X-Men 2099UG Issue #34

Issue #34, Volume 1
"The Long Journey Back"
Written by Chris Partin



Halo City

Silence in the stillness of the night. Very few of the city's inhabitants spend too much time outdoors when the cold desert night comes. But one man stands in the ice air of the night with visions of his past rushing at him like a freight train. This man is Xi'an Chi Xan. He once had a vision that the world needed a new breed of heroes. He once had a vision that mutants again needed heroes. He once had a vision that he could bring these heroes to them. But that was the past, and it was only a disillusion.

X-Men. The name itself brings the past flooding back to anyone who has heard or read the stories of these legendary people. Xavier, Magnus, Del Ruiz, and Zhao; these were real leaders. These were the men that had the wisdom, the power, and the vision to see their dream come true. Xi'an feels as a grain of sand against the vast desert compared to these men. He has failed in their dream, their vision of the future. And Xi'an wonders if he is worthy to carry on living with the name of an X-Man.

He founded this group of mutants and named them the X-Men, but was it his right to do that? Was it the call of the dream, or was it his cry for redemption from his life with the Lawless? It seems everything comes back to that. The Lawless. His friends, as they will be to the day he dies. They were his only family when his own wouldn't except him. They gave him meaning and purpose, but what did he use that for? They ran through the country on a reckless journey of havoc. And may whatever God they worship preserve the souls that stood in their way. So many died needlessly in the call of carelessness. But Xi'an didn't care. Not then. But what about now? Has he again failed at what he felt was what he should do?

Why must there always be two sides? And why must he fail both sides? Why must his life mirror his mutant powers? One side for healing and a new chance at life, and the other of destruction and death. Will he ever find a compromise of his two sides? Xi'an shakes his head at this. He knows that to do that will take more than his friends and family. It will take more than this retribution that he conducts everyday at the hospital. He must again search his heart, his mind, and his soul for the answers of his eternal quest for the truth of what his is, and what he is to become.

The gates to the city break the silence of Halo City's slumber as they open. A man and his motorcycle wander out of this safe haven to begin a journey. A journey that has no definite end point. No definite destination. How long will he journey? Until he has his answers. Where is his purpose now that he has let everyone down? And where is his future? Only time will tell. And with that, he fires up his cycle and speeds off into the cold, dark night.

***

From the window of his dwelling place, Timothy Fitzgerald watches his friend leave the city's gates. He has no knowledge of why Xi'an has left, but he feels that this will be the last time. And for a man that gave Timothy a new gift of life, all he can do is let him go.

"Godspeed, my friend. I hope you find what you need because you've left the family that needs you.", whispers Timothy. He turns away from the window and wanders into the halls. He must now take the reigns of Xi'an's lead, and take this group- his family of X-Men-- and remember the vision that brought them together in the beginning.

Timothy remembers the beginning. Standing in front of that door when the huge Junkpile stood before him. He was so young and scared of the world then. Fearing anything that he thought might make him reveal his powers to the world. But that changed the moment that he saw the glint from the rifle. A sniper in the balcony of Nuevo Sol was lining his sights on Xi'an who was speaking to the masses gathered inside. There was no thought, just reaction. And with that reaction a force of pure energy expelled out up Timothy's body like a battering ram at the sniper, killing him. Everyone stood around Timothy as he stared at his hands that were still glowing. He knew this was just the beginning of his new future.

He remembers that day. Xi'an laid on the stretcher slowing dying. Timothy remembers the words today as clear as he heard them so many months ago.

"Timothy... knew... you'd join... my X-Men..."

"X-Men?!", Timothy thought to himself. To hear his own name linked to the X-Men was something Timothy thought he'd never hear. But this man, Xi'an Chi Xan, was giving him the second chance and Timothy never looked back in regret.

He continues to walk about the halls the X-Men's new home. Never have these halls seemed more deserted. He shakes his head in disgust. Xi'an has only been gone for thirty minutes, and Timothy is hating him for it.

"I can't lead this team, dammit. I only did what I did when you were under Brimstone's influence because I knew you'd be back. I'm not a leader! I'm not you!" , he screams in his mind. "Why do you always do this, Xi'an? Why must I always take up after you?"

"Probably because he knew you could, Tim.", says a comforting voice in his head. "He's known that ever since Nuevo Sol."

A slim figured woman walks out from the shadows, "Calm yourself, Tim. This much stress can definitely shorten your life."

"Shakti. You can't sleep either?"

"Not really. I heard you wandering the halls and I thought that I'd come out and see if you needed someone to talk to."

Timothy looks out the hall window to the front gate that stands wide open. "He's gone. He just took his cycle, and he left."

"I know. He spoke to me earlier today about his struggle for who he is. He is a tortured soul, and he needs to find who he really is now."

"But how long will that take!", Timothy yells. "How many times must he leave us and 'discover' himself? Has he any idea what he meant to the team? Dammit! If not for him the X-Men would be nothing more than an old idea that Zhao would have perverted with his new X-Men gene-jokes."

Shakti walks over and leans on the window sill, looking out to the sands of the desert, "When he returned from Saigon all those years ago, Xi'an felt he had left behind the ruthlessness of himself there. He felt the days of his run with the Lawless were behind him. Zhao and Brimstone Love reminded Xi'an that part of him will never be behind him. That it will always be a part of him striving to have equal say in what goes on in his life. He needs to find a medium. He is in search of the middle of the road between the freedom of the Lawless, and the discipline of the X-Men."

"He'll never find that! He can't ride the middle of the road forever."

"And he knows that. I think that's why he has left us. He feels responsible for so many things that have happen to us since he brought us together. He's afraid that the day he finally reaches his breaking point that he will destroy everything we've work so hard to fight for."

Timothy turns away from the window, "So he's never coming back is he?"

Shakti turns to Timothy with a tear forming in her eye, and she whispers, "...no...."

***

In the highest tower of Halo City, in its dark chamber sits one man. A man who would be this city's leader if a certain armored politician hadn't lost his place at the White House. But with Doom gone, the citizens of Halo City decided to have an election for their leaders. 

Unfortunately for this poor soul, he lost the election. Now he has no real purpose here in Halo City. Poor Morphine Somers. So much potential when he was in Tranverse City. Doom saw a young mutant that could be as ruthless, and cunning as Doom once was to govern Halo City while he himself ran the rest of the country. One thing Doom learned a bit too late, is that no one can really trust this mutant. And Morphine will never let Doom forget that he left him to fend for himself.

Somers rises from his plush, high back chair. He wanders the floor of what will soon become the new governor's office. He thinks of what he would have done to this city if he'd been elected. And with the X-Men's help, he could have shaken the walls of heaven to the sands of the earth.

"So, Doom. You leave me in charge of a city that already hates me. Then you've got the audacity to get killed by Herod of all people! The guy's a whack anyway! And you let him get the better of you with his fake Steve Rogers.", Somers just shakes his head in disgust. "How did I ever let you talk me into this child's dream of helping the world? How did I think that I'd actually be one of the good guys? Doom, when you've been and seen as much as I've seen and been through in my life, you can never cross back to where you once were. You ruined my life, Doom!! Damn you!" Morphine grabs the nearest chair and with the use of his destructive mutant powers, he ages the chair and it falls to the floor in a heap of dust.

"Well, that wasn't too childish of you, Morphine."

Morphine spins around to the main door of the office and sees a tall silhouetted figure. "Who's there!?"

"I'm surprise you've forgotten me already, Somers."

"Who.... Tim? Henri? Who is it?"

The figure walks out of the light from outside the door, and reveals himself to Morphine, and Morphine can do nothing but stand in fear.

"Oh, dear God. No! That's impossible. Not you!"


To be continued in X-Men UG #35.....