"The Second Danger Grotto Challenge:

KILL TRISTAN BRAWN!

Yeah, that's right. In honor of the announcement that Jay Faerber will be leaving Generation X as of issue #6two (February) I'm putting ou t a special challenge.

Kill that miserable Mary Sue that we all love to hate: Tristan Brawn. He's a Mary Sue in a professional comic. He's just like Wesley Crusher in Star Trek. And he deserves to die! So kill him. Creatively, mundanely, in a long or short story. Hell, have Jono snap and slaughter him, or have Paige remove his intestines through his nostrils. Whatever you like! Just make sure Brawn is dead at the end."

Oooh, and I do... :}

3 Deaths of Tristan Brawn

By Icka! M. Chif

But first, a quick disclaimer!: Marvel characters belong to Marvel. The plots belong to me. No permission, no money being made. We now return you to your regularly scheduled murders and mayhem.

Trip

Death #1

*Aw, bugger. * Jonothon Starsmore cursed as he saw the bit of light reflected on his hand as he moved a branch aside. His bandages were loose again. Some days it was like they had a mind of their own and just wouldn't stay tied.

He looked around, getting his bearings. He'd wandered away from the school, into the parts of the forest that people rarely came. Which is exactly why he'd come this way.

He debated for a moment on whether or not to head back to the school and bandage himself up in the medlab or just do it here. No one was around to see him... And it beat trying to sneak back without anyone seeing him.

He found a convent clearing and slipped out of his leather jacket. He hung it on a branch nearby and methodically began to un-wrap his face.

Much to his dismay, he discovered that the whole series of bandages had slipped as well and needed to be corrected. He mentally sighed, took off his shirt as well and started on the process of un-mummifying himself. He had enough bandages to make King Tut proud.

He had just got to the last one when he heard a noise. Someone moving quickly through the underbrush. He turned to see something in navy and yellow barrel right toward him. It stumbled and barreled into him.

That would have been fine. If he'd had his bandages on.

Instead, the flames that composed most of his upper half flared up, blinding him. He stepped back, trying to see over the light. What was going on?

The flames clamed down a second later and resumed their normal swirling and rumbling. Chamber blinked and looked around. The clearing was empty.

Nothing there. Had he imagined it?

Shrugging, he started the process of re-wrapping the bandages around him. Probably nothing to worry about.

He'd just finished with the torso and started to re-wrap his face when he heard something else in the brush. He quickly wrapped his jaw and turned to face it.

"Jono? Is that you?" An all to familiar southern accent called out from the bushes. Paige.

*Yeah. It's just me, Sunshine. * He said, relaxing his stance a bit. Just a bit. He didn't have to hide behind the bandages. However, she was still probably mad at him. Not that he blamed her, it was his fault.

She stepped out of the bushes, combing some twigs out of her hair with her fingers. She spotted him and smiled at him. "Hey, long time, no see."

*Yeah. Been busy, classes and such.* Not quite a lie, but not quite the truth either. *Wot you doing out here?*

"Just going for a walk, enjoying the quiet for once." She said, walking over. "You're showing through." She remarked, motioning to his face.

He hastily corrected that error, tightening the bandages around his neck and chin area. *Thanks.*

"Welcome. Care to walk back with me?" She offered.

If he'd had a heart, it probably would have stopped right there.

*Wot 'bout Tristan?* He asked as casually as possible, putting his jacket back on.

Paige blinked those large cornflower blue eyes at him innocently. "Who?"

Jono hesitated a second, recalling the object that had run into him earlier. Had that been-?

He quickly decided that there were somethings it was best not to ponder on. *Nevermind. Shall we-?* He asked with a small mock bow.

Paige smiled cheerfully at him as they headed back to the school, side by side.

Jonothon never noticed the small pile of ash where he'd been standing earlier.

Crash.

Death #two

*Knock knock*

tm

tm

tm

Crrreak

"Chief Authier! What are you doing here?"

"Hello, Jubilee. I need to talk to the Headmasters. Are they in?"

"Yeah, sure. Just a sec. Wanna come in?"

"Thank you."

***

"Attention, please. Chief Authier has some news I think concerns all of you."

"Good or bad?"

"Urm..."

"Ahem. There's no good way tae put this... I know yuir all guld friends of Tristan Brawn-"

"Tbbbt!"

"Yeah, Sure. Whatever."

"If you say so."

"AHEM! As I was sayin'... Chief Auger found Tristan Brawn early this morning-"

"He was missin'?"

"-in a car with Tracy Authier."

"Tracy? That l'l fink?"

"-Wearing each other's clothes."

"...."

"Tracy was a cross dresser? *Never* would have pegged her as one... Snicker."

"Not with that Clinton mask and all."

"Mask?"

"Never mind, Frosty. Hadta be there."

"Wha was Tristan doin' in Tracy's school uniform?"

"Apparently driving."

"I examined his room this morning and it appears this was something he did quite often."

"You're kidding."

"No."

"Bwhahahahaha!!!"

"Uh, No offense Cassidy, but how does this concern us exactly?"

"Well..."

"Their car had blown a tire and had an accident. Neither of them survived the crash."

~WHAAAA-HOOOOooo!~

"...."

~Uh, I mean, sorry to hear that...~

"So what is the bad news?"

"That was the bad news, Monet."

"Oh."

~You okay Sunshine?~

"Actually... I'm free! I'm FREE! THANK YOU!!! THERE IS A GAWD!!!"

~I'll take that as a 'yes'.~

"Would it be okay to throw a party, Mz. Frost?"

"That would be rather kind of you, throwing a wake."

"Whhooo! Yah! Par-ty!!! Ding! Dong! Tristan's dead! Tristan's DEAD!"

"That's not exactaly the kind of reaction I was expecting..."

"Let it go, lass. Just let it go."

"Sigh... Alright, fine. But no silly party hats!"

Splat.

Death #3

Dark.

His world was dark.

Despair.

Loneliness.

They were his only friends.

He was the outsider. No one liked him. They just hung out with him cuz they had no other alternative.

Pain.

Why did the world have to hurt so much?

He'd had it all.

Money.

Popularity.

It was gone now. All gone.

So why was he still here?

It wasn't fair.

Ever since the accident, he'd lost it all. His family, his friends, everything.

Maybe he should leave.

Permanently.

But how?

Slashing ones wrists was too slow. So much blood, someone could find him before he finished. No. That wouldn't work.

He didn't know how to tie a noose, so that was out.

Pills? No. Sides, the headmasters had all the prescription drugs locked up, including Tylenol.

No guns around here, so he couldn't just shoot himself and just how did one go about trying to drowned one's self?

It would be nice to fly away from all this and never return. He could hide away, start over.

Right. He'd be found sooner or later. There wasn't a place on earth he wouldn't be found.

The others made it look so easy, to fly. Everett and Monet. They were the lucky ones. He envied them, the ability to just leave this earth and soar up into the blue sky.

The sky. It was so blue. Bright as...

Paige's eyes.

Paige.

A bit of sunshine in his life.

But she wasn't his, was she?

No, she belonged to someone else.

She could never truly be his.

The sky looked so close, like he could just reach out and touch it.

So why couldn't he?

Suddenly, he knew what he had to do.

He wondered if angels looked anything like Paige.

***

Jono woke to the sound of something landing outside the window. He looked around, getting his bearing for a second, then sat up.

"Feel better?" Ms. Frost inquired calmly. He shrugged. That had to be one of the strangest sessions he'd ever had with the headmistress. Usually she tried to get him to concentrate away from those thoughts instead of on them.

*You find out what you wanted?* He inquired, rising.

"I believe so." She said, watching him with almost a pleased air. "Thank you Jono."

*Welcome.* He shrugged again and headed out the door. His head was ringing a bit and he wanted to go catch a nap before his next class.

Emma Frost watched her student leave, then leaned back in her chair silently wishing for an aspirin. It'd been a while since she'd used her abilities to channel emotions.

When she had said that she would do anything to protect GenerationX, her family, she had meant it.

Anything.

***

Ta clear up that last one, Tristan jumped off the roof of the school. Splat.

Heh heh heh.

Bonus Death:

Tristan Brawn staggered into the rec room of the school, his hand on his throat in the classic sign of choking as his face turned blue. His fellow students, the mutant team he pestered known as GenerationX glanced up as he suddenly fell to the floor. He twitched a few times, then lay still, dead as a doornail. Dead quiet.

Monet broke the silence. "Anyone for a game of Yatzee?"

It was generally agreed that was a good idea and they pursued that course of action without any more thought on the incident.