Forgotten - Chapter 1 - Instinct
At this point it seems a little silly to say I don't own them, doesn't it? I mean, we all know that right? Yeah, I don't own any Marvel characters. My own original ones are mine tho, so if you don't recognize them they're probably mine. This means Vivo and Leah :)
Uhhh, warnings are that they're violence and language. This idea just came to me and I'm kind of running with it so... I'm sure there will be more later on and more warnings to go with it :3 Please do enjoy...
He hadn't heard a sound quite like it… leastwise not for a long, long time. It stopped him from getting into the car that was patiently waiting for him at the curb. With his enhanced senses, he knew its origin was probably far away. But it tugged at something.. something he couldn't quite identify. Whatever it was, it ran deep. It wasn't a passing feeling or simple thought, no… this was instinct.
"Tooth?" Mortimer's call from the car was partially irritated but mostly questioning.
He growled and scanned the crowded sidewalk. Where the hell was it coming from? "Something I gotta check out." He muttered.
"Want me to call Myst?" He was referring to their 'Meeting' with Mystique. The cure was nearly out of her system and she was only pretending to be completely human at this point. It wouldn't be long before Magneto figured that out and started reassembling the Brotherhood. While he and Toad had managed to keep themselves busy yet under the radar, there were old debts to be considered. Things to take into account that just hadn't been settled. And as much as he hated to admit it, Erik and Mystique had been among the few he would call friends.
There it was again! He began walking briskly in the direction it had come from. Just like before, it was almost a chirp but too powerful and with a hint of growl. No way a bird could make that sort of noise. He found the 'source' as he turned the second block. There was a small coffee shop just as you turned the corner… and a girl was kicking the ass of some guy. She was letting him have a few empty swings, anyone with experience could see that much… but ultimately, she was dominating the fight. She landed three blows to his midsection, causing him double over, and then hopping away, her stance at the ready.
He pegged her as younger than she looked. Maybe 18 or 19… but she could easily pass as late 20's maybe even early 30's. She had long wavy hair, sandy to caramel blond. Her facial features were strong and sharp, her eyes almost orangey brown. Her skin was tanned, and he'd wager she was just at or over six feet tall. Probably what helped her to appear so much older was her height and muscle mass. It wasn't that she didn't have feminine curves…it's just that those curves were wrapped up in powerful muscle. But what gave away her status as 'girl' and not 'woman' was the burgundy and gray plaid pleated skirt and button down white shirt she was wearing; a school uniform maybe?
Most of the people around them were trying to push by and be on their way, ignoring the violence on the sidewalk. But many had gathered around in a large circle to watch and give these two room. One girl, he noticed, even had one of those tiny digital camcorders.
The jock she'd been fighting had caught his breath. He took a deep breath, rising to full height to swing at her. She made the noise he'd heard before she moved. He wondered if he heard it only when her attacker was coming at her… She rotated forward on one foot and kicked him squarely in the chest, which sent him flying back onto the brick wall before tumbling to the pavement below. She left her leg in its erect position for a moment, which showed that she was wearing exercise shorts underneath her skirt (smart girl), before practically twirling back into her fighting stance. Her movements were actually graceful… which was out of place with such a large frame. It almost seemed like a dance routine as opposed to martial arts. He wondered where she got her training.
She slowly sauntered forward, and crouching low, grabbed the man's belt buckle. She hauled him up into the air above her as she stood up. He somehow maintained the pathetic fetal position he'd been in while on the ground, but now, as she held him up, his face was just above hers.
"We are not going to have this conversation again." She said, a growl tinting her words. Now he could see the sharp teeth and elongated incisors and canines at the corners of her mouth…pretty much like his own teeth. Her teeth weren't as big as his, but they looked pretty large in that feminine mouth. They were strange and out of place next to the soft lips painted with a hint of pale pink lipgloss. He wondered momentarily if she practiced ways to keep them less noticeable. "Right?" she growled loudly, snapping him out of his thoughts. The guy nodded swiftly, whimpering slightly as he did so. "Good." She murmured, sounding like a normal girl. So normal it seemed odd. So the growling was something she'd learned to control. She carefully lowered him until he was placed on a bench outside the coffee shop. The crowd seemed to heave a collective sigh of relief.
"You know, when they say that you 'slay the guys' it doesn't actually mean you have to slay them." The comment came from the petite brown haired girl who was holding the camera. The blond bruiser turned to her and smiled, though not as widely as she perhaps could have - no doubt to hide the sharp teeth.
"Tell that to the guys that keep bullying me." She chuckled. The brunette with the camcorder practically danced to the blond's side as the blond walked over to the nook where the door to the coffee shop was and picked up a burgundy vest that matched her skirt. He could've laughed at the sight of them. The blond all height and muscle, and the brunette looking even more tiny than she actually was standing next to her. The blond put her vest on quickly, buttoning the buttons so hastily he almost didn't notice the claw-like nails on her fingers. She bent down and picked up the large pink backpack that was under the vest. "What're the chances my mom wont see this?" she asked, taking the camcorder from the girl and rotating it, so that she and the other girl were now in the shot together.
Her companion pretended to think for a moment. "Hm. Probably slim to nil, considering she watches your channel."
"This doesn't count towards our outing, you know. You still owe me sushi." The blond said.
The other girl chuckled as the two continued walking down the street. "Please! As if I'd renege on sushi!" She said. "You're not the only one who loves it."
"Raw fish. All part of this balanced diet." The blond said into the camera.
"You said it, Vivo's." The brunette cheered, practically skipping beside her friend. He watched their backs as they continued down the sidewalk. Perhaps the brunette was 'skipping' to keep up with the blond's long strides. Either way it seemed annoying.
"Uh, Tooth?" Toad was standing next to him. He hadn't really noticed.
"What?" Sabertooth growled.
"Well…we could still make that meeting." Toad was saying
"In a minute." He grumbled, walking towards the entrance of the coffee house. The sign above it said 'Mei's Coffee & Cakes', but he was less interested in the decor and more interested in the security cameras he'd noticed.
The counter was the first thing you saw when entering the building. It supported the cash register before curving back to a large glass case full of pastries, cookies and pies. Luckily it was almost 4 in the afternoon, and there were only three people sitting at one of the tables near the entrance.
The girl at the counter offered him a sweet smile as he and Toad entered. "Hi, welcome to Mei's." She said sweetly.
"Well, hello yourself." Mortimer said, leaning on the counter and offering her a smile in return. Victor sighed, shaking his head slightly. Mortimer may have been twice this girl's age, and he was flirting with her? That, or he just wanted to freak her out. The Toad's smile wasn't fearsome like Sabertooth's, but his little stubby teeth were unnerving.
Oddly enough, the blond girl at the counter only smiled back at him. If she was uncomfortable or frightened she was hiding it well. He couldn't smell fear on her at all. Her ice-blue eyes even twinkled back at them. She brushed a white-blond curl away from her face before continuing. "What can I get for you?" Mortimer's eyebrows rose in slight surprise. He had expected her to be bothered by him. Even Victor was a little surprised she was handling the two more-than-obvious Mutants in front of her so well.
"You have security cameras outside for the sidewalk." Victor spoke before Mortimer could. "Do they work?"
She blinked at him. "Yes, of course." She said.
"Can I get a copy of the feed?" He asked.
She cocked her head to the side. "That's an unusual request." She announced. "It's not something I can do, but I can get my manager out here for you."
"I'd be much obliged." Victor said. This was the all-business side of him, the part that helped to balance out Sabertooth, the animal. The girl nodded and turned to go back through the door leading to the kitchen. After a few minutes she was back, a curvy brunette right behind her. The woman's eyes landed on him and widened momentarily before she managed to control her face. Victor almost smiled at her reaction. Almost because the scent she'd given off wasn't quite fear. It was similar, but not the same. She was startled, but not frightened by him. That… was odd.
"How can I help you, gentlemen?" She asked, and Mortimer snorted to himself.
"We just observed a fight right outside your shop. I was hoping to get the feed from your surveillance cameras to confirm the identity of the attackers."
"Was someone fighting with Vivo's again?" This question came from the girl who'd been at the counter.
"Vivo's?" Mortimer asked, clearly baffled by the name.
She nodded, her curls bouncing slightly. "Vivianne's always being bullied—" she started to say.
"Molly." The tone in her manager's voice was as firm as a mother scolding a rebellious child. "Go wipe down the tables."
'Molly' stared at her manager for a moment, her blue eyes wide and shocked. She turned them to Victor and Mortimer with a blush of embarrassment before nodding and softly murmuring. "Yes, Ma'am."
Once Molly had left them, Mortimer spoke up. "I'm not sure that was entirely necessary." He grumbled.
"Are you with the police or some legal offices?" The manager asked, crossing her arms tightly.
"No." Victor said.
"FBI? CIA?" she continued, her hazel eyes burning a hole through him.
"Absolutely not." Victor said almost chuckling.
"SHIELD?" He froze slightly, and her eyes narrowed at him. "You're with SHIELD?"
"No…" Victor murmured. "Not for a very long time." She nodded slowly.
"And if you were with Hydra, you wouldn't be asking for the surveillance." She said, almost to herself. Victor wondered who this woman was to be so well informed about so many 'secret' organizations. She spoke before he could ask. "And for what reason should I give you what you're asking for?" she said shrewdly. "You're not with any government agency, you obviously don't have a warrant, you're not with any system of authority, and you're asking for something that will violate certain constitutional rights I shouldn't have to name. I'm not trying to be rude, but I have no reason to accommodate you. Hell, I don't even know who you are."
"Victor Creed, President and CEO of Creed Industries."
"Well, Mr. Greed."
"Creed." He growled.
"Mr. Creed." She said with a false smile before continuing. "Unless you're suddenly interested in investing in a chain of coffee houses, I really can't imagine that we have much to discuss." His name and company were well known, but they hadn't impressed her in the slightest.
"You know the girl I'm talkin' about, don't you?" Victor asked, holding onto his composure with both clawed hands.
"Do you know the girl you're talkin' about?" She asked.
"Not yet." He said, this time giving her a false smile. And it was her turn to keep her composure.
"This conversation is over." She said at last, turning to walk into the back. "See yourselves out, Gentlemen." She called over her shoulder, using heavy sarcasm on 'gentlemen'.
"That was a big friggin waste of time." Mortimer said. "I dunno what you were tryin' to accomplish, mate, but I'm guessin' we're not gonna have much luck here." He sighed. "We can still make it to that meeting."
"One more minute." Victor said turning to leave the shop.
The jock that the girl - Vivianne - had been fighting was just getting himself into a standing position. Victor put a heavy hand on his shoulder.
"Sit down." He growled.
"Aw man, common." The guy whined, wincing as he sat down.
"Do you know the girl who kicked your ass just now?" Victor asked.
"Vivianne Driscol? Yeah, of course. She's the freakin' BMOC." He spat.
"How can a chick be the big man on campus?" Mortimer asked.
"Not 'Man'. 'Mutant'." The guy corrected. "Big Mutant on Campus." He snorted. "Even if it weren't for her stupid vlog, everyone on campus would know her. Freakin track and field star. Not to mention self-proclaimed campus police."
"Vlog?" Victor asked, his lip curling slightly. The guy swallowed hard at the sight of his teeth. Good.
"Yeah… video log, man." The guy muttered. "She's got a channel up on YouTube where she bitches and moans about her life."
"Why were you fighting with her anyway?" Mortimer asked.
"She called my girl a snobby whore in her last video." The guy said hotly.
"Is she?" Victor asked.
"Hey, fuck you, man." Victor smiled, putting more pressure on the guy's shoulder and making him nearly cry out in pain. "Alright, alright!" He said, and Victor eased up a bit.
Victor dropped his voice low and rumbly. "Listen. You're going to tell me everything I need to know about that girl. And then you and I will never have to have another conversation again." He said. "Right?"
The guy nodded, his eyes wide. Ah, now there was the smell of fear.
"You're late." Mystique grumbled, not bothering to rise from the table she was seated at.
"Yeah. We encountered an…incident… on the way." Victor said, not bothering to elaborate.
"What kind of 'incident'?" Mystique questioned, not about to let him slide out of this one. She'd gone through a lot of trouble to make sure the humans who were 'following up' with her 'rehab' wouldn't know she was meeting with her old comrades. If Toad and Sabertooth thought they were going to let her sit and squirm for nothing, they were wrong.
"Mutant girl taking care of business on the sidewalk." Mortimer said, earning a glare from Victor. "What?" he asked, noticing said glare.
"A street walker?" Mystique asked.
"Gawd no." Victor grumbled. "Just a school kid. A guy had been pushing her too hard and she pushed back. He was not prepared, let me tell you."
"Interesting." Mystique said, and indeed she was interested. "But not nearly enough to distract you." She continued.
"She's feral, like him."
"Mortimer, so help me." Victor growled.
"What?" Mortimer asked, slightly offended. "She was."
"Oh, I see. You don't want me to know about this feral mutant girl." Mystique said with a smirk. "Has the mighty Sabertooth found a mate?" she cooed.
"What the—Do you hear yerself?" He asked, more than irked at her inference. "Didn't ya hear me say she's a school kid? What do I want with a kid?"
"Uh, Mate, everyone's a kid compared to you." Mortimer reminded.
"If we weren't in a sophisticated restaurant, I would smack those ugly teeth right outta yer mouth." Victor growled, barely managing to keep his hold on Sabertooth. For some reason the animal had taken an interest in the girl, but it wasn't what Mystique had hinted at. "I don't do girls, I do women."
"She looked fairly mature to me." Mortimer reminded.
"She's still a teenager." Victor grumbled. He glared at Mystique, who up until this point was watching the two of them argue with some satisfaction. "Did you want something?" He asked her. "Other than to piss me off?"
Her smile straightened itself slightly. "Have either of you heard from Magneto?" she asked quietly.
"Not as of yet." Mortimer said and Victor only nodded.
"He hasn't contacted me either." Mystique said, irritation brimming under her well manicured facade.
"You still shacked up with the fire bug?" Victor asked.
"We are not 'shacked up'." She said, making a show of eyeing the silverware.
"You know what I meant."
"Yes. We are still roommates."
"Dunno why he puts up with your crap."
"Because I pay half the rent, and there are few who would put up with his crap."
"Nice."
"Besides, we expected to hear from our fearless leader." She grumbled. "I had a feeling he might not want to contact me, considering how we last parted…" she sighed. "But he would most certainly contact Pyro."
"You know that ain't your fault, right?" Mortimer asked. "You had to do what you had to do in order to survive. If you hadn't entered the rehab program, your not-so-blue ass woulda been hauled into jail, and then you wouldn't've been able to rejoin the Brotherhood whenever you got your powers back."
After recovering from being struck by lightning, Mortimer had had enough of 'freedom fighting'. Mostly, it was depression from failing. He'd returned to something safer and less unpredictable - wetwork. He preferred for most people to believe he was dead, not too unlike Victor. Being off the radar had its advantages. Still… doing nothing while Erik and Myst were constantly risking their lives for their beliefs? That smarted a little more than the lighting had.
Mystique smiled. "I know."
"Erik knows that too…" Victor murmured.
Mystique looked doubtful. "I hope so."
"He ain't the only one that has a right to be miffed." Mortimer grumbled. "I can't believe he left you like that."
"Without my powers I would've been little more than a liability—" Mystique began.
"That ain't what I'm talkin' about."
"Toad's right, Myst." Victor said. "He could've kept you with him long enough to make sure you were safe before he left on his crusade."
Mystique was grinding her molars slightly. "I intend to have a long conversation with him whenever I can…I'm fairly certain that I can keep up my end of the conversation." Her eyes shinned with humor before she continued. "Which is probably why the old man has put off contacting me for so long."
Victor chuckled.
"I wouldn't want to face any woman scorned, much less you." Mortimer said with a smirk.
Mystique smiled. "Speaking of 'any woman', we do have a third roommate. And she is amazing."
"She, huh?" Victor said. "What's she do?"
Mystique nodded. "It's not what she does, at least it's not her abilities, that are amazing. It's the fact that she handles me and Pyro so well, while she manages to cook and keep house for us."
"That is amazing." Mortimer said, pretending to be in awe of such a task.
Mystique chuckled. "Now I've told you my news, why don't you tell me about this mutant you discovered?"
Victor shook his head. "Not a chance."
Mystique's eyebrows rose in interest. "What makes her so special?"
Victor sighed. "She was making this noise… I think it was like…a call…." He shook his head. "I heard her two blocks away, and it was something that hit my instincts so hard, I couldn't ignore it."
"He made a bee line for her like he was on a hunt." Mortimer agreed.
"I don't know if there is anything special about her. Maybe it's just that we're both similar animals…" He looked to Mystique. "Something in me wants to protect her.. Fiercely. I aim ta find out why."
Well? Like? Hate? Did I make mistakes or do a good job? Leave me a comment :) Because it's just a nice thing to do...
Much 3,
Peace Out,
MsMoon
