Note: Written for those who are tired of reading Marvel's sappy adventures of Remy, Holder of Rogue's Purse. Continuity adjacent to X-Books up to March/April 2021. Going out of my wheelhouse this time to try a mystery/ghost story.

Upfront: not a romance, no pairings, not a Romy-story. Featuring several characters I've never written before, so if the characterization is off, I hope you'll forgive me as I learn more about them. I only read Hellions, so I don't actually know details about what's going on in the rest of the books. Tried to do my research, but I could have things wrong.

Characters:

Gambit, Polaris

Greycrow, Wild Child, Nil, Sinister, BellaDonna, Psylocke, Havok, Empath, Daken, Nanny, Orphan Maker/Peter, Callisto, Magneto, Rogue, Shadowcat, Jean-Luc LeBeau, Mercy LeBeau, Iceman, Sage, Wolverine, Forge, Domino, Mystique, Ajna, Iron Man, Black Cat, Beetle, Tyger Tiger, Beast, Xavier, Cecelia Reyes, X-23, Cypher, Honey Badger, Gambit's cats, mystery, ghosts, Marvel Universe characters, Thieves Guild, Krakoa, based on real events, mind control, imprisonment, X-Factor, X-Force, Hellions

Tender-handed stroke a nettle,

And it stings you, for your pains:

Grasp it like a man of mettle,

And it soft as silk remains.

Tis the same with common natures:

Use 'em kindly, they rebel;

But be rough as nutmeg-graters,

And the rogues obey you well.

-Verses written, on Windows in several Parts of the Kingdom, Aaron Hill, 1753

Against the backdrop of a mammoth steel and concrete construction, of a skeletal black iron tower, and on a sea of cracked and crumbling asphalt, grew a single flower. Peculiar enough was the growth of a tropical orchid in continental climate, but stranger still was that the flower grew two pistils within its petals instead of one. The purple flower was deformed, with petals overlapping asymmetrically, and hung too heavy on its equally malformed stem. Not too far away, another plant began to sprout, developing at a speed like that depicted in time-lapse photography. The plant produced shining thick green leaves, a sturdy stem, and at last, a perfect blossom. It was a perfection so complete as to defy the laws of nature. It shone with the promise of something newly made and open to new experience.

The malformed bloom nodded on its stalk as if to greet the beautiful newcomer. The perfect flower turned to receive its neighbor's attention. The two struck up a conversation of exchanged pollen and found one another quite receptive, despite their obvious differences. They formed a network then, of spreading roots and tendrils to form an arch both above and belowground, reaching for one another to complete a circle. Once the circle was fully consummated, the two plants prospered, one offering the freedom of random chance and oddity, the other providing purposefulness, refinement and direction. The two peacefully coexisted this way for several days until they both seemed to drive one another a bit crazy. Their union bore fruit. Within the circle of vines and stems the flowers had formed, a glowing barrier rippled to life.

A black booted foot slowly emerged from the barrier, or portal really, to crunch down upon the broken asphalt, followed by a carefully considered second step. The figure paused before the portal to take in his surroundings. Finding them to his liking, he turned back to the portal and reached out a dark-skinned hand the color of graphite. A delicate pale hand clasped the strong black one, and a second figure emerged from the portal. The two stood side-by-side for a moment, one light, the other dark, then turned to face one another. They exchanged pleased smiles before bringing their lips together in a kiss. Their meeting seemed to ignite a spark. She called the energy of their surroundings towards her, causing their nearest environs to scorch. He sped the decay of the already unstable nuclei to release waves of charged particles and photons. Together, they glowed as the sun with the heat and force and energy of a nuclear detonation. The nearby construction crumpled, the tower flattened. The portal evaporated, leaving nothing but the shadow of where it had once been. When the glow faded, there was no sign of the pair. They were gone.

From a city away, the warning sirens alerting inhabitants to the disastrous fallout could be heard. The witnesses that survived the explosion would not live long to tell the tale as they succumbed to radiation poisoning, despite the protective gear and precautions they took on a daily basis to work within the shadow of this facility. When rain soon fell upon the still steaming ground, rays of sun piercing the gathered steel-gray clouds, the earth trembled. It was not a dead and desolate place as one one would imagine. Instead, thousands of seeds had been cast for miles, falling into the cracks between melted and split tar and crushed stone. Seeds that germinated within minutes, took root and sprouted flowers, until all of the town of Pripyat, Ukraine, was covered in a purple mantle, the air shining golden with pollen and promise.