Shifting Sands
By Todd Fan
Disclaimer: "Stupid! British! Snack! Food!"
*****
And here it is, the final chapter. Yup, i know this has been a short chronicle, but as we have 'filler chapters', this would be the 'filler chronicle', where i got all the left over stuff done before i move onto the next, bigger one.
***
Chapter 16 - Counting losses, counting blessings
****
Sidney had followed Sinister's scent all the way to an old werehouse. Man, it was always in an old werehouse, some villians just couldn't get out of the rutt, could they? Man, she wouldn't be shocked if there was a pool full of man-eating sharks somewhere inside. When she did get inside, she discovered that if Sinister had indeed lived here, he had cleared out, very recently.
"Sidney?"
Sidney flicked her ears back, turning her head to see where the voice had come from. Sitting in a cell, well really a carve out of the wall, was Tabby. Instead of bars, the cell has what looked like a simple shaft of light. Sidney morphed herself back to her true form and padded over.
"Tabby!. The X-Men have been looking for you everywhere!", she said, "what are you doing here?"
"That Dracula wanabe caught me and threw me in here", said Tabby, "he got some pale bald guy to take my place, a shapeshifter"
Sidney felt a sharp twang of pain...Morph. Tabby, however, so happy at the prospect of rescue babbled on, not noticing.
"Had Forge's dog here for a bit, but i managed to slip a note in his collar and he escaped when they came to feed us", she said, "glad it got to you all. Did Sinister get to the Morlocks"
Sidney closed her eyes and hung her head low.
"Oh", said Tabby, "...i'm sorry"
Sidney sighed before looking up at her.
"How come you can't get out?"
"I tried", said Tabby, "and only once too. Ever had a nasty electric shock?"
To demonstrate, Tabby formed a boom-ball and tossed it at the light deividing them. As soon as the bomb hit the light, it frazzed, as it was hit by a huge electric shock. Sidney narrowed her eyes.
"Ouch", she said, "where's the off switch?"
Tabby nodded at a small box on the side of the wall next to her cell.
"There", she said, "but it's D.N.A encoded, only Sinister and his cronies can get in. I'm telling you, that guy is MAD about genetics, seriously, he needs a hobby"
"D.N.A econded", muttered Sidney, before looking at her hands...they still had Morph's blood on them.
She sighed putting her hand on the pad, it light up and blipped a few times, before the electical circuit shut down, freeing Tabby.
"Wow, how'd you do that?", said Tabby cheerfully, happy to be free after so long.
"I...", Sidney hid her hands, "have a way with machines...come on, lets get back to the Institute"
******
It didn't take them long to arrive back at the Institute. The second Tabby stepped her foot through the door, Amara had grabbed her into a hug, squealing happily before dragging her off to catch her up on all the news. Sidney sighed, hanging her head low, before glancing up, hearing Xavier's wheelchair move over to her.
"How is he?", she asked quietly.
"He's fine", said Xavier,trying to keep his smile pleasant, though it was obvious he wasn't overly thrilled to have Sabertooth in his home, "his healing factor kicked in...and he and Logan decided to have a shouting match. He's in the Infirmary now"
Sidney smiled, giving a nod of thanks, heading to the Infirmary, where Sabertooth was sitting up in his bed.
"Hey", she said quietly, walking to his bedside.
"Hey Kiddo", said Sabertooth, then looked down, "i'm sorry. I know i hurt you".
"Yeah..you did", replied Sidney, "you broke my trust, Uncle Victor....you're not the same to me anymore".
Sabertooth nodded.
"I understand", he said.
Sidney gave a defeated sigh and gave him a hug.
"You're still my Uncle though...and i still love you to bits", she said, "get better, 'kay?"
Sabertooth chuckled, hugging her back.
"Hey, i'll be outta here in hours, believe me", he said, "right after i make a biiiiig scratch mark along the Runt's bike"
Sidney gave a weak smile and nodded.
"I....i gotta go and check on everyone", she said, ".....bye Uncle Vic"
With that, she turned and headed out of the infirmary, walking past the common room, where everyone was gathered. Kurt was animatedly telling the others what they had missed, while Danielle was sneaking herself a liiiittle closer to Roberto. Ray stood up and walked over to her.
"Oh...you're here", he said, "the others..they were worried about you"
"You've been to see the Morlocks?", asked Sidney, then her shoulders drooped, "how bad is it?"
"Ten fatalities", replied Ray sadly, "Annalee, Chicken-Wing, Blow Hard, Piper, Tommy, Cybelle, Samson, Zeek, Morph"
Ray paused taking a breath and closing his eyes.
"And Scaleface", he replied quietly.
Sidney's tail drooped sadly. She put a hand on Ray's shoulder.
"I'm sorry", she said gently, "....she missed you, you know"
"Yeah...i know", said Ray, turning away, and heading to his room, "I missed her too".
Sidney sighed, shaking her head sadly before heading out the front door, just as Hank walked through it. She didn't even lift her head, just methodically plodded away.
"It did not go well, did it?", asked Hank, closing the door behind her.
"No", replied Rogue, "it was nasty. A'h hope you had a better night"
Hank blushed and coughed.
"Well, yes, yes i did", he replied.
"Are you going to tell us who it is yet, or do we have to poke it out of you?", asked Forge.
Hank cleared his throat.
"Patricia Tilbert", he replied.
Scott blinked
"As in Trish Tilby?", he asked, "as in the famous reporter?"
"Aww, she's not that famous", murmered Hank.
"Hank's got a giiiiiiirlfriend", sang Kitty.
"Kitty, hush!", scolded Ororo.
Hank chuckled, then did a double take on Storm.
"Did you knock over a jewerly store?", he asked her, indicating to her finger "you swore your theiveing days were through!".
"No!", said Ororo thwacking him on the head for even SAYING such a thing, then added breezily, "Forge proposed, speaking of which, private talk, Dear"
"Wait....he did WHAT?!", said Hank, blinking as Storm dragged Forge off.
"Ouch!...'Ro..kinda pulling on my only arm here", said Forge, not really wanting to either: A - Lose another limb, B - Anger Storm, or C - All of the above.
"Oh, sorry", said Storm, releasing him then glancing around, "Hey, remember the reason you asked me to marry you in the first place?"
Forge arched a brow.
"Uh huh", he replied.
Storm gave a nervous laugh.
"Funny story"
***
Sidney gave a shuddery sigh as she made it to the manhole that would take her to the alley. She didn't know how to face them..or what mess would be down there. She leant down to pull the cover off when a voice stopped her.
"Sidney"
She spun around to see Todd standing there.
"Todd!", she said in suprised, "what are you doing here?"
"I wanted to see if you're allright", he replied, "i heard about Morph...new travels fast in the mutant world.....you okay?"
"The guy i love is dead", said Sidney, "who happened to have betrayed me, as did my Uncle. So , no, no i'm not okay"
"Sorry", said Todd gently.
Sidney turned her head away, her tail flicking.
"Why aren't you out with your perfect little Witch?", she said moodily.
"Wanda and me have split up", replied Todd, "she wasn't right for me"
"Oh?", said Sidney, anger in her voice, "and who is?"
"You know the answer to that", said Todd, "It's always been you, Sidney".
"No, it hasn't", said Sidney, "you lied to me about Dagger...and then you went after Wanda....Todd, i don't think i CAN trust you anymore. Everything our friendship was based on has shattered...i don't know what we have left".
Todd gave a small sad sigh.
"Please", he said, "don't go back in there. Stay here, with me...please".
Sidney closed her eyes, shaking her head.
"I can't, i don't belong there anymore".
"Then i'll come with you and..."
Sidney shook her head.
"I'm sorry, Todd", she said gently, "accept that you and me have ended...move on".
"I tried that, and i failed miserbaly at it", said Todd, "wait!".
He leapt between her and the manhole, giving her a deep, desperate kiss. Sidney pulled away, looking at him sadly.
"Todd...", she said, "i..i care about you. But i can't do anything....not right now. My trust has been destroyed".
"Let me build it back for you", said Todd softly.
Sidney hugged her arms around herself as she made her way to the manhole cover.
"Maybe one day...we'll be together again", she said sadly, "but i have to let my trust grow again. Try again, Todd, once you've decided to come clean and tell me the truth...the truth about everything".
She gave him a sad smile, before pulling up the cover and dropping down, recovering the hole moments after.
Todd watched the spot for a while, before giving a sigh, hanging his head.
"You'll get the truth, Sid", he whispered, "you deserve it...you deserve it all".
With that, he turned and headed back home.
END
*****
And that's it! In case you haven't guessed, the next chronicle will be the Todd Origin story (boy that's going to be a doozy to write). The Morlock victims are all the ones that were killed in the massacre, though i may have missed one or two if my sources were wrong, ahh well. Do review. Thanks for reading, catch you in the next chronicle once it's written.
By Todd Fan
Disclaimer: "Stupid! British! Snack! Food!"
*****
And here it is, the final chapter. Yup, i know this has been a short chronicle, but as we have 'filler chapters', this would be the 'filler chronicle', where i got all the left over stuff done before i move onto the next, bigger one.
***
Chapter 16 - Counting losses, counting blessings
****
Sidney had followed Sinister's scent all the way to an old werehouse. Man, it was always in an old werehouse, some villians just couldn't get out of the rutt, could they? Man, she wouldn't be shocked if there was a pool full of man-eating sharks somewhere inside. When she did get inside, she discovered that if Sinister had indeed lived here, he had cleared out, very recently.
"Sidney?"
Sidney flicked her ears back, turning her head to see where the voice had come from. Sitting in a cell, well really a carve out of the wall, was Tabby. Instead of bars, the cell has what looked like a simple shaft of light. Sidney morphed herself back to her true form and padded over.
"Tabby!. The X-Men have been looking for you everywhere!", she said, "what are you doing here?"
"That Dracula wanabe caught me and threw me in here", said Tabby, "he got some pale bald guy to take my place, a shapeshifter"
Sidney felt a sharp twang of pain...Morph. Tabby, however, so happy at the prospect of rescue babbled on, not noticing.
"Had Forge's dog here for a bit, but i managed to slip a note in his collar and he escaped when they came to feed us", she said, "glad it got to you all. Did Sinister get to the Morlocks"
Sidney closed her eyes and hung her head low.
"Oh", said Tabby, "...i'm sorry"
Sidney sighed before looking up at her.
"How come you can't get out?"
"I tried", said Tabby, "and only once too. Ever had a nasty electric shock?"
To demonstrate, Tabby formed a boom-ball and tossed it at the light deividing them. As soon as the bomb hit the light, it frazzed, as it was hit by a huge electric shock. Sidney narrowed her eyes.
"Ouch", she said, "where's the off switch?"
Tabby nodded at a small box on the side of the wall next to her cell.
"There", she said, "but it's D.N.A encoded, only Sinister and his cronies can get in. I'm telling you, that guy is MAD about genetics, seriously, he needs a hobby"
"D.N.A econded", muttered Sidney, before looking at her hands...they still had Morph's blood on them.
She sighed putting her hand on the pad, it light up and blipped a few times, before the electical circuit shut down, freeing Tabby.
"Wow, how'd you do that?", said Tabby cheerfully, happy to be free after so long.
"I...", Sidney hid her hands, "have a way with machines...come on, lets get back to the Institute"
******
It didn't take them long to arrive back at the Institute. The second Tabby stepped her foot through the door, Amara had grabbed her into a hug, squealing happily before dragging her off to catch her up on all the news. Sidney sighed, hanging her head low, before glancing up, hearing Xavier's wheelchair move over to her.
"How is he?", she asked quietly.
"He's fine", said Xavier,trying to keep his smile pleasant, though it was obvious he wasn't overly thrilled to have Sabertooth in his home, "his healing factor kicked in...and he and Logan decided to have a shouting match. He's in the Infirmary now"
Sidney smiled, giving a nod of thanks, heading to the Infirmary, where Sabertooth was sitting up in his bed.
"Hey", she said quietly, walking to his bedside.
"Hey Kiddo", said Sabertooth, then looked down, "i'm sorry. I know i hurt you".
"Yeah..you did", replied Sidney, "you broke my trust, Uncle Victor....you're not the same to me anymore".
Sabertooth nodded.
"I understand", he said.
Sidney gave a defeated sigh and gave him a hug.
"You're still my Uncle though...and i still love you to bits", she said, "get better, 'kay?"
Sabertooth chuckled, hugging her back.
"Hey, i'll be outta here in hours, believe me", he said, "right after i make a biiiiig scratch mark along the Runt's bike"
Sidney gave a weak smile and nodded.
"I....i gotta go and check on everyone", she said, ".....bye Uncle Vic"
With that, she turned and headed out of the infirmary, walking past the common room, where everyone was gathered. Kurt was animatedly telling the others what they had missed, while Danielle was sneaking herself a liiiittle closer to Roberto. Ray stood up and walked over to her.
"Oh...you're here", he said, "the others..they were worried about you"
"You've been to see the Morlocks?", asked Sidney, then her shoulders drooped, "how bad is it?"
"Ten fatalities", replied Ray sadly, "Annalee, Chicken-Wing, Blow Hard, Piper, Tommy, Cybelle, Samson, Zeek, Morph"
Ray paused taking a breath and closing his eyes.
"And Scaleface", he replied quietly.
Sidney's tail drooped sadly. She put a hand on Ray's shoulder.
"I'm sorry", she said gently, "....she missed you, you know"
"Yeah...i know", said Ray, turning away, and heading to his room, "I missed her too".
Sidney sighed, shaking her head sadly before heading out the front door, just as Hank walked through it. She didn't even lift her head, just methodically plodded away.
"It did not go well, did it?", asked Hank, closing the door behind her.
"No", replied Rogue, "it was nasty. A'h hope you had a better night"
Hank blushed and coughed.
"Well, yes, yes i did", he replied.
"Are you going to tell us who it is yet, or do we have to poke it out of you?", asked Forge.
Hank cleared his throat.
"Patricia Tilbert", he replied.
Scott blinked
"As in Trish Tilby?", he asked, "as in the famous reporter?"
"Aww, she's not that famous", murmered Hank.
"Hank's got a giiiiiiirlfriend", sang Kitty.
"Kitty, hush!", scolded Ororo.
Hank chuckled, then did a double take on Storm.
"Did you knock over a jewerly store?", he asked her, indicating to her finger "you swore your theiveing days were through!".
"No!", said Ororo thwacking him on the head for even SAYING such a thing, then added breezily, "Forge proposed, speaking of which, private talk, Dear"
"Wait....he did WHAT?!", said Hank, blinking as Storm dragged Forge off.
"Ouch!...'Ro..kinda pulling on my only arm here", said Forge, not really wanting to either: A - Lose another limb, B - Anger Storm, or C - All of the above.
"Oh, sorry", said Storm, releasing him then glancing around, "Hey, remember the reason you asked me to marry you in the first place?"
Forge arched a brow.
"Uh huh", he replied.
Storm gave a nervous laugh.
"Funny story"
***
Sidney gave a shuddery sigh as she made it to the manhole that would take her to the alley. She didn't know how to face them..or what mess would be down there. She leant down to pull the cover off when a voice stopped her.
"Sidney"
She spun around to see Todd standing there.
"Todd!", she said in suprised, "what are you doing here?"
"I wanted to see if you're allright", he replied, "i heard about Morph...new travels fast in the mutant world.....you okay?"
"The guy i love is dead", said Sidney, "who happened to have betrayed me, as did my Uncle. So , no, no i'm not okay"
"Sorry", said Todd gently.
Sidney turned her head away, her tail flicking.
"Why aren't you out with your perfect little Witch?", she said moodily.
"Wanda and me have split up", replied Todd, "she wasn't right for me"
"Oh?", said Sidney, anger in her voice, "and who is?"
"You know the answer to that", said Todd, "It's always been you, Sidney".
"No, it hasn't", said Sidney, "you lied to me about Dagger...and then you went after Wanda....Todd, i don't think i CAN trust you anymore. Everything our friendship was based on has shattered...i don't know what we have left".
Todd gave a small sad sigh.
"Please", he said, "don't go back in there. Stay here, with me...please".
Sidney closed her eyes, shaking her head.
"I can't, i don't belong there anymore".
"Then i'll come with you and..."
Sidney shook her head.
"I'm sorry, Todd", she said gently, "accept that you and me have ended...move on".
"I tried that, and i failed miserbaly at it", said Todd, "wait!".
He leapt between her and the manhole, giving her a deep, desperate kiss. Sidney pulled away, looking at him sadly.
"Todd...", she said, "i..i care about you. But i can't do anything....not right now. My trust has been destroyed".
"Let me build it back for you", said Todd softly.
Sidney hugged her arms around herself as she made her way to the manhole cover.
"Maybe one day...we'll be together again", she said sadly, "but i have to let my trust grow again. Try again, Todd, once you've decided to come clean and tell me the truth...the truth about everything".
She gave him a sad smile, before pulling up the cover and dropping down, recovering the hole moments after.
Todd watched the spot for a while, before giving a sigh, hanging his head.
"You'll get the truth, Sid", he whispered, "you deserve it...you deserve it all".
With that, he turned and headed back home.
END
*****
And that's it! In case you haven't guessed, the next chronicle will be the Todd Origin story (boy that's going to be a doozy to write). The Morlock victims are all the ones that were killed in the massacre, though i may have missed one or two if my sources were wrong, ahh well. Do review. Thanks for reading, catch you in the next chronicle once it's written.