Disclaimer: I do not own the X-men

Episode 6: Time Part Three, The Portal

Previously, on NeXt Gen:

"I don't just vant the sword," Nathan said, a little too loudly. "I vant you gone, vanished, dead!"

"Get away from him," Dominique shouted as she spotted them. "Get away from Kish!"

"Maman," Nathan whispered, stepping away, pulling the sword back. He hadn't seen her in years. He felt his chest tighten.

"Who are you?!" she screamed, her fists clenching and purple orbs appearing over them. "Don't you touch him!"

"Maman," he said. "It's... it's me."

"Who," She stopped. "Nathan?"

He pulled off the mask and looked up. The scars covered up most of his face, dark and bruised but mostly recognizable.

"Nathan," she said. "What... but this is impossible. You're... young. You're..."

"I know it's confusing," he said. "I'm sorry it has to be this vay. I have to kill him."

"I--" Dom shook her head. "I won't let you!"

"What the Hell is going on?" Ben said, running into the hall. Jonah stepped out of his room, holding his gun, and Jasmine stepped out of hers.

"Uh Oh," Nathan mumbled. "Um, Eury dude?"

"What?" Eury shouted through the comlink.

"I think we have a problem, Houston."

...

"I think we have a problem, Houston."

"I swear, I won't let you kill him!" Dominique screamed shakily. "Don't do this, Nathan."

"I have to, don't you understand?" he yelled back. "Maman, he has to be stopped now before it's too late! Too late for me, too late for her!"

"I don't know what the Hell you're talking about," Kish cried, trying to pull away. Nathan only pressed down harder with the sword, causing another bead of blood to emerge. "Nathan, let go of me!"

"I von't," he said. "I can't, if only to save her I can't."

"Just talk to me, petit," Dominique begged, taking a step closer hesitantly.

"Don't move," Nathan threatened, backing away, dragging Kish with him.

"Would someone explain what's going on?" Ben shouted.

"Listen, we all want to kill Mr. Darkholme," Jasmine said. "Get in line, kid, okay?"

"Shh," Jonah said, putting a hand on her arm and stepping forward. "Drop the sword, kid. Ah mean it. Ah will shoot at yeh, don't think ah won't."

"I suggest you put the gun away," Nathan said, eyes narrowing. "I can slit his throat and be out of here before you can pull that trigger."

"Then do it," Jonah said, calling his bluff. "Why don't yeh just kill him and get out of here? Apparently, none of us can stop yeh."

"Jonah," Jasmine hissed. "What the Hell are you doing?"

"Ah got this," he whispered back. "What's the matter? Can't do it?"

Nathan growled and tightened his grip on the sword. "I... I can, vatch me."

"We're watchin'," Jonah said. "But ah ain't seein'."

"I've been killing for hire for five years," he shouted at him. "Don't underestimate me. I don't mind killing people."

"But ah don't see yeh killin' anybody." Jonah held out his hand. "Give meh the sword, and we can talk this out, okay Nathan?"

Nathan looked at Dominique, then back at Jonah, still standing with his hand outstretched and his gun at his side. Thinking over his options quickly, he let go of Kish, pushing him away and quickly slashing forward at Jonah. He cut a deep gash from his right shoulder to his left rib cage, and blood immediately began to pour out.

"Jonah!" Jasmine screamed, running to him as he collapsed. "Jonah... are you okay?"

"Aww, and ah thought yeh didn' care," he said, smiling weakly. "Ahm... fine. Git the kid."

She nodded and looked up as Nathan made a run for it. Standing, she bolted after him, tackling himn to the ground as Ben approached with a few rods of steel hovering in front of him. Ben used his powers to wrap the metal around Nathan, blocking movement.

"We have you," Ben said. "Now, explain."

"I came here to get my birthright and kill that murderer," Nathan said, looking at Kish. Kish rubbed his neck, shaking his head.

"But... I'm not a murderer."

"Yet," Nathan spat. "You killed her, like she vas nothing, you didn't even know you did it until I hit you back."

"Hit him back, what is he talking about?" Dominique said, looking at Nathan, then at Kish.

"I don't know," Kish said. "I really don't know what he's talking about."

"Let's say he was a murderer," Ben said. "If you kill him, what does that make you?"

"Step away from him," shouted someone from down the hall. Kennedy had arrived first, adjusting the cowboy hat on her head and preparing her gun.

"Mah hat," Jonah murmured, turning his head.

Jasmine leaped at her, throwing her to the ground and grabbing the hat off of her head. "This isn't yours," she growled.

"It is mine," she retorted hotly. "My birthright."

"What is all this with birthrights?" Ben asked, looking at the sword that Kish had just picked up. "Nathan thinks Mr. Darkholme's sword is his birthright."

"So why is this hers?" Jasmine said, standing, hat in her hands.

"Isn't it obvious?" Ben laughed. "It all makes sense. This girl is Jonah's daughter."

"What?" Jonah said, trying to sit up.

"Kennedy," another girl cried, running up the stairs. Anya's silver hair stood out in the darkness, giving off a faint glow.

"Anya," Kennedy called back. "Get these creeps away from me!"

"Anya?" Kish said, backing up.

Dominique shook her head. "No, no, you can't be Anya."

"Mom, don't make this hard, okay?" she said, running over and helping Kennedy to her feet. "Just let us go, we'll leave and that'll be the end of it."

"Anya is dead, she died when she was four," Kish shouted. "So you can't be her."

"The thing is, I am," she said sheepishly, shrugging. "Let my brother go and we'll be on our way."

"Okay, I am officially confused," Ben said.

"Prepare to be even more confused, Benny boy," Jasmine said, looking at the stairs. "There's a couple of more people coming."

"Eury and Kish-oo," Nathan murmured.

"Kish-oo?" Kish said. "That's what Remy and John used to call me, when I was really little."

"I have a headache," Ben said.

Eury and Kish-oo made it up the stairs. The blond boy ran to Nathan and knelt next to him. "Stupid Nathan, now look what you did. I'm gonna lose my license."

"License for what?" Jasmine asked.

"For time-hopping, okay?" he shouted. "Damn, I knew I should have sent Anya in with you, you little screw up."

"Stop whining and help me," Nathan said angrily.

Kish-oo ran to Anya and grabbed her shirt. "Anyakin, that man is bleeding."

"I know," she said, hugging him as he buried his face in her jacket. "I know, Kish-oo. We'll leave soon and get Happy Meals, okay?"

"Can we just go?" Eury said, standing up. "Just let us leave."

"Not until we have answers," Ben said.

"And yeh ain't leavin with mah hat," Jonah said, finally gaining the strength to stand up. Jasmine rushed to his side, using her sleeve to press on his wound.

"You want answers?" Eury rolled his eyes. "Fine. I'm Eury, that's short for Eureka, got that? I'm a Garstrian, yes that's an alien, with a license to time-hop. That's what I do for fun, see? And these kids are people I picked up from doomed realities. I promised them each a birthright, an heirloom from their parents."

"And who are these kids?" Jasmine turned to look at them, still pressing hard on Jonah's chest, trying to slow the bleeding.

"Anya Darkholme," Eury said. "I saved her from one timeline before she died, taking her to a future that could cure her of her illnesses. She's been traveling with me ever since then. I picked up Nathan Darkholme when he got trapped in the In-Between."

"What's that?" Kish asked.

"It's vhere I go vhen I shadow port," Nathan spoke up. "The In-Between is a dimension. You go through it vhen you teleport, and Eury goes through it vhen he time-hops."

"Nathan got stuck in there a few years back," Anya explained. "He couldn't find the window he came through."

"I got a hold of Kish-oo here by accident," he said. "He spotted us and grabbed on when we hopped. I can't figure out where he comes from, and he won't tell me, so I can't put him back."

Kish-oo giggled. "Time-hopping is loads more fun than sitting in the dome."

"Yeah, loads," Eury muttered. "And Kennedy I picked up when her reality's institute was blown up, killing her parents, Jonah and Jasmine Danger."

"What?!" Jasmine shouted.

"Huh?" Jonah whispered, nearly toppling over in pain. Jasmine grabbed his arm and steadied him.

"That's it, that's everything," Eury said. "Now let us go."

"Wait," Jonah said hoarsely, pushing Jasmine off of him. "You're a time traveler."

"Yeah, so?" Eury said. "That is the basic point of this conversation."

"So you can send meh home," Jonah said, stepping forward. "Can't yeh?"

"Home?" Eury said. He suddenly snapped his fingers. "Of course! You're the one everyone's been talking about, the kid who stepped on a lay-line and fell through."

"What?" Ben looked at Jonah. "I don't believe it."

"He's been telling the truth," Jasmine said slowly. "He's not crazy."

"1885, right?" Eury said. "Sure I can send you home. Right now, if you want."

Jonah's eyes brightened, glittering with tears. "Ah'd like that."

Eury stepped to the side and a hole in space appeared next to him, swirling with a violet blue light. It opened and widened steadily, until the people in the hallway could clearly see hazy visions of a time long gone. Jonah watched as a wagon crossed a dusty road, and a home appeared, out in the middle of nowhere, horses running on the fields.

"Home," he whispered. "That's home."

They saw a woman on the porch, knitting as she rocked back and forth, and a teenage girl sitting on the ground beside her, holding a jar with a butterfly inside.

"Ma, and May, and Pa must be out with James ropin' mustangs," Jonah said. "Without meh."

A horse appeared, a pretty black one with a lighting shape on its flank, and Jonah burst into tears. "Lightnin'," he said. "Send me back, please, let me through."

"Go on whenever you want," Eury said. "You can go home now."

Jonah stepped forward, and he had one foot through when Jasmine screamed. "Jonah, no!"

He turned his head to look at her. "Ahm so close, Jasmine," he said. "Ah can feel it. Ahm goin' home."

"But you're leaving me," she said. "You can't."

"We need you here," Ben said. "I need you here."

Jonah stared at them, then looked back at the portal, at his home, at his time. Jasmine ran forward and touched his arm, then hugged it, sobbing. "Don't leave me, Jonah. I... think I love you."

He looked at her, then at Eury. "Make a decision already," Eury snapped. "I can't keep this thing up forever."

"Ah..." he said, looking at Jasmine again. "Ah... can come back sometime, right Eury?"

"Whenever you want," he said. "Spend a few months home, then call me. I'll drop you off here. If I don't lose my license."

"If you want to go," Ben said sadly. "Go. We'll all miss you."

He nodded and touched Jasmine's hair. "Ahll come back," he said. "Jus' let meh go for a little while. Ahll come back for yeh."

She wiped her eyes and backed away. "Good... good bye."

"Jasmine," he said before stepping through. "Ah love you. Ahll come back, ah promise."

As he walked into the portal, the gate shuddered and fell, Eury dropping to his knees as it disappeared completely. "Man, I hate long goodbyes."

"Bye," Ben said softly. "Jonah Danger."

NEXT: Cosmic Shift