Chapter Seventeen:
Rebecca sat in the back hall with her head in her hands. She had moved quickly, before the smoke from the charred carpet had cleared. She hoped none of the intruders had seen where she went, though most people (or mutants or demons) ran away from her after seeing her powers get out of hand.
It's ok, she thought, inhaling deeply and exhaling slowly, It's ok, it was just the windows. They're only windows. It could have been worse…I controlled it. I stopped it. Thank God they ran before it…
Rebecca raised her head and squeezed her eyes tightly closed. She felt herself calming, finding her center again. The bedrooms were a mess (Sebastian was going to kill her), but it did not look as if the flames had been strong enough to puncture the walls. Hopefully, her neighbors did not have too much damage either...
She curled into one corner and listened for the intruders, taking stock of their numbers at the same time. There was the huge cat guy, physical advancements but not much going on psychically it seemed. There was the first man, agile and quick with an elongated and powerful 'tongue.' And there was the blue woman, and God knows what she could do. Rebecca doubted any of them were 'pushers,' or they would have most likely tried mental domination on her first and saved themselves this trouble. But what the hell did they want?
Suddenly, she heard heavy footsteps treading around the den, and a low growling voice.
"Where is she?" the big mutant said, and Rebecca instinctively tucked herself further in the shadows.
"Don't worry," a female voice replied, "She's still here."
Rebecca figured that must have been the blue woman. Why the hell the chick was nude, she had not a friggin' clue. She heard the woman speak again, though the words were muffled.
Rebecca crept carefully towards the end of the hall. She could see the blue woman speaking quietly into the small ear communicator she wore. The big mutant was glaring at her and looked ready to explode in fury. The green mutant was examining the shattered remains of the deck windows with wide eyes. Finally, the blue woman turned to the other two and pointed in Rebecca's direction.
"You two...search the back rooms," she said commandingly, "She's either hiding back there or made it downstairs...either way, she's trapped..."
Oh, crap, Rebecca thought and crawled back down the hall towards her bedroom. She drew herself into the first bedroom, and hid next to the open door. From the end of the hall, she could hear the big mutant's heavy tread.
Rebecca breathed deeply once, a deep, angry frown forming on her face. What the hell was she doing? This was her home, damn it, and she was just sitting here while those intruders attacked her and forced her into hiding. Like hell, she would.
The fire inside of her leaped again at the thought of battle and her eyes tingled.
No, she thought resolutely, Not now…
She did not need her powers to get away from them...and she was not sure if she could pull back another big blast. Neither Sebastian nor the Council had encouraged her to continue practicing control of her gifts after her mother had disappeared. Little fires had never been a problem, but when she was threatened, when she was angry...that was when her focus slipped.
So, Rebecca stood, leaning close to the open doorway and listened. She could hear their movements drawing nearer to the place where she stood. The voice of the first man came from her right, but heavy steps were approaching from the left. They had split up, converging on the back bedrooms to corner her.
Silently, she waited for them to get closer. The big mutant was growling softly, and was very close. She could not hear movement from the first, but expected he was not too far behind.
So the question was…right or left?
Maybe right…she thought, remembering her earlier conversation. The first mutant had leapt the distance across the living room with quick skill. He would be very hard to evade in a run plus there would really be no place to go except the bathroom, and Big Mr. Fuzzy had busted down the door when he was putting his arm out.
Maybe left… she thought. The second was larger and looked stronger, but did not seem as fast or agile. If she surprised him, she might have a chance to get around him and into the den towards the staircase. She would blast the fucking door down this time if she had to.
She waited, only a moment more, and shot out of the shadows, to the left.
Sabertooth roared in surprise as the girl ran towards him out of the dark room. He swung one heavy arm and his fist missed her by inches, slamming a large hole into the wall. He spun to follow her, and roared again as Toad crawled along the ceiling above his head, laughing.
Toad scaled the walls after the girl. She was quick, and he jumped into the den just in time to watch her disappear down the front hall towards the main staircase. There was a small blast and then he heard her running down the steps.
Toad jumped down the 'L'-shaped hall, ricocheted off the far wall and launched himself down the stairs.
Sabertooth stomped angrily after Toad into the den. He would break the girl's legs when he caught her. That would keep her from running from him again.
He started down the hall to the stairs, when a strong, thin hand grabbed his shoulder from behind. He growled and spun around, expecting to see the girl's fiery eyes. Instead he faced Mystique, her yellow glare standing out in fury against her blue skin in the dark.
"That's enough, Victor," she said sharply. She had expected this would be too difficult for either of her Brothers, but she would not let Sabertooth's wounded pride cloud his judgment.
"She's mine…" he growled darkly and Mystique cut him off viciously.
"She is not yours!" she hissed, "Don't forget why we are here…Magneto needs her alive, and would not be pleased if she came to some harm…"
Mystique left the statement die away, but the meaning was clear. Sabertooth nodded and grumbled.
"Let Toad play with her for a few more minutes," she continued with a wicked grin, "Erik will end this soon."
As she reached the first floor, Rebecca yelped in surprise as a loud thud sounded behind her. She spun as she ran, seeing the green mutant crouching at the bottom of the stairs. He had an odd grin on his face. This was the most fun he had had in a long time.
She dodged to the right as his tongue shot past her again. It clung to the wall for a moment before it snapped back into his mouth.
"You know..." Rebecca said, angrily, "That's really annoying."
The green mutant chuckled; the sound was more vicious than amused. He took a few steps toward her and she raised one hand. The heat tingled on her fingertips, as she let the power rise, just a little...
"Please don't make me do anything," she said, a dark warning in her voice. This caused the green mutant to pause. He looked uncertain and then he crouched again, glaring at her in the dark.
Rebecca took a step back, towards the kitchen door. The green mutant did not follow her, and she moved into the next room quickly.
Toad waited until he heard her gasp, then grinned and walked toward the kitchen.
Standing in dumb shock, Rebecca gaped at what she was now seeing.
Inside the kitchen, every appliance seemed to be hovering in the air. The kitchen phone had been rudely torn from the wall and now floated at her eye level, turning lazily among the other electronics.
She moved slowly towards the other side of the room. A second door led to the dining room and she inched her away around her gravity defying toaster and blender.
Now I know why astronauts carry that ready to eat stuff, she thought with a touch of panic. The refrigerator was floating near the second door, banging lightly against the ceiling.
Rebecca stared at it warily, and took another step forward, pressing her back against the wall leading to the door. The immense machine loomed above her, and she paused. Her heart was racing and the power was biting in her palms. She felt the wall under her hands getting hot and she struggled between her fear and fighting down her own inborn defenses.
Suddenly as she approached the exit, the giant appliance swung towards her and she tumbled into the dining room. From behind the ruined refrigerator, she heard the other machines fall to the floor.
Rebecca barely had a moment to get to her feet when the green mutant crawled out of the kitchen across the ceiling. She made a final effort to sprint across the room.
The front door was right around the next corner. All she had to do was get out and she would be home fr…
Rebecca cried out in surprise as something hit her in the stomach and pulled her across the room. Her back slammed against a hard surface and she struggled against the round metal bar that now had her pinned by the waist, embedded into the wall. She kicked her bare feet against the carpet in vain and noticed several of the intruders walking toward her. The green mutant to her right, a tall dark-haired woman to her left and a boy standing further back staring at Rebecca with wide, wondering eyes.
Rebecca stopped struggling and raised her left hand. The green mutant stopped immediately and she shot him a cold look.
"So, I guess you're an enemy, huh?" she spat bitterly.
He blinked in surprise and looked as if he were going to speak but then simply braced himself for her attack. The dark-haired woman raised a cool, curious eyebrow, never looking away from the bound young woman. A dangerous warmth filled the room and Rebecca knew the power was now her only chance to get away from these strangers.
"Please," Rebecca said, pleading but angry, "I don't want to hurt…ahh! Shit!"
A second metal bar slammed into Rebecca's wrist and secured her left arm to the wall. The power, so ready to destroy her attackers, faded and she yanked at the new makeshift shackle in alarm. Why would it back off now, when she was trapped?
"Let me out of this fucking thing!" she screamed and then raised her right hand just as a new voice rang through the room.
"Now, now, Miss Malloy," someone said in a commanding tone, "There's no need for profanity."
The other mutants turned and glanced toward the other side of the room. Rebecca followed their gazes until another man wearing a long crimson colored cape and helmet strolled, almost casually, through the door.
***
Author's note: Yeah, cliffhanger. Go ahead, shoot me. Don't ask me why they happen…oh, yeah cause I'm not sure yet what's going to happen next either. :-) This is really only half a chapter but gotta split it up. Unfortunately, I do work two jobs and one is retail…and this Friday is the most dreaded Friday of all retail workers. Haven't had a whole lot of down time to write.
However, I will have the next two days off so will have time to write while eating with the family. (With pumpkin pie comes inspiration.) My sis sent me a text message today that said "NO UPDATE?!?!?" so she'll be there to instigate me! :-) She's good at that.
BTW, sych77, you noticed my slight focus on Toad in the past few chapters. Gotta warn you all, I am a Toad fan. His personality is going to be very interesting to write about. Like Nightcrawler, he may get his own little fic. (BTW, part of Nightcrawler's fic is already written…I blame it on excess sugar and caffeine :-)