ME(the REclaimer): Guess what? I OWN THE X-MEN!!! Yes, that's right. I've written over a hundred comics, directed two movies, and have even made a cartoon for it all. Yup, and all at the age of 14!
(the DISclaimer): Actually, that's not really true. For those of you who have read my worthless crap before, you know that was sarcasm. I hopeâ. If you didn'tâ then I am truly worried about you. Truly. Very concernedâ.
For those of you foolish people who HAVEN'T read my other stuff, might I recommend "Pigs on Wheels?" It's a stupid thing of mine that is really, really, really, really long. And it's not even halfway done yet. Ok, it's really not THAT long, but it took me forever to write it. I'm one of those weird people who get halfway through a chapter, decide they don't like it and start all over. JOIN THE CLUB!!! I'm sure I'm not the only person who does that! Just think, if I could write it right the first time, I would get chapters in every 2 or 3 daysâ.
But I don't.
Oh, wellâ.
I do own Felix, Lloyd, Paul, and Colleen. I also own the big, badass bad guy, Seth/Phantom. DON'T STEAL THEM UNLESS GIVEN SPECIAL PERMISSION!!! Not that they're really worth stealing anywayâ.
But enough about me, let's talk about you. How's it hangin' manâ womanâ thingâ whatever the hell you areâ. You come here often? ((Wink, wink. Nudge, nudge.))
Just kidding. I'm not like that. âOr am I? I don't really know. Do you?
Ok, I'm sure you guys are about this close to killing me. ((Holds finger and thumb a centimeter away from each other.)) So I'll get on with the story.
But first, just let me say: R&R. I'm sure you hear that all the time, but did you know that 2/3 of the people who read a fic don't even review for it! It's very frustrating. I'm not writing another chapter until I get 5 reviews. So remember, I've taken hours, days, and weeks out of my life to write this thing for you, so I'm sure that you can find five minutes in yours to type out a decent review for me. It's your duty as a reader. Tell me what you like, tell me what you hate. I realize now that only 1/8 of the people reading this fic have actually read my rant. Well if you're part of that small fraction, good for you. We'll get along just fine.
And now, the moment we've all been waiting for:
Chapter 1: More than just a dream ((OMG! I gave the chapter a name!!))
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Felix
I breathed in the fresh smell of the outdoors. The smell of freedom. The smell of carefree bliss. I edged forward, through the tangled mess of leaves and twigs. Silent as a mouse.
No. Not a mouse.
A cat. That's a kind of silence, nothing, not even the quietest mouse can match. It's beyond silence. It's invisibility. I could go anywhere I wanted to, and no one would ever know I was there. That's Cat.
But I wasn't alone.
I opened my mouth to taste the air. I could smell the visitor.
Mouse.
I padded around the base of a tree. I could see it. I could smell it. I could hear its small heart beating against its chest.
It wouldn't be beating for long.
Because it is Mouse. And I am Cat.
I stepped closer. Closer again.
I was within pouncing distance. I flexed my claws in and out, in and out. I crouched. Wriggled my haunches to prepare for the finishing blow. I coiled my muscles like springs and—
BEEP-BEEP. BEEP-BEEP.
NO!
My dream dissolved in front of me and I opened my eyes to face the real world. Ah. Reality.
I hate it.
The dream had been coming to me, haunting me, for the past two weeks. I'd been having the same one every other night, and each time my prey escaped. It's that unsettling feeling you get when you can see your real desire right in front of you, but you find yourself unable to attain it. It messes with the mind and discourages the heart.
I can't handle that.
I made my way to the bathroom and ran into Lloyd. "Good morning," he said cheerfully. "I see someone forgot to get dressed." He raised an eyebrow. "Or is this a new fad?"
I looked down at myself and saw he was right. I forgot to put clothes on. I grunted. I don't function early in the morning.
"Don't worry about," he chuckled. "I'm sure the girls at school would love to look at your naked body." And he walked down the stairs laughing.
For a while I just stood there, thinking about my dream. Then I remembered that going to school nude would be very poor taste, so I went back to my room and slowly put on some clothes.
I found my way to the kitchen and found my twin brother drinking coffee. My baby brother, Paul, was at the table playing with his cereal.
"LIX!" he squealed. "Watch!" He threw a cheerio at Lloyd and hit him square in the head.
"Hey, man!" Lloyd yelled. "Watch it!" He continued to drink his coffee, but kept an eye glued to Paul. Just in case.
"Good morning, Felix," Mom greeted me as she walked into the room. "Any trouble waking up?"
"No," I yawned.
"Good. Now remember," she said. "I need you boys home to watch Paul while your father and I go to that dinner party his boss is throwing. We won't be home today, got it?"
"Sure Mom," Lloyd said as another cheerio was hurled at him.
"I want Paul in bed by eight-thirty," she continued. "No later! If he gives you any trouble—"
"Come on Mom," Lloyd whined. "We're seventeen. I think we can handle a four-year-old."
She sighed. "I know you can." She kissed Paul's forehead. "Goodbye boys, I'm off to work."
I waved goodbye to her as she left the room. When I looked back at my brother I saw he was offering me some coffee. "Want some?"
"I have to." Coffee makes me tick. Gets me going. It's what my engines run on. Without my coffee in the morning I'm a wreck! I gulped it down.
"Here," he said while tossing me the car keys. "You drive." He took Paul's cereal away from him, despite his screams in protest. "It's time to take you to school," Lloyd explained. "You can have more later."
I walked out the front door, Lloyd behind me, and Paul behind him, still whining about not finishing his breakfast. It was like that all the way to his school. I guess that's just how little kids are. But I'm sure I never acted like that when I was his age. Lloyd maybe, but not me. I've always been the mature one.
After we dropped off Paul we raced over to our school. I mean really raced. We have five minutes to get to a school ten miles away while everyone else around us goes twenty-five miles an hour! God, this dropping Paul off, picking Paul up thing drives me crazy! I wish Mom could do it herself! We only walk out the door five minutes after she does!
"Late again," Lloyd informed me.
"No? Really?" I asked him sarcastically.
He didn't respond.
We took our time getting into our lockers. What's the point of rushing? We're already late. Can't get any later than late can you?
And, as expected, I was late for my English class. And, as expected, I was rewarded with another detention. I don't doubt that Lloyd met with the same fate.
But to us, detentions don't matter, because we need to leave anyway to pick up Paul anyway. So really, it kind of defeats the purpose doesn't it? You'd think these teachers would get that after the first few, "Can we be excused? We need to pick our brother up from school"s, but no. They can't seem to understand that. So we remind them. Constantly.
And so, as planned, we excused ourselves from detention and left to snag Paul.
But by doing so, we often find ourselves running into our own Pre-School teacher (and now Paul's) Mrs. Barnes.
And she likes to talk.
"Oh! Look at you two! You've both gotten sooooo big!" She gave us each a huge hug. "I'm so glad to finally see you again!"
What? We were just here yesterday?
Lloyd gave me a weird look. Apparently he was thinking the same thing.
Behind my old teacher I could see Paul playing around on the floor with his other little four-year-old friends.
After telling us about her life the older woman decided to discuss Paul's. "I wanted to talk to you boys about Paul. He hasn't been himself lately."
"Well he's four," I told her. "He's just being weird like everyone else."
Lloyd snickered beside me, but Mrs. Barnes didn't find it funny. She fixed me with a stern look and Lloyd stopped laughing. I'm not joking," she said firmly. "He's been falling asleep in class, he's been" She paused. "Talking to snakes outside—"
"Talking to what!?!" Lloyd yelled. He doesn't care for snakes. "That's not right!"
"I'm sure he's just pretending," I told him. "Snakes can't talk."
Mrs. Barnes looked unconvinced. "Would you talk to him for me? You two influence him a lot. He'll listen to you."
Fine. I'll talk to him. But I still think he's just being a normal, weird four-year-old boy.
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Felix
"âSo what you're saying is, the snake came to you."
"Uh-huh."
"And then he—"
"SHE!"
"Told you that you were 'special?'"
"YES!"
"Special"? Special how? God, trying to talk to a kid who's thirteen years younger than you is a pain. He won't tell me how he talked to this snake, just that he did.
Ok, I know it's crazy, but I've been feeling like the same thing's going on with me. No, I don't talk to snakes, butâ.
I hear voices. Little voices. Not clear really, just that faint whisper. Were you can't sort the words out, you just know that something's having a conversation I guess. It happens sometimes when I go to Mac's house. He's got all these cats—five of them, I'm so jealous! Last year Mom and Dad told us we could finally get a pet. I've always been a cat person, so naturally, I asked for a cat. But Lloyd's a dog person, so we clashed on that. Mom and Dad got pissed because we couldn't agree on something, so they let Paul choose.
Now, thanks to Paul, we have a pet hamster.
Lucky us.
I pulled into the driveway. Lloyd jumped out of the car while it was still moving, and Paul almost did the same. I stopped him. The last thing I need is my little brother splattered all over the driveway. Mom wouldn't be too happy about that.
"Paul, don't you dare open that door!"
"I want out Lix!" he demanded and reached for the door handle.
I slammed my fist down on the lock button. "Not until the car stops!"
"LIX! NOOO!" he screamed. "I wanna be like Loy!"
I unlocked the car door. He leaped out of the car and looked proud of himself, like he'd just accomplished the impossible. I guess he didn't realize the car was already parked. But I didn't want to ruin his moment.
Lloyd was by the front door, waiting for me to come unlock it. Paul ran up to join him. "Hurry up Lix!" he yelled at me.
I walked toward the door slowly. No need to rush.
"Finally," Lloyd mumbled when I made it over there. "Now open the damn thing."
Paul gasped. "You said a dirty word! I'm telling!"
Lloyd shook his head. "No! No! Don't tell! I didn't use it a bad word! I—uh, meant like, beavers! You know. Beavers live in dams. The beavers build dams. Get it?"
Paul looked skeptical, but went along with it. He has nothing against beavers, so if they want to use bad words, they can go right ahead. He won't fuss.
I had just pulled the keys out of the lock when my brothers pushed it open and bounded inside. They always have so much energy. I don't though. I mean, I can if I want to, it's not like I'm out of shape, butâ I like being lazy. End of story. I'm too lazy to even play on our PlayStation. So I just read.
I guess you could call me the silent type.
Or the exceptionally lazy type. Whichever you prefer. I'm not picky.
I sat down at the desk in the living room corner to do my homework. I could hear Lloyd and Paul in the kitchen looking for something to eat.
Wow. I'm really tired all of a sudden. Maybe I have that weird-ass disease that makes people fall asleep at random. That'd be kinda cool. Then no one could yell at me for falling asleep in class.
Well, it's not actually sleeping. It's more of a cat nap. You know, that half awake, half asleep deal. You know what's going on, but at the same time your oblivious.
And I had the dream again. Today. In school. Algebra, fourth period. That's the first time it's happened in school. I'm starting to think I've finally lost all my marbles. I mean, I always knew that I was missing a few to begin with, but now I've got none left! I'll bet you anything Paul took themâ.
Zzzzzzâ.
Zzzâ.
Whoa! Dude, I almost fell asleep there for a minute! Ok. Wake up Felix! You can sleep once homework is done. Sleep all you want.
So I trudged through my homework with that thought in mind.
Somewhere around seven Lloyd and Paul came to join me. "Hey, what'd you want on your pizza?" Lloyd asked. Ah. So we're ordering out. Good. Lloyd can't cook.
I shrugged. "I think I'll pass. I'm not that hungry."
He shrugged. "Suit yourself. More for us." He and Paul went back into the kitchen.
I closed my book. Done. All right, time for a nap.
I walked upstairs to my bedroom and let myself fall onto the bed. I was out like a light.
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Felix
Hunger rumbled my stomach. I think it's time to hunt.
I stretched my legs out in front of me, extending and retracting my claws. I yawned, leapt off my bed, and pushed open the door with my nose.
I could smell the pizza downstairs. Pepperoni, cheese, sausage. Not what I wanted. I'll take my prey alive thank you.
I stuck to the shadows along the wall. Part of being a hunter is being sneaky. BeingCat
I followed the hallway to Lloyd's room. I looked inside, but saw nothing worth my time, so I moved on to Paul's.
Ah. Perfect. I licked my lips and entered a crouching pose. I stalked toward the small rodent. Hamster.
At first the small creature didn't notice I was there, but as I got closerâIt spun around, eyes wide with fear.
"Stay still and I'll make this quick and painless," I told the creature.
It didn't respond. Of course not! It's too stupid, too scared to do anything but stare.
I leapt and landed lightly on top of his cage. It began to run around in fear. "Don't hurt me!" it squealed.
I observed the plastic prison it was in for a moment. Then, after lifting up the hatch, slipped my paw inside.
The little rat squealed more. I dug my claws into its back and knocked it out of the cage. I want a chase.
And I got it. The hamster shot under the bed, and I followed close behind. The small creature then made a break for the door, but he was no match for my superior speed. I tossed him up into the air with my paw. He landed squarely on his back. It was time to finish this. I pounced on top of it and sank my teeth into his neck.
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So, what say you? I'm gonna need a readers opinion. Yours will do nicely. So:
REVIEW PEOPLE! IT'S YOUR RESPOSIBILITY AS A READER!!! YOU WANT A CHAPTER TWO, YOU BETTER TYPE SOME SHIT!
I've got the song "Simple and Clean" stuck in my head. Not that it's bad. I like that song.
"When you walk away,
You don't hear me say,
'Please!
Oh baby, don't go!'
Simple and clean is the way that you're making me feel tonight,
It's hard to let it go!
Hold me.
Whatever lies beyond this morning
Is a little later on.
Regardless of warnings, the future doesn't scare me at all!
Nothing's like before!"
Yeah. I need to download that song. I'd listen to it like, four times every day. Good song. Good song.
Anyway, can anyone guess what's up with these guys? Can you? Huh?
R&R DAMMIT!!!