Here's a brand new chapter of this monstrosity. I did my best to capture the skater in Evan, but I don't think I did a very good job. I tried, that's what counts, right?
Disclaimer: Tainz owns nothing.
Just to add a bit of humour to this, and not scare everyone off, here's a Neverquote, a piece of dialogue which will never be heard in the show.
Magneto: Pietro, I am your father. (breathing heavily)
Pietro: Yeah-I-know.-Why-are-you-telling-me?-Wait-why-are-you-wheezing?
Magneto: Since you know I'm your father, oh dearest son of mine, will you go pick up my asthma medication from the pharmacy?
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#~Evan~#
That first morning was so weird.... I mean, come on! One of us was...dead. It was so hard to believe.... sometimes it still is. I guess we all thought we were invincible. We were the good guys, y'know? And, even in the heat of battle, I guess that all of us believed that the good guys would always come out on top. Then, we didn't. Sure, we saved hundreds of people from being killed by a bunch of insane mutants, but they were nameless. Those people were faceless. The one person we couldn't save was the person we knew. Scott.
Scott had been through more training than any of us, been with the Professor longest and seen the most battle time. In the end, none of that could save him. I think the worst part of the whole thing was that nothing could have helped. It coulda been any of us, and nothing woulda stopped it. It coulda been me. Jean even wished it had been me... or Kurt.
That morning, the first after the incident, I couldn't eat breakfast. I didn't even want my milk. Kurt was silent and upset, Kitty had run off, Auntie O and Logan were sipping their coffee and Jean was.... there. Whatever Mr. McCoy had given Jean the night before still hadn't worn off. She didn't really seem to know where she was or what she was doing. She just sat there. I don't think she knew we were there. She seemed....I dunno, locked inside her head.
Finally, we heard a car pull up in front of the school and the Professor spoke in our heads, telling us to go to the rec room. Kurt bamfed off and the adults headed out quickly, leaving me and Jean alone. I chugged back the rest of my moo-juice and headed out the door. I glanced back over my shoulder and noticed that Jean still hadn't moved.
"Jean, we have to go to the rec room," I said, but she just kept stirring her cereal.
I couldn't leave her there. Whether or not she could actually understand what was going on around her, she deserved to hear whatever the Professor was going to tell us. I went back and grabbed her by the elbow. She followed me silently as I led her to the rec room and sat her on the one empty place left on the couch, next to Rogue.
I watched Rogue for a second, before I left Jean there. Jean had a bruise on her cheek where Rogue had slapped her. Rogue didn't move, and I noticed the faint outlines of bruises and swelling under her heavy makeup.
Finally, I went and leaned against the doorframe, over by where Alex was sitting. The Professor looked around at us sadly for a few seconds before he started speaking.
"For the first time, we have lost one of our students, and you have lost your teammate. In the days and weeks that come, all of us will feel this loss deeply. Before I say anything else, please know that you can talk to any of the teachers at any time. No matter how silly you may feel over your thoughts, feel free to tell us what's on your mind." His tone was dark and tired. I think he'd been up all night.
"I brought you all together so that I could explain what's going to happen in the days that come. This is a difficult time for everyone. Tomorrow evening, there will be a visitation at the Bayville Funeral Home. I would encourage all of you to go, although I will not force anyone. The visitation will be open to the public, so some of your and Scott's friends may be there."
Kitty, whose eyes were already red from crying, broke down in tears. Amara and Jubilee hugged each other, tears falling silently.
"At ten thirty in the morning on Wednesay, there is going to be a service held at the United Church. Again, I would encourage you to attend. Also, if anyone wishes to speak at the funeral, please come and talk to me. At 1:30, Scott will be laid to rest at the Bayville Memorial Cemetary."
I could tell that Professor Xavier had rehearsed his speech carefully. I think that the words coming out of his mouth were a lot harder for him to speak than for us to hear. He'd known Scott longer than any of us....
I looked around the room again, and everyone, including myself and excluding Logan, was in tears. Rogue's makeup had washed away around her eyes, revealing some very extensive bruising. Kurt's shoulders were shaking, but I couldn't see his tears under his hologram. Even Jean seemed to be aware of what was going on, and had tears streaming down her face.
Suddenly, it occurred to me that it was Monday. We should've been at school. Scott should have been heading for his science class, arm in arm with Jean. I should've been complaining to Kurt about some piece of homework I hadn't gotten done, or the fact that it was a beautiful day for boarding, too nice to waste inside.
In a matter of minutes, it got to be too much for me. I couldn't stand being in that room, where I'd watched a movie with Scott on Sunday morning, a little more than 24 hours before. I couldn't stand seeing everyone sit around crying. I couldn't stand... any of it. It was all just too hard.
I pushed myself off the doorframe and stalked out. I stopped at the front hall closet long enough to grab my board and helmet, then I took off. I got onto the road and started going as fast as I could. I had to get away. After awhile, I found myself at the amphitheatre where we'd found Mr. McCoy that one time when he'd gone kinda crazy. I rode down the stairs and hung around there for a bit, but there was no one there, nothing to do.
I boarded around town for about an hour, going here and there, always having my thoughts catch up with me. I needed to go somewhere where all my thinking was done for me. Somewhere that I had to pay attention to something other than the inside of my head. I went to the mall, but it didn't help.
Finally, to my surprise, I found myself standing outside of Bayville High. So many memories clung to the place, but I felt drawn inside anyway. I went to the office and signed in and wandered off to class. It felt strange, knowing that none of the other X-Men were there, but it helped, too.
I've never liked school much. It's too hard to stay in one place that long, pay attention to one thing. I almost laughed when I realised that I had actually chosen to go to school, but I felt a lot.... lighter? It was like the gloom of the Institute had lifted from me. Scott was still in my head. I couldn't forget what had happened, even for a second, but it was easier to deal.
It had been on the announcements that morning, Scott's death. Everyone was surprised to see me at school. People kept coming up and apologising to me, saying that they knew how hard it must be. They didn't, of course. They'd never stood by and watched one of their best friends, someone who was practically a big brother, fall to his death. Girls kept hugging me, even girls who were scared of mutants.
It was like Scott's death had let some people forget about "the mutant menace," for a little while at least. It's horrible, I know, but in a way, it made me happy. No, not happy so much as... satisfied. For the first time, my mutation wasn't setting me apart. I felt kind of guilty, thinking that way, but I couldn't help it. It made sense, the whole making me feel better thing. At least Scott's death had done something good...
There were, of course, a few morons who stalked past me in the hall, muttering something under their breath about how the "mutie freak" probably deserved it. I wanted to hurt them. My best friends were sitting at home, bawling, and there were a few idiots who tried to convince people that it was our fault, just because of our DNA? It wasn't fair.
One thing I noticed over the course of that day, though, was that none of the Brotherhood were there. Cowards. It was probably best, though, or I would have tried to kill them. Especially Pietro. I can't believe that I ever played on the same basketball team as that loser. That murderer. I wanted him to die.
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So... what'd you think??? R+R? Please?
Love,
Tainz