Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters from Mutant X.
Author's Note: As always * * denotes thoughts and ~~ ~~ denotes visions. I've also got to say a special thank you to Feral Shock who has been reviewing from day one, literally, as you were my very first reviewer! Thankyouuuuuuu!! :oD
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Chapter 21: James confronts Firefly
As she raised the sceptre to her eye-level, a stream of fire leapt from the tip and ignited the straw in the pit. It caught light at the same instant that she heard a crash coming from the balcony. Her part in the ritual over, she looked up, ready to send the perpetrator of the interruption to the same fate as her lover. She caught sight of something small and green spinning towards her, and before she could stop it, it penetrated the skin on her thigh and ejected its contents into her body. She yanked it out irritably.
"What the hell is going on here?" she yelled as she looked up again and saw Adam being restrained by two of her guards.
"Highness, this man is in possession of some sort of weapon," a guard informed her.
"Bring him down here," she ordered.
"Not if I have anything to do with it," came Jesse's voice from the opposite end of the balcony. As she and the crowd looked around, the remaining members of Mutant X sprang up from various points around the Hall. Pandemonium broke loose as guards confronted the mutants.
She saw Shalimar creeping up behind her, but she could deal with Shalimar in a second. She spread her arms and created a wall of fire completely circling the feral, trapping her and making her cower in fear.
Brennan wasn't a problem as he was still bound to the pillar. The fire was starting to reach his feet and she could feel the fear and pain in his mind as she scanned the area mentally for the other mutants. Now there were only Emma and Jesse to deal with.
She looked around, ready to face whatever the two remaining mutants had to throw at her. She could cope with anything they had thought up. She watched Jesse battling with guards, massing and phasing out at will, easily dodging the punches and kicks the guards threw at him, and throwing a few lethal ones of his own. Suddenly, she felt Emma's presence in her mind. She clutched at it with all her energy and squeezed. She turned in time to see Emma fall to the ground screaming and holding her head in both hands.
"That'll teach you to mess with my mind, you little worm," she spat at the writhing psionic. With one last mental punch, she overloaded Emma's mind and sent her across the Hall, smashing her into a wall, and left her lying unconscious on the stone floor.
She surveyed the action in the Hall with satisfaction. She may be the one who had to deal with the most difficult mutants, but her guards were holing Jesse back magnificently. He was the only one left now, she thought with glee.
As she turned to go deal with Jesse finally, a blur of movement caught her eye. As she followed it trying to identify it, she suddenly saw his mind.
"James," she said softly. The figure slowed down, his face becoming clearer. "James Miller," she said more loudly now. He stopped a little way away from her.
"This has got to stop, Firefly," he said to her from across the Hall. Somehow, with all the noise and the fighting, they could hear each other's words perfectly.
~~ "This has got to stop, Firefly. You've done enough damage. I don't want to do this. Please, just tell me you'll stop these massacres." ~~
She felt a streak of anger rush through her veins and raised her hands, sending a fatal streak of fire towards him. He massed in time and dispersed the fire bolt.
"Don't make me do this a second time, Firefly," he said sorrowfully as he continued his walk towards her.
~~ She watched him walk towards her, her bolts of fire not slowing him, nor leaving a mark on him when he remained massed. ~~
"You fool. You don't realise the harm you did to the people when you killed me," she hissed, eyes glowing red.
"You did much more harm when you were alive. You should never have come back."
~~ He continued closing the space between them. He had his sword unsheathed in his right hand. ~~
"They still want me. They'll kill you before they let you harm me."
"True, but they seem to be a little busy with Mutant X."
"One last member of Mutant X," she laughed at him as she waved her arm around the Hall, showing the various team members strewn around unconscious.
~~ Oblivious to her screams for her guards, he swung the sword and it sliced through her neck, silencing her forever. ~~
"And how long do you think HE's going to last?"
He paused in front of her, still massed. "Long enough for me to do what I have to," he said softly. He paused one last time. "Don't make me do this again, please," he pleaded with her.
~~ As her head thudded onto the ground, he dropped to his knees, tears streaming down his face and sobs racking his muscular frame. ~~
Her face softened. "What am I going to do if I don't do this? I don't know how to be any other way," she replied.
He held out a hand to her. "I can help you, Mutant X can help you. All you have to do is accept that help." She hesitated as he carried on speaking. "Adam can help you put Firefly out of your mind again once and for all."
That seemed to do the trick, and she held out her hand to take his, a tear rolling slowly down her cheek. The second their fingers touched, he unmassed, she raised her other hand, and his face froze in an expression of shock as her fire blast hit him. He was sent flying backwards into the stone wall and disintegrated into a pile of smoking dust almost instantaneously.
"That's the last time you ever get the better of me," she sneered triumphantly at his remains.
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"Adam," Jesse cried out in between dodging and punching. "Why hasn't the serum antidote worked?"
Adam struggled out of the guards' grip, but he wasn't strong enough. "I don't know Jesse," he confessed softly to himself. He had put the whole Mutant X team in jeopardy. Shalimar was a gibbering wreck, fear of the fire wall having taken control of her brain, Emma was unconscious, maybe permanently damaged by Firefly's telepathic torture, Brennan was about to die in the flames, and Jesse was only just holding on. Soon Jesse too would be overcome by guards, and then it was anyone's guess what Firefly would do with the surviving members of the team.
Adam had watched the exchange between Firefly and James Millar with interest. It had been awful watching James letting his guard down at the last moment. He should have known better than anybody how Firefly's manipulative mind worked, but maybe he would have had a better chance of getting into her mind if only his antidote had worked better.
He hung his head in defeat, not wanting to watch Jesse being kicked and punched repeatedly. He knew that at some point Jesse wouldn't be able to keep up with so many guards attacking him, and he would fail to phase out or mass in time. He felt completely useless.
Meanwhile, she was feeling a little strange, light headed. It was probably the serum contained in the dart, she thought. Maybe a little disorientation was the extent of the effect. She shook her head and surveyed the scene once again. The fire wall she had created around the feral was still holding. The flames at Brennan's feet were creeping up towards his shins as he screwed his eyes shut and tried not to think about the pain that was about to envelope him.
Her eyes alighted upon Emma and she smiled. Serves the little psionic right for going through her thoughts. She only got what she deserved. She could tell that Emma was just about alive; her breathing was shallow and hampered by broken ribs sustained by the impact against the wall, but she would die soon enough. There was no need to expend any more energy in finishing her off herself.
Adam himself was being held firmly by her guards, and she could see that Jesse was fighting a losing battle. She would decide what to do with those two in due course. She turned her gaze to the mound of smoking ashes that was James. She regretted doing what she did, but it was a necessity. She hadn't realised that he was still around or else she would have been on her guard.
She smiled, knowing there was nothing anyone could do to stop her now. Despite the unexpectedness of the ambush, things were going her way.
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How much do you hate Firefly now? Oh, how I love creating evil characters. The only thing I love more is reading reviews, so keep 'em coming!
Author's Note: As always * * denotes thoughts and ~~ ~~ denotes visions. I've also got to say a special thank you to Feral Shock who has been reviewing from day one, literally, as you were my very first reviewer! Thankyouuuuuuu!! :oD
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Chapter 21: James confronts Firefly
As she raised the sceptre to her eye-level, a stream of fire leapt from the tip and ignited the straw in the pit. It caught light at the same instant that she heard a crash coming from the balcony. Her part in the ritual over, she looked up, ready to send the perpetrator of the interruption to the same fate as her lover. She caught sight of something small and green spinning towards her, and before she could stop it, it penetrated the skin on her thigh and ejected its contents into her body. She yanked it out irritably.
"What the hell is going on here?" she yelled as she looked up again and saw Adam being restrained by two of her guards.
"Highness, this man is in possession of some sort of weapon," a guard informed her.
"Bring him down here," she ordered.
"Not if I have anything to do with it," came Jesse's voice from the opposite end of the balcony. As she and the crowd looked around, the remaining members of Mutant X sprang up from various points around the Hall. Pandemonium broke loose as guards confronted the mutants.
She saw Shalimar creeping up behind her, but she could deal with Shalimar in a second. She spread her arms and created a wall of fire completely circling the feral, trapping her and making her cower in fear.
Brennan wasn't a problem as he was still bound to the pillar. The fire was starting to reach his feet and she could feel the fear and pain in his mind as she scanned the area mentally for the other mutants. Now there were only Emma and Jesse to deal with.
She looked around, ready to face whatever the two remaining mutants had to throw at her. She could cope with anything they had thought up. She watched Jesse battling with guards, massing and phasing out at will, easily dodging the punches and kicks the guards threw at him, and throwing a few lethal ones of his own. Suddenly, she felt Emma's presence in her mind. She clutched at it with all her energy and squeezed. She turned in time to see Emma fall to the ground screaming and holding her head in both hands.
"That'll teach you to mess with my mind, you little worm," she spat at the writhing psionic. With one last mental punch, she overloaded Emma's mind and sent her across the Hall, smashing her into a wall, and left her lying unconscious on the stone floor.
She surveyed the action in the Hall with satisfaction. She may be the one who had to deal with the most difficult mutants, but her guards were holing Jesse back magnificently. He was the only one left now, she thought with glee.
As she turned to go deal with Jesse finally, a blur of movement caught her eye. As she followed it trying to identify it, she suddenly saw his mind.
"James," she said softly. The figure slowed down, his face becoming clearer. "James Miller," she said more loudly now. He stopped a little way away from her.
"This has got to stop, Firefly," he said to her from across the Hall. Somehow, with all the noise and the fighting, they could hear each other's words perfectly.
~~ "This has got to stop, Firefly. You've done enough damage. I don't want to do this. Please, just tell me you'll stop these massacres." ~~
She felt a streak of anger rush through her veins and raised her hands, sending a fatal streak of fire towards him. He massed in time and dispersed the fire bolt.
"Don't make me do this a second time, Firefly," he said sorrowfully as he continued his walk towards her.
~~ She watched him walk towards her, her bolts of fire not slowing him, nor leaving a mark on him when he remained massed. ~~
"You fool. You don't realise the harm you did to the people when you killed me," she hissed, eyes glowing red.
"You did much more harm when you were alive. You should never have come back."
~~ He continued closing the space between them. He had his sword unsheathed in his right hand. ~~
"They still want me. They'll kill you before they let you harm me."
"True, but they seem to be a little busy with Mutant X."
"One last member of Mutant X," she laughed at him as she waved her arm around the Hall, showing the various team members strewn around unconscious.
~~ Oblivious to her screams for her guards, he swung the sword and it sliced through her neck, silencing her forever. ~~
"And how long do you think HE's going to last?"
He paused in front of her, still massed. "Long enough for me to do what I have to," he said softly. He paused one last time. "Don't make me do this again, please," he pleaded with her.
~~ As her head thudded onto the ground, he dropped to his knees, tears streaming down his face and sobs racking his muscular frame. ~~
Her face softened. "What am I going to do if I don't do this? I don't know how to be any other way," she replied.
He held out a hand to her. "I can help you, Mutant X can help you. All you have to do is accept that help." She hesitated as he carried on speaking. "Adam can help you put Firefly out of your mind again once and for all."
That seemed to do the trick, and she held out her hand to take his, a tear rolling slowly down her cheek. The second their fingers touched, he unmassed, she raised her other hand, and his face froze in an expression of shock as her fire blast hit him. He was sent flying backwards into the stone wall and disintegrated into a pile of smoking dust almost instantaneously.
"That's the last time you ever get the better of me," she sneered triumphantly at his remains.
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"Adam," Jesse cried out in between dodging and punching. "Why hasn't the serum antidote worked?"
Adam struggled out of the guards' grip, but he wasn't strong enough. "I don't know Jesse," he confessed softly to himself. He had put the whole Mutant X team in jeopardy. Shalimar was a gibbering wreck, fear of the fire wall having taken control of her brain, Emma was unconscious, maybe permanently damaged by Firefly's telepathic torture, Brennan was about to die in the flames, and Jesse was only just holding on. Soon Jesse too would be overcome by guards, and then it was anyone's guess what Firefly would do with the surviving members of the team.
Adam had watched the exchange between Firefly and James Millar with interest. It had been awful watching James letting his guard down at the last moment. He should have known better than anybody how Firefly's manipulative mind worked, but maybe he would have had a better chance of getting into her mind if only his antidote had worked better.
He hung his head in defeat, not wanting to watch Jesse being kicked and punched repeatedly. He knew that at some point Jesse wouldn't be able to keep up with so many guards attacking him, and he would fail to phase out or mass in time. He felt completely useless.
Meanwhile, she was feeling a little strange, light headed. It was probably the serum contained in the dart, she thought. Maybe a little disorientation was the extent of the effect. She shook her head and surveyed the scene once again. The fire wall she had created around the feral was still holding. The flames at Brennan's feet were creeping up towards his shins as he screwed his eyes shut and tried not to think about the pain that was about to envelope him.
Her eyes alighted upon Emma and she smiled. Serves the little psionic right for going through her thoughts. She only got what she deserved. She could tell that Emma was just about alive; her breathing was shallow and hampered by broken ribs sustained by the impact against the wall, but she would die soon enough. There was no need to expend any more energy in finishing her off herself.
Adam himself was being held firmly by her guards, and she could see that Jesse was fighting a losing battle. She would decide what to do with those two in due course. She turned her gaze to the mound of smoking ashes that was James. She regretted doing what she did, but it was a necessity. She hadn't realised that he was still around or else she would have been on her guard.
She smiled, knowing there was nothing anyone could do to stop her now. Despite the unexpectedness of the ambush, things were going her way.
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How much do you hate Firefly now? Oh, how I love creating evil characters. The only thing I love more is reading reviews, so keep 'em coming!