Memories

Fire and Water

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

There was a vibrant explosion, waves and fire blossomed and then cleared away. And it was obvious something had gone terribly, horrendously wrong. Instead of a Phoenix and a Dragon, what stood there were two red-heads, hair flicking in non-existent wind. Both were dressed in the traditional style, only the uniform was turquoise instead of blue or green. The belts were bright electrum, neither gold or silver, but something in between. And then they spoke in unison.

"Fools. You have forced together what cannot touch… Water and Fire, Past and Future, Order and Chaos, Knowledge and Thought, Preservation and Progression. You have destroyed us both."

They blinked in unison, eyes no longer green or gold but the same electrum as the curious fusion of bird and reptile on their chests.

"We were in control. The bonding was going perfectly. And now you have destroyed us. You have forced us to become two very different things. Soon our minds shall be torn to shreds by the fighting. FOOLS!"

They moved in unison, back to back, so Tora –or what had been Tora at any rate– faced the X-Men and Hope –ditto to Tora– faced the Avengers. And they spoke, again in unison.

"Manipulation and lies. How foolish of you. We are more than you will ever be. Even GODS fear us. We are the World Healers. And the World Ravagers. One of us once held both, but as Phoenix-Dragon. It is impossible to contain half of each after they have been meshed together. We are One and the One is ALL!"

"SHOOT THEM AGAIN!"

The repulsor cannon fired again but Hope simply raised a hand and the beam ricocheted off. Tora's eyes were glowing as she faced Cyclops.

"We were ready. We were ready to fight together, as we only did when the Little Phoenix was avatar, the Little Phoenix who is now part of the whole. Only you hurt us. Hurt us when we were at our weakest. But we can still save this… Do not try to stop us. Do not dare. We are going to heal this world. In the only way we can. Goodbye, little people. Do not try to stop us."

They raised their hands and rose slowly into the air, rotating around each other. And then they shot upwards, away from the Moon. Back to Earth. Leaving the Avengers and the X-Men both feeling pretty stupid. Tora normally handled everything perfectly. And then they'd gone and messed it up. Badly. And something told them that the Phoenix-Dragon-Hope-Tora-thing wasn't going to fix the world in an especially nice way. And then Hawkeye voiced everyone's thoughts.

"Well we all %&$#* up, didn't we?"

Phoenix sighed.

"Of course, the idiots had no idea what they'd unleashed. They just thought they'd created some extraordinarily powerful being. Not that they'd started playing havoc with the very fabric of the universe."

The masked host sighed.

"Tell me about it. Do you know how long I was trying to persuade the Tribunal that they didn't need eradicating for their presumption to attack a primal force?"

"Let me guess. At least three of his 'little sessions'?"

"Eight."

"I pity you."

Logan watched the tape in horror. Pietro ran towards Utopia, then Tora was in front of him and her hands were clasping his head and he was slumped to the ground and when he rose, he too glittered with the ethereal electrum glow. This was happening to every mutant Tora or Hope met. They'd touch them and somehow… not quite take over, but… infuse with their powers and ideals and the mutant would follow them. Stark called it 'bodyjacking' which Hank had vehemently shot down, stating all the reasons it wasn't that 'dreadfully crude analogy'. Logan had been avoiding Tora. Utopia had fallen first. Magneto had went out and without a word, the women had placed their hands on his head and he was following them. When Cyclops and his team of Namor, Emma, Peter and Illanya returned, Hope was waiting to greet them. Logan, by some miracle hadn't gone to the school. Tora had been there and now his entire team and most of the students were also on Utopia, gleaming that curious infusion of gold and silver. Pietro… Why on earth had Pietro gone? No. Logan knew. Pietro was hoping he'd have the strength of mind to control the power, to stand against the Phoenix-Dragon. But Logan… At times, he still had the half-remembered dreams of the Shadow-Phoenix, when all he wanted to do was burn. Power like that… It would take a strong person to resist. Tora resisted because she didn't want power. To her, it was just an irritating method of fighting and an annoying voice that stated the obvious. And that's what made this change so terrifying. The telekinetic lifting of Utopia was just one little fraction of what she could do.

When Storm warped weather patterns on a global scale, everyone was terrified until they realised those areas with drought were getting rain and those flooded were finally getting a break in the continual downpours. Magneto stopped an earthquake from shattering the entire east coast of Japan. Food vanished from the huge reserves of richer countries and 'miraculously' appeared in the poorest areas. The drug fields of South America and Asia had been razed in a ball of fire. The whole world was changing, so fast that it scared too many. Information on corruption suddenly came rushing forward, dictators were imprisoned in their own mental hells, those with nothing suddenly found food and clothing and firewood. Tora and Hope seemed to be on a two-woman crusade to save the world by dragging it kicking and screaming into a new age of equality and kindness. But still… The sight of Tora, eyes gleaming as she tightened her grip on Eva's shoulder and the light flowed into the small body and even his daughter turned away from him horrified Logan.

And all he could see was Tora's face, still scarred but too close to Dark Dragon for comfort. The unearthly light made her face seem inhuman. It was too… It would have been better in a way if she did look like Dark Dragon. But instead… She was just that little bit too close to Tora to be inhuman and too powerful to be human. It scared him. It scared a lot of people. And then Steve came in, looking exhausted.

"We're getting a message from Utopia…"

The screen changed, revealing the Hope-Tora-Phoenix-Dragon duo standing deathly, surrounded by Magneto, Cyclops, White Queen, Namor, Magik, Storm, Colossus and others. They all glowed that ghostly colour, and their eyes were blank. Each was emblazoned with the electrum symbol, Phoenix wings with Dragon tail and head. And when Tora and Hope spoke, they did so in unison.

"Avengers. You fight us. You threaten us. You send your people to attack us, when all we mean is good. We give our ultimatum. Twelve hours to turn yourselves in. We shall treat you well. But if you do not accept, we shall hunt you down, for your crimes against mutantkind."

Steve spluttered in outrage.

"What crimes?"

"The crimes of standing back and let us be killed. We speak in the voice of Emma Frost, when you fought amongst yourselves. 'Where were the Avengers when Genosha burned? Where were you when our babies were dying?' We needed you. We needed your support. But you always said 'Mutant problem, mutant solution.' But when the world was threatened, you relied on us for help. 'Human problem, mutant solution.' You have used us then abandoned us. Picked us up then cast us aside. It was your meddling that caused the Scarlet Witch to change reality. You forced us to the brink of extinction and just as we seek to pull ourselves back out of this pit of your creation, you try and force us back in. Twelve hours. No more, no less. Choose wisely."

The screen went blank and Logan collapsed into his seat.

"I see why she always asked me that question now…"

"What question?"

Logan looked up, his eyes suddenly revealing his true age.

"Every morning… Every morning, she'd looked me in the eye and ask if I was ready. I… It took me a while to realise exactly what she meant."

"What did she mean?"

"She was asking if I would be able to kill her. You know how that feels? Every day, your wife asks if you'd be able to do what needs to be done if she loses control… if something like this happens…"

"She thought…"

"She feared. Big difference. Look… something hasn't been right with Tora for a while. We made a breakthrough a little back…thought we'd gone through the worst…but then she gets kidnapped and we lose it all. Back to square one and then back a few more steps. She's losing control and we all know it. This? This is just a result of that."

Steve sat backwards, his face drawn.

"And you didn't tell us, why?"

"Like she said. Mutant problems, mutant solutions. We've kept ourselves to ourselves for so long –scared of tarring the rest of you with the same brush. We've always had the most experience with the Phoenix, so when Dragon came along, we thought we knew what we were doing. We didn't have a clue. It was like saying we knew how to control fire, so we could also control the sea. Tell me honestly, Steve, what are you more afraid of? Wildfire or floods?"

And he could see the fear in Steve's eyes. The fear of falling into an icy sea, something he'd never quite shake off. Fire… Fire could be controlled… Fire was useful. But water was essential and uncontrollable. Water could wear away stone and change landscapes given enough time. And nothing was more terrifying than a flash flood, suddenly overpowering an entire area. Logan looked back at the blank screen.

"What are you planning to do?"

Steve pinched the bridge of his nose, suddenly looking exhausted.

"Everything they said… It's true, you know. We always have left the mutant problems alone. Let the X-Men deal with it. Onslaught… that was a last minute attempt. We only came in because we knew you couldn't fight him anymore. We've let you suffer and never done enough for you. For pity's sake, we even once considered an anti-mutant campaigner for the Avengers! We've let you be hurt and never come out on your side, even when we should have!"

"Steve, no one asked you to!"

"Tora did."

"What?"

"Just after M-Day… Tora came to me and begged for help in getting depowered mutants to safe havens now they'd lost their powers. I told her to trust the X-Men, even when it was clear you were already overstretched. She actually went on her knees to beg, Logan. She was just kneeling there, begging me to get the Avengers to help save mutantkind and I told her to stick with the X-Men."

"How stupid can you get?!"

"Be nice, Jean. Be nice."

A.N. Happy Hogmany, everyone. (That's New Year's Eve to those who aren't Scottish). Sorry about the gap but I've been away with no internet access. Also, I'm still having a bit of trouble writing this section. I had an ending for this but I don't think it works out very well.