We run through the forest, I can hear the sounds of battle away to our west, I can hear gunshots, wolverine's roar as he charges in but we can't see anything, we're to far away for that. Light may travel quicker than sounds, but sound can travel further, especially when sight is obstructed by row upon row of closely growing trees. I pause a second in mid flight, straining towards the battle, trying to see what's going on trying to see if maybe I can help
"C'mon!" bobby say urgently, tugging at my hand, I realise that I never noticed something about him, he's nearly exactly the same height as me, barely an inch taller, I don't know why I hadn't noticed it but I hadn't.
I let myself be tugged into action again, we're near the jet now he assures me, flicking out a tool to flick it out of stealth mode, we push through into the clearing, just as I sense the danger…
"LOOK OUT" I yell. Pushing him down to the ground as we tumble into the clearing, the shot passes over our heads with a whistle, leaving a hole in the tree behind us. In a split second I've rolled off of Bobby and I'm on my feet, claws unsheathed, I can here him Ice up behind me, getting to his feet
"Hello Ebony" one of the group of three men, that stand between us and the jet says "Remember me?" he asks
"Alex Mclain" I say calmly, not letting the combination of rage and fear I feel show through in my voice, Bobby stay back, has the sense not to interfere with personal business, he takes position behind me, keeping an eye on the other two.
"I'm going to enjoy recapturing you Ebony, and it's gonna be rough, remember what you did to my eye?" he says, pointing at the three marks, just below his left eye.
"I'm going to enjoy killing you Alex, remember what you did to my arm?" I hold up my left arm, the one with the claws
"You don't have the nerve ebony" He laughs, and my blood begins to boil "You never had the nerve to kill anyone"
"WELL IN YOUR CASE I'LL BLOODY WELL MAKE AN EXCEPTION" I yell flinging myself at him, His two lackeys point my guns at them, but two well-aimed Icicles from my friend and those guns are useless. The stupid lackeys knocked out from the sparks of electricity that fizzled out of them.
I block the rest of the world out, my attention focused on the man that has been the source of most of my troubles in life, the man that bought me off some stupid sheriff when I was rotting quiet happily in a cell in Puerto Rica on a seven month sentence, strange seven month sentence when it last four bleeping years ain't it? This is the man that surgically grafted this glove to my skin, this glove that weighs down my arm, that took me a year to get used to sleeping with it on, that render my left arm difficult to use, this glove that'll I'll never be able to take off, that even if the x-men win today and I don't get taken back to the compound, will be a constant reminder of what my life was…
Even when I long to forget!
I Sheathe my claws as he loses his gun, both of us roll across the forest, floor, I kick him in the groin, he punches me in the Jaw, I kick him in the ribs he punches me in the teeth measure for measure as we tussle, frantically, I'm beginning to tire, He flips me over, bearing down on me with his full weight, hand cocked to punch me in the middle of the face, to render me unconscious and end it all. At least my part in it, but then bobby might try to protect me and he might kill him, or worse, and that I cannot allow. "Time to die" he says with a smile "NO" I yell, shifting my weight and pushing up with my knees, kicking him off of me and onto the ground. He raises himself to his feet ready to attack again, but I'm already there, I spin kick him and there's a resounding crash of metal banging on flesh as he hits his head against the invisible Jet, slumping down into a sitting position against it, I run over to him, straddle him negligently and unsheathe my claws, placing them under is throat.
My eyes are hard as I say with a smile "Time to die Alex" I'm going to enjoy killing him, revenge is after all a dish best served cold, and after four years mine has spent a long time cooling. I can feel bobby tense up behind me though as Alex's eyes widen and his voice breaks "No please have mercy" he begs, I'm surprised at that, do I look that scary, have I changed that much in those few instants that he's not laughing anymore? I wonder what I look like to Bobby; does he want to make me laugh now? For a moment my hatred of this one person overwhelms anything else, and I'm not sure I care…
"MERCY?" I laugh, tossing back my head "MERCY? IS that what you showed me Alex, 4 years in a cell as the youngest member of a team, being experimented on, being trained by being left defenceless in the same cell as your top killing machine, BEING LEFT TO DIE ALL ALONE IN THE WOODS, IS THAT MERCY ALEX? IF THAT'S MERCY HERE SOME FOR YOU RIGHT NOW!" I yell, Arching my claws, back he tenses, trying to push his jaw down and cover his throat but I use my right hand to pinch his face and keep him still. "his eye widen more, focussing on the three shining blades that glitter above him,
"WAIT " he screams frantically as I start to bring them down, I pause in mid air "IF YOU KILL ME your no better than me, your no better than Sabretooth!" He grins at me now, triumphant "If you let me go you'll have missed your revenge, and maybe I'll hurt others, but if you kill me your as bad as me, even dieing Ebony I still put you on the spot" I glare at him now, it's true damn him. Strangely though, right now becoming a monster isn't the only problem with killing him, if I do, bobby will watch me, what will he think if he sees me kill this man in cold blood, he may not have said anything now, but I doubt he approves, the tension in the air is so thick you could cut it with a knife. If I kill this man, will my friend, my crush, think I am a monster, will they all think of me as a monster? Will the whole team think I'm a monster? Will I just be proving all the people who say that mutants are death worthy right if I do this? For one instant it's like the world is resting on my shoulders, if I make the wrong decision, will I burn in hell? That's what worries me least really; I've never been religious.
Bobby speaks up finally" Ebony please, let's just get back in the jet, Knock him out tie em up and leave him for the cold, please?"
I bring the claws down again…
Slashing three quick marks across Alex's face "One good hit deserves another hey Alex"? I whisper standing, up, the mans so scared he's fainted clean away, I sigh in exasperation
"You disgust me" I tell the unconscious man, kicking him in the head, hard.
"Tsk tsk tsk" bobby comes up behind me "That wasn't very ladylike" he puts an arm round my shoulder trying to ease me out of fight mode, to calm me down, I appreciate the effort,
"Well I ain't no lady, I grumble but let him, draw me a little closer to him, "and I didn't kill him, even though I wanted to so badly it hurt so you should be happy" I break free of his grip gently, flicking the switch so the Jet becomes visible and walking towards the ramp to go and see if I can find some rope.
"I was only joking Ebony, and hey Ebs" he says, calling after me
"What?" I sigh turning round
"I'm proud of you" He says, holding my gaze until I have to smile. Even though I still hate Alex, still don't give a damn whether he lives or dies, in fact I'd probably prefer it if he did; despite all tht I know I made the right choice.
And I'm glad.
"Ebony, what happened here" Ororo's voice
I turn round "It's a long story, 'ro say who's the guy with the ponytail?"
"Someone who's been lied to, and before is tell you the whole story you got to promise not to knock him out like you did the other man"
"that depends" I say sternly "On whether you help me find some rope to tie 'the other man' up with" I finish with a grin, quiet franckly, I'm feeling forgiving Alex's face when he realises I beat him, and that I'm gonna leave him in alone in the snow filled forest with no gun.
"C'mon!" bobby say urgently, tugging at my hand, I realise that I never noticed something about him, he's nearly exactly the same height as me, barely an inch taller, I don't know why I hadn't noticed it but I hadn't.
I let myself be tugged into action again, we're near the jet now he assures me, flicking out a tool to flick it out of stealth mode, we push through into the clearing, just as I sense the danger…
"LOOK OUT" I yell. Pushing him down to the ground as we tumble into the clearing, the shot passes over our heads with a whistle, leaving a hole in the tree behind us. In a split second I've rolled off of Bobby and I'm on my feet, claws unsheathed, I can here him Ice up behind me, getting to his feet
"Hello Ebony" one of the group of three men, that stand between us and the jet says "Remember me?" he asks
"Alex Mclain" I say calmly, not letting the combination of rage and fear I feel show through in my voice, Bobby stay back, has the sense not to interfere with personal business, he takes position behind me, keeping an eye on the other two.
"I'm going to enjoy recapturing you Ebony, and it's gonna be rough, remember what you did to my eye?" he says, pointing at the three marks, just below his left eye.
"I'm going to enjoy killing you Alex, remember what you did to my arm?" I hold up my left arm, the one with the claws
"You don't have the nerve ebony" He laughs, and my blood begins to boil "You never had the nerve to kill anyone"
"WELL IN YOUR CASE I'LL BLOODY WELL MAKE AN EXCEPTION" I yell flinging myself at him, His two lackeys point my guns at them, but two well-aimed Icicles from my friend and those guns are useless. The stupid lackeys knocked out from the sparks of electricity that fizzled out of them.
I block the rest of the world out, my attention focused on the man that has been the source of most of my troubles in life, the man that bought me off some stupid sheriff when I was rotting quiet happily in a cell in Puerto Rica on a seven month sentence, strange seven month sentence when it last four bleeping years ain't it? This is the man that surgically grafted this glove to my skin, this glove that weighs down my arm, that took me a year to get used to sleeping with it on, that render my left arm difficult to use, this glove that'll I'll never be able to take off, that even if the x-men win today and I don't get taken back to the compound, will be a constant reminder of what my life was…
Even when I long to forget!
I Sheathe my claws as he loses his gun, both of us roll across the forest, floor, I kick him in the groin, he punches me in the Jaw, I kick him in the ribs he punches me in the teeth measure for measure as we tussle, frantically, I'm beginning to tire, He flips me over, bearing down on me with his full weight, hand cocked to punch me in the middle of the face, to render me unconscious and end it all. At least my part in it, but then bobby might try to protect me and he might kill him, or worse, and that I cannot allow. "Time to die" he says with a smile "NO" I yell, shifting my weight and pushing up with my knees, kicking him off of me and onto the ground. He raises himself to his feet ready to attack again, but I'm already there, I spin kick him and there's a resounding crash of metal banging on flesh as he hits his head against the invisible Jet, slumping down into a sitting position against it, I run over to him, straddle him negligently and unsheathe my claws, placing them under is throat.
My eyes are hard as I say with a smile "Time to die Alex" I'm going to enjoy killing him, revenge is after all a dish best served cold, and after four years mine has spent a long time cooling. I can feel bobby tense up behind me though as Alex's eyes widen and his voice breaks "No please have mercy" he begs, I'm surprised at that, do I look that scary, have I changed that much in those few instants that he's not laughing anymore? I wonder what I look like to Bobby; does he want to make me laugh now? For a moment my hatred of this one person overwhelms anything else, and I'm not sure I care…
"MERCY?" I laugh, tossing back my head "MERCY? IS that what you showed me Alex, 4 years in a cell as the youngest member of a team, being experimented on, being trained by being left defenceless in the same cell as your top killing machine, BEING LEFT TO DIE ALL ALONE IN THE WOODS, IS THAT MERCY ALEX? IF THAT'S MERCY HERE SOME FOR YOU RIGHT NOW!" I yell, Arching my claws, back he tenses, trying to push his jaw down and cover his throat but I use my right hand to pinch his face and keep him still. "his eye widen more, focussing on the three shining blades that glitter above him,
"WAIT " he screams frantically as I start to bring them down, I pause in mid air "IF YOU KILL ME your no better than me, your no better than Sabretooth!" He grins at me now, triumphant "If you let me go you'll have missed your revenge, and maybe I'll hurt others, but if you kill me your as bad as me, even dieing Ebony I still put you on the spot" I glare at him now, it's true damn him. Strangely though, right now becoming a monster isn't the only problem with killing him, if I do, bobby will watch me, what will he think if he sees me kill this man in cold blood, he may not have said anything now, but I doubt he approves, the tension in the air is so thick you could cut it with a knife. If I kill this man, will my friend, my crush, think I am a monster, will they all think of me as a monster? Will the whole team think I'm a monster? Will I just be proving all the people who say that mutants are death worthy right if I do this? For one instant it's like the world is resting on my shoulders, if I make the wrong decision, will I burn in hell? That's what worries me least really; I've never been religious.
Bobby speaks up finally" Ebony please, let's just get back in the jet, Knock him out tie em up and leave him for the cold, please?"
I bring the claws down again…
Slashing three quick marks across Alex's face "One good hit deserves another hey Alex"? I whisper standing, up, the mans so scared he's fainted clean away, I sigh in exasperation
"You disgust me" I tell the unconscious man, kicking him in the head, hard.
"Tsk tsk tsk" bobby comes up behind me "That wasn't very ladylike" he puts an arm round my shoulder trying to ease me out of fight mode, to calm me down, I appreciate the effort,
"Well I ain't no lady, I grumble but let him, draw me a little closer to him, "and I didn't kill him, even though I wanted to so badly it hurt so you should be happy" I break free of his grip gently, flicking the switch so the Jet becomes visible and walking towards the ramp to go and see if I can find some rope.
"I was only joking Ebony, and hey Ebs" he says, calling after me
"What?" I sigh turning round
"I'm proud of you" He says, holding my gaze until I have to smile. Even though I still hate Alex, still don't give a damn whether he lives or dies, in fact I'd probably prefer it if he did; despite all tht I know I made the right choice.
And I'm glad.
"Ebony, what happened here" Ororo's voice
I turn round "It's a long story, 'ro say who's the guy with the ponytail?"
"Someone who's been lied to, and before is tell you the whole story you got to promise not to knock him out like you did the other man"
"that depends" I say sternly "On whether you help me find some rope to tie 'the other man' up with" I finish with a grin, quiet franckly, I'm feeling forgiving Alex's face when he realises I beat him, and that I'm gonna leave him in alone in the snow filled forest with no gun.
