Disclaimer: The X-Men belong to Marvel, Ilehana Xavier to Corrinth, Blaze
and all other OCs to me.
A/N: All reviews greatly appreciated.
10
Xavier sensed her, but Ilehana-as-wolf had smelt the ash on the wind mere seconds earlier. Through the tumultuous thoughts of the battling X-Men and their menagerie of opponents both father and daughter blasted their command.
RETREAT!
There was no room to argue, the command imprinted on the minds of the X-Men even as the more telepathically aware of their opponents searched the surroundings to try and find the source of the voice they had just thought they had heard. Xavier flicked the controls on the X-Jet, coming to hover over what was left of the main street. Kurt and Jean employed their powers, each making hasty return trips to make sure all the X-Men were back on board the craft as soon as possible.
Magneto smiled. Below, the brief confusion the telepathic shout had invoked dissipated as both Rasks and Trepids found themselves confronted with their real enemies. So, the mighty Charles Xavier was still not as strong as the Master of Magnetism. He would still rather call back his precious X-Men than press on for glory and the new dawn. Well, it mattered not to Magneto. What mattered now was the whereabouts of his helicopters. They should have been here already.........
Suddenly Magneto sensed foul play. The X-Men he had seen below was not their full complement. So, Charles had had information about his plans for these petty gangs of mutants? By taking away the TV crews, Magneto's efforts were suddenly almost a waste. He felt bitterly disappointed, but at the same time, a touch impressed. His old foe was becoming more of a challenge, and so life was becoming interesting.
In the X-Jet, heads were being shaken as pain ran though more than one skull, so powerful had the collective Xavier telepathy been. Jean however had found herself slightly better protected via the strength of her own powers. It was she who found the words to ask the question all of them were thinking.
"What's going on, Professor? Why are we retreating?"
"Because," Xavier replied as he tugged at the jet's controls, pulling the craft up into a near-vertical climb. "Its about to get very, very dangerous down there."
Down on the asphalt, Electra and Crush found themselves face to face at long last. The smirk on his face as he landed a bone-crushing punch to her ribcage turned into annoyance and then pain as she reached up and grabbed hold of the side of his skull. Pain flooded his senses like the sheer brilliance of electricity she pumped into him. He dropped to his knees before one of his allies yelled out in confusion. Electra looked up from her attack on Crush, one of those pesky kids had not left with the rest? But no, the uniform might be grossly the same, but this figure was erringly familiar.
"Blaze." The blue-haired woman spoke harshly, not forgetting to send one last finishing bolt through Crush as he knelt on the ground, before turning on the thief as she approached. "So we have you to thank for the interference of those mutant children? I should have known you were no ordinary thief, that it was all a ploy to bring another gang in on Magneto's generous offer." Electra was aware of her second-in-command Mercury stood by her shoulder. Blaze would not walk away from this.
Blaze barely even saw the combined force of molten metal and electricity darting towards her. Absently she dodged the attack, leaping to one side as the metal splattered onto the wall of the building behind her, electric bolt fizzling out. Before Electra could draw together another offensive, she found herself slipping into painful unconsciousness, her and Mercury's heads bashed together by the recovering Crush. Blaze did not even see them; she had spotted the hated figure of Magneto stood above them on the rooftop. Fire shivered over her flesh, and she became pure flame.
"You will not do this." She told the solitary figure, somehow knowing that he could hear her. All around her individual fights were broken off as eyes were drawn to the figure of flames. The smarter mutants backed off, the really clever beginning to run. "I will not let you make people live in fear of us."
"It is inevitable," Magneto replied, voice stoic even as his heart began to race. Fire span like red tendrils around Blaze's form, the air becoming hot, the asphalt beneath her feet starting to blister. But her eyes remained focused on him, soulless red-brown orbs. "When there are mutants like you in this world."
"No." Blaze answered, raising her arms, palms facing outwards towards both Rask and Trepid ends of the thoroughfare. Her eyes closed as if in slow motion. Then, in a breath, she let go.
Betrayal, dismay, disappointment, hatred, self-loathing, emptiness, loss, fear, rejection......... The feelings Blaze had unwittingly been storing, feeding like the first sparks of a campfire now became a torrent of fuel for her power. Her barriers, the parts that kept her power contained within her, and also her within her self, evaporated in ash and steam and smoke. Fire boomed around her, forcefully rippling over the tarmac, smashing glass from windows, carrying gang members away from the scene of the battle in a wave of bright anguish, red emotion.
The fire reached up far above her into the night sky, grasping to draw Magneto into it, but he turned and ran. The height of the building he stood on gave him enough distance that he could escape. The heat, the power of it was intense, like living hysteria. But in the centre of this demon-magic, this dragon-fire, Blaze stood untouched and unmoved. The almost as suddenly as she had unleashed the true potential of her mutation, she was spent. The fire died with the exception of a few pockets of smouldering rubble. Rasks and Trepids alike groaned and rolled on the street, dragging themselves away, all will to fight gone with the flames. Blaze crashed to her knees, face ashen and breathing heavy. She knew nothing else.
A/N: All reviews greatly appreciated.
10
Xavier sensed her, but Ilehana-as-wolf had smelt the ash on the wind mere seconds earlier. Through the tumultuous thoughts of the battling X-Men and their menagerie of opponents both father and daughter blasted their command.
RETREAT!
There was no room to argue, the command imprinted on the minds of the X-Men even as the more telepathically aware of their opponents searched the surroundings to try and find the source of the voice they had just thought they had heard. Xavier flicked the controls on the X-Jet, coming to hover over what was left of the main street. Kurt and Jean employed their powers, each making hasty return trips to make sure all the X-Men were back on board the craft as soon as possible.
Magneto smiled. Below, the brief confusion the telepathic shout had invoked dissipated as both Rasks and Trepids found themselves confronted with their real enemies. So, the mighty Charles Xavier was still not as strong as the Master of Magnetism. He would still rather call back his precious X-Men than press on for glory and the new dawn. Well, it mattered not to Magneto. What mattered now was the whereabouts of his helicopters. They should have been here already.........
Suddenly Magneto sensed foul play. The X-Men he had seen below was not their full complement. So, Charles had had information about his plans for these petty gangs of mutants? By taking away the TV crews, Magneto's efforts were suddenly almost a waste. He felt bitterly disappointed, but at the same time, a touch impressed. His old foe was becoming more of a challenge, and so life was becoming interesting.
In the X-Jet, heads were being shaken as pain ran though more than one skull, so powerful had the collective Xavier telepathy been. Jean however had found herself slightly better protected via the strength of her own powers. It was she who found the words to ask the question all of them were thinking.
"What's going on, Professor? Why are we retreating?"
"Because," Xavier replied as he tugged at the jet's controls, pulling the craft up into a near-vertical climb. "Its about to get very, very dangerous down there."
Down on the asphalt, Electra and Crush found themselves face to face at long last. The smirk on his face as he landed a bone-crushing punch to her ribcage turned into annoyance and then pain as she reached up and grabbed hold of the side of his skull. Pain flooded his senses like the sheer brilliance of electricity she pumped into him. He dropped to his knees before one of his allies yelled out in confusion. Electra looked up from her attack on Crush, one of those pesky kids had not left with the rest? But no, the uniform might be grossly the same, but this figure was erringly familiar.
"Blaze." The blue-haired woman spoke harshly, not forgetting to send one last finishing bolt through Crush as he knelt on the ground, before turning on the thief as she approached. "So we have you to thank for the interference of those mutant children? I should have known you were no ordinary thief, that it was all a ploy to bring another gang in on Magneto's generous offer." Electra was aware of her second-in-command Mercury stood by her shoulder. Blaze would not walk away from this.
Blaze barely even saw the combined force of molten metal and electricity darting towards her. Absently she dodged the attack, leaping to one side as the metal splattered onto the wall of the building behind her, electric bolt fizzling out. Before Electra could draw together another offensive, she found herself slipping into painful unconsciousness, her and Mercury's heads bashed together by the recovering Crush. Blaze did not even see them; she had spotted the hated figure of Magneto stood above them on the rooftop. Fire shivered over her flesh, and she became pure flame.
"You will not do this." She told the solitary figure, somehow knowing that he could hear her. All around her individual fights were broken off as eyes were drawn to the figure of flames. The smarter mutants backed off, the really clever beginning to run. "I will not let you make people live in fear of us."
"It is inevitable," Magneto replied, voice stoic even as his heart began to race. Fire span like red tendrils around Blaze's form, the air becoming hot, the asphalt beneath her feet starting to blister. But her eyes remained focused on him, soulless red-brown orbs. "When there are mutants like you in this world."
"No." Blaze answered, raising her arms, palms facing outwards towards both Rask and Trepid ends of the thoroughfare. Her eyes closed as if in slow motion. Then, in a breath, she let go.
Betrayal, dismay, disappointment, hatred, self-loathing, emptiness, loss, fear, rejection......... The feelings Blaze had unwittingly been storing, feeding like the first sparks of a campfire now became a torrent of fuel for her power. Her barriers, the parts that kept her power contained within her, and also her within her self, evaporated in ash and steam and smoke. Fire boomed around her, forcefully rippling over the tarmac, smashing glass from windows, carrying gang members away from the scene of the battle in a wave of bright anguish, red emotion.
The fire reached up far above her into the night sky, grasping to draw Magneto into it, but he turned and ran. The height of the building he stood on gave him enough distance that he could escape. The heat, the power of it was intense, like living hysteria. But in the centre of this demon-magic, this dragon-fire, Blaze stood untouched and unmoved. The almost as suddenly as she had unleashed the true potential of her mutation, she was spent. The fire died with the exception of a few pockets of smouldering rubble. Rasks and Trepids alike groaned and rolled on the street, dragging themselves away, all will to fight gone with the flames. Blaze crashed to her knees, face ashen and breathing heavy. She knew nothing else.