Chapter 90: Chapter 89
(Happy weekend dudes and duddets. Hoped you had a great one. Next chappy is on Sunday. Till then)
They didn't know him, but since I decided to take him under my wing, it was only right that he understood this side of the business as well.
We sat outside, far away from the house, on Scott's insistence, and unfortunately, Yes—he did count as a leader, much to my chagrin. We each had a chair, and I opened the floor by explaining the situation.
"Left to me, I'd never want to see some of you again," I said, eyes lingering on Scott, "but I can't hold the actions of a misguided few against an entire group. Some of you have wondered who, or rather what, my parents were, and I can confirm that at least one of them was an extraterrestrial. They're called demons; no, they're not technically the demons you're thinking of. They come from another dimension, and they want our world…"
I went into detail about what the demons were and why they were after the mutants. I even gestured to Rin, who waved awkwardly, informing them that he was also part demon.
I finished off by explaining why Ilyana was trapped with Ororo in Limbo.
Surprisingly, Logan and Beast took my condition as an Extraterrestrial in stride, breezing past it to focus on their missing student and companion. Surprisingly, Scott didn't judge me because of what I was.
"A mutation linked to a foreign realm, fascinating," Dr. Hank said. "We'd been operating under the notion that she was a regular teleporter. This certainly explains why we've been unable to locate her and Ororo via Satellite technology and all our other channels.
"And you're sure?" Logan asked. "You saw her there with those red eyes of yours?"
Logan's demand put me on edge. I could be wrong, but then again, Ilyana Rasputin has had the same mutation in every permutation of the Marvel Universe I've encountered. It was likely the same in this instance as well. Still, I couldn't be completely sure, and there in lay the rub.
But it was a gamble I had to take if we were to move forward.
I nodded.
"At least we're sure," he said, rubbing his brow. "Now we know where to look for her."
"Thank you for telling us," Hank said. "It has been a major concern up until now."
Scott scoffed. "You're pretending he wasn't the reason her mutation triggered in the first place."
That earned me a side-eye from Logan, and Rin stared on, eagerly soaking up the drama. If he had popcorn, I bet he'd be munching on it right now.
I folded my arms and sighed. "It would've happened, with or without my input. At least she's with Ororo. She can protect her."
Scott scoffed. "That's your defense? That you sent two people instead of one?"
I shrugged. "I don't know what you want from me, kid. I did try to warn all of you, but you were either too far up your ass or brainwashed. In your case, it's both. If you want to lay everything that happened on someone, It should be Xavier."
Scott looked affronted by my very suggestion.
"What the professor did might've been wrong," Scott started, "but it was ultimately for our own good. He helped me be the best version of myself I could be, and he did the same for most other kids. Helped them quit bad habits, taught them to protect themselves, and even helped Jean. She had her power under control before you came along. And she was happy and listened." He threw his hands up. "Look what your 'liberation' has caused."
His words hurt more than they should. I couldn't say there were no consequences to my actions. People have been hurt, and my actions would likely hurt even more people in the future, but I was making the best decisions I could with the tools I had.
I made mistakes, but my existence on this planet was a net positive. Jean's eventual blow-out could've been orders of magnitudes worse. In the comics, a few solar systems went kaput in her rage.
I might've unintentionally incited a race war, but it was better than the alternative.
Or at least that's what I told myself.
Either way, Shin made it crystal clear what my options were.
Obey or Perish.
I was working to remedy that condition.
However, Jean spoke before I could open my mouth to defend myself.
I'd given her the space to gather her thoughts all this while, and it seemed the subject of the Professor had been what officially broke her silence.
"You got off the easiest in some twisted way," Jean said to Scott. "When I was in his mind, I saw what he did firsthand. The people he's hurt are protecting us. The minds he's wiped and enslaved, the lives he's ruined, all in the name of protecting mutant kind; a task he ultimately failed at by stifling me, scarring Logan, and hypnotizing Dr. Hank."
"Dante was right to help me. The Phoenix's awakening could've been much, much worse," she winced, then took a deep breath. "Ultimately, he had to die because the Phoenix wanted it, and so did I…at the time. If I had known it would turn out this way, I would've stayed my hand, at least until I was strong enough to help the people he's hurt."
Scott's hand tightened around the armrests of his chair. "I didn't…" he trailed off, then looked at me, face cycling between outrage and respect.
"Which brings us to why we're here," I said before the angry teenager sidetracked us any further. He could hash out his drama with Jean later.
"Senator Kelly," Dr. Hank helpfully supplied. "He's one of the many Xavier's paid special attention. According to him, Xavier ruined his life, caused his divorce, and left him practically destitute."
Logan grunted in his chair. "I remember him—one of the darkest things Xavier had me do. We went over to that man's house for months. He wanted to push mutant registration. Charles tried it the easy way, but he refused to budge. The results were unsavory, to say the least…"
"SHIELD tried to suppress the video, but it traveled far and wide enough to be a problem. People are going to start getting ideas. It won't be long before nations start pushing the bill, and given the video and Kelly's subsequent disappearance, it's going to fucking pass. It doesn't help that Kelly is currently MIA. I'm certain the demons have him."
"You think they're generating mass panic to round up more of us?" Logan asked.
I shrugged. "Tracks with their MO. We just came back from a secret base where they were rounding up Mutants. We put an end to that, though."
The news surprised Logan, Hank, and Scott.
"What?" I shifted in my seat. "I very much like living. If they get their hands on enough mutants, they'll figure out their weird Uber-Hybrid, and then we'll all be properly fucked. This brings me to why we're really here. The director sent us to protect you for the time being in case any demons show up, but I think it'd be smarter if we could relocate you too somewhere more defensible. We're friends with the leaders of the sorcerers. They could hook us up. We can't rescue Ilyana and Storm if all of you get caught and dragged to Limbo."
"Isn't that where we'll end up anyway?" Scott asked. "It could be a quick and easy way to pop down there and get the girls out. If we take our heaviest hitters, we can—"
"All die a very slow and painful death," I cut him off again, which pissed him off even more.
"I knew you were all talk," he snorted, immediately writing me off. "You just want us in your war; you don't want to help them."
"It's suicide, as we all are right now," I said simply. "There are millions, probably billions of them, down there, and you think we stand a chance?"
I was genuinely curious about his answer.
"Honestly, our only shot of maybe ending all of this before it gets out of hand is having Jean let loose and burn their entire realm to the ground," I casually said, and all eyes turned to Jean.
"I could," she admitted somewhat awkwardly. "But I'd rather not end all of those lives."
"We could destroy the bridge that links the two realms together as well," I said, thinking out loud. I didn't forget to flare my eyes.
I would need the Space Stone. I smiled internally. Yet, another 'justifiable' reason to get it from Fury.
"You can do that?" Rin asked, a bit surprised. Scott scoffed.
"In theory, probably," I said, blinking away the red. "But I'm honestly very fuzzy on the details."
"Another vision?" Hank said enthusiastically. "What did you see exactly?"
"I'm not sure," I said ponderously. "I saw six artefacts of great power. One of them is on earth, and I'm convinced that it could help us permanently solve our demon problem."
"Wait. Really!" Rin piped up while Jean gave me a confused look. She knew I was playing things up to get them onboard.
It was a bit premature to put it out there, especially when I was nowhere near ready to wield the power of the stones, but it was a legitimate way. I would approach Fury after the Hulk becomes a problem. Hopefully, I would've had enough time to build up my body until then.
"That sounds a lot less scientific than I imagined," Hank admitted, somewhat deflated.
"Sorry to disappoint, Doc," I said. "My powers are not exactly scientific."
"I suppose," he muttered.
"But I've never been wrong," I reminded them.
"No, he hasn't," Logan begrudgingly agreed.
"So…what do you say to my offer of protection?"
"Hell no!" Scott snapped. "I admit I have an axe to grind, but there is no way in hell the kids would agree to leave with you. In their eyes, you killed the Professor, turned Jean bad, and hurt Ilyana, Storm, and Piotr. I'm not going to be the one to convince them otherwise when I don't believe a single word out of your mouth," he finished.
"What if I told you I'm going to be there to personally guarantee their safety," Jean offered, but Scott looked away.
"I'm sorry, Jean, but your words don't carry as much weight as they used to after the mansion."
Jean bit her lip and lowered her head.
"While Scott is right about the children's disposition," Dr. Hank said, "we cannot trade sentiment and outrage for safety. I will push for the relocation, but I need Logan's support to make that happen."
I looked over at the buff, stout man with hopeful eyes.
"Come on," I urged. "The fate of mutant kind and the world is in the balance here."
Logan let out a long sigh. "I know you're trying, kid," he began, and my heart dropped, waiting for the dreaded 'but,' and when it came, it was a complete gut punch. "But I don't just trust you. Or the government. Sure, the demon threat is real, but can you assure me that the government doesn't have any nefarious plan cooking behind the scenes?"
"Yes!" I let out a frustrated yell. Was he kidding me? I just spent the better part of the week removing them. "But I couldn't tell him about that. The particulars of the mission were supposed to live and die with us. "Look, our boss, Director Nick Fury, is a fair man. You both should've fought in World War II together."
"Fury," Logan's eyes widened a bit. "Yeah, I knew him before he became a spook. But the fact that he's still kicking around is evidence enough that he isn't all that he seems. No one in the government is. After Charles, I'm not sure I can trust anyone," he said, "even if he can see the future."
I watched as they all got up and left, one by one, slack-jawed.
"What the fuck just happened!"
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