Everyone has heard the story about the sword in the stone, but what about the sword in the paw of the beast? Perhaps not, but this was how Nathan acquired his sword. Like any other teenager, the boy thought the sword with the blade as long as his torso was the coolest thing ever. Take it from the kid who wields giant guns. Coolest shit you've ever seen. Nathan Summers was living the life.

All he needed now was a trenchcoat and some more pouches.

So maybe he wanted to stop being the "gun guy." He thought he might try out this sword thing and give it a go. After all, old man Cable had the guns. If Nathan wanted to erase the image of himself being the baby version, he may as well create a new image for himself.

He's not Kid Cable.

He is Cable, and swords are his thing now so shut up!

Rachel definitely made fun of him when she found out. She asked if he was going to finally get rid of his gun hoard because those things took up too much space. Nathan hesitated to give her his reply. He still liked the guns and a part of him didn't want to get rid of them. Rachel pointed out that if he wanted to do the sword thing, he can no longer be the gun guy.

Something about this rubbed Nathan the wrong way. Rachel was right and that's reason enough to be upset all on its own. So what was the issue?

Nathan practiced using the sword on a dummy Corsair brought for him. With every swipe of the sword, a clattering sound followed.

He was-

Thwack!

Doing the-

Thwack!

Sword thing-

Thwack!

Now!

Nathan let his weapon fall to the ground in defeat, followed by his knees. He told himself to quit being a baby. There was nothing wrong with keeping the guns anyway. But his predicament ran deeper than that.

He sat there with his knees to the ground as his eye crackled with contempt. It did that sometimes. Usually in a state of intense emotions.

And boy was he having some intense emotions.

At hearing the sound of metal slapping into the ground, his mother hurried over to his side. She asked him if he was alright, if he was hurt. He simply shook his head. He told her no. He told her that he was fine.

Fine.

Jean didn't need to have powers to know that was false. As she needed was a mother's intuition. She asked him again if he was doing alright, boring her eyes into his. Mothers had a way of doing that, of getting information that they want. Maybe it was the guilt you feel for making them worried.

And the last thing Nathan wants to do is have Jean worried about him. So, he tells her. Nathan tells her that he isn't Kid Cable. Why can't people see that? Sure he's young, but that doesn't mean anything. Old Cable is gone. He's dead.

Literally. Nathan kinda killed him. There's a story there to be told and frankly, it's really messed up.

Jean told him that he can be whatever he wants to be but in the end he'll always be her Nathan Christopher Charles. Now this would've been the part where he groaned and whined about how corny that statement was, but it was true. No matter what version of him he was, his mother would always love him.

So it was okay if he wasn't the gun guy. Guns were old Cable's thing.

So it was okay if he was trying out the sword thing. Trying new things never hurt anybody (except whoever's going to be on the other end of that sword), and unless it doesn't work out for him, he could always go back.

No matter what, he was going to show the work that he is Cable. He is the son of Cyclops. He is the Askani'son.

He is where he belongs. And right now, this sword belongs in his hand.