Chapter 13 "What can I do for you, Nick?" Harry asked as he phased directly into Fury's office.
Harry could tell Fury was quite distraught internally because of the black man's emotions and for the fact that Fury didn't try to censure Harry for phasing into the heart of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s headquarters.
"We have had an incident in West Virginia. In a small town over 265 people are dead, their bodies vaporized," Fury explained. "A new mutant, a fifteen year old boy, came into his powers."
"Shit," Harry said as he sat down in front of Fury's desk. "How exactly is he vaporizing them?" Harry questioned.
"The probes we sent in are detecting news kinds of toxins and poisons. He is essentially vaporizing any organic matter that gets close. The kid is currently hiding out in a cave outside of town," Fury explained. "I know we have discussed time travel before and that you are capable of it. You have refused to help in the past...but my only recourse here is to send Logan in to put down the kid if you can't help me."
Harry was silent for quite some time as he thought over the situation.
"I have several alternatives to time travel I could pursue such as wiping the boy's memories of the deaths and locking down his powers. I could take him off of this planet and train him to control his powers on his own," Harry explained. "But that wouldn't help the 265 dead people. Time travel is perhaps the best option. Give me the boy's address, his name, and the coordinates for the cave he is hiding in if you have it. I will take care of it."
It didn't even need to be said that if this got out that a mutant had caused this incident unintentionally then mutants worldwide would immediately be attacked. Fury slid a slip of paper over to Harry.
"Take Widow with you, please," Fury requested. "No matter how powerful you are I don't like you going on missions like this alone."
"My time travel methods aren't so friendly to mortals unless I take special precautions. I'll do this but my way," Harry answered and with that he was gone.
Fury had been hoping to gather some information from Widow on Demire's time travel methods. It had been a long shot anyway. Widow had likely become compromised since she had gotten so close to Demire.
Harry appeared above the house Bill 'Billy' Hansen lived in with his mother Cindy. He was cloaked and sent a scanning spell down into the house below. Nobody was present and the toxins had dissipated. He flew down into the house and phased right through the structure until he was in Billy's room. Harry saw many superhero posters of the X-Men and even himself adorning the walls. He sent out a spell which revealed to
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him the history of what had happened in the structure for the last seven hours (when Fury had told him the incident had started). It didn't take long for Harry to see everything that had happened. Then Harry phased back in time seven hours.
Harry was invisible as he floated down and stunned Cindy Hansen before sending her clothes onto the kitchen floor. Billy would find the clothes and think it odd but would leave a note for his mother on the fridge before leaving for school. Harry sent Cindy into an empty room within his magical trunk to sleep. He waited until Billy woke up and watched the scene play out as the teen looked for breakfast before school. But Billy had vaporized all of the organic food. Harry flew ahead of Billy and sent each living being Billy came within a half a mile of into the trunk to sleep while leaving their clothes behind. Billy only found their clothes. When Billy approached the school there was too many people for his toxic powers to harm at once.
Harry began weaving a complex web of illusions and switching spells. Billy only briefly talked with a girl he was dating before the eyes and mouths of the people around him exploded in a fiery light and their skin began to shrivel and darken as they disintegrated from within.
Billy's girlfriend Megan managed to say, "It's you."
Then Megan died horribly. At that point Billy had enough sense to get the hell out of town. He ran towards the cave he had played in when he was younger. Harry followed Billy and watched as the teen went into shock.
"Well that was a pretty horrific life experience," Harry said as he became visible and conjured a warm fire in the center of the cave.
"Stay back," Billy cried before he even saw who was visiting. "I'll hurt you."
"Relax, Billy," Harry said while conjuring a chair for both himself and Billy. "You can't hurt me."
"You're Spider-Man," Billy cried in surprise when he laid eyes on his visitor.
"Yep," Harry confirmed.
"I think I just killed a whole bunch of people," Billy admitted. "I think I killed my mom."
"Nobody is dead," Harry assured. "I rescued them all but you had to think you killed them to preserve the timeline I traveled back from."
"You can travel back in time?" Billy asked. "They're really not dead?"
In order to prove what he said Harry summoned Carol Hansen (with clothing) out of his trunk and woke her. Carol woke sitting in another conjured chair and surrounded by a protective shield.
"Billy, what is going on?" Carol asked as she looked around her bewildered. Billy quickly explained to his mother what had happened to him and what Spider-Man had told him. Carol was silent for some time. "Can you help my son, Spider-Man?" Carol finally asked with pleading eyes.
"As we have been speaking my technology has been locking down his x-gene. I will be able to reactivate it in controlled conditions should we ever decide Billy wants to learn to control his abilities," Harry explained.
"Why would I ever want to do that?" Billy honestly asked.
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"If aliens ever try invading the Earth again you may be able to learn to target your powers at them," Harry explained. "I help run an Institute to train mutants. We can help you."
"Will he have to leave home?" Carol asked.
"Actually it would probably be better if you both moved and assumed new identities. As you probably know I am one of the Ultimates who work with S.H.I.E.L.D. While they are generally alright people I wouldn't trust them too much if I could help it. They were the ones who sent me here. I can help you take on new identities so you aren't on their radar. They would be awfully interested in Billy even though I have locked down his powers," Harry suggested.
"She is now immune to his toxins," Lily informed her creator. Harry dropped the shield around Carol and she looked questioningly at him.
"I just finished making you immune to Billy's active powers. We can discuss that more later but if you are agreeable we should get you moved," Harry suggested.
Carol nodded her agreement, saying, "Anything for Billy."
It was pretty easy to actually just magically pick up Carol's entire home and relocate it. Lily took care of the paperwork and new identities. The people in the town rescued were told a chemical spill had caused the incident and Harry modified their memories accordingly. Fury wasn't happy that he couldn't get his hands on Billy Hansen but knew that was the cost of doing business with Harry. Plus it was a small price to pay for saving all of those lives.
"I did it," Storm declared happily as she walked into the room she shared with Harry and Jean at the Institute.
Jean was sitting in one of the comfortable chairs in their room reading a book. Harry was at a desk on his computer. They both looked up to see the miniature thunderstorm complete with rain, lightning, and dark clouds contained between her spread palms.
"Congratulations," Jean said with a grin.
"I knew you could do it," Harry said while Storm came to a stop in front of him. "Do you feel the better control you are gaining over your abilities?"
"Yes, it is much easier to sense all the variables in the storm at this scale," Storm answered. "I will still need to study everything in detail but I think this will be a great exercise for me." Storm caused her miniature maelstrom to dissipate and plopped down in a chair next to Jean. "So what is the word from Washington?"
"I think the President is being advised to distance himself from the X-Men given the whole debacle with Xavier," Harry answered. "He doesn't plan on switching to an anti-mutant stance but he wants a different team that isn't tainted by Charles Xavier."
"Do you know who he might get for this new team?" Storm asked.
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Jean answered before Harry could, explaining, "He doesn't know yet because he doesn't want to use his advanced technology or telepathy to spy on Washington."
"Why not?" Storm asked with confusion.
"Because he likes a little mystery," Jean answered. "I think this is one of those things we are still too young to understand."
"I wish you would just tell us how old you really are," Storm told her boyfriend. Storm, Jean, and the other women in Harry's life had all tried guessing his true age but he wasn't telling. "A man needs a little mystery about him or you ladies would get bored with him," Harry rebutted.
"Harry, I think you are probably the least boring male on this planet right now," Jean pointed out. "I have never been bored with you and I doubt I ever will." Harry thought that Jean just hadn't lived long enough. As if sensing his thoughts Jean added, "No matter how long we live."
Harry's communicator vibrated in his pocket and drew it out and saw that Scott was calling. Harry activated the holo-interface and Scott's image came up in front of the trio.
"What's up, Scott?" Harry prompted.
Jean, Storm, and Harry could see that Bobby and Kitty were standing nearby Scott. Scott, Bobby, and Kitty had gone to New Orleans via the transporter to check out a singer named Dazzler. Dazzler was a mutant who intended to expose her mutant nature to the public if her recent digital activity was anything to go by. Lily had detected Dazzler's intentions digitally.
"Magneto would have a field day with this Dazzler chick. She has so many piercings he could detect her ten miles away," Scott commented. "We found out why she wants to out herself...she wants to be signed for an album."
"You're kidding," Jean replied.
"Nope," Scott answered. "Someone else has already been here to talk to her but she won't say who. She said she would work with whoever signs her for an album."
"So she is risking being targeted for death in order to advance her music career," Storm clarified. "This sounds like a case of natural selection. She's going to get herself killed due to stupidity."
"We want to stick around the city for a while and see the sights," Scott informed Harry. "That's fine," Harry assured. "We can't save them all. Have fun." The hologram shut down and Harry pocketed his communicator. "Maybe she'll wise up after someone tries to kill her," Jean mused.
"If she survives the lesson," Storm replied.
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The X-Men were assembled in the kitchen of the Institute. Harry had called them there to inform them of something.
"Hank is no longer with us," Harry announced. "Did he die?" Rogue asked.
"No, he just left the Institute," Harry assured. "Why?" Scott questioned.
"He didn't leave a note or anything but we know he left voluntarily. He packed his items and I know he is traveling to Washington. I sent him an email which I know he read asking him why he left. He didn't answer," Harry explained.
"If we have to guess it is probably because of his unrequited feelings for me," Storm admitted. "And also the issue with Xavier may have been a factor in Hank leaving. Hank more sided with Xavier than anyone else."
It was well known among the X-Men but never spoken of that Hank had possessed feelings for Storm. But Storm was with Harry.
"If that is the case the email from you might not have been the best approach," Scott told Harry. "I also sent him an email," Storm added. "He chose to ignore that as well."
"This is just my feeling but if he is willing to take off like that without so much as a freaking note...then do we really want him here?" Kitty asked.
"To be honest I am surprised he came back after Xavier went on the run," Jean suggested.
"Well for now I will keep an eye on him but we won't be forcing him to come back," Harry said. "Hank is an adult and can make his own choices. We just wanted to let you know in case you were wondering where he was at."
With that announcement made the group broke up. Jean, Harry, and Storm headed back to their room. Storm broached a sensitive subject.
"How are you doing with Logan being back, Jean?" Storm asked.
The trio sat down in a love-seat Harry had transfigured just for them. Logan's return to the Institute had been tense at first. But tensions seemed to have cooled somewhat.
"You mean since I telekinetically launched him miles away from the White House? Or is it the fact that the only reason Logan didn't assassinate Charles was because of his obsession with me? Or maybe his attempted murder of Scott?" Jean asked wryly.
"Yes," Storm answered.
"I have come to realize that Logan's immortal nature combined with the really fucked up shit that Weapon X put him through are responsible for his volatile personality. I think lately that being here has actually been doing him some good," Jean explained. "You may have noticed I haven't been so cold with him."
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"I think everyone has noticed," Harry assured. "He knows not to fuck with me," Jean explained. "After I put those psychic blocks in place I think he is really learning."
"Well just in case the psychic blocks aren't enough I have had cloaked probes following Logan which can telekinetically manipulate him. They can keep him from harming anyone who doesn't deserve it," Harry informed his lovers.
"That does make me feel better about the situation," Jean mused. "I figured you had done something like that," Storm said. The lovers just enjoyed each other's company for the next half hour before taking a nap.
"I hope this meeting goes better than the last time you called me in here like this," Harry said as he sat down next to Jean in Nick Fury's office. "What can we do for you, Nick?"
Nick was silent for several moments as he contemplated his two visitors. Before the events where Xavier went on the run Fury would have delivered this warning to Xavier. But times had changes greatly and it started with Harry Demire's arrival in this universe if the superhero's story was to be believed.
"My Black Ops division has been investigating who was behind Wolverine's recent run-in with rogue Weapon-X soldiers," Fury explained. "We have no hard proof mind you but what we have discovered is leading us to believe that there is a group within the highest levels of the U.S. government which believes Xavier and you two are using your telepathic powers to manipulate the President into his new pro-mutant agenda."
"Harry's telepathy isn't widely known about," Jean pointed out.
"But his abilities are on certain high level government reports and these people are high enough to see those reports," Fury replied.
"Meaning S.H.I.E.L.D. reports," Harry clarified.
Fury didn't answer that point.
"I don't trust easily but I believe you two aren't manipulating people like that. I wouldn't get as pissed off and frustrated with you as I do at times if you were," Fury said. "Would you two know if Xavier would do it?"
"He could do it but he isn't. Otherwise he would have been pardoned," Jean explained. "I thought as much," Fury said. "You don't know who they all are, do you?" Harry surmised.
"No. I suspect some of them but I can't make any accusations without absolute proof. They generally have more pull than me," Fury answered, obviously frustrated by this fact. "I told you already about the new
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mutant team the President was picking to distance himself from your group and Xavier." "But not any of the specifics," Harry confirmed with a nod.
"Well I have some more specifics today. The announcement comes out about them today. They are led by a schoolteacher from Chicago named Emma Frost," Fury explained.
"I think she was a former student of Charles'," Jean announced.
"Yes, and they were romantically involved for a time," Fury added. "Henry McCoy is also among this group. Alex Summers who I believe is the brother of one of your group members is part of the President's new posse. You didn't hear any of this from me. I have said all I can legally."
"Your message is loud and clear," Harry said as he rose and took Jean's hand as she did too. "We will take care of it."
Washington, D.C., Later that day...
Harry tuned out the president's speech knowing Lily would catalog it for later while he concentrated on scanning his environment. He analyzed the new mutants up on the capitol building steps beside the president. Beast stood crouched next to the mutant Scott had gone to New Orleans to recruit with Bobby and Kitty, Dazzler was her name. The two mutants behind them, one female and one male, Harry didn't recognize right away. Next to these mutants Emma Frost stood. The other mutants wore somewhat matching body armor. Emma wore a white leather number with a cape. Harry and the X-Men were wearing holographic disguises for the moment so they wouldn't be noticed. The time for disguises vanished as part- way through the speech three sentinels arrived on scene hovering over the crowd.
Harry's remote probes which were cloaked raised a dome shaped energy barrier around the crowd just before the sentinels opened up with deadly greenish-eyebeams. The barrier held against the onslaught. The president's security detail went rather wild and tried getting the president away.
"I suggest you don't take him out from under the dome protecting us," Harry shouted over the screams as the holographic disguises he and his people wore vanished. The X-Men were revealed in all of their glory. "The shield is one-way-permeable. Your attacks can go out but the sentinel's attacks can't get through."
"That is what I'm talking about," Bobby said as he directed an ice-beam at one sentinel even as Storm and Cyclops opened up with lightning bolts and optic blasts respectively.
Jean set a telekinetic spike bigger than several people on top of the shield dome and Harry sent out webbing to wrap around the nearest sentinel's head. He pulled the sentinel's face right down and onto the spike. The sentinel's head exploded and the body felt to the ground with a heavy thud. Harry flew through the shield and straight through the head of the second sentinel even as Storm and Cyclops both opened up with lightning and optic blasts respectively on the same third sentinel. The third sentinel exploded from the dual onslaught.
The fight was over before the president's new mutants even got their hands out of their pockets on national television. Several S.H.I.E.L.D. helicopters landed nearby and Fury exited with several teams of men to secure the area. Natasha was among them. That was when Harry learned that one of the president's new mutants (the unidentified woman) was really a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent known as Karma.
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Harry overheard Emma Frost say to her charges, "I am getting the hell out of here and if you are smart you will do the same thing. Those sentinels were controlled by part of the U.S. government. Obviously something is not right here."
"I'll go with you," Hank volunteered. "You are welcome to come to the Institute for a while," Harry told the others. "We should have a talk."
Karma was already off with Fury and the other unidentified mutant had slipped off somewhere in the chaos. Lily had searched all databases and found an identity match as Remy Lebaux Codenamed Gambit. One by one the others agreed.
"Because of outing yourselves like that you are now targets for the world media," Jean pointed out to Allison (Dazzler) and Alex.
"We don't tell you this to make you feel bad. We tell you this to point out a reality. You will have a place here to hide away from the media or others who are pursuing you if you ever need it," Harry offered. "This place is a refuge for mutants."
"Of course if you become serial killer scumbags that offer is rescinded," Storm added. "Thank you," Alex said. "Scott, could we talk?" Scott nodded and gestured in a particular direction. "I think I would like to learn more about this place," Dazzler said.
"I'll give you the tour," Storm offered. Ororo and Dazzler left the room to begin their tour.
"How are things with the mutant haters in the upper levels of our government?" Jean asked, knowing her boyfriend was keeping tabs on events.
"As Fury suspected after today's attack the president authorized hunting down the anti-mutant faction. Several very high level people are now out of play. One even killed himself rather than be taken alive," Harry answered.
"Is it wrong that I don't feel bad about that?" Jean questioned.
"Not at all," Harry assured as he pulled his girlfriend into a hug. "Those douche-bags tried killing us and others. They deserve everything that is coming to them."
"Just checking," Jean said. "I just don't want to turn into a heartless bitch."
Harry drew Jean to look at him with a hand under her chin and assured, "You are very warm and caring. You could never be heartless."
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Jean smiled warmly and kissed Harry. Jean loved that her boyfriend was always able to say just what was needed to make her feel better.
"How did the mission go?" Jean asked Kurt and Warren as the two males returned from a recruitment mission.
"It was a no-go," Warren answered. "Boubier was non-receptive."
Jean Pierre Boubier was a recently expressed mutant in New York. Kurt and Warren had been sent to talk to him.
"I may have startled him with my appearance," Kurt admitted.
"He kind of fell off the skyscraper we found him on," Warren added.
"What was he doing on top of a skyscraper?" Kitty queried.
Kitty and several of the other X-Men had been playing some board games with Harry, Jean, and Storm as a way to hang out and bond with their fellow mutants.
"We thought he was going to jump," Kurt admitted. "Warren caught him when he fell." "He was very hateful of mutants. He called us freaks," Warren explained. "He also talked about being gay."
"Ah ok...he isn't accepting of himself so he is very abrasive. That is a pretty common mentality among homosexuals I have run across as a telepath," Jean explained. "Usually they eventually get over that."
"What did his power end up being?" Kitty asked. "He was a speedster," Kurt answered. "That would have been useful," Storm commented. "Where are Bobby, Rogue, Colossus, and Logan at?" Warren asked. "And Scott, Alex, and Alison," Kurt added.
"Bobby froze the pool again so he and Rogue are skating," Kitty answered with a roll of her eyes. "I think Alison joined them."
"Emma Frost called and invited any students who wanted to come visit to come up to her school in Chicago," Storm explained. "Scott and Alex went up to visit though I don't think Scott plans to stick around too long."
"Logan and Colossus are practicing in the danger room," Jean explained. "They needed to burn off some steam."
"What is the deal with this Emma Frost woman? Why is she contacting us after how things went in Washington?" Warren said while dropping onto one of the couches. "I didn't get the feeling she wanted anything to do with us."
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"I asked her much the same thing," Harry replied. "She explained her feelings of betrayal were rather high between the way Charles has gone and the way the government has treated her."
"Understandable," Warren pointed out. "What does she want now?"
"Emma is interested in learning more about our agenda now that the Institute is under new management," Harry explained.
"Or so she says," Jean sent.
"Only time will tell," Storm added.
"She is pretty hot," Warren announced. This earned him stares from the others present. "What, she is."
"She is," Kurt agreed. "But she is probably already planning on sleeping with Harry."
"You do have an unusual habit of sleeping with a lot of the women around here," Warren pointed out.
"It isn't his fault he is so damn hot," Kitty rebutted firmly. This caused the others to look at her with raised eyebrows. "It's the truth."
"It wasn't purely Harry's decision for us to be with him," Jean pointed out.
"It was our choice too," Storm said. "Now, are you two going to play some Monopoly, Uno, or another game or are you going to sit here and talk about Harry's skill with us ladies?"
"We'll play some games," Warren agreed. "We will continue to ignore the apparent sex god in our midst." "He has no idea," Storm sent to Jean.
Harry sat down in the room he shared with Jean and Ororo and contemplated recent events. Five mutants had just been shot dead by a man with glowing red eyes and a red diamond-shaped symbol on his forehead. Four of the five had died and the fifth had only survived because of his super-speed but had been badly wounded. Jean and Ororo had extracted enough of Harry's special potion to revive the four recently deceased mutants. The shooter had possessed no identifying markings other than a tattoo on his right arm which read Sinister. The shooter being dubbed Sinister possessed some kind of hypnotic power. There were no traces of residual telepathy in the victim's systems that could be detected so the power was something else. All five victims had been moved to safe-houses because they were presumably still targets.
"I can't believe the reaction of that one cop," Ororo declared as she sat down in a chair, her face angry.
"I had to resist cooking him in his skin. To suggest Emily would have been better off dead than a mutant because her mutation deformed her appearance...what a bastard," Jean added as she too sat down, on Harry's lap.
"There will always be idiots like that. Their attitude is the result of a lack of education," Harry explained. "Logan couldn't find anything, Harry," Lily informed her creator.
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Harry relayed this information to his two ladies. "This guy wasn't on any cameras either. So what do we do now?" Ororo asked.
"If he was only visible by eyesight then we need eyewitnesses. Let's go with the X-Men to the neighborhoods of the attack and look for eyewitnesses," Harry suggested.
Harry had risen as he talked and walked over to the window which looked out the back of the mansion. Ororo and Jean joined him at the window. The X-Men were busy working an exercise which simulated two different teams trying to retrieve explosives. A football was the explosive device. Scott was leading the exercise.
"Do you ever wish you were out there with them and didn't know the things you know behind the scenes?" Harry asked his two ladies.
"Not really," Ororo answered. "I would rather know than not."
"I agree," Jean added. "Plus the fringe benefits are phenomenal," she added with a sultry grin.
"Yes, definitely," Ororo agreed with her friend.
"Bobby seems to be fitting back in pretty nicely," Jean noted as she watched Ice-Man freeze parts of Warren's wings.
Warren dropped to the ground and Bobby retrieved the football. Then Kitty snatched it right out from Bobby's grasp.
"She forgot it was an explosive and her powers might set it off," Ororo noted.
"Let's remind her," Harry suggested as he opened the window and sent a transfiguration spell out at the football.
The football shifted into an actual explosive device. Immediately Kitty screeched as it started shorting out and the explosive went off. The yard was coated with whipped topping as were the X-Men in it. Jean and Ororo broke into laughter.
"You just can't resist covering people in your white cream can you, Harry?" Jean teased her lover when she had stopped her giggles.
"Better watch it or we'll nickname you Money Shot," Ororo added. "Hmm...that might be a fun nickname," Jean mused. "Don't even think about it," Harry said with a mock growl. "Or what," Jean challenged.
"You'll cover us with your white cream?" Ororo added. "I won't cover you with any cream for a month," Harry rebutted.
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"You wouldn't do that, Harry," Jean assured.
"Don't try me," Harry answered, not serious.
"I'm calling your bluff, Money Shot," Ororo challenged.
"Time for a spanking," Harry said and slowly grabbed for the storm raiser.
Ororo danced aside with a squeal and fled. Harry gave chase. Jean telekinetically summoned a cloud of whipped topping and followed.
The X-Jet hovered over a building in Harlem as the X-Men departed onto the roof of the building.
"Let's split into groups of three," Scott suggested. "The remaining person can pilot the jet and keep an over- watch position in stealth mode."
"Sounds good," Harry agreed. "Ororo, would you go with Logan and Bobby? Kitty, come with Jean and I. Scott, how about you go with Colossus and Rogue?"
Those present nodded in agreement.
"We'll take midtown Manhattan," Colossus announced.
"We've got downtown," Ororo said.
"And we'll cover Harlem," Jean added.
"If you see Sinister use your communicators to let us know," Harry advised. "With his hypnotic stare you don't want to engage him on your own."
Harry took Kitty and Jean's hands and teleported away to another section of Harlem, another rooftop.
"Your teleporting feels so much different than Kurt's," Kitty noted. "I admit I prefer the non-sulphur and brimstone smelling version."
"I think he will eventually learn how to leave that behind," Harry mused.
"According to Cerebro Harlem has the densest concentration of mutants in all of Manhattan. So if Sinister wants more targets this is the best place for him to look," Jean put forth.
At that moment a figure burst out of the stairwell onto the roof. This figure was all black absorbing all light except for his eyes which glowed with an orange light as did his hands.
"I have been waiting for you cowards to show yourself on my turf," Roberto DaCosta (A.K.A. Sunspot) declared as he sent a concentrated beam of solar energy at the trio.
Harry was going to raise a shield but Jean beat him to it and stepped into the beam. Her aura of fiery energy flared around her and she waited until the blast stopped.
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"That was pathetically weak, Roberto," Jean said. "But it felt good. This is a real blast of fire," she said as he sent out a blast of mildly hot fire at Roberto and knocked him on his ass.
"Who are you?" Kitty asked Roberto.
"Who are you?" Roberto demanded.
"We're the X-Men. You should ask who someone is before you blast them," Kitty pointed out.
"So you lot have finally decided to descend from your ivory towers and grace us with your presence. Well you help isn't needed or wanted. Our neighborhood watch can protect us," Roberto declared.
"Clearly," Harry said wryly. "The guy you should be worried about is called Sinister," he explained while projecting an image of Sinister. "If you aren't powered up in your protective state he can put a bullet in your head before you see him. That isn't even mentioning his hypnotic powers."
"Whatever," Roberto said while heading back towards the stairwell. "Just stay out of our business."
"They're so welcoming in Harlem," Kitty said sarcastically.
"That guy could use some training," Jean observed.
"Something tells me he wouldn't want it from our Institute," Harry noted earning nods of agreement from the two women with him.
Scott, Rogue, and Colossus did not have much better luck in their search for Sinister. They tried finding the supplier of the gun Sinister had used in the attacks via some of Colossus' old Russian arms dealer compatriots. Those compatriots tried killing the trio. The attempt did not go without retaliation. Rogue's group had better luck.
"Harry, we got a lead," Ororo said over her communicator. "A tattoo artist identified Sinister as a man named Essex who lives close by here."
"Where are you at?" Harry replied.
Ororo gave a location. Harry teleported over to that location with the rest of his group.
"Is there anyone inside?" Logan asked.
"Nobody I can sense. But that isn't a guarantee given how he apparently has the power to evade certain monitoring techniques such as cameras and your sense of smell," Jean replied.
"We should double up when we go in and leave some out here to cover things," Scott suggested.
"Kurt is overhead in the X-Jet," Harry announced. "Storm and Jean will take that window. Kitty and Bobby, you cover that window. Colossus, Logan, you take the main door. Rogue, you Scott, and I will stay out here and cover the building."
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The X-Men all nodded in agreement. When Harry gave the signal they breached. Sinister as it turned out was not inside. Harry entered a few minutes after the team breached. Sinister A.K.A. Nathaniel Essex had a messy apartment. In one of the apartment's rooms there stood a manikin. The dummy was cloaked in a blue cape and sported strangely appointed blue paint on parts of the face.
"What do you think that is all about?" Ororo asked.
"Beats me," Kitty said while looking at the manikin.
"There appears to be a residual energy in the manikin that I do not recognize. It may be alien in origin,"
Lily informed her creator. "There is a possibly alien residual energy in that manikin," Harry informed his teammates. "So Essex could be an alien?" Rogue questioned.
"I don't think he himself is one but he could be. More likely he is being influenced by an alien or maybe just someone from Earth who has harnessed a vastly different type of energy than I have encountered before," Harry explained.
"Well whatever he is I think I know who he is going after next," Scott said while staring at one wall. "Who?" Kitty asked. "Us," Logan said. "He is probably heading towards the Institute. We should go after him there."
Coming after the X-Men on their home turf was a bad move, especially taking into consideration the wards Harry had installed. The X-Men swiftly left Essex's apartment for their home. Harry made sure to erect some alerts charms which would tell him if Essex returned there before repairing the damage of their entrance. Harry didn't want to alert Essex to the X-Men's visit.
The X-Men reached the mansion to find Nathaniel Essex screaming in agony as the murderer tried to force his way through the wards. The wards were visibly glowing and attacking Essex.
"Jean, with me," Harry directed. "The rest of you hold back and use distance attacks if necessary to avoid his hypnotic powers."
Jean nodded as she followed her boyfriend to the jet's rear ramp.
"I'll be on the roof. Those wards are putting out a good amount of juice but if Essex gets feisty I can call down a hell of a lot more power on him," Storm suggested.
"I'll join you," Scott added.
Logan kept the jet hovering at a specific altitude. He hoped it was close enough for their range attacks to have an effect but far enough away to avoid Essex's hypnotics.
Jean and Harry landed side by side.
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"Give up, Essex. No further harm needs to come to you," Harry called. "Kill each other," Essex called while the jewel shape on his forehead glowed bright red.
Both telepaths felt a strong presence try to influence them. But Jean and Harry brushed the presence aside. Essex's eyes grew wide in surprise at the resistance displayed by his opponents. He drew two chrome-plated 45's and began shooting at the couple. Jean had already raised a telekinetic shield in anticipation of this move and the bullets bounced off. One bullet ricocheted back and hit Essex in the knee. He just grunted but didn't stop firing until his magazines were empty.
"Are you ready to surrender now?" Jean asked.
The lightning discharges and minor telekinetic blasts from the mansion's wards had continually been hammering Essex but while the murderer appeared to be in pain he had neither advanced or backed off. Lily had taken the opportunity to start scanning them.
"It appears Essex has some type of organic nano-organisms in them," Lily informed her creator. "Like biologically created nanites?" Harry clarified. "Yes," Lily confirmed. "Natural or synthetic," Harry prompted.
"I believe they are natural," Lily answered. "But I cannot be sure. And they are not native to his form." "Fascinating," Harry thought.
Harry shot webbing at Essex and the man was unable to move out of the way in time. Essex strained against the webbing now binding him. He had no luck in breaking it. Harry applied webbing over Essex's eyes jerked the murderer forward. Harry delivered a light blow to Essex that knocked Essex out.
"What do we do with him now?" Jean asked as the wards went inactive and the X-Jet came in for a landing.
"I'll call Fury," Harry answered. "Nick can deal with imprisoning him."
"That was rather anticlimactic," Ororo commented a few moments later after she had joined her partners.
"I imagine it would have been more drama intense had anyone but two super-powerful telepaths faced Sinister," Kurt suggested.
"Yes, well as it stands this guy made it rather easy on us by coming to us," Scott mused. "We spent all that time looking for him for nothing."
"Not for nothing. We learned he was bat-shit crazy," Bobby pointed out. "He has to be with that manikin in his apartment."
Harry kept his own council on whether or not Essex was crazy.
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"The ballistics confirms that those .45s Sinister was carrying were the same weapons used to shoot the other mutant victims," Fury informed Harry, Jean, and Storm after the trio had appeared in his office. "Essex used to work as a bioengineer for an Oscorp subsidiary in New Orleans. "He couldn't get approval to try hypnotic methods on live patients so started mucking about with himself. He became so crazy they let him go."
"Be aware that he might not be so crazy," Harry warned. "While some of his modification are self-made... there are foreign influences at work in him."
"Is that all you are going to give me?" Fury questioned. "That is all your current level of technology is ready for," Harry answered. "I don't have the energy to devote to getting frustrated with you anymore, Spider-Man," Fury said. "You can be taught," Jean said with a grin before she and her companions vanished.
Fury looked at the spot where they had been and wished for what seemed like the thousandth time their technology level was at the point where S.H.I.E.L.D. could prevent Demire from teleporting about without pause.
Harry entered the museum where a hostage situation was taking place stealthily. He spotted a very large figure in enhancement armor spouting gibberish holding the museum workers hostage.
"Lily, erect force-fields over the exhibits in case our fight turns nasty," Harry directed. "Done," Lily confirmed.
"Surrender peacefully and no further harm will come to you," Harry warned as he appeared to those in the museum.
The massive armored crazy-man turned to face Spider-Man. The armor was gold and black.
"The emperor has given the signal," Crazy-Man declared as spikes extended out of his wrist gauntlets. "We will do battle for Nurhachi."
The spikes were shot at Spider-Man at high velocity. Harry moved as fast as lightning and swatted the spikes out of the air. Crazy-Man charged forward and attempted to punch Spider-Man. Harry knocked the punch just to the side of his face and responded with a back-fist to the face and a reverse punch to the gut that cracked Crazy-Man's armor. With a pained grunt Crazy-Man jumped back and fired more spikes at Spider- Man. Harry again swatted the spikes out of the air. The police came charging in the door at the same time Crazy-Man charged Spider-Man. The police witnessed the seriously impressive side-kick Spider-Man delivered to Crazy-Man's midsection followed up by an uppercut that shattered the villain's armored helmet and knocked Crazy-Man out cold.
"Stand down," Captain Jeanne De Wolfe shouted to her swat team members. "Thank you Spider-Man." "It's what I do," Harry simply answered. "How is it nothing was destroyed in here during the fight? We heard the fighting over the speaker-phone,"
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De Wolfe said. "I protected the exhibits," Harry answered. "If you will excuse me I have more work to do." Before De Wolfe could say anything further Spider-Man swung away.
In orbit of Earth a black humanoid figure floated. That figure had been floating in a semi-frozen state for some considerable time without change. The creature known as Venom had placed its host Dr. Curt Connors into a sort of cryogenic stasis ever since Spider-Man had launched them into space. Nothing had changed since that time. The cryo-stasis was necessary to keep the host alive. Venom was waiting for something to happen, some help to come. That help came in the form of cosmic radiation which bombarded it in one strong burst. Energy filled Venom and as a result Venom changed slightly. It shed its outer layer like a snake shedding its skin. That outer layer appeared reddish and drifted away towards the international space station. Venom wasn't yet ready to return to Earth but it felt that time was approaching.
"Are you alright?" Gwen asked her lover after he had shuddered as if he was cold.
Gwen was up early with her boyfriend working out in the gym he had built beneath the Parker residence. He had used some of his advanced technology to build a truly massive subterranean structure beneath the home in Queens. The structure included more than just a gym. A survival bunker, a lab complex, a pool, and many other amenities were contained underground.
"Yeah...my bio-net just fought off what would have been a truly nasty cold," Harry answered.
Gwen and Harry's other lovers had been let in on the knowledge of their bio-nets but didn't realize the true nature of the bio-nets yet. The ladies knew the bio-nets could heal their bodies and allowed Harry to find them if something happened to them but they didn't yet know about the AIs or the technology interface features of the AI tech.
"It must have been nasty if you could sense it," Gwen mused as she lifted half a ton on her shoulders.
"Yeah...most of the time I don't feel that type of thing but occasionally I will. But it's just a cold shiver and only momentary. Hermione designed it that way just to make sure we still felt alive. Or that was her reasoning when we asked her about it," Harry explained.
Gwen noticed the pensieve expression on the face of her lover. "You never talk about them...Hermione, Fleur, and Nym...why?" Gwen inquired.
Harry was silent for a while as he lifted weights which were hundreds of times heavier than Gwen's load due to arcane enhancement.
"It's hard to explain," Harry said. He reached over and touched her neck with his left hand while establishing an empathic connection. "Maybe this will help." "Oh...god," Gwen gasped as she experienced a depth of feeling her mind couldn't possibly comprehend. All she felt was warmth and love. "How...how do you stand that for a long period of time?"
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"We learned to alter our synaptic densities and forge new types of intellectual storage in higher dimensions," Harry answered.
"I'll pretend I understood that," Gwen said. "You know higher dimensions exist in spacetime right? I hope I have taught you that much," Harry said.
Harry had been working with his mates to learn more advanced science than what their public school system had taught them.
"Yes," Gwen confirmed.
"Well it is possible to create forms of matter in those dimensions. We have literally created new types of brain matter I suppose you could say in synthetic regions of those dimensions. We tailored the spacetime in those dimensions to suit our needs and then created places for our minds to grow. A greater depth of feeling could be experienced via this method," Harry explained.
"Ah ok...now I get it. It sounds rather alien," Gwen mused.
"It was at first but we quickly grew to enjoy it. Humans had to evolve or die," Harry explained. "An immortal mind has to be the least stagnant."
"Ok...so I know you really really love Hermione, Nym, and Fleur. How does that translate to you not needing to talk about them?" Gwen questioned.
"I feel like they are still with me. We can share our emotions when we are intimate and retain those emotional sharing experiences for all time. I can recall sharing sessions at will as well as the physical sensations and thoughts we exchanged as we made love or were together," Harry explained.
"Wow...so it's like they are still with you...always," Gwen said, catching on. "Will I be able to learn this someday?"
"Yes," Harry confirmed.
"Wicked," Gwen declared with a wide grin. At that moment Harry looked off into the distance for a moment and Gwen noticed. "What is it?"
"S.H.I.E.L.D. just started investigating some strange incidents of where several people have been attacked and almost seemed to have the life sucked out of them. These attacks started at the landing site of the recently returned space-shuttle and are heading towards New York," Harry explained. "I monitor a lot of different cases in the S.H.I.E.L.D. network. Well the investigators just analyzed a sample of the attacker's DNA. It's very similar to my own. Or rather, the attackers DNA is similar to my DNA before I came to this universe. It also has elements similar to the DNA of Venom but it's different."
"Are we talking about some twisted child of yours and Venom's?" Gwen asked.
"I don't know. Venom might have my old DNA," Harry admitted. "I want to go check out the scene of the latest attacks to see if I can't find out more."
"Do you want me to come with?" Gwen asked.
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"No. It's ok. Stay and finish your workout. I'll be back later," Harry said before he disappeared.
Gwen quickly decided she wanted to go for a jog so ascended into the house and then left through the back door. After a moment to let her eyes adjust to the darkness Gwen heard a crack coming from the darkness in the back yard. Glowing orange eyes whose shape were like jagged tears appeared. What looked like a hellish demon with sharp teeth and red tentacle-like appendages stepped out of the darkness. Gwen was so terrified at the sight that she didn't even think. She reacted. Even as red tentacles lashed out at her Blend reached into the earth beneath where she was standing. She took control of that earth and bent it to her will. The earth exploded up and hammered into the red creature with enough force to send it miles into the air. The sound of the exploding earth rang like a bomb going off throughout the neighborhood.
"Gwen, are you alright?" May asked as she rushed out the back door. MJ, Janet, and Susan were quick to follow being the only other ones present.
"This horrible creature that looked like an even more demonic version of Venom just tried taking me out. It looked like it wanted to eat me and not in a good way," Gwen explained.
Harry rematerialized at that moment and he quickly scanned the area while looking ready to fight off any enemy.
"Gwen, are you ok?" Harry asked as he stepped up to her and pulled her into a hug.
"I'm alright...I kind of freaked out. That creature you went looking for...I think it was just here," Gwen explained.
"What direction did it go in?" Harry asked. "That way...several miles," Gwen answered while pointing.
"One moment...the neighbors have been attracted by the explosion of sound. I'm telepathically making them go about their business," Harry explained.
"Should we go after it?" Susan questioned. "Yes...but if it's even remotely intelligent this organism will move off quickly," Harry answered.
Everyone focused on Gwen when she hissed in discomfort and held up her hand. There was what looked like a burn mark on her left wrist.
"The creature tagged me," Gwen explained. "I managed to hit it out of the ballpark before it could do anymore damage."
"Well let's get that taken care of," Harry suggested. "Then we can go after that thing." "We'll get suited up and join you," Janet suggested. Harry nodded agreement and then led Gwen inside.