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(All Gen-X Characters are copyrighted by Marvel. All story references are property of the fan-fic authors.)
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There was a thunderstorm just outside the Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters. Jubilee was working on the computer, surfing the internet and trying to calm down from her nightmare. Four faces from her past haunted her nightmare as she watched all her friends die. She saw a shadow move in the last crack of lightning. She almost jumped out of her skin, until she recognized the form. "Penny, you started me." The girl looked at her apologetically and then looked at the screen. Jubilee turned and said, "Trying to relax. I found this cool website, full of stories." She clicked on one of the titles. The story appeared on the screen as the title was in a cursive font. The title read The First Meeting. Penance appeared totally interested in the story. Was there something in the story that she recognized? Jubilee looked at Penny and said, "This story is about this girl, who is married to a good monster, and is telling her children about how she saved her hometown."
Penny didn't seem to listen. Jubilee figured that Claudette was in control of the joint mind. Then, Jubilee saw the lightning strike the phone line. She quickly ducked down as electricity jumped from the screen. She was half-afraid to help Penance, but she wished she had. Electricty encircled the girl and as the flash ended, Penance was gone. Jubilee ran out of the room to get everyone else.
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He looked at his old computer. It was no longer hooked up. Not to long ago, lightning wiped out the computer. It was useless. All of his stories had been wiped out. His link to the world gone, but he thanked God that he had gotten a new computer. What hurt most was that he had just started talking to a fan of his one set of stories. Their address was on the hard drive that got toasted. He was about to settle down for the night when the storm started. He heard an odd sound. His old computer had started up. He faced the relic. It had a 486 processor, and still ran Windows 3.1. The screen only had a few words on it. "You have been chosen." What did that mean? He felt electricity encircle him, as he was pulled out of his reality.
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Penance could not believe what she saw. When she blinked her eyes, she had seen many versions of herself around the room. Some were easy to tell were her, but others were very difficult. What had happened to some of them, what was this place, and were they all her? All of a sudden, a light appeared on the floor. It came from the ceiling and formed a circle. A man fell right into the circle. It was similar to the show that Jono would watch at times. The man stood up and she saw something about the man. His shirt had a picture of Jubilee on it. Where did this man come from? He looked around at each face in the circle. His eyes widened, as if he recognized each form. When he looked her in the eyes, he said, "Penance, or is it Yvette, Nicole, or Claudette?"
Penance just looked at him and said, "Yvette." She quickly closed her mouth, in surprise and said, "I can speak."
"Yes, so if this is the internet, you would be fluent in English," the man said. He turned and said, "So, this is all the faces of Yvette, a.k.a. Penance, but why I was chosen?"
Penance heard another version of herself speak. This one still had the straps on, but said, "Is this what my sister meant by others of the same?"
The man faced her and said, "Orual?" The girl nodded and he said, "You are the version from Me's story Fortis Et Liber. How she believed you met Emplate? Where were you when you left."
"A swimming pool."
The man closed his eyes and said, "That part was from Generation X `95, good story." He turned to the next version of herself. This sight scared her. The straps looked fresh, as if they had been reapplied. He then said, "Let me see your hands." The version showed her hands. Penance was revolt at the sight. The mouths were on her hands. The sign of Emplate total control.
The girl looked at the man and said, "She betrayed me. She handed me back to him. Look at me now. I couldn't escape. Look at me now!!"
The man had a tear in his eye. He hugged her and she started to cry. He just said, "It's alright. See how many parts of you are free. That should give you hope. Nothing is permanent. This is an unfortunate outcome of Issue 30, but not the path that was taken. Sit down, and calm down."
The version did so, but she still cried. He turned to the next in the line up. She looked like she had just departed life, and not pleasantly. She had an huge gash in her skull. The man turned and looked away. "I died, but I saved my friend, didn't I?"
The man was holding his stomach and said, "Dreams are real, child. You were part of a dream. A nightmare." He bent over. Penance could swear she heard the man mutter a word like `Phantasma', but it was lost. He stood up and faced the next the next face in the line up.
This version of herself was different. Mixed in her red features were markings near her eye. She said, "I'm from another time line." He held up his hand.
"Clarice." She nodded and said, "I know. Bucktown right." She nodded again. "You are from the Age of Apocalypse." She nodded again. He turned to the next form.
This version of herself was relaxed and smiled. She ran forward and held him. She said, "Skitz, how did we escape?"
He let he go and said, "I know what time line you are from. I created it." They all had a look of shock on their faces. "I wrote the time line. Don't worry. Thing's must be played out. You will be free." He turned to then next form.
Penance looked at the oddest of all her different variations. This had 7 bodies around it, with a main body. All then spoke, "My past?" He nodded. "My future?" He nodded again. "Is the Hani in this timeline?"
"Yes, and you have met before. You are from my mind."
"My name is Vet." Penance understood this woman's connection. She was her future life, or past. But she was also the name in the story that Jubilee was reading. That was why she like the story.
He was now facing her again, but Penance was aware of another version of herself next to her. He looked at her and said, "Yvette, who is in that mind with you?"
"Monet's sisters."
He turned to the next version and asked the question. She responded, "No one."
The man looked at them and said, "Variations of Issue 40."
At that moment, the light appeared on him. A loud voice said, "Choose."
The man looked up and said, "It is not my choice. It is Marvel's." Penance started to wonder more about this, and what was this Marvel he was referring to.
The voice said, "Choose, or all will perish." The man closed his eyes. "The choice has been made. Life goes on." All of a sudden all the different versions disappeared to the reality they came from. The man flew upward. All that was left was her and her duplicate that he called a `Variation of Issue 40'. Soon she knew what his choice was?
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"I'm tellin ya. Penny was sucked into the computer when the lightning hit."
"Jubilee, that's impossible. Besides, what were you doing with the computer on in a thunderstorm." Monet was chewing her out again.
"I was trying to calm down, but then you didn't have a nightmare."
"Ah think we should blame Angelo. He did pick those films out," Paige said.
"Now don't go blamin' me, Chica! Jube wanted to watch them, and insisted. Also.. what the" Lightning had stuck and Jubilee saw the same electric pattern shoot from the screen. In seconds, Penance was standing with them. The screen returned to the story she was reading.
"I saw it, but I don't believe it," Monet said. They all agreed and left.
Jubilee looked at Penance and said, "What happened?" All she got was a mysterious grin.
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He was back in his room. He turned to the relic and the screen now said, "Good choice." The old ruined relic returned to it's inactive state. He check the old computer and realized that this was entirely strange. The thing had no power going to it. Everything was disconnected. Nobody would believe him, and he didn't believe himself. Was it a dream? He just had to wait for how it played out. He also had to write this down. He walked over to his new computer and started it up. "Now, what do I call this?" he asked himself. It hit him and he started typing, "Shards of Self, sounds good."
My acknowledgements to the fanfic authors I have mentioned. Don't get mad at me, because this happened spur of the moment.
