Difference between revisions of "Template:Featured Articles/47-2024"

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<td valign="top">[[Image:placeholder.gif|left]]'''Moment of Awesome - [[Monica Rambeau|Monica Rambeau/Spectrum]]:''' ''Following the [[X-Men Mission: Behold A Black Horse|mission in Troy]], Monica seeks out [[Scott Summers]] [https://xp-logs.dreamwidth.org/4478367.html#cutid1 with a difficult decision].''
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<td valign="top">[[Image:Moa aero.webp|left]]'''Moment of Awesome - [[Melody Guthrie|Melody Guthrie/Aero]]:''' ''Shortly after her arrival at the mansion, [https://xp-logs.dreamwidth.org/4442033.html?view=2286257&posted=1#cmt2286257 Mel meets a fellow flier] and gets words of wisdom from the [[Namor|King of Atlantis]].''
  
  
Nica stood in front of the door to Scott's suite, trembling slightly. Not from fear, but from the tumult of emotions that had finally led her here and to a decision she thought she'd never make and which every part of her wanted to deny. One hand curled into a first by her side, the other raised to knock, she paused a moment more before setting her teeth and forcing herself to move. The ensuing knock was overly loud, driven by sudden movement and an inability to control anything right now.
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A laugh bubbled up in Mel’s chest. Lord, she was way too tired for this. Maybe the whole not sleeping thing was catching up to her after all. “Yeah, flyin’ is totally sick, dude.
  
There was something relaxing about the stars, about watching those little pinpricks of light wheeling across the velvet background of the heavens, it was how he liked to relax at night, dimming the lights in his apartment and just watch the sky, a warm drink in his hand and a tablet resting in his lap. It was a moment of peace, of silence to recuperate. It had been a rough few weeks, or longer, a bad few months, it was hard to remember. Dark eyes closed for a moment, head leaning back against the back of the sofa as an abrupt knocking interrupted his meditation. "Come on in, it's open."
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Namor shook his head. "It is more than that. My people, you see, we were born to the sea. Promised to the waves, just as humans are condemned to the dirt. I was a child born to both — ears that pointed to the heavens, and the wings to take me there." He stopped himself and took a steadying breath. "The sky is a place neither of our peoples have dominion over. It is freedom. The winds are our right, the clouds our kingdom."  
  
Nica opened the door, pausing for a moment at the dimmed lights. "Oh, this can wait, if you're busy," she said lamely, hoping that he'd say otherwise because she didn't know if she could get the courage up to do this again.
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“Huh,” Mel said. “It’s different when you say it like that.” She wasn’t sure she agreed that everyone else was <I>condemned</I>, but flying <i>was</i> freedom. When she was in the air, Mel could do anything, be anyone. All her problems seemed so small from up above.  
  
"Just star-gazing," Scott's eyes glanced over to the door for a moment, gesturing for Nica to come in before he turned back to the window. "When I was younger I thought about flying up there, into the depths of space, applying to be an astronaut before well everything. I still like to remember that kid sometimes." His voice trailed off as dark eyes shifted back to the girl for a moment, brow furrowing in concern. "Pull up a couch, what's wrong?"
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He wasn’t finished. "Then tell me, why did I find you with your feet on the ground?"  
  
Nica shook her head at the offer of a seat. "I... I came here because..." She gulped and tried again. "I k-killed someone. I didn't mean to, but I did. X-Men don't kill. So I came to give you these." She thrust out the hand that had been curled in a fist, opening her hand to reveal her X-Men tags. "Please. Take them. I'm sorry."
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Mel looked out into the dark. Because she was tired. Because it was the middle of the night and she was a flying glow stick. She knew this wasn’t what Namor wanted to hear though. He wanted the itching feeling in the back of her mind ever since the night in the woods. The reason why she hadn’t gone flying with Sam or Jay yet. Why she just sat on the roof most nights.  
  
There were a host of reason's Scott had thought Nica might have stopped by to visit but this certainly wasn't one of them, for a moment he thought that she was joking, but the distraught look on her face killed any quip that might have come to life on his lips. Slowly the man leaned forward, hands coming together to lay his drink and tablet on a table as he gestured her in. "What happened?"
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“Because what if I ain’t the kind of person who deserves somethin’ so miraculous? I can’t fall when it’s taken away if I’m already on the ground.
  
She came in, but only because she didn't want to do this in the hall. It was hard enough, without witnesses. "The m-mission in A-alabama. The Marauders came. Prism, he... I was only trying to stop him! Nothing was working, so I... i thought I could drain enough of his bio-electricity to make him pass out. But he... he..." The words stuck in her throat and she tried again. "He exploded. I killed him."
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Namor's eyes snapped to her's, light refracting like something not quite human. "Fear and doubt are chains forged by lesser men. They only exist to limit those with true power, in an age that already finds any reason to limit those without." His expression tightened. "This world will never give what you deserve. You must take it."  
  
"And you think you need to quit the team because of that?" There was no judgement in Scott's voice, not even a hint of curiosity...just compassion. "You weren't trying to kill him you know, you weren't even trying to hurt him, just stop him from hurting other people."
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She mulled over his words, but one thing echoed loudest no matter how hard she tried to push it away.  
  
"X-Men don't kill." She said it like a mantra. "It doesn't matter what I was trying to do, I took a life."
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<I>The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away.</I>
  
"X-men don't kill?"
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“I guess. Yer probably right,” Mel looked down to pick at a hangnail. A nervous tick. Mama always scolded her for it. “I don’ know.”
  
Scott's voice didn't rise, didn't change as he tilted his head to the side to watch her carefully, his fingers tapping his leg for a moment before stilling.
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"Mel," which was stated both like 'fool' and, somehow, a promise at the same time, "Tell me who would know." It was a potential promise of vengeance, as if Namor would go and teach this Lord a lesson.  
  
"I see..."
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Silence stretched out between them in lieu of an answer. Mel didn’t have one.  
  
Scott's voice didn't change as he stood, nodding towards the door, "Meet me in the lobby in 10 minutes, if you still want to hand those in when we're done I won't stop you."
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"Come with me." He did not hold out a hand, but it was implied. Namor increased his hovering height a couple feet to really drive the message home.
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Mel followed, because what else could she do? She’d spent the better part of the last week grounded to that roof. If her powers decided to fail again, then at least Namor might catch her.
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One foot, then the other, and they were both soaring. Namor continued to ascend — up and up and up — until the mansion was in miniature, then a dot, until it was lost beneath the haze of cloud cover.
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“It’s beautiful.” The sky was a never ending pool of moonlight and darkness. It took Mel’s breath away. She had never been up this high or glowed this brightly. If anyone below could see, they might have thought she was a star.
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The other man hung, arms still crossed, like a dark opposite — a moon to her star. "Here is where we belong. The privilege that we few can truly can only appreciate. It is not given, or earned. This is our domain." A snarl crossed over his lips. "You cannot let others tell you who you are, or you will only fall."
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“I think I understand.” And she did. The crystallized breath in front of her and the heavens above and the lightning below. Men with wings and men without. Miracles. Faith. Mel understood faith. She’d had faith in so many, so much. Maybe it was time she extended that faith to herself.
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“I think you will,” he agreed.  
 
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Latest revision as of 18:22, 17 November 2024

Moa aero.webp
Moment of Awesome - Melody Guthrie/Aero: Shortly after her arrival at the mansion, Mel meets a fellow flier and gets words of wisdom from the King of Atlantis.


A laugh bubbled up in Mel’s chest. Lord, she was way too tired for this. Maybe the whole not sleeping thing was catching up to her after all. “Yeah, flyin’ is totally sick, dude.”

Namor shook his head. "It is more than that. My people, you see, we were born to the sea. Promised to the waves, just as humans are condemned to the dirt. I was a child born to both — ears that pointed to the heavens, and the wings to take me there." He stopped himself and took a steadying breath. "The sky is a place neither of our peoples have dominion over. It is freedom. The winds are our right, the clouds our kingdom."

“Huh,” Mel said. “It’s different when you say it like that.” She wasn’t sure she agreed that everyone else was condemned, but flying was freedom. When she was in the air, Mel could do anything, be anyone. All her problems seemed so small from up above.

He wasn’t finished. "Then tell me, why did I find you with your feet on the ground?"

Mel looked out into the dark. Because she was tired. Because it was the middle of the night and she was a flying glow stick. She knew this wasn’t what Namor wanted to hear though. He wanted the itching feeling in the back of her mind ever since the night in the woods. The reason why she hadn’t gone flying with Sam or Jay yet. Why she just sat on the roof most nights.

“Because what if I ain’t the kind of person who deserves somethin’ so miraculous? I can’t fall when it’s taken away if I’m already on the ground.”

Namor's eyes snapped to her's, light refracting like something not quite human. "Fear and doubt are chains forged by lesser men. They only exist to limit those with true power, in an age that already finds any reason to limit those without." His expression tightened. "This world will never give what you deserve. You must take it."

She mulled over his words, but one thing echoed loudest no matter how hard she tried to push it away.

The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away.

“I guess. Yer probably right,” Mel looked down to pick at a hangnail. A nervous tick. Mama always scolded her for it. “I don’ know.”

"Mel," which was stated both like 'fool' and, somehow, a promise at the same time, "Tell me who would know." It was a potential promise of vengeance, as if Namor would go and teach this Lord a lesson.

Silence stretched out between them in lieu of an answer. Mel didn’t have one.

"Come with me." He did not hold out a hand, but it was implied. Namor increased his hovering height a couple feet to really drive the message home.

Mel followed, because what else could she do? She’d spent the better part of the last week grounded to that roof. If her powers decided to fail again, then at least Namor might catch her.

One foot, then the other, and they were both soaring. Namor continued to ascend — up and up and up — until the mansion was in miniature, then a dot, until it was lost beneath the haze of cloud cover.

“It’s beautiful.” The sky was a never ending pool of moonlight and darkness. It took Mel’s breath away. She had never been up this high or glowed this brightly. If anyone below could see, they might have thought she was a star.

The other man hung, arms still crossed, like a dark opposite — a moon to her star. "Here is where we belong. The privilege that we few can truly can only appreciate. It is not given, or earned. This is our domain." A snarl crossed over his lips. "You cannot let others tell you who you are, or you will only fall."

“I think I understand.” And she did. The crystallized breath in front of her and the heavens above and the lightning below. Men with wings and men without. Miracles. Faith. Mel understood faith. She’d had faith in so many, so much. Maybe it was time she extended that faith to herself.

“I think you will,” he agreed.