Legend: Thoughts = <>

Stray thoughts = ()

Flashback **

Com links []

Ok, guys, all the disclaimers apply, that means all thanks goes to Marvel

For the X-Men, I'm just making the story. And I do read all the other

Stories and they're great, keep up the good work. They inspire me!

-           

"You've been sitting at this window for three days." Connor said.

I was sitting in my room, looking out the window. I said no to Richard and after a lengthy argument, we decided (Mostly him) to end it. I couldn't really protest his decision. It was my decision to say no, just like it was his decision to end our relationship. It was harder this time. I actually saw our children, I saw a future. And my future was ripped away from me. Like it always was. So, I sat in front of my window, watching the street below, hoping that my love would come back. I wondered was it this easy for him, was he sitting in front of a window somewhere? But of course, he wouldn't be. He's stronger than that. He's probably taking case after case, trying to forget about me. I knew him. I know him.

"You can't hide in here forever." Connor said, "You don't see me hiding."

I just stared out the window. I knew he was feeling some very severe separation anxiety from Raiden. She hadn't written or called either of us.

"We could really use you." Connor said, "You're acting like that weak ass girl from that book you hate."

"I don't hate the book, I hate her." I said softly.

"He speaks." Connor sighed with relief.

"He's pissed." I said.

"Then channel your anger." Connor said, "There are a lot of those demonoids, which by the way need to be named, and we need your help."

"We? I think you need me." I said.

"Depressed, but still can't pass up the urge to analyze me?" Connor chuckled, "Look, only one of us can fall apart at a time and you've had your turn."

"Maybe you're right." I said, "I'm not this weak. Channeling, huh?"

"Hey, look, it's Raid!" I said quickly, "And, oddly enough, me."

"I kind of thought you'd be...bigger." The other Me said.

"I kind of thought you'd be...married with kids." I said.

"Raiden, what do you mean you brought us here?" Connor asked, "Like inter-dimensionally?"

"Yeah, turns out when I disappear, I don't just disappear, I travel through dimensions!" Raiden explained.

"Like Nightcrawler?" I asked.

"Yeah, only I don't take a tour! It was awesome at first, there are some awesome dimensions out there!" Raiden said.

"Like this one?" Connor asked.

"No, this one's a dump." Raiden said, "Besides the desert-like environment, the mutants running around are on steroids."

"Yeah, we encountered one." I said, "The one who can turn into sand."

"Sooraya?" The other me asked.

"Dust? She's...what is she?" I asked.

"A few years ago, after mutants died off, a scientist came up with a serum that, if injected, turned the person into a mutant." The other me explained.

"Didn't that happen in our world?" I asked.

"Yeah, but this was different." Raiden said, "This serum turned them into real mutants."

"Real mutants?" I asked.

"Demonoid, I guess." The other me said.

"And they kind of took over the world." Raiden said.

"So, I hunt them down." The other smiled, "And murder them."

"Nice." I said sarcastically, "We've slipped into a real nice world here."

"We've slipped into a sucky dimension, no offense." Connor said.

There was a rumbling outside. The other me whipped his gun out towards the door, whereas Connor, Raiden and I just looked. There was another rumbling!

"What the Hell is that?" I asked.

"Something's trying to get in." The other me said, his gun still in the air.

"Our friends are out there." Connor said.

"Well, I know a way out the back." The other me said.

-           

At the gun shop, Melissa and Max threw guns and ammo into duffle bags. They tried their best to hurry before the thing that attacked them in the desert came back. They heard little things, felt things move in the shadows. Max and Melissa had been handling a lot of the work lately, due to Pane's incapacitation. Connor helped, but they did a lot more of the work. They weren't mad because even though they were working a lot, Connor allowed them to have lives outside of work. Dates and such. They were less busy after the Invasion of the Skrulls. They had helped as much as they could, joining the fight. Pane had picked up a lot of skills, they'd noticed. He was a better fighter and had been studying using weapons. The Invasion had been Hell for everyone involved. In that time, Raiden had fallen off the face of the Earth.

Melissa stopped, "Do you really think Pane brought us here?" she asked.

"Had to be. Who else is that powerful?" Max said, still shoving stuff into the duffles.

"I don't know." Melissa sighed.

"Poor guy. Any normal person would be insane after seeing so much of the future." Max said.

"And he's not?" Melissa asked, "You two dated didn't you?"

"Yeah." Max smiled while putting the guns in the bag, "Just for a while. Until we found out who each other really were."

Melissa smiled and turned to him, "Were you in love?" she asked.

Max stopped.

"I mean, you date a guy a day, it's in all the tabloids, but I can't help but think that's a defense mechanism." Melissa said genuinely.

Max chuckled, "A defense mechanism for what?" he asked.

"You still love him." Melissa said.

Max sighed.

"That's it, isn't it! The way you talk about him...the way you look at him..." Melissa said, "It's cute."

"That kind of love is a weakness." Max said, "It made me weak."

"You know, you should, like, fight for him." Melissa said.

As she was speaking, something sped past them in the shadows.

"Did you just..."

"Shhh!" Max said, turning to the shadows, "Something's there."

"There's nothing to be afraid of..." A disembodied voice said. A very large mutant man stepped out of the shadows. He was large and a bit deformed, like the thing in the desert and, oddly enough, a demonoid. He had been an African American guy before his transformation because what was left of his skin was darker than Max's own skin. The man smirked and threw his hands up, causing Melissa and Max to fly back and stick to the wall, "Death happens in seconds, then forever." He smiled maliciously.

"Who in the Hell are you?" Max asked.

"Brother Devon." He said.

"What do you want?" Melissa asked, struggling against the invisible constraints.

"I haven't ate." He said, showing his fangs, "And you're in my lair."

Brother Devon moved towards them eagerly. He was on the prowl, it was clear to see, and it looked to them as if he hadn't had a meal in days, the way he was at the prospect of getting food. He stopped and looked back at the door to see The alternate me standing with his gun pointed directly at his chest. He smirked, his fangs glistening with saliva, and made his way toward Alternate Pane and Pane shot him in the neck! The vampire staggered back and fell to one knee. Pane locked onto the vampire's head and took the shot, causing Melissa and Max to drop to their feet.

"Wow, loving the whole Alice look." Melissa said.

"Where'd you get the shiny toys?" Max asked.

Alternate Pane walked over to the duffle bags and grabbed them, "I'm not him." He said.

"What?" Melissa asked.

"I don't think that's our Pane." Max said.

"Follow me if you want to live." Alternate Pane said, leaving.

The two looked at each other and followed him out of the building.

-           

"You want us to help you take down this corporation?" I asked, "Isn't this all a little bit too Resident Evil?"

"This isn't some game or movie, this is my real life." Alternate Pane said angrily.

"He's right. I think we need to help him." Connor said.

I turned to Connor, "You're seriously considering this? We have to get back before our reality becomes..."

"This?" Alternate Pane asked bitterly.

"Yeah. Exactly! This! A wasteland." I said, "I, for one, don't want to go back to a world like this."

"You're being pretty selfish here." Connor argued, "This is your reality, too! I say we stay and help in this fight."

"I agree." Max said.

"Me too." Raiden said, "It's kinda why I brought you here."

"Anything to get back home." Melissa said.

"Well, I vote to go home. Just go home." I said angrily.

"And your vote is the only one that counts?" Raiden asked, "Unless you can peel back the fabric of space and time and transport us all back, I don't think it's a choice for you. Majority wins here."

I sneered at her, "Do you have a problem with me or something? Because you don't have to be a passive aggressive bitch about it, you can just say it." I frowned.

"Bitch?! Really, you're calling me a bitch?" Raiden said, outraged, "I have a lot to say to you, dick!"

"Then say it!" I said loudly.

"Guys..." Connor said.

"We don't really have time for this." Alternate Pane said.

"We have all the time in the world." I said, "Because Bitch-fest over here won't take us home."

"You've got one more time to call me bitch-fest..."

"Or what?" I asked.

"I'm going to kick your ass!" Raiden growled.

"GUYS! This isn't helping anything!" Connor shouted, "This place needs us, Pane."

"Really does." Alternate Pane added.

"Where is this base?" I asked.

"Tokyo." Alternate Pane said.

"Figures." I groaned.

"Will you help me?" Alternate Pane asked.

"What did you have in mind?" I asked.

-           

I outfitted myself out of my street clothes and into some tight black pants, a simple black shirt, calf-length combat boots, and holsters for both guns and knives. I had two shotguns in the back, a couple of machine guns at the side, and pistols in the front. I also had a dagger in one holster, a small knife in my boot, and a couple of short machetes in my either side of my holsters. I was ready for war.

"I think maybe you've got more weapons than me." Alternate Pane said, entering the room.

I didn't turn to him or even acknowledge his presence.

"You're tougher than I was at that point in my life." Alternate Pane said, "That was before everything happened to me."

"Everything?" I asked.

"I did marry a guy."

"Scott?" I asked.

"No. We, umm, split for good. Emma and such." Alternate Pane explained, "His name was Richard."

I stopped what I was doing.

"It was the worst mistake I've ever made." Alternate Pane said before chuckling, "And I've made some doozies."

"So, what, this is your warning? He'll leave me because..."

"He'll die." Alternate Pane said, "He'll die and your friends will leave you."

I looked at him seriously.

"It was our wedding night. We're heroes, so our loved ones are never safe. I'll never forget walking in and finding him..."

"I can keep him..."

"Safe? Yeah, that's what I thought. Things went downhill from there." He explained, "Turns out some evil scientist thought it would be fitting to implant a baby in me, to turn me into an incubator. Of course, he did have the courtesy to use my DNA and Rich's, but what kind of life is it for a baby?"

"A son. Perry?" I asked.

"Yes." He said, "I gave him up. He deserved to start better than this."

"Where is he?" I asked.

"The world went to Hell, where do you think he is?" Alternate Pane said, "They used our DNA and the DNA of those demonoids to make unholy things! They have our DNA! And they're not stopping! You can call it a Resident Evil world, but it's all real."

"Why don't you have powers?" I asked, "I can feel power and you don't have any mutant powers."

"I've gone after these people before. They didn't suck out my powers with a machine! They loaded me full of the cure, enough for me to be damaged goods." Alternate Pane said, "They did this to me, but the laugh's on them."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"I'm a powerful enough magical user to get us to their gate. That's all I need." Alternate Pane explained.

"What's there? What's so important that we're risking everything for? This isn't just revenge." I said.

"They have us." Alternate Pane said.

"I don't have any powers, you know." I said, "I can feel energy, halfway read minds, and limited telekinesis, but I'm nowhere near the level I should be."

"Well, let's hope that you, too, are a natural with weapons." Alternate Pane said, walking to the door.

"When you said that my friends will leave me..." I trailed.

"Not willingly." Alternate Pane said, "Be ready in about ten minutes, the power it'll take to get us there might just bankrupt me."

I nodded as he left. I could feel that there was something on his mind that he was not telling me. I couldn't shake the feeling that I was walking into a trap. My friends were walking into a trap. I just hoped that my powers and combat were sufficient enough to get me out of this place alive.

-

The guards to the facility were doing what they did best, guarding the facility. They were dressed in a dark blue commando-style suit with a red diamond on the side of their helmets. They had had a good day because there were no hopped up mutants trying to get inside the facility. As they stood, two grenades hovered in place just in front of them! Before they could move, the grenades exploded! There was now a giant hole in the front of the building. Melissa, Alternate Pane, Connor, Max and I met in front of the hole.

"Where's Raid?" Connor asked.

"I don't know." Alternate Pane said, "She should have come through."

"We don't have much time." Connor said.

"We're going in, you guys find the DNA samples. They should be somewhere half way down." Alternate Pane said, "You ready to kill?"

"These aren't people anymore." I said quickly.

Alternate Pane smirked, "Now you're getting it." He said quickly.

A row of guards came from a side door and with a legendary quickness, Alternate Pane pulled out his pistols and proceeded to shoot every one of them with his bullets. Max, Connor, and Melissa passed us by, going through the side door. We headed for the elevator but he stopped.

"They'll be expecting us." Alternate Pane said, walking over and sitting something down inside.

"What was that?" I asked.

"Just hold on to something." Alternate Pane said, walking over to the console.

"What?" I asked.

Before I could ask any more questions, there was a giant explosion that rocked the building. The explosion blew the elevator doors off! I jumped out of the way just in time to avoid being smashed by the doors! Alternate Pane helped me up and we both ran to the edge of the elevator shaft. I looked down while he did something behind my back. It looked to be a hundred stories down!

"How are we supposed to get down there?" I asked, scared of what his answer could be.

"We're going to jump." Alternate Pane said, clipping something onto a harness, "We're going to have to shoot our way down, though."

"I'm not going to shoot people." I said.

"But you said..."

"I said I would shoot the suped-up mutants." I corrected, "I won't kill."

"What's the difference?" he asked.

An alarm went off behind us and we both looked down the shaft! He snapped a harness on me, then myself and pushed me, jumping after me! As we were in free fall, the elevator doors started opening on each floor and people with guns started shooting! Alternate Pane began with the pistols again! Bullets whizzed by my head and in an attempt to stop some of it, I pulled out my pistols too, aiming at certain body parts instead of their hearts and brains. I took out a few at the knees, a few at the arms, and clipped a few more. I aimed to disarm them. As we got closer to the bottom, I could see a group of people at the bottom with guns, shooting up! I thought for sure they would get at least one of us, but he was dodging them very efficiently! I was just dropping and praying to not get hit. I did a few tricks to avoid them, but mostly I was shooting downwards. As we were approaching the bottom, someone shot my cord and I was falling without a harness. Alternate Pane was shouting something, but I couldn't really hear! I could feel myself falling and hear bullets whizzing past me, but I was in a total state of shock and...peace? I had my eyes closed, but I quickly opened them, flipping backwards two times and landing on my feet before rolling out of across the floor! There were four guards left and I ducked the attack of the first guard, kicking the next guard! I blocked a fist and bent down, sweeping a guard off his feet! I kicked the first guard back against the wall! A guard tazed me, but I didn't even flinch. I grabbed the tazer and turned it on the guard, causing him to convulse and fall to the floor! I was pretty proud of myself because I wasn't really a fighter. I heard the shot of a gun and turned to see a guard fall to the floor as Alternate Pane landed beside his body. He undid his harness and looked around. I undid mine, too.

"Nice work. I thought you were dead for a second there." Alternate Pane said reloading his gun.

"Where do we go?" I asked.

"We're at the bottom, time to be finished with this." Alternate Pane said, "I'm just going to warn you...what you're about to see is disturbing."

"Great." I said sarcastically.

Alternate Pane smirked and moved through the elevator shaft. I moved with him. We stopped at the sight of a large group of guards with their guns ready to fire; In the middle of them stood a beautiful blue woman.

"Mystique." Alternate Pane smirked.

"I wasn't expecting two of you." Mystique said, aiming her gun at my head, "Looks like I'll be getting a promotion."

Her gun went off, but everything went in slow motion! I looked over to see Alternate Pane moving in slow motion also, he was moving in front of me! The bullet was moving closer and closer, but I pushed Alternate Pane in the opposite direction! Another bullet fired! Then another! Everything sped up a little, but I easily dodged all three of them and time went back normal.

"Impressive." Mystique said, still pointing the gun at me.

"Just wait." I said, throwing my hand into the air, causing a great wave of energy to knock all the soldiers back and to dent the walls. I looked to Alternate Pane, who was on the floor, looking up at me with awe.

"Did you just move in fast motion?" He asked.

"No, you guys were just really slow." I shrugged.

"Son of a bitch!" Mystique swore.

I helped Alternate Pane up and we walked over to her, "Shapeshift this, bitch!" I said, punching her.

"You won't kill evil people, but you'll punch women?" Alternate Pane asked.

"She deserved it." I said, "We should move on."

"We're here." Alternate Pane said, "Just behind that door."

"I think I'm ready." I said.

We moved to the door and he punched in a security code. I wanted to ask him exactly how he knew the code, but I refrained from the question. We moved inside. There was darkness everywhere but a clear path. I could see it through the darkness. In the middle of the very dark room was a man in a chair. I was too far away to see anything but a giant diamond.

I gulped, "Sinister." I frowned.

"I've been waiting for you." Sinister smirked, "Come in, make yourself at home...more than usual."

I looked at Alternate Pane and began to back away from him, "You knew...you led me here. Why?" I asked.

"Perhaps it was this." Sinister said, hitting a button on his chair and causing light to illuminate glass tubes filled with water. I moved closer to see that there were people in them. I wanted to stop but something called me forward, "Recognize them?"

I moved closer and stopped in horror.

"It's you." Alternate Pane said, "It's us."

"Us? You're but mere clones yourself." Sinister chuckled, "I had only known that one of you had escaped. Imagine my surprise to find that both of you had gotten away."

I was still in shock. I was pissed, also! I wasn't sure who I was more mad at.

"You did this to the world. You took these mutants and turned them into monsters!" I said angrily.

"I evolved them to the next level!" Sinister smiled, "This is the next stage in human history and evolution."

"You killed my friends! You made my world, this world, into a wasteland for your mutant monstrosities!" Alternate Pane raged, pulling out his gun, "I owe you pain."

Sinister stood, "You owe me praise." He said, "Through your blood, you brought about a new era!"

"You're a clone?" I asked.

"Yes," Alternate Pane said, "The real me...you, died a long time ago."

"How did I die?" I asked.

"While you fought your `hopped up' friends I snuck up behind you, took away your powers, and stabbed you." Mister Sinister smirked, "I accomplished what thousands have tried and all it took was the X-Men."

"The X-Men?" I asked.

"That's who you were fighting." Alternate Pane explained, "Your friends died quickly."

I looked down at the ground as the thoughts and scenarios flashed through my head. I could see it all happening. It was tragic. Somehow, I knew this wasn't just another dimension...this was my future.

I looked up to Sinister, "In my world, you're a woman." I said.

Sinister looked taken aback.

"You died. Mystique killed you a long time ago and you weren't a hero for your experiments...You were a monster. And you died. And there was celebration." I smirked.

Mister Sinister frowned and held out his hand, shooting a red laser at us! We ducked it easily.

"I think you pissed him off!" Alternate Pane said as we hid behind clones.

"Good." I said, pulling out my mini knives, "I'm a little pissed myself."

Alternate Pane smirked and pulled out his shot gun, "Good." He said, running out of the corner. He stopped when he saw that Sinister wasn't there, "Where in the Hell did he go?"

Sinister materialized behind him and grabbed him by the back of the neck, "Give us a kiss." He said.

Things moved in slow motion again as I ran behind them. I took my short knives and sliced his back, causing everything to move normally again! He recoiled and dropped Alternate Pane, who rolled out of the way and shot him with his shotgun! We regrouped and watched as Sinister got to his feet.

"Hole in one." Sinister said. He had a giant hole in the middle of his chest! The hole filled itself quickly.

"This is the hard part." Alternate Pane said.

"I feel exhausted." I panted.

"I'm more of the scientific type...so, I'll leave you to one of my most promising creations." Sinister said, sitting in his seat, "Oh Summers."

Alternate Pane and I traded horrified glances. A hulked up Scott Summers, complete with a broken visor, stepped into the room. There was a giant burst of energy shot from his visor, causing both of us to jump out of the way! The beam hit a clone's tube and caused it to explode and the clone had a chest wound that went from his chin to his waist!

"Can you fight Scott?" Alternate Pane asked.

"I don't know, but he just killed me!" I exclaimed, "You ready?" I asked, pulling my sword out. I had dropped the knives when Scott shot the energy at us!

Alternate Pane jumped out and began blasting Scott with bullets, but nothing was affecting him! Scott was wounded, but it didn't stop him or affect him any. Scott walked over and back handed Alternate Pane, causing him to smash into another tube carrying a Pane. They both crashed to the floor amidst water. I watched this happen and looked back to Scott, who was standing in front of me. He raised his hand and I raised my sword, chopping off his hand. Scott staggered back, but put his other hand up to his visor before I could move. I expected everything to slow down, but it didn't and Alternate Pane shoved me out of the way and took the full blast. I watched, horrified, as the blast tore through his chest, leaving a hole just like the clone! He stood there for a minute, reaching down and feeling the hole. Just as quickly, he fell to the ground. Scott then set his sight on me again. I grabbed the shotgun with my free hand and quickly shot him in the head, causing his head to explode!

"I have more where that came from..." Sinister smiled.

"It's over, Sinister." I said, walking towards him with the shotgun in one hand and the sword in the other.

"And how do you expect to kill me?" Sinister asked, standing.

I kept walking towards him. Sinister disappeared.

"By using your smug, arrogant ego," I said. He had teleported behind me and just as he was about to attack, the clone that had fallen out of the containment tube picked up Alternate Pane's shotgun and shot him in the head. I turned to him, "This world you're in, you're in it alone. I'm not." I said, slicing his head off with my sword.

The very naked and very new clone walked over to me, "How do you know this bastard won't regenerate?" he asked.

I sliced off his arms and legs and minced his abdomen, "Free the other clones. Each of you bury the pieces on an extreme part of the world." I said turning to him, "Throw the head in a volcano."

"I should thank you." The clone said.

"For what, I didn't save anybody." I said.

"You saved the world." The clone said, "Again."

Suddenly, I felt faint.

"Are you okay?" the clone asked.

But his voice was so far away. I was falling again...this time, I hit water!

-           

I walked into Utopia, noticing that it had seen better days. I couldn't believe I missed this fight. How could any of this have happened? Why was I here? Why had I come back here? I walked upon the Bonfire. It was a celebration. Somehow I don't think I was invited. I turned to leave when I ran right into a red-head.

"Hi." She said.

"Are you okay?" I asked, she looked as if she'd been crying.

"Yeah, it's been a long day." She smiled, "I don't think I know you."

"I'm Pane." I said, extending my hand.

"I'm Hope." She said.

"The Hope?" I asked.

"I guess." She said, "Why are you staring at me?"

"Because you look like someone I used to know." I smiled.

"You've got a lot of nerve." Scott said.

I turned to him, "Thank God, I'm super wet..."

"You come here now?!" Scott asked.

"Well, I've been kind of busy." I said.

The various X-Men began to show up.

"Really? Well, we just fought for our lives." Scott said, "We waited for you and Hope to save us and Hope didn't let us down."

I was silent.

"Kurt and Cable are dead, most of the X-Men are injured, and you were nowhere to be found." Scott said.

I sighed, "So what? You're going to bitch me out because I wasn't there to pull your asses out of the fire? How many times have I done that already? And it's not like I was not here on purpose I was..."

"No, we're not going to bitch you out, Pane." Ororo said.

"We're not going to say anything." Scott said, "I'm beyond disappointed with you. Now get the Hell off my island." He said, walking away.

The rest of the X-Men followed. One by one, they all left me, except for Bobby.

"Bobby, you know I have a good excuse..."

"Yeah, you always do," he smiled, "But this time, I'm not sure it's good enough." He said, his smile dimming as he walked away.

I was left standing by myself as the rest of the X-Men walked away. I felt like the douchiest douchebag on the entire planet. I knew they would be mad, but I didn't think they would all turn and walk away from me.

-           

"We're back?" Connor asked.

"Yeah, but how?" Melissa asked, "We just got the DNA."

"Maybe that's what we had to do to get back." Max said, "Maybe that's how her powers work."

They all walked into the office and stopped.

Raiden turned to them, "Where am I?" she asked.