Hey babes! Back again with a new chapter for ya! This one's a bit of a game changer, you'll see why in a bit.
It's about 12:30 in the morning right now, but I wanted to get this up before I went to sleep. So you're welcome.
Second to last one, here we go!
Enjoy!
"Remind me again why I'm in here when I could literally be doing anything else?" Ava speaks up from her spot sitting on the ground of the Operation training classroom. "Also I'm in Communications and this is an Operations training class."
"You're here because I want to spar with you," Adian tells his sister as he finishes wrapping his hands. "And I know you don't have any classes right now."
"Isn't that what literally everyone else in here is for?" she asks him, gesturing to the few other cadets in the room.
"Yeah, but I want to spar with you this time," he clarifies. "We've always sparred together growing up."
Ava sighs and stands up from the floor, moving toward her brother. "Fine. Let's spar. Show all these cadets how it's done."
"You're cadets too, Ava," Lacey speaks up.
Ava shrugs. "Yeah. But we've trained with the Avengers. How many other cadets can say that?"
"Not too many from my knowledge."
"Exactly."
"Also, I'd like to know why I'm here," Lacey says. "I don't spar just for the fun of it and I'd much rather be behind my computer."
"Moral support," Ava tells her roommate before turning to face her brother.
Letting a small smile cross over her lips, Ava crouches down ever so slightly as she lifts her fists in front of her face.
Adian stands across from her, a few feet of space between them on the mats and gets into a similar position as his sister.
The twins lock eyes for a moment, a silent conversation passing between them much like their parents do all the time, and then Ava's lunging at her brother, throwing a hand out and barely striking his cheek.
Adian manages to narrowly dodge his sister's fist, using her momentum as he hits her in the back to knock her off balance.
Ava spins around quickly and faces her brother again, already breathing heavy even though they've barely just begun.
"Well would you look at what we have here. Somebody's trying to prove he can be better than mommy and daddy."
The twins frown when they look over to see Dylan sauntering toward them, his usual smirk in place and mischief shining in his eyes.
"What are you doing here, Cafrey?" Ava speaks up, wiping the sweat off her forehead with the back of her hand. Her eyes are narrowed at the other boy. "You're not in this class."
"And you're not even in this section of the Academy," he bites back. "So why don't you go run on back to Communications and get behind your computer like a good little Cadet, okay?"
"Hey, lay off her, man," another Cadet speaks up from a few feet away. "She didn't do anything to you."
"No, neither of them did anything to me directly. You know why I don't like you though, Ward," he says to Adian. "You know why I don't like any of your family."
"Just leave me alone, man, seriously," Adian says with a sigh. "This is starting to get old. I honestly don't need or want this right now."
"Well I don't care what you want," Dylan sneers. "Because what I want is to see you go down. Like the pathetic little nobody you really are. Nobody wants you at this Academy."
"You're wrong," Ava tells him. "I want him here. And so does Tyler and Lacey. And I'm sure there are a few other cadets here who don't mind Adian being a part of this Academy. So you just need to back off before I make you back off."
Dylan chuckles darkly. "Oh, that's hilarious. Little Communications Cadet thinks she can take me on."
"Maybe you're forgetting who my parents are," she says with a hard glare. "And who I grew up around. Think I can't handle a few rounds? Hit me and let's find out."
"Get out of my face," Dylan tells her, reaching out to shove her shoulder, knocking her off balance, before hitting her in the shoulder again and sending her to the ground.
"Hey!" Adian shouts, moving toward Dylan. "Leave her alone. This is between you and me."
Dylan turns toward him. "You're right, it is." He reels his arm back and then thrusts it forward, his fist connecting with Adian's nose, making the teen stumble on his feet. "So let's get into it, then."
"Stop it!" Ava shouts from her place on the floor, Lacey kneeling at her side.
Adian holds his one hand out toward his sister, the other up by his face, touching his nose and bringing it back down to see droplets of blood on his fingers. He wipes his nose with the back of his hand before curling both hands into tight fists. "You want to fight? Let's fight. I've been holding back a lot of anger and rage, especially toward you; it's just been bottling up inside. So let's see how long you last."
"You're pretty confident there, aren't you?" He smirks, standing up straight and reaching his hand into one of his pockets. "Well let's see how confident you are after this." He quickly pulls his hand out and throws it forward, tossing a short, transparent crystal at Adian's feet.
Everyone in the room jumps back when the crystal hits the ground and breaks apart, a purple mist immediately growing from it.
"Adian!" Ava screams as loud as she can, frozen in place as she watches her brother's face twist into one of panic, his eyes darting around as a dark, rock-like substance begins to crawl up his body, starting at his feet.
"Ava," Adian manages to get out in a raspy voice. He looks down as the substance reaches his waist and then back up at his sister. "W-what's happening to me?"
"You're Transitioning," Ava tells him, slowly standing up from her spot. "Just like mom and dad did. You're gonna be okay, Adian. You're gonna be okay."
"B-but I don't-" his words are cut off as the substance covers his mouth, his nose, his eyes, and then the top of his head.
The last thing Ava sees is the sheer panic and fear shining in her brother's eyes.
Instantly she whirls around to face the culprit, her eyes narrowed and her breathing heavy. She finds Dylan standing not too far away, a blank look on his face.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" she shouts at him, stepping forward to shove him roughly in the chest. "You can't just throw a Terrigen crystal at somebody like that. Where did you even get one? They were supposed to have been gathered up a long time ago and put in SHIELD's care."
"I have my resources."
"Well thanks to your 'resources', my brother's going through the Transition. Which is something he didn't want to do, by the way. At least not now. You weren't thinking, were you? Obviously not," she says, not waiting for a response from him. "Transitioning is hard enough for someone who chooses to go through it, having every single cell in their body changed all at once, but for someone who has it just thrown at them, like my parents did, and now my brother, it's definitely no walk in the park. You're an idiot, Dylan."
"He deserves to suffer," Dylan sneers.
"And you deserve to be punched in the face. And I have a fist that's more than ready to hit you. So back off before I lose it and take all my frustrations out on you." She glares at the boy once more before turning back to face the rock-hard cocoon encasing her brother.
"I've already called the infirmary," Lacey speaks up, stepping up next to her friend. "They should be on their way. And I called the Inhumans Sanctuary as well, so that they know another potential Inhuman is going to be released at some point."
"Unless he doesn't make it through," Ava says blatantly, her eyes never leaving the cocoon.
Lacey frowns. "Ava, you can't think like that."
"I'm sorry, I can't help it. I'm really worried right now."
"Whoa, what happened in here? Everybody's talking about some kind of fight and-what's that?"
Ava's eyes never leave the cocoon, but she recognizes the voice of Tyler as he approaches them.
"That's Adian," Ava tells her friend.
Tyler's breath catches and his eyes go wide at the cocoon surrounding his roommate and friend. "Adian's actually in there? Who the hell let that happen?"
"Dylan did it," Lacey informs him bitterly. "He and Adian were getting into it, again, and then Dylan threw a damn Terrigen crystal at him."
Tyler nods and then looks over at Ava. "And how are you doing with all of this?"
Ava sighs. "I really don't know. I'm just...I'm scared for my brother."
"Come here, my little flower." He opens his arms to her, pulling her into a comforting embrace and wrapping his arms securely around her. Ava closes her eyes and buries her face in Tyler's shirt, hugging him tightly but continuing to fight back the tears she knows are threatening to spill over.
"Ava!"
Looking up from the tiled floor beneath her feet, Ava nearly bursts into tears when she sees her parents quickly approaching her through the hospital waiting room at the Academy. Looks of worry and concern cover both of their faces as they rush inside.
"Mom! Dad!" She shoots up from her chair and meets them in a tight hug, burying her face in between them as she finally lets the tears fall, being back in her parents' arms making her feel just as vulnerable as she did when she was a little girl.
"Shh, it's okay, sweetie," Skye says in a soft voice, running a hand over her daughter's hair. "Everything's going to be okay, mama's here."
Ava pulls back and looks up at her parents with a tear stained face. "It was so scary, mom," she says. "Dylan just threw the crystal at Adian without much of a warning and then the rock stuff started to cover him and then I couldn't see him anymore and it was like that for so long and I was so scared. I mean, I know we have the Inhuman gene because of you two, but I'm really scared that he won't survive this. I can't lose him, mom, he's my best friend."
"Has he broken out of the cocoon yet?" Skye asks.
Ava shakes her head. "No. The doctors are monitoring him, Auntie Jemma's in charge of everything, but she hasn't told me anything yet. I'm really scared, mommy," she whispers.
Skye holds Ava closer to her again, dropping a kiss to the top of her head and running a hand soothingly up and down her back. "I know you are, baby girl. None of this was supposed to happen to either of you so early, especially not without your consent."
"What's gonna happen, mom? What's gonna happen to Adian?"
"Hopefully everything will work out," Grant says to his daughter. "Your brother's strong, Ava, always has been. He won't go down without a fight."
Ava nods. "I know. But I'm still really worried about him. I can't help it."
"That's perfectly understandable, baby."
"I just hope Dylan gets what he deserves," Ava says.
"We're going to meet with your Papa and Nana later to talk about that, but I'm sure he'll be properly reprimanded for what he did to your brother."
"I just want him out of the Academy. That low life scum bag isn't worthy of-"
"Sorry to interrupt. Skye, Grant, can I talk to you both for a quick moment?"
The small family looks up to see Jemma standing in the doorway to the nearby hospital room, a concerned look written all over her face.
"What is it?" Ava asks quickly, taking a step forward.
"Umm..." Jemma looks back and forth between Grant and Skye.
"You might as well just say it," Skye tells the Brit. "You know she's not going to go anywhere and we'd just end up telling her anyway."
Jemma nods. "Alright. Well, so far there's been no activity. Considering how thick the Cocoon is, we're unable to get any type of diodes on his body, so we're unable to monitor his vitals."
"So you have nothing," Ava states. "You made it seem like you had something, but you don't. Why don't you have anything? You're a damn doctor, Jemma. You have multiple PhD's and you're one of SHIELD's top scientists! So why the hell can't you figure out what's going on with my brother?!"
"I'm going to let your language and tone fly just this once because I know you're upset about your brother," Jemma says calmly, though her eyes are narrowed. "I promise you that we're doing everything we possibly can to help your brother. Since the crystal made it so his body became encased, we're very hopeful that he will make it out of this."
"But he'll be different," Ava states the obvious. "He won't be Adian anymore."
"Of course he will, Ava," Skye assures her daughter. "Your dad and I are Inhumans but we're still the same as we ever were."
"But I never knew you two back then," Ava tells her mom. "You guys got your powers way before Adian and I were born. The only way we know you is with your powers. But Adian...Adian and I grew up together; I know everything about him, even all the really annoying stuff. He's going to be so different and I honestly don't know if I can handle that."
"Sweetheart, I know you're scared, and it's perfectly understandable, but he is still going to be your brother. No matter what happens when he comes out of that cocoon." Skye looks up at her friend with furrowed brows. "Actually, do you know why it's taking so long for Adian to emerge? I was only cocooned for a matter of seconds and Grant was cocooned for a couple of hours. Adian's been like this for a lot longer than we've seen with any Inhuman before."
Jemma sighs. "Unfortunately, I do not have an answer for that. As much as I would like to have one. Hopefully in time we can ascertain as to why he's remained in his cocoon for so long, but until then we'll just have to wait-"
"Doctor Simmons! You better get in here!"
Jemma turns around quickly and makes her way back into the hospital room, Grant, Skye, and Ava not far behind her, eager to know what's happening.
"What is it?" Jemma asks instantaneously, going right back into doctor mode.
"The shell is starting to crack."
"Adian," Ava breathes out, taking a small step toward her brother.
Grant places a hand on her shoulder to stop her. "Ava, no. Don't move any closer, sweetheart. You don't know what's going to happen when he comes out of there. Your mom brought down an entire building, and I set everything around me on fire. Depending on what your brother can do, there's no telling what will happen when he emerges."
Ava sighs and then steps back, her eyes focusing on the slowly rupturing cocoon, waiting with bated breath for just about anything as a sign that her brother is okay.
Sitting up quickly in her seat, Ava moves to the edge as she watches her brother begin to stir in his hospital bed. He'd been given some sedatives to let him sleep while his body adjusted to the Inhuman genes being awakened inside of him. Ava hasn't left his side since, waiting eagerly for him to wake up. "Adian? Are you awake? Come on, Adian, just open your eyes. Please. Just open your eyes."
The brunette teen stirs in his bed again, his eyebrows furrowing together as he slowly begins turning from side to side.
Ava's attention is drawn to the rest of the room, seeing different small items on shelves around them beginning to shake and then slowly rise just a few inches from their places.
"Mom! Dad!" she shouts, leaning out of the doorway of the room and into the hallway, her eyes immediately finding her parents and her aunt. "Guys, get in here. It's Adian. I think he's waking up."
"Oh, this is very good," Jemma says as she enters the room and rushes to Adian's bedside, immediately checking his vitals on the few machines surrounding the head of his bed. "He seems to be doing fairly well with the new changes to his system," she tells the family, glancing at them over her shoulder.
"Wake up, Adian," Ava mutters under her breath, worrying her lower lip between her teeth, a habit she picked up from her mother.
Adian continues to stir in his bed, the items around him hovering in their spots.
"Mom? Dad?" he murmurs as his eyes slowly flutter open, blinking a few times as he takes in his surroundings. The items that had previously been fluttering land back on the surfaces beneath them.
"Yeah, baby, it's us," Skye says, stepping forward with her husband, reaching out to run a hand across her son's forehead. "How are you feeling?"
"Okay. I think. What happened?"
"Dylan happened," Ava tells her brother. "He threw a Terrigen crystal at you and it...it changed you."
"It did?"
She nods. "Yeah. I think it has something to do with levitation, maybe, because things have started floating around you."
"We'll be able to figure out exactly what he can do as his abilities continue to evolve," Jemma tells the group. "It might take some time, but we'll be able to figure it out."
"So then what's gonna happen to me now?" Adian asks his aunt. "Am I still going to be able to continue at the Academy?"
"You are," she assures him. "In a way."
Adian's brows furrow. "What does that mean?"
Grant takes a step toward his son. "It means that you won't be able to attend Operations as you have been for the past few months. You'll still continue that training to become an agent with SHIELD, but it'll be different because you'll also be training with your new abilities so that you have a handle on them for when the time comes for you to be out in the field."
"How long will it take?" Adian asks. "Will I still be able to graduate in three years?"
"If you work hard and adapt quickly to your new abilities, then yes, you should be able to graduate with your sister and your friends," Skye tells him. "I know this must be scary, baby, but you're going to get through it, okay? Your dad and I will help you with whatever you need throughout this whole process. We remember what it was like going through the Transition, as does every other Inhuman we've helped at the Sanctuary."
"But you were both adults when it happened to you," Adian reminds her.
"Doesn't mean we weren't scared. I brought down a building and nearly killed your Uncle Trip when I Transitioned. Your father almost burned down our entire apartment complex."
"Hey, I apologized for that," Grant speaks up. "And at least I didn't almost bring down an entire hospital."
"I was giving birth to your children," she retorts. "I'd like to see you try and keep your abilities at bay while pushing two humans out of your body one right after the other." She raises an eyebrow in his direction, challenging him.
Grant simply raises his hands in surrender, a small smile on his face. He lowers his hands and looks at his son. "Adian, we know this must be really tough for you right now, that you didn't want this to happen, but the fact of the matter is, is that it has happened and now you have to learn to adapt to new ways of living your life."
"You won't be alone, though," Ava tells him. "I'm going to be right here with you."
Adian's brows furrow. "You're going to go through Terrigenisis too?"
Ava snorts. "Hell no. I love you, bro, but not enough to change every single cell in my body just so you won't have to go through this completely alone." She reaches out and places a hand over his, her face softening. "But you won't be completely alone, okay? Even if we won't both be at the Academy anymore, I'm still here for you. We're twins, there isn't a force on this earth that could tear us apart."
So? What did you think? Let me know in a review down below. I'd love to hear your thoughts.
ONE. MORE. CHAPTER. The Epilogue.
Until next time,
Jellybean96 out!