Epilogue
Disclaimer: It all belongs to Marvel, except for my original characters, of course. But if Marvel wants to use them, they can. Feel free to post this, or any other Glaivester fic, anywhere, but please notify me so I can brag about it.
That Saturday, the X-Men were back at the Institute. SHIELD decided to go easy on Kurt for letting Slayer go, and the Professor was beginning to give Talia her telepathic lessons. Agent Zmoloka had been returned to Latveria, and Snowbird had rejoined Alpha Flight in Canada.
Kurt and Wanda were getting along very nicely, and Juggernaut and Remy had become great friends in their mutual interest in staying away from Tabby and Kitty, who were also inseparable and constantly trying to find ways to be with the two men. The next Monday, Kitty finally did get her driver's license, and as a result over the course of the week was constantly ferrying Cain around, for fun, with Remy and Tabby in the back.
Everyone was happy, or as happy as could be expected given the uncertainty the world was in.
Meanwhile, in the Emerald Isle...
Rahne hated Northern Ireland. Since anti-mutant sentiment had increased in Scotland, her parents had sent her away to some of her relatives in Belfast [A/N as I recall, Irish Protestants are largely from Scotland].
One day she was traveling with Sean Cassidy, a friend from the independent portion of Ireland. They were crossing into independent Ireland, to Dublin to visit Sean's daughter, Theresa. They had just reached a field, rather brown from the soon-to-come winter, when they saw a large - dirt storm would be the best way to describe it - coming at them.
There was a huge earthquake-like rumbling, and the car was thrown up into the wave of oncoming dirt. Sean grabbed Rahne, pulled her out of the car, and screeched, flying them up and clear of the storm.
Up higher in the air, they could see a strange figure on the ground. He looked almost robotic, although something about him suggested that he was biological. The figure looked up and screamed. Sean was knocked backward, and he just barely avoided dropping Rahne. Sean flew at the strange man, and using his own sonic blast, he attacked him.
The man was thrown back slightly, but he recovered, and copying Sean's scream for frequency and pattern but not for volume, he launched himself into the air.
So, thought the strange man, as he launched himself into the air, this is the frequency that will enable me to fly without my horse. "Rule Britannia!" he hollered as he flew up to meet Sean.
Sean screamed again, but every scream was met by a louder one from the strange man, until Sean finally lost consciousness and dropped to the ground. The man swept down and grabbed him and Rahne, and lowered them gently onto the dirt.
"Hello, War here," he spoke into a watch. "Target acquired, and a friend as well." He took out a small device and pointed it at her to analyze her. "Ah. A mutant. A lycanthrope. Should I bring her?"
"Yes," came Sinister's voice from the other end of the line. "But don't bring Sean in. Leave him there and attack Dublin instead."
"May I ask why?"
"Yes. It would be better if the Irish government let him come to me of his own accord. After they see what damage you can do, they will want him, and maybe his daughter to be enhanced so as to be able to match you. I will send a representative from the newest defense company, GeneDef Defensive Industries."
"So I attack, and you will send a GeneDef Defensive Industries representative to tell them that they can enhance her in order to fight me?"
"Exactly. So they will think him to be a loyal servant of Irish Intelligence, while all the time he is working for me."
As this was going on, Upload, Baron Zemo, Captain Axis, and Exchange were discussing strategies for finding the Red Skull again and getting their plans back on track.
"I think," explained Zemo, "that we need to put Plan B into action. I have contacts in HYDRA. I also have designs for a Cerebro-like computer. I simply need to get the information from Professor X's mind copied, and I can make my secret weapon."
"Which is?" asked Upload.
"A telepathic weapon of mass destruction. My contacts in HYDRA will get me to their research division, AIM. I will there enlist the help of George Tarleton. He will become the living component of the weapon, and will kill as many as two million in an hour simply with the power of thought."
"This Tarleton is a telepath."
"Yes, quite possibly the most powerful telepath on the planet. Have you ever heard of MODOK?"
~Leboko.~ Upload, aka Mbakama Leboko, heard a voice in his head call his name. ~Leboko, there is a third pyramid. Do not speak of it yet. But prepare to activate it. Once it is activated, I will be able to use my power to help you to destroy the Luseths once and for all!~
Leboko smiled. The Wachukus would finally wipe the hated Luseths off of the face of the Earth, and Galothswo would be cleansed [A/N if you didn't read "Father Figure," the Wachukus are the ruling African tribe in the country of Galothswo, and have attempted genocide against the Luseths, a rival tribe].
Five hours later.
The street was utterly destroyed. There was only one videotape that had survived. It showed a strange, robotic looking mutant screaming, and the buildings along the street crumbling at the noise. At least a thousand were dead. "Rule Britannia!" he hollered before screaming like Sean and flying away.
"So, Sean, is this the man you were confronted by? The one who kidnapped Miss Sinclair?"
Sean nodded.
"W e have reason to believe that this is a British agent. Apparently Britain is tired of being seen as a second-rate power and wants to begin becoming an empire again. It will start with the conquest of all of Ireland. There is a Mr. Kirby here from GeneDef Defensive Industries. He wants to help you so that you can fight this guy when he comes back.
Meanwhile, in Belfast, Northern Ireland, a dark, hulking figure came into view. He bared his fangs, and exhaled. Everyone on the street ran in horror, as poisonous gas filled the street. The figure held out his arms, and metal quills flew everywhere, exploding on impact and destroying most of the street.
"Free Ireland!" roared the figure, and he moved back into the fog created by his poisonous breath. Out of sight, he hopped on a metallic horse and flew off.
Two hours later.
British Military Intelligence showed the lone videotape to the Braddock twins.
"Apparently he works for the IRA or a similar group. They killed almost two hundred. It looks like the peace in Northern Ireland is being lost. After all this work, they have finally decided to use mutants to drive us out. Well, we won't allow it. We have our own mutants."
"Damn straight," stated Benjamin.
"They even tried to deflect the blame by killing a thousand of their own in a similar attack. And trying to pin the blame on us. Of course, with terrorists who don't respect the rule of law, you can hardly expect them to respect their own lives more than those of their enemies."
"So what will we do?" asked Elizabeth.
"We have a representative here, Mr. Lieber of GeneDef Defensive Industries. He wants to help you to fight him. He is exploring ways to enhance your mutations."
The head of Irish Intelligence couldn't believe it. In order to cover their rear ends, the British had killed two hundred of their own to deflect the blame for their attack on Ireland. But of course, five times as many Irish had been killed, so obviously the British were behind the whole thing, minimizing the damage to themselves and trying to kill as many Irish as possible without taking any blame.
Mr. Sinister sat back in his chair in the Mexican pyramid, and laughed. He had bugged their offices, and they had reacted as he had expected them to. He would have his wars, and he would have his supermutants. This new one, Rahne Sinclair, would be very interesting after he enhanced her, first by his old methods, and if he liked the results, by using the Eye.
Ms. Dexter, Slayer, Sauron, Wolfsbane, and soon he would have Banshee and his daughter Siryn [A/N Sean and Theresa Cassidy, respectively], as well as the Braddock twins, Elizabeth [A/N Psylocke] and Benjamin [A/N Captain Britain]. Maybe he should give this new group a name.
"I have my Nasty Boys. These can be... my Marauders."
FINIS
[A/N The names of the GeneDef representatives are a reference to Stan Lee (born Stanley Lieber) and Jack Kirby].