THE TEST
by Francisco Charrua
The Challenge
"In the name of God !! What sort of man are ye!?" Sean got
up from the couch.
During this stormy winter night, the team of mutants known
as Generation X, had given this stranger the protection of
their home. He was well into his forties and spoke as if he
had been living since the day time was created.
"Do not look so shocked Mr. Cassidy, you of all people
should know what it's like.", he continued to speak as the
young mutants sat around him in awe, "The world that we
live in is constantly ... POISONED by the unfit rulers that
are pampered into power!"
Emma, who was standing behind an entranced Monet, reached
out to Sean with her mind, {Don't look, just listen.} Unlike
the students, these two were growing suspicious of him. {The
stranger ... I can't read his mind ...}
"Why should men that were born with a name be placed above
us, who were simply born SUPERIOR ?!", the man turned to
face Emma, {but I can read yours.}
The kids noticed that he was now occasionally glancing at
Emma and Banshee. Emma was troubled by the calmness
displayed by this individual. A puzzled Skin was now looking
at his peers, like someone asking for directions. A weird
tension grew in the room, and the student's attention
shifted from their lecturer to the instructors. The stranger
stopped talking and looked at Monet as she awakened. She had
a sinister look and her eyes glowed with power. The young
woman rose to her feet and faced him.
"ANCIENT ONE !!! En Sabah Nur.", Monet was standing, with
her feet floating two inches above the floor. "I don't
believe we've met before ...", her tone was milder, but
there was a fury in the way she looked at the man.
Emma stood in the corner of the room, frightened by the fact
that her powers were not working. Everett heard M's voice
inside his head, telling him to get in sync with everyone's
power. Sean let out a steel-shattering scream. The stranger
smiled.
"GNNNNN... A WORTHY ATTEMPT!!" he delighted at the pain he
felt, as his body was pounded on and torn at. He closed his
eyes and clenched his fists. From the inside of his chest
immerged what seemed to be a blinding pulse of light. As the
team struggled to regain their sight, his voice rang through
their minds, {YOU THOUGHT YOURSELVES CAPABLE OF DEFEATING
THE APOCALYPSE ? Pathetic fools ... Maybe you should try
yourselves against creatures of your own foolish young age
...}. The whole team recovered from the attack. Sean, Emma,
and Apocalypse were nowhere to be found, and they were
completely surrounded by trees.
"The danger grotto ... Are we supposed to defeat Artie and
Leach ?"
"Sorry Angelo, we are nowhere near the biosphere. As a
matter of fact, I believe we are no longer in North
America.", Monet looked at Synch, "I could use some help
surveying the landscape.", they both floated upwards until
they were above the trees. The rest of the team gathered and
started making plans.
The Mission
Somewhere not too far away, another group of youngsters hid
from the scalding tropical sun rays, at the entrance of a
cave. Sarah, Bobby, Roxy, and Eddie waited for their
friend Caitlin to return from her exploration of the island.
Sarah Rainmaker watched an impatient Grunge heading for the
outside, "You know, the plan was for us to wait HERE for her
return."
Roxy ran up to him and tugged at his shirt, "Grunge... Don't
do it. Those kids are dangerous, god only knows what they're
capable of!"
"Man, I'm getn' wasted of sitting on my hands.", he casually
exited the cave and started walking towards a small desert
located at the northern half of the island. "There ain't no
way I'll be stuck in there for six hours straight."
Bobby, who had been quietly sitting against a wall, finally
spoke up, "So what exactly do we have to do?"
The two girls turned around, "Roxy overheard Lynch talking
with someone a few days ago, it seems like the government
has found a bunch of teens with self-activating gen
factors". Roxy, the young woman also known as Freefall
turned to her friend, "No, no. Apparently they are not gen-
active. Their abilities are thought to come from naturally
occurring mutations". The three young people continued
talking about these mutants. They wondered about how it
would be for a six year old kid to have powers. After
agreeing and disagreeing on various points, Rainmaker
finally answered Burnout's question, "We are suppose to
bring them to this cave and wait for Mr. Lynch".
Grunge VS The Power
It was now the middle of the afternoon. Most of the
Generation X members were busy working on a shelter for the
night. Gen13 already had the cave, so they focused all their
efforts on planning and plotting. For some reason, these
young people believed they were going up against a terrible
adversary. They had disembarked on the mountain side of the
island and immediately found shelter. Just like in a war,
they even sent a scout to gather information. Caitlin
Fairchild, the strongest one and their leader, seamed like
the logical choice. She had been sneaking around for three
hours, the mountain area was clear of all danger. She was
now starting to cautiously explore the forest section. As
all this happened, Eddie Chang just strolled happily through
the warm sand. The last thing he had on his mind was evil
mutants, for now.
"That's funny Monet, he doesn't look like a horseman."
"Well, he specifically said, OUR foolish young age."
"Hmm???", Grunge turned around to identify the source of the
whispering.
"Shhhhh ...", Monet and Synch hovered above the young man,
who was now walking with his arms swinging in a ultra-macho
fashion.
"*giggle*"
"Keep it down M!", whispered Everett.
He suddenly pivoted, his fists in blocking position
"Awright, come out come out wherever ya are!!!!", Eddie's
face became blank when he realized once more that there was
no one behind him. He started scratching his head.
"Eddie Chang ...", Monet chanted with a ghostly voice, "This
is your conscience speaking to you !! *giggle*".
This surprised Synch. He looked at M sideways. Poor Grunge
was now running for his life. His arms were extended in
front of him, and his feet were pounding the sand.
"Monet, my aura ... it seems like that kid could be ...", he
noticed M was still giggling to herself, "great ... guess
I'll take care of it. " He flew down and landed in front of
Grunge. "Hi, I presume your name is Eddie Chang."
Before he knew it, Synch had Eddie's fist flying at him. He
ducked it, only to be swept off his feet. He quickly got up
and threw one of his good swings at his adversary. His punch
was skilfully blocked and his head greeted by Eddie's fist.
Synch stepped back only to have his ribs machine-gunned by
blows and kicks. He tried to tackle only to find himself
being thrown five meters across the ground.
"No one messes with the Grunge Master!", Eddie flexed his
biceps.
"Apocalypse made his point, I suppose we can go home now.",
Synch slowly got up, brushing the sand off his uniform.
"I doubt it Everett, I don't think he brought us here just
so you and that gentleman could have a martial arts
tournament", M was now standing beside him.
"What?", A sheepish look covered Grunge's face, as he saw
Synch still standing. " ... the hell?", he looked at his
swollen fists.
Synch Leaned to Monet's ear, "Like I was saying before, I
think he's a mutant."
They suddenly realized that this was no time for casual
conversation. Monet clenched her fists as Grunge touched the
ground with his wounded hands. Before the eyes of his
predators, Eddie became a giant monster of sand. He turned
towards Synch, who had stepped away from Monet, and charged
him. M stood back watching, as the monster pounded Synch
into the ground.
"Hey! Are you unvunerable or something?"
"The word is 'invulnerable', and yes we are.", Monet sunk
her fingers into Grunge's back and flew up with him.
Suddenly, the pile of sand with human form started changing
shape. Monet got a sense of deja vu as Eddie's mass formed a
ball around her. With this, they both fell to the ground.
Everett got up and walked towards both of them. M was lying
down, in a trance. Eddie was next to her, barely standing.
South from there, the members of Generation X harbored among
the trees had stopped their planning and building. Someone
walking through the woods had got their attention.
To be continued ...
All the characters in this story are either owned by Marvel
or by WildStorm.
(
geocities.com/soho)