Subject: [OTL]: (Gust Arc; Wisdoms) Divergency (PG-13) Date: Wed, 12 Mar 2003 21:02:48 -0800 (PST) From: Phil Hartman will1@earthling.net Gust Arc: Divergency by Phil Hartman DISCLAIMER: The kids are mine. Their folks are Marvel's. Etc. -------------------------------------------------------- 6/12/2010: -------------------------------------------------------- To describe him as being unimpressed would be polite. #I wanted another dragon,# Aaron Wisdom thought, pouting as he waited outside his mother's hospital room with Lockheed. The small purple dragon stretched out in Aaron's lap, content with the belly scratchings and the attention the eldest Wisdom child was giving him. For eight years, the two had been practically inseperable. Now, Aaron had to face the fact that he had a sibling. #OK, so a little brother or sister'll be nice. But they're LOUD, and smelly, and ... I won't get any attention,# Aaron thought, sighing. "Oi, Aaron. C'mere." The 8-year-old looked up, then set Lockheed on his shoulders and walked to where Pete Wisdom was motioning his son into the room. "Y'r mum's recovered enough f'r you t'meet your little brother," Pete said, looking more disheveled than usual. Aaron managed a smile; a brother wouldn't be so bad. The Wisdom men poked their heads in the door, and Kitty waved them in between coos at the blanket-wrapped form in her arms. "Hey, Aar - you brought Lockheed, too," Kitty said, smiling wearily. "Come here and meet Daniel Logan Wisdom." Aaron approached the bed carefully, and looked into the bundle of blankets. A scrunched red face peered back, with half-lidded blue eyes. "He's ... not ugly," Aaron admitted, shrugging. "Bloody right he's not. Be a little more sensitive, lad - you looked 'bout the same at his age," Pete rumbled. Lockheed landed on the bed, sniffed Daniel, and cooed. "Give it time, Aaron. I know it'll require some changes, but Dan'll get bigger someday," Kitty said, yawning. #Someday,# Aaron thought, resolving to give Daniel a chance. -------------------------------------------------------- 2014: -------------------------------------------------------- "COOOOOL." "Thank you," Aaron said, bowing before his awe-struck little brother. Dan grinned, watching as Aaron shaped another bioelectric discharge into a pretzel-like form, and absorbed the energy back into himself. "Wish I had powers," Dan mumbled, his head on his 4-year-young hands. "Hey, it takes time, squirt," Aaron said, smirking as he crashed on the couch beside Dan. "I got luckier in the genetic lottery, I guess." The two brothers did resemble each other, although not as closely as one might expect. They had brown hair cut above the ear, and identical blue eyes, but their faces were differently shaped. Aaron had resembled Pete for some time, with more angular features and similar mannerisms. Dan, on the other hand, favored the Pryde side of the family, with a somewhat broader nose. #And he's got powers, too,# Dan thought, looking at Aaron with some jealousy. It wasn't that Dan was the only one of his age group of "X-kids," as Kitty playfully nicknamed Dan's large preschool class, without active powers. Not every second- or third-generation mutant manifested their abilities before puberty, even if their parents were both Alpha-class mutants. #Aar's really GOOD at his powers,# Dan realized, sighing. The 4-year-old yelled when Aaron gave him a mild noogie, and snapped, "Lemme alone ! I'll tell Mom !" "Good grief ! I'm just trying to have fun. Null it, squirt," Aaron snorted. He stood, air-walking towards the ceiling, and shook his head as he phased through the ceiling. #Uptight little runt, anyhow,# Aaron thought, solidifying after he'd finished airwalking up into his bedroom. Aaron landed on his bed, relaxing, and kicked off his shoes. Dan wasn't that much of a pest, but his "why" questions were practically endless. That, and Dad wasn't around very often to answer them, because of his job ... #Private security must be pretty busy ...# Aaron thought, dozing off. -------------------------------------------------------- 2018: -------------------------------------------------------- "Dan ?" "Busy," the 8-year-old grunted, typing in his homework on the family's holo-interactive comsuite. "Done in a minute." "Fine. Just wanted to ask if you wanted anything from McWeasel's," Aaron called in a high-end baritone. #Nothing from YOU,# Dan thought, sniffing contemptuously. He finished his book report, saving the file, and e-mailed it to the school databank before turning around. Aaron - 16, somewhat muscular, and tall - stood before his brother in a McWeasel's uniform. "What happened to you ?" Dan asked, eyes widening. "I got a JOB," Aaron snorted. "You know, make money, get a life ?" "Oh. You mean you're still trying to get cash for that hovercar Mom and Dad said you can't buy until after graduation," Dan said innocently, looking at his knuckles. "Yes," Aaron grated, sparks flickering in his eyes. "Well, good luck. I just hope the burger-flinging doesn't distract you from your ogling 'Reen," Dan taunted, ducking away from the paper hat Aaron threw after him. #When's he gonna learn ? I might be latent, but I'm still faster,# Dan laughed internally before ducking into his bedroom. He landed on his bed, then sat up as a purple streak raced in. "Aaronmad?" Lockheed asked in his not-quite-language. "Yeah," Dan smirked, picking up the now-young-adult dragon. "I might've started it ... kind of. Maybe. But he's such a JERK." "fightlots," Lockheed observed, his eyes gently reproving. "I KNOW ... and I'm not innocent ... but he's such a showoff. Power this and power that," Dan grumbled. "So he's got powers. And he's the leader of the New Mutants - the THIRD team, not even the originals. And he stopped Mystique from getting that gene-encrypter." Realization flickered across Dan's face, and he hugged Lockheed to him. "He's doing all the stuff I'll never be able to do the first time," the boy whispered. "I don't want to be compared to him, 'heed. I'm ME. Nobody ever pays attention, and I don't want to do something dumb to get attention ..." "Listen," Lockheed cooed, hugging Dan. The boy returned the hug, and fought back tears. "Thanks," Dan breathed. "It's ... when'm I ever gonna be the hero ?" -------------------------------------------------------- 2021: -------------------------------------------------------- "I'm home ..." "Are you OK ?!" "Bloody 'ell, Dan, what're you wearin' ?" "I TRIED to talk to him, but -" "Nobody asked you, Joe College," Dan shot over his shoulder as he walked into the kitchen of the Wisdom home. The 11-year-old was clad in a T-shirt and bicycle-short-like swim trunks, which drew a double-take from his parents. "My trunks ... got phased into a rock when my power manifested," Dan explained, sitting in a chair at the dinner table with a blush. "Brad Drake gave me a spare pair." "At least it was just your trunks," Kitty said, relieved. She sat at Dan's right, while Pete sat at his left, and Aaron slumped into a chair at the end of the table. "Aaron called us - you're OK ?" "Yeah, except for Mr. Panic," Dan snapped, glaring at his 19-year-old brother. "I -" "I was TRYING to help ! Excuse me for actually caring for once !" the surf-trunks- and flower-shirt-clad Aaron shot back. "I've got experience in this area, you know !" "I never ASKED for it, like I already told you !" Dan said, flushing with anger. The air temperature of the room grew sharply hotter, silencing the brothers. "A'right, eno' of this bloody garbage," Pete growled. He retracted his hot-knives and looked sternly at each of his sons before taking a deep breath. "You two've gone 'round and 'round with each other f'r bloody long enough. Dan, Aaron was just tryin' t'help, like an older sibling should. It doesn't mean he's perfect, or that we bloody love him better. Just 'cause he was first don't mean that your life matters any less. "An' as f'r you, Aaron," Pete continued, fixing his steely blue gaze on his oldest son, "you've got a bloody tendency t' show off, 'specially when you don't need to. Dan c'n be touchy 'bout that, but he's got a right t'be - I c'n remember more times'n I want t' when you fried the couch with a bioelectric display. Just 'cause you're first-born don't mean that you got a right t' rub it in." Pete sipped his coffee, then added, "I don't 'xpect you two t' have a bloody hug-'n-cry session over this, but I don't want y't' keep snipin' at each other. Some day, y'r mum an' I'll be worm food, and I'll be damned if I hear you two snarlin' at each other when I'm on my deathbed." He glanced at Kitty, who managed a smile. "Your dad's a little blunt, but he does have a point," she said. "Can you two at least try to get along ?" Dan and Aaron mumbled, then got up from the table and headed upstairs. "I'm ... sorry if I've ever been ... y'know, if I've ever made you feel ..." Aaron muttered, stopping on one of the staircase's landings. "Me, too," Dan sighed. He looked at Aaron, then shrugged and said, "You'd really help me with my powers ?" "If you want," Aaron offered. "I know you'll probably go to the Academy this fall, but ..." Dan smiled and nodded - and punched Aaron on the arm with a grin. "That HURT ! You little weasel !" Aaron laughed, ruffling Aaron's hair as they faced upstairs. "You've got actual muscle !" "I tried to make myself more dense - kind of like your head," Dan teased gently. They stopped at the top of the stairs, and Dan tensed. Before Aaron snorted. "Don't rub it in, showoff," Aaron snickered. "Besides, you're still not bioelectric. But, if you want help ..." They grew serious, then nodded. "What I need is a training uniform - shorts and a T-shirt aren't going to cut it if we're using a Danger Room," Dan lamented. "C'mere," Aaron offered, nodding towards the attic. "I'm sure Mom kept my old clothes from my Academy days - unstable molecule gear still isn't cheap. I've got to have something that'll fit you." They began to airwalk, grinning, and entered the attic together. A pair of yellow eyes watched them from the bannister, set in a purple face. "Different," Lockheed cooed, before going back to sleep. -------------------------------------------------------- tbc ... --------------------------------------------------------