The Golden Age of the They
"Well?"
"Well, what?"
"Where are the others? You promised me many more than this!"
"I'm sorry.the others, all of them, were killed," I regretfully reported to my commander, Pyro.
"WHAT?!?" he roared. He had become quite skilled in this art lately.
"As I said, the rest were destroyed."
He rose from his chair and walked among the 100 They I had brought with me. "This will never work." he mumbled to himself.
"I know that it changes our plans, sir, but we do have the ones we needed most," I added hopefully.
He stopped when he reached the individuals I had mentioned. "Yes.yes, I see that you did preserve these lovely specimens."
"Sir, I do beg of you to stop referring to your old friends as 'specimens'," I said cautiously as I internally shuddered.
"Your right again, Glow," he conceded. "Rogue, Iceman, Storm, Kurt, Kuro, Cyclops," he named them respectfully, "please join me and my.apprentice, as I like to call him, in a small little chat about Our current status, would you?"
Rogue stared for a moment. "YOU certainly have matured in a few years, haven't you, Pyro?"
"Oh! Good heavens, yes! A few years alongside Magneto did absolute wonders to me!"
"I can tell," Iceman replied coldly.
"Well," I interrupted, " we should all not stand here in Pyro's office, now, should we? Let's all go into his private reception area, hmm?"
"Let's!" Pyro agreed, thanking me for saving him with his warmer-than- usual glance.
We all walked into the room. It was a wonderfully designed room created with the most delicate taste. Anyone who entered here for the first time would have been astounded. Unfortunately, when we entered, there were no gasps of awe. I privately felt disappointed in my design job of the room. We then sat down.
"Now, Glow, tell me what happened after I left," Pyro said firmly.
"We were all inside the tunnel system when Lork and I felt a strong shudder through our psychic abilities. Storm, Lork and I then ran down the tunnel as fast as we could. As we got there, many more marines met us there. We fought for all our lives are worth. Many died there, including Professor Xavier and Wolverine. Lork died as well."
"And just how did you change so much?"
"Well, as he looked at the others who are now dead, he gained their abilities," Kuro supplied.
"Amazing." Pyro mumbled. "I always thought a mutant would be born with that kind of ability."
"Yeah, well, I'm that mutant," I said off-handedly. "Pyro, I don't truly think this whole plan of yours will really work after all. Especially with the entire army out to get us now."
"What did you say?" Pyro growled. "I told you not to get even more military personnel involved."
"If you had been there watching your friends die at the hands of the military, you would have attacked them, too, all right?" Storm snapped. "I had no choice but to send snow and lightning in once the others started falling. I needed to protect the others and myself!"
Pyro just swallowed and took in what Storm had just said. "You need to learn your place if you want to live, woman." he warned.
At this, I swung outward at Pyro from my position behind him. As I came out of the swing, I pulled my claws out and gave him a minor flesh wound. "That's enough Pyro," I said calmly despite my anger. "Storm sat and watched her husband die and you expect her to be calm about? If so, you're absolutely insane. Of course, I mean more so than I already know you are."
Pyro winced all of a sudden from the minor cuts I gave him. "Well, well, well.that's a new trick!"
"And I have many more of these 'new tricks' if you threaten my friends, and your only hope of survival, again," I said threateningly, holding my claws up to his chin.
"Trust me, I've learned my place," he retorted mockingly.
At this, Storm summoned a small indoor lighting bolt and was about to channel it when someone yelled, "STOP IT!!! ALL OF YOU!!!"
I looked around frantically for the source of this new voice and found that it came from none other than Colossus.
"We have listened to you for the entire time through the door, and I personally have had enough! Now you need to control yourselves or else send the others away so they aren't revealed to this inner savagery!"
"Strong words from a child." Pyro said dauntingly.
"Do you want an early death?!" I screamed. "Because you're certainly asking for one with all your remarks!" I then turned to Colossus. "Would you mind taking the others to the large underground arena? It's quite safe, so don't worry about that."
"Underground arena?!" Pyro said surprised. "How come I never knew about this?"
"Because I am the one who discovered this place, so I should know everything about it while you know barely anything!" I yelled. "And you have been using your operatives as spring-boards for your terrible plots for the past 4 years, and they need places where they can relieve their stress!" I once again turned to Colossus and said, "And please give any mutants you find down there the codeword 'They' so that they know to let you occupy the place without disturbance." This time, I turned to Storm. "Would you please bring them down there? It's the exact same path as the one used to get to Xavier's arena."
Colossus and Storm both nodded and left.
"Pyro, you have not given me a valid reason not to kill you since I've worked under you except for the reminder that I had no powers." I brought my claws to their full extent as I disabled the holowatch I had borrowed from Kurt to reveal my true nature as a shadowed mass with glowing red eyes that could bore into your very soul. "Now, that's changed. I could kill you now, if I wanted. Already, while Storm yelled at you, I've collected the information on your scheme and altered it accordingly. Now, you're not needed at all. So.would you enjoy dying at the hands of the United States government." I pressed my claws against his throat enough to draw blood, "or at my hands?" I asked very seriously.
Much to my surprise, there were no objections to my choice of action, yet it was not even a tiny bit out of fear. "I'll take my chances with you." Pyro choked out.
"All right, then," I said as I retracted my claws. "Let's go down to the arena and fight it out like true brutes, shall we?"
"Oh, but of course," he said glaring at me.
All of us then went down the tunnels and passages. As we went, I sent Storm a telepathic thought telling her to clear the arena and telling her why she should do so. When we got there, it was clear. Pyro and I stepped into the preparation rooms and then went up onto the actual fighting area.
As soon as we got to the surface, I unleashed all the powers at my disposal. I flung my claws outward as I disabled the holowatch and unleashed a torrent of dark matter. Pyro was just as ready, though. He jumped out of the way of my volley as he sent a stream of fire directly at me that originated from his lighter that had been recently built into his wrist. I didn't bother to jump out of the way and instead, focused on an odd sensation coming from the viewing area up one of the sides. I then felt as if I had the weather on my side as I realized what had happened. Storm had somehow channeled her power into me through a link we must share that I had been oblivious to beforehand. I then sent a lightning bolt at the spot where Pyro was and then a volley of dark matter at the spot where he landed. The main dark energy hit him square, sending him reeling long enough for me to sent dark matter at the lights to disable them. As soon as the lights stopped flickering and shut down completely, I used the ability I had gained from Lork to meld into the shadow that was the arena. I then saw from my new spot behind him that Pyro was looking frantically around for me. I bounded over to him and then thrust my claws into his back over and over and over again feeling a sensation unlike any other at killing with an extension of my body. Pyro then dropped bloodily to the ground. I then deactivated all the powers I had tapped into and sent Storms powers back to her. I also reactivated the holowatch. After I had done so, I went back down and changed into my more comfortable outfit with a fluffy leather jacket since it was especially cold up here at the US/Canada border and left to my room to heal from the fire wounds. As I was walking there, I nearly ran into Storm. "I just want you to know what happened out there, Glow. You see, I had a connection with Lork that allowed us to tap into the other's powers or give our powers to the other. I thought something would have worked, and it did. My thought was that I would still have that connection with Lork's powers." "That's remarkable." I commented. "And as wonderful a story as that is, I truly need to rest in order to fully recover from the burns." "Oh, of course," she said as she stepped out of the way. "And thank you for letting me know what happened out there," I added as I left down the hall. "Your welcome," I heard her whisper using my enhanced senses granted me by Wolverine.
I woke up the next morning at 3 fully refreshed. I decided to explore some of the more in depth areas that I hadn't gotten around to yet. I strolled briskly down the hall as I mentally plotted all of these areas so I could warp to them if I ever needed to. I soon came to what appeared to be a dead-end. I looked much more closely at it and realized that the entire wall section was a door. And the access panel was behind a smaller hatch that blended in almost perfectly with the smooth wall. Fortunately I found the panel and opened the door. It was pitch black inside. I went in and used the power I had received the day before from Pyro to attempt to light my way. Remarkably, I had the extra power that Pyro never had to create fire although I think this was more of an accumulative thing from all the powers I had gained. As I looked into the newly illuminated gloom, I gasped. There, right in front of me, was the preserved body of the one and only Magneto. He was inside a tank that kept him preserved just enough for him to be recognizable. As I stared, I experienced once again that sensation of a weight being lifted. Somehow, I knew Magneto's last wish was fulfilled. I then bashed the control panel and watched Magneto's body finish the decaying process as I stood there. I then walked back down the hallway knowing what I needed to do.
"Wake up, everyone! We strike NOW against the military!" I shouted into the stiff morning air as I walked past the barracks area
From throughout the rooms, I heard mumbling. All of a sudden, a multitude of mutants I had never seen before marched around the corner. I stared in bewilderment. "Your host awaits, Shadow," I heard a very familiar voice say. I scanned the crowd for the speaker and discovered Kurt who had disappeared when I began my duel with Pyro. He and Kuro were standing side- by-side looking at attention. "We gave Them a crash course in fighting, although I'm sure They'll pick up on it when we begin the assault," Kurt said.
"Excellent job, Nightcrawler.and you, Kuro," I remarked with a sudden joyous force that threw every back a tiny step. "Now we can found the Golden Age just like I've heard talk of Lork predicting in his sleep.Let's go!" I shouted, now noticing that all the other mutants had joined up with the Host of Them and I sent Kurt and Kuro into the rear corners and had everyone gather in between us. Suddenly, Kuro, Kurt, and I all warped right into the center of old Stryker's base of operations, bringing the Host with us. Everyone gaped in awe until the soldiers started firing. They fired at us from all angles. "Welche die Hölle?!" Kurt exclaimed. "They knew we were coming!!!" I yelled. "There must be a traitor in our midst!!!" I looked around as I sent dark matter at the troops. I just stared as I saw Colossus turn against Iceman and rammed him into the ground. I felt my cheeks flare with rage and then, it was just him and I. I flew at his with my claws at the ready and I shattered his armor. Apparently, he was a lot weaker than I had thought. I retracted my claws and attacked him with bone-crunching kicks and punches. Next thing I knew, he was lying on the floor, heaving. "How do you like that, traitor?" I asked gloatingly as I kicked him in the ribs, which were all but shattered. "Feels.enlightening, huh?" "Shut up, freak. I never wanted to be one of you. I just put on a show for the others and now.I thought I could rejoin humanity when you were all dead." I laughed. "You honestly thought they would let you rejoin them after being a 'freak' as you called us? You must be crazier than I had thought!" "At least I'm chasing what I believe rather than waiting for it to chase me- " I kicked him in the neck, snapping it and instantly killing him as well as interrupting him. "Don't ever talk like that to me again." "Shadow!" I heard Kurt say. "We need help here!" "Right!" I said as I jumped up and back into the fray. As I scanned the battle site, we had lost only 5 not counting Colossus while the enemy was down to 5 total. I jumped in and slit one's throat. Another I took out with a fire blast. Other mutants killed the other three. I made a quick it a quick job, taking the powers of the dead. I left Colossus lying dead out of my vision. I then led the Host up the stairwell and took out scouting parties of marines along the way. We ended up killing far over a thousand by the time we reached the surface. We had no choice but to kill the others that waited at the top. Suddenly, I remembered a girl named BoomBoom. "BoomBoom!" I called. "Yeah?" I heard her respond as she came out into the front. "I need u to travel with Kurt. He's going to take you to all the major places around the world, understood?" "Ok." she said cautiously. "And your going to set an explosion set for your command. After your done, I want you to set them all off so then we can fully take." I swallowed hard, "total control." Kurt and BoomBoom both nodded and then warped away. I turned back to the rest of the group. "And after they go off, we're going to have a horrible duty on our hands. We have to-" "Wait!" Kuro shouted. "Professor Xavier also said you would be the key to the Golden Age. I think I understand what he meant now." She swallowed remarkably just like I did, causing a ripple of discontent. "When you die.all the powers you've gained from the dead will be.multiplied and spread." "I think she's right," Storm commented. "Well, then." I said with a knot caught up in my throat, "it would seem that I now have no choice. Rogue?" "Yes?" she asked cautiously. "Please grab my arm lightly," I told her as I rolled up my sleeve. "Just enough to sap the healing factor from Wolverine." "But-" "No buts, Rogue. I need to do this to save millions of lives." She touched my arm and then took it away quickly. Then, I sent out my claws and stabbed myself. I also sent fire out and then reeling back in at me at the same time. I then stopped these and dropped to the ground, panting and bleeding remarkably. I then let loose a blast of dark matter and then called it back at me. And with that, the Golden Age of They was established.
"Well?"
"Well, what?"
"Where are the others? You promised me many more than this!"
"I'm sorry.the others, all of them, were killed," I regretfully reported to my commander, Pyro.
"WHAT?!?" he roared. He had become quite skilled in this art lately.
"As I said, the rest were destroyed."
He rose from his chair and walked among the 100 They I had brought with me. "This will never work." he mumbled to himself.
"I know that it changes our plans, sir, but we do have the ones we needed most," I added hopefully.
He stopped when he reached the individuals I had mentioned. "Yes.yes, I see that you did preserve these lovely specimens."
"Sir, I do beg of you to stop referring to your old friends as 'specimens'," I said cautiously as I internally shuddered.
"Your right again, Glow," he conceded. "Rogue, Iceman, Storm, Kurt, Kuro, Cyclops," he named them respectfully, "please join me and my.apprentice, as I like to call him, in a small little chat about Our current status, would you?"
Rogue stared for a moment. "YOU certainly have matured in a few years, haven't you, Pyro?"
"Oh! Good heavens, yes! A few years alongside Magneto did absolute wonders to me!"
"I can tell," Iceman replied coldly.
"Well," I interrupted, " we should all not stand here in Pyro's office, now, should we? Let's all go into his private reception area, hmm?"
"Let's!" Pyro agreed, thanking me for saving him with his warmer-than- usual glance.
We all walked into the room. It was a wonderfully designed room created with the most delicate taste. Anyone who entered here for the first time would have been astounded. Unfortunately, when we entered, there were no gasps of awe. I privately felt disappointed in my design job of the room. We then sat down.
"Now, Glow, tell me what happened after I left," Pyro said firmly.
"We were all inside the tunnel system when Lork and I felt a strong shudder through our psychic abilities. Storm, Lork and I then ran down the tunnel as fast as we could. As we got there, many more marines met us there. We fought for all our lives are worth. Many died there, including Professor Xavier and Wolverine. Lork died as well."
"And just how did you change so much?"
"Well, as he looked at the others who are now dead, he gained their abilities," Kuro supplied.
"Amazing." Pyro mumbled. "I always thought a mutant would be born with that kind of ability."
"Yeah, well, I'm that mutant," I said off-handedly. "Pyro, I don't truly think this whole plan of yours will really work after all. Especially with the entire army out to get us now."
"What did you say?" Pyro growled. "I told you not to get even more military personnel involved."
"If you had been there watching your friends die at the hands of the military, you would have attacked them, too, all right?" Storm snapped. "I had no choice but to send snow and lightning in once the others started falling. I needed to protect the others and myself!"
Pyro just swallowed and took in what Storm had just said. "You need to learn your place if you want to live, woman." he warned.
At this, I swung outward at Pyro from my position behind him. As I came out of the swing, I pulled my claws out and gave him a minor flesh wound. "That's enough Pyro," I said calmly despite my anger. "Storm sat and watched her husband die and you expect her to be calm about? If so, you're absolutely insane. Of course, I mean more so than I already know you are."
Pyro winced all of a sudden from the minor cuts I gave him. "Well, well, well.that's a new trick!"
"And I have many more of these 'new tricks' if you threaten my friends, and your only hope of survival, again," I said threateningly, holding my claws up to his chin.
"Trust me, I've learned my place," he retorted mockingly.
At this, Storm summoned a small indoor lighting bolt and was about to channel it when someone yelled, "STOP IT!!! ALL OF YOU!!!"
I looked around frantically for the source of this new voice and found that it came from none other than Colossus.
"We have listened to you for the entire time through the door, and I personally have had enough! Now you need to control yourselves or else send the others away so they aren't revealed to this inner savagery!"
"Strong words from a child." Pyro said dauntingly.
"Do you want an early death?!" I screamed. "Because you're certainly asking for one with all your remarks!" I then turned to Colossus. "Would you mind taking the others to the large underground arena? It's quite safe, so don't worry about that."
"Underground arena?!" Pyro said surprised. "How come I never knew about this?"
"Because I am the one who discovered this place, so I should know everything about it while you know barely anything!" I yelled. "And you have been using your operatives as spring-boards for your terrible plots for the past 4 years, and they need places where they can relieve their stress!" I once again turned to Colossus and said, "And please give any mutants you find down there the codeword 'They' so that they know to let you occupy the place without disturbance." This time, I turned to Storm. "Would you please bring them down there? It's the exact same path as the one used to get to Xavier's arena."
Colossus and Storm both nodded and left.
"Pyro, you have not given me a valid reason not to kill you since I've worked under you except for the reminder that I had no powers." I brought my claws to their full extent as I disabled the holowatch I had borrowed from Kurt to reveal my true nature as a shadowed mass with glowing red eyes that could bore into your very soul. "Now, that's changed. I could kill you now, if I wanted. Already, while Storm yelled at you, I've collected the information on your scheme and altered it accordingly. Now, you're not needed at all. So.would you enjoy dying at the hands of the United States government." I pressed my claws against his throat enough to draw blood, "or at my hands?" I asked very seriously.
Much to my surprise, there were no objections to my choice of action, yet it was not even a tiny bit out of fear. "I'll take my chances with you." Pyro choked out.
"All right, then," I said as I retracted my claws. "Let's go down to the arena and fight it out like true brutes, shall we?"
"Oh, but of course," he said glaring at me.
All of us then went down the tunnels and passages. As we went, I sent Storm a telepathic thought telling her to clear the arena and telling her why she should do so. When we got there, it was clear. Pyro and I stepped into the preparation rooms and then went up onto the actual fighting area.
As soon as we got to the surface, I unleashed all the powers at my disposal. I flung my claws outward as I disabled the holowatch and unleashed a torrent of dark matter. Pyro was just as ready, though. He jumped out of the way of my volley as he sent a stream of fire directly at me that originated from his lighter that had been recently built into his wrist. I didn't bother to jump out of the way and instead, focused on an odd sensation coming from the viewing area up one of the sides. I then felt as if I had the weather on my side as I realized what had happened. Storm had somehow channeled her power into me through a link we must share that I had been oblivious to beforehand. I then sent a lightning bolt at the spot where Pyro was and then a volley of dark matter at the spot where he landed. The main dark energy hit him square, sending him reeling long enough for me to sent dark matter at the lights to disable them. As soon as the lights stopped flickering and shut down completely, I used the ability I had gained from Lork to meld into the shadow that was the arena. I then saw from my new spot behind him that Pyro was looking frantically around for me. I bounded over to him and then thrust my claws into his back over and over and over again feeling a sensation unlike any other at killing with an extension of my body. Pyro then dropped bloodily to the ground. I then deactivated all the powers I had tapped into and sent Storms powers back to her. I also reactivated the holowatch. After I had done so, I went back down and changed into my more comfortable outfit with a fluffy leather jacket since it was especially cold up here at the US/Canada border and left to my room to heal from the fire wounds. As I was walking there, I nearly ran into Storm. "I just want you to know what happened out there, Glow. You see, I had a connection with Lork that allowed us to tap into the other's powers or give our powers to the other. I thought something would have worked, and it did. My thought was that I would still have that connection with Lork's powers." "That's remarkable." I commented. "And as wonderful a story as that is, I truly need to rest in order to fully recover from the burns." "Oh, of course," she said as she stepped out of the way. "And thank you for letting me know what happened out there," I added as I left down the hall. "Your welcome," I heard her whisper using my enhanced senses granted me by Wolverine.
I woke up the next morning at 3 fully refreshed. I decided to explore some of the more in depth areas that I hadn't gotten around to yet. I strolled briskly down the hall as I mentally plotted all of these areas so I could warp to them if I ever needed to. I soon came to what appeared to be a dead-end. I looked much more closely at it and realized that the entire wall section was a door. And the access panel was behind a smaller hatch that blended in almost perfectly with the smooth wall. Fortunately I found the panel and opened the door. It was pitch black inside. I went in and used the power I had received the day before from Pyro to attempt to light my way. Remarkably, I had the extra power that Pyro never had to create fire although I think this was more of an accumulative thing from all the powers I had gained. As I looked into the newly illuminated gloom, I gasped. There, right in front of me, was the preserved body of the one and only Magneto. He was inside a tank that kept him preserved just enough for him to be recognizable. As I stared, I experienced once again that sensation of a weight being lifted. Somehow, I knew Magneto's last wish was fulfilled. I then bashed the control panel and watched Magneto's body finish the decaying process as I stood there. I then walked back down the hallway knowing what I needed to do.
"Wake up, everyone! We strike NOW against the military!" I shouted into the stiff morning air as I walked past the barracks area
From throughout the rooms, I heard mumbling. All of a sudden, a multitude of mutants I had never seen before marched around the corner. I stared in bewilderment. "Your host awaits, Shadow," I heard a very familiar voice say. I scanned the crowd for the speaker and discovered Kurt who had disappeared when I began my duel with Pyro. He and Kuro were standing side- by-side looking at attention. "We gave Them a crash course in fighting, although I'm sure They'll pick up on it when we begin the assault," Kurt said.
"Excellent job, Nightcrawler.and you, Kuro," I remarked with a sudden joyous force that threw every back a tiny step. "Now we can found the Golden Age just like I've heard talk of Lork predicting in his sleep.Let's go!" I shouted, now noticing that all the other mutants had joined up with the Host of Them and I sent Kurt and Kuro into the rear corners and had everyone gather in between us. Suddenly, Kuro, Kurt, and I all warped right into the center of old Stryker's base of operations, bringing the Host with us. Everyone gaped in awe until the soldiers started firing. They fired at us from all angles. "Welche die Hölle?!" Kurt exclaimed. "They knew we were coming!!!" I yelled. "There must be a traitor in our midst!!!" I looked around as I sent dark matter at the troops. I just stared as I saw Colossus turn against Iceman and rammed him into the ground. I felt my cheeks flare with rage and then, it was just him and I. I flew at his with my claws at the ready and I shattered his armor. Apparently, he was a lot weaker than I had thought. I retracted my claws and attacked him with bone-crunching kicks and punches. Next thing I knew, he was lying on the floor, heaving. "How do you like that, traitor?" I asked gloatingly as I kicked him in the ribs, which were all but shattered. "Feels.enlightening, huh?" "Shut up, freak. I never wanted to be one of you. I just put on a show for the others and now.I thought I could rejoin humanity when you were all dead." I laughed. "You honestly thought they would let you rejoin them after being a 'freak' as you called us? You must be crazier than I had thought!" "At least I'm chasing what I believe rather than waiting for it to chase me- " I kicked him in the neck, snapping it and instantly killing him as well as interrupting him. "Don't ever talk like that to me again." "Shadow!" I heard Kurt say. "We need help here!" "Right!" I said as I jumped up and back into the fray. As I scanned the battle site, we had lost only 5 not counting Colossus while the enemy was down to 5 total. I jumped in and slit one's throat. Another I took out with a fire blast. Other mutants killed the other three. I made a quick it a quick job, taking the powers of the dead. I left Colossus lying dead out of my vision. I then led the Host up the stairwell and took out scouting parties of marines along the way. We ended up killing far over a thousand by the time we reached the surface. We had no choice but to kill the others that waited at the top. Suddenly, I remembered a girl named BoomBoom. "BoomBoom!" I called. "Yeah?" I heard her respond as she came out into the front. "I need u to travel with Kurt. He's going to take you to all the major places around the world, understood?" "Ok." she said cautiously. "And your going to set an explosion set for your command. After your done, I want you to set them all off so then we can fully take." I swallowed hard, "total control." Kurt and BoomBoom both nodded and then warped away. I turned back to the rest of the group. "And after they go off, we're going to have a horrible duty on our hands. We have to-" "Wait!" Kuro shouted. "Professor Xavier also said you would be the key to the Golden Age. I think I understand what he meant now." She swallowed remarkably just like I did, causing a ripple of discontent. "When you die.all the powers you've gained from the dead will be.multiplied and spread." "I think she's right," Storm commented. "Well, then." I said with a knot caught up in my throat, "it would seem that I now have no choice. Rogue?" "Yes?" she asked cautiously. "Please grab my arm lightly," I told her as I rolled up my sleeve. "Just enough to sap the healing factor from Wolverine." "But-" "No buts, Rogue. I need to do this to save millions of lives." She touched my arm and then took it away quickly. Then, I sent out my claws and stabbed myself. I also sent fire out and then reeling back in at me at the same time. I then stopped these and dropped to the ground, panting and bleeding remarkably. I then let loose a blast of dark matter and then called it back at me. And with that, the Golden Age of They was established.
