Disclaimer: I don't own the X-Men. Marvel does. But, I do wish I owned one certain charming Mexican Mutant...
Slipped Away
The Xavier Institute for Higher Learning
"Evolution is not the will of God." The sign hangs from a corpse as the corpse hangs from a cross on Xavier's front lawn. The bodies are freshly dead. They haven't been dead for very long. Perhaps just an hour or so at most. There's maybe eight of them hanging up on wooden crosses. Like some prize on display. And the X-Men--Jean Grey, Nightcrawler, Cyclops, Iceman, Wolverine, Chamber and Husk--are the auidance that first gaze upon the display of death.
"I'm not picking up any thoughts or heartbeats...they...they're all dead." Jean's first to voice her commentary about the horrifying display.
"Get 'em down from there!" Logan shouts through shock as he too stares at the bodies on the crosses.
Jonothan Starsmore, and Paige Guthrie, stare and are unable to speak. They have seen death many times, but never a display so gruesome.
"We really shouldn't disturb the forensic evidence--" Kurt starts.
But Scott finishes, "Logan's right. Get them down."
"But won't the police--" Bobby's eyes are about to pop out of his head from the strain he's putting on his eyes. For once in his life, he's being rational.
Scott won't take anymore of the X-Men's stalling. There are bodies crucified on their front lawn, and all they can worry about is the police and the forensic evidence? "I SAID TAKE THEM DOWN!" His voice booms through the silence the grounds had been given just moments ago.
"Of course, Scott," Kurt agrees with the team-leader like he had no other choice.
"Yeah, alright..." Bobby agrees as well, backing Kurt up.
The X-Men move in quickly and start to take the nails out of the bodies, and the bodies off of the crosses. In the mean time, Jean tries to contact the school nurse, Annie, through telepathy.
"The police are going to be unhappy we've tampered with a crime scene..." Kurt says to Logan as he unpins the body, and Logan catches it.
"This may shock you to your drawers, Elf, but I'm with Summers on this one. When it comes to mutants--we are the police." Logan replies to the German X-Man with a type of pride in his voice. What he says is true. There are no laws set by humans that apply to mutants. The X-Men enforce the law for the mutant population.
Across the yard, Paige and Jono work together as well. If not for once without having an argument or some sort of sexual tension between them. Something close by catches the blonde Kentuckian's eye, and makes her speak her thoughts out loud. "Oh my God, Jono, that looks like Jubilee..."
"No..." Jono replies, his voice barely above a whisper in the X-Men's heads.
Logan hears what they say, and parental instincts take over... "WHERE?" He leaves Kurt's side without second though, and starts to rush around the yard, searching for the body Paige spotted.
Bobby is already at the body's side, and tilts up the head. "Right here, Logan. Oh my god," he gasps in horror, "it is her!"
Logan reaches Bobby's side, and Jubilee's body. "DO SOMETHING, DRAKE! GET HER OFFA THERE!" The Canadian shouts into the younger man's ears.
Bobby winces, "what do you think I'm trying to do. Calm down, will you?" He said as he struggles, but finally takes the nail from her hand.
"Calm down my BUTT! WHERE'S A HEALER!" Her body falls limply into Logan's arms. "WHERE'S XORN! WHERE'S WORTHINGTON!" Logan cups Jubilee into his arms, and makes a dash for the mansions front door. He's worried himself sick by now, and he's panick stricken. "WHERE THE HELL IS WORTHINGTON!" Is the last of his booming voice any one hears before he runs into the mansion and disappears into the infirmary.
"Oh my God," Paige whispers as she and Jono scower the yard once more. "This is Angelo here! Jono help me!"
The Otherside
I have a splitting headache. Those usually come after my powers are used too much... But I don't remember using my powers. Heh, maybe it's a hang-over. But... I don't remember drinking either. Now... I'm really confused.
Slowly, I open my eyes. Now I'm sure I should have a hangover... everything's blurry! No matter how hard I try to focus, I can't make the blur go away. Everything's really bright, too. Like, someone's shining some super-bright light on everything. Bright light, and fuzzy focus--without being under the influence of alchohol... anyone else weirded out?
Well, I'm just wasting my time sitting here, so might as well go explore right?
Even when I get on my feet, I feel so light. But the weirdness doesn't end there... my headache is going away. Who wakes up with a splitting headache, that goes away in two point five seconds? Anyway, back to walking. It's weird--really weird--how I know I'm touching the ground, but it feels like I'm floating. Actually, that's not quite right... It feels more like... walking on air. There's a difference between floating and walking on air, you ask? Yeah. I'm guessin' when ya float, it doesn't feel like your feet are touchin' something¿comprendes?
I've been walking for awhile now, but I don't recognize anything. Everything's all broken up and in ruin... but it looks new. Man, this place really contradicts reality... Not only is everything blurry and bright, I'm walking on air, but everythings new and broken? Yeah, this place really hurts my head.
There's a broken pillar right beside me. Lucky for me, it has some sort of metal scrap sticking out of it. Raising my hand, I extend a good three feet of skin to grapple it. It takes a few seconds for me to pull myself up and climb onto the top of the broken pillar, but I get to the top in good time. Just as I regain my posture, I look across and there's a huge peice of broken glass. I swear I must be hypnotized by my reflection-- I look...normal. But see, the thing is, I'm not even concentrating right now. Everything, every inch of skin, is held to my body like it's supposed to be. Needless to say, I'm scared now.
Not only does this place contradict reality, but it's fixed my powers? Something's not right here...
"Ange!" Great, I'm hearing voices now. This place just keeps getting weirder and weirder. Not to mention the voice sounded like Jubilee.
"Yo, Angelo! Pay attention to me, damn it!" Ok, there's no mistaking that crude voice and attitude. This ain't a dream. No dream could be so cruel to induce Jubilation Lee. So, having no choice, I turn around to face the direction the voice came from. Sure enough, she's there. It's been a long time since I saw her. Last time I saw her, she was exploting herself to some two-bit movie director, and I was working a fast food joint.
"What do you want?" I sneer and squat down ontop of the pillar. She probably wants to know where we are. Hell, I wanna know where we are!
"Got any idea where we are?" She asks, leaning back against a broken wall.
No "hi, hello, how are you," just "got any idea where we are?" Yeah, she hasn't changed. Good. Just the way I like her. "Less than one, chica." I jump down from the pillar and land in a sqauting position just a few feet away from her. "Lookin' good, by the way." I couldn't resist.
She rolls her eyes at me, smirking. "We're lost, haven't seen eachother in days, and all you can do is make the effort to tell me I look good? Thanks." Last time we saw eachother, I asked her out. She turned me down. Haven't seen eachother since.
"Welcome," I smirk and reply with a usual smart-ass remark. "So what brings ya to these parts?" Not like I know what or where 'these parts' are.
"I'unno. Last I remember was being knocked out by some guy in a robe. Then I woke up here." She smiles sweetly, shrugging. "You?"
I shrug, "I don't remember anything, chica. Woke up here with a headache. All I know."
"Hmm, well then!" Jubilee starts, standing up and offering me her hand, "you know what that means?"
I take her hand and pull myself up, "what?"
She smiles big and wide, like a child, "we're screwed, amigo."
Rolling my eyes I gently pull my hand back. Holding her hand right now is possibly the thing I want least--and most--in the world. There I go contradicting reality again. Oi. "Nicely put, chica. Couldn't have said it better myself."
"I know," she keeps the cheeky smile on her face as she takes my hand again. "C'mon, Ange. We're not getting any younger standin' 'round here."
Xavier Institute: Infimary
"Aaah... a little light headed..." Warren Worthington mumbles as he lies strapped down to a hospital bed. IV's are placed on both of his arms, draining him of his blood. The only hope of curing the dead that lie around them.
"We can't do this much longer, Warren." Annie says to the Angel. "The machines are all blank. I don't think it's working. You see anything I'm missing, Logan?"
Logan's been watching the bodies and the monitors in hopes of finding something. His face was stern and solem, "no. Jubilee's the same." He glanced from Jubilee's dead body to the other four bodies in the room. "There's all the same." Logan brought his gaze over to Warren and Annie moments later, "cut him off, Annie."
"Alright," Annie replies, readying to stop the blood transfusion.
"Noooo..." Warren replies weakly, determined to bring these mutants back to life.
The Otherside
We walked for what felt like hours. This place is like a maze without walls or boarders. It just keeps going on and on. No matter where you go, you're always lost. No matter what you find, it's not what you're looking for.
I've had this bad feeling in my gut for the last little while. This place is too peaceful to be quiet like this. It's too big to be free. It's too Heavenly to be real. That thought doesn't make the knot in my gut go away. It makes it worse. Something is definately not right about this place, and Jubilee is ignoring it with her happy-go-lucky-smart-ass-better-than-thou-attitude.
Everything is broken. Everything is new. Everything is so bright. Everything is blurry. I feel like I'm walking on air. My powers are under control. No more headaches. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I have a feeling things are going to get worse. How can the best get worse? Simple: nothing lasts forever. Or as I heard someone put it once, "nothing real has a happy ending." So unless this is some sort of dream, Happy-Land is about to come crashing down around us.
"Chiquita, I'm worried." I finally say, speaking after what felt like forever. "This place isn't normal."
"You're tellin' me, Ange!" She agrees with me and points ahead. "I mean, what kinda place has things like that?"
I follow her finger to look at what she's pointing to. A big, bright light. "Why is it times like this I remember those famous words, 'don't go to the light'?" I asked, grabbing her hand and pulling her back. Never can be too careful around her, she might just wander off and jump right on in to anything big and shiny.
She laughs, "Oh, Angelo, you worry too much." News flash: Being brought up with the way I was, I have to worry too much.
"I do not. I just don't think big bright lights like that are normal." I state and continue to pull her back. "Let's...just stay away from it until we figure out where the heck we are, alright, Jubecita?"
"Yeah, yeah. Quit yer tuggin'" She mumbled and reluctantly follows me away from the light.
Xavier Institute: Infimary
"Just a... little longer... Annie, please." Warren pleaded as Annie was about to unplug the machines attached to him.
She frowns, "Warren, I can't. Your healing thingie isn't replacing your blood as fast as I'm draining it." The last thing she needs is another dying.
"Noooo..." Warren pleads.
"Don't make come over there, Worthington," Logan interrupts the two. "Yank him, Annie. We don't need anymore dying today."
The Otherside
Forever's passed in less than a minute, I'm sure of it. "Joo... I'm bored."
"Me too." She replies with a sigh, her slender shoulders falling in a slump.
"Whadda ya wanna do then?" I ask, looking over at her lazily. We've parked our rears by some small lake, in a field. Surprisingly, there's a few people here. They're just sitting around, like us. I guess they're waiting for something. Maybe someone. I dunno. But they don't make the knot in my gut go away either. There's something eerie about this place. We're all just sitting around, waiting for something to happen. Sure, that might be something like what I used to do at Xavier's, but... it's different here. We're waiting for something big to happen. Something good--and bad--to happen.
"Wanna check out the big light thing again?" She asks, her smile growing again.
I sigh. How can I refuse her? "Fine. But let's not touch¿comprendes?" I stand and offer her my hand.
She takes it and pulls herself up, "yeah, I comprendes." She waves me off and starts off on her own again. She takes no more than three steps when she stops and stares down at her feet. "Annnge... somethin's not right here."
I come to see what she's looking at, and my jaw drops. Her feet are vanishing. "I knew it. Something wasn't right about this place!" I try to grab her, but I go right through her torso. She's disappearing all over now. Every part of her is transparent now, except for her head. For once, the only thing that's solid on her body. "This is all because you wanted to see the light!"
"So sue me, Ange! We can't always live being afraid of what might happen!" She shouts at me, her bright blue eyes stern. "Take chances! Live a lit--" I cut off her sentence off with my lips to hers. How's this for taking a chance? I wasted too much of my time worrying about rejection, worrying about her lingering feelings for Synch. I spent too much time worrying in general!
I start to fall forward. I'm falling right through her! "Chica! What's happening?" I demand to know what the hell is going on.
She doesn't even seemed phased by the kiss. "I dunno! Why do I gotta know everything!"
"'Cause you're the strategist of the group, and you know it!"
She smirks, "I thought I was the spaz?"
"That too."
"Oh, ok."
"Jubilee! You-- you're vanishing." I say through shock. She's practically a floating head now. It's like something's stealing her body away slowly.
"Ange--" she starts, she's no longer smirking. She looks serious. "I'm scared."
I am too, but I won't tell her that. "It's ok. Everything's gonna be--" She opens her mouth, and it looks like she's screaming. But I can't hear anything aside from the wind brushing against my ears. I think she yelled my name... not sure though. And I can't ask her to repeat, she's gone.
Xavier Institute: Infimary
"Who died?" A faint voice was heard--Jubilee's voice. She could have sworn she was with Angelo two seconds ago. She brushed it off as a dream.
"Jubi--lee--" Warren said. Though drained of blood and energy, he was shocked.
Logan was hovering over the young X-Woman now, "you did you little pain in my butt. Scared the life half outta me." A smile was on his rough features.
"Dude," Jubilee started. She was tired, and felt like she had had better days. "Ever hear the words 'mouth wash'?"
The Otherside
A rogue thought comes into my mind-- maybe we--I'm--dead. Jubilee isn't dead anymore. Through some miracle she was brought back to life. The X-Men have those healers. Maybe it's my turn soon. I sure hope it is. I was so, so close to... I almost had her.
Maybe this place is like the ticket booth to heaven or something. I know it's not limbo. I know this isn't heaven. I know this isn't hell. Whatever this place is, I don't want to be here.
Xavier Institute: Infimary
"JUBES!" Paige shouts as she runs through the infirmary and to the bedside table Jubilee sits on. "Oh my God, you're alive!" She continues to shout, even when she wraps her arms around the younger girl.
"Trust that good old Guthrie enthusiasm." Jubilee says weakly, looking over Paige's shoulder. Tears started to leak from her tired eyes.
Paige broke the hug to look at her friend, and her smile faded as she noticed the tears. "Hey what's the matter? Why are you--" Slowly, Paige looked behind her to see the still form of Angelo. They had cut Warren's blood supply, and turned the machines off. "Oh, no. Oh Angelo..." Paige said as she and Jubilee walked over to Angelo's bed. Paige had to cover her mouth to stop a squeak of sorrow as she watched Jubilee take Angelo's hand into hers.
The Otherside
Guess I'm not going back. I felt my connection with the living die when Jubilee left me here. Heh, how's about that, chica? I get to go to the light after all. Just don't miss me too much, alright? I'll come back to haunt ya. Promise.
The solem figure of Angelo Espinosa walked silently towards The Light. He could careless where he was about to be taken. He was dead. He stayed down. No one was coming back to save him like so many times before. In the end, everything he learned in the Barrio turned out to be true. A man gets hit? He stays down. And you wave goodbye to him from a distance.
This was his time? So be it. He grew up learning that when a man's time came, there was no stopping it. He didn't bother to look back at his surroundings. He kept walking, head down as he was taken in by the light. Angelo would wave his farewell from wherever the light took him.
Xavier Institute: Infimary
The best thing that had ever happened in her life, was gone. She had been too stubborn to admit it before hand. But she had loved Angelo Espinosa since, possibly, when they had first met. But of course, Jubilee had to be the stubborn spazzy brat of the group, and ignore what was right in front of her the whole entire time.
Gently, and with Paige's hand on her shoulder, Jubilee leaned down to place a gently kiss on Angelo's cheek. There was a difference between rejecting the guy, and having him die. And what she thought might have been her last chance at love, had slipped away.
-End
©-Amanda