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The X-Men had gathered together along with
certain members of
X-Factor to celebrate the 16th birthday
of a special young lady. They hid among the vast dining hall area, ready
to spring their surprise.
"Where is everybody?" Tiara asked Professor Xavier as they entered the mansion.
Professor Charles Xavier, founder of the X-Men and the School for Gifted youngsters, hovered in front of Tiara in his high-tech wheelchair. He knew that his X-Men were waiting for them. He smiled to himself, careful to secure his thought, and answered Tiara's question.
"It's not like them to leave without leaving
a message," the
Professor said. "Perhaps they got
called away on an emergency."
Tiara closed the front door, a look of disappointment on her face. For weeks she had dropped hints about her birthday and no one was here. She briefly reached out with her mind to check the Professor's statement. She sensed nothing. If they'd gotten called away in a hurry, she could understand. She just hoped that no one had forgotten.
She took off her winter gloves and coat and placed them in the closet. She shook her long auburn hair free of her ponytail then helped the Professor with his things.
Charles saw the look of disappointment in Tiara's blue eyes. She had grown so much in the four years since his X-Men had found her on Stryfe's moon base. She was taller, about five feet seven inches. Her light brown hair had gotten longer, darker, and redder. Her once ocean blue eyes had paled to a clear, silverish blue.
"Come," the Professor told her. "Some hot chocolate should cheer you up."
Tiara smiled happily at the thought of chocolate. She watched the professor float toward the dining hall. She quickly followed him.
As soon as she entered the dark dining hall, Tiara grew tense. She couldn't describe it in words, but it felt like something from a dream. . .from her past. . .had come to haunt her.
"Hello?" Tiara called.
The lights suddenly flickered on and everyone yelled, "Surprise!"
Tiara jumper ever so slightly, just as her heart skipped a beat. But she relaxed when she saw all the warm smiling faces staring at her. Jean's smile was particularly bright. She had blocked Tiara's telepathy from picking any of them out.
Tiara looked around the room and saw decorations
of lavender
and gold hanging in every corner.
The cake in the center of the dining hall table was also decorated in purple
and gold -- Tiara's favorite colors. The purple gel read, 'Happy
Sweet 16th!'.
"You guys remembered!" Tiara scolded herself for ever doubting her friends.
"How could we forget, petite," the X-Man Gambit said in his strong, Cajun accent. "You've dropped so many hints."
"You guys are the best!" Tiara exclaimed, clasping her hands and observing all the food.
Jean and Scott smiled at each other. In the four years they had known the young girl, they had come to accept her as a part of them. For Jean, she was the little sister she never had. For Scott, she was the only reminder of his son -- a son he had lost twice!
And because of Tiara, Scott and Jean were preparing to get married.
"Just because there's a wedding coming up doesn't mean we have to forget your birthday," Jean said giving Tiara a motherly hug.
Gambit lit the candles on Tiara's cake -- using his powers.
"Go ahead," Scott insisted. "Make a wish."
Tiara stared at the cake and sighed. She made the same wish she had made ever since that day when the X-Men took her in. In a single breath, she blew out the candles.
Everyone cheered.
"Someone cut the cake!" Bobby Drake, the Iceman, said immediately. "I'm starving!"
Tiara gladly complied. With some help, the party got under way.
After everyone had received a piece of cake, some ice cream, and all the goodies they could eat, Tiara was presented with her first birthday present.
"Here you go," Hank McCoy, the Beast, said handing her a package.
Tiara accepted the box with a smile. She looked at it curiously. Anxiously, she opened it. Inside was a sterling silver bracelet. Tiara's name was engraved in the plate, set off by two, tiny amethyst stones.
"It's beautiful, Hank," Tiara said as she hugged him. "Thank you."
"This is from Alex and I," Lorna said, handing Tiara another gift.
Tiara opened the gift. It was a dazzling necklace with a teddy bear charm. Tiara loved bears.
"Thank you," Tiara said, hugging first Lorna, then Alex.
Other presents were handed to Tiara. From Wolverine, Storm, Psylocke and Bishop, Tiara received a new stereo. From Rogue and Gambit, she received the three CD's she'd been eyeing at the mall and knew Jubilee had told them. From Jubilee, she got a quartz photo frame with an oddball picture of everyone during one of their outings. Professor Xavier bought her a birthstone ring of 14 karat gold. Warren Worthington, Archangel, spent only a small fortune on a brand new Ford Taurus with teal paint and gray interior.
But Scott and Jean's present was the best of them all. On top of getting married and spending money on things like food and invitations, the couple bought Tiara a three foot tall. stuffed teddy bear. It was holding a dozen roses and a small box.
"Open it."" Jean pointed to the box.
Tiara did, and her blue eyes sparkled in excitement. The small box contained a gorgeous diamond pendant and matching earrings.
"They belonged to my mother," Scott explained.
"Dad kept
them after she passed away and gave them
to me a few years ago. I'd like you to have them."
Tiara was shocked. these objects held a great deal of sentimental value for Scott and he was giving them to HER, not Jean.
"I'll take good care of them," Tiara said as she hugged Scott. "I promise."
"Thank you, all of you!" Tiara hugged Jean. "I couldn't ask for a better family."
XXXXX XXXXX XXXXX
Later that evening, after everything had been cleaned up and Alex and Lorna had departed, Tiara sat on the deck beside the covered pool, watching the sun go down. It was the best party ever. She couldn't remember a better birthday celebration.
*Even Stryfe's costume party couldn't have out done this one,* Tiara thought with a sad smile.
It had been four years since she had seen either Stryfe or Cable. It seemed like an eternity. Tiara prayed that Cable was still alive -- that her father was still alive. But after a time, her dreams had faded. She was still optimistic about the future, though, even if the death of her father wasn't the worst thing to happen to her.
Two years after she had been brought to Xavier's School for the Gifted, she was kidnapped by the homicidal maniac named Arcade. She was used as the prize in a deadly competition between a man called X-treme and Shatterstar, one of Cable's recruits from X-Force.
Upon her return, Illyana Rasputin contracted
the Legacy Virus -- an odd virus that Stryfe had let loose on the world
at the time of his death. Peter, Illyana's older brother and the
X-Man called Colossus, was deeply hurt. When she died, Peter had
lost his mind and went mad with grief. Illyana's funeral was small
and sad. Magneto, a long time foe of the X-Men, chose this time to
return to Earth and interrupted the festivities. The X-Men suffered
another blow that day, too -- the defection of one of their own, Colossus,
to
Magneto's side.
It was difficult to fathom all of the hardships these people -- her family -- faced on a daily basis. Through it all, a spark of hope still existed: the wedding of Scott Summers and Jean Grey. They announced their engagement nearly a month ago. Arrangements were already being made and everyone was in high spirits. Jean even asked Tiara to sing at their wedding and allowed her to choose the song. She chose a song by Sheena Easton, "A Dream Worth Keeping," and let the couple listen to a prerecorded version. They loved it.
Tiara sat humming the tune to that song. She tried to clear her mind, focusing on the rising moon just above the horizon.
"Miss 'im, don't ya?" a voice asked Tiara. She looked beside her to find Logan leaning against the picnic table. He lit a cigar and took a large puff. He always seemed to know when she needed a friend.
"I suppose," Tiara replied. A cold wind swept by. "I just wish I knew which one to miss."
Logan took another puff of his cigar. "You mean you don't know?"
"Would you, if you had memories of both of them, but couldn't tell them apart unless they were standing right in front of you?" Tiara countered.
"Guess not," Logan said. He sat down beside her on the bench. "I'm not all that good with memories, either."
"I'm sorry," Tiara immediately apologized.
Logan smiled at her. "Don't be. You didn't put the stuff in my head."
There was a short silence followed by a flash of light. Tiara shielded her eyes. Logan squinted.
"Bobby!" Tiara shouted.
Bobby Drake stood on the opposite side of the covered pool. He held a small bag and several flashlights.
"Anyone interested in a game of flashlight tag?" He asked.
Before Logan could give his usual snappy reply, Tiara jumped up from the bench.
"Sure," she said, moving around the pool to join the young X-Man. Quickly she grabbed one of the other flashlights from his hand. She turned it on and flashed it in Bobby's face.
"Hey," Bobby shouted.
"Tag! You're it!" Tiara laughed and ran off. Half blinded, Bobby dropped all but one other flashlight and took off after her.
Logan took another puff of his cigar and smiled.
*Kids,* he thought, watching them. *Tiara would kill me for calling her that. Jubilee's already tried!*
He looked at the rising moon then glanced around the grounds. He saw Scott and Jean sitting under a large oak on the far side of the pool. They were looking through yet another magazine. Logan shook his head.
*That should be me planning that weddin' with Jeannie, not Scott,* Logan thought closing his eyes. He remembered his wedding to Lady Mariko, or what should have been his wedding day if the bride-to-be hadn't been murdered. There were too many sad memories in his life. Scott and Jean's wedding was just one of them.
Logan opened his eyes and discovered that Scott and Jean had joined in the game of flashlight tag. They chased after Bobby and Tiara, flashlights in hand.
Logan smiled again.
Kids.
XXXXX XXXXX XXXXX
In the darkness, he watched them. He wasn't interested in the others. Just her. She played their game, screaming and laughing.
But who was she?
Someone had called her "Tiara".
An odd name, the man thought, but one worthy of her youth and beauty. But that wasn't what bothered him. There was something else -- something about her -- that seemed familiar. She seemed. . .out of place. Oh, yes, she seemed to be getting along well enough with her friends, but it was like she was in another time.
He would watch. He would wait.
He had plenty of time.
"Don't stop,"" a voice said. "Run!"
Tiara slowly turned around, the skirts of her green gown swinging around her ankles. Her brown curls were tossed from one shoulder to the other. Her breath was coming quickly. She was in the woods, searching endlessly for. . .something. The voice frightened her, so she ran.
She was only nine.
Tiara looked around. There was no sign of the mysterious voice or the person it belonged to.
"Who's there?" Tiara cried out.
No answer.
Quickly, she turned again and continued running Her hair became tangled with the tree branches. Her skirts tore and ripped. Her feet were sore from the shoes she was running in. Tears streaked down her cheeks.
A new voice called out to her.
"Tiara."
"Go away!" Tiara shouted into the woods. "Leave me alone!"
"Tiara," the voice called again.
"No!" Tiara swung her arms around her, trying to hit whatever was out there. "Leave me alone!"
Tiara's arm came into contact with something and she bolted awake.
*I've never hit anything before* she thought.
She opened her eyes. Scott was on his hands and knees beside her bed. He was looking for something. Then, she realized he wasn't wearing his ruby quartz glasses -- the only thing that contained his awesome power.
"Scott," she said. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." She crawled out of bed and grabbed his ruby quartz glasses from the floor. Scott accepted them from her with a brief smile.
"Are you all right?" Scott asked with concern . He placed his glasses over his eyes and looked solemnly at the young girl. Closely examining her, Scott could she that she was frightened and nervous. "Another nightmare?"
"I. . .think so," Tiara said, hugging the stuffed bear she had received as a birthday present two weeks ago. She let out a sob and looked up at Scott. "Why won't it leave me alone?"
Tiara could see Scott concentrating behind his ruby quartz lasses. Although she couldn't see them. she knew his eyes were closed. He was as frustrated as she was. This dream had been reoccurring for several nights. Neither of them had gotten much sleep.
"I wish I knew," Scott said to her. "We'll talk with the Professor in the morning."
Tiara sighed and apologized. "I'm sorry I woke you up again."
"Don't worry about it," Scott said. He leaned over and kissed her on the forehead. "Just get some sleep."
Tiara smiled weakly and nodded. She snuggle dback under her covers with the teddy bear. She closed her eyes after Scott closed the door.
*She's the closest thing I have to a REAL family,* Scott thought to himself as he trudged across the hall and into the bedroom he shared with his fiance. *What's going on? These dreams seem to be getting worse!*
"Scott," a voice whispered to him through the darkness. "Everything okay?"
"Yes, Jean," Scott lied. "Everything's fine."
XXXXX XXXXX
XXXXX
Somewhere, in a dark room, a man ponders about life.
"You are brooding over the girl?" a mechanical voice asked.
"Her," the man replied. "And other things."
"You refer to Nathan Dayspring Askani'son, known in this time as Cable?" the voice said. "The cross-temporal Chaos Bringing known as Stryfe? The military Strategist of the Canaanite forces named Parraidan Haight? And the ascended high-lord of the Canaanite regime known to us as En-Sabah Nur, but in this time is called--"
"Enough!" The man shouted. "Enough, Zero Quite. Thank you." He paused. "It is about all of them and more. The girl seems so familiar to me, yet we've never met before."
Zero said nothing.
*Tiara. Tiara. Why do you intrigue me so?* the man thought.
"For what purpose did you disavow yourself of your programming?" Zero asked. His head titled to one side.
"It seemed," the man replied, "to be the best way of obtaining vengeance on the man who ruined my life."
Silence.
"I was his son, Zero!" The man stood from his chair. "Look at what he did to me. I will show him how wrong he was!"
"To ensure that your actions will not contradict my programming, I must request information on how to proceed with the plan, Master Tyler."
Tyler sat down in his chair again. He smiled cynically at his android companion.
"That is the beauty of it all. I will allow others to play my part for me. Two days ago, I met with someone who has a keen interest in the Summers' family line. All it took to see that his actions serve MY best interests was. . .the truth."
XXXXX XXXXX
XXXXX
It was after midnight. It was dark and quiet; something the man called Cable knew all too well. He stood alone before the grave of Madelyn Pryor Summers -- the woman he believed to be his mother. He knows her body was cremated. He knows she's not there, buried beneath the cold ground. But for some reason, he was compelled to be there.
"You called. I came," a female voice said. Cable's head rose slightly, but his eyes never left the tombstone. "I'd like to know why."
"This grave," Cable said to her.
"It is a monument to a
woman who was my mother, in a strange
sort of way." He turned towards the voice. "She wasn't even
a real person. No more real than I am, I guess.
"Madelyn Pryor was a clone of Jean Grey. She married Scott Summers and had his son. I," he paused. "I am a clone of that child. The child that grew up to become Stryfe, the Chaos-Bringer."
Cable paused again to gather his thoughts.
"That child died by my hand, while trying to destroy this entire planet. After awhile, what's real and what isn't gets a little hazy. I needed to talk to you, Dom. I needed someone I could trust to help me."
"Help you with what, Nathan?" A shadowy figure emerged from the darkness. She was sleek and beautiful, just as Cable had remembered her.
"Help me sort things out in my head," Cable replied. "It's like I've been. . .screwed up. Something happened to me after I defeated the assassin, Sinsear. He was from my future -- my time -- and he was sent to this time to kill a previous assassin who had rebelled against his programming."
Domino thought for a moment and looked oddly at Cable. She had known him for years, but she never saw him like this. He was almost. . .vulnerable.
"Who was he sent to kill?" Domino asked. "Stryfe?"
Cable shook his head and looked at the ground. "Not quite. He came back to kill Tolliver."
Domino stepped closer to Cable and the grave. Even though she wasn't cold, she wrapped her arms around herself and shivered at the mention of Tolliver's name. Her memories of Tolliver were anything but happy.
"After what Tolliver did to me, I couldn't care less who wanted him dead," Domino said. "But even so, why would an assassin from your future be after a two-bit arms dealer like Tolliver?"
Cable said nothing. *How do I tell her? Tolliver was someone dear to me once. He was only one of three things I lost that day -- so long ago it seems. First, Aliya. Then him. Then--*
His thoughts were cut short when he felt a hand on his shoulder.
"Nate?" Domino asked.
Cable turned away from her. "You know I killed Tolliver, Dom. I didn't even know who he really was until then." Cable paused. "The pain of having done it once was bad enough."
Domino shook her head. "Nate, what are you talking about? Who WAS Tolliver?"
"The truth the man keeps dancing around is that the mysterious Tolliver is none other than his own wayward son. A lad named Tyler," a new voice interjected.
Both Cable and Domino turned to face the newcomer, startled. All they could see were shadows.
"I see I've startled you," the voice said. "My apologies."
Another shadow appeared in the light. "I am called, Sinister. I know both of you, and we have much to talk about.
"Now then, my good Nathan Dayspring, what say we talk of the many links between us. For without me, you would never have been."
The two stared at Sinister. They had heard of him and his schemes. He was one of the X-Men's greatest foes and enjoyed toying with the mind and body.
Domino looked at Cable. "What's this about?"
As if to answer her question, Sinister said, "My dear Nathan, what say we talk about your mother."
Cable's heart moved to his throat. "My mother?"
"Yes," Sinister said with a brief smile. He walked over to the tombstone of Madelyn Pryor and stared down at it. "Lovely girl, really. I made her everything she was you know." He looked up at Cable and Domino. "I wanted her son for my own. To nurture, to cultivate. . .to possess. I wanted to see that child develop into what he was meant to be: a perfect melding of a powerful mutant heritage -- the savior of his people."
Domino snickered. "That's a bit of a load to put on a kid."
"Proved by what Stryfe turned out to be," Cable added.
Sinister laughed lightly at their replies. He looked at Cable and said, "Stryfe, you say. What has he to do with any of this?"
Cable stared at sinister, then jumped slightly
when
Sinister's words made a little sense.
"Stryfe was Nathan Christopher Summers. Right?"
Sinister's smile grew wider. "Ah, Nathan. They have lied to you, haven't they?"
Domino looked between the two men. "What are you saying, Sinister?"
Without warning, Sinister backhanded Cable hard enough to knock him to the ground.
"I have three things to say to you, Dayspring," Sinister said backing away from Cable and Domino. "One: there is a strong reason why you came here this evening. The woman represented by this headstone was not a figurative mother to you, but your literal one.
"Two: the son is party to the sins of the father. Acknowledge this Cable and accept your destiny!"
Cable climbed to his feet with a little help from Domino. He used the headstone for support.
"Words," Cable said. "Nothing but words! What do they MEAN?"
Sinister ignored Cable as a bright light began to swirl around him.
"Three: do not lose yourself to the vagaries of time, of what may or may not come to pass, what should or should not happen. Let the monster out now, Cable. Let him out willingly, and it will be the final step in losing him forever."
The light grew brighter as it encompassed Sinister. Lightening flashed through the sky.
"Nathan!" Domino screamed above the rolling thunder.
"Dom," Cable shouted back. "Look out!"
Cable jumped in front of Domino as a bolt of lightening flashed. It struck Cable, knocking him cold.
"Nate?" Domino asked, helping him to his feet once again. "What happened? What did he do to you?"
There was no warning as Domino was thrown backward. She hit the ground hard and darkness set in.
Cable sat up slowly. He looked down at the unconscious female. His facial features clouded by shadows, a voice spoke, "He gave me my life!"
Though it came from Cable's body, the voice was not his.
'Cable' ran a hand over his chin. "Stab his eyes! He shaved off the beard. No sense of style about you Nathan. No sense of style at all."
