17. The X-Men arrived at the location Tom had found. It was a clearing two miles away from the beach Jade woke up. Cyclop's team took up the north section, which consisted of a couple of trees and a town, while Xavier's team searched the south area, which had a beach a truck stop and a small town. Logan, Tom and Jeff were left alone to search wherever. Each member had with them a communicator that allowed them connect with each other.
Logan tried searching the woods but her scent was nowhere to be found.
"This is stupid!" he complained. "I'm callin' Chuck."
"She must've come from the water so we need to check the beach," Jeff said.
"Chuck," Logan said in the communicator.
"Yes?" came the answer.
"Check the truck stop, we'll take the beach."
"Great, things will go smoother this way."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
18. Quite a mob had formed in the five minutes that Jade spent waiting for the only hairdresser in the salon to finish his last appointment of the day, every member on it angry and hurtful. The events in New York City had taken its toll on the rest of the country, small town folks especially. Knowing that mutants might seek solitude and calm, small towns have been weary of strangers and visitors. As news spread out of Jade's presence, the habitants of Verona Beach jumped at the opportunity of protecting their loving town of the mutant infestation that had landed on the country.
"Right this way, Ms. Jade," said the hairdresser.
"Just Jade, thanks," she answered.
"And what can I do for you today, Jade?"
"Well, I'd like to have it shorter."
"Oh, dear, you should. Look at all that hair and with summer coming and all, whoo, you'll fell much better without all of it," he said.
As he was preparing his tools, a noise outside distracted him.
"Sylvia, what's going on out there?" he said.
"Looks like a mob. I don't see what's the noise all about....Oh, dear, they're heading this way."
"Alright, you freak, come out or we're taking you out," Paulie cried out, gun in hand, ready to fire.
"What are they talking about?" the hairdresser said.
Jade swallowed dryly, as sweat started breaking on her forehead. She had a gut feeling they meant her, but she didn't want to mention that aloud. She fearfully got up from her chair and stood in the middle of the salon. Paulie and his cousins stormed the salon and pointed their guns at Jade. She whimpered back, but made no intention of attacking them. She knew when she was outmatched; with her full powers and memory, she would've been able to defeat those guys with a single move, but now she had no idea of what to do.
As the three men overpowered her, two dark figures watched for the top of a building.
"We really should help her, you know?" said Gambit, eyeing his teammate.
"I know, but nothing good ever happens in this town. Oh, come on, let me just have fun for a second!" Pyro complained.
"All right, but if the chere dies, you'll have to answer to Magneto."
"Alright, fun's over, let's go save 'er."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
19. Inside the shop, Jade was pinned to a wall with two people beating her. She blocked nearly all the punches by instinct, but one escaped her and landed on her face. As a trickle of blood streamed down from her nose, she rushed toward her attacker but he backed away. A gunshot was heard and Jade was back against the wall holding her shoulder.
"We won't have youse attackin' none o' out friends, mutie," Paulie said, as Jade growled and stared at him. "Alright, bring 'er outside. We're gonna teach 'er a lesson."
Two people grabbed her arms while two others grabbed her legs. She fought and kicked and screamed as they dragged her outside; not even at gunpoint, she stopped throwing a fit. Paulie showed no mercy and squeezed the trigger again. He shot at point-blank at Jade's stomach. She howled in pain and the four men dropped her. They looked up at Paulie, gasping half in wonder, half in fear.
"What are you lookin' at?" asked Paulie.
The villagers looked at each other unsure of what they had just done. They knew that they didn't like mutants but murdering one that was a different thing altogether. They were all accomplices on it now. They looked down at the young woman who gasped for breath. Louie grabbed her arm and dragged her outside knowing that she was going to better at any time. As they stepped outside, two guys, one with a long coat and red hair, while the other had orange-reddish hair and a weird-looking outfit. The latter used his gloves to produce frightening flames.
Louie dropped the girl, who knelt down; she tried doing the same thing she had before but the pain wasn't going anywhere this time. Her energy was sort of drained too.
"Who are you?" asked Paulie putting up his gun, as Louie sort of backed away.
"Well, that's not nice. You should really introduce yourself first," said Gambit, lighting up a card.
The woman started puffing and gasping for breath. She started getting up. Her eyes were void of any feelings, even the depth or the light that shows that someone is indeed alive was gone. This new person looked definitely lifeless and surely deadly.
She stood up and grabbed the shotgun with her right hand. With the left she reached for Paulie's face. The skinny, transformed hand slowly approached him, who wouldn't move from fright.
"Don't let her touch you," Vini cried pushing Paulie out of the way.
Like a siren's song her deadly, empty eyes met his, making him stop in his tracks. She reached for him and slowly touched his skin. Vini screamed loudly then gagged, as his whole life force transferred to her.
"Die, you worthless insect!" a horrid voice called out through her.
Paulie woke up from his trance and saw what she was doing to his cousin. Automatically, he pulled the trigger to the shotgun. The shot went right through her leg, getting a piece out.
Her scream pierced the night, going from low and guttural to high and feminine. She was back.
She looked around wildly, though the throbbing pain wouldn't let her see anything. Gambit pulled his fighting stick and knocked the man out before he could react. Pyro kept the others back with his flames.
As Gambit reached down to help her, she grabbed him by the collar and flung him away.
"Whoa! Ow," he groaned as he reached the ground.
"What the..? Hey, lady, we're trying to he....whooooa!" Pyro said, she had reached into her dormant telekinetic powers and threw him far next to Gambit.
She, then, transformed her body and traveled through the ground to the place the two had landed. She stood in front of the two young men; the long coat Creed had given her blew eerily in the wind. A storm settled on the horizon bringing news that the showdown was about to start. The people were way too frightened to come out of the store, so she raised her arm to it and started making the wall close in. Terrified, the people rushed off to the street.
"Watch the master at work, boys," she said in that same weird voice, now becoming more like her own, and chuckled evilly.
Gambit swallowed hard and looked at Pyro, who returned the look.
She raised her arms and started swirling them around, palms out. Underneath a man, the floor swirled in rhythm to her hands.
"Buh-bye," she said, and rapidly brought her arm up.
From the floor came a huge spike that crossed through him. The man uttered his last gasp and died. Everyone looked astonished at the poor man. The floor swirled underneath Jade's next victim now. Suddenly, everyone got terrified. What had they done? What horrible beast had they awakened?
They ran around amok, crying and screaming.
"Music to my ears," she smiled.
She started raising her hands faster and faster, and, with the same voracity, spikes started popping up from the ground, killing everyone.
"I've gotta stop her," said Gambit.
"Forget it, mate. Let's just get outta here."
They ran, but she turned and raised one hand towards them, with it two tentacles followed, getting them by the waist and wrapping around them. Slowly, they came back to the place they were before.
She turned around again and smiled, her dead eyes had an evil fire deep within them.
"You came to save me," she said. "That's something I won't forget. However, unlike me, you can get hurt easily, so allow me to return the favor."
"That's alright, you don't have to," Pyro said.
A spike popped up close to him and pierced a plump woman. He recoiled and shuttered, as he watched the woman gag.
"She's nuts..." he mumbled.
"They're innocent people," Gambit screamed.
"Innocent? Have you seen what they did to my poor Faye? She didn't even know what she was, and yet, they treated her like a dog. Do you really think that if I don't exterminate these filthy animals, they are going to leave you alone? What about me? And what about Faye?"
"But...," Gambit tried again.
"She is right, you know," Magneto said. "Release them."
"Magneto...Do you think I'll just forget what you've done to my Genie? Almost screwed up her plans, left her...me...for dead. Now how can I repay you for all that?"
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
20. Logan walked around the beach and caught a scent. She smelled like fish, but it was her all right. Rain started pouring and the wind blew wildly, bringing them a warning. Logan sniffed around and shuttered; it smelled like death.
"What's that way?" he asked.
Tom checked the map, following the road carefully with his finger.
"Verona Beach. It's a very small town close to where Xavier and his team are heading."
"Jeff, you have the communicator?" he asked and Jeff nodded. "Call 'em and tell 'em to stay away from there."
"What's wrong?"
"The wind...it smells like blood. Death is close, and wherever Faye is..."
"Death follows," concluded Tom. "Get the bikes and let's go there."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
21. "Join me," Magneto said.
"What for? So you can turn on me like you've done to your daughter?" she said watching with satisfaction his surprise look. "Oh, yeah, I know about that."
"Makes no difference to me. I won't betray you."
"Liar, liar...," she sang.
"Well, I'll make you a deal them. I've just seen Logan, with your friends Jeff and Thomas, heading this way. You join me and I'll let you take care of them, plus you'll have people to kill nearly everyday."
"Sounds promising; however, you'll have to strip this blasted metal off her skeleton. I don't want you having any more control over me than what is absolutely necessary. And, I want the scythe back."
"She's crazy, ya know," Sabretooth growled. "She ain't safe and she ain't someone you'd trust."
"You just want Logan all to yourself, but I know the way you can do the most damage without lifting a finger. I don't need to touch him to make him suffer the most, just letting him know that she's suffering is enough. I know how much you hate him, and he needs to go because he makes her weak."
"I hate you too," he shouted.
"One thing you have to understand, my hairy friend, is that I am neither Faye nor Daniel, and at the same time I am both of them, plus a third, and a fourth... I am an entity that doesn't possess form, sex, carcass, or conscience. I am ethereal, and as such, I cannot be killed or contained. I am pure power, driven by anger and encouraged by the hatred of everything that has happened to both of them in all their lives and in the world. You will have to trust me, because I am....I was...Zhar and my word is law."
"What? Zhar>" Sabretooth gasped.
"Eons ago, two mutants were born, the first ever, one in each opposing, but reflective, dimension. While my brother was contained, I ruled. My powers, however, were that of a parasite. I couldn't destroy or even sustain myself without getting energy from others. When my agents finally caught Faye, I saw in her the most powerful weapon ever created, and my way out of my energy problem. Though I forced the research, these normal mortals stumbled upon the biggest creation they could have ever imagined. Logan came later, looking for her. I allowed them to stay together as long as Kaillah, as she became known on our world, was happy and did my bidding. But they became restless, they wanted to leave, and be happier. I couldn't stop her or him. The only way out was to gain all her abilities through the same process she gained all her abilities from other mutants. As long as I could fight against my enemies with her powers, I'd be safe and both dimensions would be mine. But Daniel spoiled my plans.
"He had survived within her after all these years. Using his telepathic powers, he pulled me inside her and I was trapped too. I lost myself within her, and year after year, I waited until one day I could be free. So I'm no longer Zhar, I'm their rage, and their fears, their dark side, as well as the dark sides of all that have been depleted by her. And I am now free, free to just kill. I've given up all humanity, all that I created and all that I was...gone," his voice started changing into Faye's melted in with Daniel's voice. "I've no will of my own anymore, no voice, no thoughts...only madness. And it's this madness that drives me to the fullest. And what is all this for? To one purpose and one purpose alone...revenge. I want to make her suffer; I want her to pay with her own happiness, and her own sanity. I want Faye, Daniel, and Logan pay. And that's where you come in, right, furball? And you, Magneto, will help me train, won't you?"
"As long as you help me in my own quest."
"Very well," it finally said. "It seems our guests have arrived. Let's prepare for their reception, shall we?"
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
22. Logan stopped the bike just outside the town. Tom, who had Jeff on the back, did the same. They got out and walked near the entrance.
"Brr...," Tom shuttered.
"Yeah, I know. Death's in the air. She's here though," Logan said.
They started walking, but Jeff stopped them.
"Don't go in," he said, shaking.
"What's wrong?" Tom asked.
"It's too gruesome. I can't go in there, I wouldn't be able to block the images and my powers would be useless...or worse, destructive."
"Alright, I'll go in alone. Get away from the entrance, and call the others. Tell 'em ta stay away too," Logan said.
"I want to go in too," Tom said.
"No. Ya can't run, ya can't fight, not in yer condition anyway. Best ya get him outta here. I'll take care of 'er."
"Logan, get her back, please," Tom begged.
"Don't worry," he said, going in on foot.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
23. It awaited his coming. The wind blew the coat in an eerie way and thick rain started pouring. The woman's hair started getting soaked and glued to her head and neck.
She was standing in the middle of the road with spiked people all around the sides. She faced the town's entrance but her she looked down at her feet.
Slowly, but steadily, it felt Logan's presence coming towards it. It smiled widely, the girl too, as his energy got stronger and stronger.
Logan looked at all the lifeless bodies around him. The sight turned his stomach and made him feel light-headed. Loudly, he allowed a *SNIKT* to be heard.
"No powers, remember," Xavier had said.
I doubt there's anyone left alive in this town to notice it, Logan thought.
He spotted her shape, but fought the urge to break into a run and hug her. Instead, he started walking faster, still with his claws extended. He stopped in front of her and waited. A few long seconds passed by, and the woman raised her head slowly. Her body seemed to feel heavy now; she looked around, puzzled. She couldn't remember a thing, but her head ached like hell. She looked up at the man standing in front of her, her eyes lit up; she recognized his face.
"I...," she muttered and raised her hands and grasped her head.
I can't remember his name, she thought desperately. I know I know him, but I can't remember.
She closed her eyes trying to find it; trying to find the way home. To her surprise, she felt two hands on her shoulders. She looked up and her eyes met his, she really did know him. He pulled her close to him and hugged her tightly.
Suddenly, she was home. Salty, warm tears streamed down her face into his shirt, as she wrapped her arms around him. He could feel her pain, and she, his joy. She started shaking and hiccupping, so he held her tighter. She pulled away, gently to look at him; he kissed her forehead and then her warm lips. They were waiting a long time for this, and for a brief moment, they were one.
Behind them a figure waited, full of hatred and anger for the loss of his friends and family.
Logan pulled away to look at his beloved, but all he found was her face twisted with pain. They were so distracted that they didn't hear the bullet being shot, the bullet that Daniel was barely able to stir away from Faye's heart, the bullet that would've ended it all. From above them, Sabretooth jumped down and clawed her back. He picked her up and threw her far away. The man who fired the shot was long gone by now, so it allowed her body to remain down.
"You! Ya're always in the way, eh?" Logan snarled.
Sabretooth smiled widely as Logan suffered. He held out his hand, stopping Logan from attacking; with the other, he pulled out a locket by the chain.
"She's mine now...," he said, triumphantly.
"You've always wanted 'er."
"Wrong, like always."
Logan went to punch him, but he dodged it, kneeling Logan in the stomach.
"Another time," he said, though he wanted to rip him to shreds.
Logan growled, but Sabretooth was already going up, being raised by an unseen force. He watched him go up, helplessly; then, Sabretooth chucked the locket to him.
"Remember her promise?" he provoked.
He remembered. she had promised that as long as she still had this locket, she would always come back to him; and, good or bad, she always did come back. He looked for her, but she wasn't there anymore. Suddenly, she appeared in front of him. Her eyes looked dead, and a wicked smile crossed her lips. She started towards him but he recoiled, not even her scent was the same. She continued walking towards him, as he backed up some more.
"Up in flames," she said, her voice sounding like nothing more than a hiss.
"Wha...?"
"Up in flames...heh, heh, heh, heh, heh, heh, heh, heh, heh....up in flames, up in flames, up in flames, up in flames........UP IN FLAMES!"
"What the hell are ya blabbin' 'bout? Ya're completely nuts," Logan said.
"Am I? You still love me, doncha?" she reached for his face.
"I love Faye, not ya, whatever ya are," he said, recoiling again.
She giggled evilly.
"Up in flames," she whispered.
"Whatcha fuckin' talkin' 'bout?"
She pointed up. Above them, Pyro was hovering around in a big, metal plate.
Run, Logan. Save yourself, Faye's familiar voice came into his head.
Not without ya. I'd rather die than leave you here suffering, ya'll die, eh? he answered.
"But I'm already dead, my love," she said, touching the hair on his forehead.
Chills went down his spine. Her touch was deathly cold. He turned away and walked out, as Pyro madly lit up the night sky and turned the village into a big bonfire, one that people would talk about for years to come.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
24. Tom heard Logan's bike roaring. He was very close and, from the sound of it, he wasn't slowing down. He stood up as straight as possible and directed his powers towards it. Just as he could enhance any machine, he could just as easily power it down.
Within minutes, Logan was seen pushing the bike up the hill, muttering a number of curse words. Tom could hardly contain a smile at the sight.
Logan turned off the bike and parked it a short distance from him; he, then, walked up to Tom and smacked his right fist into Tom's nose, who lost his balance and fell gripping his nose. Logan grabbed Tom by the shirt and put his extended claws to his neck. The others didn't move, but they had to get Logan away from Tom.
"Next time ya mess 'round with my bike, I'll mess ya up so bad, Hank ain't never gonna be able to put ya back together, got that, bub?" he growled at Tom.
Tom swallowed hard, but looked defiantly at Logan. Something he had learned with Faye was to never show fear and never back down.
"Where's Faye?" he asked.
Logan snarled and pressed his claws on. Scott and some of the other guys walked up to get him away, and Jean held him with her telekinesis. Ororo and Rogue helped Tom to his feet.
"Logan, calm down," Professor Xavier asked.
But he just looked away. He shoved his hands in his pockets and found Faye's locket. He wanted to chuck it far away, but something deep inside him told him to keep it. He walked to his bike, got on and started it.
"Where is SHE?" Tom raised his voice.
"Dead! She's dead, ok?" Now leaVE ME ALONE!!!!" he shouted over the roaring of the bike, which was his pride and joy, his companion when no one was around.
He sped off, alone. He needed to get away, he didn't know if that was really the best thing he could've done, but it was the only thing he could think of. First Yuki and now Faye, they were both gone...
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
25. The X-men watched helplessly, unsure of what to do or how to help, as Logan, who they cared for so much, sped away. For a while, they wouldn't see him again...
~*TO BE CONTINUED*~
