X-Men: Night of the Living Brain Dead
by Ben Church bchurch@su.edu
Chapter 4
Xavier was awakened by a knock at the door. He reached
out with his mind and found that it was Warren.
"Yes Warren come in." he thought.
Warren entered the room.
"Sorry to wake you Professor but the mini-jet is returning, and
Creed insists that you meet him in the infirmary."
"I'll be right there Warren." Xavier could sense the
tension in Warren.
"What could have gone wrong?" he thought.
Ten minutes later, Xavier's hover chair glided silently
into the infirmary.
"What happened Creed?" he asked patiently. "Why did you
bring this child instead of Jean?"
"Red told me to pick up this kid instead of her. She
didn't tell me why. I don't think she got a chance. All she said
was that she put everything she learned in that kid's head. So
when I found the kid, I brought him back."
"And you just left Jean?" Scott snapped.
"The fact that he did, probably saved this boy's life
Scott." said Hank. "Judging by the severity of his injuries,
any further delay on Creed's part would most likely have
resulted in the boy's death."
"You're right Hank." Scott said quietly. "I just wish I
knew what happened to her."
"We'll find her Scott." Xavier promised him. "Will the
boy be all right Hank?"
"It's difficult to say Professor. He's in stable
condition, but that only means that he won't get any worse.
There's still the possibility of infection. And I don't know if
he has any allergies, or head trauma. The biggest problem however is
this," Hank pointed to the machine monitoring the boy's brain
activity. It was flatlining. "He may never come out of his coma."
Xavier sat silently for moment. "Contact Betsy if there
are any problems with his mind." With that, he left.
"Why can't he help with that?" Creed asked.
"Ever since Magneto, he just doesn't trust himself in
anyone's mind anymore." Scott said.
The next day, Betsy came to the infirmary. Hank had
asked her to come down to check for any damage to the boy's
mind. She took a long look at the boy in the bed. He had an IV
in his arm injecting blood to replace the blood he had
lost. The slashes on his arms and legs had been re-stitched and
bandaged, and there was a bandage over his left eye.
"He looks so peaceful Hank." she said "Are you sure that
his coma will be permanent?"
"No. That's why I contacted you. I want you to see if
there is any thing you can do to help him."
Betsy pulled a chair up to the bed and sat down. She
studied the boy's face. He had the beginnings of a mustache and
he could use a shave. She created a low level psionic blade and
gently inserted it into his head.
Hank looked on hopefully. The meter still showed no
impulses from the brain what so ever. He began to despair when
suddenly the line jumped spasmodically.
"Oh my stars and garters. What was that?"
"I'm in." Betsy said simply.
The boy was in so much pain. It was all around her like
an ocean of grief, despair and guilt. It was no wonder he didn't
seem to want to wake up. Betsy probed for the boys consciousness,
fighting past the pain. The pain began to take on shapes, forming
pictures in Betsy's mind. Dead bodies, fire. Betsy didn't understand
what they meant but she looked at them carefully for some clue. Finally
she found a way through. An image of the boy formed in to her mind.
"Who are you?" he asked.
"My name is Betsy. I've come to help you."
"How?" he asked.
"Just take my hand" She reached out and took his hand in
hers.
Betsy opened her eyes and found that she was holding the
boy's hand. She released it and stood.
"Did it work?" she asked.
"All brain activity is back to normal. You did it."
Every day, Betsy would spend hours in the boy's mind
looking for the information Jean placed in his head. She sifted
through his entire memory but couldn't find it. Jean had hidden
it too well. After two weeks she gave up. Hank worried about
the morality of going into the boy's mind without the boy's
permission.
"I do have his permission." she said. "I promised him I
wouldn't talk about anything I found except what Jean hid."
Will woke and looked around him. He felt strangely refreshed, as if
he'd been asleep for days. He was apparently in a hospital of some sort.
"How are you feeling Will?" someone asked. Will looked
to his right. A strangely familiar Asian woman was sitting next
to his bed. At first he couldn't quite place her but then he
remembered where he'd seen her before.
"Wait a minute, you're the woman in my dreams!"
She smiled. "Like being reunited with an old friend
isn't it?"
"You hit the nail right on the head. It's really weird. Are you a
telepath?"
"That's right. My name's-"
"Betsy. Yeah you told me." Will would have tapped
his skull, but somehow he didn't think it would be a good idea. The
pain had mostly receded, but there was no sense in aggravating it.
"And you probably already know my name. In fact, I'm willing
to bet you know me better than anyone else on the planet."
"You're may be right about that. But give yourself more
credit, I couldn't know you better than you do."
"Well thank you for saying so. Now, what was your
question?"
"I said, how are you feeling?"
"A lot better than I was before. How long was I out?"
"About two weeks." Their conversation was interrupted by
the arrival of Xavier.
"Good morning Professor." said Betsy.
Will pushed himself into a sitting position to get a
better look at Xavier.
"Are you Professor Xavier?" he asked.
Xavier nodded. "I am indeed. You've heard of me then?"
"Yes. As a matter of fact I was going to apply to your
school next year. That is if I could get up the nerve to tell
my parents I was a mutant."
Xavier saw the grief in the boy's eyes as he said that.
"How did your parents die?" he asked.
Will was startled. "How did he know about that?" he
thought. "They were killed by an anti-mutant group, who were
trying to get at me. They blew up my apartment." This news
struck Xavier as familiar.
"Did you by any chance live in Burlington, Vermont?"
"Yes I did. Why? Was it in the news?"
"Yes it was. You're presumed dead."
Once again the sorrow flashed in his eyes. Then he
sighed. "Well at least I don't have to worry about them coming
after me again. Well anyway, why don't we start this off right."
He extended his hand. "My name's Will Davidson."
Xavier shook his hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you
Will. I'm Professor Charles Xavier. I believe you've already met
Ms. Braddock." he said indicating Betsy.
Will shook Betsy's hand. "So am I well enough to be up
and about? Or am I doomed to be an invalid for a while more?"
"We'll wait and see what Hank has to say." Xavier said.
Betsy followed Xavier out of the room.
"I'm worried about him professor, he was too off hand
when he talked about his parents. I think he may repressing his
grief, that can't be healthy."
"Let's give him a bit more time before we worry too
much." Xavier answered.
Will was watching a recording of the news broadcast
about the fire when a blue furry man walked in. Will forgot the TV
and looked at the man in shock.
"A-are you for real, or am I hallucinating?"
"Oh I'm here all right. The name's Hank McCoy. And you
must be Will." he extended his hand. Will took it gingerly, then
shook it firmly, blushing with embarrassment.
"Oh don't be embarrassed," Hank said, "That's not an
uncommon reaction to my appearance."
"So what's the verdict Doc?" Will asked. "Can I get out
of bed yet?"
"I don't know why not. As long as you don't do anything
really strenuous, you should be O.K."
"How long do you think it'll be before I can do
strenuous exercises again?"
"At least another week."
"Oy."
To be continued...
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