*groans from the audience*
Ok, ok, I know, I wish I didn't have to do it, too. Calm down and stop whining. The disclaimer will be over shortly. This girl, "Aurora Vyette", is not Marvel's property. She's mine. Furthermore, none of the people mentioned in this story are, or are supposed to resemble, any of Marvel's characters. This is a 'The Common People' (TCP) story, inspired by the 'The Faces of Hate' challange. So, don't sue.
*audience starts to get restless; lawyers pop in through the back door*
Down, lawyers! Down!
*she kicks the lawyers away; audience cheers*
Ok. It's over. Time for the 'fic now.
*more cheering*
Here we go!
"No, no, no, this can't be happening. It can't be. After all I've believed, all the people I've...helped..."
Killed.
"No, I was purging the world of the mutants..."
Don't you mean the 'mutie scum'?
"They are! I was helping to save humanity!"
Just like Hitler, eh, little Jew girl?
"Stop it! No! It's not like that at all!"
Oh, yes, it is, and you know it. Don't deny it.
"It isn't! They're...evil...soul-less..."
You're one of them, so you must be, too.
"I'm not one! This is all just a mistake, a dream, I'll wake up soon..."
Not a dream. You're not gonna wake up. And, yes, you're one of them.
"I can't be! Because...because I'm not evil and soul-less and all the other things the muties are..."
You are. You are a 'mutie'...and evil and all that, too...
"I'm not!"
You killed children in cold blood. Preschoolers. Babies only months old-
"No!"
-and even younger. What were their crimes? What did they do, to deserve to die, and even be put on display, signs reading 'MUTIE' strapped on their chests?
"They were born! Mutants aren't supposed to be here! They are the spawn of demons!"
Like you? Heh- do you seriously believe what you're saying, or are you just repeating back everything that the FoH has taught you?
"Stop, please! Oh, just leave me alone!"
Why should I? Did you leave the mutants alone? Wasn't it you that chased after the seven-year-old boy until he dropped, and you could get a good shot?
"I'm sorry!"
You're not.
"I am! I swear! I'm sorry!"
Don't lie to yourself, girl. Snap out of it. Open your eyes, for once.
"I'm not lying! I'm not, I'm not, I'm...not..."
You see?
"Oh, God. Oh, God, no, please..."
You see.
"Yes. I see. I finally see it."
See what?
"The truth."
Something many are unable to see, something just as many are blinded by. Or killed in the name of, only to have the killer discover that it is'nt the truth at all. You know what it is.
"A lie..."
A lie.
"Are we...are we done, now?"
'We'? I'm only in your subconsious; you know that. But, yes. We're done. We're finally done.
"We're finally done."
Aurora Vyette uncurled from the uncomfortable position she's been in. In the middle of central park. Her internal awakening had lasted a minute thirty, maybe two minutes, tops. The young girl on the sidewalk, the 'mutie' they'd been chasing was starting to come to. Aurora's partners-in-crime were dead. Killed by a large blast of glowing green 'light'. Her aura. Her curse. Her blessing.
Her mutant power.
She knelt by the scared young girl, a little nine-year-old named Aimiee, who shrank back away from her. "It's ok, sweetie. I'm not a hunter. Not anymore. What do you say we go downtown for icecream, hmm? Calm our nerves. Then we can see about finding sanctuary. I heard there's a place not far from here that welcomes mutants. I think it's called 'Xavier's School for Blessed Kids...'" Aimiee smiled shyly. "I'd like that. Oh, and it's called the 'School for Gifted Youngsters'. I'm already a student."
Questions? Comments? Concerns? Like the story, or just wanna flame me? All mail is appreciated! (Except for those that fall into the latter catagory, of course.) Hey, maybe if I get enough emails saying you liked it, I'll write a sequel to this, where Aurora's at the 'School For Gifted Youngsters'! Well, g'bye for now, and I hope to hear from y'all real soon! Be a critic and email me!