Lash: Futures Imperfect Death of the Dragon

I like to tell my children stories at night as they go to bed. They don't sleep well, and it seems to calm them. To be honest, though, the stories aren't just for them. They are for me, too.

I like to recall the times that I fought with the powers of the Dragon on my side. He had a funny name... 'Longwang'. I didn't know much about him other than he was a powerful celestial entity that somehow bonded with me. When I said his name, I turned into something more powerful myself. They called me LASH. I had powerful friends that I fought alongside. They were more than just my friends, though... they were my family. We had adventures, we had fun. We celebrated good times... and some bad times, too. At the end of the day, though, we had a shared love for what we did and each other. I remember them fondly.

The best thing that happened to me was Ollie. He was my rock when I needed him, my shoulder to cry on and the person who always defended me when I needed it. We were just friends at first... but really, isn't that the way that a good relationship should be? I loved him because he treated me like an equal when others didn't, and when I was younger, yes, I admit he was probably the cutest guy I had ever met.

We married eventually. I still laugh when I think of everything I put him through in order to get a ring on my finger. Ollie was patient, kind, and understanding. He was a hero even without the mask and secret identity. My best friends, Erin and Sidney, served as our best man and maid of honor. We did the same for them. We were inseparable, no matter who else entered or left our 'family' in those days.

We didn't see the writing on the wall when The Doctor rose to power. Looking back, I wish we did. We just kind of did our thing, thinking that, like any other bad guy, he would just be exposed and brought down like the others before him. Our team focused on things in our own little world, dealing with threats in Westside as we moved from children to adults. By the time he had amassed enough power, we felt blindsided and unable to act.

It didn't help when I finally lost the power of the Dragon. I still don't know why it happened, but that's how life is, sometimes... things get messy and unresolved. It was still a blessing in disguise, though. I was able to have two beautiful children: Aaaron and Mindy. Things were already getting bad at this point: registration was becoming tougher, a ban for mutants was forthcoming and a general distrust was in the air. Sparrowhawk, the leader of the Protectors, went missing, and seemed to start a long line of just bizarre events that wiped out most of their active roster. It wasn't just the Protectors, either. Most of the 'big league' teams were finding themselves disbanded. The Progeny, though most had went on to other teams by that time, including the Protectors, quietly dissolved. It was an end of an era for me, but unfortunately the world at large didn't mourn their passing.

Erin and I grew apart. Sid and her had... problems. And then what happened to Sydney changed their lives forever. I lost my two best friends almost overnight. Sidney found that his problems were solved only at the bottom of a bottle and Erin just became distant to the point of losing herself and her faith. I haven't spoken to her and years. I pray a lot that they are doing fine, but I can't help but think that nothing has changed. I love them and miss them greatly.

What I miss most is Ollie. The mutant uprise got the public in a panic. Things... happened. My amazing, stubborn and selfless everything; all the things I loved about him in the end became the very things that led to him disappearing from my life. Our children were left without a father. I was treated like an outcast, as were both Aaron and Mindy. I found I couldn't hold a job due to being 'the wife of a mutie' and the options we were left with were few. It's funny how easily the public can be scared into believing something even if its not true. Ollie was my everything... and now I just try to hold onto what we had. I don't like living in the past, but when you are afraid of the future that's all that you have.

So like I said, my kids go to bed at night with stories of days gone by. Better days. Days when we had dreams, when we had something to look forward to, and we had a true sense of who we are. I watch the children and am afraid they will end up like their father... a mutant. I'm afraid that they will be taken away and God knows what will happen to them. I'm afraid of what we;ve become, what we have turned ourselves into. But hey... we have stories.

Sometimes I like to wonder 'what if', at night, alone. I get the feeling like we should be here. I don't feel like this is the world we should have inherited. I wonder if things could be better.

And sometimes, I just wonder.