“Who are you?”
Charles Xavier turned to the sound of the small voice that had just spoken to him. A small boy stood before him, frail and thin, his arms wrapped tightly around his chest.
“Who are you?” he asked again, his voice breaking with the fear that was choking his throat.
Charles took a slow and cautious step forward. He didn’t need to be psychic to read the fear the boy was feeling, the bright blue eyes that started back at him were on the verge of flowing with a river of tears.
“My name is Charles, I am a friend.”
The boy quickly backed away. “I don’t have any friends.”
Xavier was shaken by the waves of contempt that suddenly hit him. He brushed it away and attempted his best smile.
“Well, everyone needs a friend, perhaps you and I could be.” He offered his hand outward in a slow and unthreatening manner.
For a brief moment, Charles felt that the boy was reaching out to him.
“What is your name?” the professor asked.
The boy squeezed himself tighter around the chest. “I….I…don’t know.”
A howl split the silence of the darkness they stood in like the axe of an executioner through a withered branch.
Charles was assaulted with thoughts of fear that were being screamed out within the young boy’s mind.
“He’s here,” The boy said, and he turned and ran off into the darkness.
“Wait, please,” Charles cried out, but before the last word left his lips, the boy had vanished as if he was never there.
Silence now.
The darkness was all there was.
And the cold of solitude.
Then there were footsteps.
A slow gait with the subtle scrape of something on the floor.
Something sharp.
Charles stood very still.
He sensed what was coming.
Something Dark.
Something……not human.
He suddenly felt hot breath against the base of his neck, and the foul putrid stench of rotted and consumed flesh that came with it.
“Hi Charley.” A voice like a rusted razor running down a sharpening stone whispered in his ear. “Welcome to the Jungle.”
Charles turned slow and steady to face a true horror.
What stood before him was only vaguely humanoid. It was large and wide, it walked hunched over, using both hands and feet to walk on. It legs were bifurcated into hooves with long, sharp talons extending from the sides. Its hands were large and thick with clawed fingers, arms of bulging muscle and pulsing veins, long matted and thick hair hung down to the very base of its back.
Eyes of the deepest red started into Charles own. A mouth full of long and pointed fangs curled back into a horrific grin.
Charles steeled himself. “Leave this place.”
It laughed at him, the kind of sound that could drain the light from the sun itself.
“You kicking me out of my own place, Chuck.” It raised one large hand and held it before Charles face.
Snickt.
Jagged and misshaped blades shot from the back of the Thing’s hand.
“Oh, I want to see you try.” It hissed out at him.
Charles felt the strange sensations from the claws before him. They were hot as the deepest pits of Hades, and cold as a long forgotten grave in the depths of winter all at the same time.
“I am warning you’ He pushed out with his mind, and the creature barely flinched.
“This is my fucking world, old man.,”’ it growled. “Here you aren’t even a fly on my shit piles.”
Charles pushed harder, trying to burrow his way into the fathoms of the creatures mind.
It shot out and gripped him around the throat, Charles gasped at the grip that tightened around his airway.
He could feel that with the barest of motions his neck could be broken as one would snap a toothpick.
“Oh, you wanna get inside here, don’t ya Charley?” It said, tapping a clawed finger to its temple. “All ya had to do was ask. Here let me give ya the grand tour.”
Rivers of blood began pouring form the thing’s mouth and before Charles knew it; he was up to his neck in the foul liquid
It reached his nostrils and he could no longer breathe.
He could hear the thing laugh at him though, and even as more blood poured form his mouth, he spoke clearly.
“Taste my pain, Xavier, drink your fill of it, DROWN IN IT, MOTHERFUCKER!”
The world spun and Charles was thrown into a vortex of pain.
Images flooded his mind.
A long ago battlefield
Bodies piled up to his knees
Charles could see what appeared to be German soldiers fighting a short distance away.
“They were being slaughtered by a lone figure wielding a pair of bayonets’ and wearing a blood and gore spattered uniform of a Canadian Special Forces operative
The last German fell and the figure was on it tearing away at it like a starved animal. The bayonets rose and fell, rose and fell, again and again, even after the screams had died away into nothing.
Another figure appeared out of the dust and ran towards them shouting. “Corporal, that’s enough they’re dead, Corporal!!”
The maniacal figure turned on the approaching soldier and dove towards him, blades outstretched.
Before he could scream, the point of each blade pierced his gut.
A quick motion and he was disemboweled.
He fell to the ground with his spilling entrails. He clutched at his opened belly with a look of shock on his face.
The figure stood over him blades, dripping with life blood.
“Jim…..please…..” The soldier managed to gasp out right before his head was struck from his body.
Charles felt his stomach turn as the figure turned to face him. A face that was concealed by shadows but a pair of crimson colored eyes stared toward the endless carnage around him.
And then it howled.
More blinding lights and twisting nether and Charles found himself in a poorly lit cave.
There were people here. Men who spoke in some Arabic language that Charles could not place rushed here and there with rifles held at the ready in their hands. Woman and children sat close together, holding each other in fearful embraces.
Screams and the unmistakable flash and rumble of gunfire sounded at what must have been the mouth of the cave.
And then silence.
Four men stood close together in front of the woman and children. Their weapons raised and ready.
One brought a hand radio to his mouth and said something.
Only static came back over it.
He tried again and still with the same result.
He tried once more.
A strange noise came this time.
It almost sounded like growling.
Something moved in the corner of his eye and he shouted.
They turned their weapons and fired. The flashes were blinding and the roar was defining
They stopped, and for a moment, the world stood still.
Until an unseen force snatched one of them and pulled him screaming into the darkness.
The remaining three turned and fired.
They hit nothing.
It was quiet for a moment, and then came the screaming.
there was a wet splash, and all was silence.
The three men huddled closer together.
Footsteps.
Out of the darkness, something emerged.
A man.
Or what could have been a man.
Tubes encircled the length of his body down to a battery pack around his waist. A strange helmet obstructed the view of much of his face. In his hands he carried the severed head of the man he had just taken.
The remaining men shouted and opened fire.
All three were dead before their first rounds left the chamber.
Charles looked on in horror as the man moved toward the terrified woman and children.
Static came from the helmet and then a voice. “Make an example X,
No survivors.”
Charles screamed as he was jerked away from the setting, just as the man raised his clawed hand to a pair of small children, girls, ; he could see the claws reflected in their eyes right before his vision went black.
He awoke to the Thing standing over him, chuckling.
“How did ya like the taste of that, Charley,” It said, wiping the leftover blood from its mouth. “Maybe you should know that what you’re trying to save ain’t even worth it to begin with.”
Charles rose from the ground weakly. His head still whirled and rang and his eyes burned with the images he had seen. He stood tall and began concentrating.
“That shit don’t work, Chuck,” the beast snarled. “Best to not piss me off any further.”
Charles ignored him and concentrated. The beast was laughing and did not notice the ground beneath his feet moving. A cage sprung up around it just as the laughter died in its throat.
It roared and began slashing away at the bars, making sparks fly in all directions.
Charles stepped closer to the cage. “You are done here, monster, this is no longer your place.”
It sneered at him. “Sorry, Chuck, I’m here to stay.”
Before Charles could react, the thing buried its claws into the “floor” and with impossible speed, tunneled its way out.
It took off on all fours at full speed, and Charles pushed himself hard to follow it.
They ran for what seemed like forever until what appeared to be a cliff came into view, and a large and gray colored obelisk rose into sight. The beast turned and smiled.
“Sorry, Chuck got to be going.” It raised one clawed hand in warning. “But I’ll be seeing you again.”
It leaped from the cliff and into the obelisk and disappeared.
Charles stopped at the edge and studied the structure. It was huge, there was no beginning or end to it, grey and rectangular shaped. It stretched into the “sky” beyond the limits of sight.
Charles reached out with his mind and found harsh resistance. He pushed harder and felt blood drip from his nose; He gave a final push and was knocked back to the ground.
He shook his head clear and looked up to see a woman hovering over him with the small boy from earlier clutched in her arms.
The boy looked at Xavier once and then pressed his face into the woman’s chest.
She was tall and pale, her hair hung down her shoulders like a waterfall of blood.
She fixed Charles with an empty gaze.
“You don’t belong here.” Her voice was more of an echo. “Leave.”
Charles tried to say something but found himself thrown from that realm of existence.
He awoke in his office. There was sweat beading on his forehead and his nose ran with blood.
He moved his wheelchair to his desk and fetched a Kleenex to wipe it away.
Logan lay on the couch in front of him, unconscious. He was jerking and growling in his sleep.
Charles cautiously wheeled over and slowly issued the mental command to break the trance he had put on him.
Logan shot up with his claws extended, and for a moment Charles saw a frightened, familiar look in his eyes. It only lasted a moment, and then some sense of clarity returned.
Logan retracted his claws and rubbed at his head/. “Fuck me.” His voice was rough and haggard, “Hell of a damn dream.”
Charles poured a cup of water and handed it to him. “Tell me of it.”
Logan drained the water quickly and then snorted. “Hell Chuck you know I don’t remember any of that stuff.”
Charles nodded and said nothing further.
Logan turned to look at him. “Well,” he said impatiently, “what did ya find out?”
Charles sighed. “Logan, you know very well that it takes time….”
He was interrupted by the shatter of glass as Logan hurled it against the wall.
“Oh, bullshit, Chuck!” He shouted. “What’s the point of this crap if I ain’t getting no results?”
“Calm down, Logan,” Xavier said, raising his hand.
Logan fumed/. “How do I know you’re not just fucking with my mind, just like those other bastards did.”?”
“Logan, I assure you that….’
Logan stormed out the office and slammed the doors behind him.
Charles sighed loudly and rubbed the bridge of his nose.
The doors swung back open.
“Results, Xavier.” Logan growled. “I need some results You promised me.”
Charles turned to him. “I am doing all I can Logan. Please. I just need more time.”
Logan’s breath made his large shoulders heave up and down. He was gritting his teeth and tried desperately to slow his breathing and quell the rage that suddenly rose inside of him.
He nodded at the Professor and left.
He thundered his way down the halls to his room and got the bottle of whisky from his dresser drawer. He drained the entire bottle in one large swallow.
Logan threw the bottle on the bed and went into the bathroom to wash his face. The cold water helped sooth the burning anger and frustration. He wiped his hands clean and stared at himself in the mirror.
The face on the other end seemed to be smirking at him.
“What a piece of shit you are,.” his own reflection said. “If they only knew, huh, Logan, if they only knew what kind of cold blooded psychopath you really are, . They already think you’re the nut job of the millennia, but if they knew the truth, even Xavier would be wanting you put down just like the rabid dog you are.”
“Shut up,” Logan said to himself.
“You’re a liar Logan, and a monster.” His reflection spoke on, grinding at the sore nerves in Logan’s head.
“Shut Up,” Logan replied. He was shaking, and his voice was strained.
The reflection in the mirror seemed to bend down to whisper in his ear. “Murderer.”
“SHUT UP!!!” Logan punched the mirror and it shattered all along the floor.
Logan breathed hard and fast, his hand still embedded in the broken mirror. He had cut his hand badly, but already he could feel his healing factor kick in and start closing the wounds.
He rubbed his fist deeper into the glass, letting new cuts open and the old ones reopen.
The sink below was full to the brim with blood by the time he stopped. He pulled his mangled hand free and saw the glass slowly pop out of the wounds and the cuts close as if they were never there.
Logan turned away and left his room.
He needed to burn some energy. Needed to forget.
He needed to break something.
He needed something more to drink.
He needed to get laid.
Ororo was in the Danger Room, working on a punching bag.
Her hand was still sore, she wanted to work the stiffness out. Hank had told her she was lucky she didn’t break it. That bastard’s jaw was like hitting a brick wall.
She stopped punching and laughed to herself.
Well, she thought, he does have metal bones, dummy.
And a body that might as well be made of chiseled concrete as well.
She had to stop doing that.
She wanted to kick her own ass for letting those thoughts in her mind.
“Cut it out, Munroe,” she whispered and went back to punching.
The doors to the Danger Room opened and Logan strolled in, dressed in a white tee shirt and a pair of torn jeans.
He saw her soon as he entered and he felt his blood pump that much faster.
She was so caught up in her workout , she didn’t notice him enter.
All need to break something faded away when he saw her legs and ass move in those kicks she was performing. He was more concerned with one of those other needs now.
He silently walked toward her, moving as a ghost would in a graveyard, until he stood right behind her. He quietly sniffed the air and found the smell of her sweat and what was that, a hint of arousal, maybe?
It made his mouth water at the thought of her sweet flesh.
She threw a wild punch back and he caught her elbow in one hand.
She spun around and fixed him with a hard glance. “What the hell are you doing here.”
He snickered. “Thought this was the “team” training room, open to all and any who want to use it.”
Ororo said nothing, only kept giving him with a cold stare.
Logan smiled and took a long step toward her. “You know my offer still stands, I would really like to show you a few things.”
“You have absolutely nothing that I want to know OR see,” she almost spat out.
“Now don’t be cruel, Darlin, doesn’t fit in with the Prof’s idea of mutant brotherhood.”
She laughed in spite of herself. “Knowing your reputation, Wolverine, a brother sister relationship is not your top priority with a woman.”
He shrugged. “Just saying I see a lot of potential in you Storm, I could make you somebody to be afraid of.”
Ororo’s eyes flashed white and lightning crackled along the length of her body. “I have that already taken care of, thank you.”
Logan could feel the hair on his arms stand up. He did not know if it was from the electricity she was generating or just seeing her like that.
It turned him on.
He walked closer and got face to face with her.
Her mouth opened in shock as the flesh on his body began to blacken and peel away and then immediately heal.
“Ohhh, that’s good, darling, real good.” It hurt like hell but at the same time it was just making his blood pound that much harder. “You’re a bad ass in the powers department, no doubt, but I can make you Dangerous.”
Ororo stopped generating the electricity with a thought. The skin on his face and arms had already healed and she could see the deep breaths make his massive chest rise and fall.
So caught up in the ways his muscles move, she heard herself whisper “Yes.”
Logan leaned forward and kissed her along her neck.
Ororo’s mind screamed for him to stop, but every other part urged her on for more.
Logan felt the beast in him break free. He grabbed her and slammed her against the wall of the Danger Room. He licked along her chin and breathed hot air into her mouth. They kissed.
It was hard and fierce.
So unlike Hank, she thought for one moment.
But the force and exhilaration, made Hank flee from her mind.
Her arms went around his neck and pressed him harder.
Logan grabbed the fabric of her shirt and ripped at it, tearing it slightly.
He sucked on her neck and felt her fully give in.
A flash of light hit Logan’s eyes and he saw himself clutching at Ororo’s ragged and bleeding body.
He was ripping the flesh from her body, chewing and swallowing in large gulps. He lapped up the blood in with his tongue and howled.
The woman with the hair of fire, stood beside him smiling, urging him on.
“Take her, my love, finish her; I want to watch.”
Logan gazed down at Ororo’s face, a small shimmer of light still in those gorgeous blue eyes of hers, . She was trying to say something but the wound in her throat prevented anymore than a few bubbling gasps
Logan roared and then bit down hard.
He threw himself away from her as the dream let go of him.
Ororo was speechless as she stared at him.
He breathed hard; he could feel the temptation well up within him again, to take her. Fuck her, kill her.
He turned and almost ran out of the danger room, leaving an open-eyed and hardly breathing Ororo against a cold and empty wall.
Elsewhere:
“That was close don’t you think.” ,” spoke a man, dressed in a lab coat.
“Too close,” spoke a blond woman who was pulling a circular head piece off.
“What does it really matter if he does, shouldn’t affect the plans.” spoke another lab coat- wearing man.
“It will.” came a new voice. A large man wearing a military officer uniform. ‘”For this plan to work, we need him broken, nothing to hold on to, beaten down to the lowest possible brink.”
They all nodded and went back to their duty as the large officer sat down and rubbed at the scars on his face. Three long jagged marks ran from the curve of his jaw up over the bridge of his nose and to the ruined socket of his left eye.
Not much longer now,. he thought, smiling at the thoughts of all the fun he was going to have with this.
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