Bishop belongs to Marvel. I don't know who originally came up with the skipping rhymns I used, but I got them from Darqstar, Ms Marvel, and Mice. Ms Marvel also supplied the future rhymn about the Emplates. The rest are mine.
March 1997
Darker Over Time
"Great big globs of
greasy, grimy gopher guts
mutilated monkey meat
little dirty birdy feet
french fried eyeballs
rolling down a dirty street
and I forgot my spoon..."but I got my straw!"
Bishop heard loud, obnoxious slurping sounds, followed by
giggles and one child's exclamations of *"That's gross!"* Bishop was inclined to
agree with the youngster, though he'd been forced to eat far worse foods as a child in
order to survive.
"Miss Lucy had a steamboat
The steamboat had a bell
Miss Lucy went to heaven
And the steam boat went to
Hell -O operator
Please get me number nine
And if you disconnect me,
I'll cut off your
Behind the frigerator
There lies a piece of glass
Miss Lucy sat upon it,
And cut her little
Ask me no more questions,
I'll tell you no more lies
The boys are in the bathroom
Zipping down their
Flies are in the city
The bees are in the park,
Miss Lucy and her boyfriend
are kissing in the DARK!"
There were more giggles and Bishop glanced over to where the three little girls who'd been singing played, two working the rope the third jumped over. It was still fairly early in the morning, so they were his only company in the park.
Not too surprisingly, it was his first time there. Normally, he would be patrolling the mansion grounds, but the events of Onslaught had left him feeling directionless. Logan suggested once he try living in the *now*, as opposed to the past or the future, so when he'd seen the godawful mess Hank made of the bathroom, he'd decided this now was a good time to try.
The girls were singing as they skipped again.
"The worms crawl in, the worms crawl out
they play penuckle upon your snout
they're here and there and everywhere
and all together they're gonna eat YOU!
Booooooooooo!"
Bishop blinked. He knew that song, or a variant of it, from when he was a small boy in his own time.
"The Emplates come, so get some stones
they'll suck the marrow right from your bones
they're here and there and everywhere
and all together they're gonna eat YOU!
Ewwwwwwwww!"
"That's disgusting!"
Seven year old Shard just grinned at her older brother and kept skipping, her white teeth gleaming against her brown skin. "No, it's not."
"Yes, it is," Bishop retorted stubbornly, though he kept swining the rope for her. The other end was tied to a broken pipe jutting out of some rubble while Shard skipped in the centre. It was a little boring playing skip rope with a girl, but they'd learned to not leave one another's side and he hadn't had any better ideas.
Her grin widened. "I know a lot worse, you know, so don't tempt me."
"Sugar and spice and everything nice
I got a boy who'd kiss me twice."
Bishop listened intently, captivated in spite of himself. He knew that song as well, or at least the song it'd become in his time.
"Blood and vice and hair with lice
Sell your soul or feed the mice."
The big man shook his head. He'd come out here to escape the constant reminders of his past, and instead they were being thrown in his face. A sing-song recollection of the hell his childhood had been, shown in the darkness that crept even into childrens' songs.
"Lincoln, Lincoln, I've been thinkin'
What the hell have you've been drinkin'?
Is it water? Is it wine?
Oh my god, it's turpentine!"
Bishop remembered even that song as being darker.
"Stinkin', slinkin', rotting, reekin'
Kill the flatscans 'cause they're thinkin'
That all mutants, they should die
And stare up sightless at the sky."
Bishop looked away towards the skyline, the cityscape intact now, but in ruins in his time. Nothing had made it to his world intact. All had been darkened and twisted by the nightmare they all lived in.
His lip twisted. Almost everything, that is. He could remember one little song...
"All the songs *you* know are gross!" Bishop yelled.
"Are not!" Shard yelled back.
"I'm inclined t' agree wit' y' frere, petite." They both looked up to see the Witness walk around the corner. Neither of them knew how old he was, or his real name, but he took fairly good care of them. They both longed for the day when their grandmother would return to claim them, though.
"Do you know any songs?" Shard challenged.
The old man smiled. "'Course, girl. You try dis one, neh?" And he began to sing in a surprisingly good tenor.
"Stay on the Sunny Side
Always on the Sunny Side
Stay on the sunny side of life
Feel love, not pain and you'll stay sane,
So stay on the sunny side of life!"
Bishop smiled. That had become Shard's favourite skipping song. It'd been his as well, as a survivor of a better time.
Suddenly, his head jerked up as he heard the girls singing the same song.
"Stay on the Sunny Side
Always on the Sunny Side
Stay on the sunny side of life
You'll feel the pain as we drive you insane,
So stay on the sunny side of life!"
Bishop reared back, eyes wide with shock as he listened to the original of his favourite song.
"It changed," he whispered, stunned. "My God..." He stared at the three girls. "It changed too."
The End