Chapter 1 - A Savior Appears

Attention:  Generation X andtheir villians, as well as any other mutant mentioned in this story, isproperty of Marvel Comics.  The character Richard Cale is named afterfamily relations.  Any other reference to anything copywrighted isa chance happening.
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Reflections On The Emplate War
A Savior Appears
               Dr. Hank McCoy just sat in the room, watching the young mutant boy infrontof him. Little was known about the boy.  The only thing that was knownabout the boy was that the boy had saved Richard Cale and Penance fromEmplate, although how he got to where they were was a mystery.  WhenSean had told him that the boy was a time traveller, he decided to callin someone who had been in this position before.  The boy looked athim and said, “How long are you going to keep me here?”
              Hank McCoy looked at the boy and just said, “Patience, please.  Iam waiting for another temporal traveller to arrive.  His insightmight be able to help you more than I can.”
              The boy looked at him and said, “You mean Bishop.”  Hank was shockedthat the child knew of Bishop.  The child then said, “You want himto help me.  I heard about him.  He was confused when he enteredthis time.”
              A deep voice said, “But, I learned about this time.  And my knowledgehelped this timeline.”  Hank looked to see Bishop standing at thedoor.  He always wondered about the time traveller, but never questionedhim much about his time.
              The boy turned to the new arrival and said, “Your knowledge didn’t do youany good in my timeline.  You were one of the first to fall.” Hank saw the anger welling in Bishop.
              “I have faced things you have yet to experence.  If it weren’t forsome of my knowledge about Emplates, Generation X might have even lessabout the first one.”
              The boy walked up to Bishop and said, “And all your knowledge earned youan empty corpse in my time line.  You could find Emplates, but notthe attack that killed you.”  Hank saw Bishop stagger backwards. “That surprises you.  You don’t know how dangerous Emplates are untilyou look at my timeline.”
              Hank leaned forward and said, “What happened in your timeline?”  Hewas greatly intrigued.  His own dark counterpart, as well as NateGrey, came from another timeline, the Age Of Apocalypse.  He thenremembered the one thing he forgot to ask the child.  “Also, whatis your name?”
              The boy just sat down and said, “My name is Darrett Xavier Thomas, andin my timeline was a very destructive war.  It was known as the EmplateWar.”  Hank noticed that Bishop sat down, in shock.
              Hank knew that this worried Bishop, but they had to know what had happened.“Darrett, what started this war?”
              The boy just looked at him and said, “It started at the museum that GenerationX had just left from.  It started with the abduction I had stopped. In my timeline, the abduction had happened, and Generation X failed torescue Skitz and Penance.”
              Bishop then said, “And this increased Emplate’s forces.”  The boyshook his head.  He noticed the doubting look on his face as Bishopasked the next question.  “You mean this made Emplate weaker?”
              The boy just nodded and said, “It was never confirmed of what happened,but something caused both Skitz and Penance’s minds to snap.  Somefigure it was what Emplate did to them, other figured that it was the merethought of being Emplates for the rest of there lives that caused themto snap.”
              Hank just leaned back and said, “I see.  So Emplate and Skitz wereat war which took it’s toll on the world.”  He was surprised whenthe boy shook his head.
              The boy then said, “No.  After Skitz and Penance’s minds snapped,they slaughtered all of Emplate’s followers, and then Monet St. Croix. The reason was never told to me.  Both my parents took that secretto their graves.  They then took out any threat they perceived, humans,heroes, the X-groups, and even the villians at the time.”
              Bishop just looked at the boy and said, “You mean that Skitz and Penancewere taking over the world.”  The boy nodded.  Hank could seethe disbelief in Bishop’s eyes.
              It then hit Hank McCoy that not everything could have been stopped. He leaned forward and said, “What about the chaotic Legacy Virus? Surely they couldn’t stop that?”
              Hank was surprised when the boy shook his head.  “Legacy was cureda month after their abduction.   Moria McTaggart was thoughtto be leading the forces until four months later, when Skitz and Penancekilled Banshee atop a tall building.”
              The question was asked by both he and Bishop simultaniously “How?”
              The boy continued quietly as he said “Generation X went to stop Skitz. Emplate had joined with them, but they couldn’t stop them.  Bansheewas capture and killed.  The group split, half going with Emplate,half staying with Emma.”
              Bishop then said, “Couldn’t you stay with the X-Men?”
              Hank could see the harshness in the boy’s eyes as the child said, “Youweren’t listening. The X-Men were one of the first to go.  In my time,your head is one of many on display in the hall of the lucky ones. Skitz wasn’t stupid.  Any mutant he didn’t kill, was used as livestock.”
              Hank was shocked by these words.  “You mean he kept mutants like theywere cattle.” The child nodded and Hank realized that timeline the childwas from was a very dismal path. Hank then asked about what the boy justsaid.  “Darrett, you said that Gen-X split, do you know what happenedto those who stayed with Emma?”
              Bishop then said, “And what about those who went with Emplate?”
              The boy just sighed, “Sometime after the split, the school fell into tragictimes.  Emma Frost’s company was being taken over by another company. I can’t remember the name, but it was headed by Skitz himself.  Itwas part of a plan to take over the school, but more.  He capturedher when she discovered what was happening.  No one knows what happenedto her. My parents, who were going to rescue her, were kept out of theirAmerican base of operations. When the other two members tried to rescueher, one was killed, the other taken prisoner.  When my folks returnedto the school, it was overrun by Emplates.  They fled, and they stoppedwhen they reached the Savage Land, and the most unlikely of forces againstthe Emplates.”
              Hank eyed the boy with the curiosity of a cat, and said, “Who were they?”
              What the boy said shocked both he and Bishop.  “The last source ofhope was a small band of free mutants, lead by Xavier and Apocalypse. When Skitz started his assult, it drew Apocalypse’s attention, mainly becausehe was doing what Apocalypse couldn’t, and that even Apocalypse would notbe immune to the effects.  It was an allience not of choice, but ofsurvival.”
              Bishop then said, “What happened to Emplate after that?”
              The child just said, “Not long after my parents joined the rebel group,an annocement was sent world wide.  Skitz announced that Emplate wasno longer a threat to the new order.  All that followed him were dead. He then announced a statement that worried the rebel group.  He announcedthat he would destroy the one being that could destory all that the Emplate’shad.  His family’s age old enemy, En Sabar Nur.”
              Hank was taken back by this.  Could this be true, and how?  DidRichard Cale’s family know about Apocalypse, and if so, how far back didit go?  His thoughts were interrupted when Bishop said, “Skitz declaredwar on Apocalypse, who in your timeline, ended up on the side of mutantsand humans.”
              The boy shook his head and said, “By my birth, all Homo Sapiens were dead. Skitz perceived humans as a threat.  He knew that mutants would fightback, but his mind was working everything out.  Especially the daymy father died.  My father went with Apocalypse to try and find someweakness in Skitz’s command.  They went to Skitz’s ancesteral home,where it was rumored that all secrets of the Cale family were kept underlock and key.  When they arrived, they were attacked by Emplate’s. They managed to fight their way to the vault, but when they entered, accordingto my mother who saw a vid transmition of the events, the only sight theysaw was a black flamming sword.  Before either was prepared to attack,Skitz and Penance attacked. It was a short fight as both my father andApocalypse fell.  At that, my mother took me out of the place thatwould no longer be safe for us.”
              Hank looked at the boy, while writing all this information down for inhis files.  “So, you lived your whole life hiding in the shadows,avoiding Emplate dectection.  How long did you live your life likethis?”
              The boy just sighed and said, “My mother took me took find a way to stopall of this. For almost a month, we hid in the Cale ancesteral home andsearched for a clue on how to defeat Skitz and Penance, or to find someway to reverse it.  In the logs was something about a creature calledOuroboros.  It is supposed to be able to send stuff back in time,according to legend.  My mother thought that if we found the creature,we could stop all this from happening.”
              Hank eyed the boy suspiciously and said, “You’re saying a magical creaturebrought you to save the two kids.”
              The boy sat back and said in a calm voice, “It was much weirder than that. The moment we found the creature, Skitz and Penance slaughtered my mother. I watched in fear and anger.  At the moment they looked at me, I thoughtI was going to die.  Then I saw something in Skitz’ eyes.  Itwas a look of regret.  It also had a mixture of hope in it. It looked like the two were communicating mentally.  My mother hadsaid that they did it alot before they were captured.  They both toldme to stop all this from happening, told me to save them.”
              Bishop just said, “And that’s how you came to the museum.  You cameback in time to stop Emplate from getting Richard and Penance.”
              The boy nodded and said, “Yes, and after I knocked Emplate and that womanwith him away from them, I was half tempted to kill them.  I didn’twant to run the risk of them becoming Emplates, but the rest of Gen X gotinto the room.  I could see the fear in their eyes, and I realizedthey weren’t afraid of me, they were afraid of almost everything.”
              Hank nodded and said, “Which is why Gen X brought them here?  To helpbreak them out of the fear.”  The boy nodded.  The boy was notvery cooperative, but the boy had alot to sort out.  Maybe time withGenereation X would help the boy tell more of his life.  He hatedto admit it, but Richard Cale’s own ability might be enough to learn moreabout the boy, and his ability. Hank stood and said, “We will have to talklater.  Sean and Emma want us to help Penance and Richard over comethis fear they have developed.”  With that, the three of them leftthe room.
 

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