The Mutant Wars

"There is no land of tolerance. There is no peace. Not here, nor anywhere else."

-Magneto, 1999

There is but one constant in this universe, and that is conflict. There is no agreement without discord, no group with out dissidents and no peace without terror.

And, so it is now. Magneto has won. The mutants are supreme and the humans naught but refugees, moving from place to place to avoid the genocide.

Almost as soon as victory was assured, the Mutant Wars began. The different species of mutants began to fight amongst themselves and in the end, a schism was formed.

The Elemental Mutants, the ones that control the elements—fire, water, air, weather, etcetera—and the Animalis Mutants, those who take on the powers of different animals—the clawed, the winged, the slithering—these two groups separated and each occupies land opposite the other. The Elementals think themselves superior to the Animalis, the Animalis think the same of the Elementals. They battle and war to prove superiority and to achieve victory for their kind. Each attempts to overtake the other and now they are at a stalemate.

Even among each of these groups there is division. Class rankings, between one and five, dominate each group. Since no class five mutants are allowed to live, only class four mutants take positions as leaders. Class one mutants are looked down upon, though not completely excluded from daily life.

And what of the others? The minority of mutants who are neither Elemental, nor Animalis? The psychics, the shape-shifters, the speed demons, the healers, the regenerators, the impossibly strong, the teleporters? What of them?

They are the mediators or the mercenaries, each of them hiring themselves out to the highest bidder, choosing whatever side suits them, or in some cases, staying out of the way altogether. They are the strongest, but the least in number, and can afford to fight or not to fight. The others, the Elementals, and the Animalis, have little choice.

The world has change since you and I were obliterated from its face. Money is no longer power. Power is power. Economy is meaningless, property even less. It would be Utopian, were it not for the wars.

It is sixty years since the creation of the Cure and its defeat. Sixty years, and you would not recognize the world.

Enter the Mutant Wars.

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Chapter 1: Defection

On a dark day, in a dimly lit room, the class four mutant Fellswoop, a flyer, was waiting for someone. He stood at the wide open window and sensed a storm, smelled rain on the wind. This window was, as always, open; during the hottest heat waves this side of the Pacific, throughout the coldest winters—it was never shut.

"Fellswoop, meet Velocity, class three speed demon." Satyr introduced the tousled-haired messenger and left the room.

Fellswoop examined the young man apathetically, his large yellow eyes flitting from here to there, purple centers focusing on one thing or another. He knew of Velocity, but had never met him in person. His full, iridescent violet wings widened and fell, and his clawed feet took two steps forward. "Velocity," he said, repeating the name. "Why have you come?"

Velocity smiled, bowing his head slightly to Fellswoop, who was entitled to such respect, as the class four mutant in charge of the Animalis mutant advance. "Fellswoop, I'm here on behalf of Godspeed, class four, weather-worker, commander in charge of—"

"I'm well aware of Godspeed's position. Go on."

Velocity nodded generously. "She has requested a meeting with you."

Fellswoop's cold blood went colder. A meeting? A meeting could lead to a treaty, or refreshed anger and more war. Either way, there would be dire consequences, on both sides. "To what end?" he asked.

Velocity shrugged. "Peace."

"Peace?" Fellswoop crossed his thin, lithe arms. "Peace?" he repeated. The word was foreign, almost ugly, and most definitely strange. "We have been at war for five decades."

"She is aware of this."

"What means can she provide? What can she possibly have to say that will stop the fighting?"

Velocity went on, ignoring Fellswoop's questions. "Godspeed has requested that this meeting, should it take place, will be held in Animalis territory."

This took Fellswoop by surprise. "She would come here?"

Velocity nodded slowly. "Yes."

"Why?"

The speed demon spread his hands and look at Fellswoop with incredulity, "Why, commander, Godspeed is defecting."

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"It's a trick!" Centaur exclaimed. He, Fellswoop and the other class fours, sat around the table, discussing Godspeed's offer. Velocity stood at one end of the table, having related the proposal.

Fellswoop was familiar with Velocity. He often served as a messenger, or information retriever for the Animalis. He was relatively young, though not a boy, and a class three speed demon. He was more trustworthy than not and his information was reliable, on the whole.

The idea of "peace in our time" was met with the skepticism Fellswoop had expected. He, too, was among the cynics and pessimists. He was not a believer in peace. But, when something you don't believe in comes knocking at your door, how can you not let it in?

Still, Godspeed's plan of defection as a means of achieving peace was tentative, at best. How could her betrayal of her species rally them to her cause? Would it not, rather, anger them, and infuse their immediate retaliation? Still Godspeed was the most powerful Elemental, even among the other class fours; her defection would be detrimental.

Satyr raised his arms in disbelief. "Fellswoop, are you seriously considering this?"

His wings fluttered. "I am," he answered. "What have we to lose? We have been at a stalemate with the Elementals for nearly two years. Can it hurt to merely consider peace?"

"Peace is a fool's dream," Centaur spat, his deep voice resonating through the table. "And you are a fool to dream it."

"A mutant may only dream when he is sleeping, and his eyes are closed," said Creature. "Fellswoop is awake, and his eyes are open." Creature always spoke cryptically, but his meaning was clear. "You, Centaur, and you Satyr, have always been blinded by the blood in your eyes."

"I will blind you with your own blood," Centaur growled, "if you don't close your mouth!"

"Stop it," Fellswoop commanded. "Stop this. We cannot argue this. We believe what we believe. But I will meet with Godspeed. Satyr and Centaur, you disagree. Ready an army to fight, if you're right and this is indeed a trap." He turned to Creature. He was the youngest at the Table, and possibly the strangest looking. Born of two Animalis mutants, a winged one, and a slithering one, both killed in battle during his early years, he had wings on his back, and thick feathers covering half of his body. He was both spindly, like a bird, and flexible, like a snake. His skin was green and his feathers were black. One eye was blue, the other white, one pupil round black, the other slit yellow. His nose was flat to his face, like a snake's nostrils and his teeth were all fangs, but his mouth protruded slightly, reminiscent of a bird's beak. "Creature, you're with me."

Creature inclined his head slightly in acknowledgement. Centaur and Satyr did the same and left the Table.

"Will we witness the death of fifty years, now, Fellswoop?" Creature asked quietly.

"I don't know," he answered.

"Because if we do, then my parents never lived, and I am not here."

Fellswoop took Creature's arm and looked into his strange eyes. "Peace will not negate the sacrifice of your parents, Creature," he said insistently, "nothing will take the honor of their deaths away from them. Nothing!"

Velocity sat nonchalantly on the corner of the Table. "There's no honor in death, and you both know it. The wars are ending because there's nothing left to fight about."

Fellswoop looked up at the arrogant speed demon. "You have never known what it is like to fight for something worthwhile, something real. Don't speak of death as if you know it."

"Well, I know one thing," said Velocity, crossing his legs, "you're going to be late for your meeting. Godspeed will be at the city gates in a few minutes."

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Fellswoop walked towards Godspeed, who was floating just above the ground, contemplating the sky. She felt a storm's approach and she loved that feeling. Fellswoop's skin was so black in this diminished light that it was almost blue. His deep purple wine-colored wings expanded as he stepped forward, ready for a fight. Another mutant, tall and strange looking, lingered behind Fellswoop. He too had wings, but he kept them tucked away against his back. She did not know him.

"Why do you walk, Fellswoop, when you can fly?" she asked coolly.

He stepped a few feet closer to her, but not too close. He watched her with those inscrutable yellow eyes, so like a grackle's in their fierceness. They met in the street, near the central headquarters of the Animalis. The street itself was in disrepair and the buildings around it likewise. There were shops here once and human activity—no more. It was a gray day, as the storm drew nearer, and the earth turned that hazy yellow-green. Thunder in the distance.

"We should go inside," Fellswoop said. She turned to him, her short black hair spiking in the wind.

"Why? Are you afraid of the rain?" she mocked.

He took a deep breath, but did not take her bait. "Please, inside," he gestured

She touched down onto the ground. "Very well."

When they had reached the Table and sat down, Fellswoop sent for drinks and food. Two class one's entered and left, bringing victuals and something else…

Godspeed smelled the liquid and tasted it. "Wine?" she exclaimed.

"Wine," Fellswoop nodded. "We still make it. We make quite a few things on this side of the continent."

She sipped it and licked her lips. "I suppose that's the advantage of living in what was once California." She put down her glass, feeling the stinging warmth of the liquid penetrate her. "We in New York are not so lucky."

Fellswoop considered this and nodded, taking a deep drink of the wine. They picked at their food, for a bit, in silence. He was the first to speak. "Godspeed, are you going to tell me why you're here?"

Now the time had come, at last. She swallowed, and for the hell of it, she drank deeply from her glass and then began. "Fellswoop, as you well know, the Elementals and the Animalis have been at war for nearly fifty years."

"Yes, I recall that," he interrupted sarcastically, though not unkindly. His face lifted in a bitter smile. It was meant as a joke, not an insult. Interesting mutant.

She continued. "Fifty years is too long a time, too long a reality, for you or me to do anything about it, except continue the fighting. We were born into it. We have lived it." She paused, gathering her thoughts, and taking another sip of wine. "But…I am tired of fighting. You are aware, of course, that my daughter and my sister, both have been killed in battles with the Animalis."

Fellswoop nodded. "I am aware. You have my condolences."

This took her off her guard. "Your…condolences? Are you serious?"

"I've lost a sister as well. I have no children of my own, but I understand loss. You are a mutant, as I am, and we feel no differently, do we?"

Her suspicions rose and fell. "I don't know," was her answer. "My point is," she endeavored to gain back control of the conversation, "that you and I have no power to influence peace. We only have the power to war. We're fighters and nothing can change that."

"I agree with you, but I don't understand," Fellswoop said, "if, as you say, we can't create peace, why have you come to discuss it?"

Godspeed took a deep breath. "Because I have discovered a means of attaining potential peace, one that will require our skills and our powers to retrieve."

He leaned forward. "You're speaking in riddles. Say exactly what it is you mean."

Now it had come, the moment, the point, the risk. "I have discovered something, a vault, deep beneath what used to be the subway system. I've spent two years investigating it, hiring mercenaries, speed demons and mind readers, trying to discern what was inside of it. And what I've discovered is unbelievable." Fellswoop waited and she took another, hasty gulp of wine. Then, she just came right out and said it. "Apparently, the vault contains the body of Magneto, frozen, in stasis."

Fellswoop's wings rose and extended their full width, pressing up against the walls of the room. He pushed himself away from the Table and glared at her in disbelief. "Are you mad? Magneto was killed in battle almost sixty years ago. He never even lived to see the humans exterminated."

"We have been told that same story, but I don't believe it anymore. The group that guards the vault is called the Brotherhood and there is compelling evidence that suggests Magneto was taken by this group and frozen in stasis, not killed in battle. The mind readers I hired and one of my own men captured one of them and interrogated him. He told us that Magneto is alive, and in the chamber, waiting to be revived."

Fellswoop continued to look on her as if she had suggested that humans should be admitted into the Animalis. She did not blame him in the least. She could barely believe in her own words, but she knew they were true. Godspeed leaned back and shrugged. "I know this is unbelievable," she acquiesced, "but would I be here, alone, if it were not true?"

The tall mutant Godspeed did not know spoke now. He had been silent until now and she had believed him deaf or mute or both. He had been listening however, and now he had something to say. His peculiar eyes peered closely at her, focusing for the first time since they had begun this conversation. "Only the father of us all can save us now," he said, "his daughter has brought him to us, he can that move our steel hearts and open our cages."

Fellswoop looked at the other mutant. "Creature, do you believe her?"

"Godspeed controls the air and the weather cannot lie, though it may destroy, as well as create," Creature answered.

Godspeed watched this mutant anxiously. "Who are you?" she asked him. And who was he to dictate to Fellswoop, to be present at this meeting? She wanted to know.

He turned to her, the hawkish blue eye and the snake-like white one boring into her. "I am two halves of two wholes," he answered. "Creature is my name, for that is what I am."

This mutant was unnerving. She did not like him or his cryptic speech. However, it seemed his words convinced the commander of the Animalis, who nodded slowly, and spoke, "Godspeed, I believe your words. What do you intend to do now?"

She broke free of Creature's gaze and looked towards Fellswoop. "We must retrieve the body of Magneto and revive him."

"Is that…possible?"

She nodded. "I believe so. I have enlisted the services of a healer, who, theoretically, should be able to revive his body."

"And if he can't?"

"Then I will disappear and you will never see me again and the war will go on and on and on," she stated simply, folding her hands together.

Fellswoop frowned. "Why did you not simply send an army down there to retrieve it yourself? Clearly, this Brotherhood is in Elemental territory."

"Believe me, I would have, but it seems that more than one of my own commanders is a member of this Brotherhood. If I revealed to him that I know of Magneto's existence, I'm sure he would kill me. I am powerful, but against an army of my own people, I don't know if I would survive."

"Why do they keep him down there? What purpose can he serve, in stasis? It doesn't make sense."

Godspeed shrugged. "I have no idea. But the vault is heavily guarded and the Brotherhood's reach extends deep within Elemental class four commanders. I don't know who to trust."

Fellswoop raised a feather-like eyebrow. "So, you've put your trust in me?"

"An enemy can always be trusted, a friend cannot," Creature interjected somberly.

Fellswoop locked his fingers together. His face darkened. "If Magneto is brought back to life, wouldn't he be considered an Elemental?"

Godspeed's eyes narrowed. "He controlled metal, an element, so, yes, he would."

"Does it not stand to reason, then, that, should he come back, he would join your side, the Elementals?"

Godspeed followed this train of thought and saw where it was leading. "Fellswoop, Magneto was around before the Division; he has no notion of our being separated into Elementals, and non-Elementals."

Fellswoop's feathers bristled. "Non-Elementals?" he repeated in disgust and she saw at once her mistake.

She shook her head. "Forgive me. Animalis." Fellswoop nodded, but his anger had been tapped and would not easily be squelched.

"My point is," he continued, "the situation will have to be explained to him, and he will have to choose one side, or no side. And if he chooses a side, it will surely be your side. It would tip the balance we have right now, end the stalemate."

"Magneto would raise the morale of the Elementals and the Animalis wouldn't stand a chance, if what we have learned about him is true," Godspeed finished for him. "And, both of us would die," she added pointedly. "I'm here and I'm not going back. If there is an attack, and a victory, I'll have no share in it." She sighed. "Fellswoop, I don't think Magneto will choose a side. I think he will, somehow, unite us, end the wars."

Fellswoop laughed, just then, unexpectedly. She looked questioningly at him. He smiled. "It's just…the thought of him coming back—of all of this being real—and you and I just talking about him as if he were here all along…it's overwhelming." Then his face changed, and the deep blackness became even more shadowed. "I believe you…but, I want to trust you," he implored.

Godspeed ran her fingers through her spiky black hair. "Look, I've taken a huge risk in leaving Elemental territory. They'll be lost without me. Now is the time to strike…I have a battle plan that will distract the commanders and allow us to get inside the vault and take the body. A battle, a great battle—it will have to be real and quick. Can you do it?"

"I'll have to discuss this with the other class fours."

"No," said Godspeed suddenly. "You can't. The true purpose of this battle must be kept secret. You don't know if your own commanders aren't members of this Brotherhood. Rally your troops, say that you've captured me, and without me, the Elementals are at great risk."

"You would risk the lives of your own people to accomplish this?"

She looked into his eyes. "Only if you're willing to do the same."

Fellswoop stood and ran his hands down his face. Creature stood as well and the two of them began to leave to room. "Stay here," said Fellswoop, "no one will harm you. You are the more powerful among us anyway."

Godspeed nodded. "Don't tell anyone, or we're both dead," she warned.

"I'm not going to…I just…need to think. Give me ten minutes, at least," he answered soberly. His wings tensed and his clawed feet ticked along the ground as he walked out. Creature's black wings slipped through the door last. He turned and faced her.

"The storm will come," he said, "and you will not be able to control it."

Godspeed did not answer, but watched him go. When they were gone, she grabbed the bottle of wine and drank it until it was empty.

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It was a monument of greater days, of failure, but also of the beginnings of victory. He flew towards it, the water pulsing and crashing under him. Creature was close behind him. The rain had begun falling, ever so slightly, and it bounced off the water with careless ease.

The Golden Gate Bridge, derelict and almost ancient-looking loomed over him. It was still attached to Alcatraz Island, having never been fixed in sixty years. The Battle of the Cure had begun on this bridge…and more than that. It was an emblem to all that had come after it, and all that would come in time. He crouched on top of it, gripping one of the steel cables with his clawed feet. Creature did the same, and watched him, waited for him to speak.

"I don't know what to do," Fellswoop confessed to him. "Is it a trap? She could be a pawn herself and not even know it." He wracked his brains and pulled at his hair. "I just don't know."

Creature swayed with the cable as the wind picked up and the rain drove harder. "Fellswoop, don't close your eyes," he said, leaning in closer to him, "let the rain in."

Fellswoop knew this was meant figuratively, at least, he assumed it was, but at that moment, it seemed a wonderful suggestion, and he did just that. He opened his arms wide and let the rain splash into his face, into his eyes. He felt freer here, on top of this bridge, where he had always come to think. Before a battle, he would come here and try in vain to remember what it was he was fighting for. "A lot of mutants will die," he said over the storm.

"They are already dead," said Creature, "if you cannot wash the blood from your hands and heart."

He turned towards his companion, who was not looking at him and did not look at him now. And he knew he was right. If Fellswoop did not try, his people would die anyway, eventually, in the battles that would surely take place in the future. Creature's black feathers glistened with water droplets and it made him strangely beautiful, like a spider's web after a storm. "Will Magneto bring peace?"

Creature's head turned slowly and there were tears in his eyes, mixed with the rain. Fellswoop could discern the two, for Creature's tears were bright azure blue. "No, Fellswoop," he said mournfully, "he will calm the waters, but the ocean is deep."

He turned away and his sky-blue tears danced inside the raindrops as they fell down, far into the deep dark waters below.