Age of Cyclops: Sparks in the Day

by Phil Hartman

What has gone before ...

The Purge of the Celestial embryo within Earth in the fall of 2000 ushered in a new chance for humankind, mutant or not. As the second New Mutants honed their powers, they also grew to lead their generation of superbeings in a new, less confrontational method of coexisting with their unpowered cousins: public service, and entrepeneurship.

By 2018 - the 20th anniversary of the Kelly Act which granted American parahumans equal rights under the law - the Act's spirit had become reality. Man and mutant coexisted, with mutant law enforcement officers working alongside their unpowered compeers to halt criminal parahumans. The Second Heroic Age, while commemmorated, was over - the Age of Integration had truly started, at least as far as human/mutant relations were concerned.

A new generation of mutants has begun to reach adolesence, and seek to lead peaceful lives.

No one ever promised the Age of Integration would last.

7/31/2018: Richtech Tower, Neo Amsterdam, New York State: 13:00 hrs EDT:

"What the FLONQ is going on in there !?"

Morgan Summers paced the floor of the medical level of her uncle Frank's corporate headquarters, ignoring the looks of disdain she was receiving from her friends and family members.

"Mor, they need time to do a thorough genalysis," her twin brother, Payne, said, running a hand through his red-brown hair. Morgan glared at him with the same purple eyes, set beneath her own umber locks, but leaned on her taller twin's shoulder.

"Aid was so happy to get a power (SEE Little Fires)," the daughter of Nathan and Beatrice Summers said, going limp. "Payne, he deserves to be OK - Aidan's our cousin, almost our brother -"

"He'll be OK, Mor," a red-haired girl with large green eyes tried to reassure her fellow psi. Morgan feigned a smile as her aunt, Bethany Summers, blinked, then shook her head.

"Nasdaq's gonna drop three points," the precog/healer said, frustrated. "I HATE having a power I can't control - I'm not a stockbroker ..."

"Be thankful you've got the 'soft' power, sis," her twin, the red-headed Connor, said, his own green orbs hidden behind sunglasses. "'Beware, Basilisk Lad walks among you' ..."

"Wasn't that one of the Legionnaires ?" a lavender-haired girl with pale skin said, examining shimmering "talons" of psionic force around her hands.

"Ah, a profound persuasive - aw, screw it," a muscular boy with a black ponytail and huge frame grunted from the ceiling. Diego McCoy performed a backflip, landing beside the purple-haired girl, and grinned, "Am I hopeless, Gabby ?"

"Never, you big stud," Gabrielle Worthington giggled. "Can I call you that ?"

"Just don't -" a blond, grinning boy began, his blue eyes shimmering like the sea.

"'call him late for dinner,' we KNOW, Brin !" a second boy, this one with sandy blond hair and glowing green eyes, interrupted with a glower. "Brendan Drake, lord of the jokers. This isn't the right time, y'scan."

"Calm DOWN, Dan," the green-haired girl standing beside Daniel Summers said severely. "If you start rechannelling energy, you might bring down the whole building."

"What, Danny boy ? Ooh - 'Irish Folk Tunes' for $10,000, Alex !" a wild-black-haired girl with warm brown eyes snickered beside the twins. "Melanie and Dan Summers, the fight club of the Summers clan ..."

"Zip it, Miyashi," the red-haired girl beside the daughter of Logan and Mariko Yashida griped in a fluid voice. "We're all worried f'r Aidan. Let's nae start tearin' each other apart."

"Lari's right, blokes," the tall brown-haired, blue-eyed boy standing beside Larissa Cassidy agreed, warmth seeping despite his Cockney accent and attempted sneer. "We don't know anything, so let's all stop prattlin' like a bunch o' ... well, prats."

"Deep, Aaron," Morgan teased. "That Wisdom sense of wordplay always hits home."

"Better a bad joke than me dad's fags - bloody things make me want t'vomit," Aaron replied, putting a hand through one of the walls absently.

"God, I love the British language !" Brin cackled. "Only they could take a sexual slur and make it something neat-sounding."

"Who says the anti-gay bigots here in the colonies didn't steal it, Brin ?" Aaron winked. "But enough of this chatter, guys - Mor, any sign o' what's goin' on inside there ?"

Morgan unfocused her eyes, but frowned.

"Lab's psi-shielded tighter than Xavier's underwear," the TK/TP snapped. She made a gagging sound and said, "Oh God - that's a bad, bad mental image ..."

***

#'And many happy returns to you, too ...'#

The red-haired, blue-eyed boy laying prone, naked and quite embarassed on the exam table mumbled, "Dad, if this is a birthday present, it kinda sucks."

"Sorry, Aid," Franklin Richards told his only son from behind a scan-station, "but we have to complete this last round of scans - what the hell ... ?"

He checked another set of scanners, then said, "You can get dressed. I think I've finally got a clue about what's going on with your powers."

Aidan rose, grabbing his clothes and throwing them on, before stepping into the office where his mother, uncle and aunt were conferring with a holographic image of Hank McCoy.

"Any idea what happened to Aid's powers, Hank ?" Rachel Richards said, smiling at Aidan reassuringly.

"As a matter of fact - oh my stars and garters," the Beast said, his blue-grey fur visibly going pale. "If this data from Franklin's measurements is true ..."

"Spit it out, fuzzy-won Kenobi," Domino growled. "Is Aid all right, or - ?"

"He's better than all right, Beatrice," Hank said, his expression somewhere between awe and a stupid grin. "Tell me, folks, have you ever heard the theory of Homo mutatis Ultima ?"

"Sweet crap," Nate Summers breathed. "Aidan can ... ?"

"If these scans are correct, Aidan can - at this point unconsciously - alter his own allelles to allow himself to manifest any power he needs," Hank said. "The ultimate mutant ..."

"But it's temporary," Frank said, glancing at a scanner in the main lab. "The scanner Aid's power blacked out is coming back on - he manifested a limited EMP-power."

"I ... I can CHOOSE my powers ?" Aidan stammered, looking at the adults.

"With training," Hank said, as Frank and Rachel beamed. "That doesn't mean you're the ultimate mutant - it just means you're not limited to a specific power track."

"But if you can keep all the powers you manifest, you COULD be really powerful someday," Frank said, grinning.

"I told you you weren't human," Rachel teased, hugging Aidan. "It's just a matter of training, that's all."

Aidan looked stunned, but tried to smile as the adults let him leave the lab.

#But ... what'll the other guys think ... ?#

***

"ANYPOWER !? ANY !? YOU GOOBER ! I AM SO FREAKIN' JEALOUS !!!"

Diego smacked Brin over the head with a piece of birthday cake as Aidan and his friends chowed down. "I think congratulations and salutations are in order, mi compadre," the athletic young Latino beamed, bowing to Aidan in order to duck the ice-cream bowl Brin hurled at Diego.

"Thanks, Deeg," Aidan grinned, side-stepping the bowl before he tripped over the couch.

He blinked, amazed, at the burnt-rubber marks on the floor.

"Super-speed !? Felgen, you are SO frost," Payne cheered at his cousin. "But you can't keep a power ?"

"I've got a few basics - a mindshield, some energy-reflection, a healing factor, this weird poison spit, and I can glow," Aidan said, standing up and starting to glow a soft white. "And I can handle loud noises, and -"

He shook his head when Payne started to stare at him, then drool.

"He's hypnotized ! Ooh, shades of Mesmero !" Morgan laughed. "YOU ARE A CHICKEN - Cluck, Payne, cluck helplessly ! BWHAHAHAHAHA !!!"

"BGAWK !" the entropokinetic Summers boy said, starting to peck at the floor.

"Mor, that's cruel," Lari frowned. "Aid, c'n ye free Payne ?"

"I'll try - geez, I'm sorry, Payne," Aidan said, looking his cousin in the eye. Payne stopped pecking, then stood and glared at Morgan.

"You did this," he growled at her. "Somehow, someway, YOU did this."

"No, but I sure enjoyed it," Morgan giggled.

The others kept carrying on, but Gabrielle noticed Aidan stand before the large window looking out over the darkening Neo Amsterdam skyline.

"Your thoughts ?" the purple-haired psi asked, squeezing Aidan's shoulder.

He turned to her, smiling weakly, and said, "Just nervous. What if I show something really dangerous ? I don't wanna hurt you guys ..."

"Aidan, trust me, you're no worse than any of us," Gabrielle reassured him. "We're all dangerous in our own way, but we're all good people, too - a little weird, sometimes - BRENDAN DRAKE, DON'T YOU DARE GET ME WET -"

The shrieks brought an honest laugh to Aidan's lips for the first time that night.

Somewhere else ...

"He's manifested."

"er ... y-yes, M'Lord. Sh-should I -"

"SILENCE. Leave me."

The black-robed young man backed of the room, leaving the thong-clad, pale-skinned figure to sit on his throne.

The organometallic seat heaved, spewing something noxious.

#So. This next generation has appeared,# the young man - a boy, really - pondered in the dim, unhealthy light.

His chiseled flesh was well-muscled, while his red eyes gleamed from beneath shoulder-length black hair.

#Father ... you would have dissected them, or tried to enslave them,# the teen thought, dagger-like teeth appearing from beneath black lips.

#I want to CORRUPT them. To savor their perversion to my will ...#

#And bring this world screaming to its knees like you never could.#

"After all," he purred, batwings stretching from his shoulders, "isn't dominion the first right of every Essex ... ?"

back to Phil Hartman's stories | Cyke and Logan archive | comicfic.net