Disclaimer: To own Marvel, what a dream. If wishes were horses...
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Xavier brought them all to the war room, away from the prying eyes and minds of students. They all situated themselves around the room. "Witness," he began, "I would apprectiate it if you explained some things."
"I t'ink it better dat maybe Anne tell you."
Nicky shook his head, "She out Pappa, de fight took everyt'ing out o' her."
The older Storm snorted and crossed her arms. The other Storm looked across to her, wondering how she could have become so cynical and bitter. It didn't make any sense, she always considered herself a kind and nuturing person, never willing to attack or even kill another. Sure she had thought about it from time to time, so does every human being, but she had never conciously acted upon it.
Witness moved over and nudged the girl awake. "You can sleep later, now not de time fo' dreamin' petite." Anne nodded.
"Oh, Lu," Nicky began, "I found dese in an closet down in de medbay. De shirt's not any good anymore, but yo' jeans may still be okay." He handed her a pile of clothing, folded neatly. He was right, the shirt had a huge hole in it and was stained with blood, but the pants only had a few dirt stains on them from travel. She put them on over her bike shorts and suddenly put her hand over her right pocket. She reached in a pulled out a man's black wallet. She sat back down at the table, oblivious of all the eyes on her. She opened the wallet and began flipping through it, she pulled out old pictures and began passing them to the X-men. Storm was the first to react.
"By the goddess," she exclaimed, "that's..."
"Oui, dat is ma mere an' mon pere on deir wedding day." She passed out other pictures and finally stopped. She pulled a card out of her wallet. It was a plain gray card with nothing on it but her picture and a black square. She put her thumb on the square and a holographic image of her projected from the picture. A voice sounded from no where:
"Mutant identification card for Lebeau, Lucretia AnnaBelle. Daughter of Rogue and Remington Lebeau. Age 22, height 5'6", weight 135lbs, hair black, eyes red, date of birth July 3rd, 2005. Graduated Sacred Heart High School May 10th, 2020, Graduated Cambridge University May 9, 2023 with a degree in Physics and a degree in Mutant Social Sciences. Current location, New Orleans, Louisiana. Current Occupation, Mutant Case Worker. Mutation, manipulation of gravity and spatial anomalies. Mutant Level, 4. Warning, mutant may be dangerous, access restricted, approach with all caution."
The X-men looked at the projection with complete shock. She was Rogue and Gambit's daughter and they had never even suspected. But now that they realized it, she did resemlbe them greatly. She had her father's eyes and mouth, her mother's face and frame, the mannerisms, the attitudes, they all fit. Then slowly, one by one, they turned their attention to Nicky. He looked more like his father, save his hair and the shape of his eyes. They all felt pretty stupid for not noticing it sooner.
Xavier was the first to speak, "What is the point of this card?"
Anne took a deep breath as she formed the words in her mind, "In 2008, de U.S. government will pass a mutant registration act..." The X-men started to object and voice their anger, but she raised her hand to silence them. "If you want me t' continue, you gonna have t' keep yo' mouths shut." They quieted down. "It was actually Xavier dat pushed for it," she stated, looking directly at the Professor. He looked at her, stunned. "I understand, you had no choice, or rather, won't."
The older Storm snorted again, "A little late to start understanding, don't you think?"
"I understood de circumstances even before dat!" Anne retorted.
"Then explain to me why you did it!!"
"You wouldn' understand, not yet."
"Try me."
Anne simply shook her head. The older Storm stood up to attack and was suddenly pushed back into her seat by an unseen force.
"Jean!" Scott exclaimed.
"Let the girl explain, Ororo," Jean requested. She was steadying herself in the doorway. Scott jumped from his spot to help her to a seat. When she was seated, she nodded to Anne, "Continue, please."
Anne nodded back and took another breath, "De tensions between mutants an' humans had become so bad dat dere was no ot'er way out. It would have come t' war if Xavier hadn' done what he did. As part o' de law, ev'ry mutant born come into deir powers after July 1st 2000 was required t' register. Registration required a card an' a trackin' device implanted at de base o' de skull. I have since had mine removed," she said bitterly. "De cards are updated every year," she continued. "Dey give all de information on de mutant. It was intended to be a protection fo' humans so dat dangerous mutants couldn' get to places dat could be harmful, like a nuclear plant or congress, wit'out an escort. Now it be a way t' hunt down mutants an' lock dem up."
"What about the levels?" Xavier inquired.
Anne sighed, "Anot'er way t' manage mutants. Possibly de worst idea ever. De levels are 1 t'rough 5. One bein' de safest mutant possible an' five bein' de equivalent of Magneto or Apocalypse."
"And you are a level four?" Xavier asked again.
"Oui, ever since I was 12 an' my powers increased."
"And your brother?"
Nicky smiled, "I beat de system." Xavier raised an eyebrow. "Can' have a level if you be dead," his smile broadened, showing his vampire fangs.
"Why is the idea of levels so bad?" Jean asked.
"De problem wit' havin' as much power as Magneto or Apocalypse is dat people panic an' if dey know you have dat much power dey not gonna let you out in de open. Level five mutants are either imprisoned or..." she paused, "exterminated."
Gasps were heard around the table.
"Dere are a few mutants who escaped dat fate by fleein' de country t' de U.K., Australia, an some o' de Asian countries, but dey be few."
Beast finally spoke up, "What about those graduation dates? Are they accurate?"
"Yet anot'er part o' de act. Excellerated schoolin'. No one can be denied education, but de faster dey get a mutant t'rough school, de better. I didn' have any friends outside de Guild until College. I had t' go to England cuz no American school would take me. Dey can't deny regular education, but when it comes to de university, dey can do whatever dey want. Unfortunately, one o' de rules was constant escort and dose damned Nul-Fields," she spat.
"I don't understand," Beast began, "those fields are harmless, save for a few side effects."
"Fo' normal mutants!" she exclaimed, "but fo' de newer mutants, it death!"
"How so?"
"Betas, or mutants with multiple x-genes, take more damage. As you know Doctor, dose fields turn of de x-genes an' in a normal mutant, dat's not too bad. It just like losin' a sense temporarily, but wit' de beta mutants, de x-genes are connected t' ot'er systems like blood production and synapse response. Expose one o' dem to a nul-field fo' too long an' it's total body shut down. After a while, de exposures take deir toll, like radiation exposure. Side effects can be nausea, temporary loss 'o equilibrium, difficulty breathin', all sorts o' t'ings."
"Simple rumor," the old woman stated.
Anne glared at her, "You haven' seen de t'ings I seen. You don' work where I work. As a mutant case worker, I am responsible fo' improvin' de live o' ot'er mutants. From time t' time, I see a beta come in wit' a bad case o' de nullies, dat's what we call it. Sometimes, we even get babies in cuz deir mammas birt' dem in nul fields t' protect demselves and deir children. In some places it law. Jus' a few days ago, we lost a newborn."
"It could be anything! There is simply no proof!" the other woman argued.
Anne sighed, "Dere aren't many betas, just as dere weren' many normal mutants towards de beginning o' de 1900s," she explained. "Many people just dismiss it as bad genes or de demise o' mutants. But de truth is, it because o' de advancement o' mutants. Betas are more advanced dan normal mutants. Dey have more concentrated powers an' most of dem don't have many physical mutations, sort o' as a defense against bein' hunted down. An' as I said, dey have more x-genes, connected to more systems in de body meanin' dat deir mutations are more a part o' dem. De fields shut down de normal x-gene, de one dat both betas and normal mutants have, but betas can still use deir powers cuz it doesn't shut 'em all down completely, just shuts 'em down enough to screw wit' deir systems. I don' know de exact biology cuz I'm not a genetics expert or not'in'. It just be de way it was explained t' me."
The old woman shook her head, "There is no evidence that beta mutants even exist. This disease is an urban legend used by mutant terrorists to gain sympathy for their cause."
"An' de Legacy Virus, was dat an urban legend?" Nicky asked.
"That was completely different. We had definite evidence from the man who created it and from notable doctors around the globe. It was a real threat. No one has come forward with anything like that."
"You've even seen it!" Anne screamed at her, "you just don' want to except it cuz de t'ought o' sumt'in' more advanced dan you scares you, just like mutants scare humans!"
"Are there any treatments?" Beast interjected.
"Oui," Anne nodded, "Gene t'erapy's de main one. Ot'ers go more extreme routes."
"Such as?"
"Black market, vampirism, isolation..."
"Enough!" the old woman interupted, "I have heard enough of this. How can you carry on a normal conversation with this woman?"
"What do you mean?" Xavier asked.
"She's mad! You can't really believe anything she says," she accussed, "This girl is a murderer and a thief! I want justice!"
Anne stood up, "An' what does dat say 'bout yo'self, madame? You too were a t'ief."
"You know what I'm talking about. You betrayed everyone who ever loved you. You betrayed your parents, you betrayed us!"
"You don' understand de circumstances! I did what I had to!"
"I understand very well! You were Sinister's little minion, just like your father! You did what he told you without question. You didn't even blink when he told you to kill the Professor!!" There were tears in the old woman's eyes.
Everyone turned to look at Anne. She drooped her head slightly.
Gambit, who had been very quiet up until that point, spoke, "Is dat true, petite?"
"Which part? Dat I killed de one man who brought peace between humans an' mutants or dat I made a deal wit' de Devil?"
"Bot'."
"Well, den de answer is yes...to bot'. De old witch be right, I'm a murderer an' a t'ief, but I didn' kill Xavier cuz Doctor Essex tol' me to, I killed him t' save him."
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Okay, some of you were confused from last the last chapter. Witness is a mutant that exists in every time. He's just there. It was believed that he was called Witness because he witnessed the downfall of the X-men because he assasinated Xavier and Bishop traveled back through time to kill him before he could do it. Witness's past self is Gambit. Fortunately for Gambit, Bishop couldn't remember who to kill and he survived. As it turns out, it was Onslaught (a production of Xavier's mind) that killed Xavier. The X-men dealt with him and all was groovy. Gambit will become Witness when he gets a jewel named the Momentary Princess that allows the holder to see all times. If you want more information, try Marvel.com and there are some other really good character bios on unofficial sites. As for Storm being a sorceress. She is descended from African priestesses and as she grows older and her powers faulter, she will be able to access these powers more and more. Also, Storm was at one point a vampire, but her master, Dracula released her after seeing how much she cherished life. It was also partly thanks to Kitty. This was around the time when Kitty first joined the X-men and she and Storm had become excellent friends. It's really interesting stuff. Once again, check for bio sites. I hope that answers some questions. If you have any more, I'll try and answer them next time, either in the story (if they fit) or in the author's note. Until then, review please and I'll see you in 3!!
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Xavier brought them all to the war room, away from the prying eyes and minds of students. They all situated themselves around the room. "Witness," he began, "I would apprectiate it if you explained some things."
"I t'ink it better dat maybe Anne tell you."
Nicky shook his head, "She out Pappa, de fight took everyt'ing out o' her."
The older Storm snorted and crossed her arms. The other Storm looked across to her, wondering how she could have become so cynical and bitter. It didn't make any sense, she always considered herself a kind and nuturing person, never willing to attack or even kill another. Sure she had thought about it from time to time, so does every human being, but she had never conciously acted upon it.
Witness moved over and nudged the girl awake. "You can sleep later, now not de time fo' dreamin' petite." Anne nodded.
"Oh, Lu," Nicky began, "I found dese in an closet down in de medbay. De shirt's not any good anymore, but yo' jeans may still be okay." He handed her a pile of clothing, folded neatly. He was right, the shirt had a huge hole in it and was stained with blood, but the pants only had a few dirt stains on them from travel. She put them on over her bike shorts and suddenly put her hand over her right pocket. She reached in a pulled out a man's black wallet. She sat back down at the table, oblivious of all the eyes on her. She opened the wallet and began flipping through it, she pulled out old pictures and began passing them to the X-men. Storm was the first to react.
"By the goddess," she exclaimed, "that's..."
"Oui, dat is ma mere an' mon pere on deir wedding day." She passed out other pictures and finally stopped. She pulled a card out of her wallet. It was a plain gray card with nothing on it but her picture and a black square. She put her thumb on the square and a holographic image of her projected from the picture. A voice sounded from no where:
"Mutant identification card for Lebeau, Lucretia AnnaBelle. Daughter of Rogue and Remington Lebeau. Age 22, height 5'6", weight 135lbs, hair black, eyes red, date of birth July 3rd, 2005. Graduated Sacred Heart High School May 10th, 2020, Graduated Cambridge University May 9, 2023 with a degree in Physics and a degree in Mutant Social Sciences. Current location, New Orleans, Louisiana. Current Occupation, Mutant Case Worker. Mutation, manipulation of gravity and spatial anomalies. Mutant Level, 4. Warning, mutant may be dangerous, access restricted, approach with all caution."
The X-men looked at the projection with complete shock. She was Rogue and Gambit's daughter and they had never even suspected. But now that they realized it, she did resemlbe them greatly. She had her father's eyes and mouth, her mother's face and frame, the mannerisms, the attitudes, they all fit. Then slowly, one by one, they turned their attention to Nicky. He looked more like his father, save his hair and the shape of his eyes. They all felt pretty stupid for not noticing it sooner.
Xavier was the first to speak, "What is the point of this card?"
Anne took a deep breath as she formed the words in her mind, "In 2008, de U.S. government will pass a mutant registration act..." The X-men started to object and voice their anger, but she raised her hand to silence them. "If you want me t' continue, you gonna have t' keep yo' mouths shut." They quieted down. "It was actually Xavier dat pushed for it," she stated, looking directly at the Professor. He looked at her, stunned. "I understand, you had no choice, or rather, won't."
The older Storm snorted again, "A little late to start understanding, don't you think?"
"I understood de circumstances even before dat!" Anne retorted.
"Then explain to me why you did it!!"
"You wouldn' understand, not yet."
"Try me."
Anne simply shook her head. The older Storm stood up to attack and was suddenly pushed back into her seat by an unseen force.
"Jean!" Scott exclaimed.
"Let the girl explain, Ororo," Jean requested. She was steadying herself in the doorway. Scott jumped from his spot to help her to a seat. When she was seated, she nodded to Anne, "Continue, please."
Anne nodded back and took another breath, "De tensions between mutants an' humans had become so bad dat dere was no ot'er way out. It would have come t' war if Xavier hadn' done what he did. As part o' de law, ev'ry mutant born come into deir powers after July 1st 2000 was required t' register. Registration required a card an' a trackin' device implanted at de base o' de skull. I have since had mine removed," she said bitterly. "De cards are updated every year," she continued. "Dey give all de information on de mutant. It was intended to be a protection fo' humans so dat dangerous mutants couldn' get to places dat could be harmful, like a nuclear plant or congress, wit'out an escort. Now it be a way t' hunt down mutants an' lock dem up."
"What about the levels?" Xavier inquired.
Anne sighed, "Anot'er way t' manage mutants. Possibly de worst idea ever. De levels are 1 t'rough 5. One bein' de safest mutant possible an' five bein' de equivalent of Magneto or Apocalypse."
"And you are a level four?" Xavier asked again.
"Oui, ever since I was 12 an' my powers increased."
"And your brother?"
Nicky smiled, "I beat de system." Xavier raised an eyebrow. "Can' have a level if you be dead," his smile broadened, showing his vampire fangs.
"Why is the idea of levels so bad?" Jean asked.
"De problem wit' havin' as much power as Magneto or Apocalypse is dat people panic an' if dey know you have dat much power dey not gonna let you out in de open. Level five mutants are either imprisoned or..." she paused, "exterminated."
Gasps were heard around the table.
"Dere are a few mutants who escaped dat fate by fleein' de country t' de U.K., Australia, an some o' de Asian countries, but dey be few."
Beast finally spoke up, "What about those graduation dates? Are they accurate?"
"Yet anot'er part o' de act. Excellerated schoolin'. No one can be denied education, but de faster dey get a mutant t'rough school, de better. I didn' have any friends outside de Guild until College. I had t' go to England cuz no American school would take me. Dey can't deny regular education, but when it comes to de university, dey can do whatever dey want. Unfortunately, one o' de rules was constant escort and dose damned Nul-Fields," she spat.
"I don't understand," Beast began, "those fields are harmless, save for a few side effects."
"Fo' normal mutants!" she exclaimed, "but fo' de newer mutants, it death!"
"How so?"
"Betas, or mutants with multiple x-genes, take more damage. As you know Doctor, dose fields turn of de x-genes an' in a normal mutant, dat's not too bad. It just like losin' a sense temporarily, but wit' de beta mutants, de x-genes are connected t' ot'er systems like blood production and synapse response. Expose one o' dem to a nul-field fo' too long an' it's total body shut down. After a while, de exposures take deir toll, like radiation exposure. Side effects can be nausea, temporary loss 'o equilibrium, difficulty breathin', all sorts o' t'ings."
"Simple rumor," the old woman stated.
Anne glared at her, "You haven' seen de t'ings I seen. You don' work where I work. As a mutant case worker, I am responsible fo' improvin' de live o' ot'er mutants. From time t' time, I see a beta come in wit' a bad case o' de nullies, dat's what we call it. Sometimes, we even get babies in cuz deir mammas birt' dem in nul fields t' protect demselves and deir children. In some places it law. Jus' a few days ago, we lost a newborn."
"It could be anything! There is simply no proof!" the other woman argued.
Anne sighed, "Dere aren't many betas, just as dere weren' many normal mutants towards de beginning o' de 1900s," she explained. "Many people just dismiss it as bad genes or de demise o' mutants. But de truth is, it because o' de advancement o' mutants. Betas are more advanced dan normal mutants. Dey have more concentrated powers an' most of dem don't have many physical mutations, sort o' as a defense against bein' hunted down. An' as I said, dey have more x-genes, connected to more systems in de body meanin' dat deir mutations are more a part o' dem. De fields shut down de normal x-gene, de one dat both betas and normal mutants have, but betas can still use deir powers cuz it doesn't shut 'em all down completely, just shuts 'em down enough to screw wit' deir systems. I don' know de exact biology cuz I'm not a genetics expert or not'in'. It just be de way it was explained t' me."
The old woman shook her head, "There is no evidence that beta mutants even exist. This disease is an urban legend used by mutant terrorists to gain sympathy for their cause."
"An' de Legacy Virus, was dat an urban legend?" Nicky asked.
"That was completely different. We had definite evidence from the man who created it and from notable doctors around the globe. It was a real threat. No one has come forward with anything like that."
"You've even seen it!" Anne screamed at her, "you just don' want to except it cuz de t'ought o' sumt'in' more advanced dan you scares you, just like mutants scare humans!"
"Are there any treatments?" Beast interjected.
"Oui," Anne nodded, "Gene t'erapy's de main one. Ot'ers go more extreme routes."
"Such as?"
"Black market, vampirism, isolation..."
"Enough!" the old woman interupted, "I have heard enough of this. How can you carry on a normal conversation with this woman?"
"What do you mean?" Xavier asked.
"She's mad! You can't really believe anything she says," she accussed, "This girl is a murderer and a thief! I want justice!"
Anne stood up, "An' what does dat say 'bout yo'self, madame? You too were a t'ief."
"You know what I'm talking about. You betrayed everyone who ever loved you. You betrayed your parents, you betrayed us!"
"You don' understand de circumstances! I did what I had to!"
"I understand very well! You were Sinister's little minion, just like your father! You did what he told you without question. You didn't even blink when he told you to kill the Professor!!" There were tears in the old woman's eyes.
Everyone turned to look at Anne. She drooped her head slightly.
Gambit, who had been very quiet up until that point, spoke, "Is dat true, petite?"
"Which part? Dat I killed de one man who brought peace between humans an' mutants or dat I made a deal wit' de Devil?"
"Bot'."
"Well, den de answer is yes...to bot'. De old witch be right, I'm a murderer an' a t'ief, but I didn' kill Xavier cuz Doctor Essex tol' me to, I killed him t' save him."
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Okay, some of you were confused from last the last chapter. Witness is a mutant that exists in every time. He's just there. It was believed that he was called Witness because he witnessed the downfall of the X-men because he assasinated Xavier and Bishop traveled back through time to kill him before he could do it. Witness's past self is Gambit. Fortunately for Gambit, Bishop couldn't remember who to kill and he survived. As it turns out, it was Onslaught (a production of Xavier's mind) that killed Xavier. The X-men dealt with him and all was groovy. Gambit will become Witness when he gets a jewel named the Momentary Princess that allows the holder to see all times. If you want more information, try Marvel.com and there are some other really good character bios on unofficial sites. As for Storm being a sorceress. She is descended from African priestesses and as she grows older and her powers faulter, she will be able to access these powers more and more. Also, Storm was at one point a vampire, but her master, Dracula released her after seeing how much she cherished life. It was also partly thanks to Kitty. This was around the time when Kitty first joined the X-men and she and Storm had become excellent friends. It's really interesting stuff. Once again, check for bio sites. I hope that answers some questions. If you have any more, I'll try and answer them next time, either in the story (if they fit) or in the author's note. Until then, review please and I'll see you in 3!!