Kyran bolted awake and shivered as the thin sheets slid off his upper body.
His body was covered in a cold sweat and his heartbeat was rapid and
pounded hard through him. He glanced at the bedside clock and saw it was
around six in the morning. He then looked down at the still fast asleep
Pietro and sighed. The last thing he wanted to do was wake his sleeping
angel.
He smirked. Pietro may have looked like an angel, but anyone that knew him quickly found out that looks were definitely deceiving. Not that it mattered considering Kyran really wasn't much better. In fact, the pranks and chaos had picked up within the Brotherhood house since Kyran had arrived.
His smirk faded as he remembered what had woke him. It was more nightmares about the Hellhole as he'd heard Brody call it. He found it scary how real they felt. How real and clear the voice in his head was, just as it was then. That eerie, soft, and persuasive voice that had almost talked him into killing one of his friends. He could still see the fear in Luke's eyes as he'd stood over the younger boy with three large spikes on the fist of his shadow armor ready to finish him off. And then Shadow had rebelled for the first time and left Kyran without armor. That's when Kyran realized what he had been about to do.
After that he told Shadow to show him the image of that day in his mind whenever the voice spoke. Shadow had agreed and they never had problems with the voice again. Unfortunately that meant the people had to figure out a different and more painful way to try and control him.
Kyran's thoughts were interrupted by a loud thump from the room next door. A spike of fear drove relentlessly into his heart as he got a bad feeling of what the cause was. He slowly slipped out of the bed so he wouldn't wake Pietro and called Shadow to him. Instantly he was wrapped in a nearly invincible armor and the world went into shades of black and white. In his armor he could see through the darkness perfectly and sighed in a bit of relief to find the room empty.
His relief did not last long as he watched the door slowly start to open. In his mind Shadow flashed an image of a burglar, but Kyran knew that's not what it was. Silently he stalked toward the door and at the same time elongated a part of his shadow armor to three long curved blades on his forearm. Then he flung the door open and pounced at his unsuspecting victim. He easily pinned the other person against the opposite wall and put the shadow blades against the intruder's neck before he realized who it was.
"Luke?" Kyran gasped.
"Hey buddy, did ya miss me?"
"What--?"
Kyran felt Luke's hands against his stomach a second too late. There was an explosion of energy and the armored boy flew backwards through the bedroom doorway. He flipped backward in the air and landed on his feet. His feet had no sooner touched the ground than he was tackled to the side and there was an explosion where he had been. He looked sideways to see it was Pietro that had tackled him.
"What'sgoingon?" Pietro asked quickly as they both got up.
"Go check on the others." Kyran said, ignoring the question. "I'll handle this guy."
Pietro was wise enough to know when Kyran told him to do something it was for a reason. Kyran watched Pietro zip out of the room before turning his attention back to Luke. For a moment the two sized each other up. Kyran noticed Luke had a lot more muscle on his body than the last time they had fought. And his whole body language had changed. Before Luke had been shy, but caring and very trusting. Now there was an arrogant smirk on his face and malice in his eyes.
"What the hell are you doin' man? Why are you attacking me?" Kyran demanded.
"I'm just paying you back for leaving me behind!" Luke snarled. He then threw a disc of energy at Kyran.
Kyran ducked it and charged forward, once more slamming Luke against the wall. "Luke I had no choice! There was only one chance to go!"
Luke grabbed Kyran by his throat and then tossed him down the hall toward the stairs. "Then you should have stayed and suffered with us! When you break your word, you break something that cannot be mended."
"Luke---."
"And it's not Luke anymore. I'm Firefight."
Luke threw another disc of energy at Kyran, but the older teen simply batted it way with his arm. At that Firefight paused as he realized his attacks were having no effect at all. He knew Kyran's armor wasn't completely invincible, but he couldn't remember what the weakness was. Before he could do anything there was a gust of wind and the white haired boy from earlier had pulled Kyran to his feet.
"Blob is gone and so is Avalanche. Venom and Toad are in trouble." Pietro reported.
"What's going on here Lu--Firefight? Where are Blob and Avalanche?" Kyran demanded.
Luke smirked as he gathered a ball of energy on his left hand. "Where do you think they are? They're on their way to the Facility and you're going to join them!"
"Not likely." Pietro sneered.
"Quicksilver, get Toad and Venom out of here. Get to the Institute and warn them." Kyran ordered. "I'll take care of things here and join you."
"The Institute--?"
"Do it!"
Before Pietro had a chance to argue Firefight flung the fairly large ball of energy at the two of them. Pietro got out of the way, but Kyran was blasted down the stairs where he landed at the bottom in a heap. Pietro thought about checking on him, but remembered the shadow armor would protect him and instead zipped past Luke, tripping the energy thrower as he went, and over to Todd and Cody's room.
Inside Cody and Todd were struggling against a red furred bull and a teen that shot blasts of blue energy from his mouth every time he opened it. Pietro spared one amused look at the bull before he zipped into the room and grabbed Todd and Cody. The bull tried to block their way, but Toad slimmed the floor under its hooves and instead the animal slid into the wall and changed into a young boy. Then Pietro zipped out of the room and down the stairs with one boy under each arm. He ran out of the front door and away from the house before any one could do anything about it.
"What are you doing?!" Cody demanded as Pietro stopped, now far away from the boarding house. "We can't just leave him back there!"
"He told me to get you two out of there." Pietro replied.
"He needs our help!" Cody argued.
"Look, I don't admit this much so don't get used to it, but we didn't have a chance against those guys. If we're gonna save Lance and Fred we need help." Pietro sighed. "Of the X-men variety."
++++
He smirked. Pietro may have looked like an angel, but anyone that knew him quickly found out that looks were definitely deceiving. Not that it mattered considering Kyran really wasn't much better. In fact, the pranks and chaos had picked up within the Brotherhood house since Kyran had arrived.
His smirk faded as he remembered what had woke him. It was more nightmares about the Hellhole as he'd heard Brody call it. He found it scary how real they felt. How real and clear the voice in his head was, just as it was then. That eerie, soft, and persuasive voice that had almost talked him into killing one of his friends. He could still see the fear in Luke's eyes as he'd stood over the younger boy with three large spikes on the fist of his shadow armor ready to finish him off. And then Shadow had rebelled for the first time and left Kyran without armor. That's when Kyran realized what he had been about to do.
After that he told Shadow to show him the image of that day in his mind whenever the voice spoke. Shadow had agreed and they never had problems with the voice again. Unfortunately that meant the people had to figure out a different and more painful way to try and control him.
Kyran's thoughts were interrupted by a loud thump from the room next door. A spike of fear drove relentlessly into his heart as he got a bad feeling of what the cause was. He slowly slipped out of the bed so he wouldn't wake Pietro and called Shadow to him. Instantly he was wrapped in a nearly invincible armor and the world went into shades of black and white. In his armor he could see through the darkness perfectly and sighed in a bit of relief to find the room empty.
His relief did not last long as he watched the door slowly start to open. In his mind Shadow flashed an image of a burglar, but Kyran knew that's not what it was. Silently he stalked toward the door and at the same time elongated a part of his shadow armor to three long curved blades on his forearm. Then he flung the door open and pounced at his unsuspecting victim. He easily pinned the other person against the opposite wall and put the shadow blades against the intruder's neck before he realized who it was.
"Luke?" Kyran gasped.
"Hey buddy, did ya miss me?"
"What--?"
Kyran felt Luke's hands against his stomach a second too late. There was an explosion of energy and the armored boy flew backwards through the bedroom doorway. He flipped backward in the air and landed on his feet. His feet had no sooner touched the ground than he was tackled to the side and there was an explosion where he had been. He looked sideways to see it was Pietro that had tackled him.
"What'sgoingon?" Pietro asked quickly as they both got up.
"Go check on the others." Kyran said, ignoring the question. "I'll handle this guy."
Pietro was wise enough to know when Kyran told him to do something it was for a reason. Kyran watched Pietro zip out of the room before turning his attention back to Luke. For a moment the two sized each other up. Kyran noticed Luke had a lot more muscle on his body than the last time they had fought. And his whole body language had changed. Before Luke had been shy, but caring and very trusting. Now there was an arrogant smirk on his face and malice in his eyes.
"What the hell are you doin' man? Why are you attacking me?" Kyran demanded.
"I'm just paying you back for leaving me behind!" Luke snarled. He then threw a disc of energy at Kyran.
Kyran ducked it and charged forward, once more slamming Luke against the wall. "Luke I had no choice! There was only one chance to go!"
Luke grabbed Kyran by his throat and then tossed him down the hall toward the stairs. "Then you should have stayed and suffered with us! When you break your word, you break something that cannot be mended."
"Luke---."
"And it's not Luke anymore. I'm Firefight."
Luke threw another disc of energy at Kyran, but the older teen simply batted it way with his arm. At that Firefight paused as he realized his attacks were having no effect at all. He knew Kyran's armor wasn't completely invincible, but he couldn't remember what the weakness was. Before he could do anything there was a gust of wind and the white haired boy from earlier had pulled Kyran to his feet.
"Blob is gone and so is Avalanche. Venom and Toad are in trouble." Pietro reported.
"What's going on here Lu--Firefight? Where are Blob and Avalanche?" Kyran demanded.
Luke smirked as he gathered a ball of energy on his left hand. "Where do you think they are? They're on their way to the Facility and you're going to join them!"
"Not likely." Pietro sneered.
"Quicksilver, get Toad and Venom out of here. Get to the Institute and warn them." Kyran ordered. "I'll take care of things here and join you."
"The Institute--?"
"Do it!"
Before Pietro had a chance to argue Firefight flung the fairly large ball of energy at the two of them. Pietro got out of the way, but Kyran was blasted down the stairs where he landed at the bottom in a heap. Pietro thought about checking on him, but remembered the shadow armor would protect him and instead zipped past Luke, tripping the energy thrower as he went, and over to Todd and Cody's room.
Inside Cody and Todd were struggling against a red furred bull and a teen that shot blasts of blue energy from his mouth every time he opened it. Pietro spared one amused look at the bull before he zipped into the room and grabbed Todd and Cody. The bull tried to block their way, but Toad slimmed the floor under its hooves and instead the animal slid into the wall and changed into a young boy. Then Pietro zipped out of the room and down the stairs with one boy under each arm. He ran out of the front door and away from the house before any one could do anything about it.
"What are you doing?!" Cody demanded as Pietro stopped, now far away from the boarding house. "We can't just leave him back there!"
"He told me to get you two out of there." Pietro replied.
"He needs our help!" Cody argued.
"Look, I don't admit this much so don't get used to it, but we didn't have a chance against those guys. If we're gonna save Lance and Fred we need help." Pietro sighed. "Of the X-men variety."
++++
