ISSUE # 54

" Not to worry, all our roots are pulled up. When the kids give the authorities our information there will be none for the authorities to find." The Kingmaker explained to his client. " What? This doesn't affect you at all stop worrying. I'm always prepared for these contingencies" The Kingmaker exclaimed. Just as he was feeling confident, his car suddenly came to a horrid stop as it smashed into something hard.

" Stephanie, what in the name of all that is holy is going on out there?" The Kingmaker asked.

" Can the Kingmaker, come out to play?" Santo asked.

The Kingmaker jumped out of his car in anger.

" The learning curve appears to be non-existent. You children can't touch me or the case." The Kingmaker explained.

" For all your talk and your mystical looking scrolls, you're just a man. A normal man with a nasty rolodex and some toys." Julian told the man. He picked up the Kingmakers car with one hand. " But me and my friends.... We're more! We're Mutants!" Julian said. He then threw the care at the Kingmaker who put up his barrier once again.

Santo smashed his fist against the barrier and the Kingmaker smiled.

" Lat time, I left you alive." The Kingmaker spoke. He then reached for his glasses.

" He's going for his glasses, which means his barrier will come down. Now's our chance!" Julian exclaimed.

" I will handle it." Sooraya spoke.

" Let's finish this already." The Kingmaker spoke. He then blasted Santo in his face with the full power of his laser, and then he shattered the boy's entire body into pieces.

" SANTO!" Julian yelled.

" Like I said, no learning curve." The Kingmaker stated.

" Shit, Julian get him together before he dies. Kevin, help him. Everyone else get that Watch off!" Ian shouted.

" Inside this force field, you kids can't touch me- AGH!!" The Kingmaker yelled. He was too busy gloating to notice Cessily and Sooraya sneaking up behind him.

Sooraya used her sand to blow the watch off of the Kingmakers arm and Cessily punched him in the face and knocked his glasses off.

" Let's lose those glasses." Cessily told the man.

The Kingmaker hit the ground hard and looked back at the girl and Brian approaching him.

" Your mind control won't work on me, Brian. I've told you that." The Kingmaker told the boy.

" But you reminded me. It is mind control. All this time I've made some one IT and everyone ran away. But with you... I realize now that I can make people it for real. I can make you a star. Brian told the man. He touched his ankle and people suddenly started getting out of their cars and charged the Kingmaker.

" They're just going to keep coming until you're buried under a pile of people!" Brian told the man.

" It's over, Kingmaker." Cessily told the man. She tried to punch him again, but the Kingmaker rolled out of the way and grabbed his watch. He then turned around and blasted Cessily with a large current of electricity.

" I only stunned you with the watch last time, miss Kincaid. But Mercury and electricity? Electricity wins every time." The Kingmaker told the girl. " Shut down your power and get them to back off or she dies."

" All right, it's off." Brian told the man.

" And You miss Qadir. Get out of dust form and get away from me." The Kingmaker told the girl.

" Do not kill her." Sooraya told the man. She landed on the ground and her body turned back to normal.

" Let her go, Kingmaker and we'll let you go." Julian told the man as he put Santo back together.

" That's right you will let me go. And I'll take her with me to ensure that." The Kingmaker decreed. He was confident he had his way out, when two hands approached him.

" No. You let her go now, or you die." Kevin told the man.

" Your power isn't back." The Kingmaker told Kevin.

" Yes, it is. I can feel it. It's hungry. It wants me to use it. It wants me to kill." Kevin told the man.

" And if he doesn't." Ian stated. He placed his hand firmly around the Kingmaker's throat and squeezed. " I will."

" You...." The Kingmaker exclaimed.

" Remember what i told you, Kingmaker? At the start of all this? I told you that if you hurt any of my friends that I would snap you in half, like a twig. If you even try to hurt one more hair on Cessily's head, I promise you'll lose yours, before you even know it. Wanna try me?" Ian asked the man.

" You're... Not like the others. I read your background. You're really gonna kill me, aren't you?" The Kingmaker asked.

" For Cessily... For Sooraya, For Julian, and Santo, and Brian. And for Kevin? Absolutely." Ian told the man.

" I surrender." The Kingmaker told the man, but Ian just kept on squeezing, and squeezing until the Kingmaker's face turned red and he passed out from the force.

Once he was unconscious, Ian dropped the man to the floor.

" You better be grateful. Piece of shit." Ian spoke. He spit on the ground near the unconscious man

" Cess? You okay?" Kevin asked the girl.

" You... You saved me, Kevin?" Cessily asked.

" Course, I did. You're my friend." Kevin told the girl.

Ian looked at the two and smiled. It was nice to see Cessily, finally getting the attention she wanted from, Kevin. But now he had more important business to worry about.

" What do we do with him, now?" Julian asked.

" Don't worry about it, I made a phone call." Ian stated.

And sure, enough not long after the fight finished, SHIELD agents arrived on the scene along with Diamondback, Paladin, and Nick Fury himself.

" Dude, what the hell?" Julian asked. " When did you call SHIELD?" Julian asked.

Ian looked back at the boy and smirked.

" Really, Kid? you're starting to be a bigger pain in my ass than your teachers." Fury stated.

" Yeah, did you really need to knock us out like that?" Diamondback asked.

" Hey, I had to make it look good." Ian told the two.

" Well, come on. You and I need to talk." Fury told Ian.

Ian nodded and walked off with Fury to discuss the events and details of the Kingmakers plans and operations.

" Well, look who it is?" Julian spoke.

" Uh-huh! So, what happened kid? Had a change of heart?" Diamondback asked Julian.

" Nah. I just needed to make sure the guy was a real genuine supervillain and then sever my ties. But in the end, we were on the same side." Julian told the woman. " What can I say? I'm a hero."

" Hero, huh? I'll try to keep that in mind while I recover from the table you dropped on me." Diamondback told the boy.

" Hey, Julian. Let's go." Ian told the boy as he walked past him. " And Diamondback, I'm sorry for how things worked between you and cap. But uh, just a quick bit of advice? You're a beautiful woman. And you shouldn't try to change who you are for someone else. If they can't love you for the way, you are and for doing what makes you happy, then they don't deserve you at all." Ian told the woman. " All right, Julian do your flirting and then come along. I've had enough of this vacation." Ian told the boy. " And uh, let's do it now, before Fury finds out what we did."

" OH, WHAT THE FUCK!" Ian and Julian heard Fury yell.

" I guess the computer files got damaged in the fight." Julian stated.

" Oh really?" Diamondback asked the two boys.

" And maybe my friend's ability to wither anything organic made the bioweapon inert. Accidentally of course." Ian stated.

" This way, nobody gets the bioweapon. Not even the Government? Thanks boys, you just cost me my finder's fee." Diamondback stated. She turned and walked away from the two with a smile on her face.

" But we kept a bioweapon from getting out there! I think that show's we're the real deal!" Julian exclaimed.

" Your cute kids, call me in a few years." Diamondback stated.

" Be careful with what you wish for. I might just take you up on that offer." Ian told the woman.

Diamondback scoffed and walked away from the two without saying another word.

" All right, that's enough of the jokes. You know we're gonna get cussed out when we get back to the institute, right?" Ian asked Julian.

" I'm fine with that. We stopped a megalomaniac. And saved the world from a bioweapon. How bad can it be?" Julian asked. " I'm more concerned about, The Kingmaker. What's gonna stop him from using his connections to come after us once, this is all over?" Julian asked.

" Oh, I made more than one phone call. Let's just say a certain White queen is handling everything for us." Ian told the boy.

A few days later.

" Welcome back, Kingmaker." Stephanie, the kingmaker's assistant, said to the man.

" How many favors did we have to burn to get me out of that?" The Kingmaker asked.

" None sir." Stephanie replied.

" What? How is that possible?" The Kingmaker asked.

" Please, get in the car sir." Stephanie told the man. She seemed to be a little spooked and when the Kingmaker stepped into the car, he found out why.

" Emma Grace Frost. It's been a long time." The Kingmaker said to Emma, who had been the one to get him out of jail.

" Since I had you tossed out of the Hellfire club? It certainly has." Emma replied.

" You got me released?" Kingmaker asked.

" I did. And that means, by your rules... You owe me." Emma told the man.

" But we didn't enter into a deal so."

" Wallace, shut up and listen to me. If I can get you out of prison, then I can most certainly get you back in. And no amount of favors will get you out if I exert a little... Mental.... Influence." Emma cut the man off and spoke. " My children are to be left alone, now and forever. Are we clear?" Emma asked the man.

" Fine. They'll be unharmed." The Kingmaker replied.

" Not, just unharmed. You go nowhere near them." Emma spoke.

" They're very impressive, you know." The Kingmaker told the woman.

" Yes. I know." Emma told the man. She then left him alone and got in her own vehicle and left.

" That little snake bastard. He planned this." The Kingmaker mumbled.

Flashback.

" Yeah, hello? Yeah, I need help."

" What is going on?" Emma asked. " What could it be that would make you come to me for help?"

" I'll tell you, but you need to let us handle things first." Ian told the woman.

" Fine, go ahead and I'll think about it." Emma replied.

" All right, this is what's going on. Julian's trying to get back at his parents, but in doing so, he's come under the radar of some guy called the Kingmaker. He's offered everyone a chance to get what they want and I have to be honest... I can't fight it. Not alone. He says he can cure Kevin and he can find Sooraya's mom. I know they'll want to do it. And I know this will come with some kind of favor. When that happens, I'm gonna play along, long enough to find out what he's after. But I'll need help." Ian told the woman.

" You're playing a dangerous game, Ian. I can't tell you how many resources the Kingmaker has. Are you sure about this?" Emma asked.

" This may be the only way to help either of them. At least for a bit. I can do this Miss Frost, but I'm not stupid enough to think I can take down this maniac alone. I have to go now. I have one more phone call to make." Ian told the woman.

" All right. Be careful." Emma replied.

Ian hung up the phone and dialed one more number.

" Yes? I need to speak with Fury."

Flashback end.

" Who did, sir?" Stephanie asked the man.

" It doesn't matter anymore stephanie. It's over. We were outplayed. Game. Set. and Match." The Kingmaker exclaimed.

With the Kingmaker finally dealt with, The Hellions were all free... But not everyone got the ending they were hoping for.

" Mind control?" Cessily's dad asked. " I remember everything now. That man in the suit wanted to talk to us about you. He brought these people with him."

" They looked into our eyes... And suddenly everything was different. We were different." Cessily's mom stated.

" Mom, dad... I just wanted you to accept me." Cessily told the both of them.

" By forcing us to?" Cessily's mom asked.

" And accept what? That our daughter isn't human? That she travels with people who can make us change our minds?" Cessily's dad asked. " It might be best you stay at that school of yours next time you have a break."

Cessily began to cry, and Ian felt his blood boiling.

" What the hell is wrong with ye? That's yuir daughter ye speaking tae ye arrogant bastard. Doesn't that mean anything tae ye at all? And ye, ma'am. What kind of mother looks at her daughter like she's trash? ye should both be ashamed of yuirselves. Yuir right, she should stay at Xavier's next break, because she doesn't need tae convince us she's something she's not. She doesn't need to be someone she's not for us tae accept her. Because unlike ye bastards, we all love Cessily. She's one of us. And we'll always have her back. Now go ahead inside. Have a nice day, ya Nancey wankers." Ian went off on the Kincaid's calling them out in public and defending Cessily.

Something which her parents weren't very happy about. They went inside without saying another word, leaving Cessily and Ian outside by themselves.

" Is it, true" Cessily asked. " Were they?" Ian knew what Cessily was asking and he answered her truthfully.

" Yeah... After the fight, I had Fury search William's rolodex." Ian told the girl.

" I should have known something was wrong. There's no way they'd just suddenly accept me. But I was so happy, I didn't see it. I was so naive." Cessily exclaimed.

" They're the ones who did something wrong, Cess. You're their daughter, it shouldn't require mind control. I'm sorry, Cessily." Ian told the girl.

Cessily hugged Ian and started crying.

" I just want them to love me, like I love them." Cessily told the man.

" I know, Cess. I know." Ian replied. He knew personally, what it was that Cessily was going through, as he had wished the same thing from his own parents.

After checking in on her parents, Cessily and Ian joined the rest of the Hellions on their trip back to the Institute, since they had nowhere else, they could go. And when they arrived, they were greeted by a none to impressed, Emma Frost.

" Mr. Keller, you all got very lucky this time. I hope you know that." Emma told the boy. " I want you in my office, now! The rest of you are free to go to your rooms. I will be speaking with you shortly." Emma told the kids.

The group all nodded quietly and went their separate ways for a bit, just long enough for Julian to speak with Emma.

Meanwhile, Sooraya tried her best to get back in touch with her mom.

" As I have told the other, gentlemen. I am seeking a refugee. Her name is Mirah Qadir." Sooraya told the man over the phone.

" I'm sorry, Ma'am. But she was transferred from the camp." The man replied.

" Transferred from the camp? Do you know where?" Sooraya asked.

" It will be difficult." The man replied.

" Yes, I understand it will be difficult." Sooraya spoke.

" Will you hold for a moment?" The man asked.

" Yes, I can hold." Sooraya replied. She heard the dead tone of the phone on hold and started to cry to herself, when a small note slid under her door. Sooraya got up and grabbed the letter and read it to herself.

" I know how much this meant to you, and I'm sorry that SHIELD couldn't find your mother. But don't give up, hope Sooraya. We know she's alive. We'll find her again. I promise you that. If you ever want to talk then my door is always open. Just let me know what I can do for you, no matter how small it might seem. I'll be there for you, always. Ian."

" Thank you, my friend." Sooraya stated. She held the latter to her chest and just cried as she sat on the phone. Waiting for a sign that never came.

The Hellions summer vacation is over, Next time The New Mutants and The Hellions enter THE HOUSE OF M!