#Dark!Gambit

[laughingdrawingaces]

"we never go out of style"

X-Men (1991) #24/the Uncanny Avengers #5/Dark X-Men (2023) #4/Uncanny X-Men (2024)#1/X-treme X-Men #36/Fortnite loading screen/Mr and Mrs X #12/ X-Men (2019) #16/ Rogue & Gambit (2018) #5

[qnofdisaster]

The girlies reading ⏳📜

[damn-this-pool]

💙💛Had fun drawing more Nightcrawler💛💙

Sometimes you just have to make your own content when there’s not much of your fav around

[gimpyhair]

Annoying each other in Uncanny Avengers II #9

Gambit: 😘 Rogue: (눈‸눈)

Rogue: 😘 Gambit: (눈‸눈)

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Shout out to all artists who had to work without any strong direction or instruction.

I wish you a merry “the client likes it anyways”

[flowersforfrancis]

[nellasbookplanet]

Book recs: Queer science fiction, part 1

There is a lot of queer sf out there, and I read a lot of sf. When I started working on this list, I quickly realized it was impossible to include all that I've read and enjoyed in one single rec post. Thus, this is the first of so far three queer sci-fi book rec posts.

A note: queer here does not necessarily mean "guarantee of an f/f or m/m ship with a happy ending", but rather simply a significant presence of queerness. Some of the books feature no romance but has a same gender attracted/trans/a-spectrum lead, or features an m/f relationship with bisexual, trans or aro/ace characters, or simply features a world-building which is heavily queer inclusive in ways that don't always compare to our own ideas of sexuality and gender. I have however disqualified works where the only queer presence is along the lines of "gay best friend" or a blink and you'll miss it confirmation that never comes up again.

Previous book rec posts:

Really cool fantasy worldbuilding, really cool sci-fi worldbuilding, dark sapphic romances, mermaid books, vampire books, many worlds: portal fantasies, many worlds: alternate timelines, robots and artificial intelligences, post- and transhumanism, alien intelligences

For more details on the books, continue under the readmore. Titles marked with * are my personal favorites. And as always, feel free to share your own recs in the notes!

The Light Brigade by Kameron Hurley*

Dietz is a soldier in the war between Earth and Mars - to travel to the battle front, she and her fellow soldiers are broken down into light to be able to quickly travel across space. But something keeps going wrong with Dietz's travels; her memories don't match up with the mission briefs, as she experiences time itself turning in on itself. Is she going mad? Or are the things she's learning skipping through time the truth - and the war that's stealing her life the lie? A mindfuck of a book that's scathing in its critique of fascism and war. Features a sapphic lead but no romance.

A Psalm for the Wild-Built (Monk and Robot duology) by Becky Chambers

Novella. Long ago, robots, upon gaining sentience, simply laid down their work and walked into the wilderness. Long after, a tea monk looking for purpose follows after them into the wilds, where they come across one of the robots seeking its own sort of answers. While not plotless, this story focuses more on character and vibes over plot. Also has a nonbinary main character and features conversations on gender between human and robot.

Meet Me In Another Life by Catriona Silvey*

Thora and Santi are strangers, brought together by a coincidence and torn apart just as abruptly when tragedy strikes. But this is neither the first nor the last time they meet - again and again they encounter each other, as friends, lovers, enemies, family, every time recognizing in each other a familiarity no one else carries. But with every new life, a mysterious danger grows ever closer, forcing them to find out the truth of their connection. This is a puzzle-box of a story that goes some entirely unexpected places in a very wild ride, featuring a bisexual co-lead.

The Archive Undying (The Downworld Sequence) by Emma Mieko Candon

In a world where AI gods sometimes lose their minds and take entire populations down with them, Sunai was the only survivor when his god went down. In the 17 years since, he has wandered on his own, unable to either die or age, drowning his sorrows in drink and men. But his attempts to flee his past comes to a stop as he is forced back into the struggle between man and machine. Featuring some pretty wild world building and narrative techniques, this book will definitely confuse you, but it is worth the experience.

The Paradox Hotel by Rob Hart

January Cole works security at the Paradox Hotel, last stop for tourists heading for the timeport, which allows them to travel to and witness any moment in time. But years of proximity to the timeport has left its damage on January, making her unstuck in time, letting her relive memories of her dead lover even as her sanity slips away bit by bit. As she starts witnessing proof of a horrible crime in the hotel that no one else can see, January must race against her own mind, a killer, and time itself to solve it before it's too late.

A Fractured Infinity by Nathan Tavares

Hayes Figueiredo is a struggling film-maker who wants to finish his documentary, whose life gets turned upside down when handsome physicist Yusuf Hassan enters his life, claiming an alternate version of him is a great inventor who’s sent a mysterious device to their universe. As Hayes gets drawn deeper into the conspiracy - and his feelings for Yusuf intensify - he has to decide just how far he’s prepared to go to win the life and the love he wants. Featuring a very gay and very morally dubious lead, this is a creative and strange read.

Bridge by Lauren Beukes

When she was little, Bridge and her mother Jo used to play a game - one where they traveled to other worlds, inhabiting the bodies of their other selves. Now Jo is dead, and as Bridge is cleaning out her apartment she finds a strange device: a dreamworm, the very thing that supposedly makes inter-dimensional travel possible. Suddenly faced with the possibility that multiverse travel is real, Bridge is struck by a different question: could her mother still be alive? Scifi spiced with a healthy dose of body horror and some absolutely wild twists, Bridge also features a bisexual lead (however this is a blink and you’ll miss it moment) and a nonbinary co-narrator.

The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet (Wayfarers series) by Becky Chambers

Rosemary Harper just got a job on the motley crew of the Wayfarer, a spaceship that works with tunneling new wormholes through space. With a past she wants to leave behind, Rosemary is happy to travel the far reaches of the universe with the chaotic crew, but when they land the job of a life time, things suddenly get a lot more dangerous. A bit of a tumblr classic in its day, this is a cozy space opera with an episodic feel and vividly realized characters and cultures. While pretty light on romance and focusing found family, there is a main f/f relationship.

An Unkindness of Ghosts by Rivers Solomon

Life on the lower decks of the generation ship HSS Matilda is hard for Aster, an outcast even among outcasts, trying to survive in a system not dissimilar to the old antebellum South. The ship's leaders have imposed harsh restrictions on their darker skinned people, using them as an oppressed work force as they travel toward their supposed Promised Land. But as Aster finds a link between the death of the ship's sovereign and the suicide of her own mother, she realizes there may be a way off the ship.

Ninefox Gambit (The Machineries of Empire trilogy) by Yoon Ha Lee*

Military space opera where belief and culture shape the laws of reality, causing all kinds of atrocities as empires do everything in their power to force as many people as possible to conform to their way of life to strengthen their technology and weapons. It’s also very queer, with gay, lesbian and trans major characters, albeit little to no romance.

The Left Hand of Darkness (Hainish Cycle) by Ursula K. Le Guin

1969 classic. Genly Ai is an emissary sent to the planet of Winter, meant to help facilitate Winter's inclusion in a growing intergalactic civilization. But he's unprepared for Winter's citizens, who spend much of their time genderless or switching between genders, making for a culture wildly different from that Genly is used to.

Too Like the Lightning (Terra Ignota series) by Ada Palmer*

Centuries in the future, humanity has deliberatly engineered society to be as utopian as possible, politically, socially, sexually, religiously. Written in an enlightenment style and featuring questions of human nature and whether it’s possible to change it, and what price we’re prepared to pay for peace, this book is simultaneously very heavy and very funny, and written in a very unique style. While still human, the society presented often feels starkly alien.

The Stars Are Legion by Kameron Hurley

This book fucked me up when I read it. It’s weird, it’s gross, there’s So Much Viscera, there are literally no men, it has living spaceships and biotech but in the most horrific way imaginable. Had I to categorize it I would call it grimdark military sf. It’s an experience but not necessarily a pleasant one.

The Luminous Dead by Caitlin Starling*

Possibly one of the most unsettling books I’ve ever read, and definitely the most claustrophobic. Gyre, a caver on an alien planet, ventures into the dark and dangerous underground, guided only by a woman who has no compunctions on using and manipulating Gyre as she sees fit to obtain her secretive goals down in the caves.

Escaping Exodus (Escaping Exodus series) by Nicky Drayden

While my feelings on Escaping Exodus were mixed, it cannot be denied that the dynamic between the two leads and the way they go from childhood best friends to enemies on different sides of a class and power struggle is very delicious. It also features some really cool worldbuilding of living, alien generation spaceships and the human culture that has developed inside them.

The Doors of Eden by Adrian Tchaikovsky*

The Doors of Eden is something of an experiment in speculative biology, featuring versions of Earth in which various different species were the one to rise to sentience, from dinosaurs to neanderthals. Now, something is threatening the existence of all timelines, dragging multiple different people and species into the struggle, among those a pair of cryptid hunting girlfriends and a transgender scientist.

Ascension by Jacqueline Koyanagi

Ascension follows Alana Quick, an expert Sky Surgeon who stows away on a spaceship in hopes of landing herself a job. But the ship and its crew are in deeper waters than she expected, facing threats emerging from a whole other universe, all of them searching for the same person: Alana’s spiritually enlightened sister. Undeniably a bit of an odd read, Ascension is also very creative and features polyamorous lesbian relationship.

Contagion (Contagion duology) by Erin Bowman*

Young adult. After receiving an SOS, a small crew is sent on a standard search-and-rescue mission. But what they find are not survivors awaiting help, but an abandoned site, full of dead bodies and crawling with something... monstrous. No romance, but features one sapphic co-lead and one who can easily be read as demisexual (however this doesn't show up until book two, which has more romance).

A Memory Called Empire (Texicalaan duology) by Arkady Martine

Mahit Dzmare is an ambassador sent to the center of the multi-system Teixcalaanli Empire, where she discovers that her predecessor has died. Trying to protect her home, an independent mining station, from being taken over by the empire, Mahit struggles to find out the truth of her predecessor's death while carrying the voice of his ghost in her head, guiding her as best he can. Light on the romance but does feature a sapphic relationship.

The Outside (The Outside trilogy) by Ada Hoffman*

AKA the book the put me in an existenial crisis. Souls are real, and they are used to feed AI gods in this lovecraftian inspired scifi where reality is warped and artifical gods stand against real, unfathomable ones. Autistic scientist Yasira is accused of heresy and, to save her eternal soul, is recruited by post-human cybernetic ‘angels’ to help hunt down her own former mentor, who is threatening to tear reality itself apart. Sapphic main character.

Dawn (Xenogenesis trilogy) by Octavia E. Butler*

After a devestating war leaves humanity on the brink of extinction, survivor Lilith finds herself waking up naked and alone in a strange room. She’s been rescued by the Oankali, who have arrived just in time to save the human race. But there’s a price to survival, and it might be humanity itself. Absolutely fucked up I love it I once had to drop the book mid read to stare at the ceiling and exclaim in horror at what was going on. Queer in the sense that the Oankali doesn't follow human ideas of gender and relationships, which is mirrored in their romantic relationships with humans. It is, however, pretty dark, with examinations of agency and consent, so enter with caution.

Remnant by Kate Genet

One day, Cass wakes up and finds everyone else is gone. Not dead, just gone, leaving her in a world which nature starts taking back with a dangerous, unnatural speed. But as she tries to survive this new normal, Cass realizes she may not be alone after all - but who else is out there, and are they a threat?

The Scorpion Rules (Prisoners of Peace duology) by Erin Bow*

Young Adult. Featuring a dystopian future in which an AI forcibly keeps world peace by holding the children of world leaders hostage. If anyone attempts to start a war, their child will be executed. Greta is one of these children, kept in a school with others like her. But things start to change one day when a new, less obedient hostage arrives. A unique, slowburn take on the YA dystopian craze, also featuring a bisexual love triangle.

Iron Widow (Iron Widow series) by Xiran Jay Zhao

Young adult. Zetian is a citizen of Huaxia, where mecha aliens are constantly trying to breach the Great Wall. To keep them at bay, couples of men and women pilot so called Chrysalises, giant transforming robots. But the pilots are not equal - the women almost always die, sucked dry by their co-pilots. When Zetian sets herself up to become a concubine-pilot, she does so with the plan to assassinate the male pilot who caused her sister's death. Features a polyamorous main relationship.

Bonus AKA I haven't read these yet but they seem really cool:

Survival Instincts by May Dawney

Lynn Tanner has been surviving the post-apocalypse alone with only her dog for a long time, trusting no one. But when she's forced to travel the dangerous remains of New York City alongside another woman, her priorities are challenged. Is staying alone really the best way to stay alive?

These Burning Stars by Bethany Jacobs

When con-artist Jun Ironway gets her hands on possible proof of the powerful Nightfoot family, controllers of interplanetary travel, committing genocide, she has in her hands a chance of taking them and their monopoly down. But the family and their allies won't go down easily, and sends two brutal clerics to stop her.

Everfair by Nisi Shawl

A neo-victorian alternate history, in which a part of Congo was kept safe from colonisation, becoming Everfair, a safe haven for both the people of Congo and former slaves returning from America. Here they must struggle to keep this home safe for them all.

[nabooberrie]

This is what I imagined happened to people with metal butt plugs in the xmen universe when Erik uses his powers

[laurents-secret-diary]

oh damen we're really in it now.mp4

[bluepeachstudios]

Pawn's Gambit Premier

In the aftermath of the Krang Invasion, the Earth Protection Force and its head, Agent John Bishop, start Project Renaissance in order to find a way to combat such threats should they ever appear again, as well as deal with the problem of yokai and mutants that have recently become more and more of a problem. With this, they decide to create clones of the only beings able to defeat the Krang in the first place, and train them to be obedient soldiers. It doesn't go as planned. The kids escape the EPF and go searching for their genetic donors, but they're hiding something from their fathers...

Read here on AO3!

New fic! Writing's all finished so it's just posting it at this point. Me and @alicat54cwriting have been wanting to post this forEVER.

[lady-sophie-kat]

Films with The Secret History vibe

The Dreamers

The Talented Mr. Ripley

Dead Poets Society

Kill your Darlings

Saltburn

The Goldfinch

Atonement (the summer house scenes...)

The Queens Gambit (show)

[c-moineau]

[pomegranatepanacea]

ahem.

[remylebeaugambit]

Uncanny X-Men v.6 #02 (2024)

[xenayami]

GONE

This series is going off based on @honey-minded-hivemind Dark AU for their platonic yandere xmen x reader please check them out for the original and support them on what they do they are incredible. ❤️

The reader of this story will be Fem. Her, Kurt, Kitty, and Pietro will all be aged to 14.

Beware this is a dark au so things could get graphic you've been warned and bad GRAMMER.

Prologue

Reader was founded by the x-men in a homeless shelter for kids when she was 12. Discovered by Charles Xavier who had found her through his power, sending Logan and Scott to retrieve the girl. Her abilities were to create spheres of protection and have the power to heal. But as many mutants' reader does have a limit to such lengths of what her powers can handle. Never had a family or even knew of her own. But when THE wolverine stretches his hand out for her to take how could she say no.

At some point, Lance was severely injured from a mission he was sent on with two other teens. Scott who had returned with Lance in his arms begged reader to heal him. "Please Kid... you're the only one I know that can help."

She barely succeeded managing to get lance out of the dying state but not healed completely. As soon as she was done her nose begins to bleed and later resulting to her collapsing. Of course, when she had awoken, she overheard the wolverine yelling at Scott. How could he put you through such a thing if he need someone to help Lance, he could of gone straight to hank. Not a 14-year-old who barely knows how her power works. "I regret it Logan I know I just thought-

"YOU THOUGHT WRONG!"

Her and Logan always had a close relationship since she joined the school. They both were loners. But the x-men saved them from such fate. Whenever reader was in his classroom training harder than any student, he had encountered he asked her. "Because I want to get stronger to protect the ones I care about." From that moment on he had watch over her like a daughter.

When reader first arrived at Charles Xaviers school, she immediately fit right in. Rogue and Jean loved her like a little sister. Scott and Gambit as well along with Wanda and Pietro. Logan thought of you as his daughter just as Erik 'Magneto' did as well. Charles loves you like his own as for the rest of his students and his x-men. Hank adores you as much as mystique.

There was a particular group you always hung out with Kitty, Pietro, Kurt and Jubilee. They were the first friends of you had since you came to the school, since ever. Knowing you've been by yourself for as long as you could remember. You had loved every single one of them.

You had finally found your family.

One night, when everyone was sleeping you silently swore to yourself, I'm going to get stronger I will, I want to have the strength to protect my family and friends. Even if it cost me my life.'

Unknown to you accouple of ears lingered near your room and hear you.

After that day everything was peaceful.

Until

Reader, Kurt, Pietro and Kitty were all going to go and shop for a surprise gift for their friend Jubilee. Scott and Jean sent them off.

"Now be careful out there got it, things can get out of hand when you least expect it." Scott stand Infront of the group crossing his arms over his chest looking at the group of kids.

"Geez yeah yeah we get it. Just don't tell Jubilee where we were, okay?" Pietro huffs. Jubilee was failing in a couple of classes and training lessons, so she had to stay behind. They thought going out to get her a special early birthday present would cheer her up, only to encounter Scott and Jean. The group fully understand the dangers of being a mutant lingering out and about. But they believe as long as they were together, they'll be alright.

"We'll be fine promise! We're just gonna get some grub probably hang around the park a bit and then shop for an early surprise present for Jubilee." Kitty chuckles at Scotts worriedness the group of teens, they had train for situations in case they get into trouble. They just need a break from the school for a bit and explore the world and experience the joys of being a teenager.

"Right ve promise!" Kurt joins in.

"I'll look after them Scott don't worry; we'll be back before midnight! I swear." Read was always trying to be the older sister of the group and the adults found that precious. Scott looks at her with soften eyes.

Scott looks hesitant but then Jean lays a hand on his shoulder, "I'm sure they'll be fine Scott beside I'm sure the grownups need a break from the kids anyway. Let them go out." Scott looker over his shoulder and sighs in defeat.

"Fine. Reader."

She straightens up.

"Be safe."

And with that the group leaves the mansion for their outing. A couple of miles away from their home and going straight into town. Kurt walking on readers left side and Pietro and Kitty walking on her right.

"Vhet should we get for our friend?"

"Don't know maybe a necklace? Oh! or earrings!"

"You guys think too much. Just get her favorite song on a cd and call it a day."

"You're only saying that cause you never think. it's got to be meaningful dumbass."

Unaware of their surrounds the group was peaceful walking about in town. Laughing and joking around such as normal teenagers do.

but

A smoke grenade lands in front of the group, WOSH it sets of, and the kids were choking on the smoke. Kurt kneeling down waving his hands in the air trying to push the smoke away, kitty and Pietro were blinds and where also coughing. Reader the only on left standing was struggling to make out the attacker.

"Mutant brats"

Readers vision begins to blur, and then turn dark.

Reader wake up again in a strange room chained in a circle with Kurt, Kitty, and Pietro.

"Reader! Your awake! Thank goodness." Kitty with tears in her eyes.

"Where are we?"

Pietro growls, "Thats what I wanna know." Furious that they got caught and he couldn't do a thing about it.

"Are we?" Questioning if any of them had attempted to use their gifts to escape.

"Unable to use our powers I'm afraid so my friend."

Reader looks down in guilt, "I'm sorry guys this is my fault, I should of been more aware.."

"What? There was no what you could of know this would happened. Don't be so hard on yourself." Pietro looks over at her calming his attitude to try and make the situation better for his friends.

"They'll come guys don’t worry!" Kitty trying her best to lighten the mood.

"I'm afraid not this time kitty."

A strange man in a lab coat appears Infront of them.

"And I'm gonna make sure of that."

"Vho are you sir?" Kurt curiously asks but something about this man seemed off this thought sent shivers down some of the group's spines.

"Nothing to concern yourself with mutt. You won't live long enough to remember it."

Kurt eyes widen in fear and shock. Reader moves closer to him moving her body in front of his. Shielding him from the intruder.

"The x-men will stop you."

"I highly doubt it. But don't you baby mutants spawns worry, they'll be joining you soon."

Reader chuckles at the man. "Keep dreaming."

A blow to the head sent her on the floor.

"READER!"

Blood trailed down her mouth as she struggles to sit up only to be kick back down again.

"LEAVE HER ALONE!"

"BASTARD!" As soon as Pietro commented that last part the unknown man pulls out a blade about to charge at him who was defenseless reader bolts towards their direction and takes the hit. Readers blood spills more onto the ground. Kitty screamed in terror, Kurt froze in fear, Pietro stood in shock.

"R-Reader..."

Collapsing in front of him struggling to get back up. The only thought running through her mind was to protect her friends no matter what.

"Pathetic. Just like your so-called x-men, saving life's all for nothing and taking in mutants. To what? Treat them like family. Disgusting."

With hatred in the hearts for this man run filled like crazy but reader bolding stands up.

"S-so what?"

Reader stuggles to sit up completely unfazed of the attack no matter how badly her body is damaged. That sentence alone started a spark to keep the group going.

"Thats w-what we do! You got a problem with it!? X-men put their lives on the line every day! Bitch and groan all you want! You don't got the power to change a thing!"

Unknown man sits still in silents and them maliciously smirks and them kicks the reader on the side where her wound was.

"Your gonna die anyway why waste your breath. This room is reequipped with a machine that will incinerate you lot. And don't even think of using your so-called mutant powers, this room was made with sentinel technology so don't even think about."

They were powerless.

"You have a minute."

The man leaves with a grim expression.

Kitty panics and rattles the chains, Kurt does his best to break it, Pietro struggles to move towards reader grabbing her and pulling in towards the group reader holding onto her wound putting pressure on it. Blood was dripping all down her body.

"W-what do we do!"

"Our Vates are in god's hands now my vhriend."

Holding her hand as she begins to break down in tears. both reach towards reader and Pietro who were also holding hands.

"Stay strong... Kitty." Reader struggles to breath.

"Reader..."

"We're not gonna go out cryin." Hope light in the readers eyes.

Kitty looks over at her who was struggling to sit up straight but was still standing strong that alone gave kitty the encouragement she needed, "R-right. RIGHT! X-MEN NEVER GIVES UP THE FIGHT!"

Pietro nods and also shouts. "Thats right. We're going to show that bastard a bond that can never be broken!"

"I vhill cherish our bonds my Vhiends. No. My family. I love you all of you."

As the four where all held each other together the fear immediately vanishes. As the room shakes and rumbles the sounds of a machine above the ground was held over them begin to glow. They must of guessed it was the one the stranger was talking about.

Reader held them in a group hug all with smiles on their faces..

"We're going home everyone. Back home to our family."

In a blast of light everything exploded and nothing was left.

BACK AT THE MANSION

The x-men all gathered in the war room frantic on the kid's disappearance. Scott and Jean worries came back again when they did not show up for their classes as did Jubilee who had not seen any of her friends. Mystique concerned for her son's well being, her daughter rogue flies all over town to search for them. Magneto confronting Charles on his carelessness for the safety of his children especially Pietro his son and reader who he had grown fond of.

Hank searches with all of his technology. Nothing came to aid.

Logan rampages through the streets and the mansion to find more clues. He had assumed some mutant hating freak got to them.

Gambit did his best to search deep undercover through all the bars to pick up tips on some missing mutant kids. Nothing.

Now they regather in the war room.

"This is your fault summers!"

"Yelling at me won't find them Logan!"

Rogue goes between the two. "Fighting with one another wont help either sugars."

"She's right they have to be out there somewhere we just have to look harder!" Jean intervenes. This was all her fault. She had insisted they go. They never should of left.

"Charles?!" Erik holding onto him. Charles head his head in pain.

As sharp pain goes through the professor's head. He saw the unknown man that had taken the kids hostage. He scans throughout his memories and saw the most recent one.

Recent.

He saw a vivid images of blood. Readers blood. And then later a bright light. Explosion that contain Kurt, Kitty, Pietro and Reader.

Refuses to belief it he tries again and to reach out to any of the children. Nothing there was nothing. If he could not reach them then that could only mean.

"NO!"

Charles shouts in anguish and despair. "MY CHILDREN MY POOR CHILDREN!"

The last image he saw was all of them holding each other in their arms embracing one another with blood soaking their clothes and smiles on their faces. Perhaps hoping for them to come for them. They never did.

"Charles?! What had happened?" Mystique ask.

Charles weeps quietly but Erik answers for him. With a menace look on his face as he stares at the group. He had realize what Charles had saw. Knowing his old friend all too well that could only mean one thing. His son... reader.... kurt and kitty. All dead.

"They are gone."

This alone silent the room.

"They have spilled blood of our children, and we must avenge them." Magneto never like the human he only tolerated them for his children's sake and for Charles but after this. He will show no mercy.

"I agree." Charles says in a shaken voice. "They must pay. Taking the life's of children of the innocent will not go unpunished." He always wanted a relationship between mutants and humans but to take the life of children he had help raised as his own. Children who could do no harm. A darkness stirred within him.

X-men stood in silence, but understood what they must do. Storming out the mansion they now go out on a man hunt to hunt down the unknown man that had kill their kids. Along with those who were involved and those who stood by and watched.

7 Years later

Amongst the rumbles of the abandon building, a sudden movement causes accouple of rocks to move. A hand emerges.

"AH!"

Kitty pushes the scattered building parts of her. Coughing out the dust as she catches her breath. Kurt and Pietro also emerge gasping for air.

"Everyone alright?"

"Reader!"

Kurt pushing the rumbles aside and digging reader out of the pile. Pulling her to surface.

"Is she?"

Kurt checks, "Alive. And breathing. But how did we survive. No should of live after such."

"Defiantly." Pietro agrees but notices a small light on his outer skin glowing the same as kitty and Kurt. This familiar sensation, it feels like reader. They would know because every time one of them were injured she would offer to heal them despite over working herself.

"Did she?" Kitty questions in shock at the realization.

"She must have put barriers on us when the explosion hit. But the question is how?"

"Indeed" Kurt agrees as he held reader's unconscious body. Struggling to wake her up.

Kitty moves near him and help shakes her. "Reader... come on! Please wake up!' Tears weld in her eyes praying in her mind that her friend will wake.

Pietro looks down in shake as he looks down his hand that was stained in blood. He knew it was his fault for her injuries, but why would she do such a thing and risk her life. Just why.

Where are we anyway...

NEXT CHAPTER

After the 7-year leap reader, Kurt, kitty, and Pietro never aged they remain 14 since the reader's shield held them in for over 7 year unable to age. But unfortunately, everyone they had loved had.

MY Thanks to @honey-minded-hivemind for letting me write this hope you enjoyed. Stay tuned for more!

[wolvieshairypussy]

I made the X-men in picrew! It's by @crowesn 💙