Angel Flower
by Shifter and Cyberblade
*************************************************************************************************
Cyberblade: Well? What are you waiting for??
Shifter: Oh, all right! Spider-Man and X-Men are not ours. The only thing we own in this fic is the plot and some supporting characters despite the fact it'd make a great episode..and possibly a spin-off. Happy?
Cyberblade: Immensely. Also, we're using the animated series which aired on FOX way back when.
*************************************************************************************************
It was a cold and windy night in New York City. One should probably not be out on this night for the errie chill in the air. But one crime boss Silvermane refused to rest. His ever-loyal minions have managed to gain him the blue prints for the ultimate weapon: the robotic Sentinels. Once, used to 'contain' the mutant problem, Silvermane hoped to use the modern-age Goliaths to gather any mutants under his control. His plan was simple: To have the Sentinels to capture the mutants and bring them to his underground laboratory for mind control process. Now, with his plans almost complete, Silvermane doubted even Spider-Man could stop him. The Sentinels were now nearing construction. It was soon time for the next phase in his plans.
"Smythe!" he called on the intercom. "In my office, now!"
A few minutes later, cyborg robotics genius Alistair Smythe appeared before his employer. "You sent for me?" he asked in his semi-electronic voice.
"The Sentinels are nearly finished being built." Silvermane explained as he handed Smythe a disk. "This contains files on currently known mutants. Make sure you download them into their central processing units."
"Consider it done." Smythe replied.
Later that evening, Smythe was looking in the files of mutants to make certain the data was safe for download. Being an expert in robotics, Smythe often prided himself on his work and took little chances. He also felt a small pinch of sympathy for the robots, being part-robot himself. Well, he could thank the Kingpin for that little 'honor'. But not now. Someday, though, he'll get his revenge. All of a sudden, the last file caught his eye. At first, Smythe thought he was seeing things. He examined the file again and again to make certain. He soon found there was no doubt. A mix of shock and fear entered Smythe's cold, yet beating heart as he stared at the picture of the mutant. "Angel Flower." he whispered. He still couldn't believe it. This person, another shadow of his past, a mutant... and among Silvermane's targets. He never even suspected. Looking around the building to find no one around other than a few guards looking the other way, Smyhte immediately deleted the file and downloaded the rest of the disk into the Sentinels. From the look on his stern face, and given his history, one could easily tell that Alistair Smythe won't endanger another person he cared about. Not after what happened to his father. At least 'Angel Flower', as he called the mutant, would be safe.
The next morning, all of New York was about its business as usual. The Big Apple rushed about, completely unaware of the sinister plot which began to unfold the previous night. All of a sudden, in every part of the world, Sentinels were attacking cities and rushing off with several randomly selected hostages in tow. No one had any clue about the purpose of these kidnappings. All they could come up with were a few half-brained theories such as alien abduction or the sort. They never realized that these kidnappings were just the beginning.
Weeks passed since Silvermane put his plan into action. So far, the Sentinels were able to bring in hundreds of mutants with random and incredible powers. All that was left was to initiate the mind control. Some of the scientists warned him it wouldn't be easy, especially since some of the mutants would have psychic powers such as telepathy which inhibited the process. But Silvermane was up to the challenge, and he was determined to get his mutant army at any cost.
"I hate this." Smyhte thought to himself as the mutants were being put in cryogenic suspension. "All of this gathering and controlling. But what choice do I have? With my own father in cryogenic suspension, I have to work for this.. this monster if I'm ever going to revive him." Shaking his head at the turn of events, Smythe departed for the cargo hold where his father was.
Over there, he had some refuge. Away from the influences of Silvermane, Smythe could recall and reminsciece memories; memories that have been nearly lost to him until the first day of this operation. He enjoyed these small moments of peace, few that they were. How in the world could things have gone so wrong, he wondered. His thoughts were interuppted by yet another summoning by Silvermane. Sighing, he left for his boss' command.
"Is something the matter, Sir?" Smythe asked.
"Not at all, Smythe." Silvermane replied. "But there is something I need you to do. There's a press confrence about mutants at ESU tomorrow afternoon and there may be some mutants there that haven't been gathered yet. I want the Sentinels to go on a scout and retrieve mission just to be sure. Also, make sure no one interferes."
"I'll begin immediately." Smythe then departed his employer's office, praying Silvermane doesn't learn about his own interference.
At the ESU the next afternoon, there was a press conference concerning the mutant situation. However, this conference was different. It was all about the physiology of mutants and how to co-exist with them, while many of them were trying to turn the public against mutants. Daily Bugle photographer Peter Parker had arrived on the scene for pictures to satisfy his ever-crabby boss. "It's nice to hear that finally someone is trying to go for peaceful solutions." Parker thought as he snapped several pictures. "At least, someone other that Professor Xavier." As Spider-Man, he could relate to mutant discrimination and he's been friends with the X-Men, a group of mutants trying to make the world a better place. There were led by Professor Charles Xavier, who seemed like a normal human who sympathizes with mutants, but as Parker learned, is a mutant himself who wants to make the world a better place for both mutants and ordinary humans. Recently, the whole world learned about the Professor's telepathic abilities from a similar press confrence, and the last thing Parker heard, the Professor was recovering nicely from an attack with the aid of some friends of his, who happen to be aliens from another planet. The confrence went on, and it seemed to go on. Parker couldn't wait to get out of here; as much as he loved his job, Parker kept recalling this morning, before he left, when his wife had to tell him something. "It seemed really important." Parker recalled. "Well, this confrence should be over soon."
At that moment, his Spider-sense went off. Suddenly, a bunch of Sentinels crashed through the roof of the room. Thousands of people panicked and rushed out as the Sentinels scanned the area, taking a few people here and there and storing them in their mobile containment cells. A string of webbing latched onto one of the Sentinel's arms, and Spider-Man tugged at the arm, only to get swung by the plastic titan. Spider-Man grunted as he hit the wall on impact. As the Sentinels marched towards him, Spider-Man prepared to make a run for it. The Sentinels fired their weapons, the Wallcrawler dodging every shot with his arachnid-like reflexes. It was a matter of time before Spider-Man lured the Sentinels out into the open. It was there, Spider-Man managed to get some back-up: The X-Men. They had arrived in town for the confrence and noticed the disturbance. Unfortunately, the Sentinels noticed the mutants as well and released a massive cloud of sleep gas upon everybody. Before anyone could do anything, everyone fell asleep. "Attempting retrivial." the Sentinels said in a computerized voice as they picked up the X-Men, one by one and stored them in containment cells. Then, they flew off back to their criminal master.
When Spidey awoke, no one was there to be seen. Both the Sentinels and the X-Men were gone. "Aw, great!" Spidey thought. "I allow one of the best superhero teams on Earth to get stolen away by a bunch of overgrown tin cans." He then heard a small groan. Spidey turned around to see one of the X-Men was still around. As the young mutant got up, Spidey saw who it was; Jubilee Lee, the youngest of the group. She looked around and became as confused as Spider-Man.
"What... what happened here?" Jubilee asked as she couldn't see her comrades anywhere.
"The Sentinels must've taken them." Spidey guessed. "There's been a lot of kidnappings involved lately. Any idea what they're up to?"
"No idea. But when we heard about the kidnappings, our computer, Cerebro, along with Jean's powers managed to find a pattern in the victims--they were all mutants."
Spider-Man became a bit flabbergasted. Jean Grey-Summers was a telepath like the Professor with about two non-obvious differences. One, she wasn't as strong in her field as the Professor and two, she also had a telekinetic ability. Spider-Man had a bad feeling something was up, and he was determined to figure out what. He was also curious as to why the Sentinels took everyone else but Jubilee. Luckily, finding the Sentinels shouldn't be too much of a problem. During the struggle with the Sentinels, Spider-Man somehow managed to place one of his tracers on the Sentinels. "Look, Jubilee." he said. "We need to find your friends and figure out what's up. Care to join me on a web-slinging?"
"Let's just take the Blackbird." Jubilee replied. "It's a bit more effecient."
"Are you sure?"
"Relax. I've flown it before." Jubilee smiled at that statement and thought to herself, "On a simulator." Not sure about what's going on, Spider-Man relucantly took Jubilee's offer and allowed her to lead him to the X-Men's jet.
At that moment, Silvermane was having the Sentinels' newly-accquired captures stored in cryogenic suspension. Smythe watched from afar, his heart becoming heavier with each new mutant added to his boss' collection. The cyborg still couldn't believe everything that's happened. He knew that by working for Silvermane, Smythe would be no better off than when he worked for the Kingpin. But back then, Smythe had thought his father was dead, and he himself was still human. His transformation brought a lot of things into light. Today, Smythe was beginning to question his actions. "Is saving my father really worth the millions of lives Silvermane plans to ruin?" he questioned. "What would he say if he... but I can't lose Father. But what if what I'm doing jepordizes someone else I care about? Look what almost happened when this whole bloody mess started." Smythe felt his mind go back, back to a happier time. Back to when he was human, could still walk and his father was awake. Most importantly, back to where he first met his Angel Flower, before everything went terribly wrong.
(Flashback)
A sixteen-year-old Alistair was working on yet another invention. He wanted to be an inventor, like his father, who was one of the best in robotics. "Just one more tweek and..." As the young genius screwed in the last bolt, the invention went bonkers and blew up in his face. Alistair became frustrated and kicked the pile of scrap metal. "Stupid thing!" he snapped. "This really isn't my day. Like things couldn't get any worse."
"Alistair!" a voice called. The young man recognized the voice as that of his father, Spencer Smythe. Giving himself a minute to cool down, Alistair went to greet his father.
"I'm in here, Father." Alistair called. Hearing his son's voice, Spencer went down to the lower level of their small yet effecient laboratory. Alistair couldn't help but notice something behind his father's back.
"Alistair," Spencer started. "I have some news. I noticed how you've been deep in your work."
"What work?" the teenager replied. "My 'work' is all a bunch of junk! Why, am I slacking off?"
"No, just the exact opposite. You've been isolating yourself with your inventions, and that isn't good." A scowl served as a response. "I know things have been tough without your mother around. I know it's affected me, too. But you need to get out of the lab once in a while. Make some friends."
"I don't need any friends. I'm perfectly capable of handling life alone."
"Are you, Alistair? I brought someone for you." Behind Spencer stood a young girl, about ten years old with raven-like hair and hazel77 eyes. "She's a foster child, someone who can keep you company."
"A child?!" Alistair was flabberghasted. "You brought a child here?!"
"Hey!" the kid cried. "I may look young, but I'm way more social than you are."
"You couldn't at least get someone closer to my age?" Alistair asked.
"She's all they had." Spencer replied. "I'll leave you two alone to get accquainted." As Spencer left the room, Alistair had a feeling things were going to get tough.
"Wonderful." Alistair complained. "Just because I wasn't social enough, Father had to bring this ragamuffin for company."
"Ya know, it's rude to talk about people while they're around you." the kid said. "For someone who's supposed to be older than me, you sure do act immature."
"Oh, now I'm getting a lecture by a kid. What do you know about maturity?"
"Enough to know that life's a can of worms; you take the good with the bad. You think I want to be here as much as you do? Well, you don't see me complaining."
"Scary. You made a point."
"Thanks, I think." The kid then saw the pile of scrap metal. "What's that?"
"Junk." Alistair replied. "Just junk."
"It looks like good junk. Were you trying to build something?"
"That was the purpose, but everything seems to go so wrong!"
"Hey, when life gives you lemons, make lemonade."
"If only it were that easy."
"If you want, I'll help you."
"What do you know about robots?"
"Whatever you can teach me. I'm a fast learner."
"All right..." Alistair smiled despite himself; maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all, he thought.
(three years later)
The relcuant pair had gotten along, despite circumstance. Alistair had started to nickname her 'Angel Flower', after the brooch his mother used to wear before the cancer took her. The brooch had a white rose and the petals were tipped with gold; at a certain angle, it looked like an angel's halo. They had become close friends, he was socializing a little more, she undergoing the tragic stage of puberty. Little did they know, their lives would make a turn for the worst.
"Could you past me that wrench there?" he asked her.
"Sure thing, Ali." the girl replied. Alistair frowned as he received the wrench. She had gotten into a habit of calling in 'Ali' occasionally. He hated it, and she knew, which was even more annoying. Suddenly, smoke began to fill the room and constant bursts of light surrounded the area. Something had exploded in the lower levels and there was little time to evacuate.
"This way!" Alistair cried as he and 'Angel Flower' barely managed to exit the room. A support beam was on the verge of collapse and it was right near the exit. As 'Angel Flower' went to the door, Alistair noticed the beam fall and pushed his friend out of the way, as the beam crushed his legs and hip. They were barely able to drag him out of the rubble before the lab itself finally became obiterated from the explosion.
That accident left Alistair permantely paralyzed from the waist down. Spencer blamed himself for the explosion, and 'Angel Flower' was being sent back to foster care. Alistair had given her the brooch she was named for and vowed to keep in contact.
He did keep in contact, right up to his employment with the Kingpin. He knew something was odd about the 350-pound criminal mastermind and stopped writing in fear the Kingpin would find out about her. His fears were justified that fateful day he received his current body. From that day forward, he vowed never to endanger another of his loved ones again. If he had to completely ignore 'Angel Flower' to protect her, so be it.
(end flashback)
"Smythe? Smythe. SMYTHE!" a voice yelled. The cyborg snapped back to reality in time to notice Elisa, Silvermane's daughter, looming over him. "Father wants you to handle a glitch found in one of the Sentinels."
"I'm on it." Smythe replied emotionlessly as he went to continue his work.
Meanwhile, the Blackbird flew over New York. Spider-Man was beginning to regret accepting Jubilee's offer as the rookie pilot barely missed a few dozen skyscrapers. If it weren't for years of web-slinging, Spider-Man would probably get air sick by now. The friendly neighborhood wall crawler could only sigh in relief as the Blackbird made a bumpy but good landing in a valley outside the city. Spidey checked his tracer to see if they were in the right spot while Jubilee activated the cloaking device on the Blackbird.
"This the place?" Jubilee asked as she came out to join Spidey.
"Looks like it." Spider-Man replied. "My Spider-Tracer says the Sentinels came over here. But nothing looks like a--" At that moment, his Spider-Sense went off and Spider-Man took Jubilee and hid in a tree. A few seconds later, some armed guards came to where the duo was and searched around. "Pay to have a sixth sense." Spidey joked to himself as the guards began to depart. Moving along the trees, Spidey and Jubilee followed the guards to an abandoned missle base. Stealthly, Spidey and Jubilee managed to sneak by the guards crowding the area.
"Everything seems really guarded." Jubilee said. "We should split up."
"Good idea." Spidey replied. "Be careful." The two then went separate ways.
Jubilee didn't realize how hard it was to be stealthy, but somehow, she prevailed. She came across a cargo area. Sneaking around the hold, Jubilee hoped to find something that could help her friends. Suddenly, she stumbled upon a small cryogenic tube. Her face turned to a shocked expression as she looked at who was in it.
"What the--" she started. At that moment, a noise released her from the shocked trance. Jubilee shook her head and hid among some crates as quickly as possible.
After fixing the glitch in the Sentinels, Smythe seriously needed to be alone right now. His stomach was getting sick just thinking about the Sentinels and Silvermane's plan. "Why?" he thought to himself. "Why, of all things, did this have to happen? Was working with Silvermane a mistake? Everything's been sour ever since the old lab exploded." His head was deep in thought.
Jubilee tried to get a good look at the figure that just entered, but to no avail. Then, her foot slipped, causing some of the crates to crash down. The noise alerted Smythe, who started to walk towards the source. "Oh, great." Jubilee thought to herself.
"Who's there?" Smythe asked. "Show yourself." Suddenly, he was hit by blinding fireworks. The surprise attack caused him to fall backward. But Smythe did manage to get a good look at his attacker. "No..." he whispered as Jubilee came near.
"All right," Jubilee started. "Who are you and what's he doing here?" She indicated Spencer.
"He's injured." Smyhte said coldly, hiding his face from Jubilee. "Not that it's any of your concern."
"It is my concern considering he's a friend of mine. Now, what happened to him?"
"He was placed there against his own free will, just like your fellow mutants."
"Where are they?" Jubilee asked, ready to unleash another attack.
"I can't tell you." Smythe replied.
"Where are they? What are you going to do with them?"
"Not me, but the head of this operation. If you want to keep your freedom and your life, I suggest you leave."
"Not without the X-Men, and the other mutants you stole." Jubilee said, trying to get a look at his face.
"The X-Men?!" Smythe couldn't believe it. "It wasn't bad enough she's a mutant without her being a member of one of the most active mutant groups on the globe!" he thought.
"I mean it," Jubilee said. "Where are they?"
"Safe... until the mind control is installed." Smythe answered.
"Mind control?! You're trying to build an army."
"He's the one who's getting the army, and unless you want to join your friends and get drafted, then get out of here while you still can."
"Why are you so intent on letting me leave?"
"Not of your concern."
"It is my concern considering you kidnapped my friends."
"And I can't let you end up like them, Angel Flower!" Smythe shouted. He mentally kicked himself as soon as he said that.
"'Angel Flower'??" Jubilee whispered in confusion. "No one ever calls me that except..."
"Great job, genius." Smythe thought to himself. "Now there's only one way out of this." He slowly lifted himself, and faced the young mutant. Her own hazel eyes were filled with fear, then surprise as they looked into the cyborg's own ice blue eyes.
"...Alistair?" she whispered.
"I had hoped you'd never find out about this." Smythe replied, turning his head away in shame. "Hello, Jubilee."
"What... what happened? Who did this to you??" Her head was filled with questions. "Is this why you haven't written?"
"I can't explain now. You need to get out of here."
"I'm not leaving without my friends."
"You're leaving one way or the other. I can't let Silvermane catch you."
"Silvermane? Is that who's responsible for--"
"The mutant kidnappings? Yes, he is. Now, we have to get you out of here."
"But, Alistair--"
"I didn't delete your file from the Sentinels' database so you could be caught here."
"Wha--" All of a sudden, there was weapons fire. The duo turned to see Spider-Man pounce inside, eluding the persuing guards.
"That was close." Spider-Man said. Then, he looked up and saw the two. "Or not. Jubilee, get away from him!"
"It's not what you think, Spider-Man." Jubilee exclaimed. "Alistair's a friend."
"Sure, and the She-Hulk's my wife."
"Jubilee, don't--" Smythe started.
"If you won't tell him about this, Ali, I will."
"'Ali'?" Spider-Man asked.
"You know how much I hate that nickname!" Smythe snapped.
"Too bad!" Jubilee replied.
"Could somebody please tell me what's going on here?!" Spidey asked.
"When I was ten, I was placed in foster care under Spencer Smythe's custody." Jubilee explained. "Alistair and I have been close friends until his father's old lab exploded. I would've been killed that day if Alistair...hadn't pushed me out of the way of a falling beam. That same beam crushed his hip and even though the bone was fixed...the nerves and muscles themselves were too badly damaged and could never be repaired." Spidey's eyes widened at the story. He knew for a fact the explosion caused Smythe to become paralyzed, but how exactly was a mystery. "Those three years were the best ever." Jubilee continued. "After I left, Alistair and I kept in touch until--"
"Until Father decided to work for Osborne to get me a hover chair." Smythe finished. "He always blamed himself for the explosion at the old lab and wanted to make up for it. Osborne offered it..."
"In exchange for my head?" Spidey assumed. Smythe nodded. "Talk about family loyalty."
"Look, I hate what Silvemane's doing to the mutants." Smythe explained. "But working for him is the only way I'll ever be able to build a bio-engineered body for my father."
"No, it isn't, Alistair." Spidey said. "I know some people who could restore your father without messing up his insides."
"What...?"
"Yea, it seems a little crazy, but if you trust me, you'd be surprised what alien technology can do to a man's health."
"Alien..." Smythe was caught in a dillema; trust an enemy to take care of his ailing father or work for a madman who can and might threaten the only other person he cared about. He looked towards the cryogenic tube and at Spider-Man. Smythe knew in his heart what the right thing was.
"All right." he said relucantly. "I'll trust you. Let's get him out of here."
"What about the mutants?" Spidey asked as he lifted the tube.
"Leave that to me." Smythe said as he managed to hack into Silvermane's data system. After a few minutes, he shut down the computer. "All right. The cryogenic chambers are starting to thaw out. Let's hurry."
"But..." Jubilee started.
"Don't worry, Angel Flower." Smythe said to Jubilee. "If your friends are as powerful as I think, they'll be able to handle Silvermane and his goons." The trio started to enter the lower vents.
At that moment, several alarms rang out as countless scientists and soldiers rushed around the building. Most of the cryogenic tubes were slowly being thawed out and no one noticed until it was too late. Several mutants attacked anyone standing in their way. Chaos was dominant. Fearing the worst, some of the scientists began to flee. Silvermane came out of his office to see the catastrophe take place.
"What the hell's going on here?" he demanded.
"Something's gone wrong with the cryogenics system." a scientist answered. "The mutants are escaping!"
"What?!" Silvermane couldn't believe it. Everything was going so well... "Get it under control." he growled. "Now!"
"But, Sir. There's too many of them! We have to get out of here!"
"Father!" Elisa called. "Father, what's going on?"
"We need to retreat." Silvermane said. "Get to our alternative base and carry out the project."
"But, Father--"
"Do as I say! We can't afford to let this project go under--AHH!" A large, homicidal mutant had just pounced on Silvermane and lifted him up to the air. The mutant then tossed Silvermane into a wall, sending the crime boss literally right through the thick concrete. As the mutant began tearing the place apart, Elisa rushed towards her father.
"Father..." she whispered. The sight of her father nearly made her cringe. Silvermane was losing blood really fast and several of his bones were broken. There was nothing anyone could do.
by Shifter and Cyberblade
*************************************************************************************************
Cyberblade: Well? What are you waiting for??
Shifter: Oh, all right! Spider-Man and X-Men are not ours. The only thing we own in this fic is the plot and some supporting characters despite the fact it'd make a great episode..and possibly a spin-off. Happy?
Cyberblade: Immensely. Also, we're using the animated series which aired on FOX way back when.
*************************************************************************************************
It was a cold and windy night in New York City. One should probably not be out on this night for the errie chill in the air. But one crime boss Silvermane refused to rest. His ever-loyal minions have managed to gain him the blue prints for the ultimate weapon: the robotic Sentinels. Once, used to 'contain' the mutant problem, Silvermane hoped to use the modern-age Goliaths to gather any mutants under his control. His plan was simple: To have the Sentinels to capture the mutants and bring them to his underground laboratory for mind control process. Now, with his plans almost complete, Silvermane doubted even Spider-Man could stop him. The Sentinels were now nearing construction. It was soon time for the next phase in his plans.
"Smythe!" he called on the intercom. "In my office, now!"
A few minutes later, cyborg robotics genius Alistair Smythe appeared before his employer. "You sent for me?" he asked in his semi-electronic voice.
"The Sentinels are nearly finished being built." Silvermane explained as he handed Smythe a disk. "This contains files on currently known mutants. Make sure you download them into their central processing units."
"Consider it done." Smythe replied.
Later that evening, Smythe was looking in the files of mutants to make certain the data was safe for download. Being an expert in robotics, Smythe often prided himself on his work and took little chances. He also felt a small pinch of sympathy for the robots, being part-robot himself. Well, he could thank the Kingpin for that little 'honor'. But not now. Someday, though, he'll get his revenge. All of a sudden, the last file caught his eye. At first, Smythe thought he was seeing things. He examined the file again and again to make certain. He soon found there was no doubt. A mix of shock and fear entered Smythe's cold, yet beating heart as he stared at the picture of the mutant. "Angel Flower." he whispered. He still couldn't believe it. This person, another shadow of his past, a mutant... and among Silvermane's targets. He never even suspected. Looking around the building to find no one around other than a few guards looking the other way, Smyhte immediately deleted the file and downloaded the rest of the disk into the Sentinels. From the look on his stern face, and given his history, one could easily tell that Alistair Smythe won't endanger another person he cared about. Not after what happened to his father. At least 'Angel Flower', as he called the mutant, would be safe.
The next morning, all of New York was about its business as usual. The Big Apple rushed about, completely unaware of the sinister plot which began to unfold the previous night. All of a sudden, in every part of the world, Sentinels were attacking cities and rushing off with several randomly selected hostages in tow. No one had any clue about the purpose of these kidnappings. All they could come up with were a few half-brained theories such as alien abduction or the sort. They never realized that these kidnappings were just the beginning.
Weeks passed since Silvermane put his plan into action. So far, the Sentinels were able to bring in hundreds of mutants with random and incredible powers. All that was left was to initiate the mind control. Some of the scientists warned him it wouldn't be easy, especially since some of the mutants would have psychic powers such as telepathy which inhibited the process. But Silvermane was up to the challenge, and he was determined to get his mutant army at any cost.
"I hate this." Smyhte thought to himself as the mutants were being put in cryogenic suspension. "All of this gathering and controlling. But what choice do I have? With my own father in cryogenic suspension, I have to work for this.. this monster if I'm ever going to revive him." Shaking his head at the turn of events, Smythe departed for the cargo hold where his father was.
Over there, he had some refuge. Away from the influences of Silvermane, Smythe could recall and reminsciece memories; memories that have been nearly lost to him until the first day of this operation. He enjoyed these small moments of peace, few that they were. How in the world could things have gone so wrong, he wondered. His thoughts were interuppted by yet another summoning by Silvermane. Sighing, he left for his boss' command.
"Is something the matter, Sir?" Smythe asked.
"Not at all, Smythe." Silvermane replied. "But there is something I need you to do. There's a press confrence about mutants at ESU tomorrow afternoon and there may be some mutants there that haven't been gathered yet. I want the Sentinels to go on a scout and retrieve mission just to be sure. Also, make sure no one interferes."
"I'll begin immediately." Smythe then departed his employer's office, praying Silvermane doesn't learn about his own interference.
At the ESU the next afternoon, there was a press conference concerning the mutant situation. However, this conference was different. It was all about the physiology of mutants and how to co-exist with them, while many of them were trying to turn the public against mutants. Daily Bugle photographer Peter Parker had arrived on the scene for pictures to satisfy his ever-crabby boss. "It's nice to hear that finally someone is trying to go for peaceful solutions." Parker thought as he snapped several pictures. "At least, someone other that Professor Xavier." As Spider-Man, he could relate to mutant discrimination and he's been friends with the X-Men, a group of mutants trying to make the world a better place. There were led by Professor Charles Xavier, who seemed like a normal human who sympathizes with mutants, but as Parker learned, is a mutant himself who wants to make the world a better place for both mutants and ordinary humans. Recently, the whole world learned about the Professor's telepathic abilities from a similar press confrence, and the last thing Parker heard, the Professor was recovering nicely from an attack with the aid of some friends of his, who happen to be aliens from another planet. The confrence went on, and it seemed to go on. Parker couldn't wait to get out of here; as much as he loved his job, Parker kept recalling this morning, before he left, when his wife had to tell him something. "It seemed really important." Parker recalled. "Well, this confrence should be over soon."
At that moment, his Spider-sense went off. Suddenly, a bunch of Sentinels crashed through the roof of the room. Thousands of people panicked and rushed out as the Sentinels scanned the area, taking a few people here and there and storing them in their mobile containment cells. A string of webbing latched onto one of the Sentinel's arms, and Spider-Man tugged at the arm, only to get swung by the plastic titan. Spider-Man grunted as he hit the wall on impact. As the Sentinels marched towards him, Spider-Man prepared to make a run for it. The Sentinels fired their weapons, the Wallcrawler dodging every shot with his arachnid-like reflexes. It was a matter of time before Spider-Man lured the Sentinels out into the open. It was there, Spider-Man managed to get some back-up: The X-Men. They had arrived in town for the confrence and noticed the disturbance. Unfortunately, the Sentinels noticed the mutants as well and released a massive cloud of sleep gas upon everybody. Before anyone could do anything, everyone fell asleep. "Attempting retrivial." the Sentinels said in a computerized voice as they picked up the X-Men, one by one and stored them in containment cells. Then, they flew off back to their criminal master.
When Spidey awoke, no one was there to be seen. Both the Sentinels and the X-Men were gone. "Aw, great!" Spidey thought. "I allow one of the best superhero teams on Earth to get stolen away by a bunch of overgrown tin cans." He then heard a small groan. Spidey turned around to see one of the X-Men was still around. As the young mutant got up, Spidey saw who it was; Jubilee Lee, the youngest of the group. She looked around and became as confused as Spider-Man.
"What... what happened here?" Jubilee asked as she couldn't see her comrades anywhere.
"The Sentinels must've taken them." Spidey guessed. "There's been a lot of kidnappings involved lately. Any idea what they're up to?"
"No idea. But when we heard about the kidnappings, our computer, Cerebro, along with Jean's powers managed to find a pattern in the victims--they were all mutants."
Spider-Man became a bit flabbergasted. Jean Grey-Summers was a telepath like the Professor with about two non-obvious differences. One, she wasn't as strong in her field as the Professor and two, she also had a telekinetic ability. Spider-Man had a bad feeling something was up, and he was determined to figure out what. He was also curious as to why the Sentinels took everyone else but Jubilee. Luckily, finding the Sentinels shouldn't be too much of a problem. During the struggle with the Sentinels, Spider-Man somehow managed to place one of his tracers on the Sentinels. "Look, Jubilee." he said. "We need to find your friends and figure out what's up. Care to join me on a web-slinging?"
"Let's just take the Blackbird." Jubilee replied. "It's a bit more effecient."
"Are you sure?"
"Relax. I've flown it before." Jubilee smiled at that statement and thought to herself, "On a simulator." Not sure about what's going on, Spider-Man relucantly took Jubilee's offer and allowed her to lead him to the X-Men's jet.
At that moment, Silvermane was having the Sentinels' newly-accquired captures stored in cryogenic suspension. Smythe watched from afar, his heart becoming heavier with each new mutant added to his boss' collection. The cyborg still couldn't believe everything that's happened. He knew that by working for Silvermane, Smythe would be no better off than when he worked for the Kingpin. But back then, Smythe had thought his father was dead, and he himself was still human. His transformation brought a lot of things into light. Today, Smythe was beginning to question his actions. "Is saving my father really worth the millions of lives Silvermane plans to ruin?" he questioned. "What would he say if he... but I can't lose Father. But what if what I'm doing jepordizes someone else I care about? Look what almost happened when this whole bloody mess started." Smythe felt his mind go back, back to a happier time. Back to when he was human, could still walk and his father was awake. Most importantly, back to where he first met his Angel Flower, before everything went terribly wrong.
(Flashback)
A sixteen-year-old Alistair was working on yet another invention. He wanted to be an inventor, like his father, who was one of the best in robotics. "Just one more tweek and..." As the young genius screwed in the last bolt, the invention went bonkers and blew up in his face. Alistair became frustrated and kicked the pile of scrap metal. "Stupid thing!" he snapped. "This really isn't my day. Like things couldn't get any worse."
"Alistair!" a voice called. The young man recognized the voice as that of his father, Spencer Smythe. Giving himself a minute to cool down, Alistair went to greet his father.
"I'm in here, Father." Alistair called. Hearing his son's voice, Spencer went down to the lower level of their small yet effecient laboratory. Alistair couldn't help but notice something behind his father's back.
"Alistair," Spencer started. "I have some news. I noticed how you've been deep in your work."
"What work?" the teenager replied. "My 'work' is all a bunch of junk! Why, am I slacking off?"
"No, just the exact opposite. You've been isolating yourself with your inventions, and that isn't good." A scowl served as a response. "I know things have been tough without your mother around. I know it's affected me, too. But you need to get out of the lab once in a while. Make some friends."
"I don't need any friends. I'm perfectly capable of handling life alone."
"Are you, Alistair? I brought someone for you." Behind Spencer stood a young girl, about ten years old with raven-like hair and hazel77 eyes. "She's a foster child, someone who can keep you company."
"A child?!" Alistair was flabberghasted. "You brought a child here?!"
"Hey!" the kid cried. "I may look young, but I'm way more social than you are."
"You couldn't at least get someone closer to my age?" Alistair asked.
"She's all they had." Spencer replied. "I'll leave you two alone to get accquainted." As Spencer left the room, Alistair had a feeling things were going to get tough.
"Wonderful." Alistair complained. "Just because I wasn't social enough, Father had to bring this ragamuffin for company."
"Ya know, it's rude to talk about people while they're around you." the kid said. "For someone who's supposed to be older than me, you sure do act immature."
"Oh, now I'm getting a lecture by a kid. What do you know about maturity?"
"Enough to know that life's a can of worms; you take the good with the bad. You think I want to be here as much as you do? Well, you don't see me complaining."
"Scary. You made a point."
"Thanks, I think." The kid then saw the pile of scrap metal. "What's that?"
"Junk." Alistair replied. "Just junk."
"It looks like good junk. Were you trying to build something?"
"That was the purpose, but everything seems to go so wrong!"
"Hey, when life gives you lemons, make lemonade."
"If only it were that easy."
"If you want, I'll help you."
"What do you know about robots?"
"Whatever you can teach me. I'm a fast learner."
"All right..." Alistair smiled despite himself; maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all, he thought.
(three years later)
The relcuant pair had gotten along, despite circumstance. Alistair had started to nickname her 'Angel Flower', after the brooch his mother used to wear before the cancer took her. The brooch had a white rose and the petals were tipped with gold; at a certain angle, it looked like an angel's halo. They had become close friends, he was socializing a little more, she undergoing the tragic stage of puberty. Little did they know, their lives would make a turn for the worst.
"Could you past me that wrench there?" he asked her.
"Sure thing, Ali." the girl replied. Alistair frowned as he received the wrench. She had gotten into a habit of calling in 'Ali' occasionally. He hated it, and she knew, which was even more annoying. Suddenly, smoke began to fill the room and constant bursts of light surrounded the area. Something had exploded in the lower levels and there was little time to evacuate.
"This way!" Alistair cried as he and 'Angel Flower' barely managed to exit the room. A support beam was on the verge of collapse and it was right near the exit. As 'Angel Flower' went to the door, Alistair noticed the beam fall and pushed his friend out of the way, as the beam crushed his legs and hip. They were barely able to drag him out of the rubble before the lab itself finally became obiterated from the explosion.
That accident left Alistair permantely paralyzed from the waist down. Spencer blamed himself for the explosion, and 'Angel Flower' was being sent back to foster care. Alistair had given her the brooch she was named for and vowed to keep in contact.
He did keep in contact, right up to his employment with the Kingpin. He knew something was odd about the 350-pound criminal mastermind and stopped writing in fear the Kingpin would find out about her. His fears were justified that fateful day he received his current body. From that day forward, he vowed never to endanger another of his loved ones again. If he had to completely ignore 'Angel Flower' to protect her, so be it.
(end flashback)
"Smythe? Smythe. SMYTHE!" a voice yelled. The cyborg snapped back to reality in time to notice Elisa, Silvermane's daughter, looming over him. "Father wants you to handle a glitch found in one of the Sentinels."
"I'm on it." Smythe replied emotionlessly as he went to continue his work.
Meanwhile, the Blackbird flew over New York. Spider-Man was beginning to regret accepting Jubilee's offer as the rookie pilot barely missed a few dozen skyscrapers. If it weren't for years of web-slinging, Spider-Man would probably get air sick by now. The friendly neighborhood wall crawler could only sigh in relief as the Blackbird made a bumpy but good landing in a valley outside the city. Spidey checked his tracer to see if they were in the right spot while Jubilee activated the cloaking device on the Blackbird.
"This the place?" Jubilee asked as she came out to join Spidey.
"Looks like it." Spider-Man replied. "My Spider-Tracer says the Sentinels came over here. But nothing looks like a--" At that moment, his Spider-Sense went off and Spider-Man took Jubilee and hid in a tree. A few seconds later, some armed guards came to where the duo was and searched around. "Pay to have a sixth sense." Spidey joked to himself as the guards began to depart. Moving along the trees, Spidey and Jubilee followed the guards to an abandoned missle base. Stealthly, Spidey and Jubilee managed to sneak by the guards crowding the area.
"Everything seems really guarded." Jubilee said. "We should split up."
"Good idea." Spidey replied. "Be careful." The two then went separate ways.
Jubilee didn't realize how hard it was to be stealthy, but somehow, she prevailed. She came across a cargo area. Sneaking around the hold, Jubilee hoped to find something that could help her friends. Suddenly, she stumbled upon a small cryogenic tube. Her face turned to a shocked expression as she looked at who was in it.
"What the--" she started. At that moment, a noise released her from the shocked trance. Jubilee shook her head and hid among some crates as quickly as possible.
After fixing the glitch in the Sentinels, Smythe seriously needed to be alone right now. His stomach was getting sick just thinking about the Sentinels and Silvermane's plan. "Why?" he thought to himself. "Why, of all things, did this have to happen? Was working with Silvermane a mistake? Everything's been sour ever since the old lab exploded." His head was deep in thought.
Jubilee tried to get a good look at the figure that just entered, but to no avail. Then, her foot slipped, causing some of the crates to crash down. The noise alerted Smythe, who started to walk towards the source. "Oh, great." Jubilee thought to herself.
"Who's there?" Smythe asked. "Show yourself." Suddenly, he was hit by blinding fireworks. The surprise attack caused him to fall backward. But Smythe did manage to get a good look at his attacker. "No..." he whispered as Jubilee came near.
"All right," Jubilee started. "Who are you and what's he doing here?" She indicated Spencer.
"He's injured." Smyhte said coldly, hiding his face from Jubilee. "Not that it's any of your concern."
"It is my concern considering he's a friend of mine. Now, what happened to him?"
"He was placed there against his own free will, just like your fellow mutants."
"Where are they?" Jubilee asked, ready to unleash another attack.
"I can't tell you." Smythe replied.
"Where are they? What are you going to do with them?"
"Not me, but the head of this operation. If you want to keep your freedom and your life, I suggest you leave."
"Not without the X-Men, and the other mutants you stole." Jubilee said, trying to get a look at his face.
"The X-Men?!" Smythe couldn't believe it. "It wasn't bad enough she's a mutant without her being a member of one of the most active mutant groups on the globe!" he thought.
"I mean it," Jubilee said. "Where are they?"
"Safe... until the mind control is installed." Smythe answered.
"Mind control?! You're trying to build an army."
"He's the one who's getting the army, and unless you want to join your friends and get drafted, then get out of here while you still can."
"Why are you so intent on letting me leave?"
"Not of your concern."
"It is my concern considering you kidnapped my friends."
"And I can't let you end up like them, Angel Flower!" Smythe shouted. He mentally kicked himself as soon as he said that.
"'Angel Flower'??" Jubilee whispered in confusion. "No one ever calls me that except..."
"Great job, genius." Smythe thought to himself. "Now there's only one way out of this." He slowly lifted himself, and faced the young mutant. Her own hazel eyes were filled with fear, then surprise as they looked into the cyborg's own ice blue eyes.
"...Alistair?" she whispered.
"I had hoped you'd never find out about this." Smythe replied, turning his head away in shame. "Hello, Jubilee."
"What... what happened? Who did this to you??" Her head was filled with questions. "Is this why you haven't written?"
"I can't explain now. You need to get out of here."
"I'm not leaving without my friends."
"You're leaving one way or the other. I can't let Silvermane catch you."
"Silvermane? Is that who's responsible for--"
"The mutant kidnappings? Yes, he is. Now, we have to get you out of here."
"But, Alistair--"
"I didn't delete your file from the Sentinels' database so you could be caught here."
"Wha--" All of a sudden, there was weapons fire. The duo turned to see Spider-Man pounce inside, eluding the persuing guards.
"That was close." Spider-Man said. Then, he looked up and saw the two. "Or not. Jubilee, get away from him!"
"It's not what you think, Spider-Man." Jubilee exclaimed. "Alistair's a friend."
"Sure, and the She-Hulk's my wife."
"Jubilee, don't--" Smythe started.
"If you won't tell him about this, Ali, I will."
"'Ali'?" Spider-Man asked.
"You know how much I hate that nickname!" Smythe snapped.
"Too bad!" Jubilee replied.
"Could somebody please tell me what's going on here?!" Spidey asked.
"When I was ten, I was placed in foster care under Spencer Smythe's custody." Jubilee explained. "Alistair and I have been close friends until his father's old lab exploded. I would've been killed that day if Alistair...hadn't pushed me out of the way of a falling beam. That same beam crushed his hip and even though the bone was fixed...the nerves and muscles themselves were too badly damaged and could never be repaired." Spidey's eyes widened at the story. He knew for a fact the explosion caused Smythe to become paralyzed, but how exactly was a mystery. "Those three years were the best ever." Jubilee continued. "After I left, Alistair and I kept in touch until--"
"Until Father decided to work for Osborne to get me a hover chair." Smythe finished. "He always blamed himself for the explosion at the old lab and wanted to make up for it. Osborne offered it..."
"In exchange for my head?" Spidey assumed. Smythe nodded. "Talk about family loyalty."
"Look, I hate what Silvemane's doing to the mutants." Smythe explained. "But working for him is the only way I'll ever be able to build a bio-engineered body for my father."
"No, it isn't, Alistair." Spidey said. "I know some people who could restore your father without messing up his insides."
"What...?"
"Yea, it seems a little crazy, but if you trust me, you'd be surprised what alien technology can do to a man's health."
"Alien..." Smythe was caught in a dillema; trust an enemy to take care of his ailing father or work for a madman who can and might threaten the only other person he cared about. He looked towards the cryogenic tube and at Spider-Man. Smythe knew in his heart what the right thing was.
"All right." he said relucantly. "I'll trust you. Let's get him out of here."
"What about the mutants?" Spidey asked as he lifted the tube.
"Leave that to me." Smythe said as he managed to hack into Silvermane's data system. After a few minutes, he shut down the computer. "All right. The cryogenic chambers are starting to thaw out. Let's hurry."
"But..." Jubilee started.
"Don't worry, Angel Flower." Smythe said to Jubilee. "If your friends are as powerful as I think, they'll be able to handle Silvermane and his goons." The trio started to enter the lower vents.
At that moment, several alarms rang out as countless scientists and soldiers rushed around the building. Most of the cryogenic tubes were slowly being thawed out and no one noticed until it was too late. Several mutants attacked anyone standing in their way. Chaos was dominant. Fearing the worst, some of the scientists began to flee. Silvermane came out of his office to see the catastrophe take place.
"What the hell's going on here?" he demanded.
"Something's gone wrong with the cryogenics system." a scientist answered. "The mutants are escaping!"
"What?!" Silvermane couldn't believe it. Everything was going so well... "Get it under control." he growled. "Now!"
"But, Sir. There's too many of them! We have to get out of here!"
"Father!" Elisa called. "Father, what's going on?"
"We need to retreat." Silvermane said. "Get to our alternative base and carry out the project."
"But, Father--"
"Do as I say! We can't afford to let this project go under--AHH!" A large, homicidal mutant had just pounced on Silvermane and lifted him up to the air. The mutant then tossed Silvermane into a wall, sending the crime boss literally right through the thick concrete. As the mutant began tearing the place apart, Elisa rushed towards her father.
"Father..." she whispered. The sight of her father nearly made her cringe. Silvermane was losing blood really fast and several of his bones were broken. There was nothing anyone could do.