Chapter 2
Territories
AN ABANDONED AUTO PLANT - once refitted to accommodate the construction of the Sentinels - now, a secret hideout of the X-Rebels, a group of mutants who stood against the propositions of the X-Men. They wanted to punish humans for threatening their mutant ancestors. Some of their reasons to hate humankind are yet to be revealed.
The remote part of the plant was redesigned into a more comfortable living place. The laboratories were formed into smaller rooms -- all done by Polaris' magnetic manipulations. Polaris now dabbling in fashion was eager to design the entire plant, making it look like a palace. She always resorted into changing the interior designs at least once a week. Thankfully, her teammates were more likely to be impressed about the changes rather than to complain against them.
The only thing her teammates were more concerned about, was the mysterious loss of her sanity. Nobody knows what the exact cause of Polaris' mental instability was. That is why Rogue kept her away from the Havok, because she knew that Polaris was still madly in love with him. If she would let her be reunited to Havok again, Polaris would leave the team and rejoin the Summers, which is against the X-Rebels' main mission -- to destroy the X-Men.
"Why did we run? That was my best chance!" asked Domino while holding her sprained elbow as she was guided by Meltdown.
"We have plenty of death. It was just a game, this time," said Rogue, smiling.
"Hey those bombs were not supposed to be used for any game," Meltdown proudly said. "Those can really blow up the whole scenario, mind you! Those bombs were extra-ordinary!"
"And useless!" said Rogue.
"That's why I hate that telepath. Damn! She redirected the bombs away from the target and she'll regret it, I swear!" said Meltdown.
"Excuse me, may I go to my room now, I think I need some rest?" Siryn saying this interrupted, the two women bluntly. She then went to her room.
There was a silence for a moment. Rogue felt some mood of disagreement with Siryn's actions yet she ignored it. She ignored it because she found that one of her team members was missing?
"Where's Polaris?" asked Rogue.
Nobody knew where Polaris was and Rogue began to worry. She rushed to the glass window and stared outside.
"Problem with her sanity again," she said. "She went out to hunt for her Alex. However, I will make sure she does not reach her quarry. We must find her as soon as possible before the X-Men find her."
PALLAS ATHENA, New York -- the former X-Mansion, was an institution that trained mutant youngsters, owned and administered by the Summers.
Standing by the window, Storm has started to open up with Jean about the confusion that has been blurring her thoughts as of late.
"I am trying to understand the situation, Jean," said Storm. "I know this is not my real world and I believe there's a reason for this. To me, it seems that I am in an alternate future now. We have different pasts and different propositions. Moreover, these differences can separate us one day. Yes, I may not have known the past whatsoever you have known about me, but I can still be who I am. If this world of yours does not believe in the dreams of Professor Charles Xavier, then, I will be the one to pursue those dreams... and I swear that, now, before you."
"Storm, Professor Charles Xavier, as what they call him, is but a legend - a story, a fiction that is being passed over from generation to generation," said Jean without any feeling of guilt.
"Professor Charles Xavier founded the X-Men and dedicated his whole life to build up everything in us," Storm interrupted. "...in order to defend humanity against a variety of threats, and against our kind who use their powers for criminal ends. He only dreamed for one thing - to achieve unity between humans and mutants, both enjoying the same rights. Above all, he extended this house to us. He gave us home when everything we owned, and every one we loved, had been taken away from us. Now, you are telling me that he is just a legend... and you wanted me to believe that?"
"Yes, because you are now in our world," Jean replied. "For thousands of years, our mutant ancestors suffered by the hands of cruel humans. Most of them were killed, burned alive in town centers, and the extinction of our kind was at hand...
"...until a time came when alien races, called the Membranes, invaded the earth and killed almost half of the human race. The world accused the mutants for being responsible of the aliens' invasion on earth. Nevertheless, one mutant stood out to save the world, sacrificed his own life by installing infectious bombs over his body and allowed the Membranes to swallow him up, and they all blew up with the mutant hero.
"From then on, mutants were acknowledged with higher regards. Humans started to worship our kinds as gods. It's all because of the mutant hero who sacrificed his own life for the world that once took his freedom - the world who killed his wife with burning coals - and that hero... was your father, Storm." There was a silence. Jean grasped Storm's hands tightly. "Humans killed your parents. They were killed by the world you swore to protect. Humanity only deserves what is due to them. So, while you're here in this universe, you must accept the fact that humans' act of worshiping mutants is, just, good for all of us." A long silence came this time. Storm covered her face with her hands, then cried.
"I did not mean for you to feel this way. I know it hurts so much but I have no choice but to tell you everything, you need to know," said Jean as she rubbed Storm's back to comfort her.
"Why can't I remember all these things, Jean?" said Storm, tearfully. "Why can I never forget about my parents? I feel like I am dead, I feel I am nobody, I don’t know, and I don't understand."
"That's why I am here. I can help you. Just trust me, Storm," said Jean. "...just trust me."
Meanwhile in the dining area, where brothers Cyclops and Havok, and couple Captain Britain and Meggan get to discuss the possible deviation that they may encounter with Storm's personality and actions. They do understand the possibility that a new Storm has indeed lived in a different timeline of an alternate reality.
"Storm might have had a different life in her world from the life she had here, that we knew about," Cyclops explained. "While she's here we must do our part to help her fill-in the gaps of her past."
"Gee, I really thought she was delirious," said Meggan. "So how could we possibly tell her, I mean, explain to her all the things she had here, while she still insists she comes from a different time-line?"
"It's not that hard, yet it is not so simple," Cyclops replied. "While her past remains unknown to her we will fill it in with the past that she had here in our world and make her believe that what she thinks and insists are just part of an hallucination. We will make her believe that she is in some kind of suffering, either from shock, whatever, or from being emotionally depressed."
"It sounds like we are betraying her? Filling in the gaps would still be a lie." said Captain Britain.
"I am hoping it will not resort into us lying to her," Cyclops replied. "Basically, Storm woke up in our world which is unknown to her and we will be doing our best to give her everything she will need to know. After all, it will still be her choice whether to accept the world of our own or to move out to seek her past - to seek for her life."
"What if she chooses to move out... and face the danger outside?" asks Havok.
"I'm still confident to say that she will not. I may not tell you why and what I really mean, and though lately she seems to be acting differently, I still believe in her convictions and instinct. She's still the Storm whom I used to know - a true X-Man at heart," says Cyclops.
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