AUTHOR'S NOTE: Thank you, Thanx4reading and koneko tenshi for the
excellent reviews. You rock! By the way, the part where Rachel gets
pissed and has memory gaps is important. It'll come into play later.
241 timeline 04-11-2034 Bronx, New York, United States
As corny as Wolverine's cry had been, there truly was no better representation of the training they received in the Danger Room than the skill the X-Men demonstrated that day. If Rachel had time to stop and look around, she would have been proud.
Magneto was holding back 4 Sentinels effortlessly, and dissembling them into heads and limbs. Nearby, Wolverine was distracting one of the massive robots, while Ororo guided Kate upward with a wind current, so that she landed upon its shoulders. The girl plunged her hand forward and her forearm disappeared into its framework, searching for control panels.
"Any time you wanna work yur magic, Kate," Logan grunted between back- handsprings that barely escaped thick blasts of plasma.
Kate pulled her hand out, shimmied to the right, and phased through the metal again. "Well, if you'd stop jumping around so much, this thing'd stop moving so much, and it'd make my job a whole lot easier." As if obeying her wishes, the android froze in the middle of a lunge for the acrobatic mutant. Kate and Logan turned to see Franklin smiling at them, his hands extended forward, holding the Sentinel still by pure TK. Kate made a final phase with her arm, and sparks flew from the back of the robot. She leapt off its neck and was caught by Wolverine, just as it self- destructed.
Summers and Rasputin were standing back-to-back, surrounded by 5 Sentinels. Colossus ran forward, grabbing the closest one by the ankle, and lassoed the mammoth in 3 complete circles, before letting it loose, so that it collided with 1 of its clones, and the 2 flew into pieces. Rachel's ears exploded with a crack of thunder, as Storm electrocuted 4 Sentinels with a single, enormous bolt of lightning far away.
She turned to her own attackers. 3 of the red machines came forward, and she flew high above to avoid them, but they simply rounded their charge upward and followed her into the clouds. She stopped and, when the first to tail her became visible, pelted it straight through the stomach with an optic blast. The laser severed the machine into 2 pieces, exiting to bore into the skull of the next. Unfortunately, it didn't do any collateral damage, and the second Sentinel continued its sprint toward her.
Rachel encased herself with an invisible shield, and the robot flew straight into her TK, exploding upon impact. While she knew that her telekinetic abilities would withstand the blow, she was amazed to find that it didn't hurt at all, but she didn't have time to think about this phenomenon, as she had 1 more Sentinel to get rid of before she went down to help her friends.
The intelligent machine, which had seen her skill with telekinesis, fired a missile at her, hoping to blast through her barrier. But Rachel bravely dropped the shield entirely. She slowed time to a standstill, turned the missile around, and shot it straight at its owner. The robot tried to swerve, but couldn't escape a heat-sensor in a single second.
Just as the parts of the Sentinel rained down toward the earth, a shout rang out from below. "Franklin!!!!!" Rachel felt something that made her mind flood with terrible memories of her dream world in flames. ~No!~ she screamed telepathically. ~I can't do this again!!~ Her psychic link with Franklin Richards was still open, but it was no more than a mile-long thread in a desert.
She soared down to the rest of the group, where she saw Kate crying over Richards' body, despite the fray that continued around her. She knelt beside her lover, placing his head in her lap, and tried to comfort him by unleashing a chemical reminiscent to morphine in his brain to ensure that he wasn't in pain. He opened his eyes and turned his head toward her, moving his mouth to speak, but no words came out.
~It's okay,~ she told him. ~I'm right here in your mind, so you don't have to worry about talking. Don't waste your energy.~
~Rachel!~ came his voice, faltering with emotion. ~Rachel, I love you so much. I want you to always remember that, no matter where you go.~
~I'm not going anywhere without you.~
~Yes, you will,~ he reassured her. ~You're destined for great things. You will become a legend, my love.~
~Frankie,~ she practically whispered, ~it can't end like this. Not after we finally got free. We can make a life together now, don't you see?~
~No. My story is done. And it had the perfect ending. You and the others are free, and now you can be the X-Men once more. You can give rebirth to the Dream, my love. It's perfect.~ Rachel tried to rebuke his words, but she couldn't think straight through her weeping. ~Everything is perfect, so perfect.~
And with that, his mind flickered for a few seconds, just like her father, and finally became unbearably dark. Rachel felt the rage of her years as the Hound filling her psyche, and, had she been in a good state of mind, she would have been worried that she was about to lose control again, but at the moment, she didn't care. She was glad that Richards died happily and with a peace of heart, but her own was seeping with grief. Her fists clenched, and she felt as if she was crushing the entire world in her hands, as she screamed into the sky in vain.
* * *
"Rachel," Ororo said softly, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Come, child. We have been here for almost an hour. We have to move if we do not want to lose any more among us."
Summers didn't see how she could have possibly stayed with her lover's body for more than a fleeting moment, but she didn't argue. She felt strangely exhausted, and required help getting up from the ground. When she looked down, she was surprised to find that she wasn't looking into Franklin's eyes, but at his grave, complete with a small cross of woven sticks, which Kate had made.
* * *
The Baxter Building was stationed a mere 7 miles from SBMIC, and the 6 mutants walked along the New York streets in silence until they reached the abandoned skyscraper. Colossus wasted no effort bursting through the front door, and the group split into 3 groups to familiarize themselves with the new building.
It had been Franklin's idea to use the place as their new station of operations, as the X-Mansion had been torched. It was once the headquarters of the Fantastic Four, his parents' own crime-fighting mutant league, but had been unused for nearly 2 decades, as the team had divided when Reed and Sue Richards both died. With this in mind, everyone was very somber with memories of their fallen comrade.
"You okay, Rachel?" asked Kate, as she turned on the lights in the Conference Room. Rachel nodded, though both girls knew she was far from emotionally stable. "Because I'm always here if you want to talk."
"I know, Kitty," Rachel said with a sigh. "And thanks, but I'm just really not there yet."
"Fuck."
Rachel looked to her friend, shocked, as she had never heard her swear before. "I mean, I will be, eventually, but it's just kinda hard right now- "
"Not that." Kate pointed over Rachel's shoulder. Several security cameras displayed Sentinels landing upon the roof.
Rachel's mouth fell open. "This can't be happening."
241 timeline 04-11-2034 Bronx, New York, United States
As corny as Wolverine's cry had been, there truly was no better representation of the training they received in the Danger Room than the skill the X-Men demonstrated that day. If Rachel had time to stop and look around, she would have been proud.
Magneto was holding back 4 Sentinels effortlessly, and dissembling them into heads and limbs. Nearby, Wolverine was distracting one of the massive robots, while Ororo guided Kate upward with a wind current, so that she landed upon its shoulders. The girl plunged her hand forward and her forearm disappeared into its framework, searching for control panels.
"Any time you wanna work yur magic, Kate," Logan grunted between back- handsprings that barely escaped thick blasts of plasma.
Kate pulled her hand out, shimmied to the right, and phased through the metal again. "Well, if you'd stop jumping around so much, this thing'd stop moving so much, and it'd make my job a whole lot easier." As if obeying her wishes, the android froze in the middle of a lunge for the acrobatic mutant. Kate and Logan turned to see Franklin smiling at them, his hands extended forward, holding the Sentinel still by pure TK. Kate made a final phase with her arm, and sparks flew from the back of the robot. She leapt off its neck and was caught by Wolverine, just as it self- destructed.
Summers and Rasputin were standing back-to-back, surrounded by 5 Sentinels. Colossus ran forward, grabbing the closest one by the ankle, and lassoed the mammoth in 3 complete circles, before letting it loose, so that it collided with 1 of its clones, and the 2 flew into pieces. Rachel's ears exploded with a crack of thunder, as Storm electrocuted 4 Sentinels with a single, enormous bolt of lightning far away.
She turned to her own attackers. 3 of the red machines came forward, and she flew high above to avoid them, but they simply rounded their charge upward and followed her into the clouds. She stopped and, when the first to tail her became visible, pelted it straight through the stomach with an optic blast. The laser severed the machine into 2 pieces, exiting to bore into the skull of the next. Unfortunately, it didn't do any collateral damage, and the second Sentinel continued its sprint toward her.
Rachel encased herself with an invisible shield, and the robot flew straight into her TK, exploding upon impact. While she knew that her telekinetic abilities would withstand the blow, she was amazed to find that it didn't hurt at all, but she didn't have time to think about this phenomenon, as she had 1 more Sentinel to get rid of before she went down to help her friends.
The intelligent machine, which had seen her skill with telekinesis, fired a missile at her, hoping to blast through her barrier. But Rachel bravely dropped the shield entirely. She slowed time to a standstill, turned the missile around, and shot it straight at its owner. The robot tried to swerve, but couldn't escape a heat-sensor in a single second.
Just as the parts of the Sentinel rained down toward the earth, a shout rang out from below. "Franklin!!!!!" Rachel felt something that made her mind flood with terrible memories of her dream world in flames. ~No!~ she screamed telepathically. ~I can't do this again!!~ Her psychic link with Franklin Richards was still open, but it was no more than a mile-long thread in a desert.
She soared down to the rest of the group, where she saw Kate crying over Richards' body, despite the fray that continued around her. She knelt beside her lover, placing his head in her lap, and tried to comfort him by unleashing a chemical reminiscent to morphine in his brain to ensure that he wasn't in pain. He opened his eyes and turned his head toward her, moving his mouth to speak, but no words came out.
~It's okay,~ she told him. ~I'm right here in your mind, so you don't have to worry about talking. Don't waste your energy.~
~Rachel!~ came his voice, faltering with emotion. ~Rachel, I love you so much. I want you to always remember that, no matter where you go.~
~I'm not going anywhere without you.~
~Yes, you will,~ he reassured her. ~You're destined for great things. You will become a legend, my love.~
~Frankie,~ she practically whispered, ~it can't end like this. Not after we finally got free. We can make a life together now, don't you see?~
~No. My story is done. And it had the perfect ending. You and the others are free, and now you can be the X-Men once more. You can give rebirth to the Dream, my love. It's perfect.~ Rachel tried to rebuke his words, but she couldn't think straight through her weeping. ~Everything is perfect, so perfect.~
And with that, his mind flickered for a few seconds, just like her father, and finally became unbearably dark. Rachel felt the rage of her years as the Hound filling her psyche, and, had she been in a good state of mind, she would have been worried that she was about to lose control again, but at the moment, she didn't care. She was glad that Richards died happily and with a peace of heart, but her own was seeping with grief. Her fists clenched, and she felt as if she was crushing the entire world in her hands, as she screamed into the sky in vain.
* * *
"Rachel," Ororo said softly, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Come, child. We have been here for almost an hour. We have to move if we do not want to lose any more among us."
Summers didn't see how she could have possibly stayed with her lover's body for more than a fleeting moment, but she didn't argue. She felt strangely exhausted, and required help getting up from the ground. When she looked down, she was surprised to find that she wasn't looking into Franklin's eyes, but at his grave, complete with a small cross of woven sticks, which Kate had made.
* * *
The Baxter Building was stationed a mere 7 miles from SBMIC, and the 6 mutants walked along the New York streets in silence until they reached the abandoned skyscraper. Colossus wasted no effort bursting through the front door, and the group split into 3 groups to familiarize themselves with the new building.
It had been Franklin's idea to use the place as their new station of operations, as the X-Mansion had been torched. It was once the headquarters of the Fantastic Four, his parents' own crime-fighting mutant league, but had been unused for nearly 2 decades, as the team had divided when Reed and Sue Richards both died. With this in mind, everyone was very somber with memories of their fallen comrade.
"You okay, Rachel?" asked Kate, as she turned on the lights in the Conference Room. Rachel nodded, though both girls knew she was far from emotionally stable. "Because I'm always here if you want to talk."
"I know, Kitty," Rachel said with a sigh. "And thanks, but I'm just really not there yet."
"Fuck."
Rachel looked to her friend, shocked, as she had never heard her swear before. "I mean, I will be, eventually, but it's just kinda hard right now- "
"Not that." Kate pointed over Rachel's shoulder. Several security cameras displayed Sentinels landing upon the roof.
Rachel's mouth fell open. "This can't be happening."