Chapter 26- Old Reunions & Tests

  New York City- Streetside, somewhere on the city isnd of Manhattan- 5th day of the month of Niffle of the 6983 GR (Evening)

  Nath’aniel-

  Today was a lot of first for the mage, the first time out of the Preserve in a long time, the first time to North Western Realm, but more importantly the first time in the city of this era. And oh my, what a city it is. There is always noise and lights on somewhere around him.

  The woman, who would only call herself Geist, had such thoughts that Psylocke asked that they try to help her and her brothers, but in the end, there was little that he could do for her. They had been clearly caught in some kind of energy-based event, which changed them at a cellur level and awakened their Cedra-genes.

  Worst yet, she was now tied to her two brothers, should he cure her of her powers, they would eventually die, as she was the generator for the rift energy the three of them needed. And the longer that they are left alone, the more pain and suffering she will have to go through as her body releases more and more rift energy.

  “So bottom line it, you can’t help us, can you?” she demanded in conclusion.

  Nath’aniel nodded at her candor, before answering. “I cannot cure you without killing your brothers, no, but with Erik's help, I can maybe make you a better solution than the suits that you three are currently using. The real question that should be asked is 'Why should I'? '

  “You were trying to kidnap, a friend of an ally of mine, and you are in league with an organization that has earned a bck mark from me. By all accounts killing or punishing you is what I should be doing not helping.”

  “Our powers give us access to things, or people if that’s what you want done. And we have a nice nest egg from our couple of years working for Hydra.” Geist offered.

  The mage and the mutant leader shared a look, when the other man nodded in agreement, Nath’aniel said. “We can reach some kind of agreement by the time we are done, but there is one other thing that you must do.”

  "What's that?" she asked, as she did her adjusted her grip on her helmet like she was getting ready to don it so she could use her powers. He could see that her fields and control were sloppier without the full suit.

  The mage made a sweeping motion as he ordered. “Cut ties with Hydra. They are my enemy, if you and your brothers continue to associate with them, then that makes you my enemy as well.”

  Geist blinked at that but agreed right away. "Oh, yeah we can do that. We can still do side work though right? Some petty theft or other such things?”

  Then she gave Mystique, still disguised as Exodus a phone number, before she fell through the roof of the building and left them.

  Once she did Erik and Steve greeted each other and hugged like old friends. The rest of them gave them a moment, to do their standard greetings, before the group entered and descended the building and made their way to streets again. The mage had made things easier for them by unlocking all of the doors that restricted their passage.

  Once on the street levels again, they met up with Wolfsbane in an alley, she had been tasked with dealing with the pair of snipers that had been firing at the Captain and the others. This was also when Mystique finally changed her form and took the guise of Steve.

  "I will be you for a while, so have some fun captain." She used her actual voice to tell him that, before wandering back towards the cemetery. They were only about four blocks from there, so she should get spotted and taken into custody in his pce rather quickly.

  The real Captain clearly shivered when the shape-shifter winked at him before she left.

  Nath'aniel was not surprised, when they took their time to go to this meeting pce, Erik used his wrist communicator a couple of times during the walk. Nightcrawler kept to the shadows and teleported around them instead of walking, and Wolfsbane took on her wolf form and kept pace with them.

  He was a touch surprised that Psylocke stayed with them, but then he did notice her broadcasting psychic energy onto all of the people they passed. Partway in their walk, she got closer to him, and held his hand as they walked.

  He gave her a look, so she telepathically told him. “It’s a thing that couples do today. So can we?”

  The mage nodded in understanding, and let her continue to hold his hand and arm.

  Nath'aniel was surprised that they didn't attract more attention than they were since the Captain was wearing a clearly damaged shirt, and Psylocke was walking around in her blue armor, but then he looked at the psychic energy that she was freely letting out, and he remembered their first time together and the illusion that she had generated.

  It took them more than an hour to walk to the chosen location. A small one-story building surrounded by other simir-sized buildings, a sign with the English words "Remembering the Fallen" hung above the front entrance. Oddly standing beside said entrance was a pair of very athletic men turning people away.

  “Bar’s closed for a private party, you gonna need to go somepce else tonight.” The shorter of the two men told a trio of confused guests.

  The mage smirked in recognition of the voice matching the face, so reached over and tapped Psylocke’s hands before he freed his other limb and moved ahead to greet the man. “It is good to see you again Captain Slice. I assume given the intervening months your partner has birthed your child.”

  The stunned sver blinked and opened his mouth, before swearing. “Holy shit, it is you.” Slice then spped the bigger man guarding the building. “Frank, this is the guy, the guy I told you about.”

  “The one that outed your cheating and now you're getting divorced?" The taller dark dark-haired man asked. Unlike the sver, this man was only partially paying attention to them, as he continued to watch and wave off anyone that tried to enter the establishment.

  "Yeah well, my high school sweetheart could only really love the money I brought in and the fact I was always away. We both are different people from when we married." Slice said scratching the back of his head. Then he jumped up and nodded, saying. "Yes your right, Maria, that is Scalpel’s real name, gave birth to a son. I wanted to name him after you, but she insisted that we didn't. I think she wants to forget about our time in that special region. Sorry, I could repay you for letting me go and sparing the rest of my men."

  “That is fine, after all a new generation is a blessing to us all.” The mage stated.

  As they talked the rest of their party joined them. Psylocke rested her head on Nath’aniel’s shoulder. The sight of her caused the sver to stammer, as he asked. “Didn’t I shoot you?”

  She nodded, the mage had to admit the sensation of her pressed against him felt good, then the telepath stated. “You did, but Nathy was able to heal me before I died.”

  Slice chuckled before he muttered. "So we were soundly defeated eh?"

  Then the other guard gasped in a moment of recognition, before he stood straighter than before and as tall as he could before bringing a straight ft hand towards his eyebrow. The gesture was odd to Nath'aniel, but the smoothness with which the man performed it told him that it was defiantly well-rehearsed.

  “Captain Rogers, it is an honor to meet you, sir.” The stiff man stated proudly.

  "I am no longer an active duty soldier. You don't have to salute me. Erik, do they still salute you?" The super soldier asked the man standing beside him.

  "I was never an officer, so they tended to downpy any of my achievements, especially once it was common knowledge that I was a mutant." The mutant leader expined, and then he asked. “How did you know who he was, it hasn’t been announced that he survived?”

  "Steven Rogers was my idol as a child. I enlisted a year early because I hoped to follow in his footsteps." The tall dark dark-haired man admitted.

  “You still in the service son?” Steve asked the guard.

  The tall guard answered with a silly grin on his face. “Yes, I am on leave right now, my wife just gave birth to my second daughter. There were complications, so the brass extended my leave, but she pulled through so I will probably be called back to duty soon. But I am a Marine, not in the Army, no offense, but the Army doesn’t see much action these days."

  “Congratutions.” The mage added. The guard nodded thanks at him.

  “Wait aren’t you…” Slice because to ask as he pointed at the mutant leader.

  But he stopped when the establishment’s door opened. Rogue popped her head outside before saying. "Bout time ya’all got here. The doctor dy is already driving us nuts with her questions and requests.”

  “The private gathering is for you?” The tall guard asked.

  Erik answered. “They found the wreckage that the Captain crashed in during the ter days of the war. It was buried in ice, he survived both the crash and being frozen, and for the time being the ‘brass’ as you call them, is keeping it quiet.” The mutant leader finished his expnation by holding a finger to his lips.

  Both the salver and the guard stood up straighter and nodded in understanding, then Slice held the door open for them, and their group followed Rogue inside. Nath’aniel immediately noticed that she had lost her gmer, so he quickly cast another one on her outfit. She now was dressed in a brown baggy hooded top and a simir pair of bck pants.

  The teen stopped and looked at her new outfit before giving him a look and then said. “If you don’t like my outfit, say so sugar.”

  "I find your ensemble quite eye-catching, which is what I was told we didn't want you to be." The mage told her as he walked passed towards the middle of the rge overly filled room. Nath'aniel thought that there were too many tables and chairs given the dimensions of the room. Although he did like the design of the long half wall, with the various backless chairs against the far wall.

  “Someone else tag in, please?” Murmur asked as she left the woman standing next to her.

  Nath'aniel did not recognize the woman, so she must be the expert that Ms. Charter wanted to be here. She was a small shapely woman, with long flowing brown hair and wore a bck top and blue bottom, jeans the mage thought they were called. As the other teen mutant girl tried to leave her she started to follow, but stopped when she spotted him.

  As she moved to intercept him, the mage noticed the pulse of wild energy, telling him that Wolfsbane had shifted her states again. Then she asked over the noise of those gathered. “Did anyone else hear that? It sounded like a bee or wasp was in here.”

  Nath’aniel stopped his own movement to and looked around to look for the source of the noise that she picked up. He hadn’t heard it either, but he knew that some of the people, from his time examining them, were allergic to the stings of such insects.

  “How do your eyes glow like that?” The mousy woman asked him.

  "Magi tear ducts were repced with a silica base repcement, this allows our eyes to receive more energy allowing us to see further, this means when our bodies became over-saturated with mystical energy our eyes gained a natural glow." The mage answered while still looking around for the bee.

  “Wait, wait that is impossible, silicon base cells would be toxic for human bodies.” The woman muttered.

  “I did not say silicon. I said silica, as in the mineral.” Nath’aniel corrected the woman.

  She was about to ask another question, but stopped when he was saved by the door opening again, in walked Peggy Charter, the housewife who drawn a weapon on them in her home. While the mage looked for the bee, and answered the woman's questions, Erik and Steve had moved towards the half wall, where they were talking with another older Tribesman of the Northern realm.

  The older tribeswoman moved closer before asking him. "Have you received the consent that you wanted?"

  “I have not, I have been attempting to locate the bee that Wolfsbane detected.” The mage admitted.

  The mage then heard Erik in hushed tones expin the consent that was brought up, as he did Peggy asked. “Why?”

  “If you must know some of the occupants of the pce have a bee allergy, and I hoped to remove the threat before any harm was done.” Nath’aniel again admitted.

  "Um, Nath'aniel is it?" The super soldier asked to get his attention. "I have no problems if Erik, Peggy, and the good doctor are in there with me, honestly I would prefer it if the two women were. No offense Erik, but all of my instincts are telling me that your friend there is a serious danger."

  Many of the mutants in the room ughed at that. Then Erik admitted. "Well, you're not exactly wrong. He is likely the most dangerous thing in this room."

  “I would argue that Psylocke and She-Devil are the most dangerous things in the room.” The mage countered.

  “And who made us that way?” The telepath asked him, with a wink.

  “Mm.” Nath’aniel muttered.

  The mutant leader then asked the older man on the other side of the half-wall. "Mike, we need a room with some privacy?"

  “You can use the prep room. It’s got a big table and I had it cleaned, in case you needed it.” The older man thumbed towards the door behind the clear access of the half wall.

  Erik nodded, and both he and Steve shook the old man's hand, before leaving their backless seats and heading towards the door. Steve motioned for them to join him, at the opening. Ms. Charter and her expert followed them in. Psylocke spirit jumped and followed Nath'aniel as he made his way there as well. He could feel that She-Devil was shadowing the super soldier already, and had been doing so since leaving the battlefield.

  On the other side of the door was a cooking area, Nath’aniel frowned at the bulky and oversized cooking devices, but then he saw that Erik was holding another swinging door open for him, and the two women were already going inside another room ahead of them.

  The mage entered st, Steve was already sitting on the edge of the table, and had unbuttoned and taken off his shirt. It was their ‘expert’ that broke the silence. “If you need any equipment I have some in my car, nothing like what I use at SHIELD headquarters, but it looks like you have nothing with you.”

  "My 'equipment' is back in the Citadel, but I will not need it for what has been asked of me." The mage said as he approached the subject of their mission. Once he was within arm's reach, he warned the man. "I will soon be casting an Appraisal spell on you Captain. Unlike normal I will be pushing it to a higher level than I normally need to, this is so I can gleam some information on the activating agent that caused your transformation, so I will warn you, that you may feel a rather rge shock or jolt of energy when the spell hits you.”

  “So magic is real? I always thought it was some super-secret weapon that the enemy uncovered and we couldn’t figure out.” Steve rambled.

  "It is, and you are still technically right, it would be a rather secret weapon to you tribesmen of the nd," Nath'aniel stated before he started drawing the rune with two fingers instead of one, he added a fang to the end of the rune to complete the push, before backhanding the rune-mote towards the man sitting in front of him. Instead of a ball, the rune became a beam of light as it bsted the man.