"Where's Max?"
"What do you want?"
"Colosso, this is important."
The bunny feigned ignorance.
"I know where you hide your outfits Dr Colosso." she threatened, knowing the bunny held its outfits dearly.
Colosso sighed. "...You have to help your brother."
"I'm trying, but you know how stubborn Max is." she said, a faint frown etched on her face.
"He was up all night trying to find methods to rid himself of the mark," the bunny paused. "...Phoebe?"
The girl turned to regard the bunny.
"Yes."
"This mark is affecting him negatively. Its only a matter of time-"
"I know," she whispered, trailing the bruise on her wrist. "His man fits are trending towards violence."
"He did read the notes, right?"
"He was the first to read them. And when he got shock value of what was inside the files, he tried burning them, that's if I hadn't frozen him and read them myself."
"All he's focused on is running background checks on Dr Ops and researching. He doesn't get enough sleep." Colosso paused. "What about the Hero League?"
Phoebe caught on. "I spoke with Super President Kickbutt. They couldn't get the villain to confess or reveal anything on a large scale. But he did mention it wasn't his intention to inject Max with the serum."
"You're telling me Max acquired the mark, accidentally?"
She nodded. "We backed the villain into a corner, but unfortunately he managed to reach his table to grab a syringe, stabbing Max who was closer to him, injecting him with the serum."
"Creating something of that magnitude is blatant slavery."
Phoebe stood up. "I wish Max would realize the longer he bears the mark, the more out of controls he becomes."
"What about school?"
"He's sleeping through class. If he isn't, he skips them." she answered. "And his friends constantly ask me what's wrong with him and I feel bad for having to lie to their faces."
Colosso hopped back into his cage. "The good thing is, you're the cure to his misery, the bad thing is...you're the cure to his misery."
Phoebe rolled her eyes and made to leave just around the same time Max entered.
"What are you doing here?"
She swallowed as he stared at her with such an intensity through his red tinted eyes that caused her lips to quiver in nervousness.
"I-I was looking for you."
He stepped around her and shook his hands out of his pockets causing alarms to blare in Phoebe's head.
"What happened to your hands?!"
He glanced at his bloodied knuckles and shrugged. "Some punk decided to pickpocket me."
"Did you...?"
By her expression, Max knew what she wanted to quizzically insinuate. "Even better. I broke both his arms. But that wasn't the worst of it because you should have seen his face. I think it caved in."
Phoebe hesitantly stepped closer. "Max, this isn't you."
"Oh really?" he mock-asked.
"Yes. Can't you see what the mark is doing to you?"
He glared and traced the intricate scribbles on his arm. "I'll get rid of it on my own. I don't need your help."
"But there is no other way except the one standing before you." she furthered in reference to herself.
He shot her an angered look. "Phoebe, I said I don't need your help. Why can't you get that through your perfect little head?"
"Maybe because I care!" she yelled emotionally.
"I didn't ask you to care. I'm my own person. I decide what's best for me."
"Max-"
"And just because you have that power stuck in you doesn't mean-"
"I didn't ask for it alright! I don't even want or use it to begin with!" she retorted, trying hard not to cry.
"Then why bother?"
"I have no choice. This power is the only means of helping you and you know it."
Her words hit spot on. The inordinate power she acquired and now permanently possessed was the only viable solution he had of getting rid of the mark unnaturally carved within his arm. The intricate scribbles that would squirm like liquid beneath his skin.
"Phoebe, get out of my lair."
"Max-"
"I said get out," he bit out. "You're pushing my hand and I don't want to hurt you," His eyes flickered to the ugly bruise on her exposed arm. ",again."
She glared back and trudged up his stairs and left.
xXx
He lifted his fork, their heads rose. He lowered his fork, their heads dropped.
"Do you mind? I'm trying to eat my food here."
"No one is stopping you." Nora, the ever sassy mouth quipped.
He didn't retort, instead he stabbed into his lettuce and shoved his mouth full of green.
"You look awful by the way."
"You mean awful as in the burnt brows under your bed in the small two-part rubber compartment concealed by your stuffed 'poo the bear'?"
That shut her up.
"I thought so."
Hank noticed the darkened circles around his son's eyes and rose his eyebrows in concern. "Max, you should probably reconsider-"
"No."
"We're trying to help you Max. Its so simple yet you're adamant on trying to act tough while we all know what its doing to you." Phoebe chimed in.
His red tinted irises pierced across the table and settled on his twin to maintain an acute gaze. The glare unsettled her but didn't deter her resolve to get through to him.
"Say one more word. I dare you." he threatened, bending his fork, displaying restrained anger.
Phoebe cowered a bit.
Noticing the immediate tension, Barb interfered. "So, Max, any developments to your take as of late?"
It took a while for him to regain his bearings. Bending his fork back into its customary shape with a deep sigh. "The radiation I'm working on is radical. Powerful, but less dense."
"So, what now?"
"I'm going to scour the Villain League for potential power orbs radical enough to match Dark Mayhem's in terms of potency."
Hank perked up. "You know how dangerous that league has come to be Max. Considered the state you're in, you'll only be endangering yourself." he warned. "You'll be risking your life."
Max tiredly raised his arm and eyed the intricate scribbling with a sigh. "Perhaps, its for the best."
The table was suddenly flung over, startling everyone as food and utensil flung about. Later to only hear shoes clubbing the wooden steps of the stairs, asserting Phoebe's abrupt departure.
xXx
"Phoebe."
"I don't understand why he doesn't want my help! I mean, I'm right here!" she yelled in frustration, feverishly wiping at her eyes. "Why does he have to be so hardheaded?!"
Barb sat next to her daughter, inwardly commending her for the cleanliness of her room.
"Perhaps he's just bothered by the method of removing the mark." Barb offered.
"Mom, its just a simple kiss." she explained bluntly. "Its not supposed to mean anything."
"I'm not bothered if it comes down to the two of my children sharing a kiss." Barb said, knowing that was what Phoebe was passively trying to pass off. "I'm just curious as to why you're so angry."
Phoebe sighed.
"This is Max we're talking about. He'll eventually come around."
"I'm not so sure about that."
"Max is a boy. He's hurting. Not only physically. But his pride is wounded."
"How? I'm the one offering, not the other way around. Besides, I'm the only chance he's got."
"A fact he's very well aware of." Barb agreed. "The fact that he needs your help, his twin sister, doesn't sit well with him. You have to understand that when it comes to boys they value their superiority complex above all things."
Phoebe grumbled, clearly upset, head held in her hands. "Mom, I don't care about that. I just want to help him."
"Why?"
"You know why mom."
"Pretend I don't."
"What?"
"Why do you want to help your brother come to his senses and heed your help?"
"Because he has this weird mark on his arm that flares to life fluctuating pain throughout his body and I have the compatible eraser to erase said mark." Phoebe insinuated with sarcasm.
"Phoebe."
Aforementioned teenager glanced beside her to invent her mother regarding her with a serious expression.
"What do you want me to say? He's my brother. My twin. And I care about him."
"Go on." Barb prodded.
"I wouldn't be able to live with myself if something were to happen to him knowing I could have done something." Phoebe unconsciously caressed the purple bruise on her arm. "I want to help him now. Before its too late. Before he unintentionally hurts someone he cares about."
Satisfied with the panel of 'partial' honest responses, Barb stood up, softly squeezing Phoebe's shoulder. "Thank you for being honest with me honey."
xXx
"I know you hate me-"
"A knack for the obvious. How old."
"Why can't you see that the longer you bear the mark-"
"You're boring me Phoebe."
"Let me help you Max. Why are you going to great lengths to torture yourself when the simplest solution is standing before you?"
"Maybe because I love the attention."
Phoebe stepped closer, hesitantly reaching for his hand, frowning when he evaded her attempt by ruffling his hair. "Max, remember you're the one that helped me curb and control Dark Mayhem's power. You made sure to be there whenever I lost control."
"Get to the point already."
"Let me return the favour."
Max yawned softly. "You have the tendency of making everyone's problems yours when it doesn't even concern you in the slightest."
"You do concern me. I care about you."
"Please spare me the noble crap and just leave." he said, beckoning to the door.
"Max, stop being so stubborn and admit you need help!" she bellowed in frustration.
She involuntarily tensed when he jumped to his feet to stand before her.
"Does this not paint the same picture as before?"
"Wh-What are you talking about?"
"My tangle with the villain league. That fiasco which ended with you saving my life. Remember?"
"Yes, I do."
"You boasted for weeks. You wouldn't shut your mouth about it."
"But this is different!"
"That's what you say now. But once you complete this noble act, we all know how this pans out. You saving my life. Everyone praising you. While they mock me in the background."
"No one mocked you!"
He tilted his head. She shook hers.
"Max, I'm not doing this for me. I'm doing this for you." She noticed a change in the rift to the red swirl of his irises. "Just let me help."
"I said I don't want your help. I don't need it." he stressed out fiercely, threateningly invading her personal space. "And I sure as hell don't need you."
xXx
Barb sighed.
"Phoebe, what did he say?"
When she didn't respond, Barb encased an arm around her sobbing daughter.
"Whatever he said, he didn't mean it." she tried, hearing something akin to a crash downstairs. "He's just in pain."
"Max...h-he said he doesn't need me." Phoebe offered shaking her head in her mother's embrace, her wailing reduced to sobbing.
"He does need you, now more than ever."
Phoebe didn't respond.
"Phoebe honey, you have to talk to him again."
"Mom, I tried. So many times. But he doesn't want my help. Its clear he hates me." Phoebe let out breathlessly, clutching her mother's shirt tighter.
Barb sighed. A sigh of conviction that compelled her to cut the ominous 'getting through' to her daughter and bluntly lay down what she actually wants to say. "You have to talk to him again. I'm certain you'll get through to him this time."
"Mom, how can you expect me to go back there after everything he said to me? Just tell me how?"
"You have to be more open with him."
The tense would have been missed by some, but Barb felt it, even though momentarily.
"What are you saying?"
"You have to be meaningful with your words. As it is now, he thinks you want to help him for your own gain." Barb explained in reference to the time Phoebe gloated after having saved her twin's life from King Crab. "But you have to convince him you aren't."
"How do I do that?"
Barb retracted from the embrace, looking her daughter in the eye. "You want to help him right?"
Phoebe wiped a tear away, nodding.
"Then stop contradicting yourself and tell him what you actually want to tell him. Don't be afraid. Just talk to him. But remember, words are only words. But if put into practice, they could mean so much more."
Phoebe swallowed, "Mom?"
Barb stood up, planting a kiss on her daughter's forehead before stepping out of the room leaving Phoebe to muse on her mother's words.
xXx
Phoebe bit her lip when she heard a slam, but didn't let the nervousness deter her courage as she stepped down the small staircase. Only to take in account of how trashed the lair was. But as her eyes trailed forward, she gasped at what she saw.
Max, on his knees, holding the arm which she deduced to be marred with the mark that was glaringly causing him pain.
"Max!"
Rushing to his aid, Phoebe knelt down to him, frantically trying to hoist him up, failing as he pushed her away, his face red, sweat pouring down his temples.
"Get out of here!"
The nearby crafting bench flew against the wall. A testament to the inadequate control of his telekinesis.
He grit his teeth in supposed agony as the scribble flared to life. Washing his body with a burning passion of unbearable pain.
Spiked adrenaline and insecurity was what drove Phoebe to embrace her brother on the floor. He spasmed in efforts of releasing himself, but to no avail considered he was too exhausted to put up a fight.
"Why are you pushing me away?"
"Just... leave me alone." he rasped out, feeling his chin hit the tip of her collarbone as his head settled on her shoulder.
Phoebe felt everything. The heavy breathing, the shivers and his sharp intake of air. She made to respond but held her tongue when she felt the unnatural heap of heat pool around them, gasping when she felt the burning up of his skin.
"You're rifting. The radiation has expanded and is raising-"
"Tell me something I don't know!" he returned heatedly.
Ignoring his high rolling emotions. Her hand caressed the back of his head. "Max. I'm here."
"Please," he resorted to begging, even if it was the only means of getting her to leave. "I-I don't want to hurt you."
"If you don't want to hurt me then let me help you."
"No."
Phoebe sighed, wincing when the heat spread through his clothes and saturated within hers, sensational against her chest.
"Leave me alone. Just leave me alone. I don't want to deal with you. I already told you I don't need you."
A tear slid down her cheek at those words. Words that managed to pierce her thin skin.
"I know you don't need me." Phoebe swallowed heavily, slightly leaning back to fix a hold on his shoulders, meeting his eyes, "And I'll respect your decision. I'll stay far away from you as possible. I won't be a bother to you anymore. I'll even move out if you want me to. If you just let me help you, you won't have to ever see me again."
Her speech left him indecisive and unable to utter a word.
"You don't know how much it hurts me to see you like this." Her thumb caressed his cheek.
"W-Why do you care so much?"
Phoebe seemed to consider her words, suddenly feeling open minded, unconsciously inviting recent memories to invade. It was in that single moment that her mother's words played through her mind in modes of repetitive chants.
Her teeth bit into her lower lip. Her sights jumping from his one eye to the other. "Because you mean much more to me than you'll ever know. I know I don't seem like it but I really do value you more than anyone."
She didn't miss how his pupils dilated. She didn't miss the way his Adam's apple bopped. Nor did she miss the noticeable tremble of his lips. Including the recede of his bodily warmth.
"Phoebe..."
Throwing away any logic she thought she possessed. Phoebe pulled him into a warm eager kiss. To which he surprisingly and slowly but surely responded to. Her hand fixing a fierce tug to the back of his head as tears streamed down her cheeks, unaware of the green flash that engulfed both their bodies.