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... no, someONE... amazing. They called me LASH. I had powerful friends that I fought alongside. They were actually more than just my friends... they were my family. We had adventures and we had fun. We celebrated so many 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. Really, though, isn't that the way that any good relationship should start? 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 when they exchanged their own vows. 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. My friends and I just kind of did our own thing, thinking that, like any other bad guy, he would just be exposed and brought down like all 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 ad influence, we felt blindsided. We were unable to act.

It didn't help when I lost the power of the Dragon. I still don't know why it happened. That's how life is, sometimes... things get messy. Unresolved. It was oddly a blessing in disguise. I was able to settle down, give up my colorful adventures and have two beautiful children with my husband named Aaron and Mindy. Things were already getting bad at this point: registration was becoming tougher, a ban for mutants was on the horizon and a general distrust was in the air. Sparrowhawk, the leader of the Protectors, went missing. It seemed to start a long line of bizarre events that wiped out most of their active roster. It wasn't just the Protectors, either. Teams all across America were finding themselves disbanded. The Progeny even quietly dissolved, though a few of its members had already moved on to by Protectors themselves. I was sad to see it finally pass into the night, but honestly few outside a small circle mourned the loss.

Erin, who was easily my best friend in earlier years, grew increasingly distant. Sid and her had... problems. Big problems. What happened to their own child, Sydney, changed their lives forever. It changed who they were. I lost my two best friends almost overnight. Sidney felt that his problems were solved only at the bottom of a bottle and Erin just lost faith in everything. I last saw Sidney, screaming and drunk. Erin just became possessed to fight anything and everyone in her path. I pray for them. I hope that they will find some happiness in this damn bleak world but I know in my heart nothing has changed. I love them and miss them greatly.

Who I miss most is Ollie. The anti-mutant movement got the public in a panic. Mob mentality just took over the nation. My amazing, stubborn and selfless husband; 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. I just try to hold on to 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 I tell and retell my stories. Wonderful, fantastic stories. 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 were. Stories where the good guys always won. When my children finally go to sleep, I look at them for what feels like hours. I'm afraid that they will end up like their father. Mutants. I'm frightened that they will be taken away and God knows what will happen to them. I could never let them know that. It's the stories that keep me going.

I lay in bed afterwards, alone, and wonder 'what if'. My heart always tells me something is wrong. That this wasn't supposed to happen. I wonder if this is the world we should have inherited. I wonder if things will ever be better.

And sometimes, I just wonder.