psinex@yahoo.com Fires of Tomorrow Conclusion by Phil Hartman DISCLAIMER: They're all Marvel's, except for the Richards twins, Danny, Dave, Mel and Deanna, who're mine. Please don't sue. -------------------------------------------------------- X-Mansion Headmaster's Office: 05/01/2004: 09:00 hrs EST: -------------------------------------------------------- " ... so, based on the eyewitness accounts and the General Assembly's reports, you kids are heroes." Frank and Ray just nodded solemnly as they held either of their twins to them, listening to President Kelly's words from the videocom. Scott, Jean, Reed, Sue, and Captain America were scattered around the office, beaming proudly. "Sir ... we really appreciate everything, but ... the Vault massacre still happened," Frank replied regretfully. "That's over 500 people dead -" "True," Kelly nodded. "But you prevented more deaths in New York City. You New Mutants are a true example of what this nation needs - more superpowered youth who are truly making a difference and helping their fellow man. Once again, thank you for your efforts." "Thank you, Mr. President," Ray smiled as Kelly's transmission ended. "If you'll excuse me, the twins need to nap." She took Aidan from Frank and headed upstairs, while Val Cooper whispered to Frank, "Not bad work, not bad at all ..." "All those villains and Vault personnel are still dead. And Kevin's still discorporated," Frank sighed. "Even if he's alive on the psi-plane, we're chalking it up in the 'draw' category." "Maybe, but this is the first time the world's really seen an X-team PUBLICLY laying their lives on the line against an evil mutant," Val grinned. "The Dallas incident of '95 was good enough, but this ... this'll stick it to anti-mutant racism for a good ling time !" "Thanks, Val," Jean nodded as the CSA official left. Reed and Sue sat beside Frank, and after a moment, Sue smiled. "What's really eating you ?" she asked her son. "We lost more than Kevin's solidity, or those lives at the Vault, Mom," Frank replied in a tired tone. "We lost Tom. One of our own went really, really bad ..." "You lost your innocence, then," Reed replied. The others looked at him, but he shook his finger. "Think about it. Despite Franklin and Rachel's ... encounter earlier this year with Sinister, the New Mutants had not yet faced a truly dire opponent who knew their abilities," Reed continued. "Thomas' betrayal was their baptism of fire, so to speak. And I would hazard that they did very well." "Thanks, Dad," Frank smiled weakly, standing. "I'm gonna go check on the twins and Ray." He headed upstairs, finding Ray leaning over Aidan and Aislinn's crib with a thoughtful expression. "You know, when I was alone at the U.N. Building, holding it together telekinetically ? All I could think of was how I'd explain all this to our babies someday," Ray smiled faintly. "Not a bit of strategy went through my head ... and I sent the others to -" "Hey. HEY," Frank said, hugging her. "Leadership's never easy. I felt like crap letting To - Abaddon whup my ass so easily - I didn't want to make you guys fight him, but ..." "We're a sight, aren't we ?" Ray laughed, dangling an arm over the twins' heads and letting them play with her fingers. "You can transmute matter, I can eat stars, and we're raising two healthy babies, but we can't keep from angsting." "I dunno," Frank smiled. "Not a lotta angst right now, here with you and our kids." "I hear that," Ray smiled back, kissing him. The babies cooed, and Frank and Ray laughed back along with them. -------------------------------------------------------- "They're happy, then ?" "For the moment," Danny nodded, listening a few doors down with her superhearing. "God knows they - and we - deserve it, after this quarter." "Not an easy one, that's for sure," Deanna nodded, focusing her mass-shifting powers on a wastebasket in the room she shared with Alexa. "You think it'll get better ?" Danny opened her journal and began to write, mumbling, "Really rather has to, doesn't it ?" -------------------------------------------------------- In some ways, it did. The next four years were growth, pain, some loss, and revelation - much like any normal adolesence. I will say that we survived without any more supervillain attacks before graduation - not surprising, considering the sheer number of dead villains our second quarter left. Apocalypse. Sinister. Magneto. Zemo. Fisk the Elder. Fisk the Younger. Fenris. Schmidt. Doom, missing, and all the lesser villains who died in the Vault Massacre. But we had our losses as well. Kevin and Nicole, off on the astral plane somewhere, Tom - Abaddon, even if I do remember the smiling, blue-eyed, everyman he was before his Fall - corrupted by his own guilt and grief. And Professor Xavier, slain by happenstance. It was a watershed for us all, teen and adult parahuman alike. We were on the threshold of a new era for human-parahuman relations. Peace ? Not quite. That would have to wait a little longer. For a menace I first informed the others about waited just beyond the gilded halls of the X-mansion, on the "mean streets" of America and in large cities globally. For all the mutants Xavier and his followers saved, there were more who slipped through their fingers. And they were waiting for a savior - even one with "brimstone in his throat," to paraphrase Mary Chapin Carpenter. The First Heroic Age ended not in the blood of heroes, but the blood of villains. The traditional hero-villain rhetoric was about to die forever, replaced by far more savage and far less colorful foes, fighting for a slice of bread rather than global dominion. The lost children of the atom were up for grabs. And a new generation would have to reach out to them. - Preface, "Drawing The Sword: The New Round Table," by Daniela Davies, 1st. Ed., published 2018 -------------------------------------------------------- TO BE CONTINUED IN: The Little Fires Arc; TO BE FOLLOWED BY: Metaguard -------------------------------------------------------- end _____________________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Free instant messaging and more at http://messenger.yahoo.com