Memories

Anger

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If you want to use Tora, or any of my other characters, PM me.

She snarled as she watched Simon Trask give his speech on Proposition X. Then she stood up.

"What of mutants who have already, as you so bluntly put it, 'reproduced'? What happens to those children? What happens to married mutants, or pregnant mutants or a family with only one mutant parent? What about depowered mutants who are just children?"

"Ma'am, all mutants, past and present would be registered under Proposition X."

"But what about mutant children born to human parents? Would you sterilise the parents in case of more mutants being born? Take the Guthrie family for instance, from Kentucky. Ten children, five of whom are mutants, three who remained as mutants after M-Day, one of whom was killed. But all potentially carry this mutant gene you keep going on about. What will you do with families like that?"

"The mutants would be covered under Proposition X and the humans would be requested to continue under birth control, however, we would not stop them from breeding."

Her eyes flashed dangerously. The journalist next to her, a dark haired woman, edged slightly away from her.

"And a question about the Cooperstown disaster. What about reports that say it was Purifiers, a rabid anti-mutant group, who blew the place up? The mutant child's X-Gene hadn't been activated yet."

"How do you know this?"

"Almost all mutant powers manifest at puberty, unless the child is under considerable stress. A baby couldn't have the destructive power to blow up an entire town."

"And you know this because…?"

"If it takes ten years of torture, experiments, surgery and psychological torment to make a mutant with a healing factor's X-Gene activate, what would a child with that power require?"

Trask steepled his fingers and stared at her.

"Ms… er…"

"Marie Circen. You may have heard of me."

Silence spread out as she turned and walked out of the door. She span round for one parting shot.

"What about people with no other choice? Rape victims and so on. Or people who don't agree with abortion or can't have one because their body would react violently? I see this Mr Trask. I see everything. And if this goes through, all sorts of terrible things will happen. Sentinels will reign. Humanity will fall. And mutants will only survive because they mutate. The world becomes a place of darkness and loss. Goodbye Mr Trask."

"I loved it when she got like that. All grumpy and sharp. She was a superb debater."

"Well, 78232 was a politician. She pretty much gave her free reign."

"Oh. Well that's cheating."

She stood in horror, the bag dropping to the floor, the jars inside shattering as Norman Osborn announced his new Avengers line-up.

"-Ares, Hawkeye and Wolverine with Tigress on reserve."

"What is Tigress doing on the Avengers? I thought the X-Men kept the name."

He smiled.

"Tigress is a proficient martial artist and more than capable. I wanted her on this team for her special talents."

"Even Osborn wouldn't be as stupid… Would he?"

She was staring at her old mask and costume on her own body. Only it wasn't. Osborn the Idiot, as he would now and forever be in her head, had chosen to put Poacher of all people on a team. Didn't he know what she was? This was the woman who had mauled Maddie Pryor, just because she didn't get the takeout she wanted. It had been a slight shock to find the Goblin Queen on the doorstep, bleeding from numerous almost but not quite fatal wounds and to discover it was because Maddie had bought pizza instead of Chinese.

Logan snorted.

"I hope she gives that boy hell."

"Actually, I would much rather he got rid of her."

He grinned up at her then raised the can.

"To them killing each other!"

She nodded and then turned away to go to the Danger Room and smash something into tiny pieces. It was primitive but oh so cathartic…

"Well, it works…"

"Yes, smashing stuff is so…releasing."

"PHOENIX SMASH!"

"Well ha, ha Jean. That was really mature."

"Oh well then Miss I-Have-To-Be-Such-A-Stuck-Up-"

"Oh for crying out loud!"

Etana's face was soaked in blood. Tora tried again to reach her but the force-field held her back. Etana's eyes were fixed on her face.

"I'm sorry Tora."

"Etana… Please don't do this!"

Etana raised her hand, pulling up her shirt to reveal the contorting, writhing skin of her stomach.

"The incubation period is over. It's hatching. And it's at its weakest when it hatches."

"You'll kill yourself!"

"If I don't do this, I'll die anyway. I'm sorry Tora."

"Please… don't leave me…"

Etana's hand touched the edge of the force-field and Tora placed hers on the other side.

"My friend. My daughter. Tora Bat Etana."

Tora was crying now.

"You would give me your name? Why?"

"Because you are my daughter. Goodbye Tora. Oh, and I do feel that Kurt is one of the few men on this misbegotten ball of mud that deserve you."

"What?"

Etana didn't answer, merely raised the gun up and pointed it at the small bundle of explosives. Tora started hammering on the force-field wall.

"NO! NO! NO!"

"Goodbye."

A shot fired. And flames blossomed inside the force-field

"MOTHER!"

Tora jerked awake and instantly reached out to the body beside her. For a second she blinked confusedly about as her hand felt Logan's arm and chest instead of velvet fur or delicate, acrobat's muscles, then relaxed as she realised she'd been in the wrong reality. She reached out for the Tora the dream had originated from.

Hello?

Why are you here?

Why did I just wake up and reach for Kurt of all people? I thought you were single?

I am. This is just one time.

Will you be able to look him in the eye in the morning?

Look, I've not been the one who keeps trying to establish a relationship. He got what he wanted. Now he can just leave me alone.

Really? What did Etana say?

She gasped as the mental knife dug deep into her mind.

I'm sorry. That was underhand. I just think he wants more than a casual relationship.

Look, you with your perfect life can't understand what it's like to live here! Erik is imprisoned, Logan's been dead for 7 years, Jean tries her best but the whole world wants to kill us! I don't have time for a relationship.

So you're going to throw Kurt out in the morning?

Maybe. No. Not really… I hate you, you know that?

Yes. Of course. Now I'll just leave you to contemplate your options.

She already knew the choice her counterpart would make. The next morning, Kurt Darkholme would wake up to the relationship he had been pursuing ever since he met the golden-eyed woman who had followed Apocalypse's Scorn to the X-Men. Sometimes Tora felt she must be rather stupid about relationships. Most alternate versions of her were oblivious to physical attraction. She had a sneaking suspicion that 94 was an in-denial asexual, but she wouldn't listen to anyone yelling at her. Another tendency that seemed to run through all the Toras. Stubbornness. To the point of danger. Tora shrugged, then pulled herself closer to her living hot-water bottle. Jeanne made a disgruntled noise as Tora's feet shifted, dislodging the cat from her warm circle.

All felt good.

"Really, getting dreams confused is just… horrible."

"Tell me about it."