APOCALYPSE NEXT Chapter 6 ME OWN PRIVATE IDAHO Night... at high altitude, and movin' fast, yet there's barely enough wind to lift me hair... They tell me that the rotors that lift the helicarrier create the calm within the storm -- somehow... it's all technical. Even standin' at the foreward edge of the flight deck, with Mt. Everest loomin' before me, the sense of motion is minimal. It's dark... The only way to tell that I'm movin' is to watch Mt. Everest become larger -- blacker than the night, its presence felt rather than seen... The mountain is divided and all that's there is a cross section... Lookin' down, I see a pinprick of light at the base of the mountain... If the mountain were whole, the light would be under the center of Everest. Lookin' at the light makes me move toward it all the faster... Soon the shadow of the mountain is all -- except for the light. A siren! I look around me, but the flight deck is deserted. I turn to the light and find the source of the sound... we are movin' faster now, and the light is growin' and the sound is growing louder too... not a siren... screamin'... a man in an iron coffin, his hands on fire... screamin'... hot like the sun... bright light... screamin'... me throat hurts... the man in the coffin turns to me... I turn to see meself standin' on the deck of a flyin' ship... He holds the iron bar in his grip and I scream to him for help... He screams like a wild animal... lookin' at me, pleading with me... NO! I'll be trapped with him in that box! He's tearin' at me... he resists me call... he's tryin' to pull me in with him... the screamin' is louder... me throat hurts... me ears ring... I hold out me hands... he holds out the iron bar... I strike at the mountain... he strikes the mountain... it cracks. He flares in his coffin and the cracks in the mountain shine like veins of gold... I'm close enough to see who he is... I see clearly now the man on the ship... Wot am I doin in that coffin? Wot am I doin' on that ship? I wake to find myself in a strange cell -- no, not a cell. Quarters... in a ship... I'm on the helicarrier. Me sheets are scorched and I've been screamin'. I glimpse the girl runnin' through the wall toward me. She's young and pretty... her hair is wet and she's wrapped in a bed sheet... I know her... it's comin' back to me now. "Wisdom!" Kitty. Kitty sits on the bed beside me; she looks concerned as I draw myself away from her, terrified in spite of myself. "Wisdom... Peter! Come on, you're having a nightmare! I'm here... it's Kitty, remember? I'm here, it's alright, Peter." Kitty She puts her hand on me cheek... it's soft and cool... she's very close to me... her skin and hair smell clean... so fresh... she's so beautiful... clean... soft. I see the reason for the bed sheet; she was in the shower... suds in her hair... she's nude under the sheet. "Peter? Do you need anything?" Kitty. I realize that I'm also undressed and the sheets are burned off me... SHITE! I'm gettin' turned on by her... I lay a pillow on me lap. "A drink... I need a drink... please." "Sure, I'll get you some water." Kitty, going to the sink. "No, I'm not thirsty... I just need a drink, a beer, scotch... anything." She stares at me for a bit... smiles. "One tall glass of water coming up, Mr. Wino." Kitty. I watch her negotiate the cluttered floor of me room to get me a glass of water, still wrapped in a bed sheet... Does she realize wot she's doin' to me... would it be too much to ask that you be three years older? From the small refrigerator she brings out a glassfull and pivots to face me. The motion lets the sheet swing open at her waist... I brace myself... knickers, good. "You look all stressed... your dream still bothering you?" Kitty, handin' me the water. "Thank you, petal... no, not the dream... not that, I can't even recall wot it was about, actually... it's..." "Oh... I... I'm sorry... I didn't realize... like, it's okay, really." Kitty, noticin' my erection. I get out of bed to find somethin' to put on. "It's really okay, Peter, I've seen that before... X-men uniforms don't really leave much to the imagination, y'know, and with Storm and Wolverine always having theirs shredded in battle I've seen enough... you know... Don't worry, it's no biggie." Kitty. "It's not me bein' starkers, no... it's you and the effect you're havin' on me... it's not right... you bein' so young." Kitty looks at me thoughtfully for a moment... her eyelids drop a bit... Smiling dangerously, she phases and the sheet falls from her body along with her blue knickers... would it be so wrong, really? "There... now we're both naked... and aroused." Kitty. She walks toward me... I see her muscles dancing under her skin with every step. "Am I so young, Peter? With all that I've experienced as an X-man... what I'm about to experience with you... I may die before our mission ends... Must I be held to such rules? Do you think that it's fair?" Kitty. "No it's not... about your age, I mean... fair... it's not." I can feel her breath against my throat... she's standin' so close to me... her nipples brush against my chest hair. I feel a light electrical chill from my chest to my thighs... I look down to see that she has phased herself into me... would a shag possibly be more intimate than this? "Can you feel it, Peter? our hearts are beating in the same space... if I let go now, we'll be as one forever." Kitty. "Let me feel you." Kitty draws herself out of me, slowly... lettin' the phase buzz linger... She becomes solid in my arms and I pull her in for a kiss, my erection pressed against her belly... her mouth is soft and sweet... this isn't wrong... her hands find me arse and it's not wrong... I bring her to the bed and lay her down... not wrong... I kiss her lips and her chin... my tongue draws a line down her throat to her breasts where I linger... her thighs are warm and strong, pressin' my ears... pubic hair tickles me nose... I inhale her warmth, I taste her... It's cold and dim in the room... naked... afraid, I know wot's comin'... powerful hands stripped me... left me in this near darkness... powerful hands hold me down... I'm suffocatin' with me face in the mattress... then pain... humiliation... I'm just a boy... I... I tear myself away from Kitty, startlin' her... I don't give her any explanation... I put on me trousers and coat... an' walk out.