No spiel this time, just get to the story and enjoy. Okay, I have a pet
peeve right now. Do you know how sometimes the site sticks your writing in
weird symbols or -the more terrible of the two in my opinion- when the site
cuts off your summary mid-sentence?
Isn't that a bunch o
Know you know how I feel. Oh and anoth#$ t*(n!.
Damn file glitches. (I don't really blame fanfiction.net but isn't that so aggravating?)
***
Xavier
***
The professor stared blankly at the two children. Death was knocking on their door with a battering ram and they grew weaker with every blow.
Pietro's vital signs had stabilized somewhat, but his body had gone into severe shock. He devoured tanks of oxygen and his cells screamed for more. A small tremor occurred in the handicapped man's right foot. It was the only feeling below the waist he still experienced. It meant fear.
In all his years, Xavier had never met anyone who could control his body like Pietro had. The professor could slow his heart, but through mental force on the organ itself. Even then, he was fighting the signals his involuntary brain sent. It should have been impossible for the boy to control his unconscious brain like it was a control room of switches and levers. Impossible, but he had done just that.
Xavier briefly thought about what such power could mean, but Miss Fahls' blood dripped on the floor. The man dropped all thought -all involuntary thought- and concentrated on his mental blockage of her blood. It was a cruel fate that condemned the girl to such fragility that a baseball was a lethal weapon.
*Please hurry, Hank.*
A drop of sweat trickled down his head. Mentally blanketing Maximoff and keeping Anita's remaining blood in her body would soon take its toll on him In a matter of hours, he would be forced to focus his energy on one, letting the other die, or have them both slip through his fingers.
"I am working as quickly as my knowledge on the subject allows. Metallurgy is hardly my forte." The blue doctor rushed through medical texts and the no few tomes on metal composition from the professor's library. Every few seconds he looked through a microscope at samples of the silver mutant's blood, muscles, nerves, and bone. Hank had an open fascination with the organic metal.
'Organic...' The word repeated in the doctor's head several times, growing painfully loud. His clawed hand clenched.
*Hank?*
He shoved the books off his desk and collapsed his upper body onto it. He looked bleakly at the girl. "Just stop, Xavier. You are only giving a living death." Hank buried his head in a nest made by his crossed arms.
"I went into my research thinking Anita's body was true metal that could be forged and created from other basic metals. She was living and her body was made of living cells that functioned like a normal human's. I can no more build her blood than I could my own."
*Do not refer to Miss Fahls as if she had already died, Hank. Are there other options?*
Mr. McCoy harrumphed, "Unless you can convince her body to produce at least a liter and a half of blood in a few hours, there will be no chance. Please, don't let her feel any pain."
Xavier sighed. *Her mind is too convoluted to influence sleep. You know I can't end her pain. Pain is an involuntary...*
Hank looked up. "Professor?"
.
Xavier barely acknowledged McCoy as he walked up to a tower made up of vines. An opening appeared and he strolled through it. Pietro put down the toy and looked at him.
"Who are you?"
"I am a friend of the vines, Pietro."
The boy looked confused. "How do you know my name?"
"The vines told me. Why don't you have a shirt on?"
"I took it off."
*Wonderful, six year old logic.*
"I heard that." The little boy looked up at Xavier. The man knelt to put his face level to Pietro's.
"Did you now? You are very talented, Pietro. Do you remember Anita?"
The first grader shook his head. "Who's she?"
Xavier sighed. "Anita is another friend of the vines. She is in trouble and I need your help to save her? Will you help me?"
Pietro looked around and sunk into a corner of the room. "Vines said not to leave. She said somethin' bad would happen."
The professor went to the boy and ruffled his white hair. "We don't have to leave, Pietro. Just sit down on my lap and we'll bring Anita here."
"Okay."
.
Xavier sat with Pietro and concentrated. Anita appeared lying before them. The boy gasped. "She's pretty...I want to touch her."
The man couldn't help but laugh at the boy's innocent words. "Some things never change," he mused to himself as he thought of the teenaged Pietro.
"What do you mean?"
"Shush. We do not have much time to help her," Xavier said quickly. "Pietro, I need you to put your hand on Anita's forehead. Do you remember the place in your mind with the rhythms? I need you to find that place in her and lead me to it."
"Okay." He touched her head and closed his eyes. Xavier dropped into Pietro's mind and followed him into Anita's. The boy flew through a set of white stone passageways that the professor vaguely recognized as neural connections. Pietro saw the mind as a building with many doors and turns. They finally stopped and Xavier wondered why. Turning to the wall, Pietro pushed a stone slab and it swung open.
Charles entered the new set of halls with a sense of awe. This was an entire part of the mind he had never seen. "Pietro, can you show me the place that controls the body's ability to make blood?" The child flew off again and he rushed to keep up. At first, Maximoff ran through the dark corridors, and then he opened a strange, circular door. They were in a room this time. It was made of the same black stone as the involuntary hallways, but there were arcane symbols glowing in the walls.
"Do you understand these symbols, Pietro?"
"Of course. Can't you?"
He looked at the boy. "No, I can't. I need you to do something for me. Anita needs blood and she needs it fast. Please, can you make her bone marrow create about a liter and a half of blood in an hour or two? And then make it go back to normal?"
"Is that all?" The man blinked. The boy acted like the impossible could be done by snapping his fingers. He paused a moment and thought, *What am I saying? He has every reason to believe that he can.*
The boy cocked his head. "Why do you keep talking to yourself?"
"I'm sorry Pietro, it's an old habit. Tell me if it won't be hard to do this. Can you speed up her cellular regeneration as well? Anita has a serious injury on her left shoulder. She will die if her veins, muscles, and so on are not knit up."
"Okay, but leave first. You're slowing me down."
"Pietro, I really must be here to see how..." The boy struck out his hand and tapped Xavier's forehead.
He smiled as the professor fell into sleep. "Sorry."
.
"Professor!" Hank's shout awakened Xavier and he quickly renewed his mental work of keeping the two children alive before it fell to pieces.
"What in the world were you doing?"
The doctor opened his mouth to say more, and then he noticed Anita's shoulder begin to heal up as if she were Wolverine. The mouth remained open, but no sound came out. After a minute, Xavier let go of his mental tourniquets and no blood came out.
Pietro's eyes fluttered and Xavier focused on the remarkable boy. A list appeared in the professor's head.
"Hank, I need you to set up an IV for Anita with the following nutrients. In high concentrations and soon, please. Her body is using them up fast."
***
Well that was interesting. If why Pietro can do things like this is confusing, just think about what a very bored mutant with seeming millennia to kill every year of his life can learn.
Thank You for Reading,
Eternity out.
Isn't that a bunch o
Know you know how I feel. Oh and anoth#$ t*(n!.
Damn file glitches. (I don't really blame fanfiction.net but isn't that so aggravating?)
***
Xavier
***
The professor stared blankly at the two children. Death was knocking on their door with a battering ram and they grew weaker with every blow.
Pietro's vital signs had stabilized somewhat, but his body had gone into severe shock. He devoured tanks of oxygen and his cells screamed for more. A small tremor occurred in the handicapped man's right foot. It was the only feeling below the waist he still experienced. It meant fear.
In all his years, Xavier had never met anyone who could control his body like Pietro had. The professor could slow his heart, but through mental force on the organ itself. Even then, he was fighting the signals his involuntary brain sent. It should have been impossible for the boy to control his unconscious brain like it was a control room of switches and levers. Impossible, but he had done just that.
Xavier briefly thought about what such power could mean, but Miss Fahls' blood dripped on the floor. The man dropped all thought -all involuntary thought- and concentrated on his mental blockage of her blood. It was a cruel fate that condemned the girl to such fragility that a baseball was a lethal weapon.
*Please hurry, Hank.*
A drop of sweat trickled down his head. Mentally blanketing Maximoff and keeping Anita's remaining blood in her body would soon take its toll on him In a matter of hours, he would be forced to focus his energy on one, letting the other die, or have them both slip through his fingers.
"I am working as quickly as my knowledge on the subject allows. Metallurgy is hardly my forte." The blue doctor rushed through medical texts and the no few tomes on metal composition from the professor's library. Every few seconds he looked through a microscope at samples of the silver mutant's blood, muscles, nerves, and bone. Hank had an open fascination with the organic metal.
'Organic...' The word repeated in the doctor's head several times, growing painfully loud. His clawed hand clenched.
*Hank?*
He shoved the books off his desk and collapsed his upper body onto it. He looked bleakly at the girl. "Just stop, Xavier. You are only giving a living death." Hank buried his head in a nest made by his crossed arms.
"I went into my research thinking Anita's body was true metal that could be forged and created from other basic metals. She was living and her body was made of living cells that functioned like a normal human's. I can no more build her blood than I could my own."
*Do not refer to Miss Fahls as if she had already died, Hank. Are there other options?*
Mr. McCoy harrumphed, "Unless you can convince her body to produce at least a liter and a half of blood in a few hours, there will be no chance. Please, don't let her feel any pain."
Xavier sighed. *Her mind is too convoluted to influence sleep. You know I can't end her pain. Pain is an involuntary...*
Hank looked up. "Professor?"
.
Xavier barely acknowledged McCoy as he walked up to a tower made up of vines. An opening appeared and he strolled through it. Pietro put down the toy and looked at him.
"Who are you?"
"I am a friend of the vines, Pietro."
The boy looked confused. "How do you know my name?"
"The vines told me. Why don't you have a shirt on?"
"I took it off."
*Wonderful, six year old logic.*
"I heard that." The little boy looked up at Xavier. The man knelt to put his face level to Pietro's.
"Did you now? You are very talented, Pietro. Do you remember Anita?"
The first grader shook his head. "Who's she?"
Xavier sighed. "Anita is another friend of the vines. She is in trouble and I need your help to save her? Will you help me?"
Pietro looked around and sunk into a corner of the room. "Vines said not to leave. She said somethin' bad would happen."
The professor went to the boy and ruffled his white hair. "We don't have to leave, Pietro. Just sit down on my lap and we'll bring Anita here."
"Okay."
.
Xavier sat with Pietro and concentrated. Anita appeared lying before them. The boy gasped. "She's pretty...I want to touch her."
The man couldn't help but laugh at the boy's innocent words. "Some things never change," he mused to himself as he thought of the teenaged Pietro.
"What do you mean?"
"Shush. We do not have much time to help her," Xavier said quickly. "Pietro, I need you to put your hand on Anita's forehead. Do you remember the place in your mind with the rhythms? I need you to find that place in her and lead me to it."
"Okay." He touched her head and closed his eyes. Xavier dropped into Pietro's mind and followed him into Anita's. The boy flew through a set of white stone passageways that the professor vaguely recognized as neural connections. Pietro saw the mind as a building with many doors and turns. They finally stopped and Xavier wondered why. Turning to the wall, Pietro pushed a stone slab and it swung open.
Charles entered the new set of halls with a sense of awe. This was an entire part of the mind he had never seen. "Pietro, can you show me the place that controls the body's ability to make blood?" The child flew off again and he rushed to keep up. At first, Maximoff ran through the dark corridors, and then he opened a strange, circular door. They were in a room this time. It was made of the same black stone as the involuntary hallways, but there were arcane symbols glowing in the walls.
"Do you understand these symbols, Pietro?"
"Of course. Can't you?"
He looked at the boy. "No, I can't. I need you to do something for me. Anita needs blood and she needs it fast. Please, can you make her bone marrow create about a liter and a half of blood in an hour or two? And then make it go back to normal?"
"Is that all?" The man blinked. The boy acted like the impossible could be done by snapping his fingers. He paused a moment and thought, *What am I saying? He has every reason to believe that he can.*
The boy cocked his head. "Why do you keep talking to yourself?"
"I'm sorry Pietro, it's an old habit. Tell me if it won't be hard to do this. Can you speed up her cellular regeneration as well? Anita has a serious injury on her left shoulder. She will die if her veins, muscles, and so on are not knit up."
"Okay, but leave first. You're slowing me down."
"Pietro, I really must be here to see how..." The boy struck out his hand and tapped Xavier's forehead.
He smiled as the professor fell into sleep. "Sorry."
.
"Professor!" Hank's shout awakened Xavier and he quickly renewed his mental work of keeping the two children alive before it fell to pieces.
"What in the world were you doing?"
The doctor opened his mouth to say more, and then he noticed Anita's shoulder begin to heal up as if she were Wolverine. The mouth remained open, but no sound came out. After a minute, Xavier let go of his mental tourniquets and no blood came out.
Pietro's eyes fluttered and Xavier focused on the remarkable boy. A list appeared in the professor's head.
"Hank, I need you to set up an IV for Anita with the following nutrients. In high concentrations and soon, please. Her body is using them up fast."
***
Well that was interesting. If why Pietro can do things like this is confusing, just think about what a very bored mutant with seeming millennia to kill every year of his life can learn.
Thank You for Reading,
Eternity out.