A/N ~ Apologies for being a few days late with this update. Uni is manic. Let's hear it for Utopian Writings... -_-;; Feh.
ChaosCat; Pin Cushion Pietro. Heh. And who will be next to go? Will *anybody* be next to go? *Rubs hands together* Oh, the possibilities for torturing you readers...
Krazy Xanadu; Thanks for the compliments. Cliff-hangers will inherit the earth... maybe.
UnknownSource; You know, I really didn't know that about lightning. Learn something new every day, huh? And here is some Magneto especially for you.
The Phantom; Pietro's blue-gold is a facet of this chapter, if you interpret it correctly. But even if you don't, it's clarified later on in the story. And were you watching Absolutely Fabulous when you wrote that review. Mahvellous, sweetie, truly mahvellous.
Naela; Bwee-hee-hee-hee, a new reviewer. Glad you liked the things you liked, and sorry for the things you didn't. The cast doesn't stay so big forever, so at least one of your quibbles will (hopefully) be dealt with as we go. ^_^
Yma; You're very welcome for 'Watch and Learn', babs. I just have to apologise for that gaff concerning Logan's broken arm. *Slaps own wrist* Naughty Scribbler, naughty! Oh, and if you were wondering (and even if you weren't), my favourite chapters in WaL were the ends of the twins and Evan, respectively. Can't beat a good death scene :)
Draganess; Wow, note-taking. I'm touched. And your first and second reactions made me laugh. OMG, he's dead! OMG! He's *still* dead! ^_^
Ambrosia; Okay, I'll concede the point. I wanted it to happen. Therefore, it happened. Slap the handcuff on me now, officer. I promise I'll be a good girl... ;) 'Anruptly' is my crappy typing skills at work, and 'riffle' means 'to leaf through'. You riffle through a book or pamphlet. You're very good at spotting intertextualities, by the way. I was wondering whether anyone would detect the 'Craft' influences. Pertaining to Robyn's temperature, I wouldn't know. I didn't write those lines, and my medicinal knowledge extends to how many paracetamol I'm allowed in a day. I suppose... um... well, Marvel's famous for having plotholes big enough to drive trucks thorugh, so why can't we fan-writers do likewise? Go forth and tweak the nose of continuity, friends!
AerinBrown; I'm weighing the scales for happy vs. unhappy ending. They're about balanced right now, so it could go either way. ;) I love being evil. It's so much more rewarding than being heroic.
Remedy=Chill; Thank you for your kind words, friend.
Witch-UK; Appreciate the review, girl. It's nice when people take the time out to say they're reading - even if it's just a line or two. ^_^
Ricter; You think that was the best chapter? Wow. I say wow, because I actually didn't think it was up to standard. Probably because I pretty much wrote that one alone, save for the Daisy-Kitty scene. That would be InterNutter's doing. And there I go answering your other question.
Nessie6; So many people reviwed this chapter - I is so happy! ^____^
Risa; I don't know... a big-eyed, adorable Pietro would probably have a *lot* of candy stashed away someplace. Y'know, presents from fangirls and suchlike? And just to confuzzle you, while Yma, Id and 'Bean pretty much instigated the whole Jamie situation, it was in fact me who wrote that little scene you referred to. I coerced people into letting me monopolise the Board and wrote the 'bloody bridge scene', as it quickly became known, on my lonesome. So here's some more Jamie for you in this chapter.
Incrediblecuznz; You have no idea how close I came to insulting you whilst misspelling your pseudonym. Thanks for the review, and I'm happy you're happy about the Pietro-Wanda-ness. Yay. ^_^ Hope you can review again this time around.
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Twenty-seventh Fragment ~ Windswift
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"Kurt!" Logan lunged and caught the elf as he tried to dive into the water-wall.
"Let go of me!" Kurt writhed, scratched, and even went so far as to bite the elder mutant's hand. Logan grunted, but the half-moon of teeth-marks was gone in an instant thanks to his healing factor.
"Kurt," he said again, warningly. A short, sharp yank to the tail elicited a cessation of movement, and Kurt turned huge eyes upon his once-teacher.
"But she's killing him," he pleaded. "I won't let anyone else die. I won't!"
"Neither will I, but you're just gonna get yerself killed that way."
"I don't see you making any better suggestions!" he snapped, and twisted free through some incredible bending manoeuvre only he could've managed. "I can't just stand around doing nothing while that... that madwoman tears Pietro apart. Sister or not, she has to be stopped!"
"I know," Logan growled. Then softer, "I know, Elf. But I - " He was abruptly cut off by the scream that rent the air in two around them.
Everyone snapped around at the distinctly female shriek, and saw quivers of green lace the space above the apex of the water-wall. They tore the sky apart like knives, and a few verdant bolts flew over like shards of glass, fizzling to the ground on their side of the obstruction. Kurt leaped away as one landed nearby, and narrowly avoided being hit with the debris it created.
"What the f - " Logan swore, doing likewise in another direction.
"Wanda," said Kurt grimly. "It can only be Wanda's power."
Alvin blinked. "But if she's turning it on us, then that must mean she's finished with Master Windswift."
Kurt's eyes rounded, and he renewed his charge at the rushing torrent, only to be beaten back by a flurry of explosions that rocked the ground beneath them. "Pietro!" he called desperately. "*Pietro*!"
"Look out!" A body crashed into him, and Kurt crashed to the ground. A foundered hex-bolt skimmed the tip of his tail as it reflexively arched into the air, taking a layer of fur and skin with it and rendering the patch of floor behind them a smoking crater.
"You okay?" asked one of the three new Jamies. Kurt nodded, but struggled to get to his feet. A clone grabbed his wrist and dragged him back down again. "Our objective is survival," he gritted.
"But Pietro - "
"Is already lost. I'm sorry. I don't like the idea any more than you do, but if any of us try to rescue him through that then we'll be frazzled before we get to within an inch of the Blessed One - and that's assuming we can even get over that wall first." As if to punctuate his words, another barrage of hex-bolts lanced the ground.
"Fall back!" Kurt dimly heard Logan bellow, and caught a glimpse of the burly mutant scooping Raven into his arms. Her long red hair hung loose around her head, and he could only see one of her hands dangling down. Splots of red dripped from her body, and her eyes were closed.
"Mother," he whispered, torn. Rogue flashed past, a clutch of swaddling that was Robyn held tight to her chest. Alvin pursued her, a broken bundle of brown hair and leather slung over his shoulder and staining the back of his robe. "Kleines... but I have to - "
"Incoming!" One of the Jamies wrenched Kurt upright and forcibly threw him aside as a familiar whistling sounded overhead. The impact came a second later, blowing all four of them back yet further.
Kurt looked up, and noted with some irony that he'd been hurled yet *further* away from the water-wall. Hex-bolts flew over it, thick and fast. They resembled a miniature meteor shower, and would've been strikingly beautiful, had it not been for the massive destruction left in their wake. One of the Jamies was too close, and an arc of green surged towards him like lightning.
Kurt was running before he knew it, but tears were already blinding him as the clone was struck down. As one, the two remaining Jamies screamed, but both had the good sense to flee the scene before they, too, were incinerated. They caught at both of Kurt's arms and dragged him rearwards, stumbling and tripping in their haste and vicarious pain, and Kurt could only watch as the smouldering remains crumbled to dust behind them.
*******************
"So you were just gonna leave me behind..."
"...without saying *anything*, then?"
Erik sighed and rubbed at the sore spot between his eyes. He halted in his tracks and turned around, fixing the ostensible twin boys who had followed him to the outer corridors of the asteroid with a baleful stare. They at least had the good decency to look abashed at their pestering.
"Multiple, you have to understand. This isn't just another training simulation. This is a real mission, and we can't afford any mishaps. You're recent... condition is cause for concern on that front."
Simultaneously, the pair scuffed their feet. "But I can help," they said together.
"And what happens if another of your clones dies somewhere while you're in the midst of a battle? You know what'll happen. By coming along in spite of that, you'd be putting the rest of the team in danger. Maybe even consigning them to death. Is that what you want?"
"No," they mumbled grudgingly, and toed the metallic floor some more. "But I wanna *do* something. I'm not just a passenger here. What else can I do but fight?"
"Fighting... isn't always the answer," Erik said thoughtfully, the image of Xavier playing about his mind's eye. "Sometimes there are more important tasks that must be completed instead. Other approaches...."
"Such as? Tell me, so I can be helpf - " The words gargled away in their throats, and both Jamies sank to their knees with sudden paleness invading their cheeks. Their eyes enlarged until they dominated each face, and a soundless scream flexed their gullets as they each toppled over and writhed on the floor.
Erik was beside him in a second. "What? What is it?" he demanded, worry tincturing his voice.
"Hurts," whispered one Jamie, scratching at his face and leaving grooves in his cheeks as he clawed at some invisible pain-giver. "Hurts so much!"
"Fire," said the other, squeezing his eyes shut in obvious agony. "Can't stop it. Too fast, I... I - AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!" and he slumped into a limp heap. His doppelganger did likewise, but not before whispering a word that stirred something in Erik's chest and caused a wave of ice to wash over his usually stoic features.
"Run, Windswift. Run from her and save yourself..."
He froze. Windswift? An old memory reared up in his mind. That had been a childhood nickname for his son. He'd ceased to use it years ago, about the time the boy became reclusive and anti-social following the loss of his sister. They'd never really shared the same closeness after that, and nicknames became a thing of the past, relegated to recollections of happier times.
Footsteps pounded the corridor, and a shadow fell across them. "What's going on?" said Brian's unmistakably English voice.
"I think... another clone was destroyed on Earth," Erik ventured.
Brian nodded, not needing any more explanation than that. "Shall I take him to the med-lab? So you can go, I mean."
"What? Uh - yes. Yes, take him there to recover."
He moved aside, and Brian stooped to pick up the inert cloner. "It must've been bad this time to have this dramatic a reaction. I hate to think what he saw. He sees through the eyes of a clone for a few seconds before it dies, you know."
"I know," Erik said, nodding. "He told me such, when there were far more of him." With a swish of his cloak, he turned away and began walking sedately towards the capsule bay. "Take care of him. The rest of the team are waiting for me."
"Will do, sir," Brian replied, flicking a casual salute as he always did, and wondering why the cheery gesture wasn't reciprocated like usual.
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Wanda screamed, loud and long. Her hands were little more than balls of glowing green fire, fingers indistinguishable in the blaze. Around her billowed a cloud of jade as deadly as it was beautiful. Her eyes were wide and terrified as she literally *felt* herself losing control. It was like having the proverbial mat suddenly yanked out from beneath her feet.
Below, Pietro dodged and weaved, trying to avoid the barrage of random hex-bolts skittering down on him. His speed had never been such an asset, and he managed to pass several hectic minutes with only a few scorch marks to show for it. In another time, he might've gloated over his achievement, but right now he was far too concerned with the drama playing out above him.
There was no time for yelling her name, as he'd begun doing right before a hex-bolt flew at his heart. He just hoped that she could see him; that she knew he was here for her. In truth, he had no real idea of what to do in the situation, but some small part of him hoped against hope that his continued presence on the battlefield counted for *something*. He'd never been much of a believer in fate, but he was open to any idea if it portended the best outcome.
The sounds of many voices crying out in terror and pain reached his ears from somewhere, and he chanced a look at the water-wall.
Big mistake.
One should always keep one's eyes on the ground ahead when travelling at excessive speeds. Especially when the ground ahead isn't staying ahead, and instead insists upon flying into the air and shattering at the most inopportune moments.
His foot had barely touched the tarmac when it exploded beneath him, sending him hurling into the air along with enough debris to cause considerable damage. Pietro twisted in mid-flight, bringing his legs around so that they landed under him, feet first. The impact was jarring to say the least, but he retained enough momentum to avoid the wreckage that landed in his wake.
He barely noticed the small golden lump in the road until he was nearly on top of it, and swerved at the very last second to skid to a halt inches before his nose ploughed straight into the swirling barricade.
He glanced down, and was rewarded with the sight of a small kid - visible mutant, no question. Possible second gen. In place of skin he had scales, but they were soft and the colour of sunlight, rather than the harsh olive lizardine style Daisy possessed. Twin orbs of molten fear stared up at him, mixed with pronounced exhaustion and the distinct beginnings of shock. The kid's arms were outstretched, hands trembling like he was caught in an earth tremor, and every now and then a muscle in his jaw twitched with obvious effort of concentration.
"Water Baby?" Pietro wheezed.
The kid said nothing, but his entire body started to shake a little bit more at the name.
{RUMBLERUMBLERUMBLERUMBLE-CRASH!}
Pietro's head snapped around at the all-too-familiar sound of a hex-bolt churning the concrete towards them, leaving a trail of upturned terrain like that of Bugs Bunny on acid. On impulse, the speedster grabbed the scaly kid and moved, ignoring aching muscles. His limbs were designed for short dashes, but not this never-ending rush Wanda was forcing him into.
The kid yipped as he was gathered up, but his voice immediately switched to a wail as the sound of falling water smacking against concrete reverberated around them.
Pietro didn't even have to turn around for his mind to make the sickening connection. _*Water Baby*, shit!_
Several tonnes of water came crashing down onto the bridge and swept along and over it as the cause for its incarceration was suddenly removed from the equation. What resembled a tsunami powered along behind both speedster and his charge, and Pietro was hard pushed to keep ahead of the angry torrent. He pumped his legs faster than he'd ever gone before, permanently aware of the surging spray flickering the backs of his heels. His nerve endings screeched, but he beat them down again, ordering his muscles to work harder. He could breathe later, but for now, moving was the most imperative thing in the entire world.
He kept running even after the last of the water had washed over the sides, spinning around and turning a wide arc as soon as he was sure it was safe to do so. Instantly he did, he saw that the way had finally opened up between himself and the bus, and all contents therein.
However, there was still one very prominent obstacle blocking his path from here to there.
And her name was Wanda.
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In the fertile land of the Goddess, all was not well.
Seer stood in the centre of a crowd, surrounded on all sides by eager listeners. The Goddess herself sat in her battered old wheelchair at the front, listening fervently to the soft whispers their prophet spoke.
"Brother Time has met Lady Luck," Seer intoned, voice calm and almost mechanical. "Fire, Earth, Air and Water have all met. Now is the time when the God of Earth shall fall from the sky..."
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"... And the Lady of Sky shall rise from the earth," murmured Scry in a small, cramped room of Mutie-Town, where a similar scene played out. "Together they will bring each other home. Together their family shall be complete. Together they will return to their proper places. And they shall be bound together with a ring of gold. Bathed in blood and love, pain and joy, family and separation, a phoenix shall be born from the ashes of the Old World."
"Wuzzit mean?" whispered one of the watchers.
"It means," said Scry, blinking from his Vision, "That we'd better prepare."
"Why?"
"The Lord of Earth is coming."
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Rogue looked back, as Logan, with Raven in his arms, clambered onto the waiting bus before her. In the interim, she stole a glance towards where Kurt was being forcibly dragged along by a pair of Jamies. Thus it was that, when the water-wall came crashing down, she and her brother were the first to see it.
"Look out!" she cried, and began running towards the trio until she remembered the precious charge in her arms. Robyn was heavy, and Rogue had no wish to accidentally drop her adoptive sister through manhandling her. However, she bit her lip until blood flowed watching Kurt and his 'keepers' run faster, trying to escape the torrent surging towards them.
They began climbing the slight incline upon which the bus was parked just as the water reached them. Rogue's breath caught in her gullet. They weren't going to make it! They were too close to the base - too close! The sheer force would crush them -
A whoosh of air left her lungs when, as one, they threw themselves forward and landed with mere inches to spare on the ground. The remnants of the water-wall impacted, albeit with less power than had they been situated closer to ground zero. However, when he sat up, it was obvious that Kurt's tail was dripping wet, indicating just how close a call it'd been. The presence of yet another Jamie-clone only emphasised it.
Rogue started to descend, being careful to rearrange Robyn in her arms. She opened her mouth to call out and ask those who'd so narrowly escaped death of they were okay. Slamming against the earth like that couldn't have helped Kurt's cracked rib, she was certain, and the Jamies were all looking shell-shocked.
Yet when Kurt ignored her cry, and instead set up one of his own, she halted in her tracks. Lifting her eyes she saw what he was yelling about, and a cold shiver traced the length of her spin alongside a sense of intense relief.
"Pietro!"
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Wanda screeched in absolute pain. Her entire body bucked and writhed not unlike a person being electrocuted, and rivers of agonised tears tracked her cheeks in a show of weakness she never would've allowed under normal circumstances. All her life she'd dedicated herself to appearing strong, whether for her brother's protection, or her own when faced with the oft-violent orderlies and doctors of the mental institution and research lab alike. To show weakness was to incite more pain, and she was nothing if not a fighter.
Pietro cradled the water-child's trembling form against him and stared up at her, features twisting into barely masked misery. He vaguely noticed the kid weeping over his shoulder, and placed what he hoped was a soothing hand against his back to comfort him.
_Comfort? At a time like this?_ he thought wryly, and with more than a trace of bitterness. _Ha!_
Something jolted through his chest, and he resisted the urge to weep just like his sister was doing. Her pain and unhappiness transferred itself in small bursts through that strange, intangible link they'd shared since childhood. It wasn't as constant as it once was, but still he could sense her anger and anguish as sharply as if they were his own.
Briefly he wondered if she could sense him the way he was sensing her. When they were small, he'd speculated over whether other twins had bonds like theirs. Their father had never taken his questions seriously, until one day he suggested that perhaps the link was something to do with their mutations. That had stirred his interest all right; as well as stirring him into subjecting his children to yet more rigmarole and tests they neither understood nor enjoyed. Memories of those times were indelibly imprinted onto Pietro's psyche, and now they flashed across his brain in an uncomfortable moment of clarity.
He dodged aside when another hex-bolt came to ground, and vaguely noticed that he didn't have to move quite so fast now. The number of bolts sent out was growing smaller, and for a second he dared to hope that this meant Wanda's 'episode' was also dimming.
A glance up at her quelled that idea. The green 'cloak' surrounding her was growing, being fed by the unshed hex-bolts until it swelled to twice the size it had been mere moments ago. Wanda shook with the amount of power coursing through her, though it was unclear whether she was calling it back, or whether her reserves were being depleted by the previous outburst. Either way, soon there were no more missiles flying randomly forth, and Pietro was finally able to come to a stop and rest his weary legs.
"Pietro!"
That voice. It filtered through the pounding of blood in his ears so quietly that at first he thought it was a figment of his imagination.
"Pietro!"
And again. This time he looked up, and was rewarded by the sight of a familiar blue figure bounding haphazardly on all-fours across the devastation towards him. A ways behind him came another, white face bright and feet moving quickly as she pelted down the slope.
"Pietro!" the foremost called again, and by squinting Pietro saw the joyous expression etching Kurt's face. His movements were slightly jerky, as if he was injured in some way, but his pace didn't diminish, and within seconds the elf was no more than a few feet away, standing in exactly the same spot the water-wall had occupied not long before.
Pietro blinked. What with all the screaming and debris and AWOL power disappearing behind the wall, a part of his mind had assumed the others were dead. His intense concentration on his twin hadn't helped matters either. He didn't know quite how to react, and so only stood there gormlessly. "Kurt? Rogue?"
Kurt scudded forward. "Pietro! You're alive!"
Another jolt of empathy lanced the speedster's chest with such vigour that he found himself short of breath, and gasped openly. Kurt's footsteps momentarily faltered, which was just as well, for at that moment a spurt of jade light arced down and impaled the spot he was just about to step into.
That brought Pietro out of his stupor quick-sharpish, and he whipped his head up.
Wanda glared down at them all like a transmuted angel, eyes glowing menacingly and fists clenched tightly by her sides. Her cheeks were still wet, but even as he watched the moisture sizzled and evaporated into the air as if it'd never been. Her power fanned out around her, whispering away in curls and twists at the edges, but pounding like a furnace at its centre. Her mouth was set into a grin line that belied her earlier distress, and as her brother looked on helplessly she raised a fist and hurled what resembled a lightning bolt at Kurt.
The elf leaped away, and it exploded uselessly upon the already ravished ground.
"Wanda! No!" Pietro squeaked, then louder. "Please, Wanda! Stop!"
In answer, she rounded on him and bared her teeth in a silent snarl. Her mouth was filled with pallid fire that trickled over her lips and was absorbed into the ever-growing mass around her. She said nothing, but refrained from attacking him directly. Instead, another arc flew at Kurt.
"*Wanda*!" Pietro screamed, and made to take a step forward. However, his muscles, already exhausted, refused to co-operate, and he sank to his knees, clutching the juddering water-child to him to prevent from collapsing entirely.
His sibling descended from the air to hover, scant inches above the floor. She was completely mute as she flung both arms out and unleashed a bolt of power that threw her backwards a few feet. Kurt saw it coming the instant it left her hands, but it careered towards him so fast that he'd barely tensed his legs to get clear before it was singing his whiskers.
"Kurt!" yelled two separate voices.
{BAMF!}
The elf tumbled to earth not far behind Rogue, and she turned to see him drop into an unmoving heap, the last of his strength sapped by teleporting. Only the rapid rise and fall of his chest betrayed that he was even still alive.
"Rogue! Look out!"
She whirled, only to be confronted by a shimmering face that gleamed with an incandescence so bright that she had to look away again. Shielding her eyes, Rogue was aware of a tickling sensation around her ankles, and glanced down to see flickering green flames encircling her feet in a small circle.
Rogue wasn't really one for expletives, but even she had her limits.
_Aw, *crap*!_
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To Be Continued...
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ChaosCat; Pin Cushion Pietro. Heh. And who will be next to go? Will *anybody* be next to go? *Rubs hands together* Oh, the possibilities for torturing you readers...
Krazy Xanadu; Thanks for the compliments. Cliff-hangers will inherit the earth... maybe.
UnknownSource; You know, I really didn't know that about lightning. Learn something new every day, huh? And here is some Magneto especially for you.
The Phantom; Pietro's blue-gold is a facet of this chapter, if you interpret it correctly. But even if you don't, it's clarified later on in the story. And were you watching Absolutely Fabulous when you wrote that review. Mahvellous, sweetie, truly mahvellous.
Naela; Bwee-hee-hee-hee, a new reviewer. Glad you liked the things you liked, and sorry for the things you didn't. The cast doesn't stay so big forever, so at least one of your quibbles will (hopefully) be dealt with as we go. ^_^
Yma; You're very welcome for 'Watch and Learn', babs. I just have to apologise for that gaff concerning Logan's broken arm. *Slaps own wrist* Naughty Scribbler, naughty! Oh, and if you were wondering (and even if you weren't), my favourite chapters in WaL were the ends of the twins and Evan, respectively. Can't beat a good death scene :)
Draganess; Wow, note-taking. I'm touched. And your first and second reactions made me laugh. OMG, he's dead! OMG! He's *still* dead! ^_^
Ambrosia; Okay, I'll concede the point. I wanted it to happen. Therefore, it happened. Slap the handcuff on me now, officer. I promise I'll be a good girl... ;) 'Anruptly' is my crappy typing skills at work, and 'riffle' means 'to leaf through'. You riffle through a book or pamphlet. You're very good at spotting intertextualities, by the way. I was wondering whether anyone would detect the 'Craft' influences. Pertaining to Robyn's temperature, I wouldn't know. I didn't write those lines, and my medicinal knowledge extends to how many paracetamol I'm allowed in a day. I suppose... um... well, Marvel's famous for having plotholes big enough to drive trucks thorugh, so why can't we fan-writers do likewise? Go forth and tweak the nose of continuity, friends!
AerinBrown; I'm weighing the scales for happy vs. unhappy ending. They're about balanced right now, so it could go either way. ;) I love being evil. It's so much more rewarding than being heroic.
Remedy=Chill; Thank you for your kind words, friend.
Witch-UK; Appreciate the review, girl. It's nice when people take the time out to say they're reading - even if it's just a line or two. ^_^
Ricter; You think that was the best chapter? Wow. I say wow, because I actually didn't think it was up to standard. Probably because I pretty much wrote that one alone, save for the Daisy-Kitty scene. That would be InterNutter's doing. And there I go answering your other question.
Nessie6; So many people reviwed this chapter - I is so happy! ^____^
Risa; I don't know... a big-eyed, adorable Pietro would probably have a *lot* of candy stashed away someplace. Y'know, presents from fangirls and suchlike? And just to confuzzle you, while Yma, Id and 'Bean pretty much instigated the whole Jamie situation, it was in fact me who wrote that little scene you referred to. I coerced people into letting me monopolise the Board and wrote the 'bloody bridge scene', as it quickly became known, on my lonesome. So here's some more Jamie for you in this chapter.
Incrediblecuznz; You have no idea how close I came to insulting you whilst misspelling your pseudonym. Thanks for the review, and I'm happy you're happy about the Pietro-Wanda-ness. Yay. ^_^ Hope you can review again this time around.
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Twenty-seventh Fragment ~ Windswift
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"Kurt!" Logan lunged and caught the elf as he tried to dive into the water-wall.
"Let go of me!" Kurt writhed, scratched, and even went so far as to bite the elder mutant's hand. Logan grunted, but the half-moon of teeth-marks was gone in an instant thanks to his healing factor.
"Kurt," he said again, warningly. A short, sharp yank to the tail elicited a cessation of movement, and Kurt turned huge eyes upon his once-teacher.
"But she's killing him," he pleaded. "I won't let anyone else die. I won't!"
"Neither will I, but you're just gonna get yerself killed that way."
"I don't see you making any better suggestions!" he snapped, and twisted free through some incredible bending manoeuvre only he could've managed. "I can't just stand around doing nothing while that... that madwoman tears Pietro apart. Sister or not, she has to be stopped!"
"I know," Logan growled. Then softer, "I know, Elf. But I - " He was abruptly cut off by the scream that rent the air in two around them.
Everyone snapped around at the distinctly female shriek, and saw quivers of green lace the space above the apex of the water-wall. They tore the sky apart like knives, and a few verdant bolts flew over like shards of glass, fizzling to the ground on their side of the obstruction. Kurt leaped away as one landed nearby, and narrowly avoided being hit with the debris it created.
"What the f - " Logan swore, doing likewise in another direction.
"Wanda," said Kurt grimly. "It can only be Wanda's power."
Alvin blinked. "But if she's turning it on us, then that must mean she's finished with Master Windswift."
Kurt's eyes rounded, and he renewed his charge at the rushing torrent, only to be beaten back by a flurry of explosions that rocked the ground beneath them. "Pietro!" he called desperately. "*Pietro*!"
"Look out!" A body crashed into him, and Kurt crashed to the ground. A foundered hex-bolt skimmed the tip of his tail as it reflexively arched into the air, taking a layer of fur and skin with it and rendering the patch of floor behind them a smoking crater.
"You okay?" asked one of the three new Jamies. Kurt nodded, but struggled to get to his feet. A clone grabbed his wrist and dragged him back down again. "Our objective is survival," he gritted.
"But Pietro - "
"Is already lost. I'm sorry. I don't like the idea any more than you do, but if any of us try to rescue him through that then we'll be frazzled before we get to within an inch of the Blessed One - and that's assuming we can even get over that wall first." As if to punctuate his words, another barrage of hex-bolts lanced the ground.
"Fall back!" Kurt dimly heard Logan bellow, and caught a glimpse of the burly mutant scooping Raven into his arms. Her long red hair hung loose around her head, and he could only see one of her hands dangling down. Splots of red dripped from her body, and her eyes were closed.
"Mother," he whispered, torn. Rogue flashed past, a clutch of swaddling that was Robyn held tight to her chest. Alvin pursued her, a broken bundle of brown hair and leather slung over his shoulder and staining the back of his robe. "Kleines... but I have to - "
"Incoming!" One of the Jamies wrenched Kurt upright and forcibly threw him aside as a familiar whistling sounded overhead. The impact came a second later, blowing all four of them back yet further.
Kurt looked up, and noted with some irony that he'd been hurled yet *further* away from the water-wall. Hex-bolts flew over it, thick and fast. They resembled a miniature meteor shower, and would've been strikingly beautiful, had it not been for the massive destruction left in their wake. One of the Jamies was too close, and an arc of green surged towards him like lightning.
Kurt was running before he knew it, but tears were already blinding him as the clone was struck down. As one, the two remaining Jamies screamed, but both had the good sense to flee the scene before they, too, were incinerated. They caught at both of Kurt's arms and dragged him rearwards, stumbling and tripping in their haste and vicarious pain, and Kurt could only watch as the smouldering remains crumbled to dust behind them.
*******************
"So you were just gonna leave me behind..."
"...without saying *anything*, then?"
Erik sighed and rubbed at the sore spot between his eyes. He halted in his tracks and turned around, fixing the ostensible twin boys who had followed him to the outer corridors of the asteroid with a baleful stare. They at least had the good decency to look abashed at their pestering.
"Multiple, you have to understand. This isn't just another training simulation. This is a real mission, and we can't afford any mishaps. You're recent... condition is cause for concern on that front."
Simultaneously, the pair scuffed their feet. "But I can help," they said together.
"And what happens if another of your clones dies somewhere while you're in the midst of a battle? You know what'll happen. By coming along in spite of that, you'd be putting the rest of the team in danger. Maybe even consigning them to death. Is that what you want?"
"No," they mumbled grudgingly, and toed the metallic floor some more. "But I wanna *do* something. I'm not just a passenger here. What else can I do but fight?"
"Fighting... isn't always the answer," Erik said thoughtfully, the image of Xavier playing about his mind's eye. "Sometimes there are more important tasks that must be completed instead. Other approaches...."
"Such as? Tell me, so I can be helpf - " The words gargled away in their throats, and both Jamies sank to their knees with sudden paleness invading their cheeks. Their eyes enlarged until they dominated each face, and a soundless scream flexed their gullets as they each toppled over and writhed on the floor.
Erik was beside him in a second. "What? What is it?" he demanded, worry tincturing his voice.
"Hurts," whispered one Jamie, scratching at his face and leaving grooves in his cheeks as he clawed at some invisible pain-giver. "Hurts so much!"
"Fire," said the other, squeezing his eyes shut in obvious agony. "Can't stop it. Too fast, I... I - AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!" and he slumped into a limp heap. His doppelganger did likewise, but not before whispering a word that stirred something in Erik's chest and caused a wave of ice to wash over his usually stoic features.
"Run, Windswift. Run from her and save yourself..."
He froze. Windswift? An old memory reared up in his mind. That had been a childhood nickname for his son. He'd ceased to use it years ago, about the time the boy became reclusive and anti-social following the loss of his sister. They'd never really shared the same closeness after that, and nicknames became a thing of the past, relegated to recollections of happier times.
Footsteps pounded the corridor, and a shadow fell across them. "What's going on?" said Brian's unmistakably English voice.
"I think... another clone was destroyed on Earth," Erik ventured.
Brian nodded, not needing any more explanation than that. "Shall I take him to the med-lab? So you can go, I mean."
"What? Uh - yes. Yes, take him there to recover."
He moved aside, and Brian stooped to pick up the inert cloner. "It must've been bad this time to have this dramatic a reaction. I hate to think what he saw. He sees through the eyes of a clone for a few seconds before it dies, you know."
"I know," Erik said, nodding. "He told me such, when there were far more of him." With a swish of his cloak, he turned away and began walking sedately towards the capsule bay. "Take care of him. The rest of the team are waiting for me."
"Will do, sir," Brian replied, flicking a casual salute as he always did, and wondering why the cheery gesture wasn't reciprocated like usual.
*******************
Wanda screamed, loud and long. Her hands were little more than balls of glowing green fire, fingers indistinguishable in the blaze. Around her billowed a cloud of jade as deadly as it was beautiful. Her eyes were wide and terrified as she literally *felt* herself losing control. It was like having the proverbial mat suddenly yanked out from beneath her feet.
Below, Pietro dodged and weaved, trying to avoid the barrage of random hex-bolts skittering down on him. His speed had never been such an asset, and he managed to pass several hectic minutes with only a few scorch marks to show for it. In another time, he might've gloated over his achievement, but right now he was far too concerned with the drama playing out above him.
There was no time for yelling her name, as he'd begun doing right before a hex-bolt flew at his heart. He just hoped that she could see him; that she knew he was here for her. In truth, he had no real idea of what to do in the situation, but some small part of him hoped against hope that his continued presence on the battlefield counted for *something*. He'd never been much of a believer in fate, but he was open to any idea if it portended the best outcome.
The sounds of many voices crying out in terror and pain reached his ears from somewhere, and he chanced a look at the water-wall.
Big mistake.
One should always keep one's eyes on the ground ahead when travelling at excessive speeds. Especially when the ground ahead isn't staying ahead, and instead insists upon flying into the air and shattering at the most inopportune moments.
His foot had barely touched the tarmac when it exploded beneath him, sending him hurling into the air along with enough debris to cause considerable damage. Pietro twisted in mid-flight, bringing his legs around so that they landed under him, feet first. The impact was jarring to say the least, but he retained enough momentum to avoid the wreckage that landed in his wake.
He barely noticed the small golden lump in the road until he was nearly on top of it, and swerved at the very last second to skid to a halt inches before his nose ploughed straight into the swirling barricade.
He glanced down, and was rewarded with the sight of a small kid - visible mutant, no question. Possible second gen. In place of skin he had scales, but they were soft and the colour of sunlight, rather than the harsh olive lizardine style Daisy possessed. Twin orbs of molten fear stared up at him, mixed with pronounced exhaustion and the distinct beginnings of shock. The kid's arms were outstretched, hands trembling like he was caught in an earth tremor, and every now and then a muscle in his jaw twitched with obvious effort of concentration.
"Water Baby?" Pietro wheezed.
The kid said nothing, but his entire body started to shake a little bit more at the name.
{RUMBLERUMBLERUMBLERUMBLE-CRASH!}
Pietro's head snapped around at the all-too-familiar sound of a hex-bolt churning the concrete towards them, leaving a trail of upturned terrain like that of Bugs Bunny on acid. On impulse, the speedster grabbed the scaly kid and moved, ignoring aching muscles. His limbs were designed for short dashes, but not this never-ending rush Wanda was forcing him into.
The kid yipped as he was gathered up, but his voice immediately switched to a wail as the sound of falling water smacking against concrete reverberated around them.
Pietro didn't even have to turn around for his mind to make the sickening connection. _*Water Baby*, shit!_
Several tonnes of water came crashing down onto the bridge and swept along and over it as the cause for its incarceration was suddenly removed from the equation. What resembled a tsunami powered along behind both speedster and his charge, and Pietro was hard pushed to keep ahead of the angry torrent. He pumped his legs faster than he'd ever gone before, permanently aware of the surging spray flickering the backs of his heels. His nerve endings screeched, but he beat them down again, ordering his muscles to work harder. He could breathe later, but for now, moving was the most imperative thing in the entire world.
He kept running even after the last of the water had washed over the sides, spinning around and turning a wide arc as soon as he was sure it was safe to do so. Instantly he did, he saw that the way had finally opened up between himself and the bus, and all contents therein.
However, there was still one very prominent obstacle blocking his path from here to there.
And her name was Wanda.
*******************
In the fertile land of the Goddess, all was not well.
Seer stood in the centre of a crowd, surrounded on all sides by eager listeners. The Goddess herself sat in her battered old wheelchair at the front, listening fervently to the soft whispers their prophet spoke.
"Brother Time has met Lady Luck," Seer intoned, voice calm and almost mechanical. "Fire, Earth, Air and Water have all met. Now is the time when the God of Earth shall fall from the sky..."
*******************
"... And the Lady of Sky shall rise from the earth," murmured Scry in a small, cramped room of Mutie-Town, where a similar scene played out. "Together they will bring each other home. Together their family shall be complete. Together they will return to their proper places. And they shall be bound together with a ring of gold. Bathed in blood and love, pain and joy, family and separation, a phoenix shall be born from the ashes of the Old World."
"Wuzzit mean?" whispered one of the watchers.
"It means," said Scry, blinking from his Vision, "That we'd better prepare."
"Why?"
"The Lord of Earth is coming."
*******************
Rogue looked back, as Logan, with Raven in his arms, clambered onto the waiting bus before her. In the interim, she stole a glance towards where Kurt was being forcibly dragged along by a pair of Jamies. Thus it was that, when the water-wall came crashing down, she and her brother were the first to see it.
"Look out!" she cried, and began running towards the trio until she remembered the precious charge in her arms. Robyn was heavy, and Rogue had no wish to accidentally drop her adoptive sister through manhandling her. However, she bit her lip until blood flowed watching Kurt and his 'keepers' run faster, trying to escape the torrent surging towards them.
They began climbing the slight incline upon which the bus was parked just as the water reached them. Rogue's breath caught in her gullet. They weren't going to make it! They were too close to the base - too close! The sheer force would crush them -
A whoosh of air left her lungs when, as one, they threw themselves forward and landed with mere inches to spare on the ground. The remnants of the water-wall impacted, albeit with less power than had they been situated closer to ground zero. However, when he sat up, it was obvious that Kurt's tail was dripping wet, indicating just how close a call it'd been. The presence of yet another Jamie-clone only emphasised it.
Rogue started to descend, being careful to rearrange Robyn in her arms. She opened her mouth to call out and ask those who'd so narrowly escaped death of they were okay. Slamming against the earth like that couldn't have helped Kurt's cracked rib, she was certain, and the Jamies were all looking shell-shocked.
Yet when Kurt ignored her cry, and instead set up one of his own, she halted in her tracks. Lifting her eyes she saw what he was yelling about, and a cold shiver traced the length of her spin alongside a sense of intense relief.
"Pietro!"
*******************
Wanda screeched in absolute pain. Her entire body bucked and writhed not unlike a person being electrocuted, and rivers of agonised tears tracked her cheeks in a show of weakness she never would've allowed under normal circumstances. All her life she'd dedicated herself to appearing strong, whether for her brother's protection, or her own when faced with the oft-violent orderlies and doctors of the mental institution and research lab alike. To show weakness was to incite more pain, and she was nothing if not a fighter.
Pietro cradled the water-child's trembling form against him and stared up at her, features twisting into barely masked misery. He vaguely noticed the kid weeping over his shoulder, and placed what he hoped was a soothing hand against his back to comfort him.
_Comfort? At a time like this?_ he thought wryly, and with more than a trace of bitterness. _Ha!_
Something jolted through his chest, and he resisted the urge to weep just like his sister was doing. Her pain and unhappiness transferred itself in small bursts through that strange, intangible link they'd shared since childhood. It wasn't as constant as it once was, but still he could sense her anger and anguish as sharply as if they were his own.
Briefly he wondered if she could sense him the way he was sensing her. When they were small, he'd speculated over whether other twins had bonds like theirs. Their father had never taken his questions seriously, until one day he suggested that perhaps the link was something to do with their mutations. That had stirred his interest all right; as well as stirring him into subjecting his children to yet more rigmarole and tests they neither understood nor enjoyed. Memories of those times were indelibly imprinted onto Pietro's psyche, and now they flashed across his brain in an uncomfortable moment of clarity.
He dodged aside when another hex-bolt came to ground, and vaguely noticed that he didn't have to move quite so fast now. The number of bolts sent out was growing smaller, and for a second he dared to hope that this meant Wanda's 'episode' was also dimming.
A glance up at her quelled that idea. The green 'cloak' surrounding her was growing, being fed by the unshed hex-bolts until it swelled to twice the size it had been mere moments ago. Wanda shook with the amount of power coursing through her, though it was unclear whether she was calling it back, or whether her reserves were being depleted by the previous outburst. Either way, soon there were no more missiles flying randomly forth, and Pietro was finally able to come to a stop and rest his weary legs.
"Pietro!"
That voice. It filtered through the pounding of blood in his ears so quietly that at first he thought it was a figment of his imagination.
"Pietro!"
And again. This time he looked up, and was rewarded by the sight of a familiar blue figure bounding haphazardly on all-fours across the devastation towards him. A ways behind him came another, white face bright and feet moving quickly as she pelted down the slope.
"Pietro!" the foremost called again, and by squinting Pietro saw the joyous expression etching Kurt's face. His movements were slightly jerky, as if he was injured in some way, but his pace didn't diminish, and within seconds the elf was no more than a few feet away, standing in exactly the same spot the water-wall had occupied not long before.
Pietro blinked. What with all the screaming and debris and AWOL power disappearing behind the wall, a part of his mind had assumed the others were dead. His intense concentration on his twin hadn't helped matters either. He didn't know quite how to react, and so only stood there gormlessly. "Kurt? Rogue?"
Kurt scudded forward. "Pietro! You're alive!"
Another jolt of empathy lanced the speedster's chest with such vigour that he found himself short of breath, and gasped openly. Kurt's footsteps momentarily faltered, which was just as well, for at that moment a spurt of jade light arced down and impaled the spot he was just about to step into.
That brought Pietro out of his stupor quick-sharpish, and he whipped his head up.
Wanda glared down at them all like a transmuted angel, eyes glowing menacingly and fists clenched tightly by her sides. Her cheeks were still wet, but even as he watched the moisture sizzled and evaporated into the air as if it'd never been. Her power fanned out around her, whispering away in curls and twists at the edges, but pounding like a furnace at its centre. Her mouth was set into a grin line that belied her earlier distress, and as her brother looked on helplessly she raised a fist and hurled what resembled a lightning bolt at Kurt.
The elf leaped away, and it exploded uselessly upon the already ravished ground.
"Wanda! No!" Pietro squeaked, then louder. "Please, Wanda! Stop!"
In answer, she rounded on him and bared her teeth in a silent snarl. Her mouth was filled with pallid fire that trickled over her lips and was absorbed into the ever-growing mass around her. She said nothing, but refrained from attacking him directly. Instead, another arc flew at Kurt.
"*Wanda*!" Pietro screamed, and made to take a step forward. However, his muscles, already exhausted, refused to co-operate, and he sank to his knees, clutching the juddering water-child to him to prevent from collapsing entirely.
His sibling descended from the air to hover, scant inches above the floor. She was completely mute as she flung both arms out and unleashed a bolt of power that threw her backwards a few feet. Kurt saw it coming the instant it left her hands, but it careered towards him so fast that he'd barely tensed his legs to get clear before it was singing his whiskers.
"Kurt!" yelled two separate voices.
{BAMF!}
The elf tumbled to earth not far behind Rogue, and she turned to see him drop into an unmoving heap, the last of his strength sapped by teleporting. Only the rapid rise and fall of his chest betrayed that he was even still alive.
"Rogue! Look out!"
She whirled, only to be confronted by a shimmering face that gleamed with an incandescence so bright that she had to look away again. Shielding her eyes, Rogue was aware of a tickling sensation around her ankles, and glanced down to see flickering green flames encircling her feet in a small circle.
Rogue wasn't really one for expletives, but even she had her limits.
_Aw, *crap*!_
*******************
To Be Continued...
*******************