Family Ties:
Chapter 6
A/N: Just wanted to explain something about my description of Kurt and
Rose's father. See, we've all probably asked this question: WHY did
Mystique adopt Rogue in the first place? My theory is that maybe she had
already lost Kurt.maybe she wanted a child to replace him? And why not
adopt a kid that looked like your past lover, for comfort, eh?
But, hey, don't listen to me. I just write fics.
*****
"New Mutant Alert," blared Cerebro, alerting Professor Xavier to the arising of a new mutant. "New Mutant Alert."
Jean, Rose, and Storm stood behind Xavier as he searched for the position of this new mutant. A profile of a young boy popped up. He looked fairly normal; kind regular features, blue eyes, and curly hair so light blonde it almost looked white. Only one thing really set him apart.
He had feathers from shoulder to wrist, ranging in shades from light tan to a dark brown. His feet and hands had the usual five digits, except they were more curved in, like a raptor's talons, and had longish claws on each finger or toe.
"Aiden Thompson. Twelve years of age, currently living in Japan, in Tokyo, with adopted parents." Xavier peered closer to the screen. "It seems that he has the ability to create some rather powerful winds, even tornadoes."
"Charming," Storm mumbled to Rose. The other woman chuckled.
"Okay," announced Jean. "Let's go find him, before Magneto or Mystique does." Looking over at Rose and Storm, she asked, "You coming?"
Rose nodded. "I vould love to, Jean. I vill go varm up the Blackbird."
*****
"Thrusts ready?" Jean asked as she flipped on the switches.
Storm sat in the seat opposite of the left-hand pilot's seat. Rose sat behind her, a tad bit uncomfortable due to the combination of the small chair and her large wingspan. "Ready."
"Then we have liftoff!"
The Blackbird shuddered as it lifted into the air, and within minutes, it and her passengers were on their way to Japan. Since the trip would take almost half an hour, the travelers chattered about this new place, and of how they should approach young Aiden.
"I have alvays vondered vhat Japan vas like," Rose said, fingering her chin. "Is it not the same as China?"
"Actually, no," Storm answered. "The culture and language is very different from China's."
"I see." Rose shifted her wings so that she could look out the window at the clouds zooming by. "How do ve approach him? I have a feeling he von't be expecting us."
"Well, according to Cerebro, Aiden's mutation was much like Hank's; it lay dormant until puberty, then abruptly happened in a time of stress."
"Vhat kind of stress?"
Storm laughed casually. "He had his first zit."
"Ouch!"
"Anyway, he's most likely not to happy about his appearance, and might not be aware of his powers yet, and might attack us out of fear." She turned a glance to Rose, who returned the look. As much as Storm hated to say it, Rose was a child's worst nightmare given physical form to someone who didn't know her.
This didn't bother Rose at all. "I vill be careful vith him."
"We're here," Jean declared in a perfect copy of a stewardess. "Welcome to Japan."
"So vhere do ve find Aiden?" Rose asked curiously. "I have heard that Japan is very populated, with loots of people."
Xavier's thoughts brushed easily into their minds, even over the distance between him and the Blackbird. (You will find him, like I said, in Tokyo. But even then, you might not find it too simple.)
"Boy, you're optimistic," Jean said aloud as she steered the ship down into a clear field several miles from Tokyo. They only left after all the shields on the Blackbird had been raised, protecting it from both sight and radar, and the only way someone could have found it was to walk right into it.
Once they reached the suburbs of Tokyo, hidden in a cloak of fog thanks to Storm, Jean was able to pinpoint Aiden's location: a large, abandoned hotel with a hand-written sign nailed to the front proclaiming, DANGEROUS! DO NOT ENTER! To back this up, the large, once-beautiful doors were locked shut.
"It vould appear that Aiden likes his privacy?" Rose joked lightly.
"Apparently." Storm prepared to blast down the doors with a huge gust of wind when Jean put her hand on the older woman's shoulder.
"He's not in the building."
"But you said-" Rose began.
Jean shook her head and pointed upward. "He's on the hotel." Rose and Storm followed her finger and barely noticed a small shed on the top. "Demoness?" she asked, using Rose's alias for the first time. "Could you possibly fly us up there?"
Rose stood silent for a moment, mentally configuring her strength, the height of the structure, and the weight of her two friends. "I believe so, with some effort." She spread her wings out wide until they were at their full length, the measure of a Volkswagen, and put one arm around each passenger's waist. They in turn held tight to Rose's suit. "Hold tight."
With a rush of wind, Rose started to flap and became airborne. The force of her flying whipped the air around Storm and Jean; their hair stung and bit their faces as Rose soared upward. Even with their eyes closed, the dirt invaded and attacked mercilessly.
Storm chanced a quick look up at Rose, and saw that the Demoness was doing no better than they were. Her violet hair stuck to her sweaty face as she struggled to stay in the air and not doom all of them by failing. "Rose! Can you make it?"
"I-think-so," panted Rose just as she reached the last floor. The second they reached the roof, her wings decided they'd had enough, and promptly gave up. All three women collapsed onto the hard concrete, each giving their own individual curse or groan. Rose said nothing, only lay on her back and panted, gulping in breath after breath.
"Are you alright?" Jean demanded as she kneeled by her, genuinely concerned.
"Yes, yes!" replied Rose, slapping both Jean and Storm away as she rose. Painstakingly exhausted wings refused to fold back into their normal position, so Rose was forced simply let them drag. "But next time.ve take the stairs."
Storm couldn't help a small chuckle. She stared at the cement roof they were on. It looked normal enough, with a heater and an air conditioner side by side, a door connected to an upraised slap of concrete leading down to a flight of stairs. But the shed was no longer there. She narrowed her eyes and spied a small piece of wood just behind the door. Gesturing to it, she asked Jean, "There?"
"Yep."
They strolled over to the shed. Storm knocked politely on the door. "Aiden?"
A muffled sentence from behind the door, but all three women could only guess at its meaning: "Go away!"
Rose stepped forward, using her silky voice to its highest, the kind of voice you expect from a kindly female relative. "Aiden? Could you come out?"
"No!"
"Vhy not?"
"Cause."
"Because of vhat?"
A small, weeping sniffle. "Cause I'm a freak, that's 'vhat'."
"Oh, really? Vell, vhy don't you come out, and let my friends and I be the judge of that?"
A long pause. "You won't scream?"
Rose smiled softly, remembering that she had said the same thing to hundreds of people before revealing herself. "Of course not, Aiden."
A second, even longer cease of speech. Finally, the door cracked open to reveal the tear-streaked face of Aiden Thompson. His curls were hidden by a New York Yankees baseball cap. In fact, he seemed to be a walking billboard for them; not just the hat, but his coat and shirt proclaimed his love and loyalty to the team, but the due to the foot-long feathers on his arms, the coat was tied around his waist instead. Storm saw something that Cerebro had not shown them: Although his eyes were blue, the pupil was a slit instead of pupil, more cat-like than human. "See?" the boy demanded through the tears. "I am a freak!"
"No you aren't," replied Rose. Aiden hadn't seen her at first, since she had stood just behind the open door, and his eyes and pupils widened as he took in her unusual appearance, forgetting Storm and Jean completely.
"Man, you're cool-lookin'," he breathed, totally in awe.
Rose's dark complexion didn't allow her blush to show through, and for that, she was eternally grateful. "Vhy, danken du, Aiden."
"Du are willkommen."
A bright smile appeared on Rose's face. "You speak German, mein herr?"
Aiden beamed back at her, wiping away his tears on the edge of one coat sleeve. "Uh-huh. And French, Japanese, Spanish, and a little Latin, too."
"Impressive," Jean commented, folding her arms. Aiden noticed the other two women for the first time and said, "You mutants, too, or are you the police?"
"We are most definitely not the police," Storm answered with a snort.
"So.who are you?" Aiden asked, a tone of suspicion in his voice.
Walking over and placing comforting hands on the boy's shoulders, Jean said, "We're here to ask you if you will be willing to join us at Xavier's Institute for gifted youngsters, like yourself."
"Ya mean like smart kids?"
Rose gave him a toothy, but friendly, grin. It didn't seem to bother Aiden as much as his own appearance did. "Vere ve not specific on 'gifted' youngsters?"
Aiden's intellect popped into gear. "Oh." He seemed doubtful. "Would the other kids.would they be afraid of me?"
"Of course not," Storm said firmly. "We have quite a few residents that do not look all that normal, such as Rose," she added, sweeping a hand to indicate the Demoness.
Again, the boy paused. Sensing the boy's discomfort, Jean assured him, "If you are worried about your parents, they will be notified immediately."
Aiden scowled and let out scornful raspberry. "They didn't care at all. They're the ones who kicked me out of their house. They're big anti- muties.
Rose's lip curled in disgust at such behavior, especially coming from adults! She struggled to keep her anger invisible and said, "Then ve von't bother vith them, Aiden. Vould you like to come vith us?"
"Yes," Aiden said. "But I don't understand something."
"What?"
Aiden leaned on one leg and gave them a typical "duh" look. "Are your names really Demoness and Storm?"
"Actually, no. I am Rose Blanch, and these are my good friends and companions, Ororo Monroe, and Jean Grey."
"So what's up with the code names and suits and stuff?"
"Because," Jean said, "if some people knew our real names and appearances, they might hurt people we know and love to get back at us."
"That's rude."
"Sure is. Ready to go?"
"Yeah." As the women turned to go, holding tight onto Rose, he added, "Do I get a code name?"
Rose paused. "Live vhat?"
Aiden stopped to think. "Well.how about.Twister, since I make tornadoes and stuff?"
"I love it." She nodded to the sky. "Come on, let's fly."
"F-f-fly?" Aiden looked over the edge. "I can fly, yeah, but I've never been up this far!"
"Then how'd you get up here?" Storm asked sarcastically.
"Stairs."
"You can fly," said Jean, wincing as Rose began to flap and rise upwards. "Just have to try."
Aiden looked at them doubtfully, then jumped off the edge. For a split second, all three women were terrified he wouldn't catch a breeze after all, but he opened his arms and flew upward. "Whoo! That's better than any roller coaster I've been on!"
***** As that day and the next passed, Twister sticked close to Rose, his idol besides the all-holy Yankees. Everyone supposed it was because Rose was odd-looking, and Aiden was odd-looking, and the young boy took comfort in that.
And Rose appreciated the company. She had never like being alone, and Aiden was a good boy. They had many things in common besides their alarming looks; he had a deep passion for drawing, flying, and nature in general, making himself for a very good student for Rose.
"Now, ve're going to practice lift-off, but from the ground," instructed Rose. She and Aiden were out in the woods surrounding the mansion, well out of sight and sound so that Aiden could concentrate on his lessons.
"But I can't lift off from the ground."
"You can, but only vith practice, Twister," Rose said, once again taking on the role of a strict but friendly teacher. "If you don't have faith in yourself, vho vill?" She spread her wings open and started a very slow, repeating flapping. "Now, follow me. One, two. One, two."
Aiden did as he was instructed, wholly trusting and faithful to Rose without condition. As Rose quickened the pace, he felt himself beginning to rise. "Hey! Neat!"
"Now!" Rose cried. "Jump!"
Taking a deep breath, Aiden crouched, then leaped upwards like a spring. He closed his eyes, sure of failure, but found that the updrafts kept him floating so that he only soared upwards. "Rose! I did it, I did it, see!"
Rose smiled. Twister had become as close to her as Kurt and Rogue. His love of life, his energy, everything about the young boy filled her. Her smile faded from happiness to sadness. She'd always wanted a child of her own, but the fear of it looking just like her had ceased that dream. She couldn't bear the thought of a child of hers going through all the pain, humiliation, and shame that she had, simply because it was different.
It was like Old Morgana had told her when she had come back to her trailer, sobbing her heart out because Frederick had made fun of her again. "Define normal," the old fortune-teller had told her. "Nobody is exactly alike!"
"Really?" the sniffling Rose had questioned, still doubtful, rubbing her tail unconsciously like she did whenever she was extremely upset.
"Really, my child. Now! Let's go practice your act!"
Rose sat down, cross-legged, and leaned against a tree as she watched Aiden perform aerial feats that a skydiver would have killed over to execute. She let out a deep, relaxed sigh and let friendly memories wash over her.
Just then, Twister let out a loud, "YEE-HAA!" and Rose looked up at him for a moment, thinking that he should stop being so loud. And that, of course, was when someone attacked her from behind with a tranquilizer gun. She let out a startled gasp at the sting of the dart, but was asleep before she hit the dirt.
Aiden also saw the attack on Rose and let out a hawk-like scream as he zoomed to attack the large, hulking man who was responsible. The man screamed in pain as Twister reached out with his talons and shredded his back wide open. Aiden pulled away, pieces of a bloody shirt caught on his claws. Just as he geared up and swooped down for another aerial attack, screaming bloody murder, he, too, was shot. But not with a tranquilizer dart; this was a 9mm bullet striking him in the shoulder. He cried out again, this time in pain instead of anger, and gripped at his shoulder. He fell to the ground, snapping his arm like a twig, still clutching his bloody shoulder.
Try as he did, he could only watch as the bulky man toss Rose over his shoulder and stroll away as casually as if he were just coming back from a friend's house. Why? he wondered as darkness took him.
It was his last thought for a while.
*****
"New Mutant Alert," blared Cerebro, alerting Professor Xavier to the arising of a new mutant. "New Mutant Alert."
Jean, Rose, and Storm stood behind Xavier as he searched for the position of this new mutant. A profile of a young boy popped up. He looked fairly normal; kind regular features, blue eyes, and curly hair so light blonde it almost looked white. Only one thing really set him apart.
He had feathers from shoulder to wrist, ranging in shades from light tan to a dark brown. His feet and hands had the usual five digits, except they were more curved in, like a raptor's talons, and had longish claws on each finger or toe.
"Aiden Thompson. Twelve years of age, currently living in Japan, in Tokyo, with adopted parents." Xavier peered closer to the screen. "It seems that he has the ability to create some rather powerful winds, even tornadoes."
"Charming," Storm mumbled to Rose. The other woman chuckled.
"Okay," announced Jean. "Let's go find him, before Magneto or Mystique does." Looking over at Rose and Storm, she asked, "You coming?"
Rose nodded. "I vould love to, Jean. I vill go varm up the Blackbird."
*****
"Thrusts ready?" Jean asked as she flipped on the switches.
Storm sat in the seat opposite of the left-hand pilot's seat. Rose sat behind her, a tad bit uncomfortable due to the combination of the small chair and her large wingspan. "Ready."
"Then we have liftoff!"
The Blackbird shuddered as it lifted into the air, and within minutes, it and her passengers were on their way to Japan. Since the trip would take almost half an hour, the travelers chattered about this new place, and of how they should approach young Aiden.
"I have alvays vondered vhat Japan vas like," Rose said, fingering her chin. "Is it not the same as China?"
"Actually, no," Storm answered. "The culture and language is very different from China's."
"I see." Rose shifted her wings so that she could look out the window at the clouds zooming by. "How do ve approach him? I have a feeling he von't be expecting us."
"Well, according to Cerebro, Aiden's mutation was much like Hank's; it lay dormant until puberty, then abruptly happened in a time of stress."
"Vhat kind of stress?"
Storm laughed casually. "He had his first zit."
"Ouch!"
"Anyway, he's most likely not to happy about his appearance, and might not be aware of his powers yet, and might attack us out of fear." She turned a glance to Rose, who returned the look. As much as Storm hated to say it, Rose was a child's worst nightmare given physical form to someone who didn't know her.
This didn't bother Rose at all. "I vill be careful vith him."
"We're here," Jean declared in a perfect copy of a stewardess. "Welcome to Japan."
"So vhere do ve find Aiden?" Rose asked curiously. "I have heard that Japan is very populated, with loots of people."
Xavier's thoughts brushed easily into their minds, even over the distance between him and the Blackbird. (You will find him, like I said, in Tokyo. But even then, you might not find it too simple.)
"Boy, you're optimistic," Jean said aloud as she steered the ship down into a clear field several miles from Tokyo. They only left after all the shields on the Blackbird had been raised, protecting it from both sight and radar, and the only way someone could have found it was to walk right into it.
Once they reached the suburbs of Tokyo, hidden in a cloak of fog thanks to Storm, Jean was able to pinpoint Aiden's location: a large, abandoned hotel with a hand-written sign nailed to the front proclaiming, DANGEROUS! DO NOT ENTER! To back this up, the large, once-beautiful doors were locked shut.
"It vould appear that Aiden likes his privacy?" Rose joked lightly.
"Apparently." Storm prepared to blast down the doors with a huge gust of wind when Jean put her hand on the older woman's shoulder.
"He's not in the building."
"But you said-" Rose began.
Jean shook her head and pointed upward. "He's on the hotel." Rose and Storm followed her finger and barely noticed a small shed on the top. "Demoness?" she asked, using Rose's alias for the first time. "Could you possibly fly us up there?"
Rose stood silent for a moment, mentally configuring her strength, the height of the structure, and the weight of her two friends. "I believe so, with some effort." She spread her wings out wide until they were at their full length, the measure of a Volkswagen, and put one arm around each passenger's waist. They in turn held tight to Rose's suit. "Hold tight."
With a rush of wind, Rose started to flap and became airborne. The force of her flying whipped the air around Storm and Jean; their hair stung and bit their faces as Rose soared upward. Even with their eyes closed, the dirt invaded and attacked mercilessly.
Storm chanced a quick look up at Rose, and saw that the Demoness was doing no better than they were. Her violet hair stuck to her sweaty face as she struggled to stay in the air and not doom all of them by failing. "Rose! Can you make it?"
"I-think-so," panted Rose just as she reached the last floor. The second they reached the roof, her wings decided they'd had enough, and promptly gave up. All three women collapsed onto the hard concrete, each giving their own individual curse or groan. Rose said nothing, only lay on her back and panted, gulping in breath after breath.
"Are you alright?" Jean demanded as she kneeled by her, genuinely concerned.
"Yes, yes!" replied Rose, slapping both Jean and Storm away as she rose. Painstakingly exhausted wings refused to fold back into their normal position, so Rose was forced simply let them drag. "But next time.ve take the stairs."
Storm couldn't help a small chuckle. She stared at the cement roof they were on. It looked normal enough, with a heater and an air conditioner side by side, a door connected to an upraised slap of concrete leading down to a flight of stairs. But the shed was no longer there. She narrowed her eyes and spied a small piece of wood just behind the door. Gesturing to it, she asked Jean, "There?"
"Yep."
They strolled over to the shed. Storm knocked politely on the door. "Aiden?"
A muffled sentence from behind the door, but all three women could only guess at its meaning: "Go away!"
Rose stepped forward, using her silky voice to its highest, the kind of voice you expect from a kindly female relative. "Aiden? Could you come out?"
"No!"
"Vhy not?"
"Cause."
"Because of vhat?"
A small, weeping sniffle. "Cause I'm a freak, that's 'vhat'."
"Oh, really? Vell, vhy don't you come out, and let my friends and I be the judge of that?"
A long pause. "You won't scream?"
Rose smiled softly, remembering that she had said the same thing to hundreds of people before revealing herself. "Of course not, Aiden."
A second, even longer cease of speech. Finally, the door cracked open to reveal the tear-streaked face of Aiden Thompson. His curls were hidden by a New York Yankees baseball cap. In fact, he seemed to be a walking billboard for them; not just the hat, but his coat and shirt proclaimed his love and loyalty to the team, but the due to the foot-long feathers on his arms, the coat was tied around his waist instead. Storm saw something that Cerebro had not shown them: Although his eyes were blue, the pupil was a slit instead of pupil, more cat-like than human. "See?" the boy demanded through the tears. "I am a freak!"
"No you aren't," replied Rose. Aiden hadn't seen her at first, since she had stood just behind the open door, and his eyes and pupils widened as he took in her unusual appearance, forgetting Storm and Jean completely.
"Man, you're cool-lookin'," he breathed, totally in awe.
Rose's dark complexion didn't allow her blush to show through, and for that, she was eternally grateful. "Vhy, danken du, Aiden."
"Du are willkommen."
A bright smile appeared on Rose's face. "You speak German, mein herr?"
Aiden beamed back at her, wiping away his tears on the edge of one coat sleeve. "Uh-huh. And French, Japanese, Spanish, and a little Latin, too."
"Impressive," Jean commented, folding her arms. Aiden noticed the other two women for the first time and said, "You mutants, too, or are you the police?"
"We are most definitely not the police," Storm answered with a snort.
"So.who are you?" Aiden asked, a tone of suspicion in his voice.
Walking over and placing comforting hands on the boy's shoulders, Jean said, "We're here to ask you if you will be willing to join us at Xavier's Institute for gifted youngsters, like yourself."
"Ya mean like smart kids?"
Rose gave him a toothy, but friendly, grin. It didn't seem to bother Aiden as much as his own appearance did. "Vere ve not specific on 'gifted' youngsters?"
Aiden's intellect popped into gear. "Oh." He seemed doubtful. "Would the other kids.would they be afraid of me?"
"Of course not," Storm said firmly. "We have quite a few residents that do not look all that normal, such as Rose," she added, sweeping a hand to indicate the Demoness.
Again, the boy paused. Sensing the boy's discomfort, Jean assured him, "If you are worried about your parents, they will be notified immediately."
Aiden scowled and let out scornful raspberry. "They didn't care at all. They're the ones who kicked me out of their house. They're big anti- muties.
Rose's lip curled in disgust at such behavior, especially coming from adults! She struggled to keep her anger invisible and said, "Then ve von't bother vith them, Aiden. Vould you like to come vith us?"
"Yes," Aiden said. "But I don't understand something."
"What?"
Aiden leaned on one leg and gave them a typical "duh" look. "Are your names really Demoness and Storm?"
"Actually, no. I am Rose Blanch, and these are my good friends and companions, Ororo Monroe, and Jean Grey."
"So what's up with the code names and suits and stuff?"
"Because," Jean said, "if some people knew our real names and appearances, they might hurt people we know and love to get back at us."
"That's rude."
"Sure is. Ready to go?"
"Yeah." As the women turned to go, holding tight onto Rose, he added, "Do I get a code name?"
Rose paused. "Live vhat?"
Aiden stopped to think. "Well.how about.Twister, since I make tornadoes and stuff?"
"I love it." She nodded to the sky. "Come on, let's fly."
"F-f-fly?" Aiden looked over the edge. "I can fly, yeah, but I've never been up this far!"
"Then how'd you get up here?" Storm asked sarcastically.
"Stairs."
"You can fly," said Jean, wincing as Rose began to flap and rise upwards. "Just have to try."
Aiden looked at them doubtfully, then jumped off the edge. For a split second, all three women were terrified he wouldn't catch a breeze after all, but he opened his arms and flew upward. "Whoo! That's better than any roller coaster I've been on!"
***** As that day and the next passed, Twister sticked close to Rose, his idol besides the all-holy Yankees. Everyone supposed it was because Rose was odd-looking, and Aiden was odd-looking, and the young boy took comfort in that.
And Rose appreciated the company. She had never like being alone, and Aiden was a good boy. They had many things in common besides their alarming looks; he had a deep passion for drawing, flying, and nature in general, making himself for a very good student for Rose.
"Now, ve're going to practice lift-off, but from the ground," instructed Rose. She and Aiden were out in the woods surrounding the mansion, well out of sight and sound so that Aiden could concentrate on his lessons.
"But I can't lift off from the ground."
"You can, but only vith practice, Twister," Rose said, once again taking on the role of a strict but friendly teacher. "If you don't have faith in yourself, vho vill?" She spread her wings open and started a very slow, repeating flapping. "Now, follow me. One, two. One, two."
Aiden did as he was instructed, wholly trusting and faithful to Rose without condition. As Rose quickened the pace, he felt himself beginning to rise. "Hey! Neat!"
"Now!" Rose cried. "Jump!"
Taking a deep breath, Aiden crouched, then leaped upwards like a spring. He closed his eyes, sure of failure, but found that the updrafts kept him floating so that he only soared upwards. "Rose! I did it, I did it, see!"
Rose smiled. Twister had become as close to her as Kurt and Rogue. His love of life, his energy, everything about the young boy filled her. Her smile faded from happiness to sadness. She'd always wanted a child of her own, but the fear of it looking just like her had ceased that dream. She couldn't bear the thought of a child of hers going through all the pain, humiliation, and shame that she had, simply because it was different.
It was like Old Morgana had told her when she had come back to her trailer, sobbing her heart out because Frederick had made fun of her again. "Define normal," the old fortune-teller had told her. "Nobody is exactly alike!"
"Really?" the sniffling Rose had questioned, still doubtful, rubbing her tail unconsciously like she did whenever she was extremely upset.
"Really, my child. Now! Let's go practice your act!"
Rose sat down, cross-legged, and leaned against a tree as she watched Aiden perform aerial feats that a skydiver would have killed over to execute. She let out a deep, relaxed sigh and let friendly memories wash over her.
Just then, Twister let out a loud, "YEE-HAA!" and Rose looked up at him for a moment, thinking that he should stop being so loud. And that, of course, was when someone attacked her from behind with a tranquilizer gun. She let out a startled gasp at the sting of the dart, but was asleep before she hit the dirt.
Aiden also saw the attack on Rose and let out a hawk-like scream as he zoomed to attack the large, hulking man who was responsible. The man screamed in pain as Twister reached out with his talons and shredded his back wide open. Aiden pulled away, pieces of a bloody shirt caught on his claws. Just as he geared up and swooped down for another aerial attack, screaming bloody murder, he, too, was shot. But not with a tranquilizer dart; this was a 9mm bullet striking him in the shoulder. He cried out again, this time in pain instead of anger, and gripped at his shoulder. He fell to the ground, snapping his arm like a twig, still clutching his bloody shoulder.
Try as he did, he could only watch as the bulky man toss Rose over his shoulder and stroll away as casually as if he were just coming back from a friend's house. Why? he wondered as darkness took him.
It was his last thought for a while.