Chapter Fifteen
Kurt stood with Ororo on the threshold of memory. It was like standing before an enormous movie screen, peering through an invisible divider to a completely different world just beyond. The sights, sounds, even smells of that past world flooded their senses, yet there remained a surreal feeling of separation. For this show, they were to be observers, protected by the distance of time. The participants were on the other side…
The Gray Gargoyle's cave was far from the cold, desolate place Nightcrawler and his team had expected to find when they'd first received their assignment. The caverns they passed through were almost unbearably hot. Following the twisting, labyrinthine tunnels had led them dangerously close to what their scanners read as a magma pocket, far under the ground. Rivers of magma snaked by, splashing dangerously into fiery pools.
Wolverine turned his head to shoot Nightcrawler a wry smirk.
"Kinda makes me wish we'd thought to bring some marshmallows, eh Elf?" he joked.
Nightcrawler smirked back, but didn't respond in kind.
"Call it a teleporter's intuition," he said, "but something about this sweltering cave is making my fuzzy skin crawl. Nothing about this has felt right from the start. The sooner we find the Gargoyle's weapons stash and leave, the better I'll like it."
"It isn't just you, Nightcrawler," Sage said, adjusting her hood over her dark hair. "I feel it too. And these awful cave spiders aren't helping matters." She shivered in disgust as she brushed one of the hairy arachnids from her shoulder.
Benny Salway, an eighteen-year-old trainee, winked his third eye, too excited to be out in the field to appreciate the more seasoned X-Men's concerns.
"Spiders don't bother me," he said brightly. "But, after all this walking, we've gotta be getting close. So, let's think: If I were a crazed stone Gargoyle bent on destroying all mutantkind, where would I hide my nuclear warheads?"
"When you figure it out, let us know," Sage snapped irritably. "In the meantime, I'll run a scan. The electromagnetic interference is weaker in here than it was outside, so our instruments should work."
"Good to know," Benny said, leaning in close to peer over her shoulder.
Sage took a pointed step away from him, never pausing in her work.
Melinda Blake, a raven-haired girl with creamy, lavender skin and ruby red eyes, flashed her classmate a warning glare.
"What?" he said, shrugging her off as she pulled him aside.
"Knock it off, Benny," the nineteen-year-old fire manipulator warned. "This is our first real mission and I, for one, want to make a good impression. Or, do you want to be sent back to the jet?"
Benny snorted.
"What are you, like ten years old? We're X-Men now! Professionals! Professor X picked us for this mission for a reason. Mr. Wagner can't send us back now. ...Can he?"
Nightcrawler sighed, silently clenching his teeth as he watched the half-whispered exchange. Wolverine followed his gaze, his own features drawn tight.
"Not exactly the time and place to play babysitter," he grunted.
Nightcrawler shook his head, his long, spaded tail swaying behind him.
"I still cannot fathom what Herr Professor was thinking, assigning these two children to the team. While I agree the older students do need more real-world experience, I can think of any number of missions more suitable for training - and I argued this point repeatedly with Charles. I still can't believe he went over my head like this..."
"He has been on a stubborn kick lately," Wolverine agreed. "Goin' on about the students needing to face real adversity in order to 'move past perceived limitations' and 'live up to their full potential.' If I remember right, you were just nineteen yourself when we went out on our first mission, and that was against some livin' island."
"I know, I know," Nightcrawler said. "But our circumstances were very different, Logan. You know very well that chronological age has little to do with life experience. Xavier's first few crops of X-Men, including you and I... We had lived a lifetime fending for ourselves in the outside world before Charles invited us to his school to train. Children like Melinda and Benny, though, they grew up sheltered within the institute's walls. Protected from the bitter winds that battered us. I believe Ororo put it well when she said that, without tempering, hothouse flowers tend to wither where wildflowers grow strongest. Benny and Melinda may have earned top grades in the classroom, but success with tactical models and Danger Room simulations, no matter how realistic, cannot guarantee how students will react to a real threat. For all their talent and potential, in this circumstance, I fear that Melinda's and especially Benny's classroom-bred arrogance and dangerous naiveté may make them more of a liability than an asset."
"I ain't arguin' with you, Elf," Wolverine said grimly. "It takes time to develop the chops for mission work. Charles wants these rookie kids to put that time in trailin' after the most elite teams, when they should be— Hold on... Scanner reads we're comin' up on somethin' new..."
Wolverine sniffed the air, moving cautiously ahead while Nightcrawler kept his sharp gaze fixed on the trainees. Benny was using his telekinesis to drop rocks into the nearest magma pool, while Melinda frantically lectured him, all but begging him to cut it out before someone noticed.
Nightcrawler briefly closed his eyes and leaned his head back against the rough stone wall. He was going to have to talk with them before they could move on.
"Hey, Elf," Wolverine said quietly; he, Nightcrawler, and Sage forming a small cluster in the dimness. "We're in luck so far. The Gargoyle's been here, but not for the past few hours. If we work fast, we just might be able to pull this off before he comes back."
"I found another cavern twenty-six meters to the south-west," Sage reported. "There's a block of interference so thick even my equipment back home couldn't pierce it. That must be where he's storing the weapons."
Kurt nodded, all business.
"Then that's where we're going. Just give me a moment," he said, indicating Melinda and Benny.
Sage grunted, snapping her scanner closed and reattaching it to her utility belt.
"This is ridiculous," she said. "Look at them. How nervous they are. How young!"
Wolverine gave the air a quick sniff.
"They're scared, all right," he agreed, "but they're tougher than they look. I may not agree with Chuck's decision to stick us with them, but I do know this."
He turned to face Nightcrawler, looking him straight in the eye.
"Don't pull the reigns too tight on 'em," he said. "Give 'em their head room. They might be green, but they need to know we have confidence in them - 'specially you, 'Crawler, since you're the leader." He shrugged. "Who knows," he said, a strange gleam softening his flinty eyes. "They just might surprise you. Like you surprised me, kid, way back when you were nothin' more than a circus-boy show-off."
Nightcrawler smirked at his friend, and strode over to Benny and Melinda. They jumped when they saw him approaching, halting their bickering and coming to attention at once. Nightcrawler resisted the urge to roll his eyes heavenward, even though with his solid yellow corneas they probably wouldn't have been able to tell anyway.
"We think we've located the warheads," he said, keeping his voice low in the echoing cave, "and we're about to move out. Before we go, though, I want you to keep some things in mind."
He took a breath, trying to think how best to phrase what he wanted to say.
"I know you've been training for this mission a long time," he told them, "but this isn't a Danger Room simulation. If something goes wrong, I don't want to see any bravado or heroics. Our goal is to locate the warheads, render them inoperable, and get our tails back home - hopefully without being discovered. We don't want to have to say here a moment longer than necessary, so I'm going to need you both to stay focused. So far, you've been doing very well, but keep in mind that we don't know enough about the Gargoyle to predict his actions. There could be any number of booby traps between us and those warheads, so keep your guard up. OK?"
The two teenagers straightened in acknowledgement, suddenly serious under the weight of their leader's stern, golden gaze.
"Yes, sir," they chorused softly.
Satisfied, Nightcrawler turned to Wolverine, who nodded with the smallest of smiles. Nightcrawler returned the nod, then silently indicated that his friend should take the rear, where he would best be able to alert them if someone - or something - approached. Sage took the lead with her scanner.
The small group reached the cavern Sage had indicated with no trouble. While this relieved the trainees, it only increased Kurt's uneasiness. Especially when they found the five warheads stored in plain sight, just behind a thick, fang-like stalagmite that was standing like a pillar beside the cavern's only entrance. Rows upon rows of pointed stalactites hung from the ceiling, giving the gray, shadowy space an eerie resemblance to the inside of a shark's mouth.
"Blast," Sage snarled, giving her scanner a good whack. "It's the interference. My equipment's gone dead again."
"Wolverine," Kurt said, a cold chill starting in his stomach, "can you tell if these warheads are active?"
Wolverine inspected each of the weapons in turn while Sage searched the walls for a hidden control panel or anything that could be causing the interference that was blocking her scanners. Benny and Melinda took up positions at either side of the entrance, keeping a sharp lookout.
"You're not going to believe this," Wolverine growled after several long minutes, "but not only are these things not active, I don't think they're even real."
"Was?" Kurt gasped, a shiver of apprehension snaking up his spine. Suddenly, this was no longer a straight-forward mission. If these warheads were fake, that meant the Gargoyle's threats had been a ruse to lure them this cavern. But for what purpose…?
"Wait a minute," Benny exclaimed, obviously annoyed. "Do you mean this whole thing was a bluff? I can't believe this! My first actual mission and it turns out to be a false alarm!"
"Shut up, Benny!" Melinda said, her large eyes darting to the shadows at the far end of the cavern. "The mission's not over yet. Did you just see that?"
"See what?" Sage asked, coming up beside the teenagers, her dark eyes sharp and her expression wary.
"Back there," Melinda said, pointing. "I thought I saw something move. It looked like…"
She trailed off with an uncertain glance to Nightcrawler.
"Like what?" Sage prompted.
Melinda looked sheepish.
"Well, it was probably just Nightcrawler's shadow," she mumbled, flushing deeply. "I mean, no offense, but there aren't many other people out there with tails like yours, Herr Wagner."
"You'd be surprised, kid," Logan grumbled dryly as he sniffed the air. He bared his teeth, his senses on full alert.
"What is it?" Melinda asked, her eyes wide with apprehension.
"That ain't no shadow you saw, girlie," the Wolverine growled softly, clenching his fists in anticipation of a fight. "There's four of 'em, 'Crawler. Back there, in the shadows. Three men, one woman. And the Gargoyle's with them."
"Lieber Gott, it's a trap," Kurt announced with deep conviction, his tail twitching behind him. There was something evil out there, something immensely powerful pulsing at him, pulling at him…a cool, reptilian voice whispering softly at the corners of his mind. Whoever was lurking in those shadows, they were after blood. He wasn't sure how or why he could be so certain, but Kurt knew better than to question the warning in his heart. If he didn't get his team out of this cavern immediately, they were never getting out. Wolverine could have his fight another day.
"We've got to get back to the jet," Kurt said, his words clipped. "Now."
"What? Why?" Benny asked. "What's going on?"
Before anyone could speak, something small and fast whistled past the teen's nose. Kurt gave a short cry of alarmed pain, clapping a hand to his neck.
"A dart," he exclaimed, pulling the tiny needle from his neck as quickly as he could, praying the tip wasn't poisoned or drugged. The movement at the back of the cave was more apparent now. The demonic silhouettes were slinking closer. With his night vision, Kurt could just make out the russet hue of the tallest shadow's smooth skin, the lines of his narrow face. He knew those proud, aristocratic features…so familiar yet so foreign.
Somehow, Azazel had found a way to return to Earth.
"Run," Nightcrawler ordered his team, his accented voice sharp with command. "Back the way we came. Schnell!"
There was no hesitation. Kurt again took the rear as his team began racing back toward the magma river. Barely had they gone ten feet, however, when a deep, chilling voice barked out a strange incantation. A powerful forcefield leaped up in front of them, so close the five of them collided full force with the shimmering wall of orange energy. Lightening bolts of agony tore through their spasming muscles as their own momentum threw them back into the dim cavern - winded, aching, and half-paralyzed. It was from this prone, helpless position that the five X-Men got their first real glimpse of the Gray Gargoyle.
The Gargoyle was a squat, thickset figure with leathery skin as thick and tough as a rhino's. His blunt, square face was like a mask, his expression hard and cold as stone, but his small, piggish eyes burned with an icy flame. He loomed over the X-Men like a deadly specter; his leathery, bat-like wings spread wide in a predatory posture that radiated menace.
"Why…why did you bring us here?" Kurt rasped, gasping with effort and pain as he struggled to turn his head towards Azazel. To his shock, the demon was no longer there. Nor were his shadowy companions. Only the Gray Gargoyle remained, his cold eyes now focused on Kurt.
"I'm sure the Master has his reasons," the Gargoyle spoke slowly in a deep, rumbling bass, causing Benny to release an embarrassing, involuntary whimper. "But mine are simple. I was promised the full return of my senses if I carried out a certain number of tasks. Already, I have regained my hearing. By destroying you, my sense of touch and taste will be restored."
He sighed, his stony face nearly wistful as his eyes unfocused. "It has been centuries since I have last been able to feel the rock beneath my feet, to taste the pale fish that swim in the lightless lakes. The death of five strangers is well worth the prize. But do not worry," he assured them, his gravely voice taking on an eerie sort of kindliness, "the end will be swift, and if you remain still there will be no pain."
Wolverine glared, baring his teeth at the Gargoyle from the cave's uneven floor.
"So," he snarled, "you're tellin' me that you can't feel nothin'? Not even if you stepped into one of those magma pools out there?"
"It is an unfortunate side-effect of my condition," the Gargoyle explained, melancholy self-pity leaking from his glowing eyes. Wolverine nodded slowly.
"Well," he commented gruffly. "That's a real shame, bub. I was really hopin' you'd feel it when I did this!"
Before the Gargoyle could react, the Wolverine was on his feet with a roar, his sharp adamantium claws embedded a full six inches into the creature's tough belly. But if Logan expected the Gargoyle to simply fall over after that, he was sorely disappointed.
The instant he withdrew his claws, the deep slits he had created in the creature's thick began to glow, the dull gray heating up to the color of liquid magma as the wounds quickly closed without even leaving a scar. Infuriated, Wolverine attacked again, slashing and punching with blinding speed, a feral glint of madness growing in his flinty eyes as the Gargoyle simply stood there and took it.
The paralyzing effects of the forcefield's energy were very slowly starting to wear off, but it still took an enormous amount of effort for Nightcrawler to turn his head towards the rest of his team. Benny had landed right next to him, staring up at the spiked ceiling, his young face pale with terror.
"Benny," Kurt hissed, smiling when the young man managed to turn his head enough to look at him. "Your telekinesis," he prompted, gesturing with his chin towards the fight going on just in front of them. "Try to help Logan."
"I—I can't," Benny whispered back, his three eyes wide with something very close to panic. "I can't move!"
"Benny," Kurt said, keeping his voice as calm and authoritative as he could. "You can do this if you concentrate. Use your mind."
Benny took a deep, shaky breath, struggling to collect his waning courage.
"OK," he said. "OK, what do you want me to do?"
"Try to move that Gargoyle closer to me," Melinda spoke up from Benny's other side.
Nightcrawler turned his eyes to her, a proud grin brightening his features. The raven-haired girl had managed to turn herself over onto her side with one arm stretched out before her. Her ruby eyes blazed with effort and fierce determination.
"I need a clear shot," she said. "He may be able to stand up to Mr. Logan's adamantium, but I'll bet he can still burn."
"Good thinking," Sage praised, her voice tight and laced with pain. "This damned paralysis shouldn't last much longer. If we can hold the Gargoyle off, I calculate we should be able to make our way back to the jet within five to seven minutes."
"Sage, are you hurt?" Kurt asked, the strain in her voice causing a cold dread to race along his spine, making his tail give a painful twitch.
"A stalagmite," she panted, keeping her voice low and calm. "Got me in the side when I landed."
"Oh my God," Melinda gasped, her voice bright with concern and fear, "Oh my God, you're bleeding!"
Sage swallowed, gathering her strength, then turned her head to shoot the girl a reassuring smile.
"I'll be all right," she asserted. "You sock that Gargoyle a good one for me, OK, Melinda?"
The lavender-skinned girl nodded, but her ruby eyes remained wide and apprehensive as she returned her focus to the one-sided fight going on before them.
"Benny, you ready?" Kurt asked.
"Got him," the boy said, all but his third eye closed as he used the power of his mind to lift the startled Gargoyle from the ground and drift him closer to Melinda.
"Logan, down!" Nightcrawler warned his friend as a roaring blast of flame burst from Melinda's lavender fingertips, encompassing the Gargoyle in a binding swirl of fire.
Wolverine dropped flat, the searing heat passing within inches of his head.
Under the fierce onslaught of Melinda's fiery attack, the Gargoyle's thick skin gradually began to glow. His white eyes burned brighter than Melinda's hottest flames, and even though he couldn't feel the heat on his skin, it was clear she was having an effect. Benny's breath began to hitch as he struggled to keep the creature still. Kurt reached out to place a strengthening hand on the boy's shoulder, silently grinding his teeth against the sharp, tingling pain the movement caused him. The gesture seemed to calm the struggling teenager, though, and his breathing slowly became less ragged.
"It's working," Sage whispered, her drawn face brightening slightly. "Keep it up, Melinda, you've almost got him…"
The Gargoyle's leathery wings burst open and stretched to their full span, the flames fanning out to lick their bony tips.
Benny screamed, clutching his head and curling into a shuddering ball of sheer agony.
Melinda tried to force herself to her feet, keeping one arm outstretched as she fought valiantly against the pain lancing through her slender body to keep her flames from dying.
The Gargoyle fixed her with his blazing eyes, flapping his wings once, twice, three times to send the fire that ringed his glowing form shooting right back to her.
Melinda shrieked and fell back, her raven hair ablaze.
Wolverine jumped to his feet, crouching to spring at the Gargoyle and knock him from the air, but this time the Gargoyle was too fast. Holding out one arm, a blast of white energy shot from his palm, freezing the Wolverine just before he could pounce. All color was leached from Logan's uniform and skin, the brightness was sucked from his adamantium claws.
Nightcrawler blinked, his jaw dropping in sickened alarm as he realized what the Gargoyle had just done to his best friend. What had mere moments before been a living, breathing man was now nothing more than a statue of lifeless stone...
"NOOO!" Kurt screamed, pounding at the invisible divider that kept him apart from his defenseless team. "Not again! Let me in there! I won't let this happen again!"
"Kurt, stay back!" Ororo warned sharply, trying to pull him away. "You can't let yourself get too close—"
Kurt spun on her, his golden eyes wild, half-mad, hot tears streaming down his russet face as the long-repressed memory continued to unfold.
"I have to save them, Ororo," he told her, his voice cracking with emotion. "You don't understand - they're all going to die!"
His expression frantic, he turned back to the battle, where Melinda was now fully engulfed in her own flames, a crackling fireball with blazing, ruby eyes bravely gathering the last of her strength to launch a final blast at the Gargoyle. But, before she could lift her arms, a second stream of white energy burst from the Gargoyle's palm and Melinda fell to the ground, her flames dying around her as her lavender skin was transformed to blackened stone.
"Oh, God, no," Kurt sobbed, slamming his horned forehead against the barrier. Ororo tried to reach out to him, to calm him with her presence, but he was too far gone, his eyes distant and his narrow features set with determination.
"I have to stop this, Ororo," he said, taking several slow, measured steps backwards, never shifting his gaze from the Gargoyle's square face. "I couldn't save them before…I couldn't help them! They were my team, my friends - I was responsible for them and I let them down! I teleported away when I should have stayed there and shared their fate. Well, not again!"
"Kurt, no! Don't—"
But, before Ororo could stop him, Kurt was running for the invisible border. He disappeared an instant before he collided with it, jaunting through the barrier with a resounding BAMF!
With a cry of alarm, Ororo raced through the already dissipating teleport smoke to where he had just been standing. Pressing a helpless hand against the boundary, she watched in despair as, no longer shielded by the distance of time, her dearest friend was sucked into the prone body of his former self. His worst memory had now become his only reality...
Through sheer strength of will, Kurt forced his stiffened, aching body to sit up, to bend its legs, to rise into a crouch. The pain was nearly unbearable, but he couldn't just lie there while his team was under attack. His power of teleportation was utterly useless as long as his movements remained restricted by the lingering effects of the forcefield. He had to move, to get the blood flowing again. He had to attack at once, or they would all be lost.
He had an opportunity. Perceiving that the immediate threat had been taken care of, the Gargoyle was taking a moment to fly around the cave, cooling down after Melinda's attack.
Nightcrawler glanced over at what was left of his team, wracking his mind to think up some kind of plan that would allow him to get them all out.
Sage was starting to shiver, her face pale and her breathing ragged, a growing puddle of blood slowly staining its way across the uneven surface of the cave floor. Even so, the brilliant mutant was hard at work, her slender fingers tapping rapidly at the keypad of one of the instruments she kept at her belt.
"Setting….to give out…charge," she explained between rasping breaths, somehow managing to flash Nightcrawler a determined grin. "Throw at….Gargoyle…and teleport…" Her grin faltered for a moment as her dark eyes turned to Benny, still curled in a protective ball. "At least…." she whispered, "you can….get him….out."
Kurt opened his mouth to protest, but Sage shook her head.
"No heroism," she said, her eyes sharp. "No…bravado. You said…yourself…"
She closed her eyes, resting her head back against the floor. Kurt crawled stiffly over to her, one eye fixed on the circling Gargoyle as he knelt by her side.
"I know what I said," he told her, blinking back a sudden wave of unexpected tears. "But I can't abandon you here, Sage. I'll 'port you both out. Now, before he comes back. Just give me your hand."
Sage shook her head again.
"I couldn't…..take the…strain," she admitted with great difficulty, slowly opening her pain-bright eyes. "Stalag…stalagmite….went all the way through…."
She took a deep breath, gathering all her remaining strength to press the device she'd been working on into Kurt's hand.
"Just throw it," she whispered, "and 'port. And Kurt…" she shuddered, her voice hitching as a tear leaked down her pallid cheek, "May God - may God be with you."
She fell back with a sigh, her breathing shallow and her eyes closed.
Kurt watched her for a long moment, the stark knowledge that there was truly nothing he could do for her clawing at his heart. He looked over to where Logan still stood frozen, poised forever for an attack that would never come. Melinda lay at his feet, pale curls of smoke still rising from the charred stone remains of what had once been a brave, intelligent young woman. Benny was now rocking slowly, a thin string of drool stretching from the corner of his mouth. Kurt could only guess what the Gargoyle's dramatic escape from his telekinetic hold had done to the boy's mind. His entire team lay scattered around him, broken, dead, or dying. And at that sight, something within Kurt's mind snapped.
Baring his fangs, Kurt surged to his feet with a feral roar that would have rivaled Wolverine. The Gargoyle turned his square head, swooping toward him on his leathery wings, and Kurt threw Sage's device.
Time seemed to slow down. As Kurt released the device from his right hand, the Gargoyle simultaneously fired a bolt of white energy from his palm. Kurt saw it coming and tried to fall back, reaching out for Benny with his tail, when he felt the first stinging effects of the Gargoyle's blast graze the tips of his fingers. The color drained from the fur on the back of his hand with impossible speed, his fingers grew heavy and lost all feeling. The horror of what was happening to him hadn't even had time to penetrate when, in an action that was purely instinctual, Kurt suddenly found himself initiating a teleport. He reappeared mere moments later, dizzy and nauseous, landing hard on his back in what looked like a deserted alley.
Only then did the reality of what he had done hit home.
"NO!" he cried, fighting his way out of a pile of rotting crates and festering garbage. "Benny!"
Picturing the cave in his mind, Kurt struggled to calm himself, to recall the unique 'feel' of the space he had just teleported from. It would be a long shot, especially since he had absolutely no idea where he was, but if he could picture the exact coordinates of the Gargoyle's cave, there was a chance he could jaunt himself back there before the monster attacked Benny and Sage. His unexpected teleport had come so quickly, he didn't even know if her shocking device had worked!
After several moments of intense concentration, Kurt believed he had it. Taking a deep breath, he activated his power—
And nothing happened.
This was confusing, but Kurt was too worked up to give it much thought. Instead, he tried again—
And again, nothing happened.
By this time, a good deal of his adrenaline rush had faded and his knees were starting to give out from under him. Even so, he wasn't ready to give up. Focusing on the end of the alley, he tried to teleport one last time…
And ended up collapsing in an exhausted heap instead.
Swearing loudly in German, Kurt tried to pry himself off the stinking crates with his tail but, just as with the teleporting, absolutely nothing happened. Frustrated and angry and physically drained from the strain of his unwanted escape, Kurt grabbed on to a nearby brick windowsill with his left hand and yanked himself forcefully into a sitting position. The window had long since been shattered, but a thin pane of reflective glass still remained in the corner. Completely exhausted, his mind in too much turmoil to think straight, Kurt simply stared at the unfamiliar image he saw reflected there.
A striking face with deep blue eyes, high cheekbones, and a long, aristocratic nose was blinking back at him, framed by an unruly tousle of dark, chestnut curls. It took several long moments of blank staring before he recognized the pale, blood spattered features as his own.
"What the hell—!" he exclaimed. Jumping unsteadily to his feet, he swallowed hard against a rising swell of panic as he replayed in his head how the reflection's pink lips and flat, fangless teeth had moved in perfect time with his speech. Crouching back down before the glass, Kurt slowly, deliberately shook his head back and forth, opening and closing his mouth without making a sound. The human in the broken window mimicked his movements exactly. It was very creepy, like he was the dupe in an old vaudeville act.
"Nein," he told the reflection firmly, half fascinated, half appalled at the way the man's furless brow wrinkled over his astonishingly blue eyes. "This can not be real."
To prove his assertion, he reached up to pinch his cheek with his right hand, only to experience a sickening mental jolt when—just as with his tail and his attempts at teleporting—nothing happened. Looking down in confusion, the reason why at once became shockingly and gruesomely apparent.
Kurt's entire right arm was missing. It had been severed just below the shoulder, leaving only a horrific, gory stump. His pulse pounded in his ears, drowning out all thought as he slowly, tentatively lifted his other hand, holding it up before his eyes.
With his glove on, it still looked normal enough, but Kurt could tell something was very wrong. Feeling oddly detached from events, he pulled the three-fingered glove off with his abnormally flat teeth and stared at his hand again.
This was impossible. Four fingers and a thumb, all slender and perfect; pale, smooth, furless skin…
Tilting his head in something darkly akin to curiosity, Kurt watched with wide, wild eyes as he stretched out his hand - his impossibly normal, five-fingered, pale pink left hand - and passed it through the space where his right arm should have been. As he did, a fat drop of blood landed on his palm. The blood was warm and slick and utterly, revoltingly real.
And with that understanding, Kurt Wagner began to scream.
To Be Continued...
NOTE: I made up Melinda and Benny for this story, but much of this chapter draws from Universe X and Giant Sized X-Men #1.
