Subject: [OTL]: (Emma/Hellions) Remembrance (R; disturbing imagery; sequel to Last Dance)
Date: Sun, 17 Oct 1999 15:48:40 -0700 (PDT)
From: Phil Hartman <will1@earthling.net>

 will1@earthling.net

 Remembrance

 by Phil Hartman

 DISCLAIMER: They're all Marvel's. Please don't sue.

 WARNING: Bad language, nasty images.

 CONTINUITY: Actually set within my Deep Waters
rewrite ... earlier in 2009.

--------------------------------------------------------

 She tossed.

 #Blood and glass surround David's body, his neck at
just the wrong angle after he hit the sidewalk -#

 She turned.

 #Sharon, Jean-Michel, Marie-Ange, Jennifer, Haroun,
clawing, dried-out husks moaning for souls to fill
them again -#

 She moaned.

 #And the others. 89 others, faces, names, powers,
crying for release -#

 Emma Frost screamed.

 #I do not scream,# Emma told herself, sitting naked
in her bed as moonlight shone in through the window.

 #Fuck. Maybe I DO scream ...#

 She stood, gathering her dressing gown and pulling it
about her with a shudder.

 #Jubilation would laugh,# Emma thought, tying the
belt tight. #And Katherine - ? She'd probably drive
the dagger deeper.#

 She looked out over the hills of the Academy, seeing
where the myriad of graves of her first students were
still tended.

 #Most of them were runaways or orphans,# Emma
reflected. #A handful of Alphas amongst a horde of
Epsilons and Deltas, some Gammas and a tiny number of
Betas ... but they were children.#

 #My children ... ?#

 Emma laughed; the idea ...

 #... hits home closer than I like to admit,# Emma
sighed. #Tubal ligation, to keep any unwanted children
from happening during my sexual conquests; and
Cordelia, young enough to be my daughter, turned out
to hate me as much as Adrienne does ...#

 The Hellions had been her children.

 And like any mother whose children died before her,
she ached.

 #First it was the alcohol, then Generation X ...#

 She snorted at the picture sitting on her bedstand,
wiping away a tear she hadn't realized was falling.

 #Robert ...#

 Blood-matted ice on blue and flesh, a tearful McCoy
breaking the news to Emma.

 #Damned Kashmiri separatists ...#

 Emma let a tiny cry escape her lips, hearing it turn
to mad laughter.

 #Fine, my children. My lover. I'll leave this place
come August, before the September and the anniversary
and the screams come back.#

 #But not before one last roll call.#

--------------------------------------------------------

 She sat, in her oldest costume, before the Cyberiad
monitors, letting the names and data scroll by, wine
in her hand.

 ACIDOPHiLUS:

 Smith, Bertrand
 AGE: 15
 POWER: Beta-class acid generation/projection

 AERATOR:

 Keneally, Diana
 AGE: 14
 POWER: Beta-class oxygen generation

 And they scrolled on.

 And the bottle became emptier and emptier.

 #95,# Emma thought mournfully. #95 dead.# (1)

 "Ms. Frost ... ?"

 Emma looked up, seeing Bert stand over her.

 "Bertrand ... ?" Emma whispered.

 The boy smiled sadly back at her, offering her his
hand as it dripped acid.

 "I'm here, ma'am," the boy breathed, blond hair
flopping at that askew angle that had always made Emma
smile despite her daily travails.

 "You were always the polite one," Emma smiled.

 She took his hand.

--------------------------------------------------------
 FINIS
--------------------------------------------------------

 NOTES: After the strong response I got from Last
Dance - my tale of a doomed young Hellion at the party
in UXM 281 - I thought a sort-of-sequel was in order.

 The footnote comes from UXM 288, where Bishop stated
that 93 escaped felons fled the Pit through Fitzroy's
time portal in UXM 282.

 Since Fitzroy stated that his power works on a
one-to-one ratio - one passenger per soul
drained/expended - 93 Hellions (Tarot, Catseye,
Bevatron and Roulette among them) must have been
killed in UXM 282.

 (Jetstream, while sucked dry, died in UXM 281 with
Beef. The names for Beef and Bevatron were off the top
of my head, and they've never been canonically named
to my knowledge.)

 While I rather doubt I could write about EVERY
Hellion, the loss of so many potential characters erks
me to some degree :/ - hence, this postscript of
sorts.

 Hope you enjoy.






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