"... and so I have come to understand that perhaps my Mutant Registration act was, perhaps in some sense, prejudiced. A form of segregation, as some have called it."
"Took him that long to figure it out?" asked Jean.
She, Scott, Sarah and Logan were gathered around the television after a long day. For most of them, at least. It'd been almost a week since Scott started his new job, and Jean was seeing less and less of him than she would've liked. Plus she had the busy time trying to find a job herself suited to her abilities (thus ruling out burger flipper, movie ticket seller, or waitress). He was even working overtime, sometimes not getting home until eleven pm or later. It was a darn shame. So she was enjoying this time they spent together on the weekend.
Even if they were watching a mayoral address by Edward Kelly.
"As such, I have no plan to continue with mutant segregation or registration. This would be unfair to the men and women who suffer from this... birth defect," he continued on, and even through the tv screen the gathered mutants could see his jaw clench as he spoke those words. He was hating this. Hating bowing to the public's will not to actively persecute mutants.
Jean hated it too. Hated how someone so clearly racist could become a politician. Their lives with in the hands of this mutie-hater, and she hated it.
Nearby, the end table shuddered.
"However, no one can deny that mutants are a danger if not properly controlled. Yes, a few -rare- individuals with said powers have chosen to put their abilities to good use, but these are far and few between. Therefore, I have decided to propose a bold new initiative. And that is the Mutant Restrainment Act. Under this new law, any mutant using their powers publicly, save for self-defense, will be charged for any and all damages that ensue, whether public, property, or personal."
"That's garbage!" shouted Jean. The lights in the living room flickered, and Scott glanced at her in alarm. Jean reluctantly calmed down... but she was still furious. Logan and Sarah didn't look particularly happy either. The Xavier mutants already had enough trouble trying to pay for whatever damages they did. This law was just going to make them look like trouble-makers.
Mayor Kelly, of course, continued on as if he hadn't heard her. Which, considering he was about sixteen city blocks away, was exactly the case. "My newest advisor on the city council, Graydon Creed, will be taking care of all the details regarding the Mutant Restrainment Act. I believe it has hammered out all the details that had previously been the damnation of the Registration Act..."
Kelly didn't get the chance to finish his speech. At least, not before the gathered mutants in the living room. A lamp lifted up from the nearby end table and rocketed through the air, slamming into the television set and shattering the glass, sending up sparks everywhere.
Logan didn't even bat an eye. "You break it, you buy it, Red," he said as he stood up and walked out of the room. Sarah and Scott turned to watch Jean in astonishment. And she, for one, was equally shocked and annoyed. Shocked she was so powerful, annoyed she hadn't been able to stop herself from doing that.
"Jean? Are you alright... you've been really weird lately," said Scott, as gently as he could.
"I'm fine," she replied, standing and making her way over to a window, hugging herself. She shivered a little. She wasn't fine, and everyone present knew it. "Really."
"Jean, if your powers are acting up..."
"I said I'm fine!" she shouted, making the lights flicker again. Immediately she stopped, catching herself before something worse happened.
"Alright... alright I'm not fine... I'm just tired though. It's not out of my control or anything."
"Jean, I don't want you to get hurt like last time," said Scott, as Sarah slipped off the couch and slid out of the room, sensing this was a private moment for the two. Not that she couldn't hear them, of course. Her ultra-sensitive ears could hear almost anything said on the mansion's grounds.
"What should I do?" she asked, her beautiful green eyes wet with tears.
"C'mere," he said, drawing her into a warm, much needed hug. She sighed, relaxing into his strong arms. She needed his strength right about now. "Listen, if you feel you can't control this, I say head to Muir Island. There's nothing wrong in saying you need help. The Professor and Moira would be glad to help you. You know that."
"Will you come with me?" she asked.
"Jean," he replied with an exasperated sigh. "You know I can't. Legacy's genetics division hit a break through the other day, and Mr. Wyngarde says I can't be spared. Plus Emma says she would never figure out things without..."
"Emma?" asked Jean, suddenly curious.
Oh damn, thought Scott, then quickly tried to cover his thoughts. But to Jean's suddenly surging telepathy, she caught them. I can't tell her about Emma. She'll be jealous, and that'll only make things worse.
"Emma's uh, just a friend I met... she's a co-worker down in the genetics division," replied Scott evenly, his expression neutral. His thoughts were another matter. Pictures began to accompany his words, and Jean caught a fairly good look of this Emma Frost. Through Scott's eyes. Jealousy surged inside of Jean as she saw this unknown blonde bimbo flirting with -her- Scott. Her hair waved briefly in an unseen breeze before Jean managed to calm herself down.
"You know, maybe I should go to Muir Island," said Jean evenly, her voice and tone neutral. She gave no slip of her accidentally prying into Scott's thoughts. "The time there may do me good." And it'll make you miss me, she thought. Maybe that'll remind Scott who he's engaged to.
"That's great," said Scott, smiling at her warmly. All thoughts of Emma vanished from his head, and now there was only concern and care for Jean. "Make a vacation of it Jean... you've got at least another two weeks before the others come back from Hawaii."
Jean relaxed then, sensing Scott's thoughts, even as she tried once more to place the lid over her unleashed telepathic and telekinetic powers. She could sense his concern for her, and she realized perhaps she was being overly worrisome. If Scott said Emma was just a friend, that's all she was. Scott was many things, but never a liar.
His next sentence sealed everything for her.
"Besides, while you're down at Muir Island you can tell the Professor about... well, you know... our plans," he added meaningfully.
Scott barely had a chance to brace himself as a beautiful redhead flung herself into his arms, kissing him passionately.
One kiss had led to another, and that to another, and it had been almost two hours later that Jean finally managed to pull herself together, pack a few necessities (including, of course, her engagement ring... which never left her finger) and say good-bye to Scott, Sarah, and Logan. Thus it was she strapped herself into the cockpit of the XM-Velocity (the second one, the first had already been taken by Ororo and Hank down to Hawaii) and launched herself out of the underground hangar, heading skyward and bidding one final wave to Scott, watching her from the balcony of his Kurt's room (his own was on the other side of the mansion).
Emma was just a friend, he said. Why is it that Jean still couldn't shake the feeling that Scott's eyes were wandering.
Jean smiled anyway, in the unlikely event he could see her, and set in a course for Muir Island. The Professor and she had been able to deal with her power surges in the past, she felt confident they could handle it this time. Each time it got easier, and someday... someday soon she hoped... she'd be able to control it on her own. Both she and Professor Xavier were looking forward to that day.
Already exhausted from the days events, Jean set the XM-Velocity on auto-pilot and lay her chair back, resting herself comfortably. The on-board computer would alert her if anything serious happened, but she'd be able to catch an hour or so of sleep before her plane arrived in Europe. Since it was at cruising speed (she was in no rush) she imagined she'd arrived sometime by late morning.
However, this prevented her from noticing that the Velocity's inner compass, despite being state-of-the-art... was slowly starting to change direction. Pointing from north, where it was supposed to, and slowly turning to face the rising sun. The auto-pilot compensated for this, and the trajectory of the plane began to slowly change.
Where its destination was now... was anyone's guess.
Scott sighed, tugging again at his tie for what seemed like the nineteenth time today. He was especially frazzled with today's work, but thankfully Emma had called in sick, and she wasn't going to be hanging over his shoulder (or on his arm) all day.
"Mr. Summers?" came the voice of his supervisor. Scott glanced up, spotting Mr. Wyngarde almost immediately. A tall, handsome man with an impressive physique even Logan might've envied, Mr. Wyngarde was also a brilliant man with a keen mind. He had a thick, trimmed moustache and piercing blue eyes, and his dark hair was neatly tied back behind his head. It was no wonder he'd been placed in charge of the genetics division of the Legacy company. Though that had been after the shift in power.
"Yes sir?"
"I have some files I need to run up to our Defense division. Normally I let Ms. Frost take care of that, but she's out to day, as you doubtlessly noticed," he added with a knowing smirk.
"Uhm, yes sir," replied Scott, keeping his expression neutral and pretending not to understand his boss's innuendo.
"So I need someone to run up the files. Feel up to it?"
"Can't we transfer them by computer?"
"Too delicate. I trust you, boy… just deliver them to Mr. Torque's secretary. She'll get them to him."
Scott nodded, grabbing up the offered holder and took the stairs up three floors to the Defense division. Legacy had a number of contracts with the United States Government, inventing defense systems. Never outright weapons though, for some reason. Ah well, all the better, thought Scott. He'd have no joy in working with weapons.
He was, however, mildly shocked when he saw whom he was delivering the files too.
Mr. Torque's secretary was out for the day, so Scott headed straight into their office himself, to find none other than…
"Arcade?"
"Hey! Scott, isn't it? Scott Summers? I remember you," said the red-headed boy, sitting up from behind his desk (it seemed he'd been working on his computer) and coming around to give Scott an enthusiastic handshake. "How're things over at the mutant mansion?"
"Uhm, fine," replied Scott, reluctantly breaking the handshake. Arcade had always remained an enigma to the x-men. On one hand he'd tried to kill them, by accident of course. On the other, he'd helped take out Mastermold and save them all from extinction. And none of them could ever understand what exactly was going on in his head. It seemed he had actually trouble separating reality from the computer games he played.
Still, always better to have friends than enemies.
"Got some files for you, send up from Mr. Wyngarde," said Scott politely, handing over the files, which Arcade took as if it was a present on Christmas morning, eagerly tearing into it. What he saw must've pleased him, thought Scott couldn't see too clearly. Just a bunch of technical code, far as he could see.
"Thanks a bunch Scott. Well, see you around."
"Sure thing. Glad to be working with you."
Scott didn't notice, but as he turned away, Weber Torque, better known to some as Arcade, had a truly wicked smirk on his features as he examined the files he'd just received.
Jean never awoke from that pleasant flight. -They- were making sure of that.
Magneto didn't know exactly who they were, only whom they were part of. And he knew what they were capable of doing. Essentially, that was all he cared about. Even if dealing with them still gave him the willies.
So it was that he gestured like an orchestra conductor, allowing the XM-Velocity to drop down slowly. Though its passenger was asleep, any sudden jostling might wake her up. And powerful as she was, in an environment such as he was, with almost no metal, she might defeat him and escape.
At least the XM-Velocity was metal. This was the second one constructed by Professor Xavier. And he hadn't had the resources to build a second one out of non-magnetic plastic like the first one. He was getting sloppy, decided Magneto. Ah well, made the job that much easier for him.
So it was the plane dropped down onto the sandy beach with barely more than a whisper. As his side, Magneto's link to the elusive group he was working for nodded her head in approval.
"Good work," she stated.
Magneto paused, turning to take a good look at her. She was little more than sixteen years old, yet she acted already like she was twice that age, always calm, always precise. She had distinctly asian features and hair that was dyed an unnatural shade of red. She was dressed, as she'd always been whenever he saw her, in green fighting leathers. And her nails were always immaculate. She never stopped fussing with them, for some reason.
"I trust your superiors will uphold their end of the bargain?" asked Magneto, trying to sound menacing from the confines of his red helmet. The girl glanced at him briefly, out of the corner of her eye.
"As per our deal. Mayor Kelly's new law won't last five minutes on the Bayville council. Our organization will see it dies before it is even born. Your offspring and their friends will be safe in Bayville."
"And I've already done my part of the bargain," replied Magneto, his body-armor vibrating with a metallic hum as he lifted himself up. His royal purple cape flapped about him. "So I believe I'll take my leave."
"Nice doing business with you," she replied, still examining her nails and not paying the slightest bit of attention to him. Magneto departed, and the girl opened the XM-Velocity, taking the girl and tranquilizing her. Just to make sure. Then she slung the redhead over her shoulder and took her. The jet would be left to their other agent to deal with. No loose ends, after all.
"You've done most excellent work, my dear. I'm impressed."
"It's a simple matter if you know how to manipulate people. And if there's one thing I know, its how to do that."
"Do not get over-confident. We want to continue to keep her ex out of the equation. Keep him preoccupied... which is, of course, where you come in."
"Joy."
"Oh come now, where is your enthusiasm for acting?"
"Master? Black Knight is here."
"Ah, excellent... this means we can begin the meeting. Unfortunately this means you have to be on your way."
"Nothing would please me more."
Author's Notes:
Four distinct voices that time. And Kelly continues his crusade against mutants. Using Graydon Creed, no less. Is anyone surprised? Of course not. Graydon Creed is a mutant's worst nightmare, short of a sentinel. Scott and Jean's relationship enters shaky ground with the emergence of Emma. Coincidence? Again, of course not. Again, comic fans likely know where this is going. Arcade has been brought back into the plot, no I've not forgotten about the lovable little computer geek. Since I know so little about his comic-version, I'm modeling him after some of my favorite (and not-so-favorite) movie hackers. He has important part to play as well. Now you know that Magneto has been involved, but is not the mastermind behind the plot. He's in the dark too. Hope this keeps ya guessin'. As does the identity of the japanese redhead. I'll give you a hint though, don't go digging through X-Men archives. She's one of -MY- OC's. Next chapter, back to the new recruits and those on vacation. Or did you think I'd forgotten about them?
Risty: Hey, you just read this stuff. I actually write it! How sad is that?! As for Emma, yeah I think she's best off introduced gradually. Like how most mutants were on Evo. More of their human sides, less costumes and codenames. As for her relationship with Scott, well… you just see what awaits them.
ViciousAssassin: Emma heard each and every thought, believe me. She's not as innocent as she pretends to be. And as you can see, no one wants to be in Scott's position when that happened. Would we be? Jean is looking for her own job, just doing X-Man stuff at the mansion. Kinda like a drop-out college student at home, watching tv and reading magazines. And don't fret, next chapter brings back the mutants down in Hawaii. Less Scott/Jean, but they're still the main couple and key characters. As for Professor X, I cannot say. But recall also we never saw Gambit, Wolverine, or a lot of other people in the future scenes. I've got lots of leeway on whom I kill. And I'm thinking under 25. Maybe only… thirteen! Muwahaha! Danke for extra long review.
Rogue14: Of course not! But evil people don't parade around in all black with devil's horns and big signs painted on their backs that say "I'm evil!" Emma is not going to be good. At least not right away. But just keep in mind that 'Former Villain' is on the resumes of most of the Xavier Institute residents!
X00001: A Scott and Jean fan no doubt. Hope I don't break your heart when you see what becomes of the poor bastards. Ah, but to tell you would be spoiling, wouldn't it? So you'll just have to wait and see.
Lyranfan: Mystery for not much longer, but hopefully thickening of plot. I had a little trouble coming up with ideas for Emma Frost, but I'm glad you liked where I put her. Enjoy the rest of the story.
Star-of-chaos: Wench? That's putting it lightly. Don't worry, I plan to make people both hate and love Emma, as appropriate, throughout this story. For whatever features appeal to them (pun intended).
DoubleL27: Oh ye of little faith. Emma is for plot, primarily. I needed her for this, and afterwards I plan a gruesome and terrible end for her. Maybe. Still going fifty-fifty on that. But you'll see, it'll all work out. You'll see soon enough where this is going.
Nessie6: Not Holocaust. And that would be his daddy Apocalypse, lost through the cracks of time. And don't fret. As you can see above, one of them was Magneto. And you can even see the deal he made. Don't fret, Brotherhood'll get their stage call soon enough. 'til then they gotta stay behind curtains.
The Son of Logan and Ororo: More or less. Again, I repeat to all of you I don't read the comics. But I am going from some scenes I saw in the Animated Series X-Men. With Mastermind and White Queen and all. But I've made some Evo tweaking.
Comet-hime: Non-sexual? You mean wearing more than that skimpy white outfit and not actively seducing all men in sight? Well then yes, I suppose. Glad you enjoy where this is going. Keep up the pretty piccies. I'll send over the Weapon Xee's to rough up your scanner unless it coughs up its protection scannings.
UniversalAnimeGirl: She is too corrupted! Acting, damnit! Like I told Rogue14! No Sebastian Shaw… Tessa? Who the heck is that? Its not even resentment, its raw naked hatred. You'll see why soon enough.
Princess Myra: Yeah, definently can't be easy being married to a telepath. Or a precog. They'll yell at you for women/men you haven't even looked at yet! The blonde is Emma, more on her soon. As for voices, coming up.
Elrohirthewriter: That'll come later, its not exactly something you can wear to work (except maybe casual Fridays). No, no, no, hell no, no. no. Wait, yes. Yes on that last one only. Emma and only one other are OC's vital to the plot. All others are Evo characters seen on our beloved (and cancelled) show.