Dave sat Jo down to explain what the test results had shown. It was a revalation even to him, but it explained a few things, yet left him with other questions.
"Sweetheart, Bethany," for they had decided on the child's name, "is a mutant like you..."
"And you," Dave gave a slight grin.
"I was coming to that. What Bethany's powers are, are undetermined at this stage, but there are some very strong indications of it even now."
"Dave, what is it?"
"There is nothing physically wrong, and she will appear a normal child but based on projections I made a while ago, I think I recognise the powers she will develop."
"Powers, as in more than one?"
"Yes and no. She appears to be..." he whispered the rest in to her ear. Jo's eyes went wide with shock. She realised the implications of what Dave had told her.
"It'll alter everything," she agreed. "But what about control?"
"I don't know. We'll just have to teach her, I suppose. If we were on Earth, there's no telling what might happen if people found out."
"You mean people like Sinister?"
"Exactly. Granted it has yet to be confirmed, but...."
"I know." Jo looked thoughtful. "What about you? What were your results?"
"Not good. Apparently when I died, I absorbed a massive amount of the energy from the inhibitor field. Now we always thought that killed me, and in a sense it did, but the cause of death was not the charge. The energy surge was absorbed by my body like a massive dose of radiation and it interacted with my genetic structure. Now the field
worked by what is described as.."
"An 'anti- X gene' which in the form of energy prevents a mutant from accessing his or her powers. I know that."
"Okay. Now imagine if the positive gene met the anti radiation. What would happen?"
"In theory they would interact with each other, meeting and then merging in to nothing as they negate each other."
"Exactly. The field counteracted my X-gene and destroyed it. My powers are gone."
"But you still use them, so how can they be gone?"
"It appears that in my cellular is a very small trace of cosmic energy that gives me slight powers which, because of my previous abilities, are manifested as my powers over metal and heat."
"So you could have manifested them as any powers at all?"
"I don't know. All I do know is that because I am cut off from the cosmic forces I used to command, I can only control myself, for nothing else has the cosmic energy inside it or them."
"So you're no longer a mutant?"
"There's not even the potential of the mutant gene in me."
"But Bethany?"
"I can't answer that. I don't have enough power in me to pass it on to others. The power that I have is barely enough to help me. I can't create things with the iron in my blood, or project waves of heat. I'm not the person I once was." Jo put her arm around him.
"You are inside, D. I love you for who you are, not what you are. It's what you do, not what you can do." Jo was getting tired. There were only three months before the birth, and though her healing field was counteracting a lot of things, she was very tiring for her.
"Y'know," said Dave, "I'd have quit the Fringe when Beth was born."
"Quit? Why?"
"To give you all the help and support I could. My time was spread too thinly as was with the Fringe, C&C, you, every crisis that seemed to arrive one after the other. I thought if I resigned from the Fringe and quit the X-Warrior thing altogether, I could spend so much more time with you and Beth. Things don't go as planned do they?"
"No, they don't. Especially your plans," Jo said mischievously.
"Thank you, sweetheart," Dave responded in kind, " though I don't see your plans ever coming to the front."
"You don't know what my plans are."
"Then I shall tickle you until you reveal them."
"How dare you? I'm a pregnant woman."
"Yes, and you're also too tired to resist."
"Try it and you're sleeping solo tonight."
"Now there's a challenge..." Dave had a gleam in his eye and he advanced towards her.
"Stop it, D," giggled Jo as she tried to back away, but not exactly trying too hard.
Meanwhile the Dark Lord was meeting with one of his agents, who had obtained copies of the test results. He was interested to learn of the baby's projected abilities. When the child was born he would have it for his own, and the woman as well for if he no longer had the powers he once had, he was of no use. The Dark Lord smiled. After months of watching this 'Captain Goldfish' in action, he had seen something familiar. He knew him, they had met before. He was his great adversary, who fought him all those years ago. This universe had taken form and was beginning to produce life. He had seen it all occur, as he had been there at the end of time, when everything stopped and then began again. The rebirthing of the universe granted him powers, the like of which he had never dreamed were possible, and with them he could rule the universe. Then his plans were interrupted by the arrival of another being, also with vast powers. He had been sent to stop the Dark Lord - then called Jolene - from dominating the universe, for if he did the whole multiverse and omniverse would suffer. Jolene had no notion of what he meant and called on his powers to destroy this interfering creature. The creature produced a staff of some description - formed of his own powers and attacked Jolene before he could do anything to harm the creature. They fought for what could have been days or maybe months for time had no meaning to either of them. So evenly matched were they the battle could have gone on forever. Then Jolene made a mistake. He hesitated before striking, trying to work out the best area to attack, and then he was lost. The creature held his staff high above his head and brought it down on Jolene, a killer blow which scattered his atoms across the planet below them. However being part of the universe, he could not die, and the strike he had been dealt shattered the staff, and sent the being back to where he had come from. He could not dispell the staff as he left and it too fell to the planet and was embedded in a pool of lava, it's magic reverbarating across the planet - creating life on what should have been a dead world. Jolene's atoms were fully aware of what had transpired and in the millions of years that passed he managed to pull himself back together, but only as one of the mortals that the staff eventually created, deep within the planets crust. This effort cost Jolene greatly and he lost almost all of his great powers. The only things he did not lose were awareness and memory. His plans to dominate the universe were halted, so he would dominate the planet. The mortal being he became found he had a number of powers he had not expected. He hardly ever aged and was a warrior of great strength and prowess - though he did not use this power often for his world embraced the scientific and sought to rectify genetic deviation, a practice later abandonned but the damage had been done. No beings with powers would be born here, making Jolene the only one.
After thousands of years, he remained alive looking about 30 yet still at his prime. He founded a great household known as Magister and the name Jolene was no longer used. A systematic murder of his heirs provided him with a new identity every fifty years or so - for the leader of the House of Magister, always remained masked. The House became part of what was the Planet's royal family and although a lesser part of the Royalty, they still had considerable power and influence, and he created a banner portraying how his battle with his adversary had gone. The final picture was Jolene being struck down by the adversary and no one knew it was him. It was an irony that the peoples of the world took it as a story of him besting his enemy in a great battle. The final picture became the flag of the House of Magister, which was displayed on their royal standards.When their science had reached a level of stagnation, the Dark Lord realised that the power of the staff was hardly affecting the evolutionary scales - as if they had outgrown their need of it. This he could not allow, for he was nowhere near ready to take over the planet. He reached out with his awareness and located the staff, and had it recovered. It was placed in his own fortress, and the evolution of the race began again. More powerful systems of science were created and it soon he believed he was ready enough to make a bid for power. However he had not bargained with the creativity of the House of Layton's sci-masters, and his bid for power was became a civil war that split the planet in to two peoples. He held the staff but could not use it to help him. It had done all it could for him. Then when he was about to crush his enemies after all the long years of fighting, she arrived and stopped him - albeit accidentally - decimating his forces. He could scarcely believe it that when he had come so close he was again denied power. But he was a patient creature, as the long years had forced him to be and he eventually learned her fighting techniques and devised a way to best her. He made another attempt to finish his enemies and then came the arrival of Goldfish and Geneva.
At first he thought that the universe was playing a cruel joke on him - that it was actively wanting his life to be a living hell - but he then saw it for what it was. He knew that his great adversary was great no longer, his powers diminished, almost gone. The universe had given him a gift, a chance for vengance on his enemy. He would kill him and take his wife and child for his own, and all their power would be his. He smiled a cruel smile. He would destroy this Dave Goldfish, and not even his family would remember him. But he had to wait until the birth of the child before he made a last bid for power, for if he failed then he would surely die.He was immortal, but not unkillable. He felt a chill at the thought. This time he would best his enemy. He would hesitate again, and plans had to be made.
The following morning, Dave met up with Team David. Revare looked up in shock at Dave's face. His eye was bruised and bloodshot.
"What happened?" he asked. Dave pulled him to one side.
"I was tickling Jo..."
"I don't want to know about your nocturnal habits."
"Shut up. Anyway, she shoved me back playfully, I lost my balance and fell off the bed, catching my eye on the table as I fell. I spent the rest of the night in Sick Bay, with concusion. Jo refused tyo heal me to 'teach me a lesson'." Revare smiled for a second as if he was fighting something and then started to laugh. "Oh, thanks a lot, pal," said Dave. Revare forced himself to stop laughing.
"Sorry. It's not really," he looked at Dave again, "funny." Then he lost control and started to laugh again. Later on patrols, Revare apologised again. The patrol had been quiet. In fact there was no attacks at all. It happened again the next day, and again. For a small time, there was a era of peace on Erata. Dave and Sapphire did become friends and she and Jo were even warming to each other due to their common bond of Dave. Then, when Dave was looking at the computers, trying to figure out what was going on he got a call.
"Dave to Sick Bay. Emergency," came Sapphire's voice
"What's going on?" he spoke in to the com pad.
"Chief, it's Jo. She gone in to labour."
"So what's the emergency?"
"Dave, there's been complications. We have a problem....."
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