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Issue #14 |
Written By Tom Moses |
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Bobby Drake loosens his tie in an effort to become more comfortable behind his computer. He always hated this part of his civilian profession, sitting and typing has never been anything he enjoyed. "Taking a look at all these documents, you'd hardly even think this country was cracking down on corporate business at all."
"How do you mean?" the winged CEO of Worthington Enterprises asks.
"All this activity," Drake mutters as he leans slightly backward, "purchases, sales, stock movements: a lot of 'gambles' for a recession."
"Bobby, I don't think you are seeing things right."
The accountant laughs. "I'm not one to take seriously during our usual matters, but I didn't go to school for something I wasn't actually good at."
"And here I thought you just wanted to please your father." Worthington laughs snidely, moving around at the far end of the room rummaging through his paper files. "No offense, my friend, but stick with your current gig; it's the only thing you're good at."
"You're getting better at this humor thing, buddy." Drake turns to the printer at his left, removing a novel of documents that have been printing all morning. "Your company moves more money around than most shady energy companies. Depositing it in more places than Swiss bank account owners would care to admit."
"You think someone on my senior staff is laundering money?"
"Not so much as embezzlement." Drake says as he tosses a folder on Worthington's desk. Nearly three inches thick, the folder could easily weigh a pound or more. "The money moving is legal, so no one is going to come after you. It's where it's going that is suspicious."
" Telford communications." Worthington reads aloud, "Porter's Trust and Finance."
"What about the scores of the other names I have here."
Worthington breaks contact with the folder and brings his attention to Drake. "You don't remember any connections with these names?"
"Nope," Drake says quickly then rolling his eyes to the center of the room where the CEO stands, "should I?"
The winged man drops his head and shakes it back and forth, laughing silently. "I take it back; maybe you should go back to the account route. Clearly being an X-Man all these years has desensitized you. Thanks to that, Mr. Porter was able to complete his vanishing act. It's all about complacency Bobby, as X-Men we are so very complacent."
"Whatever you say boss," Bobby traces the room with his eyes at the loss of conversation.
Worthington rises from his chair. "Is this everything you found?"
"You're joking, right?" Drake muses, "This is all I could print off only because I really don't feel like loading the printer a fourth time. I've got a lot more stuff to go over on a couple disks."
Worthington smirks. "I knew I could count on you to see things that would escape my notice. Grab your briefcase and let's get out of here."
The sun shines, warmth nearly in over abundance falls upon the two witless occupants on a park bench. A constant wind blows against them, cool but not uncomfortable. The scene is nearly a perfect one, though to try and explain the innocence of this day to the bewildered pair on the bench would be a difficult thing do.
Hank McCoy and Zelda Clarke sit and stare at one another. Both are curious as to where Harry's Hideaway had gone and how the park suddenly arrived. For one moment ago, they sat waiting on their lunch order. Idly wasting the day away as originally planned, now frantic as to how they arrived at what appeared to be North Seneca Park. Snatched up and deposited six miles without the slightest indication that either of them had left.
"My dear, would you happen to have your cellular phone on you?" McCoy asks.
"I think so," Zelda stutters as she begins to shuffle through her purse with an unsteady hand.
"Bobby and Warren should be leaving the office soon enough. Could you kindly have them meet us here?" The Beast of a man requests, "I'm afraid whoever wants to play jokes on us has made us in need of a ride home."
"I'm afraid that will not be necessary, Henry," a deep voice echoes behind the pair. "If you wish I can arrange your travel after our conversation ends."
"Sinister," Hank says without turning, taking into consideration the look on Zelda's face as the color drains her skin into a pasty white. Placing a hand on her thigh Hank tries to assure her. "I don't believe we have anything to discuss."
"Henry, I think it may be time we move past these ridiculous aliases we've used over the years. You are a man with a brilliant mind, mutant or otherwise; let us talk without insulting either of our collective intelligences."
McCoy stares down his opponent in an attempt to guess at anything the schemer might be planning. He finds most of his attention trying to discern the woman attempting to shield herself behind Sinister, curious as to her involvement in his league.
"Kalia, do not be rude," the pale skinned Sinister scoffs at his companion, "step out into the light and show Dr. McCoy the courtesy of revealing yourself to him."
The young woman is as physically fit as most would wish upon themselves at such an early age, and her appearance only adds to McCoy's questions. Dressed with much confidence in the way she looks, this Kalia woman carries herself well as she stands only a few feet in front of him. "You certainly have found yourself catering to a much younger crowd this time around."
"Certainly you don't expect anything less than gentlemanly from my point of perspective, Doctor; I do not have relations with patients." Sinister laughs away the attempt to sully any kind of good name he once had. "Kalia is dear to me, but not in the sense that you may think. As your professor has his dream, I too have mine."
"Dreams you say, something I recall hearing about and usually at the cost of human life," Henry McCoy says as he studies the woman, petting the invisible fur around his arm that is hidden by hologram. "As you say it is time to move on from our aliases; however, you disregard my second name only to use my formal title. I know you by many name's 'Sinister'.what is it that I should call you?"
Sinister's ruby eyes gleam in the stray bits of sunlight shining down upon them. "Henry, I believe first we should make this a private conversation." Addressing his attention onto Zelda, "the conversation I intend for us might confuse the layman, and as much as it pains me to say it will definitely put my companion into her own state of perplexity."
"Until I am certain of her safety, Zelda stays," says McCoy as he stands from his bench. "This is my only concern. She is not affiliated with Xavier or us in the usual sense; she is simply a bystander not yet ready to understand the complexity of our enemies' relationships."
"I care not about the human interest of Drake. I only brought her here because it could not be helped." Sinister remarks, "rest assured, I have no interest in Zelda Clarke, and I do not come here today to continue any previous engagements involved with the X-Men."
With the simple gesture of his hand, Sinister addresses his companion to accompany Zelda to the edge of the park. "Kalia will find Zelda a cab; with the two of them gone we may continue with what I set out to do. You have my word; no harm will come to her. I do not wish to visit the past. This day is to concentrate on the future."
McCoy attempts to give Zelda a reassuring nod to guide her away from any kind of situation that may arise. He watches Zelda take his advice and walk away with Sinister's companion. "Do not make me regret this." McCoy takes his seat on the bench again with the women out of earshot. "Let's get this done with."
" Essex." Sinister says without warning, "Doctor Nathaniel Essex."
A pair of familiar faces appears from the Worthington Enterprises Headquarters building. The newly re-appointed CEO with the namesake akin to the building and company itself and his little-known advisor make their way to a small vehicle. The winged man steps into the rear of the vehicle due to comfort concerns, as Drake gears the automobile into movement.
"You're taking a pretty big step today with Zelda." Warren Worthington makes an effort to break the day's mundane conversations. "I hope you're not taking things too fast."
"War, she's just moving into the mansion," Bobby attempts to break with levity. "With her taking a job with whatever Xavier is planning, we both decided it made sense. Besides, she's moving into the opposite wing."
Warren stretches his wings, trying to find comfort in the confined space. "Bobby, I don't mean anything by it, but I am looking at your track record after all."
"I do move kind of fast at times, don't I?"
The wealthy man smiles. "You do, Bobby. Let's just make sure we're not going to a wedding next week?"
Both men share a quick laughter as they spill into the traffic of Manhattan. Drake tries to ignore the comments made by his friend about the relationships he endured after his first encounter with Zelda. Bobby's romantic failures have always been kept forefront in his memory; he understands why his friends make sure he is constantly reminded.
The traffic is relatively light for the area; finally they are able to make haste toward Westchester, and Drake's cell phone begins to ring. "Hey, babe," he answers to Zelda's voice. Remaining quiet as he listens to her excited ranting, he quickly hangs up his phone. "We aren't in too much of a hurry to get back to the mansion are we?"
"I don't imagine so," Worthington replies.
The phone comes to rest beside him. "Good. We have to make a bit of a pit stop at Seneca Park."
"Why there?"
Bobby's foot becomes weighted as a brick of lead, pushing his small car near redline. "Sinister is in town, Zelda is hysterical, and Hank might be in trouble."
"What would you say if you could have a hand in advancing the human species?" Essex says with a sound of wonder in his voice. "I've been working for nearly a century to realize the potential of human and mutant alike."
"And you believe you have discovered where this potential can take us?" McCoy looks on toward the initiator.
Essex brings a hand close to McCoy's face, producing a disk in his palm. "I am on the verge of something vast. I come to you to ask your assistance, for a brilliant mind such as yours is difficult to find. Even one with an out worldly duplicate, you are unmatched in your thinking. All my research you will find on this disk, all I ask of you: look it over and join me to discover what it is the human race is designed for."
"You speak as though you just found the meaning of life." McCoy laughs, "You cannot be serious."
"I assure you that I am," Essex says without a hint of emotion in his voice. "I know you must question your own purpose in this life. Why someone such as yourself has developed the amount of learning aptitude while not leaving your physical body behind? Before the incident that gave you the blue fur that has become something of your mark, you were the perfect example of human potential: an unlocked vast potential of the human mind that also gave room for great physical assets."
"Not that I mind the compliments, your theory doesn't strike me as very unique. Mutants exist as an evolutionary improvement on humankind, while these mutations seem to be unique from person to person thus far, there is nothing saying that ten years from now the earth may be much different from the path we're using today."
"Very true, Henry," Essex says before taking a seat in the bench in front of the X-Man. "The ever changing state of mutant kind has always been much of my fascination. As much as I am fascinated with adaptability of mutant kind, I must admit I'm at my wits end."
McCoy's mouth turns to a slight smile, "And the great Mr. Sinister requests the help of a lowly adversary?"
"My offer is this: aid me in my research and help me bring a conclusion to this question once and for all, thusly putting an end to our on-again/off-again conflicts." Explains Doctor Essex, "Henry, we are both men of science. Whereas you may be closer to human than I, all my enhancements have afforded me much in my endeavors, yet the compassion of an enthusiastic scientist may be all that I need to unlock the secrets of the human code."
Henry McCoy stands from his bench and begins to pace around the two benches in circles. Years of conflict, inflicting pain, scheming and lying, all his enemy's games are now gone in less than an instant. Troubling wouldn't begin to sum all the nay-saying areas of his mind.
"You've always been one step either behind me or in front, Henry. You have always been my equal, and you haven't been afforded the time and experiences that I have."
The X-Man stares down at the disk given to him. It has never been Essex's, or as they used to call him Sinister's, nature to hand over information without strings attached. Manipulation has always been his game.
Drake hardly allows his car to slow before throwing the gear selector to 'park'. A sense of hurry rushes through him, the likes Warren has never seen, as the two X-Men spill out of the car. Seneca Park isn't known for its size, though the two original members of the X-Men know they have little time to cover the park and find their friends.
"As much as Charles would frown on us for using our abilities so close to the house, I don't think we have much choice in the matter," the winged businessman says before spreading his wing to catch the air. "Take the low road, Bobby. My cell is on; let me know if you find anything."
Bobby Drake turns his head in all directions, hoping to catch a glimpse of anyone. The park is strangely empty, and the more he realizes the calm of the situation, the more it comes to sicken him. Throwing his jacket and tie to the ground, he heads straight for the tree line, seeing movement almost instantly.
Two female forms walk toward Drake's general direction, and as the only people he's sees in the park he can't say that he isn't relieved to see the blonde woman with whom he has become so affectionate. But the worry doesn't subside when he realizes that the woman walking beside Zelda is in fact someone he's never before seen.
"Bobby!" Zelda's voice calls out from the distance not far away.
Zelda collides with Drake after breaking into a full sprint at first sight of him; the other woman, however, continues to walk toward them at her own slow pace. "Well, it looks like someone is happy to see me," Drake speaks up, although never once taking his eyes completely away from the woman still walking toward them. His voice turns to a whisper. "Is everything okay?"
"I'm fine, just a little confused I think," she replies. "Who are these people?"
Drake stares down the woman walking ever closer to them. "Sinister is an old bad-guy we were thankful to see less and less of." Fishing the keys from his pocket, he looks down at Zelda. "Take my car and go home."
"You must be out of your mind." She tells him, "I'm not leaving you here."
"Consider it a favor to me, babe." He forces the most confident smile he can muster. "I dropped a jacket and tie a few yards back there. Besides, I'm not going to let you get hurt if something happens."
Zelda tries to voice her opinion and state her disagreement, but Drake doesn't give her the chance. Leaving, she is in perfect view of what he intends to do, in contrast to their first relationship. Gripping the keys in her left hand, she stares onward without making an attempt to sway Drake's mind. After all the years left wondering what he always had to do that was more important that spending time with her, she is finally aware. Aware that he left her in the midst of their fun together only in order to protect her; as if years of jealous feelings finally shot themselves down, she turns to walk to the car.
Finding Henry McCoy only takes minutes for the blue-skinned Archangel. Warren's feet touch the ground with the grace only someone like himself can know, just inches away from his camouflaged friend. "You just can't die enough times, can you, Sinister?"
Essex rolls his eyes at the interruption. "Mister Worthington, your friend and I are currently involved in a highly private discourse. Could you be so kind as to remove yourself from the equation?"
"I would rather he stayed," supplies Henry. "He is a trusted friend, and only has my best interests in mind."
The pale scientist sighs at Henry's request. "Very well, but you must understand that much of what I must tell you is for your ears alone."
Henry looks to Warren, halting the winged man from speaking that moment, "It is understood."
"Ever since I began working with genetics, I came to understand a great many things about humanity. My mentor, in the beginning, had me convinced unconventional thinking would be the key to all things," Essex explains in earnest. "Unconventional methods resulted in my being cast out from society, as my ideals spun around the Darwinism Theory became the breaking point for many men of science in my last days sided with the Human persuasion." Essex continues to pace around the two X-Men, simply talking with no outwardly motions. "Anything I involved myself with only further distanced me from the rest of humanity."
"From my understanding, it was even Charles Darwin himself who scoffed your work." McCoy took note of Essex's lack of emotional response, "To be spurned by ones own mentor.is that what caused you to want a discovery as badly as you do now? To live up to and further past your original mentor, you push yourself beyond what humanity would call acceptable science?" Henry theorizes at Sinister's origins. "The obsession to unravel the secrets of humankind lead you to the brink of insanity, hasn't it?"
"Far past that point if you ask me."
The two men pay the newcomer no mind; the discussion had reached far more depth than the wealthy man would be given credit to understand. "If madness was matched by the willingness to experiment with oneself, then I'm afraid your assumption of me is correct." Essex stares calmly into the eyes of his questioner. "And I do not think I would have to point your own weakness in that theory, Henry."
"It is said that genius and madness are only separated with a fine line," Henry says, returning his opponents stare, "but it is the mark of humanity that saves one from falling across that line. Who are you willing to help, at the expense of yourself?"
"Iceman." Essex turns his back to Henry, taking a few steps around the pair of X-Men.
"What of him?" Henry asks, producing a look of wonder. "What mention of Bobby do hope gains us further into our discussion?"
Turning only his face to the mutant behind him, Essex gives a curious smirk. "The amount of sleep you've lost since defeating the Legacy Virus, all to gain insight on the significant changes in Drake's metabolism and body chemistry. Once again you are willing to consider your own well being secondary, but for what purpose?"
Drake stops only a matter of feet in front of the woman Zelda had been so frightened of. Staring at her features, she doesn't seem opposing to him in the slightest. Roughly five and a half feet tall, slender, with a hint of muscular build. She is attractive, and to that point he would admit, although there was an odd misplacement of detail that didn't sit well with the hero called Iceman.
"Like what you see?" the woman asks in response to his obvious study of her body.
"I'd have to be gay if I didn't," he quips. "But what is a good looking chick like you hanging around Sinister anyway?"
Kalia continues to close her distance to Drake, making sure to give him plenty of reason to continue looking her up and down. "Why don't you come back with me and ask Nathaniel for yourself?"
"I'm sorry. You must be new to the hero/villain game." Drake laughs. "Because Sinister doesn't come forward with things until there is something he wants. And if there is something he wants from me.well he can keep wanting for as far as I'm concerned."
She steps inches away from Drake. "That may be so, but he's not the only one who wants something from you." She whispers, all the while closing in on his face.
"Excuse me?"
Kalia allows her finger to run the length of Drake's forearm. "It is not bad, Iceman." She whispers, "It's only a simple conversation."
"And after all that, he'll imprison me and grow an army of children from my pubic hair follicles." He smirks. "Again, I think I'll pass."
Drake and Kalia trade a silent stare for several moments. The emptiness of the park becomes painfully obvious in their silence as the minutes pass. The entire environment seems to stand still in their silence. A gust of wind passes through them, and they still continue. Her cold, grey, eyes lock Drake into a state of wonder, curious over what it is she gains Sinister.
"As I've told you Henry," Essex's voice booms with his usual sense of authority, "I am on the verge of perfecting everything I've sought after over the course of this century."
Henry holds his stance with his angelic friend beside him. "You continue to hint at discovery; however, you lose credibility with your vague statements, Essex."
The would-be discoverer smiles. "Very well played; leave me with no other option than reveal my hand."
The oft times enemy of the X-Men once again takes a seat on one of the benches. He takes a moment to gather his thoughts while locking his attention onto the winged X-Man. "I must admit, I saw no promise in what Apocalypse wanted with you." Essex says, pointing to Warren. "Imagine my surprise after seeing your many different forms and your ever changing atmosphere."
"What are you babbling about?" the CEO spits.
Essex sighs. "All humans are oddly adaptable to change; even baseline humans to some degree. As I've found with some of my newest associates, humans can be just as adaptable as their mutant brethren, though not to the extent I originally anticipated. However, as the young Drake will soon discover, the few successes I've had are quite formidable."
