Author's Note: Here it is everyone. The End. I hope you enjoyed the ride.
Perfect Synergy
"There are some things that will unintentionally take over everything about you. I'm very happy to admit that Max has taken over me body and soul. She was a simple idea I had in a time of my life where everything was going horribly wrong and she became something that got me through the worst of times. She's beautiful, she's haunted, she's eccentric, she's a part of myself that I put on paper, she kicks my butt night and day, and the fact that she's grown on more than just myself through these past 21 chapters makes me practically weep with joy. I thank you all for reading Max's story and I hope you have enjoyed it just as much as I did writing it. I'm sorry that she has to meet a terrible end but she had a real run and she doesn't blame me for the ending at all, it's how she wanted to go, fighting the way the daughter of an army Vet would." - Me
Welcome to the last day of my life. I'm not going to try to mislead you or anything. You've stuck around this long I owe you this much. Besides, when you're a ticking time bomb you kind of know when you're set to blow. Even if I wasn't heading out with the flock to be slaughtered I was going to put my head on the chopping block regardless. It's how I was raised. So whatever happens today, I'm not going to spoil anything now, you can be sure a headstone will be made in my name. I won't have a body left behind but I'm pretty sure my parents are going to want to "bury" me. Closure and what not.
Let's get off this topic shall we? I still have a few hours left, why not live them to the fullest? Fuller, fullest, get it?
When I woke up that morning I found myself lying against something soft. I looked around to see myself in Hank's lab once more, this time it wasn't quite so neat. Everything was broken or turned over. Man, what was Hank doing in here last nime? Not dancing I hope, that boy could only do the twist. Otherwise he had two left hand-feet.
I yawned and scratched my head, why was I so comfy? I looked down and saw two bright eyes looking back at me hidden behind tufts of cerulean blue fur. Then the past six hours all came rushing back to me. Hank had grown blue fur. I let out a laugh and hugged him.
"Hey darlin'." I said playfully. The look on Hank's face told me he wasn't in a playing mood. "What's wrong?" I asked with just the slightest bit of pout.
For some reason he was staring at me like I had sprouted horns. "What's wrong? What's wrong! I'm a monster, that's what's wrong!" He snarled rather malevolently.
"Babe, you're aren't a monster. Don't even try to convince yourself of that." I said matter of factly, sitting up as I did.
"Look at me!" He yelled with tears of anger coming to his eyes.
I don't think before I act much, because I slapped him. "I am looking at you Hank! And do you know what I see? A boy that I fell in love with! I don't care what you look like, you're still Hank to me!" I yelled back.
"Yeah, because you're thinking of me how I was." He returned in a huff. "There's no way someone could love someone who looked like this..."
At that I rolled my eyes. "If you think your appearance was all that I liked about you, then you haven't been paying attention at all! I'm thinking about every nice thing you said to me, every bandaged wound, every sweet caress, every gentle kiss, and of every feeling you brought to my heart." My hand rose to my chest of its own accord. "That's what I think of when I think of you, not a face. And of course that insane brilliance in everything that you do. There isn't anything that I don't love about you. There really isn't." I finished my words with a caress to his new rough skin. He gave into the touch and kissed my palm. I had to admit, this new Hank was more affectionate. Perhaps that was his inhibitions going to the wind. Animalistic desire is very sexy.
He wrapped a hand around my neck and pulled my lips to his. "Do you mean that?" He asked when we were just a breath away from a kiss.
I couldn't help it, I laughed. "Of course I do, you dummy." I closed the distance between us and revelled in the moment. Well, I tried to. Hank shot up like a rocket before I could even savor it all properly.
"Crap! I've got to get to the air base!" He swore as he scrambled out of bed. That was the first time I noticed that the clothes he was wearing were hanging on by threads. His body was really filled out now, and it was hard to look away. If you told me a year ago that I would be attracted to a guy with blue skin, covered in blue fur, and yellow eyes, I would've punched you in the face and called the cops. But, here I am. What can you do? Lightning is like love, you never know where it'll strike until it has fallen- Actually, wait a minute.
Something Hank said threw me for a loop. "You're not going to go with the rest of us?" I asked, crawling to the edge of the bed as he was zipping himself up into some sort of suit. He actually had to cut off the sleeves up to the elbow and the legs off above the knees.
He looked at me and shook his head. "I know you're completely accepting of how I am now, but I don't want to face the others just yet. I'm going to head out to the air base to get the jet ready. I'll tell them everything when you all get down there." He explained just as he finished gathering up all his things. "You've made me feel better about my whole situation, you really have. I'm still not ready to explain this," He said with a grand gesture to his torso and face, "to everyone else."
That was more than understandable. I nodded briskly. "I'll give you that. But what am I going to say about this mess?" I said, meaning the room.
"Let them wonder, they'll connect the dots when they see me." True. "But you have to let them know that they have to bring that container over there." He pointed to a large silver container with something black on the lid. It was a tad too far away for me to see what exactly was on it. Nor did I really care.
I nodded again. "Can do. You leaving now?" I asked just as he grabbed a pair of keys and was heading towards the door.
"Yeah, I don't want to take the chance that anyone's awake yet." He admitted. I crawled over to the end of the bed right before he opened the door and pressed my lips against his. I broke away and gave him the best girl pout I could manage. Hank chuckled slightly. "Yes, I love you too." That brought a smile to my face. I kissed him again and let him on his way. The door opened and shut behind him.
Once I was sure he was gone, I cried. God, he had to say that. He just had to say that he loves me. Completely torn, I held my hand to my chest has I choked out sobs. If only I had the courage to tell him. But I couldn't do that. I couldn't shake up his life more than it already was. I don't care what was happening to me, I had no right to put that on him. Even now, I don't regret not telling him. I'm a coward. I couldn't handle it. I couldn't handle taking anything more away from him that hadn't been taken already. His whole identity had been ripped from him. I was going to go no matter what. I wasn't anything important. I laid back down and I tried to calm myself down.
Suddenly, someone opened the door. I blinked open my tired eyes to realize that I'd actually been sleeping. I thanked God silently for giving me that moment. I heard the crunch of glass underneath someone's shoe and I rubbed my eyes with a yawn. Regaining focus I saw Charles walking around the discarded tables, probably looking for someone who wasn't even there. Unless he was looking for me, in which case he was looking in all the wrong spots. I was ten feet behind him on a makeshift bed.
"It's impolite not to knock." I muttered, scratching my head and sitting up as I did. Charles turned immediately and blushed something fierce.
"If you could please right your clothing." He said, barely understandable in his nervousness. I looked down and sure enough my shirt was perfectly askew to expose my nipples. Fancy that. I glanced up and saw Raven, currently blue and absolutely sexy, Sean, and Alex poking their heads past the double doors.
I gave them a tired wink. "Enjoy the show?" I asked, causing Raven to giggle and the boys to pretend that they were doing no such thing.
Oh well, can't save the world practically nude. I thought. Well, I can try. Don't think Shaw will fall for my womanly wiles, though. And by the looks of him when I last saw him he was, like, 60. Um, no thank you. Even I have my standards.
Quickly I fixed my shirt. "I'm decent. Well, at least my clothes are." I informed Charles, and everyone else. Charles returned his gaze to me and let out a sigh of relief.
Being a little more at ease, Charles continued to look around the room. "Where's Hank?" He asked me innocently enough.
To that, I scratched my head and yawned. "Air base." I pointed to the crate on the other side of the room. "He said to bring that." I yawned again and wagged my finger a bit at it before lying back down.
"What the hell happened here?" Someone cursed. I recognized it to be our metal kinetic German. And the fact that he was looking at me told me that he expected an answer. Not that I cared to give one that he'd accept.
I shrugged. "You'll find out soon enough."
With that the rest of the group filed into the room, completely surprised by the sight in front of them. Just as Charles and Erik had been before them. Quickly I got up and bounded over to the crew, more specifically, Raven.
I grasped her delicate and intricate hands and placed a small kiss to her lips. "Honey, don't you know that you can't possibly keep me at bay when you're so blatantly and undeniably stunning? How am I going to be able to focus with you flaunting your beauty everywhere?" Raven looked down at the floor in embarrassment but I could feel Erik looking at us with a smirk. I tilted her chin back up. "I mean it. You're gorgeous." She smiled at me and gave me a kiss back. We touched foreheads for a moment. I twined my fingers with hers and pulled her towards the crate where everyone else was gathered.
With our arrival, Charles opened the crate and we all peered inside. The container was full of nearly identical blue and yellow suits. "Hank has been busy." Erik commented.
"Do we really have to wear these?" Alex asked.
I arched an eyebrow at him and lifted his suit out of the crate. "Unless you want to wear your energy diaper. You won't be scaring anyone in that." Behind me, Charles chuckled.
"And seeing as none of us are mutated to endure extreme g-force or being riddled by bullets, I suggest we suit up." Charles said, motioning for me to drop the suit. I did so and he shut the crate. Without waiting for anyone to tell us, I grabbed one end of the container and Alex grabbed the other. Before we could get going Charles stopped me with a hand on my arm.
"What is that on your shoulder?" He asked, sternly.
Oop. Busted. Caught redhanded by the poh-lice.
"Tattoo." Was my frank reply as Alex and I carried the container out the door and down the stairs, leaving Charles and his contempt in the dust. Of course, I got the bottom of this situation. Heading down the stairs with most of the weight on me. "Oi! Are you even holding on? Feels like I'm carrying this bloody thing all by me lonesome!" I said rather loudly in a fake British accent, for whatever the reason. Alex laughed at that.
Suddenly, the load seemed heavier. I didn't even need to look to know what was going on.
"HEY! PICK UP YOUR END RIGHT NOW!" I commanded. And I was right! Alex and dropped his end and I was now lugging the whole thing down the stairs myself. "You know what, fine!" I exclaimed before I got out of the way and let go of the crate entirely. Without anyone to hold onto it, the crate clanged and banged down the last flight of stairs. Alex went to grab ahold of it but made it as far to where I was before he gave up on that. Lost cause. He dropped an outstretched hand and gave me a look of entertained disbelief.
A laugh escaped him. "You would, wouldn't you?"
I crossed my arms and nodded with a smug smirk. "One thing a little sister learns to do is how to out stubborn her giant older brothers. Even if she doesn't have the size or the power, she mostly certainly would have the last word." I gave him a little "hmph" and continued down the stairs. Alex laughed and came down beside me.
"You're a great sister, even if we're not related by blood." He said quietly, giving my hand a gentle squeeze before rushing down the rest of the steps. Wow. I didn't expect that. I felt my cheeks going a bit pink. I brought my hand up to feel the warmth. Jesus shit, it's not like he grabbed my butt or anything.
From up above I could hear the others heading down the stairs so I decided to not stand there like an idiot and move forward. I continued down the steps to help Alex with the crate I'd so gloriously dropped when I heard, "Max, wait!" I looked up and saw Raven hurrying down the stairs with a bag in her hand.
"What's up?" I asked, standing up straight.
"You can't think I'm going to let you go out in public in nothing more than your underwear." She said in a cross tone. That's when she shoved the bag in my face. Inside was a pair of jeans, a shirt, and a jacket. Oh Raven. I gave her the most exasperated look I could muster. "Don't look at me like that. Saving the world can wait for you to put some clothes on."
I shrugged. "If you say so. But if Shaw and his minions strike within the next minute, we know who we're going to blame." Raven chuckled. So, in the middle of all of my friends, I ripped off the shirt I was wearing and began pulling on the clothes provided. I figured the others had just grown used to my nakedness. Once I was done Raven gave me a shove.
"Can you at least pretend to be a care about privacy?" She laughed.
"I could, I just choose not to." I winked at her and went back over to the crate where Alex was shaking his head. He was used to it. We lifted the crate and continued out to the garage. Charles had two cars set up for us. We can all fit into one, I'm sure. There's only six of us.
Why did I say anything?
"Sorry I'm late!" I turned to see Moira rushing up to Charles. I couldn't help the quiet groan I let out.
Charles smiled at her,. "It's alright, we just got down here." I made several quiet gagging noises which seemed to entertain Raven and Alex, but not so much Charles. There was this sharp pain in the back of my head. Honestly, is Charles asking me to encompass my noggin? Well, can't really do it now. We need Charles's head to be intact for what's to come.
I groaned. "Can we get going? Got a war to prevent, y'know. Psycho mutant to put down." I said rather crudely. With the keys in the ignition of one of the cars I popped the trunk and Alex helped me lift the crate inside. "Alex, Raven, Sean, and I will take this one. When the rest of you are ready to cease this gab fest, you can join us!" I said with a flip of my hair. And like trained hounds my fellow mutants joined me. Alex took the drivers seat, Sean took the passengers, leaving the back to Raven and myself.
"Way to bitch out the parents." Alex grinned from the front seat as we headed towards the air base.
"It's really just Moira, she pisses me off." I explained in a bit of a huff.
"Really? I think she's kind of hot." Sean drawled.
I guffawed. "She's like, 80! Or at least she acts like it!"
At that we all laughed. The rest of the car ride was spent in moderate silence. Every now and then an observation would be made and a brief conversation would bloom but they never lasted more than a minute. Good thing the CIA air base was only thirty miles away so we made it there in 40 minutes, give or take. The first thing we did when we parked was figuring out which uniform when to each mutant. Sean's had wings and Alex's had the disk, so those were evident, but Raven and I couldn't tell which belonged to us.
"Did Hank think to put our names on a tag or something?" I asked no one in particular as I looked all over the uniform I had in my hands. Just as I said it though I found quite a feminine uniform with extra room in the chest region. I picked it up and handed it to Raven. "To the only mutant with boobs."
She smiled with a light laugh. "You have them." That nearly forced me to roll my eyes.
I grabbed my boobs. "These are buds. Barely buds. Nothing in comparison to yours."
"They're perfect. Now stop insulting them or they'll get smaller." She chastised as she picked up a uniform with no sleeves. "For some reason I think this belongs to you." I observed the uniform, there was no metal on any part of it. Yup, this is mine.
I kissed Raven on the cheek. "Thank you, darling." And then not a second later I started stripping again.
"Most people would take the time to go elsewhere to change." Alex commented dryly, having come back from changing. He only had his suit zipped up to his hips, leaving his perfectly chiseled body open for staring. Oh thank you Lord for gorgeous men with gorgeous abs.
"When did you get that?" Sean asked, pointing a gloved hand at Alex's back. And either Alex had some scar or wound or mole or alien on his back, or he was talking about the fresh tattoo on his shoulder.
Alex looked back at him with a bit of a smile. "Got it the same day Max got hers."
The red head looked up at my bare back as I started to pull on my suit. "They're matching tats!" He exclaimed, in an almost idiotic tone.
"Wait, what?" Raven asked, clearly confused. I realized she was completely naked as she came back into view, not that we could see anything (dammit), and rushed forward to turn Alex around and compare the tattoos. "They're exactly the same!" She exclaimed as well, practically dumbfounded.
I sighed. It's almost like we planned it. "Yeah, we got matching tats." Repeating what the others had said for the third time, hoping they'd drop it. I was about to walk out when I saw a camera sitting on a table.
"Hey! You guys should take a picture of us!" I said before throwing the camera to Sean and grabbed Alex without so much of an explanation. But, honestly, wasn't what I said explanation enough? I don't know why I had the sudden need to have my picture taken... Okay, I did. I wanted some memorabilia of me when I was gone for the people I cared about most. So they knew I was happy, that I made the right choice. That they wouldn't feel quite so bad knowing the truth. That I had died doing what I loved. That even though I wouldn't reach adulthood, that even though they'd never know how much I matured they could still know that I was still the girl that was raised by Dum Dum Dugen. That no matter the danger, I would do whatever it takes and I could smile doing it. Smiling fondly I turned Alex briskly so our backs were the point of focus and I brought my arms up to flex all manly like. Alex shook his head but did the same.
"Max, get your hair out of the way!" Sean commanded. I huffed but I listened. I pulled my hair over my left shoulder and went back to posing. "Now, say mutant!"
"Mutant!" Alex and I both said in unison, granted my tone was a bit more excited than his.
There were a couple of flashes, the sound of film processing, and then silence. "All done! Now cover up will ya?"
I stuck my tongue out at Sean but did as he asked. I put my arms through the non-existent sleeves and Raven zipped me up. Then she quickly put on her suit. When she zipped herself up, something didn't look quite right. I came in front of her and held my chin in my hand, wondering what was wrong with the whole deal. With a snap of my finger I reached forward and unzipped it until her cleavage was exposed.
I gave her boobs a good pat. "That's better. Can't have you overheating on us now can we?" I said with a mischievous smile.
"You two are ridiculous." Alex said behind us as he tried to zip himself up. But for some reason I think he had some trouble finding the zipper. I walked over to him and used my electrical field to find the metal. It was on his right hip. The zipper was off center to accommodate Alex's disk. Good thinking there Hank. I reached for the zipper and Alex held his disk up against his chest to get it out of my way. With one quick motion he was all zipped up.
"Thanks." He muttered.
"Not a problem."
Charles, Erik, and Moira arrived shortly after and it took them another ten minutes to get ready so we waited patiently while mom and dad got dressed up for work. After we had, finally, all suited up we entered the hanger that Hank had reserved. The jet that was waiting for us was like none I had ever seen, and, being and army brat during the Cold War, I had seen quite a few. More than a few. Just a bit. I couldn't even explain it, it was like something out of a Sci-Fi movie. Something completely unheard of but yet, there it was. In all of it's glory. When I got done oogling the plane I joined the others. We all got into a straight line, minus Moira who was talking to the CIA, and waited for Hank to emerge. The suspense must've been killing everyone else, since I knew the truth I felt no such thing. I'm sure I'd be feeling something soon though after the numbness of me dying before sunset finally seeped into my bones. But that wasn't happening quite yet.
"Where's Hank?" Raven asked, finally pointing out the gargantuan elephant in the room.
I was about to answer her when a deep "I'm here." resonated through the hanger. All of our heads snapped up to look at the owner of the voice. I'm sure everyone was confused by the large behemoth (sorry Hank) coming our way. Tall, blue, and covered in fur. The group was safe to assume that it wasn't Hank from what they knew. But, this is who Hank is now. Might take them a moment to wrap their head around it. While the rest of us watched him approach, someone spoke.
Of course it was Charles. "Hank?" He asked tentatively.
It took a little while but finally Hank was in front of us. He was nothing like the scrawny chestnut haired awkward scientist that they knew. He was ferocious, fierce and still the man I loved.
Quietly, Hank spoke. "It didn't attack the cells, it enhanced them." He looked down at his feet. "It didn't work."
I was about to reach forward and comfort him when Raven beat me to it.
"Yes it did, Hank." She said so sincerely it twanged at my heart. "Don't you see? This is who you were meant to be." She cupped her hand against his face. "This is you. No more hiding." Raven's hand dropped as she finished consoling him.
'Thank you.' I mouthed at her, having the same sort of understanding I did when it came to Hank's new form.
Erik reached up and clapped him on the shoulder amicably. "Never looked better, man."
Then, faster than humanly possibly, and more accurately, Hank started to strangle Erik.
"Hank?" Charles asked from the other end of the line.
Charles, he's trying to murder Erik, can you act a bit more rash than just asking a question?
Slowly, but surely, Erik was turning purple and shaking profusely. "Don't," Hank snarled, "mock me." I stepped out and began rubbing Hank's free arm, trying to soothe him, calm him down. He was volatile and feral in it's purest form. At first he started to turned as if to strangle me as well but his eyes softened upon connecting with mine.
'Calm.' I mouthed at him, trying to ease him to a degree.
"Hank, put him down immediately, please. Hank, Hank!" Charles demanded harshly. Hank looked at me out of the corner of his eye and dropped Erik straight to the floor.
Gasping for air, Erik looked up at the man who almost killed him. "I wasn't." He assured that same man.
"Even I have to admit that you look pretty bad ass." Alex started, causing me to smile. "I think I have a new name for you." He paused. "Beast." Hank let out a low growl in approval of his new name. His chest puffed out in pride. Anything had to be better than 'Bozo'. I smiled at my beautiful man, got up on my tiptoes, and kissed his cheek.
"You sure you can fly this thing?" Sean asked, getting us back on track with the whole world saving thing. Kind of important if you asked me.
Hank brought his attention back to the task at hand as well. "Of course I can, I designed it."
"Uh, excuse me?" I laughed easily. "I knew you were a genius but now you design planes in your spare time? Honey, you're makin' momma over here look like a slacker." I whined with a slap to his arm. He just smiled at me fondly and kissed the top of my head. "Overachiever." I grumbled not quite backing down, getting a low chuckle from him.
"Come on, let's get strapped in." He said and beckoned all of us to get in the jet. Just then Moira came running out from wherever she was.
"Estimated arrival of Russia's fleet at the line is 10:30. If we leave now we should be there a few minutes beforehand." She informed us. For some reason she was wearing a grey jumpsuit. Well, for some reason the rest of us were wearing blue and yellow skin tight suits. Aside from G-Force and bullets. Well, we looked hot. She looked frumpy. Let the blue and yellow suits live long and prosper.
Beside me, Hank nodded. "Sounds about right. Everyone in the jet!" He called as he ran to the door of the plane. Seconds before he did that he had wrapped his hand around mine so I was forcefully dragged along with him.
"Slow down!" I laughed when we took off. He looked back and just smiled. Wow, I kind of like this new Hank. He lacks all inhibitions, it's absolutely riveting, and he acted as though he was free as a bird. Behind us I could feel everyone staring. As a way to say 'screw you' we stopped and I kissed Hank for everything he, as well as I, was worth. The teeth were a bit of an obstacle, but a girl could learn to work around those.
Someone smacked the back of my head. "You two need to get a room." I turned and it was none other than the infamous Alex so when he passed me I planted my foot on his ass and gave it a mighty shove. He turned abruptly and reached out to put me in a headlock. "Do you want to smell my armpit again?"
What kind of question is that? "Um, no?" I sort of asked/said. But I don't think he was giving me an option since I had barely closed my mouth when he shoved my head in his pit and wouldn't let go.
"You two, on the jet!" Someone yelled from behind us. More likely than not, it was Charles.
Alex let me go (air is nice thank you) and gave me a hand up onto the plane. Hank was already aboard, probably got on while Alex was being a prick, perfect opportunity too. He waved at me as I passed. See? He's not different at all. He still has those cute little things that he does. Actually, he wasn't waving, he was handing me a headset. Oh. My bad. I put the headset on and took the farthest seat on the right side of the plane, across from Raven and next to Alex. Of course I'd get the seat next to that dunderhead. Right as I sat down I started punching him as hard as I could.
"You're an ass!" I yelled quietly. He just put me into another head lock and gave me a wild noogie. Ow, oW. Honestly, my scalp was burning. Frantically I shoved his hands away. "Get out of here, I want to take a nap." I protested. Alex shrugged, stopped noogieing me, and offered his shoulder for a pillow. That was kind of him. I happily accepted it and quickly drifted off.
Those few seconds before I conked out, I was fighting off my own imagination. All of the things that could go wrong. The fact that I was dying. I was already starting to feel it. Well, I had been for weeks. There was a distinct tingly sensation coursing through my body non-stop for the last month or so. I knew I didn't have long. I barely had any time left. Before I knew it I would be gone. I'd be gone and I prayed to God that I wouldn't have to tell anyone else. That I wouldn't have to see their crying faces when the time came. God knows that would just destroy me.
"We're going to reach the embargo line in t-minus five minutes."
Having dozed off rather royally, I shot up from Alex's shoulder fast enough to snap my neck. I might have, actually. I felt a bit of ricochet on that. And not to mention it was really sore. My eyes took a second to get adjusted to the light. God how I hated those first few seconds after you wake up, blinding light that just makes you want to close your eyes and conk out again. But I couldn't, world to save, war to prevent, a psychopath to stop, my own death to experience. Overall, a very packed day. That's why I needed my rest! Maybe just... a few... more... min...
"Hey, no more sleeping." Someone said beside me.
I grumbled some sort of response, must have been slightly comprehensible because they laughed.
"I know, I know. Not enough hours in the day."
At that, I groaned. Why did this ass have to remind me? I was feeling enough pressure as it was. Try to save the world without combusting? Yeah, you do that successfully and get back to me. Kay?
For some reason, I was shoved. "Get up."
Okay. That got my attention. I became more alert and blinked several times to get all of the sleep out of me. Stretching to the best of my ability strapped into my seat, I snorted and spat into a nearby waste basket. "How close are we?" I asked whoever was around me.
"Nearly there. Four minutes, tops." I turned to see that it was Alex. Of course it is, he was sitting next to me when I dozed off. I wiped the drool off my face and onto him. He just looked at me with a sad face, not saying anything.
"What?" I asked him.
He shook his head. "It's nothing."
The next minute or so passed in a completely awkward stone cold silence. Everyone was so wound up in their nerves I don't think they could even breathe easily, I knew I couldn't. Honestly? My heart rate was getting up into the not-human levels. Never had I ever felt so nervous. With good reason. The tingling sensation was getting worse, my skin was practically crawling. I didn't dare look at it. Lest I make it all worse for me than it already was. I was never going to see these people ever again and I knew that I was kicking the can pretty hard... I just didn't know when! It was absolutely maddening! I felt my entire body trying to come alive and electrocute everyone around me. It took everything I had to keep it all inside. Tingling sensation aside, I could barely control my powers anymore. Am I even going to make it there? I thought. Oh my God, will I have to see Hank's face when it happens? Raven's? Should I just jump from the plane and end it? Maybe I should...
'Breathe Maxine. Calm your mind. You're going to drive yourself mad with those sorts of thoughts.' I heard in the corner of my mind. 'We did some tests yesterday, remember? You'll be fine. You are fine.'
I looked across the aisle to see Charles with his fingers in their usual telepath spot.
I smiled softly. 'Thanks.' I projected back. For some reason I felt a hundred times better and everyone looked as if they did as well. Was that Charles's doing? Probably. But I was thankful anyway. I felt my nerves untangle and ease up gradually. Good thing too, combine a live-wire with anxiety and the outcome isn't pretty.
"We're here." Hank's voice rang out from my headset. We all sat up and looked out the window at the armada of American and Russian ships. I reached into the belt of my suit and pulled out a pair of gloves Hank had given me. There were conductors on the inside and insulators on the outside to enhance the bursts from my skin but I was still able to touch the people around me. "It looks pretty messy out there." Hank informed us from the cockpit. And he was right, it was a mess. This whole deal was just one big catastrophe after another.
Back across the aisle Charles had put his fingers back on his temple for whatever reason. My assumption? Probably to gauge the situation on the water. He closed his eyes and waited for a second only to open them a moment later. "The crew of the Aral Sea are all dead. Shaw's been there." He explained to us, mostly to our resident German.
God, he doesn't care who he kills does he?
"He's still here, somewhere." Erik replied to his friend, sure that Shaw wouldn't leave this battle until he'd shed the maximum amount of blood.
"He set the ship on course for the embargo line." Charles continued to inform.
Next to speak was Moira. "If that ship crosses the line our boys are going to blow it up... and the war begins."
"Unless they're not our boys." The telepath cryptically answered.
Who else will blow up the ship? Us? We're still American, most of us are, anyway, so that would still have the same result!
Charles squeezed his eyes shut and went back to using his telepathic methods. In a matter of seconds a missile was shot out of one of the Russian's ships and was headed right for us. Guess that's what he meant, hope he doesn't kill us in the process! Hank expertly jerked us out of the way, causing Raven to scream and the rest of us to thrash about. She really didn't do well in these situations. But I started letting out some pretty loud shrieks when suddenly gravity was pulling me towards the ocean.
"Hold on!" Charles screamed as he held down his sister. In my headset I could hear Hank snarl as he tried to steady the plane. Before he could the ship approaching the embargo line was impacted by the missile and there was a massive explosion.
Now, with a steady ship, Hank said, albeit a bit breathless, "A little warning next time, Professor."
Yeah, Charles, little warning before you try to kill us!
"Sorry about that." He responded. And to Sean he asked, "You alright?"
"Yeah." The redhead said in the most exhausted/exasperated tone I had heard all day.
"Just your every day tumble to avoid a missile." I said with a forced flippancy. I was secretly freaking out on the inside. Don't mind heights, don't mind tumbling, but tumbling in the air if a steel death trap? Yeah. Not my cup of tea. Probably sensing my nervousness Alex gave my hand a squeeze.
As she was clicking away at some switches, Moira said, "That was inspired, Charles."
And dangerous, but who wants to admit that?
"Thank you very much but I still can't locate Shaw." Charles admitted, his fingers still in place.
Across from Charles, Erik yelled, "He's down there, we need to find him now!" I never did get to learn the beef Erik had with Shaw but by the psychopaths endearing personality I'm sure there was a more than reasonable cause.
Charles turned to the cockpit. "Hank?"
"Is there anything unusual on the radar or scanners?" Our pilot asked Moira.
She took a second to examine each screen in front of her. "No, nothing."
"Then he must be underwater," Hank started, "and obviously we don't have sonar." He finished and I thought I heard Erik sigh.
"Yes we do." Sean said across the way. We have sonar? Where- oh. Yeah. Forgot, Sean's our resident bat.
"Yes we do." Charles agreed as Erik, Sean, and himself undid their seatbelt. Charles and Sean started using some of those things you see people holding onto on subways to approach the middle of the plane. "Hank! Level the bloody plane!" He yelled and Hank did his best to follow through with his instruction.
Once Erik joined them on the other side of the opening doors Sean exclaimed, "Whoa! You back right off!" I assumed he was remembering the time Erik pushed him off the satellite. Hard to forget something like that, even with Sean's spotty memory. Erik held up his hands in a mock surrender.
"Beast, open the bomb bay doors!" Sean yelled up to the cockpit since the three of them took off their headsets. As the bomb bay doors opened it got particularly difficult to hear, but lucky for me I still could make a word or two (or all of them) out.
"Remember! This is a muscle," Charles yelled over the sound of whipping air as he wrapped his hand around Sean's throat, "you control it!" He lifted his fingers to his temple. "You'll be in here the entire time! We'll see you soon!" He removed himself from Sean and took a precautionary step back. "On my mark! Three! Two! One!"
"Woooooooooo!" Sean yelled as he dropped from the plane in a pencil dive. Other than that I really had no idea what was happening. I assumed Sean was flying and, eventually, diving. I had super senses but I wasn't quite to the point of x-ray vision... yet.
A few seconds later Moira was talking into her headset. "Alert the fleet, they may want to take their cans off." I assumed she was talking to some CIA official. Didn't want our boys going deaf, I assume. About a minute later Charles had a look on his face.
"Banshee has got a location on Shaw." He said to us before looking directly at Erik. "Are you ready for this?"
Erik tugged at his gloves. "Let's find out."
Hank probably hit some button because the door that led to the front wheel opened and Erik clung to it as it swing down. I couldn't hear anything after that due to the wind and the fact that Charles didn't say anything. No one on board said anything either, we were too busy waiting for something to happen. God we'd all go nuts if we just sat around waiting. About half a minute later you could see a submarine being lifted out of the water, slow, but steady. Wow. If Erik can do that- again, core of the Earth. He is one powerful dude.
Upon realizing that they were no longer underwater, and not by their own accord, the mutant that could whip up whirlwinds decided to deal with us. He climbed out of the submarine hatch and started spinning around to turn himself into the gusts of wind he kicked up so easily.
That's when Charles screamed, "Erik, take my hand!"
"Hold on guys, it's going to get bumpy." Hank informed us just as we were hit.
Without bothering to think, I jumped into action. Immediately I unclasped my belt and headed over to where Charles was. What was I doing exactly? I stopped asking myself that a long time ago. Even though the submarine was approaching shore the whirlwind was still threatening the safety of everyone on board the jet. I didn't wait any longer. I used my electrical field to secure myself to the top of the inside of the craft and I felt my entire body turn to electricity. This isn't where I die, I assure you. But I manually turned into electricity and used all of my concentration, power, and experience to turn myself into a lightning bolt.
Planting my feet and crouching I shot out of the opening, just a fragment of light, straight into the whirlwind. There was no physical form there for me to fight so I just kept sending off electrical pulses. Waves upon waves of electrical field shaking and disrupting the mutants abilities. And, eventually, my plan worked. The whirlwind disipated and I didn't have anything keeping me up anymore. So, naturally, I found myself falling towards the beach. What a lame way to die.
Wait, if I can turn into lightning- Ceasing brain activity and just relying on impulse I concentrated on one point on the ground and surged. Suddenly, I was there. Safe and sound. I was a little unsteady on my feet but I managed to right myself. I looked down as I slowly began to retain my physical form. The electricity absorbed back into my system and I was Max again. All of that, just in time for the big battle! To my left, Azazel, Angel, and the wind guy were all lined up. To my right, Erik, Hank, and Alex were all emerging from the destroyed jet.
I wonder if it's intact enough to bring us home. I contemplated. Well, bring them home anyway.
I ran over to my teammates and Alex clapped me on the back. Admittedly, turning into lightning was absolutely exhausting. I charged a bit of energy to keep my reflexes alert for what was to come. Angel made the first move by flying up into their air while wind guy went next by whipping up two whirlwinds in his hands. Alex shot out some energy at them causing Azazel to teleport and silent guy to fall on his face. I took advantage of his situation and charged. I summoned all that I could to my arms as I ran. It was rather hard to run on dry sand. Just as I crossed the halfway point, purple suit got back up. I used some energy to propel me forward to increase my speed and strength as I punched him square in the jaw. My theory was, keep it at close combat. He seemed to excel in ranged. As did I, but I also excelled in close quarters.
Thank you Dugen boys for teaching me how to box!
Purple guy got up right as he right the ground and started punching back. He gave a quick left jab, I blocked it easily, he hooked right, I just managed to dodge that one, a well powered uppercut and I had to do a back walkover to get out of the way and simultaneously kick him in the jaw.
Fuck, that's too much distance.
He whipped up a tornado that threw me back twenty feet. I looked up, ready to keep going, except Erik had crushed him underneath a part of the submarine. Guess he was out for the count. Not even dwelling on it I tried to see where Alex and Hank had gone. I whipped my head around, tried to sense them, but they were no where to be found. I guessed that Azazel had taken the fight elsewhere. To where? I had no clue.
Out in the middle of the ocean I could see Sean had emerged and Angel was giving him a run for his money. I watched them, wondering if it was worth the effort to try and help him. But, eventually, Angel fell and Sean seemed to be victorious. Yes! I cheered internally.
The more I looked the more I came to realize that Sean was carrying somebody across the water. It looked too thin to be Hank so I guessed Alex. Leaving Hank to fight Azazel all on his own. As Sean came closer to shore I saw that he was struggling severely to keep them both up in the air which meant that Angel wouldn't be far behind them. Once they were over land, Sean dropped Alex all of five feet and dove into the sand. I ran over to them and I dropped next to Sean in time to notice that one of his wings was on fire. I threw some sand on it as Alex scrambled over to us as well.
"Your lip is bleeding." He informed me, a bit breathless.
I looked at him sarcastically. "Really? Sean's more injured than me why can't you-"
"Look out!" Sean yelled and pointed to Angel. Alex turned around and used his powers to knock her down. Sean laughed in relief, so did I. That's when my face started to burn. I brought my hand up to feel a cauterized wound there on my left cheek. Looks like Alex nicked me. But how? When he turned back around I saw that his disk was no longer in place. Must've come off in battle, at least that was my assumption.
Alex looked up at me. "Fuck. I got you, didn't I?"
I shoved him. "It's just a scratch. Don't worry about it we have more pressing matters to attend to!"
We were momentarily distracted by the clanging going on in the submarine. Guess Erik found Shaw! Hope he kicked some major ass in there. Old creep deserved whatever he got. Almost too caught up in wishing Shaw's death I almost didn't notice that behind me, Azazel had materialized. It took me a second to recognize the familiar sound meaning he'd joined the party so I turned to see him pinning Hank down with his tail getting dangerously close to his eye. Hank let out a snarl and I scrambled to my feet, ready to drop kick that son of a bitch.
"Stop, Azazel." I heard someone say. I looked up to the wreckage of the jet to see none other than Shaw in his odd helmet.
What's Erik doing in the sub then?
Shaking my head I took advantage of Azazel's distraction to charge and kick him in the face. He fell and I helped Hank to his feet. As soon as he was standing I heard Azazel disappear again. Apparently he materialized behind me because Hank pushed me aside and walloped him right in the gut. He didn't get up this time. I looked back to Shaw, ready to pummel him until he bled black and blue to see that 'Shaw' was now Raven.
The world makes sense again. Where have I heard that one before? I ran over to my friend, hugged her, and planted kisses all over her face. Then I hugged her again.
"Thank you." I whispered to her as she wrapped her hands around my waist. Raven really was a good friend, and an intelligent fighter.
Someone grunting off in the distance brought our attention back to Sean who had severely injured his arm. The three of us ran over to help him. Just as Raven and I reached Alex who was already beside him, there was a blood curdling scream coming from the jet. One like I'd never heard before. My head turned sharply to see what was going on. Wind guy, Angel, and Azazel were all present and accounted for so I didn't worry about the safety of those on the jet, and yet they were still screaming. I did notice something else. Someone among us had flat-lined. I didn't know who it was exactly, but it wasn't a heart rate I was familiar with. So I assumed someone who got knocked down got knocked down a little to hard, or Erik had dealt with Shaw. I sort of hoped it was Shaw because the others weren't so bad. Sheep following the flock.
Back near the jet, Moira and Charles came to join the party just as we had gotten Sean up and were helping him move. The sound of moving metal could be heard so we all looked up. Erik had emerged from the sub wearing the funky helmet. I didn't notice this at first seeing as the main point of focus was directed straight at the dead body he was levitating.
"Today our fighting stops!" He yelled, controlling the body for a time but eventually he let it drop to the ground in one sickening crack. I winced at the sound. I'm no pansy, but I still don't like the idea of a dead body. I recognized the body to be Shaw's. Out in my peripherals I saw his band of mutants approaching their ring leader's corpse.
Erik finally touched ground as well. "Take off your blinders, brothers and sisters! The real enemy is out there." He pointed out to the ships in the water. "I feel their guns moving in the water, their metal, targeting us. Americans, Soviets," He paused, his tone cloaked in darkness. "humans. United in their fear of the unknown. The Neanderthal is running scared my fellow mutants!" He paused his monologue briefly. "Go ahead, Charles, tell me I'm wrong."
Charles placed his fingers on his temple for a moment, his face grew pained before turning to Moira who understood what his look meant and ran off to the wrecked jet.
There was no way we're getting back on that jet. Not that I had time to worry about that with the hundreds of missiles coming towards us.
Each ship had sent out their entire payload. Determined to end us. I grabbed Hank's hand in fear. I didn't want to die just then, I really didn't. Not like that. They kept getting closer and closer when, finally, Erik held out a hand and stopped each and every projectile dead in its tracks. I was able to breathe a bit easier, knowing that I wasn't going to die just yet. But when Erik turned them all around to go back at the people who first sent them, my heart went into overdrive. I squeezed my hand tightly around Hank's, causing him to look at me. I wasn't paying much attention to him though. I was getting ready to attack Erik if necessary. And I assumed it was going to be necessary.
Charles finally spoke, though a bit shakier than usual. "You said yourself, we're the better men. This is the time to prove it. There are thousands of men on those ships, good, honest, innocent men!" He paused. "They're just following orders."
I sensed something spike in Erik, something dangerous. "I've been at the mercy of men just following orders. Never again." With a grand gesture, Erik sent the missiles off.
"Erik, release them!" Charles tried to command, to no avail. That's when I decided to take things into my own hands. I barreled at Erik and tackled him to the ground.
"I did not risk my last days to save the human race just to have you try and kill them all over again!" I yelled as I punched him several times in the face. My knuckles split open several times as they connected with his helmet as I tried to beat him senseless.
Beneath me, Erik struggled. "I don't want to hurt you! Don't make me!" He threatened before elbowing me in the face and continuing to send off the missiles. I clutched my throbbing nose and saw the others try to approach. "Stand back!" He yelled as he used the metal of their suits to send them flying back, all except for Raven. When I continued to fight him the best way that I could, kneeing him in the gut and groin, he growled through clenched teeth. "That's enough!"
"Stop doing this, Erik!" I finished with a yell. He brought up a fist and punched me right in the face. Me being successfully out for the count, Charles came to my side. He helped me stand when I heard Moira's gun start to go off. She fired several rounds, each of which was deflected by the metal controlling mutant, and then I heard a noise of pure agony and the person trying to help me was, essentially, shot in the back.
"Charles?" I barely audited, not even realizing that there were two bullets in my arm, as he fell face first into the sand. Erik came rushing to his side, pushing me out of the way, forcing him to abandon the missiles. I would've sighed as I heard them drop straight into the water. But I was too worried
I looked to Erik, who was using his powers to coax the bullet from the wound. "I'm so sorry." Erik said to his injured friend, fighting back tears. Hank and everyone else took a step closer to help when Erik yelled, "I said back off!" They all stopped in their tracks and I returned to Hank's side, struggling to stand and unconsciously holding my bleeding arm.
"You. You did this." Erik seethed.
When strangling noises could be heard I turned around to see Moira being choked by her own necklace, Erik's doing. She made several awful sounds. I know I didn't like her but I didn't want her dead.
"Please..." Charles said quietly. "She didn't do this, Erik... you did."
Erik stopped choking Moira, causing her to collapse to her knees, and looked at Charles. "Us turning on each other, it's what they want. I tried to warn you, Charles. We're brothers, you and I. All of us together, protecting each other." He paused a bit. "We want the same thing." Which, for some reason, made Charles laugh.
"My friend, I'm sorry, but we do not."
The silence that greeted us was monumentally crushing. Charles was in agony from a bullet wound to his back, Erik was nearly in tears, but we had saved the day. We stopped Shaw and everything still was going to shit. It didn't matter. It just didn't seem to matter how hard we tried. It's as if the universe decided to take its dump of the decade on us. And there I was, tears in my eyes. Charles really was like a mother to me, strange as that might sound; it killed me to see him this way. Just as the silence had gotten to the point of being unbearable, Erik beckoned Moira over to him.
"Charles! I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry!" She cried as she ran over to him. Erik stood, allowing her to cradle the injured Charles.
"It's alright, it's alright." Charles assured a blubbering Moira before he grunted in pain.
"This society won't accept us." Erik continued, ignoring what was happening all while motioning to Moira. "We form our own. The humans have played their hand. Now we get ready to play ours." He paused to look at each and every one of us. "Who's with me?" No one looked ready to join him and I was about ready to tell him to shove off when he extended a hand towards Raven. "No more hiding." He said gently to her, more gently than I thought possible. Coming from him.
I didn't think she was going to do it, but she started stumbling over to him. I grabbed her hand at the last minute. "Raven?" I whispered quietly, my tears finally spilling over. She gave my hand a squeeze and gave me a swift kiss before she continued towards Erik, and away from me. At the last minute though she kneeled down next to Charles.
Groaning, Charles spoke to her. "You- you should go with him. It's what you want."
No! Tell her to stay!
"You promised me you would never read my mind." She said only slightly playfully.
Charles made a noise that could have been a chuckle. "I know. I promised you a great many things, I'm afraid. I'm sorry." He then grabbed her hand and kissed it. Not being able to take it anymore I pressed my forehead against Hank's shoulder. He started rubbing my back as I cried.
"Take care of him." I looked up at Raven taking Erik's outstretched hand. To our right, Shaw's band of mutants all gathered at Erik's side as well. Making them Erik's band now."And, Beast," Raven called to Hank, smiling, "never forget. Mutant and proud."
With those last words, they were gone. We took that opportunity to run over to Charles. "Help me out, come on!" Moira said as she tried to get Charles up. "I'm gonna get you to a hospital."
Charles clung to Hank and tried to stand but I think it proved too painful as he made one terribly painful noise. "Wait, Charles. Charles don't move okay?" Hank asked of him.
"I won't. I ca- actually I ca... I ca... I can't... I can't feel my legs." Charles informed us.
"What?" Moira asked in disbelief.
"I can't feel my legs. I can't feel my legs." Charles continued. It seemed he was in about as much shock as the rest of us. Alex was looking around, possibly for a way back home because we didn't have one on the island. And you know what was the most terrible thing out of all of this? I could feel my clock getting ready to stop. It was finally time. But there was one more thing I could do for the people I loved.
I got up close to Charles. "Charles, we need to get you to a hospital. I want you to read my mind." He did so and his eyes widened.
'You can't... Max, we can get home another way.' He said to me.
'What if there's a chance to repair the damage done and you miss it because you couldn't get to a hospital right away?' I asked quietly, nervously. 'I'm doing this Charles, and I'm leaving it up to you and Alex to explain everything.' I replied.
I grabbed ahold of Alex's hand and whispered, "It's time." At first he didn't seem to understand. But the look that formed on his face of pure despair told me that he got it. I squeezed and felt a couple more tears drip off of my chin.
Slowly I allowed the electricity to take over me again. "Everyone, make sure you've got your gloves on and hold onto me. We're going on the ride of a lifetime." They did as I instructed and I became the substance that I had once considered my gift. Something that was now my ultimate curse. I recalled all of the memories I made with the people around me. All of the laughs, fights, tears, training, all of it. And I realized that more than anything I didn't want to have to do this, but I did. With great power comes great responsibility, right? I would've chuckled but I didn't trust my voice. I looked to them, tears freely streaming down my cheeks, and I smiled.
"Whatever you do kiddies, don't let go."
I concentrated on the mansion, on my home, and with a surge we were zipping through space and time to get there. We landed shortly after, everyone a little uneasy but safe all the safe. I looked around to see that everyone was there... everyone except for me. The looks of confusion on Sean's and Hank's face, the tears that were slowly falling from Alex's eyes as he dug his knuckles into the dirt, that look of sadness that Charles always gave me. I couldn't cry anymore, but I desperately wanted too. I would never see those faces again. Smiling sadly, I felt myself splitting apart.
Goodbye, everyone.
My name is Maxine Edith Dugen-Fuller. I am a sister, a daughter, an army brat, a lover, and a fighter. I have known hardships and I have known kindness. And I've smiled and cried through both with my head held high. I have made a difference in the history of everyone I know, and I saved countless lives. Men and women can return home to their families. I sacrificed everything for my country and even though I wish that everything had played out differently, I would never have changed any of it for the world. Trying to save a friend, I brought this upon myself. I have to live with that decision. A decision I would never take back, even knowing what I do right now. Above all, I wish I could've said goodbye to everyone. I wish I could explain it in a way they could understand. I'll just have to leave that to my two capable friends since there's nothing more here for me. Because I'm not even here anymore. I am nothing but dust in the wind. But my name is Maxine Edith Dugen-Fuller, I fought adversaries much stronger than myself, alongside mutants and humans, I prevented World War III. I sacrificed my last breath for those I love. I could control electricity from a young age. I was recruited by two creeps in trenchcoats. I became something more. I became an X-Men.
And this is my story.
The End.