#tf challenges

Character at their most selfish moment.

'I’m sorry, I can’t do this.’

Bruce sent the text to the number titled ‘Betty’ before he smashed the phone and tossed it into the rushing water under the bridge. He’d promised her that he wouldn’t run anymore. That whatever happened, they would face together. But, that was before the miscarriage. He wasn’t strong enough to watch her become a shell of who she’d been before and all because of him. He was a constant reminder as to why they lost their baby -- him and his blood, the Big Guy was even mourning, confused over the happenings. Without him, she would break for a little while, but she would be able to pick up the pieces. She’d done it before. If he stayed, she would surely stay broken. 

Tipping his hat down, he turned and climbed on the last-call bus out of town.

Pokemon AU.

Storm always wound up in this state, without fail. The latest instigation was Logan’s death, but it always repeated itself one way or another. It started with her parents, of course. Taken away from her at an early age, Ororo learned the facts of life on her own. Living on the streets with some of the worst of mankind were perhaps the loneliest times of her life. While only a short time passed and she had her teacher and leader of the thieves Achmed El Gibár, she knew she would be moving on and without a home or solid presence in her life.

It was during her time traveling south to the Serengetti and her time spent there when she truly realized her purpose. Her mutant ability had manifested itself and she spent many years becoming one with nature. She explored the life created and sustained among the lands she tread. Floated along with the flow of the lakes, streams, and rivers; a home to some and of vital essence to all of the spirits that roam the planet. This force was the Great Mother, supplying energy and vitality to so many creatures. Ororo became her Goddesss, an entity to protect all that Gaia created. This calling has followed her through all of her days. She finds comfort in surrounding herself in reminders of Gaia’s presence during periods of stress.

The pattern of her earlier life repeated itself once she came to the US. Her teammates and new family while in the beginning they were present, they were not close. Slowly, her burgeoning friendship with Jean turned into sisterhood. This was taken from her when Jean succumbed to the Phoenix force and became corrupted. Ororo spent time meditating in her gardens or among the clouds as a way to cope. There is Kitty, a young girl she’s come to see as her own daughter who was very close to her at the start. But age and circumstance have lengthened the bonds of their relationship. The girl is still very dear to her but Ororo has finally come to terms with letting the little one fly alone.

And so on it went. Remy, Yukio, Forge, and T’Challa; all major cornerstones in her life’s story, the last two in more of an intimate nature. Just as soon as Ororo lets them into her circle circumstances force a change in those bonds of trust. Through it all Storm has remained the backbone of the X-Men as individual joined and left through a revolving door. Some became corrupted, or were killed in action. Others just revealed actions that questioned her ability to completely trust them. In response, Ororo’s connection with the cosmos became a more defining characteristic, and she continued to find solace in the vibrance of life and nature around her.

She doesn’t blame anyone for taking their leave whether it was temporary or permanent. Each instance just causes her to shield her heart more and more. Her choice defense mechanism.

Ice queen with the heart of stone. She’s been known as this for a time from outsiders. It takes some time to warm through her defenses and witness the warmth and loving nature of Ororo’s personality.

Then there’s Logan.

The wounds are fresh with this one. His name still burns her chest like embers on the end of those cigarettes he would smoke. She feels the well of moisture in her eyes and decides to redirect her thoughts. Ororo has cried her tears. She will not succomb to this sorry state every time her thoughts drift to him. Instead, as she drifts among the clouds, soaking in the sun ray’s she imagines the he’s still here with her. Down below, among the trees along the forrest. Standing guard. He was as much in-tuned with Mother Nature as she was herself. His forte the earth while she danced along in the sky. Perhaps, one day they shall meet again when her body returns to the earth. Until then, she will mourn, recover, and thrive with the Mother Goddess, her true unwavering life companion.

Marvel Taskforce : 

Final Drabble Prompt: 

Ororo looked down from her place in the observation deck overlooking the Danger Room. Over the past few weeks she has been leading the team on daily exercises after a screw up left two of their pedestrian charges injurred. One was in critical condition and he was currently still in the hospital; only recently has he reawoken from the trauma induced coma. Ororo took the injuries as a personal failure in her leadership. Deciding that it would not happen again, she has been pushing the X-Men and stretching their skills to the limits.

“FOCUS! Stop fooling around. You’re trying my patience.”

The initial sessions focused on teamwork, the schedule contained several combinations of groups to improve everyone’s experience in cooperating with each individual on the team. After several small group and full team sessions, Ororo began to schedule individual sessions to work on each X-Man’s particular weaknesses. Kitty’s exercises focused on hand to hand combat skills. Peter’s exercises worked on his accuracy and and delicacy; Bobby’s revolved around his strategy and problem solving.

Daily, she would check on the medical status of both of the injured. Their prognosis weighed heavy on her conscious.

“This is a serious exercise. Please obtain the objective without losing your temper.” “‘Ro, this is fucking ridiculous. I don’t need to do this poor excuse for training again.” “AGAIN!”

Of course, when the time came for Logan’s indivdual exercises and he made no effort to hide his frustration with any perceived sign of weakness. He was an excellent assassin and operative when needed. He would be the go-to person if there were a need to eliminate a threat with violence and certainty. Unfortuately, the short man with the mouth of a sailor had a temper larger than his ego. Ororo’s main concern with Wolverine was his inability to tame his beserker rage when the need to neutralize a target without injury arose.

The program ended again; this time with the target’s right shoulder dislocated, the forearm broke, and his head on the ground, 2 feet from the rest of his body. Ororo stormed onto the Danger Room floor.

“LOGAN. What is your issue with just completing the objective? You’re supposed to subdue the target without injury. THAT is a dead target.” She points in the area where the ‘body’ lay before the simulation ended. She seethed, glaring down at the man.  Sometimes he could be so damn frustrating. He stood with his arms crossed, smug look on his face. “That time darlin’, I was pretending it was you.”

A beat passed. Ororo removed her jacket and tossed it to the corner of the room. She was starting to get a tension headache. Logan could be so damn infuriating at times.  “OK. That’s how you want to play it, fine. Let’s try this one final time tonight. Don’t pretend. Not this time.” She activated the signal for the timer before quickly entering offensive attack mode.

Even with her lack of warning, Logan reacted quickly and avoided a hit. Ororo kept up her attack, keeping her opponent on the defensive. Several jabs and a few kicks landed but not without Logan responding in kind. His face continued to display a smug smirk. He wasn’t really trying. Deciding to remedy that, Ororo does a backflip and suddenly strikes him with a mini lightning bolt.

Admantium skeleton and 1 billion volts of electricity put on a brilliant display of arcing light before the mutant collapsed to the floor. It was only a second before he popped back up, the smirk no longer present. Ororo quirks and eyebrow, a dare if he ever saw one.

“So that’s how you gonna play ‘Ro?” 

“I thought you didn’t have any weaknesses….”

Marvel Taskforce :

Drabble Prompt Four:

The weekend means lazy days and recreation for the young inhabitants of Xavier’s Institute. With no class for the day the students lounged in various places of the mansion and among the grounds. In the media room, an intense Mario Kart video game tournament was underway. The intensity of play was picking up if the volume of the voices from that direction was any indication. Some of the kids were found outside near the pool, several lounging along its length while a small group attempted to start a volleyball game.

Ororo stepped back away from the upstairs window where she was observing the events unfolding outside. She had made her rounds, everyone was present and accounted for. As she went along, she attempted to tidy up and turn off lights/electronics in the rooms that were currently unoccupied.

She hums softly to herself as she makes her way down to the main hallway on the ground floor. There’s a door opening into the hall blocking part of the view down the rest of the hallway. Ororo gives the scene a quizzical look. It’s a walk in closet for everyone’s winter coats and rain boots….but it’s currently mid-summer and it hasn’t rained in over two weeks. She approaches the door and takes a look inside where she spots what looks like several of Bobby’s personal gadgets. Shaking her head, Ororo steps inside to the back wall and stoops to gather the bundle.

The door shuts with a loud THUMP!  The room is pitch black with a tiny sliver of light outlining the door. Ororo picks up the sound of snickering and feet shuffling away from the door.

“Who’s out there?! OPEN the door this instant!” No response or sound of movement outside the door. She swears under her breath before feeling her way back towards the door. Deep breaths. She can do this…just some silly kids. She finds and tries the door handle. It didn’t help one bit. She tries again with a little more force, her hands have already begun to sweat as she struggles to hold back panic attack. The door still won’t budge.

Knock Knock Knock

“HELLO!? OPEN the door please, this is not AMUSING.” The stress is starting to bleed into her voice. She listens for any sounds indicating there is someone outside the door. Instead, all she picks up is the sound of her heart beat rapidly rising in rate. The pulsing rhythm pounds behind her ears. The walls are closing in. They must be. Her arms can span the distance between the two side walls, space rendered smaller due to the hanging shelves and their contents. She charges the door, slamming it with her shoulder, the shock of pain barely registers. Unfortunately the door holds. Is there something holding it shut?

‘Mommy!? Daddy?’ – the visions are starting to creep in. She charges the door a second time with similar results. Static charge starts filling the air in the closet, flashes of the room become visible.  A crash of thunder, a brilliant flash of light, and suddenly the white haired woman lets out a loud scream of terror and rage. The door explodes off of its hinges as most of the contents of the closet are thrown about the area. Ororo flies out at a breakneck pace, not stopping until she’s out of the building and into the open grounds.

—

Several students learn intimately the wrath of Storm later that day. 

Marvel Taskforce : 

Drabble Prompt Three:

She sighs at the feel of warm water caressing her skin. The end to another stressful day.

The last two classes of the day had pressed the last of her patience as students acted out, interrupted class, and even destroyed school property. The last event, of course, occurred as a fight broke out while Ororo’s back was to the class. The sound of broken glass grabbed her attention and she was greeted by flames flickering among the educational decor along a wall and students scrambling to escape a squabble in the back room.

A few choice words and a clap of thunder quickly brought order to the room. She struggled to hold back a well placed lightning bolt.

As the evening wound down, Ororo counted down the minutes until the final curfew for the older students. She thrummed with unspent energy as she grew restless with waiting. Her clothing weighed heavy on her shoulders as time slowly dragged on. She made her final rounds along her assigned student hallways. The tension she carried was evident in the way that she walked. Her spine was stacked rigid and straight, shoulders held back in near military form. She rounded the last room with nothing amiss and then her heart skipped in glee as she slipped into her room and our upon the night winds in records speed.

Her more favored ritual--shuttered under the cover of night. Not necessarily out of choice, but to comfort the body-conscious society that she now considers home.

She lands with ease among the trees at the edge of the property and steps from her clothing with relative quickness once she reaches her familiar small clearing. Her mind needs this, a reminder of the goddess she once was and her homeland of the Serengeti. Body trembling with pent up stress. The warm, localized rainshower starts suddenly and Ororo’s relaxes finally at peace with her day. No thunder or lightning accompany the event. She stretches her arms above her head as her hairs darkens with moisture, flowing like a stream along her torso and guiding the water down her curves to her toes. The patter of the rain hitting the soft earth stirs up the petrichor that floods Ororo’s nose and enlightens her mind. Ororo throws he head back laughing as much for the surrounding forest as for herself. 

With little effect she carries herself up into the air, her personal rainstorm following her. The dark skinned mutant dances upon the wind graceful. She submits herself fully into her element. Her hair whips wildly around her; the sight would stop anyone in their place as they marvel upon her beauty.

One with nature. Mother Earth strengthens her. Gives her life.

Marvel Taskforce:

Drabble Prompt Two

Her breath swirls before her as it condenses in the cool night air. Ororo remains still, contorted in her hiding space. Silent as she crouches in the small space her feet, hands, nose, and ears feel numb with cold…a feeling she hadn’t felt in quite a long time. Her eyes are shut tight. ‘You can do this. Just a few more minutes.’ She will be just fine she just needs to stay hidden to avoid the Shadow King’s current search. The winds blow through the space, whipping the tendrils of her hair that peek beneath her head scarf into her face. Times like these, she wishes she possessed her weather manipulation. ‘Wait…how do I know that?’

Intermittent trembling wracks her body as she fights the cold and claustrophobia at once. A small movement to her right and the guy next to her leans against her. A small source of warmth and stability. She looks over, icy blue eyes connecting with the red on black eyes of her companion. His familiar, comforting smile offers her more reserve to remain in hiding. Another gust of wind blows through their space beneath a heavy metal sheeting leaning against a wall in the alleyway. They’d just slipped out of the Shadow King and his henchmen’s clutches. 

Ororo’s body is still in its younger form, under the transformative effects from when her team encountered the criminal robotics engineer Nanny. Not only has she regressed in age to a time before her powers manifested, she’d also lost much of her memory. Which brings her back to why she’s here in an alleyway, at the mercy of the elements with her ‘brother’. A gust of wind causes a shift in metal above them. Flashes of her childhood home tumbling down to entomb her with her dead parents surface in her mind. “Sorry Remy, I can’t do this anymore!” Spooked, she scrambles out into the open.

A deep breath in. And out. Another breath in. Her heart rate slowly starts its descent…but that lasts just a short while.

The demonic laughter freezes her in place. Remy scrambles out next to her but her attention is drawn to the source of laughter. Without warning, before she can attempt a scream, the shadow overtakes them.

-

Heavy breathing fills the room as Ororo is startled upright in bed. The frost tinges along the edges of her mind stand in stark contrast to the sweat that glistens upon her skin in the warm room. The nightmare—no, memory—fades as she recognizes her loft room in the mansion.

In two steps she’s out on her balcony and up into the air with quick and graceful movements that come with practice from numerous sleepless nights. Sometimes, numbness is a blessing.

Marvel Taskforce:

Drabble Prompt One