Sequel to Fatal Attractions
The year is 2023. War has already hit the world with the apocalypse that came with the Sentinels—mechanically engineered beings that were programmed with the abilities to track, capture, or kill those with mutant genes as well as any human that dared aid them. Each mutant captured was destined to be marked with an 'M' scarred over their right eye and imprisoned for their very existence. Indeed, the world is a dark and desolate place left in ruins with no sign of recovery. Evolution, what was once meant to be a naturally occurring thing meant to happen in its own time, was feared by those scared of their own extinction, but they only destroyed their own world in their efforts to stop it.
For the X-Men, they had no choice but to go into hiding. Those that have survived together remain hidden together. The wind rushes outside of their tower, a temple of sorts. The atmosphere is full of dark fog mixed with ashes like memories from their lost civilization. The clouds begin to spin and whirl as a black ship comes into view.
It levitates to land on the stone balcony. Once it settles on its landing gear, the bottom of the ship gives out as its steps are lowered to the ground.
Bishop is the first to approach, his gun at the ready. Out steps Storm, followed by Wolverine and Professor X in his own levitating chair. Close behind them is Magneto; the four of them wear the same black protective suits.
Others join them from within the temple, but a very familiar face soon joins them from the yellow light burning from within the temple.
"Professor!" Bobby Drake, or "Iceman" as most would call him, rushes down the steps when he realizes who he is seeing.
Storm smiles before she meets him for a hug, almost as if to reassure each other that they're both alive, they have both made it. "Bobby," she says his name with fondness in her voice.
"Hey, Storm." They stay like that for a moment before Bobby lets go of, turning to look at the others with relief in his eyes.
"Hey, kid," Logan Howlett, or "Wolverine", greets him before Kitty Pride dashes out of the temple to join them.
"Professor!" Kitty calls to him first as well, her own relief evident in her voice as she says, "You made it."
Indeed, they had made it, and it was damned lucky that they had, too. Traveling such a great distance was never easy when the Sentinels traveled by the hundreds in carrier ships, but it was important. At least, in these dark times, it was.
They are quick to shelter themselves inside the temple, and once there, Kitty begins her explanation of how they made it so long by themselves. "Whenever the Sentinels attack, Warpath spots them. Then I send Bishop back to warn us of the attack before it happens. Blink scouts the next site, and then we leave before they ever know we were there."
"Because we never were," Warpath adds from across the room.
"What do you mean you were never there?" Logan asks, a look of confusion over his features.
Beside him, the Professor looks up as he understands from her thoughts. "She projects Bishop back a few days to warn the others of the coming attack."
"So, she sends Bishop back in time?"
"No, just his consciousness, into his younger self," the Professor goes on. "His younger body."
Login raises his eyebrows. "Wow."
Beside the Professor, Magneto murmurs, "This might just work, Charles."
"What might work?" Kitty asks.
The Professor meets her eyes first while everyone looks to him for an answer. After a moment, he begins, "The Sentinel program was originally conceived by Dr. Bolivar Trask. In the early '70s, he was one of the world's leading weapons designers. But, covertly, he had begun experimenting on mutants, using their gifts to fuel his own research. There were only two mutants that discovered what he was doing."
"One of which was a mutant with the ability to gain the powers of any other mutant," Magneto adds. "The other with the ability to transform herself into anyone."
"Mystique," another mutant in the room offers. "The shapeshifter."
"I knew her as Raven," the Professor says. "We met when we were children; we grew up together." He smiles sadly to himself, then recalls, "She was like a sister to me. I tried to help her, but only succeeded in driving her away." Sadness overtakes his features. "She hunted Trask across the world. And at the Paris Peace Accords in 1973, after the Vietnam War, she found Trask. . ." He pauses and glances away from everyone else, his eyes not meeting theirs. "And killed him. It was the first time she killed."
"It wasn't her last," Logan murmured. "So, who was the first mutant?"
The room falls silent again as they wait for an answer. Magneto looks to the Professor, as well. The Professor takes a deep breath and breathes one name.
"Christiana." He says it with reverence, a name he hasn't spoken out loud in years.
"Who?"
"Kat," the Professor says. "My wife."
Logan looks taken aback. "You had a wife?"
"Oh, I had more than that," the Professor answers gravely. "Together, we had a family."
All eyes are glued to him now; the Professor sighs. "We were together for over ten years. We had a son together." For a moment, he seems to struggle to find the right words, his eyes growing sadder. Finally, he continues, "His name was Brian. For the first years of his life, he grew at a progressed rate, and in a matter of years, he grew to be of age before his aging seemed to stop. His mutations allowed him to see the future in visions, but above all, he was incredibly intelligent. There wasn't anything he couldn't learn, and he wanted to know it all."
He smiles to himself, though it doesn't last long as he finds his next words. "Then the Vietnam War came, and because he was legally of age, he was drafted. And though his mutations were easy to hide, he could not hide his physical mutation so well. He had cat ears and tail, like his mother. When they discovered what he was, they put him away with the rest of the mutants for Trask to experiment on. They sent a telegram, claiming he was missing in action. Kat didn't believe it, so she started looking into what happened.
"There were many mutants taken from the war like that. Finally, in 1973, Kat left on her own to save him before it was too late. But when she found him, she released all of them. Whether it was a mistake or her intention, but I'm sure it was only with her heart that she made her final decision. The alarms were set off, and they were all captured before anyone could escape."
The Professor pauses for a moment, his words settling in the room like a heavy blanket that weighed on them all. "In Kat's DNA, they found the secret to her mutation. A powerful mutant gene, one that allowed them to unlock her power to take in another mutant's power. It was the most significant discovery they could have made at the time; it's why the Sentinels can use our powers against us. But it wasn't enough.
"When Raven found out. . ." The Professor shakes his head and looks down. "She couldn't let it go. She and Kat had been close for a time before the Cuban missile crisis in 1962; she wouldn't let him get away with what he had done, the pain he had caused."
"So, she went after Trask?" Bobby asks.
"Indefinitely. But killing Trask did not have the outcome she expected. It only persuaded the government of the need for his program. They captured her that day. Tortured her. Experimented on her. In her DNA, they discovered the secrets to her powers of transformation. It gave them the last key they needed to finalize and create weapons that could adapt to any mutant power."
Silence fills the room once more before the Professor finds the strength to go on. It's clear to everyone that the memories weigh heavy on him personally, but it was important that they know; vital, even.
"So that's how the Sentinels got their powers?" Kitty asks. "They took Kat's DNA and used it so that the Sentinels could use other powers against us, and they used Mystique's DNA to help them change their exterior, so we can't destroy them with our powers alone?"
"That's right," the Professor confirms, "but it all started that day in 1973. The day Kat went to save our son, when she would give them the abilities they needed to kill mutants. Then the day Raven killed Trask; the day she truly became Mystique. When she gave them immunity."
Bobby takes in a deep breath, but Kitty only looks at the Professor as it dawns on her what he is telling them this for. "You want to go back there."
"If I go back, I may be able to stop Kat from releasing those mutants, perhaps even stop her from leaving at all. Then we could stop Raven from assassinating Trask and keep her out of their hands. We can stop the Sentinels from ever being born."
"And end this war before it ever begins," Magneto finishes.
The mutants around them all share looks with one another, unsure.
"Uh . . ." Kitty stammers, "I-I can send someone back a couple weeks. Maybe a month, but you're talking about going back decades." She looks at the Professor with a pleading expression, desperate to help yet afraid, still. "You have the most powerful brain in the world, Professor, but the mind can only stretch so far before it snaps. It would rip you apart. I'm sorry; no one could survive that trip."
"What if someone's mind has a way of snapping back?" Logan asks suddenly as he looks up with realization written on his features. "What if someone can heal as fast as they're ripped apart?"
Everyone looks to Logan as they understand exactly what he is implying. He can make the trip and survive it with how fast he healed. After all, he has also been alive for decades; he did not age, he did not die. If anyone could do it, it was him.
The temple doors are locked shut and barricaded with wooden bars. Storm and the others stand on guard on the balcony outside, leaving Kitty, Bobby, Logan, Magneto, and the Professor by themselves as they prepare.
Logan looks down at the concrete platform he is told he will be lying on. "So, I wake up in my younger body, God knows where, then what?"
The Professor looks up at him. "You'll need to go to my house and find me. Convince me of . . . all this."
"Won't you be able to just read my mind?"
The Professor shakes his head. "I didn't have my powers in 1973. Logan, you're going to have to do for me what I once did for you. Lead me, guide me. You must get there before Kat leaves, before she walks out that door." He takes in deep and shaky breath. "Logan, I was a very different man then. You'll have to be patient with me."
Logan scoffs. "Patience isn't my strongest suit."
"You'll need me, as well," Magneto says, as he approaches Logan to stand next to the Professor. "After Mystique left Charles, she came with me, and I set her on a dangerous path." He looks down at the Professor beside him. "A darker path." After a moment, he looks back up at Logan. "It's going to take the two of us, side by side at a time when we couldn't be further apart."
Logan glances between the two of them, the Professor nodding in confirmation. "Great," he murmurs sarcastically. "So where do I find you?"
"Well, it's complicated."
That isn't the answer Logan was looking for, but they are running out of time. Without another word, he moves to sit on the platform and lies back.
"You'll want to put your arms at your sides," Kitty instructs as she circles the platform, pausing to get into position as she sits at the head of the stone slab. She looks down at Logan. "Basically, your body will go to sleep while your mind travels back in time," she explains. "As long as you're back there, past and present will continue to coexist." She hesitates, placing her hands on both sides of his head. "But once you wake up . . . Whatever you've done will take hold and become history. And for the rest of us, it will be the only history that we know. It'll be like the last fifty years never happened.
"The only person who will remember it is you," Kitty finishes. She sits back and gets into a more comfortable position, as there is no telling how long she will be there for. "All right, Logan, I need you to clear your head and to stay as calm as possible."
Logan has already closed his eyes, but he opens them to look up at her, tilting his head to see her. "What? What do you mean?"
"If your mind gets rocky, it'll be harder for me to hold you, and you could start to slip between past and future."
"What if I need to get a little rocky?"
Kitty shakes her head. "Think peaceful thoughts?"
Logan sighs. "Peaceful thoughts. . . Do you have any good news?"
"Well, you don't really age, so you'll pretty much look the same."
Bobby steps over and looks down at Logan from Kitty's side. "You won't have much time in the past. The Sentinels will find us. They always do."
Kitty nods in agreement. "And this time, we won't be able to run. We'll have no escape." She meets Logan's eyes from above him. "This is our last chance."
"You really think this will work?" Magneto asks the Professor.
"I have faith in him," is all the Professor offers.
"It's not him that I'm worried about; it's us. We were young. We didn't know any better."
The Professor watches as Kitty closes her eyes and positions her hands at both sides of Logan's head once more, opening her fists to extend her fingers.
"We will now," the Professor says.
Logan adjusts his head for the most comfortable position. "See you all soon," he murmurs before closing his eyes.
"This might sting a little," Kitty mentions as a last thought. She squeezes her eyes shut in concentration, and suddenly a bright light begins to erupt from her palms, the streams of blue connecting to both of Logan's temples.
The last thing Logan hears is his own scream before everything in his vision goes white.