In a world that hates and fears mutants, the X-men continue to be protectors against anti-mutant prejudice and mutant supremacists. With the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants now in prison with Alpha Flight, the X-men had braved a battle against Cameron Hodge and Obadiah Stane on Genosha. Unfortunately, they tragically lost their close friend, Warren's girlfriend Candy Southern. Over the past few months, the X-men have found that they have been under more scrutiny than usual. Having made the decision to publicly expose their identities, the X-men are aware of the risks that come with it.
Now, as Tony Stark, their employer, opens his latest business venture, Stark Hotel, Casino and Spa in Atlantic City, New Jersey, the X-men are finding that they have been called into a court hearing by Senator Edward Kelly, who is looking to get the X-men under a government contract to force them to become a non-independent organization.
Issue 22: Calm Before the Storm
Supreme Court of the United States – Washington, D.C
The next morning, Tony Stark, Charles Xavier, Pepper Potts and their X-Corporation employees were sitting in the Supreme Court of the United States, facing the hearing.
They knew over the course of the past two months; Senator Kelly had been hounding them to make an appearance so that he could decide what would be most effective. However, all the X-men knew was that he was just looking to put them underneath a government contract, because Senator Kelly saw them as a weapon. That was why they all wanted nothing more than to get it over with. Warren and Bobby were especially looking forward to it being over, because it seemed as though over the course of the past couple months, they've gotten nothing but harassment from people.
In addition to the X-men, Tony, Professor Xavier and Pepper, Carol Danvers, Logan Howlett and John Proudstar were there as well. Sitting there in her knee-length burgundy dress, Jean felt the nervousness sinking in. She knew that Senator Kelly was determined to try getting mutants to register, and the first step for him would be getting the X-men to be government property just like how Alpha Flight was. The last thing Jean wanted was to feel as though she was at somebody else's mercy. After having spent the past few years of her life locked away in a mental hospital, she had been more than happy to have control over her life again. Now, there was the possibility that it would all be taken away again.
As the X-men sat there with Carol, Logan and John, Tony was talking quietly with Pepper and Professor Xavier, not even breaking a sweat. How he could be so relaxed at a moment like this, Scott and Hank would never even attempt to understand. Warren adjusted his tie around his neck, biting on his lower lip when Senator Edward Kelly announced that they were presuming where they had left off from the last time that they were there.
"We will pick up now from where we left off before the break," Senator Kelly was saying. "Mr. Stark, Mr. Stark!"
"Yes, dear?" Tony asked, turning around to the face the senator and managing to get chuckles out of people in the room. Bobby snickered, but, Scott, Warren and Jean were burrowing their faces into their hands in exasperation that Tony would make a joke at a time like this. Pepper shook her head. She knew that they were in for a long day.
"Can I have your attention, please?" asked Senator Kelly.
"Absolutely." Tony grinned. Jean suppressed a groan. Scott sighed out of sympathy for her. None of them wanted to be there, him and Jean especially. Forge in particular didn't want to be there either, but he also knew when he and Tony had designed the X-men suits, that they were going to face a lot of attention. Scott shared a look with Logan and Carol, and even they looked annoyed by Tony's behavior. He was one of the faces of X-Corporation, and here he was acting like a jerk.
"Do you or do you not possess a specialized weapon?" asked the senator.
"No, I do not. And quite frankly, they're not a weapon. They're a team of my employees who went out of their way to save your life, last time I checked," Tony quipped.
"And you have a fifteen-year-old boy with ice-manipulating powers, who doesn't have a college degree, working for you," Senator Kelly said.
"Well, Robert Drake isn't necessarily working for me . . . he's . . . let's call him, Scott Summers and Jean Grey my apprentices if you will," Tony stated.
"And you still do not think that they are a weapon?" asked Senator Kelly sternly.
"Just because they have superpowers, Senator, it doesn't mean that they are a weapon or an army. I will describe them by defining them as they are. They are a team of young mutants who are going out of their way to kick some ass to keep this country safe from mutant extremists like Magneto and his Brotherhood."
"They're a weapon," the senator said.
"Well I think your priorities should be on the well-being of the people of this nation considering you're running for president, Senator Kelly," Tony pointed out.
"My priority is to get the X-men underneath government contract so that they can work for us to ensure that they won't act out of line," Kelly retorted.
"Senator, last time I checked that actually violates human rights because you're looking to force these kids to register, to make them work under your terms, so you can decide for them when it will be necessary to act," Tony said.
"I will take that over them potentially destroying property; it's either that, or they can end up in jail for acting as vigilantes," Kelly said to him.
"Oh really, now?" Tony asked. "This is how you thank me and my employees for having saved your life five months ago? Well, I was expecting something better. Maybe a toast with some Champagne." His statement got some laughter from the crowd. But, Jean and Warren were not amused. And when they looked over at the professor, he didn't seem happy either.
"Oh God," whispered Jean, rubbing her temples. "I think I'm getting a migraine!"
"Me too," whispered Warren, squeezing her shoulder gently.
"My priority is to get the X-men turned over to the United States of America." Senator Kelly kept his voice calm, yet stern.
"Well, then you can forget it," Tony quipped. "They work for me, not for you! Scott Summers and Jean Grey are Professor Charles Xavier's kids –"
"By adoption," Senator Kelly said.
"By adoption, yes, but, as far as we're concerned you do not own them. They're not your dogs," Tony quipped. "To turn them over, well, that can amount to servitude or prostitution depending on what country you happen to be from." That got even more laughter from the crowd. Scott burrowed his face into his hands. He was beyond sick of this. "You cannot have them."
"Well, I am not an expert," Senator Kelly said.
"In prostitution? Of course not, you're a senator, c'mon!" Tony said.
Hank and Forge shared wide-eyed looks with each other in shock at the words that were coming out of Tony's mouth. Even the professor and Pepper looked mortified. John, Logan and Carol shook their heads. This wasn't the least bit funny to any of them.
"Well, I figured we should bring in the experts of weapons, please welcome William Stryker, former Marines veteran, as well as Colonel Jeffery Moss and General Thaddeus Ross." The three men rose from their seats to speak.
"No disrespect, Senator, but, I will be sitting here waiting for an actual weapons expert to be in attendance," said Tony.
Carol shot Tony a glare. "Stark shut up!" she hissed. Logan leaned a hand onto her shoulder.
"Easy there, tiger," he told her.
"Really? The former living weapon telling me to take it easy! That's rich," Carol hissed to her lover as Moss, Ross and Stryker began to speak.
"Absolutely, we're no experts," said Colonel Moss. "But, Mr. Stark, and Mr. Summers, may I ask you who were experts? Your fathers and your mother, Howard Stark, and Christopher and Katherine Ann Summers; they were the real experts."
"But, we should be clear, they were no flower children. They were lions," Ross said.
"I'm aware of that, sir. My father was a war hero and my mother was nothing short of a genius in terms of military sciences," Scott said, feeling the need to speak on the behalf of both his late parents.
"Well, during these past five months, Anthony Stark and Charles Xavier and their team of X-men have created a sword with untold possibilities," Stryker stated. The more these three called Tony "Anthony" the more it seemed to piss him off. "And yet, Stark insists that it's a shield. He asks us to trust him and these kids that he's got running around playing superhero as we coward behind them."
"I wish that I were comforted, Anthony, I really do," Moss said. "I'd like to leave the door unlocked when I leave the house, but, this isn't Canada."
"Well what the hell's that supposed to mean, bub?" Logan spat, rising from his chair and feeling tempted to bitch slap this man. Carol and John grabbed his arms to pull him back into his seat. "Ya think it's easier fer mutants like Proudstar and me just because we live in Canada? Newsflash, bub, it ain't! Because if I remember correctly, not that I have half of my memories, but, prior to getting adamantium bones, I'd had a semi-normal life and it was probably good as gold, until Weapon X decided to drag me into their freak show! So therefor, if ya think yer gonna drag these kids into workin' fer ya against their will, yer outta yer mind, bub!"
"You know, we live in a world of grave threats, threats that Mr. Stark and his rag-tag team of mutants will not always be able to foresee," Moss continued to say, as if he hadn't even heard what Logan had had to say. "Thank you. God bless the X-men and God bless America."
"Thank you, Moss, Ross and Stryker, thank you very much. However, I feel that before the court, we will need a third opinion. So, may I please welcome Lieutenant Colonel James Rhodes?" asked Senator Kelly.
"Wait, Rhodey?" Hank asked quietly as Rhodey walked into the room. Tony got up to greet his friend.
"Uh, hey, buddy, what are you doing here?" asked Tony.
"Resolving this for you and the X-men, hopefully," Rhodey said before he took his seat beside Tony.
"Good evening, Mr. Rhodes, welcome. Now, I know that you had something that you wished to say about Mr. Stark and the X-men," Kelly said.
Rhodey nodded and he proceeded to speak "As they do not operate under any definable branch of government, the X-men present a potential threat to the security of both the nation and to her interests. I did however go on to summarize the benefits of the X-men and what they can potentially do to help protect our country." But, before Rhodey could even begin to say what he wanted to say about the good that the X-men were trying to do, the senator cut him off.
"Enough, Colonel," Kelly told him.
"We're not joiners but we'll consider secretaries of defense if you ask us," said Tony, leaning into the microphone. Everyone in the room started to laugh again.
"I'd like to go on and show if I may the imagery that's connected to your report," Kelly said.
"Well, it is somewhat premature to reveal these images," pointed out Rhodey.
"Colonel, I understand but can you just narrate those for us? Because it's about some imagery that was captured by Colonel Moss and General Ross it was of the X-men intervening," Kelly said.
"Saving mutant children from rioters who had attacked a hospital which was considered a safe place for mutants to be," Rhodey said sternly as he turned on the TV to show the images of the X-men actually doing something good in the last four months. When the images came on, it showed that the X-men hadn't been causing any property damage whatsoever. In fact, they had been trying to fix the problem by being the solution. It was a moment that Tony could definitely consider to be one of his proudest.
However, that was the moment he noticed that something was off about the rioters that had set that hospital ablaze. Grabbing hold of his cell phone advanced with the highest technology that money could buy, Tony hacked into the video footage being shown to zoom in on the footage to get a closer look and pull up some facial recognition. What he saw was enough to set off alarms.
"Oh, is that what I think it is? Are those employees of Obadiah Stane, Bolivar Trask and Cameron Hodge in this footage attacking this hospital? And it's okay that a mutant-friendly hospital gets attacked because mutants aren't human, right? So they don't have human rights, right?"
"Can you turn that off?" asked the senator.
Moss instantly got up from his seat to try and turn the television off, but, he was failing too.
"Ahh, Senator, I see you're looking rather flustered over the fact that employees of two people that you just happened to severe ties with four months ago are making quite the scene." Jean and Scott's jaws dropped open. The fact that Tony had just exposed what really happened; it was quite the surprise. Tony flashed a smile towards his employees, who just grinned in return. Warren bumped fists with Scott under the table.
"Uh, I think that we're done and I think you made you point, Mr. Stark," Kelly said, growing flustered.
"Yes, I did. We're safe. The X-men and what they are doing, it's working. America is secure from extremists. You want my property? You cannot have it!" Tony said in an insisting tone of voice. "We have successfully privatized world peace!" He flashed a peace sign. "What more do you want?" he asked the cheering crowd. But, several members of the military looked mortified as they watched. But Senator Kelly was the most angered.
"Fuck you, Mr. Stark!" he said as Tony and the members of the X-men, as well as Alpha Flight, rose from their seats and walked out of the courtroom with Professor Xavier, Rhodey and Pepper.
Streets of Cairo, Egypt
The scorching suns of Cairo, Egypt beat down on the sands of the rocky, dirt roads surrounding the atmosphere. The market places were center of town, riches such as hand-made rugs, fresh fruits and luxurious jewelry sold everywhere on every street corner. However, there were also those who were desperate for survival, those who were willing to go to any length that they had to in order to live. For eighteen-year-old Ororo Munroe, she was not an exception to this.
The white-haired, blue-eyed African-American teenage girl had been an orphan since the age of twelve when her parents died after a plane that they were in had crashed in Cairo and she had landed underneath a collapsing building. Ever since then, the young woman was highly traumatized by the deaths of her parents; it led to her developing claustrophobia. However, she had also developed a sense of determination that burned inside of her to survive out in the city of Cairo.
When she'd turned fifteen, Ororo's mutant power of controlling elements such as wind, rain, sleet, hail, snow and lightning became a power that she used to steal food for her to eat, and she'd been living like that ever since. Hitchhiking and going on foot were ways of transportation for her. This was no ideal life for anyone to live, let alone an eighteen-year-old girl. However, she had to be a thief for the sake of survival.
As Ororo ate at some pomegranates she recently stole from a food vendor, hiding in an abandoned house with a traveling rug draped over her, she closed her eyes as she thought of what had happened to her a few years back. It had been when she was sixteen, when she was a thief for about a year working for a man by the name of Ebony Apophis. He had made her thieve for him in order to get enough cash to last her a few days at a time. She had met a man who had told her that she could be more than just a common street rat stealing to survive under someone's thumb.
Cairo, Egypt – Two Years Ago
Fifty-one-old Charles Xavier and thirty-two-old Tony Stark found that they had to travel often for business with X-Corporation and Stark Industries. However, Tony had the tendency to treat those business trips as a vacation. Tony being thirty-two, it was a surprise that he had such a high level of immaturity at his age. Even their employee, Warren Worthington III, did not go out as often as Tony did, given that he was in college working towards getting a business degree.
Tony and Charles were currently at a restaurant and bar, eating outside as they discussed business matters.
"Alright, so we both agree that with Warren, we should make him CFO of X-Corporation, and that Hank should be eventually placed in charge of Stark Pharmaceuticals," Charles was saying to his surrogate son. However, Tony was too absorbed in his phone as well as his drink he did not notice Charles speaking to him. "Tony, Tony!"
"Yeah, old man?" asked Tony, suddenly alert.
"Tony, this is a business trip; not a vacation. So I suggest that you start treating it as such," Charles said sternly. Tony's problems with alcohol and partying were weighing heavily on Professor Xavier. He knew that Tony was doing it to get back at his father for all of the emotional abuse. Nevertheless, Charles was tired of seeing his prodigy self-destruct.
"I'm sorry, Xavier," Tony said.
"Tony, no, you're not getting the chance to play the "poor me" card with me. Okay? I think part of why you're doing this is because you're unafraid of disappointing me because you feel you already have," Charles told him.
"Well, what would you expect from me, Xavier? My father, he was cold, he was calculated, he never told me that he loved me; he'd shipped me off to boarding school," Tony said, listing off the reasons as to why he hated his father.
"Tony, no okay? You see what Warren is going through with his own parents," Charles reminded him. "So therefor, you need to learn to let that resentment go. Okay? Do not follow by my step-brother's example, because look at where he is."
Tony swallowed, digesting Xavier's words. His words were blunt and harsh, but, they were effective and they did get through to the young man when he needed it.
Suddenly, that was the moment they felt a gust of wind surround them, and Tony felt his wallet slip out of his pocket.
"Oh shit! Someone pick-pocketed me!" Tony exclaimed as he jumped up from his seat.
That was when Xavier heard the panicked thoughts of someone close by.
'Oh God . . . oh God I was caught . . . please no!'
The thoughts belonged to a young woman, who couldn't be much older than the age of sixteen. "Tony, just give me a moment. I sense that whoever stole from you is a mutant."
"Thieving to survive?" Tony asked.
"Indeed." The two men paid for their meal and they got up from their seats, Charles intending to find the source of the telepathic thoughts that he had picked up. The two rounded the corner to find a girl, not much older than fifteen or sixteen, in a state of panic. Her hair was silvery white, and she looked highly undernourished, as if she had not had a decent meal in years. She looked scared to death over the fact that she was caught stealing.
'Mutant . . . mutant,' Charles said to her telepathically. 'There is no need to be afraid. I can help you . . .'
The young mutant girl turned around, her eyes a shocking shade of electric blue.
"Now, now, there's nothing to be afraid of. We're not cops," Charles said to her. "Just give the wallet back, no harm done, child."
The teenage girl handed Tony his wallet back, still looking panic-stricken.
"Tell me your name, my dear," Charles said to her. "We can help you."
"O-Ororo Munroe," the girl stammered out.
"Ororo . . . that's a nice name." Charles offered her a gentle, peaceful smile.
Streets of Cairo – Present Day
Ororo sat there for a while, this time eating a piece of melon she had taken. While she was glad to have gotten away from working with Ebony Apophis, she still had intense fear and constantly looked over her shoulder, something she had grown into having a habit of, and for good reason. Looking over her shoulder became almost second nature to her.
Suddenly, that was the moment she saw an image on a television not too far away, which was replaying the news. It was new footage of Tony Stark and his X-men. Ororo's eyes widened as she saw the footage; so Tony Stark and Charles Xavier were keeping true to their word about helping mutants like her. She smiled slightly. It sure brought her a little bit of comfort knowing this.
As the young woman continued sitting there, thinking of Charles Xavier and Tony Stark, she was unaware of a mysterious entity coming closer and closer to her, passing from body to body. This mysterious figure better known as a myth, the Shadow King was in hot pursuit of Ororo Munroe. Because little did the teen know, he had been her first boss when she had become a thief. Now that Ororo was officially eighteen and her mutation was growing on a much more powerful scale than just controlling wind, the Shadow King knew that Ororo had more potential, and he was going to take advantage of that, no doubt.
Up next: Overflow
A/N:
I'm aware of the issues with email notifications going around right now with people not receiving notifications for new stories/new chapters/PMs. So therefore, I will be patient with you all for the reviews. I've already sent some emails issuing complaints about the lacking of notifications, so I suggest you all do the same if you aren't getting emails. Also, I've written a series of character reflections following events from Peace in Our Time Volume 1, so I'd recommend checking those out as well. Excelsior!-
DC-MarvelGirl 1997