To Err is Human
By Todd Fan
Disclaimer: "Deep down, Wolvie's just a big 'ol teddy bear...with razor sharp adamantium claws"
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Hey all, sorry this is so late, my lecturers decided it would be 'fun' to give me 4 assignments in a row....so much for enjoying half-term. Grrrr.
L1701E - Not all of Ororo's family have white hair, her mother did not. It was stated in the comics that it is rare, so, no, Imara doesn't have to have white hair.
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Chapter 32 - Battle Begins
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Storm sighed, listening to the sound of the X-Jet taking off. She had to admit, sometimes she missed not going on so many missions anymore...
"KURT!"
Storm groaned, not again.
"It's coming", she said.
Imara scrunched up her nose from her high chair, clenching her little fists.
"KUUUUUUUUUUURT!"
Storm gave a greatfull sigh as the microwave pinged.
"Okay, Imara", she said, pulling the baby food from the microwave, "here's a delicious bowl of....mush"
She gave the bowl a sniff.
"....Okay, this stuff looks pretty gross, but the book seems to think it's good for you, so...you can blame it, 'kay?"
Imara mearly gurgled at her.
"Please don't hate me for this", said Storm, "remember, Mommy loves you VERY much".
He put some of the baby food onto a spoon, holding it out ot her daughter. Imara wrinkled her nose, moving away.
"What's the matter, Sweetie?", said Storm, "don't you want some food?"
"Kurt", replied Imara.
"What about a drink?", tried Storm.
"Kurt"
Storm winced.
"Can you say Mo-m-ie?"
"Kurt"
"Da-d-ie?"
"Kurt"
Storm gave a defeated sigh.
"....Can you say anything other than 'Kurt'?"
"Kurt"
"Goodie", said Storm dryly.
She glanced up as Forge entered his brow furrowed in thought.
"Hey honey", she said, then grinned, "guess what? Imara learned to talk....sort of"
Forge blinked up out of his thoughts.
"She....spoke?"
Imara clapped her hands happily at her father.
"Kurt!".
Forge blinked.
"...Her first word is Kurt?".
"Yes, yes, I know", sighed Storm, "but we can't expect miracles, can we?"
Forge chuckled lightly, tickling his daughter's chin, making her giggle.
"Kurt's fine", he said, "we can live with Kurt. We should be greatfull she hasn't repeated anything Logan's said around her".
"Good point", said Storm with a grimace, then frowned softly at him, "Forge, you look a little...weird...are you okay?"
"I'm fine", said Forge distractedly.
"No you're not", said Storm, crossing her arms, "you always sound vauge and weird when there's something wrong".
Forge blinked. How did she DO that?. He sighed, sitting down at the table, gesturing for her to do the same.
"Okay", he sighed efeatedly, "we have to talk".
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Elsewhere in the mansion, Sam, Rahne and Tabby were babysitting a rather moody Jamie.
"I still don't know why I couldn't have gone!", he muttered, "she's MY girlfriend".
"Well...", said Sam, trying to find a nice way of putting it, "you're just a little too..."
Jamie pointed a finger at the Southerner.
"If you say 'too young', I will kill you", he said darkly.
Sam cleared his throat, looking at the girls for help.
"Well, you are", said Rahne gently, "you're just not fully trained yet. Ye cannae even control your powers properly yet, Jamie".
"Yes I can", protested Jamie, "I can my clones pop out by clapping my hands together, and I can call them back real good too".
"And they also pop out if someone so much as flicks you in the nose", chuckled Tabby.
"I'm working on that, okay!", snapped Jamie moodily.
Rahne narrowed her eyes in suspicion.
"You're alot more grumpy than ye usually are, Jamie", she said, "even in conditions like this".
Jamie's eyes widened as he shuffled nervously.
"What do you mean? No I'm not...I don't know what you're talking about!"
Tabby blinked.
"Wait a minuite", she said, "you're not Jamie"
She gasped, pointing an accusing finger at him.
"You're a DUPE!".
Jamie cleared his throat, looking around.
"Technically, I AM Jamie....just...more of a part of him than all of him", he said, giving a nervous laugh, "I knew this was a stupid idea".
"Okay..errr..Jamie", said Sam, "where's...Jamie?"
"Oh no, everyone want's the ORIGINAL Jamie, nobody cares for us clones!", said Jamie melodrimatically, waving his hands in the air, "we're people too, you know!"
"Just not in your own right", said Rahne, then sighed, "where is he...er..you?".
"Where do you think?", said Jamie moodily.
"Well, at least we know this is his grumpy personality", said Tabby with a smirk.
"Har de har har", said Jamie dryly, then sighed, "I am currently hiding in the storage unit of the Blackbird, by the time they know I'm there, we'll be too close to the Hellfire to go back".
"You know something", said Sam, frowning, "everyone makes you out to be the nice, inocent little kid"
He shook his head.
"You're not so inocent".
Jamie mearly blew a rasberry, crossing his arms.
"Boy, you really must have it bad for Gina if you'd go through this much trouble to go get her back", said Tabby.
"Well, duh", said Jamie, then sighed, "and I won't even know what happened until I get reabsorbed...being a clone bites!" (1)
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"I can't believe you pulled a stunt like this!!!"
Well, Jamie had been found.....and Scott was not impressed...at all.
"You guys wouldn't let me go otherwise!", protested Jamie, "you'd say I was 'too young' or 'too little'".
"You ARE too little!", said Scott.
"Well, if I'm too little, then why is it that Shortpack can go?!", shot back Jamie.
Scott stopped in mid-yell.....he had to admit, the kid had a point. He glanced over to where Shortpack was ballanced on an armrest. The diminutive mutant mearly shrugged his shoulders.
"Because...", started Scott, "because...Shortpack has a better control of his powers than you".
Hah. That got him.
"If I didn't have good control of my powers, then how did I manage to get just one clone out of me and leave me in the mansion as a decoy, which everyone fell for?", said Jamie, looking at his nails, "..including yourself?".
Scott's jaw dropped as he floundered for a reply.
"Oh, just let the kid come", grumped Logan from where he was flying the jet, "we're comin' in to land in five minutes, it's no good turnin' around now".
Jamie smirked, walking past Scott to sit down. Scott blinked under his visor, before sighing, shaking his head and going to his own seat.
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Xavier was no fool, he knew that his group couldn't tackle the Hellfire Club alone, that much had been proven by their last enocunter. So he had called the Brotherhood for some assitance. Suprisingly enough, the Brotherhood had managed to arrive earlier than the Blackbird, thanks to Magneto's spheres. The Master of Magnetism himself had 'pressing buisness that was more important than fighting a little gang' and so he'd left his team to it, refusing to say anything else on the matter.
"This is a stupid idea", muttered Wanda, hugging her arms around herself to keep warm from the cold, mocking her father's voice, "stay together, and keep a good eye on the HQ"
She snorted, her eyes narrowing at Sidney and Todd, snuggled up a few yards away, facing another part of the building. Sidney had been at the house at the time, and chose to stay with the group, to look after Todd. He was worried for his cousin, that much was plain to see.
"Oh yeah, they're doing a really good job", she snorted.
"Awww, cheer up, Sheila", said Pyro cheerfully, "so, he tossed you aside for the cat-girl, but do you really want to be latched to that frogger all your life?"
Wanda arched a brow at him, before shaking her head.
"Not that it's any of your buisness, but no", she said "geez, it's cold, can't you make a fire or something, Pyro?"
Pyro grinned happily.
"I thought you'd never ask", he said, letting a tiny spark out of his flamethrower, letting it hop to the ground, forming itself into a small bonfire, "ta daaa!"
"Thank you", muttered Wanda, warming her freezing hands near it. She wasn't just doing it because she was cold, but if her hands were hurting, her powers wouldn't work properly.
"You're welcome", said Pyro, still grinning.
Wanda looked at him susipciously. He'd been VERY nice to her for the past few months. When it was his turn to cook, he made her favorite meals, he'd even given her one of her favorite books, an old text on Wicca, which he'd 'found lying around an old bookshop'. Of course, she didn't know he'd spent the better part of a week looking through every old bookshop within traveling distance looking for said book.
"Yeah...whatever", she replied with a shrug.
Pyro blinked at her before taking a deep breath, clearing his throat.
"So...errr...I finished my book", he said, trying to make it all seem conversational.
"Oh?", said Wanda, glancing up at him.
"Yeah", said Pyro, choosing to stare intently at his feet, "I know you like the whole gothic...thing. I wondered if you'd like to give it a look over....you know, just to see if it's any good".
Wanda arched a brow, before sighing.
"Sure", she said, "better than sitting around doing nothing"
Pyro gave her a curiously nervous smile pulling out a pile of papers all stapled together.
"This is just the first quarter", he said with a chuckle, "...I think I need to edit it a little bit".
"I think you're right", smirked Wanda, taking the pile from him, turning the first page, her eyes widening as she read the dedication at the start.
This story is dedicated to a very special person. Someone who's beauty and inner strength has inspired me in more ways than I can count. Someone who I have completely and helplessly fallen in love with. And yet, she doesn't know this, I never could find the words to tell her, so I chose to tell her in a form I'm most comfortable with, the written word. I love you, Wanda Maximoff, and I always will. St John.
Wanda blinked up, looking at him. Pyro cleared his throat, looking shyly at the ground.
"Pyro...", she started.
"Sorry I didn't have the courge to tell you upfront", he said with a chuckle, "it's probably not as romantic as I'd planned it in my head"
Wanda blinked again, looking at the pages in her hands, before shaking her head.
"No...", she said softly, "it's....".
She sighed, leaning over to him, kissing him passionately. Pyro blinked in suprise as their lips met, before sighing, returning it, the bonfire next to them flickering a little stronger with his emotions. Neither noticed the Blackbird landing a shortdistance away.
Ahem, sent Xavier, I hate to interupt...but we have a mission to begin
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(1) - This is true. Jamie holds none of his clones' seperate memories until he reabsorbs them, I assume it works vise-versa. It's all odd and strange, but Jamie's power is odd and strange, so it's best to just smile and nod along.
And there we go. We have one last chapter in this chronicle, wow, it has indeed been a long one. Do review, until next time...