A/N ~ Any and all reviews greatly welcomed and appreciated. Feedback especially valued for this chapter. I have my flameproof suit on, so fire away!
The Phantom; Erik's one of those Marmite characters. You either love him or hate him, and fic versions tend to get pigeonholed as a result, with few going into the former category. More's the pity. I have no twin, only two younger siblings of the sister variety, so anything pertaining to 'twinship' that actually turns out to be true herein is pure and total dumb luck.
Amarth Obstreperous; Hee hee, I spelled it right on the first attempt! Glad you like the fic, and kudos for reading it all in one sitting. ^_^
ChaosCat; Thanks for all the compliments, especially about Mystique. She and Logan do indeed make an interesting pair, don't they? As for more Evo survivors... well, you'll have to wait and see who made it, I'm afraid.
UnknownSource; You noticed the shoes! I was wondering whether that little inclusion just went right over people's heads, and you found a meaning in it I didn't expect, so kudos for that. As for the name mix-up, all I have to say is pish posh. You're still reading and still reviewing, so anything's good with me.
Remedy=Chill; Never disappoints? Well now, that *is* a compliment. I think Erik may be stealing some of psycho Wanda's fans. She's not going to be pleased about that, methinks... :) *Returns salute*
LonleyPoet; Welcome to our little realm of madness. Yes, Todd *did* have survival skills, but, as Pietro said, it was sheer bad luck that he was incapacitated by some bozo with a brick, thereby cutting off a lot of his unique, useful talents from him.
Krazy Xanadu; You review each time, which is more than a lot of people do, so I'm grateful for whatever you choose to write; be it one sentence or an entire essay. Thanks.
Risa; The 'Pietro/Wanda confrontation' as you call it, was hell to write (stupidly, I decided to write the whole bridge scene by myself - painful aching fingers!) and so merited quite a bit of prelude. Hopefully, though, it will have paid off and not disappoint. At least, not overmuch, with any luck. As for Jamie, you have Idsunki, Yma and Yodelbean to thank for his twisty-turny development. Not that I was complaining. All hail the New Mutants!
I'll take your muwahahaha, and raise you a Bwahahahahahahahahahahahahahahhaaaaaaaa!
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Twenty-fifth Fragment ~ Tears
*******************
It was only a few moments later when Magneto stood in the main meeting room of Asteroid M, surrounded by all its waking inhabitants.
He had explained the situation as best he could.
"Therefore," he concluded, "I have a favour to ask of you. Although we had not planned to go back to Earth so soon, I would beg of you to come with me. To... to help recover my children. They are both near the Mississippi Bridge, within - to use one of Wolfsbane's phrases - spitting distance of each other, so the trip should not be so very long. They may be in the company of other mutants, too, whom we may incorporate into our ranks. Having said this, if any of you wish not to go, if any of you want to stay here, then I will understand. I will go down alone if necessary, for I cannot demand you risk your lives for a pair of mutants you've never even met."
There was silence in the large room.
Then one man spoke up.
"Sir," said Brian, accent clipped and betraying his traditional British upbringing, "as mutants, we were often cast out, set apart from other humans. But you took us in; you forged us into what we are now. You risked your life in rescuing us when we might not have even been saveable, and you never knew even one of us before we awoke here on the Asteroid. If that hadn't happened... well, I don't know what I, or any of us, would have done. In return for giving us all a new... family, then I say the least we can do is help you retrieve your own."
There was a murmur of assent that quickly rose to something akin to a cheer. Erik felt a sudden swell of pride and - dare he even think it? - affection for these motley outcasts and survivors of a bygone world.
"Very well," he said, voice once again slightly choked. "I shall select a party of you to come with me, and then we will leave for Earth."
Peter looked around the room. He hadn't realised how many people - no, mutants, Magneto had saved. They all broke into cheers around him, but the sound was muffled due to the sudden closeness of Dazzler.
She looked up at him, her gaze questioning. In turn, he glanced over at Wolfsbane. Unlike the rest of the room, these two looked to *him*, not Magneto for a decision. They trusted him to do them right, their training linking them in idea for a moment. Peter nodded, and the three stepped forward before any of the others could.
"We'll go, Magneto. We're the only ones trained for a mission like this. I only wish the Jamies were healthy enough to make the trip, but we can do this without them." Spider-Man crossed his arms over his chest and looked about the room, challenging the others to contradict him.
None dared.
"Very well," Magneto said again, and there was something to his voice when he laid a hand on Peter's shoulder. Something almost like... approval. "We shall leave as soon as possible. Hank, prepare a transport to Earth for the four of us."
He turned on one heel and strode purposefully out of the hall, the blue furred doctor in tail. Peter favoured his friends with a sad smile before slipping on his mask.
"Come on, we've got work to do."
As the trio followed Magneto and Hank, Wolfsbane grinned, showing off her sharp teeth. "Finally, some action."
Peter didn't notice the hungry look she gave his back, adding a double meaning to her reply.
Peter didn't, but Dazzler did.
*******************
"Wanda?" Kurt appeared at Pietro's side, Robyn having been safely deposited in Rogue's arms. "Who's that?"
Pietro didn't answer at first. He just stood there, gulping and staring, fingers trembling as they clutched at the sight-enhancers like a lifeline. He seemed as if in a trance, and started violently when Kurt laid a soothing hand on his shoulder.
"Pietro? Was ist los, Bruder?" Kurt's eyes were soft, but held a hint of concern at the abrupt change in the albino's behaviour.
It was as if what little pallid colour Pietro possessed had drained from his face. His skin was ashen, and beads of sweat had begun to form on his brow in a manner akin to fever. His gaze was unfocused, staring, and more than a little disconcerting to those it alighted on without seeing. When he blinked, which wasn't often, it was a slow, sweeping swish of his eyelids that seemed to require a lot of effort on his part. Kurt was reminded of the original state in which he'd found Pietro, back in Bayville; insanity setting in and almost half-dead for want of living companions and quiet dreams.
The elf took a step forward, hesitantly. He was dimly aware of the silence that had settled upon Raven and Logan behind him, but was at present more concerned for his adopted-sibling's welfare. "Pietro, what is it? Is there someone on the other side of the water that you know?"
"I thought she was dead." Pietro's voice was barely above a whisper, and when he looked at Kurt it was as if he was peering straight through him. "All those years ago... I thought... I thought we'd killed her. But she's alive." His lips twitched, like they wanted to tug into a smile, but couldn't quite make it that far. "Alive," he murmured, more to himself than anyone else. "No thanks to me. Or him, for that matter. I let him put her away; let him... Alive." He repeated the refrain, rolling it around in his mouth and testing it on his tongue. "Alive."
Kurt exchanged a brief glance with Logan, whose mouth had set into a hard line and whose eyes were flinty. "Mein Herr, do you know who he's talking about? Who's out there on that bridge that could have such an effect - "
"The bridge!" Pietro suddenly cried. "Of course!" He thrust Forge's invention into Raven's hands and whipped around, clawing at the doors of the bus. In seconds he had them open and was dashing across the tarmac as only he could: in a blur of speed.
"Pietro! Wait!" Kurt didn't pause to think of the consequences, and promptly vanished in a puff of lilac smoke and sulphurous smell.
{BAMF!}
Pietro ground to a halt as Kurt reappeared directly in front of him, skidding sideways and just avoiding smashing right into the panting elf.
Kurt heaved air into his lungs; already tired from the strain of teleporting on the meagre supplies their provisions had granted him. His thin chest bounced back and forth against his spine, but he managed to gasp out, "What are you *doing*? You don't know if whoever created this thing is friendly!" He gestured up at the inverted waterfall.
Pietro gyrated from foot to foot so fast his shoes were little more than a smear of white to the naked eye. "Gotta get to her," he babbled, looking past Kurt intently. "Gotta see her. Gotta - "
"See who?"
"Wanda."
"Who's Wanda?"
"My sister."
The simple statement hit Kurt with all the impact of a freight train, and he found himself gaping openly. "Your *sister*? Since when did you have a sibling?"
"Since forever. She's my twin. Wanda Maximoff. Thought she was still locked up - dead, even. But I was wrong. Thank God. I have to see her, talk with her. I gotta - "
"Pietro, hang on a second," said Kurt holding out his hands and placing them on Pietro's narrow shoulders. "Listen, Pietro, even if that *is* your sister - and I'm not saying it is; Forge's inventions didn't always work perfectly, remember - even if it *is* her, it's been four years since - "
"Actually, I think you'll find it's been a lot, lot longer," a strange, lilting voice intoned from somewhere above their heads.
Both Kurt and Pietro looked up, straight into the dark eyes of a teenage girl of about their age. Her hair was a snarled mess, and she wore the tattered, barely-decent remains of hospital garb and other mismatching clothes draped about her emaciated person like a shroud. He skin was pale, her cheeks sunken, and there was a curious glint in her eyes that glittered without the need for outside light.
However, curious as this ensemble was, it wasn't what immediately caught their attentions. That particular award went to the fact that she was floating effortlessly in empty air, with almost sixty feet of nothingness between her and the ground.
Kurt's jaw dropped open, and Pietro breathed reverently as she levitated down towards them with a regal air.
"Hello, Pietro," she said evenly, exclusive of emotion.
"Wanda?"
"You were expecting maybe Prince Charming?" Her mouth didn't budge, and there was no smile that accompanied the bland attempt at humour. "They said I'd see you soon. I've been making plans."
"You mean, *you* did this?" Pietro was nothing short of stunned, and neglected to ask who 'they' were. He probably had good reason to, in a way, since the primary reason Wanda had been placed in the mental institution all those years ago had been because of her lack of control, and subsequent emotional problems. A display of power like this required a hell of a lot of discipline. Perhaps... just perhaps...
Wanda smirked. It wasn't a nice expression. "Oh no, no, no. This pretty thing here is the work of my little Water Baby. I didn't want to expend any energy myself, because I was waiting for you."
The hairs along Kurt's spine started to bristle involuntarily. Sister or no sister, there was something screwy about this girl. He didn't like the hungry way her gaze rested on Pietro, or the way she talked to him, as if Kurt wasn't even there. And the way she talked about her little 'Water Baby' put him in mind of a slaver talk about their goods. The fact that she'd left untended the matter of who 'they' were only served to heighten his sudden surge of mistrust, and he regarded her through narrowed eyes.
"Um, excuse me," the elf broke in abruptly. "Are you really Pietro's sister?"
Wanda turned her neck, but nothing else. The look she gave him was appraising, and did nothing to bolster his confidence in her.
"Been making friends, eh Pietro? There weren't any friends where I was, but I have to say, I approve of your taste in boyfriends. Once you're done with more basic appetites, you can skin him and use his pelt to keep warm. Very nice."
The hairs stuck straight up, and Kurt felt his digigrade legs sink back into a defensive crouch. Even Pietro blanched a little at this, and frowned up at his long-lost sibling with the merest hint of misgiving.
"Wanda," he began, a thousand words struggling for supremacy inside his head, but less than ten finding their way to his tongue. "I.... it's been so long. I thought I'd never see you again - "
"Yes, well, you very nearly didn't." Wanda's head snapped back around to him, and her features moved momentarily into a glower. However, this evaporated in moments, and she floated lower; low enough to pat her brother on the top of his head, and then wipe her palm on her skimpy clothing afterwards. Her tone was flippant, but somehow barbed. "Still, I'm back now, and we have things to talk about. Lots of things. You and I."
Pietro's eyes shone, and Kurt watched with alarm as he nodded without ostensibly having noticed the oddness of his sister's conduct. True, Kurt didn't know all of what had gone on between these two to separate them for so long and cause Pietro never to have mentioned his twin, but his gut told him that there was something off about the situation. And Kurt's gut was rarely ever wrong.
"It'd probably be better of we held all discussions inside the bus," he said, nodding back toward the vehicle, where most of the rest of their party were now emerging and pattering over. "It's safer inside; and you can introduce yourself properly that way, er, Wanda, was it?"
"Yes. Wanda Petra Maximoff. Huh, it's been a long time since I've had to use my full name. Too long really. I like my name. Trips off the tongue like a babbling brook over stones, don't you think?"
"Uh, yeah. Very poetic, I'm sure. I'm Kurt Wag - " He didn't get to say any more, however, as he was abruptly caught in the gut by a glowing ball of green and hurtled through the air to land in an ungainly heap several feet away.
Wanda's hand sparkled with the last traces of a hex bolt, and she spat after him, "What do you know? Idiot. I only want to talk to my brother. The rest of you are expendable, so keep away."
Pietro gawked in a mixture of surprise and horror, and at the bus the figures that could only have been Logan and Raven started to run. "Wanda?" he said, and reeled back as she turned eyes filled with unmistakable hatred on him.
"Pietro," she returned, smiling. "Like I said; you and I have to have a few words. In private. Come along, now, little bro." She extended and arm, and the centre of her palm shimmered with the same energy she'd turned upon Kurt.
Pietro stared blankly at it, then at her face. "Wanda, what's gotten into you? I thought you were happy to see me. Aren't you glad I'm alive? I - "
"Shut up!" she cried, and a thin stream of her power lanced out like a lasso and looped his waist, pinning his arms against his sides. She gave a single hard tug, and he stumbled forwards, seemingly too astonished and shocked for his wits and speed to come into effect. Another tug brought him to his knees, and he watched as his sister rose into the air with a grace and control he'd used to wish she had, trailing the bond - and himself - behind her.
Kurt crawled to his feet. His stomach churned with the inherent nausea a blow to the gut usually brings with it, but otherwise he was miraculously unhurt. He sensed the pounding of feet as the others drew nearer, but was preoccupied by the sight of Pietro being hauled limply into the air. He and Wanda flew straight up, parallel to the water-wall, and then skimmed over the apex to disappear behind it.
"Pi....Pie...." he wheezed, and struggled forward as fast as he could.
He didn't know what exactly he intended to do, since the surging mountain of water spanned the breadth of the bridge, and there was no way he could scale it. Perhaps he intended to try walking through it - after all, it *was* only water. Or maybe he had another plan entirely. Or none at all.
However, he never got the chance to explore solutions to that problem, for as soon as he got within ten feet, something akin to a whip shot from the wall and knocked him backwards again. Kurt rolled head over heels, acrobatic training allowing him to land on his feet and try again, with much the same result.
Logan arrived a few seconds later, with Raven a footstep behind him and everybody else behind them - including the girls in Rogue and Lance's arms, respectively.
Kurt felt his mother's gentle hands hook under his armpits as he was roughly flung backwards again, but shrugged her off in an effort to try the wall once more.
Logan grabbed his wrist. "Don't be stupid, Elf," he growled. "I think that route's been proven a dead end."
"But... Pietro," said Kurt with difficulty. His lungs hurt unbearably, and he had the niggling misgiving that the burning pain in his chest was a cracked rib. "She... she took him... away... Not... sane... Saw it in her... her eyes..."
"Who *was* that?" Rogue demanded hotly. In her arms, Robyn lay limp, breathing erratic and eyes jerking beneath her lids.
"... Sister..."
Rogue snorted. "Pietro don't got no sister. He was an orphan, and an only child. He told me so himself, lotsa times."
Raven bit her lip. "Well, that's not... entirely true."
Rogue shot her mother a penetrating look. "Did he tell you something he didn't tell the rest of us?"
"Not exactly. My source was different, but I know my facts to be true. Pietro *did* have a sister. A long time ago. A twin, by the name of - "
"Wanda Maximoff."
Everybody simultaneously swivelled to look at Logan, whose jaw tightened under their scrutiny.
"Chuck told me about her once, when the little speed demon first showed up in Bayville. Apparently, he used to know their Pa, and said the bastard stuck Wanda in a mental institution when she was just a little kid because her abilities were too powerful and made her violent. Same time he dumped Speedy in an orphanage and never went back for him."
"Violent?" Rogue reiterated, aghast. "And she just took off with Pietro? Who knows what kinda mental state she's in *now* to do something like that?" Had her hands been free, she would've spread them wide with agitation. "Something tells me she didn't go to all this trouble to kidnap him, just so's she could reminisce about old times."
"It's possible she bears a great deal of resentment against Pietro for allowing their father to lock her away," Raven mused disconsolately. "Wanda was never entirely... how should I put it? Stable?"
"You sayin' she's a fruitcake?" demanded Lance.
"Well, if ten years in a nuthouse didn't do it, then several years in this wasteland probably woulda done the trick and sent her 'round the twist," Logan replied brusquely.
Rogue pursed her lips, her distress as obvious as her anger. "Gee, y'think?"
Kurt stretched out a hand towards the wall of water and coughed. Raven caught him as he fell to his knees, panting. "Pie... tro... Got to... get him... back."
"We will, Kurti," said Raven, nuzzling her face into his hair and shushing him soothingly, as she'd been wont to do when he was still a grizzling baby in her arms. "We will." _I made a promise to keep you kids safe, and I'm not going to break it. Not this time around._
"But how?" asked Jamie, reminding them that he was still there. The scout indicated to the wall with a bob of his head and tapped his foot in obvious anxiety at losing his 'saviour' less than a handful of hours after finding him. "That thing's massive, and from what you lot told me about your powers, I don't think any of you are equipped to *fly* over."
Raven looked at him, and it was as if a lightbulb went 'click' behind her eyes. Her face hardened, and she scrabbled to her feet. "I am."
Gathering up the still-wheezing Kurt, she deposited him in Logan's surprised arms and said simply, "Keep him safe. I know I can trust you with my son. You," she then pointed, a little of her old role as commander and principal coming to the fore.
"Me?" Lance looked around him bemusedly at the finger quivering in his face, less than an inch from his nose.
"Yes. I need power that can cover distances quickly, and you have lots of it. More than the rest of us, at any rate. If you can distract Wanda, then I can get Pietro out of there. You understand?" The last question was thrown over her shoulder to Logan, who just shrugged. "Quickly, then. Follow me and do as I say."
Lance blinked. "Uh, okay. I think." Tenderly, the earth-shaker laid Daisy at Logan's feet, accompanied with an apologetic glance. "Sorry, but I - duty calls."
"Kid, just move. Wanda may already have killed Speedy by now with you dithering about," said Logan, ever the gruff pragmatist. He signalled to Jamie, who dutifully clapped his hands and produced a clone that took Daisy back to the relative safety of the bus before evaporating.
"Right."
Lance sprinted over to where Raven was in the process of morphing into the largest, most powerful bird she could think of; which ended up looking like a cross between an eagle, an albatross and Goliath the Giant.
She flapped her huge wings a few times, experimentally swinging them back and forth so that her dusky plumage flashed in the morning sun. For some reason, the feathers were all pitch black. Then, carefully, she grasped Lance's shoulders with her talons, making sure they didn't pierce his thick jacket, and rose up into the air.
Raven had made a promise. And no teenage girl was going to stop her from keeping it.
*******************
Pietro grunted as he was dumped roughly on the ground. The lack of use in his arms made for a sore landing, and his shoulder twisted painfully as he jarred it. A small cry passed his lips, but he stifled it as a long shadow seeped over him, and he looked up into a face he'd longed to see for so long.
Yet it was a changed face from the one he knew. The girl he remembered as Wanda Maximoff was just about visible through the harsh lines and various scars that etched this person's face; but even that was a mere shade of what it should've been. It was, he considered, with a momentary flash of unwelcome philosophy, like someone had taken Wanda's face and used it as a mask. It was her skin, but the eyes belonged to somebody else. Someone worldlier, abrasive, and much, much more savage than the sister he'd known.
"Well, well, well." She tilted her face, looking down her nose at him. "We meet again, little brother. Anything to say for yourself?"
Pietro opened and shut his mouth like a fish, but not a single sound came out. He couldn't seem to make his throat work properly, and all that exited was a strange strangled noise that could've passed for a dying wheeze.
Wanda sniffed, and gave the energy in her hand a swift tug. She still hovered above him by about three feet, so he was sent off balance by the move and fell forwards onto his face.
"Nothing to say for yourself? I'm surprised. You were always so talkative before. Couldn't shut you up, no matter what we tried. And now not a peep? Shame, shame, Pietro. Shame, shame."
Pietro righted himself as best he could, rising to kneel on one knee. "Wanda," he said thickly. "Wanda, what's wrong? What's the matter with you? Why are you doing this? I haven't seen you in... in so long. Aren't you in the least bit happy to see me?"
She pursed her lips in thought, and 'umm'ed and 'aah'ed for a second, before saying, quite firmly, "No."
"But..." Pietro's eyes widened. This wasn't the sister he remembered at all. "I thought you were dead."
"I wished *you* were. I wished you were buried under the ground, all decayed and mouldy, with worms and maggots crawling through your skull," Wanda said morbidly, and loosed a fractured cackle. Her hands twisted, demonstrating how worms and maggots might move, and she waggled her fingers at him with quiet mirth, as if all this was just some big joke. "I wished, and wished, and wished that you'd died. A long, slow death, I wished for you, eked out until you cried like a baby."
"You... you can't mean that," Pietro gasped, horrified at the thought of his own flesh and blood wanting his demise.
"But I do," she replied gravely, levitating herself lower and grinning into his face. "Do, do, do, do, dooooooo. I'm deadly serious, Pietro. Get it? *Dead*ly serious" She laughed, loud and long, throwing back her head and guffawing like a drain.
Then, abruptly, she stopped, and her expression switched back to nothingness again. The change was so abrupt that her features seemed to merge together for a moment, creating a hideous collage of conflicting emotion and cruel words.
It was as if something clicked with Pietro, then. Some intrinsic part of being a twin, of knowing you had another half somewhere; someone who shared your thoughts, your feelings, your very life-force. He looked at her, at the face so altered by time and events, and he knew; he just *knew*, like he did his own state of mind.
_She's mad._
Wanda was insane. Not the quiet, soul-eating insanity that had a tenuous, half-formed hold over his mind, but the violent, pendulous kind that burst forth and let the world know it was there in all its glory, and rebelled at the slightest notion of normalcy.
He cleared his throat, and said slowly, "Wanda, please, listen to me. I know I - we - Father and I, we were wrong to... to do what we did to you. You didn't deserve to be locked away like that. I don't know how much of it you remember, but... but I've spent the rest of my life regretting it. It's just that there was nothing I could do to stop it. Father convinced me that it was for the best, and I went along with what he said. I was a child. I couldn't go against him, even if I - "
"You could've put up a *lot* more resistance than you did, brother dear," Wanda cut in icily. "A *lot* more. But then again, you liked the idea of getting rid of me just as much as he did, in the end."
"I didn't! I - "
"I was *always* getting more attention than you. It annoyed you like hell - I know it did! I saw your face whenever he talked to *me*, whenever he ignored you in favour of *me*. You wanted him to like you best, so you hated it when he didn't, and so hated me. You would've done anything to get rid of me and hog him all for yourself! His little lackey, that's all you ever aspired to be, and I got in the way of that. So, bye-bye Wanda, and hello little lackey Pie-Pie!"
Pietro's mouth hung open. "I never - "
"You did! You did! You did!" Wanda singsonged. "Don't even try to deny it. I know you, Pietro. Even after all these years, I still know you better than anybody else ever could, or ever will. After all, we shared a womb together. You can't get much closer than that, can you? You and me, me and you, altogether we make two! Two, by two, by two, by two, make... one lackey, and Lady Luck. That's my name, now. I don't want the one *he* gave me, and you called me by. I'm the lady of fortune, spinner of dice, queen of the cards!" She giggled, and twirled around in the air like a feather on a breeze.
"Wanda," said Pietro, trying to make her see sense and fast wondering whether it was even possible anymore. Perhaps in another world he would have simply snapped for her to snap out of it, or else run for the hills at breakneck speed.
But time and events had changed him from what he might have been. War and hatred had made him value that which before he would have taken for granted - maybe even resented and feared
"Wanda, please, listen to me - "
"Shut up!" she cried, and yanked the cord.
He braced himself and stayed his place, looking beseechingly up at her. "Wanda, I know we did you wrong, but please listen to me. I... I missed you so much. Every day, it was like a part of me had died. When the plague came, I was sure you were gone for good. I tried to pick up the pieces after Father left, but I thought about you every day. I never, ever forgot you. Ever!"
"The day you left me in that asylum," Wanda said coldly, "a part of you *did* die."
There was the sound of water splashing out of place behind her, and she whipped around to shout at someone stood at the base of the inverted 'fall. "Water Baby, keep it strong! No slipping, y'hear me? You know what'll happen otherwise."
A voice called weakly back to her. "I-I'm trying, but it's... it's hard. One of them keeps trying to get through."
"Well, don't let them. Kill them if you have to, just make sure they stay on that side. I don't want any interference while I speak to my brother! Nothing, do you understand?"
"But... but he keeps coming back. I've hit him so many times, and he keeps getting back up again."
Wanda tutted and peered through the wall, swivelling her head briefly to say, "Looks like your boyfriend's pretty keen to get you back, Pie-Pie."
"Kurt's not my boyfriend," Pietro shot back quickly. "He's my friend. He found and rescued me back in Bay... the place I used to live. He's the reason I'm here today."
"I'll have to thank him later, then, won't I? Before I kill him, that is."
Pietro struggled to his feet, hampered by the bonds still around his arms and midriff. "No, you can't! Any quarrel you have is with me or Father. Leave the others outta this. Wanda, I can understand that you're angry, but - "
"You understand nothing!" she snarled, spinning around and landing a hard slap across his cheek.
Pietro, taken unawares, was laid flat, and stayed prostrate on his back, face burning and red where she'd struck him.
Wanda turned back to where a small figure braced himself against another onslaught from Kurt, and Pietro vaguely heard her threaten him with a dire fate if he didn't do what he was told. The back of the speedster's head hurt where it'd slammed the tarmac, and he made no move to get back up until his vision had stopped swimming.
Thus it was that, when a large, black shape hove into view over the top of the water-wall, he was the first to see it. However, he blinked, not knowing what on earth it could be. Another of Wanda's tricks, perhaps? She'd changed so much; he didn't know what to think anymore.
It was only when he noticed the figure dangling precariously from the underside of the shape that he really started to take notice. Pietro's eyesight wasn't the best in the world, but as he strained he could make out the telltale mop of shaggy brown hair and leather jacket of Lance, as the other boy and what appeared to be a huge bird hovered in the sky.
Mystique, he realised with a jolt. The bird could only be her in a morph.
They'd come to rescue him, and somewhere inside his chest he found himself experiencing the strangest surge of... was that gratefulness? To Mystique?
It was nearly impossible to believe, but it was there nonetheless. Pietro was actually *glad* to see the shapeshifter he'd professed for so long to despise, and his face creased into a smile as the figure of Lance pointed, evidently having spotted him.
"Tch, tch, tch." Suddenly, Wanda materialized in his peripheral vision, shaking her head and tutting. "What're you looking so pleased about?"
"Nothing," he said hastily, averting his eyes and staring at her instead.
Wanda arched an eyebrow. "Oh really?" Suspiciously, she followed the line of sight he'd taken, and grunted in annoyance at the would-be rescue party suspended above the incredible aqueous creation. "Hmmm, they're more resourceful than I gave them credit for," she murmured, a grudging admiration present in her voice. "Seems a shame to get rid of it. Oh well."
Casually, she extended a hand above her hand, palm flat. Pietro watched with undisguised horror as her fingertips glowed green, and sparks of energy sparkled around her as a mass of power gathered in her hand. She smiled down at him, taking obvious pleasure in his dismayed expression, before unleashing the hex bolt and easily shooting the bird and its cargo out of the air.
The winged creature veered left, trying to escape the blast, but it was no use. Wanda's power spread wide, enveloping them both utterly. There was a burst of earth-shattering light and black feathers, and then the two of them plummeted gracelessly to the ground far below.
*******************
"*Mother*!" The cry ripped from Kurt's throat, and he struggled to leap from Logan's arms at the sight of Raven plummeting to earth.
The gruff mutant keep a firm grip of him, however, but Kurt heard him mutter a few choice curses under his breath at the horrific sight.
"Shit!" Rogue cried, aghast. "Holy *shit*! She shot them right out of the air like they were *nuthin'*!"
Kitty jutted out an arm and clutched at the southern girl's shoulder. "What's going on?" she demanded, an edge of fear to her tone. "What happened?"
"The girl - Wanda," said Jamie on her other side. "She's taken out both of our rescuers with a single shot."
The colour instantly drained from Kitty's already wan face, and her grip around Hope tightened. "Oh God, no! Lance!" she whispered, and tugged again at Rogue's sleeve. "Please, tell me, are they all right? Did she hurt them?"
"They're still fallin'," Rogue translated, her own tone strained as she willed her mother's wings to open and bear the two of them to safety. "They... they're comin' down awful fast. I can't see anything - too many feathers, and I - oh shit!"
The expletive spurted from her lips as the giant bird unexpectedly flapped and attempted to right itself in mid-air. However, it was hindered by the fact that its left wing appeared to have been completely severed, and was falling by itself several feet away. Feathers filled the air like a dirty cloud, but all of them saw with perfect, sickening clarity how it thrashed about and beat its remaining wing in a last ditch attempt to rescue both itself and the humanoid figure falling alongside it.
"Come on, Raven," Logan hissed through his teeth. "Come on! Dammit, come *on*!"
As one, the motley group of mutants watched as two of their number made the swift journey to earth. It took only a few seconds between flailing uselessly above the water-wall, and the time when everyone simultaneously knew that the moment of no return had been passed and that they were going to impact. They saw as the bird clawed helplessly at its passenger, slowing his descent a little, but ultimately able to do nothing.
They hit with a sickening crunch, and were lost amidst the swarm of down than followed in their wake.
Kurt let out an anguished, wordless yell, and bolted.
Logan didn't even try to hold onto him this time, since he was rushing across to their fallen companions himself, and reached their sides just in time to see Kurt disappear inside the mass of feathers. The elf reappeared seconds later, coughing and gesturing to the rapidly de-morphing bird beside him.
Logan dropped to Raven's side as patches of blue skin started to show through, and pressed an ear to her face. She was still breathing - thank God - but unconscious, and there was a large gash across her forehead that stretched down the side of her face to her top lip, seeping blood everywhere.
A quick, practised survey born of two hundred years of training revealed that the rest of her body, as far as her skeleton went, at least, was mercifully intact, and he let out a sigh of relief as a weight lifted from his shoulders. Apparently her morph had taken the brunt of the damage, and as her body shifted back to normal it somehow managed to heal most of her own wounds - save for her mangled arm...
"Lance? Lance?" Kitty's voice pattered up behind them, as she did herself. "Lance," she called desperately. "Where are you? Answer me, you big lug."
Logan looked at Kurt. Kurt looked at Logan. Together they look towards the sorry heap of leather and brown hair at Raven's feet. Kurt was already bent over his side, hand outstretched to the other boy's neck. Logan's keen eyesight picked out the tears easily, and he found himself cursing afresh as he moved over to look for himself.
Lance's eyes were open, his neck twisted to one side in such a manner that a human, mutant or not, could never withstand. The bulge of bone protruding from one side verified it, as did the pool of blood slowly gathering under his head and soaking into his hair. One hand was clenched, the other shaped into a claw where he'd panicked and grabbed ineffectually at handfuls of feathers, most of which were now covering him in a blanket of black.
Footsteps, and the others arrived at the grisly vista. Some of them swore, and Logan heard someone turn promptly around again and throw up.
"Lance?" Kitty stepped forward again, letting go of Rogue and fumbling blindly with one hand. "God dammit, will someone tell me where he is, right *now*!"
A flash of blue, the rhythm of furry footfalls. Kurt dashed to the sightless girl's side and grasped her arm in his hands, guiding her away from the scene.
"Kurt?" she said indignantly. "Leave off, I gotta make sure Lance is okay. If you, like, wanna be useful then take me to him - "
"Kätzchen, please," Kurt implored, words hitching involuntarily in his gullet. "Please, don't. Just come with me - Kätzchen."
"Kurt, I said let *go*," Kitty snapped, yanking herself away and repositioning Hope in her arms.
"Kätzchen..." Kurt said brokenly.
Something in his tone must have set the alarm bells ringing, because Kitty's head instantly jerked up. "Kurt, what's wrong? Kurt... it's something terrible, isn't it? I can hear it in your voice. Is it about Lance? Kurt, tell me! *Tell me*!"
Kurt turned and looked to the others for help, but they seemed just as shocked and at a loss as he was.
Rogue stepped closer, laying a hand on Kitty's shoulder and murmuring softy, "Come away, girl. There ain't nuthin' you can do now - "
Kitty's jaw dropped to her chest as the realisation of what they were saying sank in. "What're you... oh no! *No*! Not him! Not that! *Anything* but that!"
She tore herself away from both of them, stumbling backwards in her haste to be free of their well-meaning hands. Alvin caught her, and at his familiar, musty scent Kitty turned and stared blindly up into his face. "Alvin," she said. "Please, tell me they're wrong. Lance is okay, isn't he? Right?"
Alvin bit his lip and drew her into an embrace. "I'm sorry, my dear. I truly am."
"No," Kitty whispered. "Oh God, please, just... just, no. Oh, Lance. Lance, you bastard..." She collapsed into the preacher's arms, sobbing and cradling Hope like the baby girl was all she had left.
Alvin shushed her, and when she sank to her knees he followed suit and soothed her woes as best he could. Yet he could do little more, and Kitty emptied her tears against him as the rest of their party looked on helplessly.
It hadn't even been thirty minutes since they stopped the bus, and now they were faced with a situation none of them quite knew how to deal with. Even Logan seemed at a loss, and stared blankly at Raven and Lance's faces, as if he could wake them up just by looking at them. Kitty's wails echoed all their sentiments, as she hiccupped and wept her grief into Alvin's robe like her heart would burst.
Something shattered amongst them at that moment, and they all looked to the water-wall and those located beyond with a sudden, heavy mantle settling upon their hearts.
Today had seen the worst happen.
Today had seen them lose one of their own.
*******************
To Be Continued...
*******************
The Phantom; Erik's one of those Marmite characters. You either love him or hate him, and fic versions tend to get pigeonholed as a result, with few going into the former category. More's the pity. I have no twin, only two younger siblings of the sister variety, so anything pertaining to 'twinship' that actually turns out to be true herein is pure and total dumb luck.
Amarth Obstreperous; Hee hee, I spelled it right on the first attempt! Glad you like the fic, and kudos for reading it all in one sitting. ^_^
ChaosCat; Thanks for all the compliments, especially about Mystique. She and Logan do indeed make an interesting pair, don't they? As for more Evo survivors... well, you'll have to wait and see who made it, I'm afraid.
UnknownSource; You noticed the shoes! I was wondering whether that little inclusion just went right over people's heads, and you found a meaning in it I didn't expect, so kudos for that. As for the name mix-up, all I have to say is pish posh. You're still reading and still reviewing, so anything's good with me.
Remedy=Chill; Never disappoints? Well now, that *is* a compliment. I think Erik may be stealing some of psycho Wanda's fans. She's not going to be pleased about that, methinks... :) *Returns salute*
LonleyPoet; Welcome to our little realm of madness. Yes, Todd *did* have survival skills, but, as Pietro said, it was sheer bad luck that he was incapacitated by some bozo with a brick, thereby cutting off a lot of his unique, useful talents from him.
Krazy Xanadu; You review each time, which is more than a lot of people do, so I'm grateful for whatever you choose to write; be it one sentence or an entire essay. Thanks.
Risa; The 'Pietro/Wanda confrontation' as you call it, was hell to write (stupidly, I decided to write the whole bridge scene by myself - painful aching fingers!) and so merited quite a bit of prelude. Hopefully, though, it will have paid off and not disappoint. At least, not overmuch, with any luck. As for Jamie, you have Idsunki, Yma and Yodelbean to thank for his twisty-turny development. Not that I was complaining. All hail the New Mutants!
I'll take your muwahahaha, and raise you a Bwahahahahahahahahahahahahahahhaaaaaaaa!
*******************
Twenty-fifth Fragment ~ Tears
*******************
It was only a few moments later when Magneto stood in the main meeting room of Asteroid M, surrounded by all its waking inhabitants.
He had explained the situation as best he could.
"Therefore," he concluded, "I have a favour to ask of you. Although we had not planned to go back to Earth so soon, I would beg of you to come with me. To... to help recover my children. They are both near the Mississippi Bridge, within - to use one of Wolfsbane's phrases - spitting distance of each other, so the trip should not be so very long. They may be in the company of other mutants, too, whom we may incorporate into our ranks. Having said this, if any of you wish not to go, if any of you want to stay here, then I will understand. I will go down alone if necessary, for I cannot demand you risk your lives for a pair of mutants you've never even met."
There was silence in the large room.
Then one man spoke up.
"Sir," said Brian, accent clipped and betraying his traditional British upbringing, "as mutants, we were often cast out, set apart from other humans. But you took us in; you forged us into what we are now. You risked your life in rescuing us when we might not have even been saveable, and you never knew even one of us before we awoke here on the Asteroid. If that hadn't happened... well, I don't know what I, or any of us, would have done. In return for giving us all a new... family, then I say the least we can do is help you retrieve your own."
There was a murmur of assent that quickly rose to something akin to a cheer. Erik felt a sudden swell of pride and - dare he even think it? - affection for these motley outcasts and survivors of a bygone world.
"Very well," he said, voice once again slightly choked. "I shall select a party of you to come with me, and then we will leave for Earth."
Peter looked around the room. He hadn't realised how many people - no, mutants, Magneto had saved. They all broke into cheers around him, but the sound was muffled due to the sudden closeness of Dazzler.
She looked up at him, her gaze questioning. In turn, he glanced over at Wolfsbane. Unlike the rest of the room, these two looked to *him*, not Magneto for a decision. They trusted him to do them right, their training linking them in idea for a moment. Peter nodded, and the three stepped forward before any of the others could.
"We'll go, Magneto. We're the only ones trained for a mission like this. I only wish the Jamies were healthy enough to make the trip, but we can do this without them." Spider-Man crossed his arms over his chest and looked about the room, challenging the others to contradict him.
None dared.
"Very well," Magneto said again, and there was something to his voice when he laid a hand on Peter's shoulder. Something almost like... approval. "We shall leave as soon as possible. Hank, prepare a transport to Earth for the four of us."
He turned on one heel and strode purposefully out of the hall, the blue furred doctor in tail. Peter favoured his friends with a sad smile before slipping on his mask.
"Come on, we've got work to do."
As the trio followed Magneto and Hank, Wolfsbane grinned, showing off her sharp teeth. "Finally, some action."
Peter didn't notice the hungry look she gave his back, adding a double meaning to her reply.
Peter didn't, but Dazzler did.
*******************
"Wanda?" Kurt appeared at Pietro's side, Robyn having been safely deposited in Rogue's arms. "Who's that?"
Pietro didn't answer at first. He just stood there, gulping and staring, fingers trembling as they clutched at the sight-enhancers like a lifeline. He seemed as if in a trance, and started violently when Kurt laid a soothing hand on his shoulder.
"Pietro? Was ist los, Bruder?" Kurt's eyes were soft, but held a hint of concern at the abrupt change in the albino's behaviour.
It was as if what little pallid colour Pietro possessed had drained from his face. His skin was ashen, and beads of sweat had begun to form on his brow in a manner akin to fever. His gaze was unfocused, staring, and more than a little disconcerting to those it alighted on without seeing. When he blinked, which wasn't often, it was a slow, sweeping swish of his eyelids that seemed to require a lot of effort on his part. Kurt was reminded of the original state in which he'd found Pietro, back in Bayville; insanity setting in and almost half-dead for want of living companions and quiet dreams.
The elf took a step forward, hesitantly. He was dimly aware of the silence that had settled upon Raven and Logan behind him, but was at present more concerned for his adopted-sibling's welfare. "Pietro, what is it? Is there someone on the other side of the water that you know?"
"I thought she was dead." Pietro's voice was barely above a whisper, and when he looked at Kurt it was as if he was peering straight through him. "All those years ago... I thought... I thought we'd killed her. But she's alive." His lips twitched, like they wanted to tug into a smile, but couldn't quite make it that far. "Alive," he murmured, more to himself than anyone else. "No thanks to me. Or him, for that matter. I let him put her away; let him... Alive." He repeated the refrain, rolling it around in his mouth and testing it on his tongue. "Alive."
Kurt exchanged a brief glance with Logan, whose mouth had set into a hard line and whose eyes were flinty. "Mein Herr, do you know who he's talking about? Who's out there on that bridge that could have such an effect - "
"The bridge!" Pietro suddenly cried. "Of course!" He thrust Forge's invention into Raven's hands and whipped around, clawing at the doors of the bus. In seconds he had them open and was dashing across the tarmac as only he could: in a blur of speed.
"Pietro! Wait!" Kurt didn't pause to think of the consequences, and promptly vanished in a puff of lilac smoke and sulphurous smell.
{BAMF!}
Pietro ground to a halt as Kurt reappeared directly in front of him, skidding sideways and just avoiding smashing right into the panting elf.
Kurt heaved air into his lungs; already tired from the strain of teleporting on the meagre supplies their provisions had granted him. His thin chest bounced back and forth against his spine, but he managed to gasp out, "What are you *doing*? You don't know if whoever created this thing is friendly!" He gestured up at the inverted waterfall.
Pietro gyrated from foot to foot so fast his shoes were little more than a smear of white to the naked eye. "Gotta get to her," he babbled, looking past Kurt intently. "Gotta see her. Gotta - "
"See who?"
"Wanda."
"Who's Wanda?"
"My sister."
The simple statement hit Kurt with all the impact of a freight train, and he found himself gaping openly. "Your *sister*? Since when did you have a sibling?"
"Since forever. She's my twin. Wanda Maximoff. Thought she was still locked up - dead, even. But I was wrong. Thank God. I have to see her, talk with her. I gotta - "
"Pietro, hang on a second," said Kurt holding out his hands and placing them on Pietro's narrow shoulders. "Listen, Pietro, even if that *is* your sister - and I'm not saying it is; Forge's inventions didn't always work perfectly, remember - even if it *is* her, it's been four years since - "
"Actually, I think you'll find it's been a lot, lot longer," a strange, lilting voice intoned from somewhere above their heads.
Both Kurt and Pietro looked up, straight into the dark eyes of a teenage girl of about their age. Her hair was a snarled mess, and she wore the tattered, barely-decent remains of hospital garb and other mismatching clothes draped about her emaciated person like a shroud. He skin was pale, her cheeks sunken, and there was a curious glint in her eyes that glittered without the need for outside light.
However, curious as this ensemble was, it wasn't what immediately caught their attentions. That particular award went to the fact that she was floating effortlessly in empty air, with almost sixty feet of nothingness between her and the ground.
Kurt's jaw dropped open, and Pietro breathed reverently as she levitated down towards them with a regal air.
"Hello, Pietro," she said evenly, exclusive of emotion.
"Wanda?"
"You were expecting maybe Prince Charming?" Her mouth didn't budge, and there was no smile that accompanied the bland attempt at humour. "They said I'd see you soon. I've been making plans."
"You mean, *you* did this?" Pietro was nothing short of stunned, and neglected to ask who 'they' were. He probably had good reason to, in a way, since the primary reason Wanda had been placed in the mental institution all those years ago had been because of her lack of control, and subsequent emotional problems. A display of power like this required a hell of a lot of discipline. Perhaps... just perhaps...
Wanda smirked. It wasn't a nice expression. "Oh no, no, no. This pretty thing here is the work of my little Water Baby. I didn't want to expend any energy myself, because I was waiting for you."
The hairs along Kurt's spine started to bristle involuntarily. Sister or no sister, there was something screwy about this girl. He didn't like the hungry way her gaze rested on Pietro, or the way she talked to him, as if Kurt wasn't even there. And the way she talked about her little 'Water Baby' put him in mind of a slaver talk about their goods. The fact that she'd left untended the matter of who 'they' were only served to heighten his sudden surge of mistrust, and he regarded her through narrowed eyes.
"Um, excuse me," the elf broke in abruptly. "Are you really Pietro's sister?"
Wanda turned her neck, but nothing else. The look she gave him was appraising, and did nothing to bolster his confidence in her.
"Been making friends, eh Pietro? There weren't any friends where I was, but I have to say, I approve of your taste in boyfriends. Once you're done with more basic appetites, you can skin him and use his pelt to keep warm. Very nice."
The hairs stuck straight up, and Kurt felt his digigrade legs sink back into a defensive crouch. Even Pietro blanched a little at this, and frowned up at his long-lost sibling with the merest hint of misgiving.
"Wanda," he began, a thousand words struggling for supremacy inside his head, but less than ten finding their way to his tongue. "I.... it's been so long. I thought I'd never see you again - "
"Yes, well, you very nearly didn't." Wanda's head snapped back around to him, and her features moved momentarily into a glower. However, this evaporated in moments, and she floated lower; low enough to pat her brother on the top of his head, and then wipe her palm on her skimpy clothing afterwards. Her tone was flippant, but somehow barbed. "Still, I'm back now, and we have things to talk about. Lots of things. You and I."
Pietro's eyes shone, and Kurt watched with alarm as he nodded without ostensibly having noticed the oddness of his sister's conduct. True, Kurt didn't know all of what had gone on between these two to separate them for so long and cause Pietro never to have mentioned his twin, but his gut told him that there was something off about the situation. And Kurt's gut was rarely ever wrong.
"It'd probably be better of we held all discussions inside the bus," he said, nodding back toward the vehicle, where most of the rest of their party were now emerging and pattering over. "It's safer inside; and you can introduce yourself properly that way, er, Wanda, was it?"
"Yes. Wanda Petra Maximoff. Huh, it's been a long time since I've had to use my full name. Too long really. I like my name. Trips off the tongue like a babbling brook over stones, don't you think?"
"Uh, yeah. Very poetic, I'm sure. I'm Kurt Wag - " He didn't get to say any more, however, as he was abruptly caught in the gut by a glowing ball of green and hurtled through the air to land in an ungainly heap several feet away.
Wanda's hand sparkled with the last traces of a hex bolt, and she spat after him, "What do you know? Idiot. I only want to talk to my brother. The rest of you are expendable, so keep away."
Pietro gawked in a mixture of surprise and horror, and at the bus the figures that could only have been Logan and Raven started to run. "Wanda?" he said, and reeled back as she turned eyes filled with unmistakable hatred on him.
"Pietro," she returned, smiling. "Like I said; you and I have to have a few words. In private. Come along, now, little bro." She extended and arm, and the centre of her palm shimmered with the same energy she'd turned upon Kurt.
Pietro stared blankly at it, then at her face. "Wanda, what's gotten into you? I thought you were happy to see me. Aren't you glad I'm alive? I - "
"Shut up!" she cried, and a thin stream of her power lanced out like a lasso and looped his waist, pinning his arms against his sides. She gave a single hard tug, and he stumbled forwards, seemingly too astonished and shocked for his wits and speed to come into effect. Another tug brought him to his knees, and he watched as his sister rose into the air with a grace and control he'd used to wish she had, trailing the bond - and himself - behind her.
Kurt crawled to his feet. His stomach churned with the inherent nausea a blow to the gut usually brings with it, but otherwise he was miraculously unhurt. He sensed the pounding of feet as the others drew nearer, but was preoccupied by the sight of Pietro being hauled limply into the air. He and Wanda flew straight up, parallel to the water-wall, and then skimmed over the apex to disappear behind it.
"Pi....Pie...." he wheezed, and struggled forward as fast as he could.
He didn't know what exactly he intended to do, since the surging mountain of water spanned the breadth of the bridge, and there was no way he could scale it. Perhaps he intended to try walking through it - after all, it *was* only water. Or maybe he had another plan entirely. Or none at all.
However, he never got the chance to explore solutions to that problem, for as soon as he got within ten feet, something akin to a whip shot from the wall and knocked him backwards again. Kurt rolled head over heels, acrobatic training allowing him to land on his feet and try again, with much the same result.
Logan arrived a few seconds later, with Raven a footstep behind him and everybody else behind them - including the girls in Rogue and Lance's arms, respectively.
Kurt felt his mother's gentle hands hook under his armpits as he was roughly flung backwards again, but shrugged her off in an effort to try the wall once more.
Logan grabbed his wrist. "Don't be stupid, Elf," he growled. "I think that route's been proven a dead end."
"But... Pietro," said Kurt with difficulty. His lungs hurt unbearably, and he had the niggling misgiving that the burning pain in his chest was a cracked rib. "She... she took him... away... Not... sane... Saw it in her... her eyes..."
"Who *was* that?" Rogue demanded hotly. In her arms, Robyn lay limp, breathing erratic and eyes jerking beneath her lids.
"... Sister..."
Rogue snorted. "Pietro don't got no sister. He was an orphan, and an only child. He told me so himself, lotsa times."
Raven bit her lip. "Well, that's not... entirely true."
Rogue shot her mother a penetrating look. "Did he tell you something he didn't tell the rest of us?"
"Not exactly. My source was different, but I know my facts to be true. Pietro *did* have a sister. A long time ago. A twin, by the name of - "
"Wanda Maximoff."
Everybody simultaneously swivelled to look at Logan, whose jaw tightened under their scrutiny.
"Chuck told me about her once, when the little speed demon first showed up in Bayville. Apparently, he used to know their Pa, and said the bastard stuck Wanda in a mental institution when she was just a little kid because her abilities were too powerful and made her violent. Same time he dumped Speedy in an orphanage and never went back for him."
"Violent?" Rogue reiterated, aghast. "And she just took off with Pietro? Who knows what kinda mental state she's in *now* to do something like that?" Had her hands been free, she would've spread them wide with agitation. "Something tells me she didn't go to all this trouble to kidnap him, just so's she could reminisce about old times."
"It's possible she bears a great deal of resentment against Pietro for allowing their father to lock her away," Raven mused disconsolately. "Wanda was never entirely... how should I put it? Stable?"
"You sayin' she's a fruitcake?" demanded Lance.
"Well, if ten years in a nuthouse didn't do it, then several years in this wasteland probably woulda done the trick and sent her 'round the twist," Logan replied brusquely.
Rogue pursed her lips, her distress as obvious as her anger. "Gee, y'think?"
Kurt stretched out a hand towards the wall of water and coughed. Raven caught him as he fell to his knees, panting. "Pie... tro... Got to... get him... back."
"We will, Kurti," said Raven, nuzzling her face into his hair and shushing him soothingly, as she'd been wont to do when he was still a grizzling baby in her arms. "We will." _I made a promise to keep you kids safe, and I'm not going to break it. Not this time around._
"But how?" asked Jamie, reminding them that he was still there. The scout indicated to the wall with a bob of his head and tapped his foot in obvious anxiety at losing his 'saviour' less than a handful of hours after finding him. "That thing's massive, and from what you lot told me about your powers, I don't think any of you are equipped to *fly* over."
Raven looked at him, and it was as if a lightbulb went 'click' behind her eyes. Her face hardened, and she scrabbled to her feet. "I am."
Gathering up the still-wheezing Kurt, she deposited him in Logan's surprised arms and said simply, "Keep him safe. I know I can trust you with my son. You," she then pointed, a little of her old role as commander and principal coming to the fore.
"Me?" Lance looked around him bemusedly at the finger quivering in his face, less than an inch from his nose.
"Yes. I need power that can cover distances quickly, and you have lots of it. More than the rest of us, at any rate. If you can distract Wanda, then I can get Pietro out of there. You understand?" The last question was thrown over her shoulder to Logan, who just shrugged. "Quickly, then. Follow me and do as I say."
Lance blinked. "Uh, okay. I think." Tenderly, the earth-shaker laid Daisy at Logan's feet, accompanied with an apologetic glance. "Sorry, but I - duty calls."
"Kid, just move. Wanda may already have killed Speedy by now with you dithering about," said Logan, ever the gruff pragmatist. He signalled to Jamie, who dutifully clapped his hands and produced a clone that took Daisy back to the relative safety of the bus before evaporating.
"Right."
Lance sprinted over to where Raven was in the process of morphing into the largest, most powerful bird she could think of; which ended up looking like a cross between an eagle, an albatross and Goliath the Giant.
She flapped her huge wings a few times, experimentally swinging them back and forth so that her dusky plumage flashed in the morning sun. For some reason, the feathers were all pitch black. Then, carefully, she grasped Lance's shoulders with her talons, making sure they didn't pierce his thick jacket, and rose up into the air.
Raven had made a promise. And no teenage girl was going to stop her from keeping it.
*******************
Pietro grunted as he was dumped roughly on the ground. The lack of use in his arms made for a sore landing, and his shoulder twisted painfully as he jarred it. A small cry passed his lips, but he stifled it as a long shadow seeped over him, and he looked up into a face he'd longed to see for so long.
Yet it was a changed face from the one he knew. The girl he remembered as Wanda Maximoff was just about visible through the harsh lines and various scars that etched this person's face; but even that was a mere shade of what it should've been. It was, he considered, with a momentary flash of unwelcome philosophy, like someone had taken Wanda's face and used it as a mask. It was her skin, but the eyes belonged to somebody else. Someone worldlier, abrasive, and much, much more savage than the sister he'd known.
"Well, well, well." She tilted her face, looking down her nose at him. "We meet again, little brother. Anything to say for yourself?"
Pietro opened and shut his mouth like a fish, but not a single sound came out. He couldn't seem to make his throat work properly, and all that exited was a strange strangled noise that could've passed for a dying wheeze.
Wanda sniffed, and gave the energy in her hand a swift tug. She still hovered above him by about three feet, so he was sent off balance by the move and fell forwards onto his face.
"Nothing to say for yourself? I'm surprised. You were always so talkative before. Couldn't shut you up, no matter what we tried. And now not a peep? Shame, shame, Pietro. Shame, shame."
Pietro righted himself as best he could, rising to kneel on one knee. "Wanda," he said thickly. "Wanda, what's wrong? What's the matter with you? Why are you doing this? I haven't seen you in... in so long. Aren't you in the least bit happy to see me?"
She pursed her lips in thought, and 'umm'ed and 'aah'ed for a second, before saying, quite firmly, "No."
"But..." Pietro's eyes widened. This wasn't the sister he remembered at all. "I thought you were dead."
"I wished *you* were. I wished you were buried under the ground, all decayed and mouldy, with worms and maggots crawling through your skull," Wanda said morbidly, and loosed a fractured cackle. Her hands twisted, demonstrating how worms and maggots might move, and she waggled her fingers at him with quiet mirth, as if all this was just some big joke. "I wished, and wished, and wished that you'd died. A long, slow death, I wished for you, eked out until you cried like a baby."
"You... you can't mean that," Pietro gasped, horrified at the thought of his own flesh and blood wanting his demise.
"But I do," she replied gravely, levitating herself lower and grinning into his face. "Do, do, do, do, dooooooo. I'm deadly serious, Pietro. Get it? *Dead*ly serious" She laughed, loud and long, throwing back her head and guffawing like a drain.
Then, abruptly, she stopped, and her expression switched back to nothingness again. The change was so abrupt that her features seemed to merge together for a moment, creating a hideous collage of conflicting emotion and cruel words.
It was as if something clicked with Pietro, then. Some intrinsic part of being a twin, of knowing you had another half somewhere; someone who shared your thoughts, your feelings, your very life-force. He looked at her, at the face so altered by time and events, and he knew; he just *knew*, like he did his own state of mind.
_She's mad._
Wanda was insane. Not the quiet, soul-eating insanity that had a tenuous, half-formed hold over his mind, but the violent, pendulous kind that burst forth and let the world know it was there in all its glory, and rebelled at the slightest notion of normalcy.
He cleared his throat, and said slowly, "Wanda, please, listen to me. I know I - we - Father and I, we were wrong to... to do what we did to you. You didn't deserve to be locked away like that. I don't know how much of it you remember, but... but I've spent the rest of my life regretting it. It's just that there was nothing I could do to stop it. Father convinced me that it was for the best, and I went along with what he said. I was a child. I couldn't go against him, even if I - "
"You could've put up a *lot* more resistance than you did, brother dear," Wanda cut in icily. "A *lot* more. But then again, you liked the idea of getting rid of me just as much as he did, in the end."
"I didn't! I - "
"I was *always* getting more attention than you. It annoyed you like hell - I know it did! I saw your face whenever he talked to *me*, whenever he ignored you in favour of *me*. You wanted him to like you best, so you hated it when he didn't, and so hated me. You would've done anything to get rid of me and hog him all for yourself! His little lackey, that's all you ever aspired to be, and I got in the way of that. So, bye-bye Wanda, and hello little lackey Pie-Pie!"
Pietro's mouth hung open. "I never - "
"You did! You did! You did!" Wanda singsonged. "Don't even try to deny it. I know you, Pietro. Even after all these years, I still know you better than anybody else ever could, or ever will. After all, we shared a womb together. You can't get much closer than that, can you? You and me, me and you, altogether we make two! Two, by two, by two, by two, make... one lackey, and Lady Luck. That's my name, now. I don't want the one *he* gave me, and you called me by. I'm the lady of fortune, spinner of dice, queen of the cards!" She giggled, and twirled around in the air like a feather on a breeze.
"Wanda," said Pietro, trying to make her see sense and fast wondering whether it was even possible anymore. Perhaps in another world he would have simply snapped for her to snap out of it, or else run for the hills at breakneck speed.
But time and events had changed him from what he might have been. War and hatred had made him value that which before he would have taken for granted - maybe even resented and feared
"Wanda, please, listen to me - "
"Shut up!" she cried, and yanked the cord.
He braced himself and stayed his place, looking beseechingly up at her. "Wanda, I know we did you wrong, but please listen to me. I... I missed you so much. Every day, it was like a part of me had died. When the plague came, I was sure you were gone for good. I tried to pick up the pieces after Father left, but I thought about you every day. I never, ever forgot you. Ever!"
"The day you left me in that asylum," Wanda said coldly, "a part of you *did* die."
There was the sound of water splashing out of place behind her, and she whipped around to shout at someone stood at the base of the inverted 'fall. "Water Baby, keep it strong! No slipping, y'hear me? You know what'll happen otherwise."
A voice called weakly back to her. "I-I'm trying, but it's... it's hard. One of them keeps trying to get through."
"Well, don't let them. Kill them if you have to, just make sure they stay on that side. I don't want any interference while I speak to my brother! Nothing, do you understand?"
"But... but he keeps coming back. I've hit him so many times, and he keeps getting back up again."
Wanda tutted and peered through the wall, swivelling her head briefly to say, "Looks like your boyfriend's pretty keen to get you back, Pie-Pie."
"Kurt's not my boyfriend," Pietro shot back quickly. "He's my friend. He found and rescued me back in Bay... the place I used to live. He's the reason I'm here today."
"I'll have to thank him later, then, won't I? Before I kill him, that is."
Pietro struggled to his feet, hampered by the bonds still around his arms and midriff. "No, you can't! Any quarrel you have is with me or Father. Leave the others outta this. Wanda, I can understand that you're angry, but - "
"You understand nothing!" she snarled, spinning around and landing a hard slap across his cheek.
Pietro, taken unawares, was laid flat, and stayed prostrate on his back, face burning and red where she'd struck him.
Wanda turned back to where a small figure braced himself against another onslaught from Kurt, and Pietro vaguely heard her threaten him with a dire fate if he didn't do what he was told. The back of the speedster's head hurt where it'd slammed the tarmac, and he made no move to get back up until his vision had stopped swimming.
Thus it was that, when a large, black shape hove into view over the top of the water-wall, he was the first to see it. However, he blinked, not knowing what on earth it could be. Another of Wanda's tricks, perhaps? She'd changed so much; he didn't know what to think anymore.
It was only when he noticed the figure dangling precariously from the underside of the shape that he really started to take notice. Pietro's eyesight wasn't the best in the world, but as he strained he could make out the telltale mop of shaggy brown hair and leather jacket of Lance, as the other boy and what appeared to be a huge bird hovered in the sky.
Mystique, he realised with a jolt. The bird could only be her in a morph.
They'd come to rescue him, and somewhere inside his chest he found himself experiencing the strangest surge of... was that gratefulness? To Mystique?
It was nearly impossible to believe, but it was there nonetheless. Pietro was actually *glad* to see the shapeshifter he'd professed for so long to despise, and his face creased into a smile as the figure of Lance pointed, evidently having spotted him.
"Tch, tch, tch." Suddenly, Wanda materialized in his peripheral vision, shaking her head and tutting. "What're you looking so pleased about?"
"Nothing," he said hastily, averting his eyes and staring at her instead.
Wanda arched an eyebrow. "Oh really?" Suspiciously, she followed the line of sight he'd taken, and grunted in annoyance at the would-be rescue party suspended above the incredible aqueous creation. "Hmmm, they're more resourceful than I gave them credit for," she murmured, a grudging admiration present in her voice. "Seems a shame to get rid of it. Oh well."
Casually, she extended a hand above her hand, palm flat. Pietro watched with undisguised horror as her fingertips glowed green, and sparks of energy sparkled around her as a mass of power gathered in her hand. She smiled down at him, taking obvious pleasure in his dismayed expression, before unleashing the hex bolt and easily shooting the bird and its cargo out of the air.
The winged creature veered left, trying to escape the blast, but it was no use. Wanda's power spread wide, enveloping them both utterly. There was a burst of earth-shattering light and black feathers, and then the two of them plummeted gracelessly to the ground far below.
*******************
"*Mother*!" The cry ripped from Kurt's throat, and he struggled to leap from Logan's arms at the sight of Raven plummeting to earth.
The gruff mutant keep a firm grip of him, however, but Kurt heard him mutter a few choice curses under his breath at the horrific sight.
"Shit!" Rogue cried, aghast. "Holy *shit*! She shot them right out of the air like they were *nuthin'*!"
Kitty jutted out an arm and clutched at the southern girl's shoulder. "What's going on?" she demanded, an edge of fear to her tone. "What happened?"
"The girl - Wanda," said Jamie on her other side. "She's taken out both of our rescuers with a single shot."
The colour instantly drained from Kitty's already wan face, and her grip around Hope tightened. "Oh God, no! Lance!" she whispered, and tugged again at Rogue's sleeve. "Please, tell me, are they all right? Did she hurt them?"
"They're still fallin'," Rogue translated, her own tone strained as she willed her mother's wings to open and bear the two of them to safety. "They... they're comin' down awful fast. I can't see anything - too many feathers, and I - oh shit!"
The expletive spurted from her lips as the giant bird unexpectedly flapped and attempted to right itself in mid-air. However, it was hindered by the fact that its left wing appeared to have been completely severed, and was falling by itself several feet away. Feathers filled the air like a dirty cloud, but all of them saw with perfect, sickening clarity how it thrashed about and beat its remaining wing in a last ditch attempt to rescue both itself and the humanoid figure falling alongside it.
"Come on, Raven," Logan hissed through his teeth. "Come on! Dammit, come *on*!"
As one, the motley group of mutants watched as two of their number made the swift journey to earth. It took only a few seconds between flailing uselessly above the water-wall, and the time when everyone simultaneously knew that the moment of no return had been passed and that they were going to impact. They saw as the bird clawed helplessly at its passenger, slowing his descent a little, but ultimately able to do nothing.
They hit with a sickening crunch, and were lost amidst the swarm of down than followed in their wake.
Kurt let out an anguished, wordless yell, and bolted.
Logan didn't even try to hold onto him this time, since he was rushing across to their fallen companions himself, and reached their sides just in time to see Kurt disappear inside the mass of feathers. The elf reappeared seconds later, coughing and gesturing to the rapidly de-morphing bird beside him.
Logan dropped to Raven's side as patches of blue skin started to show through, and pressed an ear to her face. She was still breathing - thank God - but unconscious, and there was a large gash across her forehead that stretched down the side of her face to her top lip, seeping blood everywhere.
A quick, practised survey born of two hundred years of training revealed that the rest of her body, as far as her skeleton went, at least, was mercifully intact, and he let out a sigh of relief as a weight lifted from his shoulders. Apparently her morph had taken the brunt of the damage, and as her body shifted back to normal it somehow managed to heal most of her own wounds - save for her mangled arm...
"Lance? Lance?" Kitty's voice pattered up behind them, as she did herself. "Lance," she called desperately. "Where are you? Answer me, you big lug."
Logan looked at Kurt. Kurt looked at Logan. Together they look towards the sorry heap of leather and brown hair at Raven's feet. Kurt was already bent over his side, hand outstretched to the other boy's neck. Logan's keen eyesight picked out the tears easily, and he found himself cursing afresh as he moved over to look for himself.
Lance's eyes were open, his neck twisted to one side in such a manner that a human, mutant or not, could never withstand. The bulge of bone protruding from one side verified it, as did the pool of blood slowly gathering under his head and soaking into his hair. One hand was clenched, the other shaped into a claw where he'd panicked and grabbed ineffectually at handfuls of feathers, most of which were now covering him in a blanket of black.
Footsteps, and the others arrived at the grisly vista. Some of them swore, and Logan heard someone turn promptly around again and throw up.
"Lance?" Kitty stepped forward again, letting go of Rogue and fumbling blindly with one hand. "God dammit, will someone tell me where he is, right *now*!"
A flash of blue, the rhythm of furry footfalls. Kurt dashed to the sightless girl's side and grasped her arm in his hands, guiding her away from the scene.
"Kurt?" she said indignantly. "Leave off, I gotta make sure Lance is okay. If you, like, wanna be useful then take me to him - "
"Kätzchen, please," Kurt implored, words hitching involuntarily in his gullet. "Please, don't. Just come with me - Kätzchen."
"Kurt, I said let *go*," Kitty snapped, yanking herself away and repositioning Hope in her arms.
"Kätzchen..." Kurt said brokenly.
Something in his tone must have set the alarm bells ringing, because Kitty's head instantly jerked up. "Kurt, what's wrong? Kurt... it's something terrible, isn't it? I can hear it in your voice. Is it about Lance? Kurt, tell me! *Tell me*!"
Kurt turned and looked to the others for help, but they seemed just as shocked and at a loss as he was.
Rogue stepped closer, laying a hand on Kitty's shoulder and murmuring softy, "Come away, girl. There ain't nuthin' you can do now - "
Kitty's jaw dropped to her chest as the realisation of what they were saying sank in. "What're you... oh no! *No*! Not him! Not that! *Anything* but that!"
She tore herself away from both of them, stumbling backwards in her haste to be free of their well-meaning hands. Alvin caught her, and at his familiar, musty scent Kitty turned and stared blindly up into his face. "Alvin," she said. "Please, tell me they're wrong. Lance is okay, isn't he? Right?"
Alvin bit his lip and drew her into an embrace. "I'm sorry, my dear. I truly am."
"No," Kitty whispered. "Oh God, please, just... just, no. Oh, Lance. Lance, you bastard..." She collapsed into the preacher's arms, sobbing and cradling Hope like the baby girl was all she had left.
Alvin shushed her, and when she sank to her knees he followed suit and soothed her woes as best he could. Yet he could do little more, and Kitty emptied her tears against him as the rest of their party looked on helplessly.
It hadn't even been thirty minutes since they stopped the bus, and now they were faced with a situation none of them quite knew how to deal with. Even Logan seemed at a loss, and stared blankly at Raven and Lance's faces, as if he could wake them up just by looking at them. Kitty's wails echoed all their sentiments, as she hiccupped and wept her grief into Alvin's robe like her heart would burst.
Something shattered amongst them at that moment, and they all looked to the water-wall and those located beyond with a sudden, heavy mantle settling upon their hearts.
Today had seen the worst happen.
Today had seen them lose one of their own.
*******************
To Be Continued...
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