I do not own X-Men Apocalypse.
But I'm giving this a whirl.
X-Men: Age of WTF
Contingencies Against Future Flaming Foliage
A hundred years of withstanding the brutal elements of nature.
Hank believed it had even been struck by lightening once or twice in its youth.
And so, it was hale and hearty and proud.
Before Scott Summers, at the behest of the Lord of the Manor, had removed his bandages. And opened his eyes.
And now, well, the towering oak had been brought low in a matter of seconds.
Along with part of the lawn, the archery target, a host of dead fish in the lake.
And of course, the shellshocked mutants standing aghast at the chaos wrought upon their safe haven in a matter of a few seconds.
By Scott Summers.
And his optic laser beams.
Or something like that.
Hank would require further study.
Much further study.
Well, Ring of Fire, he's got you beat.
Even Charles seemed taken aback.
He had been quite confident.
This type of test was his bread and butter, so to speak.
"It's alright, Scott. Open your eyes. I assure you, it's quite-"
In the aftermath of blast, they all attempted an air of nonchalant coolheadedness.
And failed poorly.
The flames flickering within the tree and the steam rising off the lake did look pretty cool.
As you were saying, Charles?
The gouged lawn did not.
"My grandfather planted that tree when he was five years old."
That's not going to make him feel any better.
"I used to swing from it as a kid."
At this comment, The Xavier Family Decidious Heirloom split apart, reverberations thrumming through their feet as it unceremoniously crashed to the ground.
Charles Xavier's response was tinged with only the slightest of regrets.
"I think that was my favorite tree."
The newly rebandaged Scott sounded as if he was forcing him not to care. As if he was used to ruining everything around him.
"So am I expelled now?"
Well, technically you can't be expelled from a school you haven't been enrolled in yet.
But Charles Xavier was nothing if not gracious. And greatly impressed.
"No, not at all. You're enrolled."
Okay, now you can.
"So you think you can help him?"
They were in Hank's lab, Alex perusing Hank's carefully organized laboratory equipment.
Perusing, not touching.
It had taken a few years to mellow him out.
A few years and a few tragedies.
But now there was a mutual respect. A mutual trust between them.
So Alex looked. And talked
But did not touch.
Hank nodded.
"Yeah, yeah, I think maybe . . . a pair of glasses . . ."
Alex scoffed.
"Glasses, Hank? Did you see-"
"The tree? Yeah, I saw the tree."
Alex tilted his carefully coiffed blond head, doubtful.
Worried for his much younger . . .
"Yeah, apparently Mom and Dad had some extra time on their hands when I ran off with you guys."
. . . brother.
Finally . . .
"Okay, McCoy. I trust you."
Hank smiled.
A little.
And wondered what it would be like to have a brother who cared about him like that.
"And thanks in advance."
They shook on it.
"No problem."
Late evening was when Hank McCoy was at his most productive.
After the general hoopla of the students and daily life settled down.
And everything got still and quiet around him.
He felt he could finally think clearly.
Work in a more focused manner.
And so he often worked late into the night in his lab.
Taking comfort in single-mindedness of science. Its all-consuming nature.
It was just as well.
He was moving on, living life as best he could.
And with Hope gone, he didn't sleep as soundly as he once had anyway.
There was an empty space, a void, in their bed where she used to lay.
Too much silence, no longer broken by her quiet breathing and occasional adorable snores.
And the warmth was gone. The bed was colder now.
And he always woke up alone.
So Hank didn't relish night as he had once done, eager to curl up next to the warm, inviting body of his loving lady.
Instead he stayed up late with the cold, uncaring entity of science.
And sometimes, the ghosts of the past.
He was working along, tinkering diligently on the Scott's specialized eye wear.
When he felt it.
Not exactly with any of his basic five senses . . .
Grrr. . .
. . . but with the Beast.
And perhaps because he had spoken to him that day for the first time in quite a while, he instantly heard the dry tones of Alex Summers.
What'd you blow up now, Bigfoot?
Nothing. I don't usually blow things up, Ring of Fire.
Sure, if you say so.
Oftentimes, when he heard a voice from the past . . .
Hey, sweetie. Whatcha sciencing now?
. . . it was his beloved Hope.
But anytime he screwed up, if it wasn't Beast . . .
Grrr . . .
No, I did not mean to melt the beaker, Beast, thank you very much.
. . . it was Alex.
Way to go, Bigfoot. I'm sure those eyebrows'll grow right back in no time.
Shut up.
But this time it wasn't his inner voices.
He kept track of many different patterns and occurrences of the Earth he inhabited.
And right now, one of his meters was blinking red and issuing a low grade alarm set at a frequency only his Beast ears could easily pick up.
What?
It was an energy surge.
Not on the power grid or anything related to the basic workings of man.
But something . . . other.
He reached over and grabbed the ticking ream from the side of the machine.
Deciphering the scratchings easily as one would read the newspaper.
What the . . .
It was powerful. Very powerful.
And not emanating, as powerful energy surges usually did, from anyone within the mansion.
Not even Jean Grey, the young mutant girl Hank suspected might possibly rival Charles Xavier's telekinetic and pathic abilites.
He skimmed the lines of code again, double checking his math.
No, this came from much further.
Nearly halfway around the world.
Cairo, Egypt, to be exact.
That was very concerning.
So many unknown things still hidden in the sands of the desert out there.
And Hank glanced at the clock.
He was debating calling on Charles, even at this late an hour.
When another, more direct, surge shook the Manor itself.
One he had felt before.
And he dropped the paper and made straight for the door.
Okay, now that's Jean.
Obviously the second and third and fourth parts here of my own creation. Hope you enjoyed!
Thanks to brigid1318 and Suzanne for your gracious reviews!
Thanks also to CapitalClassShip for adding your support to this story.
