The All-American Rejects
Chapter Two
On the Run
Once again, I wrote this before I actually posted chapter one, probably because I have way too many stories going on. Right now, this is a priority. The All-American Rejects and Lockdown are the only stories I'm really working on. Deus Ex Machina is still on hold, as is Red and Golden Roads.
Please review.
Standard disclaimers apply.
~*~*~*~*~*
Dead. The word sounded so odd used to describe Vincent, Flare thought. The two boys with her, Draco and Tidal, seemed surprise to see her use the word. She had refused to say it before, as if denying the lack of his life would bring him back to life. Kurt didn't know what to say. It was obvious that Vincent and Flare had been more than just friends, though if they were brother and sister or boyfriend and girlfriend he couldn't tell.
"Oh." He said finally. An awkward silence enclosed them, but Flare was surprisingly the first to break it.
"So, what do you want?" she asked. He thought for a moment.
"Well, we-" he began, but the brunette boy cut him off.
"We?" he asked skeptically.
"My friends Rogue, Kitty and I," he replied, then opened his mouth to continue, but the black-haired boy interrupted him.
"Your accent… it's German, right?" he asked him. Kurt nodded.
"Well, there's more of us," he said, "But, anyways, we all live in this place… it's a mansion, really… called the Xavier Institute. Every resident there is… different. The Professor recruits people to live there and maybe join a force called the X-Men to help people. Are you interested?" Flare looked around at the two boys, then back at him.
"One sec," she said. "We have to ask the others." She said as an explanation. She caught up with some more girls, and a few more boys. They talked in whispers for a few minutes, then the blonde walked up to him, carrying only one bag instead of the three she previously held.
"We can't all go right now," she said as an explanation. "The rest of us have to contact the families of Yume, Vince, and the others that died in the ars- fire." She said, quickly cutting short the word 'arson'. So the trio increased by one, and they walked off into the shadows while the rest of Elektra's friends went to contact Mr. And Mrs. Pryde, adopted mother and father of Vincent Pryde.
~~~~~~~~
"So, like, what's it like?" Kitty asked. "I mean, living with like, the same people for years? And like, how everyone hates you?" she asked Elektra. Elektra sighed.
"Well, we're all really close friends. Or, I mean, it's like we were family. Flare's been a little out of it since Vince died and everyone misses someone from the fire. Yume and Vince are the ones we miss the most, though. I mean, after the arso- fire," Elektra said, cutting arson off again, "We were all miserable. But Flare was the worst. She and I are really close friends, and it's been weeks, so she's getting over it. It's not the first time we've been burned out and someone's died."
"Didn't you all like, lose someone you cared about?" Kitty asked them. "I mean, Flare lost Vincent, but what about you, or Sub-Zero?"
"Well, yeah, but everyone swore the whole reason that Vince and Kell weren't engaged yet was because they wouldn't let him buy a ring. Anyways, everyone who died got a funeral. A mass funeral, as it happens, and the families had to bury them. But you know what? At least their families still cared."
"So, like, who else is lived there that's still alive?" she asked, trying to get off of the subject.
"Well, there's Cassie- we call her Sub-Zero, but if we want to annoy her, we call her Frosty. Then you know about Kelly- Flare. There's Jennifer- we call her Songbird. And Memory, who we call Breeze. Of course, there's Pierre- call him Tidal or Tide or he'll hurt you, it's scary- and Spike, call him Draco. See, it's short for Draconis, which is Latin for Dragon. A lot of the guys left after the arson, though," she said thoughtfully, for once not covering up the truth.
"So, like, the boys split after the fire?" Kitty said. "Except for, you know, Tide and Draco?" she continued.
"Well, there's this guy named Derek. He's kind of… scary. And then there's Sarah. You might want to be like, careful around her. She's a kleptomaniac- and not like Flare, who just steals for fun or because we need money- and she's a pathological liar and a self-proclaimed pathological anorexic. Don't ask her about it and don't piss her off. And there's more, but you'll meet them. We'll come in smaller groups to attract less attention."
"Like, did your boyfriend die?" Kitty asked. Elektra laughed.
"My ex. He got pissed at me because I wouldn't hot-wire a car for him. Whatever. But, like, do you have one?" she asked. They were sitting in the back of a cab, with Rogue and Kurt crammed in front. Kitty giggled.
"Sort of- but don't tell anyone at the Institute! Because, like, there's this group of mutants called the Brotherhood, and he's in it, and they, well, don't get along well with us because they want to tell the truth and expose themselves and we don't." Elektra laughed humorlessly.
"Tell him our story next time he wants to." Kitty shrugged. Then Elektra said, "Do you like, I mean really like him, a lot?" she asked, and Kitty grinned.
"Yeah. I mean, I have to like, sneak out, but he calls me pretty-Kitty. And he's all tough and feck-you to everyone else, but he's so sweet with me! He even left the Brotherhood to join the X-Men to be closer to me, but stupid Scott kept blaming him for stuff so he left." She said.
"We're here," Kurt said, and Elektra did a humorous impression of being electrocuted in explanation of what her powers were. Kitty laughed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Songbird, Flare, Sub-Zero, Breeze, and Sarah- another telepath- gathered outside a store, waiting patiently for a chance to steal some money without attracting much attention. Finally, Are You Happy Now? By Michelle Branch came on, and Songbird sang the chorus softly under her breath.
"Could you look me in the eye and tell me that you're happy now? Yea-Yea-Yeah, are you happy now? Would you look me in the eye and tell me that you're happy now? Are you happy now?" and some bills floated softly into Flare's hand. She instantly stuffed them in her pocket, and the girls slipped off to find their baggage and get a cab.
They split up momentarily at the cab, with Sarah going with Breeze and most of the luggage, and the others in the other with the remainder of the bags. Sarah sat and sulked, while Breeze sang along cheerfully with the Vanessa Carlton song playing on the radio. Sarah slapped her, and breeze glared but said nothing, instead settling into a slouch and occasionally flipping through her bag. Suddenly, she panicked.
"Where's my photo book?" she asked hurriedly. "Oh, Sarah, if you took it to barf on, I am so going to rip your skinny little throat out and feed it to one of your anorexic ex-friends." She said in even more of a rush.
Sarah threw up her hands. "I put it in Elektra's bag with your camera because you ran out of room, remember? And Elektra mostly has clothes, so…" Breeze breathed a sigh of relief. "Do you know what hotel we're meeting at?" she asked Sarah, who grinned dangerously and grabbed her cell phone. She flipped the top open and dialed Flare's number.
"Meet us at the Embassy Suites." She said, then after hanging up, "Yo, driver man! Take us to the Embassy Suites!" the driver sighed and made a sharp right turn, causing Breeze to gasp as her shoulder slammed into the window. Sarah giggled.
"I am stuck in a cab with a crazy lady." Breeze declared absently. Then, "Ooh! Look at him!" she said, gesturing wildly to a slender guy with white hair walking with crazy speed. Sarah shoved her out of the way and peered out the window.
"Either he's really old or really weird." She declared and pulled back, though Breeze made no move to stop staring.
"Um, hello? My hair was white once. And purple, and pink, and black, and red, and orange… and then platinum blonde, and then white again." It was, as a matter of fact, black with green highlights. "Besides, I think it's cute when guys dye their hair," she continued, still staring at the white haired boy. Sarah rolled her eyes.
"Assuming he's not old, he's either gay or a freak. Either way, Bre, you need better taste." She told her, biting deeply into her nails as her stomach rumbled. Breeze snorted.
"Yeah? Well at least I eat!" she said firmly. "I mean, you'd think you were phagophobic or somethin'" she said for effect. Sarah clenched her teeth.
"Let's not talk about this now." She said coldly.
"Fine!" Breeze said, throwing up her hands. Then, Sarah said, "So, do you want me to find out White-hair's name?" and the two fell apart laughing.
Unsurprisingly, Breeze accepted Sarah's offer.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Avalanche drummed his fingers impatiently, leaning against his Jeep, waiting for Pietro- Quicksilver- to return with some money- however the hell he planned to get it. Suddenly, a girl with dark red hair crashed into him. She landed on her back, and flipped herself up, then began to gather her bag and suitcases, all the while mumbling half-hearted apologies. Then a girl with black hair and a… ice blue streak?… ran up and grabed her arm.
"Forget it Flare, we've gotta met Breeze and Sarah at the Embassy Suites, though how we're gonna get the money I don't know, maybe they're counting on Songbird…" then she trailed off and noticed Lance. "It's him!" she said to the girl- Flare?- and then continued on, speaking at a speed that would make Speedy proud. "C'mon don't worry about it, we can tell Kitty later, don't you want to go to Hot Topic or Religious Sex or something? I bet they have one here and besides Kitty would want us to hurry, and so would Kurt. Flare? Hello, Flare?" she said, then Flare snapped,
Hold on a sec, Frosty," then turned back to Lance, but the other girl- Frosty? The hell?- grabbed her shoulder and spun her around.
"It's Sub-Zero," she growled. "Not Subby, not Frosty. Get it right. It's not that hard- it's as easy as Flame." Flare bristled and tensed noticeably, and Sub-Zero slapped a hand over her mouth.
"Oh my god, Kelly, I swear it slipped out! I didn't mean anything by it… I swear, Kelly don't be mad, we've all gotta adjust after the fire…" she trailed off again and the red-head- was it Kelly or Flare?- waved her off.
"You're Lance Alvers, right?" she asked him shakily, absently rubbing a bracelet. He nodded curtly, still looking for Quicksilver. "Kitty- Kitty Pryde- told us to tell you that she'll see you when she gets back and… oh, right, she swears that she didn't tell Scott. Whatever she means by that. Oh, and one more thing," Flare surveyed him with attentive eyes. "You may love Kitty, but the Prydes hate you. And… they have an ally on their side. Their ally is what killed my boyfriend. Be careful." She turned to leave, but he stopped her.
"So… you're a relative of Kitty's?" he asked her. She shook her head, tears forming in her eyes. "Her adopted brother… Vincent… he was my boyfriend. The Prydes' associate had people burn our home down. He died." She said everything in short, broken phrases. Lance sighed.
"I'm sorry." He said, then let her run off, confused as hell.
He decided that it was time to pay a visit to miss Kitty. How, he didn't know. But he had a feeling that he was going to need some help.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Over Vince already, are you?" Cassie, or Sub-Zero as you probably know her by now, asked Kelly, or Flare. "I mean, at least choose a guy that isn't taken…" she said, trailing off and raising her eyebrows suggestively. Kelly's hands curled into fists.
"Actually, I don't even find him that attractive," she admitted. Cassie laughed.
"So now you're against long hair on boys, are you?" and Kelly smiled softly, thinking of a blue fuzzy guy's projected image.
"Long hair isn't so bad, but I'm not one for brunettes." The two girls continued to talk, but neither noticed the other figure hiding in the shadows, falling them with alarming silence.
~~~~~~~~~~
baah, it gets interesting. I swear. Just wait till they get to the Institute. Romance, action, and dead… adopted brothers? Secrets revealed. Next chapter: Cassie, Kelly, Memory, Amy, Jennifer, and the others visit the Prydes, with an interesting reaction from Kitty's father.
-Knife thrower
