15 Concerns

The Avenging Angel.

That was the name Warren had gone under when first starting out his career as a hero in New York City. It had been something they had teased him about constantly, the name of it at the time had been cool and hip, but as the world changed, it became camp and cringe. The fact that every time Warren thought back to his early days, it often resulted in him being embarrassed by himself which gave them endless materials to tease him with.

That was of course before things became truly hectic.

Looking at those memories, Scott could see a clear moment when things changed for Cyclops. When he truly began to understand the weight of his goals and the actions he would have to take to see them come to fruition. It was a time when his serious nature became even more profound, often being compared to a stick in the mud, arrogant and condescending.

But Cyclops had not been allowed to be relaxed or have fun like other members of the X-Men and it was only because he took his job serious to the extremes that they were allowed to be so. If he didn't spend every waking minute preparing and planning for the future, then the Mutant race would have been wiped out decades earlier.

That was a thing that not many had understood.

But Scott knew that Cyclops had cared for those around him and above all else, had looked forward to the days when he could relax. It was why he was looking forward to seeing Warren for the first time. He was curious to see whether Warren was like the Warren of Cyclops' world, or if he was different.

Scott didn't like to admit it, but he was nervous as he sat on the train. He was nervous because he didn't know whether Warren was going to be the same or not. There were already differences forming, not only from his actions but from pre-existing changes in the world. It was not impossible to imagine that Warren could also be different. If he was, then the knowledge that Cyclops' memories provided on who he was as a person would not be accurate, or not fully.

It was clear that he was still a righteous and just person from the fact he was fighting crime as the Avenging Angel. That was good news at the least, it gave hope to the possibility of him being similar to the memories. But that did not mean everything about him would be the same either.

If that were the case, Scott would have to make a quick judgement on what to do.

But for now, he spent some time familiarising himself with everything he knew about Warren. As always, they didn't show everything chronologically, jumping backwards and forwards in time. He had seen Warren with Angel-like wings, feathered a brilliant white colour. But in other memories, he had seen Warren with sleek-grey, metallic wings.

There were things missing there, Scott knew that much, but the memories had yet to show him what the missing pieces were. However, he knew enough about Warren to paint a picture of the person he was and the powers he had.

But for now, he focused on the powers.

Even though Warren seemed just and righteous from his vigilante actions, Scott would not take that as proof that he was the exact same. For now, he would withhold judgement and instead, prepare for the possibility of a fight by going over his powers.

Most obviously was flight thanks to the powerful wings he possessed.

However, his entire body had adapted for aerial ability, meaning that his bones had become hollow meaning they were much more fragile and brittle. Easily breakable and therefore an exploitable weakness. Yet in conjunction with this, while his durability had decreased, he had a much greater proportion of muscle mass compared to the average person.

Not obvious in its size, but more so in its definition, the muscles of his body compact and toned. This gave him peak human, physical strength, speed, stamina, agility, flexibility, reflexes, balance and coordination. He also possessed eyesight and hearing beyond human norms.

In turn, his muscular physique had adapted to the powerful wings and while his bones were brittle, his skin was much tougher.

Overall, with proper training, Warren could and had proven to be very dangerous. However, the younger and inexperienced version of himself would be much easier to handle. Scott intended to take advantage of that and if needed to, clip his wings before he could prove a serious threat.

Though Charles had vouched for him as a good person, Scott knew from Cyclops' memories that especially at this point in time, Charles was not an excellent judge of character. Even with telepathy, Charles had trusted the wrong people on many occasions and made serious errors that cost the X-Men heavily.

Scott liked to be prepared.

It was why he was aware that he was being followed and had been since he entered the Bayville train station. They were subtle but hardly skilled, the moment they began, the instincts gifted to him by Cyclops' alerted him to their presence immediately.

If he had been anyone else, Scott wouldn't have noticed them at all. For the Golden Age, they were good at stealth, but hardly on the level of the foes that came later. Their presence was still felt, their gaze boring into his back, their tracking of his movements and careful pursuit, obvious. They were good, but compared to the Silver Age, Bronze Age and Modern Age villains and heroes who could completely erase their presence entirely, they were as plain as day.

However, their presence did tell Scott that he had yet to fully embrace Cyclops' instincts as his own. There was still a divide between what was his and what was Cyclops', something that he would have to continue working upon.

'Should I confront them?' Scott thought to himself before dismissing the thought. 'No, I'll lose them in the crowd, they'll panic and reveal themselves fully. I'll get a good look at them and make a decision.' At this point in time, there was a small number of possibilities as to who it could be.

The Brotherhood of Mutants and other followers of Magneto were unlikely. They would not be formed for some time and there was no talk of Magneto making moves on the news yet. If he did have his Brotherhood and Acolytes, Magneto would be causing havoc across the world. His silence indicated that he had yet to make a move on the big stage yet.

Mr Sinister was another possibility, but it was too amateur for him. He had existed in the Golden Age, subtly watching everyone from the sidelines for much of his time before making a move. To recruit someone with this lack of skill was not his style.

This left things like the Weapon X program, they were always looking for Mutants to capture and experiment upon. With Scott having caused havoc in Iowa, there was a possibility that they may have taken an interest in him and wanted to use him in their experiments. But there was also the possibility of it being S.H.I.E.L.D to observe and ensure he did not chaos any more damage and if needed, to take him down.

Or, it could be the Hellfire Club, more specifically its Kings, Sebastian Shaw or Donald Pierce. Both had their opinions on Mutants and what to do with them, but both could be interested in him for Iowa also.

None of the options was good ones, but Scott would not act rashly.

-X- Line Break -X-

"What exactly are you doing here?" Scott asked, shoving his hands into the pockets of his coat as he trudged down the busy streets of New York City.

Beside him, Amelia frowned. "You're normally back at the mansion before me and Alex. If not, you usually contact Alex to let him know. You did contact him, but only to say that you were going to be a bit late. Alex and Charles bought it, but I didn't."

"Why not?" Scott wondered curiously.

"Because I've been watching you for a while and I know that you're not the type of person to be distracted by things like sports clubs or hanging out with friends," Amelia responded. "You're an incredibly dedicated person who is preparing himself for the Mutant crisis and carrying out Charles' plan. The chances of you suddenly being distracted by something else was odd."

"I didn't think you were the type to keep an eye on me, let alone come after me," Scott murmured. "We don't exactly get along very well and you seem to care for Alex quite a bit, so why you came after me and not stayed there with him is strange."

Amelia's frown deepened. "You leaving like this hurts Alex, I am at least going to make sure you don't get hurt." That made Scott smile slightly. "I'm surprised though that you didn't bring Alex or Charles with you."

"So you know why I'm here, do you?" Scott asked, the two rounding a corner and heading towards the hotel that Scott had booked a room in for the weekend. He didn't know how long it would take to locate Warren, but he was going to give it a try this weekend and if he failed, then he'd extend his stay until he got his answer.

"To recruit Warren."

"So, that's his name?" Scott feigned ignorance, noticing the look on Amelia's face. "Professor only told me that he was a boy with wings. He didn't tell me he was in New York City, nor that his name was Warren. But then I saw a little news article about a vigilante called the Avenging Angel, a Mutant with wings. I then put two and two together. But thanks for letting me know."

The look Amelia gave him was one whether she wasn't certain to be annoyed or amused at having been played for the fool. "You still didn't answer my question."

"Which was?"

"Why not bring Alex or Charles along with you?"

Scott hummed lightly. "I didn't bring the Professor because if he wanted me to recruit Warren he would have told me more information other than just, a guy with wings." The annoyance in his tone made a small smile involuntarily come onto Amelia's face. "As for Alex, why would I bring him along?"

"Because he's your brother?" She replied bemusedly.

"Precisely, why I would bring him along?" Scott doubled down on that part. "He's my brother, I don't exactly want him getting involved in all this stuff. I'd rather he just lives a normal life, not fighting. I'm going to do this as best as I can without getting Alex involved and hopefully, avoid him fighting altogether. Did you really think that I'd get my brother involved in all this?"

"By fighting this you will get him involved. Involuntarily or not, you will face backlash for your actions and Alex will feel that." Amelia pointed out.

Scott shook his head. "He's a Mutant, a lucky one that doesn't have an obvious mutation, but a Mutant all the same." He retorted. "Whether you or I like it or not, he's already involved in this crisis. But I can at least make sure that Alex doesn't ever have to fight."

"And if you can't do that? If Alex wants to fight? If Alex is forced to fight?" Amelia asked rapidly.

The thought made Scott's fist clench tightly. "Then there's nothing you or I can do about it. If Alex wants to fight, then there's little chance of us being able to stop him. If he's forced to fight, it will only be because Mutants have been driven into a corner that there is no escape in which case, hiding is no longer an option. But I intend to make sure it never gets to that point."