Chapter 3: The Story Begins
The place was nowhere near new. The linoleum floor was pulled up and stained. Lining the back wall were large mirrors which were fogged up, dirty, and cracked. The punching bags hanging from the ceiling were split open and limp. It was not a place for any respectable person to be. Hero's was a small boxing joint that had seen better days. It was situated just behind Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas, Nevada. The year was 2000.
Around the makeshift arena were thick, brutish men. All were yelling and cheering, some even placing bets on who was going to win the recent fight. Currently in the ring were two completely opposite people; one, a man about thirty, and the other, a young kid in his teens; sixteen or seventeen. The older man was wearing brand new sport shoes and shorts. His hands and wrists were wrapped up in clean white tape. It was obvious this man knew what he was doing. The man bounced lightly on his feet, dancing around the younger man. The younger of the two looked shabby. He was wearing an old pair of stretch pants and dirty sport shoes that were falling apart. He also sported a large gray hooded sweater, the hood pulled up over his face.
The older man took a swing at the youth. The youth leaned to the side and gave his opponent a sucker punch in the gut and then hit him over the head. The older man stepped back, dazed. With the speed of the wind, the young man was now behind the older man. He tapped the man on the shoulder, smiling maliciously. He pulled back his arm and pounded the man in the face. The older man's body twisted oddly and he fell to the floor, unconscious.
The owner of the joint counted the older man out. Smirking, he declared the young man the winner. Some men around the ring cheered while others groaned and handed over their money. It wasn't illegal what they were doing…at least not in private. Four men had faced off against the young teen that day hoping to win a prize of $450. None of them, however, were very lucky. The first man left with a broken nose and broken pride; the second gave up within three rounds; the third had a few bones in his hands broken; and the last just knocked unconscious.
"Alright, men. Sev'n on the dot. Take yer earnin's and git," the owner, Hero announced. The men did what they were told. They knew if they didn't follow Hero's rules they'd be kicked out and not allowed back in. Hero was a war vet and liked order and ran his place and workers as if they were his old company. The young teen cracked his knuckles and his neck as he approached Hero. The man chuckled, handing his star fighter a cup of water and a rag. "Ya sure know how tuh give 'em hell."
The youth took a swig, swished, and spit into the rag. A few of the men had taken some pretty good hits to his face. Although, he let that happen, it was all for show. Hero knew the youth could have taken out those four men all at once. The kid was a star fighter. The young teen poured the rest of the water over his glistening face. As the cool water splashed down upon him, his hood fell down revealing a curtain of stick straight hair, glistening hazel eyes, and plump lips. The teenage boy was actually a teenage girl.
"That felt good," she sighed as she tossed the cup and rag into another corner of the ring. Hero took her hands and began unraveling the dirty, bloodstained tape from her knuckles and wrists. When the old man was finished the teen tied up her hair into a bun and pulled the baggy sweatshirt off. Teenagers of the 2000s tended to be more slim and feminine whereas this girl was curvy and fit. Her toned tummy was just visible under her skintight shirt. The youth was a firm five-foot-five-inches; that was the only thing normal about her.
Normal. She scoffed at the word. All her life Macie Mitchell had never been normal. When she was young she discovered she was a mutant. Macie could heal herself. Any kind of injury was gone in seconds. This meant that she was also immune to most diseases and other defects. Her main mutation, however, was her poisonous touch. The sixteen-year-old's eyes would glow dull neon green when she used her mutation. At ten, she had accidentally killed her sister at her birthday party. At twelve, she murdered her father in the kitchen. Macie Mitchell was ruthless if you got on her bad side. She was moody and had a short fuse with a low tolerance for normal people. Normal people were the bad guys…not mutants. They were the ones who'd kill you without a second thought. Macie was smart enough to know that.
Later that night, Macie was cleaning up the place for Hero. The elderly man let her stay in the back room for free as long as she helped out around the place. He never asked how she came to be in Las Vegas and he certainly never asked about her past. All he knew was that she had run away from an orphanage in Laughlin. For payment, Hero taught the young woman how to fight. He took her off the streets a few years before and treated her like she was his own. Hero had a family once; a lovely young wife and two sons. His wife died giving birth to his youngest son, that boy was only five years old when he died of leukemia, and Hero's oldest son was killed in a car crash. Macie was all he had now. When Hero witnessed her using her powers, he was overjoyed. Both had never met anyone like themselves before. Hero's mutation was superhuman reflexes; he could react to things faster than a normal human.
As Macie swept the old floor of water, sweat, and dirt she listened to the TV. Her favorite program, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit was on: "In the criminal justice system, sexually based offenses are considered especially heinous. In New York City, the dedicated detectives who investigate these vicious felonies are members of an elite squad known as the Special Victims Unit. These are their stories." She loved a good crime show and SVU was the best. This week's episode was called Chat Room. It had something to do with a child porn ring and awful stuff like that. Despite the nature of the episode, Mina was so into the program that she didn't hear the front door open. She swept up a pile of dirt, hardly paying attention, staring at the old TV. From behind her a hand grasped her shoulder. She reacted quickly. She dropped the broom handle, grasping the hand and pushed the attached body up against the wall in a flash. She kept the person's arm pinned behind them and had a death grip on the other arm, making it so that the person couldn't get away.
"Who are you," Macie questioned threateningly. "What do you want?"
"Fast reflexes. That's good," a voice behind her mused. Macie let the man against the wall go.
The man shook out his arms, fixing his tan leather jacket. When he glanced up, Macie glared. He had dark green hair which was spiked up at the tips and he had a long face. His skin was a light shade of puke green and his eyes were a muddy brown with wide pupils. He sent her a sarcastic smile, his teeth were small and round. The woman, however, was a prettier picture. She was quite tall and naked, well, she looked naked. Her skin was a dazzling dark blue with even darker patterns that covered her body. Her eyes were bright yellow and her hair was bright red.
"Hello Macie," the woman looked right at her. Her voice was smooth. "I'm Mystique. This is Toad. We are a part of the Brotherhood of Mutants."
"We're closed. Come back tomorrow," Macie turned around, picking the broom back up.
The creepy guy was suddenly in front of Macie. His back was hunched and he violently cocked his head to the side, daring her to move. Mystique narrowed her eyes, "Perhaps you don't understand. You're our new recruit."
Macie scoffed. She turned off the TV and made her way towards the back, "Thanks, but no thanks."
The two mutants scowled, this girl was proving to be a bit difficult. But with her track record, they expected no less. They followed her into the back room. Toad made himself comfortable on the couch while Mystique leaned against the doorframe. This annoyed Macie greatly. Toad suddenly spoke, he had a rough English accent, "Do you like living here? No one to watch your back. Vulnerable?"
"And…?" the young female mutant turned to face the male. She wouldn't have said anything if that Toad guy hadn't said she was vulnerable. Macie was anything but vulnerable. Suddenly, Toad lurched forward and his tongue shot out of his mouth. Macie let out a disgusted gasp as it grazed passed her ear, reaching for something just behind her. Mystique stepped forward, grabbing his tongue with a quick flick of her wrist. Toad let out a strangled cry as his body fell off the couch.
"Disgusting amphibian," the blue mutant muttered. She let go of the tongue and wiped her hand on a worn out American flag hanging on the wall. "You can stay here, fighting men for their money," she said to Macie, "or come with us. You have a special gift and the Brotherhood can help you learn to use it."
Macie clenched and unclenched her hands. Hero's was great and all, but it was a dump. She was planning on leaving in a few weeks anyway…what was a few weeks early? She only stayed because she needed money. Macie could have been smart and think over her choices. But instead she looked from the man to the woman, giving them both cold stares, "Do I have a choice?"
"You always have a choice," Toad grunted, still rubbing his mouth. "We're just here to make sure you make the right one."
"I don't work well with others," Macie stated as she turned away.
"Then you'll fit right in," Toad smirked.
When Magneto told Mystique about this girl, she was ready to bring her in. What Erik had found out about this young mutant was perfect for their plan to rid the world of Homo sapiens. Macie's past was filled with horror and despair. This young girl had killed; she had blood on her hands and she may have felt no remorse. This was the kind of person the Brotherhood wanted. She just needed a little push to tip over into true darkness. Mystique was a little surprised that Xavier's goody-goody mutants hadn't found her first. If they had, who knows, maybe they would pitch how wonderful and loving and supportive their school was. It disgusted Mystique. The Brotherhood would push Macie Mitchell so far over the edge, that that dumb school wouldn't even want her after they were through with her.
"Fine," Macie scowled, turning back around to face Toad and Mystique. "I'll go…but I won't like it!"
"Wonderful," Mystique grinned. "We leave in five."
As the two left the room, Macie walked over to the small cot on the side of the room and pulled a rut-sack from under the bed. She threw in what she needed and left a short note for Hero explaining why she left. She did have half a heart after all. As soon as she was ready to go, Macie walked out of the back room and looked around at the place that had been her home for the last few years. She didn't think she'd ever see it or the mutant owner again. Mystique and Toad led Macie out of Hero's and to a helicopter hidden in the darkness. As she and the adults prepared to take off, Macie couldn't help but think about what she was doing. Something had compelled her to leave with these older mutants. It felt so wrong and yet she still left with them. She brushed it off as nerves and looked out the window as they hovered over the bright Las Vegas Strip.
"So, uh," she started. Toad looked back at her with a lazy grin. "Where are we going exactly?"
"The Brotherhood's lair in New York."
Oh fuck, Macie thought as the jet whizzed high over the Nevada desert.