Redemption

Chapter Two

The mutant in metal turns his head toward me. I can now see that he's an old man.

"How strange," he said. "I thought you were in Canada,"

"What did you do to your hair?" asked the man with the metal covering his eyes.

"I-I'm not Logan," I said, trying not to panic. "I don't know who you're talking about."

I turn and run, wanting to get out of there as fast as possible. This day couldn't get any worse.

Back in my apartment I collapse onto my bed. I thought you were in Canada. Dad's in Canada? What did you do to your hair? I sit up and look around my small apartment. I raise my hand and clench it into a fist. Come on claws, I think, remembering how easy it was to extend and retract my claws. Nothing works. No knuckle claws, no wrist claw. I'm completely useless. If somehow the X-men turn their attack on me, or bring me to Logan's attention, I'm screwed.

At work, the only talk now is what happened to Josh. The other workers, the servers and the barman, all crowded around those who were in the alley, asking non stop questions. Josh still hadn't come back from the hospital. I have a feeling he never will. Why are mutants fighting? Aren't they all supposed to be best friends? But Logan and Romulus weren't friends. I shiver and slip from the crowd, unnoticed. I quickly glance at the spot where Josh had fallen, then at the trash cans where the X-man had landed. My breath comes out in mist. I should probably get inside.

The bar smells strongly of alcohol, it's sour stench making me gag. It takes my eyes a second to adjust to the bar's dimness. Within a blink of an eye, my boss was beside me.

"What are you doing inside?" he hissed. "Where are the barman and servers?"

"I'm just getting warm," I said calmly. "The barman and servers are outside."

"Oh god," my boss sighed. "Talking about the Josh incident again?"

I nod. My boss sighed again and stepped outside. I hear a tapping nearby. I turn to see a teenage girl with a white streak in her hair standing in the doorway.

"You the barman?" she asked in a southern accent. "My friend's looking for you."

"I'm not the barman," I said. "He's outside."

"Well, tell 'im to get in 'ere, he's got customers."

I nod again.

"He's coming don't worry,"

The girl nodded and walked away, back into the main part of the bar. What was her 'friend' doing sending her up here alone? She didn't look 21 yet. Just then the barman entered.

"A customer wants to see you," I tell him. "Just left."

The barman nodded and disappeared. I could hear the girl saying; "He's comin', don' worry, I see 'im." The servers streamed in, queuing me to get back into the alley. My boss storms in after them, muttering something that sounded like "Stupid workers, don't know how to keep quiet." I quickly close the door behind me. A new truck was just arriving, with alcohol in the back. We instantly jump forward into our job, and soon the truck was slipping away, back onto the street. Man, I think, I want to go home. 

UTOPIA, HOME OF THE X-MEN

"Scott, are you okay?"

Jean Grey ran forward, throwing her arms around her battered husband.

"I'm better now that I'm back," he said. "Where's Rogue and Hank? They were with me two days ago, then, right before the attack, they vanished."

"Wait, attack?"

This was Storm.

"Who attacked you?" she asked.

"It was Magneto," Scott said. "I managed to get into an alley next to a bar, but he sent me flying into some trash cans."

"And he let you live?"

Wolverine stepped out from the shadows.

"That doesn't sound like Magneto," he said.

"When did you get back from Canada?" Scott asked.

"Yesterday," said Logan. "What stopped Magneto?"

Scott looked at his feet.

"Scott? What was it?"

"It was one of the workers from the bar," Scott began to explain. "There were a few outside, I don't know what they were doing. One of them must have gotten frozen in place when they ran. He ran when they called his name but-"

Scott flattered, eyes still on his feet. Jean squeezed his hand.

"What happened?" she asked soothingly, watching him.

Cyclops finally looked up, meeting Wolverine's eyes.

"He looked like you, Logan," he said. "He looked almost exactly like you."

Logan's blood went ice cold. Daken.