Diamond in the Rough
It was early Friday morning when that old man woke me up telepathically, shouting that a mutant was on the loose. I growled warningly but was finally convinced when the others started to make a racket. There was no way I could go back to sleep. Especially with those nightmares reoccurring repetitively, like a broken record, in my head. Jesus...that grinning face, the thick blood on his hands and claws. To make it worse, it was me, a reflection of me at least. The voice woke me up before anything else could wake me up.
I got out of bed, stretching out my weary limbs. I practiced popping out my claws. Oh yeah. I haven't introduced myself. The name's Logan. I'm a mutant or whatever you can call. These claws are razor-sharp and adamantium made, the strongest known metal alloy ever made. My mutant powers? Accelerated healing and hypersensitive senses. In other words, I'm a hunter that can heal pretty quickly.
Unfortunately these did not come without consequences, this particulary pertains to the adamantium claws I have. That damned Wraith put thse metal things into my body and somehow attached them to my bones, including my skull, protecting them. (Guess this gives the saying, 'can't you get it though your thick skull?' a whole new meaning). That's why I'm invincible. Almost. Juggernut is probably ahead of me in that category.
Anyways, I headed downstairs with X-Man costume on and all that. The first person to walk by was Spike, Storm's nephew. His tall but lean frame served its purpose whenever he would go skate boarding. The body weight was not too heavy nor too light. Too bad the kid skates a lot rather than do his homework.
He yawned, stretching his arms out and rubbed his eyes tiredly. His white t-shirt wsa hanging out, making him look untidy, but that didn't concern me. What concerned me was the strange look on Charles' face when I got to the cerebro room. It was taut and heavily lined as if he ws trying to overburn his brain. However, the eyes were as sharp and wistful as ever and I unknowningly let out a silent gasp when I saw them. Deep pools of blackness enveloped me and I was lost in the darkness.
His voice brought me back to reality, "Logan, Scott, Jean, and the rest of you...I want all of you to go to Athens. Now."
I raised an eyebrow at Charles, puzzling at his attitude and his sudden declarationg of our departure. The other kids were protesting too, saying its only 2 in morning, a Saturday morning.
"Professor Xavier, it's early!!" They would say or "Why di we have to?" As patient as ever, the old man waited in his wheelchair, his fingertips touching their opposites, until the protests subsided. Then he continued, although his voice was slightly breaking, "I had a dream last night. Of the one called Apocalypse. He told me that we were to be the first ones to go. The mutantkind, then the entire human race. He was immortal so how could we defeat him? How could we defeat a god? Before he could go on, a figure standing tall and proud, holding what seemed to be a staff of some sort, came to me and said to me,
'The staff of light shall dissolve the darkness. Find it mortal, for your and the world's sakes.'
At that precise moment, he handed me the staff and disappeared, telling me to go to Athens for help and that a god would tell me what to do from then on."
"That's quite a dream," Scott said skeptically. There was a hint of disbelief and irritation in the tone of his voice. Of course, Charles heard it but let it go, explaining the situation once again to make it clear to his fellow students on what they had to do.
When he did, a sense of excitement was running through my veins. I could not explain why but something told me this was the adventure of a lifetime.
We arrived at Crete. The moon was illuminating beautifully and I thought it was too pretty for anything bad to happen.
Cyclops, his alias being Scott Summers, the leader of the X-men, fixed his visor into place and circumspected the environment with scrutiny. He seemed to be listening to someone and I knew who it was. Charles Xavier. The man in the wheelchair with extroadinary telepathic powers and minored in telekinetic powers. The masternmind of the X-Men.
"Okay. He told us to go to that temple,"
A finger pointed to a large colossum in the south with a triangular roof supported by somewhat crooked pillars.
I sniffed the area first for anything unpleasant and used my hearing to catch any suspecting sounds. There was none. I ran to the temple, closely followed by my teammates. I got there and stood in awe as I looked, no, stared at the huge statue sitting before me. The coldness of his eyes burned into mine but I was defiant. Years of experiencing authority and pain hardened me to the fullest measure. The eyes seemed to have lost their glow and once again they became emotionless.
I scoffed and went in. Cyclops was yelling an orer and along came Kitty with Nightcrawler right behind her, Jean with Scott. Rogue came last. She looked very sad but masked her feelings well enough for the others not to see.
I put aside my concerns for the girl and went inside. I should have been ready because something caught my body and I was flung across the room. Not in the least bit happy, I growled and unsheathed my claws.
"Why hast thou come to his sacred place, young mortal?" A cold voice asked me.
'Well, come out and I'll answer you!" I snapped back.
"Very well."
The figure stepped forward and I closed my eyes in reaction to a bright light that covered it. I opened it again and let out a gasp when it was a male, so like the statue of David, sculptured by Michelangelo, strong, agile, beautiful.
The figure seemed to be surprised as well for his eyes shone brillantly like sapphire gems.
"No! A mere mortal!"
"Hey! I ain't no ordinary mortal!" I snarled, bending my knees to get ready to attack.
"No. You are the one who will, must defeat Him."
"Who?"
"Apocalypse." was his only reply before he vanished. It went dark again and I was alone. Again. Cyclops came rushing in and he came up to me. I couldn't see his eyes but I felt the energy glow most efficiently in them.
"Logan, we're a team!" He said in an exasperated tone. "We're supposed to be working together!"
I quickly put my claws to his bare white throat and replied warningly,
"A team? Well, a team makes everyone one and the same, and not leaving anyone out!" (I was referring to Rogue, who had a smile on her face.) Prof. Xavier suddenly said to us,
"Logan! Scott! Stop arguing! Please!! You-"
"It is all right, Xavier," another voice butted in politely. We stopped what we were doing and turned in the direction of the voice. It was a she, clad in a white cloth with an armour covering her chest, arms and legs. She wore a helmet over her face.
She walked silently to us and stood there before us. Everyone was silent. Even me. She was unearthly beautiful. All the right curves in the right place. She was far prettier than my dead Mariko-san. Mariko-san. Shit. I loved her as much as I could and I lost her on our 5th anniversary. I had to kill her because she begged me to so she wouldn't feel the pain of the virus she caught from her enemies. I would never forget her face when her heart was pierced by my claws. The eyes wide in pain but eventually shining in gratitude of what I had to do.