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JAN 09 |
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“Hope Springs”
Nathan Dayspring Summers, known to most as Cable, sat in meditation in the small womb-like chamber just off his quarters. More accurately he hovered about a foot off the floor, held aloft by the massive telekinetic power he possessed. Nathan enjoyed taking time to relax and clear his mind. When Charles had asked him to return to the X-Men as a teacher in Snow Valley, Massachucetts, one of Nathan’s first tasks was to create this room, which was built specifically to deafen or even mute the thoughts of beings outside it. It was a small measure of peace that Nathan had always desired but never taken the time for.
Having a mission, a purpose such as his, had left him little time to anyways. As the destined ‘Ask’ani’son’ Nathan had been trained practically from infancy to save the world from the evil of the being known as En Sabbah Nur: Apocalypse. The two beings had fought all of his life, including the time that he had traveled into the far past, an era he discovered was the time that Apocalype had been born. Cable grinned to himself as he thought of his past. Most people would get a headache even considering it. Today marked two and a half years from the day that he had finally destroyed Apocalypse. Even his closest friends and confidants knew not to disturb him today. All but one.
She was one of two minds that his specially made chamber could not filter out as their bond was much too strong. The moment she drew close to entering his room, he extended his feet and left his meditative trance. His sister Rachel was waiting.
The door of his chamber slid open as Nathan approached it, also thanks to his telekinesis. Rachel had sat on his bed, her posture revealing tension and anxiety. For Cable, learning body language was more important than any other quality he had learned as a leader. Knowing how to read his friends and his enemies meant less effort intruding on their thoughts. Rachel looked up at him and grinned and Nathan grinned in return.
“Welcome back!” he exclaimed, holding his arms out wide. She leapt up and the siblings embraced. “How was England?”
“Gorgeous,” she replied. “I always forget how much I miss it until I go back.”
Nathan pulled back and smiled. “I know the feeling,” he said. “And your mission?”
Rachel rolled her eyes and sighed. “I wish you wouldn’t call recruiting trips ‘missions’, Nate,” she said. “It makes them feel all…soldier-y.”
“I’m sorry,” he said. “How did you ‘recruiting trip’ go?”
She shrugged. “Okay, I guess,” she said. “The kid was actually American, Amilynn Johanson, an Army brat living on base with her mom. Her dad was away in Turkey or some crap like that.”
“Were her powers…”
“You had it on the mark, Nate,” she said. “Chronal manipulator. A stopwatch.”
“Dangerous power for a kid to have unsupervised,” Cable whistled. “What did her mom say?”
“You’ll have to talk to her father,” Rachel said in an imitative voice. “He makes all the big decisions around here, and this just sounds expensive.”
Cable rolled his eyes. “Again with the expensive,” he grunted. “Do people not realize that X-Corps is a not-for-profit or what?”
“Nope, guess not. I imagine Warren Worthington funding the organization means nothing to them.”
“Not to mention donations from the Maria Stark Foundation and the Fantastic Four,” Cable added.
“You don’t need to remind me,” Rachel grunted. “I guess we’re going back in a couple weeks when Colonel Johanson is back.”
“I’ll go,” Cable said. “I may be future military, but I’m still a military man. We’ll have common ground.”
Rachel grinned, exclaiming, “Great!”
“So how did it go with Jono?” Cable asked. “Did the noob do well?”
Rachel’s voice broke into a nervous grin. “Well… about that…”
“Cable’s going to sodding kill me,” Jonothon Starsmore said. Sam Guthrie looked up from the engine of one of the campus’s Cherokees and grinned at his young protégé who sat on the floor next to him. Jono had dated his sister for a long time but he and Paige had parted ways some time ago. But he and Sam had grown close since then, but Jono had been awkward about his love life for some time with Sam. For his part, Sam kind of enjoyed seeing the young Briton squirm.
“So, she helps you use your powers to regenerate your face--”
“Over the course of several months,” Jono added.
“--over an extended period of time,” Sam nodded. “And then you two go on a recruiting trip to England and you…”
“Shag her,” Jono grunted, then moaned. “Cable is going to sodding kill me!”
Sam tried not to laugh at his friend.; the pathos of the situation was borderline hilarious. “Ah don’t think he’ll kill you,” Sam began, “but there may be a couple tense sparring sessions once the semester starts.”
Jono looked up at Sam with an expression bordering on desperation. “What do I do, mate?”
Sam grinned and leaned back under the hood. “Let him kick your ass. Used to work back with X-Force.”
A melodic laugh filled the air and Jono turned to see Dani Moonstar standing at the door of the garage.
“You think it’s funny gel?” Jono grunted. “If it were you, what would you do?”
Dani smiled and crossed the room to them. “I’d let Cable kick my ass.” She smirked and leaned against the Jeep. “Of course, that’s only from my limited experience with the man.” Dani winked at Sam and the duo chuckled.
Jono rolled his eyes. “Bloody hell,” he grumbled. “Maybe I’ll go talk to Logan. He’ll be more sympathetic.” He stormed away, glancing back to glare at Sam and Dani a couple times.
“Ah don’t think that’s very likely!” Sam called after him, but Jono simply ignored him. Sam and Dani looked at each other and shrugged.
“Think Cable will even care?” she asked.
“Not likely,” Sam said. “Rachel’s a big girl and he’s from a future where kids were forced to be adults from the womb.” He leaned back in and tightened a single bolt. “He won’t even bat an eyelid…except maybe to make Jono a little uncomfortable.”
Dani nodded. “Agreed.”
“Do me a favor, Dani,” he said, gesturing with his chin, “start ‘er up.” She nodded and slipped around to the driver’s side, opened the door and leaned in to the ignition and turned the key. The Jeep sputtered for a moment, then sprung to life. Sam grinned and began wiping his hands on a wet rag that had been hanging out of his pocket before he removed the prop rod from the hood and let it drop.
“Perfect,” he said. “Let it run for a minute.” Dani nodded and moved out of the driver’s side and back over to Sam. “What’s up with Miz Moonstar?”
“‘Berto is up from the city tonight,” she said, smiling. “He’s here for a tactical briefing on the Inner Circle and called me about dinner a little while ago. Are you up for it?”
“He wasn’t asking you out on a date, was he?” Sam asked, concerned about being a third wheel.
“Heavens no!” Dani exclaimed. “You in? Seven-ish?”
“A pack of wild wolves couldn’t keep me away,” Sam chuckled. “I’ll see you here around seven.”
“Sounds good to me, Kentucky,” she said. Dani turned and headed out of the garage, a slight grin on her face.
Logan sat at the far end of the conference room sipping the remnants of a beer from the bottle held between his fingers. He had promised Storm to keep alcohol off campus after the semester started in the morning, which meant finishing the remaining longnecks he’d left in the kitchen’s industrial cooler. He set the bottle down on the table, then set his feet next it and leaned back.
Ororo Munroe glanced at him for a moment with a slight glare then turned back to the duo that sat across from herself, Rogue and Cable: Roberto DaCosta and Karima Shapandar. Logan burped softly and Rogue suppressed a chuckle.
“‘Scuse me,” he grunted. “Go on.”
“Like I was saying, right now things are all quiet in the Inner Circle,” Roberto said. “Shaw keeps repeating over and over that it’s a new time of peace and prosperity for the Hellfire Club.”
“Which always screams that there’s something else going on,” Rogue stated.
“Indeed,” Ororo affirmed. “Do you have your suspicions, Roberto?”
“There’s something out there called Project Glimmer,” he replied. “It’s supposedly an instantaneous transport system.”
“Teleportation,” Cable grunted. “You heard how it works yet?”
“Only that it involves wormholes or portals or some crap like that.”
“I was also able to find several large transactions out of Shaw’s personal accounts,” Karima spoke up. The group glanced at her curiously; the former Prime Sentinel was a unique ally. The ‘lost love’ of the former X-Man Neal Sharra, she was the only Prime Sentinel that had somehow overridden its programming and more or less restored it’s humanity. She came to the X-Men shortly thereafter, offering her experience as a detective using her nanite enhanced powers.
“What type?” Logan growled.
“Large cash sums to a ‘Nova Corpoation,’” she said. “I’m currently working to find out more.”
Cable glanced at Roberto with a wink. “Told you she’d be handy,” he said and Sunspot just shrugged. Cable simply smiled at his former protégé.
A voice suddenly echoed in the heads of assembled group. Hey guys, sorry to interrupt, Rachel broadcast, but I need a team right now. We have a young’un out of control close by.
Cable stood, snapping into motion with a practiced ease. “On it,” he said.
Not this time, Rachel replied. This kid is emitting massive EM pulses with each use of his powers.
“Nuclear energy?” Storm asked.
Not quite, Rachel said. Massive plasma pulses.
“Take Theresa, Kurt, Sam and Jono,” Storm said. “The four of us will wait on standby.”
“Keep in touch, Rachel,” Nathan said.
Will do.
Theresa Rourke Cassidy screamed. For Syrin, screaming was seldom an expression of terror or panic like it was for so many others. For her, the scream was a manifestation of her power, the same power she shared with her father, which was an ear piercing sonic scream.
In this instance, Theresa screamed to suppress a fire threatening a set of homes on the outskirts of Springfield, Massachusetts. Springfield seemed to be a pretty town, but that was far from Terri’s biggest concern. A familiar sound exploded behind her and suddenly she found herself someplace else entirely. She gasped and collapsed.
“Apologies, Schöne,” Nightcrawler said. “A moment’s hesitation probably would have cost us both dearly.”
Terri turned and nodded, struggling to regain her bearings. “Don’t worry,” she said. “I’m going to throw up now, though.” She bent over and promptly emptied her stomach. Kurt turned away out of courtesy.
“She okay?” Chamber called from across the street, where he stood with an older couple he had just helped out of their home.
“Da,” he said as he teleported across the street to Jono’s side where he assisted the youth’s two charges. “Just disoriented.”
“Got it,” Chamber replied. “Do you have them, Elf? I need to help Rachel.”
“Go,” he said. “I will handle things here and Sam and Terri will be with me shortly.” Jono nodded and broke into a run towards the telekinetic bubble around Rachel Summers.
A blast of energy splashed over the field, causing her to flinch. “Where’s Sam?” she asked, the strain clear in her voice.
“Still working on evac.” Jono looked around then back at Rachel. “I need you to shield me.”
“Jono?”
“Rachel, trust me!” Jono stepped away from Rachel and began marching forward against the plasma fire towards a bright ball of pure energy. A burst of energy splashed across the shield she hastily erected, straining it and her both, but Rachel’s TK shield held.
I hope you know what you’re doing, Rachel’s voice whispered in his head.
I do, luv, he replied. I was like this once. Jono took another tentative step forward and the form of a young woman appeared in the middle of the fireball. He scanned the young woman’s mind, sifting through the panic to find the basic details about the girl.
Paula? Jono projected.
Who is this? Why are you in my head?! How do you know my name?
Paula, my name is Jono and I’m a mutant, just like you. In fact, my powers are almost exactly like yours.
I’m not a mutant. I’m a freak! I’m a monster!
No, gel, you’re not. Don’t think that. Who taught you that?
My dad. My dad hates mutants. Mutants are freaks. They’re dirt. I’m dirt.
Is that what he taught you?
…
Paula.
Yes. Yes, it is. I’m dirt. He’s right. I’m dirt.
No, Paula, he’s wrong. You’re a special person and I’m here to ensure that you learn that and that you learn to control your gift. Paula, gel, I need you to calm down. Please.
Jono felt a hand on his shoulder.
“She’s calming down,” Rachel whispered. “You opened her mind up and I’m helping the process. Good job.”
“Picked it all up from you,” he replied quietly.
Are you still there Jono?
Yeah. Just calm down, Paula. The X-Men are here to help.
The foyer of the Massachusetts Academy’s main building was pure chaos the following morning. Nearly sixty young mutants all wanted to know where to go at once. Eight X-Men stood among them, trying their best to direct the youths.
“You’re in room 235?” Rogue said. “Okay, that’s the second floor of the girls’ dorm, which is that way.” She pointed towards the dorm and the young Asian girl nodded and followed her directions.
Sam Guthrie rubbed sleep from his eyes and looked at the blonde youth in front of him. “Look, young man,” he said, “you have a private bedroom and you’re only sharing the bathroom with two others. I don’t see your problem.”
“I’ve always had my own bathroom,” he whined.
“Tough,” Sam growled. “Welcome to Xavier’s.”
Theresa licked her lips and frowned at the Gothic girl she was talking to. “You’ll have to talk to Professor Xavier about painting your room black.”
“I wouldn’t paint it,” the girl replied. “I can change it with my powers.”
“Whatever,” Theresa sighed. “It’s still his house.”
Logan looked up at the large youth standing before him. “Yeah bub, we have an excellent gym.”
“No,” Kurt muttered, “your motorcycle will have to remain in the garage. You can’t have it in your bedroom. I am sorry.”
“Look,” Rachel said, “I understand that having extra limbs makes most clothing uncomfortable, but you can’t walk around the campus nude. We have a dress code.”
“What’s th’ significance of all yer body fluids bein’ acidic?” Chamber asked.
“I pee pure hydrochloric acid,” the redheaded girl said. “That melts most toilets.”
“Uuuuuh...” Chamber looked back at the other X-Men. “You better talk t’ th’ professor about that one.”
“Yes, I am seeing someone,” Theresa grumbled, “and I’m twenty five years old, which makes me about nine years older than you kiddo. Not a chance.”
Storm, Cable and Xavier watched from near the rear of the foyer. Charles had his eyes closed, listening to the telepathic chatter in the room while his two headmasters merely watched. Xavier chuckled softly.
“Something humorous?” Ororo asked.
“Just the thoughts of teenagers,” he replied, “and the fact that I may have to have all of the bathroom fixtures changed.”
“Hmmm...” she mumbled in response.
“Mixed bag, isn’t it?” he asked.
“Definitely,” Cable replied. “Probably the most so that we’ve ever taught.”
“This is the largest group of mutants we’ve ever assembled, thanks to X-Corps International,” he pointed out. “It is only natural in such a large group. It will be a completely new ordeal for each of us. I’m excited.”
“Naturally,” Storm replied.
Charles reached down to his briefcase sitting next to him, picked it up and set it on his lap. He opened it and extracted a file folder.
“Ororo, I have something I need you to do.” She turned back to him. “Once everything is settled down here, take Logan and Theresa. I’ve located a pair of endangered mutants in South America. My intelligence shows that the children’s mother and step-father were killed and they are currently on the run in the jungle near their home. I’m afraid the attack has all the earmarks of Weapon X.”
“Goddess,” Storm muttered. She took the file and thanked Charles.
“And Ororo,” he said, “be careful. Logan has a personal interest in these children.”
“What is that?” she asked.
“They are his.”
“Shaw, I need you to tell me where we’re going,” Roberto DaCosta declared.
Sebastian Shaw looked over his shoulder, grinned and continued down the narrow and crudely carved tunnel. “You’ve been asking about Project Glimmer,” he replied. “It’s time you know about it, to know the truth about Glimmer.”
Roberto glanced over his shoulder at Karima but she simply raised an eyebrow in reply. “How much further then?” he asked.
“Just another few yards,” Shaw replied. “Not far.”
The trio continued on in silence for several more moments until Shaw came to a stop. He turned to a door set into the rock and opened the door, then Shaw led them into a cavernous room. Small arches stood around the room, each guarded by soldiers in blue armor and white masks: the standard uniform of the Inner Circle’s rent-a-cops.
Portals appeared in the different arches, each with a distinctive sound that Roberto couldn’t compare to anything else. Shaw led them through the room, avoiding Inner Circle troopers transporting pallets of goods. Finally, they reached another door where Shaw stopped, turned to them, and placed his hand on the doorknob.
“Roberto, Karima,” he said, “meet the secret of Project Glimmer.”
He pushed the door open. Inside, there was a complex monitor in front of a chair that was practically womb-like. Inside sat a lavender skinned girl, several IV’s plugged into her arms with various colors of fluids flowing into her. Her eyes raced back and forth rapidly.
“This is Clarice Ferguson,” Shaw said. “She calls herself Blink.”
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To Be Continued...
Next: In Uncanny X-Men #2: Wolverine, Storm and Siryn travel to South America to find the pair of youth that may be the children of Wolverine, while the rest of the team comes face to face with the Hellfire Club over Project Glimmer and the young woman at the center of it all.
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