#5 May 2007

Storm was swimming and she didn’t want to come up. Why, she couldn’t say, but all she knew was that something was waiting for her at the bottom. She couldn’t even remember how long she had been swimming or when she jumped into the water in the first place. All that mattered was at the bottom. She was swimming downward into darkness. The water had no temperature as it surrounded her nearly naked body. Ororo was positive that she was swimming without any resistance at all. It felt in many ways more like she was falling.

After what seemed like an eternity Ororo’s feet touched dirt. She could actually feel it as it sunk between her toes. In front of her was a statue of the first Mjnari, the tribesman who she had Shuni name her son after. Ororo found herself able to walk amongst the water like she would above it. Something was very wrong with the situation, but Ororo ignored it and walked towards the stone statue.

Ororo felt the water growing colder around her as she grew closer to the statue of Mjnari. The old spirit doctor’s eyes cast a fiery gaze upon her. Ororo had never known the man to look so angry in life. A glitter flashed from behind the statue and immediately caught her attention. She hurriedly swam by the statue towards the light when a powerful push knocked her to the ocean floor. It happened too fast for Ororo to react. While her face was still in the sand a slimy black tentacle wrapped around her throat. As it pulled her through the ocean, she clawed futilely at it. Finally, she was brought face to face with the source of the appendage.

A swirling mass of blue, purple and black energies was the source of the tentacle and it was beginning to take shape into an all too familiar form for Ororo. Soon she found the horror of her childhood staring her in the face with monstrous red eyes. “Hello my dear Ororo. It has been too long since we last spoke.”

“You’re dead!” Ororo yelled. “Logan told me!”

A demonic grin ushered forth from her adversary. “Oh but I couldn’t die without saying goodbye to my beautiful little girl. I knew Apocalypse’s ilk would not be the end of you.”

Storm had finally relaxed under the grip of the tentacle. With a glare of unbridled hatred she said, “Little girl? You talk as if you care about me Farouk! If you really were concerned about me you would have sought me out while I was being held captive by Apollyon.”

“I had believed you slain by him.”

Storm smirked. “Did you not just claim to know the ilk of Apocalypse incapable of killing me?”

The tentacle released its grip. “You would question my caring for you Ororo? Was it not I who took yoy off the streets and gave you sanctuary?”

“You’re dead. This conversation isn’t even happening.”

A guttural roar erupted from the creature of shadow. “I am no more dead than you! Logan and his allies made a terrible mistake in thinking they had vanquished me.”

What if this wasn’t some insane dream? Could Farouk possibly be alive? Hadn’t she been thought dead more than once? Trying not to let her questions plague her, she asked, “You didn’t come back just for me, did you?”

“Do not doubt your importance to me Ororo. I can see that you are beginning to see things as I see them. I want you to stand at my side, “ the ethereal monstrosity proclaimed with fatherly pride.

“Stand by your side?” Storm said with absolute disgust. “You must be completely out of your mind!”

A shiver passed through the water and as it crossed over Ororo she had the same sensation she use to feel when her head as laying on Farouk’s jiggling belly. The ocean didn’t seem so beautiful anymore.

“Need I remind you of the deal you struck with Sinister or how Apocalypse found something admirable in you? Perhaps I should remind you of the brutal treatment Marrow and Reverb received by your hands. Just how many times have you found yourself agreeing with Magneto over the years? Nothing to say of your current company.”

Storm could bear his words no longer. “Silence! I am not a child anymore!”

“It is for that precise reason you must her the validity of my words. Ororo, you know some of what I say is true. Admit it! You’ve only served Xavier’s dream so long because you fear the darkness in yourself. I know what you were capable of, even as a child. You do not have to hide yourself from me.”

White, pupiless eyes narrowed into a dangerous glare. “I have nothing to hide from filth of your kind! Return to your grave!”

Laughter caused the water around Farouk to bubble wildly. “I know you wish me to be dead, but it just isn’t so. Ask yourself one thing. How do you kill a thought?”

The ocean became black as oil and Storm was blind. She began to fling lightning wildly and found herself being sucked downward. Struggling she cried, “Farouk!”

Ororo arose from her sweat soaked bed with the quickness of a cheetah and she scanned her room with the nervous eyes of a squirrel. After a few frantic second, she sighed and pushed her knees against her chest. Wrapping her arms around her knees she said to herself, “Goddess, what a terrible dream.”

In the coming minutes, she rationalized her dream away as her getting accustomed to her new living facilities. Ozymandias had set her in the largest of the underground temple’s hundred rooms. The living space was accommodating enough, but she couldn’t help comparing it to The Mansion. Maybe that was what had spurred the dream. Could she be homesick?

“Are you unharmed Lady Ororo?” Ozymandias asked a she burst into the living chamber unexpectedly. “I heard you scream and thought you were under attack. Thankfully, I see I was wrong.”

“It was just a bad dream. Sins of the past coming back to haunt me I suppose. Can’t you see it anyway?” Storm asked.

Ozymandias sat down on the end of the bed. “I can see it, yes. Past, present, and future are mines to look at, but I can only focus on so much at any given time. Though I find the past and present the easiest of the two to glare into.”

“Shadow King,” Storm revealed. “I had a dream about him. He said he wasn’t dead. The dream felt so real.”

“An evil such as his is hard for the world to forget,” Ozymandias replied, not looking Ororo in the eye. It would have revealed too much.

“Sometimes I am angry at myself for not being there to combat him. If he would have had me to focus his attention on them maybe it would have spared Kitty from harm.”

“Katherine is stronger for her experience. It will be to her benefit in the times to come. I think you rubbed off on her quite a bit,” Ozymandias smiled.

Storm laughed. “Second only to Logan.”

“Do not doubt your role in her life,” Ozymandias said tapping his head. “My vision allows me to seem much more than you can imagine. Sometimes more than I wish to see.”

“It is a burden I cannot imagine,” Storm replied.

“Lady Ororo, we all have our burdens to bear in life,” the once proud warlord said. He rose from Ororo’s bed and made his way to the door. “Sleep well. We have work to do.”

Storm nodded and let Ozymandias close the door behind him. Sleep was not going to come easy for her after the dialogue that had occurred between her and Shadow King. “it was just a dream. You were talking to stress, not Farouk.”

Still. The thought lingered in the back of her mind. Was it really Farouk? If it was, could she confront him and survive? She needed answers.

Ororo had only one thing on her mind as she walked up behind Ozymandias at the crack of dawn. Sleep had eluded her. “You have to tell me. Is the Shadow King alive?”

The stone Egyptian was gazing at a series of television screens full of the world’s current ongoing events. ‘Let me propose a question to you, Mistress of the Storm. How do you kill a thought?”

“That is EXACTLY what Shadow King asked me. Just what are you not telling me?” Storm demanded angrily. It just made her fears grow even more. How should she interpret what Ozymandias had just told her? Was Farouk truly alive?

“I do not know whether he is dead or alive. I have tried to see the future with him but I get no clear answer. Everything is murky,” Ozymandias replied as he turned to Ororo. “All I can say is that Shadow King will return in some fashion if he hasn’t already.”

Numbing cold rushed through Ororo’s body and she was unable to speak. She didn’t know what to feel. Farouk’s return put everything she loved at risk. Ozymandias silently stared at her with those eyes of ruby that told nothing of the man’s soul.

“I had hoped to keep the information to myself, but with your dream, things became a good deal more urgent. Hence, why we need to gather allies to our cause,” Ozymandias explained with a voice too tender for his rocky exterior.

Shaking off her shock, Ororo agreed with Ozymandias and said, “Yes, you’re right and I assume my next mission revolves around that very idea.”

“Clever girl,” Ozymandias smiled. “Your destination is the mutant club known as Nature’s Gift. Three mutants will be there tomorrow night and they will be led by a woman named Dania. The others names’ are Ramirez and Genzo.”

“Do I need to worry about them being hostile?” Storm asked. Ozymandias shook his head. “They will be full of rebellion, but they won’t strike you. At least not psychically.”

Ororo sighed. “Another Marrow I suppose.”

“This time, just don’t rip any hearts out.”

Storm narrowed her gaze at the comment. “Humor is not your strong suit my friend.”

The Egyptian shrugged. “If you had been with Apocalypse for thousands of years your humor would be a work in progress as well.”

Rubbing sleep away from her eyes, Storm said, “Forgive me for being short. I know you meant well. It was just that Farouk used what had happened to Marrow as a way to compare me to him.”

“No, my apologies. I should not have been so insensitive,” Ozymandias said as he reached out and grabbed Ororo’s shoulder. “Try to keep some humor at Nature’s Gift though. It will make things go more smoothly. Oh, make sure to ask Dr. Trekker about Dania’s brother.”

She locked his instructions in her mind. “I will do as you ask. Though how am I to get there by tomorrow night? My flight can carry me across great distances, but I am no Carol Danvers.”

The prophet smiled. “Follow me.”

Shuni squatted on the ground outside her humble home and looked upward at the clear, starry night. She was hoping she could find some means of having a peaceful thought, but that had bee near impossible since Storm had departed. The book in her possession should be in Ororo’s hands, but Shuni had hesitated in delivering it to her. Plaguing Ororo with more problems was the last thing that she wanted to do and what was in that book would do just that. Ororo’s family history had always been a matter that eluded her and the book Shuni held would shed a significant light on it. Thought it wouldn’t be a good light.

Besides there were still questions Shuni had about the book. She still had absolutely no idea how the book had found its way to her. It could very easily be a fabrication developed by one of Ororo’s enemies and Shuni could be playing right into his or her plans. The idea of it being a fabrication seemed completely possible. Nothing t about the object said “ancient”. Each page was whitely crisp and the leather cover was smooth. But wouldn’t Storms’ enemies be smarter than to leave such an obvious flaw in their work?

---

Then there were some mystic qualities that simply could not be denied about the book. It was written in a language Shuni had never seen, but she understood every word of it. When the book was opened all the lettered turned to gold and you could not skip pages. You had to read every page at least once and only then were you able to move past it. Hooks seemed to be latched into her eyes as she read the book. Shuni found it took an actual amount of will to close the book. In some ways it was frightening.

I’m sure it wouldn’t scare Ororo. That woman has stared hell in the face more times than I can count, Shuni thought as a sudden cold wrapped around her body and dipped mischievously into her nerves. Shuni wrapped her arms around herself and knew the cold was not of this world. What cold could so entrap a person?

A black fog began to trickle at Shuni’s feet and it spoke with menacing cruelty. “Do not think too hard on it woman! You might cause your intellect harm.”

Unable to move, Shuni fearfully said, “My intellect is none of your concern. Who are you?”

“I have had many names, keeper of the book.”

She wanted to scream for Mjnari, but the fog wouldn’t let her. “So this is what this is about? You want the book? Well, I do not intend to give it to you.”

“I have no need of the book. Centurious is many things, but he is no common thief woman.”

“Then why are you here?”

The fog rumbled as if struggling to stay together. “I am here to make sure Ororo Munroe gets the book and helps me bring forth those who were lost.”

Shuni thought on Centurious’ words and then gasped.

“The slain sons! You intend to bring them back?”

“Of course. They will help me ascend to a new level of godhood and begin about a new age on this world.”

Shuni laughed. “You’re just like every other person Ororo has crushed. Your sick dream won’t ever happen.”

It was then that the fog rushed upward and forced itself into Shuni’s nostrils. The slim woman fell to the ground in convulsions, but as time passed they slowly subsided. Just as she was beginning to rise to her feet, Boost came across her. Rushing forward he helped her to her feet and asked, “Are you alright?”

“I’m fine. I just ripped over a rock and stumbled a bit,” Shuni replied gently.

“Still, you of all people know it is not safe out here at night. Too many animals on the prowl.”

Boost’s comment received a tiny chuckle. “I think I’m too thin for me to be suitable prey. So what brought you out here?”

“I needed time to myself. Storm’s visit dredged up bunch of old feelings I thought I had forgotten.”

Nodding in sympathy, Shuni said, “I understand. It had been some time since we all saw Ororo.”

He wanted to tell her it was more than that. The Morlocks’ deaths made him want revenge…against humanity. His dreams were now filled with empty eyes and anguished faces. As that grim thought passed, he could have sworn he saw a red flicker in Shuni’s eyes.

---

Metro City

Both sides of the street were littered with cars and motorcycles of various colors and shapes. The flashier the vehicle, the closer it was to the entrance of Nature’s Gift. People were lined around two blocks to get into the mutant nightclub. Ororo could only imagine the money that Dr. Trekker was raking in as she walked outside the line. She received more than a few nasty stares for her perceived arrogance in walking straight to a very large bouncer.

His body was made of stone so he didn’t have to worry about blood rushing anywhere as he looked at Storm. She had her hair pulled back into a ponytail and was wearing a sleeveless black blouse that revealed maximum cleavage. Tight fitting pants of the same color hugged to hr skin, which happened to sparkle like dripping honey under the neon lights of the club. Trying to stay professional, the bouncer asked, “Can I help you lady? You have a VIP pass?”

Ororo reached between her breasts and pulled out a red card. “Better than that I think.”

Recognizing the item the bouncer immediately moved out of the way and unlatched a velvet rope for Storm to walk through. “I hope you enjoy your night with us Ms. Munroe.”

Storm turned back and smiled. “I’m sure I will.”

As soon as she opened the double doors, music rushed into Ororo’s ears like an out of control dam break. It had been some time since she heard such noise and she honestly felt content in it. She was nearly 27 and had been to the club about as much as an 80 year old. Fighting for Xavier’s dream had never really allowed her to live the life of a normal 20 something female. Instead she spent her years fighting tyrants, lunatics, and racists. Actually being able to have a night out for herself was a welcome change in pace. Rogue would be green with envy.

She hadn’t even been in the club ten minutes when she was approached by a caramel delight with the build of a professional linebacker. He had a pearly smile full of charm. “Let me buy you a drink pretty lady.”

“I think I’ll take you up on that offer after I get a name,” Storm said naturally returning the smile. He was startling handsome and obviously a mutant. For some reason knowing that made Ororo more comfortable with him. It didn’t hurt matters that he was actually classy in cleaning off a table for them and pulling out her seat.

When they were seated at the table, he finally gave his name. “Ricardo Russell. Rick to my friends. So I guess that’s what you should call me.”

Ororo laughed freely. “A pleasure Rick. I am Ororo Munroe. So are you from Metro City?”

The bald beauty shook his head. “Miami. I’m here on business, but I had to come here. America’s biggest mutant exclusive club. Couldn’t pass up the opportunity.”

“It is quite the inspiration to see so many of us gathered in one place,” Storm said as she added in her mind; without the threat of Sentinels bearing down on you.

As a waitress passed by Ricardo picked off a martini for him and Ororo. “I hope you like these. Otherwise I’ll have to drink both myself. So did you come in through one of the “doors” or did you just come directly to Metro City like myself?”

“One of the doors though it didn’t lead right into the club so unfortunately I had to move myself ahead of the line,” Ororo explained.

Rick laughed. “So it was you causing all the fuss out there? I’m guessing you must have some connections with the establishment.”

“Something like that,” Ororo said crossing her legs. “Main thrust of why I’m here really.”

Rick faked shock. “And here it was that I thought you had come to find me.”

Despite herself, Ororo grinned widely. Before she could respond a three-foot tall man with an immaculately tailored tuxedo on came to the table and said, “Ms. Munroe the Doctor will see you now.”

Rising up from the table Ororo waved at Rick and said, “Don’t go. I shouldn’t be long.”

“Baby for you I’ll wait to Armageddon,” Rick said just enough Ororo could see that his mouth was forming words of kindness, but not loud enough that she could actually hear what he was saying.

Far behind Rick there were three mutants crowded around a cage containing a seductive scaled mutant woman. They all had followed Ororo from the moment she entered. The only female of the three clicked her teeth and said, “Yea she’s an X-Man alright. Thought they didn’t get into this place?”

“They think the Doctor has gone lax on their rules.”

“Maybe man or maybe something’s up. Think we should check it out?”

The female shook her head. “We’ll wait till Doorman is done with her and then we’ll ask some questions of our own.”

---

NEXT ISSUE: Storm meets with Dr. Trekker and learns just what it cost to get her into Nature’s Gift.

---