He felt as if he was melting. No, evaporating up into a gaseous substance that hovered above his relaxed body, and reality. It was the most delicious sensation he could fathom, this disconnection of mind from body. He felt, from a great, yawning distance, a sigh escape his lips. In this place so devoid of a recognition of time, it felt as though he could stay forever free from sensation and stress.
Forever was abruptly shortened by a slap to his body's arm, and an annoyed female voice crying out, "Wake up, Fry!"
As his consciousness slammed awkwardly back into place within his body's confines, the red-head's arms and legs flailed wildly, unwittingly hitting buttons, knobs, and levers within his reach on the control panel before him. As an echo to his wild contortions, the green ship jerked and twisted in its course through space.
Fry abruptly fell from his perch in the chair to the floor of the bridge with a loud thump that finally cleared his senses. He sat up again and scowled at Leela. The purple-haired woman was frantically working at the control panel, in an effort to set the ship's course to rights.
"I hope that fall hurt you. You've screwed up the ship!" she was saying over her shoulder.
"Well, you shouldn't have woken me up," he replied. When she spared a moment to glare down viciously at him, he flinched and realized he would have been wiser to keep his mouth shut. Her one eye always managed to look more murderous than any other creature's full set could have accomplished.
The door behind him opened and he turned to see Bender walk into the bridge. "What the hell's going on up here, meatbags?" the robot loudly demanded.
"Your idiot roommate messed up the ship's course and now we're headed straight into that black hole." The panic was clear in Leela's voice.
"Well, isn't there anything you can do?"
"I'm trying! But it doesn't seem to be working...."
"Huh, well, dinner's ready in five minutes. See ya then." With that, Bender turned and left.
Fry finally stood up and stood behind Leela, but well out of her arm's reach. "So, uh, are we going to die?" he asked quietly.
"I don't know. Not if I can help it, though."
He smiled slightly to himself. If anyone could save them, it would be Leela. She had done it so many times before. But as the black hole quickly filled the view from the windows, he wondered if, this time, even she wouldn't be enough to stand between them and death.
His breath caught in his throat and dread welled up in his soul when she turned away from the panel, defeat written plainly across her features. He stepped forward to take her hands in his. "I'm so sorry, Leela. I know it's not any good to say it, but I really am." He hoped the guilt he felt conveyed strongly enough. All he had wanted was a nap, a moment of peace. Fry had never, ever imagined it would lead to not only his death, but that of his best friends as well. Leela certainly was too wonderful to die because of his stupid mistake.
She looked sadly up at him and then stepped forward to share an embrace. They held each other as they felt their lives fall away from them.
-----
Scott reached up to wipe sweat away from where it threatened to slip under his sunglasses and into his eyes. He was certainly working up a lot of the warm liquid in daring to play a game of soccer against a team that featured Jean Grey. He smiled fondly at the auburn-haired woman who was high-fiving Kitty. He was filled with an immense pride for her, even if she was kicking his ass.
It was only by chance that he saw it at all. He had, on a whim, looked at the late afternoon sun to determine approximately what time it was, rather than just asking Kurt to check his holowatch. But his stray glance in that direction allowed him to see the bright object falling out of the sky, down into the distant forested lands beyond the Institute. He would have been amazed enough to see a meteor falling. That wasn't an everyday occurrence. But Scott knew enough about astronomy to know that meteors generally weren't metallic and green and shaped ... well, he wasn't sure about the shape but it certainly looked engineered, not natural at all.
He felt a tug on his arm and looked down into Kurt's concerned yellow eyes.
"What is the matter, Scott?" he asked softly, his German accent thicker with worry.
Scott only jerked his head in the direction of the plummeting craft. Kurt followed his gaze and gasped. Well, that confirmed that his glasses weren't playing tricks on him.
"But ... what is it?"
"I don't know, Kurt."
"I'll go get the Professor." With a familiar BAMF sound and a small puff of brimstone-scented fog, he vanished.
Kurt's sudden disappearance caught the attention of most of the other players on the field. Scott turned to them and announced, "I think it's time to go inside."