Chapter 20
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It had not been easy for Scott and Jean to become co-parents with Wolverine. But they all loved little Laura, she was worth any discomfort these three parents might have felt. This did not mean that they had forgotten the other person responsible for Laura's conception, Mr Sinister. As much as Scott disliked Wolverine, for any number of reasons, he knew that Wolverine was not responsible for what happened to Jean, Sinister was. Sinister had her kidnapped, had forcibly impregnated her, than tried to force an abortion on her. Sinister had fled when it became clear that the Colonel's regime in Genosha would soon fall. Noone knew for certain where he was, most likely he had fled, probably for the best considering how many people wanted him dead. But then, Wolverine received an unexpected call, from Magneto.
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Wolverine: What do you want?
Magneto: I thought you should know about a mutual enemy of ours. Nathaniel Essex, aka Mr Sinister.
Wolverine: You know where he is?
Magneto: You know about my government's alliance with Latvaria?
Wolverine: Yeah, you and Dr Doom, and Killmonger.
Magneto: I didn't call you to debate politics. Sinister is allied with the rebels fighting against Doom's government. I have a location, and I hope you and your friends will go and give him what he deserves.
Wolverine: So this isn't just using us to take out the enemy of your ally?
Magneto: That is partly why Doom gave us this intel, but my sources have confirmed this, feel free to confirm it for yourself.
Wolverine: You're still willing to use us as cannon fodder.
Magneto: I would love to personally kill Sinister, but I have duties as head of state. At any rate Cloak and Dagger have agreed to help you.
Wolverine: That's comforting.
Magneto: Sinister and the rebels are kidnapping civilians, conducting experiments on them. Perhaps you heard about the near riot in Doomstadt.
Wolverine: Yeah, supposedly a pro-democracy rally that ordinary patriotic citizens were so opposed to that they attacked the demonstrators. Latvarian police heroically protected the protestors. A lot of people think the whole thing was a false flag to put Doom and his police force in a more positive light in the international community.
Magneto: The rebels claim the same thing, perhaps. The rebels kidnapped those who were allegedly part of this "False flag." I can't say they were exactly sticklers for reasonable doubt. And those are some of the people the rebels gave to Sinister for his experiments. Do you not want to stop these kinds of war crimes?
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Wolverine didn't trust Magneto, but he knew they both wanted Sinister dead. He spoke with sources he trusted, and they confirmed that Sinister was allied with those fighting against Doom, and that Sinister was conducting more experiments on people. He told Jean and Scott about this, they both agreed to go as well. They all wanted vengeance for what Sinister did to Jean. Before Jean left she spoke with Kurt's wife Amanda. Amanda feared what would happen to Jean if she went through with this.
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Amanda: I consider you a friend, I don't want to lose you.
Jean: Logan and Scott are coming to keep me safe.
Amanda: That's not what I meant. Forgetting for a moment that you're helping one group of bad guys fight another group of bad guys, vengeance goes against everything that professor Xavier teaches.
Jean: Yes, it does. But if you had a chance to kill the man who raped you, would you take it?
Amanda: I don't know. I'd like to think I'd be strong enough to resist, but I can't say for certain. Truth is I do sometimes wish he was dead, that way he could never find, or hurt, my daughter. It might be easier to tell Hope the truth one day if I never had to worry about that. If you are determined to go through with this, try to be safe.
Jean: I will.
Amanda: Good luck.
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Jean, Scott, and Wolverine went with Jean to Latvaria for this mission. Wolverine and Scott even got along unexpectedly well, probably because they had a common enemy. As Magneto had promised, Cloak and Dagger accompanied them. No doubt Magneto had given them orders, to try and retrieve Sinister's research, so that their army could use it themselves. The Xmen would just have to make certain that they destroyed it first, that was probably their secondary orders anyway. On the flight to Latvaria the five of them began talking, Ty and Tandy were humming the song "Come sail away." It was apparently their song.
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Wolverine: I want to thank you guys for your help with this.
Tandy: Our pleasure.
Scott: But to be clear we're not letting Magneto get his hands on Sinister's research.
Ty: Would you believe us if we said we weren't under orders to steal it?
Wolverine: Not really.
Ty: Than let;s not bother with pretenses. Yes our orders are to try and steal the research. If unable to do that we should destroy it to keep Magneto's enemies from using it.
Jean: Than Magneto's going to have to live with seeing it destroyed.
Tandy: Fine by us, we're not going back to Genosha when this is over.
Ty: The things we're doing to normal humans, this isn't what we signed up for. Maybe Magneto is right, maybe it is necessary to ensure mutant survival, but we don't want to be a part of it.
Jean: Good for you.
Scott: Where are you going, because president Kelly still wants to see those who tried to kill him brought to justice, you won't be welcome back in America.
Ty: I know, maybe Antarctica. I know some are calling it the "Savage Land" but we're willing to give it a shot.
Wolverine: So not to sound ungrateful, but why are you coming with us? Why not just escape now?
Tandy: Three reasons. One, we're grateful to Magneto for all he's done for us, and if killing the man who tortured him as a child gives him some degree of peace, we're all for that. Second, we agree with you that his experiments can't be allowed to continue, can't guarantee that some other mad scientist won't do these things to people, but it's something. Finally, Jean, one woman to another, no woman should be made to suffer the way you were. I don't mind helping you get a little revenge against the bastard who did that to you.
Jean: Thank you. Sometimes us girls do need to stick together.
Wolverine: You two do have good taste in music. That is my favorite Styx song.
Tandy: I actually prefer the new version by Olivia Holt.
Wolverine: Blasphemer. Have you not heard the Styx version?
Tandy: Yes, have you heard the Olivia Holt version?
Wolverine: Yes, and Styx was better.
Tandy: You're just old.
Wolverine: Doesn't mean I'm wrong.
Ty: Actually I agree with Wolverine on this one.
Jean: No, Tandy's right on this one.
Scott: I hate to agree with Wolverine on anything, luckily he's wrong on this one too.
Wolverine: You're just physically incapable of agreeing with me on anything.
Scott: Maybe.
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It felt good for the five of them to be bonding like this. It did occur to the Xmen that Ty and Tandy were lying about planning to desert Magneto's side, that they were planning to steal Sinister's research as covertly as possible. The three of them each made a mental note to keep an eye on their temporary allies. Nevertheless, given that survival was not a guarantee for any of them, this brief moment of bonding was a welcome respite.
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The flight to Latvaria was both too long, and over too briefly. Eventually the five of them parachuted into the area of the forest controlled by the rebels. Surprisingly Jean could sense very few people in this area. It seemed like a trap of some kind, but what. Then Wolverine realized, there were sentinels in the area. Evidently Sinister still had friends who could provide him with these robots for his protection. Perhaps these backers might prefer seeing these revolutionaries overthrow Dr Dooms regime. During the jump down Tandy was separated from the rest of the group. Ty and Wolverine were separated from Scott and Jean. The plan was for all five to meet up at a pre-designated spot and then to go to Sinister's new laboratory. It did not go this smoothly. Wolverine and Ty were able to find Tandy safe and sound. But Jean and Scott were captured by the sentinels. Wolverine could still smell them, and their collective scent led straight to Sinister's laboratory compound. But as they got closer, their mutant powers faded. Some of Wolverine's old war wounds began to creep up on him. He wouldn't be able to rely on his mutant power of scent, so they would have to trust that Magneto's intel was good. As painful as this was becoming, he would endure it to rescue the woman he loved.
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Ever since her ordeal in Genosha Jean had nightmares about waking up in Sinister's lab. Sometimes Scott and/or Logan would rescue her, sometimes not. But this time, Scott was with her, also about to be experimented on. Jean tried to use her mutant powers, but sadly Sinister had not gotten more careless, he was once again restraining both of their powers.
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Sinister: Hello Jean. It's good to see you again.
Jean: You bastard, I'm going to kill you this time.
Sinister: I have no doubt that's why you all came here. Sadly for you these sentinels protected me.
Jean: Why don't you just kill me?
Sinister: I'm not wasteful. During the holocaust I was able to perform my experiments on people who were doomed, my work gave their deaths some purpose. After the so called near riot in Doomstadt my allies felt that some had to be made an example of, thanks to me their deaths had a purpose. If Doom succeeds in crushing the rebellion I have no doubt he and I will come to some sort of understanding, he will allow me to experiment on many defeated rebels.
Jean: So you could just do that tomorrow, to those who are your friends today?
Sinister: When one survives as long as I have, one needs a life purpose. Something that will outlast whatever temporary friendships might form. If I hadn't done my experiments, your daughter never would have even existed. How do you feel about that?
Jean: I love Laura more than anything, and I also hate you more than anything.
Sinister: Divided emotions, that's fascinating.
Scott: What are you going to do to us?
Sinister: I am going to discover if my most recent project is ready. None of the other specimens have survived for very long, perhaps this will be different. We are going to see if it is possible to merge two people into one. Would this new person really be just one of them, if so which one. I believe the stronger one would survive, the weaker will simply die off. I look forward to finding out which one. Out of the ashes of two will rise one, a phoenix. Fortunately I still have enough of Wolverine's DNA to make more clones, which is good because the Phoenix will be powerful enough to eliminate him once and for all.
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Scott and Jean knew it was unlikely that either one of them would survive. They said their goodbyes while they could. As Sinister drugged them unconscious the last thing Scott and Jean said to each other, was how they loved each other. That was the last thing either of them heard as they fell asleep.
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As Wolverine and his new friends got closer to Sinister's compound they realized that their mutant powers were returning, in particular Wolverine's healing ability. It seemed unlikely that Sinister was getting careless. Perhaps his power generators were malfuntioning, but the sentinels had their own individual power source, why hadn't they encountered any of those tin buckets? Finally the three of them reached the compound. Surprisingly Sinister was standing outside, quietly waiting for them.
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Sinister: Hello Wolverine. I believe you two are allied with my old friend Magneto.
Tandy: He sent us here to kill you.
Sinister: He never could get past his petty concept of revenge.
Wolverine: Where are Jean and Scott?
Sinister: I don't know.
Wolverine: What do you mean you don't know?
Sinister: I'm no theologian, I don't know where someone goes after they die.
Wolverine: You murdered them?
Sinister: In a sense. You might have noticed I turned off the power dampeners, and deactivated my sentinels. My rebel friends want a human weapon, a very powerful weapon. You are a very powerful weapon Wolverine, I want there to be doubt about the effectiveness of this weapon, when it destroys you.
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With that another person emerged. They appeared to be neither male nor female. They looked like Jean and Scott, yet looked like neither of them. This was the result of Sinister's experiment, Phoenix. Sinister ordered Phoenix to destroy Wolverine. In his state, knowing that his beloved Jean was gone forever, Wolverine might have very well let Phoenix destroy him. But whatever experiments were done did not result in Sinister having complete power over Phoenix. The hatred of Jean and/or Scott towards Sinister had translated into hatred of Sinister by Phoenix. Instead of using it's powers against Wolverine, Phoenix used their full powers against Sinister. Sinister's agenda had always been about advancing science, not caring how the new knowledge was used. In a Sinister was being destroyed by his own work, and he barely had time to comprehend what was going on before he was destroyed. For Wolverine, as the knowledge that his beloved was dead, rage overtook Wolverine and he went inside. He found Sinister's laboratory, and his notes, and destroyed everything. The full rage of Wolverine was unleashed on Sinister's work. Ty and Tandy did nothing to stop Wolverine. Even if they were planning to return to Genosha, they could have told Magneto that they were unable to stop Wolverine, and that was true enough. After his rage was gone Wolverine just collapsed and started crying. He wasn't even certain how long he had been crying, when Phoenix came to see him.
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Phoenix: What am I?
Wolverine: I don't know, that kind of question is above my pay grade.
Phoenix: I remember everything that they remember, including you Logan. I still have feelings of love for you, and feelings of hatred.
Wolverine: A lot of people feel that way towards me.
Phoenix: I don't know if I'm Scott or Jean, or both.
Wolverine: I don't think you're either. You're a new person.
Phoenix: One created from the death of two people. One of whom was the woman you loved.
Wolverine: Yeah. But I don't blame, and I doubt they would have either.
Phoenix: I remember their last moments, they said how much they loved each other, and they both felt great fear. Neither had any feelings of love for this new being that was about to be created. Jean had great feelings of love for her daughter, despite the circumstances around Laura's conception. She had no such feelings for me.
Wolverine: She just never had the chance to meet you.
Phoenix: I don't even know if I'm male or female.
Wolverine: I think they call it non-binary these days.
Phoenix: I have feelings of sexual attraction to men and women, so I guess I'm also bisexual. I don't know how to undo what Sinister did, I don't know how to bring them back.
Wolverine: It doesn't matter. I couldn't ask you to do that even if we did know how. We don't trade lives Phoenix.
Phoenix: I murdered Sinister, do you disapprove?
Wolverine: No, I just wish I had the chance to kill him myself.
Phoenix: But you were taught by Xavier, and he teaches that all life is sacred. Yet we all came here for revenge.
Wolverine: And look how well that turned out. I'm probably the last person on the planet who should be lecturing you or anyone else about ethics. Xavier on the other hand, he could help you. He'll mourn Scott and Jean, but he would never turn his back on you or anyone else.
Phoenix: Thank you. I am sorry for what happened to her.
Wolverine: Me too. It's just something we'll have to live with.