Tourniquet: True, but their powers aren't exact duplicates. Jean's got telekinesis, and is a weaker telepath, while Lorna has never been, and never will be, as powerful as Magneto.
Chaotic Boredom: Poor you, missed two updates in a row.
Also, it's time to recap which original Evo characters have moved, and where to.
First, the entire brotherhood has disbanded, and have moved to the X-Men. Mystique is dead, and Berserker has joined the Acolytes. St. John moved to the brotherhood shortly before it disbanded, and Gambit and Piotr have joined the X-Men.
BIG IMPORTANT NOTE, READ!!!!
Some of this chapter may involve references of a more adult nature, don't like it, then don't say I didn't warn you.
Chapter 53: Empaths and Knifings
As the X-Jet flew towards Boston, Betsy couldn't help but to reflect on what she had done only a week ago.
Why did I try to attack Craig? I mean, it's not like I care about Roberto, is it? He let me rest in his room when we first arrived, but really, there's nothing between us, is there?
The X-Men disembarked from the twin vehicles just outside of Boston. Kyle closed his eyes for a second, then, to the X-Men's surprise, he grabbed something out of the air.
A throwing star.
"Your still to slow Sensei." Said Kyle, as the X-Men's martial arts mentor stepped out of the tree line.
"I brought someone with me, Kyle."
His eyes narrowed slightly. "Who?"
"KYLE!" Came a female voice.
His eyebrows shot up, as a young woman shot out of the trees. Grabbing him in a tight hug, she began talking at Pietro-speed.
Finally, he warded her off, and turned to the X-Men.
"Guys, this is Chrystine, an old friend of mine."
The X-men calmed down slightly, and, after a smattering of small talk, the two of them headed off to catch up, as best as Kyle would be able to allow.
"So, who were those people you were with?" Asked Chrystine, as she and Kyle sat in a small café.
"Friends of mine."
"What, you telling me you don't have a girlfriend?" Asked Chrystine, hoping that he didn't.
"Actually… I do."
"Who?"
"The girl who was next to me."
"Oh…" Chrystine remembered her, pretty, brown hair, Mediterranean features. No matter, thought Chrystine, I'll just arrange for some trouble in paradise. No one's getting Kyle but me.
The Professor had arranged for Bobby and Jubilee to stay with the Drakes. When the two of them arrived at Bobby's old home, they found his mother and father waiting for them on the porch.
"I thought you had a little brother." Said Jubilee.
"I do… and school's out around here…" looking up, he saw someone in the window. "Ah, there's Ronny."
Jubilee looked up, and Ronny thought he had seen a vision from heaven.
She's a MUTTIE! DON'T THINK ABOUT HER LIKE THAT!!!! SHE JUST WANTS TO USE YOU!!
Bobby, his parents, and Jubilee, all sat down in the living room, and began to talk. Soon, they were laughing, hard.
"And then, there was the time that Tabby dared Bobby to
prank Logan. And, let me tell you, pranking Logan's the quickest way known to
man to be chased across the grounds."
"He's that violent."
"Nah, just doesn't like to get pranked. Anyways, Bobby decided to make an ice sculpture in his room. Trick is, Logan's room stays around 98 degrees. Bobby made the sculpture on his bed."
The Drakes burst out laughing at the mental image of a man walking into his room, to find a half melted ice sculpture on his bed. Ronny, who was kneeling on the stairs, out of sight, shook his head.
Stupid mutant bitch, trying to seduce everyone she meets. Thought Ronny, as he walked away, determined on what he had to do.
Chrystine was walking by the motel where the X-Men were staying, whistling merrily. Suddenly, she saw Tabby relaxing by the pool.
"Hey, your one of Kyle's friends, aren't you?"
"Yeah, why?" Responded Tabby.
"Tell him that he's a great lay." With that, she walked away.
Tabby's eyes hardened. The nerve of that guy, doing that to my home-girl!! I'm going to castrate him myself.
Ronny began to prepare for what he knew he had to do.
Slipping into the kitchen at lunch, he grabbed a good-sized knife out of the drawer, and slipped upstairs with it. Hiding it under his pillow, he knew that all he now had to do was wait.
Kyle reached the door to his and Roberto's room in the motel, and began to insert the keycard. Hearing something, he stopped, and turned.
"How could you do that to Amara!" Demanded Tabby.
Kyle was now thoroughly confused. "Do what to her?"
"Oh that's rich!" said Rogue.
"You like, totally slept with someone behind her back!" Responded Kitty.
Kyle's face went blank almost instantly. "What?" he choked out, as his mind, falling back on its martial arts training, rushed ahead, trying to figure out the situation.
"That Chrystine bitch, luv!" Said Betsy.
Suddenly, it all clicked into place in Kyle's mind. The tickling had warned him that she was jealous; he just hadn't been able to understand it. Her tone had been condescending; he just hadn't wanted to hear it.
And now, the person who'd been his best friend for so long had betrayed him, and wounded his honor in his teammates eyes.
But worse, by far worse, was that she had very likely killed his relationship with Amara with her spite and jealousy. Combined with the recent incident with Craig, and the incident in Northbrook, plus the worries about the Acolytes, and a thousand other things, there was more than enough fuel for what happened next.
The minor tickling in his head became a vortex.
Suddenly, he was hit with the emotion of every one of the X-Girls. He felt their disgust, loathing, and righteous anger. He felt the euphoria of the couple three rooms over, and the fear of the woman in the room beneath his and Roberto, as he felt her husband's rage. He was struck by the emotions of every living being around him, all at once.
He did the only thing that he could do…
He screamed.
Ronny lay in his room, right next to the one where that muttie bitch was sleeping. Judging that enough time had passed, he reached under his pillow, and pulled out the knife. Looking down at it, he took it in one more time.
It was about seven inches long, with a thin blade. It was designed to cut fruits, vegetables, and various kinds of roots, but he guessed it would cut that muttie's skin just fine.
Slipping out of his bed, he snuck out the door, and, quietly opening it, checked both directions down the hall, and then slipped into Jubilee's room.
Sneaking over to stand just over her, he raised the knife in his hand, and swiftly brought it down towards her.
Xavier was hit with two screams at once. One was telepathic, one physical. Dealing with the telepathic one first, he contacted Bobby.
Bobby, is something wrong with Jubilee?
Yeah! My kid brother tried to knife her! We're dealing with first aid now!
Good! Said the Professor.
Dr. McCoy, Bobby's younger brother just stabbed Jubilee. I need you to get her to the Velocity, that's where we have the medical equipment we brought.
He didn't receive a reply, but he hadn't expected one.
Rolling out the door, he found a sight he would have never expected to see in his life.
Kyle was on the ground, his hands pressing tightly against his temples. The X-girls were standing around him, shocked.
"Girls, you can explain what happened after I have dealt with this." Said the Professor, as he delved into Kyle's mindscape.
He found that the calm, serene landscape he had originally found here was being sucked into a massive, floating sphere. Probing the sphere hesitantly, he was so shocked at what he found, he withdrew from Kyle's mind.
"Professor?" Said Jean, as the more powerful telepath came out of his trance, hard.
"I'm fine Jean, just startled. It seems our young Mr. Trevais had a few more tricks than we thought."
"What do you mean?" Asked Tabby.
"His mutation has more to it than just his ability to
control his molecular density. He also
has the emotional equivalent to telepathy. The problem is, he does not
understand how to control it."
"Can't you just put a block on it?" Asked Jean.
"No, it's too powerful. While it seems to be limited to receiving emotions, it is very powerful. I'm going to have to show him how to control it."
Placing his hands just above Kyle's, over his temples, he began to go into a trance, even as he muttered.
"If I can."
Once again inside Kyle's mindscape, he found that the sphere was still drawing the terrain around it inside itself. Preparing himself, the Professor launched a probe at the sphere.
(AN: From here on in, anything involving Kyle's going to get confusing, so here's how I'm going to work it. [] is the Professor talking, ~~ is Kyle, // is Amara)
[Kyle, are you here] asked the Professor. He was bowled over by the pure power of the next statement.
~Loathing, hate, disgust, She betrayed me, my best friend, loathing, hate, disgust~
Well, thought the Professor, that answers that.
[Kyle! Listen to me! What happened?]
~Loathing, hate, disgust, betrayed me, best friend, loathing hate disgust.~
The Professor shook himself, and, seeing he wouldn't get anywhere without knowing what happened, withdrew.
"Well?" asked Jean.
"He's gone into a mental loop. He's stuck in it, and, unfortunately, it's a powerful one. It went something like loathing, hate, disgust, betrayed me, best friend."
The X-Girls traded horrified looks, as they all realized in rapid succession what had happened.
She'd tricked them.
Bobby parents watched as he administered first aid to his girlfriend. He had already placed a bandage around the wound, and had formed a good-sized piece of ice and was now holding it to the wound, hoping to slow the bleeding some.
Soon, a large man came in, and lifted Jubilee. Bobby followed after him hurriedly.
"Who was that, Bobby?"
"Dr. McCoy. He's the institute's on-grounds doctor."
They nodded, and Bobby quickly ran after Beast.
The X-Girls explained what had happened to Xavier, and he shook his head.
"I need to find Kyle." Said Xavier, "then I can snap him out of this."
~You already have, loathing, hate, disgust~
Turning, Xavier looked close, and saw that, indeed he had. Kyle was floating in a fetal position in the sphere's center.
"OOF" Said Xavier, as he flew backwards. [That was uncalled for, Kyle.]
~Loathing, hate, disgust, betrayed me, best friend, only she may enter here, loathing, hate, disgust, betrayed me, best friend, it is the power of the heart, loathing, hate, disgust, betrayed me, best friend, loathing, hate, disgust, betrayed me, best friend.~
Withdrawing, the Professor shook his head.
"Where is Amara?" He asked, as the girls looked at each other.
Some love is just
a lie of the heart
The cold remains of what began with a passionate start
Jean found Amara walking down the sidewalk, and, running towards her, called out to her.
"Amara! We need your help! Something's wrong with Kyle"
"Why should I care!"
"Cause that bitch tricked us! Kyle didn't have a clue what Tabby meant! He was so startled, he even dropped his shields!"
Amara's eyes widened, as what Jean said made an impact. Kyle never dropped his mental shields.
And they may not
want it to end
But it will it's just a question of when
Arriving at the motel in record time, she ran into the room the Professor was in with Kyle.
Reaching Kyle's side, she listened as the Professor guided her through entering Kyle's mindscape with him.
The two of them appeared in Kyle's mind, and before them, the sphere that contained Kyle floated.
Moving cautiously, Amara reached out a hand, and touched the sphere.
I've lived long
enough to have learned
The closer you get to the fire the more you get burned
The sphere's surface rippled like water, and then, a second later, engulfed Amara.
But that won't
happen to us
Because it's always been a matter of trust
"AMARA!" Shouted the Professor, as she floated in the sphere.
/I'm alright! I'm just inside Kyle's powers! Big difference in here from out there, although not exactly an improvement!/
And she wasn't kidding. Inside the top layer of the sphere that was Kyle's powers, it was nothing but a twisting maelstrom of color. She was sort of floating, about twenty feet off the ground, looking down at the surface of the maelstrom.
The 'surface' seemed to be composed of many hundreds of twisting whirlpools, which all seemed to be drawing in the massive quantities of color they were set in.
~Loathing, hate, disgust, betrayed me, best friend~
I know you're an
emotional girl
It took a lot for you to not lose your faith in this world
Amara heard Kyle's mental litany, being inside his empathic bubble cluing her into it. Making a decision, she dove down.
I can't offer you
proof
But you're going to face a moment of truth
She slammed into the whirling, twisting surface in a perfect jackknife.
It's hard when
you're always afraid
You just recover when another belief is betrayed
Bobby watched as Dr. McCoy began to treat Jubilee. Logically, he knew that she was going to be fine. But when your younger brother knifes your girlfriend, logic makes an exit, usually by catapult or cannon.
Grabbing her hand in his, he began to slip into a silent litany.
Don't die on me, Jubes.
Suddenly, he was surprised when, about the tenth time of repeating it, a voice spoke in his head.
I'm not going to die on you! Calm down, frosty.
So
break my heart of you must
It's a matter of trust
Amara immediately found herself being pulled a thousand ways at once by the currents of the empathic soup that made up the sphere. In her mind, she could feel and 'taste' the emotions.
You
can't go the distance
With too much resistance
She could taste the bitter hatred, the sour fear, the salty sadness, the sweetness of love, the spice of happiness, and, there was no other way to describe it, the tang of kindness. Yet she could also taste a million different variances to these tastes, and somehow, she knew that they were all the emotions of the human spectrum.
Knowing that Kyle was probably at the center of this soup, she tried to swim, only to find that she couldn't fight the currents. Struggling against it, she found herself being inevitably drawn and bent to the current's mercy.
I
know you have doubts
But for God's sake don't shut me out
/KYLE/ Amara screamed mentally.
This
time you've got nothing to lose
You can take it, you can leave it
~Amara? Loathing, hate, disgust~
/KYLE, HELP ME! I CAN'T FIGHT IT!/
Whatever
you choose
I won't hold back anything
And I'll walk away a fool or a king.
Suddenly, Xavier felt himself ejected from Kyle's mind.
"Professor! Are you alright? What about Amara?" Asked Jean
"I'm fine. It seems Mr. Trevais is more powerful than I thought. He seems to have forced me out of his mind."
Some
love is just a lie of the mind
It's make believe until its only a matter of time
/KYLE, HELP!/
~Why did you come here, Mara? Shouldn't you hate me? Betrayed me, best friend~
And
some might have learned to adjust
But then it never was a matter of trust
/You didn't do what she said you did, did you?/
~NEVER best friend, loathing, hate~
I'm
sure you're aware love
We've both had our share of
/The why should I hate you! That bitch lied to us! She's who I hate!/
Believing too long
When the whole situation was wrong
Suddenly, Amara watched, as a path opened through the currents, revealing.
/KYLE!/ Amara mentally shrieked, as she flew down to where his mental image stood, fighting against something.
Some love is just a lie of
the soul
A constant battle for the ultimate state of control
~I can't beat it on my own, 'Mara, it's too powerful!~
/What is?/
After
you've heard lie upon lie
There can hardly be a question of why
~These new powers! I have the strength, I just don't know how to use it!~
/I'll get the Professor!/
~No time!~
/Then what do I do?/
~Help me!~
Some
love is just a lie of the heart
The cold remains of what began with a passionate start
Amara landed behind Kyle and her mind was assaulted by a powerful voice.
~You cannot defeat me, girl!~
She quickly realized that it was Kyle's power talking.
But
that can't happen to us
Because it's always been a matter of trust
/I can't…/
She placed her hands on Kyle's shoulders.
/but WE can/
Kyle smirked. He know knew what to do. Taking all the positive emotion he could find, he slammed it forward, into the figure that was his power.
And the sphere stabilized.
Kyle and Amara appeared outside it, and, next thing Amara knew, they were in the real world once more.
"If I never do that again, it will be too soon." Said Kyle, as he brought a hand to his head.
"Ditto." Said Amara.
"I think I've got it now, Professor. All I have to do is focus my mental shields a little bit differently."
"That's good." Said the Professor.
"I suggest." Said Kyle, "That we give my good friend Chrystine some payback."
Several days later, Chrystine would walk into school to find the contents of half her underware drawer frozen to the flagpole, the rest slimed to the school windows. She also found that someone had decided to make several rather large banners in her honor, all proclaiming her as a slut.
As The X-Jet and the Velocity departed, Jubilee relaxed into Bobby. They had made their peace with the Drakes, and Ronny had somehow avoided conviction, although the manor he did it in was no surprise to the X-Men. Jubilee didn't blame him in the slightest, so, really everything would be fine. Bobby had dismissed the voice in his head as part of his panic, not realizing how mistaken that he was.
