An X-men Evolution Christmas Carol
By HazelEyes 401
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Disclaimer: I don't own X-men Evolution this show belongs to Marvel. I don't own the story A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Chapter 6: The Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come
Logan sat in the kitchen of the institute drinking his root beer and contemplating all of the things he saw this night.
"All I get is a root beer when I need a real drink." Logan complained as he glared at his bottle and then looked at his watch.
"That ghost should be here in a few minutes. If he's the quiet one then all I have to do is go along with whatever he shows me. There is nothing that ghost can show me that can scare me." Logan was overconfident that nothing would change and he would walk away from this night the same as yesterday.
As Logan finished his root beer he heard the grandfather clock ring the hour and sound off three bell tones.
Dong . . . Dong . . . Dong. . .
Logan noticed the final bell ring mysteriously echoed, as if setting up an ominous mood for this final ghost. Logan waited in his chair and started looking around. Since he didn't see the ghost appear in the kitchen he was beginning to think the ghosts only appeared in his room. Logan smirked at this thought and figured he could avoid this ghost altogether as long as he didn't go back to his room.
"This is going to be a piece of cake. Hm . . ." Logan put his empty bottle on the table as a strange sound reached his ears. It sounded like cards were being shuffled and Logan growled as he crept to the kitchen door. Listening for the sound, Logan detected the sound was coming from the dining room. He tiptoed through the mansion, in the meantime slowly and silently releasing his adamantium claws, until he reached the dining room door and quietly slipped inside. Logan could now see a slender cloaked form sitting in a far chair shuffling the cards making them fly into a fine arch over his head then fall back into his other waiting hand. This motion was repeated as Logan crept up to the figure, anticipating the surprise attack the familiar figure would never see coming.
With a running leap Logan jumped over the table preparing to slash the figure sitting in the chair, and unsurprisingly just like before he passed right through the figure to tumble on the floor jumping to his feet to face the cloaked figure in the chair as he prepared to attack again.
"Homme, you are slow. T'ree ot'er of my kind and ya still attack." The figure's speech stopped Logan's attack as he stood from his crouch and menacingly stepped toward the figure.
"GAMBIT, WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!" Logan shouted completely enraged that the Cajun was inside the mansion with the image of Rogue and Gambit still very fresh on his brain.
"You are a few cards short of a full deck." The Spirit chuckled throwing Logan off of his bad mood.
"What was that?" Logan growled to the Spirit as it stood from the chair. Standing the Spirit easily stood 7 feet tall surprising Logan to be mistaken of its identity.
"I said ya are a few cards short of a full deck. What ot'er phrase would ya understand, let's see. How 'bout ya lost a few of yer marbles. I know ya understand dis one: de lights are on but nobody's home." The Spirit's meaning struck Logan and he stepped toward it not caring that it was easily two feet taller than him.
"If you're not Gambit then who are you?" Logan stood toe to toe with the Spirit looking up at red eyes glowing from the black cloaked hood still concealing the face.
"I be de Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come." The Spirit pulled the hood back to reveal Gambit's face and completely shocking Logan into silence.
"What's de matter, James? No words for t'is form." The Spirit asked Logan as he snapped out of his daze.
"Oh no, so you're Christmas yet to come. Great, I thought you were supposed to be the silent one." Logan groaned at the very talkative spirit.
"Well, usually I am but I've seen dat silence will not reach ya. Like I knew my regular form wouldn' reach ya." Christmas Yet To Come explained to a frustrated Logan.
"So why did you take this form, then?" Logan asked as he started getting comfortable with this spirit.
"T'at is a good question. In fact do ya want ta know why all of us chose de forms we was in?" The spirit asked as Logan nodded, his curiosity peaked.
"Well, alright den. First of all, I knew if we came as our normal forms ya'd try ta attack and throw us out," Logan chuckled as he realized the spirit was right.
"So we had ta chose forms dat ya would trust and listen ta. Christmas Past was Thomas Beauregard because t'at is a mutant who can reach inta de minds and bring lost memories ta de surface. I don't t'ink I have ta explain t'e reason for dis." Logan shook his head in the negative agreeing with the spirit. Christmas Yet To Come started walking around Logan as he continued explaining the various forms.
"Christmas Present chose Kathryne Pryde 'cause she is a good friend an' is always happy. She knew ya'd never try ta hurt her." Logan nodded as he agreed with the Spirit's explanations so far. The Spirit stopped in front of Logan staring him in the eyes.
"Dat leaves me. James, do ya know why I came ta ya in dis form?" Christmas Yet To Come asked Logan who began looking bored since that was his question.
"No, why do you think I asked in the first place?" Logan gruffly replied with a question of his own.
"Well den ya know from de stories dat I usually am in de shape of de grim reaper. Dis reaper as ya pointed out earlier is as silent as de grave." Christmas Yet To Come chuckled at his play on words.
"Do ya know why dat is my regular form?"
"Not really." Logan was getting annoyed at being asked the same question twice.
"Most men fear deat' and dat is what the grim reaper is. Dey also fear what is silent and unknown which is de future. Now you are a different story altogether, homme. Ya don' fear deat' so I had ta pick a form dat ya do fear." The Spirit spread his arms out indicating his present form.
"I AM NOT AFRAID OF GAMBIT!!!!!!!!!!!!" Logan yelled in outrage as he stomped up to the relaxed Spirit.
"Well now isn' dat a leap, I never said ya fear dis form specific. What ya fear is what dis form can do?"
"Which is?" Logan asked as he took a step back.
"Ya greatest fear is dat dis form will take away t'at which ya treasure most." The Spirit's words scared Logan causing his stern face to show fear, because it was the truth of his hostilities toward Gambit.
"Dere it is. Now dat ya understand, why don' we get started mon ami." The Spirit charged one of the playing cards and threw it at Logan's feet. The card exploded enveloping Logan and Christmas Yet To Come in a cloud of black smoke.
"I think I preferred flying with Christmas Present." Logan coughed out as they were transported to another Christmas Day and the smoke began clearing.
When the smoke finally cleared, Logan looked up to a dark day in the middle of a building of ruins. The ruins couldn't be called a building since only the foundation and a very few beams still stood as indicators of what once stood. A bolt of lightning flashed across an overcast sky lighting up the landscape. Logan saw a few burned up trees and what could only be guessed was a wall that was blown to pieces. On the far side of the ruins there was a couple of trees that still stood strong and tall. As another bolt of lightning lit up the sky Logan barely caught a couple of heaps lying at the foot of the tree. He had no idea what these were but he was starting to get sick to his stomach as his sense of danger was kicking into overdrive.
'I am not going to let this ghost scare me.' Logan repeated in his head as he regained his composure. Christmas Yet To Come looked down to him as Logan took in his surroundings.
"T'ose who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it." Christmas Yet To Come commented to Logan which brought his attention back to the tall spirit standing beside him.
"Come on, we have a lot t' see and t'ere is a lot t'at ya don' understand." Christmas Yet To Come slowly walked toward the living trees as Logan followed behind. Upon approaching the trees, Logan could see the heaps at the base were really stone tablets sticking up out of the ground. Logan knew in his gut what those tablets were: tombstones.
Logan stopped walking and sensing his hesitation Christmas Yet To Come paused looking back to where Logan froze on the grass.
"James, come along. De sooner ya understand, de sooner ya can go home." Christmas Yet To Come waited as Logan swallowed his pride and continued following the spirit.
"Please let it be me." Logan begged as they neared the tombstones.
"Well, isn' dat interestin'. Most sensible people would want t'ose t' say another person's name. But here you are de one who wants t' be lying here, mon ami." The Spirit noted as they approached the tree and he stepped behind a pair of tombstones to lean on the nearest. Logan couldn't read the writing on the stones from the overgrowth of weeds encasing the tablets as he stopped a fair distance from the stones. The amount of overgrowth indicated the stones were there for a long time.
"Don' ya wanna know who lies here?" The Spirit indicated the stone but Logan kept his distance.
"No, I don't want to know. If it's me that'll be fine but I don't want to find out." Logan admitted his fear to the Spirit as it took out a charged card.
"Well, dat's tough. James, look at de stone." The Spirit ordered flicking the charged card at the base burning up the weeds so Logan could read the writing.
"NOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!" Logan cried in anguish as he read the words he never wanted to read.
Here lies
Anna Marie Beauregard
-Rogue-
A dear sister and good friend
Who is gone but not forgotten.
"She's, she's dead." Logan stumbled toward the tombstone and fell to his knees to place his hand on the tablet finally noticing the year she died.
"What, she dies two years from now?" Logan stared at the date realizing she wouldn't even be twenty when she dies in this future.
"Actually dat would be t'ree years from de time we are in now." The Spirit explained as Logan exploded.
"WHAT HAPPENED?" Logan demanded of the ghost.
"Do ya not know? She left." The Spirit simply stated as Logan stood stunned at the news.
"Yea, ya never could stand Gambit and Rogue bein' toget'er so she did what she said. De day after Christmas ya two had a fight and she left, of course ya dragged her back. After dat she went t' her brother." The Spirit looked up as Logan stood up and began slowly growing paler by the second.
"But . . . no one knew he was a . . . mutant." Logan's mind slowly processed what that meant.
"Dat's right, de people higher up found out and dey were mad. Did ya know dat when a mutant has a person under mind control once dey are released, de person knows dey were bein' controlled?" Logan shook his head to say no.
"Well it's true. When de politicians found out Thomas was a mutant he was kicked out and banned from every office. Since Thomas was kicked out, he no longer had any say on t'ose mutant laws, wit'out him t'e laws sailed through and were enacted in t'e blink of an eye. It was after t'ese laws were enacted t'at the mutant hunts bega. The mansion where Thomas and Rogue lived was attacked and burned t' de ground, but dey ran and survived for 'bout two years. One day a mutant hunting party found de pair and dey were killed t' be made examples. In case yer wondering, ya didn' take dat news too well when ya found out." The Spirit was about to continue explaining when Logan exploded and lashed out at the spirit in rage and hurt.
"THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!!! YOU SAID YOU LOVED HER AND YOU LET HER DIE HERE!!!!!" Logan approached the spirit ready to fight while the Spirit sighed placing a hand on his forehead in frustration.
"First of all, I'll say it one more time: I be de Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come. Second, t'ere is anot'er tombstone. Do ya want t' know whose it is?" The Spirit flicked a charged card to the base of the neighboring stone so Logan could read the words and the stone stunned him into silence.
Here lies
Remy Lebeau
-Gambit-
Gone to be with his soul mate.
We will miss you.
"Dat boy always did love her more dan he loved his own life." Christmas Yet To Come spoke up as Logan remained silent.
"He died not long after Rogue?" Logan asked as he found his voice again.
"Dat's right. He was devastated when he found out, became a zombie after her deat'. Well, de military leaders realized Gambit's talents so dey forced him to gather data on de mutants from Xavier's files t'at were left behind when everyone fled de Institute. So dey forced him t' break in using a control collar but when he came back into de mansion . . . well, his memories tortured him. Dere was no collar or control dat could overcome his emotions. So he destroyed de mansion and everyt'ing in it includin' himself. Do ya recognize dis place, now?" Christmas Yet To Come asked Logan as he looked around much closer. Then he realized where they came out from the smoke – inside the building. Looking at the front he could barely make out the wing of a part of a broken statue at the front lawn.
"THIS IS THE INSTITUTE!" Logan suddenly realized in shock.
"Or what's left of it." Christmas Yet To Come stood up and approached Logan.
"STOP IT! I DON'T WANT TO SEE ANYMORE, SPIRIT!" Logan demanded in his plea.
"Well, dat's jus' tough. We still have more t' see. You WILL see and you WILL understand." The Spirit approached Logan holding up a card and throwing the exploding card to encircle them in black smoke once again.
The black smoke receded as the sound of champagne glasses clinging inside of a fancy building. Logan looked at the couple and his words were silenced at the joy in the midst of this nightmare. The pair was Principal Kelly and a woman wearing a black cocktail dress as they celebrated an occasion.
"Spirit what's going on here? Where have you taken me?" Logan demanded but the Spirit remained silent.
"What! You talk non-stop and now you chose to be silent!" Logan raged as Christmas Yet To Come gazed at him with his red eyes.
"I don' need t' speak dis part. Just watch and ya will understand." The Spirit directed his cloaked arm to the couple and their surroundings.
"We have finally rid this country of the mutant menace." Kelly declared in triumph as his companion agreed.
"Yes, and it only took five years to do it." The woman replied gleefully as she turned around to gaze down a hallway. Logan watched the pair as they walked down the hallway admiring the pictures on the wall and the items in the cases.
"This, this is a museum?" Logan asked the Spirit who nodded his head watching the pair walk off.
"What is it for?" Logan finally asked as he also looked after the pair.
"Let's find out. James, follow dem." Christmas Yet To Come demanded Logan who obediently walked alongside the ghost following the couple in front of them as they continued down the hall. As Logan walked down the hall his eyes wandered over to the walls to stare at the pictures and cases.
"WHAT! IT'S THE X-MEN!!" Logan screamed in fear as he saw the pictures of his friends along with some articles.
"So it is. What do de articles say, James?" The Spirit queried Logan as he looked at the writings.
"It's how they died!" Logan's face scrunched in pain and disgust as he looked around to the history of this twisted future.
"STORM!" Logan read how she was captured and tortured for her powers before she was killed in a lab accident.
"JEAN! SCOTT!" Logan read how the pair fought to protect the mutants fleeing the institute but they were unable to escape to safety. He read further on learning they were killed as mutant hunters tried to capture them.
"THE STUDENTS!!!" Logan saw a large case further down the hall describing how the students tried to fight back when their homes were invaded. Each student had a picture and small biography attached to the articles telling where they were. Logan was slightly relieved to learn some were still alive in mutant camps and hidden since the articles didn't specify what happened to some.
"Spirit, what about Kitty and Kurt?" Logan asked Christmas Yet To Come.
"I guess we have t' continue further if we want t' learn what happened to de ot'ers." Logan followed the spirit as they passed more depictions of mutants with the biographies and what happened to them. As they reached the end, the hallway opened up to a large room with two standing tubes at the back wall and several clear cases aligned in a circle that met at the back canisters.
"I believe this was our greatest victory. Wouldn't you say?" Kelly spoke to his companion as she raised her glass beside him.
"That's right. You finally finished off the leaders of the resistance and as a result wiped out the mutant problem." She congratulated Kelly's actions.
"Spirit, who are they talking about?" Logan asked as he became nauseous at the thought of who they were talking about.
"Let's go see, James." The Spirit and Logan walked up behind the pair and looked at the case showing Kitty and Kurt. The article told of how they were captured and killed.
"NO! NO! NO! THIS CAN'T BE. I SHOULD HAVE BEEN THERE. WHY WASN'T I THERE? SPIRIT ANSWER ME!" Logan screamed at the Spirit as all of his anger from losing his friends and those he cared about was transferred to the Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come.
"I was beginnin' t' wonder when ya would ask." Christmas Yet To Come walked toward the center back wall where two tubes filled with green liquid were located. As Logan approached he saw they were mostly empty except for a skeleton, actually two skeletons.
"Ya weren' t'ere 'cause ya were already gone." Logan stood in front of the tubes as he stared at the adamantium lined skeleton that belonged to him. The tube next to it also held a similar skeleton but this one was smaller and had two claws on each hand with one single claw in each foot.
"LAURA!" Logan turned toward the Spirit and fell to his knees.
"TELL ME THIS DOESN'T HAPPEN! TELL ME THAT THIS FUTURE CAN CHANGE! PLEASE SPIRIT, I'M BEGGING YOU." Logan begged the Spirit on his hands and knees.
"T'ose who don' learn from history are doomed t' repeat it." The Spirit repeated and waited for Logan to catch the meaning.
"The History . . . wait, Spirit is my present this Future's history? Did I cause all of this to happen?" Logan slowly asked as he made the connections between Rogue leaving, the laws going into place and all of the mutants being eradicated.
"Now ya understand." Christmas Yet To Come smiled in response as the room disappeared in a cloud of smoke morphing into a tornado. The wind and smoke whipped around the Spirit and Logan as the shadows of this future started disappearing.
"I CAN CHANGE, SPIRIT! PLEASE GIVE ME THE CHANCE. I WILL CHANGE!" Logan screamed so he could be heard above the howling wind and the red bolts of lightning that shook the air and striking just inches away from Logan.
"James, dis future dat ya just witnessed is only a shadow. But dis shadow will come t' pass if ya continue on in yer ways." The Spirit spoke as it began disappearing. Logan started sobbing as he started to feel all hope was lost.
"James, remember dis: de future is always changin' and is never still."
"WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?" Logan asked as the Spirit's words began to become lost in the wind as the tornado and lightning storm grew stronger and louder.
"Whether or not dis future comes t' pass is all up t' you. James, remember dis night." Christmas Yet To Come began walking back replacing his hood over his head as he melded with the black smoke of the tornado and disappeared.
"WAIT! I CAN CHANGE! I CAN CHANGE! I WILL CHANGE!" Logan screamed at the top of his lungs as the tornado and lightning disappeared and he fell to the ground in a covered heap.
Logan scrambled up and was surprised that he was tangled up in his bed sheets. Frantically looking around he saw his room was just the same as last night and the sun was streaming in the window.
"It's morning. WHAT DAY IS IT?" Logan quickly untangled himself as he scrambled to get off the floor and ran to his window to throw it open. The cold air of the winter morning invaded his lungs as he took several deep breaths to calm his racing heart. The mansion was still standing reassuring Logan that he was back in the present. The singing of birds on this beautiful morning drifted to his ears as he remembered the Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come's final words before he left. Logan knew in his heart that he would change to save his friends.
"Thank you, SPIRITS!" Logan called out to the frigid air as the words carried on the wind.
…………………………
The Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come walked in to join his friends from a cloud of black smoke and looking around he saw someone was missing.
"Where is Christmas Present?" YTC asked Christmas Past pulling back his hood so he could speak with the other ghost.
"Ya scared her again." Christmas Past stated to the taller ghost. YTC walked to the back of the room where he saw a terrified green cloak shaking in the corner with her back facing the wreath.
"It's alright, petite. It's over." YTC gently placed his hand on Christmas Present's head as she looked over her shoulder.
"What happened?" Christmas Present timidly asked the other ghosts.
"Why don' ya listen for yaself." YTC proclaimed as all three ghosts heard a distant call on the wind.
"Thank you, SPIRITS!"
A/N: Alright, the final ghost is always scary. I hope you all have enjoyed this story. In the next chapter, you find out what everyone thinks about Logan's Christmas Conversion. Please review and tell me what you think of this story.