"But Am I?" A fanfic by TPC ^..^ meerow!
Section 1:
Evan Daniels sat in the dark, dank tunnels of the sewers that he now called home. They could be the most homely place anyone could ever live in, or they could be the most miserable place anyone could ever live in. Most of the time, it was miserable. The other Morlocks were off somewhere planning some scheme or another to bring down Power8 production, or they were trying to figure out what to do about clean bathing water. Either way, Evan wasn't needed. So, he stayed behind. During this time alone, Evan would think about all those times at the Xavier Institute for Gifted Youngsters. His Auntie O and the others. Wolverine's brutal training sessions and the feeling that all of their hard work, sweat, and wasted hours had finally paid off when they had beaten the Brotherhood. The Brotherhood... Avalanche. Toad. Blob....And Quicksilver. His archrival. No, not a rival, but a nemesis. They were evenly matched, when Evan could catch him.
Quicksilver, he thought.
Evan would also wonder about the surface world and what things were like up there. It had been months since he left the sewers in daylight. He couldn't leave the sewers in daylight. At least...not anymore.
His hand went towards his youthful and once pure face. He felt the bony protrusions and scowled. He could never go back to the surface. Ever. He was a mutant. Just like his fellow Morlocks. Just like the X-Men. Just like his Auntie O. Just like the Brotherhood. Just like...Pietro.
Pietro, he thought.
Evan threw a stone moodily against the wall opposite him. The sound of rock-on-concrete echoed through the long, twisting tunnels of underground New York.
* pat pat pat *He wasn't alone.
Evan stood up, lengthened his spikes, and readied himself to attack. Enemies, beware. The Spyke-Man is in battle-mode! , he thought. A silhouette of a young body appeared at the end of the tunnel.
"Who are you and what are you doing here!?" Evan shouted at the shadow.
The body approached even closer.
A young, innocent voice spoke, "You can put down your spikes, Evan. It's only me."
It was only Rebecca, or Stall, her codename. (okay, I know that those aren't her real names, but everyone else calls her Stall, so I am too. And I just made up Rebecca because I think she looks like a Rebecca.) Stall was the youngest mutant Evan has ever known. Not even 12, Rebecca could paralyze people with the touch of her over-sized hands.
Evan retracted his spikes and reseated himself on the ground. Rebecca sat next to the human porcupine and asked him if he would help her braid her pigtails. How could he refuse? So, Evan helped Stall braid her hair in silence.
Rebecca broke the awkward silence with a question, "Why did you throw that stone, Evan?"
Evan paused for a moment, then continued to braid. She must have been there longer than he thought.
"No reason," he replied.
"It looked like you had a reason to me. You looked angry, almost," Stall said.
Evan paused longer, though he did not continue to braid. "What makes you say that?" he said. He knew, they both knew. He was angry when he threw that rock. But, he wasn't about to admit that to Rebecca.
"You were thinking about him again, weren't you?" Rebecca said.
"Who?" Evan asked casually and went back to braiding.
"That anorexic looking boy with the white hair that's really fast. Quicksilver, right?" Rebecca said.
Evan was slightly bothered of the youngster's knowledge of his archenemy. How did she guess?
"No. Why would I think about Pietro?" he asked, a bit nervously.
"Don't lie to me. I know you were thinking about him again. I also know that you dream about him. You mutter his name in your sleep. I hear you. We all hear you. Don't lie to me, Evan." Stall said.
Evan dropped the completed pigtail and began on the other section. He didn't want to admit it, but he knew it was true. He did dream about Pietro. But, the dreams were never good dreams. They usually involved a lot of bloodshed and battling. Pietro was always too fast to catch, no matter how hard he tried. Then, his Aunt would show up and slow him down so he could get in a good shot. But always before that happens, he wakes up and spoils the dream. It has never happened differently, unless you count that time when they were all in their underwear.
Evan completed the second pigtail and finally answered the young mutant. "I won't lie to you then. I do dream about Pietro. We fight and nobody wins. I was thinking about him earlier. Thinking about how I should beat in his face. There, are you happy now?" He added that last line somewhat irritably.
"Yes. I am. Now c'mon! We're going to go destroy the Power8 factor tonight!" She turned around and smiled playfully at Evan.
That's what he wanted to hear. Evan returned her smile and rose to his feet. Stall hopped up onto his shoulders and they headed off to find the other Morlocks.
Good. Something to take my mind off Mr. Anorexia, Evan thought with relief.
Section 2:
Pietro Maximoff lay stretched out on the living room couch, the stereo blaring some pop song that he didn't know the words to, while Toad tried to convince his twin sister to tango with him. Around the Brotherhood of Bayville Boarding House, it was exactly that, boring.
"Yo! Pietro! Howz 'bout you? Wanna tango?" Toad asked him.
"WhateverToad. Ihavebetterthingstodothandancethetangowithalivingstinkbomblikeyou. (Translation: Whatever Toad. I have better things to do than dance the tango with a living stink bomb like you.) (I think I'll only do this to the really long phrases, so don't get to comfy with 'um)
"Like what? Lay there an' piss and moan 'bout you and Melissa breakin' up?" Toad now took up a pitiful expression and made his voice sound girly and whiney, "Oh, woe is me! The world's gonna stop spinnin' an' the sky shall fall cuz me an' Melissa broke up!" He did a fake swoon and collapsed on the floor.
"ListenDramaQueen! Yabettershaddapifyaknowwhatsgoodforya!" (Listen Drama Queen! Ya better shaddap if ya know what's good for ya!) Pietro said huffily.
"Well, don't throw a hissy fit on us now, Pietro," Lance said as he and Fred walked in, wiping the axle grease off their hands. " We all ready have one girl in this house, and her PMS mood swings are enough for us to handle."
Toad and Fred laughed and Wanda scowled. Though, Alvers did speak the truth, Wanda was not about to admit to it. Pietro shared his sister's feelings about Lance's remark. He didn't like what Lance was implying by that statement.
"Yeah, thank God it's only once-a-month!" Toad replied through a fit of sniggers.
"OKAY! WE GET IT! NOW KNOCK IT OFF!!" Wanda yelled.
The boys all silenced at once. They knew better than to mess with The Scarlet Witch, no matter what time of the month it was.
Pietro was relived that they had stopped teasing his sister about her mood swings. Unfortunately for him, he was their next item of ridicule.
"So Pietro, why did you two break up in the first place?" Fred asked.
Pietro sat up and looked at Blob's face. He's still got that mustard dribble on his chin, Pietro commented silently. He didn't feel up to answering that question at the moment. Or any moment for that matter.
"Yeah, Pietro. You neva told us why you did break up. What happened?" Toad asked.
Pietro's gaze now fell on Todd. If I didn't answer before, what makes you think I'll answer now? He said to himself.
"Idontfeellikeansweringyourquestionsrightnow," he said coolly. "Nowifyoullallexcuseme, I'llbeinmyroom."
Pietro left the couch and headed towards his room. It isn't their business what happened. They don't need to know. They won't know, he thought as he climbed the rickety staircase.
Section 1:
Evan Daniels sat in the dark, dank tunnels of the sewers that he now called home. They could be the most homely place anyone could ever live in, or they could be the most miserable place anyone could ever live in. Most of the time, it was miserable. The other Morlocks were off somewhere planning some scheme or another to bring down Power8 production, or they were trying to figure out what to do about clean bathing water. Either way, Evan wasn't needed. So, he stayed behind. During this time alone, Evan would think about all those times at the Xavier Institute for Gifted Youngsters. His Auntie O and the others. Wolverine's brutal training sessions and the feeling that all of their hard work, sweat, and wasted hours had finally paid off when they had beaten the Brotherhood. The Brotherhood... Avalanche. Toad. Blob....And Quicksilver. His archrival. No, not a rival, but a nemesis. They were evenly matched, when Evan could catch him.
Quicksilver, he thought.
Evan would also wonder about the surface world and what things were like up there. It had been months since he left the sewers in daylight. He couldn't leave the sewers in daylight. At least...not anymore.
His hand went towards his youthful and once pure face. He felt the bony protrusions and scowled. He could never go back to the surface. Ever. He was a mutant. Just like his fellow Morlocks. Just like the X-Men. Just like his Auntie O. Just like the Brotherhood. Just like...Pietro.
Pietro, he thought.
Evan threw a stone moodily against the wall opposite him. The sound of rock-on-concrete echoed through the long, twisting tunnels of underground New York.
* pat pat pat *He wasn't alone.
Evan stood up, lengthened his spikes, and readied himself to attack. Enemies, beware. The Spyke-Man is in battle-mode! , he thought. A silhouette of a young body appeared at the end of the tunnel.
"Who are you and what are you doing here!?" Evan shouted at the shadow.
The body approached even closer.
A young, innocent voice spoke, "You can put down your spikes, Evan. It's only me."
It was only Rebecca, or Stall, her codename. (okay, I know that those aren't her real names, but everyone else calls her Stall, so I am too. And I just made up Rebecca because I think she looks like a Rebecca.) Stall was the youngest mutant Evan has ever known. Not even 12, Rebecca could paralyze people with the touch of her over-sized hands.
Evan retracted his spikes and reseated himself on the ground. Rebecca sat next to the human porcupine and asked him if he would help her braid her pigtails. How could he refuse? So, Evan helped Stall braid her hair in silence.
Rebecca broke the awkward silence with a question, "Why did you throw that stone, Evan?"
Evan paused for a moment, then continued to braid. She must have been there longer than he thought.
"No reason," he replied.
"It looked like you had a reason to me. You looked angry, almost," Stall said.
Evan paused longer, though he did not continue to braid. "What makes you say that?" he said. He knew, they both knew. He was angry when he threw that rock. But, he wasn't about to admit that to Rebecca.
"You were thinking about him again, weren't you?" Rebecca said.
"Who?" Evan asked casually and went back to braiding.
"That anorexic looking boy with the white hair that's really fast. Quicksilver, right?" Rebecca said.
Evan was slightly bothered of the youngster's knowledge of his archenemy. How did she guess?
"No. Why would I think about Pietro?" he asked, a bit nervously.
"Don't lie to me. I know you were thinking about him again. I also know that you dream about him. You mutter his name in your sleep. I hear you. We all hear you. Don't lie to me, Evan." Stall said.
Evan dropped the completed pigtail and began on the other section. He didn't want to admit it, but he knew it was true. He did dream about Pietro. But, the dreams were never good dreams. They usually involved a lot of bloodshed and battling. Pietro was always too fast to catch, no matter how hard he tried. Then, his Aunt would show up and slow him down so he could get in a good shot. But always before that happens, he wakes up and spoils the dream. It has never happened differently, unless you count that time when they were all in their underwear.
Evan completed the second pigtail and finally answered the young mutant. "I won't lie to you then. I do dream about Pietro. We fight and nobody wins. I was thinking about him earlier. Thinking about how I should beat in his face. There, are you happy now?" He added that last line somewhat irritably.
"Yes. I am. Now c'mon! We're going to go destroy the Power8 factor tonight!" She turned around and smiled playfully at Evan.
That's what he wanted to hear. Evan returned her smile and rose to his feet. Stall hopped up onto his shoulders and they headed off to find the other Morlocks.
Good. Something to take my mind off Mr. Anorexia, Evan thought with relief.
Section 2:
Pietro Maximoff lay stretched out on the living room couch, the stereo blaring some pop song that he didn't know the words to, while Toad tried to convince his twin sister to tango with him. Around the Brotherhood of Bayville Boarding House, it was exactly that, boring.
"Yo! Pietro! Howz 'bout you? Wanna tango?" Toad asked him.
"WhateverToad. Ihavebetterthingstodothandancethetangowithalivingstinkbomblikeyou. (Translation: Whatever Toad. I have better things to do than dance the tango with a living stink bomb like you.) (I think I'll only do this to the really long phrases, so don't get to comfy with 'um)
"Like what? Lay there an' piss and moan 'bout you and Melissa breakin' up?" Toad now took up a pitiful expression and made his voice sound girly and whiney, "Oh, woe is me! The world's gonna stop spinnin' an' the sky shall fall cuz me an' Melissa broke up!" He did a fake swoon and collapsed on the floor.
"ListenDramaQueen! Yabettershaddapifyaknowwhatsgoodforya!" (Listen Drama Queen! Ya better shaddap if ya know what's good for ya!) Pietro said huffily.
"Well, don't throw a hissy fit on us now, Pietro," Lance said as he and Fred walked in, wiping the axle grease off their hands. " We all ready have one girl in this house, and her PMS mood swings are enough for us to handle."
Toad and Fred laughed and Wanda scowled. Though, Alvers did speak the truth, Wanda was not about to admit to it. Pietro shared his sister's feelings about Lance's remark. He didn't like what Lance was implying by that statement.
"Yeah, thank God it's only once-a-month!" Toad replied through a fit of sniggers.
"OKAY! WE GET IT! NOW KNOCK IT OFF!!" Wanda yelled.
The boys all silenced at once. They knew better than to mess with The Scarlet Witch, no matter what time of the month it was.
Pietro was relived that they had stopped teasing his sister about her mood swings. Unfortunately for him, he was their next item of ridicule.
"So Pietro, why did you two break up in the first place?" Fred asked.
Pietro sat up and looked at Blob's face. He's still got that mustard dribble on his chin, Pietro commented silently. He didn't feel up to answering that question at the moment. Or any moment for that matter.
"Yeah, Pietro. You neva told us why you did break up. What happened?" Toad asked.
Pietro's gaze now fell on Todd. If I didn't answer before, what makes you think I'll answer now? He said to himself.
"Idontfeellikeansweringyourquestionsrightnow," he said coolly. "Nowifyoullallexcuseme, I'llbeinmyroom."
Pietro left the couch and headed towards his room. It isn't their business what happened. They don't need to know. They won't know, he thought as he climbed the rickety staircase.