Making New Alliances
"I really feel bad about all this," Alex sighed as he looked around his new room at the Institute. "The last thing I wanted to do was get anyone in trouble."
"Oh I wouldn't worry about that," Starla purred. She had taken it upon herself to show Alex his room. "They seem to get on your case for the littlest thing around here. So you're Scott Summer's younger brother huh? I must say you are very different than what I pictured. I mean…Scott's so…And you're so…" Her eyes lit up. "You must work out a lot."
"Well yeah, I do surf too," Alex suddenly felt like a mouse trapped in a corner by a very hungry cat.
"Really? You know maybe the two of us can get together and make some waves?" Starla slunk up to him so that her face and body were very close.
"Uh maybe some other time," Alex backed away.
"Hey sis, you finish your chores yet?" Taylor asked as he stood by the door with Jamie and Madelyne.
"Beat it brats," Starla hissed. "We're busy!"
"No we're not!" Alex said quickly and moved over to them. "Anything I can help you with?"
"They can help by leaving," Starla growled.
"Why don't you leave?" Madelyne snapped. "It's obvious he's not interested in you!"
"Listen Jean Grey Number Two," Starla growled. "Why don't you go somewhere and play with your dolls?"
"You can't tell me what to do you know?" Madelyne glared at her.
"Yes I can! I'm older than you!" Starla said. "What are you going to do? Cry to your big sister?"
"I'll do more than that you…" Madelyne balled her fists.
"Just go away you annoying rug rats," Starla waved and turned to Alex.
"I have a better idea," Madelyne said as she activated her powers. "Why don't you go away you slutty Tinkerbell wanna be?"
"HEY! PUT ME DOWN! PUT ME DOWN!" Starla yelled as Madelyne telekinetically picked her up and shoved her out the door.
"Gladly! You're gaining weight!" Madelyne said as she dropped Starla outside Alex's room on her behind and slammed the door in her face.
"YOU'LL GET YOURS YOU LITTLE BRAT!" Starla screamed as she hit the door a few times then stormed away.
"Ignore my sister, she's a bitch," Taylor said. He responded to Alex's shocked expression. "Well she is."
"Thanks guys, I think you just saved me from a fate worse than death," Alex chuckled. "So you're Madelyne huh?"
"Yeah and this is Taylor," She nodded. "So you're moving in here full time now huh?"
"It's the best place for me to be right now," Alex agreed.
"If this place is so great then why didn't you come before?" Taylor asked.
"Because he was doing super hero stuff in Hawaii," Jamie explained.
"Well I wouldn't call it that," Alex was embarrassed. "I kind of got into a little trouble with the law and as part of my community service I became a one mutant task force for my town."
"Yeah but you fought some villains right?" Jamie asked.
"Occasionally," Alex admitted. "And helped pull people out of a few cars. And get the mayor out of some neighbor's yard once in a while."
"What was he a drunk like our mayor?" Madelyne asked.
"No, he was a Saint Bernard," Alex told him. "Seriously, he was a dog. I lived in a weird town."
"So basically you don't have any training right?" Taylor asked. "That means you can be on our squad!"
"We're on the Blue Squad because of our age," Jamie said. "Most of the team that went to Hawaii to help you are on the Red Squad."
"Of course there hasn't exactly been a lot of missions lately," Madelyne sighed.
"I heard about what happened to Jesse," Alex said. "He seemed like a nice guy. But as for training…Well I've done quite a bit. Not Danger Room standard but it was pretty intense in it's own way."
"What kind of training?" Jamie asked.
"Well…?" Alex grinned. "You have an ocean in back right?"
"Yeah…" Taylor blinked.
"Come on, I'll show you," Alex grinned.
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"I can't believe what you all did!" Warren yelled at Roberto. Sam and the others that went to Hawaii were in Xavier's office. "It's bad enough that you left the Institute, and the state of New York without permission! But to get involved in a fight with an unknown and dangerous mutant? What were you thinking?"
"We were just trying to save Alex!" Tabitha protested.
"You should have just told us and we would have sent the Joes or someone to help him," Warren glared.
"And by then it would have been too late," Rahne said.
"Too late for what? To nearly get killed?" Warren snapped. "What you did was reckless and dangerous!"
"They also did the right thing," Logan stepped in. "Face it Angel, the only person who's out of line here is you!"
"Logan, not now…" Warren glared.
"Yes now! Kids wait outside!" Logan told them.
"Why? We can hear you fighting just as easily out there?" Ray asked.
"Out!" Warren snapped. The students left. "What are you trying to do? Undermine my authority?"
"No, you're doing a hell of a job with that all on your own," Logan said. "Now I've been going along with this crap for about two weeks now, which you gotta admit is a record for me. But I've had it! No more! I'm through humoring you! It's time to set you straight!"
"Oh really? About what?" Warren growled.
"About something I should have said to you weeks ago! But for some reason I thought you'd snap out of it by yourself! I was wrong! What happened to Jesse wasn't your fault Warren," Logan told him. "Xavier will understand that. What is your fault is that you're betraying the purpose of the X-Men."
"I'm trying to teach these kids to use their powers responsibly and keep them safe," Warren shouted.
"And how is hiding from the world teaching them that?" Logan barked.
"You sound like you're actually proud of those kids breaking the rules!" Warren was shocked.
"You're damn right I am! When push came to shove these kids knew that they'd get in trouble for helping Havok but they did it anyway," Logan told him. "They put their lives on the line and because of that people are alive. That town would have burned to the ground if they weren't there and you know it!"
"So what do you want Logan?" Warren asked. "Have them go running out and saving the day every time danger comes up?"
"I'm saying we have to pick our battles," Logan told him. "We always fight for our friends. And until the others get back we're responsible for their job! Like it or not Warren, the Red Squad has to step up now. It's not like we didn't know this day was coming."
"It's just come sooner than we thought," Warren sighed. "Too soon."
"I'm not saying let the kids off the hook completely," Logan told him. "I'll make 'em do some extra training."
"Speaking of which I guess we should go back to daily Danger Room sessions?" Warren asked.
"Now you are talking," Logan grinned. "Come on let's bring 'em back inside." He opened the door and didn't see anyone there. "Where did they go?"
Starla was walking past. "Starla do you know where the others are?" Warren asked.
"Oh doing something stupid outside training," Starla said. "I came to complain about an assault! Madelyne used her powers on me! She attacked me!"
"Training? Outside?" Logan asked. "This I gotta see."
"I'd like to see this as well," Warren nodded.
"Ex-cuse me!" Starla yelled. "I was attacked here!"
"Do you have any broken bones?" Logan asked gruffly.
"No," Starla said.
"Are you injured?" Logan asked.
"Not really," She admitted.
"Then you got lucky," Logan told her. "Stop whining!" He went off with Warren.
"You know it's attitudes like that that get you lawsuits!" Starla screamed after him.
"Tell it to the lawyers," Logan barked at her.
They went outside but the kids weren't to be found. "Where are they?" Logan took a sniff. "I smell 'em…The ocean!"
"I'll find them," Warren took to the sky and flew overhead. Logan followed them.
Soon they saw the kids. They had gone down the cliff to the ocean where they saw Alex blasting at the waves with his blasts. "The trick is to hold them off and keep them from crashing onto the beach for as long as you can," Alex told them.
"Dude, isn't that kind of pointless?" Ray asked.
"That's the point," Jamie rolled his eyes. "Don't you people ever watch samurai movies?"
"It's to build up your stamina as well as doing some target practice," Alex told them. He deliberately let one get away.
"I got it!" Roberto shouted as he blasted at it.
"Good shot!" Alex told them. "Wanna try?"
"Yeah I'm game," Roberto nodded as he joined in.
"I'm in," Tim nodded.
"Me too," Ray said.
"Dude, your powers are electric," Tim snapped. "You'll fry us all!"
"Not if we don't stand in the water," Ray told him.
"That means I can do it too," Jubilee said.
"I'll copy your powers Alex," Everett got into the game as well.
"I don't think my fire blasts are that strong," Amara said. "But I'll try." Soon they were getting into it.
"Phew, this is harder than I thought," Roberto was already sweating. "How long do you usually do this, Alex?"
"I dunno, two three hours," Alex shrugged. "I once did it for six."
"Six hours?" Ray shouted.
"Too bad we can't play," Rahne sighed.
"I dunno about that," Alex said. "How about we up the stakes here? All the rest of you try to hit us with pebbles…Don't throw hard. Just try to hit us."
"Oh this is gonna be fun," Tabitha cackled.
"No time bombs, Tabitha!" Ray shouted. "Yikes!" He barely dodged a pebble.
"Okay now we gotta hit the waves and avoid getting hit by pebbles," Alex shouted. "It's a little thing I used to do with the deputy back home."
"You actually let somebody throw rocks at you while training?" Roberto asked as he dodged a pebble.
"Yeah he's Scott's brother all right!" Ray groaned. "Ow! Tabby!"
The students were all getting into the game. "Alex has picked up a few tricks of his own in Hawaii," Warren mused.
"Looks like Havok's got some leadership abilities after all," Logan nodded. "Maybe he's just what we need right now."
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"Mister Pierce, what a pleasure to see you," Kingpin spoke to the Hellfire Club member in his office. "What can I do to help you?"
"It's what I can do for you," Donald Pierce told him. "Have you read my proposal?"
"I have," Kingpin thought as he perused a folder in front of him. "A way to permanently suppress the X-Gene. How…ingenious of you."
"It's still in the development stage," Pierce said.
"Tell me, why did you come to me with this?" Kingpin asked. "I'm not exactly a full fledged member of the Hellfire Club."
"Which is why I came to you," Pierce grunted. "Damn mutants have taken over everything! It was bad enough when Shaw was in charge but now his mutant brat of a son's lording all over us. Human beings are being phased out of the organization. It's just a matter of time before they turn me out."
"I thought you were exempt from that little rule due to your…" Kingpin waved his hand towards Pierce's cybernetic arm.
"Barely," Pierce grunted. "I'm sick of taking orders from those freaks!"
"You would rather be the one giving the orders," Kingpin said. "Again why come to me?"
"Because you are the only human that has the guts to stand up to the organization and help me take it down from the inside," Pierce said. "I know about you playing some kind of bizarre power game with Factor Three. With you on the inside I may have a chance to keep tabs on their movements. Think about it Kingpin, do you really think they'd let a mere human win? But together we'd stand more than a chance. With the mutants gone, we'll take control!"
"It is a tempting prospect," Kingpin folded his fingers carefully.
"You and I can be the new Black King and White King of the Hellfire Club and rebuild it to it's old glory," Pierce said. "The way it should be, mutant free! What do you say?"
"Well royalty is always appealing," Kingpin said. "And all I have to do is…?"
"I need funds," Pierce said. "And a secret place for my scientists to do their research."
"As well as one particular mutant to ensure success," Kingpin nodded. "A cure for mutant powers would be very handy to someone like myself. Maybe even alter it to cure a few non mutant super heroes that wander around."
"Like Spider Man and the Daredevil?" Pierce grinned. "I'm sure we can work on something. Do we have a deal then?"
"I believe we do," Kingpin nodded. "How about we go over the details of our partnership at lunch tomorrow? I have a few associates I need to meet with first on other business. Chez Luna at say…Noonish?"
"I will be there," Pierce walked out of the room, confident in his plans.
"So did you hear everything?" Kingpin casually turned his head to the shadows.
"Everything," Sinister walked out. "But tell me something, why are you telling me this? We're supposed to be rivals you know?"
"I am well aware of that," Kingpin said wryly. "But something tells me we could both benefit from a little cooperation."
"Really? What sort of cooperation?" Sinister raised an eyebrow.
"Be honest Sinister, you don't really give a damn about winning this game do you?" Kingpin asked. "At least the game Factor Three is playing. Am I right?"
Sinister was silent. "I'll take that as a yes," Kingpin continued. "What you really want is to get rid of both Apocalypse and Factor Three so you can be free to pursue your genetic experimentation to your hearts content. Working on the perfect species free from all of these political maneuvers. Am I correct?"
"Are you sure you are not a mutant?" Sinister gave him a look.
"Just a mere Homo Sapien," Kingpin smirked. "Who is very good at reading people."
"May I infer from this conversation that you are not exactly interested in winning this game of Factor Three's as well?" Sinister asked.
"I must admit it is an amusing distraction," Kingpin waved. "But I have more important matters to attend to. I am after all the Kingpin of Crime. I have an empire to control and expand."
"And you want me to help you with it," Sinister folded his arms. "Making you perfect soldiers for some kind of crime army?"
"Of course," Kingpin nodded. "I'm more than willing to give you free reign and have plenty of resources at my disposal. And I am also willing to help you with plans for your revenge as well."
"Really? Why?" Sinister raised an eyebrow.
"To put it bluntly Factor Three, the Hellfire Club and Apocalypse are competition," Kingpin shrugged. "Pure and simple."
"And therefore your enemy," Sinister agreed.
"The enemy of my enemy is my friend," Kingpin grinned.
"And you'd like me to be your friend," Sinister nodded.
"Would you rather be my enemy?" Kingpin asked. "By the way there is someone I wish you to meet." He looked at his watch. "In about three…Two…One…"
There was a flash. In popped a tall gaunt man with gray and black hair, a goatee and a trimmed mustache. He was wearing an olive green suit and expensive Italian boots. "Sinister I'd like you to meet Trevor Fitzroy. One of my employees. A very cunning and clever thief and assassin."
"Charmed I'm sure," Fitzroy grinned.
"A teleporter?" Sinister asked.
"A bit more complicated than that," Fitzroy grinned. "You see I travel through time to get whenever and wherever I need to be. Well whenever within two years anyway depending on how much strength I have at the time. My powers do have some limits."
"And the fact that he needs to take a large quantity of life force to use his powers," Kingpin said. "So I wouldn't shake hands if I were you."
"Very interesting," Sinister smiled. "I could use a man with his talents."
"You can use him to tell Factor Three and the Hellfire Club about Pierce's treachery for starters," Kingpin said.
"You don't want the credit?" Sinister was surprised.
"Not especially," Kingpin shrugged. "Like I said, there's a bigger game to play. Pierce was right about one thing, Factor Three would never let a mere human win their game. No matter what my attachments are to the Vanisher. And I have a feeling they will never let you win either."
"No, in fact I have a sneaking suspicion that Factor One is deliberately making me play so he can humiliate me in some bizarre fashion," Sinister nodded.
"So why not work together and teach them a lesson?" Kingpin grinned.
"Kingpin…I think we have the beginnings of a beautiful partnership," Sinister grinned.
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Three days passed and life went on. The protestors had moved away and died down. The soldiers had left and Forge had upgraded the security system at the gate. Alex was fitting in with the New Mutants. Even though he had some mastery of his powers, he was put on the Blue Squad. But Alex didn't complain. He seemed to enjoy his new team mates. Well almost all of them.
"Starla I'm really not that interested," Alex backed away out of the boy's locker room.
"Oh come on Alex," Starla purred. She was wearing nothing more than a towel. "You can't tell me you don't like what you see?"
"I do," Roberto remarked as he and Everett rounded the corner.
"Whoa…"Everett blinked.
"Hello boys," Starla said. "See they can appreciate me. Why can't you?"
"We'd all appreciate it if you put some clothes on!" Amara shouted. Standing with her was Lorna and Jubilee.
"Oh get a sense of humor," Starla removed the towel with a flourish. It revealed she was wearing a two piece strapless bathing suit. "I do have clothes on. Technically."
"She does have a point," Roberto said. Amara glared at him. "What?"
"Come with me!" Amara grabbed Roberto by the arm and dragged him away. "We need to have a talk!"
"OW! NOT SO HARD! OW!" Roberto yelled.
"If I were you I'd put something on before Logan catches you," Jubilee told Starla. "Or you catch a cold."
"You're just jealous because I have a better body than you and you know it!" Starla walked away in a huff.
"Why you little…" Jubilee raised her arm and prepared to go after her.
"Uh maybe we should go cool down for a bit?" Everett grabbed her arm and dragged her away.
"Never a dull moment around here is there?" Lorna blinked.
"That's for sure," Alex sighed. "I tell her no. But I don't think she understands."
"Girls like her never do," Lorna said. "So other than Starla the Stalker how do you like it here?"
"It's fine," Alex said.
"I guess you miss your brother don't you?" Lorna asked.
"Yeah but in a way I'm kind of glad he's not here right now," Alex said. "I mean, I hate to be compared to him. I want people here to get to know me as Alex. Not Scott Summer's brother."
"I know how you feel," Lorna groaned. "Around here people still refer to me as Rogue's sister if I'm lucky. I really hate being called Magneto's daughter or Pietro's sister behind my back!"
"Ouch," Alex winced. "You're right, it could be worse."
"It could be a lot worse," Lorna groaned. "Is that why you never came here before?"
"That and the whole mutant thing," Alex sighed. "And I really didn't want to leave my parents. Foster parents. And Hawaii. I mean the climate is so cold here."
"I've notice," Lorna said. "How did you end up in Hawaii and Scott end up in Alaska?"
"Best I can figure out an office screw up," Alex sighed.
"Well you're here now and that's what matters," Lorna said.
"Yeah, say Lorna…" Alex coughed. "Look I never got a chance to really thank you for helping me save my dad's life. Do you think that maybe…Well if you're interested…We could go out sometime?"
"On a date?" Lorna blinked.
"Well I know we can't go anywhere really," Alex covered. "But we could split an ice cream sundae in the kitchen or something."
"You know what…That sounds nice," Lorna said. "In fact why don't we do it now?"
Then an alarm sounded. "Oh of course…" Lorna said sarcastically. "That's why!"
"Everyone listen up! We're being attacked!" Logan's voice shouted through the intercom. "Both Red and Blue Squads report to your stations on the double! The Werewolves are back!"
