Henry McCoy slouched on the bar table in disgust as the channel
nine news update came on. Henry was known as the ape-man of San Diego. He
usually tied back his black wavy hair into a ponytail. He was known as the
ape-man mostly because of his huge feet. He had to go to a special store to
get stuff to put on his feet. Henry was huge all together. He looked like
the type of person who could lift up a bus. His appearance didn't match his
personality though. Inside the huge ape-like man was a kind, gentle, and
polite person. People didn't care to get to know him, so they would make
fun of his appearance for their entertainment. Somehow, Henry always got
out of a situation like this without anyone getting hurt... that is unless
they forced him to use self defense.
Henry guzzled some of his beer and looked up at the television next to all of the beer bottles. Henry never really liked bars, but he thought he would try it out for once. The face of Boaz Eshelmen, news anchor for the channel nine news, appeared on the screen.
"Good evening. I'm Boaz Eshelmen," he said with a strong voice, "and you're watching the Channel Nine News Update!"
Henry sighed, ready to hear more news about mutants, like him, killing or being killed. Boaz continued:
"Tonight's top story: trial run of the sentinels is hailed as a triumphant success as a mutant nest in Los Angles is uncovered and neutralized with no civilian casualties."
The picture changed to video footage of the sentinels scanning the streets of Los Angles and shooting helpless mutants as a S.W.A.T team holds back civilians.
"Were these mutant terrorists behind the recent anti-human bombings in New York and Washington? Police say the evidence is undeniable, but human rights campaigners Amnesty International have condemned the action as Inhuman and Unconstitutional, provoking a stern White House Response."
Henry began to get nervous as the report went into more and more details, including some names of mutants. He always got nervous when they went into details, afraid that somehow his name would be announced for something he didn't do. The news report went into the subject of the Brotherhood of Mutants. They were a group of human haters, led by the master of magnetism, Magneto. They caused all sorts of mayhem, believing that they can take over all of mankind and homo superior (mutants) could take place of man. They were a very feared group, and there was some sort of news report on them everyday.
One of the men playing pool beside the bar table looked up at Henry. He saw that he was very nervous looking, and also saw that he didn't look normal. That could only mean one thing...
"Jeez, I haven't seen anyone looking so nervous watching T.V since my old man bet the rent on last years super bowl," The man said with a smirk. "What's the matter freak? You scared the sentinels will drop in here for a beer on their way back from L.A?"
Henry realized that the man knew he was a mutant. Henry had become a master at playing stuff off. He kept a straight face and talked in a normal tone.
"Correct me if I'm wrong, sir, but I was under the impression that the sentinels were only after mutants."
The man laughed out loud and leaned on his que stick.
"Well, if you ain't a mutant, how do you explain those ugly, gorilla-sized feet of yours dude," the man snickered, "was Mom making out with Mighty Joe Young behind daddy's back or what?"
A burst of anger went through Henry. That was the worst insult he had gotten since he was in high school. His face got red, but he kept control.
"I'm sorry, friend," Henry said, "but I think you've mistaken me for someone who walked in here looking for trouble."
The smile on the man's face turned to an evil frown.
"Yeah, well, I reckon you just mistook me for someone who cares, fatboy!"
The man lifted his que stick up into the air, and swung it at Henry with all his might. Henry, because of his advanced reflexes, flipped over the man as the que stick proceeded to crash through his beer bottle. The man hesitated, confused at what just happened, then turned around. Henry lifted his arm back and threw a straight punch right into the man's face. The man went flying into the wall behind the bar table and crashed into several beer bottles. The bar tender, which had just been in the background doing his thing, leaped back in surprise. Henry sighed and looked down at the ground in sorrow. He hated to hurt people, but sometimes he had no choice. Just then, he heard a clicking noise. Henry looked up to see the bar tender pointing a shotgun right at him.
"Get out of my bar, you filthy animal," the bar tender said, "or I swear to God I'll decorate this place wit every brain cell in your head!"
Henry rolled his eyes, annoyed.
"Are you serious?" Henry said, "The guy came at me with a pool cue."
The bar tender raised his shotgun even more and said, "That's right, freak: just keep mouthing off and giving me the excuse I was looking for to pull this trigger."
"Okay. Okay. I'm going..." Henry said in annoyance as he turned and started walking away, "...but the only reason I feel I can walk out here with any dignity is that I didn't flush the toilet when I paid a visit to your men's room."
Henry reached into his pocket and got out four quarters. He flung them behind his back and they landed perfectly into the "tips" bowl on the bar table. The bar tender looked at it in surprise. Henry pushed the door opened and walked out into the fresh night air. Not more than five steps from the front door, he heard a female voice from his left.
"Don't you ever wonder what it would be like to live in a place where the locals aren't organizing a lynch mob the second you walk through the door, Henry McCoy?" The voice said.
Henry turned and saw a shadowy figure leaning up against the building. He could only make out the woman's figure (which was slim and nicely curved).
"Who the heck are you?" Henry questioned.
The woman stepped into the light, to reveal a beautiful young lady with short red hair.
She smiled and said, "The best thing that's happened to you since they started doing Reebock in a size 42, handsome.
.............
It was a bright sunny day in Athens, Texas. People walked down the street, several with cowboy hats on. Athens City Hall stood out of all the small buildings, a huge American flag waved gracefully in front of the building. Inside, a police officer sat at the front desk, sipping his coffee and reading a magazine. He was very fat and ugly, and looked like he had had better days. The front door opened and a young lady with short red hair walked in. It was the same lady that had met with Henry McCoy a few days ago. She was dressed in tight black leather pants and a black leather tank top.
"Excuse me officer. Have you got a moment?" she said with a soft, gentle voice.
The officer looked up and raised his eyebrows.
"Heck, miss, I got two. What's up?" the officer laughed.
The Lady stuck her hand in her back pocket and pulled out an F.B.I #ID card. She smiled.
"Well, despite the fact that I'm an attractive young girl, what your brain is actually registering at the moment is a middle-aged federal agent with all the relevant identification." The Lady giggled. She had the power of the psychic, and loved joking around with the people's minds she took over, because they wouldn't remember anything she said.
"Now," she continued, "lets stop wasting my time and yours and take a look at this mutant you boys said you found."
The officer had a dazed look on his face, because the Lady was controlling his mind, and her victims usually got that way.
"Y-yes sir. Sorry sir," he said, "I don't know what cam over me. Thanks for coming on such short notice."
The officer stood up and they started toward the door that led to the cells.
"No problem son," The lady said, imitating an agent, "Ordinary Joes like you and me can't be too careful with all these shifty, radioactive freaks on the loose."
They came up to the door and the officer opened it up with his key. They entered and started walking down the corridor filled with Jail cells.
"I know what you mean, sir," the officer laughed, "This little car thief looks as human as you or me. It's hard to believe the freak created some kind of artificial lightning storm when we pulled over her 1978 mustang on highway 45 a couple of hours ago."
They came up to a jail cell at the end of the corridor. In the cell was a black lady, looked about 18 years old. Her hair was long, white, and frizzy and she wore punkish clothing. She was sitting on the hard wooden bench in the cell and was looking down at the ground in shame. As the lady and the officer approached, she lifted up her head to reveal that she had pure white eyes. The officer continued:
"Lucky for us miss Ororo Munroe here hasn't quite perfected her mutant abilities, or we'd be the ones nursing a few broken ribs instead of this little minx, huh?"
Of course, he was exaggerating because Ororo was in fine condition. The lady looked at Ororo in satisfaction.
"Thank heavens for small mercies deputy," she said.
The officer opened up the cell for the lady, and then leaned up against a wall, swinging the keys around on his finger. The lady walked up to Ororo and spoke to her in a soft tone.
"Grab your things and start running, Ororo..." the Lady whispered, "I can only cloud one mind at a time, and the sheriff will be back any minute."
"You're not another one of Magneto's stupid lackeys, are you?" questioned Ororo with a frown on her face, "I've already told him I'm not interested in enslaving the human race."
"Relax, sweetheart," the lady said, "My name's Jean Grey, and you're working for the competition now."
Jean grabbed Ororo's arm and they ran out of the building.
...............
It was daytime in New York City. The sentinels had already scanned the city, so it was peaceful at the moment. Piotr Rasputin walked to the center of the deserted boating dock. Two limousines were parked on either side of him and four men in black suites stood behind him. A man stepped out of the other limousine, also wearing a black suite, wearing an orange head rag. He looked to be Pakistani. Piotr held a brief case in his hand, clenching it nervously. The other man also had a briefcase. He arrived in front of Piotr.
"A little birdy informs me that every cent you're paid by the Russian mafia gets wired back to your impoverished family in Siberia, Mr. Rasputin." The man with the head rag said, his accent very strong, "I wonder, are all soviet expatriates such mothers boys, or is this behavior exclusive to the arms-dealing community?"
Piotr cared about his family very much, despite his position in the Russian mafia. He and Ahmed (the man in the head rag) were rivals, and did not enjoy doing business with each other. Piotr looked at Ahmed in anger, due to the insult he just made toward him.
"Just shut up and check the merchandise before I kick you so hard you'll be gulping with three Adams apples, Ahmed," Piotr threatened with a frown on his face, his Russian accent just strong enough to hear.
Ahmed looked at Piotr with an evil glare in his eye, then snatched the brief case from his hand and gave Piotr his brief case. Ahmed opened up the Piotr's brief case and looked at a KGB suitcase-nuke neatly polished and in perfect shape. He smiled with satisfaction.
"Your KGB suitcase-nuke looks quite in order, young man," Ahmed said with a smirk, "I believe the gentlemen I represent will be most satisfied."
Ahmed closed the brief case and put it to his side. He looked up at Piotr formally.
"My thanks for such a smooth transaction," Ahmed continued, "and I'm certain we shall do business again in the very near future."
Ahmed turned and started to walk away. With that, the men in the suites behind Piotr reached into their pockets and pulled out their handguns and aimed them at Ahmed. Ahmed heard the sound of the guns and stopped dead in his tracks.
"Freeze, you filthy snake," Piotr demanded, "isn't it customary where you come from to let a business associate actually count the million dollars in very million dollar deal?"
There was suddenly a rumbling noise, not strong enough to be the sentinels. Piotr squinted up into the sky to see if he could see what it was. Nothing. The noise got louder and louder. Ahmed slowly turned around, revealing an evil grin on his face.
"I'm afraid that depends entirely on whether they've just been handed a suitcase full of monopoly money, my dear, young friend..." he chuckled.
Piotr's eyes got wide. He realized what the noise was. It was a helicopter. Piotr turned sharply and saw as a helicopter, filled with Pakistani men, come out from behind the building next to the dock. The men in the helicopter had soviets, and they opened fire on Piotr and his men. Piotr's men tried to make a run for it, but they got gunned down helplessly. Their bodies fell to the ground, full of bullet holes. Then the men opened fire on Piotr, but instead of him falling to the ground, he stood there with his arm out in front of him. The bullets hit his arm, and sparked on contact, almost like his arm was made out of metal...
Metal plates suddenly came out of his skin, all over his body. The men kept firing, but wherever the bullets hit, the metal plating on his skin blocked it. Ahmed ran to his Limo and opened the door. Before he got in, he looked back and saw Piotr still standing and fully covered in metal plating. The metal plating then smoothed out so it looked like his skin was metal.
It was.
His skin had turned to metal. Ahmed looked in astonishment and said "Oh Dear..." before getting into the limo and the limo speeding off. Piotr looked down at the ground, his cloths all torn.
"My thoughts exactly." He said in disappointment.
He stood there for a long time, surrounded by dead bodies and fires from the soviets. Then he heard the soft, kind voice of Jean Grey.
"I know what you're thinking, Piotr," she said as he looked up at her with tears in his eyes, "You think your covers blown and you're all alone and you might as well stand here and wait for the sentinels now that the word is out that you're secretly a mutant."
She walked over to him:
"But you're wrong. You're not all alone."
Piotr started to cry. Jean put her arms around him, hugging him.
"Welcome to the X-Men, honey.
Henry guzzled some of his beer and looked up at the television next to all of the beer bottles. Henry never really liked bars, but he thought he would try it out for once. The face of Boaz Eshelmen, news anchor for the channel nine news, appeared on the screen.
"Good evening. I'm Boaz Eshelmen," he said with a strong voice, "and you're watching the Channel Nine News Update!"
Henry sighed, ready to hear more news about mutants, like him, killing or being killed. Boaz continued:
"Tonight's top story: trial run of the sentinels is hailed as a triumphant success as a mutant nest in Los Angles is uncovered and neutralized with no civilian casualties."
The picture changed to video footage of the sentinels scanning the streets of Los Angles and shooting helpless mutants as a S.W.A.T team holds back civilians.
"Were these mutant terrorists behind the recent anti-human bombings in New York and Washington? Police say the evidence is undeniable, but human rights campaigners Amnesty International have condemned the action as Inhuman and Unconstitutional, provoking a stern White House Response."
Henry began to get nervous as the report went into more and more details, including some names of mutants. He always got nervous when they went into details, afraid that somehow his name would be announced for something he didn't do. The news report went into the subject of the Brotherhood of Mutants. They were a group of human haters, led by the master of magnetism, Magneto. They caused all sorts of mayhem, believing that they can take over all of mankind and homo superior (mutants) could take place of man. They were a very feared group, and there was some sort of news report on them everyday.
One of the men playing pool beside the bar table looked up at Henry. He saw that he was very nervous looking, and also saw that he didn't look normal. That could only mean one thing...
"Jeez, I haven't seen anyone looking so nervous watching T.V since my old man bet the rent on last years super bowl," The man said with a smirk. "What's the matter freak? You scared the sentinels will drop in here for a beer on their way back from L.A?"
Henry realized that the man knew he was a mutant. Henry had become a master at playing stuff off. He kept a straight face and talked in a normal tone.
"Correct me if I'm wrong, sir, but I was under the impression that the sentinels were only after mutants."
The man laughed out loud and leaned on his que stick.
"Well, if you ain't a mutant, how do you explain those ugly, gorilla-sized feet of yours dude," the man snickered, "was Mom making out with Mighty Joe Young behind daddy's back or what?"
A burst of anger went through Henry. That was the worst insult he had gotten since he was in high school. His face got red, but he kept control.
"I'm sorry, friend," Henry said, "but I think you've mistaken me for someone who walked in here looking for trouble."
The smile on the man's face turned to an evil frown.
"Yeah, well, I reckon you just mistook me for someone who cares, fatboy!"
The man lifted his que stick up into the air, and swung it at Henry with all his might. Henry, because of his advanced reflexes, flipped over the man as the que stick proceeded to crash through his beer bottle. The man hesitated, confused at what just happened, then turned around. Henry lifted his arm back and threw a straight punch right into the man's face. The man went flying into the wall behind the bar table and crashed into several beer bottles. The bar tender, which had just been in the background doing his thing, leaped back in surprise. Henry sighed and looked down at the ground in sorrow. He hated to hurt people, but sometimes he had no choice. Just then, he heard a clicking noise. Henry looked up to see the bar tender pointing a shotgun right at him.
"Get out of my bar, you filthy animal," the bar tender said, "or I swear to God I'll decorate this place wit every brain cell in your head!"
Henry rolled his eyes, annoyed.
"Are you serious?" Henry said, "The guy came at me with a pool cue."
The bar tender raised his shotgun even more and said, "That's right, freak: just keep mouthing off and giving me the excuse I was looking for to pull this trigger."
"Okay. Okay. I'm going..." Henry said in annoyance as he turned and started walking away, "...but the only reason I feel I can walk out here with any dignity is that I didn't flush the toilet when I paid a visit to your men's room."
Henry reached into his pocket and got out four quarters. He flung them behind his back and they landed perfectly into the "tips" bowl on the bar table. The bar tender looked at it in surprise. Henry pushed the door opened and walked out into the fresh night air. Not more than five steps from the front door, he heard a female voice from his left.
"Don't you ever wonder what it would be like to live in a place where the locals aren't organizing a lynch mob the second you walk through the door, Henry McCoy?" The voice said.
Henry turned and saw a shadowy figure leaning up against the building. He could only make out the woman's figure (which was slim and nicely curved).
"Who the heck are you?" Henry questioned.
The woman stepped into the light, to reveal a beautiful young lady with short red hair.
She smiled and said, "The best thing that's happened to you since they started doing Reebock in a size 42, handsome.
.............
It was a bright sunny day in Athens, Texas. People walked down the street, several with cowboy hats on. Athens City Hall stood out of all the small buildings, a huge American flag waved gracefully in front of the building. Inside, a police officer sat at the front desk, sipping his coffee and reading a magazine. He was very fat and ugly, and looked like he had had better days. The front door opened and a young lady with short red hair walked in. It was the same lady that had met with Henry McCoy a few days ago. She was dressed in tight black leather pants and a black leather tank top.
"Excuse me officer. Have you got a moment?" she said with a soft, gentle voice.
The officer looked up and raised his eyebrows.
"Heck, miss, I got two. What's up?" the officer laughed.
The Lady stuck her hand in her back pocket and pulled out an F.B.I #ID card. She smiled.
"Well, despite the fact that I'm an attractive young girl, what your brain is actually registering at the moment is a middle-aged federal agent with all the relevant identification." The Lady giggled. She had the power of the psychic, and loved joking around with the people's minds she took over, because they wouldn't remember anything she said.
"Now," she continued, "lets stop wasting my time and yours and take a look at this mutant you boys said you found."
The officer had a dazed look on his face, because the Lady was controlling his mind, and her victims usually got that way.
"Y-yes sir. Sorry sir," he said, "I don't know what cam over me. Thanks for coming on such short notice."
The officer stood up and they started toward the door that led to the cells.
"No problem son," The lady said, imitating an agent, "Ordinary Joes like you and me can't be too careful with all these shifty, radioactive freaks on the loose."
They came up to the door and the officer opened it up with his key. They entered and started walking down the corridor filled with Jail cells.
"I know what you mean, sir," the officer laughed, "This little car thief looks as human as you or me. It's hard to believe the freak created some kind of artificial lightning storm when we pulled over her 1978 mustang on highway 45 a couple of hours ago."
They came up to a jail cell at the end of the corridor. In the cell was a black lady, looked about 18 years old. Her hair was long, white, and frizzy and she wore punkish clothing. She was sitting on the hard wooden bench in the cell and was looking down at the ground in shame. As the lady and the officer approached, she lifted up her head to reveal that she had pure white eyes. The officer continued:
"Lucky for us miss Ororo Munroe here hasn't quite perfected her mutant abilities, or we'd be the ones nursing a few broken ribs instead of this little minx, huh?"
Of course, he was exaggerating because Ororo was in fine condition. The lady looked at Ororo in satisfaction.
"Thank heavens for small mercies deputy," she said.
The officer opened up the cell for the lady, and then leaned up against a wall, swinging the keys around on his finger. The lady walked up to Ororo and spoke to her in a soft tone.
"Grab your things and start running, Ororo..." the Lady whispered, "I can only cloud one mind at a time, and the sheriff will be back any minute."
"You're not another one of Magneto's stupid lackeys, are you?" questioned Ororo with a frown on her face, "I've already told him I'm not interested in enslaving the human race."
"Relax, sweetheart," the lady said, "My name's Jean Grey, and you're working for the competition now."
Jean grabbed Ororo's arm and they ran out of the building.
...............
It was daytime in New York City. The sentinels had already scanned the city, so it was peaceful at the moment. Piotr Rasputin walked to the center of the deserted boating dock. Two limousines were parked on either side of him and four men in black suites stood behind him. A man stepped out of the other limousine, also wearing a black suite, wearing an orange head rag. He looked to be Pakistani. Piotr held a brief case in his hand, clenching it nervously. The other man also had a briefcase. He arrived in front of Piotr.
"A little birdy informs me that every cent you're paid by the Russian mafia gets wired back to your impoverished family in Siberia, Mr. Rasputin." The man with the head rag said, his accent very strong, "I wonder, are all soviet expatriates such mothers boys, or is this behavior exclusive to the arms-dealing community?"
Piotr cared about his family very much, despite his position in the Russian mafia. He and Ahmed (the man in the head rag) were rivals, and did not enjoy doing business with each other. Piotr looked at Ahmed in anger, due to the insult he just made toward him.
"Just shut up and check the merchandise before I kick you so hard you'll be gulping with three Adams apples, Ahmed," Piotr threatened with a frown on his face, his Russian accent just strong enough to hear.
Ahmed looked at Piotr with an evil glare in his eye, then snatched the brief case from his hand and gave Piotr his brief case. Ahmed opened up the Piotr's brief case and looked at a KGB suitcase-nuke neatly polished and in perfect shape. He smiled with satisfaction.
"Your KGB suitcase-nuke looks quite in order, young man," Ahmed said with a smirk, "I believe the gentlemen I represent will be most satisfied."
Ahmed closed the brief case and put it to his side. He looked up at Piotr formally.
"My thanks for such a smooth transaction," Ahmed continued, "and I'm certain we shall do business again in the very near future."
Ahmed turned and started to walk away. With that, the men in the suites behind Piotr reached into their pockets and pulled out their handguns and aimed them at Ahmed. Ahmed heard the sound of the guns and stopped dead in his tracks.
"Freeze, you filthy snake," Piotr demanded, "isn't it customary where you come from to let a business associate actually count the million dollars in very million dollar deal?"
There was suddenly a rumbling noise, not strong enough to be the sentinels. Piotr squinted up into the sky to see if he could see what it was. Nothing. The noise got louder and louder. Ahmed slowly turned around, revealing an evil grin on his face.
"I'm afraid that depends entirely on whether they've just been handed a suitcase full of monopoly money, my dear, young friend..." he chuckled.
Piotr's eyes got wide. He realized what the noise was. It was a helicopter. Piotr turned sharply and saw as a helicopter, filled with Pakistani men, come out from behind the building next to the dock. The men in the helicopter had soviets, and they opened fire on Piotr and his men. Piotr's men tried to make a run for it, but they got gunned down helplessly. Their bodies fell to the ground, full of bullet holes. Then the men opened fire on Piotr, but instead of him falling to the ground, he stood there with his arm out in front of him. The bullets hit his arm, and sparked on contact, almost like his arm was made out of metal...
Metal plates suddenly came out of his skin, all over his body. The men kept firing, but wherever the bullets hit, the metal plating on his skin blocked it. Ahmed ran to his Limo and opened the door. Before he got in, he looked back and saw Piotr still standing and fully covered in metal plating. The metal plating then smoothed out so it looked like his skin was metal.
It was.
His skin had turned to metal. Ahmed looked in astonishment and said "Oh Dear..." before getting into the limo and the limo speeding off. Piotr looked down at the ground, his cloths all torn.
"My thoughts exactly." He said in disappointment.
He stood there for a long time, surrounded by dead bodies and fires from the soviets. Then he heard the soft, kind voice of Jean Grey.
"I know what you're thinking, Piotr," she said as he looked up at her with tears in his eyes, "You think your covers blown and you're all alone and you might as well stand here and wait for the sentinels now that the word is out that you're secretly a mutant."
She walked over to him:
"But you're wrong. You're not all alone."
Piotr started to cry. Jean put her arms around him, hugging him.
"Welcome to the X-Men, honey.