Issue #5

Jack looked at the boy with a tiny universe in his hands in amazement.

"Oh. So this is what you meant by 'We have a small emergency with Franklin.' Creating a miniature universe does seem to be the thing that every little boy goes through when they are in a bad mood," Jack said sarcastically when he recovered

Sue and the others finally noticed that Jack had entered the room. The one to have the first and biggest reaction was Valeria followed by the other members of the Richards family.

"Uncle Jack!" Valeria shouted before running over to him and getting swept off her feet with a hug. The little girl planted a small kiss on Jack's cheek. But after giving him a kiss, her face changed as she began to pout

"You haven't come to visit me in 3 months," the girl quickly complained to him

Jack smiled at her cute action but also admitted his fault

"I'm sorry, kid. Been a bit busy with some renovations. I'll try and come by more often," Jack apologized. Even though she was a genius, she was still a kid.

Seeing his daughter so close to another man, the sullen look on Reed's face deepened.

'Franklin is most likely a mutant and my daughter favors this man and my archenemy over me. Where did I go wrong?'

'You choosing science over family would be the main thing,' Jack thought to himself. He made it a habit of reading Reed's mind because he always found the thoughts in his head so entertaining. So whenever they were in the same room, Jack was always inside of Reed's mind and read all the passive thoughts he had.

Franklin lost focus of what he was doing when Jack entered so the universe within his hands collapsed before dissipating into motes of light.

"Uncle Jack!" Franklin yelled before flying over

Yes. Flying. The boy not only was able to create a small universe but was also capable of flight, surprising Jack once again.

'Just what is his power exactly? Cause these two things are very different.'

At first, Jack just thought that he was capable of creating powerful holograms or miniature celestial bodies. But when he was flying, Jack didn't see anything else around him to help him fly which meant that it was completely independent.

So when Franklin landed in front of Jack, the latter rubbed his head in greeting while also taking a few pieces of hair off of the boy's body to analyze later. This was too interesting not to try and gain information on him.

Sue and Reed were the last to appear before Jack. One looked very reluctant while the other looked very relieved.

"Hey, Jack," Sue said while giving him a one-arm hug which Jack returned since Valeria was in his other arm

"Hey, Sue. Looks like I made it for the last moments of the show," Jack said jokingly. He could understand the stress that Sue was going through.

One of her children was a supergenius with knowledge that made her far too mature for her age while her other child appeared to be a tiny god. Valeria alone was already stressful enough but both were very overwhelming, even for such a super woman.

And to make matters even worse, both Sue had difficulties giving birth to both of the children which made her even more worried about each of them.

"Hmm. I'm not sure how to feel about it. I was hoping both of them could have normal lives but it looks like the universe does not have plans for them like that," Sue said looking visibly exhausted

"So why'd you call me over?" Jack asked curiously

Sue shook her head, confused herself.

"I'm not sure. I just felt... that with you around, everything would be alright," Sue struggled with how to explain herself

Reed saw the pair talking while ignoring him with both of his kids, literally, clinging to him. This, of course, infuriated the man.

Jack made him feel even more insecure about his relationship with Sue than Namor did.

"Well, there is no longer any need for you to be here. We can handle our son ourselves," Reed said in a hurry to kick Jack out of the building.

Knowing how insecure Reed was feeling and how many items in the room could be used to try and vaporize, Jack didn't continue pressing his luck. After giving Sue a friendly peck on the cheek.

Jack could feel the killing intent directed at him even without his telepathy as he left the building to return to the institute. At least that is where the Richards family thought he was going. Instead, Jack went to the lab he had stolen from Sinister and was using as his main base on Earth.

As Jack entered the hidden building, he walked to the cloning room first. Inside were dozens of naked mutants in vats. Some were infants, some were children, and some were in their teens. None of them had reached adulthood yet.

Jack walked around the room and began to study the genetic analyzer on the various vats but he was disappointed. None of the clones had awakened their mutations yet. All of them were still 'human' which meant that Jack couldn't get their powers.

He had already tested it once when he cloned Bobby/Iceman and killed the clone when it was around '5' years old. Even after killing it, he didn't get any power which is how he came to the conclusion he had to wait for the clones to awaken their latent mutations.

It also helped him understand his power. While he could use powers to their full potential since he read about their details and information on them, he couldn't use latent potential.

This realization ruined several of Jack's plans but as the old saying goes, 'Improvise. Adapt. Overcome.'

So the rate of acceleration for the clones' growth was kept at 25 times higher than normal and Jack simply waited until their X-Gene activated.

After being disappointed by the lack of powers he could gain, Jack went to his main lab to begin the analysis of Franklin's DNA.

After analyzing it, Jack was able to confirm that the boy indeed possessed the X-Gene and was a mutant. Which made the cloning process so much easier for Jack.

Within minutes, a new vat was filled with the same orange liquid as all the others. Within that liquid was the microscopic being that would eventually be turned into another power source for Jack in the future.

Once all of his business in the lab was done, Jack made sure to create a magical barrier to protect against others discovering it before Jack took to the skies once again.

From Hellfire drama since early in the morning, possibly Omega-level mutant in the afternoon, and yet to mature clones in the late afternoon. All of it was very disappointing and exhausting. After so much excitement, it was finally Jack's turn to rest.

Until all hell broke loose on his way back to the mansion.