Memories
Old Man
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If you want to use Tora, or any of my other characters, PM me.
"We're hosed."
"Ah, come on. I've blown up bigger things than this."
"Logan…"
"Oh my god. They've killed us all. Tora lied. We're all dead. They've killed us all!"
"Not quite all…"
They turned and gasped. A thin, worn woman was limping towards them.
"I am the last. I am the only mutant, and I only survived because Beast gave his life to change my digital chips. Sapiens can no longer see me."
"Er…Dad, who are you talking to?"
"You brought everyone? We will need to fight."
Laura stepped forward and pulled back the hair to reveal four parallel scars in a face with empty staring eyes.
"What did they do to you?"
"They broke me Laura. They finally broke me."
"Hey!
"Look out!"
"Attention trespassers! Your presence in this zone is expressly forbidden! Extreme prejudice is to be exercise in- in- in- Holy god. MUTANTS!"
They were still in shock but Tora wasn't. She leapt forward, claws going through the windscreen and into the operator's chest. Logan, Laura and Warren took from her cue. Curt shuddered.
"Who did that?"
"Someone explain my presence to the idiot."
"Poison, the version of your mother here can only be seen by mutants. But she's here and she's fighting with us. If she can with that limp."
For Tora was indeed dragging her leg behind her. She looked up.
"I can fight. I can kill. That is all that matters."
"So sad to see her so terribly lost."
"I know Phoenix. I know."
Rogue walked in and found Hope leaning on the table beside Tora, whose eyes were unfocussed.
"And then we must fight to survive. The Sentinels-"
"Hope?"
"I shouldn't be crying. He wouldn't like it that I'm crying."
"Is…Is that what Cable told you? That you shouldn't cry?"
"No. We saw a lot of war while we were away. Sometimes I got hurt. Cable never cared if I cried. But he did have a rule… Win first. Cry later."
Tora started and then smiled.
"Wonderful rule. Are you any good with a sword?"
Rogue blinked. Hope was picking up a gun and Tora had reached out and pulled out two katanas, one black, the other polished white.
"I'm supposed to be taking you into hiding."
"If I have to be a 'Messiah', I won't be the type that lets people die for me. Not while I do nothing."
"I promised Scott I wouldn't let you get hurt."
"I have Dragon by my side. Dragon has katanas. Do you think she will let me get hurt? Come with me."
Rogue smiled. Tora flipped Muzai and Tsumi around in her hands, smiling dangerously. Hope grinned.
"So, do either of you actually have a plan?"
"Go in, chop all the Nimrods into itty-bitty pieces, castrate Scott. Done."
"I do so love it when she got all military on us."
"Actually, she scared me when she did that."
"I think that was sort of the point."
"Warren, you're go. Cypher, stay back. Poison, with Cypher."
Curt prepared to bemoan his fate but sat back looking grumpy as three guards were gutted by someone he couldn't see. He listened to Cypher talking and then suddenly an Exonim arrived behind then.
"X-Gene Test Positive. Lethal Force Authorised. X-Gene Test Negative. Lethal Force Unauthorised."
"You don't have to do this, you know. 10101110001101 You're only a slave to them. I can set you free. Show you how to think for yourself. Set you free. 01110101010"
"You can't talk me out of killing you mutie…"
"I wasn't talking to you."
"Wha-!"
11010101010101
Curt leant over the man and smiled.
"What are you doing! You aren't a mutie!"
"No. I'm an insane brain-eating alien. Yum yum."
Curt pulled away from the man when the tendrils slipped out of the symbiote's prey's ears and grabbed Cypher.
"Dad… Sorry, Wolverine is signalling."
They hurried over, using the Exonim. As soon as they entered, Poison hurried Cypher along, getting him towards the Master Mold producing Nimrods, as the other one stood up. And as Tora leapt towards it, she fell as if struck by an invisible fist.
"Ouch. I hate those mental scramblers."
"See to your patients Dr McCoy. I will see to our enemies."
A girl stepped up beside him.
"I can help."
"What can you do child? Die at their feet?"
She glared at him, her black hair writhing back into a bun.
"I may not be an X-Man, old man, but I know how to fight. I can tear them to shreds. I can make a forest in a second. Old man, against to you and me, those buckets of bolts don't stand a chance."
"Old man…? I like you."
Cia grinned and suddenly tendrils of plants on Utopia started to stir.
The woman got up again and walked away. Death leant over to Phoenix.
"What's wrong with her?"
"She feels she could have done more for the girl."
"Nothing this big can be light on its feet. We hit and run, we can take it down."
"Keep telling yourself that Warren. But take it from me. It's a lot quicker than it looks."
"Armour's—about a foot thick."
"Back off X and let me try. Six pounds of plastique. Pinhead EMPS. White phosphorus. A kiss on the cheek from Satan."
The blast threw Laura and Domino back. Tora stared at Cable.
"Get me up there."
"What?"
"Get up there, now! …Fastball special!"
"Oh… That's what you meant!"
She was flung up and clawed at the Master Mold's face. But she slipped and fell, hitting the ground hard. Whereas the normal Tora would be up in a second, this one seemed unable to move as the foot crashed down on her…
Meanwhile, Curt was hurrying Cypher along.
"Hurry, hurry, hurry, hurry."
And Doug entered the Master Mold.
Mutant point of origin confirmed. Anomalous timeline designate 22554 23. You represent data. Data of tactical and strategic importance. Your mind will be assimilated—and then erased.
"Yes. Please proceed. But that means you have to hit me with some machine code, correct? Can't assimilate me without building an interface. TALK TO ME!"
Meanwhile Curt felt the symbiote bulk up as the guards set towards them. And together they roared.
"Oh dear."
"Yes, oh dear. The poor men never knew what hit them."
"Er… They were trying to kill him."
"Yes, but no one deserves to have his brain sucked out of his ears by a ravenous alien."
Storm fell to the ground but then the Nimrod was shot. She looked up and stared. Hope, Rogue and Tora were all standing side by side, looking terrifying. A teenager with a huge number of oversized guns, a small woman with two very sharp looking katanas and Rogue, who was beginning to get that 'I once was a mutant terrorist' smile. And then Hope blasted the Nimrod as another came up behind her and Tora effortlessly brought the swords round together, beheading the robot. Hope smiled.
"Thanks."
"Least I could do."
And Storm had a sudden feeling that Hope wasn't so much a Summers as a Logan.
"I love that look."
"What look? The one of understanding whilst under fire? The agreement that they would both kill Scott Summers slowly and painfully, taking it in turns to kick him between the legs?"
"Mutant energy capacity at 32%."
"More than enough Robot."
"Tactical analysis suggests otherwise."
Magneto was sent flying.
"Your—analysis overlooks—two things. I—built this asteroid. Primarily out of iron."
Huge shots of metal flew upright as trees grew tall and powerful, hundreds of years of growth being compressed into a matter of seconds. Cia backed up to Magneto, grinning slightly.
"So old man? Still think I'm a waste of space?"
"Nothing of the sort child. You were the other thing they had overlooked. And by far the more important one."
Her hands clenched and the wood tightened around Nimrods, tearing them to pieces. Max smiled slightly as he saw the look of intense concentration on her face. This was a child after his own heart.
"How sweet. And how sad."
Brain activity mapped as repeating cycle. Periodicity 6… S, Valency level .098V. Peak/Trough mapping +/- .17 angstroms in mid-delta band. Presence of methyl paratyrosine in concentrations of .043/.091… G Regulates peak/trough variation.
"You're missing—the point. There's—more to this than—raw numbers.
Statement is erroneous. All things are expressible in digital form. All things are algorithms—
"N-No! No!"
-Predicted and controlled via mathematically derived models. Interface established. Assimilation proceeds.
"So you're killing me. I get that. Killing me with numbers. Terrible, perfect numbers. I can see the pattern now. I can copy them. Write back in—the pieces of my mind—that you're destroying. And then—I can start to improvise."
Un Unauth Unauthorised input. Rereouting—
Thank you Mr Ramsay. I have lived in Hell, all these years, forced to kill my own kind. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a lot of making up to do.
"You're… You're still alive…"
It will take more than a few wipes to defeat an old bird like me. Now go back Mr Ramsay. I have everything under control.
Outside, Curt sent out huge webs to catch the falling Master Mold.
"What did she end up doing?"
"Oh, reprogramming all the Nimrods to have the personalities of her fallen X-Men friends, relighting the mutant torch, etc, etc."