CHAPTER 10: Flyers and Farewells

Addison Santiago- Dawid Auguscik (17)

Piotr "Colossus" Rasputin- Jed Hill (17)

Illyana "Magik" Rasputin- (young) Chloe Moretz (12)

John "Pyro" Allerdyce- Ryan Kwanten (25)

Sarah "Marrow" Rushman- Jena Malone (16)

Callisto- Lena Headey (33)

Scott "Cyclops" Summers- Matt Bomer (32)

Emma "White Queen" Frost- (young) Charlize Theron (30)

Douglas "Cypher" Ramsey- Julian Stahler (16)

Japheth "Maggot" Lefu- Adonis Bosso (17)

Alison "Dazzler" Blaire- Freja Beha (17)

Roxanne "Bling!" Washington- Shareeka Epps (17)

Hisako "Armor" Ichiki- Mirai Shida (11)

Paras "Indra" Gavaskar- Sammir Dattani (15)

There are events in a person's life that alters the way they see the world, molding their perspective into something they barely recognize until it's the opposite of what they once thought it was. And then there are moments when someone you love does something that makes you wonder if love is enough.

Although Piotr wasn't entirely dismissive of helping the Rems trapped at the Quentin Carnival, he also didn't seem like he really cared. He acted as if he hoped it would become someone else's problem so he wouldn't have to deal with it himself. I'd always assumed that since he was an X-Men, he would actively want to help those who are downtrodden and enslaved but he was able to instantly switch from one subject to one that was completely superfluous at the moment. I looked at his hopeful face as we left the carnival; hopeful that this date wouldn't be ruined over what we'd just seen but I was in no mood to eat.

"No, Piotr." I said as we walked through the dark parking lot.

The night had brought with it a much needed coolness in the air that was comforting against the recent stifling heat of the day and it helped in clearing my head of the situation. "I'm not in the mood for dinner. Maybe we can pick something up on the way home."

"Ok." He said, visibly disappointed.

Was I overeating about the situation? He did say we would tell Mr. Summers and Ms. Frost when we returned, which showed that on some level he did care. But he was right there with the other patrons, staring at and cajoling the Rems trapped inside the cages. But then another thought struck me.

What if they wanted to be there?

It was a hard thought to swallow but in the world we live in, maybe being a part of an archaic institution such as a carnival freak show was easier than to deal with than being shunned by both humans and mutants. For me, it was easy. I was a mutant. When M-Day came and went, I was still a mutant but I'd never really stopped and thought about those who lost it all. Yea, the notion rested vaguely in mind when I thought of Sarah's woes but I'd never really considered what the other Rems had to go through and how they'd dealt with it.

I was so lost in my own thoughts, I didn't even notice a man step from behind a red Corvette. He was rather attractive with golden blonde hair and a shit eating grin. His blue eyes sparkled with mischief as he casually flipped a small Zippo lighter open and close, the small flames dancing before my eyes. From underneath the sleeves of his red "Burn Baby, Burn!" t-shirt, I could see his large, muscular biceps bulge with every movement. Despite his beautiful package though, I couldn't help but notice the large burn scars climbing up his left arm and peppering the side of his neck. But somehow it only managed in making him look even more sexy and dangerous.
I could feel Piotr tense next to me, instantly going on the defensive as he moved Illyana to stand behind him. I, on the other hand, didn't feel any animosity coming from the stranger and my instincts were usually spot on.

"Hello, my mutant brethren." He finally spoke, his voice lilting with an Australian accent.

"There are no mutants here." Piotr replied, a threat hanging clearly on his lips.

"No worries, mate." He said, flicking the lighter open. The flame slowly began to lift from the lighter and rested in the palm of the stranger's right hand but it didn't seem to burn him. "I'm a mutant too."

"What do you want?" Piotr asked after a few seconds.

"Well," He said with a smirk, extinguishing the flames with a close of his hand. "I heard your little discussion about the Rems in this carnival and I could tell you all wanted to make a difference."

As he spun his words like silk, an air of cockiness dripping from every muscle, I could tell this encounter could end very badly for him if he didn't get Piotr to back down.
"I'm John, by the way." He said, stepping towards us. Reflexively, Piotr took a step back, but I walked forward to meet him. "John Allerdyce."

"I'm Addison." I said as we met, grabbing his offered hand and shaking it. I could feel Piotr behind me moving closer, probably to protect me if something bad went down. "And this is Piotr."

"It's nice to meet you both." He said, flashing us a million watt smile. "And who is this gorgeous young lady?"

I looked over at Illyana, her face bright red at the attentions of John. As John went to say hello, Piotr moved in front of him, halting his progress, a growl on his lips.

"I will not ask you again." He said, his muscles already beginning to morph into steel. I'd never seen his powers up close but the way the metal climbed up his arms like liquid, hardening and strengthening his muscles was rather fascinating and beautiful. "What. Do. You. Want?"

"Touchy touchy." He said, his hands raised in surrender. "All I wanted to do was offer you a place among the Brotherhood."

"You're with Magneto, aren't you?" I asked. I had never met anyone from Genosha before and I was oddly intrigued by what he was saying.

"Indeed, mate." He replied, glancing at Piotr from the side of his eyes.

"You are nothing but a mutant terrorist." Piotr said. "And quite frankly, we already have a place…among the X-Men."

"Ah!" John responded, stepping away from us. "So you're one of Xavier's sheep. My bad."

"Better to be a sheep, than one of Magneto's zealots." Piotr said.

"You have no idea what you're talking about." John said, oddly sincere. "We are only fighting fire with fire."

"And you have no idea how close you are to getting your face smashed in." Piotr growled. "Leave. Now."

"Fine." John replied, reaching into his pocket. He pulled out a piece of red printer paper, neatly folded into a square. He turned towards me, that devious spark back in his eyes and handed the paper to me. "But if you ever change your mind…"

I quickly shoved it into my back pocket before Piotr could snatch it away from me, making John smile.

"I will not tell you again." Piotr threatened, his whole body almost covered in metal. I could see the tension in his neck, straining to attack but he held himself back, probably trying not to cause a scene in the parking lot.

"I'm leaving." John said, turning away from us, his hips swaying with a swagger as he headed towards the entrance of the carnival. I could see the metal withdraw from Piotr's body as John walked away from us. Halfway across the lot, John turned back towards us.
"But the day you realize you're on the wrong side of this war, feel free to find me."

He said the words into the air but somehow I knew he was talking to me.

The car ride back to Westchester was marked with points of silence and the sound of bad Top 40 playing lightly on the radio. Piotr hadn't said a word since our encounter with John but intermittently, he would mumble obscenities about the other mutant. Illyana sat quietly in the back trying to distance herself from the situation. I, on the other hand, couldn't help but think about everything that had happened the last few hours. The date had started off so well and slowly it began to go downhill. First the homophobes, then the Rem freak show, and finally John. Not to mention the cryptic ass prophecy Destiny told me about, something I didn't have the mental capacity to deal with at the moment. And to make matters worse, the piece of paper John handed me was burning a hole in my pocket. I just assumed it was one of the many flyers plastered across mutant establishments in the city, decorated with photos of Magneto and a tacky Uncle Sam pun calling the remaining mutants in the city to Genosha. But a part of me wondered if there was more on the paper. It took everything in me not to rip it out of my pocket and open it in the darkness of the concrete highway stretched before us.

I had never seen Piotr as angry as he was tonight, short of the video footage they would occasionally air on the news of the X-Men's more public battle and honestly, it scared me. It looked like it took his everything not to rip the steering wheel from the truck and haul it into the night. I had seen controlled rage like this before in my Uncle Fernando. He was a very troubled man and his anger eventually got him killed.

I finally allowed myself to relax and I could feel sleep creeping up on me. The events of the day had begun to take its toll on my body and I could feel myself beginning to drift. I was in that limbo between being awake and dreaming, the moment when you're aware of your surroundings but unwilling to be a part of them because of drowsiness. I was almost to the point of dreaming when a spike of pain shot me in the center of my head, my eyes flying wide and my mouth open in a scream. It felt as if someone were holding my eyeballs in their hands and squeezing them like a vice grip. White light was taking over my sight and I couldn't see. I didn't even know if I was still alive. The pain intensified and in the back of my mind, I could hear Piotr's voice shouting at me but the ringing in my head was blocking him out and the pain was making it hard for me to breathe.

Suddenly, my body lurched forward, my stomach dropped, and I felt like I was on a rollercoaster. My heart was beating a mile a minute and I could hear my own rushed breathing in my ears. And just as suddenly as it happened, the pressure around my eyes vanished and the pain in my head disappeared.

But when I opened my eyes, I was no longer in the car with Piotr and Illyana. I couldn't really make out where I was because my vision had grown cloudy and blurred. It was if I was looking through water or cellophane film. The sensation was strange but it was heightened by the fact that I couldn't smell anything and a numbness I'd never felt before was settling into my limbs as if I barely existed.

From what I could make out, there were two human-shaped blurs in front of me. One was mostly green with a spot of pink at the top, arms barely visible among the smear of colors. The other blur was tall, black, and vaguely resembled a palm tree. They were both incredibly animated and appeared to be speaking loudly. Their voices were muffled but the harder I tried to hear them, the clearer their voices became and I was about to make out the words.

"I told you, Callisto." The pink and green blur said. "I don't want to do this anymore."

Callisto?! I thought. One of the blurs is Callisto, probably the black one. And I instantly recognized the voice. Sarah. Somehow I could hear them and they sounded like they were arguing. Was this a dream? And if not, how can I hear them? They're nearly 2 hours from where I am.

"And I told you," she replied. "I'm doing this for all of us. Those X-Men don't respect you. The only reason they let you stay there is out of their perceived obligation. You belong with us and this deal we've got going is a good payoff for us."

"I know." Sarah sighed dejectedly. "I know but is this really the way to do this?"

"Look, I know this is hard for you, those people are your friends." She said soothingly. "But it's not like you forced them to take it, they chose to. If anything, you're doing them a service. If you weren't selling Mist to them, they would go to the city and probably get some shit that could seriously fuck them up."

"I know…" Sarah said.

"At least this way, you know they're getting a pure batch." Callisto continued. "And it's perfect because they'll keep coming back for more and they know they can get it from you. There's no other competition in that school."

"But what if it kills them?" Sarah asked.

"You know how Mist works." Callisto replied, slightly dismissively. "And so do they. As long as they keep taking it, they'll be fine. They'll get a power boost and probably a place on that bullshit team, the X-Men."

"You're right." Sarah said, confidence evident in her voice for the first time. "Do you think if I took some, I could get my powers back long enough to get rid of my bones?"

"Maybe." Callisto shrugged…I think. "Here."

I could see a movement that made it clear that Callisto had passed Sarah the inhaler Mist was kept in.

"You deserve the world Sarah." Callisto said, stepping close to her. "You deserve to be beautiful. You deserve everything you've ever dreamed of."

"I do." Sarah replied, holding the inhaler to her lips.

"And then, you can finally be with Doug."

I could hear the sound of the inhaler release the drug as I was instantly rocketed back to my body, the feeling slowly sinking back into my limbs. My head was spinning and I could feel myself growing nauseous. I threw open the truck's door, the street still below us as the bile rose up in my throat. I felt Piotr's hands on my back, trying to soothe me as I vomited up what felt like my soul. After a minute, nothing else came out and my body was racked with dry heaves and was covered in sweat.

"Are you okay?" Piotr finally asked as I nodded against the side of the truck's frame. "What happened?"

"I don't know." I said finally. "But I think I just lost my best friend."

I walked into the headmaster's office, waiting patiently for Ms. Frost and Mr. Summers. After we'd come back from the carnival, I walked to my bedroom without a word to Piotr and Illyana and threw myself into bed without even getting undressed. I was asleep before my body hit the mattress. I was awoken this morning by Ms. Frost telepathically reminding me I had my student evaluation this morning. After every school year, we're called into the headmaster's office to talk about the progress we've made over the course of the year. A majority of the students had already had their evaluations since they were going away for the summer but for those of us who were trapped in the Institute year-round, it was finally our turn.

I could feel Frank's presence next to me. He arrived sometime in the night and when I awoke, he told me everything he'd seen the night before. But honestly, he didn't need to tell me. I'd seen it with my own two eyes…well, with Frank's two eyes. Somehow I was able to see and hear the same things he did and even though I'd always prayed for a power boost, I wished I hadn't at the moment.

I hadn't spoken to Sarah about what I'd heard yet but I was going to. She had a lot of explaining to do but I also knew it wouldn't be anytime soon. With Doug's party happening right after my evaluation, I wouldn't have the time to confront her without ruining Doug's day.

The sound of the door opening behind me drew my attention back to the matter at hand. The first one to enter my vision was Ms. Frost. Today, her blonde hair was slicked back away from her face, her makeup minimal but still immaculate. She was wearing a white silk vest and a matching white stretch pencil skirt with white silk tuxedo stripes down the side. Her strappy gold sandals clicked as she rounded the large mahogany desk and delicately situated herself into one of the seats behind it. Then Mr. Summers sauntered over and sat next to her. He was wearing a stark white button up shirt with a pale blue tie and dark navy slacks. His brown hair was styled impeccably with not a single hair out of place. He was wearing his typical stern expression hidden behind his dark red ruby quartz sunglasses. Ms. Frost was the first to speak, her nude colored lipsticked lips parted in a smile.

"Hello Mr. Santiago." She purred. Even when she wasn't being sexual, every word she spoke hummed with sexual promise. "I'm sure you're aware of why we called you here?"

"Yeah." I nodded. "My evaluation."

"Then lets get right to it." Mr. Summers finally spoke, his voice deep and commanding. "So, since our meeting last year, has there been any development with your powers?"

"Ummm…I don't really know." I replied. I already had too much on my mind to have to deal with this stupid evaluation.

"The last time we spoke," Ms. Frost said, picking up the manila folder on the desk and flipping it open. "You said you were able to hear Frank and sense his presence. You also said you can instantly call him to you. Am I correct?"

"Yes." I responded.

"And you've said that Frank can choose to be tangible or intangible at will?" Mr. Summers interjected.

"Right." I nodded.

"So has there been anything new other than these facts?"

I wondered whether I should tell them what happened the night before. If I did, I ran the risk of them finding out that Sarah was apparently selling Mist on school grounds which would definitely get her kicked out. But not telling them would be like lying and lying to a telepath wasn't something I would recommend.
"Well," I said finally. "Recently, I think I've been able to see and hear the same things as Frank when we're not together."

"Really?" Ms. Frost said, propping her elbows on the desk, her chin resting lightly on her folded fingers, suddenly interested. "What was that like?"

As I recounted to them the sensation of having my senses pulled into Frank's body, Ms. Frost nodded every now and then in understanding while Mr. Summers sat, unmoved. When I finally finished, Ms. Frost leaned back, a beaming smile on her face.

"I can also mess up machines when I go through them." Frank piped in.

"What?!" I asked, shocked. It was the first time I'd heard about it. "Why did you never tell me?"

"What?" Ms. Frost asked in confusion.

"I don't know." He replied, I assumed with a shrug and a look of petulance. "Just didn't seem all that important."

"Ugh!" I said exasperatedly. "Of course that's important!"

"What?!" Ms. Frost asked again in frustration. With a huff, I turned back towards her and recounted what Frank had just told me.

"Well," she said finally. "It appears your powers are growing, slowly, I might add but at least we're seeing some progress."

"Is there anything else you wanted to talk to us about before we end this meeting?" Mr. Summers asked.

I thought about telling them about Sarah, it was the right thing to do, but if they did kick her out she would run back to Callisto and I couldn't bear that life for her again. Instead I shook my head as I stood up.

"No, there's nothing I…actually there is." The thought struck me and I knew I couldn't leave without some answers. "Did you know that the Quentin Carnival is exploiting depowered Rems for the entertainment of baseline humans?"

"Yes." Ms. Frost replied coolly. "We are aware of the Quentin Carnival situation."

I waited for her to elaborate but when she didn't, I continued.

"So…are we going to rescue them?" I asked.

"From what?" Mr. Summers responded.

"Captivity!" I shouted, suddenly outraged. They didn't seem fazed by the situation at all and that infuriated me. Why did no one care about these people?! "They're basically slaves and powered or not, they're still one of us!"

"Calm down." Mr. Summers replied calmly. "We have extended invitations to the Rems at that carnival and every time they've declined. We cannot force people to come here against their will."

"Apparently…" Ms. Frost mumbled.

"Emma…" Mr. Summers warned. Ms. Frost simply rolled her eyes in response.

"Look, Mr. Santiago." She said standing up and walking around the desk to stand in front of me. When she finally reached me, she bent slightly, placing her hand on my shoulder, my eyes level to her breasts. "We feel for them and we have tried to recruit them, whether you think so or not, but we have bigger things to worry about within our immediate community. It's a hard thing to understand and an even harder thing to ignore but they have made their choice and that's all we can do about it."

I sighed. She was right. We couldn't make them come to us. They chose their choice and we all had to live with it.

"Now," Ms. Frost said after a moment. "Run along, we have other students to interview today and you have a party to get to."

"How did you…" I started before releasing another sigh. God, I hate telepaths.

When I got back to my room, the party was in full swing. Well…sort of. There were only 9 people there and everyone was pretty much milling about, chatting idly about random things. There was music lightly playing in the background and someone had turned Doug's desk into a food table. There wasn't much in way of food but there were a lot of snacks and junk food. Someone, presumably Sarah, had hung tacky blue and yellow crepe streamers and huge yellow balloons were taped in clusters to random places in the room.

Doug and Japheth sat on Doug's bed, laughing about some story Japheth was telling, Sarah was, surprisingly, having a deep discussion about music with Alison, Piotr was sitting on my bed watching Illyana and her friend Hisako playing cards, and Roxanne Washington, Alison's band mate and friend was standing next to the snack table with Paras Gavaskar, Japheth's roommate, getting to know each other.

My eyes instantly fell on Sarah, checking to see if the hit of Mist I saw her take altered her at all and at first, I didn't notice anything different about her. But when I really looked at her, I could see that the bones protruding from her back didn't stick out as far as they usually did and the bones covering her fingertips, knees, and elbows were smaller than they had once been. So the Mist was helping her, but at what cost? Mist was known to be very aggressive and dangerous if you stopped using it. Sarah had to know what it was going to do to her.

As I pulled my focus away from Sarah and back on the group, the whole scene made me miss Tabitha, especially because she was also friends with Hisako. The young Asian girl was already very pretty at the age of 11. She had a small, heart shaped face and soft, delicate features, her pale skin standing out against the darkness of her black, bone straight hair. I then glanced over at Roxanne and Paras. Both were instantly recognizable by their physical mutations. Roxanne's entire body was composed of rough, crystalline diamond which made her look both beautiful and dangerous. Other than her skills with the bass guitar, the only other thing I knew about her was that she was dating a beautiful Brazilian mutant girl named Renata. I had only met Paras a few times and I had always found him to be pretty cute but I would never act upon it since he was pretty young and took a vow of celibacy. He had beautiful, lined purple skin and bright red hair that matched the red marking on his forehead. I was surprised to see him since Japheth told me he would be going back to India for the summer. Midway through their conversation, Paras and I made eye contact, a smile blooming on his exotic face as he waved at me.

The motion of me waving back caused the others to look in my direction, all happy I had finally arrived.

"Hey!" Doug smiled. "You're back!" His words came out slightly slurred and his face looked flushed as he threw his arms around me in a hug.

"Yea…" I replied, confused at the scene before me.

"Took you long enough." Japheth said, slapping me on the back. He was also sporting a glazed look in his eyes. My friends were drunk. I made my way over to Paras, who I knew wasn't drinking because of his personal beliefs.

"Hey, Paras." I said with a smile. Closer up, he was even more attractive than I thought. He had a face that looked like it belong in a Bollywood movie if he wasn't purple.

"Hello, Addison." He replied politely, taking a sip of what I assumed was plain juice. "It is good to finally really meet you."

"I know right." I responded. "You've been Japheth's roommate all year and we've only spoken like 4 times."

"Well, maybe we can be friends when I return from India?" He said sincerely.

"Yea, sure." I said with a smile. He seemed really friendly and I could tell he would fit right in with our group. "So why is everyone drunk?"

"It started when Alison brought her flask and spiked the drinks." He said, his voice rolling as his words moved fluidly with his Indian accent. "Then Roxanne brought some leftover alcohol that she had and it all went downhill from there."

"Is everyone drunk?" I asked glancing around the room. No one seemed hammered, just buzzed and conversational.

"No." He replied. "They only started drinking about 15 minutes before you got here."

"Ah!" I nodded knowingly. "If you'll excuse me Paras, I must speak to my boyfriend."

"Of course." He nodded. "It was nicely talking to you."

I made my way over to my bed where Piotr was lounging. He didn't even look up at me when I sat next to him, which took me by surprise. He couldn't possibly be upset about what had happened last night.

"What's wrong?" I asked him after it became obvious he was avoiding me.

"Nyet." He replied shortly.

"Something's wrong." I said.

It took a moment but finally, he sighed and turned towards me.

"There is something I should tell you and I don not think you'll like it." He said, his eyes avoiding my gaze.

My heart was beating in my chest at what he could possibly tell me. Was he breaking up with me? Was it because I wasn't ready to have sex with him? Was it because I was too passionate sometimes? Doubts and questions swirled around in my mind.

"What is it?" I finally asked, my heart pounding like drums in my ears.

He opened his mouth to begin to respond when he was interrupted by Alison's loud declaration.

"Let's play Twister!"

Several hours later, the room began to empty out as everyone moved out to the Dining Hall for some food. Soon, the only two left in the room were me and Sarah. As she headed towards the door, I called out to her.

"What's up?" She asked, a smile on her face. Her smile only served to make me mad. How could she act like there was nothing wrong?

"Nothing." I replied, forcing a smile on my lips. I hoped she couldn't see how tight it was. "I just felt like we haven't talked in so long."

"I know!" She said throwing herself on my bed. I walked over to her, taking the spot next to her. "But now that I'm working at Morlock, Callisto has been pushing me so hard!"

"Yea." I chuckled halfheartedly. "So…you look different."

"What do you mean?" She asked, the smile falling from her lips. She began to fidget a little and I could tell I'd struck a nerve.

"I don't know." I said as nonchalantly as possible. "You just look different."

"I..umm…I'm probably just tanner." She said standing up from my bed and turning away from me. "We should probably go. I'm sure everyone's waiting for…"

I don't know what it was but something in my broke and I couldn't continue this dance we were doing. I was sick of the lies and I was tired of the awkwardness that had now become a permanent fixture within our relationship.

"I know." I said.

"You know what?" Sarah asked turning towards me, confusion on her face.

"I know about everything." I said, stepping towards her. I was trying to keep my voice calm and level because I knew otherwise, I would end up shouting at her. "I know that Callisto has you selling Mist on campus, I know she has some kind of plans for you, and I know you took some yourself."

"But...how?" She asked.

"I had Frank follow you last night and…"

"Oh!" She shouted, suddenly angry. "Now you've got Frank spying on me?!"

"No!" I replied, my own voice rising. "I had him follow you because I was worried about you and for good reason!"

"Bullshit!" She said. "Just admit that you're just jealous because I'm a part of something now and you will never be anything special."

"Is that really what you think?" I asked exasperatedly. "That has nothing to do with anything!"

"Oh really?!" She shouted. "Then why…?"

I never got a chance to find out what she was going to say when a huge explosion rocked the school. Things fell from the shelves and plaster rained down on us like snow as the room began to shake and rattle.

I grabbed the door, hoping to keep my footing while Sarah let out a terrified shriek.

I could feel the crackling energy in the air. The calm before the storm. I could taste the ozone in the air, the numb vibration of the shockwave humming through my bones. Neither of us spoke as seconds passed of nothing but dead silence.

And then all hell broke loose.

AUTHOR'S NOTES:
So I'm finally back from LA and I can tell you, I hate it. Sorry if you live there, but it's Hell. And I'll be moving there in a year. Ugh! Worse decision ever.

The next chapter will be a big pivotal moment in the whole series and it'll mark the end of the first part. I'm really sorry that here hasn't been any sex yet but Pat 2 will definitely contain some hot hot sex. Lol. With this chapter I was also trying to include more of the students I had mentioned in passing which is why you get more of Cyclops, Bling!, Indra, and Armor.

So Sarah is a drug dealer and Piotr has a secret. What will it be you ask? Just wait and find out.

And what was that explosion? Where will Addison and Sarah stand after the dust settle and what about that prophecy?
I also don't know why the end of the last chapter is formatted like that but every attempt I tried at to fix it yielded the same results. Hopefully this chapter won't do the same thing.

UPDATE: The formatting did the same for this chapter as well so I had to manually space each line. I think it gives it a cleaner look and helps more with the pacing of the story if the lines are separated.