Subject: [OTL]: (Geomorphic Arc, Pryde/Wisdom and Aaron Wisdom) The Hard Road, 2/2 (PG-15 Date: Tue, 18 Dec 2001 23:30:12 -0800 (PST) From: Phil Hartman will1@earthling.net Geomorphic Arc: The Hard Road Conclusion by Phil Hartman DISCLAIMER: The kids are mine. Their parents are Marvel's. No money is being made off of this. Please don't sue. WARNING: Some mature themes, some cuteness, and very mild violence ... a little bit of everything :) -------------------------------------------------------- 6/10/2010: -------------------------------------------------------- "Da." Pete looked down at the playpen in the kitchen of the house he and Kitty had moved into a little more than a year earlier, and smiled down at his only begotten child. "Well, ya finally decided t'speak, eh ?" Pete said, lifting his black-haired, blue-eyed son out of the playpen. Aaron laughed, patting his father's cheek, and looked down at the boiling pot of spaghetti below. "S'ghetti ?" the toddler asked, looking at Pete intently. "A little too advanced f'r you, kid," Pete chuckled, handing Aaron a chunk of zwieback from the open box on the kitchen counter. The boy nibbled at it, then giggled again as Lockheed flitted in and landed on Pete's opposite shoulder. "Dwagon," Aaron said, reaching for the purple extraterrestrial. Lockheed cooed, ignoring Pete's eyeroll, and followed his young Master into the playpen when Pete set the boy down gently. "Now don't you two go an' plot any world domination things, all right ?" Pete said, mock-warningly. Lockheed harrumphed, while Aaron just beamed and gnawed on his zwieback. The boy looked questioningly at Lockheed, then offered the dragon the remainder of his bread. "Foo ?" "Shanksh," Lockheed replied, greedily nibbling the cake-like bread. "We'com," Aaron laughed, smiling when Lockheed curled up in his lap. He stroked the dozing dragon, and his eyelids started to droop. Kitty said nothing to Pete of the mysterious mistiness in her husband's eyes later when she found him gazing contentedly into the playpen, at the sight of Aaron and Lockheed curled up together asleep. -------------------------------------------------------- 2014: -------------------------------------------------------- "B-but -" "They won't bite," Kitty tried to reassure Aaron. The boy looked across the street at the large crowd of milling, shouting, laughing kindergartners, then up at his parents, and sighed. #Can't blame 'm for being a bit scared. This place's a madhouse,# Pete realized, meeting his son's gaze. #An' he's always been a sensitive sort.# Pete knelt down, then looked Aaron in the eyes and said, "OK, little man. There's one o'you an' 'bout 50 o'them. I figure that's pretty bad odds f'r them, y'know ?" "'Cause I'm a Wisdom ?" Aaron said, his 5-year-young face brightening. "'Xactly. We're the scariest, bravest, wildest people alive, lad," Pete said, in his most sincere voice. "'Sides, you've tamed dragons, roight ?" "Well, just one," Aaron said shyly, looking up at Lockheed as the dragon waved from Kitty's shoulders. "Well, a brave dragon-tamer like you shouldn't be afraid of a bunch of kids," Kitty said, catching Pete's wink. She smiled as she added, "Just be yourself, honey. They'll like you." "OK, Mom," Aaron said, smiling as he hugged Kitty's legs and high-fived Pete. He looked both ways, then carefully crossed the street, and entered the Alenston Elementary School. #Just be brave,# Aaron reminded himself, looking around for the classroom he'd been shown during kindergarten orientation. "Aaron ! Over here !" Aaron smiled, waving back at a figure amongst the sudden horde of children who were approaching. "Hi, Payne !" Aaron called, darting over to high-five a brown-and-white-haired boy in a T-shirt and overalls. "Hi. What room're you in ?" Payne Summers asked. "5-A - we're together ! Cool !" Aaron cheered, daring his friend to race him as they bolted for the door. -------------------------------------------------------- 2022: -------------------------------------------------------- "DOWN !" #I'm being tackled by a girl in a bathing suit, and she's not even the slightest bit interested in me.# Aaron managed to dodge the massive explosion which took place about 10 feet to his left, and rolled with his would-be savior, as they landed in a thicket. "Damnit, I'm gonna cram a teke-shot right UP those Sentinels' asses !" Morgan Summers snarled, getting to her feet. The daughter of Cable and Domino shook out her short brown hair and managed to surround herself with a telekinetic force field, but cried out wordlessly when an energy blast shot through the black-swim-trunk-clad-Aaron. #Through -?# Morgan thought, gaping only for a second at Aaron. He looked at himself, as Morgan's telekinetic thrusts shattered the Sentinels, and mumbled, "I phased ..." -------------------------------------------------------- "You ROLLED with her !? Aaron !" "SHE'S A LESBIAN, DAD !" "Well, THAT certainly takes the wind out of the sails, don't it ?" Pete reflected, several hours and a few dozen severely-beaten rogue FOH followers later. Aaron - now dressed in jeans and a T-shirt - blushed, and muttered, "I thought you only liked Mom ?" "Don't be suggestin' that I'm a pervert, boy," Pete muttered back. "B'sides, sounds like you acquitted y'rself well back there." "Dr. McCoy thinks I can go solid, too - maybe even diamond-hard," the 13-year-old replied, looking into the yard of the Wisdoms' Salem Center house. He met his father's eyes, and smiled faintly at the expression on the elder Wisdom's face. #God, he's gotten big,# Pete realized, looking at his son. The boy was a bit lanky, yet, but he was only 13; fairly lean, with arms and legs a bit too long for him, with short black hair, not cropped, but cut above the ear, and alert blue eyes. "Ya did good, Aar," Pete said, softly. "I'm proud o'ya. Y'know, you ... don't have t'go to the Academy ..." "With my power ? One mistake and I could punch through somebody if I got mad," Aaron sighed. "I'm not worrying about it too much, but I can't just ignore it, either. And you didn't have to give me 'The Talk,' you know - I got that when I was 11." "Well, ya rolled with a girl," Pete pointed out. "In y'r swimmin' suits -" "I was wearing TRUNKS, Dad," Aaron interrupted, blushing. "And Mor's a lesbian !" "Ya're sure ?" "She Frenched Maya Logan the other day. In front of everyone." "Well ... they might just be experimentin'." "I keep forgetting with whom I'm talking. Your escapades are infamous." "That was before I met your mum." "OK, talk's over. I'll make every effort to be chaste." "Well, I wouldn't say THAT ..." "... seriously, Dad. Thanks." "Welcome, son." -------------------------------------------------------- end Aaron's misadventures will continue elsewhere in the Geomorphic Arc ... --------------------------------------------------------