Madness Chapter Seven
What happened before
I'M ALIVE!!!!So I'm really sorry for taking so long to update. So much homework it's unbelievable, then I got banished from the computer. Here's the next chapter and I think I should tell you that I'm only going to have ten chapters or something in this story. Hope you like this chapter as much as the others. Lot's of Xietro, because there was none in the last chapter, Laura going berserk on some guy, and extra long to make up for taking to long to update.
I do not own Forbidden Pizza, for rest of disclaimer, see chapter one.
Lance awoke to a gust of wind entering his bedroom, which confused him greatly, since his only window was currently boarded up, from the time when Wanda decided that any other window (or even wall) in the house didn't deserve the creature that was Toad being smashed through it. He soon became very interested in the mystery of the illogical existence of wind in his room. To further investigate Lance decided to open his eyes and immediately regretted doing so, for before him stood Quicksilver.
The speedy mutant was leaning over Lance with an expression of pure annoyance and fury, a large red mark clear on his face. Lance pulled himself deeper into his mattress and pulled his blankets up to his chin, hoping that it could save him.
"Can I help you?" Lance asked timidly. It wasn't everyday you woke up to a murderous looking Pietro.
"yes-yes-you-can-you-can-tell-me-exactly-why-your-girlfriend-is-yelling-at-me-to-wake-you-up-in-the-middle-of-my-beauty-sleep-Kitty-is-outside-right-now-and-wants-to-borrow-your-car-I-already-told-her-that-there-wasn't-a-chance-of-that-happening-and-she-threw-her-x-geek-friend's-shoe-at-me-I-told-her-you'd-be-right-out-now-you-had-better-get-down-there-before-she-comes-up-here-and-throws-the-other-one-at-me-I-am-in-no-mood-for-this-I-have-to-get-Laura-in-about-three-hours-and-it-takes-me-four-to-look-my-best!" Pietro yelled at his teammate. Lance looked at Pietro for a while before rolling to his side, blocking the speedster from his view. It was too hard to understand a word that Pietro said when he had a lot to say. (1)
With a large 'huff', Pietro ripped the blankets from the bed, succeeding in earning a shout of surprise from the young mutant.
"Get-your-ass-down-there-and-talk-to-her-so-that-I-can-get-some-more-sleep!" Pietro bellowed and Lance finally comprehended he words bursting out of the speedsters mouth. In a flash, Lance was running down the stairs in his spider-man boxers. Pietro rolled his eyes and headed downstairs at his own speed. In about a fifth of a second, he was in the kitchen, waiting for Lance to realize what mood his girlfriend was currently in.
"Oh, hey Kitty, what are you doing here?" When the shouting match didn't start, Pietro suddenly lost interest and found himself making a small breakfast.
Four cereal bowls, two omelets, and five pan sized pancakes later, Pietro was satisfied and cleaned up after himself, and after Todd, Fred, Lance, and even had the chance to mop the ceiling. With a small yawn, Pietro decided he needed a shower, the ceiling had left some weird white stuff in his hair, and Toad slime was everywhere.
Toad. Pietro couldn't help thinking about the poor, pathetic mutant with the absolutely mental obsession with his sister. Sure it grossed him out to no end that, that creature was 'in love' with Wanda, but he was almost certain that she didn't return any feelings. Toad had been moping ever since Wanda had disappeared, just sitting on the couch, dead to everyone around him. It almost broke Pietro's heart. Unfortunately, all was fair in love and war, and he had his own little love to win over.
"Nobody-use-the-water-I'm-having-a-shower!" Pietro bellowed, and hurried to the very small bathroom that had to be shared between sometimes five people, Wanda, Pietro, Lance, and when she was there, Mystique. By order of the house, Toad and Blob had to use a bathroom at least four blocks away from the house.
The bathroom was an ugly blue. Everything in the small room was blue. The walls, the floor, even the shower.
'You know if you ask me people like blue too much, I mean there's Mystique and the two x geeks that are actually blue, and then there's the outfits. I wear blue, Father has the blue cape, that storm woman wears a blackish blue, there's that ice dude, he's blueish, Wanda had blue hexes but she's called the Scarlet Witch. What's with the red anyway, it's not even that nice of a colour.' Pietro ranted in his head as he washed himself, and winced as he remembered Wanda. She was still missing, and he had no idea where his father might be, or if she was even alive.
'Shut up you idiot you'd know if Wanda was dead, you'd feel it or something. She's probably fine, in fact she probably escaped and Father was the one in trouble, wouldn't doubt it Wanda was tough.'
"But-not-as-cruel-as-Father-He-would-have-left-her-to-die-in-a-second-if-he-didn't-kill-her-right-off."
'He wouldn't kill her right off. He'd want her to feel powerless, Dad's a power hog, needs to feel superior.'
"No-he-needed-to-get-rid-of-Wanda-that-was-the-whole-reason-that-he-kidnapped-her."
"Yo, Pietro? Who you talkin' to in there?" Toad knocked on the door and Pietro blushed.
'Way to go, pal. You just got caught arguing with yourself. Smooth.' Pietro smacked himself mentally. First sign of insanity, conversations with oneself.
"Toad-just-leave-I-have-too-many-things-to-do-before-Laura-gets-here-to-deal-with-your-crap!" Pietro bellowed and jumped out of the shower to grab a towel.
Laura panted slightly as she finished her laps. Logan had assigned her a new training routine while he was away. So far, she had done six laps around the whole school, spent two hours in the danger room, and had taken down three trees in the back yard, accidentally. Taking out the 'chore list', as Wolverine had called it, Laura wondered how much more she would have to do?
'Hey kiddo, while I'm gone, I want you to do some training. Just simple stuff, six laps around the school, and as long as you can handle in the Danger Room, hardest setting. Be back in about a month, and I heard about the missing girl. Be careful around the brotherhood. Don't turn your back on them for a second, especially the fast one. He'll have you on your ass before you can blink, and I don't mean literally. Be good for Chuck for me.'
Laura replaced the note in her pocket, and headed inside. Looking at her watch, she noticed that it was eight o'clock.
"Crap, need to work on my speed."Laura stopped in her tracks. Just a single word could get him stuck in her head. She would have to meet Pietro again that day. Wolverine said that he was dangerous, well so was she. She wasn't technically human. Laura felt the blush appearing on her cheeks as she thought about the speedy mutant. Was it normal to have the same boy on your mind constantly? Was something wrong with her? If she tried really hard, she could still catch his scent on her. A small smile escaped from her control, and soon she found herself absolutely beaming.
"Well, what's gotten into you." Ororo Munroe said as she noticed Laura enter the kitchen. The usual secluded teen was smiling brightly, a blush clear on her face. Upon noticing her company, Laura's smile dropped and she looked down, almost embarrassed.
"Um, Miss Munroe, I was wondering if I could ask a personal question?" Laura trusted Storm more then any other X-man, except for her 'father'. If she wanted to know if there was something wrong with her, she needed to ask somebody, and it would help if that somebody was a girl.
"Personal about me or you?" Storm sat down at the kitchen table, cup of tea in hand, and motioned for Laura to do the same. The younger girl complied and the two of them stared from across the table.
"About me, or regular girls in general. I don't know." Laura took a deep breath and swallowed her pride.
"What does it mean when someone is always on your mind, and when you think about them, you blush or become really happy?" Laura spoke quickly, hoping to get it all out before she lost her nerve. Ororo smiled and leaned back in her chair. She was wondering when this would happen, and most girls did go to her first.
"And who is this 'someone'?" She knew that she was pushing it, but it was something that needed to be known. Storm took a sip from her cup and waited for Laura to answer.
"A boy that I'm helping. I met him yesterday and he is ju-just so... so." Laura trailed off, not knowing how to describe Pietro. He seemed nice and kind, and helpful, and yet, Laura could feel the arrogance and ego radiating from his self. He was confusing to understand, but he felt like a puzzle, one that Laura had to figure out.
Ororo lowered her cup slowly. Laura had gone to the Brotherhood House the other day. She was helping Quicksilver, a boy known for his flirting, find his sister. The other boys were either taken, or, in the words of Tabby, 'undatable'.
Storm looked at Laura, planning on breaking her heart before he could, but logic stopped her. X-23 was created to be better then Wolverine. Her senses her better, and her instincts sharpened. She would have been able to detect a lie easily, even one made with charm, and flirting was always just that. Logan was going to massacre that boy, and her too if he ever found out about what Ororo was going to say.
"Well, I think that you have a crush." When met with a questioning look, Ororo explained further. "It means that you really like that boy, maybe not love, but close." Laura thought about love. She loved her 'mother', and she loved Logan. But Pietro felt different then them.
"Thank you, Miss Munroe." Laura smiled and headed outside. Breakfast in town sounded good.
During the month that Laura had decided to stay at the mansion, Wolverine had thought it necessary that Laura be able to drive her own bike. Now if it was legal or not for a fourteen-year-old girl to be driving something from the god that his Harley Davidson, Logan didn't exactly care. Unfortunately, however, Professor Xavier did, so Laura had to wait for her motorcycle, but she did have a bike, and although it was slower then her when she was running, it drew less attention.
And so on the bike, Laura headed to town in hopes of finding a satisfactory coffee shop.
Kitty waited outside for Lance while Rogue and Remy stood by the bike parked in the small driveway of the Brotherhood House. The valley girl was not in the mood to wait, John and Wanda needed to be found, and they really needed the car.
"Like, forget this, I'm, like, going inside." Kitty marched into the building, determination clear on her face. Climbing up stairs, Kitty looked for a certain room. She stopped at her destination, Lance's room. Now unfortunately for Kitty, Lance always kept his door locked while he was sleeping. When asked why, he always said something about keeping the wrath of Wanda out. But, Kitty knew that one member of the Brotherhood had every key to every room in the house, and Kitty was used to getting what she wanted.
Walking eight steps down the hall, Kitty arrived at Pietro's door, and let herself in. And there he was, sleeping halfway off his bed, head almost touching the floor. On his bedside table, were at least five different types of sleeping pills, three of them illegal to use on humans.
"Wow". Kitty whispered and stepped lightly to the sleeping figure.
"LIKE, WAKE UP SLEEPING BEAUTY!" She yelled into his ear, ripping the blankets from the bed. Pietro jumped in the air, screaming in fright, and Kitty had to cover her mouth with her hand to stifle the laughs emerging from her throat. Finally, after weeks of dealing with Pietro's teasing about her and Lance, Kitty had blackmail. Pietro slept in Hello Kitty boxers.
"What-the-hell-you-crazy-broad!" Pietro shrieked at a glaring Kitty standing over his bed like a mad woman.
"Get. Lance. Now. I, like, need his car." Pietro blinked twice and stood up, grabbing the sheet to hide his little secret.
"Now-I'm-going-to-say-this-slow-so-that-you-can-understand. Get out of my room!" Pietro glared at Kitty, and she glared back, before sinking into the floor. The last thing she saw was the look of pure surprise on Pietro's face.
Finding herself in the kitchen, Kitty marched outside, grabbed Rogue by the sleeve of her shirt, and dragged the untouchable girl inside, leaving a smirking Cajun behind.
"Make that face again and Ah'll rip ya'r vocal cords out." Rogue snarled as she was practically thrown inside the rundown house, and shoved up the stairs. Entering Quicksilver's room, Rogue had to use all of her self control to stop herself from laughing at the particular brand of sleepwear chosen by the speedy mutant.
"Rogue, he, like, wont go and get Lance." Kitty whined to the goth. Said goth looked at the shorter girl, and then looked to the silver haired mutant, eyebrows raised in a mixture of boredom and annoyance.
"Rogue, get your friend out of my room." Pietro yelled, a second before Kitty demanded, "Rogue, like, give me your shoe." One look from the valley girl, and Rogue obeyed without question, and pulled off her loosely tied converse sneaker.
"I-said-get-out-of-" Poor Pietro was cut off by a black converse shoe being chucked at his face. With a large sigh(2), he sped out of the room, and Kitty ventured downstairs, her mission halfway complete.
"Why did you need my shoe?" Rogue asked while sitting on the last step of the stairs, pulling her shoe back on.
"Because mine are, like, new." Kitty shrugged and waited for her boyfriend to come downstairs. About a minute later, a gust of silver wind whooshed past them and entered the kitchen, a half naked Lance behind him.
"Oh hey Kitty, what are you doing here?" Lance asked and Rogue laughed at the spider-man boxers.
"I, like, need your car to save Rogue's friend's friend." Kitty said, with a hint of annoyance.
"There is no way in hell that you guys are gonna drive it." Lance crossed his arms around his chest and Kitty closed her eyes, as though praying for patience.
"Then you, like, come and drive it yourself, be we, like, need the stupid car!" Kitty snapped and Lance looked at her in disbelief.
"I'll go get my keys." Lance looked down and blushed. "And some pants."
Laura locked up her bike outside of her favorite pizza/coffee shop, Forbidden Pizza, and entered the small building. Stranger's faces met her gaze, as was usual, and she made her way to the back of the room, away from the small crowd always found in the small coffee shop.
Every day Laura biked to the small coffee shop, and every day the same people ignored her, which was just fine, they were freaks anyway. Depressed teens with dyed hair and too many piercings. If Laura had it her way, she'd really give them something to be depressed about.
'Stop it. Logan said no harming humans.' Laura snapped to herself and winced at how close she had gotten of returning to old habits. She had to learn not to let her feelings take control.
'The only flaw in X-23, its emotions.' Again, bitter thoughts rushed into her head, and she had to bite her tongue to stop herself from snarling. Deciding that something to eat would help her concentrate on anything other then her own thoughts, Laura walked up to the counter, a boy following her.
"You know, you could be the luckiest girl in town tonight, if you think you can handle me." A voice whispered in her ear and Laura had to force down her anger. Turning around, Laura came face to face with the leader of the freaks surrounding her in the dark room. He was about a head taller then her due to the large green spikes that covered his otherwise shaved head, and had too many piercings, all of which, Laura noticed, were fake, and he wore a shirt with an image of a mutant hanging from a tree. He was a mutant hater, like most social rejects of the human population.
The fumes from his overly dyed hair was choking her, and Laura felt the control she had over her emotions slipping dangerously fast. The last thing she needed was to be run out of town by some major mutant haters.
"So, how about you come over to my house, and we stick some metal in somewhere?" The boy lifted Laura's chin, making her look up to his face. Finally, her mental restraints shattered and Laura attacked.
Grabbing the boy by the throat, she hurled him across the room, and he crashed into a table. Several girls screamed in fright and Laura jumped onto the counter for a better view of the threats around her.
Three of the spiky-haired boy's friends tried to charge her. They all wore basically the same thing, skinny jeans, neon coloured shirts, and dyed hair. Laura kicked the first two down, breaking a nose and maybe a jaw. The third wasn't so lucky. Jumping down, Laura pinned him against a wall and unsheathed her claws. Again, the girls screamed, and Laura smiled as she pressed one of her claws against the boy's neck, drawing blood. Laura could feel his fear, and see the panic in his eyes.
But before she could cause any serious damage to the boy held in her grasp, her senses came flooding back. With sudden realization of what she was doing, Laura bolted out of the coffee shop, leaving a group of scared and confused teens behind her.
'can't stop. Can't stop. Oh gawd, what did I do?' Laura thought to herself as she ran down the street and headed to the park. All the work Logan and Professor Xavier did to help her control herself was gone, she was dangerous again.
'not again.I've always been dangerous. I've killed people.' Laura finally stopped. She stood alone in the woods of the park. With a shudder, Laura fell to her knees and tried to calm down.
"It's-not-your-fault-you-know-I-was-about-to-beat-that-guy's-ass-too-Nobody-should-treat-you-like-that." A familiar sent filled the air as a certain boy appeared from the shadowed trail. Pietro had seen the whole thing, the wannabe punk and his moves on Laura. It didnt feel right to watch someone do that to her, like he had no right.
Wiping her eyes quickly, Laura hoped that he didn't see her about to break down. As she looked away, Pietro stepped forward and sat down beside the young teen. She tensed when his shoulder brushed against hers, and he gave her space.
"You should lay low for a while, I noticed the chick behind the counter reach for the phone, might have called the cops." Purposely slowing his speech down so that Laura could understand, Pietro rested his hand on her knee, hoping to reassure her that everything would be fine.
"It's okay, I'll just go back to th-" A foreign voice in her head cut off her sentence. 'Don't go to the mansion. I know about the pizza place. It's okay. Stay with the Brotherhood for tonight. Don't worry, Pietro'll take care of it." Professor Xavier's voice rang through her head. He knew about her outburst, but wasn't angry about it. That was good. Looking over to Pietro, she noticed that he was starring into nothing.
'The professor must be asking if I can stay with him.' Laura thought to herself and suddenly, her anger flared up again. She could take care of herself, she didn't need someone to take her in like some drug addicts daughter! She could stay in the park over the night, no problem there. Even if it got cold after dark, that would never bother her.
'What about the cops?'
Fuck the cops. She could smell them from a mile away, and anyway, she would be long out of their reach before they even came close to her.
With a growl, Laura stood up and brushed off the invisible dirt off of her pants. She didn't need people's help. Even the thought was insulting.
"Hey-where-are-you-going?-Hey-hey-hey-wait-a-minute!" Pietro stood up and cut Laura's path off, his hands on her shoulders, trying to hold her back. She snarled at him, certain that he would be like all the others and jump back, staring at her as though she was a wild animal. But he didn't. Instead he stood his ground, and almost glared at her.
"Don't-you-try-that-with-me-I-live-with-the-queen-of-crazy-and-let-me-tell-you-she-can-snarl." Pietro smirked at his own little comment and smiled widely when he noticed the humor in Laura's eyes. He could tell that she wanted to laugh, but she sobered up quickly.
"I don't want you to take me in. I'm fine on my own." Laura could hear the lie in her voice, and was pretty sure that Pietro could to. She felt better around him, like no matter what she did, he would never judge her. She really needed that.
"listen-just-come-for-tonight-Mystique-has-the-nicest-room-in-the-house-and-she's-not-there-or-at-least-she-wasn't-when-I-left-the-house-and-if-she's-still-there-you-can-always-use-Wanda's-room-Just-don't-say-no." Pietro smiled weakly and Laura and to fight off a blush.
"Fine, but this is only so that I have somewhere to go after we find Wanda." She gave in and Pietro pulled her in for a humongous hug. Grabbing her around her waist, he lifted her into the air and swung her around, letting out an energetic laugh. After a while he let her feet touch ground and did something that could only temporary brain loss could cause. He kissed Laura. Not a big, full out romantic one mind you, but a small and sweet thing that could barley count as a kiss, and so brief that neither were even sure that it really happened.
The experimental clone known as X-23 blinked twice in disbelief before her entire face heated up. Instead of the many predicted responses, mainly anger, Laura stepped away and bowed her head shyly. Pietro laughed in pure relief, and rubbed the back of his neck. He wan't going to get castrated. It was a pure miracle, and something that he would take to his grave. He kissed X-23, Laura, Wolverine's daughter, and lived.
"Let's just find your sister."
Now for something different!
"Remy, just admit it. You have no aidea where John is." The two Southerners had been arguing for almost the entire trip around town, and it was driving Kitty crazy. She and Rogue sat in the back seat of Lance's jeep, while he and Remy sat up front, Lance driving. Since Remy knew all of the shortcuts around town (such knowledge needed in his line of work), he was stuck navigating, not exactly something he was good at since none of them knew where the pyromaniac was hiding.
"Remy knows where his best friend is, chere. Don't tu worry about t'at. We jus' need ta find the burning building." Remy tried to joke but his comment was met with annoyed stared and eye rolls.
"Like, give me that map, Gambit." Kitty snatched the folded, unused paper from Remy's lap and dropped back into her seat.
"Watch were you're grabbin', petite fille. Remy smirked, much to Rogue's annoyance, and began to light a ciggarette, much to Lance's annoyment (Kitty was too busy looking at the map).
"Hey man, open the window. I don't need my baby smelling smoke!" Lance snapped at Remy, and Kitty looked up from the old paper.
"Like, thanks Lance!" Kitty smiled and Lance looked back in surprise. "I meant the leather in the car. That smell won't come out easy you know." Rogue laughed with pure mirth at the look at Kitty's appalled face before she went back to the map.
"Do you even know if they stole a car or something?" Lance asked Remy, not happy about driving all around town for two mental patients.
"Eh, John probably stole something sporty. Look for a mustang." Remy let his smoke escape through the open window and leaned back in his seat, getting himself ready for a good sleep
"Good for nothing Cajun."
"Hey, like, Lance. When was this map made? Cause the shoe store's not on here." Kitty asked and shoved the map into Lance's face, completely blocking off his vision of the road.
"NOT WHILE HE"S DRIVING!" Rogue pulled Kitty back and Lance let go of the wheel to fight with the overly large paper that wouldn't stop moving due to the open window.
"Get out of my FACE!" Lance yelled and through the map out the passenger side window, disturbing Remy from his nap.
"Hey, homme. Don't mess wi't- rechercher pour cette voiture!"(3) The jeep had swerved into the other lane during the confusion and was heading for a car wreck. Lance grabbed the wheel and drove into the sidewalk, crashing into a lamppost, the airbags popping out of their hiding spots.
"CRAP!" Lance yelled, beated down his airbag, and ran out to see the damage. He was lucky, but the car wasn't. The lamppost destroyed the front of the car, and Lance fell to his knees. His baby was almost totaled.
Laura and Pietro made their way down the crowded streets. The shorter girl had nearly given Pietro a heart attack when she had found his sister's sent. It was feint, but she could follow it. After about an hour of walking, the sent had gotten stronger, and Laura noticed something worrying. Blood.
"Pietro, I smell her blood. She's injured." Looking to her left, Pietro could be seen as though he didn't hear her, his face was completely blank, emotionless.
"Are we close?" His voice was weak, and Laura fought over her embarrassment to touch his shoulder.
"Very. Lets go." The two of them ran, Pietro keeping speed with Laura, who ran faster then he would have expected. They soon found themselves at a dingy old motel. Just the sight of the crummy building made Pietro's thoughts go haywire.
'Oh gawd, one of them must have brought her here. Move it Pietro, they'll rape her! or kill, or- JUST MOVE!" Pietro complied to his mind and ran bursting through the door that Laura had indicated was Wanda's, and what he saw was pure madness.
One of his father's Acolytes had Wanda on the bed. He was wearing practically nothing! He noticed the blood spots on the floor, and the rips in the black undershirt that Wanda was wearing. Anger filled the speedy mutant and before he could control himself, he found himself bellowing at the red-headed mutant that could control fire.
"GET-THE-FUCK-OFF-OF-MY-SISTER-YOU-SICK-BASTARD."
yes, I do realize that it gets pretty comical, but I was too tired to care.
(1) I have no idea why, but when I think of Pietro, I think of Neil from Class of the Titans. If you don't know what I'm talking about, then shame on you.
(2) Imagine him sighing, shoulders drooping, a large, red footprint on his face. That it my vision, and now I share it with you.
(3) I don't know if that's the real translation for what I'm trying to say (watch out for that car) but I have a really crappy translation site so it'll have to do.