Title: The Ghost at the Institute Part 3
Author: Rabbitearsblog
Universe: X-Men
Rating: T - some graphic imagery.
Summary: When a strange ghost starts terrorizing the students at the Institute, it's up to Beast, Colossus, Nightcrawler and Kitty Pryde to save the day!
Notes: This is my first major story for the X-Men, so feel free to enjoy it and be gentle with the criticisms!
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Chapter 5: X-Men vs. the White Ghost!
Later that night, the X-Men prepared for the ghost’s arrival by standing by the river by the Institute.
“The boy who was affected by the ghost’s powers earlier today told me that he saw the ghost come out of nowhere around the river. So, it’s possible that the ghost might come out here again to take more unsuspecting students,” said Hank.
“Well, it must know we’re out here since there’s nothing coming,” said Kitty.
“The ghost might come soon enough,” said Piotr.
All of a sudden, Kurt started to shiver, “Is it just me or is it starting to get a little cold out here?”
Slowly, a cold chill filled the air and the X-Men started to shiver fiercely. Suddenly, a large white figure come gliding through the water and starts coming towards the X-Men.
“Alright, ghost! I got my handy power neutralizer ray gun and I’m taking a--!?!”
Suddenly, the power neutralizer ray gun exploded in Hank’s hands and the X-Men looked on in shock.
The large white figure then laughed wildly and said, “FOOLS! DO YOU THINK THAT GUN WILL HELP YOU NOW?! I HAVE LEARNED THE WAYS OF YOUR SCIENTIFIC WAYS AND NOW I HAVE DISABLED THEM!”
“Not everything.”
The X-Men suddenly leaped at the ghost and started fighting it. Kitty phased through the white figure and the figure cried out in pain. Kurt teleported in front of the white figure and kicked it in the face and Hank leapt at the white figure and tackled it to the ground and quickly jumped off the figure. Suddenly, Piotr, in his steel form, grabbed a large tree and swatted the white figure with it, sending the white figure flying across the river and into the woods.
“Nice hit Peter!” yelled Hank.
“Thank you.” Said Piotr.
“Come on! The ghost might be getting away!” yelled Kitty.
The X-Men then ran into the woods and saw the ghost lying on the ground. The X-Men quietly came upon the ghost and stood around the ghost’s still body, trying to see if it was still alive…
Suddenly, the ghost opened its eyes and let out an earsplitting scream while revealing its red and skinless face towards the X-Men. The X-Men backed away from the ghost, but all of a sudden, they found the ground around them sinking in.
The ghost laughed wickedly and shouted, “HA! HA! HA! HA! NOW YOU FOOLS WILL FINALLY GET A TASTE OF REAL DEATH! DOWN TO THE PITS OF THE UNDERWORLD WITH YOU!”
Then the earth opened up and everyone including the ghost fell down into the ground and was swallowed up by the earth.
…
….
…..
……
There was nothing but darkness surrounding the four mutants and for a few minutes, they seem as still as death. Suddenly, Kitty awoke with a start and started looking around frantically. As Kitty started to settle down, she noticed that they were no longer near the Xavier Institute, but are in a place where the walls are dark blue and they seem to be floating on thin air. Kitty then turned towards Piotr and tried to wake him up.
“Peter! Wake up! Wake up!”
Piotr then woke up and rubbed his eyes and said, “Katya? Wh…Where are we?”
“I don’t know, but it feels like we just fallen into some kind of weird space portal… or something like that. Let’s wake the others,” said Kitty.
Kitty and Piotr started waking up the other X-Men and the others woke up.
“What? What is this place?” asked Kurt.
“I’m not quite sure, but it seems like some kind of space time continuum of the like,” stated Hank.
“You are not in a space portal, you are hanging in limbo,” a frightening voice called out.
The X-Men all turned around and saw the white figure approaching them with its red and skinless face still exposed.
“Hey! What’s the big idea of taking us down here?” yelled Kitty.
“I wanted to show you all what it feels like to experience death. To feel fear and turmoil like I did many years ago, but you have only experienced the fear of death, not death itself,” rattled the white figure.
“You have every opportunity to kill us when you had the advantage. Why didn’t you kill us before?” asked Hank.
Suddenly, the white figure’s face started to shift and there appeared a face of a young teenage girl. The X-Men were shocked and the young teenage girl said, “Even though I wanted you all to experience death, I really wanted to tell you my entire sad and frightening story.”
The teenage ghost girl then sat down on the open air and started telling her story.
“Once long ago, I was a young and happy teenage girl. I would gossip about boys and about what was cool and what was not cool just like any ordinary teenage girl. I even went to Xavier’s School since I was a mutant. But I had very strange powers. Very dangerous powers where I could inflict harm on anybody who hurts me. Because of this power, I rarely used my powers at all, but I was still happy. But one tragic day, a fire was started in the school and even though I tried to get out of the school, I ended up being stuck inside while the fire was raging. My death was very tragic indeed as I watched my own body being burned up and the skin was peeling off my face as the fire burned through.”
The teenage ghost girl shivered and continued:
“By the time the other students and the teachers found my body, I was long dead. Forever whisked away from the living world. But sometime after my death, my body became ghostlike and even though my body was gone; my ghostly body was still able to conjure up an image of my real body, if only in a memory. Also, my powers began to grow much stronger after I died, since now I have the ability to take away people’s powers and rendered them deathless. After I came to this realization, I started to wonder around the institute and as I saw the students in the institute, I started to envy them as I thought to myself about how they could live so happily, while my life ended so abruptly. So, I started to haunt this institute, while at the same time taking away the students’ powers, so that way they could feel the sorrow I felt when I died. You cannot imagine the horror and the sadness that overwhelm me when I witness my own body being burned up and there was nothing I could do to stop that pain. You truly cannot understand the horrors of death and what it could do to you.”
“I understand,” said Piotr quietly. The other X-Men turned to look at Piotr and Piotr continued:
“You said that we do not understand what it is like to experience death. Well, I understand because not too long ago, I had experienced my own death. When the legacy virus broke out years ago and it killed my little sister, Illyana, the only way for the cure to the legacy virus to work was if a mutant sacrificed their own life to bring about the cure. I was that mutant who sacrificed his own life. I sacrificed my own life because I wanted my friends to live and not have to suffer the same fate that befallen my poor sister.”
The teenage ghost girl stared at Piotr, looking a bit confused yet touched.
“Death is frightening, especially if you witnessed your own death or you wake up after being brought back to life, only to be tortured in a secret lab. But before I died, I was happy because I knew that I have done something that would ensure my friends’ happiness, even if that means that my own life ended. You said that you had a happy life before you died, so do not let your death not bring you peace. Think about how happy you were before you died,” said Piotr smiling.
“He’s right!” said Kitty, “just because you died doesn’t mean that you never had a happy life! You had friends and family who cared about you and you were happy. That’s all that really matters in the afterlife, I think.”
“Happiness is something we always take for granted, even when we are alive. But do not take your happiness for granted. Cherished it for as long as you can,” said Kurt.
The teenage ghost girl looked at all the X-Men and said to herself, “Being happy because I had a happy life… Yes, I was happy and my friends and family are still alive. I guess I never saw that before…”
The ghost girl looked up at the sky and started to glow. The X-Men shielded their eyes from the bright light and the ghost girl said to them:
“Thank you so much for showing me what kind of life I had and for teaching me how to appreciate the life I had. Farewell.”
The ghost girl then disappeared in a white glow and was gone. The X-Men then suddenly started to fall down in space, screaming on their way down.
Chapter 6: Life and Happy Endings!
The X-Men then all fell on their backs as they hit the ground.
“Ow! Man that hurts!” yelled Kitty.
“Well, we’re lucky we didn’t land in a cactus bush or something really uncomfortable,” said Hank.
Kurt then crawled up from the ground and said, “I wonder if that ghost girl is happy in the afterlife?”
“I think she is happy, now that she knows that she had a good life before she died,” said Piotr.
“Hey Peter you were great back there!” complimented Kitty.
Piotr blushed. “Oh, um…you really think so?”
“I know so,” said Kitty.
“Ah hum…I’ll just leave you two lovebirds alone for awhile while I go to my lab and work on more inventions that won’t blow up in my face,” said Hank.
“HANK!” Piotr and Kitty both yelled embarrassedly.
“Just kidding! Well, I see you all later!” Hank said and went back to the Institute.
“Well, this was quite a strange day indeed! Us having to face a ghost and somehow make it back here in piece,” said Kurt.
“Ah, speaking of strange Kurt, you still think that mutants are strange?” said Kitty slyly.
“Oh no! Not that again!” yelped Kurt.
“Oh yes that again, my friend!” said Piotr maliciously.
“Let’s get him Piotr!” yelled Kitty.
Both Piotr and Kitty started chasing after Kurt, who transported himself atop a tree and the three X-Men started playing around with each other laughing all the way.
In the trees near the Institute, a white figure floated among the branches and smiled at the three X-Men and then disappeared in a white glow of light.
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