New Warriors Spotlight 1 "

New Warriors Spotlight 1

"Consequence"

by Pen (Jeremy Schwennen)

*Click, click, click, whirrrrrrrr*

They had come through so much together. Ever since they had first met, Vance Astrovik and Angelica Jones had known that they were meant for one another. Throughout trials and difficulties far greater than any man or woman should ever be forced to endure, they stood by one another. And on that day, that promise that they had made to each other so long ago, had finally become reality.

It was only a few short weeks after the epic battle with Volx that had finally reunited the New Warriors. Assembled were all of the couple’s closest friends, and their few remaining family members. They were wed in a small, inconspicuous church, away from the prying eyes and flashbulbs of the Daily Bugle’s reporters. Officiating the ceremony was Father Janes, close friend of the team. The day had been perfect.

*Whirrrrrrrr, click, click, click*

Angelica shut off the old fashioned film projector that held the reel of footage from the wedding. This had been Rich’s gift to them, something he took great pride in, after finally settling his mind upon a major. As a film major, he felt obligated to record using this type of medium. It preserved the moment with greater clarity, he had said, quite sure of himself. But no device could ever capture those moments in the same vivid detail that they were etched in, deep in Angelica’s heart.

It had been 3 months since the wedding, and things were so very different for the young couple than they had ever been. They had both retired from superheroics, Vance to further his work with the Childwatch organization and Angelica for a two-fold purpose. Mainly, so that she could continue her education, but also so that she could preserve her health, in hopes that her powers had not already burned the ability to bear children from within her. Just a few days ago, the Warriors had made an attempt to reorganize the team, following the period of disarray that had befallen them after the battle with Volx. And it was there that Vance made the decision Angelica had hoped he would make.. but could not dare to ask of him. They were done being heroes. From now on.. they were simply young people, with dreams and hopes like so many other young people. And Angelica could not have been happier.

Sighing softly to herself, the young mutant whose very name evoked fear from her opponents closed the door to the storage room in the small house near the lake that she and Vance now owned, and returned to her books. Her first semester of college was going well, and she hoped to have her reading all caught up by the time Vance came home. There was.. something she had to tell him.

---Oatridge School for Boys, Staten Island---

“... and that’s what Childwatch does. We help those kids who find themselves trapped in abusive relationships with their parents and their elders; we help them get out of those situations and into the position to overcome the cycles of abuse that have gone on for so long. Everyone has to understand that there is nothing to hide from; nothing to fear; no shame in coming to others for help. Everyone needs help sometimes. Even superheroes. Are there any questions?” Vance Astrovik stood on the stage of the small boy’s school, dressed in a suit and tie. He had considered showing up in his old Justice costume, but he somehow felt that showing himself as human as possible was the best way to reach these kids.

After a few questions, the bells rang, signaling to the assemblage of students that class was over, and to Vance that it was time to head back to the office, turn in the information request forms that the teachers here had filled out for him, and start out for home. Angel had wanted him home early for some manner of surprise, and disappointing the love of his life was a far cry from his intention.

“An excellent speech, Mr. Astrovik. I just wish your lovely wife could have been here with you... I so hate to lose the opportunity to meet beautiful super-heroines.” A well dressed man with medium brown hair approached Vance, smiling amicably, his hand extended.

“I’m sorry sir, I don’t believe I’ve had the pleasure...”

“Whitman. Dane Whitman. I believe you know me better as-”

“The Black Knight! Of course! How are you sir? What brings you to the school here? Is it Avengers’ business?” Vance showed visible signs of excitement. One of his dreams, back as far as he could remember, was to fight alongside the Avengers. But that dream was lost to him now.. Angelica needed him.

“Calm down there Vance, if I didn’t know any better, I’d think you were some wet behind the ears rookie. And, as to that last question of yours... mind if I accompany you on your way back to Childwatch? I have some things I’d like to discuss with you.”

---The Astrovik Residence, Rural New York---

Angelica sat in the kitchen, watching the clock. Vance was late, but not unusually so. He became so engrossed in his work, was so committed to the cause Childwatch served, that he often forgot about her. She didn’t mind. The look in his eyes, the passion for his work, and the enthusiasm and joy he showed at every success, was all that needed to be said. But tonight, the news she had for him... was important. And once said, would change their relationship forever.

As the last rays of the sun crept below the horizon, Vance’s car pulled into the small garage. He got out, a wide grin on his face, and rushed into the house, in such a hurry that he didn’t bother to close the doors behind him, instead telekinetically nudging them closed.

“Angel! My beautiful, kind, compassionate Angel! What a wonderful day this has been!” Vance rushed into the kitchen, lifting Angelica in his arms, spinning around, holding her close to him.

“My god, what’s got into you? I haven’t seen you this happy in ages...”

“Nope, it’s not going to work that easily. You had something important to tell me, so you go first. So, my dear, lay it on me. Tell me that the earth has stopped spinning, that the sun has gone out, nothing you could say can change how marvelous this day has become!”

Her eyes brightening, her smile widening, planting the faintest touch of a kiss upon her husband’s cheek, Angelica Astrovik whispered into his ear-

“I’m pregnant.”

Suddenly, as though he had been struck from behind, Vance dropped Angelica to the floor, his face pale, his hands shaking. “What do you mean.. you mean.. but I thought... “

“Aren’t you happy? I thought this was what we wanted?” the beginnings of a tear were pooling within the beautiful green wells that were Angelica’s eyes, and Vance could not look upon them any longer.

“I need to.. be.. alone for a bit dear, ok?” Vance helped his wife to her feet and planted a small peck on her cheek, unconvincingly.

“What about your news? What had you so happy?” Angel wiped the tear from her eye, trying to understand what was so wrong.

“It was.... it was nothing. I’ll be back, ok? Just... gimme a few minutes.” Vance walked towards the back door, and as he entered the small landing, Angelica heard him pick up the telephone receiver and dial it.

“Hello, yes, this is Mr. Astrovik calling. Yes. I’ve.. decided to decline your offer. Yes sir. I’m sorry, this just isn’t a good time. I’m aware of that. Thank you. You too, sir.” Angelica heard the soft sound of the receiver being placed back into the cradle, and she heard a loud snapping noise, the sound of hard plastic being shattered. And the door slammed shut.

---The Pond---

He stood on the small patch of land that jutted out over the lake, gazing at the reflection of the stars in the huge body of water. The night was calm, and peaceful. So much unlike the turmoil in Vance’s soul.

How could he be a father? He had seen so much in his short life, so much pain and suffering. All brought about by the cycles of abuse. The cycles which had held sway over his father, and his father before him, and more. David Bank’s father. Allison Gaulthing’s father. Gilbert Benson’s mother.

He preached every day, to small children and grown adults alike, of overcoming the cycles, of turning back that inexorable tide of rage that flowed across generations, stemming from incidents long past but pervading even to this very moment. But was he strong enough to practice that which served as his mantra? How could he have been so blind? What better way to lie, to deceive your very self, to convince yourself that you were better than that, than by telling others how to live their lives?

So many things had happened to Vance Astrovik. So much of his life had been shaped by his abuse at the hands of his father, and the seemingly endless consequences..

But the thought that returned to Vance.. again and again.. was the vision Hate Monger had visited upon him. During his first collaboration with Childwatch. In that vision.. he had been that which he most feared. He had become his father.

Vance imagined his own version of this vision, as clear as the night sky which stretched endlessly before him. He saw his son, standing before him. He saw Angelica, standing at his side. And he watched, with a strange, cold, detachedness.. he watched his hand come up, and he watched it come down, striking his son. Again. Again. and Again.

Then, unbidden, another image arose in his mind. He watched Arnold, his father, charge at him, he watched him raise his hand. He watched as, enveloped in a sheath of pink energy, that man, that man who he had loved, his father.. went crashing through the house. He watched his father die at his own hands.

And then, returned to the first image, he watched as his son struggled to rise from the first blow. Defiant. Like Vance had been. Unwilling to be hit again.

And Vance watched, as this other-self, this Vance that just might be, face contorted in rage, lifted his son, enveloped in a sheath of pink energy, into the sky, and hurled him through the house. He watched.. as the tiny boy.. his spitting image... him? his son? his father? breathed his last tiny breath.

He watched, in that cold, detached way that he was watching, as the other-self turned to Angelica, standing, horrified, and...

the fist raised, but Vance could bear no more. He closed his eyes.. he fell to his knees.. and tears, naked streams of all the pain, the suffering, the doubt, the hurt, within his soul, poured down his cheeks, and a soft whisper escaped into the night.

“Why?”

---In the House---

Angelica sat on the bed, waiting. A thousand nervous thoughts lanced through her mind, each one striking a nerve, a memory. She wondered what had startled Vance so much. They had both decided they wanted children, early on in their relationship. But... somehow, Angelica could not help but think she was missing something.

And she did not notice as a softly luminous pool of yellow liquid flowed in the open window, puddling first on the floor, then twining it’s way up the leg of the bed. She sat there, lost in thought, as the pool gathered on the pillow behind her and a large, powerful arm rose up from within it’s fluid form, reaching for her.

---The Pond---

The sound of Vance’s whisper, the only noise breaking the perfect silence of the night, echoed and amplified, coming back at him from a thousand angles. It continued to grow, in it’s unearthly resonance, the voice slowly changing, taking on a hollow, mystical tone. And Vance looked up from his kneeling position, held back his tears, and beheld a strange visitor.

“Veritas? Sayge?”

The figure, slender, tall, and dressed in all-concealing white robes, extended a pale, gaunt hand, offering it to Vance, offering to aid him in standing. Beneath the cowl, nothing could be seen. Darkness, awaiting the time when it’s confining hood could be cast back, and the light of truth could be set free.

Vance’s response was not what the enigmatic embodiment of truth had expected. Pink energy lashed out, striking him, sending him sailing back, into the shallow edge of the pond. Vance rose, and wiped away a trickle of blood from beneath his nose.

“You! This is your fault! If you hadn’t shown me my past, if you hadn’t allowed Sphinx to cast me back to that time.. I would have never had to know any of this. I wouldn’t feel this way.. I would still believe that the past could be overcome.”

Sayge rose to his feet, and in the hollow, ghostly voice which rang true in every way, he spoke. “You would believe that you have the power to make those changes.”

“Yes! But now.. now I see the past, the present, they are the same. And how can I ever believe that the future will be any different. I am my father’s son. As he was his.”

And Veritas took a step forward, then another. And another. He stood before Vance, mere inches from his face, and he raised his hands to his hood. As he pulled it back, Vance moves to shield his eyes, having seen the fury of the Light of Truth before. But there was no light. Instead, only a face.

He was so much like Arnold Astrovik. But smaller, thinner. His face was less wrinkled, his eyes brighter. And when he spoke, there was not the gruff, harsh tone that Vance’s father had always used. Instead, it was a soft, thoughtful voice. A voice of a gentle soul. One who read poetry and sipped coffee, not one who watched football and inhaled beer.

“Hello Vance.”

---The House---

Angelica struggled against the yellow globule which sought to encompass her. She fought with all of her strength, but one instant, it was hard as steel, the next, soft and malleable. She dared not use her powers, fore fear of her baby’s safety. But the strange form was overcoming her. And she could not scream.. He had already told her that.

“Miss Firestar, please, cease your struggling. Don’t you remember me? I’m Primus. You know.. the big yellow guy who used to hang out with the Thinker?” Primus attempted once more to flood Angelica’s lungs with his flowing form, but she gouged him in a more solid region of his semi-formed ‘torso’ and he winced.

“Why are you doing this? Leave me alone!”

“I want to help you. Your powers are a danger to yourself. You need help controlling their effects. Thanks to you and your teammates, I am now equipped to neutralize and control certain aspects of your para-human abilities. Allow me to join with you. I desire to help people..”

---The Pond---

“How can you be here? I thought you didn’t listen to me, in that time. I thought I failed to change your mind..” Vance continued to stare at this Arnold that never was, dumbfounded.

“No.. you were not allowed to stay long enough to see what would become of me for a reason. You have a purpose to fulfill in life, and in order for you to become what you have, you needed to be left in the dark. Veritas told me all of this when he brought me here, to show you what good you have, and can, do.” Arnold placed his hand on Vance’s shoulder. “You have made my life complete Vance. You have allowed me to be happy, to find my place in the world. Without you, I would have ended up the bitter and hard man which you knew. I will never have a son, in the life I lead. But I will always remember the great man that the one I might have had turned out to be.”

“But don’t you see? If you hadn’t become my father, I’d have never been born, I’d have never gone back and helped you to overcome the abuse in your life. If you exist, I can not. But if I don’t exist, you can not.” The concepts of the paradox before him rampaged through Vance’s mind, and Arnold simply smiled.

“Vance. Listen. You and I, we are very much alike. Each of us is the broken spoke in the endless wheel of abuse. You know all about alternate times and splintered realities. Look at me and you as you do yourself and Major Victory. Pieces of the same person.. on a cosmic scale. The only reason I came here was to show you that you can change things. Now, what I am about to say... it won’t make much sense. But listen anyways. o matter what happens tonight, it wasn’t your fault. It was meant to be. You had to meet me. You had to hear what I had to say. It’s not your fault.”

And in the flash of light which Vance had expected so much sooner, Arnold Astrovik was gone, and the night was silent once more. Until a scream cut the stillness like a knife, and a blast of microwave energy erupted from every window in the house. Angelica!

Vance launched into the air, propelling himself as fast as his mind could carry him. He smashed through the door, into the bedroom. And Angelica lay there, shivering. The room was on fire. And a yellow housecat leapt out the window.

“Fine. Be that way.” And it was gone.

Vance dropped to the ground, scooping Angelica up in his arms. “What happened? Are you ok?”

As Angelica sunk into the depths of unconsciousness, she whispered, “Where were you?”

---Mount Sinai Hospital---

They sat in the examination room. They had allowed Vance entrance only minutes before. Angelica hardly spoke to him. She told him what had happened, but he could not bear to tell her where he had been, or what he had seen. They waited. The doctors would soon be in, to tell them both what they had found. They waited.

And then he entered, a small, stocky man, with a bald head and puffy cheeks. His expression was somber.

“Mr. and Mrs. Astrovik, I’m sorry, but.. you’ve lost the baby.”

Angelica burst into tears, burying her head in Vance’s chest. He wrapped his arms tightly around her, doing his best to comfort her. He began to ask the question, the question that they were both dreading. He wished he could spare Angelica this, but they both had to know.

“What was the cause, doctor?”

The old man flipped through the sheets on his clipboard and ran his finger across some lines. Finally he found what he was looking for.

“Natural causes. Sometimes these things just happen. You’re still young, and sometimes a person’s body just isn’t ready for a baby. This time, it just wasn’t meant to be.”

They sat there, on the hospital bed, Vance holding his wife, late into the night. Their sorrow was palpable, but, in the tiniest recesses of their minds, there was also relief. Angelica’s powers had not done this. She was still able to have more children. This one just... wasn’t meant to be.

And as the night slowly ticked away, a small computer screen was switched off, somewhere. Only moments before, the screen had shown medical files, test results. Originally, they had contained the words “microwave poisoning”, “extremely high radiation levels”, and “possible infertility”. But after the man at the screen had finished his work.. they said nothing but “natural causes”.

“Mr. Taylor, can I get you anything else sir?” a petite woman stood in the doorway of the office, buttoning up her coat.

“No, that’ll be all for tonight. Have a safe trip home. And please.. call me Dwayne.”

---Epilogue---

It had been several weeks since the business with Primus, and... the baby. Angelica was starting to go back to her classes, and Vance was resuming his work for Childwatch, although on shorter hours. He spent so much time with Angelica, she was feeling stifled. He was over-protective. No matter how often she said that it hadn’t been his fault.. he just looked at her strangely, as though he’d hear d that from someone else before, and resumed his constant vigil over her.

She was taking out the trash. Getting back into the full swing of taking care of things around the house. She picked up the liner bag from within the small receptacle by the back door and as she did, it ripped, spilling it’s contents out on the floor. Inside, she saw something very odd.

Two halves of a hard plastic card, snapped cleanly along the center. She held them up, fitting them together to see the large “A” on the back. She turned it over, and saw Vance’s picture, along with a numerical keypad... and a phone number. Suddenly, everything from that night, those weeks back, made sense.

She picked up the phone, and dialed the number.

“Mr. Whitman please. This is Angelica Astrovik.. no sir, tell him it’s Firestar.”

---Epilogue 2---

Vance packed up his things and left the small auditorium he had been lecturing in. He still had a few hours before Angelica expected him home, but he wanted to be there as soon as he could. He hated leaving her alone. Ever since.. that night.

“Vance, hold up!”

He spun around, only to see Dane Whitman standing there.. and Angelica.

“I spend the last few hours talking with your wife here, Vance, and, aside from letting you know that you have the most beautiful woman I have ever laid eyes upon,” Dane smiled roguishly and Angelica blushed, “I have something to say to you.”

“I can’t join the team right now Dane. It just isn’t a good time for that..”

“Vance, shush. What Dane is trying to say is that we came up with a project much better suited to your skills, and your schedule.” Angel looked at her husband and smiled. It was the first time she had smiled in a long time.

“How would you like to run, alongside me, a training program, for younger kids, sponsored by the Avengers? You’d call the shots. I’d serve as a sort of liaison between your group and the main team. You’d be in charge of teaching these kids to use their powers and gifts responsibly. You’d be making a difference in the lives of kids from all walks of life. What do you say?”

Vance looked first at Angel, then at Dane. And smiled.

---Epilogue 3---

“Well, Thinker.. you don’t even bother to show up around here anymore.” Primus lounged in a chair, watching television. He had not seen his master in weeks, not since he had helped him deal with Mathemanic and those New Warriors kids. And a bored Android.. is an ambitious android.

“Sooo.. Firestar didn’t want my help, so I will have to find someone else who wants my help. Someone who NEEDS me help. Someone like....”

The android’s eyes scanned the room, the complex, the block.. and settled on the large containment pod in the adjacent room.

“David....”