Walking through the gates of the Institute, I couldn't help but smile. After the Asteroid M incident, I had finished school and then left for college a year later. Rouge and I had gotten back together, we even tried to have a family of our own. She had a miscarriage, it was two months after that that I left. I couldn't focus on it, it hurt to think about it, it still does.
Four years had passed, during summer and winter breaks, I always came home. Spring Breaks I spent time with my aunt. She told me that S.H.I.E.L.D. was looking to recruit me after school, but I turned her down as I was done fighting. I would defend myself, but that was it. I wouldn't be used as a weapon. I was ok with them keeping tabs on me because of how dangerous I was, I would of done the same.
Walking down the road, I looked off to the side and saw Rogue was at the cliff, looking out at the sunset. Walking over to her, I stopped just behind her and wrapped my arms around her waist, pulling her into me. "Hey, its rare for you to do this." I said, looking out at the sunset with her.
"Logan's leaving." She said, making me frown at the news. Logan was a father figure to her, to most of us, but more Rogue than anyone else.
"I'm sure he will be back." I said, with her nodding her head.
"If you weren't coming today, I would of left on my own as well." She said, with me leaning my head on hers. I was slightly taller than her, five or so inches.
"I would of gone looking for you, besides, there is something that I want to ask you." I said, with her looking at me with a confused expression. "I know we've tried this before, but I want to start a family." I said, with her looking back at the sunset. "This time, we go past boyfriend and girlfriend." I said, reaching into my coat pocket and pulling out a black box, with me showing it to her.
She gasped and looked at me with wide eyes. "No." She whispered in shock, looking from it to me.
"Hold on now, its not what you think." I said, opening it to show a key. "I want to get a place with you, in the city, just the two of us. As for marriage, I think we should have our own place together before we do anything." I said, with her taking the key and looking up at me with a smile.
"How did you even get a house?" She questioned, making me smile.
"My aunt got it for me for completing college, and I want to share it with you. I will work here as a teacher to pay off the bills." I said, with her smiling at that.
"I may not be a student anymore, but I still work here in a sense." She said, with me nodding as she was right. "Yes." She said, wrapping her arms around my neck. "I want to live with you, for the rest of my life." She said before kissing me, one that I returned.
Later
Walking up to a ball that came my way, I kicked it back over to the group of kids that were playing with it. They started kicking it around, having fun. Seeing the Professor and Storm, I walked over to them, with them looking at me with smiles on their faces. "Professor, Storm." I said, shaking their hands once I reached them.
"Dakota, I do apologies for not being there during your graduation or picking you up, there was an emergency that could not be ignored." The Professor said, with me nodding.
"It's ok Professor, there's nothing to be sorry for." I said, with him nodding. "I know I just graduated, but is there any chance that you could let me work here as a teacher?" I asked, with him nodding.
"Of course, with Logan leaving, that would open up two classes for you to teach. History and Gym." He said, with me nodding as I was ok with teaching both, remembering all of Logan's teachings and taking most of them to heart.
"Gym class with be given to me, and the Professor will take over my English class." Storm said, with me looking up at her.
"Then that would leave History for me." I said, with them nodding. "I'm ok with this, also, there is one more thing." I said, smiling. "I got my own place, and even asked Rogue to move in with me." I said, getting bigger smiles from them.
"That is good to hear, so we take it that you will live in the city then?" Storm asked, with me nodding.
"Yes, we're going to try to form our family once more." I said, with the Professor nodding at this.
"I wish the best of luck to you both." He said, looking off to the side.
Looking at the direction he looked in, I saw Logan walking up to us, with me waving at him. Hearing the Professor groan, I looked at him and saw him holding his head. "Are you ok?" I asked as I knelt down next to him, where I then heard another groan behind me. Looking back, I saw Jean holding her head as well with Scott holding her up.
"It's coming." I heard in my head, my eyes widening as Decay had spoken after almost five years. That was the last thing I heard before everything went off in a fiery explosion.
One month later
"Rogue, I'm back!" I said as I walked through the door, with me seeing all the lights were off. Turing them on, I placed the groceries on the table and looked around, not hearing or seeing Rogue. "Rogue, you here?" I asked, walking over to our room and opened it, with me stopping once I saw a letter on the bed. Walking over to it, I saw it had my name on it. Opening it, I started reading it.
"Dakota, I am sorry. I don't have the courage to face you, this is the reason I am writing a Goodbye letter. When I recall the day you gave me the last hug, your last kiss. I could see the helplessness in your eyes; your eyes have lost all feeling in them, its almost as if you died that day. I don't know what I can do to get you back to the way you were. I don't like seeing you this way, so I've decided to leave with Remy."
"This, is goodbye."
"Love, Rogue."
Dropping the letter on the bed, I walked over to her closet and opened it, with me seeing that she took her gear and clothes that she would need, not what she wanted. Walking over to my dresser, I pulled out my old communicator and called my aunt. Before she could say anything, I beat her to it. "Is S.H.I.E.L.D. still looking to recruit me?" I questioned in a dead tone, no longer feeling anything.
One month later
A gate rose out of the ground in Peru, S.H.I.E.L.D. sent S.T.R.I.K.E. to investigate. We killed any and everyone who was a threat before investigating it. Once we made contact, there was an explosion that cleared out the entire forest. The area became a cloudy terrain that gave off a gas that made humans feel at ease, the gate was then given the name Heavens Gate, for no human can cause harm while in the mist. The mist its self cannot be removed or placed in a jar, it is connected to the gate its self. Mutants, like me, are unaffected by this. It isn't alien, not human, but something much older.
One week later
Another Gate appeared in Japan, this one wasn't like the other gate. Once someone made contact with it, it caused a massive explosion that disintegrated everything in a three mile range. The people created a wall around it to prevent any access to the no called Hells Gate. Only those who have been given permission may enter the Hell Zone.
I was sent to Japan to investigate, but S.H.I.E.L.D. was then shut down due to another group known as H.Y.D.R.A. attacking them from the inside. This lead me to have no outside contact from S.H.I.E.L.D. or my aunt as I was told no communication as long as I was on the mission.
Three weeks later
Target is a mutant who has the power of gravity. Earlier, he sent three officers into the sky and dropped them, killing them on impact. 'The suspect is heading north east, by levitating himself.' I thought as I watched the man fly past me. I was in my own gear, a black bulletproof coat, bulletproof cargo pants, bulletproof shirt, a bulletproof white mask that had a red line across where the mouth would be and a pair of black eyes.
Giving chase, I watched as he landed on a roof, with me landing behind a pillar. I watched as he broke his fingers, with me frowning at this as it was an odd behavior for anybody. "So, that's the price you have to pay? Looks painful." I heard a woman say, with me looking around and not seeing anyone.
Seeing the man look around, he started running away, with me giving chase. Once he looked at me, I started to float, but I caught myself as I tossed a wire at him and wrapped it around his neck. Pulling myself down, I kicked him in the face and made him look at the ground. "It's you, you're the Black Reaper!" He said as I twisted his arms around, making him scream.
"Where is it?" I questioned, with him looking up at me.
"I don't know!" He said, where I pulled out my two bladed knife and jabbed him in the hand with the handle, getting a scream from him. Hitting him in the hip, he started crawling away as I let him go. "It's the truth, she has it, the girl!" He said, with me standing up all the way.
"Where?" I questioned as I walked up to him.
Seeing as he wasn't going to answer me, I kicked him in the same spot I had just hit him. "Who are you working for? Talk to me and we can make a deal, we can get it from her. Nice and easy, every one wins." He said with a small smile.
"Very rational proposal, I expected no less from a mutant." I said, getting a smirk from him, but I slapped him, making him drop it with a look of shock. "Where is she?" I questioned, narrowing my eyes at him.
"You don't need him anymore." The woman's voice spoke again, with me looking behind and seeing a cat walking out of the shadows. "There's a lot that you don't know, Black Reaper." She said, with me turning to face her. "Zero, where are the police now?" She asked, followed by her nodding. "Less than three minutes, we have to go." She said, with me just staring at her.
Taking the knife, I stabbed the man in the side of the head, twisting the knife to make sure that I killed him. "Then lets go." I said, following the cat to make our escape. I was interested in this cat, and the group that she was working for.
Later
"Black Reaper, meet the Team." The Cat said as I followed her into an apartment room, with me seeing that it was a team of girls. The first one is a nimble-looking teen who has brown eyes and curly golden-brown hair. She was wearing a brown hoodie and had whiskers on her face. She had a board expression on her face, like she didn't care what was going on.
The second one had a slender and athletic figure. She was the tallest girl out of the two, almost taller than me by a few inches. She had waist-length, long pink hair with straight bangs covering her forehead and a pair of red horns on her head and a white limiter headband over her horns to blend them in. She had sharp, turquoise eyes with rings around the pupils and pinkish-red markings on the canthi. Her full ensemble was composed of a white military cap with matching overcoat and boots. She was wearing a red military uniform, black leggings, and white boots.
"So, a kid and a cosplayer." I said, getting a glair from the Teen and a smile from the pink haired girl.
"I'm twenty six!" The Teen said, with me shrugging as I didn't care.
"The blonde is Argo, those whiskers of hers are scares, so don't let them fool you." The cat woman said as she walked over to the bed and jumped onto it before sitting down. "The pink haired one has no name, she's a clone, of who, or what, we don't know. She was given a number, Zero Two." She said, looking at me. "As for myself, my name is Yoruichi. I originally wasn't a cat, but my body was killed after I was placed in here. The mutant who did this to me was killed soon after by a friend of mine, she goes by Psylocke now days." She said, with me nodding.
"I know of her, she is my teacher, or was before she left the Institute." I said, gaining her attention.
"You're an X-Men?" She questioned, with me nodding as I will always be an X-Men.
"Yes, I've gone by a different names. You all my of heard of one of them, Incubus, Deaths Champion, Mutant Hero, even Insane Detective." I said, looking at them, with Argo and Yoruichi nodding.
"I know of the Mutant Hero, Insane Detective, and Incubus, the mutant who gave his life to save the world from Apocalypses." Argo said, crossing her arms. "As for Deaths Champion, never heard of it." She said, where Yoruichi looked at her.
"Deaths Champion, was an immortal. He could get blown up, and he would walk out without a scratch, no, more like he healed from his wounds seconds after. He was known for his backwards Nordic Crown and his sinister grin, as well as his maddening laughter that sent chills down everyone's spines. He was a flee on sight if he ever came for you, because once he had his eyes on you, you were as good as dead." She said, looking back at me. "Speaking of which, are you still Immortal?" She asked, with me shaking my head.
"No, that ended once I had my soul torn in half, becoming two once more." I said, with her nodding.
"I see, that is a shame." She said while closing her eyes. "But onto business. That man you killed on the roof, you would call him a mutant, correct?" She asked, with me nodding. "You would be wrong." She said, confusing me on what she was talking about. "A few months ago, the European Government started creating their own Mutants, but by awakening their X-Gene, they are forced to do a task after each time they use their powers. You saw the man break his own fingers, that was his price he had to pay. Normally it would be something along the lines of having to drink coffee or smoke a pack of cigarettes', those are trivial. The greater the power, the higher the risk." She informed, with me looking at the other two.
"And you two, are you like them?" I asked, curious if they were.
"I am." Argo said, holding her hand up. "I was an early stage experiment. I can see any information that is being hidden from me. For instance, the man on the roof said that a woman had what you are looking for, I learned of who the woman is. My price, I have to listen to static for half an hour, and not on low either." She said, showing her MP3 player.
"I'm neither mutant or whatever they are!" Zero Two said while standing up off the bed and walking over to me. "Tell me, is it true that no one can touch you?" She asked, with me nodding.
"Yes, only one person can survive my touch without the risk of death." I informed, where she removed my mask and looked me in the eyes.
"You're eyes are dead inside, did she leave you?" She asked, with me staying silent as I didn't want to answer her question. "Pity." She said, patting my cheek with her bare hand, shocking all of us as she walked away. "I have the ability to see anywhere there is water, it comes in handy." She said, looking over her shoulder with a smile. "Oh, I like that face, I think I'll call you My Darling!" She said, turning to face me with a large grin on her face.
"I... Sure... whatever." I said, holding my hand out, where she placed my mask back into my hands, where I placed it back on. "You said you knew where the girl is, correct?" I asked Argo, with her nodding.
"I do, which is where we move onto the next stage of our plan." She said, with me narrowing my eyes at her.
"What is your mission?" I asked, with her looking at Yoruichi then back at me.
"Hunting the created mutants who cause trouble, we call them Contractors. Want to join the team?" She asked, with me nodding as it was better than being a vigilante.
