Subject: [OTL]: (alt. Pryde/Wisdom/Marvelverse) Recoil Conclusion (PG-15) Date: Thu, 17 Jun 2004 17:55:15 -0500 From: Phil Hartman writer@mostlysunny.com Recoil Conclusion by Phil Hartman DISCLAIMER: Jake and Jesse Summers are mine. The rest are Marvel's. It's all fiction. No money is being made off of this. Etc. NOTE: Violence, language, thematic elements, imagery, etc. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6/6/04: Diablo Mountains, California: 11:00 hrs PDT: --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Pete would've preferred to take a plane, but he had to admit that teleportation was more convienent. #Doesn't bloody well mean I like this,# he thought, fighting back a gut-wrenching sensation as Davis deposited him, Kitty, Lockheed, Betsy, Scott, Hank, Logan and Marie on a ledge outside a seemingly-innocuous rock ledge. "There's definitely something unusual about this - I'm picking up a HUGE biogenetic energy signature underneath here. I mean, we're talking giga-Xaviers," Kitty tried to joke, using her pet term for units of biogenetic energy. Scott raised an eyebrow, then looked at Logan. "Anything?" he asked. "Goat scat. Condor scat. Wisdom an' Old Leather. Rainclouds. ... you an' Jeannie 'celebratin'' her release from the medlab," Logan said, grinning as Scott blushed at the last words. "Mind on the here and now, Logan. Kitty, is there any indication of a door?" Scott asked. "Nothing - whoa! Spatial distortion wave, inbound!" Kitty yelled. The X-Men and dragon whirled around to face where Kitty was pointing, and watched as five garishly-clad figures materialized from thin air. "YOU!?" Hank exclaimed. "Long time, McCoy. You've changed," Heather Douglas said, smirking, as she looked at the assembled X-Men. The bald psychic priestess smiled over at her golden-skinned leader, then added, "But I'm not running the show." "Indeed not, Moondragon," Adam Warlock said. He walked over to Scott and nodded, then said, "Cyclops, I understand your desire to learn the secret bound beneath this mountain. But I ask you, please, forebear. What lurks beneath this rock must stay beneath it, and you lack the key to unbind that which the Celestials themselves bound millenia ago." "The Celestials?!" Kitty gasped. "He's telling the truth, Pryde," Gamorra said, shrugging as she sat on one of the nearby boulders. The green-skinned woman watched as Warlock stared into the side of the mountain with an unflinching gaze. "Hey, boss! Can we get outta here? I'm freezin'!" Pip the Troll grumbled. "Troll shut up. Warlock not ask you to bring us here without good reason. There is good reason, right, Warlock?" Drax the Destroyer asked. "A very good reason, Drax ... and one the X-Men have earned the right to hear. I would ask your permission, Cyclops, to allow us to enter your mansion and speak with Professor Xavier. Gamorra's Time Gem revealed the nature of the dire events of the past 24 hours to us. Please, allow us to clarify the importance of Brian Xavier's work, and what it means for all of you," Warlock asked. Scott looked at the others, then concentrated. ~Sir? What do you think?~ he thought over his mindlink with Charles Xavier. ~They are the Infinity Watch, Scott. And if the Celestials are involved, it may well behoove us to not interfere with whatever is bound beneath the mountains,~ Xavier sent. He shifted his astral form into a semi-visible state, then nodded at Warlock and sent, ~Adam, you are welcome to come to Salem Center. We'll be waiting.~ "You have my gratitude, Professor. X-Men, if you would teleport back to your base, then Pip can follow you with his Space Gem," Warlock said. "We bring home the most interesting people ..." Hank mumbled as they vanished. ------------------------------------------------------------------ X-Mansion War Room: 13:10 hrs EDT: ------------------------------------------------------------------ After Drax had been sufficiently distracted by Logan's growling to create "just cause" for a Danger Room session between the Infinity Watch - minus Warlock - and Logan, Piotr, Betsy and Warren (who hadn't taken his eyes off of Moondragon for an instant since she'd appeared), Xavier had gathered his "command staff" for a quick chat. "While the Infinity Watch are known for their ... unusual approach to things, please, let Warlock tell his tale with as few interruptions as possible. I fear that there may be far more to what he has to say than what we suspect," Xavier asked from the emergency wheelchair Cecilia had gotten for him out of storage. He wheeled the chair into the War Room, nodding as Warlock took a seat at the table. Scott, Jean, Ororo, Hank, Kitty, Pete, Lockheed and Bishop found seats (or in Lockheed's case, shoulders) around the table. A low cough came from the doorway, and Kitty raised an eyebrow to see Frank Richards standing there. "Franklin. You should be involved in this as well, if that is all right, Professor?" Warlock asked his host. "As long as Franklin realizes that none of this should leave this room. I have a very bad feeling about your message, Adam - not the messenger, of course, but ... well. This entire affair has been incredibly violent and fearful," Xavier said, gesturing at his wheelchair while he gave Frank a meaningful expression. "Actually, sir, I think I'll be able to confirm or refute most of what Mr. Warlock has to say," Frank said. He walked in and sat between Kitty and Jean, then smiled when Lockheed flew over to curl up on his shoulders. "Dragonnapper," Kitty teased the teen. "It's better than dragon slobber. I never thought a solid astral form could get damp from dragon drool," Frank chuckled as Lockheed nuzzled his face. "Has it been 10 years already? My God, I didn't even keep track," Xavier reminisced. "You were on the Starjammer, Professor. But there's a lot about 1994 I'd rather not remember myself," Scott said, sighing as Warlock raised an eyebrow. "Ah. The Morlock Massacre. Moondragon's status as a reserve Avenger has allowed us to access the vast majority of superhuman history in the modern age," Warlock said. "It's the prehistoric age we're interested in, Adam. Please, tell us what you know about the Celestials' link to the Diablo Mountains," Hank asked the synthetic human. "Very well, Beast. As Franklin probably already knows, there is a ... fallen, for lack of a better term, Celestial bound beneath the mountain chain you visited. He committed some unknown sin against his brethern millenia ago, and they drained a portion of his life-force away before binding him where he fell. The vial containing that life-force was locked away in a temple in the Arctic Circle," Warlock began. "Oh God. The Dreaming Celestial," Frank breathed. The adults looked at him, making him blush as he added, "The Dreaming Celestial threatened my family a few years ago - he still gets loose sometimes, mentally. But he's not really the big secret about mutantkind that the Professor's father probably discovered." "Franklin, if you know something about the Celestials' link to the x-factor, why didn't you tell us last year?" Xavier asked. "It didn't seem that important, sir. My dad was one of the few people to even remember the Fourth Host - should I even be telling them this?" Frank asked Warlock. "They would have learned sooner or later, Franklin. Professor - everyone - please, do not blame Franklin. The Fourth Host of the Celestials eradicated almost every trace of their presence on Earth when they visited here in 1993. Only a handful of beings - mostly extradimensional self-proclaimed 'deities,' such as the Asgardians or Olympians, or Reed Richards, or the Eternals and Deviants, even remember the visit of the Celestials," Warlock explained. Xavier raised an eyebrow and asked, "Why did the Fourth Host erase most people's memories of their visit?" "Because of the fearful and wonderful secret that was revealed during their visit, Professor," Warlock began. "The Celestials' First Host altered homo erectus specimens in pre-historic Africa to create three distinct species: the forerunners of homo sapiens, carrying the x-factor latency and the genes for superhuman power; the Eternals, godlike 'angels' with nigh-Franklin-level psionic and physical talents; and the genetically-unstable Deviants. For unknown reasons, the x-factor did not resurface in mainstream humanity until widespread atomic testing in the 20th century. The claims of 'homo superior' replacing humans are false - mutants are what humanity should have been by now, if x-factor expression had not somehow been suppressed." The adults in the room, except for Warlock, looked at him in shock. "I've known since last year, when I was honing my powers in Australia with Gateway. My retrocognition goes back ... well, I think I might've tapped our racial memory. Anyway, I saw the distant past, and the Celestial Hosts throughout the centuries. It was so overwhelming, I didn't tell anyone about it, until now," Frank said in a sheepish tone. "I think I understand, Franklin. I apologize for berating you - this is truly incredible news. If it were to leak to the general public, they might finally accept mutantkind ..." Xavier pondered. "Not necessarily, Professor. Remember, humans fear and hate that which is different from them, at least on some level. Think of the millions of people without an active x-factor gene. Even the mightiest mutants would be slaughtered by jealous humans who incorrectly blame mutants for their own lack of powers," Warlock said. He stood, cocked his head, and smiled a bit. "If you will excuse me, I must gather the Infinity Watch. How you use the knowledge you have acquired here is up to you, but I urge caution. Humanity at large may not be ready for the truth of their genetic heritage with mutantkind," Warlock added. As he walked towards the Danger Room control room door, the X-Men and Frank watched Warlock go. "He's right. God help me ... we have to keep this quiet. I feel like a hypocrite, but if we caused mass anti-mutant hysteria ..." Xavier said, trailing off. "Maybe someday we can reveal this, Charles. But I understand the need for -" Jean said, suddenly stopping and looking across the room. Everyone looked over at where Chuck Lehnsherr was standing near Cerebra, an embarassed expression on his face. "Sorry. It was time for my telepathy training session ..." the teen said, smiling sheepishly. "Perhaps we could postpone, Charles? We'll work on it later today," Xavier told his namesake. The boy nodded, but Xavier frowned a bit and asked, "Charles ... did you hear any of that conversation?" "Just the end part, Uncle Charles. Not the details. I won't repeat a word," Chuck promised as he headed for the elevator. No one saw the dark smile on his lips as he entered the car. #That doesn't mean I won't rephrase it and shove it down my father's throat,# Chuck thought. He started to whistle as the elevator rose. -------------------------------------------------------------------- finis ... for now ... --------