Flight of the Archangel

Disclaimer: "Now that is Good Eats." - Alton Brown, Good Eats

Chapter 13: Found

The Xavier Institute

Sam Guthrie was devastated. He was on his knees at the Institute's railing. His eyes were bloodshot from crying.

"Mah little Tanya...why?" Sam whimpered. "Why?" The emotional wounds were still fresh. He had lost his little daughter Tanya to the Legacy Virus, and for Sam, who was still wounded from the deaths of his sister and brother, it was another knife in the back. Another cruel joke by fate.

"My condolences...for what they're worth." Selene's astral form appeared in the sky. The blond External jumped to his feet.

"What're you doing here, Selene?!" Sam snapped, trying to sound angry.

"I am not here to fight." The sorceress explained, holding up her hands. "Besides, I am not really here. I am projecting to you. I came to console you."

"Console me?" Sam blinked.

"Indeed." Selene answered. "I learned of the death of your daughter. Shame."

"She was only a kid." Sam wiped his eyes. "She didn't get to have a life."

"True." Selene agreed. "The curse of mortality. Never enough time. Luckily, you and I never have to worry about it."

"How dare you-!" Sam started to snap.

"Forgive me, Samuel." Selene shook her head. "I did not mean to offend. I should have realized this would be difficult for you. I haven't mourned for relatives in centuries. I have descendants, but I don't keep in contact."

"Whatever." Sam grumbled.

"Samuel..." Selene sighed. "What I have to tell you will sound harsh and insensitive. But do not interpret it as so. I understand your pain, as a fellow immortal. But you should have seen it coming. This Legacy Virus hasn't been cured yet. Your daughter was going to die. And even if she lived, she would die anyway." Sam just turned away, not reacting. Selene took it as a sign she should continue. "Samuel, you would have outlived your daughter even if she had reached one-hundred years. You should consider these tragedies a wake-up call. You would've outlived any children she had. Even her grandchildren and great-grandchildren. You would bury them all. They would all grow old and die while you stayed the way you are now."

"She should've been alive to have them." Sam gritted his teeth.

"And how do you think they would feel, Samuel?" Selene countered. "Knowing that they had a relative who would never be ravaged by time. Who was immune to the reaper's touch? Their relationship with you would always have that taint of envy and resentment."

"Ah'd tell them it's no fun being immortal." Sam scowled.

"Ah, but it is." Selene smirked. "You'll see."

The skies over New York City

"Alright..." Jay Guthrie grinned. He noticed a billboard on top of a building:

Brooklyn Museum

Exhibit of the Occult

"Exhibit of the Occult, huh?" Jay rubbed his chin. "This could be the very thing that allows me to get the Wand..."

"Indeed..." Dracor appeared next to the mystically-reborn mutant. "If the Wand is there, we shall be able to obtain it."

"Heh heh, this is great." Jay smirked. "About time. Now maybe I can get out of this deal I made with Selene..."

"Trying to plot against your benefactor, are you?" Dracor chuckled as he appeared next to the flying mutant.

"I don't mean that, you stupid iguana." Jay grunted. "I mean I can get the Wand, get it to Selene, and be on my way."

"Indeed." Dracor nodded. "I know you thirst for the blood of your sister."

"You got that right." Jay scowled. "Personally, I hope my brother doesn't get to her first. I wouldn't want her to meet her end at the hands of her immortal brother who also has this habit of turning furry every month."

"Your brother is a werewolf." Dracor realized. "Huh."

"Yeah." Jay nodded. "I didn't believe it myself. He's also immortal."

"Ah, he's an External." Dracor realized.

"Yeah." The redhaired 'mutant' answered. "Is that what they're called?"

"Yes." Dracor answered with a nod. "Your brother is not the first External."

"What do you mean?" Jay blinked.

"There are others." Dracor explained. "There are other Externals out there. Tell me, how does your brother feel about being immortal?"

"He hates it." Jay grunted. "He hates the fact he'll outlive his wife and kids. He's still trying to do the family man."

"Some things Externals aren't meat to have. Your brother will just have to learn that the only family he'll have are fellow Externals. Selene is one of them herself."

"Selene is immortal?!" Jay's eyes widened.

"Oh yes." Dracor nodded. "Her favorite time was Ancient Rome. She's especially fond of it."

"Wonderful." Jay rolled his eyes. "I don't really care what her favorite time is."

"You know, after all this, you should seek out your brother, Jay." Dracor advised. "He needs to realize that he is not a mortal anymore. If he keeps trying to live like a mortal...he'll go completely mad." Jay nodded.

"I can understand that." The mystically-reborn mutant agreed. "Unfortunately, I don't think he'll get it. At least, not easily."

"You sound like you have some resentment towards him." Dracor noted.

"He and I had...disagreements." Jay explained, his painted face growing darker. "We never got to settle our issues before I died. He forgot about me and Liz and Paige and everyone else when he joined the X-Men." A deep scowl formed. "And of course, the wonderful job he did saving my life when the FoH tortured me...the first thing I do when I see Sam again is punch that immortal bastard right in the mouth."

"Well, he's immortal, Jay. Did you really believe that mortal friends and family would matter to him anymore?" Dracor smirked.

"Good point." Jay admitted.

The Sanctum Sanctorum

The Sanctum Sanctorum was Doctor Strange's home and base of operations. From here, the Master of Mystic Arts kept watch over all reality from any psychic or mystical threats.

Doctor Strange himself was meditating. He was actually communicating with his disciple and student, the empathic magician known as Topaz.

Topaz's Apartment

"Well...yeah." Topaz blushed. "I do feel bad for him. Poor guy."

"Indeed." Strange nodded. "It's always a shame when an artist is denied the chance to perform their craft."

"Mm-hmm. I saw Jay live once, you know." Topaz sipped her tea. "He was very good. He should be releasing a live album from Budokan, not manipulated as part of Selene's plots."

"Human prejudice once again denies the world a shining light." Doctor Strange shook his head. "It's things like that that makes me ashamed of being human."

"Especially since we both have seen things that are a lot worse than mutants." The Indian empath agreed. "Like Nightmare."

"Yes, but Nightmare is vital to the workings of reality, as malicious as he is." Strange reminded. "He and the human need to dream are symbiotically linked. If people did not dream, he would not exist, but all people on Earth, human and mutant alike, would go mad."

"Kind of like the Adversary." Topaz remembered, sipping her tea. "He's a malevolent force, but without him, humanity would forever stagnate. There would be no change, good or bad."

"To get back on track, what'll we do about Jay?" Topaz frowned. "Selene is using him. He's not truly evil."

"I am aware of that, Topaz. Don't you fear." Dr. Strange smiled. "I also seek to stop Selene's latest plot, and I wish to help out your friend. I know there isn't evil in him. He's a good kid who has been caught up in something he doesn't truly understand. In fact, I have been working on a plan."

"Does it have something to do with this?" Topaz held up a newspaper's page, revealing an article on the museum exhibit.

"Yes. That is it." Doctor Strange answered. "The Wand of Watoomb is in that exhibit."

"Then all the searching Jay did..." Topaz realized. "Selene could've found the damn thing herself! All she had to do was open the paper!"

"The Wand of Watoomb in that exhibit is a fake." Doctor Strange explained. "I kept the real one. After the last conflagration over the Wand, I thought it best to keep it in the Sanctum Sanctorum."

"I get it." Topaz realized. "You're going to use the fake Wand to lure Jay."

"Yes." Doctor Strange nodded. "And once I do, I'll try to get him to help us stop Selene. I'll do everything in my power to enlighten him."

"Don't hurt him, Doctor." Topaz pleaded. "He's been through enough." Doctor Strange chuckled.

"I assure you, my dear." The Sorcerer Supreme smiled. "I have no intention of bringing him to harm."

The Brooklyn Museum, that night

Jay Guthrie landed on the ceiling of the Brooklyn Museum.

"God help me..." Jay muttered to himself as he opened the sunroof. "Aw, who am I kidding? He didn't help me before. He certainly won't help me now." The mystically-enhanced mutant jumped down into the top floor of the museum.

"You certainly are eager." Dracor appeared next to Jay.

"I just want to get the Wand and get out of here." The red-haired 'mutant' grunted, his wings going into the 'stand-by' position. He looked at a sign. "This way."

"We must be careful." Dracor warned. "There are guards here, not to mention the security systems."

"Yeah, yeah." Jay grunted, walking towards one case. "Look!" The two carefully approached the case. There it was. The Wand of Watoomb. "There it is."

"Success!" Dracor grinned. "Let's grab it and get out of here-huh?" The Wand vanished. "The Wand!"

"What happened to it?!" Jay blinked.

"Hello, Jay Guthrie." A voice greeted. The redhead and the demon turned around and saw Doctor Strange, holding the Wand of Watoomb. "My name is Doctor Strange. We must talk."

Next: Enlightenment Archangel vs. Doctor Strange!