(a/n: back again! Enjoy!
For I aM cHaOs!: Pietro is not Pyro. Pietro Maximoff is actually Magneto's son. His codename is Quicksilver, and he has a twin sister, who is Scarlet Witch. Magneto pretty much repudiated her, because she couldn't really control her powers. In X-Men Evo, she's looking for revenge. While Pietro may or may not be Latin for fire, it really doesn't matter. Pyro's real name is St. John Allerdyce [for which we should pity him] I just call him "John" in this story.)
Chapter 7 of Better to Die than to Crawl.
"Is this true?!"
Ami looked to meet Empath's eyes. At his almost imperceptible nod, she glared at the brunette girl and nodded in answer. "Is that a problem for you?" Ami questioned, and took a more relaxed posture. "Or do you need more proof to make you back off?"
"You're lying." Amanda accused, narrowing her eyes at the pair. The tall brunette boy seemed a little surprised at her accusation. He nonchalantly ran his fingers through his wavy, brown hair in answer. Amanda continued after a pause, "Prove it."
"And how, exactly, would you like me to do that?" Ami answered acidly. Empath shrugged, and stepped up to Ami, until they were toe-to-toe. He offered her a charming smile, ignoring the humor he felt rolling off both Usagi and Catseye. He could feel it pouring from both of them. He could also sense Ami's deep anger at Amanda, and her slight distrust of him.
"Well, sweetie, she wants proof." He spoke softly, just loudly enough for Amanda to hear. Ami gave him a curious stare. He took her by the shoulders, and dipped her back, letting their lips meet. The kiss lasted longer than Ami could believe possible, leaving her slightly breathless. Usagi and Catseye had nearly collapsed in silent giggles behind them, knowing that neither Ami nor Empath was very happy at the moment.
Amanda's mouth worked, but no sound came forth. Ami grinned triumphantly at her, despite her slight shock at the kiss. Usagi and Catseye, having gained control over themselves, walked up. Usagi slung her arm over Ami's shoulders, and lay her head on the other girl's shoulder, a wide grin in place. "You guys are so disgusting together." She commented.
"I completely agree. Slobbering all over each other all the time. Mind you, some of us wish to keep our food down." Catseye spoke in turn, in her soft, caressing voice, laying a hand on Empath's shoulder. "You guys need a time out."
"Jealous." Empath returned in a taunting voice. "And who wouldn't be. We're perfect for each other." Empath tightened his hold of Ami's waist, causing the girl to look up at him. Amanda, of course, would assume her gaze was loving, not the ice that greeted him.
"Whatever, Ami, just stay away from Kurt." Amanda finally spoke, turning on her heel. She fled quickly, obviously embarrassed at her not-too-wrong assumption. She was gone in a minute, and Ami immediately flung herself out of Empath's arms. She wiped her lips with her hand, as if trying to get the feel of Empath's lips off of her own.
"Thanks." Empath said dryly. "I didn't know I was quite that disgusting."
"I didn't need your help." Ami replied, icily. "I could've handled her."
"You were surprised at your own reaction to her." Empath replied, leaving no room for argument. "You didn't realize just how angry you were getting at her until you noticed you were using your power without meaning to. And then you figured out that you really could've hurt her if you didn't keep control of your temper. I was just trying to help out without either exposing you or getting either of you hurt."
"What? How did you--?" Ami questioned, and then silenced herself. "Of course. You're an Empath, you knew what I felt, and deduced my…thoughts?"
"Yeah, pretty much." Empath shrugged.
"Well, then. Kindly, stay the hell out of my head." Ami replied bitterly, moved to retrieve the backpack she'd earlier dropped.
"Technically, I'm not in your head. And I can't stop. That would be like telling someone to stop thinking. It's an impossibility, and I'm not too keen on seeing the effect of it. I did what I did because I didn't want you to get hurt, or to hurt someone else and then be hurt because of it."
"Oh yeah, because you care so much." Ami shot back angrily, and sensed Usagi flinch at her words. Understanding flew at her. "You do. Just not about me. Gotcha. Thanks then." She finished, feeling more than slightly hurt. That surprised her, she knew that Empath didn't like her because of her closeness with Usagi. Empath's eyes widened, and he involuntarily took a step backwards.
"I-I'm sorry." He stuttered. "I didn't know."
"What are you talking about, Em?" Usagi asked, looking from Ami to Empath. Ami was blushing in angry embarrassment, and Empath seemed to be in shock.
"I am so sorry…I was just trying to he-help." He added, seemingly pained by something. Ami ran, then, in the opposite direction of Amanda's. "I," he declared to the two remaining girls, "am an asshole."
"What did you do?" Usagi asked, watching Ami's back as she fled, hugging her backpack tightly to her chest. "What did you do to her?"
"I kissed her." Empath answered, bringing his fingers to his lips, grazing them with his fingertips, as if in disbelief at their existence.
Catseye rolled her eyes at that. "Yeah, we got that, but what's the big deal?"
"That was her first."
"You," Usagi and Catseye observed in unison, "are an asshole."
Rei sighed as she watched Pietro slowly paced the length of the room again, seemingly muttering to himself, checking the clock every other second. John sat next to her, also watching the pacing boy. At first, it had been funny, but as the hour wore on, his constant footsteps were wearing on everyone's nerves. Rei and John had talked all day, but now were silent, watching Pietro watch the clock. Mystique had declared herself annoyed, and left the room.
They were, of course, waiting for Minako Aino to arrive, so they could head off to America, where they were originally from. Mina was scheduled to arrive an hour before, and there was no sign of her yet. Pietro seemed to be taking it hard, he apparently felt offended and/or hurt.
"Alright, then." Rei snapped, jumping to her feet. Both boys jumped and turned to her. "She's not here. Let's go find her. This is annoying, and getting us nowhere. So…let's find us a mutant." She headed to the door, with a determined force in her steps. John and Pietro shared a look and headed after the raven-haired girl. She didn't pause for them to catch up.
Pietro was already waiting for them at the bottom of the steps when the other two arrived. "Hurry up." He demanded. "I'm not waiting, I'm heading towards where I met her. Maybe she lost her directions or something. I'll probably find you again before you get there. Just keep going straight." As soon as the words were out of his mouth, he was gone, running again.
"How fast can he go again?" Rei questioned John, as the followed their route at a more sedate pace.
"I think it's a hundred seventy five. I could be wrong. Pretty damn fast." John answered, shrugging. Rei nodded in agreement, and they kept walking. An explosion that seemed to shake the ground beneath them caused them to stop. Sharing a look, they sped off after Pietro. There was no way in hell they'd be able to catch up, but they could try.
It didn't take long for the pair to arrive at the obvious point of disaster. There was a humongous pile of burning metal on the far end of the road. A broken blade from the pile of rubble indicated that it had once been a helicopter. There were nine or ten people on the road in all. One was Pietro, but he was lying on the road, thick black cords wrapped around his torso, holding his arms to his side.
All the others but one were wearing black unitard-like outfit. The other had long blonde hair held back in a red bow. She wore jeans and a yellow top. She was obviously not on the side of the black-wearing people. Judging by the ratio of people, Rei deduced that the people in black were the bad guys, and the girl was probably Minako, an innocent bystander, or someone these people in black were after. No matter which, she was apparently on their side.
She was standing in a slight crouch. Her legs were planted firmly, and she shifted a distrustful gaze between the three enemies surrounding her. Above each palm a ball of yellow light appeared. That easily eliminated "an innocent bystander." She flung them at the two nearest agents. They were both flung backwards, one catching fire. He or she (no one could tell) was immediately more concerned with putting themselves out, and ignored the blonde girl. The blonde glared darkly at the last of the agents who stood between herself and Pietro.
"Move." She snarled at the muscular form. He made no move to do so. Minako flung herself at him, but instead of attacking, as he'd expected, she vaulted herself over his shoulders. She landed hard on her ankle, but adrenaline kept her running towards Pietro. She knelt beside him, and tried to pry the cord from him.
At her struggling, it tightened more around him. "Stop." He hissed, after a sharp intake of air. "The more you pull, the less I can breathe." Minako gave him a helpless look in return. At her moment of distraction, a control agent sped at her from behind, and tackled her hard.
Rei got over her momentary shock, and jumped into action. She pulled the muscular guy from Minako, knowing her hands were searing hot. He pulled away from her sharply, stumbling backwards. Rei offered a cool hand to help the blonde up. "Minako?" She questioned, her eyes scanning the six remaining opponents. The blonde nodded once sharply. "Good."
John had meanwhile taken control of the fire that consumed the helicopter. He held a huge fireball between his hands. The rolling flame glowed blue-white in its intensity. "Rei, want some?" He asked, after sending a stream of fire at three of the agents who'd gotten too close to one another, making an easy target.
"You bet." She answered, and stretched out her hand, as if to catch a ball. John threw a baseball sized blue-colored fireball. Rei didn't so much as flinch at the contact. She turned her hand, displaying the fire floating an inch above her hand. She made a sweeping movement with her hand, and a wall of flame popped up in front of them, burning air and charring the cement beneath.
With a look of intense concentration, the wall of flame grew higher and hotter. Minako stepped backwards to avoid being burned. Only one of the guards remained on the same side of the flame-wall. His arm held a hand-shaped indention on his sleeve. Rei had melted it with her touch. With a grimace, he stood. He grabbed the near-unconscious Pietro by his collar, and flung him through the two-foot thick fire.
"No!" Mina gasped, but there was no way that Rei could've done anything. It had happened so fast. She dropped the wall to see if Pietro made it to the other side. As soon as it was down, she realized her mistake for what it was. Four of the agents were on the other side of the wall, within arms' reach when the flame disappeared.
One grabbed each Minako and Rei, the last two both grabbed hold of John. Rei reacted thoughtlessly, her body heating up quickly. The agent who held her dropped her at the intensity. The two that held John each had an arm out to each side. Mina's assailant had hold of the blonde from behind, as if wrapping her in an aggressive hug. Mina struggled, but couldn't get a clear shot at the agent, with her arms clamped down at her side.
"Let go of them!" Rei demanded, wielding a sword made of flame. She moved her eyes among the three agents holding her friends. She moved towards the two holding John first, she swung her blade at one, it buried into his back. Blood welled up and dried immediately due to the severe heat. He fell backwards, already dead, and the agents released their hostages.
They backed up quickly, turned tail and fled. Rei was left gasping for air, pain alighting all of her nerves. She stumbled and nearly fell, John catching her at the last possible moment. Minako's slightly hysterical voice was the next sound. "They got Pietro…they got him."
Rei struggled to stand. She looked around to find the blonde was right. There were four bodies littering the ground around them, and none of them were Pietro. Three were dead, the last--the man who'd thrown Pietro through the fire--was unconscious. The trio shared a deep silence, which was interrupted by wailing sirens. "Let's get out of here." John said immediately. Minako limped over, past the wreckage--despite the other's protests--and returned holding a singed backpack.
"Let's go." She spoke, with no emotion to her voice. She limped ahead, and Rei rushed to catch up. She took Minako's right arm and wrapped it over her own shoulders, receiving a grateful look in response. Without being asked John rushed to take Minako's bag and other arm, and the three headed off in silence. Without more than a glance, they had a pact. They would get Pietro back…and nothing in any of their lives would ever be the same again.
Darien Shields ruffled his brother's hair. Andrew glared back, fixing his hair stubbornly. The pair were as different as night and day. Darien, with black hair and pale complexion, and Andrew, his blonde, tanned twin brother. Darien was serious by nature, and studious. Andrew loved joking around and currently held a job at the local arcade. Darien was a mutant, and Andrew was as human as they came. And for the first time in their seventeen years of life, they would be separated.
Born and reared in California, Darien was headed clear across the country to a town called Bayville in Massachusetts (a/n: I was confused! I forgot if Bayville was in MA or New York…and I'm almost positive if it's one of those…oh well. Don't flame me. Pretend it's where it really is or something! giggles). Darien had discovered that he was a mutant when he was fourteen, but when he turned sixteen, he began losing control of his abilities.
After he accidentally turned his mailbox into a huge Venus Flytrap, his parents informed him that he was getting training. After he'd accidentally caused an earthquake when he had a migraine, they called Professor Charles Xavier. Darien had an odd power, being able to control not the forces of air, water, or fire, but Earth.
He was scheduled to be on a plane at noon, and it was already ten. Andrew wasn't going to be able to see him off, but Darien didn't seem to mind terribly. Andrew had work, Darien understood. So they were spending their last half hour together.
"This is gonna suck." Andrew noted, and Darien laughed.
"It won't be so bad, I don't think. I mean, I've always wanted to study abroad…I'm trying to think of it like that. And besides, it'll be an entirely new environment." Darien answered.
"Sure, Dare." Andrew rolled his eyes. "So, what you're saying is that now you can stop studying for a while and go across the country and…study some more?"
"Sounds good to me." Darien replied in a mocking tone. "Unlike some of us, I actually want to end up somewhere other than an arcade! You know I want to be a doctor, I can't get there if I don't study hard." He finished in a softer tone, not wanting to fight with Andrew on their last leg of time together. Andrew seemed to sense this, and let the fight drop.
"Well, just make sure that you take a break and scope out something other than books, alright man?" Andrew finally conceded, and Darien grinned in agreement. "So," his entire demeanor changed, "what did you tell Rose?"
Rose was Darien's girlfriend of three years, who didn't know Darien was a mutant. At the mention of her Darien sighed. "I told her the truth. I'm leaving anyway, I figured that it wouldn't hurt."
"How bad did she take it?" Andrew asked, wincing for his brother.
"I'm definitely partaking of the single status, I'll tell you that much." Darien answered. "And that's to have it put lightly. That and I think she burned every rose I ever gave her."
"Seriously, you'd think she'd figure it out when none of them have ever died. In three years!" Andrew commented. "Sorry, man, but even Erika figured out that something was up, and she's got less going on in her head then that gum she's always smacking."
"Then again, she believed you when you told her that they were fabric." Darien rolled his eyes. Anyone could tell that his roses were just as real as any that grew anywhere. "I mean, she put her fingernail through how many petals? And she still couldn't figure it out."
"She took the first piece of logic that was thrust at her, I mean, can you really blame her for wanting to think that there was nothing wrong with them?" Andrew answered. Erika was a usual at the arcade at which he worked. "On the flipside, I think Elizabeth figured you out, and she didn't seem to mind."
"Well, so long as she waits for me to leave to tell people, I think I'll be just fine." Darien answered. "I'm gonna miss my bike, though."
"Well, since you're not exactly legal, it's probably best that you're leaving it here…where I can get to it." Darien's eyes narrowed at Andrew's mock threat. "I-uh-I was just kiddin'!" Andrew added in futile attempts to avoid what he knew was coming. Darien flung himself at his brother, knocking him off the couch on which he was sitting. The pair wrestled; kicking, punching, and rolling over one another in attempts to knock one another into submission.
Darien ended up the victor of that particular battle. "You stay away from my bike, or I'll turn your bed into a cactus." Darien demanded, humorlessly. Andrew nodded quickly, with a grimace, and Darien stood, and offered a hand to his brother.
"Gotcha. No touching the bike." Andrew answered with a nervous laugh. "Wouldn't dream of it."
(a/n: a little bit short this time: hoped you liked it anyway. Yay. Finished another chap. Go review: please and thank you.)