A/N: Enjoy the sequel to my Hell on Earth story! And remember, thoughts and flashbacks are italicized.
Disclaimer: Just like in my previous story, I do not own any characters except for Hugh, Sparky, and Craig. The Monitors are my characters too.
Chapter 1: Tears of Blood
(Sparky)
"Craig! You don't want her! This isn't you, man!" the cocky hothead he recently learned was named Pyro yelled. The cheetah turned towards Pyro and the battle seemingly stopped to watch the showdown. Sparky looked around for the real Multiple Man Monitor. He wasn't sure how he could tell the ones around him were copies, but he could. Something in his gut recognized the original Monitor he was after when his gaze rested upon a Monitor on the outskirts of the battle.
"I'm sorry you had to go through this torture, Mult." Sparky said, electrocuting the Monitor that was at one point in time a mutant he had formed a friendship with. As he knelt down by the Monitor's corpse, he heard the girl he learned was named 'Rogue' call out the name 'John'. He wasn't sure who John was; he only knew the mutant names of some of the other captives that were with him in the holding cell of the damned base. He heard more yelling and his vision got blurry. He blinked the sensation away rapidly, and felt something wet and warm slide down his cheek.
A tear? The last time Sparky had cried, he was only ten. He was saying goodbye to his father, the only human in the world he truly cared about.
His mother killed herself when Sparky was seven. Cut her wrists in some sleazy hotel room. For the next two and a half years, his father raised him. He felt his life was returning to normal…yeah, right. Five months later his dad's mental health deteriorated and he was taken away to some whack-job hospital.
Sparky was shaken from his memory when he noticed three drops of blood on the ground. He touched his face lightly where the tears slid down his cheeks, and the tips of his fingers came back red.
'Oh shit.' he thought, spinning around. He bumped into someone and muttered some half-hearted apology.
"Sorry? Sorry doesn't seem to do me much good, Sparky." The man said.
'That voice…' he thought, face twisting in confusion and fear. "…Mult?" he asked, looking back at the Monitor, then to the man before him.
"Yeah, Sparky, it's me." Multiple Man said, and turned to face him.
"Holy shit…What did they do to you?" Sparky asked, examining the scars, burns, and bruises covering his flesh.
"They? They didn't do this to me. You did." Multiple Man said, and faded away. Blood started to trickle out his nose and more continued to flow through his eye sockets. Once he started to cough up blood, he started freaking out. He saw other mutants in clusters of two's or three's gather around those who were dropping like flies. Some were bleeding, like him, and others were convulsing. He had a coughing fit and watched in horror as the flecks of blood on the ground became a translucent splotch of various shades of red. He uselessly clutched his aching chest when the forest around him became some sort of hospital.
He was lifted up and put into a bed. His vision was getting dark and hazy, but he could see a line of beds to his left, each one getting occupied by a bleeding, twitching, or unconscious mutant.
'What the hell did that bastard do to us?' Sparky thought, wincing as another coughing fit came and went. He looked away from the chaos to his left and saw Multiple Man leaning against the corner of the wall.
"I didn't ask for this. I didn't ask to become some sick, deranged psycho's experiment. I didn't ask to be what I was. But most importantly, Sparky, I didn't ask to be killed by you." Multiple Man said, suddenly flickering into view a mere inches before the bed. Someone turned Sparky's head and shined a light into both of his eyes, one at a time.
"We're going to help you. You're going to be fine." whoever temporarily burned his retinas said. He looked over to his right and Multiple Man was still there, leaning so close that Sparky could smell the burnt flesh. He grabbed the arm of whoever was standing by the bed, possibly the one who temporarily blinded him. "You gotta give me something. Please! Put me under and make him go away!" he pleaded. A syringe was produced and the needle pierced his skin. Seconds later, he felt calm and his eyelids grew heavier and heavier until he fell asleep.
When he awoke, he noticed that most of the bed-ridden mutants were unconscious, some with various kinds of medical apparatus equipped to them.
"Sparky, can you hear me?" a concerned voice asked. He looked to his right and saw Magneto sitting in a chair beside the bed.
"Magneto?" he asked, coughing weakly.
"Who were you expecting?" Magneto asked.
"No one." Sparky said, glancing towards the corner he saw Multiple Man by earlier.
"Why are you here? Shouldn't you be at that Monitor-making factory?" he asked.
"The base is gone, destroyed. And I'm here because you're one of my Brothers. I hold you in high esteem. You remind me of one of my former colleagues, your attitudes are practically identical." Magneto said. Sparky wasn't sure how to react.
"Can you tell me what happened when your group was captured?" Magneto asked.
"Ya-awn! This isn't getting anywhere." Multiple Man said, materializing behind Magneto.
'Damn.' Sparky thought. "We were all injected with something. I don't know what it was." He told his leader.
"Did he say anything about it?" Magneto asked.
"Just that it would kill us at any given time." Sparky said.
"And yet you all fought valiantly." Magneto said.
"Yeah, you fought valiantly, but that doesn't mean shit, right Mags?" Multiple Man asked.
"What are you talking about?" Sparky asked.
"I don't-" Magneto started.
"Not you, Boss." Sparky said.
"Sparky…who are you talking to?" Magneto asked.
"Multiple Man. He's right behind you." Sparky said. The wrinkles of concern vanished from Magneto's face.
"See, Sparky, what you don't realize here is that Magneto views himself as a demi-god. He may say you're 'one of a kind' or that you've got 'special talents', but he cares only for himself." Multiple Man said, resting his head on Magneto's shoulder. Sparky searched Magneto's face for a reaction, but found no indication of such.
"Mags here will inflate your ego, make you believe you're doing the right thing. Then one day, he'll send you on some kamikaze mission. Maybe it'll be another war. Maybe he'll use you as a decoy like he did with me. I thought everything was going to turn out alright on Alcatraz when I was arrested. I foolishly believed in the Brotherhood." Multiple Man said, starting to laugh as he circled the bed.
"Stay strong, Sparky." Magneto said, patted his leg, and left.
"See? He doesn't care. Not about me, not about you. He'll use you like he used me and who knows how many others." Multiple Man said.
"Not true." Sparky said
"That's what you think now, but when you and those three, well, now its two unlucky brothers over there die, and Magneto never lifted a finger to help you, you'll know I was right." Multiple Man said.
"You're lying." Sparky said, hating how childish he sounded.
"You see Pyro in that bed waaay down there?" Multiple Man asked. Sparky looked over to the second-to-last bed.
"He was Magneto's right-hand man when I was with the Brotherhood. He fought in Alcatraz. Did Magneto even glance in his direction? No, because he doesn't care. If he doesn't give a damn about the kid who fought at his side in one of the most notorious wars in mutant history, what makes you think he'll give a damn about you?" Multiple Man asked, vanishing to leave Sparky in the silence.