Chapter 3
"It is more important then ever that we find out what we can about this young man," Xavier said. He glanced around the room at his thoroughly beaten X-men. Scott Summers was nursing his arm, the angry red lines tracing his throat showed the signs of his near death experience, he glowered angrily. The other assembled X-men all favored their respective wounds, with the exception of Logan and Remy. Logan, who had taken the brunt of the punishment from the young man, had long since healed, though from the look on his face he had every intention of finding said young man and dishing out some payback for his pride. Remy however had apparently slept through the entire fight.
"Wha? It was six o'clock in the mornin', Dis Cajun can't do nothin 'til at least eight." Gambit had said when asked about it. Xavier looked at his assembled X-men once more; he could tell their morale was next to non-existent. Of all the villains they had faced, none had been able to pick them apart so easily. It was almost as if this boy was designed to fight them. That was a clue in and of itself. Not one of their members, not all mutants, just the X-men; something had to be done about this.
"First, we need to figure out if he works alone, which I doubt," Xavier said. "I do not think he is a mutant, and if he is, I do not know what his power is. The X factor gene only represents itself in one way; we have seen at least two abilities, the armor-like skin and the increased physical abilities."
"And them pretty knives," Logan put in, "I don't like 'em. They're hittin' too damn close to home."
"Indeed," Charles replied, deep in thought. "Another thing, I was unable to read him at all. It was as if he was as if he was not there, I have only come across that particular feeling once, and I think I know who I should talk to about it."
"Why did he run?" Kitty asked, quietly. "He looked so scared, so alone. But it was like he was completely different person after I phased through him," She finished.
"Yes, I wonder about that. Perhaps he is under some kind of mind control? And when you phased through him it was disabled. This is something we can use."
"Rogue, what do you remember from when you tapped him?" Cyclops asked.
"He isn't a mutant, he has no power." Rogue said quietly, she was curled up in a ball, sitting in the corner of the room. "So afraid and alone. He felt so powerless. I don't think he could control himself."
"I know its hard Rogue, but can you remember anything that will help us find him, so we can help him?"
"He was really messed up, Prof. I got weird flashes, He really believes in demons and vampires. He believes he has been fighting them with a couple of his friends. I'm trying to remember names. Buffy. Buffy was important to him, he believed that it was his purpose in life to protect her, others too, but it was most strongly tied with this Buffy. He believes she will hate him for what he has done."
"Interesting," Charles said slowly.
"We need more then that, Kid. Give us a location, a city, a state." Logan said, gruffly.
"California," Rogue said after a moment, her face straining to recall details. "Le Boca Del Inferno, that's all I have"
"The Hellmouth?" Nightcrawler gasped.
"Sunnydale," Charles said with conviction.
"Sunnydale?" Kitty asked.
"Sunnydale is the Hellmouth. Listen X-men, and believe," Charles started, "The world is older then popularly believed..."
"Wait a sec, Chuck, You're tellin' me you know where the Hellmouth is, and you never told us?" Wolverine cut in.
"You believe in vampires and demons, Logan?" Xavier asked.
"I've been around a long time Chuck, even if I can't remember it all. You run into things, you know? Things you can't forget," Logan said softly.
"I know who Buffy is," Scott said after a moment of silence, though his eyes were covered by the visor, the other X-men could see the tension in his face. "I have a cousin, in Sunnydale California, Elizabeth."
"What does that have to do with this Buffy?" Rogue asked quietly.
"Elizabeth was a ditz in high school and went by Buffy."
"I don't think were talkin bout the same Buffy here, one eye." Logan said.
"Why not?" Scott asked.
"Kids a Vampire hunter living on the Hellmouth, Don't think he'd be the kind to moon over some half-wit cheerleader." Logan said.
"She burned her High school down in tenth grade," Scott said after a moment.
"We're talkin 'bout the same chick," Logan agreed a moment later.
"Alright, Scott I think you should pay a visit to your cousin, I want you to take Remy and Rogue with you," Charles said.
"But Char-" Scott began.
"No Scott, there are two options here, either he's out there,
alone and sacred, or he's out there, planning another assault on the
mansion,
either way, we need to find out as much about him as possible."
"Sir," A technetium said softly.
"What is it?" General Ross said angrily.
"We figured out what happened to Alexander," The Tech said.
"And?" Ross said.
"We believe that some kind of EMP disabled 85 of the nanites
and all three chips we installed in Alexander. The basic program of the
nanites is to keep him alive and then repair any enhancements that have
been disabled. Not only have all the nanites been fixed, but 85 of
them now have a shielding that should render any EMP interference
harmless, the chips have also been upgraded to this capacity." The tech
said. "I can't believe you didn't anticipate this problem before,
soldier." Ross said.
"My apologies, General." The tech said.
"I want another assault on the mansion planned. This time, I want full support send three teams." Ross said quietly.
"Yes Sir," The tech said quietly.
"Two Days," Ross said.
The next day
Scott walked away from the "Landing Site". He glared at Remy.
"Any landing you walk away from, is a good landing, non, Mon amie?" Remy said, his devil may cry grin causing Scott to grimace.
"No, Gambit, A good landing is one where you don't hit anything on the way down," Scott said.
"Where's de fun in dat?" Gambit asked, grin still on his lips. Scott shook his head and grunted in frustration.
"Calm down, Shuga, It's not that bad, nothings broken, just some scratches," Rogue said.
"Thanks, Cheri, I knew you'd understand." Gambit said.
"Shut up, Remy" Scott said. He pulled out his cell phone and looked around. Mouth of Hell? This place was right out of an episode of
Leave it to Beaver. He searched through the phonebook on his
cell and when he found the one he was looking for the pressed the "Send"
button."Hi Aunt Joyce, It's Scott, we just got in to town, yes, it was
a nice flight." He glared at Remy. Remy through his hands up and gave
Scott an innocent look.
"We'll be there in half an hour." Scott said. After a polite conversation, Scott hung up the phone, and glared at Remy, again.
"I'll get de car," Gambit said.
"I don't think so," Scott said.
The smallish man looked up at the two giant men beating on the poor woman in front of him. Despite knowing better, he decided to get involved. He walked into the alley they were in.
"Hey, you two leave that woman alone!" The man said, walking towards the two brutes.
"Shut up, pipsqueak, or you'll be next. Now, give me da money,
or I'll kill ya, you stupid bitch" The man growled at the woman. He
reared
his hand back to hit her."I said... leave... her... alone" the man grunted out.
"What if we don't?" The one who spoke earlier asked.
"You'll make me angry... You wouldn't like me when I'm angry." The man grunted.
"Get the hell outta here, you freak," The one who hadn't spoken yet said. He turned and laid into the man with his fist, knocking him onto his back. He fell onto his back with a moan, covered in the filth of the alley.
"Now you've done it, I'm pissed off." Bruce Banner said, his face began to turn green. Moments later the two thugs came shooting out of the alley, slamming into a wall across the main street.
"Sir?" The tech said, wondering why he was the one who always had to give the General bad news.
"What is it now?" Ross asked.
"Well sir, the plan for tomorrows assault is coming along nicely." He said slowly.
"Get to the point, man." Ross said.
"Your 'Friend' has been spotted." The tech said.
"WHAT? Where?" Ross screamed.
"Atlanta," the tech said.
"I want Alexander there, yesterday."
"Are you sure sir? Do you think he is up to Hulk standards?" The tech said.
"DO IT" Ross screamed.
Scott knocked on the door, standing on the porch, his dark
glasses reflecting in the midday sun. Scott could hear muted yelling,
followed
by a final screech, when a flustered little girl pulled the door open.
With a scream a teenaged figure leapt through the now open doorway and
latched itself onto Scott."Scottie," came the piercing screech. Through
this onsalaught, Cyclops was barely able to keep on his feet.
"Good to see you too, Dawnie," Scott said. Rogue and Remy shared a look.
"Hey Scottie" a figure said from the doorway. Scott looked up to
see Buffy standing in the doorway; her face was dark, eyes slightly
puffed."Hey Buffy, and its Scott now," Scott said, in his own upright way.
"Cool," Buffy said, her voice was lacking something it had contained the last time he spoke with her. Dawn finally detached herself from Scott. Scott motioned to Gambit and Rogue
"These are my friends, Remy and Marie, Guys, this is Buffy and Dawn," Scott said.
"Hello," Rogue said, shyly.
"'Ello," Gambit said, scooping Dawns hand and planting a kiss on the back of it. Dawn blushed furiously.
"Hi" She said after a moment, cursing herself. Scott and Buffy glared at Gambit. Not at all taken aback, Remy did the same for Buffy, although perhaps his voice was a little deeper the second time around. Buffy found herself blushing.
Alexander waited patiently in the Blackhawk as they flew towards
Atlanta. It was a long flight from Northern Texas, but that turned out
to
be a moot point. A green blur in front of the chopper forced the pilot
to turn presenting the side of the chopper to the Hulk, who was three
states west of where he should have been. The door beside Alexander
opened, and almost shrugging, Alexander leapt out the door, armor
activating and blades springing forth mid-leap. This is the stupidest
thing I have ever done, a voice deep down said. The black blur collided
with the green Hulk in a fury of quick, stabbing motions. Dozens of
small cuts appeared all over the Hulk, as he swiped painfully at the
annoying bug that seemed to fly around him. "CRUSH!" the hulk screamed,
annoyed now, as he attempted to smash the tiny black figure scoring
little bloody lines all over his mammoth body. They healed almost as
fast as they were inflicted, little more then an annoyance to the great
brute. An annoyance they were, however. This only served to make the
brute angrier. They were shooting towards the ground now, Alexander
latched tightly to the Hulk's back as it grew larger and larger. The
blade on his right hand stabbing the hulk dozens of times where the
kidneys should be. The hulk slapped at its back and its side, Alexander
always just an inch from getting caught. They hit the ground with a
thud. The impact jarred Alexander from his perch.
Upon hitting the ground, Alexander moaned. He managed to roll
just out of the way of the speeding green foot. He rolled to his feet,
dancing past the smashing hand that came down beside him. The force of
the blow knocked him into the air. A hand latched around his midsection
as he was coming down. The hand squeezed. Hard. Despite the armor's
ability to stop bullets and sharp objects, it did retain its
flexibility. The squeezing was so intense; Alexander believed his ribs
may have been bending under the force. He gasped in pain, both of his
arms stretched out, wrists turning inward. He speared the massive
wrists with both blades at the same time.
The hulk roared, half in pain, and half in outrage. He swung the pesky
man around like a rodent that had latched on to his finger. He swung
his mighty arm left and right, trying to dislodge the now stuck
Alexander. Alexander was repeatedly slammed against the ground, and
then shook through the air. Finally, the blades fell free on a
particularly nasty slam. The Hulk gave Alexander one last frightened
look; like an elephant might give a mouse, before leaping off.
Alexander stood groggily looking around for the Hulk. Had he been the
type, he might have actually sighed in frustration. He tapped the
button on his visor that signaled his recall.
A short time later, in a newly made clearing oh the Oklahoma/Texas border, a tired and confused Bruce Banner woke up.
Scott looked down at a framed picture, his thoughts completely inward. He had been wandering the small living room when he came across it. It depicted Buffy and a young red-haired girl. What caught his attention though was the young dark haired man sandwiched between the two girls, a carefree grin on his face.
"Hey," He heard Buffy say, startling him.
"Hi," He returned.
"What's up?" Buffy asked.
"Who is this?" Scott asked, pointing at the picture.
"That's Willow, you will probably meet her tonight," Buffy said.
"I meant the boy," Scott said.
"Oh," Buffy's face darkened. "That's Xander."
"Where is he, will I be meeting him too?" Scott asked.
"He died," Buffy said softly.
"Oh," Scott said.
"Buffy, come look at the TV!" Dawn screamed. Buffy walked over to the TV in the living room. A news program was running.
"A man, who was filming his children playing in a park in Louisiana, caught this footage, this is graphic, for any parents please make your children leave the room at this time." The scene cut to a day in the park, two children playing on swings, a swift moment of the camera brought a large black helicopter into focus. The camera zoomed out just enough to show the quickly approaching large, green blur. From the chopper leapt a figure that, mid-leap, turned black. The much smaller black figure seemed to dart around the larger figure, which appeared to be slapping at it as one would swat at a fly. The black figure latched onto the back of the green mammoth as they plummeted from the air.
"We have confirmed that the large green figure was indeed the
Hulk, though we have no speculations as to who the black clad figure
was,
but we all owe him a debt of gratitude. Without his bravery and
courage, many may have lost their lives today, after the encounter, the
Hulk was not seen again." the news anchor said. Buffy heard a gasp of
surprise, followed by a grunt of disbelief. Buffy whirled on Scott.
"What's going on Scott?" Buffy accused.
"What do you mean," Scott asked.
"Don't play with me, why did you ask about Xander?" Buffy said.
"Buffy-" Scott started.
"Tell me!" Buffy said.
"That was him!" Scott said.
"The Hulk? Are you insane?" Buffy asked.
"Not the Hulk, the other guy," Scott said.
"Now I know you're out of your mind," Buffy said.
"Buffy, please, come talk with me, alone." Scott said.
"Alright, you wanted to talk, lets hear it," Buffy said, sitting on her bed.
"I know about Vampires, Buffy. I know that you fight them. I know that Xander did too," Scott said quickly.
"Huh?" Buffy said.
"Xander isn't dead Buffy, Hell, he tried to kill me two days ago," Scott said.
"Now I know you're lying, Xander couldn't hurt anyone." Buffy said.
"Someone did something to him, Buffy. Some one made him evil, made him into a killer." Scott said.
"But... Xander?" Buffy said softly.
"I'm sorry" Scott said after a moment.
"Why you, Scott? What makes a school teacher important enough to have a killing machine sent after him?" Buffy asked.
"That's a secret," Scott said.
"You know my secret, Scott," Buffy said.
"I'm a mutant," Scott said after a moment of internal struggle.
"Really? That is so cool. What can you do?" Buffy asked, forgetting herself for a moment.
"I shoot laser-" Scott began.
"Wait, who did this?" Buffy asked, anger filling her voice.
"I don't know, we came here hoping to learn more about him." Scott said softly.
Charles Xavier watched the news program with a sigh. It appeared
that it was option two. He moved his chair down the long hallway and
entered Cerebro.
Twenty minutes (and dozens of mutants known to have ties with Magneto) later.The mutant known only as Toad turned towards Magneto, his face blank.
"Eric," The toad said. The mutant mastermind took a moment to sort out was going on before he replied.
"Ahh Charles, how nice of you to call," Eric Magnus said.
"Eric, I need you're help," Toad said, his voice devoid of inflection.
"You need my help, Charles? That is rich," Magneto said.
"There is a new threat, aimed at my X-men," Charles said.
"Oh good, I should like to meet them. The enemy of my enemy is my friend, and all that," Eric said.
"I think, in this case, it is the enemy of your enemy is your enemy. He was designed to kill mutants," Xavier said. Eric Magnus' eyes darkened at this.
"I see, and what would you like me to do about it?" Eric said.
"I think his particular... attributes are right up you're alley. Come to the mansion, please." Charles said in Toad's voice.
"I will be there tomorrow, Charles." Eric said.
"Buffy, The day before yesterday he came to the school I work at and tried to kill me and some of the other staff who are mutants. Then, almost as fast as he came, he ran off. We are glad that none of us were killed. One of our people got a head full of his memories and your name came up." Scott said. Buffy just looked at him, tears rimming her eyes.
"We thought he was dead, he was dead. We found him, after they got him. He died in my arms, I saw it" Buffy said.
"Some how he was resurrected. Now he is attacking mutants, and apparently The Hulk." Scott said.
"But... why?" Buffy asked.
"I don't know Buffy, I don't know." Scott said, more resolved then ever to get to the bottom of the enigma.