Chaos or Community
Posted on Sat Aug 10th, 2024 @ 6:23pm by Charles Xavier & Scott Summers & Connor Bruin & Iris Walker & Elias Buckley & Bliss Hawkins & Levi Rousseau & Hayden Davis & Ethan Hale & Aurora Summers & Hank McCoy & Kennedy Kelly & Maeve MacKenna
Mission:
Episode 5: Days of Fortune Past
Location: X-Mansion
Timeline: October 13th, 1990
The redeye flight back from Washington, D.C. had been exhausting, yet Professor Xavier hadn't slept a wink. He arrived by towncar to the Mansion when everyone was still asleep. His lobbying in the nation's capital had been mostly fruitless, though a few bright spots had appeared. Senator Stone remained sympathetic and had even thrown support behind the class action legal challenge presented against the federal government. It might cost him the presidency, but he was proving to be a man of principle—in large part because his daughter, Margo, had been taken by a Sentinel. It was good to still find solid advocates among the Senate, even if they were surrounded.
Morning came and a new day dawned while Xavier sipped his tea. He felt Scott's approach even before he saw the familiar sight of the red Jeep bumping up the driveway toward the Mansion. From what he felt in his first student's ambient emotions, he knew this was not going to be a happy visit.
~Scott...~
~Professor...~
Images were exchanged from one mind to the next.
Professor Xavier dropped his teacup.
~X-MEN! TO THE WAR ROOM!~
Having taken the rapid transit tube near the garage, Scott had actually beaten the Professor to the War Room. The two of them joined hands near the table and shared a moment of grief until everyone else made their appearance.
First was Connor, having used the rapid transit tubes that he accessed at every opportunity. When he exited, the grin from the sudden rush eroded as he read the room and saw his two oldest friends and mentors in quiet mourning. He made a few uncomfortable fidgets and took a seat near the Professor's usual spot.
Hayden jumped at the sound of the Professor's urgent voice inside her head. She'd been in the kitchen making an iced coffee for herself and nearly dropped the whole quart of milk. To say it was a rough night's sleep would be putting it mildly. She'd kept dreaming about their battle and what had happened. So much destruction and loss of life....
It suddenly dawned on her what his voice had said. X-Men. She'd never heard any of that before. Not his voice like that. And not an X-Men summons. She put a lid on her iced coffee and went to the elevator. As far down as she'd ever been was the Danger Room for training sessions. Everything else was of limits. Not that she would have been able to get the elevator to go any further if she'd wanted.
This time was different. She stepped out at the next level and took a sip of her iced coffee. Hayden had never been her before. As such, she essentially wandered the halls looking for a door with 'War Room' stenciled on it. Or someone who could take her there.
Lying in bed Maeve pulled another pillow over her head at the sound of a voice in her head that was not her own. It was taking some getting used to, the Professor's mental summoning. Before now she didn't know there were mutants powerful enough to enter the mind, even if she had heard stories from her people back in Achill Island.
Moaning as she stubbornly threw the pillow to the floor she winced as she moved, still tender from the fight with the Sentinel. She was strong but that thing packed a hell of a wallop. It was also the first time she'd seen people looking to her for help and not as someone to fear or attack. That being the civilians she helped shield during that battle and the thanks they gave her during and after.
Throwing on some respectable clothes she made her way to the elevator and headed underground. An odd feeling given she could feel the earth all around them and here she was submerging herself in it. As she exited she noticed Hayden roaming the hall looking a bit lost. "Guess you don't know where we are going either?" she asked trying not to frighten her.
Hayden recognized the voice behind her. "Nope, not a clue. This is my first time on this level."
Luckily, Iris took pity on them. She had been sound asleep when the call came through and she hadn’t bothered to try taming her hair, so it stuck up in every direction, the wiry curls untamed and wild. “Come with me,” she told them. “I’ll show you where to go.”
Hayden was startled when Iris spoke. "Holy...Iris, I didn't even see you down here. I don't know that I'm ever going to get used to your powers." She laughed and brushed it off. "Thanks for the lift, so to speak."
Maeve jumped a little as Hayden exclaimed at Iris' 'sudden' entrance, or appearance. She was still getting used to the multitude of powers in this place and them all being so close together. "Yes, thank you." she echoed Hayden's thanks for the guide that Iris would prove to be.
Aurora was lying looking at the ceiling, having had a disturbed night going over the events of Spider-Man’s death in her mind. Could she have done more? Saved him? The Professor’s voice in her head shook her out of it as she slid out of bed and quickly headed to freshen up and pick up some clothes. It didn’t take long before she was ready, her normal clothes were starting to strain as her pregnancy progressed and her jumpsuit was now doing the same. “Looks like I’ll need to request a new uniform” she quipped as she looked at herself in the mirror. If it wasn’t obvious she was pregnant before it certainly was now. Heading out she wondered what situation the team would find itself in now.
Kennedy had always been an early riser, a trait that had its pros because the gym was always empty and there was plenty of hot water for a shower afterwards. Today was no different, Kennedy had woken up early and was in the gym first thing this morning. While standing en pointe in her ballet slippers, Kennedy’s slender arms began moving upwards into a graceful Port de Bras when the sound of Xavier’s mental summons passed through her mind. His call caused her to drop down flat onto her feet and the elegant forms of her dancing were lost from her now broken concentration.
Changing out of her delicate slippers but leaving the rest of her dancing clothes on, Kennedy made her way to the War Room. It was a short walk from the underground gymnasium so she arrived early enough to see a handful of her teammates in the room along with Cyclops and Xavier. Dressed in a black leotard and pale pink tights with her golden hair in a high bun on the top of her head, Kennedy briefly waved hello to the group of girls who were already milling about before she nodded in salutation to the Professor and Scott.
Her first inclination was to save a seat for Jace in the back of the room, but she quickly remembered he was still gone. No longer keeping his preference in mind, Kennedy selected a seat closer to where Xavier was sitting. Folding her hands into her lap and with a straight and proper posture she waited for everyone to arrive and for the meeting to begin.
After tossing and turning for a while, Ethan experienced yet another nightmare. He was in a jungle, wingless and being chased by something large and vicious. He never really saw the thing, but he knew it was there nonetheless.
The Professor's words brought him to consciousness, but he had a feeling he'd just moved from the frying pan into the fire.
He dressed quickly and made his way to the War Room.
Ethan and Levi bumped into each other outside. The collision made Levi drop his bag, but a burst of air current caught it in an invisible pillow. He put it over his shoulder and walked through the door without a word.
Having been too keyed up to sleep, Hank had been pottering in the lab, doing who knew what. As such, he had arrived ahead of everyone else and merely waited- slightly grumpy from lack of sleep- for everyone else to arrive.
Bliss had been writing in her journal at the lake. Jean had suggested doing this with all her backlog of disturbed events in her life. She had only been doing it for a while, and to be honest it didn't seem to be doing more than giving her a focus for her anger. Things were getting worse, not better. She was giving consideration to looking for help outside the school. This was the best time to remember that he had to be her own advocate for her health. She did this back in Vegas. Clearly the need for assistance had not died away as the distance from Nevada had increased.
How do you find mental health care in a world that is actively trying to kill you? Does she really need to try to find peace with the things that have happened to her, only for them to be getting worse instead of better. Was anger a necessary evil to keep herself and the people she was protecting alive? It was then that she heard the almost panicked call from the professor to attend the war room. She flew back to the house with all the speed she could manage. She took a seat near Kennedy, her roommate.
Once everyone was seated, Professor Xavier cleared his throat as if to speak, but he found it difficult to begin. He leaned forward in his chair and steepled his fingers.
"Yesterday was an arduous one for so many reasons," he finally said at length. "I'd like to begin by accentuating the positive. Sentinels are attacking various mutant enclaves throughout the country. They appear to be targeting at-risk communities of mutants similar to our friends like the Morlocks and the Fallen Angels. While we grieve each and every loss of life, it's also important to look at the big picture."
He tapped a few buttons which brought up four faces. A name accompanied each one: Bererra, Yolanda. Goetz, Christian. Olsen, John. Parker, Peter.
"These four lives were snuffed out far too soon, and donations have been made in memoriam that they not be forgotten." He indicated Peter Parker. "This young man evidently had a brief career in fighting crime and was an honors student at Midtown High School. Our friends at the Future Foundation confirmed that he was a junior member of the organization on the fast track toward higher education in the natural sciences. Even though the others didn't have similar achievements yet, they will all be remembered as martyrs."
Pressing more buttons, the pictures faded away and became replaced by a list of names. "These 75 names are all who call the Beat Street Club campus home." Another button shrunk the font size and added nearly another 200 names. "These are the names registered in that city block as of this year's census. No other fatalities. As heart-breaking as it is to know that innocent lives were lost, I urge you, my X-Men, to take a moment and reflect on the hundreds of lives you defended."
Bliss bit back the bile from his words. He's a glass half full type. All she wondered was when the fascists and their Giant killer robots would come back to Beat Street with more and more Government killers until the job was done. Turning the other cheek with these people would only get more killer robots. They needed to do something fast to change the hearts and minds of the people on the fence about mutants. If things stay the way they are now, it was only a matter of time before their species was extinct. We're not talking years, she thought, more like weeks. Chuck was a smart guy. He had to know the writing was on the wall. If they didn't do something right now, it was going to be over damn fast.
Taking in the words, Maeve looked and felt quite solemn about the whole experience. What should have been a positive, helping experience turned into carnage, blood and death. Is this what life was like being part of a team? She hadn't realised how much people feared mutants, not really. She sheltered herself quite a bit whilst living on the streets back in the UK but knew humans only to be quite cruel in general as she fully believe if she hadn't dealt with those men at the docks she'd have been sold into slavery. She had a hard time trusting people so always had an eye on the door and even more so as these giant machine men had appeared again. A blind person could see how this was going, especially given news reports on television. Loss of life was hard to deal with, but when its one of your own it hits harder and she was angry at what had happened.
Aurora sighed at the mention of those lost, but it felt better knowing that the team had saved so many more. Not that she ever wanted to face losing innocent lives like that again.
Hayden wiped a tear from her cheek. She'd seen some of those faces attached to the names. At-risk muta...that was the most horrible thing ever. She hoped there would be more to this summons than a funeral memorial.
Ethan was seething. He had been dealing with anger issues for some time. Traveling to the Savage Lands had exponentially made it worse. The news he'd just heard had triggered him He didn't want to fight the rage, he wanted to embrace it. He just needed to be pointed in the right direction.
After letting that silver lining stand, Xavier went into the hard parts.
"The harsh reality is that we are not at war but rather under persecution. There is a difference between the two, no matter how strongly their appearances may blend together. In a war, you have targets, you have armies, and you have battlefields to achieve victory. What we have now are helpless segments of the population who are under persecution by elements of our government who act under the color of law to execute their criminal conspiracy. We have allies who are seeking redress in the courts, who are conducting investigations to uncover the threads of corruption to wherever they lead, and in the end we have to believe that justice will prevail." He pulled back the four names and faces before he added for dramatic effect, "War is endless because it cannot decide who is right, only who is left. Our only victory condition for the moment is keeping people alive until justice is restored. The future must not belong to those who give in to vengeance, otherwise current events are just a foretaste of how the world will burn for everyone."
Looking back and forth between his X-Men, the Professor shifted gears. "I believe you all know Scott by reputation if not directly. He was my first student and has gone on to create his own organization which is digging into the public faces of the Mutant Registration Act in order to uncover who stands to profit from it. His coming today is why I called you all here, so please give him your full attention."
Scott nodded at Xavier's cue and stood up. "We had a hard night like you all did, so I'll keep this short. The Senator sponsor behind the Mutant Registration Act is a known member of the Friends of Humanity. He recently became a major shareholder in Alchemax, a known research and development firm, so we decided to investigate the facility to see if our suspicions were true." He frowned. "They were. Alchemax is involved in Sentinel production. We found Master Mold's body there. Our best guess was that it was being reverse engineered. We weren't able to get to the bottom of it, however, because we were attacked by... by a new model of Sentinels. It's mutant based. The man who commanded it referred to it as Omega Sentinel, but when we got a good look... it was Warren." Scott corrected himself. "Angel. One of the First Class. Somehow these people got their hands on him and turned him into... into that."
The revelation made Connor gasp. He had barely known Warren, but to imagine anyone somehow being converted into a Sentinel was horrifying.
“So what you’re saying is that they took a mutant and turned them into a mutant killing machine?” Kennedy’s stomach turned at the very idea of being taken and transformed. “And that person was someone you knew… someone you grew up with here and was your friend, yet he was still so hard coded with machinery that he attacked you?” The idea of a body turned machine was bad enough but knowing that the mutant inside had their free will taken away was even worse. “The MRA is government-funded, how is that even legal?”
Scott nodded at first to confirm Kennedy's summary. At her final rhetorical question, he just shrugged. So much remained unknown.
“First they turn people against mutants, cause them to fear us, then they go and create these...new sentinels using mutants!” Aurora gave both Xavier and Scott questioning looks. “How are they getting their hands on mutants in the first place? What stories are they telling to make them cooperate?”
"Maybe not even stories," said Hayden. "Fear is a pretty good motivator." She shuddered to think of what might be used or done to create that kind of fear.
Maeve listened intently. She didn't really know Warren and felt a disconnect with the news. She'd heard of him, sure. Stories filled these halls as much as the dusty books that littered bookcases and it was horrible what happened to him. Maeve felt more fearful for the fact that they could change a mutant into something like that, corrupt their mind and send them after those that were once friends. The feeling around the room was palpable to say the least
"That's just an extension of what they did to me," Ethan opined, his claws descended. "We need to put a stop to it, or it's only going to get worse."
Connor nodded in agreement with Ethan's point. "THE FACTS TELL US THAT IS TRUE."
"The worst part..." The next part was hard to say but it was why Scott had come in person. "... was that he nearly killed Bobby, then absconded with Mara Ricci, our technical advisor. We took pursuit and lost them." Scott paused for a moment, steeling himself for the rest. "Bobby remains in critical condition at the Baxter Building. We have no leads on Warren or Mara. All we can hope is to continue pulling at the knot and hoping another lead presents itself." With no more words, Scott sat back down.
Kennedy went pale when Scott mentioned how badly Bobby had been hurt. She had to admit that the words ‘critical condition’ hit her harder than she had expected and a few sharp pangs of regret moved through her. She had parted on bad terms with Bobby, her and Jace’s fight with him was the last encounter he had had with anyone at the mansion. Kennedy decided that she would apologize to Bobby and maybe tell him a few other things the next time she saw him if she got to see him again. That thought, of critical condition being something worse, made her lower lip quiver. Not wanting to make a spectacle of herself, Kennedy bowed her head and examined her feet as everyone else continued to talk.
“Not Bobby!?” Aurora looked horrified at the mention of her friend being in a critical condition. “He can’t die, he just can’t.”
Iris could only stare, wide-eyed. Bobby was her friend and she cared for him. She was horrified to learn that he was on death’s doorstep.
The full berth of the news shook Connor to his core. He had known Warren, if only at a distance. Mara seemed nice. And Bobby being struck down by one of their own. It was all shocking.
Shock and horror filled Hank at once. They had Mara? No! No, they couldn’t! Almost at once, the horror was replaced with rage—partly because he had put off revealing his feelings for her for too long, but mostly because someone had kidnapped her and were doing heaven only knew what to her. “WHAT?!?!” he roared when he had found his voice. “They took Mara?”
"He did," Scott said, his tone getting a little heated. "He took Mara. Or did you not hear that part, Hank? Let me say it again: our friend Warren has been turned into some kind of mutant-Sentinel hybrid and almost killed our other friend Bobby before he took Mara. What is—"
~Scott...~ The Professor's voice interjected inside Scott's mind. ~Think before you speak next~
Scott shook his head, clamping his mouth shut before he said anything else.
“You say that as if he acted alone!” Hank bellowed back. “You and I and everyone in this room know full well that he was simply carrying out orders. He didn’t think of taking her on his own.”
Scott jumped to his feet. "I say that as in you are so star-struck with your unrequited puppy love that you haven't given a damn about anything or anyone else! Listen to yourself! All you care about is the fact she was taken. The Hank I know would be theorizing a dozen different answers to all the questions we haven't thought to ask yet. Instead we have this." Scott threw his hand up in the air like he was tossing his words to the wind. "Get your head on straight, Hank. Your friends need you. People other than Mara need you."
Bliss stood up in shock at the audacity of Summers. She sputtered before her voice gained traction.
"Hypocrite." With that, she stalked out of the gathering, the confidence in her leaders shaken to the core.
Hank’s blue face turned an interesting shade of purple as he opened his mouth to shout something incredibly nasty back at Scott, but luckily, someone interrupted him or it might have meant irreparable damage to their friendship.
“Hank...” Aurora looked towards McCoy. “We’ll help you get Mara back, you know we will.” She paused as she had an idea. “Professor, what about Cerebro? Can we find Mara that way?” She hated to say it but she had to. “Mara is a....technopath right? They could use her to get into any machinery, any computer, anywhere! Just think what they could do with that!”
“I shall endeavor to stop neglecting my duties and be more focused," Hank said added, directly addressing his friend. “Excuse me, I believe I have worn out of my welcome." He lumbered out of the room on all fours as fast his his limbs could carry him.
Scott just stared at Hank as he left, his ruby-quartz glasses doing nothing to obstruct his measuring stare and the fact he found Hank wanting in that moment.
"It's too terrible to contemplate what someone capable of turning our beloved Warren into this Omega Sentinel might do with Mara," the Professor agreed at length, hoping to put that outburst behind them. "Unfortunately I do not know that Cerebro will be of any direct assistance. The reason Scott is here by himself is because Jean suffered a terrible setback when she attempted to touch Warren's mind. Whatever has happened to him has affected his neurology to the point where telepathy is not just useless but even dangerous to the telepath."
Shrinking a little in her seat, the shouting made her feel uneasy. It almost reminded her of the fighting between people in homeless shelters, or outside setups when she was back in England. That and seeing two who would call each other a friend go at it in such a fierce manner did give her pause. She liked Mara, she was kind to her when she arrived at the mansion and she would do all she could to help find her if asked.
Finally, Iris spoke up. “Can… can we visit Bobby?” she asked. “I mean, you know, when he’s stable enough.”
"Yes, of course," Scott said. "You are all welcome to visit our place at any time." He glanced at the door again, his thoughts clearly on Hank at the moment rather than Bobby.
Connor spoke up. "WE NEED TO BEGIN STRATEGIZING." He looked at the Professor as he continued the hand signs that his speech-generating device vocalized. "I KNOW YOU SAID NOT TO SURRENDER TO VENGEANCE, PROFESSOR, BUT WE SHOULD NOT SURRENDER TO DEFEAT EITHER. PLAYING DEFENSE WILL ONLY PROLONG OUR INEVITABLE DEFEAT. THERE MUST BE A WAY TO GET AHEAD OF THESE PEOPLE AND UNDERMINE THEM INSTEAD OF THE OTHER WAY AROUND."
"You are not wrong, Connor," said the Professor. "These revelations have narrowed the field considerably, which does allow for the War Room computer to begin a parsing and compilation search through known databases. If you would stay behind after we've concluded here, I would appreciate the assistance with the input and execution."
"YES, PROFESSOR." Having a task at hand perked Connor's spirits a bit, enough that he ignored the latent hostility in the room. "WHATEVER IT TAKES."
"Before we get to that, however, there is one point of order I wish to raise." Professor Xavier turned to Hayden and smiled. "Our own Hayden responded to the unexpected crisis with great aplomb and took action at risk to herself to save many of the young Fallen Angels. I am told she even dispatched a Sentinel. For valor, courage, and clear aptitude for crisis response and intervention, I have decided to invite her to the team and become part of the X-Men." His smile widened. "That is, if she is interested."
"Oh, I um, wow. I don't know what to say. I was just getting kids out of the way like I was told. It all happened so fast...I..." Hayden let that statement hang there while she collected her scattered and surprised thoughts. "I mean, yes Professor, it'd be an honor. Thank you, sir."
"Then in honor of the greatest of the Oceanids, mythical daughters of the rivers and seas, I give you the codename Calypso, 'She Who Conceals,' just as you concealed the defenseless from that which would bring them harm." Professor Xavier beamed at the young lady whose time had finally come.
Maeve gave Hayden a little elbow nudge and a smile. "Congratulations." she said to her new found friend. Maeve had already been asked to be part of the X-Men but truthfully she hadn't really 'met the team' yet. She was still finding her own feet.
"YOU ALREADY DID GREAT," Connor signed at Hayden, "SO KEEP DOING IT OVER AND OVER AGAIN." He smiled at her as if that was a grand compliment.
Hayden smiled. "Thanks, Connor. I'll try my best. And thank you, Professor. Calypso...I like it."
Calypso's announcement actually emboldened Levi to make one of his own.
"Hey, uh, I've got something to say." He nervously stood up and looked around the table. "This place has been good to me, like a home I haven't had since the monastery. But... I just can't. This isn't who I want to be. Waiting around for the next thing to happen? No... I need to be free."
Levi paused to look at Ethan for a moment, knowing what had been growing between them may never be. "But I have to go. The Savage Land was dangerous as hell, but when I was there... I never felt more alive. And they need help too. I think I could find my place there, make a difference, be at peace."
"I'm sorry to hear that, Levi." Professor Xavier looked glum but not surprised. Nobody had quite been themselves after the Savage Land. "You will always find welcome here should you choose to return."
After looking around at the table, Levi said, "I'm sorry." With nothing more to say, he picked up his duffel bag and levitated out of the room, not wanting to face any more disappointed looks.
"GOODBYE, LEVI," Connor said. People's departures felt differently from the position of being responsible for them. Was this was Scott tended to be so serious all the time? Even under the best of circumstances, it still stung a little.
Ethan didn't want to let Levi go. He liked the other boy and knew the other boy liked him. They were friends, or at least they had started to become friends. He of course wanted more than mere friendship and thought that might have been more than friendship in the future. But, he would never know.
Retracting his claws, Ethan approached Levi and gave him a long hug.
Patting Ethan on the shoulder, Levi gave him one last nod before he carried himself away in a wind before he could change his mind.
"Well, I suppose that is almost everything with which I wanted to brief the team," the Professor said. "Although I do want everybody to clear their schedules. In the coming week or two, there will be a mass demonstration at the Lincoln Memorial in the nation's capital. Permits are being filed as we speak in order to keep it legal, but there will almost definitely be a counter-protest by anti-mutant elements, so I have pledged the X-Men's presence to keep the peace."
"ARE YOU WORRIED ABOUT MAGNETO AND THE BROTHERHOOD?" Connor asked.
"No," the Professor replied with a shake of his headl. "Erik has been uncharacteristically silent in the past weeks. Whatever is transpiring on Asteroid M, it has his full attention. There can be no other reason for his lack of a response to current events. But in that I see an opportunity for a peaceful outcome for the civil demonstration."
Connor nodded. That would be just one more thing on his plate.
"I will update all of you as soon as I know more details." The Professor smiled at them. "Until then... keep your chins up. This is not the end. It's the end of the beginning. Now if Connor and I may have the room, we will begin programming the computer search to identify more leads. Be well, my X-Men."
