AN: Surprise! I finally updated this story again. I'm sorry for the ridiculously long wait. This story has finally returned to my rotation, so expect more updates soon. In fact, another two chapters have all been completed and are about as long as this one, so there's a guarantee for more.
Anyway, thank you everyone for your reviews and whatnot. I hope you enjoy the chapter. It's my favorite, so hopefully you all like it.
Mixing Faces and Breakout Cases
This night has been nothing short of a disaster. The Purifier captain's pained grunts and furious growls were the only sounds to accompany the shuffling and thumping of his movements as he entered his hideout, completely alone. Every one of his men was taken out in the explosion and would be taken to the isolation wing of the closest hospital. He was the only one conscious and capable enough of moving to force himself away from the scene before the emergency team arrived and even then, he barely made it. Personally, he was surprised all of his men were still alive
None of his men would be back on the streets now, even after they recovered. The Purifiers' noble work was deemed terrorism by the law and punishable by life in prison at the very least. The organisation would take another blow from the media too, thanks to the tattoos every Purifier wore. They'll make out that this explosion was their fault for irritating the destructive fire mutant. Which had turned out to be the telepath boy Jim Possible.
There's nothing more I can do about it now. Snarling hatefully, he forced himself in front of his computer and sent his report in to Mr Stryker. He was not going to be happy about this one at all.
His snarl intensifying as he forced himself to send the confirmation of his failure, he turned back to the picture of the Possible family. However, after a moment, the snarl turned into a cruel smirk. He may have failed to kill him, but now Jim's little secret would become worldwide news. After all, the media simply loved a good story. Who cares where they got it from or who it hurt?
...
"This just in! The destructive mutant using the form of giant firebird has been identified as Jim Possible, the younger brother of world Famous Hero Kim Possible."
"Eye witnesses have placed the boy, previously assumed to have been killed in the firebird's initial attack at Middleton High in no less than three locations that the firebird has been seen attacking"
"No comments can be taken from the parents, Dr's Ann and James Possible at this time as both were hospitalised after the attack on the Xavier Institute. It has been assumed that they had gone there with the hopes of finding their missing child."
"Many witnesses, though admitting to being terrified of his powers, have admitted to questioning the boy's hostility as every sighting of him comes with Jim looking scared and panicked. Take his age into account and it is arguable that he is simply losing control of his new powers. However, whether the attacks are intentional or not, it has been made clear that Jim Possible is too great of a threat to leave walking free."
"A number of victims at the last attack site, an old electronics store, have been identified as Purifiers, a cult that sets out to rid the world of mutants and what is believed to be a mutant taking on the form of a small dragon. It is unclear if the mutant or the Purifiers may have set off the latest attack. All of them are currently still being treated at the explosion site, many of them deemed too unstable to transport at this time."
"Agents of every law enforcement agency are working around the clock to find this young, renegade mutant. We would like to ask the public to remain calm. If you see him, do not approach him under any circumstances and alert the authorities immediately."
It didn't matter what channel she flipped to. Even all the way on the opposite side of the world, all that was on was the series mutant attacks depicting one very important young man as a terrorist. Screaming in rage, she didn't even bother hitting the off switch. She just threw the remote right through the TV screen.
Kim couldn't believe it. There was no way her brother was the monster nine out of ten reporters were making him out to be. NO WAY!
Sure, she knew her brothers were mischievous pains in the butt more often than not, but neither of them would ever actually intentionally hurt anyone. Yes, if Jim did turn out to be a mutant like her, which seemed to be the case, he'd probably go a little overboard with his power, but this? No, he had too good a heart, even if he did try to hide it behind being her little demon. He kill himself with the grief and guilt of doing it. There had to be a lot more to this story.
The question was what? She honestly had no idea what it could really be, the last time she'd talked to her family she was the only mutant under the Possible roof and everything was as normal as it ever got back home. And now, with her parents hospitalised in who knew which hospital and Tim...where the hell was he?...she had no way of finding out anything.
"There's only one thing for it." She decided, raising her Kimmunicator. She'd need Wade's help for this one. She was going to track down her brother and every piece of information that she could find on the firebird problem. Then she was going to clear his name. That was all there was to it.
...
Tim had never felt so relieved to be off a bus in his life. It took multiple rides to get there from Bayville, despite the close proximity, and with every one more and more people stared their way, many of them muttering about runaways and whether they should take us to the nearest police station. Add in the fact that Tim never was the best at sitting still and how earnest he was to reach his brother, it made his impatience nearly unbearable both to him and his friends.
"Come on, let's go!" He cried, rushing ahead. After all, one woman had been watching them the whole time and looked ready to swoop on them. There was a lot of reasons to get into the city already.
"Hang on Tim, we gotta figure out where we're going first." Aang called after him, earning an irritated groan as he and Jamie fiddled with a map. "Unless you want to simply run in the opposite direction or something! This city is huge." He added patiently in response.
"Fine." He groaned moodily, conceding defeat and moving back beside them. "But two things. One, if we don't move somewhere now, we're going to have to explain why we look like runaways to the woman approaching us." He started, subtly nodding his head back and causing the others' eyes to sneakily follow to the an overweight, set faced woman looking right at them. "And two, you're holding the map upside down."
"Oops. My bad, sorry." Jamie rubbed the back of his head sheepishly as Tim rolled his eyes. Aang simply grinned amusedly and flipped it around as they started to walk into a crowd. Between the mass of people and the darkened sky, it was easy to lose the woman. The only problem was that it was near impossible to read the map without standing under the streetlights.
"Why are so many people out right now anyway?" Aang asked, quickly getting annoyed with the frequent shoving and elbows striking him. "It's past even the point of late dinners! Why aren't more of these people at home by now?"
"Because this is a city that never sleeps." Jamie answered excitedly, not even bothering to try and read the map. The lights and bustle above and around him was so much more interesting to him. It was so bright and flashy that even the dark sky couldn't be seen! "There's too much to do to stay home. Besides, it's not that late, there's plenty of bars and clubs open right now."
"The people here never sleep?" Aang gaped, staring around like he was surrounded by crazy people.
"No, they sleep. The city doesn't." Tim shook his head, snatching the map. Fed up with straining his eyes and getting knocked out from under the streetlights a few too many times, he moved out into the gutter between two cars. "The people sleep at random times, some during the day and some during the night, depending on their jobs, but there's so many of them that it's always busy."
"Oh, ok. Wait, Tim, what are you doing?" Aang asked, raising an eyebrow as a little worry grew across his face, Jamie finally looking down again to watch curiously.
Tim however, didn't respond, frowning hard at the car before him. He wondered if he could do it. Turning the lights on should be simple enough and it wasn't like he had to get the whole car up and running to do it. The owner would never know.
The problem was that it had barely even been twenty four hours since he discovered his ability and he definitely hadn't been practicing it. Yeah, he'd gotten Cerebro to give him information and the hangar doors to open and close, but the first one was while trying to do something else and all doors do is open and close. If he tried to turn on the car lights, it may not work at all or it could start the vehicle up and have it drive right into them. Maybe he should just...
Hope that the crowd will fizzle out enough for us to stand under a streetlight for a few minutes? He thought, scowling at the crowd. Yeah, I don't see that happening anytime soon. His mind made up, he turned back to the car and focused as hard as he could on the front light, mentally demanding that they light up.
"Hey!" Jamie cried, his curious look growing to one of excitement. "Are you trying to- AHH, high beams!" His excitement quickly turned too pained as he threw up his arms protectively in front of his face, Aang and Tim doing the same as their eyes were hit with more light than they could handle.
"Sorry." Tim grunted, turning his back to the car. Clearly, he'd overshot it. What made it worse was that naturally, everyone in the area had notice the far too bright light and were filling the air with groans and angered shouts. Grabbing the others, he turned them too, just enough to be able to see without blocking all the light from the map and ran his eyes over it. He had to work fast, it was only a very short matter of time before people figured out he'd done it or accuse them of trying to steal the car. Not nearly enough to figure out the control over his ability needed to leave the lights on at their normal setting.
"Ok, here's the park where there was a report of what some guy thought was a flare this morning and here's the street where that fight broke out." He said quickly, pointing out each place to a lost Jamie and a still part blind Aang. "Now we're here, so we need to go... that way!" He stated, pointing across the street and down the road.
"Ok, then let's-"
"AAAHHHH! It's Jim Possible!" Aang's sentence was forever left unsaid as a woman screamed, drawing the attention of everyone in the area.
"What, where?" Tim cried, whipping his wide eyed face back and forth throughout the area. However, he couldn't see past the panicking crowed, all running and stumbling away. They weren't even of any help as for some reason, they were all staring...
"Tim, I don't think it's actually Jim that they found. And they really don't look ok at the thought of finding him." Aang muttered lowly, nervously shifting away from the crowd as three men made their way right for them, all of them holding a piece of wood or a briefcase threateningly.
"Huh?" Tim stuttered, biting his lip worriedly as they approached, frowning as he thought the whole thing through. "They think I'm Jim. But...how would they know that name and why are they..."
"Get him! Before he blows up another building!" The guy with the briefcase shouted fiercely, causing Tim to scream as he threw the leather rectangle right at Tim's head. His mind not processing his fear and disbelief of the situation, he couldn't react in time and would have been struck hard...
However, Aang was fully aware and thinking fine and with a leap, he kicked it right back the way it came from, landing at its startled owner's feet.
"The next projectile will hit the thrower." He stated coldly, placing himself squarely between Tim and the still quickly approaching men. However, if they paid even the slightest bit of attention, it was only enough to stop them from throwing, nothing more.
"Get out of the way kid or we'll take you down for protecting that mutant terrorist!" One man spat, swinging down with his chunk of wood only for Aang dodge it and back flip away from the third man as he reached out to grab Aang's arm.
"These guys aren't gonna quit." Aang grunted, dodging the swinging briefcase by diving between the owner's legs and striking hard at the back of his knees, resulting in a loud cry and thump as he fell onto the hood of the car. Sliding down the front of it, he cried out again as he got a good and close look at the high beams.
"Then it might be best to run." Jamie replied, blocking the wood guy's next assault with a tent pole only to falter under the weight and hit his back on parked a SUV, forcing him to close his eyes or get blinded by the lights again. " Argh! We've got enough people after us as it is." He grunted, swinging the pole and lucking out with a blow to the guy's hand, causing him to scream in pain and drop the wood. "And seriously Tim, would you turn off the lights? This hurts!"
"Forget the lights, just run!" Tim exclaimed, grabbing the duffle bags they'd left on the ground. Swinging them into the closest two thugs along the way, he nudged Jamie back onto the footpath with his elbow just as Aang added some subtle Airbending to his back-palm and sent the third rolling away with a groan. Grabbing one of the duffle bags as they reach him, he grabbed hold of them and jumped, releasing bursts of wind from his feet.
"WHOA!" Tim and Jamie's screamed as they flew right over the still busy road, eliciting a number of cries and gasps from everyone watching. Before either passenger had a chance to alter their screams from surprised to scared, Aang had already hit the ground again and was running as fast as the wind. He could take it too far though. With the extra weight, he barely got around the far corner before he had to bring it to a halt. Letting them go, it took pretty much all he had just to keep walking.
"Well, that was the first time I did that! I need to work out more." He gasped as the others readjusted themselves to the rapid changes in speed.
He didn't get long though. The others didn't even give into the urge to comment over it before grabbing Aang's arms, this time dragging him at their speed as they rushed through the masses, Tim taking care to keep his head down and in the shadows the whole time.
"The way those guys talked...It sounded like there was another attack." Jamie gasped as quietly as he could. It was hard not to be overheard in such a crowded area, even if the pedestrian traffic there was much lighter than that around the bus station. "And since when does the world know who's the Phoenix? Last I checked, everyone was just calling it the firebird."
"Something big must have happened while we were catching rides." Tim responded worriedly, clenching his teeth as a very troublesome realisation struck home. "Which means, on top of everything else, Jim might already be gone. The Phoenix always takes off."
"If that's true...then we need to...find some...news reports or whatever you call them." Aang stated between puffs. "We'll need to know which way it went."
"Or we can just ask the cops!" Jamie cried, pulling them to a complete stop and panickedly pushing them against a wall. Considering it was a wall jutting out from a main entrance to the building, it's needless to say that they were all uncomfortably crushed together as they caught their breath and peeked around. "Or the army. Take your pick." He added, his pitch going high and all of their faces paling at the sight before them.
Sure enough, right in front of them was a military van. The heavily reinforced kind they used to ensure that prisoners would not escape through even the most dangerous of areas or captives. They were used a lot lately for transporting criminal mutants.
There were about ten soldiers in the area, walking around picking through what looked like a building blown to rubble. Two were standing guard over the one remaining ambulance in the area, their guns armed and ready.
"I think we found the last attack." Tim squeaked, trying and failing to sound calm and collect. It was kinda hard when you probably already had your name on the cops' missing person's list and the face of the so-called terrorist. Seeing as his parents weren't even aware that he was leaving Bayville, no doubt not waking to find his letter until they'd long left the town, either recognised identity could get him into a lot of trouble.
While Tim and Jamie were busy gawking at the sight, Aang closed his eyes and concentrated on his hearing. He couldn't tell you much about the soldiers, cops or anything they were carrying and he'd already seen the site. With the others watching out, it was the best chance he was going to get to eavesdrop and try to figure out the situation. After all, this had the Phoenix written all over it and any information that they could get on it could be helpful. Not that he was getting much, most of the muttering sounded like whining garble.
"How's the mutant coming along?" A soldier suddenly barked over it all, instantly grabbing Aang's attention. Opening his eyes, he pressed his side closer to Jamie's as he peeked around, quickly spotting the speaker. From the look of his posture, as hard to read as it was from a distance, he most likely running out of patience and not thrilled to be there at all. "We don't need it looking pretty, we only need it stable enough to transport. Personally, even that seems to be a bit much." He added, his voice dropping so much that Aang barely heard it. It was still clear enough to have him bristling though.
"That piece of scum." Tim growled, clenching his teeth furiously, all signs of fear in his voice temporarily forgotten. Jamie didn't look particularly happy either, so it was safe to say that they all heard it.
"Would you be patient!" A paramedic snapped, his angry voice coming loud and across the area, though he and his partner's eyes never left whatever was hidden from the teens by a pile of burnt bricks. "This one's in a dragon's physiology, not a human's! She's not even a mammal right now! It's going to take a bit of time to determine if she's alright and you breathing down our backs with your racist crap isn't helping!"
"I like him." Jamie muttered, smiling a little as he watched the paramedic. Tim however, found himself a little more intrigued about the mutant than the tong lashing. Going against better judgment, as per usual, he pulled himself out of the pressed pack the three had become and crept to the other side of the empty road.
"What are you doing?" Jamie hissed incredulously as a freaking Aang waved his hands in an erratic 'come back here' motion. However, Tim ignored them completely. Hiding behind an old mail box, he strained his eyes over the top of it and felt his jaw drop.
He couldn't see its head, but its body was no doubt a human child-sized reptilian one with a much too different body structure to be any of the big lizards. Plus, its scales were a pale pink. Who ever heard of a pink lizard?
"Wow. I wonder if she has all the powers of a dragon." He whispered, staring in awe as he examined her form. "The wings seem a bit too small, but they still might give her flight. I wonder, is she a shapeshifter? If she is, then why would she decide to turn into such a small dragon when she could turn into a building sized one? Maybe she's a beastly type instead and the wings and scales are permanently there, like Beast or Nightcrawler? I wonder if she can breathe-"
"Hey! You, over there! Come out with your hands where I can see them!" His blood ran cold as a cop flashed a light right on him. It took a few seconds for him to stop staring like a deer caught in the headlights and duck out of the light. A few seconds too long.
"It's HIM. JIM POSSIBLE!" The cop shouted panickedly, fumbling to get his gun out of its holster as every other cop and soldier whipped their attention his way, guns already pointing. "Behind the MAILBOX!"
"Get that one secured in the van NOW!" The Captain snapped, two of his men instantly pushing the paramedics away and grabbing the dragon as the rest of them charged down the street. "Don't let either of them get away."
"Oh, this is bad." Jamie cried, watching fearfully.
"But nothing we can't handle." Aang responded quickly, startling Jamie into shouting out as he stomped and thrust his arms, sending a very large ripple through the earth and right at the military, sending them all stumbling down. "We need to distract and confuse them without getting caught. Got any ideas?"
"Actually, yes!" Jamie cried, his eyes lighting up as he took off and ruffled through his backpack, quickly pulling out a black hoodie. Throwing it on and ensuring that the hood and the darkness covered his face completely, He gave Aang a grin and thrust one of the duffle bags back into his hands, taking the other bags himself, and grabbed the confused boy. "Come on!"
Their newest member's voice reaching his ears just as the first bullet hit the top of the mailbox, Tim looked over just in time to see the excitable mutant running straight toward him, dragging the scared Avatar behind him.
"There, there's two more of th...what the?" A cop cried, watching on stunned, not believing what he was seeing. With every step taken by the new two, three more kids appeared and they were running in every direction. Within seconds, there were over twenty running around, many of which were aiming right for the law enforcers.
"It's a whole horde of mutants! Fire!" The captain ordered, already shooting.
"Are you insane! They're just kids, stop it!" A cop shouted, shoving the captain down right before he fired a death shot.
"Who do you think you are cop-"
"Who do you think you are?" The cop interrupted venomously as his fellow policemen struggled to get the soldiers to let go of their triggers. "This isn't war and they're kids! Even if they're mutants and in the same place as Jim, that doesn't give you the right to kill them!"
"They're collaborating with the national threat!" The captain shouted back furiously. "And I am the military captain, you're just a cop. I make the call, not you."
"Then I'll ensure that you get charged and dishonourably discharged and jailed for life for killing innocent kids on an assumption and prejudice." The cop shouted right back.
"What do you know, there are some genuinely good guys on the force." Jamie grinned as they reached Tim, offering him a hand up. "Now how about you guys add to this chaos with a few more tremors and maybe a car alarm?"
"On it." Aang nodded, quickly positioning himself before making the ground quake enough to send everyone to the ground again. This time, however, he added a few extra shock waves, keeping them down and setting off the sirens on every emergency vehicle they had, resulting in more than half of them writhing on the ground holding their ears and screaming. "Ok, let's move it!"
"But what about the dragon?" Tim cried, hesitating as Jamie tried to pull him along. "We can't just leave her with them!"
"And right now, we have no way of getting close without getting killed!" Aang shot back, grabbing Tim's other arm and dragging him away. "That won't help her either."
"Yeah, but-"
"Don't worry, I'll try to leave a clone nearby." Jamie interrupted, getting around a corner unnoticed as said clones had the recovering soldiers running randomly all around the place. "As long as I'm in range and they're not blasted, they stick around."
"Great, then we can come back later." Aang agreed, turning into an alley only to find it was a dead end. "Uh-oh."
"No uh-oh, look!" Jamie shook his head, pointing excitedly down at a manhole. "They'll never think to look down there!"
"But that'll be disgusting. It's a sewer!" Tim said, scrunching up his face distastefully. "I really don't feel comfortable in a place like that unless I have a gas mask."
"We don't exactly have time to be picky." Aang retorted as Jamie created another two clones to aid him in removing the lid. Cheering as it moved aside, he quickly jumped down, followed by Aang. Tim spared one more worried look back the way they'd come as the shouts, arguments and the occasional bullet grew closer before growing angry at himself and jumping down, careful to seal his mouth and cover his face so as to block the resulting, disgusting splash while the clones moved the manhole cover back in place and either disappeared or ran off to join the other clones with the distraction, whichever Jamie made happen. Personally, Tim hoped the latter. It would help a lot more getting their pursuers off their tails.
"Ok, that stinks." Aang groaned, sounding like he was going to be sick. Turning back to face him, Tim found the Air Nomad green in the face, with a hand clasped firmly over his mouth.
"Block your nose and breathe through your mouth." Was his response, giving Aang an 'I told you so' look as he started randomly walking around. "So what do we do now? These sewers are a freaking maze and we can't stay here for long."
"I got it." Jamie grinned, grabbing a flashlight from his backpack and punching his hand, instantly creating four clones. "Ok boys, lets spread out." He called, playfully mocking a drill sergeant and getting cheeky solutes from his clones in return before they scattered. He waited about ten seconds before creating another four clones and sent them after the first group.
"Um...how does that help?" Tim asked, frowning curiously as he watched them go. "We just wait until they come back with a path to safety or something?"
"No, the first group find one, I'll know it instantly." Jamie replied, raising his head proudly. "The second group are just there so I remember the way better. My ability lets me know everything my clones know, like a psychic connection."
"So that's why you said you'd leave a clone behind like it would fix everything." Tim said, impressed and starting to absorb some of Jamie's excitement. "You're amazing Multiple."
"Really? You think I'm amazing?" Jamie asked, his face lighting up like a kid's in a candy store.
"Yeah, you're like the ultimate spy." Tim nodded as he coaxed Jamie to lead the way, not really wanting to stay in a place where the sewage water could rise at any time. "Even if you get found out, you can make those clones fade away at any time, right? They'd never know you're there and you'd always have an alibi. I'm curious though, wouldn't having a lot of clones out at once cause a mental overload?"
"Nope." Jamie grinned as they turned a corner. "According to the Professor, all the memory is gathered into my subconscious and is either slowly assimilated in on its own, whatever that means, or I call it up on command. The more there is for my subconscious to go through, the longer it takes to get it all, but anything my mind deems important is brought into my mind immediately."
"Your ability's more complex than I thought." Tim commented, mulling it over. Imagine how fast you could learn things that way or how many scenarios you could juggle. If all the memories went to the clones the same way, it would not only cancel out the need and risk of radio communication, but you could respond to everything faster. Add to the fact that he could duplicate supplies along with his body and the guy's gift was golden. Imagine how easy it would be to shield an entire area with the shield projector he was working on if he handed it over to Jamie. And think of all the time and supplies he'd save from not having to mass produce them himself.
"So how are we going for a safe exit?" Aang moaned, still looking good and green. The sewers definitely didn't suit him. Even the one he'd climbed through when he'd tried to save King Boomy when Omashu was taken over were better than this!
"Yeah, the lead clone we're following already found two manholes this way, but we're going to try for another one if we can. They both led to the road and a very busy footpath near a restaurant." Jamie answered, getting a loud, whiney groan from Aang in return.
"So then what about the surface?" Tim asked before stumbling over a pile of what look like small bones, probably from a rat. "AAH!"
Fortunately for him, Aang and Jamie were quick to respond, catching an arm each. Otherwise, he'd be in the next shower he came across four hours and have the world's most disgusting taste in his mouth for a week. Just the thought of falling face first in the sewage water had his stomach lurching, almost to the point of actually throwing up. "Thanks guys."
"No problem, what are friends for?" Jamie grinned, Aang nodding slowly beside him before taking off again. "Most of the clones have faded away on the surface now and the few remaining are being ignored. They figured out the trick and guessed that the real me is long gone." He shrugged.
Still, Tim wasn't too thrilled with the answer. It didn't tell him what he really wanted to know. "What about the dragon mutant?" He pressed. He really hoped that Jamie hadn't lost the clone watching her.
"The paramedics forced their way into the prison van and are patching up wounds. Oh, wait, they're pulling out now because she's waking up and freaking out." He answered, visibly flinching by the end of it. "Ouch, that had to hurt. She just jumped and hit the suddenly closed door."
"Then we need to move fast." Tim cried, shoving a startled Jamie along, to the point where he almost needed saving. "We can't let them take her away! Besides, she may have information about Jim."
"The question is how do we save her?" Aang mumbled behind him, finally starting to calm down and regain his normal complexion. "Even when they thought you were Jim, they kept her guarded and those metal thingies of theirs looked deadly. How do we get in and save her without risking our lives or theirs?"
"With a distraction." Tim answered, pulling himself and Jamie to a stop so suddenly that Aang walked right into him. Shrugging off the grunts, he shrugged his back pack off his shoulders and motioned for Jamie to give him some light as he shuffled through it and smirked as he pulled out his magnetic laser. "Multiple, this will give you all the power you need to strip them of their toys. Combined that with a few elemental assaults from seemingly nowhere, it should be easy to lure them far enough away for me to break the dragon out. Though it'll work best if there's a manhole nearby..." He added suggestively, turning to Jamie. The young duplicator's eyes almost shined as he registered the hinted question.
"I know exactly where to go. Follow me." And he was off so fast that it was amazing that he didn't slip and fall.
...
The van was already on the move by the time they made it to the opening Jamie had in mind, but that was fine. It was on the way to their manhole and with Aang's Airbending, it was easy to get him and Jamie into position.
Three small alleys along the road each held a Multiple in possession of a magnetic laser while the originals were hiding behind the brick wall of a roof next to Aang, watching over the whole scene. Meanwhile, Tim was hidden within the shadows, with the clone that had led Jamie there, near the manhole at the opening of another, otherwise deserted alley left open just enough for him to move when his part came to play. By the time the van made it to their street, they were all set to go.
"Here it comes." The clone muttered, setting Tim into action. Peeking around the corner, he concentrated as hard as he could on the lights heading down the street. He'd never tried turning anything off anymore, but it was the best way to go. Aang could stop the van if he had to, but that would lose them the advantage of surprise.
"Come on...come on..." He muttered, glaring hard as he willed the van to shut down, only to growl in frustration as it continued on its way. It wasn't working; his power was too new to him. Why the heck could that stupid machine just stop-
BOOM, SCRREEE, BOOM!
"AAHHH! GET OUT, GET OUT" Tim paled considerably at the sight before him. The van had finally come to a stop. Unfortunately, it did it by ejecting the wheels and dropping the engine. The result: the van hit the ground, its momentum moving it along in a shower of sparks until it hit a traffic light. That was, ironically flashing the red light.
"Oh, that could have worked out better." Tim groaned, sinking further back into the shadows. The van had come to a halt past his alley and the soldiers were getting out and surrounding the whole thing. He couldn't risk being seen, especially now.
"Secure the mutant! Make sure nothing gets to her." The captain barked, gun at the ready as he and half his team started scouting the area. "If she gets away before we can get what we need from her, all of you will be wishing you were never placed under my command. And find the one responsible for THIS!" He added, shouting furiously as he stomped through the area.
"Now?" Jamie asked softly, but keenly as he turned to Aang. The young monk simply nodded in response, tensing his body. It didn't even take a second for the message to cross to the clones. Before the soldiers could make it even another three steps, every armed Multiple aimed and fired their laser.
"Hey, what the-?" Shocked cries filled the air as every gun, bullet and belt buckles was ripped from the soldiers' bodies and flew quickly away, not stopping until they hit the satellite dish of the magnet rays and dropped to the ground.
"AAHH! Who the hell dares to- AAHH!" The captain roared as he watched his weapons fly high into the air, however, he had no time to worry about them as a fierce gale surged right from the way the weapons flew to, instantly sending him and another of his men flying off into and through a window on the opposite side of the street.
Aang's reaction was instant. Leaping into the air, he created an air scooter to sit on and remain airborne and lashed out with air slash after air slash, quickly sending gasping and shouting soldiers in all directions. That is, except behind the van.
"MUTANT ATTACK!" Aang wasn't sure who had shouted it. There were even a few scared civilians running and screaming out of their homes now, drawn by the excitement and the soldiers were quick to recover. With the exception of the first strike against the captain, none of Aang's attack were meant to really hurt, just daze and distract and these were well trained soldiers. More often than not, they forced themselves to roll or flip as they returned to the ground, resulting in painless landings and returning them almost instantly to their feet. Still, it was enough to keep their attention and that was all he needed.
Taking a few deep breaths, Tim held himself perfectly still, but ready to move at a second's notice. Aang was doing his job well, none of the soldiers had time to think, only react, but he still had to time it perfectly right. Some did still frequently look all around the area as the twisted and spun in the air after all, and with so many street lights...
Well, why not? I already wrecked the car. He thought with a shrug, turning all his focus to the lights lining the street. It didn't take his trigger happy power and frustrated mind to kick in, within seconds his desire to shut off the power did the opposite and caused a power surge so great that it shattered the light bulbs.
"AAHHH!" Soldiers and the stupider civilians running into the street alike screamed as glass flew down everywhere, running and diving desperately from their range.
Now! The extra distraction creating the perfect moment, even if Aang had to take more care into where he unleashed gales now, Tim dashed right through the dark to the back of the van and slapped a round device over the lock. Hitting the single button on it, he smiled triumphantly as it whizzed to life, heralding the tell-tale click of an opening bolt, and ripped the door open before hopping right in to find the dragon glaring right at him.
"Hey, who are..." She started, only to trail off as he took a few steps closer. Even through the dark, he could see her eyes darking to his face and gaping, almost as if she recognised him. When she spoke again, it was with a lot less anger and a great deal more worry and disbelief. "Jim? You're still here? What happened to my family, from what I've overheard, I was the only person found at my Grampa's shop that wasn't a member of some Purifier organisation!"
"Sorry, you got the wrong twin." Tim said quickly, stepping right up to get a closer look at her. He couldn't tell you much, but from the way she was standing, he was sure that she could run. Her injuries weren't too bad, probably due to tough, armour-like scales. Man, he really wanted to study her mutation. There will be time for that later. He snapped, mentally scolding himself for getting distracted. He only had seconds before the military figured out the door was open, he had to get her out of there now.
Fortunately, the only thing that was stopping him from doing just that was a thick chain shackling her to the wall. Nothing his bag of inventions couldn't handle.
"What do you mean wrong twin? He mentioned having a brother, not a twin." The dragon demanded, staring at him like he was distrustfully. "You're not Jim? Then who are you and why are you here?"
"My name's Tim and I'm looking for him. That's all we have time to say right now." Tim responded, pulling an altered version of Kim's laser lipstick out of his bag. Altered, as to say made it look like a pen instead of lipstick and doubling the intensity. "We have to get out of here. Please trust me, I'm only trying to help you."
The dragon only wasted a few scream filled seconds staring hard at him before she nodded, letting her body relax. Grinning in response, Tim quickly moved right alongside her and crouched down, turning on his laser pen and aiming it very carefully. Despite the unusual thickness of the metal, it only took a few seconds to blast right through the shackle and snap it open.
The second she was free, Tim grabbed her arm and dragged her straight out the door and back onto the street. Unfortunately, the darkness and glass shards had Aang hesitating so much that the soldiers had plenty of time to recover and the lights of nervous or excited spectators in the surrounding buildings made it more than easy enough to make out their forms.
"Stop them!" The captain shouted, pointing furiously at the fleeing duo. Four soldiers were after them in an instant.
"Oh, no you don't." Jamie grinned, taking a few steps back. Feeling that he had enough running space, he created another four clones and sent the running into a jump right over the edge. "Avatar!"
It didn't take a second for Aang to determine what the four simultaneous calls wanted. He instantly brought his hands to his mouth and blowed, sending the strongest gale he'd used all throughout the fight and propelled and guided the clones right to their destination before turning his attention back to the rest of the fight.
"WOOHOO!"
"AARRGGHHH!" The two sets of four calls echoed throughout the area as the clones came straight down on the four soldiers just before they reached Tim and the dragon, crashing them into the ground before fading right out of sight.
"How many of you are there?" The dragon asked, surprised and curious as Tim led her back into the darkness of the alley, only to stop when she found someone already in it.
"That depends entirely on me." The Multiple grinned, standing proudly with his hands on his hips beside the manhole cover. "Now please, step this way to avoid unwanted military jerks." He added, taking on the speech pattern of a tour guide.
The dragon just gave both boys an unsure look before climbing down the hole, letting out a disgusted 'eewww' as she reached the bottom. Sharing her opinion, he climbed in down after her, only waiting long enough to help Multiple with the cover.
"What about him?" The dragon asked, frowning worriedly as Tim joined her at the bottom and grabbed the bags he'd left hanging by their straps on the ladder before. "He'll get caught if he stays there!"
"Don't worry, he'll fade away." Tim replied, grinning as she stared at him with open confusion. "Multiple is a mutant with the ability to duplicate himself. When they're done, they disappear. It usually looks like they're fading away."
"Oh, duplication. So that's what he meant 'depends entirely on me'." The dragon mused.
"Hi." Only to stop and scream as another smiling Multiple with a flashlight whipped around the corner in front of her. It took all she had to stop herself from breathing fire on him.
"Don't do that!" She cried indignantly as Tim chuckled behind her, earning a bat to the head with her tail. "So are you the real...Multiple?" She asked moodily, ignoring the 'ow' coming from behind her completely.
"Nope, I'm a clone. The real me's up with the Avatar. I'm just here to guide you through to the nearest safe exit." Multiple replied merrily before spinning on his heel and heading back the way he came. "Now if you would be so kind as to follow me, we should be able to leave this oh so wonderfully horrid exhibit of all things disgusting in no time at all."
With that, the group headed off in silence, excluding the slopping sound of sewage.
...
"They're in." Jamie said softly as Aang dropped beside him, both ducking low as the soldiers shouted and scoured the area. With the wind assault having stopped, they had a lot of time to get their bearings and were quickly moving towards their taken equipment. "So do you think we should stick around a bit longer or get out of here too?"
"Keep them chasing after those clones down there and that should do it." Aang replied, grabbing hold of the mutant. He waited just long enough for Jamie to nod sending the air around them spinning and taking off, making sure to press Jamie's face to his shoulder as he did. After all, they'd just lead the soldiers to their rendezvous point if he let out his exhilarated shout.
...
"Go-ARRRHH!" The captain found himself reduced to wordless screams as he his men continued to apprehend the assaulting teens only for them to disappear before they could so much as remove the hoods and see their faces. They literally just slipped through his men's hands like ghosts, fading away. It was like they were mere projections or something.
"Sir...that was the last of them." One soldier reported hesitantly, not sure of his superior's reaction and hating the fact that he had to voice the results of this skirmish. "We still have no idea where the wind mutant even was either. And... on top of that..."
"Spit it out!" The captain hissed, causing his entire team to wince. Oh, he wasn't going to like this.
"The dragon mutant we were bringing in for questioning succeeded in escaping."
They'd lost the mutant. One that had been with Jim Possible, helping him, probably knowing exactly what he was planning, where he'd go. Their only lead.
"AAAAAHHHHHHHH!" People around could quite fairly accuse him of being a mutant himself at that point. The scream was loud enough to be heard a mile away. Most though simply wondered how a guy with amazing anger management issues could possibly be considered worthy of rising up in the military. As far as they were concerned, people like that shouldn't even be allowed to hold a gun.
...
Fiddling with his fingers, Tim couldn't stop watching the dragon. He had so many questions, both about his brother and about her. He was itching to ask, but wasn't sure if it was the best idea. She looked possibly even more green than Aang had down there before, probably to the amazing reptilian sense of smell that he was sure came with her form. Where he smelled one horrid stench, she could probably tell you about each and every smell it was made up of and just how strong and fowl it was. It was probably best that she didn't talk. She'd probably just puke if she tried.
Still, there is one question I probably should ask now. He frowned, biting his lip. It was a pretty important question; it would define what they had to do once they left the sewers. The sooner they knew the answer the better. Oh, screw it. If she blows chunks on me, well, I'm already gonna be burning my shoes after this trip. It hardly compares.
"Hey, I need to ask a question." He said slowly, monitoring her reaction as she turned to face him. So far so good, she didn't look like she was going to puke yet. "It's about your mutation. Are you able to change back into a normal human, or is your ability one the permanent beast types?"
"Beast type mutation?" She asked, throwing Tim completely off guard as she stared at him with open confusion. However, realisation dawned on her quickly enough as she looked herself over and the next time their faces met, she'd grown a sheepish smile. "Oh, right, most would think I was...yeah, I'm normally completely human looking."
"Do the soldiers or the cops know that?" Tim asked, holding back his suspicious frown as she shook her head. She was hiding something, he was sure of it, but he forced himself to shrug it off for now. After all, they'd just met. She had plenty of right to have secrets. So instead, he let his relief at her answers shine through and smiled. "Then would mind changing back? It'll be a lot easier to hide in the crowd that way. My face draws too much attention as it is. It'll probably lessen the smells you've got to deal with down here anyway."
"Well, that's all true." She said hesitantly, biting her lip as she stared between the boys indecisively. It was, after all, a risk to let people see your true form. Blending in becomes much harder with more people knowing your secret.
However, she seemed to decide it was worth the risk a few moments later, for with conceding sigh, she stepped a little away from the boys and shocked them as pink flames encased her body. Flashing away as quickly as they appeared a second later, they revealed a young, half Chinese girl about a year or two younger than Tim.
"Now that was a cool transformation." Multiple grinned, Tim nodding with an impressed smile.
"Thanks." The girl said softly, but proudly, beaming at the praise. "I'm Haley, by the way. Haley Long."
"Well Haley, it's nice to meet you." Tim responded happily as they started onward again. "Now what do you guys say we pick up the pace. The sooner we're out of here, the better."
"Here, here!"
...
It didn't take too long after that to reach their destination. Opening the exit was a little tricky this time, considering that it was heavy and had to be done slowly, in case there was someone around, but once they knew they were clear, it was a piece of cake. With Haley simply looking like any other sweet little girl and Tim covering his head down and covered with a baseball cap, it was easy to blend into the streets. Once they covered themselves in Jamie's deodorant to block out that sewer smell anyway. With the clone having already disappeared, the only thing that got them any stares was the fact that they were out so late with a pair of bulky bags. But that was odd, not really suspicious.
"So where are we meeting up with your friends exactly?" Haley asked casually, smiling pleasantly at anyone who turned attention on them. She was used to this after all, she'd lived around here her whole life and her own dragon life had her walking the streets seemingly alone plenty of times. Add to the fact that her father had only recently learned that she and Jake were dragons and the result was an entire life of practicing facades.
"Bueno Nacho." Tim replied, his voice perfectly happy, revealing none of the nerves Haley was sure he was feeling right now. After all, when you share the face of a wrongly accused terrorist brother and you know the big guns after him are close by, it can leave you pretty afraid. "Where else would we go?"
Haley had to admit, it made sense. She never went there, but she knew about it. A fast food business, the one kind of place kids and teenagers could always be found unsupervised. There, they'd actually blend in with the crowd and it was nearby, meaning less time to be spotted on the streets. And since the soldiers had no idea who they were looking for...
"Here it is!" Turning a corner, Tim picked up the pace as a brightly lit building with a sombrero shaped roof came into view. Walking through the automatic doors, he looked around quickly, but carefully, trying to avoid anyone getting a good look at his face.
"Timothy!" Looking up a little more, Tim smiled brightly as he found Aang and Jamie in a booth hidden back in a corner, waving them over. It didn't take Tim any time at all to head over and sit down opposite them, Haley following close behind.
"No followers?" He asked quietly, looking more to Jamie as they got comfy, thankfully accepting the cups of lemonade.
"None." Jamie whispered back, looking like he was struggling not to jumpy around like a child on a sugar rush. "They could figure out where any of us were to begin with and when you took the lights out...well, they only got close to my double-gangers because they purposely led them to dead ends."
"Still, that shattered glass thing was risky. I could have accidentally killed anyone with that stuff all lying around." Aang muttered, pointing a serious look Tim's way, getting an apologetic one in return.
"Yeah, sorry. I only intended to turn the lights off. Light the van." Tim muttered sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. "I don't have any idea how to really control my power."
"You have one too?" Haley asked, turning to him with intrigue. "You never mentioned it."
"Techno-telepathy. I think." He said quietly, double checking that no one was watching. "I kinda only discovered it yesterday and all the people who could confirm it were unconscious by that point. I can figure out how machines work just by look and touch and I can make then turn off and on or open and close. And apparently make them fall apart or overload, according to tonight." He added sheepishly.
"Well, now that we've come to tonight, thank you guys for rescuing me." Haley said, bowing her head appreciatively. "I really owe you guys. Oh, where are my manners? My name is Haley. It's nice to meet you." She added, smiling at Aang.
"The pleasure is ours. My name is Aang." Aang smiled back with a bow of his head.
"So Haley, we were wondering if you could possibly have any information on Jim we could use." Tim's voice was barely audible as he said that, tilting his face close to her ear so that only she could hear it. "We're out here, all on our own trying to track him down. Anything you could give us would help. Heck, at the very least I'll know how my twin's handling all this."
"I know a little. But I won't say a thing here." Haley answered, taking a large sip of her drink before turning to the boys. "I'll make you guys a deal. You share your story on how this whole thing started and I'll share what I know. But first, we go to my home. My family was at Grampa's electronics shop when everything went down and if any of them made it out of all that, they'll have headed home. I need to see if they made it and besides, we'll have privacy there."
"Deal." Jamie nodded instantly. The others nodded consent too; however, it was a lot more hesitant. If her family wasn't found at the ruined store, then it was highly unlikely that they'd be home. It was basically guaranteed that the Phoenix got them too.
...
Admittedly, the walk to Haley's home was a bit of a risky one, despite hanging around Bueno Nacho for another half hour so the boys could chow down gives the military more time to, hopefully, vacate the area. Haley's home was only a few streets away from the shop. In the end, they chose to go the long way and head in through an alleyway leading to their back door, Haley feeling particularly happy that she'd thought to keep her key on her person.
"Mom? Daddy? Jake, Grampa, Foo? Are any of you here?" Haley shouted, running straight into the family room only to grow more desperate as she entered. The room hadn't been touched. "MOM! JAKE! Please be here!" Starting to hyperventilate, she ran up the stairs two at a time and slammed open every room, her crumbling state only getting worse with every empty room. "JAKE!" Tears were falling freely down her face as she got to the last room, only for it to be empty too. "No. They're not here. Th-they weren't there either, so where...where are they, where'd they go?" Shaking, she fell against the wall and down it, wrapping her arms around her as she sobbed. She didn't even look up when the boys caught up to her, ignoring their sympathetic and empathetic looks.
"Haley..." Tim started, placing a hand on her shoulder as he dropped to his knees beside her. "The Phoenix...well, a lot of people have disappeared without a single trace being left behind after it attacked. Even the X Men." He said sadly, Jamie nodding and beginning to cry himself as he and Aang sat down before them. "I'm so sorry that this happened to you." He add, as she sobbed. Not knowing what to do as she failed to respond, he simply wrapped an arm around her, trying to comfort her as best he could despite knowing first hand that it was useless.
"But that doesn't mean that they're dead." That brought Haley's sobs to a halt. Their jaws dropping or eyes widening, all three of the other instantly whipped their heads up to Aang. It took only a few seconds before they simultaneously turned into expression that were best described as 'explain now'.
"Think about it. For all the injuries that have occurred due to the Phoenix, there hasn't been one confirmation of death, right? No dead bodies, only disappearances. That doesn't make any sense." Aang started, unperturbed as they simply continued to gape as he went on. "Everyone found, no matter how good or bad they were, were only injured. The kinds of things that have happened around it should have made that impossible. A lot of people should have died without being incinerated, especially at Middleton High, but no, people were only left with burns, broken bones and concussions.
"There's also the fact that the reporters haven't even mentioned any piles of ash where people have disappeared." He went on, becoming more convinced himself as he did and definitely returning hope to Haley and Jamie. "Even I know that even after incineration, there's still something left behind. And we already know that the Phoenix' cosmic flames can carry things and people inside them without hurting them. Jim's walking proof of that! So there is still a good chance that they're all alive."
"Dragons can't be burnt to death so quickly, no matter how hot the flames are." Haley muttered, realisation dawning on her face. "Even if they died, there would be a lot of remains."
"Dragons?" Tim perked up, his face quickly changing to a look of amazement and curiosity as he connected the dots. "Are you telling me that multiple people in your family have the exact mutation that you do? How's that possible?" He cried, throwing his hands up wildly. "The chances of that are like a billion to one! There's no record of it ever happening. Heck, Jim and I are identical twins and even we have different abilities. Granted, they're both to do with our minds, still!"
"Actually...it's because my dragon powers aren't from the advanced X gene." Haley admitted hesitantly, delving the room into silence. Staring around at each boy's incredulous eyes, she took a deep breath and made a decision her Order probably wouldn't approve of. But for once, she just didn't care about following the rules. "I promised to tell you all I know about Jim and the Phoenix. What I know actually started thousands of years ago and has a connection to my heritage. Back when the world was fully aware of the magic and magical creatures that thrive all over it to this day."
The group spent hours sharing all they knew about the Phoenix and every past and origin connected to it, only pausing to move to the couches downstairs. Surprises, interruptions and keen questions were passed back and forth well into the night, all four of the rapt so deep into the amazing recountings that they probably wouldn't have noticed an earthquake. So, none of them even noticed the cat at the window, taking in every word they said.
My my, what a fascinating story. Mystique thought, very much intrigued. She was particularly interested in the Phoenix and the Avatar. Such unique, powerful entities could make valuable allies and one of the keys to getting to the Phoenix was sitting right in front of her.