Disclaimer: Really, by now, you should know who all this belongs to. I'm not even gonna say it.
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Anne walked around the table and faced the elder Storm. "Dere, you have my confession. You wan' justice den you take it, right here, right now. Dis be de only chance you get, cherie." She spread her arms wide to accept her death.
"Lu, stop dis," her brother pleaded, "dis be madness."
She glanced at him, a smile on her face, "I already be mad, a little more won' hurt." She held out one of her short swords to the woman, "here use my blade if you don' t'ink dat lil ol' staff'll do it. It'd be poetic justice, non? To kill me wit' my own blade."
The old woman stared at her, "You really are mad."
"Already established dat, movin' on. Come on, try an' kill me. One way or anot'er, one o' us die today."
"Fight me."
"Hmm?"
"I said fight me!" she screamed, "I will not kill you unless it is because I beat you!"
Anne simply glared at her. In a fit of rage the old woman knocked her to the floor with her staff. Anne stood again, a little uneasily, arms still wide, blood trickling from her mouth. She licked the blood from her face and stared once more at her. The old woman hit her again from the opposite side, again knocking her to the floor and once again, Anne got back on her feet and stared at her, daring her to strike.
The old woman was now becoming very exasperated, "Fight me!!" she screamed again. Anne just simply stared at her. The old woman threw down her staff and slapped her. Still nothing. She slapped her repetedly until Anne's face was raw.
"I know you can hit better dan dat Witch!" she laughed.
Suddenly, the old woman let all of her emotions go and a storm cloud formed in the room. A bolt of lightening struck inches away from Anne's feet.
"Now we gettin' somewhere! So be it! A battle do de deat'. Powers only! All dough, a fight like dis hardly be fair fo' you."
Once again, the X-men were unsure of how to handle the situation. They wanted to stop the two women, but knew that any attempt would result in more harm than good. Logan started to move towards them, but Witness grabbed his shoulder.
"Non, mon ami. Let it play out. He won' let Lu kill her."
"What?"
"Jus' watch. Dis be really amazin'."
A black ball of energy started to form around Anne's body, just as it had in the Danger Room, but this time, the sphere contracted and seemed to melt onto her body, making it look as though she was surrounded in black flames. Her hair seemed to be a part of those flames and her eyes shone brightly, like two beams of light in pitch black night. Objects and people in the room began to float.
"Grab on t' sumt'in'!" Nicky ordered, "She'll use anyt'in' or anyone she can as firepower!"
Anne struck first, using Storm's own gravity to smash her against a wall. Storm retaliated with a gust of freezing wind, but Anne barely blinked. She took various floating objects and hurled them at Storm. She deflected them easily with more wind and then began to strike at Anne with lightening bolts. A few hit but others were somehow redirected towards Storm, but she dodged them easily. Logan could see why Anne said the fight would be unfair. She was powerful. There wasn't an object or person in the room that wasn't affected by gravity. It was like watching Magneto all over again. Except Magneto wasn't crazy, he was just overly determined. Anne was completely out of her mind, drunk on her powers and maddened by her life. Just when he thought she would kill the older Storm, something happened, something went wrong. Anne faultered suddenly and then the flames flickered away. She fell to the floor, unmoving as a statue. The other woman leaned against the wall, gasping for breath. For a moment, that was the only sound in the room, then suddenly a strange hissing sound filled the room. Everyone turned their attention to Anne.
Anne was on her hands and knees, shaking. She fell to her side, crunched up in a ball and then she rolled over onto her back, struggling to move. She scratched at the floor and kicked her legs, trying to sit up and her efforts were causing her to wheeze terribly. Witness and Nicky ran to her. They picked her up and sat her against the wall, holding her there. Her eyes moved wildly, never focusing on a single thing while her head rolled from side to side. Her wheezing had increased.
Nicky took a syringe from his side bag and jabbed it into her neck. She struggled for a few moments and then went limp.
"What's wrong with her?" Logan demanded, while everyone elsed stared. "Is that what those fields do?"
Nicky looked up at him, tears in his eyes, and nodded. Her wheezing had subsided some, but could still be heard. He turned away, "We need t' get her airways open." Logan nodded and leaned beside her. He pulled her down to the floor and started breathing into her mouth. After a couple of times she coughed and sputtered and then lay still again, her breathing now even.
"I don't understand, she's been fine up until now..."
"She hasn' been usin' her powers much."
"Her empathy..."
"Dat's small time, dat don' take too much and it only uses de primaries. Her real powers used 'em all."
"How long have you two had it?"
Nicky sighed, "since our powers increased. Mamma and Pappa hoped dat it would only be temporary, dat it would pass. It was hard enough when Lu got dem, it came really hard t' dem when I got it too."
"So that's why you...?"
"Oui, it seemed like de only way out. Gene t'erapy take too long an' it not always successful. Bein' a blooddrinker didn' seem all dat bad t' me, considerin' I was use t' killin' people fo' a livin' anyway. It worked out dough. I don' get anymo' attacks an' de mutant hunters can' find me."
"And what did she do?"
"Well, dat's why she went t' Sinister in de first place. He was promisin' her a treatmen'. An' it works, when you give it to 'em regularly. Dat's what dis is," he held out the syringe, "I t'ought I had gotten it to her on time, but I guess not," he shook his head, "I t'ink, outta de two o' us, she payed de greater price."
"It all be a matter o' opinion, petit," Witness said, wiping the sweat from Anne's face, "she had ot'er reasons fo' what she did too. You know dat."
"But look what it cost her? De X-men turned agains' her, you be lost somewhere right now, she lost her mind because o' it. It jus' don' seem fair."
Witness looked at the boy, "Why do you t'ink I brought her here, petit? I tryin' t' make t'ings right fo' her an' you. All o' us."
"So you did all of this?" Cyclops asked.
Witness looked at him coldly, "Oui, I wiped her memory, left a few failsafes, sent her back t'rough time an' made sure dat she would meet all o' you."
"Why?" the younger Storm asked.
"De X-men in her time an' de X-men in dis time be very different people. Dey older, dey supposedly wiser, an' a few o' 'em are a whole lot meaner," he said indicating the older Storm.
She grimaced slightly. "You all be a lot more understandin' dan dem. Dey been kicked down so much dat it be hard fo' dem to listen."
"And what is it that we're supposed to listen to?" Bishop inquired.
Witness frowned, "War is comin' again. It be unavoidable. She known it fo' a long time, but no one will listen. We tell you all now cuz we gonna need you when de time comes."
"We could just change de future," Gambit stated.
"Non!" Nicky exclaimed, "Dat would be very bad. My sister has seen ot'er timelines wit'out de war. Most o' dem turn out very badly fo' all involved. Especially dis one. Dere be two definite outcomes wit' dis one. One be a lil loss o' life here and dere, but people live on. De ot'er be a world where dere be no humans or mutants cuz humans hunted down all de mutants and humanity died out cuz dey be a dyin' species."
"So why tell us anything?" asked Jean.
"T' prepare you," Witness answered, "When de time comes, you will remember what she told you an' you will fight. De X-men from her time won' listen t' her because o' what she did. Yes, she killed Xavier, but she also destroyed Sinister, gat'hered de mutants an' created an army. She work actively fo' mutant rights. She be a hero t' her generation."
"If she's such a hero," the old woman asked, "then why did she kill the Professor?"
Nicky started to answer, but a hand on his arm stopped him.
"Let me."
"Lu, you awake! How you feelin'?"
"Pretty bad, but well enough to put dis old witch in her place."
"Well?" the old woman prompted.
"I had no choice..."
"Oh, that's rich!" the elder Storm barked.
Anne shook her head, "He was dyin' anyway. He was old, real old. He had been confined t' a wheel chair again an' his mind was decayin' int' not'in'."
"So you turned his brains into jelly?" the old woman accused.
"The men at the bar..." Kurt whispered.
She nodded to him and continued her explanation. "I'll admit, I never really liked Xavier. He was a telepath, an' I'm not too fond o' dem fo' several reasons," she glanced at Jean who recoiled back into her chair. "We went t' de institute right befo' my 18th birthday. My powers were gettin' unmanageable so my parents t'ought he could help. He couldn' help much, but he asked for a favor in return. Y' see, my mamma, my brother an' me, we all have sumt'in' in common. We can take mem'ries an' powers from ot'ers. We be containers, oui? Now, Nicky an' I can only use a person's powers if we touchin' 'em, but we can hold on t' mem'ries pretty well. If we try really hard, we can do bot', it just very painful fo' bot' people involved. It just be de way it works. It a natural defense against mamma's powers. Well, Xavier knew 'bout dis lil ability an' asked me t' transfer his t'oughts from his mind t' my mind. He knew dat wit'out him, mutant kind would be lost, so dis way, he would live on in anot'er's mind an' still be able t' help. An' at firs', I said no, dat I didn' know if I could handle dat, but den he made a second offer dat made me reconsider. I would take his mind from him and den transfer it to Cerebra. Dat way, he could live on indefinetely."
"You lie!" the Sorceress screamed, "Cerebra is the same as she was when she was activated! Xavier is dead, don't try to hide it with deceit!"
Jean stood up, "I assure you, she is not lying," she was shaking slightly, "I felt his presence in her mind. She was unable to transfer him because you attacked her before she had the chance."
The woman looked at Anne, "Prove it."
Anne sighed and closed her eyes. She was still for several minutes. Suddenly, she fell to the floor. Nicky dived to help her to her feet.
"A chair please," she breathed. Nicky brought her a chair and lowered her into it. She settled into it and then looked around, a strange look on her face. Then a sudden look of understanding came to it. "I see," she began, "very clever Witness. They would not listen to her in our time, but they will listen here." It was evident to everyone in that room that a change had come over her. Her posture and speech patterns had changed dramatically and a kindness had come to her eyes that had not been there before. She steepled her fingers together and leaned forward.
"Listen very carefully, X-men. Everything these people have told you is true. War is coming and we will need all the allies we can get. This knowledge will be locked from you until the time comes when you will need it. It is a safety precaution. The timeline must remain the same at all costs or both futures are lost."
The old Storm got unsteadily to her feet, "Professor?"
"Yes Storm, what Anne says is true, she transfered my mind to hers." He sent her a telepathic message for reassurance, 'Everything is fine Storm, do not worry.'
She looked at Wolverine, "Yes Logan, I did stop Anne from killing Ororo. She may be at fault, but that is no reason to allow her to die." Xavier sighed, "I am tired. I will give control back to Anne now." Her whole body slumped in the chair and she opened her eyes. She shook her head a couple of times and sat up.
"Now do you believe me?"
The X-men nodded, including the alternate Storm.
"I do have one question," Beast ventured, "he said that the knowledge would be locked from us until we need it. What did he mean?"
"It will be sealed in yo' minds. Everyt'ing. What happened here today and ev'ry memory o' me. You will not remember again until I unseal it. All evidence of my time here will be destroyed. I will leave no trace of anyt'ing. I simply cannot afford t' take dose chances."
The X-men nodded in understanding, a few a little sad.
"What will happen to Jean?" Cyclops asked.
Anne sighed again, "She was warned. I can lock away what she saw, but it will continue t' haunt her. She has to deal wit' it on her own. From what I see now, dat shouldn't be a problem, an' I know fo' a fact dat it won' be," she smiled weakly at Jean. "Firs' t'ings firs'. Le's take care o' mamma down in de medbay, oui?"
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Almost done, just a couple more chapters and that's it. I hope you guys have enjoyed this as much as I have. I know things got a little weird here at the end, but doesn't it always? I mean this is X-men, anything can happen. A strange creature from another universe can make childlike clones of you, alien conquerers can use your boyfriend/girlfriend as a landing pad for an invasion, you can send youself back in time and inhabit your own body in order to stop an assasination attempt. I mean the list goes on and on. Anyway, go review and the next chapter will be up soon.
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Anne walked around the table and faced the elder Storm. "Dere, you have my confession. You wan' justice den you take it, right here, right now. Dis be de only chance you get, cherie." She spread her arms wide to accept her death.
"Lu, stop dis," her brother pleaded, "dis be madness."
She glanced at him, a smile on her face, "I already be mad, a little more won' hurt." She held out one of her short swords to the woman, "here use my blade if you don' t'ink dat lil ol' staff'll do it. It'd be poetic justice, non? To kill me wit' my own blade."
The old woman stared at her, "You really are mad."
"Already established dat, movin' on. Come on, try an' kill me. One way or anot'er, one o' us die today."
"Fight me."
"Hmm?"
"I said fight me!" she screamed, "I will not kill you unless it is because I beat you!"
Anne simply glared at her. In a fit of rage the old woman knocked her to the floor with her staff. Anne stood again, a little uneasily, arms still wide, blood trickling from her mouth. She licked the blood from her face and stared once more at her. The old woman hit her again from the opposite side, again knocking her to the floor and once again, Anne got back on her feet and stared at her, daring her to strike.
The old woman was now becoming very exasperated, "Fight me!!" she screamed again. Anne just simply stared at her. The old woman threw down her staff and slapped her. Still nothing. She slapped her repetedly until Anne's face was raw.
"I know you can hit better dan dat Witch!" she laughed.
Suddenly, the old woman let all of her emotions go and a storm cloud formed in the room. A bolt of lightening struck inches away from Anne's feet.
"Now we gettin' somewhere! So be it! A battle do de deat'. Powers only! All dough, a fight like dis hardly be fair fo' you."
Once again, the X-men were unsure of how to handle the situation. They wanted to stop the two women, but knew that any attempt would result in more harm than good. Logan started to move towards them, but Witness grabbed his shoulder.
"Non, mon ami. Let it play out. He won' let Lu kill her."
"What?"
"Jus' watch. Dis be really amazin'."
A black ball of energy started to form around Anne's body, just as it had in the Danger Room, but this time, the sphere contracted and seemed to melt onto her body, making it look as though she was surrounded in black flames. Her hair seemed to be a part of those flames and her eyes shone brightly, like two beams of light in pitch black night. Objects and people in the room began to float.
"Grab on t' sumt'in'!" Nicky ordered, "She'll use anyt'in' or anyone she can as firepower!"
Anne struck first, using Storm's own gravity to smash her against a wall. Storm retaliated with a gust of freezing wind, but Anne barely blinked. She took various floating objects and hurled them at Storm. She deflected them easily with more wind and then began to strike at Anne with lightening bolts. A few hit but others were somehow redirected towards Storm, but she dodged them easily. Logan could see why Anne said the fight would be unfair. She was powerful. There wasn't an object or person in the room that wasn't affected by gravity. It was like watching Magneto all over again. Except Magneto wasn't crazy, he was just overly determined. Anne was completely out of her mind, drunk on her powers and maddened by her life. Just when he thought she would kill the older Storm, something happened, something went wrong. Anne faultered suddenly and then the flames flickered away. She fell to the floor, unmoving as a statue. The other woman leaned against the wall, gasping for breath. For a moment, that was the only sound in the room, then suddenly a strange hissing sound filled the room. Everyone turned their attention to Anne.
Anne was on her hands and knees, shaking. She fell to her side, crunched up in a ball and then she rolled over onto her back, struggling to move. She scratched at the floor and kicked her legs, trying to sit up and her efforts were causing her to wheeze terribly. Witness and Nicky ran to her. They picked her up and sat her against the wall, holding her there. Her eyes moved wildly, never focusing on a single thing while her head rolled from side to side. Her wheezing had increased.
Nicky took a syringe from his side bag and jabbed it into her neck. She struggled for a few moments and then went limp.
"What's wrong with her?" Logan demanded, while everyone elsed stared. "Is that what those fields do?"
Nicky looked up at him, tears in his eyes, and nodded. Her wheezing had subsided some, but could still be heard. He turned away, "We need t' get her airways open." Logan nodded and leaned beside her. He pulled her down to the floor and started breathing into her mouth. After a couple of times she coughed and sputtered and then lay still again, her breathing now even.
"I don't understand, she's been fine up until now..."
"She hasn' been usin' her powers much."
"Her empathy..."
"Dat's small time, dat don' take too much and it only uses de primaries. Her real powers used 'em all."
"How long have you two had it?"
Nicky sighed, "since our powers increased. Mamma and Pappa hoped dat it would only be temporary, dat it would pass. It was hard enough when Lu got dem, it came really hard t' dem when I got it too."
"So that's why you...?"
"Oui, it seemed like de only way out. Gene t'erapy take too long an' it not always successful. Bein' a blooddrinker didn' seem all dat bad t' me, considerin' I was use t' killin' people fo' a livin' anyway. It worked out dough. I don' get anymo' attacks an' de mutant hunters can' find me."
"And what did she do?"
"Well, dat's why she went t' Sinister in de first place. He was promisin' her a treatmen'. An' it works, when you give it to 'em regularly. Dat's what dis is," he held out the syringe, "I t'ought I had gotten it to her on time, but I guess not," he shook his head, "I t'ink, outta de two o' us, she payed de greater price."
"It all be a matter o' opinion, petit," Witness said, wiping the sweat from Anne's face, "she had ot'er reasons fo' what she did too. You know dat."
"But look what it cost her? De X-men turned agains' her, you be lost somewhere right now, she lost her mind because o' it. It jus' don' seem fair."
Witness looked at the boy, "Why do you t'ink I brought her here, petit? I tryin' t' make t'ings right fo' her an' you. All o' us."
"So you did all of this?" Cyclops asked.
Witness looked at him coldly, "Oui, I wiped her memory, left a few failsafes, sent her back t'rough time an' made sure dat she would meet all o' you."
"Why?" the younger Storm asked.
"De X-men in her time an' de X-men in dis time be very different people. Dey older, dey supposedly wiser, an' a few o' 'em are a whole lot meaner," he said indicating the older Storm.
She grimaced slightly. "You all be a lot more understandin' dan dem. Dey been kicked down so much dat it be hard fo' dem to listen."
"And what is it that we're supposed to listen to?" Bishop inquired.
Witness frowned, "War is comin' again. It be unavoidable. She known it fo' a long time, but no one will listen. We tell you all now cuz we gonna need you when de time comes."
"We could just change de future," Gambit stated.
"Non!" Nicky exclaimed, "Dat would be very bad. My sister has seen ot'er timelines wit'out de war. Most o' dem turn out very badly fo' all involved. Especially dis one. Dere be two definite outcomes wit' dis one. One be a lil loss o' life here and dere, but people live on. De ot'er be a world where dere be no humans or mutants cuz humans hunted down all de mutants and humanity died out cuz dey be a dyin' species."
"So why tell us anything?" asked Jean.
"T' prepare you," Witness answered, "When de time comes, you will remember what she told you an' you will fight. De X-men from her time won' listen t' her because o' what she did. Yes, she killed Xavier, but she also destroyed Sinister, gat'hered de mutants an' created an army. She work actively fo' mutant rights. She be a hero t' her generation."
"If she's such a hero," the old woman asked, "then why did she kill the Professor?"
Nicky started to answer, but a hand on his arm stopped him.
"Let me."
"Lu, you awake! How you feelin'?"
"Pretty bad, but well enough to put dis old witch in her place."
"Well?" the old woman prompted.
"I had no choice..."
"Oh, that's rich!" the elder Storm barked.
Anne shook her head, "He was dyin' anyway. He was old, real old. He had been confined t' a wheel chair again an' his mind was decayin' int' not'in'."
"So you turned his brains into jelly?" the old woman accused.
"The men at the bar..." Kurt whispered.
She nodded to him and continued her explanation. "I'll admit, I never really liked Xavier. He was a telepath, an' I'm not too fond o' dem fo' several reasons," she glanced at Jean who recoiled back into her chair. "We went t' de institute right befo' my 18th birthday. My powers were gettin' unmanageable so my parents t'ought he could help. He couldn' help much, but he asked for a favor in return. Y' see, my mamma, my brother an' me, we all have sumt'in' in common. We can take mem'ries an' powers from ot'ers. We be containers, oui? Now, Nicky an' I can only use a person's powers if we touchin' 'em, but we can hold on t' mem'ries pretty well. If we try really hard, we can do bot', it just very painful fo' bot' people involved. It just be de way it works. It a natural defense against mamma's powers. Well, Xavier knew 'bout dis lil ability an' asked me t' transfer his t'oughts from his mind t' my mind. He knew dat wit'out him, mutant kind would be lost, so dis way, he would live on in anot'er's mind an' still be able t' help. An' at firs', I said no, dat I didn' know if I could handle dat, but den he made a second offer dat made me reconsider. I would take his mind from him and den transfer it to Cerebra. Dat way, he could live on indefinetely."
"You lie!" the Sorceress screamed, "Cerebra is the same as she was when she was activated! Xavier is dead, don't try to hide it with deceit!"
Jean stood up, "I assure you, she is not lying," she was shaking slightly, "I felt his presence in her mind. She was unable to transfer him because you attacked her before she had the chance."
The woman looked at Anne, "Prove it."
Anne sighed and closed her eyes. She was still for several minutes. Suddenly, she fell to the floor. Nicky dived to help her to her feet.
"A chair please," she breathed. Nicky brought her a chair and lowered her into it. She settled into it and then looked around, a strange look on her face. Then a sudden look of understanding came to it. "I see," she began, "very clever Witness. They would not listen to her in our time, but they will listen here." It was evident to everyone in that room that a change had come over her. Her posture and speech patterns had changed dramatically and a kindness had come to her eyes that had not been there before. She steepled her fingers together and leaned forward.
"Listen very carefully, X-men. Everything these people have told you is true. War is coming and we will need all the allies we can get. This knowledge will be locked from you until the time comes when you will need it. It is a safety precaution. The timeline must remain the same at all costs or both futures are lost."
The old Storm got unsteadily to her feet, "Professor?"
"Yes Storm, what Anne says is true, she transfered my mind to hers." He sent her a telepathic message for reassurance, 'Everything is fine Storm, do not worry.'
She looked at Wolverine, "Yes Logan, I did stop Anne from killing Ororo. She may be at fault, but that is no reason to allow her to die." Xavier sighed, "I am tired. I will give control back to Anne now." Her whole body slumped in the chair and she opened her eyes. She shook her head a couple of times and sat up.
"Now do you believe me?"
The X-men nodded, including the alternate Storm.
"I do have one question," Beast ventured, "he said that the knowledge would be locked from us until we need it. What did he mean?"
"It will be sealed in yo' minds. Everyt'ing. What happened here today and ev'ry memory o' me. You will not remember again until I unseal it. All evidence of my time here will be destroyed. I will leave no trace of anyt'ing. I simply cannot afford t' take dose chances."
The X-men nodded in understanding, a few a little sad.
"What will happen to Jean?" Cyclops asked.
Anne sighed again, "She was warned. I can lock away what she saw, but it will continue t' haunt her. She has to deal wit' it on her own. From what I see now, dat shouldn't be a problem, an' I know fo' a fact dat it won' be," she smiled weakly at Jean. "Firs' t'ings firs'. Le's take care o' mamma down in de medbay, oui?"
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Almost done, just a couple more chapters and that's it. I hope you guys have enjoyed this as much as I have. I know things got a little weird here at the end, but doesn't it always? I mean this is X-men, anything can happen. A strange creature from another universe can make childlike clones of you, alien conquerers can use your boyfriend/girlfriend as a landing pad for an invasion, you can send youself back in time and inhabit your own body in order to stop an assasination attempt. I mean the list goes on and on. Anyway, go review and the next chapter will be up soon.