Crash by Eve-the-Charlotte
Pairings: Mentions some one-sided Ray/Arcade, one-sided Ray/Alex, and Alex/Paige.
Fourth in my X-Men Evo series! I really need to think up a title for the little pocket universe this takes place in. Anyways, I totally 3 (heart, for those who don't understand geek-speak) Arcade and wish someone would post at least one story about him in the XME fandom. Seriously, the guy needs more love. And Paige is Sam Guthrie's sister from comic-verse. Anyways, read on!
His parents had sent him to a psychiatrist for a good reason, they said. He needed help; he needed to get over that disturbing thing for that, that mutant. The lady they sent him to was named Dr. Moria McTaggert, a well-known doctor with many prestigious awards and various Ph.D.'s. She specialized in mutants, so, his parents figured, since the root of their son's problem was a mutants, she'd be able to help, right? Boy, if they only knew!
She first asked why he loved Ray Crisp. She didn't sugarcoat the question, but she wasn't harsh either. This made Archie Weber, known to everyone as Arcade, sit up and pay attention. He told her about it all; knowing that she would get him to tell it all anyways, so might as well take the initiative, as his father always said. He told her about the party, where they had met, how the man looked so on the edge, too beautiful for words. How the video game had a character that looked just like him, except even more handsome than real life. How he was later escorted off the premises in a taxi cab, wishing he could stay and learn the handsome man's name. How delighted he was when the man, Ray, had suddenly shown up in his computer class and then sat right next to him. How happy he was to help the two-tone haired man catch up in class. How amazed he was when he invited him to sit with him and his friends at lunch, for no one had ever done that before, not even the other computer geeks. How he was in love.
Then, he spoke of how betrayed he was at first when the mutants were outed. How angry he was at his new friends and crush for lying to him. How he later came to terms with it, and his crush on Ray, alias Berzerker, had grown into obsession. How he hung around the mansion all the time now, making sure to keep out of others' ways, but still keeping Ray in his sights. How he panicked he was when Ray had returned, bloody and battered, after the fight with Apokolyps and his minions.
Finally, Arcade told of how crushed he was when Ray stared at Alex Summers, alias Havok, a little too long. How he was hurt when Ray rescheduled their meetings to go to the beach with Alex, even though Ray hated the beach! How he was torn between happy and miserable as he watched Ray watched Alex fall for one of the newer recruits, Paige. How he felt as he hacked into the computer mainframe of the House that Xavier Built to spread the ugly rumor that Ray had the hots for Evan Daniels. How he felt it was necessary that he made sure Ray and Alex would never be, so he would have no competition, because he knew he would lose. How he felt like ripping his skin apart, like Paige did, when Ray confronted him about it, knowing it was him who did it. How he much anguish he felt when he confessed and Ray spat at him, shouting that he would never forgive him for what he did. How he felt part of him die as Ray walked away.
At the end of the tale, Dr. Moria McTaggert simply laid a hand on his shoulder, that she knew what he was feeling, for she went through something similar when she was younger. He believed her. She then pointed out that, throughout the telling, various electronic devices flickered off and on and her stapler fell apart and rebuilt itself during the end of the tale. She recommended he come to her laboratory at Muir Island, off the northern coast of Scotland, for studying his abilities and learning to put them to good use.
He immediately said yes. His life in Bayville was over anyways, so why not?
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