A/N: I'm going to throw it out here right now that this chapter was a pain for multiple reasons, not the least of which is the fact it's concerning the freaking Sadie Hawkins dance (which yes, as you can clearly see I took several liberties with.) Does anyone even remember what the significance of that dance was in the actual cartoon? Because I sure as heck don't. Also more importantly, anyone who hasn't been writing for 20+ years who says that writing a third-person omniscient narrative is easy is either delusional or else lying through their teeth.
Chapter 13: Sadie Hawkins
"What are you looking so smug about, Golden Boy?"
Arial glanced up from his drawing to look Pietro in the eye. "Hmm? I look smug?"
The other boy attempted a scowl that Arial personally felt was more of a sulky pout. "You've been smiling like an idiot ever since you got back here," Pietro explained. Arial raised an eyebrow.
"Und that makes me look smug?" he said slowly.
"Yeah, so what did you do?" Pietro demanded, crossing his arms as he leaned closer and squinted. "I know something happened. Otherwise you'd keep up your whole dark-and-tortured angst routine like usual."
For a second Arial hesitated. He wasn't entirely sure he wanted to divulge the details to Pietro of all people, but the more he thought about it the more he figured it really didn't matter. News around Bayville High spread like wildfire, so everyone at the Brotherhood Boarding House was bound to find out sooner or later. Bracing himself he answered, "I got asked out to the Sadie Hawkins dance."
Predictably the other boy gave a snort of disbelief. "Yeah, right!" He chuckled briefly and slapped his own knee. "Some girl asked you to Sadie Hawkins! Hey, pull the other leg, Lavig. It's got bells on it!" He continued laughing until he realized Arial hadn't reacted in the slightest. "Wait… you're not joking. No way. No way! Who the heck asked you out?!"
"Jubilee," Arial answered. "She called earlier so she could meet up und ask me out in person."
Pietro's eyes threatened to pop out of their sockets. Arial waited for a snarky remark to be flung his way, but Pietro seemed too stunned to spit anything out. After another moment of shocked silence he rushed out of the room, kicking up a rush of air in his wake. Arial sighed in resignation; no doubt Pietro was telling all of their housemates as quickly as he could. And sure enough there were momentary exclamations of surprise all through the boarding house. Naturally the loudest and most excited exclamation came from—
"Ari!" Tabitha was practically bellowing as she charged in from the kitchen and shook him by the upper arms. "Jubilee asked you out to the Sadie Hawkins dance?! Why didn't you tell me first?!"
"Must've slipped my mind," Arial muttered, holding back a dry chuckle. He definitely should have anticipated her melodramatic response.
"What a load," she snorted. "You were just going to wait until the dance and then shock us all when you had a date and we stayed home! Well, nice try buddy! The Brotherhood is totally going to crash that dance, and yours truly is going to snatch up a date too!"
Arial gave her a look. She had provided him with a perfect opening though, and he pounced on it. "I thought you vere already going vith Ray," he remarked, rubbing his chin to look pensive. Tabby puckered her lips in a very odd pout.
"I still have options available to me!" she answered defensively, cheeks going somewhat pink as she backed up and planted her hands on her hips. Arial smiled knowingly as he folded his arms. She could deny it all she wanted, but she and Ray got on so naturally it was only a matter of time until they wised up and became an item. Heck, maybe they would be out as a couple before Todd and Chase were.
"Hey, Arial!" This time it was Fred's voice and not his booming footsteps that preceded him into the room. The bigger boy looked both surprised and suspicious as he entered, frowning uncertainly in Arial's direction. "Pietro said you were asked out to the Sadie Hawkins dance."
"Ja," he confirmed, but his response was drowned out by Tabitha, who spun to face Fred with an excited grin.
"You bet your bucket of fried chicken he was, Freddy-boy! He's goin' with Jubilee!" she all but crowed. Her audience's eyes widened as he looked at Arial with something akin to awe.
"Lucky," he mumbled, perhaps a little bitterly. Arial looked down at his knees self-consciously, his tentacles curling tightly against his back. Tabby just had to go and say something, and now Fred felt bad for it. A small, hot ball of guilt knotted up in Arial's stomach, and he suddenly hoped that if the others made good on Tabby's decision to crash the dance that there might be someone there who might dance with his friend.
"So Lavig got a date to the dance, big deal," Lance drawled as he sauntered in and and leaned back against the wall with his arms crossed. "So what?"
"I concur with Mr. Alvers," Faulkner's smooth voice interjected as he passed by the room. Arial had to resist the urge to roll his eyes.
"Yeah, I'm sure that's the attitude you had when Kitty asked you," Tabby sneered at Lance, and as he spluttered and blushed, she quickly turned her focus back to Faulkner. "Hey, spooky! Aren't you going to talk Sadie Hawkins plans with us?"
Faulkner fixed her with his most withering stare he could manage. "I've no interest in something so brainless and trivial," he declared loftily, and promptly continued on his way upstairs without another word. Looking quite annoyed, Tabitha darted to the foot of the stairs and shouted up after him.
"Yeah, well… your loss!"
"Excellent comeback," Faulkner called back dryly.
"Little creep," Tabby muttered as she stomped back into the living room. Not surprisingly Pietro managed to zip back in before she did, and she rolled with it, addressing the room at large. "Well boys, whaddaya think? Who wants to crash that stupid dance? We'll show those losers how the Brotherhood parties!"
Cheers erupted from the others and Arial reflexively covered his ears with the outside of his tentacles. Was this really necessary? He glanced around and caught Lance's eye, and the two promptly shared an eyeroll.
Sometimes housemates could really be a pain.
Fauna found herself at school lunch wondering if it would be worth the trouble to go to the Sadie Hawkins dance. On one hand, just going with friends could be fun. She didn't need a date to be able to go, ergo she didn't need a date to have fun either. But on the other hand almost every other girl from the Institute who was going had a date, and who was she to butt in on their time at the dance just so she didn't end up feeling like a wallflower?
She glanced up as she was moving through the lunch line, the sight of Kurt walking and joking with Evan catching her eye. Biting her lower lip, she glanced down at her lunch tray, absently poking at the plastic fork as she waited to pay for her food.
Darn it, what's wrong with me? she thought as she handed the lunchlady her money. I had dozens of chances to ask Kurt to the dance and I just didn't. I could have asked him at any point when we were at the Institute! Wouldn't have been too hard. Just a simple, "hey Kurt, wanna go to Sadie Hawkins with me?"
She moved away from the line, wandering somewhat aimlessly while waiting for Jubilee to get through the line.
No sense in agonizing over it though, I guess. What's done is done, after all.
She hovered near a few empty tables, half-considering claiming one of them, when someone approaching caught her attention. She looked up, surprised to see Arial headed her way. Or toward that direction anyway. He appeared to be looking for a table of his own, and when he realized she was being watched he looked up in equal surprise.
"Ah, hello! Are you waiting for someone, Katy?" he asked, offering her a polite smile. She rolled her shoulders lightly, smiling back as she turned slightly to nod in Jubilee's direction. To her delight he turned a bright pink when he noticed who she was indicating. "Oh!"
Unable to stop herself, Fauna started chuckling. "Are you excited to be going to the dance with her?" she asked. He laughed a bit nervously, shifting his lunch tray to one hand and scratching the back of his neck with the other as he nodded.
"I am," he answered before sobering up and giving her a sympathetic look. "Katy, did you vant to hang out vith us for a bit at the dance?"
She was taken aback by the question and it was a moment before she mustered up a too-bright smile she didn't exactly feel. This was an awkward question to be asked, even if Arial's heart was in the right place. "Nah, don't worry about me! I'll be alright; may not even go to the dance, y'know. Might just stay home and get some relaxin' done," she declared.
"O-oh, okay," he said, looking a little unsure. "Verheizung, I don't mean to sound pitying. Actually I also vanted to ask so I could varn you."
"Warn me?" Fauna echoed, her voice dropping a bit lower as the smile slipped from her face. Quietly Arial darted wary glances around the cafeteria, as if to make sure no one around was listening in. She doubted anyone was, but then again it was hard to be sure. Arial opened his mouth, preparing to say something, when Jubilee walked up to the two of them with a smile on her face. They both turned to her and Arial beckoned her closer, still looking tense. The happy excitement vanished from Jubilee's face and she looked between the two of them in confusion. Arial put a finger to his lips, then gestured toward one of the empty tables, indicating they should sit. Both girls complied and they slid into the chairs without a word.
Fauna couldn't help but exchange an anxious glance with Jubilee. Arial seemed tense and with the way he was acting they had the uneasy feeling that something was up. He leaned forward across the lunch table, eyes still scanning the rest of the cafeteria as he spoke in a low voice.
"Listen, I am probably not supposed to be telling you any of this, but I vanted to alert someone from the Institute who vouldn't just brush me off," he explained. Finally he looked at them, meeting their eyes and dropping his voice to an even softer volume. "The Brotherhood is planning to crash the Sadie Hawkins dance."
Jubilee started to exclaim loudly, but Fauna caught her and clamped a hand over her mouth as Arial made frantic shushing sounds. The three drew a few puzzled stares from other students and it took a second for the curly-haired boy to relax enough to continue speaking. Both girls leaned in again, tense and straining their ears to listen.
"It was Tabitha's idea," he whispered quickly. "So far none of them have said anything about causing trouble, but vell…" He sat back a bit and grimaced slightly. "I think ve all know how my housemates can get."
"Yeah, we've heard stories," Jubilee murmured.
"Plus we know from our experience at orientation at the Institute how Tabby can get," Fauna said with a humorless chuckle, shaking her head.
"I thought I heard she was going with Ray Crisp though," Jubilee said with a frown. "Is she not going with him then? Ray's not the kind of guy who would just go along with trashing a school dance."
Arial shrugged and spread his hands helplessly. "I have no clue, fraulein," he answered. "She has been very— how do you Americans put it… tight-lipped? About that."
"So ya want us to give the rest of the—" Fauna paused, taking another glance around before whispering, "Um, our roommates and friends a heads-up? To make sure we're all prepared, just in case?"
Arial gave a nod, his blond curls bouncing around his shoulders, but Jubilee frowned again, looking a little unsure.
"But… Ari, couldn't you tell some of them yourself too? I mean, you have class with a lot of other kids from the Institute."
He grimaced, looking away. It was hard for Fauna to be sure, but she thought he looked a little guilty.
"I… I thought about it," he confessed uneasily. "I still might, but I am not sure any of them vill believe me." He trailed off momentarily, hanging his head. The girls exchanged a look, silently agreeing not to press the matter, when the next words slipped out of him in a quick rush. "I tried to apologize to Kurt for our fight, but ve still need to actually talk about it. Until that happens, I feel like some of the others von't believe a vord I say."
An awkward silence settled between them, and Arial began to poke at his food half-heartedly with his fork. Hesitantly, Fauna leaned forward on her elbows to address him.
"If ya give 'im some time, I'm sure Kurt'll talk it through with you," she said kindly. Arial glanced up, a slight look of disbelief on his features, but after a moment or two he gave a slow nod.
"Ja, maybe," he said noncommittally. Something in his eyes softened a bit as he spoke, and she had the distinct impression that he knew now who she had wanted to ask to the dance.
"Relax, both of you."
Ororo's voice could be a soothing balm, but this time her words caught her companions off-guard. Not surprisingly Logan's features quickly shifted back into an irritated scowl.
"Don't tell me to relax!" he snarled, starting to pace around the rooms with his arms crossed. "Something just ain't right. I can feel it; I can smell it! We're sitting ducks if we're just gonna wait around for it to happen, and I am not the type of guy to play sitting duck." He looked from Ororo, who was watching him with a raised eyebrow, to Charles, who continued to cast faraway looks out the window. "Back me up here, Chuck."
Xavier's brows knitted together and his frown deepened as he continued to stare out the window quietly, watching as their young students poured out the Institute's front door in their eagerness for this long-anticipated evening. He didn't appear lost in thought or focused on the students so much as he appeared to be trying to form a response amid everything else that was weighing on his mind. The clock on the wall ticked loudly in the expectant silence.
Over the past weeks as he continued to confide in his two friends, the telepath was becoming more and more worried about what his dreams and mind-reading were leading up to. His old friend was scheming something, but as Magneto's helmet shielded him from psychic intrusion, none of the three had a guess as to what that could be. More alarming than that however, were Xavier's other suspicions, the ones concerning Arial Lavig's father. Edmund Lavig was a scientist, one whose moral viewpoint and work ethic had become so corrupt he had taken to experimenting on people. Once already he had sprung an attack upon the Institute in an attempt to eliminate Arial; they had successfully put a stop to it and the hideous, pitiful creature created by the twisted scientist had been rehabilitated, sent to live in peaceful isolation with some of the former students. But the unspoken looming threat created by Professor Lavig remained. At first Charles had hoped that initial attempt was also the last, but as his dreams became clearer he realized that was wishful thinking.
Edmund Lavig was still experimenting, and if he was still experimenting, he was probably still after his fugitive son. He had even captured another mutant, a young adolescent girl with no small telepathic skill of her own. The poor child had lost all sense of self, and the last time Lavig had forced her to launch a psychic attack against Xavier, the older telepath had been able to glimpse into her mind. Specimen Fifteen had forgotten her own name thanks to the scientist's cruelty, and her thoughts cried out to Xavier in anguish. She had to be rescued and freed from this nightmare, of that there was no question. But that wasn't all he had picked up from their psychic encounter.
Edmund Lavig himself was also a mutant, if Charles's suspicions proved correct.
"Something is going to happen," he finally murmured. "Of that I'm almost certain."
"Even if something does happen," Ororo countered gently, "it would be best to wait until after the dance to express our concerns to the students. They've been excited for this evening for weeks now; we don't need to cloud the evening for them with warnings."
Logan gave a snort to express exactly what he thought of that.
"Storm has a point, my friend," Xavier said, looking from them back to the window, watching the cars begin to pull out of the garage one-by-one. "Besides, it's a bit late for that now, anyway. This can wait until they're back from the dance."
The other man let out a grumble of irritation, his knuckles clenching on his folded arms as he leaned up against a wall to sulk.
"Yeah," he muttered. "If something doesn't happen before then."
There was some restless shifting in the back seat during the drive up to the school gym as everyone fought for elbow room, but it was worth it. Tonight was the big night, and the girls were excited. Perhaps a little nervous as well, but every time Jubilee glanced at her reflection to double-check her appearance or looked at Fauna, she couldn't help grinning.
"We. Look. Awesome!" she exclaimed as they finally climbed out of the car in the school parking lot, unable to hold it in any longer. Fauna, who still had looked unsure when she thought nobody was watching, finally relaxed.
"Yeah," she said slowly, working up a smile. "Yeah, y'know what? You're right, we do!"
"We all do!" Kitty chimed in unexpectedly. She was fussing about, trying to make sure she had the tickets for herself and Lance, giving her a somewhat distracted air. "Hey like, either of you see Chase at all? I don't know where she went."
They exchanged a quizzical look. "N-o," Jubilee said slowly. "I don't even remember her being in one of the cars."
"Oh, duh!" Kitty snorted, lightly smacking herself in the forehead with the heel of her palm. "She probably stayed home instead! Like way to keep up with things, Kitty!" Promptly she walked off, trying to maintain her balance in her new heels as she searched the line to find Lance.
Fauna furrowed her brow as she looked to Jubilee. "But, didn't Chase leave earlier, before the rest of us?"
Jubilee shrugged and they agreed not to fuss over it too much. Either they would see their friend inside or not. They walked up side-by-side, ready to scan the crowd lined up near the entrance. Girls and guys who had bought singles tickets were allowed to go right in, but most guys waiting for their dates at the door had shuffled off to the side, looking anxious. Jubilee looked around for several seconds before she finally spotted Arial and made a beeline straight for him, Fauna trailing along behind her. He noticed them as they drew closer and broke away from the rest of the crowd, smiling broadly as he waved.
"Guten Abend!" he said enthusiastically. He looked, Jubilee thought, decidedly handsome and he cleaned up well when he wasn't going for the "angsty, tortured and edgy" look. With the nice jacket, dress shirt and pants he'd picked out, she wondered if maybe he'd had help. Then she remembered one of the older residents at the Institute, Ashton, had mentioned he considered Arial a younger brother. Perhaps Ashton had given him some pointers.
"Hey, you look great, Ari!"
He blushed, his smile genuine and warm, and he nodded to her. "You look very pretty," he replied quietly. A second passed and then he mustered some of his composure back together and looked to Fauna. "Nice to see you too! You decided to come und have fun after all, huh?"
The blonde girl grinned as she and Jubilee linked arms, striking equally over-the-top poses. "Hey, no reason a girl can't go have fun with her best friends, right?" she said, tossing them a wink. "Just don't let me be a third wheel all night, got it?"
At this, both Arial and Jubilee turned red and avoided looking one another in the eye. The self-consciousness passed quickly however, and the three of them were laughing and joking easily with each other as they moved through the line to get inside the gym. The dance music increased in volume once they made it through the doors, assaulted by sound and multi-colored light. There was a collective wince before they adjusted to their surroundings and Arial gave a nervous laugh.
"There are a lot more people at this dance than I vas expecting," he said, blue eyes scanning the gym. "A lot more."
Sensing he might try to bolt, Jubilee seized his upper arm and started dragging him toward the center of all the dancing. "Come on, Ari! The best way to get used to it is to just plunge right in! You know, like going swimming!"
"H-I-vhat are— dancing und svimming are not the same thing!" he protested, stumbling along and flailing his free arm. Desperate, he glanced back in Fauna's direction. "Help me!"
She shook her head and let out a laugh that sounded distinctly goat-like. "Sorry, pal! I'm gonna go get acquainted with the buffet table! You're on your own!"
Jubilee couldn't suppress a grin. My girl's got my back! She found a space for them to squeeze into, and the moment she and Arial had elbow room, she started dancing along with the rhythm. Arial shuffled and moved his arms awkwardly, looking stiff.
"People are staring at us," he muttered through his teeth.
"Don't pay attention to people," she told him bracingly, not missing a beat as the song switched. "Just follow my lead. Don't worry about anyone else. We're here to have fun Ari, not perform for the ballet or something!"
He loosened up just a little, and the resulting hesitant smile indicated she'd gotten through to him. The song playing was a line dance, and she moved through the steps slowly at first to allow him to catch on. He watched her closely and despite his trepidation, he picked up the steps without a problem. They were just starting to get into it when one of the other boys from the boarding house popped into view.
"Geez, Golden Boy," he snorted, fixing them both with an unimpressed, flat look. "Are you and the Disco Queen actually gonna dance, or are you practicing your Tae Bo?"
Jubilee glared at him and Arial returned his housemate's unimpressed look in kind. "Thanks, Casper. Vant to lend me some of your hair gel vhile ve're here?" he retorted at the same time as she said, "I'm dressed for the eighties; disco was the seventies, doy."
"Whatever," the other boy snorted, and Jubilee recalled at last his name was Pietro. "You see Tabitha at all?"
"I thought she was with you guys!" Jubilee blurted out, almost stopping mid-step. Pietro shook his head.
"Nah, she ditched us! Crashing this stupid dance was her idea. Doing it by ourselves is so lame. Later!"
And with that, he vanished into the crowed. Arial and Jubilee looked at each other.
"Think Tabby is with Ray?" she asked. He looked around, scanning the crowd carefully. After a second he seemed to notice something and a broad grin spread over his cherubic features. He nodded, indicating the direction she should look.
"Ja, und look at who is vith them!"
She furrowed her brows, puzzled, and turned. It took her no time to spot Ray and Tabitha now that she knew where to look. Tabby had overdressed while Ray had somehow underdressed, but to look at them dancing together with equal energy on the same wavelength? She thought they balanced each other out perfectly. And dancing near them were the most unlikely couple she never would have guessed were together.
"Chase?!" she exclaimed, trying to keep her voice low so as not to attract their attention. "And that Toad guy?!"
"Todd," Arial corrected her. "It is about time! Those two have been trying to hide it for months."
"Should we say something to them?"
The song switched again and Arial rolled his shoulders, making a noncommittal sound. Studying his expression, she realized for the first time in a while—perhaps since she'd met him—the chip on his shoulder had gone. He was truly relaxed and carefree, happy even!
Smiling looks good on you, Arial, she thought.
An hour later, even if he had tired of dancing, Arial could still say he was having fun. It was a nice chance to pace to not worry about anything for a while and just party. No pressing homework, no Magneto drilling him during training… even for all the drama that was going on for other students at the dance, it seemed to all just fade into the background.
Jubilee was quite possibly the coolest, prettiest girl he had ever met. More than ever he was glad she had found his old sketchbook and the two of them had talked. She had so much energy, she took everything in stride, and she didn't care once what anyone else said or thought about them. She constantly asked what he thought about the song selections, about the various forms of American dancing, and he got into the conversation readily. When they finally agreed to take a break from dancing for the evening and headed back in the direction of the buffet table, Arial decided after the dance was over he would ask if she would like to be his girlfriend.
That thought alone filled his stomach with butterflies. He'd never had a girlfriend before. How were they supposed to do the whole dating thing? Why didn't people write books on how to be a boyfriend, especially for beginners?! This was America, didn't Americans make how-to books for things like this all the time?!
"You okay?" she asked abruptly. "You made a weird face just now."
"Ja, ja," he answered quickly. "I am fine."
She offered a sympathetic smile, reaching out and giving his arm a gentle squeeze. "Sorry, this kind of thing isn't really something you enjoy, is it?"
He shrugged, the corners of his mouth twitching upward. "You're here; it's not so bad."
Her eyes lit up at that and a moment passed between them, something sweet and shy. A blush rose in her cheeks and they both found it was suddenly awkward to look at each other directly.
"Hey, uh," Jubilee said, clearing her throat. "Want me to grab us some snacks?" Seeing him about to protest, she held up a hand to forestall him. "Hey. It's Sadie Hawkins, man. I'm the one treating you. That's the whole point of this dance."
He chuckled, scratching the back of his neck a bit self-consciously. It was evident she wasn't going to budge on the matter and so he agreed. Looking rather pleased with herself, Jubilee darted toward the front of the buffet, earrings bouncing and outfit glittering as she moved. He was so fixated on watching her, he didn't sense Pietro's presence until an insistent arm bumped roughly against his.
"Hey Romeo, cut the goo-goo eyes!" he hissed. "Don't you have marching orders to get to?"
"Marching orders?" Arial echoed, lowering his voice and giving Pietro a suspicious, puzzled look. He received an aggravated glare in response.
"From Magneto, Goldilocks!"
He furrowed his brow, feeling tension creep back into his body. Magneto hadn't said anything in the past few days. Was Arial supposed to have done something for him tonight? Carefully he shook his head. "Nein, he said nothing to me."
Pietro let out an exasperated noise, and Arial did a quick glance out at the dance floor to see if his teacher was lurking somewhere among all the dancing couples. He spotted Chase and Todd again, this time pouring over Chase's camera; Ray and Tabby had disappeared, though to Arial's happy surprise he spotted Fauna and Fred jamming down and talking animatedly together. Good; at least two of his friends were finally able to enjoy the dance.
"He was talking about it," Pietro muttered. "You were supposed to use your powers for some big show or other, something to freak out the mundanes. Faulkner was salty when he heard."
Arial's frown deepened as the words brought him back to the moment. "Vait, vhat?" He searched the other boy's expression for any sort of hidden answer but found nothing.
Without warning his left arm jerked, some invisible force nearly yanking it out of its socket. With a gasp and a yelp, Arial stumbled and the unseen force tightened its grip as it began to drag him away. His heart beat rapidly, the initial startle building toward greater panic and alarm. He struggled, trying to pull his wrist free, but it was no use.
"Whoa! What the heck are you doing, Goldilocks?"
The unseen assailant kept pulling on Arial and he practically had to jog to keep up with it and avoid having his arm torn off. Pietro tried to grab ahold of him from behind and pull him back, but it was no use: after a brief second of tug-of-war, he was also being pulled along against his will. The two hastily exchanged a look, silently coming to the conclusion they should stay on guard without attracting too much attention. Arial's gut instinct told him another mutant was behind this, but without knowing exactly what this mutant was capable of, fighting blind could be even more dangerous. Still, something about this was unsettlingly familiar, but he couldn't place his finger on why.
They were pulled from the gym out into the halls, with Pietro trying to dig in his heels in order to stop it. With a quick glance about to make sure nobody else was around, Arial slid his shoulder tentacles free of his jacket, slamming and striking at the empty air before them. For a second the pressure on his wrist let up and he nearly pulled free, but then whatever had grabbed them renewed its grip twice as hard as before, nearly pulling both boys off their feet.
"Nice going, genius!" Pietro growled as they struggled to get free. "Now you went and made it mad!"
"If you have a better idea," Arial said with a grunt, "I'm all ears!" He struck out again, lashing wildly, but this time there was no give. They were still being dragged, and after a split second, Arial realized where to. The glowing red Exit sign loomed ahead, sinister and ominous in a way it shouldn't have been.
There was a puff of smoke, a pop of displaced air, and Kurt teleported in several feet ahead of them with a lingering smell of noxious brimstone. Suspicion written on his face rapidly turned to confused trepidation.
"What's going on?!" he demanded, his voice rising a little in pitch as he spoke, backing up several steps. Arial wondered briefly what the heck he was doing there before realizing Kurt must have seen them leaving the gym and come to investigate. Thank God!
"We're being kidnapped by ghosts, Blueberry," Pietro said through gritted teeth. "Nice of you to come say hi!"
"Something has got us, Kurt," Arial spoke quickly, still fighting to dislodge the hold on them as he looked to the other boy, relief and panic warring in him. "Some kind of invisible hands or something, and it's taking us outside!"
Kurt squinted in the dim hall, peering at their arms and still trying to avoid being directly in their path. A second later his eyes went huge and his mouth fell open in disbelief.
"Kein Bruder! Not invisible— it's shadows!"
Arial glanced down— and his stomach clenched in fear. Looking closely, he could see Kurt was right. It was like the shadows all around them had decided to disobey physical law and were coiling tightly around their wrists. More shadows were slowly boiling and undulating like sharp waves toward the Exit door, carving a clear path. Both boys fought harder than ever to break free and without a word, Kurt jumped in to help, tugging at one of Arial's wrists in an attempt to dislodge the shadows' hold. But that was also short-lived before he too was suddenly seized by dark ropes of the stuff. He let fly a few choice words in German at this, and in seconds the door was flung open as the shadows began to move outside.
"Kurt! Can't you teleport out of this und get the others to help?!" Arial cried, looking to him in desperation. The other boy was wincing, his human appearance flickering in and out of view as the shadows messed with his image inducer. One second he looked normal, the next he had pointy blue ears again.
"I-I-I can't!" he yelped. "I'm trying, but I can't! It's like my powers just went out to lunch or gave up!"
"Oh, spectacular!" Pietro snapped sarcastically, skidding his feet at a high speed to try breaking free. Again his efforts were in vain, and as the moon rose, the shadows increased in size and strength. Arial flailed frantically and looked for something, anything that could help, when he spotted someone ahead of them.
A person about their age stood in the center of a swirling mass of shadows, awaiting them. Arial thought it was a girl but their shaved head and pinched, starved features made it difficult to be certain. Was this her doing? Was she controlling these shadows? But the closer they got, the more it looked like she was also being held captive.
"Who is that?" Kurt asked, finally spotting the girl. Neither of them had an answer for him. She looked up at the three, her pale, sad eyes already brimming over with tears.
[I'm sorry.]
An unfamiliar, feminine voice entered Arial's thoughts, and from the way Kurt and Pietro both jerked back, they had heard it too. Arial looked at the girl in the swirling shadows, his mouth dropping open. She was a telepath like Professor Xavier?!
[I don't want to do this, but I don't have a choice!] Her voice sounded near hysterics. [He's making me do this to you, and I have to do what he says!]
"Who is making you do this?!" Kurt shouted at her. But a heartbeat went by and suddenly the blue boy pitched forward and slumped over, unconscious.
"Kurt!" Arial yelled, and abruptly Pietro also pitched forward and fell unconscious on his other side. His breath caught in his throat as his chest went icy cold with fear. And then he was falling into the darkness, deep, deep into a black embrace as his thoughts faded.