Ok, time for the secrets to be revealed... Get ready for the conclusion.
(Scott)
He flew straight at me, his black hair and clothes billowing, his eyes glowing red. The mountain offered no protection so I did the only thing I knew to do. I blasted him.
The shock from the blast knocked him back, momentarily. The rest of the X-men realized what was going on and jumped into action. He came back at us full force.
"Scramble," I yelled, hoping that if we spread out over the peak that we could attack him from every angle. Rogue, instead of scrambling, went straight at him.
He turned and met her challenge. The two of them collided in the air with a force that was astounding. They bounced back for a second and went back at each other again with punches, gaining altitude as they fought.
"I can't get a clear shot!" Bishop called out with his gun pointed straight into the air.
Storm, Angel and Iceman headed up to join the battle in the air. Things got confusing. We saw flying bodies all dodging, punching, moving. All of us that didn't fly could only watch.
Suddenly a spray of ice rained down on us, Bobby had been nailed hard. We watched as he swayed and fell from the top us his ice slide he had used to get up to the height they were at. Logan jumped beneath him and caught him before he could hit the ground. Logan looked up and shook his head; Bobby was dead. His body de-iced and he lay there limp in Logan's arms.
(Angel)
I was in a lot of pain. This guy, whoever he was, was an excellent fighter. The bruises and cuts in my chest and arms were making fighting close to impossible and it didn't help that he kept dodging my darts. Nothing seemed to be working with him.
He landed another punch on Storm and sent her flipping away through the air, spattered with her own blood. Rogue and I both dashed in at the same time tried to connect punches. He dodged. Rogue hit me.
"Crap," I thought as I stabled myself in the air. "My jaw is broken."
Rogue and the Mutant kept duking it out while I tried to get my bearings straight. My jaw freakin' hurt. I was having a hard time staying in the air. I still didn't have it all together from that last encounter with this guy and getting a concussion and a broken jaw from Rogue wasn't helping.
I saw Storm came flying back into the fray. She called out a thunderbolt from the sky and it struck the mutant. Somehow, he seemed to channel it, almost like Bishop does, but instantaneously, back into Storm. She reeled from the blow and then tried again to go in for a punch, but obviously moving slower. He spun in the air and grabbed her by her neck.
'SNAP'
I watched as Storm's dead body fell to the ground and in anger charged the mutant again in hopes that I could catch him off guard from behind. He was facing Rogue as the two of them were again going at it and I knew I could land a blow to the back of his head if she could only keep him distracted long enough.
I picked up as much speed as I could as I charged and made a beeline for his head. This sucker was going down even if I had to with him. I got so close that I was sure there was no way he could stop me and then, briefly, I saw his body spin and felt as the back of his fist came across my face. Before the pain could register everything went dark.
(Remy)
"Dis is stupid!" I screamed at the top of my lungs, knowing it wasn't going to help anything. "We are dropping like de flys up d'ere and all we can do is watch!"
Warren had just become the third dead X-man at the hands of this guy. It was like one by one we were being executed. My Cher, Rogue was still up there battling him. She was strong.
"Scott!" I yelled. "Can't we get a shot off on him?"
"He's too close to Rogue," Scott shot back. "We can't be sure we wouldn't hurt her too."
Bishops gun still handed moved since the battle in the air had begun. He just kept looking up and waiting. Apprehensive, I grabbed for a card with my good hand, knowing that I might need to throw it but also sure that it could easily blow in my hand again, crippling me completely.
The battle in the sky was intense, neither side seemed to be gaining much ground. Then, the mutant seemed to dip a little in the air to get under a punch from Rogue and he followed through with an uppercut that sent her flying backwards. That was all we needed.
Immediately Scott and Bishop shot their weapons and nailed the mutant in the back. He turned and looked down at us.
"His freakin' eyes always look the same!" Logan yelled.
"He isn't showing it if he's angry," added Hank.
Our discussion of the mutants eyes ended as, in retaliation for the shots to the back, he dashed down at us, ready to fight. I let the cards fly as he dropped and they met him about 10 feet from our heads, and turned to confetti.
He buzzed the ground as we all jumped out of his way and spread out to face him from whatever angle he could come at. Colossus, however, did not budge. He nailed him straight in the chest and both of them fell to the ground in pain. That was the most I had seen him hurt so far.
Logan didn't wait to find out how he was doing. He leapt onto the mutant and brought his claws out to end his life if he could. Waves of energy seemed to emanate from his body and stop Logan in mid-air. He began to shake in the air and we watched, in horror, as his claws were torn from his hands, pulling flesh with them as they came out.
Before Logan could hit the ground in pain Scott and Bishop had the mutant saturated with fire from two angles. Not knowing what to do, I ran to Logan to see if he was all right. He was in shock and just shaking there on the ground, growling and thrashing around. I couldn't even get close to him.
Colossus got up and came back at the mutant, who seemed to be getting more resistant to Scott and Bishop's fire. He charged in with all his force and suddenly armored down. The mutant rolled out of the way and Piotr fell into the fire from Scott and Bishop. His skin burnt and he screamed as he hit the ground.
When the mutant rolled away, he rolled right in front of me. I didn't know exactly what to do but instinctively I jumped on him. I was in a fight, it seemed like the right thing to do. It was not.
He flipped me over his shoulder and I hit the ground so hard I could feel all my ribs breaking in my back. I heard Scott and Bishop calling my name only to look and see a fist flying at me face. It didn't hurt, because I didn't feel anything once it landed.
(Scott)
Rogue was flying back into the fight after recovering from that last hit that had sent her flying across the sky. Began to fire again but then stopped when I realized what was going on, the mutant was paying attention to us, and Rogue was flying at his back, with her gloves off.
Bishop apparently saw the same thing I did and tried to keep his attention with another round of fire. It worked, he kept coming at us and Rogue had the perfect opportunity to grab him.
She connected and the air around them looked like Jubilee had gone crazy. It was all lit up with different colors and pops and sounds. I heard Rogue screaming. Bishop and I stood in silence, hoping upon hope that she was ok.
When the air started to clear, we watched as a burnt up woman' body fell the ground, completely charred, and the young mutant stepped out. His eyes were still peaceful; his eyes were still burning red. We were stunned.
Two bolts of energy flew from the mutant and all I saw was red. I hit the ground in pain and started to black out.
"Scott..." I heard softly, barely conscious. It was Jean. I wanted to answer her so badly but I couldn't get the words out. I couldn't even think.
"Scott. He doesn't understand, don't you see? He's learning. He confused and he's learning. He will leave you there, like you are if you don't get up. He needs to understand Scott. Get up."
I groaned. I think I groaned anyways. I thought of the Professor. I needed to protect the children like he said. I had to get up. This guy had to save us. He was the only way my friends could be saved. He was... he had been out end, and now he could be our salvation if I could only find the strength to stand. He had to understand that we were hurt. He had to save us.
My body screamed at the thought of getting up. I was burnt on my face, my chest, my arms. I hit the stone ground hard and I was bleeding from my head. I couldn't even figure out which way was down to put my feet on the ground.
"Protect the children, Scott"
"I have to get up!" I screamed to myself in my head. "Get up!"
I felt my body move, against it's will. I fought it every step of the way. "Move feet. Move legs. Move arms. Get up!"
Finally I stood there, forced my eyes open and looked up into those peaceful, burning red eyes. All I could do was stand, nothing more. But I stood there and looked at him and made sure he saw that I was standing and looking at him.
Then something happened that hadn't ever before since all this began. He actually spoke. He didn't send me an impression telepathically, like I got before this fight began. He actually used his mouth and spoke out loud. He only said one word:
"Noble."
I felt the air around me begin to ripple, gently at first, but then more and more strongly. I was in so much pain already that I didn't notice the nausea and the dizziness that came with the ripple. I just kept standing. That was all I could think to do. I just stood there.
When the bending stopped I looked around and found myself on the Mansion lawn. My wounds were healed and the rest of the team was there too. Every single one of them was standing just like I was. Nobody was hurt. If we all hadn't just been through a terrible battle, it would have felt like everything was right with the world.
(?????????)
I am a mutant. I was born on the planet earth, a tiny little planet hidden deep within what they call there the Milky Way galaxy. I do not have a name. I had one once, but I cannot remember it, not since I changed, not since I became this.
Somewhere in my past, not too long ago, I was like you: Human, normal, living my life like I was guaranteed tomorrow. Then things changed. I don't remember how they changed, but they did. I became this, a mutant, an outsider and I forgot who I was in your world. I could do things none of you ever imagined. Reality bent to my will, so did time, and space. For all of this power, I was lost. I had forgotten who I was and where I came from.
I set out finally to discover what I was. I wanted to understand humans, mutants, everything "our" society had to offer. I traveled near and far. I was ignored by many, attacked by some and welcomed by only a few. I saw the hearts of men. Many were cold. They had no purpose, no sense of honor, nobility or... family. Each man would do what was right in his own eyes and nothing made any sense.
I didn't understand. I think mutant woman with the red hair put it that way for me. She said I didn't understand. I didn't mean to hurt her but I was far from able to communicate with her with it being, painful... she didn't understand completely. She had to die to a part of herself to understand me and she couldn't. So it hurt and she slipped away, but she saw, for a second, a glimpse of who I was and she said, "He doesn't understand."
She was right. I didn't. I didn't understand this world. So full of beauty, yet fearful of change. Every time this world has seen beauty, it has been from something new, but they continued to fear it. This world was so advanced, yet corruption ruled. Everyone was out to make themselves better and those who looked to help others were trampled on. It seemed that even they didn't have it right all the time.
Take these mutants I have been examining. They saw me as something... I think something to be controlled, someone to be feared. They didn't understand me, so they attacked. First the one made of steel. He didn't understand the pain that the red-headed woman was feeling. He attacked and from then on out they all followed suit. I was something to be feared. I examined them, watched them fight each other, and watched them move as a group. They were good people but they had it all wrong. Finally I wanted to see if they were noble. If any of them had it right. Could they stand with me? I fought them and they fell, like I knew they would, but their physical limitations were just the beginning. I kept watching, waiting for one of them to act like, to act like they were truly noble.
Once all of them had fallen I thought it was over. The best of the best had fallen. They had fought with honor, but pain ended their fight. Was pain that difficult to deal with? (Something else to lean later, perhaps) Then I heard the thoughts of the leader, the one with the red eyes. He was thinking about... his children? He knew I needed to save them. He must have known that I could save them. He stood up. For once, I saw nobility, true nobility in the face of pain. Others were noble when it wasn't expensive. Some were noble because it would be good for them, but he stood for the sake of... his children.
I have seen very little of this world. But I have seen much less nobility. I saw it here and there as I traveled, but I needed to see that pain couldn't stop it. It didn't. I understand nobility now. It makes sense. It is love. It is sacrifice. It is defense of the defenseless. This man had a teacher that was noble. He said so before he stood and then, in that instant he became something more than a leader, an adventurer or a good person, he became like his noble teacher. He stood up for what was right, not in his own eyes, but for what was truly right.
So now I'm off to see other realms. Time is meaningless. Reality is my playground. I want nothing more to do with my former world. It is far less noble than I expected. It would do well to follow this man's example and stand for what was noble, for what is right.
Are you noble? If I return here will you have made it a more noble place? Do you know the truth? Do you know what is right? I still don't quite understand, but I'm a mutant who forgot what it meant to be human. Don't forget... Farewell... the universe calls...
(Scott)
I walked into the room with more confidence than I ever had. The desk was empty. The Professor was gone. I stood there pondering the events of the last couple days, just staring out the huge window into the night sky. The moon was high and once again, the sky was clear. It was strange to have some many clear nights in a row, but then, this could very well have been the strangest time of my life.
When Jean finally regained full consciousness she explained all that she could remember. There was an emptiness in this mutant, whoever he was. He was lost, learning, trying desperately to understand the world he had forgotten somehow. So he observed us, put us into situations where he could watch and learn. His last word...his only word haunted me.
"Noble."
I wonder what he actually learned from us. He seemed to be at peace. Maybe only because he was beyond how we examine things, but his eyes were peaceful. Peace is hard to come by these days. I hope he learned something. Then the peace he had could have some meaning.
Finally I thought about standing up and looking into his face to save my team, my children. It was what the professor would have done. He could have found a way to make himself stand, even with crippled legs. He was so... noble.
I walked around the desk and looked at it from the back. It struck me as funny. I had never been on this side of the desk before. I grabbed the chair sitting there that the professor had used for when we had company and pulled it out.
I took a long look at the chair. It was my chair.
"You are my son and my successor. Take care of the children." I heard his voice clearly. These were my children now. This was my desk.
With a new sense of bravery, with a new sense of purpose, I sat down and pulled myself up to the edge of the desk. This was my chair now. I looked around one last time and smiled.
"Thank you Charles..."
FIN
(Scott)
He flew straight at me, his black hair and clothes billowing, his eyes glowing red. The mountain offered no protection so I did the only thing I knew to do. I blasted him.
The shock from the blast knocked him back, momentarily. The rest of the X-men realized what was going on and jumped into action. He came back at us full force.
"Scramble," I yelled, hoping that if we spread out over the peak that we could attack him from every angle. Rogue, instead of scrambling, went straight at him.
He turned and met her challenge. The two of them collided in the air with a force that was astounding. They bounced back for a second and went back at each other again with punches, gaining altitude as they fought.
"I can't get a clear shot!" Bishop called out with his gun pointed straight into the air.
Storm, Angel and Iceman headed up to join the battle in the air. Things got confusing. We saw flying bodies all dodging, punching, moving. All of us that didn't fly could only watch.
Suddenly a spray of ice rained down on us, Bobby had been nailed hard. We watched as he swayed and fell from the top us his ice slide he had used to get up to the height they were at. Logan jumped beneath him and caught him before he could hit the ground. Logan looked up and shook his head; Bobby was dead. His body de-iced and he lay there limp in Logan's arms.
(Angel)
I was in a lot of pain. This guy, whoever he was, was an excellent fighter. The bruises and cuts in my chest and arms were making fighting close to impossible and it didn't help that he kept dodging my darts. Nothing seemed to be working with him.
He landed another punch on Storm and sent her flipping away through the air, spattered with her own blood. Rogue and I both dashed in at the same time tried to connect punches. He dodged. Rogue hit me.
"Crap," I thought as I stabled myself in the air. "My jaw is broken."
Rogue and the Mutant kept duking it out while I tried to get my bearings straight. My jaw freakin' hurt. I was having a hard time staying in the air. I still didn't have it all together from that last encounter with this guy and getting a concussion and a broken jaw from Rogue wasn't helping.
I saw Storm came flying back into the fray. She called out a thunderbolt from the sky and it struck the mutant. Somehow, he seemed to channel it, almost like Bishop does, but instantaneously, back into Storm. She reeled from the blow and then tried again to go in for a punch, but obviously moving slower. He spun in the air and grabbed her by her neck.
'SNAP'
I watched as Storm's dead body fell to the ground and in anger charged the mutant again in hopes that I could catch him off guard from behind. He was facing Rogue as the two of them were again going at it and I knew I could land a blow to the back of his head if she could only keep him distracted long enough.
I picked up as much speed as I could as I charged and made a beeline for his head. This sucker was going down even if I had to with him. I got so close that I was sure there was no way he could stop me and then, briefly, I saw his body spin and felt as the back of his fist came across my face. Before the pain could register everything went dark.
(Remy)
"Dis is stupid!" I screamed at the top of my lungs, knowing it wasn't going to help anything. "We are dropping like de flys up d'ere and all we can do is watch!"
Warren had just become the third dead X-man at the hands of this guy. It was like one by one we were being executed. My Cher, Rogue was still up there battling him. She was strong.
"Scott!" I yelled. "Can't we get a shot off on him?"
"He's too close to Rogue," Scott shot back. "We can't be sure we wouldn't hurt her too."
Bishops gun still handed moved since the battle in the air had begun. He just kept looking up and waiting. Apprehensive, I grabbed for a card with my good hand, knowing that I might need to throw it but also sure that it could easily blow in my hand again, crippling me completely.
The battle in the sky was intense, neither side seemed to be gaining much ground. Then, the mutant seemed to dip a little in the air to get under a punch from Rogue and he followed through with an uppercut that sent her flying backwards. That was all we needed.
Immediately Scott and Bishop shot their weapons and nailed the mutant in the back. He turned and looked down at us.
"His freakin' eyes always look the same!" Logan yelled.
"He isn't showing it if he's angry," added Hank.
Our discussion of the mutants eyes ended as, in retaliation for the shots to the back, he dashed down at us, ready to fight. I let the cards fly as he dropped and they met him about 10 feet from our heads, and turned to confetti.
He buzzed the ground as we all jumped out of his way and spread out to face him from whatever angle he could come at. Colossus, however, did not budge. He nailed him straight in the chest and both of them fell to the ground in pain. That was the most I had seen him hurt so far.
Logan didn't wait to find out how he was doing. He leapt onto the mutant and brought his claws out to end his life if he could. Waves of energy seemed to emanate from his body and stop Logan in mid-air. He began to shake in the air and we watched, in horror, as his claws were torn from his hands, pulling flesh with them as they came out.
Before Logan could hit the ground in pain Scott and Bishop had the mutant saturated with fire from two angles. Not knowing what to do, I ran to Logan to see if he was all right. He was in shock and just shaking there on the ground, growling and thrashing around. I couldn't even get close to him.
Colossus got up and came back at the mutant, who seemed to be getting more resistant to Scott and Bishop's fire. He charged in with all his force and suddenly armored down. The mutant rolled out of the way and Piotr fell into the fire from Scott and Bishop. His skin burnt and he screamed as he hit the ground.
When the mutant rolled away, he rolled right in front of me. I didn't know exactly what to do but instinctively I jumped on him. I was in a fight, it seemed like the right thing to do. It was not.
He flipped me over his shoulder and I hit the ground so hard I could feel all my ribs breaking in my back. I heard Scott and Bishop calling my name only to look and see a fist flying at me face. It didn't hurt, because I didn't feel anything once it landed.
(Scott)
Rogue was flying back into the fight after recovering from that last hit that had sent her flying across the sky. Began to fire again but then stopped when I realized what was going on, the mutant was paying attention to us, and Rogue was flying at his back, with her gloves off.
Bishop apparently saw the same thing I did and tried to keep his attention with another round of fire. It worked, he kept coming at us and Rogue had the perfect opportunity to grab him.
She connected and the air around them looked like Jubilee had gone crazy. It was all lit up with different colors and pops and sounds. I heard Rogue screaming. Bishop and I stood in silence, hoping upon hope that she was ok.
When the air started to clear, we watched as a burnt up woman' body fell the ground, completely charred, and the young mutant stepped out. His eyes were still peaceful; his eyes were still burning red. We were stunned.
Two bolts of energy flew from the mutant and all I saw was red. I hit the ground in pain and started to black out.
"Scott..." I heard softly, barely conscious. It was Jean. I wanted to answer her so badly but I couldn't get the words out. I couldn't even think.
"Scott. He doesn't understand, don't you see? He's learning. He confused and he's learning. He will leave you there, like you are if you don't get up. He needs to understand Scott. Get up."
I groaned. I think I groaned anyways. I thought of the Professor. I needed to protect the children like he said. I had to get up. This guy had to save us. He was the only way my friends could be saved. He was... he had been out end, and now he could be our salvation if I could only find the strength to stand. He had to understand that we were hurt. He had to save us.
My body screamed at the thought of getting up. I was burnt on my face, my chest, my arms. I hit the stone ground hard and I was bleeding from my head. I couldn't even figure out which way was down to put my feet on the ground.
"Protect the children, Scott"
"I have to get up!" I screamed to myself in my head. "Get up!"
I felt my body move, against it's will. I fought it every step of the way. "Move feet. Move legs. Move arms. Get up!"
Finally I stood there, forced my eyes open and looked up into those peaceful, burning red eyes. All I could do was stand, nothing more. But I stood there and looked at him and made sure he saw that I was standing and looking at him.
Then something happened that hadn't ever before since all this began. He actually spoke. He didn't send me an impression telepathically, like I got before this fight began. He actually used his mouth and spoke out loud. He only said one word:
"Noble."
I felt the air around me begin to ripple, gently at first, but then more and more strongly. I was in so much pain already that I didn't notice the nausea and the dizziness that came with the ripple. I just kept standing. That was all I could think to do. I just stood there.
When the bending stopped I looked around and found myself on the Mansion lawn. My wounds were healed and the rest of the team was there too. Every single one of them was standing just like I was. Nobody was hurt. If we all hadn't just been through a terrible battle, it would have felt like everything was right with the world.
(?????????)
I am a mutant. I was born on the planet earth, a tiny little planet hidden deep within what they call there the Milky Way galaxy. I do not have a name. I had one once, but I cannot remember it, not since I changed, not since I became this.
Somewhere in my past, not too long ago, I was like you: Human, normal, living my life like I was guaranteed tomorrow. Then things changed. I don't remember how they changed, but they did. I became this, a mutant, an outsider and I forgot who I was in your world. I could do things none of you ever imagined. Reality bent to my will, so did time, and space. For all of this power, I was lost. I had forgotten who I was and where I came from.
I set out finally to discover what I was. I wanted to understand humans, mutants, everything "our" society had to offer. I traveled near and far. I was ignored by many, attacked by some and welcomed by only a few. I saw the hearts of men. Many were cold. They had no purpose, no sense of honor, nobility or... family. Each man would do what was right in his own eyes and nothing made any sense.
I didn't understand. I think mutant woman with the red hair put it that way for me. She said I didn't understand. I didn't mean to hurt her but I was far from able to communicate with her with it being, painful... she didn't understand completely. She had to die to a part of herself to understand me and she couldn't. So it hurt and she slipped away, but she saw, for a second, a glimpse of who I was and she said, "He doesn't understand."
She was right. I didn't. I didn't understand this world. So full of beauty, yet fearful of change. Every time this world has seen beauty, it has been from something new, but they continued to fear it. This world was so advanced, yet corruption ruled. Everyone was out to make themselves better and those who looked to help others were trampled on. It seemed that even they didn't have it right all the time.
Take these mutants I have been examining. They saw me as something... I think something to be controlled, someone to be feared. They didn't understand me, so they attacked. First the one made of steel. He didn't understand the pain that the red-headed woman was feeling. He attacked and from then on out they all followed suit. I was something to be feared. I examined them, watched them fight each other, and watched them move as a group. They were good people but they had it all wrong. Finally I wanted to see if they were noble. If any of them had it right. Could they stand with me? I fought them and they fell, like I knew they would, but their physical limitations were just the beginning. I kept watching, waiting for one of them to act like, to act like they were truly noble.
Once all of them had fallen I thought it was over. The best of the best had fallen. They had fought with honor, but pain ended their fight. Was pain that difficult to deal with? (Something else to lean later, perhaps) Then I heard the thoughts of the leader, the one with the red eyes. He was thinking about... his children? He knew I needed to save them. He must have known that I could save them. He stood up. For once, I saw nobility, true nobility in the face of pain. Others were noble when it wasn't expensive. Some were noble because it would be good for them, but he stood for the sake of... his children.
I have seen very little of this world. But I have seen much less nobility. I saw it here and there as I traveled, but I needed to see that pain couldn't stop it. It didn't. I understand nobility now. It makes sense. It is love. It is sacrifice. It is defense of the defenseless. This man had a teacher that was noble. He said so before he stood and then, in that instant he became something more than a leader, an adventurer or a good person, he became like his noble teacher. He stood up for what was right, not in his own eyes, but for what was truly right.
So now I'm off to see other realms. Time is meaningless. Reality is my playground. I want nothing more to do with my former world. It is far less noble than I expected. It would do well to follow this man's example and stand for what was noble, for what is right.
Are you noble? If I return here will you have made it a more noble place? Do you know the truth? Do you know what is right? I still don't quite understand, but I'm a mutant who forgot what it meant to be human. Don't forget... Farewell... the universe calls...
(Scott)
I walked into the room with more confidence than I ever had. The desk was empty. The Professor was gone. I stood there pondering the events of the last couple days, just staring out the huge window into the night sky. The moon was high and once again, the sky was clear. It was strange to have some many clear nights in a row, but then, this could very well have been the strangest time of my life.
When Jean finally regained full consciousness she explained all that she could remember. There was an emptiness in this mutant, whoever he was. He was lost, learning, trying desperately to understand the world he had forgotten somehow. So he observed us, put us into situations where he could watch and learn. His last word...his only word haunted me.
"Noble."
I wonder what he actually learned from us. He seemed to be at peace. Maybe only because he was beyond how we examine things, but his eyes were peaceful. Peace is hard to come by these days. I hope he learned something. Then the peace he had could have some meaning.
Finally I thought about standing up and looking into his face to save my team, my children. It was what the professor would have done. He could have found a way to make himself stand, even with crippled legs. He was so... noble.
I walked around the desk and looked at it from the back. It struck me as funny. I had never been on this side of the desk before. I grabbed the chair sitting there that the professor had used for when we had company and pulled it out.
I took a long look at the chair. It was my chair.
"You are my son and my successor. Take care of the children." I heard his voice clearly. These were my children now. This was my desk.
With a new sense of bravery, with a new sense of purpose, I sat down and pulled myself up to the edge of the desk. This was my chair now. I looked around one last time and smiled.
"Thank you Charles..."
FIN