NEO-X
by Psipher and Shaylinn
ISSUE 51
"Requiem for a Dream"
This story features Neo-X and related characters, which are characters of Psipher and Shaylinn; X-men are
trademarks of Marvel comics. This is an unauthorized work and no profit is being made on this work.
This work is © of Psipher and Shaylinn 2007. Please do not archive without permission
of creator.
Jade Logan sat in lotus position on a simple bamboo mat in the middle of her room. She struggled to keep her breathing controlled and steady, but the miasma of conflicting emotions swirling about the Xavier estate hindered Jade's attempt to find her center. Raw emotions - ragged emotions - unparalleled grief and despair awash with hope for a brighter future and better tomorrow smashed at her empathic senses.
The yin and yang aspects of her dual nature were at war with each other. One side struggled to find peace and harmony while the other fed upon the bloodlust that boiled through her veins. Each time her mental walls were erected, a tsunami wave of untempered sorrow would wash over her barriers, threatening to drown her psyche in its undertow. Jade struggled against the ebb tide's pull, feeling the weight of dark emotions pressing down on her, dragging her spiraling ever downward. She held out for a lifeline, and found it in a most unexpected place; the agony that stabbed at Daniel Wagner's heart.
The youth had been forced to kill his own sister in a last ditch effort to save humanity. The dark, elder god Chthon sought to indwell Chastity Wagner and to use her reality shaping abilities to subjugate mankind, and to rebirth the world according to his own desires. The guilt over the situation threatened to consume Daniel, and for that singular reason, Jade slammed up levees and bolstered her mental defenses. She forced back the tidewater of anguish that had permeated her senses and locked her empathic mode down tight.
For the moment, her center was established. The beast within had been contained, the rage in her system shunted to reinforce her determination to be whole. The memorial ceremony for Charles Xavier and Chastity Wagner would last for an hour or so, and by days end the hundreds of well-wishers would be gone. Only then would Jade allow herself to grieve.
She rose from the mat and made her way to the en suite bathroom where she turned on the shower. In no time, steam filled the room.
Jade stepped out of her robe, allowing it to fall to the tiled floor of the room. She pulled the shower door closed behind her and luxuriated in the heat of the heavy stream of water that cascaded down her shoulders, swirled around her abdomen and legs and trailed off down the drain.
Jade let the water spray her face, imagining a summer rain falling. She pushed her hair back out of her eyes and just basked in the warmth, felling the tension in her shoulders ebbing away. She reached for a bar of soap and lifted it to her nose, appreciating the clean intoxicating aroma of the heavily milled verbena fragrance. Jade lathered the soap onto a washcloth and moved it over her body.
As her tension and anxiety washed away, so did small patches of dry, flakey skin from her back and shoulders. Unnoticed, the dead cells washed down the drain.
* * * * *
The steady stream of cars making their way up Graymalkin Lane seemed unending. Well-wishers, family members and various dignitaries somberly rode in the caravan towards the wake ceremony. SHIELD and Shi'ar security personnel flanked much of the roadside and patrolled the airspace surrounding the Xavier estate. With such a major upheaval in the world following what the media circus had dubbed "Hell on Earth", fear of insurgent attacks or other potential disruptions was high, putting the security alert at level red.
Daniel Wagner hardly noticed the throng of supporters lining the roadside. The memorial service had been reserved for a limited few with large Jumbotron screens set up along the perimeter - much like what had been done during the funeral ceremony for Warren Worthington the Third, Angel of the X-Men, once he had succumbed to the ravages of the Techno/Legacy virus.
The procession to number 1407 seemed agonizingly long, but soon enough the sedan carrying the Wagner family pulled into the circular drive of the Xavier Institute, and the three occupants disembarked; quietly taking refuge within the house. In his left arm, Daniel cradled a small rosewood box with mother-of-pearl inlay.
He felt the weight of accusatory eyes pressing down on him, and pushing past the growing throng of attendees, he began making his way upstairs.
"Daniel...?" His mother, Amanda Sefton Wagner gently called to him and Daniel hesitated for a moment before continuing up the stairs. He didn't much feel like anyone's sympathy at the moment and resolved himself to stay in his room until the funeral ceremony began.
Kurt Wagner embraced his wife, pulling her close. "We all grieve in our own way. Daniel is no different. We shall do our best to assure him that we do not blame him for our Chastity's death. My prayer is that he will accept that in time and find the power to forgive himself."
The very fact that Kurt Wagner was not only present for the funeral and would be presiding over the benediction was a miracle. Crucified and pierced through by Samhain, the priest had come precariously close to crossing the threshold of mortality and entering into the hereafter.
Fortunately, his physical wounds were mostly healed. Redactive therapy from Anodyne's empathic abilities had made him whole with only minor residual scarring. Emotionally he remained conflicted, but for now, he would press on, put on a brave face and once alone, would scream like a banshee until his sorrow was ended.
* * * * *
Basil Kirkwater fidgeted restlessly in the back seat of the black stretch limo. He reached for a carafe of vodka from the mini bar, only to have his hand swatted by Sonja Valle. "Now is not the time Basil." The rebuff stung more than the slap itself.
Basil, Sonja, Angeline Duchesne, and Darla Hinkle, better known as Hooligan, Fortune, Cayenne and Craddle were collectively the members of the retro-grunge-urban-blues band Danse Macabre. Even with the world falling down around them, they were under tremendous pressure from their record label to complete their long overdue second album, dubbed "Sophomore Jinx". If they hadn't known better, the Danse would have thought the studio executives were Horde members in human guise since their temperament could easily get as nasty as any of the demons the quartet had recently faced.
Fortunes abduction by the Horde and her integration into the Chaos Graft had set production back by weeks. The majority of the band members, though relieved to have Sonja back with them safe and sound, felt that attending Xavier's funeral only complicated their truncated recording schedule and with only a handful of tracks laid down, their looming release date was in serious jeopardy.
"This is feckin' ridiculous." Basil protested. "Those mamby-pamby do-gooders get a feckin' nose-bleed and the gawdamn press goes apeshit. But what about me an' the girls, love? What the feckin' shite about us?" Basil scowled. "Didn't we make a difference? We kicked some major feckin' arse on the streets, we did, yeah?" Hooligan looked to his comrades for support, both of whom nodded their agreement.
"Bloody gawdamn right." Cayenne agreed, mocking her friend's increasingly thick accent. He tended to slip into some pseudo-Irish concoction that at times needed subtitles.
"You bet'cher lily-white arse we'd be getting hella press had there been a bus o' nuns or orphan children in the mix...'stead o snot-nosed execs boo-hooin over spilt feckin' lattes."
"Basil. For once in your life, do me a favor and just shut up." Fortune looked at Hooligan, no malice in her voice, or in her expression. "I need this, and I need all of you here with me. I asked to come and Warren was gracious enough to put us on the guest list. You three are what little family I have and I won't give that up for the world." Sonja regarded her bandmates fondly.
"I love you all dearly, but you need to give it all a rest. For me and my sanity I'm asking this one time for you to be on better than your best behavior."
"And if we aren't?" Basil half teased.
"Then, dearest Basil, I shall be forced to snip off your coin purse and shove your manberries down your throat." Fortune made a scissor motion with her fingers pointed directly at Hooligan's genitals.
"Bloody feckin' dames." Basil huffed and sat back in frustration.
* * * * *
Katya had seen the elder Wagners when she and her parents arrived at the mansion so she knew Daniel was somewhere on the grounds. She finally found him looking out the window, sitting on what had been his sister's bed and holding a beautifully inlayed box.
She didn't even wait for him to acknowledge her before she spoke.
"Hiding I see. Just like the coward you are."
He barely had time to respond. "Coward?"
"You heard me. You're a coward and a liar, hiding in here away from the people you pretend to be friends with, to care about. But when it comes down to it, it was all about you. What you could do. What you could be and if a few pesky friends got in the way, just lie to them. Tell them whatever it took to keep your plans in motion - never mind who got hurt in the process."
What little color there was in Daniel's pale skin had drained out as Katya ranted. His face had become as white as one of Anodyne's porcelain Kabuki masks. Daniel turned to speak but Katya barreled on, barely pausing to breathe.
"You were so focused on yourself and your damned magic that you couldn't be bothered to help Nik and when he and my parents went missing. You lied to me time and again because it didn't fit into your grand plan. You allowed that psycho, Samhain, to turn my whole family into monsters and even then under the mountain you did nothing to help them - sacrificing them on the altar of your ambition. I nearly had to kill my mother to keep her from killing me."
Daniel whirled around to face Katya the inlayed box in his left hand and his mage blade, Spellbreaker in his right. His eyes held a hint of madness as he spoke in a voice so low and controlled that it sent a shiver down Katya's spine. "At least you didn't succeed."
Daniel's brow furrowed - bent by anguish and anger. "Liebchen, had I informed you of all that which I had discovered - tell me - what would you have done?"
Without missing a beat Katya advanced towards Daniel. "I would have..."
"Lead us all to slaughter." Daniel's rebuff held no malice. It lingered on the aether, so gently spoken that the wispy tones nearly passed Katya unheard.
Once processed, the words stung Katya so sharply, that for once in her life she was speechless.
"How dare you!" Righteous indignation rising to catastrophic proportions, Katya finally regained her wits and was about to launch a verbal assault on Daniel Wagner, the likes of which had not been heard with in the mansion walls since its construction.
Before she could unleash her furious rant, Daniel tossed his sword, Spellbreaker to her, "You want to hurt me? Go ahead you'll be doing me a favor. I can't do it myself and I don't know if I can continue on like this."
Once more, Katya was as speechless as she had kept Daniel moments before. "And don't talk to me about sacrifices. Ran that blade through the heart of mein baby sister. I killed her! And now all that is left of her is in this box." His voice rose as he continued, "Do you really think I wouldn't have done anything I could to keep this from happening. If I could trade my life for hers I would do it even now. Mein Gott, Katya! I have been seeing fragments of this since we fought the Phalanx and NOTHING I did kept if from happening. If I had seen where this would end I would have killed myself then and damn the afterlife. So take your revenge and at the same time be my friend a final time and release me from this hell of my own devising."
Silent tears ran down Daniel's face as he stepped within Katya's reach and she saw the truth of what he had said. She had known that Chasity had been killed in the fight with Samhain and that Daniel had been a part of the battle but the details were lost in the disorientation of the Chaos Engine. Now she realized how truly cruel her words had been and started crying herself. She threw the sword down on the bed and reached out to Daniel. He flinched back from her touch but she persisted drawing him into a tight hug.
Katya wasn't ready to forgive him and neither she nor Daniel was ready to be forgiven, so they sat there without another word spoken. Pain shared is pain diminished. When it was time for the service they walked out of the room hand in hand, leaving Spellbreaker forgotten on the bed.
Unnoticed, the closet door swung open and a small boy stepped through. He ran his finger along the cold, steely length of Transit's mystical blade. The child took the sword by the hilt, and tested its balance before lifting it close to his face. His nostrils flared as he detected the faintest scent of dried blood. The blade itself had been cleaned of course, but the residual particles of Chastity Wagner's essence lingered.
Sharp incisors distended downward and curved over the boy's bottom lip. Frenetically, his body shook and began to grow. His clothing ripped and fell in tatters onto the floor. Dark red fur erupted over his flesh. His feet elongated into thin pads and his features morphed into something decidedly more lupine.
"This isn't over, Daniel Wagner. Not by a long shot." Pup growled menacingly under his breath. "You are dead and don't even know it."
* * * * *
"Daniel, Katya!" Warren Worthington greeted the pair at the foot of the stairs. I was just looking for you two. Come on! This way." He motioned with his head and started towards Charles Xavier's private office. Daniel and Katya traded questioning glances before blindly following the Neo-X team leader.
Once inside the office, they were surprised to find the rest of Neo-X along with Spitfire gathered around their deceased mentor's inner sanctum. Even Cody LeBeau had returned from the Louisiana Bayou along with his partner, Vachon LaCroix.
At the far end of the room stood several secret service "Men in Black" types along with, to their surprise, Nick Fury and a man that the general public had neither seen nor heard from in months: former President Steve Rogers.
"Whoa." breathed Warren.
"This can't be good." Katya murmured as she squeezed Daniel's hand a little tighter.
"Please, everyone have a seat. We know that this is a very emotional day for you all and won't take much of your time." Fury motioned for the kids to be at ease. "I am sure that you all recognize our former Commander In Chief who is here to have a few words with you."
Fury stepped back, joining the ranks of the President's body guards.
"Thank you Nickolas. Kids..." He paused. "Forgive me. I suppose I should say young men and women...The world is deeply indebted to you all. I won't waste your time with praises or lofty platitudes. During this most somber of moments our emotions are raw and our confidence tends to be shaken." His eyes came to rest on Spitfire and she felt as if he were boring a hole directly into her soul. "I have stood in your shoes many times - more often than I care to remember."
The elder statesman's countenance seemed to fill the room as his gaze left Spitfire and traveled back and forth to encompass everyone gathered. The living legend who had spent the better part of seven decades as the shield-slinging Captain America seemed so much larger than life, that his very presence was overwhelming.
Sensing the mounting tension, he moved to the front of the massive oak desk and casually reclined on its edge. "As you know, this time last year, the Phalanx attack cut a swath through many of earth's defenses. There were heavy casualties among both the Fantastic Four and what little there was of the Avengers team. This latest Horde attack has left us floundering, not only as a nation, but as a planet. Our hope is to rebuild earth's defenses starting here and now. What Commander Fury and I would like for you all to consider is relocating your efforts onto Rubicon Station. Our aim - something I've been working on out of the public eye for some time - is to organize an expanded roster of global Avengers to head off future attacks such as what we have just experienced."
There was a quiet hush that permeated the room. "I know this is not a good time for any of you, but the offer is out there. Think about it and perhaps over time, some of you will come on board."
Not another word was spoken as President Rogers and his entourage exited the office.
Once the door closed behind them, Katya spouted off "Heck of a time to wave Old Glory in our faces. Couldn't he have waited a few more eons to dump this load of crap on us?" She spun on her heels and stormed from the room. Sheepishly, the rest of the attendees followed suit.
* * * * *
Kurt Wagner looked out over the audience of mourners, family members, and dear friends who had assembled to bid final farewell to Charles Xavier and Chastity Wagner. His heart was heavy and his spirits at an all-time low. His mentor had been slain in a psychic ambush by the demonic Samhain and Kurt's own daughter had been sacrificed to save her soul and to prevent an ancient evil from corrupting and ultimately destroying life on earth. Silently he prayed to God to give him strength to carry on. His prayer sounded hollow within his thoughts as all he really wanted to do was scream until his throat was raw and no more sound would come out. He wanted to rage against the circumstances that had brought him to this task, but knew in his heart that to do so was folly. Resigned to his vocation, he took a deep breath and began the benediction.
"It hardly seems that just over a year ago, I was standing here under similar circumstances saying goodbye to one of my dearest friends, Warren Worthington the third. Archangel's light was one that burned bright and was extinguished all too soon. He left behind a legacy that few could parallel if given a hundred lifetimes.
"Similarly, Charles Xavier's passing will be no less of an historic marker in the annals of history. For over one-hundred years the man we regarded as mentor, father, and friend dedicated his very existence to the harmonious coexistence between races and nations of all man and mutantkind.
"His reach spanned the globe and reached far into the heavens as well, bridging the gap between earth and the galactic empire of the noble Shi'ar whom we now call friends and allies. He found a kindred spirit amongst their numbers in the form of Lilandra Neremani, Majestrix of this great race of beings. And though their union was one that brought scorn, ridicule and contempt from the inner rankings, it also was a harbinger of hope, of peace and of prosperity as the two worlds have combined resources to forge a union of solidarity.
"Solidarity...its embodiment is evident here today as I look out and see representatives of Genosha, Wakanda, and the great nation of Atlantis here to pay respect to the one person who championed unity and community to the bitter end.
"My heart leaps with gladness as I see among you fourth and fifth generation X-Men who have taken up the chalice of goodwill and carry onward Charles Xavier's noble ideals.
"I'm sure that I could stand here and sing unending songs of praise for our beloved, but nothing I can truly do or say could adequately underscore Charles Xavier's relevance or his legacy.
"Likewise, though few of you gathered had the privilege of meeting my youngest child, Chastity, her brief mark on the world can be no less profound. As I fight back my tears and my growing anguish, and my outrage of the circumstances and the vile creatures that have wrought today's requiem, I find that I am, for the first time in my life, at a loss for words. I feel utterly inadequate to properly bid farewell to my child, and so I choose to let her own words speak for themselves."
Kurt Wagner stepped from the podium and took his seat in the audience next to his wife and son. From an alcove, Samantha Guthrie shuttled forward in her hover chair. She held a handful of wrinkled pages in her lap. Uncontrollable tears streamed down her face as she remembered her best friend. She missed Chastity terribly and suddenly regretted having asked to speak her eulogy.
"Ya'll are all gonna have ta fergive me. I know I talk a whole lot about a whole lotta nuthin' most of the time, but what I have ta say now is somthin' ah'm sure Chase would want y'all ta hear."
Samantha held the pages closer to her face as she read the text that had been scribbled by Chastity Wagner's own hand.
"What is a hero? Better yet, what makes a hero? I suppose the easiest thing for me to do would be to Google Webster's definition and cut and paste it here, but what good would that do me or anybody else? All I know is that a hero is something I will never be.
"I suppose a hero is measured by words and deeds and how he or she conducts themselves. I know I'm surrounded by heroes all the time. It's easy to say my brother, Daniel is a hero because he stands up for me and protects me every day, and that's saying something because I stay in trouble. I can't help it; trouble seems to follow me everywhere I go.
"My friend Samantha is heroic to me because in spite of her Muscular Dystrophy, she still manages to smile, and make me laugh, and be silly and just makes me feel good about myself. She's really cool.
"But when I think of a true hero, I can't help but think of Carrie Conway, or as most people know her, Spitfire. I secretly wish that I could be her, or at least be like her. She's strong and isn't afraid of anything; unlike me. I jump at my own shadow. I'm afraid of just about everything, most of all of myself. I mean, what's to like? I have unruly curly hair, blue skin, pointy ears and a long wiggly tail. I hide behind an illusion - making myself look like a pretty red-haired cheerleader because I want people to like me and not be afraid of what I look like.
"Spitfire doesn't care what she looks like. I mean, that didn't really come out right, but what I'm trying to say is that she isn't scared of who or what she is. Most so-called superheroes wear masks and hide their faces, but not Carrie. She's strong and fast and doesn't mind beating the snot out of bad guys. Someday, I hope to be as brave as she is..."
Samantha set the papers down in her lap. "That was part of a report Chase was writin' for a class assignment. I hope she knows that in spite of her own fears in life, she was the bravest person I've ever known."
There were few dry eyes among the attendees, and Carrie Conway felt herself feeling a little uplifted and more than mildly ashamed of herself all at the same time. Conflicted was probably a better term for the inner demons she had recently been battling. She suddenly missed her home, family and friends back in England. Perhaps it was time for her to move on.
* * * * *
It took a while, but eventually the mourners and well-wishers left the Xavier Estate and a quiet hush settled in over the house. There were a few stragglers, most notably the members of Danse Macabre. Sonja Vale approached Warren, Jade and a few other Neo-Xers who were standing at the base of the stairway in the main hall of the mansion. She fumbled over her words for a moment, trying to find her train of thought. That's about the time all hell broke loose.
The sound of splintering hardwood followed by a lycanthropic howl, in turn followed by muffled footfalls plodding down the second floor hallway startled everyone.
Daniel Wagner bounded over the top rail of the landing, and in mid-flight disappeared in a burst of imploding air. A heartbeat later he rematerialized unharmed in the center of the foyer. He was closely followed by Pup who brandished Daniel's Spellbreaker menacingly. The beast lunged over the railing and sailed towards the fleeing youth.
Hastily erected shields of mystic energy protected Daniel from the assault and sent Pup flying end over end, smashing to the ground. Unfazed, the creature righted itself and prepared for a second running attack. The core of Neo-X had instinctively spread out into a perimeter defense, ready to guard Daniel at whatever risk to their own safety.
"Murderer!" Pup shouted. "You killed her. You were supposed to protect her - save her like you always do, but this time you didn't." Pup held Spellbreaker out towards Daniel. "She trusted you and you killed her! Now I'm going to shove the same blade that took her life through your heart and God help anyone who stands in my way." He spun and swung the blade in a menacing arc towards Hooligan and his compatriots who had begun to form a rear attack.
There was ragged pain in the creature's voice. The accusation he made stung Daniel, but he unflinchingly stood his ground.
"I'm really in no mood for your childish tantrum." Daniel said with a monotone voice. With a simple gesture Spellbreaker dissolved and reformed to fit in his own hand. Pup growled in surprise and lunged towards Daniel. The narrow atrium didn't leave much room to maneuver, but Daniel managed to duck from beneath Pup's razor-sharp claws. He spun and cracked the flat of the blade as hard as he could against the small of Pup's back.
Pup yelped and went sprawling onto the hard marble floor. Blindly he lashed out with claws sharp enough to rend metal. He struck dangerously close to Jade whose uncanny agility moved her from harm's way.
Frightened that the situation would get too out of hand, Sonja Vale, Fortune, reached out with her Romany gift of magic and began to sooth and control Pup's addled mind. She sent waves of cooling, calm emotions into him. She had similarly taken control of the hellhound's mind during the final conflict with Samhain and the Horde. This time, instead of accelerating his aggression, she subjugated it - locked it down and stored it away. Pup began to heave his chest involuntarily as he struggled to breath. He began shrinking and his fur shed rapidly into a mushy pile at his feet. He screamed as his features contorted, reforming into their natural human shape. In a matter of seconds the child that was Pup sagged to the ground, defeated and trembling from cold and fear.
Daniel quickly removed his overcoat and placed it across the boy's shoulders, covering his nakedness. "I hate you!" Pup sobbed.
"I know. I hate myself too!" Daniel rocked back and forth with the child. It was all he could think to do.
The moment stretched out awkwardly with no one really knowing what to do or say next. It was Fortune who finally broke the silence. "Basil, you guys wait for me in the limo. I need a second - okay?"
Basil started to protest, but an explosive flick of sweat and decaying skin from Cayenne silenced him. Reluctantly he and Cradle followed her outside to their car.
"Look - I'm not really sure where to begin, but a lot of really scary crap has piled up as of late. I just wanted to ask - to know - if it's at all possible to hang with you guys for a bit. I think I'm gonna lose it if I don't have a grounding influence to hang onto." She bit her bottom lip nervously.
Psihawk cut a glance towards co-leader Valence who gave him a knowing nod. "Sonja - I think that it's safe to say you are welcome here for as long as you like. We all have a lot of emotional things to deal with in light of what's happened. Hopefully we can help each other."
Sonja beamed. She hadn't expected to be welcomed so readily, given her checkered past. Now she had to figure out how to tell her teammates that she would be consorting with the enemy.
"I need to go collect a few things and break the news to the crew. I guess I'll see you in a few days." She excused herself and ran to join her friends.
"That was refreshingly unexpected." Warren grinned. "What about you, Carrie. You have a standing invitation to stay as well. What do you say?"
"Raincheck?" Spitfire gave an awkward smile. "It's been great being with you guys, but I think I'm at a point where I need to start picking up the pieces of my life. I need to reconnect with my family and friends - with myself. Who knows, maybe after I get things sorted..."
"Good enough." Warren's grin grew broader. "One day at a time and tomorrow is a brand new day."
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