Flight of the Archangel

Disclaimer: "Peter, those are Cheeri-Os." - Brian Griffin, Family Guy

Chapter 14: Enlightenment

Mutant Town

A man stood on a soapbox in a corner of Mutant Town. He appeared to be preaching.

"I say unto you, my brother and sister mutants, the plague that infests us is a sign! Humanity has shown their true colors this day!" The man's voice proclaimed to the passing mutants. A couple stopped and listened, but most of them were still going about their business. "Humanity has shown us what they want! They want our blood! They want our deaths! They want our destruction!"

The man, dressed in white robes almost like a priest, was rather unusual looking by human standards. His eyes were steely gray. His hair color matched his eyes, although he seemed to be actually not much older than thirty. His skin was a bright fuchsia.

This man had started preaching on the corners of Mutant Town shortly after the Legacy Virus started rampaging throughout the mutant community. His honeyed words were laced for contempt for humans, but his charisma managed to win him a small group of followers. A small group that was growing.

Not much was known about the man, except for his name.

"Brother and sister mutants, the humans fear us. They know we are their doom. That our existence means their end of this reign over the Earth." The man said.

"Yeah, he's got a point." One observer noted.

"Preach on!" A mutant woman shouted.

"Yeah, humans suck!" A third mutant agreed.

"What about Freedom Force?!" A fourth mutant asked the fuchsia man. "And the X-Men?! What about them?!" The fuchsia man smirked.

"Freedom Force and the X-Men are brother and sister mutants who are led astray by the humans." The fuchsia man explained. "The humans blinded them with false promises of peace and celebrity."

"They are damned traitors!" A mutant woman shouted. "What're they doing to stop Legacy from killing us?! They probably already have a cure, but they won't share it with us unless we bow down to the humans!"

"I heard one of Freedom Force's was infected." Another countered.

"I hope he dies!" A teary-eyed mutant exclaimed. "It's not fair! I lost my wife, but that traitor still lives!"

"I also heard the artist Sidney Cagney lost a daughter to the virus." One mutant remarked.

"A true tragedy, yes." The fuchsia man nodded.

"Well, in my mind, she deserves it! She married one of those Freedom Force bastards!" Another mutant shouted in rage. "My baby boy died of Legacy! And no one mourns him!"

"Now, my brother and sister mutants, let's not curse out musicians and children." The fuchsia man admonished, making a calming gesture with his hands. "We should not allow petty jealousies to consume us! We are mutants! We are superior! We are above that! My brothers and sisters, you should concentrate your anger and grief not on each other, but the humans who wish us gone! We shall tell them that this is OUR world now, and THEY are the ones who should go! So says Exodus!"

The Brooklyn Museum

"Doctor Strange, huh?" Jay frowned, staring at the Sorcerer Supreme.

"Yes, I am." Doctor Strange answered.

"Aw, great." Dracor grumbled. "Doctor Strange."

"You know him, iguana?" Jay looked at the demon.

"Not personally." Dracor answered. "But I know of him. He's the Sorcerer Supreme! He is the premier mystical defender of this reality, Guthrie! We gotta get outta here! He can and will destroy us!" Jay looked at Doctor Strange.

"You can kill him if you want." Jay told the Sorcerer Supreme, pointing at Dracor. "I don't like him."

"WHAT?!" Dracor exclaimed.

"You heard me." Jay scowled at the demon.

"I assure you, I am not here to destroy you." Doctor Strange countered. "Jay, I came to talk to you."

"How do you know my name?" Jay frowned.

"Topaz..." Dracor deduced with a snarl. "I knew it! That little witch! I knew she was trouble." Jay snarled at Dracor, his eyes glowing red with his rage.

"Watch your mouth, you overgrown lizard." Jay growled. "Excuse me." Jay unfurled his wings.

WHAM!

Jay smacked Dracor hard with his wing, knocking the demon into a wall.

"You wanted to talk." The redhead reminded.

"Yes." Strange nodded. "I understand that you want this." He held up the Wand of Watoomb.

"Yeah, I want it." Jay grunted, holding out his hand. "Hand it over, and you won't be heading to a hospital."

"Jay, do you know why Selene wants this wand?" Doctor Strange inquired.

"No, and I don't care." The redhead responded. "Hand it over."

"Haven't you found it odd that she has entrusted you with merely obtaining this wand?" Doctor Strange inquired. "Don't you find that strange?"

"I don't care, old man." Jay growled, growing angrier with the sorcerer every second. "Hand it over, or I'll take your damn head off."

"Jay, Topaz told me about you." Doctor Strange tried to calm the furious redhead down. "She likes you very much, and she just wants me to-!"

"You can help me by GIVING ME THAT DAMN WAND!" Jay roared. With one leap, the redhead leapt at Strange. "What?!" He found himself going right through the Sorcerer Supreme! "What the hell-?!"

"I have no wish to harm you, child." Doctor Strange told the redhaired "mutant".

"Too bad." Jay snarled. "Because I'll harm you!" He opened his mouth.

EEEEEEEEEEEEE!

The redhead fired his sonic scream at the Sorcerer Supreme.

"I call upon the Shield of Seraphim!" Strange chanted. A glowing blue barrier appeared in front of the mystical defender, blocking the scream. "Jay, I don't wish to harm you. I want to help you."

"Help this!" Jay fired a batch of feathers from his wings. Strange dodged the metallic feathers.

"I call upon the images of Ikonn!" The Sorcerer Supreme chanted again. A batch of duplicates of the Sorcerer Supreme surrounded Jay.

"Quit these tricks!" Jay roared. "Give me that damn wand!"

"Jay, Selene is manipulating you." An image of Strange told the redhead.

"She wishes to use the wand's power for her ends." Another image told.

"She is using you." A third piped up.

"I don't care! She told me that she gave me life again so I can get my revenge on my sister!" Jay snapped. "All I had to do was get her the damn wand!"

"And didn't you think that was suspicious?" Another image inquired.

"Gah! Get it through your damn head! I! DON'T! CARE!" A very annoyed Jay roared, pitching a metal feather at the image of Strange talking to him. The feather passed through the image. "Grrrrrr!" A growling and frustrated Jay threw another metal feather at another image of Strange. "Stop these tricks, old man! Fight me for real!"

"Jay, Selene is using you." One of the images of Strange tried to warn the redhead.

"She has dark intentions for the Wand of Watoomb." Another image added.

"Good for her! I don't care!" Jay roared in frustration, blasting another image with his metal feathers. "Get it through your thick head!"

"She can use the Wand to summon Dormammu." Strange told the redhaired "mutant".

"Dormammu?" Jay stopped his attack. "Who's that?"

"A being that hungers for the life forces of other dimensions." Strange explained.

"You mean...living things?" Jay blinked.

"Yes." The images of Strange nodded.

"Selene has likely formed an alliance with Dormammu. In the past, Dormammu tried to invade this dimension to consume the life of all beings within it. However, I was able to stop him. After that conflagration, I took the Wand of Watoomb under my care."

"What does that have to do with Selene?" Jay wondered, crossing his arms.

"Selene dares not search for the Wand herself, since she knows I have it. She is a mighty sorceress, but I am Sorcerer Supreme." Strange answered.

"So she finds someone to do her dirty work for her. Wonderful." Jay grumbled. "But if Dormammu wants to eat everything in this dimension, why does Selene want to summon him?"

"She probably believes she can convince Dormammu to leave a little piece of this reality untouched for her to rule." Strange answered with a shrug as the images of him vanished. "Selene is intelligent, but she does tend to get clouded by her lust for power." The ex-surgeon walked towards Jay. "Jay, to her, you are merely a pawn. She took advantage of your desire for revenge, the rage that not even death could extinguish. Once you give her the wand, your usefulness to her is at an end, and she will kill you again...and she will make you stay dead."

"...Why should I believe you?" Jay scowled. Strange smiled as the artifact attached to his cape started to rise from its position.

"If you do not believe me, then at least allow the All-Seeing Eye of Agamotto to try and enlighten you." The mystical Eye opened and fired a golden beam of light at Jay.

"Uhn!" The mystically-reborn "mutant" found himself bathed in light. However, the light wasn't painful to him. It felt...enlightening. Like the light was opening up a great truth to him. The Eye showed him the truth. After a couple minutes of being bathed in the light, the Eye closed. Jay panted for a moment. He then looked at the Sorcerer Supreme.

"I see the Eye has shown you the truth." Strange smiled. "Topaz will be happy to hear that."

"...What do you want me to do?"

Next: PlanningJay and Strange plan to counter the Black Queen's scheme!