Title: "Final Thoughts"
Author: Pirate Turner
Rating: R
Summary: Will Celina Lewis, Princess of Alderberan and wife to the X-Men's Morph, finally meet her end at the hands of the Toads?
Disclaimer: Morph and Charles Xavier are © & TM Marvel comics and are used without permission. Katrina "Firestar" Lewis is © & TM Pirate Sparrow, is used with permission, and may not be used without permission. Celina "Pantheria" Lewis is © & TM Pirate Turner, is used with permission, and may not be used without permission. Tom Ballard is © & TM Pirates Sparrow and Turner, is used with permission, and may not be used without permission. Bucky O'Hare and the Toads are © & TM their proper owners and are used without permission. Everything else is © & TM the author, Pirate Turner. The author makes absolutely no profit whatsoever off of this story.

I knew I was going to die. That knowledge had been with me ever since I had been taken prisoner. I only had a few seconds left before the Master Toad would be here if I was going to fulfill my plan. I fingered the collar that gripped my throat as tightly as a massive fist, cutting off all my powers. I had no ideal where it had come from or how they had gotten their hands on it, but I did know that if I were still breathing when the Master Toad arrived, it would only be a matter of time before he had the answers he and his forces required to conquer Alderberan; to overthrow my Grandmother, the Queen; to destroy my homeworld; and to either murder or enslave, a fate far worse than any death, all my people, including every one that I had ever held dear. No matter how strong I was, I knew I could never keep him from learning, from my own thoughts, memories, and very mind, all that he needed to know to overcome all those I loved and the rest of my people and to conquer Alderberan, not with his new, and deadliest yet, weapon.

My ears strained for the slightest sound, wondering frantically how much time I had left, as I thought of my family back home. My beloved husband, Morph; our kittens, all thirteen of them; my dear sister, best friend, and partner, Katrina Lewis aka Firestar; her husband and my husband's best friend, Tom Ballard; my Grandmother and role model, Sheba, the Queen of Alderberan; my cousin Jenny and her husband, Bucky. I knew I had seen them all for the last time, and I swallowed the cry that rose in my throat.

As I unsheathed my deadly claws, I knew that I would never get to see my Grandmother finally shirk her royal duties enough to marry the Earthling, Charles Xavier, who had claimed her heart, nor would I ever be blessed enough to see any of my children grow up, or indeed even grow one more day older. I would never know when Katrina finally gave up the fight and settled down with Tom, nor when Jenny and Bucky did the same. Worst of all, I would never again hear the laughter in my husband's voice as he joked, see the twinkle in his darling brown eyes, feel his gentle touch, or taste the sweet wine of his lips ever again. Tears filled my blue eyes, but I refused to let them fall. I would not let my body be discovered with tear stains on my furry cheeks. I would never give our enemies that pleasure.

Nor would I give them the pleasure of using the Alderberan Princess that they had so cleverly captured to overthrow my homeworld, and then use it and my people to move on from there to conquer the entire galaxy, one world, one universe, at a time. No one would ever see me alive again. These were my final moments. I couldn't care less the reaction my death would bring to my enemies other than for the fact that it would stop their devious plans, at least for some time more, but Bast only knew how my loved ones would take the news of my death. I hated the thought that I was about to make Morph a widower and that my kittens would have to spend the rest of their lives without a mother. I knew he would never remarry, but I did pray to Bast that She would protect all those I held dear and not let any harm come to them, be it by their own hands or by someone else's. I could not bare the thought that my death would result in anyone else's, let alone the death of any of those that I love so dearly, that I love with all my being.

As my body shook uncontrollably and the tips of my claws gently grazed the top of my head, I prayed one last time, not for deliverance nor for my own soul but for protection and strength for those that I love, those that, with a few seconds more, I would leave behind. As a parade of footsteps began to approach the door to my cell, the faces of my husband, our kittens, my sister, my Grandmother, and the rest of my family flashed once more throughout my mind. My entire life played once more before my eyes, this time for the last time. It was the charming, handsome, smiling face of my beloved husband, and soul mate, Morph that was the last thing I saw, right before everything went black and I neither felt nor thought any more.

The End