Chapter 14: Confronting the Past
"NIMBUUUUS!" Yelled Wukong as he waited for the soft embrace of his cloud while Lorna looked at him as if he had gone mad.
After a few seconds, the ground inched closer to them as they descended quickly.
"Uh, Nimbus?" Said Wukong as he opened his eyes, feeling the absence of his long-lost companion.
The ground approached quickly as Lorna started to think of how they could survive.
'Come on come on come on.' Thought Wukong as he searched the skies. Until finally, he saw a glint in the distance, followed by a white trail as a small white cloud soared toward them at great speeds.
As the two were seconds away from hitting the ground, the cloud slammed into them as they were carried away into the sky.
Lorna noticed this abnormal event as she braced herself for what she assumed to be an enemy attack. Except when she made contact with the supposed 'attack', she didn't feel any of the pain she braced herself for. Instead, she felt the opposite. She felt the warm touch of a texture and feeling she wasn't familiar with as it made her feel safe. She felt momentarily paralyzed as she enjoyed every second of this loving embrace. Until her eyes shot up, remembering that this might be the enemy.
Lorna opened her eyes as she shot her head up, taking a quick look at her surroundings. She witnessed herself atop a condensed mass of vapour, resembling a small, floating cloud with a distinct shape. Her hands and knees sunk into it as she felt stable and steady. It wasn't too big, although it did comfortably fit the two of them.
She looked up and saw Wukong who was in a tight embrace with the cloud.
"Oh, buddy. I've missed you." He said as he laid on his stomach and wrapped his hands and legs around the cloud. Although, what was most bizarre was the fact that the supposed cloud looked as if it was embracing the boy as well.
"Illian, what is this?" Asked Lorna as she was extremely confused. 20 seconds ago they were facing death as they fell to their doom. Now they were soaring through the sky at great speeds with an unknown entity.
"This is my companion. He's called Nimbus and he just saved our lives." Said Wukong as he sat with his legs crossed.
Lorna stared at the so-called, 'Nimbus' with a curious gaze. She had never heard of anything like this before. Was it an ability or an individual entity? She's heard and seen many peculiar things in this world, such as aliens, people with superpowers, and Norse gods that turned out to be real. But for some reason, this surprised her the most. Which made her wonder about this mysterious individual she knew nothing about yet teamed up with anyway.
Removing all thoughts from her head, Lorna turned to Wukong.
"So, what now? Where do we go from here?" She asked as she glanced at the carefree boy that looked as if he had no worries in the world.
"I dunno. We're free. We do whatever we want." He said as he looked out into the horizon.
Free? Lorna wasn't even sure what that meant. As a daughter of a criminal and the fact that they had Shield and the X-Men on their backs, basically making them fugitives, was that really a choice for them?
Thinking back now, she wasn't really sure where or what Wukong was planning to do. She was clouded by the fact that she just wanted to leave the X-Mansion.
"Although, I do have some errands to run. Wanna join me?"
"Well, I have nothing better to do. Where are we going?"
After a few seconds, Wukong answered. "We're going to my old orphanage."
~A few weeks ago~
"2 Weeks? Yeah, right. Like I'd actually accept that." Said Wukong as he sat on a hospital bed, pressing buttons on a TV that made the channels change, waiting for the hospital to become empty so that he could sneak out.
As he grumbled about the 2-week deal he made with Ororo, he came across a cartoon that displayed a family of yellow people. The father strangled the son as he shouted "Why you little…" It was actually quite funny that it even made Wukong chuckle slightly.
He watched the show as his mind started to wander. Family. Did he have any? Not him as Sun Wukong, but him as Illian. The answer was no.
Wukong hadn't properly scoured through Illian's memories, he just knew the basics. Illian Hale. Age 17. Raised in an orphanage from a young age after his parents abandoned him. Nothing special. Only for the fact that he didn't have the best experience at the orphanage.
He was raised by a male and a female who acted as their guardian. But the problem was, they were both pieces of crap. They took the money that was supposed to be used for the kids and put it in their pockets. They ignored the kids when they were sick, hungry, or injured, just to name a few.
They gave zero attention to the orphans, and when they did, it was to discipline them harshly. Remembering all this, Wukong started to feel his chest tighten as he felt like punching something. His feelings were now intertwined with Illian, meaning he had two sets of emotions he had to carry on his shoulders.
Due to such harsh environments and living conditions, the kids at the orphanage learned to help each other as they became their own small family. However, for some reason that Wukong couldn't remember, or perhaps chose not to, Illian was never a part of this family. He always avoided them and was always by himself. It wasn't because he was rejected or anything like that, it was just that he preferred to be by himself.
In recent years, the female caretaker died in a terrible car accident, so there was some silver lining there. At first, it was ruled a murder because of some information the police found that wasn't disclosed to the public, however, due to lack of evidence, the investigation was soon dropped.
Rumours went around in the orphanage that the male caretaker took her life, however, it was mostly treated as scary night stories rather than actual facts.
After a few seconds, Wukong closed his eyes as he calmed himself.
"I promise. I'll get revenge for you." He said as he spoke to himself. In his mind, he owed a great deal to Illian. He had taken over his body which allowed him to live on and give him a chance to regain his dignity. This was the least he could do.
~Present Time~
Wukong told the story of vengeance to Lorna since she was slightly confused. However, after telling her the story, she completely understood. She, better than anyone, knew the thirst for revenge and how it could eat away at a person if not fulfilled. There were many times she wished she could squash some of the people in the X-Mansion between two colossal pieces of metal, but she was always afraid.
After half an hour, they finally made it. The Cloud travelled at great speeds, therefore they wouldn't need to worry about transport.
As they approached the small sad excuse for an estate which was in the middle of a grassy plain and looked as if it was abandoned, they unmounted the cloud. The absence of the relaxing and warm embrace of the Nimbus was immediately noticed as they started to walk toward the dwelling, the cloud floating behind them.
Soon they made it to the front door and Wukong knocked on it violently. Shortly after, a man with a scruffy beard and little hair on his head opened the door as he fashioned a tank top with imprints of what seemed to be alcohol.
After the man opened the door, he watched the two kids stand before him as he scowled.
"The hell you want?! Why're you knocking on my door in the middle of the night?!" He asked as he stared at them. However, they did not answer. Instead, Lorna intentionally stepped back as all eyes were put on Wukong.
The man stared at the boy with sharp eyes, knowing something was off. Since he was quite drunk, he didn't recognize the boy he had been forced to accommodate for the past 17 years. After a few seconds, his eyes widened as he gazed at Wukong in disbelief.
"You!" He yelled as completely swung open the door and stood in front of Wukong.
"Yup." He said as he brought his hand up and delivered a hefty blow to the man's face, disorienting him as blood gushed from his nose.
Grabbing onto his beard, Wukong dragged the man outside.
"I heard about you. You've become those freaks. You did well to go with those other monsters. You should've stayed with them." He yelled in between breaths.
"Wow, you have quite the big mouth don't you?" The man's veins bulged as Wukong said this.
"You little shit. This is how you repay me after I looked after your sorry behind all these years. Ever since your whore mother left you on that doorstep, I was the one who put a roof over your head, I was the one who provided and I was the one who kept you from rotting on the street. IS THIS HOW YOU REPAY ME!?"
Wukong stopped in his steps and he stared at the man. He bent over and gazed into the drunken man's eyes.
"Yes." Said Wukong with a smile as he tossed the man to the side.
"Nimbus, drop him in the middle of the ocean." Said Wukong as the white cloud slowly approached the man.
"Wait…WAIT!" Before he could say anything else, the Nimbus cloud expanded as it surrounded the man, swallowing him in what seemed to be a deep neverending abyss. The cloud flew away as it carried Illian's boogyman inside of it.
Wukong smiled as he looked at the cloud, until he heard footsteps behind him, turning around quickly, he was met with a female with blond hair and blue eyes, wearing ragged clothing as she walked bare feet.
"Illian, I knew it was you." Said the girl as she smiled slightly.
"Hey, Lia. How you been?" Said Wukong as he smiled.
"We've all been well. Where have you been? And where is Mr Devon? I heard him speaking a few minutes ago."
"Mr Devon is gone. He won't be back. Now how about we go inside, it's kinda chilly." He said as he made his way to the home.
After entering with Lorna, they were met with countless kids ranging from the ages of 12 to 18 and a single young boy who seemed to be around 10 years of age. They all stared at Wukong, confused and had multiple questions.
"Hello, everyone." Said Wukong. They gave unenthusiastic greetings. None of them was ever close with Illian, therefore they didn't feel comfortable bombarding him with questions or even interacting with him as of right now.
"So, great news guys. Mr Devon is gone. Gone for good. He won't be back." Saying this, Wukong was met with a deafening silence.
After a minute or two, one of the teenagers started to cry. However, it wasn't sadness that she expressed, it was tears of joy. Soon after, the rest of them joined in as they celebrated, hugging each other and crying with smiles.
They didn't care about the details of where Mr Devon had suddenly disappeared to, or where Illian had been all this time and why he was back. They just felt relief in their hearts, as if a large weight was lifted off their shoulders. And because of this, they were happy.
After an hour or two of Wukong telling them he was a Mutant and that he went to a place where others like him were sent to control their abilities, he introduced them to Lorna and asked for two separate rooms they could spend the night.
Lorna was given a guest room, while Wukong was given Illian's old room.
He walked into it and it looked exactly the same as when Illian was last in it. Books stacked in the same corner, although they weren't many, they were ones he bought for himself with the small amount of money he was able to earn every now and then. Opening the wardrobe, he was met with his small stack of clothes, all in the same position as he last left it.
He walked to his bed where he was met with a dusty pillow and sheets. While trying to replace it, a book laid in the middle of his mattress.
"What's this? 'Everything you need to know about cars.' I didn't know Illian was interested in cars. Eh, whatever." Saying this, he placed the book in the same corner as the rest, quickly changing his sheets.
After he was done, he practically collapsed on his bed, his heavy eyelids quickly shutting as he fell into a well-deserved deep sleep.
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Author's Note: Hello if you are enjoying the novel so far I would appreciate the powerstones. They really help. Alright, thank you all, Bye.
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