Based on characters and situations created and/or owned by Marvel Comics, Sunbow Entertainment, Kids WB and John Proft. Special thanks to Red Witch for the use of her character, Spyder.
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Chapter 25
Life on the Other Side
Jack wandered the halls of the x-mansion, as if he had seen them for the first time. In a sense this was true, because although the person who went by the name jack, wasn't jack. Mystique was completely lost as to why she was here. She hated jack more than any human she ever knew, But something he had said to her in their last conflict hit her hard, and made her want to study the man she hated so much.
She found the door she learned with sum difficulty was jack's and walked in. She was barely a foot in the doorfraim when she fell to the floor. She collided with the ground and almost howled in rage when she felt a kiss on her cheek. She looked up and saw a little girl with a bright smile, bright red eyes and light gray skin.
" Your back big brother!" the girl said with a bright tone, kissing mystique's cheek again. She didn't know how to react, this was clearly a mutant child, who thought of this human boy as a big brother. The whole concept was alien to her, but she had to go with it. She smiled, kissing the childes forehead as she sat up and held the girl in her lap.
" Yup, I'm back, I guess you missed me huh?" The Fake jack asked. The little girl nodded, beaming.
" I was so scared I would never see you again when I read that letter you wrote me." Spyder said as she snuggled into fake jack's arms. He raised an eyebrow in confusion. There was a letter, clearly it was written after she had tricked the real jack into thinking X and Xavier hated him.
"Could I hold on to that letter for a little bit?" Fake jack asked. Ollie nodded, pulling the letter from her pocket and handing it to her.
"I want it back thought, It and Little May are the only things I have from you." Ollie said with a smile. Fake jack gave her a puzzled look. Ollie noticed the confusion and smiled. "Come on Jack, I know I'm young but I'm not so stupid, I know you gave me that doll back when we were living in the abandoned warehouse, I know I was sleeping when you left it with me but it was either you or x who gave it to me and X isn't really the gift giving type." She said as she kissed his cheek again and stood up. Fake jack stood up, looking down at her, note in hand.
" Well, I got to get back to my room, I got a lot of homework to do." Ollie said with a wide grin, as she skipped off. Fake Jack just looked down at the folded note in her hand as she walked into her room. She had been able to learn she would normally have a room mate but was staying with his parents for the night. As she looked around the room the first thing she noticed was the incredible shield hanging on the wall over one bed. In amazement she walked over to it, gently touching it. At first she thought it could just be a tacky piece of decoration, but it was metal, a very strong but light metal. She struggled to make sense of it. How in on earth could this child come into possession with one of the most iconic weapons of all time?
She sighed, realizing that this would be much more trouble that it was worth, but she had to admit, this human was proving to be more and more interesting, she had to get a hold of his file again, obviously in her first glance of it she missed some very interesting details.
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Jack felt real weird wandering the streets of new York, X- 23's hand held in his own, as they searched for a place to settle for the night. They didn't have much cash, and what they did have they needed for food, so things had come full circle. The only difference this time is that he wasn't hiding anything, spyder wasn't with them... And they had finally admitted their love for eachother.
Okay so it wasn't like it had been, but it was as close as it was going to get, and it didn't matter, it was as close as jack thought he could get to growing up. He looked over at x as they walked, and struggled to keep his jaw from dropping. Her sparkling eyes, her long, silky black hair, her flawless soft cheeks, like a vision from heaven sent just for him. She glanced at Jack, and a month ago jack would have turned away, tried to hide his attraction, but no more, he just looked deep into her eyes, causing her to blush.
" Your doing it again." X said in her emotionless tone, which she was finding harder and harder to keep sounding emotionless in his presence.
"am I?"Jack asked teasingly as he stopped walking, causing x to turn to face him, both his hands gently clamping around hers.
"Jack, I... This is new to me.. I don't know... I don't know how to... To react." Jack smiled, gently stroking some stray hairs out of her face.
"Do what you want, what feels natural." He said in a soft loving tone. She nodded, and in a swift motion, she kissed him hard, passionately, her arms tightly wrapping around his neck. He blushed hard, and enjoyed the moment of bliss.
Jack was happier than he had ever known, but knew it wouldn't last, it couldn't. He let x follow him for now, but after a day or two he had to convince her to go back to the mansion. He couldn't let her education suffer, and he couldn't let her loose contact with the others, she had friends, and he wasn't going to let her loose those friendships.
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Meanwhile, elsewhere in new York, Scott and Jean were driving back to the mansion after a movie. Scott and Jean had been together for a long time, but with all the recent craziness, they just hand't had time to spend time alone together. Scott felt jeans eyes on him as he drove, her hand on his thigh. Somehow it still made him blush.
"So Scott, do you ever think about the future?" She asked. Scott raised an eyebrow, but kept his eyes on the road.
"Of course I do, what exactly are you thinking about?" Jean snickered as she leaned back in her seat, looking up at the bright blue sky, almost lost in thought.
"Scott, I know its a long long time down the road but... Do you ever think of having kids." Scott was shocked at the question, but you wouldn't notice from his driving skills.
"I don't know, I never knew my father, me and Alex lost him and my mother years ago... And with us being mutants, not to mention x-men, there's always a chance of us... Not coming home one day, is that the right setting to put a child in?"
"But we wont be x-men forever, I always thought at some point we'd move out of bayville, start a life of our own... On that note, did you ever wonder who should be the team leader if you ever left?" Scott thought hard about that, some how that thought had been on his mind a lot latley.
"Honestly, that topic makes me wish Jack was a mutant, he'd be an easy choice, but from the team mates we have, I always figured The professor would just pick a new leader, I don't think I could honestly decide myself." Jean nodded, in all fairness any such decisions were a long way off, and pressing it now didn't seem very necessary. She looked out at the street as they drove threw town, when she suddenly noticed something... Someone perhaps, in some green and purple outfit. They drove to fast for her to get a good look, but a moment later, her head exploded in an endless sea of pain. She screamed, her hands grasping her forehead, causing Scott to jump.
"Jean, what is it what's..." An explosion rocked the road ahead of them, causing Scott to swerve. People scattered in all directions as scott's car collided with a tree on the sidewalk. The world seemed to spin around Scott for a moment, the collision caused Scott to gasp, the wind knocked out of him. He winced, holding his head in one hand for a moment, feeling blood trickling down. He turned to jean to see if she was OK, but she wasn't there, her seat belt unclasped, as if she had either gotten up and walked off, or was never there in the first place.
Scott lifted his shades, blasting his own seat belt off, and leapt to his feet, scanning the area with his eyes, his head spinning, his heart in his throat.
"JEAN!" He called out, struggling to breath threw the terror of the love of his life, gone. He leapt out of the car, running into the street, Not caring if anyone was starring, looking all around franticly.
"JEAN?"
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Fake Jack found himself wandering the mansion halls, half looking for information, half simply trying to make sense of what she had already learned. In the past four hours he... She had spent working on information gathering, she had learned of this pitiful human, curing a world wide plague, fighting off a super powerful mutant hunter, and mot shocking of all, defending a mutant against a mob of mutant haters. It was so strange, so alien to think of a human helping a mutant. These new, confusing story's raced threw her head as she found herself nearing the door to Xaviers office. She was a foot away from the door when she heard the phone ring in the office within. She froze for a moment, then put her ear to the door.
"Scott, what is it, calm down son, what's going on?" Xaviers voice said inside the room.
"Jean, what do you mean... No she's not here, why would... I see, very well, you had better get out of there Scott, it wouldn't be the best idea for the authorities to find a mutant at the scene of an accident, get to the mansion as soon as you can, ill start looking for jean with ceribro, just stay calm son, we'll find her." There was a click, and that's when fake jack leapt stealthy from the door, racing back the hall the way she had come. From what she could tell a student had gone missing, one of the most powerful. She had to keep tabs on this situation, just in case.
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Hours had passed, and Jack and X had found shelter in an abandoned hotel. Jack enjoyed spending his time exploring the building, it felt like a small adventure without nearly as much danger as he had become used to. He had found the main office and learned that the building had once been called "the Arcadian", the name reminded jack of video games, but other than that the building didn't seem to be all that special.
They had spent two days there and the time had seemed to fly by. Jack had just finished his morning exploration and returned to the room he and X were using, when he saw her laying on the bed, tossing and turning. She was having a nightmare, again. Jack frowned, it broke his heart to see her like that. He took a seat in the chair across the room, knowing better than to try to wake her. Last time he had tried he had nearly lost an arm. Instead he closed his eyes and focused, his mind calming, searching for hers, Mentally calling out to her in his head. A moment passed, and X's eyes fluttered open. She gasped and sat up, watching jack as she struggled to catch her breath. His eyes slowly opened and he looked into her eyes.
" The same nightmare?" He asked sadly. She found her breath and calmed herself, nodding. Jack took a breath and stood up and walked over to her and sat down beside her on the bed.
"X, you know I love you right?" Jack asked, lifting his hand to gently caress her cheek. It was the strangest feeling to her, but she couldn't help but blush at the feel of his touch.
"I think you should go back to the mansion, The professor was helping you threw the stress you've had to grow up with and I don't think your ready to stop his treatments." X looked down, fighting tears. She had never cried before, it was such a strange flood of emotions and she had no idea how to deal with it. She took a deep breath and nodded in agreement.
"Will you come with me?" She asked. JAck looked away, a sad look on his face.
"I can't... Not yet. I... I have to be on my own for a little bit. I've never been on my own and I need some things I have to do. I... I'm not ready to go back," He said as he looked up, gently pulling her to him, "But I will come back, and we will always be together." He said with a small smile, pointing to his head. "We're connected remember, you can't get rid of me if you tried. If you ever need me, call me in your head and ill come runnin." She blushed at this, and nodded, leaping up to kiss him passionately, causing them both to fall on the floor.
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Xavier was at the bottom of the ramp of the X-jet, watching as his team of students raced up the ramp. Storm, Kitty, Nightcrawler, Rogue, Wolverine, along with the newest members who had graduated from the new mutants, Iceman and Jubilee, and Cyclops bringing up the rear, a look of anger and determination on his face. He gave Xavier a look, and Xavier looked up at him.
"We will find her Scott, I promise." Scott nodded and raced up the ramp. Fake jack was at the hanger door that lead back into the mansion, looking over at Xavier, and after Cyclops was in the jet, and Xavier was alone, she walked over to the professor.
"Jack, I don't need to be physic to know you want to help, but it's just a bad idea, I want you to promise me you wont go looking for that nanite armor watch, promise me jack." Fake jack looked at him with a moment of confusion, but quickly shook it off.
"I promise." She said with Jacks voice, thanking god Xavier didn't read minds unless he felt it necessary. " Be careful professor." She said evenly. And watched Him roll up the ramp. She watched in silence as the jet flew off. With no one back in the room but her, she shifted back to her natural form. "I promised Jack wouldn't go after it, I didn't say anything about Mystique."
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Elsewhere, deep in a hidden secluded part of bayville, the dark furry scientist who was known only as dark beast was busy at work, hunched over his lab desk, mixing chemicals when the door behind him flew open, slamming into the ajasent wall.
"The Master is not happy, can you explain why Students of xavier's institute have started to go missing?" The man asked, his face bleach white with the exception of the red diamond on his forehead, and his jet black hair, covered in the tight blue leather body suit, with a flowing blue and red cape. Dark beast turned to the man, sighing as he lifted the protective goggles off his eyes.
"I had nothing to do with it Essex, what makes you think..." Dark beast was cut off when the man was suddenly inches in front of him, his hand wrapped tightly around dark beasts throat.
"You are never to call me that, you know to call me only SINISTER!"
"That's enough gentlemen." A booming, deep voice called out. Sinister turned to see a massive man standing in the door frame, the light casting from behind him cause the man to appear like a living shadow, his outline the only thing visible. Sinister instantly fell to one knee, bowing before the man. The man looked from sinister to dark beast. "Bow to your master, doctor." The man said to dark beast. Dark beast stood, giving him an angry snarl.
"I am your employee, not your servant, I bow for no one." The shadowed man chuckled.
"For the moment, in any case, the missing students at Xaviers institute, while disappointing, is of no true concern, Sinister, continue your work with the boy, doctor, you are to continue your work on that special drug," his two servants nodded in agreement, "And in the mean time I believe it is time to make my presence known."
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Still elsewhere, in a remote part of the world, where the mountains kissed the sky and the land as far as the eye could see was blanketed with snow, there lay hidden within the frigid wasteland a massive and complex labyrinth of tunnels, where a man most knew as the posterchild of evil mutants stalked the halls, his flowing purple cape fluttered in the bitter wind that still bellowed threw the complex, as he made his way to the room at the end of the hall.
When he reached that room, he found a massively muscular man that sat on the mattress, looking absently at the picture of the a young girl. The man in the cape knocked on the wall, a red helmet draped under one arm. The muscle man leapt to his feet, the picture slipped into his back pocket, preparing for a fight. The man in the cape simply raised a hand.
"Piotr, I have changed, I no longer wish to do battle with anyone, I am here to make amends." The muscle man lowered his defenses, confused.
"Vat do you wish of me?" Piotr asked nervously.
"As I said my boy, to make up for my mistakes, I only ask that you do something for me as I try to do something for you."
"And Vat is Zat?" Piotr asked, his voice thick with distrust.
"I want you to report to Xaviers institute... As a student. And as soon as I find her, wherever she is, I will bring your sister to join you." Piotr gave him an angry look, how dare this man even speak of his sister.
"you said you were holding Illyana hostage." Piotr asked angrily.
"I had her under observation, however, some of my former associates were not as loyal as you were, but it was my error, and I swear, I will bring her to you, safe." The man said with determination. Piotr gave the man an even glare, but nodded.
"Be warned magneto, I trust Xaviers people more than I do you, and if you betray me, I will have my vengeance." Magneto nodded.
"Fair enough.
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X sighed as she walked down the street, the X mansion less then a block away. She hated leaving jack, it hurt her more than she's hurt in a long time, which made her wonder if it was a feeling she was supposed to have, these emotions were so confusing, some were alright to feel, but not alright to act on, others were just the opposite, she sighed in defeat, hoping Xavier would understand and be able to help. Suddenly there was deafening explosion somewhere behind her. She was knocked off her feet and flung forward. She coughed as she lifted herself off the pavement and whirled around on her back, the blades in her hands extended, waiting for anything.
Then there was a flash of something in green and purple, and she could sweat she heard laughter, then there was a blinding flash of light, so bright people living in the homes nearby were blinded if they were looking outside, and an instant later, the light was gone, and so was X.
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Mystique looked franticly around Xaviers office, desperate to find what she was looking for. She had to fight to keep from tossing papers back and forth, searching every wall, behind every painting, but nothing. She growled as she looked back at the room, her eyes focused on the desk.
"No... It can't be that simple." She said to herself as she walked up to the desk, opened the top desk drawer, and there sat a very complex looking watch. She chucked in dis belief.
"Xavier, your either very trustworthy or very foolish." She said as she slipped the watch into her pocket. She Slipped out of the office as stealthily as a ninja, and shifted back into her disguise of Jack and walked down into the lobby on her way to the kitchen. She was half way there when she heard the TV blasting a news report in the rec room. She poked her head in the room, seeing Spyder, Pixie, along with a few other students, all huddled around the TV, watching the special report.
"This just in, A strange structure has just appeared, seemingly from out of thin air, off the coast of Ireland, while officials have no explanation, one thing people seem to agree on is that this structure is identical to the pyramids that were connected to the mutant related catastrophe from two years ago." As the reporter spoke, the camera zoomed in on the odd pyramid, covered in a bizarre language that seemed to glow off the structure. It took less than a second for Fake jack to leap out of the rec room, leaning her head against the wall, gasping in horror.
"Apocalypse!"
End of Chapter
Next Chapter: Life Changing Moments