“You did good, son. I knew I
could count on you to make the right decision,” he told his son.
“Wasn’t too hard,” shrugged
Warren, “Creed dug his own grave. I just made sure he fell into it face first.”
“You did more than that. You were
smart, cunning, and focused. Yet you never lost sight of your laurels,
something I know I lose track of one time too many. You did everything a good
business man should do. On top of that, you helped your kind and your family
company all at once.”
“Thanks, Dad. But I’m not sure
how much this is going to help the company. We did sink quite a bit of
resources into Creed’s prototype. I doubt we’ll recover it all in a single
lawsuit.”
“Look at it another way,” his
father argued, “He developed that technology under the Worthington name. As
such, we own the rights. So we can not only sue and cripple the Friends of
Humanity. We can make money off the fruits of their labor.”
“In other words we’ll be screwing
them over in more ways than one?” laughed Warren, “I doubt the hippies will
approve and I’m sure the lawyers will be all for it. But if it hurts the
pro-Graydon Creed camp I’m all for it!”
The younger Worthington raised
his glass in a toast and finished his champagne. He couldn’t stop smiling as he
continued watching the news. But as they savored their victory, the older
Worthington’s expression became serious again. He kept watching his son as he
laughed and drank. As much as he wanted to celebrate with him, there were other
important matters to discuss.
“As glad as I am to see you so
upbeat, there are a few serious matters I was hoping to discuss with you,
father to son.”
“Can it wait, dad?” groaned
Warren, “They’re about to show the clip of Creed getting cuffed again!”
“I’m afraid it can’t,” said the
older Worthington as he hit the pause button on his TV much to his son’s
dismay.
“Oh come on! They were just
getting to the part where his eyes looked like they were about to explode!”
Warren complained.
“You can watch it later. We
really should talk about what you’ve done here. This is a big deal for us and
I’m not just talking about the company or Graydon Creed.”
“Oh…I see,” said the winged
mutant, picking up on his father’s undertone, “Were you hoping to make a
father/son moment out of this or something? As happy as I am, you can’t expect
this to overshadow all the times you’ve messed up.”
“I’m not saying it should. I
understand I still have a long ways to go in that respect. But I was hoping
this could be the beginning of something new. Not just for us, but for our
family as a whole.”
“What are you getting at, dad?”
Warren Jr. rose up and sighed. It
was never easy talking to his son about these issues, even when they were both
in a good mood. But he may not get another chance like this.
“Son, this whole endeavor to
bring you into the company so you could watch over the Friends of Humanity
wasn’t just about making amends. There’s another more pragmatic side to it,”
the older man said.
“Why am I not surprised?” said
Warren dryly, “Is it possible for you to not have ulterior motives for
once in your life?”
“I’m sorry, but it goes back to
that naïve notion I’ve been holding onto all these years. Even when we were at
our most distant, I still have a sincere hope that you will one day take over
this company and lead it as my father did before me.”
“You think after just one success
like this I want to throw everything away with the X-men and follow in the
family business?”
“I’m not asking you to throw
anything away, Warren. I don’t want a repeat of what happened with Candy. I’m
just leaving it on the table for you. Is it so much to ask that I be able to
entertain such hopes?”
Warren looked at his father
cynically. He set aside his wine glass and got up as well. He found himself
looking away, having seen that desperate gaze in him before. It was usually
easy to brush off. After he drove Candy away from him, he swore he would never
follow the path laid out for him by his father. But with these recent events,
he wasn’t so sure.
“I’m willing to take small steps
here,” said the older Worthington, “For now, you can go back to the Xavier
Institute and rejoin the X-men. But whenever you’re ready to take the next
step, however small it may be, Worthington Industries will be ready for you. I
have a number of positions you can take on at a moment’s notice.”
“Not that I’m considering it, but
what kind of positions?” asked Warren curiously.
“Important kinds,” his father
answered, “All have ties to our mutant research division. I know we have a
shaky history in that arena, but we can’t afford to ignore it.”
“That’s going against karma in a
big way,” said Warren.
“I know. But consider these
recent events. If Graydon Creed didn’t use us to develop his prototype, he
would have found someone else. And you never would have been in a position to
stop them.”
The winged mutant was silent for
a moment. He looked back at the paused image on the TV, which depicted Graydon
Creed getting forced into a police car. It was humbling in a ways. Without his
family company, this satisfying outcome wouldn’t have been possible.
“The same logic applies to every
organization doing mutant research,” his father went on, “If we don’t do it,
someone else will. For that very reason, it’s important we stay involved.
You’re in a unique position, Warren. You’re the heir to the Worthington
fortune. You have the resources to effect great change, almost as much as Charles
Xavier. You can be part of this process. One way or another, science and
business will find their way into the mutant issue. If you’re part of it, you
can see to it that future advancements are for the good of everybody. If
not...I suppose that’s a risk you must be willing to take.”
Also, I've been working hard to get my pics section for the Goblin Queen up to date. I know it seems like she's been getting most of the attention lately and there's a reason for that. I had a large number of pics stored before she was introduced into X-men Supreme and it's been tedious getting them all uploaded. Thankfully, I'm almost complete! Soon, the Goblin Queen's section will be up to date and I can dedicate more time to finding pics for other sexy X-women!
The end of the District X arc will lead to some major shifts that will open new conflicts while revisiting old ones. It will also allow me to do some work on the bios. I know I said I've been working on that for a while and I mean it. The first bio I want to post after District X is Alex Summers. I thought about posting it beforehand, but I didn't want to risk any spoilers. I generally try to introduce new characters after their first big arc. Once he's up, I'll see if I can develop other bios from the mutants of District X. The X-men Supreme fanfiction series is a big world and it's only going to get bigger. As always, I strongly encourage everyone to provide feedback by contacting me or posting it on each issue of the series. There's so much more to come so the more feedback you can provide the better! Until next time, take care and best wishes. Excelsior!
Jack
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