by Kitty
DISCLAIMER: Nobody here is mine, I didn�t even make any of �em up. They all
belong to Marvel, Stan, Joe, Chris, and the rest of the gang. As you can tell
from where you are, this is fanfiction, it never happened. (And, yes, I AM aware
that Illyana is dead. So sue me.)
SUMMARY: Careful! If you didn�t read UNCANNY X-MEN #390, go no farther!
Something big happens�which I won�t accidentally give away here. Anyway, this
doesn�t really take place in the continuum anywhere, but kind of in between said
issue and One Tin Soldier Rides Away, #110, and focuses on Illyana (who, yes, I
do know is dead).
Listen, children,
to a story,
that was written
long ago,
about a kingdom,
on a mountain,
and the valley
folk below.
On the mountain,
was a treasure,
buried deep
beneath the stone.
And the valley
people swore
they'd have it
for their very own.
Go ahead and hate your neighbor,
go ahead and cheat a friend,
do it in the name of heaven
you can justify it in the end.
There won�t be any trumpets blowing
come the Judgement Day
on that bloody morning afternoon
One Tin Soldier Rides Away.
My name is Illyana Rasputin. My big brother is Piotr�Colossus. He�s what people
call "homo superior"�mutants. Lots of people are afraid of mutants. But they�ve
never met my brother. Cause if they had they wouldn�t be afraid any more.
Because my brother is a hero , he�s one of the good guys. I was never scared,
because I always knew that he would be there to take care of me, to protect me.
A great big knight in shinning armor that would never, ever let anything bad
happen to me, to anybody, if he could ever do anything to stop it. Ever. And he
did, with the X-Men. He saved everybody, the whole world, over and over and over
again. Why? Because he�s a hero. It doesn�t matter if anybody ever said thank
you. He said you�re welcome, anyway. Because that�s what people like him did,
that�s what heroes did.
When Professor Xavier came halfway around the world to our home in Siberia, he
didn�t come to find just some little toy soldier, he came to find my brother.
The hero. He knew that my brother would help him save the world, because that�s
what heroes did. The Professor talked with papa and Piotr, and even though Piotr
wanted to stay, he didn�t. He went because he could help people, because there
were people who needed help, and he could save them. Because that�s what heroes
did. They risked everything to save people they had never met, who probably
wouldn�t even say thank you, but needed help all the same.
And every now and then, that risking everything caught up with even the bravest
heroes.
So the people
of the valley,
sent a message
up the hill,
asking for the
buried treasure
tons of gold
for which they'd kill.
Came an answer
from the kingdom:
With our brothers
we will share
all the secrets
of our mountain,
all the riches
buried there.
And yesterday, that risk caught up with my brother. Turns out that Dr.
McCoy�Beast, another X-Man�had found the cure for t he Legacy virus. That�s what
killed me. It�s this disease that only affects mutants, that basically turns
their own power against them and it consumes them. Piotr was ecstatic�I guess he
always kind of blamed himself for my death. If there was a cure, that would mean
that nobody else would ever have to die the way I had. I guess it was a way to
give my death a reason that he could understand. In any case, it would mean that
I wouldn�t really have died "in vain"� But then they found the catch. Stryfe,
this madman who had created the Legacy Virus, had made a cure that would require
the death of somebody. Beast was crushed, but my brother�my brother wouldn�t
stand for it. He couldn�t wait for even on more hour while somebody else was
dying from the disease, not if there was a way�any way�for him to stop it. Like
I said, he�s a hero. And sometimes, a hero has to make sacrifices to save a lot
of other people. And they have to take risks, risks that other people wouldn�t
understand. Sacrifices that would leave them gaping in confusion and� Well,
that�s what my brother did. He made a sacrifice. The cure needed somebody to die
for it to work. That�s what my brother gave it. It took a life, so he gave it
his.
Now the valley
cried with anger
mount your horses
draw your sword.
And they killed
the mountain people
so they won their
just reward.
Now they stood
beside the treasure
on the mountain
dark and red.
Turned the stone and
looked beneath it.
Peace on Earth
was all it said.
Now my brother is coming home. I can see him, through the snowstorm. A brilliant
knight in shinning armor. A hero. I always knew that he�d always protect me from
everything. And the one thing that he couldn�t protect me from�? He just found
out how to. Everyone will classify my brother�s action as heroic, of course.
They just don�t know how heroic it really is. I can hear him now, calling.
Snowflake, he says happily, I am coming home. I can see his friends, Kitty,
Beast, Professor Xavier, as they all watch the one tin soldier ride away�
