Chapter Text
The wind rushed into the room, and the glass cracked as a young man approached, stopping in front of the broken window.
He was rather slender, with fair skin, an athletic yet lean build, medium-length brown hair slicked back and to the side, and blue eyes. He wore a gold ring with the symbol of a lightning bolt crossing a circle on his left middle finger.
He looked out the window, worried.
He shouldn’t have left her alone. He knew her impulses.
"It’s not your fault, Ash. You couldn’t have known." Said Charles Xavier, Professor X, standing by his chair at the entrance to the room.
Ash glanced over his shoulder at the professor.
"I feel like I did. I shouldn’t have gone on the mission." He said, blaming himself for something beyond his control.
"Don’t blame yourself, Ash." Professor X said, his heart heavy.
Ash slumped his shoulders and sighed as he looked out the window again.
"I’m going to find her. She doesn’t have to face this alone."
The professor smiled when he heard his words.
"Be careful, Ash." Charles advised, clasping his hands together.
"Yes, sir. I'll bring her home." Ash agreed, turning toward him.
"I'm sure you will, my boy." He said, stepping aside as the young man walked past him, but stopping just before he passed.
"Thank you." He said, to which the professor nodded in return. "Could you please keep Shogo for us?"
"Of course, Ash." Professor X replied kindly. "Take her home."
Ash nodded and left the room, leaving a trail of red lightning in his wake as the professor was now alone in the room.
The curtains fluttered in the breeze. A lingering scent of copper hung in the air. Traces of blood stained the broken windowpane.
Jubilee had always feared that Ash would leave her after she was bitten by Xarus, Dracula’s son, and the situation had worsened even further when they adopted Shogo. But Ash never distanced himself. He always chose to stay in her life, no matter what happened.
That was when she knew she’d found the right person.
He stayed by her side no matter what happened to her.
As he ran through the city searching for her, Ash remembered how it all began.
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He was still a teenager who had finally arrived at the area of Disneyland California he’d been waiting for: Avengers Campus.
As a fan of the Marvel universe, even though he didn’t read many comics, venturing into this Land was a must for him.
For the moment, he was content to just wander around, soaking up the atmosphere of the place, the music blaring from speakers all over the park, actors dressed as iconic MCU characters striking poses for photos with visitors, and passersby snapping pictures, going in and out of rides, or trying to lift Thor’s hammer.
Everyone was going about their business, and the clouds, which made the place look a bit drab, didn’t dampen the overall atmosphere at all.
He walked on, glancing at his phone for a moment, and inadvertently bumped into someone. When he turned around, she did the same, and he saw a young woman who looked a little older than him, with fair skin and an athletic build featuring defined abs, as well as a delicate face sporting a slight, confident smile, short black hair styled in a dynamic way, and expressive golden eyes.
She was wearing a bright pink and blue zippered crop top that left her stomach exposed. She wore a long canary-yellow trench coat with a turned-up collar, worn open, with rolled-up sleeves and matching gloves, along with fitted blue pants featuring pink details, held in place by a wide yellow belt with a silver buckle adorned with a pink "A." She was also wearing a pair of large, eye-catching pink sunglasses perched on her forehead, as well as large silver triangular earrings.
"Uh… e-excuse me. I-I didn’t see you." He stammered, flustered by this encounter with a pretty girl who was clearly in cosplay.
She let out a laugh at his reaction.
"It’s okay. I wasn’t looking either." She said before walking away. "See you later."
After standing motionless for a few seconds, he facepalmed.
"Way to go, Ash. Why didn’t I ask her out for a drink? Man, I’m such an idiot!" He lamented before continuing his tour of the Land.
He toured the Land and its attractions, enduring the endless lines that come with them. He stuffed himself silly eating at PYM Kitchen, all-you-can-eat buffets are just as much a test of one’s stomach’s limits as raclette.
Then finally came the moment he’d saved for last in this Land before moving on to the others in the park: the Avengers Vault. A shop selling replicas of iconic MCU items, mostly from the Infinity Saga for now.
He bought a Tesseract and left the shop with a plastic bag containing his purchase in hand, unaware that someone was watching him, a man with a square jaw, short-cropped blond hair with a strand swept up at the front, and blue eyes, wearing a leather jacket.
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The next day, in the middle of the night, Ash was in his middle school’s science lab, where the chemicals were stored.
"Damn… I skip class for a day to have some fun, and it just so happens to be the day Timmy feeds all my homemade laxative to the pigeons." He complained as he wiped down a shelf with a rag. "What a pain in the ass. Now I’ll have to spend my evening making more of it instead of eating a giant taco while watching *Saw*. And on top of that, he does this when I’m not even here to enjoy the show."
As he picked up a bottle, he noticed something at the room’s window. Red flashes were streaking from the right side to the left side of the window, one after another.
In disbelief, he rubbed his eyes before staring at the scene as the flashes continued to streak by until one of them shot toward him, shattering the window and slamming into him violently. This sent him crashing into several shelves containing chemicals behind him, knocking them over as he fell unconscious while the shelves toppled.
The flashes in the landscape then ceased, and the man who had been watching him at Disneyland appeared in the scene outside the window.
He approached the window, and once he was right in front of it, he leaned against the railing.
"Well… That was easier than expected." He smiled before holding up a ring identical to the one Ash was wearing in the present. "Now, all that’s left is to bring him over there."
Then he jumped through the window into the room, picked up the young man like a sack of potatoes, and took off so fast that he seemed to vanish, with red flashes trailing behind him.
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When he woke up, Ash felt terrible. He had a massive migraine; it was as if someone were playing the djembe inside his skull.
As he sat up, he began to take in his surroundings and realized he was in an alleyway, away from the school.
"What happened?" He wondered, before noticing that on his left middle finger was the gold ring worn by the man who had struck him with a bolt of lightning. "Why do I have Reverse-Flash’s ring?"
He stood up and took a step forward. But he immediately crashed into the wall, even though it was two meters away from him.
"Argh…" He groaned, struggling to get back on his feet before looking at his left hand, which was vibrating so violently it was a blur.
"What’s happening to me… ?" He wondered, just as a suit emerged from the ring.
It was made of a material resembling yellow leather or rubber with red lightning bolts; the yellow faded into the black of the torso down to the limbs, and on his chest was a red lightning bolt symbol on a black background surrounded by a red circle, the same as Reverse-Flash’s.
"The lightning and the chemicals… Do I… do I really have his powers and his costume from the show?" He thought to himself, shocked.
He then walked slowly out of the alley and came upon a street lined with several shops, one of which had a display window featuring a cathode-ray tube TV showing several 24-hour news channels.
Taken aback by the sight of old televisions, now long gone from the market, displayed as if they were the latest models, he walked closer and saw something that shocked him: the date displayed.
January 31, 1992.
And if that weren’t enough, there was also what the news report was saying. Every story had the same title card at the bottom.
"Mutants: Allies or Threats?"
He stepped back in astonishment and spotted a newspaper on the floor. He picked it up and read other articles about mutants, how some had used their powers to commit crimes.
This made him smile. For some reason he didn’t understand, he was now in a universe where the X-Men existed, and he possessed powers never before seen in this universe.
A new adventure lay before him, far from boring classes and with significant perks. And he fully intended to take advantage of it to live this new life on his own terms.
He had no idea at the time just how closely his life would become intertwined with a pretty mutant who looked exactly like the girl he’d run into at the park.
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In the present, in a dark alley, Jubilee clutched her head, suffering excruciating pain from her fangs. Blood stained her chin and lips as she sat down. Her bright yellow coat was, unfortunately, stained as well.
"Why? Why now?" She moaned in pain before looking up.
A dark figure stood at the edge of the roof. His sword glinted in the moonlight. She knew exactly who it was: the Daywalker.
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A newspaper fluttered in the wind on the street. The lights flickered and hummed. Shadows stretched out in the light, as if trying to pull it toward them.
Ash, wearing his Reverse-Flash costume, had called Jubilee’s phone and gotten her voicemail.
"Damn." He muttered under his breath as he put his phone away.
He kept walking down the street, a sense of unease washing over him. Then he narrowed his eyes and stopped when he sensed a presence behind him.
He turned around and saw Blade.
Ash knew that seeing him wasn’t a good sign.
Their relationship with the vampire hunter wasn’t exactly cordial, mainly because Jubilee was a vampire herself. The two men had often clashed over that.
"She’s alive, in case you’re wondering." Blade said.
Ash was relieved to hear that. It meant he had time to find her.
"But her cravings are getting worse, Ash." added the vampire hunter, his blade glinting under the lights above him. "Soon, animal blood won’t be enough for her."
"Where is she?" asked the Speedster.
He didn’t get an answer right away. Blade turned to leave and leaped toward the rooftop. Ash easily followed him thanks to his speed.
He sprinted, jumping between two buildings and rolling as he landed. He spotted Blade just ahead of him and sped up, all the while thinking back on how his relationship with Jubilee had begun.
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Nine months after Ash arrived in this world, he was standing in an arcade with Jubilee, each at a machine, playing a game while chatting.
"They're ashamed of me." Said Jubilee as she shot at robots rushing toward the screen of her machine. "I thought they loved me."
"They probably still do, Jubi." Ash surmised, pressing the button on his arcade machine’s joystick. "They probably just don’t know how to react to something like this."
"Like when they saw the foam party you threw for my birthday in the gym?" Jubilee asked, a slight smile appearing on her face.
"Great example." Ash agreed. "They were more than shocked by what I did and tried to forbid you from hanging out with me for fear that I’d be a bad influence."
"As a result, we see each other here every day." Jubilee smiled.
Ash smiled back, and the two friends focused on their game.
"Come on. That’ll teach you to invade my world." She said, continuing to shoot at the robots in the game, before the reason she’d come here in the middle of the night flooded her mind once more. "What’s so wrong with being a mutant, anyway?"
"Nothing at all." Ash replied, as if the question had been directed solely at him. "But idiots reject what’s different from them instead of trying to understand."
That was when her power manifested for the second time, with sparks appearing around her hand holding the joystick before she lunged at the arcade screen, destroying it.
"No! Not again!" Jubilee cried out as Ash stopped playing his game and the teenagers around them turned toward them because of the sound of the explosion.
"Hey, you!" exclaimed the arcade manager as he rushed toward Jubilee, pointing an accusing finger at her. " "Do you know how much that game costs?"
"Yes, 25 cents!" Jubilee retorted, pulling her pink sunglasses up over her eyes, which made Ash smile.
"Hey! You’re one of them, aren’t you?" the manager accused.
This worried Jubilee, and she ran off into the main aisle of the mall where the arcade was located.
"Jubi!" Ash exclaimed as he watched her run away while the manager walked toward the arcade’s entrance.
"We don’t want you people here, you filthy…!"
"… C***k." Ash interrupted, causing the manager to flinch and shocking both him and everyone present.
"What did you say?" the manager asked, turning toward him in shock.
"Well, what? You weren’t going to hurl a racist slur at her just because she’s Asian?" Ash asked innocently, leaning against his arcade machine and taking a sip from his can.
"Of course not, you idiot! I was going to call her a filthy…"
"N****r? Is that it? Unless you mean Jewish?" Ash asked again, cutting him off defiantly and shocking the crowd even more. "Then you must have shit in your eyes because she’s not black. As for religion, though, I don’t know if she’s particularly religious."
"No way! You filthy mutant!" Shouted the manager. "Don’t try to make me out to be a racist or an anti-Semite!"
"But that’s exactly what you are. Mutants aren’t any different from us. So why are they so hated?" Ash replied calmly. "They just have extra powers. The Fantastic Four do too, and yet they’re loved by so many people that they’re often on TV."
"U-uh…" Stammered the manager, unable to come up with a logical argument. "That’s not the point?"
"Then what is the point? Because if my bullshit wasn’t enough for you to get it, then you’re dumber than you look." Ash retorted. "Take hate speech about mutants, replace the word ‘mutant’ with "C***k", "N****r", or "Jew", and you’ll realize it’s a very inappropriate remark. Why?"
No one answered the question.
"Because the people targeted by these insults or words have seen their community suffer terrible things in the past? Spoiler alert: it’s the same with mutants. Assholes like you perpetuate discriminatory thought patterns that, if directed at the community targeted by the terms I used, would have earned you a bad reputation that would have made your arcade a place no one would want to go as long as you kept working there."
The manager remained silent in the face of this.
"All right, I’ll try to catch up with my friend." Ash finally said, throwing his can in the manager’s face before leaving.
But he couldn’t find her. By taking the time to lecture the manager, he’d wasted precious time when he could have been helping Jubilation Lee fight a Sentinel that had been sent after her.
The next morning, Jubilee was standing at his door to say goodbye; she was heading to Xavier’s Institute, but she’d visit him as soon as she could.
He could have revealed his powers to her and gone with her. But he didn’t feel ready to join a team like that.
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Back in the present, Jubilee staggered into an abandoned warehouse, sweat beading on her skin. She buried her face in her hands once more as her urges intensified. She couldn't survive for long on animal blood.
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Ash looked at the abandoned warehouse and slipped inside silently. His gaze scanned the darkness, searching for any sign of life. Only the moonlight filtering through the glass roof illuminated the space.
"Jubi? Are you there? Hello?" Ash asked, his voice echoing through the warehouse.
He heard footsteps and a crash. He moved cautiously and lowered his guard as a precaution. Blade was watching him from the upstairs window.
Jubilee sniffled and wiped away her tears when she heard soft footsteps approaching.
She turned around and saw Ash, relief in his eyes.
"Jubi…" He smiled as he rushed toward her, embracing her tenderly. "It’s okay. Everything’s fine."
He rested his chin on her shoulder, on the verge of tears.
"I shouldn’t have left you alone like that, Jubi. I’m sorry."
Jubilee had tears in her eyes as he apologized for something that was beyond her control.
"It’s nothing. It’s not your fault." She told him, stepping back and stroking his cheek.
He nestled against her hand. She had to stop herself from sinking her fangs into his neck as she heard his blood flowing.
"It feels like it is."
Jubilee shook her head.
"It never has been, Ash. Okay?" She said. "I love you."
She pressed her forehead against his and matched her breathing to his. She closed her eyes and stayed there, close to him. That urge resurfaced, and she fought against it.
Blade sensed it and let Ash handle it, disappearing into the darkness of the night.
Jubilee pulled him into her arms and breathed in his scent. His fangs were causing her pain again. She pulled away with that look Ash knew all too well.
He then removed one of his gloves and rolled up his sleeve, holding out his wrist to her, which made her hesitate.
"Are you sure?" Jubilee asked hesitantly. "I don’t want to take too much again."
Ash simply smiled at her.
"It’ll be fine. Go ahead."
She hated how well he understood her situation.
She grabbed his arm and brought it to her mouth, her lips barely brushing his wrist. She took a deep breath and sank her fangs in, making Ash wince.
Blood flooded her mouth, and she swallowed greedily as her pupils dilated.
Ash felt weak, but he simply took a bottle of water he’d strapped to his belt before leaving and drank from it, counting on his metabolism to produce enough blood for her.
She might have become a vampire, but he wasn’t going to let her go.
He loved her too much for that.
They’d been through so much together when he came to see her at the institute years after she’d joined the team.
That was when the curse had struck Jubilee.
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Years after the night Jubilee joined the X-Men, shortly after the Professor’s return following his fake death, Ash and Jubilee, now 18 years old, were leaving a movie theater; she was clinging to his arm while he had his hands in his pockets.
"That was a nice first date." Jubilee smiled before giving him a slightly uncertain look. "Was it okay? I mean, we went out to dinner and everything…"
"Yeah. It was a date." Ash laughed, giving her an amused look. "I didn’t think you were still the type to sneak out, Miss X-Man."
"What?! I do what I want, and if anyone tries to stop me… . Snikt!" Jubilee declared as they ducked into an alley. "Anyway, phew."
"Is that what you do on your solo adventures now?" Ash asked with amusement. "It was about time I showed up in town to liven things up even more."
"Ha! Stick with me! I’ll teach you a thing or two!" Jubilee smiled, bringing her face closer to Ash’s.
Unbeknownst to both of them, someone was standing in the shadows inside the alley, invisible to their eyes as he watched them, licking one of his sharp fangs.
The two young people moved their faces a little closer together when Ash was suddenly hit by a soda can.
"Ouch!" He said before turning around, picking up the can, and looking toward the entrance to the alley, where he saw a man with a sour expression smiling smugly, clearly pleased to have interrupted a young couple. "And you think you’re funny?!"
He then threw the can back at him, hitting the man squarely in the head. The man got angry and was about to come over to pick a fight, but when he saw red sparks dancing in the young man’s eyes, he changed his mind and walked away.
"What a jerk, that guy." Ash grumbled. "So, where were we, Jubi?"
When he turned around, hoping they could actually kiss despite the ruined mood, he was shocked to see Jubilee lying on the ground. Blood was flowing from two small holes in her neck, reminiscent of vampire bites in movies, from which black veins pulsed.
This worried Ash; he hadn’t heard a thing, and whoever had done this to his best friend had been exceptionally fast. Not as fast as him, but fast enough to do this and escape unseen in a matter of seconds.
But he didn’t have time to think about that.
He rushed past the gate and ran at full speed toward Xavier’s Institute, a trail of red lightning following behind him.
"Help us!" He shouted as he burst into the mansion, startling the X-Men who were there. "She’s been attacked."
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While Beast, aka Hank McCoy, was in his lab with Jubilee, doing his best to heal her, Ash was in an adjacent room where everything could be seen through a two-way mirror, along with Wolverine and Charles Xavier.
"What happened?" Wolverine asked, grinding his teeth.
"I don’t know. I turned around to yell at a guy who threw a can at my head, and the next second she was like that." Ash replied, worried. "I still can’t figure out how it’s possible that I didn’t hear a thing."
"So you can quickly sense where electricity is being generated, but you weren’t fast enough to stop her from getting attacked?" Wolverine growled.
"I couldn’t even see who did it!" Ash snapped. "If I’d even caught a glimpse of the culprit as soon as that big Smurf took Jubi under his wing, I would’ve tracked him down all over the city to settle the score!"
"Calm down." Charles said calmly before turning to Ash to bring up a topic that would take their minds off what was happening right next to them. "How long have you had your powers, Ash?"
"About nine months before you came to get Jubi." He replied, crossing his arms and leaning against the window.
"And in all that time, you were never spotted or reported?" Wolverine asked, impressed.
"I don't have anyone. No parents or family. That lowers the risks. As for the rest, I trained out of sight to better control my powers and improve my speed." Ash explained. "Well, that's the easy part. The hardest part was learning to phase."
"Phase?" Wolverine asked, intrigued.
In response, Ash made his hand vibrate so fast it became a blur and sent it through a wall before pulling it back, causing Wolverine to gasp.
The conversation was interrupted by the sound of a metal object hitting the floor and glass shattering. The group then went to Beast’s lab to find him sadly cradling Jubilee’s body.
"I did everything I could. But alas…" He sobbed, his trembling shoulders straightening as he wiped away tears with the hand holding his glasses. "We lost her."
Ash’s eyes widened at this news. He hoped it wasn’t true. He wanted it not to be true.
"What… How did she die?" Ash asked, red flashes dancing across his body. "What did whatever attacked her do to her?"
"I don’t know, son." Beast swallowed hard as he draped a sheet over the young woman’s entire body. "Aside from her severe neck injury, her blood cells destroyed themselves. I’ve never seen anything like it."
"First Madelyne, Zed, and Gambit. Now her." Wolverine growled before leaving the room, followed by Charles and Beast.
They must have gathered to announce their friend’s death to the rest of the team and the student.
This left Ash, who hadn’t followed them, alone with the body of his only friend in this universe.
At first, he stood motionless. Then, as the minutes passed, his shoulders shook as he placed a trembling hand on the sheet to pull it away from Jubilee’s head, and tears began to fall down his face.
Ash broke down in tears upon seeing that the only person in this universe he cared about was now dead because of his negligence.
"I’m sorry…" He sobbed, resting his head on his best friend’s body as he embraced her. "It’s my fault…"
Then he looked up and saw something that made his blood run cold… there was no reflection of Jubilee’s body in the two-way mirror.
He then felt a hand rest on his neck and immediately went into super-speed.
Time seemed to stand still for him as he moved the hand away from his neck and sat up, each movement leaving a trail of red lightning that vanished a few seconds later, allowing him to see that it was Jubilee, her eyes and mouth wide open, who had placed her hand on him.
But how could she be moving? Beast had declared her dead.
That’s when he noticed that her eyes were glowing red and that his best friend’s fangs were now longer and sharper, just like a vampire’s.
Without wasting any more time, he quickly used the sheet to tie Jubilee up, binding her wrists and ankles before grabbing a nearby chain and wrapping it around her arms. He immobilized her completely, then resumed moving at his normal speed.
"What the… ?" Jubilee said, but her voice sounded different. It sounded like a man’s.
"The bite mark on her neck, the lack of a reflection, the red eyes, and the sharp fangs lead me to believe that a vampire has turned my best friend into a vampire. I didn’t even know that actually existed." Ash deduced, keeping a safe distance in case of an attack. "And since her voice doesn’t usually sound that manly, I’m guessing you’re the one who turned her and that you’re speaking through her, as well as controlling her. So answer my question: who are you, and why did you bite her?"
"Heh heh heh, you’re pretty sharp, kid." Snickered the man speaking through Jubilee. "My name is Xarus, son of Dracula."
"If you say so." Ash declared, unimpressed. "So, you son of a bitch. Why did you turn her into a vampire?"
"You’re a very curious human." Xarus observed. "But since you’ll be able to hold her captive forever, I’ll tell you. I was planning to use her to turn the students at this school into vampires while I take on the X-Men outside as we speak."
Ash clenched his fists as he heard this man boast and use Jubilee as nothing more than a puppet to carry out his plan.
"Are you angry?" Xarus observed, a smile spreading across Jubilee’s face as he continued to speak through her. "Good. You know, since she cares so much about you, I was thinking of making you her pet as a reward. Unless you’d rather join us of your own free will."
Ash remained silent for a moment, seeming to consider accepting the offer.
At least, that’s what Xarus thought.
"You said you were counting on Jubi to transform the other students while you took on the others outside?"
"That’s right." Xarus nodded.
"So you’re out in the courtyard fighting right now as we speak?"
"Yes. Why?" Xarus asked, unable to see where the young man was going with this.
"Well, if movies and TV shows have any truth to them, if I kill you, she’ll be freed from your mind control and probably cured of vampirism." Ash speculated.
"You really think you can kill me? Me, the son of the vampire lord?" Xarus declared arrogantly. "Don't make me laugh, kid. I was able to bite your girlfriend and get away in a matter of seconds without you even noticing me."
"I was distracted by some big jerk. I would’ve slammed you into a wall before you could lay a single finger on her, if I hadn’t had my back turned." Ash retorted before a predatory smile spread across his face. "But let’s put your theory to the test."
He then clenched his left fist and pointed it toward the lab door. Faint arcs of electricity flashed across the ring before the lightning bolt symbol opened. The Reverse Flash suit shot out at high speed, and the young man put it on and left the room so quickly that Xarus couldn’t even see him, catching only flashes of red.
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Outside, the X-Men who hadn’t been deployed on a mission were fighting Xarus. Well, it was mostly Wolverine, Gambit, Cyclops, and Jean Grey. The others were probably still inside, protecting the students and Professor X.
"You’re wasting your time." Xarus boasted. "As soon as she breaks free, the child will transform the rest of your students, and you won’t be able to stop me. Not even that arrogant boy will be able to do anything against me!"
"That boy? Who are you talking about?" Cyclops asked.
But before he could get an answer, the answer came to him when a trail of lightning shot out of the mansion and something struck Xarus so hard that he was knocked back until he slammed into the mansion’s fence, bending it.
(A/N: Play This)
It was then that they saw a man wearing what appeared to be a yellow and black suit, moving so fast that his body became a blur to their eyes. And when he turned his head toward the X-Men, they saw eyes glowing an incandescent red.
"What the… what are you?!" Xarus shouted, furious at having been sent flying like a cheap rag doll.
"I don't know what he is, but he was faster than a flash." Gambit joked.
Ash smiled at that. Not because he found the joke funny, but because it gave him the perfect excuse to say a line he’d been dreaming of saying for years.
"Oh, I'm not like the Flash at all." He said, his voice sounding distorted. "Some would say I'm the reverse."
Then he charged at Xarus again, striking him repeatedly to the point that Xarus could still feel the impact of the blows several seconds after they were landed, sending him flying a little farther once more.
Ash, or rather, Reverse-Flash, ran toward Dracula’s son once more and landed an uppercut that shattered his jaw and would have sent him flying several meters into the air had he not grabbed him by the ankle and slammed him into the ground.
All of this unfolded before the shocked eyes of the X-Men, who were witnessing such a brutal beating. It could no longer even be called a fight, so one-sided was the exchange of blows.
Fed up with being humiliated to such an extent, the arrogant prince of vampires leaped at Reverse-Flash with the intention of biting him and turning him into one of his servants.
The X-Men prepared to intervene. But they were taken aback once again when they saw Xarus pass right through Reverse-Flash’s body as if he weren’t physically there.
Only Wolverine understood what had happened: Ash had phased out. But to pass through an object? For a living being to pass through him?
"That’s… that’s impossible." Xarus declared as he got back to his feet, more to convince himself than anything else. "You can’t…"
But before he could finish his sentence, he flinched and looked down to see his opponent’s fist passing right through his chest.
"You bit the wrong mutant, you bastard." Reverse-Flash growled before pulling back his fist and stepping in front of the vampire prince. His body stopped vibrating, revealing red antennae-like protrusions near his ears, as well as his symbol on his chest. His eyes returned to normal as he removed his mask, forcing him to look at the face of the one who had humiliated and effortlessly killed him.
Xarus finally died, his body turning to ash.
The vampire was dead. But unfortunately for Ash, he was wrong about one thing.
Jubilee was freed from the grip of the one who had transformed her. But she wasn’t cured. Luckily, thanks to her powers, her body had adapted so she could safely go out in broad daylight. But her need for blood hadn’t disappeared.
Ash then decided to join the X-Men and play by their rules so he could stay with her.
Their friendship eventually blossomed into love. Then, adopting a baby made them a true family, a family Ash would never abandon for anything in the world.
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Back in the present, Ash realized how far they'd come. He and Jubilee were now in their twenties and already had a little boy.
Time flies when you're busy.
As the night grew cooler, Ash carried the unconscious Jubilee inside the mansion. He went upstairs and walked silently down the hallway. He noticed the door was ajar and pushed it open with his fingertips.
He entered the room and laid his companion down.
She mumbled in her sleep, her hands reaching out for Ash. Her expression changed when she didn’t feel him there. He leaned down and kissed her on the forehead, which calmed her.
"I’ll be back, sweetheart." He whispered softly.
"Stay." Jubilee mumbled.
Ash smiled and kissed her on the lips this time.
"I need to check on Shogo, honey."
Jubilee opened her eyes and nodded.
"Okay." She said before closing her eyes and drifting back to sleep.
Ash slipped quietly out of the room and walked down the hallway. He peeked into the nursery and saw Shogo sleeping peacefully. He smiled as he entered, leaving the door slightly ajar.
He then stood by the crib and listened to his breathing. Having a child seemed unreal to him. Even if he wasn’t biologically theirs. He was still theirs. Shogo is their son, no matter what.
"See you tomorrow morning, Shogo." He said before quietly leaving the nursery.
The blankets shifted beneath Ash; he took Jubilee in his arms and pulled her close, resting his chin on her head as he drifted off to sleep. Dreaming of a better future.