Passing the Torch

By Todd Fan

Disclaimer: "Newbie, stay. Stay. Bad newbie. That's a very bad newbie"

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Oh yes, here we are, the final Chronicle, set 10 years after Gifts and Curses. No fear, I am planning a new set of Chronicles, set in the future of this world. As you will see, there are ominous undertones throughout this story, in preparation. Incidentally, credit of the title of this fic goes to L1, who helped me brainstorm the damn thing when it drove me nuts. Cheers, Buddy!

Another new thing this time around is my Chronicle Facts, a random factoid you may or may not have known about the Chronicles, so here's the first one:

Sidney's maiden name, Cagney, was randomly picked from a Cat name book.

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Chapter 1 – New mutants, new lives

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Just outside New York City, a rather battered bus spluttered its way along the road. Though able to afford a much nice one, Sidney Tolensky had said the old bus had a certain 'ambience' about it and, despite the fact her lawyer, Ted, said it violated several health and safety codes, refused to be parted with it. A now 29 year old Jay winced as the bus backfired.

"So….are you looking forward to going home?", he asked, trying to be heard of the engine.

"Yeah", smiled Sidney, "I missed Todd and the girls. They'll be waiting for me to show up. You?"

Sidney and Todd had two daughters, eight year old Leola and six year old Christina 'Tina'. Though enjoying her work, Sidney often pined for her family while on the road, and always looked forward to the time there was a break from touring, so she could spend time with them. (1)

"A'h promised ma'h nieces and nephews a'hd visit them", said Jay, then grimaced, "so it'll be quite a bit of pain for me for the next week or so….yey"

"They aren't that bad", said Sidney, then paused, "….if you don't mind fangs….or bad tempers"

"Like a'h said", said Jay, "lots of pain"

The bus backfired again before pulling to a stop.

"We're here, Sidney", called 'Vinnie', their driver.

"Great", Sidney grinned, slinging her bag over her shoulder, never one to have people do things for her she could do herself, "see you, Jay, have fun"

"Oh yeah", said Jay dryly, "it'll be a blast"

"See you, Mike", grinned Sidney, poking their sleeping drummer.

"The fish are your friends", replied Mike sleepily.

"…..Yeah…..okay", blinked Sidney, shaking her head as she climbed out.

She smiled softly to herself as she headed off towards the small house she shared with Todd just in the suburbs. Not quite the white picket fence, but to her, it was home. She opened the door, letting out a sigh.

"I'm home", she called.

"Momma's home!"

Within seconds, Leola had wrapped herself around her mothers leg, hugging her tightly. The youngster looked a lot like her mother, covered in a tabby fur, with feline eyes and ears, the only thing she lacked was a tail.

"I missed you momma!", she said, "you're back for a while now, kay?"

"Yeah, I'm back for a while", she chuckled, ruffling her daughters black hair, "missed you too, sweetheart"

"We all missed you", said Todd, walking up from behind, wrapping his arms around her waist and resting his chin on her shoulder, "hey, Gorgeous"

"Hey yourself", smiled Sidney, tilting her head back to give him a kiss, "were the girls any trouble?"

"Are they ever?", asked Todd, then paused, "wait, don't answer that question"

"Hi mommy", said Tina, walking over and hugging Sidney's other leg.

Tina was the more human-looking of the sisters, though she did posses a tabby tail, her hair was the same dirty-blonde as her father, her eyes an off-yellow colour. Sidney smiled, picking the youngest up and kissing the tip of her nose.

"Hi there, Honey", she said, hugging her, "were you a good girl while mommy was away?"

"Yes", she smiled, then coughed, "there was an inceedent with some peas….but that wasn't my fault"

"Peas?", asked Sidney, arched a brow at Todd.

"Lets say the ceiling in the kitchen needs redecorating", he chuckled, leading her into the house proper, "welcome home, you've been missed".

&&&&&

Over in Bayville, the town's early risers were beginning to wake for work, and later school. It had been forecast as a clear, sunny day…..not that what any meteorologist said mattered in the Munroe household. A single lightning blue eye peeked out from beneath the covers. It blinked numbly around for a moment, before focussing on the digital clock. The eye widened and within minutes, the figure had half-jumped-half-fell out of bed.

"Notagainnotagainnotagainnotagain", Imara, now well into her teenage years at sixteen, chanted to herself as she tried to get dressed, brush her teeth and tame her hair at the same time.

The beauty bestowed upon her mother was not lost on the daughter, though Imara thought little of it. After all, she was still a tomboy, and would rather go to some extreme sports venture than fluff about making her beauty stand out. She ran into the kitchen, giving the figure sitting by the counter a glare.

"You could have woken me up, you know, Mo", she growled at her 6 year old sister. (2)

Mo'e'ha, or Mo for short was the polar opposite of Imara, in both looks and personality.

Where Imara had her fathers silky black hair, and her mothers stunning blue eyes, Mo had Storm's shockingly white hair, and Forge's brown-to-the-point-of-being-black eyes. Imara was very much a tomboy, happy to help Forge out in the lab, or doing some other activity normally deemed 'male'. Mo, on the other hand, was very feminine, loving nothing more than dolls, flowers, and other such things that made her older sister gag. Needless to say, the sisters did NOT get along...at all.

"It's not my fault your stupid powers stopped the alarm", smirked Mo.

Imara growled frustrated, trying to find something quick to eat from the fridge. It had been well over a year since her mutant power had manifested. She wasn't surprised when it had. When one has mutant parents, and then a whole school of mutants as 'aunts and uncles' while growing up, one doesn't really get freaked out by mutant powers arising. She'd been expecting it. What she hadn't been expecting, however, was the form in which they would take. Imara had her fathers techno-abilities, but to a much higher degree. No, she couldn't make things like he could, oh no, instead, her genes decided to give her the ability to have an empathic link with all technology. She could hold a mental conversation with any machine in the entire house, quite happily. Unfortunately, there are always side effects. As her mother before her, Imara's powers were governed by her emotions. Hence, if she didn't feel like getting up in the mornings, her alarm clock (thinking it was doing her a great favour) would simply choose not to go off. This resulted in many mornings of rushing around like this.

"Here you go Imara, I figured this would happen...stupid alarm clock"

Imara looked gratefully at the A.I Toaster that lived in their kitchen as he popped some toast out for her.

"Thanks, Toaster", she said, stuffing the baked bread in her mouth and racing for the door.

"You're welcome", called back the Toaster, "nice to know SOMEONE in this house appreciates me"

Imara nodded, running outside as the latest in a long line of dirt bikes drove up to her of it's own accord. She jumped on, letting it drive her to the Institute as she ate her breakfast. The second she got to the Institute, she parked up in the drive and ran to the back of the house, where a ladder was resting against one of the windows, she climbed up and through the window, into a room.

"Toby!", she shouted, "it happened again!"

"I know", complained her best friend, from where he sat on his bed, "that's why I had the sense to get dressed early"

Toby was now sixteen himself, and rather than grown in bulk like his father, he'd grown tall and lanky. His blue hair was cut mid length in an attempt to tame it. His own mutation, not counting his hair and fangs, had not yet manifested, but he was still regularly dragged into the Danger Room, as Logan claimed it was 'good fer him'.

"Oh, har de har har", said Imara, "come on, if we miss this training session, Logan'll kill us!"

"No, he'll kill you", said Toby as he was pushed bodily through the door, "he'll only kill me by proxy"

"Come on, come on, come on!", said Imara, 'helping' her friend into the lift and down to the Danger Room.

"Yer late, Livewire", growled Logan from where he stood by the rest of their team of New Mutants (3)

"Ummm…sorry?", tried Imara, "Power. Alarm clock…..you get it"

"I didn't haul my ass out of bed this morning so I could listen to Logey have a rant"

The comment had come from a guy leaning on the wall, playing idly with a switchblade. At eighteen, Wade Wilson, who had given himself the codename 'Deadpool' was the eldest of the motley crew. Logan had 'rescued' the youngster from one of his routine 'visits' to one of the many facilities owned by Weapon X. He'd found Deadpool in one of the cells for failures of the process. Deadpool, who had originally been a mercenary for hire, had been endowed with Logan's healing powers. Logan, who was getting a little annoyed by all this messing with his genetics deal, freed Deadpool…who then decided to 'follow him home'.

Deadpool later revealed he'd voluntarily gone into the Weapon X programme, as they'd promised they could cure him of his terminal cancer. They succeeded, but in result the skin of his entire body became scarred. Self conscious, the kid covered himself up more than Rogue, and completed his ensemble with a mask he never took off outside the mansion.

Sadly, the Weapon X process, though saving Wade's life, and giving him an unlimited healing factor to the point of being immortal, it also affected his mind. Deadpool, at best, was described as 'a little off'. He tended to ramble constantly about nothing in particular…thus earning him the nickname 'The Merc with a Mouth'.

"I said I was sorry", said Imara, sending a glare his way.

"Sorry don't give me the last five minutes of my life back", he said as he slid his red and black mask over his scarred face.

"Oh, stop whining", said a black and silver haired boy of seventeen, in a French accent.

Jean-Paul Beubier, codenamed 'Northstar' was the teams other Canadian, though hailing from Quebec. Jean-Paul, or JP, as he was called, had the power of super-speed and flight. He'd used these abilities to pursue a possible career on the ski slopes, before being picked up by the Canadian super team Alpha Flight. It was upon hearing his twin sister, who he had given up for dead after the deaths of their parents, was seen in America, JP joined Xavier's Institute, hoping to find her. Unfortunately, he and his fellow Canadian didn't get on well. Most of this was due to the fact Deadpool referred to him by girl names since JP openly admitted his homosexuality.

"Never", said Deadpool, "the world loves a whiner, Janice"

"No, it doesn't", replied a fifteen year old Puerto-Rican named Brain Cruz, or Tag.

Brian had the unusual ability of being able to touch a person, cause other people to be repelled or attracted to person he 'tagged'. He had transferred to America when his powers manifested, his parents wishing the best for him. He'd settled in well enough, but tended to spend time trying to get the youngest member of the team out of her shell.

Sooraya Qadir, or Dust, was only thirteen years old. She arrived at the Institute after Xavier offered her a place from her native Afghanistan, after her powers of turning into a deadly dust form manifested while she was being attacked. Sooraya chose to wear a tradition burkha at all times, which infuriated the feminist Imara, meaning the two girls rarely spoke to one another.

"Does too", said Deadpool, "lets take a poll"

"Wade, be quiet, you're giving me a headache", said Celeste

Celeste, now fifteen, had certainly changed her image since she'd hit teenager-dom. Though she'd had her speckled wings from birth, her mutation was furthered with age. When in flight, she could send out hoards of what could only be called 'blade feathers'. These were small feathers which were razor sharp...it was generally not a good idea to be hit with one. The biggest change to Celeste, however, was her new attitude of life. She'd become what she called a 'Goth-Bohemian' which everyone assumed meant she wore black, got lots of piercing, and liked the theatre. She wished nothing more than to be part of a Broadway show or musical…sadly, her grandmother on her father's side had decided she should learn to be a Worthington, and sent her to a girl school, which she regularly escaped from.

"Oh, geee, soooorrriiie princess", said Deadpool

"All yours, Scott", smirked Logan as Scott walked in.

Scott blinked at him behind his shades.

"That's what you wanted? Me to take a training session?", he asked, "Logan, Rachel's kept us up all night crying, and then Nathan got a army man stuck up his nose…"

Scott and Jean had been 'blessed' with two children, Nathan, a boisterous eight year old who would get himself in trouble at any opportunity, and Rachel, who was but three months old…and let the mansion know about it. At three AM. Every day. Without fail. (4)

"Yeah, bein' a father sucks", said Logan, "bye now"

Before Scott could protest, Logan had wandered off, leaving Scott to stare at the expectant faces.

"No team is perfect from day one", started Scott, "You have to learn each others strengths and weaknesses. Know your assets"

"We know Imara's assets already", said Deadpool, "arroooogah!"

"Deadpool", said Imara sweetly, "sometimes I think you want a smack"

"A spanking, a spanking!", said Deadpool, clapping his hands and dancing around her, "and then the oralOWW"

"I'm sorry", smirked Toby, "my cane slipped"

"Are we sure he's blind?", asked Deadpool, rubbing his head, "I think he's faking it"

"Like you fake intelligence", quipped JP.

"Oh, shut up, Bella", said Deadpool

"Leave him alone, Spidey rip-off", said Celeste.

"What did you call me?", asked Deadpool, arching a brow, "what did you call me?"

"Here we go again", sighed Brian.

"I called you a Spidey. Rip. Off", said Celeste with a smirk.

"Okay, wings", said Deadpool, pulling out the samurai swords that were a constant part of his costume ensemble, "it's go time!"

"Is this what you call team work?", asked Sooraya, "I had a very different idea of it"

"…Okay, maybe this team needs a little more work than most", admitted Scott, as Imara and JP tried to pry Deadpool off Celeste.

&&&&&

Down in the Morlock tunnels, Caliban was enjoying a rare moment of peace and quiet….not that it ever lasted long. Sure, Leech, Artie and Torpid tortured him far less than they did when they were younger…but he had a new nemesis.

"Incoming!"

Caliban yelped as a few porcupine-like quills embedded themselves in the wall next to him. He sighed, pulling them out.

"Thatssssss not even remotely funny Maxxxxxwell"

There was a giggling as a boy of 9 rolled out of the shadows, clutching his sides in laughter. Evan and Callisto's child, Maxwell (or Max, as he preferred) resembled a human porcupine, covered in quills all over his body. (5)

Needless to say, it had NOT been an easy birth for Callisto, as she reminded her husband on a daily basis. But he was still precious to them, after all, they tried hard to have him. Max was a prankster, which was to be expected growing up with people like the Terrible Trio as babysitters. And, like those before him, he found Caliban the best target of all. There was just something about the man that left him wide open.

"Awww, I was only having fun, Uncle Caliban", he chuckled, getting to his feet, "and they didn't hit you"

"If they ever do, I'll feed you to X23", said Caliban smugly.

Max's face dropped as he gave a nervous laugh.

"It won't happen again", he said sheepishly, knowing full well it would, probably the same afternoon.

X23, with Lucids help, had finally settled in to life as a Morlock, an accepted the tunnels inhabitants as family. Sure, she was still the most temperamental of the group, but she'd calmed considerably. ……Well, until she became pregnant, to which point everyone avoided her as much as possible, and Lucid was recovering from a broken jaw after forgetting to get her noodles. Apparently, Logan clone plus pregnancy hormones equalled a very, very bad thing.

"Be ssssure it doesssnt", said Caliban guardedly.

"I can't help it, there's no kids for me to play with here", said Max, "so I get bored"

"You play with your cousinssss", pointed out Caliban.

"They don't live here", said Max.

"Then you can play with the hellsssspawn when it issss born", said Caliban with a smirk, "it may be half pure evil, but I'm ssssure it'' be your friend"

Max pouted, deciding he'd done having 'fun' with Uncle Caliban for a while.

"That's not even funny", he said, going in search of Torpid, who very likely had some sugar substance for him to get hyper on.

"I thought it wassss", smirked Caliban.

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Meanwhile, at the Institute, the New Mutants had finished their Danger Room session (with only 2 machines getting blown to pieces, a new record) and those which attended Bayville high were getting ready for a gruelling day of school and prejudice. As they got to the lobby, Toby frowned as he heard a motorbike revving in the driveway.

"Oh let me guess", he said dryly, "the Fonzie ripoff has come to take you to school"

"He's not a Fonzie ripoff, Toby", said Imara, "Axel is..unique"

"Axel is a jerk", said Toby pointedly.

"Oh, you don't like anyone I date", said Imara, rolling her eyes, "you didn't like Steve, you hated Mark and you actually pushed Jasper into a river"

"He deserved it", said Toby, "besides, I'm your best friend. It's my job to look out for you"

"It may not have gasped your attention", smirked Imara, "but I'm a big, tough girl. I'm more than capable of looking after myself"

"Yeah, I know", said Toby with a chuckle, "unfortunately your decision making skills leave far more to be desired"

"Har de har har", said Imara, giving him a gentle nudge with her elbow, "see you after school, Tob', and don't worry. I can handle Axel. You should be more worried if he can handle me"

With a smirk, she opened the door and stepped outside, jumping on the back of her boyfriends motorbike. He turned, grinning at her, his blonde hair hiding his eyes as he sped off. Toby frowned as Celeste began annoyingly humming a violin solo.

"Not funny, Cel'", he said.

"Seriously, Toby", said Celeste, "this is depressing. You've known each other since before either of you reached a year old. I think you should be able to say 'Hey, Imara, I happen to be hopelessly and pathetically in love with you, as I have been since girls became interesting'".

"Do I look like I have a death wish?", asked Toby, arching a brow, "no. If I said that, and she didn't feel the same way, it would go horrifically wrong. Our friendship would get awkward and die a horrible death. TV and books have taught us that much. Even our nick-name-sakes had that trouble!"(6)

"Was the same for Bert and Ernie", added Deadpool, walking over, munching on a hamburger, his mask now off.

"Not helping, Wade", said Celeste, then looked at Toby, "but what about those that it does work out for, huh? Christine and Raoul, Dawson and Joey.."(7)

"Kermit and Miss Piggy", said Deadpool, then paused as Celeste glared at him, "what? I 'aint allowed to play your little game?"

"You really aren't right in the head, Wade", said Celeste, "You're just….odd"

"I'm a highly unique individual", sniffed Deadpool, "look, I have my own special italic text and everything"(8)

"….Oh great, now he's on that subject again", groaned Toby.

"Good luck with that", said Celeste, taking to the air, "I have to go bear hours of 'fun' while they train me to be a lady"

With that, she flew off, JP speeding off in the other direction.

"You know, sometimes it sucks not having powers or people to give me a ride to school", complained Brian, then looked at Deadpool, "Wade, why don't you stick on an image inducer and teleport over? You may learn stuff, and it's gotta be better than hanging around the mansion"

"Pleasesayyes, pleasesayyes", chanted Toby.

"If you can't learn it from a Monty Python song, it 'aint worth learning", said Deadpool, "and I 'aint using my teleportation device as a car pool"

"Can't I borrow your scooter?", asked Tag.

"It's a motorbike!", snapped Deadpool, "and it's manly!" (9)

"You know what? Forget it", said Tag, stalking off, "you keep your 'manly' scooter"

"And another day stuck with Wade and Sooraya begins", sighed Toby, defeated as he walked inside.

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(1) – Leola's middle name is 'Miya', in honour of Miahthestormwolf, who wrote a future-type story for the Chronicles years ago. Christina, or Tina, was named by my buddy Reviant, which I'm grateful for.

(2) - Mo'e'ha is Cheyenne for Magpie. Her middle name is Binty, which is Swahili for daughter.

(3) – On our new mutants, all of them are cannon, except Celeste, Imara and Toby. Deadpool is currently in Cable and Deadpool, Sooraya and Tag are in New Mutants and Northstar's dead-but-not.

(4) – Yes, these are cannon offspring, though been altered a little to make them both Scott and JEANS (Lets not go there). Nathan is Cable, and Rachel is..errr…Rachel.

(5) – Max is actually cannon, just changed to be Evan and Callisto's son. His cannon self is Maxwell Jordan, AKA Quill, and is currently in the pages of the ever-title changing New Mutants.

(6) – For those that forgot. The duo were nicknamed Jo and Laurie after the characters from my favourite book, Little Women. I modelled Toby on Christian Bale, as he played Laurie in my favourite film version of the book. If you ever watch it, that is what Toby look like. Make his hair blue and give him fangs, and that's it.

(7) – From Phantom of the Opera and Dawsons Creek, respectively.

(8) – Deadpool is one of the few comic book characters in existence that KNOWS he's in a comic book. He's 'breaking the fourth wall, one brick at a time'. I figured he'd know he was in a fanfiction, too ;)

(9) – Deadpool does indeed own a scooter (100 manly) though he claims it's a motorbike.

And there we go, another chronicle begun! Yeah, the chapters are huge at the moment, as I introduce new characters and such, they'll get a bit normal sized when I've done introducing people. Do review. Until next time…