Disclaimer: I do not own the X-Men. Original characters are mine.
A/N: Alternate Universe story based loosely on Chris Claremont's masterpiece 'The End', and told mostly from the point of view of the LeBeau family. This story also follows my other fan fics, although you don't have to be familiar with either to enjoy this one. If you like, please review. Thanks!
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LeBeau Legacy: The End
Prologue
It was storming when Stryfe kicked them from their sleeping bags and drove them into the mountains. Soon, the blinding rain became a blizzard, trapping him and his team in the Andes. Why he'd isolated them from civilization was a mystery. In recent months, he'd become increasingly unhinged. Most of his followers abandoned him with his sanity, returning to the outlaw ranks from which he'd recruited them. Only his most loyal remained with him now. His obsessions became theirs; his goals and passions, their all-consuming habits. These sheep that he both loathed and needed did not question his mania with Nate Summers, nor did they puzzle at his craving for Honor LeBeau. If they could accept his denouncement of himself and still think him worthy, they could accept his madness as logic forever. The only one who didn't grovel helplessly at his feet was the only one he respected.
Sarah joined their ranks out of necessity. When Stryfe found her, she was more animal than human. He gave her food, shelter, and the thing all creatures desire above all else: purpose. In recent weeks, her belly grew in the unmistakable swell of pregnancy. Marrow swore herself pure from intimate touch, which meant her child was either a miracle or travesty. Stryfe responded in his violent nature, attempting time and again to terminate it before it could claim its first breath. When the creature clung stubbornly to life, he drug her into the mountains. Now that he had driventhem as far as possible from sight or touch of light, there was no doubt this child was about to be born. Would the newborn return Stryfe's sensibilities? Would it reach out and destroy him when he inevitably tried to kill it? Or would its struggle be in vain, its lifeless body left here as if it had never been?
He tried to keep her in the open: perhaps the open air could freeze it. But Marrow sought out what she knew best – corners, caves, and crevasses. There, in darkness, she brought forth her child.
Stryfe considered bringing the mountain down on them both, but curiosity got the better of him. He crawled inside, created a flame, and saw the bloody infant there at her breast. She shot him a deadly look, but look was all she could do. She was too weak to even push him away. He approached and watched the child squirm with undeserving life. It opened its sleepy eyes – red and black eyes! He wanted to kill Sarah and leave her child for the wolves, but somehow sensed the fruitlessness of that plan. This child had the protection of heaven or hell! No matter what he did, he was forever more this infant's pawn!
Sarah watched him storm away and heard him swiftly slaughter his own disciples. She shuttered and held her baby tight. No, this was not her child, but some twisted creation forced upon her! How easy it would be to smash its soft head…
The child looked at her through the dark. Years of living under ground had given her night-vision, but even if she couldn't see its eyes, she would have felt his gaze. She was being watched by a predator. And then, like a nightmare, his thoughts crept into her mind.
"What are doing, mother?... Put down that stone. I am your loving child."
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To Be Continued…