More of my random madness…After seeing X3, and watching the part where Magneto seemed to be getting his powers back, I got to thinking. I know, always a bad sign. LOL. So, me being me, I thought what if Warren actually took the Cure, and then it wore off? I know, I'm mean. But it would be interesting, right? So, here it is, finally.
I own nothing other than the idea of this story, and am making absolutely nothing off of this. Just so you know.
He opened the door to the roof office of Worthington Industries, incredibly nervous. Did he really want to do this? After ten years of testing, his father had finally managed to create a Cure for mutancy, and Warren was going to be the first to test the final product. After ten years of stares and whispering and isolation, he would finally be normal.
"Good morning, Warren. How did you sleep?" His father looked him in the eyes for the first time since he had walked in on Warren cutting his wings off when he was thirteen. After that their relationship had been strained, causing the distance between father and son to lengthen until they barely talked, and when they did it ended up turning into an argument over nothing. It was reassuring, knowing that after today things would be back to the way they were before. At least, that was the idea.
"Good," Warren said. Surprisingly good, considering how nervous he was now. He was making the right decision, right? Of course he was; who wouldn't want to get rid of such a disfigurement? It affected his entire life; he had to wear a long coat whenever he went outside, even in the summer, because otherwise his wings would show. He had to sleep on his stomach because it hurt when he lay on his wings. He had to be careful when he sat down or else he would sit on them, which hurt. He couldn't do anything without thinking about how he would work around them; he couldn't wait for them to be gone, when he could finally be free.
His father removed his coat, while Warren unbuttoned and removed his shirt, revealing an elaborate harness that held his wings tightly against his back. They walked over to the table where the Cure lay in a vial on a surgical stand. The orderlies backed him against a table, which had restraints attached to it. They then began to strap the restraints around Warren's wrists and ankles, despite his protests. "Really, you don't need to do that. I'm not going anywhere, honest."
"I'm sorry, son; it's just a precaution."
"The change can be a bit…jarring," added Kavita Rao, his father's assistant. She was holding a rudimentary gun with a needle on the end, and was inserting the vial of the Cure into the slot. This didn't lessen his feelings of nervousness in the least, but he pushed them aside. He was making the right decision, and if he wanted to be normal again he was going to have to put up with a little nervousness.
Kavita swabbed his arm, disinfecting the injection site, then put the needle up to his arm. "I'm proud of you, Warren," his father said. Warren smiled nervously.
He bit his lip as the needle pierced his skin, injecting the Cure into his vein. "And now, we wait," said Kavita.
A few minutes later, Warren felt a burning in his veins. Adrenaline kicked in, and he began to strain against the restraints. When the burning spread to his back, his breathing quickened, and his struggles increased. "Calm down, Warren," his father said, "You're okay. If you struggle any harder you're liable to hurt yourself."
"More than I hurt right now? Not likely," he hissed.
"Don't fight it," Kavita said. "The more you fight, the worse it will be."
Warren glared at her. She was one for comforting words, wasn't she. He closed his eyes and tried to relax, but since his adrenaline was screaming at him to do something, he wasn't making much progress.
He scraped his back against the table, since the restraints wouldn't let him do it with his hands. He felt something give, and suddenly he felt lighter. He pulled against the restraints, and the things that had once been wings slid down to the floor. "Umm, Dad?"
His father looked over to see his son looking at him hopefully. "Can you undo the restraints now? I think it's over."
The older Worthington nodded and bent to undo the buckles of the restraints. One they were undone, he backed up, and Warren took a step forward and almost fell. He swore under his breath. Even after they were gone they still were a problem, as his center of balance had shifted after years of having a set of wings on his back. Now he had to adjust to compensate.
His father looked at him concernedly. "Are you alright?"
Warren nodded. "Yeah. It'll just take a little getting used to, that's all." He looked around the room, disappointed that things seemed to be a little blurrier. Not that they weren't still clear; he had perfect eyesight. It just wasn't the eyesight of a hawk anymore, that's all. And he felt a little heavier. Not a lot, but a little. So his bones obviously weren't hollow anymore either. He shook his head. Was he actually beginning to regret it? He decided not; as he had told his father, he was adjusting to the change, nothing more.
What do you think? I'll post the next chapter once I get some reviews, I promise. Unless you don't want to know what happens next, in which case I won't…If you noticed, I fixed some of the errors I made in "Belonging", namely that it is Kavita Rao, not Moira McTaggert that is Worthington's assistant…shame on you for not noticing…nah, don't worry about it, actually. I'm too lazy to fix it in the other story, but it's fixed here…and I'll stop talking about it, since I doubt most of you actually care, and the ones who do probably yelled at their computers enough when they were reading "Belonging" (if my behavior is any indication…maybe I'm just crazy…lol). Anyway, I'll stop rambling now. Promise. Just review, okay? Thanks…lol.