Summary:
Years before the foreseen course of events were set to take place, The Ancient One stumbled upon an anomaly. A single unforeseen change has far reaching consequences. The MCU saga revisited with the inclusion of a new player, mutants become part of the MCU - facing new challenges and rediscovering old faces.
Chapter 1: Mutants, Magicians, and Megalomaniacs
Kamar-Taj, 2000
The Ancient One entered her chambers, her mood restless. She saw no reason why, all seemed to be progressing as known, yet something felt askew. It would be easy to ignore the sensation, but her centuries long experience advised her to pay greater attention. However, The Ancient One saw no reason to fret – all would be revealed in time.
Tea. Tea would help to soother her for the time being. "Master Nehru, some tea please. And I wouldn't say no to a generous helping of honey either." The Ancient One quietly requested her attending master.
The elderly man silently carried on with his task with ritual precision, brewing the tea as he had done countless times over decades. No deviations, no mistakes. Only the clinking of ceramic, the burbling of water, and the tea sat once more in front of The Ancient One.
With a small smile curving her usually placid face, she reached for her cup and took the first sip. Her smile fell instantly; the tea was… different. Something was wrong, something had shifted.
Before The Ancient One could contemplate further, a green robed master suddenly burst through the door. "Master! The Hong Kong sanctum has called an emergency! It's Mephisto!"
The Ancient One, followed by a team of masters, rushed through the narrow halls of a dilapidated Hong Kong apartment block. The sorcerers flared their mandalas as they arrived at the door of their target. Two masters raised their mandala shields as a third master fired a mystic bolt - destroying the door. Immediately the fetid stench of roasting human flesh and sulphur assaulted them.
Without waiting for the rest of them The Ancient One raced into the only room displaying signs of life - if the sounds of wet squelching and agonized screams counted.
"You're far too late sorcerer. I have already had my fill of fun!" The hulking red figure met The Ancient One with a malevolent grin splitting his face. A mouth full of fangs and eyes alight with self-satisfaction. Mephistopheles, the Devil himself, released the final carcass from his hands. With a meaty thud the corpse spattered blood on the Demon's feet and on the torso and face of the last remaining person in the room - a small boy chained naked to the floor beside Mephisto's leg.
In an instant magic circles flared bright as whips, ropes, and chains of different colours suddenly bound the large red demon. The Ancient One struck hard with her fist, shattering reality and space between Mephisto and the child, with another wave of her hand she twisted and reformed every physical surface moving the young boy out of reach.
"That's cute baldy, but there's no need to worry, the boy will live - for now anyway." Mephisto continued within amused cackle.
"I really thought the previous occasion would've been the last time we encountered one another, but now I fear a lot else will change. Now, why don't you tell me why you're here so that I may promptly send you back to hell." The Ancient One quipped back, she relaxed and smiled once she sensed that his summoning afforded nowhere near his usual level of power.
The Devil sighed in disappointment "You know; I do so despise it when amateurs decide to play above their league. I mean seriously? Mixing up who gets sacrificed and who gets rewarded? I guess that goes to show why these idiots are dead and that insect is still alive. Well I better make do on my promise - Devils got to do what a Devils got to do – I have a reputation to maintain after all." With a mighty lurch Mephisto snapped the bands on his right arm, pierced through the crack in space, and dragged the boy to his original position, and finally his thick black fingernail pierced the boys heart. The Ancient One taking no more risks clenched her hand into a fist, and with a thunderous roar the Devil was banished back to his realm in a fit of laughter.
The ancient sorceress ordered the rest of the masters to secure the scene as she made her way to the downed young boy. He was still alive - still conscious, he grunted in pain as the wound over his heart healed rapidly leaving only a dark round scar. She reached over and helped him up on his feet while conjuring a set of robes on him. Taking the boy by his shoulders, she allowed him to calm down and give her his attention. With a gentle smile to reassure him she asked "Hello little one, could you please help me? Could you tell me what happened here and who you are?"
"I'm Sena, I'm six. My mommy had invited friends over, but when everyone came she said they were missing someone. She said that this friend will only come if we give him a special gift, she said I was the gift." The young boy stated queitly, his voice steadily rising in volume as his confidence grew.
"I see. Was that big red man the special friend? Where is your mother?" The Ancient One continued to probe, her gentle smile refusing to leave her face so as to keep the boy calm. Sena pointed behind her to the decapitated head of a seemingly South Asian woman – a terrified expression forevermore marring her face.
The Ancient One turned back to the boy and studied him. Light brown almost tan skin under the streaks of fresh blood, messy black hair and distinctly Eurasian facial features. His eyes were glued to his mother's head; losing focus, his lip had begun to quiver as the rest of him began minutely shaking. She took a hold of his cheek and once more regained his attention. "Tell me Sena, why were you the gift? What makes you special?"
Sena focused on the lady, she was bald but she was nice, even nicer than mommy. She hadn't even shouted at him yet, not to mention hitting! And she could also do cool things with her hands, almost like magic. So he decided to answer all her questions, even though he was feeling really tired right now. "I can do things, things that other people can't. When I eat stuff, I change. Sometimes I become stronger, sometimes I can make more of the stuff I ate. My mum used to feed me shiny things. One time I ate her ring, all my nails and hair turned golden - so she took it all. It hurt when she did that. When my nails and hair grew back, she made me do it again. Hey! How did you do all those cool things? You made the red man go away and even made me clothes!"
Master Wong approached them "Master we have cleared the area of any signs of the mystic arts. The bodies we will leave for the local authorities. I am unable to understand the full situation; could you have any insight?"
"Cultists. Demon worshipping zealots performing a sacrificial ritual using this child - the son of the corpse behind me, and I suspect one of the other owners of the various strewn limbs. Unfortunately for them, they succeeded in summoning Mephistopheles who decided to switch the terms of sacrifice and reward." She answered the young Chinese master.
Turning back to the child in her hands "And to answer your question, what I performed here were the mystic arts, you may know it as magic. I could teach you if you come with me, would you like to learn?" The Ancient One had few doubts he would accept; magic was always an alluring draw. She needed to find out more about this child, his powers, whatever Mephisto had done to him, and how it all affected the future. For one thing was certain, this event caused the shift. She needed to know more.
The Eye of Agamotto had laid untouched for an age, it seemed it was once more time to seek its guidance.
After the boy inevitably acquiesced, she took the tiny hand within her grasp, the leftover blood on his fingers staining her own. It was time to return to Kamar-Taj, this time with a new stray.
Kamar-Taj, 2004
Four years had passed, four years The Ancient One thought she had known would pass, but four alternative years had passed instead.
As she went through her katas, The Ancient One reflected. That night in Hong Kong, with Mephisto and Sena, had irrevocably altered the course of expected occurrences. She was all too familiar with the path she was meant to traverse, until the arrival of Strange and a whole host of others alongside him. Yet now, while some of what she had known was the same, there were so many more differences. People she had not seen, curves and twists in the path that weren't there before. But most frightening of all, her path no longer ended where it should have. She stopped using the Eye any further than that point, she'd made that mistake before.
Sena, the young boy of ten now, was the pivotal point. He was still a human like any other, perhaps too human if her suspicions were true; but a key difference lay in his birth – he is a mutant. A mutant who had been further altered by the touch of Mephisto.
The Ancient One had always been aware of the mutants, they were a natural presence on Earth, yet on the original path she had foreseen they had been lost. Wiped from the World before it truly began to change. Suddenly however, their footsteps retook the path - following in those of Sena.
She finished her set, Master Nehru handed her another cup of tea. It tasted just right.
"Master, a moment of your time please." Karl Mordo walked in with a slight huff. It seemed even the unfailingly tranquil sorcerer's patience had worn thin, The Ancient One smiled, she wondered why.
"I have need to discuss the matter of an apprentice, specifically their behaviour." He continued.
"I'm assuming this is about Sena?" she offered, her smile growing steadily more amused.
"As you say."
"Well then, why don't we make our way towards him? You can tell me all about his transgressions. Where is he?"
"The courtyard, he has once again successfully goaded several of his fellow apprentices and masters to face him in combat. Boasting and bragging that not even all of them together could put him down." He answered in exasperation. The pair with destination in mind, made their way over.
"So he is overly prideful. What do the other sorcerers have to say about him?"
"Yes, precisely. They shun him, not actively, and I don't feel even consciously, but they do. When he wins, they resent him, for he is far younger. When he loses - he goes back, practices, improves rapidly, returns and inevitably triumphs, it sows even more animosity."
"So he fosters envy. What is Sena's reaction to being snubbed?"
"The usual, he just tries to fight them more, and if they refuse, he throws a tantrum." He answered disdainfully.
"He seem comfortable bringing down his wrath on those who slight him. Well at the very least, he must certainly be hardworking to have accomplished so much in the mystic and martial arts in such little time, no?" The Ancient One offered with continued mirth.
"But that's just it Master! I will admit he is talented, prodigious even, yet he has to be the laziest sorcerer in all of Kamar-Taj! I have to wonder where he has the time to train or study, because there is not one teacher who has not found him asleep during their instruction. One time, during one of my own instructions I caught him red-handed! I thought I saw him paying attention for once, he was awake and engaged. I felt this warranted merit, I wanted to foster this type of continued behaviour, yet when I go over to encourage him, I attempt to lay my hand to his shoulder only to find out that he has cast an illusion over himself - where in actuality he was fast asleep on his desk drooling over the pages of Master Nuihc's Thirty-Seven Steps to Sensual Ecstasy!"
Sloth, and Lust. The Ancient One chuckled quietly. she was sensing a clear pattern.
Mordo didn't seem to be losing any steam as he continues his tirade. "All of this we are able to handle though, it is nothing that apprentices before him have not shown us, and apprentices after him will do the same. No, what's ultimately irreconcilable are his eating habits. He eats constantly, in enormous amounts, at every location, on any occasion. And not just food either. He has devoured every single piece of quartz, meteorite – decorative or otherwise; I've even personally witnessed him munching down piles of charcoal after having emptied out everything else in the pantry! The very nature of the Mystic Arts forces us to face the nonsensical and baffling, yet when it comes to his diet I find myself at a complete loss!"
Finally, the last two; and arguably the most tenacious of his qualities, Greed and Gluttony. The Ancient one completed her thought as they arrived at the aforementioned courtyard. "Feeling better getting that off your chest Karl?" The Ancient One asked with her relentless levity.
"I will only feel better once we have a solution to this, Master." Mordo rebutted, gesturing towards the brawl. Three blue robed apprentices simultaneously struggling against a single red robed child.
Sena was having fun! He had been bored out of his mind the entire month, and now finally he had managed to tease these three enough that they decided to team up and 'teach him a lesson'. And they called him arrogant! Well that didn't matter; thankfully some entertainment! While at the same time getting to wipe the smirks off these three. Just like the scriptures taught him 'two birds, one stone'.
More importantly, once he'd won, he was going to go raid the larder and eat his fill! Then afterwards, he was going to find where Master Mordo hid Nuich's Thirty-Seven Steps and finally finish that under the privacy of his covers! But first, the fight.
The three sorcerers were standing in a semicircle around Sena, suddenly the group exploded into activity. The first sorcerer flared her mandalas, conjuring an axe in each hand, bringing them down on her opponent in an overhead smash. Sena extended the fingers on his right hand layering magic over his arm to form an energy sword – colliding with her attack in a flash of sparks.
Sena smirked as he felt himself completely rebuff her slash - forcing her to recoil, his smile turned sinister when he saw her eyes grow in surprise at his overbearing strength, shocked that he had won the advantage despite their size difference. Before he could counterattack, he swiftly formed a mandala shield from his free hand repelling a barrage of energy bolts courtesy of the second sorcerer flanking his side. Without warning, the third sorcerer burst out of the stone floor behind him. Thick threads of golden energy wrapped around all four of his limbs pulling taut, forcing his sword and shield away. The first sorcerer quickly backed off, as a large energy bolt from the second sorcerer connected with Sena's body in a small explosion.
The first and second sorcerer grinned at each other with satisfaction, this farce was over and done with.
The third sorcerer was unable to share their sentiment, he felt a mighty pull on his magical restraints and with a sudden jerk he was thrown up into the air. He attempted to cancel out the magic only to find the very threads he used turned back on him, with no escape, he was slammed hard on to the floor, taking him out of the fight.
Racing out of the lingering smoke from the explosion, Sena was once more revealed, and except for the tattered remains of his robe top, entirely unfazed by any injury. Seeing this, the first sorcerer held her position and widened her stance, pulling forth her inner energies she wrapped her body in wisps of golden power, enhancing herself with chi, two more magic circles flared on her sides as she quickly summoned an extra pair of arms, immediately equipping herself with another set of conjured axes.
Ensuring the first sorcerer had enough time to complete her preparations, the second sorcerer had already raced forward, surfing on the stone floor like water while continuously firing bolts of energy. Sena's charge remained unaffected as he weaved and twisted through the salvo, avoiding the attack with almost unnatural flexibility. Just as he was about to approach the second sorcerer, two massive spikes of stone stabbed between him and the sorcerer, without missing a beat Sena performed a superhuman jump, twisting himself midair - his feet faced up as his wide open mouth pointed towards the sorcerer, a magic circled flared and fire roared out of his mouth blasting the second sorcerer through his own stone spikes and subsequently knocking him out too.
The first and final sorcerer, unperturbed by her defeated teammate launched herself towards Sena right as he landed - already with a magically formed sword extending from each outstretched hand. The two sorcerers entered into an aggressive match of martial skill, sparks flew and clangs sounded constantly each time the swords connected with an axe. Sena utilized all four limbs in an effort to fend off the opponents four arms, while the first sorcerer was able to meet the younger one's strength with her chi enhanced might.
"You've no more tricks. I've matched your strength. Give up!" The first sorcerer commanded, she had conquered his greatest advantage, there was no way out for him.
Sena stubbornly smirked back at her angrily "No you haven't! I can do that too!" with a sudden burst of golden light he fused himself with his own well of chi, elevating his already superhuman body far above her level. Sliding his foot forward, he broke her stance, bent forward to dodge an axe, and with a final swing of his torso brought the flat of his palm to the center of her chest. The first sorcerer blacked out with her final thoughts "Chi manipulation at his age? What a monster!"
As she fell, Sena straightened out from his battle stance, he'd decimated his competition, and just as he was about to shout it out he was cut off - "Sloppy." The Ancient One approached him; Mordo rushed to attend the fallen sorcerers.
Sena immediately stiffened; pissing off Mordo and the other masters was one thing, getting caught by THE master was an entirely different matter. Sena's mind ran a mile a minute attempting to conjure an excuse, but then was there really any use in trying to fool The Ancient One? "I should maybe say sorry, but I don't think this is the worst thing you've caught me doing." He said while turning to face her with a cheeky grin.
The Ancient One was serene as she answered. "Maybe not. However, it was your rather disappointing lack of ability I was critiquing, rather than your lackluster conduct."
"What! How? I defeated three masters all by myself, and they've totally been at this way longer than I've been!" He jumped back indignantly.
"That is readily apparent. They actually utilized a measure of skill, applied the vast knowledge Kamar-Taj has offered them. You on the other hand, have simply brute forced your way through. There was no finesse in your performance, only unnecessary risks and lazy brawling. Incomplete weapon conjuration, failure to dodge the eldritch whips not to mention the mystic bolt that you pointlessly allowed to make contact, the most basic elemental arts we teach, and finally the most inefficient display of physical chi infusion I have ever had the displeasure of witnessing. You exclusively utilized universal energies, there was neither hide nor hair of personal and dimensional energy." Stinging words in gentle tones was always a specialty of The Ancient One, a side of her Sena had grown intimately familiar with over the course of his life at Kamar-Taj.
Feeling his pride slowly whittled away, Sena crossed his arms over his chest and pouted up at The Ancient One. "I didn't need to use any of the fancy stuff. My body was strong enough by itself."
Despite the obvious bluster The Ancient One remained ever-patient "Is that so? Perhaps a test is in order. Let's start with the absolute basics, the very first application of both dimensional energy and eldritch manipulation – open a Portal."
"I…uh… don't have my sling ring on me. I forgot it in my room." Paying the excuse no heed, with a simple raise of her eyebrow The Ancient One manifested her own portal beside them creating a gateway into Sena's room.
"Do please remember to return your copy of the Kamasutra once you are finished. We do not keep an infinite number of copies." Had Sena any shame, The Ancient One's comment may have inspired some measure of embarrassment, not in this case however.
Slipping the ring on Sena took his position, both arms raised forward one swirling in circles. Lots of sparks, no portal. "Well, wasn't that masterful? But maybe I'm being unfair, you do after all possess an absurdly powerful body courtesy of your mutation. I'm sure you could beat anyone, a weak old lady like me must easily brushed aside by your marvelous strength, no?" The Ancient One was completely aware of how unreasonable she was being; even so, sometimes the only way to discourage a dog from continuing to defecate on the rug was to rub its nose in it. "Do try your best to block this."
Sena barely had a split second to center himself as a single overbearing finger stabbed towards his head. Taking the only action he could, both hands clasped around The Ancient One's attacking wrist. It was … light, maybe he could actually do this!
In the midst of his premature celebration, a single mandala flared around The Ancient One's arm, suddenly the force on top of him became unbearable. His head started pouring with sweat, his muscles screamed in protest - even with his desperate use of chi. The floor beneath his feet cracked and cratered. "Where is that strength you were so sure of? Its only a single finger; granted I am currently manipulating energies from a separate dimension with gravity far greater than ours, but surely you must at least be able to conquer this?"
He glared up at her in defiance "I'm still holding you back!" he grunted with every ounce of effort his body could generate.
"Yes, and it seems to be taking everything you have. So what would happen if I did this?" A duplicate of The Ancient One peeled off the original body and slapped Sena across the face, forcefully ejecting his Astral form out of his physical body. With a second palm thrust he was sent flying back into his already collapsed body lying face first on the ground.
The Ancient One kneeled by his head prompting Sena to look up at her "The mystic arts form their very existence from the all encompassing energies of your own self, the world, multiple dimensions, realities and universes."
Sena had this memorized, given that it was introductory level materials, but when The Ancient One provides a lecture it pays to listen. These opportunities were few and far between. But he wouldn't feel right if he didn't try to speed things up. "It is a vast and chaotic study that requires single minded attention yet an ever-expanding focus." He finished for her.
"Ah! So he does listen. I wish you would let your teachers know once in a while." She replied with a quiet chuckle. "Stand up. You will try portal creation again, but this time don't forget your destination." Sena could almost feel the light bulb shining over his head. He understood. He'd paid all the attention he could on the process of portal creation, yet in his focus he'd forgotten to expand his perspective – ipsofacto, no portal.
Sena adjusted the sling ring on his finger, his brow creased as he determined his target – an instant later, a perfect portal appeared in front of him. He entered. Peeking through, The Ancient One saw him steadily emptying the Kamar-Taj pantry. It would seem a restocking was in order.
Sena was the very image of triumph as he swaggered out of the portal; crumbs flaking off his face and robes. "So I guess I just needed to pay attention."
"Very much so, yes. You have an immense amount of talent and potential Sena, do not let yourself waste it."
Sena looked up at her in confusion. "But you said all those things about how 'sloppy' I was. And then slapped me so hard my white stuff flew out."
"I did. And will continue to do so. I am your teacher, as such it is my role to point out your mistakes - your shortcomings. Following which, you must correct them yourself."
Sena's confusion persisted. "I've been here as long as I can remember, I've never seen you teach any other apprentices by yourself, only other masters, like master Mordo. Why me?"
"Indeed. You lack neither the ability nor understanding required to excel in the mystic arts, your deficiency lies in your focus and discipline. And seeing as I've practically raised you since bringing you here, I felt I may as well formally turn you into my direct disciple. Why? Would you prefer I not do that?" The Ancient One teased.
"No! Of course I do! This is the best!" Sena quickly grabbed her hand in both of his own, and stated to hop around in excitement. Kamar-Taj did not often host children as young as Sena, there were instances where other masters had fostered young children in the mystic arts. The Ancient One herself had never done so prior to the young boy in front of her. She couldn't help the slight softening in her smile. It was nice.
The Ancient One gently pulled back her hand, instead putting it on his head and giving his hair a quick ruffle. Sena's smile turned beaming at her action, reaching over again with both hands, he held on to her wrist, keeping it on his head; almost mimicking the position they were in when The Ancient One had tested him just minutes ago. "Excellent. Now, would you care to explain why you're eating inanimate objects?"
"Oh yeah, that. It's because when I eat those things my body feels different."
"More powerful? It would certainly explain your inhuman strength. However, as I remember it from before your time at Kamar-Taj, the effects your mutant power gave you after ingestion were only temporary. This seems far more permanent."
"Ever since that molesto guy tried to kill me -"
"Mephisto." The Ancient One corrected.
"Yeah, the big red man. Whenever I eat something now the effects stay; forever. But I have to eat a lot more to feel any major effects. I accidentally ate a pencil one time and felt a change, so I decided to eat more things like it – coal, those shiny rocks, stuff like that. And since then my body feels stronger – my skin, my bones, my flesh. It hurts less when I get hit, and I can take more punishment too. It's easier to bend and stretch; even my brain feels smarter."
The Ancient One considered this for a moment. "It seems Mephisto has somehow altered or awakened the true ability of your mutation." Aside from amplifying seven specific personality traits, but she didn't mention that out loud. "You seem to be craving carbon, or at the very least carbon rich substances."
Sena simply shrugged at her conjecture.
"I do wonder though, have you ever managed to consume anything of mystical manifestation or significance? There's certainly no reason why your mutant powers should operate entirely separately from your magic."
Sena furrowed his brow as he tried to recall if he ever had. He didn't think so but – Sena looked intently up at his master, carefully searching her expression. This wasn't a simple question. He'd already been taken up as her disciple, there was no reason to wait for his instruction to start later, they'd already begun.
He'd just now been taught that you can't be so simple with regards to the mystic arts, that he has to be more observant. This was a test of that very lesson.
Sena considered himself, he had to eat something – something to do with the mystic arts to see if it would work with his mutant power. The answer was obvious; he took off his sling ring. The side of The Ancient One's lips immediately quirked up and her eyes gleamed in expectation.
"Very good. It seems the lesson has stuck. Never forget this Sena, your observance and deduction will take you farther than any other weapon in your arsenal. I promise you." The Ancient One praised her newly minted disciple. "Go on."
Without any hesitation he tossed the sling ring into his mouth. The apparent ease while he chewed the artifact did not match the harsh crunching. The snack finished, Sena smacked his lips in satisfaction as the pair waited. Meanwhile, The Ancient One momentarily shifted her attention to master Mordo finally reviving Sena's oponents.
"Feel any different?" The Ancient One inquired.
"Not yet." Followed by a hideous rumble from his stomach. "Ok. Now I do. Master! Would you like to see my new amazing power?" dropping into a stance, Sena flung out a punch. A ring of sparks tightly surrounded the circumference of his elbow – vanishing his punching arm. The fist manifested itself beside a surprised Mordo, once more knocking out the recently waked sorcerer. The arm disappeared as quickly as it came, reattaching itself to Sena's arm as the sparks died down.
The Ancient One scrutinized Sena, with a flick of her wrist a series of mandalas surrounded and scanned him. "Very interesting. Your body now exhibits the same dimensional energy signatures of a portal. You've effectively turned yourself into a gateway. I believe you should now be able fully or partially teleport yourself wherever you please without having to form a traditional portal. Fascinating."
"And I also don't need to eat a hundred sling rings either. I think if its energy, or magic, or whatever I only need to eat it once. But if its actually a thing, I need to eat a whole bunch." Sena added.
The Ancient One hummed in agreement. She made her way back inside, beckoning Sena to fall in step with her. The mystic arts she could handle, but an expert would be beneficial to nurture his mutant powers. "Come along Sena. I think it's time we introduced ourselves to a few new friends."
Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters, 2010
Charles Xavier sighed tiredly as he removed his creation Cerebro from his head. Barely past mid-morning on a Sunday, yet already contemplating his bed once more. Leaning back in his chair, he utilized his telepathy to swivel himself around from the control panel.
The smooth swish of the large round doors brought him back once more to a meeting he was wholly unprepared for, a mere handful of years ago.
His meeting with The Ancient One.
Almost six years ago, as per usual, Charles was using Cerebro in conjunction with his powers to search for more mutants. Yet as he was about to exit this very secret, very hidden, and very difficult to access room, in a shocking burst of sparks two figure dressed in Shaolin-like robes walked into it out of thin air.
He was afraid at first, he'd feared some malevolent force had sought the destruction of him and his fellow mutants. He'd retaliated in his haste, launching a telepathic probe, he'd hoped to find information, maybe even control, all he'd found was a vast chaos. He had been set adrift, for the first time since mastering his powers he'd truly lost control of his mind. He was not eager to repeat the event.
Nonetheless, everything had eventually been set straight. A truly humbling experience.
Charles had established the Xavier School as a haven for the mutants, as a place of learning to support people with special powers and no way to control them, and most importantly a refuge for those who would face persecution for reasons beyond their control. Hank, Ororo, and Logan were the first to convene. Young Jean Grey had joined shortly after. And since then the school had steadily grown.
He'd thought themselves alone in the world, he'd never truly realized that there were others – not the same as them, yet sharing similar circumstances in their differences. Mutants were but a grain of sand in a vast and infinite desert. The Ancient One had ensured he'd understood that if nothing else.
Xavier continued to roll along, he passed by the specialized med bay.
The Ancient One had brought a young man along with her. A mutant, with an intriguing power. She had explained the main reason for their visit – to enroll the young man into his institute, on a part time basis anyhow. One week spent at the Xavier School, and the next week spent back at their sanctum.
The boy, Sena, had thoroughly explained his power; The Ancient One had provided her own insights. He felt they were hiding something from him, something pertinent to the nature of his powers, but he didn't pry - they were certainly welcome to their privacy. They'd already shared enough information to last him a lifetime.
He'd asked Hank to assist him run the gamut of tests on the child, to gain a full understanding of how his mutant powers affected the body. The findings had shown his entire physiological structure was layered in graphene – his bones, his muscles, his skin, and even his organs. It certainly explained his strange diet of carbon and graphite rich substances. The graphene lattice afforded him the potential for a massive increase in muscular tensile strength, every soft tissue surface durable, near impenetrable, and flexible to the extreme. Additional testing on his organs even showed increased metabolic activity – the synapses in his brain especially demonstrated huge improvement and exaggerated cognitive ability. Additionally, given graphene's heat and electrical conductivity, it made him invulnerable to those too.
The danger room coupled with Logan and Piotr's talents were used to test the boy's combat. His mutant powers working seamlessly alongside his apparently well practice martial prowess, lending him an impressive ability for violence. Then The Ancient One instructed him to display the mystic arts; Hank, Ororo, and Charles himself had all witnessed Sena's competence – Logan himself had attested to the boy's devastating power. But with the addition of the mystic arts, all had been entirely overwhelmed. Charles remembered how Logan had described the boy after the fact,"Monster in a brat's body".
Now while the evaluation of his powers was of some concern, Charles was far more interested in Sena's personality. He was – is - a conniving young man; he finds great interest in inciting emotion and reaction in others – a habitual button-presser. He also exhibits high self-esteem, slightly too high. He was never unlikable though, rather charming actually – knew just when to smile. Over his time at the Xavier institute he'd managed to make quite an impression, the now twelve-year-old Jean Grey even considered him her older brother of sorts, quite sweet really.
Yet it was this very conclusion that gave Charles pause. A well adjusted young man with nary a concern at his original home, and far more importantly – easy opportunities to explore and develop his mutant powers. So that begged the question, why was he really here? At least beyond the superficial reasons provided. Nevertheless, it was against his mission to turn away anyone seeking his aid. And so Sena was welcomed into his home and the years passed swiftly.
Charles still felt listless, but perhaps a strong cup of coffee could relieve his fatigue. Leaving the silence of the secret area behind, he entered the clamour of the dining area.
"Where's the forks bub?" growled Logan.
"You don't get any. If you're going to eat my food, you're going to eat it the way I tell you to. Use the chopsticks I've provided."
"The hell am I supposed to do with a pair of toothpicks?"
"Just follow Jean and Scott's example, they've got chopsticks down pat." Wolverine's gaze found the two young mutants, gleefully stuffing dumplings into their mouths.
"These are tasty Mr. Logan!" Jean encouraged him with cheeks packed full of dumplings, Scott Summers nodding along with her in agreement. Sena shot her a quick wink, forcing her to beam at him with her chubby cheeks.
Grumbling in irritation Logan snatched a single chopstick and subsequently shish-kebabed the little dumpling in his bowl. Chewing carefuly, Logan frowned and narrowed his eyes at the cook.
Sena simply shot back a wide toothy grin. "Ahh! Seems someone really likes it! See? Cuisine isn't just bacon, eggs, and beer."
"Must you be difficult so early in the morning Sena?" Charles announced his arrival into the room. Using the distraction, Logan skulked away towards the TV with a bowl full of food and a lone piece of wood to keep him company.
Sena returned to his work station, and began preparing another bowl of food for the elderly Professor. "I've made veggie wontons and meat dumplings for breakfast, care for some?" Sena asked over his shoulder.
"Would that perhaps be accompanied by a cup of tea or coffee my boy? I'm feeling rather parched at the moment." Charles responded, rolling along the bench to an empty space.
"What's yum cha without the cha? I've got a pot of lapsang. It'll put your fatigue to rest and wake you right up. Next time grab a bite before the whole God of all psychics routine. Anyone for seconds?" He shouted out to the crowded room.
"Right here bub!"
"How? You have only just started eating!" Piotr aka Colossus bellowed out with his thick Russian accent in disbelief. Almost immediately a dismembered had appeared in a show of orange sparks, carrying with it a fresh offering of food for the grumpy X-man.
"How about some tea to go with that?"
"Make it an Irish tea and we've got a deal." Logan negotiated, already mowing down his second serving.
"There's no such thing." Sena rebutted in confusion.
"There is now bub!"
Sena ignored him with a roll of his eyes, switching his attention back to Xavier quietly enjoying his tea. "So professor what the plan of action? A little team training? Sparring? A quick field trip down to the local nudist beach?"
"No Sena, I am sorry, none of those are permissible. Not to mention you are yet a minor still." Xavier answered with practiced exasperation.
"Not in the Eurozone I'm not. But okay I'll agree on a chaperone, where's professor Munroe?" Piotr choked, spitting up his tea at the outrageously lascivious suggestion from the sixteen-year-old.
"I wanna go to the beach too! Can I come?" Jean inserted herself into the conversation causing Scott to mimic Piotr.
"Sena please, I'd appreciate it if you'd save your distinct brand of charm for your master." Xavier sent a pointed glare to the thoroughly amused young man. He side-eyed the young redhead beside him, unsure of whether her innocence was sincere, or if Sena was becoming a bad influence.
"Fine, fine, I give. But seriously c'mon, isn't there anything we could all do for fun? It's my last night here before I'm back at the sanctum for the next week! No fun, no rest, please I need this!" Sena didn't beg so much as try to guilt the elder man into getting his way.
After five years, Xavier was familiar with Sena's modus operandi – he wasn't asking permission, just informing him in advance. He could only hold in a deep sigh; it was nigh on impossible to control the mobility of a boy who could teleport at will. "I expect you to return home at an acceptable hour."
"I promise boss! So…about professor Munroe…"
"If you feel confident in convincing her yourself, I'd say have at it my boy." Charles bantered right back.
Sena chuckled "Guess not."
"Oh my! Sugar, could you please turn that racket down? I can barely hear myself think!" Anna Marie – better known as Rogue complained loudly at Logan and his extra loud TV. The teen huffed angrily when her complaint went unanswered by her target, flapping the pages of her magazine roughly, hoping that noise would drown out the TV.
"Relax kid, don't give yourself a paper cut. I'll turn it down. The Grand Prix doesn't even start for another hour, it's still only the pageantry crap. Look at these rich idiots, and there's king rich idiot himself – Tony Stark." Logan relayed.
Sena suddenly raced over to the TV "Hold up! Iron Man's attending? The GP totally got a lot more enticing." He watched the procession, Sena initially assumed it was going to be a bunch old men watching other men drive cars. But looking at the crowd here, well, there were old men sure; though far more and far hotter young women were there too. "So, where's the GP being held?"
"Monaco, brat." Logan as per usual growled out. Sena had his heading.
Paying closer attention to the program, Sena mapped out the location. The wide angle shot showed an entire half of the building, spotting what appeared to be a very fancy looking toilet through a window on a far wall, Sena decided on his point of entry.
Now, what to do about his clothes…Sena was sure Kamar-Taj robes or ratty jammies wouldn't cut it. "Hey Rouge what're you reading?"
"Just a fashion magazine honey – KYA!" the young mutant yelped in fright as a disembodied head suddenly popped between her and the magazine she was holding.
"Is there like a men's section in this thing? I need a few ideas." Sena's head casually scanned the pages, doing his best to ignore the gloved hands smacking his head like a bongo. "You gonna turn the page or what?"
Monaco, 2010 – The Same Day
Tony Stark was dying, he was dying and Justin Hammer of all people was killing him. What a cruel World. Where the hell was Pepper? Or Rushman? Anyone!
"Excuse me, you're sitting in my seat." A quiet but firm voice interrupted Justin's blathering. It was almost monotonous, cold – yet somehow managing to completely grasp Tony's attention. Immediately Tony, Hammer, and the reporter following them turned their attention to the voice, almost as if they felt compelled.
Standing in front of them was a striking young woman. Bright blonde – bordering on silver – hair framed her face. Straight, silky, reaching below her shoulders, and covering the very edges of her eyes – framing her already slender face. Tony would say she had a delicate – nearly skinny build, were it not for the toned muscles. Her abs were tight, defined, visible through the white dress that displayed her midriff.
"Must I repeat myself? Move." Her sharp blue eyes narrowed in irritation, the idea of an impertinent young woman talking down to hugely influential men and women was laughable. Yet without a word, as if in a trance, all three left their seats. "Not you Mr. Stark, sit down. We have much to discuss." Without complaint he followed her instructions.
"My name is Emma Frost Mr. Stark. I'm here on behalf of the Hellfire Club, more specifically The Black King. Do you remember the Hellfire Club Mr. Stark?"
"Yes…I do…"
"Good, Mr. Stark. Why have you not answered our summons?" Her voice sounded distant in his head, but at the same time it was all around it, echoing, drowning everything else out.
"Because…it's pointless. Everyone, including you people only want my tech, my money, and my influence. But there's nothing you can offer me. But more importantly…You represent everything that I used to be, all the parts that I've tried to change about myself. I'm not going back to being that person, I'm not going back to people like you." Tony felt listless answering her questions, his speech and thoughts felt viscous, slow. Worst of all, he was being far too open about himself and seriously lacked any humour or flare.
"That is unfortunate news Mr. Stark. You may leave." She dismissed him. Tony noticed her eyes flash for a moment – but soon forgot what he was thinking about. What was he thinking about? Was he bored? Yeah…yeah he was bored. He should do something fun, something daring, something dangerous. 'Oh, Pepper's gonna be pissed'.
Emma watched Tony walk away while loosening his tie. She smirked into her flute of champagne. She'd hoped to convince Tony to reconnect with the Hellfire Club, he could've been a valuable asset. No major loss either way. However, no opposition- no loose ends could exist against the Hellfire Club. A simple telepathic suggestion, a tiny little twist of his mind and he would put himself in harms way of his own volition. A tragic accident out of his own machinations – and her involvement non-existent.
Ever since she'd left home, left behind that poor excuse of a family, she'd strived to excel. Her powers were the greatest things that ever happened to her. After a few bumps here and there, she'd finally secured her shot to the top. The Hellfire Club would enable her to achieve everything she'd wanted and more. Just like how everyone she'd ever met had used and tossed her aside, she'd now do the same, the Hellfire Club may be her only option - her final chance.
Emma Frost would do anything to achieve her goals; no limits. She'd show them all – Emma was no longer that naïve little girl who let others walk all over her; who allowed her teachers to take advantage of her, who let mean little boys use her and her powers. She'd be the only one who ever controlled anything she did. In the end the Hellfire Club, Sebastian Shaw, and anyone else in her way were all just stepping stones.
Either way, her task was done, Stark had unknowingly fallen under her thrall, now all she had to do was mingle with these vapid fools, watch the fireworks, and she could leave.
Tony stared at himself in the bathroom mirror, fifty-three percent blood toxicity, he was feeling reckless. As he was about to tidy himself up and make his way down to the pits to commandeer his car, he was startled by a loud clatter coming from one of the stalls behind him.
The stall opened to reveal Sena, decked out in fancy clothes, imitated and conjured from Rogue's magazine. The first thing he saw was a confused looking Tony Stark stating directly at him, apparently the clatter he made falling on the toilet after teleporting made an impression. "Uh…pants are hard?"
"Wow, solid recovery champ. Nice threads, first day out of diapers?"
Sena ignored the jab with a genial smile, approaching the mirrors he began tousling his hair into an organized mess – presentation was everything. "So tell me, how's the talent outside."
"Why? Lost your mommy and think one of the hot milfs outside fit the bill? I thought someone your age would be more excited about the loud vroom vroom machines."
"My parents are dead." Tony winced, Sena just continued to smile "But I totally wouldn't mind making someone outside a mommy."
"That's really messed up."
Sena finished fiddling with his hair and made his way out of the restroom. "It was nice meeting you, Iron Man."
Tony quietly whispered to himself "When the hell did this place turn into a daycare?"
Sena was already on the prowl and seeing success. Rich influential men always came hand in hand with beautiful and unsatisfied wives. It didn't take long for Tony Stark to completely screw that up though. Soon after Sena had left him alone in the bathroom, Stark had absconded off and confiscated his company's racecar for himself. And just like that, all eyes on Stark.
Sena leaned back on the bar, incredibly annoyed. He surveyed the room once more, everyone was either glued to a TV or a window watching Tony's progress. The he spotted her. This wasn't just any woman, this had to be the most gorgeous creature he'd ever seen in his entire life. Which was saying something as he'd long since gained internet access.
Patience was not Sena's strong suit, so without waiting for the other man romancing the woman to finish, Sena made his way over.
"So I guess what I'm saying is, given my resources I'm sure we could easily work something out. Look I have my own jet – G5, the latest model, what say you and I get outta here, go somewhere with a nice beach and have my private chef catch us the freshest possible dinner?" Justin Hammer tried and failed his level best to flirt with Emma Frost, who refused to even pay him a modicum of attention. She simply stared at the nearest screen tracking Stark's progress.
"That's impressive. The best I can do is cook my own food." Sena cut into Hammer's flirting. Accomplishing to gain both Hammer and Emma's notice. She tried to see who this new person was by reading his mind, but she couldn't. This immediately caused her to alarm, forcing her to turn and give the newcomer her full attention.
This sudden change in the woman's demeanor, aggravated Hammer. He'd been trying for a while, he dropped every name he could, showed every card he had and couldn't even get the girl to look at him. Then suddenly this… this kid shows up and she's all at attention like a soldier. That was unacceptable! He was Justin fuckin' Hammer!
"Yeah, that's great kid, but maybe you should keep it zipped, the adults are talking. Your nanny's probably looking for you anyway. Beat it. You don't know who you're messing with." Emma scoffed at his pathetic show of machismo, too bad for her Hammer mistook it as affirmation.
"I gotta agree with you, I don't know who I'm messing with. Too bad she doesn't know who you are either – or care for that matter. You should leave and save whatever dignity you have left. Thank you." Sena was completely unfazed by the man's false bravado, and politely asked him to make way. Sena just smiled at him, it was a technique The Ancient One loved employing to irritate people and he'd learn to use it for himself.
Justin stared at the kid in indignation, he looked over to the woman to get some support, only to receive a nasty smirk before she turned away from him and focused back on the race. First Tony, now this, Hammer grabbed his drink and sulked off.
"Good, he's left. You can follow him." Emma immediately dismissed Sena; she wanted to know how he evaded her powers, but she wouldn't be herself if she didn't push him a little. Plus, the situation with Stark was a done deal, might as well allow herself to have fun.
"Oh don't worry. I'm not hitting on you just yet." She stared at him disbelievingly. "Don't get me wrong, you're clearly here to make a statement and garner looks. Your dress, your presence, it's all working like a charm – I can personally attest to it. The only problem is your face. As gorgeous as it is, you've got a nice bright Fuck Off stamped right across it."
"You're either really bad at flirting, or very very good." Emma commented with amusement, Sena simply tilted his head slightly and smiled brightly.
Suddenly a large series of gasps overtook the room. The arrival of Ivan Vanko trying and failing to kill Tony Stark and subsequently him as Iron Man. Sena sighed in disappointment; not only was he forced to abandon his conversation, the fight itself was an embarrassing display. any apprentice at Kamar-Taj could have ended them both easily.
Emma momentarily pursed her lips in irritation, she'd so hoped for Tony to perish. She was initially astonished with the arrival of the wannabe supervillain; he might have even proved useful had he not been so utterly pathetic. Either way, although Tony did not die, she'd already managed to erase any mention of the Hellfire Club from his memories.
Her job done she decided to make her exodus. It was regrettable, the young man hitting on her was actually making headway. It was time for her to slip out, she allowed her power to envelop her, shielding her existence from everyone's minds.
"Wow, cool trick! I'd never have thought you'd have been a mutant." Sena's exclamation brought Emma to a screeching halt. She was not expecting this at all.
"You can see me?"
"Clear as day. I take it Stark's demise, or lack of, soured the mood?"
Emma stared at him as if he was a curiosity "… not as much as you'd assume. How are you doing this? How are you avoiding my powers?"
"Maybe it has something to do with my own mutation." Sena deflected, he knew it was the mystic arts that prevented his mind from being compromised by telepaths, but he didn't need to divulge that information so freely.
An excited glint flashed through Emma's brilliant blue eyes, another mutant! Another opportunity to cement herself within the echelons of the Hellfire Club. She could use him as a bargaining chip with Shaw, and then eventually turn the young man in front of her into her very own loyalist. This day just kept getting better. It also helped he was a pretty little thing. "Is that right? And what exactly are your powers?"
"Oh you know, your basic superhuman body. Also I can teleport." Sena provided the absolute minimum.
"Lovely. I have a few friends who would be incredibly interested in meeting you, it could prove to be a fruitful endeavor for yourself. With my help you could achieve so much." Emma began her sales pitch.
Sena started laughing, "Take it easy, I get it. If there's something you want me for, I'm amiable. But riches and influence and the rest of what your offering isn't what I'm buying."
"Perceptive and straightforward. I can appreciate that. So what is it you want?" Emma narrowed her eyes at the shrewd young man in front of her. It helped when they weren't complete idiots – he seemed a little too arrogant though, which might pose a problem a little later down the line. She was sure she could eventually work that out of him though.
"I wasn't flirting with you for nothing." Realizing the connotations of his statement, Emma shot the young man a sultry look.
"Well I'm sure we could work out a…mutually beneficial agreement. Now we must hurry, it's a long flight back, we can discuss terms on the way over."
"I did tell you I can teleport right? Just tell me where you want to go and you'll be there in an instant."
"Wait? You can teleport such vast distances? That's incredibly powerful."
"Pretty much anywhere on the planet – at least as far as I've tested. Oxygen is still sort of a necessity for me. Since I've saved you somewhere around eight and a half hours, I'm sure you have a little free time on your hands."
This just kept getting better, the value of his mobility alone was off the charts. However, patience was another one of his failings; it made an odd sort of sense. Sashaying up to him, she took his arm into hers and drew him away and out of the party. "I agree, business before pleasure needn't be the status quo. And lucky for us I have a very nice room for a little while longer. I don't see why this isn't the perfect time to unwind." She leaned in close and whispered into his ear, purposefully caressing his skin with her lips as she spoke.
"You read my mind. I'm Sena by the way. I thought since we're about to get very intimate very fast, we might as well start with our names." Sena said with a facetious hint in his voice.
"Emma Frost. I'd ask you to remember it, but after what we're about to do – I don't think you'll ever be able to forget who I am." Emma Frost said with supreme confidence.
"Where am I?" Emma Frost said with supreme confusion. Everything felt moist, she heard the shower running, maybe that's why. Wait, she wasn't in the shower, that was someone else. Who else was here and why was she wet? It was sweat. She propped herself up on her elbows, the blanket covering her slid off revealing her torso, apparently she was naked too. What was wrong with her brain? It all felt so fuzzy, like someone had stuffed her head with cotton. But if her head was so fluffy, why was her body so comfy? She felt satiated, relaxed and energized. She felt great.
Suddenly the mattress shifted. She couldn't hear the shower anymore either. Two strong arms lifted her up until she felt two soft lips on her own. She responded eagerly. Before things got too heated, Emma's mind finally caught up. She brought her palm up, mushed Sena's cheek and pushed him away.
"What's wrong?" Sena muffled through her hand.
"Stop! Stop! Stop! Enough, three hours is enough." Emma panted out. The bed sprung to its earlier position as Sena backed off. He took a few steps back from the bed, spread his arms in open invitation to parade his chiseled body in front of his partner.
"You sure?" he teased coyly, but Emma ignored him completely as she raced towards the bathroom, locking the door behind her with a loud clack. "Nature calls huh?" with a 'hup!' Sena sprawled himself on the bed, his towel doing very little to protect his modesty.
Sena felt himself drifting off into sleep; the bed was far too comfortable. It felt like floating, like the mattress and pillows weren't even there – which, he soon discovered they weren't because he was levitating two feet above everything. Craning his neck down, he found his beautiful blonde beau staring up at him. He smirked, wiggled, and purposely slid the towel off his gravitationally challenged body. "I knew you couldn't resist for too long."
The discarded towel snapped back by itself, once again finding itself wound around the boy's waist – much tighter this time. "Don't get cute."
"So you think I'm cute?"
"Yes. I have standards – you barely meet them. This conversation is no longer relevant, get dressed we're leaving, it's time for you to prove your worth." She used her powers and floated him down to her level till they were face to face.
"Yeah sure, no worries. But you need to do something for me first"
Emma narrowed her dangerously eyes at the impetuous fool directly in front of her. He was naked and helplessly at the mercy of her power, yet still had the fortitude to state conditions. "Oh? And what is it exactly that I need to do?"
"You need to take shower first. You smell super funky – on account of all the 'proving my worth' we did earlier." She dropped him.
Emma stepped through the sparking gateway in astonishment, she looked back and still saw her room in Monaco, yet turning back to her front she saw the New York branch of the Hellfire Club. Sena couldn't look way from her, the honest look of amazement on her face enraptured him.
Noticing his scrutiny, Emma quickly schooled her expression. "Your powers are adequate. Come along, some of the Hellfire Club members should be in today. I'm mainly going to introduce you to my own… benefactor – Sebastian Shaw. He's a mutant as well – speaking of, I forgot to mention but do keep a lid on the whole mutant thing. It's all very hush hush for the moment, we'll discuss further at a more appropriate time."
"Got it. I'll just follow your lead. By the way, you think this Shaw guy will be alright with me just popping in?"
"Sebastian Shaw will only care if you're useful or not. I'd be far more worried about irritating me too much."
"As long as you're sure. Just one last question. Why are we walking into what looks like a strip club?"
Emma barely controlled the disgruntled sigh she so wanted to let out. "Because Shaw has proclivities that hinder him from going too far from a convenient warm body."
"Does it have to be strip club though? Just think about how, you personally, look walking in here; I bet there's a whole host of creepy old dudes who think you work here. Does he know he can watch naked people for free on the internet? I mean all you have to do is take a look around, nobodies even here!"
Sena's companion immediately went on guard. "That shouldn't be the case… Even the girls or guards aren't here." Beckoning Sena, she rushed over to the upper floor that housed the private area reserved specifically for the inner circle of the Hellfire Club.
A rapid staccato of electronic beeps sounded as they burst in through the door. "Subject identified: Emma Grace Frost. Designation: Mutant. Elaboration: Telepath, Telekinetic." A large imposing looking android loomed over Sena and Emma, subsequently scanning and detailing their existence, the large robot continued with Sena. "Subject identified: Sena Chow. Designation: Mutant. Elaboration: Augmented human. Error: Unknown energy signatures. Recommended course of action: Termination."
A harried shriek cam flying out of a smartly dressed blonde man. "Mr.Lang! I urge you to control your creations! This is the Council of the Chosen, things must be done systematically, we cannot have these Sentinels of yours killing people will-nilly." Emma saw The White King, Edward 'Ned' Buckman attempting to control the large beasts via his lackey Dr. Steven Lang
She continued to survey the room; including Sena and herself there were only five living breathing people there. But the usually spacious room felt claustrophobic with presence of the massive humanoid machines. Three of them of them in total.
One stood beside Lang and Buckman – ready to defend them at a moment's notice. One towered directly opposite her; but it was the last one that posed the greatest issue. The last one stood with Sebastian Shaw swaddled in its arms, firm but unyielding. It was obvious to Emma that the hulking machines were completely aware of Sebastian's mutant powers, and more importantly how to counter them.
Sebastian Shaw struggled against the android, no matter how hard he tried he could not generate enough energy within himself to strengthen his powers to the point of being stronger than his restraints. He couldn't believe he'd been betrayed, by Ned Buckman of all people! "What the hell do you think you're doing Ned? You promised me project Armageddon! Not these toys."
"You were always so blinded by your own narcissism. These toys are project Armageddon. Bolivar Trask began it decades ago, and now that technology has caught up with his vision, under my authority and resources we – that is Steven and I – have created these beings. Don't you see Sebastian? It was never about creating more mutants –" Ned Buckman's winding villain dialogue was cut off by his companion.
"It's about getting rid of you damned muties! Your kind are nothing but danger and destruction. The World doesn't need you! So I've built Trask's Sentinels and we'll grind you all into dust – each and every one of you freaks!" Steven Lang madly ranted.
Ned Buckman picked his speech up again. "Not only do these wonderful machines have the capability to scan and identify mutants and their powers, they've been in built with an AI that allows them to access all manner of registration. We know of and about every single mutant on the planet, we know how to kill them, and now the Sentinels will systematically eradiate them all – starting with you."
The Sentinel shackling Shaw steadily began increasing the force of its embrace, careful to not allow Sebastian to absorb any amount of kinetic force. And it squeezed.
Realizing the dire situation Shaw was in Emma immediately unleashed her powers. She mustered all her telekinetic power and threw the sentinel nearest to her away. Using her telekinesis, she held on to the sentinel squishing Shaw, and tried to rend it apart. The android fired a beam of energy from it's face. Emma formed a telepathic shield in front of herself, but immediately realized that it would not hold long under the power of the sentinel's attack.
Suddenly a second beam struck towards her from the direction she tossed the first sentinel, forcing her to split her attention between the two attacks. Knowing she had no other option Emma discarded her shields and the two beams collided with her in an explosion.
Sena had remained idle this entire time. Not feeling any inclination to help, and if he was honest with himself preferred loafing and letting the situation sort itself out. However, when he saw Emma getting hit by the energy beams he almost sprung into action. Clearly his 'little brother' was still awake. But before he could, Emma emerged unscathed, only this time she was made entirely from diamonds.
Without wasting time, Emma once more pounced at the sentinel crushing Shaw. Despite the fact she could not access her telepathic powers in this form, she was nigh on indestructible and disastrously powerful now. The moment she was about to clamp down and rip apart the robot's arms, the first sentinel she'd forced away appeared behind her. It hit her with the force of a missile, tossing her away from Shaw. The charging sentinel continued its pursuit, jumped, and landed on Emma's prone form, pinning her to the floor. If not for her diamond body, she would have been stamped out like an insect.
The massive sentinel had a vice grip on her head, repulsors from it's back prevented her from rising. She even felt the strain on her diamond form. These machines were built for fighting exceptionally powerful and durable beings.
She could only watch impotently as Shaw's body was mangled. Sebastian returned her a look with a disgusted one of his own. "I should have known you'd be useless." With those final words, Sebastian Shaw breathed his last. With his demise Emma felt her dreams suddenly come crumbling down. Without him she had no base, no network, no power.
From behind their protective sentinel, Buckman and Lang watched on in excitement, their time was finally at hand. "Ha! One down, plenty more to go!" Lang announced with a large grin on his face.
Next to him Buckman nodded in triumph. "Excellent, but we take no chances. Proceed with the second step. Don't forget to record it, the rest of the members must see it too."
Lang pointed at the sentinel holding Shaw's corpse, the sentinel fired the repulsors on its feet, launching itself and Shaw through the roof of the building. A screen displaying the journey showed the sentinel rocketing out of atmosphere and into space. Shaw's survival in the vacuum of space was an impossibility.
Kicking the sentinel standing guard over them, Lang pointed over at the inactive young man who earlier had also been identified as a mutant. "Hey you tin can, go kill that guy over there, and make it quick!"
The sentinel followed through on the order, with a blast of it's repulsor it rushed towards Sena. It made contact with his much smaller body with a loud bang. Out of reflex, Sena had fallen into his ingrained battle stance meeting the sentinel's onslaught head on; surprisingly enough Sena felt the machine overpower him slightly. It was the only time he'd felt such force outside of training with The Ancient One.
"Wow, you're pretty damn strong aren't you?" he complimented the sentinel. "But I'm way tougher!" Sena released the full brunt of his brawn on the machine. In retaliation the sentinel fired its thrusters at full capacity, hoping to flatten the targeted mutant. Unfortunately to no avail as Sena wouldn't budge.
"Error: Might of augmented body beyond calculated levels." Was all it had to say in return. Sena felt the intoxicating surge of adrenaline and the thrum of battle in his ears.
Emma looked at the fool trying to combat the sentinel with disdain. He was far overestimating himself if he thought he had anywhere near the power required to overwhelm it. Even in her diamond form she was at a stalemate, what could a petty little teleporter do? But she could use this, she knew when she was outmatched, she needed to find an escape. Hopefully Sena could last long enough as a distraction for her to slip out.
She quickly discarded that idea after witnessing Sena plant a devastating kick on the machine, hurling it back where it came from – which just so happened to be where Steven Lang was standing. Was. Currently the mutant hater had been smashed under the weight and momentum of his own creation. Ned Buckamn's pristine white suit now sported his associate's blood and guts, he quickly scrambled away in shock after witnessing the gory death.
"Ah shit! I totally didn't mean to do that! Master and the professor are gonna have my ass for this. Fuck!" Sena quickly snapped out of his fury state after witnessing the accidental squishing. The sentinel now covered in viscera however was completely unharmed – besides a small dent where Sena's foot made contact.
Emma couldn't believe what she was seeing, she was personally struggling beneath the sentinel, yet the other mutant had brushed it off like nothing. Clearly he hadn't shared the full extent of his prowess. This posed a new opportunity for her, if he could defeat the sentinels for her, she could take over the mind of Buckman and install herself comfortably within the inner circle. With her mind control, and Sena's power alongside her own, she could rule all by herself. As long as Buckman lived, there was no reason – even without Shaw – that she couldn't be successful. All she needed to do was to persuade the young man over to her side, and secure Buckman's mind for her own. Invoking the feeblest expression, she called out to the young man. "Sena! Help Me!"
Sena, in the midst of his panic at indirectly causing the death of another man, disregarded Emma's obvious playacting. "No thanks. I'm good. I've got my own shit to deal with."
Emma had no choice but to drop the act at his blatant refusal. "What do you mean no thanks!? We had an agreement! Now get moving and destroy these things!"
"Yeah we did, but it damn well wasn't this. To be totally honest I just followed you over here 'cuz I thought after a quick meeting we could have some more private time, which totally isn't the case anymore. And not that fighting these things isn't fun, but I just helped turn that guy into a pancake – my guardians are not gonna like this one bit! So I'm gonna get outta here before I kill more people by mistake."
Seeing the schism between the mutants, Ned Buckman immediately seized his chance and ordered the sentinel next to him.
Suddenly, a ray of destructive energy flew out of the sentinel's face heading directly for Sena. Not willing to waste anymore time, he formed a portal and intercepted the attack's trajectory, another portal manifested at the sentinel holding Emma down. The energy beam flashed out of the gateway taking the sentinel's head clean off and rendering it useless. "There, I helped you. Last ones all yours. I'm already way past my curfew."
"Wait!" Emma sloughed off the scrap metal and called out before he could run away. She had to quickly find some way to appeal to the powerful mutant. "Didn't you hear him? He knows about all the other mutants; I'm guessing you know more of them. If we don't get rid of it, they'll go after your family and friends. If you're worried about hurting humans, you can leave Buckman to me, I promise he wont come to physical harm."
Sena hesitated. She was right. Emma knew just what buttons to press. She was good. Sena clenched his jaw, he felt heat flash behind his ears. He had to control himself before his anger got the best of him. "Why do the hottest girls also have to be so damn manipulative?" he ground out. "Fine, I'm ending this – but I've got a few answers I need from generic villain number three over there."
Knowing that his strength alone was not sufficient to efficiently decimate the sentinel, he hoped the mystic arts would be more useful. A string of mandalas formed all the way up his arm, Sena slashed his arm at the last machine summoning an arc of powerful heat, bisecting the sentinel cleanly.
Emma jumped at this display of strange new techniques, this didn't feel like simple mutant powers. She'd have to put procuring the young man on hold for now; but that was okay, as long as she still had Buckman it would all be okay.
Buckman cowered, the sentinels had all been destroyed. He was entirely at their mercy.
Sena marched over to the downed man, easily lifting him up he shook for answers. "I know there's more! Where's the rest of your robot army?"
"It's too late! You can't stop Project Armageddon, the one man who could is dead. No matter what you do, all you mutants will perish!" Buckman raved like a generic bad guy.
Sena felt his temper slipping, he had to get answers out of him before he ended up hurting the ponce. "Frost! Read this guy's mind and tell me what he knows."
Dropping her diamond form, Emma sauntered over to them. Her confidence returned after the situation was restored in her favour. "And why would I do that? Put him down. You can go if you want now, I'll take care of the rest."
"Stop being so obtuse. This guy for sure has more of these things stashed away. If you think you can defeat them all by yourself then by all means refuse to help me. But you and I both saw how that turned out."
Emma hmph'd in offence. She was only prodding him a little, there was no need to be so heavy handed. "Fine, be that way." Her eyes flashed once, and she immediately ordered Buckman to divulge the location of the sentinel factory.
Using this information Sena created a large portal for them all to walk through. Entering the facility, the saw hundreds of them - all dormant thankfully. Emma gulped in worry, this would have totally decimated them. No ifs and or buts about it. Sena left Buckman next to her and decided to explore, he hoped to find some sort of big red self destruct button, he really couldn't be bothered to kill all these things individually.
Instead of a nice convenient plot device, he instead found it. The largest, most lethal looking sentinel so far. Unfortunately for Sena it appeared that as soon as he found the sentinel, the sentinel found him as well.
Unaware of these happenings, Emma was frantic as she interrogated Buckman. "How do we end this? How can I destroy these things?"
Buckman still under her control answered her truthfully. "You alone cannot. You must destroy the Master Mold. Without it the sentinels cannot be repaired, ordered, or used."
Sena suddenly came flying through the air and landed painfully near her. Loud thuds followed his arrival as a massive version of the sentinels made its presence known to the tow invaders plus Buckman. "Security breach detected. Master Mold confiscating all sentinel authority. Project Armageddon initiated. Begin extermination." Emma nervously looked up at the thirty-foot-tall goliath. She assumed she had her answer to what the Master Mold was.
The Master Mold's face unexpectedly split in half, energy began to be collected. Without warning it fired the shot at the three people. Sena immediately grabbed a hold of Emma and teleported them out of the attack's area of effect. Unfortunately for Ned Buckman, he was completely swallowed by the beam.
Emma shouted "No!" her last ticket to victory now turned entirely to dust.
"Not again!" Sena too shared his distress at Buckman's death, he'd inadvertently got another person killed, this was just great. It was his poking around where he shouldn't have that lead to this mess. He just had to go to Monaco, he just had to follow Frost over to her illuminati style club, he just had to investigate the murder machine factory. All because he didn't want to stay home and masturbate on the internet like he should have.
Standing up he took stock of his surroundings. The big robot was getting ready to fire again. Sena released a loud sigh, he'd gotten two people killed already, and if he didn't stop all these robots, ancients only knew how many would die because of unintentional actions. It was time to finish this.
If he was going to survive this and win he'd have to go all out, the big guy was way stronger than the other ones he'd fought. Emma was looking distraught in the direction of the pile of ashes that used to be a person, so clearly she'd be of no help. "Stay back. I'll have this done in no time. Keep out of my way and try not to die."
Unleashing his chi and manifesting a range of mandalas, he began the final offensive.
"Man that was fun! We should totally do this again." He surveyed the wreckage around him in satisfaction, getting to stretch his powers so freely really let him blow off some steam. There was no substitute for a real life or death battle, he'd thoroughly enjoyed himself.
Emma collapsed to her knees. It was gone, there was nothing left. How could this happen? She'd organized everything, one last step and she'd have ascended. There were no more contingencies, nothing left to salvage. Her suffering, her struggles – it was all in vain. Her powers were useless. All she could see were the mocking faces of her father, her sister, her teacher, and her ex – ridiculing her, enjoying her failure. She couldn't take it anymore. She was that vulnerable little girl from her childhood, all over again.
"Hey, Frost you with me? Emma?" He approached the kneeling girl, just as he reached down to shake her shoulders she suddenly leapt up and latched on to his neck and began wailing – loudly.
Sena flailed his hands as he lost his balance from the unexpected action. He quickly tried to pry her off himself, unable to stand the snot and tears being smeared all over his neck.
With an incredibly onomatopoetic Waaah! She'd clamped on like a limpet, and even with his strength Sena couldn't shake her off without hurting her. So all he could do was awkwardly pat her back. "Uh…there, there."
"Stop being nice to me! You're trying to trick me like everyone else! You probably just want to get into my panties!" Emma sobbed out, refusing to release her clutch.
"If you'll recall, we've already slept together." Was Sena's attempt at consolation.
"You just want more because I'm super duper hot!" her weeping persisted.
"Well clearly, you're not suffering from self-esteem issues."
She unclawed one hand from his neck and began beating his chest, crying all the way "Be better at this! You're supposed to make me feel better! Not worse!"
Sena heaved a deep sigh, wrapping his hands properly around her back, he began stroking her hair to soothe her. She tightened her grip again, even wrapping her legs around his waist. "It'll be alright. Don't worry I promise, you'll be fine."
It took a while, but after some time her bawling steadily trickled down into stilted sniffles. "No it won't. I have nothing. No-one. I have nowhere left to go. You can't promise anything will be okay." She stayed clung to Sena, refusing to acknowledge his ministrations while disallowing him to stop either.
"Well yeah, that's true… But it's not the type of thing you say to someone crying on your shoulder. If I did, you'd never stop – speaking of, can I stop now? My arm's getting really tired."
"…No. You're comforting skills needs serious revision. What am I going to do?"
"What do you wanna do?" Emma shook her head as much as she could from his shoulder, and just shrugged. "God, you're a handful!" stopping his tired arm rubbing her back, he dropped it down – coincidentally – to her butt, feeling the soft flesh in his hands he couldn't resist groping it. "Literally" he lamely joked.
Half out of scandal and half out of genuine amusement, Emma failed to stifle an emotional chuckle. "And you're a total pig. But you're sort of my only option right now, so suck it up."
"Alright! Enough moping already!" he peeled the other mutants off himself with liberal application of his inhuman strength. Taking her face in both of his hands he angled her face to meet his own, tear streaked makeup, rumpled hair, and a snot stained nose greeted him. "You look like an absolute mess. Listen, I don't really know your story or what's got you so down; but what I do know, is that the girl I'm currently holding is a mutant of awesome power. Telekinesis, telepathy, and that super sexy diamond thing. On top of that, you're evidently capable, you almost managed to rise to a position of high power and influence – essentially through your own efforts. Most importantly however, I'm sure that you'll eventually achieve your goals because you're really really really attractive. And everyone knows, the hotter you look the easier your life generally is."
Emma's chin immediately crumpled, her lips began quivering and the tears started falling once more. "You're being nice to me again! Stop!" smacking away his hands she hugged him again.
"I'm hungry, I'm sleepy, and I'm quickly getting cranky. I wanna go home, and since you said you've got nowhere to go I'm taking you with me. At the very least I can give you a place to pull yourself together - at best, I know a bald guy in a wheelchair who'd do his utmost to help you get your life in order. So, hold your breath I'm going to teleport us to my home." A nod of her head and a quiet okay signaled her acceptance.
Just as they were about to step through the portal into the Xavier mansion, a gargantuan mandala lit up and bathed the entire facility in an ocean of flames. Sena made sure to destroy the defeated Master Mold, every single sentinel, and probably a lot of the surrounding area as well. He wasn't going to leave any of this stuff intact.
"You failed to fulfil your promise Sena. You're home far later than I expected." Charles Xavier immediately made himself present upon their arrival. Sena was sure he'd been waiting for a while now.
Simply pointing at the crying woman attached to him "Extenuating circumstances. She's all yours, I'm grabbing a bite and heading to bed. I've got an early start." Sena met his professor's gaze and lightly tapped his temple, indicating to the elder man to read his thoughts. Charles understood and proceeded to do so, receiving an unvarnished recounting of the day's sequence of events.
"…I see. It seems you've had quite an eventful outing. Both of you. Miss Frost, if you would please follow me, we should adjourn to a more comfortable setting for our uncomfortable discussion."
Emma Frost threw a pleading look at Sena, unsure of what to do in her vulnerable state and seeking the guidance of the one person she could use as her safety blanket. Sena flicked his head towards the bald professor, clearly telling her it was no problem and to follow the man. Gingerly, she finally released her death grip on the boy and nervously followed behind Xavier.
Sena stretched, yawned, and hurriedly made his way to the kitchen. He was done for the night – come Hel or high water.
The two telepathic mutants were facing each other, Charles calmly began "I would like to try an exercise miss Frost, have you ever telepathically convened with another?" Emma shook her head in the negative. "Then this will be a novel experience for you. In the interest of expediting this process as well as to provide you with an honest depiction of who I am and what it is I do, I invite you to read through my memories. I am providing you with unfettered access to my mind, I ask that you not abuse this trust." He warned.
"Will you want the same from me?" Emma was shrewd and understood the man's intentions, her guard was up – no amount of vulnerability would be acceptable in this moment.
"If you would allow me in miss Frost, and only then. It is impossible to hide the truth in this manner, and we as telepaths can find assurance that the knowledge, thoughts, emotions, and every other sensation is reliable to the extreme. I want you to be sure of me, and vice-versa. I'd also be lying if I said it is a much faster process – it is rather late after all and I'm an old man." Charles tacked on hoping to diffuse the tension.
Emma smiled gratefully at him, it was small, but conveyed her gratitude for his reassurance and patience with her. She dove in, she saw the last few years of the Xavier School, she felt Charlee's motivations, his hopes and fears for mutants, for herself, she even felt his thoughts on Sena. Which is exactly what greatly affected Emma; in what felt like the first time in her life she felt honesty, sincerity, kindness – without ulterior motivations - from another person. It was novel.
So she opened up too. She showed Xavier the major events of her life, the scorn of her family, the discovery of her powers, her relationship with her teacher and his subsequent abandonment, her striking out on her own, her time at the casino where another man uncovered her powers and tried to use her for his own gain – and then finally Sebastian Shaw coming to her rescue when the other man had gotten her into deep trouble.
She'd sensed hope at that time as well, but Sebastian Shaw took no time in demonstrating just what caliber of man he was. A dangerously megalomaniacal criminal, the most powerful mutant she'd met, and a sexually obsessed little cretin.
Emma was not shy or unashamed when she introduced Charles to the extent she had gone to in service of the Hellfire Club. Her crimes, her corruption, her transgressions – she hid nothing. He'd been honest with her, she now knew what the Xavier School meant and represented, she understood. She wanted Charles to make his decisions with all the information she could provide.
"It seems to me miss Frost, that you've had a rather tough go at it." Xavier broke the silence.
Emma smiled in self deprecation, it didn't quite reach her eyes. "I wish I could say it was all entirely someone else's fault. Are you really sure I'm worth your efforts? Worth redemption? With the things I've done?"
Charles leaned back and studied the woman – girl – before him. "Everybody deserves a second chance miss Frost. Had I the same defeatist mentality as you, I'd not be sitting here right now. Mutants are a rare breed nowadays miss Frost and had it not been for your and Sena's efforts we may have soon been an extinct species."
"That was out of desperation. If I didn't fight I'd have died. I'd not have survived anyway if it wasn't for Sena. Those Sentinels…"
"Perhaps, yet given the chance to flee alone or aid someone else, you chose the latter. That shows me, given the right opportunity you have the capability to do good. You are worth helping as much as any other miss Frost. If I am to be completely honest, I am far more sure of your motivations, then some of my own students – people I personally have spent large periods of time with. Sena in particular comes to mind, I have no question that he will always do the right thing, yet his methods and convictions at times leave a lot to be desired. Even at his young age he comes off as -"
"A bloodthirsty lecher?" Emma interrupted him.
"Not the exact words I would have used, but I cannot deny the accuracy."
"Sometimes, I feel like its fate that these perverts keep finding me. But… he's sweet."
"I do apologize for derailing our conversation for a moment, but I am constantly fascinated by Sena's effect on people. He's clearly displayed some terrible character flaws, yet somehow he's charismatic enough to have drawn a favorable impression from you. Care to share your insights?"
Emma blushed slightly, but quickly reverted to a more controlled expression. In all the memories she'd shared, Emma kept the more intimate moments private. "Not particularly, no."
"Very well. Returning to our original discussion – what would you like to do miss Frost? On behalf of the Xavier institute I want to offer you a place at the school. We have many children and far fewer educators. You have an abundance of experience in various field, namely economics, and technology – and importantly you have exceptional control over your gifts. I won't force you miss Frost, the choice is entirely yours."
Sena had given her an opportunity, Xavier was attemting to help her too. Emma was, more than ever, aware of the potion she was in. The precipice she stood on. Emma considered the path she was on prior to this night – either she'd have died at the had of Lang and his Sentinels, been used and discarded by Shaw, or by some small chance succeeded all by herself. But now, she could do something else, something worthwhile, something she had wanted to do since her youth. It was time to choose.
Emma steadied herself with a deep breath. Allowing a small smile to show on her face, she looked to Charles and decided. "I've always wanted to be a teacher."
Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters, One Week Later
Sena stretched his hands over his head and let out a loud tired yawn. His master had really worked him hard over the past week – he'd relayed his performance against the sentinels and she'd deemed him inadequate.
He thought he was exemplary, he practically played around with those specially developed death machines all the while protecting another person. What did 'Power without discipline and action without thought for consequence' even mean? Sena actually knew what she meant, didn't mean he had the grace to accept it without complaint.
He dropped his bag on his bed, he should go report in to Charles or Ororo – whoever he found first. As usual, he'd teleported in and not used the front door like a normal person.
Immediately he ran into another body as he exited his door – a very nice one. "Check it out! Xavier school just got a whole lot frostier." Sena bent down and offered Emma a helping hand up.
Emma groaned at the lame excuse for a joke "I sincerely hope your cleverer in classes."
"I'm pretty surprised you decided to stick around; pleasantly. Can't believe Xavier talked you into being a teacher."
Emma narrowed and flashed her eyes with power "How did you know? Can you read my mind now too?" She was still wary of the plethora of abilities he had shown off during their initial encounter.
"Because you're talking like we're going to see each other in lessons, and considering you're far too old to be a student…well." Emma released her hold on her powers and relaxed. She also noticed her hand was still in his, Emma felt she should have shaken him off by now but neither of them had done so yet.
Looking around she spotted a few students down the hallway, Emma tightened her grip on his hand and led him back into the room he came out of. "I need to talk to you, do you have a minute?" Sena looked at her in slight confusion and allowed her to guide him back in and shut his door behind them.
She finally let go of his hand and prepared herself. Expressing genuine gratitude was an alien concept to her and she was doing her best. Sena watched her as she readied for what appeared to be an important declaration. To ease her into it he walked over to his bed and took a seat allowing her some space and talking a position of lower power to make her feel more comfortable. Eventually she managed to gather herself. "I just wanted to thank you. For what happened with the Hellfire Club and also for bringing me here. I know that it wasn't easy trusting me enough to bring me to your home, I've only been here a week but I really feel as if this is a new path forward for me and I really owe it to you for that – why are you taking off your pants!?"
Sena looked up from where he was bent over, pants halfway down his legs. Startled by Emma's sudden shout he stood up fully, letting his pants fall to the floor and pool around his ankles. Sena titled his head in confusion as he studied her for a moment. "I thought it was obvious. You seem really stressed out so I thought I'd help relieve some."
"Is that really all that goes through your head? We can't be involved in this kind of illicit relationship. I'm your teacher now!"
"That's the best part." Sena said matter of factly. Emma just gaped at him in openmouthed shock. "So you don't want to?"
Emma collected herself, she rose upright brushed her silken hair behind her ears. She tilted her hair back as if in a show of arrogance but the red colouring of her cheeks gave her away. "…I-I didn't say that."
Sena beamed at Emma, kicking off his pants he approached her. "I guess I'm going to have to be very late checking in."
Next: The Avengers
