By: Lisa Anne Hetu
Disclaimer: The X-Men belong to Marvel Comics, and I'm using them without permission.
The character called Phoenix (Elizabeth Xavier), who later becomes Silent Rose, belongs to
me.
The days had been going extremely slowly up to now. New York was in the middle of a
heat wave, making it an extremely hot summer. The X-Men were loosing their thoughts
that something bad was ever going to happen again, and they wondered what could've
happened to stop all mutant violence. Even if Juggernaught thought they were all dead,
wouldn't that give him an easy advantage to do evil deeds without worrying about being
stopped? Nonetheless, the X-Men tried as best they could to keep themselves occupied.
Forge was always in the war room, improving something or other. Beast was always in
his lab, doing unknown experiments and finding cures for various diseases. The others
occupied themselves with other things, depending on the day.
Phoenix had started weight-lifting a few months ago, just to keep up her strength
and figure. Now she was strong enough to make Rogue stumble a few steps when her
guard was down (which wasn't very often); however, Phoenix wasn't yet strong enough
to beat Rogue in arm wrestling and probably was never going to be. Phoenix was lifting
weights again today, as a matter of fact. She only got about 15 minutes in, until she
decided that it was too hot to pump adrenaline and it'd be alot cooler to just go for a swim
instead.
It just so happened that most of the other X-Men had come upon the same
conclusion, and Phoenix found them all at the pool. Rogue had suckered Gambit into
fanning her while she tanned in the sun. Psylocke and Angel were racing each other
across the pool. Jean and Cyclops were playing catch with a frisbee. Wolverine,
Quicksilver and Cannonball were by the barbecue cooking hot-dogs and talking idly.
"Hey all!" Phoenix called out to them, walking up in her green bikini.
All the X-males stared as Phoenix strode towards the group; none of them had
ever seen her almost naked before. The females glared at their boyfriends for a minute,
then took action. Jean launched the frisbee at Cyclops beaning him in the back of the
head. Psylocke jumped up and shoved Angel in the back forcing him underwater while
his guard was down. Rogue, however, not being able to touch anyone, took her glass of
lemonade and splashed it in Gambit's face, waking him up immediately as the remaining
ice cubes trickled down his chest. "Sapriste! " Gambit cried out in a surprisingly high
pitched squeal, "I donno if I should be t'ankin' you for de refresher or gettin' you back for
jus' about stickin' me in de freezer!"
"Well, that'll teach ya ta be starin' at another woman while Ah'm around, sugah."
Rogue glared, with her arms crossed.
"You know I'm going to have a bump on my head now?" Cyclops protested,
rubbing the back of his head.
"Oh you poor dear, "Jean said sarcastically, "Why don't you go get Lizzie to make
it all better for you; I'm sure that's what you wanted anyway."
Warren was just coming up from nearly being drowned, and he coughed and spit
out water, then without speaking turned questioningly to Psylocke who glared right back
at him.
Meanwhile, Quicksilver was shaking off a sudden dizziness, and Wolverine was
shaking a completely stunned Cannonball. "Snap out of it rookie!" Wolverine scolded.
"Aw Wolvie, leave the kid alone, he'll snap out of it" Phoenix said jumping into the
pool. Wolverine shrugged and went back to poking the hot-dogs as the shock quickly
diluted and everyone went back to what they were doing previously, save for Phoenix who
had just arrived. She joined in with Angel and Psylocke for a few laps, then decided to
get out again. "Damn, I knew I forgot something, does anyone have a towel?" Phoenix
asked.
"Ours are soaked," Psylocke said pointing to the towels that belonged to her and
Angel.
"Ah could get ya one real fast ma'am" Cannonball said, using his power to zip
through the mansion and back with a fresh towel.
"Thanks Sam, your a doll" Phoenix said ruffling his hair as she took the towel from
him.
"Aw, it wasn't nothin' special," Cannonball blushed, "it's just that Ah was taught to
treat a lady with respect and kindness"
Suddenly, there was a huge noise from inside the mansion. Everyone turned to
the mansion for a second, then to each other, then everyone ran inside to see what was
going on. Cannonball and Quicksilver were the first two to reach the inside, but from the
back entrance everything seemed quite normal. Wolverine, Rogue, Angel and Psylocke
were just entering the mansion when a male scream was heard muffled, like it was
coming from one of the sub-levels of the mansion. Quicksilver and Cannonball sped off
again, this time down the elevator to the first sub-level of the mansion. Following the
screams, Quicksilver and Cannonball made their way to the Beast's med-lab. By now,
Cyclops, Jean, Gambit and Phoenix were in the building and Wolverine, Angel, Rogue
and Psylocke were on their way down the elevator following Quicksilver and Cannonball.
The metal door to the med-lab was unlocked but jarred tightly, so that it wouldn't
open more than two inches inward. "Beast! What's going on?" Quicksilver shouted.
There was no answer from inside. "Sir, Ah can't open th'door any more th'n this,
even with mah power" Cannonball confessed.
Just then Psylocke, Rogue, Wolverine and Angel showed up. "What's going on?"
Angel asked a little anxiously.
"Something's wrong in there and we can't get the door open," Quicksilver
answered, "There's no answer from Beast either."
Psylocke scanned out psyonically to find out all she could. "Beast is very
stressed and scared in there, and Rictor, Shatterstar and Iceman are in there with him."
Psylocke realized.
"What's that weird lookin' smoke comin' through the door?" Cannonball asked.
"Dunno, but it smells funny, could be dangerous" Wolverine concluded, "Don't
think it'd be smart to go near that stuff."
"We have to get in that room, their lives could be in danger" Angel decided.
"Stand back ya'll, ah c'n open it" Rogue said backing up to slam into it.
Now, the other's had arrived and they were told of the situation as Rogue rammed
herself into the metal door, knocking it down. The strange mist rose and stuck around
near the ceiling. Rogue got up from on top of the fallen door and looked around the room.
There were black marks in one area of the room were something had exploded.
Shatterstar lay face up right near there breathing heavily and perspiring; he was the one
who had screamed. Beast hung up-side-down in the far corner, his face hidden by his
hands, and he was silent. Iceman and Rictor were at the opposite end of the room,
shaking off dizziness caused by hitting their heads on the wall; the two of them sat in a
heap on the floor where they had landed. The rest of the room was in complete disorder,
having been practically torn apart. "Would ya'll mind tellin' me what the heck happened in
here?" Rogue said shocked.
The other X-Men slowly stepped into the room and looked around with wide eyes
and mouths wide open. Just then Shatterstar convulsed and screamed in pain so loud
that the whole world could've heard him. Cyclops and Angel ran to his side as Iceman
and Rictor yelled in unison "Don't go near him!" but it was too late because Cyclops and
Angel went flying half way across the room and slid on the floor into a lab table, knocking
it over along with everything on it. Jean and Psylocke jogged across the room to see if
they were okay. Shatterstar now lay curled in a ball heaving and sweating more than
ever. Phoenix, who this whole time had been looking around almost horrified, strode over
to Beast. "Beast, you have to do something," she said as calmly as she could, "What's
wrong with Shatterstar? What happened?"
"I can't do anything," Beast said so shakily that Phoenix knew he was sobbing
behind his gigantic blue paws.
"It happened so fast," Rictor began to explain, "Beast had just finished examining
Shatterstar in his yearly check-up, and started on something else. I had my check up
before, but I came back because I forgot something in here. Iceman was waiting in here
for his turn I guess. Beast was mixing something together and then something went
wrong. He put it down when it started to bubble, and he reached for something else to
stop it. A vile got knocked over from the shelf and exploded near Shatterstar. I don't
know what it was, but it's hurting him real bad."
Shatterstar had been brought to the infirmary and was laying quite uncomfortably
in a white bed, his muscles tense, his breath heaving and his body soaked in sweat.
Beast had given him a needle to calm the pain as best he could, but there was nothing
more to be done. "Beast what exploded, what's happening to Shatterstar?" Phoenix
asked calmly.
"It was a vile filled with carefully mixed chemicals that I was using to try and cure
the legacy virus," Beast said sadly, "I was so close to finding the cure, there was only one
tiny error, but it seems that Shatterstar has caught the virus from those chemicals. I'm
sorry, this's all my fault."
"Beast, how could he get the virus from that?" Phoenix asked, her hand on
Beast's shoulder.
"Shatterstar was perfectly healthy," Beast explained, "Therefore the cure had the
opposite effects on his as they would've had on someone who already had the virus."
"You mean, instead of curing the virus, the chemicals gave it to him?" Phoenix
asked.
"Yes, and that was the only vile I had. I don't have the chemicals to mix it again"
Beast slumped in his chair, "I can't save him Lizzie."
Phoenix hugged her old friend sympathetically; she didn't know what else to do.
Phoenix now knew everything she needed to know, and she was almost in tears herself
after putting the pieces together, to realize the conclusion of this episode. Shatterstar
was going to die. "You can't blame yourself for this Hank" Phoenix told him, "You must
try to put your guilt aside for Shatterstar; make him as comfortable as you can so he can
at least be happy."
Phoenix walked slowly to her father's old office, where Forge had assembled
everyone. She walked into a room of hopeful faces; they didn't know what would become
of Shatterstar, and it nearly broke her heart to see them this way. Phoenix was afraid to
tell them the truth; it was so hard for her to tell them something that would hurt them all
no matter how she said it. Phoenix was a strong woman, and she held back her tears as
best she could. "Elizabeth, I understand that Hank is upset," Forge stated, "Therefore I
must ask you to explain the situation. What has happened? What did Hank tell you?"
Phoenix choked back a sob, and took a breath. Her voice was raspy, but they
had to be told. "The vile was Beast's experimental cure for the legacy virus," she
explained very slowly, "Shatterstar was quite healthy when he became subjected to the
cure, and therefore took on the opposite effect. Shatterstar has the legacy virus, and
Beast said he's ... going to die."
Gasps were heard around the room as Phoenix burst into tears. Wolverine, who
was closest to her, wrapped his arms around her to comfort her. He sighed heavily as
she wept onto his shoulder, and he heard the sobs accumulating around him. Many
others, particularly the women, had also begun to cry. Everyone was upset because
they knew they were about to loose a friend, but what made it worse was that there was
nothing they could do about it; they were all helpless and were doomed to watch an X-
Man die in front of their eyes.
The days past slowly, but the pain of loosing a friend wasn't weakening in the
least, nor was the guilt that they were all helpless to stop it. Shatterstar seemed to grow
weaker and in more pain as every day past. His skin grew boils and rashes, he couldn't
sleep because of the pain, and when he did, he'd wake up screaming. For the first few
days, no one had slept, but now, they each took turns staying up to watch over the dying
man. Beast, however, didn't sleep at all either way. He was too wracked with guilt that
Shatterstar's condition was all his fault, and was determined to help Shatterstar medically
in any way he could. Phoenix often found him in the med-lab trying even harder than
before to find the cure to the Legacy Virus.
"Beast, you have to get some sleep," Phoenix said as Beast walked into the
kitchen where she sat on duty that night, "You're gonna turn yourself into a zombie."
"Despite any attempts, I would never be able to sleep tonight or any night for that
matter." Beast said drearily.
"Hank, you're running yourself ragged," Phoenix said, "This can't be healthy. You
of all people should know that, I mean, your a doctor!"
"A completely useless doctor, but yes, you're correct" Beast said, heading for the
coffee pot.
"Oh no you don't, I'm putting you to sleep right now," Phoenix said, "Come on."
Phoenix brought Beast back to his room in the male-wing of the dormitory, a room
he hadn't even seen, it seemed, for the longest while. She brought him straight to his
bed, and he put up no resistance because he was so completely exhausted. Phoenix
even tucked him in to boot, and hummed quietly to him as she fluffed his pillows, opened
a window for fresh air, and turned out the lights. "Poor Beast" Phoenix whispered to
herself as she looked at him sleeping peacefully one last time before closing the door.
The next morning went just as slowly, if not more so, than those of the past
weeks. It was almost noon, but Beast was still fast asleep. Phoenix told the others to let
him be because he hadn't slept all night in at least a week. Jean was with Shatterstar,
watching over him. It seemed that today, he was much quieter than in the past. His
monitor however was the same as it had always been, beeping at his side. Jean left the
room as he fell asleep, and went to get some coffee. When she came back, something
had changed, but she couldn't put her finger on it. It was too silent in that room. Then
she realized that the monitor wasn't beeping anymore. A straight green line slid across
the screen, and Jean screamed out psyonically to everyone in the mansion.
Psylocke and Cable, who were the other two telepaths in the mansion, were
practically bowled over by the psy-waves that hit them. Even Beast woke up, and the
whole gang ran down to the med-lab. They all found Jean crying over Shatterstar's body,
and that familar green line making it's way across the monitor. They all stopped short in
their tracks. "Oh no," Psylocke whispered.
Rogue put a hand over her mouth. Cyclops walked over to Jean and hugged her
sympathetically. Cable took a step and looked into his father's eyes with sympathy for
Jean, his step-mother. Beast slowly dropped to the floor and wept. Phoenix dropped
down beside him and put her arms around him. The others just stood full of sorrow and
grief.
Shatterstar was buried on the Xavier Mansion grouds along-side the graves that
marked the passing of many other X-Men and friends. Phoenix and Jean, with some
help from the others, tried their very best to comfort a seriously disturbed Beast. "It
wasn't your fault, you had nothing to do with Shatterstar's death." they said.
"There was nothing you or anyone else could've done" they said.
"You have to leave it behind and move on," they said.
But, despite their efforts to help him, Beast would never be the same.
THE END
