Alone
Shadow Knight
Chapter 14: Broken Dreams
Disclaimer: There's no way I own it.
~
THANK YOU ALL FOR 100 HITS! There's this huge list of thanks at the bottom. And once again, thank you all for reviewing and reading, or just reading. ^_^
~
-Dreams can be your desires and fantasies . . .or the worst fear.-
~
In the deep darkness of the night every person revisited their memories in the form of liquid dreams, blurred and fuzzy. They were usually warm experiences that left your head heavy with drunkenness.
That's when I most afraid.
For most, dreams are like a gateway into another land, a portal into which they can escape all the devastating realities, the depressing daily drawl of our daily lives. . . . It's everybody's wish and everybody's desire. . . to escape.
To me. . . .it was a doorway into my past.
Like a broken clock, the hands of the weaver of dreams seemed to move backwards. Pale fingers gripped my mind, taking me back through the sealed doors I had locked so long ago.
I didn't want to revisit those memories.
Locking those doors would help me for a time. . .but only for a bit. I tried to resort to other sources to help me stay up, to avoid my dreams, my memories. I tried reaching out for drugs. Inhaling a long trial of smoke seemed to slowly dull my senses and relieve my mind. Yet, its affects, like other so called "cures" began to fade away into a downward spiral. And I was too caught up to care.
That's when I met Kitty.
For once in my life, I felt like there was someone I could finally talk to. Someone who would listen to me and not judge me. It started out rocky, but we finally began to hit it off. Each day I see her, my heart pumps a little faster, my palms get a little sweaty. . .but I'm happy. For the first time in my life, after so long, I felt. . . happy.
Truly happy.
I would tell her everything. Nothing did I hold back from her. . . except. . .those locked doors of my past. Sometimes they would creep out, my face slipping and falling out of its perfectly placed mask. How I longed to tell her! Yet, I knew I couldn't do such a thing to her, letting her know how badly this affected me. . .to this day.
No, never did I want to tell her of my past. . .and the parents that were left behind.
~
(Pietro P.O.V.)
This was all wrong. There was no possible way . .
"Lance?"
My mind was reeling as I gawked at the lanky teen in front of me. Hair, the color of dark mahogany, fell in wicked angles around his face, fanning out just enough to reveal the pale, shallow skin beneath. Night's ebony wings shadowed his eyes so that I found two small inklings giving me a cold glare.
Although I could see the hunched figure in front of me, wearing the same expressionless mask of my friend from before, I knew this wasn't the boy I knew from back in my high school years. No, his face was never adorned with such sinister and shifty eyes. Although in eyes I saw a dear old friend from younger years, I knew that there was something different and alien to him.
My throat tightened as I gulped down my surprise. Regarding him with wary eyes, I wet my lips, trying to get rid of the rising fear that rose in my thoughts like a growing weed. Deftly, I plucked the weed in my mind and tried to act as casual as I could.
"Lance. . My what a surprise. . ," I muttered, trying to revert back to my old self, even as my tongue continued to flounder about in my mouth like a fish out of water.
The pair of inklings continued to stare at me.
My tongue clicked audibly on my pallet as I tried to overcome the dread welling up inside of me, threatening to spill out like blood from a wound. Tightening my fist at my side, I attempted to divert my attention from my anxiety. My nails digging into the calloused skin of my palm, I stared evenly with Lance
"What did you do with Rogue," I asked, striving to sound relaxed and poised, while at the same time making my tone stern.
Suddenly, something seemed to shift in the black inklings of his eyes. A shiver ran through Lance as he reached up and grasped his arms, clasping his eyes shut. Then, as quickly as it had come, he grew still and continued to squeeze his eyes tightly together, his face tilting downward now.
Watching his display stopped me at first, but as he continued to stand stock still, my patience and cool demeanor quickly wore off. Narrowing my eyes, I took a threatening step closer, my anger rising.
"Dammit Lance! This is no time to be screwing around," I yelled at him, "Stop playing this shit and answer me! Where is R-!"
Abruptly, I was cut off.
"You filthy bastard."
Hearing the cold fury in the voice, I stopped my furious tirade and looked at Lance, shocked and perplexed. Looking closer at his scrawny figure, his face slowly began to tilt upwards, his face parting his hair like a silent stroke of a sword.
Then I saw his face.
His eyebrows were drawn together in tight knits, causing wrinkles to ripple on his forehead. A bitter and dark frown smeared his face. Black anger, colder than the bitterest winter radiated from him and seemed to seep into me, goose bumps undulating along my flesh. My hands were taut at my sides as I tried to regain my courage.
Then, just for a second, I noticed that he seemed to be staring past me, as if I wasn't there. . and yet. . he sensed me nonetheless, and I knew that it didn't matter if he was "seeing" someone else, I was still in the way.
"La. . Lance, what's your proble-"
"Don't speak you heartless son of a bitch! How," he screamed, his voice getting higher as they shook his body, ". . How could you do something like that to them? They were my family! The were human beings, not some simple toy for you to break!"
My mouth gaped as I heard his accusations and screams. For once in my life, I didn't know what to do. . or say.
Eyes swirling with mad rage and hatred, Lance's body shook. With a wild and desperate gleam in his eyes, he stared at me.
"I'll avenge them. . . .I'll pay you back for what you did," he whispered quietly at first, "By killing you in the process!"
Thrusting out a fingerless gloved hand, I watched in morbid fascination as Lance's eyes rolled back into his head, the gleaming whites of his eyes balefully glaring at me. Even as I heard the rumble spread through the room like a thundering train, I stood still, frozen. Looking deftly at the ground, I watched as cracks raced along the ground, black gashes forming in the floor and stretching out around Lance's form like the petals of a deadly blossom.
I knew that I could get hurt, possibly killed if I stayed. . .but I couldn't move.
My eyes drifted toward Lance's screaming figure, his body shaking with each heart-wracking cry that retched from his throat. Each cry made me shiver inside. I had felt that kind of pain before, and it made it no better that it was happening to one of my friends.
A whisper drifted past my lips as I gazed at him solemnly. "Lance. . .what happened to you?"
His only reply was a scream as the floor buckled from a tremor.
~
Elsewhere in the building. . .
(Different P.O.V.)
"Shit. It's freaking cold out here."
Stepping back inside the foyer, I shivered. Then, leaning against the door, I carefully sipped from the wine glass in my hand. After all, I didn't want to drink too much. I needed to keep a clear head and be ready at any moment.
Peering over the rim of my glass, I gazed out the small window located on the door that connected the main hall and the foyer room. Sparkling through the deep scarlet was a vision of bliss and happiness. Dancing partners, a fanciful mask adorning each smiling face. I watched them spin and twirl in the lustrous crimson of my glass.
I felt a slight smile light my face.
Looking downward at my black, polished shoes reflecting the moon's ivory beams, I smirked. These used to be skateboarding shoes, I thought with a smile. Ever so slowly, I felt myself slipping into my memories of the past.
~
(Same P.O.V)
Closing my eyes, I could still feel the wooden board beneath me, curving to my every whim. Wheels rushing beneath me in a speeding whirlwind, I had felt free, emancipated from all of my problems and life. . .
Then I was thrust into the real world.
Life became harder and my studies grew worse. Each paper and test I turned in was returned with a despairing grade. Even though I continued to try my hardest, it only seemed to smack back at me. Finally, just out of the blue. . . I gave up.
It seemed like ending it all was the only solution.
In the dark of the night, I ran out, my heart pounding in my chest. I ran into the darkest part of the woods, crawling underneath the heavy branches of a fallen tree. Sinking onto the cold, dirt ground, I sat there for a while, contemplating whether what I was doing was all worth it. If there was really anything left I could truly fight for.
Shaking, my hand slipped into the deep folds of my pocket. Withdrawing my hand, now my fingers were curled around the cold form of steel. I laid out the object before me and my eyes running down lovingly down its long, narrow form.
The gun was lying in a wastebasket when I found it.
It was when I was throwing away another test paper into a trashcan near some alley. Before I let the paper fall, a steel glint caught my eye. I hadn't intended on bringing it along with me this far. . . I just. . . brought it.
It had sat in the bottom of my closet all week. Every spare moment I had, I let my thoughts wander to the dark secret I had hidden in my closet, wondering what I should do with it. And now. . . now I had finally had a use for it.
Closing my eyes, I swallowed hard and raised the gun's cold, chrome barrel point to my face. Pressing it roughly into the tender underside of my chin, I clenched his eyes shut tightly and pulled the trigger.
Click.
"What?"
Opening my eyes, I pulled the gun away from my face and looked at it dumbly. Then, moving my fingers deftly across its gleaming surface, I snapped open the gun's main compartment. Looking down into the holes, my eyes grew wide. Then, leaning back I raised a hand and grasped the side of my face, closing my eyes. Bubbling up inside me, something passed by lips. . . and I laughed.
There were no bullets.
Reaching up, I pressed the gun against my face and smiled, looking up through the dense branches of the dead tree. The stars twinkled mysteriously at me, a smile lighting my face. Crawling back out from under the tree, I fell to the ground and began digging with my hands into the cold soil. Finally, a small hole in the ground was made. Reaching beside me, I pulled the gun and looked at it carefully.
"I'm not ready," I whispered quietly.
I let go of it and let it drop into the pit. Quickly, I dumped the dirt back it, packing it and beating it down with my fist. When the hole was packed with the dirt, I smoothed it out with my hands and stood up, stomping the dirt down. Then, without looking back, I walked off, my mind finally free of the binding hold of the gun.
~
(Same P.O.V.)
Opening my eyes, I felt something warm burn behind them. No, I thought, I will never let myself be that caught up again. Raising my arm upwards, I went to sip some more of my wine when suddenly I heard a rumble roar through the room. Then, a split second after the crash, a tremor spread through the floor and knocked me off my feet, my drink falling from my hand.
"Shit!"
I fell to the ground roughly and was back on my feet in minutes. I ran to the door leading to the hall, but before I reached it, a beep sounded in my ear, humming rapidly like an angry hornet. Reaching up to my ear, I pressed past the deep folds of my ear and touched a small metal circle, hidden from all.
I hissed out loud, "What was that?!"
A small scratchy voice buzzed in my ear, "We don't know yet, but get your ass out here! The place is beginning to fall apart and we've got panicked civilians."
"Alright, Scott, no need to panic. I'm coming," I said.
"Well hurry up, Evan," he responded, a bit of fear creeping into his voice, "We'll need all the help we can get if this is the mutant Professor Xavier was talking about."
"Right. I'm on my way."
Click. . . . .
~
(Pietro P.O.V.)
"I'll avenge them. . . .I'll pay you back for what you did. . . . By killing you in the process!"
I couldn't understand it. . . why would Lance want to kill me? What had happened to him that caused him so much pain?
The first wave I somehow had avoided, but now, as his power continued to pour out of him, I felt myself being thrown back by the sheer force. Rising shakily to my feet I tried to run and stop him, to at least calm him down, but I was thrown back by another wave before I ran two feet.
Jumping back on my feet, I then tried to use my mutant power. . .but it was to no avail. I let out a bit of a yell as I was thrown onto my back again, his waves causing tremors to ricochet inside me. Baring my teeth, I tried to crawl closer, his power forcing me to withdrawal of the use of my legs. Yet, even as he screamed, power rushing through him, I felt myself growing drowsy, almost lightheaded. I don't know if I can't take much more of this, I thought wearily.
"Stop this immediately!"
Hearing the shout, I turned my head toward the source of the voice, my neck muscles already being overused. I nearly choked when I saw who it was. Closing my eyes I felt a bitter chuckle escape past my lips. "Great. . . .the damn X-geeks are saving my ass."
Out of the corner of my eye, I watched them get hit down by a powerful tremor. Yet, when the red head stepped up, sticking her hand out, the wall seemed to pass by them, pushed outwards and around them. That must be Jean Gray. . . .I thought amusedly.
I saw the brown haired leader. . . . Oh yeah. . .Summers. . . shout to the blue, fuzzy one. . . Kurt Wagner. He disappeared in a cloud of infamous sulfur and brimstone. I heard a sudden sound noise in front of me, and I looked up and saw to my surprise, Kurt latched onto Lance's back.
Lance howled as he felt the presence on his back, but as I watched, he had no time to get rid of the intruder. With careful precision, Kurt punched the boy in the head, careful not to cause any permanent damage. I gazed upwards, shocked as Lance's eyes rolled back for a second before they closed, revealing a glimpse of the inklings again.
He fell solidly to the ground.
Kurt stood beside him, gazing down at him sadly. Shifting my legs, I felt relieved to have the pounding pressure of them. I slowly slid upwards onto my feet, watching Lance the whole time. I took a step closer to his fallen body, and Kurt's head whipped upwards in my direction, his eyes giving me a warning.
"We'll deal with it from here," he muttered from under his breath, looking at me warily.
"Not without me," I threw back at him, taking another step closer.
Suddenly, I felt a hand on my shoulder, pulling me back slightly. Whipping around, I came face to face with a pair of ruby quartz glasses. He seemed to stare at me as if trying to figure out who I was. Sighing, he gave up and simply said, "Please sir, we can handle this. There's no need to worry."
"Get your hand off me Summers! Back off," I yelled at him, beginning to grow angry.
He seemed surprise when I called his name. "Wha. . .What? You," he stumbled, a puzzled expression on his face, "You know me?"
Then I realized I still had my mask on. Reaching up and ripped it off and glared at him. "Off course I know you," I stated knowingly, "We were enemies before, remember?"
He gasped. "Pietro?!"
"The one and only," I smirked at his expression.
"But. . but. . I thought. . .I-," he stuttered.
"Exactly," I said, jabbing his chest angrily, "You thought. And you thought wrong."
Turning sharply on my heel, I made my way toward Lance once again, this time without any interruptions. Bending down on my knees, I shook him slightly, ignoring Kurt's threatening glare. "Lance. .," I shook him more, "come on buddy. . .wake up."
Not getting any response, I turned him over onto his back. My eyes widened when I did so. And hearing Kurt's surprised hiss reassured me I wasn't seeing things.
Lying in my hands was Rogue's battered form.
Cold sweat leaked from her skin, plastering her hair to her face. She breathed shallowly and quickly. My hands dropped from her sides as I noticed something else. She was. . she was wearing the same clothes that Lance had just been wearing. I watched as I had before as her body began to shift and break away, morphing into something else.
I could hear the other X-Men approaching behind us. Looking back at Rogue, I saw Kurt was now on his knees, silently observing her as her body slowly changed back, her clothes forming liquid pools along her body until they solidified back into her black evening dress. Her white bangs were slowly beginning to fade back to their original white. A smile lit my lips as she changed back into the girl I knew. Reaching out a hand, I grasped for her gloved hand.
"No. . . Mother. . .Father. . please hold on."
My hand stopped as I heard the whispering plea. Flicking my eyes back up to her face, I watched her lips move, a mumble slipping past them. Then, she did something unexpected.
Tears fell from her eyes.
As they slid down her cheeks, I watched in silence as her mumbles began to grow louder, sobs shaking her body as cried out. Her eyes were still clamped shut.
"Mom! Dad! Don't die! I need you!! Please. . .just a little longer. . hold on. . no. . their on. . their coming. . .the medics. . .they'll be here any minut-. . . .No. . I wont let that bad man hurt you anymore. . . no more. . . Just. .please. . .don't. . leave me. . Please. . . please don't close your eyes. . . ."
Something hot burned inside me, tears welling up behind my eyes. But. . . they couldn't fall, I wouldn't let them. I simply closed my eyes and took Rogue's gloved hand, squeezing it tightly. Now. . .now I understood. These were Lance's memories. . . of his parent's death. . . murder.
"P. . . Pietro?"
Hearing the soft whisper I opened my glassy eyes, staring through a fuzzy vision. Batting my eyes, it cleared and I saw Rogue's green eyes staring at me, watching me silently. They flicked across my face. Slowly, her hand rose up toward my face, touching it lightly with a silky fingertip.
"Rogue? Is. . .is it you?"
My eyes suddenly left Rogue's entrancing eyes and stared in front of me. Kurt's pale yellow eyes gazed softly down at Rogue, tears slowly welling in his eyes. Suddenly, he couldn't hold them anymore and two dark trails stained his furry cheeks. He reached a three-fingered hand toward her.
"Rogue," he whispered, his voice choked with tears.
Unfortunately, Rogue's reaction was quite different. Her eyes grew wide and her breathing quick as she saw Kurt. Pietro felt her hand slip from his and find its way to her face. She sucked in sharply and scooted away from him, jumping to her feet and stalking backwards, foot by foot. Now she was grasping her head. Her lips parted, as she yelled, "No!"
"Rogue! What's wrong," I asked, trying to bite down the fear I had curdling in my stomach. This was all too familiar. . .
Then I saw it.
The black inklings were back. . .invading her beloved emerald ones once again.
Just as her eyes turned completely black, she turned to me and reached for me screaming out, "Pietro! Please, help me!"
I tried to run to her, but I felt a hand grasp my shoulder, roughly jerking me to an abrupt stop. Turning back, I saw that once again, Scott had stopped me. I tried to wriggle out of his grasp, but from that angle it was difficult for me to get an advantage. Turning as much as I could, I yelled back at him, "Let go of me, you jerk! She needs my help!"
"Maximoff, we don't know what's happening to her and we don't want anyone to get hur-."
"Dammit! I said let go!"
Using my mutant power, and what strength I had left, I twisted out of his grasp and ran for Rogue, already bent on the ground and morphing once again. Yet, even as I sped for her, I saw in dismay that her change had already begun. She howled out as her skin quickly turned a different shade, darkening to a murky azure. Fur sprout from her body in blue as her dress shifted into colorful pools that formed an X-Men uniform I knew all too well.
"No. . ," I whispered.
Suddenly, a curved rod whipped out from behind her, curling to form a tail. Her auburn hair grew shaggy and heavy, changing in itself to the color of navy blue. Suddenly, she shuddered and stopped screaming. Pushing off the ground with a three-fingered hand, she opened her eyes and gazed at me with pale, sickly yellow ones.
Suddenly, I heard a loud, painful howl. Turning back, my eyes widened when I saw Kurt grasp his head and fall to his knees, screaming out. He curled into a ball and continued to scream in agony, tears streaming from his eyes.
"No. . ."
When I heard the soft, pained whisper I turned and saw Kurt's copy, Rogue, staring at Kurt's fallen form, a brief flash of green lighting her eyes. Raising her three-fingered hands to her mouth, she grasped the bottom part of her face tightly. Then, a tear slipped down her cheek as she reached out for the blue mutant. "Kurt. . ," she whispered, a light in her eyes, "I'm so sorry. ."
Then, she yelped slightly, her eyes going back to the sickly yellow. Her tail twitched as she glared at me. I took a step forward and tried to run to her. Maybe. . .maybe if I can calm her down. . .
I ran a little faster.
Her eyes suddenly narrowed as she watched me approach her. Hissing in anger, she arched her back and a bright flash appeared before her, blinding me momentarily. Clenching my eyes shut, I suddenly smelled the distinct smell of sulfur and brimstone. I quickly opened my eyes and looked forward. When the cloud cleared, I dropped to my knees.
She was gone.
~
WOAH! That took forever. But, I finished. So there. ^_^ This has got to be my longest chapter yet. Well, I was glad to make it since I reached. . . .yes. . .100 hits!!!! YEAH!
Thank you all who made it all possible and encouraged me to even start a story out of a one-shot. I appreciate it so much I could cry! Uh. . .just kidding. . .about the cry part. ^_^
Well, until the next chapter. Oh! And a side note: the beginning's of the chapters will now have some little memoir from a character. Not too long, but it will be linked to the chapter content in some way. The one on this was Lance's the previous one's was Pietro's. Hope you guys like it. If not, then review and tell me! ^_^
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Shadow Knight
Chapter 14: Broken Dreams
Disclaimer: There's no way I own it.
~
THANK YOU ALL FOR 100 HITS! There's this huge list of thanks at the bottom. And once again, thank you all for reviewing and reading, or just reading. ^_^
~
-Dreams can be your desires and fantasies . . .or the worst fear.-
~
In the deep darkness of the night every person revisited their memories in the form of liquid dreams, blurred and fuzzy. They were usually warm experiences that left your head heavy with drunkenness.
That's when I most afraid.
For most, dreams are like a gateway into another land, a portal into which they can escape all the devastating realities, the depressing daily drawl of our daily lives. . . . It's everybody's wish and everybody's desire. . . to escape.
To me. . . .it was a doorway into my past.
Like a broken clock, the hands of the weaver of dreams seemed to move backwards. Pale fingers gripped my mind, taking me back through the sealed doors I had locked so long ago.
I didn't want to revisit those memories.
Locking those doors would help me for a time. . .but only for a bit. I tried to resort to other sources to help me stay up, to avoid my dreams, my memories. I tried reaching out for drugs. Inhaling a long trial of smoke seemed to slowly dull my senses and relieve my mind. Yet, its affects, like other so called "cures" began to fade away into a downward spiral. And I was too caught up to care.
That's when I met Kitty.
For once in my life, I felt like there was someone I could finally talk to. Someone who would listen to me and not judge me. It started out rocky, but we finally began to hit it off. Each day I see her, my heart pumps a little faster, my palms get a little sweaty. . .but I'm happy. For the first time in my life, after so long, I felt. . . happy.
Truly happy.
I would tell her everything. Nothing did I hold back from her. . . except. . .those locked doors of my past. Sometimes they would creep out, my face slipping and falling out of its perfectly placed mask. How I longed to tell her! Yet, I knew I couldn't do such a thing to her, letting her know how badly this affected me. . .to this day.
No, never did I want to tell her of my past. . .and the parents that were left behind.
~
(Pietro P.O.V.)
This was all wrong. There was no possible way . .
"Lance?"
My mind was reeling as I gawked at the lanky teen in front of me. Hair, the color of dark mahogany, fell in wicked angles around his face, fanning out just enough to reveal the pale, shallow skin beneath. Night's ebony wings shadowed his eyes so that I found two small inklings giving me a cold glare.
Although I could see the hunched figure in front of me, wearing the same expressionless mask of my friend from before, I knew this wasn't the boy I knew from back in my high school years. No, his face was never adorned with such sinister and shifty eyes. Although in eyes I saw a dear old friend from younger years, I knew that there was something different and alien to him.
My throat tightened as I gulped down my surprise. Regarding him with wary eyes, I wet my lips, trying to get rid of the rising fear that rose in my thoughts like a growing weed. Deftly, I plucked the weed in my mind and tried to act as casual as I could.
"Lance. . My what a surprise. . ," I muttered, trying to revert back to my old self, even as my tongue continued to flounder about in my mouth like a fish out of water.
The pair of inklings continued to stare at me.
My tongue clicked audibly on my pallet as I tried to overcome the dread welling up inside of me, threatening to spill out like blood from a wound. Tightening my fist at my side, I attempted to divert my attention from my anxiety. My nails digging into the calloused skin of my palm, I stared evenly with Lance
"What did you do with Rogue," I asked, striving to sound relaxed and poised, while at the same time making my tone stern.
Suddenly, something seemed to shift in the black inklings of his eyes. A shiver ran through Lance as he reached up and grasped his arms, clasping his eyes shut. Then, as quickly as it had come, he grew still and continued to squeeze his eyes tightly together, his face tilting downward now.
Watching his display stopped me at first, but as he continued to stand stock still, my patience and cool demeanor quickly wore off. Narrowing my eyes, I took a threatening step closer, my anger rising.
"Dammit Lance! This is no time to be screwing around," I yelled at him, "Stop playing this shit and answer me! Where is R-!"
Abruptly, I was cut off.
"You filthy bastard."
Hearing the cold fury in the voice, I stopped my furious tirade and looked at Lance, shocked and perplexed. Looking closer at his scrawny figure, his face slowly began to tilt upwards, his face parting his hair like a silent stroke of a sword.
Then I saw his face.
His eyebrows were drawn together in tight knits, causing wrinkles to ripple on his forehead. A bitter and dark frown smeared his face. Black anger, colder than the bitterest winter radiated from him and seemed to seep into me, goose bumps undulating along my flesh. My hands were taut at my sides as I tried to regain my courage.
Then, just for a second, I noticed that he seemed to be staring past me, as if I wasn't there. . and yet. . he sensed me nonetheless, and I knew that it didn't matter if he was "seeing" someone else, I was still in the way.
"La. . Lance, what's your proble-"
"Don't speak you heartless son of a bitch! How," he screamed, his voice getting higher as they shook his body, ". . How could you do something like that to them? They were my family! The were human beings, not some simple toy for you to break!"
My mouth gaped as I heard his accusations and screams. For once in my life, I didn't know what to do. . or say.
Eyes swirling with mad rage and hatred, Lance's body shook. With a wild and desperate gleam in his eyes, he stared at me.
"I'll avenge them. . . .I'll pay you back for what you did," he whispered quietly at first, "By killing you in the process!"
Thrusting out a fingerless gloved hand, I watched in morbid fascination as Lance's eyes rolled back into his head, the gleaming whites of his eyes balefully glaring at me. Even as I heard the rumble spread through the room like a thundering train, I stood still, frozen. Looking deftly at the ground, I watched as cracks raced along the ground, black gashes forming in the floor and stretching out around Lance's form like the petals of a deadly blossom.
I knew that I could get hurt, possibly killed if I stayed. . .but I couldn't move.
My eyes drifted toward Lance's screaming figure, his body shaking with each heart-wracking cry that retched from his throat. Each cry made me shiver inside. I had felt that kind of pain before, and it made it no better that it was happening to one of my friends.
A whisper drifted past my lips as I gazed at him solemnly. "Lance. . .what happened to you?"
His only reply was a scream as the floor buckled from a tremor.
~
Elsewhere in the building. . .
(Different P.O.V.)
"Shit. It's freaking cold out here."
Stepping back inside the foyer, I shivered. Then, leaning against the door, I carefully sipped from the wine glass in my hand. After all, I didn't want to drink too much. I needed to keep a clear head and be ready at any moment.
Peering over the rim of my glass, I gazed out the small window located on the door that connected the main hall and the foyer room. Sparkling through the deep scarlet was a vision of bliss and happiness. Dancing partners, a fanciful mask adorning each smiling face. I watched them spin and twirl in the lustrous crimson of my glass.
I felt a slight smile light my face.
Looking downward at my black, polished shoes reflecting the moon's ivory beams, I smirked. These used to be skateboarding shoes, I thought with a smile. Ever so slowly, I felt myself slipping into my memories of the past.
~
(Same P.O.V)
Closing my eyes, I could still feel the wooden board beneath me, curving to my every whim. Wheels rushing beneath me in a speeding whirlwind, I had felt free, emancipated from all of my problems and life. . .
Then I was thrust into the real world.
Life became harder and my studies grew worse. Each paper and test I turned in was returned with a despairing grade. Even though I continued to try my hardest, it only seemed to smack back at me. Finally, just out of the blue. . . I gave up.
It seemed like ending it all was the only solution.
In the dark of the night, I ran out, my heart pounding in my chest. I ran into the darkest part of the woods, crawling underneath the heavy branches of a fallen tree. Sinking onto the cold, dirt ground, I sat there for a while, contemplating whether what I was doing was all worth it. If there was really anything left I could truly fight for.
Shaking, my hand slipped into the deep folds of my pocket. Withdrawing my hand, now my fingers were curled around the cold form of steel. I laid out the object before me and my eyes running down lovingly down its long, narrow form.
The gun was lying in a wastebasket when I found it.
It was when I was throwing away another test paper into a trashcan near some alley. Before I let the paper fall, a steel glint caught my eye. I hadn't intended on bringing it along with me this far. . . I just. . . brought it.
It had sat in the bottom of my closet all week. Every spare moment I had, I let my thoughts wander to the dark secret I had hidden in my closet, wondering what I should do with it. And now. . . now I had finally had a use for it.
Closing my eyes, I swallowed hard and raised the gun's cold, chrome barrel point to my face. Pressing it roughly into the tender underside of my chin, I clenched his eyes shut tightly and pulled the trigger.
Click.
"What?"
Opening my eyes, I pulled the gun away from my face and looked at it dumbly. Then, moving my fingers deftly across its gleaming surface, I snapped open the gun's main compartment. Looking down into the holes, my eyes grew wide. Then, leaning back I raised a hand and grasped the side of my face, closing my eyes. Bubbling up inside me, something passed by lips. . . and I laughed.
There were no bullets.
Reaching up, I pressed the gun against my face and smiled, looking up through the dense branches of the dead tree. The stars twinkled mysteriously at me, a smile lighting my face. Crawling back out from under the tree, I fell to the ground and began digging with my hands into the cold soil. Finally, a small hole in the ground was made. Reaching beside me, I pulled the gun and looked at it carefully.
"I'm not ready," I whispered quietly.
I let go of it and let it drop into the pit. Quickly, I dumped the dirt back it, packing it and beating it down with my fist. When the hole was packed with the dirt, I smoothed it out with my hands and stood up, stomping the dirt down. Then, without looking back, I walked off, my mind finally free of the binding hold of the gun.
~
(Same P.O.V.)
Opening my eyes, I felt something warm burn behind them. No, I thought, I will never let myself be that caught up again. Raising my arm upwards, I went to sip some more of my wine when suddenly I heard a rumble roar through the room. Then, a split second after the crash, a tremor spread through the floor and knocked me off my feet, my drink falling from my hand.
"Shit!"
I fell to the ground roughly and was back on my feet in minutes. I ran to the door leading to the hall, but before I reached it, a beep sounded in my ear, humming rapidly like an angry hornet. Reaching up to my ear, I pressed past the deep folds of my ear and touched a small metal circle, hidden from all.
I hissed out loud, "What was that?!"
A small scratchy voice buzzed in my ear, "We don't know yet, but get your ass out here! The place is beginning to fall apart and we've got panicked civilians."
"Alright, Scott, no need to panic. I'm coming," I said.
"Well hurry up, Evan," he responded, a bit of fear creeping into his voice, "We'll need all the help we can get if this is the mutant Professor Xavier was talking about."
"Right. I'm on my way."
Click. . . . .
~
(Pietro P.O.V.)
"I'll avenge them. . . .I'll pay you back for what you did. . . . By killing you in the process!"
I couldn't understand it. . . why would Lance want to kill me? What had happened to him that caused him so much pain?
The first wave I somehow had avoided, but now, as his power continued to pour out of him, I felt myself being thrown back by the sheer force. Rising shakily to my feet I tried to run and stop him, to at least calm him down, but I was thrown back by another wave before I ran two feet.
Jumping back on my feet, I then tried to use my mutant power. . .but it was to no avail. I let out a bit of a yell as I was thrown onto my back again, his waves causing tremors to ricochet inside me. Baring my teeth, I tried to crawl closer, his power forcing me to withdrawal of the use of my legs. Yet, even as he screamed, power rushing through him, I felt myself growing drowsy, almost lightheaded. I don't know if I can't take much more of this, I thought wearily.
"Stop this immediately!"
Hearing the shout, I turned my head toward the source of the voice, my neck muscles already being overused. I nearly choked when I saw who it was. Closing my eyes I felt a bitter chuckle escape past my lips. "Great. . . .the damn X-geeks are saving my ass."
Out of the corner of my eye, I watched them get hit down by a powerful tremor. Yet, when the red head stepped up, sticking her hand out, the wall seemed to pass by them, pushed outwards and around them. That must be Jean Gray. . . .I thought amusedly.
I saw the brown haired leader. . . . Oh yeah. . .Summers. . . shout to the blue, fuzzy one. . . Kurt Wagner. He disappeared in a cloud of infamous sulfur and brimstone. I heard a sudden sound noise in front of me, and I looked up and saw to my surprise, Kurt latched onto Lance's back.
Lance howled as he felt the presence on his back, but as I watched, he had no time to get rid of the intruder. With careful precision, Kurt punched the boy in the head, careful not to cause any permanent damage. I gazed upwards, shocked as Lance's eyes rolled back for a second before they closed, revealing a glimpse of the inklings again.
He fell solidly to the ground.
Kurt stood beside him, gazing down at him sadly. Shifting my legs, I felt relieved to have the pounding pressure of them. I slowly slid upwards onto my feet, watching Lance the whole time. I took a step closer to his fallen body, and Kurt's head whipped upwards in my direction, his eyes giving me a warning.
"We'll deal with it from here," he muttered from under his breath, looking at me warily.
"Not without me," I threw back at him, taking another step closer.
Suddenly, I felt a hand on my shoulder, pulling me back slightly. Whipping around, I came face to face with a pair of ruby quartz glasses. He seemed to stare at me as if trying to figure out who I was. Sighing, he gave up and simply said, "Please sir, we can handle this. There's no need to worry."
"Get your hand off me Summers! Back off," I yelled at him, beginning to grow angry.
He seemed surprise when I called his name. "Wha. . .What? You," he stumbled, a puzzled expression on his face, "You know me?"
Then I realized I still had my mask on. Reaching up and ripped it off and glared at him. "Off course I know you," I stated knowingly, "We were enemies before, remember?"
He gasped. "Pietro?!"
"The one and only," I smirked at his expression.
"But. . but. . I thought. . .I-," he stuttered.
"Exactly," I said, jabbing his chest angrily, "You thought. And you thought wrong."
Turning sharply on my heel, I made my way toward Lance once again, this time without any interruptions. Bending down on my knees, I shook him slightly, ignoring Kurt's threatening glare. "Lance. .," I shook him more, "come on buddy. . .wake up."
Not getting any response, I turned him over onto his back. My eyes widened when I did so. And hearing Kurt's surprised hiss reassured me I wasn't seeing things.
Lying in my hands was Rogue's battered form.
Cold sweat leaked from her skin, plastering her hair to her face. She breathed shallowly and quickly. My hands dropped from her sides as I noticed something else. She was. . she was wearing the same clothes that Lance had just been wearing. I watched as I had before as her body began to shift and break away, morphing into something else.
I could hear the other X-Men approaching behind us. Looking back at Rogue, I saw Kurt was now on his knees, silently observing her as her body slowly changed back, her clothes forming liquid pools along her body until they solidified back into her black evening dress. Her white bangs were slowly beginning to fade back to their original white. A smile lit my lips as she changed back into the girl I knew. Reaching out a hand, I grasped for her gloved hand.
"No. . . Mother. . .Father. . please hold on."
My hand stopped as I heard the whispering plea. Flicking my eyes back up to her face, I watched her lips move, a mumble slipping past them. Then, she did something unexpected.
Tears fell from her eyes.
As they slid down her cheeks, I watched in silence as her mumbles began to grow louder, sobs shaking her body as cried out. Her eyes were still clamped shut.
"Mom! Dad! Don't die! I need you!! Please. . .just a little longer. . hold on. . no. . their on. . their coming. . .the medics. . .they'll be here any minut-. . . .No. . I wont let that bad man hurt you anymore. . . no more. . . Just. .please. . .don't. . leave me. . Please. . . please don't close your eyes. . . ."
Something hot burned inside me, tears welling up behind my eyes. But. . . they couldn't fall, I wouldn't let them. I simply closed my eyes and took Rogue's gloved hand, squeezing it tightly. Now. . .now I understood. These were Lance's memories. . . of his parent's death. . . murder.
"P. . . Pietro?"
Hearing the soft whisper I opened my glassy eyes, staring through a fuzzy vision. Batting my eyes, it cleared and I saw Rogue's green eyes staring at me, watching me silently. They flicked across my face. Slowly, her hand rose up toward my face, touching it lightly with a silky fingertip.
"Rogue? Is. . .is it you?"
My eyes suddenly left Rogue's entrancing eyes and stared in front of me. Kurt's pale yellow eyes gazed softly down at Rogue, tears slowly welling in his eyes. Suddenly, he couldn't hold them anymore and two dark trails stained his furry cheeks. He reached a three-fingered hand toward her.
"Rogue," he whispered, his voice choked with tears.
Unfortunately, Rogue's reaction was quite different. Her eyes grew wide and her breathing quick as she saw Kurt. Pietro felt her hand slip from his and find its way to her face. She sucked in sharply and scooted away from him, jumping to her feet and stalking backwards, foot by foot. Now she was grasping her head. Her lips parted, as she yelled, "No!"
"Rogue! What's wrong," I asked, trying to bite down the fear I had curdling in my stomach. This was all too familiar. . .
Then I saw it.
The black inklings were back. . .invading her beloved emerald ones once again.
Just as her eyes turned completely black, she turned to me and reached for me screaming out, "Pietro! Please, help me!"
I tried to run to her, but I felt a hand grasp my shoulder, roughly jerking me to an abrupt stop. Turning back, I saw that once again, Scott had stopped me. I tried to wriggle out of his grasp, but from that angle it was difficult for me to get an advantage. Turning as much as I could, I yelled back at him, "Let go of me, you jerk! She needs my help!"
"Maximoff, we don't know what's happening to her and we don't want anyone to get hur-."
"Dammit! I said let go!"
Using my mutant power, and what strength I had left, I twisted out of his grasp and ran for Rogue, already bent on the ground and morphing once again. Yet, even as I sped for her, I saw in dismay that her change had already begun. She howled out as her skin quickly turned a different shade, darkening to a murky azure. Fur sprout from her body in blue as her dress shifted into colorful pools that formed an X-Men uniform I knew all too well.
"No. . ," I whispered.
Suddenly, a curved rod whipped out from behind her, curling to form a tail. Her auburn hair grew shaggy and heavy, changing in itself to the color of navy blue. Suddenly, she shuddered and stopped screaming. Pushing off the ground with a three-fingered hand, she opened her eyes and gazed at me with pale, sickly yellow ones.
Suddenly, I heard a loud, painful howl. Turning back, my eyes widened when I saw Kurt grasp his head and fall to his knees, screaming out. He curled into a ball and continued to scream in agony, tears streaming from his eyes.
"No. . ."
When I heard the soft, pained whisper I turned and saw Kurt's copy, Rogue, staring at Kurt's fallen form, a brief flash of green lighting her eyes. Raising her three-fingered hands to her mouth, she grasped the bottom part of her face tightly. Then, a tear slipped down her cheek as she reached out for the blue mutant. "Kurt. . ," she whispered, a light in her eyes, "I'm so sorry. ."
Then, she yelped slightly, her eyes going back to the sickly yellow. Her tail twitched as she glared at me. I took a step forward and tried to run to her. Maybe. . .maybe if I can calm her down. . .
I ran a little faster.
Her eyes suddenly narrowed as she watched me approach her. Hissing in anger, she arched her back and a bright flash appeared before her, blinding me momentarily. Clenching my eyes shut, I suddenly smelled the distinct smell of sulfur and brimstone. I quickly opened my eyes and looked forward. When the cloud cleared, I dropped to my knees.
She was gone.
~
WOAH! That took forever. But, I finished. So there. ^_^ This has got to be my longest chapter yet. Well, I was glad to make it since I reached. . . .yes. . .100 hits!!!! YEAH!
Thank you all who made it all possible and encouraged me to even start a story out of a one-shot. I appreciate it so much I could cry! Uh. . .just kidding. . .about the cry part. ^_^
Well, until the next chapter. Oh! And a side note: the beginning's of the chapters will now have some little memoir from a character. Not too long, but it will be linked to the chapter content in some way. The one on this was Lance's the previous one's was Pietro's. Hope you guys like it. If not, then review and tell me! ^_^
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