My first 'X-men evolution' fic. Be kind. I only watch the
show when I can, which isn't as often as I'd like.
---------------------------------
He ran and ran until he couldn't run any more. His run slowed to a walk, and finally, stopped. He fell to the ground, panting
and grasping at his chest. Tears fell from his eyes, forming a small puddle just below his face. "Why?" he cried. "Why am I
such a disgusting... THING? Why does everything fall apart around me?' His thoughts whirling through his head, he crawled
under the concrete bridge nearby, and the world around him faded into a dreamless sleep.
_______
"What is it professor?" asked jean. The professor took off the helmet that was his link to the system known as Cerebro. "Is
Wolverine alright?" she persisted. Wolverine had gone back up into the Canadian Rockies, to check out a recent clue about his
past. Recently, however, his communications system had gone down, and the professor had grown concerned. After a few
hours, the professor decided to use Cerebro to check on how Wolverine was doing. Wolverine was fine, though he had found
nothing, and was staying in a small motel for the night. What WAS concerning the professor was a mutant signal that was less
then 100 miles away. It seemed very distressed.
"Professor?" jean asked.
"Yes, Wolverine is fine..."
"Then what's wrong?"
"It may be nothing, but... I think I'll send Logan to check it out. You needn't worry about it though."
"Alright..." But she wasn't all right. She was concerned for the professor. He seemed more distant, ever since the public had
become more aware of mutants.
________
"Hey, kid." Wolverine nudged the boy with a boot. He looked healthy enough physically, minus the red under his eyes and state of his clothes. But the twisted look his face, and location he had fallen asleep, made it clear there was something terribly
wrong. He was wearing faded, dirty blue jeans, and a dirty, black t-shirt, the seams in the under arms coming undone. His light
brown hair was faded into blond, but in streaks, mostly in the front.
Logan nudged him again. The boy moaned, but opened his eyes, looking up at Logan with fear, as well as hate and sadness. His
eyes were ice blue, but the night before had left red in them. "What do you want?" asked the boy. "I just want to help you."
suspicion was added to the emotions on the boy' face. "No you don't." he replied, and started to get up. The cement under him
was cracked and coming off in small chunks.
"I've come from a place for people like you and me." explained Logan. The boy snapped his head around to stare into Logan's
eyes with his own, piercing set. "Oh, really." he shouted sarcastically. "And what kind of people are those?" his voice quieted
to a whisper "I have less in common with you than you know..." Logan raised his hand, open palm, a foot away front of his
face. Claws shot up from between his fingers, and he closed his hand into a fist. "Mutants. We're both mutants." he said, his
voice showing a hint of smugness.
The boy looked horrified at first, then just scared. "How do you do that without bleeding?" he asked, the fear clear in his voice.
Logan's claws retracted, and he let his arm drop to his side. "Come with me. I'll explain it to you on the way."
The two walked together toward the road. "I'm Logan, by the way. What's your name?" "My name is Nathan." They
approached Logan's motorcycle "I don't have to get on that thing do I?" asked Nathan, sounding slightly alarmed. "What's the
matter, Scared?" asked Logan, mockingly. "Yes" replied Nathan, Wide eyed. "Don't you know what's wrong with me?" "You
mean your Mutation? Your powers?" Nathan looked at him with a cold look in his eyes. "I wish it were something I could call
a *power*" His eyes turned to the ground. "Things around me... fall apart. Starting from their weakest point. At first it was
discreet, something not even *I* noticed. My headphones would have a little broken wire in it, after a few weeks of me using
them. After a few months, my computer monitor would start to act up, and we found that it had a bad connection cord. A chairs
cushion would start to rip, but soon the entire frame collapses. My clothes would start to wear away after wearing them for a
week or two. Recently, though, my problems have been growing bigger, faster! It seems that anything I touch seems to fall
apart, and faster each day!"
"I can understand why you might be afraid, then." noted Logan, as he, himself feared the boy would destroy his beloved bike.
"Maybe we can... um..." and he was stumped "Um, how long does it take before things start to fall apart right now?" "It
depends on the material. Metal can take from a few days, to a few hours, depending on what kind it is!"
Logan started to think. "Come with me, kid. I have a phone call to make."
_______
"And he says it takes at least few hours for it to start on metal. So I thought that, since the X-jet would need less than an
hour..."
"I see your point. Thought I am a bit hesitant, for obvious reasons."
"You got any better Ideas?" asked Logan.
"Unfortunately not. I'll send a small team right away."
*Click*
Wolverine walked back over to the table that Nathan had refused to sit down at. "So, Kid, ever been in an airplane before?"
asked Logan, trying to strike up a conversation. "Once when I was really little. My family's kind of poor, especially since my
problem started to really manifest."
"Oh, I see.... and when did that start, exactly?" Asked Logan, hoping to learn something about the boy's powers.
"Well I think it started working on people when I was young..." "Wait" interrupted Wolverine. " You never said that people
started to fall apart!!" shouted Wolverine, slowly inching backwards.
"No, not physically. Just mentally." his voice became shaky "I'm not even sure that it's part of my 'mutation'. My mom was
the only person I was around a whole lot till I was 5, but when I was 8 years old... she just fell apart inside. She ran away, and
forgot who she was, who I was! She's been in and out of mental hospitals ever since." his voice started to clear up. "I think my
step-dad was getting pretty bad when I left the house, and I'm concerned for my little brothers and sister. None of them seem
*right* to me anymore. That's why I ran away from home."
"I see..." said Logan, slowly. He sat down at the table. "You sure you don't want to sit down for even a minute ore two?"
Nathan shook his head. Logan shrugged. "Alright." he sighed. "We might as well wait by my bike"
_______
Nathan sat on the ground, a good twenty feet from Logan and his Motorcycle. They had been waiting for the others to arrive for
20 minutes. It had been a long 20 minutes. And Logan thought something stank. A very familiar stink. "Hey, Kid. Look for a
place to hide, QUICK!" But before Nathan could, a giant, blond, beast of a man came tearing out of nowhere. It grabbed him
around the chest with one arm, and used the other hand to secure its grip on his neck. Nathan's eyes got big. "Well well well!
What have we got here?" laughed Sabertooth. He turned his evil grin towards Wolverine. "Another brat for yer freak show?"
Wolverine's claws came unsheathed. "Put the kid down, ugly! Yer fight's with ME!!!"
"I don't think so. If you try ANYTHING, I'll snap his neck. But maybe I'll just do that anyway!" sabertooth leered. He loved to
torment his rival in any way he could. He could hear the boy's heart beat faster and faster, until each beat mixed with the sound
of the previous. Sabertooth wondered whether the boy was about to have a heart attack. Suddenly, the beating stopped, and
Wolverine's eye's grew wide, as his own super senses aware of the boy's heart beat from his current 16 feet away. The boy's
chest heaved, and his eyes started to flutter, his face turning bluish in a matter of seconds. Both the trench coat and shirt of
Sabertooth, as well as the boys own shirt almost instantly, soundlessly, fell apart, shriveling into nothing before they even left
their shoulders. Nathan's face returned to its regular colour, and his heart started to beat again, slowly at first, then faster until it
became a regular beat. In the blink of an eye, Nathan grabbed the hands of his attacker, released himself, and sent the stunned
mutant flying a good thirty feet through the air. Nathan himself looked quit stunned, and looked at Logan for a reaction. Logan
had a few, surprise and confusion being two of the more prominent. "What the hell was that?"
"I... I don't know. Th-that's never happened before!" stuttered Nathan. "And it's never gonna happen again, either!" roared
Sabertooth, as he came running back at the boy. But Wolverine intervened, putting himself between his rival and the
mysterious youth. "Outta my way, RUNT!!" roared the larger mutant. "I need to pay him back for what he did to me and my
coat back there." "Fat chance, BUB!" shouted Wolverine, launching himself at Sabertooth.
Suddenly, the Blackbird flew over the horizon, and Sabertooth decided to get revenge another day. Wolverine was less than
happy at the timing. "Coward!" he shouted. His insult went unanswered, and Logan glanced to see if his new companion was
all right. However, he was nowhere to be seen. "Hey, kid, it's alright! You can...." but he stopped. Just beyond the tattered
remains of Nathan's shoes, footprints opened huge gashes in the cracked earth. It was easy to tell they went far into the
distance.
"...DAMMIT!"
He ran and ran until he couldn't run any more. His run slowed to a walk, and finally, stopped. He fell to the ground, panting
and grasping at his chest. Tears fell from his eyes, forming a small puddle just below his face. "Why?" he cried. "Why am I
such a disgusting... THING? Why does everything fall apart around me?' His thoughts whirling through his head, he crawled
under the concrete bridge nearby, and the world around him faded into a dreamless sleep.
_______
"What is it professor?" asked jean. The professor took off the helmet that was his link to the system known as Cerebro. "Is
Wolverine alright?" she persisted. Wolverine had gone back up into the Canadian Rockies, to check out a recent clue about his
past. Recently, however, his communications system had gone down, and the professor had grown concerned. After a few
hours, the professor decided to use Cerebro to check on how Wolverine was doing. Wolverine was fine, though he had found
nothing, and was staying in a small motel for the night. What WAS concerning the professor was a mutant signal that was less
then 100 miles away. It seemed very distressed.
"Professor?" jean asked.
"Yes, Wolverine is fine..."
"Then what's wrong?"
"It may be nothing, but... I think I'll send Logan to check it out. You needn't worry about it though."
"Alright..." But she wasn't all right. She was concerned for the professor. He seemed more distant, ever since the public had
become more aware of mutants.
________
"Hey, kid." Wolverine nudged the boy with a boot. He looked healthy enough physically, minus the red under his eyes and state of his clothes. But the twisted look his face, and location he had fallen asleep, made it clear there was something terribly
wrong. He was wearing faded, dirty blue jeans, and a dirty, black t-shirt, the seams in the under arms coming undone. His light
brown hair was faded into blond, but in streaks, mostly in the front.
Logan nudged him again. The boy moaned, but opened his eyes, looking up at Logan with fear, as well as hate and sadness. His
eyes were ice blue, but the night before had left red in them. "What do you want?" asked the boy. "I just want to help you."
suspicion was added to the emotions on the boy' face. "No you don't." he replied, and started to get up. The cement under him
was cracked and coming off in small chunks.
"I've come from a place for people like you and me." explained Logan. The boy snapped his head around to stare into Logan's
eyes with his own, piercing set. "Oh, really." he shouted sarcastically. "And what kind of people are those?" his voice quieted
to a whisper "I have less in common with you than you know..." Logan raised his hand, open palm, a foot away front of his
face. Claws shot up from between his fingers, and he closed his hand into a fist. "Mutants. We're both mutants." he said, his
voice showing a hint of smugness.
The boy looked horrified at first, then just scared. "How do you do that without bleeding?" he asked, the fear clear in his voice.
Logan's claws retracted, and he let his arm drop to his side. "Come with me. I'll explain it to you on the way."
The two walked together toward the road. "I'm Logan, by the way. What's your name?" "My name is Nathan." They
approached Logan's motorcycle "I don't have to get on that thing do I?" asked Nathan, sounding slightly alarmed. "What's the
matter, Scared?" asked Logan, mockingly. "Yes" replied Nathan, Wide eyed. "Don't you know what's wrong with me?" "You
mean your Mutation? Your powers?" Nathan looked at him with a cold look in his eyes. "I wish it were something I could call
a *power*" His eyes turned to the ground. "Things around me... fall apart. Starting from their weakest point. At first it was
discreet, something not even *I* noticed. My headphones would have a little broken wire in it, after a few weeks of me using
them. After a few months, my computer monitor would start to act up, and we found that it had a bad connection cord. A chairs
cushion would start to rip, but soon the entire frame collapses. My clothes would start to wear away after wearing them for a
week or two. Recently, though, my problems have been growing bigger, faster! It seems that anything I touch seems to fall
apart, and faster each day!"
"I can understand why you might be afraid, then." noted Logan, as he, himself feared the boy would destroy his beloved bike.
"Maybe we can... um..." and he was stumped "Um, how long does it take before things start to fall apart right now?" "It
depends on the material. Metal can take from a few days, to a few hours, depending on what kind it is!"
Logan started to think. "Come with me, kid. I have a phone call to make."
_______
"And he says it takes at least few hours for it to start on metal. So I thought that, since the X-jet would need less than an
hour..."
"I see your point. Thought I am a bit hesitant, for obvious reasons."
"You got any better Ideas?" asked Logan.
"Unfortunately not. I'll send a small team right away."
*Click*
Wolverine walked back over to the table that Nathan had refused to sit down at. "So, Kid, ever been in an airplane before?"
asked Logan, trying to strike up a conversation. "Once when I was really little. My family's kind of poor, especially since my
problem started to really manifest."
"Oh, I see.... and when did that start, exactly?" Asked Logan, hoping to learn something about the boy's powers.
"Well I think it started working on people when I was young..." "Wait" interrupted Wolverine. " You never said that people
started to fall apart!!" shouted Wolverine, slowly inching backwards.
"No, not physically. Just mentally." his voice became shaky "I'm not even sure that it's part of my 'mutation'. My mom was
the only person I was around a whole lot till I was 5, but when I was 8 years old... she just fell apart inside. She ran away, and
forgot who she was, who I was! She's been in and out of mental hospitals ever since." his voice started to clear up. "I think my
step-dad was getting pretty bad when I left the house, and I'm concerned for my little brothers and sister. None of them seem
*right* to me anymore. That's why I ran away from home."
"I see..." said Logan, slowly. He sat down at the table. "You sure you don't want to sit down for even a minute ore two?"
Nathan shook his head. Logan shrugged. "Alright." he sighed. "We might as well wait by my bike"
_______
Nathan sat on the ground, a good twenty feet from Logan and his Motorcycle. They had been waiting for the others to arrive for
20 minutes. It had been a long 20 minutes. And Logan thought something stank. A very familiar stink. "Hey, Kid. Look for a
place to hide, QUICK!" But before Nathan could, a giant, blond, beast of a man came tearing out of nowhere. It grabbed him
around the chest with one arm, and used the other hand to secure its grip on his neck. Nathan's eyes got big. "Well well well!
What have we got here?" laughed Sabertooth. He turned his evil grin towards Wolverine. "Another brat for yer freak show?"
Wolverine's claws came unsheathed. "Put the kid down, ugly! Yer fight's with ME!!!"
"I don't think so. If you try ANYTHING, I'll snap his neck. But maybe I'll just do that anyway!" sabertooth leered. He loved to
torment his rival in any way he could. He could hear the boy's heart beat faster and faster, until each beat mixed with the sound
of the previous. Sabertooth wondered whether the boy was about to have a heart attack. Suddenly, the beating stopped, and
Wolverine's eye's grew wide, as his own super senses aware of the boy's heart beat from his current 16 feet away. The boy's
chest heaved, and his eyes started to flutter, his face turning bluish in a matter of seconds. Both the trench coat and shirt of
Sabertooth, as well as the boys own shirt almost instantly, soundlessly, fell apart, shriveling into nothing before they even left
their shoulders. Nathan's face returned to its regular colour, and his heart started to beat again, slowly at first, then faster until it
became a regular beat. In the blink of an eye, Nathan grabbed the hands of his attacker, released himself, and sent the stunned
mutant flying a good thirty feet through the air. Nathan himself looked quit stunned, and looked at Logan for a reaction. Logan
had a few, surprise and confusion being two of the more prominent. "What the hell was that?"
"I... I don't know. Th-that's never happened before!" stuttered Nathan. "And it's never gonna happen again, either!" roared
Sabertooth, as he came running back at the boy. But Wolverine intervened, putting himself between his rival and the
mysterious youth. "Outta my way, RUNT!!" roared the larger mutant. "I need to pay him back for what he did to me and my
coat back there." "Fat chance, BUB!" shouted Wolverine, launching himself at Sabertooth.
Suddenly, the Blackbird flew over the horizon, and Sabertooth decided to get revenge another day. Wolverine was less than
happy at the timing. "Coward!" he shouted. His insult went unanswered, and Logan glanced to see if his new companion was
all right. However, he was nowhere to be seen. "Hey, kid, it's alright! You can...." but he stopped. Just beyond the tattered
remains of Nathan's shoes, footprints opened huge gashes in the cracked earth. It was easy to tell they went far into the
distance.
"...DAMMIT!"