A Difference Of Night and Day an X-Men story featuring Sunspot of X-Force -- by Rajiv Mote', 74123.1146@compuserve.com [The following story is a work of fan fiction based on the X-Men characters and stories, which are the exclusive property of Marvel Entertainment. They are being used without permission, and solely for the purpose of entertainment.] Act I. Partial Eclipse "Access denied." Two hours in front of the computer terminal at the Xavier Institute, and Roberto DaCosta could get no more than that. Every path of entry into the school records for Danielle Moonstar yielded the same result. The light in the room dimmed as DaCosta clenched his fist. "Temper, 'Berto," he muttered to himself, gently releasing the energy drawn in by his photosensitive mutant skin. It was as if someone had carefully set roadblocks along every route; roadblocks designed to keep him away from the truth. Of course, DaCosta knew who that someone must have been. He could remember Reignfire, but the memory was like a view of somebody else, seen from afar through dirty glass. Much clearer were a set of impossible memories, of Aliya and Blaquesmith, of studying the ways of the Askani. Those were Cable's memories, but only their impossibility allowed DaCosta to separate them from his own. That was the most frustrating roadblock of all-the one Cable had placed in DaCosta's own mind. The dimming light reminded him to fight down his rising anger. DaCosta knew enough not to approach Cable directly. On most subjects, X-Force's leader was smugly mysterious, but when it came to what happened on the Ani-Mator's island, he became silent as stone. DaCosta's first clear memory was waking with the taste of blood in his mouth. His teammates in X-Force were sprawled around him in the dirt-unconscious, he later discovered. Only Cable was standing, though just barely, with his left eye flashing and a ridiculously large gun aimed straight at DaCosta's head. Cable said he had freed him from Reignfire, but the man wouldn't say any more. "Droga!" he spat, as queries about the mutant called Locus ran up against the too-familiar "Access Denied." Cable had been thorough. Besides X-Force, the only two left alive who knew of his time as Reignfire were Dani and Locus. And with Cerebro damaged and their records locked, DaCosta had no way of finding either one of them. Though Dani had been a friend, he hadn't seen her since the Ani-Mator's island. His memories were hazy, but he was certain that she was the one who stood by him and tried to help while he had assumed the mantle of Reignfire. So why had she abandoned him now? Maybe Cable had something to do with that, too. "I'll beat you, Dayspring," DaCosta growled. "Keep your secrets about your past, but not about mine." It had been annoying to learn that detective-work was more about paging through stacks of files and computer screens than chasing bad guys in a red Ferrari. But that didn't mean he was going to give up. "Why are you angry at Cable-Nathan, friend Bobby?" The voice was a low bass rumble, far too deep for any ordinary man. DaCosta whirled, instinctively pulling in light energy, creating a dark nimbus around his body. It never ceased to amaze him that a creature as large as Caliban could move so silently. "Don't you know how to knock?" DaCosta grumbled, releasing his hold on the energy that filled him. "Caliban is sorry, friend Bobby." There was a gentleness in the big mutant's rumbling voice that belied his fearsome appearance. Sometimes it was difficult to remember that Caliban was little more than a child, trapped in a body created by Apocalypse to be a weapon. "Caliban was worried." "'I am sorry. I was worried,'" DaCosta corrected, by habit. Caliban must have sensed the flares of power when he was wrestling with his temper. Even before Apocalypse changed him, Caliban had the ability to detect fellow mutants and the use of mutant powers- Of course! How could he have been so blind? DaCosta nearly laughed. Before Caliban could ask why his "Friend Bobby" was sorry and worried, DaCosta said, "Caliban, do you remember Dani Moonstar, from the New Mutants?" * * * Sunspot loved to fly. He had always been secretly jealous of his friend Sam's power, however clumsy, but now he too could soar just as high. It was exhilarating. Caliban did not share the sentiment. Somehow, he managed to whimper in that bass voice. "Please don't drop Caliban, friend Bobby!" Small chance of that. As long as the sun was shining, DaCosta was sure he could carry two Calibans for miles without stopping. "Don't worry my friend, just keep us pointed in the right direction. And it's 'me.' 'Don't drop me.'" "B-But Caliban is not carrying friend Bobby." Absolutely hopeless. "Are we close?" "D-Dani Moonstar is close." Caliban swallowed hard. "Go down now?" For Caliban's sake, Sunspot began a gentle descent through the clouds. Caliban's tracking power didn't rely on sight or scent or hearing-somehow, he was just aware of mutants, and the closer they were, the more accurately he could pinpoint them. Unfortunately, getting close enough would mean being seen, and given the anti-mutant climate in the country, that could be a very dangerous thing. At this point, he didn't care, and there was no way to avoid it. Now that he was this close, nothing would stop him. Besides, if things did turn ugly, he had been working on a new way to use his powers As the details of the ground below began resolving into streets, buildings, cars, and finally people, DaCosta recognized their destination as the heart of Empire State University's campus. "There," Caliban said, pointing a finger at a square where several walkways intersected at a fountain. "Dani Moonstar is there." Sunspot dived, and Caliban wailed like a foghorn while clutching his stomach. But in moments, they had alighted on the cobbled path. Caliban swayed and sat down heavily on the fountain's rim, and Sunspot glared defiance all around him. The student traffic through the square was heavy, and everyone had taken notice, but it was hardly the riot Sunspot was prepared for. Most just looked, a few clapped, and one shirtless boy on a skateboard called out "Cool entrance, man!" as he glided by. "Where is she," DaCosta said, scanning the square both for Moonstar and anyone who might want to do more than stare at them. A girl was pushing her way towards them, a determined look on her face. DaCosta reflexively summed her up with a glance. Short, pretty, with straight chestnut hair to her shoulders, she had an air about her of someone with too much energy. Someone who enjoyed arguing. She apparently sized up DaCosta in a glance as well, and ignored him, focusing her attention on Caliban. "Excuse me, but are you guys geecees? Because we're having a geecee rights rally tonight, and it would be so cool if you guys could come. Because we don't have that many geecees in the student body, and that's one of the things we're trying to get changed here, so it would really help if you could-" Caliban's mouth hung open, and he had an utterly bewildered look in his eyes. "Geecees?" he asked in a voice an octave higher than usual. "She means mutants," DaCosta said, earning a sour look from the girl. "Caliban, where is she? Where's Dani?" "'Mutant' is a word used to paint the genetically challenged as some kind of monsters from a B-movie," the girl lectured. "I might not have the X-factor, but I still think that word is offensive." Turning back to Caliban, her tone sweetened considerably. "You use the name Caliban, from Shakespeare? Wow, that really speaks to me. I can only imagine your rage at a world that hates you just because you're genetically different. Oh, my name is Andrea, by the way. Would you think about speaking at our rally? And- maybe we could have coffee afterwards?" Caliban had added helplessness to his look of bewilderment. DaCosta smirked. "I'm sure Caliban would love to speak to your little group, but he's booked solid on a lecturing tour, and we have some urgent mutie business to attend to. Caliban? Where's Dani?" Caliban slowly shifted his stare from DaCosta to Andrea, then back to DaCosta before weakly raising his arm and pointing down one of the walkways. In the direction he pointed, DaCosta could just see a woman with long, black hair disappear around the corner of one of the buildings. He grabbed Caliban's arm and nearly pulled him along as he ran to follow. "Dani!" he shouted. "Bye friend Andrea," Caliban finally managed to say, waving with his free hand. "Dani!" The woman didn't turn around or slow her pace. If anything, she speeded up. "Dani! I need to talk with you! Feh!" Sunspot released Caliban's arm, and with a surge of solar energy, he launched himself into the air. Quickly overtaking the woman, DaCosta swooped and dragged her upwards. "What are you doing, girl? I-" Danielle Moonstar's mutant abilities had undergone many changes since she first joined the New Mutants. What had begun as the ability to create images from a person's subconscious mind and been pushed, refined and even twisted into psionic bolts that could flood her target's mind with their worst fears. Her strongest bolts could kill, but the one Moonstar jammed into DaCosta's head only caused him to black out long enough to free herself. The only problem now was the fall- Caliban easily caught the pair of them, one in each arm. With both feet firmly on the ground, he felt much more in control. The walkway had cleared of all students; New Yorkers were familiar with battles between super-humans, and knew enough to give them wide berth. Caliban's massive arms seemed to cradle the two mutants, but in truth, he was using most of his strength to restrain them. "-did you think you were doing, Roberto DaCosta-" "-could have gotten us both killed, Dani!" "QUIET!" If Caliban's speech was often simple-minded, none could ignore his roar when he chose to raise his voice. DaCosta and Moonstar were indeed quiet, and blinking in astonishment. Embarrassed, Caliban coughed and resumed his usual low rumble. "Caliban and friend Bobby were looking for you, friend Dani." The dark aura around Sunspot lessened, as if with effort. "Put us down, Caliban." Caliban complied, warily, but neither Sunspot nor Moonstar moved towards each other's throats, nor away. "I need some answers, Dani, and you're the only one who-" "I have nothing to say to you, DaCosta. So just go back to wherever Cable has you holed up, and leave me alone." "Wait! Look, if it's something Reignfire did- something I did when Reignfire possessed me, that's over now. But I need to know what happened! Tell me!" Moonstar's glare was pure ice. "Still the same arrogant, pigheaded- Like you said, it's over. Get on with your life, and leave me out of it." As carefully deliberate as her voice, she turned her back to him and began stalking away. "Wait!" DaCosta took a deep breath. "Please wait. I don't remember much, but I do remember that you made a decision to help me when I couldn't help myself. And when I didn't know enough to thank you for what you did. I need your help again, Dani. It feels like I'm missing pieces of my life, and I can't put them together on my own. Please." Moonstar stopped and considered him silently, for a moment. "Maybe you have changed. I wonder how much of that is-" She shook her head. "I can't talk to you, 'Berto. And believe me-that's how I'll help you best." "It's Cable, isn't it? Cable didn't want you to talk to me." Her silence confirmed it. "Dani, when Reignfire possessed me, my life wasn't my own. Cable freed me from Reignfire, but somehow, it feels like I'm still possessed. I just want my life back. Please, Dani. I don't have anywhere else to turn." "'Please?' The great Roberto DaCosta asking instead of demanding?" Moonstar's shoulders sagged; her heart wasn't in her jabs. She had spent so much time sparring with DaCosta's-Reignfire's-manipulations and mind-games that this naked desperation left her utterly disarmed. "I don't know the whole truth. But Cable felt that if you learned even what I do know, it could be- dangerous. 'Berto, I don't think Reignfire is completely gone. The less you know, the safer you are." "I have to know," DaCosta said quietly. "Besides, I've never felt more-centered than I do now. Whatever Cable put into my head makes it easier to deal with things. Like how I can't return to human form, now. It seems like that should bother me more than it does. But I accept it. What I can't accept is not knowing the truth." Moonstar sighed. She had already decided. Arrogant though he may be, Roberto DaCosta had an intensity she found persuasive. "Okay. But we should go somewhere more private. Besides," she added, with a wry glance towards the fountain, I think Andrea's gathering the courage to make another play for Caliban. Caliban, who had been making furtive glances towards the square, flushed from white to scarlet. Act II. Sunset Reign Danielle Moonstar's apartment, a fifteen minute walk from campus, was indistinguishable from any other college student's, despite her status as a "geecee." Shelves made from cinder blocks and two-by-fours were filled with textbooks, and the other furnishings consisted mostly of cloth-draped footlockers and folding chairs. The doorway to one of the bedrooms was curtained by an elaborately tie-dyed sheet, while a weaving, which DaCosta assumed was Cheyenne, hung before the doorway to the other bedroom. Dani's, it must be. Caliban looked doubtfully at one of the folding chairs before crossing his legs and sitting on the floor. "You have a roommate?" DaCosta asked, sprawling on a futon. He was so used to living in makeshift bunkers with his troop-mates in X-Force that the entire concept of a mutant living like anyone else seemed very strange indeed. "She's got lab tonight-she won't be back until late. We'll have privacy for this." That brought a somber mood back to the room. "Professor Xavier once taught me how to use my powers to draw images from people's memories-even subconscious ones. I think I can show you what you asked for. 'Berto, are you sure you want to do this?" DaCosta only nodded. Moonstar began. Roiling blackness surrounded Sunspot's body as, for the very first time, he used his power to fly. Henry Peter Gyrich was a mutant hater, but even he would not die if Roberto DaCosta had a say in it. He sped towards Locus, the teleporter of the Mutant Liberation Front, in the path of the screaming blast of energy she had aimed at Gyrich. As it struck, the world turned a blinding white, and he heard, as if from miles away, Locus cry out, "Feedback is screwing us up- we're both going to-" And the world disappeared in a thunderclap of light and sound. "Sunspot, you've been to the most interesting places." Locus was climbing unsteadily to her feet, gaping at what she saw all around her. DaCosta growled, mustering his solar energy, ready to drop her right back down to the ground. "I've never been here in my life." They found themselves at the nexus of a million shining rays. Hundreds of millions, each one a luminescent walkway into infinity. Jumbled images shimmered and moved amidst the radiance, some tickling at DaCosta's memory, but gone too quickly for him to identify. "Well it must be yours, because I sure haven't seen anything like this. But- it is almost like when I use my power, except there are so many-" "Well use your power and take us back. And if I even think you're going to try something stupid, I'll fry you before you can blink." Locus shrugged, and actually had the nerve to look amused. "I can't. My power doesn't seem to work from here. If it did, you'd be dead already." Woman or not, DaCosta was close to making good on his threat. "Well then keep up, or I'll leave you here to rot." He chose one of the glowing paths at random, and began walking. "Be careful!" It wasn't Locus' words that made him pause, but the genuine fear in her voice. "Why the sudden concern?" The struggle to keep from exploding at him was plain on Locus' face. In a moment, her lips settled into a sneer. "We're in this together, handsome. And I'd hate to see anything happen to you that I didn't cause." Her voice became serious. "It's- important how you choose the path," she said, indicating the shimmering walkways. "So you do know this place. Well? How do we get out of here?" "I... There's only supposed to be one path. But the images I'm seeing... This is all wrong." "Perhaps I can help." The voice came from... it was hard to tell. It seemed to come from everywhere. By the time it had taken for Sunspot and Locus to whirl around, a brilliant flash of pure white light flooded DaCosta's vision. When it cleared, Locus was sprawled on the strange, luminescent floor. She didn't move. "Show yourself, coward!" DaCosta shouted, his powers broiling. "I left her alive, in case you were putting up with her for a reason." A figure appeared, as if walking from around a corner, though there was no wall in sight. It was shaped like a man, but seemed to be made entirely of searingly bright white light. "I heard enough to assume she wasn't a friend." "Who are you?" The solar flare DaCosta held was ready to launch in a heartbeat. "A straight question, Roberto DaCosta, and for once, it deserves a straight answer." The figure's voice sounded tired, and strangely sad. "I'm you." DaCosta's loss of temper was accompanied by a loss of control, and the energy he had been building exploded from his fingertips. The white figure didn't even flinch as the energy seemed to be sucked into his own radiance, though his glow seemed to diminish for a moment. "Real solar energy." The figure's voice sounded amused. "I had almost forgotten what it felt like." The fatigue and sadness returned to his voice. "If I know you-and I think I do-it won't matter what I say at this point. So go ahead, attack. I won't fight back. Satisfy yourself that I'm not playing you for a fool." Sunspot glared at the figure, trying to see through the radiance for some expression, some hint of mockery. Whatever he did now, he would be playing the fool. Unless... The New Mutants had, after all, encountered alternate versions of themselves from other worlds. DaCosta kept all expression out of his voice. "How?" Something in the way the white figure's stance shifted suggested surprise. "Have you heard of the M'Kraan Crystal?" DaCosta nodded. He had read of the X-Men's interstellar adventure, when the creature called Phoenix somehow 'healed' the Crystal, preventing it from destroying all that was. "That is where we are, in the heart of the M'Kraan, the Nexus of all realities." His gesture indicated the myriad rays that stretched outwards. "I came from there," he said, indicating a path that seemed to be broken off, and had only a few images flickering around it. "A world which, I am told, was never meant to be. And now, no longer is." The images that DaCosta could see showed a barren, scorched landscape, with no signs of life. The figure's voice became even more burdened. "Which means our mission was successful." "What mission?" Could this being really be himself? Sorrow fairly came in waves from the figure, and DaCosta shivered. What had this man gone through? "What have you done?" The figure chuckled without humor. "Done? I helped destroy my world." The figure stood, waiting for a condemnation that didn't come. He sighed. "I don't know the details. Magneto never let anyone know more than was needed, to do his bidding." DaCosta nodded. He remembered when Magnus was his teacher at Xavier's School. If this was an alternate version of himself, at least they shared that much history. "Tell me how it happened." "Better simply to show you." Without hesitation, Sunspot stepped beside the figure, and they both turned towards the broken shard that was once a world. As the pair approached, the images around it grew more active, and larger, until they filled the entire scope of DaCosta's vision, until the strobe light images immersed him- Roberto DaCosta watched on the news as the skirmishes began in the United States, mutant against human, rallying to "claim what was theirs." The reaction was swift, as human governments around the world began incarcerating, even executing mutants. Flicker. The woman called herself Selene, a herald of the Apocalypse, and she came like an avenging angel to shatter the stone walls and iron bars that held the mutants of Brazil. That held Roberto DaCosta, whose father, despite his influence, had not lifted a finger to free him. Now the tables would be turned, as the army of the Apocalypse took to the streets, and rage redeemed Roberto DaCosta's broken pride with blood- Flicker. What had begun as a rebellion went horribly, horribly wrong. It was only supposed to be the jailers who died, but the lines in this war were too clearly marked. How could any mutant be free so long as the humans held the reins of power? How could any mutant be safe so long as humans remained to avenge their dead? The reasons no longer mattered as Roberto DaCosta fought and killed to survive. Killed until he was safe- Flicker. A moment of anger changed one life and ended another. The son confronted the father, tempers flared as well as powers, and Emmanuel DaCosta fell thirty stories from his office window- Flicker. The mutant who broke apart the earth and called forth molten rock was long gone. Solar-powered strength lifted slabs of concrete like they were cardboard, digging, frantically, until- Wisps of blonde hair framed doll eyes that stared vacantly into space. Now Juliana Sandovar neither heard nor felt Roberto DaCosta as he wept, cradling her body, begging her forgiveness- Flicker. It was a long, lonely journey to the United States, the heart of the Apocalypse. Death and carnage lined the road like milestones. There were small deeds-stealing food for a starving family, hiding a child from marauding Infinites, but he always moved on, each deed a drop in the bucket of Roberto DaCosta's own redemption- Flicker. Amidst broken and desperate humans, in the ruins of a church, Remy LeBeau and his band of thieves offered an opportunity for atonement Roberto DaCosta wouldn't have had alone- Flicker. Magneto presented his mad scheme to stop Apocalypse by manipulating time itself. It started with the journey to the far reaches of the galaxy in search of the M'Kraan Crystal. Ice coursed through Sunspot's veins as he absorbed the burst from the fractured crystal, its weird energies turning him white instead of black- Flicker. A final act of atonement, Sunspot remained in the M'Kraan, stabilizing the energies of its contained neutron star while his fellow X-ternals returned to Earth to complete their mission- DaCosta jerked back and stared at the white figure-at himself-for several moments. There was no longer any doubt in his mind, and with that certainty came a gibbering hysteria that he had to fight down. "Madre de dios," he whispered. So much had this being suffered! And yet, the images of the bodies-of the people he had murdered-were burned in DaCosta's mind. He knew he would never forgive himself had he done the things he saw. But he had done those things. This was him. "You are a monster!" It came as a cracked whisper. The figure nodded. "Yes, I am." DaCosta began pacing the strange chamber, his speech quickening. "But you realized what you had become.. You did your penance. Droga! More penance than any man need face." "For crimes greater than any man should commit." "No! I saw what they did to you!" DaCosta's voice rose to a shout. "What they turned you into!" The white figure shook his head. "First we blamed the humans. Then we blamed Apocalypse. But Apocalypse was only the spark. What we did was far worse than anything the humans had done in self-defense. No matter what had happened, none of us-none of us!--had anything but the darkness in our own souls to blame." DaCosta wasn't listening. Long ago, when Magneto had abandoned the New Mutants and reverted to type, he had said that Sunspot would be among the first to join him in the coming war. Years later, when Magnus extended his invitation, Sunspot declined, and thought he had won a personal victory. But only the timing was wrong. Magnus knew, didn't he? He saw the darkness in Roberto DaCosta's soul. A darkness that could someday surface- Cable had never been forthcoming about the things he had seen in the future, and now, Sunspot began to understand why. How did the man deal with knowing? Everything he knew; every event he had witnessed-could it play a part in the storm that had consumed this other world? Humanity's heel was grinding down ever harder on mutant-kind. What point would be too much, when the frightening powers his people possessed were thrown back full-force against their tormentors? Would he end up any better than this lost soul, bathed in shimmering white? "This must never be allowed to happen. Things must never become so bad-" Sunspot stopped his pacing and whirled to face his other self. "Come back with me," he said. "Help me to stop this from happening to my world, the world you helped save." "I cannot." "WHY?" DaCosta demanded, his powers flaring. "You are the closest thing I have to a brother, and I will not leave you here in a pointless exile. You are a DaCosta! No matter where you come from, that means you are honor-bound to do what you can-" "Honor?" For the first time, the figure's voice lashed out angrily. "The blood on my hands has washed away every last vestige of honor!" "Then atone for your crimes! You sacrificed your world for mine, but that means nothing if you allow it to follow the same path!" The white figure's voice grew quiet and grave. "Arrogance has always been our downfall- brother. I tried to change the world, once. You saw what happened." The sweep of his hand took in the worlds radiating from the Nexus. "There have been many, many other failures. I've seen them all. Attempt to change your fate, and you may only fulfill it." "Cowardice! You know of the mistakes our people may make, and the cost!" Sunspot reached down and slung Locus over his shoulder. He would not simply abandon a woman-not even her. "Well if you won't act on this knowledge, then I will." "I will not allow you access to the time stream, brother. Not until you can see past this madness." "Then stop me if you can. Brother." Sunspot launched himself towards the shining ray whose images seemed the most familiar. "Forgive me." From the white figure's fist came a searing blast of energy, absorbed from the M'Kraan Crystal's neutron star. Sunspot felt the icy shock as his body struggled to compensate for it, to absorb it. And abruptly, his power left him, and he plummeted through the void between the worlds. Act III. Nightfall The lesson his father taught him so long ago was a simple one, but Roberto DaCosta often found occasion to apply it. When confronted by the unknown, focus on what is known. Focus, prioritize, and use it to your advantage. He didn't know how long he and Locus had spent in the cramped cell, only that they were there since he regained consciousness. But he did know that they were captives of the Shi'ar. This was revealed when a silent, alien guard came with a fresh pail of water and a tray of gray, rubbery sticks DaCosta learned were food. The Shi'ar Empire, he remembered, was the caretaker of the M'Kraan Crystal, so he and Locus must have somehow fallen out of it when- No. Thinking about that brought up far more questions than answers. Besides the fact that the Shi'ar were an interstellar avian race which thrived on conquest, DaCosta knew precious little about them. He was a little more familiar with their technology, having studied the equipment at the Xavier Institute, but engineering was never his strong point. More important was the fact that the Shi'ar didn't appear to have a way of negating his or Locus' mutant powers. He felt the energy within him, and was certain he could blast or pound down the door to their cell. But what then? No, it wouldn't be his powers that enabled his escape. DaCosta glanced towards the opposite corner of the cell, where Locus sat, her knees pulled up to her chest. The most important information came from her. And the single most critical thing he had learned was that she needed him. Apparently she had teleported as soon as the door was closed, but the only destination she had been able to access was the M'Kraan Crystal. And it appeared that his glowing white counterpart had been as effective in dealing with her as he had him. DaCosta hadn't shared any of his knowledge of their circumstances with her, and that produced an interesting-and useful-effect. Only a few hours of his stone-faced silence had made Locus edgy. A few more hours, and her fear was evident. Finally, being effectively trapped in alien and incomprehensible surroundings had broken the sardonic, cold-blooded killer Roberto had faced on the M.L.F.'s first island base. There were no more sneers, no more threats-in fact, she was nearly reduced to tears when she realized that their only privy was the open metal fixture in the corner of the room. DaCosta was embarrassed by her abject gratitude when he turned his back. He greeted her attempts at conversation with silence, just long enough for her sense of despair to fully take hold. Then, when he asked his questions, she practically gushed information. It was a variation of a technique his old teacher Gideon had used at the negotiating table; distasteful, but effective. And effectiveness was of paramount importance. During the time he spent in silence, DaCosta had formulated three distinct goals. He would break free. He would return home. And he would do whatever was necessary to prevent the coming storm revealed by the M'Kraan. These were more than goals; they were convictions. It was one thing to hope for a better future, but it was quite another thing to know it-to have seen its horrors. Roberto had once thought that Cable-X-Force's leader from the future-was a ruthless man. But now he knew that even Cable, with all his literal and figurative metal, wasn't hard enough. He wasn't nearly as hard as Roberto DaCosta would be. To save his people-and his own soul-by any means necessary. "How did you join Reignfire?" DaCosta asked blandly. Locus looked up, nervously. "Please, Sunspot." He hadn't told her his real name. "He taught me how to fight back. How to be strong. I didn't have anywhere else to-" DaCosta made his voice soothing as he patted her hand. "I don't blame you for mistakes you made in the past, Jane." He emphasized 'the past' just enough to insinuate threat. He almost felt guilty when she cringed, but he kept his voice gently firm. "How did you meet him?" "He- he came to me. He said he found my file." For a moment, her voice took on an edge. "My parents enrolled me with the Mutant Registration Service. Reignfire offered me a chance to pay them back for all the poking and prodding they put me through at Strong Labs." DaCosta nodded, incorporating that information into his plans. He gave his voice precisely the kind of quiet confidence he knew she would cling to. "I have a way of getting us home. But I'll need you to be strong, Jane. As hard and as strong as you ever were with the M.L.F. And I'll need you to do exactly as I say." Locus was now the picture of strong, hard resolve. "Just tell me what you want me to do, Sunspot." * * * Sunspot strained, pulling every ray of light he could manage into his body. As the cell dimmed, and the nimbus of darkness surrounding his body grew, he let out a yell and began hammering his fists, denting the steel walls; releasing the energy and then sucking up more. Locus, too, was screaming at the top of her lungs, pounding against the walls and floor in the darkness DaCosta had created. A vertical slit of light appeared, growing wider as the cell door opened. DaCosta cried "Now!" The guard crumpled to the ground as Sunspot channeled his energy. Locus leapt into the corridor beyond, even as another guard began firing his weapon into the darkness. And then another. The cell was small enough that a blast quickly found its mark. As DaCosta lost consciousness, he gave a silent prayer that they had also left Locus alive. Dacosta awoke to pain coursing through every inch of his body. His thoughts were incoherent. He couldn't move. Images of Shi'ar guards wavered in front of his vision like the picture on a broken television, between rapid bursts of color and sound. The incessant pain, jumping wildly in intensity and flavor, left little room in his head for any other thought. Suddenly, a wave of red filled his vision, and then another, and he felt a heat of a different sort splash against his face. Then, abruptly, the pain stopped. There wasn't even an ache left in its wake; it was as if the pain had never been. Locus stood in front of him, holding what appeared to be a pair of electrodes. Behind her, in a pool of crimson, lay the bodies of four Shi'ar guards. Their heads were nowhere in sight. DaCosta fought down the bile that rose to his throat. Strong and hard. He wiped the blood from his face. "I found it!" Sweat mixed with blood on Locus' face, and her breathing was shallow and rapid, but her lips were stretched in a grin that showed her teeth. "Take me there." As the screech and flare of her powers died, DaCosta found himself in a tall, circular chamber of computer banks. In the center, a transparent hemisphere pulsed with yellow light. Dismembered Shi'ar littered the room. Locus was thorough. "We're on some kind of spaceship," she said excitedly. "It's a fusion reactor, just like you said." "Watch the door," DaCosta ordered. He approached the glowing dome, running his fingers over the surface, testing it. He thought he was strong enough, now. He had to be. Sunspot clenched both fists together, raised them over his head, and then brought them down with all his strength. The hemisphere cracked, and instantly, lights and sirens began blaring around the room. He laughed out loud as power he never dreamed of raged through him, filling him till he thought he would burst. And still he pulled in more. He was dimly aware of the flashes of Locus' teleportation, cutting down Shi'ar as they charged into the room. She was screaming his name. It didn't matter. Power flooded him, threatening to burn him to a cinder, but DaCosta kept sucking in the energy until the pain nearly eclipsed the ecstasy. His voice roared in his ears amidst the blazing torrent. "Locus, NOW!" They were back in the M'Kraan Crystal. Locus was panting, and DaCosta was sure some of the blood on her was her own. "Move!" he shouted, even as the blazing white beams strafed the floor in front of them. "So, you're both back this time? I told you, brother, I cannot allow you to interfere-" DaCosta didn't want to do what he was about to. He desperately wished he could take this man, this 'brother' with him. But taking the time to convince him was an indulgence he could not afford. His mission was everything. His fingers stretched out, and black bolts seared the space between them and his double. The power and odd frequency of the man's energy had disabled him once; DaCosta hoped the reverse would also hold. Everything counted on it. "What?" The white light around the figure faded, and for the first time, DaCosta could see his own features on the man, astonished, and perhaps even afraid, before he tumbled into the space between the shining pathways and was gone. "Did you see that, Sunspot?" Locus' eyes followed the figure as it vanished from sight. "He looked just like-" Another black bolt crackled through the radiance of the M'Kraan, and Locus' body followed the other Sunspot into the void. "Forgive me for what I have done, and for what I must do," Roberto DaCosta whispered. "But I will save tomorrow. Even if it means the destruction of yesterday." DaCosta rose into the air, his fusion energies crackling around him, and he propelled himself towards the shimmering pathway and images that represented his world. Act IV. Sunrise The images faded, leaving Danielle Moonstar staring into Roberto DaCosta's eyes. They were vacant of any expression she could read. That frightened her. She shut away the impact of what she had just seen; her first concern was the effect of those revelations on Sunspot. "'Berto?" She should have listened to Cable. "Are you-" "Am I what, Danielle?" There was nothing she could read in his voice, either. It was cold and hard. Just like Reignfire's. "I remember everything, now. It wasn't until later that I found you. And Locus." DaCosta's lips fluttered into a sneer. "You wouldn't have recognized her, Dani, before I trained her." He stood, and both she and Caliban tensed. "Are you afraid you've made a mistake? What's done is done." He smiled mirthlessly. "What is, is." "What- Who are- What are you going to do now?" Moonstar readied a strong psionic bolt. She should have listened. "What would you do, Dani, if it were you? We both know what I did. But I'm not myself anymore. Cable saw to that." "What do you mean, 'Berto?" She was to blame for what happened next. It was her fault. DaCosta's voice was too casual. "Why don't you take Caliban to that rally with his little friend? It seems I have matters to settle with Senhor Nathan Dayspring." Before Moonstar or Caliban could say another word, Sunspot had disappeared through the open window. * * * Cable had a presence that could make strong men shudder. He was a rock, a boulder that you could break yourself upon, or could crush you if you came in his path. Even seeing him from above, standing out in the lawn of the Xavier Institute, waiting, tied Sunspot's stomach in a knot. Sunspot was almost glad that the dark nimbus of his power hid his features as he alighted in front of Nathan Dayspring. "What do you think we need to settle, DaCosta?" Rock didn't begin to describe the man. Cable was almost literally steel, and where techno-organic metal ended, his flesh was scarred and leathery. All softness seemed to have been ground out of the man long ago. Hardest of all were his eyes. Even when one didn't blaze with the light of his volcanic psionic power, those eyes held an iron certainty, far beyond any argument or reason. It was a certainty of every choice he had or would ever make. Those eyes frightened DaCosta. They reminded him too much of Reignfire. "You lied to me, Dayspring!" DaCosta forced himself to meet the man's gaze. "All this time you told me that Reignfire possessed me. But the only one to invade my mind was you!" In fact, the pieces in DaCosta's head that he was certain came from Cable were whispering even now, filling his mind with doubts, questioning the purpose of this confrontation. But Sunspot's anger beat them down. He was in control. "I had two choices. I could have knocked some sense into you, or I could have killed you. Do you think I made a mistake?" Sunspot thought he could feel Cable's mind, sliding across the base of his skull. "Stay out of my mind, Cable! You blocked away my memory. You filled my head with this Askani of yours. You had no right to re-make my mind! No right!" "And now that you know," Cable said quietly, significantly, "what are you going to do about it?" DaCosta had expected a justification, a denial, or another of Cable's mysterious evasions. He blinked at the question. Before he could say anything, Cable fired another question. "Why did you become Reignfire?" "I-" This wasn't going the way DaCosta wanted. He knew his old plans, and he knew all the reasons he finally adopted the mantle of Reignfire, but somehow, despite all the months of consideration that went into them, they seemed ill thought-out and hollow. It had to be what Cable had done to him. Cable's thoughts were at war with his own. Cable was still pulling his strings. But even knowing this, there was only one true answer. It was an answer that shamed him. "I was wrong," DaCosta whispered. "Why?" "I tried to deal with the surrounding circumstances instead of the situation itself. The circumstances are secondary." The words came out like a catechism, but he felt their truth as deeply as he had ever felt anything. His shoulders sagged. "What have you done to me, Cable?" "I taught you, Roberto. You had seen things you weren't equipped to deal with, and where time is concerned, a little knowledge is a very dangerous thing. When I was a boy, the Askani prepared me for my destiny with their teachings. It requires a specific frame of mind to travel through time and not be lost in its vagaries. I spent years cultivating it. You didn't have years." "So you gave me your experience. A piece of your life." Sunspot pondered this. There really was no other way. The madness that was Reignfire had to be stopped. "So all that separates me from- that monster- is memories from your childhood?" He shook his head. "What does that say about me?" Cable's tone became as close to sympathy as Sunspot had ever heard. "I know what you're going through, 'Berto. Believe me. But never underestimate the power of a bit of wisdom, handed down. Small things do make a big difference. They made all the difference in the world between Cable and Stryfe. I was sure they could make the difference between Sunspot and Reignfire." "Pretty speech, 'Chosen One,'" DaCosta growled. But despite himself, he understood. After all, the Askani themselves, millennia from how, would be founded on the Dream of a single man. "But you went far beyond 'handing down a bit of wisdom.' Because of you, I'll never know how much of my mind is really my own, Dayspring. And for that reason, I'll never trust you again. However good your intentions, there are some things you must never violate." To his DaCosta's surprise, Cable's lips slid into a wry smile. "If that's the only thing you got out of this, I still consider it a lesson well learned."