Subject: [OTL]: (Marvelverse/Slayerverse) Neowind Prologue (PG) Date: Sun, 24 Nov 2002 18:07:19 -0800 (PST) From: Phil Hartman will1@earthling.net Neowind: Prologue by Phil Hartman DISCLAIMER: The kids are mine. Their folks are either Marvel's or Joss Whedon's. No money is being made off of this. Please don't sue. -------------------------------------------------------- NOTES: -------------------------------------------------------- OK. First: I'm NOT dropping Breeze or Summerswind. In fact, this is the future of both of those storyarcs, so please don't think that I'm ignoring those. Second: This will contain, at times, major spoilers for both of the above, so read Neowind at your own risk. Third: Certain similarities might be noticed between this and the Timewind Arc. Well ... yes and no. Neowind is a slightly happier version of Timewind. I'm not going to go into the Timewind Arc again unless people absolutely beg me to do so, mostly to avoid needless confusion between the two. Fourth: Alternate future ... the rest will be explained as things go along. -------------------------------------------------------- 12/31/2010 A.D.: -------------------------------------------------------- All told, it was much quieter than she'd expected. Then again, this WAS a mostly psionic collective; telepathy was just as likely to be used as verbal speech, and ideas were must less likely to be confused with direct mental communication. The 30-something Caucasian woman walked into the main chamber of the biomechanical tower's living complex with a curious expression. She was clad in a relatively modest jumpsuit - blue, with pockets on various parts of it - but her face was lined with stress and loss. The purple dragon on her shoulders looked the same, however. "Kitty." Katherine Pryde-Wisdom smiled wistfully over her shoulder at the younger woman approaching her. "Kate or Katherine. Kitty was a lifetime ago, Ray," the former Shadowcat said, gently reproving her former student and close friend. Rachel Summers-Richards just returned the smile, then made a face at the burbling figures she was carrying. The 6-month-old babies reached out with their hands, looking around with green eyes in the shadowed central sanctum of the Askani Collective's Neohattan tower. "Kate, then. Katherine was something the Professor might use ... and he's been gone for a long time," Rachel said. The babies cooed when Kate reached for them, and she took Rachel's son into her arms. "True. So has ... why DID you call me here, Rach ?" Kate asked, rocking Aidan as they watched various Askani approach the cushion-topped piece of machinery in the middle of the room. "I wouldn't bother you if I didn't think it was important, Kate," Rachel said, returning the smile of her husband as he walked in. Franklin kissed his wife's forehead, then cooed at his daughter Aislinn. "The CVs have picked up on where Zirala went," Frank said, looking at Kate with compassion. He stood watchfully when Kate quivered, and took Aidan from her as she composed herself. "Z-Zirala," Kate breathed. "You're SURE ?" "We wouldn't toy with you, Kate," Rachel said, glancing down at where Aislinn was cooing louder. The baby's green eyes flickered with another type of green light, and the Askani - male and female - around the room looked to the contraption in the center of the chamber. Kate's heart pounded as a vaguely female shape flickered in the middle of the chamber, greenish haze surrounding it/her. The figure coalesced into a young Caucasian woman with auburn hair, a cybernetic right eye, and a brown and yellow skinsuit. In her arms, she held a sleeping infant with brown hair, wrapped in blankets. "Bright Lady," Zirala said, smiling sadly. "I have found him. I leave him with you -" She set her bundle on the platform, then started to evaporate. "Zirala - !" Rachel called, tearfully. Frank placed a hand on her shoulder, and their twins broke into sobs. The young Askani simply faded ... ... leaving her crying passenger on the platform for Kate to sweep into her arms, an expression of joy and shock mingling on her face. The baby opened his eyes and stopped crying, breaking into a smile as Kate held him before her. "Ma ?" "Aaron," Kate whispered, hugging her son tight. "Eight years ... Aaron ..." -------------------------------------------------------- "AARON ?" "Don't look so shocked, Buff," Rachel said a few hours later as she and Frank served tea and cookies to her visiting sister. The Summers sisters and their husbands had set their children down for the evening, and looked out over Neohattan's skyline from the Richards' penthouse. "Forgive me, Rach, but I thought Aaron was lost when Abaddon hit the mansion back in '02," Buffy Summers said, disbelief evident in her face. She thanked her husband when he handed her a cup of tea, and shook her head again with a faint smile. "Well, time is one thing we get a chance to beat," Rachel said, shrugging. "Not very often, and not without consequences ..." She looked out into the night, and let Frank squeeze her shoulder. "Without Zirala's sacrifice, we wouldn't've had what warning we had about the Onyx Pillar," he said softly. "And Aaron and Kit - Kate - are reunited. That's something." "It's a hell of a lot, especially after what happened during the Uprising," Buffy's husband said encouragingly. "It's a miracle everything was put back together." "Together ? There are still Pillar cells around the planet, the humans are protesting ... I've even heard scuttlebutt that the bloody FOH is crawling out of its holes," a sardonic voice replied. "I would've thought you'd be back at your place, Pete," Frank chuckled. Pete Wisdom just snorted, collapsing into a chair perpendicular to the couches the Richardses and Summerses were sitting on. "Kate wanted some mother-son time w' the sprat," Pete grunted. "Not that I'm ungrateful t' the Askani f'r bringin' him back t'us, but your people hauled 'm off in the first place, Rachel." "Pete, if I'd had any idea that Aaron was going to be timeshifted, I would've done something. Besides, I'm not sure that it's a bad idea. Remember, he had no peers his own age back then. Now, he'll have a whole group of friends to grow up with," Rachel replied. Pete just shrugged again. "Timeshiftin' ... whole idea's ridiculous," he muttered. "Y'r people can't even survive the trip physically." Rachel went white again, but said nothing. Pete looked uncomfortable when Frank shot him a dark look, and Buffy and her husband squirmed. "The Askani know what they're giving up when they risk the time-shift, Pete. It's only done in extreme circumstances," Frank breathed. "I don't like it either, but think of where we'd be globally without Zirala's warning. And she saved Aaron's life." Pete just nodded, then glanced over at where Buffy's husband was sipping tea. The Englishman smirked a bit and said, "Bloody unusual t'see you drinkin' tea." "Beats the alternative," Angel chuckled. "Humanity has its advantages ..." -------------------------------------------------------- Across town, in a rebuilt brownstone in Greenwich Village, she watched. And waited. And finally let out a deep sigh before sitting down, adjusting the Cloak of Levitation around her against the chill. "Central air. I keep telling you, central air," the Sorceress Supreme's husband chuckled, playing with her long red hair when he hugged her. "I have you to get all furry and snuggle up with," Willow replied, turning to kiss Oz. "How's - ?" The couple stood, leaning over their son's crib. Xander Rosenberg giggled, kicking a bit when Willow tickled his stomach. "I wish his namesake could've been here," Willow sighed. "I know, that's wishful thinking ..." "Xander did what he did to save us," Oz breathed, hugging Willow. "Besides, you'll find him." They glanced at the distorted mirror their friend had vanished through several years before, and shivered. -------------------------------------------------------- They looked out over the Academy yard, watching fireworks light up the night. "Jubilee's outdoing herself again," the white-skinned woman whispered to her husband. "As are you," Nathan Summers chuckled to his bride. Domino just rolled her eyes, then glanced at the crib where their twin children were sleeping. Payne and his sister Morgan clung to each other, dreaming, while Nate ran a hand across their brows. "It's just ... I never expected to have this," the young man whispered. He flicked white hair out of his mismatched eyes, then smirked ruefully at his metallic left hand. "Well, the Uprising was hell for a lot of us," Domino reminded him. "C'mon. Let's let these two give us a few hours sleep - they'll wake up soon enough. "Dawn is just around the corner." -------------------------------------------------------- tbc ... --------------------------------------------------------