psinex@yahoo.com Fires of Tomorrow 2/60 by Phil Hartman DISCLAIMER: They're Marvel's, except for Aidan, who's mine. Please don't sue. -------------------------------------------------------- 01/08/2004: Somewhere near Tahiti: noon: -------------------------------------------------------- I am not a happy magnakinetic. Oh, certainly I'm overjoyed to be an adult once more, at least in thought; Scalphunter's "murder" of Moira finally triggered all of my memories into focus, but I am still 40 pounds and physically 30 years too young. Not that I'm arguing - I LOOK like I'm 18. So why, instead of using these incredible powers and gathering scantily-clad women on some beach, I am repeating my past ? Simple. I remember it all. And I am not about to let Auschwitz, or the Morlock Massacre, be repeated. ESPECIALLY when the evidence here suggests the mutant Mengele is alive ... I suppose I should not be surprised that Sinister escaped my vengeful - petty, really - attack upon him. But the animal has tortured and killed enough. I magnetically sift through the rubble of the base, pondering - - by the Eternal. These files - - RACHEL AND FRANKLIN !? A ... child ... ? Curse you, Sinister. This is ... beyond obscene. And Charles wants me to putter around, whining and moaning and picking up after humans when this animal is preying upon our people !? I THINK NOT. Rachel ... you poor child. I wonder what kind of offspring Sinister forced you to bear ... I close my eyes and reach out; despite the crippling effect my mnemonic restoration had upon my telepathy, I still have my astral projection. Rather ironic, actually ... And there we are. The astral plane is oddly harmonious, even at this nexus of death and agony. I let myself fly - after all, there are no limits on the distance telepathy and astral projection can reach. Perhaps I will have to do something to prevent other psis from reaching out to me. But for now ... I find the Xavier estate in relative peace: the New Mutants are having a snowball fight. They look well enough - but my focus shifts. I cannot look Alexa in the eye ... And I find myself outside a redecorated bedroom. Soft blues, and twin beds - Franklin and Rachel have moved in together ? How ... appropriate. I snicker, rather selfishly, at the image of what Scott must be going through. Rather mean of me, really - - WHAT !? I focus, and there is a perfectly-formed baby boy floating before me. At least, I assume it is male - dressed in a blue sleeper. Red fluff for hair, and his eyes open - - green, so green, so curious - ~?~ the child queries gently. ~Hello, little one,~ I reply gently. No sense in frightening the infant - how powerful IS he, he must be Omega-class - - dear Lord, he must be the child Rachel bore Franklin. "Lord." I smirk; to be so surprised as to refer to religion, after it was cauterized out of me in Auschwitz ... I reach out empathically, offering warmth and security. The baby seems to laugh, then fades back into his body, a gentle call of welcome and serenity calling me to the window. I dare not go any closer, though - Charles would certainly sense me, I'm surprised that the boy's parents have not - - ~ERIK !?~ I spin around. . The Phoenix - and it IS that legendary entity, I would know its' resonance anywhere, after exploring the burned-out shell of the Hellfire Club's Manhattan branch - looms before me, Rachel blazing at its' heart with fury and fear. ~Rachel, I swear to you, your son reached out to me,~ I reply in conciliation. ~I would NEVER harm -~ ~See that you don't,~ another voice calls from behind me - young and oh-so-bitter and male. I look over my shoulder and see Franklin, corporeal and yet here simultaneously in that still-amazing duality he wields so easily, floating between me and the window of his nascent family's bedroom. Anger - real anger, not the bravado I saw him wield so often when we were New Mutants together - is writ large upon his face. ~Leave, Erik,~ Franklin demands. ~You abandoned us, and we're not too thrilled that you're spying.~ ~I was concerned for Rachel - and you,~ I reply. ~I examined Sinister's files -~ ~YOU WHAT !?~ Rachel screams. A talon of flame grabs me, and for a heartbeat I can feel my astral form begin to burn. ~YOU KNOW WHAT HAPPENED !? YOU DON'T KNOW ANYTHING !~ Then she releases me, and flies to Franklin, sobbing. ~You had NO right !~ the boy snarls, comforting her. ~After what we went through - ~ ~I endured similar tortures,~ I send, trying to comisserate. ~Auschwitz -~ ~Were you ever forced to bear a child you wanted through means you hated ?~ Franklin hisses, his eyes narrowing. ~Or to - RUT - with the girl you love, to take her in a way you absolutely HATE ?~ I have no reply. How can I - I, who am male and was far luckier than some of the prisoners of the camps ? I cannot truly understand what Rachel suffered - ~Then just go,~ she replies, wiping psionic tears from her face and standing beside her love. ~Please, Erik - if you care at all about us, don't make us go back there.~ ~I ... will go,~ I nod. ~But you should be warned - I believe Sinister is alive -~ ~GOOD,~ Rachel snarls, her aspect flaring once more. ~Then I'LL get to kill him -~ Franklin holds her, and she seems to calm down, looking into their bedroom and reaching out to the child, who is calling with increasing fear in his mental tone. She vanishes into the room, and I realize that she was flying as well, both physically and corporeally. Franklin turns to me with a glare and sends, ~The Professor is out right now. I'd go if I were you - you've got a lot of people angry and scared.~ ~Franklin, please believe me - I mean none of you any harm,~ I reply. ~If you ever need me -~ ~Save it,~ he snaps, entering the bedroom. ~And Erik - take a hint. Get your millions and retire. You go on the warpath again, you're gonna get a lot of bad crap coming down the pike. Trust me - EVERY hero team on the planet is on edge after Tahiti.~ ~Then I will just have to prove myself,~ I retort. Arrogant pup - I held off the Avengers AND the X-Men ! Am I to be - - oh, enough. I may need the New Mutants' help in the months and years to come. At least they might listen to me ... I leave, but not before looking down at the New Mutants who are still playing on the lawn. The twins, Nicole and Claudette - still oddly separate on the astral plane, but still trapped in one physical form - wave sadly at me. Another failure, I remind myself. Was I not going to restore Claudette to her own form ? Nathan looks at me with fear and compassion, while his cousin Joseph glares with ill-disguised hatred. Artie just waves, and I turn to go. "Erik." I stop. That voice ... I turn and look at Alexa. She is as beautiful as ever, but the weight of years keep me from feeling the passion I once had for her. It would be obscene to lust after her, after all my decades of age returned ... ... but she is still beautiful. Somehow, she looks at - through ? - me, without astral sight or telepathy, and smiles sadly. "If it's really you ... take care, OK ? I ... I'm not mad anymore," she says. Her gold eyes tear up, and I feel a knife to my stomach. "Just ... be careful," she pleads, turning to go. Child ... my heart, my - - 'LEX !!! WHO WAS THAT !? Leggo a'me, you nutcase - - NOOO ! You cannot be separate from me - - well guess what, Captain Buckethead, I AM ! I writhe, and the telepaths present gasp. A hand JUTS from my astral chest - - and I scream - -------------------------------------------------------- "oh my GOD ..." Ray looked down from her bedroom window, setting the cooing Aidan back in his cradle and looking at the astral Magnus doubled over in pain on the snow-covered lawn below. "Frank - " she called. The boy nodded, then teleported to the lawn and knelt beside the spasming astral entity. ~F-Frank - help me, man,~ Magnus pleaded, his adult form flickering to reveal the boy Frank had grown up with. ~ERIK !? Oh my GOD - hang on -~ Frank sent, horrified. He reached out, physically and psionically - - and the figure screamed. ~NO ! We cannot exist separately !~ the adult Magnus cried, trying to fly away. The astral being vanished, leaving Frank to stand gaping. Alexa ran to him, pleading, "What !? What happened ?" "He's still inside the old Magneto," Frank whispered. He turned to the other New Mutants with a look of shock and muttered, "We have to help him, but HOW ?" -------------------------------------------------------- I slam back into my - is it my ? - body, writhing. ~JERK !~ my youngerself screams. ~LET ME GO !~ ~I am unsure if we can do that, boy,~ I snap. ~I am no psi-physician. As much as it pains me to admit it -~ Then another wave of nausea hits me - but from outside - - no, not her, not NOW - "I don't believe my fortune," an oh-so-proper British voice mocks as too-smooth-hands grab my neck. An odd energy flares about me, and I fall - the tingle of the magnetic fields fades - Powerless. I roll over; I will not be taken - - until the giant foot slams into my side. My armor is proof against many things, but even it must have its' breaking point. I double over again, wretching, and look into red eyes. "Erik Magnus Lehnsherr," Sinister smiles as his pet brute grabs me by the scruff of the neck. "Oh, I've waited nearly 50 years for this moment. Do you remember me, Magneto ?" And his flesh twists and flickers, and I moan - - no, this is not possible, it cannot be - - and a Nazi commandant stands before me. The one who threw me back with my family, the day they were shot and my powers condemned me to survive, to be sent to Auschwitz. "You - you KNEW ?" I cough in that damnably-adolescent voice this body still forces me to speak aloud in. "I was in the midst of the most massive eugenics program mounted," Sinister mocks, shifting back to his "normal" form. "I would have been a fool not to sift through the victims and find the rare mutant. You should feel lucky - I kept you from being wasted as a Nazi 'ubermenschen.' They WOULD have broken you, you know - what a waste, a 'dark' Magnus used as one of Hitler's shock troopers. No, I knew you were a survivor ..." "... and you kept Xavier busy while I prodded and poked and planned." I refuse to believe his claims. I WILL NOT believe them - The Marauders drag me into the ruined base, Sinister following with a smile. "Believe it," he says. "You were the perfect dupe, you know - the wounded crusader, fighting against Xavier and splitting mutantkind while I bought time to finish my plans against Apocalypse." "YOU WERE NEVER MORE THAN A PAWN." And in my mind, the child I never was cries for Alexa. And I begin to wonder if I should have let Franklin free him ... -------------------------------------------------------- NEXT: OHHHHH yes, it can get worse ... ! -------------------------------------------------------- end _________________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Get your free @yahoo.com address at http://mail.yahoo.com