We are all born mad. Some remain so.
--Samuel Beckett
Azzandra: I don't think so…But never having tried I wouldn't be an expert.
HoneyBug17: Juju said that if you rubbed his head, you may be lucky enough to hear him answer you.
Radical-Seto: You always say the nicest things when you review!
Torque: Find it out here!
Realm9: I was thinking she'd use her own temper to take em down.
Rogue77: Juju wanted me to tell you that he will now hide from tutu and her brother forever. I don't think I can, because then the story would be about this three year old girl.
Chrissy: I saw that movie! I loved it!
^*^*^*^*^*^^*^*^*^*
Memories. A whirlpool sucking me straight in.
It has been so long since I felt this way. Too long. Yet not long enough. They were dead.
Danny and Dahk. They were gone now, but I was alive once again.
The burning in my forehead got worse, and a sudden overload of Power welled up in my body. It burst from my skin, my hair, my eyes. It pulsed like a river, no longer sluggish.
Green fire. Electricity. It filled the railcar, much to the surprise of my dearest companions.
Then it controlled itself. I controlled it. I pulled the torrent back to myself, the burst of energy already spending its ticket.
Dahk and Danny both held separate portions of the power, which built up kinetically in their own section of the mind. But now that they were gone, the rush of power churning and joining had been too much, and had to be released.
Misting portions of the power covered the railcar and I felt everything click in my head. Memories I pushed back. They could wait until later. Emotions I pushed to the side. I had to plan before I let myself get carried away. My senses grew clear as I let my eyes adjust once again.
The mist began to dissipate. First to barrel out were Doggy and Hezibah. And they had changed.
The Power and my subconscious must have reacted together for the change. Doggy was taller, more muscular, as was in the case of Hezibah, and the twins looked as if they had enough muscle on them to let me ride them. And Cupcake…
The mist pulled away for me to see a little creature huddled down. It was the side of a five year old kid.
A mutant.
I turned Cupcake into a baby mutant.
*^*^*^^**^*^^*^**^^^*^*^*^*^*^**^*^*^*^*^
Arcane watched as they passed the state line into Wyoming.
"Figures." Wolverine muttered. Arcane let the car pull back. Logan snarled.
"What are yew doin'?"
"It's getting lighter." He pointed out as he let the distance between them grow. "They'll be able to see us."
"Doesn't matter. We're still gonna nab em."
"Yeah, but doesn't it strike you as odd that they steal him away now?"
"Whadda ya mean?"
"They wouldn't steal him away unless they were going to use him to lure somebody out or they were afraid. And I bet-"
"That it's Doolittle."
"Yeah." Arcane mentally shrugged at the odd nickname.
"So yer thinkin' we can catch Doolittle too."
"That's the idea."
"Ruthless."
"I've been called worse."
*^^*^*^*^**^*^^*^*^*^*^*^**^^*^*^^*^*
He looked up at me. I looked back down at him.
"Mommy?"
I jerked in surprise…again…
"You look different." He informed me. So did he.
He looked like some strange creature some magician has made. His entire body was furred, except for his arms about halfway between the shoulder and elbow down. He had four fingers, each tipped with a long crescent claw, delicate looking yet sharp. His legs looked like kangaroo and rabbit legs crossed, and he moved on the balls of his feet. His mouth elongated into a furry muzzle, complete with inquisitive black nose. His ears fell half way down his back, making him look like a comical basset hound, except with very long ears. Above his eyebrow, there were small bumps that would turn into horns later. His eyes were a stunning green, totally different from the color …I… used. His tail, flicking and heavy looking, was as long as he was. And underneath his entire furry body lay scales, which was incredible. He had two types of armor.
"You look different too." I said to him. He looked at me innocently. When he talked I could see an array of serrated and flat teeth.
I grabbed the bag and opened it. It had an extra T-shirt that was packed before the trip onto the train. I told him to raise his arms and I dressed him in it. I didn't think it would be very good to have a naked little furry gremlin running around. As I smoothed down the shirt, I came across a pair of tiny wings I had missed. They were bat like, but some feathers decorated the skin.
"What am I gonna do with you?" I asked rhetorically. I couldn't very well take him along. He was just a child. He shouldn't be subjected to the sight of what I would do to the people that took Jared.
"Take me with you!" He chirped.
"I think not."
"Why not?" He said sadly. His ears flopped down dejectedly. I patted his little Mohawk of fur that grew on his head.
"Because I don't want you to see these people. They're bad people. And Mommy is gonna make sure they don't hurt you or her family."
"Okay." He scuffed a paw on the ground. The train began to slow. We would stop soon. But I couldn't do anything right now, worrying about Cupcake…
I had to give him a new name.
"Julian." I patted his head. " But always Cupcake to me."
"Mom!"
I grinned. The train stopped and rallied the canines together. Julian leaped up surprisingly high and latched himself to my shoulders. I pushed the door open and we ran out past the car checkers, surprising them greatly as we took off through the streets.
We ran for an hour until we were on the outskirts of town, then we walked. It was midmorning, yet there weren't many cars on the road.
Looks pretty dead to me, tootse.
Me too. Can't even smell the cars.
The brothers, even more massive through the Power transfer, kept behind me.
I don't know why the power reacted to them that way. Maybe a thought so strong changed it. But everyone knew that I couldn't do it now. It seemed to be a one time thing.
Doggy kept pace beside me. He seemed to be satisfied with me now. I suspect he always knew this would happen.
Now though, I am Danny. Not a sweet, gentle Danny, nor am I the estranged Dahk, aggressive and unpredictable. I am the Danny that disappeared when I first discovered my power, and didn't want to be ostracized because of them, and split them into two pieces, splintering my own psyche as well. And lost memories.
People would call it folly, a mistake that I should have never made. But I saw it differently, a sort of surprise, looking at the world through two different eyes. I suppose if I had that choice I wouldn't change it, but sometimes I think otherwise.
Midday drew nigh, and we got off the road and padded into the forest, little Julian still hanging onto me. The dogs disappeared in different directions, and Hezibah sat down on the ground next to me.
Danny.
"Yes?"
I have given it thought. And decided that I would like to be a part.
"Truly?" I asked sadly. Hezibah had been my good friend.
Yes. But I will stay until the boy has been recovered.
"Thank you." I hugged her around the neck.
The dogs came back, with Doggy holding a dead pigeon in his jaws. I used my survival skills courtesy of wandering around in the country and Mr. Logan and started a fire and cooked the bird. It was big. I divided it up five ways, and I ate the last burger in my pack. I wasn't hungry. I would be later.
While they ate, I walked into the forest, joined by Doggy who wolfed his food down. I stopped and sent my mind out into the trees, asking about the FoH. A large hawk sent me directions to a camp about a mile up through the woods from where we were.
"Imagine that." I turned back to our little camp. On the way I caught sight of myself in the water. My hair was still heinously short. But now the shade had changed, the roots starting out dark and fading to light tips. My eyes were still blue, but I thought I caught the hint of malevolent green, but it disappeared. My freckles seemed to have lost the battle, though there was still a splash of them across my nose and on my arms. Scars I had always had were still there, yet it still felt like I was using someone else's body. Or bodies.
When I got there, I announced, "We'll stay here for now. When night falls, we attack. Julian, you keep to the trees. I don't want to see you get hurt."
"Okay." He chirped. Apparently him getting bummed for not being included in the mission managed to fade pretty fast.
I sat down near a tree to rest. Doggy, my everlasting companion and best friend, sat next to me. The twins joked around and Julian talked to Hezibah, using my own power of animal speech. I suppose that should have startled and alarmed me, but it was quite fitting.
And I slept.
^^**^*^^*^*^*^*^*^**^^*^**^^*^*
Tune in next time:
Green with Rage
Juju is taking reviews.