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BROKEN STRINGS written by Brawl Broken Strings Disclaimer: Chamber, Synch, Skin and all other related characters are property of Marvel Comics. I'm not getting any profit from their use. The chord wasn't quite right. Jono hit it several times before he saw that the string had been loosened on accident. He fixed it and then continued. His music filled the basement. It was a simple blues tune, mostly chords, with a few riffs. He heard a shuffling and grinned inwardly. He knew he had an audience. They'd been there for several minutes. It didn't happen often. {The two o' you can come out now,} Jono projected. {Yer not that great at hidin'.} Everett and Angelo left their hiding places. Angelo was grinning widely. "How'd you know it was us, amigo?" he asked. "You, like, detect our heat signatures or something?" {Nope, I didn't,} Jono replied. {You just breathed too loud.} Everett laughed quickly, then turned serious. "You know," he said, "this doesn't happen often. I mean the three of us getting together when we're not training, or in class. Needs to happen more." {Yep,} Jono said, setting his guitar down. {A real cheery bunch. Just need Brawn down here, and we'll be just dandy!" "Why d' you hate Tristan so much, man?" Angelo asked. "Watch it," Ev said. "I don't like him much either." "That makes three of us," Angelo laughed. "But why Jono?" {Paige. I don't know exactly why, but she's a big part. Ever since Marius attacked me when I first got here in the US, and you guys helped me out. I saw her, and I knew I wanted her. She was the golden apple I was reaching for. We flirted for a while, and then her momma got sick. She was headin' home, and I'd just lost my telepathy. I told her I loved her.} He took a piece of paper out of his jacket and threw it on the bed. On it was a heart shaped hole, burnt into the paper. {Then she came back to the school, and I was an idiot. I was trying to get back that image I had when I first got here. Distant. Aloof. An idiot. I told her I loved her then I pushed her away.} {I still love her guys. I screwed up royally with the only girl I really loved. Gayle was nothing compared to Paige. I was ready to spend the rest of my life with her. I threw all that away. Everything. Just because of my image.} Jono sobbed a little. {There's only two reasons I'm still here. The promise of being and X-Man and Paige. I'm here for Paige.} "Whoa, man," Angelo whistled. "I'm sorry." He shifted his weight and started. "I never wanted to come here. I had it great in the Barrio. Except for the gangs. But, I had to come. There was no future for me in LA. I knew that and left. I was wandering 'til Hank found me, and sent me here. After my first week, I wanted to get out bad. Then there was that incident with Penny, and Paige got hurt. "Paige was my best friend from the beginning. When I saw her in shock, I thought she was dead. It scared me into changing. And now look at me. I know I'm not as pretty as you guys-" Angelo thumbed his grey nose. "-but I can hold my own pretty good. And the chicks dig me." "Amen brothah!" Ev laughed. {Hallielujah!} Jono joked. "It's your turn Ev-miester," Angelo said, pulling out a cigarette. "To do what?" Everett asked, snatching the cigarette form the Hispanic youth's lips. "Hey man, that was my last one!" Angelo griped to his dark-skinned friend. {We've wanted you t' quit forever Ange,} Jono said. {Ev, I think he meant 'your turn' to share the story of yer life.} "What is there to tell?" Ev laughed. "African-American teenager from Saint Louis. Fairly smart. Good kid. Devilishly handsome. Torn between an Algerian princess and an orphan from SoCal. Thinks Paige is great, but not in love with her or anything." That got Everett a dirty look from both his friends. "Oh, I forgot to mention, he's the only kid on Earth who could become as physically powerful as the Hulk and leads a team of teenage superheroes! "I'm not your normal joe. I'm a mutant like both of you. My mutation didn't give me six feet of extra skin, like you Ange, or dig a large hole in my torso, destroying my good looks, like you Jono, but it made me different. It gave me the ability to become a hero." He ran his hand over his bald head. "Dudes, I'm halfway there. I got the powers, and the powers of everyone here, if I want them. I just need the chance. I have everything I need. Now I just need to step up and prove myself. It's a coming of age guys. Grab it by the balls and hang on!" {Oh yeah man.} Jono held his fist out and Ev hit the top of Jono's fist, and Jono did the same. "Another great sermon from Reverend Thomas," Angelo joked. "Thanks man." A coming of age. That's how Everett had put it. Jono liked that. It was powerful. He continued playing, Everett and Angelo long gone. A string broke. Jono replaced it and then started playing again, replacing hisusual blues with some rock and roll. Author's Notes: I wrote this story a while back, while Jay Faerber was still the Gen X writer, and before Elis had even been announced as the head of the Counter-X group. I left it in hand-written form for several months, until I picked up Generation X #63 over Easter weekend. In it, Sean mentions losing Everett. Although while a vague reference, its impact on Monet was obvious: Synch was dead. I then pulled out the notebook with the rough draft of "Broken Strings" and dusted it off. After reading through the three monologues of each of the male teenage members of Generation X, Everett's in particular, I decided this would be a fitting farewell. Goodbye Synch. We'll all miss you.
