Legend: Thoughts = <>
Stray thoughts = ()
Flashback **
Ok, guys, All the disclaimers apply, that means all thanks goes to Marvel for the X-Men, I'm just making the story. And I do read all the other stories, and they're great, keep up the good work. They inspire me!
Chapter 32: Devastated
" Thought projection." Pietro said, " That's what that is."
I wasn't looking at him, I was looking off into the distance through the hole in the wall.
" Sorry." I said softly.
" It's okay, somebody'll patch that up." Pietro said behind me.
" The sun. It's...blinding. How long have I..." I asked.
" A year or two." Pietro said.
I turned to him, " A year?" I asked.
" Or two." he replied.
" Where is everyone else?" I asked.
" Everyone else?" Pietro asked.
I scoffed, " The X-Men. Why am I here, in this place." I asked.
" They do not know that you are dead." he said.
" I just helped them...but..." I said, remembering my body, " Apocalypse, why are you in that form? I need answers. Why am I dead...why was my body...who was that?! Where is my phone!" I had began to rise from the ground.
" Calm down." Apocalypse said, turning from me and transforming back into himself, " He was a clone."
" A clone?" I asked.
" Yes. After you died, I found that a piece of you lived and that minute little piece being kept alive by the Phoenix. Your powers protected you and it copied you. The phoenix inhabited the clone, it had to make everyone think that you were alive. The clone became pregnant with six people, these people had to have strong enough DNA to merge with the phoenix and cause a power surge throughout the world, one powerful enough to wake you." Apocalypse explained.
" What?!" I shouted, " My friends couldn't...they couldn't tell that it wasn't me?!" I asked, looking at him.
Apocalypse smirked, " Your eyes are white." he said.
I frowned.
" The world is not as you left it." Apocalypse said.
" Who are they?" I asked as the peculiar strangers gathered.
" The Dark Riders. A new group." a skeleton said.
" I do not care." I said slowly, " I feel them."
" How'd you do that?" a buff, blonde guy said, inspecting the hole in the wall.
" A spell." Apocalypse said, " He can make anything happen by using a word."
" So, you said hole?" the blonde asked.
" No. Bombarda." I said, looking from them, " It's a spell from Harry Potter."
" Oh. I'm Tyler Dayspring by the way." Tyler said.
" You seem familiar." I said, not looking at him.
" I should." Tyler said.
I looked at him, " Should I remember you?" I asked.
" No. We've never met." he said.
" Then why should I know you?" I asked, looking around, " How is it that I have not died?"
" You're powers." Apocalypse smirked.
" So, what? My powers made a cocoon around me? Or..." I said.
" You were prophecized." Apocalypse said.
" Leave me." I said quickly, " I do not understand anything anymore. It's all confusing and I cannot...I was happy."
" What?" Apocalypse asked.
" How did you survive?" I asked, looking at him suspiciously.
" True power never dies." Apocalypse replied.
" UHHH!" I said in pain.
" What?" Apocalypse asked.
" I can see them. Maybe it's the future. They think I'm dead." I said, having a premonition.
" So, have you spoken with...." Professor Xavier said, wheeling up to Scott.
" No." Scott said, standing at the gravestone of Pane, " I can't. She...all I'd be able to say is..."
" I know Scott." Professor Xavier said.
" I miss him. And the baby." Scott said, sniffling.
Xavier looked up at him, " He shall one day." he replied, " I have the upmost confidence that he shall return."
Scott looked at him, " I need him now." he said.
" I know." Xavier said, " We all do."
" He saved us...how was he able to save us?" Scott asked.
" Some mysteries are best left unexplained." Xavier said.
" He was too young." Scott said.
" Yeah, he was." Johnny Storm said behind them. Both men looked at him, " I talked to his mom and...I just wanted to talk to you." he said, directing it at Xavier.
" Mr. Storm," Xavier said, shaking his hand, " What is it that you wanted to discuss?"
" Not sure." Johnny said, " I just know that there's something I should say."
" It's quite alright." Xavier nodded, " I should go check up on my daughter."
" That's the first time you've ever said that." Scott said.
" Then it is about time." Xavier said, wheeling away.
Johnny looked to Scott, who just stared. He sighed and walked away but before he could get farther, Scott finally spoke.
" You protected him when I couldn't." Scott said simply.
Johnny stopped, " That's what you do when you love someone." he said.
" You really loved him, didn't you?" Scott asked.
Johnny turned to him angrily, " What did you think?" he asked.
" That he was another notch." Scott said, " That you would use him and dump him like your other conquests."
Johnny chuckled angrily, " If you had looked, you'd realize that my 'conquests' were women. He's the first, and only guy I'd ever go gay for. I'm not saying I could see kids on a far, but I was used to the idea that we...But he got what he deserved." he said.
Scott stiffened, " What?" he asked through gritted teeth.
" He deserved to be at peace." Johnny sighed, walking away.
Gambit stood against the wall, twirling a card as Jubilee walked by. She stopped and watched him twirl the card lightly.
" What you doin, girl." Gambit said, " Da farewell's da otha way."
Jubilee sighed, " I'm not sure I wanna say 'farewell'." she said.
" Don't think you got a choice." Gambit said.
" I don't believe he's dead." Jubilee said, " He was a good person."
" Death isn't an end..." Gambit said.
" It's not exactly a beginning." Jubilee snapped. Gambit looked at her quickly, " Sorry, I just..."
" It's okay, chere, I know how you feel." Gambit said.
" Is that why you're here instead of down there?" Jubilee asked.
Gambit was silent.
" It's okay, you know, to cry." Jubilee said.
Gambit sneered at her and breezed past her.
" Sorry." Jubilee sniffled.
Down at the funeral, Bobby stood in front of Pane's grave. His icy blue eyes staring straight into the ground, not taking his eyes off the grave. It was almost as if he expected the grave to burst open and Pane to float out. He flinched when he felt a hand on his shoulder and looked around to see Ororo.
" He was such a brave person. Quiet...all the powerful ones are." Ororo said slowly, " His life was short, but lived."
" Are you trying to justify his murder?" Bobby asked, not looking at her.
" No. No one could ever condone that." Ororo said, trying to back pedal, " I am merely saying that he was..."
" Ororo, I don't really remember him and you hanging." Bobby said angrily.
" Maybe that's because you were gone." Ororo spat, " I was his teacher. And despite your observations, I spent many times with him and I am sad to know that he is dead. I am, however, happy that he's in a better place."
" What if he isn't." Bobby said, " What if he's in...in..."
" He is not." Ororo said, " Is that what you think of him?"
" No!" he shot, " I...love him. And I can't exactly take not knowing if he's okay."
" He is." Ororo said.
" How can you be so sure." Bobby asked.
" Once...a friend told me that faith helps you survive." Ororo smiled, pulling Bobby into a hug as they both shed a tear.
I felt memories. I was a kid on a playground. I was...at the mansion, but a long time ago. Then there was the one shining memory. The memory I had lied about. I felt myself fall through time. I walked through a sand-filled playground until my eyes fell on a group of kids surrounded around something.
" You're a Nigger mutie!" a kid yelled.
" I am not." a kid version of me said as he tried to get up, just to be kicked again.
" I think ya are and who's got the power here?" another kid laughed.
Sand around the kids began to grow to phenomonal heights and a storm flooded the playground!
" What was..." I said slowly, trying to see beyond the sandstorm.
" NO! NO!" the kid version of me said as he rose from the sand.
" No." I said watching this new developement.
The sand began burning and the kid me landed on the ground, surrounded by the bodies of the kids. He looked around and noticed what he'd done and ran away. The building was scorched and crumbling. I had heard about this. They said that it severely injured many kids and teachers. It was said to be caused by a testing plant nearby. But it wasn't. It was me.
" Where'd you go?" Tyler asked.
" Why do you follow me?" I asked, walking through the intricate maze inside the pyramid.
" He tells me to." Tyler said.
" I do not think that's it." I said, turning to him, " And if it was, do you do everything he tells you?"
" Yes." he said immediately, " I don't wanna see you get hurt."
I stopped and stared at him wide-eyed, " Of all the people in the world, I'm least likely to get hurt." I said.
" So I've heard." Tyler said, " They're having your funeral now."
" Not mine." I said, " ...it was not me."
" Yeah. I've met it. You're just kinda weird. Can you not be weird?" Tyler said.
" Sorry. Post mortem is a bitch." I said unsteadily.
" They say you're a hero." Tyler smiled.
I stopped and my eyebrows flew up, " Is that what they're saying?" I asked.
" what's with the white eyes and clothes?" Tyler asked.
I looked at myself, " It's a gift. To protect me from the bad guys," I tiled my head, " what's your name?"
" I told you already, Tyler." Tyler said quickly.
I walked up close to him, face to face and looked around his face from his mouth to his eyes, " What's your real name?" I asked slyly.
A hologram of Pane watching a car blow up projected itself, seperating them.
" Genesis." he smiled.
" Quite a...umm, talent, you have." I said unsurely.
" I'm pretty good with technology too." Tyler said.
" You're a god among cavemen...never let anyone tell you different." I said, leaving him behind.
" Where are you going?" Tyler shouted.
" Home." I said, sweeping from the maze.
Xavier sat in his office, looking at a picture of him, Pane, and Pane's mother. Pane was only nine when this picture was taken, but still, you could tell he was a powerful boy. Only a boy. Professor racked his mind trying to find a way he could have saved his grandson. To the world, he was dead...to his friends and family he would never die. A constant reminder that he saved them again. The weird thing was that his body had disappeared. Not taken, but just gone. There was no way for it to be taken. There was a dark suspicion...Pane was never the same after he died. He was different. There had to be something he could have done to save Pane.
" No." I said, causing him to turn, " I'm safe."
Professor Xavier's eyes widened at the sight of me.
" You look like you've seen a ghost." I said quickly.
Xavier <Jean, Scott...>
Pane <Sorry, they can't hear you.>
" What are you doing here?" Xavier asked, " We buried you today."
I chuckled, " You guys suck at funerals." I said, leaning on the desk, " Funny thing, evil people. They always seem to save the hero when you least expect it."
" Evil?" xavier asked.
" I don't stuttered." I said, clutching the table and looking at him furiously. So furiously that I felt a wind blow and a surge of energy through the air, " Sorry. Hey, wooo, I'm back. I'm a little crazy lately, you know, dying and coming back and dying...well, that wasn't really me dying."
" What do you mean?" Xavier asked.
" I died. Was replaced. My 'replacement' died and here I am. All alive and chock full of memories." I said. At the word memories, I felt him stiffen, " Oh yeah. All those memories, the ones you blocked from my mind...well, they're here." I said, mocking the little girl from the poltergeist.
" You're eyes are..." Xavier said.
" White, I know..." I said.
" Red." Xavier said.
I held out my hand, " ACCIO mirror!" I said, causing the mirror to fly to me. Since I had come back, Sinister had informed me that I had to channel my powers through words until I could fully re-assimilate myself. I chose Harry Potter spells. It just seemed fitting. I looked into the mirror, " No. Not red, those are flames."
" This is not you." Professor said softly.
I frowned and clenched my teeth, " NO! IT is me." I said angrily.
" No, it isn't. You have to calm down! You are different." Xavier said.
I chuckled, " You would know wouldn't you?!" I said, losing any smile I had, " You've altered the minds of your dearest. You are a monster. There are things they will never know..." I said.
" That is a bold untruth." Xavier said, " All my students have full control of themselves. My former students..."
" Isn't that something. I remember a certain team that didn't make it. I remember living here until you felt it was too dangerous. I remember the first team or at least hearing about them. It's funny how your students come and go, but you stay the same. It's always the students dying for the world...I'm pretty sure it's your turn." I said, standing again.
" I've heard that before, you're clone said that." Xavier said.
I smiled, " Then maybe he wasn't a waste. Did he also do this?" I asked, " Levicorpus." I said, causing him to hit the ceiling, " On second thought, I don't care." I said, looking up at him. Suddenly I felt him trying to invade my mind, " Find anything?!"
Xavier was silent.
I marvelled at him, " I'm shocked that you have no words." I said in awe.
" I waited for you to do this, or rather your clone." Xavier said, " I never thought in a million years that..."
" Save it. Penance is for those who have a chance at redemption. You don't. Welcome to the Judgement." I said, about to seriously mutilate him, but the door blasted open and the windows flew open and storm flew through them, white eyed and surrounded by lightning, but she stopped at the sight of me.
" Pane?!" she asked, landing a few feet from me.
Scott, Logan, and Jean ran through the door and stared at me.
I looked up at Xavier, " They won't always be around." I said, disappearing in a flash that took the form of an oversized, flaming bird.
" Was that..." Logan asked, walking to Xavier, who had fallen.
" Yes, it was." Ororo said.
" He's alive?" Scott said to himself.
Logan helped Xavier to his chair.
" It is not him." Ororo said.
" Yes, it is." Xavier said as they all looked outside the window at a giant flamed bird by the moon.
" He's not dead!" Pyro said.
" Of course he is!" Toad shouted.
" He isn't." Avalanche said from the chair.
A few feet away, in the next room Magneto sat in the dark, looking at Mystique.
" He was truly brave." Mystique said.
" Do not try to console me, Raven." Magneto said, " The homo-sapiens will pay for their mistakes, but first we must deal with the murders of my grandson. What do we know?"
" That they are at par with Apocalypse." Mystique said, " And don't call me Raven."
" I like it." I said from the door.
They both turned to stare at me.
" Pane?" Magneto said, staring.
" Erik?" I asked.
" How..." Magneto asked.
" Long story." I said, walking to Mystique, " Got room for a relative?"
Ok, so I hoped you like it and either way, I'd love to hear your input or any comments, just email me at Femtoka2@yahoo.com