Title: Viral
Author: Viral
Disclaimer: I do not own the X-Men.
Claimer: I do own Viral.
Author's Note: This story is the result of a fan fiction challenge. This section does include a bit of development for the custom character.
The challenge: No more telepaths or TKs -- create a mutant whose powers are quite unique...
Note: The X-Men, Generation-X, and Blink from AoA are included.
-=-=-
"By the skies, what is he doing?" Storm asks herself as she flies over the New Jersey Turnpike where cars and collisions have induced fires. It was obvious they had all swerved in unfamiliar motions to avoid Viral as he ran across the ever-wide highway, already noted for its many accidents.
Storm did not produce any rain clouds to douse the fires. That would only make the situation worse with the gasoline and oils that fueled the automobiles. She finally spotted Viral as he neared the forest line and a bolt of lightning blocked his path with the fall of a tree. Viral stood, without moving, wondering what had happened.
Not noticing the white-haired wonder coming behind him, Viral continued to stand without moving, wondering if God had attempted to strike him down. "Viral? Am I right?" Storm questioned as she landed a few feet away from him, ignoring the sounds of continual crashing, cursing, and screams.
Viral turned around in shock from the voice and began tobacco away from Storm. "What do you want? Leave me alone, aight?" He shoved Storm with the gloved part of his hand and hopped over the tree that had been knocked down.
Storm did not follow; she stood there and held out her hand. "Please wait, child, I do not wish to harm you."
"Yeah, you and e'rbody else that was chasin me," Viral mumbled as he ran under the shadows of the trees. Storm had no choice but torn after him. She took off the brooch that held together her cape and let pitfall to the ground. There was no sense in allowing her cape to get her tangled by the tree branches.
Under the darkness of the tree's protection, Storm was still able to see very well. Her cat-like eyes were also apart of her mutation, although not as good as team members such as Logan. "Viral, please, do not run from me. I only wish to - ah!" Storm grunted as a tree began to gradually descend towards her until it fell almost completely on her body. A gust of icy wind held the tree together as she noticed a green mold had been spreading across its trunk. Obviously Viral's work.
"What do you want?" Viral asked loudly and angrily from his spot in a tree.
"I only wish to help you," Storm said, "I am a mutant too."
"That's obvious, broad," Viral said sarcastically, "Never saw a woman with white hair that ran as fast as you."
"My hair color is not a part of my mutation. It is descended trait throughout my family."
"I feel sorry for you, lady."
Storm continued to look around, trying to find exactly where his voice was coming from. When she found that impossible, a light wind began to blow from all directions, almost unnoticeable to Viral. When Storm felt the wind being stopped from one direction, she knew it had to be Viral'sbody. She looked upward in a tree on her extreme left.
When Viral noticed her eyes on him, he hopped from the tree and slowly began to take off his gloves. "What? You gonna attack me like your little friends back there?"
"No, I do not wish to attack you," Storm said as she remained in her position, facing him. "My name is Ororo Munroe, but my closest of friends know me as Storm."
"Ah, really? Nice to meet you," Viral said with a phony smile spread across his face, "Now I'll be goin."
He began to go off in the opposite direction. "They calmer Storm for a reason," Storm says as her eyes began to shine with lightning and a light whirlwind began to lift Viral's body and spin him until he fell dizzily to the ground.
"Very cute," Viral said as he charged at Storm. She gently floated above him and he ran into a tree's trunk. As the side of his face touched the rough bark of the tree it began to dissolve into a green mold. It quickly began to fall and its weight sent Storm to the ground. Feeling as if she was going to die from the pressure on her chest and the sudden suffocation, she suddenly felt a rush of cool air against her face. The tree had all been devoured by the 'virus' and was now nothing but a pile of dirt on her X-attire." They call be Viral for a reason."
Storm stood up, blue eyes looking into Viral's dark brown orbs which seemed as if it were black. Light shone in from the sky above where the large tree no longer stood, giving them both ample light to see one another clearly. "Now that we are much better acquainted, Viral," Storm said as she wiped the dust from her clothing, "May I speak with you in a much reasonable manner."
"Call me Dontè," he answered with his arms crossed and his head tilted slight to the side.
"Dontè," she said, smiling, already finding the name very 'fun' to pronounce. "Have you ever heard of the Xavier's Institute?" She awaited a response but her did nothing. "It is a school for gifted youngsters, such as yourself. It offers a normal high school curriculum, sometimes more advanced, and the entire student body is composed of mutants."
"So? I'm done with high school. I'm on my way to college. What does that have to do with me?" he said, straightening his head from its tilt and continuing, "Besides, it won't make no difference whether I'm in a regular school or some fancy spot for mutants."
"It will surely make an impression on your grammar."
"Don't go dissin me---"
"I am not trying to 'diss' you," the word stammered off of Storm's tongue. "I am offering you a safe haven where you need not worry about keeping secrets."
"Secrets? Everybody in my school, church, family, and clubs know about my little gift. I don't got nothin to hide," Viral replied with his eyes squinted in speculation.
"Really? You have a very respectable amount of people around you."
"Yeah I do. And it was nice talking to you, Ms. Munroe, but I got some things I need to take care of," Viral said as he slipped his gloves back on.
"Please, Dontè, if only for a few hours, come with me now? At least meet my mentor, Professor Xavier. He has excellent skills in helping mutants learn to control their abilities," she says with a slight smile on her face.
"There he is!" came an unrecognizable voice followed by the sound of a gunshot. The winds suddenly shifted to accommodate the velocity of the bullet as it all sounded out clearly in Storm's ears.
"Dontè!" Storm shouted as fog began to spread around the ground and became so thick that whoever was there was now running into themselves and the trees. Storm ran to the mutant's side whom was still standing, looking around in confusion. "Are you okay? Did they miss?"
"Apparently not, yo," Viral said with fierceness as he looked at his arm which had a red dot on it.
"But," Storm's eyes fluttered in confusion, "Your skin does not seemed to be pierced. Merely irritated at the most," she said as she lifted her hand a few inches above his arm, studying the red dot carefully.
Storm went back into her memory at the very sounds she had heard on the wind. She remembered the whistle of the bullet and the rush of wind as it shot pass a falling leaf. Then there was the cringing sound of the solid metal crashing into skin... but no burst; finally a sound of dust falling to the ground. "Viral - Dontè, is it possible that infected the bullet before it could ever reach any further than the first layer of your skin?"
They both looked down to see, yes, surely a pile of dust. "Holla at ya boy," he said with a smile of pride on his face. His skin had actually stopped a bullet, one of the most dangerous things on Earth when combined with its companion, a gun.
"Quickly, the fog is beginning to dissipate. Your assailant will definitely be checking to see if he has succeeded in taking your life," Storm absent-mindedly grabbed his arm and before she knew it her lips were quivering as she loss all feeling in her legs.
Her mobility is brought to naught as Viral stepped back with wide eyes in shock. Storm's white hair slowly turned brown as it was forced into the ground. Her eyes closed halfway and she mightily gasped for air. Her lungs began to burn with excruciating pain and she felt lymph nodes bulge all across her neck.
Viral looked up from Storm's fatal position as heard a gun cock and noticed all the fog had simply disappeared. As he expected a trigger to be pulled, his eyes noticed a red beam of light and energy and the gun was sent flying towards his feet. He hopped up as the gun slid into a mud puddle and then looked again in confusion.
"Oh my lamb," Jean yelled as she saw Storm slow suffering on the ground, "Ororo!" Viral's next site was a redhead approaching Ororo. He slowly began to step back until he was met by a certain portal-hopper who appeared behind him.
"What did you do to her, nimrod?" Blink said as she jumped from out of the portal and prepared to send an acrobatic kick to Viral's head.
Instead, his clothed elbow was sent deep into the purple mutant's stomach and she flew into a tree's trunk. Despite his victory against one mutant, he felt rather trapped as he began to see the silhouettes of Gambit, Wolverine, and Cyclops approaching him.
"Wolverine, put the two bags of trash together," Cyclops said in a commanding, disgusted voice. Before he understood what was happening, a member of the Friends of Humanity organization crashed into Viral's chest as his body was thrown.
Both Viral and the man grunted and fell to the ground. "I knew it was a lie," Viral mumbled as his mind reminded him of the doubts in Storm's sincerity. "She set me up."
"You've done enough killing for one day. We can't let you do this anymore!" Cyclops said yelled at Viral as the FOH member fainted.
"I wasn't tryin to kill anybody, so just back off!" Viral said in a yell as well, brown eyes keeping in every motion as he watched Cyclops lift his hand to his visor. "Storm promised me I wouldn't get hurt, neph. Looks like she's wrong," Viral said in a grave voice.
"I'm not going to hurt you, kid, but I am going to put you to sleep," Cyclops said as a red beam of light shot out of his eyes. Viral stood there and looked down to his chest where the optic blast hit him. His shirt was torn and almost catching aflame, but the golden brown skin on his chest was unharmed, only showing a red scar from irritated skin.
Viral inhaled with his lips puckered outward in a pout, as he jumped up and kicked himself off the tree that was behind him. Flying forward his fist made an imprint in Cyclops' face as his other feet kicked in the air at Gambit. Cyclops went to the ground, as limp as Storm was.
By this time, Viral noticed he wasn't moving, but his body was still in the air and there was great pressure on his ankles. He looked up as his upper body crashed into the ground and Gambit was holding his feet, kinetically charging his boots.
-=-=-=-
Author's Closing Notes: This is definitely not the end, but I'm a bit of a writer's block. Didn't want to keep anyone waiting for this chapter. Hopefully I'll get over the block soon and update.
Author: Viral
Disclaimer: I do not own the X-Men.
Claimer: I do own Viral.
Author's Note: This story is the result of a fan fiction challenge. This section does include a bit of development for the custom character.
The challenge: No more telepaths or TKs -- create a mutant whose powers are quite unique...
Note: The X-Men, Generation-X, and Blink from AoA are included.
-=-=-
"By the skies, what is he doing?" Storm asks herself as she flies over the New Jersey Turnpike where cars and collisions have induced fires. It was obvious they had all swerved in unfamiliar motions to avoid Viral as he ran across the ever-wide highway, already noted for its many accidents.
Storm did not produce any rain clouds to douse the fires. That would only make the situation worse with the gasoline and oils that fueled the automobiles. She finally spotted Viral as he neared the forest line and a bolt of lightning blocked his path with the fall of a tree. Viral stood, without moving, wondering what had happened.
Not noticing the white-haired wonder coming behind him, Viral continued to stand without moving, wondering if God had attempted to strike him down. "Viral? Am I right?" Storm questioned as she landed a few feet away from him, ignoring the sounds of continual crashing, cursing, and screams.
Viral turned around in shock from the voice and began tobacco away from Storm. "What do you want? Leave me alone, aight?" He shoved Storm with the gloved part of his hand and hopped over the tree that had been knocked down.
Storm did not follow; she stood there and held out her hand. "Please wait, child, I do not wish to harm you."
"Yeah, you and e'rbody else that was chasin me," Viral mumbled as he ran under the shadows of the trees. Storm had no choice but torn after him. She took off the brooch that held together her cape and let pitfall to the ground. There was no sense in allowing her cape to get her tangled by the tree branches.
Under the darkness of the tree's protection, Storm was still able to see very well. Her cat-like eyes were also apart of her mutation, although not as good as team members such as Logan. "Viral, please, do not run from me. I only wish to - ah!" Storm grunted as a tree began to gradually descend towards her until it fell almost completely on her body. A gust of icy wind held the tree together as she noticed a green mold had been spreading across its trunk. Obviously Viral's work.
"What do you want?" Viral asked loudly and angrily from his spot in a tree.
"I only wish to help you," Storm said, "I am a mutant too."
"That's obvious, broad," Viral said sarcastically, "Never saw a woman with white hair that ran as fast as you."
"My hair color is not a part of my mutation. It is descended trait throughout my family."
"I feel sorry for you, lady."
Storm continued to look around, trying to find exactly where his voice was coming from. When she found that impossible, a light wind began to blow from all directions, almost unnoticeable to Viral. When Storm felt the wind being stopped from one direction, she knew it had to be Viral'sbody. She looked upward in a tree on her extreme left.
When Viral noticed her eyes on him, he hopped from the tree and slowly began to take off his gloves. "What? You gonna attack me like your little friends back there?"
"No, I do not wish to attack you," Storm said as she remained in her position, facing him. "My name is Ororo Munroe, but my closest of friends know me as Storm."
"Ah, really? Nice to meet you," Viral said with a phony smile spread across his face, "Now I'll be goin."
He began to go off in the opposite direction. "They calmer Storm for a reason," Storm says as her eyes began to shine with lightning and a light whirlwind began to lift Viral's body and spin him until he fell dizzily to the ground.
"Very cute," Viral said as he charged at Storm. She gently floated above him and he ran into a tree's trunk. As the side of his face touched the rough bark of the tree it began to dissolve into a green mold. It quickly began to fall and its weight sent Storm to the ground. Feeling as if she was going to die from the pressure on her chest and the sudden suffocation, she suddenly felt a rush of cool air against her face. The tree had all been devoured by the 'virus' and was now nothing but a pile of dirt on her X-attire." They call be Viral for a reason."
Storm stood up, blue eyes looking into Viral's dark brown orbs which seemed as if it were black. Light shone in from the sky above where the large tree no longer stood, giving them both ample light to see one another clearly. "Now that we are much better acquainted, Viral," Storm said as she wiped the dust from her clothing, "May I speak with you in a much reasonable manner."
"Call me Dontè," he answered with his arms crossed and his head tilted slight to the side.
"Dontè," she said, smiling, already finding the name very 'fun' to pronounce. "Have you ever heard of the Xavier's Institute?" She awaited a response but her did nothing. "It is a school for gifted youngsters, such as yourself. It offers a normal high school curriculum, sometimes more advanced, and the entire student body is composed of mutants."
"So? I'm done with high school. I'm on my way to college. What does that have to do with me?" he said, straightening his head from its tilt and continuing, "Besides, it won't make no difference whether I'm in a regular school or some fancy spot for mutants."
"It will surely make an impression on your grammar."
"Don't go dissin me---"
"I am not trying to 'diss' you," the word stammered off of Storm's tongue. "I am offering you a safe haven where you need not worry about keeping secrets."
"Secrets? Everybody in my school, church, family, and clubs know about my little gift. I don't got nothin to hide," Viral replied with his eyes squinted in speculation.
"Really? You have a very respectable amount of people around you."
"Yeah I do. And it was nice talking to you, Ms. Munroe, but I got some things I need to take care of," Viral said as he slipped his gloves back on.
"Please, Dontè, if only for a few hours, come with me now? At least meet my mentor, Professor Xavier. He has excellent skills in helping mutants learn to control their abilities," she says with a slight smile on her face.
"There he is!" came an unrecognizable voice followed by the sound of a gunshot. The winds suddenly shifted to accommodate the velocity of the bullet as it all sounded out clearly in Storm's ears.
"Dontè!" Storm shouted as fog began to spread around the ground and became so thick that whoever was there was now running into themselves and the trees. Storm ran to the mutant's side whom was still standing, looking around in confusion. "Are you okay? Did they miss?"
"Apparently not, yo," Viral said with fierceness as he looked at his arm which had a red dot on it.
"But," Storm's eyes fluttered in confusion, "Your skin does not seemed to be pierced. Merely irritated at the most," she said as she lifted her hand a few inches above his arm, studying the red dot carefully.
Storm went back into her memory at the very sounds she had heard on the wind. She remembered the whistle of the bullet and the rush of wind as it shot pass a falling leaf. Then there was the cringing sound of the solid metal crashing into skin... but no burst; finally a sound of dust falling to the ground. "Viral - Dontè, is it possible that infected the bullet before it could ever reach any further than the first layer of your skin?"
They both looked down to see, yes, surely a pile of dust. "Holla at ya boy," he said with a smile of pride on his face. His skin had actually stopped a bullet, one of the most dangerous things on Earth when combined with its companion, a gun.
"Quickly, the fog is beginning to dissipate. Your assailant will definitely be checking to see if he has succeeded in taking your life," Storm absent-mindedly grabbed his arm and before she knew it her lips were quivering as she loss all feeling in her legs.
Her mobility is brought to naught as Viral stepped back with wide eyes in shock. Storm's white hair slowly turned brown as it was forced into the ground. Her eyes closed halfway and she mightily gasped for air. Her lungs began to burn with excruciating pain and she felt lymph nodes bulge all across her neck.
Viral looked up from Storm's fatal position as heard a gun cock and noticed all the fog had simply disappeared. As he expected a trigger to be pulled, his eyes noticed a red beam of light and energy and the gun was sent flying towards his feet. He hopped up as the gun slid into a mud puddle and then looked again in confusion.
"Oh my lamb," Jean yelled as she saw Storm slow suffering on the ground, "Ororo!" Viral's next site was a redhead approaching Ororo. He slowly began to step back until he was met by a certain portal-hopper who appeared behind him.
"What did you do to her, nimrod?" Blink said as she jumped from out of the portal and prepared to send an acrobatic kick to Viral's head.
Instead, his clothed elbow was sent deep into the purple mutant's stomach and she flew into a tree's trunk. Despite his victory against one mutant, he felt rather trapped as he began to see the silhouettes of Gambit, Wolverine, and Cyclops approaching him.
"Wolverine, put the two bags of trash together," Cyclops said in a commanding, disgusted voice. Before he understood what was happening, a member of the Friends of Humanity organization crashed into Viral's chest as his body was thrown.
Both Viral and the man grunted and fell to the ground. "I knew it was a lie," Viral mumbled as his mind reminded him of the doubts in Storm's sincerity. "She set me up."
"You've done enough killing for one day. We can't let you do this anymore!" Cyclops said yelled at Viral as the FOH member fainted.
"I wasn't tryin to kill anybody, so just back off!" Viral said in a yell as well, brown eyes keeping in every motion as he watched Cyclops lift his hand to his visor. "Storm promised me I wouldn't get hurt, neph. Looks like she's wrong," Viral said in a grave voice.
"I'm not going to hurt you, kid, but I am going to put you to sleep," Cyclops said as a red beam of light shot out of his eyes. Viral stood there and looked down to his chest where the optic blast hit him. His shirt was torn and almost catching aflame, but the golden brown skin on his chest was unharmed, only showing a red scar from irritated skin.
Viral inhaled with his lips puckered outward in a pout, as he jumped up and kicked himself off the tree that was behind him. Flying forward his fist made an imprint in Cyclops' face as his other feet kicked in the air at Gambit. Cyclops went to the ground, as limp as Storm was.
By this time, Viral noticed he wasn't moving, but his body was still in the air and there was great pressure on his ankles. He looked up as his upper body crashed into the ground and Gambit was holding his feet, kinetically charging his boots.
-=-=-=-
Author's Closing Notes: This is definitely not the end, but I'm a bit of a writer's block. Didn't want to keep anyone waiting for this chapter. Hopefully I'll get over the block soon and update.