Many apologies for not updating sooner. Perhaps I should have waited to restart this fic after the holidays, but I really thought I had the time to work on it. Better late then never I suppose, right? Anyway, here's hoping you like it, and sorry it's shorter then the last two.
And, I've gotten an Insane Journal (like a live/death journal) Besides my normal rantings, I'll update daily on the story status, so if you're wondering, just check it out. The link is in my bio. ^^
Credit goes to:
Lilianne Averton—Waterfall
Ghost—Unknown (if you are the creator of Ghost, please let me know!)
Gypsa McCree--The Alciontae Shadow
Paul Carroll—Unknown (if you are the creator of Paul, please let me know!)
*~*~*~*
Europe Team
Location: Paris, France
Present Members: 4
Leader: Lilianne Averton
Date: August, 2013
*~*~*~*
Lilianne Averton had considered herself lucky when she met up with Paul Carroll, an actual human in favor of the mutant rebellion. Maybe it was fate (well, if Lil had believed in fate) or maybe it was just a fluke that Paul actually worked deep within the F.O.H task forces as a spy, gathering information for any mutant he came across. The F.o.H didn't care that he was only fifteen. In fact, from the mouth of one 'wise' Corporal, the younger they could brainwash these kids, so much the better in their eyes.
Okay, so for Lil, Paul wasn't the easiest person to get along with. Perhaps it was because they hadn't started off on the right foot-- he was only fifteen at the time, after all, whilst she had just turned twenty-one. In her eyes he was just some stupid, naïve little kid who thought he could change the world. Now two years later, and after two new members had been rescued and recruited, they still didn't get along any better. In actuality, when Lil really got around to thinking about it, it was probably safe to say that they were even more horrible to each other then when they had first joined forces. Maybe it was the fact that Lil couldn't stand being saved by him when they met, or he couldn't grasp the reality that Lil was a retired assassin, and used to, coming out of Paul's mouth mind you, kill ignorant people to save her own sorry hide.
Despite this, they had been through a lot together, and Lil would willingly admit any day that Paul really was a decent person, no matter how much she differed with his beliefs. She'd witnessed his true character after all, times when he'd let his guard down and had allowed his true self to be revealed. Admittedly, she wasn't going to announce to him that she'd seen that; she couldn't care less about his snotty front that he put on. But sometimes, she'd just stop and watch him as he comforted dying mutants holding their hands as they took their last breath and at the gentle way he tended to gunshot and taser wounds. Paul wasn't a mutant, but he definitely had a way with people that could almost be called an extraordinary gift. After all, Paul was risking his own life by aiding and hiding runaway mutants, and despite after all the crap on the media, he treated them the same as any other normal person.
He was the one who found the littler children, not long orphaned, safe places to call home with new people that would welcome them into the family without a moments hesitation. As well, as much as Lil hated to admit it, it was Paul that showed her small, pathetic and unskilled group the abandoned movie theater, or rather, the small basement of an abandoned movie theater, in which they now lived. And it was him who kept the F.o.H off their tails, and made sure they had enough food and supplies to live by.
Deep down, Lil knew she had to be thankful for all the Paul chanced. And although Lil was left vulnerable herself, leading two dysfunctional teens blindly to fight unit after unit of F.o.H members, she knew that one day they'd have an opportunity to fight fairly against the F.o.H. And maybe, if she waited patiently enough, she'd be able to have a little revenge for what they did to her sister.
Step. . .palm strike, step back, high block, turn. . .forward--
"Kick lower Gypsa, and stop bouncing, you're not a kangaroo—" Velanna's concentration was interrupted as Lil yelled at her harshly. She eyed where Lil was standing, and sidestepped, intending to do an elbow strike, and--
"--Get your arms down—no, you're not a bloody gorilla either, use 'em to protect yer face!" Lil ducked easily as one of Velanna's wild punches threatened to knock her sunglasses off the top of her head. "Look—no—stop. . .put your feet—STOP!" She evenly absorbed the force from Velanna's last punch aimed at her face in the palm of her hand and continued. "Look, point your toes towards me—towards me, that's better, and your punches should go where they're supposed to."
Velanna Macray, long ago having been given the simple nickname of Gypsa by Lil, wiped a long stray strand of black hair out of her eyes, her forehead wrinkled with concentration as she attacked Lil with another Mae geri, a front kick.
"Pull your toes back!" Lil instructed as she sidestepped smoothly, and blocked the weak kick with her arm, "Or you'll go and break a toe." She hesitated with delivering a counterattack as she could see the exhaustion evident in the way Gypsa stood; back and neck tense, shoulders ridged and arms stiff, as if permanently frozen in shielding her face. She regarded her watch in mild astonishment. "We'll stop for today." She decided finally, ignoring Gypsa's half-hearted protests to continue and tossed her a grimy towel from the floor to wipe off the beads of sweat gathering on her forehead.
"I'm never going to beat you if you're not harder with me." Gypsa sighed in mild frustration, dabbing at her forehead with the towel thankfully.
"And you'll go and hurt yourself if you do work any harder." Lil remarked. "Besides, that's not the problem. You're thinking too much. If you just let you mind go, just trust in your reflexes a bit more your reactions will be much smoother and accurate."
"Huh. Easy for you to say. I don't see why I have to learn this, I can fight just fine." Gypsa muttered.
"Yes, with sais. What happens if you don't have 'em on you, or you get disarmed? You're going to be helpless, that's what." Lil retorted as she wandered over to the cooler and pulled out a bottle of water, offering another one to Gypsa.
"We're going to need more ice." Gypsa noted, taking the bottle gratefully.
"Don't look at me, Paul's the one that does the shopping." Lil responded as she also grabbed a drink and shook the bottle to get rid of the excess water.
"Well he's not shown up for days!" Gypsa exclaimed, looking down at her stomach miserably. It gave a feeble growl.
"Neither has Ghost…" Lil mused, flopping down wearily in an old plastic deck chair with rickety legs that probably would have given out had Lil not been so petite. She took a small sip out of the bottle, swilling it around in her mouth absently to wash away the dust that had entered during their intense training session.
"Good. . .I don't like her." Gypsa's nose twitched involuntarily in disgust.
Lil frowned disapprovingly. "Neither do I, and we don't have to. She's in this just the same as us though, so just deal with it."
Gypsa scowled and as Lil twisted back to scoop up a couple lone ice cubes floating around in the cooler, she stuck out her tongue. "Well, what are we supposed to have for dinner tonight if Paul doesn't show up." She moved to stand beside Lil, and bent down to fish out a soggy container from the melted ice in the cooler, holding it at arm's length away between two fingers, "The left-over Chinese appears to have gone a bit… soft."
"Give it a rest already." Lil groaned. "Look, if he hasn't come by nightfall I'll go and grab us something."
"Three hours! But—"
A loud clang echoed down into the tiny room as the large iron door collided with the wall at the top of the cement staircase in the corner. After another long pause, there was a second bang as the door was slammed shut, followed by a series of booming footsteps, a clatter, some rather colorful cursing, and a large orange blur landing in a undignified heap on the floor at the foot of the stairs.
"Well, speak of the devil." Lil muttered as Paul scrambled awkwardly to his feet, untangling himself from his backpack's straps.
"What did you do that for?" He asked in annoyance, rubbing at a bump that was beginning to form on the back of his head.
Lil stared at him indignantly. "What do you mean? How—"
"Did you bring any food?" Gypsa interrupted them both swiftly. It didn't take a telepath to predict the makings of an argument brewing already. She looked to the ceiling in exasperation. Grownups!
"No, I just got off work." Paul answered tersely. "I haven't had the time."
"Well when—"
"After I've had some sleep, I'm knackered." He answered, before Gypsa could even get the end of her question out.
"Well here then, have some our dinner before you go," Lil seized the wet container of Chinese from Gypsa's hands and heaved it at Paul's head. "Don't worry, it's on the house."
"Ha ha, very funny Lil." He sneered as the container went wide, hurtling harmlessly over his shoulder. "Look, I've just worked a thirty-six hour shift—an active shift at that! I'm so sorry I haven't been for a while, but I didn't do it to spite you, I promise." Gypsa rolled her eyes at Paul's sarcastic comment.
Would he and Lil ever manage to hold a civil conversation? Probably not, she answered herself wryly.
"Oh poor you. Walking about on the street, you know, in actual daylight and all, your every need or want fulfilled quicker then you can count to three-- by the F.o.H at that! --and the only thing you sacrifice is a little sleep? You must have it so tough..."
"Right! I guess I'm going shopping now. Anything to please Lil," he spat angrily, "Forget the fact that I haven't had more then two hours sleep in nearly three days ignore the fact even, that they want me back into work in a few hours. . .no, just so long as Lil's happy."
Gypsa rolled her eyes again, making sure Paul saw her clearly. His face hardened. "Well, hurry up, what do you need?"
"Ice." Gypsa answered before Lil could reply with some equally sarcastic comments. "The refrigerator melted yesterday. And bread, the other loaf's starting to go moldy because, 'she-who-must-not-be-named', didn't to put the bread tag back on. For a self-proclaimed genius, she's pretty stupid."
"You've been reading too much Harry Potter." Lil muttered moodily. "Ghost isn't that bad."
"I don't read any Harry Potter. Besides, you were just saying—" Gyspa stopped herself before she too got drawn into the argument and took a deep breath before replying. "Fine. Obviously you don't hear what she talks to herself about." She settled with saying, rather grumpily.
"Look, I don't have enough time for this," Paul interrupted. "What do you need? Ice, bread… what do you want for dinner tonight? Do you have enough fruit? Meat? What about matches, or wood?"
"No we've still got enough matches and fire wood. . .get us another container of iced tea mix, two tins of milk, a bag of ice. . .and another box of the tall candles," Lil ticked each item off on her fingers thoughtfully as she listed them. "A box of crackers, some hot dog sausages, and if you can swing it, some chocolate biscuits for a treat would be nice as well. Oh and some more bottled water."
"I'm going to be broke after this lot! Just because I work for the F.o.H it doesn't mean I have piles of money at my disposal you know Lil." Paul replied snippily, absently running his fingers through his bright orange hair.
"Oh sod it Paul, we need to eat." In the dimness of the small room Gypsa could see the makings of tiny purple sparks crackling between Lil's fists, which kept clenching tightly as Lil struggled to restrain herself.
Paul had better shut up soon if he knew what was good for him, otherwise he may finally find himself on the wrong end of Lil's powers.
"Why don't you go to the farmers' market once in a while then? I'm sure someone with great, uh, how should I put this. . . shopping skills such as yours could get quite a store going down here. Then maybe I could spend the money on more useful things then food."
"What's more important then food!"
"Weapons."
"You hang out with three mutants! How could you possible need any more weapons?"
Paul let out a cruel laugh. "Yeah right, we have one that talks to plants, one to computers, and then you, the old spark plug. From my experience, I don't think the F.o.H are going to be cringing away in fear from you three any time soon."
Gypsa could see Lil struggle to find some witty comment to reply with, but deep down, she knew Paul was partly true. She settled with simply retorting, "Anyway moron, the farmers' market's are guarded. You've been on duty there more then once, or has that already dribbled out of that pitiful thing you call a brain."
"Lil?" Gypsa intervened hesitantly.
"What?" Lil whirled around, the sparks now fizzing and popping more threateningly as they danced eerily across the backs of Lil's hands.
"Shut up." She said simply. Lil's eyes narrowed, and Gypsa shrunk back ever so slightly, but then raised her chin in defiance, determined to be a rebel like Lil had taught her.
Even if it means challenging Lil herself. Oh dear… She thought suddenly, that did sound corny…
Paul took the not-so-subtle hint as well, and with an unnecessary warning glare from Gypsa asked sullenly, "What about dinner?"
"Chili?" Lil looked to Gypsa, "That should be easy enough for you to do."
"Me? Why me?" Gypsa protested, quickly forgetting to look all moody and threatening.
"Well, if you really want to go clean up the loo…"
"Never mind." Gypsa replied hastily. "We need another battery for the torch as well."
"Right." Paul murmured, and without saying good-bye, left the way he came.
"I should have asked him to do the laundry." Lil said after the door had slammed shut. "Ghost's spilt god-only-knows-what on her blankets again and the smell's starting to waft my way. I don't know how many times I've told her not to eat on her bed, honestly, she acts like she's twelve not seventeen."
She too began to move towards the staircase and Gypsa looked after her blankly. "Where are you going?"
"Out." Was the reply.
"Well I can see that but—" Lil was gone. So what was all that rubbish about cleaning the loos? Huh. . .liar. "Fine." She said aloud. "Leave me on my own. See if I care. I don't need you. I'm not scared." She nodded vigorously trying hard to ignore the shadows lurking in the corners where Ghost sometimes liked to prowl, the faint dripping as condensation dripped from the roof and the faint fizz as the candles popped and spluttered.
"Michaelangelo!" She yelped nervously, and very nearly flew to her bed where her stuffed Ninja Turtle lay, dove under the covers, and pulled one of her plants, Jas, closer to her, speaking softly to it as she let its vines trail up her arm reassuringly.
**
"And just when are you going to GROW UP Lil?!"
Gypsa blinked, and opened her eyes blearily, but lying as still as possible on her mattress.
"You can't just leave a fifteen year-old by herself down here—what if something had happened! What if I'd been followed back here earlier?"
"You don't need to shout, Paul!" Lil yelled back at him. "Gypsa's fine!"
"That's besides the point Lil, and you know it! I would have thought you of all people would have more sense--"
Great. They were at it again.
"Fine, I'm sorry Paul, but I had some important stuff to do!"
"I know what your important 'stuff' is Lil, and let me tell you no one cares about your damn inner demons! Especially when it could have threatened another person!" Gypsa risked a peek, and recoiled. Paul's face was nearly the same color as his blazing orange hair, and even Lil was beginning to turn colors as vivid purple currents of electricity began running up and down her bare arms excitedly.
"Don't you DARE pretend that you know what you're talking about! And since when did you start to care about anybody else, huh? I seem to remember you letting me take that bullet just to save your own hide."
"You're the mutant, I'm not—"
"Just because I'm a mutant doesn't mean I'm somehow 'superhuman'! I could just have easily died from that bullet as you could."
"But you didn't. Anyway, Ghost helped—"
"Oh don't even get me started on Ghost." Lil growled, narrowing her eyes. Her hair began to lift ever so slightly away from her head as the surges of electricity grew even stronger. "Look, just get out, now!"
"Whether you like it or not Lil, you three are all dependent on me."
"I'M DEPENDANT ON NO ONE!" Lil roared.
Paul ignored her. "So you better just swallow your pride and admit that you were wrong!"
Uh-oh, Gypsa groaned to herself, bad thing to say. . .no, horrible thing to say. . .
". . . what was that Benny? You know there's someone down here, don't you..." A small, almost singsong voice spoke up, and as quiet as it was, it stopped both Lil and Paul in the middle of their screaming rampage. It wasn't a question either. Emerging out on hands and knees from a small metal grate concealed in the shadows behind the tubs where the dishes were washed, the little, grimy girl, only know by the tiny group as Ghost strayed into the room, her laptop computer 'Benny' tucked firmly beneath her arm.
"What do you mean Ghost?" Paul demanded, whirling around to face her.
Ghost ignored him as she normally did, and snatched the box of crackers out of Paul's clenched hands as she breezed by, ripping them open with her teeth. Plopping down on the spot, she opened her laptop, and carefully, so as not to get any crumbs on Benny's keyboard, daintily nibbled at the corner of the cracker.
"Ghost!" Lil snapped loudly, her voice bouncing harshly off the walls. Paul elbowed her.
"You're going to wake up Gypsa!" He glared.
"Now you stop to think about Gypsa? Like you care. . . anyway, she's already awake or are you so careless that you didn't notice." Lil snarled. Paul looked surprised, and blushing, Gypsa sat up, throwing off her blankets which had been draped loosely over her. "Ghost!"
"Fools." Ghost sang to the glowing screen. "There's someone listening on the stairs. . .but surely the ever-vigilant Lilianne Averton already knows this. They can't be. . . yelling at me, can they Benny?"
Lil froze, eyes darting over at the stairs. Gypsa and Paul both followed suite. As bizarre and peculiar as Ghost could be, she was no liar. Lil crept quietly, but confidently over to the stairs, a globe of electricity that pulsated blue and purple light held in each hand for both light and defense. Paul and Gypsa gave a start as Lil gasped loudly. There was a loud crack as she hurled one of the spheres, followed by intense purple smoke whipping past her into the small room.
Ghost merely looked on in mild interest, head cocked ever so slightly to one side as Lil, Gypsa, and Paul all doubled over coughing and choking on the foul smog. Lil forced herself to straighten up, covering her mouth as she tried to search for any possible attack but the cloud soon overwhelmed even her, burning her eyes, nose and even mouth, as though she was being smothered. No attack came, and as the smoke cleared, there was no one to be seen.
Even two weeks later the harsh smell of brimstone still hadn't vanished.
*~*~*~*
A cliffhanger? Up for you to decide I suppose. *shruggs* I'm sure you can guess what happened there, you're fairly smart readers. I suppose. ^^ Well anyway, there you have it. Next update will come whenever I feel like writing. *grins* I will tell you though, I have started. The Japanese team is coming in next. I think.
The Alciontae Shadow: I'm sorry if Gypsa seems off to you in this chapter. She seems out of character, even to me, but this is just the way it happened to turn out. It doesn't help I've got limited info on her to begin with. ^^ If you feel you can help me out here, send me an e-mail or something and we can sort it out.
Comments, questions, mistakes/grammar errors, please let me know in a review or e-mail. If you feel I've portrayed you character wrong, please let me know, and we'll try and resolve the problem.
Ja Ne!
-Dalamar
