MAY 2004 - #22

Secrets come out! Revelations: Part I by Chip Caroon and Paul Hahn

A flash of light, followed by a strange energy portal! And then, two figures emerged.

One was a man. He stood tall and proud, wearing the military garb of a long dead civilization. Beside him was his pet hound.

But this was no ordinary beast. It was the last of its kind. The hound was yellow in color, with the tail of a wolf, and the snout of a wild boar. Its snarl was enough to make even the mightiest human tremble.

"Fluffy," the man said. "Find him. Find the Kryptonian."

The hound quieted itself for a moment and closed its eyes. Using its telepathy, it attempted to locate its prey.

"We've nicknamed it the Danger Room," Warren Worthington III said proudly.

"Doesn't look too dangerous," Audrey Spears replied.

"Yeah, wings," Logan grinned. "Where's the danger?"

Warren shook his head and sighed. Logan and Audrey were the two newest members of the X-Men. Though Logan had been with the group a while longer, neither one had ever had the chance to undergo any training.

"The danger is due to the incredible technology hidden in the walls, floor and ceiling which allows the room to create solid, holographic images," Warren explained. "Images that can be anything we want. It's how the original group of us learned to use our powers to help others. Even though, originally, Professor Xavier hadn't intended on ever using us as heroes, I guess he just thought of everything. He wanted us prepared."

"Too bad he wasn't prepared none himself," Logan replied quietly.

Warren frowned. "I'm sorry you never got to meet the man, Logan. I imagine he would've knocked some sense into you."

Logan glared in Warren's direction.

"So, what's the sitch, chief?" Audrey asked.

"In this simulation, you'll be going up against a Sentinel," Warren started, looking away from Logan. "A Sentinel is a massive, mutant-hunting robot. They've only made a few, brief appearances, but the threat they pose is very real. The purpose of this exercise is for you two to work together and stop your foe. We're using a non-living opponent because we'd also like to gauge your individual powers at full strength."

"Enough chit-chat," Logan said. "Let's do it."

Warren exited the room, heading to the control room. Moments later, the room changed. It became a downtown city block at mid-day, complete with people walking around.

But the room wasn't the only thing to change. Logan became Wolverine. Audrey Spears became Daze.

"Plenty o' sunlight," she said. "I'm at full power."

"Good for you," Logan said. He popped out the claws on both os his hands with ease. Audrey couldn't help but notice the small amount of blood that appeared when the claws came out. It occured to her that, every time Logan popped his claws, he cut fresh holes into his skin.

"So . . . where is this thing?" Daze asked.

"Up there," Logan said, pointing.

Audrey's jaw dropped as she saw the massive robot flying in the sky. It looked over at them, and then began to land. When its feet hit the ground, the floor shook.

"Halt, mutants," the Sentinel's cold, robotic voice called. "Surrender or be destroyed."

Logan grinned. "I'll go with choice 'B', bub."

Something is wrong.

That was the thought that kept running through Henry McCoy's mind for quite a while, ever since his friend and teammate Clark Kent received a mysterious package that contained a glowing green rock that seemed to take his powers away. Hank had run many tests on it, and still could not figure out the first thing about it.

Granted, he had been preoccupied with some other activities, including the week long resort vacation, courtesy of another friend and teammate, Warren Worthington III. Still, he had spent quite a deal of time on it, and with no luck.

Hank sat back in his lab chair and ran his hands through his hair. He sighed.

Just then, Jean Grey walked into the lab. "Hank?"

"I am here, as always, Jean."

Jean walked over to Hank. "No luck?"

"Nada." Hank sighed again as he put the rock back in the lead box and shut the lid. "I've never seen such a rock before. Did you find anything out about the package itself?"

"No one remembers delivering that package to us."

"Well, I certainly didn't imagine answering the door and taking a package!" Hank exclaimed.

"I know," Jean replied. "And we all believe you. We'd believe you even if there were no strange rocks."

"Jean, is there something I don't know that I should?"

"Like what?"

"About Clark. Why did it only affect him? We're all mutants. It should have bothered all of us."

"Well . . . maybe it only targets certain types of mutations," Jean suggested.

Hank turned his head and looked up at his long time friend. "Jean. I know you too well. You and Clark have a little secret that you're not sharing. Something that could provide answers." He stood up, and put his hands on Jean's shoulders. "You can trust me."

"I know," Jean said. "And you're right. There is something you don't know. I just think that Clark should tell you."

"I understand," Beast said. "Just so long as I know."

Jean nodded. "I'm not sure how much longer he can keep it in."

He had spent a lot of time in deep thought. He had a lot to think about. Because he was, after all . . . lying to his team.

His team. He never imagined he'd be leading a group of super heroes. He never imagined the Professor would be killed by Magneto. He never imagined . . . that he wasn't from this world.

"Krypton," he said to no one. As he did, it felt almost like a small part of a burden was lifted from him. The secret was weighing him down. Telling Jean was good. It helped him. He loved Jean. And, he hopes, that she still loved him . . . even though he's not what he seemed to be.

"I'm an alien," Clark frowned. "An alien."

He took another deep breath, then exhaled slowly. So now what? He had some decisions to make. Some tough choices.

He wasn't a mutant. The X-Men were a team of mutants, supposedly fighting together to protect the world from 'evil' mutants, as well as protecting mutants from a world that hates and fears them. So what right did Clark have to be a part of that team? Let alone lead it. And even if he did decide to stay with the team, was he being fair to them? He was lying to them about his true origins. The leader of the X-Men was a liar. If he was going to stay, he would have to tell them . . . wouldn't he? And then there's Jean. He loved Jean, truly and deeply. But what right did he have to be with her? Was he even safe to be around? Being an alien, was it possible there was some dormant bacteria in his body that could kill her? Or kill everyone? Or, even if that's too far-fetched, what if his physiology is just too different? Could he really ever make Jean truly happy? Could they ever have children?

Clark shook his head. This was too much, and he knew it. Too many little problems . . . or maybe, just one big problem. But he knew what he had to do. It was time to tell the truth. Time to come clean.

He let out another deep breath and nodded to himself. Time for Superman to come down to reality.

Wolverine's claws tore through the metal of the Sentinel's right foot.

"Holy $#!%, that thing's huge," Daze gaped, standing there, staring at it. "I'm supposed to fight that thing?"

"Don't sweat it, kid," Wolverine said, swiping his claws at the leg again, tearing into it. "I'll have this thing killed in no t-AHH-hargh!"

An energy blast had burst from the Sentinel's hand, burning Wolverine's body and forcing him into the ground.

"This thing is real? We can die in here? Oh Jesus," Daze said, still standing still out of shock. "Umm . . . %$*&."

The Sentinel turned its attention to Daze, her body glowing gently with her light-energy. It's eyes were glowing as it powered up another blast of energy.

"Don't kill me!" she yelled. Responding instinctively, she let loose with a burst of light-energy at the Sentinel's head.

"Optical sensors temporarily disabled," the Sentinel said. "Switching to heat-sensors."

"You do that," Wolverine said, back up and mostly healed from the attack. He leapt up onto the Sentinel's waist and began tearing away again, digging into it's circuitry. "You okay, small fry?"

"Me?" she asked. "I'm . . . peachy."

Wolverine continued to dig away, with the Sentinel's circuits sparking away. The Sentinel cut loose with eye-beams, knocking Wolverine down again. It raised its left arm and prepared to fire at Daze.

"Move, kid!" Logan yelled from the ground. He knew he wouldn't be able to reach her in time.

"Oh $#!%!" Daze yelled. She instinctively put her arms up above her head, trying to protect herself. The Sentinel did not fire. After a few moments, Daze looked up and saw that the Sentinel was not moving. "W . . . what gives?"

"I ended the program," Angel said from the control booth. "You froze, Audrey. You were totally peralized with fear. Had this been real, you'd be dead."

"Give her a break, huh?" Wolverine asked. "She's just a kid."

"I'm not just a kid," Audrey frowned.

"She was trained by Weapon X," Angel continued. "The same people who trained you. She wants to be an X-Man, fine . . . she needs to have the skills to be one of us. I don't know what happened to her training, but right now, it's non-existant. If we're gonna do this, then everyone needs to be 100 percent. We can't babysit anyone."

"Babysit?" Audrey yelled. "Babysit? Screw you, moneybags."

She turned around and ran out of the Danger Room.

"Nice one, wings," Logan frowned.

"You are probably wondering about me," he said. "Especially after the incident today. And Hank has brought up concerns based on a rather odd rock I received in the mail.

"The truth is, I'm not a mutant. I'm not even human."

Logan laughed. "Yeah, right, bub. Ya look human t' me!"

Jean sent Logan a menacing glance, meaning 'shut up.'

"I didn't even know the truth myself until after the professor died," Clark continued. "I found a strange object in the shed behind the mansion. Within, it held the secrets to my past. I come from the planet Krypton, and the object in the shed is the rocket that brought me to Earth."

"Huh. So, how did you get here, with the X-Men?" Bobby asked.

"The people who found me, the Kents, became my adopted parents, although I thought they were real. They died early on in my life, and I was sent to an orphanage. It was there that Professor Xavier found me, and thinking I was a mutant because of my great abilities, requested that I be turned over to his care, to be enrolled in his new School for Gifted Youngsters."

"And all along, you had no clue as to your real identity," Beast said.

"Right. Kryptonians are very similar physically to humans. No one suspected a thing. When my powers started developing, it was assumed to be a mutant gene."

"Wow," Iceman whispered. "So, you're not one of us, but you are."

"I guess that's one way of putting it."

"Do you think, maybe . . . this rock was from your home planet?" Beast asked. "Perhaps it was sent along with you?"

"But why would I be sent along with something that could hurt me?" Clark asked back.

"I've a theory to that," Beast pondered. "Perhaps . . . perhaps Krypton, your . . . home planet . . . had a different sun? We have a yellow sun here on Earth . . . what if yours was a White Dwarf? A Blue sun? Or, perhaps a Red Giant? Maybe the specific type of radiation given off by a yellow star has a different effect on life that came from a Red or blue star? Perhaps you never would have had powers on your home world, and perhaps this rock was just that . . . a rock. But now that it's on Earth . . . "

"It's like a poison," Clark frowned. "And now that I think of it . . . I remember, when I learned about my origins . . . my father . . . he wore a crest with a Red Sun. Your theory might just be right."

"Your . . . real father?" Warren asked.

"His name was Jor-El," Clark replied. "My mother's name was Lara. My . . . real name . . . is Kal-El."

"Kryptonite," Hank said, changing the subject without meaning to. "I think that's what we'll call it."

"Kryptonite," Clark repeated. "That's a good name. But the question is, who sent it to me . . . and why?"

"I see you found him, Fluffy. Good work."

Fluffy growled, wanting to go down there.

"No, we will wait. Our attack must be perfect. The house of El will face their destiny. So swears Zod!"