Disclaimer: All characters belong to Marvel. I only wish I got paid for writing this much.

I’ll make this simple. I hate Marvel for killing Blink. So I wrote this story. Enjoy! :)

Note: If you haven’t read Tales of the Phalanx Covenant (The Origin of Generation X), read it!!!  Another Note: If you haven’t read The Astonishing X-Men 1-4, read it!!!

Still Another Note: I don’t like Mondo too much, and I’m not very familiar with his character. Therefore, you’ll find that he’s probably not in any of my Gen X stories.

In the Blink of an Eye

Prologue

     The hunter closed in on them, his hands reaching out to capture them, or maybe even strangle them. Clarice wanted to scream, but she couldn’t. She was too afraid. Beside her, Angelo squeezed her hand, offering what little reassurance he could. Beside him, Paige and Monet also backed against the wall, doing what they could to put distance between themselves and the monster that towered over them. But in Clarice’s mind, it was too late. Harvest had come.

Angelo stiffened at her side, and craned his neck slightly. “I know this sounds pretty crazy--but did anyone else but me hear fireworks?” Paige glanced at him, but said nothing. “It is the sound of futility you hear, carbonite!” Harvest roared, pointing at them. The Phalanx units under his command smiled evilly, closing in on their prey. “The X-Men have arrived to try and rescue you--but they shall not succeed!”

A strange sound cut through the night, and Harvest turned, his arm taking the shape of a reaper. Clarice heard him say something, but she was too afraid to pay him much attention. A dark figure launched itself at Harvest, shredding the techno-organic reaper from his form with one clawed hand. “Sabretooth?!” Harvest cried, clearly surprised.

Clarice gasped in fright, huddling even closer to Angelo. “Paige, is this one o’ the X-Men you said was gonna be savin’ us?” he asked. “Well, he’s definitely not Wolverine,” was Paige’s immediate reply. “Sabretooth, he said? Errr...he’s no X-Man Ah ever saw, gang...” That wasn’t very comforting to the rest of them, but it was something. Clarice just watched in silent terror as one monster battled the other. Harvest definitely wasn’t on their side, but could they really trust this Sabretooth? While she admired his bravery, his savagery scared her half to death. Still, right now, he was their best chance of getting off this boat. Wishing she was at home safe in bed, Clarice buried her head against Angelo’s shoulder. If she was lucky, it would grow dark, and she’d suddenly wake up from this nightmare.

Clarice slowly opened her eyes. Unfortunately, now she knew the nightmare was real. It was actually happening, all around her. Harvest was still trying to capture them. Banshee and Sabretooth were holding their own against him, but she could tell Harvest was stronger. Much stronger. And in that instant, Clarice knew she could stop him.

Her plan was simple enough. It would work. It had to. Even if she died in the process, she could save her new friends, and the men trying to protect them. She watched as Sabretooth fell under one of Harvest’s huge fists. He’d tried to save them, and now he was probably dead. She shed a tear for him. That was all she could do for him, wasn’t it?

No. She could beat the demon he’d died trying to defeat. She couldn’t let Banshee die, too. Already, he was locked in the monster’s iron grip. She’d felt his cold hand herself, once. It felt like death, pure and certain. She could save him. She would save him.

As she ran towards the battle, she could hear Paige screaming for her to stop. That only made her cry even more. She loved Paige, and the rest of them, too. But she had to save them. Now Banshee was screaming at her, telling her to run. She argued that she could help. Help him live. Help destroy the demon that tugged at his body.

The power ripped from her hands, encasing the entire boat. She felt a tingling in her bones as she, too, was trapped in its wake. She sensed she’d be dead soon enough. But in that instant, something happened. Banshee was reaching for her, but Harvest had weakened him. He couldn’t save her now. Someone else, maybe, but not him.

The flesh wrapped securely around her waist. Clarice glanced down, and thinking it to be the Phalanx, screamed to high heaven. Then she noticed the color. Gray. She recognized it, but couldn’t place it. She was pulled away from the boat, even as Banshee’s wail pierced the night. She covered her ears, grimacing as she slammed into something.

It was Banshee. His eyes were wide with shock. “Clarice?!” he shouted in disbelief. She didn’t answer him. She was confused. How? How were either of them alive? The answer came as they splashed into the water. She heard a voice. A voice that she would never forget, from that moment on. “You okay, chica?” She blinked, struggling to see in the freezing waters. “Angelo?” she asked, fear creeping back into her throat. “Yeah, it’s me.” She blinked again, unsure of what had happened. “How did you--?” “Magic fingers,” he replied, wiggling them in her face.

Clarice stared at him. The smile on his face was warm and inviting. “Relax, chica! We’re gettin’ outta here now.” She sighed, completely exhausted. She was alive, thanks to him. He dragged her to the dock, keeping one finger wrapped around her the whole time. For the first time in a long time, Clarice felt safe. That was the last thing she remembered as the darkness finally came for her. Maybe it was a dream, after all...

Interlude

The darkness was overpowering. She could feel the heat all around her. Why had they left her here? She didn’t know or care. She just wanted to get out. So she hugged her knees, rocking back and forth. All she could do was wait.

Then she heard them. The voices. Two men, by the sounds of them. Neither of them sounded very pleasant. “I told ya, Logan. I’m picking up a scent,” one of them said. Maybe they could save her. She wanted to run to the door and beat on it, screaming with all her might. But she wasn’t strong enough. She was tired, too. So tired. She could only watch the orange light coming from under the door. The flashes indicated fire, and the shadows indicated people. Her rescuers. Maybe.

Something struck the thick metal, three times. The lock broke, and the door was torn from its hinges. Orange light framed her small form . But she was plunged back into darkness as the large man walked in and bent over her. She thought he was one of the Infinites at first, but his touch was gentle. He carefully cradled her in his arms, holding her head with one large hand. “A kid, Logan...” he said, staring into her eyes, “...somebody’s kid...” The girl reached up with one small hand, touching his long tresses. The Infinites were machines. They didn’t have hair.

She clung to him, desperately afraid of the fire. One gloved finger brushed her forehead, and she looked up again. She bounced in his arms, and his chest heaved in and out against her. He was running now, she realized, through the smoke and flames. Her small hand reached up again, gently touching the beard stubble on his chin. He stopped and looked down at her. “Daddy?” she asked, not sure of the man’s identity. He’d left her mother so long ago.

A million different answers ran through his mind. But what could you tell a child that had been left alone to die by fire? “Yeah, kid. Daddy’s come to take you home.” She squealed happily, clinging to him even more. “Vic, let’s move! The Infinites are comin’!” He patted her head and ran after the sound of Logan’s voice.

The moonlight spilled onto them, blinding the child for a moment. Her eyes adjusted quickly, and she stared at the face above her, trying to take in every detail. She wouldn’t forget what he looked like a second time. Mommy would be so pleased. “Thank you, Daddy,” she whispered, tugging at his hair gently. He looked down at her. “I love you,” she said, burying her head in his chest. Victor Creed only sighed as he followed Logan back to the mansion.

Chapter 1

The alarm clock went off at 4:45 AM. Clarice reached over and hit the snooze button for Paige. Then she slowly got out of bed, being sure not to wake her sleeping friend. On the other side of the room, Jubilee was snoring loudly. It was cramped, but they managed. Clarice tip-toed out of the room, heading for the bathroom.

After washing up, she returned to the dorm room just as the second alarm went off. Paige slammed her fist down on the clock, yawning at the same time. “What are you doing up, Clarice?” she asked. “Thought you could use some company. Mind if I jog with you?” “Not at all,” Paige replied with a smile, reaching for her sneakers. “I’d rather jog with you than Little Miss Sleep-A-Thon over there.” Jubilee snorted, causing Clarice and Paige to giggle. “Come on, I’ll race you around campus,” Clarice told her friend. Paige zoomed past her. “You’ll be coughing in my dust the whole way!” “Cheater!” Clarice shouted, running after her.

He walked through the Biosphere, his eyes searching the nearby foliage. *Penance, you awake, gel?* he asked silently. There was a rustling in the bushes in front of him as the girl crawled out. She stared up at him, wondering what he wanted. Jono reached into his pocket and produced an apple. *Brought you some breakfast, luv.* She speared the fruit with one red claw and begin to nibble on it, savoring the sweet flavor.

Jono watched her eat. When she was done, he handed her a second apple. As she bit into it, he turned and walked away. Penance quickly finished the apple and ran after him. She followed by his side, making sure he saw her. She’d hate to cut the hand that fed her, so to speak. Jono glanced down at her and shook his head, indicating he had no more apples. Penance understood, but continued to follow him.

She followed him all the way to the front of the school, acting as his silent crimson shadow. As they reached the main gate, Jono decided to go back. Classes would be starting soon. They hadn’t gone far when they heard two voices. “I’m gonna beat ya this time!” “You’re going to lose again!” Jono and Penance watched as Clarice ran up, with Paige right behind her. Clarice reached out and tagged the gate before Paige could. “I win again!” she smiled.

“Are you sure you didn’t use yo powers ta cheat?” Paige asked, nearly out of breath. “Positive,” Clarice answered, winking at Jono. He only shook his head. Clarice squatted in front of Penance, smiling again. “Good morning, Penny!” she said brightly. Penance smiled back, recognizing the shortened version of what had become her name. Clarice opened a small portal in front of the girl. “Blink, what are you doing?” Jono asked, slightly alarmed. Clarice shushed him and turned back to Penance.

The girl stuck her hand through the portal, and grinned as it appeared beside Jono. “Isn’t that dangerous?” Paige asked. Clarice shook her head. “It’s her favorite game. We do this all the time.” Clarice redirected the portals a few times, making her hand appear all over the place. After a while, Penance pulled her hand back through, still smiling. “See? She loves this!” Clarice declared.

Paige glanced at her watch. “We’d better go, guys. Class is going to start in ten minutes.” “Coming, Penny?” Clarice asked. Penance didn’t move. “She still doesn’t like school, I guess,” Paige said. Jono nodded. *She deserves her freedom, after all she’s been through.* The three students turned and headed back to the main building. Clarice turned and waved at Penance one last time. The girl smiled and disappeared into the Biosphere.

Bishop stood at the front of the classroom, carefully watching the students. Jubilee raised her head, pretending to stretch. Her eyes met Bishop’s steely gaze, and she quickly went back to work on the test. She scratched her head, trying to make sense of the question.

This US President negotiated the Camp David Accords.

“Would it hurt to have multiple choice questions?” she mumbled. “Silence, Jubilation,” Bishop said from the front on the room. Jubilee muttered something under her breath and went to the next question.

This US President created the Fourteen Points after a major war.

Jubilee scribbled down Woodrow Wilson for her answer and sighed. She really hated History. Especially when Bishop was teaching it.

Across the room, Monet was just finishing her test. She handed it to Bishop and began to leave the room. Bishop gripped her arm firmly. “Sit.” Monet was about to argue when she caught the look on his face. With a frown, she returned to her seat.

“Sir?” Everett asked from the back of the room. “Yes, Thomas?” “Instead of writing out Franklin Delano Roosevelt, can we just put FDR?” Bishop sighed. The kids were getting lazier every year. “Yes, Thomas.” He’d allow it...this time. The next thing he knew, they’d be shortening George Washington, the first President to “GW, Cherry Tree-Chopper.”

“See, lass? Bishop makes the perfect teacher.” Emma frowned. “I notice he carried a gun into the classroom, Sean.” Sean waved her away. “He always carries that. What if Emplate attacked? I doubt the beastie would care much about testing.” “Still, intimidating the students may not be the best way,” Emma said. Sean scoffed. “They’re nae exactly peachy around ye, lass.” “Fear itself is a weapon,” she replied. “I’d rather they respected me. Around you, they could get away with anything.”

“Maybe that’s why they come to me instead of ye when they have problems,” Sean said, a smug smile on his face. Emma arched an eyebrow. “I am a teacher, Sean. I have no time to deal with the petty personal problems of my students.” “Then you’re nae a teacher, lass,” Sean said as he walked away. “Just a prison warden.”

After the test, Bishop decided to stick around for lunch. It was a mistake he would soon regret. As he found an empty table in the small cafeteria, Jubilee walked up, slapping him across the back. “Hey, B-Man! Mind if I sit with you?” Bishop looked the child up and down. Deciding she couldn’t bother him too much while he was eating, he allowed her to sit across from him. As Jubilee sat down, she pulled a bag of chips out of her yellow raincoat. Bishop could only imagine why Sean and Emma would allow food in their classrooms.

He was just about to eat his tangerine when Ev and Angelo burst into the cafeteria and slammed the doors behind them. Their eyes traveled across the room and landed on Jubilee. They ran up to her and grabbed her shoulders. “You never saw us, right?!” Jubilee nodded and ate a chip. The doors were thrown open as Ev and Angelo dove under the table. Bishop sighed and went on eating his fruit.

Monet ran into the room, her eyes narrowed to small slits. There was a huge green stain on her shirt. “Whoa, what happened to you?” Jubilee asked, doing her best not to laugh. Monet calmly walked over to their table. “It seems that even a stalk of broccoli can stain your clothes, when accelarated from the distended skin of one gray mutant.” “Huh?” Jubilee didn’t get it, obviously. “Espinosa used himself as a slingshot,” Bishop explained. “Oh. Why didn’t you say so?” Jubilee asked. Monet rolled her eyes. “Have either of you seen Everett and Angelo?”

Jubilee grunted as an elbow slammed into her leg. Monet eyed her curiously. “Well, maybe they’re in the boy’s dorm, M.” As Jubilee said this, she pointed downward. “Very well,” Monet said, gripping the edge of the table. She quickly lifted it up with one hand, exposing Angelo and Ev’s hiding place. “Eek!” Ev said, scrambling past Jubilee. Angelo ran in the other direction, using his extended fingers to swing across on the light fixtures like Tarzan. Monet dropped the table and ran after Ev, the slower of the two. He must’ve been caught a few seconds later, because his screams of pain could be heard all over the school.

“At least nothing else can go wrong,” Bishop muttered, picking up his bottle of mineral water. Jubilee smiled, knowing he had just jinxed himself. “Hey, you gonna eat that?” she asked, sticking her finger in his fruit salad. Bishop stared at the offending finger for a few moments before pushing the bowl over to her. “Thanks!” Jubilee said, flashing him a big smile. Bishop glared at her and coughed on the rest of his food.

The doors burst open again as Angelo ran in. “FOOD FIGHT!!!” he screamed at the top of his lungs. Jubilee dove under the table, and suggested that Bishop do the same. Monet and Paige ran in, chucking bean burritos at Angelo. He fell beneath their assault, crying out miserably. His resuce came in the form of Ev and Jono, who were armed with a bag full of oranges. “Ow!” Paige shouted as Ev bounced one of them off her head.

The two boys drove the girls to the rear of the cafeteria, where the battering continued. As soon as he could stand, Angelo ran over and helped. Suddenly, with a mighty battle cry, Jubilee ran towards the group, launching herself into the air. As she walloped Jono and Angelo with potatoes, Bishop was reminded of an episode of “Xena: Warrior Princess.” Jubilee landed on Ev’s back, locking her arms around his neck. She pulled him to the floor, where the girls slammed the already broken bean burritos onto his head. Thanking heaven above that he was bald, Ev didn’t even bother to fight anymore.

Sean and Emma entered the cafeteria a few minutes later, and the fight instantly broke up. When Sean asked Bishop why he didn’t stop the fight, Bishop just laughed. “I’m risking my livelihood enough just by teaching these children.” But as Bishop walked to the doors, Sean noticed a sign on his back that read, “Please Feed the Bear!” The big man had just reached the door when a potato bounced off his head. He spun around, only to catch a chip in the eye. The students all stared at the man, as if they were totally innocent. Jubilee had a big smile on her face. Bishop sighed and left the room, narrowly dodging the slice of pizza that slammed into the door seconds afterwards. Jubilee snickered and wiped the tomato sauce off her hand with a napkin.

Angelo left the bathroom, muttering to himself. After a shower and washing his hair three times, he’d managed to get all the beans out of his hair. Now he only smelled like burritos and oranges. The stains, however, remained on his clothes. He frowned and walked outside, settling down on the front steps.

He hadn’t been there long when a portal opened in front of him. “Want some company?” Clarice asked, stepping out of it. By the time he had shrugged, she was already closing the portal behind her. She was staying whether he liked or not. Luckily, he did like it...and her.

Clarice sat down beside him, giving him a friendly hug. She paused and asked, “Do you smell oranges?” Angelo quickly shook his head, reaching for a cigarette. After a stern look from her, he put it away. “So what can I do for you?” he asked, leaning back to look at the stars. She was silent for a moment. “Well...I wanted to say...thanks.”

Angelo glanced at her. “For what, chica?” “Lots of things,” she replied. “For being my friend, giving me advice, listening to me when no one else would; stuff like that.” Angelo snorted and said, “That’s what friends were for, last time I checked.” Clarice nodded. “Yeah, but with you, it’s...different.” He arched an eyebrow. “How’s that?” She paused, forcing herself to go on. “You saved my life.”

He sat up, looking at her. “That’s what this whole thing is about?” She nodded. “I never really thanked you, and I...I just had to.” Angelo sighed. “Chica, I already told you. I would’ve done the same for anyone else on the team, and that was before I really knew any of you.” “But you didn’t do it for anyone else,” she said. “You did it for me.”

“Just let go, Clarice,” he told her, getting up. “That was years ago. Let it go.” “You didn’t,” she pointed out. “That’s why I’m alive today. You didn’t let go.” “I did what I had to,” he said. “That’s all.” With that, he turned and walked off, disappearing into the building. Clarice sighed, covering her face with her hands.