X-Men: Past, Present, Future
"I believe in the brotherhood of all men, but I don't believe in wasting brotherhood on anyone who doesn't want to practice it with me. Brotherhood is a two-way street." - Malcolm X.
Past Chapter 36: The Brotherhood
"What do you mean the Cuckoos aren't the force?" asked Benedict as he drank his scotch.
The Hellfire Club were at their secret hideout in the underground lounges of New York. The club was once again disappointed that they were further from their goal of world conquest and finding 'the force'.
"They weren't the force," Selene said as she poured herself a drink. "They are powerful mutants but not the force."
"We should be careful around those X-Men then," said Riptide. "They have the Cuckoos on their side."
"They're only two years old," responded Angel. "I'm sure we can still take them on."
"I don't know," said Riptide. "Those girls did beat us last time."
The room suddenly began to shake.
"What's going on?" Angel cried out.
"Is it an earthquake?" asked a scared Benedict who dropped his drink.
Suddenly the metal door was free from its hinges and flew across the room, narrowly missing Riptide's head. Erik, wearing the helmet Beast created for him, levitated into the room.
"Erik!" yelled Selene. "I didn't sense your mind!"
"That's because I'm wearing my helmet," said Erik as he pointed to his helmet. "I had to be prepared."
"What are you doing here?" asked Angel.
"I've come to rejoin the Hellfire Club," said Erik.
"Why?" asked a suspicious Selene.
"I have come to realize that humans are not to be trusted," explained Erik. "I have felt heartbreak from many humans and suffered too many woes. And it always seems that humans are always standing in our way when it comes to mutant progress. I'm tired of being a second class citizen, when it is obvious that mutants are far more superior. That is why I would like join you on your quest to start a war against the humans and ultimately exterminate them."
Benedict, Angel and Riptide looked at Selene. Selene took Erik's speech in and finally made her decision.
"Fine," responded Selene. "You may rejoin the Hellfire Club."
"On one condition though," said Erik.
"What is that?" asked Selene.
"I will be the leader," replied Erik.
"What?" Benedict, Riptide and Angel said at the same time.
"That is ridiculous!" Benedict cried out.
"Selene is the leader," said Riptide. "The Black Queen!"
"They're right, Erik," said Selene. "I can't give you leadership."
"Then I guess I will take it away from you," said Erik.
Erik raised his hands and all the metal objects in the room levitated in the air. The objects surrounded the Hellfire Club and aimed at Selene. Erik then flickered his risk and the objects almost reached Selene's head. Selene used her telekinesis to stop the objects from hitting her.
"Struggling are we?" said Erik with a smirk.
"Why are you doing this?" asked Selene.
"Well, unlike you I don't want to hide," said Erik. "I want to reveal to the world that there are mutants out there that won't stand for discrimination and oppression."
"That's not what the Hellfire Club is about!" said Selene as she struggled to push the objects away from her.
Erik then levitated a gun out of his pocket and sent it at Selene's head. The gun cocked and suddenly a bullet was fired. Selene used all of her telekinesis to stop the bullet, unfortunately releasing her power on the other objects which were all thrown at her. Selene then tried to run to the other side of the room but Erik fired the gun again and this time two bullets hit Selene. One bullet hit her in the shoulder and the other bullet hit her in the back of her head. Selene fell dead to the ground.
The other Hellfire Club members looked at Erik as he took off his helmet. The metal objects returned to their original places and the gun returned to Erik's pocket.
"I guess you're our new leader now," said Angel.
"What do you want us to do?" asked Riptide.
"I want to disband the Hellfire Club," replied Erik. "And start a new group. A group where we will fight for mutant rights everywhere and not be oppressed by humans."
"What is this new group called, Erik?" asked Benedict.
"The Brotherhood of Evil Mutants," Erik replied with a grin. "And don't call me Erik. Call me Magneto."
Present Chapter 36: Lorna's Plan
"It has been seven hours since the destruction of Prison X, the prison for dangerous mutants. Officials believe that mutant terrorist, Magneto somehow escaped his plastic prison cell and freed the other mutants being held at the jail. Officials are on the hunt for all 73 mutants but so far no luck. Channel Seven will continue to update you on the story by the hour-"
Jean turned off the television. Everybody in the living room was silent. Their greatest enemy has escaped and now fear has been brought back into the world.
"What are we going to do now?" asked Wolverine.
"We'll let Angel deal with the PR," responded Cyclops. "Hopefully, we'll be able to find Magneto and stop him before he does anything."
The students returned to their regular routine. In the library, Lorna, Alex, Jean-Paul and Julian studied for their History exam.
"In 1875, Sir-" Julian stopped reading out loud when he heard Lorna's heavy breathing.
"Is there something wrong, babe?" asked Alex to Lorna.
"This is ridiculous," said Lorna. "We're here studying for stupid history, when we should be out looking for Magneto!"
"Like the X-Men would ever let us look for Magneto," responded Jean-Paul.
"But they should let us help them!" said an upset Lorna.
"It will be too dangerous," said Julian.
"It's dangerous not having Magneto locked up!" yelled Lorna.
"Calm down," said Alex. "You're only mad because he's your father and he's practically embarrassing you." Lorna slapped Alex in the face, grabbed her books and stormed out of the library.
"You're so smart," Jean-Paul mocked Alex.
Later that night, Lorna walked down with Billy aka. Lil' Bro into the lower levels of the school. Lorna held the seven year olds hand and guided him through the lower level corridors.
"Are you sure we won't get in trouble with the Professor?" asked Billy.
"The Professor is with Angel and Colossus in Washington dealing with the press," replied Lorna. "He won't know."
Lorna and Billy entered Cerebro. The doors closed as Lorna and Billy approached the machine. Lorna put the helmet onto Billy's head.
"What if it hurts me?" asked Billy.
"I heard you were a class 5 telepath," said Lorna. "The machine will hardly do anything to you despite you not being fully trained on your telepathy."
"Okay," said Billy. "I'm ready."
Billy concentrated his powers into Cerebro. The round room spun around and suddenly, images of human and mutant populations surrounded Lorna and Billy.
"Look for Sabertooth," said Lorna. "He should be with Magneto. He was in Prison X, so he must be one of the mutants that Magneto freed." Suddenly, Cerebro zoomed into Sabretooth's face.
"He's in a forest in Maine," said Billy. Billy turned off Cerebro and took the helmet off his head.
"Thank you, Billy," said Lorna. "I'll take you back to your room."
Lorna and Billy walked out of Cerebro and were faced with the high school level students in full Junior X-Men costumes.
"What-what are you-," Lorna was stunned at the sight of her classmates.
"We want to help," said Armando.
"You're right," said Alex. "We shouldn't just sit around...and I'm sorry." Alex and Lorna embraced in a hug.
"Are you sure you guys want to help?" asked Lorna with tears in her eyes.
"Yes," said Jeanne-Marie. "We can't just wait until for Magneto to come and attack us."
"And we can't wait for the X-Men either," said Kitty.
"We're ready to help you," said Max.
"Because we know how much it means to you," said Amara.
"Can you guys work together and put pass any hate you may have?" asked Lorna.
"For this, yes," said Sooraya as she looked at Jeanne-Marie.
"We'll do anything to put Magneto away for good," said Jubilee as she looked at her ex-best friend Amara.
"Okay," said Lorna. "Let's go find Magneto and his brotherhood."
"I'll take Billy back to bed first," said Idie as she took the seven year olds hand and walked him back upstairs.
"So where is Magneto?" asked Julian.
"Billy located Sabertooth in a forest in Maine," replied Lorna. "He should be with Magneto."
"There's only one forest in Maine," responded Jamie. "White Mountain National Forest."
"How do you know this?" asked Sofia.
"I went there with my family once for the summer," answered Jamie.
"Okay," said Roberto. "Looks like we're going to White Mountain."
"How are we going to get there?" asked Jeanne-Marie. "None of us can fly the X-Jet."
"Yeah and even if we could, we'll probably wake everybody up," said Jean-Paul.
"I have an idea," said Alex.
The students woke up Megan aka. Pixie and brought her down to the basement.
"You want me to open up a portal?" asked Megan.
"Yes, to White Mountain National Park," said Alex.
"How will you get back?" asked Megan. "I don't want to go with you."
"Just keep the portal open," replied Sooraya. "We'll only be gone for a few hours."
"Okay," Megan said. Megan waved her hands and created a portal.
"Let's go team," said Lorna.
One by one the Junior X-Men hopped into the portal, on their quest to capture Magneto.
Future Chapter 36: The Legacy Virus
The mutants found themselves in the forest where Beast's hideout was located. The mutants set up tents near Beast's hideout. They were all settling into their new living situations. Inside Beast's shack, Polaris and Mystique were lying on respective beds. Mystique was simply feeling fatigue, but Polaris had a fever and her body was shaking. Havok watched over his love, trying to make her as comfortable as he could.
"What's wrong with her?" asked Havok.
"We don't know," replied Dr. Cecile Reyes.
Outside, Emma, Cyclops, Colossus, Angel and Storm ate their food and discussed the events.
"Some of the mutants have been feeling ill," said Colossus.
"Is there a flu spreading around?" asked Cyclops.
"Maybe," said Storm. "We are all cramped in the woods together. Some tents have up to eight mutants sharing."
"We probably would have more room if my estate was still standing," said Emma.
"Yes, but I don't think your estate could hold over 10,000 mutants without being caught," said Angel as he took a bite of his stale bread.
In one of the tents, Northstar and Sunspot were handing out food and water to the mutants. Northstar looked around and spotted Erg, who was playing with mutant children, trying to cheer them up. Northstar smiled at the sight and Sunspot noticed.
"Do you still love him?" asked Sunspot.
"What, no," said Northstar defensively.
"I don't believe you," said Sunspot.
"Well, you should because it's the truth," said Northstar.
"Just like the truth about Havok kissed you and you never planned on telling me?" asked Sunspot in anger. The two boys then noticed a car driving into the area.
Northstar used his super speed to run up to Emma.
"What's wrong?" asked Emma.
"There's a car," said Northstar. "Someone's here."
Emma, Cyclops, Storm, Colossus, Beast, Angel, Cannonball and Wolverine approached the mysterious car. The car parked and the driver came out of the door. It was Dr. Kavita Roa.
"Kavita?" asked Beast. "What are you doing here?"
"I came to speak with you, Hank," answered Kavita. "I didn't know you had guest over." Kavita looked around and was amazed by all the tents and mutants.
The X-Men went inside the shack, listening to what Kavita had to say.
"Remember years ago when I tried to make a cure for mutation?" asked Kavita.
"Yes," said an angry Erg.
"Well, I destroyed my research and gave up on the idea," said Kavita. "I knew it was immoral."
"You should have never done it then," said Erg.
"Erg, please, let Dr. Roa continue," said Beast.
"Well, a few months ago Defense Against Mutants came to my research facility and demanded me to tell them about the cure. I explained to them that I didn't have the research anymore but they wouldn't leave until I tell them what I did to create the cure."
"DAM wanted to restart the research and create a cure?" asked Angel.
"No, Warren," said Kavita. "DAM wanted to do something else."
"What is it?" asked Emma.
"They wanted to combine the influenza virus with the cure," said Kavita. "Ultimately making a virus that will only attack mutants. The virus will cause flu like symptoms but also repress the X-gene, causing powers to not work at all. The ultimate fate of the victim is death. They're calling it the Legacy Virus."
"Oh my God," said a stunned Shadowcat.
"This is unbelievable," said Magma.
"Did they succeed?" asked Colossus.
"Yes," replied Kavita. "They captured the mutant, Leech and the mutant Plague. They used Leech to create the virus as well as weapons that they call Anti-Mutant Bombs. They're gas bombs that release a temporary version of the cure, effectively stopping any mutants from using their powers for a few hours."
"We've experienced those," said Wolverine. "They used them on us."
"If we don't stop DAM, they're going to use Plauge's power, which is the ability to spread diseases into the population."
"That would mean a pandemic of the virus," said Dr. Cecile Reyes.
"Exactly," said Kavita. "And I believe it's already happening here."
"How?" asked Oya. Everybody looked at the room where Havok stood over the sick Polaris.
"The injections!" Emma cried out. "They injected some of the mutants with something. Was it the virus?"
"I believe it was," said Kavita.
"I was injected and I don't feel anything," said Cannonball.
"I was injected too," said Wind Dancer.
"The virus attacks certain mutants faster than others," said Kavita. "But eventually you will feel the effects."
"How contagious is the virus?" asked Cyclops.
"Very," replied Kavita. "It's DAM's motive to infect the whole mutant population and kill them off."
"It's biological warfare," said Emma.
"How are we suppose to win against a virus?" Iceman yelled out.
"There must be something we can do!" yelled Gambit.
"There is one thing," said Kavita. "I have done some research and I believe I can create a cure for the virus. This is why I came here. I need your help Hank."
"Of course," responded Beast. "I'll help with anything."
"Don't you think DAM will be able to spread the virus before we can come up with a cure?" asked Wolverine.
"That is why we must also stop DAM from continuing to produce the virus," said Kavita. "We must also save Leech, the source, and Plague the one that could kill you all."
"Where are they being held?" asked Angel.
"They're in a lab located in Texas," replied Kavita. "It's the same lab that also produces the Anti-Mutant Bombs."
"We'll kill two birds with one stone then," said Cyclops.
To be continued...