2 years from now...
"Scott, I'm pregnant."
For several minutes there was silence. Scott Summers' crimson gaze was locked on his wife.
kikzt"Cyclops whats going on? I need a sitrep."kikzt Moonstar's transmission finally broke the silence.
Scott picked up the intercom, "I heard you Moonstar. Tell Archangel and Hellion to sit tight. Just give me a minute."
"Scott, I..."
"I heard you Emma." Scott made his way over and embraced Emma. A tear rolling down from under his visor, he smiled as she buried her face in his shoulder, "I heard you."
21 years from now...
KRRASSHHHH!
"MADROX! Get out of there!" The sentinel crashed to the ground as Danny Madrox threw himself clear of the ensuing chaos.
"Danny?!" The glowing red silhouette of Katherine Summers pierced the settling dust as Danny pushed himself to his feet.
"I'm fine, Crimson." He brushed some debris out of his hair as the X-Men's field leader approached him. "Where are the others?"
"Ambush managed to get Prodigy, Cajun and Brit out before the last explosion. Logan and Ajax...were...oh my God." Crimson gasped before she could finish her sentence.
Emerging from the haze was the smoldering, half vaporized form of the Wolverine, "nnnrrrahhh...don' worry, ngggaaaah..." The veteran X-Man collapsed into the arms of Danny as his right leg tore off at the thigh. He spit up blood as he chuckled, "acckh...mmmm' the...the best...thuuur'ssss...ack...acckkhh..."
"Oh my...Logan...please..." Crimson sobbed as the life left his remaining eye, "Why isn't he healing?!" She cried as Madrox layed his remains down on the ground, "WHY ISN'T HE HEALING?!"
49 years from now...
"...of multiple mutant-related conflicts occuring across the globe. We are getting incoming reports from Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, Versailles, Rome, Cairo, Bombay, Murmansk, Beijing and right here in Manhattan. We now go live to Jack Lee in Times Square."
The newsfeed cut to a reporter standing in the middle of what looked like a warzone. Explosions and flashes of light dominated the background, "Chris, the violence has only escalated in the last hour. As you can see behind me X-Patriots members Savitar, Requiem and Outrun have been engaging an insurgency of superhuman terrorists led by the mutant supremacist Harbinger. And we have witnessed several casualties here Chris, superhuman and civilian alike, including former Weapon X members Nightwise and Proteus.
KROOOM
"Oh...holy..Chris, I'm not sure if you can see this, but that explosion you just heard was some kind of nuclear detonation or some other kind of WMD. It came from north of here, somewhere in the Bronx or Westchester maybe. But..."
KROOOOOOOMMMM
234 years from now...
The young man stepped down into the ravine. The rocks crackled beneath his hog-skin boots as he crept towards the nearest boulder. He hoped the slight disturbance wouldn't alert his quarry. Peering out from behind his coverage, he saw the coarse, green fur sitting on the massive back of the gammawolf as it lapped a drink from the trickling stream.
He'd been following this beast for a day-and-a-half now and he hadn't eaten in just as long. He knew that he couldn't let this drag out much longer. The clan hadn't had a fresh meal in days, and with the Storms half a world away, the next month's food supply would rely on big-catches like the feral creature twenty yards ahead of him. It was time to get to work.
Crouching lower, he laid his spear down, careul not to make too much noise. He reached out, running his hand along the surface of the rocks until he found a decent sized pebbel, all the while keeping his eyes fixed on the gammawolf. It was still blissfully unaware of him, peacefully quenching its thirst in silence.
Staying low, the young man tossed the pebbel across the ravine, away from his prey. The second it hit the rocky slope, the gammawolf's ears twitched. It looked up in the direction of the noise, its glowing eyes peering into the distance. Its enormous jaw dripping water. The young man knew that if he hesitated it would be his blood dripping from that mouth.
He did not hesitate.
Jumping out from the boulder he grabbed his spear and with an aim honed by years of practice he let it fly. The beast let out a vicious, painful howl as the stone tip of dug into the left side of its stomach. Violently spinning towards its hunter, the gammawolf snarled, its yellow fangs bared in rage, its eyes wide with savage fear. The young man stared straight back, standing tall and unflinching. This was his trial, his passage. He was not afraid.
The gammawolf charged, its bounds shook the ground. Green blood flew from its side and spattered the rocks benath it. It was now less than ten yards away.
Common sense would dictate he moved out of the way. The young man didn't move. He closed his eyes.
Five yards. His temples began to burn.
Four. His forehead ached and his eyes were searing beneath their lids.
Three. It was upon him.
The beast threw itself towards him through the air in a fury. The young man opened his eyes and the world turned red. Power burst from his gaze and the gammawolf flew backwards, landing dead in the stream.
He stood still for a minute, staring at what he had just accomplished. The crimson glow in his eyes died down to their normal shade of brown and the color of the world around him returned. The gray-blue of the stream flowing past him. The white glow of the sun bouncing off the rocks. The bright green of the gammawolf lying dead in front of him.
The young man then trotted down towards his catch as he untied the rope he had wrapped around his waist. The gammawolf had a nasty stench, like swamp fumes and the young man knew they would only get worse the longer he took. Moving quickly, the young man worked his way around the corpse, wrapping and tying the rope up and down, until he could pull the beast.
Looking towards the steep, rocky slope of the ravine he now had to climb, the young man sighed, "Now comes the hard part." And with that Christo Summersong began his long trek home.
"Scott, I'm pregnant."
For several minutes there was silence. Scott Summers' crimson gaze was locked on his wife.
kikzt"Cyclops whats going on? I need a sitrep."kikzt Moonstar's transmission finally broke the silence.
Scott picked up the intercom, "I heard you Moonstar. Tell Archangel and Hellion to sit tight. Just give me a minute."
"Scott, I..."
"I heard you Emma." Scott made his way over and embraced Emma. A tear rolling down from under his visor, he smiled as she buried her face in his shoulder, "I heard you."
21 years from now...
KRRASSHHHH!
"MADROX! Get out of there!" The sentinel crashed to the ground as Danny Madrox threw himself clear of the ensuing chaos.
"Danny?!" The glowing red silhouette of Katherine Summers pierced the settling dust as Danny pushed himself to his feet.
"I'm fine, Crimson." He brushed some debris out of his hair as the X-Men's field leader approached him. "Where are the others?"
"Ambush managed to get Prodigy, Cajun and Brit out before the last explosion. Logan and Ajax...were...oh my God." Crimson gasped before she could finish her sentence.
Emerging from the haze was the smoldering, half vaporized form of the Wolverine, "nnnrrrahhh...don' worry, ngggaaaah..." The veteran X-Man collapsed into the arms of Danny as his right leg tore off at the thigh. He spit up blood as he chuckled, "acckh...mmmm' the...the best...thuuur'ssss...ack...acckkhh..."
"Oh my...Logan...please..." Crimson sobbed as the life left his remaining eye, "Why isn't he healing?!" She cried as Madrox layed his remains down on the ground, "WHY ISN'T HE HEALING?!"
49 years from now...
"...of multiple mutant-related conflicts occuring across the globe. We are getting incoming reports from Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, Versailles, Rome, Cairo, Bombay, Murmansk, Beijing and right here in Manhattan. We now go live to Jack Lee in Times Square."
The newsfeed cut to a reporter standing in the middle of what looked like a warzone. Explosions and flashes of light dominated the background, "Chris, the violence has only escalated in the last hour. As you can see behind me X-Patriots members Savitar, Requiem and Outrun have been engaging an insurgency of superhuman terrorists led by the mutant supremacist Harbinger. And we have witnessed several casualties here Chris, superhuman and civilian alike, including former Weapon X members Nightwise and Proteus.
KROOOM
"Oh...holy..Chris, I'm not sure if you can see this, but that explosion you just heard was some kind of nuclear detonation or some other kind of WMD. It came from north of here, somewhere in the Bronx or Westchester maybe. But..."
KROOOOOOOMMMM
234 years from now...
The young man stepped down into the ravine. The rocks crackled beneath his hog-skin boots as he crept towards the nearest boulder. He hoped the slight disturbance wouldn't alert his quarry. Peering out from behind his coverage, he saw the coarse, green fur sitting on the massive back of the gammawolf as it lapped a drink from the trickling stream.
He'd been following this beast for a day-and-a-half now and he hadn't eaten in just as long. He knew that he couldn't let this drag out much longer. The clan hadn't had a fresh meal in days, and with the Storms half a world away, the next month's food supply would rely on big-catches like the feral creature twenty yards ahead of him. It was time to get to work.
Crouching lower, he laid his spear down, careul not to make too much noise. He reached out, running his hand along the surface of the rocks until he found a decent sized pebbel, all the while keeping his eyes fixed on the gammawolf. It was still blissfully unaware of him, peacefully quenching its thirst in silence.
Staying low, the young man tossed the pebbel across the ravine, away from his prey. The second it hit the rocky slope, the gammawolf's ears twitched. It looked up in the direction of the noise, its glowing eyes peering into the distance. Its enormous jaw dripping water. The young man knew that if he hesitated it would be his blood dripping from that mouth.
He did not hesitate.
Jumping out from the boulder he grabbed his spear and with an aim honed by years of practice he let it fly. The beast let out a vicious, painful howl as the stone tip of dug into the left side of its stomach. Violently spinning towards its hunter, the gammawolf snarled, its yellow fangs bared in rage, its eyes wide with savage fear. The young man stared straight back, standing tall and unflinching. This was his trial, his passage. He was not afraid.
The gammawolf charged, its bounds shook the ground. Green blood flew from its side and spattered the rocks benath it. It was now less than ten yards away.
Common sense would dictate he moved out of the way. The young man didn't move. He closed his eyes.
Five yards. His temples began to burn.
Four. His forehead ached and his eyes were searing beneath their lids.
Three. It was upon him.
The beast threw itself towards him through the air in a fury. The young man opened his eyes and the world turned red. Power burst from his gaze and the gammawolf flew backwards, landing dead in the stream.
He stood still for a minute, staring at what he had just accomplished. The crimson glow in his eyes died down to their normal shade of brown and the color of the world around him returned. The gray-blue of the stream flowing past him. The white glow of the sun bouncing off the rocks. The bright green of the gammawolf lying dead in front of him.
The young man then trotted down towards his catch as he untied the rope he had wrapped around his waist. The gammawolf had a nasty stench, like swamp fumes and the young man knew they would only get worse the longer he took. Moving quickly, the young man worked his way around the corpse, wrapping and tying the rope up and down, until he could pull the beast.
Looking towards the steep, rocky slope of the ravine he now had to climb, the young man sighed, "Now comes the hard part." And with that Christo Summersong began his long trek home.
