Brotherhood Evolution: Shattered Focus
Well, another day, another chapter.
********************
The Hive
"PIETRO!" Valerie Cooper shouted as she stormed through the hallways of the Hive wearing nothing but a towel. He wet hair hung loose on her shoulders as she stormed around looking for the speed demon.
"Hey Val." Forge said as he walked out of the hallway tinkering with a gadget, not bothering to look up. "What did he do this time?"
"He took all of my cloths. All of them." Valerie hissed as she stormed by.
"Wow. She does have a cute ass." Forge mused as he walked back into his lab.
"PIETRO!" Valerie shouted as she entered the common room where Lance was sitting at a computer typing. Toad and Blob were playing the Gamecube while Wanda was reading a book.
"He's in the closet." Toad said simply pointing at a door. His ran a hand threw his new crew cut.
"Crud." Came the muffled reply from inside.
"Hello Pietro." Valerie said in a sinister voice as she opened the door, blocking all chances of escape. "Where are they?"
"Define 'they'." Pietro gulped, sweat beading around his soul patch.
"My cloths." Valerie hissed.
"On E-Bay." Pietro answered as Valerie's eyes went wide and her face contorted.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"
********************
Psylocke's Room
"Pietro's at it again." Mike said as he sat next to Betsy, who was resting in her bed.
"When will he learn." Betsy said with a weak smile as she opened her eyes.
"Probably never." Mike said with a smile as he wiped a few strands of purple hair out of his girlfriend's hair. "Welcome to the conscious world. How are you holding up?"
"How long have I been out?"
"You've been asleep for three days strait now. What's the last thing you remember?"
"Last thing I remember was training with my telepathic powers, trying to combine them with my shadow powers and then just extreme pain…" Betsy said weakly.
"Hey. Take it easy. Your powers hit the peak of their evolution all at once." Mike said as he pulled the blanket a little tighter around Betsy. You need to stay in bed until the doc's can figure out what's happening with you."
"Stay with me?" Betsy asked as she turned over sleepily.
"Always Elisabeth." Mike said as he stroked her hair as she fell asleep. "Always."
********************
Halfway across the building
"WHY DON'T YOU DIE?" Valerie shouted as she strangled Pietro
"You know, this can't be proper government protocol." Toad said as X-Factor watched Pietro get maimed.
"I don't think the government has protocol to deal with Pietro." Lance replied with a smirk as Pietro ran by, Valerie hot on his heels.
"I'm gonna make you wish you were never born!" Valerie shouted as she held onto he towel, making sure it didn't fall off.
"You're beautiful when you're angry!" Pietro retorted. A loud buzzing sound filled the complex however, stopping her and Pietro in their tracks.
"What in the nine hells is that?" Wanda asked as she covered her ears.
"The alarm." Valerie said as she faced the others. "Its time for you all to earn your keep." Valerie said as she walked away. "Suit up and be in the war room in five!" She called out as she ran off.
"Damn she has a cute ass." Pietro said as Wanda smacked him in the back of the head. "Ow…"
********************
War Room of the Hive
Okay, what's up?" Pietro asked as he walked into the War Room.
"A mutant disturbance was spotted in Oregon." Valerie said as she pulled up a holographic image.
"No. I meant, what's up with these costumes." Pietro said simply. He was wearing silver colored military style pants with a black and silver tee shirt. He had a utility belt across his chest and waist and the X-factor logo on his right sleeve. The logo was a little X, made form a strand of DNA.
"I like them." Wanda said, as she looked her suit over. It was a scarlet Red leather jump suit with a loose hanging belt across the wait. She had the X-Factor symbol on her torn leather jacket.
"I have no opinion what so ever." Blob said simply. He was wearing his regular costume, except the denim jacket was replaced with leather one.
"I feel like something out of a Saturday morning cartoon special." Toad said simply. His crew cut hair was adorned with a set of goggles, as he over looked his costume, which was basically a dark green leather jump suit with a brown duster.
"Speak for yourself." Lance said simply. His costume was the same, just with darker colors and no salad bowl helmet. A baggy leather trench coat flowed around him as he paced back and forth.
"I like 'em." Mike said as he walked into the room. His costume was the same black jeans and shirt, with dark blue trench coat. The only difference was that instead of the omega symbol on his coat, he had the X-Factor one.
"I designed each costume to fit all of you in a fight so that it flows with your particular fighting styles." Forge said. He was wearing a jump suit with several belts on it. All sorts of other gadgets adorned his small form, as he looked at the Brotherhood, I mean X-Factor.
"Getting back on subject." Valerie said as she straitened her towel. "The signal was sighted heading towards the Rocky Mountains. It's fairly powerful, but nothing you shouldn't be able to handle. Avalanche, given the type of terrain you'll be dealing with, I'm putting you in charge of this mission.
"Sweet." Lance said as he observed the holographic display. "What type of mission are we looking at?"
"Capture. If that's not possible, then elimination." Valerie said.
"Eliminate? As in kill?" Blob asked wide-eyed.
"No Freddy." Betsy said as she walked into the room in her new costume. It looked like ninja style fighter suit made from purple and blue spandex/leather with a pair of short swords on her back. "It means we take them out to dinner." Betsy said with a smile.
"Bets. You need to be in bed." Mike said as he walked over to her.
"I appreciate the concern Luv, but I can handle me bloomin' self in a fight. And I'm not gonna get back in ta shape by staying in bed all day long." Betsy said simply as she walked past him.
"Cold." Mike said simply as he wiped a few braids from his face. X-Factor finished their brief and left the war room.
"Okay boys and girls. Lets show the government that there not wasting their money." Lance said simply as he led the former Brotherhood to the hanger where they got onto their new fighter jet and took off.
********************
The Rocky Mountains
"That's a big mountain." Toad whistled as the jet landed.
"Let me out!" Lance chocked as he ran out of the jet and promptly threw up on the ground.
"Our fearless leader." Wanda drawled.
"Eat me." Lance chocked as he stumbled over.
"We don't have any salt." Betsy said simply as she wandered off ahead of them.
"Mike?' Toad asked as Omega watched Psylocke walk off.
"I can't baby sit her Toad. I love her, but if she has to learn the hard way, then so be it." Mike said sullenly as he walked off after her.
"Urg…" Lance moaned as he stumbled by Toad.
"Freddy, I don't think we're in Bayville anymore." Toad said simply to Blob.
"No Duh." Blob said simply as he and Wanda walked after Omega and Psylocke.
********************
In the woods
"Its so empty." Psylocke thought as she tried to focus and use her telepathy to pick up the mutant they were tracking.
"Bets?" Mike asked as he walked over to her.
"Mike, I know what you're going ta say luv, and I don't want ta here it." Betsy said as she tried to focus.
"Really, then what am I going to say." Mike asked as they walked in front of the rest of the Brotherhood.
"That I should take it easy, and that I shouldn't be here." Betsy said sharply as she whirled around to face Omega.
"No. What I was going to say is that we're going that way." Mike said as he pointed at X-Factor, who where moving in a different direction.
Oh." Betsy said simply.
"What's wrong Bets? You're telepathy should have let you know that even though you were in la-la land?" Mike asked as he rested a hand on her shoulder.
"I can't hear anything." Betsy said simply. My head, its empty." Betsy said as she turned away. "I think my telepathy's gone."
"Bets. You powers are evolving. Maybe Telepathy was just one stage in your evolution. You were tossing me and Freddy around with telekinetic abilities during your attack." Mike explained. "You can use telekinesis now."
"Really?" Betsy asked as she whirled around and focused. A giant boulder a few feet in front of them flew off the ground and into a tree. "Well, guess I can." Betsy said in shock as she looked at the smashed tree.
"Told you to trust me." Mike said. "Come on, the others are waiting." Mike said as he turned around.
"Yea." Betsy said simply as she looked at the shattered tree. "What the hell is going on with me?" Betsy thought as she walked with Mike towards the others. The it hit her like a ton of Bricks. "AHHHHHHHHHHHGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!" Betsy screamed as she held her head as a razor sharp pain radiated throughout her skull and spine.
"Bets!" Mike shouted as she floated in the air, holding her head in agony. "Damn it, I knew she shouldn't have come…" Mike muttered as he reached into his belt and pulled out a syringe. "Gotta thank Val for planning ahead." Mike thought as he buried the needle into Psylockes arm, injecting the tranquilizer fluid into her blood stream as he held onto her screaming form.
********************
"Where am I" Betsy asked as she floated in space. She looked at herself and realized that she was made of purple energy. "This can't be good."
You'd be surprised Soul-infant." Betsy whirled around to see Tar standing behind her grinning.
"What do you want Tar?" Betsy asked dryly, "…and what the hell is going on?"
"The Crimson Dawn has had an interesting reaction with your powers." Tar mused. "As keeper of the Dawn, I felt that it was my duty to let you know, least you harm yourself."
"Why would you care?" Betsy asked.
"You are linked with the Dawn. Should you fall, the earths lifeblood would suffer, that in turn would cause me problems as I would need to give some of my essence to keep the world going. I've done it before, but it's a bitch and I don't feel like doing it again." Tar explained. "So quite simply, I'm going to explain how your powers have evolved, that way you know what you can and can't do. Hopefully you won't get yourself killed because you don't know what you can do." Tar said simply. "Ready?"
"Go ahead." Betsy said dryly.
"The form you're in now is the Asteral projection of your essence. And this is the Asteral plane. Every human and mutant mind is liked to it. By entering the Asteral plane, you can find anyone you want, given enough time of searching. As for your physical form, your shadow powers remain the same."
"So I can still do my melty thing?' Betsy asked.
"Yes. As for your telepathy and Psionic knife, they're gone forever. You know possess a form of telekinesis known as mekakinesis. Think of it as telekinesis but you can only work on large-scale objects. You won't have fine control over the object you're manipulating; you can just throw it really hard or move large building with a single thought. It's a little side affect of having such a deep connection with Nagrite. Some of his strength was imprinted onto your mind and its powers evolve accordingly."
"I knew that boy was trouble." Betsy mused.
"Yes." Tar said dryly. "And you know possess the ability to toy with telekinetic energy, but as for that little trick, you'll have to learn it on your own."
"That all?" Betsy asked.
"Is that… yes that's all." Tar said in amazement. You humans really are greedy creatures. Now get out." Tar said as he snapped his finger. The world around Betsy Braddock swirled and then collapsed.
********************
The Hive
"Mike?" Betsy asked as she woke up and Saw Omega sitting next to her. She tried to get up, but Mike pushed here back in bed.
"Oh no you don't. You're staying in bed until the doctor's give you the okay to get out. And this time I mean it." Mike said sternly. "You risked your life Bets, and this time it was for real. You almost died on the flight home."
"Don't worry luv," Betsy said. "I had a visit from Tar. He gave me the rundown of my powers and what I can do now." Betsy said with a smile. Mike looked at her dryly and touched her forehead.
"Bets, you running a fever?" Mike asked worriedly.
"You silly deranged little man.' Betsy said simply as she smiled at her boyfriends worried face. "Wait, what about the mutant we were supposed to capture?" Betsy asked.
"Yea about that." Mike said as he rubbed the back of his neck. "We found her and we brought her back."
"And?" Betsy asked. Her telepathy was gone, but she still knew when Mike was hiding something.
"Val invited her to join the team. She accepted, but there was a slight problem. You see, there are a limited number of rooms in the living quarters. And you were out cold when they took a vote, and Wanda threaten to harm us… So… I mean we wanted to wait until you got better to tell you but…" Mike began before the door burst open.
"Hi-Ya Roomy!" X-23 said with a grin as she looked at Betsy.
"You have got to be bloody joking." Betsy said in shock as X-23 smiled at them.
********************
Next Time on Brotherhood Evolution: X This! X-23 is the newest addition to X-Factor. But will the Brotherhood's antic drive her away. Or just drive her further off the deep end. And what's with that weird pulsing vein on Val's head?
********************
Well, you monkeys demanded it. So the Lord... I mean I gave it to you. X-23's on BHE. May God have mercy on my soul.
Pietro: No problem, you're forgiven.
Descendent: Stop that! You're not God!
Pietro: That's not what you're mother said.
Descendent: That's it! Key figure or no key figure! No body insults my Momma! DIE!
Pietro: uh oh… (Runs away, Descendent hot on his heals wielding a war axe)
Descendent: DIE DAMN YOU! Peace out folks! Please review!
Well, another day, another chapter.
********************
The Hive
"PIETRO!" Valerie Cooper shouted as she stormed through the hallways of the Hive wearing nothing but a towel. He wet hair hung loose on her shoulders as she stormed around looking for the speed demon.
"Hey Val." Forge said as he walked out of the hallway tinkering with a gadget, not bothering to look up. "What did he do this time?"
"He took all of my cloths. All of them." Valerie hissed as she stormed by.
"Wow. She does have a cute ass." Forge mused as he walked back into his lab.
"PIETRO!" Valerie shouted as she entered the common room where Lance was sitting at a computer typing. Toad and Blob were playing the Gamecube while Wanda was reading a book.
"He's in the closet." Toad said simply pointing at a door. His ran a hand threw his new crew cut.
"Crud." Came the muffled reply from inside.
"Hello Pietro." Valerie said in a sinister voice as she opened the door, blocking all chances of escape. "Where are they?"
"Define 'they'." Pietro gulped, sweat beading around his soul patch.
"My cloths." Valerie hissed.
"On E-Bay." Pietro answered as Valerie's eyes went wide and her face contorted.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"
********************
Psylocke's Room
"Pietro's at it again." Mike said as he sat next to Betsy, who was resting in her bed.
"When will he learn." Betsy said with a weak smile as she opened her eyes.
"Probably never." Mike said with a smile as he wiped a few strands of purple hair out of his girlfriend's hair. "Welcome to the conscious world. How are you holding up?"
"How long have I been out?"
"You've been asleep for three days strait now. What's the last thing you remember?"
"Last thing I remember was training with my telepathic powers, trying to combine them with my shadow powers and then just extreme pain…" Betsy said weakly.
"Hey. Take it easy. Your powers hit the peak of their evolution all at once." Mike said as he pulled the blanket a little tighter around Betsy. You need to stay in bed until the doc's can figure out what's happening with you."
"Stay with me?" Betsy asked as she turned over sleepily.
"Always Elisabeth." Mike said as he stroked her hair as she fell asleep. "Always."
********************
Halfway across the building
"WHY DON'T YOU DIE?" Valerie shouted as she strangled Pietro
"You know, this can't be proper government protocol." Toad said as X-Factor watched Pietro get maimed.
"I don't think the government has protocol to deal with Pietro." Lance replied with a smirk as Pietro ran by, Valerie hot on his heels.
"I'm gonna make you wish you were never born!" Valerie shouted as she held onto he towel, making sure it didn't fall off.
"You're beautiful when you're angry!" Pietro retorted. A loud buzzing sound filled the complex however, stopping her and Pietro in their tracks.
"What in the nine hells is that?" Wanda asked as she covered her ears.
"The alarm." Valerie said as she faced the others. "Its time for you all to earn your keep." Valerie said as she walked away. "Suit up and be in the war room in five!" She called out as she ran off.
"Damn she has a cute ass." Pietro said as Wanda smacked him in the back of the head. "Ow…"
********************
War Room of the Hive
Okay, what's up?" Pietro asked as he walked into the War Room.
"A mutant disturbance was spotted in Oregon." Valerie said as she pulled up a holographic image.
"No. I meant, what's up with these costumes." Pietro said simply. He was wearing silver colored military style pants with a black and silver tee shirt. He had a utility belt across his chest and waist and the X-factor logo on his right sleeve. The logo was a little X, made form a strand of DNA.
"I like them." Wanda said, as she looked her suit over. It was a scarlet Red leather jump suit with a loose hanging belt across the wait. She had the X-Factor symbol on her torn leather jacket.
"I have no opinion what so ever." Blob said simply. He was wearing his regular costume, except the denim jacket was replaced with leather one.
"I feel like something out of a Saturday morning cartoon special." Toad said simply. His crew cut hair was adorned with a set of goggles, as he over looked his costume, which was basically a dark green leather jump suit with a brown duster.
"Speak for yourself." Lance said simply. His costume was the same, just with darker colors and no salad bowl helmet. A baggy leather trench coat flowed around him as he paced back and forth.
"I like 'em." Mike said as he walked into the room. His costume was the same black jeans and shirt, with dark blue trench coat. The only difference was that instead of the omega symbol on his coat, he had the X-Factor one.
"I designed each costume to fit all of you in a fight so that it flows with your particular fighting styles." Forge said. He was wearing a jump suit with several belts on it. All sorts of other gadgets adorned his small form, as he looked at the Brotherhood, I mean X-Factor.
"Getting back on subject." Valerie said as she straitened her towel. "The signal was sighted heading towards the Rocky Mountains. It's fairly powerful, but nothing you shouldn't be able to handle. Avalanche, given the type of terrain you'll be dealing with, I'm putting you in charge of this mission.
"Sweet." Lance said as he observed the holographic display. "What type of mission are we looking at?"
"Capture. If that's not possible, then elimination." Valerie said.
"Eliminate? As in kill?" Blob asked wide-eyed.
"No Freddy." Betsy said as she walked into the room in her new costume. It looked like ninja style fighter suit made from purple and blue spandex/leather with a pair of short swords on her back. "It means we take them out to dinner." Betsy said with a smile.
"Bets. You need to be in bed." Mike said as he walked over to her.
"I appreciate the concern Luv, but I can handle me bloomin' self in a fight. And I'm not gonna get back in ta shape by staying in bed all day long." Betsy said simply as she walked past him.
"Cold." Mike said simply as he wiped a few braids from his face. X-Factor finished their brief and left the war room.
"Okay boys and girls. Lets show the government that there not wasting their money." Lance said simply as he led the former Brotherhood to the hanger where they got onto their new fighter jet and took off.
********************
The Rocky Mountains
"That's a big mountain." Toad whistled as the jet landed.
"Let me out!" Lance chocked as he ran out of the jet and promptly threw up on the ground.
"Our fearless leader." Wanda drawled.
"Eat me." Lance chocked as he stumbled over.
"We don't have any salt." Betsy said simply as she wandered off ahead of them.
"Mike?' Toad asked as Omega watched Psylocke walk off.
"I can't baby sit her Toad. I love her, but if she has to learn the hard way, then so be it." Mike said sullenly as he walked off after her.
"Urg…" Lance moaned as he stumbled by Toad.
"Freddy, I don't think we're in Bayville anymore." Toad said simply to Blob.
"No Duh." Blob said simply as he and Wanda walked after Omega and Psylocke.
********************
In the woods
"Its so empty." Psylocke thought as she tried to focus and use her telepathy to pick up the mutant they were tracking.
"Bets?" Mike asked as he walked over to her.
"Mike, I know what you're going ta say luv, and I don't want ta here it." Betsy said as she tried to focus.
"Really, then what am I going to say." Mike asked as they walked in front of the rest of the Brotherhood.
"That I should take it easy, and that I shouldn't be here." Betsy said sharply as she whirled around to face Omega.
"No. What I was going to say is that we're going that way." Mike said as he pointed at X-Factor, who where moving in a different direction.
Oh." Betsy said simply.
"What's wrong Bets? You're telepathy should have let you know that even though you were in la-la land?" Mike asked as he rested a hand on her shoulder.
"I can't hear anything." Betsy said simply. My head, its empty." Betsy said as she turned away. "I think my telepathy's gone."
"Bets. You powers are evolving. Maybe Telepathy was just one stage in your evolution. You were tossing me and Freddy around with telekinetic abilities during your attack." Mike explained. "You can use telekinesis now."
"Really?" Betsy asked as she whirled around and focused. A giant boulder a few feet in front of them flew off the ground and into a tree. "Well, guess I can." Betsy said in shock as she looked at the smashed tree.
"Told you to trust me." Mike said. "Come on, the others are waiting." Mike said as he turned around.
"Yea." Betsy said simply as she looked at the shattered tree. "What the hell is going on with me?" Betsy thought as she walked with Mike towards the others. The it hit her like a ton of Bricks. "AHHHHHHHHHHHGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!" Betsy screamed as she held her head as a razor sharp pain radiated throughout her skull and spine.
"Bets!" Mike shouted as she floated in the air, holding her head in agony. "Damn it, I knew she shouldn't have come…" Mike muttered as he reached into his belt and pulled out a syringe. "Gotta thank Val for planning ahead." Mike thought as he buried the needle into Psylockes arm, injecting the tranquilizer fluid into her blood stream as he held onto her screaming form.
********************
"Where am I" Betsy asked as she floated in space. She looked at herself and realized that she was made of purple energy. "This can't be good."
You'd be surprised Soul-infant." Betsy whirled around to see Tar standing behind her grinning.
"What do you want Tar?" Betsy asked dryly, "…and what the hell is going on?"
"The Crimson Dawn has had an interesting reaction with your powers." Tar mused. "As keeper of the Dawn, I felt that it was my duty to let you know, least you harm yourself."
"Why would you care?" Betsy asked.
"You are linked with the Dawn. Should you fall, the earths lifeblood would suffer, that in turn would cause me problems as I would need to give some of my essence to keep the world going. I've done it before, but it's a bitch and I don't feel like doing it again." Tar explained. "So quite simply, I'm going to explain how your powers have evolved, that way you know what you can and can't do. Hopefully you won't get yourself killed because you don't know what you can do." Tar said simply. "Ready?"
"Go ahead." Betsy said dryly.
"The form you're in now is the Asteral projection of your essence. And this is the Asteral plane. Every human and mutant mind is liked to it. By entering the Asteral plane, you can find anyone you want, given enough time of searching. As for your physical form, your shadow powers remain the same."
"So I can still do my melty thing?' Betsy asked.
"Yes. As for your telepathy and Psionic knife, they're gone forever. You know possess a form of telekinesis known as mekakinesis. Think of it as telekinesis but you can only work on large-scale objects. You won't have fine control over the object you're manipulating; you can just throw it really hard or move large building with a single thought. It's a little side affect of having such a deep connection with Nagrite. Some of his strength was imprinted onto your mind and its powers evolve accordingly."
"I knew that boy was trouble." Betsy mused.
"Yes." Tar said dryly. "And you know possess the ability to toy with telekinetic energy, but as for that little trick, you'll have to learn it on your own."
"That all?" Betsy asked.
"Is that… yes that's all." Tar said in amazement. You humans really are greedy creatures. Now get out." Tar said as he snapped his finger. The world around Betsy Braddock swirled and then collapsed.
********************
The Hive
"Mike?" Betsy asked as she woke up and Saw Omega sitting next to her. She tried to get up, but Mike pushed here back in bed.
"Oh no you don't. You're staying in bed until the doctor's give you the okay to get out. And this time I mean it." Mike said sternly. "You risked your life Bets, and this time it was for real. You almost died on the flight home."
"Don't worry luv," Betsy said. "I had a visit from Tar. He gave me the rundown of my powers and what I can do now." Betsy said with a smile. Mike looked at her dryly and touched her forehead.
"Bets, you running a fever?" Mike asked worriedly.
"You silly deranged little man.' Betsy said simply as she smiled at her boyfriends worried face. "Wait, what about the mutant we were supposed to capture?" Betsy asked.
"Yea about that." Mike said as he rubbed the back of his neck. "We found her and we brought her back."
"And?" Betsy asked. Her telepathy was gone, but she still knew when Mike was hiding something.
"Val invited her to join the team. She accepted, but there was a slight problem. You see, there are a limited number of rooms in the living quarters. And you were out cold when they took a vote, and Wanda threaten to harm us… So… I mean we wanted to wait until you got better to tell you but…" Mike began before the door burst open.
"Hi-Ya Roomy!" X-23 said with a grin as she looked at Betsy.
"You have got to be bloody joking." Betsy said in shock as X-23 smiled at them.
********************
Next Time on Brotherhood Evolution: X This! X-23 is the newest addition to X-Factor. But will the Brotherhood's antic drive her away. Or just drive her further off the deep end. And what's with that weird pulsing vein on Val's head?
********************
Well, you monkeys demanded it. So the Lord... I mean I gave it to you. X-23's on BHE. May God have mercy on my soul.
Pietro: No problem, you're forgiven.
Descendent: Stop that! You're not God!
Pietro: That's not what you're mother said.
Descendent: That's it! Key figure or no key figure! No body insults my Momma! DIE!
Pietro: uh oh… (Runs away, Descendent hot on his heals wielding a war axe)
Descendent: DIE DAMN YOU! Peace out folks! Please review!