When Push comes to Shove Chapter VI
Disclaimer: I own nothing except the custom characters and plotline.
His face hit the floor, it hit the floor hard. He tried to stand but he couldn't. It towered above him, it screamed in rage and began to beat him. He tried to get away, tried to run, but it was impossible. He turned to fight, one blow to the chest three to the head. It was no use. He was thrown through walls, leaped onto and beaten mercilessly. As he could feel the life draining away from him, he woke up.
"Ian, wake up!" Shouted Jaime, as he burst through the door. Ian got up with a start, "What? What is it?" "The professor says you have to leave in about an hour." Ian's eyes grew wide and he sprung from the bed. "Dude, is that Pooh-Bear?" Jaime asked as he gestured to his friend's shirt. "Hey! What's free is free." Jaime then began to look a little more sullen, "How long are you gonna be gone?" Ian threw the files on his desk into his suitcase. "Dunno, but no more than a month. I promise." He finished throwing his suitcase together and started to walk towards the door, when he noticed Jaime's look. "I'll be back before you notice I'm gone. You have free reign over my stuff while I'm gone." He then crouched down a bit to the 14-year old in the eye. "And I need you to protect Beth while I'm gone. That baby's really fragile, and Beth's only beginning to learn to use her powers." Jaime wiped his misty eyes and nodded his head, "You can count on me." He stated determinedly. "I gotta go say goodbye to her and the baby, you wanna help me with the suitcase?" Ian asked, he and the young boy weren't related in the slightest. But the bond formed between them was stronger than brothers. As they walked down the stairs, Ian said a few goodbyes and then walked to Elizabeth. Who was currently attempting to wash some dishes using only her mutation. "Hey." Ian whispered as he came up behind her. Startled, she lost control of the water and spilled it all over the kitchen. "Don't sneak up on me like that!" She complained as she wrapped her arms around him. "I've gotta go do something for the professor. I'll be gone a couple of weeks, but I'll be able to take your calls. Jaime can look after you two if you'll keep an eye on him." He told her, returning the hug. "It's not fair." She grumbled, "I've only just moved in and got you all to myself." He chuckled a bit and kissed her on the top of her head. He then patted her stomach gently and walked away. He neared the professor's office and waited, he cleared his mind of all thoughts. "Come in." He heard the voice call. It had been 16 seconds before Charles called him in, a new record. "Listen to me," Professor Xavier began, "Not a soul is to know of this team. Your team will never come to the institute, nor will you be seen together when not training or on a mission." "Understood." He replied. "You can not guarantee their safety, but you must be held responsible for their fate." "Understood." "And you are to finish your missions quickly and decisively, no matter how you are to do it." Ian nodded silently, then he spoke, "Why me? There are thousands of others more capable for running a team." Charles turned to him and spoke. "Because you paralyzed that boy temporarily. You could have done it permanently, or you could have killed him. And you would have been justified in doing either. I saw that, although it appears often as a cruel form of brutality your gift is a source of light in this world. You're benevolent nature makes all things you do for the good of others. Even you and they don't realize it yet." "And?" Ian questioned. "Because this team is for reconnaissance and stealth missions. Your gift of temporarily immobilizing people, along with shutting down alarm systems and melting locks; is especially useful in this field of work. That and I know I can trust you." Ian nodded as he turned to leave. "One last thing," Called Xavier, "Will you choose a team name? I need to know what you call yourselves, so that I can write off damages and equipment in my taxes." "I'll talk it over with the team." With that, Ian left. He walked from the hall and into the garage. He said one last goodbye to the crowd of friends waiting for him as he loaded his suitcase in the van. "Don't destroy the mansion before I get back!" He called as he rolled away from the premises.
A few hours later he was about to make his first stop. "Lucas Merryweather. Age, 19." He said to himself as he pulled onto a college campus. He parked his vehicle and found the cafeteria. He walked in and was greeted by a way-yonder-too-happy girl, "Hi! My name's Rebecca! You look new, can I help you find something? Is it your first day?" Ian stared at her and she stopped talking. He focused his mind on what he wanted and she walked away silently. He walked to the nearest table with what appeared to be a sane person and began to ask around for Lucas. "Merryweather? I seen him around, he should be here soon." Ian thanked him and waited, eventually he saw the college student walk through the doors. He let him eat then pulled him aside. "Lucas Merryweather?" He asked, knowing full well who he was talking to. "Who wants to know?" "A person who's putting together a team. A small, well trained team." "You're talking mutant team? As in save the world, all that jazz?" Ian nodded, he pulled Lucas' file from his jacket and handed it to him. "Your gifts would be very useful. We'd be dealing with stealth missions." Lucas eyed him suspiciously, "Shape-shifting isn't easy, and I can't just look at someone and become them. I have to know how they think, how they act, their behavioral patterns and more." "I see." "Bottom line is, although I'm sure it'd be fun. I'm not your guy. Nobody knows I'm a mutant and I like the normal life. Thanks but no thanks." He said. Then he shoved past Ian, creating a spark of electricity. "Thank you for your time." Ian called out as he allowed himself to calm down. He used a few sparks to burn the file for the mutant who had turned him down as he left the campus. No sooner had he gotten in his vehicle when he received a call from Beth, "What's up?" He asked. "I know you told him to look out for me, but he hasn't been over four feet from me all day." She complained, "He waits outside the bathroom like a stalker and keeps trying my food before I can eat it." Ian chuckled slightly, "Alright, put him on the phone." There was a small break, then he heard his friend's voice. "All's clear dude, she's fine. I've even been checking her food and drinks for poison." "That's great," Ian replied, "But you need to give her a little bit of space." "I know, fragile baby. I've kept a minimum of four feet between me and her. That's a safe stopping distance if I'm going up to three miles-per-hour." "It's okay to back off Jaime. She's in one of the safest places on the planet. Take a breather, and just do some check-ins at regular intervals." "Alright, Bye bro." "See ya soon, Jaime." With that they mutually hung up. A few more hours down the road and he encountered his second stop. A small gas station in the middle of nowhere. "Are you mister Greene?" A weasely looking fellow replied from behind the counter, "Who wants to know?" "I'm putting together a team, a very special team." "Get lost punk, I got bigger things to deal with than some mutant thinking he'll be the next Wolverine." Ian just thanked him for his time and walked away. Three more days and twenty more stops and not a soul would give him more than the time of day. "What am I doing wrong?" He mused aloud.
The beast was back, it had been a few days since it had invaded his dreams. He readied himself, he was prepared this time. The beast roared and leaped into him, full of hate. It was the beast, correction, it was his beast. He tried to fight, he knew he should be able to defeat him. But he didn't, he couldn't. He wasn't himself anymore, he was less and less of himself. He wasn't the young scientist, trying to undo his mutation. He wasn't even the monster he was originally. He had begun as a man, then a beast, now a monster. What was the point in fighting, should he just surrender? It's deep, guttural roar challenged him, it dared him to give up. To lie down, to allow it to control him. To allow the monster to enslave the man.
Ian awoke despondent, it had been a week since he had left the institute. And not a single person had even considered joining his new team. Perhaps he was looking in the wrong places. "Alright, Aaron Ramón Garcias Juan-Pablo Estevez Angelo Banderas La Mesa Alfonsez, you're next." Ian pulled the van off the side off the road and headed into the next town. A therapy center, a fitting place to find man with the talents he had. "I'm looking for Mr. Alfonsez. Have you seen him?" "Down the hall, third door on your left." The secretary replied, with no attempt to hide her dissatisfaction at actually having to do her job. "Thank you." He replied with false courtesy. He walked into the third door on the right and came face to face with a middle aged, caucasian, man. "Can I help you?" He asked as he put on the calming, false smile that therapists had. "I'm looking for Mr. Alfonsez, but I must have the wrong room." "Nonsense! Ramón is my assistant, I'll call him in." The man rose from his chair and walked out of the back door of the room. He heard some very angry racial slurs being thrown from the hallway that conjoined all the rooms. After a few threats of being fired if he wasn't fast enough, because time is money. Then Aaron appeared, he was young, probably around nineteen. "Mr. Alfonsez? I'm here on behalf of Professor Charles Xavier. Can we go somewhere and talk?" "Umm, okay. I'll be done in a half an hour. Why does he want to see me?" He stammered out, speaking in broken English. "I can discuss it then, it's very private. Meet me at the fountain in the center of town." He said cryptically, hoping that it would at least keep him from threatening to stab him. As, unfortunately, the last one had. He walked out and went straight to the park, while he waited he was analyzing reports. There was a report of a mutant that he thought would be perfect. It was fast, really fast. And it was strong, strong enough to break trees in half. But the best part is that he was never seen, only occasionally a shadowy outline. With some training, he could be the perfect person for a stealth based team. "Who is this person?" He mused just as Aaron emerged. "I hear that you have business from Professor Xavier?" He asked tentatively. "In fact I do. You see, he has put me in charge of recruitment for a special team. It will run covertly, our, I mean the teams, job is to get information on potential threats and report back." Aaron looked quizzically at the youth, trying to determine exactly what he was being asked to do. "So I will be a spy? Like in the films?" "Pretty much. Only we won't have any cool gadgets." "I do not think so, you see I do not have any powers that would be useful. I just make people forget things." He admitted as he quickly became disheartened. "That would work perfectly. If the team get's spotted, you just make them forget they saw us. I mean, saw the team!" Ian corrected himself. His strategy had changed, instead of a seventeen-year-old coming up to adults and asking them to be lead by him on an X-Men style team. Now he was merely recruiting for the professor, it wouldn't come out until later that he was going to be leading that team. "I am only in this country because I need the money from this job. I am sorry, but I cannot. Perhaps you can find someone else, I am very sorry." As the Hispanic mutant walked away Ian was approached by another man. "Can I help you?" Ian asked, as he turned to great his fellow mutant. "I overheard you were putting a team together. I can help with that, if you're interested." Ian offered him a seat and readied himself to listen. "I can help with your team, if it's real or not." He said, "All you have to promise is that I'll get out of this town." "Who are you?" Ian asked, he noticed the shifty eyes and nervous sweat. "Name's Richard, I'm a technomorph. I just gotta get outta here, I can help ya if ya want my help." Ian stood and offered his hand, "Let's head to my van and we'll talk." They walked and talked, and talked and walked. By the time they got to the van, the mutant had a full file to call his own. "One last question." Ian stated as they prepared to get into the car, "How did you slip under the radar for nineteen years?" "It was actually fairly easy. Technomorphs like me can slip under the radar without hassle. All we have to do is not turn into or communicate with machines." They drove back to his place, loaded his things into the van and headed down the road. It was only seven-thirty so they still had some time to drive. "So, how many more people do we need?" The young technomorph asked, "I mean, we're only missing a few pieces for a dream team. Let me take it from here, and I can get us onto the same platform as The Avengers." "Enlighten me," Ian sneered, "Because one of the most powerful mutants, IN THE WORLD, asked me to formulate a perfect team. Not to mention he has PhDs in; genetic biophysics, psychology and anthropology. He also has an M.D. in psychology. I would bet he's a better judge of leadership quality than a dude who can turn into a cell phone." Richard faked a look of hurt and betrayal, "Painful!" Reverting to his normal self he replied, "I know you're wearing your big-boy pants for the first time. But just consider this: A leader, A tech guy, A brute, A backup that could fit all or any of three of those positions, and someone else. The someone else is mostly just for cannon fodder if things go downhill." Ian weighed the idea carefully, pondering as to it's intent. "What about: A leader, A tech, A brute, And two backups." "Can they be disposable?" "I have to be responsible for the well-being of everyone on the team. Physically, emotionally and psychologically; Telling people we need cannon fodder isn't the best option at the moment." Richard took this new development into consideration. He thought for a moment, ate some of his nachos, then spoke. "We have an accord!" A high-five later, they were pulling off the road and pulling on their pajamas.
This time for sure. He could do it this time, it had been so long since he had fed The Hunger. It had no new abilities, no new strategy. It was just it's rage, it's untamable, unrelenting rage. He stood strong, focused on what mattered most. He would do it this time, he would face his nightmare. He would face the monster within himself, and it would back down. He heard it, moving swiftly through the halls of his mind. He could feel it's presence, drawing closer. He could smell the rotting flesh, in betwixt it's teeth. He new what it wanted, it wanted power. He had the power, he could give it the power. He could give in. It was right there, he carried the needle with him at all times. Just in case of an emergency, of course. He turned from it, "NO! I will not do it again! I will not become what you want!" It roared, it could fell his weakness. Sense his failing will. The beast slowly lumbered to him, it's forked tongue flickered out as it gestured to the needle and precious liquid inside. "Never again." He commanded but as he did, he was bitten by the creature. It was venomous, he knew that, he had designed it for that. It could save him, the needle was right over there. He could reach out and grab it.
"Wake up!" Richard shook Ian, "You're drooling on my bag!" "Sorry man," Ian grumbled as he awoke. He rubbed his neck and got into the driver's seat. "Have you seen my bag?" "It's in the back, why?" Richard asked, eating some beef jerky. "No reason, just making sure I still had it." "Aight." They went down the road for just a few miles before stopping to eat. They discussed the team while they were stopped. "So five members may be hard to come by, judging by our experiences." "Right," The last week and a half they had nearly been shot, stabbed and mauled by an animorph. "I really just see that we need one more person and this team will be complete." Ian said as he pulled a large file from his bag and set it on the table. "Show me the money." Richard said as he slid the file over to himself. He began to look through it and he smiled. "This dude is the perfect team all wrapped into one! Where can we find him?" Ian shrugged at the question and leaned back into his chair. "He's been on the move, heading west." They downed the last of their bacon, paid the bill and got in the car. A radio broadcast warned drivers to stay off of the road, between mile markers forty-two and sixty-nine. "Dude, That's where-" Richard's mouth shut itself as Ian tried to listen. "The roads have been sealed off due to a forest fire. All vehicles have been evacuated, so we don't need to worry about any human casualties." The anchor said. "Keep calm, we can get out of here before the fire gets here." Ian said as he pulled back into the road. "Dude what's that?" They had only driven a few miles ahead when they spotted something yellow. Something very large and yellow. "Dude," Richard began as they drew closer he was about to speak when Ian cut him off, "That's a school bus!" They both nearly broke the doors off of the van, getting out. As soon as they did get out, they realized the situation. "Rich, Jaws of Life. Now!" The school bus was flipped on it's side, with the roof facing the rapidly oncoming flames. Richard nodded and his body began to grotesquely morph, arms melting back into the body. Legs becoming shorter and more straight, they resembled handles. A few more grotesque and nearly indescribable morphs later he was a fireman's tool. "Let's go!" Ian levitated Richard to the door and clambered onto the bus. "As soon as we get in, I need you to be something that can clear out the smoke." He picked up his teammate and pressed him to the door, clamping the rapidly-heating metal. He pulled with the all his might, it wasn't enough. He tried to pull harder but something shoved him off the bus. He saw a sooty outline and realized what was happening just as Rich hit the ground beside him. Whom quickly reverted to human form. The shadowy outline was human, or more accurately it was mutant. The mutant on the bus stabbed it's fingers into the edges of the door and ripped it off it's hinges. A deep, guttural, hardly human voice shouted out to them from the figure that materialized in front of them. "Get. Children. Out!" The figure turned to them as the flames reached the trees nearest the bus. Ian had been in this situation before, he felt the same surge of power. Everything went white for Ian. When his vision returned he was inside the bus, now tipped onto it's other side. Richard was a strange machine that Ian didn't recognize. He was sucking the smoke out of the bus and blowing it back outside. The mutant that had ripped the door off was crouched in the back of the bus. Ian looked to their savior, "Got a name?" He asked politely. He released what was in his hand and began to scoot towards the powerful mutant. Immediately he regretted his actions when the machine lost power. Ian grasped the power cable once more and felt his body's natural electricity stores funnel through the wires. The same, nightmarish, voice replied, "Reptile. I. Am. The. Reptile." It was as if he was struggling to get the words out. The eyes were not that of any human, or mammal for that matter. The slit eyes of a serpent were staring at him. He was wrapped in black cloth, every part of his body except a for a small area where his eyes were. The skin around his eyes was no longer skin, orangey-yellow scales adorned his face. In the place of the nose, two slits took it's place. "Are you injured?" Ian asked, deciding to get formalities out of the way. "Strong. Scales. Fast. Healing." The Reptile replied. "That's good." Ian replied, then he turned to the kids. "Is anyone injured?" He asked. The driver shook his head, symbolizing no. But the children were scared, very scared. "Don't worry, we're a special team. We'll get you out of here, just stay calm and patient." Ian sent out distress calls to every frequency. The temperature began to rise as flames enveloped the bus. "Rich, we need a new plan. I'll seal the leak, you revert." Ian used a the metal of a lunchbox to seal the crack as Richard reverted to his normal form. "You can do it nearly instantly?" Rich nodded silently, he was sweating profusely at this point. "Why the heck didn't you do it outside? We could've gotten these people out long ago!" "I can't do it when I'm stressed. If I'm calm it's easier." Ian thought for a second then came up with a plan. "Reptile, can you carry a large shield?" Reptile nodded, "Shield. Easy." Ian nodded, and with a countdown of three they began.
It was three days later, just outside of the large town from which the school bus had left. "I'm very sorry about your loss." Said an older, British man in a wheelchair. He himself was dealing with the loss of a friend when he sensed something. "Ian." He blurted out as wheeled over to the edge of the memorial service. He called everyone over as the three mutants, carrying scorched shields, lead and protected the third-graders that they had rescued off of the bus. The children ran to their families and Ian walked to Xavier. "You're late." Xavier stated. "I tried calling, but nobody would answer." "Did you remember to change your signals because you're in a different area?" "Possibly." Richard smacked him in the back of the head and Reptile let out a hiss. "And who are these fine gentlemen?" The Professor asked as he surveyed the other mutants. "Professor," Ian began as he opened his arms to gesture to the others. "Meet your team."
WOO-HOO! Got that chapter out! Special shout-out to my readers in Ireland and Scotland, That's my heritage. The culture and character of the people in those places inspire my own characters. I'd like to apologize to the few readers I haven't lost, I know I should've worked harder for the story. The next chapter is another, shorter chapter. It will be focusing on the lives of the mutants, and the one after that will be the team. And that's the pattern I hope to continue. So once again, thank you.
Thanks for Reading, I hope you enjoyed it.