This is a Superhero saga that is based on a 60-page story that I have been
working on for quite some time. It is about the children of the X-Men, so
in the later chapters there is no action with the original group. Please,
oh please Read and Review!!! I'm a newbie and this is my first Fan Fiction
story, so I need all the help I can get!
(Also: I do not own the original X-Men, who make a whole lot of cameos in the first chapter and a few in some of the later chapters.)
Plus, the X-Men in the first chapter aren't the famous ones, but I think any readers who are hardcore X-Men fans will be pleasantly surprised.
The Powerful Ones
Chapter 1:
July 18, 1995
The autumn rain came down suddenly. There had been no drought, no dry season, and all the grass was green and healthy, before the rains came. Sean Cassidy sat by the window of the Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters and pondered over the strange weather. He couldn't think of a logical, nature-related explanation for it, except for a theory that his old friend Ororo Munroe was at work. Then again, now that Sean thought about it, Ororo had always been a very logical woman. She would never create a rainstorm if there weren't a need for it.
"Poor Ororo," Sean whispered, his thick Irish accent ringing through the room. He was still staring out the window with a nostalgic expression on his face. "I wonder how she's doin' . . ."
A knock on his bedroom door interrupted him from his reflections.
"Mista Cassidy?" said a loud male voice from the hallway. "May ah come in?"
Sean smiled. That was probably another student who had been dared to come into Sean's room by his classmates. Sean was fine with that. He hadn't had a proper visitor in a long time.
"Sure," he replied.
The door slowly creaked open, to reveal a boy of about twelve, who was wearing a white t-shirt with a jagged "X" sewn roughly onto the front. He came in quickly, practically slamming the door behind him.
"Ah," said Sean. "Sam Guthrie. What kin I do for ye?"
Sam ran his hands through his stringy blonde hair.
"Suh?" he said quietly. "There's a "Jason Wyngarde" who wants to see you, suh . . . . Says it's a private matter . . ."
Sean jumped up. Jason Wyngarde? He thought. Mastermind?? Why in the hell is 'e here? Boyo, when I'm finished with 'im, e'll wish e'd never messed with Sean Cassidy!
"Sam," Sean ordered the boy. "Get me Mrs. Dane and Mr. Summers on th' double! Tell 'em I need backup!"
And with that, Sean ran out the door and slammed it with a bang. He sprinted down the hallway, narrowly missing a group of students. When he got to the large stairway that led to the entrance hall he slid on his rear end down the handrail, causing stares from many students on the ground floor. There in the entrance hall were two of his best friends, Lorna Dane- Summers and Alex Summers, to greet him, or more or less criticize him.
"Sean, I was in the middle of a class!" Lorna complained.
"What's so urgent that you need backup on a day like this?" said Alex angrily.
Sean shushed them. "Jason Wyngarde is at the door!" he hissed.
That pretty much spoke for itself.
"Oh my Lord . . ." gasped Lorna, fiddling nervously with her long green hair. "Don't worry, I'll get it."
She ran to the door, and opened it cautiously. There, on the steps, stood a hook-nosed man with thick gray sideburns and a dark brown trench coat.
"Hello, Polaris," the man said, with a smile. "May I come in?"
Lorna froze.
"Mastermind . . . It really is you . . ." she whispered.
Alex was by her side immediately.
"What in the hell are you doing here?" he demanded.
"What am I doing here?" said Mastermind, smiling evilly. "I'm standing here at the door, waiting for you to let me in, that's what I'm doing here,"
"C-Come on in." Lorna stuttered, as she and Alex got out of his way. Wyngarde walked calmly into the room, looked around the entrance hall, as if to get the feel for his surroundings, then cracked his knuckles.
"What did you really come here for, Mastermind?" asked Lorna, who had finally regained her calm composure. "There must have been more of a reason than admiring the architecture of our new entrance hall."
Mastermind laughed.
"That is a good reason, I must say," he admitted, shrugging carelessly. "But the real reason is to settle a few personal scores with you, the original X-Men. It's too bad only three of you are still - capable - of fighting me."
Sean walked a few steps towards Mastermind. Somethin's wrong here, he thought. Mastermind never acted like this when I fought against him. He was never this brash, this in-ye'r-face. I guess 'e's changed over the years . . .
Sean glanced at the other two teachers, and pointed to his left and right. The three of them quickly spread out in a triangular formation, surrounding Mastermind. By now, a large group of students had gathered themselves in the branching corridors, packed together, trying to see what their teachers were up to. Alex turned to look at them.
"Get back to your classes, students!" he ordered, as he charged up a ball of cosmic energy. Why on earth are those kids in here? He thought. Didn't Sam Guthrie tell them to carry on with their business as if nothing is happening?
"But - but Mr. Summers -" stuttered a girl with short black hair, who Alex remembered was nicknamed Jubilee. "I have your class next!"
Alex paused. The ball of energy he was forming was now as big as a melon.
"Just get out of this room now, before you get hurt!" he ordered again. "This is for your own safety."
The students ran off, panicking, like fish when a shark is nearby. One student stayed behind, a girl with long red-blonde hair who looked just like Sean. Her name was Theresa Rourke, but she was known as Siryn.
"Can I help at all, Da?" she asked, with a strong Irish accent.
Sean thought for a moment, as Alex tossed his cosmic energy ball at Mastermind, who ducked, causing the ball to explode in a corner of the room, melting a large china vase.
"How's this, love?" Sean said to his daughter. "Call the police, and tell 'em Mastermind's back in town!"
Siryn ran off, dodging a beam of cosmic energy that was meant to have hit Mastermind, but apparently missed.
"I'm about ready to fight, then, how about you?" said Sean, grinning, to Mastermind. Then he opened his mouth and screamed.
His scream was shrill, haunting, terrifying even, just like his mythological namesake, the Banshee. As Sean screamed, you could literally see sonic waves shoot out of his mouth and beat against Mastermind's head, and he doubled over, covering his ears, gripping at his wispy gray hair. Then his head shot up, and he pointed his hand at Sean. Five walls of stone fashioned themselves around him, trapping him in what seemed to be a stone box. Alex wasn't worried. Mastermind created illusions, and illusions couldn't harm anyone. He was even surprised that Mastermind had come alone, considering his weak physical form and lack of any harmful powers made him the weakest of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants.
Why isn't Sean out of there yet? Thought Alex, as he fired cosmic rays out of his arms at Mastermind. Since that box is an illusion, he should have just walked out. What's going on here?
Then Alex heard a muffled shriek from inside the box, and the top wall of the box shattered, like a pane of glass. Sean jumped out, ran at Mastermind, and punched him in the jaw.
"Be careful, everyone!" He shouted at Lorna and Alex. "His illusions - They're real now! I couldn't walk through those walls!"
Lorna was confused. How could his illusions become reality? That wasn't at all possible. His powers couldn't have evolved since she last saw him . . . could they?
Lorna didn't let her confusion show, however. She concentrated hard on Mastermind's belt buckle, and with magnetic energy, lifted him up and slammed him hard against the ground.
"Thanks for the warning, Banshee!" she shouted, letting herself get into the fighting mood. "We have to be wary now, Havok. He's more dangerous than we thought!"
Alex nodded, as he ran into the melee that Sean and Wyngarde had started and split them up with a well-placed cosmic beam. He didn't want to kill Wyngarde, just knock him out, so Alex could take him to the Salem Center Mutant Prison. Like his brother Scott, Alex didn't believe in killing.
Sean screamed at Mastermind, knocking him to the floor. Mastermind looked up at Sean, grinned at him, opened his hand, and caused a small dagger to appear in it. He gripped the dagger tightly, stood up, ran to Sean, and, just as Sean thought his life was about to end, Mastermind fell to the floor, pressing his free hand onto his head, and murmured, "Mesmero . . . he . . . he's controlling me . . . Kill me now, while you still can . . ."
Sean squatted down, and flipped Mastermind over. Sean looked into his eyes, and for a minute, Sean saw the Jason Wyngarde he knew, the weak, vulnerable old man that relied on his friends in the Brotherhood for protection. Then, that Wyngarde was gone, leaving the arrogant, brash Wyngarde smiling at him as Sean felt the blade sink into his stomach. He felt the intense pain for only a second, and then he felt no more. He dropped to the ground, unconscious.
"Sean!" Lorna cried out, reaching helplessly to her friend.
Mastermind got to his feet, and smiled.
"It's too late now, Polaris," he said. "Your friend, the Banshee, won't be around much longer. In a few hours, the wound I just gave him will prove fatal."
A deep growl rose from Alex's throat.
"You demon!!!" He screamed. "You'll regret hurting Sean when I'm done with you!"
Alex then gave a great cry, and fired a cosmic ray at him, a cosmic ray so powerful that Lorna could feel its power from all the way across the room. It hit Mastermind's chest with full force, and he flew six feet backwards, running right into a small table by the front door. Alex panted heavily, then ran to Sean's body to see just how bad his wounds were. Lorna went to Mastermind to talk to him. He was lying in a heap, too weak to move.
"Po. . . Polaris . . ." He rasped. "Come . . . here . . . I have . . something to . . tell you . . ."
Lorna kneeled down beside him, curious as to what he wanted, but not afraid.
"Polaris . . ." He continued, looking at her with sad, gray eyes. "Mesmero. . had me in . . his grasp . . ."
Something, deep down in Lorna's soul, told her that Mastermind was telling the truth.
"Tell me more, Jason," she said warmly.
"Magneto . . has Mesmero . . working for him . . and they got . . they got me to attack . . you all . . when I have . . . nothing against you . . personally . . Since I . . made peace with my grudges . . long ago . ."
Lorna couldn't think of anything to say.
"My . . son . ." Mastermind pointed a weak hand towards the front door. "Alan . . Wyngarde . . He's in . . my car . . ." He dug a shaking hand into his pocked and gave Lorna a set of keys. "Take care . . of him . . for me . . ." Mastermind gave her one last look with his sorrowful eyes, picked up the dagger, and stabbed it into his chest. Lorna gasped, and jumped to her feet.
"Alex!" She cried. "Alex, come here!"
Alex came running, and skidded to a halt next to Mastermind's body. The first thing he saw was Mastermind's dagger stuck in his chest. "Oh, God." He whispered. "Lorna, did you -"
"- No." Lorna shook her head. "He did it."
Alex said nothing, and Lorna walked to the front door. Sure enough, there was the car, parked right in front of the school. She also saw a young boy of about six staring at her through the window. As soon as the boy saw that Lorna was looking at him, his eyes widened and he disappeared from sight. Lorna jumped, noticing that she had seen tears in the boy's eyes. Could he have seen his father kill . . ?
"Alan Wyngarde . . ." she murmured. "The poor boy . ." Then she noticed Alex standing next to her.
"Mastermind's got a son?" he asked Lorna.
Lorna nodded, as she led Alex back inside, to where Sean was being examined by the school medics.
"Huh." Alex raised his eyebrows. "He's got quite a life ahead of him, doesn't he?"
Lorna hugged her husband close to her. "Yes he does," she replied, looking into his . "Quite a life."
(Also: I do not own the original X-Men, who make a whole lot of cameos in the first chapter and a few in some of the later chapters.)
Plus, the X-Men in the first chapter aren't the famous ones, but I think any readers who are hardcore X-Men fans will be pleasantly surprised.
The Powerful Ones
Chapter 1:
July 18, 1995
The autumn rain came down suddenly. There had been no drought, no dry season, and all the grass was green and healthy, before the rains came. Sean Cassidy sat by the window of the Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters and pondered over the strange weather. He couldn't think of a logical, nature-related explanation for it, except for a theory that his old friend Ororo Munroe was at work. Then again, now that Sean thought about it, Ororo had always been a very logical woman. She would never create a rainstorm if there weren't a need for it.
"Poor Ororo," Sean whispered, his thick Irish accent ringing through the room. He was still staring out the window with a nostalgic expression on his face. "I wonder how she's doin' . . ."
A knock on his bedroom door interrupted him from his reflections.
"Mista Cassidy?" said a loud male voice from the hallway. "May ah come in?"
Sean smiled. That was probably another student who had been dared to come into Sean's room by his classmates. Sean was fine with that. He hadn't had a proper visitor in a long time.
"Sure," he replied.
The door slowly creaked open, to reveal a boy of about twelve, who was wearing a white t-shirt with a jagged "X" sewn roughly onto the front. He came in quickly, practically slamming the door behind him.
"Ah," said Sean. "Sam Guthrie. What kin I do for ye?"
Sam ran his hands through his stringy blonde hair.
"Suh?" he said quietly. "There's a "Jason Wyngarde" who wants to see you, suh . . . . Says it's a private matter . . ."
Sean jumped up. Jason Wyngarde? He thought. Mastermind?? Why in the hell is 'e here? Boyo, when I'm finished with 'im, e'll wish e'd never messed with Sean Cassidy!
"Sam," Sean ordered the boy. "Get me Mrs. Dane and Mr. Summers on th' double! Tell 'em I need backup!"
And with that, Sean ran out the door and slammed it with a bang. He sprinted down the hallway, narrowly missing a group of students. When he got to the large stairway that led to the entrance hall he slid on his rear end down the handrail, causing stares from many students on the ground floor. There in the entrance hall were two of his best friends, Lorna Dane- Summers and Alex Summers, to greet him, or more or less criticize him.
"Sean, I was in the middle of a class!" Lorna complained.
"What's so urgent that you need backup on a day like this?" said Alex angrily.
Sean shushed them. "Jason Wyngarde is at the door!" he hissed.
That pretty much spoke for itself.
"Oh my Lord . . ." gasped Lorna, fiddling nervously with her long green hair. "Don't worry, I'll get it."
She ran to the door, and opened it cautiously. There, on the steps, stood a hook-nosed man with thick gray sideburns and a dark brown trench coat.
"Hello, Polaris," the man said, with a smile. "May I come in?"
Lorna froze.
"Mastermind . . . It really is you . . ." she whispered.
Alex was by her side immediately.
"What in the hell are you doing here?" he demanded.
"What am I doing here?" said Mastermind, smiling evilly. "I'm standing here at the door, waiting for you to let me in, that's what I'm doing here,"
"C-Come on in." Lorna stuttered, as she and Alex got out of his way. Wyngarde walked calmly into the room, looked around the entrance hall, as if to get the feel for his surroundings, then cracked his knuckles.
"What did you really come here for, Mastermind?" asked Lorna, who had finally regained her calm composure. "There must have been more of a reason than admiring the architecture of our new entrance hall."
Mastermind laughed.
"That is a good reason, I must say," he admitted, shrugging carelessly. "But the real reason is to settle a few personal scores with you, the original X-Men. It's too bad only three of you are still - capable - of fighting me."
Sean walked a few steps towards Mastermind. Somethin's wrong here, he thought. Mastermind never acted like this when I fought against him. He was never this brash, this in-ye'r-face. I guess 'e's changed over the years . . .
Sean glanced at the other two teachers, and pointed to his left and right. The three of them quickly spread out in a triangular formation, surrounding Mastermind. By now, a large group of students had gathered themselves in the branching corridors, packed together, trying to see what their teachers were up to. Alex turned to look at them.
"Get back to your classes, students!" he ordered, as he charged up a ball of cosmic energy. Why on earth are those kids in here? He thought. Didn't Sam Guthrie tell them to carry on with their business as if nothing is happening?
"But - but Mr. Summers -" stuttered a girl with short black hair, who Alex remembered was nicknamed Jubilee. "I have your class next!"
Alex paused. The ball of energy he was forming was now as big as a melon.
"Just get out of this room now, before you get hurt!" he ordered again. "This is for your own safety."
The students ran off, panicking, like fish when a shark is nearby. One student stayed behind, a girl with long red-blonde hair who looked just like Sean. Her name was Theresa Rourke, but she was known as Siryn.
"Can I help at all, Da?" she asked, with a strong Irish accent.
Sean thought for a moment, as Alex tossed his cosmic energy ball at Mastermind, who ducked, causing the ball to explode in a corner of the room, melting a large china vase.
"How's this, love?" Sean said to his daughter. "Call the police, and tell 'em Mastermind's back in town!"
Siryn ran off, dodging a beam of cosmic energy that was meant to have hit Mastermind, but apparently missed.
"I'm about ready to fight, then, how about you?" said Sean, grinning, to Mastermind. Then he opened his mouth and screamed.
His scream was shrill, haunting, terrifying even, just like his mythological namesake, the Banshee. As Sean screamed, you could literally see sonic waves shoot out of his mouth and beat against Mastermind's head, and he doubled over, covering his ears, gripping at his wispy gray hair. Then his head shot up, and he pointed his hand at Sean. Five walls of stone fashioned themselves around him, trapping him in what seemed to be a stone box. Alex wasn't worried. Mastermind created illusions, and illusions couldn't harm anyone. He was even surprised that Mastermind had come alone, considering his weak physical form and lack of any harmful powers made him the weakest of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants.
Why isn't Sean out of there yet? Thought Alex, as he fired cosmic rays out of his arms at Mastermind. Since that box is an illusion, he should have just walked out. What's going on here?
Then Alex heard a muffled shriek from inside the box, and the top wall of the box shattered, like a pane of glass. Sean jumped out, ran at Mastermind, and punched him in the jaw.
"Be careful, everyone!" He shouted at Lorna and Alex. "His illusions - They're real now! I couldn't walk through those walls!"
Lorna was confused. How could his illusions become reality? That wasn't at all possible. His powers couldn't have evolved since she last saw him . . . could they?
Lorna didn't let her confusion show, however. She concentrated hard on Mastermind's belt buckle, and with magnetic energy, lifted him up and slammed him hard against the ground.
"Thanks for the warning, Banshee!" she shouted, letting herself get into the fighting mood. "We have to be wary now, Havok. He's more dangerous than we thought!"
Alex nodded, as he ran into the melee that Sean and Wyngarde had started and split them up with a well-placed cosmic beam. He didn't want to kill Wyngarde, just knock him out, so Alex could take him to the Salem Center Mutant Prison. Like his brother Scott, Alex didn't believe in killing.
Sean screamed at Mastermind, knocking him to the floor. Mastermind looked up at Sean, grinned at him, opened his hand, and caused a small dagger to appear in it. He gripped the dagger tightly, stood up, ran to Sean, and, just as Sean thought his life was about to end, Mastermind fell to the floor, pressing his free hand onto his head, and murmured, "Mesmero . . . he . . . he's controlling me . . . Kill me now, while you still can . . ."
Sean squatted down, and flipped Mastermind over. Sean looked into his eyes, and for a minute, Sean saw the Jason Wyngarde he knew, the weak, vulnerable old man that relied on his friends in the Brotherhood for protection. Then, that Wyngarde was gone, leaving the arrogant, brash Wyngarde smiling at him as Sean felt the blade sink into his stomach. He felt the intense pain for only a second, and then he felt no more. He dropped to the ground, unconscious.
"Sean!" Lorna cried out, reaching helplessly to her friend.
Mastermind got to his feet, and smiled.
"It's too late now, Polaris," he said. "Your friend, the Banshee, won't be around much longer. In a few hours, the wound I just gave him will prove fatal."
A deep growl rose from Alex's throat.
"You demon!!!" He screamed. "You'll regret hurting Sean when I'm done with you!"
Alex then gave a great cry, and fired a cosmic ray at him, a cosmic ray so powerful that Lorna could feel its power from all the way across the room. It hit Mastermind's chest with full force, and he flew six feet backwards, running right into a small table by the front door. Alex panted heavily, then ran to Sean's body to see just how bad his wounds were. Lorna went to Mastermind to talk to him. He was lying in a heap, too weak to move.
"Po. . . Polaris . . ." He rasped. "Come . . . here . . . I have . . something to . . tell you . . ."
Lorna kneeled down beside him, curious as to what he wanted, but not afraid.
"Polaris . . ." He continued, looking at her with sad, gray eyes. "Mesmero. . had me in . . his grasp . . ."
Something, deep down in Lorna's soul, told her that Mastermind was telling the truth.
"Tell me more, Jason," she said warmly.
"Magneto . . has Mesmero . . working for him . . and they got . . they got me to attack . . you all . . when I have . . . nothing against you . . personally . . Since I . . made peace with my grudges . . long ago . ."
Lorna couldn't think of anything to say.
"My . . son . ." Mastermind pointed a weak hand towards the front door. "Alan . . Wyngarde . . He's in . . my car . . ." He dug a shaking hand into his pocked and gave Lorna a set of keys. "Take care . . of him . . for me . . ." Mastermind gave her one last look with his sorrowful eyes, picked up the dagger, and stabbed it into his chest. Lorna gasped, and jumped to her feet.
"Alex!" She cried. "Alex, come here!"
Alex came running, and skidded to a halt next to Mastermind's body. The first thing he saw was Mastermind's dagger stuck in his chest. "Oh, God." He whispered. "Lorna, did you -"
"- No." Lorna shook her head. "He did it."
Alex said nothing, and Lorna walked to the front door. Sure enough, there was the car, parked right in front of the school. She also saw a young boy of about six staring at her through the window. As soon as the boy saw that Lorna was looking at him, his eyes widened and he disappeared from sight. Lorna jumped, noticing that she had seen tears in the boy's eyes. Could he have seen his father kill . . ?
"Alan Wyngarde . . ." she murmured. "The poor boy . ." Then she noticed Alex standing next to her.
"Mastermind's got a son?" he asked Lorna.
Lorna nodded, as she led Alex back inside, to where Sean was being examined by the school medics.
"Huh." Alex raised his eyebrows. "He's got quite a life ahead of him, doesn't he?"
Lorna hugged her husband close to her. "Yes he does," she replied, looking into his . "Quite a life."