Alright. It looks like I neglected to explain a few things. Thanks to Caliente for pointing this out, so here we go...
The following explanation pertains only to those who have read Alternate Reality.
Since Xavier's dead, a lot of what happened in AoA: AR is still in place, but since Apocalypse is also dead, he hasn't taken over. Thus, anyone allied with him in that fic is now free to be themselves. Hence, Storm, Iceman, Avalanche and Angel are no longer horsemen. The fact that they aren't horsemen has also affected the lives of others... Evan and Kitty, to name two. Don't worry, we'll get to them. There will be an explanation for Pietro's involvement with the X-Men. Just to add to the fun, some of the concepts introduced in AoA: AR will have relevance here, even if they weren't really dealt with then or go unexplained here... case in point, Pyro's involvement with the X-Men. In AR, you learned that Pyro's father was a friend of Magneto, but that never really came up again. So there you go, using familial connections, Pyro's with Magneto's X-Men. In addition, I can tell you now that not all characters from AR will be in this... I doubt they will be missed, however.
So basically, everything from AR happened, up until the very, very end. This story assumes that instead of setting things right, Shifter (Paul McGregor) screwed up and didn't manage to stop Xavier from dying. How that happened and why he hasn't corrected it will be discussed later...
END EXPLANATION.
Just so you guys know, if a character's name isn't stated when they first appear (with the exception of last chapter's hooded killer, who will get a name by the end of this chapter), you don't have to bother remembering about them. They may appear again, but they won't do anything important or really noteworthy.
You'll see a familiar name here, the real name of a classic X-Villain, but he won't be acting as said villain in this story. He's really only here because he was briefly introduced posthumously in AoA: AR, but never had a chance to really do anything. Also, another X-Villain will appear, though he's not very well-known, and yes, I've changed him around a bit. Oh, and excuse the grammar.
Chapter Two - The Mutant Massacre
Ororo Monroe waved her hand, and her thugs escorted a gambler out of her sight. She sat in a nice, soft chair underneath the mutant club in fairly large room with a ground-level view of the pit fights by way of a tinted window. Storm wore a black and gray outfit that gave an impression of elegance, but not quite so formal. Her snow-white hair was worn in a bun over her head with her bangs still flowing freely. She was surrounded by her entourage, all of them mutants who worked for her. She was respected and feared by them, as she could summon a terrible storm in the blink of an eye. They all knew why she was called Storm, and few were foolish enough to incur her wrath.
"Your drink, madam," an insect-like mutant said to Storm, holding a drink on a tray.
"Thank you. How much did we make with Colossus's fight?"
"We have made fifty-thousand."
"Only fifty-thousand?"
"Well, madam, we had to pay Rasputin his share..."
"Of course, but I was expecting everyone to bet on Wolverine."
"Many did not place bets last night..." the majordomo fluttered his veiny wings nervously.
"Get in contact with Colossus, we'll need his services again." Storm rose up and walked to one of her other associates. Storm understood the old saying that honey attracted more friends than vinegar, and though her dealings were less than legal, she had a way of making them appear more attractive to her underlings. "Evan, is your team ready?"
"We are ready," Evan Daniels, her nephew, said to her. Evan was possibly the most loyal in her organization, even if he had a tendency to disobey orders, so long as Storm's main goal was achieved. Evan wore regular street clothes, unlike his more refined aunt, and kept his eyes hidden behind a pair of sunglasses and his black hair tightly braided against his head, giving many the impression of a thuggish bodyguard. Most of the time, he kept two spikes extended on each forearm, but he could produce several more, if he desired. There were five men on his team, all standing behind him and remaining silent while their bosses spoke. "...Well, almost."
"What's the problem?"
"...You still haven't told us what it is we're doing."
"There's a debate being held tonight in Washington," Storm's majordomo explained for her. "It will be televised by several major networks as well as syndicated radio."
"I want you to take two of the speakers down, on-air," Storm said.
"On-air? You want some public backlash?"
"I want them to understand what we're capable of. We don't need sympathy, we need respect."
"If I may, mademoiselle," one of Evan's men spoke. It was Gambit, a thief wearing a dirty blue jumpsuit, a gray jacket and holding a staff. He gave Storm a charming smirk and winked one of his red-on-black eyes, but Storm had no interest in him. Nevertheless, she was curious as to what he had to say, and nodded to him. "I think I can handle this one alone."
"LeBeau, you're hardly skilled enough to take them all down."
"Maybe we don't have to," Evan suggested. "How about we only kill one of the speakers, the one that disagrees with you most?"
"Hmm... if we specifically target the anti-mutant speaker, it would attract more attention. Excellent idea, Evan." Gambit sneered at Evan. "Alright. We'll wait." She turned to her majordomo. "Do you know who's speaking against mutants?"
"Indeed, madam," the insect-man said. "He is based in Ireland."
"Evan, you'll be there waiting when he gets home," Storm said, grinning. Evan nodded and turned to his men. In addition to Gambit, there was a black-haired man wearing a scarf that covered his mouth, a gray-skinned man with what appeared to be rocks growing out of his skin here and there, a blonde man wearing a shirt bearing the British flag, and a well-built Native American with a red eagle tattooed onto his face. Nodding in return, they left with Evan and Gambit. "...This drink is watered down. Bring me another one."
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"Spent the night at Magneto's pad again?" Toad asked as Scott walked into the house sometime past noon.
"Maybe. What's it to you, tadpole?"
"Just sayin', if I were getting tail like that I'd be braggin'." Scott tried to grab Toad, who hopped into the kitchen, snickering. He shook his head and went to his room, looking through his drawers.
"So you were out with her again last night," Rogue said, standing at his doorway.
"Save it, Toad already got to me first."
"Heeeeey, we have a big man in the house!" Kurt yelled as he teleported onto Scott's bed. His tail nearly hit Scott's lamp. "So tell us already, is she a screamer?" Kurt teleported away as Scott fired an optic blast that left a dent mark on the wall.
"Look, if Wanda and I are doing anything, what does it matter? And where's mom?"
"She's on her way to New York, some debate or something," Rogue said absentmindedly. "I think one of Magneto's guys is speaking, so Magneto'll be there too. Did Wanda say anything?"
"Yeah, Beast is debating mutant rights. Magneto must've wanted mom to go with him. Anyway, I just stopped by for some spare clothes, Wanda and I are going to-"
"Fuck it in a bucket!" came Toad's voice from downstairs.
"Shut up!" Scott yelled. "She's got classes to teach, and she wants me to help out, since Pyro got suspended and they all have to take over for him in the meantime."
"Pyro... which one's that?" Kurt asked.
"The redhead guy, with the lighter. He's been here before, remember? He was here last Saturday when the game was on."
"Oh... him. Kook almost burned the place down."
"Yeah, so you can probably understand why he would get in trouble... any of you guys seen my comb?"
"You own a comb?" Scott groaned. He quickly found the comb, waved a quick goodbye to his siblings and left the house. "He's been getting really chummy with Magneto's herd, you notice that?"
"...Did you just call them a herd?" Rogue asked.
"If I didn't know better, I'd say he's getting ready to join himself," Kurt said, ignoring Rogue. "Can you imagine Scott teaching a bunch of kids how to use their powers?"
"Yeah, I can see it now!" Toad said, hopping next to them. "'Here's a cigarette, Amara, light it! Good, now chug this down! Ain't got nothing to do with your powers, but you should do it anyway!'"
"Hey, how do you know Amara?" Kurt asked suspiciously.
"Oh come on, Kurt, you can't hide things from us," Rogue said. "We know that little schoolgirl's been sending you notes."
"Schoolgirl crush!" Toad yelled, punctuating his statement with a quick laugh.
"It's... shut up, Toad! It's nothing serious or anything, she just thinks I'm handsome," Kurt told them. "I doubt she even means any of them!"
"So why are you so protective of those notes?" Rogue asked, raising an eyebrow and crossing her arms.
"I mean... she's still cute... and girls don't usually give me notes..."
"Bah, he's got a crush too!" Toad declared. "So when's th' wedding, monkeyboy?"
"SHUT UP!"
It seemed that two minutes couldn't go by in the Darkholme residence without that phrase being said.
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The debate was being held at an auditorium in New York, and given the subject, it attracted a mixed group of people. Though the organizers weren't advocates of segregation, they thought they would practice caution by having the audiences separate. At the stage stood Beast, wearing a custom-tailored brown suit and glasses, and two others who would be debating, each standing at a podium with a microphone. Directly facing them was a balding man seated at a table with his own microphone. He adjusted his glasses and checked his watch. It was time for the debate to begin. Several feet away, a techie signaled to him.
"We're on in three, two..."
"Hello and welcome to tonight's debate," the clear and deep-voiced moderator spoke into the microphone. "The subject of tonight's debate: mutants and mutant rights. Let's not waste any more time," he said impatiently, "I'm James Woodroe, your moderator for the evening. We have three guests with us tonight, speaking on behalf of mutants is Dr. Hank McCoy, an anthropologist from the University of Illinois currently working at the Xavier Institute in Bayville, New York, and a mutant himself. Thank you for being here, Dr. McCoy."
"I'm glad to be here," Beast said politely.
"Offering a moderate opinion and looking for compromise is Dr. Nathaniel Essex, a geneticist from the University of Cambridge in England. Thank you for being here, Dr. Essex."
"My pleasure," Dr. Essex calmly said with a refined British accent. Dr. Essex was a man in his early fifties with black hair that was both thinning and graying, with a gray beard and black-rimmed glasses. He had the build of a man who had done much traveling in his younger years, but had grown slightly out of shape as he settled down in age. Both Beast and Essex turned to the third speaker, a man roughly the same age as Essex, though his hair was showing more white than black. His face was clean-shaven and his eyebrows were still black, given him a slightly imposing appearance. He was dressed entirely in black, with one exception: a white collar.
"And our last speaker had to reschedule at the last minute due to family emergency, but we will make due with the replacement he hand-picked, Father William Stryker from St. Laurence's Cathedral in Donegal, Ireland. Thank you for being here, Father Stryker."
"I am sure this debate will be stimulating," Stryker said with a moderately thick Irish accent and a tone of sarcasm in his gruff voice.
"Our first question tonight," the moderator continued, "Is something that's on the mind of everyone on the planet: are mutants dangerous?"
"Mutants are no more dangerous than any human," Beast said. "Yes, some mutants have abilities that could be used against innocent people, but then, so do normal humans. Your military trains men and women in dangerous arts, some of them are lethal weapons even when unarmed, but you don't lock them away once they come back from war, you let them run free and hope that they won't use their dangerous skills against other people. Likewise, you'll have to place a certain amount of trust on mutants, and by persecuting them and treating them with fear and hatred, you can't expect them all to behave themselves, so it's really all in how they are treated. Show a mutant kindness and respect, and they will pose no threat. Show a mutant anger and brutality, and they will only show you the same in return."
"And what defense do we have against these... mutants?" Stryker said with a strong loathing tone on the last word. "An angry man can only do so much, but there are mutants who could destroy entire blocks, entire cities in their rage! Innocent people have been caught in the crossfire of every major mutant disaster, and what do you have to say to that?"
"Innocents are caught in the crossfire of every disaster, mutant or not," Dr. Essex said, but Stryker ignored him.
"And you, what are you doing sympathizing with them?" Stryker angrily said to Essex. "Don't tell me that you trust these creatures!"
"We are not creatures, Father Stryker," Beast said, remembering formality, "We are human beings, like everyone else. We didn't choose to be born this way, and we don't appreciate being treated like monsters for circumstances we had absolutely no control over."
"You are treated like monsters because you are monsters! You are not a part of God's vision, you're abominations, created by the Dark Prince to spite his mortal enemy!" The mutant crowd began to jeer and boo. There were a few growls as well.
"Father Stryker, please..." the moderator interrupted.
"Satan has nothing to do with this," Dr. Essex said, and his voice showed how ridiculous he thought the accusation was, "Many geneticists, myself included, believe that this mutation was caused by an acceleration of evolution, that-"
"Don't talk to me of evolution!" Stryker yelled, his face red with fury.
"Father Stryker," Beast elaborated, "Evolution is the only explanat-"
"You hide behind your science, afraid to face proper accusation! Next you'll tell me that my father was an ape! Some word, coming from you!"
"He hasn't said-"
"You stay out of this!" he said to Dr. Essex. "You disgust me even more than this... this... MONSTER! You're a human being, yet you decide to side with these demons, fooled by their lies, and you wish to treat them as equals? You're a lunatic, Essex, I don't know why I'm even talking to you!"
"Father Stryker, please-"
"Wastes, all of you! I won't waste any more time trying to convince a monster and this biased traitor that the Lord does not recognize mutants as his creatures, let alone equal to his greatest creation!" Ignoring the moderator's attempts to keep the debate organized, Stryker angrily left his podium and walked out of the auditorium.
"Dr. McCoy, I'm sorry-"
"No need to apologize, Dr. Essex," Beast said. "I run into fanatics like him every day. When you look like me, it's hard to go anywhere without hearing it. The greatest weapon for any mutant isn't his powers, it's his patience."
"Unfortunately, this debate will have to be cut short..." the moderator made excuses as the audience started to leave. The mutants and humans kept away from each other as they headed for the doors. Among the mutant crowd, three remained seated.
"This Stryker can't continue with his anti-mutant rhetoric," Mystique said. Her skin had been shifted to a more normal color as a precaution. Magneto appeared human enough, but kept his hat on in-doors.
"Indeed. I understand he has powerful connections both inside and outside of the Catholic Church."
"If he does, he's more dangerous than we thought. Magneto, if he were to have a little accident, it would work in our favor."
"Yes... I feel no sympathy for the priest. Eliminating him would be beneficial to us."
"Agreed," said their associate, a man with short blonde hair and a heavy brown coat. He was Warren Worthington, a mutant like the others, but he had inherited great wealth from his human parents. He owned a powerful company based in New York, and secretly leaked funds to the Xavier Institute. Warren was among Magneto's first students, helping him accept his mutation as a blessing and a gift. Warren was calm and mature, but he wasn't as tolerant of human beings as his fellow Xavier graduates. "Magneto, I'd like to repay you."
"Repay me? But you've done so much."
"Yes, but you gave me confidence, none of my fortune could've done that. I'll take Stryker down. Personally."
"Be careful, Warren," Mystique warned him. "He'll have protection. A maniac like him would probably expect a few attempts on his life."
"I will be, Raven. I was going to Ireland on a business trip anyway." They all nodded to each other, got up, and left through different exits.
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"No, get down from there! Are you... no, stop that! ARGH!" Scott yelled in frustration. He stood with Wanda in a large metal room lined with desks, but very few of them were occupied. There were several young mutants running around ranging from twelve to seventeen, more than could fit in the desks and all of them out of control. "I am this close to just zapping them!"
"Be a little patient, Scott," Wanda said. "I'll show you how it's done." Wanda beckoned one of the students, a young red-haired girl, to the front of the class. Wanda smiled and stood back. Within moments, the rest of the class was clutching their ears, trying in vain to shield themselves from the high-pitched, painful scream from the red-haired girl. Wanda motioned for her to stop, and all eyes were on her.
"Your attention please," Wanda said, as if there had been nothing strange right before, "I know that the class is a little larger than usual, so we're going to try something different until we can get everything straightened out. There aren't enough desks for everyone, so we'll be taking the class outside today." The entire class erupted into a mix of cheers and loud conversation. Wanda motioned towards the red-haired girl, and the room went silent. "This is Scott Darkholme, he will be assisting me today. Now, follow us, single file..." Wanda and Scott led the class into the hall and up the stairs to the main chamber of the Xavier Institute, where Pyro sat, still out of uniform, making a fiery tiger jump through a fiery hoop. He waved to them, and a third of the group, obviously his students, waved back.
"When will you be back, Pyro?" a young child in a black bodysuit asked. As far as anyone could tell, the boy was made entirely out of gas, and had to wear the suit to retain his human shape.
"Just until next week, I'm takin' a little break," Pyro said. The fiery tiger became a fiery hand and waved at the rest of the students. The exterior of the Xavier Institute was a sharp contrast to the main building: where the Institute itself was metal with few organic materials, the exterior was natural and green, with flowing grass fields and groups of trees in various area. There was a cliff towards one side of the grounds overlooking the ocean, but Wanda led the class in the opposite direction and stopped next to a group of trees.
"Today's lesson: getting past aggressive obstacles. Scott can fire energy from his eyes, and like many of you, he is unable to control his power, which is why he wears a set of protective glasses. Don't be fooled; he can't stop his blasts, but he has pretty good aim. You'll each have a turn trying to get from here to that tree," Wanda pointed to a tree with a white line painted on its trunk, "Without getting hit. Any questions? Yes?"
"Can we attack Scott?" a girl with blonde hair asked.
"Er... no," she said. Scott had been shaking his head. "You're up first. Go!" The blonde girl ran at Scott in a zig-zag pattern. Scott grinned and fired at her, but she was moving too fast. Finally, he managed to hit her right in the chest. She dropped to the grass, flimsy and lifeless.
"What?!" Scott looked down at the girl, only she wasn't there, just her skin. "I..."
"Got it!" she yelled from the goal tree. She had become a fine mist, but still retained her human appearance. Scott looked back and forth at the girl's skin and at the mist, stupefied. As he scratched his head, he noticed the girl walk past him to the group, now normal once more.
"Go!" Wanda said to the next student, a young African-American boy wearing a black braid on the back of his neck. He ran straight at Scott, not bothering to distract him with his movements. Scott fired, but the boy held out his hand as he ran and the blast was drawn in. Scott kept firing, but the boy just kept absorbing the energy. By the time he reached the tree, his hands were glowing purple.
"Good work," Wanda said.
"Can I release it real quick?" the boy asked. Wanda nodded and the boy aimed his hands at the sky and unleashed a rippling beam of purple energy. When he was done, he appeared more relaxed, and rejoined the group. Most of the students were getting past Scott without much trouble, but he allowed himself a grin every time he took one down. One had tried to get past by confusing Scott with random words in various languages, but it had obviously failed. One had tried shocking Scott by transforming into some kind of zombie, but Scott wasn't easily impressed. One boy carrying two maggot-like creatures on him hadn't even tried.
"I think that's everyone," Wanda said, but mainly to Scott. "Alright. Once the classes are back to normal, we'll resume training with underwater chambers. I believe Pyro is planning a lesson on aerial attacks. Class dismissed!" The students ran wild, some of them starting to play outside, some returning inside. Scott wiped some dust from his jacket and walked back towards the Institute with Wanda.
"Your kids are good," he said. "I almost didn't have to let them win."
"Sure," Wanda said with a grin. "You just don't have much training yourself. Why didn't you guys ever come to the Institute?"
"Magneto wanted us to, but mom said she wanted us to have normal lives." Scott looked at a group of younger kids playing tag. "Sometimes I wish we had come."
"It wasn't always this full. My father's first class only had five students. Out of them, only Hank and Warren stayed to teach my class, and once we were finished, only Hank was left. My class... it was a little larger before. When we graduated, Jean, Freddy, Pietro, John and I were the only ones who stayed."
"So you're going to stay here and teach?"
"For now," Wanda replied. "We don't want to be here forever, but we want to help the next generation out. Pietro's the only one who's not teaching, the rest of us all have plans for the future. Freddy tells me he wants to open a book store."
"Is that all he does?"
"Just about. He spends most of his free time just reading and re-reading old books."
"And what do you do with your free time?" Scott asked.
"I don't know," Wanda said, a grin appearing on her face. "I'm thinking I might go out with someone later, if he's not too busy."
"WANDA, GET OVER HERE!" Jean yelled from the back door of the Institute. Slightly annoyed but realizing the severity of Jean's voice, Wanda and Scott ran inside. Several students were crowded around something near the right wall, but Wanda couldn't see what it was. She asked for the students to let her through, but nobody did. She waved her hands and they were pushed away, and she went to see what was the matter.
"She's not responding," Freddy said, kneeling over young Amara Aquila, a more recent recruit with tanned skin and long brown hair. She was on the floor, wearing the typical black uniform worn by all recruits, but she wasn't breathing, and her wide brown eyes were open and staring at the ceiling. "No breathing, no pulse... Wanda, this doesn't look good."
"What happened?"
"It's too long to explain, we have to do this first."
"We'll try CPR, then," Wanda said. She tilted Amara's head back and pinched her nose, then breathed into her mouth. Nothing happened. She then placed her hands on Amara's chest and tried forcing a heartbeat, but still nothing happened.
"You're doing it all wrong, let me show you!" Pyro said. Wanda moved aside and Pyro kneeled to inspect Amara. "Okay, here goes." Pyro moved in and proceeded to force air into Amara's lungs. He hadn't even finished a single breath when Amara suddenly jolted to life, coughing and gasp for air. "Now, now, careful there... take a deep breath..." Amara followed Pyro's advice and inhaled. He helped her sit up and helped her against the wall. "There. You feeling all better?"
"Yes..." Amara cleared her throat. "Thanks to you."
"It was nothing, luv, just doing my job!" Pyro said with a modest grin. Amara kept looking at him with her deep brown eyes. Nearby, another student, Danielle Moonstar, rolled her eyes and gave Amara a hateful glare. She wore her black hair in a long braid behind her.
"Crisis averted, you can all go back to your tasks," Wanda said to the students, who soon dispersed. "Now what happened here?"
"It was me," Danielle told them. She didn't seem all that guilty, though. "I... went into her head and... I'm really not sure what I did... but it shut her brain down, or something. I'm sorry."
"Looks like you shocked her brain into a shutdown," Jean said, looking into Amara's mind. "What were you thinking?!"
"Well we were having an argument... over a boy... I didn't mean to..."
"Oh," Jean said, both angry and disgusted. "Over a boy. You can't just go shutting everyone's brain down, you know! Amara could've died, would you want to be responsible for that?! How could you be so stupid?!"
"Calm down, she's sorry," Freddy said to Jean.
"Magneto's too easy on these kids," Jean said to him.
"Back to your task," Wanda told Danielle before Jean could yell at her any more. "Jean, what's the matter with you?"
"These accidents keep happening more often, these stupid kids aren't learning anything! We're busting our asses here trying to help them and they pull this shit on us!"
"Jean, don't stress yourself out over the kids," Freddy said to her calmly. "Come on, I'll draw you a bath." Jean sighed, then reluctantly nodded. As Freddy led her away, Pyro helped Amara to her feet. Only Scott and Wanda were left.
"Your suspension isn't making this class size any smaller, you know," Wanda said.
"Hey, I didn't suspend myself, you did. Orders are orders, and we got a week left." Pyro took out his lighter and flicked the cover open and quickly closed it, back and forth. "Jean's wrong, though. What these kids need is more time to be kids, ain't that right, luv?"
"Yes," Amara said shyly. She blushed when Pyro called her 'luv', not quite realizing how casually he meant that.
"Gotta enjoy ourselves while we're young. On that note, I hear Colossus is fighting again tonight, wanna grab some drinks tonight, Darkholme?"
"No," Wanda pointedly said. Scott grinned and shrugged.
"Oh... aww, haha! You better be careful, Darkholme, you don't want her daddy knocking on your door! C'mon, Amara, you need some rest, better get you back to the dormitory..."
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Father Stryker returned to Donegal the following night, and after greeting his supporters at the airport, he immediately returned to St. Laurence's Cathedral to get back to work. The cathedral was the only place where Stryker felt safe, and he didn't like being away from the cathedral for long, for any reason, but especially not for pointless debates. He knew that he was slowly gaining support internationally, but he wasn't terribly interested in matters outside his country.
Stryker opened the massive wooden doors to the cathedral. The interior was quite spacious, with every sound made producing a large echo. There were rows and rows of pews, almost twice as many as an ordinary church, and the glass windows were adorned with images of the many Saints of Ireland. At the altar was a crucifix, with an almost life-like representation of Christ nailed to it. All of this was ordinary to Stryker, but he gasped at the state of the church that night.
Several pews had been destroyed, splintered wood thrown everywhere, blood stains on the floor and the stone pillars supporting the ceiling, stakes made of bone pinned against the floor and walls. There were four bodies on the floor and at the altar, kneeling before Christ, a thin man with an executioner's hood over his head.
"You!" Stryker yelled furiously. "What have you done here?! You dare shed blood in this church? You dare sin as our Lord watches you from the altar? You've murdered innocents tonight, and you dare kneel before the Lord in prayer?!"
"These are not innocents, father," the hooded man replied in a raspy, tired voice. "The one with sunglasses." Stryker looked confused. "The spikes were his... I let him and one more escape. I am sorry."
"And the others?! What of them?!" Stryker yelled.
"They were all like him. They paid for their sins with their lives. Now the Lord will punish them as he sees fit." The hooded man stood up and faced Stryker so that he could now see the white cross on the hood's forehead. "Is this not what you wanted?"
"I appreciate your concern, but I would rather you not shed blood in this church. The Lord will forgive you, you have carried out his will, my son."
"I only seek to destroy them, as He intends." Stryker placed a sympathetic hand on the hooded man's shoulder. He was a head taller than Stryker, and the blue eyes inside his hood were tired, angry, and satisfied all at once.
A sound from above startled Stryker. "I believe you missed one." The hooded man drew a pair of knives and looked towards the ceiling.
"No. He just entered," he told Stryker. The hooded man threw his blade at the ceiling, but missed his target. A winged man, wearing red, descended towards them, his wings flapping magnificently like that of a large dove.
"...An angel..." Stryker muttered. "What... what is happening? Why..."
"I'm no angel," Warren Worthington said to him. "I am a mutant."
"You..." Stryker's face was red with fury. "YOU MOCK THE HEAVENLY FATHER WITH YOUR DEMON WINGS! Send him to his fate!" Stryker commanded. Warren drew his weapon, a pistol concealed in his costume, and fired. Stryker was pushed aside by the hooded man, who also managed to avoid the bullet. The hooded man threw a knife at Warren, who avoided it easily, and took another weapon, a semi-automatic, and fired. Bulletholes lined the floor as the hooded man ran to avoid the gunfire and took a small gray capsule from his belt, then threw it in the air. One of the bullets collided with it and the capsule exploded in a brilliant flash of white light. Blinded, Warren dropped to the ground, disoriented. The hooded man now carried a large polearm with a knife at the end and ran to Warren with his weapon raised.
Warren quickly grabbed a large candle holder and blocked the blade, but the hooded man attacked again so quickly that Warren didn't have time to attack himself. Realizing that he was concentrating on the candle holder, Warren swept the hooded man's feet and tripped him. Once he was down, he raised the candle holder, but the hooded man rolled out of the way and threw a knife at Warren's right wing.
"Argh!" Warren tucked his wings behind him and ran behind a stone column.
"You cannot hide from me," the hooded man said. "Face your fate, mutant." Warren had managed to sneak in between a row of pews without showing himself, evident by Stryker's constant "where is he?!" and the hooded man's distraction, changing weapons on his belt. Without warning, something flew into the row of pews and exploded, generating just enough force to get Warren out into the aisle. The hooded man aimed a gun at him.
"Wha-?"
The gun fired a red pulse of some sort, which knocked Warren out of a glass window. The hooded man holstered his gun and stood up.
"He got away!" Stryker yelled.
"Yes, but he didn't get what he came for." The hooded man held out a vial of poison he had taken from Warren during the fight. "He was after you."
"I knew this would happen."
"I will remain here to protect you."
"No, I have contacts... they'll protect me. I should've accepted their offer sooner." Stryker looked at the hooded man's gun. "What sort of weapons are you carrying?"
"Advanced technology, devised by humans. No mutant has withstood these weapons."
"This has gone far enough. I need you to do a job, my son."
"I am at your service," the hooded man said.
"There's a school in America I want you to visit."
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Magneto didn't return to the Xavier Institute until the late hours, after a brief trip to California on... unofficial business. He walked up the metal steps into the Institute and with his magnetic abilities, opened the door. Everything seemed to be in order, no major disasters. However, Pietro was there, in his pajamas, waiting for him with a look of terror on his face.
"What's wrong?" Magneto asked.
"Some snuck in..." Pietro said, still in shock. "He... he..."
"Daddy!" Wanda cried from the hallway, still in her nightgown and carrying one of the younger students in her arms. "Someone came, he got in..."
"Yes, Pietro told me... what happened?" Magneto looked at the girl in Wanda's arms. "Is she alright?"
"She's dead... they..."
"Out of my way!" Magneto said and hurried down the hall. The entrance chamber had been in order, but now he saw what had his children in shock. The hallway was lined with bodies of students, blood smeared along the wall, as well as scorch marks and bits of melted metal here and there. Freddy was examining them, dressed in a robe. "What happened?!"
"Someone broke in, a human, wearing a hood with a cross on it," Freddy told him. There was panic in his voice, but he tried to remain calm. "We couldn't stop him... he had weapons we've never seen before. He went right for the kids..." Freddy closed the eyes of a young boy and tears rolled down his cheeks. "We couldn't stop him... we couldn't use our powers, none of us... Wanda finally managed to deactivate his weapons long enough for Beast to tackle him, but then he disappeared... teleported."
"But you said he was a human," Magneto said, likewise trying to stay calm.
"He was, the sensors said he was human, but he had those weapons..."
"Are any students still alive?"
"Yeah, there's a few he didn't get to," Jean said, also wearing her robe and walking out of a room where more dead students laid. "Pyro and Hank took them to the Danger Room."
"Dorian's alive!" Freddy yelled in victory. "Bleeding badly, but he's alive! Gotta get him to the infirmary..." Magneto stepped aside as Freddy rushed past him. Magneto was startled by the phone ringing in his coat. Not quite in the mood for conversation but nonetheless knowing that he only gave the number to important people, he answered.
"What is it?"
"Magneto," Warren said on the other side. "I'm in Ireland. It didn't go as planned. Stryker had a bodyguard, and by the looks of it, there was somebody else after him, but he took them all down. I heard Stryker tell him to go over there before I lost consciousness behind the church... that was about two hours ago, so watch out."
"One bodyguard?"
"Yeah, just one guy... he used some sort of high-tech weapons..." Magneto felt the blood drain from his face as he realized something.
"Warren, what did this bodyguard look like?"
"He..." Warren paused, sensing the nervousness in Magneto's voice. "Was wearing a hood, with a cross on it... I didn't get a good look at the rest of him. You'll know him when you see him."
"Warren... he was already here."
"What?! No, that's impossible..."
"He teleported here. I arrived after he had left. Most of the students are dead."
"What? No, how could this be? He was just here!"
"He's a human, no mutant can teleport that distance in such a short time. He has access to advanced technology... Warren, Stryker is more dangerous than we realized."
"No, Stryker's not behind him... Stryker was impressed by his little massacre here, so he asked him to go over there, that's how I saw it, at least... someone else has to be supplying him with this stuff... I better let you go, I'll be over there as soon as possible. Don't worry, I'll tell Ororo and Callisto." Storm and Callisto, along with Warren and Beast, were among Magneto's original students. "Hank, is he?"
"He's fine, so are the other instructors. This murderer was only after the more defenseless students. Coward!" Magneto crushed the phone into a tiny metal ball in anger before he could stop himself and let it drop to the floor. He stepped into one of the classrooms where several more students lay dead. On the wall, written with their blood, was a message:
THEY WILL FIND THEIR FATE IN A HIGHER COURT
"Check and double-check the students," Magneto ordered his team. "I will see to the survivors in the Danger Room. Inform me if any students are found alive." Without another word, Magneto walked down the hall. Though his body was calm, ripples were appearing along the metal walls, slowly warping them out of shape. Jean checked another student on the floor, and finding no life-signs, she moved on to the girl next to him.
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"...a horrific sixty-six mutants killed at the Xavier Institute in the early hours," the news anchor reported. The Darkholmes gathered around the television in the morning, watching early news reports. Mystique had already been told by Magneto, and she in turn had already told her children, but they watched nonetheless. "The murderer was well-armed, eyewitnesses say, to take down mutants. Though there is no physical evidence, many now believe that this X-Cutioner was also behind the horrible Morlock massacre three days ago. Again, the X-Cutioner wore a black hood with a white cross on it, and survivors claim he chanted prayers during the attack..."
"Can you believe this?!" Kurt yelled in anger. "'X-Cutioner,' do they think that's cute?!"
"We have more important things to worry about," Mystique said to her children. "This murderer is after mutants. If the Xavier Institute wasn't safe for them, then any mutant is fair game. We're going to have to be on our guard."
Yeah, you weren't expecting that so early in the story, were you? Anyway, we've got the X-Cutioner running around now. For the record, no, this is not Carl Denti, and no, he will not be an FBI agent. About the only thing this guy has in common with the original X-Cutioner is the name and basic appearance... oh, and access to advanced technology. So where is the X-Cutioner getting these weapons? Who did survive the massacre?
AND NO, DR. ESSEX WILL NOT BECOME MR. SINISTER.