SINISTER RECKONING

Part I: Homecoming

By Dino Pollard

She’s late…

That’s the only thought running through his head as he stands in front of the gates to Empire State University. The sun was bright, yet the ruby-quartz sunglasses he wore wouldn’t allow him to acknowledge the brightness of the day.

Scott Summers focused his eyes on his watch.

1:27… she’s not showing up… God I feel like an idiot…

He took a drag on the cigarette between his fingers. He knew he shouldn’t smoke, but it helped relax him when he was stressed out. Better out here than on campus, anyway. The last thing he needed was another speech from Monet about the dangers of polluting her air.

“Nice glasses!” someone exclaimed, grabbing them off his face.

“Hey!” Scott shouted, instantly shutting his eyes and bringing his free hand up to cover them. “What are you doing?!”

“Oh calm down…” the person stated, sliding his glasses back on his face. “There, how’s that?”

Scott opened his eyes, and looked up at the person.

“Just… perfect…” he muttered, looking up to see Maggie standing there. Her blonde hair spilled down her back. She was wearing a white top, khaki pants, and a thin, beige jacket. She smiled down at him.

“Sorry I’m late,” she said. “And for jumping you like that.”

“No worries,” Scott grinned. “So, you ready?”

“Yeah,” she said. “Where we going?”

“Oh, I dunno…” Scott replied. “I thought maybe we’d just go for a little walk.”

“A walk? Is that the best you can do?”

“You better believe it,” he stated, dropping the cigarette and putting it out with his shoe. “Who knows what else we might find, though?”

“You’re a strange man, Scott Summers…” Maggie muttered.

“And you love me for it,” he said, putting his arm around her. She smiled and leaned into him.

“You better not forget it.”

“Sir, you can’t go in-UHH!!!”

*SLAM*

Nick Fury looked up as the man stormed into his office. Outside, a SHIELD agent was lying on the ground.

“Don’t worry, I didn’t kill ‘im.”

“Shouldn’t you be in Westchester?” Fury asked. “What the hell are you doing here, Logan?”

“Where is he?”

“Who?”

“YOU KNOW DAMN WELL WHO!!” Logan exclaimed, slamming his fist on Fury’s desk. The mutant drew a deep breath before speaking again. “Creed. Where is he?”

“Wish I knew,” Fury replied. “But I don’t.”

“What the hell do you mean you don’t know?!” Logan shouted. “He was apprehended by government agents!!”

“No government agency apprehended Creed,” Fury noted. “If they did, they must’ve been a third party. We’re still tryin’ to figure out who is behind this, but so far we don’t have any leads.”

“Someone is runnin’ around out there with the world’s deadliest assassin,” Logan stated. “An’ you have no leads?!”

“HAVE YOU BEEN OUT THERE?!?” Fury shouted, leaping from his chair. “DO YOU KNOW WHAT’S GOING ON?! IN CASE YOU DIDN’T REALIZE IT, SOLDIER, THERE’S A WAR GOING ON!!! WE’VE GOT SHIELD AGENTS SCOURING THE MIDDLE EAST TRYIN’ TO LOCATE BIN LADEN, THERE ARE ANTHRAX SCARES ACROSS THE COUNTRY, HALF THE POPULATION IS TERRIFIED TO GO INTO THE AIR, AND I’VE GOT THE PRESIDENT, NOT TO MENTION THE UN, BREATHING DOWN MY NECK!!! RIGHT NOW, SHIELD’S MAIN PRIORITY IS STOPPING A CAMPAIGN AGAINST TERRORISM FROM TURNING INTO WORLD WAR THREE!!! SO YOU’LL FORGIVE ME FOR SAYING, BUT VICTOR CREED CAN WAIT HIS DAMN TURN!!!”

Silence filled the air for a few seconds before Fury sat down again, becoming calmer.

“Even if Sabretooth is out there, he’s not an idiot,” Fury continued. “He’ll be laying low for awhile.”

“Nick…”

“Don’t even bother, Logan,” Fury interrupted. “This isn’t your concern. This ain’t your war. Go back to the X-Men. That’s where you’re needed right now.”

“What about the Afghans?” Logan asked. “Don’t you want the X-Men’s assistance?”

“As of right now, no,” Fury replied. “The President has specifically requested to keep the X-Men away from this matter. You’re to concentrate on mutant issues. There’s enough strife in the UN right now about weapons. An’ a mutant strike force falls in that category. Lay low. If we need your help, we’ll ask for it.”

“What’re ya gonna do?”

“If it were up to me, I’d find bin Laden and arrange his major organs in alphabetical order. But it’s not. If we locate him, we’re to capture him and bring him in. Then we’re supposed to turn him over to the UN. That’s fucking politics for ya.”

“Right…” Logan stated. “I should get back to base. Lemme know if you find anything on Creed.”

{{ …OH MY GOD!!! ANOTHER PLANE JUST FLEW INTO THE SECOND TOWER… }}

{{ …the worst attack on the nation since Pearl Harbor… }}

{{ …some passengers apparently rebelled against the terrorists… }}

{{ …so soon after the attack on Times Square by the mutant terrorist Magneto, one wonders if New York will ever truly be the same… }}

*CLICK*

“Dear God, Erik… is this what you wanted? A world where we would constantly live in fear? A world where people are constantly looking over their shoulder, suspecting everyone?”

Charles looked at the framed picture of him standing next to Erik Lehnsherr and a striking young woman with raven-colored hair.

“BASTARD!!!” he exclaimed, throwing the picture at the wall.

*CRASH*

“What madness corrupted your soul?” Charles asked himself. “What happened to those three young individuals who were going to change the world?”

*KNOK*

The door opened a crack, and Jean stood there.

“Charles? I thought I heard somethi-”

“It’s all right, Jean, come in,” Charles stated. Jean noticed the picture and shattered frame lying near the wall.

“What happened?” Jean asked, looking over there.

“It’s not important,” Charles replied, wheeling himself behind his desk. He grabbed some papers and pretended to be doing some actual work.

Jean telekinetically lifted the picture and it hovered there a bit before racing into her hand.

“The guy in this picture looks familiar…” she muttered.

“Is there something you needed, Jean?”

“I just came to… wait…”

“Jean?”

“This guy…” Jean began. “This is Magneto, isn’t it?”

Xavier offered no reply.

“This picture doesn’t look very old… wait, you’re friends with a mutant terrorist?!”

“Were friends,” Charles replied. “We both knew that we had different goals in mind… and different ways of achieving those goals. If push came to shove, we both understood what was at stake.”

“So… what are we gonna do?”

“Magneto is still in a coma – he’s harmless.”

“No… I meant what are we gonna do about the terrorist attacks?”

Silence filled the void left by Jean Grey’s words.

“Professor? Charles?”

“…I have no idea, Jean,” Xavier replied. “This isn’t something that can be solved by running in and throwing around super strength, optic blasts, or adamantium claws. Magneto was just one man. one man who’s influence – thankfully – hasn’t become widespread. But this is something entirely different. These are terrorist organizations behind the attacks. They have followers probably in every nation on the planet. How are we supposed to fight such large numbers? And if we did, would we be right in doing so?”

“Sure, why not?”

“Whether you approve of their beliefs or not doesn’t change the fact that they’re still beliefs. These people are willing to die for what they believe in. How can you fight someone like that and come out on top?”

Now it was Jean’s turn to be silent.

“Well why not?!” John demanded.

“Because it’s not right, that’s why,” Ali replied.

“So these people can just kill tons of American citizens, and we can’t do anything about it? That’s bull.”

“I don’t think killing more innocent people is gonna help matters,” Ali stated.

“I still say we should nuke the bastards,” John noted. “If we send in ground troops, then we’ll have to worry about a war. That means a draft. That means that a lot of soldiers are gonna die. You can cut through all that by just firing off some nukes.”

“Thereby turning it into an even bigger international incident,” Hank interjected from his seat. “If we nuke the Afghans, then we’ll have the UN all over our collective asses. Not to mention the fact that the Middle East would become an uninhabitable wasteland. Decades later, the effects of Hiroshima and Nagasaki are still being felt.”

“What?” John asked.

“Are you truly an imbecile or is it all just an act?” Monet asked. “World War II. When the US dropped atomic bombs on Japan. The cities were Hiroshima and Nagasaki. I would expect them to have drilled it into your head in history classes.”

“Well… they might’ve,” John replied with a grin. “But I was busy paying more attention to Whitney Cavanah.”

“Typical male,” Monet stated, walking out of the room. Hank noticed she left her book there, grabbed it, and followed her.

*BRIIIING*

“Yo,” John stated, picking up the phone. “Who? No… no he’s not here. He went out. I dunno… maybe a few hours or so… Okay… okay, I’ll let him know. Yeah, bye.”

“Who was that?” Ali asked.

“Someone for Scott,” John replied. “Where’d Beastie boy and Miss Priss run off to?”

Ali shrugged.

“Monet!” Hank exclaimed. “Hey, you forgot your book.”

Monet stopped and looked at him. When he handed the book to her, she smiled and took it.

“Thank you.”

She turned to continue walking before he spoke up.

“Hey… umm listen… I was wondering if you studied for that calc test… and if you hadn’t, then maybe we could… umm… kind of study together… maybe… if you wanted to, that is… because it’s probably pretty hard and…”

“Henry, stop babbling and ask me out, already,” Monet ordered. Hank looked up at her in surprise.

“Okay umm… do you wanna go out sometime?”

“I’d love to,” she said. “But right now, I have some work to do. We’ll talk later.”

She took flight in the hallway, heading back towards the dorms. Hank turned away, a massive grin on his face. He looked around to make sure no one was watching, and leapt into the air, clicking his heels together.

Later

Scott opened the door to his dorm and took off his jacket, tossing it in the closet. He saw John laying on the bed, watching TV.

“Why the hell are you smiling?” he asked. “Did she give you head or something?”

“A gentleman never tells,” Scott replied.

“What’s that got to do with you?”
“You’re lucky I don’t kick your ass back to the reservation,” Scott stated.

“Dude, you’ve been seeing that chick like, non-stop for the past month. Things’re starting to get serious?”

“You might say that…”

“Oh, that reminds me, someone called for you while you were out,” John stated, fumbling through some papers on the nightstand, trying to find the message.

“Who?” Scott asked.

“Umm… let’s see… said his name was Alex.”

“Alex?”

“Yeah, you know him?”

“You might say that,” Scott replied. “He’s my brother. What’d he want?”

“Didn’t say, just wanted you to call him back,” John said. “He sounded kinda distressed or something.”

“Alright, thanks,” Scott replied, picking up the phone. He dialed the number quickly. “Alex? Yeah, it’s me. What’s up? …Wait, slow down, man. What do you mean I need to come home? Why?”

Scott’s facial expression changed to one of fear.

“What’s wrong with Gramps and Nana?! What do you mean you’re not sure, either something’s wrong with them or it isn’t, I…”

He sighed deeply and rubbed his forehead.

“All right, I’ll try to be there as soon as I can. Just hang tight, man.”

He hung up the phone, and looked at his confused roommate.

“What the hell was that all about?” John asked.

“Family business,” Scott replied. “There’s apparently something wrong with my grandparents, so I gotta try and get out to Anchorage as soon as possible.

Anchorage

“There ya are.”

“Thanks,” Scott said, handing the cab driver the fare. “Keep the change.” He approached the front door as the cab drove off and rang the doorbell. There was a delay before the door opened to reveal a teenage boy with blonde hair standing there.

“Scott…?” he asked.

“Who else would I be?” Scott asked. “C’mon Alex, quit playing around and let me in.”

“Man, is it good to see you!” Alex exclaimed, suddenly throwing his arms around his brother’s neck.

“Whoa whoa… I missed you too, but let’s not lose our heads.”

“Right… sorry,” Alex replied.

“Come clean, man. What’s wrong wi–”

“Alex? Who’s that at the door?”

An elderly woman stepped into view and her eyes grew bright once she saw who it was.

“Scott!!” she exclaimed. “My god, what are you doing back?!”

“Hey Nana,” Scott said, giving his grandmother a hug. He glanced at Alex, who shook his head. “I… I just thought I’d drop by for a surprise visit.”

“Scotty!!!” an elderly man exclaimed. “What are you doing home?!”

“We’re on break right now, Gramps,” Scott lied. Alex wanted him here for something, and he didn’t want their grandparents to know. Scott was willing to play along for now – but he still wanted to know what the hell was going on.

“I wish you would’ve called us first, Scotty,” Gramps said. “But what the hey – your room’s still the same way you left it.”

“Alex, time’s up.”

“Huh? Whaddaya mean?”

“What the hell’s going on?” Scott asked. “Gramps and Nana seem perfectly normal. Sure, they’re a little eccentric, but they’ve always been like that.”

“There’s something not right about them, Scott…” Alex replied. “Gramps spends a lot of time in the basement for some reason. I tried to see what was down there one day, and he started yelling at me. Gramps never yelled at us. He always left the discipline stuff to Nana, remember?”

“…well yeah…”

“And Nana’s acting weird… just… weird. It feels like I’m stuck in the Twilight Zone or something. I dunno what the fuck I’m supposed to do.”

“Shit Alex… I’ve got priorities back in New York – I’ve gotta worry about classes and you’re calling me out here because you’ve got a case of fucking paranoia…”

“Why don’t you check the basement before you start accusing me of being paranoid?” Alex asked. “Gramps caught me when I tried to go down there.”

“Fine,” Scott replied. “I’ll check out the basement, and then you’ll see that you’re just being a pain in the ass.”

Elsewhere

Erik Lehnsherr.

Once the most dangerous man on the planet is now as harmless as a newborn baby. He lies in a plastic containment unit, so in the improbable event that he awakes from his coma, he won’t be able to free himself.

A man with short, red hair and dark sunglasses stood over him. He looked down at the life-support systems.

“It would be so easy…” he muttered. “All I’d have to do is pull the plug, and the world would never have to worry about Magneto anymore.”

He took his glasses off and cleaned them with a handkerchief he pulled out of his breast pocket. Then, he replaced them.

“You do realize that you’ve been my greatest ally, don’t you?” he asked. “Thanks to you, the world fears mutants. Thanks to you, the M-Squad will soon become a full-fledged organization on par with the FBI. And, if all goes well, Project: WIDEAWAKE will be next. You stupid bastard – don’t you realize that you’ve basically doomed your entire, accidental species?”

Henry Peter Gyrich expected no reply, simply leaving the room.

And something moved…

Anchorage

Scott Summers walked down into the basement. At first, it seemed relatively normal. Everything was just the way he expected it to be.

“Alex, you fucking pussy…” he muttered under his breath – despite the fact that Alex was still upstairs. Scott knew that he wouldn’t find anything down here. He just came down to ease Alex’s fears.

Just as Scott was about to go back up the stairs, he spotted a sliver of odd light coming from a crack in the wall.

“Huh?” he asked, moving closer. He examined the crack, and suddenly, the wall slid to the side.

Behind it were computers and lab equipment that made SHIELD’s equipment seem outdated. But that’s not what frightened him. It was what was in the center of the room.

Two large vats, filled with some sort of green material that almost resembled Jell-O. Inside the vats were his grandparents, attatched to all sorts of wires.

“Holy shit…”

*KLUNK*

*KLUNK*

*KLUNK*

“Fuck!” Scott cursed silently, and slid into an alcove to try and hide. He looked towards the opening as a man who appeared to be Gramps walked in. ‘Gramps’ sighed deeply and seemed to relax his muscles. It was then that his form began to change shape – into that of a man with ash-white skin, short dark hair, and a red diamond in the center of his forehead.