Return
The silence was deafening. And the med-lab lay motionless. An almost imperceptible splash broke the stunned stillness and then, as if the salty bead were a signal, there was sensory eruption.
The ceiling lights exploded, leaving the room in darkness. The EEG machines went crazy before, they too, succumbed to the invisible force. A bitter taste filled the mouths of the mutants as they became laced with saliva. And Hank and Logan could smell the strong stench of Ozone. But nobody concentrated on those things, their attention was fully focused on the lightshow in front of them.
Tendrils of white light flowed into the room, pulled from all electrical devises and to the commanding entity who lay prone on the psi-bed. The pallid threads wrapped around Ororo's body, swaddling her. Gracefully, the light was absorbed into her body and a gentle cerulean glow ebbed around her.
The time that followed felt immeasurable and during it they all asked the same question. How? How could this be happening? For one Ororo was in a coma and this, what ever it was, was not an ability she had. But before they could finish their internal interrogation the last of the flowing energy entered the still form on the bed. The glow began to brighten until it was too much and they had to shield their eyes. Sudden a massive flash of white, yet blue tinted, light illuminated the med-lab and when the occupants of the room opened their worried eyes, night met them.
He had won, he had finally won. But the feeling of superiority was short lived however. Farouk's eyes widened with shock and terror. He had lifted his five and a half foot chrome blade above his head, his dark eyes shining into Xavier's ice chips. Then he had smirked revealing his shark-like veneers and brought the blade to bear.
He felt it smash into a hard immovable object and assumed it was the ground beneath Xavier's heart. But he didn't see a pain- or horror-filled countenance on the old man; the man's eyes were exactly the same as moments before. Then a new state of mind twinkled in Xavier's eyes. Farouk slowly looked down at what his miao dao had hit, what he saw almost made him drop his weapon.
An oval shaped shield cover the area an inch above Xavier's chest. The shield was a roaring fire; smooth cerulean with hints of shady Prussian blue.
"Don't. Touch. Him." Three words whispered into Farouk's ear, which was an impressive feat since the pounding in his head was relentless. Then a tornado of the fire careening though his abdomen, sending him flying back. Oblivion should have awaited him; instead he found his body flattened against a wall. He laid sprawl on the barricade, heat licking at him; making him beg to scream. But a part of him blocked off the action at the last minute; Ororo would not get the satisfaction.
She slowly walked toward him, her face carved into on of abhorrence and fury. He almost smirk at turning her into some she hated, but if moved the slightest he would grimace in pan, so he kept his face emotionless. She stopped in front of him and looked up into his eyes. Her once soft and steady orbs were now wild and burning hard, he gasped involuntary at the sight.
"So, what are you going to do now?" he asked with more arrogance than he had.
She didn't answer, just held out her right had and waited while a spear of 'sky flame' accumulated in there. When it was finished she brought the length up and slowly penetrated his chest with it, breaching his heart and travelling on. Farouk shouted in agony and she saw it in his eyes, but now she didn't care, she just wanted him to suffer.
Ororo dropped the barricade that kept him up with her weapon still pushing through him. Mere second later it came out of his back.
"What are you doing, Ororo? You can not stop me." he said sweetly and then he was no more. The 'sky flame' sword had exploded inside of him. Ororo turned to her mentor and strolled over to the man who had propped himself on him elbows. She saw the shock on his face attempt to hide the uneasiness, but Ororo saw through the mask and felt her heart plummet.
There was a crack of manic laughter behind her. Had she not just killed him? Apparently she was wrong. The Shadow King stood firmly behind her as she turned around. An inexorable force churned throughout the inside of Ororo at the sight of his smug face and suddenly instinct took over. The previous half-void, half-dark-arena that the Shadow King created disappeared in an instant and was replaced by the centre chamber of an Ancient Greek temple. Unnaturally long white columns created a barrier on three sides, the fourth side held only two columns; they were a faded Columbia blue.
Something made Farouk turn to the goalpost-like side, his face scrunched up in confusion when a hazy screen appeared between the two posted. But then it all became clear as a scene played on the screen, a screen that was the first snowball in the avalanche that was his life.
The memory was dredged up from the pit of his heart; it wasn't of the first time he killed, as some people might think, but rather of someone he had lost at such at such a younger age, it traumatized him and turned him into the man he was today. Unlike what he did to Ororo, instead of the memory being played again and again, driving her to almost insanity, it was burned into his eyes, his heart, his head. Every iota of his being had that scene etched into it, wrapped around it until the feelings were too much.
Even for a man such as Amahl Farouk, watching your hands stretch out and straggled your little sister to death was to much for him. He felt the feeling of her and himself one thousand times worse than that day, and that was the ultimate death of him. He crumpled to his knees then got swept away in a wind made by Ororo. Dust was all that was left of his body and that eventually turned into nothingness.
Farouk was finally dead.
Ororo swiveled round to the now standing presence of Charles and gave him a smile, to which he returned the gesture. Then she opened her eyes and looked tiredly at the concern faces of her family. She smiled softly and once again closed her heavy eyelids; she drifted into a restful sleep. Under that film of harried skin Ororo's eyes flashed with the 'sky flame'.
