In The Darkness, A Cherry Blossom Falls
By Vfgirl
Here's the second chapter! If the 'situation' that they found themselves in seemed familiar, that's because I had originally planned for it to revolve around one of the scenes in the XE shows. But then I got confused and realized that it wouldn't make sense, so I tried to change it, only to find out that it didn't really make all that much sense. So forgive me for that one.
And sorry it took so long, I was trying to figure out how exactly the story should have unfolded from the last chapter. And as usual, I don't own the characters, blah blah blah.
And one more thing (it's the last one, I promise) a person like me just LIVES on reviews, so be sure to do so! Good feedback gives me more motivation to churn chapters out faster * hint, hint *
Chapter 2
The old Mustang roared, shooting forward as its driver stepped hard on the accelerator. The wind whipped through the teenager's hair, roughhousing with it before tossing it every which way. Ordinarily, Scott Summers would have been thrilled with the adrenaline rush that accompanied the amazing acceleration on his equally amazing car, but today was not ordinary.
Not that there was anything really normal about Scott Summers.
His fingers tapped impatiently as he eased the car into a comfortable 60 mph. His brows were knitted together, and frustration tugged the edges of his lips down into a frown. With his car, expensive clothes, and outstanding good looks, he would have made an impression on anybody, but one particular feature always made their mark on people. His eyes. There was nothing really impressive with his eyes per se, but rather, the inability to see them. For Scott Summers always wore a pair of red shades. Always.
Sitting in the back seat of his Mustang were two other teenagers. The girl on the left was lightly built, with large blue eyes, a sweet smile, and a ponytail tied up high on her head. The boy on the right had shoulder length black hair, dark eyes sparkling with mischief, and a large smile stretched across his face. Their good mood proved a sharp contrast to their driver's dark one.
Noticing the driver's obvious lack of good humor, the girl leaned forward and put her hand on his shoulder. "Oh, Scott, come on. Just because Duncan managed to ask Jean to the dance first doesn't mean that she didn't like, want to go with you."
Scott's other passenger leaned back, and stretched his arms. "Ya, man." He agreed. A strong German accent tinged his speech. "He just got to her first. Besides, do you really want to let Duncan spoil your mood?"
That managed to get a small smile out of Scott. "I suppose you're right, Kurt. And thanks for trying to lift my mood, Kitty. I-" He was about to say more, when he frowned, his black mood returning once more. "Oh, great, just what we needed. A traffic jam."
The once clear road in front of them was now packed with cars lined up bumper to bumper. "What's going on?" asked Kitty. She stood up, trying to peer over the other cars to get a good look at what was causing the traffic jam.
"Who knows?" grumbled Scott. "There's nothing we can do except sit here and wait for the traffic to clear."
Kurt frowned, and leaned forward to turn on the radio. "Maybe the traffic report vill tell us the cause of the traffic jam." There was a crackle of static on the old radio, and then it came to life. Sure enough, the traffic report came on.
"-And it seems that the slowing of traffic in downtown Bayville near the junction of 16th Ave. and Monument Road is due to a delicate situation involving a kidnapping attempt upon Bayville mayor Jason Avery. Apparently, somebody has attempted to take the Mayor hostage in his car after his press conference at City Hall, and is being pursued by the police at this very moment. The police, in an attempt to capture the fugitive, have blocked off a whole stretch of the northern side of 16th Avenue in order to corner the assassin and to force him to hand over the mayor.
"16th and Monument?" repeated Kitty. "That's just, like, over there." Then, she gasped, her hand flying up to cover her mouth. "Oh no! It looks really bad."
"Vhere?!" asked Kurt, standing up in an attempt to see over Kitty's head. "Scott! It really does look like trouble. Should ve step in?"
Instantly, Scott changed. Gone was the look of youthful sulkiness and frustration. In it's stead was an air of authority that had not been there before. His chin came up, and his shoulders went back, straightening his posture. His entire look was altered. It was a metamorphosis, changing him from Scott Summers the Teenager to Cyclops, the X-Man. "Let me take a look."
Both Kitty and Kurt sat down, allowing him to take in the drama that was happening a mere 100 yards away. Even at first glance, the situation that he took in was not optimistic. The police had formed a blockade, using several cars to obstruct the road. Several of them were crouched behind their cars, holding up their weapons, whilst a few others were surrounding the fugitive and his getaway car.
"Let the mayor go!" ordered an officer through a megaphone. "Surrender this instant, and we will be able to negotiate!"
In answer, the kidnapper fired a shot out of the window. It was obvious he was not in the mood to negotiate. "Well, Scott?" asked Kitty, concern obvious in her voice.
He stood, looking at the situation. The truth was, the situation was not dire enough to risk revealing their identity over. Yet, his morals dictated that he should step in, and prevent the criminal from getting away with something like this.
It was during times like this that he regretted being the leader. Being the leader did not just mean that he was the first to rush into battle, or the person to give orders, or to take the glory for whatever good the team accomplished. It also meant making decisions on behalf of the team and accepting any and all possible consequences, and being willing to take responsibility for it, no matter what happened. That meant that he had to do this even if somebody he was responsible for was to get hurt. It also meant making decisions that people would not always be pleased with.
Kurt and Kitty were not going to like his decision.
"No. Not-" The car suddenly accelerated, heading in a suicide run towards the blockade of cars, and towards the mass of onlookers packed behind it. "Cover me!" He yelled.
He then pulled down his shades, and the reality of why Scott Summers always wore red shades was revealed. 2 powerful beams of energy blasted from his eyes, swelling at their newfound freedom. The beams hit the front of the car when it was just feet away from the blockade, slamming the car with enough force to send it into a tailspin.
"Nightcrawler, evacuate the kidnapper and the mayor!" commanded Scott, watching the car spin towards the nearest building, whilst replacing his shades.
"Ja!" There was the sound of a small implosion as Nightcrawler disappeared, turning the immediate area into a mini-vacuum, and simultaneously leaving the surrounding air reeking of sulfur and brimstone. He teleported into the backseat car of the car, behind the mayor and the kidnapper, and grabbed them before teleporting out again.
Mere seconds before the car slammed into the building, Nightcrawler reappeared behind a tree in a nearby park located on the opposite side of the road, and laid the mayor down. He then teleported up again into the same tree, and left the kidnapper behind, before teleporting once more, this time into the backseat of Cyclops's car.
Kitty stood up and yelled, "There he is!" while pointing at the tree, where the stranded kidnapper was desperately trying to climb down. The police reacted instantly, pointing their guns at him, shouts of "Freeze!" and "Don't move a muscle!" echoing through the area.
As the police closed in on the doomed kidnapper, the onlookers fascinated with the proceedings, nobody noticed the three teenagers slumping down into the car, slowly melting through the seats and into the road underneath the Mustang. By the time things had quieted down, and people wondered who exactly those three strange teenagers in the flashy red Mustang were, there was no trace of them at all.
They'd simply disappeared.
Deep inside the park, away from all the traffic and bystanders, Scott, Kurt and Kitty surfaced from the ground into which they'd melted into about a 300 yards away. Kitty gasped for air, taking in deep breaths, replenishing the air supply in her starved lungs, and Scott did the same, while Kurt simply lay there, too fatigued to even get up and move.
Atop a building nearby, Psylocke stood, surveying all that had just happened. Seeing the kidnapper, she snorted, shaking her head. "Amateur."
There was something to be said for courage, but blind courage was foolishness, and this idiot had plenty of both. From the moment that he'd grabbed the mayor and made a run for it, Psylocke knew that he was doomed to fail. She was faintly surprised to see that he'd even gotten this far.
It seemed as though there was something to be said for blind luck as well.
Turning her attention back to the three teenagers, she surveyed them with intense interest. They were obviously mutants. Reaching out a tentative telepathic probe, she came up against a telepathic shield. Well. It seemed as if these mutants had a telepath amongst them to assist in such matters. No matter. All she needed was one small piece of information.
She felt up and down the mental wall, trying to find a crack. After a few seconds, she found a chink in the girl's shield. Prying it open, she inched in and felt around, until she came up with the name of their school- Bayville High.
She withdrew quickly, seconds before the girl could pinpoint her location, and turned to leave the rooftop. The girl would have sensed her by now, and she wanted to leave before she got suspicious. It was unlikely that she would put two and two together, but Psylocke was too much of a professional, and far too experienced to take such unnecessary chances.
Kitty felt a slight probing sensation in her mind, and flinched. Getting up quickly, she looked around, all the while reinforcing the telepathic shields that the Professor had taught her to put up. But just as she was reinforcing the shields, the sensation she'd had before was gone.
The exhausted Kurt looked at Kitty. "Vhat's vrong, Kitty?"
She tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ears, and continued to survey the area. "It's nothing. I just thought that like, I felt somebody doing a mental probe in my mind."
Scott sat up, and looked at Kitty, concern apparent on his face. "Are you sure? We'd better tell the Professor what happened, then. They could find out about our secret if they'd done a probe."
"No, it's nothing. It was so fast, I'm not even sure that somebody really was, like, searching through my mind. It could've been my imagination, for all I really know."
"I still think that we should tell the Professor. It's too much of a risk to not tell him." The insistence in Scott's voice was obvious.
She shook her head emphatically. Ever the concerned leader, wasn't he? "No, really, it's ok. I don't want him to get worried. It was probably just me hallucinating."
Scott frowned. He didn't like it when Kitty just tried to brush the whole thing off. Such risks shouldn't be taken- even if it was nothing, they should still let the Professor know. But out of respect for Kitty's wishes, he let it go.
"C'mon, let's call somebody to come pick us up. The tow truck will get the car. It's too dangerous to go back to it now." The three of them got up, and then headed towards the edge of the forest, ready to get a ride home.
Psylocke crossed the street, taking in the damage done by the kidnapper and the three young mutants. The next phase of Operation: Remnants had just begun, and she had just received her next clue- Bayville High.
It seemed as though this time around, she might actually get to spend some time around people her age.
By Vfgirl
Here's the second chapter! If the 'situation' that they found themselves in seemed familiar, that's because I had originally planned for it to revolve around one of the scenes in the XE shows. But then I got confused and realized that it wouldn't make sense, so I tried to change it, only to find out that it didn't really make all that much sense. So forgive me for that one.
And sorry it took so long, I was trying to figure out how exactly the story should have unfolded from the last chapter. And as usual, I don't own the characters, blah blah blah.
And one more thing (it's the last one, I promise) a person like me just LIVES on reviews, so be sure to do so! Good feedback gives me more motivation to churn chapters out faster * hint, hint *
Chapter 2
The old Mustang roared, shooting forward as its driver stepped hard on the accelerator. The wind whipped through the teenager's hair, roughhousing with it before tossing it every which way. Ordinarily, Scott Summers would have been thrilled with the adrenaline rush that accompanied the amazing acceleration on his equally amazing car, but today was not ordinary.
Not that there was anything really normal about Scott Summers.
His fingers tapped impatiently as he eased the car into a comfortable 60 mph. His brows were knitted together, and frustration tugged the edges of his lips down into a frown. With his car, expensive clothes, and outstanding good looks, he would have made an impression on anybody, but one particular feature always made their mark on people. His eyes. There was nothing really impressive with his eyes per se, but rather, the inability to see them. For Scott Summers always wore a pair of red shades. Always.
Sitting in the back seat of his Mustang were two other teenagers. The girl on the left was lightly built, with large blue eyes, a sweet smile, and a ponytail tied up high on her head. The boy on the right had shoulder length black hair, dark eyes sparkling with mischief, and a large smile stretched across his face. Their good mood proved a sharp contrast to their driver's dark one.
Noticing the driver's obvious lack of good humor, the girl leaned forward and put her hand on his shoulder. "Oh, Scott, come on. Just because Duncan managed to ask Jean to the dance first doesn't mean that she didn't like, want to go with you."
Scott's other passenger leaned back, and stretched his arms. "Ya, man." He agreed. A strong German accent tinged his speech. "He just got to her first. Besides, do you really want to let Duncan spoil your mood?"
That managed to get a small smile out of Scott. "I suppose you're right, Kurt. And thanks for trying to lift my mood, Kitty. I-" He was about to say more, when he frowned, his black mood returning once more. "Oh, great, just what we needed. A traffic jam."
The once clear road in front of them was now packed with cars lined up bumper to bumper. "What's going on?" asked Kitty. She stood up, trying to peer over the other cars to get a good look at what was causing the traffic jam.
"Who knows?" grumbled Scott. "There's nothing we can do except sit here and wait for the traffic to clear."
Kurt frowned, and leaned forward to turn on the radio. "Maybe the traffic report vill tell us the cause of the traffic jam." There was a crackle of static on the old radio, and then it came to life. Sure enough, the traffic report came on.
"-And it seems that the slowing of traffic in downtown Bayville near the junction of 16th Ave. and Monument Road is due to a delicate situation involving a kidnapping attempt upon Bayville mayor Jason Avery. Apparently, somebody has attempted to take the Mayor hostage in his car after his press conference at City Hall, and is being pursued by the police at this very moment. The police, in an attempt to capture the fugitive, have blocked off a whole stretch of the northern side of 16th Avenue in order to corner the assassin and to force him to hand over the mayor.
"16th and Monument?" repeated Kitty. "That's just, like, over there." Then, she gasped, her hand flying up to cover her mouth. "Oh no! It looks really bad."
"Vhere?!" asked Kurt, standing up in an attempt to see over Kitty's head. "Scott! It really does look like trouble. Should ve step in?"
Instantly, Scott changed. Gone was the look of youthful sulkiness and frustration. In it's stead was an air of authority that had not been there before. His chin came up, and his shoulders went back, straightening his posture. His entire look was altered. It was a metamorphosis, changing him from Scott Summers the Teenager to Cyclops, the X-Man. "Let me take a look."
Both Kitty and Kurt sat down, allowing him to take in the drama that was happening a mere 100 yards away. Even at first glance, the situation that he took in was not optimistic. The police had formed a blockade, using several cars to obstruct the road. Several of them were crouched behind their cars, holding up their weapons, whilst a few others were surrounding the fugitive and his getaway car.
"Let the mayor go!" ordered an officer through a megaphone. "Surrender this instant, and we will be able to negotiate!"
In answer, the kidnapper fired a shot out of the window. It was obvious he was not in the mood to negotiate. "Well, Scott?" asked Kitty, concern obvious in her voice.
He stood, looking at the situation. The truth was, the situation was not dire enough to risk revealing their identity over. Yet, his morals dictated that he should step in, and prevent the criminal from getting away with something like this.
It was during times like this that he regretted being the leader. Being the leader did not just mean that he was the first to rush into battle, or the person to give orders, or to take the glory for whatever good the team accomplished. It also meant making decisions on behalf of the team and accepting any and all possible consequences, and being willing to take responsibility for it, no matter what happened. That meant that he had to do this even if somebody he was responsible for was to get hurt. It also meant making decisions that people would not always be pleased with.
Kurt and Kitty were not going to like his decision.
"No. Not-" The car suddenly accelerated, heading in a suicide run towards the blockade of cars, and towards the mass of onlookers packed behind it. "Cover me!" He yelled.
He then pulled down his shades, and the reality of why Scott Summers always wore red shades was revealed. 2 powerful beams of energy blasted from his eyes, swelling at their newfound freedom. The beams hit the front of the car when it was just feet away from the blockade, slamming the car with enough force to send it into a tailspin.
"Nightcrawler, evacuate the kidnapper and the mayor!" commanded Scott, watching the car spin towards the nearest building, whilst replacing his shades.
"Ja!" There was the sound of a small implosion as Nightcrawler disappeared, turning the immediate area into a mini-vacuum, and simultaneously leaving the surrounding air reeking of sulfur and brimstone. He teleported into the backseat car of the car, behind the mayor and the kidnapper, and grabbed them before teleporting out again.
Mere seconds before the car slammed into the building, Nightcrawler reappeared behind a tree in a nearby park located on the opposite side of the road, and laid the mayor down. He then teleported up again into the same tree, and left the kidnapper behind, before teleporting once more, this time into the backseat of Cyclops's car.
Kitty stood up and yelled, "There he is!" while pointing at the tree, where the stranded kidnapper was desperately trying to climb down. The police reacted instantly, pointing their guns at him, shouts of "Freeze!" and "Don't move a muscle!" echoing through the area.
As the police closed in on the doomed kidnapper, the onlookers fascinated with the proceedings, nobody noticed the three teenagers slumping down into the car, slowly melting through the seats and into the road underneath the Mustang. By the time things had quieted down, and people wondered who exactly those three strange teenagers in the flashy red Mustang were, there was no trace of them at all.
They'd simply disappeared.
Deep inside the park, away from all the traffic and bystanders, Scott, Kurt and Kitty surfaced from the ground into which they'd melted into about a 300 yards away. Kitty gasped for air, taking in deep breaths, replenishing the air supply in her starved lungs, and Scott did the same, while Kurt simply lay there, too fatigued to even get up and move.
Atop a building nearby, Psylocke stood, surveying all that had just happened. Seeing the kidnapper, she snorted, shaking her head. "Amateur."
There was something to be said for courage, but blind courage was foolishness, and this idiot had plenty of both. From the moment that he'd grabbed the mayor and made a run for it, Psylocke knew that he was doomed to fail. She was faintly surprised to see that he'd even gotten this far.
It seemed as though there was something to be said for blind luck as well.
Turning her attention back to the three teenagers, she surveyed them with intense interest. They were obviously mutants. Reaching out a tentative telepathic probe, she came up against a telepathic shield. Well. It seemed as if these mutants had a telepath amongst them to assist in such matters. No matter. All she needed was one small piece of information.
She felt up and down the mental wall, trying to find a crack. After a few seconds, she found a chink in the girl's shield. Prying it open, she inched in and felt around, until she came up with the name of their school- Bayville High.
She withdrew quickly, seconds before the girl could pinpoint her location, and turned to leave the rooftop. The girl would have sensed her by now, and she wanted to leave before she got suspicious. It was unlikely that she would put two and two together, but Psylocke was too much of a professional, and far too experienced to take such unnecessary chances.
Kitty felt a slight probing sensation in her mind, and flinched. Getting up quickly, she looked around, all the while reinforcing the telepathic shields that the Professor had taught her to put up. But just as she was reinforcing the shields, the sensation she'd had before was gone.
The exhausted Kurt looked at Kitty. "Vhat's vrong, Kitty?"
She tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ears, and continued to survey the area. "It's nothing. I just thought that like, I felt somebody doing a mental probe in my mind."
Scott sat up, and looked at Kitty, concern apparent on his face. "Are you sure? We'd better tell the Professor what happened, then. They could find out about our secret if they'd done a probe."
"No, it's nothing. It was so fast, I'm not even sure that somebody really was, like, searching through my mind. It could've been my imagination, for all I really know."
"I still think that we should tell the Professor. It's too much of a risk to not tell him." The insistence in Scott's voice was obvious.
She shook her head emphatically. Ever the concerned leader, wasn't he? "No, really, it's ok. I don't want him to get worried. It was probably just me hallucinating."
Scott frowned. He didn't like it when Kitty just tried to brush the whole thing off. Such risks shouldn't be taken- even if it was nothing, they should still let the Professor know. But out of respect for Kitty's wishes, he let it go.
"C'mon, let's call somebody to come pick us up. The tow truck will get the car. It's too dangerous to go back to it now." The three of them got up, and then headed towards the edge of the forest, ready to get a ride home.
Psylocke crossed the street, taking in the damage done by the kidnapper and the three young mutants. The next phase of Operation: Remnants had just begun, and she had just received her next clue- Bayville High.
It seemed as though this time around, she might actually get to spend some time around people her age.