at him, as he tried to think things through. "These aren't
children who are cobbled together in some kind of ragtag army, these are
hardened men and women who would have killed us had they not underestimated
us."
"The Marauders are gone, we might have been a bit rough of them," Jean added at
this point but it was Xavier who just remained thoughtful for several seconds.
The fact of the matter was that Xavier avoided dealing a fatal blow to an enemy
when he could have helped it as it was something that had gone against his
moral fiber. His mission had been one of peace but there were doubts and some
darkness that clouded his mind. Even Charles Xavier had his moments where he
knew that with his powers, he could force peace between humans and mutants.
Yet it was the ethical implications of the matter that had prevented him from
pulling the trigger, they would earn that trust. The day rapidly approached
where mutants would have to step back into the light and face the world at
large. Once that day came, Xavier hoped for an everlasting peace.
"I do hope that there was no other way," Xavier remarked in a crisp voice.
The members of the X-Men all looked at each other tensely, with all of them
having their own individual interpretations about whether or not that there was
no other way. It was Harry who had spoken up right now.
"No, there's no other way, but I do wonder if this is going to be the end,"
Harry said but it was Rachel who had spoken up.
"It won't be, not until Sinister is in the ground himself, and even then, it
might only be beginning."
Some members of the X-Men looked rather suspicious at her cryptic words, and
Harry had pieced together that Rachel was most certainly not from around here.
There were certain subtle clues that he picked up in her body language, clues
that most would miss if it had not been for Harry's powers.
Yet, it would be her story to tell when she felt the need to tell it so Harry
would keep his mouth shut. No doubt that when the time came, Rachel would
inform them but he was not one to judge. There were certain things that Harry
had still kept from mostly everyone, as people had a right to their secrets and
privacy.
That was Harry's story and he was sticking to it.
===============================================================================
 
Mystique folded her hands over the table when she peered out into the lab to
wait for Sinister to return. So far, she had thought that for such a great
master manipulator, he had turned into an abject disappointment. As of yet, she
had been unimpressed with his results as it seemed evident by now that the
broken bodies of the X-Men were not to be brought back, or her two children
were not going to return to her right yet.
"A failure?" Mystique asked when she saw Sinister enter the lab and walk over
towards her. The demented Darwinist stopped and paused before he looked hard at
Mystique, his eyes burned into her. "For someone who has failed, you seem to be
rather calm and collected by this situation."
"Patience, my dear Raven, I have not failed yet, even if I have not succeeded,"
Sinister said when he looked at Mystique. There was a long moment where
Sinister appeared to calculate something in his head. These long, awkward
silences bothered Mystique to a huge degree and annoyance crossed her face.
Then there was more science as Sinister walked over towards a set of computers.
With another movement, Sinister tapped into the system and appeared to check
something. What he was checking, Mystique had no clear idea about, this was not
part of the plan. Rather she tapped her fingers and drummed them off of the
table as she grew more and more annoyed. Information was something that she
needed and patience was something that was a virtue that Mystique did not
master.
"The Marauders have been destroyed," Sinister stated in the most calm voice
possible, if he was discussing the weather.
Mystique's eyes widened for a brief second as a frown curled over her face and
she turned to Sinister.
"And how is that not considered a failure?" Mystique asked, to be honest, that
baffled her and the expression that was on her face just showed how baffled
that she was. Sinister's expression never wavered from the malicious grin that
he had and Mystique shivered for a long time before he responded.
"It is elementary, they were weak, defective, therefore they were destroyed,"
Sinister said as if he was guiding a Kindergartener through the element of one
plus one equals two. "I have their DNA, I can learn from the mistakes and
rebuild them, replicate them, make them stronger. Those five might be gone but
there will be many more."
Sinister could clone the Marauders an infinite number of times, and in fact he
had in the past when he needed to. There was no such thing as death as it
regarded his experiments; in fact it was merely a speed bump as opposed to a
barrier. It would fine tune the process and each time he would get stronger
minions.
"I have acquired a visual scan of everything that my Marauders have seen when
they fought the X-Men, a detailed scan of their powers, their strengths, and
their weaknesses, a genetic map to their DNA," Sinister said when he turned to
Mystique who nodded. "With that, I can devise a way to defeat them."
Sinister turned around without another word to leave Mystique alone and walked
over to receive the transmission.
"And what if one of the X-Men find the chip and use it to track you back here?"
"Not a problem," Sinister responded as he turned around to briefly look at
Mystique. "The chip will not register an outgoing signal, it will short circuit
if anyone tries to tamper with it. I have planned for these things, give me a
minimal amount of credit."
Mystique had no idea whether or not she would give Sinister any credit at all,
but she had to trust him if she wanted to achieve her goals. So far, Sinister
was all talk and Mystique had seen very few results. What was he waiting for,
that was what Mystique wanted to know? It was much like Magneto all over again,
except that Sinister was far more sadistic that the Master of Magnetism was.
Sinister's eyes remained on the scans of each and every individual member of
the X-Men, when he had new genetic scans, he felt like a kid on Christmas
morning. It was potential new DNA that he could play around with, mold, and
study, to see what made it tick. Perhaps if the subjects were powerful enough,
he could capture them and do some experimentation on them for the instance.
He noticed that his Marauders were in the custody of SHIELD at this moment,
likely they were the ones who had picked up the bodies. Fury and his lackeys
could study it until the cows came home, there was no way they could figure out
what inherent secrets that DNA had contained.
Then Sinister noticed another intriguing quality about the DNA that belonged to
the mutant designated Arcane. A detail that made him wonder if this Arcane was
really a mutant or something else entirely. Something else that was far beyond
the comprehension of Sinister or anyone else but never the less, Sinister
remained transfixed with his eyes glued on the computer screen.
The DNA analysis was incomplete, with over three fourths of it reading as
inconclusive. No genetic mapping could read this DNA and Sinister had learned
more about genetics than any other human on Earth.
He was not human, he was not mutant, Sinister did wonder what he was, there was
nothing close to it. Sinister felt his curiosity heightened as he knew that he
would have to get closer and closer to determine what made this Arcane tick.
For the first time in years, Sinister's scientific curiosity bubbled and grew.
He was giddy as a schoolgirl.
Sinister would have to play this casually, as he made a plan, this was not
over, as the X-Men likely discovered. No this was far from over; in fact it
just had begun.
He continued to move around the area of his lab, with several other experiments
that were outgoing. One of pods contained a small purple dragon that Sinister
acquired, he felt the need to study its genetic makeup for where it was nothing
like he ever saw on Earth.
The second pod contained a man held in stasis with dark hair. This man fell out
of the sky, barely breathing, and seemed to have come from nowhere. Sinister
found out that this man had a DNA sequence that was quite similar to the
subject known as Arcane, although there were other differences.
Sinister thought that this was a serious project that he needed to undertake to
further understand what was on the line.
===============================================================================
 
"This situation is far worse than we thought."
Black Widow finished giving her report to Nick Fury who looked rather grim when
she had finished speaking. There were any number of worse case scenarios that
went through the mind of the SHIELD commander before he had sent out his agent
for the mission. Be that as it may, this scenario was far worse case than he
had ever imagined as he shook his head to clear the cobwebs. Things were about
to get rather tense.
Fury turned around to peer out into the city below when he remembered the
battles that he had weathered over the years, storms that many people would
shield themselves away from. Yet, Fury was someone who did not back down
easily, he was hardened beyond everything that he had ever battled. It was
getting near the time where he was going to have to step things up, the world
was getting to be a more dangerous place.
"Essex," Black Widow chimed in as she spoke to Fury, her eyes on him as she
understood that her boss was a bit agitated with everything that was going on.
"How much of a problem are we going to have to deal with?"
Fury contemplated the problem from every single angle and there were many
angles that he could comprehend it from. He took a moment to consider
everything before his one eye snapped to the face of Black Widow. She felt like
Fury was staring into her very soul and most would be uneasy with the look that
was in Fury's eye. However, Widow had been more to use with receiving that
particular look.
"As of right now, continue to keep an eye on the situation and hope that Essex
crawls out of his hole. We have his men in security, what's left of them
anyway, and we can study from them, learn from them all. Rest assure, SHIELD
will get to the bottom of this. And you are certain that you were not seen?"
Black Widow was prompt to respond in a crisp and confident voice. "No,
Commander Fury, I was not seen, even if I gave them a subtle hand. None of them
noticed it but the widow sting broke up Vertigo's control. This allowed Arcane
to jump in and take further control. None of them were the wiser."
Fury was confident of the Widow's abilities but he needed to make sure.
'As long as you were not seen," Fury answered when he looked at the Black
Widow. One agent had already been caught by this Arcane and had forced them to
step back in the situation. Black Widow just nodded more crisply than ever
before. "Today, we've taken a step forward, but there are many steps we're
going to take."
Black Widow nodded when she looked towards Fury and turned her back on him
without another word. She had an observation to continue as she left Fury
alone. She was intrigued with her observation of the X-Men but the group of
them were rather amateurish. Widow noted a misprint in the official SHIELD
records as well.
Her observation indicated that Arcane seemed to be the leader of the X-Men, as
opposed to this Cyclops. Perhaps the Black Widow did not see everything
properly, but Natasha prided herself on her observational skills, for they were
the make of a good spy, at least that's what her training panned out.
Widow walked off to continue the observation of the X-Men but Fury warned her
about Arcane and his ability to sense deception. A discreet distance would be
required but she was not going to even allow herself to be seen by Mr. Potter.
Perhaps it would be Natasha who would be doing the seeing and she planned to
make many notes when she carefully observed Harry Potter's every waking moment.
Fury contemplated the pickle that he was in when Essex had returned and knew
that if anyone would be interested in the gems, it would be this particular
man. The grizzled government agent read the files on Essex that had been
collected but doubted very much that they scratched the surface. The few hints
indicated that the man was twisted, sadistic, and obsessed. That was a
combination that rarely bared anything but problems.
Speaking of problems, the X-Men presented another problem as Fury knew that the
mysterious traveler had found her way under the care of the X-Men. Much like
Harry Potter all of those very months about, Xavier seemed to be inclined to
give people the benefit of the doubt. Fury disagreed with this philosophy,
having been burned up the ass more than one time in the past.
The X-Men could wait, Essex was a huge problem, and also the increased HYDRA
activity presented more problems from Fury than there were solutions. Fury
shook his head when he tapped into the system files to see if he can get any
more details about Sinister. Not to mention if he would be able to locate a
detail or two about the gems which had eluded him so far.
His mind traveled to an old friend of his from the days of the war, who
currently lied in stasis when the formula that made him the super soldier he
was damaged his body. There was one added element that was needed to stabilize
the formula in him and he might be able to wake up Captain America. The gems
could be that element.
Fury thought time ran short though, for there were people who demanded the plug
be pulled on Captain America for eating tax payer's money. People these days
didn't appreciate heroes like they had in the past.
Leading the charge was the current Secretary of Defense, Dell Rusk, who said
that Captain America's time was at an end and they should look forward to the
future, and not the past.
Fury worked tirelessly to try and find a cure, with some help from Tony Stark
and his resources. Stark and Fury butted heads over the years but they could
work together for a common cause. Stark constantly pointed out that he only did
this for Captain America, who was an old friend of Howard Stark, Tony's father.
===============================================================================
 
Rachel sat in the study of the Xavier Institute with her hands folded across
her lap with a tense expression on her face. Charles Xavier offered her a spot
to stay and while she did not know the man due to him dying before her time,
she did hear stories about him. He was a man who strongly believed in a dream,
a dream that he eventually died for at the hands of Bastion. The mutant race
had splintered after that night, and then the humans had taken steps to control
the mutant population.
Then there was a moment where those machines turned on humans due to the fact
that they perceived that mutants had evolved from humans. Therefore, humans
must be destroyed to prevent the mutant academic to spread, that was a logic
that was twisted, but in many ways unfortunately accurate. Living in a bad
future with there was no tomorrow allowed Rachel to develop a nice and cynical
attitude.
She barely saw Jean show up at that moment. This was the woman who was her
mother, at least who could be her mother, but there were just so many things
that could change due to her presence in the past. Rachel had escaped the
future but what she would build here would remain to be seen in the next few
days.
"Hey, Rachel," Jean said as Rachel's eyes snapped towards her mother's face,
she was so young, innocent, before everything that happened. Jean was a
reflection of a happier time and Rachel nearly was brought to tears when she
thought about some of the things that happened to her. "I understand it might
be tough for you here, but just get the Institute a chance."
'Tougher for me than you can ever imagine,' Rachel thought, she must have been
mental to go back in time, mental but now the genie was out of the bottle and
there was no going back, not at all.
Jean offered a smile that Rachel could not help but trust, but if she could not
trust her mother, than who could she trust? Of course, this Jean was not
technically her mother yet, but that was beside the point. This entire time
travel thing had made Rachel's head spin a fair bit and she had to hold back
her depression when she saw people that were dead in her timeline.
A timeline where she would refuse to allow happen, even if it erased her from
future. One life to save the millions and millions around the world, that was
more than a fair trade if she said so.
"I'll try," Rachel responded as her eyes met Jean's, but she sensed a few
thoughts coming off of them. Jean was still not refined with her telepathy
right now, something that worried Rachel a little bit as there were dark doors
in her mind that should never be opened. The Phoenix Force within could be
twisted if Jean did not learn how to embrace it properly, but Xavier had taken
steps to suppress it. "If there's something that you want to say Jean, say it,
please."
Jean decided to throw all caution to the wind and say something before she lost
her nerve.
"What's your problem with Scott?"
"Nothing's a problem, I don't know where you get that," Rachel said in an
evasive voice.
If Jean found anything dubious about that, she did not say anything, but the
truth was that Rachel had a whole lot against Scott Summers. She supposed that
Scott's attitude in the future was a consequence to being groomed to be the
golden boy and being treated like the sun shined out of his ass by Xavier.
There was the entire situation with Emma Frost where she convinced Scott that
she changed and had seduced him away from Jean. She also seduced the secrets of
the X-Men to the Hellfire Club and allowed them to deal a crushing blow. Emma
did have some decency in her to stop Shaw from killing the X-Men but the fact
was that Rachel never looked at Scott in the same light again when she found
out this happened.
There were many other incidents like that, and Rachel was not going to even get
into the entire Madelyn Pryor mess. That brought her back to Sinister and how
he had manipulated the situation to create his ultimate mutant weapon, her
half-brother, for lack of a better term. Rachel knew that he had went even
further in the future, although she shuddered to think what the world was
about.
Rachel was fully aware that Jean was staring at her for a long time. Jean
realized that Rachel realized that she was staring before she hastily cleared
her throat.
"We do look alike you know," Jean said in what she hoped was a nonchalant
voice. "Are we related?"
"Well if you go back far enough, everyone in the world is related," Rachel said
when she looked at Jean.
"Not everyone," Jean replied when she looked at Rachel. "Harry isn't, he's
from…an alternate timeline."
That did explain why Rachel had not heard of Harry Potter or Arcane, at least
in part. Perhaps he had found a way home, had been forced back home by forces
from his own dimension against his will, or he had been erased from history
between now and her future. There was any number of possibilities that Rachel
considered. Or perhaps the fact that she went back caused a tear in space-time
for Arcane to arrive here.
She supposed the best thing was to just take the plunge and talk to Harry, to
figure out where his head was. The fact the archives lacked any information
regarding him made him all that more of an intriguing study.
===============================================================================
 
Kitty, Rogue, and Harry lounged in a living room after the events of today and
they took a moment to mull over everything that happened in their mind. Kitty
decided to sum up everything with a few words.
"What a day."
That was something that all three of them could agree about as Rogue's face
contorted into a smile when she rested her head against Harry's shoulder.
"It wasn't that bad for you, I felt like my eardrums were going to burst when I
got that woman's powers," Rogue replied with a sigh as she looked at Kitty.
"Yeah, true, but I nearly got a super charged harpoon through into my gut,"
Kitty answered with a sigh.
"You can go intangible though," Rogue argued with a smile directed towards
Kitty but Kitty just shook her head.
"Yeah, that's really great, unless they get you from behind before I can see
them and go intangible," Kitty commented in a light voice as she shook her head
and ran her hands through her hair. She felt Harry's arm tighten around her.
"Intangibility does not mean that I have eyes in the back of your head."
"You did great," Harry responded when he cupped Kitty's face in his hands
before he leaned forward and gave her a slight kiss. Kitty returned the kiss
with the two of them getting into it. Harry paused and grabbed Rogue before he
did the same to her. Rogue melted into Harry's arms from the kiss. "Love you
both."
The two girls smiled as Harry sat there but Rachel stood in the doorway with a
curious expression on her face, she had seen that show. She just shook her head
with a shadow of smile, but there was a curious thought that had gone through
her head. There was a moment where all parties looked at each other before it
was Harry who had spoken up.
"What can I do for you Rachel?" Harry asked her and Rachel took a moment to
look at Kitty and Rogue. Harry got the implied meaning of the expression in her
eyes, so he turned to Kitty and Rogue. "I think she wants to talk to me alone,
so do you two ladies mind…"
"Not at all," Kitty said but Rogue was a bit suspicious at Rachel with her eyes
on her.
"We'll be outside this door if you need anything," Rogue offered when the pair
of them had left.
This left Rachel and Harry alone to stare at each other. The two of them shared
a moment where the silence was awkward, both interested in finding out more
about the other, but neither wanting to say the first word. Harry knew that
things could get really awkward, really quick so he was able to break the
silence.
"Rachel, how good is your telepathy?" Harry asked suddenly out of the blue and
Rachel just looked at him, rather confused. "I mean, how long have you been
doing it?"
Rachel responded with a curious raised eyebrow. "Six years, seven years since I
came into my mutant powers."
"So you've known that you were a mutant and practiced your telepathy longer
than Jean has," Harry offered which Rachel confirmed with a nod. "There was
something in my mind, I'm sorting a lot of it out, but there are parts of it
that I can't figure out."
This little statement confused Rachel so she leaned forward to face Harry and
hoped that she would get some clarification. Harry sensed the confusion and
decided to elaborate further on the problem that he had been having.
"There might be foreign memories in my mind, in fact there are, based on
something that happened when I was a child."
"You mean, you're experiencing some kind of past life?" Rachel asked in
clarification.
"Something along those lines, yes," Harry offered with a shrug and smile.
Rachel and Harry stared at each over for a moment before the dark haired wizard
mutant hybrid cut in with a request. He decided to spit this one out, feeling
that someone who could help him, that he might be able to trust to be discreet
given that she needed him to be discreet about what he figured out, had fallen
into his lab.
"So how about it, could you help me sort out those memories?"
"You don't want Xavier to know about them, do you?" Rachel asked Harry and
Harry responded with a nod. She peered into his mind, he seemed to have some
form of telepathy, although it was far different than anything she had ever
experienced. Another telepath forcefully rammed into it and caused damage to
his natural defenses with a psychic equivalent of a heavy battering ram.
Perhaps she could help Harry achieve his full potential and gain a valuable
ally, someone that she could trust. Providing Harry would believe her, but by
helping him with this, Rachel would cement how trustworthy she is.
"Alright, I'll help you," Rachel responded with a nod.
"Let's start tomorrow," Harry answered with Rachel giving a nod and a smile.
"It's a date," Rachel fired back before she realized what she was said but kept
her face neutral to hide any other hints to what she was thinking.
To Be Continued in the Next Chapter "Phoenix Burning."
***** Phoenix Burning *****
 
Reason that this one is coming out a bit early today is that there's a chapter
of the Ascension coming out later today and if I put that one out first after
reading it over, I know I won't get this one out on time. So I did this one
first. :)
 
Chapter Twenty Seven: "Phoenix Burning."
 
Rachel started her first day at Bayville High School after the papers were in
order. How Xavier worked his magic, she didn't know and to be honest, Rachel
was not going to ask too many questions about the situation. The red haired
girl mused high school was a new experience for her, given that she spent most
of her time previously running for her life. She home schooled herself, but
that was the extent of her education.
 
The red haired girl walked beside Harry to the first period class they were
going to. She got to know Harry a bit over the past week or so, and to be
honest, she found Harry to be an enigma. Not that was a bad thing mind you, but
it was an element that Rachel found herself curiously endeared with. The red
head telepath started to help Harry piece together his fragmented psyche, which
she found curious. He had the memories of someone from the other world,
although who that person was, Rachel had no idea.
 
She was sure Harry would open more to her when time progressed. Still there was
few things that were more intimate than allowing someone to delve into your
mind and fix your memories. Rachel tried to keep a low profile, another thing
that she was new to. The world she came for had a "shoot first and ask
questions to the dead corpse" policy. This particular policy caused some level
of confusion and frustration for her but that was how the world was.
 
The name "Rachel Nathan" was the alias she went for, using the name Nathan as
an homage to her younger half brother, who was somehow still older than her.
The entire Summers family tree gave her a headache sometimes but that was the
set of cards life dealt Rachel. She knew that Rachel Grey rang too many alarm
bells from the wrong sort of people.
 
"Don't worry about classes, they're not too bad," Harry whispered to Rachel in
an undertone but Rachel just looked back at him with a smirk developing over
her features.
 
"So says the person who's fought trolls, dragons, soul sucking monsters, and
whatever else that's been thrown his way."
 
Harry gave a sheepish smile, she saw those memories but it had to be done.
Rachel promised Harry that she would not tell a soul anything she saw. There
were damaged barriers in Harry's mind that Rachel tried her hardest to repair.
The red haired mutant saw some people with minds in disarray, and whilst
Harry's was not that bad, Harry's mind sure was different.
 
"What's this about fighting dragons?" Amara asked when she joined Harry and
Rachel outside of class, lingering as high school students were to do, to test
the tardy bell to its fullest extent.
 
"Never mind, Amara, just a dream that I had one time," Harry answered with a
smile that Amara returned. "Are you settling in alright?"
 
"I thought the cultural differences would be a shock, but I'm adjusting
alright," Amara answered in an honest voice, a part of her pleased that Harry
took such an interest in her well being. Well he took interest in the well
being of all the new recruits, but Amara liked to think that he took a special
interest in her. At least that's what she liked to hang onto as she found
herself lost in his dazzling green eyes and messy black hair. She shook her
head remembering that as royalty she should conduct herself with a bit more
dignity. "Dealing with royalty has prepared me for anything."
 
Harry was glad that she settled in nicely to her new life at Bayville High
School, it was a shock enough to find out that you had mutant gifts or any kind
of gifts for that matter. The even bigger shock came when a person entered an
entirely new civilization that was far different from their home. Harry had no
idea of the inner workings of Nova-Roma, but from what Amara told him, it
sounded quite interesting.
 
Amara pondered the enigma that was Harry Potter. He had two girlfriends without
any problems and she observed he was a strong leader that inspired respect
rather than commanding it. Those two traits stood out to her. The two
girlfriends thing was not a problem to someone who came from a culture where
royals had multiple spouses and Amara suspected that Harry came from a far
different culture than was considered to be standard in the Western World.
 
"Hi, Harry," a dark haired girl with a dark complexion said when she walked out
to greet him outside of class.
 
"Hey, Amanda, how are you doing today?" Harry asked to one of his classmates.
 
"Fine," Amanda replied with a smile towards Harry before she took a moment to
look at him before she spit out the question she had. "So, I was wondering, you
go to that private school where Kurt Wagner does, right?"
 
"Yeah," Harry answered as he considered the other girl carefully, with Rachel
having a knowing look in her eyes that she tried to hide.
 
"So...does he ever mention me?" Amanda asked to Harry, a question that took
Harry completely off guard. "Not that I'm really interested or anything...but
you know we only share one period together, but..."
 
"Amanda, if you want to see if Kurt's interested, just talk to him, alright,"
Harry replied to her before the situation can get awkward. "He's a rather
approachable guy and he won't make fun of you if you stumble over his words."
 
"Right, you'd know him, the real him, I mean you live with him," Amanda
responded before she looked back at Harry. "Um, thanks, I guess."
 
"No problem," Harry answered before he turned to Amara and Rachel who both
looked at him curiously. "I think that we should get to class."
 
"Of course, Professor," Amara answered to Harry with a smile before she turned
around.
 
Harry was going to strangle Bobby Drake for getting that Professor thing
started, but that was beside the point. It was time for them to focus and head
on into class. They entered the classroom where they saw their science teacher.
A kindly, but burly, man named Henry McCoy, who was soft spoken, yet athletic
at the same time. He sat down and took roll to make sure everyone is present
and accounted for.
 
"Perfect attendance with no tardys, well done," McCoy said when he looked at
the class who nodded. "Today is going to be a special day, as I'm going to
teach you the one lesson that I'm sure many of you will retain. Although, I do
hope that none of you use this information to cause havoc in my classroom."
 
McCoy stopped for a moment to build up dramatic tension before he spoke softly
but at the same time he captivated the attention of his students.
 
"I'm going to teach you the scientific process of how to make a stink bomb."
 
===============================================================================
 
 
 
"I'm telling you right now, there's no way they could pin this back to me. I've
had an alibi and everything. And you got to admit, the look on that guy's face
was priceless."
 
Tabby laughed when she retold the story of her morning misadventure when sat
sat at the table with lunch with Kitty, Rogue, Amara, Bobby, Kurt, Rachel, and
Harry. She just told a story about how she managed to sneak one of her
explosive cherry bombs underneath the seat of one Duncan Matthews.
 
"Be careful, using your powers in such a matter could get you caught," Harry
answered when his eyes gazed off to the side, almost as if he was afraid that
someone would pop up. Tabby turned to Harry with a smile.
 
"Oh lighten up, I wasn't going to get caught," Tabby responded when she looked
at Harry with a smile.
 
"Stealth is everything," Harry commented lightly. "It's..."
 
"The difference between living and dying, and getting a drop on a deadly
enemy," Bobby interrupted when he recited what Harry told him in the Danger
Room training sessions, along with the rest of the New Mutants.
 
Harry grinned, he was glad that his words sunk in with the new recruits, but
then again, he would hope that they would. Otherwise, he would be wasting his
breath if he spoke them all. The young wizard mutant leaned back in the chair
to eat the sandwich he prepared. After the horror stories he heard about school
lunches, he always prepared his own lunch. Plus, Harry got to the point where
he did not trust anyone to prepare his own food but him.
 
Moody would approve.
 
"At least you're making an impression on them," Kitty answered with a smile
when she leaned forward to grab Harry's hand underneath the table. Rogue did
likewise and Rachel peered at them from the other side of the table, glad she
was able to shut down the incoming thought process. Otherwise, their thoughts
might give her a headache with all of the incoming emotions.
 
"I'm glad to make the good kind of impression, the best kind of impression,"
Harry answered with a smile crossing over his face, which Rogue and Kitty
returned.
 
"Oh, I believe that you're really able to make the best kind of impression,
Harry," Rogue remarked to him with a knowing smile and wink.
 
Amara had to agree when Bobby and Kurt exchanged an apprehensive expression at
the antics of Harry. She noted that Harry got his share of strange looks given
his relationship with both of his girlfriends. That fact was curiosity in some
aspects, jealously in the most cases, but when three people or more had a
consenting relationship, there should be no need to complain about it.
 
People should take that as a chance to step up their game, instead of worrying
about what Harry did.
 
"Big assembly today," Kurt piped in to change the subject abruptly and the X-
Men team members nodded towards him. "Jean's getting her big award."
 
"I think she mentioned it once or twice," Rogue remarked before she added as an
afterthought. "Once or twice a day maybe."
 
"Hey, Jean's proud of that and she has a right to be, she's had a good season,"
Kitty offered with a smile over her face.
 
Rachel enjoyed the opportunity to see her mother when she was younger, in a
more innocent time, but the red haired girl wondered how long that would last.
Tragedy followed the life of Jean Grey, almost to the where it was a sadistic
curse. Not to mention Scott did not help matters. Rachel felt relief that Scott
did not seem to be all that bad when he was a teenager, at least when compared
to what he was as an adult.
 
She knew the strain that happened between Harry and Scott, about the
leadership, and how Harry defaulted to being a leader without really going out
of his way to take up the mantle. A Scott Summers who made a series of bad
decisions based on people being afraid to speak up against him because Xavier
groomed him flickered through Rachel's mind's eye.
 
A true leader needed to understand that there were times where they were going
to be wrong, but over the next twenty years something happened to Scott.
Perhaps it was the fact that he went uncontested by most of the X-Men, with a
couple of exceptions, but regardless Scott twisted a little bit into the type
of leader that thought they should have authority.
 
The bell rang to warn them that lunch would be over in five minutes and the
group walked off, the assembly would be after lunch in the gym. Harry walked
across first with the rest of the group tailing behind him, when a girl dressed
in a black shirt and ripped jeans showed up to face him.
 
"Excuse me, but could you help me?" the red haired girl asked in a broken
English with a slight German accent on her words.
 
"Yes, what do you need?" Harry asked when he looked at the girl, when the
curtain of red hair swung down her face.
 
"My name is Sinthea Shimdt, and I'm a new student here, and I've found my first
few classes to be difficult to get to," the girl stated in broken English when
she looked at Harry firmly. "I was wondering if you could show me the way to,
how do you say, your gymnasium, where they are having an assembly?"
 
"It's right down that corridor, to the right, here let me show you," Harry
answered, his helpful nature getting the better of him.
 
Plus Harry also found himself a bit suspect at this young woman and her
intentions, it just seemed rather odd to him that some random woman asked him
for help. Something about that made Harry go on high alert.
 
"I thought Harry was going to wait for us," Kurt answered when Rogue stared
forward with her eyes widened.
 
"Apparently, he's helping the new girl," Rogue responded when she looked the
retreating form of her with a frown. "Her name's Shimdt, I had her second
period, she's a bit stuck up if you asked me."
 
"Not a bad number, I'd definitely hit it," Bobby remarked when he looked at
her.
 
"Forget it, she's the type that's bad news, trust me I've seen them," Tabby
chimed in when she watched her.
 
"Bad news is putting it mildly," Rachel muttered to herself, she heard the name
Shmidt before, but she couldn't place it. All she knew was it was something
bad.
 
Kitty agreed that there was bad news when she could have sworn she saw the
members of the Brotherhood approach Sinthea Shmidt, but she gave them a glare
before they fell back in line.
 
"I think she's with the Brotherhood," Kitty remarked, having picked a few
observation skills with Harry, even if she did not have Harry's abilities to
read body language.
 
"That's bad news," Kurt chimed in when he took a moment but the group got lost
in the crowd that all filed to the gym.
 
===============================================================================
 
 
 
"The whole lot of you are imbeciles," Sinthea hissed to the Brotherhood when
she glared at them behind the bleachers of the gym. "This is why you haven't
defeated the X-Men, because you wouldn't known subtle if it slapped you in the
face. And don't even get me started on how sloppy your last pitiful attempt
was."
 
"What were you doing with Potter?" Lance asked with his eyes narrowed in
suspicion.
 
"I'm trying to gain the confidence of their leader so I can gain information,
something that you wouldn't know about," Sinthea responded when she glared at
the Brotherhood, but to Lance's credit he stood his ground, even if the other
three members of the Brotherhood trembled.
 
Pietro found his voice soon enough to stare back at the young German girl,
shaking his head before he cleared his thoughts.
 
"Um, hate to break this to you, babe, but Old Boy Scout Summers is the X-Geek's
leader."
 
Sinthea ignored Pietro calling her by that term but a smile crossed over her
face. She resembled at cat who had cornered her prey. The Brotherhood trembled
in apprehension of what she could do to them and given the brutal beatings she
gave them in training, she could do a lot. It made them almost long for the
comfort and joy that Mystique offered them.
 
"I know who a leader is and I know who a stooge is," Sinthea replied to them
after a long pause when she glared at the Brotherhood through a pair of
narrowed eyes and she flipped her red hair away from her face. "Potter is their
leader and if I am to gain his confidence, I can't have you lot bumbling
around."
 
"Um, hate to say this, but Potter's got some body reading thing that allows him
to kick our butts every time," Todd remarked when his eyes shifted but Sinthea
threw her hands into the air without another word. "Was it something I said?"
 
"Maybe it's your breath?" Fred asked with a chuckle as Sinthea walked away
cursing in German underneath her breath.
 
"I don't know what she said, but I'm sure it was hot," Pietro responded when
she watched the German girl leave.
 
"Dude, I'm pretty sure that she said that you were a tool, or that she needed a
tool, or maybe she wanted to fix you like the dog you are," Todd stated, these
words caused the Brotherhood to look at him strangely. "What, I take German as
my foreign language elective...I'm getting a D...hey that's passing."
 
"Of course, good for you," Lance responded when he mockingly patted Todd on the
head.
 
Jean walked up to the podium in the gym, to ignore the headache that she had
all day long. Her temples throbbed but she shook it off. It was nothing, likely
just nerves of giving such a big speech among a group of people. That was
perfectly natural, at least that's what Jean thought when she cleared her
throat and turned to face the assembled student council.
 
She heard their thoughts, hundreds of them, thoughts that beat into her head
like a sadistic drum. Jean tried to shake off the thoughts but there were many
of them, they rattled the inside of her head, beating down upon it like a drum.
There was a tap, tap, tap, that drummed over Jean's head but once again the red
head shrugged it off, rubbing her temples and sighing. She adopted a happy and
cheerful smile before Jean Grey proceeded to give her speech.
 
"Thank you all for this support, but I couldn't do anything that I did alone,"
Jean said in a boisterous tone of voice, to block out the thumping and all of
the thoughts. On top of the ringing in her ears, Jean saw half of the student
body picture her naked when she was on the stage and it was not just the males
either. "I needed...my team...well they helped me a lot."
 
This statement had a double meaning, as Jean referred to her team on the soccer
field and also her team in the X-Men, even if that was a mystery. The X-Men in
question clapped the loudest at all and they all cheered.
 
'Maybe if we clap long, they'll delay final period and we'll go home early.'
 
'Man she's hot, I'd like to go up there and bend her over.'
 
'I wonder if this dress makes my butt look big.'
 
'Did I leave the iron on?'
 
Jean drew breath as she focused all of her control to her thoughts and the
thoughts she heard echoed lightly, lighter yet.
 
"You cannot hope to contain me for much longer, Jean Grey."
 
Jean nearly smashed knee first into the podium but there was silence, dead
silence after that unexpected statement in her head.
 
"Thank you, really thank you, your support means everything to me, and it just
goes to show you that if you work hard, your dreams will come true," Jean
answered before she stepped off the podium.
 
With that motion, Jean nearly lost her balance and fell on the gym floor,
dizziness overwhelming her. The faculty members, including Mr. McCoy, stepped
in but Jean just waved it off. Suddenly the thoughts of everyone in the school
bombarded Jean and made her dizzy. This was worse than when that Vertigo woman
bombarded her with those powers.
 
"Um, thanks, I need the restroom," Jean answered when she rushed off, feeling
ill.
 
"You cannot deny what is in your head, Jean Grey!"
 
'Just who are you?'Jean thought to herself.
 
"I am you, what you choose not to be!'the voice that sounded much like Jean
echoed in the back of her head. Jean rushed forward into the restroom and
splashed cold water onto her face.
 
"I didn't expect you to remember me, you pretended that I wasn't there, but you
tend to forget those closest to you. I protected you when you were seven and
Xavier found about about us, and he sealed me away. But now you cannot deny the
truth!"
 
Jean remembered the Shadow King and feared that this was another episode like
that. She needed to get the Xavier Institute before this force took over her
body.
 
"You cannot deny what is in your heart, Jean, you cannot deny me!"the force
bellowed out loud. "You cannot deny the Phoenix!"
 
Harry and Rachel were the first ones out of the assembly ahead of the rest of
the team, with Kitty, Kurt, and Rogue behind, and Scott bringing up the rear.
 
"What happened there?" Scott asked them but it was Rachel who responded.
 
"She's losing control of it," Rachel stated when she bit her lip in a fretful
manner.
 
"What is it?" Kitty asked who sensed the look of dismay in Rachel's eyes and a
flash of something.
 
"The Phoenix," Rachel managed, she never expected everything to unravel this
soon. "We got to hurry, Xavier won't be able to help her, it wants to destroy
him and everyone else. Only Harry and I will be able to save her now."
 
"I can help," Scott said trying to step up.
 
"The Phoenix won't recognize you as anything but a threat," Rachel told Scott,
her voice softening towards him for the first time. "You're Xavier's chosen
leader and thus the Phoenix will destroy you first, if you get in it's way."
 
"What is the Phoenix?" Rogue wondered piping up for the first time as she
clutched her hands.
 
"A force as old as the universe itself, and Jean is the latest person to be
gifted from it's powers," Rachel explained when she kept calm. Jean already
blew past them and she did not realize the danger that she put Xavier in by
going back to the Mansion. "It has great cosmic power, it's a force of nature,
and most who have been gifted with it have died."
 
"And this thing is in Jean!" Scott exclaimed when he stepped up.
 
"No, that thing is Jean, fueled with her repressed emotions and without
inhibitions," Rachel said when she breathed heavily, sweat came down her face,
she did not expect her cover blown in such a way this soon into her trip.
 
Perhaps she could wipe their minds when this is over but that was not something
she wanted to get into the habit of doing.
 
===============================================================================
 
 
 
Jean screamed out loud in pain when she blew into the Xavier Institute where
Xavier, Ororo, and Logan greeted her. The red haired woman tugged at her hair
in frantic fury when she staggered forward and the walls and windows rattled.
 
"Jean, calm yourself child, we cannot help you if you let this get away with
you," Ororo offered in a pacifying voice but Jean's eyes turned, fixed on
Xavier's burning with fury.
 
'Jean, you need to concentrate, defeat this force within you,'Xavier thought to
Jean but he felt a burning heat rise up from Jean's mind.
 
"You're the force that needs to be destroyed Xavier!"the Phoenix bellowed with
a force that sent Xavier and his wheelchair flying back. Jean backed off,
apologetic expression on her face but the Phoenix was firmly in control. "You
fear me, for I am something that you cannot control, so you put blocks on her
mind, well these blocks whittled away over time and I broke out when the time
was right. You try and temper a goddess and dumb her down for a mortal mutant
girl."
 
Jean rushed into her bedroom and bolted the door shut behind her. The Phoenix
kicked up a storm and she flung herself on the bed.
 
'Leave me alone, make it stop, please for the love of God, make it stop,'Jean
thought in a panic, freaking out when she hyperventilated and caused cars to
levitate above the ground, with every single window in the neighborhood
shattering.
 
The Phoenix kicked up a physic storm around Jean's room, flinging furniture
like a tornado and creating a cyclone around her. Jean buried her face in a
pillow and hoped that this would be some bad dream that she would be about to
wake up from. She grabbed two hands full of her hair.
 
"What I don't not get the most is why you hold a torch for that thing that is
beneath you,'the Phoenix commented over the link to her.
 
'What thing?'Jean thought practically whimpering in her mind.
 
"Scott Summers,'Phoenix thought back to Jean.
 
'Scott and I are just friends, nothing more, but I'm not sure about that, he's
barely talked to me after the incident with the Asteroid,'Jean fired back to
Phoenix when her eyes screwed shut.
 
"We know Duncan is a mere diversion but let's face it, Scott isn't much
better,'the Phoenix fired back at Jean. "He's merely a little man, Xavier's
puppet dangling on the strings. I would think that a Honor Student, someone who
is bright and strong, would have more ambition than to go for the follower, the
lacker."
 
Jean placed her hands on her temple and gave an anguished scream but Phoenix
was not done lecturing her.
 
"He is far better for you, he is a far more worthy mate, he has power,"Phoenix
responded in Jean's head as it continued to thump in her.
 
'Who are you talking about?'Jean managed through the hazed fog that was her
mental arena.
 
"You know who I'm talking about, and do not deny that you haven't thought about
it either,"the Phoenix thought back to Jean. "Scott is an extension of Xavier's
will, while he is his own leader, and has been touched by the Phoenix in his
own way much like you."
 
Jean looked like she was having a seizure as she tried to mentally argue that
Scott had his own ambitions and wondered why the Phoenix had such thoughts on
Professor Xavier. She seemed bitter that Xavier locked her away, but surely
Xavier had his reasons.
 
"Xavier had his reason, but everyone does before they commit acts of violence
against someone,"Phoenix thought back to Jean savagely. "But you're diverting
from the subject, the most powerful woman should be on the arm of the most
powerful man, not some stooge. It is the law of universal nature."
 
Jean trembled but she wondered about what the Phoenix was saying. Before she
could think too much about this, a distraction manifested itself.
 
The doors broke open when Rachel, Harry, and Scott entered the room, Harry
blocking the broken pieces of wood and other debris that spun around the room
with a well placed shield charm. Jean recognized Scott and that moment of
recognition allowed Rachel and Harry to slip past her defenses.
 
Jean shook her head when she stood on the Astral Plan, face to face with a
second red haired girl that was identical to her. Her hair whipped back in
flame, she looked much older, and a flare of power swam in her eyes that Jean
felt humbled by.
 
"I'm surprised you're able to look me in the eye, Jean," Phoenix responded to
Jean but Jean's eyes blinked.
 
"You are me," Jean breathed when she stared back at the Phoenix, feeling a
tightening in her stomach region.
 
"Yes, I am the manifestation of all of your hidden thoughts, desires, all of
them forbidden, all of the things you wish to do but are too soft to pull the
trigger on," Phoenix responded when Rachel and Harry stood before them. The
Phoenix's eyes stared upon him.
 
"Jean's...she's not ready for this, it's tearing her apart," Rachel pleaded to
the Phoenix when she looked back from Jean to the Phoenix and back to Harry.
 
"I could never hurt her," Phoenix remarked in a crisp voice but Harry stood
forward. The Phoenix gazed in Harry's eyes when he stared back at her and the
two of them exchanged a long, hard expression.
 
"You are hurting her, you need to let her go, let her return," Harry said to
the Phoenix before he added. "When Jean is ready to embrace this side of her,
when the time is right, she will...but now's not the time."
 
The Phoenix closed her eyes before a flash of fire appeared in the Astral
Plane.
 
"Very well," Phoenix stated before she paused. "But there will come a day where
I must take control, regardless of whether or not Jean Grey wants or desires."
 
A flash of fire continued to circle around them before Rachel and Harry
blinked, they returned back to the room where they stood in and Jean collapsed
on the bed, breathing heavily, sweat rolling down her face. She saw that this
was not some kind of weird dream, her room was trashed.
 
For some reason, Jean felt she had better control over her powers and Scott
moved over to greet her, but Jean slid away from him, turning her back on him.
 
"I need a moment alone," Jean remarked when she looked up at Scott. "I've got
some things that I need to think about."
 
Scott grimaced but he understood and he also wondered what happened in Jean's
mind when Rachel and Harry went slack. A barrier popped up to block Scott's
progress to helping Jean but she looked okay. At least she looked okay from the
physical sense, mentally and emotionally was another kettle of fish entirely.
 
Jean sat on the bed, she could feel the Phoenix within her, and feel the power
that it offered. It relinquished full control of her body back to Jean for now,
but what if it came back? That was a question Jean mulled over in her mind and
the answers did not please her at all.
 
===============================================================================
 
 
 
"So, I need to get away to clear my head for a little bit, after what
happened."
 
"Jean, there's no need to..."
 
"Yes, there is a need, Scott!" Jean snapped before she looked away and hid the
expression of despair in her eyes. "I could have hurt any one of you with my
powers after what happened today, and do you think that I want to live with
that?"
 
"This isn't about what happened on Asteroid M, is it?" Scott asked, when he
decided to bring up that elephant in the room that dogged them for the last
month or so.
 
This was the absolute wrong thing to say to Jean for when no sooner did those
words leave Scott's mouth Jean rounded upon him, her eyes flaring in fury. The
temperamental redhead teenager could not believe that Scott could make this
about his shortcomings. She closed her eyes, mentally counting to thirty,
before she peered at Scott.
 
"No Scott, contrary to popular belief, everything that happens on this team
doesn't revolve around you," Jean answered before Scott could really say
anything more. She stepped when she held an overnight bag in her hand. "Get
your act together, and I'll get mine together."
 
"Something happened with you and Harry in your mind," Scott responded but then
he stopped when he realized how accusatory that seemed, especially with the way
he framed that. "I mean...I didn't mean to imply..."
 
Jean's green eyes snapped on Scott's face when she tried to figure out how to
best answer that question in a manner that did not make her seem like a raving
lunatic. The red haired young woman pressed her fingers to the side of her
temple long and hard, her gaze focused on Scott. Scott stood to face Jean
before she answered his inquiry.
 
"Harry...well Harry convinced the Phoenix to let go of me, for it was hurting
me. That's not what she wanted."
 
Jean decided that it would be best not to tell Scott what the Phoenix wanted or
rather who she wanted. Until the moment Jean could sort out her own mind and
thoughts, it was best if she stayed away from the X-Men. It would just lead to
fewer broken hearts and damaged spirits, plus it would mess up the entire team
dynamic. Jean did not want to be responsible for that.
 
Although in the back of her mind, she feared some kind of break within the
team, with Scott and Harry eventually. Jean was bright, she saw Harry doing
what he could to amass money and resources even if he did hide it from Xavier
and Scott to the best of his knowlege. The time would come when Harry decided
that the Institute taught him all he needed to know and he would elect to
leave. Jean saw it coming and wondered how many people would follow Scott,
especially given Harry seemed to be forging connections through the new
recruits when she taught them.
 
Then a nagging voice in Jean's head made her wonder who she would follow. Jean
could not answer that question one way or another without any kind of clear
conviction.
 
"I'm leaving Scott, I'll be in touch, and ...it's not forever," Jean answered
before she spun around and walked from the Mansion.
 
The moment she left, she saw Harry and Rachel standing outside to face her.
 
"You don't have to do this," Rachel offered when she looked at Jean. The two
exchanged an intense expression. "I can help you, control the Phoenix, it
doesn't have to overwhelm you."
 
"How do you know so much about everything, anyway?" Jean asked when her eyes
narrowed suspiciously.
 
Rachel offered a wry smile before her gaze matched Jean's. "You wouldn't
believe me even if I told you."
 
The truth was that because of how damaged Jean's psyche was, the truth would be
the last thing that she needed to hear at this point.
 
"Jean, are you sure that you want to do this?" Harry asked and in response when
she looked back at Harry.
 
"I don't know, but I don't have much of a choice," Jean responded when she
mulled over every single angle of this problem in her mind. She offered Harry a
tense smile. "I could come back tomorrow and realize that it's a big mistake to
leave."
 
Harry nodded but knew that this was Jean's choice to make and Jean's alone.
Jean stood in the breeze outside as the sun went down. Her hair framed her face
and she looked at Harry for a brief moment, almost like she considered
something. They were practically face to face at this moment in time. Whether
it was to say something or do something, Harry never knew, for Jean disappeared
in a flash of fire.
 
"She'll be back," Rachel responded to Harry when she gripped his arm to gain
his attention.
 
Jean Grey was the heart and the soul of the X-Men and with her gone, there was
no telling what would happen next. Rachel braced herself when she realized that
her future knowledge might not do her any good as this was not recorded in the
archives. Everything changed and Rachel braced herself for the moment where she
could disappear into nothingness.
 
To Be Continued in "The Malice of Doc Ock Part One."
 
***** Malice of Doc Ock Part One *****
Chapter Twenty Eight: The Malice of Doc Ock Part One.
"Gentlemen, today is the day, this is what I've all called you here for."
A group of men gathered around each other with smiles on their face, all of
them with sadistic and often times murderous intentions in their minds. The
fact of the matter was that these six men were among the worst in the world at
what they did and what they did was not very nice. Five of them were hardened
criminals, who had gone around the block a few times with a certain wall
crawling menace, but another had been a relative newcomer, ready to gain his
revenge against the entire world for what they did to him.
The first of the group of men was a man dressed in a black bodysuit with
goggles, his ears completely burned off, but he could still hear thanks to the
energy people generated. He was an ordinary electrician named Maxwell Dillon,
someone who was belittled and knocked around, but he shifted into something
more sadistic, he turned into Electro. Electro went up against Spider-Man a few
times, and had failed. Now he took the offer to join up with this Sinister Six
to take down the web slinger.
The second in the group was a large man in a rhino costume. He had originally
been a petty thug named Alex O'Hirn but an experiment turned him into much
more. He was turned into the rampaging, the sadistic Rhino, who rolled over
everything that was in his path. The real question regarding him was exactly
how did he go to the bathroom in that costume? That was a mystery to be solved
for another time.
The third in the group was the Sandman, reconstructed and ready to settle a
score with not only Spider-Man but that brat with the zappy hands that tried to
kill him. Flint Marko sought revenge against a world that hated and feared him,
and did not care about taking it over. He did have in the back of his mind
about that one final big score.
The fourth individual was dressed in a loud costume of green with a purple
cape, with a fishbowl over his head. This man's name was Quintin Beck, but he
was better known as the magnificent, the masterful, Mysterio!" To him, crime
was a high art and Spider-Man's demise would be one worthy of cinematic
brilliance. He would personally direct the web slinger's demise eventually.
Beck held a grudge towards Spider-Man, for epitomizing the utter filth that
were super heroes. To Beck, super heroes were the lowest of the low and their
movies were pure filth.
The fifth member of the Sinister Six was a former private investigator by the
name of Mac Gargon. J. Jonah Jameson and a scientist by the name of Farley
Stillwell arranged for him to be turned into the Scorpion to take down Spider-
Man once and for all. Naturally, when the heat got too hot, they tried to shove
him under the bus. The Scorpion was put in prison to cool his heels, until the
moment where Doctor Octopus broke him out.
And that brought us to the sixth and final member of the Sinister Six, Doctor
Octopus, a man who stood before them with sadistic intentions in his eyes. Ock
planned this gambit for several weeks and knew that Spider-Man would not
survive the experience. Sadistic fury danced in the eyes of Doctor Octopus and
the rest of the Sinister Six were equally ready to destroy their greatest
enemy.
"And today is the day where you all will get your just desserts, get what is
owed to you, when you take Spider-Man down," Doctor Octopus continued his
speech when he looked at them all. His eyes glinted with sadism and he
continued to speak a bit more, addressing the team with primal fury. "Each of
you have lost in individual battles, however all of us, as opposed to one on
one, will be able to defeat the web slinger."
"That bug's going down," Scorpion growled, his tail going behind him and his
yellow eyes glowing with menace and malice.
"Yes, there's no way the web slinger will be able to defeat us," Mysterio
stated in a pompous and overblown tone of voice. "The final curtain will drop
down upon him."
"Yeah, I'd be happier when the web head is under my foot," Rhino said when he
stepped on a spider that crawled across the ground for emphasis.
"Strength comes in numbers, but Spider-Man is a solo act, a fact that we can
exploit," Doctor Octopus said when he looked at them. "All of you have your
unique abilities and skills and pooled together, it will be the web slinger's
final battle."
"The web head won't know what hit him," Electro answered when he rubbed his
hands together, generating sparks as he did so.
"Quite right," Octopus agreed when his eyes shifted towards the other members
of the Sinister Six, long and hard towards them. "Spider-Man will not be able
to sense what is coming, but we need to work together. I cannot state that fact
often enough."
The members of the group nodded in agreement, they were tired of getting their
asses handed to them by some obnoxious little jerk in a costume. Octopus turned
when he raised his arms in the air and activated a projector screen, the
members of the Sinister Six leaned in at this movement to gain a closer look.
"Now listen carefully," Octopus explained to the other five members who sat on
pins and needles waiting for the scientist to explain. He shifted to look at
them. "Spider-Man is drawn to heroics, he cares about the rabble down there,
even if many of them think of him as a threat or a menace. We can exploit that
to its fullest degree and move him in for a kill."
The Sinister Six listened when Doctor Octopus went over the plan, said plan was
crazy enough to almost work, but they resolved to keep their minds open and
just wait and see. If this plan was to go as promised, they would have to stand
together. That could be one of the hardest things in the world for criminals
for they had a huge ego problem and that lead to messes that needed to be
cleaned up.
Yet the plan Doctor Octopus calculated was so sound and so swift, that they
could not help but trust what was going to come. All of them wanted the web
head's head, it didn't really matter right now who drew first blood or even
final blood. As long as Spider-Man was out of the picture, that was all that
mattered, that was the only thing that mattered. The Sinister Six were united
under one cause for that reason.
===============================================================================
 
Harry smiled when another session in the Danger Room was done, to be honest
those were getting better and better. Well at least there were fewer injuries
and the new recruits lasted a lot longer before blacking out. That was
something that Harry gauged as progress. Harry and Logan alternated between
sessions with them, because they felt they had a balanced perspective. Oddly
enough, despite the fact that Harry did work them just as hard as Logan, or
even harder, his session seemed to be a lot better received.
It had been two weeks since Jean left to clear her head and Harry found himself
a bit worried, with Scott sharing that worry. Scott acted cool and cordial to
Harry, but there were instances where it just seemed like they realized the
same thing. A very key part in the team dynamic was missing.
"So, do you think any of them might be ready to move up?" Kitty asked Harry
when she walked next to Harry from the Danger Room training session.
This was a point Harry thought about long and hard, whether or not any of the
new recruits deserved a closer look at to get called up. He thought about it
longer than anyone else would have. The problem was that while many of them
made strides, it could be that if he gave them the nudge too soon, they could
lose some key development. Plus, their training barely started, so it was too
soon to tell.
Although Rachel seemed to be the furthest along, although Harry knew from the
few flickers he got from her mind that she worked at this game much longer.
Bobby and Amara seemed to be the most competent out of the knew recruits,
providing Bobby actually kept his focus and did not show off. The New Mutants
all showed potential but they were a machine that was a work in progress.
"A work in progress, Kitty, a work in progress," Harry commented to his
girlfriend before the two of them walked off into the other direction.
"Speaking of works in progress, how are your lessons with the Sorcerer
Supreme?" Kitty asked to Harry and Harry smiled.
"My powers are getting stronger," Harry answered to her and she raised an
eyebrow, inviting him to go on further. "My powers...are based in constant sex
it seems, the more often I have it, the stronger I get."
"And you're able to give women unmistakable pleasure," Kitty offered and Harry
nodded to concede this point to her, before Kitty placed her hands on him. "Are
you sure you're not part incubus or something?"
To be honest, Harry could not tell, the Potter family tree was a mystery to
him. He supposed that there could be any number of magical creatures stretching
back in every single direction.
At these thoughts, Harry entered his room with Kitty following him. Harry sat
himself down on the bed and Kitty immediately straddled his lap, looking in his
eyes with a smile. She wore a white tank top, black pants, and black boots and
a sexy little smile before she leaned forward and certain intentions danced in
her eyes.
"Time to boost your powers then," Kitty purred in his ear and Harry to the
message once more.
Smut/Lemon Begins.
Kitty straddled him before she kissed him long and deep with Harry returning
the favor, running his heads over her slender body. He reached around to pull
her shirt over her head. Kitty broke apart enough for Harry to pull the shirt
over her head, to reveal her bra clad chest, encased in just a blue bra.
"So hot," Harry breathed when he kissed the side of Kitty's neck over and over
again to continue the kisses. The kisses got more and more wanton, of need and
Kitty ran her fingers through Harry's hair, stroking his dark locks.
She pulled his shirt over his head before she threw it off to the side, it was
not needed, and teased Harry's chest, before she massaged it and skimmed her
fingers down the waistband of his pants. Harry's eyes glazed over when Kitty
slowly shifted her hand down his pants before she clutched her fist around
Harry's crotch.
"Feels good, doesn't it?" Kitty asked with a smile before the brunette mutant
pumped up and down on his penis, gaining moment. She felt it grow in her hands
but Harry's little man needed room to breath. So she grabbed onto his pants and
with a shift pulled him up out of them.
Harry shifted out of his pants and then his boxers, he was completely naked and
Kitty dove onto his cock, spearing it down her throat. Her nose rubbed against
his pubes when she went down on him, giving him a magnificent blowjob.
"That's it, that's it, suck me, such a good mouth," Harry panted when he felt
his heart beat against his chest long and hard and Kitty continued to suck him
off, her warm mouth wrapped tightly around his member.
Kitty bobbed her head up and down on Harry's phallus, feeling it grow inside
her mouth, before she felt it grow larger and larger. It felt good to have such
a piece of meat in her mouth, when she blew him nice and long, her mouth
working him. She had better control and Harry grabbed the back of her head,
pushing her down onto him.
"I want to be in you now," Harry told her and Kitty gave him a few more sucks
before she pulled herself off.
Kitty stripped her pants off before she fingered the blue pair of panties she
hand, rubbing it to show Harry the damp spot that appeared on them. Slowly,
Kitty peeled the panties off to reveal her swollen lips for him and rubbed them
before she spread her legs.
"Come and get it," Kitty invited him when she crooked a finger.
Harry pinned Kitty down on the bed and she smiled, happy to see him take the
dominating stance against her. His cock brushed against her entrance nice and
long, teasing her swollen lips before Harry took the plunge into her. The
charms were on so there was no need to worry.
"So wet," Harry breathed when he slammed into Kitty, his cock spearing in and
out of her nice and hard, her walls hugging against his member.
Kitty breathed heavily when Harry pushed into her tight pussy, contorting it,
stretching it out, she just loved how her boyfriend manipulated her cunt with
his cock. She raised her hips to meet Harry's incoming motions as his cock
slammed deeper and deeper into her.
Harry felt her squeeze him, the encouragement between the pair of them
continued, and Harry placed his hands on her hips to gain a great deal of
momentum, before he sawed into her. His thrusting continued to go deeper and
deeper into her, pushing his cock into her warm folds when she squeezed him
hard.
"Keep fucking me, please keep fucking me," Kitty moaned when Harry thrust
himself deep into her and continued his momentum to go further and further into
her.
Harry thrust deep into her, harder into her, further into her, and stretched
her cunt out with each passing thrust inside her. The two of them continued
their motions with the pair of them increasing the passionate dance.
"You're so wet, I love it, love how wet you can get," Harry whispered to her
when he pulled Kitty's bra off and attacked her breasts. He cupped them in his
hands, they were so squeezable and so sensitive.
Kitty whined when Harry's motions sped up and she placed her hands over his
back, more, more, longer, fucking her nice and long and hard. The brunette felt
her pussy being contorted and stretched at every given angle, the cock in it
hammering her further and further.
"Yes, please, more, never stop fucking me," Kitty breathed when she held
Harry's bicep in encouragment.
Harry sped up his motions and drove her further to the brink of passion, his
cock really gave her pussy a work out when he drilled deeper and deeper into
her tight pussy. The brunette mutant grabbed onto him tightly, her legs locked
when he pounded his cock into her, nice and long, his balls slapped against her
thighs tightly.
"So close," Harry grunted after a time when they continued to fuck and Kitty
felt herself empowered just a little bit more, it seemed like the dance they
shared increased their own energies, at least for a short time.
"I need your cum, please give it to me," Kitty begged him when she placed her
hands around Harry.
Harry wanted to oblige Kitty, after a fashion when he slammed his cock deep
into her more and more, over and over again, the fucking continued. Kitty
wrapped her arms around Harry, begging and chanting for his cum.
After a few more pumps, Harry thrust deep and his loins exploded to sent the
stream of cum deep into her pussy when she clenched him and milked Harry's cum
from his balls for all he was worth. Harry exploded deep inside her splattering
his cum into her.
The two rested for a moment before the dance of passion continued.
Smut/Lemon Ends.
Black Widow watched the scene from her perch point from a tree house across the
mansion and could hardly believe that anyone could have sex for this long, for
so often. Granted, the Black Widow enjoyed a good romp in the bedroom as much
as the next person but this Harry Potter was a machine. He seemed to be built
for giving women pleasure and she watched, so far his partners were teenage
girls, which didn't really give her sufficient data to see how well he could
pleasure a woman.
It was hard to gather such information from mere observation but the Black
Widow did her best to watch intently, each and every moment. Perhaps it had
been too long since she had some direct action herself but she strongly
considered going in for some more in depth research.
Only when the time was right, she reminded herself. Skills of seduction were
one of the prime tools in her toolbox her spy and Natasha Romanov prided
herself well on those seductive skills. Said skills milked the information out
of many crucial informants and if they were stubborn Natasha milked a few other
things from them as well.
Sometimes, they were putty in her hands after a little shot, show a man a
little leg or a flash of a breast, rub him against him and get him hot and
bothered, and he would ready to spill his inner most secrets. Natasha drugged
these people and got on with her life.
Other times, she had to be more creative with her missions but that creativity
allowed her to go in deep. It was why Nick Fury trusted her as one of his top
spies. She could get the information that most could not and many men wilted
like a flower to spill their secrets.
Right now, Natasha tugged the collar of her cat suit when she continued to
watch and felt a heat rising between her legs, when she summarized that when
the subject was active, he gave off a strong allure that drove women wild.
Especially so the more that she watched, or at least that's she summarized.
Without a closer inspection, the Black Widow only could go off of guess work.
She subconsciously played with the zipper of her suit and continued to watch
closely.
The only thing of note other than Mr. Potter's prolific bedroom life was Jean
Grey had not returned from her sabbatical but another team of agents sighted
Jean, moving from motel room to motel room, not really speaking to anyone. When
the time was right, she would return but SHIELD knew that if someone captured
Jean Grey, there would be trouble. So they make sure no one got close enough to
try.
Black Widow continued to monitor the situation at hand, carefully watching it
unfold.
===============================================================================
 
"I do thank you for accompanying me on this trip, especially when it is on such
short notice all things considered. I do hope that you will elect a better
reaction from her, as she has attacked all who have tried to reason and
reconcile with her. "
This particular statement was one that intrigued Harry Potter although to be
honest his intrigue began when Xavier asked him to come with him on a mission
to visit a young girl who had been locked away in a mental institute. That
raised many questions in the mind of Harry Potter, some that he could not begin
to consider. Harry wondered why but Xavier told him that this young girl had
powers that was not too similar to his own. Magic warped reality in any number
of ways but this girl had the potential to take the warping of reality to
entirely different levels so Harry found himself intrigued.
He wanted to know even more.
The orderlies nodded at Xavier; after all they knew him all too well from
previous visits but they cast a reluctant eye towards Harry. Harry was a new
person who showed up, a bit of a wild card so to speak, so they had no idea
what to expect from him. For a brief second, Harry wondered if they were going
to turn him away, perhaps for his own protection.
Xavier, true to form, was prompt and quick to speak up, his eyes focused on the
orderlies before they nodded.
"Young Harry is here to in the hope that she'll react better to a member of her
peer group," Xavier answered while Harry followed Xavier in, the wheelchair
leading the way.
Behind a glass wall sat a young girl around Harry's age, maybe a year or so
younger, but rather close to it. The girl had dark hair and was dressed in
ragged clothes, with a collar around her neck and bracelets on her hands.
Still, Harry wondered if these trinkets kept her in place very well, especially
if someone like that put her mind to escaping. Harry sensed she had power, the
type of power that was scary, uncontrollable. In fact, Harry knew all too well
what could happen when someone's magic blew up and became unrefined.
"Wanda, hello, I'm sorry it took so long before I returned," Xavier answered in
his usual cordial and diplomatic tone of voice but Harry privately wondered if
Wanda believed he had good intentions or not. "I've brought a friend for you to
meet. Wanda, this is Harry Potter, Harry, this is Wanda Maximoff."
"How are you doing?" Harry asked when his eyes gazed upon Wanda's but her black
orbs said nothing.
Wanda considered this young man before her, he seemed nice, but after all that
happened to her, she was automatically suspicious of everyone. Her own father
locked in inside this mental institution because she could not be controlled,
while her brother watched him, not able to speak one word to her defense. In
her minds eye, she saw the needle and her begging for them to come back, that
she would be good, but then there was nothing but darkness.
As for Xavier, Wanda mistrusted him because for seven years he visited her and
claimed that he would do what he could to make her stay more comfortable. That
did not turn out so well. The staff at this place seemed apathetic at best to
her, unable to care about her plight. Her powers fluctuated more often than
note whilst Wanda attempted to reign them in but without the control, anyone in
her way would get hurt.
People branded her as a monster, but she was a scared fifteen year old girl who
wanted some sense of sanity and security in her world. A world that crumbled
underneath her feet more and more with each passing moment.
Harry peered back at her with his green eyes but Wanda still regarded everyone
outside the glass as suspicious, the orderlies, the doctors, the security,
Xavier, everyone was a reminder that they could be out there. They could leave
any time they wanted and she was stuck in here.
"I know you're trying to be polite, I know he put you up to it," Wanda
commented to finally break the silence when her eyes met Harry. She did not
even look at Xavier when she talked about him, focusing her gaze firmly upon
Harry.
"You've...been in here for a very long time, haven't you?" Harry asked Wanda
and Wanda paused to consider the question. "You don't have to answer it..."
"Seven long years, and nothing's changed," Wanda answered when Harry finally
looked at her. A bit of a pained smile crossed Wanda's face when she still
tried to shut out the pain of what was happening. "Except for the dosage of
drugs they put in me."
Harry made a mental note to have a word with Xavier about this to see if he
could convince the orderlies not to do anything more regarding injecting things
into Wanda. He was pretty sure that drugging some young mutant who had magical
abilities like she had a mental illness was not helping with the stability of
her powers. Harry tried to swing the conversation away from these potentially
dangerous waters towards a more calm way, so Wanda did not get upset.
"It doesn't get any easier," Harry said to her in a patient voice but Wanda's
eyes snapped at his face, annoyance flickered through them when she stared down
Harry.
"Don't pretend you know where I'm coming from, you wouldn't know what it's like
to be judged insane by your powers," Wanda told her, she got a bit testy but
she was not attacking him yet. Both Xavier and Harry saw that was a good sign.
Harry leaned forward towards the cell before he looked Wanda dead on in the eye
with calm intentions before he spoke.
"Yes, I know all about it, a few of my classmates said that I was evil because
I talked to snakes."
"Really and did you tell them to kill or hurt people?" Wanda asked, curiosity
getting the better of her. She somehow thought Harry was telling the truth
although she had no idea why she felt she could trust Harry in telling the
truth.
"No, I didn't," Harry responded to her and Wanda responded with a sigh, she
figured people would be this stupid about powers. People tended to fear what
they could not understand. "I know you're upset about what happened...but your
anger causes your powers to go all out of whack."
Wanda knew that Harry knew what he was talking about but it was hard to keep a
distinct hold of her anger after everything was happening. Especially when she
knew that her father was out there, she heard a few words about the incident at
Asteroid M and it was not that hard to put two and two together.
"If I come back and help you figure out a way to control your powers, will you
cooperate?" Harry asked Wanda and she stared at him, wondering about how much
she could trust in him.
Wanda paused when she considered Harry's proposal, she had a feeling that she
should hear him out about this. She simply had one pressing question that she
posed to Harry, eyes firmly locked onto his before she spoke.
"Will I get out of here if my powers gain control?"
Harry shook his head when he looked at Wanda before he offered an honest
explanation. "I can't really decide that but perhaps if you have less episodes
with what's happening, then they'll be more inclined to give you freedom."
Wanda appreciated his optimism even if she did not share it but she placed her
hands on the other side of the wall, leaning back nice and hard. The young
magical mutant looked back at the other young magical mutant, their eyes locked
onto each other.
"At least you're honest," Wanda mumbled when she brushed her hands through her
hair and sighed.
The two made light conversation for a while until the session was up and Harry
paused before he gave Wanda a smile.
"I'll be back next time, I promise."
Wanda tried not to look too hopeful because that was something that would make
a fool out of her. Still, that was something that she hung her hopes on and
hoped that Harry returned the next time Xavier showed up. At least she had
something to look forward to other than Xavier's shallow reassurances about how
he would work to get out of here. After seven years, she heard enough about
that song and dance not to believe it.
===============================================================================
 
The latest patrol of Spider-Man had a few petty robberies that he broke up but
there was nothing that the web slinger had not fought before. The web head
paused ready to head on home for dinner and he would get in early tonight. That
was something that was surprising for most nights Spider-Man found himself out
there rather late and got the third degree from Aunt May.
It was a wonder that Aunt May did not figure out anything about his other life
although if she had, Spider-Man had no idea. Given his guilt about what
happened to Uncle Ben, Spider-Man could not help but feel bad about Aunt May if
she found out. Would she even speak to him if she knew the role that he played
by letting that guy get away?
A cry for help cut this thought process out and the web slinger turned his head
around before he spun around to get closer and closer. The web slinger moved
through the opening window when he moved closer, to see a young girl who
grimaced and whined. She seemed hurt although how Spider-Man did not know.
Rather he swung forward to conduct his hero duty.
"Hang on," Spider-Man told the girl in a reassuring voice when he dropped down
to consider her. Before he could help her, his spider sense went wild and a
blaring echoed through the back of his head.
The web slinger saw a pedlum swing towards him and the girl disappeared, before
a familiar laugh echoed through his ears, taunting him, and tormenting him all
of the way. The web slinger ducked and rolled out of the way before the one
thought entered his mind.
'Great, I've been bamboozled with another Mysterio trick.'
The web slinger bounced back up to see the whirling blades and the flame
throwers appear, most of them were optical illusions but every now and again
there was a real weapon. Spider-Man focused long enough to trust his spider
sense, that would be his guide, his best friend in the coming battle. The web
head ducked and rolled before he saw the man in question.
"Alright, Beck, show's over!" Spider-Man yelled when he moved over towards
Mysterio to engage the master of illusion in combat. "I don't know if the air
underneath that fishbowl of yours is getting thin but..."
Spider-Man could not even finish that thought for a charging figure rushed him
and knocked the web slinger to the side with a thunderous fury. The web slinger
crashed down on the ground and the monstrous Rhino turned around to face him.
The web head dodged another attack when Rhino moved at him and Rhino crashed
against a stack of cracks.
"Where did you come from?" Spider-Man asked when he felt the stabbing pain in
his side from when Rhino hit him.
"Jersey," Rhino grunted before he rushed Spider-Man once again but the web
slinger shot straight lines of webbing from his web shooters and wrapped around
Rhino before he blinded him.
Rhino swung around before Spider-Man smashed him into a wall to knock him down
but a jolt of
electricity caused him to jump across the ground.
'Electro too, what is it, is there some kind of super villain convention in
town?'Spider-Man thought when Electro fired lighting bolt after lighting bolt
at the web slinger who dodged the attacks with expert precision. The web
slinger rolled out of the way.
"Shocked to see me, Spider-Man," Electro taunted him when he rubbed his fingers
together to send a jolt of electricity towards him. The web head dodged every
single attack before the web slinger ran up the walls and dropped down to the
ground. "I'm sure you're amped up to see me but that's not going to stop me
from showing watts watt."
"Oh for the love of...no...just no with the puns," Spider-Man answered when he
dodged the attack and rolled around to avoid each blast of electricity.
Spider-Man swung and and knocked Electro back into the wall to cause him to
crash down hard to the ground. The web slinger tried to move around but the
pile of dirt came to life before two large sand hammers shot out of the ground.
The hammers connected with the side of Spider-Man's head to send him flying
backwards. The web slinger crashed down against the wall.
Sandman fully formed to face Spider-Man and he swung his hammers but the web
head ducked, caught completely off guard by Sandman's return.
"What's the matter, webs, you look like you've seen a ghost?" Sandman taunted
when he rose up and grabbed Spider-Man around his fist. The web slinger
struggled when Sandman tightened his grip around him.
'Great, I feel like an extra in a King Kong movie,'Spider-Man thought when the
giant Sandman lifted him up in his fist and held up the web head towards his
mouth. 'Oh this is going to be so wrong, on so many levels.'
Sandman popped the web slinger in his mouth and shoved him down his throat. The
web slinger was trapped inside the form of Sandman where he suffocated.
Fortunately, the web slinger punched out of him before he webbed onto a metal
hook and pulled it forward. The hook ripped through Sandman and send the sand
flying back every which direction.
The web head dropped down to the ground when he began to hack up sand over and
over again.
'Now I know what cats feel like when they have hair balls,'Spider-Man thought
to himself when he shook his head and knew that it was going to be a bitch to
get all of the sand out of his costume.
Spider-Man turned around but once again his spider sense went wild just in time
to see a large green tail swing out from nowhere. The web head had the presence
of mind to duck before he scaled the wall to see the Scorpion stand there. The
Scorpion aimed his tail before he shot an acidic substance from it. The wall
crawler avoided the attack.
'Scorpion, Sandman, Electro, Rhino, and Mysterio,'Spider-Man thought when he
shook his head. 'Where do these guys meet, some kind of online dating service
or something?"
"Going to die now, web slinger,' Scorpion grunted when he aimed the tail but
the web slinger shot a line of webbing and blocked it.
"No, not today, my life insurance premium hasn't kicked in yet," Spider-Man
responded before he slid underneath the attack of Scorpion.
Scorpion smashed his way towards Spider-Man but the web slinger avoided the
attack. Electro moved back and Spider-Man had to attack him.
Mysterio waved his cape and several robotic bats shot out to go after the web
slinger, cheering wildly.
'It's official, I hate bats,'Spider-Man thought before he swung around and
maneuvered Electro's attacks so they blew them up.
Spider-Man dropped down and faced his five enemies when suddenly something new
attacked him. A metal arm shot out from the side and nearly nipped him in the
backside but the web slinger dodged the attack, ducking and rolling before he
ran up the wall and dropped down to fight his new enemy.
The man was dressed in a black trenchcoat with a grey undershirt and black
pants with four metal limbs going from either side. His hair was short, black,
and greasy and he wore a pair of sunglasses on his face.
"Well you're new, who are you supposed to be?" Spider-Man asked before he
paused and looked at his limbs. "No, let me guess, you're the Tentacle
Monster."
"You may call me Doctor Octopus," Ock stated when he raised his robotic arms
and buzzsaws started at the end of them. "Know it well, arachnid, for it will
be the name of the one who will annihilate you!"
Spider-Man stared down his enemy before he dove into the attack and dodged the
arms one at a time, when the other members of this sinister group of six super
villains surrounded him. "I for one I am happy that there's someone out there
who finally knows that spiders are arachnids and not insects."
The wall crawler dodged the attacks one at a time as they stabbed towards him
but they were getting closer and closer.
"You know with those arms, if the super villain thing doesn't pan out, you'll
have a career in hentai ahead of you."
Doctor Octopus blocked the babbling out of his mind before he continued to
spear his tentacles towards the web head again and again, with the web slinger
dodging each and every individual attacks. The web slinger moved around for the
attacks and ran up the wall to avoid his attacks. They continued to smash and
swing at him.
"Come on, step on a spider, win a cookie!" Spider-Man taunted him when he waved
his hands.
"I'll squash the bug," Rhino offered when he cracked his knuckles but Spider-
Man dodged the attacks.
"Scatter," Doctor Octopus stated and the six members scattered.
'I can't defeat these guys, not head on,'Spider-Man thought when he noted the
water sprinklers above and his eyes diverted to Electro.
Water added to electricity equals the perfect method for escape, at least in
Spider-Man's mind. He took careful aim and used the web lines to yank open the
sprinklers closest to Electro. It would not kill them given what he studied
about how Electro's powers worked, at least he did not think so, but it would
give them a nice shock.
"Move you fool!"
It was too late, as the water splashed Electro and short circuited him one
hundred percent of the way. The web slinger made his get away when the group of
super villains were momentarily inconvenienced by what went down.
Mysterio was the first to recover so he turned to Doctor Octopus.
"Now what?"
Doctor Octopus was not disturbed by this rather he sensed this an an
opportunity.
"A minor setback, if Spider-Man thinks that we're going to be defeated that
easily, he's sorely mistaken. Next time, we'll trap him in a place where he
cannot exploit such an obvious weakness against one of our own. But as of now,
let him catch his breath, it will make the hunt even more rewarding."
===============================================================================
 
"Has there been any hint to where Jean's been?" Scott asked Xavier, but Xavier
shook his head.
"I'm afraid there hasn't been any hint whatsoever, Scott," Xavier answered
Scott when his eyes were on him. "Jean is on the move but there is no hint that
she is in danger. If she is, I would hope that she would find a way to contact
us."
"If she's able to," Scott answered with skepticism when he looked out into the
distance.
The problem was that there seemed to be one misfortune after another regarding
Scott, when he tried to grow into the roll of a leadership. Indecision was a
big problem of his, making the right decision in a snap was something that
failed him constantly time and time again. Scott understood that there was one
member of this team who the others looked to to make the decisions, especially
the younger recruits.
Scott found it the ultimate irony that the one person who people thought would
lead this team was the one person who did not lead this team in any way
whatsoever. The young mutant rubbed the side of his temples, he vowed to step
up his game in an attempt to assure the role of leadership. In some way, he
felt like he let Professor Xavier down.
After everything that Xavier did for him, that was one point that Scott could
not properly reconcile in his mind. The fact of the matter was that each
failure might have been a reflection on Xavier in its own way because it was
Xavier who put so much faith in Scott. Yet, Scott faltered as he was unable to
make the right decisions.
Unknowing to this, Harry and Rachel left after another session to put Harry's
fractured mind back together.
'The fact is that this Riddle was a disturbing individual, but one cannot deny
that he was resourceful,'Rachel thought to Harry carefully with a smile as they
walked. 'He didn't allow himself to be defined by what other people thought
were limits."
"But there were times where he went too far,'Harry thought when he remembered
and Rachel responded with a crisp nod as she lightly rested her hand on
Harry's.
'That's the problem, isn't it?'Rachel thought before she pulled herself out of
the mental link she established and turned to Scott.
It was difficult to see him every day after everything that happened but Rachel
decided to coexist with him for the time being. As she reminded herself,
everything that Scott did, was yet to transpire at all. So an open mind was
something Rachel needed if she was going to be able to exist in the future. She
offered him a polite smile and a nod.
"Scott," Harry answered to him when he stared Scott down.
Scott decided to ask the one person who might know something about Jean,
swallowing his pride when he did so. His eyes fixed on Harry before he stated
one single question.
"Did you by any chance hear anything about Jean?"
Harry sensed the desperation in the voice of Scott, the fact that was one
situation that he lost control of. Although to be fair, Harry thought that what
Jean was going through was something that could not be pinned on Scott at all.
In fact, what Jean was going through was a byproduct of everything that
transpired through her life and demons she tried to lock away, with help from
Xavier.
The Phoenix Force was unlike anything that Harry had ever heard about and when
Harry inquired about the subject to Strange, Strange could only tell him about
the legends surrounding it. There was nothing in the realm of undisputed facts
and more about legend, rumors and myths. If Harry hoped to ever help Jean, he
needed to find out more about the Phoenix Force and if it overwhelmed her,
Harry needed to find out a way to shut it down. Right now, a temporary
ceasefire was all that Harry could hope for.
"I wish I did, Scott, but honestly I haven't," Harry answered him in a tense
and honest voice when he looked at him. "Jean's...she's going through a
difficult time."
"What did you see in there?" Scott asked before he could help himself.
Harry's stern gaze fixed on Scott and it was Rachel who was the one who
enlightened Scott on the faux pas that he committed.
"The mind is a private thing and should only be invaded when it is absolutely
necessary. When I took Harry into Jean's mind weeks back, it was to save her
from getting torn up. Trust me, there was no other way, Jean would have
destroyed everyone before she was ripped apart. Starting with you and Xavier,
and I believe I saved your life."
Scott felt properly reprimanded but he felt so frustrated not to mention
helpless. There was a moment where things hung awkwardly and the two parties
stared back down at each other before they went their separate ways.
Harry could not spare the slightest second that he had about worrying about the
mental torment Scott was going through. He was not the X-Men therapist,
actually having a therapist would be the best thing all things considered.
He stood by Rachel before the two parted ways, Rachel made her way towards the
Danger Room training session and Harry prepared to watch the Danger Room
training session that Rachel was in along with the rest of the new recruits.
Watching their mistakes allowed him to grow stronger and fine tune himself,
figure out his own mistakes and figure out how to better himself. Being a
teacher was very much different than being a student, with different changes,
but Harry observed the changes that he underwent and hoped to continue to grow.
He offered a bit of theory on how their powers worked but Harry knew better
than anyone else that there was no substitute for practical experience.
Kurt stood next to Harry.
"Hey Kurt, here to take a look at the new recruits?" Harry asked to Kurt and
Kurt took a long pause before he looked at Harry.
"Actually, there's something I need to talk to you about," Kurt responded and
Harry was all ears. "There's...this girl in my class..."
"Kurt, just talk to her, if something's going to happen," Harry answered before
he waved off anything before Kurt went any further.
Kurt thought that it could not be that simple but at the same time if Harry
said it was, then it was worth a shot. What was the worst that could happen
after all, actually Kurt spent a fair lot of time thinking about the worst that
could happen. That was a scary thought that rattled the fun loving mutant to
his very core and made him wonder, made him squirm even.
Harry turned his attention towards the Danger Room and allowed everything to
sink in when the latest training session began. He would get some time in there
before too long. Rogue, Kitty, Ororo, Xavier, Logan, and Scott, although with
his mind elsewhere, popped up. He blocked all thoughts out of his mind when
Rogue and Kitty stood next to him to watch Harry watch the latest training
session.
"Okay, this time we're going to get through this," Bobby remarked to the rest
of the team from within the Danger Room.
"Didn't you say that last time before everything to screwed up?" Jubilee asked
him.
"Hey, have some faith," Bobby responded when Amara turned to him to watch him.
"Yeah, faith, let's hope you don't lose your head this time," Amara answered to
him.
"Hey, he jumped a few inches to the left when he should have gone right," Tabby
jumped in when the rest of the team nodded.
"So, are we going to do this thing or are we just going to stand here?" Sam
asked.
"Hey, we've got this one in the bad, I have a feeling this session's going to
be a lucky one," Bobby stated when he rubbed his hands together.
"Danger Room training session, simulator thirteen, beginning."
Bobby stood up when he peered off into the distance, why did the number
thirteen just give him a bad omen? There was no thinking about that, he lead
the rest of his team into action, hopefully they did not trip over each other
in their attempt to get a good review. Harry told them to stop doing that,
albeit in a good nature way.
Logan on the other hand told them to knock it off and quit clowning around, and
do the session before he amped up the difficulty.
===============================================================================
 
The Sinister Six surrounded their hostage, Norman Osborn in the top floor of
Oscorp, secured to the chair by his abductors. They jumped him in his office
and there he was.
"You won't get away with this," Norman threatened Ock when he stared down his
rogue employee but Ock chuckled when he looked back at Osborn.
"We cannot get more trite and played if we try," Ock commented when his gaze
flickered towards Norman before he continued to speak. "Respectable businessman
Norman Osborn is the perfect hostage for Spider-Man to save. You are the
perfect bait, Osborn, but remember, accidents will happen."
Norman growled when he tried to lift his bound wrists but found that was a
futile endeavor. As long as these ropes binded Osborn to the chair, he was not
going anywhere and his fury bubbled, angered about being so helpless. Osborn's
eyes flickered in disgust when he tried to lift his wrists but found him unable
to break free.
"Let us try to extort money out of him whilst we have him captured," Mysterio
suggested when his gaze flickered towards Osborn from behind the fishbowl.
Osborn's hateful glare reflected back towards Mysterio, it was obvious that
helplessness was not something that Osborn did rather well. Time stood still
while the Sinister Six considered their options, waited and watched for the web
head to show up.
The wait was not long, rather the web slinger swung his way towards the windows
and made his way inside. The Sinister Six made themselves rather scarce when
Spider-Man moved inside and approached Osborn.
"Get me out of here," Osborn growled and Spider-Man moved over to untie Norman.
He had a feeling that this was a trap but in true super hero fashion, Spider-
Man made his way inside never the less.
The spider sense blared to life when a burst of electricity shot out but the
web slinger avoided an attack before he ducked and rolled out of the way.
Electro moved towards the battle, Scorpion followed, Sandman appeared from a
potted plant on the desk behind Osborn, and Mysterio flew in on a disc to face
him.
"So, you guys again, wasn't the beating I gave you earlier tonight enough?"
Spider-Man asked, when he felt braver than he actually was.
"Your recollection of events lacks accuracy," Doctor Octopus stated before he
tried to stab Spider-Man with his arms but the web slinger dodged. Osborn was
in the middle but Spider-Man tried to take this battle to a venue that would be
more of an advantage for him; easier said than done, but he had to try.
Spider-Man ran up the walls, he could not even pause enough to throw down a
snappy retort, for he was being given the run around.
"Forget it web slinger, strength comes in our numbers," Mysterio taunted when
several bright bulbs shot from his cape to blind Spider-Man.
This statement from Mysterio, as over the top as it was, gave the web head the
perfect inspiration. He had it on him, thankfully he exhibited the foresight to
pack it otherwise he would be up a crick without a paddle. The X-Men
communicator was in his hand and Spider-Man pressed a button to call them.
"Hello...guys...I could really..."
Ock pulled the communicator from his hand and flung it across the room. Then
Ock grabbed Spider-Man in a titanic grip with one arm before the point of
another arm moved down.
"Osborn, if you wanted a blood sample, you'll have all that you can handle in
mere moments," Ock answered when Spider-Man struggled when the scientist tried
to stab Spider-Man in the heart with the end of his robotic arm.
To Be Continued in "The Malice of Doc Ock Part Two."
***** Malice of Doc Ock Part Two *****
Chapter Twenty Nine "Revenge of the Sinister Six Part Two."
One of the lessons that was imparted in the X-Men was that distress could come
at any single time, at a moment's notice, and out of nowhere. It was something
that could not be avoided no matter how well prepared a person was. There was a
reason why the X-Men had communication devices and that it was required that
they would be on them at all times, along with the devices being on. The
distress signal ringing out would serve as a notice that one of their teammates
were in danger but now the communicator device rang out. All of their teammates
as of this moment were all present and accounted for, well with the exception
of one.
This is why when the communicator went off, Harry and the others hoped that it
was Jean trying to contact them. Although they really did not hope that she was
in trouble because that would mean their worst fears would come to light but
that was something that they could not really think negatively about. The
Danger Room session did not quite start which allowed Harry to answer the
communication link and put it up this ear.
It was not Jean, in fact it was far from Jean, they heard an echo of someone on
the other end of the line and Harry put his ear up to the communicator device
with a frantic thought going through his mind. Harry pressed it up against his
ear before he spoke to whoever was on the other line. To try if he might to see
if they were going to pick up and answer the communication link.
"Hello, is anyone there? Please answer me if you could hear me?"
There was a sound of a communicator popping when it got smashed and Harry
winced when he heard the feedback in his head, that was not good, that was far
from good in fact. The dark haired wizard could not think about how this could
get any worse than it was now, even though there was a possibility of it
getting far worse. He turned his attention back to the communicator in his hand
and leaned forward.
"What is it?" Kitty asked Harry when she tugged on his sleeve to get his
attention.
"Yeah, it sounds like someone is in trouble," Kurt chimed in when he rocked
back and forth and looked up into the sky to consider what was going on.
"It sounds like it, because someone is in trouble," Harry answered before he
put his hand up in the air to stop any further inquiries. The team stood around
him, with Rachel joining Rogue, Kurt, Kitty, and Harry around the communication
link.
Harry thought that these types of communicators were very tricky to trace any
kind of information but somehow he tapped into the communicator link to see
what he could find within them. He was getting more adept with technology even
if it was not the thing that he was the most comfortable in the world with.
Being away from it for ten months out of the year for five years and not really
having any access to it whilst at the Dursleys due to them keeping him away
from their valuables would do that with a purpose. He tapped on the
communicator, trying to triangulate some kind of signal to reach them.
"Is there a problem?" Scott asked when he heard the same distress signal over
his communicator link.
Harry paused to consider what he would say before the two young men stared each
other down.
"Spider-Man, that's the problem," Harry answered when Scott gave him a confused
look, this was the first he ever heard of Spider-Man receiving a communication
device. He frowned a bit but to his credit did not say anything. "He's in
trouble, someone attacked him."
"Did you find out where he is?" Rachel asked Harry when he tried to get the
communication link working but sure enough he managed to trace the signal, said
signal was faint, fainter than anything the young mage ever traced before. But
it would do the trick for what it was and he spun around to face the remaining
members of the team.
"He's at the Oscorp facility, just about fifty miles from here."
Scott chimed in when he looked at Harry. "Why don't you five go there and see
what the danger is? I can handle the Danger Room training session from here."
Harry was about to make a similar suggestion to Scott so it was just as well
that he said it. The young wizard stepped forward on his feet before he stared
back at Scott with a crisp nod of his head.
That was actually good that Scott wanted to step up, it made Harry's life a
little bit easier, perhaps his leadership skills would not falter. Harry picked
up a lot of the slack that Scott left off after the Asteroid M but given how
much the team dynamic shifted in the direction of the young man being the de-
facto leader, something that he had little time for given his training, he
secretly held out a hope that Scott could pick up the slack.
He did note that Rachel picked up some distinct team leadership tactics during
the Danger Room training sessions, at least becoming the leader of the new
recruits on that note, with Bobby being the second in command when he wasn't
goofing around.
Of course, Rachel being the oldest of the new recruits and the hints Harry
received about the mysterious dark past she had really made her a perfect
candidate for leadership. At least that's what the young man observed during
this time but his observations could potentially be wrong, he found himself the
furthest thing from perfect possible.
Yet, he would worry about team dynamics and leadership much later for right now
there was another problem that presented itself. Harry could tell that Spider-
Man was in over his head, not that it was anything do. He suspected that the
web head's charming personality netted him more than a few enemies that he
would have to deal with and the dark haired wizard wondered if some of them
joined forces to lay a beating down on the web slinger?
"So do we have a plan?"
Kurt asked that question and Harry offered his response as honestly as he could
give.
"Yes, we do, but I'm working on it."
That was fair enough for Kurt for now and for everyone else. The X-Men moved
out ready for battle, ready to help a friend in need but they hoped that
Spider-Man did not send his distress signal too late. Knowing the web slinger
that was highly likely. He tended to march with his own beat and walk alone.
===============================================================================
Spider-Man knew one thing and he supposed that this could be considered highly
likely, he was kind of in over his web head. The power of Electro shot
electricity out towards him but the web slinger dodged the attack. He dodged
another attack and another one with the web head avoiding each and every attack
with the fury that he could. The electricity-based villain seemed to want to
make up for lost time to fry the web slinger and there was something that was
worse yet.
These brain surgeons actually managed to come up with the foresight to turn off
the sprinkler system in the building so the same trick that Spider-Man used to
defeat Electro the first time would not work this time.
Spider-Man held that thought when several glass orbs shot from Mysterio's hands
and shattered on the ground to reveal clouds of dust that moved towards the web
head. The web slinger dodged the individual attacks and tried to run up the
wall to escape. That plan was cut short with one account of Scorpion shooting
the wall with the acidic substance from his tail and on the other account of
Doctor Octopus smashing the wall with his robotic arms. The robotic arms
crushed against the wall and Spider-Man flipped to land onto his feet before he
shot several lines of webbing.
"Right, figure that wouldn't work as well as I planned," Spider-Man managed,
wishing he could wipe the sweat from his brow but he had no time for that was
when Rhino charged him with the subtlety of a tank coming at him. The arachnid
themed hero dodged and webbed onto the horn of the rhino.
"Halt Spider-Man, your little tricks are no match for the might and majesty of
Mysterio!" Mysterio bellowed at the top of his lungs when he waved his hands
from the side and sent more little bats fly towards him.
Spider-Man ducked and rolled before he picked up a desk chair and launched it
into the air before he latched onto it with his webbing, to swing for the
fences and smash the chair into the bats that flew in the air. They dropped to
the ground and Spider-Man dropped to one knee where he once again felt himself
smashed with the sand fist of Sandman. The deadly enemy raised up to his full
height.
"I demand you quit clowning around and get me out of here," Norman responded in
a surly voice when he watched the battle off to the side, tied up with no place
to go.
The web head blocked out this particular distraction before he swung around
three hundred and sixty degrees to launch himself forward and off towards the
charging form of Scorpion. Scorpion was surprised to see this attack but he
recovered immediately.
Just when he recovered, Nightcrawler popped up in front of him.
"Hello!" Nightcrawler stated when he appeared in front of Scorpion and the
angry villain swung his tail towards towards the fun loving mutant but he
teleported out of the way.
Scorpion was taken down and smashed into the wall with a tripping spell which
set him up for something more dangerous.
"I've got your back!" Electro yelled when he stood in front of Scorpion but
Kitty popped up from the ground and the villain tried to go after her. "Out of
the way girl!"
"Make me!" Kitty yelled but suddenly a black light shot out of nowhere. It had
the effect on electronics where it would short circuit them from the impact and
Electro screamed when he was blasted backwards.
"Well if it isn't the X-Men!" Doctor Octopus stated with his usual sadistic
voice when he turned to the mighty group of mutants, peering over his
sunglasses at them, before he went for Rogue who showed up.
Harry got Rogue out of there and a shield charm appeared around the young
wizard to block Ock's incoming robotic arm attack. he snapped his wrists and
the robotic arms twisted around before the sharp ends pointed towards Doctor
Octopus's chest and threatened to stab him.
"Ah another sorcerer, but how would you like to match whits with true magic?"
Mysterio bellowed at the top of his lungs when he moved to face Harry and he
conjured a dragon. "Tremble before the magnificent might of Mysterio!"
"Nice illusion, saw that one at my school during my first year," Harry answered
in a bored voice when he made the dragon disappear before he conjured a six
live snakes. "Now there's a magic trick!"
Mysterio backed off before the snakes shot at him with sadistic fury and
screamed when the snakes bit into his arms and legs to cause sparks to fly out.
The web head's head spun around to face Mysterio before his eyes widened in
abject frustration.
"Oh you've got to be kidding me, robot again?" Spider-Man asked as Rachel
trapped Sandman's consciousness into particle of sand to set it up for a
vanishing spell form Harry to get rid of Sandman once and for all.
"This happens a lot to you, doesn't it?" Arcane asked Spider-Man and the web
slinger nodded with a smile underneath his mask.
"More than you could ever know."
Doctor Octopus detached his arms from himself and moved across the other side
of the room, to say this battle was not going his way, that would be the
understatement of the century.
However, much like all great thinkers did, Doctor Octopus had an ace up his
sleeve and he was about to implement it now. He grabbed Osborn off the chair
and held a razor sharp tentacle to his throat before the X-Men and Spider-Man
stood over downed bodies of the other five members of the Sinister Six.
"You can't beat all of us!" Kitty yelled in a triumphant voice.
"So you might as well give it up," Kurt answered to Ock but the scientist shook
his head.
"You poor children must be deluded if you think I have some pathological need
to win, no today was just the beginning. Even if you beat me, you will have
lost today. I've planted a bomb in the lab and it will explode taking everyone
in this building with it."
"You're bluffing!" Rogue challenged him but Ock turned to the young goth mutant
before his face twisted into a grin, showing three rotten teeth to them that
really added to his oily demeanor and complexion.
"Am I bluffing?" Ock challenged the wall crawler and the X-Men but Harry moved
forward to turn around and scan the buidling.
"Well there is something in the ground underneath here, something below, Kitty,
go down one floor and see what you can do about disabling it."
"Gotcha," Kitty answered, giving Harry a brief kiss before Harry turned to
Spider-Man.
"As for Ock, the two of us can go after him."
Spider-Man and Arcane rushed down the hallway to meet Doctor Octopus who had
his hostage, a very important hostage. The hostage, that Spider-Man reminded
himself, who was the father of one of Peter Parker's friends. The two made
their way down the hallway to chase Octopus and Osborn.
"You won't get away with this, Octavius," Osborn said to him through gritted
teeth.
Ock chuckled at the brave words of this man, he considered etching them on his
gravestone.
"I already have, Osborn but I may show mercy, if you apologize," Octopus
replied when he held Osborn in his metallic grip.
"Never, I'll never apologize to the likes of you," Osborn responded when
Octopus held him more tightly in his grip.
"Ah that's right, the great Osborn credo, they never apologize, well you'll be
very sorry never the less."
"You're the one who's going to be sorry, Octopus."
Spider-Man rushed in but Doc Ock grabbed the web head around the throat before
he propelled in backwards into the wall. The arachnid themed super hero bounced
off of the wall but he ducked and rolled before recovering immediately.
"There's a power source of some kind in his chest plate, that's how he's
controlling those things!" Spider-Man called to Arcane before the wizard
removed it from his chest with a well placed summoning spell.
"It was controlling those things, any way," Arcane answered when the power cell
flew up into the air and he caught it in in his head. He put in his bag,
something like this technology would be useful to study for future reference.
"Did you really think that I wouldn't have reverse power in the arms?" Ock
demanded when his two robotic arms shot out to nail Arcane and Spider-Man.
Arcane put up a shield and Ock opened up the lab before he held Osborn up.
"One step closer...I did warn you," Ock answered when he grabbed a switch and
activated the heater underneath the green chemicals that bubbled in canisters
in Osborn's lab. "The next thing people will read about Norman Osborn is his
obituary!"
Ock threw Osborn off to the side and Arcane and Spider-Man's eyes both widened
when an explosion rang out.
Shield spells blocked the explosion but since Osborn was right next to the
container the explosion still rattled him. The loud bangs and cracks echoed
outside of the lab.
"Harry, I thought that I got rid of the bomb, what happened?" Kitty asked after
she heard the explosions ring out.
"Osborn, Norman Osborn happened, Ock set off a lab explosion," Harry answered
when waited for the green smoke in the lab to clear.
When the smoke cleared, Osborn and Ock both disappeared into the night. There
was a huge hole in the floor but thankfully there was no one below them that
could have gotten hurt. There was an instant where Harry dropped down.
He saw the wall smashed open and Doctor Octopus disappeared into the night to
fight another day but did Osborn? That was the question and the blood soaked
tie that the millionaire wore gave him the answers. And other than that there
was no trace of Norman Osborn.
===============================================================================
Sirens echoed throughout the city as the chemical fire at Oscorp continued to
burn but thankfully Arcane managed to back off the brunt of it from the fumes
getting out into the city. A company like Oscorp worked on any number of
projects that could lead to problems if the people in the city inhaled it.
Harry got a whiff of the chemicals up close and they were quite noxious, there
seemed to be no way Osborn could have survived the blast.
Which as Harry reminded himself likely meant that he could but then again
Osborn was a normal guy. A dedicated and ruthless businessman to be sure but he
was perfectly normal otherwise, not extraordinary at all. He could not have
survived what happened, unless he had an escape hatch that he got out of
straight away. Of course, with half of the floor blown out, there was no
telling what might have happened.
These thoughts cut off mid stream when Spider-Man turned up to drop down next
to Harry. The two young heroes stared down each other before Spider-Man stated
the one question. "Any luck?"
"No, no luck," Arcane responded back to Spider-Man when he decided to add in a
joking manner. "You know these teams up are starting to become a regular event.
They might have to give us some corny team up name."
"You mean like the Dynamic Duo?" Spider-Man asked but Arcane responded by
shaking his head.
"I believe that name was already taken," Arcane responded when he looked out in
the city and let out the breath he held when he realized that Osborn was the
extent of the damage. "We got the civilians out of there...no one seemed worse
for wear."
"The Sinister Six were gone as well, looks like you didn't blast them as hard
as you normally do," Spider-Man responded before his eyes looked towards
Arcane, half joking and half serious before the web head added in a jovial
manner, trying to keep his spirits light. "If I didn't know any better, I
thought that you're getting soft."
"Well you'd know, you're soft in the head," Arcane quipped back when he watched
Spider-Man. "You didn't inhale any of the fumes, did you?"
"No, I didn't, last thing I need is growing four extra arms or something like
that," Spider-Man fired back when he turned around and the police walked up,
lead by Captain George Stacy.
Captain Stacy stared down Spider-Man so he responded to his best friend's
father in a voice that was even and serious, especially for the web slinger.
"So was there any word about Ock or Osborn?"
"I'm afraid not Spider-Man, there wasn't a trace of either of them," Captain
Stacy responded in a serious voice, the death of someone like Norman Osborn
would lead to an immense amount of paper work. This Doctor Octopus was Otto
Octavius, a former scientist at Oscorp who went absolutely insane when Osborn
spurned him many times and belittled him, it was something that commonly
happened in the business world, all too much come to think about it.
Spider-Man was afraid of this, without a trace Octopus ran off.
Arcane spun around in time to greet the members of his team to give a report at
what they found but the report was not that encouraging.
"We searched it high and low but those guys managed to give us the slip,"
Nightcrawler answered when he looked around, frustration mounting in his voice.
"Yeah, we'll get them next time," Kitty answered but Rachel shook her head at
Kitty before her eyes snapped towards the young brunette to glare at her.
"There shouldn't be a next time, we should have struck them hard this time,"
Rachel answered when she looked back at them.
They all turned to Harry, as they did so many times before.
"We were very fortunate," Harry agreed with his teammate when he turned around
and sure enough, the fact of the matter was that if the Sinister Six had a bit
more team training, the battle would have been more of an even playing field.
Ock's ego and need for revenge drove the Sinister Six more than anything else
that they had and Harry understood that. "But we'll go over this battle and
figure out what went wrong and we'll be back with a fresh perspective."
"Yeah, that's right, that's what we do," Rogue answered feeling a bit more
optimistic about this battle.
The Sinister Six's only thing in common was a hatred of Spider-Man, it was
likely that none of them would even look in each others directions if it was
not for that fact. The X-Men, through all of their snags and bumps in the road,
worked together as a team.
"Remember, keep in touch if you get into trouble," Arcane stated to Spider-Man
and the wall crawler nodded in response.
"Will do and believe me, this won't be the last time we'll team up."
Spider-Man turned around and swung off but right now he had a more demanding
task than any one of the Sinister Six put together or even all of them.
He had to explain to Aunt May why he was out so long past curfew, a more
fearsome task to him then fighting any super villain or even all of them. Peter
Parker gulped when he returned home to face the music.
===============================================================================
The latest training session sputtered to a stop and Harry returned at the very
end to monitor the session; to be honest Harry was pleased that the team
improved to such a rate.
Did they have a long way to go?
Yes they did, there was no questions about that but Harry felt confident that
their abilities would increase in the Danger Room and they would be better with
each passing moment. The new recruits fired out of the Danger Room at the time
and the magical mutant had a few pages of notes, although not as many as he
would have had he monitored the entire hour long training session.
"All of you seem to be focusing on what I told you to focus on but just a few
general pointers for a reminder."
The new recruits stood up straight to listen before Scott really could critique
them. He waved his hands to defer to Harry for this point, the new recruits
seemed to be among those he had intimate knowledge about and knew exactly how
to talk to them.
Harry turned his attention to Bobby first and foremost.
"Bobby, today your focus seemed a little bit better, which is good but don't
get too arrogant, your focus needs to keep nice and steady. Remember, when
you're in the Danger Room, your focus needs to be on what is in there, for if
you take your eyes off the ball for one moment, a deadly enemy will take you
out. It's happened to me before, focus needs to be one hundred percent
vigilante."
Bobby nodded before Harry continued to go down the row to Magma.
"Amara, you're more at ease with your powers and the more comfortable you are
with them and with yourself, the easier things will be in there. Believe that
you are in control and the sky is the limit for you. The powers are something
you rule, you rule the powers."
Harry moved down the row to face off with Cannonball next.
"Cannonball, your aim on that wall looked a little spotty there, but otherwise
you're improving by leaps and bounds. Try not to overthink things but at the
same time, calculate everything."
"Gotcha...I think," Sam responded when Harry moved down the row.
"Ray, the electricity seems to be building up, try and push your limits just a
little bit more but don't overextend yourself, that's the key."
Ray felt that Harry had some good genuine device. He turned to Boom Boom before
he addressed her next.
"Tabby, remember, those little bombs in your hand work best when they are
thrown at an enemy and not at your teammates," Harry told her when she nodded.
"I know your aim can get a little...boisterous in there."
"Is that what we're calling it now?" Bobby whispered to Sam who nodded. Both of
them were victims of extremely near misses.
"But remember, turn that enthusiasm into a weapon that you can bludgeon your
enemies with."
"Blow up the baddies and not the rest of the team, o-kay Professor," Tabby
responded with a smirk and Harry turned around and moved on.
"Jamie, remember to calm yourself in there, I'd recommend meditating a little
bit so you are in control of your dupes. If you'd like, I'd show you some
techniques, they'll help calm your mind."
Multiple nodded before he stared back at Harry. "I'll keep that in mind."
His dupes, Harry noticed, seemed to have different personality traits. Harry
walked down the row and turned to Wolfsbane.
"The animal within still needs to be controlled by the human mind," Harry
informed Wolfsbane who nodded back at him. "You're control is better but you
need to temper the savage feral fury you have, I'd offer you the same kind of
meditation techniques that Jamie should use as well. They will allow an inner
harmony between the beast and the person. And will temper your deadlier
thoughts."
"Aye, of course," Rahne responded when she looked at him, he made a lot of
sense and there were some times that the beast within got control of her.
"Jubilee, better control this time, see if you can amp up the fireworks to
blind any enemies, without hurting your teammates, that will help you out
there," Harry responded before he offered one more piece of advice. "Most
enemies rely on their eyesight to attack but they can't hit what they can't
see...but don't rely on that too much."
The new mutants responded by nodding at this statement, it did make perfect
sense. Harry turned to Sunspot last.
"Your power seems to work on the sunlight, but perhaps you can work on trying
to conserve some of that energy into a battery so to speak," Harry advised them
before he gave them some good general advice. "Keep up with the team work
drills outside that I assigned you and we'll meet back here in a few days with
a more in depth session. Class dismissed."
The new recruits filed out and Rachel stood their alone with Harry. She smiled
at him.
"You seem to know how to get the best out of people," Rachel responded when she
stepped forward so she was up next to Harry. "Like a true leader should be."
Rachel's statement was both a praise for Harry and a bit of a shot towards
Scott, he noticed.
"It's too bad I'm not being groomed for that position," Harry answered with a
smile.
"Being groomed is for dogs, you should take the position, I doubt many would
complain," Rachel offered when she put her hand on Harry. "Arcane, the leader
of the X-Men, has a nice ring to it."
"Yes, perhaps, but the X-Men aren't my dream, and thus not my leadership,"
Harry answered when he stepped close to Rachel.
"It's almost like you're half planning forming a group of your own," Rachel
answered but Harry's smile crossed over his face.
"Maybe," Harry answered, the truth was he began to look at a few places he
could use for a headquarters, there were a number of real estate properties
that were up for grabs that he could pick up for cheap.
The time at the X-Men was great, but Harry suspected that there would be time
where he would split from them, although there would be some parties that would
follow him. Where they stood with him, that remained to be seen.
Still this latest training session with the New Mutants offered him a chance to
fine tune his skills as a teacher and he wondered if some of them would follow
him over to his potential new team when he joined them.
"Well whatever you'll do, you're destined for greatness," Rachel added when she
took a step forward and their lips were inches apart.
"Rachel, Harry, Professor Xavier wants you in the other room, we might have
found Jean!"
Rachel and Harry stopped, the moment lost between the both of them, and Scott,
unknowingly, stopped Rachel from kissing Harry. Their thoughts were on Jean
however and the pair walked out to see what Xavier found out. All the while
Rachel felt like she almost did something on an impulse but not the moment
temporarily had been lost. Kitty, Rogue, and Kurt also filed out with Scott
leading the way.
Harry allowed him to lead for now because he would not follow much longer. His
desire for independence grew.
===============================================================================
"Ororo and I tried to corner her, to convince her to come back but Jean lashed
out at us, saying that she needed some space and I know that she meant without
us in it," Logan stated, short simple and to the point. Ororo picked up where
Logan left off.
"And then Jean knocked us out with her powers, they're far stronger than they
were since before the incident," Ororo added when she spun around to look up at
the assembled team members. Xavier pondered the matter for a moment, time
ticked by while the rest of the time waited for what the Headmaster of the
Institute had to say about this entire situation.
As it turned out, they did not have much longer to wait for Xavier's eyes
focused on the entire group before he offered his honest assessment on
everything that went on regarding Jean. He mulled it over himself over the past
number of days, weeks, months, and what have you.
"I do believe that Jean's attempt to assert her independence is something that
we should give her the space for," Xavier responded when he put his hands on
her lap. "Her powers always were a cause for problems and she is just going to
get stronger."
"Can she be stronger than you, Professor?" Scott asked when Xavier paused.
"My powers, while immense, are based on the mortal plane," Xavier answered in
an honest voice when he addressed the entire X-Men team. "Jean's powers are
immersed on an immense scale of a cosmic proportions."
"So in other words, she could swat us all like flies if we annoyed her," Kurt
answered when the fuzzy mutant sat back in the chair fretfully. He could not
think of a worst scenario and believe me. "So I suppose a fruit basket won't
convince her to come home."
"She could swat us all around but there is one of us that might be able to
break through her defenses," Kitty answered when several sets of eyes locked on
Harry.
Harry said nothing at these words, he thought Jean needed some time to come to
terms with the power she wielded and what went on in the inside of her head. It
could be very sobering to deal with cosmic power that could rip people apart on
a vast scale.
Jean's mind was interesting the brief time that Harry and Rachel stepped into
it, not to mention it allowed for the potential to lead down some disturbing
roads. And Harry knew first hand what a disturbing mind could be, going through
the memories of one Tom Marvolo Riddle, with the help of Rachel. While Jean's
mind was no where near that level of disturbing there was still some levels of
it where Harry was reluctant to even think that much about.
The time would come when Jean would come to grips with what went on in her mind
and when that moment came, it would be Jean who would come back home. Harry
knew what the entire team was thinking and while he appreciated their high
opinion on his skills, the fact of the matter was that forcing her hand would
do more harm than good.
He knew if he set his mind to it, Jean could be tracked down, given the psychic
trace Harry left in her mind, along with Rachel, when they left. Granted, it
would take some powerful and very draining magic to get the trace activated but
when they did, they would have it.
"So what do you say, kid?" Logan asked to break Harry finally out of his
thought process and he turned around to address the group before he gave his
words.
"I think Jean will find her own way back here, in her own fashion, it's not a
good idea to push her."
'Especially after the way she acted the last time when she left,'Harry thought
to himself before he paused to offer the X-Men a word to the wise.
"The last time the Phoenix Force was almost contained, it lead to this and Jean
lost all sense of herself," Harry offered to Xavier and he considered the fact.
Harry framed his question in a way where he was not accusing Xavier of anything
but in the same instant, he did not absolve him of all responsibility. "The
Phoenix is a force of power but I think that it has feelings, desires, just
like normal people."
"You think the fact that someone hurt its feelings caused Jean to lash out,"
Rogue suggested and Harrysmiled.
That was exactly what it thought, it was amazing that the Phoenix Force was a
part of Jean but yet was something that controlled her as she struggled with
her inner demons.
Jean should find a balance and while Harry knew that his abilities were not up
to par enough to help her perhaps Rachel could help her. Providing of course
that Jean consented to accept anyone's help, that was the one sticking point.
Such a sticking point made it very difficult to plan for anything but one thing
was for sure, the X-Men headed forward into a brand new challenge. The question
was would Jean agree to return home?
And how long would it be if any of their enemies found out about Jean and tried
to take advantage of their state? There was a Sinister force looming that
offered Harry a bit of a concern but given a brief discussion he had with
Doctor Strange, there might be other dark forces that would corrupt the Phoenix
Force for their own gains.
Harry coughed, he tried to hide his discomfort. He was not feeling his best
after he inhaled the formulas at Oscorp when they exploded but he was certain
that it was nothing.
To Be Continued in "Harry Potter's Day Off."
***** Harry Potter's Day Off *****
Chapter 30: Harry Potter's Day Off.
With these super powered individuals it was hard to remember one thing and that
was despite their extraordinary powers, the super powered lot were prone to
some of the same pratfalls of the rest of us. Injury, heartache, mild
discomfort, and in many extreme cases they were very much prone to death.
However, there was one thing that they were also prone to and that was a
crippling bout of sickness that left even the strongest of them bed ridden.
Hence the position that young Harry Potter found himself in.
He was sick; there was no two questions about it. His face was pale, his hands
were sweaty, his normally vibrant eyes were blood shot , he was running a
fever, he hailed his good friend John a little bit ago, he had stomach cramp,
his head hurt, he was both hot and cold at the same time. All of the signs of a
good old solid bout of the illness but Harry had made one feverish demand in
the midst of hacking and wheezing.
"No hospital!"
That was the demand that Harry Potter made and damn it, he was going to stick
through it for better or for worse, even though his stomach twisted and
knotted, and he felt as if he was going to hurl up every meal that he ever had.
Even if his fever sky rocketed past what was considered normal.
Magic tended to do wonders in healing people and Harry suspected that he would
beat this illness, even if he would be one miserable son of a bitch.
"I'm sure...I can make it...to school today," Harry wheezed when he tried to
get out of bed but he collapsed, somehow by the sheer force of will making it
to the sitting room before he was helped into bed by Kitty and Rogue.
"Yeah, I don't think that's happening," Kitty replied when she made sure that
Harry was secure in the blankets and the cold rag was on his head. She turned
to Xavier with a questioning look in her eyes. "Now what Harry has isn't
contagious, is it?"
"I don't believe so," Xavier responded to Kitty but Harry shook his head.
"Doesn't help the fact that I feel like crap that's been crapped out by other
crap."
Harry sank his head into the pillow and sighed, his eyes watering and his head
boiling. Wizards rarely got ill from mundane illnesses but when they did, it
was spectacular. The bongo drums of death beat their twisted tune on the
cranium of the magical mutant. Still the illness did stranger things to
magicals than they did to the mundane.
Case in point when Harry sneezed and every single clock in the Xavier Institute
grew wings and tried to fly away. They reset themselves after a moment.
"Um, gesundheit?" Kurt asked in a tentative voice.
Rachel was worried that this could have happened when Harry was at Oscorp and
inhaled one of the chemicals in the explosion. Despite he was rather powerful,
that did not make him immune to any and all illnesses. He was human, not a
machine, despite his powers.
"I think you should have some chicken soup or something, Harry," Kitty offered
him but Harry looked at her.
"As long as you're not cooking it," Harry managed before he could help himself.
Kitty's cooking was...well it wasn't good, but Rogue and Kurt remarked that at
least Harry could cook, which should balance things out. The brunette mutant
was stubborn and persistent in learning her craft. Even if she did seem to be
fighting a losing battle, despite her best efforts; that did not change the
fact she would learn.
"It wasn't...my cooking that did that to you?" Kitty asked, worried that Harry
might have eaten something to humor her and it disagreed with him badly. .
"No," Harry responded with a twist and turn in his stomach when he settled
down.
The rest of the New Mutants filed out rather chaotically for school, and Harry
wished they would dial it down, they pounded the inside of his head. Amara
stopped to look at Harry before she felt his forehead.
"You're really hot," Amara remarked when she felt Harry's forehead.
"Thanks, right back at you," Harry answered, his filter on his mind damaged
thanks to his sickness.
"Well my powers...and all that," Amara responded but she felt flustered,
perfectly aware what Harry met and Tabby ushered her out with a smile before
she turned to Harry.
"Get well soon, because if you don't, Mister Personality over there will handle
the training and...that's dead boring," Tabby responded when she eyed Scott,
not even bothering to keep her voice down for his benefit. Tact was not one of
Tabitha Smith's strong points.
"Yeah, Harry, I hope nothing bad happens where you're out for too long," Jamie
added when he looked at the young wizard.
"Get well soon man," Bobby added when several of the New Recruits walked out.
Scott paused before he looked at Harry.
"Well rest easily," Scott said in a stiff voice before he turned around and
walked out.
Harry only half heard Xavier mention that he, Logan, and Storm would be heading
out to track down a potential lead on a new mutant and to keep his communicator
at arm's length but Harry was too busy trying not to hurl out his lungs to pay
too much note at that. His mind and body sank into a deep, dark, abyss.
Harry's mind was down and out for the count for a very long time before he
heard a knock on the door to jolt him out of his thoughts and the dark haired
wizard wished that there was someone else to answer the door. Yet the knocking
got more and more frantic and Harry shook his head. He wished for some higher
power to just strike him down when his body rippled with aches and pains.
"I'm coming, keep your pants on!" Harry managed when he staggered out of bed,
trying to remain on his feet and he began to breath heavily when he took a very
labored step towards the door, his right leg almost buckling underneath him
when he walked.
Somehow, someway, Harry made it to the door and he nearly collapsed on the door
frame but he tried to open the door and turned it, to push it out.
"Yes, what is it?" Harry asked when he saw a young scientist with dark hair
standing on the other side of the doorway and a tense expression was on his
face. At least Harry assumed he was a scientist with a lab coat, glasses, and
briefcase, but the frantic expression on his face indicated that something was
up.
"I'm here to see Charles Xavier," the scientist managed when he tried to stand
on his feet but his knees buckled ever so slightly.
"See Charles Xavier?" Harry asked with a slightly raised eyebrow when he
wondered what this was all about.
"Yes, it's urgent," the scientist managed when he moved inside, when Harry took
a moment to rest against the wall to block the thumping that was in his head.
The scientist stepped inside and looked around before Harry decided to
enlighten him on a rather unfortunate fact about Xavier's attendance or lack
there of.
"He's not here," Harry responded to the scientist, and the scientist turned
around, his eyes flashing.
"Damn it!" the scientist yelled, clutching his briefcase and Harry was sure
that his pupils dilated, and turned slightly green.
"Don't get upset, I can't help it," Harry managed when he breathed in heavily,
and sneezed which caused the ground to rumble underneath him. "Just who are you
anyway?"
"Bruce Banner," the scientist responded after a moment as he listened out.
"Xavier offered me any help if I need it and I need it, the monster is getting
out of control."
'Banner, banner,'Harry thought to himself when he mulled over the matter in his
mind and shook his head. 'Now where have I heard that name before?'
Nothing came to mind for Harry right away and he walked inside before he sank
down on the couch and Banner looked back at him.
"Do you have any idea when Xavier is coming back?" Banner asked him and Harry
shook his head.
"Not a clue," Harry managed when his chest tightened like there was a knot in
it and he breathed in and out. "If you want to come back later..."
"No, I have to see him now, before it's too late," Banner persisted and Harry
clasped his hands to his head, feeling his clammy flash underneath it.
He had a feeling that this guy would bring trouble with him, although in his
violently ill state, Harry could only begin to guess what kind of trouble. He
felt a frigid chill and a warm heat simultaneously at the same time, and pulled
a blanket on him, before he whipped it off. Harry did this three or four times
and he placed his head in his hands.
"Sorry, I've come down with something, I haven't been myself the past couple of
days," Harry answered when he sneezed and the walls of the sitting room at the
Xavier Institute turned pink.
"I can see that," Banner offered in a light voice, it seemed like he was not
the only one having power problems.
The two waited awkwardly, both sick, albeit for drastically different reasons.
===============================================================================
 
One of the gravest threats in the world to national security was the Incredible
Hulk, at least that's what one would hear if they asked General Thunderbolt
Ross. The grizzled army general fought in countless wars but now he stood with
a sadistic expression in his eyes when he watched the video of the Hulk tearing
about his Hulkbuster robots. It was a well-placed investment of tax payer
dollars to allow such a thing to exist. Ross placed his hands on the table and
looked out, watching everything before him.
"Men, the Hulk is the gravest danger the world ever know, but Banner is trying
to keep him under control," Ross responded when he banged his fist down on the
table for emphasis when he turned to face his fellow soldiers. "The Hulk is out
there and we're going to capture him, for better or for worse."
The members of the Hulkbuster unit nodded their heads and Banner turned around
before he peered out the window to their headquarters.
"That monster has eluded us for almost eighteen months but we're not going to
allow him to elude us any longer," Ross continued in a fierce manner before he
turned around and held up a tracking device. "I had someone plant this tracking
device on Banner before he got on the bus after last time. When the time is
right, we'll be able to find him and take him down with extreme prejudice."
The members of the Hulk Buster unit responded with some light nods, was there
any other prejudice with Ross and the Hulk? The man had an ax to grind with the
monster that much was for sure. The Hulk was someone that demanded more
attention from Ross than most people did to dangerous terrorists. Of course, if
one was going to ask Ross, the Hulk would be a great terrorist.
"Banner's trying to get help from someone in Bayville, at that gifted school
that Xavier runs," Ross answered, another potential problem location that Ross
wanted to take a look at. There was something rather funny about that school,
and not funny in a good way.
Ross saw that Banner now was stationary which made it perfect to move in for
the kill. The general chomped on his cigar while he waited and watched, his men
standing by for the orders that would bring in the monster once and for all.
The Hulk should not roam free with his carnage, he was an asset, and needed to
be controlled.
"We better get ready to pounce but remember, it must be done in one shot
because if he is awake and gets angry, it will set everything back," Ross
responded to his men and some of them offered involuntary shudders when they
remembered just angry the Hulk could get. They had been through the monster's
rage more than once and they felt the bumps and bruises from what happened in
the past.
Ross heard a garbled transmission and one of his men ran over to see what the
source of the trouble was. When the man locked onto the frequency, he turned
around to face Fury.
"It's Fury, he wants to speak with you," the man stated and Ross could have
sworn.
Fury was getting on him about the Hulkbuster missions and the General thought
that there was going to be another problem with Fury with this one. He wished
the Commander of SHIELD would step back and let the man do his job. Fury
twisted the knob on the dial and activated the incoming communication link with
the man in charge of SHIELD.
"Yes, what is it?" Ross grunted, clasping his hands together when he stared at
Fury through beady little eyes. The one eyed director of SHIELD narrowed his
eye before staring back at the general.
"You've caused more collateral damage going after the Hulk than the Hulk has
caused on one of his joyrides," Fury responded from the other end and Ross
gritted his teeth, once again Fury meddled in him. "I'm demanding you shut this
entire operation down."
It was Ross's turn to give a nasty smile when he realized that he had Fury by
the balls.
"I'm afraid that's not possible, Fury," Ross answered with sadistic intentions
dancing from his eyes when he placed his hands on the table and looked up at
Fury, staring nastily in his eye. "You see, I've been given full authorization
to hunt down that monster with the full force, he's a threat to national
security. And you Fury, he's out of your jurisdiction."
"Out of my jurisdiction, nothing is out of my jurisdiction Ross," Fury grumbled
when he slammed his hands down on the table across from him.
Ross let the bomb drop before he twisted his gaze towards the other members of
the Hulkbuster unit, who looked anxious about defying Fury.
"I'm afraid...unless you have a way to override the will of the United States
President, a written order, then your jurisdiction means little," Ross
commented when he reached forward to click off the communication link from
Fury. "I'll talk to you later."
Fury gave an angry protest, snarling that he was going to find a way to shut
down this operation. Instincts told Ross that Fury had his own intentions for
the Hulk, as he kept getting in the way of the operations of Ross.
Yet, the Hulkbuster unit was something that had the full jurisdiction of the
United States Government and it was Ross's baby to control as he saw fit, and
Fury had to sit back and watch. He cracked his knuckles with a sadistic grin
going through his eyes.
"We get out now, the Hulk won't get away," Ross responded when he turned to his
men who suited up with the new and improved armor.
The Hulk was not going to get this way, not this time; Ross had his own plans
and would cage the monster. Soon the Hulk's unique genetic structure would
serve him and his plans; in fact someone who was a soldier would be allowed the
Hulk's powers, and not someone who was a savage brute who went on rampages when
the monster got enraged. Such power should not be squandered and Ross knew it.
There were far more worthy people for the savage power.
He prepared to turn around and lead the charge straight to Bayville and take
out anyone who got in his way, they were an accessory to the Hulk's crimes.
===============================================================================
 
"When do you think Xavier will get back?"
Banner asked this question to Harry and Harry tried to shake off the illness
that he felt to address the mild mannered scientist properly.
"I...don't know, hopefully soon," Harry managed when he heard the whirling of
helicopters outside. He took a calming breath to try and get himself back to a
standing position before he turned to Banner. "Did you by any chance...oh I
don't know, have someone that's tracking you?"
Banner went pale when he spun around to see Harry and he got to his feet.
"Ross, General Thunderbolt Ross, he's...been after my other half for a while,"
Banner responded and suddenly, through his ill and hazed state, everything
clicked together for Harry Potter. He knew now where he had heard of this Bruce
Banner before and could have sworn.
Bruce Banner was the Hulk, Harry saw him on the news a few times and Banner was
considered armed and dangerous. Granted, many of the news clips that showed the
Hulk had the monster yell that he wanted to be left alone which Harry
sympathized with. Being hunted down because he had an anger management issue
that caused him to turn into a hulking green monster was not necessary the most
fair thing in the world.
Harry shook his head and remained calm and still before he got up to his feet.
"Stay here, stay calm, I'll handle Ross and his Party Posse," Harry managed
when he placed a hand to his forehead and staggered out the door.
Banner felt the need to bring up a very obvious point to Harry.
"Are you sure you can handle Ross in your state?"
Harry spun around, his eyes bloodshot, his nose congested, his head feeling
like it was on fire with the loud thumping sensation going through it, sweat
rolling down his palms. He looked like Death warmed over twice and he
responded, nearly hacking up his lungs in the process, but he responded never
the less.
"I've had...ahh...worse!"
Harry sneezed and caused all the furniture in the sitting area of the Xavier
Institute to start tap dancing. He turned around and grumbled when he gimped
out of there.
'Magic can do fucking everything except fucking for cure the flu, go fucking
figure,'Harry cursed mentally to himself. The F-Word was only appropriate as
far as Harry was concerned for certain circumstances like in the bedroom, at
rush hour traffic in New York City, and in Algebra class when given a pop quiz,
but Harry was using that word more liberally thanks to his illness.
"Yes, how may I help you?" Harry managed when he stood against the door frame
and looked at Ross.
"General Ross of the United States Army, we know the Hulk is in there, step
aside or you'll be considered an accessory to his crimes," Ross responded in a
harsh voice and Harry staggered when he tried to remain on his feet.
He saw the Hulkbuster robots outside of the gates that had been blown down.
Xavier really needed to amp up his security or ask him to but Harry had one
thought that went through his mind the more he stood.
'This wouldn't be fun even if I was well.'
Harry sneezed once more and suddenly all of the tanks and robots that were on
the lawn levitated in mid air and rotated in the air, causing the people inside
to scream. Ross jumped up on his feet and shook his head.
"What in the name of Sam Hill is going on?"
That's the question Ross asked but Harry did not answer it right away rather he
continued to cough madly and cause the Hulkbuster robots to change different
colors.
"Open fire, he's attacking us!" one of the men stated losing his head.
Banner walked outside and stare them down.
"It's me you want!" Banner yelled raising his hands.
"FIRE IN THE HOLE!"
An electrified grenade shot out and caught Banner dropping him to his knees.
Harry heard a loud growl before he collapsed on the ground.
'They really shouldn't have done that,'Harry thought through the throbbing of
his temples.
"HULK NOT LIKE POWER!"
'They really shouldn't have done that,'Harry thought at the sounds of metal
being smashed hard when the monster rampaged and stormed forward.
The Incredible Hulk was up and the Incredible Hulk was pissed, actually pissed
was an understatement of the century, the not so jolly green giant was in a
towering fury and he continued to go through his rampage to smash every single
thing down.
"Subdue him, get the nets!" Ross yelled at the top of his lungs but the Hulk
was getting stronger the madder that he got.
"You shouldn't have tried, now I'm angry, and you won't like me when I'm
angry," Hulk growled when he snarled at Ross who backed off. "Puny Banner is
taking a nap, now you're going to have to deal with ME!"
Hulk was stuck in the back with a trio of taser guns but the not so jolly green
giant felt barely a tickle. Weakly lifting his hand, Harry knocked the
attackers away from the Hulk.
"Don't need help," Hulk grunted when he ran through the Hulkbusters like they
were nothing, tearing through them.
Harry could see that and really wished he could enjoy this sound thrashing the
Hulk was giving this jerks a bit better. It was unfortunate that the urge to
hurl his own lungs into a million pieces never left the sorcerer for an
instant. Otherwise he would have seen the Hulk swing for the fences and take
out one of the larger Hulkbuster robots through the fences.
More people arrived, which was the least of Harry's worries and one of the last
people he wanted to see when he was on the ground and ill showed up. Nick Fury
dropped down to the ground before he held up a gun and blasted at the
Hulkbuster units to get their attention.
"Stand down!" Fury yelled but Hulk growled at him.
Harry pulled himself to his feet, to stand with dignity.
"Fury, I told you, you're jurisdiction has no place here," Ross responded with
a gruff tone when he folded his hands but Fury's face contorted into a nasty
grin.
"Actually it does, Ross," Fury responded before he slapped a piece of paper
into the hands of the general. "SHIELD has been given full authorization to
deal with the Hulk and Banner. Read it and weep."
Ross read it and he wept, when Harry pulled himself to his feet and watched
him.
"This isn't over Fury," Ross answered when he gave a very nasty glare to the
director of SHIELD.
"No, it isn't," Fury agreed when he stared back at Ross before he turned to the
Hulk.
"You better watch who you're looking at, unless you want to lose that other
eye," Hulk growled when he stared down Fury.
"SHIELD needs your help with an important matter, both yours and Banner's,"
Fury answered when he stared down the Hulk.
After all of what Harry heard about the Hulk, seeing the green monster mull
over the matter in his mind carefully was not one of the things that he
expected to see but then again, there it was. Harry's heart beat against his
chest when he moved his way back in.
He managed to shake his head.
"If anyone needs me, I'm going to go back on the couch and die," Harry managed
when he looked at the SHIELD agents, coughing and hacking the entire way.
They watched Harry leave, not knowing what to say before he disappeared inside.
"Make sure this entire mess is cleared up," Fury barked to the SHIELD members.
"What about Potter?"
"Let him rest," Fury offered when Harry stumbled into the Xavier Institute to
drop back down on the couch. He turned to the Hulk. "What about you?"
"I'll get back to you," Hulk growled before he jumped into the air and
disappeared.
===============================================================================
 
Unknowing to everyone else, Harry was down on the couch after what occurred,
sleeping the effects of his illness off rather peacefully. The incident with
the Hulk was not something that anyone would find out, given that the SHIELD
agents took care of all of the evidence and repaired the damages of the Mansion
in less than an hour. What happened to the Hulk, Harry had no idea and quite
frankly he did not really care about, all he cared about was getting some
sleep.
He turned over, a peaceful expression on his face, at least more peaceful than
he ever thought that he would have. His hands twitched slightly but other than
the residual soreness, Harry found himself to be perfectly find and out of it
to be honest. His breathing remained shallow as he went over everything in his
mind.
The mystery of how he got so sick would be left for another time, although
whatever he had was not some kind of contagious virus. Harry pinned the blame
on the chemicals at the Oscorp lab and Osborn was still missing come to think
about that, where he was, Harry had no idea whatsoever.
His fingers twitched, the numbness filled them when he turned over and he
barely heard the doors open to announce the arrival of everyone else.
"Sleeping like a baby, I told you that he'd be fine."
Rogue was the one who stated these words, not that Harry heard them in his
state of mind, no those were words that Harry barely registered to be honest.
"I know, but you can't blame me for being worried," Kitty answered when she
shook her head.
"Yeah, given the amount of trouble that he attracts, but he's here and fine,"
Scott replied when he turned around so his eyes flashed.
Scott thought about it, the fact was that he would be back on his feet but for
today, Scott and Logan took care of the New Mutants training session. There
would come a day where he would be leading this entire time after all and he
decided now was the best time to forge an alliance.
"Bet you it's not as productive as when Harry leads the classes."
There was also the fact of the matter of Jean and where she was, Scott thought
he saw a glimpse of her earlier this week but when he tried to chase Jean down,
she was gone. She wanted nothing to do with him.
Scott wondered if this glimpse that Jean allowed to see of him was something
that was intentional or something that was accidental. Or maybe if it was Scott
simply seeing what he wished to see. That was another matter for another time.
Harry flickered his eyes open a little bit and to be honest, he felt a lot
better than he did earlier. It was amazing how a good five or six hours of
sleep could heal the body. Then again, Harry putting his body in a state of
unconscious allowed his magic to work its magic and bring him back to life. If
anything else, Harry thought that his body was stronger than ever before and
all it took was a dangerous illness to boost his powers.
Of course, Harry figured that there was a small chance that he exaggerated a
little bit but still he wondered if this illness really was a byproduct of a
change that his body was going through as his powers evolved to a new level.
Exactly what level was, Harry had no idea but he would find out all too soon
and he was sure that Strange would be happy to share his theories the next time
they had a session together.
Harry rolled over when he sighed long and took a deep breath, he could use a
couple more hours of sleep but he would be back and ready to go.
In his mind, there were visions of what he could potentially do with his powers
dancing in his head, but that was something that Harry needed to explore at a
later time when the post illness soreness left his body. Everyone seemed
willing to leave him alone as Harry rested on the couch.
The only reason he was out here because he foolishly tried to get to school in
the morning despite the illness that he had but he collapsed. He shook his
head, not exactly the smartest move in the world in hindsight, but Potters
often were known for being bull headed and stubborn in the face of certain
crisis.
Harry heard the voices of others around him as people moved around the Mansion
but he decided to play dead for a little longer.
He envisioned something weird when he drifted off to sleep. There was a faint
hoarse voice that stated, "Harry, help" but the dark haired wizard chalked it
up as something to do with his post-fever delirium.
===============================================================================
 
Bruce Banner now calmed down and found himself on the flying fortress that
belonged to SHIELD, the Hellicarrier and walked side by side with Nick Fury.
There was a moment in time where both men were silent, Banner and Fury were not
exactly buddies to be honest. That was why Banner found himself surprised that
Fury pulled him out of the fire when he did.
Of course, if Bruce Banner knew Nick Fury, there was one thing he could count
on and take to the bank; if Fury did something for someone, that usually meant
that Banner could count on returning the favor down the line. That was one
thing that he could believe in. Sure enough, Banner decided to get that matter
out of the way before he turned around and stared down Fury.
"So I'm taking it that the rescue was not out of the goodness of your heart?"
"I don't like an injustice being done as much as the next person," Fury
answered without missing a beat as he walked down the corridors with Banner.
"And it offered me the perfect chance to stick it to Ross."
"Ah, a vendetta between you two," Banner offered and Fury responded with a
crisp nod, and the mild mannered scientist knew that this was the best he was
going to get out of the SHIELD commander.
"You've been around the block a few times Banner, you know what it's like,"
Fury answered when he continued to walk down the hallway with Banner. "Ross has
his own designs on the Hulk."
"I could have figured that out," Banner responded when he clutched the case he
had in his hand and stood for a moment, ready to go.
Fury did not speak much, he was not one for words, unless they were orders that
were being barked out to another person, then Fury was going to give him all of
the words. Banner wondered what Fury's game was, again he refused to believe
that Fury bailed the Hulk out of the fire out of the kindness of his heart.
"Stand back."
Banner stood back at that moment and Fury worked with the lock to allow it to
slide open before them. Fury waited for Banner to ask the question.
"We have a problem that I need you to solve and it might give you a solution to
your hulking dilemma," Fury remarked to Banner and now the scientist was
interested. Fury knew that he had the man's full attention and began to speak
to him. "A few weeks ago, I came across the broken pieces of a rare gem that a
mutant terrorist known as Magneto was trying to use to amplify the powers of
other mutants and control them."
Banner's jaw set and he watched Fury carefully but Fury knew that he had
Banner's attention.
"These gems have properties that when utilized right might correct defects but
there's one component missing from them that I need to get them working," Fury
answered when he turned to Banner. "Tony Stark is working with one of the
pieces to try and figure out that component as we speak."
"Stark's hit a dead end, I take it," Banner responded and Fury's eye looked
upon Banner's face.
"That's right, and I was hoping that you might be able to figure out what he
couldn't."
Banner looked at the gems, the Hulk growled from within him but he took a
calming breath and allowed himself to remain stoic. It was hard not to get
angry with everything that happened but Banner was angry.
"The gems have the potential to separate the Hulk or to make him stronger, more
powerful," Banner summarized, giving the first hypothesis that came to mind.
"Fifty-fifty shot, better odds than we had before," Fury said in a gruff voice
when he stood on his heels and rocked forward.
Banner folded his hands and nodded to try and figure out what Fury wanted him
to do. He had a feeling that Fury's offer to help him with his Hulking Problem
was only one part of a rather big problem. The scientist took a moment to look
at Fury before Fury responded with another answer.
"We have a huge problem that has vexed us for a long time," Fury responded when
he turned around and pushed several buttons to activate a hologram device.
The image of a stasis tube containing Steve Rogers, better known as Captain
America, showed up and Banner leaned forward to see this living legend.
Obviously, he knew who this man was; one would have to live underneath a rock
not to know who Captain America was.
"That's your big problem?" Banner asked when he looked at Fury who responded
with a nod.
"A big problem, given that there are some who want to pull the plug on Captain
America, but I don't want to go back on the promise that I made," Fury answered
when he clutched his hands together and thought about the promise he made to
Steve Rogers and to others. It had been years since he had been put under and
Fury did not want to break the promise that he made.
He knew that Captain America would not break his promise that much was for
sure. Banner remained standing next to Fury before the member of SHIELD
continued to stand steady.
"I'll see what I can do, but we're not exactly looking too promising," Banner
answered Fury in an honest and stiff voice when he looked at the gem. Touching
it into his hand even for a few seconds made the Hulk inside bubble to the
surface, threatening to burst out. Banner shuddered when it was so close to his
hand but he managed to turn towards Fury. "If I can do anything to help, I
would."
Fury knew that he could count on Banner, providing he kept his other half in
check and did not burst out, that was something that Fury feared would happen.
The SHIELD director stood and saw the gem glow once again, it was only a small
fragment, there had to be more and there had to be another clue within it to
find whatever that missing element was.
The problem was that Fury had no idea what that missing element was to
stabilize the gems, so far science failed him but there had to be a logical
explain. The Director of SHIELD was a man who prided himself on logic and now
he had two of the top scientific minds working on it, and he thought also about
bringing Reed Richards in.
However, Richards was in deep space with the rest of the Fantastic Four on a
mission. It was hard to get a hold of them when they spent so much time about
and around in space.
"Do you have any time table about when you want these gems figured out?" Banner
asked when he broke Fury's thoughts.
Fury pondered this for a few seconds, mulling it over in his mind before he
responded in a short voice.
"As soon as possible Banner, people are breathing down my neck," Fury offered
with Banner feeling the pressure on.
Pressure was good for Banner to focus, providing that he didn't Hulk out, that
would be a bit of a problem. The scientist gave another look at the gem, once
again, the gem locked onto his inner savage and he could not touch it for more
than a few seconds with his bare hand. Gloves were a requirement for something
like that, that much Banner knew.
"I'll get to work as soon as possible," Banner chimed in and Fury answered with
his most stoic nod.
It was time to figure out how much these gems meant when Fury scoured the world
using the full resources of SHIELD for even more.
===============================================================================
 
Wind blew outside late at night when Harry sat outside, feeling much better
than he was earlier in that day. In fact, Harry would go as far as saying that
it was like he never got sick at all but he had his memories of what happened.
He sat and folded his hands when he hovered in the air with his legs crossed,
staring out into the night and wondering if anyone would notice that he
disappeared from his bed. Something told Harry that it would be a bit, as they
were thrown into the Danger Room tonight for some hard training.
"I was wondering where you disappeared off to."
Harry looked over his shoulder and he saw Rachel standing outside, wearing a
tight black top and blue jeans when she made her way outside.
"Much better now, I take it," Rachel offered Harry and Harry dropped down to
face her.
"Hey, Rachel," Harry responded when he dropped down to the ground to face her.
She stood on the ground, her red hair framing her face when she stood to face
him. "Yeah, I'm loads better with what happened."
"That's good, I'm glad you're better, I thought something bad happened," Rachel
offered when she reached forward and instinctively put her hands on Harry's
waist. "I thought that..."
"Yeah, I guess my body healed itself," Harry responded when he peered into her
green eyes when the two looked at each other.
They stood outside late at night and the two looked at each other for a long
time, smiling at each other when they sat beside each other.
"And just think I had to go through pain and agony to do it," Harry responded
after another moment and Rachel nodded, a smile crossing her face.
Rachel took a moment to consider the young man before her, it was a long couple
of months since she got here but she spent some time peering into Harry's mind
and his memories. Granted most of what she looked at was the foreign memories
that Harry had her look through to make sense of them. They cobbled more
together over the past number of weeks than Rachel thought about.
Yet there were other memories Rachel saw in his mind, only a few fragments here
and there but when a person got that deep and that intimate into a person's
psyche, there had to be a certain level of trust established between the two
parties. She stood out with Harry and they connected on one of the most
intimate levels that two people could go. The red head didn't trust too well
because of what happened.
Her life was surrounded by tragedy and heartbreak, she didn't let it bother her
too much, maybe a little bit but it was one of those things she had to deal
with and that she had to acknowledge.
"Something on your mind, Rachel?" Harry asked when he looked back at the pretty
redhead.
"Just thinking about what happened...before I got here," Rachel answered when
she stepped forward and face Harry. "You have a good idea, don't you?"
"I have a few ideas, but I won't tell anyone if you won't want me to," Harry
responded when he looked back at Rachel and she felt grateful.
"Thanks," Rachel responded when she threw her arms around Harry in a hug,
feeling at ease with him keeping her secrets, even from Kitty and Rogue. Rachel
could tell that Rogue seemed a bit suspicious of her, even though Kitty seemed
rather friendly.
Rachel and Harry locked eyes and there was no point in delaying any longer. The
other night it was interrupted but this time, they would not be denied what was
true in their hearts.
The two met in a passionate kiss, their lips melting together with the
pleasure, and Rachel felt the pleasure go through her body, feeling a heat that
had nothing to do with her powers course around her.
She wrapped her arms around Harry's neck to deepen the kiss and her legs around
his waist, she knew what she wanted and Harry's body and Harry placed a hand
underneath her pert breast. She sighed in his mouth when Harry squeezed.
'Harry, take me to your room,'Rachel thought to him through wanton need,
desires that she never had a chance to fulfill and she trusted no one else to
fulfill them.
'Are you sure?'Harry asked her mentally.
'I need you badly, you should see how bad I need you between my thighs,'Rachel
breathed in Harry's ear. 'Yes, I'm sure.'
Harry scooped up the newest member of his group in his arms, he figured that
this would happen.
Smut/Lemon Begins.
Harry was back in the bedroom with Rachel and he set her down on the bed. He
reached down and removed Rachel's shirt to reveal her firm stomach and her pert
breasts encased in an orange bra. Her pale skin had a few scars on it but they
did not detract from her beauty.
Rachel removed Harry's shirt and saw his sexy muscular chest and abs, rubbing
her hands around it.
"You're as good as I imagined," Rachel remarked when she rubbed her fingers
over Harry's chest and abs, before she snaked her hand in his pants. "Oh yes,
you're feeling much better."
Rachel's hand squeezed Harry's bulge, the nineteen year old Omega Level Mutant
was sick and tired of second guessing everything in her life, she wanted some
pleasure now and Harry was going to give it to her. Her strong hand pumped
Harry's cock, squeezing his throbbing manhood hard in her hand.
"Shit Rachel, that feels good," Harry answered when Rachel squeezed him before
she used her telekinetic powers to pull Harry's belt off and also his pants.
Harry's tent was sent to her and Rachel pulled his boxers down, allowing his
cock to spring out to face her. She caught the piece of meat in her hand and
gave in a slight lick.
"It's okay Rachel, really use your tongue," Harry said when Rachel continued to
lick his member, licking it and feeling it within her mouth before she popped
Harry's tool into her mouth, feeling him in her mouth. "That's it, suck me,
baby."
Rachel lowered her mouth down Harry's cock and pushed back up to spear it down
her throat, feeling it hit the back of her throat. She managed to push it
harder down her throat, she gave Harry some deep-throat action and he felt the
joy of his cock going down her throat cavity.
"You have a good mouth," Harry groaned when Rachel went down on him with her
tight mouth.
'Let's see how good yours is,'Rachel projected to him mentally and her pants
slid off around her ankles before she pulled her panties down to reveal her
sex.
"Yeah, sit on my face, and I'll eat you out," Harry grunted when Rachel shifted
her positioning and Harry dove into her pussy folds, tonguing it and tasting
the lovely juices that dribbled down from her.
Rachel gave pleasurable vibrations as she picked subtle cues of what Harry
wanted out of his mind to really give him the cock sucking that he deserved.
She could tell that Harry did the same thing to her when he dove into her
pussy. Harry had some latent telepathy abilities that were natural and Rachel
thought that this would be good practice and a fun way to practice.
'Oh Harry, you have a divine tongue,'Rachel thought when she panted when
Harry's tongue at her out.
'You haven't felt anything yet,'Harry thought back to her and Harry drilled his
tongue into her, hissing into her cunt.
'Shit, that's so good,'Rachel managed when she went down on Harry's cock,
determined to have his cum down her throat.
She blew him with all of the skill she could muster and also took her hands to
play with his balls, to coax his cum out of him.
All the while where Harry speared his tongue down her tight quim, taking a
moment to rub her clit before he returned back to her pussy. He hit all of
Rachel's sensitive spots to give her the most pleasure and her eyes flickered
shut when she breathed heavily when she came on his face.
The scent of her tasty juices caused Harry to lose his load down her throat.
Rachel moaned heartily when Harry drained the contents of his nuts down her
throat, splattering his juices straight down her throat.
"Wow," Rachel breathed when Harry pushed her back on the bed and gripped her
around the shoulders.
"You haven't seen wow, yet," Harry responded when he teased Rachel's slit with
his fingers and she gave a whimper.
Her bra was the only article of clothing she wore and not for long when Harry
pulled it from her, to allow her breasts to bounce out. He placed hands on both
of her breasts and gave them a tight squeeze around them causing her to moan
with pleasure.
"Harry, I need you in me," Rachel begged him, feeling the heat between her legs
and the itch that only one thing could scratch.
Harry straddled her and rubbed the head of his cock against the underside of
her stomach with Rachel looking up at him with imploring eyes. He aimed his
cock and stuffed it inside her, feeling her pussy wrap against him tightly.
Rachel whined when the first real cock entered her, her hymen already having
been broken when she was subjected to scientific experiments. Harry lifted up
and pushed down into Rachel's cunt, causing pleasure to course out her body and
her to pant with a series of "oohs and aahs."
"You're tight," Harry grunted when Rachel lifted her hips up to meet Harry's
incoming thrusts, their bodies getting sweaty when they began their dance.
Harry pressed his mouth down on Rachel's nipple before he sucked on her nipples
and gave her the pleasure she sought.
"Yes, more, fuck me," Rachel groaned when Harry plunged his thick tool into her
love box, stuffed in her tightly and the red head grabbed her hands around him.
The two of them continued their dance, with Rachel using her pussy muscles to
contort and squeeze Harry's cock, summoning the full power that she had.
It was the erotic dance both of them shared, giving it to each other like two
powerful figures would. They exchanged strokes and ran their hands over each
other's hot bodies. Harry pumped his cock deep into Rachel's cunt, with her
squeezing him the further and deeper he went.
Rachel panted when Harry drove her to earth shattering orgasm after earth
shattering orgasm, each time she was driven higher and higher, and knew that
she should have done this a little bit sooner. However, she couldn't worry
about what happened before rather she should worry about what happened now.
Harry pushed his cock into her and looked in her eyes.
"Cumming now," Harry grunted after much time passed when Harry planted his pole
into her sex with each passing motion.
"In me, need it, oh, ah, yes," Rachel moaned at the top of her lungs and
Harry's balls tightened before the current of cum blasted into her.
Harry pulled out of Rachel who laid on the bed, her legs spread and she scooped
Harry's dribbling cum off of her thumbs before she popped her fingers into her
mouth and laid back, her short hair sexily framing her face when she did so.
She sighed when she sucked the tasty delights from her feelings. She wondered
if there was some quality about Harry's cum that made it taste like the best
thing to each individual girl that sampled it.
"I want more Harry, I can't have enough," Rachel purred before she flipped
herself over on the bed and presented her backside towards Harry.
Harry thought that her super powered abilities were coupled with a super
powered sex drive, not that it was a bad thing .He grabbed Rachel's hips in his
hands and once again aimed towards her dripping slit, before he thrust into
her.
"YES!" Rachel screamed when she felt Harry's cock fill her up and it pump into
her between her legs. His hands found their way to her breasts, Harry squeezed
and fondled them, twisting her nipples slightly. That added to the erotic
pleasure between the two of them.
"Better the second time," Harry grunted when he pushed his cock deep into her
from behind, his balls slapped against her thighs hard when he did so.
The strokes inside Rachel made her body feel like it was on fire but in the
good way, her toes curled and her pussy moistened. She knew that if many other
girls got the idea that Harry was getting this talented, that they would be
lining around the block and begging Harry for a chance to sample his mighty
tool in their toolbox.
Rachel mentally slapped herself for the cheesiness of the analogy but her point
still stood. Harry's cock was strong and past, ripping into Rachel at an
intense speed, pushing her to the boundaries and ripping into her.
Harry felt her intense tightness; he could feel something powerful manipulate
his penis as Rachel summoned all of her power and strength into her pussy.
There was something about her that drove her wild, her sex organ squeezed his
in the most pleasurable way.
He kept the pace, plunging into her, feeling her tight walls rub and hug him,
her cunt juices lubricating him to make his passage nice and easy. Harry thrust
into her orifice to skillfully stretch her out, taking each and every
individual plunge into her.
"Oh, baby, you fill me up so good," Rachel moaned when Harry played with her
breasts and slapped her ass. Rachel wondered what it would be like for Harry to
stick his cock in there. "Harry...could you please finish up in my ass?"
Harry decided to oblige the lady, pulling his rod out of her pussy and plunging
it into a different, even tighter, hole and continued his efforts in fucking.
Rachel's tight asshole squeezed around his thick tool when he plunged into her
hard, pushing her asshole apart to feel the warm desire clench around him.
"Yeah, good as I thought," Rachel managed when the redhead bit her lip to
stifle the screams a little bit.
"Such a nice tight ass," Harry grunted when he pushed his cock deep into her
ass, plunging it into her anal cavity whilst Rachel fingered herself heatedly.
She whimpered when she rode her own finger, Harry knew his way around and ass
and a cunt, that much was for sure and he also fondled her breasts, his touches
driving her to the brink of insanity. Her eyes flickered when her cum dribbled
out on the bed.
Harry scooped up the cum on his fingers and lifted his hand up to place them
into Rachel's mouth, allowing her to feast upon her own cum.
"You're a dirty girl, eating your own cum," Harry grunted when he slammed his
fleshy hard pole into her sphincter and stretched her out.
"Am I dirty?" Rachel cooed, heatedly when she licked her own cum from Harry's
fingers and suckled out them. "Cum in my ass my lover, blow your seed deep into
my bowels."
Harry found himself obliged to do so with his balls tightening and they
clenched, before they shot a hot load into Rachel's anus, causing her to
collapse on the bed. His cock pumped into her a few more times.
Smut/Lemon Ends.
Harry saw Rachel lie there, taking a deep breath when she felt the pleasure of
Harry screwing both of her holes.
"Well, Harry's feeling better, but the question is he up for a little more
celebration?"
Kitty and Rogue stood at the door, dressed in bathrobes, Kitty wore a white one
and Rogue wore a black one.
"We should have figured that she was going to join," Rogue answered, she didn't
feel that much at ease with Rachel but she figured that she should trust
Harry's judgment.
"Well she still has to pass the initiation," Kitty commented with an amused
glint in her eyes.
Rachel seemed surprised and wondered what that consisted of.
"It's no big deal really," Kitty added when she looked at the redhead girl. "It
involves handcuffs, fuzzy dice, and a rubber duck."
Kitty could barely keep a straight face during this whole thing.
To Be Continued in "Sins of the Father." 
***** Sins of the Father *****
Chapter Thirty One: Sins of the Father
"Do not despair if you do not get a clear picture of how powerful you are.
People have been trying to read powers with clarity since the dawn of time.
Very few have had any kind of success."
Those were the words of Doctor Strange during Harry's latest training session.
Harry had a few words to state.
"Ever since my illness, I've been a lot more focused, everything's been
processing in my mind faster," Harry remarked when he looked to the Sorcerer
Supreme. "How could this be?"
"I have noticed this change, do not think I have not," Strange answered when he
looked at Harry, sure enough it was remarkable that he was able to process
information three times as fast since his sudden bout of illness. His mind was
like a computer, studying the scenarios around him, and processing, before he
mimicked everything Strange taught him with one hundred percent clarity. "We
will try a different tact."
A blindfold appeared around Harry's eyes.
"There will be some instances as I have found out where you can't rely on sight
alone to do a battle, for magic is illusion," Strange stated and Harry nodded
before the Sorcerer Supreme pressed on. "Therefore you must rely on your
instincts and not what you see with your eyes. Or even what you are unable to
see."
To his credit, despite his eyes being covered, Harry processed what was going
on around him. Despite his eyes being covered, he fine-tuned his hearing and
his other senses and sensed the body language of Strange through that. He
processed it, he did not need to have his eyes uncovered to see.
Strange was pleased with the progress his pupil made.
"Magic is all about intent, focus, and numbers," Strange answered Harry, before
he crossed. "There is a certain mathematics to magic, where the numbers three
and seven lead to something strongly powerful."
Harry knew this, well Tom knew this technically, from Artimancy and this was
true throughout the multiverse.
===============================================================================
Training was something that was part of the lives of the X-Men and something
that they did multiple times a week. In fact, they were in the midst of a
pretty intense and important training session as of this very moment. While a
valuable member of their team still elected to not return, they tried to press
on without her, even though they knew that she left a spot in the team that was
hard to fill at any rate.
Harry stood out to think about where Jean gone, there had been a few sightings
of her over the past few weeks, despite being gone it was almost like she
wanted the X-Men to see her to let them know that she was alright. Without them
really seeing her if that made any sense whatsoever. Jean would come back but
Harry did wish to speak with her. Maybe if she did not return in another month,
Harry would seek her out.
As of now, Harry could not worry about where Jean was, rather he needed to
focus on the task at hand before him, the training of the new recruits. They
had come a long way since they arrived at the Institute a couple of months back
but at the same time, they still had a very long way to go. Harry understood
this better than anyone that there were times where it would take a while to
get the hang of things regarding training.
"Okay, this exercise might seem run of the mill but it's essential," Harry
answered when he turned to the new recruits and also some of the old hands like
Kurt and Rogue who agreed to be a part of this mission. "Knowing where your
team is at all times is essential, as your teammates are part of the tool set
you need to use in a dangerous situation."
Harry paused when he stared at them before he offered them more cryptic words
before he conjured a fog to make things more interesting and challenging for
the recruits.
"You will need to focus on your surroundings and use your instincts, even when
your eyesight is compromised, you have four other senses, use them," Harry
answered when he looked around at the new recruits and a few of the team
members who elected to be in this exercise.
There was an instant where Harry paused before he continued to speak.
"At the same time, your team members will not always be already for you to rely
on them. Whether it be by their nature or because they are caught up in a
problem of their own, that is an eventual thing that you may have to deal with.
Therefore, adaptability is important, sometimes you got to stand on your own
two feet if you want to win the day and seize the moment."
There were nods from the new recruits and Harry understood that there were
times where he played off of his team rather well, often times to great
success. But there were other times where he had to stand alone in the field of
battle but Harry was used to standing alone. He did not fear having to go up
against immense odds by himself should the situation dictate it but he avoided
it when he could.
"Everyone get in your positions!" Harry yelled at the top of his lungs when the
team scrambled, struggling a bit through the fog he conjured. "And remember the
drill and assume that this one will be for real. This may be an important
exercise to determine if you should graduate to the main X-Men roster or if you
will remain in the remedial class."
Scott watched Harry from a distance with his arms folded and allowed everything
to sink in. He watched Rachel say something to Harry and it was painfully
obvious that Harry managed a third girl. Again, Scott wondered about how he did
it and if the staff at the school were uneasy, they sure weren't saying
anything, at least for now. The other girls at the public school meanwhile were
scheming for a spot on Harry's dance card, some of them trouble.
He thought that Harry was naturally in his element as well, giving instruction
and that fact rubbed him the wrong way a little bit. He watched, thinking that
there would come a time where Harry would slip up and sure there had been some
near misses but Harry was adaptable. Failure did not seem to be in his
vocabulary and he was getting better, that was the scary part.
"Okay, let's do this," Bobby remarked from afar when he rubbed his heads
together.
"We're going to blow this one out of the park," Jubilee answered when she
turned around and faced the rest of her team who nodded.
"Are you sure this is going to work?" Jamie asked and Bobby clapped him on the
shoulder which caused some of his dupes to form, although not as many as before
and he was quicker to reign them in thanks to Harry's advice.
"Piece of cake," Bobby stated, when Kurt lead one squad of Iceman, Jubilee,
Multiple, and Boom Boom while Rogue lead another squad of Bezerker, Sunspot,
Magma, Cannonball, and Wolfsbane. The attacking team was lopsided to simulate
the fact that many times when an enemy attacked, they would have a superior
numbers advantage and a defending squad would need to compensate for that.
The fog added an unpredictable factor to both sides.
Kurt's squad was going to see how well they adapted from an attack from Rogue's
squad.
Kitty and Rachel stood by Harry, with Rachel getting the nod to join the main
roster after a short time. There were whispers that she would be a good fit to
take Jean's place which was not her intention at all. She had no intention of
replacing Jean Grey as a member of the X-Men and hoped that she would return,
although when that would happen, she did not really know.
"The team looks ready, let's hope they stick to the plan," Harry remarked when
he watched them all.
Scott stood a ways back from them and observed in his own right, but there was
no one else out here for this outside exercise for the team.
Kurt was lowered down in a basket by Multiple and Iceman as he closed his eyes.
He braced himself from what was to come, when suddenly, he saw Magma on the
ground beneath him and she launched a fireball from her hands, striking the
side of the basket.
"The enemy is attacking!" Iceman yelled at the top of his lungs.
"The first one was a warning shot, the second one will take you down!" Rogue
yelled from below. "I'm not joking, surrender peacefully and you won't get
hurt!"
"Never!" Jubilee yelled when she shot fireworks down at the attacking squad,
causing them to scatter.
Kurt rocked back and forth in the basket, when he saw Wolfsbane and Bezerker
make their way up the rocks to engage him in battle. He waited when Iceman and
Multiple felt the basket slip from their hands as Jubilee engaged Magma in
battle on the other side.
"Take that, take that, and some of that!" Jubilee yelled but the rocks shifted
from underneath her feet and a spurt of lava splattered out from behind her. It
did not strike her but it merely started her and rocked her a little bit.
"Stand back, Boom Boom coming through!"
"Oh no," Kurt groaned when Boom Boom, a little late to the party, dove down
before she sent a barrage of her cherry bombs down.
On the bright side, it sent the retreating team packing, so that much was a
win, Harry noted on his sheet.
On the negative side, it let the enemies know that she was here and what she
was capable of, even if it was an effective assault. That one might not work as
well outside of a battle scenario and also the basket began to snap down,
causing Kurt to scream.
Thankfully, being an experienced team member and able to adapt to the
situation, Kurt teleported out of the basket, before it smashed to the ground
into pieces. Harry held his hand up in the air and he made a banging noise with
his hand, which signaled that the exercise was over.
The team members turned around to face Harry after what happened.
"Well, I can't say both sides were perfect, but both sides have improved from
the dry run," Harry responded when he looked at both of the team members.
"Tabby, aim still needs a little work and while your attack was effective, you
kind of announce yourself to the enemies."
Scott could not resist offering his two cents to the matter. "That was reckless
and you could have gotten the team members killed!"
Harry's eyes fixed on Scott's in a very prominent, "please let me do my job and
kindly be quiet" look and Scott folded his arms with a scowl pressed upon his
face.
"First of all, this being a simulation, I made sure that there were fail safes
that no real harm would come to the team mates," Harry added when he looked at
them all. "A bit of physical injury to remind you what is on the line sure,
some emotional trauma when someone spooks another teammate with a burst of lava
behind them."
It was at that point where Magma looked at Jubilee with a bit of a smirk on her
face and she offered a pouty expression to the mutant which caused her fellow
teammates to laugh.
"I'll have notes back to you guys by the end of today as always and if you have
any questions, you know where my office is," Harry responded when they laughed
at this little joke.
Technically Harry didn't have an office, rather he had a bedroom but they were
invited to ask him questions, except after eight PM at night because that was
Harry's time. None of them asked questions about what that meant but they all
had a good idea.
Logan exited the Institute and popped up to stand beside Harry, a bit of a
grimace curling around his face.
"We've got a bit of a problem, Time Bomb's father here arrived to see her,"
Logan said to Harry in an undertone.
"I was under the assumption that Mr. Smith was banned by Tabby's mother and
wasn't he in jail?" Harry asked to Logan.
"Guess they felt sorry for the schmuck, but I don't normally ask people to do
this, but if you see him, can you use your hocus pocus to make him disappear?'"
Logan asked but Harry smiled a smile. "I'll go and tell her that her father's
been snooping around, kid won't take it that well, given the strained
relationship that they have."
===============================================================================
Things improved with the Brotherhood over the past few weeks, well most of the
improvement had to do with their living conditions more than anything else. The
boarding house that looked like it was always up for demolishing had been
outfitted to a world class training facility.
All of them learned not to ask any questions even if they had many of them on
their mind. They were kept out of the eyesight of the X-Men, hoping that they
could prepare for them. That was the orders of their new leader, said new
leader was knocking them around.
"Again, pathetic!" Sin yelled when she waved for them to get them up to her
feet.
"I'll show her pathetic," Lance said through gritted teeth when he placed his
feet on the ground and began to rock it underneath his feet. "I'll show her."
Sin jumped into the air, before she threw a series of metallic balls at Lance,
causing them to break open on the ground and cause his equilibrium to be
staggered and stunned before he blinked a little bit. Lance grabbed the side of
his head, clutching his ear, before Sin took him out.
"You sure showed her," Todd remarked in a sour voice when he watched Sin
rushing him but he jumped out of the way.
She pulled out a chain and shot it towards Toad, wrapping it around his ankles,
before she threw him down to the ground. Toad screamed before he was knocked to
the ground.
"So, are you doing anything on Saturday night?" Pietro asked when he moved
forward to engage Sin in battle, but she ignored his advances before she swept
the leg out from underneath him, and she landed on her feet, saying something
underneath her breath in German. "I don't know what she said, but it seems like
it was hot."
"Actually she called you a dickhead," Toad responded when he rubbed the side of
his head.
"And enough!" Sin yelled when they stood on their feet or tried to but they
collapsed down. All four members of the Brotherhood panted, out of breath.
There was a slow clapping when the Taskmasker showed up. The clapping was loud
and sarcastic when he made his way into the room, he watched over the entire
battle. The Taskmaster turned on his feet to watch the Brotherhood before he
stood on his feet and stared them down.
The Brotherhood fell into line, all standing up straight, they all knew to show
the proper respect when the Taskmaster showed up. Their palms were sweaty when
they stared back up at the Taskmaster, all of them blinking and wondering what
he was going to say. The entire group was put through the ringer but despite
that fact, they stood up straight.
"Congratulations, you've managed to stay on your feet for the entire duration
of the battle, for the most part," The Taskmaster answered when he looked back
at the assembled Brotherhood members before he rubbed his hands together. "Over
the past couple of months, you've shown marked improvement and with the school
year wrapping up, you've been given a chance to redeem yourselves from your
sloppy attempt against the X-Men last time."
"Just say the word, and I'll lead the Brotherhood," Lance answered when he
placed his hands on his hips but Sin cast a nasty glare at him.
"No, you've proven yourself to be an inadequate leader, little man," Sin
responded when she towered over Lance and the other members of the Brotherhood.
"I'm not going to let this team fail after all of the hard work I've put into
it. None of you have any input in this plan, we're going to deal a crushing
blow to the X-Men. And some of them this time might not return from this
battle."
"You mean kill them?" Toad asked when he looked at Sin.
"No give them flowers and candy and little fuzzy teddy bears," Sin responded in
a dead pan when she looked back at her teammates. "Yes, you've goofed around
too much and to see that these X-Men live is an insult to me and an insult to
my father."
"Wait, wait, father?" Pietro asked when his eyes spun towards Sin. "Who is
that?"
"It's none of your concern!" Sin snapped when she clutched her hands, as if she
envisioned wrapping them around the speedy mutant's throat and squeezing the
life out of him. Alas, he must be kept alive for now. "Stick with the plan."
"Yes, the X-Men, will be the ex men," the Taskmaster stated in a sadistic
voice, with the Brotherhood not daring to comment on the cheesiness of that
line for fear that the Taskmaster would use them as target practice and if the
Brotherhood failed, well he would jump in and take care of business. He looked
forward to matching his skills with the one known as Arcane one on one, he felt
the need to succeed.
The Brotherhood all exchanged tense looks, the original four members took a
moment to wonder if this was a good idea, given that the X-Men beat them like
drums every single time they fought.
Sin thought about everything that happened, she was sent here and had something
to prove to a very important person in her life. She wanted to prove that she
was the strongest out there and given the shoes that she had to fill, that was
something that she concerned herself with. Her mind flashed back to certain
moments in time, moments that she wanted to keep buried in her deepest,
darkest, subconscious.
There was a moment where a young redhead girl cowered in a corner when an
imposing man yelled at a woman.
"You are pathetic, you dare give me this useless thing for my heir. You
couldn't give me a son, so now I have no use for you."
The woman dropped to the ground to know no more, as the imposing man before the
girl turned to her, and prepared to do her in but another figure grabbed him
around the wrist.
"What is the meaning of this, I have no use for her as my successor."
"Yes, great leader but she still could have potential for she has your superior
DNA flowing through your blood stream."
The man considered this point when he looked at the young child, to be honest
from his point of view, it looked pathetic, weak, and not able to do anything
that a man could do. It was the type of child that would get drowned due to its
existence but yet, the man thought that there was possible potential.
"You will live today child but on every other day, you will only live if you
grow strong," he stated to the girl who nodded fearfully. He turned to his men.
"Take her away and make sure she is subjected to the tests. If she dies, she
dies."
The girl was taken off by two men who were tall and imposing, wondering what
was going to happen to her today. Her young mind did not comprehending what
happened and the coldness of the man that she supposed was her father flickered
in his voice. It was not until some time later where she experienced her
purpose.
"Sin," Taskmaster stated and the young woman pulled out of her thoughts about
the weakling she used to be. Sin's full attention was on the Taskmaster, she
was always drawn to powerful men in one way or another, blame it on her
father's influence. "I have the perfect venue for the final battle between the
X-Men and the Brotherhood."
"The perfect venue, it will be done," Sin answered when she spun around before
the Taskmaster described his plans in great deal to her.
Sin thought about it, it was simple, which meant that the Brotherhood would not
screw it up that easily, so the potential was in fact there. The Brotherhood
stood off to the side, they would have to have a simple plan because that team
was able to screw up anything given their abilities, at least that was her
opinion.
"It has potential," Sin offered when she prepared for what they were going to
do tonight.
===============================================================================
Harry stood outside before school the next day when he heard the footsteps
walking up towards him. He did not even bother to look over his shoulder, he
could sense who it was by the frustrated and uncertain thoughts that bubbled
through the back of his mind.
"Hello Scott."
"Harry," Scott replied in a stiff voice when he turned to him. "So yesterday's
training..."
"They need improvements but I think that they are going along better than can
be expected," Harry answered when he turned to Scott, the two of them staring
at each other coolly.
"Yes, but I'm not sure if it's such a good idea for you to continue to take
such a close interest to the training of the new recruits," Scott answered when
he looked back at Harry.
Harry figured that this one was coming, he did not know when. Scott was not
being overtly hostile but the fact of the matter was that the magical mutant
still detected an undercurrent of hostility in the other young man all things
considered. There was a tension where Scott seemed to think that since he was
the first, he should default the leader status and that was a huge problem,
given that he felt that he should be named the leader.
There was a key difference between being named a leader and actually being one
and as of right now, that was something that Scott had not figured out.
"Scott, there will come a time where you need to step up or get stepped on,"
Harry warned him when he looked at Scott with a serious expression in his green
eyes.
"How can I step up when you keep undermining me as a leader?" Scott asked
Harry, the glare beneath his glasses a bit intense.
"Yeah, undermining, look Scott, you're a halfway decent guy, but the fact is,
you're the only one who undermines yourself," Harry said when he looked back at
Scott with the two staring down each other. "Take a bit of advice from me and
actually man up and understand that you have limitations and figure out a way
to overcome them instead of being crushed by them."
Scott and Harry stared at each other but the door opened to reveal the new
recruits walking out. They acted like that they were not in a heated
discussion, it wasn't nearly violent enough to say it was an argument, a moment
ago. They waved them off, with Amara in particular smiling with Harry.
"I want to work on you with that thing I was having trouble with this weekend,
if that's okay," Amara responded to Harry and Harry smiled to her.
"Of course, my schedule's always open," Harry answered when Kitty, Rogue, Kurt,
and Rachel followed the new recruits outside the door.
Rachel, being a telepath, sensed some hostility in the air and it was obvious
why, Harry seemed to challenge Scott's role as the designated leader of this
team. That was the best thing for him as far as the redhead was concerned,
perhaps it would allow him to gain some perspective and assume that people
would not follow his orders. Then perhaps he would not turn into that thing
that he was twenty years from now that made Rachel barely stomach being in the
same room as him.
"Do you even know when Jean is coming back?" Scott asked Harry, picking up that
topic once again.
Harry's eyes fixed onto Scott's face, he was going down a dangerous road
bringing up Jean and Harry got a sense that Scott thought this was somehow his
fault.
"No, I didn't ask her," Harry answered when he looked back at Scott.
"You mean you saw her," Scott said in a confrontational manner when he looked
at Harry.
Harry stared back down at him, icy fury bubbling in his eyes and Scott wondered
if he took things a step too far with this implied accusation. He could tell
Harry had a sense when he was being accused of things, even though he did not
explicitly say so. The two stared each other down for a couple of moments.
"I caught a glimpse of her, so did Storm, Wolverine, and Xavier, so feel free
take it up with them," Harry responded when he looked at Scott with a
challenging expression in his eye.
"Yeah, Jean will come back, but if you're acting like a jerk, I'm not sure how
you expect anyone to follow anything that you're saying," Kitty fired back when
she stared at Scott.
Scott's mouth opened and snapped shut when Rogue, Kitty, and Rachel looked at
him with challenging looks and even Kurt offered him a questioning expression.
"Jean will be back when Jean is ready to come back, trust me, she's perfectly
fine," Harry answered and Rachel nodded in response when her gaze practically
burned a hole through Scott's head.
Again Scott had no idea what Rachel's problem was there and in fact, he had no
idea where she came from, Xavier seemed to be unable to read her mind even. So
they figured out she was some high level telepath who had a lot of experience
with blocking mental intrusion. Scott wondered if Rachel was a similar
situation to Harry, where she popped out of nowhere, perhaps from the same
place where Harry came from.
That was another matter for another time where tensions reigned high and Harry
turned around, knowing that Scott blamed him for Jean running off but Jean
needed this time to sort out everything in her head. The Phoenix had been a
revelation and Harry knew that anyone, even a fully mature and rational adult,
would need a lot of time to sort out everything in their mind regarding
everything.
Rachel seethed, it was times like this where she wondered how her parents got
together, and wondered at times if she had been the reason. It would stand to
logical reason, but without the dates of the marriage and her birth, she would
not be able to do the math. She walked side by side with Harry; she was glad
that Scott seemed unnerved by the fact that Harry was with three girls.
His head would really explode if one of them was his daughter from the future.
Still this was the best thing for Scott all things considered. This was done
for his own good and he needed to learn that simply because he was given the
leadership role by Xavier did not entitle him to throwing his weight around.
===============================================================================
One of the most prominent events of the Bayville High School year was the
annual school carnival/fund raiser that was on every single year.
"And I hope that this year's carnival we put the fun back into fund raiser."
There was a polite applause that Principal Kelly received but it was mostly
because people felt sorry for him because of this proclamation that he said. It
was a pun granted but it was not a good pun. Kelly walked around, the school
was in heavy need of money and the teachers threatened to strike next year if
their needs were not taken care of, so it would not be good for them to be
without money.
"It looks like a blast, doesn't it Harry?" Kitty asked when she walked by her
boyfriend.
Harry to be honest never went to a carnival, although he saw all he needed for
clowns with the Dursleys and Aunt Marge could with a little modification pass
as the bearded lady. Although Harry reminded himself that would be more of a
circus than a carnival but still it was a chance to take a cheap shot at the
Dursleys, so Harry was not about to pass that one up ever.
He waited for the entire group to make their way over, he saw the new recruits
having a good time, although Harry made sure they did not get too out of line.
Sugar and mutant powers tended to be a deadly mix and one that Harry wanted to
avoid.
"Trouble at ten o'clock," Rachel remarked to Harry out of the side of her mouth
as she saw Tabby and her father.
"I could have sworn that Logan told him to buzz off," Rogue said when she
clutched her fist at the very thought and watched it.
"I'll take care of this," Harry answered when he walked forward.
"I'll help," Rachel answered when she followed Harry behind him.
Kitty and Rogue stood a few inches behind them, to reign them in case things
got a bit ugly and knowing there luck, it likely would have gotten very ugly.
Tabby gritted her teeth when she stared down her father. Mr. Smith seemed to
give the air of someone who wanted to change his ways but Tabby did not buy
that false proclamation at all. "Just...use your powers one more time to give
me something, so I can get back on my feet."
"It's always one more time for you, isn't it?" Tabby asked when she turned to
him.
"Tabby, it's okay, we'll take care of this," Harry answered and Tabby opened
her mouth to protest but Harry's eyes snapped towards her, giving her a chance
to leave.
"Can't a man spend a little quality time with his daughter?" Mr. Smith asked
when he looked at the group and he clutched his fists. He looked rather scummy
to be honest, not that Harry judged people.
Rachel was the one to fire back when she stared down this man, for lack of a
better term. "Not when that quality time consists of grand larceny."
Mr. Smith prepared to argue this point but Harry raised his hand to shut him
down quickly as possible, shaking his head.
"I know what you think you're going to do, and it won't work," Harry answered
when he turned to this man. "If you think you're going to expose the X-
Men...you've got another thing coming. Sure you can scream to the heavens but
no one will hear you."
'You will get yourself busted for a crime and arrested,'Rachel planted in his
mind as an afterthought.
Mr. Smith turned around and walked away, with Tabby waiting for them, her arms
folded.
Before she could say anything, the ground beneath them began to rumble. Harry
and Rachel both floated several inches off of the ground to see what was
happening and Harry in particular offered a rather pained grimace when he
looked out into the distance.
'If it isn't one thing, it's another,'Harry thought when he saw the Brotherhood
show up, and they were not in their normal attire Harry noted, they looked,
well professional for lack of a better term.
Scott saw this as a perfect opportunity to step in and he turned to the X-Men.
"We're going to have to take..."
Quicksilver ran in at super speed to take Scott's legs out from underneath him
before Toad jumped into the air and grabbed Scott's glasses on his slimy
tongue, before ripping them off of his face. His eyes opened and everyone
screamed when Scott's optic blasts shot out into the crowd of the carnival
causing them to run and flee with terror.
"DUCK!" Harry yelled and everyone did, before Scott managed to shield his eyes,
fighting blind and that was what Blob noticed.
"Like shooting fish in a barrel," Blob answered but Rogue flipped the switch on
her wristband before she removed her glove.
"Normally I don't touch garbage like you," Rogue responded but suddenly a field
appeared around the Blob, blocking her absorption powers.
"Ha, not so tough now, are you," Blob stated when she knocked Rogue down with a
shot and sent her flying to the ground.
"Not so fast, my friend!" Kurt yelled when he appeared in a cloud of smoke on
the Blob's head and the Blob swung but Kurt disappeared and Blob smacked
himself in the back of his head.
Sin appeared, before she held up two super charged knives and tried to stab
Kurt with them in the face. Harry was too busy trying to stop the Avalanche
that Avalanche started, he seemed to have better control which meant Harry had
to dig deeper into his magical powers.
"I'm so sick and tired of you!" Avalanche yelled when Harry caught several
dozen pieces of debris while Multiple used his dupes to help the bystanders get
to safety.
"Feeling's mutual," Harry grunted when he popped back, creating a befuddlement
fog around them, so that that the civilians who were there would pass out when
they got home and think today's events were the product of some really bad
cotton candy.
Kitty moved over and engaged Sin in battle, diving at her with the young woman
swinging her knives wildly at the young brunette mutant.
"Ah, too slow," Kitty managed before she went intangible.
The unexpected happened next, the knives stabbed through her intangible form
but they turned intangible with her. That was a situation that caused Kitty
great pause and she yelled out in agony when she realized that she could not
pull them out of her intangible form herself, without becoming tangible
herself.
"My father taught me how to deal with little girls like you," Sin answered when
she stared down at Kitty who remained intangible, slowly sinking through the
ground despite her best attempts to avoid it, knowing the knives would stay
with her. "You can't stay like this forever."
She run up and kicked Cyclops in the head, before she forced his hands off of
his eyes and used his powers as a targeting cannon, putting her thumbs inside
his eyes to keep them wide open. She did not feel the pain of his optic blasts
burning through her hands.
"NO!"
Harry yelled this when he saw Kitty on the ground but it was Quicksilver who
moved in front of him.
"Out of my way!" Harry yelled and suddenly Quicksilver was blasted by a charm
that caused him to fly backwards at super speed and crash into a tent.
Toad, boldly, tried to jump in but Rachel caught him in place and made him jump
into the dunk tank with a mental suggestion she planted in his mind.
"Hold on, Kitty," Harry managed when he grabbed the intangible hands of the
knives, closing his eyes when he caused the density of his hands to shift
before he slowly but surely and safely pulled them from Kitty's chest.
The knives still felt hot to the touch but they allowed Kitty to go tangible
again.
Sin, meanwhile, knew that the odds turned against the Brotherhood but she
proved her point.
"We're not going to let them get away!" Bobby yelled when he used his powers to
focus a wall of ice in front of them.
Harry summoned Scott's glasses, using the scouring charm to remove Toad's slime
from them, before he threw them back to Scott. Scott took them and put them
back on, looking at Harry with a sheepish expression on his face.
"Um, thanks," Scott responded but Harry gave a shrug, he was more concerned
about Kitty's well-being than Scott's.
Before the X-Men could engage the Brotherhood in battle, a white robed man with
a dark mask dropped down to the ground to face them.
"Who are you supposed to be?" Rogue asked when she stared down this man but he
responded with a sadistic tone of voice.
"You may call me, the Taskmaster," Taskmaster stated when he stepped forward,
menacing.
"I've got this guy," Cyclops answered but Taskmaster used his powers to study
Scott's abilities when he fired off one shot.
Taskmaster moved around, predicting the exact angle Scott shot his optic blast,
before he slid behind him and knocked him to the ground with a kick to the back
of the leg.
Kurt was next, so he teleported behind the Taskmaster but the Taskmaster
grabbed his tail before he swung him around like he was nothing and tossed him
to the ground.
"That guy, he's studying our powers, he's just like...Arcane!" Rachel yelled
when she tried to get a mental reading on the Taskmaster but his mask seemed to
block out any psychic readings.
Harry aimed a bludgeoning spell towards the Taskmaster but his armor created a
thick field around him to block the attack. He recognized that the armor had
mystical and scientific properties around it.
'A gift from HYDRA,'Taskmaster thought when he dove in and dodged Harry's next
spell with expert precision.
He ducked and he dodged again and again, with him learning from Arcane's
fighting style but there was an equal problem, Arcane learned from his as well.
Both tried a punch at the same time while both tried for a block and both
remained at a stand-still.
No one moved when they pushed back at each other and Arcane and Taskmaster
stood, eyes widened and knees buckling when they rocked back and forth with
each other.
Taskmaster jumped back but Boom Boom hurled her bombs at the Taskmaster, which
caused the Taskmaster to stagger a little bit.
"X-Men, together, confuse him don't think, just do!" Arcane called when he
looked at the Taskmaster before he began to conjure the fog in the air.
"Remember what we've learned!"
While Harry could study body language through his other senses, the
Taskmaster's abilities were not that advanced. Therefore he leveled the playing
feel.
Rogue dove underneath the attack of the Taskmaster, realizing that he delayed
them from stopping the Brotherhood yet again. She left him in position for
Cyclops to rip off his visor and try and blast through the shield but the
shield protected the Taskmaster from further harm.
"You can't defeat me, you're children!" Taskmaster yelled but Harry caused the
ground to blow up with spikes.
"Magma!" Harry yelled at the top of his lungs.
Magma sent spurts of lava from the ground to cause the Taskmaster to dance.
"Iceman!" Harry shouted when he turned around and Iceman sent ice to further
try and keep the Taskmaster off balance.
"Shadowcat, Rogue, Nightcrawler!"
Shadowcat dove underneath to try and sink Taskmaster into the ground while
Nightcrawler teleported at random points trying to confuse him, while Rogue
tried to push her way through the energy field. All attacks bounced off of him.
"Cyclops, you're on!"
Scott gritted his teeth but never the less he fired his option blast through
the spot that Harry indicated. The blast moved through the Taskmaster and the
X-Men realized something.
The genuine article checked out a bit ago when the battle got tough and
replaced himself with a hologram. There was no way to hear his thoughts and
someone that stealthy was going not going to make any noise.
The carnage at the carnival made the event a disaster but the X-Men felt great
that they mitigated any casualties and that in their book was a win. Well for
most of them, as Harry turned around to reflect upon the failure of not taking
the Brotherhood or this Taskmaster down. Whoever the Taskmaster was, he was
second to none with his ability to fight and to defend himself.
Yet, he had weaknesses and Harry could exploit them, although next time he
might have to find new ones. The Taskmaster seemed to be the adaptable sort of
guy.
===============================================================================
"Hey, I don't know what you're problem is, we got away from there and laid a
beating on the X-Men."
It was Lance who spoke up at this point but Sin seemed unsympathetic with these
actions, rather she turned around and looked out in the distance out of the
window, her teeth gritted.
"You've failed, they all still live," Sin answered when she walked down the
hallways to her room, the biggest and nicest room in the house, it used to
belong to Mystique.
She remembered what her father thought about the price of failure, the memories
flashed by in her head, beating on the inside of it like a drum. The young
woman shook her head when she sat on the bed, the reflection coming back to her
minds eye.
It was one of the first missions she was on and she thought that she done
rather well, having got the information that she needed on the enemies. Her
teammates all made it out safely and they all praised her leadership abilities
but that was until her father reviewed her performance. Sin's father was not an
easy man to please by any stretch of the imagination and he showed his
displeasure.
"Weakling of a girl, you left some of them living to tell the tale."
Sin felt his strong grip, stronger than hers, grab around her right arm and she
felt her arm break with his grip. He broke her right arm.
"You broke my right arm," she groaned, the wrong thing to say, as she found out
the hard way, when he grabbed her by the left arm.
"Do you not think that is fair?" her father asked her when he twisted at her
left arm and there was a crack echoed throughout her ears, as she felt the pain
of bones cracking and snapping in her arm. "There, now you're left arm has been
broken as well, now that is what one would consider to be fair, would it not?"
Sinthea Shmidt dropped to the ground, favoring her broken arms, she could not
pull herself up on the account of her broken arms and her father peered down in
her young eyes, she saw his face, red and bald, with sunken in eye lids. It was
the fact that put terror in the hearts of the most hardened men and women and
he clapped his hands for Sin to be dragged off.
"Show her the price of weakness, throw her in the camps," he stated when he
looked at his men and none of them dared even offer a questioning gaze. "If
she's there in six months, we'll retrieve her. If she's not there in six
months, we shall see if there is enough of her to bury after the rats are done
with her."
Sin knew by now about protesting before her father's guards dragged her off to
a large camp that her father tortured his enemies back during the days of the
war. She shivered when she saw the human bones at the bottom of the large pit
that the men threw her into.
Only ten years old and she landed hard in the pit, shivering when she hit the
bottom. There was no food down here, no food except for the rats. That was all
she had and if she did not eat the rats, then she would perish and thus the
rats would eat her.
Her broken arms also hurt for days, but Sin learned at this time to become
highly adaptable because if she was not adaptable she would die. It was a game
where only the strong survived and she would be part of a superior race that
her father was part of. He dangled the leader of that movement a time ago on
strings like a puppet, not that depraved and deranged man needed much of a
nudge to commit the acts he did.
Sin shook herself out of the thoughts that she had, today's battle would be an
adequate performance in the minds of some but she thought that there was
nothing adequate. Of course, for many, there would be no shame with losing to a
team lead by someone like Harry Potter, but her father had the highest
standards. Sin shook her head when she placed her hands in her face and
adjusted her expression to something that was stronger.
"Sin reporting to HYDRA"
She opened up the communication link when she clicked the link on and she heard
a buzzing sound before the agent on the other end reported.
"HYDRA reporting back, please give details on today's mission," the HYDRA
representative stated on the other end of the link.
Sin collected her thoughts for a moment before she brushed her hair back and
collected everything that she needed to say. After a pause, she leaned forward
before she offered her words in a calculated and quite diplomatic manner. She
wanted to give an accurate portrayal of the situation without trying to make it
sound like that she failed big time, which she thought she did.
"The Brotherhood show some progress but they are nothing but the level of
cannon fodder."
"It was as we expected," the HYDRA representative stated from the other side of
the communication link before he drummed his fingers. "The X-Men have gotten in
the way of our operations once too often."
Sin knew that HYDRA referred to the events in the facility up in Canada that
once belonged to the Weapon X program.
"The gas is on schedule," the HYDRA representative answered when he drummed his
fingers.
"It will be HYDRA's ultimate weapon," Sin answered when she thought about the
gas and its capabilities, it would bring the strongest enemy down to their
knees.
"Indeed, our glorious leader will be pleased with the progress."
Sin doubted that but she remained polite and silent before she checked her
watch. It was almost time for another training session and after some of their
sloppy efforts today, Sin made her way down the stairs to knock them around.
She would make sure they understood the price of their failures today and the
young redhead woman shook her head when she thought about it.
She did know that Jean Grey disappeared off the radar as well, perhaps that
would be an opportunity to endear herself to the higher ups in HYDRA, to get
such a powerful mutant on their side. Especially given the fact that her
fractured mental state might make her desperate and in need to control her
powers.
Sin began to hatch a plan, the X-Men might have won this one battle tonight but
HYDRA was going to win the war.
===============================================================================
Harry stood outside of the Xavier Institute late at night when he looked up
into the sky. He could hear Scott approaching him and he waited for the other
young man to speak.
"So thanks out there."
Harry offered a nod before he spun around and looked at Scott before he
answered in a cool voice. "No problem."
There was an awkward moment from the time of them, Scott and Harry both knew
where the other stood from before Harry stepped inside the Xavier Institute to
think about the night that was between the X-Men.
All of them rested after the battle with the Brotherhood and Harry thought
about that battle, how their newest member managed to tip the scales. The
Brotherhood seemed better trained at that moment but Harry shook his head when
he walked up the stairs, taking a moment to think about.
If the Brotherhood stepped up their training, it would give the X-Men a chance
to step up their training even more, but there was another problem, that being
the Taskmaster. He seemed to be a person who trained in his powers for a very
long time before Harry walked inside, through the Mansion without a word, and
up the stairs towards his bedroom.
Harry entered his room and saw Kitty sitting on the bed where she wore a black
t-shirt and black shorts, she looked a bit out of it. Rogue sat next to her,
wearing a black skirt and mesh top beside her and Rachel sat next to both of
them, wearing a green robe that showed her shapely legs.
"Hey, how are you three doing?" Harry asked when he looked at Kitty, Rogue, and
Rachel .
Kitty was the one that responded first ,shaking her head. "I thought
that...well things could have gotten much worse, couldn't they?"
"Yeah, they could," Harry agreed when he sat down and Kitty threw her arms
around Harry, he pulled her up onto his lap.
"Guess I'm relying on my powers a lot, perhaps I should learn to duck more,"
Kitty offered when Harry ran his fingers through her hair and Kitty straddled
him a little bit, before Rogue and Rachel pulled Harry's shirt off without a
word.
"We all need to unwind after what happened tonight," Rogue offered, when she
rubbed Harry's neck and the back of his shoulders, while Rachel and Kitty took
his abs and worked his pants off, before the real fun began.
They really needed to relieve some stress and now was the time to do it.
Smut/Lemon Begins.
Kitty dove between Harry's legs, lapping his balls with her wet tongue, with
Rogue taking the base of his cock and licking at it, and Rachel began to suckle
the head. Harry watched his three beauties down on their knees between his
legs, sucking on him.
"Feels good, keep doing that," Harry grunted when Rachel popped Harry's cock in
between her lips before she pushed up and down on it, making lewd sucking
sounds with her mouth.
Kitty reached over and pulled Rogue's top over her head to reveal her nice
round, pale globes of flesh. They stood rather perky, with her nipples erect.
Rogue reached over and slowly pulled off Kitty's top to reveal the black bra
that she wore, before Rogue slowly unstrapped the bra, allowing Kitty's pert
teenage breasts to fall out.
"Yeah, so hot," Harry grunted when Rachel bobbed her up and down his fleshy
pole, smacking her hips together, and sucking him down.
Kitty pulled her shorts off, before removing the pair of panties that she wore.
She sat on one side of Harry on his bed, with Harry using his fingers to push
open Kitty's lips and shove his fingers inside.
"Oh yes!" Kitty moaned when Harry began to pump into her to get her pussy wet.
Rogue was on the other side of Harry and she got one of the same treatment,
with Harry thrusting his fingers deep inside her dripping cunt.
Rachel tasted and sucked on Harry's cock with Rogue and Kitty moaning with
Harry manipulating their cunts with his fingers. The four of them gave pleasure
to each other as Rachel played with herself as well, playing with her pussy
while she gave Harry the blow job of his life.
"YES!"
"PUMP IT INTO ME!"
Rachel popped Harry's member out of her mouth and squeezed it tightly, before
she turned around, and locked eyes with Kitty.
The three girls decided between themselves who would get Harry's cock in them
first. Rogue slid over towards Harry, and straddled his lap, his cock trapped
between them, brushing against Rogue's stomach when they kissed hard and Harry
played with her breasts.
"Ready for the ride of your life, my goth goddess," Harry breathed to Rogue and
Rogue nodded, a smirk crossing her face.
"I need you in me," Rogue managed in a husky tone when Harry squeezed her hard
around her breasts and she moaned rather loudly, before his cock brushed
against her hot entrance and with a tease, Harry slid inside her.
Harry grunted when he felt Rogue's tightness envelope around him, when he
pushed in and out of her with the skill that Rogue expected of him. His member
penetrated her, hitting all of her pleasure spots and out of the corner his
eyes, he saw Kitty and Rachel playing with each other.
Kitty pulled Rachel's shirt over her head and exposed her breasts, large and
firm, and Kitty felt their firmness when she squeezed them. Rachel threw her
head back with a moan.
"I'm going to suck your tits when Harry watches," Kitty said in a teasing
manner when she rubbed her thumbs against Rachel's nipples, before she twisted
them.
"Yes, that'd be nice," Rachel breathed when Kitty went between her tits and
began to suck on them. "Yes, suck on my tits, they're yours!"
"Fuck that tight twat, Harry!"
Harry pushed Rogue back onto the bed, pumping his cock into her, his balls
slapping against her flesh when he buried himself deeper and deeper into her.
Rogue lifted her hips up to meet Harry's motions a little bit, before the two
met together with each thrust.
"YES!"
Kitty had Rachel stripped completely naked and the two of them laid with each
other in a sexually charged sixty nine position, eating each other's cunts to
the sights and sounds of Rogue and Harry making love. The two of them indulged
themselves in the sweet taste of each other, liking what they indulged in each
other.
Harry and Rogue continued their love making actions for a time, before he
pumped into her hard and felt his balls size up.
"I'm not sure if you've earned this cum," Harry teased Rogue when he placed his
hands on her sweaty tits, rolling them over her.
"Yes, I've earned it, fucking blow it in me!" Rogue yelled before Harry pumped
into her before he injected her with his burning hot seed. Rogue clenched
around him to milk every single drop of seed from his balls, squeezing and
yanking his prick until he flooded into her cunt.
Rachel was down on the bed and suddenly found herself handcuffed, spread-eagled
to the bed. She looked up, to see her pussy exposed, and Kitty was over her.
Rogue rested because of her bout with Harry and now Harry went between her
legs, teasing her folds.
"Oh, that's the spot Harry," Rachel breathed when Harry teased her lips before
he brushed against her slit with his cock and with another swift movement
pushed inside her.
Harry felt her warm tightness envelope him when he proceeded to saw into her.
Rachel pushed her hips up, meeting her hips to Harry's with both making the
sensual sounds of love making, breathing heavily, when their powers clashed
together.
They pulled mental cues out of each other's minds to figure out what the other
wanted. Harry buried himself deeper and deeper, pushing into her and Rachel's
screams got loud even though she could not play with herself due to her
handcuffed position.
So Harry went to her, rolling his fingers over her sweaty nipples while Rogue
pumped her fingers in between her spread legs and played with herself. With a
dirty expression in his eyes, Harry looked up towards Kitty, a smile crossing
over his face. "Kitty."
"Yes, Harry" Kitty breathed when she looked at Harry plunge his cock into the
depths of Rachel's wet folds. Each push stretched her out more, when he
continued to steady his pace.
"Rachel's a bit loud, do me a favor, love and gag her?"
Kitty did not have to be told twice, she sat on Rachel's face and Rachel
understood immediately, she indulged herself in Kitty's pussy. Her tongue
licked inside the dripping cunt, as she tasted the honey between Kitty's legs
and Kitty made lewd sounds the more Rachel delved into her.
"Oh, you know what I like," Kitty breathed and Harry played with her breasts,
so that statement could be applied to both.
Rachel continued to pay attention to what Kitty wanted, reading her mind while
she munched on the younger girl's cunt. Harry's cock plunged into her pussy in
tune with her actions, licking and sucking on Kitty's peach, and also she
briefly simulated her clit.
Harry placed his hands on her breasts to push up, before she slammed down.
Rachel spread eagled and handcuffed made it so much hotter for some reason. Her
cunt could squeeze him so tightly, it was with an immense strength and power
that Harry thought that he never experienced. He pushed through into her,
pushing his prick into her tightness hard and hard until the end came.
'Cum for me Harry, I can tell you're done,'Rachel projected into his mind,
using her telepathic gifts to give a few subtle prods to the pleasure centers
of Harry's mind, while she used another part of her body to lovingly squeeze
his massive member.
Harry held off due to a sheer strength of will but Rachel's actions combined
with the fact that Kitty threw her head back, offering a scream, that was until
Rogue shoved her own fingers into Kitty's mouth, caused Harry to reach closer
to finishing. Kitty sucking Rogue's girl cum off of her fingers caused him to
lose it and Harry lost his load in Rachel's waiting chambers, splattering her
pussy with his juices.
Rachel fell back and Harry saw Rogue and Kitty making out while Rachel still
gave tentative licks to Kitty's cunt. Kitty was the only one who he had not
serviced tonight.
"Best for last," Kitty managed when she pulled herself away from Rogue and saw
Harry's cock stand at attention for her. Her pussy was wet and willing and she
needed it in her now.
As it turned out, Kitty would have it, she grabbed Harry's cock, and impaled
herself down onto it. Harry felt the pleasure of his hard rod encased in her
tight love box, with the brunette girl pushing up and down on him at an intense
speed, riding his cock like it could cure cancer.
"Oh yes, you are amazing," Harry groaned when he grabbed her ass and pinched
it, before Kitty rose up and sank down on him, gyrating her hips a little bit
to squeeze Harry, to tease him. Even though he already came already tonight
twice, Harry had an amazing sex drive.
Rogue dove between Rachel's legs and munched on her, with Rachel still
handcuffed to the bed.
"YES!" Rachel yelled when she felt Rogue's talented mouth on her and she could
tell that her moans of pleasure gave Harry more pleasure as well.
Kitty rode Harry's pull, sliding up and down his well lubricated cock, pushing
and squeezing him with her tight box. The friction of their two sexes colliding
and their sweaty bodies rocked back and forth against each other, causing their
moans to escalate.
"Fucking hell, how many times can I make you cum?" Harry breathed when he
speared his cock deep into Kitty's cunt, pushing it in and out of her.
"As...many as you want to...YES!" Kitty screamed when Harry continued to work
his magic in her snug snatch, each thrust feeling like pure sexual magic as it
ripped through her.
"YES!"
Kitty's latest scream was done in Harry's ear and he swatted her on the ass
before he pushed her down and speared into her, plunging his cock between her
legs.
Rachel panted heavily when Rogue continued to sample her heavenly juices
between her legs, there was a moment where she lost her mind to a pleasure. She
offered subtle cues into Rogue's mind and that added to the experience for both
of them.
She also inadvertently stimulated the pleasure centers of the minds of her
other two lovers as well, with Harry returning fire and it was almost like
their minds connected in a pure wave of sexual magic. Rogue and Rachel got into
a sixty nine position, each others cunts when they went down on each other with
talented tongues and hot mouths.
Much time later, Kitty felt like she was going to lose it from the sheer number
of orgasms Harry put her through, each plunge of his cock going deeper and
deeper into her, stretching and working her twat out, punishing her perfect
pussy with each shot.
"Cum, please," Kitty managed when she felt a burning desire in her pussy and
the only way that need could be filled was through Harry's seed.
Harry's balls tightened before he spurted his seed into her inner chambers,
with Kitty, Rachel, and Rogue all cumming as well.
The entire group collapsed, feeling spent in some ways and recharged in others.
Smut/Lemon Ends.
To Be Continued in the Next Chapter "Beast of Burden."
***** Beast of Burden *****
Chapter Thirty Two: Beast of Burden.
"So, it's agreed then, if she doesn't call us by the end of the week, we go and
see where her head was?"
Rachel stated this fact to Harry when the pair of them made their way to the
mental hospital to visit Wanda. It had been less than a month since Jean ran
off but it seemed like much longer. With all that happened, time went rather
fast, especially with those at the X-Men. The duo made their way through,
without Xavier for this visit.
Xavier's visits due to his schedule with Wanda were few and far between, not
that the sessions seemed to be doing much good for her. Harry did manage one
concession with Wanda and as far as he knew, they stopped with the drugging of
her. During his last visit here nearly a week ago, he explained that they were
doing a disservice to her with what they put in her system.
Of course the liberal application of Confundus spells may have also convinced
them to stop doing this deed.
If Wanda had an episode, Harry could be over here straight away and control the
situation quickly, hopefully figuring out if something was wrong.
"You came back."
Wanda's expression was the perfect combination of surprise and relief when the
young mutant magical user looked up at Harry. She tapped her fingers on the
side of wall where she sat. The barrier between the pair of them was thin, it
was to the point where Wand could almost reach out and touch Harry.
"Of course, I came back," Harry answered with a slight smile, which Wanda
returned. He sensed the distress coming off of the young magical mutant but he
shook his head. "So, is there a reason why you look ready to kill somebody."
Wanda paused before she explained to Harry.
"It was seven years ago where my father dropped me off at this place, without a
backwards glance. He could not control me, so he abandoned me here. I haven't
even heard a word about him since and what he was doing but believe me, since I
compromised his little plans, he threw me off to the side like a piece of
garbage."
Harry felt Wanda's despair and he understood what she went through, well in a
way. People tended to be scared of what they did not understand. Magneto,
strong and resourceful as he was, did not properly understand his daughter's
powers. Therefore, the young woman found herself as the guest of this mental
institution, with no chance of parole.
"I wish, I wish there was another way," Harry answered when he looked at Wanda
and he honestly meant that. "Did you read that book that I gave you?"
"Yeah, nothing else better to do in here," Wanda agreed when her expression
softened. "Trying to figure out how to find the balance, that's tough with
anyone who has powers at all."
"It is," Harry agreed when he popped inside the cell.
"Most people don't come in here without a remote control," Wanda offered when
she looked at Harry. "Aren't you afraid that the Scarlet Witch is going to blow
you to oz?"
Harry offered her a smile before he stared at her. "Trust me; I've fought far
worse than a temperamental teenage girl with super powers."
"One would argue that there is nothing that's worse," Wanda offered, a point
that Harry conceded to be honest. Teenage girls could cause a great deal of
havoc without super powers. One only needed to take a trip to a shopping mall
to get the full scope of that situation. He shook his head, to get back to the
matter at hand and resolved to give Wanda some good, genuine advice.
"It's all about focus and mastering your powers, don't fear the unknown, but
rather embrace it. You are not a monster because of your powers bur rather how
those powers are used. They could run away with you but only if they let you.
If you focus on them, Wanda, you will be able to master them and maybe live a
normal live, or as normal as we get in this crazy mixed up world of ours."
Wanda's face contorted into a thoughtful expression when she mulled this over
in her head. To be honest, the young magical mutant before her did make a lot
of sense but at the same time, uncertainty ruled her mind and her thoughts.
That was what the problem was in a nutshell, she felt uncertain and unable to
focus on everything to be all that she could be. The throbbing from her head
that accompanied her powers made her quite unstable.
The fact that she doubted she could brush the surface of her powers alarmed
Wanda and made her wonder about certain things. There was the very real fact
that she could potentially warp reality if she thought things over a little bit
and that fact resounded in her mind. Of course, whether or not she meant it or
not, that was beside the point.
"Do not overthink these things Wanda, blast apart that shelf," Harry answered
before he paused. "Don't damage the wall over, just the shelf. Become your
powers, let it flow in and out naturally, and do it."
Wanda fired a hex bolt to the shelf, now that the drugs left her system she
fired a shot at it. The shelf bust apart and dropped to the ground but the wall
cracked.
"Not bad for a first try, but do keep focus as well as you can," Harry offered
with a smile on his face before he repaired the damage Wanda did. He closed his
eyes and used his powers to mimic Wanda's powers.
With precision and accuracy, the hex bolt slammed through Harry's hand to nail
the shelf to pieces. He staggered, Wanda's powers were sure among some of the
most powerful but his body stood the ability to mimic them and blast them.
"That was a fairly decent representation of my powers," Wanda answered when she
shook her head and looked at Harry.
"I've been able to copy the powers of other people around me more and more
lately," Harry responded with a shrug, he was at a loss as to how to explain
this one.
However, it was true, the moment he came out of his illness, Harry's body
language reading powers evolved to a different power. Before he was able to
pick out subtle movements in the body language of others to engage them into
battle and find ways to defeat them. After the illness he suffered, those
powers became so much more, with Harry copying them bit by bit, able to analyze
and figure out all of the powers.
Then with his magic, after simply mere moments of observation, the young mage
managed to replicate them down to the last movement. It was a fairly decent
representation although he must train with the powers like any other skill to
get any kind of clear control. For the purposes of the demonstration he did,
Wanda's powers worked well for him because they were so closely linked to his
own.
"That's interesting and useful," Wanda offered when she looked at Harry. "You
could defeat anyone with those powers."
"Not exactly," Harry said with a shrug. "I can only pick up the basics unless I
train with these new powers. Although I have been able to shift my body through
walls like this."
Harry answered when he shifted back and forth from one wall to the other,
phasing through it like Kitty did. His green eyes popped up before he turned to
them.
"I have to really focus but I think I've observed Kitty enough to pick up most
of the basics," Harry offered with Wanda nodding.
"I'm sure you have," Wanda stated crisply under her breath.
They went back to their training, a few more times with Harry trying to allow
Wanda to blast the same shelf. With each passing blast, she got better and more
accurate, although to be honest, there was still a long way for her to go.
Rachel stood by in the event that Harry needed her help to temper one of
Wanda's outbursts. To the young magical mutants credit, she kept her impulses
at bay.
"I should visit almost every day, when school ends next week," Harry answered
when he reached forward. "I brought you a present."
Wanda's interest piqued when she looked at Harry and he handed her a battery
operated CD player, charmed to make the batteries never go dead.
"I feel that you could use something to keep your sanity in here, as these days
can go rather long," Harry answered and Wanda gave him a raised eyebrow, with a
smile.
"You're telling me?"
Harry bid Wanda farewell before he rejoined Rachel and hoped that this was the
beginning to the young mutant's road to recovery.
"So how goes the real estate?" Rachel asked when she looked at Harry.
"I've got a few places," Harry offered when he looked at her. "If the X-Men
want my help after I leave, I'll be there, and it will be close by, but I want
to start my own dream. Xavier and Magneto shouldn't be the only games in town."
Rachel nodded, all of the events of mutant kind revolved around those two. She
sensed Harry wanted to get this place ready and hopefully give Wanda a place to
stay when he got her discharged. He worked hard to get the young mutant
released under his care so she could be surrounded by people who had her best
interests in mind. As opposed to people who prodded and poked at her like some
kind of lab rat.
They hoped that came sooner rather than later.
===============================================================================
 
"Keep to it, Amara, you're doing a good job."
Amara felt a rush of pleasure at these words from Harry but she resolved not to
lose her head. It was amazing how much she got things when he demonstrated and
showed her what they expected of her. She cut through at her own pace. It also
amazed her that Harry was able to copy her powers with the expert precision and
direct them in a halfway decent way, as rudimentary as it might be. Magic did
many wonderful things as she thought about.
She held her hands up and melted the rock that appeared in the Danger Room.
Iceman, Jubilee, Cannonball, and Sunspot followed her, with the other members
of the team chasing her.
"Remember, either find a way to seal it or pass it onto a teammate that has the
ability to seal it before your enemies go through," Harry called from above.
"Iceman, freeze!" Magma shouted before Iceman held his hands up and sent a
sheet of ice going through.
Wolfsbane, Boom Boom, Bezerker, and Multiple moved through.
"Maybe I can create a few clones and chisel on through," Multiple stated but
Harry yelled out a scenario.
"You have only forty five seconds to find a way through."
"Stand back, this one's mine," Boom Boom stated before she flicked the bombs
and they blew to pieces, sending ice flying everywhere.
"Points knocked off for putting your teammates in direct danger, Tabby!" Harry
yelled but Boom Boom turned to look at Harry.
"They should have known to get out of the way," Boom Boom stated when she
looked over her shoulder to Harry.
"Never assume that, you're supposed to tell them to stand clear, very creative
Magma," Harry stated when she made the bursts of lava splatter from the ground
to block them. "Find a way around."
Wolfsbane turned into her form to scout the situation around her, running
around in circles.
"This way," she stated when Multiple, Bezerker, and Boom Boom followed her.
A barrage of fireworks shot her.
"None shall pass!" Jubilee cheered when she blasted them with fire works,
rocking back and forth. "Come on, take your best shot."
"And stop," Harry responded when the timer went off. "You had sound strategy,
but you need a diversion before you go through. Remember that, and you'll be
able to win the day. Some of you lost points for very obvious things, others
for very minor things, study and go over it in your mind, and we'll be able to
go back to this training session next weekend."
The group responded with nods before they moved off.
"Session with the Sorcerer Supreme canceled?" Kurt asked when he saw that Harry
controlled the weekend Danger Room session.
"Pushed back to tomorrow, something came up," Harry answered when he watched
the New Mutants file out of the Danger Room. "Make sure to stretch afterwards,
powers or not, your muscles will tense up."
"Yes Professor!"
Harry wanted to throw Iceman into a sauna if he made one more Professor crack
but the fun loving mutant did lighten the mood.
"That one on one time help you a bit Amara," Harry responded and the young
princess nodded.
"Yeah, but I'm sure we can go over some other things in a few days, maybe
before next weekend, outside the Danger Room," Amara answered when she looked
at Harry with a smile and Harry got the message.
"Monday after school fine," Harry responded and she nodded, surprised at her
own daring. He turned over to Kurt when Amara ran off with the rest of the new
recruits. "So I saw you and Amanda the other day..."
"Yeah, we talked, a little bit, it was rather nice," Kurt answered but there
was a bit of awkwardness between the pair of them.
"Go for it Kurt, what do you have to lose?" Rogue encouraged him and Kurt
opened his mouth but the goth girl cut her off. That was a rhetorical
question."
"What if she is weirded out...well you know," Kurt answered but Harry offered
him a sound bit of advice.
"Just go for it Kurt, whatever happens, happens."
"Yeah seize the day, you never know, it's totally your time," Kitty answered
when she paused and craned her neck upwards. "Is that Mr. McCoy?"
Kitty, Kurt, Harry, Rogue, and Rachel all spun around to see the biological
teacher. The dark haired mage stepped over, his hearing got more acute ever
since the sickness, in fact all of his senses were super heightened. It was a
gift horse that he was not willing to look in the mouth, especially considering
this allowed him to listen in on Xavier and McCoy.
"My friend, I did warn you years ago that you can only temper it for so long."
"I need of a way to cure it; do you realize what this might cause?"
"Cure, that's not what I do, even if I did know how to help you. This formula
that you're ingesting, it could make matters far worse than it would have if
the change happened naturally."
"I have hands for feet, one might consider that to be unnatural."
"And others would consider that to be a very useful gift."
Harry turned over to relay what he heard to the others, who all looked
thoughtful. A few moments passed when they all went over what they heard in
their mind, before they shook their heads.
"So it appears that Mr. McCoy might be one of us," Kitty stated in a bright
voice when she turned around.
McCoy exited the room and the five mutants backed off, acting like they did not
listen in, like they came from the Danger Room.
"Mr. McCoy, it's nice to see you here at the Xavier Institute," Kitty remarked
in a bright voice when she looked at her instruction.
"Good to see you too, Katherine," McCoy stated when he walked off in a bit of a
daze. "It appears that Charles did not have the book on genetics that I hoped
he did, it's a shame but I've got to make do with what I have."
Without another word, McCoy left the Xavier Institute, with the five members of
the X-Men looking at each other, they knew one thing, they had to follow him.
"I wonder what his secret is," Rogue whispered when they followed them.
"Don't you think that we're being nosy?" Kurt offered him before another
concern visited him. "And don't you think we should inform Scott about this?"
Rachel responded to both questions in a crisp and curt manner. "No and
definitely not."
Harry managed to pin the tracking charm on McCoy which allowed him to drive all
the way home. When Harry sensed that McCoy's car stopped, he turned to the
fellow X-Men and closed his eyes. A field engulfed them all, and popped them
off.
"Nice, new sickness related power, Harry?" Kitty asked when they touched down
on the front lawn outside of McCoy's house.
They saw it was the nice, modest home that they expected from a man like Hank
McCoy, who got the most out of his teacher's salary. The driveway paved over,
the grass cut close, and everything that one could expect was present. The five
walked forward.
"Yeah, I seem to be picking these up far more often," Harry added when he
turned to Kitty with a smile.
"Maybe you should get sick more often?" Rogue suggested, in a half teasing
voice.
"No, I like Harry a lot better when he is well, he wasn't that fun when he was
sick," Kitty stated when she folded her arms over and thought about it.
"Bit cranky, wasn't he?" Kurt asked but Harry gave them all a mock glare.
They turned their attention to the window that was opened. All five of them
kept their distance as much as they could, to see what McCoy was up to. He had
a glowing blue formula in his hand and Harry wondered whether he should drink
it. Especially considering Xavier warned him against doing so but that was
beside the point. The fact of the matter was that he put the formula to his
lips.
Kitty, Rogue, Rachel, Harry, and Kurt simultaneously shut their eyes, bracing
themselves for some kind of disaster to take place. When nothing happened, they
let out their breaths in sigh of relief.
Until the moment where their biology and gym teacher began to grow blue fur and
took on the appearance of a large blue gorilla. All of them stepped back when
he gave a primal yell.
"That's not good," Kitty breathed when she clung onto Harry's arm. Her
boyfriend held up her up careful.
A large smash and the Beast went out the back way into the city.
"And that's even worse," Kurt responded when he reached forward but Rogue
blocked his hand.
"No time to call for reinforcements, that thing went into the city, we're the
only one's close enough to stop him," Rogue offered with a shaky voice.
"Remember, that thing is a man inside," Kitty said to her and Rogue nodded.
"I know, but maybe we should try telling him that," Rogue stated when she
looked at Kitty and Kurt chimed in with a suggestion.
"Maybe you could drain some of his power off?" Kurt asked when the group
scrambled after the rampaging beast.
Harry sent a stunning spell at it but it dodged out of the way.
"Yeah, and shave my legs for a week, no thank you," Rogue stated when she shook
her head but it was Rachel who shook her head and leaned forward.
"If we can track down Beast, and subdue him, I might be able to get into his
mind and awaken the real McCoy from inside."
Harry thought that it was worth a shot and the X-Men scrambled off, before the
angry mob formed.
===============================================================================
 
'It's good thing they don't have pitchforks, torches, and a castle to
storm,'Kitty thought to herself when she reached forward, following the rest of
her team members. The X-Men stormed in with Harry leading the charge and
listening for the sounds that would lead him forward to his target. Time stood
still when Beast went on the attack and sent everyone flying in every which
direction.
The dark haired magical mutant stood firmly on his feet, twisting his head over
his shoulder from one side to the other. The young man stepped forward moving
each step at a time, going further and further into the distance but he grew
rigid.
Yes he was most certainly close, closer than he reckoned he was before.
That much was good, he supposed but then there was the fact that they had to
get McCoy in and out of there without anyone realizing what happened. Or anyone
putting two and two together even if the fact that the Beast rampaged from the
teacher's house, that lead to more people putting together the pieces or so
Harry assumed. He stood on his feet, twisting his head to crane it a little
bit.
The angry mob approached the scene, waving their fists and there were a few
pained screams, anguished fury and people yelling for the head of the monster
that entered the park.
'Time for action, Rachel direct their attention elsewhere,'Harry thought to one
of his girlfriends and she nodded.
Rachel locked onto the mob and their actions only pacified for a few seconds
but it was a few seconds more than they had previously. Their knees locked
together when the shook and swayed but they backed off. It gave the Beast some
room.
"Kitty, Kurt, subdue, but don't hurt," Harry stated and Kurt disappeared behind
Beast.
Beast growled, recognizing the young mutant beside him barely. Kitty grabbed
Beast's arms and tried to phase them through the wall. For a moment, she
thought this attack worked, well planned out that it was, although it was not
too well planned out all things considered.
That was until the moment Beast ripped his hands form the wall and caused the
gate behind him to crumble.
'I know the real him is inside, but where, that's the question,"Harry thought
before he looked up to face Beast and blasted him with a cheering charm.
The charm was strong but the savage fury in the Beast was also strong. Whatever
he put in that chemical remained potent, exactly how potent, that remained to
be seen. The creature flailed his arms back and forth, reaching for anything
that moved. This allowed Rachel to slide into position and lock onto the savage
mind of the creature.
The creature fought hard, that credit could not be denied but Rachel's mind
strongly pushed into his mind, working into his inner consciousness, before
Harry joined with her in tandem, to attack his mind, to separate the primal
fury within. It pushed back, with the creature's eyes narrowing a little bit
but he pushed back. The creature was not about to be denied, no way, no how,
that was something that was for certain.
Fists clenched together when the two mutants combined the full force pushed
into his mind that they offered, the attack growing stronger with each passing
moment. There was a mental tug of war in the mind, between the man and the
monster, with the monster winning despite the assist from Harry and Rachel.
Despite that all, they had to try, they had to work into the inner subconscious
of the mind and push him out, work into his mind, deeper, pushing deeper.
'I think I...got it,'Harry thought when he closed his eyes, in time to feel the
throbbing in the back of his head.
'You better hurry up, the natives are getting restless again,'Rachel informed
Harry, seeing the nervous looks on the face of Rogue, Kitty, and Kurt.
"Do they have it yet?" Kurt wondered, not wanting to break their concentration
but also he wanted to ask a question, he needed to ask a question. The pair of
them pushed back and forth in their minds.
"I think...I think they're close," Kitty offered, not knowing how she knew
this, it was the fact that she knew this really that allowed her to strengthen
her mind and her thoughts. She folded her hands over, a strong resolve kicked
up.
Beast and McCoy, perhaps two sides of the same coin fought and pushed out, his
eyes blinking, gazed over with each passing attack. His knees crumpled
underneath him while he swayed but the combined attack by Rachel and Harry
continued to worm their way, separating the two sides and allowing McCoy to
gain more clarity even though it seemed like his physical body would stay
mutated into a more primal force.
Scratching, pulling, biting, clawing, that's what the name of the game was and
that's what they did, but Beast fell down to the ground, toppled at that
moment. His head rang and the creature gave a pained grimace.
"It's done," Harry managed when he staggered as did Rachel but it seemed like
it was not a moment too soon that it was done. Had they held up longer, Beast
would have struck out.
"Yeah, I can feel McCoy returning," Rachel answered when she looked at him, her
expression swimming, before Harry placed the repelling wards around them.
Rachel wiped the sweat from her brow, that was a bit too close for her comfort
to be honest, if things got a bit more differently, who knows what would
happen. Despite that fact, there appeared to be no way to reverse McCoy's
mutation right now, at least she did not think.
When she voiced that theory to Harry, he shook his head.
'Temporarily perhaps, but not permanent,'Harry thought to her, it was a problem
with even the best magic and it seemed like this was in the genetic make up of
McCoy. He shifted and turned into this Beast and the result was what was before
them all.
"We got to get out of here, even magic won't hold up what happened for long,"
Harry offered them all and his team nodded.
Kurt, Kitty, and Rogue helped pull up the slack form of Beast and Kurt elected
to be the one to check in with the Institute.
"Yes, Kurt, what is it?" Xavier asked when Kurt got on the line.
"You remember how you told Mr. McCoy this morning that his attempts to cure
what he was going through would worsen it?" Kurt asked and there was a pause
for a little bit before Xavier answered.
"Yes, I do recall that conversation, although I wonder how you would know about
it...that's beside the point at this moment, tell me what has transpired."
Kurt gave Xavier the full report when Harry transported the entire group back
to the Institute. Xavier paused for a few seconds, it was obvious that he
mulled something over in his mind, at least for a little bit of the time. Time
stood still whilst the group waited for their leaders words. After a few
seconds, he reported back to them in the only way he could.
"Whilst I would have preferred that you went for back up, I do think that you
worked well as a team, at least to the point where you managed to defuse the
situation, at least partially."
Harry, Kitty, Rogue, Kurt, and Rachel all felt a compliment coming on, as well
as a lecture but still that was the best that they could do, so more power to
them.
"We'll determine what happened later, as of now, let's get Mr. McCoy ready and
willing so I can ensure that the beast is truthfully gone in his mind or if he
lays dormant."
===============================================================================
 
Henry McCoy knew one thing, this was something that was a bit of a blunder that
he did but honestly things could have gone worse. Exactly how much worse, that
remained to be something he would have to determine on his own. To say that
things were good however would be a gross misunderstatement beyond everything
he ever realized.
"It seems like I should have listened to you, Charles."
"Yes, you should have," Xavier agreed when he turned to his colleague but then
his expression softened. "It seems like mistakes are the greatest teacher and
your appearance….I'm afraid it cannot be reversed, no matter what step we
take."
Kurt smiled when he turned to his teacher, before trying to offer him a bright
side to the entire situation, at least that's what he assumed. "Hey, Mr. McCoy,
it's not going to be too bad, all you need to do is wear an image inducer like
I do and…."
McCoy shook his head, cutting that particular statement off at the pass before
he stood and faced the younger mutant, one who had similar issues to him with
hiding who he was. "Kurt, I've realized that there are instances where no
matter what, we cannot hide behind an image inducer."
Kurt wondered if this was a thinly veiled statement to the fact that he tried
to hide from behind the image inducer that he wore. The more the young mutant
thought about it, the more he wondered about what happened. It was true, his
unconventional appearance could cause people to look at him strangely at best
or panic at worst. Even those who were used to him, the young mutant could not
help but feel some undercurrent of hostility going through them in the back of
his mind.
Yet, Kurt shook his head, it was a part of who he was, like it or not. Although
he did not have to like it, perhaps there was some way for him to adjust in
time but as of this moment, he would remain carefully entombed in the disguise
he chose to wear. It might not be the easiest thing in the world to deal with
but it really was a part of who he was.
"I guess my teaching career is over," Beast mused when he took a moment to
shake his head. "I'm guessing the school's hiring policy on my type is not
going to be that tolerable. So be it, I assume, I wondered how long I would
keep up the charade anyway."
Xavier's eyes flickered to Beast in a stern way before he looked at his
colleague. "Henry, perhaps one might consider that to be the end of one chapter
of your life but think about the possibilities. This could bring forward a
brand new chapter of your life. The X-Men needs qualified instructors, as our
numbers grow. Someone with your level of knowledge would be a valuable asset to
the school."
McCoy looked unconvinced for a moment but then Kitty chimed in with a few words
of encouragement of her own. "Yeah, you wouldn't be shutting one door, you'd be
opening up another, another brand new, awesome door where you could make it."
Henry McCoy, Beast, he did not really know what to call himself at this very
moment but it seemed like they offered a rather attractive proposition. He
mulled over the options in his mind and there was no reason why he would refuse
the teaching offer Xavier gave him for this school. The possibilities to
further his career and perhaps the scope of his knowledge danced in a most
tantalizing manner in front of the teacher before he nodded his head.
"I will accept your proposal, Charles," Beast offered when he looked at
Charles, with Logan, Ororo, and Scott joining him at the moment.
"We'll be happy to have you," Ororo stated when she looked at him.
"For sure, we need all hands on deck with what's coming," Logan stated and he
turned to Scott.
"Welcome aboard, I'm sure you'll fit the school rather well."
Rachel, despite the fact that she did not agree with Scott on many things, did
agree with him on this particular point. Beast would fit the school rather
well, fit the X-Men in general like a glove. He had powers and knowledge that
would serve the next generation of mutants well.
Harry turned around to face Beast. "You'd know that I'd help you if there was
any way."
"I've learned my lesson in meddling with my nature," Beast answered but he was
thankful for the offer. "At this last bout and what happened, it's best to
leave well enough alone."
Kitty chimed in with a few words. "It's fortunate this happened at the tail end
of the school year."
Rogue nodded in agreemnent, that fact was extremely fortunate. There was a
burning question on her mind that she had to ask Beast. "So with you out of the
picture, who is going to be the one take your spot? I mean, you've got some big
shoes to fill."
Beast pondered the matter before he responded with the most logical answer. "I
think that the children of Bayville High School deserve a man who will not
indulge himself in formulas to try and change his nature. The perfect man for
the job it seems is an old colleague of mind, Doctor Curt Connors. His
knowledge base on lizards and other creatures on the like is amazing. I'm sure
he'll be a good fit."
Harry, Rogue, Kitty, Rachel, and Kurt thought that Beast had the point, if he
vouched for someone to that degree, there was a good reason. Perhaps things
would turn out for the better for all of them.
"Ororo, show Doctor McCoy to his quarters, I believe after the day he had, that
he deserves a bit of a rest," Xavier answered and McCoy nodded.
"That would be preferred, thanks," McCoy stated when he took his bags and said
his good byes before Ororo lead him up the stairs.
"I think he'll fit in well here," Kitty offered with a smile crossing her face.
"All sorts are welcomed at the Xavier Institute," Harry offered and the entire
group nodded at that, before they went their separate ways. It had been a long
day and all of them needed to relax.
First, Harry needed to go out and test his powers away from the Institute, to
see what the full scope of them was so he would head out and do that. Later he
would let the others in on it but he wanted to see what he could do and what
observations he could make about his powers.
===============================================================================
 
A group of men dressed in military fatigues cowered when a man dressed in a
green jacket, with a black t-shirt, and blue jeans. His hair was red, and his
eyes were dark, they stared at the men with sadistic fury. His patience, as it
turned out, was not much for the fools he dealt with. The man shook his head
before he offered one single question that dripped off his teeth with pure
venom.
"You mean to tell me you had the freak cornered in the mark and suddenly, you
forgot what you were doing."
The men shook their heads, fearfully, backing off a little bit, wondering if
they were going to be blamed for something really bad that happened. All three
of them shook their heads, when their leader was in a towering temper and
talked about the freaks, they knew one thing was for sure; it was time to stay
clear and far away from him.
Who was this man? The man's name was Graydon Creed and he absolutely hated
mutants, no one quite knew why but him. His backstory was one that dripped with
tragedy and one would almost fell sorry for him, if it were not for the fact
that he was kind of an irredeemable bastard and tarred all mutants with the
same brush despite his experiences with them.
Graydon Creed was a human born to two mutants but thanks to an operation, his
blood was pure. No one knew this naturally and many if they did would question
the logic of how draining all of his blood from his body and replacing it with
human blood would no longer make him the offspring of two mutants. Yet there it
was and he stood to face a small, but devoted, group of followers, nasty and
mean as ever with the human blood dripping through his twisted veins when he
stared at his men.
His pure human blood pumped with his heart that beat strongly with the hatred
of all mutant kind and the hatred burned strong through his eyes, narrowed and
cruel. The red haired man shook his head when he remembered the cruelty of his
mutant parents. His mother left him at birth with his father, who to be honest
was a real bastard. His father abused, belittled him, locked him a cupboard,
and threw him down the stairs, calling him a freak of nature.
The phrase what does not kill a person makes them stronger resounded through
the head of Creed and this nature made him stronger. Creed turned to his men, a
gaze through his nasty beady eyes before he responded.
"I'm not going to mince words, you screwed up big time."
"Give us another chance, Creed."
Those words sounded a lot like begging, something that Creed did not sympathize
with. He needed all of the hands on deck that he could. There were more so
called heroes but they were nothing, except for big freaks. Spider-Man, these
X-Men, the Hulk, the Fantastic Four, all monsters that needed to be put down,
needed to be destroyed for the good of all humanity.
The revolution started with Creed and he would bring the fight to the enemies,
the group were the Friends of Humanity. If people showed their loyalty to the
freaks, then they were most certainly not a friend of human, rather they were
an enemy. And that was someone who needed to be destroyed because Creed did not
suffer these people well.
"Do not deny what is true in our hearts, we will rise, the Friends of Humanity
will be one."
The Friends of Humanity agreed with this proclamation, nodding their heads, it
was all that they could do to get into the good graces of Creed. Being his
enemy meant that they could get shot up at any time so it was time for a little
careful brown nosing.
"For sure Mr. Creed."
"Yeah, you're the boss."
Creed smiled, loyalty to the human race was so hard to come by in this day and
age, when everyone talked about tolerance and respect for those different to
them. Was his existence tolerated when his father knocked him down the stairs.
Was he respected when his mother left him at birth, to his abusive father? The
answers to both of those questions were obvious to him, painfully so.
"We stand together, or we will hang separately."
That creed belonged to Creed, it separated the Friends of Humanity from the
rest of the world, and made them understand that they were special. Humans
would not be the minority, they would remain the majority. They were the ones
who ran the planet and a group of super powered freaks would not dictate how
they lived their lives. No way, no how, not in a million years.
The Friends of Humanity were willing to die for their cause but were the
mutants? Would the freaks show the same loyalty to each other when push came to
show?"
"We will show them what makes us humans, makes us strong," Creed stated to the
assembled and growing group, men and women dedicated to his cause, his words.
"We will show them that mutants will not get the better of us. We will show
them that the true power comes from within and not from with super powers."
The group cheered.
"LYNCH THEM!"
"BURN THEM!"
"RUN THEM OUT OF TOWN!"
"DESTROY THE MUTIES!"
Creed knew that they would be exposed before a matter of time and when the
mutants were out in public, unable to hide behind their anonymous mask, then it
would separate them both and show that humans were still strong. It was only a
matter of time.
"Who is with me?"
Loud cheers echoed from every single direction and the Friends of Humanity
waved their hands, they stood together, all dressed in white robes and holding
up crosses. The power of human kind would not be denied, they would stomp the
mutants, they would make sure none of their kind would thrive. Some only fought
to protect the interest of their friends and family while others fought out of
distaste and distrust for all that were different was.
"Recruit your friends, your family, your neighbors to our cause, if they're not
with us, then they're against us, and if they're not with us, they'll hang with
the muties!" Creed yelled and there were more cheers from this statement.
The group would grow and Creed's influence would, he would wipe them all out,
and gain revenge on behalf of those who suffered at the hands of injustice like
him. The Friends of Humanity were not monsters like many unenlightened people
thought that were. Rather, they would deliver the human race from the injustice
and the destructive embrace of the mutants.
"Now's the time, stand up and face them, it's time to fight!"
===============================================================================
 
Harry moved forward to consider what he could do, so far he found out a way to
replicate Kurt's powers, Kitty's, Rachel's telekinesis, Bobby's ice powers,
Amara's magma powers, Wanda's hex powers, and Scott's optic blasts all with
magical abilities. He moved through his mind to see what all he could do and
found out something else. Thanks to his abilities, the young mage also could
crawl up the walls ala Spider-Man. Granted, that was not the most special thing
in the world, given his flight abilities but still anything was useful.
No doubt in the coming months, Harry could figure out what else he could do.
Multiple's powers were a must for certain aspects of multitasking involving his
girls, with perhaps reigning in the clones a bit. Given the fact that his group
grew with each passing day, that would be a must to learn or so Harry assumed.
That was something he could be entirely mistaken about.
Regardless, his ears perked out when he moved past the museum and stepped
forward. Someone broke in but that someone left the door open, to allow anyone
to come in. Perhaps that was the intention of this would be thief, so Harry
wondered what this was all about. He decided to move in to see what was going
on, slipping inside and wondering what kind of trouble he would mean.
'Likely some balding middle aged man with a beer gut and two teeth missing,'
Harry mused to himself when he popped up and dropped to the ground.
He stopped and stared, to say the least, the thief was the last thing in the
world he suspected.
The thief's platinum blonde hair shined in the moonline, with a mask over her
face, showing her shining blue eyes underneath. She wore cat ears on the top of
her costume, with a black bodysuit that wrapped tightly around her. It
showcased every single curve, every single bit of her, the swell of her very
large breasts that threatened to burst out of her top. It moved around to curve
around her shapely ass that jutted out. Harry could tell her legs went for
miles and had a nice shape to them as well.
To put matters bluntly, this young woman was a reflection of woman hood.
The thief turned around, prying open the case, careful not to trigger the
security along but stopped at the clearing of the throat.
"What do we have here?"
The twenty year old thief spun around to face Harry, staring him down.
"Well, someone new, I thought for a moment you'd be the Spider," the thief
responded when she stepped forward and got a good look at him.
'Well, I've just hit the jackpot,'she thought when she looked at his tall form,
the dark black hair that had a messy quality to it that was downright sexy. The
burning green eyes that stared her down, with the black shirt that stretched
over his muscular body, which she saw a taunt, a tease of but there was no more
than that. The tight leather pants wrapped oh so snugly around him.
"And who might you be?" Harry asked when he saw the hot and likely older thief
check him out.
Only a complete idiot would not take advantage of something like this.
"The name's Black Cat, you must be new to town," Black Cat stated when Harry
rushed over to her but she showed a great deal of gymnastic ability and
flexibility to move out of the way. "I must say, decent moves, but I'm the one
who plays the game here."
Black Cat bent back, her legs spread at the perch point above Harry. She
grappled up there and thought she was safe. The dark haired wizard moved up
after her, flying.
"Oh, hiding a few tricks, are we?" The Black Cat purred when Harry dropped down
to face her. "Well, I must say, you're nothing like I would think you are."
Black Cat found herself trapped in Harry's arms when he physically restrained
her. He caught a glimpse of her very ample cleavage, with the breasts that
threatened to spill out of the cat suit that only zipped up partially. The heat
caused the suit to wrap firmly around the thief's breasts, her nipples poking
out, beckoning him forth.
"Trust me, I'm much more than you think I am," Harry stated and Black Cat
pulled open the front of his uniform, before the thief ran her hands, slowly,
sensually over Harry's body.
"I can see that," Black Cat purred when she nearly had Harry's top off. "I'll
make you deal, let me go and I'll make it worth your while."
Harry was dubious, but curious at the same time. When a young woman makes a
statement like this, Harry, as a young man could not help but be curious.
"I don't offer this deal to anyone, but you know, it's been a while since I've
gotten some real action," Black Cat stated when she leaned back into the wall.
"With the Spider, it's go around, make some quips, and then he splatters his
webbing into my hair…..no that's not a euphemism for anything."
A smile twisted onto Harry's face when he had the Cat cornered.
She shivered at the smile in spite herself.
"So I'm sure you kiss all the girls and make them cry, but I wonder what you'd
do with a woman," Black Cat stated when she rubbed her hands on Harry's
shoulders but he grabbed her hands.
"Depends on if you're being genuine about this," Harry answered when she looked
at the Black Cat.
Black Cat's face contorted into a smile when she stared back at Harry, before
seduction dripped off her voice. "Please, everything about me is real."
Harry raised his eyebrows when he looked at Black Cat before he placed his
hands on her shoulders and pushed her back in the wall. They were in a public
place, inside a museum that anyone could run in at any time and see what they
were doing. Somehow, that made everything more exciting. A pair of strong male
hands clutched the face of her, running his fingers down her cheeks, and
causing sexual fire to burn through her.
Kitty knew and the other girls knew that there would be situations,
opportunities if one could say, where Harry needed to take advantage of them.
It was the way his powers worked and Kitty in particular understood, she said
she did as long as she came first in Harry's life. That was a fair deal as far
as he was concerned.
"Let's find out, "Harry answered before he shoved his tongue into the Black
Cat's mouth, violating her mouth with his organ, and the two ran their hands
over each other's bodies.
Smut/Lemon Begins.
Black Cat returned the kiss, running her hands down the body of this young man.
For some reason, he exerted the type of power and made her excited. The kiss
caused her toes to curl and fire to course through her belly, when his hands
moved over her hips, her buttocks, her legs, her breasts, he moved quickly when
he ran over every single inch of her.
Harry felt her breath heavily into his mouth, and she ran her hands over him,
her hot hands rolled over every single inch of flesh and caused the mage to
twitch. His tight pants constricted when her gloved hand moved over, wrapping
around his length. The young magical mutant pushed the cat burglar against the
wall, to continue to deepen the kiss.
His fingers worked down the zipper of her cat suit, working it down over her,
to allow her breasts to spill out of her. Black Cat shivered when the cool air
rolled over her breasts as they were exposed. Her nipples stood out, rigid and
erect, with her round and firm mounds, milky and beautiful when they stood out
in front of his face.
"Let's see if they're as real as they look," Harry answered when he placed his
hands around her DD cup breasts, squeezing them with in his palms. The flesh
felt extremely real when Harry worked over them, rubbing the underside of her
breasts, working into them, rubbing his hands underneath them. "Oh yes, they're
very real."
Black Cat slid the rest of the cat suit off of her, to reveal her toned and hot
body. Her large breasts jutted out with her large areoles and dark nipples,
standing erect, proud, perky, and ready for Harry to suck and run his tongue
over. She sighed when Harry ran his hands over her body, feeling his hands over
her toned stomach, her juicy cunt, and her long, lovely legs before he grabbed
two hands full of her firm ass.
"Yes, come and fuck me but you seem a bit overdressed," Black Cat stated when
she grabbed Harry's pants and tugged them out. She drooled with desire when she
freed this young man's cock from its prison. It stood, pulsing and large. "This
is….you're a really good size."
"Yes, I've heard that," Harry responded when his fingers brushed against her
clit and then moved over to rub past her slit.
"I need that in me…whoever you are," Black Cat managed when she looked up.
"Wet and ready for me, with no introductions, well I wonder if we should go for
real names or codenames," Harry answered when he continued to play and rub his
fingers through the young woman's pussy. Granted he could pick the information
from her mind but the real fun was through the seduction.
"Real names, on the first date," she breathed when her eyes fluttered over, and
his fingers sunk into her.
"I can make you finish with my fingers or my tongue just as good, you wouldn't
get the delights of my cock," Harry whispered in her ears.
His hot breath connected with the side of her ear when he teased her. Her pussy
sized up, burning with desire, it needed to be filled, especially when she saw
it. This young man's fingers sank into her, going deeper and also he rubbed her
clit with his other hand. He continued the motions by latching his mouth onto
her nipple before giving it a deep suck.
"Jesus….oh sensitive," she breathed when he sucked on her right nipple, she
loved having them played with and sucked on, but most groped her breasts
without any finesse or skill, not that she minded a good grope on her breasts
at all. This guy was different as she noticed straight away. "Fucking…yeah."
"I don't think that's your name, my lovely thief," Harry stated when he
continued to plunge his fingers and then he withdrew them when her juices
dribbled onto them. Slowly, he offered them to her and she lapped them up like
a cat sucking up milk.
Drinking her own cum made the Black Cat want him more and she reached forward
to grab his crotch but suddenly, her arms went to her side, stiffened. He used
some kind of telekinetic ability to hold her arms in place. She realized that
he could do anything that he wanted with her with this ability but that made it
all that more exciting and daring to her.
Not to mention the fact security could walk in at any time.
"So are you ready to play nicely?" Harry asked her when he brushed his length
against her damp slit.
"Yes….Felicia's my name, now fuck me," Black Cat responded when she felt
herself lost to the nature of Harry.
"Harry," the wizard responded before he teased her entrance once, twice, and
three more times, before he reared back and plunged his cock into her womanly
depths.
The Black Cat gave a scream when he fucked her against the wall, his prick
shoved inside her tight box. She felt it spear into her molten core, giving her
the pleasure. Once again, the thief felt her hands get free so she sank her
fingers into the back of this young man, to allow himself to pump into her. His
cock pushed into her, hitting the back of her pussy.
"Oh, yes, I feel it, please, deeper," Black Cat breathed when his hands gripped
around her and he pushed up, before he sank into her pussy.
"Nice pussy," Harry breathed when he licked behind her right ear, and caused
her to shiver.
"Yeah, haven't heard….OH YES!" Black Cat screamed when his latest thrust hit a
place that she did not know that she had.
Harry felt submerged in heaven, her tight, warm folds wrapped around his
probing prick. Each thrust delved into deeper territory, sending pure sexual
fire through her body, and he felt his strength grow, along with another part
of her body. This older woman moaned deeply when he hit the back of her, each
motion getting him deeper into her. He was practically balls need into this
older woman and loved it; she squeezed him with her inner walls, the fluids
lubricating her vaginal walls nicely.
Felicia lost herself to the pleasure, feeling his hands give her slight touches
but then he realized that his hands never left her hips. Her lover's
telekinetic ability had more uses than keeping her arms in place that was for
sure. It stroked her body without him touching her although she did cherish the
most personal touches that a pair of hands rubbing all over her sweaty flesh
over.
"Oh, cumming, wet, so wet," Felicia breathed when his cock speared deeper into
her pussy, touching inside her.
"That's the way I love you girls, wet and tight," Harry stated when he squeezed
her breasts for emphasis. His hands wrapped around them tightly, and allowed
him the momentum when he cut a solid pace through this older woman's tight
quim. "Oh, that's it…such a tight squeeze!"
Felicia hitched a breath when her pussy spasmed to lubricate the tool of her
younger lover with her fluids, it sliding out of her. Her back pressed against
the walls with Harry pushing back and spearing into her. His cock felt like it
went a bit deeper when another shattering orgasm rocked the body of the Black
Cat.
"We'll see if Cat's have nine lives or not if you keep this up," Harry remarked
to her with a smile, his cock pushed into her moist folds.
"Haven't…used them up…yet," she murmured when her chest raised and lowered with
the steady inhaling and exhaling, air going through her nostrils.
Harry's cock slid through her very well lubricated pussy, ramming into her
molten hot core. The two organs connected in the age old mating dance showed
that there was nothing better. The platinum blonde's knees buckled but she held
herself up, with a little help from Harry.
Felicia's eyes flickered for a little bit, all she came for from the jewels but
she stumbled upon a real prize to say the very least. His cock speared through
her body, washing over her body with the sensual magic, his touches inspiring
deep fire with her belly. She came, once, twice, thrice, she didn't know and
stopped counting, allowing herself to become slavishly addicted to the pleasure
rocking her body.
"You must be getting close," the cat burglar breathed, she had great stamina
but this young man was a machine. She wished she got caught by him before now,
all of the missed opportunities that she had.
"I can go all night long," Harry stated with a smug expression on his face when
he grabbed firmly onto his hips and went deeper into her, his cock rippled
through her body.
Felicia felt her curiosity get indulged because of that and wondered what else
Harry could do. The young man's stamina appeared to be without peer and without
parallel from what she experienced, the tightness wrapped around her when she
reached deep into her playbook, squeezing his cock hard with her hot cunt,
wrapping around it.
"Give me your milk love, give this kitty her treat," Felicia purred in Harry's
ear when he plunged into her womanly depths.
Harry drew out the pleasure, allowing another orgasm to rock her body. Her hips
rolled against his, trying to coax the seed from his balls but he took one more
pass, going through her and went deeper into her. The mage pushed through her
tight pussy, going further and further, going into, deeper into her, before it
came.
The pleasure in Harry's groin burst before he splattered his cum deep into her
body, down her canal, flooding into her like. Like a fire hose, the love juices
of the magic user spilled into the sexy thief, spurting every single drop of
fluid that he had, draining his balls into her and causing her to spasm at the
orgasm. Despite that fact, the Black Cat squeezed around him, milking every
single last drop from him, drawing the man's cum from his balls.
Harry pulled out of her, feeling the sweet sensation of relief and release but
no sooner did he pull out, was he felt her hand wrapped around his crotch.
Felicia looked up at him, with imploring eyes.
"You did say you could go all night long," she breathed hotly, when she
squeezed his crotch and pumped on his member to get it back to full mast.
"Yes, yes, I did," Harry told her when the woman bent down onto her knees,
before she licked the head of his member.
Felicia saw that the proof was in the pudding, or rather his erection. She
looked up at him, before giving him puppy-dog eyes, the irony given her
codename. "I want to ride that cock until it can't go any more."
Harry, being smart, wanted something from her. "Give me a tit fuck and you can
ride me all night long."
"Are you sure you'll be able to handle it?" Felicia asked when she cupped her
massive boobs and showed them to Harry.
"Trust me, I've handled things like that before," Harry stated when he leaned
back. "Make me cum on your tits, and then ride me, trust me, it will work."
Felicia's face twisted into a Cherish cat grin, before she teased the cock a
little bit with a lick, and grabbed his cock, rubbing it against the side of
her breasts and rolled over her nipples. She grabbed his cock, pressing it in
between her tits.
Harry groaned when he felt her tits wrap against his pole with a great might,
they really squeezed him and she knew the effect that it had on men. With the
determination, Felicia pushed herself up and down, Harry's cock smashed between
her fleshy globes. This was a sensation that must men would give their left nut
for and Harry sensed that the woman was determined to make an impression that
could last. Wrapped around his shaft were her tasty tits and they pushed
against him.
"Oh, you can handle them, can't you?" Felicia asked before a response was
given, Harry played with her breasts while she fucked him hard.
Harry's eyes looked up at her, smirking and continued to push through her
cleavage, his cock pumping through her valley. It met her tongue with each
little lick before he responded with a slight grin. "I can handle anything you
can do to me."
Felicia took him up on this offer, the challenge was something that she thrived
on. Her breasts wrapped around his pole when it continued to plunge in and out
of it. The woman felt the joy of such a hunk of meat ripping through the area
between her breasts. She breathed when the young man took a moment to raise his
hips up and placed his hands firmly upon her chest.
"More, yes, more, love it!" Felicia breathed when Harry pushed in between her.
"I'm really turning you on, aren't it?" Harry asked when he saw the woman's
hands reach for her pussy. Mischievously grinning, the young man blocked them
with her powers.
"No…fair," Felicia managed when Harry pushed through her with these incoming
thrusts, each of them getting deeper into her fleshy globes, each of them
pushing her to the prink of ecstasy. Despite the fact she was unable to
pleasure herself, she felt more pleasure, the cream rolling from her slit down
her thighs and spilling onto the floor.
"All's fair in love and war," Harry countered with a grin through his teeth
when he looked up at her. His cock pressed between this sexy woman's breasts,
yes that was something that he would feel for a lifetime, it pushed against
her, going between her tits, in, out, in, out, cutting a rapid pace.
She gave him sexual little sucks, her tongue ran across his slit, yes he was
getting close but he wanted to milk this one.
Felicia felt it, he felt him tighten between her breasts, so she proceeded to
rub him raw with her tits. She knew that he kept her hands away from her pussy
with his abilities but she could still touch his cock, her tits, and that was
what she did. The movements grew more intense, with her squeezing what passed
as life out of him, going faster, harder, quicker.
"Here it comes," Harry grunted when he felt his muscles tighten and the
explosion went off like a hose.
Felicia screamed in pleasure when the cum splattered out of his cock and
splashed onto her face, her tits, and rolled down her stomach. His essence
spilled out of him in an immense quantity, it never seemed to end, it coated
her greatly.
Harry rested back and allowed her to straddle his hips now. The next motion was
utterly hot, with Felicia scoping the wizard's cum from her large melons and
placing it into her mouth. She ensured the eyes locked on each other at all
times, knowing that she wanted to get the most out of his reaction.
And quite a reaction it was, his cock grew from its flaccid state into its
stronger, harder state. She saw it grow, Felicia swore it got larger since the
last time she was in her. Still with that in mind, there was only one way to
find out, to put him through the paces.
She sank herself down onto his hard prick, gyrating her hips, rolling it over
his massive member when it submerged into her body. Slow at first, she rocked
up and down but Harry reached forward, grabbing her hips and grabbing a double
handful of her ass. This encouraged the woman to ride him faster yet, rocking
back and forth on his pelvis as she arched herself backwards showing great
flexibility.
"I want to fuck the rest of your nine lives out of you," Harry grunted when his
hands rolled over her backside while his other abilities tweaked and pinched at
her sensitively nipples. It was like a million fingers rubbed over them, all of
them extremely talented.
"Please do," she breathed when the young woman felt his cock push up into her,
pushing into her, and stretching her out.
Each passing thrust rippled deep into her body, allowing her to feet the
pleasure, and the joy that came before her. Felicia rocked her head back, and
rolled her hips, giving sensual little screams when he pushed deep inside her,
pushing up hard into her, with each passing thrust getting deeper into her. The
two lovers matched each other stroke for stroke.
Harry's probing prick pulsed when it wrapped in this heavenly delight. He could
fuck this pussy all night like but despite this bravado she showed, she started
to get tired. Each thrust worked into her harder, like ticks in the clock, her
pussy spasmed and clenched, working him over, pushing him closer to the brink,
closer to the edge of his own pleasure.
"Not going to go down without a fight, are you?" Felicia purred when she sank
herself down on the throbbing manhood beneath her. She lifted herself up and
squatted down, gyrating her hips.
"No, feel comfortable, right now," Harry stated when he reached around to play
with her tits, feeling the delights beneath his hands and continued to work
over her nubile body with passing strokes. His hands rolled over her, sending
jolts which she panted at. "But I think you're coming to the edge."
Felicia breathed heavily, feeling his hands on her chest, the power rolling
over, coursing through her body. The warmth was without reproach, without pear,
and she hardly had the sense to go even further. "Yes, I think….yes….more, cum
in me, I need it."
Harry was not done and she clenched him tightly, riding him, trying to get him
to cum. This woman rocking back and forth on him with her tits swaying, when he
squeezed him was quite the sight. Coupled with her platinum blonde hair
swinging from side to side with her face, framing it, yes it was beauty and
seduction wrapped all into one.
She pushed herself more, going down harder, squeezing him much more with the
joy. Cunt wrapped around him tightly, fluids dribbled down her, breath going in
and out of her body. The hot desire flushed her, knowing that she needed to
pull more jobs like this one.
"So close," Harry informed her after a long time passed.
Felicia sped up her games, the smoking hot woman really wanted her treat and
Harry was all too happy to give it to her when she pushed up, down, up, down,
until her pussy clenched and that's when the dam in Harry's crotch broke.
He exploded his hot juices into her, feeling her warm and soft pussy wrap
around him, pulling on him, tugging on him. She milked him dry of the creamy
filling within his balls. She sank up and down on him, until his cock was spent
for a while yet, squeezing him dry with all she had.
The cum dribbled down her thighs when it spilled out of her, splashing onto the
museum floor but that would be for the janitor to clean up in the morning, she
mused.
Smut/Lemon Ends.
Felicia peered over her shoulder, she was sure the time was a little bit after
midnight when she came there but now it was closer to three in the morning,
perhaps a little bit later. She looked over her shoulder and almost expected
security guards to come after her but found nothing.
Sure enough, she turned with a smile and saw them stumbling and bumbling in the
hallway outside, singing "It's a Small World After All" or humming it rather.
It appeared that her mysterious lover decided to bamboozle them with some kind
of trick.
"Take these," Harry stated when he handed the jewels to her, and she turned
around.
"You're handing me counterfeit jewels?" Felicia asked when she looked at them.
"No, the counterfeits are in the case, I conjured real ones," Harry answered
when he looked at her and she raised an eyebrow. "It appears that the museum
used fake jewels and fake jewels only."
"So the people who I sent to fence for them, would have put a bullet in my head
when they found out that I brought them back fakes," Felicia responded before
Harry looked at the thief with a smile. "You saved me a lot of trouble."
"Fifty percent, meet me at this address in a week, and remember, I'll know
where you to find you," Harry responded.
The young thief offered him a smile and a shrug.
"Do I get a perk?"
"Depends on how well you do," Harry responded when he looked at her, a grin
crossing his face.
She understood his implied meaning, got dressed, and slinked into the night. To
be honest, she had no intention of cutting him short on the money he wanted,
especially when the alternative was getting sent to prison for stealing jewels.
Felicia also wanted a return performance of tonight, and knew that next time,
things might get more intense.
To Be Continued in the Next Arc "Revenge of the Green Goblin."
***** Night of the Green Goblin Part One *****
Chapter Thirty Three: The Night of the Green Goblin Part One.
Swinging over the New York City streets, with the greatest of ease, one thing
was for certain and nothing beats doing the web slinging thing. At least that's
what one friendly neighborhood Spider-Man would say when he propelled himself
from city street to city street. It had been a few weeks since the battle with
the Sinister Six and things had been oddly quiet. Perhaps a little too quiet if
the web slinger was honest with himself but only a fool would jinx the good
fortune he acquired.
'So far not even a jay walker or a pick pocket,'the web head thought when his
web slinging was his guide. 'Could it actually be that I'll get through one
night without any trouble? Could it actually be that I'll go home before eight
PM tonight?'
A loud explosion of a bomb cut the friendly neighborhood hero out of those
thoughts and he shook his head. Those thoughts went out the window faster than
he could even realize.
'Right, I couldn't be so lucky.'
The web slinger made his way to an apartment complex and gagged at the green
smoke that came out. The friendly neighborhood hero thought he cut a decent
pace when he made his way inside and dropped down to see the grisly sight
before him. Spider-Man looked around with a wince, that turned his stomach to
the bone and he looked around to see the body toll.
There was a family of four on the floor, all dead. It was nights like this that
made his job rather hard as there were a lot of psychopaths out there. The web
slinger clutched his fist to see if the man or rather monster who committed
this was still around or if it was a simple duck and run attack. Spider-Man
took a couple of steps forward to look at the sights.
"Nice night for a murder, isn't it, Spider-Man?
The web slinger's body snapped around, growing rigid with each passing moment
and his heart thumped into his chest. He wondered what he was up against and
the figure that he heard, he knew there was a voice. But as for a face, a body,
or whatever else, that was a mystery that Spider-Man could not solve. The web
slinger stepped towards the shadows and wondered happened, the palms growling
cold.
"No, it's not and who are you?" Spider-Man demanded but then his spider sense
went haywire.
It was easy to see why, an exploding pumpkin bomb sent the web slinger
staggering backwards and he dodged the attacks. He saw the nasty figure on the
glider and another explosive flung at the friendly neighborhood web slinger.
This mandated a duck and roll, with the web head trying to remain one step
ahead of his enemy, but the laughter and the explosives caused Spider-Man much
frustration. He figured that it would be a good idea to take a trip out the
window now; otherwise this dangerous individual would blow up half of the
apartment.
"Now, now, it isn't nice to run from Uncle Gobby."
The nutcase followed him out of the window on a glider and sliced through his
web line with a blade to cause him to spiral down to the ground. The web head
tried to latch onto the building and by some miracle he grabbed onto it. He
dangled over the side of the building, kicking his feet and breathing heavily
but somehow he made it.
Then he got a good look at his enemy, in all his nasty glory, the green skin or
maybe it was a costume, it was kind of hard to tell in this particular light.
The sunken in eyes that showed a promise for much sadism to come and that
caused something to turn in the pit of Peter Parker's stomach.
"You've finally met your match, Spider-Man!"
The web head dodged an attack.
"Yeah, and I'm not happy about it, especially with you killing innocent
people."
The goblin laughed. "Innocent, hardly. All of us our guilty Spider-Man,
especially you."
The web head found confusion reign on him. "Guilty, what did I do?"
"Don't play dumb, you know what you did," the criminal stated in a nasty voice
when he hurled more explosives at Spider-Man which he dodged. "You let Norman
Osborn die and now I'm your judge, jury, and executioner! I'm the Green Goblin,
know the name Spider-Man, for it will be your doom!"
"Green Goblin, catchy," Spider-Ma mused when he dodged out of the way of the
attacks and spiraled himself upwards to meet his enemy. "Nice and alliterative,
which will ensure that people will remember it."
As it turned out, that particular line of attack was a critical error. The web
slinger flew backwards with a huge smack and landed on the ground with a thud.
The web head winced when pain visited him, lots and lots of pain as it turned
out. The web slinger did not have a good night and it was about to get worse.
The Green Goblin shot a bolt of energy from his hand and knocked Spider-Man
backwards. The web head crashed onto the ground, breathing heavily and shaking
his head a little bit. The criminal dropped down off of his glider and reached
down at the downed Spider-Man, before grabbing his mask but retracted his hand.
"No, too soon," he muttered before he pulled back and looked down at the web
slinger. 'The fool never saw me coming so he didn't call his playmates. Such a
pity, but the Green Goblin shall bring the fight to them. And for now, Spider-
Man will be my prize."
The Goblin scooped up Spider-Man before he fastened his hands together and made
sure the web slinger remained unconscious. The bolt of energy shot through his
hand would immobilize him for several hours, although Goblin found that he
could increase the bolts of energy and kill people rather easily. There was
nothing to murder as he found out.
The one thing he knew was that Norman Osborn was dead and all that allowed him
to die would pay, the streets of New York would reign in blood. That was a
guarantee that the people could take to the bank and cash in and when the
Goblin gave his word, all listened.
Spider-Man hooked to the Goblin Glider, flew off with the monster, unable to
move. No doubt there was someone who was underneath that mask but when the time
was right, the mask would come off. It would be after the wall crawler's spirit
broke beyond all belief. Then when all was done, Spider-Man would beg him to
remove the mask. It was a plan worthy of a devious mastermind.
The X-Men were on his list and then Doctor Octopus, there was no way the Green
Goblin would allow him to get away. The chemicals boosted his strength, skill,
and endurance, along with making him invulnerable to magic thanks to the hair
nearby the chemicals when they exploded to give birth to the Green Goblin. All
while the sanity stripped from him and made his mind decay within his form.
Every Goblin had his day and his moment of reckoning was at hand.
Captain George Stacy arrived at the scene much too late. Eye witness accounts
indicated that Spider-Man fought some nutcase dressed like a goblin on a glider
and the battle ended badly for him.
'If someone is able to take down Spider-Man that easily, then what hope does
the rest of the NYPD have?'Captain Stacy thought when he shook his head.
He liked to have faith in his men and women but over the past year, he'd be a
liar if he did not admit that Spider-Man did not make his job a lot easier.
While he was not going to go as far as make a spider themed signal to flash in
the sky every time he needed help, he respected the web head. And now that he
was dragged off and likely good as dead, who knew what was going to happen now.
===============================================================================
"Your powers, they're much stronger when you're feet are on the ground then
they are elsewhere," Harry stated when he walked with Amara, the two of them
walking next to each other. Through the training, the two of them got to know
each other rather well. "You've improved by leaps and bounds."
"I'm glad to see that you approve," Amara answered with a smile crossing her
face when she took a look at what she perceived to be a god in living flesh
before her.
There were many times throughout history where myths existed in her culture
about people like Harry, who could give women pleasure, multiple women at once
in fact. The fact of the matter was that one of the myths resembled the young
magical mutant before her.
"So am I the one who improved the most?" Amara asked when she smiled and
stretched back a little bit, to unintentionally reveal a small amount of flesh
that was her midriff area.
Harry gazed at the dark skin that she showed, it was toned and healthy, she was
in good shape. "Yes, you've improved a lot, the most, with Bobby being the
second one although he has some issues."
"You mean being a bit annoying," Amara answered with a smile on her face and
Harry offered her a reproachful look which she looked sheepish about. "Well,
he's doing good I think, all of us I mean….we wouldn't have gotten as far as we
had if it wasn't for you. You're a great leader Harry, a great teacher."
Harry smiled, he decided not to correct Amara and state that technically
speaking Scott was still considered the leader of the squad. Of course,
technically speaking, if they wanted to look for the young mage for advice, he
did not question it, he went with it. Especially with these beautiful young
women before him, including this sexy dark skinned princess of Nova-Roma.
"You've helped me gain the confidence I need, and I'll never forget that,
ever," Amara stated when she placed her arms around Harry's waist lightly. She
had no idea why she was being so bold. Normally she would not be so brazen to
commit such an act.
"I'm happy to help, to do anything to help anyone," Harry responded when he
turned to her and she smiled at him.
"You're building quite the group of young ladies, first there was Kitty, then
Rogue, and the Rachel, and who knows who else might be coming around when they
pop back," Amara whispered to Harry when she smiled. "I'm sure you'll get the
best, most powerful ones."
"I'm sure I should leave a few for other people," Harry answered but really he
did not say that like he believed it.
Amara made a noise with her mouth and shook her head. "Harry, if the others
can't step up their game, that's their problem, isn't it?"
Harry's powers grew stronger, even after the incident at Oscorp when he inhaled
the formula that caused his powers to increase, the ability to copy other
people's powers with ease, not simply learn from them. He did not need to touch
them at all like Rogue does, rather a few minutes observation and he created
the mental notes he needed for replication.
"I want to thank you," Amara breathed hotly in his ear, the fifteen year old
mutant wrapping her arms around him and Harry wrapping his arms around her,
pulling her into a nice embrace.
Two sets of powerful lips met with a searing kiss, the type of kiss that caused
a girl's toes to curl underneath her. Her breath hitched up, before Harry's
hands traveled a bit between her legs to feel the warm heat.
"Someone's ready," Harry breathed in her ear hotly and Amara nodded.
"Ready for you," Amara stated when she looked at Harry, figuring that she
wanted a sexual experience with someone who she could trust and who knew what
he was doing.
She squealed in surprise, when Harry scooped her up in his arms and trafficked
her back to the bedroom, the pair of them disappearing in a flash of light.
Smut/Lemon Begins.
Harry stripped Amara's clothes off to reveal her tanned, hot body with round
and firm teenage breasts with brown nipples, a flat stomach, and a smooth
pussy, with lips glistening with her arousal. She looked absolutely beautiful,
there was no question about that to the powerful mage.
His fingers probed her pussy and she breathed heavily when he teased her. By
the merest touch she was driven wild and holding back at the same time. A
roguish smile crossed Harry's face when he considered the beauty beneath his
probing fingers.
"My room is charmed against any damage, so if you want to erupt, have at it,"
Harry stated when he pushed his fingers into her pulsing pussy. She was hot as
the substance of her namesake and that's the way Harry enjoyed it.
"My….you're a god," Amara breathed when Harry reached one hand around her
breast and squeezed it lightly. Her eyes closed and she felt the rush that went
through her. Another squeeze of her breast brought a shuddering pleasure to her
hot body, her core tightening around his finger.
Harry probed her pussy a little bit more and then suddenly, Amara looked up at
him, through glazed eyes. Her breasts heaved with the delight and the
princess's eyes flickered towards the young wizard. She asked him the burning
question. "Don't you think you're a bit underdressed?"
A wide smile crossed Harry's face when he removed his clothes with his
telekinetic abilities that he learned from watching Rachel. Each bit of
clothing moved off him, causing him to reveal more and more of his body to the
young princess on the bed. He probed her pussy when she breathed heavily when
his fingers worked their magic.
"Eat my pussy, while I suck your cock, please I want to taste it," Amara begged
him and Harry was never one to back down from a request from loyalty. He spread
the young thighs of the Nova-Roman princess before his tongue pushed into her
dripping hot pussy. "Oh, yes, mmm."
Amara licked his cock briefly, teasingly, before she managed to push every inch
into her mouth, her lips wrapped around it tightly. She gave her very first
blowjob, even if she learned about the techniques through books. Books were one
thing compared to what the real life thing was.
'Use your tongue more, love, take it into the back of your throat,'Harry
breathed when he grabbed her hips and munched on her molten hot peach. Her hot
juices splattered onto his face, splattering onto him. 'I can take anything
that you can give me and more.'
'And more, huh, well I wouldn't want to…disappoint,'Amara stated when she took
Harry's cock deep into her throat, squeezing it tight around her.
Harry's tongue switched tactics, when he began to recite the Alphabet backwards
in Parseltongue in Amara's pussy. Her thighs clenched together when he ate her
with precision and expert skill, lapping up her juices onto his tongue.
Her breathing got shallow when Harry nibbled on her before he returned with the
efforts of Parseltongue, which drove Amara to the brink of insanity. The
princess wanted more of this, this hunk of manhood feasting on her warm and
womanly depths. She sucked him deeply before her lips sealed around his cock.
The pleasure in Harry's cock burst to send the juices flowing into her mouth
after a time and Amara swallowed the load greedily. She needed every drop Harry
had and more.
Amara laid back, the burning in her pussy could only be fulfilled by one thing
and one thing alone. She rested on her back, spreading her legs apart and
pulling her lips apart, to reveal the wet and warm opening. With her legs
spread like that, there was only one think for Harry could do.
She screamed when Harry pushed his cock into her, the pain of her virginity
giving way to the massive phallus ripping into her. Her hips rose up to meet
his incoming thrusts when the pain faded away.
"So good, feels so good," Amara panted with the deep thrusts ripping through
her, each movement burying Harry's cock into her hot pussy, her body and
Harry's body surrounded by the molten fire when their two sex organs clashed
with each other with the love and desire.
"You haven't felt anything yet."
Harry lifted up Amara's legs behind his shoulders and slammed into her burning
pussy, spearing deep into her perfect cunt. The snug snatch wrapped around his
cock, giving it a burning hug when the two of them combined their dance to take
it to new and unforeseen levels.
Amara panted when Harry's arms rolled all over every part of her body. She got
a bit more than she bargained for in this case and to be honest, she liked it.
There was an instant where the dark haired wizard buried his thick phallus into
her warm folds so deep that she thought that it would come out the other head.
However in the heat of the moment, this near impalement brought forth utmost
pleasure.
"Heaven, warm and hot heaven," the wizard breathed when he rolled his thumbs
over her dark nipples, covered in a sheen of sweat and feeling her pussy
dribbling with the tender love juices lubricate his probing prick.
"YES!" Amara yelled when she felt herself brought to an orgasm, erupting in
more ways than one when Harry pushed into her, pulsing into her hot center.
The thrusts got deeper into her and she liked it when his cock buried inside
her womb, finding its new home in this newest pussy. Hot and tight, wrapped
around him and Harry thrust into her.
"More, yes, please more," Amara breathed when her eyes flickered shot.
"Tight, beautiful, I love this," Harry managed when he sped up the pace a
little bit, his cock squeezed in the warm box that was the dark skinned woman's
womanhood.
"This is our best lesson yet," Amara mewled when her legs wrapped tightly
around Harry when they slid down her body.
"Agreed," Harry breathed when he felt her hot legs around him. She was the
perfect package, an exotic look, dark skinned, pretty decent sized breasts,
tanned legs, and a round shapely ass. "Going to cum my love."
Amara raised up and down with the cock thrusting into her, she knew that she
wanted to have it in her and Harry thrust down, thrust deep into her. The
pleasure in his groin exploded to send jets of burning hot cum into her and
caused her to spasm, pussy clenched around her and pushing up against her. The
young mutant felt the desire of the cum splashing inside her pussy and Harry
pulled out of her.
With that moment, Harry grabbed her around the hips and flipped her over on the
bed.
"More, yeah, I can handle it," Amara stated when Harry took a look at her hot
ass and smiled, squeezing it. This gave her pleasure.
She was always curious about what anal sex felt like and now she hoped Harry
would do it to her. Amara breathed when his cock head brushed against her
asshole, feeling the pleasure.
"Please, please do it, I want your cock shoved beneath my cheeks," Amara begged
him and Harry was not one to leave a lady hanging.
He pushed his cock deep between her tanned cheeks wrapped around her firm
buttocks. Amara's anus squeezed around him, it was hot as the rest of her. She
felt her anal virginity give way when Harry pushed into her tight hole.
"Feels good," Amara breathed when she looked at her and Harry gripped her
breasts, squeezing them in his hands. "So good, so long, fuck me hard."
Harry plunged his cock into her asshole, spearing it inside her, when the
beauty played with her twat, feeling how wet it was. He picked up the thoughts
of her mind and the intentions she had with her probing fingers so Harry
decided to help her out a tiny bit with is own fingers.
The two of them fingered Amara's pussy, bringing her to more pleasure when
Harry also cupped her swinging breasts, first her right breast and then her
left breast. His hands rolled over her tanned peaks of pleasure, the dark skin
feeling good, tinted with arousal and the sweat that rolled down her body when
she panted heavily at his thrusts into her bowels.
"Tight, I love it, I'm going to fill up your ass with my cum," Harry breathed
when he squeezed her breast and diddled her twat all the while. "Say it?"
"Say…ah….what?" Amara asked in a curious voice when Harry continued to beat
into her ass with his cock.
"Say who your ass belongs to?" Harry responded when he fired back.
"Harry….Harry Potter, I'm yours, my body is yours for you to do anything you
want with," Amara breathed when she felt Harry cut a great pace into her, each
instant getting closer to the finish.
The cock squeezed in her tight buns made a tender embrace, with greater motions
when he pushed deeper into her, the ass squeezing him delightfully.
After a matter of minutes, his cum exploded into her ass, filling her anal
cavity up with a series of thrusts. Harry pumped some more into her, draining
his balls into her ass and inspiring great pleasure when he did so.
No sooner did Harry finish he felt another hand on his balls, a very familiar
and welcome hand, no scratch that, two sets of hands.
Kitty and Rachel stood on either side of him, stripped completely nude, except
for the smiles on their faces.
"You didn't think that we would miss out on all of the fun, did you?" Kitty
asked when she grabbed Harry's cock firmly and stroked it back up.
"You projected some strong vibes from where I was standing, I could feel the
psychic pulses coming all the way from where I was," Rachel answered when she
played with Harry's balls, before getting down between his legs and licking at
his wonderful phallus.
Kitty pushed Harry on the bed, and then the warmth of the brunette's pussy
wrapped against his prick, while Amara came down on the bed. The brunette
mutant sank her slim hips down onto her lover, gyrating it.
"Missed this cock, it's only been a couple days, but still miss it," Kitty
breathed heavily when Harry grabbed her around her tight ass and forced her
down onto him.
"It's missed you…ah fuck, squeeze me, I want to cum in you," Harry responded
when the brunette bounced up and down on his pelvis, with him grabbing and
tweaking her nipples.
"Yeah, feels so good," Kitty moaned heavily, throwing her head back when the
two of them matched each other's strokes.
Rachel, meanwhile, grabbed Amara and dove between her pussy, collecting the cum
that spilled on the dark skinned princess's thighs with her tongue. Harry's
eyes diverted between her and Kitty bouncing on his hard rod. The red haired
mutant dove into the hot princess's folds with immense passion, licking and
slurping the creamy delights from off of her cunt.
"Oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah, yes," Amara breathed, being brought to another
orgasm that rocked her body and Rachel delved into her mind to find the better
pleasure spots.
"They're so hot, but we can be hotter, can't we Harry?" Kitty asked when she
forced her lips down onto Harry's mouth. The dark haired wizard grabbed his
lover, cupping her ass when she sank her tight box down onto his throbbing
member. The love organ squeezed in the sheath of flesh when the two of them
continued the dance of passion.
'You know it Kitty, you know it,'Harry thought to her and Kitty smiled through
the kiss. 'Amara taste good?'
'Amara tastes great,'Kitty agreed when she pushed herself up and down, riding
Harry like the stallion he was, the two of them clashing together in the age
old dance of passion.
Harry's stamina increased by leaps and bounds, and he drove Kitty onto him,
with the pure fun and joy. The two of them battered and beat against each
other, their hips met together with their passions.
"Mmm, yeah, more," Kitty breathed when she continued to ride Harry.
"Yeah, so good, so tight, cumming," Harry managed when over a half of an hour
passed, with Rachel driving Amara nuts with her delightful tonguing.
The explosion burst in Kitty's cunt, splattering the juices into her. The
brunette mutant screamed out loud when her lover's juices filled her up,
spilling into her delicious cunt.
Kitty fell back with a sigh and then it was Amara's turn to dive between her
legs.
"Oh, many talents, yes," Kitty breathed when Amara lapped up the juices that
dribbled from the brunette's pussy, the tangy smell filling the air.
Rachel grabbed Harry and pulled him over, giving him a long kiss, before she
rested back, legs spread.
"My turn," Rachel answered in a voice that dripped with pleasure and passion
when Harry grabbed the telepaths hips, feeling her delicious rear and supple
breasts.
"Get ready for the ride of your life," Harry stated before he plunged into her
moist depths and his cock fit snugly in her pussy.
"Oh, yes, more," Rachel breathed when Harry cut a pace into her.
The young redhead's legs locked around Harry when the two rocked back and
forth, the cock drilling into her moist womanhood. The strong mage pushed his
probing penis into her welcoming sheath to feel the pure sexual magic the two
of them had when their organs met.
"You can….do anything that I desire, I love you and your cock so much," Rachel
panted when she looked up at Harry, her green eyes burning with desire. Each
passing push hit her in new spots that drove her wild with desire, from the
tips of her ears all the way down her toes and everything in between.
The dark haired wizard to fuck Rachel on the bed, causing her to feel a rush of
pleasure, when her legs locked around him and fingers sank into his back.
"I'm your bitch, fuck my pussy silly, yes, I need it, I love your cock!" Rachel
groaned through gritted teeth and Harry smiled.
"I'm sure you love it," Harry responded when he palmed her breasts, squeezing
it tightly with his hand and playing with it. His finger encircled her nipple
to pinch it and the pussy closed around his cock.
Meanwhile, the erotic desire Kitty felt when Amara munched on her peach defied
all description, eyes flickering and her breathing, chest rising and lowering.
"You're mine now," Amara stated but Kitty grabbed her and took Amara's pussy
into her mouth.
She was going to see who belonged to who when the two mutants ate each other in
a sexually charged sexy nine position.
Harry kept his eyes on that sight but also he made sure to give the telepath
beneath him her share of life and attention. His palms rolled over the rosy
nipples and she pushed up, draining her fluids onto his cock. The slurping and
suckling of Kitty and Amara made the sorcerer go further in his lover.
Rachel gasped when his cock pushed into her.
"Fucking tight, I'm going to make you beg for my cum," Harry grunted when he
pushed deeper into her.
"I love it when you make me beg but please don't make me wait," Rachel panted
when their sweaty bodies clashed together, sexual desire flowing through them,
each using their own mental gifts to make the experience even more worthwhile.
Harry milked his motions for as long as he could be allowed, he wanted to make
the moment last for a long time. Of course, it was very hard to hold himself at
bay with the erotic sight of Kitty and Amara chewing on each other's cunts in a
sixty nine position. The two of them really went to town on each other.
With a few more solid thrusts, Harry pushed into her before his balls tightened
and without another word, he came into Rachel.
Rachel screamed in pleasure when his fluids drained into her but the four of
them were not the least bit tired.
"Switch!" Kitty yelled when Amara went back to Harry and Rachel and Kitty went
for each other, until the dance continued anew.
Smut/Lemon Ends.
After much time passed, Kitty, Rachel, Amara, and Harry rested on the edge of
the bed.
"Rogue's going to be upset that she missed out but she was out of it after the
last Danger Room session," Kitty responded shaking her head.
"Oh, I'm sure Harry'll make up for it later," Rachel responded when she looked
at Harry and then turned her attention to Amara. "Good for your first time,
newbie?"
"Yes, I imagined he was amazing but I never realized how amazing he would be,"
Amara responded with a swift smile across her face.
Kitty smiled when she looked at them all. "I don't think that I can speak for
Rogue when I say this but I think that we'll all follow Harry to the ends of
the Earth."
Rachel and Amara nodded in affirmation and Kitty curled up in Harry's lap,
leaning against his chest, and resting against him. If it was not for Harry,
Kitty was uncertain if she would have even turned up at the Xavier Institute,
and she knew Rogue might have not shown up. It was Harry who lead them here in
his own ways after all.
"I'm glad, I can trust you three, well four if Rogue's not here," Harry
responded when he looked at them.
"So, you're going to find Jean, and bring her back?" Rachel asked when she
looked at Harry.
Harry paused, deciding that Jean had enough time to cool off to discuss matters
with her.
"I'll talk with her, but I'm not sure if she'll come back, right after I'm done
with Wanda," Harry remarked to them and they nodded.
Rachel somehow knew that Jean would listen to Harry above all overs. Scott must
not know that Harry went to talk to Jean, especially given the distaste from
the Phoenix had towards him. It would end badly for him if Scott caught Jean in
the wrong mood.
===============================================================================
"They're actually letting me out of here?"
Harry saw the hopeful look on Wanda's face, it was one that reminded him of him
when the Dursleys allowed him out of the cupboard, for something that did not
pertain to school and work.
"Wanda, it's a trial basis, only a weekend," Harry responded but Wanda smiled
when she walked forward outside the cell. "Now, they have this wrist monitor on
you and I'm supposed to have the button, but I won't use it on you, I swear."
Wanda placed a hand on her friend's face and peered back at him. "I want you to
use it if my powers get out of control; it's for my own good. I trust you won't
abuse it like they did."
Harry's eyes widened at this instant but he shook his head and turned back to
Wanda.
"Did they hurt you?" Harry asked but Wanda shook her head again.
"Forget I said anything, alright," Wanda responded and sure enough Harry let
the matter drop for now. "So where am I going, the Xavier Institute?"
Harry nodded but Wanda looked apprehensive and he could tell that she was not
the biggest fan in the world of Charles Xavier.
"I have to take care of something for a couple of hours, but you can hang out
with Kitty and Rogue, they both won't judge you, I've told you about them,
haven't you?" Harry asked and Wanda responded.
"Yeah, two of your girlfriends," Wanda answered when she turned around and hid
the smile that she had. Each passing session Harry visited her, she trusted him
more and more.
Harry worked to get Wanda out of here but the problem was a Raven Darkholme was
given power of attorney by Magento over his daughter. He wanted to have a
discussion with the person that Gwen recommended to him before too long, to see
what his legal options were.
"After I'm done with this, maybe we can go watch a movie or something?" Harry
asked when he looked at Wanda. "Something that normal teenagers do."
Wanda's face twisted into a bit of a sad smile. "Are we normal?"
Harry did not answer that question but it turned out there was no need for him
to answer it, Wanda shrugged her shoulders, normality was overrated and once
they were outside of the Mental Facility, he placed a hand on young magical
mutant's and the two of them disappeared in a flash of light.
Despite herself, Wanda found herself impressed by this and knew that Harry had
a few tricks up his sleeve. Kitty and Rogue waited outside.
"You must be Wanda!" Kitty said in an excited voice that was genuine and not
fake like some people Wanda knew. One of the doctors had the bubbliest
personality in the world but really it was just a front. The injection marks on
her arm proved that. "I'm Kitty Pryde and this is Rogue."
"It's nice to meet you," Rogue responded with a smile when she reached her hand
forward and shook hands with Wanda. She did not believe how much she enjoyed
not having to wear gloves all the time thanks to Harry's bracelet.
"I'll catch you three ladies later, I've got to see what I can do with getting
Jean back here," Harry answered when he walked out.
Little did Jean know that Harry knew exactly where to find her so he could
figure out where her head is. Was she going to come back home? Harry did not
know, the ball was in her court. It was a matter of talking to her in a civil
manner.
===============================================================================
Jean sat on the couch at the hotel room she holed up in. She wore a tank top
that stretched over her ample curves that showcased a generous amount of
cleavage and a tight pair of black pants that hugged her nicely, her supple ass
wrapped around it. The young redhead mutant rocked herself back a little bit,
closing her eyes after what happened six weeks ago.
The Phoenix popped in her mind, shaking her up a little bit and she nearly
injured people. If it was not for Harry and Rachel, things could have went
really bad for a lot of people. Ororo and Logan tried to track her down a
couple times but Jean kept ahead of them, giving them a warning shot. Ever
since the Phoenix arrived, her telekinetic abilities, strength, and telepathy
became more controlled. She could shut off her mind easily and not have the
thoughts of others overwhelm her.
The words of the Phoenix burned through her mind which Jean shook her head and
placed her hands on her hips, leaning back on the couch. Xavier trying to lock
away the Phoenix out of fear, well Jean sympathized in some ways but also found
herself distrustful of the intentions of the Headmaster of the Xavier
Institute. There was one thing for certain, if that was fixed in her mind, then
there was no telling what else could have happened in her mind.
As for her relationship with Scott, well that was an interesting thing. After
what happened on Asteroid M, Jean found herself losing a lot of faith in her
friend's ability to stand strong in fact of adversity. And there was the fact
that the Phoenix made a lot of sense to some realizations she came to. She
thought that the assumption that he would lead the team without challenge
burned him up.
Jean wondered if it was expected that she got together with Scott, it seemed
that Xavier put them together in a lot of situations. While she liked her
friend, he was just that, a friend, and there was a sense that Scott had a lot
of issues. The fact of the matter was that he would always be submerged in the
shadow of Xavier forever unless he found a way to break out above the fact.
Then there was Rachel, Jean suspected something about her, although could she
figure it out? She had a few theories and she was certain that none of them
were true. Yet, the fact of the matter was she was here and she knew a lot but
what was the question?
A knock on the door brought Jean out of her thoughts and she stepped forward to
reach for the door and open it up to see someone standing there on the other
side.
"Harry?" Jean asked when she looked at him, surprised that he showed up but she
was pleased about it never the less. She threw her arms around him and greeted
him with a warm hug. "I'm so….I'm so glad you came."
In spite himself, Harry smiled, when Jean pulled herself away from him.
"Hi Jean," Harry answered when Jean took a step back to allow the dark haired
wizard to walk inside. "I missed you at the Institute."
Jean considered Harry for a mere moment before she shook her head. "I know I'm
missed but Harry, you understand, I don't think I'm coming back, at least not
soon."
"Where are you going to go Jean?" Harry asked her when she looked at him.
"Where are you going to go?" Jean fired back when she placed her hands on her
hips and looked at Harry. "I'm not stupid Harry we both know that the Xavier
institute was a temporary living arrangement until you get back to your feet.
The only people who keep you there really are Kitty and Rogue, and let's face
it, those two would follow you anywhere."
Harry smirked, Jean did not need to read a mind to figure this out about them
and shook his head when he faced her.
"You get along with everyone there, but mostly everyone there," Jean answered
with both of them avoiding bringing up the elephant in the room that was Scott
for now. They also avoided bringing up the entire Phoenix thing.
"I've got plans to move away before the next school year but if Xavier wants to
keep me on as a teacher, well he can pay me," Harry responded when he looked at
Jean.
Jean smiled, it showed how nice Harry was when he decided to do the teaching
work at the Xavier Institute for free but naturally that was likely as a thank
you for Xavier for allowing him to stay at the place. He could not keep paying
him back forever.
"Maybe I'll open up my own school for the gifted," Harry remarked in a casual
voice when he looked at Jean.
"Nothing wrong with a little friendly competition," Jean offered when she
smiled at Harry. "I'm really glad to see you."
"Didn't seem to be glad to see Ororo or Logan when they showed up?" Harry asked
to Jean but he added. "It was a bit too soon, wasn't it?"
"I wasn't in the mood for visitors, I'm guessing they got the hint," Jean
responded when she sat down and invited Harry to sit down next to her. The dark
haired wizard did so, with the two of them sitting rather close to each other.
The two teenagers sat next to each other, not knowing what to say.
"The Phoenix seems to think that you're more powerful than anyone in the X-Men
realized," Jean answered when she looked at him.
"I am," Harry whispered to her and then he explained. "A while back, my powers
evolved. I'm not able to just read someone's body language, but I'm able to
copy their powers and when they're copied, they stayed copy. It's like Rogue's
powers, only without the memory baggage."
Jean found herself intrigued.
"And my….allure has gotten stronger," Harry answered and Jean raised an eyebrow
before she motioned for Harry to continue. "There's an allure that I have…when
women are attracted to me, it doesn't take that much for them to be attracted
to me."
"You can't force them to like you though," Jean offered but butterflies beat
against her stomach when she looked at Harry.
"No, I can't, the feelings have to be there or at least some level of
attraction," Harry responded when he scooted to the side so he could talk to
Jean properly.
"I see," Jean responded when she looked at Harry and the two of them stared
each other down for a little bit. "And you're forming a little…collective of
girls."
"Trust me, all of them come away satisfied," Harry answered to her and Jean
smiled.
"You seem to have a pretty full opinion of yourself, Harry."
"Well, they'd tell you themselves," Harry answered when he looked at Jean and
scooted a bit close to her.
The energy pulsing between two powerful beings were second to none and they
stared down each other, time ticked down when they looked at each other. Jean
and Harry stared in each other's eyes, with a pause stating.
"I won't know without the firsthand experience," Jean offered Harry with a
shrug but suddenly, a buzzing went off. "Trouble?"
"I'm guessing so, we're going to have to pick this up later," Harry answered
with a sigh when he knew that he had to cut this meeting short with Jean. "I'll
talk to you later."
"Yeah, I'll be here for today, if you want to come back," Jean responded when
she watched Harry leave, not taking her eyes off him until he was completely
gone.
She wondered if Harry stopped himself from making a move out of some half-
hearted attempt to keep the peace with Scott but the problem was that Jean was
not sure what she wanted. The Phoenix's words spoke to her and a confusion
maelstrom of emotions ran through her mind. Every time she picked up those
thoughts at the Mansion, her curiosity grew and new scenarios taunted her
dreams about what could happen.
She smiled a little bit when she thought about the possibilities.
===============================================================================
"Harry, I really appreciate you popping over here on such short notice, I know
that….I know that you're really busy with everything."
Gwen backed off from the doorway in her house, to allow Harry to enter inside.
The dark haired wizard took quick strides, making his way inside and stared her
down. It was apparent to the young wizard that the blonde young woman needed
some time to compose herself.
"Gwen, take a deep breath, and tell me what happened," Harry said in a gentle
voice and Gwen took the few moments that she needed to compose herself and her
mind .She walked forward and walked into the kitchen area of her house.
"Three days ago, Peter did not come home and I know why," Gwen answered when
she looked at Harry. "Spider-Man fought this new criminal….they call him the
Green Goblin."
"The Green Goblin?" Harry asked when he raised an eyebrow.
"I don't name them, I'm just telling you what they're saying," Gwen responded
when she walked up the stairs and Harry followed her. "Anyway, the battle
didn't end too well I think and now Peter….well Peter's missing. The Green
Goblin is….he's taken Peter out."
"Where did this Green Goblin come from?" Harry asked when Gwen lead him
upstairs.
"The battle a month ago, that Spider-Man had with Sinister Six, Norman Osborn
was missing, presumed dead I think, I heard," Gwen responded when she bit down
on her lip and folded her arms. "I hacked into Oscorp, into the security camera
footage and well….this speaks for itself."
Harry saw the explosion of the chemicals that somehow increased his powers.
Something caught his eye and he raised a hand up to halt Gwen.
"Pause and stop, right about now," Harry stated when he saw the explosion and
watched Norman Osborn get caught in the explosion. Slowing down the footage, he
was able to pinpoint something. Osborn was in the blast still, nearly burned to
a crisp in the fire.
"Harry, what is it now?"
"Osborn's….the chemicals done something to him," Harry answered when he looked
Gwen in the eye and Gwen stared at him. "When I inhaled the chemicals,
something happened to me, it changed me."
Gwen's face twisted to a frown before she turned around to look at Harry for a
moment. Any number of scenarios went through her head and now she felt herself
a bit worried for Harry as well.
"You inhaled chemicals….did you feel any side effects?"
"I was sick for about a day and then I recovered, stronger than ever," Harry
answered when he held out his body and looked at Gwen. "I'm fine, really I am."
Gwen took a moment to look at Harry and frowned so Harry imparted more
information for her. He could tell that her curiosity bubbled to the surface.
"My powers….they increased, they're stronger than ever before, and I can do
things that I couldn't before. I'm more in tune with my magic and I can copy
anyone's powers, memories, abilities, you name it, just by looking at them."
"I see," Gwen responded when she frowned and prompted Harry to go forward. "Is
there anything else?"
Harry paused before he added. "My allure is stronger."
"Your allure?" Gwen asked when she looked at him, an eyebrow raised, curious to
see what this is about.
"Can you keep a secret?" Harry asked when he looked at Gwen and she gave him a
look that made the mage confident that she would. Plus reading her mind a
little bit indicated that she was able to keep secrets. She did with Spider-Man
after all. "It is strong around women who have an attraction for me, and the
stronger the attraction, the only likely their inhibitions are to give way. I
can't force anyone to do anything and I'm sure a strong-willed women could
resist unless I'm in constant contact with them."
"How constant are we talking about?" Gwen asked curiously.
"A couple hours every day, for several days, maybe a few weeks, a month or
two," Harry responded when Gwen turned and looked at him. "It's increased my
sex drive and my stamina, I've given….this sounds arrogant I know…..but it
gives my women an unmistaken sexual fulfillment.
Gwen smiled, thinking about this a bit more than she wanted to, then again she
had been with a very stressful last couple of days, so she needed a bit of time
to shake her head and clear the cobwebs. Both the horny teenager and the
science geek within her thought about the possibilities of Harry's powers and
could agree that they were immense, the potential was endless even.
"The Green Goblin's struck here, here, and here," Gwen remarked, putting her
mind back on business. "Which means…"
"You know, if it is Osborn, he's at one of the Oscorp facilities, but there
could be many," Harry answered and Gwen considered that, a frown going across
her face, before she nodded.
"Hundreds, at least, in New York alone. In Jersey and the rest of the Eastern
half of the United States, we could be going in the thousands and Spider-
Man….he could be anywhere."
"If anyone can find him, I will and I'll get the X-Men on it," Harry answered
and Gwen got up, with a grateful expression on her face.
"Thanks, Harry, I appreciate you looking, even if you do find…his remains,"
Gwen stated when she looked at him, before getting to her feet and standing on
her tip toes, before planting a brief kiss on his cheek.
"So how were you two doing before this?" Harry asked to Gwen.
Gwen turned around and smiled, sadly. "We're friends and it's not him, it's his
enemies."
"The common cry for the super hero," Harry responded and Gwen nodded.
"I suppose I can't fault him for trying to protect me, all things considered,"
Gwen answered with a slight shrug and a shake of her head.
Harry turned to her with a smile, he could tell that Peter Parker, Spider-Man
had some real emotional baggage about not getting too close to anyone.
"And there's his aunt, trying to set him on this blind date with this girl, it
drives me nuts, it drives him nuts as well," Gwen answered when she looked at.
"Why do I have a feeling that I've been friend-zoned?"
"Whatever is meant to be, it's meant to be," Harry responded when he stepped
back and left Gwen in his wake.
"Good luck," Gwen answered when she watched Harry leave, with a smile on her
face when she watched him leave.
===============================================================================
It was a quiet afternoon for the Brotherhood, in fact, the four original
members felt that they gotten a reprieve from something. Todd, Lance, Fred, and
Pietro saw that Sin and the Taskmaster were gone and that was something that
brought them a great deal of happiness. As for why those two were gone, well
that information was on a need to know basis. They simply were not told about
everything that was happening and they did not know what to think about that.
"Hey, good thing that crazy girl's gone, she was knocking us around," Todd
responded when he shook his head and winced the strained list. "First Mystique,
then the Taskmaster, then here, and there's the X-Men, whose next?"
The windows in the Brotherhood Boarding House blew open and green smoke filled
it.
"Just a question no need to….whoa," Todd stated when he showed saw the figure
show up on a green glider.
"What the hell are you supposed to be?" Lance asked, ready for a rumble.
"The name's goblin, Green Goblin," the criminal stated before he held up a
pumpkin bomb and hurled it at the Brotherhood which caused them to scatter. "My
card."
Another pumpkin bomb flew out of the Green Goblin's hand and landed on the
floor, exploding with an impact.
"I've got this one," Quicksilver stated but the Green Goblin flung a green wire
out of his hand and wrapped it around the speedster's ankles to cause him to
fall on his face.
"And now, you're eating the ground," the Green Goblin stated when he tutted.
"You X-Men are so sloppy."
"Say what fool, we're not the X-Men!" Todd exclaimed.
"Yeah, those X-Men live up the way, ritzy place, mansion, can't miss it,"
Pietro managed when he pulled himself back up from the ground, his feet tied
together still.
"Oh too bad, I seem to have gotten the wrong house, oh well isn't this
embarrassing?" Green Goblin stated when he shook his head before pulling out a
pair of pumpkin bombs and hurled them towards the Brotherhood, causing them to
scatter.
The Brotherhood trembled when the Green Goblin smashed through their house on a
glider.
"I thought we said we weren't the X-Men, why are you still attacking us?" Lance
asked but then a bolt of energy knocked him down.
"Just because!" Green Goblin yelled before he laughed and sent another pumpkin
bomb, causing Blob to topple down to the ground. "Xavier can explain to you
kids why I'm after you guys. You mutants are on the list, after old Charlie X
decided to take a little knocking around Stormin' Norman's mind and made him
forget you muties existed. Well, it just so happens that I remember it and I'll
raze you all!"
More pumpkin bombs exploded and Lance, Todd, and Fred were down on the ground
but Pietro rushed from the Brotherhood Boardinghouse as fast as his legs could
carry him.
"And now that you chumps are down, it's time to pay a visit to the X-Men,
they're next on my hit list!" Green Goblin yelled at the top of his lungs
before he flew off.
===============================================================================
Jean sat at the hotel room, waiting for Harry to return, if he returned. There
was a knock on the door and the red head bolted towards it, opening the door
and seeing Rachel on the other end of the door.
"Oh, hi Rachel," Jean answered when she smiled at the other red haired girl.
"Um…."
"You were expecting someone else, weren't you?" Rachel asked when she stepped
inside and Jean nodded when she stepped inside.
"Well, it's just…it's complicated," Jean answered when she spun around, looking
out the window into the city.
"Life's complicated, imagine that," Rachel remarked when the two young women
stared at each other. "Are you ready to return home or not?"
"Where is my home?" Jean asked when she looked at and she turned away. "The
Phoenix….when she was there, she told me something. She told me about what
Xavier did to me and how Scott….he was not going to be the one for me….how he
wouldn't be the perfect match for me"
It was at this instant where Rachel paused and took a moment to walk forward.
"Did the Phoenix decide on who was a perfect match?" Rachel asked when she
looked at Jean.
Jean paused before she answered, her voice dripping with a hal- truth. "She
wasn't specific, but she hinted. It had to be a powerful being, one that could
withstand the power. I've been researching all of the myths on the Phoenix
Force and it's been around since the dawn of time. It is a primal force, and
it's searched for millennia for its one true mate, but there has never been a
powerful enough mate for it. There needs to be someone who can withstand the
passion, and the fury."
Rachel wondered a lot about her upbringing, she wondered about the events that
lead into the future that lead to Scott and Jean getting together and her being
born. A lot of what she found out was second hand information at best, and
there was….well Rachel did not understand a lot about everything that happened.
The red head thought about the future she came true and what her father….the
man she assumed her father was did.
For all Rachel knew, her father could have been Spider-Man or the Thing or
Deadpool, all he had was the word of her parents that Scott was her father. She
assumed that to be true, but she was nothing like him. She looked at Jean and
saw what happened to her in the end. The happy teenage spirit broken down by
all of the stress and trauma, she could not let this doing.
In some ways, she also wanted some clarity for Scott as well, as with each
passing year, he seemed to get worse and worse, no one questioning his
leadership With Harry, everything change, but the weird thing about the young
man was he never seemed to existing. The moment she arrived from the past, the
rules changed, and she wondered if it was even possible to change the future.
She could be a temporal anomaly without a place in the world.
So far she remained there, even if there were many theories about time-
paradoxes and what not.
Jean and Rachel stood together, the awkward moment hanging in the air.
"What do you think I should do?" Jean asked after a moment.
Rachel appreciated the irony of her mother coming to her for advice.
"Follow your heart," Rachel offered, feeling this statement was the best thing
in the world.
Before anything else could be said, the doors of the hotel room blasted open
and a Vertigo effect knocked them down, bringing the two mutants to their
knees. Jean's eyes flashed with fury when she saw the Marauders there.
'The Marauders…how?'Jean thought to herself when Arclight knocked them back,
and Harpoon threw the exploding harpoons at them.
Rachel and Jean were in the fight against the new and improved Marauders,
cloned by Sinister to be stronger than ever, and the two young mutants, as
powerful as they were, had an uphill battle.
'Harry! I need you!'
Both of them blacked out when they were drugged by the Marauders.
===============================================================================
Wanda tapped her foot on the side of the couch when she sat on the couch at the
Institute. She could tell that some of the members of the Institute were uneasy
about her but she did not let that bother her that much. Scott in particular
knew all about her given what Xavier told him.
"Are you okay, Wanda?"
"Fine," Wanda stated to Kitty before shaking her head, not happy about the look
Scott gave her, like she was a bomb about ready to go off. "It's just….I'm
waiting for Harry to get back."
"Something's come up, something always comes up," Kitty answered when she
looked at Wanda but there was a knock on the door that brought them out.
"I'll get it!"
Kurt walked over to open the door and pulled it over, to see Quicksilver of all
people on the other side of the door.
"What are you doing here?"
Wanda's eyes widened when she saw him on the other end of the door and her mood
darkened when she saw him.
"Pietro!"
"Wanda?" Pietro asked in a surprised voice to see his sister of all people
here.
"YOU ABANDONED ME!"
"Oh boy," Kitty whispered underneath her breath when she saw the cataclysm that
happened.
To Be Continued in the Next Chapter. 
***** Night of the Green Goblin Part Two *****
Chapter 34: Night of the Green Goblin Part Two.
Pietro took a step back when he was caught off guard by his sister's sudden
appearance and boy was she angry. The rage flashing through her eyes was rather
prominent. Actually her being angry did not even begin to cover the perilous
situation that Wanda was in. The young woman took a step back and glared at her
brother who waved his hands in a distinct "I surrender" matter.
"Hey, Wanda, no, Wanda, it's….."
"Okay, Wanda calm down, it's obvious that Pietro's here for a good reason,"
Kitty stated, hoping that Harry would return before too long from wherever he
was.
"Yeah, where is your fearless leader?" Pietro asked when he turned his head
around from one side to the other. He took a step forward and shuddered when he
saw his sister's glare on him. It was at this point where the silver haired
speedster knew that there was a good reason why Wanda was locked up; not that
he'd ever admit that out loud to her because he kind of valued his life.
"Is there a problem?"
Scott showed up to stare down Pietro but then he looked at him staring him
down. The two mutants from rival factions stared at each other, neither of them
backing down from the other at this point in time. If looks could kill both
Cyclops and Quicksilver would be six feet underground.
"Where's Potter, I need to speak with your leader," Pietro stated when the
fastest mutant alive looked at Scott but the would be leader of the X-Men
stepped forward.
"Harry's not here," Scott stated when his gaze burned a whole through Pietro
who threw his hands up into the air and shrugged his shoulders. He was fully
aware that Wanda's glare was still on him which made him watch his step and
more importantly his words.
"Look, there's someone who attacked us, some nut on a glider, he got the rest
of my team, he's….the Green Goblin I think he said, he was completely insane,
he hates all mutants, he thought that we were you, so this is all your fault,
so you have to fix it, and if you don't….well you will won't you because you're
the X-Men and fixing things is what you do, I mean I could just be rambling
right here, but…."
"Fine, this Green Goblin, we'll help you," Scott responded but it was at this
point where Harry returned and spotted Pietro. The mutant never felt more
grateful to see Harry Potter in his life.
"There you are, thank God, I thought I was going to have to deal with Summers
for a little bit," Pietro answered when he looked at Harry who took a step back
and surveyed him. A questioning expression went in Harry's eyes. "Green Goblin,
Green Goblin, that guy, he's nuts, and on a glider, he throws exploding
pumpkins, he got my team, Sin will kill me, all of us, and that Taskmaster guy,
he'll kill us after she does when we get back, this is the worst thing that has
ever happened, I can't believe this…."
Harry slapped Pietro in the face in mid-stream to stop him from rambling.
"Thanks man, I needed that," Pietro stated when he rubbed his cheek before he
stepped a little bit back to look around, his eyes darting wildly from side to
side. "You've got to blast him with that magic."
"How do we know this isn't one of your inane Brotherhood plots?" Rogue asked,
and Kurt looked at Pietro, suspicion dancing from his eyes.
"Yeah, that's a good question, how do we know this isn't some kind of game to
lure us all over there and…WHAM!" Kurt yelled punching the air for emphasis but
Pietro shook his head, Harry could hear his heart thumping into his chest at
super speed.
"No, man, this is the real deal, I swear on it, scout's honor, and all that, I
would never double deal you with something like this," Pietro answered but
before anyone could suggest any course of action, Harry felt a psychic call in
the back of his head.
'Harry….help!'
"Harry, what is it?" Kitty asked she almost could sense Harry felt something
and she could tell Rogue did. The New Mutants showed up, as did Logan, Ororo,
and Hank.
"Could anyone please explain what is going on?" Hank asked, the furry blue
mutant looking confused at the situation and Harry decided to bring him up to
speed.
"Jean's been captured, so has Rachel, I'm going there now to see if I can find
them, you guys deal with that Goblin," Harry answered when he looked in the
sky.
"If Jean's been captured, I'm coming too," Scott stated when he looked at
Harry, his eyes narrowing suspiciously.
Harry turned to Scott, a firm and burning glaze was in his eyes. He could tell
that Scott wanted to endear himself to Jean.
"It's too dangerous," Harry replied to Scott but that was around the wrong
things to say to the mutant. Scott's eyes flickered when he turned to face
Harry and his breath hitched in.
"You don't think I can handle this?"
"It's not the matter of what you can handle Summers, so pull your head out of
your ass and think for a minute, I think Sinister is involved, you know
Nathaniel Essex, the guy who nearly had us killed a while back," Harry stated
in an annoyed voice when he rocked back and forth a little bit on his heels.
"If you…you need back up, Rogue and I will come with you," Kitty answered but
Scott seemed to assert himself as team leader at the worst possible time.
"I'm coming with."
The dark haired mage threw his hands into the air in frustration; fine, it
would be on his own head.
"I'll come," Wanda answered, not wanting to trust herself to be in the same
room with her brother at this moment, seeing the mirror reflection of her
loathed father.
"Are you sure?" Harry asked when he looked at Wanda.
"Positive," Wanda stated when she looked at Harry before the two of them walked
out together, with Kitty, Rogue, and Scott following. The dark haired wizard
tracked the location of them, before engulfing them in the teleportation field
and they disappeared to go outside of the facility.
No sooner did Harry leave, they heard this.
"KNOCK, KNOCK, GOBLIN RINGING!"
The Green Goblin yelled this at the top of his lungs, flinging pumpkin bombs at
the front of the Mansion, blowing it up with expert precision and destructive
insanity, when he glided in.
Logan tried to attack the Green Goblin but a wave of energy shot from the
monster's hand, to send the man down on the ground. Storm tried to use
lightning to take down the Green Goblin but while he grimaced, he hurled a
green wire from his glove to wrap around him and drop to the ground.
The New Mutants tried to attack the Green Goblin, with Bobby freezing him in
place so Tabitha could nail him with one of her cherry bombs but the Goblin
broke out. A dozen Multiple dupes dive bombed him, but the Goblin shrugged him
off, and knocked Cannonball off. Electricity seemed to have a bit better effect
on the Goblin but it was not enough to take him down for good.
The New Mutants were bound on the ground, unable to break free of their
bindings, before they rolled over, trying to get out of their attack. The
Goblin laughed at the top of his lungs before he saw Xavier try to use his mind
reading powers.
"Really, that's rude," Green Goblin responded when he blew Xavier back in his
wheel chair and knocked him out. "My mind is stronger than yours, Chucko….in
fact, let's go for a spin, so I can tell you why I'm going to kill your little
X-Brats."
Goblin flung the bombs over his shoulder and they connected to the ground with
a solid explosion, ringing out. He flung Xavier over his shoulder and shot out
through the windows, laughing all the way.
The New Mutants and the X-Men were all down, with Kurt seeing the bomb on the
ground. Immediately he grabbed it and teleported out of the Institute, before
he returned, just in time too.
He collapsed and now the Green Goblin had Xavier, but they noticed that Logan
and Ororo managed to follow him. The X-Men tried to shake off their wounds.
They honestly had no idea what hit them but it was dangerous.
===============================================================================
 
"This is the place?"
"Yes, this is where they were trapped, looks like a real horror show," Harry
remarked when Kitty and Rogue shuddered.
"No kidding," Kitty offered when her eyes closed in a pained expression.
The four X-Men moved inside, with Harry looking through the windows and seeing
the Marauders inside, he could have sworn that he took care of these guys
already but there they were. They stood tall and ugly, well that was just
Blockbuster and now many questions moved through the mage's mind.
A blast of light knocked him down and Kitty reached through the wall, pulling
the large ugly mutant out, before he dropped to the ground after she buried his
head inside, causing him to suffocate. Before Harry could offer the next
movement, Scott entered inside which tended to be a bit sooner than the young
wizard would have liked. Rogue, Kitty, and Harry followed him inside but then a
towering presence looked over them.
"Greetings children, I've been expecting you."
Harry, Kitty, Rogue, and Scott turned their heads before they saw him; dressed
completely in black with glowing red eyes and fearsome fangs, he was a sight to
behold. Nathaniel Essex, Mister Sister, was the things that nightmares were
made of and the dark haired wizard turned to face him.
"Where is Jean?" Scott asked when he looked at Sinister, but Sinister dismissed
him with a wave of a hand and a blast of his hand to send him flying backwards.
"So impudent, but then again, that goes on the Summers family tree, you and
your brothers," Sinister stated when he looked at Scott who looked confused at
the word "brothers" and turned around, trying to find a way back to his feet
but he slumped down to the ground once again. "But you're not the one I've been
waiting to see."
Harry did not even wait for Sinister to finish; rather he sent a blast of
golden light at the demented Darwinist but Sinister absorbed the attack before
he fired back at Harry. With quick precision the mage dodged and sent a blast
of green light towards him but once again a shield appeared around Sinister's
body, absorbing it. There was a grimace of pain which broke his telekinetic
field and injured him slightly but did not kill him.
"Impressive, that was a curse that would have killed someone that is not
evolved, perhaps we are more alike than you could ever know," Sinister stated
when he stared down Harry, showing all his twisted teeth in a smile.
"Harry's not a damn think like you, creep!" Kitty yelled when she looked at
him, and once again, Harry blasted him.
"Really, entering my house and calling me names, perhaps someone should teach
you some manners," Sinister stated in a sadistic voice before he used his
telekinetic powers to hold Harry, Rogue, Kitty, and Scott at bay. "Yes, only
the fittest survive and only…."
A telekinetic blast from afar knocked Sinister around enough for Harry to
spring up and grab him by the throat, before he flew him through the wall. He
could tell this sadistic scientist was strong but the power of magic increased
Harry's strength.
A miniature explosion echoed when Harry put Sinister through the wall. He was
about ready to go in for the kill but they he stopped, seeing something out of
the corner of his eye.
'No way.'
Harry could see it but he could not believe it, there was Sirius Black in a
tube, in suspended animation. Strange and Harry thought that there was no way
that Sirius could have survived but yet there he was in that tube. He wondered
about it, wondered if there was a trick or if it was something else. At this
point, Harry was uncertain what he wanted to really believe.
Sinister's attack cut Harry out of his musing but a shield appeared around the
mage to block the attack; his powers copying the defensive process that the
scientist put inside himself.
The two locked in a stalemate, neither backing down.
"It seems that we're in an impasse," Sinister stated when both he and the
wizard before him, stared down at each other with blood shot eyes. The
scientist turned into a black ink and oozed into the vent, he had what he
wanted, the DNA of Jean Grey.
Scott, Rogue, and Kitty entered the area to see Harry. The brunette mutant
stopped when she looked at Harry and grabbed her hand.
"Is that…."
Harry nodded with Kitty and Rogue looking at Sirius in the tube, it appeared
that the lights were on but no one was home. The dark haired wizard moved over
to see what was happening and went into the next room to see Jean and Rachel.
Vertigo sent a wave of effects towards them all, when she was waiting but Harry
stood on his feet, blocking the attack before he blasted her back.
Scott gave a pained grimace when Harpoon stabbed a super charged spear into his
back but Harry blew up the spear in his hand before he could attack Kitty or
Rogue. The leader of the X-Men dropped to the ground, blood dripping from
underneath his shirt but before anyone could attack him, Arclight moved in.
"I've got this one," Rogue answered when she dove at the woman, smashing her
through the wall.
It seemed like the longer she was with Harry, she was developing some kind of
super strength and limited flight powers. It actually made her feel a bit
better in a fight given the fact it allowed her to hold her own better beyond
absorbing people's powers.
Riptide moved in but Rachel popped in, after Wanda freed her and Jean was freed
as well, she knocked him down for the count. He took a very long nap on the
ground, with Jean making sure that he did not wake up to hurt anyone again.
"We'll get Scott and Sirius out of her to get medical attention, but we've got
to find Sinister, he can't have escaped!" Harry yelled when he moved out but
then Kitty stopped and stared at a tank with a purple dragon inside it. She
paused and looked at it and Harry looked at her, when she looked at him with
imploring eyes.
"Harry, look at that, there's no way a cute little guy like that should be in a
lab here like this," Kitty answered when she looked at Harry. "Do you think we
can…rescue him?"
Kitty looked at Harry with puppy dog eyes and so did the dragon. Harry threw
his hands up in the air in what would be defeat.
"Take him back to the Institute, with the other two, Jean, Rachel, Rogue, you
can help me search for Sinister and any of his other flunkies," Harry responded
when he looked over his shoulder before the five of them moved out.
Scott was in pretty bad shape, Sirius was worse, in fact Sirius was not able to
get out of there. Jean kept her mind, she was certain Sinister took DNA from
her, but for what purpose, she did not know. She got a brief look around his
lab and saw the different types of mutant DNA on file.
They searched the facility, with Harry taking the research that he could find
but he did not find Sinister anywhere. He flew the coup so to speak.
===============================================================================
 
"It's your wake up call, Spidey, don't you want to be up and about for your
demise?"
Spider-Man was strung upside down, wrapped in wires before the Green Goblin
looked in his face, a sadistic expression in his eyes when he faced him. The
web slinger knew one thing and one thing alone and that was no one in his right
mind would want to wake up to that ugly mug.
"Dude, do you even have a breath mint?" Spider-Man asked when he tried to push
himself free but found his arms and legs slacked. "What did…what's the point in
this?"
"You failed to save Norman Osborn, the X-Men failed to save Norman Osborn, and
now I'm going to make you all pay," the Green Goblin stated with his eyes
dancing with malice. "Now, I understand that you….Spider-Man, you web slinging
wonder, think that you can stop me but you'll find escape to be quite
difficult."
"You know, people like you, you run your mouth but I'd like to see a bit more
action," Spider-Man managed when he tried to use his spider strength to break
free, but the web slinger found himself unable to break free.
The web slinger looked at the Green Goblin in his eyes and saw that this
deranged nut was completely and utterly insane; he was going to kill the web
slinger. Escape was something that was more than difficult and the web slinger
wondered if he could find any easy way out. Yet there was no easy way not and
Spider-Man tried to push himself against the bindings.
Xavier tried to wake up but the Green Goblin turned to face him, a sadistic
expression in his eyes.
"So tell me Xavier, how does it feel to be completely helpless and at the power
of another man, unable to do anything to stop your mind being utterly wrecked?"
Green Goblin asked when he placed his hands around the throat of Xavier. "It's
not that fun, is it? It's not a barrel of laughs, isn't it?"
"I don't know…." Xavier managed but the Green Goblin clapped one hand on his
mouth.
Xavier knew one thing for sure and that was Norman Osborn flipped what passed
as sanity; his mind was completely destroyed. The Headmaster of the Xavier
Institute turned his head; twisting it to face his captor but there was no way
out, his hands were bound to the chair, no matter how much he struggled, this
was completely pointless. Not that he could walk out there in his condition to
begin.
"You don't know, you don't know, such a pity, I'm sure it slipped your mind,
just like the details of the X-Men slipped Norman Osborn when you wiped his
memories," the Green Goblin stated when he put his hands on Xavier's face. "You
remember it, don't you Chuck? Tell me, your original team, the one that you
don't want to remember, they died, didn't they? And you wiped my mind because I
found the truth. All of them you sent to that place, they never returned."
Xavier shook his head, he remembered this but he thought that this day was
among his biggest failures; something that drove him to take more careful steps
when he formed the second generation of the X-Men. Sadistic madness danced
through the eyes of the Green Goblin; he knew Xavier understood himself to be
guilty and he closed in for the kill, going for the throat.
"I wonder Xavier, how many people will you drive into the grave because of your
dream, the foolish dream, and the inability to take the necessary actions to
achieve it," the Green Goblin mused when he stared down Xavier.
Xavier tried to lift his head up proudly but the Goblin tapped on himself. He
heard a creaking sound on the door and he looked up to see Arcane staring him
down.
"Ah, the glorious Arcane, I must say you've been a naughty boy taking a sniff
out of Uncle Normie's stash," The Green Goblin remarked when he waggled his
finger and looked at Harry but the Boy-Who-Lived stood on his feet, not backing
down for one second. "The joke's on you, while you might have inhaled a little
bit of the joy, the Green Goblin go the entire stash."
Green Goblin shot through the air but Arcane blocked it, and two bolts of
extremely powerful energy blasted against each other. The backlash caught at
deranged light show with the Goblin rushing forward but Harry dodged the
attack; and swept his feet out from underneath him with a well-placed tripping
spell. Goblin might have had heightened resistance to magic but he was not as
invulnerable as they first believed.
Storm and Wolverine popped in for the battle, with Logan diving at the Goblin,
with claws bared but the sadistic super villain smacked the mutant back like he
was nothing. The Goblin held his own with Storm, Wolverine, and Arcane.
A line of webbing shot around his glider and pulled it out from underneath and
the Green Goblin spun around, in surprise to see Spider-Man still hanging
upside down, tied up and unable to go. He saw a blonde haired girl on the
catwalk above, getting way but this was all the distraction that Harry needed.
Harry blasted the Green Goblin in the back with the full force of magic he
could muster, the impact repelling him back to the side. The Goblin spun
around, still in it, his skin was hardened against magic, much like a dragon it
seemed. Getting a full dose of the formula made the Green Goblin to be rather
tough to beat but not invincible.
Green Goblin and Arcane blasted their energy bolts from their hands against
each other and the two bolts collided. The two moved around, but Jean popped up
and added her attack, pushing the Goblin back. Then it was Wanda, sending a hex
bolt of her own into the attack. It was unrefined, a bit raw, but nevertheless
it did the job and sent the Goblin flying back.
The sadistic menace propelled backwards from the impact and hit an electrical
generator, causing half of the downtown area to go back. Electricity coursed
through the body of the Green Goblin causing him to be charred and he screamed,
electricity was the only weakness to him, it was not perfected n the goblin
formula.
The naked form of Norman Osborn dropped to the ground and everyone averted
their eyes away from him.
"Well there's an image that I'll be seeing in my nightmares," Jean remarked
with a shudder when she looked at Norman's nude form.
Rogue and Rachel entered the room at this time but they were a bit too late to
the part; the Green Goblin was already defeated and reverted back to Norman
Osborn, burned and naked. Somehow, he was still breathing despite being
bombarded by a lethal amount of electricity but his pupils dilated and he was
in a catatonic state. At least this proved that the costume that Norman Osborn
wore was not really a costume.
Harry looked at Gwen standing on the catwalk and caught her eye with a smile;
the girl gave him a thumbs up as the young wizard walked over and untied
Spider-Man from above.
"Yeah, I've had much better days," Spider-Man offered in a pained voice when he
stepped forward and landed on his heel, turning on it when he winced. "Just got
to shake off everything."
Harry knew what happened to Norman Osborn now; he sustained fatal injuries in
the explosion and that twisted him into the Green Goblin before him. What
Osborn became after that, well the magical mutant could not say. And given some
of the rumors he heard about the businessman's practices, it did stand to
reason how much of the Goblin on the inside reflected the goblin on the
outside.
===============================================================================
 
The new dragon that Kitty retrieved was currently sleeping outside of the
medical wing of the Xavier Institute in a basket that Harry conjured but there
were far more pressing problems. Scott seemed to be out of the woods for the
moment although he was lucky not to have his insides splattered all over the
lab by the super charged spear that he jabbed into him.
Jean stood outside of the medical wing, thinking about everything that went
over in her mind but now was not the time or the place.
"Today was a tough day for all, wasn't it?" Wanda asked when she shrugged her
shoulders and was actually glad to escape from the mental hospital for a little
bit more, even if she got dragged in it. "It's never a dull moment with you
people."
"Not here, not ever," Jean offered when she smiled.
Rogue gave a bit of a smile before she quipped. "Yeah, what is a dull moment?"
Harry stood over Sirius on the bed and the Sorcerer Supreme popped up in the
flesh, performing a scan on Sirius to see what the full extent to the damage
was done on him.
"The good news is that Sirius is alive," Strange answered, which caused Harry
to grimace, he knew that with every bit of good news, there would come bad
news. "The bad news is that the trip to the veil lapsed him into a catatonic
state. He's mentally hovering an inch between life and death. There are spells
to sustain him from that level but no spells could bring him back from the
brink when he suffered….this is unprecedent shall we say."
Harry did not swallow this statement so easily. "You're the Sorcerer Supreme,
surely could do something?"
"I will see what I can do, but any attempt to bring him back at this juncture
will send him beyond and not bring him back," Strange answered Harry with a
calm voice and the dark haired mage refused to believe that. It was his fault
in many ways that Sirius was sent through the veil in the first place. "I will
do all that I can to help you bring him back but there are some things that
might beyond my control and yours as well."
Harry's face was set in a stony expression, he refused to believe it but
naturally he figured Strange would have some insight. Still regardless of the
fact, Harry would not rest until Sirius was brought back home and back to what
would be considered to be a normal life. He refused to think Sirius was beyond
all hope, there was always hope.
"I'm not going to fail him," Harry stated when he turned around, had the
situation been reversed, Sirius would do what he could.
Harry understood the trip through the veil wrecked Sirius in the worst way, no
one was supposed to bring him through. He wondered if any of Sinister's reseach
that he acquired would help him find a way to bring Sirius back. Could science
help him out where magic seemed to fail? Harry could not even begin to
understand but thankfully he had a friend that was a science prodigy that would
even give Reed Richards a run for his money.
Speaking of which, Harry needed to check in her straight away and he pulled out
his phone to dial up Gwen.
"Hey, Gwen, how's everything going?" Harry asked her and waited for the answer.
"Peter's…he's in good spirits and….he had to spin quite the tale to his aunt,
I'm pretty sure that she's getting close to figuring out his secret," Gwen
remarked in an amused voice before she pushed her hands together.
"And….Osborn's lapsed, he's brain dead, but they're keeping him alive as long
as his estate keeps paying them money not to pull the plug."
"Gwen, I need to collaborate some research that I found, if you have the time,"
Harry answered and he could tell that Gwen seemed curious by the tone of her
voice when she responded.
"Sure Harry, bring it over, how about on Thursday?"
"That'd be fine," Harry offered when he hung up on the phone, and Kitty, Rogue,
and Rachel walked forward.
"So is everything fine?" Kitty asked when she looked at Harry.
"Not right yet but it will be," Harry answered in what he hoped was an
optimistic voice although not stupidly so.
"I think we all share that hope, now that Jean's back," Rachel answered when
she turned around, and Rogue nodded.
"But for how long?" Kitty asked when she shrugged and the only person who could
answer turned up now.
"For a little bit…until I determine some things."
Jean offered that statement to them and Harry spent some more time with his
collective but he wanted to have a word with Jean later on.
===============================================================================
 
The Brotherhood rested in the totaled Boarding House, with them fearing the
retribution.
"The Goblin threw some bombs at us, when he flew down the street to deal with
the X-Men," Lance remarked when he rubbed his side, the pain going through it.
"Sin is going to kill us," Todd answered when Fred nodded by his side and speak
of the devil, she should arrive, walking in with a purpose.
"I thought I told you to clean this place up not wreck it even more," Sin
answered when a sadistic expression danced in her eyes and the Brotherhood
backed up a little bit, holding their hands up in fear. She smacked them around
a little bit. "Clean it up now….and don't use any powers Pietro!"
"Oh come on!" Pietro yelled when he waved his hands into the air before he
backed up but Sin spoke and she was nasty as her world.
Meanwhile, she had the package, it was ready, and the X-Men would soon be
powerless to stop the plans of HYDRA. This little cocktail would bring anyone
and everyone with mutant powers down to their knees. At least that's what her
father informed her but Sin knew better than to trust her father completely at
his word. That's why she had her own plans.
The Brotherhood were left in the dark about what Sin planned but it was not
like they were a vital part of her scheme either. To Sin, they were simply the
dumb muscle, to be kicked around and whatever, to serve her means.
"New plan," Sin responded when she got the word. "This base has been
compromised, so we're moving on."
The Brotherhood knew better than not to argue. If the X-Men came down the
street or another psychotic goblin tried to kill them, they'd be gone.
===============================================================================
 
Jean stood at the Xavier Institute, in many ways it was good to be home but in
other ways, it felt a bit weird. She stood there, dressed in a tight black tank
top that stretched around her supple curves on top and wrapped snugly around
her breasts, showing nipples poking out from behind the top. Her taut
midsection showcased next with a pair of jean shorts wrapped around her long
shapely legs. She stood out, blowing on her lower lip and biting down when she
stood out.
"Enjoying the view?"
Jean barely looked over her shoulder to know that Harry was there. She
responded with a bit of a smile on her face. "Aren't you?"
"You know I am," Harry answered when he looked out to him.
"A new groundswell of confidence I see," Jean remarked lightly when she tried
to piece this together and take a look at Harry. "I think a lot has changed
since I left here."
"Are you trying to say that I wasn't confident?" Harry asked when he looked at
Jean, half of an eyebrow raised when he stepped forward towards her. Jean
reached forward, and placed a hand on his shoulder when she looked at him.
"Well you always do ooze a certain aura," Jean offered when she rolled her
shoulders in a little bit of a shrug.
Harry and Jean stood next to each other, when the breeze blew with each other.
"So did you see Scott?" Harry asked when looked at Jean.
"Yeah I saw him, he looks pretty much the same after I left here," Jean
answered in a joking manner when she inched a step closer to Harry.
Harry offered a question that was on his mind and Jean was kind of glad that
Harry asked it. "Where do you and Scott stand?"
"Complicated," Jean offered after a moment but then she shook her head.
"Actually it's not complicated….we're friends, I think we are at least. But
Scott's…..there's something about you that makes him feel inadequate, actually
there is something about you that makes a lot of men feel inadequate, you
should have heard what Duncan said."
"So you and Duncan…."
"That's long in the distant past," Jean offered, waving her hand dismissively,
to be honest, she had no idea why that relationship ever started. "But….I know
something about the Phoenix Force, what I've learned, and I know that I can
never be with Scott in the way that I think he wants me to be with him."
"So you think he has feelings for you," Harry offered in a nonchalant voice.
"I know he does, I read his mind, but the fact of the matter is, I sensed his
fear regarding to the Phoenix and his inability to understand it," Jean
remarked in a crisp tone of voice when she shifted herself and her gaze. "The
Phoenix…it's a complex entity and Scott tends to see the world in black and
white. Most people do, but….I don't think you do."
"There are different bright colors and shades of grey, an entire wide world,"
Harry mused to her out loud and Jean answered.
"Yeah a wild world and you're being quite the lady's man," Jean answered when
she stepped forward. "Someone like you…well that's an Alpha Male effect going
on, isn't it? Rachel, Rogue, Kitty, and Amara…I overheard her talking to Tabby
in there."
Harry responded with a knowing smile and Jean placed a hand on his, he felt her
soft flesh, and spotted a hit of her cleavage, a hint of her lovely legs.
"The thing about the Phoenix Force is…when it reaches full maturity, when it
finishes, their partner will be finished," Jean answered when she shook her
head. "Or so the legends say, I don't know how much of that is true, but unless
they're strong enough to feel the power…."
"They won't last past the Phoenix's first climax," Harry finished, almost
finishing Jean's thought. "And you're thinking…."
"Powerful, yes I am but the Phoenix Force has destroyed every single vessel
it's used throughout all time, it's been around forever," Jean offered when she
looked at him. "Because it's never bonded with someone of equal power, someone
who has ever been touched by the Phoenix in its own way."
Jean decided to offer a question to Harry that she wanted to understand.
"Is there any limit to the number of women that you're willing to take on?"
Jean asked him before Harry decided to respond.
"Multiples of seven are the most magically powerful, especially if it is a
multiple divined by two or three prime numbers," Harry responded when he looked
at Jean who look thoughtful. "The two most magically powerful numbers are three
and seven. Of course the real question is how many girls can I had because some
jealous guy pitches a bitch, for lack of a better term."
Jean paused to concentrate intently. "The Phoenix says that a powerful being
such as yourself should not bow to anyone who thinks you should limit the
number of your bonded."
Harry did not let that one slip by without a word. "The Phoenix is still in
there with you?"
"She's never left me, she's just given me the control but says there will come
a day where she will take it back if I'm unwilling to take the necessary
steps," Jean answered when she turned to Harry. She really had no idea what
that meant. "She's allowed me access to some of the abilities, and they've
enhanced me, past the normal abilities of humans, just like what allowed you to
survive that archway."
Harry played dumb at that moment. "What archway?"
"Harry, the Phoenix knows where you came from, you were the Chosen One, chosen
to come here for a reason," Jean answered when she stepped forward and looked
at Harry. "But, I understand. If….if you had a choice, would you ever return
home?"
Harry shook his head, what would he return home to? The first trip through the
veil nearly killed him and his friends would be a lot better without him in his
life. Still Sirius's presence did weigh a very interesting point and that was
if Sirius got here, could anyone else whether they be friend or foe make it
here? Of course given the state that Sirius was in, the magical mutant did not
have to tempt fate.
"I'm finding what I want to do here, if I went back there, I'd be made a
martyr," Harry responded when he spun around to look over his shoulder to see
Scott watching him out the window.
Jean stretched, to show her belly button when her shirt rode up and that caused
Harry to be very distracted. There were many hot girls in the world, so he
never thought he should limit himself. The trip through the veil made him
stronger and there were aspects of his powers and heritage that he and Strange
were slowly piece together later.
"I think I better return to my room," Jean stated when she stepped forward and
looked in Harry's eyes. "If you want to come up there and talk with me in
private, I'll be waiting for you."
"I'll see you later, Jean," Harry responded to her when the red head gave him a
bright smile, before she inched forward. He had a promise to keep with Wanda
and Jean knew that.
"I'll be seeing you, Harry, Jean remarked with a smile when her tongue trailed
over her lips, seeing Scott out of the corner of her eye.
Wanda walked in when Jean walked off and she showed up with Kitty and Rogue.
"So are you ready to go?" Wanda asked and the three of them nodded, to prepare
a night of hanging out.
"I'm ready, it's still early," Harry answered when Kitty and Rogue stood there,
arms folded and both looking beautiful as always. "So your dragon…."
"Lockheed, that's its name," Kitty remarked when she looked at Harry and Rogue.
"I wonder what a dragon would eat."
"Well raw meat," Rogue chimed in and Kitty pulled a face.
"Maybe it's a vegan dragon," Kitty offered with a smile but Rogue shook her
head.
"Something tells me no," Rogue answered in a sardonic voice when she patted
Kitty on the head when she pouted but they had no time to worry about that now,
rather they enjoyed the night they shared.
===============================================================================
 
"Osborn has no vital signs, and we believe that due to the tests, he will have
no memory of being the Green Goblin and thus should have no accountability for
the crimes he caused."
When the doctors left, the mouth of Norman Osborn curled into a sadistic grin,
when he blinked a little bit but then his face was no longer a picture of
sanity other than that. He played them all and made them believe that the Green
Goblin was some random bout of psychosis. It was calculated, although he never
expected to use the formula this soon.
===============================================================================
 
The Black Widow felt that with the chaos, this was a perfect time to take a
look in Harry's room and take a look at everything that he had. Of course, much
to her surprise, there was not one thing in the young man's room that could
point to him. Actually that was not surprising, given that someone with that
many secrets, they would be able to hold it. Natasha knew everything about
secrets and knew about what was at stake.
She crept into the room, carefully taking a few pictures but the wallpaper was
bland, blasé, nothing that indicated that anything of note would happen here.
Well unless one counted the countless orgies of being of not, some of them that
the Widow got a detailed account of.
There was a creek and Natasha knew that he returned. She looked out and saw the
new recruits on the lawn, right under the nearest exit point. That could prove
to be a problem, as knocking them all out would compromise her position and the
red head spy slid into the closet.
Harry returned, he had gotten permission for Wanda to stay the next couple of
days and hopefully it could result in some long term arrangement. Rogue
followed him into the room, dressed in a tight top and short shorts that showed
off her lovely legs and ample rear.
The Black Widow paused, careful not to even breathe a little bit. If young Mr.
Potter was having intercourse with one of his lovers, then it might be a while
before he left. That was not the first time she had been trapped in a closet
for a while time while she observed the person that she was tasked to follow
having sex. Only the last time, she was following Wilson Fisk and she saw a bit
more of the Kingpin of Crime than she ever wanted to.
Natasha shuddered but a man of his stature and money could buy love.
Harry and Rogue smiled at each other, when he pushed her to the bed and kissed
her. The southern goth wrapped her legs around her lover, pulling him in tight,
and enjoying his tongue probing her lips with the deep kiss. The two of them
enjoyed their tender embrace, kissing each other, legs, and arms wrapped
against each other.
The mage dipped his fingers inside the waistband of Rogue's panties.
"Well look at that, you're ready to go," Harry stated feeling the moisture but
Rogue cocked an eyebrow and gave him a flirty grin, when Harry removed his
pants to show Rogue what awaited for her underneath. He was going to visit Jean
later but first he wanted to treat Rogue.
"Sugah, I'm always ready for your cock."
Smut/Lemon Begins.
Harry pulled off Rogue's shorts before he peeled off her panties, and then with
swift precision stuck his cock into her welcoming folds. He could feel her
moist tenderness, when he worked open her top to reveal a black bra that
encased her breasts.
"You're so hot," Harry stated when he played with Rogue' teasing her breasts.
"Please don't tease me like that, you know….you know that touch drives me
wild," Rogue shuddered, before Harry rolled his hands over her.
"I know."
That statement was given with the swiftest declaration of the world as his
member plunged between her folds, picking up momentum with each thrust, and
smacked her ass with each time she lifted off the bed.
"Oh yeah, yeah, smack my ass, darling," Rogue panted when Harry speared into
her, before he rolled waves of magic across her nipples to cause her to clench
tightly around him. "OH YES!"
Harry buried into her deeply, holding himself back when he stayed the course
and continued to expand her pussy, burying his cock into her warm chamber,
feeling it brush against him. The dark haired Goth felt pleasure beyond all
measure when Harry buried himself into her.
"Fucking hell, so tight, I love this pussy," Harry breathed when he buried
himself balls deep into Rogue's pussy, her sweat rolling down her back.
"Oh, yes, baby, I love you being in me," Rogue panted when she sunk her nails
into Harry's back and he raised up before he plunged down into her.
She bent up a little bit so Harry could lavish his breasts with his talented
tongue, licking and suckling at her erect nipples. Rogue panted when Harry
pushed deeper into her, feeling the desire of his cock spearing between her
tight lips, stretching her out and her heart beat a little faster.
Every time Harry sank into her like that, it gave Rogue a little taste of
heaven, something that she wanted more and more and he sped up his motions,
burying his cock into her deeply.
"Fuck me, yes fuck me," Rogue panted when he licked her nipples, and smiled at
her.
"I love….I love you, and I love fucking you with my cock," Harry breathed when
he sped up on his motions a little bit more.
"Yes, I love….I love you too, fucking beat me with that meat Harry," Rogue
stated, and as always his little nympho's wish was his command, his cock
speared into her depths with each passing depth, going into her.
Harry felt her warm and tender hug around him; the beauty arched her hips up to
meet his incoming thrusts, but he could hold back. Despite that fact, it did
not seem like Rogue wanted him to hold back, rather she arched her head back to
give a soft and sensual moan that passed through her lips.
"Fucking hell, so tight, so tight," Harry groaned when the tempo kicked up when
Rogue came down from her last orgasm.
Rogue was beyond all words, but she did manage a few in her state of delirium.
"Fuck…me….fuck me…fuck me!"
Harry obliged her when sped up to bury his divine rod into her hot box,
drilling his cock into her with each passing thrust, sending her to further
fits of ecstasy, and causing the southern Goth to scream at the top of her
lungs when he buried himself into her. He thrust deeper into her and the time
passed before he spilled himself into her.
Rogue felt content when her lover's creamy filling splashed out of her thighs
and down her slit, before she rolled over and Harry smacked her ass, and she
presented himself.
"Round two," Harry breathed when he rubbed his cock head against her pussy,
which dripped of their combined juices.
"Round two," Rogue agreed when she pushed up to meet him and Harry pushed
inside her, his cock entering her tight quim.
Rogue's eyes bulged out a little bit when Harry pushed into her, thrusting his
cock inside her. She felt his cock strike every single bit of her insides, and
she pushed back.
Harry felt the desire from Rogue, when he picked up the pace, his throbbing
prick was enveloped in her moist, hot goodness. The young Goth felt like time
slowed down and the only thing existed was Harry plowing into her. Then again,
in many ways, time did slow down, almost to a crawl when he beat into her
pussy.
"I'm so fucking close again," Rogue heavily breathed when Harry groped her ass
and her breasts, before he continued his movements into her, balls slapping
against her ass.
Her pussy clenched, and she came even more from the friction that Harry's
thumbs caused over her standing nipples. The goth girl felt pure sexual fire
course through her body and she knew despite it all she was close.
"Have you had enough?" Harry asked her, in a taunting and teasing voice, when
he tugged on her hair.
Rogue shook her head, feeling this hard cock sear through her opening. "Not
nearly enough, pound into me."
Harry did, he continued to pound her, with Rogue clutching the bed sheet and
her eyes widening when he continued to plant his massive meat between her
thighs. She grabbed her breasts and mewled when she pushed back.
The green eyed hero picked up the pace before he slammed his cock into her
pussy deeply before he continued to pick up the pace, before he planted himself
deep into her. The time ticked by when Harry pushed into Rogue again and again,
pushing his cock deep into her whilst her pussy squeezed around his protruding
prick.
"So close," Harry grunted when he gripped her fun bags and squeezed them
tightly, causing her to scream out loud, she felt the pleasure course through
her.
"Cum in me, splash that sticky seed in my twat, fill me up!" Rogue yelled, her
pussy burned with the desire for his cum.
"Here comes the motherload," Harry breathed when he pushed into Rogue,
thrusting into her, burying his cock between her thighs, and he unleashed a
steady stream of cum between her legs, blasting her with an explosion of seed,
his cock splattering rope after rope of creamy goodness into her waiting pussy.
Smut/Lemon Ends.
Natasha waited, her back against the wall, and she realized that one breast
popped out of her body suit when she was playing with it. She rubbed her
nipples, which were now erect and there was a heat between her legs, and they
continued for round three it seemed. This time she was riding him, and she
could….she saw what he had.
She wondered if he could….no she had to stay focused on the mission, rather she
watched with wide eyes, and tugged the zipper of her body suit down a little
bit more, before she reached the area between her thighs. She always went
commando under this bodysuit for her purposes, and juices clung to her thighs,
when she reached underneath, breathing heavily
There was a long moment of pause, and the activities on the bed ceased around
an hour or so later, for some reason the Widow did not check the time. Being
the spy she was, she knew not to move until she was sure that the coast was
completely clear.
In a flash, Natasha found herself yanked out of the closet and then bound in
ropes, half naked on the bed.
"You know I'm sure there's a pretty good reason why one of Fury's agents has
been lurking around in my closet. But, I want to hear it straight from you."
To Be Continued in "Gearing Up."
***** Gearing Up *****
Chapter Thirty Five: Gearing Up
Harry scoped out the situation; needless to say he was very intrigued to hear
the explanation for this one, about what this woman was doing here. He had to
take his hat off to her; she managed to avoid detection for a number of weeks.
Harry found himself rather impressed by that fact alone. That being said, he
was not going to allow her to make the same mistake again.
"Who are you?" Harry asked when he looked at the woman in her eyes.
Black Widow struggled, admonishing herself for a rather careless error although
to be honest she knew the risks when she signed on for this mission. She did
not expect into being in such a compromising position when she signed on for
said risks, that much for certain. She knew as a spy this was not the most
perilous position that she been in, no guns on her head or knives threatening
to cut into her throat.
"Untie me and I'll tell you," Natasha stated when she looked up at Harry with a
seductive expression dancing in her eyes when she managed to lick her lips.
"I'll make it worth your while."
'Tempting, sorely tempting,'Harry admitted to himself mentally when he looked
down at her, seeing down her skintight suit with the wonders that she had
underneath. A woman like this might have a little bit experience, okay maybe
more than a little bit and Harry could tell based on the way the suit hugged
her every ample curve that she wore nothing underneath it. That much interested
him and inflamed his inner most desires, appealing to him. His powers being
based a great deal upon intercourse, Harry thought that there was much to
consider with her.
Yet Harry decided to be more practical, at least for the moment. Although given
the compromising position he was in, this woman was in his debt and the dark
haired wizard found a way to collect as only he could before too long. While he
found spontaneous sex as exciting as the next person, he wanted to let this one
build a little bit. The young man bent down and looked the hot spy in the eyes.
"There was a reason why you'll here and I think that it would be in both of my
best interests if you told me," Harry answered when he bent down, looking in
her eyes, mischief dancing in them.
Natasha tried to struggle from the ropes; normally most ropes had some kind of
slack in them where she could writhe out. These ropes were very different
however; they offered no give where she could slip out and escape. She
commended him on this, as frustrating as it might be to try and escape.
"Yes there was a reason," Natasha admitted, feeling that she had to play by his
rules but that was the rule that she learned, sometimes one had to show a tiny
bit of vulnerability to exploit that of others. "Nick Fury sent me here to take
a look at you to see what you were up to."
Harry's expression clouded over immediately before he looked at the Black Widow
with a smile crossing his face. "The old one eyed bastard still wants to know
everything about me and you decided to take a look at me. He sent you. I only
have one thing to ask you. Did you enjoy the show?"
Black Widow did not even answer him out loud but she knew the answer and she
knew that he knew that they knew the answer. Harry bent down, with a smile.
"That's not all, I've been keeping an eye on this place for the moment where
HYDRA makes their move," Black Widow stated when she pushed herself out. "You
may have noticed weeks back how the Brotherhood has been….better equipped.
That's because HYDRA is backing them but they're a distraction. They're being
prepped for something."
"Do you have any idea what?" Harry asked when he looked at Black Widow, still
not allowing her from the ropes. That was the level of freedom that Harry did
not want to allow the spy. The spy shook her head when she looked up at Harry
to try and get free with the dark haired wizard never allowing his gaze to
leave her for a minute.
"No, that is one thing that I have been unable to determine but it is something
that the two of us….the two of us can determine together," Black Widow stated
when she shook her head, pushing herself against the ropes, knowing how it made
her when her curves writhed against the body.
She realized that many men could have taken advantage of her right now and did
what they wanted. However, she sensed something different about this Harry
Potter, sure he expressed interest because of her form but he wanted their
involvement to be one that was consensual. He wanted her to be worked up so she
was driven mad by the lust and what he could do to her would not be leaving her
mind any time soon.
Given the shows she witnessed over the past month or two, she thought that she
was on her way there, or at least close enough.
Harry got out his communicator, rather than leaving the Black Widow alone,
which she honestly respected. He was not stupid and he reached over.
"X-Men report to my room, we have a situation," Harry answered in a voice that
commanded authority when he held the communicator in his hand.
Kitty was first on the scene, looking concerned and she looked down at the tied
up form of Black Widow on the floor. She blinked once, twice, and shook her
head; something told her that there was a logical explanation regarding this
situation, even though one seemed to elude her at the present moment.
Rogue followed next, with Kurt, Scott, Jean, Rachel, Amara, and Bobby, with the
rest of the New Recruits likely filing in from outside later and then Ororo and
Logan showed up, with Beast in toe. Logan was the one who stopped and stared,
recognizing the woman on the floor, tied up and trying to pull herself out.
"Getting sloppy Widow," Logan remarked in a casual voice when he looked at her,
a bit of a grin curling across his face. He got a lot of amusement out of the
fact that she was bound and tied like this.
Ororo's eyes snapped towards him. "You know her?"
"We've met," Logan answered in a voice that indicated that was all that he was
going to tell her.
"So what's going on?" Kurt asked when he looked around, and Harry turned around
and brought them up to speed.
"You know, the Brotherhood are just down the street, we can go and have a chat
with them," Harry responded when he turned around to face them but there was
one person who had to challenge this.
"I'm not sure if that's a wise idea," Scott answered when he looked at the
fellow team members.
Rachel was the one who cut in with another response when she looked at the rest
of the team, turning her head and smiling. "Let's take a vote then. All in
favor of going on Harry's hunch?"
Kurt, Rogue, Kitty, Jean, Bobby, and Amara all agreed, with Scott looking
defeated and he turned around. He motioned for Harry as if to say "go, lead the
way." The mage smiled before he freed Black Widow.
"You will come with us, because if HYDRA is involved, SHIELD would want to know
the details of this," Harry responded to the Black Widow when he kept his eyes
plastered firmly upon her.
"Agreed," Black Widow stated when the group walked off in search of answers,
she knew that the X-Men could have taken out the Brotherhood at any time but
they decided not to. It was not like it was an even fight to begin with.
===============================================================================
 
The X-Men scrambled to the Brotherhood Boarding House with a good plan in mind,
they would shake them down, hope to get some information, and overwhelm them
with sheer numbers. Was that a dirty tactic? Perhaps one could say that it
would be. Was it a smart tactic? One could also say that the tactic would be
extremely smart.
Harry carefully lead the charge through the door, everyone showed up, because
after last time with the Brotherhood, their new leader, and everything that
went along with that, they weren't going to take any chances. The Taskmaster
and Sin upgraded the Brotherhood from dime store thugs to quarter store thugs,
so the old ways of dealing with problems was out the window.
"It's quiet, a little bit too quiet," Kurt whispered which caused Rogue and
Kitty to both cringe and Rachel's eyes to spin around towards Kurt in a
frustrated manner, when she shook her head.
"That's the last thing we need to say right now, you're going to jinx us?"
"It wouldn't be this easy," Black Widow commented in an undertone but never the
less she prepared to throw a gas canister in there to subdue them. She walked
inside but sure enough the place had not even been cleaned because of the Green
Goblin's little attack, furniture on the ground blown to bits and exploded
pumpkin shells strewn in every single direction.
"Nothing is that easy," Logan commented when Harry turned around to his team.
"Spread out, see if they left any incriminating information around," Harry
answered when they walked around, before the X-Men broke into teams and scanned
the house. The dark haired wizard stepped around and looked forward. "And I'll
set up some monitoring spells in case they return."
Scott had to question this. "If they cleared out, wouldn't they not come back,
since we know they're here and this place has been compromised?"
Harry had an answer. "They'd think they we'd think that, which means there's a
likely shot that they could come back and use this house given that it's the
last place that we'd look because they'd think that we'd think we should not
bother with this place because they'd move to another place."
"After that I don't know what to think," Bobby quipped when he moved over from
the next room with the rest of the new recruits.
"Try and stay focused, I trust you didn't find anything," Harry answered but it
was Amara who answered.
"Nothing at all but it wasn't for….lack of trying," Amara answered but Harry
pulled her into an embrace to tell her that she did the best that she could.
She relaxed a little bit into his arms.
"How does he do it?" Bobby whispered to Ray and Sam but the two boys shrugged,
not knowing the secret to Harry Potter's success. Scott threw his hands into
the air in defeat.
Kitty returned a moment later, with a joyful expression on her face when she
held up a portable drive in her hand.
"I found this in Sin's room, I think she might have classified information and
stuff on it," Kitty answered when she looked around the group, all of them
nodded that seemed likely.
Harry voiced a concern that he had. "We better not look that at any computer
that we plan on using later or that's hooked up to the Institute. For all we
know, Sin placed a virus on there, hoping to cripple the Mansion's computer
systems."
"That is wise," Natasha agreed when she nodded and saw the flash drive in her
hand. "There is a secure location at SHIELD that we can scan it, if you allow
me to…."
"I'm not letting that out of my hands, given that it was my team that found
it," Harry responded with Scott cringing at the words, "my team." "I'm heading
with you over to SHIELD."
"I'll tag along," Logan offered with a grunt, he figured that it would be best
of the kid had a bit of back up. Not that he could not handle himself but still
with Fury, the rules of someone who could handle himself was out the window.
Expect the unexpected was often a rule with dealing with Fury.
"I'm coming too," Kitty answered when she looked at the Black Widow, daring her
to contradict and Rachel, Amara, Jean, and Rogue all nodded, with Kurt and
Bobby all stepping up to assist as well.
The Black Widow decided that this would not be one battle that she would not
win. She reached over to pull a communication device out before she pressed a
few buttons to activate it.
"Fury, we've found something, potential information on HYDRA or maybe a trap,"
Black Widow offered when the flash drive did not leave Kitty Pryde's hand and
the group stood. "I'm bringing the X-Men. Their team leader wants to speak with
you."
She inclined her eyes to Harry which Scott had to protest about. "Hey I'm…."
"Quiet!" Black Widow snapped when she turned around to relay the information to
Nick Fury, who nodded. Widow nodded her head a little bit when Fury reported to
her.
"Bring them all aboard, especially Potter, I wish to have a word with him. He
may be the person that I need to help me with an ongoing problem."
Black Widow inclined her head with a slight nod before she turned around to
face the rest of the team who stood up straight and faced her.
Harry was intrigued but suspicious.
"Commander Fury has agreed and will be sending transport within the next hour,"
Black Widow stated when she looked at them. "Any of you who wish to come can
come, any of you who wish to stay can return to the Xavier Institute. It is
your choice but naturally SHIELD requires full cooperation for anyone who comes
aboard."
'Seems like she needs to get laid, maybe someone can help her out with
that,'Rachel projected to Harry, Rogue, Kitty, and Amara, all of the girls
laughed, and Jean picked up a thought, with a smile crossing her face.
Black Widow turned around, she suspected some kind of mental interplay but
naturally that was well beside the point. The Widow prepared to lead the X-Men
forward, waiting for the helicopter to pick them up and bring them to the
SHIELD base where they could head off.
She knew that Fury needed help on this project because his window of time to
complete it was dwindling and there were people who wished to pull the plug on
Captain America; although their agenda seemed to be rather suspect. Fury was
more concerned with keeping a promise that he made then investigating the
intentions of anyone.
===============================================================================
 
"I dig these new digs."
This was the statement made by Toad with the Brotherhood four walked into the
new facility that they were brought to, with Sin and the Taskmaster leading the
way. It was high tech, state of the art, and actually was a professional set up
beyond what they were used to. That to them was the best thing of them all but
the eyes of Sin shifted towards them, cold intentions dancing in them.
"Touch nothing."
Sin's statement snapped with malice rolling from her tongue when she looked at
Toad and he raised his hands into the air defensively and stepping forward. He
knew that there was no reason why he should fight this, in fact he shook his
head and prepared to step forward. Toad, Quicksilver, Blob, and Avalanche
walked forward.
"So, are we going back or is this our new headquarters?" Blob asked when he
looked around, of course the more important question would be where was the
fridge. That was the statement that Blob wanted to know and he stood on the
ground, his feet sinking into it but right away he had no answer from Sin.
Quicksilver turned to Sin and offered a smile towards him. "Hey, as long as
you're here, it's home sweet home."
Sin elected to ignore him, even though she had a number of well-placed insults
that she could make to him in a variety of different languages. The young woman
stepped forward on the ground when she walked forward and saw the HYDRA
soldiers and they fell back into line at her.
"Stay back here, do not go past these doors," Sin stated when she looked over
her shoulder to face the Brotherhood, they could tell that she was serious, not
to mention deadly when she made this statement. The woman took a few steps
forward into the room, she knew what awaited her in there.
Sin stepped forward and bent her head down a little bit, before she shook her
head and looked up at the imposing figure in the shadows. Her father stood
there, his face in the shadows but a strong pair of hands could be seen, along
with the shadow of his imposing body.
"Your mission with the fodder goes as planned," he stated in a crisp voice, his
sunken in eyes peering at her from the shadows.
"It goes about as well as could be planned but you can't make gold out of
dung," Sin responded when she looked up at her father.
The silence between the two of them was extremely eerie.
"Weaklings like that I would have killed by now," her father stated, holding
the gun in his hand and aiming it towards Sin. She stood tall and proud when
she looked at him, she knew by now that if she flinched even the slightest, she
would be shot.
The fact to never show fear in front of her father was practically conditioned
into her with his sadistic methods, all of them worse than the next, and all of
them completely and utterly….yeah that was the case. The young woman turned
around on her heel before she bent down on her heels and looked up to incline
her neck up to the side, before she placed her hands on her hips. She adopted a
firm, proud, and bold stance but not too bold because that would get her shot
by now.
"They serve as a diversion for the mutants," Sin responded when she turned to
her father. "Fury is getting closer."
"Fury is nothing but a fool, the one I need to worry about is Captain America,
if he awakens, then he could stop my plan all over again," her father stated
from the shadows, folding his arms. "Of course, I do wonder if this country
would accept someone like him in this day and age. Times have changed after
all. It's no longer the 1940s and the people are different, much
less…idealistic."
"He could still be a symbol," Sin answered when she looked up at him.
"A symbol for the weakness that these pathetic sacks of flesh exhibit," her
father stated, which Sin agreed with. "You were premature in revealing yourself
to this Potter."
The gun was still on Sin but she did not back down.
"He is strong although not as strong as you,' Sin answered when she looked up
at him.
"One might admit that you're trying to buy favor with me with your compliments,
Sinthea," her father stated in a cold and distant voice that chilled the bones
of everyone who heard it. "I lack this patience. The Red Skull will not allow
you to fail for much longer. Once the gas is completed, these heroes will be
weak as the people who I had sentenced in the camps. They will beg me as much,
while I slowly kill their loved ones around them."
The Red Skull masterminded the deaths of countless, exploiting the sadistic
whims of a madman for his own amusement. Not that this particular individual
needed much prodding, but still he fueled him and helped him along. Then when
this individual's usefulness passed, the madman committed suicide. Red Skull
considered him to be too weak to begin with, too soft to weed out those who
were not superior.
The plan went as he intended for the most part until these X-Men showed up at
the Weapon X base. This Potter who popped up, he posed an interesting threat
but one that he would eliminate should he get too close.
Sin nodded in understanding when she stood back a little bit and waited for her
father to give a further statement of anything. There was none given.
"You will prepare the gas, I want it delivered within the next few days," Red
Skull stated when he felt that this poison would be the doom of many people. He
could twist the entire world in his whim. "HYDRA has arranged a distraction,
therefore they will not know that the gas is being dispersed until it's much
too late."
Sin inclined her head, nodding before she took a step back. She knew by now not
to turn her back on her father because he shot other men in the back of the
head for doing that. Not her because he hinted that the next time her back was
turned could be the last time her back turned, so that was something to keep in
mind.
===============================================================================
 
The X-Men found themselves in a state of awe when they entered the Helicarrier,
looking around at the high tech equipment. Kitty in particular looked like a
kid in a candy store, about ready to geek out about everything but somehow she
reigned herself in, even if it was just barely. The group walked inside the
HYDRA complex and made their way further inside.
"It is impressive," Rogue managed when she turned around and looked over her
shoulder.
"Yes, state of the art," Harry agreed but he heard footsteps which put him and
his team on high alert. They wanted to keep all eyes on anything that was
approaching, especially the new recruits. Constant vigilance was something that
Harry kept harping and beating into their heads.
"I'm glad to see that you approve, Mr. Potter."
Logan turned around before he caught sight of the man, the same voice and he'd
recognize the eye path anywhere. "You had to go for a new look, didn't you
Fury?"
Fury stood next to them dressed in a black uniform that contrasted his black
skin and his bald head, when he had an eye patch on.
"It's time for a change," Fury answered when he looked at Logan.
"It suits you, very Samuel L. Jackson," Logan answered when he looked at Fury,
the two men who had been down the road. "But what…."
"Flesh eating parasites, a nasty business, my mind was transferred into a new
body," Fury answered when he looked at them. "Decided to only keep one eye, I
feel like that's a look I need to stay with. I've got an image to maintain. I
trust no one has a problem with this change."
Obviously no one did.
Harry waited calmly for what Fury had to say, wondering what he had to say to
him but sure enough the young mage did not have to wait for too entirely long.
The director of SHIELD turned towards Harry, an intense expression in his eyes
before he regarded the young man before him.
"We've been working on a project since the events at Asteroid M but it's hit a
dead end," Fury stated when he had two of his agents pull on a box, and see one
of the crystal pieces form the asteroid. Scott in particular flinched a little
bit, to him those crystals were nothing but trouble. A man with dark hair and a
goatee, dressed in a blue suit stepped forward, acknowledging the group with a
nod and Bruce Banner followed him in, crossing his arms. "Tony Stark and I
believe you've met Bruce Banner."
"Yes, good to see you again Doctor Banner, pleased to meet you Mister Stark,"
Harry answered and Tony nodded with a polite smile on his face.
"Mister Potter, I understand that you have special abilities that will be able
to help us activate these funny little crystals," Stark stated when he looked
from Harry to the gem fragment, to be honest he worked over them for weeks and
weeks, trying to use every scientific method known to man.
Harry peered at the crystal for a moment; the crystal bits were unstable and
felt the need to lecture Fury about trying to play with them. The trace amounts
of radioactivity were not enough to kill a person, at least right away but in
due time they would. He turned towards the crystal before taking a long look at
it.
"I fail to see why you think that I can use this crystal any better than you
could," Harry responded when he looked at it, taking it in his hand and turning
it over.
"The gems are activated by a mysterious element that cannot be replicated by
science and that element is…."
Harry tapped on the edge of the crystal because he heard a harmonic vibration,
he was about ready to get out of the way but suddenly the crystal lit up and a
bright red light smacked Rachel in the face.
"Rachel!" Harry yelled when he placed the crystal down but the girl got up to
her feet, indicating that she was fine. She shook her head and rubbed her face.
"What….are you…I'm…."
"Harry, it's okay, I'm fine," Rachel stated when she felt her face but she felt
nothing on her face. The scars, at least the physical ones, were gone from her
face.
"So we were right, the gems can heal," Fury answered without another word when
he looked at Harry.
"So do you want me to grow your eye back or something?" Harry asked when he
gazed at Fury but the Director of SHIELD shook his head before he peered at the
young wizard.
"No, I've got something more worthy, I trust you've heard about Captain
America."
The entire group of X-Men looked on in awe, and Logan nodded, he knew Steve
Rogers back in the day that was one of the few memories from the past that
flooded back to him. The two men been through hell and back but it was
something that made them respect each other all that much more.
"I've heard of him, yes" Harry responded when he turned around, wondering what
that was all about. Tony was able to bring him up to speed.
"My father….he was a friend of Steve Rogers and made a promise before his death
along with Nick Fury and….we need to bring him out of the state he is. His body
is badly deteriorated due to the long term effects of the super soldier formula
and he's being kept on life support."
Banner picked up where Stark left off, crossing his arms over and looking at
the young man before him. "We believe that the gem could bring him back and
with the missing element…."
Harry held up a hand and bounced off of the one fallacy to this statement. "If
his condition is to the point where he has to be kept on life support, we need
a bigger piece of the gem to do so."
"We were hoping that you could track the gem for us and bring it back, if any
more of them exist," Fury responded when he crossed his arms and stared at
Harry.
"For someone like Captain America, I will do it but don't think that I can do
your dirty work for you too often Fury," Harry answered when he warned the
other man and the commander of SHIELD nodded, he understood, believe him he
understood everything before him. "I'll get the gem, but I need the piece you
have now so I can figure out a way to scan for it."
Dollars to donut Harry was willing to bet that someone really sadistic and
twisted had the gem he was searching for, because let's face it, that was the
direction his luck ran at that moment. He had a hunch to be honest and if he
was right, well it was going to be tricky.
Still Harry Potter had a job to do and he would do the best he could to win the
day.
"I'm willing to pay money for your time and help," Stark added and Harry
nodded, who would turn down an offer like that.
Plus in the back of his mind, the gem could help him deal with the Sirius
situation, perhaps. He wouldn't feel right using it until he did some tests.
"I'll get on it and see you later," Harry remarked before he turned towards
Black Widow. "I'll be seeing you later as well."
"I'm sure, we'll be seeing a lot of each other later," Black Widow answered
when the two looked at each other, practically undressing each other with their
eyes.
It could not escalate more beyond that because Harry had work to do.
===============================================================================
 
Harry found himself sitting in his bedroom, concentrating, deep in meditation
when he tried to locate the gems in the world .There were some gems that they
he found but they were small fragments, no more than a pin, but that was the
way things rolled. The young man folded his arms across his chest before he
leaned his head back and focused on the pins, trying to detect a bigger
concentration yet.
He was very closely to finding something but there seemed to be a huge one
buried in a mine shaft somewhere halfway across the world. It was in China, in
some kind of temple. The scribbling on the wall Harry tried to focus on but he
shook his head. He reached up and dialed on Tony Stark.
"There's a temple that has a huge chunk of what you needed but it's buried
underneath," Harry stated without preamble before he stated. "It's in China,
there are strange markings all over the temple, a dragon too."
"A dragon?" Stark asked, a feeling of dread crossing through his body before he
closed his eyes and shook his head, even if Harry could not see it. "Are you
sure you can't find another gem because….we could stir up something if we go
over there?"
"What could we stir up?" Harry wondered, he could sense the apprehension and
the trepidation in Stark's voice and sure enough the billionaire was going to
dive forward with an explanation to enlighten Harry on the situation.
"There is a very powerful mob lord over there, he has mystical rings, ten of
them, he's called the Manadarin. He's not someone who you wish to mess with, in
fact he's not someone who I wish to mess with any more than I have to.
He….dealt me a humiliating and crushing defeat, shall we say one time. He has
diplomatic immunity much like Doom so anything he does, we can't very well go
against him….legally speaking at least."
"And he has a vast criminal empire," Harry answered and Stark confirmed this.
"A vast criminal empire and….he hasn't expanded over here but if he has the gem
and ever figures out what it is, it could cause trouble."
"There's no telling if he knows what it is or even if it's under his nose,"
Harry offered when he turned around in a crisp voice. He shook his head from
one side to the other. "We're going….we're going to figure out a way to
liberate the gem without knowing if we can. If he knows….well we'll deal with
that."
"Agreed," Stark responded when he paused. "I've got a call on the other line;
I'll be back in touch."
It was as well when there was a knock on the door and Harry turned around,
rolling his shoulders back and sighing. He turned and looked at the door,
sensing the person on the other end of the door. "Come in Rogue."
Rogue pushed the door open and entered the room before she walked inside,
offering Harry a smile. She wore a black jacket, a black top, and tight black
pants, and she did her make up a little bit differently, perhaps using a little
less. She had her wristband on.
"Harry….something about my powers, they're changing," Rogue offered when she
looked at him. "I've been able to fly and lift a lot more than I could before."
Harry nodded crisply when he looked at the young mutant and turned to her,
looking in her eyes.
"Do you have any idea why?" Rogue asked when she waved towards Harry, asking if
she wanted the answer.
The dark haired wizard looked thoughtful when his green eyes turned on Rogue,
staring into hers a little bit. The young wizard stepped forward towards Rogue
and grabbed her hand, before the two of them shifted and ended up in the Danger
Room.
"The best way to test your limits is to lift things up," Harry answered when he
calibrated his charm on a metal box. "This is charmed to lift up twice your
body weight."
Rogue lifted up the box with ease and turned to Harry.
"Come on Harry, I want a challenge," Rogue offered him with a smile crossing
her face, shaking her head and Harry placed a hand on hers.
"Okay, try this one, three times your body weight," Harry answered when he
readjusted the charms and sure enough Rogue did lift it up once again with a
bit more effort. "Try four more times."
Rogue lifted up the four times her body weight easily so Harry upgraded to five
times, that was something she had a bit more trouble with and only held it up
for a few seconds before dropping it.
"Do you have any idea what's causing this?" Rogue asked, folding her arms and
wondering about this.
"You know, my powers make you able to touch me but I wonder….I wonder if were
draining some of my powers, and making them permanent, changing you in certain
ways, evolving your powers," Harry offered when the green eyed wizard peered at
the young mutant and she stroked her chin thoughtfully.
"You know that's the best explanation I can think of," Rogue offered when she
saw the metal blocks swinging down and she punched it, when she dented it and
flew in the air, at least managing a moderate height or velocity. Of course her
direction could use a little work before she dropped down to the ground.
Harry offered a smile before he turned to her. "Not bad, not bad at all."
"But I think that I can get better," Rogue offered when she looked at him and
Harry nodded.
"That's always an encouraging attitude to have, you can always get better,
trust me," Harry answered when he placed a set of hands around Rogue's waist
and he leaned forward, pressing his lips against hers. She returned the favor,
her lips melting against his in the passion before she backed off with each
other.
The two parted ways, they had a lot to do and Harry was expecting Stark to call
back at any moment.
===============================================================================
 
Scott walked down the hallway, for some reason, the need to clear the air was
something that reigned in the back of his mind. He took a step forward, looking
in the air and saw Jean walking outside in the corridors. He decided now the
time was to speak to her.
Jean's mind was going a lot, a few days ago she thought about how long she
would take some time away from the Xavier Institute and now she was here. She
saw Scott and figured this conversation was coming before too long, she had to
get it over.
"Hey, Jean," Scott stated in a nervous voice.
"Hi, Scott," Jean answered when the two old friends and original members of the
X-Men stared at each other.
They knew what happened the last time the pair of them said more than two words
with each other, the Phoenix incident and Jean's extended leave from the
Mansion. Jean remembered the fear that Scott experienced and exhibited in his
eyes, shaking her head from one side or the other. She stepped forward and
looked at Scott, shifting her expression to him a little bit more.
"So we need to talk," Scott offered when he waved his hands.
"So talk, I'm listening," Jean offered in a cordial voice, perhaps a bit too
impersonal for Scott's taste, not that she really cared at this point.
"If this is about…."
"No, Scott, it's not about you, it's about me," Jean stated when she looked at
him and Scott decided to reach forward and grab her but she brushed his hand
away and he flinched by this spurning of his contact. "Last time we talked, I
saw it, on your face, the fear you had about the Phoenix."
"I won't let the Phoenix hurt you Jean," Scott stated when he looked at Jean.
'Ah, that's cute, he's trying to be assertive, and grow a set,'the Phoenix
cooed mockingly in Jean's head.
'Phoenix, I can handle this, alright,'Jean thought back to her desperately.
'You do realize that you're pleading with yourself to stay out of your own
conversation, don't you?'The Phoenix thought back to Jean.
Jean realized that she was fighting a losing battle and stopped fighting with
the voice inside her head.
"The Phoenix is me Scott, it's a part of me, and a part that I need to learn to
accept, if I don't want the power to destroy me," Jean stated when she looked
back at him, before she turned around. "You fear what I can do."
"Jean, we can help you…."
"Help me what Scott, control it?" Jean asked when she looked at Scott. "The
last time someone controlled the Phoenix, it nearly ripped me apart. I'm not
going through that again. I've learned to compromise with it and come to terms
with it."
"What if you can't come to terms with it?" Scott responded when he looked at
with Jean.
"Then I'll find someone who will help me come to terms with it," Jean answered
back briskly when she looked at Scott.
"Jean I'll…."
"Scott, you need to come to terms with who you are and don't worry about what I
do with my life," Jean answered when she turned around. "We've been friends,
good friends even but if you've hung your heart on something more, than I'm
sorry. You can't accept me, all of me, and that's fine. There are some things
about you that I don't accept."
Scott stopped, knowing now was the wrong time to say anything.
"You won't have to worry about Harry taking your leadership for much longer, I
don't think, but even if he doesn't take it, someone else could step up and do
so themselves," Jean stated when she spun around and walked off. "We're
teammates and nothing more."
Scott waited, he did not miss the point that Harry could be leaving and in
another time he'd be very happy about that. Yet he wondered how badly it would
fracture the team. The huge fact that bothered Scott the most was that Harry
was not trying to undermine him. He just had the better answers and ones that
even he had to admit make sense.
If Harry stayed, he would naturally usurp the team leadership whether the mage
intended to or not If he left, then Scott would always hear the whispers that
he was only the leader because the person who was best equipped to do the job
stepped away to do his own thing.
This was what one would call a no win situation.
A pair of eyes watched from the doorway, conflicted, and wondering how this
would affect her future, if at all. Yet if Jean was happy, that's all that
mattered to her.
===============================================================================
 
Kitty and Harry took a moment to watch the stars outside over the city,
stealing a few moments together with themselves. After all of the hectic things
that happened between the two of them and all of the hectic things were about
to happen, they felt they should allow a little downtime.
"I'm leaving with Stark in the morning, we're heading to China to try and get
the gem," Harry informed Kitty and she looked at him.
"And you're doing this alone, why?" Kitty asked when she looked at Harry with a
raised eyebrow.
"I'm not alone, I've got Iron Man, Hawkeye, remember him?" Harry asked her and
Kitty smiled.
"Yeah, his war on the school toilets were among the hardest fought in the
school," Kitty answered with a bright smile on her face.
"And there's the Black Widow," Harry answered and Kitty gave him a smile.
"She's on your to-do list anyway, isn't she?" Kitty asked with a smug
satisfaction on her face. Sure there were other girls but she was Harry's
first.
"One could say that," Harry offered when the two of them watched from above,
smiling with wide eyes. The two of them stood on the top of the balcony,
waiting for everything to happen.
"And Jean, she's on there?" Kitty asked when Harry turned to her, an eyebrow
raised. "Oh come on, it's not like I haven't noticed the chemistry between the
two of you, everyone has."
"Scott especially I'm sure," Harry responded when he looked out into the
distance.
"I know you don't want to take the leadership role but real leaders aren't
granted that role or even say that they're the leader, they just lead and
that's kind of what you do," Kitty answered with Harry wrapping his arms around
her. "Do you think Jean's back for the long haul?"
"For the moment at least," Harry answered, before he grabbed Kitty pulling her
back a little bit. "The night's still young."
"And so are we," Kitty remarked when she put a hand on her hips and arched her
head back a little bit, offering a flirty smile when the two of them walked
back and Harry scooped her up in his arms, before he flew. "Where are we
going?"
"Anywhere we want to, I can fly you know," Harry responded when he continued to
fly through the air, with Kitty gently cradled in his arms when he continued to
pick up flight.
The two of them made their way to a hotel room halfway across the world in
Italy and hopefully away from any crime or distractions that would ruin their
night.
No sooner did the two of them set down on the ground in the room, Kitty grabbed
Harry and wrapped her arms around him, pulling him into a deep and hungry kiss.
Harry returned the kiss, running his fingers through her brunette hair, and his
fingers slowly down her back, causing pleasures when his fingers danced across
his body.
Smut/Lemon Begins.
Harry gently tipped Kitty back on the bed with a kiss, pulling her shirt over
her head to reveal her breasts encased in a black bra. The dark haired wizard
planted a brief kiss between her cleavage, kissing her and causing her to
shiver, before he worked her shorts down, to reveal a pair of black panties
that wrapped around the lower half of her body quite nicely.
Kitty reached down and removed Harry's shirt over his head, before she felt his
muscles underneath her hands, rubbing and pushing them, rubbing her hands over
the developed flesh. She went down, and pulled down Harry's pants, to reveal
his boxers and a tent that was sprung out.
Harry breathed heavily when he felt her fingers tease him and his did likewise,
running over her body and simulating it with little bits of magic. The little
moans of content was music to the ears of the young mage, when Kitty cupped him
down low.
"Feels good," Harry managed when she played with him down below, feeling him
grow in her hands and he tilted her head up, to look into her vibrant blue
eyes.
Kitty pulled his boxers down over his legs to reveal his erect cock, and she
stroked him, before she licked her tongue down him.
"Best cock in the world still," Kitty commented when she wrapped her tongue
around him and licked him up and down a little bit.
Her warm tongue ran up and down Harry's shaft and moved around to lick his
balls before she popped his length into his mouth, pressing it into her mouth,
and tilting it back, where it hit the back of her throat.
"Getting good," Harry breathed when he stroked Kitty's hair and pushed his cock
back into her mouth, shoving it into her tight hole. Kitty took him and hummed.
"Not that….ah you weren't good before but practice makes perfect."
Kitty would have to agree, feeling her lover's cock press against the back of
her throat, pressing against her, and feeling his warm tender flesh hit the
back of her. He reached around and unsnapped her bra to play with her lovely
breasts and her tight little body. His gentle but somehow strong caresses
caused Kitty to get wet and caused her to reach, to play with herself but Harry
gently grabbed her hand.
"No, that pleasure is mine," Harry managed to her, and the two were on the bed,
with the wizard pealing Kitty's panties down and putting his head between her
legs to munch on her tender peach from underneath.
'You can really work it with your tongue, oh feels good, I'm in heaven,'Kitty
mentally stated as she breathed heavily when Harry worked his tongue into her
folds.
'You are heaven,'Harry thought to her when he continued to lick her, and the
two sucked and licked each other, feeling pure sexual fire burning through
their body.
The brunette rubbed her pussy up against Harry's face, causing her to be teased
and the dark haired wizard continued to bury his tongue into her. The two of
them worked over each other, their panting getting deeper until the two of them
climaxed, releasing a heavy string of juices into each other's mouths.
The two of them only needed a second to catch each other's breath, before Kitty
laid back and raised one finger, lightly brushing them against her face, before
she scraped his cum off. Slowly, she popped a finger into her mouth and closed
her eyes before she licked the creamy essence of her lover off of it.
"Minx," Harry whispered grabbing Kitty's hips, before he brushed against her
opening with his cock head.
"Do it," Kitty managed when she lifted her hips, grinding against Harry's head
sexily.
"You want it?" Harry asked and Kitty bit her lips, nodding, before he aimed his
cock at her and pushed it inside her.
Kitty felt her pussy clench together when Harry entered her and it felt good to
feel his cock stretch her out, pushing into her with slow and gentle thrusts,
before at his urging, he sped up.
Harry grunted when thrust into her. "Jesus, Kitty, your pussy feels like
heaven."
"Your cock feels better than heaven," Kitty managed when she arched her hips up
to feel Harry thrust into her womanhood.
The two of them matched their strokes, with Kitty trying to keep up the pace.
She could tell that ever since the incident at Oscorp, Harry was gaining more
stamina, which gave her an incentive to pick up the pace. That gave her a
little cardio workout and it was the fun kind.
Harry knew that he would have to dial it back a little bit for Kitty until she
worked up enough momentum but that was more than fine. He thrust into her deep
depths, pushing against her, and running his hands all over her body. She gave
an impassioned squeal when he played with her nipples.
"Feels good," Kitty moaned when she arched back and felt her pussy clench
around Harry.
"So tight, so lovely," Harry managed when he continued to pump into the delight
below him as he writhed on the bed.
"So yours," Kitty offered when she locked legs around him and pressed her hands
onto his back to encourage him to bury himself deeper into her. The brunette's
eyes bugged up when her hips lifted up to meet his incoming thrusts and Harry
picked up the pace, working into her, grinding his cock into her.
"Yeah, so mine," Harry answered when he felt her body up and she felt his up
when the two continued their dance of passion.
"Oh, I live for this," Kitty breathed when she arched her back and he pushed
into her.
She clenched around him a few more times but Harry kept up the pace. She
worried about burning herself out before the ending came but true to form she
held on. Kitty Pryde was stubborn and would not be defeated, despite the fact
that Harry's stamina increased.
"Do you….yes…don't stop," Kitty breathed when she squeezed his bicep to ask him
to going.
Harry continued to go, pushing into her, and each movement going faster and
faster into her, Kitty clenched him the best she could, rubbing against him,
and sure enough after a time passed, Harry splashed his thick seed into her
waiting walls ,filling her up with his creamy essence.
Kitty fell back, content after that round even though there would be another.
Smut/Lemon Ends.
Kitty's eyes flickered shut, she was out of it but Harry checked to see if she
was still breathing.
"Good night Kitty, I love you," Harry stated when he offered her a light peck
on the lips.
"Love you too," Kitty murmured, when Harry wrapped his arms around her and they
drifted back to sleep in a few hours until they had to fly home and Harry
needed to leave on his mission.
To Be Continued in the Next Chapter. 
***** Living Legend Part one *****
Chapter Thirty Six: Living Legend Part One: The Spirit of America.
Harry arrived at Stark Industries with a smile over his face, today could be
the day where many problems got solved for all of them. Today was going to be
the day where he could find the gem that would allow Captain America to return.
And it would also potentially solve a problem that Harry had regarding Sirius
and bring him back to life. Or at least he hoped so, but they were going into
uncharted waters.
Although the more he thought about it, the more he thought that it might not
lead to anything regarding Sirius. The super soldier formula was a different
variable, something that changed Captain America. What Sirius went through when
he propelled through the veil, that was an entirely different matter entirely
and to be honest, Harry wondered what could be done. He'd figure that out at
another point, now he had to focus.
And now he was at Stark Industries where the Black Widow watched, leaning back
against the wall with a smile over her face. Hawkeye stood next to her, Harry
recognized him although more from his janitorial duty than anything else. Then
standing next to them was two women. One of them was dressed in a black
bodysuit with white on the front and she wore eye protection. The other woman
wore a black bodysuit that wrapped tightly around her, along with a yellow
marking that resembled a lightning bolt and black leggings that covered her
body.
"Mr. Potter," Black Widow stated when she looked at him.
Harry could not help but reply with a cheeky grin. "Come on, Natasha, no need
to be so formal, I mean you've been watching me closely. Call me Harry."
She could not help but offer a bit of a smile but Hawkeye snickered at this so
she turned around and gave him a look that indicated that it was time for him
to fall back into line.
"We're waiting for Banner and Stark to join us and then we can get to show on
the road," Hawkeye responded when he turned around to look at Harry. "So are
you ready?"
"I'm ready," Harry answered with a nod of his head; he was more than ready for
anything that was going to happen. "I'm believe that some introductions are in
order, aren't there?"
"Bobbi Morse, I go under the codename Mockingbird," the first blonde woman
replied when she looked at Harry, a smile crossing her face and she reached
forward to shake his hand. The two of them smile. "I'm here to make sure that
Hawkeye here doesn't get into too much trouble."
"Only when the plumbing in the man's bathroom trips him up," Harry answered
when Hawkeye groaned a little bit and Mockingbird snickered.
He was never going to live that down, not in the slightest.
"And I'm Carol Danvers, I'm new at this hero game, an accident with an alien
artifact gave me super human powers," the second blonde stated, given what Fury
told her, Arcane would likely be able to pick out who she was from her mind so
honestly was the best policy or at least enough honesty where he did not have
any reason to go digging for the real incriminating information. "Ms. Marvel, I
actually don't work for SHIELD but a government agency called SWORD. It deals
with extra-terrestrials whether they be threats or friendly, but still they're
out there."
"I'm sure you can tell me more about it when we're on the ship," Harry answered
and Carol responded with a smile before the two of them prepared to walk
towards the SHIELD ship waiting for Tony to exit along with Bruce Banner. Sure
enough they did not wait for very long when Tony showed up.
"Okay, this should be a rather smooth mission," Tony responded when he put the
helmet, wearing his Iron Man armor and was ready to go. "At least I hope that
this will be a smooth mission, although…."
"Relax nothing's going to go wrong," Carol stated when she leaned back against
the wall of the jet, there were a few SHIELD agents on board but that was
merely insurance in case something went wrong. "We can get in there, get in the
temple, and get out, no problem."
Iron Man looked at her with a tense expression on his face. "I can tell you' re
new at this, aren't you? It seldom goes that easily but hey, there's a first
time for everything. As long as we get on the plane and stick to the plan, we
should be able to have the gem in our hands, hopefully without the Mandarin and
his merry men trying to stop us. And from there….well from there will let Harry
work his magic."
"Sounds like it could work," Bruce offered, he was calm today, at least for the
moment.
'Yeah right,'the voice from within stated.
"Just….don't hulk out in this jet and we'll be fine," Mockingbird stated,
hoping that she did not offend Banner but sure enough the scientist was cool
and collected when the group of them entered.
Harry turned to Carol and talked with her when they prepared to get ready.
"Is there much intelligent life out there?" Harry asked her and the blonde
haired blue eyed woman turned to him.
"Well more so then there is in the government sometimes but that's beside the
point, I think," Carol joked when she leaned back and looked at Harry. "There
are aliens out there, and there might even be aliens among us. Wearing the
faces of normal human beings, there have been stranger things out there,
haven't there?"
"You're preaching to the choir," Harry responded when he prepared to get set up
and ready to go.
"So, do you think that we'll be able to raise Captain America with this gem?"
Carol as in a conversational voice and it was at these words when Harry looked
rather thoughtful before he considered the words that the blonde stated. He
reached forward and worked all what he wanted to do through his head. So many
angles where it could go right and so many where it could go very wrong, that
was one thing Harry could take to the bank.
Carol could tell that Harry wanted to make sure things would turn out for the
best, no matter what he had to do. In many ways, that was an extremely
admirable quality, even though when he was out there, he was out there with
many people who would take the fight even harder to him in a brutal and often
times bloody fashion. They would not allow him to achieve his goals without a
fight.
"I hope that things will go the way I want them to," Harry admitted and Carol
responded with a smile, she hoped that as well. She shifted and got a good look
at Harry. He dressed in tight leather but she could tell that he had muscles
and worked hard for them, not relying that much on his powers. The green eyes
and messy black hair added to it, and the twenty four year old woman thought
about what he had to offer.
Harry, seventeen very nearly eighteen thanks to the time he spent out of time
training with Doctor Strange, picked up on what she was thinking but now was
not the time to worry about that, they were on a mission and he turned around,
to see Mockingbird, Hawkeye, Banner, and Stark all get into position. The
SHIELD ship was ready to take off and they were going to find out what they
were after. It was off to China they went and Hawkeye turned to fill in the
group.
"Because of the weird way that we have go to there, we won't be there for an
hour," Hawkeye informed them and they all nodded.
"It will give us plenty of time to coordinate our efforts and offer the element
of surprise." Iron Man stated when he looked off to the side and crossed his
hands before he waited.
Black Widow turned to face Harry, her red hair draping down her face and the
dark haired wizard looking at her before she opened her mouth with a statement.
"Harry, the two of us, Fury wanted us to go over some last minute details of
the plan the three of us talked about."
"What plan?" Hawkeye asked, this was the first time when he raised an eyebrow,
he had no idea what she was talking about but Black Widow offered him a
predatory smile before her face contorted into a stoic expression.
"That is on a need to know basis," Black Widow responded when she motioned for
Harry and sure enough, the rest of the crew on the SHIELD ship did not ask any
questions, the journey would be a slow one with the stealth that they needed to
sneak up on the temple.
The best one would be the element of surprise, with the group preparing and
sure enough, they had a lot on their mind without worrying about Harry and
Black Widow making their way to the next room.
"I'd shut the door behind you," Black Widow responded and sure enough Harry
shut the door, there was no need for anyone finding out what went on behind
these closed doors. The Black Widow shifted her gaze towards Harry, before she
broke the silence. "I believe that I spent six weeks and five days trying to
figure out what you were up to and then I found that I hit one dead end after
another."
"Yes, well I didn't want you to find out what I was up to," Harry answered when
the two of them were alone in this section of the ship. They could hear any
radio transmissions but naturally that was set for emergencies only. "And I
know that you observed me for a long time and got quite a show from said
observation. If I may say so myself, there was a lot that you saw."
Black Widow turned around to look at Harry.
"I saw a lot that went on behind closed doors, although I do wonder now if a
part of you wanted me to see, if you knew that I was there the entire time,"
Natasha responded when she looked at Harry, taking a moment to really get his
features in.
"Maybe, maybe not, wouldn't you like to know?" Harry asked as he discreetly put
his hands on her hips and held them there, touching them but at the same time
only barely touching it. It was enough for a tease and nothing more.
"Well I wouldn't have brought up the point if I did not want to know,' Natasha
answered when she stepped forward, she loosened the zipper of her bodysuit a
little bit, allowing the fabric to pull off. It offered a subtle hint of her
gifts underneath, not that the suit left too much to the imagination with the
way it clung over her curves.
Harry stepped forward which prompted her to step back a half of a step. "I'm
sure you want a demonstration with how much I do know."
Harry moved one of his hands slowly up her body until he reached her cheek and
Natasha smiled when she arched backwards.
"And I could have had you turned in for trespassing, SHIELD agent or not,"
Harry answered when he edged forward a little bit and somehow, Natasha had her
back against the wall. It was both in a literal and figurative sense of the
world.
"Yes, yes, you could," Natasha breathed when she felt this powerful young man
back her up against the wall, she felt her hips subconsciously brush forward
against his crotch. "And you could have done anything that you wanted with me
and there wouldn't be that much of a fight."
Harry slowly placed a hand on the small of her back before he edged a little
bit forward and shifted slightly against her. "Those are some dangerous,
dangerous words, young lady. Anything can be many things."
"Oh, would you like to give a demonstration?" Natasha asked, the Black Widow
not sure if she was the one who got ensnared or not in her own web.
"The time in this area now passes much slowly, with about thirty minutes per
every minute on the outside," Harry responded when he reached his hands up,
slowly teasing her curves, her hips, her legs, and her breasts with the palms.
"Impressive," Natasha managed but it was Harry who captured her mouth at those
words with a bold and daring kiss, that had he pressed up against the wall.
Harry enjoyed the delights of this beauty's mouth, running his fingers through
her red hair and really, he did enjoy women whether then be young or a bit more
mature. She really was something, as her features threatened to spill out of
that black bodysuit that she wore, that left so little to the imagination. The
young wizard trailed his fingers down her, offering little touches to
experiment with her.
Natasha wrapped her arms around him and made the kiss deeper, sucking on his
tongue when she worked his shirt off to reveal the muscles underneath, oh yes
this would do nicely. This would do extremely nicely as she locked her legs
around him and he moved her over to a table area where he transfigured into a
makeshift bed, all while never breaking the kiss. That was the epitome of
someone who could take care of business.
Harry placed her down on the bed and kissed the side of her neck, carefully
taking each bit of her flesh into his mouth and she moaned when he sucked on
the flesh.
"Give it to me, I'm ready," Black Widow stated when Harry removed her body suit
to reveal her body in one fluid movement.
Smut/Lemon Begins.
Harry saw the delicious treat that rested on the makeshift bed before him,
Natasha Romanov was a beauty of the highest caliber. She had large breasts that
were topped off with perky nipples, a flat toned stomach that he felt he could
lick and play with for overs. Not to mention the long beautiful legs and the
hot ass that was attached to her body. Then there was her lovely pussy, Harry
could not forget at that.
She reached up and straddled his lap for a little bit when the two kissed each
other, with Harry running his hands down her body. He felt her ass, her legs,
all of her toned body was underneath his touch. The young wizard could hardly
believe that he touched such a vision of beauty no matter how many times he
touched something like that but that was great.
Natasha ran her hands over his body, feeling his physique, being that of a
Greek god, although that might be a bit of a downgrade for Harry. He had
muscular arms and a sexy muscular chest and abs that she could not get enough
of running her fingers on. She rubbed her moist core up and down his bulge,
before she titled her head back and looked at him. A naughty smile and glint in
her eye proceeded the following words.
"I believe you're a bit underdressed for the occasion."
"I believe you're right, my sexy spy," Harry stated when he teased her opening
with his fingers, brushing then against her entrance and then he rubbed his
thumb up and down her clit causing her moans to get hot and heavy.
Harry had his pants off, although to be honest it was a simple charm and he
then had his erect cock out. Natasha breathed heavily, laying back and parting
her legs, while she waited for Harry to stick it inside her. She looked up and
smiled seductively at him, with the words from her voice.
"I believe I need to study your methods more closely, Mr. Potter," she stated
huskily when she ran her hands all over her body, playing with her curves and
Harry brushed his head against her entrance.
"Wet as always," Harry responded when he grabbed her hips and sunk his meat
into her pussy.
Natasha hitched in a deep breath, she felt his cock penetrate her like when no
man had before and that was saying something .The problem was that those men
were rather underequipped and tended to be….oh why was she thinking about the
cocks of other men when she had this one inside her? His cock pushed against
her walls, stretching against her and slowing pushing into her.
Harry felt her tight walls massage him; he could tell by the lust in her eyes
that she never had any pleasure that was not strictly business for a long time.
Come to think about it, he could tell that she had not gotten that much
pleasure when she went for her pleasure for business, although he could he
overthinking think. He felt her silken walls massage his cock when she squeezed
him tightly. The Widow lifted her hips in tune for Harry's thrusts when he
speared into her depths.
"Faster, harder," Black Widow stated, she did not care much for this gentle
love making, she wanted to get fucked by a real man and this was a man.
"You want it, you've got it," Harry answered before he grabbed her hips,
hoisted her legs up, and began to slam into her pussy heavily, causing the red
head to moan and writhe beneath him. He ran his hands over her body, feeling it
and giving her jolts within her body, feeling the pleasure.
Natasha felt his thick cock slam into her, this was what she wanted, and this
was what she was going to get. The dark haired wizard pushed into her and her
pussy tightened around his cock when the two of them rocked back and forth. Her
eyes flickered shut when she breathed heavily, feeling a hot moan that entered
the back of her throat.
Harry drove her to another earth shattering orgasm and paused before she came
back to Earth but only for a second. Then he resumed his plunging into her,
stretching her hot box apart when it squeezed onto his prick. Her breath was
like music to his ears, long and labored and the dark haired mage scraped the
juices from her thighs. The powerful sorcerer offered Natasha a taste.
The Black Widow greedily sucked her juices off of the fingers of her lover,
licking and suckling them from his fingers. She threw her head back when he
planted himself into her tight pussy. She felt him work into the back of her
and feeling the hot rod spear into her when he continued to ride her. She
returned fire rocking her hips up to meet his incoming thrusts as he buried
himself deeper into her.
She bit his shoulder when he continued to work into her, and she locked her
legs around him. Harry was balls deep in this hot young spy and he could hardly
believe this but then again her pussy was completely unbelievable. The sweat
rolled off their bodies when they continued to work up a rhythm when they
rocked back and forth.
Oh, ooh, yes," Natasha moaned when he speared his length between her legs,
delving into her pussy with all he had.
"Cumming," Harry managed when he looked at her and he plunged himself into her,
before he gave one deep thrust. His balls sized up before they constricted and
splattered every single drop of cum they had in them into her.
Natasha screamed loudly, her pussy clenching around him to milk him. Her
training allowed her to develop excellent muscle control of all parts of her
body and she wanted to give him the greatest pleasure when he came. The dark
haired wizard continued to drain his essence into her body with the beautiful
redhead milking it in tune, squeezing his cock for all it was worth when the
two of them continued their movements.
Harry sent several thick ropes of his cum into her waiting womb, thanking the
heavens for the man who invented contraceptive charms. The dark haired wizard
flickered with his green eyes shut and he rested his head on her breasts when
he came down from his orgasm.
"One more round or are you spent after one with a real woman?" Natasha asked
him, trying to egg him on.
Harry smiled. "Please, that was a warm up."
Harry flipped her over and she was on her hands and knees, her ass positioned
in the air and presented for him. The dark haired wizard rubbed the head of his
cock up and down her warm slit to tease her, he was already hard.
That was a point that Natasha ran over in her mind, after the intense sex they
had, he was already hard and she turned around, looking over her shoulder. Her
long flowing red hair framed her face when she looked at Harry. Her hot tongue
trailed around her lips, moistening her mouth.
"Come and get it, master," Natasha stated, feeling her pussy clenching when she
thought about what he would do to it and to be honest, she would allow him to
do anything that he wanted to her, all night long.
Harry grinned when he grabbed the side of her hips, measuring her, before with
one fluid moment he plunged in. Once again her tight walls hugged tightly
around his throbbing manhood, rubbing against it. She knew how to get the most
out of each thrust with the two of them going back and forth with each other.
The dark haired wizard plunged himself into her tight depths, it wrapped around
him.
He smacked her ass which caused her to shudder in pleasure.
"You like that?" Harry asked when he pushed into her and then smacked her ass
again.
"Yes, yes," Natasha breathed with a shuddering breath, her eyes closed when he
moved into her. His cock sawed into her and rammed deep within her pussy lips,
feeling her stretch out when he plunged into her.
Natasha felt the pleasure rush over her body, this was more intense than
anything she ever imagined in the sexual arena. And she could have a pretty
vivid sexual imagination for sure but this cock and his hands running all over
her body was a combination that could not be beat. The sexual fire of his cock
pulsing and pressing in her body was second to none when he continued to pick
up a higher tempo.
"That's….that feels so good," Natasha breathed heavily when his cock moved into
her.
"I'm sure it does," Harry stated when he cupped her breasts in his hands and
she moaned, barely able to articulate any words.
Harry noticed that the more experienced he got, the more he was able to drive
his lovers to the point where there was really no need for them to speak. Still
the moans and mental cues that he got was more than enough and case in point,
he plunged his fingers up Natasha's ass, playing with her a little bit.
"Oh, more, please," Natasha panted when she closed her eyes lost completely to
the pleasure and another hand ran over her breasts. She looked over her
shoulder and he met her mouth in a hot kiss. The redhead sucked on his tongue
like she would a phallus.
Harry continued his moments, he was sure he could buy plenty of time with the
time dilation spells but at the same time, it was not enough to make people
wonder too much. Then again, he wondered if he cared. The wizard continued to
plunge his thick meet into her inviting pussy, it squeezing him tightly, with
the red head breathing heavily with each and every passing pushing into her.
'Oh, he's so big, so strong, I'll have to….continue these missions,'Natasha
mentally thought when she felt her G Spot being slammed again and again with
his cock when she was driven to another orgasm.
Harry held himself back for a very long time but eventually his loins tightened
and he blew his load into her from behind. The red head clenched him with a
force that would bring many men to their knees and he continued to blow a heavy
amount of cum into her.
'His volume, it's amazing,'Natasha managed when she pulled out of him.
Smut/Lemon Ends.
Natasha ran her hands through Harry's cocks when she continued to kiss him.
"Why rush, we've only been in here for three minutes as far as they know, not
nearly enough to go over the plans, wouldn't you say?" Natasha asked and Harry
smiled, before he cupped her from behind, and titled her back with another
hungry kiss.
Round three was upon them, then four, then five, and then….well one would get
the picture.
X-X-X
Sometime later, the Party arrived outside the temple and all of them were ready
to go, no matter what they had to go up against. Iron Man stepped forward into
the shadows, Black Widow followed them, with Hawkeye, Mockingbird, and Ms.
Marvel leading the charge. Arcane moved ahead to do some scans of the security
to hope to get a better picture but naturally they expected the worse.
"We best be silent and hope that we can lift the gem without them finding out,"
Black Widow whispered when she looked at them and Mockingbird, Iron Man, and
Hawkeye all nodded, with Bruce Banner staying behind.
It was hoped that they did not need him for if they needed him, that meant that
they needed his other half. And the Incredible Hulk was not someone that they
wanted to bring out of the box for the potential collateral damage that could
be caused. Banner watched carefully when the group moved around the temple. It
was Iron Man who gave the grim assessment of what they had to deal with.
"The palace is swarming with the Mandarin's guards," Iron Man responded in a
crisp voice and that was not something that was lost by any of them. "If any of
you have any suggestions, now is the time."
"Wait until Arcane gets back with the scans," Ms. Marvel stated, wondering if
something happened to him for a moment. At least that was always a concern on
missions like this and he was the person they needed the most with everything
that's happened.
Arcane popped out of the shadows and he held up a piece of paper that he
duplicated on five other sheets and passed them out to everyone. He paused for
a minute to allow the group to read the papers. It was hoped that he could
break down what was on them the best that he could so they could be understood
but given what happened, that was not really something that was a guarantee.
"I think we've got it," Hawkeye managed when he prepared to shoot an arrow at a
moment's notice, even though they wanted to get through this battle without
firing one shot. "So where's our mystical gem of healing properties?"
Harry inclined one finger as if he was going to point beneath the temple.
"So when you mean it's beneath the temple, you mean it's way beneath the
temple, as below the foundations," Hawkeye responded when he looked at Harry
and he offered a crisp, stoic nod. "Yeah, I figured about as much."
Harry tapped his foot on the ground and listened in, hoping that the guards
would move there way off to the side a little bit more. It would be a lot
easier to take them out and take their place without anyone else noticing it.
The less people he had to knock out or worse kill, the better it was. If he
thought about it, he wanted to minimize the damages while he could. The last
thing he needed was a temple in shambles because no one was supposed to know
SHIELD as there.
"Well, the moment of truth I guess," Iron Man stated to break Harry out of his
thoughts but the two guards turned to each other.
"They can't have spotted us," Ms. Marvel responded when she looked off to the
side and then she shook her head. "They really can't have spotted us with the
precautions we took….but they're coming here."
The guards were making there way over but Black Widow grabbed a gas canister
and flung it into the air. That gave them the cloud cover they needed, with
Harry amplifying it when they moved into the mist. They tried to stick together
and not split apart because bad things happened when people split up. The group
rushed into the fog, trying not to choke on what was around them.
"Just about got it, got to get to the temple," Mockingbird managed when Hawkeye
was the one who pulled out an arrow and he shot it.
"That didn't do anything," Iron Man responded when he looked around.
"Wait for it," Hawkeye stated when he turned to them but Harry disabled the
arrow.
"Stealth, remember, let's not make a big bang," Harry responded when he
activated the locks on the temple before it slid open. He figured that they
could go as low as they could go. "This place is….."
Black Widow pulled Hawkeye out of the way before a series of poison darts shot
out of the wall. Thankfully Iron Man wore armor otherwise that would have been
a bad situation for him and he shook when the darts slightly burned his armor.
Thankfully they could not pierce them otherwise it would have been a bad
situation.
"It's loaded with traps," Harry answered when he turned to the entire assembled
group. "Make sure to follow your cheat sheets and we'll be clear, home free."
The group made their way down a winding set of stairs, finding the travels to
be a rather tight and winding road. Harry paused when he wondered if they could
get through this entire mess without causing any trouble. Given his batting
average with situations like this he was betting no. Still with everything
considered, it would not hurt for him to show a tiny bit of optimism in the
face of the sudden fire that they felt.
He saw two more guards, Confundus charm was useful in making them stumble the
other way. He had to power it down a little bit, not to make them a stumbling
and bumbling mess that would alert the other guards and lead to a fight. He
could feel the humming of the gem as he came closer. He knew why people went
mad with such power in the past, it could be something that could inspire such
lust. Still in the right hands, the gems would be rather useful.
"Stay sharp."
A shuriken flew through the air and Hawkeye quickly shot it out of the way with
an arrow.
"That's not what you meant, I take it," Ms. Marvel stated and Iron Man held up
his hands, ready for a fight. He did not one but at the same time, he doubted
that was something that he had much of a choice about.
Sure enough, he struck first and he struck hard ,with a blast of energy from
his hands. The blast of energy from his hands sent the enemies flying back and
Ms. Marvel flew into the air, before she smashed the attackers down to the
ground hard. Mockingbird pulled out a staff and swung it around, before she
swept the legs out from underneath her enemies.
"So much for the indirect approach," Mockingbird responded in a crisp voice and
sure enough she blasted one of her enemies back. Another enemy landed on the
ground hard and she stomped them before she propelled herself up and smacked
the enemy down. "Where did our wizard go?"
"We have….bigger problems," Hawkeye stated when he duck a sword swung at him,
before blasting an arrow towards him. The dust knocked him back and caused him
to stagger nearly tripping over his own feet as he did.
Black Widow flipped herself up into the air and kicked down across the back of
the head to send the enemies flying down to the ground. There was a loud crash
when Black Widow slammed her enemy down to the ground. She knocked the
adversary down to the ground and elbowed him to the face, before she watched
Iron Man blast one of them off to the side before they saw Arcane wave his hand
off to the side.
"The gem are there below us," Arcane whispered but a group of assassins rushed
forward and Harry closed his eyes and caused them to be engulfed in light,
before the group transported outside of the temple without Harry even touching
them.
"Nice parlor trick that one will go over well at parties," Iron Man commented
but they moved forward there was no time to really go forward, the group rushed
forward down a set of steps before they saw what was underneath.
Harry levitated the glowing red gem into his hand before he looked it over.
That was what they needed; they felt the power around them.
"So this is it?" Ms. Marvel asked and Harry shook his head, before the group
bolted towards the exit, not they had what they needed, there was no need to
stay around here and draw the attention that would cause them to be under the
direct attention of their enemies, when he continued to walk off.
"So did you get it?" Bruce asked when they made their way from the temple.
"Yes, we got it but whether or not it works, we'll figure out in a little bit,"
Harry offered him with a shrug. There was really nothing else left to lose
given the fact that there were people who were about to pull the plug on
Captain America any day now. The SHIELD ship made its way up into the air and
flew off, leaving several downed servants in their wake but Harry sent a probe
out. The group spun around to look at him. "They won't remember that we're
here."
"Well that's good," Black Widow stated in an approving voice. After all one of
Nick Fury's rules was to make sure that no one knew that they were there by any
means necessary. Granted there were many instances where that could have been
thrown off kilter but still if it could be avoided then they would be able to
do what they needed to do.
X-X-X
"Today is the day," Sin responded when she folded her hands over, a determined
glint going through her eyes.
She wondered if there was going to be any side effects from those who weren't
mutants. It would be just like her father to concoct something that would kill
as many people as possible. Sin understood what she needed to do before the gas
had been released; she studied that intently and concocted an antidote that
would allow her to survive anything. Survival was something that was properly
beaten into her from a very long time.
"Make sure it's dispensed on schedule, our leader wants nothing to go wrong
with this first trial run," Sin responded when she looked out. While she was
unclear of what the gas would do in the long term, she knew enough to realize
that it was nothing that she wanted to inhale. It was going to be highly toxic.
If Sin was honest with herself, she wondered if this was something that would
be considered the one step too far. She had no problem with killing when it
served a purpose and furthered an agenda. Her father on the other hand killed
people for the sake of killing them and that was rather twisted in many ways.
Then again, the mind of the Red Skull was one that many people would have liked
to understand. Many thought of him to be dead for years but he surfaced now and
again.
His look was often imitated but his methods were seldom duplicated. The red
haired girl looked up and her smile crossed one with sadistic glee when she
wondered what was happening in the world. She saw the poison levels rise up in
New York City; it would be a plague that was visited within the city. That
plague would spread down to the Xavier Institute.
"I don't feel so well," Toad mumbled when he suddenly collapsed, it feeling
like fire when his lungs burned. Blob, Quicksilver, and Avalanche all collapsed
as well, feeling the onset of a boiling fever coming along them.
"Of course you don't feel well," Sin stated when she looked down at the
Brotherhood, they were pathetic. "We've released a plague to the city, that
will harm all mutants and make them extremely sick. Potentially a fatal illness
which they will succumb to in a matter of days."
The Brotherhood were not down with the fact that they were dying.
"You've got to cure us," Quicksilver stated, feeling his arms weighing like
cement when he tried to pull himself up but he collapsed down to the ground
when he breathed heavily. Each passing breath was a heavy moment when he tried
to labor and he shook like mad when his eyes grew heavy and then puffy.
Sin paused before she bent down a little bit, feeling this moment, something
that she would remember for the rest of her life when she peered down to face
the downed members of the Brotherhood. She offered a smile, sinister as it was
when she looked down at Quicksilver. "Do I have to help you?"
"Yes, we're your teammates," Quicksilver breathed heavily when his throat
closed up.
"The only solace I have was that this will not kill you immediately and thus
you will suffer for your ignorance," Sin responded when she turned back and saw
the Brotherhood on the ground. It did feel interesting to see them after all
that happened, all of their bravado, all of it unearned, down on the ground.
Their breath got heavy.
Avalanche tried to fight the blistering fever, he never thought that he would
miss the glory days of Mystique.
Suddenly Sin staggered a little bit, sweat rolling down her face, and she shook
her head, when she felt herself size up in the pain. She could not believe that
she felt so weak but then again she got out.
"Are you feeling a bit under the weather, Sinthea?"
Sin's eyes felt heavy when she collapsed down to the ground and felt her chest
tighten when she struggled to breath. The young woman turned around, her vision
blurry and doubled when she saw her father, the Red Skull.
"No, I created an antidote," Sin breathed heavily when the Brotherhood shook in
fear when they found out who Sin's father was.
"Yes you did, but it wouldn't have helped you, for there is no antidote for the
plague, at least one that can be made by mundane means," Red Skull stated when
he walked forward.
"Wouldn't that….wouldn't that kill you then?" Quicksilver asked, trying to keep
his wits about himself. He had to figure out a way, sure if this plague could
be created, it could be reversed.
Red Skull's face twisted into a grin. "But of course, there is always a chance
that my latest scheme my lead to my demise. And if that happens, well that must
mean that I'm weak and therefore I deserve to die."
"You're bent," Quickislver managed but the Red Skull's face twisted into a
sadistic grin.
He was called much, much worse in his day, every single name in the book, from
a number of languages. Sometimes he killed the person on sight for their
arrogance, other times he kept them alive out of sheer amusement. That way he
could make them suffer and torment them, torture them and make them beg for
their deaths. Then he took that sweet release away and made them suffer them.
Red Skull watched out in the city and he saw his daughter move to her feet,
standing up. He felt a small flicker of being impressed by her ability to
remain standing despite all of what happened. Perhaps he misjudged her of being
weak but then again, it was something that was perhaps premature. Her knees
wobbled when she held the gun in her hand and Red Skull stared it down,
unblinking.
"If you do so, you'll be doing the world a favor," Red Skull responded when his
eyes looked back at his daughter. "And you will be doing the world a favor but
I doubt you have it within you. Despite my best efforts, you are still weak
while I am still strong and I will impart one last lesson within you."
Red Skull stabbed Sin in the shoulder with a knife to emphasize his point. He
pulled out the knife, causing her blood to drip onto the ground in front of her
eyes. His sadistic expression continued to dance in his eyes before he offered
her one piece of advice.
"Don't hunt what you can't kill."
X-X-X
"The toxicity levels in New York's air are rising, any one of us could be
infected at any moment, it seems to be a matter of chance," Nick Fury reported
when he held the gem in his hand when Harry gave it to him. The young wizard
turned to him and no doubt he worried about his friends but he had to remain
focused on the mission for a moment. "I'm not going to mince words, we're going
to take HYDRA out, they've gone too far. This biological weapon is more
dangerous than anything they've ever delved into."
Iron Man was the one who chimed in with a response. "Maybe…..maybe we can use
the gem after we heal Cap with it to reverse the plague?"
Fury considered it, he really considered it. If not for the simple point was
that science was being made a fool out of by the mystical means.
"We'll get more information and then we'll make our move," Fury responded when
he responded with a gruff voice before he turned his attention towards Harry.
"I trust….I trust you might not know anything or do you?"
Harry paused to think about it, without knowing exactly what was in the air, he
doubted that even the Sorcerer Supreme could wave his hand and concoct and
antidote. The young green eyed magical mutant stepped forward a little bit and
drew in his breath before he offered one statement. It was not as if he had
anything left to lose and the alternative was going to be something that none
of them wanted to even consider.
"Get me all of the data and I'll see what I can do," Harry responded but then
he moved forward. First before he even considered what was going to happen, he
had to deal with Captain America. SHIELD moved his body into the facility for
Harry to work his magic, whatever that might be on him.
Fury and Harry continued to walk, both of them knowing that the situation was
going to get tense the more they worked together. The Commander of SHIELD drew
in a slight breath when he crossed his hands over and waited for the response
that Harry would give him. The dark haired wizard mulled over the situation in
his mind before he saw him in all of his red, white, and blue glory. It was
amazing to see him pretty much in the flesh for he was a living legend.
The stories were told about him in the schools but the stories were one thing
compared to the actual man beside him. Captain America laid in stasis, his eyes
shut when the dark haired wizard stood over him. He waved a hand when he saw
him and held the gem in his hand now when Fury handed it over him.
"Work your magic kid," Fury responded in a gruff voice that left no other room
for the young wizard to talk.
Harry clutched the gem in his hand and directed it towards the case towards
Captain America. There would come a time where he would have to let it all hang
out and not hold back at all. He felt the gem begin to vibrate in his hand as
it began to heat up and he tilted the gem over. He had to make sure that it
pointed at Captain America and bombarded him with the amount of radiation from
the gem.
There was a loud humming from the gem when the dark haired wizard waved it over
the downed body of Captain America. The gemstone shook in his hand when it
rumbled within his fingers, there was an instant where he assumed that it would
bust into pieces within his hand before it would cure the Star Spangled
Avenger. Yet, somehow it remained intact when he continued to hold it. He felt
something happening.
"His vital signs are spiking to normal, above normal," Nick Fury stated when he
turned over to the side and the Commander of SHIELD peaked over his shoulder,
half expecting something to happen that would ruin this entire process. "I
believe….I believe you've done it."
The gem ceased to vibrate in Harry's hand and he drew himself back a little
bit, before he rotated it into his hand. The problem was using a gem for this
level of healing made it virtually unusable to heal anyone else to say the very
least. He flickered the gem in his hand and saw the small fragment. Sadly it
was not enough of a piece to heal Sirius, at least for more than partially and
he did not want a partial healing of him.
"So, we did it, you healed him," Nick Fury answered and Harry answered with a
stoic nod, a smile crossing his face despite himself.
"Yeah, all we need for him is for him to wake up," Harry responded when he held
the small fragment in his hand. He stepped back but then the Black Widow
appeared.
"News from the Xavier Institute," Black Widow stated in a stoic expression,
when her eyes turned to him and Harry could tell that the situation was about
as dire as he figured. Given the plague was in the air, he knew what was going
to do.
"Yes," Harry answered and sure enough Logan was there to fill him in.
"Half of the kids in the Institute dropped, they're breathing, for what it's
worth," Logan responded when he twisted his hands together and he seemed calm.
"Xavier's lapsed into a coma."
Harry gave a pained whistle; he knew that something like this happened. Well
not something exactly like this but he feared that something bad would happen.
Most people would freak out right away in a very visible manner. And while
Harry was freaking out on the inside, on the outside he remained calm. He knew
that most of the school would be freaking out. Things got rather serious in a
hurry.
"Is anyone still standing?" Harry asked, almost dreading the answer and fearing
what Logan might say because of it.
"I am, then there's Jean and Rachel, everyone else is in various states of
disarray," Logan stated when he looked over. "You better get over here….see if
you can make heads and tails. Beast tried to figure it out but the illness
overwhelmed him."
"HYDRA released that plague," Harry responded and there was a moment where
Logan paused before he responded in a nasty tone of voice.
"Then Hydra is going to go down."
That was a statement that Harry could not disagree with to be honest, he
stepped forward and was ready to go. The young wizard peaked over his shoulder
before he walked off and did not even hear Fury's words but he paused.
"If my calculation were correct, Captain America will be awake within the
hour," Harry responded when he faced Fury. "Send along word if you have
complications."
Fury offered him a stiff nod and one word. "Understood."
X-X-X
A flash of light appeared in a meadow in New York. Had anyone been around, they
would have saw a figure who exited the portal and landed down onto the ground.
He was not the type of figure that people missed when he showed up, he stood
out in a crowd. This man was someone who people would not miss at all if they
saw him out in public. It was because of his flowing blond hair and that
extended down.
He stood there, dressed in warrior garb with a black outfit that was armored
and a red cape flowing behind him with a head piece on. He stood with fury
simmering through his blue eyes, he was not someone who would be trifled with
by any means whatsoever. He stepped forward to get a look at his new
surroundings, the man was sent to this realm from his dimension and he welded a
mighty hammer when he stepped forward.
Thor, the God of Thunder, arrived in Midgard and it seemed like he arrived just
in time. Now he needed to seek out fellow warriors because his father sent him
here for a reason and for a purpose. What that reason or what that purpose was,
Thor did not quite determine it as of yet but he had to find that out before
too long. Odin never did anything without a reason to say the very least.
The God of Thunder stood ready, power flowing from him. Now it would come the
time where he would be able to stand forward and prepare for the battle. The
power flowed through him and he raised his hammer.
"It's time," Thor stated when he spun around and went out on his quest.
X-X-X
Lockhead sat on the edge of Kitty's bed, which looked very flushed and red in
the face, with sweat rolling down her eyes. The dragon looked up and Harry
walked over towards Kitty. On the surface, one might not be able to figure out
how frustrated Harry was. Training his face to shift into a mask was an element
that Harry essentially mastered many times throughout the years. Wiping all
emotions from his mind but seriously he saw Kitty, Rogue, and Amara side by
side in beds, and then the other members of the X-Men not being much better.
Even their Headmaster, Charles Xavier, lapsed into a coma state.
"So what's the damage?"
Harry spun around, stopping dabbing a wet washcloth on Kitty's head who was
barely responsive. "I've done what I could to stabilize them but making them
stable won't exactly cure them."
"We need to get a sample of the chemical that they used to make the plague,"
Rachel responded, not knowing how she did not drop down with the rest of them.
Jean was someone that was easy to explain thanks to the Phoenix Force.
"Easier said than done," Jean answered when she looked at them, seeing them all
in a row.
Scott looked out of it and he hinged onto life, barely able to draw breath.
Kurt looked bad as well as did Bobby, Roberto, Ray, Jamie, and everyone else.
This was no ordinary virus; this was something that the people behind it
designed to draw out the misery and woe for as long as they could before those
infected begged for death. Those behind it knew this and relished this fact,
with Harry trying to piece together everything in his mind.
"Yeah, no kidding, given that we need to be in HYDRA central to get even close
to it," Logan responded, his natural immunity staving off the worst of this,
although he was a step slower than he was. He tried not to show it, he needed
to keep his wits about him.
Harry noticed that Logan moved a bit more sluggish than he did before but did
not call him out on it; he figured that if Logan wanted it to be known that he
was not feeling well, it would be known that he was not feeling well. Still,
the situation could not be direr if they even thought about it. Time as it was
began to crawl by more slowly and the pained breathing of Kitty echoed through
Harry's ears.
He tried to keep his focus off of what was happening to his first girlfriend,
not that Rogue and Amara were doing much better with what happened. They looked
flushed and on the verge of being both hot and cold at the same time. This was
worse than his illness that gave him the upgraded powers, although he doubted
that there would be a light at the end of the tunnel but he took a moment to
clear his head.
"Strange is looking into cures, as am I," Harry added, trying to reassure the
sick patients, those who still were standing, along with himself. "We're going
into uncharted territory; I don't know….I don't know what's happening."
"We'll figure it out quickly."
Harry, Logan, Rachel, and Jean spun around to see him standing in there in all
of his glory.
"Now that brings back a lot of memories," Logan remarked when he turned forward
and looked at Captain America. He was back in business and none the worse for
well.
"I would have been here sooner but Fury insisted on putting me through a
battery of tests," Captain America stated but Harry shook his head.
"Nothing more important than your health," Harry responded and Captain America
responded with a nod before he turned to properly face Harry.
"I believe that it is you that I have to thank for fixing the part of the super
soldier serum that was about to kill me," Captain America answered with Harry
smiling and looking at him. "Fury told me a bit about you but I know by now
never to believe anything unless I see it with my own two eyes. What I will say
is….it always looks darkest before the dawn."
Captain America paused before he looked on.
"But as long as there's heroes, we will win the day," Captain America added in
a voice that would do nothing but get people motivated. That was why he was
Captain America that was what he did.
And Harry vowed to keep fighting until his final breath. HYDRA picked the wrong
day to mess with him.
"I've got an idea where HYDRA might be but it's a long shot," Harry answered
when he looked at Captain America who turned to him and smiled.
"Son, sometime it's the longshot that wins a battle."
To Be Continued in Part Two. 
***** Living Legend Part Two *****
Chapter Thirty Seven: Living Legend Part Two: Heroes In Need.
The word "hopeless" was not in the dictionary of Harry Potter, especially after
all that he was through during his entire life. The young magical mutant did
not do hopeless, even if the word "hopeless" threatened to dog every step of
the day that he had. Those who used the word hopeless liberally were also
quitters and that was not something that Harry Potter would be. He was not a
quitter, despite the fact that very few would fault him.
Despite the fact that many would quit if they had the pressure that he did.
"It always looks darkest before the new day."
"It's been a long time, hasn't it?" Harry asked Captain America when he voiced
these words before he amended. "The…..after everything that's happened in the
world, you still being around in this modern world, I don't want to be the one
to break it to you but things have changed."
Captain America was not fazed by this; in fact he shook his head a little bit
and a smile crossed his face. He suspected from the moment that he woke up he
had a lot of adapting to do. "The world has changed, the world will always
change but there is one thing that no matter what the world will always need
and that is heroes. Even if there are moments that they do not appreciate what
we do or don't understand what we do, people who will fight until their last
breath no matter what the cost, they're always needed by the masses."
"Nice to see you haven't lost your touch," Logan responded when he looked at
his old friend before he shook his head and added with a ghost of a smile. "And
it's damn good to see you back in action, Cap."
"It's good to see you here as well, Logan," Captain America added without
another word as he saw Jean, Rachel, Iron Man, Mockingbird, Ms. Marvel,
Hawkeye, Black Widow, and Bruce Banner all ready. Yet for some reason, Arcane
stood the tallest of them all with the most confidence on his face, yet he had
the most to lose if they did not find a way to stop this plague.
With a flash, the sorcerer supreme showed up in all of his glory and Harry
inclined his head towards him with a smile. It was good to see him all things
considered and Strange moved over to look at the plague victims.
"It's far worse than I thought," Strange stated when he scanned them. A sad
expression flickered through his eyes. "There are both scientific and mystical
elements in this plague cocktail and whilst I can limit the effects from the
mystical elements, there is a chance that it might cause the scientific
elements to accelerate and kill your friends faster. It is uncertain what I can
do without a sample of the plague virus. All we can do now is alleviate their
misery as much as we can."
Captain America shook his head and stood on his feet, to some a long time had
passed but for him only mere months since he got put to sleep when the super
soldier formula started to affect him. He gone to sleep with the hope that
HYDRA was crippled and the Red Skull was destroyed. Neither was true when he
thought about it and that caused him an insane amount of frustration. What was
worse now HYDRA was more dangerous than ever before and Bucky died in vein.
"So, I think we've traced the most likely location of HYDRA's base of
operations but it could be a mask," Iron Man stated when he looked at the
scanner and the several points.
"HYDRA is aptly named, once you cut off one plan, two more grow in its place,"
Black Widow stated when she set her face to determination that could not be
measured.
"Then we will need to strike it hard at once," Harry responded when he looked
at Kitty, Rogue, and Amara on the bed. Their sick faces flickered through his
mind. Rachel shared his thoughts as well, it was not personal until now.
Now it was personal and HYDRA would be ripped down, even if Harry had to do it
brick by brick and there would be no one left standing. It was about time to
see how dangerous Harry could get when he was pushed to a level beyond anything
that he ever was inspired to reach before. He met the gaze of Jean, Rachel, and
Logan, they were the only ones left standing, and even their leader Charles
Xavier lapsed into a coma. Xavier was stabilized but there was no….there was no
sign if he or any of the others would be making a full recovery.
Of course, now was the time for them to put that out of their minds, no matter
how hopeless everything might seem. Decisive action was needed for them to win
the day and to put HYDRA into the ground once and forth all. Black Widow,
Mockingbird, Hawkeye, Iron Man, Ms. Marvel, and Captain America were al capable
enough to go in there or so Harry found out from what little he could find out
about them .And if Banner got the right motivation, that being anger, he could
be a force of nature.
He knew what his team was capable of.
"Well you're the leader of this X-Men, I believe you know them better than
anyone else," Captain America stated when he looked at Harry, that was what
Fury told him and no one bothered to correct him.
The assigned leader was currently on the bed with a shuddering moan filling his
body when he shivered a little bit but he remained rigid all things considered.
That was the only signs of life his body made but the rest of the team was
stabilized.
"Yes, he is," Jean agreed without a thought against the matter, looking at
Harry with a smile.
Harry opened his mouth to protest but decided against it. Now was not the time
to argue.
"So are we ready to do this thing?" Iron Man asked in a calm voice. "So um,
people, you know we should really have some kind of team name to refer to
ourselves in. After all, if we have no name when we're avenging these wrongs by
HYDRA, we're going to look kind of silly, aren't we?"
Black Widow's eyes snapped towards Iron Man, flashing with a tiny bit of fury
in them but she remained mostly calm all things considered. "We can worry about
team names later, right now, we have to worry about decisive action and make
sure that HYDRA does not spread this virus past this trial run. This merely may
have been a test run, the next run could cause destruction throughout the
world."
"Are you all feeling alright still?" Harry asked towards Rachel, Jean, and
Logan.
"Yeah, I'd be better when they're all out of the woods," Logan responded when
he inclined a finger to the team on the bed.
"Yeah, likewise," Jean stated when she looked at Harry, admiring how he was not
losing his head in a crisis and trying to take the easy way out. He was calm,
cool, collected, and ready for action, that was what a leader should be as far
as she was concerned.
Mockingbird and Hawkeye walked forward to give them the news.
"So the base, it's in Philadelphia," Mockingbird stated when she looked over
the shoulder at her partner.
"Yes, it is," Ms. Marvel added when she chimed into the conversation. She
cupped a hand on her chin. "It is one of the twelve or thirteen locations that
HYDRA is rumored to be holed up at all over the Eastern Half of the United
States."
"If that's what's rumored, I hate to see what they're hiding and no one has
picked up on," Hawkeye remarked in a flat tone of voice.
That was a statement that all of them would have to agree about but there was
no time to throw around theories. It was the time for decisive action and the
time for all of the members of the group to push themselves forward. Captain
America stood up with his head up high, very little fazed the decorated
soldier. Even if he was a fish out of water from a different time, he was not
going to let that stop him defeating the HYDRA menace. It was war and they
declared it with the first attack.
It was making that final attack count that was prompt in a war but Captain
America turned to them.
"I must warn you that HYDRA is unlike any enemy you might have ever faced,
especially Red Skull," Captain America responded when he looked at them. "I
know we're going to have to break a few potential moral rules and take a bit
more of a lethal stance against them but if it saves lives, then you can
justify doing so."
Captain America was a soldier and knew when it was time to kill and when it was
time to show mercy. Going up against HYDRA, there would be no mercy shown,
especially when he faced off against Red Skull. There were times where he
paused and then that cost them big time. Bucky was the biggest example of this,
his sacrifice would not be in vein.
===============================================================================
It was quiet, a bit too quiet at the HYDRA base when the group exited the
SHIELD transport vehicle. Harry snuck ahead, using a combination of
invisibility and stealth spells to make sure that there were no secret traps
around the entrance. Whilst SHIELD made sure that there were no nasty
surprises, the magical mutant never took the words of others at face value.
Rather he believed what he saw with his own eyes.
There was a guard around on the inside but before Harry could react, Captain
America nailed him with a shield shot to the back of the head that echoed with
a loud "ker-plunk". The guard's knees crumpled and Harry levitated him into a
bush cover. Iron Man moved forward, followed by Ms. Marvel, Mockingbird,
Hawkeye, Black Widow, Jean, Logan, and Rachel. Banner stuck to the side, not
turning into his green alter ego unless they needed his assistance.
'Okay, I've got us linked up mentally, so we shouldn't….we shouldn't have that
much trouble communicating and we won't raise the alarm,'Rachel thought to the
group at large.
'Good, but don't go too deep into my mind,'Iron Man thought to them.
'Trust me Stark, no one wants to know what goes on in your mind,' Logan thought
through the mental link Rachel set up.
'I'll have you know that only a quarter of those tabloid rumors had any sort of
truth to them,'Iron Man thought to them all through the mental link that was
set up and shook his head.
Black Widow allowed a look of annoyance to cross her face, even though at
another time she would have found some kind of amusement from the actions going
on around her. Still now was neither the time nor the place. They were going to
stay focused through everything that happened and they had to keep moving. If
they faltered a little bit, then well it would be on their own heads to be
honest.
Jean put one of the guards to sleep, they were grunts, and she wondered if they
even knew a bit of what HYDRA was doing. She did not delve into their minds too
deeply, there was no time whatsoever. Curiosity was not a sin but Jean tried
not to let it get the better of her.
Harry paused and took a look at the blinking light.
'Sensors,'Harry thought to them and he waved his wand, creating a reflective
charm around the space one inch ahead of it.
That did its job in numbing the sensors and allowed them to slip inside but
they were not out of the woods yet.
The loud thumping of the footsteps of the various HYDRA agents put the entire
group on edge and sure enough they edged forward, looking at their adversaries.
The HYDRA guards were on their feet.
Until Black Widow dove in, using the skill sand reflexes that one would expect
from a world class spy and shot a heavy jolt of her widow's sting at her
enemies. They dove down with a screaming fury when the three of them were
caught in the crossfire. An arrow from Hawkeye shot and blinded them with an
explosion, allowing Captain America to dive in for an attack.
"These guys, they're just low level grunts," Jean stated when she tapped into
their minds through her telepathic abilities.
Harry turned their weapons into glue which stuck their hands together and then
this allowed Iron Man to launch them through the wall with a sadistic crash.
The HYDRA agents dropped down to the ground, rolling over and wincing from the
impact. They really took a hard shot all things considered but the fun was not
over.
Logan grabbed one of the larger goons and sent him flying, he slammed to the
ground with bones cracking and snapping.
"YOU THINK YOU'RE TOUGH!"
"And they found Banner," Iron Man stated in a dull voice, when he heard the
loud attacks from the outside.
"So much for stealth," Harry stated, shaking his head but secretly he was
amused when the heads got clonked together outside and the Hulk ran through.
"So, clear a path, I guess."
"You don't have to tell me twice," Hulk grunted when he made his way into the
room, rushing forward step by step, when he ran over everything in his path and
began to smash with his fists of fury. The HYDRA agents crumpled to the ground,
folding up like tissue paper and there was no end in sight to the Hulk's fury.
Black Widow snapped her eyes around before she exclaimed. "Clear the path,
don't stop now!"
Hulk grunted, he wished that people would stand back and allow him to do what
he did.
He reached down and scooped up Logan, before he hurled him several hundred feet
towards an unsuspecting group of HYDRA soldiers with a super powered fastball
special. The mutant flew through the air, claws bared when he sliced through
the guns and then Harry caused the platform to turn into quicksand, which sank
the guys through the moment Logan hopped into safely. They screamed before they
drowned in the quicksand, suffering a most painful death.
Ms. Marvel whistled when she looked at Harry, blasting three goons with her
hands that were unfortunate enough to be close by. "Remind me not to get on
your bad side, ever."
Harry smiled at her before they pushed through. More goons went up and out,
HYDRA had an infinite number of minions. "Noted."
"None of these guys know anything," Jean responded when she shook her head.
"Then this base is a bust," Harry answered when several of the HYDRA agents
arrived.
"Stand down, none of you are leaving."
"They're joking, right?" Hawkeye asked but Hulk snorted.
"Well they're not being very funny if they are."
The Hulk stampeded forward and with a sadistic smash, knocked them all down,
before Jean grabbed him and held him into place.
"What did you do that for?" the Hulk demanded when he snorted but Jean
carefully and calmly stood her ground.
"Because, one of these guys knows something, all I need to do is read his
mind," Jean responded when she looked at him, fire burning through her eyes.
"Ah yes, your mind is conditioned but you know what, try not to think about the
place where you have the plague."
By telling the person not to think about the place with the plague, it caused
him to think about it.
"It's the next lab, right….it was right underneath Bayville," Jean stated when
she shook her head.
"Under our noses the entire time, that's about right," Logan growled as he
cracked his knuckles.
Harry knew that was how things went sometimes but now he had to keep going
forward and lead them. The fate of the world and more importantly the fate of
many close to him were on the line. Without a direct sample to the plague, any
curing spell was only temporary at best and would only speed up the decaying of
the bodies of the infected at worst.
===============================================================================
Sin folded her arms together, her eyes were almost swollen shut from the plague
but she refused to be put down. Dying now would show weakness and that was
something that her father taught her not to show. The woman inclined her head a
little bit to try and remain on her feet, knees buckling and swaying slight.
The young woman slid forward another inch, feeling the thump of her heart
beating against her chest. The daughter of the Red Skull would not be denied
her glory; she clutched her chest when her heart thumped heavily and stood up
straight, eyes flashing with malicious fury. This would be her day and the one
that she would win.
Bayville was the place and she knew that there would be certain parties that
would come here. HYDRA would create a suitable reception for them; that much
was for sure. The young woman rolled her head back slightly and sighed deeply
when she stood forward on the ground, her knees cracking and leaning forward a
tiny bit. Sin thought over everything in her mind and closed her eyes tightly.
The loud crash from outside could be heard and Sin backed off, to see the doors
burst open and the not so jolly green giant known as the Hulk march in.
"Back, creature," Sin stated in a snarl which filled the room but the Hulk
stood, with a sadistic glint in his eye when he stared the young woman down.
"I don't think you can make me," The Hulk responded when he crossed his arms a
little bit and turned his head with a twist, a smile crossing his face when he
looked forward. The rest of the team showed up.
There was a moment where there was a pause before Harry broke it.
"You," Harry remarked when he looked at Sin.
"Yes, Arcane, it is me, my father decided to pull one over my eyes," Sin
responded when she looked at him. "I suppose that it is only just, flesh and
blood does not mean anything for him. All that matters is the survival of the
fittest and the broken spirit that is my body."
'Okay, time out for a second, the Red Skull is your father?" Iron Man asked
when he looked at the team but the SHIELD representatives did not say anything,
they already knew.
"Yes but I wish to help you shut down my father's operation," Sin answered but
Harry gazed at her.
"And what makes you think we should trust you?" Hawkeye asked, stating what
everyone was thinking.
"She….does seem to want to help us," Rachel stated with disdain, but still that
meant little.
"The Red Skull has likely trained her in the art of deception," Black Widow
stated when she folded her arms. Ms. Marvel, Hawkeye, and Mockingbird closed
their eyes and tried to figure this out. "But she may be our only lead."
"Jean, Rachel, one of you pick her mind, I don't have any time for her games
right now," Harry responded but then Sin took a step back.
"I'm willing to….to help you and this is what you're going to do," Sin
responded in a harsh voice. "I expect that sort of thing for someone like Scott
Summers but not….but not from someone like you."
The slap stung the most was the one drilled right into the face of young Harry
Potter and he was half tempted to hurl the woman across the room on sheer
principle. Rachel looked about ready to kill her for what she did but Sin
crossed her arms, she showed no fear in her eyes. The young woman crossed her
arms over her chest before she pushed her foot down on the ground and the
ground cracked a little bit underneath her foot.
"You better not double cross me," Harry stated, he kept both eyes firmly on
Sin.
Captain America knew that this young man had been through a few wars to show
such rigid reflexes and attentiveness. It was a behavior that he saw from men
who had fought against some of the harshest armies in the world. People who saw
death with their own two eyes and did not blink about it, not in the slightest,
that was what this Arcane was showing now. They understood that there were a
lot of sacrifices that were made to win the war.
Sin's face crossed into a calculating smile. "I wouldn't dream about double
crossing you. I know you're far too smart for that."
'She better not be patronizing you,'Rachel projected through them, ready to
take down Sin, just give her an excuse.
'So what do we do?'Mockingbird asked, relaying the information through the rest
of their team.
'I'd suggest that we play her game for now but make sure that this is not some
kind of trick,'Captain America stated, willing to give her the opportunity but
at the same time he was not going to be stupid about it. When the Red Skull got
his hooks into you, he tended to mess with someone's mind.
Harry could tell that Sin was conditioned not to show any weakness whatsoever,
he saw it in her eyes. He saw something that had been in his eyes when he was
around the Dursleys, although to be fair her case was far more extreme. The
young man stepped forward and made her lead the way, not wanting to put his
back to her and the other members of the party agreed.
The pitter patter of HYDRA feet could be heard and more agents showed up to
face them.
"Great, we got lead right into a trap, didn't we?" Ms. Marvel asked when she
rolled her head back and prepared to fight.
Hulk grunted and pounded his fist into his hand. "Depends on who is being
trapped."
Hulk stampeded forward with fury and swung his fist. Said fist smashed into the
face of one of the HYDRA agents but they blinded the beast.
Harry swooped in from behind then, flicking his wrist, and sending lassos of
magical fire, burning into their protective armor. This allowed Black Widow and
Hawkeye to get their shots in to put the HYDRA goons down and out for the count
when they crashed on the ground with a thud. The group moved forward down the
corridors where a never ending number of HYDRA goons popped up.
"I don't think we're…..what was that?" Iron Man asked when he turned his head
over his shoulder and he heard the cackle of thunder and lightning from above
when he saw another individual show up for the battle.
"I believe you will give me a challenge!"
The man dressed in armor with golden hair arrived and swung a mighty hammer.
Said mighty hammer slammed into the HYDRA goons and sent them flying into the
wall which Harry transfigured the wires on into snakes. The snakes bit into the
necks of the goons, causing them to collapse down to the ground, with dazed
fury. The dark haired wizard shook his head when they went down.
"Then again, perhaps I was mistaken," the man stated before he slammed a heavy
shot forward and sent his enemies flying forward. "Perhaps you did not give me
the challenge that I sought when I came through this realm. Never the less, you
will be punished for your actions. FOR ASGARD!"
Harry thought the man was a bit boisterous and over the top, but he did get
some results as his hammer proved to be rather useful in knocking enemies down
one at a time. Most of the HYDRA goons were down in no time, smashed and down
for the count. This man was a warrior and he brought the fight to his enemies.
When the dust cleared, Logan turned around and addressed the man.
"Just who are you, bub."
The man was only too happy to enlighten Logan on his identity. "I am Thor, God
of Thunder."
Iron Man's voice suddenly became skeptical before he shook his head. "Right,
and I'm the Tin Man, and there's the Scarecrow."
He pointed to Hawkeye.
"And there's the Cowardly Lion."
He pointed to Logan who growled at him.
"And there's Dorothy."
Iron Man pointed to the Hulk who crossed his arms with a snarling expression on
his face but Iron Man paid this no mind.
"Really, you're a billionaire playboy who joyrides in a suit of armor, and
you're with someone who can pop claws and a mild mannered scientist who turns
into a hulking green monster when he gets angry, and that's what you take
offense to," Hawkeye stated before it added and he shook his head before he
added as an afterthought. "Not to mention the army officer who got her powers
from an alien ship and the kid who can warp time and space."
"And you're perfectly normal," Mockingbird stated but Hawkeye shook his head.
"More normal than them maybe," Hawkeye stated when he looked at them and he got
a few cross looks. "Not that any of you are not normal but it's just that….you
stand out in a crowd."
"Watch what you say, cupid," Hulk stated when he crossed his arms and stared
him down.
"Hey, I'll go a few rounds with you any day, tiny," Hawkeye stated but Harry
looked at them.
"Gentlemen, enough," Black Widow stated when she threw her head back. "I
believe our query may be beyond this door."
The door opened and then a view screen popped up. Captain America's face
contorted to one of fury when he saw the face of his greatest enemy appear on
the screen to taunt him and taunt him he did.
"Good evening, Captain America, welcome, welcome," the Red Skull stated when he
looked at them. "No doubt my daughter has tried to undermine me, shows that she
has ambition for once in her pathetic right. But the joke is on you, my
friends, for the plague isn't even at this facility. Did you think that it
would be that easy? Did you think that I would allow you to stop my plan? No
this was merely a test run."
"We'll stop you, no matter what," Captain America stated when he held his
shield and it was at this point where Harry was trying to fine tune a signal
but it bounced off of ghost routers and false IPs everywhere, the Red Skull had
all of his bases together.
"I do not have to defeat you, time already has, Captain America," Red Skull
stated when he lit up a cigar and stared down the team. "You see in this day
and age, you're nothing in this modern world. Where superiority always has a
place, your good old fashioned idealism is nothing these days, the world has
grown cynical."
Captain America stood tall, despite there being certain truths for that
statement, he refused to back down from his stance. The Red Skull stared back
down at him.
"Let's track him down and make him pay for this," Hulk growled when he cracked
his knuckles, fierce and ready for a fight.
"We need to find him first, big guy," Iron Man stated when he turned to the
hulk who grunted.
"I think….I think he might be somewhere on the West Coast," Harry responded
when he shook his head.
"Are you sure?" Black Widow asked, to be honest she had no leads but then an
incoming transmission came in from SHIELD. "Yes….west coast….imagine that….yes
Commander Fury, we'll check on it right away."
Black Widow turned around to face Harry, a bit of a tense expression crossing
her face but she shook her head. Her red hair framed her face when frustration
reigned through her mind and she closed her eyes before she sighed a little
bit.
"So we're heading out west," Hawkeye stated and the group all nodded, they were
heading out west.
They all hoped that they were not being sent on a wild goose chase by the Red
Skull.
"I'm coming as well," Sin stated but Hawkeye turned to face her.
"Of course you are, because we're not leaving you alone with your own devices,"
Hawkeye responded when he looked at Sin but she scoffed and sneered at him.
"I wasn't talking to you," Sin stated when she turned around to face Harry.
'And we're going to have to solve this soon, and hope that we can get over
there,'Harry thought.
'Maybe you can transport us over there?'Jean suggested through the mental link
that had been established, putting her hand on Harry's. He did not retract it.
'I think you can do it.'
'I know he can do it,' Rachel thought to them.
'Okay, stand tight,'Harry thought to them and he concentrated as hard as he
could before he transported them away to the location of the facility that he
got from the Black Widow's mind that Fury relayed to her. Hopefully they would
get there.
The only problem was Sin knew of that particular abilities but they kind of
needed her help because she had intimate knowledge of the HYDRA base and some
natural immunity of mind reading abilities. Whether or not that was the case,
they did need her assistance for now. The group hoped that it would not blow up
in their faces.
===============================================================================
The Red Skull sat upon a throne high above the main chambers in one of his
HYDRA bases. He knew that there were individuals that were on their way here,
these heroes foolishly decided to engage him. Even if they did not have the
slightest chance, they continued to go against him. The Red Skull's face
twisted into a malicious grin, let the heroes come, they would serve as an
example.
"The second phase of our plan is ready, my liege."
One of the chief HYDRA officers stepped up and looked up at the Red Skull who
nodded, sadistic intentions going through his eyes.
"Very good, make sure the plan goes on without a hitch, and make sure these
heroes show up at the proper moment for their suitable reception," Red Skull
responded in a crisp tone of voice, crossing his arms.
The plan would go on without any of the issues that he knew would come with a
scheme like this. Being the master tactical officer he was, the Red Skull
understood the nature of having both a plan and a back up plan. The backup plan
was currently being set up underneath a mountain up North.
A figure showed up dressed in black with his hair slicked back and bent on his
knee to face the Red Skull. His face was obscured slightly in the shadows and
the leader of HYDRA turned to face the man on the ground.
"All is ready for Captain America and his crew," the young man stated. "Forgive
me for speaking but Captain America should have been taken out while he slept
and you should have…."
"Enough," Red Skull responded when he shook his head. "I must fight Captain
America to the death and prove his inferiority over me. HYDRA will rule the day
and with his last dying breath, the spirit of all that is weak with the United
States of America will fall over due to the superior race."
It was at that point where bits of metal began to contort in the Red Skull's
base.
"What is this?" Red Skull demanded before he dodged several jagged pieces of
metal flying at him.
"You have poisoned mutants, did you really think that I would allow you to get
away with that?" a voice stated from the shadows, with a purple cape billowing
in the breezed and a red helmet.
"HYDRA, eliminate him!" Red Skull yelled but the Master of Magnetism was not
going to be eliminated so easily.
To Be Continued in Part Three. 
***** Living Legend Part Three *****
Chapter 38: Living Legend Part 3: Wrath of the Red Skull.
Magneto turned his attention to the Red Skull, sadistically staring at his
enemy through a nasty expression that danced through his eyes. This was one of
the reasons why he suffered as he did during his childhood. While Sinister was
the other one, the Red Skull help masterminded a lot of the deaths around him.
Friends, family, and strangers alike but Magneto felt their pain and now he had
the metal wrapped around the Red Skull's neck.
"It's been a long time coming," Magneto responded when he looked at him but the
mysterious man attacked him from behind and knocked him back onto the ground.
The Master of Magnetism ducked his head and did a roll, landing on the ground,
before he bounced back and summoned several nails to try and shoot him. "Do you
not know the hell that this man has put many through?"
"Sorry, just following orders," the young man stand before he dodged the attack
and pulled out a wooden weapon, before he shot the wooden arrows from it at
Magneto. Magneto pulled over a large piece of metal to block the attacks.
Magneto was not impressed by these words and he conveyed that much with a
mighty bellow, his eyes glowing with the personification of power he showed.
"I have suffered plenty because men just followed orders!"
Magneto waved his hand and slammed the large chunks of metal down against his
enemy, sending him spiraling back a little bit. His enemy was quick and
resistant, Magneto would give him that. That was about all that he was giving.
The Master of Magnetism when his eyes began to glow and then he sent large
metal barriers that wrapped around his adversary, to hold him into place.
Before he could do much more, he felt a stabbing pain in his chest. His face
began to get flushed and suddenly, he became a magnet for the metal, all of it
flying towards him and trying to impale his flesh, with sadistic fury.
The Red Skull turned, a sadistic grin crossing over his face when he looked
down at his prey with a malicious expression.
"You were weak, the weaker man and…."
The doors burst open and Red Skull looked up, before he motioned for his HYDRA
agents to head in to shield him from the attacks.
Jean was on the scene first and she got a pocket of HYDRA soldiers with a
telekinetic attack, which blasted them off to the side and sent them flying
hard to the ground. Their bones cracked and their necks snapped when they
spiraled head over heels and smashed down to the ground hard with a sinister
impact. They rolled over down, bones rattled and busted, in pain.
Harry stood over, without another word, and he waved his hand, before he
transfigured the weapons of his enemies into snakes which bit his enemies on
the wrists. Then several spikes came up from the ground, impaling them.
"Man there sure are a lot of these guys!" Iron Man stated when he blasted
several of them into the wall with his attacks.
"Stay focused!" Captain America stated, when he knew he needed to get to the
Red Skull and he flung his shield around.
Logan growled, there was something about this situation that brought back a few
of his memories that were suppressed. He popped his claws and jabbed at his
enemies, causing them to drop to the ground, blood spurting out of their wrists
when they landed with a thud. His enemies rolled over with the pain.
"Don't you think that we should leave some of these guys awake?" Mockingbird
asked when she swung her staff and cracked the knee caps of the HYDRA agents.
"Well if any of them stop shooting at us," Hawkeye stated when he fired at his
enemies with a rapid fire barrage of arrows. They nailed his enemies with a
ballistic fury, knocking them back and causing them a great deal of discomfort
and discontent.
The group knocked their enemies back and Hawkeye continued to pick up the pace
with a series of rapid fire arrow shots.
Harry caused the platform that two of the HYDRA guards stood to begin to
vibrate and then explode underneath them.
Hulk ran forward, growling, when he smashed through a gigantic robot that was
firing on the team. It was surprising how much a gigantic figure like the Hulk
could hide himself. A second gigantic robot was about to go against the Hulk
but Thor dove down.
"HAVE AT THEE VILLIAN!"
Thor smashed the robot with a shot with his hammer, causing it to explode,
along with the person inside. Being a warrior, Thor knew that when these people
put the lives of civilians in peril, they put their own lives in peril.
The Red Skull edged his way through the door, he knew that his men were going
down fast. It was time for a strategic maneuver but naturally if they knew the
truth. He saw Black Widow dive down in front of him.
Red Skull flung a knife at her but she dodged it, rolling on the ground.
The next thing he knew, he was shot in the back of the head, his head blowing
completely off from the shot. He dropped to the ground, sparks flying out of
the back of his neck and motor oil spurted out of his neck.
"The Red Skull was a robot?" Iron Man asked when he walked over and looked down
at him.
"Of course he wasn't you fool, he's tricked us again," Sin stated when she held
the gun in her hand.
"You'd shoot your own father in the back of the head?" Hawkeye asked, not that
he was complaining about it, since he was the Red Skull.
"Of course she would. I must say Sinthea, you are finally showing some
backbone. It's a pity that it won't matter in the end but I have to give you
points for effort."
Captain America heard the voice of his most hated enemy but he saw another
figure on the catwalk. He stood and he blinked. It couldn't be, he thought he
saw a ghost. He died during the final battle with the Red Skull, or what he
thought was the final battle at the time. The star spangled avenger shook his
head and walked over.
"So you've won one minor battle, congratulations but the war continues."
Harry walked forward to the next room after he pulled open the doors before he
blinked and saw it. In a glass case he saw the red liquid flowing through it,
and he smiled when he looked at it, tapping his fingers on the side of it. He
managed to find it.
"Is that it….is that the plague?"
It was not Harry who answered Iron Man's question but it was Sin, who she
turned to the armored hero with a sneer on her face.
"Yes, it is, my father must have left it here for a reason, so I trust you'd be
all on your guard," Sin responded when she looked at the entire party.
"Yeah, I can tell she's his daughter."
Harry ignored that comment from Logan, right now he squinted his eyes. He never
saw anything like this before and his eyes flickered through the plague, when
he continued to analyze every single bit of it. There were micro-organisms in
it, which had body language, so Harry could study how it worked. Then he could
understand their behavior to formulate the rest of the antidote, working
through every single bit of it and he shook his head.
He conjured a pad of paper and began to write out a formula, and with another
motion he spun it around, handing it to Black Widow.
"Check this out, to see if it works, I trust SHIELD has the resources to mass
produce an antidote," Harry stated and Black Widow responded with a nod, SHIELD
did very much have these resources to do so.
"So what now?" Hulk asked, breaking the silence.
"He actually had a good question, what now?" Hawkeye asked to the ground.
Harry responded when he looked at them. "We figure out the antidote, before
it's too late, and then we figure out where the Red Skull is."
"The Red Skull is mine," Sin responded fiercely, she figured that if she took
out her father, than HYDRA would be hers. It was time where the student became
the teacher and she taught her father the same painful lesson that he had been
teaching her. Yet she would go the extra mile and ensure his suffering was
quite spectacular.
===============================================================================
Red Skull was someone who understood the need to have a contingency plan should
things go south and very wrong rather quickly. Several contingency plans if he
could manage it and believe him, he managed several of them. The average person
would think that the plague plot would be something that many people would
think to be foolproof.
Those people would be proven to be a fool time and time again. He left nothing
to chance.
Red Skull clicked his pen to the side and his face twisted into a smile before
his eyes closed and he thought about everything that was going to happen. The
truth was that despite his best efforts, Captain America lived.
He shook his head, his face twisted into a sadistic smirk.
Captain America would not live for that much longer.
He cracked his knuckles when he thought about but he remembered everything that
happened. Years of careful planning to ensure that HYDRA would rule the world
would not be flushed down the drain. Rather he would adapt and improve, no
matter what. His droid kept his enemies distracted while he commenced with Plan
B.
Plan B did not offer the sweet sophistication and science that the original
plan offered. Poisoning a bunch of super powered mutants where their powers
would eventually kill them and other humans around them, thus causing fear and
hatred to be spread would be a sound plan. However, he had neglected to focus
too much on one unintended variable. Why would he? Why would one child be a
problem to someone like the Red Skull?
Yet this particular child was a problem, of course one would be a fool to think
of someone like that as a child. He closed his hands together and imagined
wrapping them around the throat of this one known as Arcane. He must suffer for
meddling in his plans.
Red Skull thought at first that he was a minor annoyance, someone who would
give the lowest levels of HYDRA problems. He thought that the incident in the
Weapon X facility was something that was a fluke, a shot in the dark. There
would be no way whatsoever that something like that would happen again, and he
would be killed. He sent his daughter to refine the Brotherhood into a fighting
force, or at least someone who would know how to hold their own a fight.
Yet there was something else and that was that Harry Potter, Arcane, whatever
you wished to call him, he got stronger. And then there was a strength to him
to say the very least that he would have perhaps respected. Yet Red Skull
refused to respect anyone that meddled in his plans thus and cracked his fists
when he thought about it.
He knew that the plague would work but it also could not work. He never
expected it to be defused this soon but perhaps the leader of HYDRA expected
when he was going to do so. He grabbed the gun he held. So far, no one knew
where he was, and that was what he was going to stay. He sat in his office or
rather the office of Dell Rusk, unassuming politician in Washington, the
Secretary of Defense.
He had been in that position for many years and had been in the government for
many more, he had been slowly breaking down the defenses of this country.
Making everything weaker and weaker, so HYDRA could take them down easily but
it seemed much to his distaste that there would always be heroes in the world.
Red Skull pulled out the sheet of paper that he had in his paper, his face
twisted into a sadistic smile when he saw the blueprints of his super weapon.
He shook his head when he slapped the paper down on the edge of the table, when
he looked up at it.
Yes, it was going to work, the power of HYDRA would live on forever and a day.
It would continue to reign supreme forever, his face continued to contort into
a horrific grimace when he looked. If anyone had been in the office with him at
this present moment, they would have been afraid and rather scared. The terror
that they experienced would be second to none.
The Red Skull waited for a moment and thought about what was going to happen.
Arcane had gone up the ranks, next to Captain America and Nick Fury on the
people that he would like to destroy most. He would do so, slowly, and
painfully, where they would be begging for his demise.
To kill them would not be enough, he would break them, he would break their
spirit and destroy them all. They would beg for death and he would be merciful
enough to grant it, in a fashion.
===============================================================================
Fingers get crossed when the X-Men were still down in the infirmary and the
main lab at SHIELD mass produced the cure that Harry calculated. It was the
first time Harry used his powers for such a thing. He hoped that this purpose
would not blow up in his face, but he also knew that SHIELD had some of the
foremost scientific minds in the world. So if anyone can check his math.
He waited outside, with Jean on one side of him and Rachel on the other side of
him. There were no words needed.
'It will work,'Rachel projected to Harry, when she sensed her lover's thoughts
and understood what he was going through. She did worry about her friends and
fellow lovers as well, and she could tell Jean, as a senior member of the team,
worried about most of them as well.
The door slid open and the SHIELD doctor exited to look at them. The entire
group was on pins and needles waiting for the news, whether it would be good or
bad. They crossed their fingers and hoped for the best, even though they
expected the worst. Moments ticked by before the SHIELD doctor gave them the
news that they had been waiting for. The anticipation was much worse than the
actual news.
"The good news is that everyone is out of the woods and will make a full and
clear recovery no matter what."
Harry, Rachel, and Jean all smiled, with both redheads on either side of Harry.
The three of them waited for as long as they could and hoped that this was
going to be the case. There were some anxious moments between the three of
them. Yet, they showed that patience and persistence would pay out in the end.
Of course, Harry was always one to look at a problem from all sides of the
equation, so his eyes turned to the SHIELD doctor. "You said there was both
good news and bad news."
Rachel offered a sardonic smile, leave it to Harry to look at the negative side
of things, even though everyone was going to be right. Still she supposed that
he would have a point, as she placed a hand on his and waited along with her
lover to see what the SHIELD doctor would say.
"The bad news is that they will be out of commission for a few days from all
physical activities. Their bodies will be feeling the effect of what happened
for a number of days but….within the next week they will be back to
themselves."
'So that means no sessions in the Danger Room for a while,'Jean thought to
herself. 'Logan won't be happy.'
'Or other activities in the case of some,'Rachel thought picking up on her
thought sand Jean smiled when she looked at Rachel.
For the longest time, she thought that there was some kind of connection
between her and Rachel although damned if Jean could pinpoint it properly. It
was fascinating in many different ways with what she had and Jean hoped to
uncover the mysteries. Right now, she could focus on that later. She needed to
follow the group inside and see what their next move would be.
Harry led the way when he got the okay. He saw Kitty lying on the bed, with
Rogue and Amara beside each other. Other X-Men were elsewhere and they looked
to be in fairly decent shape for nearly dying but as of this moment, these were
the three that Harry focused on.
"Hey," Kitty managed when she looked at Harry, and Harry leaned forward and
kissed her lightly on the forehead. He did the same to Amara and Rogue.
"We…look like hell don't we?"
"Feel like it too," Rogue grumbled, she would take ten Danger Room Sessions
over feeling something like this again.
"So are we out of the woods yet?" Amara asked when she looked at Harry.
Harry looked at the entire group, a smile crossing his face before he cleared
his throat and responded. "Well it does depend on what would constitute as
being out of the woods. You're not nearly as bad off as you were, if that's
what you're trying to say. Still, you might need to cut back on the physical
activity for a week or so."
Kurt grumbled something off to the side, he took it particularly hard. As did
Scott and Bobby, among others but they would be rather fine to say the least.
They would be back on their feet.
"Commander Fury is trying to pinpoint the Red Skull," Black Widow stated when
she showed up to relay the message. Until this current crisis faded, she acted
as a go between from the X-Men and the rest of SHIELD. "Charles Xavier will
make a full recovery and will return to you soon, he got hit particularly hard
with the attack."
Harry was not surprised; the barrier Xavier created in his mind to keep the
thoughts out would break anyone's mind if that dam burst immediately. He closed
his eyes to think about what happened.
"They'll be fine, but I wonder about the rest of the world," Harry answered
when he turned to the side. It was amazing how the events of today gave him
more than enough time to think.
"My father could be anywhere."
Sin showed up and Kitty's eyes narrowed towards her, to the brunette mutant,
she was not welcomed here.
"You can't…."
"You should get some rest," Sin responded, in almost a sarcastic manner when
she stroked Kitty's hair in a condescending manner. She stopped at Harry giving
her his most dangerous glare. "Then again, I suspect you do spend a lot of time
on your back…."
"ENOUGH!"
Harry yelled this statement and Sin turned around, a smile crossing her face.
She acted as if she did not do anything wrong, even though she did plenty wrong
and she shifted her expression away from Kitty towards the dark haired wizard
standing before her.
"You know, my father could be hiding in any one of two hundred and twelve known
HYDRA outposts around the world," Sin responded when she looked at both Harry
and Black Widow, addressing them both. "However….there is one place where he
would be above any others, where it might be right under your noses."
Black Widow got the message immediately and had to relay it back to Fury.
Sin hoped to get a front row seat when they found out that her father was
playing them all for years as a member of their government. She neglected to
tell them this however because she found amusement out of this. If there
was….if they failed to manipulate the letters properly, that was their problem
and not hers.
Kitty glared at Sin and she tugged Harry on the sleeve. Harry spun around to
look at his girlfriend.
"I don't trust her," Kitty whispered when she looked at Harry and his look
indicated that he did not trust Sin all that much either. This relaxed Kitty
but only slightly, she knew that Harry would be able to allow himself to not be
put in a situation where he would have problems.
Harry placed his hand on Kitty's shoulder lightly. He did not trust Sin either
and was keeping a close eye on her for any treachery.
"She's….she has her own agenda," Harry whispered to Kitty, making sure that Sin
was out of ear shot and the anti-eavesdropping charms were put up around them.
"But I think that she's given us some valuable insight."
"The X-Men really got hit bad," Kitty remarked when she looked at Harry,
stretching and feeling a soreness in her. And it was not the good kind of
soreness after Harry and her had her fun ever. This particular amount of
soreness was going to lead to plenty of pain and no pleasure, no enjoyment out
of it.
Harry shook his head, the X-Men got hit pretty bad granted but that was
something that was going to be expected. It was clear by now that they stumbled
upon HYDRA's plans before now and the Red Skull was someone who did not let
these things go. In fact, he gave into his worst parts of him, the vengeance
and was more sadistic. He had fought enemies that might have been more powerful
but very few enemies that were that much craftier.
The hints that Sin gave him that the Red Skull was underneath his nose clicked
in Harry's mind. He closed his eyes and thought about it, there was a pretty
big hint and he had to do it.
Then it hit him and there was something that Harry considered, before his face
twisted into a grimace. He thought about something and then it hit him faster
than anything else. He could really have smacked himself when he did not figure
this out and he wondered if Fury was going to kick himself equally as much.
"Dell Rusk," Harry breathed when he looked at Kitty.
Kitty frowned, not quite sure what Harry was getting at. "He's the Secretary of
Defense, isn't he?"
Harry nodded with a smile crossing his face. "Yes, now you're getting it, he's
the Secretary of Defense but rearrange the letters in his name."
Kitty's eyes bugged out when she thought about it and she could hardly believe
that any of them had been unable to connect such an obvious pair of dots
together. It was one of those things where….it was hard to really say.
Ms. Marvel popped in now, she crossed her arms. She missed out on the battle at
HYDRA base due to the fact that she was rounding up the Brotherhood for Fury,
making sure that they did not escape again.
"The Brotherhood has been given the antidote," Ms. Marvel responded to the
ground when they all smiled at her. "They're being kept in a SHIELD holding
cell for the moment, none of them are going to get out any time soon."
It was at this moment Magneto showed up and joined them.
"I trust you're going to attempt to put me in such a cell as well," Magneto
responded and there was a special emphasis on the word "attempt" because
Magneto looked as if he doubted that any of them were going to succeed.
Magneto and Harry looked each other, stared each other down. Harry realized
that this was the man that put Wanda away. While Wanda's living conditions were
much better thanks to Harry's intervention, she still was not completely out of
that place. Although it was a fortunate thing that she was not here right now,
otherwise there would be far more trouble than Harry could handle at this
point.
He had far bigger problems than some family feud.
"So I have you to thank," Magneto remarked crisply when his eyes fixed on
Harry's and the dark haired wizard nodded.
"You do," Harry agreed when he looked at Magneto and the two of them locked
eyes. "But I wasn't the only one who did this."
"Of course, Charles would be wise if he appointed you as the leader to his
team, unlike some who are not equipped to handle pressure," Magneto answered
when he looked at Scott who rested on the bed and acted like he was asleep and
did not hear this.
Harry did not say anything.
"I wish to assist you with taking down the Red Skull," Magneto offered when he
continued to stay the course and stare down Harry. The two mutants locked eyes
with each other. "And then…I will turn myself over to SHIELD for the day. But
they may not be able to keep me."
Harry thought that sounded fair and to be honest, he could tell that Magneto
had a personal vendetta against the Red Skull. That personal vendetta and what
it was, Harry had no idea whatsoever what it might be. All that he knew was
that it was there and he looked at him, hoping to figure out what to do with
this.
"Do you accept my offer for an alliance?"
Harry looked at Magneto, he could tell that there was a certain amount of
sincerity to his voice but he was almost not sure. Yet there was an instance
where a smile twisted across his face and the dark haired wizard inclined his
head. The magical mutant decided that they needed all of the hands on deck.
"Do you mind explaining how the antidote has helped you and has not completely
healed the others?" Harry asked but Magneto paused before he swayed himself
from one side to the next before he responded.
"It is difficult to say to be honest."
That was a statement that indicated that Harry was not going to get the answer
that he wanted or the answer that he needed. That was more than fine for now,
he suspected. He would also not take his eyes off of Magneto, no matter how
long this took. He stepped forward a little bit and eyed his enemy and also his
reluctant ally.
Neither brought up the subject of Wanda, at least for the moment because there
were far more pressing matters at hand and those matters dealt with regarding
the Red Skull. All they needed to do was await for the word back from SHIELD.
Widow appeared back, having popped in and out of the room. Harry turned over to
her and his gaze met hers.
"Does the name Dell Rusk mean anything to you?" Harry asked without any
preamble.
Black Widow's eyes widened and he could tell that she made the same connection
that they did. They knew exactly where Red Skull was but the fact was that it
might be too late given that he had resources and access to high level weapons
and government secrets. That made the situation more dangerous and Red Skull
was going to need to be killed, no question about it. Not that there were many
questions about it before but the security of the United States of America
hinged on him not living another day.
===============================================================================
Red Skull made his way down to a secret underground bunker underneath a mansion
in Washington DC. He bought this place with the tax dollars of the American
people and it was an excellent resource that would allow him to build his
empire on top of everything else. The malicious leader of HYDRA stepped his way
down into the basement area, before he pushed the door open.
It looked like a simple bunker that stored food, medical supplies, and other
essential elements that anyone living underneath there would need to survive.
He bent at the knees, pulling a bag of clothes away.
He saw a remote control device on the ground and he pressed one button, which
caused the doors to blink up. The doors began to slide open to the side and the
Red Skull took another step forward, to see the delights that was inside. His
face spread into a malevolent grin, soon the entire world would be in the palm
of his hand.
He saw the remote control console before him and tapped on the side of it,
waiting for everything to come to light. All of these controls would be
confusing to anyone who was not a genius like the Red Skull. To Red Skull
however, they were picture perfect perfection and he stepped forward. He could
feel a tingling feeling in the pit of his stomach, the type that would twist
the minds of most people if they understood what was happening.
For the past several decades, he was working on creating doomsday weapons that
would allow him to overrun the people who opposed him. And doomsday weapons
were not a term that the Red Skull offered loosely as he had heard other would
be world conquerors stating rather loosely as well. He drummed his fingers a
little bit from one side to the next and then twisted his expression to study
the controls.
The outposts were set up in several population centers. If anyone found out and
few did, Red Skull made them think that they were weapons that would be used in
case any of their enemies decided to do something cut and attack the United
States. All while he did this, the defenses whittled down to a nub and the Red
Skull weakened them while strengthening HYDRA's weapons.
Now he stood tall and ready, this would be a day that he would win, there was
no question about it whatsoever that his success would be assured. Red Skull
spoke to the agents in position in the loud speaker.
"Sir, there's….they figured out your cover."
Red Skull did not let this bother him, by the time they figured out his cover,
it would be much too late. The best place to hide from an enemy was in plain
sight, as no one would dare look underneath their noses. Dell Rusk met Nick
Fury several times and even the eagle eyed agent of SHIELD was none the wiser
of what happened.
Fury would be the first to suffer, as the upgrades the government installed on
the Hellicarrier would be launched.
Red Skull smirked when he activated the first wave of droids and then prepared
to cripple the satellite defenses around the country, and then the other
countries around the world. He could bring the entire world to its knees and
bend it to the will of HYDRA. If there was one thing that he knew, it was
without their convenience, they were nothing if weak.
The weakness of an enemy was something that one of true thing would understand
and exploit when he shook his head. The twisted notions that went through the
mind of Red Skull spelled out one thing and one thing along. The same concept
drove every single motivation for the past sixty plus years, and would be the
same motivation that would allow him to continue to push forward with
everything that he had.
"I will crush them."
Control was the big thing that the Red Skull obsessed with and the ultimate
motivator when he thought about everything. The dangerous leader of HYDRA
gritted his teeth when he folded his arms together when he took a moment to
think about everything that went on in his mind.
The demons from the past echoed throughout the back of his mind.
Red Skull crushed his fists together.
The pain would be the supreme motivation, and he would crush them all
underneath his foot.
His daughter thought that she had some level of control and thought that she
would be the one that would lead to his demise. Red Skull hoped so because her
failure's reflected on his and the fact she was unable to kill him to this
point, that insulted him personally. Red Skull twisted his head over to the
side and peered over his shoulder when he activated a few more buttons.
"The droids are marching on Washington."
That was one population center.
He also set the droids to explode in sixty minutes, taking anyone in the radius
out with them. They would do plenty of damage and in the chaos, HYDRA would
reign supreme, with all bowing before them.
===============================================================================
Captain America stood outside on the grass, in front of the Xavier Institute.
His narrowed eyes looked forward when he thought about all of the battles that
he found over the years. That was something that he could not forget, all of
the dangerous enemies that he went up against. HYDRA might be his most
prominent enemies but they were far from his only enemies.
Despite all of that, there was something about today that made things far more
dangerous. The Red Skull could have done far more than anyone than he thought
to say the very least. Every single time he went up against HYDRA in the war,
the stakes were high. However, there were no stakes that were higher than this
and higher than what happened tonight. The dangerous expression flickered
through the eyes.
To understand the Red Skull, Captain America would have to match his intensity
and his spirit, before he folded his arms. He barely heard Iron Man walk up
from behind him. Hawkeye joined him, then Ms. Marvel, then Mockingbird, Black
Widow, Arcane, Wolverine, and more followed him. Magneto hovered in the
shadows, a cool expression spread over his eyes when he looked at them through
narrowed fury.
"So do we have a plan?"
Iron Man voiced that statement and it was not the first time that someone
voiced that question to Captain America. There were many instances where he
could come up with an answer. A plan might be a good idea in theory but going
up against someone like the Red Skull was never something that one could
predict. The vicious nature of someone like this monster needed to be met with
an equally ferocious attack.
"We'll know when we go out there," Captain America responded when he turned to
them. Figuring out what the Red Skull's end game was could be an exercise in
frustration. Often times he did have a motive but there were other instances
where the motive was lost.
"So do we have a name for this little team or not?"
Ms. Marvel decided to speak up. Thor and Hulk hovered in the background, not
saying much of anything, just waiting for the battle but for different reasons.
Still the blonde woman stated one question. "The Avengers…I mean we avenge."
"I like it," Hawkeye stated and the others nodded.
"It does have some potential yes," Thor agreed.
"Not bad," Hulk grunted but he folded his arms all the same.
Captain America offered two words that would live on in infamy.
"Avengers Assemble."
To Be Continued in the Next Chapter. 
***** Living Legend Part Four *****
Chapter Thirty Nine: Living Legend Part Four: Avengers Assemble.
Moments ran by quickly in some instances but time appeared to slow down at
other times. The group stood around each other, they were ready for this
action. The teams were divided up carefully, with each of them having a purpose
with what they were doing. They plotted with everything that was happening and
the group set themselves up what was going to happen, and what they hoped to be
the fall of HYDRA. Confidence was something that they needed to hang onto
because otherwise their aspirations would fold up like a house of cards.
Team A made their way to one of the top HYDRA facilities where they would
hopefully find more information about what the Red Skull was up to. They wanted
to find information about the doomsday weapon that HYDRA constructed. Ms.
Marvel, Iron Man, Hulk, and Hawkeye stepped forward, they all knew what was on
the line. Everything was on their side, when they turned around.
Team B moved forward to help coordinate the efforts on the ground, as there was
no doubt that civilians were going to be caught in the crossfire. There was a
dangerous precedent that civilians tended to be among the top priorities and
also one of the things that put the mission in more danger. The group stood,
waiting with bated breath. This group with Logan, Black Widow, Rachel,
Mockingbird, and Thor stepped forward, ready for action. They all fought the
robots on the ground and hopefully ushered the civilians away. They would be
pushed out of the battle, out of the scene, and all hoped that everything would
not come unraveled.
Harry, Captain America, Sin, Magneto, and Jean were the weirdest team but they
had one of the most important jobs of them all. They were going straight to the
top against their enemy, they were going straight for the Red Skull.
"Are you sure you know where he is?"
Sin's expression turned to Jean. "Well you can read my mind, can't you? I know
about where the Red Skull is, or at least where I assume that he will be. But
naturally, I doubt that you want my assumptions to be based on anything. You
need to trust me, you have no choice but to trust me."
Harry looked at her and she could tell that he had pulled himself too far.
"Trust is something that is not given out, it's earned. So far, you've built up
a minor amount of political capital; don't blow it whatever you do."
Sin smiled maliciously, when she held out a grenade and saw the HYDRA guards
move around towards their vantage point. The fools were rather sloppy, her
father got a bit soft, not much, but he was softer. He would have killed people
just for the hell of it a few days ago but that was beside the point. Sin
flicked the grenade and it landed on the ground, before it vibrated on the
ground and caused a loud explosion.
The explosion blew the HYDRA officers up. Magneto offered his input before
everything set in completely before he magnetized the fence and wrapped it
around them, wrapping them tight, and the barbs of the fence cut into them.
They shook a little bit, a violent fury when the fence snaked around them and
they tried to push their way out. They failed to get out, and blinked, trying
to twist themselves out of it.
Harry flicked his hand, and the rocks exploded to blind them with the dust.
Then several flaming spikes shot out and took them down hard. The spikes
propelled into them and slammed into them, cracking against his enemies. The
spikes speared into them dangerously, and Harry summoned some of the weapons
off of the HYDRA agents, before he decided to take a look at them later. Right
now, he used the plant vines to wrap around them and strangle them until they
pass out.
Magento used his powers to take down the robots, ripping them apart with his
abilities, and caused them to bust into several pieces. The Master of
Magnetism's eyes glowed with power when he pushed everything into battle.
Harry short circuited the machines with a jab of his hand. The explosions rang
out in every which direction and sent them flying backwards. A loud explosion
rang out in their ears and Jean dropped next to Harry. Both of them locked eyes
and with an unspoken agreement, they summoned their powers and caused the
robots to explode, blowing them to smithereens.
"How are we doing?" Captain America asked through the communication link.
"Just great, getting nearly killed but hey, just another day at the office for
me," Iron Man stated through the communication link.
"HAVE AT THEE!"
"Thor seems to be having a blast," Iron Man remarked when he heard it over his
link, chuckling.
"You'd have to be on the moon not to hear that," Hawkeye stated when he shot
several arrows at the robots. "We've got a bit of a problem, these things are
set to blow up in twenty three minutes….and I'm not sure how many of them there
are."
Harry swore, if even one of them were left in tact, it could lead to an
explosive end for many but he could not worry about that now. He had to keep
fighting, his eyes glowed and a loud crash knocked them back a little bit. The
robots smashed together, breaking apart, with the mage flying forward and
ripping out the back of it, before he pulled back the panel and he pulled it
out, before he started to relay the specs that he could figure out to Iron Man
so they could form a counter attack.
"Core's highly unstable, we've got to shut them down before they explode," Iron
Man responded.
Harry bit his lip before he responded and slowly spoke. "How unstable are we
talking about?"
"Oh, about three fourths of the country potentially being wiped out and the
other fourth poisoned unstable," Iron Man responded and Harry was afraid of
that, he really was afraid of that, and he smashed the silver robots, taking
down most of them where he could. "Of course, that's the absolute worst case
scenario but trust me, that's…..that's very likely."
Harry knew that it was very likely but they could not worry that much about the
worst, they had to keep hoping for the best. Even though the best could be
among the very worst, with his heart thumping up and down his chest, the
pressure was on and that's where Harry Potter excelled beyond anything else.
===============================================================================
 
Triumph flickered through the eyes of the Red Skull when he watched the
pathetic efforts of the heroes that were sent out of him. He would admire them
almost if their efforts had not be so fruitless and indeed futile. He turned
his head a little bit to the side and thought about everything that happened.
All of his plans came together, well calculated and well formulated; there was
no question who the superior man was there. The heroes thought they had a plan
that would lead to his defeat but they were fools. He turned off to the side,
to monitor their efforts, they did fight a good fight which would make their
demise that much more delicious.
Red Skull's face twisted into a grin when he thought about the best part of
today's events and the thing that gave him the most pride. His daughter finally
showed something resembling a spine and had tried to lead some kind of coup
against him. He would be a fool and deluded if he did not admit that brought
some amount of pride to his spawn. It was a pity that all her efforts would
amount to failure but her effort, while futile, was commendable.
Failure made people weak and made them crushed underneath his feet, his eyes
blinked with sadistic intentions dancing in them. He felt a tingling in his
chest when he thought of the carnage that was going to happen. The clock ticked
down, getting closer and closer to the edge ,he could feel this one, he could
feel it. Fifteen minutes, actually much less at this point in time. Red Skull's
hands shook when he prepared to grab the situation by the throat.
Fourteen and a half minutes were left to be precise.
'Those fools.'
Red Skull prepared to lead the charge, when HYDRA would be built over the ashes
of the United States and their broken bodies. He hoped that Captain America
would understand how futile his actions were once the last bit of oxygen passed
through his lungs. Crushed underneath the thumb of the Red Skull, like it was
always meant to be, that their lot in life, that was what they were intended to
do. Their efforts would be for nothing in nearly fourteen minutes.
He saw them move in, get ever so closer to his operations but that mattered
very little to him. His grin twisted, he almost welcomed the change. Their
wicked twisted attempts to put him down had some amount of charm but they were
much like a gerbil on a wheel. They kept going around and around, without any
merit, any purpose, any hope to go anywhere beside the inevitable roll of
propelling the wheel. They kept running around and around.
Then when the wheel stopped, the Red Skull would shoot them down and bathe in
their blood. That would be his night, the night of the Red Skull, and the fury
that flickered through his eyes. He got even closer to the edge and he felt the
tingling.
Thirteen minutes and counting, a very interesting number given the superstition
that it held but Skull would not deny that said number had merit. Merit he
would twist, when he watched the robots, sixty percent of them were down but he
allowed them to do so. Now he would plan.
The plan was coming all together in the back of his mind and his face twisted
into that malicious smile that was only bred by someone who knew what was on
the line. The Skull stepped forward, dressed in a green uniform with the symbol
on HYDRA, the multi-headed snake, sketched on it. His face was red and balled,
with sunken in eyes. He appeared gaunt and corpse life and his body remained
strong. He was the pinnacle of strength and the Red Skull would have his day.
Twelve minutes and counting, time would pass but would the heroes?
===============================================================================
 
The droids were programmed to detonate after a certain amount of time, Harry
and the rest of the crew was able to determine that. This lead to one of those
good news/bad news scenarios that Harry was so fond of, with the events of this
battle being able to go fifty-fifty depending on how certain things went. He
held his breath and hoped for things to lean towards more of the good news end
of the equation than the bad news end but he doubted that somehow.
The good news was that between the three teams, they cut a pretty good pace on
the robots and they were taking them down. There were far less robots coming
out to attack them at any rate, which proved to be some rather encouraging
news. Providing of course they could keep up that level when they attacked,
they were going to win today's battle with time to spare.
The fact of the matter was that with good news, there also came bad news.
Actually, the bad news came in an abundant manner, to the point where Harry was
not quite sure where he wanted to begin with it. There were instances where it
was hard to tell if there was an actual head count, for lack of a better term,
on the robots. Even if one was left by the time the automatic detonation went
off, it could cause countless deaths. Harry could shield it but only if he was
standing by it. Knowing his luck, the robot was all the way on the other end of
the country, causing him problems.
And the worst thing was that knowing the Red Skull, he could press the button
on any whim. He was that twisted and he would do something like that, anything
like this. The man was more bent than a damaged coat hanger.
"They're programmed to detonate, so we got to find them all."
'Nine minutes,'Harry thought to Jean who nodded, the pressure cooker was
getting hotter.
Sin looked forward and knew what she had to do. She saw what was in front of
her, the fortress where her father was holed up in all of his sadistic glory.
The woman's face contorted into a shifty grin when she prepared herself. This
was going to be her ticket inside and she knew that there was only one thing
that she would do. She was about to give her father what she want, the only
thing he ever wanted.
"Okay everyone…."
No sooner did those words leave Captain America's mouth, Sin aimed her gun and
with a sadistic shot, nailed Captain America in the back of the leg. He gave a
pained grimace when his leg rolled slightly and he tried to get back to his
feet. There was nothing to what happened, his knee twisted slightly and
everything happened so fast that not even Harry and Jean did not see it coming.
It was an impulse decision.
"You…."
Sin activated a force field generator, she knew it would only work for a minute
but that minute was long enough to get Captain America behind enemy lines and
deliver him to her father. She scooped him up on her shoulders and began to
walk with him. Captain America grunted before he offered her one question.
"Why?"
That particular question resounded in her mind, to be honest it was a fair one
to give but Sin refused to answer it straight away. She had to keep moving with
Captain America on her shoulders, she did not have much time to stall. Stalling
would get her in more trouble than anything if her plan was going to come off
without a hitch.
She managed to keep moving with Captain America, pulling him around like he was
dead weight, and he slumped over her shoulders. Sin showed a great deal of
strength, physical as well as mental when he continued to walk. His knees
knocked together when he pushed forward and kept walking, unable to really
stand on his feet. The young lady twisted him on her shoulders and continued to
walk with him.
"It is for the good of HYDRA."
"You don't have to do this."
Sin figured that such a statement was going to come out of his mouth; it was
what a do gooder such as himself would say. He was full of statements like that
and now her mouth maliciously twisted into a smirk. Everything was completely
under her control, there was no problem whatsoever.
"So did you expect her to do that?"
Harry turned to Jean, an eyebrow raised, when he easily dismantled the force
field.
"I knew what she was doing, but I wonder if the plan was working as well as she
thought it did," Harry stated when he grabbed Jean by the hand and the two of
them continued to walk forward. They stopped and Harry defused the land mind
that was set up. They could edge in closer to the HYDRA base that way, the two
of them getting closer to entering.
"I think the rest of team should get to my location as soon as possible, things
could get ugly," Harry offered through the communication link, before he
relayed the coordinates where he was standing and defused even more objects
along the way. He continued to walk one step at a time, carefully defusing each
and every trap along the way. He shifted his way through the land mines and
began to step on the ground.
He was getting closer, closer than he could ever imagine and Harry stood by
Jean. He did not know where Magneto went off to, he disappeared in the
confusion. Of course, given what he determined about the Red Skull, there was
the chance that Magneto would also be finding his way to some kind of mission
of vengeance. At least that's what Harry determined, he could be wrong,
extremely wrong in fact.
===============================================================================
 
Red Skull heard the doors burst open and as always it depended on his mood
whether or not he'd be inclined to shoot anyone who came through that door. He
held his gun and watched his daughter walk in. The limp form of Captain America
draped over his shoulders. It was something that he could not believe, to think
that after all of the battles, Sin was the one that took out Captain America.
His daughter actually was proving her worthiness after all of this time that
caused a twisted smile to go around his face. He felt a rare feeling for his
daughter and that feeling was pride.
Sin turned her head to her father, a smile crossing her face at the expression
that she was receiving. It was something that she could not believe that she
received. It was a pity what would happen with her. She crossed her arms, eyes
flicking with malice when she looked at the man before her. Her foot tapped on
the floor with Captain America down at her face. The Spirit of America gave a
shuddering breath.
"So here you are, Captain America, down at my feet where he belongs?"
The Red Skull punctuated that statement with a solid kick to the ribs of
Captain America to cause him to roll over and spasm with pain. He twitched with
the leader of HYDRA kicking Captain America hard into the ribs again. A third
kick to the ribs drilled Captain America in the ribs, before he looked at him.
A sadistic expression flickered through his eyes; he felt that his moment of
triumph was at hand. There was nothing that could stop his joy.
"It's quite interesting that after all of the times we've been around it ends
like this," Red Skull stated when he held the gun at the head of Captain
America. He hovered it over the back of the head of his enemy, taunting him but
he didn't pull the trigger, not yet. "So tell me….tell me, are you going to beg
for me?"
Captain America's eyes turned towards Red Skull before he looked up at him and
his eyes narrowed. "You should know the answer to that question."
Red Skull stepped forward and stood on the back of the head of Captain America,
standing on the back of his head. A malicious expression with even more
malicious intentions moved through his eyes when he looked over his enemy.
Captain America twitched on the ground, waiting for it. He would not beg for
the Red Skull, he was stronger than that. He was not going to allow any
weakness to rise in his being. As long as there was a breath in his body, he
would be proud.
Red Skull fell over with a loud bang and Sin stood there, with a smoking gun in
her hand. Blood splattered down the chest of the Red Skull, while he was
distracted by Captain America, his daughter took her shot at him. It was a plan
worthy of the Red Skull and he could not help finding a small bit of pride
within himself towards her. It would be something that he would do had the
situation been reversed. In fact, he almost hoped that someone did this and was
glad that it was his daughter.
His eyes turned towards his daughter.
"Well done."
BANG!
Red Skull fired a gun at his daughter when she let her guard down, but for a
second. The gun hit her in the forehead and knocked her down to the ground.
Blood splattered out from her head.
"But you fail to learn the most valuable lesson that I've been teaching you,"
Red Skull stated, when he looked at his daughter on the ground. "Don't ever
hunt anything without the intention of leaving them alive."
He rolled her over onto her back and stomped her, before he prepared to put the
gun in the back of her head. Red Skull vowed to blow his own daughter's head
off when he was face down on the ground. She shuddered a little bit, trying to
push herself out of the ground, trying to get herself out of the perilous
predicament she was in.
"Any last words, my daughter?"
Captain America bounced up and tackled Red Skull, knocking him against the
wall. The two exchanged punches with each other and began to strangle each
other. The two stared each other down, their eyes bulging out. It was hard to
see what face showed more hatred but it was a grudge that last a long time. The
Living Legend and the Embodiment of America went toe to toe with the leader of
HYDRA.
Red Skull smashed against the wall where he connected with a sinister thud and
Captain America continued to pummel him, but he was thrown off to the ground.
"This ends now!" Red Skull stated when he made his way to the kill switch to
activate the robots but a telekinetic shield blocked him.
Harry became invisible once again and he snapped Red Skull back, causing his
spine to shatter with a huge impact. He hid in the shadows this entire time,
managing to stop the bullet from hitting Sin in a completely fatal area. He
waited and watched everything and hoped that Red Skull would lead him to the
control console.
'Just about got it,'Harry thought when he hacked into the controls, trying to
get in, he had forty seven seconds, talk about cutting in close.
Talk about being put under a lot of pressure.
What was life without a little pressure?
Jean stood by Harry and Captain America watched as well. The Red Skull's spine
went into the base of his brain, killing him instantly. Given the fact that the
Red Skull often survived deaths that he should have not survived, Captain
America kept an eye on him. While he heard the spine crack and snap, he still
didn't want to leave anything to chance. It would be a foolish endeavor to say
the very least.
The rest of the group showed up, but just in time for Harry to deactivate the
console with three seconds left to spare. Harry allowed the breath to leave his
body, he nearly came all too close. He barely heard the HYDRA agents dropping
down behind him.
"Damn, we missed all of the action," Ms. Marvel stated but Harry offered a
smile.
"Don't worry, I'm sure some other crazed person will try and kill a bunch of
people before too long."
Iron Man turned around with an eyebrow raised but he had to agree, as cynical
as that statement was in his mind. Still damned if it was not accurate.
===============================================================================
 
"Things could have gone much better."
Nick Fury summarized this in his own way, but from what Harry heard, this was
pretty good praise from Fury. Given what he fought against, what SHIELD stood
again, he had to deal with a one hundred percent competence rate. And that was
something that they all understood, the man looked at them all through one eye.
Iron Man, Thor, Hulk, Captain America, Ms. Marvel, Mockingbird, Hawkeye, Black
Widow, Phoenix, Wolverine, Rachel, and Arcane stood before him.
"Yeah, we aim to please," Iron Man stated hoping to lighten the mood.
Now that was out of the way, Nick Fury turned to them.
"The group of yours does have some potential, these Avengers," Fury stated when
he looked at them. "Perhaps we should look into making them a more permanent
deal, perhaps we could officially sanction this group."
Captain America looked at them all. "You know, I think that it would be a good
idea, HYDRA might be weakened, the Red Skull might be done for the time being,
but there are a lot of other people out there that could be problems."
Harry noticed that Captain America believed that they did not see the last of
the Red Skull even then he was dead. He suspected the man spoke from experience
regarding that particular man.
"I agree," Iron Man agreed, at another time he was able to do things one on one
but now the rules of the game changed. The enemies were getting more dangerous
and he tried to do it alone.
"It would be useful to have some back up," Hawkeye stated when he looked at
them. "Even if it's me backing you guys up."
"Yeah right," Hulk grunted when he folded his arms over his green chest. "Count
me in with this group, gives me more things to smash."
Thor turned to them, he had been sent to Midgard to test him by his father, it
would give him something worthwhile to pass his time. Perhaps one day he would
be made to return home and he turned his head. The blond Asgardian turned to
them, the man twisting his expression into a smile. He enjoyed the battle, and
he saw them fighting beside him, he saw fellow warriors and equals that he
could fight into battle. That made him able to open his eyes when he fought
everyone.
"Count me in with this group."
Ms. Marvel chimed in with a few words of her own. "I might have not been at
this long but sure why not? It could be fun."
Black Widow responded with a nod but she did not say anything more than that.
It went without saying that she was in this battle whether or not they agreed
with her. The woman turned her attention away and crossed her arms, focusing on
Fury.
"Yeah I'm in," Mockingbird answered when a smile crossed her face when she
blinked a little bit.
Wolverine paused before a twisted grimace filled over his face.
"The X-Men have got their plates full but…."
Harry chimed in with a few words of his own. "If you need us, we'll be there,
if we can."
"That's all I needed to hear," Fury responded when he looked at Harry. "And if
you need SHIELD's help…."
"I don't worry, I know how deep in debt you are with me," Harry answered Fury,
with a knowing smile. The money that Stark gave him was in his bank account,
more zeroes than a Wizegamot meeting.
Today's fun was not over yet, HYDRA still had to be rounded up. The Brotherhood
was locked in holding cells and Sin was receiving medical attention right now.
She would make a full recovery, at least physically, although she would need a
whole lot of therapy to correct the damage that was done to her mind. She was
put through the ringer that one, her mind really suffered a horrific beating
and she might never be the same again.
As for the X-Men, well they were on the mend. Harry hoped this Avengers thing
would work out. It was funny how much he detested having to rely on someone and
being part of a team, not to mention taking a role of leadership. Of course one
did not have to like something to be the best in the world at what they did.
Although Harry denied being the best at what he did because he was nothing like
that.
Plus that was more of a Logan thing.
===============================================================================
 
There was always some kind of satisfactory feeling about the battle that
happened, at least that's what Harry would have to say. The young wizard shook
his head, today could have gone a lot worse. The Red Skull was done and as for
Sin….well she was on the mend after what happened. At least physically she was
but mentally was another matter entirely. Harry felt sorry for her because of
everything that happened. No one asked what the Red Skull did to her, and Harry
offered a grimace when he thought about it.
He walked down the hallway to his room, everyone was recovering from the
battles and they still felt rather weakened from the plague. After the checkup
they received, they would still be fine, except for the residual soreness that
they felt. That would not be going away for days yet. Harry turned his head a
little bit, before he made his way down to his room before he opened the door
of his bedroom.
Harry looked rather surprised but actually kind of happy to see Jean sitting on
his bed. She was dressed in a thin white robe that wrapped around her body, and
her bare legs were on full display. Her long bare legs displayed themselves, in
all of their drool worthy glory and Harry felt a bit weak in the knees but he
recovered. She moved a little bit, to allow her robe to flap a little bit, to
show a hint of her sexy toned tummy and her delicious looking belly button. He
also saw her lacy green panties, it did not stop Harry to think that the color
of these panties matched the shade of his own eyes.
"Hi Harry," Jean stated when she looked at Harry, running her tongue over her
lips and licking it when she locked eyes with Harry. She saw his muscular arms
in the tight pair of leather pants that he wore. She eyed him appreciatively
and appreciated what the hours of Danger Room training gave to him. She
undressed Harry a little bit with her eyes, imagining him naked and imagining
what he could do to her.
"Hi Jean," Harry responded when he looked at her, she was absolutely breath
taking. "What can I do for you?"
Jean smiled a mischievous smile when she looked at Harry, before a rather
particular thought echoed through her mind.
'Oh Harry, there's a lot you can do for me, believe me.'
"I've been meaning to have a talk with you," Jean responded when she looked at
Harry, her eyes locking hungrily onto his and her mouth curling into a smile.
"It seems like there's one thing after another….where we've been missing out on
getting to spend some quality time with each other."
"Sorry, Jean…"
"No, Harry, you're a busy man, I know you are, things come up," Jean responded
to Harry when she got up and looked at him. "But after what happened today, I
don't think we can delay what happened any more. There is a strong attraction
between the two of us, we're two powerful and good looking people, so why
wouldn't there be? I don't….I don't think that I want to settle for someone."
Harry knew what Jean meant by "settling for someone" but he was not going to go
there.
"I mean, if I have to be with him because his mind is too fragile to hold
himself together, that's not a strong basis for a relationship, isn't it?" Jean
asked Harry when she invited Harry to sit down on his bed. Harry did so. "I
don't want to be with someone that will flake out because he can't handle a
high stress situation, where he can't handle someone who is more equipped to do
his job. And likely more equipped in other ways."
Harry was really not going to go there and Jean looked at him.
"Harry, Scott's….his problems are his to figure out, I'm not going to hold his
hand and be in some pity relationship," Jean responded when she looked at
Harry. It was funny, before the Phoenix, she might have not thought some things
but that situation caused her to grow up. "I know you're strong enough to
handle anything that is sent your way. I know that you are strong enough
to…handle me."
Jean breathed huskily in Harry's ear when she moved forward and Harry wrapped
his arm around her and pulled her body into his, feeling her curves press
against him. The two of them locked eyes, with Harry half expecting some kind
of interruption.
Well if anyone interrupted this, there would be pain for the person who
interrupted it, lots and lots of pain. Harry and Jean looked into each other's
eyes, before their lips met each other, with the pair of them kissing each
other with fury and passion. She straddled his lap, when she sank into the hot
and passionate kiss.
Shivers went down Jean's spine when the dark haired mage ran his hands down her
body, teasing her flesh with his fingers and sending little jolts of pleasure
down to her body, causing her to shudder. These were sensations that she never
thought that she would feel before and Harry had her in the palm of his hands.
The mage continued to run his hands over her body, feeling her body, running
his hands over her bra covered breasts. She felt a heat rising between her legs
and a desire to have her need filled when her body simmered with the passion
that no man on Earth could give her.
Harry grinned through the kiss before he slipped off her robe. Jean Grey was
wearing nothing but a pair of lacy green bra and panties, and he slowly tilted
her back on the bed. Her legs wrapped around him, when Harry kissed Jean on the
bed, with her running his hands through her body. She moaned hungrily into his
mouth, her tongue working into him, and their tongues meeting with each other,
with her hand snaking into his shorts.
The real fun was about to begin.
Smut/Lemon Begins:
Jean's hand clasped around Harry's throbbing cock, feeling the texture around
his member, the throbbing, pulsing of his veins, when she wrapped her hand
around him, and began to pump his throbbing erection. The redhead telepath
could tell that Harry wanted this, the thoughts she picked up from his mind was
nothing but desire. The simmering passion when she continued to work his cock,
her hand wrapped tightly around him as she stroked him.
Harry felt the softness of her hand on his cock, pumping it, and he grunted, he
wanted to be free of his restraints and Jean picked up on that thought, pushing
his pants down over his ankles, to reveal his boxers. Then his boxers pushed
down, to reveal his throbbing cock, with Jean putting her fingers around it.
This felt so good, her soft, delicate hand on him, and her red hair framing her
face.
She broke herself from Harry's mouth.
"So big," Jean stated when she looked at him.
"Just wait until you feel it in your mouth," Harry responded, when Jean slid
down between Harry's legs and smiled. That sounded like one of the best ideas
in the world and she gripped onto Harry's cock, with her clenching him tightly.
The red haired woman stroked his cock, wrapped around him, and clenched him,
before Jean went down on him. Harry hissed through his teeth when she took his
cock down her throat. He felt it hit the back of her throat and her juicy lips
wrapped around him. Her red hair whipped back and forth when Jean went down on
him. Her nose hit his pelvis when she took him deeply into his throat, making
sure she gave him the best experience that she did. She wrapped her throat
muscles around his throbbing prick, before working him hard with her throat and
Harry breathed heavily, when he grabbed her hair.
Jean never did this before, she only made Duncan think she did with her
abilities, that was one of the great things about being a telepath. The red
haired woman ran her hands over Harry's thighs and continued her bobbing on
him. She got exactly what he wanted out of his head, when she blew him, with
her tongue working around him. She felt his shudders of pleasure and that meant
she was doing a good job.
Harry grunted, when he saw his dick in her mouth, this was a picture that he
would take to him for a long time. Jean was so good at blowing him, the green
eyes meeting his made him twitch in passion.
"Feels so good," Harry grunted when he ran his hands through Jean's hair and
she continued to work him over with her mouth, stimulating him with every part
of her, and he felt his balls get more tightened.
He slammed his cock down her throat and Jean took it, humming and rocking back
and forth, while her hand wrapped around his balls and she worked him over,
stroking and playing with his sac. She wanted his cum and needed it now, she
looked up at Harry with a simmering passion and the red head speared his cock
down her throat, wanting to drain every single drop of cum from his balls and
down her throat.
Jean titled her head back and offered one projected thought.
'Cum for me Harry.'
'Shit, you're so hot.'
'I know, now cum for me. Give me your seed baby.'
Harry's balls tightened and he lost it, with Jean planting dirty images of her
naked body in various sexual acts with him, a couple of them while Scott was
paralyzed against the wall and not able to do anything while Harry banged into
Jean.
Jean made lewd sounds when she continued to suck on Harry and the pleasure in
his loins exploded, to send a flood of cum down her throat. She squeezed her
throat together, when she drained Harry's cum down her throat. The red haired
telepath continued to suck Harry, draining every single bit of seed down her
throat and from his balls. She milked Harry completely dry with her throat
muscles.
"Delicious," Jean remarked when she licked her lips.
Harry grabbed Jean and pushed her back on the bed, before he unhooked her bra
to allow her nice, D-Cup breasts to bounce out. Her tit flesh was lovely, firm,
with rosy red nipples and Harry pinched them, causing Jean to give a squeal of
delight.
The more Harry played with her breasts and her nipples, the wetter Jean go. She
thought she was going to go nuts with desire, when Harry captured one of her
breasts in his mouth and licked it, before he suckled her breast. The red head
pushed Harry's head into her breasts, allowing him to suck her tits, and she
ran her hands through Harry's hair, moaning heavily, while Harry worked her
over.
"Oh yes, Harry, more," Jean breathed heavily when she hugged him into her
breasts and Harry sucked on them. The dark haired wizard continued to work over
her supple tit flesh as his newest lover continued to pant heavily.
Harry reached down and pulled her panties down to reveal her very wet sex. The
obvious signs of arousal could be seen, Jean's juice's dripping down, sticking
to the red hair on her cunt, and Harry watched her, a hungry expression on her
when he saw her. He ran her hands down her inner thighs, causing her to shudder
and thrash with pleasure, arching her hips up a little bit and she heavily
breathed.
"Harry….please….don't tease me."
Harry brushed her clit with his fingers causing her to tingle and then his
tongue dove into her tasty peach, licking her and bringing her juices onto his
tongue. Jean grabbed his head and pushed him down into her pussy. He began to
lick and taste her which caused her body to heat with the pleasure.
"More….Harry….SHIT!"
It was at that point when Harry rattled his tongue into her pussy and caused it
to vibrate inside her core, licking back and forth into her, making circular
motions went it continued to vibrate. Jean rocked her hips back and forth, with
is tongue delving into her, tasting and lapping up the juices with his tongue,
before she locked her legs around his head. Jean could not even articulate a
word.
'Do you like that?'
Jean panted heavily, her eyes lidded over heavily in pleasure, when she cupped
her breasts and ran her hands over her body.
'Yes, Harry, love it, want more.'
Harry dove his tongue in and out of her cunt, picking up the pace when he
continued to work over her. The dark haired wizard continued to work over every
single inch of her and used his tongue to stimulate her insides. He worked her
insides and caused her to pant heavily, when he reached his hands behind her
and grabbed a double handful of her supple ass, squeezing it in his hands and
caused Jean to moan heavily.
'More, cumming.'
Harry sped up his actions and Jean's pussy clenched together, when the
explosion of pleasure erupted inside her. Her pussy juices splashed her lover's
face and continued to flood with each and every pulse of her pussy. Her body
thrashed with the pleasure.
Harry pulled back and saw her body in all of its glory. He could not believe he
did not do this sooner, she was smoking hot. Her red hair framed her face, her
beautiful green eyes simmered with desire and he saw the hint of power. Her
juicy lips still had traces of Harry's cum on them, her elegant cheek bones
rose high. Her large breasts topped off by a pair of rosy nipples. Her flat
stomach was toned and she had a lovely ass, along with curved hips and sexy
legs. Her pussy was absolutely beautiful and so wet with arousal for him,
something that Harry did not miss completely.
"Harry, I need you in me," Jean breathed when she looked up at him, biting down
on her lip, with her red hair framing her face.
Harry grabbed her hips as she parted her legs and he pushed his cock into her,
parting her lips. Jean closed her eyes when she felt Harry penetrate her
barrier. He paused a little bit, before he pushed through her, breaking her in
and making her a woman. Jean screamed out loud when she felt Harry's throbbing
prick entering her and pushing her barrier apart, breaking her in.
He stopped for a minute. The pain was numbed and Jean breathed heavily one
word, when her nipples stifled and her pussy burned for him.
"Continue."
And continue was what Harry did, feeling her tight box wrap around his fleshy
pole when he plowed into her. Jean wrapped her legs around him and pushed him
down into her. The red head moaned and raised her hips upwards, squeezing Harry
tightly with her inner muscles and giving him the most pleasure that he had. He
speared into her a little bit, picking up the pace when he plunged into her.
Jean felt Harry pick up the pace; it felt so good to have his cock inside her.
In fact, he touched spots that she did not even know that she had. Her body
swam with pleasure, and his hands reached around to play with her breasts. This
got Jean hot and bothered, when the dark haired wizard picked up his pace and
thrust his dick into her hole, her tightness wrapping around him when he picked
up the pace.
Harry was in heaven; Jean's warm pussy wrapped around him hugged his member in
a pleasurable way. His heart beat heavily when he plunged into her inviting and
warm depths, picking up a steady pace when he continued to drill into her. Her
wet core offered the proper lubrication when the silken insides caressed him
and made him feel rather good, his heart beating steadier, and more wonderful
with each stroke.
"More, Harry, more," Jean begged him when his cock pushed inside her and made
her feel so good. It was like a drug, only without the deadly side effects, his
member pushing into her and lighting her up.
Harry could see a subtle flame around Jean when she got into the moment and she
had a spectacular orgasm, screaming and clawing at Harry's back. She arched her
hips up, feeling the unbridled passions let out free. It was something that she
held back for a long time but those shackles…..they really burst into pieces
and his cock thrust deep into her, pleasuring her very center.
"I love this, going to cum," Harry breathed after a time. She was so hot that
he could barely hold himself back, his balls tightened but he waited for her to
do so, because it was always so much more magical when two people came
together. At least that's what he determined.
"Do it Harry, please, I need it, fill me up!"
Harry spurted his load into Jean, splashing her with several thick ropes of cum
that went into her, and flooded her pussy. It was a never ending stream where
he continued to pump his creamy essence into her while she hugged his walls
tightly. She clenched around him when she milked him, draining every single
drop of cum from him, and then she grabbed Harry, before flipping him over on
the bed.
Jean's lips smashed against Harry's, when she rubbed her pussy against his
cock, feeling him grow against her once again. Her mind inflamed with desire
when she breathed heavily, working her cunt around him.
"I want to ride you," Jean breathed when she pulled away, running her hands
across his chest.
"Do it, my beautiful Phoenix," Harry responded when he looked at his lover,
straddling his hips and took in her breath taking beauty, every single inch of
her, the beauty that she had, and his cock throbbed for her.
She pulled herself up and sank herself down onto his cock, with Jean giving a
pleasurable moan when she threw her head back and gave a scream to the heavens.
She hoped that Harry used some kind of silencing spells but the point was moot
now, with his cock pushing into her pussy, pushing her walls apart in a
pleasurable manner and she rocked herself back, before sinking him down,
pushing her hot body down on her.
"Fuck yeah," Harry groaned when he grabbed Jean's ass, when she sank down,
rotating her hips onto him, pushing his throbbing member into her. Her wet
pussy wrapped tightly around him when the sexy babe bounced up and down on his
cock, riding it from all of its worth.
Her lips met his for another hungry kiss, when she rocked back and forth on
him, squeezing him and he thrust up into her, the red haired vixen worked her
hips in circular motions around the base of his cock. He matched her strokes,
and she felt him throb on the inside of her, making sure to touch her in the
spots that drove her wildest. This was a vision of wonderfulness that she could
not even begin to understand. It felt so right to have his cock buried between
her lips and in her legs, working her over and pleasuring her, pushing into her
pussy and she rode him even more, rocking back, working her hot hips around
him.
Harry's hands found her breasts again, and squeezed them, inciting a moan into
his mouth when she continued to ride her. It was heavenly for her to feel his
cock brush inside her, pushing her apart and making her feel the hot desire.
The red head moaned when she gyrated her hips down onto him, and rocked back,
riding it, their powerful organs clashing together, his cock thrusting up into
her pussy.
'Yes, more fuck me more.'
Harry knew what to do, he continued to work his cock into her, feeling it wrap
inside her, and grabbed her, running his hands all over her body. He simulated
every single bit of her with his touch and also used telekinetic touches to
bring the pleasure out of her, the areas that he could not touch. The red
haired vixen rode him heavily all into the night, and continued to rock back a
little bit.
"That's it, stretch me out!" Jean screamed at the top of her lungs.
"Hot, tight, love this," Harry grunted when he pushed into her.
The two of them rocked back and forth making their love to each other, with
Jean's pussy wrapped tightly around his throbbing prick. The two of them
matched their movements, feeling their very souls combine with this love
making. The pleasure coursed through them, it made Jean feel so good and the
fact she felt good made Harry feel equally good as well, he rocked back against
her on the bed.
Jean squeezed him with her muscles, she needed his seed in her and she needed
it now. She did not have to wait for too long when she bounced on Harry's
prick, riding him, and she kept rocking back into his balls tightened.
"Cumming," Harry breathed when he looked at her.
"In me," Jean managed when Harry thrust up and spilled another load of his seed
in her. Heavy spurts blasted into straight into Jean's womb, and she rocked
back a little bit, the contraceptive charms working well when he blasted his
thick load into her.
The spunk dribbled from Jean's pussy and down her thighs when she pulled off.
She scrapped the excess off of her and licked them with her fingers, locking
contact with Harry's eyes.
The fun just began for the two of them tonight. They continued to fuck each
other in every position all through the night and into early next morning. It
was long overdue.
Smut/Lemon Ends.
===============================================================================
 
Scott recovered, aches and pains never the less but it was funny at how being
on one's back tended to give them a lot of time to think. Once again a vital
opportunity had been lost and he doubted that he would even get another chance.
He turned his head from one side to the other and had to do some thinking, in
fact he really wondered if he could even be part of the X-Men for much longer
at its current rate.
Harry could leave soon.
Which would mean that he could get a chance to step up but he would be stepping
up replacing someone that liked and respected as a leader. What galled Scott is
that Harry was not maliciously doing anything against him, at least not what he
thought. He often corrected him and his instructions which could be a tad bit
annoying. However, Scott would be a complete idiot to deny that most of Harry's
suggestions lacked merit.
Harry's habit of picking up girls, Scott passed it off as a quirk at first, at
least until Jean started to show some signs of being attracted to Harry. He
could not help but think that he and Jean might be together now if it was not
for Harry. At least this crisis of faith would not happen for him.
Scott knocked on the door of Xavier's office.
"Come in Scott."
Scott entered the office, not knowing what to say. He opted for some small
talk.
"It's good to see you back on your feet, Professor."
Scott realized what he said.
"Or at least in good spirits."
Xavier nodded. "I understand what you meant Scott."
Xavier's eyes were hard to read and Scott could not even begin to figure out
where his head was.
"So…I was wondering about Harry….I'm not sure if he's….committed to this team."
"I always suspected Harry's living here was a temporary arrangement at best
until he found out what he wanted to do with himself, that will be the case for
some of the students I'd imagine, nothing lasts forever," Xavier stated,
thinking about the first squad of X-Men he sent in years before this current
team and how that ended in disaster. It made him second guess this dream before
he gave it a second chance. "I'm….willing to do what I can to persuade Harry to
stay."
"I think he's using his powers to influence Jean in some way," Scott responded.
Xavier shook his head. "It's impossible Scott, once the Phoenix force broke out
of the bindings and Jean fully embraced it like she had, it would take an act
of god and years of conditioning for Jean to be turned into a puppet."
"Are you sure?" Scott asked, grasping on anything.
"Scott, you should worry about growing as a member of this team and not about
whom other team members are sleeping with," Xavier answered crisply when he
looked at Scott with a serious expression in his eyes. "I'm happy to have Jean
back even if it is for a short time and I'm happy to have Harry remain here for
a short time. They are valuable assets to this team and the growth of the X-
Men, as we prepare everyone for what is to come."
"And I'm not."
Xavier turned to Scott, this was the first time that he really spoke in turn to
him.
"I hope you don't intend to start something for you won't find many members of
this team watching your back, Scott," Xavier warned him when he looked at his
favorite student. He did wonder sometimes where he went wrong but he supposed
that Scott's growing pains were far greater than most people. "You may have
your heart set up on a woman but sometimes things are not meant to be."
Xavier refused to say more but he had stories to tell about his misadventures
with women in his younger days.
"Let Jean go, for your own good," Xavier answered when he looked at Scott.
Scott thought about what Xavier said but he turned around, he needed to go for
a walk to clear his head a little bit.
To Be Continued in the Next Chapter "Mesmerizing."
***** Mesmerizing *****
Chapter Forty: Mesmerizing.
"Interpretation is the key to achieving a mystical balance. There are many
different ways to interpret a spell and not all of them are correct in some
circumstances. What one sees with their eyes can be a front for a deeper attack
to the mind. The mind can be both strong and weak. It is it's own area where
the attacks are different that what is perceived with the eyes.
Harry stopped and listened when Doctor Strange went over some of the flaws,
albeit minor ones, in his illusion spells. Illusion spells were a tricky one to
pull off, especially in the heat of the battle. It was not as easy someone who
had no experience in combat would think to pull off some of these attacks. In
fact, it was one of the hardest things in the world. Yet, Harry was able to
take advantage of cues that were given off of the body, to work on the mind.
The mind was the most important area of attack for a young sorcerer in
training. Harry spent time, long periods of time mastering several important
areas of magic. For the first couple of months of training, Harry tended to
spend weeks inside of Strange's stronghold, even though it was merely hours on
the outside world. That would account for the aging that he sustained, where he
was now technically eighteen years of age.
Of course, he did not really look it all that much. The lessened rate of how a
wizard aged after the age of seventeen could hide for rapid mental spikes of
aging. They had a greater level of maturity throughout their younger years but
the aging process stopped when they reached their majority at age seventeen.
They aged a third as quickly as normal humans, although some of the more
powerful wizards aged even slower. Harry was a different case, there were
indications based on testing that he may stop aging at all when he reached his
mid-twenties. Period, not even one day, he would never get any gray hairs,
other than from stress. Not one wrinkle on his body, there was a chance that he
would be forever young.
That might be a problem when his girlfriends aged and he did not but that would
be a bridge that Harry crossed when the time came. The mutant aging process was
something that was slightly slower than humans, but they still aged. Unless of
course one had the abilities of Logan, who was old as dirt and did not show it,
but still magical users didn't age as quickly. And Harry would eventually stop
aging.
Funnily enough, those who relied on their wands too much had a more accelerated
aging process, with the cores of the wand eating up a great deal of their
youth. Strange and Harry had an enlightening discussion about wand users.
"It appears that while a wand, whilst useful as a training implement and a
prudent spell enhancer in extreme circumstances, is not something that is
prudent for long term use of magic or regular use. The materials made within
the wand are powerful and even sentient. They must need life force to sustain
and they draw the energy from wizards and witches and sorcerers alike. They are
excellent temporary tools for training but I think those from your world may
have grown too dependent on them."
Harry took this to heart and he realized that Strange had a point. He wondered
if that was by design, if Strange's theories that wands were sentient were
correct. The core of the animal that the wand created siphoned life energy
slowly off of the user. Perhaps the aging rate should have been a fourth or a
fifth as quickly as a normal human, at least that's what Harry suspected.
"Illusions are key for triggering certain responses within the minds of your
opponents. If you trick the mind, then the body will fall soon after."
Harry saw that the Doctor Strange that was talking was not the real thing.
While his illusions were good, Harry's ability to catch certain tricks of the
trade allowed him to pick these things apart. The young wizard took a moment to
think about everything that was happening and thought about the cues of Strange
that the man gave. The Sorcerer Supreme was good at creating solid hologram
spells that both took damage and could give them, while the real deal hovered
in the background. It fooled even Harry, at least for a little while.
The young wizard turned around, bowing down and unmasking the real Strange.
"Naturally, the illusions are no substitute for the real thing."
Harry smiled.
"What if I would tell you that I was an illusion and the real me is in the
other room, having a soda with Rachel right now?"
Strange's face twisted into an approving smile when he looked at Harry. "Then I
would tell you that you have done a commendable job in fooling even my
abilities. There are normally tell tale signs for these illusion spells, yet
you exhibit none of them."
Harry smiled before his illusion disappeared and Harry and Rachel entered the
next room, the pair of them cracking smiles on their face when they looked up
at them. The mage waited a while to test that particular illusion charm, it was
a modified version of the powers he copied off of Multiple. If he could sustain
that, he could dazzle his enemies and confuse them.
There were other things that he could use those powers with but he still hadn't
quite worked out all of the bugs yet.
"Very well done, you have picked up every single bit of information at an
extraordinary rate," Strange answered when he looked at Harry before he decided
to impart one last bit of information upon him. "While one would be a fool to
state that you are completely finished with your training, you have completed
much more than I could have expected. While there is still much that I need to
teach you, the real teachers is actually doing, against enemies that are
willing to kill you and not a practice situation. That is where I learned the
lion's share of my magic, adapting to what actually goes on around me."
Harry thought that was likely where he learned a lot as well, by studying his
opponents. He mentally went back over his past battles in his mind. There were
some things that he did right and hundreds of little things that he did wrong.
That was how things rolled for him. The young wizard clapped his hands
together.
"I do have a question for you if you do not mind," Rachel responded when she
looked at the Sorcerer Supreme.
"Of course, if you have a matter that needs clarification, I am here," Strange
remarked when she looked at Rachel.
Rachel drew in her breath before she asked the question she had.
"I was wondering about the nature of time travel. When someone went back in
time, would they not already be in danger with changing the time stream when
they went back in time? Or would they create an entirely different time stream?
Is there any chance that they could be erased?"
"You ask questions that people have been asking for years, as they seek answers
without any success."
Harry and Rachel both figured as much. There was no use of hiding where she
came from, although Harry was the only one that figured out the truth. Rachel
held Harry's hand when she took a moment to think about what she heard.
"Time is a fascinating thing."
Strange offered the next statement in a careful manner, mulling it over in his
mind.
"Time is what it is, there is no telling how to measure it. We make dozens of
decisions each day, if we could go back and make a different decision, it could
change history. Even something as mundane as having a different breakfast or
having breakfast earlier or later, could change all of history drastically.
Every time we could make a different decision, the timeline splits off into
different branches. Thus there is an infinite number of realities in
existence."
That was a better explanation and Rachel realized one thing. When she went
back, she did not change her future but she created an entirely different time
line. This made her future knowledge useless and therefore there was no need
for a certain two people to ever get together. Which made Rachel very happy
consider how miserable she became because of him.
Providing he was her real father, which Rachel still had doubts on.
Harry smiled, he could sense the joy filling the heart of his girlfriend.
He had other things to think about. Over the last few days, he had some weird
dreams but they were the merest of flickers, images from the distant past. He
had no idea what they meant but he had a feeling that they were important
jigsaw pieces of piercing together who or perhaps what he really was.
The most recurring dream was Lily and James Potter finding him in a field.
===============================================================================
 
"I can't believe it, for someone who is so twisted, he is a genius."
Gwen sat with the data that Harry liberated from Mister Sinister's lab a while
ago. Given all that had happened, it had been a while since they actually got
around to looking it over. Although with something like this, it was more than
worth the wait and it allowed them to gain perspective on what they were
reading. The blonde took a moment to read over everything that was on file and
sat next to Harry. She got excited when she read every bit of information.
Rachel sat with them as well; they swung by after Harry's lessons with Doctor
Strange.
"He's perfected cloning in a way that I don't think anyone could have
imagined," Gwen stated in a breathless voice when she looked at the genetic
sequences. "He's got hundreds, thousands of records of different genetic
sequences. This information has been dating back since the 1800s and earlier. I
could have sworn that mutants were a recent thing."
"Well, that is the theory but given that Xavier and Magneto have powers, they
would have to be around in certain instances but not as prolific as they are
now," Harry responded when he looked at Gwen, who smiled and looked over all
sequences of data. The blinking lights on her computer could be seen. "And the
cloning thing, that would explain the Marauders. They were a bit more dangerous
and that would also explain how Sinister is...how Sinister was able to block
the Killing Curse."
Harry figured that Sinister encountered a variety of different creatures
throughout his time that he experimented on. Some of them were mutants and some
of them were alien races of different types. Aliens would have a far different
genetic structure where a curse that was intended for humans would not work
against them. Even the so called unblockable Killing Curse. At least that's
what Harry determined through his studies of everything. The young wizard felt
that this could teach them a lot about blocking certain spells, perhaps forging
some kind of armor.
Of course, armor was a tricky thing as well, given that it hindered movement.
While it may block spells and some physical attacks, it hindered a wizard in
other ways. Harry needed to find a balance between strength, speed, and
stealth. Armor was a flawed concept when dealing with the type that blocked
magic. Wearing dragon hide mind seem like a sound idea in theory, until one
realized how bulky the stupid stuff was. Not to mention, there was no way to
safely armor the neck, without squeezing the breath out of the wizard.
"This is...this is going to take more than one weekend to get through, this is
several lifetimes worth of work...wow...just wow," Gwen stated in a breathless
and excited voice. "So have you found any more of the...gems?"
Harry shook his head, that search so far had turned up futile. There had to be
some kind of alternate technology or magic that might help, although he was
unable to find it. Rachel and Jean both stated that they detected no thought
patterns within Sirius but Harry was too stubborn to admit that he was beyond
saving.
"The biggest piece left on Earth was used to revive Captain America, of course
there was no telling it would have worked on Sirius," Harry answered when he
looked back at Gwen. The blonde nodded, her jaw set when she looked at Harry.
"Sirius is..."
"If anyone can find a way, it's you."
Harry hoped that Gwen's confidence was not misplaced. When Sirius went through
the veil, he did not go willingly like Harry. Strange stated that there was a
chance that this might not be the same Sirius that he knew. He might have been
stripped of all of his memories and sense of being, it was hard to tell. While
he knew this could potentially be, Harry was too stubborn to give up. He never
even bothered the learn the meaning of "giving up."
At least he had a nice vacation to any destination of his choosing, complements
of Tony Stark and all of the money that he gave him. Of course, if Harry could
ever pull himself away long enough for a vacation, that was the thing. Even if
he would go on a vacation, he suspected that someone would follow him there and
cause trouble.
"All this DNA, but who does it belong to"
Rachel grimaced when she gave the answer. "Mutants that Sinister harvested
organs for likely. It isn't pretty business when Sinister is involved."
Gwen cringed slightly as she thought about it. "The man's earned his name."
"You have no idea."
Gwen heard the police scanner she kept on the desk go off.
"There has been a theft of an antique disc; I repeat there has been theft from
an antique disc at the museum. The perp in question has the appearance of a
blue elf with a tail and ears."
"That sounds like..."
"I know who it sounds like."
Harry thought it was not possible but he grabbed Rachel by the hands and ported
them back to the Institute.
It was quiet, a little too quiet for his liking. Harry also heard eerie music
fill the Mansion and that caused him to tense up. He slid inside when he walked
inside. He saw the New Recruits standing before him in a trance. They were not
moving, the lights were on but no one was home.
'Okay, this is creepy.'
That damn music would not stop playing and Harry continued to walk up towards
the mansion. His cell phone rang and he saw that it was Gwen. He answered it
and put the cell phone up to his ear, before he listened.
"Hey Gwen."
"I saw...well Kitty and Jean, they might have helped in the robbery," Gwen
responded when she closed her eyes, not wanting to be the bearer of bad news.
Logan was out on the floor, as was Ororo, Xavier, and Hank. Harry paused a
little bit; he thought that everything was going to pieces but he was not sure
how. That infernal music would not stop playing, Harry wondered where it came
from and his heart beat against his chest, feverishly pumping against his
chest. The young wizard continued to make his strides quicken up the steps. The
young dark haired wizard kept walking, with Rachel beside him.
She stopped and thought to Harry.
'I sense a presence.'
That was never a good thing. Harry entered the room and saw Scott down on the
ground. He was still breathing and that was all that mattered. The two mutants
stepped over his body and continued to walk towards the source of the infernal
noise. They continued to move forward with determination and saw the music box.
It kept running and Harry felt a tingle when he figured out what the game was.
'Subliminal messages,'Harry thought to Rachel.
'They've been hypnotized then,'Rachel thought to Harry.
'And it has Scott's fingerprints over it, figures he would open up a package
that mysteriously arrived at the mansion without considering the
consequences,'Harry thought to himself, shaking his head.
'It must have been here for a while, but why would Jean send him a gift?'Rachel
thought to Harry. 'Unless she wouldn't.'
'She wouldn't, there's more of a chance of Nick Fury wearing a tu-tu then Jean
having any romantic feelings to Scott now,'Harry thought to Rachel who pulled a
face and she shook her head.
'That was an image that I didn't need to have,'Rachel thought with a grimace.
Gwen once again talked to Harry.
"I hacked into the Xavier Institute security system and tapped into the
security camera, I want you to take a look at this guy, the guy who delivered
the package to the Institute."
Harry saw a bald man in a delivery uniform handing the package to Scott. He had
tanned skin and weird symbols on his forehead. The young wizard found himself
fixated on the symbols on the man's forehead, he was pretty sure they meant
something. What those symbols meant, Harry had no idea whatsoever. All he knew
was they meant something and he wanted to find out.
"Gwen, could you run a search for those symbols?"
"No problem, Harry."
Harry and Rachel decided that if Gwen could find something on her end, they
could go after their possessed team mates. The music box might have offered a
key to break the conditioning and also a clue of what the final end game was.
It came from a carnival that came to Bayville every year and it was amazing
that they were in town this week.
'I have a feeling we'll find our friends there.'
Harry hoped Rachel was right because the pressure heated up.
===============================================================================
 
The X-Men were mostly under his control, although the man known as Mesmero
found despair that he did not get the one he wanted. Their leader, the
strongest of them all, the one known as Arcane, he was not under the control of
Mesmero. He cracked his knuckles when he saw the disc that the one known as
Nightcrawler handed him.
'Got to fight it,'Jean thought when she walked forward but her connection to
the Phoenix had been blocked somehow. She knew that someone like this man could
not have done it without any help; the Phoenix was far more powerful than any
mortal could ever dream. She knew this man had help and he focused on her.
The Phoenix Force was powerful and it should be under the master's control, at
least that's what Mesmero determined. He wanted the other one under his
control, those two would be perfect Horsemen for the great one.
Kitty, Rogue, and Kurt walked in, all of them standing rigid with dilated
pupils, their minds completely blank. He had his perfect band of thieves to get
the necessary components to open up the box. The fools thought that the key was
going to be hidden from the master for long. But the master wanted him to grab
the key. He had the help of the other party who had his own plans. Yet,
Sinister made his own deal with the master and would be a fool if he went back
on it.
Little did Mesmero know that Harry and Rachel sat in the shadows, waiting to
make their move and strike hard.
'Rachel, this guy...he shouldn't be this powerful,'Harry thought to her and
Rachel nodded. 'Do you...remember anything about him?'
'His name is Mesmero, he's a master of illusion and...you're right, he
shouldn't be this powerful to take down the entire X-Men,'Rachel thought to
Harry when the two of them dropped down to the ground and turned to the side,
creeping in the shadows.
'We don't want to hurt them,'Harry though back to her and Rachel nodded.
'Hopefully they adhere to the same thing,'Rachel thought when she looked at
Harry, them creeping around and seeing three discs presented to Mesmero. 'I
trust you've got a plan.'
'I always have a plan,'Harry thought to Rachel before he paused and thought.
'Of course, it doesn't always mean it's a good plan.'
Already, Rachel was loving this, at least that's what she thought, she grabbed
Harry's hand and they walked around. The pair of them were ready for the battle
whatever it would bring. They stepped around and waited, standing on their
heels, when they rocked back and concentrated intently.
It was all about timing.
Mesmero waited; there was nothing that could stop him now. The power that
flowed through him would make him strong, his illusions more real, his control
far greater, and his abilities increased tenfold. He subdued the Phoenix Force,
which would be considered impossible under his normal power rate. He clutched
his heads together and held three discs in his hand, but those three discs were
levitated out of his hand.
"WHO DARES?"
"I dare," Harry responded when he sent a flaming spear forward and plunged it
into the chest of his enemy. The spear stuck in the chest of his enemy, causing
him to fly backwards. Unfortunately, it was an illusion which was a shame as
Harry thought it was a good spell.
Harry was blasted with a light and he spontaneously combusted by the shot from
Mesmero.
"I can play this game too, you know."
An army of Harry Potter illusions stood forward against an army of Mesmero
illusions. They charged each other and clashed together with an explosive fire,
bashing together with a huge impact that lead to explosions firing in every
single direction. They blew up in a large combustion of golden light, flying
backwards. The young wizard stepped back, shaking when he stood in the shadows.
'Guys, wake up,'Harry thought when he saw his doubles continue to fight those
brought forth by Mesmero.
"I AM AWAKE!"
The Phoenix woke up, breaking the bindings that Jean was put under and boy was
she pissed, she was really pissed. It was hard to really measure how pissed
Jean Grey or the Phoenix was. At this point both of them were pretty angry and
they blasted forward, they wanted blood for being made vunerable.
The Harry illusions got a boost from the Phoenix Force, causing their attacks
to be more deadly. A crack echoed when the attacks rocketed through them. The
Mesmero clones exploded into dust particles, they weren't able to maintain the
combined attack by two of the most powerful forces on this world and any other.
Even though Mesmero had increased abilities, he was no match for this double
team assault.
Mesmero flew backwards with a huge impact.
Harry performed the detection spell on Mesmero and sure enough there was
another problem, the real deal was not even anywhere near this place. This fact
meant that he was actually intelligent, which was always a problem with
villains as far as Harry was concerned. And the discs that he had in his hand,
upon a further test faded away, crumbling to dust.
'That was only check, Mesmero,'Harry thought, when he stood forward with a firm
jaw.
Mesmero left the building and Kurt, Kitty, and Rogue snapped out of their
trances.
"Will anyone tell me...what happened?" Kitty asked, biting her lip in
frustration.
Rachel offered a smirk before she put on her hand on Kitty's shoulder. "Other
than being a future guest star on the New York's Most Wanted, not much. Harry
and I will tell you about it when you about it later.
===============================================================================
 
Mesmero arrived, the key in his hand, gleeful that he actually defeated the X-
Men. He may have used every dirty and underhanded tactic at his disposal but as
far as he was concerned, he won.
"Do you have it?"
"Yes, I have it," Mesmero stated when he saw Mister Sinister and Mystique stood
in the shadows.
"Everything is going forward as planned, even though the Phoenix broke the
master's control. He will still have it."
Sinister paused, he had his own plans regarding the force behind that set of
stone doors, he would control the power. Mesmero was devoted to his master to
the point of sick obsession but Sinister indulged him on these thoughts. He
would have what he wanted and have what he needed. His plans that had been set
into motion a long time ago would come to pass and the battle would be his to
win, that much was for certain.
"This Potter, he's not human," Mesmero offered when he blinked.
"Well naturally, given that he's a mutant," Mystique snapped back at him.
"No there's something else," Mesmero stated, and he looked carefully towards
Sinister who held the key and paused.
"He's unlike anything I've ever seen yes, but that makes him all the more
worthy of study," Sinister responded carefully. Whatever this Harry Potter was,
he was not of anything humans or mutants ever knew. He was even beyond typical
magical users, there was something different about him. "But we must delay no
longer."
The key inserted into the hole opened the first of three stone doors and behind
that stone door, there would be a force beyond all imagining. Sinister tingled
with anticipation, getting an excitement that most men would not receive, even
with sexual gratification. An expression of ecstasy crossed his face.
'I'm coming, great one.'
===============================================================================
 
"Well I think I found something."
Harry reported back to Gwen's house, that next morning, when they were sure
that everyone was out of the woods. There were no telltale signs of hypnosis
left in their eyes, which was a good sign. Harry, Rachel, Jean, and Xavier
spent the past six hours searching for any hypnotic backdoors that Mesmero
could have placed for future use. They also looked for any clues of what he
could have placed in the back of their minds. That was the ticket to uncovering
this mysterious attack and who was behind it.
So far there was nothing, they were unable to piece together more pieces of the
puzzle. There was no sign of what Mesmero did although Harry got a good look at
the discs he grabbed. Jean, Rachel, Kitty, and Rogue stood next to Harry,
waiting beside him. Three of them were a bit out of it given the fact that they
were put under the mind control of the powerful person that attacked them.
Harry could not completely fault Scott for this one, although he could work at
strengthening his mind and being less gullible.
Kitty broke the silence, looking impatient. "So what do you have?"
Harry waited for one of his girlfriends to be silent and Kitty offered a
sheepish smile before she fell into line. Amara would be with them, if the New
Mutants were not being put through the paces by Logan. It was his turn to
oversee the training and Harry bid them the best of luck before he left them to
their fate, he had pressing matters to attend to.
"These symbols are Egyptian, or at least that's the closest match I can find
for them," Gwen answered when she looked at them. "It's almost like it's some
kind of language of its own, but I must have cross-referenced them with
hundreds of different symbols before I found this closest match."
Rogue piped in. "And that match is..."
"Apocalypse," Gwen answered when she bit her lip as she nervously gave the
translation.
At those words, Rachel tensed up completely, something that was not missed by
Harry. He turned to his third girlfriend and grabbed her around the hand. She
blinked a little bit.
'On one hand they defeated him,'Rachel thought to herself, trying to remain
optimistic before the pessimistic thought reached her. Her heart skipped a beat
and a half before she realized the problem with this. 'And here lies the
problem, I can't rely on what happened in the old timeline, we're in a
different time.'
"Those discs were keys, for another key," Rachel chimed in which caused Jean,
Rogue, and even Kitty to look at her strangely. Gwen looked unsurprised for
some reason.
"So sayeth my Google Search," Gwen answered when she looked at the group of
them, a smile crossing her face. "It's amazing; a key to release some kind of
indescribable horror was being kept as a sideshow attraction at a carnival."
Harry shrugged. "I've seen far stranger."
"I'm sure you have," Gwen quipped when she saw a news blip about Spider-Man's
latest battle with the villain of the week. He teamed up with the Fantastic
Four to take down Mole Man and his involvement was something that tilted the
scales to victory. Peter had his blind date this weekend and she was surely
happening.
"Normally I have to go no further than the mirror," Harry responded which
caused the group to laugh, breaking the very tense mood that they were in.
Gwen shrugged before a slight smile crossed her face. "Being normal is
overrated I supposed."
"That's for sure," Harry added, with a smile.
Gwen understood why girls tended to fall over themselves around Harry Potter,
powers or not. He had an added amount of confidence that was endearing to
girls, and the fact that he was not too bad on the eyes also made Gwen smile a
little bit. That caused the butterflies to flap their wings in her stomach and
stir up emotions that she could hardly believe were there. She had been
spending a little bit of time with Harry.
"Thanks for your help Gwen," Harry responded to her in an honest voice.
"Yeah, you were amazing," Kitty chimed in, happier than anything that she was
herself and was no longer possessed.
Harry chimed in with a few more words of his own. "If you need anything from me
at all, do not hesitate to ask."
Gwen smiled when she looked at Harry, needless to say this statement spurred a
few interesting scenarios in her mind.
"A girl might get dangerous ideas with a statement like that," Gwen responded
when she looked at him, while the other girls left, and Harry smiled back at
her. It was the type of smile that sent girls into utter fits of passion, that
much was for sure.
She waited for him to leave and thought that after that look, she might be
indulging in a cold shower and perhaps some alone time in her room with the
door locked. She thought about calling him back, but she caught the looks in
the other girl's eyes, they wanted their alone time with Harry.
Gwen watched, her time might come sooner than she thought.
Back at the Xavier Institute, Harry saw Amara standing there, getting fresh out
of training. Her uniform top clung to her breasts tightly, showing the large
round mounds. One could easily tell that she had quite the work out just by
looking at her. Harry found himself drawn rather breathless at her but he shook
his head when he stepped back.
"Hi Harry," Amara stated when she looked at Harry, a smile crossing her face.
"You missed an intense training session."
Harry smirked at her, when he drank in her body. "One could say that I guess,
Logan's making up for a lot of lost time."
Amara's face crossed into a smirk and she nodded in agreement, before she bit
down on her lower lip. "Would you care to join me in the shower?"
That was a question that Harry thought over for about three seconds, there were
very many positives and very few negatives. Actually there were never any
negatives in having a shower with an extremely hot girl. Especially one who
looked worked up and was about ready to jump in right then and there. He
suspected the Danger Room Training Sessions would always be about working up a
great sweat.
Harry knew one thing though and he knew it was time to answer.
"Of course Amara, it should be fun."
Without another word, Harry followed her to the shower, feeling that he could
use one for himself. Of course, he wondered how much getting clean in there was
going to happen.
Smut/Lemon Begins.
Harry and Amara were in the shower. She slowly stripped her clothes off,
revealing more and more tantalizing flesh with each passing motion. His gaze
drank in every inch of her body when the shower water turned on. Her dark hair,
her brown eyes, and her full lips were the first thing that he noticed, along
with her brown skin and luscious breasts, along with dark nipples. Her flat
toned stomach, beautiful pussy that was shaved bare, and lovely long legs, with
a curved ass and hips. He felt himself throb at the thought of this beautiful
princess and he could see her get wet with anticipation for him.
Amara watched Harry, her mouth curled in a smile when she looked at him; she
saw what he had between his legs and liked every single bit of it. His abs,
chest, and arms were strong; she could run her hands over those muscles for
days. His dark and messy hair made him drop dead sexy, along with his alluring
green eyes.
Harry soaped up her back, slowly making circles around it, washing her, and
rubbing her, allowing the water to go off her. Amara breathed heavily when his
magical fingers traced a pattern around her body, going down her back and
cupping her buttock when he scrubbed her slowly and carefully. His hands moved
around to her hips, before he brushed up against the edge of her entrance,
scrapping his fingers against her dripping slit.
"Yes," Amara breathed when she felt Harry's fingers work her over.
Harry smiled, before he moved up, with her grinding her butt against his
crotch, causing the friction. She had a hot ass, and Harry could not wait for
move of it. Right now, he worshipped her breasts, slowly rubbing them in
circles, making sure she was nice and soaped up.
"That good," Harry breathed in her ear, licking behind it.
Amara breathed heavily at the pleasure that filled her body. "Yes."
"My turn," Harry answered, when she used her hands to rub the soap up and down
his abs and chest, working him over with it. Amara smiled when she worked him
over, it was like molding clay in her hands and she squeezed and pinched at his
flesh, feeling more and more at ease with him.
Harry closed his eyes and felt her work him over, rubbing the soap all over his
body, until she stopped between his legs. She grasped his fleshy pole in her
hand, before she began to stroke it up and down, with burning lust dancing in
her eyes. Amara breathed heavily when she knelt down before Harry and popped
his cock in her mouth. Her warm mouth wrapped around him, and she looked up at
him with lustful eyes when she sucked him.
Amara bobbed up and down on his member, feeling it grow in his mouth. She held
onto her hips and a hand was playing with herself when she blew Harry. His cock
tasted so good but she could not wait for his essence to spill down her throat.
She pushed herself up and went down him.
"So...yes," Harry breathed when he grabbed Amara, cupping her pretty little
face when he looked in her eyes, before he pushed down her throat. She took his
entire cock down her throat, deep throating him and feeling the pressure and
the pressure.
"Is this a private party or can anyone join?
Jean, Rachel, Kitty, and Rogue popped up in the shower. Granted it was a tight
fit, but all four girls were naked, so this proved to be promising.
"No...all are...ah welcomed," Harry breathed when Amara continued to blow him
and Kitty went down between Amara's legs and began to eat her out. Her tongue
scrapped and licked Amara's pussy, working it over, with circular motions.
Amara lost herself in the sensations, between Harry's cock and Kitty's tongue,
she was about ready to lose her mind.
Jean grabbed the bottle of shower gel from the shelf on the side and with a
mischievous grin, sprayed it on her bare, D-Cup breasts. The shower gel rolled
off her breasts and Harry used his hands to rub Jean's tits. She threw her head
back and offered a moan of pleasure.
"Oh yes Harry, that's it."
Rachel and Rogue exchanged a passion filled kiss on the side. Rogue pressed
Rachel against the wall, with her fingers pumping in and out of the girl's
sopping wet cunt. The moans got louder and more intense when Rachel continued
to be worked over.
Jean's lips pressed against Harry's, when she reached down to play with his
balls while Amara blew him. Harry grabbed his hands from behind her, squeezing
her tight ass, and running his hands down her young, hot body. She moaned
loudly into his mouth, and continued to rub onto him. The red head grabbed and
groped him.
'Oh, so hot, mmm, you're a god Harry,'Jean thought to him when she continued to
kiss him, pressing her breasts against his bare and wet chest. The sensation of
their bodies sliding together felt good. She continued to play with Harry's
throbbing manhood.
'You're hot too, my beautiful phoenix, and you're getting no less than what you
deserve,'Harry moaned when he stuck a finger up her ass and began to pump into
her.
'Oh Rachel, so fucking hot,'Rogue thought to her, when she pumped in and out of
her, feeling the moist juices that dribbled down Rachel's thighs.
Rachel lost herself in the sensations.
Kitty tasted the warm sensations dripping from Amara's pussy, they were causing
her pussy to burn with desire. She pumped her fingers inside herself, when she
continued to lick and taste the inner workings of Amara's core.
'So close,'Harry thought.
Amara's moans caused his cock to be stimulated, and his balls tightened before
he spilled the essence down her throat. His balls spurted and sized up, with
Jean groping and squeezing him when she continued to kiss him heavily.
Amara slid back, her pussy was wet and she opened her legs, looking at Harry's
already hardening cock.
"Need you, so badly," Amara breathed, cupping and playing with her pussy.
"Time to return the favor," Kitty responded, when she sat down on Amara's face,
putting her pussy on her mouth. "Eat up."
Amara ate up alright, tasting Kitty's tender pussy, licking her and indulging
herself in the sensations. Her tight little body tasted delicious and bombarded
her with sensations that she never thought that she would have. Her tongue
continued to work up a pattern, licking and slurping the lovely juices from the
tender core of the brunette mutant.
Harry knew what to do next, he took his throbbing rod and slid it into Amara
with ease. She moaned from beneath Kitty.
Jean latched her mouth to Kitty's to stop her moans and then she placed Kitty's
hands on her larger, more mature breasts. The brunette knew what to do, when
she started to play with the red heads breasts and rubbed her hand around them.
'Yes, Kitty, that's it, such a good girl,'Jean thought to her, feeling her
pussy drip but Rachel immediately latched her mouth onto it, causing Jean to
size up. Rogue found her way onto Rachel's pussy as well.
Rachel tasted and sucked at the place where she came out of during her
timeline, really using her tongue to work up the sensations of Jean. She could
feel her own body heating up and watched when Jean violated Kitty's mouth with
her tongue.
"Oh, yes, hot, keep doing that ladies," Harry grunted when he thrust his member
deep into Amara's pussy. His thrusts sped up more and more, to build up
anticipation within her, not to mention the pleasure. He watched when Kitty got
her pussy eaten, when she kissed with Jean, whilst also playing with her tits.
Rachel ate Jean's pussy, licking and slurping at it, while Rogue tackled
Rachel's.
'So hot, love your tongue,'Jean thought when her eyes flicked over. 'Not as
good...as Harry's, but still good.'
Harry's cock wrapped around the super tight pussy that he speared and he felt
her cum. She gave a shuddering orgasm.
"Who's next," Harry answered and Amara whined at the loss of his cock, even
though he kept his fingers in her.
"Me," Kitty breathed when she pulled herself away from Jean.
Kitty pushed Harry back, and kissed him madly, straddling his hips, before she
sank down onto him. In one fluid motion, she began to ride him.
"Oh yes, I missed this."
"You have...ah...no idea," Harry grunted when Kitty rocked her slim hips back
and forth, working him over with her lovely pussy. He reached up and grabbed
her B-Cup breasts playing with them. They wre sensitive and responsive to his
touch.
Kitty felt the pleasure course through her, she was already worked up towards
an orgasm but she tried to hold it back. She wanted to bring Harry to one, but
he could go a long time and she knew when she finished, Harry would go onto the
next girl.
Jean pulled Amara into a tight embrace, kissing the younger girl, and roaming
her hands over her body. Amara sucked on Jean's tongue at her encouragement,
feeling more and more pleasure coursing through her body. The hands of the
older girl ran over body and pleasure coursed over every inch of her.
Rachel and Rogue laid in a sexually charged sixty nine position, munching on
the pussies of each other. The two of them felt the rush that went through
their bodies and continued to feel the pleasure.
"More, please, Harry."
Kitty could not take it anymore and her pussy clenched tightly around his cock.
The brunette mutant bit down on Harry's shoulder to stifle the scream but he
was not that done, even as she came down from the orgasm she was given.
"My turn."
Rogue grabbed Harry's cock, teasing it a little bit, before Harry kissed her
back, teasing her opening with his fingers.
Amara's body heated up, as did Jean's. The younger girl grabbed the breast of
the older girl, twisting and pinching the nipples, gaining more confidence as
she played with her.
Kitty pouted at the loss, she was sure that she had Harry where she wanted him.
She did not have much time to worry when Rachel dove between her legs. Her
friend and lover munched on Kitty's center, eating and sucking at her, working
her over.
"Oh yes, Harry."
Rogue groaned hotly when Harry speared his cock into her tender center. He
leaned down and worshiped her breasts, squeezing the supple mounds in his
hands. Her ass rose up off the ground and Harry pinched the lovely flesh, when
he continued to lift himself up and spear himself down into her tight hole.
"Like that," Harry breathed when he cupped her.
"Yes, more, give me it all," Rogue breathed when she summoned her new found
strength to her inner muscles, she knew that Harry could take it and he speared
into her tight center, stretching her out with all he had.
"Look, you're all wet, that's okay, let me take care of you," Jean stated when
she plunged her finger into Amara and she breathed heavily, with Jean pushing
her finger in and out of her. She added a second finger into Amara's dripping
hole and a third, and continued to push into her. "You like that, don't you?"
"Oh yes, yes," Amara breathed when she took a moment to feel the pleasure of
Jean pumping her fingers into the sopping center and her eyes closed, with a
smile crossing her face. She felt the pleasure course through her body when it
heated up, in more ways than one. It caused steam to rise on the shower which
added to the erotic atmosphere.
Rogue reared her head back and screamed at the top of her lungs when Harry
speared into her, his balls slapping against her thighs. She got closer and
closer to the edge.
"Cum for me Harry, c'mon, I want it in me," Rogue whispered when she nibbled
seductively on Harry's ear.
"You'll...have to earn it."
Harry cupped Rogue's breasts when he picked up the face and she felt herself
clench together, she knew the rush was here. She watched Harry lick and suck on
her breasts, while he reached behind her and played with her ass. This was so
very hot.
She came hard and she saw stars when she did. She went down and breathed
heavily, panting when she slid down to the ground, pinching her breast when she
slid back.
Jean saw Harry was done with Rogue, although rather Rogue had been fucked cross
eyed. Knowing what she must do, she positioned herself where her face was
buried in Amara's snatch and she was hungrily licking the juices from between
her legs. Jean's hips arched up, when she was on her hands and knees.
'Come and get it, lover.'
Harry understood what she wanted immediately and he grabbed a handful of her
hot, sexy ass and squeezed her. He explored her moist folds and knew that it
would be a perfect fit for his throbbing member. He lined himself up, breathing
heavily, before he sank down into her, fucking her from behind, doggy-style.
Jean's eyes closed with pleasure but she kept her mind on the task between
Amara's leg. Her tongue worked over, licking and slurping every inch of the
pussy beneath her .She knew what was at stake and what was on the line. Amara
rose her hips up a little bit, panting heavily. Harry's cock on the other head,
pushed into her, plowing into her from behind. Jean could not describe how that
felt, a thousand pleasurable touches moved through her body.
"Tight, hot," Harry grunted when he pushed into her, his cock spearing Jean and
he reached around, cupping her swinging breasts in his hand. He played with the
lovely flesh in his hand, pinching them.
'Oh yeah Harry, that's the spot.'
The good thing about having sex with a telepath was that even when their mouths
were occupied, they could give one mental cues about what they liked.
"Fucking, tight," Harry grunted when he continued to spear his rod into the
dripping hot pussy of the beautiful woman in front of him. She pushed back at,
her center clenching around him tightly, showing superb muscle control.
Jean was not going to go down without a fight and because of her Phoenix Force
powers; she was the one with the most stamina. She was going to hold off her
own orgasm for as long as she could and Harry appreciated that, he enjoyed a
challenge. He saw Rogue against the wall, fingering herself and then tasting
her own juices.
Rogue fingered herself to the erotic sight of Harry pushing into Jean, while
Jean ate Amara's sopping wet pussy. It felt so good, she was going to treat
herself to another orgasm and she watched Harry push into Jean. She heard
Jean's mental moans in her head. She also kept an eye on Kitty and Rachel, who
indulged themselves in each other's pussies.
Harry plunged his cock into her pussy and she squeezed him. A few more hard
thrusts happened before his balls tightened and he spilled his cum into her
pussy.
Jean buried her face into Amara's pussy, when she came down, Harry running his
hands all over her sexy body, when he pushed into her. Her nipples remained
hard and she remained aroused when Harry thrust deep into her body. Cum
splattered from her pussy.
They were just getting started, there was plenty of time tonight.
Smut/Lemon Ends.
===============================================================================
 
A few hours later Harry turned his head, when he relaxed with Kitty resting
against his chest. Amara sat on the other side of him, with Rogue curled up
right at his feet. Bobby and Kurt sat on the couch right beside him. The other
members of the Institute mulled around, with Scott joining them.
"After the day that we had, I think that we should kick back and relax," Scott
stated, feeling the aches and pains in his body.
Harry actually thought that Scott showed an intelligent decision making process
for once and that hopefully would bode well for his future prospects. They were
rapidly reaching the middle of June and Harry planned his departure on
September 1st. He had been taking online courses to getting his teaching
certification and also hooking up a lot of other things that was needed. Given
that Fury owed him big time, Harry was able to cash on with a lot of Fury owed
him by getting things set up on that front, fast tracking him ahead of others.
"It would feel good to kick back, relax, and not have to worry about
everything," Kitty answered when she curled up against Harry and sighed, his
arms wrapping around her.
"You can say that again."
"You sure can."
The television was on and the television was talking to them. It took them a
few seconds to realize why the television was taking them. On the other side of
the television screen, stood the Merc with the Mouth himself, Deadpool, with a
laugh tracking going off behind him.
"The networks must be desperate to give that guy his own television show," Kurt
responded when he looked at the screen.
"You sure can say that again,Nightcrawler," Deadpool responded which caused the
furry mutant to lean up and turn his head around. He blinked a few times before
he turned around and his mouth wide opened.
'How did he know?'Kurt asked.
"I'm sure you're mentally asking myself, how did I know?" Deadpool asked with a
smug expression crossing his face and he cracked his knuckles. "Well you see
it's very simple and by very simple, I mean needlessly complicated. The last
time we met, for those who have short term memory problems, I was taken
advantage of by good old dishonest Abe himself. Guns were going off, people
were throwing babies in the air, and dogs and cats were living together, it was
sheer carnage and venom too...mmmm foreshadowing much?"
Deadpool knocked on the television screen.
"Hello, is anyone there?" Deadpool asked before he threw his head back and
laughed. "You see, I'm back and this time I'm working for the most fiendish,
the most diabolical, the most cruel forces on the planet Earth today."
Deadpool dropped his voice to a whisper.
"Network Television Executives."
Deadpool shuddered, he might be a whore but at least he was a high dollar
whore.
"Of course, this is the riskiest contract that I've ever taken because my boss,
well he could lose interest halfway through the scheme because you know,
Network Television Executives are very fickle," Deadpool commented lightly,
when he looked around. "You can have this hit television show, beloved by its
fan base but because it's beloved by the wrong demographic or the toys aren't
selling...it gets cancelled. And a bunch of fanboys on the Internet whine about
it."
Deadpool shook his head.
"Yes, boys and girls everything after your childhood sucked, now get over
yourselves."
He cleared his throat.
"Anyway, anywhere, where was I, ah yes, Arcane, Shadowcat, Rogue, Nightcrawler,
Iceman, Magma, you are the next contestants on today's lovely game show, the
Price is Wade! So come on down!"
A bright light engulfed them all. Harry tried to block the attack as much as he
could but the powers of Deadpool were too strong for him.
"You could block this attack naturally but we wouldn't have much dram, so let's
just say I sold my soul to Mephisto for this magical remote control device,"
Deadpool answered when he sucked them into the television. "At least I didn't
sell my marriage...LIKE SOME PEOPLE WE KNOW!"
The X-Men except for Cyclops was sucked into the television scream.
"Sorry, Summers, but no one likes you except for the point three percent of the
people who do like you," Deadpool responded when he shook his head. "Actually
that might be a tad bit generous, but I do know one thing, you're rating's
death. Every time you're on screen, everything gets sucked down to your low
pitiful level."
Deadpool paused before he winked.
"Stay tuned more to come, after these messages."
To Be Continued in the Next Chapter "We're in TV."
***** We're In TV *****
Chapter Forty One: We're in TV(aka That's Mojotainment.)
The good news for Bobby Drake, better known as Iceman was that he always wanted
to be on television. Call it a quirk in his personality or whatever, but
television appealed to him and his sense of drama. He smiled when he thought of
all of the possibilities that being on television could bring. His very being
tingled with excitement and he wondered what was going to come next. The young
mutant turned to his fellow team members, Magma,Nightcrawler, Rogue, Shadowcat,
and Arcane, when they stood on the stage, but none of them looked to be too
happy with what was going on.
In fact some of them looked rather peeved.
Then again, Bobby supposed that he could not blame them at all, given that they
were unexpectedly sucked through the television screen against their will.
Nightcrawler, Arcane, and Shadowcat looked rather agitated when they saw this
Deadpool character show up. Personally, Bobby never met him in his life,
although he did wonder if that was a good thing or not."
"Let's tell our fabulous contestants what they've won!" Deadpool chanted when
he looked down at them from the podium.
Rogue's eyes spun around and agitation filled her eyes, before she looked at
Deadpool. "I'll tell you what you've won, my fist in your face!"
Deadpool waved his finger in a reprimanding manner, a smile crossing his face,
when he looked down at Rogue from his pedestal. "Temper, temper."
"I haven't even begun to lose my temper!" Rogue shouted but Harry grabbed her
by the hand, he wanted to warn her that what she was about to do was not a good
idea. The young mutant shifted a little bit when Harry held her hand. "I'm...I
suppose you have some ideas on how to get out of here, so we don't have to
listen to that guy's voice much longer."
"I'm sure he does," Kitty answered in an approving voice, when she looked back
at Harry, who paused and blinked a little bit. "Or he will in a minute, I
guess."
Harry mulled over the situation in his mind, he remembered the rules for
training, it was always a good idea to have a plan and a backup plan. That way
if the first plan flew off the rails, one could pull their back up plan out of
their hat. It was a longshot that any single plan would work but longshots was
what Harry Potter lived for. He turned to his team members and offered a sigh.
"Let's figure out what he is up to."
"Figure it out no more, oh Harry Boy!" Deadpool stated, his voice echoing from
the skybox, amplified a hundredfold. "You see, I've developed a nice little
game, a game that the two of us could play. I've brought forth some guests, who
are not infringing upon copyright in any way whatsoever."
There was a buzzing, when Deadpool felt he had to clarify that point for any
legal type people that might be hovering around. The last thing he wanted to do
was get his pants sued off. He quite liked his pants intact thank you very
much.
"Back by the demand of absolutely nobody...THE CONFORMITY CUBS!"
A flying troupe of multi colored bears with hearts with the words "conform" and
"obey" etched on their chests appeared. They gave a sinister and sugary
laughter, when they approached the group, their eyes glowing in a creepy
manner.
'Umbridge would approve,'Harry thought, shaking his head.
"You will conform."
"Hugs are the way of the future."
"You will have no feelings that will be against the mindset the hive. All will
have bright smiles or will be eradicated."
"You will care."
"System error. Reboot programming."
Rogue pulled a face before she offered a statement that reflected the mindset
of the entire group. "Those things are hideous!"
Harry would have to agree and he showed his agreement by aiming a shot at one
of the bears, decapitating it with a well-placed spell. He watched as the head
of the cute, fluffy, and quite creepy bear blew off its shoulders, flying to
the ground.
"Bobby, freeze them!"
"Gotcha."
Bobby aimed his hands and the bears froze, before they shattered to the ground,
into millions of pieces. Kitty reached up towards them, pushing her hands
through, before she short circuited them. There was an explosion when the bears
blew to dust. Rogue jumped up in the air, taking flight, and she used her super
strength to punch one of the bear's heads clean off.
"Yeah, that won't give any kids nightmares."
Amara turned around, lighting the bears up. She looked quite flummoxed about
the situation and turned to the rest of the group, biting down on her lip.
"Is this what passes as entertainment?"
Kitty rolled her eyes. "Trust me, no one finds it entertaining."
She smashed several of the bears into pieces, causing them to fly in every
single direction in a shower of mulit-color sparks. They ground to a stop when
they landed on the ground, twisting and scrapping when they did. Harry waited
before he conjured a solid spear and lit it on fire, before he blew up several
of the wicked creations in one shot.
"Oh that's going to leave a mark, hey, I just painted that one, watch it, watch
it!"
"Does this guy ever shut up?"
That statement by Bobby got sad shakes of the head of Kurt, Kitty, and Harry
who used a triple team attack.
"I even think these things are hideous," Kurt stated when he shuddered and
teleported out of the way of a beam. He figured that it was not a good idea if
he got hit by these laser blasts, they would either hurt or hypnotize him
again, either was not an attractive option. He dropped down to the ground and
he twisted the head off, causing it to snap off. Rogue grabbed the head from
his hands and crushed it in hers.
Deadpool watched the insanity of it all, he was running out of his sugary
coated super soldiers, but thankfully he had a back-up plan. One should always
have a back up plan for reasons like this, because there will be always be
someone who would ruin his first plan. He felt the heat pour on when Magma took
out one of the legions of cubs with her powers.
"And Round Two, fight!"
Deadpool released the robotic ninja monkeys. Why was it robotic ninja monkeys?
It was Deadpool, that's all of the people needed to know. He thought it was an
extremely good idea.
Deadpool watched when Harry Potter ran through his army like a hot knife
through butter. It was just as well, he got this great deal of robot parts. But
that was another story for another time, now, Deadpool had to wait for these
particular robots to get mowed down. He hummed elevator music when he waited
and watched the action, rocking back and forth on his seat. He folded his arms
when he inclined his head and watched the action through his beady eyes.
"Nothing really of note is happening...that was a nice tandem attack."
Deadpool tapped his pen when he watched and decided to spice things up with
some robotic clown penguins. Why robotic clown penguins? Again, it was
Deadpool, there was no explanation that was needed beyond him being Deadpool.
"What is this guys obsession with random and weird robots?"
Rogue asked this question in an agitated manner when she smashed said robots
into hundreds of little pieces. The young mutant continued to hammer her
enemies, attacking them with fury and sending them flying in every single
direction. The mutant fought through with fierce determination, but her dream
was to go forward and wrap her hands around Deadpool's throat hard to strangle
the life out of him.
"It's Deadpool, don't ask."
Kitty smiled when Harry responded with that statement. He grabbed her by the
hands and swung her, causing her to fly through the robots. She phased through
it, causing it to blow up when she pulled the right wires. The brunette landed
carefully on her feet, before spinning around.
"Wise words to live by," Kitty answered when she tried to punch one of the
robots but a shielding appeared around it. "And I've been blocked
out...wonderful."
Kitty pouted in anger but Harry smiled, he knew that when there was a will,
there was a way, there always was a way. He summoned the full force of his
powers to himself, and they crashed in the air. They lit up several of the
robots and exploded in a shower of nuts and bolts. They flopped to the ground,
nowhere near complete and Harry dropped to the ground, but it was not because
of exhaustion, it was fake out. Although why he was faking out robots, he had
no idea, because it was not like they knew.
Harry blasted the robots with an attack and the battle raged on.
===============================================================================
Deadpool waited for everything to cool down, a smile crossing his face beneath
his mask and he decided to pass the time in between fights. Plus the children
would get bored pretty soon, they had short attention spans.
"So, one of the great literary classics was called My Immortal," Deadpool
narrated when he put on a pair of glasses and read. "It has been said that this
has been a masterwork of a devious troll but I say it is the work of a literary
genius whose talent cannot be classed by any mortal means. The character of
Ebony or is it Enoby, is a complex and deep character, with layers that us mere
mortals cannot even begin to comprehend."
Deadpool paused and smiled before he went back into his monologue.
"And with such biting and cutting edge dialogue like, "what the hell are you
doing, motherfucker" and "he put his thingy in my you-know-what and we did it
for the first time", how could you not be enthralled with such a literary work
of genius. GENIUS! GENIUS! SUGAR! But mostly Genius! But also sugar!"
Deadpool paused.
"WILSON!"
Deadpool's head turned around and he winced slightly, for it was time for the
boss to show up and if Deadpool knew the boss, he was not going to be too
happy. He waited on him to arrive, taking a moment to lean back and sigh. This
was not going according to anything that he planned but sure enough, the boss
walked in or rather rolled in. Deadpool tried to stand up to be professional or
at least as professional as he was going to be.
To describe Mojo, well to describe him in one word, that word would simply be
hideous. To describe him in two words "ugly motherfucker" came to mind. He was
the color of rancid milk, with yellow eyes and liver spots, along with sharp
teeth. He walked around on mechanical legs due to being too fat to walk out of
him.
"You aren't delivering me the ratings."
"What do you want me to do?" Deadpool asked when he looked at his boss. "I'm
trying to run an entertaining program here and I can't do it with network
executives butting it."
Mojo shook his head. "Entertaining, pah-shaw, that's not entertaining, that is
not bringing in the coveted two to five demographic. We need more body humor,
more puns; we need people dropping their pants."
"Really, you think kids are that stupid?" Deadpool asked when he turned to
Mojo.
"We need jokes about the toilet, increased by two hundred percent," Mojo
responded when he looked at Deadpool before his face twisted into a grin. "We
need humor."
Deadpool decided to enlighten his boss on one simple matter. "You see when we
make those jokes, the children are laughing at us and not with us."
"Pah-shaw, you don't know anything about entertainment."
'And Mr. Executive knows what sells?'Deadpool thought when he turned his head
around.
"Okay, you want ratings," Deadpool stated when he focused back on the matter at
hand. "There's...there's one question."
Mojo invited him to clarify, so Deadpool did.
"Do you want me to do this while I juggle flaming wine glasses while gerbils
gnaw on my bits or not?"
"Don't get cute with me, Wilson!"
Deadpool threw his hands up, offering an innocent pose to Mojo before he
stated. "Hey, I prefer the term roguishly handsome, really. And hey, there's no
need...there's no need to give me the third degree, I'm going, I'll get things
done, trust me, you'll see."
"You better, for your sake."
"I thought we were getting plenty of positive reviews," Deadpool answered when
he folded his arms and inclined his head. "You know, on the Internet."
Mojo's face twisted into a skeptical expression. "That's a lie, THERE'S NOTHING
POSITIVE WRITTEN ON THE INTERNET!"
Spit flew in the general direction of Deadpool wondered what he could have been
thinking when he agreed to work with a network television executive. They were
a rather pushy lot all things considered, they wanted everything done yesterday
and not a second before. He wanted to bang his head against something hard and
solid, likely the wall, but that was beside the point. The Merc With the Mouth
was about to get serious or at least as serious as he ever got.
The point was that Deadpool needed to keep a closer eye on his new co-stars.
"And remember, Wilson, if the ratings drop under your watch, you'll be the one
that will be canceled. Just ask your predecessor."
Said predecessor rested on the floor, smoke coming from his head and Deadpool
shuddered, that was a hell of a way to leave an impression, albeit it was not a
very good impression. Never the less, Deadpool spun around, he knew what was on
the line now, namely his life and since he was quite fond of it, he was not
about to lose it.
===============================================================================
Back to action, the X-Men were dealing with their enemies, another string of
robots. This was one of those good news, bad news situations. On the one hand,
they had several moving targets to work with, where they blasted their enemies
down.
On the bad news front, the targets were infinite, no matter what their best
efforts were, they kept coming.
"The key to getting out of here is the remote control," Harry answered when he
looked up and it struck him immediately. "We need to get Deadpool to relinquish
the remote!"
Rogue rolled her eyes a little bit and scoffed. "Get...get another guy to
relinquish is precious remote control? Are you crazy, that's never going to
work?"
"Yeah, for sure, I'm a guy, and even I know that's a crapshoot at best," Bobby
stated, when he aimed his hands and launched cold jets of ice. He froze his
enemies and once again they shattered to the ground.
Kitty smashed through one of the enemies, with Amara and Rogue helping her.
Kurt jumped into the attack, leaving the carnage of broken robot parts in his
wake. The fuzzy mutant's eyes snapped up before he turned around and sighed.
"That's...that's the only shot we have."
"That's for sure," Harry agreed when he propelled some flaming daggers from his
hand and shot them at his adversaries. He saw a door, locked, likely some kind
of area where Deadpool was broadcasting his little messages for them.
It was locked, by mundane means but magic, well magic could do anything and
Harry was willing to hammer that fact out. He pushed himself forward, waiting
for everyone to move around him. They knew by now what he wanted to accomplish
without communicating with him. That was a good thing, they could surround him
and block him. His team covered his back, as they should; it was what good team
members did. It was what a good team leader accomplished when he molded them
into a working unit.
Harry fired an attack and blew the door off of the hinges.
"HEY, YOU'RE NOT ALLOWED BACK HERE, SECURITY!"
Security came, in the form of giant turtles dressed like ninjas, again Harry
was going to abstain comment.
"COWABUNGA!"
Harry nailed one of the turtles hard with an attack. It was carrying a pizza
but the pizza quickly fell to the ground and out of his grasp.
"I've got your back Harry!"
That was Kitty, she rushed forward, doing a somersault and looking nimble,
before she smashed one of the attacks down with both feet. The robotic turtles
that did ninjitsu and were likely teenagers and mutants as well, but a catchy
name for them escaped Harry at the moment. However, they were taken down
handily. Sparks flew from them, when Kitty and Harry rushed their way up the
stairs, followed by Kurt, Rogue, Amara, and Bobby.
"Don't let them up here!"
Harry was about tired of this fooling around by Deadpool and he stormed his way
up the stairs, it was almost like he was storming the castle. His eyes
narrowed, before he decided to ask in the nicest way possible the following
question.
"GIVE ME THE REMOTE!"
"NEVER! YOU'LL HAVE TO PRY IT FROM MY COLD DEAD HANDS, BUCKO!"
"WHY ARE WE SHOUTING?"
"IT'S FUN!"
Harry pulled the remote control device from Deadpool's hand with a summoning
spell and it landed in his head. Harry caught it and smug satisfaction filled
his face.
"I've got it."
"That's cheating."
Harry retorted back. "No that's winning, and so is this."
He blasted Deadpool hard and he blew to pieces, to reveal that he was a robot.
"Oh right, like I'd be anywhere near this situation, with a person who actually
kills people that tries to kill them, like I'd be putting myself in a situation
where I'd be killed by them. I might be the Merc With the Mouth but I'm also a
Merc with a brain. Plus the fanboys would riot if I got killed off, so got to
keep myself alive somehow."
Deadpool's face appeared on the video scream, masked, wearing a Speedo and
sipping a martini while he was on the beach.
"Yeah, that was fun, you blew up one of my best droids, and you got the magical
remote, it's funny what you can find at a garage sale these days, or wherever I
found it, I can't keep these things straight in my head," Deadpool responded
when he winked at the group who stared back at him with contempt. "Tough crowd,
oh boy, that's a tough crowd. All I'm going to say, is Albus Severus
Potter...worst threesome ever. Now Lily Luna Potter...that's a threesome made
of win."
Harry decided to shake his head, he really had no idea what Deadpool was
talking about and neither did his teammates. They were going to assume that he
was completely and utterly nuts. All he knew was that he had the remote control
in his hands and that was what wins truly were made of. All he had to do was
activate it and he would find his way home in a matter of time. He smiled but
suddenly a figure appeared before them all.
"Oh no you don't."
Harry turned towards him and Kitty and Kurt looked at him with widened eyes.
Rogue spoke for all of them with her next statement, which was said with
widened eyes and a disgusted expression on her face.
"WHAT IN THE HELL IS THAT THING?"
Harry paused, blinking, that was a good question, what in the hell was that
thing indeed? The young wizard did not know, in fact he kept blinking and
staring his adversary down. This abomination had pasty white skin, the color of
rancid milk and that was only the tip of the iceberg. He stood before the
ground, glaring menacingly when he stared them down. His teeth twisted when he
stared down the X-Men and then, much to their horror, he began to speak.
"I'm not going to let my rating's draws get away that easily. You guys, you're
a hit, you've actually managed to keep the viewers interested and believe me,
given the attention span of some of these people, that's saying a lot. A hell
of a lot, if you want to...we're going to keep you together. The lot of you,
you're going to be stars, superstars, for as lot as you get the ratings. When
you stop getting the ratings, well canceled, you know how that goes."
Kitty raised an eyebrow before she asked the obvious question. "Is this guy for
real?"
Harry swallowed and turned a little bit, shivering slightly. "I'm afraid so."
"Look, we just want to go home," Kurt responded when he looked at them. "So
could you, get out of the way, and maybe we can all get out of here, remain
friends, that would be great, wouldn't it?"
Something told Harry that it was not going to be that easy. The television
director laughed when he looked at them, shaking his head before he smirked.
"Leave, leave, no, no, no, nopers, you see, I now own you, each and every one
of you..."
Harry pressed a button on the remote control, which muted him. He smiled,
before he programmed it to send him off.
"I sent him to a test pattern," Harry answered with a shrug and Kitty asked the
obvious question.
"How did you know how to send him to a test pattern?"
"I read the manual when he was going on his speech," Harry answered to the
group and Kurt smiled brightly.
"Makes sense to me."
Rogue offered a smile of her own before she turned her head around. "Yeah,
makes a lot of sense to me...so since you read that manual, I don't suppose
there's a way for you to get us all out of here, before our brain rots for too
much television?"
Amara, Bobby, and Kitty all agreed and Harry held the remote control in his
hand, before he pointed it and it propelled the entire group outside of the
television. A flash of light engulfed them as they rode the waves back to the
Xavier Institute. They appeared in a crash, about a half of an hour after they
left.
Logan looked at them when they arrived, his eyebrow cocked. "Dare I ask?"
Harry shrugged and smirked before he answered the question. "I don't want to
talk about it ever again."
"Me either," Rogue answered when they all nodded in affirmation, today's battle
was going to be one of those things where they walked in and did not talk about
it, even though it did seem like it was a good idea at the time.
"Let's never speak of this mission ever again," Kurt stated with a shudder.
"Agreed," Harry responded and the group nodded carefully.
Kitty's face twisted into a bright smile before she spoke. "You know, all and
all, I think I'll go for a good book, because I've had enough television for
one day."
"Yeah, can't argue with that," Bobby answered with Logan raising an eyebrow.
"The ice cube reading voluntarily, must have been something in there if we're
able to accomplish that feat."
Harry's face twisted into a smile before he remarked in a calm and casual
voice. "You have no idea."
"I'm sure I can imagine something," Logan responded when he folded his arms.
Jean walked over, pleased that Harry was okay but they could worry about that
later.
"You all did well in there."
"I hope we did," Kitty stated when she smiled and looked at them all.
"Needs work, but will do for now."
From Logan, Harry would take that praise one hundred percent of the way. The
young wizard thought about what they needed to do. He had a training session
tomorrow and a series of meetings with a bunch of different people. He hoped
that the insanity died down enough for him to get all that he needed to get
done, done, or there was going to be a problem. Things looked really promising
and Harry hoped to keep that up, when his team adapted and improved.
===============================================================================
Another day, another session in the Danger Room and it was long and grueling as
always. Harry felt that he needed to push the new recruits to their fullest, if
there was no pain, there was no gain, or so the saying went. Plus he learned
more from falling on his face, then succeeding. Some of these training
simulations were destined to make them cope with failure and to adapt from it.
"Take a few minute break whilst I load the next training simulation."
Harry saw Xavier standing before him and he figured this conversation was going
to come. Although he did not know that it was going to come this sooner or
later. They had been dancing around the subject for weeks now.
"Professor, how may I help you?"
Xavier decided to remain cool, or as cool as he could .Given the situation,
Harry suspected that there was some tension in the air. "I heard some rumors
that you were considering leaving the Institute come September 1st and I wish
to verify if they are accurate or not."
"I am considering all options, but yes, my leaving is a strong possibility,"
Harry answered diplomatically before he continued in a diplomatic tone of
voice. "Allow me to say that I appreciate what the Xavier Institute has given
me but I do think that it's time for me to find my own place in the world, that
I can build on my own."
He did not want to mention the dreams that he had been having, because he felt
that was on a need to know basis. Plus he felt it was his journey to take and
his alone. There was something about, something that would tell him where he
really was.
Xavier decided to prod for some information but he did not want to sound like
was trying to stall Harry's leaving. If he did something like that, he feared
that the time table would be accelerated. "Is there anything that I could do to
change your mind?"
Harry frowned before he looked at Xavier. "I fear that everything being either
you or Magneto is unfair, Professor. What if people had a third option?"
Xavier remained silent; he did not want to enlighten Harry on what the third
option was. He knew of the Hellfire Club and its existence. Both Magneto and
Xavier agreed that the Club was too powerful although there was no way to put
it down. Both had their contacts inside the Club, which would give them
information. Right now they were plotting and planning.
"I think that you've done a good job in setting up this school," Harry
responded, not mentioning the flaws he found, because if Xavier couldn't see
them, then he saw no reason why he should tell him. "Granted, nothing is
perfect."
"We would have to agree on that statement," Xavier responded when he watched
Harry load up the training simulator. "If this is about your tension with
Scott..."
"Trust me, any problem Scott has with me is his problem because I don't have a
problem with him," Harry answered when he turned his back on Xavier. "He's got
to learn that being a leader is more than being handed that distinction on a
silver platter."
"Yes, I believe I may have put too much faith in him, too soon, "Xavier mused,
when he thought about this point. "I do hope that your group whatever it is and
the X-Men could work together."
"It's not like I'm moving to a different planet," Harry responded carefully
when he loaded the training simulator up, getting everything ready to go. It
sure felt like he was from one sometimes but that was beside the point. He drew
in a deep breath. "We're still going to be in this together, I just hope...well
I just hope that everything turns out for the best with humans and mutants."
Xavier could take that statement any way he wanted to, to be honest, Harry left
it open to interpretation.
The problem was that there were good mutants and good humans, and bad mutants
and bad humans. Harry understood that this would not be all sunshine and roses.
He continued to watch the training session, thinking about how far they've come
but how far they're yet to go.
He was hoping that Xavier would offer him some incentive to stay, that would
make him almost reconsider. Even if his mind was essentially made up.
Yet Harry was offered nothing so he shrugged. He did wonder what this would do
for the team but he had to worry about what was best for him. The Xavier
Institute allowed him to fine tune his skills and put himself back on his feet.
After those skills were fine-tuned, he could move on and move forward with
everything in life.
He hoped that he could find out answers about himself, about these dreams that
he thought about. And also about curing Sirius, but so far that was one dead
end after another. There was something that he could use but it was out of
reach. And he sadly came to the conclusion that Sirius might not be the same
Sirius, that part could not be denied.
"Multiple, excellent work today, the wrist band I got is working wonders. Of
course, there will be a time where you need to learn how to control your
duplication without it, as magical trinkets and electronics can make you become
lazy."
Multiple nodded, he supposed this made some degree of sense.
"Sunspot, not bad today, although you may want to keep it up with wearing that
modified suit of yours."
Sunspot understood, the suit trained him to naturally absorb the sun's rays.
"Boom Boom, targeting is good, although try and offer a bit more speed and
finesse."
"Gotcha," Tabitha stated with a smile.
Harry really thought that he had far less notes for these people then before.
Although there were rumors that Xavier was going to get another batch of
mutants come the fall, there were more blips coming in than ever before. Harry
might want to stick around for a little bit to see if there was any talent that
he could scout before he moved off into the night.
===============================================================================
"You are a very difficult man to get in touch with."
Felicia Hardy, better known as the Black Cat, sat before Harry. She dressed in
a black jacket, along with a tight black top that showed her cleavage. She wore
blue jeans that slung down low. She faced Harry, who had Jean and Kitty in toe
with him. Not that he could not handle himself but it was important that he had
a little bit of backup in case someone attacked him, as they were want to do in
public.
"Well, see you're quite the lady's man," Felicia responded when she faced the
trio of them.
"You must be Felicia," Kitty stated when she looked at the older girl, she
looked about nineteen, twenty years old. "I'll look forward to getting to know
you better later."
Felicia offered a grin at the implications that statement offered, before she
turned around the envelope that she had in her hand and passed it to Harry.
"There it is everything that I got, I took my cut but if you don't believe me,
you can check it out."
Harry explained to Jean and Kitty that he conjured real jewels which were far
more valuable than the fake ones at the museum that Felicia tried to steal.
Sure enough, she came through.
"I only steal from people who can afford to take the loss, your Osborns, your
Fisks, the Shaws, people like that," Felicia commented when she ran her hands
through her hair and smiled. "The people who I wouldn't lose any sleep at night
thinking that they lost money and I don't think you would lose that much sleep
either."
Harry would have to agree, a few rich people down, it wasn't like some of these
names were not doing anything that could be borderline illegal.
"I love to stay longer but...I've got to do the secret identity thing, for my
mother's sake at least," Felicia answered when she reached forward and gave
Harry a nice kiss on the lips, before she pulled back. "I'm sure we'll be
seeing plenty more of each other. Let me know if you need me to get anything
else. Or if you want to conjure a few more jewels."
"No it's best to do that sparingly, every few months, although with deals like
that, we're not hurting for money," Harry stated when he looked at Jean and
Kitty.
Jean decided to state something to Harry, waiting until Felicia departed from
the premises to make her move.
"When you leave..."
"Jean, that's not for a while yet," Harry responded when he looked back at her.
"Trust me, it's a few months, at most."
Kitty was not buying it for a moment, she knew that Harry had most of
everything lined up. "I can't believe that you can't just walk out whenever you
please."
Harry agreed, technically speaking he could walk out of the Xavier at any time
he pleased, at least of three months ago, but the problem was premises and
everything. Also security equipment was going to be something that could be a
concern. Harry wanted to have a mixture of magical and mundane security
systems, so he did not have to rely on or get screwed over by one or another.
He worked with Forge to try and get some ideas together. He also had a few
other contacts that he worked with. He also had a contact at NASA.
The Xavier Institute had a state of the art security system but given all of
the people who broke in, Harry thought that Xavier should have gotten a second
opinion. If nothing else, the security system has been compromised on seventeen
separate occasions. That was the kind of record that concerned Harry. It was a
good thing that some of the people inside were more competent.
Harry on the other hand, had a lot to do, and the first thing possible was to
meet with his lawyer friend to talk about his options regarding Wanda. He
wanted to keep his promise to get her out of the Asylum by the end of the
summer.
He hoped that when he talked to his lawyer, she'll have a lot of the right
answers.
To Be Continued in the Next Chapter "Interactions."
***** Interactions *****
Chapter Forty Two: Interactions.
Harry took a moment to take a few strides towards his destination. The young
wizard took a few steps forward to the law offices that he took his trip
towards. He hoped that this lawyer would be able to assist him with Wanda.
Whilst he managed to make some concessions with getting her out of that place a
lot more often, legally there was only so much he could do. Illegally, there
was a lot he could do but eliminating the paper trail would be a problem. And
if he missed one scrap of paper, that would mean the wrong people looking ofr
him.
He sat out in the room outside of the office, before his arms crossed before he
tapped his foot on the ground and waited. He heard the music playing in the
background, before the door opened and an aide walked out.
"Ms. Walters will see you now," the aide stated in a bright and sunny voice.
Harry smiled, before he walked into the office of his attorney. Her fees seemed
rather reasonable, providing of course she could help him. That was the
problem, finding an attorney that was worth their salt. He inclined his head,
before he closed his eyes and continued to walk forward towards the office,
crossing his arms.
"Mr. Potter."
Harry stopped at the desk, with a young woman, maybe not five or six years
older than him. She had dark hair and glasses, with a conservative business
suit.
"Jennifer Walters," the woman stated in a businesslike tone of voice. She eyed
Harry before a thought reached her mind. "I believe you've met my cousin."
Harry raised an eyebrow. "Your cousin?"
Jen smiled before she decided to clue Harry in on the fact. "Big, green,
smashes things a lot, you know a guy that you wouldn't like when you were
angry."
Harry realized that immediately. "So your cousin is...Banner."
"Yeah, that's a talking point at family gatherings," Jen stated with a smile
before she looked at Harry and cleared her throat. "Down to business, I believe
we have a few things to discuss about Ms. Maximoff and her future."
Harry decided that was for the best, after all that was the reason why they
were here.
"I must admit, Wanda's case is rather intriguing and odd, especially given the
circumstances she was sent to the Asylum," Jen answered when she looked at
Harry through a pair of narrowed eyes.
Harry waited to see what she found odd about it and his lawyer was not about to
let him down.
"She was sent there when she was seven years old, if I'm not mistaken," Jen
responded when she looked at Harry and the young wizard responded with a crisp
nod. "Yes, and you've included in your claim that the drugs were causing her to
lose more control of her powers, not gain them."
"I have words from an expert, no less than the Sorcerer Supreme, that the drugs
in her system has caused her to lose all control of his powers," Harry
answered, showing the written statement of Strange to his lawyer. "And if you
want to talk to him, I'm sure he'll give you more information. She might have
been trained up properly by now if they hadn't been drugging her."
Harry paused before he added.
"Thankfully I was able to convince them to stop the dosages but there was still
damage that was done."
"So do you think that you can get the Asylum for negligence?" Jen asked and
Harry shrugged his shoulders before he dove into a further explanation.
"That's not high on my list of priorities, I wouldn't expect a group of
mundanes to understand the type of magic that Wanda has. It's beyond their
studies, their capabilities to understand, and they treated her powers like
some kind of medical disorder, some sickness. I don't know what her father told
them, if anything, if they dropped her off and run."
Jen rubbed her chin in thought before she took a moment to think.
"That could be a concern but the problem is her guardian, Raven Darkholme," Jen
stated when she looked at Harry.
Harry nodded; he understood that to be a problem as well.
"A problem I've managed to figure out how to deal with," Harry answered when he
threw the papers down on the table. "Here is evidence supporting crimes that
she did, so she wouldn't be a fit guardian. Many of them involve murder and
blackmail."
Jen looked over the information Harry obtained, with a raised eyebrow and a
smile on her face when she flicked over everything. She tapped the book on the
side of the table, before she read through the information.
"Also, I'm certain that we could get records of the dosages and how they may
have been potentially fatal if Wanda hadn't had her powers," Harry added when
he looked at the lawyer.
"As long as you don't do anything too shifty to get them," Jen answered but
Harry offered an innocent smile, before he twisted his head around.
"I don't know what you could be implying."
Jen smiled back at them but she read the information, it was hard to believe
some of this information but in her line of work, she was not surprising. She
dealt with a few weird cases in her short time as a lawyer. "I believe that
with this information, we can get the custody of Wanda transferred over you by
the end of the summer."
Harry thought that fit into his timetable quite nicely, he was about ready to
leave the Xavier Institute, making that announcement officially at the end of
August. He had a place lined up where he would be setting up shop, although it
was more of an unofficial headquarters for now until he got everything
outfitted out. Although that unofficial headquarters would be his base of
operations as far as the general public was concerned, he was setting up
another base that was more private and exclusive, with a portal in between the
two of them that could be only accessed by him and people he keyed it. It
needed three elements, blood, a password, and the brainwave patterns of the
person keyed in. Magic could do a lot of things. Even with that, Harry felt a
bit more security was necessary. There were a million things to do between now
and then, and Harry hoped to get everything lined up properly.
As for Wanda, well he got her out of there every weekend, and gave her plenty
to do during the week. The doctors in that place left her alone for the most
part, which was a good thing, because she had her share of bad memories. Harry
saw flashes of the doctors tying her down and injecting various drugs into her
system.
That was a horrifying thought but one that Harry would ensure was a thing for
the past for her.
"We'll have another meeting next week when I have more information," Jen
answered when she looked at Harry.
Harry smiled back at her. "Looking forward to it."
This was going to be one of those days where Harry hoped everything was going
to turn out for the best, even though he suspected there was some kind of dark
storm cloud hovering over everything.
===============================================================================
Adapting to the modern life was a challenge for Captain America but one that he
hoped to deal with. Life in the year 2001 was most certainly different from the
year of the 1940s. He stood outside of the Danger Room in the Xavier Institute,
standing next to Logan, with a smile on his face when he surveyed the group
inside.
"It's weird how the world has changed," Steve stated when he looked at Logan.
Logan's eyes narrowed and a grin cracked over his face. "I've lived every year
since the 1940s and before, and I still find it weird, so you're in good
company, Cap."
Logan's eyes snapped towards the Danger Room when he watched the New Mutants.
He had to give Harry credit, he really made something out of these kids. They
weren't the best in the world but there were far worse people in there and far
worse people who could train them.
"Not too bad," Steve responded when he watched them. "Some of them...well a
couple of them tend to take their eye off the ball. But you'd get that on any
team."
"Yeah, the ice cube," Logan grunted, knowing who his old friend was talking
about, when he turned around and watched everything.
"So where is the leader?"
"Depends on what one you're talking about," Logan answered, sure Summers was
there, hanging in the background but he had a sinking feeling that wasn't who
Captain America was talking about.
"Arcane, young Mr. Potter, I don't think I have had a chance to properly talk
to him when we're not getting killed," Steve stated and Logan turned before he
nodded.
"Well, Potter's always busy with something, doing something," Logan stated
before he mentally added "or someone", before he cleared his mind and turned
his head a little bit. "He'll be around. So are the Avengers getting off the
ground?"
Captain America mulled this over in his mind. "We're...well a team isn't built
in a day and we've had our share of growing pains."
"You don't say," Logan answered when he stopped and stared.
"That's for sure."
Harry turned up, looking rather tense but pleased all things considered.
"I figured you'd be showing up sometime soon," Logan commented without taking
his eyes off of the action.
"It's good to see you again," Captain America agreed when he turned towards
Harry.
"You as well," Harry said when he shook hands with the Spirit of America.
Harry did not say anything this entire time but actually he had been standing
there the entire time during most of the training session. All he missed was
the first couple minutes at the beginning, he crossed his arms when he closed
his eyes and thought about everything. There were many things that they were
doing right, more right.
He turned and could tell that Captain America made his share of notes in the
back of his head, the team could benefit from the experience of someone like
Captain America. He had been through many battles and many wars. The man's eyes
looked forward and Harry offered a look towards him. He did not want to seem
like that he was fishing for input but still to have the input of someone like
this old soldier would allow Harry to see what still needed to be done. While
he had a good amount of ideas what to do, there were instances where he thought
he had a blind spot or two.
Fortunately, Captain America was all too ready to tell him what was going to
happen.
"They aren't doing too bad," Captain America admitted when he turned towards
Harry. "The best thing is that you've got them to a point where they can
function on their own without too many problems. There will be circumstances
where you won't always be around to lead them. The strength of a team leader is
not how well he leads them when he or she is there, but rather how well the
team functions when the leader is absent."
Were they going through their growing pains, yes they were? Harry knew that,
Logan knew that, Cap knew that, and every single member of the team who was on
the senior squad and many of the new recruits knew that.
It was all about practice, all about making sure that they got the most out of
everything.
"And that's a wrap," Logan stated when the new recruits staggered out. "A new
record, none of you passed out, well done."
Harry cracked a slight smile in amusement. Some of them looked sick, with
Jubilee and Sunspot being the two key offenders.
"Great, wonderful," Jubilee stated, when she hung onto the wall and panted
heavily.
"No sweat," Boom Boom remarked but she got a few looks from her teammates that
insisted that this was the wrong thing today. "Okay, maybe a little bit of
sweat."
"Nah, we nailed it pretty good, didn't we?" Iceman asked when he looked at them
with a smug expression, but in reality his knees barely were able to hold his
weight.
"You'll get my notes later, as always and I'm sure Logan will have a few words
for you all," Harry stated and Logan nodded.
"Not bad but you need a bit more focus in there and you need to quit tripping
over each other," Logan stated.
"It only happened once..."
"Once is what kills ya."
No one could argue with that statement from Logan but Steve took a moment to
chuckle, Logan never changed. Some might say that the years mellowed people out
but with Logan, the inverse was true. The years did not mellow him out at all,
they made him more grizzled.
"Now, you have potential," Steve stated when he looked at them all and they
listened to him, their ears wide open and with wide eyes. "Out on the
battlefield, it's good to listen to your leader but there can be a problem.
There are times where the leader does not have the right answers or even if he
is indisposed. If you wish to go against orders, you got to justify it and
improvise."
Iceman decided to be the one to ask the question. "When do we know?"
"Trust me, you'll know," Captain America responded but he then paused and
amended. "You need to creatively engaging your surroundings. There will be
times where there will be nothing around you but the clothes on your back or so
it seems. Anything can be used as a tactical advantage; you need to master
everything around you."
The new recruits nodded in rapt attention, not blinking, but rather they soaked
in all of the knowledge from Captain America. It was them sitting underneath
the learning tree and absorbing all of the morsels of information that he
offered them.
Harry smiled, he would like to pick Captain America's brain himself but that
was going to have to be at another time. He returned to make his observations
but he had other things on his mind.
===============================================================================
"Amazing, simply amazing...I know I've said that before, but that's amazing."
Gwen continued to pour over the Sinister data, although there was a lot of it
that remained a mystery. It was very extensive all things considered.
"Well, he's dedicated to his work," Harry remarked with a smile when he sat
down next to Gwen in her room, in the second chair beside her computer. "The
last data he got was of Rachel and Jean, before we pulled the plug."
Gwen decided to voice something she had been thinking. "He's got to have more
backups, more data, lying around somewhere. This can't be the extent of the
data he's collected, someone that's been around that long..."
Harry agreed, Sinister would have to have more, much more, a lot more in fact.
He collected a lot over the centuries that he had been on Earth. His eyes
closed when he thought about everything that he went through in order to get
this much data.
"Well we know what's on the line, I think," Gwen responded when she worked
through the data before her, clicking through one line after another. "And
that's...look at Rachel's DNA."
Harry decided to look at it, granted he was not the most adapt in understanding
science, although he did hold his own more often than not. Still he did wonder
what he was supposed to be looking at. Was Gwen going to clue him in on that
fact or not?
"See these DNA strands, they're unique, she's...I don't know where she came
from," Gwen answered when she closed her eyes and mulled over the
possibilities. "I think that wherever she came from, she's been experimented
on, no human DNA is quite like this, at least none that I've seen. She matches
up pretty well with Jean."
Harry smiled; Gwen really had no idea how well she matched up with her.
Although looking at the DNA strands, things tended to get curious and curiouser
the more he read everything. He blinked when he looked at everything and
thought about the enigma that was Rachel Grey. He found that her DNA was
unique.
Rachel's DNA seemed to be a pretty good match to Jean, although Harry saw under
trace DNA elements in her strands. His eyes widened when he saw what was there
but said nothing.
It was too weird to be a coincidence, but he then figured that he should not
believe in coincidences. Especially after everything that happened, all of the
weird things that he went through during his life. Of course, he could be
misreading things, science was not his thing.
Gwen answered her cell phone when it rang. "Hey...yeah Peter. Your aunt finally
decided that there was no excuse and set you up on that date. Well...that's
great, yeah I'm here hanging out with a friend, so what if it's Harry, what's
that to you? Yeah...well good look with Mary Jane, hopefully her personality is
as wonderful as Aunt May says it is. I'm sure you'll have a great time. Don't
get into trouble...yeah things have been very quiet on the super hero front.
Talk to you later, bye."
Gwen hung up the phone.
"Pete's just being what Pete is," Gwen offered with a shrug, he carried the
guilt of his uncle's murder with him for longer than anyone should. "So let's
get back down to business, I think we've got everything, unless there are some
hidden files."
Gwen and Harry spent a few more moments looking over everything. Harry spotted
Gwen bending over slightly, showing a little bit of her cleavage in the tight
black top that she wore. Whether she was doing that intentionally or not, Harry
had no idea but it sure got his attention. Harry looked at Gwen and the attire
that she was wearing.
She wore a short black tank top that showed her slender shoulders and cleavage.
She had a nice chest as well, as the top was strained against it. His eyes
traveled down to the sexy belly button that she had, along with the tight jean
shorts that stretched around her legs.
Gwen wondered if she got Harry's attention, she wore a short top and tight jean
shorts today for the explicit purpose of getting Harry's attention after all.
She decided that it was time to move on and when he mentioned his powers, her
scientific curiosity was indulged.
Harry thought that his attention was grabbed quite nicely, although it was a
shame that he had a few things that he had to do.
"This took a lot longer than I thought it would," Gwen remarked in a tense and
tired voice, before she spun around and stretched a little bit, to cause her
shirt to ride up and show more skin. "The two of us, we should get together
sometime...without going through a madman's data and figuring out what's on
it."
"How about Saturday?" Harry asked her, feeling that it would be the best time.
"It's a date," Gwen offered with a smile, knowing that she was finally going to
make certain dreams she had over the past few weeks become a reality. She
thought of all of the things that Harry could do with her and she talked with
Kitty about it. Whilst Kitty was too explicit, there was something about the
brunette's words that build up a certain amount of anticipation in Gwen's mind.
She could hardly wait and she could tell that Harry could not either. If she
did not know that he had some plans he had to get to soon, she would have
jumped him now but good things came to those who waited.
Gwen needed a shower at the thoughts she had.
===============================================================================
Kitty thought one of the joys in life that many took for granted was a nice and
quiet peaceful evening, hanging out with friends, without anyone killing them.
Okay, maybe some people would not even think of the anyone killing them part.
However, the near death experiences were something that was completely with the
territory of being an X-Men. It offered an amount of excitement and danger that
Kitty could hardly believe. But yet despite all that, she would not have things
any other way.
Currently, she sat, with her head on Harry's shoulder, his arm wrapped around
her. Rogue sat on the other side, with Jean and Rachel near them. Amara sat
there as well, and Wanda, here for her weekend visit, sat there. Despite not
being a member of the group, at least officially, she was always welcomed.
Wanda thought about the strange last few weeks she had been having, to be
honest, she was glad that things improved at the Asylum, even though it was
only a slight bit.
"Thank you for having me over and being a part of this," Wanda stated, she was
far calmer than she was. Providing that her father and brother were not brought
up in any form of the conversation, that was still a sticking point that she
had to work on with her temper.
That was something that Harry obliged her with. Pietro and the other members of
the Brotherhood were locked up by SHIELD for their actions. Fury made a comment
that he would make something out of them although Harry had no idea what that
meant.
"Wanda, it isn't a problem at all," Kitty offered, speaking for Harry. "You've
had a rough life and soon Harry will get you out."
Wanda hoped so but she could not help but think that everything was not going
to be that easy. She feared that her father and Mystique would make things
harder than they needed to be with getting her out of that place. Mystique more
so.
Rogue frowned, she knew Mystique had custody of Wanda, legally, although not
for long. She could attest to how Mystique messed with a person's mind but
Mystique was pretty messed up herself. "We're going..."
"Yeah we're going to figure out everything," Rachel stated and Rogue offered
her a frown.
"I hate it when you read my mind like that," Rogue stated, offering a bit of a
pout, which looked ucharacteristic on her.
Rachel offered a shifty smile before she looked back at Rogue. "Sorry."
"No problem," Rogue offered but Harry thought about everything.
His powers were stronger but he held them back. Actually the reason he held
them back was quite simple, he did not want the full scope of his powers to
somehow get back to an extremely powerful enemy. Harry sensed that there was
something dangerous in the offing and he would need that trump card.
Then the dreams, those dreams, he could not really piece them together,
although a field featured in them prominently once again. And there was a
ritual that he underwent when he was younger, blood was involved.
A whisper from Lily indicated that he was her miracle child.
He shook his head, these dreams got more weird but he was not about to share
them. The last thing he wanted was his sanity questioned.
"Harry?" Kitty asked and Harry turned around towards her.
"I'm fine, really I am," Harry offered to Kitty and she frowned. "Just thinking
about everything that's happened lately."
"A lot's been happening since you've been here," Jean offered when she looked
at Harry and he could not resist asking the question that hung in the air
between them all like a bad stench.
"Have you talked to Scott since we got together?"
Jean decided to offer an honest answer. "As friends, not really, as teammates,
we spoke a few times yes. Scott needs to understand that everything is not
going to go his way."
That was a harsh statement perhaps one might say but it was an accurate one.
"He had his hopes set on us but..." Jean offered but her voice trailed off. She
was too polite to say anything negative.
Rachel on the other hand, had no such tact. "He's a bit of a dick and he'll
only get worse."
Jean frowned but Kitty, Rogue, Amara, and even Wanda broke out into laughter.
"I'm not sure if I would put it quite that way but..."
"You can't deny that it's true," Rachel offered when she looked at Harry.
Harry smiled back at her, choosing his next words rather carefully. He tried to
keep the team together because he had this funny feeling that the X-Men would
crumble apart when he left. Yet he would not be a slave to staying around out
of obligation. He wanted Scott to stand up for something but he had a feeling
that he was more of a figurehead for Xavier than anything. He hated to admit
that but it was the truth.
"Scott will be what Scott is."
"A dick?" Rachel asked but Wanda looked at her, a smile crossing her face. She
smiled a lot more around Harry.
"And Harry lets you to kiss him with that mouth."
Rachel offered a saucy grin before she turned to Wanda. "Harry allows me to do
many things with this mouth, thank you very much."
"Okay, need not know any more," Wanda answered with Kitty shaking her head in
amusement.
"It is nice, getting together without having someone try and kill us," Kitty
answered when she looked at them all.
Harry heard foosteps and Scott approached them, he dragged his feet nervously
from behind him. Jean decided to be cool about his presence at first. It was
obvious that there was some kind of unspoken agreement.
"Harry, can I speak to you for one moment?" Scott asked but Kitty and Rogue got
up, sensing there was some trouble.
"It's alright, Scott couldn't do anything against me," Harry offered, with
Scott wondering if that was a statement of trust or a slight jab at his lack of
abilities. Or perhaps some combination of both tied together.
Harry and Scott walked off with the two of them staring each other down. Harry
paused and invited him to speak and speak was what he did.
"You won."
That was a strong declaration, not to mention extremely bold and brash. Harry
wondered what he won about and his eyebrow raised. He took a moment to look at
Scott, towering over him a little bit. Or perhaps it was because Scott slumped
over in a defeated posture, it was kind of hard to tell really.
"With Jean..."
"Please do not imply that Jean was some trophy to be won in a contest," Harry
answered, not liking his tone but Scott shook his head, he decided to try a
different track.
"No, no, of course not," Scott answered, backtracking quickly. "It's just
that...that with my leadership skills not the best, I figure that it's the best
that I focus on that and not about any relationship drama. I don't know how you
can handle that."
Harry offered a swift declaration. "If you have to ask, you'll never know."
Scott figured that statement was going to come out of Harry's mouth. "So do
you..."
"Scott, it's healthier for all if you drop this and just do whatever you need
to do to get your head on straight," Harry answered when he looked at Scott.
"Trust me, if you don't have your head out there in battle, you'll get it blown
off."
One could consider that statement to be mean but it was apt.
"Right and..."
Scott had nothing else left to say and Harry for sure did not have anything
left to say to him.
"See you in training, I guess," Scott offered but he turned around. He did
wonder if Jean would be following Harry out the door. Perhaps she could stay
because of her loyalty to Xavier and this relationship she had with Harry was
some kind of parting fling. He could reassess this situation later.
Scott would have to wait and see.
"So what was that all about?" Jean asked when Harry returned.
"Scott decided to concede defeat," Harry stated when he sat down and explained
it to them.
"Like he had any chance," Kitty murmured underneath her breath. She hoped that
Scott would pull his head out of his ass and soon because he was being a
liability for their team.
===============================================================================
Even though the Red Skull was taken down, there were a few pockets of HYDRA
that were still around. Black Widow, as she always was, vowed to put them on
the endangered species list. She slid forward a little bit, pulling out a
communicator device.
"I'm at one of the final HYDRA bases on this list that we got from Sin,"
Natasha remarked when she saw them scurrying around like ants outside. "The
game is afoot."
"Keep us posted, Widow, Hawkeye is on his way," Fury responded through the
communication link.
"Understood," Black Widow stated with a small inclination of her head and a
smile on her face.
"I might not be Hawkeye, but I'm sure I can give you a hand or two."
Natasha jumped a little bit when she saw Harry show up, dressed in a black
overcoat, with a white t-shirt and blue jeans. His face was obscured to any
that he did not trust, it was a handy bit of charm work and it also offered a
slight distortion of his voice. He knocked down several of the scurrying HYDRA
agents and summoned their weapons.
"I wondered when you would show up," Natasha stated when she closed her eyes
and flipped into the air.
"I'm sure you did," Harry offered when he rolled his shoulders and blew a blue
light towards the pods. "HYDRA, they won't die."
"Thankfully Sin is willing to part with information, in exchange for a
suspended sentence," Black Widow responded when she turned around.
"The Brotherhood are still under lock and key?" Harry asked and Black Widow
nodded in affirmation.
"Commander Fury believes that they can be of some use but they need to cool
their heels for a while," Black Widow stated when she shocked one of the
enemies. "A good work out, isn't it?"
"I'm sure we can have a better work out after this mission," Harry offered and
Natasha smirked back to him.
"I'm sure, but I have taken out more pods than you have," she fired back.
Harry was not going to let that one go without a fight. "That remains to be
seen."
Natasha grinned, her competitive fire not extinguished by any means, when she
knocked through the pods that she had to face. They blew up and Hawkeye popped
up, followed by Mockingbird.
"Sorry we're late," Hawkeye stated when he looked over his shoulder.
"You just got here in time for clean up, something you have experience in,"
Harry answered without skipping a beat and blasting the pods. Hawkeye gave an
exasperated look while Mockingbird snickered by his side. "I think that's
another HYDRA base that's down."
"That's the last one, but knowing HYDRA, there will be more," Black Widow
stated when she remembered what Sin mentioned. HYDRA was working on replicating
powerful strains of DNA, although this base was something that the Red Skull
did not tell his daughter about.
"Let's clean up, I guess," Hawkeye stated, he barely was able to fire one arrow
but hey, it was another HYDRA base destroyed that they would not be able to
use.
===============================================================================
"Erik, I do think that now comes a time where we should stand together so we
could not drift apart."
Xavier sat across with Magneto at a park, in a neutral territory, both men
placing chess when they stared each other down.
"Do any of your students know that you are meeting with me, Charles?" Magneto
asked his counterpart across from them. He added another statement. "For that
matter, does your staff?"
"No this meeting is strictly known by you and I, I don't know how you escaped
the SHIELD prison," Xavier responded but Magneto responded by staring down
Xavier through narrowed eyes.
"That's something that I will never tell."
Xavier nodded in response. "Very well then...my students have come across the
mutant known as Mesmero, stealing three discs and he got the key."
"If he got the key, that means we are one step closer to the apocalypse that
Adler foretold," Magneto responded, not mincing his words for a second.
"Yes, I will not deny that we are in a situation where we will need to work
together," Xavier responded when he looked at Magneto.
"Or all of mutant kind needs a strong leader, which needs to do what is best
for us all," Magneto responded, implying that he thought that Xavier's recent
leadership skills left something to be desired.
Xavier thought about it, oh boy did he think about it, and he feared that there
was going to come a time where they were going to stand together or they would
fail. The X-Men, as much as they were trained, were not quite ready to fight
what was to come. The dangerous force before them was something that Xavier
barely fathomed in his mind.
"Are you ready to make the ultimate decision?" Magneto asked Xavier and there
was a pause.
Xavier could not answer that question straight away; the ultimate decision was
one that he hoped that he would not have to make ever. There came a time where
he thought about everything and realized that time was running out to do the
right thing. In fact, one could argue that the right thing might not even be
the right thing any longer.
"I do not know, ask me again when the time comes."
"When the time comes, it may be too late."
Xavier paused and looked on with a grimace. "I certainly hope not but I fear
you may be right."
There was no more than what needed to be said at that statement as the friendly
chess game continued.
To Be Continued in the Next Chapter "Fate of an Angel."
***** Fate of an Angel *****
Chapter Forty Three "Fate of an Angel."
The sun shined over New York City, it was a bright day in the middle of June.
It was not too hot, not too cold, the temperature was right. It was a good day
for a nice outing in the city, an outing with friends. A day to get out of the
indoors and into the outdoors, that was the type of day that this one was. It
was hard to say that it was a perfect day because that was a term that was
thrown around a bit too much but the day was in fact pretty good.
At least that's what Harry Potter thought when he walked outside in the bright
sun in New York City, alongside his good friend Gwen Stacy and his girlfriend,
Kitty Pryde. The trio of them decided to make a day out of hanging out in the
city.
"It's good to get out of the Mansion and get some peace and quiet after
everything that's happened," Kitty stated when she closed her eyes and got in a
good whiff of the summer breeze. It really ensnared the mind and caused her
heart to beat faster.
Gwen smiled when she thought about it. "Yeah I couldn't agree more. This has
been a hectic last couple of weeks. We've got through most of Sinister's data
but there's so much of it missing."
"Well I don't think he strikes me as an all of his eggs in one basket kind of
guy," Harry remarked with a shrug, but much to his disappointment, there was
nothing on that drive to help him with Sirius's condition.
The good news is that Sirius had not worsened any from when Harry last left
him. That was pretty promising all things considered. The bad thing was that he
sure was not getting any better that was the thing that drove Harry the most
nuts of all. He stood on the ground deep in contemplation, carefully figuring
out what he had to do and where he had to go from this point forward.
"Our mysterious angel saved another person."
Kitty and Harry exchanged a tense look, they heard about the mysterious angel a
few times in the past, although they brushed it off to some kind of urban
legend. Xavier knew more about it than he was letting on but then again, they
could say that about a lot of things about Xavier. There was something about an
authority figure and his desire to keep important information that Harry could
not deny.
"So what do you think about the angel?" Gwen asked them both, trying to gauge
their reaction and Harry and Kitty took a moment to think it before, before it
was Kitty who responded.
"I don't know, it could be anyone or anything," Kitty stated when she shrugged
her shoulders. "He's been around for months and months but I think now people
are going to stop and take notice. Maybe he's a mutant that would get us some
good pub."
Harry hoped so but he doubted that he was the only one who made the connection
to the fact that their angel was a mutant. He kept himself standing tall for a
moment, hoping to find out more about this but this was not the top priority.
If this angel did not want to reveal himself to the public, then it was his
business and the magical mutant felt like it would be prudent for them to
respect those wishes.
"He could be some kind of government experiment that escaped," Gwen commented
with a shrug. "Or he could be some kind of alien."
Harry scoffed, that was kind of absurd, being an alien, but he shook his head
to clear those thoughts. Given the weird nature of his dreams, perhaps Harry
could be considered a bit more premature. He got another weird flicker about a
planet exploding but that was absurd. Planets didn't explode, after all.
"There are some people who say that he's a modern day miracle, some kind of
heavenly gift, hence the moniker of Angel," Harry responded but he looked to be
very skeptical of this notion. He tended to nod politely when people talked
about religion, any religion. It was a long story why he was rather skeptical
about the entire business. It had to involve the Dursleys and that was all the
people needed to know.
Harry heard a scream that caused his ears to perk up and he saw a child who was
dangling from the edge of the bridge. He had been fooling around like children
tended to do and lost his balance, about to plummet to his doom.
"We better..." Kitty started before she trailed off and turned around, her eyes
widening when she watched the white blur in the air. "Or not."
For the angel arrived, swooping in from high in the air and scooped up the
child. It was hard to see him in the glint of the sun and by the time the child
was in safety, he was gone.
"Wow," Gwen stated trying to get a closer look. "He moves pretty fast, his
wings must have a heavy level of resistance that can propel him faster than
almost anyone on Earth."
"Yeah, something like that," Harry agreed, before he looked at the two girls
and made a decision of what he wanted to do. "I'll be taking a closer look."
"Okay, I figured as much," Kitty answered when Harry gave her a hug and a kiss
and he hugged Gwen as well.
"No kiss for me?" Gwen asked in a teasing manner, and Harry smiled when he
grabbed her and tilted her back, before kissing her on the lips. Gwen's eyes
widened before Harry flew off.
Kitty laughed in hysterics with the shocked look in Gwen's face.
"You should have seen the look on your face," Kitty answered when she turned
around to hide her amusement.
"I was only kidding...well kind of," Gwen answered with a shrug when she looked
at Kitty.
"Look, you can do far worse than Harry," Kitty answered when she smiled. "And
that would mean that you have the same good taste that I do and I don't mean to
brag, but my taste is pretty good."
Gwen smirked. "Well I'm sure you have a pretty high opinion of yourself."
Kitty threw her hands on a little bit and sighed, rolling her eyes. "You know
what I mean Gwen."
"Yeah, I know what you mean," Kitty agreed when she turned her head a little
bit and smiled towards Gwen before the two walked. "Hey isn't that Peter?"
Gwen sized up and saw her best friend walking towards them with a hot redhead
wearing a black jacket, a purple top, and blue jeans. She had flowing red hair
and green eyes, and paused.
'Oh boy, this could get kind of awkward,'Gwen thought when she looked at the
two of them laughing and carrying on.
Peter stopped when he stood beside his blind date, Mary Jane Watson, and saw
Gwen.
'Oh boy this could get kind of awkward,'Peter thought to himself but he stood
up straight and tried to play it cool.
"Hey, Gwen, fancy meeting you here," Peter stated when he turned to Mary Jane.
"This is Mary Jane Watson."
"Oh, the one with the wonderful personality," Gwen stated in a polite voice
when she looked at her and extended her hand with a bright smile on her face.
"It's finally nice to meet you in person."
"Nice to meet you too," Mary Jane stated in a tentative voice, she heard Peter
talk about Gwen but meeting her, that was an entirely different thing. When
your date had a female friend and one that attractive, it caused one to be on
the edge. "So you and Peter are friends?"
"We've been friends for a very long time," Gwen stated when she looked at Peter
and Mary Jane.
"Right, almost like brother and sister," Peter answered when he looked at Gwen.
'Yeah, that was worse than being friendship zoned,'Gwen thought to herself but
she remained bright and cheerful. 'Look on the bright side Gwen, you got ship
wrecked, but you washed up in paradise if this Harry thing lines up right.'
Kitty sensed the awkwardness meter hitting about a twenty, so she decided to
chime in with a cheerful statement of her own. "Hey, Mary Jane, I'm Kitty
Pryde."
"Oh, please to meet you," Mary Jane answered, she could have sworn that she saw
this girl somewhere before but could not place her.
Mary Jane thought that this blind date business was rather fun, even if she did
it to keep her aunt from harping on her. She had a series of bad relationships
over the past couple of years. The bad boy might seem charming until one really
got a look at them and what a relationship with them really entailed. Of
course, what was life without a little bit of danger? Or at least any danger
that would allow her to walk forward.
"Are you alright Gwen?" Peter asked when he looked at his friend.
"Pete, I'm doing fine, I've spent all day hanging out with Kitty and Harry,"
Gwen stated, offering a special emphasis on Harry when she spoke.
Peter nodded, he only went through with this blind date business to get Aunt
May off of his back about the entire thing. It was hard to explain to someone
who did not know any better than the Spider-Man thing made dating anyone a bad
idea. In fact, Peter wondered if he was going to be stuck in a permanent
relationship with the web head and for some reason, he felt that it was a
rather stormy one at best.
At least Mary Jane was easy on the eyes and was rather fun loving.
"Did you see that angel around here?" Mary Jane asked, trying to break the ice.
"Yeah, he's a real hero," Gwen answered when she looked at Mary Jane and Peter.
"Nothing like Spider-Man."
Peter could not resist. "I don't know, Spider-Man's a bit overrated."
"Nah, he's fine, he's more of a work in progress," Mary Jane stated, trying to
gauge Peter's reaction but he remained stoic and said nothing more.
Gwen smiled knowingly as the group of four walked, waiting for Harry to get
back.
===============================================================================
'Now if I was a bird man where would I be?'Harry thought to himself, when he
flied in the air, using an invisibility spell to keep people from seeing him.
'This entire angel business yeah it's...'
"BURN THE ANGEL!"
"HE'S NOTHING BUT A FILTHY MUTIE!"
"HUMANS FOREVER, MUTANTS NEVER!"
'Oh boy, that can't be good,'Harry thought to himself when he hovered in the
air and he inclined his head watching the group of protestors move forward.
'The Friends of Humanity, well heard of them, but never actually saw them in
action. They are quite the vocal lot, aren't they?'
Harry hovered in for a closer look, as the Friends of Humanity marched around.
There was a group of eight of them but they were eight of the most obnoxious
people that Harry ever had the misfortune of meeting and believe him, Harry had
the misfortune of meeting many obnoxious people. He turned his head, twisting
it around.
"Get him out of town, he's no good!"
There was an explosion when a car started to spiral out of control. Someone
suffered a blow out and they were careening towards the wall. Harry waited and
wondered if he should interfere but a swooping in the air indicated that there
was no need for him to interfere.
The angel swooped in from the air, gripping onto the side of the runaway car
and Harry watched, eyes narrowed, to say he was impressed would be the
understatement of the century. He was extremely impressed and he watched the
flying figure put his hands on the car to try and steady it.
The door opened but he got a stun gun in the ribs for his trouble.
"We've got him, we've got the mutie!" the man in the car stated and Harry
realized that this was a diversion for the Friends of Humanity to attack and
get themselves some of this mutant.
Angel got to his feet, struggling, with his knees knuckling together. When he
was on the ground, he felt awkward and bumbling as the next person. These men
shackled huge cinderblocks around his ankles while they circled around him, one
of them carrying an axe in his hand.
"Hey, let's clip the angel's wings!"
They never had a chance for two bolts of light shot out of the air and impacted
them across the back of the head. The other members spun around but a bright
light blinded them. There was a loud smack, a loud crack, and a loud thump, in
that order, when Harry zoomed around, taking them out. The shattering of many
bones could be heard. A humane death would be something that they might beg for
and the men rolled over, panting and grimacing from the impact of the shots.
Harry turned up, raising an eyebrow, before he cut the chains, holding this
Angel down. He pushed himself up and Harry took the last idiot standing, before
the wizard levitated him above the ground and draped him high above the waters
over the side of a bridge.
"Let go of me, you can't do this to me!" he yelled, dangling over the side of
the bridge.
"Who were you working for?" Harry asked when he appeared but only as a
shapeless shadow with glowing red eyes that caused many to back away in fear.
"What are you some kind of freak?" the man stammered but he hoped that warm
fluid rolling down his leg was sweat.
"I'm losing my patience with you," Harry stated, using another magical spell to
make his voice echo creepily and his eyes glow. He thought he looked
intimidating.
"Alright, alright, let me go," the man stammered and Harry caused the threads
on his shirt to slowly tear aware when he was suspended in the air. "I work for
someone, Creed, his name is Creed, he runs this entire thing. I joined this...I
don't...I don't have a problem with mutants, not really."
The man screamed when he was thrown onto the bridge and he landed on the
pavement with a force that broke his nose.
Angel hovered in the air and Harry joined him.
"The angel and the demon, who knew that could be a combination that would
happen?" Angel stated in a calm voice, breaking the silence.
"Not a demon, merely a parlor trick to make people talk," Harry stated when the
shadow retracted, with Harry hovering before him in a white jacket, a black
top, and black jeans, but his face was still a blur. "My name is Arcane."
"Arcane, fitting," Angle muttered before he spoke up out loud. "I've trust you
heard what's happened in the papers."
"Yeah, I've read about it, what are you?" Harry asked when he looked at Angel.
Angle paused before he tried to figure that out.
"Well if you listen to them or my father, I would be considered an abomination.
My wings were grown when I was young. At first I freaked out, what seven year
old wouldn't if he had a pair of wings on his back? My father tried to hide my
abnormality but I embraced it over time. He's been obsessed with curing mutants
ever since. You're not public yet but he knows about you, he even went to
Charles Xavier. You know him?"
"Yes, I'm a student at his school," Harry confirmed and Angel inclined his head
with a slight nod.
"I was part of his first team of X-Men, the original X-Men, the team that all
of the members but me, Storm, and Logan died," Angel stated when he looked at
them.
Harry frowned, he was under the impression that Jean and Scott were the members
original members of the team, along with Storm and Logan.
"There was Wolverine, there was Storm, Angel, Morph, Vulcan, Darwin,
Thunderbird, and Sunfire," Angel remembered when he looked at them. "And a
couple of others, but we didn't fair too well against Sinister and his
Marauders."
"They all died," Harry answered when he blinked.
"All of us except myself, Storm, and Wolverine, those two stayed on with
Xavier, I didn't," Angel remarked before he added as an afterthought. "And
there was also one more, Magneto."
"Magneto was an X-Men?" Harry asked when he looked at Angel in surprise.
"And so was Mystique, but they left out of blame when Xavier let the team die,
Magneto felt they should have struck harder against Sinister," Angel explained
to Arcane, and the young magical mutant stated in a calm voice. "Asking
Mystique about her time as an X-Men would get some violent reactions I'd
imagine. Magneto prefers not to mention it either."
Harry could only imagine but he did not say much more of anything.
He could also tell one thing, the Friends of Humanity would not be taking this
one lying down, even if most of these guys that Harry took out would have to
lie down for some form of medical attention. He could not resist smiling about
that.
===============================================================================
The Friends of Humanity were not about to take what happened lying down. Creed
was on the phone.
"I don't care if there's some kind of spooky shadow mutie creeping around, I
want you to take that angel and clip his wings," Creed stated when he cracked
his knuckles. "People might start to think that there some kind of symbol they
can get behind and we don't want these mutants to think that they are any
better than humans. We want to prove...we want to prove that no mutant can push
us around, no matter what."
The Friends of Humanity prepared for the battle, even though there was a chance
that they might not come back from this one. Still regardless of that one, they
watched and crowded around.
Not too far from where they stood, Gwen, Kitty, Mary Jane, and Peter stood
around, waiting for Harry to return.
"I'm sure he'll be back in a little bit," Mary Jane responded in an optimistic
voice.
"Providing he hasn't run into trouble," Gwen responded when she watched.
"What kind of trouble can he get into?" Peter asked but he was silenced from a
look from Gwen. "Right New York, city that never sleeps, including the crime,
all sorts."
Mary Jane knew that Peter knew all about this but he did not know what she knew
at all, which was something that she wanted to keep under wraps carefully for
the time being. She tapped her fingers, drumming them patiently, and carefully
waiting for Peter to make his next move.
"So, is there anything to eat nearby?" Mary Jane asked when she looked at Gwen.
"I mean, I was here when I was young but I've been in Philly for most of the
past eight years until a few months ago, so..."
There was an explosion and Peter got that look in his eyes. Gwen understood, it
was time for her to run interference.
"Come on, I'll show you something...Peter your aunt called me earlier when she
missed you, she wanted you to pick up her slacks," Gwen responded when she
pointed her eyes.
"I'll go with him," Kitty answered, before she turned her wrist band and her
costume appeared on her, along with a charm that obscured her face. Harry had
them made for all of his girls; he figured that they would not want to be all
exposed in public.
Peter, on the other hand, had to change in the old fashion way.
'Hopefully no one sees me,'Peter thought in amusement but he ducked into an
alleyway. 'The last thing I need is Spider-Man exposed on the Internet.'
Less than a moment later, everyone's favorite web slinging hero, the friendly
Neighborhood Spider-Man swung out, ready to go. He kept up a steady pace,
swinging forward a little bit.
'And Arcane doesn't mess around,'Spider-Man thought when he paused and stopped,
when he saw the Friends of Humanity members move forward with rocket launchers
that were armed. 'And neither do these guys.'
"We're not going to let you muties endanger innocent people any longer."
"So sayeth the people who are firing rocket launchers in the middle of a
populated area," Spider-Man responded when he shot a line of webbing out and
yanked it out of the hand of his enemy. "Give me that, you'll shoot your eye
out kid!"
Spider-Man twisted and turned in every direction that he could but he saw all
the rocket launchers levitated out of the hands.
One of the Friends of Humanity members screamed when he was pulled beneath the
ground. He popped back up, knocked unconscious. The Friends of Humanity members
felt themselves pulled back underneath the ground one at a time, when Kitty
popped back.
"Stay away from me, you freaks!" the Friend of Humanity member stated when
lobbed a hand grenade at him, but the hand grenade was encased in a glowing
shield, when he blowing it up and causing the broken pieces of metal to impale
into the chest of the hapless man.
He dropped down to the ground, blood splattering from his chest.
Several bystanders tried to stand at the edge of the bridge but found
themselves slipping and sliding. It was obvious that they were moments away
from falling to their grisly demise but one figure in particular swooped in to
save the day and levitate them back up before they fell to that grisly demise
and lost their balance.
They cheered and the last two members of the Friends of Humanity ran off,
trying to get back to base but one of them was shot in the kneecaps with a well
placed charm, his bones shattering when he fell on his face. The other one
slipped away, a tracking charm placed on him. With any luck, he'd be led back
to base.
At least he would have led Harry and his crew back to base, had someone not
shot the goon in the back of the head. The blood splattered in the air and the
people on the ground gave a rather pained grasp when the man dropped to his
knees on the ground, he was not moving, oh boy was he not moving at all. The
young man had his brain matter splattered on the ground and rolled over, taking
a pained breath, before he passed out.
===============================================================================
"You were so close to getting us exposed to...to this...this...this thing!"
Creed spat, not happy about the fact that the one known as Arcane decided to
interfere in his business. "He's not your normal mutie, I don't know what he
is, but he should be at the top of our list of things to take out."
"And a disaster was averted today, thanks to Spider-Man, but the real hero
today is the hero known as Arcane .Where has this mysterious hero come from and
what is his purpose here? Hopefully we'll find out more in the coming weeks but
he stopped a group of terrorists from blowing up a bridge today to kill our
mysterious savior from the sky."
Creed looked on the verge of having a stroke when he saw what happened. Now he
knew that he was on Arcane's radar.
"He's not like them, he's worse, he's far worse," Creed stammered when he
looked on with blood shot eyes, angry that his fellow humans would make this
Arcane into some kind of symbol. He would be some kind of hero. He hid his face
in the shadows, so what kind of hero was that. "We've got to destroy him."
Creed realized that he ranted to no one but the walls but he lost all sense of
himself and his mind, he crossed his arms over and sighed deeply. He gritted
his teeth when he realized what was on the line.
'Unbelievable,'Creed thought to himself when he cracked his knuckles and
mentally counted to a hundred but he would need more than that to shield the
fact that he was pretty pissed off all things considered.
It was bad enough that Spider-Man was out there, it was bad enough that the
Fantastic Four, the Avengers, and all of the rest were out there. Now, he had
to deal with Arcane and if he got branded as some kind of hero, the rest of the
X-Men could follow, and people would support the hated mutants, tolerating
them.
Creed refused to allow that to happen; he worked too far and too long for
anything like that to happen. His mind pulsed and his eyes shot in blood, but
he refused to go down without a fight. Arcane would be the next one on his
list, the Friends of Humanity would triple their efforts to go after him, he
must be made an example out of.
Little did Graydon Creed know that he was about to get himself into a situation
that he could not get himself out of. Yet given his hatred and anger, he
refused to admit how much he dug his own grave and it would be a matter of time
for Arcane would seal his tomb.
===============================================================================
"Well it was nice to meet you, even though I barely met you," Mary Jane joked
when she looked at Harry before she smiled and cleared her throat, to continue
to speak. "It's...well it's good to meet you, but I think it's time we got
back. When Gwen and I ran off, we missed a lot of the excitement."
Harry looked at Mary Jane, a quizzical expression in his eyes, when he decided
to feign what passed for ignorance. "Excitement, in what way?"
"Spider-Man was here," Gwen offered when she had a knowing glint in her eye and
smiled. "And so was Arcane, it was amazing, wasn't it?"
"Wish I would have seen it," Peter responded when he looked back. He also
wished he would have gotten some pictures but by the time he really did
anything, Arcane and Shadowcat were taking them down with expert fury and
teamwork beyond anything that was exhibited. He sighed, he would have to get
another opportunity when it came, that much was for sure.
Gwen shook her head, when she heard snatches of the conversation regarding the
attack today. That group called themselves the Friends of Humanity, they were
your average nutjob group who hoped to show their superiority over the mutants
or something along those lines. Gwen kind of drowned out what they were saying
after a while to be honest. It was one of those things where they rambled and
ranted on and on. All she knew was that these people, they were no friends of
hers and that's all that mattered.
Gwen, Kitty, and Harry went their separate ways a little bit, before Gwen
turned around, looking over her shoulder. A bright smile crossed her face when
she waited.
"So, you're starting to get a name for yourself," Gwen remarked when she looked
at Harry with a bit of a teasing glint in her eyes. "It's the type of name that
could get you a lot of fans, both wanted and unwanted."
Gwen paused, but she could not resist saying even more than that.
"It's one of those things where you fight some of the most dangerous people out
there. It's not hard but it's going to be one of those things that is going to
be tough. Then you realize that you have to deal with your legions of fans and
you almost wish for the murder schemes. Now that Arcane is a bit more
know...well I'm sure the Human Torch could tell you some stories about some
psychotic fangirls."
"Believe me, they exist," Harry stated when he looked forward, with a wistful
smile and a nod, but Kitty grabbed his hand before she focused on him.
He missed very little about the world he came from but the psychotic fangirls
were something that he could do without. Unless they were hot, then perhaps
they could come to an understanding. Harry felt he had his priorities firmly in
place with that thought.
"Not that you need any protection but I so totally have your back," Kitty
answered when she looked at Harry.
"As long as you're not driving me anywhere, I feel safe enough with you," Harry
answered and Kitty had a cross expression fill her face, before Gwen smiled.
She heard tales of Kitty's driving exploits. The girl was creative, although
she might want to dial back the creativity a little bit if she was hoping to
ever pass her driver's test.
Harry stretched a little bit, with a girl on either side of him. He saw the
storm clouds rolling in a little bit and smiled. Despite the run in with the
psycho racists, today was a good day. Angel disappeared into the night, and
Harry let him because he could tell that this young man did not want to be
bothered. Harry respected that completely.
He walked off into the night, as did Harry, Kitty, and Gwen, heading home
before the storm hit them hard.
===============================================================================
Harry stepped out to use the facilities for a moment, which allowed Kitty and
Gwen to have a moment alone with each other.
"So, you're the latest girl that had been ensnared in Harry's web," Kitty
stated when she looked at Gwen.
"It's weird that he's with that many girls and anyone else, I wouldn't believe
it," Gwen admitted before she snapped her eyes up. "But considering that it's
Harry..."
"It's perfectly natural," Kitty responded when she paused for a second. "He
comes from a world where multi0partner relationships are more common, although
he tends go that extra mile ."
"So, Harry's...from another planet?" Gwen asked, this was a revelation that
smacked her in the face.
"Well kind of, it's complicated, Harry isn't someone who tells much of
anything, unless he really gains your trust and I've known enough to know
enough, that he doesn't like talking about his past or where he's come from at
all," Kitty stated when she looked at Gwen. "I do know enough to know that if
he kisses you, there's something behind it. And how was your kiss?"
"Pardon the cheesy reference, but it was simply magical," Gwen answered when
she turned around and looked off with a smile. "I guess I've had a bit of a
crush on him since I met him but it's intensified. Unless I guess I've been
holding out my hopes for someone else but I can't wait around forever."
Kitty smiled when she looked at Gwen. "Harry's coming back any moment and you
can do far worse than him like I said. Give him a test, and see what you like.
Although you may be ruined for life if you get one taste of him."
Gwen smiled, that was an endearment if she ever heard one but she supposed that
it was now time to figure out what was going to happen. If something was meant
to happen it would but if nothing was meant to happen, part friends. Gwen was
willing to take a risk because she was kind of sick of playing it safe.
"I'll leave you two alone," Kitty stated, feeling that the first time should be
one on one, although she'd come back later for more.
Harry arrived and Kitty passed him.
"She's ready," Kitty whispered to Harry, who nodded before he walked over.
"Gwen," Harry stated when he looked at her. He saw that she wore a black tank
top that stretched over her breasts and rode up when she stretched, showing her
toned midsection. Her legs were covered by a pair of short jean shorts and her
feet were currently bare. Her blonde hair hung down her back.
"Harry, you kissed me today," Gwen stated when she looked at him and offered
him to sit down. She snuggled in close to him. "I was thinking about you a lot
lately, in my dreams and in other ways. I was wondering, if you wanted me as
badly as I wanted you."
Harry raised an eyebrow, and he felt her hand move up his leg, towards his lap,
and decided that there was only one answer.
"You're an extremely hot girl Gwen, who wouldn't want you?" Harry asked when he
cupped her face in his hands. "You're beautiful."
Gwen, pleased with that response, threw legs over Harry's lap and straddled
him, before she attacked his mouth with a passionate kiss. Every single kiss
was more intense when she peppered Harry's mouth with them and Harry held her
in straight, pulling her onto his lap. She ground against his bulge.
She closed her eyes when Harry kissed her back, in a heated fashion. She sighed
when his hands worked his way underneath her shirt, feeling the underside of
her breasts.
'Best...idea ever,'Gwen thought, feeling herself grow wet from his touches
underneath her breasts and she flickered a little bit, her eyes going shut when
she breathed heavily.
"I need you Harry," Gwen breathed heatedly in his ear when she grabbed him
around the neck and began to nibble on his ear. "I want you."
Smut/Lemon Begins.
Harry pulled Gwen's shirt up over her head, to reveal her firm breasts encased
in a bra. She bent her back and kissed on her neck a little bit, causing her to
moan heavily. Her eyes fluttered shut when his kisses trailed down her neck
slowly, one at a time, his hands cupping the small of her back, when he rubbed
circles around the soft flesh around her back, cupping her cute little rear in
his hands when she ground up and down on him.
"Yeah, fuck yeah," Gwen moaned when he teased her breasts with his fingers and
she felt moisture pool between her legs. She unbuttoned Harry's shirt to reveal
his muscular chest and abs. She appreciatively rubbed his chest with her hands,
when she ground on his bulge, rubbing her ass into it.
Harry grabbed her bra strap and pulled it off, to allow her breasts to pop up.
They were C-Cups, close to a D but they looked wonderful on a human teenage
girl with her frame. He grabbed her breasts, squeezing her, causing Gwen to
moan lustfully.
"You must be so wet now," Harry stated when he grabbed her breasts.
"Yes, yes," Gwen panted, feeling good that Harry touched her in all of the
right spots and caused the heat to rise up from her body.
Harry slid Gwen's jean short's off, to reveal the black panties that Gwen wore
stuck to her pussy, dripping with her fluids. He offered a smile, before she
slid down, and his shorts slid down his legs. Then Gwen squeezed his bulge in
his pants, teasing him with her firm grip.
Gwen felt his cock, she thought that it was huge and she pulled down Harry's
boxers. Sure enough, it was huge, his cock was eleven inches, maybe more, and
sprung out in front of her face.
"I think I'm going to suck you off," Gwen managed when she went down between
his legs and started to lick his balls, before she ran her tongue up and down
his cock.
"Oh yeah, do that," Harry panted heavily, when Gwen offered a few kisses up and
down him, it felt so good, she knew what she was doing.
Gwen thought she did well for the first time that she did something like that.
Harry enjoyed it and given that Harry enjoyed the talents of both Black Widow
and Black Cat, Gwen took that as an achievement that she would take to the
bank. Her tongue licked down his cock, taking more and more of it, running it
on the underside of him.
Without any warning, Gwen popped his cock into her mouth, going down on it and
deep throating him with all of her might. Harry placed his hands on the back of
her head, pushing him down, when she bobbed her head back and forth. She felt
him grunt and groan, as the back of his large cock went down her throat.
Gwen stayed the course, sucking him off and Harry sat back, enjoying the
blowjob.
"Good, you're great, awesome," Harry panted when he cupped her healthy tits in
his hand when she speared his pole down her throat. "Fuck, yeah."
Gwen continued to speed up the motions, moving down on him, and making sure he
had the best time. She moved her fingers down and diddled herself when she went
down on Harry even more. Her eyes flickered shut a little bit when she panted
and continued to rub her lips through her panties. The fluid dripped down from
her thighs.
Harry thought she was doing a wonderful job; it was magnificent to see her on
her knees with his cock down her throat. Gwen Stacy sped up her motions,
sucking him down her throat, willing to get all of the essences out.
He could hold back no longer and he let down all of it down her throat. His
cock spewed its seed down her, pumping into her mouth.
Gwen made a popping noise when she slid back and licked the cum off of her
lips. She pulled herself back onto her legs and pealed off her panties. Her
puffy sex was shown before Harry, wet, pink, and inviting with a small strip of
blonde hair.
"Want a taste?" Gwen asked in near purr and Harry rose to the challenge, going
between her legs, before he began to lick Gwen out with all of his might.
"Oh...yes, fuck yes."
Gwen panted heavily when Harry's talented tongue did its work. She could not
believe this...something that amazing should be illegal, it felt too good to be
real. His tongue worked patterns into her, licking and working her over with
fluid motions. The blonde panted heavily when he moved into her center, lapping
up her juices.
Harry tasted her, slowly at first, to build up the anticipation in her mind.
His tongue worked circles around her center, before it started to vibrate in
her center, and Gwen's eyes glazed over with the pleasure when her heart began
to skip several beats.
"Oh good god!" Gwen breathed when Harry's tongue vibrated inside her. She had
her first experience of Harry's talented oral skills and it caused her to lose
her mind. "More, please, more, yes!"
Gwen felt herself rock back and forth with a powerful orgasm, her hips buckled
up into Harry's face and she thought that she would lose herself. Harry pulled
away and he slowly rubbed her clit, causing the warmth to fill her body once
again.
"I need it, inside me," Gwen breathed when she looked at him, spreading her
legs, her juices rolling down her legs.
Harry knew not to pass up an invite like this and he lined up his cock with her
dripping slit before he pushed inside her. He felt Gwen's barrier and she bit
her lip, shutting up the pain.
Then the pain stopped and it was placed by nothing but pleasure, the pleasure
of this thick cock spearing in and out of her. Gwen bucked her hips upwards,
feeling rather heavy.
"Faster," Gwen stated when she locked her legs around Harry and he continued to
push inside her, feeling her silken walls caress his cock. It felt so good.
"So tight," Harry grunted when he pushed into Gwen and sped up at her
insistence. He thrust deep into her.
"Harry...please, more," Gwen panted heavily.
She lost all sense of herself when his cock entered and exited her, pushing in
and out of her dripping slit. She rocked her head back and offered a hearty
moan to the heavens. She grabbed her hands around him, when he bent down and
devoured her breasts, sucking on them. He greedily feasted on the buffet of
flesh offered before him and Gwen panted, slowly but surely she was about ready
to lose her mind when she arched her hips forward, when he worked his cock into
her.
Harry sped up the motions, increasing the intensity of his thrusts. He pulled
out of her a little bit, teasing her, before he pushed himself back in. This
caused her to moan.
"More, pound me, yeah!"
Gwen felt herself rocked to another orgasm and she came down with a pause. She
was disappointed that Harry slowed down a little bit but she did not have time
to register her disappointed. He filled her hungry pussy with more thrusts yet,
when he pushed into her.
Her moist walls hugged and tugged on his cock and Harry rocked himself back and
forth, keeping a steady pace, when his balls slapped against her thighs a
little bit. He would not slow down, not in the slightest. His heart beat more
steadily when he speared into her a little bit, feeling the burn when the
blonde squeezed him with her inner walls.
"Oh, such a hot pussy," Harry grunted when he cupped his hands around her ass,
feeling it and squeezing it in his hands and Gwen moaned hungrily, feeling his
cock bury into her.
"Fuck me, never stop," Gwen stated when she panted heavily.
Harry agreed never to stop, this pussy was so nice, and he could hardly believe
it. She squeezed him and their positions were reversed after a time so she
could ride him like there was no tomorrow.
Gwen started to rock her hips back and forth across Harry's throbbing prick
when she bounced up and down on him. She already came several times and was
determined to get a load of her lover's cum between her legs.
Harry felt her ride him, with Gwen using everything she could think of. He
could go for very long time but despite her determination, Gwen was still a
human girl, with human limitations. So while he pushed her towards the edge,
giving her mind blowing orgasm after mind blowing orgasm, he did not want to
fuck her into a coma.
"Cum, please, I need it," Gwen panted when she rocked back, screaming her head
off. She was very vocal but then again, Harry suspected that the smartest ones
were always among the most vocal.
After an amount of time, Gwen finished riding Harry into an orgasm, rocking
herself back and forth on him, squeezing him around him his prick, when she
felt him about at the edge, ready to pop. She bounced up and down on him and
after a time, she decided to throw her head back and scream at the top of her
lungs.
Harry exploded, sending jet after jet of his warm cum into her body. He
splattered his juices into her, and rocked his hips up, splattering it into
her. Gwen felt good when he unloaded into her, sending jet after jet of cum
into her. Both lovers saw stars before they collapsed into each other's arms.
Smut/Lemon Ends.
Gwen collapsed next to Harry, feeling the pleasure and she snuggled into his
shoulder.
"This should make these get together's a bit more memorable," Harry breathed
when he wrapped his arms tightly around her and Gwen nodded, when she snuggled
into Harry's chest.
"Give me a few minutes, maybe an hour or two, and I think I'll be ready to go
again," Gwen answered when she rested next to him, and kissed him on the lips,
wrapping her arms around him. "All of those girls, they'll never be the same
again once you got a hold of them. I know I won't."
Harry smiled; he could not help but feel happy because of that.
Kitty watched, once Gwen was rested, she would make her move, and the real fun
would begin.
To Be Continued in the Next Arc.
***** The Sirens, the Devil, and the Kingpin *****
Chapter 44 "The Sirens, the Devil, and the Kingpin Part One."
A smile crossed Gwen's face when she walked next to Harry, eyes twinkling in
amusement. She was actually glad that she had a steady boyfriend now, granted
he was shared with several other women, but that actually made things oddly
more alluring. Plus it was not like it wasn't plenty of Harry Potter to go
around. And after what he suffered in his life, there was no one who deserved a
group of several good looking and hot women that he did. The young wizard
stepped forward towards Gwen, and smiled.
"So, I take it you've had a great night," Gwen responded when she handed the
newspaper to Harry, before flicking it in his face. She watched Harry to gauge
his reaction but he said nothing yet. "So, the Bayville Sirens, I know you
know."
Harry offered a smile on his face, when he looked towards one of his
girlfriends. "Guilty as charged, I knew you'd know that I'd know. It's an
interesting story to tell never the less."
Harry paused and thought over the events of the night in his mind, yeah this
was quite the adventure. He recalled every single moment of it with picture
perfect accuracy. He turned and sat down with Gwen on the steps outside of her
house. It was rather early in the morning now, with everyone still in bed. Yet,
Harry had been up for several hours, then again with his powers, he did not
need much sleep. And with his girls, sleep was not a luxury he could afford,
but that was beside the point.
Still, tonight's adventure was a fascinating little jaunt, when he turned to
Gwen and a smile crossed his face. He could tell that he was building up the
suspense in her mind and he was building up the suspense in his in his own way.
Although the more that he thought about tonight, there was a fair bit of
absurdity with the interest that happened today. He crossed his hands, and
thought about everything that occurred before opening his mouth to speak.
"So, I think you want to know," Harry remarked when he turned to Gwen
carefully.
"Yeah, I want to know, believe me, I've been waiting for it," Gwen answered
when she impatiently rocked back and forth to wait for what Harry was going to
tell her. He built the anticipation in a great way, to the fact that it was
almost annoying, if not slightly disappointing that he was not saying a word.
"Well the Bayville Sirens, fascinating story," Harry answered drumming his
fingers before he took a drink of water and paused once again before he spoke.
"Would you believe this entire event was set off by something that Scott
Summers did, where he put his foot in his mouth?"
Gwen offered a statement in mock sarcasm, rolling her eyes slightly. "No,
really, get out of here."
Harry smiled back at her. "It's true, it really is true."
Gwen waved her hand before she smiled at Harry. "So what really happened? I'm
dying to know."
Harry turned around; before he paused for a second, once again tonight was a
fascinating night and one that could have ended a lot worse had he not been
there. It proved one thing and that was that there were a lot of things that
turned out for the best, but they could very easily turn for the worst. And for
him, it did turn out fairly well.
"So let's take you back to seventy two hours ago," Harry responded to Gwen who
nodded, sitting in rapt anticipation before the young mage decided to go into
the story, as he first lived it.
===============================================================================
The Xavier Institute was always a busy place, with plenty of hustle and bustle,
along with chaos that went along with it. That was something that could
completely happen with a group of super powered mutants, many of them who were
only learning their powers for a few months at this present time. It was also a
hot July day, that meant that tensions were high. It always seemed like
something was wrong at the Xavier Institute and that made said tensions even
higher. And there were no higher tensions that could happen with a Danger Room
session in ninety degree temperatures with the air conditioning on the brink.
Especially given the session that Jean was helping lead Amara for. Harry had
his lessons with Strange and Logan was off doing his own thing, like Logan
might. So it was down to Jean to help Amara with her training. The blasts of
hot lava made the room hotter but she had to control them in such a way.
"I know it's uncomfortable Amara, but you got to focus," Jean stated before she
added as an afterthought. "Don't lose your cool."
Jean could not resist this simple statement and Amara could not resist rolling
her eyes because of it. Regardless, her heart beat against her chest when she
picked up the pace and turned around, nearly being shaken from the attack. The
Nova-Roma princess swayed, she tried to recall everything that she learned, but
this was a particularly hard lesson. Still she really wanted to do it on her
own.
She was determined to achieve some kind of success she raised an eyebrow,
shaking a little bit, before her hips swayed a little bit, and she blocked some
of the pockets of lava. This was a one on one training session, it would be
much harder with teammates.
"Okay, I got this, I so got this," Amara stated, when one of the rocks fell
from the ceiling of the training simulation.
An optic blast of light struck the rocks, before Amara could reaction. She
blinked and then cursed, she could have handled that and she got down to the
ground, kneeling a little bit and watching every little thing. Her dark hair
dripped with sweat and stuck to her face, when she spun around watching Scott
down on the ground.
"Just thought I'd lend a hand," Scott responded with a smile, he knew that
after he let Jean go mentally, he could focus on other things, like taking his
role as the leadership for this team. And being a leader, meant helping out the
other team members when they could not handle the heat, which seemed to be
often.
"Lend a hand, I had it completely under control!" Amara stated hotly when she
looked at Scott, like she was about ready to set him on fire.
"Look, I know how it might seem that way but..."
"Scott, just stop trying," Jean answered with a roll of her eyes before she
stared him down, fury going through her eyes when she dis so. Her head was
clearer than ever now thanks to the Phoenix and she saw that Scott was very
flawed. Granted, they were all flawed, but his flaws were stronger than many
others, to the point where it made her extremely uncomfortable.
She could not wait for Harry to set up his place because she would be going out
the door with him. As for the others, Jean had no idea
Scott resembled a dog that had been caught doing its business on the rug inside
the house.
"I'm supposed to be the leader of this team, I should be able to lend a hand to
those who need the help," Scott protested to the redhead before him, but he
took a step back at the look of fury in Jean's eyes.
Kurt popped up and watched Scott, eyes widened before he looked at him, shaking
his head in pity. "Man, just leave it alone, you can't win here, this is an
unwinnable thing. You should step back nicely and beg for forgiveness. Trust
me, it's a lot better, it's a lot better, you're not going to win."
Scott was not one to concede defeat, especially when he was getting his
confidence back after the Asteroid incident. He thought that with Harry's focus
on leaving the team and also with getting Wanda out of her current predicament,
he would be able to step up a little bit and take the reigns of leadership.
Unfortunately, that got him his share of nasty looks from both Amara and Jean.
"What's going on here?" Kitty asked, who showed up, with Tabby walking behind
her and Rogue also popped in with Rachel. Even Roberto, Bobby, and Sam turned
up to watch the show or perhaps the slaughter, it was extremely hard to tell
for now.
"The point is Scott, you can help out all you want, but you lack one
fundamental thing that a leader truly does," Jean stated, when she gained some
momentum and was about to light into Scott for the viewing pleasure of the rest
of the team. "That is the leader doesn't jump in and fight the battles for the
team, especially when he could barely handle himself. A true leader is one that
observes what's happening, and jumps in to take control but only when the team
has faltered. Do you understand when you have failed?"
Bobby grimaced when he saw Scott. He wondered if he should start buying flowers
for the funeral.
"I..."
Jean was far from done lighting into Scott and she watched him. "And I suppose
that you thought that you could swoop in here because Amara needs the help of
the big and almighty powerful Cyclops. Perhaps you thought that she was a weak
little girl that could not handle the heat. I think that Harry has been doing a
good job in building up her confidence and the confidence of the other team
members."
"Oh boy," Sam whispered to the group and Bobby and Roberto nodded, with Jubilee
biting her lips.
"Alas, Cyclops, we barely knew thee," Tabby stated in mock remorse, when she
clapped a hand to her heart in mock sorrow.
"Jean I..."
"You know, worry about your own inadequacies and not how you think others are
inadequate, Scott," Jean practically spat at him, she wondered if the injury
that caused him to be unable to control his optic blasts caused some kind of
lasting brain damage. "And leave the leadership to the people who can actually
lead this team until you take lessons in how to do so properly!"
Scott was flummoxed; he did not know what to say, although his brain engaged to
the point where he knew it to be prudent not say anything. Kurt and Bobby in
particular gave him warning looks, as if to say to walk away whilst he was
ahead. The young man wondered what the rest of the team would say, and he had
been dressed down verbally in front of the entire squad. That to Scott was
demeaning, but it should not be the end of the world.
Except for the fact that it almost was and Scott blinked carefully, waiting and
watching, wondering what to say or do next. The eyes of many were on him.
Everyone, new recruits and old recruits alike watched to see what he was going
to say or even if he was going to defend himself. He blinked and watched like a
fish out of water, swaying a little bit and his heart beat steadily before he
threw his hands up and turned so he could walk away. Scott Summers knew he
fought a losing battle.
"The nerve of him," Jean stated before she turned around and saw Harry. Her
expression brightened up when she saw Harry. "So...how are you doing?"
"Fine, I can tell you've been through quite the scene," Harry responded with an
amused chuckle when he saw the members of the team, but he knew not to push it,
because the busted air conditioning was making everyone testy. Harry didn't
mind, he thought it actually built character. Although he was a bit agitated
about giving the run around by Xavier when he inquired about the original X-
Men. The statement "it was a lifetime ago" was given and that was that. "It's
not something that I'm going to get involved in."
"I wouldn't get involved in it either," Kurt stated to Harry with widened eyes
when he walked by and the young wizard nodded.
Little did he know that this simple incident would be the start of something
that would be extremely interesting. He could not really even begin to fathom
what was going on around him but he could tell that Jean, Amara, and many of
the female members of this team had something to prove. Although perhaps
something to rub Scott's nose in was the greater reason why they did this, that
much was for sure.
===============================================================================
"Interestingly enough, the Bayville Sirens popped up around that time. Anyone
with a few functioning brain cells could piece together who they were and who
this mysterious group of six vigilantes turned out to be. Said group gave fits
to the criminals of New York City, and it could not be better when they did."
Gwen smiled when Harry continued to go into the story.
"As for Arcane...well he had his own problems that he had to deal with. It
seems like I can't even step out for a milkshake without attracting some kind
of trouble."
Gwen placed her hand on her heart and offered a mock expression of sorrow, a
smile spreading over her face. "Such is the place for a hero, but continue your
story."
And continue his story was what Harry did in fact do, even if he would not
consider himself the hero.
===============================================================================
Harry Potter took a moment to look around when he heard the alarm. Under the
guise of Arcane, dressed in a black jacket, with a black shirt, and black
pants, with a charm that disguised his true face, he turned around, walking
forward and was ready for action. True it was not the flashiest costume in the
world but damn it, it was the man who made the costume and not the other way
around. That being said, Harry was ready for action and ready to see what the
world had in store for him.
Armed goons, they were really a dime a dozen, especially in a city as large as
New York and he heard the patter of little steps. Harry arched his head back a
little bit and saw that there was a gang of seven, eight, no wait about
fifteen, damn there must have been some kind of convention in town. He turned
around and waited, casually watching everything. So far no shots were fired,
even if a door was broke, but still no casualties.
That situation could turn around for the worst rather quick.
Harry waited and he watched carefully, to see what was going to happen next but
it turned out that he did not have to wait that much longer. He got a little
back up in the form of everyone's favorite friendly neighborhood hero, Spider-
Man.
"Alright, you boys have been very naughty tonight," the wall crawler stated but
they turned to him and lifted up guns which caused the web slinger's spider
sense to flare.
"Spider-Man, blast him!"
The high powered and military grade weapons fired at the web slinger who ducked
the attacks, trying to maneuver them against each other. If he had a nickel for
every time someone said, "Spider-Man, blast him", well he would not have to
slum it for Jameson at the very least. He ducked his head and rolled around,
launching himself into the air. A click of his web shooters but the blast from
the laser blasters burned through his webbing and dropped him to the ground.
'Okay, that doesn't work as well as I thought it would, think Spidey, use your
head, it's what brought you to the dance,'the wall crawler responded when he
blinked carefully and once again, he dodged the blasts of fire, before he
dodged the attacks and tried to maneuver them into a situation where he could
take them down. His heart thumped hard against his chest.
The blast of light knocked the enemies back and Spider-Man turned his head.
There he was, on time as always. The web slinging hero watched as Arcane
swooped in, quick as a cat, and dropped down to attack. Shot after shot
disarmed and disabled the weapons of his enemies. Thick cords wrapped around
his legs, before he spun around and took them down a little bit, before Arcane
circled them like a shark seeking out his prey.
His speed was insane and his intensity could not be matched by anyone. Spider-
Man offered what he hoped was a helping hand when he shot his line of webbing
out, wrapping around the ankles of his enemy and knocking them down. They
landed down onto the ground with a solid drop.
"So where do you think these guys came from?" Spider-Man asked Arcane when he
continued to fight and Arcane knocked them down. "And wasn't there less guys
there when we started?"
"Pretty much, these thugs breed like rabbits," Harry responded when he swung
his foot into the ankle of one of the attackers. They expected a magical attack
so it would be prudent to use a physical one so he propelled himself up into
the air, before he launched his attacker backwards, causing them to crash
backwards with a solid impact and a crunch. The bones in their vertebrae
cracked and snapped. Harry watched, a smirk that was calculating and was about
to speak.
Before he could say anything, a figure swooped from the air. He moved pretty
fast, almost too fast for Harry to pick up at first. He saw a flicker of a red
bodysuit and horns, when he rushed around. A white staff swung in his hand when
he rushed around, moving into the the battle.
"It's the Devil!"
Harry corked an eyebrow when he heard them, he wanted to know more. The
Devil...well that was something that was new and he wanted to find out further
information about it. There was the thud, thud, crack, and another thud of
several explosive attacks at rapid fire fury. Their enemies toppled to the
ground with an attack, before the mystery man swung around, sending his staff
cracking into the knee caps of his enemies.
The sound of shattering bones against metal could be heard by all and everyone
wondered what was happening now. Harry in particular, he was curious, and he
tried to shine a light on them, but all of their enemies, they were down on the
ground. Spider-Man in particular blinked and watched them, carefully trying to
piece together what happened. It was not like anything he ever experienced.
"And I didn't get to do much of anything," Spider-Man responded in a joking
tone after he let out a breath and threw his hands into the air, in mock
remorse.
"I'm sure we'll get another chance," Harry offered Spider-Man with a shrug but
his mysterious vigilante friend disappeared into the night. He took a few steps
forward. "The devil, the devil, that name seems to be familiar."
Spider-Man remembered something that he heard in the Bugle. "They...wouldn't be
referring to the mysterious guardian devil of Hell's Kitchen, would they? As in
Daredevil!"
Harry read the reports, so he knew what Spider-Man was talking about but the
real question was if this devil and the person that attacked him were one in
the same. The young wizard only had a moment to carefully walk forward a little
bit, and peer up on the catwalk before he spotted who was standing on it.
The mysterious devil tried to make a getaway but Harry was not going to let him
escape that easily. Not until he had answers. The young wizard kicked up the
pace and flew towards him. The devil turned around, his hands on his hips.
"Kid, you don't know what you've stumbled into," the Devil stated in a gruff
voice when he crossed his arms, hearing a heartbeat like anything he ever heard
before. It was positively alien given the odd rhythm.
"You're the Guardian Devil of Hell's Kitchen," Harry stated when he looked back
at the man before him, his expression intent when he watched the man preparing
to defend himself if need be. "I've seen you on the news and saw what you've
done."
"Congratulations," he stated gruffly when before a pause. "And you also know
what I've done and who I'm going up against. Those goons you went against,
they're not your average group of goons. They're something else, especially who
they work for."
"What are they?" Spider-man asked but Daredevil sensed his presence, his
heartbeat, once again unlike anything he ever saw before.
"They work for a very powerful crime boss, he calls himself the Kingpin, he's
using the recent string of car-jackings as a front," Daredevil answered in a
brisk and curt tone of voice. "I've been chasing him for a very long time."
"How long?" Spider-Man asked when he looked at Daredevil who answered in a
gruff tone.
"Longer than you've even had on those webs."
He launched a line and flew off, with Arcane and Spider-Man standing there in
his wake, without a further word of goodbye. Both of them were thinking about
the same thing, it was a while before the web head actually said anything. The
friendly neighborhood hero turned to him, before he carefully looked at him.
"Nice fellow, about as nice as you are," Spider-Man remarked in a cheerful
voice.
Harry stared at him, giving the web slinger a gaze that made Spider-Man glad
that Arcane could not shoot heat beams through his eyes.
"What are you trying to imply?" Harry asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Nothing, nothing," Spider-Man answered before he switched the subjects to
address the elephant in the room. "So you and Gwen..."
"Yes," Harry answered in a careful voice and Spider-Man looked at Harry, trying
to act intimidating but failing.
"Don't hurt her or...I'll web your feet to the ground," Spider-Man finished, he
thought his threat sounded a lot more horrifying in his head but now it sounded
kind of lame.
"Right, I'll keep that in mind, but Gwen's a great girl, I think she'd hurt me
if I hurt her," Harry answered with a crisp voice. "And I take care of all my
girls and they know what they're getting into."
"Yeah, I almost pity you," Spider-Man stated before he added. "I mean you have
to deal with that time of the month times about seven or eight about now while
most guys only have to deal with it once so..."
Spider-Man shook his head when he watched Harry, who inclined his head and
shook it sadly.
"You know, I think I might shut up now, that would be the best, wouldn't it?"
"It would," Harry stated when he nodded in agreement before he turned around
and watched, but did not blink. "So, I think that now we should go after this
devil. I managed to slip a tracking spell on him."
"Of course you did," Spider-Man stated before he turned around to focus on the
task at hand.
It was time for him to join Arcane and track down the Guardian Devil,
Daredevil, whatever they wanted to call him, he would be found.
They were on his trail.
===============================================================================
'This is awesome, even more fun than I ever thought that something like this
would be, I mean, isn't this amazing!"
Tabby stated this when she walked forward, along with the rest of the group in
black leather jackets and tight pants, along with sunglasses. Kitty, Rogue,
Amara, Jean, and Rachel followed them. The Bayville Sirens made their mark on
Bayville and in the greater area around New York. They noticed that there was a
lot of car jackings in the area and they traced it back to the source.
Rachel's expression crossed with one with trepidation. She was dragged into
this battle with the rest of them, partly to make sure they stayed out of
trouble and then to not let their initial successes get to their head. "Okay
guys, this was fun, I don't think any of us would deny that, but the joke's
over. We've allowed this one to get away with us and...I don't think that the
joke is as funny as we thought it was anymore. We could get hurt."
"We were trained for this, I mean Xavier's keeping us indoors for a while and
so not letting us do anything, this is totally great," Kitty answered and the
rest of the group nodded. "It's a shame that Harry is off doing something
else."
"Nah this is a girl's night out, no matter how good he'd look in tight
leather," Tabby responded when she blinked and watched everything that happened
around them before she heard the rumbling from indoors. "Did you guys hear
them?"
They all nodded, they did hear that and the assembled group edged closer,
hoping that they would be able to find out more about what was going down.
These car jacking, they happened for a reason but what was that reason? Jean
led the group, being the senior member of the team. Amara followed her closely
behind, then Rogue, then Rachel, Kitty, and Tabby. The group let one of the car
jackers get away, while they tailed him.
It was a play out of the playbook of their glorious leader, one Harry James
Potter, alias Arcane, and they hoped to take more plays out of his playbook in
the future. The Sirens stepped forward, listening carefully. They realized that
enhanced hearing would be a power that would be pretty useful now. They could
hear enough.
"Yeah, those girls in the leather, they think they're something, don't they?"
"Yeah, man but they aren't nothing but a bunch of little brats playing dress
up."
'Oh really now,'Jean thought when she stepped forward, eyes flashing with the
desire to prove herself.
"I got a word from the fat man, he wants the stuff moved and he wants it moved
tonight, the devil's closing in on us fast. And these Sirens, well they'll be
dead in a little bit. And there's the web head, that chump and Arcane, what is
with this city?"
"I don't know, something in the water," one of the car jackers stated with a
thud. They had weapons that were military level; they had been smuggled into
the city. The Kingpin's turf war with Silvermane heated up and the underworld
chose sides. Although there was this Master Planner that offered a third option
that upset things but that was another story all together.
A telekinetic pulse knocked one of the weapons out of their hands and the goons
spun around, before they watched the group of six peered at them.
"The Sirens?" one of the car jackers stated when he looked at the girls.
"Yeah, that's right, bub," Kitty stated when she stood and put her hands on her
hips.
"Bub?" Rachel asked with a raised eyebrow and she could not avoid smiling.
"Logan's going to sue you for trademark infringement."
"Enough, let's take them down," the goons stated, before they fired the high
tech blasters at the girls, who scattered. The Sirens rushed around, trying to
encircle their enemies. It was Rogue who after catching her breath, who stated
the obvious point for all of them to ponder.
"How does trash like this get their hands on high tech weapons?" she asked,
when she used her strength to knocked her enemy into the wall. "I mean,
seriously, these people...they don't seem like the type who could handle this
stuff."
"More than your average car jacking," Rachel stated when she used a pulse to
smack the heads of her enemies together and they slumped down to the ground.
"These guys are up to something but...DUCK!"
That statement got their attention and they nearly go their heads taken off by
the weapons. That was a close shave, all too close, and the group scattered,
before they got away. But not before they left a crate on the ground, opened
and Jean moved over, to see what they had.
"So, are we going to see what goodies they've been hoarding?" Tabby asked when
she took a moment to look at the crate and Jean responded with a nod and a
smile.
Jean tore open the crates to reveal the high tech weapons inside. If she was
honest, this really scrapped the iceberg and now she believed them to playing
into some much higher stakes than before.
"Guys, I think we might be in the middle of some kind of turf war," Jean stated
when she turned back around to them.
"Which is a good reason why we should step back and let it go," Rachel stated
and Kitty looked about ready to agree, but Tabby decided to be the one to egg
them on a little bit more.
"Hey, we could step back, you're right, but wouldn't that be proving Cyclops
right?" Tabby asked when she looked at her fellow Sirens. "We could pretend
this never happened, but this is a chance for us to really prove ourselves.
Really apply our training in a situation where we could help people out and
stop people from dying."
Amara nodded in agreement. She hoped to have a real practical situation, sure
there were a few battles here and there, but that really did not count. She
really wanted something tangible to be able to happen.
"So are we in this?" Jean asked and the group all nodded. "None of you are
being forced to stay, when we signed up for this...we realized that this might
be a fun thing and none of us took it too seriously."
Kitty, Rogue, and Rachel all nodded, that was the idea.
"But now we can do something worthwhile."
===============================================================================
Gwen waited for the pause of the story. "So how much of that were you witness
to?"
"Jean and I and Rachel and I, have mental links, so if I choose to, I can tap
into it whenever I want," Harry offered her and Gwen nodded carefully when she
watched Harry. "I don't try and make a habit out of it, it can get pretty
unsettling if I keep popping in on someone's mind and stalking them but if they
need help, they know that they can call me."
"I can see why it would be so," Gwen stated when she moved over and sipped on
the drink that she had. She paused and then stated her next question. "So you
were in there for almost the entire time?"
"Pretty much yeah, but Spider-Man and I had a few other things that we had to
worry about. We were on our way to run with the devil and to track him down. I
wasn't going to let that initial meeting go on without learning more. That was
not the way I am."
Gwen figured as much and she politely invited for Harry to continue his story
and continue he did.
===============================================================================
The first night of the Bayville Sirens invasion concluded and it was the second
night, with Arcane and Spider-Man sitting perched on the gargoyles. Now it was
night two and they were after Daredevil. Harry figured that they could have
tracked him down and found out his civilian identity but he was not going to go
that route. Unless of course, the Guardian Devil of Hell's kitchen forced his
hand.
So far, it was so good, Arcane perched and ready.
"So, if our pattern is right, the next car jacking should take place here,"
Spider-Man responded when Harry nodded. "And what if our mysterious Bayville
Sirens show up?"
"I sent them on a wild goose chase to the other side of town," Harry responded
without a thought when he watched and waited, rocking back on his heels. "If
this is as serious as I think it is, I don't want any of them in the line of
fire."
Spider-Man could not help but wise crack. "And how many of them are you
sleeping with?"
Arcane did not have time to dignify that question with a response, for now he
swooped him down onto the ground. The web head dropped to the ground with him,
when he saw the goons in the alleyway. Once again, the car jacking appeared to
be a front for something else, but what it was a front for, Harry could not
piece it together, at least not yet.
The weapons were high tech, from the few glimpses Harry saw and he watched
everything, using his rather sharp hearing to pick up the sounds of footsteps.
He had hearing that was more enhanced than most humans were, wondering if it
was another mutant power, a quirk of magic, or something else entirely?
The crash echoed when the vigilante known as Daredevil swooped in and knocked
his enemies down. They landed down to the ground, he moved quickly and without
fear. There was no hesitation in his motions and his movement, when he was sent
down to the ground with a loud crash. The thugs were no match for the Man
Without Fear. When the dust settled, he wiped them out in record time.
Arcane and Spider-Man popped up to face Daredevil once again.
"You two again," Daredevil responded in his most crisp voice, recognizing their
heart beats off the bat. "I told you that this is not..."
"You need your help, things are getting worse," Arcane answered when he looked
at the many before him. There was a careful moment in time when both stood face
to face with each other but neither backed down. Spider-Man gulped a little
bit, he didn't fancy playing monkey in the middle between these two dark and
brooding forces.
Daredevil paused before he explained the situation.
"There's a gang war that is about to happen, people are gobbling up turf left
and right. Silvermane's back in the game and there's the Kingpin. Then there's
this new party, he's called the Master Planner, and he's making his play for
the piece of the pie. All of them are dangerous and there are several smaller
mobs that are trying to get their piece as well but they've been gobbled up
more and more. It's down to the Kingpin, Silvermane, and this Master Planner."
"The Kingpin, I fought a few of his men here and there, he's the worst of all
the mob bosses in New York," Spider-Man offered.
"Yeah, he is," Daredevil agreed when he watched them. "If you two are willing
to work with me, then fine, try and keep up but otherwise, stay out of my way."
Daredevil turned around, he knew that justice was blind, so that made him the
perfect man for the job.
To Be Continued in Part Two.
***** The Sirens, the Devil, and the Kingpin Part Two *****
Chapter Forty Five "The Sirens, the Devil, and the Kingpin Part Two."
Daredevil was a man who stood forward and carefully, even if he could not see,
his eyes were watching every single moment and every single movement. He stood
without fear and without any attempts to show that he was anything but the
calculating individual he was. His heart drummed strong and soundly while he
awaited the next moment. Truly, he had an axe to grind with this Kingpin and
that was something that Spider-Man noticed.
'So he's really got it out for the Kingpin,'Spider-Man thought with wide eyes
before he spoke up.
"So, Um, what exactly happened between you and Kingpin in the first place that
cause this?" Spider-Man wondered but Daredevil turned to him, slowly rooting on
the spot.
"It's personal," he responded in his gruffest tone of voice.
Sure enough it was personal, most things were. He flashed back in his mind to a
time where he was young and innocent. Or at least more innocent than he was now
but that was beside the point, the point was that times have changed. His
father was named Jack Murdoch, he was a prize fighter, the best in the world,
but one day he was told to took a dive by a man who wanted to see his fighter
win. Jack Murdoch did not play that game and was a man of honor.
His young son, Matt Murdoch, stepped forward across the street, not watching
where he was going. There was a truck that barreled down towards him and
stopped, it carried radioactive waste on the back. Some of it splashed into his
eyes, blinding him. That was a sad day and there was one man who was
responsible for the trafficking of that material.
His name was the Kingpin, that's all Matt needed to know. His father tried to
get his hands on the Kingpin but he was shot down, quite literally. He still
remembered hearing the life leave his father when the Kingpin's goons left him
for dead. He recalled it with fury, his fists clutched and teeth gritted when
he thought about everything that happened. This was the worst thing ever and
something that spun his entire world on its head.
He thought that everything was done but he got a lifeline, a man known as Stick
found him and took him it. He trained Matt to use his senses, his other senses,
to their fullest. The radioactive waste gave him super powers beyond his
wildest imaginings and that allowed him to step forward, to do what needed to
be done. This city needed protectors from trash like the Kingpin and the crowd
he ran around with.
So he became Daredevil, he was the Man Without Fear, and he stood at the edge
of the rooftop, carefully pondering, while technically speaking he could not
look over the city, he could still protect it. The Kingpin threw more people in
the crossfire than ever before and things got more intense with each passing
moment, the more the Man Without Fear thought about it.
"So do you want our help?" Arcane asked to break him out of his thoughts.
Daredevil paused, there was an instant where he looked his gruffest but
underneath the mask, there was a hint of frustration. With anyone who did what
he did, it was quite understandable. That hint could be picked up by anyone who
was skilled at reading body language but he blocked it out from most of the
world and powered on through.
"Your help would be appreciated," Daredevil admitted grudgingly, but it almost
pained him to admit so.
A smile snapped over Spider-Man's face. "Great so that means we should…"
"Do what we have to do to track down the Kingpin and stop him but it won't be
easy," Daredevil answered when he spun around. "All I can piece together about
him is that he is a man of immense resources. He has barely even stepped out
into the light, letting his underlings do the work. Smart man, there are people
who would shoot him on sight if they knew who he was."
"I'd imagine," Arcane responded when he kept his gaze steady and thought about
everything.
He kept an eye on the girls, checking with the tracking charm that he put on
them. Harry vowed to not get involved with their business unless they got into
too much trouble. He had confidence in their abilities that they would not get
into trouble, at least to a certain extent. Of course, leaving something like
that up to chance. He kept a steady eye on the tracking spell.
Somehow Harry thought that despite his attempts to lead them out of the line of
fire of this gang war, they would come across trouble. He trained them too well
all things considered, that's what the wizard thought.
"So are we ready to do this thing?" Spider-Man asked carefully waiting on pins
and needles.
Daredevil's steely glance snapped towards the web slinger, when he heard the
heartbeat of both of them. Spider-Man looked a bit apprehensive but ready, but
the other one, this Arcane, he showed no fear whatsoever, in addition to his
alien heartbeat. It was almost as if he had no concept of mortality, and the
fact that it was a dangerous world out there. That spoke well of him to an
extent, Daredevil imagined.
"Yes, we are ready," Arcane stated before he paused and amended. "I can't speak
for him, but I'm ready at least."
"There is no amount of preparation that will prepare us for what was going to
happen so now is the time for action," Daredevil responded in a gruff voice one
could not argue with.
Arcane and Spider-Man both knew they were ready. Both of them had been dealing
with this sort of thing for a long time but given what Daredevil said the
stakes could not be higher. Everything bubbled over carefully when they waited
for the next move to happen. The trio moved off into the shadows, waiting to
see what their next move would be.
===============================================================================
"Are you sure we should be meddling in this?"
Scott took a moment to turn to Kurt, before he added in a confident voice that
did not really suit him all that much. "Kurt, everything is going to turn out
fine, just fine. We're going to give them a hand, like good teammates do."
Kurt appeared to be uncertain. "I mean, I don't want to be near any of them
when they get mad. And if Harry finds out about this…."
"Harry won't find out about this," Scott answered in confidence but Kurt threw
his hands up before he spoke in a frustrated whispered.
"Are you daft, man? Harry Potter knows everything. He sees when you're
sleeping; he knows when you're awake. He doesn't sleep, he merely waits. Even
Professor Xavier doesn't know as much about us, and Logan doesn't, even though
he should."
Scott decided to block out the very real annoyance about how observant Harry
was but so far, he was not here. At least he was not seen anywhere but as Scott
painfully reminded himself, he was not nearly as observant as Harry was.
Speaking of being observant, it was now that the group of six walked in. Jean
led the way, walking with a confident stride that suited her new attitude.
Kitty and Rachel followed closely behind her, then Rogue, then Amara and Tabby.
The group of six waited and watched, before their eyes kept firmly focused on
the task at hand.
"Something big going on," Kurt whispered to Scott but Scott shushed him and
Kurt fell silent. All the two boys could do is wait and watch.
Kitty stopped and paused, she sensed that they were not alone. Perhaps it was
an occupational hazard of being near Harry too much and thus she became
slightly paranoid, but the fact of the matter was that she turned to her fellow
teammates. Her eyes darted quickly to the rafters and she could have sworn she
saw something move rather quickly.
"Keep on your toes guys, we could have trouble," Kitty stated to them.
Tabby was the one who responded in a brash voice, when she cracked her
knuckles. "It's nothing that we can't handle. I mean after we trashed those
car-jackers, we're on a roll, so let's do this thing."
"You might be on a roll ladies, but it's about to stop now."
The voice echoed for all of them to hear and the Sirens stood on edge, waiting
a little bit. The voice they heard was commanding with a presence that caused
them to all stand up and take attention. Voices like this echoed loud and bold,
proud and could stretch on for miles. The group of six waited before they
watched them.
"Who are you?" Rogue demanded before she placed her hands on her hips. "Show
yourself!"
There was a chuckle before the voice responded once again. "Now be realistic,
my dear, do you think that I would step into the light? I am called many things
in the criminal underworld but you may call me the Kingpin."
"Yeah, well I'm calling you out for a butt whooping!" Rogue stated when she
cracked her knuckles.
"Such spirit but yet such a temper," the Kingpin stated in an even voice. "You
Bayville Sirens do have potential. I will not kill you, because you are an
asset. Rather I'd offer you a job; I'd even pay you money. Mutants would be
respected and not feared like it is inevitable."
The girls got on edge, how did this guy know what they were? Jean tried to scan
for any thought patterns so she could find out where the Kingpin was hiding.
Yet after that search failed she came to one simple conclusion, whoever was
talking to them, he was not here and that was pretty frustrating.
"Too bad you can't come out and face us," Jean answered, feeling the Phoenix
within her flare up in anger.
The chuckle of the Kingpin echoed through their ears before he decided to
enlighten them on one simple matter. "That would be folly, my dear siren. So my
offer, whilst it will be generous, expires in a short time. I would suggest you
take advantage of it while you can."
"How about no?" Tabby asked when she put her hands on her hips, bracing herself
for a fight. "We could dish anything that you can take out so bring it buster."
The laughter of the Kingpin could be heard; this very thing put the Sirens on
edge. The hairs on the back of their necks stood in attention when they waited
for the other shoe to drop. The other shoe was about to drop but they did not
know how much it was going to drop. The group swayed and waited, carefully
keeping on their feet.
"I'm guessing that means no," Kingpin stated when his chuckles ceased.
Before any of the Sirens could make a snappy retort, a high frequency pulse
ripped through the air. The siren felled the Sirens, with Jean and Rachel in
particular getting the worst of it. It felt like their heads were split open,
the other four did not fare too well other from the energy blast.
"What….is that?" Amara managed, her heart beating heavily, when she felt her
powers go out of control.
Scott's eyes began to blast high above them, causing chaos and forcing the
Siren's to scatter.
"I can't believe….I can't believe that…." Kurt could not say anything more for
he began to teleport in an erratic manner, nearly teleporting into things and
on top of people, with his powers going completely haywire.
"This frequency disrupts mutant powers, a hand little device as you can see,
and causes them to hurt the users of them as well," the Kingpin commented,
before he snapped his fingers and several armed goons walked forward, ready to
rough up the Bayville Sirens. "Nothing personal, my dears, just business,
that's all."
"What are you doing here?" Jean demanded when Scott and Kurt were brought down,
and collars were locked onto them, along with the crippled sirens.
'And now our powers are gone,'Jean thought to herself, when she squirmed.
'Great, wonderful, could this day get any better?'
"What I want to know is how this Kingpin guy got all of this tech?" Kitty
wondered and that was a good question but none of them were close to getting
the answers they wanted.
You aren't the only group who works in a co-op effort," Kingpin answered
carefully when he watched the carefully. "You X-Men aren't the only mutants in
town."
"So that's it, you're a mutant?" Scott managed, trying to get a word in.
"Not that it concerns you, but that is not what I implied in the slightest,"
the Kingpin answered in a careful voice, choosing his next few words as such.
"Although there are mutants in high society, not that you'd live long enough to
learn about them, or whom they are."
Warning and malice dripped from the voice of the Kingpin, when the X-Men were
at his not so tender mercy.
===============================================================================
"Wait, so there are mutants….among us in high society,' Gwen responded when
they broke back in the present.
"Yes, that's what he said, I'm not sure what he really meant," Harry answered
before he cleared his throat and went back to his story. "So, the X-Men were in
for a rough time now."
"That's what happens when they don't have their leader around," Gwen mused but
Harry gave her a shifty look. "Sorry, please continue."
"Gladly," Harry chimed in before he cleared his throat and then paused for
dramatic effect. "So we established that the Kingpin had friends in high
society, that equipped him with technology that brought mutants to his knees.
At first, I thought that there was a Sinister hand at work here, but then I
determined that there might be another explanation. Something new but we could
not worry about that. This was the time where I decided to step in, I figured
the practical lesson was over, and it was time to clean some house."
Harry paused when he reflected, he wished the Kingpin would have been there in
person but that guy, whoever he was, was not going to be that easy. He was the
type that hid underneath a rock before he waited to strike at the right time,
whenever that would be. The Kingpin was slippery as a snake.
===============================================================================
"And apparently, I can't leave my team alone for five minutes,'Harry thought to
himself when he arrived, with Daredevil leading the charge and Spider-Man
swinging in behind them. 'So…this Kingpin guy, doesn't want to show his face.
That's fine, I'll take care of him later.'
Harry heard a buzzing in his ears but his eyes closed and he blocked it out
before he powered on through. His heart beaten against his chest when he tried
to figure out what the source was to what was causing this. He would have been
able to step forward had it not been for one simple thing and that was that
Spider-Man hunched over.
"What is it?" Arcane asked when his eyes flickered towards the wall crawler who
placed a hand on the top of his head. What is it?
"Spider Sense, going wild," Spider-Man answered when his eyes closed shut and
his mouth rattled a little bit, but his heart beat a little bit more, when he
swayed, sweat rolling down his body.
Harry peered around, another high pressure situation but that was no problem,
he'd been there and done that. He wished he could block out that infernal
buzzing sound but perhaps he was trying to think about this problem from the
wrong angle. He bent his knee down and waited for the right moment to strike.
Any second now, he could jump in and find what was causing the issue.
Suddenly, he saw that five of his girls were about to be roughed up by those
gorillas, along with Tabby. Kurt was there to and Scott…well he was there too,
so Harry supposed that he was going to have to save him as well. He calculated
each and every angle with intense mental processing power, he tried to find it,
tried to locate it. Time slowed down to a crawl and everyone but Arcane moved
in slow motion. He could slow down time to a tenth of a second fast, which was
new to him.
Whenever he exhibited a new power, he simply rolled with the punches and saw
what it would bring him. He carefully saw the glowing light, the blipping in
the back of his head. The agitation echoed through the back of his head, but he
found it. He found whatever was doing this.
Or at least it was doing this, he felt a burning through his wrists but at the
same time, he blasted the weapon to pieces. It shuddered and smoked.
With a whip of his wrist, Harry released the X-Men from the collars and their
powers returned, in time.
"I was wondering when you'd turn up," Kurt commented breathlessly but suddenly,
Spider-Man swung in and with one fluid motion sent his line of webbing around
the ankles of one of his enemies. His enemy flew to the ground and smacked hard
against the ground. "And you too."
"Yeah me, your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man here to save the day and all
that jazz," Spider-Man responded when he swooped in from the top of the rafters
and prepared to clean house.
"Now the odds are getting a bit better," Kitty answered with a smile, before
she grabbed the gun out of the hands one of her attackers. Rogue knocked him
down with a swift punch to the back of the head. The brunette mutant jumped up,
before she grabbed her enemy around the head and sank him headfirst into the
ground.
Tabby launched several of her bombs, taking them off guard, while Amara heated
up the ground where they were fighting. They got a hot foot and that allowed
Jean to grab onto them with her telekinetic powers, before whipping them into
the wall.
Rachel closed her eyes, carefully maneuvering her powers against the minds of
her enemies. She gritted her teeth before she projected a thought into their
minds, to tell them to go to sleep.
"Wow, where did that guy come from?" Kitty asked in a raised eyebrow when she
watched Daredevil dive down and swing his mighty staff, before he knocked the
feet of his enemies out from underneath him.
"I don't know, but I like his moves," Tabby stated, watching him, interested.
Harry dove forward and knocked one of the larger thugs into the wall, snapping
several bones of his body. He lifted him up, his legs and arms stretched out by
a magical attack.
"So, I'm going to only ask you this question once," Harry remarked to him,
carefully twisting his limbs, before he swung him upside down. "Where is the
Kingpin?"
"Go to hell," the criminal spat but that was the wrong answer to give, Harry
whipped him back against the wall. He landed on the wall, when Spider-Man
webbed two of the criminals together, causing them to clonk heads. Kitty drove
one of the criminals headfirst into the ground until he stopped breathing and
then brought him back up, before she kicked him one more time for good measure.
"So how are you doing?" Kitty asked when she watched Kurt teleport out of the
way, causing the charging enemy to trip himself up and he landed on the back of
his head with the knock out attack.
The enemies fell down, toppling like nine pins and everything worked out well
with the exception of one thing that stuck in their teeth. Harry could tell
that Daredevil felt frustrated.
They were no closer than getting their hands on the Kingpin then they were
earlier tonight.
Harry spun around and faced the group of girls, his eyes narrowing at them.
Amara was the one who looked the most sheepish.
"So, how did we do?" she asked.
Scott turned around, this was unbelievable. If he gave them a look like that,
he would have gotten dressed down and yelled at. If Harry gave them a look like
that, he was asked for his honest assessment of the situation. This was one of
those things that made Scott want to lie down and give up.
"We'll talk later," Harry answered to the girls, who all nodded, and Spider-Man
stood off to the side, trying not to break down into laughter at the situation.
===============================================================================
"So, after all of that, the Kingpin slips away," Spider-Man responded before he
amended in a hasty voice. "Not that it was your fault, obviously."
"Well to be fair, he wasn't ever here," Arcane managed and Spider-Man nodded,
that much was for certain. They could not really deal all that much with
someone who was not really here.
"Daredevil's gone but then again, he's not the chatty type to stick around,"
Spider-Man answered when he looked over his shoulder.
"We busted a lot of the Kingpin's men, so this night wasn't a total waste,"
Arcane responded before he turned to Jean. Jean stood her ground but there was
a bit of uneasiness dancing through her eyes. She didn't really care what Scott
thought about what happened or Xavier but she cared a whole bit about what
Harry thought about how this situation turned out.
There was an extremely calm and at the same time, extremely awkward silence
that happened. Jean watched Harry carefully, keeping an eye on him. The Phoenix
even warned her that indulging in such activities out of spite might cause some
friction. Yet, Jean chose to ignore those warnings. And the warnings of Rachel,
who turned out to be right this entire time about what happened.
"So the Bayville Sirens," Harry answered when he looked at them. "First of all,
I knew it was you the entire time, and I kept an eye on you."
"And it's a good thing you did," Kitty offered when she jumped in for the
defense and Harry responded with a nod. "I mean, it could have totally gone the
wrong way if you hadn't interfered when you did."
"Yeah it could have," Harry agreed before he added to the group at large, a
smile crossing his face. "Although today did prove one thing, and that is you
are pretty well trained. That speaks well of you and that will continue to
speak well of you. I hope that you've learned that training might not be
everything. There will always be one person who will have the better tools. But
those tools aren't everything, as if they bust, then the playing field becomes
more even."
Harry actually got a similar lecture from the Sorcerer Supreme about the folly
of relying on magical artifacts. Just because something seemed like it was a
good idea to use, did not always mean it should be used. Of course, there was
also the point that most magical artifacts held a dangerous curse on them that
could backfire in the face of the user, but that was beside the point.
The point was that no matter how many trinkets that one had in their disposal,
the human mind was still a very powerful weapon and Harry hoped to impart that
upon his students. Powers were useless if a person was an idiot. Of course, the
human mind was capable of making mistakes, that was what made them humans or in
that case mutants.
"So I guess we've got a lot to learn," Kitty answered when she looked at Harry,
biting her lip in a sheepish manner but Harry gripped her hand, before he
grabbed it tightly.
"You do have a lot to learn, always have and always will," Harry added with a
smile on his face before he watched her. "I have a lot to learn, we all have a
lot to learn. I like to think that no matter what, we never stop learning. That
is what makes us who we are."
There was one thing that Harry would like to learn and that was where was the
Kingpin. Or who was he, that was another thing that he wanted to know. His
green eyes burned when he thought about the burning question. He knew that he
was close to the answers that eluded him for quite some time. Today's battle,
it was the first stage to something greater.
From what Daredevil stated, there was a gang war coming, in fact one could say
that it was on its way. He wondered how much that would affect what he was
trying to with the X-Men and what his plans were for the not so distant future.
As the summer wound down, so did his time at the Xavier Institute. He thought
for a brief time that Xavier might try and make him an offer that he was unable
to refuse, but so far, there was nothing, nothing at all. That disappointed
Harry, but he supposed that such was life, even if it made him feel
underappreciated. There was only so much charity one could give.
It would come time to move on pretty soon but they were all heading home, it
had been a long night.
===============================================================================
"So, that's it?" Gwen asked with a raised eyebrow when she looked at Harry
,when he concluded his story.
Harry offered a shrug of his shoulders before he looked back at Gwen, a
sheepish expression appearing on his face. "You know, this was one of those
stories that sounded a hundred times better in my head."
"No, I think the story was fine, it's just….I mean you learned a lesson, but
the Kingpin is still out there," Gwen offered, before she placed her hand on
Harry's, and the two crowded closer together. There was some time where they
eyed each other for a moment and then Gwen cleared her throat before she
continued. "I don't think that was a good thing at all, with him being out
there and all still."
"No it wasn't," Harry admitted when he spun Gwen around a little bit to look
into her eyes. "The entire mutants in high society thing, well I knew that
there were more of us out there. But if my guess is correct, they're using
their powers to try and….they're going to try and take things over."
Harry wondered what their game was other than that, for some reason, that
seemed way too simplistic for people with mutant powers. He clicked his tongue
and hummed a little bit, his eyes flashing when he mulled it over in his mind.
Time ran short and Harry knew that he had to get back to the Xavier Institute
for some early morning training.
"Bye, Gwen, talk to you later," Harry answered, before she got up and threw her
arms around her, before she pressed his lips against hers with a smashing kiss.
"Don't be a stranger, Harry," Gwen responded and Harry smiled before he
disappeared.
Kitty was waiting for him at the Xavier Institute, and there was a sheepish
grin on her face.
"Well Xavier gave us a lecture about the entire Sirens mess, but….it was what
it was," Kitty answered when she greeted her boyfriend with a hug. "As if no
sex for three days wasn't punishment enough."
Harry smiled before he looked at Kitty. "Well you have been a very naughty
girl."
"No, Lockheed's been the naughty one, he's did his business on Principal
Kelly's lawn," Kitty responded, but she could not help but smiling. "I don't
know how he escaped."
"Dragons can be annoying resourceful," Harry responded wisely and Kitty gripped
his hands, before she threw her head back, smiling at that fact. "And giving
its owner, I would expect it to be doubly successful."
"Flattery will get you everywhere Mr. Potter," Kitty answered when she eyed him
with a smile on her face. "So can I…."
"Tonight Kitty, training session awaits, you girls did have some moves out
there, I want to make sure the other team members soaked it in that well,"
Harry answered when he turned to watch and observe the latest training session.
===============================================================================
"So we have more problems than we previously believed."
An imposing and large figure sat behind the desk, when he folded his arms, his
careful gaze on one of his lead subordinates. The events of the past couple of
days went back into his head. The car jacking scheme was a front to distract
the authorities and the heroes around this town from the true nature of his
plans. Given the fact that Silvermane got released from prison and the Master
Planner moved in on his territory, the Kingpin was put in the pressure cooker
and he needed to make deals to deliver the goods to his partners.
When the going got tough, the tough got going and there was no one as tough as
the Kingpin. He rolled over every single crime lord that got in his way,
building up his ranks. He strong armed many men out of his turf and folded them
into his own criminal empire, whilst he made sure that he kept with his plans
as it was in the past. He folded many of these men and women into his criminal
empire, all in the name of ensuring that he would have the very best and the
very brightest.
And now there was a problem and that problem was Daredevil. The Guardian Devil
of Hell's Kitchen muscled in on his territory, taking out his men one by one.
There were more operations foiled in a month than the Kingpin could even
remember happening during his entire time on the throne. This could not be
allowed, no question about it. There had to be another way, although the
Kingpin was at a loss to figure out what it was. Yet, he would find the
solution for he was the best at what he did.
As for another problem, well there were two more. These Bayville Sirens were an
annoying distraction, as were the rest of the X-Men, but they were not the main
issue. The problem was this mysterious Arcane. The Kingpin wanted his hands on
this young man; he could be an extremely valuable asset.
As a wise man once said, "Everyone has a price."
All the Kingpin had to do was name Arcane's price but his time would come,
along with the time for everyone else. Now, he prepared for his next move, for
there was a gang war brewing.
"Ah, Kingpin, tell me, did the power inhibitor collars work?" the voice over
the phone asked.
"They would have, had Arcane not been involved," Kingpin stated when his voice
dripped with interest. "What is he?"
"That's what I'd like to know," the man on the other end of the telephone. "The
White Queen will seek him out and bring him over to our fold when the time is
right. As of now, we must only wait and watch."
"Of course," The Kingpin agreed, calculating and planning his next move.
"You've come a long way and your membership in our club is valued," the man on
the other end of the phone stated in a garbled tone. "The Hellfire Club will
reign supreme while the Kingpin rules over the New York underworld. No one can
stand in our way with our forces combined."
"You said it, my friend."
Kingpin plotted his next move, the game was on. He would be the chess master
and when the time is right, the Black King would fall and all of the pawns
would be under the control of the Kingpin.
He was nothing, if not ambitious.
To Be Continued in "Malice of a Mad Thinker."
***** Malice of a Mad Thinker *****
Chapter Forty Six: Malice of a Mad Thinker.
The Baxter Building was the scene, the headquarters of the first family of
super heroes known as the Fantastic Four. They have had many tough battles
against many tough opponents but there was one battle that many of them
struggled with many times on a day to day situation. It was a problem that many
families dealt with and that was the fact that they tried to get along
underneath one roof, with super powers.
"Hey, get back here matchstick!"
The bellowing voice of the Thing echoed throughout the Baxter Building when he
rushed the Human Torch. The Torch snickered when he rushed forward, with the
Thing right beside him. Ben Grimm was a very laid back man but there was
sometimes where Johnny got under his rocky skin. He passed the half amused, and
half exasperated look on Susan Storm, who turned around and folded her arms.
The nineteen, almost twenty year old member of the Fantastic Four turned to
Reed Richards who was hovered over an experiment. Nearly a decade older than
her, Reed was always enamored in an experiment to the point where it was almost
obsessively frustrating.
"Just another day at the office," Susan stated when she threw her hair back and
saw Reed at work. "You've been at work with that for three days, I wonder if
you actually have remembered to eat."
"Yes…but this is….our guests haven't arrived yet, have they?" Reed asked when
his eyes remained fixated on the experiment. He had been studying this for
almost a year, after the time-space continuum opened up and there was a rift
that appeared shooting the person now referred to as Arcane from it. It was his
belief that there could be other things that could have brought into their
universe besides their guest.
Susan only kept half of her attention on the antics of Ben and Johnny, and also
turned around, to remember about the arrival here in this dimension. Reed was
like a kid in a candy store, thinking that this arrival was some kind of alien
life that popped in. He was only mildly disappointed that the young man that
showed up was apparently not an alien but rather he was someone from an
alternate universe not unlike there's. Although that was something that Reed
got excited about.
There was a knock on the door and Susan's ears and eyes perked out, before she
walked towards the door with a smile. Ben and Johnny stopped, before she opened
the door.
Gwen Stacy, Kitty Pryde, and Harry Potter stood on the other side.
"Thanks for inviting us to the Baxter Building," Harry responded with a smile
and Susan blinked before she got ahold of herself and her bearings, shaking the
cobwebs from her head.
'Focus, Susan,'Susan thought to herself. 'No need to act how Reed acts around
science, just keep a cool and professional head.'
"No…problem, especially after what happened last time. I can assure you that
Reed's upgraded security, at least he was supposed to. Doom won't be stopping
by any time soon."
Harry smiled, he sure hoped so. He did not enjoy being attacked and nearly
dying every single time he entered somewhere. He could tell that Kitty and Gwen
would enjoy a day out without any stress and drama. Peter would be with them
but he got sidetracked with something, so he might be a little late or perhaps
he might not show up at all.
"Thank you for inviting us Ms. Storm," Gwen stated in a gushing voice, she was
a bit of a fan girl, although she was trying her hardest not to show it.
"Please, Susan," she responded with a knowing smile when she looked at Gwen,
knowingly eying her before she invited Gwen, Kitty, and Harry inside. "I'm glad
you came and so is Reed…REED!"
"Oh our guests are here," Reed responded when his eyes looked up from his work
finally. It had been three days since he really looked up from what he was
doing. He eyed Harry with a smile. "You must be….Arcane, isn't it? It was
fascinating how you arrived here."
Ben stopped and offered a smile, before he inclined his head slightly. "Word of
advice, kid, if Stretch here starts looking at you like you're some kind of
science experiment, the exit's over there."
Harry smiled before he shrugged but Reed acted like he didn't hear what his
rocky friend said.
"So how exactly did you arrive here?" Reed asked when he looked at Harry, eying
him. "Did you perhaps access some tear through the fabric of time and space,
that would allow you exist in this plane of existence? Have you ever
contemplated a way in which you would return home? Did you wonder if your trip
here might only be temporary and you might be recalled to your universe?"
"I walked through a veil," Harry responded carefully, when Kitty offered a
snicker and a smile, before stood next to Harry, placing her hand on his arm.
"I woke up here in the Vegas desert. And I haven't considered ever returning
home. And yes…"
Harry stopped; he always wondered if someone would recall him home. He feared
that someone would try and go through the Veil after him. Of course, given the
state of Sirius, he did not recommend that at all. He was not in the best
spirits and despite Harry using every method at his disposal, he did not wake
him up. If he did not refused to give up hope, he would have given up hope.
These dreams were getting more intense, he saw things around him, weird symbols
of a language that he almost understood, and he wondered if it was some kind of
side effect of the veil that was just being delayed. He didn't reveal this to
anyone, not even any of his girls. Harry wanted to figure out this journey on
his own, he had a feeling that there was some greater purpose.
"So do you think that you could be recalled home?" Kitty asked, she tried not
to act like she was freaking out about this, even if she was freaking out about
this eventually. She grabbed Harry by the arm and Gwen grabbed him by the other
arm .
"Even if I'm recalled to that world, I'll find my way back," Harry responded,
but he looked out.
Home, what was home anyway? There was always something missing in the back in
his mind, it got more prominent when these fragments, these dreams continued to
flicker through his mind.
He was something that transcended humans and also mutants, and the fact was
that he would be able to live for a long time nagged in the back of his mind.
And the scary thing was that his powers were still getting stronger, even
though he wanted to hold himself back a little bit, he might not have much of a
choice, as the threats were getting tougher. His powers were such to the point
where he could hurt someone if he was not careful. And not hurt someone who
deserved to be hurt, but hurt someone in the crossfire.
Harry turned his head, when he heard a rattling in the side of the walls,
carefully edging himself around.
"What is it?" Susan asked, she watched Harry a little bit, and saw that he
teased up. Gwen and Kitty noticed the same thing.
Harry felt his hearing was getting sharper for some reason and he heard
individual sounds, everything from the loudest boom to a pin dropping.
"There's someone here," Harry stated and Johnny was the one who spoke up.
"That's impossible, there can't be anyone here…."
"That is where you're wrong, Jonathan Storm."
The voice that echoed through the Baxter Building distorted and creepy, giving
an echo and a hum, before it began to speak once again, with Reed trying to
access the computers to pinpoint the source of the intrusion.
'Do Richards and Xavier use the same security company?'Harry thought in
exasperation.
"You have spurned me once before Reed Richards, but now the Mad Thinker is not
easily spurned," the distorted voice responded, when it echoed through the
building maliciously. "And I will create your tomb within your beloved
Headquarters. I shall bring down the Fantastic Four."
"Ah, been there done that, get a new line," Johnny yawned but Susan gave him an
exasperated expression. It was time to shut up so he did when he snapped his
eyes towards Reed. Reed looked more frustrated than Johnny ever seen him
before. "Problem?"
"Yeah, we've been locked out," Reed responded when he clicked his fingers.
"I'll try and access it but it won't be easy."
Gwen, Kitty , and Harry all exchanged looks of frustration and despair. So much
for them having a day where they were not going to run into any trouble. That
was never in the books.
===============================================================================
 
Reed closed his eyes, in all of his genius, he rarely had been this challenged.
It was an obsessive mania to know all, to be that bit better than anyone else.
His intelligence grew, and he decided to use it to better serve the world. He
kept the Fantastic Four together out of some kind of guilt because he was
responsible for them receiving their powers and in the case of Ben, ruining
their lives.
Granted, the Thing tried to keep on a happy face for the public eye, but Reed
could tell that he was disappointed at the loss of his looks, forever turned
into a man made of rock. It was a sad irony that the one that looked like the
monster was also the most dedicated and personable member of the team, the one
who threw his all into the charity work. His big personality made his fate even
more tragic.
Right now ,none of that mattered, Reed found himself locked out of the Baxter
Building and he tried to access the core, but found himself unable to do so. He
tried every trick in the book and for Reed, that was many tricks. Someone
compromised the systems, which he spent millions upgrading.
"No matter how much you upgrade, you are just one step behind me in the theater
of the mind, Richards," the Mad Thinker taunted him, the distorted voice
echoing through there. "I have your building and soon I will have your head on
a plate, Reed. You will bow before your intellectual superior."
"Wow, another villain who doesn't know when to shut his mouth, there's a
surprise," the Human Torch stated when he offered a mocking yawn.
"I'll show you who needs to shut their mouth, you diseased child," the Mad
Thinker responded through the distorted voice and the doors opened, to reveal
robots marching towards them.
"Robots, really?" Susan asked as she rolled her eyes.
Harry offered a raised eyebrow, he was sick and tired of dealing with robots,
and he wondered where these villains found the time to make all of these
robots. Granted they blew up easily, even though these offered EMP shielding
which made Harry have to work harder with his spells. Still he got them rather
handily. He speared several blasts into the robots, backing them off and
rocking them completely.
"You know, it's getting kind of old, fighting these robots," Kitty responded
when she phased her hand through the chest plate of the robot, rocking it to
pieces. She phased one robot into the other, causing an explosion to echo.
"About the fourth, or fifth time this week, wouldn't you say, Ben?" The Human
Torch stated in a bored voice, when he blew up the robots.
"At least two times before breakfast on Wednesday," Thing answered casually
when he smashed through the robots, sending them crashing to the ground and
breaking apart into pieces.
Reed watched the robots with interest, his eyebrow raised when he studied them.
A smile crossed over his face when he began to talk about them. "These robots,
they are quite fascinating, their design are without peer. Sure they break
apart easy in the face of our attacks but their craftsmanship is amazing. And
how they conserve their power, remarkable and…."
Johnny snapped to interrupt Reed's statement, using a fiery attack to knock out
the robot that Reed was checking out. "Sheesh Reed, marry one already!"
Reed stopped and remained focused, using his limbs to stretch around the robots
to send them down to the ground.
"That was merely the first assault," the taunting voice of the Mad Thinker
echoed throughout the building. "I am just getting warmed up; it's time for the
second volley. And Fantastic Four will quiver at my feet, quiver, and they will
be brought down to a level that they could not imagine!"
The doors opened once again, to reveal hovering droids.
"So you react to us defeating your robots by sending more robots," Kitty stated
when her eyes rolled into the back of her head. "Yeah, because that totally
makes a lot of sense, doesn't it?"
"Silence you insolent child, do not speak of what you do not understand," The
Mad Thinker retorted when there were more blasts from the robots that flew
through the air.
The Fantastic Four circled around each other, carefully trying to formulate
some kind of battle plan that would lead to them not going down in a blaze of
glory. Even though that would be extremely hard not to do, they had to try. The
droids circled around them and the Human Torch began to flame on, but foam shot
at them, causing his skin to sting from pain, but his powers not to flame on.
He dropped to his knees, breathing heavily and gasping for air, his chest
burning.
"Johnny, it's…" Susan stated but there was a pause when she was trapped inside
her own force field.
"These things, they turn their powers against us," Reed responded before his
limbs stretched and wrapped around his throat, choking the life out of him,
causing him to slowly black out. "Fasc…ah."
The Thing clobbered one of the droids, while Harry whipped his hand, blasting
them apart. Kitty helped them, while Gwen made her way to the computers, to try
and lock out the Mad Thinker.
"Your powers are unlike anything I've ever seen before," the Mad Thinker
responded when the voice twisted with malice. "I will look forward to your
dissection."
"That's just messed up and disturbed," Kitty answered, when Harry launched her
up and distracted the droid, so he could smash razor sharp spikes into it from
behind blowing them up.
As for the Fantastic Four, well they were dragged off, and the doors sealed
behind them. Harry rushed forward, trying to blast through the force fields but
his spells only barely bent the force field for a few seconds. He needed to
find the source but where that source was, he had no idea.
'Now the security works, that's about right,'Harry thought, feeling the need to
bang his head against something.
Gwen bit down on her lip, trying to get into the computer.
"Do you need any help?" Kitty asked when she edged over towards Gwen.
"No, I just…got it!" Gwen stated in a cheerful voice before she responded with
a smile. "Ha, I'm smarter than Reed Richards!"
Harry snapped back at her with a smile. "Don't let it get to your head."
Gwen gave him a mock glare but secretly she was smiling and now they had a
chance to track down the Mad Thinker. Whoever the Thinker was, they were in
their grasp, and now all they to do was find where exactly in the Baxter
Building they were sent.
===============================================================================
 
Susan, Reed, Johnny, and Ben were now strapped down to the table and slowly
came to their senses. They had no idea how much time passed but they knew it
was a lot. The quartet struggled against their bindings, but there was no easy
way out. No matter how hard they fought, the bindings kept them down, making
hem unable to break free no matter what. They pushed themselves up, but the
straps that bound them, were forced back down. The group tried to push them
down.
"I forgot this lab existed, we moved out for the bigger one," Reed remarked,
when he watched his fellow team members.
"I thought this place looked familiar," Johnny answered when he tried to get
himself out of the attack.
"I wouldn't struggle, those straps might not seem like much but they will hold
you. Until I am done with you, and then your demise will be at hand."
Reed's head turned towards the sound of the voice. "You know all things
considered, it would be prudent to kill us now, whilst we are at a disadvantage
that you can easily exploit. I'm saying that we could escape if you stall for
too long, it has happened numerous times before."
"Reed, don't give the crazed psychopath pointers," Johnny winced but the voice
snapped.
"I'M NOT CRAZY!"
"Oh boy, she's going crazy," Susan murmured to herself but she tried to push
herself out. There was no give to the straps and she sank down onto the table,
sighing a little bit, when her blonde hair draped over her face.
"If you mind me asking, just who are you?" Reed asked when he turned his head,
trying to figure out who he was dealing with. The scientist paused, before he
also added. "I mean, someone like you, I assume that we've fought in the past.
You seem to be the type to hold a grudge over a longer period of time, letting
it fester until you unleashed it in a psychotic rampage."
Susan thought that Reed spoke some sense, even though it distressed her that he
would still be analyzing things when they were tied to tables. Potentially they
would be about ready to be dissected, at least that's what she feared. She
tried to twist herself out of the bindings, but the woman collapsed onto the
table, unable to get herself free from the bindings.
"Perhaps I shall beg your indulgence for one second," the voice stated, before
a young girl, a teenager stepped from behind the curtain. She had jet black
hair and taunting black eyes that flickered towards them.
"You're just a kid," Ben remarked carefully but she sighed.
"A kid who was spurned by Reed Richards," she stated when she looked at him.
"Does the name Rhona Burchill ring a name to you?"
Reed paused before he considered this question. "I can't say it rings any
bells."
"Well it will after today, it will be the name of the one that kills you,"
Rhona responded when she placed her hands down on the table and stared into his
eyes. "After all that time, I've spent the past three years thinking about it.
How I wrote you a letter and you never responded to me. Your arrogance knows no
bounds but it matters little because I'm your intellectual superior in every
way conceivable and the intellectual savior of the masses."
"Really, this is all over about Reed not responding to your little fan letter?"
Johnny asked when he rolled his eyes and his voice dropped to a whisper. "Think
someone might be overreacting just a tad."
"I AM NOT OVERREACTING!"
This reaction was in fact shrieked at the top of Rhona's lungs and she stated
this claim, snarling practically when she said it. Her eyes narrowed with fury
and she watched them all, before she carefully contorted her face into a smile,
tapping her hand on the side of the table.
"I didn't….think that it would be a problem," Reed answered when he looked at
his team members.
"Well, I hope this teaches you a valuable lesson," Susan stated when she could
have rolled her eyes. It wouldn't be the first time that Reed got caught up in
his work and neglected to do something. Only this was perhaps the first time
that that him neglecting something could have gotten them killed.
"Yeah, always answer your fan mail, you never know when someone might take it
the wrong way," Johnny remarked in a grim voice but he gulped when he saw Rhona
brandish a buzz saw above him. "Hey watch it with that thing, lady."
"There won't be the next time to correct your mistakes, for I will correct the
ongoing mistake that is your existence," the Mad Thinker stated, she looked
much like her name sake. She appeared quite mad and was deep in thought. Her
face twisted into a grin of pure malice and her eyes looked over the Fantastic
Four. "There are any number of ways where I can bring about your painful and
humiliating demise. All I need is the right tools and the correct motivation."
"By all means, take your time," Ben offered, despite his strength, he could not
get free.
"No, no, I've taken too much time, Richards was correct, I should strike whilst
the iron is hot," the Mad Thinker remarked, when her eyes stared them down. "It
is a matter of how to take you down; there are so many choices, so many
options. I'm trying to determine which would be the most feasible."
"Take your time," Susan remarked breathlessly, but Rhona placed her hands on
the head of Susan.
"You are the least reprehensible member of this team, therefore I will allow
you a quick death, devoid of the agony and humiliation that the rest of this
team shall receive," Rhona responded when her teeth twisted into a smile.
"No, Sue she…."
"I thank you for your irrelevant opinion," Rhona stated before she held the saw
in her head and to Susan's throat. "Farewell Susan Storm, I am saving you from
being in the presence of that simpleton any…."
The saw in her hand transfigured into a rubber chicken and Kitty popped from
underneath the floor in one fluid motion. She pulled the straps, releasing the
Fantastic Four.
"What is this?" Rhona demanded, before she pulled out a laser blaster. "Don't
move, or I shall…."
The blaster transfigured into flowers in her hand which levitated from her hand
and then turned around, before the flowers shot razor sharp thorns at her.
Rhona threw herself on the ground, ducked and rolled, before she tossed a knife
that with a flick turned into a paper airplane.
Harry dropped down to face her and she watched him, carefully studying his
motions. She cracked her knuckles and swung for him but he blocked her attack.
"You know, you've been here, but what is your game?" Harry demanded of her,
carefully watching her, but she attacked him. "Not much of a talker, are we?"
"You meddled in my plans, you insufferable fool!" Rhona stated, her eyes
flashing in fury.
"Really, she pulled that one out of the clichéd super villain guide," Johnny
stated but more robots arrived to engage the Fantastic Four, Shadowcat, and
Arcane. "Really, again?"
"Quiver before my malicious plan!" Rhona stated in a crazed tone, eyes widened
and unblinking, when she twisted a dial on her wrist and her molecules shifted
through the wall.
"Really, that's her plan of escape," Kitty responded when she heard the sounds
of combat over her shoulder but she phased through the wall as well, chasing
after her adversary.
Rhona dropped to the ground and aimed a swing at Kitty but the brunette mutant
dodged the attack, grabbed her wrist, and twisted it. Said wrist snapped back
with a pop, and Rhona was driven to the ground.
"And you're not much of a fighter," Kitty stated, when she dodged the attack
that Rhona sent at her. She knew better than to go intangible all of the time,
after what Sin did to her. "That didn't hurt at all, that…."
There was a humming sound and Kitty stopped before Rhona laughed. Her laughter
became more prominent to the point where it almost got kind of creepy. It
really spooked Kitty to be honest and the brunette turned around, her eyes
carefully on Rhona, before she managed to voice one simple statement, towards
her.
"What is it?" Kitty demanded, trying to grab Rhona, but a force field appeared
around her body, which propelled Kitty back.
Harry arrived and Rhona smirked, looking positively crazed when she watched
them all.
"The Baxter Building is above to go up, taking the entire neighborhood with
it," Rhona stated when she bit her lip down, showing her crazed expression.
"Either stop the explosion or stop me, it's your decision, make the wise one."
"That little…." Kitty grimaced but there was a flash and she vanished.
"She's packing some pretty heavy technology," Harry stated, careful not to let
Reed hear that. The Fantastic Four finished off the robots in the other room.
There was a loud crash, and a slight crunch, which put them all on pins and
needles.
"Gwen, I hope you're still in the computers, because Miss Mad Thinker triggered
a meltdown of the core," Harry responded when he talked to one of his
girlfriends.
"Yeah, I'm in it, and I'm ready," Gwen stated when she hacked into the
computers. She bit down her lip and sweat rolled down her face, the pressure
was most certainly on but what was life without a little bit of pressure.
Everything pushed down her face and she thought about what she needed to do.
"This is going to be a close call."
"And trying to stop technology that I don't understand with magic, that's just
asking for people to die," Harry remarked but Kitty turned to him, a suggestion
on her tongue.
"Maybe you could use your powers to…."
"No need, I'm in," Gwen answered when she managed to get inside. The pressure
was immense but that was what made life worth living. Her heart throbbed
against her chest when she carefully accessed the central core of the Baxter
Building.
She was so close.
And she got it figured out, with only a few minutes to spare.
Everyone let out the breath that they had been holding. It only was a few
minutes later before they came to one conclusion. No matter what the tried to
think about, no matter what they tried to do, Rhona was gone and she
disappeared without leaving a trace.
Someone like that would be back soon.
===============================================================================
 
"So, thank you for your help today," Susan stated when they managed to settle
back down.
"Yes, today could have gone a lot worse had you not been here," Reed answered
when his eyes narrowed. "Her technology though…"
"Not now please, Stretch, her technology almost killed us all," Ben stated,
when he turned around with a grimace on his face. He thought about it before he
mentally added. "But that's the way things go."
"That is true," Reed admitted when he turned around. "I can't help but think
that we haven't seen the last of our mysterious Mad Thinker."
"You've been at this for how long and you don't know for sure," Johnny stated
when he threw his head back and rolled his eyes slightly. He clucked his tongue
before he thought. "Yeah, she'll be back, she'll be back before too long. She
can't be stopped."
Harry thought about that, with the twisted irony of the situation, he knew that
Rhona, despite her best efforts, did not finish off the Fantastic Four. He
thought that he might be able to take her out, but her technology found a way
around his magic. He did wonder if there was some kind of mystical element
around it. Magic was not the catch all and be all situation to everything and
that was something that he reminded himself about time and time, something that
Strange pounded into his head.
Magic, while versatile, was merely a tool and like all tools, there were flaws
that could be exploited by an outside party.
Yet she had a plan and a backup plan and a backup to the backup plan, so it all
worked together. That much alone caused Harry to have a mild amount of respect
for what she did, although she was still out there. Tracking charms would have
worked, although they were faulty, especially when the target moved out of
range. And also given the armor she wore, Harry could only tag that.
Likely someone like Rhona, shed the armor and made her getaway elsewhere. He
would have to check to see if he was wrong in a few seconds.
"So, thanks for coming to the Baxter Building today and thanks for bailing us
out of trouble," Susan responded before she added carefully, with a grimace.
"Again."
"Yes, it was much appreciated," Reed responded, not even bothering to look up,
he would have to fortify the building's security even more than it was.
Gwen, Kitty, and Harry all turned to each other, smiles crossing their faces.
Today was a great day and they hoped to make the most out of the rest of the
day they spent to together, hopefully things would be better.
They worked together and solved the crime to the best of their abilities, to
them that was a win.
===============================================================================
 
"Well today was an interesting day," Gwen remarked when the three of them sat
in her bedroom, unwinding and relaxing. Kitty and Harry would return back to
the Mansion in a little bit, there was a Danger Room session in about two
hours. In the meantime they hung out at Gwen's. "Too bad you couldn't grab the
Mad Thinker."
"She was quite bent that one," Harry responded when he turned his head,
carefully looking forward and thinking about everything. "But I can't help but
think that she'll be back."
"Well you heard what the Torch said, they always come back," Kitty stated when
she began to rub the back of Harry's neck with her hands, carefully feeling the
flesh underneath her hands. "You look like of stressed, Harry."
Harry had to admit that his girlfriend had a point. "Well today was a stressful
day."
Gwen leaned forward, before she offered in his ear in a whisper. "Well it might
be time for us to unwind."
She slid herself onto Harry's lap and wrapped her legs around him, before she
straddled him and pressed her mouth onto him with a searing kiss. Harry
returned the favorite, when Kitty grabbed him from behind and started to kiss
on the back of his neck. The two girls worked their hands and their lips all
over his body, before the real fun began.
Smut/Lemon Begins.
Harry pushed Gwen back and started to kiss her on the side of the neck, sucking
the flesh on the side of her neck. Kitty slid across the side of the bed and
yanked Gwen's shorts off, to reveal her wearing nothing but a pair of extremely
sexy black lace panties underneath.
"Mmm, Harry," Gwen breathed when he unbuttoned her blouse to reveal her bra
covered breasts. Her fleshy globes were encased in them, a C Cup, borderline a
D Cup, and they were quite lovely. He gave them a squeeze, carefully feeling
them and enjoy their firmness. "Ah yes, Harry, oh yeah Kitty!"
Gwen's legs parted, which allowed Kitty easy access to her cunt, with first her
tongue and then her fingers. Kitty licked and sucked on her clit with her mouth
a little bit, before she passed her fingers into her cunt, and stroked in and
out of her. The brunette rocked her back and forth, before Gwen pushed up, her
cunt meeting Kitty's probing fingers.
Kitty felt Gwen's tight pussy when she felt it, it felt so good, she could
hardly believe it. She reached up and massaged Gwen's sexy flat tummy, before
she saw Gwen's bra fall to the ground.
"I'm going to suck your juicy tits," Harry stated, squeezing them and running
his tongue over the erect nipple, and then without warning, he buried his face
into them. Harry feasted on the buffet of flesh before him and his cock began
to throb with desire at the thought of doing more.
"Seems like someone wants out to play," Kitty commented with a knowing smile
and a wink, when she pulled Harry's pants down over his ankles. Gwen straddled
him, when he continued to kiss her breasts and suck on the flesh before him.
Harry's cock sprung out, and Gwen pushed back, before she grabbed it in her
hand and caressed his throbbing member. She licked it and Kitty took her turns
in licking Harry as well. Both girls worked over his shaft and sac, using their
hot tongues and mouths to stimulate him.
"Yes, oh yes, shit," Harry breathed when he bent down and stuck his fingers
into Gwen's sopping cunt. Kitty removed her shorts and panties, and allowed
Harry to do the same.
Both girls were driven to pleasure beyond measure, when Harry thrust his
fingers out from them, and they thrust their cunts upwards towards his probing
digits. Both bucked their hips upwards, and moaned lustfully.
Harry felt their pussies when they took turns licking and sucking his dick,
when it hung down below them. It was a feeling that he enjoyed and it excited
him, his cock throbbed in joy, when Gwen took it into her mouth and down the
back of her throat. She gave it several excited sucks, when it buried deep into
the back of her throat. Harry grabbed her face and pushed down her throat. She
was surprised at first but somehow she managed to accommodate the girth in her
throat as he continued to fuck her face.
Kitty meanwhile sucked on his balls, using her tongue to eagerly stimulate his
sac and she began to lick him rather carefully. The brunette mutant nibbled and
suckled on his nuts, bringing him closer to an orgasm.
"Fuck, yeah, keep doing that,' Harry grunted when he thrust himself forward,
running his fingers through Gwen's hair and he pumped his cock down her throat,
causing his essence to spill down it. She sucked him down quite eagerly, the
fluid splashing down into the back of her mouth. He offered several more deep
thrusts when he picked up the pace, going into her, splashing into her mouth.
Gwen licked his essence off of her mouth and shared a hot kiss with Kitty, the
seed being traded back and forth between them.
"Gwen, you're so hot," Kitty breathed when the blonde pulled off the brunette's
top and squeezed her breasts.
"I know, you are too," Gwen responded when she presented herself for Harry, as
she began to lick Kitty's pussy.
"Time for me to fuck that tight little cunt," Harry stated when he grabbed her
hips, before aiming his stiff rod into her pussy and rammed into her.
Gwen breathed but she continued to nibble on Kitty's pussy, licking and sucking
on her, her tongue working into her dripping snatch. She really enjoyed the
taste that she had, it was like a wonderland. The brunette grabbed her locks
and pushed her down into her pussy and Gwen rewarded her with licking her while
she was rewarded by Harry banging into her from behind.
Harry felt Gwen's tight pussy wrap around him, and he continued to pick up the
pace, thrusting into him hard. His balls slapped against her thighs when he
pulled himself back and buried into her nice tight snatch.
"Oh I love this pussy," Harry breathed when he grabbed her breasts and cupped
her.
She had such nice tits as well, she was really hot, and Harry increased his
pace, his member working her over.
Gwen arched her head up, before she moaned.
"Oh that's it Harry, fuck me, fuck my pussy, it's hungry for you!"
"My cock needs you," Harry breathed when Gwen's pussy wrapped around him
tightly, before he pushed into her cunt from behind. The blonde arched her hips
upwards and it tightened around her.
Harry pulled out of Gwen prematurely and she whined, but he laid back on the
bed, his cock up.
"You know what to do, baby," Harry responded when Gwen pushed herself up and
nodded.
She sank down on his massive rod, allowing it to push deep into her pussy. The
blonde rode him with fury, bouncing up and down, her tits bouncing as she rode
him. Gwen got into the movement, pushing herself up, before her pussy slammed
down on him.
Kitty waited her turn and decided to join Harry in playing with Gwen's breasts.
The two lovers rolled their hands over her tits.
"I think she….ah likes that," Harry grunted when he pounded into her pussy from
underneath her.
"Yeah, yeah, fuck, yeah!" Gwen screamed, when Kitty sucked and licked on her
nipples, with Harry's rod spearing up into Gwen's pussy. She felt him stretch
her walls and the resistance it offered caused her nerve endings to be shot on
fire. "Blow your load into my hungry pussy, Harry!"
She bounced up and down on him, and his cock thrust up into her, before his
fluids spurted out, splashing into her. Gwen screamed when she felt the orgasm
wash through her and she slid back, feeling absolutely excited.
Harry was not properly deflated and Kitty laid back down beside him, her legs
spread. Her wet and willing pussy was ready for him and her lips were extremely
aroused.
"Come and get it, lover," Kitty purred when Harry hovered over her entrance, it
was so inviting that he could not say no. After a brief tease, he slammed into
her. "Oh, Jesus!"
"No, I'm sure Harry's much bigger," Gwen remarked when she closed herself and
her pussy was dripping with hunger, so she placed it over Kittys's face.
"You couldn't have, ah enough," Kitty breathed when Harry pounded into her
pussy, causing the springs of Gwen's bed to creak.
"No," Gwen stated when Kitty licked her cunt and then she lowered her pussy
down on the younger brunette's face.
Harry watched as Gwen reared her head back in a moan when Kitty went to town on
the blonde's pussy with her tongue, scrapping and licking at her. The blonde
grinded and bucked her hips on Kitty's face, before the brunette licked her
inside. He reached forward and cupped her tits in his hands, squeezing them,
before he bent forward and sucked on them, causing her to made sounds of
pleasure.
"Ah yes, suck my tits, oh yes, fuck her," Gwen panted, encouraging Harry. She
loved to watch her lover's cock spear in and out of the body of the brunette
below her, his large cock burying through her small body. She felt her
sensitive nipples get pleasured and she panted and purred whilst Harry worked
her over with talent.
Kitty was moaning and screaming, even if her moans were muffled somewhat by
Gwen's pussy rubbing against her mouth. The blonde rode her tongue while Harry
speared into her with his cock.
The three lovers continued their motions, when Gwen sprayed her fluids on
Kitty's face and Kitty's face dripped with her honey. Harry thrust many times
into her, speeding up the assaults on her vagina.
Kitty shivered when Gwen bent down and licked the juices off of her face.
"Kinky," Harry managed when he watched Gwen feast on her own juices and Gwen
bent over, sitting on Kitty's mouth once again, while her ass was presented
towards Harry, and she swayed it before him.
Harry conjured a dildo when he continued to push into Kitty's cunt and with a
shifty grin, he shoved the sex toy up Gwen's ass, causing her to scream in
pleasure.
With a few more thrusts, Harry came with an explosion, his juices splashing
Kitty's walls and painting her insides white.
Gwen turned around, before spinning around and watching her, legs spreading
when her pussy hungered for him again.
"Come on Harry, fuck my slutty pussy raw,' Gwen cooed towards him.
Harry smirked, the smartest ones were always the naughtiest and he aimed his
cock into her, before he pushed into her, causing Gwen's eyes to bulge with
pleasure.
"Time to return the favor," Kitty breathed when she watched Harry bang his cock
into Gwen's tight pussy, and she draped her dripping cunt over Gwen's mouth.
Gwen immediately began to taste Kitty, licking the juices out of her slit, and
tasting every single tiny bit of her. The blonde worked circles around Kitty
with her tongue, gaining more momentum and driving her to more pleasure.
"Fuck she knows how to eat a cunt," Kitty moaned when she threw her head back
and that was the last words she spoke for some time.
Harry grinned, when he placed Gwen's legs up near his shoulders, before he
thrust up and pounded into her pussy. Her pussy clenched when his cock thrust
into her, burying himself deep into her. His super strong thrusts pounded into
the brainy blonde's tight body, and she gasped and moaned when he worked into
her further and further, to pick up the pace a little bit more.
Gwen panted and moaned when he slammed his throbbing meat into her center, it
speared into her. She thrust herself up, the sweat covering their bodies when
the two of them thrust their hips upwards hard and they continued to match
their motions, meeting them with every single thrust.
Time wound by, before Gwen felt herself fucked into submission. Harry ended her
torment by spewing a second load of seed into her, spraying several long ropes
of his cum into her center and filling her up quite nicely.
Smut/Lemon Ends.
===============================================================================
 
SHIELD was always busy, always with the hustle and bustle of a well-oiled
government agency. Nick Fury took a moment to reflect the events of the year
that was, his eye focused on what was below. Harry Potter or Arcane rather,
arriving in this universe had been what one might call a game changer and
something that kept Fury on his toes no matter what. The eagle eyed director of
SHIELD understood about how much this was a potentially sensitive situation and
his head turned around, the footsteps of an approaching figure could be heard.
"Speak," Fury responded when one of the SHIELD agents who approved him. Fury
spotted his reflection from through the window.
"Another portal has opened above the Vegas Desert, much in the way that Arcane
arrived," the agent stated, waiting for the other shoe to drop. He held a metal
box in his hand, turning it open. "And this dropped from the sky on that point.
SHIELD was able to pick it up but we've been unable to open it, no matter
what."
Fury's interest piqued and he spun around carefully eying the SHIELD agent. He
reached forward and snatched the box into his hand. When Nick Fury became
fixated on something, he was second to none with how he carefully studied every
single of inch of what he had at his disposal. He carefully studied the box,
keeping his eye glued to it. There were times where Fury thought that the box
would get away from him and might even slip from his hand.
He stopped and stared, he was almost sure if it was sentient or something among
those lines and he put an ear to it carefully. There were whispers within the
box but they were in a strangled language that he could not fully comprehend
when he listened to it. The language was unlike anything that he ever heard of
on Earth and he tapped on the box, carefully analyzing it. He wondered if it
was indestructible which could pose a problem if the box turned out to be a
threat.
So far other than the whispers it seemed rather harmless but Fury was one to
hedge his bets carefully, keeping an eye on the box and studying it, keeping it
close to hand.
"We've studied it slightly, Commander Fury, the alloy is like nothing we've
ever seen on this planet or any other," the agent responded when he nervously
bit down on his lip, watching Fury, trying to gauge his reaction, because it
might not turn out to be one that was considered well.
To his credit, Fury did not explode into a fury, he rather held the box. Black
Widow and Hawkeye turned up carefully.
"Another gift arrived, spit out in the same point where Potter was," Fury
informed them before they could even ask and he held the box in his hand. There
was three letters on the box but they were so small that Fury could not read
them.
"So what's in it?" Hawkeye wondered but Fury eyed him carefully.
"I don't know, that's the problem," Fury responded when he turned to them.
Black Widow offered a statement to Fury that posed a lot of truth to it. "Do
you think that given that it arrived in the same way that Harry did, it was
meant for him?"
She realized what she potentially implied with that statement, but the
statement was out and the damage was done. Fury gritted his teeth and continued
to ponder the box, turning it over and looking at the inscription on the bottom
of it. There was something inscribed on it but it was microscopic. He would
have to blow it up and take a look at it in the not so distant future.
"What does it mean?" Hawkeye wondered. "And what would this have to do with
Potter?"
"Maybe we should ask him," Fury responded and the SHIELD agents nodded but
another SHIELD agent rushed over.
"We've found something at one of the HYDRA bases," the SHIELD agent stated when
he held up a photo. There was a busted containment tank and several HYDRA goons
were done on the ground, with stab marks in them, blood dripping down from
them.
Fury recognized the indentations of the claw marks immediately.
"It appears that Arcane isn't the only X-Man we'll be getting in touch with,"
Fury responded, he suspected that HYDRA appropriated Logan's DNA for some use
but now this was the proof he needed to push forward with the investigation.
Well whatever their little experiment was, it did not take too kindly to being
held captive and being conditioned into a weapon. Given that it was made from
Logan's DNA, that much was obvious.
Just another day at the office for Nick Fury, uncovering more questions than he
had answers.
To Be Continued in the Next Chapter "Project X-23."
***** Project X-23 *****
Chapter Forty Seven: Project X-23.
Harry arrived at the SHIELD Hellicarrier, walking forward with a purpose. When
Nick Fury called someone over, there was something that piqued the interest of
a person. While they had a choice regarding whether or not they would answer
the call, often the person in question did. The young wizard carefully walked
forward, moving one step at a time. Logan followed behind him, they were both
called to the ship, and both wondered the same thing. It was simply Logan who
voiced the question to Harry first.
"So, what do you think this is about?" Logan asked when he looked towards Harry
with widened eyes.
Harry shrugged his shoulders before he stood on the ground and looked suddenly
thoughtful. "That's a pretty good question and I guess that's a good question
that we're going to answer."
He walked forward, keeping his strides. The SHIELD agents stood forward.
"Barton," Harry responded with a careful nod of his head, before he turned to
the hero known as Hawkeye. "Cleaned any good toilets lately?"
Barton shook his head, biting down on his lip to the amusement of Logan. He
gave Harry an exasperated look. "You're a real laugh riot, you know that."
"I try my best," Harry responded when he walked by the agents and they were all
crowding around.
Fury stood before them, arms folded and Harry could already tell instantly that
he had a certain amount of intentions on his mind. The young mage eyed the
agent of SHIELD, there were times where this particular man looked completely
serious. However, this was an amount of seriousness on his face that Harry did
not really see before and it was at the point where Harry deduced he masked
some true worry. He carefully kept an eye on Fury, before the silence and the
tension stopped, when the air cleared.
"So you wanted to see both of us," Logan stated in a crisp voice when he
watched Fury.
"Yeah, you should have figured that much," Fury responded when he spun around
before he eyed them carefully. He motioned for the group of agents to step
forward, carrying the security photos and also an object wrapped in a red
cloth. Fury's eye watched Harry carefully before he cleared his throat with a
solid cough. "Another one of those portals opened and something fell through
before you. The same exact spot where you arrived."
This was news to Harry and he raised an eyebrow before he slowly spoke to Fury.
"What is it?"
Fury had his agents unravel the clothe from around the box and the silver box
glowed before Harry. He eyed it, the design was unlike anything that he ever
remembered seeing before yet he had some degree of familiarity to it. It was
extremely weird to that extent; he slowly picked up the box and held it in his
hand. He eyed it and he heard the whispers. He strained to hear them completely
but it appeared that the whispers did know that there were other people around.
"When the time is right, you will know," the whisper in the box stated. "When
the time is right, all will be revealed."
'Cryptic much,'Harry thought to himself with a frown when he eyed the box
carefully, flipping it over in his hand. The box remained held in his hand,
when he carefully watched it. There was something on the box and the symbols on
the box; they resembled what appeared in his dreams. His dreams got even more
cryptic, as Harry wondered what he truly was. He hoped to find some answers but
he did not want to share this revelation with Fury when it happened, thus he
declined opening the box.
Hell, he didn't even want to share the revelation with his teammates either.
This was something that was private and for him, this had information about his
heritage. The memories of the field moved through his head and he smiled a
little bit. Perhaps this box, providing it opened, held the answers.
Harry had one question to ask the agents of SHIELD. "Have you been able to open
this box?"
Fury shook his head when he eyed Harry. "No, I have been unable to ever get it
open. I was hoping that you were able to open it and shed some light on it."
"I'll handle this, and I'll take it," Harry responded when he turned to walk
away but Fury placed a hand on his shoulder before he slowly spun Harry around.
Casually, but firmly, Harry pushed his hand away. His eyes stared down Fury,
before the two men stared each other down. "Is there a problem with me doing
that?"
Fury prepared to enlighten Harry on that fact. "Yes, the problem is it could be
dangerous."
"So could you, so could I, and so could Logan," Harry answered as the SHIELD
agents stepped forward before they watched Harry with trepidation. "Whatever is
in this box, you messing with this, if it came from my world, will cause more
trouble than good. Providing this box came from my world."
Harry was happily able to chalk up what was in the box as being a coincidence
but he was also willing to keep his mind open despite everything that he
learned. He bit down on his lip carefully, before his arms carefully swung
around. The box in his hand gave him the feeling of something that contained
answers and he peered at it. Temptation to open it visited him but yet dread of
what could come when he opened it.
'She will be your treasure.'
That was the inscription written on the box and Harry frowned, whoever sent
this box, they obviously were trying to send him some sort of message.
"Leave it alone, Fury," Logan stated in a warning voice when he spun around
towards the Director of SHIELD. "You said you wanted to see me."
Fury scowled before he nodded, folding his arms across his chest. "Yeah, this
came in today."
He handed Logan the photos of the destroyed HYDRA facility and the claw marks
in the wall. The downed HYDRA agents obviously tried to subdue whoever did this
but it ended badly for them. Now Logan's curiosity was grabbed and he wondered
what the hell happened.
"We've known for months that some of your DNA may be used for a project by
HYDRA," Fury added when he looked at Logan, who scowled at not being let in on
this news but Fury was not finished. "One of the scientists has been in
constant contact with SHIELD."
"Wait you knew this and you didn't feel like telling me until now," Logan
responded when he turned to Fury. Somehow, he should not be surprised but yet
he was surprised. It was like Fury to keep secrets from those around him.
Fury waved off his question, with a scowl on his face when his eyes fixed on
Logan. "Don't jump down my throat Logan; it was handled that way because we
don't know what we were dealing with."
"Seems like you had a pretty good idea," Logan offered, that was about all he
said, although one could tell from his eyes that he was seriously peeved.
Harry kept his eyes on the tension between Fury and Logan, before he studied
the claw marks in the wall and the three HYDRA facilities. One of them, he
swore he visited before but he could not place it.
"So what's he like?" Logan asked, he needed to know what he was dealing with.
"She, actually," Fury responded when he watched Logan with a half-smile on his
face, even though it was a pained one. "She is more or less your daughter, the
cloning process had to be done through a woman and the child was kept for years
in isolation, trained to kill. HYDRA took control of the old Weapon X facility
but obviously months back they wanted you, because why only have one expert
tracker when they can have two."
Logan turned around to talk to Harry but he vanished. In his place there was
nothing but writing in flames.
Call it a crazy hunch, but I know where she went. Try that HYDRA facility down
by the Hudson, that's the next one on her list.
Fury nodded his head; he figured out the same pattern come to think about it
and turned to his men, who awaited him to give the order.
"Just don't stand there with your thumbs up your asses, move out," Fury barked
and they SHIELD agents spun around.
Logan was not convinced somehow and he doubted that Arcane was either. The kid
lead SHIELD off in that direction on purpose, it was almost too easy.
He had other plans, what they were, Logan could only begin to guess.
===============================================================================
 
The dark haired girl, dressed in black garb with a mask pulled over her face,
edged closer to the mansion, she felt a buzzing in her ears. During her entire
life, she felt nothing but violence. Yet, she could heard them, the sound of
children playing, having fun. Such a sound was something foreign to her, she
did not understand it. She frowned, essentially scowling when she pushed
herself forward, eyes narrowed carefully when she walked forward.
The situation was foreign therefore she had the temptation to act hostilely,
almost like a threat.
The New Mutants stood at the side of the Mansion and Multiple perked his ears
up before he turned to his fellow mutants.
"Hey did you hear something?" Multiple asked as he jumped up.
Boom Boom shrugged her shoulders. "I….come to think of it, you're right."
Jubilee stepped forward, edging towards the bushes. "Hello, come out we
won't…."
The figure jumped out of the bushes and moved faster. The New Mutants
scattered, they could not believe what was happening, everything was happening
so quick. This attacker caught them completely off guard.
Bobby was the one that kept his head up before he turned to the New Mutants.
Someone had to take charge and Iceman swung around, before he faced them all.
"Amara, Sam, Ray, take the right side, Rahne, Jubilee, Tabby, take the left
side. Roberto, Jamie, and I will take the middle."
On paper this seemed like a sound strategy but there was one flaw to something
sounding like a sound strategy on paper. Often times in practice, the strategy
seemed to be a little less sound. Of course, there was no use thinking about
this now.
"What's going on here?" Scott asked as he walked outside, he could have sworn
he heard something.
"There's someone in the bushes, be quiet!" Multiple whispered but Scott
frowned.
"Step aside, I'll handle this," Scott stated, likely it was some kind of animal
that spooked them.
Amara frowned and opened her mouth but Sam shook his head when they watched
Scott move forward. It was like waiting for some kind of bomb to drop and they
watched him.
"There's nothing in the bushes!" Scott answered with a frown but then the
figure was on the wall, standing at the edge of the Mansion.
"That's because it's behind you!" Cannonball stated, frantically pointing as he
did so, but before Scott could react several things happened at once.
First she dove down and grabbed him by the shoulder, causing his body to go
numb when he buckled to his knees. This opened him up for a more fluid assault.
Secondly, she grabbed him around the neck and placed a disc on the back of his
head, which both inhibited his powers and also shocked him into
unconsciousness. The next move was not needed because of this but she felt like
it was necessary nevertheless; a vicious curb stomp to the back of the had
drove Scott into the ground, shattering his nose. Blood trickled from the
ground; he laid in the grass, blood pouring from his head.
Iceman took a step back and he tried to ask himself the ancient question that
had been asked since the beginning of time. "WWHPD". He bit down on his lip, as
Jubilee tried to send a cascade of fireworks but she moved too quick to get
attacked and took a swipe at Jubilee with her claws, but Iceman pulled her out
of the way.
"Great, she's like Logan on PMS," Iceman stated when he saw the claws bared
towards him but he dodged it carefully, setting her up from an attack from Boom
Boom. That comment was thankfully unheard by the women around him, because he
would be in if they did.
"She's really slick, isn't she?" Roberto asked while he shot into the air, but
she grabbed him around the ankles before sending him crashing to the ground.
"Right in one!" Jubilee stated when she rushed forward. "Halt, no one shall
succumb to…"
Bobby went down, as did Sam, and then Jubilee in one fluid motion. It was like
she barely even tried. She worked fast, pretty faster. The New Mutants gave her
a more even fight than she ever imagined but she was able to adapt. That was
part of her training, being able to adapt to her surroundings.
"Just calm down, none of us want to hurt you," Amara stated but at the same
time her hands lit up with glowing sensations.
Rachel popped in and used a psychic attack to bring her to her knees. She
dropped to her knees, carefully shifting a little bit, to try and break into
her mind.
'It's savage, and untamed, I can't…'
A swipe of the claws, which was more of a warning shot than anything. The girl
pulled back before she did any real damage to Rachel. She propelled herself
into the air and grabbed Rachel around the back of the head, before slipping
the disc on the back of her neck.
The New Mutants fought hard thanks to their training, but they were severely
outgunned by someone who had been born and bred to fight, someone who was the
best in the world at what they did. The fact they lasted this long against her
and were not taken out collectively in less than a second spoke well for them.
===============================================================================
 
Harry flew back almost immediately when he heard what happened. He knew from
the minute he saw those photos that she was coming here. There was a pattern,
one that was almost too clean. She purposely led SHIELD on to make sure they
followed the bread crumbs, but the bread crumbs lead to a false location. Harry
pushed himself further and further, carefully managing to pick up his pace and
he flew even faster, faster than a speeding bullet.
Time ticked by but Harry would not be denied, he had to keep flying and if he
reached this location before SHIELD could find out the false trail, so much
more the better. He sensed that she had been used as a tool and rebelled
against him. Oh, he knew how that felt and Harry dropped down to the ground to
see her fighting the X-Men. Rogue, Jean, and Kitty were still on their feet,
with Kurt bent over, wheezing, but he managed to hold his own as well.
'The X-Mansion's security breached yet again,'Harry thought in an exasperated
manner as he shook his head, before he flew forward, carefully watching the
situation. August thirty first was just around the corner as he reminded
himself.
He could see it in her eyes; she was confused and predisposed to attacking.
This young girl might have had a tough demeanor on the outside when she
shielded herself from the rest of the world .However, there was no mistake
about it, she had some amount of vulnerability on the inside. Harry saw the
signs in her, the anger was a front and he moved forward to engage her.
Whilst Kitty, Jean, Kurt, and Rogue held their own, they were a bit outmatched.
Not that Harry was taking anything away from their abilities that was simply
the fact of the matter. This girl was in fact that good.
Without another word or thought, Harry made his move, quickly, not even
blinking, never even holding up. He pushed himself up into the air, before he
scooped her up in the air, before pulling her away at the Mansion. He did it
such a way where he masked himself, along with his scent. It was a hard charm
to pull off but Harry thought he did it rather well, given the fact that he got
the jump on her.
That being said, it was draining as well hell but that was beside the point. He
grabbed his arms around her waist, before he set her down in a field out of the
way.
She was not a happy camper.
"What are you doing?" she demanded when she rushed him with her claws but he
went intangible, causing her to fly through him and land on the ground face
first in the mud.
"I could ask you the same question," Harry responded when she tried to attack
him but he casually side stepped her attack. Again and again, he dodged her, he
could keep this up all day but he had a feeling she could as well. "Come on
now, why did you go after the Institute?"
"Answers, I wanted to find him," she responded as her eyes narrowed. There was
something about this boy that caused her heart to beat more steadily and caused
her to lose focus. He was giving off some heavy pheromones that was making it
hard to concentrate in taking him down.
Her animal instincts were inclined to take him down but what she wanted to
after, that was unprecedented.
"Project X-23, I snuck a look at the SHIELD data," Harry answered when he
dodged her attack once again. "You know, I can keep this up all day and all
night long. I do have amazing stamina, as my girls keep reminding me."
She frowned, but there was a feeling that flushed through her body. Her heart
rate increased and her palms got clammy, with her knees getting weak. This
reaction from her was unprecedented and she wondered what the hell he was doing
to her.
"What are you doing to me?" she asked when she dove towards him but he dodged
the attack once again.
"I have no idea what you're talking about," Harry answered with a charming
smile that James Potter would be proud of. She moved towards him but he dodged
her attack again. "Really, I can keep this up for hours and hours, on and on,
around and around the loop."
The girl tried to get away but Harry teleported in front of her before she
could go more than five feet. Her teeth gritted and her eyes narrowed. "Why are
you stopping me from doing this? Why do you care? Why do you…"
"I know what it's like to be used by people," Harry answered when he eyed her,
his voice quiet as he spoke. "I can help you, if you let me. Find the people
who did this to you, I can do it."
"I can handle this myself," she stated fiercely but Harry grabbed her hands,
blocking it, before he overpowered her. No one overpowered her like this. She
struggled on the ground underneath his grip, pinned down, exerting his
dominance over her.
"No, I think that you need to calm down and think about what you're doing,"
Harry answered before he pinned her down to the ground and removed her mask to
reveal her face.
She had a curtain of dark although slightly unruly black hair hang down her
face. Had it not been for the scowl on her face, she would have looked
amazingly pretty.
"Calm down, take a deep breath, we'll work through this, I promise," Harry
stated when he backed off and let her up. "Did they give you a name, other than
X-23?"
She hung her shoulders down, before her head twisted around and she decided to
answer her question. Now that she calmed down, she could think more clearly.
After what happened, it threw her in a rage, being held like that, being forced
to do those training simulations. Being subjected to all of those tests to
increase the scope of her healing powers but she would take them down
completely.
"Laura, that's what the woman who gave birth called me but they made me kill
her," she stated in a pained voice and she slumped her shoulders. Harry
carefully held her and she slumped forward a little bit. "I can't…I didn't want
to, but there was something they used. It triggered a hypnotic suggestion in my
brain."
"And you won't do that ever again, because we'll find it, because we'll work
together and fix you the best we can," Harry responded as she slumped in his
arms, drained from everything that happened. "I swear, I'll find who did this
to do."
"Don't rush on my account, that's not your fight," Laura answered, as she eyed
him carefully, but for some reason, he made her feel relaxed.
"Well, I know it's not my fight, but that doesn't mean I can't help when I
can," Harry answered when he offered her a smile. "Laura, you'll find with me,
that I tend to stick my nose into situations where they aren't wanted or
needed. I hate to say that, but that's part of my charm."
Laura offered him a slight smile. "That's a matter of perspective."
Logan dropped down and she tensed up, before the two stared down each other.
"Logan, it's fine, I've got it under control," Harry responded when he watched
her, and she eyed Logan suspiciously. He eyed her back; the two of them were
carefully watching each other, neither backing down from the other. Something
had to give but the real question was what?
"So, you're her," Logan stated when he stepped towards her but she responded
with a challenging expression of her own.
"So you're him," Laura fired back while she watched him carefully. "You know,
I've been trained to be better, stronger, faster than you. They've conditioned
me to eventually take you out, so I can be better than someone who is the best
then what they did. So if you attack me, you're kind of taking your chances"
"That's a matter of option," Logan stated when he turned around. "The rest of
the team are okay, a bit shaken up, you really did a number on them, kid."
"They started it," Laura responded before she spun around and Logan smirked.
"That I don't have a doubt about," Logan responded when he watched her. "You're
good kid, you caught them by surprise. That won't happen much longer."
"They didn't go down without a fight," Laura offered and she relaxed.
"SHIELD wants to run some tests," Logan answered when he turned to Harry but he
shook his head when she tensed off.
"I'll keep an eye on her, she'll be my responsibility," Harry answered when he
looked at Laura.
"Are you sure?"
"I'm sure," Harry stated to Logan carefully, he had a few questions but he was
going to save them for later, after the day they had. "If Fury wants to throw a
bitch fit about it, well he can take it up with me."
"Oh, I'm sure he will," Logan responded carefully when he watched him,
clutching his fists and he rubbed his hands together. "And you better take good
care of her kid, I know where you live."
"Not for long," Harry responded as he watched Logan. "And you know why."
"Well, I'm pretty sure I can find out your new address," Logan responded,
taking a moment to watch him.
Laura was confused about this conversation but shrugged, it was likely not her
place to know.
===============================================================================
 
Laura sat at the edge of the Danger Room, pondering about what occurred and
what she was. She had a lot to sort out and had been offered a spot at the
Xavier Institute to cool her heels. Fury arrived behind her but Harry blocked
his access from her.
"She's dangerous, you don't know what backdoor programming HYDRA left in her,"
Fury offered hostilely but the green eyed mage stared the one eyed secret agent
down. He folded his arms and turned towards him. "I know you don't want to
think anything bad of her but…."
"I don't because she'd learn a lot more about getting herself together here
than she would in any SHIELD facility in the world," Harry responded without
even given the matter any consideration. His expression was firm and he eyed
Fury carefully, almost as if he dared him to say anything that would contradict
him but Fury did not say anything to him.
"It's on you, don't forget that," Fury responded to him.
The tension could be cut with a knife but Harry wondered if he was putting his
neck on the line. The truth was Laura was not a bad person, and he had a
feeling that SHIELD was not all that altruistic about their purposes. They may
feel that she was an asset to be used. He carefully kept an eye on them,
turning his head around, with a smile crossing his face when he watched them.
The young wizard kept a careful eye on the situation before he nodded.
"Worry about what you need to worry about Fury, and I'll worry about what you
need to worry about," Harry responded to Fury, staring him down.
"I hope you're right," Fury responded when he spun around and walked off,
carefully making his motions away from him. Harry watched Fury leave, not
bothering to say more than two more words to him.
"Why do I have a feeling that this isn't over?"
Harry spun around and saw Jean standing there, her arms folded and a smile on
her face. He moved over to greet her, through his arms around her and giving
her a kiss. He did the same to Rogue, Amara, Rachel, and Kitty who lined for
him.
"For the record, I understand where you're coming from," Kitty stated and they
all nodded in agreement.
Harry was glad because he was not going to argue with them about this even if
they disagreed with what he was doing. For he already made up his mind of what
he was going to do. He stepped over from his girls and bent down to face Laura
who sat on a chair.
"I could be dangerous, they could be right," Laura remarked carefully when she
watched Harry, his eyes met on hers.
"I could be dangerous too, we all could be dangerous," Harry responded and
Laura shrugged.
"You don't seem too dangerous but I suppose looks can be deceiving," she
offered as she fixed a beady gaze on him. "You trained your team rather well;
they gave me the best workout that anyone ever did. I don't know what you're
doing, but keep doing it."
Harry was glad about the statement she gave, and he smiled, that was the praise
that he hoped to have more of.
Laura thought about something and she turned around, her eyes carefully
narrowed before she stated the next point. "Although not all of the people on
this team were that good. That guy in the visor….he could use a lot of work.
Although I suppose that you can't train everyone."
Harry smiled towards her but he was not going to say much more than he said.
"No, I can't."
He held the box in his hand, turning around when he watched it. Ever since
Harry got it, he was half fixated on it. It had been temporarily pushed in the
back of his mind one he had to deal with Laura, but now he had much more time
to focus on the box in his hand. He carefully watched the box in his hand and
heard the whispers in the box. The box was held up to his ear when he really
pondered it.
'She will be your treasure.'
Who was she, Harry wanted to know that? He had his fingers on the clasp of the
box but he did not open it up yet. He saw the letter "S" encased in a silver
shield on the box but what did it mean?
'You will never be alone.'
The box spoke to him carefully when he tapped the box on the side of the table
and Harry frowned.
There was another statement from the box.
'All will be revealed.'
"Problem?" Laura asked to Harry, frowning whilst she watched him.
"Trying to figure out where I need to go and what I am?" Harry asked when he
watched the box. "There are sometimes….well it's stupid."
Laura watched Harry for a moment; she could tell that he was in a similar boat
than she was. Perhaps it was not the same exact boat but she realized that he
was closer to her mentally when she realized. She could tell that he was a
strong person despite all that and a real Alpha Male. Given the animalistic
instincts within her, that made him attractive and potential mate material.
And he was strong enough to take her down with ease, that much was something
that Laura remembered as well and respected.
"I think we should judge whether or not it is stupid," Laura offered but
Harry's eyes remained on the box.
"Perhaps, perhaps not," Harry responded when he eyed the box towards them.
Kitty walked up and he hid the box away in his bag, before any of them could
see it.
Something told Harry that he would learn everything that he needed to know when
the time was right, and not one second before. The young magical mutant stood,
there were many questions and very few answers, and he was going to answer it.
He wished to open the box but now was not the time.
'Soon.'
===============================================================================
 
Wanda stood outside across from the park with the wind blowing through her hair
with Harry walking beside her.
"So, I might be free after next week," Wanda responded to Harry carefully, dare
she hope? Dare she hope that she be free from that place, forever?
She was angry that they were playing the innocent act, trying to claim that all
they were doing was trying to help her. Wanda remembered the straps; she
remembered the needles being pushed into her skin. She remembered the hours she
was forced into a small room without any windows or lights, because she was
sick. It was inhumane treatment; in fact Wanda would go as far to say that
prisoners who had committed murder and rape would not even get treatment that
was that bad.
It was hard to really think about anything like that and she shared what
happened with Harry. There was something about the look in his eyes that made
Wanda feel slightly at ease. There was this fact that despite everything that
happened, Harry was someone who understood her plight and understood what she
was going through. The wizard carefully kept his eye on Wanda and a smile
crossed his face. This smile made her feel more at ease than she could ever
imagine before.
"A week from Thursday," Harry responded to her with a smile crossing his face.
It was that type of smile that inspired trust within Harry.
"A week from Thursday," Wanda confirmed, the smile being returned.
The nightmare would be over, should be over, a week from Thursday, which was
about nine days from where they sat and where they stood. Wanda mentally
counted down each and every individual second in her head; the wait was rather
hard to bare. Then again, most waits obviously were and she nervously rocked
back a little bit on her hips. The magical mutant thought that her powers were
reined in a little bit better although she had her moments. The long term
effects of the drugs were leaving her and Harry managed to work his own magic
to prevent the orderlies from pumping her system with anything further.
She had to ask this question, it almost hurt her how vulnerable she felt but it
was something that she had to say about it. "Do you think it's going to be that
easy?"
Harry smiled a bit of a smile, pained as it was for him to admit it, it was not
going to be that easy. "No, but I have a feeling this should run rather
smoothly providing that Mystique doesn't show up and contest it. However if
Mystique shows up, we've got evidence of her wrong doings ready."
"What about my father?" Wanda asked Harry when she stood by him.
Harry paused for a moment, he could tell that a part of Wanda ached for
revenge. But even if she went after her father, then what would happen? Would
she have any kind of clarity? Something told Harry that despite that fact, she
would have nothing resembling clarity. It would be an endless cycle of revenge,
that's what he thought about and reflected on.
Of course, he did wonder if Magneto would approve if the shoe was on the other
foot but he never talked to the man himself about the circumstances of the
situation with Wanda. The young wizard carefully chose his next words before
responding.
"Wanda, I'm not sure if I can even begin to think about what was going through
his mind," Harry responded in a delicate voice.
"Don't you dare tell me that the path of revenge is a barren one," Wanda stated
in a snippy voice but Harry smiled.
"I wasn't about to tell you that at all ,believe me," Harry answered when he
carefully looked up into the sky. The birds tweeted in the sky and he put his
hands on his hips. "But would it give you the answers that you seek? Something
tells me that it won't give you those answers."
Wanda grudgingly conceded that he might have a point, her shoulders slumped and
she watched him before she opened her mouth and spoke her next statement. "It's
almost like you're seeking answers about yourself."
Harry did not say anything at the moment although Wanda struck the nail on the
head. The moment he arrived, he realized that there was something different
about him. He thought that it was because of the Voldemort memories that he had
but there was something else. Harry spun around and he thought back to the box.
The box was currently in a bag that he kept over his shoulder at all times. He
would not even leave it alone for a second.
He had a feeling that it was too dangerous for anyone but himself to tamper
with.
"Answers, yes, I want them," Harry admitted to her before he smiled. "Guess
we're going to have to figure that out one step at a time."
Harry thought to himself when he closed his eyes and looked up. He did hope
after a week from Thursday, Wanda would be free of that place forever. There
would be many demons that she would have to face otherwise but Harry thought
that was something that she would deal with. They could continue their little
sessions without any interruption. He only had a limited amount of time with
her.
===============================================================================
 
"Keep the proper balance and that's it," Harry responded when he saw Amara
standing atop the mountain, her eyes glowing. She requested a little bit of one
on one time with him to get an exercise done that she was struggling with and
Harry figured why not. He had some time to spare and he watched Amara carefully
balance herself, watching him.
"So how am I doing?" she asked Harry when she watched him.
"Don't worry, you're doing great, but keep your focus on it," Harry watched
her, before she slid down.
"So is Wanda's hearing going to go by as planned?" Amara asked when she did the
last part of the exercise.
"Pretty much, just a little bit to the right," Harry responded when he eyed her
carefully, when the two of them looked at each other. "And that's enough for
tonight."
Amara slid down when she walked over towards Harry, there was a moment where
the two of stood next to each other. Harry brought her into an embrace tightly
with the two of them standing with each other. The Danger Room returned to its
normal status.
"I'd give it a nine point five out of ten," Harry responded and she looked at
him through widened eyes. "As you know, there's always room for improvement."
"I'm sure there is," Amara stated while she placed her hands on Harry's hips.
"And that will allow me to spend a lot more time together with you."
Amara decided to look at Harry, carefully choosing her next words.
"So, you really are leaving on September First?" Amara asked Harry carefully.
"That rumor is flying around a lot isn't it?" Harry asked before he looked at
the dark skinned princess, before he placed his hands on the small of her back.
"Mostly because there's a lot of truth to it…it's really hard to say why I'm
leaving in words."
Amara smiled at him before she caught onto it. "It's one of those journey's
that life takes you, isn't it?"
"Right in one," Harry answered before he held her in close. "I won't forget the
things that I learned here but I could stick around here and just be one part
of a team where I can't stand out. Or I could lead something beyond the name of
Charles Xavier."
"You've always struck me as more of a leader than a follower," Amara answered
when she turned away from Harry. She did not want to say anything about Scott
but he did have a lot of issues that he needed to work out. "Is….you have
everything set up, don't you?"
Harry thought that everything was ninety five percent of the way done, it was
that final five percent that always was the toughest. It was really funny how
something like that went but it was true. The young wizard carefully kept his
eyes on the princess in his arms.
"Don't worry about that, I'm here now," Harry responded when he wrapped his
arms around her. "And wherever I got, I'll be easily accessible."
Amara smiled in spite all of what happened and Harry leaned forward, before he
pressed his lips against hers with a kiss. She felt his hands move over her
back and shivered with the delight, when he pressed his lips against hers. The
girl was slowly backed into the wall and Harry had her pinned. He grounded
against her slightly whilst her nipples stood out erect from beneath her
uniform top, poking against his chest and Harry carefully cupped the underside
of her breasts.
"So, it's time, isn't it?" Harry asked before he continued to kiss her.
"Yes," she breathed when he removed her uniform top.
Smut/Lemon Begins.
Harry grabbed her dark breasts when her back was pressed against the Danger
Room and she pushed her breasts into his hands, when he molded them, squeezed
them with his hands. The young wizard carefully ran his hands around them,
carefully playing with her nipples which stood out and he carefully pinched
them, causing her to moan slightly at his touches.
Her uniform bottom went down and he peeled her panties off quickly. Her lovely
lips dripped with arousal for him and Harry could barely even wait to indulge
himself in the pleasures of this beauty before him.
"Feels good," Amara panted when his fingers entered her and he slowly pushed
his fingers in and out of her, before rubbing her clit with his thumb.
"I can tell you've been waiting for this for too long," Harry answered when he
pumped into her even more and she shifted her hips upwards, before he continued
to cup her pussy nicely in his hands.
"Yes, please, don't make me beg," Amara breathed heavily when he continued to
bring his fingers in and out of her dripping cunt. It caused her body to heat
up in the good way, whilst her eyes fluttered shut and a sigh of pleasure
escaped her lips.
She reached her hands around and pulled his pants down; she wanted to return
the favor to him. After she fumbled slightly with his boxers, his cock sprung
out of his pants to face her. Amara grabbed around her nice and easily, before
stroking him rather seductively with her hand, grasping it within him. He
responded by pushing his fingers back into her dripping hot cunt and she moaned
when she forced her cunt down on his fingers.
"Oh yeah, Harry," Amara breathed when her eyes glazed over and Harry reached
around, cupping her breasts. "I can't wait, stick it inside me, you know you
want to."
Harry did want to and he grabbed either side of her, before he pushed his cock
into her tight cavern, before slamming into her with rapid fire thrusts when
she was pinned against the wall. She bit down on her lip in passion when he
grabbed her breasts and squeezed them carefully in his hand, grabbing and
touching them tenderly, tweaking the lovely flesh between his hands when he
continued to cut a steady pace into her cunt.
He sped up his thrusts nice and heavily, banging into her tightly. She squeezed
him and he continued to thrust into her. The dark haired girl breathed when she
felt his cock enter her, sliding into her.
"Baby, so tight, I love this pussy," Harry stated when he speared into her,
carefully aiming his thrusts to give her the most pleasure.
Amara felt flushed she loved this, she really loved this, she could not get
enough of his massive cock inside her tight little pussy. She was getting a
fucking that was worthy of royalty and she felt his hands on either side of her
hips, before he continued to spear tightly into her pussy. Harry continued his
motions, her snatch wrapped tightly around him.
"Oh, ooh, ah," she moaned when she squeezed him, feeling her clear juices
splattering down on his cock and allowed him to continue to work into her. He
slid in and out of her with ease, giving her a workout. "Oh, ah, yes."
"Tight, oh yeah," Harry breathed when he nibbled on her ear which caused her to
go wild. She was slumped against the wall, getting his cock buried into her.
"Squeeze me, you want to cum again and again until you can't walk, don't you?"
"Yes, oh, yes, please," she begged him.
She grabbed his arm with her legs locked around him. Harry pressed his mouth on
one chocolate nipple and licked around it, suckling on it and causing her to
arch her hips up. The two continued their fucking, their bodies covered in
sweat. Her pussy clenched him tightly and he sped up his motions into her,
banging into her tight core.
Harry gripped his hands around her breasts, covered in the sweat and dripping
wet. He rubbed his fingers onto her nipples causing her to scream out in joy
and his cock slammed into her hard. He moved his hands down onto her body,
touching the side of her body, along with her hips and her backside, she really
felt the desire flowing through her body for him.
"Cumming soon," Harry breathed when he grunted and pushed into him.
She summoned all of the energy she could towards her pussy and begged for him
to continue to thrust into her. He rocked himself back to spear into her tight
center; his thrust sped up until he gave more mighty thrusts and pushed his
cock into her, pumping into her hips. Then his balls tightened. His fluids
sprayed into her hole and Amara screamed out loud, before he slammed into her
tight twat a few more times, gaining the momentum necessary to make everything
the two of them felt the most pleasurable experience in the world.
The thrusts continued went rope after rope of his thick cum splashed into her
insides. She pulled away from him and Harry pulled out of her nicely, when she
slid down on the wall.
He flipped her over so she was on her hands and knees.
"Ready for round two?" Harry asked and she bit down on her lip, before he
spread her pussy lips and suddenly, she was down on the ground, her feet and
hands shackled to the floor.
Amara felt like she was at the mercy of this young man, no this young god, when
he cupped her pussy in his hand, teasing the tender flesh. Juices dribbled down
from her, when she felt his cock head brush against the slit of her from
behind.
"Oh, ah, yes Harry!" Amara panted when she felt his cock spear into her tight
hole from behind, her hands and feet tied down, with nowhere to go. Harry
placed his hands on her back and slowly slid them up, before he squeezed and
played with her pussy. "Give me a royal fucking!"
"I bet you like that, don't you?" Harry grunted and her moan was all that he
needed in consent when he speared into her pussy from behind.
Harry continued to push his cock inside her and the princess responded to his
actions by squeezing him as hard as she could with her pussy. He picked up the
cues from her mind and made her deepest desires come true with the spots that
he touched her with his bulging member. The inside of her rubbed him and he
felt the warm heat generated from her pussy to be quite pleasurable.
Amara found herself in heaven, Harry knew what she liked and the pleasure was
beyond all measure she could describe. His cock cut a steady pace when he
picked up the moment rocking and plunging into her. She tightened herself
around him, squeezing him as much as she could manage.
"Fuck yeah, love this," Harry grunted when he speared himself into her even
more, allowing her tight walls to caress him.
A few more thrusts meant that Harry was done with this round, although this one
went on for a longer. These two young, hot, mutants continued to work each
other, feeling
Amara bit down her lip in pleasure before she screamed, with Harry unloading
his burning hot seed into her chambers and she screamed in pleasure, feeling
the desire when he slammed into her, working his cock inside her, her pussy
rubbing him nicely.
He was ready for more and he would get plenty more.
Smut/Lemon Ends.
To Be Continued in the Next Arc "Days in the Dark Dimension."
***** Days in the Dark Dimension Part One *****
Chapter Forty Eight: Days in the Dark Dimension Part One.
Smut/Lemon Begins.
It was a long day of training behind him and all of the joints in Harry's back
and neck ached. They would heal in a matter of moments but that did not
disqualify from having the pain that came along with the training.
A pair of hands grabbed him around the waist and pulled him into the room,
before she threw her arms around him and pressed her lips to his with a searing
kiss. He saw a curtain of red hair frame her face, her green eyes meeting his
and her arms wrapped around him. Harry breathed when he saw the very naked body
of Jean Grey pressed against him.
"Hi Jean," Harry responded when he drank in her beautiful body, all of the
lovely, juicy curves, the round perfect breasts, with the perky nipples, the
flat stomach, the lovely pussy with red hair trimmed nicely, and her long legs
,along with her sexy ass.
"Hey, Harry," Jean answered when she pulled his shirt up over his head, before
she pressed herself against him, embracing him tightly.
Rachel popped up next to Harry and she was in an equal state of undress, which
she quickly divulged Harry of his pants, before she wrapped a hand around his
cock and pumped him with a grin on her face. She felt him throb and twitch in
her hand.
Harry was in heaven; Rachel knew how to work his cock.
"Oh that's it, fucking suck that cock baby," Harry breathed when Rachel got
down between his legs and started licking his cock with skill, wrapping her
tongue around him. Jean got down and licked his balls, the two of them using
their tongues to give his throbbing member a workout.
The two beautiful redheads were working on his cock and balls and Harry felt
the burning pleasure fill his body when they took turns sucking and licking at
his cock. The pair of them traded off every few seconds, working him over.
Their mouths and tongues did delightful things to his loins when he placed a
hand down on the each of their nearly identical hair, stroking their hair
slightly, and feeling the pleasure.
'Such a big cock, that I love sucking,'Jean breathed when she speared Harry's
cock down her throat when Rachel worked on his balls, fondling them, before she
used her tongue.
'I think he likes that,'Rachel thought before she reached her hand over and
cupped Jean's pussy, which caused her to moan. She smiled when she used her
fingers to probe the lovely molten core of Jean, feeling the dripping center.
"So fucking hot, ah,' Harry breathed when his aura washed over them, before he
splashed his seed into Jean's waiting mouth. She sucked up every bit of essence
he had eagerly when he pumped into her, with passing thrusts. The young wizard
prudently worked his thrusts into her mouth, passing into her, drilling into
the back of her throat.
His seed spilled into her and Jean pulled back, some of it still lingering on
her tongue. Rachel and Jean wrapped their arms around each other and exchanged
a passionate kiss, exchanging the seed that they got from their wizard.
"So how do you want to do this?" Rachel asked when the kiss was let go.
"Eat my pussy, while Harry rams into your tight pussy from behind," Jean
breathed when she rubbed Rachel's lips sensually before she backed off onto the
paid.
Jean sprawled herself out on the bed, her legs spread and her pussy lips wide
open for the taking. Rachel knelt down between Jean's legs, before she crawled
over and began to rub Jean's lips, causing her to rear her head back and moan
hotly.
"Oh yeah, that's it, mmm yeah Rachel," Jean panted hotly, when Rachel dove
between her pussy and began to lick her walls.
'You do realize that this is your daughter from a possible future timeline,
don't you?'Phoenix thought in a nonchalant manner as Rachel dove between Jean's
legs and licked out her tender core, running her tongue over her.
'Yes, realize that….oh so don't care,'Jean thought to herself when she felt
Rachel's talented tongue work her pussy. 'She's….so fucking good.'
'You must be very proud,'Phoenix dead panned.
'Yes, very,'Jean thought to herself when she arched her hips up and Harry
plunged his cock between Rachel's legs from behind. She watched hungrily their
shared lover's thick tool plunging out in and out of her. 'Oh that was…'
Rachel munched down on the place that she came from in another timeline, really
working over her mother's pussy. She stuck her tongue inside and furiously
rubbed her clit, causing Jean to rear her head back and scream.
"Oh Rachel, so good, give Mommy all your love!" Jean yelled at the top of her
lungs, but Rachel froze, she was not sure she heard that right. She had little
time to waste when Rachel drove her tongue deep into Jean's pussy, running her
tongue into her mother's pussy.
"So hot, that's it Rachel, eat her pussy, make it drip!" Harry yelled while he
rammed into her hard from behind, his cock hammering into her dripping twat.
'Fucking tear me up Harry,'Rachel thought as she felt something.
'You know, it would something if she ended up being Harry's daughter as
well,'the Phoenix mused in an off handed manner.
'That would be wrong,'Jean thought to herself, but why did she find her pussy
getting really went at the thought.
'And hot,'the Phoenix thought as the cosmic force rolled her eyes. 'I will
never understand human morality and their inability to seek fun where they need
it. Animals have gotten it right, why can't humans?'
Jean was too busy being eaten to another orgasm to really answer Phoenix's
inquiry, when this threesome, technically foursome if one counted the Phoenix
Force as being a separate entity, continued with Harry's cock working into her.
Rachel panted when he fucked her senseless and Jean's pussy was sopping wet and
in desperate need for Harry's cock.
"Time to switch, baby girl," Jean breathed as she pulled her alternate timeline
daughter up and kissed her lovingly on the lips.
Jean pounced upon Harry no sooner than he pulled out and she kissed him on the
lips rather hard. Her lips met his carefully when she sucked on them, before
she spread her legs. Her extremely hungry pussy lips gobbled up his throbbing
member and stuffed him inside her. She began to rock back and forth, spearing
on his cock, and riding it.
Rachel watched her mother ride Harry for all she was work and she spread her
legs, before she essentially fucked herself using her telekinetic abilities.
Harry helped out when he could, hitting the right spots in her and caused her
to reach and shrieking orgasm that filled the heavens.
Jean rose herself up and sank her hips down onto Harry, her curved body
rotating onto her. He rocked back.
'Ah, yeah, baby, fucking you know how to work a cock,'Harry breathed while he
grabbed her ass checks and hoisted her up before he slammed her down. Her pussy
hit his ship and her ass bounced against his thigh. Her red hair flung in the
air like the Phoenix she was.
'Oh you know how to play with my tits, oh yeah feels so fucking good,'Jean
thought to herself as she drove herself down onto his cock, wrapping her pussy
around him and squeezing him, allowing him to feel the warm tightness of her.
Rachel pumped her fingers into her gushing cunt when she saw Harry's dick slide
in and out of her mother's dripping wet pussy. She breathed heavily when she
rubbed her clit with her thumb, grinding her fist into her pussy, when she took
a moment to think what Harry could do to her.
Jean rocked back, her orgasm exploded through her body when she rode Harry,
slamming down onto him.
"Oh yeah, so hot, your pussy belongs to me," Harry moaned when her pussy
wrapped around him tightly and clenched.
"Give me all that hot cum, you know you want to," Jean moaned when she squeezed
him and she bent down, ramming her tongue into his mouth, licking the inside of
her mouth.
Harry pumped and his cock was defeated, for the moment. He sent several blasts
of his thick seed into her, splashing her inner walls and he continued to shoot
the insides of her like a fire hose, spraying her with his thick semen.
Smut/Lemon Ends.
===============================================================================
 
A red haired woman with green eyes sat at the edge of the field unable to
believe the misfortunate that had occurred. She looked so much forward to being
a mother and than….well he was lost. The birth was a rough one, magical
pregnancies always had a risk to them and when she was in a family that had
high risk pregnancies, that added to the fun.
Still she clutched the vial of blood in her hand, she felt that she should
throw it away, but it was all she had to hang onto. Now she had to tell her
husband….what happened when she returned. She felt like a failure of a person
and most importantly a failure as a mother. She tapped on the vial.
She was not the religious type but never the less, she prayed for a miracle.
There was a shooting star in the sky and a loud crash in the field nearby. The
woman rose to her feet, and saw the object in the field. A ship with an "S"
carved into it, laying in the field.
She had to investigate it further. The woman stepped forward and opened it up….
Harry Potter woke up with a start as his alarm clock when off. He was careful
not to awake Amara, Rogue, and Kitty, who were all sleeping at the foot of his
bed after the festivities that happened until past midnight. It was a week
after Laura's arrival at the Mansion and she was settling in as well as could
be expected, although her relationship with Logan was rather shaky. Then again,
Harry figured that there would be a degree of awkwardness.
He reached forward to the dresser and pulled out the box. Said dresser was
charmed where only he could open it. He stuffed the box into his pocket and
walked forward.
'You cannot outrun your destiny.'
Harry wondered what the significance of that dream he was having because it
most certainly was not from his point of view. He wished he had not woken up
before he saw the inside of that ship.
Then again, would he have wanted to?
Wanda's hearing was today, so Harry needed to focus on that and worry about his
fractured psyche later. It was almost like he lived two different lives.
He reached forward and pulled up the wardrobe but the handle broke off. He
never exhibited that amount of strength before and his eyes widened. He
wondered if this was some kind of delayed goblin formula reaction or something
else.
Thankfully he did have the magic of magic on his side so he repaired the door
and went to get dressed.
===============================================================================
 
Wanda Maximoff had never been more anxious about anything else in her life and
given the fact that she spent half of her time in an Insane Asylum that was
saying something. The young magical mutant folded her arms and swayed her head
a little bit before nervously considered every possible outcome. The dark
haired girl sat in the background, dressed in nicer clothes that she had ever
been allowed in the asylum. She was not one for shopping, which likely might
make most girls her age group think that she was likely prime material to be
thrown back into the asylum.
"I have proof that Miss Maximoff's powers should not have landed her in that
institution," Jen stated as she focused her eyes intensely on the members of
the court. "In fact, I would say that the Institute made her powers be twisted
into something that could have been even more of a danger to herself than
others. You might have believed that she was being helped but there was nothing
that she was being helped with. Rather, it caused her mind to be tweaked. If it
was not for my client, she might have had anger issues the moment she was
released."
Wanda looked carefully with Harry standing next to her. It was a matter of
moments before she had to take the stand.
The defense for the Asylum stood and faced Wanda, she swallowed a little bit.
Harry warned her that the Asylum would try and paint themselves as the victims,
as innocent, despite the fact of all that they did to her was borderline
criminal. The defense eyed her carefully with a predatory smirk but it was all
that Harry could do to prepare her for it. Wanda waited for him to ask the
obvious question, Harry saw it coming and so did she when she thought about it.
"So, Miss Maximoff, tell me, how is your stance towards your father?"
"I object, he's trying to rile up the witness," Jen stated as she stood up and
peered over her glasses, before folding her arms together and watching him.
"Yes, try not and lead the witness on with questions," the judge stated whilst
he gave an intense look towards the attorney that spoke up.
"Her father placed her there for her own protection, because she got out of
control and he could not handle her because of her unique abilities," the
Asylum lawyer stated when he spun around and watched through narrowed eyes. He
eyed Wanda, with a twisted grin on his face. "And the word of Charles Xavier
was that she could not be controlled with her powers."
Harry snapped up and his eyes were on them.
"As Harry told you earlier, once he started training me, he showed me how to
use the powers and I'm a lot better," Wanda stated, when she talked in a calm
and tranquil voice when she eyed him, but shook her head. "But then again, you
wouldn't know that would you."
"Did you or did you not scream that you would kill your father if you ever
escaped?" the asylum lawyer asked him.
Wanda was not going to fall into this trap, she eyed him carefully. "Once I was
pumped full of drugs that caused instabilities with my powers, I said and I
screamed a lot of things. But none of them meant anything because I was not in
my right mind thanks to the drugs you pumped into me. Drugs that Stephen
Strange said was causing my mind to become warped, I'm sure you've read those
reports."
"I have read the reports, although our doctors at the Asylum have stated that
they had no adverse effects," the asylum lawyer stated in a swarmy tone of
voice when he eyed Wanda with a grin crossing his face when he eyed her. She
did not like that smile, she wanted to slap it off of him in fact.
"And you're questioning the expert testimony of Stephen Strange, who would know
more about unique abilities like Wanda's than any doctor at your asylum?" Jen
asked in an exasperated tone of voice. "His accreditations speak for
themselves."
She thought that they did at least but the lawyer was not convinced and all
Harry wanted to do was get Wanda safely way from there. He half was tempted to
make sure that nothing like this ever happened again to anyone, although he was
not going to push his luck. Wanda was the most important thing in the back of
his mind but there was going to be other things that was going to be done. The
young wizard eyed them, he waited.
Both sides continued to give their sides of the defenses before Harry watched
them all and waited. Wanda sat back down next to him when they gave the
verdict. He half expected Mystique to show up or worse be secretly disguised as
the judge. Knowing his luck that was something that was likely to happen but
nothing to that extent happened, at least not yet but Harry was prepared for
something along those lines to happen.
He let in a breath and let one out as Wanda slowly turned around to face him,
looking a bit nervous.
"What happens if they say that I have to go back?" Wanda whispered to Harry.
"Don't think I haven't thought about that," Harry responded, but he really
hoped that he did not have to do something borderline illegal to get her out of
there. That was a point where the young man thought about many times.
Time passed, with things ticking down before the judge walked forward after
talking with the other people. He could not believe that this was such a big
deal, although while mutants weren't known to the public at large, there will
be those who would be able to find out where the mutants were. He tapped his
fingers and waited, his nerves were rather carefully wrecked and he hoped that
she would be get out of there.
They would only know in a moment and sure enough the Judge returned.
"Given the inability of Raven Darkholme to show up, we have agreed that Harry
James Potter will gain temporary custody of Wanda Maximoff, but she is under a
probationary period where if she commits any crimes, then she will be taken
into custody and returned to the institution," the judge responded when he eyed
them. "I trust we're doing the right thing."
Wanda was smiling and she threw her arms around Harry, hugging him tightly,
before she pulled back and realized what she was doing.
"The sentiment is appreciated," Harry responded with a smile. "And I know you
won't break that probation."
"Well we didn't have to do too much," Jen answered as she watched them with a
tired but satisfied expression on her face.
Wanda was ready to celebrate the rest of her life, she knew that it was going
to be a good day for her and she was ready to head by the Institute, to tell
Kitty, Rogue, and the rest the good news.
"Hey, Gwen," Harry responded as he answered his cell phone when they were
outside the courtroom.
"Did it go alright?" Gwen asked.
"Yeah it did, Wanda's out, although on probation," Harry responded and Gwen
sounded jubilant.
"Best we could have hoped for, really," Gwen responded and Harry would have to
agree with that.
"So how are things going for you?" Harry asked Gwen.
"Oh you know, fair enough," Gwen stated in a crisp voice before sighed. "Still
trying to get that internship, going to be harder than I thought."
"Well someone with your grades should get one eventually, keep your head up,
you'll get it eventually," Harry said in a reassuring voice.
"Right, thanks, talk to you later," Gwen responded. "I'll talk to you later,
lots going on."
===============================================================================
 
"Well duh, I knew that you were going to so win this one, I mean with Harry on
your side, you weren't going to lose all that much."
Kitty offered that statement with a bright smile crossing her face, when she
sat around the Institute with Laura, Jean, Rachel, and Rogue, with Wanda
returning to them.
"Gwen sends her regards by the way, but there's this family thing that she
can't get out of to join us," Kitty responded as she watched Wanda with a smile
on her face. "But I'm sure she'll be just as glad as we are because you got
out."
"They tried to make themselves look like the good guys," Harry responded as he
heard Laura scoff on his other side, so he turned towards her.
"Figures," Laura responded as she looked outside the window, carefully keeping
an eye on everything that happened.
"So you must be Laura, nice to meet you," Wanda responded, from what Harry said
about Laura, the two of them had a lot in common.
"A pleasure," Laura responded as she nodded her head but she carefully eyed
Wanda, assessing her carefully. She was not going to jump in and be buddy-buddy
with people but she sensed that Wanda held many of the same demons that she
did. Rachel, Jean, Kitty, and Rogue were all nice to her. Kurt was a pretty
decent guy as well. Doctor McCoy did what he could to help her, even if he ran
a few tests on her, he made it feel painless. Ororo made her feel at home and
Logan…well he was Logan.
She guessed that he was her father figure, or the closest thing that she would
ever have given all things that happened. Although he was not the type that
would be very fatherly but it was kind of confusing to really think about
everything. Laura gritted her teeth and thought about that.
"So are you leaving to go with Harry too or not?" Wanda asked her.
Laura eyed her before she turned around. "I don't know."
"There's plenty of room in the facility," Harry responded when he eyed it.
"I've talked to my parents Harry," Kitty answered as he looked at her. "And
while they're kind of not exactly all one hundred percent with the idea, I
think they trust you enough to think that you could make it work."
"Don't worry, Kitty, I visited them, they're perfectly fine with it," Jean
stated in a bright and sunny voice. "I convinced them of the merits of it."
"Thanks Jean," Kitty responded in a gracious tone of voice.
"I'm going to make it work, trust me," Harry responded and Kitty nodded.
"They do trust you, but they hope that this won't interfere with my regular
schooling," Kitty answered. "I can't believe you're…"
"I've learned everything that I need to know," Harry answered as he pressed his
fingers on her lips. "And I mean that in a good way."
It was true, Harry could barely believe all that he learned but he managed to
absorb more information than ever. More and more, he saw his powers expand. He
was able to absorb and understand information many times faster than the people
around him. He could not only understand the information but he could absorb it
completely. It was retained and he burned through three years of high school
within three weeks. Not that it was that much of a challenge.
And he would be able to get his qualifications pretty soon. His mind was
getting stronger and more enhanced, and he kind of was frustrated about what
happened with him in the past, how he made some rather stupid decisions when he
was younger. Yet, that was a huge problem that he would deal with in the
future.
Plus it was part of a world that he happily left behind forever.
"Are you okay?" Rogue asked him when she turned around.
"Fine, I'm better than fine now that court hearing is over," Harry answered
with a smile.
"And I'm sensing a but," Jean stated when she watched Harry.
Harry smiled when he turned around; there was always something that would rain
on his parade, especially after everything that has happened. He learned by now
not to get too happy with achieving kind of victory because it meant it opened
up a door to huge problems. Even after the victory, he was not about to raise
his hand and toot his own horn.
"He thinks that my father or Mystique might try something," Wanda stated,
trying to keep the bitterness or the rage out of her voice. She walked a very
fine line here.
"Well, duh," Kitty stated while she rolled her eyes
"The best way to know that Mystique's up to something is whether or not she's
breathing," Rogue answered when she hung her head a little bit.
Jean smiled. "That is it."
'He is extremely powerful isn't he?'the Phoenix thought to her.
'Yes, and he satisfies all sides of us,'Jean thought to her.
'He is one that will be a god among all men,'the Phoenix mused when she watched
him. 'It is funny how we sensed a kindred spirit; we're of similar extra-
terrestrial origin.'
'Wait, how do you…'
Phoenix smiled a mysterious smile. 'It is one of those feelings that you will
have.'
There was no other word for what she thought and Jean bit down on her lip.
'Of course, the Alpha has yet to present herself or assert herself,'the Phoenix
thought.
'I assumed that it was Kitty,'Jean thought with a frown when she thought to
herself.
'Well Kitty is high up the food chain by virtue of being the first but while
she's able to assert herself well, it's not enough for her to become an
Alpha,'Phoenix thought when she looked at Jean. 'Although perhaps I'm mistaken.
Someone like Harry, he'd have multiple Alphas."
"I was under the assumption that there could be only one Alpha,"Jean thought to
the Phoenix.
The Phoenix scoffed. 'Please, when have the normal rules every applied to
Harry.'
'Point well taken,'Jean thought to herself before she closed her eyes.
'I will be disappointed if we're not in the top five,'the Phoenix stated to
Jean.
'I do my best,'Jean thought to herself when she turned back and wrapped her
arms around Harry when he rested against her. Kitty had her head on Harry's
lap.
Harry thought about the dreams, which were getting more vivid as if more jigsaw
pieces slammed themselves together. He missed something, but what was it? What
did he miss? That's what he really wanted to know. He saw him being found in a
field again and again, but then there was something rather essential that he
missed.
Harry wondered if his mind was trying to give him some kind of deeper instincts
to this, what happened? He never felt at ease in the other world, so perhaps he
would have to come from somewhere else. The young wizard puzzled and puzzled,
until his puzzler was sore.
"So, what's up now?" Kitty asked, she almost sensed something that Harry was
thinking about.
"Just thinking about my childhood," Harry answered as he looked at her before
he closed his eyes. "I was a baby, in a field with my parents."
"I didn't know that most memories went back that far," Kitty responded when she
looked at Harry with a shrug. "Chalk that one up for the enhanced brain powers,
I guess."
"Indeed," Harry responded before he checked his watch. He was due for a lesson
with Doctor Strange in about an hour, although the lessons were merely
something that took up less time than before. He processed what Strange was
teaching him at a rate that was inhumane, even by the standards of magical
users.
Strange joked that one day he might be able to retire as the Sorcerer Supreme,
at least in a few years, if Harry kept up with his current rate. Whilst Harry
was not about to go that far, he actually was surprised that Strange thought
that much of him. He hoped that he would be able to maintain that certain rate.
Wanda meanwhile thought about her first day of freedom and where she was going
to go from there. It was something that she dreamed about but she never thought
about that much. Now that it was in her hands, she found herself awestruck by
the freedom that was in her hands, brushing against the tips of her fingers.
All she had to do was seize the moment and it would be hers, no matter what.
She smiled and could hardly wait for the rest of her life.
Hopefully she would not let Harry down. Although if she let Harry down, they
wouldn't have to worry about taking her back to the Asylum but rather she would
roll over and die in shame.
"Talk to you girls later, off to see Doctor Strange," Harry responded as he
edged off, not really knowing what would happen next.
All he was assured with was that he would return back after.
===============================================================================
 
Perhaps Harry was getting paranoid in his advancing age, but the moment he
stepped on the front steps for his lesson, he felt a prickling sensation.
Goosebumps raised on his skin when he inched forward and the door swung open.
Granted that was nothing out of the ordinary, the house always had its door
swing open to allow him entry. Still despite that fact, Harry was on the edge;
hopefully he would not get knocked off. One step inside and he already slowly
edged towards the entrance way.
A wind rattled in the back of his head and he turned around a little bit,
before running his hands through the side of his head. The young wizard stood
ready to find out what was happening. He opened his mouth, to try and call out
for Strange but something stopped him. There was some kind of sixth sense that
he had about situations about this but he spun around and walked up the steps
towards the library. There was another loud humming and Harry felt his hair
stand up on the back of his neck.
He was in two minds about this.
The first mind was to turn around and get out of here, without turning around
and going back. Some might call that the coward's way out but when Harry
thought about it, it was far from taking the coward's way. It was the
difference between living and dying today and Harry kept edging a little bit,
running his hands through his head when his eyes blinked slightly. He hiccupped
a little bit but remained on edge.
Then there was the second mind, where despite all sense dictating he should do
otherwise, he was going to step forward and investigate. He always had a nosy
streak a mile long and sometimes that saved lives, even if it put his own life
at peril. It was just a part of his nature.
Harry spun around and could pick up something, his hearing had got more acute
in the past number of weeks, he could hear a pin drop from across town and it
was getting stronger. He taught himself to isolate the sounds and kept moving
toward, but he heard everything, every whisper, which was not necessarily a
good thing.
There were some things that were best left unheard.
A creak, creak, creak followed a drip-drip-drip, and Harry stood forward with
widened eyes, before he shifted his body to become one with the wall. He heard
footsteps going by and they were not the friendly variety either.
"Strange could not have gotten far, my master."
Harry recognized the man immediately as one of Stephen Strange's greatest
enemies, Baron Mordo. Needless to say, Mordo was the textbook example of how
magical powers could in fact corrupt a person and Harry was on his guard to see
what this individual had to offer against him.
Mordo edged past him, followed by three robed figures, Harry suspected were
henchmen. Now Harry thought about it, he could take them out easily but that
would mean he did not know anything about the puppet master that was behind
this.
The box began to vibrate in his pocket, he nearly forgot about it. Harry put
the box up to his ear and he got a sense that it was trying to tell him what to
do but his hearing picked up a swirling vortex sound.
Harry rushed up the steps, fast as he could. It would be unwise to leave traces
of magic that the people could track. Yet adrenaline allowed him to propel
himself up the steps at super speed. He saw energy fields around the books on
the library and blood splattered on the floor, with a portal open. Anyone with
common sense knew that random portals opened where blood was spilled on the
floor seldom meant that cute and fluffy bunny rabbits were about to come out.
In his experience, the portal was opened to another dimension. Dimensional
travel was extremely sketchy business at best, hence why Harry never wanted to
even try to return home. Even if he wanted and he never wanted to see that
place ever again, the young wizard carefully edge the portal and he heard the
voice of Mordo once again. He floated up and became one with the ceiling,
before he looked down.
"Strange won't stop him from coming, the Dreaded One will rise once again."
Harry suspected that the Dreaded One could apply to a few people but there was
one person who it could apply to with one hundred percent accuracy. The young
wizard carefully eyed what was around him. He thought about it.
"There is an intruder here Mordo, I sense him."
'Oh boy,'Harry thought to himself, before he zoomed off, trying to make his
enemy come to him and not vice versa.
"Come back here!" Mordo stated before he blasted an energy pulse from his hand
but the spell only destroyed the wall.
'Okay things to do, find Strange, figure out how to close the portal, or…yeah
here's a good one, Potter,'Harry thought as he paused and put up a shield to
block the attack, before he fired a series of flaming spikes towards his
enemy's shield to crack his defenses.
That type of shield, a Killing Curse would be useless, not that much of the
magic he learned in that universe was useful at all. Or much of anything
really, given that there were five years where he could count one hand the
useful things he learned and still had fingers left over.
'Yes, escape, that's what I need to do, through the door and out of here,'Harry
pondered to himself before he made his way down the set of stairs. He knew the
front doors were blocked, they would have had to be.
And the basement exits were blocked as well which Harry thought was great.
He blocked them from getting him, that was a good thing but how long would they
hold? That was the real question and one that Harry would have to answer before
too long. The young wizard carefully kept one eye on the situation, Mordo and
those minions were trying to get through his field. So far, so good, at least
Harry was able to block him. And block him that he did, he eye up and down the
steps, making sure that the shield held and perhaps hurt them a little bit.
Satisfied, for the moment, Harry pulled out the communicator device. Of course
the real question was how Mordo and his merry men broke the security of
Strange's stronghold. It was pretty airtight, at least not with the eighteen
separate violations that Harry counted at the Xavier Institute, but even the
most secure security was never foolproof.
Even magic done by the Sorcerer Supreme that was not foolproof. Which was why
Harry would have two separate locations for his base of operations, one that
was officially on the books, where he would have his meetings with those
outside his inner circle, which would be laced with all of the security that he
could muster. Then there would be the base where only the girls he was sleeping
with would even have the slightest idea where it was. They would be forced to
sign an oath binding the location to them under penalty of being cut off from
sex.
The official base was already set up, but the private base, well that was a
work in progress, although Harry had a feeling that he would put that one
somewhere remote.
"Arcane to X-Men, Arcane X-Men, come in X-Men," Harry stated when he closed his
eyes. "Phoenix, Shadowcat, Rogue, Nightcrawler, Storm, Wolverine, hell even
Cyclops, if anyone is there, pick up!"
And there was nothing which meant Harry was on his own and trapped in the
Sanctum Sanctorium with Mordo and his not so merry men.
It was time to get creative or as a wise man once said "win if you can, lose if
you must, but always cheat."
Harry turned the ground into quicksand, before he conjured large bowling balls
with teeth and propelled them towards the minions. Mordo wisely checked out by
now to do what he was doing but that was find, once the distractions were done,
Harry could deal with him later.
===============================================================================
 
"Mordo, I must remind you that my patience grows thing and we must speed up the
time table for this event."
Mordo stepped back, that statement might sound cliché to some but the fact it
was given with some malice, he was going to overlook that.
"Where is Strange?"
"Strange vanished, I think that he went into another realm," Mordo answered
when he eyed the flaming head from the other side of the portal. "He sent a
message to his apprentice to tell him not to come to this location today for
the danger, but I have blocked it. His power and durability, not to mention his
youth, will serve as a perfect sacrifice to bring you forth into this world."
"I will hope that you are correct for nothing can be left to chance," the voice
echoed, thunder clashing around him.
"I know what…."
"You don't understand anything about what needs to occur," the voice stated,
before the brimstone crackled around him. "But I, the Dread Dormannu, have
waited for too long for this moment, for my moment to gain revenge. I will
scorch them all and it all starts with the Sorcerer Supreme."
"Yes, yes, of course, but Strange has…."
"You will find this apprentice of Strange and bring him before me," Dormannu
responded when his eyes glinted with the personification of everything was
power.
He was a horror beyond all description and he devoured souls out of boredom,
out of enjoyment, whatever one might wanted to say. Regardless, he was someone
who offered destruction to countless mortals and he grew even more dangerous by
each moment. His eyes blazed with the inferno that scorched all that defied
him.
And now his sights were set on this young apprentice of Doctor Strange, this
young man known as Harry Potter, oh he would be the coup of a lifetime. Strange
must have seen some potential in him train him and Dormmanu thought himself to
be above those of this plane but he respected power. And that power would be in
his hands, when he crushed the young wizard beneath his thumb until he cried
out for mercy.
"Bring him Mordo, bring him, if you value your existence," Dormmannu stated
with a furious glint going through his eyes, he knew what was going to happen.
"And remember, this is your final opportunity to make something out of
yourself. Fail this one and you will not live another day."
Again, Dormmanu was able to make the most tried statements sound the most
threatening with the inflection in his voice. Mordo was powerful and formidable
enough in his own right but even he had some problems with what was happening.
The sorcerer spun around when he edged off and carefully grabbed the side of
the wall, when he edged forward.
"We lost him, master," one of his robed minions stated with a bow.
"What?" Mordo asked when his eyes widened and he bit down on his tongue. "Do
not stand there, find him?"
"You can't find me, so you might as well give up!"
Taunted, he was being taunted, likely baited by this young man but he would not
be so easily tricked. That was not what he did, the sorcerer kept his mind
carefully on the prize at hand before he edged ever so closer when he moved
forward.
"Come out, and you…"
"Or what, you'll make it easier? You will make my torment less drawn out? I've
heard all of these before. I've heard this song and dance, I can't believe you
would think that I would fall for it. I mean come on, do you really thing…"
"He's this way, he won't escape," Mordo responded before he edged closer, he
needed to have this young man underneath his thumb.
Mordo was not one to fall into obsessions no matter what other people would say
about his past with the Sorcerer Supreme and his teacher, the Ancient One. Yet,
he was dedicated to the cause, and he was dedicated in tracking down the young
wizard apprentice. He picked up the pace when he stepped around and he heard a
scream.
One of his followers was taken down with a crash, his arms and legs snapping
together in the fury of the attack. Mordo really took his hat off to this young
man, he could not….he refused to show any respect to him.
"Come out!"
===============================================================================
 
'And now, with Mordo being sent on a wild goose chase, it's time for me to
figure out how to shut this portal,'Harry thought to himself when he edged
closer to it. He saw the blood on the floor.
Strange taught him how to close portals but the problem with magic was that
there was more than one type of portal. There were your standard transport
portals, which allowed for an easy escape. Then there were portals aligned to
bring some dangerous force out. Then there were portals that were designed to
suck something into a place. And that was really barely scratching the surface,
the tip of the iceberg. Regardless, Harry turned his head and bit down on his
lip.
'Okay Potter, put your training to use and figure…'
There was a humming and then a swirling vortex of wind.
'Okay, this might be a tad bit trickier than we thought before but that's okay,
that's what you were born for,'Harry thought to himself when he continued to
edge himself closer to the portal. 'Easy does it Harry, almost there, just a
little bit, the rabbit ear goes underneath the hole, and….'
Harry's thought process stopped again and he felt the burning of a crisp wind
against his face, and he slid back. He was unable to completely….yeah this
wasn't good. He could barely formulate a complete thought that made any sense
but this was not good. He edged closer and then edged back.
"I have you now!"
'And again, not good,'Harry though but he summoned all of the power to himself,
when he tried to do the portal sealing ritual as Strange taught him.
There was a flash of light and Harry blacked out immediately.
===============================================================================
 
"HARRY, WAKE UP!"
"Huh, what…who?" Harry thought when he felt the lights of sunlight when he was
sitting in a hospital room.
He knew this room all too well; he was in…the Hogwarts Hospital Wing?
None of this added upon and Harry peered his head up, when he bit down on his
mouth. His head buzzed and he could not figure out what happened or why he was
back here at all places.
"Good, Mr. Potter, you're awake, you've been out for the past year."
Harry's head turned and he saw one of the last people he wanted to see with
newfound independence, Albus Dumbledore. Dumbledore stood there at the edge of
the Hospital Wing and this made no sense to Harry.
At all.
"What are you doing here?" Harry demanded, a little testily. "What am I doing
here?"
"Calm yourself Harry, you've suffered trauma during your battle with the Death
Eaters in the Department of Mysteries where you lapsed into a catatonic state,"
Dumbledore responded with a knowing twinkle in his eye.
This Harry did not believe one hundred percent.
"The past year, I was…." Harry responded when he eyed Hermione standing in the
doorway.
"Hello Harry, I'm so glad you're okay and back home," Hermione responded when
she rushed over and tried to hug Harry, but Harry turned away from her. "Harry,
I don't understand, you seem so…Headmaster, what is it?"
"Harry's mind broke at the loss of Sirius and he tried to go through the Veil,
but Remus's attempt to stop him was a little overzealous," Dumbledore responded
with a sad smile. "He's fabricated a dream world based off of these….X-Men I
believe they're called."
Harry refused to answer, whatever game that was being played.
"So I'm at Hogwarts," Harry responded whilst he eyed Dumbledore suspiciously.
Dumbledore corrected this assessment immediately. "No, you're in St. Mungo's
you've suffered a psychotic break. Hermione's read you Muggle Comic Books while
you slept but I feel that they've contributed to the delusions. Your mind has
created a dream world which you have tried to escape the harsh reality of a
life filled with pain and loss. A virtual wish fulfillment in many words."
"The adventures of these X-Men, they're not real, Mr. Potter," a healer stated.
He had grey hair with a goatee and an expression on his face that was even more
grandfatherly than Dumbledore. Harry kept his eyes on this man, wondering what
the game was. "Your mind has fabricated a fantasy based on a desire to escape
the real world. Eventually when your treatments are done, you will be able to
function once again and all time you believed you spent in that world will be
erased."
"Don't worry Harry, I'll make sure you'll all better and whole again," Hermione
stated with a bright smile. "You know you could trust me, right?"
Harry shifted, for a second he bought it but he heard the burning of embers,
the same burning that he heard before he got sucked into the portal. Then the
sound was gone when he eyed Hermione and the Healer turned towards him.
"I believe it should start with us removing that box that has been in your hand
from your person, as it is the key to your delusions," the Healer responded
before he offered Harry a smile. "Go ahead Mr. Potter, hand it over, it may be
a dangerous magical artifact that is amplifying your delusions."
'Do not under any circumstances relinquish control of the box,'a soft female
voice whispered in Harry's ear and he turned over, to see a girl with red hair
and green eyes staring at him. At first, Harry thought it was Jean but she was
shorter.
She nodded towards him, eyed the box in his hand.
'It is the key out of here, you are being led to a world of delusion,'the girl
responded as she watched him.
'Who are you?'Harry thought to her.
'Someone who was sent here by your mother to keep an eye on you, but I never
revealed myself, always only watching from afar,'the girl responded as she
watched them.
Harry's head was spinning.
'It's time we meet but the other one, she's on her way, don't worry, you'll
understand,'she stated to him mentally.
"Trust me," she whispered.
"Harry, don't pay any attention to her, she's delusional," Hermione responded
as she eyed her.
"It is true, Miss Morse over there believes that she is a survivor of Mars, she
has suffered a traumatic episode of her own, when trying to make a Potion and
it exploding in her face," Dumbledore responded carefully.
"Who do you trust?" Hermione asked. "Your best friend or some stranger."
What was that annoying humming sound?
"So be a good boy Mr. Potter and don't relinquish the box."
"We only want to help you Harry," Hermione responded in a pleading voice.
The healers moved over to sedate the redhead girl beside him.
Harry wondered what happened, he felt his memories fading, strands being
snipped away, and things got less vivid.
"Go ahead Mr. Potter."
Harry knew what his next move was. The box clutched in his hand.
To Be Continued in "Days in the Dark Dimension Part Two."
***** Days in the Dark Dimension Part Two *****
Chapter Forty Nine: Days in the Dark Dimension Part Two.
Harry Potter knew many things and what he did know was that there was a
thumping that echoed in the back of his head, when he tried to shift his head
away from the scene around him. A part of him wondered if they had a point,
perhaps something happened in the Department of Mysteries. He had a very
stressful year after all and that could shift his mind into certain things,
delusions. A part of him always wanted to escape to a world where he did not
have to worry. It was funny, the Wizarding World was the type of world that he
thought that he could escape to when he was younger but with most of everything
that happened, he wished that he could escape from.
Friends, love, all delusions, he was back in a world that hated in feared him
more than anything else, with very few friends. Very few people that he could
trust, this was his worst nightmare come true and Harry closed his eyes when he
thought it, but he felt a soft hand on his arm.
"No, despite everything that they say, the world you left was very real, it was
the only reality," the red head haired girl stated in a whisper when she eyed
him. "The only true reality you've ever experienced. It was a place that you
could truly call home even though you never truly figured out what you could do
there, but soon you will find your place."
Harry turned around slightly when he saw her there. She offered him a
reassuring smile, as if to tell him anything that she could tell him.
"I don't know why you ended up here in all places, but perhaps they need a
leader that will guide them, a shining beacon beyond all else, someone that
they could appreciate," the girl responded when she pulled a face when she
thought about that other world. "That world, you might have a handful of people
who appreciate what happened but in the end you're nothing but a martyr, a
tool, someone to be used and thrown away when they have lost their ability to
see the truth."
Harry let that all sink in, he wondered who to believe and he heard Hermione
say something but he also heard the flickers of flame around him. The wizard
carefully turned around from one side or another.
"For all intents and purposes, that world ceased to exist the moment you
stepped through the veil," the redhead girl stated in a morose tone. Whilst
many deserved the wicked fates they did, less than a handful, did not. "Much
like our respective home worlds ceased due to a lack of understanding between
our races."
"How?" Harry asked her.
"Once you took the exit point out, it created a backwash, you traveled through
the Zone to get here, and nearly died," the girl responded when she kept her
eyes on Harry. "Everyone in that building died the moment that you stepped
through. The casualties were not pretty."
A part of Harry felt a bit sickened by that fact but he saw flashes of
memories, people dropping from the backwash. Hermione and the others might have
already been dead to begin with thanks to the Death Eaters, that's what Harry
hoped. He saw them and yet he saw something else.
The people who deserved to suffer were in torment and those who did not deserve
to suffer were at peace. The very few in that world that might have had a
future but given the idiots running the place, it was highly unlikely they
would have much of one. So in some strange way, they were liberated.
"It is not your fault, you could not have known," she responded when the green
eyes closed for a moment before they opened up. "Those who survived in that
world, reality warped, this magical community….ceased to be. You going through
the portal may have saved many of them from early deaths, even if they no
longer remember that world or have the gifts. You with the lynchpin, without
you, that magical world had no purpose. It's hard to explain really."
This was more than a lot to take in and Harry once again wondered and not for
the first time if he was losing his mind. There was a lot about how he got here
that did not make any sense. Yet, he had one burning question on his mind.
"What about Sirius?"
Hermione responded with a slight pained smile crossing her face. "Sirius is
fine Harry, he's going to be fine, you'll see, he's shaken up but he'll be
fine."
The redhead responded at the same time. "Sirius….well you saw the state of him,
but if there is even the smallest chance of him being alive, I'll help you do
what I can when I get here. But you must consider this possibility. Do you
truly want Sirius to wake up?"
She cut off Harry before he could respond.
"He's your godfather, I get that but three things went through that portal on
that night," she responded cryptically. "And just because that's his body, does
not mean that his soul is the one inside should he wake."
Hermione spoke loudly when she turned to Dumbledore and the healer. "Harry is
talking to air once again, Headmaster!"
"They can't see me anymore," she whispered now as she slowly faded away. "But I
can't…I can't stay for longer, but you need to escape this world, while you
still can."
Harry mouthed one word. "How?"
"You have the key, you've always had it, use it. And I'll be watching you, and
don't worry, she is coming."
She disappeared like she was never there at all and Harry sat, shell shocked,
the question of who is she, never answered.
"Mr. Potter, I thought you were well, but there is no doubt in my mind that you
are still very sick," the healer said when he clicked his tongue a little bit,
before he held a huge needle. "Don't worry though, this will make you all
better."
Harry's eyes widened when he found himself strapped to the bed but suddenly
when he wished that he was not strapped to the bed, his arms were free.
'They don't control this…I do….my mind is stronger than theirs,'Harry started
as he closed his eyes.
Harry jumped up and blasted the Healer with the needle and caused him to slam
into the wall.
"Harry, please!"
"Sorry, Hermione, but you're not real," Harry responded as he blew past her out
of the room.
"Don't let him escape!"
Harry ran; practically flying down the hallway as fast as his legs could carry
him, he panted heavily when he blinked. The energies in this room, well they
were off. The moment he sealed that portal, he opened his mind up for an
attack. But his mind was strong; he was not going to give into the illusion.
He saw another figure hovering in the dream scape. This was not his red head
friend, rather she was blonde, had blue eyes, and floated in mid air, dressed
with white fabric around her frame. A silver bracelet with an "S" etched on it
hung from her wrist. She smiled towards him, she was beautiful, like an angel.
"Soon," she whispered to him with a smile on her face, reaching forward to
caress his cheek. "No matter what, I'll always be with you and soon you'll
see."
She floated closer to him, and wrapped her arms around him. Their lips almost
touched but she slowly faded away. He was so close to touching this vision in
the dream scape and he had a feeling that he had some kind of deep connection
to her, like he met her before.
Their souls formed a connection, a strong connection not unlike Harry felt with
more than a handful of his girls but yet at the same time, it was different. He
could not place how, just that it was.
===============================================================================
"No matter what, I'm always with you."
That voice echoed in the back of Harry's mind when he sped up his motions, his
legs dragging behind him when his eyes closed and he tried to focus on it. The
healers were on his heels and he knew that running was not only an option but
the only option.
His mind was rattled by the attacks but he stopped with Hermione at the end of
the hallway.
"Harry, please, let them help you," Hermione stated in a pleading voice. "You
always listened to me, why…."
"That's just the point, I've always listened to the advice of my friend, but….I
don't think anything that happened or every happened in that world matters
anymore," Harry responded as he watched them. "It was a part of my life, a part
of my training, my trials, but sometimes we got to move on."
"Harry, what about us?" Hermione asked as she looked at him.
"Hermione, regardless of what she said, the last time I saw you in the
Department of Mysteries, you were in bad shape," Harry responded and Hermione
shouted back at him, a little violently.
"That wasn't real, that battle…."
"It was real and that's what happened, and you're not Hermione," Harry
responded when he grabbed her around the wrist and her face melted into a
flaming entity, with demonic eyes. It angered Harry that a bastardization of
his former best friend was used to trick him. "That's what I thought."
Harry whipped the bastardization of his best friend in the world that he left
behind into the wall. She smashed with a huge crack and the back of her head,
dropped down. She crumpled into dust and it did hurt to do that on principle
but Harry knew that this was not Hermione.
'The key, the key, the key,'Harry thought over in the back of his mind.
"Remove the box from his hand."
Then it clicked, these people would not be so adamant about getting the box
away from him unless it held some kind of significance and there was nothing
more significant as far as Harry was concerned then getting out of this world,
once and for all. He held the box in his hand and he saw the symbols glowing on
the box, when he put it up to his face.
There was problem; he really did not know how to work that box. It did not
exactly come with a user instruction manual that he could use and he turned the
box over in his hand, when he kept a nice eye on what was on the box.
Then it hit Harry, this faux world, he manipulated it once to free himself,
partially, he could manipulate it to his advantage. All he had to do was exert
a certain amount of will and he could have it, it was in the palm of his hand,
all he needed to do was exert it and assert the power in his hand.
A large flaming sword appeared in Harry's hand, before armor appeared around
his body. It was not the type of armor that inhibited movement, but rather the
type that protected himself and enhancement movement. In other words, it was
borderline impossible to create in the real world but since this was within the
theater of the mind, anything could be done and the wizard swung his sword.
He saw these healers for what they truly were, monsters that should be slayed,
astral representatives of the demons in his mind.
"And take some of that," Harry stated with fire burning in his eyes when he
jumped up and slashed the sword through the air, taking out his enemies with
fury and intensity. The young wizard expertly aimed the sword, swinging through
hordes of monsters.
"DESTROY HIM!"
That was a statement that never boded well but Harry kept his mind steady and
carefully aimed his sword with swings, knocking his enemies back. They went
down, one at a time, then two at a time, three at the time. The magical mage
found it funny that the more enemies there tended to be, the easier it tended
to be to take them down. It was one of those things that amused in to a certain
degree but he had to stay focused on the battle at hand.
Dumbledore stepped forward with a disappointed twinkle in his eye. "This
nonsense stops now I…"
Harry swung the flaming sword and decapitated the faux Dumbledore with an
expert swing. He hated to admit it, but that did feel oddly therapeutic.
However, the longer he stayed her, the more his body and mind would be
weakened, so it was now time to open up.
"Um, would it help if I ask you to open politely?" Harry asked in a half
joking, half serious matter but then suddenly, the box lit up in his hand.
The purple light filled the room around them and the box sprang open before
them, the symbols shifted and changed. There was something inside the box and
Harry tried to get a closer look at it. It was most certainly a crystal of some
sort inside there.
"Well done," a monotone voice stated from inside the box. "You have passed one
of your greatest trials."
The portal opened and there was a strangled scream but Harry paid that no mind,
all he knew was that he was on his way back out of the portal. The portal
sucked him on through and Portkeys weren't half bad now that he thought about
it. However, it sure beat staying in this dreary place and the wizard felt a
shuddering breath leave his body.
His body swirled before the light closed around him and it was back into the
real world. For better or for worse, he was out of that place and back to fight
Dormammu and Mordo. After defeating his attempts at possession in that world,
Harry felt two hundred times more optimistic about his shot at victory.
===============================================================================
Dormammu's eyes burned with the fire that made him a feared individual and
Mordo took half a step back, swallowing in fear. This was not going to plan,
and the eyes of his master flickered to him. The silence was an element that
made the anticipation far worst about what the dreaded one standing before him
would say. His eyes flickered with the greatest of danger and Mordo braced
himself for what was going to occur next.
"Great one I…."
"Not one word, Mordo, you have failed to defeat that human," Dormammu stated
when his eyes flared with danger but then he stopped and stared. "But he's not
that human, is he?"
"I'm afraid I don't understand, great one," Mordo stated with his eyes widening
in dismay.
"He is much more, is he not?" Dormammu asked as he watched Mordo with vicious
intentions in his eyes.
Mordo's eyes flickered when he stood back, what was this Harry Potter? There
were certain qualities within him that Mordo wondered why Strange would ever
choose him as his apprentice. Unless….unless he was far from human. That had to
be the answer; this Harry Potter was the furthest thing from being a human that
there ever was.
"I must have him!" Dormammu yelled but Harry's eyes snapped open, a smile
crossing his face.
"I guess I'm going to have to disappoint you as always," Harry answered, and
whilst he distracted his enemy by talking, he sent a bolt of powerful magical
energy. It should disable that fire head for a little bit.
Mordo muttered a strangled tongue under his breath but the spell missed Harry
when he dodged out of the way. Several more spells launched towards Harry but
he dodged them again and again and again, each spell flying over him. Some of
them looked lethal and one of the key lessons was that if magic appeared to be
lethal, it likely was. So it was a prudent idea not to get hit by any of the
attacks, at least that's what Harry assumed.
'Hmm, he's a bit reliant on magic I see,'Harry thought to himself whilst he
mentally calculated the body movements with a speed of a high processed
calculator. He slowed down the motions in his head. 'And he remains stationary;
yeah this is an attack that's easily exploited.'
Magic was not Harry's next movement that was only one of the many tools in his
arsenal as he reminded himself time and time again. Magic was a part of his
offense but it was not his entire bag.
In a swift motion, he propelled himself up into the air and swung around,
before both of his feet connected with the head of Mordo. Mordo was not
expecting a physical assault in a magical duel and he saw the amulet that Mordo
wore around his neck. The wizard smiled a little bit, he knew that it was
something he could exploit.
He propelled himself up, snapped the amulet from around his neck, and held it
into his hand, before clutching it in his hand. The wizard watched the amulet,
before he saw a portal open.
The Sorcerer Supreme was back.
"It appears that you have not won the day, Mordo!" Strange stated as he held
his hands up and used a binding spell to keep Mordo into place.
"No, I won't lose, I can't lose," Mordo gasped when he felt the ties of the
spell warp around him but somehow he pushed back out.
In spite himself, Harry took a moment to watch the battle between two powerful
magical users, spells flying around, although Strange was a bit more nimble on
his feet. Mordo was more of a rock that threw attacks while Strange sent
variety spells at his enemy and kept moving. The two of them did send some
extremely powerful spells back and forth at each other.
Yet, Dormammu edged closer towards the room and this gave Harry a moment to
step forward.
"You or Strange will not stop me from entering this world and having all," the
Devourer of Souls stated, when his eyes glowed with malice and he went towards
Harry but a shield appeared around the Boy-Who-Lived.
"Care to bet?" Harry responded as he ducked his head and rolled, before three
spells were fired off in succession. Two of them were to disrupt the energies
around the portal and the third struck the dreaded one.
It did not injure him but it made him mad, which was exactly what Harry wanted.
If he was made mad, then that meant that he would be made careless and this was
playing into Harry's hands. The mage weaved around the attacks when he barely
kept his eyes on Strange and Mordo around him.
There was a crack and a crunch, with Strange having bound Mordo.
"You have dug yourself in a whole that you won't be able to get out of now,
Mordo," Strange stated when his glowed with power. He twisted the bindings
around, crushing Mordo.
"It's not over yet," Mordo responded, but this would be a lame statement when
one considered that it was in fact over, at least for today.
Blasts of magical energy fired, when Harry blasted forward, before he enhanced
his fist with magical energy and he fired one huge rocket buster of a punch
into the face of Dormammu. A sonic boom echoed and he screamed.
"For a powerful creature, you have a glass jaw," Harry responded with a
taunting expression through his eyes.
"This isn't over," Dormammu growled as he tried to latch onto Harry but the
wizard pushed back. "What are you?"
"If you have to ask, you'll never know," Harry answered with a smile crossing
his face, when he shot a vicious spell that banished him quite painfully.
Would that destroy him?
Harry doubted so very much but he would have a hell of a time getting back that
much was for sure. The young wizard staggered a little bit, before his knee
buckled a little bit. A breath left his body and then the dark energies around
the house faded.
"Harry, is everything okay?" Kitty asked over the communication link. "We're
kind of outside the Sanctum and…."
"False alarm Kitty, everything's fine," Harry stated as he staggered back.
"I believe there is no more of a practical lesson that I can give you then the
events that happened today," Strange stated, speaking up for the first time
directly to Harry.
===============================================================================
Everything kept coming back that box that rested in Harry's hand, when he
turned it over in his hand a few times. That box had been a part of him for a
few weeks but once again, the magical mage could not shake the feeling that box
was part of him for much longer. It was one of those elements that he figured
that it offered more secrets.
And the blonde that he saw in the dream scape, she haunted his thoughts and
would not be going away any time soon. The redhead was also interesting, she
seemed that either came close to matching Jean or maybe even outstripped her by
a tiny bit.
"And now why won't you open?" Harry murmured to the box. He tried to blast it
with a magical spell a few times, several different unlocking charms and
blasting charms but all he accomplished was the box not opening itself at all.
"When the time is right, you must remain patient," the monotone responded
before it grew silent.
He could have sworn that these symbols on the box changed but if there was one
thing that annoyed Harry, was something was going to happen when the time was
right. The mystery blonde still haunted his thoughts and she was not going
anyway any time soon by the looks of these things. Harry smirked when he
thought about it.
Then there was a feeling of closure, providing what she said was true. Harry
thought about it, he gave up on ever returning to that world a long time ago.
Going through the veil caused a wave of magic that changed a lot. In fact,
magic was high level reality warping at its finest, so what if the world he
knew no longer existed?
What if indeed?
Harry was kind of glad because that eliminated any possibility of him
returning, where the here and the now. He was free from that dreary place.
And there was the hint about Sirius, that was among the most baffling of things
of them all. Harry did wonder, oh boy did he wonder. He hoped that he would get
some level of clarity when everything was all said and done. That box when it
opened in the real world, that would be the key to the answers. The key to
these weird dreams that he had, but the time ticked down.
"Well I don't think I intended this lesson to go that way, but I think we both
have to agree that it's been enlightening for the both of us."
Harry spun around and saw Strange standing before him, smile on his face when
he watched the magical mage before him, his apprentice.
"We' are rapidly reaching a certain point, a milestone in your training,"
Strange continued when he watched Harry. "Especially at the rate where you are
assimilating the lessons and I hate to admit this but it's true. The rate your
power is dangerously close to outstripping mine, it does seem a bit redundant
for me to teach you."
Harry thought that the Sorcerer Supreme was showing an awful lot of confidence
in him but that somehow did make sense. At the risk of sounding arrogant, he
improved by leaps and bounds by the moment that he got here. And he had a
crumbling foundation to build on to begin with; with the shoddy education that
world gave him.
"I'm sure he tried to tempt you with a promise of going back to the world that
you came from," Strange interjected.
"He did but if he thought that was going to tempt me, he doesn't know me at
all," Harry answered with a smile.
"If you had a choice…"
"No," Harry stated, he believed that more strongly now ever before, he would
never go back to that world, even if it still existed. Although his fears that
someone got destroyed in a vain attempt to reach him were slightly put at ease
by the possibility the dimensional tear warped his native dimensional into a
world where there was never a hidden magical community, never a Hogwarts, never
a Voldemort, Dumbledore, or any idiots at the Ministry of Magic, and thank
Merlin's soiled underpants for that last part.
Did some of the people he knows still exist? Perhaps, but they were technically
not the same people that he knew. And that made the break from that world
cleaner than ever before. Harry knew that in his heart that by taking the
hidden magical community out of that world, he somehow saved countless lives
over there and if he ever returned, those lives would once again be at forfeit.
Harry smiled when he thought about everything.
"So, we're getting off the subject, as for the future of your education,"
Strange stated, when he steered the conversation back in the direction that he
wished it to go into. "We have reached the point where independent study will
be necessary, as there is precious little more than I can teach you. Although,
if you wish to fine tune your skills or have questions or theories about the
nature of magic, my door is open as always."
Harry would keep that in mind but now he had to figure out what he wanted to do
with the rest of his lfie.
"That will conclude our meeting for now," Strange stated as he watched Harry
get up and leave.
Harry walked out the door, in some ways, going back there in a way allowed him
to get the closure that he needed.
He eyed the box when he turned it over his hand and a smile crossed his face.
There it was, the key turned over in his hand. What was going to happen next,
well he was going to find out before too long. A smile crossed his face when he
once again looked at the box.
The answers were at hand, if he could be bothered to figure them out. In due
time, everything would come unraveled for him and the answers of his heritage
would slowly pick up.
Something about that was said that resounded in Harry's ears.
'That world ceased to be, much like the worlds we came from.'
There was some times where Harry did wonder.
===============================================================================
Harry pushed himself back against the walls outside the Danger Room, they were
rapidly approaching the middle of August. For many people, going back to public
school was around the corner but for Harry, there was something else around the
corner. On September 1st, he would be about to step forward into that next
great adventure.
The past year he trained with the X-Men he learned much but he felt that this
was a necessary next step in his life.
And now it was time for him to sit down and have a talk with all of his girls
regarding the new step in their training. Although it would get a bit longer to
get anything official for the public eye set up, the fact of the matter was
that Harry was ready to leave.
"So are you really going to do this?" Laura asked as she looked through
appraising eyes at Harry.
Laura in particular had been trying to fit in to the X-Men although it been
hard. The codename X-23 was something that stuck with her, although she was
trying to come up with something different than that name. It was a name that
was a relic from her HYDRA days.
For some reason the name Talon stuck with her but she'd have to think it over.
She would most certainly follow Harry out the door, no matter whether or not
Logan pitched a bitch or not. She could not stand to be in this Institute for
much longer. Xavier seemed to have a stick up his ass, that was Laura's real
theory of why he was in the wheelchair .And Summers….well he had an extremely
punchable face.
"I think it really has to be done," Jean answered as she saw that Harry was not
one to be a part of a team unless he was the leader. And she also knew despite
the fact that Harry was the popular choice, Scott was Xavier's choice. She knew
why, but that was not something to get into now.
"He made his choice a long time ago," Rogue stated whilst she kept her eyes on
Harry. She was able to experiment a bit more with her new powers, although it
took a while for her to learn to control them. She wanted to hurt her enemies
and not her friends.
Harry took a moment to look at them, all of them. Even Wanda and Laura, who he
expected to follow him despite not being figured in the group, at least not
yet.
"Where I go is my choice, as is where you go is your choice," Harry stated
carefully when he watched him. "I'm not going to force anyone to follow me out
the door."
Kitty offered him a smile before grabbing his hand and squeezing it tightly.
"And that's the reason why many of us are going to so follow you out the door
regardless."
"We'd follow you anywhere and we stand by that," Rachel answered when she eyed
Harry.
Jean smiled before she thought about everything. She mulled it over in her
mind, in a month she'd be eighteen years old, and that meant that she would be
an adult. Given the strained relationship she had with her parents ever since
the mutant thing came to ahead, they did take little interest in their
daughter's life. Despite the fact that they put on a happy face and were proud
for her in public, there were other things that indicated differently.
"I do want to finish my final year at High School, and then figure out where I
want to go from there but really it just changes the place I go home to," Jean
responded when she turned her head around.
"Yeah, my parents would kind of kill me if I didn't go to school," Kitty
answered and there was laughter.
Laura and Wanda exchanged an expression, in some ways there was gaps in their
education but they could not see themselves doing the normal education thing
for very long. There was something about it that rang as very false to them;
perhaps they were not giving it an adequate chance.
"My parents told me that they would support my decision either way, but they
would like to meet you," Amara responded when she eyed Harry with a smile.
Harry smiled; he tried to show any nerves, even though they were about ready to
simmer to the surface in his body. "Is the fact that your parents want to meet
me a good thing or a bad thing?"
"Well when you meet then, you'll know," Amara responded, they were being a bit
secretive about the reasons why they wanted to meet Harry, although for some
reason, Amara got the fact that they were extremely interested in Harry once
she described them although the reason why eluded her for the moment. It was
something that she felt she should know but it slipped her mind.
Rachel was prompt with her answer. "Yeah, the reasons that you know, I don't
think that I'll be attending public school this fall again."
"Yeah, I suppose I should go back," Rogue answered with a shrug, although she
was fifty-fifty on the entire schooling thing.
Harry paused before he fixed a stern look on his face. "I don't want any of you
to neglect your educations on my account."
"Aren't you the one who done dropped out of high school?" Rogue asked him with
a challenging glint in her eyes.
Harry smirked. "Actually, no, I got my high school diploma and I've got my
college diploma. If you know the right people, they can pull the right
strings."
They took that to mean that Harry took advantage of the debt that Fury owed him
and got every single bit out of it that he could. The young wizard was one that
would not be denied something when it was owed to him. The Boy-Who-Lived would
have everything that he wanted.
"So, this is one of our last training sessions with you?"
Bobby stated this question, when he walked up with the rest of the new
recruits.
Tabby was the next one to state a certain point. "You know, we're going to get
stuck with Summers and all of your hard work will get flushed down the toilet."
"Tabby," Harry responded in a reproachful voice, but the last six months he had
been training the new mutants free of charge. This was so Xavier could not pull
any cards that Harry owed him, to keep him there. Not that Harry's guilt would
be such where he would buy into that but he knew that was a possibility.
"Well it's the truth," Tabby remarked with a smile on her face as the other new
mutants.
"Hey, he's just doing what he thinks is right," Sam stated when he watched
them.
Harry agreed, he was doing what he thought was right and there was going to
come a mind.
Seventeen tiny days, but there was something about the date of September First
that represented a flashpoint of something that was happening but what, what
was the question?
It was time to train, perhaps one of the last times he would ever step into
this school. Unless Xavier wished to pay him to come back as a guest instructor
but he would pop in a few times a week, train, visit, and pop back out. And it
would be done on his schedule. So far Xavier did not offer Harry that, which
was fine.
Perhaps Xavier thought that the harmony of his team would go a lot better
without Harry here.
"So, you're really getting out of here, aren't you?" Logan asked, giving Harry
an appraising look.
Harry smiled when he kept his eye on the new recruits. "Yeah, I'm really
getting out of here."
"Well, good working with you at any rate and I'm sure we'll join up again,"
Logan responded when he watched it. "Xavier won't know what he's allowing to
slip away until he's gone."
"You don't think what I'm doing is right, do you?" Harry asked.
There was a pause before Logan decided to answer.
"Kid, if I've learned one thing, there are a few right things, there is the
right thing for others and the right thing for you. It ain't the fairest thing
in the world but sometimes you got to do the right thing for you. Maybe you
leaving will give Summers the motivation that he's been lacking to step up and
live up to Xavier's belief in him."
Harry paused, Scott and him shared a few polite words lately, but it was the
kind of false politeness that politicians shared with each other. He could
sense the thoughts in Scott's head, there was a huge part of him that blamed
Harry for this. That was why his leadership skills would falter in the end,
when the heat got too hot, he had to run out of the kitchen.
"Well, I can say that this would be a loss," Ororo answered when she took a
moment to watch around Harry. "At the very least, I would hope that you would
come back to visit."
Harry smiled a brief smile. "Well given my abilities that is not without of the
realm of possibility. And it's not like I'm dropping off the face of the
planet."
"So did you get your base set up?" Ororo asked, she did hope that whatever
Harry was calling his team, they could find some kind of common ground and work
together. The reasons why he left, she could see, and she did inform Charles
that this day was inevitable if he started to take Harry for granted. Of
course, Charles could be rather stubborn but then again so could Harry. And it
was obvious what would happen when two forces like that collided.
And that day did come, sooner than any of them could have expected. The
training was getting stronger and there would be some new recruits coming in a
few days.
"Yes, I've got it mostly set up, just a few more minor things to tweak," Harry
answered when he stood and thought about it. "I want to make sure the security
doesn't have any holes in it, I have people testing it the best I can."
He had to get the premises set to be perfect and dozens of other things to do
before he even thought about recruitment. Even with magic and the mass amount
of resources he acquired, the process was extremely laborious. He had Felicia
test his security a few times with her creativity and they pinpointed a few
things that would need to be fixed. And there were a couple more things that he
had yet to find.
"Yeah, best of luck with that one," Logan responded when he thought of all of
the times that the Mansion Security was breached. It seemed like every hole
they closed, two more had been opened. Harry gently offered Xavier the
opportunity to use magic to close the security holes or at the very least limit
the possibility of intrusion. Xavier declined the offer, which Logan wondered
about.
Yet, he was leaving, the clock ticked down bit by bit. D-Day approached rather
quickly.
===============================================================================
Laura Kinney was ruled by animalistic instincts despite the fact that she was
mostly human. The dark haired girl spun around and closed her eyes before she
caught his scent. It bedeviled her for as long as she got here.
"You should totally go for it," Kitty responded with a smile as she watched
Laura.
"Just waiting for the right time," Laura responded as she calculated her move.
"No better time than now," Kitty answered when she watched Laura edge her way
forward with a smile on her face, she did wonder what she was about to unleash
but she supposed that she would find out in a matter of moments.
Harry moved his way towards his bedroom and he heard Laura come from behind
him.
"Hey Laura…."
Laura shoved her mouth onto Harry's, driven wild by the desire that she had
while around him before she pushed him into the room. He was the Alpha Male, no
question about it, and she wanted him.
Harry was surprised at this attack but given her nature and his nature to
attract girls like moth to a flame, he should have been a bit more prepared for
this. Just like he should have been a bit more prepared to lose his shirt by
her claws ripping through it and she shoved him back on the bed, before she
straddled him a little bit. Laura wrapped her legs around Harry and pushed
herself down against his crotch.
The two kissed with animalistic desire, when Harry pulled back her top and the
games began.
Smut/Lemon Begins.
Laura lost herself to the pleasure of Harry's hands on her breasts, squeezing
them in his hands. His hands were talented, they caused her loins to burn with
a pleasure she never experienced before. The dark haired girl wanted more and
Harry kissed down on her mouth, before he moved his hands down her back, and
his mouth to her neck.
Laura tore off her own pants and then her panties, revealing her oddly smooth
snatch, with a strip of dark hair and pussy lips dripping from desire.
"I need your cock in me, now," Laura growled lustfully as she wrapped her arms
and legs around him, knowing that he was built to take the roughness.
Harry grabbed her arms, stopping her, before he smiled. "Good things come to
those who wait."
"I don't plan on waiting long for this," Laura stated but her hands were held
into place.
Harry cupped her pussy which caused her moans to get rather loud and she bucked
her hips forward, savoring any touch he gave her. Laura breathed heavily when
his hand worked over her tender folds, rubbing against her hips. She ground her
hips into him, feeling the pleasure of his fingers dipping into her and
touching her. The young wizard felt everything on her.
Laura sunk herself down onto his fingers but she wanted more and Harry flipped
her over, where she was down on the bed, her hips raised in the air. While she
was on in her hands and knees, Harry grabbed her hips before he plunged his
cock inside her.
The black haired girl screamed when she felt his cock spear in and out of her
at a rapid motion, when Harry slammed his cock in and out of her, sliding it
between her dripping lips when he sped up the motions. His balls slapped
against her thighs when he continued to pick up the pace, going into her,
deeper. He rocked himself back and forth, he could hardly believe that he was
balls deep into this pussy and he rocked back, before plunging into her once
again. Harry picked up the pace, plunging his meat in between her legs.
"More, harder, more," Laura groaned as she felt his cock pass in between her
legs and touch the inside of her. He picked up the momentum and drove himself
further into her waiting pussy.
She tightened around him, with the pure pleasure rocking through their bodies.
Harry felt it rub against her.
"So tight, the latest pussy that belongs to me," Harry groaned as he grabbed
her breasts, cupping them in his hands, and boldly squeezing them.
"Yes, pound me," Laura demanded when his cock speared in and out of her
dripping center. She could hardly believe she ever lived a day without this
cock going in and out of her.
His balls slapped against her thighs, beating against the side of her flesh and
he rocked back and forth.
Harry pulled out and she threw herself around him, before kissing him,
violating his mouth with her tongue. The magical user returned fire, grabbing
her pussy in his hands, before she rose herself up onto his lap and sank down
onto him, squeezing his cock with her supreme tightens.
"Fuck yeah, live for this," Laura grunted as she pushed herself up, burying his
cock into her pussy.
She was the best in the world at what she did and what she did was getting
fucked by Harry Potter.
"Keep riding, keep fucking me, oh yeah," Harry breathed heavily as he closed
his eyes and felt her pussy tighten around him like a vice grip.
Laura breathed heavily, his cock slid her and out of her, wrapped around her
slick pussy lips, and Harry rocked back into her. The young wizard picked up a
steady pace in her, her walls squeezing him hard and his balls tightened when
he continued to pick up the pace. Harry pushed himself and slammed himself down
into her once again.
"Oh push me, squeeze me," Harry groaned when his cock pushed into her swollen
and tender center, when he beaten into it. Given her healing abilities, she
would always be virgin tight and that was something that Harry enjoyed to
experience.
Laura sank her hips down onto his cock, when she pushed herself and speared
herself back down onto his throbbing prick. She rocked herself back and her
hips connected with his cock, squeezing his member when she rocked up. Her hips
rose up and she sank down, with Harry sucking her breasts.
"Fuck, keep that up," Laura breathed when she growled, feeling the orgasm wash
through his body but she must have this seed inside her body. She burned with
desire, his thick cock burying into her pussy, she must have more, and she
would have more, her pussy wrapped around him. She pumped his member with her
hips, milking him for all he was worth.
Harry sucked her breasts and ran around, grabbing around her ass when she
rocked back onto him. His thick cock speared into her center, pulsing inside
her. Laura breathed with her chest going up and down, when Harry squeezed her
breasts lustfully and she gyrated down onto his cock, spearing his cock into
her center.
"Oh about to cum, keep riding me baby," Harry grunted as he pushed herself out.
"Shoot it in me, shoot all of it, I need it all!" Laura begged herself when he
speared himself up into her center and Harry rocked into her center, her pussy
wrapped around his cock, squeezing around him, when she rocked back and forth.
Laura wanted this god's cum swimming around her, she wanted everything that he
had and she would have it. Her pussy clenched around him, when she pushed
herself up and rocked down onto the base of his cock, burying it inside her
tight cunt. Harry closed his eyes and he thrust himself back up, before he sent
the load in her.
In the most pleasurable way, Harry blew his load deep into Laura and he rocked
his hips up, blowing the seed into her center. Spurt after spurt of the thick
cum drenched Laura's insides and he rocked up onto her inside.
Laura slid off and captured his cock into her mouth before he finished
completely spurting. She dug her fingers into her pussy, working on him.
"Damn it Laura, feels fucking great!" Harry grunted as he grabbed her face and
she looked at him, his cock in her mouth.
She wanted more of him and the sooner that she got him harder, the quicker that
she would have him inside her. Laura blew him, her lips wrapped around the base
of his cock, when she speared his cock down her throat. The black haired girl
had her mouth full of cock and it tasted good, mostly because of who the cock
was attached to.
Laura sunk herself down onto Harry, facing away from him and she lifted herself
up, before the girl sunk down onto the thick piece of meat that was between
Harry's legs.
"Fuck me," Harry groaned when she rode him and he rested back on the bed to
enjoy the ride.
Laura rocked back, eyes closed and lip bitten down, when she gyrated a pair of
hips down onto his cock. His cock was between her tight walls and she used her
muscles, to squeeze him, rocking down onto his cock when it speared into her
body.
"Keep working that, oh baby work my cock," Harry breathed as he pushed his cock
up between her legs.
Laura pushed herself up and sank herself back down onto his cock, when the dark
haired girl rocked down onto him. He was buried balls deep into her pussy and
that meant that her pleasure increased one hundred percent. The pleasure
increased when Harry grabbed her hair and she encouraged that, biting down on
her lip with a growl, when she grinded her pussy onto his cock, drilling it
onto the base of him. She rocked herself up and sank herself back down onto the
base of his cock.
She rocked herself back and forth onto his cock, working him one hundred
percent of the way, with Harry sending himself deeper and deeper into the
lovely pussy that drove down onto him, when the mutant drove herself down. Her
claws popped but Harry put his hands on her and her breasts, rubbing circles
around them.
Laura lost herself to the pleasures of his cock buried into her pussy, one hand
on her ass, and one hand working her breasts. She bit down on her and an
explosion of cum splashed down onto his cock, lubricating him. The mutant sank
onto the cock buried deep into her, rocking back and forth, gyrating around the
base of his cock.
"Oh, ah, fuck, yes," Laura breathed as she felt herself being rocked with
another huge orgasm and she rocked back.
The two continued their activities for a while, with Laura riding Harry's cock
and him rolling his hands around her body. The young mutant felt the pleasure
when she breathed in and out heavily, feeling the hands around her. Harry
smiled when he felt his balls tighten and he knew the explosion was coming. A
few more thrusts worked into her center and Harry pushed up against her, before
his cock tightened.
The explosion of cum worked into her and Harry thrust up, spurting his load
into her.
Another round was to come, with many more throughout the night.
Smut/Lemon Ends.
===============================================================================
Harry edged his way towards the front door the next morning, where Kurt saw
him.
"Someone left a package for you," Kurt responded when he kept his eyes on
Harry. "Who do you think it is?"
Harry walked forward but he stopped. He could have sworn that he saw past the
paper when he edged his way there but it was a flash. He shrugged before
scanning the package to see if there was any traps or enchantments on it.
He pulled a box with a chess piece out. It was the White Queen and a note that
said that it was for his eyes only.
Harry was curious and also suspicious.
He would find out what the significance was all too soon.
===============================================================================
Mystique wondered about the bargain she made with Sinister all of those months
back, she was no closer to achieving her goals than she was all of those months
ago when she left the Asteroid.
"Hello, Raven."
There was a swift voice and Mystique spun around to see Irene standing there.
"I bring forth a message, another vision," Irene responded to Mystique.
Mystique was intrigued.
"Sinister will unleash the Apocalypse but it will only be the beginning," Irene
stated in a cryptic voice and she did not give her old friend a chance to
respond. "Apocalypse comes and opens the doors for many things. Doors are
opened for a conqueror and a creature that is even more unstoppable than the
Juggernaut. But they pale in comparison to the dark lord, the one of the fire
planet, the one that will be set free when Apocalypse meets his end."
"What if Apocalypse does not meet his end?" Mystique asked.
Irene was silent before she spoke. "Then you need not worry for no one will be
here to be engulfed by the darkness."
Cryptic, very cryptic.
Mystique had other problems to worry about, she heard rumors that Magneto was
recruiting. Sinister demanded that she remained in the shadows but the thought
that she might have revenge was too great of an opportunity to pass up.
"But merely visions can be wrong," Irene added in a delicate voice. "Although
this one has a stronger pull than the ones I have had previously."
True or not, it made Mystique think about the consequences of what Sinister's
plans were going to cause.
To Be Continued in the Next Chapter, Part One of the Final Three Part Story Arc
in Beyond the Veil Book One.
***** Grand Finale Part One: Shifts of Time *****
Chapter Fifty: The Grand Finale Part One: Shift of Time.
Logan dropped down from the sewer grate in the alleyway, he swore that he could
have heard something, and sensed something familiar. Not only was the something
that he sensed familiar but it was unfriendly. At least that's what the thought
that was going through his head was when he edged through the sewers, with the
most violent intents in mind. He cracked his knuckles before moving forward and
gritted his teeth with a growl.
He recognized this individual almost immediately and his recognition did not
improve his mood. Eyes widened, teeth snarled, before Logan let out a growling.
"You."
"Yes, me," Sabretooth stated when he cracked his knuckles, staring down his
hated enemy through gritted teeth. "Surprised to see me, runt."
"Not really, I was wondering when you'd crawl underneath your rock," Logan
responded whilst he eyed the individual he last saw on Asteroid M. A part of
him hoped that Sabretooth perished, but he knew better. There was many times
where he thought that Sabretooth was dead, but he survived the battle. It was
one thing that was true for as long as they knew each other.
"Time to end this," Sabretooth growled as he rushed forward but Logan dodged
the attack, before he kicked Sabretooth in the back.
"Getting a bit slow, aren't you, Creed?" Logan asked before he tripped up
Sabretooth and slammed him into the wall.
Suddenly, a bright light popped up and blinded Logan, causing him to hunch
forward, before going down onto the ground. He dropped to one knee, feeling the
ringing course through his ears to the point where his eardrums came close to
shattering.
"Keep your hands up where I can see them, mutie."
Logan felt himself shocked from behind, he never felt anything like this and he
faded to black.
The next thing he knew, he was on the ground in a government lab, never a good
sign.
"Good, you're awake."
Logan peered up to see a man with dark hair and a mustache, dressed in a SHIELD
uniform, staring down at him. "Who the hell are you, bub?"
The man paused before he stared down Logan, not saying anything for a moment
and then he cracked his knuckles, staring down at the feral mutant. There was a
long pause before the question was answered. "My name is Bolivar Trask, I've
been hired to commission a project to take down you mutants before you become a
threat to humanity."
Logan's eyes closed when he felt a ringing sensation in the back of his head,
and felt weaker than ever before. No matter how much he tried to struggle, he
could not get up. So, there was one question that he needed to ask and the
mutant stared down Trask with furious intentions, his claws popping out
threateningly. "Does Fury know about this?"
Trask snorted before he focused on Logan. "Fury, he shut the project down,
because he's gone soft. But I and a small group of SHIELD agents have started
it back up. If Fury doesn't want to take the necessary steps to take down
mutants than I will. Behold the salvation of mutant kind, the Sentinel."
Logan pushed his head up, trying to figure out what to do against this creation
of Trask, but he was out of it. There was a giant black robotic with glowing
eyes that stepped in.
"It evolves to take down the mutants in one fell swoop," Trask commented as he
cracked his knuckles, before staring down at Logan. "So do you think you're
hard enough to take it down?"
Logan did not respond with anything other than a growl, when he looked up at
the robotic enemy that stalked him. He was the best in the world at what he did
and what he was going to do was take down this thing down. His knees shook a
little bit but he stayed the course, pushing himself forward. Claws popped and
claws rammed into the knee cap, denting it.
"Allow him to go wild, because he will allow our creations to adapt," Trask
stated to the man who stood in the shadows and nodded.
"Mutant kind won't know what hit them," a crisp voice stated from the shadows.
"And your funding for this project is invaluable, Mr. Osborn," Trask concluded;
he saw the individual in the shadows offer a curt nod before Logan dove at the
enemy
"This Wolverine is a great test subject but the one known as Arcane would have
been better," Osborn responded when he stepped forward, his face scarred and
his eyes bloodshot, not to mention most of his hair was gone. He could no
longer show himself in public because of what Arcane, Spider-Man, and Doctor
Octopus did to him. It was all their fault and they would all pay in due time,
along with the X-Men. "But unfortunately, we could not track him down with
sufficient time."
He blamed Arcane for what happened to him above all others. Osborn cracked his
knuckles, before tapping his hands on the ground and drumming his fingers
carefully when he kept monitoring the one known as Wolverine when the Sentinel
learned from his movements.
===============================================================================
Panicked footsteps increased when a pink haired girl rushed down an alleyway,
running as fast as her feet could carry her. This day started as a nice day for
her, in fact a fun day, but it turned rather wrong. The pink haired girl moved
forward further and further, away from the three goons with green jackets with
the letters "FOH" on them. Her breath went in and out as she closed her eyes.
"Get back here you filthy little mutie!"
She did not even know what they were talking about and the fifteen year old
picked up the pace, butterflies flapping in her stomach, when she moved
forward. The girl found the back of the alleyway and closed her eyes. The wings
on her back flipped and dust surrounded her.
"Please don't, I didn't do anything to hurt anyone," she begged, her hands
twitching a little bit and quite frankly she was scared out of her mind.
"The thing is, you steal the air from humans, so you're doing plenty of harm,"
one of the members of the Friends of Humanity stated when he slammed the pipe
on the side of his palm. "Now come quiet girl and we might go easy on you,
maybe."
The girl trembled, biting down on her lip, this had been the scariest situation
she had ever been in her young life. There was nothing that periled this
situation. She was on a holiday with her friends and now this happened. Friends
that backed off in fear from her when they saw what this girl what she could
do, it was funny how fickle friendship could be in the case of the unknown.
"Time to smash this little pixie."
"Sorry boys, I'm going to have to put a veto on that plan."
Arcane dropped down, surrounded by shadows, his face obscured.
"It's him!" one of the goons responded before he swung the pipe at Arcane but
he dodged the attack at super speed, before levitating the pipe from his hand.
"So you like to smack young girls in the face, do you?" Arcane asked, before he
levitated the pipe over his head and smacked them in the face with the swinging
pipe. There was a loud crack and a louder smash, when the pipe propelled into
the back of the head of the Friends of Humanity goons, cracking their skulls.
"Get him!"
"You know, I did give you a chance to run," Arcane responded in a bored voice
when he dodged their attacks, they were nothing. "Because let's face it it's
not like any of you have a chance."
The Friends of Humanity goons got knocked down and he levitated a fence into
the air, before wrapping it around them. They screamed in agony when their
bones crushed and they dropped to the ground.
"For the record, bigotry should not be tolerated," Arcane responded firmly as
he turned around to the girl in the alleyway. "Are you alright? Do you need any
help?"
"Who are you?" the girl asked, hints of a Welsh accent popping in her voice.
"A friend," Arcane responded with a smile across his face. "But are you okay?"
The girl kept her eyes on him for a minute, transfixed. "F-fine thanks, you….I
don't know what their problem was."
"Their problem was that they can't handle anyone being different," Harry
responded as he threw his head back with a slight sigh. "At least you didn't
get your head bashed in."
"Thanks to you," the girl responded with a bright smile when she watched Harry,
before a slight blush appeared on her cheeks as she saw his face. "My name's
Megan….Megan Gywnn and you are…."
"A friend," Harry repeated as he reached forward and extended his hand. With a
tentative grab, she allowed him to help her up. "I'd tell you more but I'm
trying to keep this entire secret identity thing under wraps."
"Okay, but….thanks really, I mean that," Megan responded as she watched him
carefully, before a bright smile popped over her face. "What you did out there,
it was amazing, you're a true hero. You should….do that more often, step out of
the shadows."
Harry considered it, believe him, he considered it but he was not completely
sure about taking that final plunge. Still he wondered if Arcane might be able
do some more good.
Or maybe he could still stand in the shadows as Arcane, prowling in the nights
and avenging those who harmed mutants, and had a more public identity in the
light. Although what that would be, Harry had no idea. Still he gave that some
thought.
He moved forward, before Harry flipped the box over in his hand and eyed it
carefully.
There was an "S" carved on the box, within a shield and Harry paused, that
never happened before.
"The day is arriving," the box whispered in a cryptic tone as Harry held it in
his hand. "Soon your grander purpose will be fulfilled."
"Okay, kind of creepy," Harry responded and Megan eyed him curiously.
"What's kind of creepy?" she asked him, a smile crossing her face.
Harry realized how insane he might look if he talked to a box and it did not
talk back to him. It was weirdness personified; especially when he was the only
one that heard the box. The young wizard carefully turned over the box in his
hand, trying to figure out what made it tick but so far nothing. It opened once
in the dream world and never again.
"It's nothing, just had a long day, let's make sure there aren't any more of
those guys around," Harry responded and Megan nodded, that was understandable,
but she waited, tapping her foot on the ground when she did.
The coast was clear and Harry made sure she was back to a safe place, before he
had to head out for the next part of his day.
===============================================================================
The hidden nation of Nova-Roma was one that special permission was needed to
visit, although Amara was able to get that permission for her and her boyfriend
to visit, along with a few of their friends. Kitty and Gwen were the two that
tagged along with the trip. The quartet walked forward, with Gwen turning
around to Amara.
"So is there anything that we should know about this place, so we don't offend
anyone?" Gwen asked Amara in a serious tone of voice.
Amara racked her brain. "For the most part our people are rather
understanding."
"Even about the collective thing," Kitty answered as she smiled, she always
conveniently forgot to bring it up to her parents when talking about Harry,
imagine that.
"Especially about the collective thing, my father has a few women other than my
mother," Amara answered, that was why she was so intrigued about Harry and how
open minded he was about these things. Then again given the culture he came
from, there were a lot of odd things around them that seemed perfectly normal.
Although Harry mentioned that ninety five percent of the people where he came
from seemed to be on the lower end of the intelligence pool.
"So in other words, he would be pretty hypocritical if he lectured you about
what you're doing," Gwen answered and Amara nodded with a smile crossing her
face. "Pretty much yeah."
The quartet walked forward, waiting for the other shoe to drop, and for
something to happen. The group continued to move forward, waiting for something
to happen and sure enough, something did.
All of the villages saw Harry walking down the street with his girls, and they
eyed him, muttering, before they dropped to their knees and bowed before him.
"Great one, you have returned," one of the woman stated, her nose literally
pressed to the ground as she bowed.
"It's such an honor," another woman responded and several of the men muttered.
Amara looked sheepish and Harry slowly turned towards her, completely
dumbstruck by what happened. His eyes narrowed a little bit, arms crossed
around his chest, and he saw their words of praise and dare he say it worship
him.
"He has fallen from the heavens and gifted us with great tidings," a man said,
and Kitty and Gwen offered an expression of surprise and both shrugged, even
though both girls were trying to hide the snickering that they were doing at
the wide eyed look Harry gave. The young wizard spun around and eyed both of
the girls before he offered one word curtly and firmly to Amara.
"Explain."
Amara flushed before she turned around and cleared her throat.
"This way, great one," Amara stated as barely hid both her amusement along with
her embarrassment.
"C'mon Amara, not you too," Harry stated but he had to admit it, a small part
of him, a very small part of him, felt oddly satisfied with being worshipped by
an entire nation.
Gwen smiled, she could not resist speaking now. "Oh suck it up and take it like
a man, great one."
"Yeah, great one, what's the worst that could happen, great one?" Kitty asked
but Harry gave her a glare which caused the brunette mutant to back off. The
fun was over.
Amara opened up the doors of a temple and walked forward. The dust was siphoned
away from Harry's magic and he stepped forward, to look up at the statue,
inclining his head upwards to see it. There it stood, large and proud, making a
heroic pose that Harry doubted that he would ever do in his life.
"He has come from the heavens to bless us and the entire world, one day he
shall return and lead us to a glorious new age, where he will shape the world
and become a true man of tomorrow," Gwen read before she turned around to face
Harry and get his reaction.
"Good thing Selene didn't catch wind of you being here," Amara murmured under
her breath.
"Selene," Harry responded, his eyebrow raising.
"Long story, tell you some other time," Amara responded but Kitty eyed the
statue, seeing the weird shield on the shirt uniform.
"I wonder what the "S" stands for?"
"Sex god?" Gwen asked with an off handed shrug.
"Apparently he will also be long lived, living for years and years beyond the
average human or even….Harry, did you know about this?" Kitty asked as she
rooted on the spot, her mouth open.
"Now, Kitty, that's a myth," Harry responded as she eyed the statue, and looked
at Harry. "But I did tell you my type is long lived."
"The stop aging at twenty five or so long lived, you didn't mention anything
about that," Kitty responded, it was something that was hard to swallow when
you realized that your boyfriend was going to stop aging and remain forever
young when you were going to grow old.
Then again there was sometimes where Kitty wondered if she would even live to
see her twentieth birthday, given the hectic nature of the X-Men. There was
always a risk that despite being her very best, there was going to a chance
that her very best was not going to be good enough.
So in reality, the growing old thing when Harry didn't might not be a problem.
She was going to make the most of every moment that she had.
"So an entire race of people worship me," Harry responded, trying to keep his
voice calm and neutral, even if this kind of felt weird.
Gwen could not resist chiming in with her two cents. "Well look at this way
Harry, this could either be good or bad."
"How so?" Amara asked curiously and Gwen smiled.
"Well Harry is either worshipped and he brings them to the promised land," Gwen
responded before she added as an afterthought. "Or there is some kind of
ancient prophecy where Harry must be sacrificed to appease some evil entity."
Amara looked scandalized, her eyes widened at the thought. "Gwen, my people
would never do that!"
"Yeah and that's a really charming thought," Kitty answered in a dry tone of
voice but she would be lying if she did not entertain the thought a little bit
herself and became a bit worried at it. Harry looked up, before the exited the
temple.
The same "S" symbol that appeared on the box appeared on the statue, the same
symbol that appeared on the bracelet of that mysterious blonde, there were too
many things that were lining up and happening. Harry, Amara, Kitty, and Rogue
stepped forward, before moving forward to the royal temple.
"My parents are through that door," Amara responded when she bit down on her
lip, hoping that her parents did not make fools out of themselves in front of
Harry. For two reasons, one they would be making fools out of themselves to a
god reincarnated in human flesh. Along with the fact that they would embarrass
her in front of her boyfriend, which would be even worse.
Harry moved forward to pay his respects to Amara's parents, but said parents
sank to their knees before the wizard.
'Well I should have seen this coming,'Harry thought to himself in a dry manner,
before he looked up at them, waiting for them to speak.
The king and queen of Nova-Roma got to their feet and eyed Harry respectively.
"We hope we do not offend you by rising prematurely, great one," the queen
stated when she eyed him. If she was not happily married, she would be envious
of her daughter for netting him. Even she had to share him with others.
"No, no offense at all," Harry responded when he eyed them. "I saw the
temple…."
"We hope it was up to your satisfaction," the king responded as he eyed Harry
before he clapped a hand to his mouth, which caused Amara to get a small amount
of embarrassment from the way her father was conducting himself. "I do hope
that I have not offended you for speaking out of turn."
"Just don't do it again," Gwen answered as she eyed the royals with a smile
crossing her face.
"The legend of the statue was not clear, I was hoping that you could fill me in
a bit more on it, so I can correct any potential inaccuracies of course," Harry
responded, with a smile matching Gwen's face. "Myself and my royal oracle here
would like to make sure everything is on the level."
Gwen smiled; apparently she had been promoted from girlfriend to royal oracle.
Hopefully the perks remained unchanged.
The queen pretty much tripped over her words to speak this next bit to Harry.
"Of course, great one it would be an honor, a thousand years ago, upon the
founding of our civilization, there was a prophet that arrived here and helped
found this island nation of Nova-Roma."
The queen took a moment to collect her thoughts before she continued.
"This traveler came from extremely far away and also set up shop with his main
lover, the one known as Selene," the queen answered before she looked nervous
at speaking her name. "Selene has moved on to other pursuits but her influence
was felt and the traveler's departure caused her to become twisted into what
she is today."
Harry knew that he would find out more about it.
"We heard about the circumstances of your arrival and it fit the parameters of
the prophecy," the queen added as she watched the group. "There is another that
will be arriving here, for you two are the last of your kind."
The scroll was handed over to Harry and he saw her on the scroll, the same
blonde that visited him during his adventure in the dark dimension. There was
also the Phoenix depicted on the scroll. The queen's hand was covering a third
figure, a cat that was standing in a shadow that was also determined to be
great importance by the one that drew the scroll, so it was unseen by the
group.
Kitty frowned, wondering where she fit into everything. She guessed she would
have to ride this one out although the recent news that Harry would not age
past a certain point that was a bitter pill to swallow. The fact that she felt
so teenager compared to what Harry was doing and the greater purpose that he
had, that made her determined to figure out a way to step up her game, even if
it killed her.
She needed an entirely new image beyond Shadowcat of the X-Men, beyond the
teenage girl known as Kitty Pryde, to get her abilities to that next level. The
pieces formed in her head.
"She's beautiful," Gwen whispered when she saw the blonde. "Like an angel."
Harry smiled, that she was, but naturally all his girls were, so why would this
one be any different?
"Of course, most of this is guess work, we could be wrong but we are confident
on one thing," the king added, speaking up for the first time in a while. "You
were sent here for a reason and the fact our daughter has met our star god,
where there is only one thing that we must do."
The king pulled out an envelope and handed it to Harry. He raised a hand. "I
could not ask you to sign this now, but I will ask you to give it the full
consideration and weigh open the options in our mind. Given all that you have
done for this nation, my daughter is my greatest treasure and she adores you,
so this is an agreement where there is no one that loses."
"Father, I can't believe you….." Amara started but a stern glare from both her
parents caused her to fall back into line.
"What is it?" Kitty asked as she looked at her fellow collective mate, Amara
looked agitated that her father would embarrass her in front of her boyfriend
and her sister collective members.
"Look it over and I'm open to negotiations, there are several other females on
this island that would be willing to serve you as well," the king responded as
Harry read it. "Talk it over with the other members of your collective."
Harry mulled over the documents he had been given, he would have to arrange a
meeting with Jen and look these over, to know exactly what he was getting
himself into, before he even thought about signing them.
That would have to wait until later, as they spent the rest of the day on the
island, although having people drop to their knees and worship him was a bit
tiring after a while.
===============================================================================
The work of a young wizard was never over, at least that's Harry thought when
he arrived for his meeting with the mysterious white queen. She was not the
type of woman that he thought was to be kept waiting, at least that's the
assumption he had. The Boy-Who-Lived walked forward, and had backup cloaked,
but he hoped that he would never need it. The wizard stood up straight before
he stepped forward.
The woman in question was dressed in a white jacket, a white blouse, and pants
that fit her like a second layer of skin. Her blue eyes burned brightly towards
him, before her hair hung over her face and she watched him.
"Mr. Potter, I presume," she stated in a calm and crisp voice, her expression
never wavering from that point. She kept a close watch on him, waiting to see
what happened next, how he would react.
"You presumed correctly," Harry responded, not keeping his gaze off of her for
even a moment. "And you would be…."
"Frost, Miss Emma Frost," the woman responded when she sat down. She was about
twenty three, twenty four years of age, and had the type of beauty that was
hard to miss. Yet, Harry knew that dealing with someone like that would mean
that there was a game at foot. "You've caught the attention of a few people,
Harry."
"That's part of my charm," Harry responded when he watched the woman, who
folded her arms together.
"Quite," Emma answered when she watched Harry, before she responded with one
statement. "I feel that your talents are being wasted with an outfit like
Xavier and his X-Men and you are not being properly compensated as such."
Harry said nothing but rather he took the coffee and the biscuits that had been
provided and performed a few simple charms to make sure that everything was on
the level. Not that he wanted to distrust anyone but Harry knew better by now
to blindly trust anyone. A smile crossed his face when he watched the woman
before her who carefully watched him for a response.
Being the gentleman Harry was, he did not want to keep a lady hanging and he
watched the blonde before him.
"Well I'm keeping all of my options open," Harry responded when he watched her
before a knowing smile crossed his face. "And one might say your talents are
wasted by being the arm candy of someone like Shaw."
Emma raised an eyebrow but said nothing.
"I trust that's the nature of your relationship, a beard of sorts to make him
look impressive, by having a beautiful young woman much younger than him,"
Harry responded when Emma said nothing, but offered a stoic nod.
The truth was Emma could count on one hand the number of times that she had
sexual relations with another man and still have fingers left over. Shaw was
not going to be one of those men, for one he was unimpressive from what she
heard and also deluded towards his true sexual orientation.
Her telepathy skills made men think that she was having sex with them but in
reality she sat in a corner, doing a crossword puzzle or reading a book, until
they passed out, likely breaking their pelvis in the process. Then she took any
incriminating information of them and sent it to the Hellfire Club.
"So, it's almost like you're trying to recruit me," Emma answered when she
fired back, watching him carefully.
"What are you trying to imply, Miss Frost?" Harry asked, offering an innocent
smile that she was not fooled by, not even for a second. The young wizard
folded his arms and now it was her turn in the mental game of chess they
played.
"I'm not trying to imply anything," Emma answered in a careful voice when the
blonde closed her eyes and watched her would be prey, even if she slowly got
the impression that she was the one being hunted.
The mental chess game continued and Harry knew that he had to be back in a
little bit for his going away party and speech. He wondered if there was going
to be any last minute attempts to convince him to stay, but all Harry had to do
was wait and see.
They would meet again, potentially in a more intimate setting than a public
café.
===============================================================================
The Master of Magnetism shifted his weight when he turned around, Sabretooth
gave the report back to him, whilst the rest of his Acolytes shifted in the
background, waiting for their orders.
The time was today; soon they would have to be revealed to the world one way or
another. Magneto knew that this time was coming sooner rather than later, it
was a matter of trying to figure out when exactly it would occur. He stepped
forward and watched the Acolytes. Their shadowed figures looked up at him and
they nodded.
"So what is our play, boss man?" one of the shadowed figures stated in a Cajun
accent, as he shuffled playing cards in his hand, eyes glowing when he waited
for the next move.
The Master of Magnetism was only too happy to elaborate what that next move
would be to one of his men. "Our next move, Gambit, is to ensure that we are
forced to band together. Because if we do not band together on this day, we
will all hang separately. I have seen it happen before; the humans will never
accept us. They are building death machines against us and it will not be long
before they shift us all into camps."
He would not allow that to happen, not again, not after the last time, the
battle would be is, he could feel it. His wrists turned around, feeling pained
and stiffened but the Master of Magnetism addressed his men.
"Tonight comes the time where we must all stand together and force the X-Men to
stand beside us, we are all brothers and sisters," Magneto added as he stared
at them all, unblinking. "For if what's to come is going to come, then we must
be one. Arcane has been sent here for a purpose, I have seen the prophecies,
and read the signs. There is a reason why I went to recruit him. It is the
worst kept secret that he would break away from Xavier eventually."
"And what makes you think he'll join us, mate," a red haired man with an
Australian accent stated when his fire flickered in his hands.
"He'll join us, because he is the one," Magneto responded cryptically as he
turned his head to the side and pondered the predicament that went over in his
head.
Now the time came, but what would happen afterwards? Magneto knew that today
would separate those who could stand up and do what was necessary from those
who would drop to their knees and cower in a fetal ball when they could not
handle the battle. The Master of Magnetism planned for every contingency and
every moment that would come after.
Make no mistake about it, he had every concern that today's events would turn
around for the worst but he could not worry about now. All Magneto worried
about was succeeding for today's moment and winning the day.
It was at the palm of his hand and he turned, his Acolytes watched him, smiles
crossing their faces.
"It is time."
===============================================================================
Portals opening at random locations was the rule rather than the exception as
of late and the individual that exited the portal presently was not about to
change that. He dropped to the ground, landing hard on the ground. A thunderous
thud could be heard, when the figure stepped forward, face cloaked in light. It
had been a long time, but he tracked the one who escaped before he could kill
her to this time period.
His future would be in peril if this girl succeeded in changing the timeline.
The moment that the star child was killed and he erased their memories of him,
that was the moment that his victory was assured. The footsteps got louder and
more prominent when he edged himself forward, ready to pounce and ready to win
the day, no matter what it might bring to him.
His eyes glowed, illuminated in a sickening red light, but his fingers scraping
together, that told the story, it was even more violent. This man was more
machine than man but shutting down his emotional processes allowed for a great
deal of efficiency. And the organs he harvested from mutants gave him powers
beyond all. The eyes of one that shot optic blasts from his eyes plus the
control the machine that allowed him more clarity.
The spine of one that could phase through walls, that pleased him as well.
The bones of one who could heal, yes he had the bones of Wolverine grafted into
this form as well.
Sinister tried to create him to ensure that he was the ultimate weapon but he
decided that he evolved beyond Sinister's purpose.
The skin of one who could absorb powers through contact, oh yes, that was
another part of him and a part that he embraced one hundred percent of the way,
grabbing his hands together and he kept walking forward.
There was one more element from him, the heart of a true hero, he ripped that
one out when he killed the star child and burned the rest of his body. He had
super strength, flight, and the ability to perform the magical arts as well
from the blood and the heart of this powerful individual.
Then there was the brain of Charles Xavier and his amazing psychic gifts. He
wished to get the powers of Jean Grey and the Phoenix Force as well but fate
robbed him of that desire. It was as well, for there would come a time where he
had his moment.
His eyes glowed and he shifted into any form he wished. Now he shifted into one
of the SHIELD agents moving around on the ground, inconspicuous. A subliminal
hint from Xavier's brain would make them not question it too much.
He was Bastion and he would have the world in the past to make sure the future
extended beyond what it was. There was nothing and on one that could stand in
his way. He beat the X-Men in his own time and now he would beat them in this
time, when the team was barely trained and able to stand on their own.
He relished killing Summers once again, that child had delusions of grandeur
and assumed that he had the potential for leadership. Yet, the machine moved
forward, the sum of his parts greater than the entire team together. He had all
of their powers combined for he was Bastion and he would rule them.
The plan worked like a charm and he began to track the only one who might be
able to stop them. Today was the day that the meteor shower was supposed to
happen and if he accessed his birthright, then the star child and the other,
along with the Phoenix would combine their powers to destroy his future.
===============================================================================
The SHIELD satellites were always a constant hub of information that was
flowing through the air, always running at optimal performance. There was a
slight beeping noise that was unsettling even at the best of times, but many
times at the worst of times. Nick Fury stood his eye on the map of the world.
So far everything was quiet but that was known to turn around in a heartbeat.
He threw his head back and placed a hand on his hips.
A large spike of power blacked out most of the Hellicarrier.
"What in the name of Sam Hill is going on?" Fury growled when he spun around
and then there was a creepy voice that echoed throughout the ears of the SHIELD
agents.
"Hello children, my name is Bastion and I am now in control of all of the
operations on your Hellicarrier," the voice of Bastion responded when it echoed
intensely.
Fury never liked to admit that anyone was in control but him and a foul
expression spread over his face. The Director of SHIELD was not going to get
counted out, not that easily at least. He spun around and began barking orders
at the men around him.
"Don't just stand there, make sure you get the power back on," Fury responded
as he jerked his head from the screen wildly, one eye on the other agents of
SHIELD and they scrambled as quickly as their feet could handle them.
"Fury, it's been a long time since I've killed you," Bastion responded in a
taunting voice. "Humans and mutants, they're all the same problems, and while
they have many parts that work well, ruthless efficiency is something that can
only be done with a machine. All problems must be calculated, and logically
processed. That is something you pitiful humans and mutants cannot do with your
emotions. You are too prone to flights of fancy."
Fury tried to kick back up power on so he could track where this individual
came from.
"No, no, Nicolas, I have only begun to have my fun," Bastion responded with a
chuckle that was very emotional. "You see, I've come here to tie up a few loose
ends. There is a young girl known as Rachel who slipped through the time
stream. Her actions have compromised my future, the future where ruthless
efficiently rules the Earth and mutants and humans are mastered by the machines
and not the other way around.
Hawkeye turned up, his eyes widened, and he groaned. "I always knew computers
would take over the world."
Black Widow rolled her eyes, how her colleague could joke about something so
serious at a time like this, she would never know. She did not want to find
out.
Bastion's chuckles continued to grow louder. "I wouldn't worry too much about
me or what the Sentinels will end up doing once I have taken control of them.
Your main concern should be evacuating thousands of people from a city like New
York when the meteors start hitting."
"Meteors?" Fury asked with an eyebrow raised, wondering what Bastion was
talking about.
The SHIELD power reserves kicked back on and just in time as well. There was a
blipping motion that could be heard and Fury turned around, his teeth gritted.
The Director of SHIELD wondered what problem he had to deal with now but
suspected that he would find out all too soon. Fury spun around, clutching his
head.
"There are large meteors, on approach to hit New York," one of the SHIELD
officers stated, shaking, trying to figure out if he could be blamed for this
or not, his eyes closing shut. "ETA, two hours, fifty seven minutes."
Fury had only one statement to this. "Evacuate the citizens of New York, time
is the essence."
Black Widow knew that there was one person who might be able to shed some light
on this, and she slipped off to get in touch of him.
Two hours fifty five minutes twelve seconds, two hours fifty five minutes
eleven seconds, two hours fifty five minutes ten seconds, two hours fifty five
minutes nine seconds.
To Be Continued in "The Bastion of Mutantkind."
***** Grand Finale Part Two: Bastion of Mutant Kind *****
There's an Author's Note at the end where I have to explicitly spell out
something that I've been hinting at for over forty some chapters but apparently
people didn't make the connection.
Chapter Fifty One: The Grand Finale Part Two: Bastion of Mutant Kind.
Harry drew in a deep breath whilst he thought about everything that occurred
over the past few months to a year. His time at the X-Men was time that he
thought benefitted him in the long run but it was time to move forward to the
next part of his life. He held the box in his hand; Harry took time looking at
it more and more over the past few weeks. The young mage kept contemplating his
lot in life and most importantly where he came from.
One thing was for certain, it was not where he came from that matter, but it
was where he was going next.
Harry took a moment to step forward, with the entire group of X-Men standing
there. Scott was there as well, even if he looked stoic and not too anxious or
excited that Harry was leaving. It was easy to figure out what the would-be
leader of the X-Men was thinking. The young wizard knew that he was conflicted
about everything that happened while Harry was here. If Harry left, then it
would allow him to step up. But he would always be second best to Harry.
The magical mutant gave Scott plenty of opportunities to step up and be the
leader that he could in fact be. However, it was his fault that he chose to
squander those opportunities and instead worry about what Harry did. The wizard
carefully eyed the group, smiling and waiting, watching them a little bit.
"And we can cut the tension with a knife," Nightcrawler remarked carefully,
trying to lighten the mood, which was what Harry appreciated. They needed the
mood lightened after everything that happened. "So I guess this is it?"
Xavier watched carefully, wondering what was going to happen now. He sensed
from the moment Harry arrived that he was not one to follow the pack but rather
set up and make his own mark in the world. The wizard carefully considered
them, eye twitching a little bit before smiling carefully and crisply.
"So, I guess this is it," Harry repeated as he watched them, good byes were
always tough even if he was just leaving the Institute.
"Couldn't you stay….for a little longer."
Harry had no idea who said that for he was distracted by the incoming arrival
of someone bursting through the door. He saw in a matter of moments that
Natasha stepped forward, before bending at the knees.
"What are you doing here?" Scott asked, trying to assert himself but Natasha
shook her head, before turning to Harry.
"We have a problem," Natasha offered with a tense expression when she motioned
for Harry to follow her. Wherever Harry went, several girls tended to follow
and in this case it was Kitty, Rachel, Rogue, Laura, and Jean, all of them
stepping forward. Natasha allowed this to happen because she needed to talk to
Harry without any issues. "Two problems actually….three?"
"Are you sure that's it?" Harry asked, dread building up in his mind. Any
number of possibilities flickered through his mind with none of them good.
Natasha's expression snapped towards Harry's and she remained businesslike
before she began to speak with him. "Essentially that is all, but one thing at
a time. The first problem is…."
"Greetings X-Men."
"I'm guessing that's the problem," Rogue remarked in a dry voice but Rachel
suddenly went pale. "Rachel what's….."
"Bastion," Rachel breathed heavily, skin flushed when she blinked heavily and
practically panted.
This was the one voice that she never wanted to hear again, no matter how long
she lived. He was the terror that tormented her from the past and beyond. The
red haired mutant kept her ear out, neck extended and she waited for the other
shoe to drop. Harry reached over and grabbed her hand, which she appreciated.
He tightened around her hand, allowing a solid enough grip. The red haired girl
relaxed in his grip, when the crisp voice of Bastion echoed throughout for all
of them to hear.
"I have come from the future to tell you that your prospects of a peaceful
world for mutants is a lie and the biggest lie here is Arcane," Bastion
breathed. "Or would you the prefer the term, Superman?"
"What?" Kitty breathed in a heavy voice and this was news to Harry. He wondered
if Bastion lost his mind and fried his circuits.
Rachel mulled over it in her mind, Superman, Superman, there was something
about that name in the archives but she had no idea what it is.
"Harry Potter, Arcane, Kal-El, Superman, whatever name you wish to go under,
Star Child, know this, for I am Bastion and I will be your decimation," the
voice stated in a cold and crisp manner. "Something changed this time when you
arrived and my time is becoming undone. But it doesn't matter, for once I'm no
longer anchored in that part of the time stream, I will…."
"You talk a good game but why don't you back it up with a little more action?"
Rogue asked, interrupting Bastion. She was ready to take them on, even if she
did not understand what he was saying.
"I could expose you to the world, alien, but that would not be nearly as fun is
crushing your spirit," Bastion commented, ignoring Rogue's outburst.
"I think you've mistaken me for someone else," Harry answered as he stood
proud.
"I am never mistaken, I know who you are and know the danger you pose to my
objective and as long as any version of you in any timeline exists, I can never
win, Kal-El, " Bastion commented in a crisp voice, putting special emphasis on
certain words that he stated. "But do not worry, you and your fellow companions
only can hear this. I will not broadcast the fact that you are worse than a
mutant, worse than a wizard."
'Nonsense, he's talking nonsense,'Jean thought to herself, folding her arms.
'Except it isn't,'the Phoenix stated in a tranquil voice.
'What are you….what are you talking about?'Jean thought back to the Phoenix.
'He is of similar extra-terrestrial origin to the force that flows through
you,'the Phoenix thought to Jean. 'He is capable of much, much, more than
foolish wand waving and silly incantations.'
Jean thought about this and she did know that Harry could be something special
but nothing like this.
Harry was skeptical as everything, to be honest; he was not buying what Bastion
was selling now. Even though that would explain everything, there was a certain
amount of stubbornness that resided in Harry that prevented him from really
getting completely on board with everything that was being side. The wizard's
green eyes filled with discontent.
"He may be playing mind games, that's what Bastion does," Rachel answered but
that would explain why Harry did not exist in her time stream. What better way
not to exist if he was underneath a different name?
"Perhaps, child, perhaps not, but that is the least of your concern," Bastion
answered in a crisp tone of voice when he paused for dramatic effect. "All you
have to concern yourself with is the meteors that are flying into this city in
two hours time. Today is the day you will leave the X-Men, star child, but it
will be done in a body bag, for what comes down will be your death, providing I
do not put you out of your misery first."
Harry turned to Natasha and she offered a pained express. "This was the other
problem that you spoke of?"
She nodded and Harry decided to move forward with the third question.
"I hate to ask this, but why is problem number three?" Harry asked when he
watched Natasha carefully. He hoped that it was not going to get worse; there
was no way that this could get worse.
The problem was that things got worse. Natasha paused, trying to convey what
she thought, with her eyes shifting before the spy spat it out.
"There is a rogue SHIELD agent."
"Bolivar Trask."
True to form, Nick Fury popped up, whether he was invited or not.
"SHIELD has the access codes to the security grid for the mansion, I disabled
them to have Widow and myself step in to warn you of what is to come," Fury
answered the unasked question. "You may want to do the exact opposite of what
the X-Men does for their security, Mr. Potter, if you wish to avoid the
headaches."
Harry knew that he would need to keep that in mind but he had far bigger
problems.
"The third issue, Fury," Harry responded and Fury's face twisted into a
grimace.
"It's this, Mr. Potter," Fury responded when he kept an eye firmly on Harry.
"Bolivar Trask was a SHIELD agent working on a top secret project, for a group
of robots that would be a failsafe against mutant kind."
Harry paused before shifting his expression a little bit. "And we thought that
this was a good idea because…"
Fury decided to cut straight to the point. "It was a flawed idea but it
appeared to be a good one at the time. We pulled the funding but Trask and
another small group of SHIELD agents went AWOL, with the funding and the
prototypes of the project. The Sentinels could be online but they need a test
subject."
Harry was hit with it immediately as was Laura.
'Logan,'Laura thought when she cracked her knuckles.
'We'll get him back,'Rachel thought in a reassuring voice but her mind shifted
to the terror that was Bastion. She remembered what he could do and feared the
dangers. He became much more after he stole the body parts of several mutants
for his reign of terror.
Harry hoped that she was right but now it was time for him to team up with the
X-Men for one last mission. Because of the insanity, he never did his speech.
Harry and the girls left the room.
With another swift expression, Harry's eyes blinked before he looked up at
Xavier.
"We have a situation."
That got everyone's attention in a hurry.
===============================================================================
The team was mobilized one more time, one last time. They split into several
squads, with Harry, Rachel, Kurt, Bobby, Rogue, and Wanda being part of the
first squad.
Wanda thought that this was a good way to test her skills in a more practical
manner than what Harry was teaching her on the side. The dark haired mutant
stood, ready for action.
There was a rattling that echoed in the background.
"Stay alert," Harry whispered to them and Rogue, Rachel, Kurt, Bobby, and Wanda
all nodded; all of them expecting the worst. The ground watched with widened
eyes and soon they realized what was about to drop down.
Five metal spheres swirled around in the air, causing sparks to fly before the
landed one by one by one with a huge crash. They splintered the ground,
cracking themselves into the pavement.
Wanda saw that they were magnetized and she saw him standing up there. This was
a truer test than anything she ever could have been through not to attack. It
took every amount of her will-power, strained as it might be, before she backed
off. The dark haired magical mutant watched breathing when she saw her father
stand tall on the ledge, looking down at them.
"Wanda, don't get caught up in him," Harry warned her breathlessly and Wanda
pulled back, blinking slowly before the girl's head inclined, once, twice, and
three times.
"Something's happening with those spheres," Kurt breathed and they stayed
alert. Rachel frowned and Harry understood why when he heard the creaking and
shifting the metallic options.
Without warning, the spheres burst open one at a time, allowing a heavy cloud
of dust to appear around them. The dust blinded the line of sight from most of
the group but Harry, with his enhanced eyesight, was able to see through them.
The young wizard carefully watched everything around him.
"His Acolytes," Harry breathed and that's what they were for lack of a better
term.
He knew that these guys would be the cream of the crop, much better than the
Brotherhood ever was trained. All and all, the Brotherhood was a rag tag group
of misfits that Mystique and later the Taskmaster tried to make work. But in
reality, they were more or less a rudimentary exam for the bigger challenge at
hand.
The first sphere burst open completely to reveal a red haired man dressed in an
orange bodysuit and wearing goggles that wrapped around his face. He smiled
brightly and quite maliciously, with his eyes glowing and miniature flames shot
up, derived from a lighter. While he could not manifest flames, he could
control them with a little spark from a lighter, a blowtorch, or a set of
magic. He didn't start the fire but he kept it burning until the world stopped
turning. His name was Pyro.
The second Acolyte stepped forward, someone that the X-Men were all too
familiar with and they cracked their knuckles together. Sabretooth was meaner
and nastier than ever and he was ready to take a bite out of the X-Men. His
clawed hands and nasty teeth along with unruly mane of hair and a murderous
glare that would make many people piss themselves when they went up against it.
The third Acolyte was none other than a Raging Cajun, with red hair, glowing
eyes, and a trench coat with a black top and tight black pants, with a deck of
playing cards. He gave a smile that would light the hearts of many women a
flutter although he tended to always be one to play them. His name was Gambit
and he discharged kinetic energy that could blow things up.
The fourth Acolyte was the large but gentle Russian, known as Colossus, he had
been here very begrudgingly when Magneto offered him the assistance that he
could not get on his own. He cracked his knuckles and was ready for a scrap.
The fifth sphere burst open to reveal a pale skinned woman with dark hair and
ample assets, with black eyes. She was named Domino and her mutant power was
that she never missed a shot.
"Let's begin," Magneto responded and Domino fired the first shot but Harry
dodged the attack.
"Let's see how lucky you are," Harry answered before he levitated the guns out
of her hand. She aimed a kick but Harry dodged it and took her down, causing
her own feet to be tangled up in the attack.
Sabretooth rushed forward, arms out to grab Rachel but she put up a telekinetic
shield that propelled him back and his skull cracked against it. He gave a
pained growl when the telepath jumped up and knocked him backwards with a solid
smash and a slam. He rolled over, wheezing in the agony.
"I'll get you little b…."
"Watch the language," Kurt responded after he dodged the attack, before
flinging a brick with his tail and smashing it into the Sabretooth.
"We're about to put a little shrimp on the Barbie," Pryo stated as it lit
things up..
"Seriously, could you be any more stereotypical?" Iceman asked with a roll on
his eyes as he sent ice to meet the fire, but the ice melted when the
pyromaniac cut through the attack.
"Going to have to fuel up a little more, mate," Pryo stated, laughing madly but
Rogue knocked him out with a swift punch. She nailed him hard at half strength.
A large metal door flew forward but Rogue ducked it, pivoting around on her
heel, before kicking up and launching herself into the air. Magneto was trying
to direct traffic and Harry watched him and Wanda did as well.
The playing card flew towards her but Wanda deactivated it with a blast of
light and sent flying back at Gambit.
"Getting a bit frisky, aren't we?" Gambit asked in a suave and sophisticated
voice.
Suddenly, without warning, before the battle could get too intense, there was a
rumbling beneath the ground that shook rocked them all. A platform rose up and
a robot arrived, magnetized by the Master of Magnetism and brought up. He would
force mutants to stand together against humanity or they would all perish in
their ignorance that humans would understand.
"At least, you will step into the…."
"Mutant neutralize," the robot responded in a monotone and blasted the Master
of Magnetism. He dodged out of the way, nearly tripping over himself.
"That was not part of my plan," Magneto answered when he lifted up several
metal sheets but they were blasted out of the way. An energy field appeared
around the robot, preventing Magneto from magnetizing it. "This was not part…."
"Nothing goes according to plan, does it Magneto?" the voice stated in a crisp
monotone. "It will be a pleasure to kill you once more."
Magneto was caught off guard by this situation and SHIELD moved in but their
vessel shut down.
The Sentinel prepared to engage the mutants in battle but Rachel and Harry
slipped off, while others worried about the minions and the tricks, they were
going to cut off the head of the attack.
'Bastion is mine,'Rachel thought to Harry through their link.
'No Bastion is ours,'Harry corrected her before they moved off into the night.
===============================================================================
It was obvious to see what Bastion was up to and that rocked both of them to
the core, causing their stomachs to turn in a twisted fury. Both Harry and
Rachel edged forward, carefully keeping an eye or an ear out. They needed to
reach him in time.
Bastion made one critical error; the brain of Charles Xavier left him with a
thought pattern that could be tracked. Not to mention Harry was sure that all
of the mutant body parts were not going to agree with each other, leaving
Bastion open for an attack. He carefully edged off to the side, ready to pick
and choose his next spot.
'And with his robotic parts left open when he's concerned with the outer shell,
this will lead me to believe that he hasn't protected those parts,'Harry
thought to himself, carefully placing a hand on the edge of his forehead. 'It
has to work, it's got to work.'
Harry was able to shield his thoughts, mostly by misdirecting them into
nonsense phrases that he cycled through his mind. That was the best thing for
Harry, to keep everything at bay and to keep Bastion from finding out what
ticked beneath the head of Harry.
'Are you sure this will work?'Rachel thought to him, closing her eyes and Harry
snaked an arm around hers, pulling her in close.
'It has to work,'Harry thought, but his confidence was not as prominent as he
made it out to be in the back of his mid. Still it was all or nothing. The
wizard carefully edged himself forward, standing on his toes.
"I know what you are trying to do and it will not work."
"You are pretty bloody confident for someone who hasn't even won yet," Harry
responded as he watched Bastion and Rachel stood rigid.
"I have won," Bastion persisted in a silky voice but Harry aimed a bolt of
energy at him. He blocked it with a shield of your own. "I have your heart, I
also have your powers."
"And my weaknesses as well," Harry stated when he watched Bastion, studying his
movements to find flaws in them but it was frustrating as he could not get a
clear reading on him. "And the weaknesses of every other single mutant that you
used for your little helter-skelter body, not to imagine your own weaknesses."
"Child, do not prattle about what you do not know about."
"Sorry, I didn't mean to prematurely prattle," Harry responded with a shrug but
then he shook his head.
He needed to stop hanging out with Spider-Man it was kind of corrupting his
brain and causing him to make inane quips. Be that as it may, Harry jumped into
the air and made his movement towards Bastion. His eyes closed, heart pounding,
blood racing, and brain ticking.
Harry developed contingency plans to take down every single member of the X-Men
in case of a worst case scenario like possession or brain washing.
The barrier formed around Bastion but that was just what he wanted to. A dagger
shot from Harry's wrist.
The dagger disrupted the phasing abilities that he gained from ripping out
Kitty's spine in the bad future and this allowed Rachel to jump in and grab him
by the ankles to force him down.
An echo curse caused the psychic backlash to become too great for Bastion to
handle, his human brain was overwhelmed, and Harry now closed his eyes.
Harry divided into half, then fourths, then eighths, then sixteenths, before he
dove at Bastion. Several super enhanced punches knocked Bastion backwards and
caused him to fly to the ground.
"This is not over," Bastion growled but then Harry grabbed two ruby quartz
pieces, before flinging them into the eyes of Bastion, which blocked his optic
blasts and caused his head to ring with a huge explosion.
"I beg to differ," Harry answered but flaming spears shot from him.
Duck, duck, dodge, and blast the spears, that was a nice rhythm. Then propel
one's self into the air and smash into the enemy, it was much better than what
most wizards did and stand there like a rock whilst taking the punishment.
"I don't think…."
Rachel joined in and joined Harry's assault, before smashing through Bastion.
Bastion skid back a little bit, his knee buckling back a little bit, but he
stood his ground, knee twisting a little bit. The dangerous creation felt a
fire burning through him.
"You're done Bastion."
"Now who is premature," Bastion answered after two more of the Sentinels
arrived outside, to smash their way into the warehouse where they were
fighting. "And there are three more being sent upon your associates. It seems
like Trask only wanted to test them one at a time but my superior nature has
made them work. And I can mass produce them, there is nowhere mutants can
hide."
'Well actually fighting more of them might give us an advantage,'Harry thought
which caused Rachel's eyes to snap towards him.
'Are you nuts?'Rachel thought to him but Harry smiled.
'Probably,'Harry answered as he saw one of the Sentinels show up.
Standard EMP pulse, could be generated by any wizard with a NEWT level
education or at least moderately powered enough. Harry didn't have a NEWT level
education but he had the memories of someone with that qualification. So it was
time for him to kick things up a notch and fire in the whole. The young wizard
carefully maneuvered around the sentinel.
The EMP pulse only cut through the air partially, striking the robotic
creation.
Harry paused, that was nowhere near sufficient enough as the will of Bastion
was protecting it. Suddenly, realization dawned upon him, it was simple yet
effective.
The wizard could use that against Bastion.
'Split his control many different ways,'Harry thought to himself, before he
flew forward, and wrapped his hand around the Sentinels, before they began to
glow.
He divided them in half and then divided the halves into fourths, until he had
eight sentinels as opposed to the two.
Rachel's eyebrows raised and exasperation filled her face. 'So is there any
point where we….'
"Just wait for it Rach,'Harry thought to the red head fighting beside him and
there was a large crack when Bastion found controlling the Sentinels to be a
bit more of a laborious process that he thought it was previously. The man's
eyes became rather bloodshot and blood splattered from his mouth.
"This is….you have not proven anything."
Harry broke the force field yet again and knocked his physical form for a loop.
The metal cracked and snapped when the wizard propelled his enemy to the
ground. There was a huge explosion when Bastion flew head over heels.
A burst of heat flew through the air and caused Harry's eyeballs to sting
slightly. This caught him completely off guard but it caught Bastion even more
off guard. The super intense heat flew through the air and fried Bastion upon
impact.
Harry blinked, rubbing his eyeballs before he only had one statement.
"Okay, this is new," Harry responded but the magically enhanced heat vision
succeeded in damaging Bastion badly.
===============================================================================
Scott flew to the ground, landing hard with a thud, his nose almost breaking
when he hit. In reality, that could not be the best plan in the world what he
just tried.
"Hey, what are these overgrown bucket of bolts doing? Thinking that they can
cause all of this property damage?"
"Yeah isn't that our job?"
"Quiet there Matchstick….It's Clobbering Time!"
The Thing popped up, along with the Human Torch. The Fantastic Four were going
along their day, when suddenly the Baxter Building was attacked by these
robots.
"So Reed, what do you make of these things?" the Thing asked as he picked up a
lamppost that had been disengaged and swung it, smacking into the chest of the
robot.
"They are quite impressive," Reed remarked when he analyzed them but Susan
shook her head.
"Now's not the time to gush over the killer robots that are going to kill us,"
The Invisible Woman responded when she closed her eyes and popped up an
invisible shield, which blocked the debris.
"So is this a Fantastic Four get together or do the Avengers join in?"
Iron Man popped up, blasting at the Sentinels, causing the armor to ding.
"Threat, neutralize it," the Sentinel responded in monotone but Thor summoned
the thunder and laid the smackdown on the Sentinel.
"Have at thee, vile machine!" Thor bellowed, before he smashed the Sentinel,
but it was adapting to Thor's attacks.
"JARVIS, get a scan of that thing, it has to have a weak spot," Iron Man
responded when he put up his wrist band and began to scan the Sentinel
carefully.
"At once sir," JARVIS responded, as the computer continued to scan.
"Yeah, weak spot, good luck," Hawkeye answered whilst his best shots were
bouncing off of nothing.
"HULK SMASH OVERBLOWN TIN CAN!"
Hulk jumped up and with a sonic boom knocked the Sentinel back, causing it to
crumble and crack. The metal contorted and the Prince of Thunder dove up,
before he combined the attack with Thor. The combined assaults of two of the
strongest beings in the world smashed the Sentinel down and there was a huge
crash when the machine bust apart.
"That wasn't so hard," Hulk stated gruffly, brushing his hands off.
"Yeah but there's about two more coming down the street, big guy," Iron Man
responded when his hands lit up and he aimed a series of blasts at them. "If we
can only back these guys up."
"Easier said than done," Ms. Marvel panted, when she spotted Cannonball run
down the street and launch himself into one of the Sentinels and did some
pretty decent damage to it. "Well that worked out well."
"I don't know how many of these things Trask has but we should assume that he
might have dozens in a storehouse," Fury stated to the Avengers over the radio
link. "Make sure…."
Fury paused before he got some news off screen and it twisted his stomach into
a knot. The eagle eyed director of SHIELD spun around, trying to watch
everything.
"Problem, boss?" Hawkeye asked as he spotted Spider-Man swinging into the
battle, getting civilians out of harm's way. Beast assisted with the efforts,
as did Storm off to the side.
The news crews were on the scene, filming all of it.
Thankfully the X-Men all wore wrist bands that would cause any photos or
television images of their faces to be out of focus but still the people now
knew at large that mutants existed, even though they did not know who they
were. The Acolytes disappeared into the night, their purpose done, even if
Magneto's plan kind of went off the rails.
Jean paused, before she stepped forward. Scott stopped her.
"Jean what are you doing?" Scott asked before she shoved his hand away. "You're
breaking your position."
'Tell the idiot that you're saving all of mutant kind from getting wiped
out,'the Phoenix thought.
However Scott was knocked down when a group of armed soldiers moved in. Kitty's
eyes widened when she saw it and she turned, practically stammering when her
head turned around before the brunette spat it out.
"We got to so get out of here, fallout plan seven, like Harry taught us!" Kitty
yelled, trying to rally the team the best she could.
"Capture them, these specimens must not be allowed to leave," one of the army
officers stated.
There was a loud siren that echoed just as Fury was finishing giving the
report.
"What do you mean the meteors are going to crash into New York within fifteen
minutes?" Iron Man asked, his voice nearly dropping and he looked up into the
sky. There were flares.
Iron Man calibrated Fury's findings and let out a low whistle. To say this was
not good would be the understatement to end all understatements. "Well, here's
the deal. We're about to get plowed by the meteors in fourteen minutes and
thirty nine seconds. The magnetic interference brought them faster."
"Damn Magneto," Rogue swore as she hung her head.
Wanda did not say that, if she had been allowed to deal with her father, he
would not have been allowed to reign down hell on Earth. Even if it was
accidental, Wanda still blamed him as with everything.
"We got to get everyone out of the city, now," Spider-Man responded but the
Sentinels were making that harder that he was.
===============================================================================
'Bastion could be anywhere,'Harry thought to himself but he blinked. 'Then
again, Bastion, you just slipped up.'
He fired an electro-magnetic pulse into the air, with it smashing through the
air hard and the wizard watched it explode, causing everything to rattle around
them. The wizard felt pressure reign supreme after the communicator link went
off.
"Yeah Kitty….what do you need?" Harry asked but there was a squealing sound.
'I'll put us on mind link,'Rachel thought to them and Harry focused a little
bit, before Kitty managed to get in with the link.
'Um ten minutes,'Kitty thought in a frantic manner when she clutched her hands
together.
'Ten minutes until what?'Harry responded to her, but he felt a deal of dread
coming up with him. Something was happening but the real question was what.
'Meteor shower,'Kitty thought to him, frantically. 'Be careful.'
Harry looked up into the sky.
"I can stop it," Harry responded as he put his hands on his hips but Jean's
eyes widened.
"A meteor shower?" Jean stated to him, thinking that Harry might have lost his
mind and really she feared a little bit for his sanity. The red haired woman
crossed her arms and threw her head back with a slight sight. "I don't know if
you can even stop that, even with your abilities…"
"I'm not insane," Harry answered in a defensive voice, trying to figure out
what he needed to do.
"You aren't going anywhere."
And Bastion was back in the game, with Harry propelling himself up with all of
the power that he had. He never tapped into this much power so it caused every
single nerve ending in his body to explode in flames.
Bastion was dangerous but so was Harry. Jean and Rachel joined him, before
their eyes glowed.
'Together,'Harry thought to both of the red heads and there was an explosion
that rang through the air.
Several explosions echoed, causing flames and fire to shoot out in every single
direction. The trio smashed their way through the air, knocking the full force
into their Bastion and sent the force slamming to the ground.
The sparks flew when he smashed into the ground but there was a thunderous
laughter that echoed, when Jean's eyes glowed and she began to rip him apart.
"I guess you're the one who's going to kill me this time," Bastion managed as a
combination of motor oil and blood splattered from his mouth. His eyes
flickered into silver and they continued to spark a little bit more ,his heart
beat rather firmly. "It's a pity that it's not going to matter."
Harry spiked down all of his power down onto the head of Bastion, obliterating
him with the full force of his powers, but it ticked into his mind.
"Seven minutes, six minutes fifty nine seconds, six minutes fifty eight
seconds."
The Sentinels began to shut down but the flares up in the air indicated that
there was a bigger problem.
"Six minutes forty three seconds, six minutes forty two seconds, six minutes
forty one seconds."
To Be Continued in "The Grand Finale Part Three: The Parting of the Ways."
I'm going to sum this up for those people who lack reading comprehension
skills.
1) Lily and James Potter had a son named Harry, but he died from complications
from birth. Lily knew but James didn't.
2) A despondent Lily found a crashed ship containing a child that was not in
the best shape thanks to reasons we'll go into in Book Two, therefore she used
the blood she had from her deceased son to save him. Thanks to the magic of
magic, this worked out in ways that we cannot fathom as mere Muggles. Thus
making him about 90 percent Harry/10 percent Kal-El. No one was the wiser, not
James, not Sirius, not Colonel Fubster, not Goyle, not even the all seeing all
knowing White Bumblebee.
3) The Horcrux locked his Kryptonian abilities and they went dormant.
4) Some of the powers came back when the Horcrux was destroyed when he went
through the veil, such as flight, which Harry erroneously believed was from
Voldemort. Yet Harry's flight powers were more refined while Riddle's are more
like gliding really.
5) All of the powers came back with the Osborn formula empowering him.
6) Intimate relationships between first cousins aren't taboo in the Wizarding
World or on Krypton. Figured I'd throw that one out there, even if Harry is
more Harry, then Kal-El.
That's about it, I think. It should have been obvious but apparently not. Now
is that clear or would you like me to make a Powerpoint presentation with
pretty pictures and graphs? (cue the smart asses asking for one in
three…two…one.)
***** Grand Finale Part Two: Fortress *****
Smartasses. :)
Chapter Fifty Two: The Grand Finale Part Three: Fortress.
Six minutes and thirty nine seconds, six minutes and thirty eight seconds, and
Harry was in his element, or at least wanted to hang onto the illusion that he
was in his element. The wizard thrived in these high pressure situations where
most would find it hard to even function logically. He drew in a deep breath
and focused, focused, yes he had to focus. It would not be wise to lose his
mind out of the fear and panic now. Harry saw that Bastion was down and out,
smashed by the combined attacks of himself, Rachel, and Jean, which allowed
them to focus on the problem.
"Okay, everyone….we don't need a riot, come on now, easy does it," Iron Man
responded, trying to keep himself calm. For Tony Stark he was really serious.
Reed edged over which allowed Harry a chance to speak to him.
"Have you been able to figure anything out?" Harry asked to Reed in a voice
that he tried to remain calm about.
Reed looked thoughtful before he brought up the calculations on the screen and
nodded slightly, his head inclining a slight bit. "The good news is that I'll
be able to stop the meteor shower, it is a simple enough process of
misdirecting the meteors."
Ms. Marvel helped move some debris and ushered civilizations out of the way
before she turned and looked over her shoulder. "So that's the good news,
what's the bad news?"
"The bad news is that it will take fifteen minutes to do so," Reed answered as
he saw the chaos forming around him. The Human Torch and the Thing did the best
they could to work crowd control but they were out of their element.
"Oh is that all?" Harry asked in a casual voice when Kitty moved towards him,
with Harry putting his arm around her and pulling her in close. "Did you guys
all get out okay?"
"Yeah, but Ororo, Laura, and Kurt are still trying to track Logan down,
wherever they have him," Kitty stated as Harry tightened his grip around her.
Rogue edged over to join Harry and the others, a smile crossing her face. "But
everyone got out okay."
"There's still the meteor shower, in case you forgot," Rachel responded as she
looked up to the sky and she almost sensed it coming. "Four minutes."
"I know, four minutes," Harry answered as he hovered above the ground and
looked high in the sky. "Which means I've got four minutes to pull a miracle
out of my ass."
"Do you think you can do it?" Natasha asked after she got done talking with the
SHIELD agents. She tried to figure out if Harry ever lost his nerve but if he
was not about to lose it during a meteor shower, than he was not going to lose
it now.
Harry shrugged his shoulders before he offered her a smile. "Miracles happen."
Harry took a moment to watch them but Jean grabbed his hand holding him back. A
frown and also a worried expression crossed her face before the red head
decided to speak with him about the situation. "Harry, I've got…I've got a bad
feeling about this."
Harry would lie if he lacked a bad feeling but that was not something that he
could focus on. All he could focus on was saving the day and getting everyone
out safely. Even if this ended badly for Harry, at least he knew that he could
save as many people as he could. He always suspected that the end would come
with a bang; even if that end would be his end.
"I know what I'm doing," Harry responded in a rather stubborn voice, before
spinning around on his heel. The mage stepped forward, before performing a few
charms. They numbed the minds of the people around them and got them moving
faster, more receptive to the suggestions of getting out of there and less
prone to mindless panic.
The wizard flew up into the sky, putting spells around him to shield him when
he got further and further up into the sky.
"Do you think….do you think he'll be okay?" Amara asked as she watched but
Kitty offered a smile, trying to remain more confident than she really was on
the surface.
"Of course he'll be okay, he's Harry," Kitty offered in a confidence voice but
she watched his progress, her nerves were shooting into over drive.
'What is he doing anyway?'Kitty thought to herself, with Jean, Rachel, and
Rogue watching his progress but they all had a job to do.
"Three minute warning."
They better move quickly, time was running out for all of them and they all
understood that there was so much on the line. The group edged themselves
forward, smiling a little bit when they moved around the city, there was huge
explosions that echoed. There were a few impacts of meteors clicking
satellites.
Harry closed his eyes when he flew up and saw them flying at the Earth's
atmosphere. The good news was that the charms held, which proved the theory
that magic could be in space. Granted he had to concentrate enough to focus on
everything that was happening around him but the flickers of the meteor rocks
burning through him, which pushed him back and there was a slight feeling of
dizziness as he got closer to a few of the larger chunks of the green
meteorites.
'Not good, not good at all,'Harry thought to himself, closing his eyes and
feeling himself falter, swaying from one side to the next, before he tried,
vainly, to steady himself.
The rocks were tinted green and Harry pushed himself forward but the shields
faltered around him a little bit. He felt the rocks weaken him slightly,
although much slower than they would without the use of magic. Still he felt
dizziness that caused him to sway back and forth in the air, feeling a slight
stabbing motion in the side of his head. The wizard carefully took a moment to
adjust himself before he descended back down to Earth but at least he did not
fall with a crash.
===============================================================================
Norman Osborn sat in the underground bunker, waiting, watching, and quite
frankly pondering what happened. The Sentinel plan did not go as planned but he
managed to escape in the confusion, while Trask was grabbed. No one would even
connect him to this, no matter if Trask stooged him out or not.
As far as the world knew, Osborn was in the hospital and in critical condition,
but he subverted a sympathetic doctor to cover for him. He seduced her with
problems, using that Osborn charm to really get her over to his side. Women
were easy to manipulate, especially when a man listened to them a little bit
and acted like they were considerate to their problems. Even if their problems
had very little to nothing of relevance to them, but that was beside the point.
Osborn smiled, a twisted grin going across his face, with any luck, there would
be mutants that he would be able to capture and hold captive. They would be
dissected and he could use their DNA to fine tune the latest match of the
goblin formula. He would be stronger than ever before and twisting malevolence
crossed his face as he kept an eye on the situation.
"Monitor the situation,' Osborn stated to his men and said man nodded in
response. "I want to find out if any opportunities present themselves."
His men nodded but Osborn stopped them, before he added.
"Make sure to do so until after the meteors hit, I feel that there is a chance
that more mutants may perish, leaving them ripe for the taking," Osborn
answered as he watched the countdown clock, having hacked into the SHIELD
database to do so.
Two and a half minutes until the end, clicking down, one number at a time,
second after second. Osborn waited and Osborn watched, and he would have the
day.
He would know what opportunities that the meteor shower would present when they
blew through town. Norman could arrange his recovery as well and no one would
be the wiser. No one would complain about his pass misdeeds if he offered them
help. Osborn plotted to become the white knight that would deliver the people
of the city from the destruction and pick up the pieces. A little demonization
would go a long way to affect the mutant race and put Osborn in a role as the
savior of humanity.
Time stood still but Osborn was a patient man who would wait when the time
inched by. His nasty expression turned around and he waited for everyone around
him. His knuckles cracked a tiny bit whilst he edged forward. Time would pass
but there would be no one around them that would mater.
'It's time,'Osborn thought to himself, nastily glaring through his eyes, when
his heart beat more heavily. The goblin formula enhanced his mental processes,
his stamina, his strength, while warping his looks and his sanity, not to
mention removing every inch of hair on his head. Osborn cracked his knuckles
and kept waiting, each tick of the clock drumming in his ear.
===============================================================================
Harry fluttered down on the city but edged off to the side, looking up with
widened eyes. He saw a great majority of the people evacuated from the area
where SHIELD calculated that the worst of the impact was about to land. The
wizard hoped that they were right, because if they were incorrect in any way,
it was going to be an issue. The young wizard closed his eyes and focused on
the problem before he snapped them back open. He did not even begin to think
about how problematic this situation was.
Time was a torment that delivered them the trouble all in the end and Harry saw
the flares from up above. Despite the dizziness that he suffered from the
meteor rocks, there was determination that fluttered through and he knew that
he had to try to stop it, one more time.
'One more time, that's all I need,'he thought as he stood up straight and
proud, trying to summon the determination and iron will that a wizard would
need.
One minute thirty seconds, one minute twenty nine seconds, one minute twenty
eight seconds, one minute….
Harry could not focus on how much time he had left, he closed his eyes and
everything slowed down around him. Civilians were in a panic and Harry summoned
all of the magic that he could around them.
Pop, pop, pop, people disappeared one at a time. It was a terrible strain on
Harry's body to transport these many people at once but he stood tall and
proud, despite the fact of the searing pain through his body. There felt like
there was much time that was passing but yet Harry held onto his sanity and
himself when he kept moving as many people out of harm's way.
Fifty eight seconds, fifty seven seconds, he could see them flying over the
skies of New York, about to impact down at any second. More people were
transported from the blast zone.
Harry closed his eyes, this would be something that would be hard to determine.
There was an entire group at a shopping mall off of the side. His palms sweated
and his face reddened, the combination of the meteor rocks that seemed to harm
him being so near along with the strain of performing forced apparation on
hundreds of people started to get to him.
'Jean, Rachel, get them of there, Kitty help them,'Harry thought to them with a
shaken thought, when his eyes closed tightly and his heart beat heavily, when
there was the whirling around them and he saw the meteors flying around him.
The situation was dire.
The biggest one was about to slam down on the back of his head, which was not
good. Yet if he moved, the impact would cause debris to take out anyone close
to him. With the last ounce of strength Harry was able muster, he pushed every
bit of his power, and crossed his arms together. The wizard rattled everything
on the ground beneath him and hoped that everything would hold itself together,
but it was not working as he wanted.
"EVERYONE MOVE IT!"
That shout was not only heard by Harry but from everyone around him. The wizard
rubbed the side of his ear, before stepping back a little bit. He rubbed his
eyes and tried to focus on the glowing light, the humming nose up in the sky
before him. Harry shifted; the meteors were not the only thing coming down onto
all of their heads. He could not quite make out what it was, but it had a
silver glint, with a symbol on it, that resembled both the one on the box and
the statue on Nova-Roma.
There was no time for Harry to really take a closer look at the ship; it was
time for him to take decisive action. The wizard carefully stood on his heels,
and peered up in the air, before watching the flying rocks spiraling down
towards him in a virtual demonic cyclone of terror. The whirling and hissing
sounds in the air put him on even more edge, because a sonic signal echoed
through his ear and caused his ears to hurt.
Jean, Kitty, Rogue, and Rachel, among others, tried to edge over, but Harry put
up a shield, with his last bit of energy, he protected them, along with all
overs, despite throwing himself into the eye of the storm. Wanda tried to
counteract his magic with her own but there was a blinding bright light.
The meteor rocks began to fly, but they only left dents into the mostly
abandoned street, before they settled to the ground. Harry dodged the rocks,
still feeling dizzied and slowed down half of his speed before when one of the
jagged pieces of rocks pierced him in the side of his arm, causing him to be
injured. Another impacted him in the chest and another in the side of the neck,
he could not apparate, he could not fly, he was too weak to escape as they
began to knick the side of his face. The pieces of debris falling down on him
was not going to help matters and given that Harry drained himself teleporting
thousands of civilians out of the blast zone, he could not save himself.
The silver ship was among the last thing to come down along with the meteor
shower and there was a huge explosion. Next to the ship, a final rock, this
time silver, with a black growth of goo attached to it, landed down on the
ground with a sickening thud!
Harry flew backwards; his head cracking back against the pavement. The box
flung over his pocket, with no one able to see what happened in the smoke. A
purple crystal slid out of the box and laid to a still before it hummed,
rattling, before engulfing Harry in a bright light.
The bright light wrapped around Harry's body and absorbed him, before bringing
him out of the debris, causing him to flash into a blinding light where no one
saw where he went when he disappeared. From their points of view, he was
vaporized by the ship.
The silver ship rested to a stop when it was on the ground, moving back and
forth, with a shimmering sound from within it. It remained still when the last
of the meteors barely hit the ground. The green rocks rested on the ground,
with the people coming to a stop. There was a gasp of terror when the full
scope of the terror sank in.
===============================================================================
Kitty's eyes widened, she tried not to freak out, because freaking out was
going to be a really bad thing. The brunette had a moment of time when she
lapsed into shock but something distracted her. Granted the fact that she was
distracted did not improve the situation in any way whatsoever but Jean dropped
down to her knees on the ground next to her.
The red haired girl gave a tormented scream, causing her cries to become rather
dangerous. Wanda felt a presence around them as well and felt something
happening. Her mystical abilities were unstable even though that Harry managed
to help her control them a little bit. The magical mutant breathed heavily, her
heart thumping along her chest, and her powers flared up. Edging closer to the
edge of everything, Wanda watched with trepidation and bent down her knees,
feeling the pain around her.
Meanwhile despite not having the flares of powers, Kitty was going to freak out
a little bit more with what happened to Harry. The brunette mutant ran it over
in the back of her mind, trying to reconcile everything but she was totally
flipping out. Logically speaking, her mind was going to be a wreck and she
shifted herself a little bit. The brunette watched them all and carefully edged
herself over towards the wreckage.
Harry vanished, disappeared, around the time that ship touched down. Kitty
edged forward towards the ship but Rogue held her back, shaking her hand and
biting down on her lip. The mutants watched with trepidation when they watched
everything around them. Anxiety worked around them, with all of them carefully
edging themselves forward.
"So, what's the deal with the ship?" Rogue asked but Kitty was a bit too
depressed to answer the question. In fact, she was in complete and numb shock.
Kitty turned to the SHIELD agents that walked over and snapped at them angrily.
"You know, if you were doing your jobs right then Harry wouldn't be put in this
situation!"
Kitty placed her hands on her hips but Natasha shook her head, she was a bit
annoyed about how Fury handled this situation as well. But now was not the time
or the place to not show solidarity. In fact, it was now time to band together
and figure out if there were any casualties.
"I feel your pain," Captain America responded as he kept his eyes narrowed
before holding the shield. This was one of the biggest catastrophes. He turned
around and saw a figure move in. "Spider-Man, see what you can do about
clearing that debris over there."
Spider-Man's eyes widened, honored that he was addressed directly by Captain
America, who was somewhat of a hero for him. The web slinger felt honored, but
he would have enjoyed it more had it not been such a serious situation. Still
he managed to remain on his feet, edging himself and walked over towards the
rubble, but thankfully there was no one underneath it. Spider-Man kept rigid
and released his breath in a sigh.
"We found him!"
Kurt yelled over his shoulder, with Jubilee, Laura, and Bobby helping Logan be
dragged over. The mutant felt his legs drag behind him but he shook his head,
before remaining careful on his feet.
"Hey, I'm fine," Logan growled as he brushed them to the side and sure enough
the healing factor was enough. He sniffed the air; there was something
different now than there was before. "Where's Potter?"
A sad expression crossed Kitty's face when she slumped her shoulders and tried
not to go to pieces. Rachel was the one who was in sound enough mind, with
everything that happened with the red haired telepath turning to Logan.
"He….he didn't….he didn't make it."
Rachel, who had experienced loss her entire life, found her voice shake a bit
more than she thought it might. A knot twisted in her stomach, it hurt to stand
on her feet but Rachel swayed herself.
"I don't believe it," Laura responded as she looked around, sensing for
something, anything.
"I know, I don't…I don't want to believe it either," Rogue answered as putting
her arm around Laura to try and give her some comfort. "But I know what I saw
and….Harry got vaporized by that ship."
"Well let's make whoever's inside answer," Laura stated, as she edged forward,
claws bared and ready to go. Her eyes narrowed slightly when the girl tried to
make her way towards the ship.
The dark haired girl slashed against the ship but it did not even scratch
against the ship. There was nothing that indicated that ship was anything of
this Earth, in fact, with Laura's claws, she should have been able to scratch
it and rip it open in time. Yet, there was nothing, not even a scratch, not
even a….
"First mutants, than some alien ship!"
"Fucking Friends of Humanity, why won't they shut up?" Kitty swore as she
balled her fists in anger, about ready to rip their heads about now.
"Kid, I feel your pain but we got to get out of here, there's going to be
police, government officials, and all kinds of other shit moving around here,"
Logan stated as the other heroes nodded, with Captain America trying to pacify
the crowd. Logan stopped to address his old friend. "Best of luck, Steve,
you're going to need it with these guys."
Captain America acknowledged Logan with a brief nod, inclining his head enough
to acknowledge Logan before he pushed himself out of the way. The Spirit of the
United States of America eyed all of the people before him before he responded
with a deep voice. "Back off people, you need to focus, there are lives on the
line."
"Yeah, get back, you don't want to be around the fallout, for all we know these
meteor rocks could turn you into mutants," Hawkeye responded as he stood by the
side and that caused a few of the Friends of Humanity members to step back. Of
course, Hawkeye was not sure if he was completely wrong, who knew what these
glowing green rocks could do. They could give people super powers.
Fury kept walking forward, keeping an inventory on everything that was around
him. The last thing he wanted or needed was any of this alien technology to
fall into the wrong hands. Of course, his agents struggled with the ship which
rested dormant in the middle of the street. One of them spun around to face
Fury.
"It won't budge, sir," the agent responded and Fury kept a careful eye on this
agent.
"See if you can make it budge then, any way you can manage," Fury answered in
his most gruff voice and they reached the ship, putting their backs into it,
when the ship burst open and smoke filled it. "Back off men, back off."
The shadowed figure escaped the ship and she zipped around, staggering because
of the green rocks a little bit but the adrenaline pushed her to resist that,
as she flew into them, attacking them like a cornered animal. She knocked them
down, a wide eyed expression on her face and speaking in a language that none
of them could understand. The SHIELD agents could not see who she was or rather
what she was, for she shot into the air like a cork and flew off into the
distance, leaving her ship opened in the middle of Time Square.
One of the SHIELD agents stepped forward and tried to place a hand on the ship
but a jolt knocked him back.
"Failsafe," Fury grunted, as they needed to find a way to haul the ship away.
"Have you found our visitor?"
The SHIELD agents shook their heads, one of them double checking the radar. "I
think she went in the direction of the Artic, but why would she go there, sir?"
Fury did not answer but he was determined to find out one way or another, no
matter what.
Spider-Man pulled himself forward, joining the rest of the team, unaware that a
little black friend hitched a ride on his costume in the confusion. The web
slinger was tired and haggard like the rest of them, so they did not notice
anything.
"What was with…the freak out?" Rachel asked as she snapped her fingers but Jean
stood there, catatonic. She took a step forward, but it was in a zombified
state. Rachel snapped her fingers but Jean did not say anything.
Jean Grey could not voice what she saw but when those rocks came down, she
could feel the psychic backlash of millions of lives being snuffed out. Their
very last thoughts when they died and there was something encoded on that ship
as well. Whoever the visitor was inside the ship, she was connected to the
Phoenix Force, at least in some minor way.
Said Phoenix Force was not responding to Jean, not that the telepath responded
to anyone now, even the calls of her name.
"Jean, are you alright?" Ororo asked her and Jean nodded her head, but her eyes
were blank and her pupils were milky white. "Are you certain? Do you need
medical attention."
"I am fine!" Jean yelled, her temper flaring and causing people to step back.
She was capable of intimidation without the Phoenix Force.
The X-Men moved off, there was still the matter of Magneto and his Acolytes
that slipped away into the night. And the fact that there was an alien ship
sitting in the middle of Time Square.
From the alien ship, a silver fluid that had been attached to the bottom it
drained off the ship and down the nearest storm drain.
===============================================================================
Harry was cold, and miserable when he was face down in the Artic, it was almost
like something took away his powers. The piece of the green rock impaled into
the side of his shoulder and into his chest, not to mention the side of his
neck, making it completely hard to get up to his feet. He was going to die
here, completely frozen and buried in the snow.
If he was perfectly honest, he would have expected the ending to be a lot less
more….well it would have been a lot more exciting if he had the choice. Not
that it really mattered, when Harry shook his head and carefully inched his way
to a standing position, for a few seconds at the very least. Then his knees
buckled and turned before he collapsed in the snow, breathing heavily.
'Fuck not good, fuck not good, fuck not good, fuck not good,'Harry thought to
himself with a shiver feeling cold like he was certain that he should not, but
he managed to dig the jagged pieces of green rock out of his arm. He could
barely perform a warming charm and since he was still drained from the mass
teleportation, he rested in the snow.
He heard a loud boom in the air and Harry wondered if anyone would even see him
in this snow and ice. There was an abundant amount of it and he saw the purple
crystal that flew out of his box in the snow. A swirling of light surrounded it
and he could barely keep his eyes open to see the progress of it seemingly
sinking into the snow.
Harry faded from existence, giving himself a small shuddering breath, before he
blacked completely out. He never blacked out this badly, not even from the
Dementors. He never came this close to dying, not even from the Killing Curse.
His few, tortured, tormented, and fragmented thoughts caused hands to twitch
together. He felt the icy cold around him but suddenly his body warmed up.
A pair of hands gently lifted Harry up above the snow, but his head fell back
as he sank into the cold dark abyss of his mind.
Had Harry been able to see something, he would have seen a huge crystal
fortress erupting from the snow, with security the likes of which the world had
never seen. The flying figure trafficked him towards this crystal fortress.
"Hang on," she breathed in his ear, even though he was scarcely could be awake
and the rocks weakened her as well. "I can't lose you…this soon after finding
you."
She pressed her palm onto the crystal fortress and it scanned every inch of her
body. The Fortress also scanned for life forms around the snow but when it
judged that they were alone, it allowed the two to enter it.
The blood of Harry Potter left splattered in the snow but his body, busted and
battered from saving the day, would heal once again.
She entered the Fortress, feeling more at ease now that she was in a place much
like the world that she left and not like a world that she barely understood.
===============================================================================
Norman Osborn understood many things and understanding opportunity was
something that made him one of the key businessmen in the world. Even with the
set back with the goblin formula, Osborn remained one of the top of the mark
and his tenacious attitude allowed him to accomplish successes that were barely
known until this moment. His eyes narrowed before he saw his men.
"The ship, SHIELD tries to secure it, but they keep failing," Osborn remarked
to his men and they nodded. A wide grin spread over his face. Many people would
panic about little green men or whatever visiting, thinking they would be on
the precipice of an alien invasion. Osborn sought opportunity to strengthen his
defenses and potentially put himself in a higher standing. "If Oscorp acquires
this ship, then we can build weapons, weapons that will put us light years
ahead of anyone else."
The stooges nodded but Osborn did not care about their opinions, all he cared
about was the success of the business. Time and time again, people tried to
undermine him, people like Octopus and Spider-Man but now he had the last
laugh.
"If they get to the ship before I do, Fury's likely going to squander its
potential," Osborn added when he kept his eyes firmly on the crew. "We must
wait until nightfall, so we can make a plan and get that ship."
"But if SHIELD cannot get the ship, how can we get it, sir?"
Osborn did not answer that question quite yet, although there were numerous
possibilities rolling around in the back of his head. Carefully, the owner of
Oscorp mulled over everything. He had left explicit instructions for his
underlings that even a child could not screw up. His eyes closed and a wide
grin spread over his face, sinister and it would send shivers down the spine of
the most hardened of men in the world.
"Patience, you will understand, you will know," Osborn responded crisply as he
brought up the scans around the area. He had a truckload of the meteors already
which he would study.
Spending plenty of time turning over the circumstances of what occurred in his
mind; Osborn would succeed where many had failed. Unlocking the secrets of life
in other worlds would be his to accomplish and his alone. His eyes twisted in
malice.
"Patience, that will win the day," Osborn responded with a rotting smile on his
face.
"I'm sorry sir…."
Osborn held his hand up before he watched the underling. "No, don't apologize.
That means you don't believe in what you do. Don't apologize, because I never
do."
Osborn paused.
"Conviction will do you well. I must return before I'm missed. I will return
before nightfall."
Norman Osborn plotted what he would do with that alien technology, feeling that
the gift from the sky was his to claim. The first run as the Green Goblin did
not go as planned but the second time around, it would be like magic. And all
who wronged Norman Osborn would suffer. Pulling the split identity trick worked
to fool people but make no mistake about it, Osborn was in complete and utter
control of his mental facilities.
===============================================================================
"I still can't believe it," Laura persisted stubbornly with a cross expression
on her face.
"If it makes you feel better, I can't believe it either," Logan responded as
the others stood by the side, in various states of mourning. While they all
expected Harry to leave the Mansion someday, it was not as a pile of ashes in
the middle of Time Square. "Too clean, too nice, too….easy for my liking."
Laura did not say anything but was glad that someone shared her thoughts. Wanda
and Jean had something go wonky with their powers; even if for some reason
Wanda was held better together out of the two of them than Jean did. She could
not begin to understand what happened. If Harry was here, then Harry would
know.
"He's….they never found anything did they, not even a body?" Kurt asked as he
edged over, Rogue, Kitty, Rachel, and Amara were all in funks as they looked up
at the sky with reddened eyes.
Gwen edged over to the side.
"So are you are holding up?" Kitty asked Gwen but Gwen shook her head.
"I'm fine because he's not really dead," Gwen responded in a nonchalant voice.
"Gwen, I know…denial and all that but we saw him," Rogue answered when she eyed
the brainy blonde but said girl crossed her arms over her chest.
"I know what you thought what you saw but it doesn't mean that I have to
believe everything that you think that you've saw," Gwen answered, but she
looked up in the sky, thoughtful.
There were so many things happening at once, that Gwen could hardly believe
that anyone should trust their own eyes. Between the meteors falling, the
flashes of light, the Sentinels, and everything else going on around them,
there were huge explosions. The young wizard who saved them all, countless
civilians, it seemed rather disappointing that he would have dropped completely
dead after that sacrifice.
Gwen placed a hand on her eyes and whistled completely, before she saw a woman
wearing glasses with her platinum blonde hair tied back, with a black jacket,
t-shirt, and jeans.
"I don't think he's gone either, I couldn't really see it but I was there in
the crowd," Felicia remarked when she inclined her head, to pay some respects
in case she was wrong.
"And with no body, I don't think any of us can…well you know I don't know,"
Gwen responded, she did not want to cut in at this funeral with conspiracy
theories. The blonde closed a pair of blue eyes and hoped that everything will
turn out okay.
Kitty always feared that something would happen that would pull Harry back into
his main universe. And Harry shared that fear in many ways, she suspected. But
getting pulled into that world would be…well Kitty couldn't tell if it would be
worse than dying. That was one thing that she could not fathom in her mind
ever.
All they knew was there was a likelihood that Harry was never coming back. A
couple of days passed since the incident and a memorial had been erected at the
Xavier Institute.
Scott stood but said nothing, watching Jean sit there, apparently catatonic by
grief.
Off to the side, unnoticed by anyone, a woman with dark hair and violet eyes,
dressed in a black blazer, red blouse, and black skirt with high heels watched
from the side. The intrepid reporter slipped off before she was noticed.
===============================================================================
Harry's eyes flickered open when he was surrounded by an ice palace, his body
completely healed by the energies around him. His fingers flickered a little
bit when he brought himself back up to life, his heart beating against his
chest.
"Welcome home."
This voice was remembered by Harry and he saw her standing there in the bright
light. He felt a throbbing in the back of his head. She was there, the girl
from his dreams, and she watched him, nervous but bold at the same time.
"Home, where is…."
She placed a finger to his mouth, shushing him, before throwing her arms around
him a tight hug.
"We are the last two, the very last two," she breathed in his ear.
"So you're another survivor from the Wizarding World?" Harry asked to her.
She shook her head. "No, not that world, your real home, where you were born,
but I'm sorry."
"Sorry about what?" Harry responded.
"I felt everything when I woke up, every pain that you ever felt during your
life, and the despair…the longing to have things that others take for granted,"
she answered as she watched him. "You've been out for almost eleven days; the
world thinks that you're dead."
She curled up next to him, resting her head down on his chest.
"I think about it all, and I miss it all, you don't remember them, your
parents, mine, everyone else, even Zod," she responded, biting down on her lip,
looking terrified and a bit vulnerable, with Harry pulling her into him. She
wore white fabric around her body, a silver bracelet, a red headband, with
flowing golden blonde hair and shimmering blue eyes. "But with you and with
this place, I'm home."
She paused.
"It's down to the two of us to preserve our bloodline, our race," the blonde
added, rocking back and forth against Harry. "Kal-El."
That name was not registered with Harry. "You must have me mistaken for someone
else."
"No, no mistake, this Fortress would have admitted you," she responded,
squeezing his neck tight in a hug. "Your father, your birth father, for all of
his faults, built this place to give you everything you'd ever need."
The tears clung to her eyebrows.
"I missed you," she breathed as she brushed his hair away from her eyes. "I'm
sorry I wasn't there for you."
"Who are you exactly?" Harry asked her, when she shifted next to him.
"Kara," she whispered timidly in his ear, biting down on her lip. "I'm from
Krypton, just like you."
Harry felt conflicted when he watched her.
"Are you displeased?"
"This is all new to me….I don't believe it," Harry responded but then he
realized that nothing about him ever could be normal.
"Seeing is believing," Kara said when she leaned against his shoulder. "I'll
teach you about Krypton, you teach me about Earth because….I really don't know
much beyond the basics. Deal?"
Harry nodded with a smile, intrigued to learn more and besides he felt too weak
to move too long or farwhich he suspected would be the case for at least a
couple of days. "Deal."
There was another voice before the two survivors of Krypton could speak.
"Welcome home, Kal-El, my son."
===============================================================================
Sirius Black was still before his eyes snapped open, to reveal a pair of slit
like red eyes and then there was high cold laughter that would have chilled
most who heard it to the bone.
===============================================================================
To Be Continued in Beyond the Veil Book Two Chapter One "Shadows of the Past
Part One" on August 19 th 2013.
I figure in my head Harry kind of looks like the Young Justice version of
Superboy now but with green eyes. And Kara is Superman: Unbound version.
Please drop_by_the_archive_and_comment to let the author know if you enjoyed
their work!
