Boned
Evan was ready to kill him. Evan had been dreaming of this very moment since that day in New York, and he was finally happy that it was going to happen. He was going to get him back, and that was for sure. He was here to do a job, and that job was to kill Pietro Maximoff.
Evan had prayed for this moment to come along ever since Pietro came along and ruined their lives for good. Helping Magneto 'out' mutants was the biggest kind of betrayal that the silver haired youth could possibly do to his long time rival. I mean sure it wasn't the first time that Pietro had hurt Evan, physically or emotionally, but there had always been that line. That invisible line that neither himself nor Pietro had ever dared to cross. It was a mutual understanding that they had had even when they were feuding. However, by outing mutants and exposing Evan for what he was he had crossed that line.
To Evan he had done the unthinkable. It was because of Pietro that people had looked at him like he was a monster. It was because of Pietro that Evan had lost all the friends and relationships he had developed over the years. It was because of Pietro that he had because so stressed out that he had lost control of his powers. It was Pietro's fault that he looked like this now. It was all because of Pietro, the double timing freak.. OHHHHhhhhh...Evan was going to get him, and he was going to enjoy it more then anything else he had ever done.
Evan had gotten word from Caliban that Pietro would be here around now. Evan had been hunting the silver haired speed demon for over a month when Caliban had finally decided to inform him of this information. It was music to Evan's ears. Evan had made it a point to be there exactly when Caliban had instructed, and he had been sure to ingest as much milk as he could before coming here. He was going to need all the spikes he could get in order to finish the score once and for all. Now all he had to do was wait.
And wait he did. Evan had been there on the deserted night street for over two hours when the telltale wind of Pietro's supper speed finally appeared upon the scene. At first Evan had thought that the speedster would pass him up, but when the wind stopped suddenly without warning, he knew he had caught the teen's attention. After all, Quicksilver could never pass up a chance to instate his rule over the Spike-man.
"Well, well, look what we have here. What are you doing out at this hour, I thought you X-Geeks had a curfew, right?" Pietro's snake like voice called over from behind Evan. Evan didn't turn instantly. He had stayed under his heavy coat until then, and from the back he would look normal with it on. Pietro didn't know. He hadn't seen yet, and there was no way he would have heard. He didn't know about Evan's sudden continued mutation. Yesssss..this was going to be fun for sure. Evan was careful to act normal.
"Curfew?" Evan said, trying to sound bewildered, "Oh, you know that no kind of rule could keep me away from this, don't you?" "Well yes, you were always egger to get you ass kicked now weren't you Daniels. Its funny, how even now you are still trying to keep up with me." Pietro said mockingly, seeing right through Evan's dumb outlook. The silver haired teen had known better then that. He knew Evan better then that. He knew Evan like the back of his hand.
"Well, if you are so interested in getting hurt again then be my guest, come at me Daniels." Pietro continued.
"Again? I'm not so sure about that Maximoff. This time it's going to be you going down." Evan said, twirling around skill hiding under the massive coat he wore. Out from under the sleeves bony javelins sprung for as he turned. Evan wanted to try and keep Pietro from moving too much. If he did then this would be over way to fast and Evan would not be able to exact his revenge.
Sadly, the Speed Demon always seemed to be one step ahead of his rival these days. Pietro was gone even before the spikes dug into the pavement under him. Within a fraction of a millisecond Pietro was behind Evan and had pushed hum hard forward. Training with Xavier however had paid off. Mid fall Evan flipped around again and fire another volley of massive spikes from under his coat sleeves. This time, Pietro had to move a lot faster and work a lot harder to avoid them, and wile he did Evan recovered from his push and took again, this time shooting several small needle like spikes right through the arm of the coat. Pietro had managed to avoid most of them, but to of them had nicked his body, and he was no differently annoyed now that he had been forced to bleed.
"You have gotten faster, haven't you Daniels?" Pietro asked, whirling around him again. "To bad its nowhere near fast enough."
With that Pietro swung by him yet again and forced him down on to the ground. As Evan caught a glimpse at the Speed Demons eyes he saw a look of fury in them unlike any he had even encountered before in any kind of living creature. Pietro looked absolutely furious.
"What's with you Daniels?" Pietro asked, sounding angrier then he had been known to get.
"And what is with this damn jacket?" Pietro said as he pulled the coat off in a millisecond. What he saw had forced the Speed Demon to double take. Pietro knew that Spike had been one to pull spikes out from any point of his body, but he had never seen Evan do so from his face. Never out of his perfect face.
"Like what you see Maximoff?" Evan said, cold as he stood.
"So what Daniels, you pull spikes out of yourself all the time- -." Pietro started, stuttering a bit as he looked upon that Horror that was now Evan's face. Evan smiled to himself. He had never been in such command of Pietro's emotions since they were together, nearly a year ago in New York. Back when life was simple and the rivalry was simple. Evan enjoyed being able to harm the speedster. Evan felt it was about time that Pietro got a bit of his own medicine.
"Not like this." Evan said, grinning cruelly, "I hope you like what you see because this is what it looks like permanently now. I've lost control of them, my powers, you see. I can't retract them anymore. They are just as permanent as my own skin now, and it's all your fault."
"M-My fault?" Pietro stuttered, all the fury and cocky attitude gone from the teen. The blond couldn't be right could he? What had he done? What had he done to ruin that perfect face? No, he must be playing him for a tactical advantage.
"Yes, your fault Pietro. You ruined the face that you once thought perfect." Evan said, not sounding or acting like himself anymore. The pain of his experience with his powers was beginning to get to him. It made him act different. No longer was he the cocky skater because of this. Now he was serious and always in pain. Always feeling like things will never be the same again.
Now, all that Evan is, is mad as hell. Man he was going to skin that white- haired freak alive.
"You did this to me, and now your going to pay!" Evan yelled loud enough to awaken ghosts as he lunged for the unsuspecting Pietro. Had Pietro not been in shock when Evan came at him, he would have moved, but he was still not able to get over what HE had done to Evan's face?
"Wha- -What how?" Pietro asked bewildered, just before Evan began to pound him with spike-enforced fists. Now, the sound of punches and bones cracking echoed across the area.
"What does it matter?!" Evan yelled, still punching Pietro. He was letting out all his rage now. He was letting out all of his pent up anger toward Pietro and he swore to god that the silver speedster would look worse then he did when he was through with him.
"All that matters is you are going to pay!" Evan yelled and continued his assault. Moments later however, that would have to change. Evan could just quite make out sirens in the distance, and that meant that the police were coming. Someone must have called them after hearing Evan yell like a lunatic.
Evan couldn't just leave without Pietro who was now knocked out. Ohhhhh no, he wasn't anywhere near done with the 'Quicksilver' yet. Evan hoisted the teen's body over his shoulder and quickly made his way back the path he had come, back into the underground.
* * *
When Pietro first woke up and he wasn't sure exactly where he was. He
could smell stench all around him, and even as his senses became
clear, he still couldn't place himself. He was sure that he had never
been here before, and judging by the entire horrid aroma that he was
taking in he was now sure why.
As more of Pietro's sense became clear he again tried to place
himself. He found that he was sitting in a bloodied mess inside what
appeared to be some kind of old piping. The stench of human waste was
everywhere.and to Pietro that must only mean that he was in the sewage
system. Why thought was he here. He remembered noticing Evan on one of
his practice runs but beyond that he couldn't remember what had
happened to him, or how he had gotten so injured.
However when he began to look about and saw Evan's destroyed face
looking back at him, all of what had happened came back to him. Pietro
remembered Evan looking bad now, but this was the first time he truly
got a good look at his face. Evan had bones protruding from his face
at just about every curve. Like armor they covered the majority of his
vulnerable spots now, and all but his eyes seemed to be covered in
exoskeleton. What little skin was left on his face had a red tint to
it as it was tortured by the existing bone armor.
Both Evan and Pietro were acting very out of character. Evan, for once
since so long ago was actually revealing his emotions to Pietro, where
as Pietro, for the first time in just as long was caring about it.
Pietro found this to be strange, and he didn't like feeling like this.
This was one of the reasons why what the two of them had ended so long
ago, so abruptly.
"Oh, so your awake are you?" Evan said, his deep voice caring across
the small pipe they sat in. His voice echoed off the wall, so Pietro
had to hear the tortured question over and over again as it bounced
off the metal walling.
"Ya.Ya. I'm awake, going to pummel me again?" Pietro asked, trying to
regain a bit of his smug attitude.
"Probably not," Evan said, as his face almost took up a happy go lucky
kind of expression, "I got most of my anger out on you already.
Besides, if I did all those cuts would re-open, and as it is already
they are all going to scar."
Pietro looked at his body, and saw what Evan was talking about. All
the blood that he had thought he had been sitting in earlier before
was actually all-dry now, and most of the cuts that Evan had given him
during his assault had been covered up in makeshift bandages.
"Did you do this?" Pietro asked, looking at his relatively cleaned up
body.
"Ya, what to it?" Evan asked, sounding a bit annoyed.
"Oh, nothing, I didn't know you cared." Pietro said, tauntingly.
Evan looked at Pietro for a long moment, in which the speedster could
barely make out a look of hurt, but then a look on intense anger
again. Pietro tensed up, wondering if he was going to get beaten again
for what he had said just jokingly. Was this really a time to joke?
Perhaps he had read Evan's face wrong? It was very dark in the pipe,
with very little light to work with.
"What?" Pietro asked, almost sounding afraid.
"Pietro, you know that I always cared. You always knew exactly how I
felt, and you know damn well that it was always you that had problems
with 'caring.' You know damn well." Evan said, the last part trailing
off.
"What? I know damn well what?" Pietro said, relaxing a bit. Evan's
expression seemed to give away that he was thinking hard if he should
mention something or not. Soon however, his face also revealed that he
had made up his mind.
"You know, knew, damn well that I loved you man." Evan said, just
barely above the noise of a whisper. Pietro smiled. He was in control
again. Evan had shown weakness, and he was going to use it to take
control.
"Ahhhhhhhh, so that's what this is about then is it? This is why you
beat me up and dragged me down here then is it? Miss some of what you
cant have any more, 'eh Daniels?"
"Shut up Maximoff." Evan said, brushing off the comment completely,
which was much unlike him. Normally, Evan would be one to jump all
over a chance to bash heads with Pietro but that didn't seem to be the
case this particular time.
"So, what exactly is this hell place you have brought me too?" Pietro
asked, contemplating running off now. In fact he would have had it not
been for the fear that he would get lost down here and be stuck here
for a very long time. In fact Pietro was also mildly interested in
what Evan had to say about all this.
"You in the New York sewage system, Pietro. It's not to bad when you
learn to live with it. It's good to be back home is it?" Evan said.
"Home?" Pietro asked, sounding shocked, again for the second time
tonight. He didn't like that. The blond haired teen had always had a
way of surprising him when he least expected it, and Pietro couldn't
stand it.
-Flashback-
The fourteen-year-old Pietro sat in his room, in his foster families
home silently, trying to think about what was going on with him at the
moment. Today he had met another boy on the basketball court that was
as good at the game as he was. Not only that, but he had completely
fallen for the black boy in the few moments that he had seen the other
boy. It wasn't just a lust thing thought, because he was most suddenly
attracted to the confidence of the other male that had come so close
to beating him today.
Pietro was confused. Pietro never had these kinds of 'feelings' toward
other people. Love was a concept that was completely void of him, and
then all of the sudden he could only place the name 'love' to the
feelings he had for another. Little did he know that these little
feelings he had would eventually lead him to a relationship that would
last for nearly two years and a rivalry that would last a lifetime.
He didn't know the boy very well, or so he had thought. As he would
learn later, he had known the younger boy who he had so fallen for,
since early childhood, but they had just now been reunited. This Evan
Daniels, for that reason was a complete enigma to Pietro, and he
wasn't used to that. In fact he wasn't even sure that he liked the
idea, but something about the other teen drew the Speedster to him.
Pietro would have to watch him more closely, and see.
Maybe there was something to him.
-End Flashback-
***
"You live here?" Pietro asked, amazed.
"Yep, back at the good old big apple." Evan said in fake enthusiasm.
"You live here, in the sewers, alone?" Pietro asked, the shock level
within his voice very apparent. He had lost control again, and Evan
was quick to note it, though strangely enough he didn't take advantage
of it. Evan noted a strange kind of sadness that entered Pietro's
voice. It was almost as if the Speedster was appalled to hear that
Evan had been forced to live at such standards. Not someone he had
once loved.
"Not alone." Evan said, rather simply as he continued to observe
Pietro, "I have finally found people that aren't afraid to care for
me, or are who not always up my ass. You know, much like you were,
literally, and as an annoyance?"
Pietro had looked as if he was just slapped in the face. It gave Evan
a strange kind of please to see this kind of pain apparent in Pietro.
The Speed demon had lost control of his emotions, and Evan knew that
he would not regain control. The look in his face told him that right
off the bat.
"You don't mean that." Pietro said, but only managed to sound as if he
was trying to convince himself more then Evan.
"Really? I don't? Tell me, when we were 'together' before you betrayed
me completely, when was the last time you did anything to prove that
you loved me? I can't even remember a single time you told me you
loved me, and yet I knew you did. The look in your eyes when you saw
me, the hint of it in your voice when you said me name, I knew it
Pietro, and for the time I was content to sit there with my
knowledge."
"But then what? What did you end up doing? When I finally told you how
I felt, how I was beginning to love you, what did to say to me? You
told me to buzz off, but I knew as you said it you did mean it. I saw
the mirrored hurt in your eyes when you hear me say it, and for the
longest time I couldn't understand why me telling you I loved you hurt
you. However, then I finally understood."
"Telling you that I loved you opened up the reality that you could be
happy. Me telling you I loved you forced you to realize that you loved
me, that you did love me, and that it was real, not just some dream.
When I told you I loved you, I forced you to come to terms with how
you felt, and you couldn't bare that. You couldn't bare the
realization that you loved me back, and thus you ended it."
"I spent a lot of time beating myself up you know. I spent the larger
portion of year asking myself why you couldn't love me back. I thought
that I wasn't good enough. I thought that if you, of all people
couldn't even bare to look at me anymore, then no one else would be
able to. I felt like shit for the longest time Pietro, and it was all
because of you." Evan said, his anger building again as he finished.
He was yelling by the time he was done, and he looked as if he was
going to beat Pietro again. He didn't though, and after a very long
and awkward silence, Evan was able to calm down, and even snicker a
little bit.
"Of course the rest is history. You betrayed us, helping your father
expose mutants to the world, and in the process ruining my life, and
the lives of so many others. For this, I wanted to hate you Pietro, I
really did. I tried to hate you with every fiber of my being and yet I
found that I could not. No matter how hard I tried I still found
myself loving you."
"Stress would eventually get to me. Stress from school, and stress
from punks at school. Stress from the looks people gave me when they
found out I was a mutant, and frustrations with not being able to
fight back as they picked on us and beat on us. But most of all,
stress from you. Stress from not being with you, and anger with not
being able to hate you. By the time this happened to me I was a mess.
When I was poisoned, my immune system was too overworked due to all of
the stress. What should have been an eventual recovery became a loss
of control, and by the time I regained control the poison had changed
me forever."
"I was given medicine you know, and it should have worked. It would
have, and I would have been better had you not put me through so much
anger and strain. Due to you the medicine did not work, and I became
this. Funny isn't it?" Evan said, after another short speech.
Telling Pietro all of these things seemed to make it a little bit
better. Evan found that he could finally deal with the entire mess of
emotions around his recent past, and his now lost relationship. He
found that spilling his soul and emotions like this to Pietro made it
possible for him to move on, and let go. He found that saying all of
this to the speedster's face finally allowed him to stop loving him,
and to be free of the pain.
Evan was finally able to smile, after to long.
Pietro on the other hand felt like he wanted to die. He couldn't
speak, and he couldn't think. The only thought that kept on going
through his head as Evan yelled at him was that he was right. All of
the things Evan said had been right. This was his fault. It was
Pietro's fault that Evan was hurt now, and it was his fault that he
would never be the same.
It was his fault that Evan and him could no longer love.
While Pietro was locked up inside his head, Evan had stood up and
removed the ceiling; or rather what was really a manhole. Pietro was
surprised when Evan picked him up, and literally shoved him through
the manhole. Pietro, being at a total loss was limp, and did not even
try and struggle. When he was above the manhole though, the raindrops
now falling from the sky had knocked him back into reality.
The last thing that Evan had said before he replaced the manhole felt
as if a bullet was passing through the Speed demons' heart, "Goodbye
Maximoff. Hopefully, we will never see each other again."
With that, Evan resealed the manhole, and was gone, leaving Pietro to
sit in the middle of the street, pulsing the worst emotional pain he
had ever felt in his life. It was worse then losing his sister, and
worse then when his father abandoned him. You could tell because those
moments, Pietro had never cried. Now however, if you were looking
really close, you could see tears mixing with rainwater on the side of
Pietro's cheeks.
Evan was ready to kill him. Evan had been dreaming of this very moment since that day in New York, and he was finally happy that it was going to happen. He was going to get him back, and that was for sure. He was here to do a job, and that job was to kill Pietro Maximoff.
Evan had prayed for this moment to come along ever since Pietro came along and ruined their lives for good. Helping Magneto 'out' mutants was the biggest kind of betrayal that the silver haired youth could possibly do to his long time rival. I mean sure it wasn't the first time that Pietro had hurt Evan, physically or emotionally, but there had always been that line. That invisible line that neither himself nor Pietro had ever dared to cross. It was a mutual understanding that they had had even when they were feuding. However, by outing mutants and exposing Evan for what he was he had crossed that line.
To Evan he had done the unthinkable. It was because of Pietro that people had looked at him like he was a monster. It was because of Pietro that Evan had lost all the friends and relationships he had developed over the years. It was because of Pietro that he had because so stressed out that he had lost control of his powers. It was Pietro's fault that he looked like this now. It was all because of Pietro, the double timing freak.. OHHHHhhhhh...Evan was going to get him, and he was going to enjoy it more then anything else he had ever done.
Evan had gotten word from Caliban that Pietro would be here around now. Evan had been hunting the silver haired speed demon for over a month when Caliban had finally decided to inform him of this information. It was music to Evan's ears. Evan had made it a point to be there exactly when Caliban had instructed, and he had been sure to ingest as much milk as he could before coming here. He was going to need all the spikes he could get in order to finish the score once and for all. Now all he had to do was wait.
And wait he did. Evan had been there on the deserted night street for over two hours when the telltale wind of Pietro's supper speed finally appeared upon the scene. At first Evan had thought that the speedster would pass him up, but when the wind stopped suddenly without warning, he knew he had caught the teen's attention. After all, Quicksilver could never pass up a chance to instate his rule over the Spike-man.
"Well, well, look what we have here. What are you doing out at this hour, I thought you X-Geeks had a curfew, right?" Pietro's snake like voice called over from behind Evan. Evan didn't turn instantly. He had stayed under his heavy coat until then, and from the back he would look normal with it on. Pietro didn't know. He hadn't seen yet, and there was no way he would have heard. He didn't know about Evan's sudden continued mutation. Yesssss..this was going to be fun for sure. Evan was careful to act normal.
"Curfew?" Evan said, trying to sound bewildered, "Oh, you know that no kind of rule could keep me away from this, don't you?" "Well yes, you were always egger to get you ass kicked now weren't you Daniels. Its funny, how even now you are still trying to keep up with me." Pietro said mockingly, seeing right through Evan's dumb outlook. The silver haired teen had known better then that. He knew Evan better then that. He knew Evan like the back of his hand.
"Well, if you are so interested in getting hurt again then be my guest, come at me Daniels." Pietro continued.
"Again? I'm not so sure about that Maximoff. This time it's going to be you going down." Evan said, twirling around skill hiding under the massive coat he wore. Out from under the sleeves bony javelins sprung for as he turned. Evan wanted to try and keep Pietro from moving too much. If he did then this would be over way to fast and Evan would not be able to exact his revenge.
Sadly, the Speed Demon always seemed to be one step ahead of his rival these days. Pietro was gone even before the spikes dug into the pavement under him. Within a fraction of a millisecond Pietro was behind Evan and had pushed hum hard forward. Training with Xavier however had paid off. Mid fall Evan flipped around again and fire another volley of massive spikes from under his coat sleeves. This time, Pietro had to move a lot faster and work a lot harder to avoid them, and wile he did Evan recovered from his push and took again, this time shooting several small needle like spikes right through the arm of the coat. Pietro had managed to avoid most of them, but to of them had nicked his body, and he was no differently annoyed now that he had been forced to bleed.
"You have gotten faster, haven't you Daniels?" Pietro asked, whirling around him again. "To bad its nowhere near fast enough."
With that Pietro swung by him yet again and forced him down on to the ground. As Evan caught a glimpse at the Speed Demons eyes he saw a look of fury in them unlike any he had even encountered before in any kind of living creature. Pietro looked absolutely furious.
"What's with you Daniels?" Pietro asked, sounding angrier then he had been known to get.
"And what is with this damn jacket?" Pietro said as he pulled the coat off in a millisecond. What he saw had forced the Speed Demon to double take. Pietro knew that Spike had been one to pull spikes out from any point of his body, but he had never seen Evan do so from his face. Never out of his perfect face.
"Like what you see Maximoff?" Evan said, cold as he stood.
"So what Daniels, you pull spikes out of yourself all the time- -." Pietro started, stuttering a bit as he looked upon that Horror that was now Evan's face. Evan smiled to himself. He had never been in such command of Pietro's emotions since they were together, nearly a year ago in New York. Back when life was simple and the rivalry was simple. Evan enjoyed being able to harm the speedster. Evan felt it was about time that Pietro got a bit of his own medicine.
"Not like this." Evan said, grinning cruelly, "I hope you like what you see because this is what it looks like permanently now. I've lost control of them, my powers, you see. I can't retract them anymore. They are just as permanent as my own skin now, and it's all your fault."
"M-My fault?" Pietro stuttered, all the fury and cocky attitude gone from the teen. The blond couldn't be right could he? What had he done? What had he done to ruin that perfect face? No, he must be playing him for a tactical advantage.
"Yes, your fault Pietro. You ruined the face that you once thought perfect." Evan said, not sounding or acting like himself anymore. The pain of his experience with his powers was beginning to get to him. It made him act different. No longer was he the cocky skater because of this. Now he was serious and always in pain. Always feeling like things will never be the same again.
Now, all that Evan is, is mad as hell. Man he was going to skin that white- haired freak alive.
"You did this to me, and now your going to pay!" Evan yelled loud enough to awaken ghosts as he lunged for the unsuspecting Pietro. Had Pietro not been in shock when Evan came at him, he would have moved, but he was still not able to get over what HE had done to Evan's face?
"Wha- -What how?" Pietro asked bewildered, just before Evan began to pound him with spike-enforced fists. Now, the sound of punches and bones cracking echoed across the area.
"What does it matter?!" Evan yelled, still punching Pietro. He was letting out all his rage now. He was letting out all of his pent up anger toward Pietro and he swore to god that the silver speedster would look worse then he did when he was through with him.
"All that matters is you are going to pay!" Evan yelled and continued his assault. Moments later however, that would have to change. Evan could just quite make out sirens in the distance, and that meant that the police were coming. Someone must have called them after hearing Evan yell like a lunatic.
Evan couldn't just leave without Pietro who was now knocked out. Ohhhhh no, he wasn't anywhere near done with the 'Quicksilver' yet. Evan hoisted the teen's body over his shoulder and quickly made his way back the path he had come, back into the underground.
* * *
When Pietro first woke up and he wasn't sure exactly where he was. He
could smell stench all around him, and even as his senses became
clear, he still couldn't place himself. He was sure that he had never
been here before, and judging by the entire horrid aroma that he was
taking in he was now sure why.
As more of Pietro's sense became clear he again tried to place
himself. He found that he was sitting in a bloodied mess inside what
appeared to be some kind of old piping. The stench of human waste was
everywhere.and to Pietro that must only mean that he was in the sewage
system. Why thought was he here. He remembered noticing Evan on one of
his practice runs but beyond that he couldn't remember what had
happened to him, or how he had gotten so injured.
However when he began to look about and saw Evan's destroyed face
looking back at him, all of what had happened came back to him. Pietro
remembered Evan looking bad now, but this was the first time he truly
got a good look at his face. Evan had bones protruding from his face
at just about every curve. Like armor they covered the majority of his
vulnerable spots now, and all but his eyes seemed to be covered in
exoskeleton. What little skin was left on his face had a red tint to
it as it was tortured by the existing bone armor.
Both Evan and Pietro were acting very out of character. Evan, for once
since so long ago was actually revealing his emotions to Pietro, where
as Pietro, for the first time in just as long was caring about it.
Pietro found this to be strange, and he didn't like feeling like this.
This was one of the reasons why what the two of them had ended so long
ago, so abruptly.
"Oh, so your awake are you?" Evan said, his deep voice caring across
the small pipe they sat in. His voice echoed off the wall, so Pietro
had to hear the tortured question over and over again as it bounced
off the metal walling.
"Ya.Ya. I'm awake, going to pummel me again?" Pietro asked, trying to
regain a bit of his smug attitude.
"Probably not," Evan said, as his face almost took up a happy go lucky
kind of expression, "I got most of my anger out on you already.
Besides, if I did all those cuts would re-open, and as it is already
they are all going to scar."
Pietro looked at his body, and saw what Evan was talking about. All
the blood that he had thought he had been sitting in earlier before
was actually all-dry now, and most of the cuts that Evan had given him
during his assault had been covered up in makeshift bandages.
"Did you do this?" Pietro asked, looking at his relatively cleaned up
body.
"Ya, what to it?" Evan asked, sounding a bit annoyed.
"Oh, nothing, I didn't know you cared." Pietro said, tauntingly.
Evan looked at Pietro for a long moment, in which the speedster could
barely make out a look of hurt, but then a look on intense anger
again. Pietro tensed up, wondering if he was going to get beaten again
for what he had said just jokingly. Was this really a time to joke?
Perhaps he had read Evan's face wrong? It was very dark in the pipe,
with very little light to work with.
"What?" Pietro asked, almost sounding afraid.
"Pietro, you know that I always cared. You always knew exactly how I
felt, and you know damn well that it was always you that had problems
with 'caring.' You know damn well." Evan said, the last part trailing
off.
"What? I know damn well what?" Pietro said, relaxing a bit. Evan's
expression seemed to give away that he was thinking hard if he should
mention something or not. Soon however, his face also revealed that he
had made up his mind.
"You know, knew, damn well that I loved you man." Evan said, just
barely above the noise of a whisper. Pietro smiled. He was in control
again. Evan had shown weakness, and he was going to use it to take
control.
"Ahhhhhhhh, so that's what this is about then is it? This is why you
beat me up and dragged me down here then is it? Miss some of what you
cant have any more, 'eh Daniels?"
"Shut up Maximoff." Evan said, brushing off the comment completely,
which was much unlike him. Normally, Evan would be one to jump all
over a chance to bash heads with Pietro but that didn't seem to be the
case this particular time.
"So, what exactly is this hell place you have brought me too?" Pietro
asked, contemplating running off now. In fact he would have had it not
been for the fear that he would get lost down here and be stuck here
for a very long time. In fact Pietro was also mildly interested in
what Evan had to say about all this.
"You in the New York sewage system, Pietro. It's not to bad when you
learn to live with it. It's good to be back home is it?" Evan said.
"Home?" Pietro asked, sounding shocked, again for the second time
tonight. He didn't like that. The blond haired teen had always had a
way of surprising him when he least expected it, and Pietro couldn't
stand it.
-Flashback-
The fourteen-year-old Pietro sat in his room, in his foster families
home silently, trying to think about what was going on with him at the
moment. Today he had met another boy on the basketball court that was
as good at the game as he was. Not only that, but he had completely
fallen for the black boy in the few moments that he had seen the other
boy. It wasn't just a lust thing thought, because he was most suddenly
attracted to the confidence of the other male that had come so close
to beating him today.
Pietro was confused. Pietro never had these kinds of 'feelings' toward
other people. Love was a concept that was completely void of him, and
then all of the sudden he could only place the name 'love' to the
feelings he had for another. Little did he know that these little
feelings he had would eventually lead him to a relationship that would
last for nearly two years and a rivalry that would last a lifetime.
He didn't know the boy very well, or so he had thought. As he would
learn later, he had known the younger boy who he had so fallen for,
since early childhood, but they had just now been reunited. This Evan
Daniels, for that reason was a complete enigma to Pietro, and he
wasn't used to that. In fact he wasn't even sure that he liked the
idea, but something about the other teen drew the Speedster to him.
Pietro would have to watch him more closely, and see.
Maybe there was something to him.
-End Flashback-
***
"You live here?" Pietro asked, amazed.
"Yep, back at the good old big apple." Evan said in fake enthusiasm.
"You live here, in the sewers, alone?" Pietro asked, the shock level
within his voice very apparent. He had lost control again, and Evan
was quick to note it, though strangely enough he didn't take advantage
of it. Evan noted a strange kind of sadness that entered Pietro's
voice. It was almost as if the Speedster was appalled to hear that
Evan had been forced to live at such standards. Not someone he had
once loved.
"Not alone." Evan said, rather simply as he continued to observe
Pietro, "I have finally found people that aren't afraid to care for
me, or are who not always up my ass. You know, much like you were,
literally, and as an annoyance?"
Pietro had looked as if he was just slapped in the face. It gave Evan
a strange kind of please to see this kind of pain apparent in Pietro.
The Speed demon had lost control of his emotions, and Evan knew that
he would not regain control. The look in his face told him that right
off the bat.
"You don't mean that." Pietro said, but only managed to sound as if he
was trying to convince himself more then Evan.
"Really? I don't? Tell me, when we were 'together' before you betrayed
me completely, when was the last time you did anything to prove that
you loved me? I can't even remember a single time you told me you
loved me, and yet I knew you did. The look in your eyes when you saw
me, the hint of it in your voice when you said me name, I knew it
Pietro, and for the time I was content to sit there with my
knowledge."
"But then what? What did you end up doing? When I finally told you how
I felt, how I was beginning to love you, what did to say to me? You
told me to buzz off, but I knew as you said it you did mean it. I saw
the mirrored hurt in your eyes when you hear me say it, and for the
longest time I couldn't understand why me telling you I loved you hurt
you. However, then I finally understood."
"Telling you that I loved you opened up the reality that you could be
happy. Me telling you I loved you forced you to realize that you loved
me, that you did love me, and that it was real, not just some dream.
When I told you I loved you, I forced you to come to terms with how
you felt, and you couldn't bare that. You couldn't bare the
realization that you loved me back, and thus you ended it."
"I spent a lot of time beating myself up you know. I spent the larger
portion of year asking myself why you couldn't love me back. I thought
that I wasn't good enough. I thought that if you, of all people
couldn't even bare to look at me anymore, then no one else would be
able to. I felt like shit for the longest time Pietro, and it was all
because of you." Evan said, his anger building again as he finished.
He was yelling by the time he was done, and he looked as if he was
going to beat Pietro again. He didn't though, and after a very long
and awkward silence, Evan was able to calm down, and even snicker a
little bit.
"Of course the rest is history. You betrayed us, helping your father
expose mutants to the world, and in the process ruining my life, and
the lives of so many others. For this, I wanted to hate you Pietro, I
really did. I tried to hate you with every fiber of my being and yet I
found that I could not. No matter how hard I tried I still found
myself loving you."
"Stress would eventually get to me. Stress from school, and stress
from punks at school. Stress from the looks people gave me when they
found out I was a mutant, and frustrations with not being able to
fight back as they picked on us and beat on us. But most of all,
stress from you. Stress from not being with you, and anger with not
being able to hate you. By the time this happened to me I was a mess.
When I was poisoned, my immune system was too overworked due to all of
the stress. What should have been an eventual recovery became a loss
of control, and by the time I regained control the poison had changed
me forever."
"I was given medicine you know, and it should have worked. It would
have, and I would have been better had you not put me through so much
anger and strain. Due to you the medicine did not work, and I became
this. Funny isn't it?" Evan said, after another short speech.
Telling Pietro all of these things seemed to make it a little bit
better. Evan found that he could finally deal with the entire mess of
emotions around his recent past, and his now lost relationship. He
found that spilling his soul and emotions like this to Pietro made it
possible for him to move on, and let go. He found that saying all of
this to the speedster's face finally allowed him to stop loving him,
and to be free of the pain.
Evan was finally able to smile, after to long.
Pietro on the other hand felt like he wanted to die. He couldn't
speak, and he couldn't think. The only thought that kept on going
through his head as Evan yelled at him was that he was right. All of
the things Evan said had been right. This was his fault. It was
Pietro's fault that Evan was hurt now, and it was his fault that he
would never be the same.
It was his fault that Evan and him could no longer love.
While Pietro was locked up inside his head, Evan had stood up and
removed the ceiling; or rather what was really a manhole. Pietro was
surprised when Evan picked him up, and literally shoved him through
the manhole. Pietro, being at a total loss was limp, and did not even
try and struggle. When he was above the manhole though, the raindrops
now falling from the sky had knocked him back into reality.
The last thing that Evan had said before he replaced the manhole felt
as if a bullet was passing through the Speed demons' heart, "Goodbye
Maximoff. Hopefully, we will never see each other again."
With that, Evan resealed the manhole, and was gone, leaving Pietro to
sit in the middle of the street, pulsing the worst emotional pain he
had ever felt in his life. It was worse then losing his sister, and
worse then when his father abandoned him. You could tell because those
moments, Pietro had never cried. Now however, if you were looking
really close, you could see tears mixing with rainwater on the side of
Pietro's cheeks.