In case I hadn't already said so (I don't know if I have, since FF.Net has
been down, and I don't know where all my files are), Greta's codename is
"Torr," which is a unit for measuring pressure. Hey, I *did* learn
something in Chemistry! Torr is pronounced "tore," like the past tense of
"tear." Just wanted to let you guys know that, in case you got confused. :D
***
From her training Greta knew precisely what to do first: find a teammate who was having trouble and help them handle it. Shadowcat (Greta had to force herself to think in codenames) had rushed out to help Jean (no trouble there), who was having difficulty handling Quicksilver. He was mocking her, zipping around her so quickly that a miniature dust storm was created. Shadowcat phased through the blur to stand next to Jean, who had her fingers practically glued to her temples as she tried to get a telekinetic handle on the speedster. Greta knew that she should help them, but she wasn't sure precisely how to do it. Their opponent was moving too fast for her to get a good shot of pressure at him.
An idea occurred to her. _Jean,_ she called with her mind. The X-Man usually kept her telepathy open to the rest of her team during a fight.
_Yeah,_ responded Jean, obviously still concentrating on grasping the enemy with her telekinesis.
_Could you levitate you an' Kitty outta the way so I can have a crack at this?_
A wave of telepathic surprise shot in her direction. _Are you sure you can handle it?_
_Almost,_ she thought, then watched with quiet shock as Jean followed her lead. Siezing her opportunity before the green and white blur realized that he wasn't circling anyone, Greta held her hands in front of her, in the shape of a short cylinder, and concentrated her powers. Then she let go.
"Whoaaaa!" Quicksilver went flying towards a wall. Jean took control at this point by grabbing him with her telekinesis, then knocking him out with her mind. He slumped to the floor and the trio turned their minds to other matters.
The remaining members of either team were battling as follows: Nightcrawler was having a face-off, of sorts, with Avalanche, by clinging to the ceiling and trying to muddle him up. It wasn't working quite as well as he'd hoped, since as they watched he teleported into a corner and allowed Avalanche to shake him to floor with a strategically-placed tremor. Spyke was trying his best to do a number on Toad, but his opponent was so quick that his bone spikes were nearly always in the air *just* after Toad had jumped to a new position. Cyclops, meanwhile, was shooting full-powered optic blasts at Blob to no avail. Help was needed on all three fronts, obviously.
"Shadowcat, you go help Nightcrawler," Jean ordered. Shadowcat nodded and phased through the floor. "Torr, you take care of Blob, and I'll go help Spyke. Got it?" Greta nodded, biting her lip, and ran to help Cyclops in his battle.
She started her attack by throwing a couple quick blasts of pressure at their target, timing her shots to coincide with Cyclops's. It staggered him a little, but he roared and started to charge them again. They blasted him back and continued to shoot.
Elsewhere on the battlefield, the phasing member of the X-Men had just popped up, seemingly out of nowhere, and hit Avalanche with a good kick to the kidney.
And at the same time, Jean Gray had levitated over to float a few feet above the floor next to Spyke. He looked up at her, and they nodded simultaneously. Quicker than Toad could say "yo," Spyke shot out a spike at the wall-hopper, and Jean concentrated to guide it home. Unfortunately for them, Toad spotted this and began hopping even faster, forcing Jean to keep the spike chasing him around the room. Suddenly he turned and snatched the spike out of the air before Jean could stop him. And with deadly precision, he threw the projectile in the direction of its origin...
Greta let a gigantic burst of energy out through her palms, and to her utter surprise, was able to maintain that level. Slowly but surely, she pushed Blob backwards towards the wall. Cyclops kept an eye (his only one) pointed squarely at the target, his hand still hovering over the controls of his visor. It was only when she had Blob pinned firmly against the wall that she heard the cry...
"Watch out!" Jean shouted, but it was too late.
Greta watched it as if it was in slow motion (Note: I know this is totally cliche, and I'm sorry). The bone spear swished cleanly through the air and slowly
passed
through
Evan's
midsection. (Note: Ooh, dramatic effects.)
Greta stared in silent horror. It went straight through the right side of his abdomen, until it was a quarter of the way through and you could see the tip of it sticking out of his back. The acceleration carried him with it until the back of the spike pinned him to the floor. It was there that he slid back down the spike and Greta's world returned to normal speed.
And it was then that she noticed she had let the pressure coming from her hands go slack. Not in enough time, though. Blob charged his former captor, and the last thing Greta saw was his massive hand descending over her head...then it was just black.
***
When Greta awoke, it was in her own bed with a pounding headache and a sackful of worries. Luckily, Ororo was right there to answer her questions.
"Is Evan okay?" was the first thing out of her mouth.
"He's fine," Ororo smiled.
"What happened?"
"After you and Evan were knocked out the rest of the team fought as best as they could. The Brotherhood ran away soon after, though."
"Wh-"
"You have a concussion."
Great didn't even pause. "Can I see Evan?"
"He's asleep."
"Can I see 'im?"
Ororo looked thoughtfully at the girl. What had happened to that soft- spoken Greta that had charmed her way into their hearts? Smiling inwardly, she answered herself: she gained some confidence. She grew up - a little, she corrected herself. Just a little. She most definitely was *not* full grown as of yet. "Yes, you can see him," she answered finally. Greta moved to push herself out of bed. "But only if you go slowly. You're still healing."
Seemingly ignoring her elder's advice, Greta shoved herself onto two feet, swaying a little, but then stepping firmly towards the door. Taking a deep breath, Ororo followed her down the hall, seeing the girl stride confidently for once. Her steps were determined - that is, until she reached the door of Evan's room. Here she paused, touching the doorframe above her head lightly.
_He looks so peaceful when he's asleep. I guess I sorta do - *like* him, like Rogue said. Sorta._ She sighed, never removing her gaze from the sleeping form. _I hope he gets better soon._
"He will," came a voice softly from behind her. Instead of starting like she would have done a month before, Greta turned her head curiously to see the Professor in the hallway. Ororo was looking at him, too. He held a plain, manila folder filled with papers in his hand. Holding it out to Greta, he said, "Here. This is for you."
She took it warily. "What is it?"
"It's what I've found on your past, Greta. What I dug up using Cerebro, that is." Here he cocked his head at her. "Perhaps you'd like to take it someplace private before you look at it?"
"Professor," started Ororo, "Greta is still recovering from her concussion. Mild as it is, I don't want her to go through any emotional stress while she-"
"Ororo," he gestured to Greta. She had that determined set in her jaw again that had, up until a few moments ago, never been seen on her face. The portfolio in her hands seemed to be the cause of it this time, however.
Ororo's eyebrows knitted together, but she finally nodded. The look on her student's face clearly said what she intended to do. "All right," she sighed. "But do not say I didn't warn you."
The eyes which had remained trained on the folder flashed upward at the Professor, and he nodded at her. The two watched her walk distractedly back to her room, after a final glance into Evan's.
"We must be prepared," said the Professor.
***
Slowly sinking onto the bed, folder in hand, Greta trembled. What secrets about her past could this possibly reveal? What could the Professor have found about her past with so few resources and so little time? What had made her forget about her past to begin with, for that matter? With shaking digits, she lifted the flap of the manila portfolio.
***
::much evil laughter:: Bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha! Oh, that's right! It's a cliffhanger! I love doing that! Actually, I much prefer continuing the chapter, but considering it's a school night, and way past the time I ought to go to bed, that's all you're getting. I will love you so much if you give me some constructive criticism, or, you know, just praise. And, yes, I am well aware that this chapter is very cliche, and sucks. But, hey, I wanted to continue with the story, and to do that, I had to write something! There ya go. Review, please.
***
From her training Greta knew precisely what to do first: find a teammate who was having trouble and help them handle it. Shadowcat (Greta had to force herself to think in codenames) had rushed out to help Jean (no trouble there), who was having difficulty handling Quicksilver. He was mocking her, zipping around her so quickly that a miniature dust storm was created. Shadowcat phased through the blur to stand next to Jean, who had her fingers practically glued to her temples as she tried to get a telekinetic handle on the speedster. Greta knew that she should help them, but she wasn't sure precisely how to do it. Their opponent was moving too fast for her to get a good shot of pressure at him.
An idea occurred to her. _Jean,_ she called with her mind. The X-Man usually kept her telepathy open to the rest of her team during a fight.
_Yeah,_ responded Jean, obviously still concentrating on grasping the enemy with her telekinesis.
_Could you levitate you an' Kitty outta the way so I can have a crack at this?_
A wave of telepathic surprise shot in her direction. _Are you sure you can handle it?_
_Almost,_ she thought, then watched with quiet shock as Jean followed her lead. Siezing her opportunity before the green and white blur realized that he wasn't circling anyone, Greta held her hands in front of her, in the shape of a short cylinder, and concentrated her powers. Then she let go.
"Whoaaaa!" Quicksilver went flying towards a wall. Jean took control at this point by grabbing him with her telekinesis, then knocking him out with her mind. He slumped to the floor and the trio turned their minds to other matters.
The remaining members of either team were battling as follows: Nightcrawler was having a face-off, of sorts, with Avalanche, by clinging to the ceiling and trying to muddle him up. It wasn't working quite as well as he'd hoped, since as they watched he teleported into a corner and allowed Avalanche to shake him to floor with a strategically-placed tremor. Spyke was trying his best to do a number on Toad, but his opponent was so quick that his bone spikes were nearly always in the air *just* after Toad had jumped to a new position. Cyclops, meanwhile, was shooting full-powered optic blasts at Blob to no avail. Help was needed on all three fronts, obviously.
"Shadowcat, you go help Nightcrawler," Jean ordered. Shadowcat nodded and phased through the floor. "Torr, you take care of Blob, and I'll go help Spyke. Got it?" Greta nodded, biting her lip, and ran to help Cyclops in his battle.
She started her attack by throwing a couple quick blasts of pressure at their target, timing her shots to coincide with Cyclops's. It staggered him a little, but he roared and started to charge them again. They blasted him back and continued to shoot.
Elsewhere on the battlefield, the phasing member of the X-Men had just popped up, seemingly out of nowhere, and hit Avalanche with a good kick to the kidney.
And at the same time, Jean Gray had levitated over to float a few feet above the floor next to Spyke. He looked up at her, and they nodded simultaneously. Quicker than Toad could say "yo," Spyke shot out a spike at the wall-hopper, and Jean concentrated to guide it home. Unfortunately for them, Toad spotted this and began hopping even faster, forcing Jean to keep the spike chasing him around the room. Suddenly he turned and snatched the spike out of the air before Jean could stop him. And with deadly precision, he threw the projectile in the direction of its origin...
Greta let a gigantic burst of energy out through her palms, and to her utter surprise, was able to maintain that level. Slowly but surely, she pushed Blob backwards towards the wall. Cyclops kept an eye (his only one) pointed squarely at the target, his hand still hovering over the controls of his visor. It was only when she had Blob pinned firmly against the wall that she heard the cry...
"Watch out!" Jean shouted, but it was too late.
Greta watched it as if it was in slow motion (Note: I know this is totally cliche, and I'm sorry). The bone spear swished cleanly through the air and slowly
passed
through
Evan's
midsection. (Note: Ooh, dramatic effects.)
Greta stared in silent horror. It went straight through the right side of his abdomen, until it was a quarter of the way through and you could see the tip of it sticking out of his back. The acceleration carried him with it until the back of the spike pinned him to the floor. It was there that he slid back down the spike and Greta's world returned to normal speed.
And it was then that she noticed she had let the pressure coming from her hands go slack. Not in enough time, though. Blob charged his former captor, and the last thing Greta saw was his massive hand descending over her head...then it was just black.
***
When Greta awoke, it was in her own bed with a pounding headache and a sackful of worries. Luckily, Ororo was right there to answer her questions.
"Is Evan okay?" was the first thing out of her mouth.
"He's fine," Ororo smiled.
"What happened?"
"After you and Evan were knocked out the rest of the team fought as best as they could. The Brotherhood ran away soon after, though."
"Wh-"
"You have a concussion."
Great didn't even pause. "Can I see Evan?"
"He's asleep."
"Can I see 'im?"
Ororo looked thoughtfully at the girl. What had happened to that soft- spoken Greta that had charmed her way into their hearts? Smiling inwardly, she answered herself: she gained some confidence. She grew up - a little, she corrected herself. Just a little. She most definitely was *not* full grown as of yet. "Yes, you can see him," she answered finally. Greta moved to push herself out of bed. "But only if you go slowly. You're still healing."
Seemingly ignoring her elder's advice, Greta shoved herself onto two feet, swaying a little, but then stepping firmly towards the door. Taking a deep breath, Ororo followed her down the hall, seeing the girl stride confidently for once. Her steps were determined - that is, until she reached the door of Evan's room. Here she paused, touching the doorframe above her head lightly.
_He looks so peaceful when he's asleep. I guess I sorta do - *like* him, like Rogue said. Sorta._ She sighed, never removing her gaze from the sleeping form. _I hope he gets better soon._
"He will," came a voice softly from behind her. Instead of starting like she would have done a month before, Greta turned her head curiously to see the Professor in the hallway. Ororo was looking at him, too. He held a plain, manila folder filled with papers in his hand. Holding it out to Greta, he said, "Here. This is for you."
She took it warily. "What is it?"
"It's what I've found on your past, Greta. What I dug up using Cerebro, that is." Here he cocked his head at her. "Perhaps you'd like to take it someplace private before you look at it?"
"Professor," started Ororo, "Greta is still recovering from her concussion. Mild as it is, I don't want her to go through any emotional stress while she-"
"Ororo," he gestured to Greta. She had that determined set in her jaw again that had, up until a few moments ago, never been seen on her face. The portfolio in her hands seemed to be the cause of it this time, however.
Ororo's eyebrows knitted together, but she finally nodded. The look on her student's face clearly said what she intended to do. "All right," she sighed. "But do not say I didn't warn you."
The eyes which had remained trained on the folder flashed upward at the Professor, and he nodded at her. The two watched her walk distractedly back to her room, after a final glance into Evan's.
"We must be prepared," said the Professor.
***
Slowly sinking onto the bed, folder in hand, Greta trembled. What secrets about her past could this possibly reveal? What could the Professor have found about her past with so few resources and so little time? What had made her forget about her past to begin with, for that matter? With shaking digits, she lifted the flap of the manila portfolio.
***
::much evil laughter:: Bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha! Oh, that's right! It's a cliffhanger! I love doing that! Actually, I much prefer continuing the chapter, but considering it's a school night, and way past the time I ought to go to bed, that's all you're getting. I will love you so much if you give me some constructive criticism, or, you know, just praise. And, yes, I am well aware that this chapter is very cliche, and sucks. But, hey, I wanted to continue with the story, and to do that, I had to write something! There ya go. Review, please.
