ISSUE #103

Ian followed Jamie down to the front office to welcome Rictor back from his mission.

" Welcome back, Rictor. Julio, this is our guest, Ian Sinclair, no relation to Rahne Sinclair." Jamie said as he introduced the two men.

" A pleasure." Rictor held out his hand and extended it to Ian.

Ian nodded and reciprocated the gesture, taking Rictor's hand in his own and giving it a firm squeeze.

" What did you find?" Ian asked the man, getting straight to the point of the discussion.

" Well, I went back to the scenes of the attacks and tried to scavenge whatever cluse I could find. But to be honest there wasn't much of anything to find." Rictor explained. " I took notes, however, on some strange markings. Numbers." Rictor explained.

Ian paid close attention as Rictor lifted up a series of numbers. The numbers read out 53.3498, 6.2603

" The first set of numbers was at the store, burned into the ground where the explosion likely started. The second set, was singed into the side of a car." Rictor explained.

" What are they? I mean, what do they mean? Is it some kind of coded message?" Monet asked the man.

" Maybe, I'm not sure yet. What do you think Sinclair? Do these numbers mean anything to you?" Rictor turned and asked the man.

Ian observed the numbers closely and mewling over them quietly.

" The way these numbers are set up. It's weird. But I think their actually directions. Coordinates really. Hang on one second. Let me check something, can I use the computer?" Ian asked.

" Sure." Jamie replied. He took a step to the side and watched as Ian began typing the numbers into the computer.

" I could be wrong, I'm not entirely sure, but...." Ian suddenly paused as he looked at the screen. " That bastard." Ian cursed.

" Well, what is it? Don't keep us guessing punk." Guido spoke.

" That's Dublin, Ireland. It's where I was born, and where I lived until I was four years old. It's my old home." Ian explained. " And that's where I'm going now." Ian told the group.

He turned to leave, only to then be stopped by Jamie once more.

" Hold on, kid. We can't leave right now. Our jet is out in the field. And most of our other members haven't returned yet." Jamie told the boy.

" Don't need a jet. I can get there just fine on my own. You helped me figure out where to go next, your job is done." Ian told the man.

" Kid, don't make this personal." Jamie argued back.

" It became personal when they took my family. No one hurts the people I care about and gets away with it. No one. And if you intend to keep on getting in the way, this is gonna go real bad for you."

Jamie raised his hands up, in surrender, and allowed Ian to leave without another word.

Once the young man was gone, however, Jamie looked over to Guido and spoke to him.

" Call Kurt, James, and Hepzibah and tell them that once they're done with their mission, we need them in Ireland. Give them the coordinates. And tell them to keep their eyes out for any trouble." Jamie exclaimed.

" Right, right. I'm on it." Guido groaned. He got up from his seat, still rubbing his chest, and walked over to the phone in the office.

Meanwhile, flying high over the Atlantic Ocean, making a straight line for the emerald Island, was Ian.

'Why my old home?' Ian wondered. There was nothing special about the town. It was just a normal city like any other. He hadn't even been there long enough to make any lasting memories. No school, no friends back home. And no Family to speak of. So, what could be so important that he felt the need to drag Ian all the way to Ireland.

" Whatever the reason, I'll find out. And I'll get them back." Ian declared.

Elsewhere at an unknown Location, Noriko and Sarah Sinclair where beginning to awaken and when they did, they found themselves bound in chains.

" Wha- what's going on?!" Sarah yelled.

" Miss Sinclair?" Noriko groaned

" Noriko, what's happening?" Sarah asked the young woman.

Noriko tried to answer, but was too groggy, due to the medicine coursing through her veins at the moment. She was aware of course, but her ability to respond or even move was severely hindered.

However, it wouldn't be long before their questions would be answered, as the very man who had kidnapped them marched into the room with a grin on his face.

" Well, hello ladies. So glad you could finally join me." Bastion told the woman.

" You- What do you want with us?" Sarah asked the man.

" You personally? Nothing at all. Her on the other hand." Bastion said as he pointed to Noriko. " I want her entire species dead. Well, eventually. But for now, her boyfriend, your son, is my target. And you two will be the perfect bait to draw him right to me." Bastion told the woman.

" Why?! What has my son done to you?!" Sarah asked the man.

" Me personally? Nothing. Yet. See, I had a warning from the future. A brave machine, delivered a message through time, warning me of what becomes of the world, the threat that is coming to it. That a mutant messiah will be born, and to prevent that monster from ever surviving through what comes next, a great obstacle needed to be removed. Your son. How I go about doing it? Now, I think I'll keep that to myself." Bastion explained to the woman. The sheer arrogance of the half-man half-machine was astounding. He believed there was simply no way either Noriko, or Sarah could get in his way. " And don't worry, once this is over, I'll gladly free you. My fellow human, your sins can be forgiven. But that girl? She dies too. And if you try to interfere in any kind of way, THEN you die too." Bastion told the woman.

Suddenly a small alarm went off at a nearby computer.

" Oh, looks like your son found my first gift. I hope he likes it." Bastion sneered. " You stay comfortable, I'll be back with another guest to keep you company." Bastion told the woman. And just as he appeared he suddenly disappeared, leaving Sarah alone with Noriko.

Back in Ireland, Ian finally landed at the small house in Hunters Haven.

" This is so strange; I haven't seen this little home in so long. It looks like no one's been here in a long time. How can that be? This neighborhood is lively. I can't believe a place like this is empty." Ian spoke. He walked towards the empty house and opened the front door.

The house was dusky, dark and cold. It looked like it had been devoid of all life for years. But surely that couldn't be right. Ian began taking a look around, his entrance had taken him to the back room. When he turned on the light, he immediately cringed at the sight. There were arrows on the wall painted in blood. They all pointed to the living room.

Ian followed the arrows to the living room, where upon arriving, he discovered the dead bodies of a family. All of them circled around a board with his face and those connected to him plastered on it. Noriko, Rachel, Cessily, Laura, Rahne, and his mother. They were mostly similar, in that they all had knives through them, though there were exceptions. Rachel had a question mark on her picture, most likely indicating that Bastion couldn't find her. Laura had a picture of Logan underneath it. It seemed Bastion didn't want to risk going after her while Logan was around. Or maybe he hadn't gotten to her yet. And then there was Noriko and his mom who had X's cut into them. And last but not least there was Rahne, who had a circle around it.

" This was a trick, he's going after Rahne again, Damn it!" Ian cursed. He turned to prepare to leave, but when he looked upon the wall above him, there was another message, a set coordinates and a written message.

Time to Play.

Suddenly the house began to rumble, and then out of nowhere the entire roof of the house was ripped off, but a group of giant sentinels, easily bigger than the ones used to protect the institute. There were easily ten of the giants.

" Damn it!" Ian cursed. He knew this was a distraction, but he knew that if he didn't take care of them, then the Sentinels would probably follow after him. He jumped straight for one of the sentinels, punching it right in the chest. The giant machine had a hole in its chassis, but still it was able to raise its hand to fire at Ian, blasting the man straight back to the ground.

Ian tried to control the blast, but he could only move so much of it. If he hadn't known before, he was certain now that something was wrong with his powers. A sentinel shouldn't be a problem for him. In fact, any machine powered by simple electricity, he should be able to just shut it down with a thought.

Ian panted.

" I don't have time for this. I need to hurry." Ian proclaimed. Ian summoned forth as much energy as he could, which for some reason was less than normal but enough, he jumped straight into the air, and punched right through one of the Sentinel's power sources, shutting the machine down and destroying it. " That's one. Nine more to go.

" Need a hand?"

Ian looked up and saw Nightcrawler teleporting in along with one of the X-jets flying above.

" Not really, but I'll take it." Ian told the man. Honestly it was a relief, he could have handled it alone, but having a few extra hands would be just fine for him.

Ian the members of X-factor quickly dispatched the remaining sentinels with ease. Ian was quite capable of just tearing through them with his bare hands, and Nightcrawler and Warpath cut through them.

Afterwards, Ian approached Kurt and Warpath to speak with them about what he discovered.

" Kurt, James, it's good to see you guys again. Haven't seen you or Xavier, since we got back from space. But I don't have time to catch up. We need to get back to the X-factor headquarters. Rahne's in danger." Ian told the men.

" vhat are you talking about?" Kurt asked.

" I don't have time. We need to go." Ian told the men. He tried to jump into the air to fly, but quickly found himself unable to do so. He was tired, and he felt his energy was completely depleted. " Damn it, I can't fly. What did that bastard do to me?" Ian asked himself.

" What do you mean you can't fly? What happened?" James asked the man.

" I don't know. One of those bastards' machines blew up in my face, and ever since I haven't been able to use my powers properly. Somethings wrong! Damn it!" Ian cursed aloud.

" Ve'll get you to the jet and check you out. Come on." Kurt spoke. He grabbed Ian and Warpath and started teleporting until they were finally back on the jet.

" What happened to boy?" Hepzibah asked the two.

" Good to see you too, crazy cat lady." Ian joked.

" Hepzibah get us back home. We got trouble coming." Warpath told the woman. " Kurt get him up on the table. I'll get the X-ray." Warpath told the man.

Kurt nodded and helped Ian up onto the table, and then stripped his shirt off. James then raised pulled the machine out over Ian's chest and started it up.

" Okay, here we go... Oh fuck!" James cursed.

" Vhat is it?" Kurt asked.

" It's bad, you're infested with Sentinels." James explained.

" What?" Ian asked the man.

" Mein Gott. These are Nano-Sentinels. Ve need to get you back to the school. Ian who did this to you?" Kurt asked. His voice clearly panicked.

" Bastion." Ian answered.

" WHAT?!"

" VHAT?!"

Both Kurt and Warpath shouted at the same time.

" Yeah, but not the Bastion I remember reading about. No he had the face of a man, a younger man. And he called himself the Original Bastion. Not one of those machines." Ian explained.

" This is bad, you just now thought to tell us?!" Warpath exclaimed.

" Sorry, but I was a little distracted with the amount of blood I was losing and the fact my family was just kidnapped. If I slipped some details, I might have had a good reason." Ian replied. " But forget him, what are these Nano-Sentinels?" He asked.

" They're microscopic Sentinels that get into the bloodstream and began to kill the host from the inside. No wonder your powers aren't working. The Sentinels act as a sort of power dampener, slowly shutting down your powers, and act as a poison. Nearly killed Scott and Jean a few years ago. Haven't seen anyone develop them in a while." James explained to the boy. " If we don't get these out soon, well, you'll die."

" Fuck me." Ian cursed. It made sense. Why he all of a sudden couldn't overpower a machine. Why he felt so weak.

" Alright, change of plans, Hepzibah, set a course for the institute, we'll-"

Before Warpath could finish his directions, an alert came in from X-factor.

" We got big problem back home. Someone attacking base." Hepzibah shouted back to the man.

" It's bastion. He's there for Rahne. We gotta stop him." Ian spoke. He sat up from the bed and then, suddenly felt lightheaded and weak in his knees. He felt hot, like a fever had suddenly washed over him.

" This is great, we need to get back and help the others." Warpath told Kurt.

" What about, him?" Kurt asked.

" Him can speak for himself. I'm fine, Kurt. I will be anyway. For now, the others need us....... Let's go." Ian spoke. He stood up straight and took a deep breath to focus himself, but on the inside, he could still feel it. The weary, weakness, in his body.

Kurt and Warpath nodded, and without further distraction, the group flew straight back towards the X-Factor base in New York.