Disclaimer: OK this is where the normal legal yadda yadda goes. Sabertooth(Victor creed), AOA Blink & real time blink (Clarice Ferguson), Wild Child, and Talon are Marvel's and Catspaw (April Dumaka) and death are DC's AOA guest corpses are obviously whats left of Marvel's AOA universe. This story is written out of desire and the urge to finally give some well loved characters their rightful reward. the only original character here is Talon and Catspaw's son.

The main reason I'm posing this is because I honestly forgot I had posted ANYTHING from this story here and off all things to forget, I forgot the Epilogue. The full version, which has blatent sex and is pretty badly written won't show up probably anywhere, the only remotely decent parts are here now anyway.

I've wanted, for ages, to rewrite this but I am to ignorant in the comic genre to do it. If anyone wants to go for it, you can't do any worse than I did.

Inner Turmoil

He had often come here, more lately than ever. With the Brothers Battle over and April and Talon's child safe he had often thought of going back to his own reality, but there was something in this perverse view of his world that
kept him here. A stone block next to a tree with the words "Beloved daughter and pup".

There wasn't a day that went by that Victor Creed didn't curse himself for letting Clarice down. He often wished that Wolverine would have tried breaking into his room instead of April's. He probably could have stopped him and Blink would still be next to him.

"Penny for your thoughts?"

Victor smiled. "Nothing you couldn't probably guess by now pup."

Clarice leaned against her grave and looked at her guardian. "I know you did your best."

"Well that wasn't enough was it? If I hadn't been so relaxed I would've been prepared and you wouldn't be..."

"Dead?"

Victor frowned. "Yeah...Dead."

Clarice moved from her grave to sit next to Victor. "We had a cause. It was a hell of a lot better than dying in the inferno of Apocalypse's madness. And we were free. My only regret is we couldn't bring the others."

Victor nodded. Thinking back to Charles. Magneto's soon who died before he could really live. And what a way to die...an atomic blast. Victor cringed as he tried to shut the image out of his mind.

Clarice place a hand on his shoulder. "Why do you visit me still?"

Victor looked at her. "Would it be to much to say I missed you?"

Blink smiled. "No it wouldn't, but will it ever be enough for you? Death let me visit once a day because she thought it would help you, not hold you

back."

Victor stood up and started pacing. She was right of course. Everyone but him had left this pocket dimension in favor of going back to their worlds, everyone except him.

He could see why April Dumaka and Talon were still here, their child was the "God" of this world, they had to raise him. What was his reason? To spend endless days at a small hill waiting for trouble that he would guess now will never come? He could buy the story not long after Galactus left. Seeing him rattled even Victor, and seeing what happened with Death and the other Clarice...

Sometimes he thought he must be mad. He thought sometimes he died in the bombing of the US and since then his "brother" created this for him to reside in. It was plausible enough. He had a purpose, to defend the child. He was free, which is something he had always longed for. The main hole is his life was his children.

Kyle who was his faithful inhuman companion. Though he hated to admit it he often thought of Wild Child as more of a pet than a person. The kids mutation along with his overly feral nature left one to wonder if he was in any psychological sense even remotely human. Still he was very faithful to Victor. Unfortunately he was also ash now, another victim in the AOA death toll.

Then there was the ghost. He hated to call her that. To look at her you would think she were still alive, though now her soul self seemed to have a
slightly lighter tinge of lavender complexion and there was a vague resemblance of color to her pupils. HE guessed she added that to let him see
what she was looking at. Still she WAS a ghost, and one who held a hard cold grip on his heart.

Blink sighed. She looked at Victor and then out at the horizon. "You know my time today is almost up."

Victor sighed and nodded. "I know. For all the time we have it never seems to be enough."

Clarice walked to him and hugged him. This was the one miracle he couldn't explain. Though she was dead and supposedly devoid of substance, Victor could still feel her hands around his waist, her breath and heart. this is mad Thought Victor. She is dead...why am I keeping her here?

Victor kneeled down and lifted her chin up to look at Clarice. He leaned down and kissed her gently before looking into her eyes. "I love you pup. I
always have. I think it's time for us to get back to life."

Clarice to her surprise felt her eyes start to sting. "You're finally going back?"

Victor nodded. "Some one should be there to calm Kyle. I'm the only one who can."

Clarice nodded as she wiped a tear in confusion. She was a ghost...how could she cry?

Victor swallowed hard. This wasn't easy for either of them. "Can you send me back pup?"

Clarice nodded. "Death gave me the power to before she left this realm. She said she will meet you at yours to help you."

Victor nodded. He didn't know if the young women was the Entity she claimed to be but he knew one thing, she gave him a gift he could never repay.

Victor stood upright and looked out toward the sun.

"Do it now pup...Please."

Clarice started to choke as she summoned the last of the energy keeping her form together and sent Victor back to their world. As her form faded she leaned over her grave crying at the loss of the only person to ever love her.

Victor stumbled around reeling from the cross dimensional trip. "Remind me to take a cab next time." he said out loud as he looked for Kyle.

As he stumbled across what was left of the AOA landscape he noticed that the bombs had stopped. He cursed himself as he realized he would probably never die now as his healing factor could probably combat even nuclear winter radiation. He smiled though knowing if he were alive so was Logan.

Over a couple days and seeing more carnage than in a thousand cullings he finally found the fortress of Apocalypse.

Stumbling through the levels he found various corpses he knew. Jubilee, Angel, the young Rasputin, Colossus and Kitty, and a exploded blob he assumed was Morph. As he made his was to the M'karrin Crustal area he found the remains of Pietro and ...

He couldn't believe what had happened to Kyle. By the looks of it Kyle was at ground zero when the crystal shattered. He leaned over his fallen son and held Kyle's head to his chest as he cried.

Victor decided to bury his lost son since he had precious little else to do.

He thought of burying EVERYONE. 5 billion corpses, and a person who had nothing but time. As he sat on his friends grave he heard a familiar voice.

"Where did you go?"

He smiled. It was his former partner Logan.

"Let's just say I took a side trip."

Logan grunted and sat down.

Victor jumped up shocked at what he saw. Logan looked like something out of a horror movie. Half of his face had been incinerated down to the bone which was coal black. His arms had areas of bone and muscle jutting out along with skin bubbles and other signs of atomic effects. even his eyes, now blood red, made Victor wonder how he could survive?

"So we're the last two? Its fitting I guess. We've killed enough in both sides of the cause."

Victor nodded and sat down next to Logan. "How long has the war been over?"

Logan shrugged. "A month, a week, a year? What's the difference? We're the last two and we can't die."

Victor thought of something and stood up to walk behind his friend. "No way to do die? Looks like we made it to the hell we joked about."

Logan nodded. He was tired. A life spent full of misery only to be followed by a "after-life" as he came to look at it, of nothing but pain.

Victor put his hand on Logan's shoulder. "Want me to end it for you?"

Logan sat quietly bowing his head. He had prayed for death every moment since the end. It amused him to think another immortal would be the deliverer. "Yes." he whispered.

Without a moment of hesitation Victor put his hands on Logan's head and yanked up.

Logan had time to let out a death cry before his head left his shoulders. The only thing that Victor heard was the crumbling of decaying bone and the
ripping of flesh. It didn't surprise him that Logan's blood was lethargic.

The man could be no more considered alive than Kyle or Clarice.

Sighing he threw Logan's head down and dug another grave. As he finished he thought of Clarice's promise. She had said Death would meet him here. Where was she then. He felt very defeated and alone. As time passed he lied down looking at the ash sky and fell to sleep.

He jumped up when a hand touched his shoulder.

"Are you ready to go?"

Victor smiled and sat up. "I was wondering if you forgot me."

Death smiled. "Forget? No. I needed your help with Logan. He couldn't believe I could rescue him from the pain dismissing me as a hallucination as
he hunted you down."

Victor smiled, "He always was hard headed."

Death smiled and took Victor's hand. Victor felt a cold sting go through him, and then nothing. He looked behind him to see himself. Dead Asleep.

As Death started to walk with him he had to ask her. "Will I be able to see Kyle and Clarice again?"

Death for her part smiled. "There is a special place for you. Thanks in part to your help in the Brother's battle."

As he looked up from her he saw that reality as he knew it was starting to...well..melt. There was no real way to explain it. Every step they took caused colors and constructs to blur and blend. After a while the swirls started turning colors. Blacks and maroon turned to white and green, blue
and brown. Before to long he was back at the hill by his daughters grave.

Instead of grave however there were 3 people. Kyle, His Clarice and the other Clarice. Death walked ahead of him and embraced her Clarice, sitting
next to her.

Victor smiled. "So this is the true afterlife?"

Death nodded. "For us it is. Since we loved and truly lived in this dimension. It's only fitting we should remain here."

Victor looked over to Kyle and Clarice who were playing a type of tag. "I thank you my friend, but this is not my place, this is yours. Please take me
back."

Kyle and Clarice stopped as they heard this. Kyle ran up to his master rubbing against his leg and Clarice just slumped in the grass.

"How can you SAY that?" she asked. "After all the time we spent talking you can honestly say this isn't what you want."

Victor sighed. Clarice was wise in life and even more so in death. She knew him to well. "If I stay what happens. Eventually the guilt will resurface,
an along with it the grave. Would you have me spend an eternity wishing I could've been better?"

Clarice hung her head. She knew he was right. He was good at one thing anymore and that was brooding. Knowing now not only could he not save her but he couldn't save Kyle? And them being constant reminders there.

Death looked over taking all the scene in. "Victor, if I send you back, before long you will be imprisoned. You will be locked up in your own world
of grief and pity. Now there comes a time when everyone must dump their loads and relax. You've done more than anyone should have to. Rest now, and enjoy it."

Victor sighed. He was so familiar with how he had been after Blink died that he never stopped think that it wasn't his experiences that were holding him hostage, it was himself. With that he walked over to the tree and sat against it scritching Kyle and looking up at Clarice.

"Well sit down pup, I ain't going anywhere."

Clarice gladly sat next to him as the five of them started to live their after lives.

CatspawVP