X-Men: Generations

August 4th 1977 was the date the knell of the X-Men had been signed.

Cyclops was gone. The leader of the X-Men was dead. Charles Xavier was gone. The founder of the X-Men was in space to find a new home for mutant Skrulls. Jean Grey was gone. The light of the X-Men had resigned out of a fervent belief that Cyclops was still alive. Magneto had returned to Genosha, with Polaris going with him. Bishop had returned to some desolate future. Gambit had resigned to lead the Thieves' Guild. Mikhail Rasputin and the Four Horsemen were loose somewhere in the world.

September 20th 1977, not even two months later was the day that the X-Men died.

After he nearly wiped out the mutant species due to Mr. Sinister's machinations, it came down to the X-Men to defeat him. It was at a cost, though, for Beast and Iceman chose to remain in Genosha afterwards to keep an eye on Magneto. Archangel was now running Worthington Industries and had no more time to devote to the X-Men or other kinds of superheroics. Kitty Pryde moved on from the X-Men and was now studying political science in the University of Chicago, where her best friend Xi'an coy Manh worked as a librarian. Marrow moved on to try and help survivors of the Gene Nation in the same way that Storm had helped her. In essence, the X-Men were finished, with a skeleton roster of Storm, Nightcrawler and Colossus left, with the Wolverine only going on missions if he was around - which was rare. Charles Xavier's dream was dead.

So, where did that leave Mike Dorie? The date was now October 14th 1981 and for a young teenage mutant, Mike was a powerful one. Incredible telekinetic powers, telepathic powers and powerful telepathic immunity, he dreamed as a child of joining the X-Men. But that dream seemed to be dead as well now. There were no X-Men left to join. There was nobody left to teach him how to use his powers to become a hero.

But, of course that wasn't going to deter the young mutant.

It was time for him to take the world in his own hands and show the world that mutants were not a thing of the past. Where would he start, though?

He could go to Genosha and find Beast. The man was the smartest in the world and knew more about mutants and mutation than any. He would certainly be able to help Mike Dorie judge where he should go to next in the world. Besides, Mike was certain that no matter how powerful he was, he was not going to get an audience with Magneto.

He could seek out Storm's strike team that still called itself the X-Men. Surely they wouldn't pass up the opportunity to work with a mutant as powerful as him, especially to train him to do the right thing. Yes, he knew that the X-Men went on dangerous missions - but this was his duty.

He could go to Worthington Industries. Since he retired from the X-Men as Archangel, Warren Worthington III had been focusing on developing a lot of mutant positive technology to change the world. His mission was to show the world what mutants could do, instead of shielding it from them as he claimed the X-Men.

He could go to the University of Chicago. Kitty Pryde and Xi'an coy Manh were no longer superheroes but that didn't mean they wouldn't be against teaching him how to use his power for good. There was no real reason why they wouldn't help him out as long as he didn't ask for them to get involved as well.

He could go to New Orleans and try to join up with the Thieves' Guild. Ever since Gambit came to rule, the Thieves' Guild had merged with the Assassins' Guild in a form of a unified guild. That meant that he could learn how to use his powers under the likes of Bella Donna Boudreaux or Gris Gris.

He could go to Jean Grey and convince her to personally tutor him. Of all the X-Men, it was Jean Grey who had the most similar power set when compared to him. Granted, she was probably much more powerful than he was, but when she started out, she herself was nothing next to Professor X.