A/N:
It's official! We are back with another volume of Peace in Our Time! And let me tell you, MarvelMaster616 and I have got quite the treat for you. This third volume will continue to expand upon building this world that MarvelMaster616 helped me design.
Ever since the ending of Peace in Our Time: Mutiny, things for our heroes have changed. Magneto has been arrested upon taking over Genosha and kidnapping Matthew Risman, one of the financial backers behind Cameron Hodge and Obadiah Stane. With both Matthew Risman and Magneto in prison, Wanda Maximoff is leading Genosha. But what does Risman's arrest mean now for the X-men? Is it going to make things better, or will it make it worse? Additionally, Tony Stark is facing his own health issues due to his excessive consumption of alcohol. Moreover, the X-men are in for another adventure awaiting them.
Once again, I would highly appreciate it if you all followed, favored, and REVIEWED this story. This time around, I will be updating every two weeks like a true comic book. And also, be sure to leave some support to MarvelMaster616 on his series X-men Supreme!
Excelsior!
DC-MarvelGirl 1997
Living in a world that hates and fears them, the X-men of X-Corporation are striving to make things better for mutants everywhere across the globe. Part of their efforts has been recruiting their newest members Rogue and Cecilia Reyes, and having Logan "Wolverine" Howlett a permanent fixture on the team.
Recently, their efforts of protecting mutants meant going to the island of Genosha to rescue Matthew Risman, who got kidnapped by Magneto for his crimes against mutants. As a result, both Risman and Magento are in prison, and Wanda Maximoff is the leader of Genosha.
However, one of the biggest changes to occur is a rapidly growing chemistry between Scott "Cyclops" Summers and Jean "Marvel Girl" Grey, who got closer upon being stuck in the Savage Land together. Needing to rely on one another for a deep sense of survival, Scott and Jean now have developed a closer bond, one that their teammates cannot ignore.
Issue 41: The Incredible Nightcrawler Part 1
Lee-Claremont Traveling Circus – Twenty-Four Hours Ago
"Meine Damen und Herren . . . Jungen und Mädchen . . . Willkommen im Lee-Claremont Travelling Circus. . . und Junge, haben wir heute Abend einen Leckerbissen für dich? Oh ja, das machen wir! Heute Abend erleben wir den ultimativen Käfigkampf zwischen unserem Champion Glob Herman. . . und unser neuester Konkurrent. . . der unglaubliche Nightcrawler! (1)" boomed the voice of the ring master in fluent German.
The Lee-Claremont Traveling Circus was one of the few circuses that traveled throughout Europe which hadn't gone out of business. But, what made the circus sell tickets was the fact that it was a circus that exploited mutants for entertainment to the public. Using mutants in cage fighting was almost common, especially in the city of Frankfurt.
The latest champion of cage fighting in the Lee-Claremont Traveling Circus, Robert Herman – also known as "Glob" Herman, stepped out of his cage. His wax-like appearance and physiology made him highly flammable, and on a lot of occasions, he set himself on fire in effort to win in his fights. He had superhuman strength, durability and speed, making him a force to be reckoned with.
The newest competitor was thrown in the ring. The mutant had blue, velvety fur, yellow – almost glowing eyes, fangs, sharp claws on his hands which only had three fingers, feet with three toes, pointy ears, and a long, demon-like tail. Kurt "Nightcrawler" Wagner always knew that he was different from the time he was two. Aside from his demonic appearance, he also had the strange ability of teleportation. People would scream whenever they saw him; his adoptive parents, the Wagners, protected him as best they could, but, their very best didn't protect him from people fearing him. Fifteen going on sixteen, Kurt found that he had been taken to go and cage fight in the circus after his adoptive family died in a house fire.
The blue, fuzzy mutant trembled as he was let out of his cage, dressed in a ringmaster-styled coat. The ridiculous get-up only further made him feel more degraded. Looking around him, he saw men standing around the cage with guns, getting ready to shoot and kill if he and the Glob Herman didn't fight. The teenaged boy was terrified out of his mind.
'Our Father . . . vho art in Heaven . . . how'll be zhy name. Zhy Kingdom come . . . zhy vill be done . . . on Earth as it is in Heaven. Give us zhis name, our daily bread. And forgive us of our trespasses . . . as ve forgive zhose zhat trespass against us. Believe us not . . . into temptation, but deliver us from evil . . . Amen . . . in zhe name of zhe Father, zhe Son, and zhe Holy Spirit,' the young demonic mutant thought to himself as he stood there trembling, praying for God's protection. He hoped that the Lord would hear his pleas for safety. That was the moment the bell rang throughout, and the cheering crowd was screaming louder, banging their hands against the cage surrounding Kurt and Glob. Glob proceeded to set himself ablaze with a match, going in to attack the prone, trembling, agile Nightcrawler. Kurt teleported away, up on a trapeze wire.
"You have to fight!" shouted Glob to Nightcrawler. He did not want to do this anymore than Kurt did, but, he knew what had to be done. "You have to fight, or they'll kill us both!"
Kurt nodded, praying that Glob wasn't going to burn him. He noticed swords nearby. Grabbing one, he acted on instinct, jousting his opponent. The crowd jeered and cheered louder in response, jumping up and down in excitement and ecstasy. However, Kurt didn't know how much longer he could keep this up. He dodged and ported away from Glob, not wanting to fight. But, he also knew that he had no choice. This was no better than being terrorized by the locals of the city of Frankfurt. Suddenly, he missed his childhood friend, Amanda Sefton, the one girl in his life who accepted him with open arms.
'Oh Amanda, I miss you, fraulein,' Kurt thought, continuing with trembling out of pure fear that he was feeling.
Suddenly, that was when Kurt's saving grace seemingly happened. He was wondering if the Lord had answered his prayers as the tent threatened to collapse down. The demonic, agile mutant teleported out of the collapsing circus tent, porting away as the crowd of people went from elated to angry as they proceeded to chase him.
'Oh vhat is happening right now?' Kurt thought as he ran like his life depended on it. 'Vhat did I do?' He clutched his crucifix hard in his hands, closing his eyes. However, before he knew it, a strong sense of dizziness came over him, and he was collapsing on the rainy pavement.
The Whitehouse – Present Day
Life for President Norman Osborn for the past few months had become pure and utter chaos, especially with the events of what happened just that past spring. Now, they were in September, and with the presidential election coming shortly in November, everyone knew the fate of the country was going to depend on who got elected. So far, Senator Edward Kelly was high in the polls due to the fact that he was anti-mutant, and people were filled with faith that he was going to be the one to keep the mutants in line.
President Osborn could fully admit that the X-men were doing good deeds, but, what gave them the right to interfere in the United States' personal business. Some were even considering them vigilantes. However, there were also those comparing them to superheroes like Captain America. But, the difference was, Captain America had been part of the military during the Second World War.
As President Osborn sat at his desk, his thoughts drifted to his son, Harry, who was away at prep school out in California. He knew of Harry's closest friend, Peter Parker; of course he did. But, Harry wasn't one of the important things on his mind. One of the important things on his mind was the fact that he had been approached by a man named William Stryker, who had tried to discussing with him about starting a mutant response division, or MRD for short. The idea of a group of military-grade ops keeping mutants in line was almost too good for the president to think to be true. In fact, he remembered his conversation he had had with William Stryker the day before.
"This sounds very tempting and very effective, Mr. Stryker . . . really. It actually sounds as though it could potentially work very well. But, I have to say, we have faced situations with the likes of Cameron Hodge and Obadiah Stane where they promised us something, and they ended up going rogue. So therefor, you better promise me no funny business, sir," he'd said.
"I promise you, Mr. President that this will work. The MRD is truly the best way to keep the mutant freaks in line. We cannot rely on those X-men. They're not the police; they're not the military. What gives them the right to interfere with our personal business? What do they know about law enforcement? I don't care if they are employed or adopted by Tony Stark. I could care less. And since they refuse to work with the government and Tony Stark essentially told Senator Kelly to kiss his ass, I'd say that we need to make sure that this takes effect," Stryker had said.
Now, as President Osborn sat at his desk, he truly was considering William Stryker's idea of the MRD. It also seemed as though it were something that Senator Kelly would support, as well. However, that was the moment one of his secret service members came rushing in.
"Mr. President!" the secret service agent cried. "You need to be on lockdown, now! Someone's issuing an attack in the Whitehouse!"
"What?" the president asked anxiously as he watched his security lock up the doors to his office. However, that was the moment that they could all hear the sounds of "bamfs" from all around. It was the oddest sound that any of them could have ever heard. Suddenly, that was the moment that they saw the president's security team go down one by one, a puff of smoke following each time, until finally, the mysterious presence reached the president. It appeared to be a blue, demonic-looking mutant staring down at him with a crazed expression in his yellow, gleaming eyes, holding a dagger over his head. But, surprisingly, the mutant didn't stab President Osborn. He just stabbed the knife down on the desk beside the president's head, with a note reading, "Mutant rights now!"
Montclair State University
'Wow, I wasn't expecting Montclair to be this nice. I know my sister Sarah had considered coming here for school,' thought Jean Grey as she toured the campus of Montclair State University.
Jean, who was starting to consider colleges in New York and New Jersey, was starting to consider not only Colombia, but also Rutgers and Montclair as well. Even William Patterson University sounded quite appealing to her. But, at the same time, she also was not sure if she wanted to dorm anywhere. She didn't want to be too far from X-Corporation. She knew Scott felt the same way. She did not know what was forming between Scott and her, but, ever since the Savage Land, they both found themselves being rather attached to each other, not wanting to be away from one another. Scott was her best friend; that was a given. But, ever since the Savage Land, everyone in X-Corporation watched as the two of them became practically inseparable.
Touring around Montclair's huge campus, Jean suddenly understood why her father and mother had graduated from there, and why her sister had considered going to school there. The whole entire campus was absolutely stunning. On top of that, it was a mutant-friendly school, something that Jean was looking for. She understood that Montclair was one of the most prestigious schools in all of New Jersey.
Jean was surprised that going back to her home state wasn't as painful as she thought that it would be. However, she still couldn't bring herself to go back to her hometown of Clifton, New Jersey. That had been the very place where she had lost her parents and had gotten separated from her brothers and sisters. Before Jean knew it, she was passing the alumni office, and what she saw in there brought a feeling of warmth to her chest.
She saw photographs of some of the more notable alumni. Actors and actresses were a given considering that Montclair was a huge performing arts heavy college. But, when she looked and saw a photo of someone by the name of Sarah Grey who had graduated from pre-law, it made her eyes heat up with moisture.
So, her sister had graduated from Montclair. She studied the picture, every detail. Her sister, Sarah, had inherited their mother's family's genes: auburn hair, hazel eyes and a rosy complexion were a given. Though many had told Jean and her twin, Madelyne, growing up that while they had the red hair and the green eyes, they were the first girls to have their father's shape of head like their brothers did. She suddenly was wondering about her other siblings and where the heck they were. It made her miss her family more than she usually did.
'I miss you, Sarah,' she thought as she stood there. Exiting the office before she got too emotional, Jean swallowed her tears back as she noticed an image on the news. It was of a supposed mutant attack that had happened on the president. Jean let out a sigh, and suddenly, she heard her cell phone ringing in her purse. Pulling it out, she saw that it was the professor calling her.
"Jean, you must get back home, immediately. There is a rather pressing matter to discuss," the professor said.
"Jesus, Professor! You know I can never get used to you doing that!" Jean said, startled.
"Sorry, dear, but I am postulating you saw the news while at Montclair."
"Yes, I did . . . I'm seeing it right now, sir," Jean said to her mentor. "I'll just – I'll schedule another tour; it was about to start." Hanging up the phone, Jean exited the student center. She walked towards her white Jeep Grand Cherokee which had been an eighteenth birthday present from Tony back in February. Getting into her car, Jean breathed out a sigh. She knew that she could put a checkmark next to Montclair State as one of the colleges that she was going to be applying to.
Rochester Institute of Technology
"Okay, I'm pretty sure I just died and gone to heaven right now," said Scott Summers as he toured the campus of RIT in Rochester, New York with Hank McCoy and Tony Stark.
"Well, Slim, you and I of all the people in the world appreciate looking at a car engine more than anything else," said Tony as they passed through aerospace engineering.
"Air and spacecraft," Hank mused. "This is what you're considering?"
"My father was a test pilot, Hank, and my mother was a scientist for SHIELD. I think you of all people can understand that I appreciate aircraft engineering," Scott said as he took pictures out of pure fascination for what he was seeing in that moment. "Besides, Tony, you wouldn't want me going to MIT and be too far away from home."
"Of course not, kid," Tony said. He understood that Scott valued his opinion on school very highly. "So, if you do not get into here, your second choice is Cornel or Fordham?"
"Yes, but, let's face it, with how I did as far as my GED goes, I will make it into RIT," Scott said in a determined tone. "Besides, I do not think that Logan would appreciate the X-men's "fearless leader" going out of the state. He's expecting me to start scheduling the Danger Room sessions. I can't do that if I'm in Massachusetts." Before they knew it, they were passing the automotive section. The minute Scott's eye landed on a Porsche, he looked as though he'd died and gone to heaven again. "Okay, I wanna make out with this car right now!"
"That's what's going to substitute women for you, Scott? Automobiles?" Hank asked him with an amused, toothy smile.
"Well, I wouldn't go that far, Hank," Scott said.
"Well, from the way I see you staring at our resident redhead lately, I can almost guarantee that cars won't replace her," Tony said.
Scott went red around the ears. It didn't shock him that Tony was teasing him about developing a crush on Jean. Tony and Bobby had been cracking jokes about it for months; at this point, it was getting on his nerves. Even Warren, whom he and Jean considered to be their best friend, was joining in on throwing jabs at them ever since the Savage Land. "Tony, can you stop? Please? Jean, she's just my best friend. She's nothing more than that," he insisted, embarrassed as he rubbed the back of his neck.
"Well, there are best friends, and then there's you two," Tony replied back. "Ever since the Savage Land, the two of you have been spending so much time together, she's practically attached to your hip. Don't deny it. We all see it."
"What about you and Pepper?" Scott asked seriously. "Because I can tell your feelings for your executive assistant are more than just professional. Are you going to question Hank's relationship he's got with his patient at the eye clinic?"
Hank's fur went to a shade of purple, showing he was blushing.
"Okay, I know I'm technically your boss, but, since we're also friends, I won't fire you for asking questions about my relationship," Tony quipped.
"Okay, you know you sound like Michael Scott right now," Scott said with a roll of his eyes. "If they want to remake The Office again, you should play the boss, honest to God. And you know who should play the movie version of you? Steve Carell. Or how about Robert Downey, Jr.?"
"Then that makes you and Jean in the role that Jim and Pam had," Tony warned him.
"Oh man, you're right!" Scott groaned as they continued to walk along RIT. However, as they were about to tour the bioengineering section, that was when they saw news footage about a mutant attack on the president. "Oh great," Scott muttered. "Bobby's friend Peter is gonna love this one."
"You take it we should head back home?" Hank asked, preparing to walk out and back to Tony's car.
"You know, the old man's gonna call us in five . . . four . . . three . . . two . . ." That was when Tony's cell phone rang. "Speak of the devil," he murmured, answering the phone. "Yes, old man, we know. We saw the news. I take it you want us home?"
"Indeed, Tony," Xavier said.
St. Peter's Cathedral – Berlin, Germany
'Oh Lord . . . forgive me for vhatever it vas that I had done,' thought young Kurt Wagner to himself as he teleported throughout the St. Peter's Cathedral in Berlin. The minute the blue, demonic mutant learned that he had supposedly attacked the United States president; he'd teleported away to Berlin. Knowing that he couldn't go back to Frankfurt under the understanding that the circus would be looking for him, he stopped in Berlin in the closest church that he could find. The old cathedral looked as though it had been abandoned and hadn't been used in years. In fact, a couple times he'd come to this very church to gather his head together and just find some solitude.
Over the years, the blue, fuzzy elf of a mutant found that he'd needed something to bring him comfort considering how alone he felt in the world. It was ironic, because as demonic-looking he appeared to be, he held onto a strong sense of faith in the Catholic religion, because what else did he have? He had to believe in something. Managing to scope out a painting of Jesus across the room, the fuzz-ball elf of a mutant silently folded his hands into prayer, breathing hard as he continued trembling out of fear that the people from the circus might end up finding him. If they found him, he knew he'd be dead where he stood.
Kurt didn't even remember attacking the president. All he remembered was collapsing after a wave of vertigo hit him, and the next thing he knew, he was back in Germany running from an angry mob of people who were chasing him with pitch forks, looking to burn him on the stake for the entire country of Germany to see. He was pretty sure that he had lost them, but, he wanted to stay in the church for save measure. Ever since he was a young child, people would scream whenever they saw him. It was him against the world about ninety-nine percent of the time. Tears filled the young mutant's eye as he caught his reflection in a nearby mirror.
'No vonder people are afraid of me . . . no vonder people think I'm a demon,' he thought sadly as he sat where he was, swallowing to try and keep himself from crying.
Little Kurt knew, outside the church, several were waiting outside, spying on him. One of them was a mysterious woman, with white hair dressed in a green suit; she only went by one name, Vertigo, her name being appropriate due to her ability of being able to project swirling mental waves to attack people with severe dizziness. Standing by her side were Philippa Sontag, who could generate shockwaves, George Blair, who could shape-shift his putty-like body any way that he pleased, and Clement Wilson who had aoustikinesis – ability to absorb sound and send them back in the form of a concussive force.
"Sinister, we are in position," said Clement – Ruckus.
"Excellent, Ruckus. Just wait for the targets to arrive. You will know them when you see them. After all, they are X-men, and their genes for me are rather desirable," an eerie, unsettling voice said behind the intercom.
A/N:
Translation:
1) German: Meine Damen und Herren . . . Jungen und Mädchen! Willkommen im Lee-Claremont Travelling Circus! Und Junge, haben wir heute Abend einen Leckerbissen für dich? Oh ja, das machen wir! Heute Abend erleben wir den ultimativen Käfigkampf zwischen unserem Champion Glob Herman . . . und unser neuester Konkurrent . . . der unglaubliche Nightcrawler!
English: Ladies and gentlemen . . . boys and girls! Welcome to the Lee-Claremont Traveling Circus! And boy, do we have a treat for you tonight? Oh yes, we do! Tonight, we witness the ultimate cage fight between our champ Glob Herman . . . and our newest competitor . . . The Incredible Nightcrawler!
Up next: The Incredible Nightcrawler Part 2
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