Chapter 63: To Save One from Oneself
Two months had passed and Chelsea still hadn't been able to change back. Her pregnancy term had passed and she was basically mere days away from laying an egg containing her baby. But she was also more animalistic than ever, in fact her human side was practically gone at this point. Things looked like they were hopeless…
But this is the Xavier Institute for Gifted Youngsters, home of the X-men. Making hopeless situations into best case scenarios against all odds were what they did best.
"Alright, this is distressing." Xavier sighed tiredly as he sat with Emma to try and figure out what to do.
"Yes, right now the restraints we've put on her are the only things keeping her from going on a rampage." The blonde nodded. "However, as luck would have it, I believe I know exactly how we can bring her back to her senses and back to normal."
"What is it?" The professor asked, his attention focused on her.
"Just before her mind went completely feral, I was able to get a glimpse of the deepest part of Chelsea's mind. Apparently she's been building up some sort of mental and emotional barrier in her mind and hiding behind it because of her complex with children and being a parent. Only now her feral side has taken all of her human aspects and locked it away behind said barrier and now thanks to this situation, she doesn't have the willpower to force herself out." Emma explained.
"So what you're saying is, if we can coax her out and restore her willpower…" Xavier started to say.
"We can bring the Chelsea we all know and love back." Emma finished with a nod. "That's exactly it." She added.
"Then it seems we have work to do. What will we need to do this?" The man asked.
"Someone or someones to help keep her focused, as long as we can keep her human side focused on them, we telepaths can then go into her mind to help her regain control." The woman told him.
"I'll be sure to contact Logan, Laura, Marcus, Bast, Pele, Kai, Romano, Gavin and Bronson as soon as possible." Xavier nodded.
"Excellent. They'll be a huge help." The platinum blonde agreed.
With that, they began the preparations to save Chelsea from herself.
(Elsewhere)
Everyone was now gathered in the Danger Room where a muzzled and restrained Chelsea was busy thrashing around against her shackles, her green eyes showing very little, if at all, humanity in them. They were about to start, however…
First they had to deal with the football sized red and green scaled egg that was currently underneath the Dragoness's underbelly.
"Okay… How do we do this without pissing her off?" Romano asked.
"I could freeze her and Rahne could go in and grab it?" Bobby suggested.
"She'd just break free and swat her away before she gets close enough." Marcus dismissed.
"Do you have any sleeping gas?" Bast asked him.
"Would that even work on a dragon?" Gavin asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Well what do you have in mind, then?" The woman snapped. Gavin then just jabbed a thumb at Katerina.
"How about we have Katerina just knock her out?" He suggested. Everyone else glanced at each other before shrugging.
"Okay." Romano nodded. Katerina sighed before she walked right up to Chelsea and looked her in the eyes, right before her eyes glowed red and she used her powers to make the dragon woman fall unconscious with an audible thud as she fell on her side.
Laura quickly darted in and secured the egg before running it over to Bast, Beast and Sampson, who started examining it to make sure it was unharmed.
"Is it okay?" She asked. After a moment of assessment, Sampson was the one to speak.
"The baby's perfectly fine. We're not seeing any problems." The man said, causing everyone to sigh in relief.
"Alright Jean, Katerina, you both will help me keep Chelsea's dragon side busy while Emma goes in to coax out her human side." Xavier told the two.
"Right." The two nodded.
"Alright everyone, on my mark. 1, 2, 3!" Emma said before all four telepathic Mutants started sending their consciousnesses into Chelsea's mind.
-Chelsea's Mind-
When they arrived in Chelsea's mind, they didn't know what to expect. What they got was a landscape that had a burning forest with a dragon flying overhead, indicating that Chelsea's dragon side was definitely in control.
"Come on, we've got to move quickly!" Emma told them as they started running into the mental forest in front of them, which had trees which showed tv films of the blonde's memories on the trunks. Every. Single. One. Save the ones that were erased (which were symbolized by a chopped tree stump) or a suppressed one, which was represented by a withering tree.
"Huh, definitely an interesting layout." Jean commented as they ran.
"No argument here." The eldritch woman nodded in agreement.
Though then they reached parts of her personality, which were represented by large castles with images of things she hated, liked, loved, thinks about etc. on the doors of each castle. Beer, Mr. T her pet turtle, her family, Logan and Laura, her insecurities, they were all here.
But the place they were looking for was standing right in front of them: a massive castle that was as gold as her hair, with green stained glass windows depicting her life. It was where her human side was hulled up.
"Alright, this is where we'll find her. You know what to do." Emma said to the others.
"Right." Jean and Katerina nodded.
"Charles, come with me." She told the man as they entered the castle. Inside it looked like every place Chelsea had been in her life. And at the very top tower, there was a door that had a sign with her initials on it. One Emma recognized from their sessions.
"It's her childhood room, this is where her human side is hiding." The blonde told the man behind her.
"Let's try to come off as non threatening as possible. We don't want to scare her in the event she's in a fragile state." The bald man stated, getting a nod in return.
As they slowly opened the door, they slowly entered a room decorated in dragon figures, a tank with a mental version of Mr. T in it, a bed, posters of various seventies bands and other things. And huddled on the bed was a thirteen year old Chelsea, who was crying and shivering in her room.
"All this time alone in her own mind… it's caused her to regress back to the period where it all began, the age when she was taken by HYDRA." Emma whispered, immediately recognizing the phenomenon. "I've seen this happen before."
"Do you have a way to rectify it?" Xavier whispered his question.
"One, we remind her of who she really is, and we make her realize that her fears cannot and should not control her." She replied before she approached the young girl. "Chelsea? It's me, Emma." She said softly. The girl sniffled for a moment before looking up at her with teary eyes,
"E-Emma...?" She asked with a sob.
"It's alright sweetie, I'm just here to help you." Emma told her as she sat next to her. "Everyone misses you dear, they want you to come back to you." She told her.
"B-But I can't… I'm n-n-not strong enough." She stuttered as her head lowered again.
"That's not true, Chelsea." Xavier told her. "You are by far one of the strongest women I've had the pleasure of knowing. Need I remind you that even though you were terrified of becoming a mother, you pressed on and kept going for the sakes of those you loved? That takes courage and true strength, Chelsea."
"I don't have any of that now…" She sighed sadly.
"But you do, you're just not letting yourself show it." Emma told her. "All your life you've feared turning out like your parents and becoming what HYDRA wanted you to be, but look at what you've become now! You've become a better parent than yours ever were, a better wife, and a stronger woman than anyone in HYDRA could ever be!" She added. "Don't you see, Chelsea? You are strong, you are an amazing woman, wife and mother, and you've proven that this fear you have? Is all in your head! You are so much more, and I know you know it!"
"Listen to her, Chelsea! Are you really going to let your own fears take control of you again?" The professor added, hoping to encourage her further.
Chelsea looked at them both before she made a determined face, images of everyone that she loved filling her head. Clenching her fists, her body glowed red as she started to change.
Meanwhile with Katerina and Jean, Chelsea's dragon side was now attacking them, and they were getting cornered.
"Fucking hell! This is an even bigger pain in the ass than I thought it'd be!" The Cthulhu woman growled as she sent a blast of eldritch energy at the beast of myth only for it to be evaded and answered with a fireball, prompting her to dodge.
"I hope the others can get Chelsea to come back soon, because I don't know how much longer I can keep this up!" Jean groaned as she made a forcefield which the dragon kept slamming against and causing them to inch backwards with every strike. Right as the dragon was about to strike it again…
BAM!
It was sent flying back with a surprised roar, causing the two to blink. Standing in front of them was a now fully grown Chelsea, who was in her X-men costume and had just sucker punched the dragon in the snout, and her fist was smoking from the collision.
"Alright, you fucknugget! I'm taking my body back!" She yelled fiercely. Her dragon side roared at her and sprayed saliva all over her as the wind from its roar blew her hair back, right before she clamped its mouth shut with one hand.
"She's finally back in the game. Great timing." Katerina said with a smirk on her face. Chelsea then slammed her dragon side's head on the ground before she hoisted it up and then hurled it several feet away right in front of a dragon shaped mountain which had a cave opening in the chest.
Grabbing the giant lizard by the tail, she picked it up and then started swinging it around and around in circles.
"Go. Back. Into. Your. Hole!" The blonde yelled before she let go and sent the dragon flying into the cave and then rolled a giant stone in front of the entrance, before taking a deep breath and using her fire breathing to melt it in place. "And stay in there." She declared while dusting her hands together as everyone else came up behind her.
"Welcome back, Chelsea." Jean said with a smile.
"Good to be back." The woman smirked happily. "Now come on, I got a family to get back to." She smiled as everyone started returning to reality.
-Back in reality-
Everyone was waiting for the four mindwalkers to return from Chelsea's mind for the past fifteen minutes, and needles to say, things were very tense.
"What's taking so long? Are they okay?" Laura asked as she was pacing around.
"Easy Laura, trust me we're all worried here, but pacing isn't gonna help anything." Bronson told her.
"I can't help it. Can you blame me?" She asked, not stopping her pacing. Though as she said that…
All four telepathy users gasped awake and sat up, and right after them, Chelsea also woke up, everyone took in a collective sharp inhale before…
The red scaled dragon slowly started transforming back into the green eyed blonde they all knew. Only this time, her baby bump was completely gone so her maternity clothes were now very loose on her.
"MOM!" Laura shouted in joy as she and Logan rushed up to her and tackle-hugged her.
"Hey Laura, I know you must have missed me, huh?" Chelsea asked her as she hugged them back.
"Like you wouldn't believe, scales. Never scare us like that again." The scraggly man told his unofficial wife as he took in her scent.
"Don't worry, I won't, hubby." She whispered before kissing Laura on the cheek and then kissing him next.
"Well, that was one hell of an adventure." Katerina commented.
"No kidding." Jean nodded. "I'm just glad it's over." She added as all of Chelsea's friends and family surrounded her and started hugging her.
"Come, we need to get this egg into an incubator." Sampson told his daughter as he led them to the medbay.
Chelsea nodded as she carried her future child in her arms as caringly and lovingly as possible. Kissing the egg's Outer shell.
"It's okay baby. Mommy's got you." She cooed to the embryo inside.
(Four months later)
Everyone was crowding around the incubator in the middle of medbay as Chelsea's egg started to shake and rattle. Chitters, chirps, hisses, squeaks, and tiny roars were coming from inside. It was about to hatch!
"Baby Dwagon?" Damian asked from in his dad's arms.
"That's right, son. It's gonna be a baby dragon that comes out of there." Gavin nodded.
"Chuck, do you think the baby will be able to turn into a human?" Logan asked the telepath as he held Chelsea close.
"I certainly hope so. If the baby turns out to be a similar case like Damian, then that will be a blessing." The bald telepath said thoughtfully, referring to Damian getting his powers before he was even a year old.
"Come on little sis or bro… Come to big sis Laura…" Laura whispered eagerly as the egg started to crack.
"Come on, come to Momma/Daddy." The couple pleaded, right before a small claw clawed its way out of the side of the shell. Everyone perked up in excitement as another claw emerged before they dragged the body they were attached to out.
Coming out of the egg's shell was the exact image of a baby Black Dragon from Dungeons and Dragons 5E with the same brown eyes as Logan.
"Aww!" Laura gushed as the incubator opened and she picked up the new fledgling dragon. "He's sooo cute!" She giggled as she hugged her new little sibling.
"Don't be selfish, Laura. Let mommy hold the baby." Chelsea teased with a smile as she held her arms out expectantly. Laura handed her the tyke and almost immediately he started purring and rubbing its little head into her chest. Logan had a smile on his face as he scratched his new son's head, and was delighted when he leaned into it.
"So, have you decided on a name?" Sampson asked as he too patted his grandson's head.
"His name is going to be Drake." The new mother said, and was happy when her son let out a cute roar in response. "I think he likes it." She giggled.
As they set Drake on the hospital bed, Damian got himself down and started waddling over to it and tried his best to climb up it before looking at Rogue for help.
"Up mama, want up." He told her. Rogue looked at him and chuckled.
"Alright, sweetie. You can make a new friend." She said as she lifted him onto the bed, and watched as the little blue skinned sweetheart made his way over to Drake.
As the one year old boy sat in front of his newborn reptilian friend, he decided to do something to make him laugh. So he concentrated and used his magical power to turn himself into an exact copy of Drake's dragon form. Rogue blinked when she saw that, and wondered when he learned to do that.
When Drake's head turned to him, his eyes widened in surprise upon seeing another like him before his eyes. Then the baby mythical lizard started letting out cackling squawks as he started rolling around the bed.
When Damian then turned back to normal, Drake decided he wanted to try it too. So he tried to concentrate on transforming, but at first nothing happened. Then he tried a second time, he got close, but it still didn't work. With a determined huff, he then tried a third time.
"Come on Drake, you can do it!" His mother whispered encouragingly.
Drake concentrated as hard as his newborn brain could and, to everyone's astonishment, successfully turned into a human baby!
He was now a newborn human baby with his mother's naturally fair tan skin, perfect bone structure which was hidden by his baby fat, his dad's wrinkled nose and a mixture of their eyes with Logan's brown eyes and Chelsea's narrow eye placement and draconic look, and finally a head full of hair that was a dark mixture of gold and sandy blonde hair.
"Oh my goodness, he's so cuuuuute~!" Laura squealed quietly as she vibrated in glee.
Chelsea quickly picked up the new human Drake and pat Damian on the head. "Thank you Damian, you really helped him there." She smiled. Damian just laughed happily at being helpful.
The new Howlett family of four all gathered around as Sampson took out his camera to send a picture to the whole family.
"Alright you four. Smile for me." The Doctor said as everyone, sans Logan and Drake. The former not really being much of a smiler to begin with and the latter not knowing how to smile, did so as the camera took their picture.
It was a family, complete and happy, and they were all grateful for it. Nothing could be better for them right now.
Dragon Emperor0: *Wipes eyes with a tissue* Ah I just love happy endings, especially for people who deserve it.
ThermalsniperN7: This was a happy ending they were long overdue for. They've more than earned this, the way I see it.
Dragon Emperor0: And now a new X-baby has been added to the roster, and on top of that, with this out of the way, it leaves us wide open to start the Soldier and the Cat Halloween special saga.
ThermalsnipN7: Aw yeah! Bring on the Halloween shenanigans!
Dragon Emperor0: And on top of that, after this saga, comes another that's really important: The Trial of Vampyr arc. Where Gavin's exploits in the Vampyr's Vendetta arc and X-men vs Gargoyles arc will come back to bite him in the ass via a trial held by none other than the All Father, Odin in Asgard.
ThermalsniperN7: And if my hunch is correct, something else is gonna go down behind the scenes. Question is: What?
Dragon Emperor0: Knowing Asgard? Probably something to do with Loki. As Overly Sarcastic Productions' Red would put it: "Loki isn't evil, he's a looney tunes antagonist."
ThermalsniperN7: Why is that so accurate?! *Clears throat* Anyway, things are about to get really exciting so stay tuned. See you guys in The Soldier and the Cat!
Dragon Emperor0: And Happy Halloween!
