AUTHOR'S NOTE: Thanks, Tenshi and Thanx4reading, for the reviews. We get
to really see Raye go crazy now!! Madelyne Pryor is the first Jean clone,
which eventually becomes the Goblin Queen, but all this will be explained
in a later chapter. And keep the little group of femme-warriors, including
Sanctity, in mind.
616 timeline 07-16-2004 Westchester, New York, United States
Needless to say, Rachel's anonymity quickly died out, after her "murder attempt" upon Professor Wagner. While her friends continued to defend her, saying that the incident was nothing more than a loss of control over her abilities, which occurs in many mutants during high school, most of the student body grew extremely suspicious of this mysterious powerhouse. (The fact that Rachel gained full control of her powers in less than two weeks didn't help her case.) In response, she buried herself in her schoolwork, socializing rarely, and only then with a select few.
But the scorn of her peers was of little concern to her, especially in comparison with her own internal developments. A few weeks after she came to the X-Mansion, Rachel began falling into fits of delusion. For the first time in her life, she could dwell on her past, as she no longer needed to fight for her life, or those of her loved ones, every second of the day. Such dwelling soon lead to depression, coupled with the delayed mourning of her closest friends and her first love. She joined the X-Men, giving her less time to think, but her choice to take up the codename Phoenix II earned her even more suspicion, this time from her teammates. (Which was encouraged by Cyclops' new bride, Madelyne Pryor, who had accused Rachel, ironically, of being a clone of Jean.) By the beginning of May, she was also experiencing panic attacks, and saw hallucinations on a regular basis.
Today was just one of these occasions. She had wandered into the forest, in an attempt to lose a trail of men in camoflauge that kept training lasers upon her forehead. Yet, just when she thought she'd lost the tiny army, two women ran into a clearing nearby, their chests heaving. One, a short, black woman with a stumpy figure, coughed up a mouthful of blood and spat it into a bush. "Sanctity," she said, turning to her companion, a teenager, "we must stop. We can't keep this up for long."
"If we stop, and Apocalypse's forces reach us, we'll never be able to resist." About twenty more females joined, bending to grip their sides and hurl upon the ground.
"If, yes," the first agreed. "But, there is no 'if' in this route. We will die of exhaustion. Come, we can stay by the riverbank; there'll be plenty of game. Just one night, and then we can start again at dawn, with renewed energy."
Sanctity shook her head. "Dead men have no energy. Replenish yourselves with thoughts of the Chosen One. He would not wa-" But, before she could finish her sentence, an ambush of androids stormed into the group, unleashing fire with lasers and plasma rifles. Rachel covered her face in horror of the massacre. But, just as she had done so, the sounds of warfare stopped. She looked from behind her fingers to find the trees empty and the air quiet. Desperately, she sobbed into her hands, begging whatever higher powers existed for some sort of sanity.
She didn't know how long she had been crying, but some time down the road, she felt a telepathic presence coming toward her fast. She hid behind the tree, just as a fellow X-Man, Wolverine, bound into the clearing, a concerned look on his face. "Come on, darlin'," he spoke to the emptiness. "I can smell you anyway; there's no use hiding."
She slid into view, throwing him an irritated look. "What?"
"I could ask you the same," he replied. "You forget about Survival Fitness, or what?"
"Oh, yeah, sorry about that." Her episode had interrupted her commute to P.E. "I...well, I had this research paper due, and..." She trailed. "Anyway, it won't happen again."
Logan sighed, and dropped onto a log. "Yeah, that's what Ororo told me you'd say. Apparently, you haven't been to Government all week."
Rachel's face blushed. "What, are you spying on me or something?!"
"Kinda." She crossed her arms in defiance, then put a hand on her hip, but failed to think of any better response than, "Why?"
Logan leaned forward, his forearms resting upon his knees, and motioned with his head to the log. "Sit." Seeing no other option, she wiped the running mascara from her eyes and sat beside him, arms crossed, uncomfortable.
Logan was silent for a long time before he spoke. "You know, Jean used to live in Annadale with her parents and her older sister. Nothing special, really, just a simple house in the suburbs. They kept her room the same, after she left for Xavier's. Every summer when she'd visit, she'd just add on to it, so now it's still pink, with stuffed animals, but there's teen posters and stuff."
He chuckled to himself, and Rachel relaxed slightly, appreciative that he was willing to talk to her about Jean. Everyone else in the mansion was terrified to reminisce like this, especially since Maddy Pryor felt extremely threatened by any mention of her husband's dead wife.
"Well," he continued, "toward the end, you know, right before she left, Phoenix was gettin' really hard on her mind. She'd see stuff she couldn't explain, get depressed or violent for no reason, that kind of thing."
"Did she tell the Professor? Maybe he might have known why."
"Nah," he shook his head, "she never wanted anyone to know how hard it was. Felt like she had to prove to all of 'em that she could handle it."
"All except for you," Rachel stated.
Logan shrugged. "She'd already seen inside my mind. I guess she figured I could relate to what she was goin' through. Sometimes I think she didn't even realize how serious it was-what she was goin' through." His voice grew tight, and he hung his head for a second.
"Anyway, when things got really bad, she'd go over to her old house and just sit in that room. I went with her a couple of times. She'd just lay on her bed, and absorb it all for hours. She never mentioned a thing about it, but she'd always come out feeling better." Another pause. "So I thought that maybe you'd want to go there, sometime when your grandparents aren't home. You know, see if it works for you."
Rachel felt her skin grow cold. "My gran-? Oh, no, no. You've got it all wrong-"
"Oh, come on, kid," Wolverine answered, rolling his eyes. "You look exactly like her, you have the same powers as she did, and your fuckin' codename is Phoenix. I'm surprised Cyke hasn't figure it out; I mean, you might as well have worn a huge stamp on your forehead that says 'Summers'."
Rachel's thoughts grew gloomy at the mention of her father. "He hasn't figured it out, because he's so wrapped up in his little Maddy. He doesn't even think to question *her*."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Nothing," she said smugly.
"No, hold on. You're from an alternate reality; I know how these things work. You time-travelers study M.E. more than your own history, so you know exactly what how everything works out. Now what the hell did you mean by that?"
Rachel narrowed her eyes with a smirk. "Something tells me, Mr. Logan, that you have an idea of what I meant already. Why are you getting so suspicious all of a sudden, hm?"
"Well..." he fumbled. "Let's just put it this way: everyone has their own scent. I mean, you may look like a direct copy of your mother, but you smell nothing like her." She cocked an eyebrow at him, and he shrugged. "Not good or bad; I'm just saying. Anyway, everything about that gal is the same as Jeannie. It's not right."
"Yeah, well, I wouldn't worry too much about her." She got up, patting her old uncle on the shoulder as she walked off. "Mom will kick her ass when she gets back."
Logan practically choked on her words. "What?! Gets back?"
"I'll talk to you later, Logan." She waved over her shoulder.
"Wait, what the hell...?" Logan watched her walk away, confused and amused at the same time, and shook his head. ~Just like her mother.~
616 timeline 07-16-2004 Westchester, New York, United States
Needless to say, Rachel's anonymity quickly died out, after her "murder attempt" upon Professor Wagner. While her friends continued to defend her, saying that the incident was nothing more than a loss of control over her abilities, which occurs in many mutants during high school, most of the student body grew extremely suspicious of this mysterious powerhouse. (The fact that Rachel gained full control of her powers in less than two weeks didn't help her case.) In response, she buried herself in her schoolwork, socializing rarely, and only then with a select few.
But the scorn of her peers was of little concern to her, especially in comparison with her own internal developments. A few weeks after she came to the X-Mansion, Rachel began falling into fits of delusion. For the first time in her life, she could dwell on her past, as she no longer needed to fight for her life, or those of her loved ones, every second of the day. Such dwelling soon lead to depression, coupled with the delayed mourning of her closest friends and her first love. She joined the X-Men, giving her less time to think, but her choice to take up the codename Phoenix II earned her even more suspicion, this time from her teammates. (Which was encouraged by Cyclops' new bride, Madelyne Pryor, who had accused Rachel, ironically, of being a clone of Jean.) By the beginning of May, she was also experiencing panic attacks, and saw hallucinations on a regular basis.
Today was just one of these occasions. She had wandered into the forest, in an attempt to lose a trail of men in camoflauge that kept training lasers upon her forehead. Yet, just when she thought she'd lost the tiny army, two women ran into a clearing nearby, their chests heaving. One, a short, black woman with a stumpy figure, coughed up a mouthful of blood and spat it into a bush. "Sanctity," she said, turning to her companion, a teenager, "we must stop. We can't keep this up for long."
"If we stop, and Apocalypse's forces reach us, we'll never be able to resist." About twenty more females joined, bending to grip their sides and hurl upon the ground.
"If, yes," the first agreed. "But, there is no 'if' in this route. We will die of exhaustion. Come, we can stay by the riverbank; there'll be plenty of game. Just one night, and then we can start again at dawn, with renewed energy."
Sanctity shook her head. "Dead men have no energy. Replenish yourselves with thoughts of the Chosen One. He would not wa-" But, before she could finish her sentence, an ambush of androids stormed into the group, unleashing fire with lasers and plasma rifles. Rachel covered her face in horror of the massacre. But, just as she had done so, the sounds of warfare stopped. She looked from behind her fingers to find the trees empty and the air quiet. Desperately, she sobbed into her hands, begging whatever higher powers existed for some sort of sanity.
She didn't know how long she had been crying, but some time down the road, she felt a telepathic presence coming toward her fast. She hid behind the tree, just as a fellow X-Man, Wolverine, bound into the clearing, a concerned look on his face. "Come on, darlin'," he spoke to the emptiness. "I can smell you anyway; there's no use hiding."
She slid into view, throwing him an irritated look. "What?"
"I could ask you the same," he replied. "You forget about Survival Fitness, or what?"
"Oh, yeah, sorry about that." Her episode had interrupted her commute to P.E. "I...well, I had this research paper due, and..." She trailed. "Anyway, it won't happen again."
Logan sighed, and dropped onto a log. "Yeah, that's what Ororo told me you'd say. Apparently, you haven't been to Government all week."
Rachel's face blushed. "What, are you spying on me or something?!"
"Kinda." She crossed her arms in defiance, then put a hand on her hip, but failed to think of any better response than, "Why?"
Logan leaned forward, his forearms resting upon his knees, and motioned with his head to the log. "Sit." Seeing no other option, she wiped the running mascara from her eyes and sat beside him, arms crossed, uncomfortable.
Logan was silent for a long time before he spoke. "You know, Jean used to live in Annadale with her parents and her older sister. Nothing special, really, just a simple house in the suburbs. They kept her room the same, after she left for Xavier's. Every summer when she'd visit, she'd just add on to it, so now it's still pink, with stuffed animals, but there's teen posters and stuff."
He chuckled to himself, and Rachel relaxed slightly, appreciative that he was willing to talk to her about Jean. Everyone else in the mansion was terrified to reminisce like this, especially since Maddy Pryor felt extremely threatened by any mention of her husband's dead wife.
"Well," he continued, "toward the end, you know, right before she left, Phoenix was gettin' really hard on her mind. She'd see stuff she couldn't explain, get depressed or violent for no reason, that kind of thing."
"Did she tell the Professor? Maybe he might have known why."
"Nah," he shook his head, "she never wanted anyone to know how hard it was. Felt like she had to prove to all of 'em that she could handle it."
"All except for you," Rachel stated.
Logan shrugged. "She'd already seen inside my mind. I guess she figured I could relate to what she was goin' through. Sometimes I think she didn't even realize how serious it was-what she was goin' through." His voice grew tight, and he hung his head for a second.
"Anyway, when things got really bad, she'd go over to her old house and just sit in that room. I went with her a couple of times. She'd just lay on her bed, and absorb it all for hours. She never mentioned a thing about it, but she'd always come out feeling better." Another pause. "So I thought that maybe you'd want to go there, sometime when your grandparents aren't home. You know, see if it works for you."
Rachel felt her skin grow cold. "My gran-? Oh, no, no. You've got it all wrong-"
"Oh, come on, kid," Wolverine answered, rolling his eyes. "You look exactly like her, you have the same powers as she did, and your fuckin' codename is Phoenix. I'm surprised Cyke hasn't figure it out; I mean, you might as well have worn a huge stamp on your forehead that says 'Summers'."
Rachel's thoughts grew gloomy at the mention of her father. "He hasn't figured it out, because he's so wrapped up in his little Maddy. He doesn't even think to question *her*."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Nothing," she said smugly.
"No, hold on. You're from an alternate reality; I know how these things work. You time-travelers study M.E. more than your own history, so you know exactly what how everything works out. Now what the hell did you mean by that?"
Rachel narrowed her eyes with a smirk. "Something tells me, Mr. Logan, that you have an idea of what I meant already. Why are you getting so suspicious all of a sudden, hm?"
"Well..." he fumbled. "Let's just put it this way: everyone has their own scent. I mean, you may look like a direct copy of your mother, but you smell nothing like her." She cocked an eyebrow at him, and he shrugged. "Not good or bad; I'm just saying. Anyway, everything about that gal is the same as Jeannie. It's not right."
"Yeah, well, I wouldn't worry too much about her." She got up, patting her old uncle on the shoulder as she walked off. "Mom will kick her ass when she gets back."
Logan practically choked on her words. "What?! Gets back?"
"I'll talk to you later, Logan." She waved over her shoulder.
"Wait, what the hell...?" Logan watched her walk away, confused and amused at the same time, and shook his head. ~Just like her mother.~