Warren's Return - Part 5

Posted on Mon Dec 23rd, 2024 @ 12:37am by Pietro Maximoff & Bobby Drake

1,419 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: Episode 5: Days of Fortune Past
Location: Baxter Building
Timeline: November 18, 1990

Pietro came back from the bakery with dessert for tonight’s dinner and was surprised to see that Bobby’s apartment door was left wide open. The beeping 8-bit sounds of his video game travel3e down the hall. Quicksilver couldn’t help but roll his eyes at the situation. Bobby did this anytime he wanted to talk but was too scared to say anything. It was his own little plea for help with whatever was bothering him.

“Hey, Bobby,” Pietro said while entering his apartment and placing the cake box down on the very cluttered and messy kitchen counter. “What are you playing?”

“Wassup, Pietro,” Bobby said without looking away from the screen and as if he hadn’t passively invited his former adversary and newfound gaming buddy into his apartment. “It’s a new wrestling game, WWF Wrestlemania Challenge.” He kicked the player two controller across the floor, though it only slid a few feet before the cord stopped it short. “It’s 2-player…”

“Yeah, yeah.” Pietro said in acknowledgment of what was being offered to him. “Move over on the couch for me.”

Pietro sat down and joined in and selected the first wrestler that was offered. He knew nothing about the sport, if you could even call it that. “How’s Warren? He seemed pretty pissed off with Scott.” He tried not to grin too much while asking this question but being able to witness X-Men discourse firsthand was kind of awesome and hilarious.

“He’s always like that…” Bobby cut short when he saw Pietro’s character selection. “André the Giant?! Lame…” He gave a smirk and quickly changed his own selection. “Hacksaw it is.”

The game booted up and lagged for a moment before it set up their match. Pietro controlled the giant while Bobby’s character held a 2x4 plank. “Eat wood, sucker!” cried Bobby as he mashed the attack button.

On the screen, Hacksaw Jim Duggan swung his plank at André the Giant, landing hit after hit.

“Maybe next time I’ll get Scott and Warren in here to square up in a way that doesn’t put holes in the walls,” Bobby quipped. Why wouldn’t everyone want to sit down and game their problems away?

“I had no idea…” Pietro angrily smashed buttons but his attacks here lackluster “Whenever I saw you guys before there wasn’t any indication that they hated each other like that. You guys always seem so… I dunno, together?”

Bobby snorted at that. “Yeah, I could say the same for you and the Brotherhood. Guess things aren’t always what they seem.”

Some Pietro’s character sprite slipped the swinging plank and managed to land a hit. The giant delivered a devastating headbutt on Bobby’s character, sending him to the mat. “Hey, no fair!”

“I don’t even know what I did,” Pietro chortled as he appeared pleased with himself. “The Brotherhood is all about dominance and control. Remind everyone of your place and their place and do what’s necessary to succeed.”

Pietro went back to mashing buttons at random in hopes of recreating what he had once done. “But the way that fight ended, you guys actually care about each other. Hell, we’re all eating dinner together like some happy family. If I fought like that with Maestro… it would have ended with one of us not being able to stand up again.”

The mention of Maestro made Bobby visibly bristle. “He deserves worse,” Bobby said with an icy tone. Niagara Falls had been a couple months ago but he could still remember what Maestro had done. The feel of burning napalm was not easily forgotten, and it had covered Bobby’s entire body. Whether Maestro had intended to kill him or just scar him for life didn’t matter. It was a calculated move thought up by a sick individual. “And I got a lifetime ban from Asteroid M for trying to give it to him.”

Pietro laughed at that revelation. “You’re not missing out on that much.” He took advantage of Bobby’s distraction and attempted to recreate the knockout move he had executed before. “It’s like living in a tiny town where you know everyone and nothing is happening.”

“Your dad sure thought it was a big deal,” Bobby said. “Fuck!” Pietro’s character went for a pinfall and he mashed his buttons to break out of it. After sufficient button mashing, the 8-bit sprite of André the Giant sank into the mat up to his knees in order to put him eye to eye with Bobby’s character. Hacksaw Jim Duggan’s hand took the giant by the throat, lifted him up, and chokeslammed him to the mat. “No way!” Bobby let out cheer. “Suck on that!”

After a mischievous chipmunk giggle, Bobby finished his story. “He shoved us in a big garbage chute and dropped us back to Earth. Something about I violated his sanctuary even though Maestro totally started it. Douchebags like them deserve each other.”

“Yeah, I guess so…” Pietro said with a shrug as he became somber. “When I first went up there I believed everything my father said and I was willing to die for his cause. As time went by things changed and I saw the flaws in a lot of what he asked us to do or what he didn’t do, in the end it just felt like Wanda was the only person I could trust.” Pietro set down the controller, not really interested in playing anymore.

“She’s a tough bi-uh-person…” Bobby caught himself and course corrected as fast as he could, hoping Pietro wouldn’t notice. “If anybody can take care of herself, it’s your twin sister. She always spooked the hell out of me.” Hoping to continue changing the subject, Bobby asked the first question that came to mind. “So where did Scarlet Witch come from? Who came up with that?”

Pietro’s face soured at Bobby’s inappropriate words, and he suddenly remembered why it was so hard to talk to Bobby. In these moments, he really was just a loudmouth child. “She burned down a village when she was still figuring out her mutant powers, it was an accident. They called her that in fear, then she kind of embraced it when we were in the circus.”

Pietro stood up and began to head back towards the kitchen. “Look, Bobby, I came in here ‘cause I thought you wanted to talk about something but I don’t know what you want from me. I’ll see you at dinner.”

“Hey, wait…” Bobby put down the controller and stood up to keep at eye level with Pietro. “I was thinking… we did a good job tracking down all the Inner Circle stuff. The Hellfire Club is going down and good riddance. But the MRA is only suspended. X-Factor has a lot to do there and…” Bobby rubbed the back of his neck. “So I was thinking, the Hellfire Club manipulated the whole thing, and what started it off was Robert Kelly’s assassination. That’s on the backburner because everybody thinks it was your old man, but I saw him on the night of the assassination. He looked bad. You know as well as I do he doesn’t use guns and couldn’t aim one if he did. So… who did it?”

“That’s a good question.” Bobby’s proposal piqued Pietro’s interest and his sharp gaze became contemplative but neutral. “I’m not really interested in getting in Magneto’s good graces but the principle of the matter is important and another link to Hellfire Club it’s not surprising or outrageous.”

Once it was out there, Bobby paused a second to gauge Pietro’s reaction which was not immediately readable, so he kept going. “I just figure it might be an important piece of the puzzle and nobody else is making it a priority. If we did… then it would help the cause and maybe make things better for mutants everywhere.”

“You want us to work together in solving the mystery of who shot Senator Kelly?” He smirked a little at the idea, “Aren’t we just a regular Scooby Squad. Alright, let’s do it. Let’s find that missing piece and see who it’s really connected to.”

TBC

RSS Feed