Disclaimer: Do you know those famous shoes? The ones made from blue suede?
Well, I don't own them. Just like I don't own Marvel's characters. So don't
blame me. Blame Kernl Toad Sandrz. He won't mind. Much.
A/N: Oh, yeah, I know I didn't explain some of the Brotherhood's members very well, but I just needed some filler characters. Anywho, the only one that I feel like explaining right now is Paste. He's able to create a sort of gluey substance. Good for him.
*********************
"Does ya knows the Chicken Man?" Bear sang happily.
"Shh, Bear," Jean hushed him, "I hear something."
"Professor?" Scott asked, "Is that you?"
"Scott? Are you alright?" Charles Xavier said, as the group emerged from the trees.
"We're fine," Scott replied, "How did you get out of there?"
"I had a little help," Xavier smiled.
Xavier's face grew serious, and explained their escape.
"So everybody's still okay?" Evan asked.
When Xavier didn't answer, Peter spoke up.
"Do you know where Jamie is?"
"Don't worry, Peter," Xavier comforted him, "He's fine."
"But where-"
"Shuttup!" Mr. Kamon snapped, "Listen!"
Faintly, they could hear the sound of a jet approaching.
"Oh, yeah, that reminds me," Evan said, "The Blackbird is, er..."
"It exploded."
Everyone looked at Paste, who was playing with a ball of his own 'glue'.
"What? It did."
Picking up a few pieces of driftwood, he used the glue to stick them together. Sitting down, he looked around at them all.
"What are you staring at?"
***********************
"Put down your chainsaw, and listen to me. It's time for us to join in the fight. It's time to, let your babies grow up to be cowboys. It's time to let the bedbugs bite."
"Would you shut up?" Peitro moaned.
"You better put all your eggs in one basket, You better count your chickens before they hatch. You better sell some wine before it's time. You better find yourself an itch to scratch."
Slade sat up. For once, he wasn't smiling. He held his head in his hands.
"Are you okay?" Amara asked.
"It's just my head," Slade murmured, "It always hurts after I... try to use my power."
Amara still looked worried.
"I'll be fine."
"You gotta squeeze all the Charmin you can, when Mr. Whipple's not around. Stick your head in the microwave, and get yourself a tan."
"That's it, I'll kill him!" Peitro yelled. He jumped up, and started chasing a still singing Ruben around the room.
"How they can still have the energy to do that," Amara muttered, "Is beyond me."
"Talk with your mouth full. Bite the hand that feeds you. Bite off more than you can chew. What can you do? Dare to be stupid!"
Peitro caught up to Ruben easily, "Shut up! Just shut up!"
Ruben grinned at him, then asked, innocently, "Why?"
"You're hopeless."
"Take some wooden nickels. Look for Mr. Goodbar. Get your mojo working now. I'll show you how. You can dare to be stupid."
"I'm warning you..."
"You can turn the other cheek. You can just give up the ship. You can eat a bunch of sushi, then forget to leave a tip. Dare to be stupid!"
Peitro sighed, then gave up, "You're not worth the energy."
Ruben smiled in victory.
"Come on and dare to be stupid. It's so easy to do. We're all waiting for you. Let's go!"
Ruben lost himself in his own fantasy world, singing happily to himself.
Peitro turned to Amara, "Isn't there anything we can do?"
"For Ruben?" Amara asked, "No, there's no hope left for him."
"No, not that," Peitro said, "Shouldn't we be doing something? Something to help?"
He gestured toward Ray, toward the bodies of the soldiers, and the doors through which they had entered.
"Do you know what to do?" Amara asked him, "Do you know where we should go?"
Peitro shrugged.
"We can't leave Ray. We can't."
"Yeah, yeah," Peitro said, hearing Amara's voice tremble, and not wanting her to cry again, "But patience has never been my best quality."
"Why don't you run and see if anyone's around who can help?" Slade suggested.
"Fine."
And in a flash of silver, he was gone.
"I was wondering why they called him 'Quicksilver'," Ruben mused, "and not 'Quickpurple' or 'Quickgold'."
"Well, now you know," Amara rolled her eyes.
"It's time to make a mountain out of a molehill. So can I have a volunteer? There's no more time for crying over spilled milk. Now it's time for crying in your beer..."
**********************
Logan caught Rogue by the waist as she ran forward.
"It's his call, darlin'," he told her.
"Don't you know what he's planning to do?" Rogue's eyes began to well up with tears.
Logan raised his eyebrows.
"Crow's- Kerri's- power is to cause paralysis through eye contact. While doing this, she drains their life force!" Rogue's voice shook, "John doesn't have enough energy. He'll kill himself!"
Bobby gasped, "What?"
They all turned to John.
**********************
Kerri's eyes fluttered open. And met with John's.
"Oh, God, no!" she managed to cry before her powers activated.
John stiffened with the force of Kerri freezing him in place, drinking away his life.
Her eyes were dark, entirely black. All traces of the lovely deep brown, and clean white of her eyes had been transformed. Into this. But somehow, they still reflected the pure, innocent soul within.
She couldn't pull herself away. Looking into his eyes, she was aware of what she was doing, painfully aware. She couldn't tear herself away from the bliss that coursed through her body. Her eyes filled with tears. He's hurting. I'm hurting him...
Bobby watched horror-struck, as their eyes met. A deafening silence fell, broken only by Nightmare's heavy breathing.
'This can't be happening,' Bobby thought, 'But it is...'
He had had enough. With a burst of speed, Bobby broke away from the others. He had nothing in his mind, except to stop them.
Bobby threw himself between them, breaking their eye contact. John fell limply to the ground. Kerri buried her face in her hands.
Logan and Rogue rushed over to them, Sam and the others holding back.
Bobby knelt down next to John, frantically searching for a pulse. Nothing.
He looked up to find Rogue searching desperately, expectantly, into his eyes. He shook his head, and a tear trickled down her cheek.
"I could have stopped him," she murmured.
"No," Logan said, surprising them with the sharpness of his voice, "John wouldn't have stopped. Not even for you, Rogue."
'Listen to them, talking about whose fault it wasn't, when they knew perfectly well whose it was,' Kerri's mind hissed sinisterly into her ear as she sobbed silently into her hands.
"No," she whispered, "I couldn't have killed him..."
'But you did,' her mind insisted, almost happily, 'You did kill him. But he deserved it, didn't he?'
"NO!" Kerri exclaimed, causing everyone to turn and look at her.
"Sugar, are you alright?" Rogue, wiping her tears away to put a hand on Kerri's shoulder.
"How could I be alright? I just killed the person who needed me most!" Kerri moaned.
Bobby was silent, blue eyes fixed on John's body.
"Why?" Bobby asked.
"Because it was what he had to do," Logan said, half to himself.
"He had to?" Bobby became angry, "Why didn't he have one of us help? He was in such bad shape!"
Logan sighed, "Because John knew more than someone his age should know. Because he was unable to trust anyone. There are thousands of reasons why he did what he did, but I think that he did it because he felt that he owed her his life. He was repaying her."
Bobby gaped at him, this was the deepest discussion they'd had since the talk about Bobby dating Rogue.
":Listen to me," Rogue's voice broke into Bobby's thoughts as she talked to Kerri.
Kerri shook her head, her hands still covering her face.
"No," Rogue put her hands on Kerri's shoulders, "I know. I know why he did it. So do you. And you know that there was no way to keep him from doing whatever he could..."
Kerri pulled away, "You don't know! You have no idea!" Tears streamed down her face, "You don't know..."
Kerri broke down into sobs, rocking back and forth on her knees.
Bobby turned away, back towards John. He knelt, tears finding paths down his face. Moments later, they had frozen onto his face. Subconsciously, he had lowered the whole room's temperature. Breath was now airborne frost, evident in the cold room.
Bobby looked around the room. Logan was pacing; back and forth, back and forth. The other students; the Brotherhood members stood by, unsure. Wanting to help, wishing to leave. Rogue persisted, trying to comfort Kerri.
Bobby averted his eyes back to John. And dropped the temperature another twelve degrees.
********************
The hobo let me put up a new chapter, 'cause he's currently being frightened by the guys replacing my windows. So I guess the Window Guys are on my side... Hmm... Okay, thanks to everyone who reviewed my last chapter over the holidays. I think it was Kernl Toad Sandrz who made a complete fool out of himself, wasn't it? Oh well...
Now, since this is extra-suspenseful, you should review, so I update faster. *cringes away from BobbyD12* No, that wasn't a threat. Really, it wasn't!
A/N: Oh, yeah, I know I didn't explain some of the Brotherhood's members very well, but I just needed some filler characters. Anywho, the only one that I feel like explaining right now is Paste. He's able to create a sort of gluey substance. Good for him.
*********************
"Does ya knows the Chicken Man?" Bear sang happily.
"Shh, Bear," Jean hushed him, "I hear something."
"Professor?" Scott asked, "Is that you?"
"Scott? Are you alright?" Charles Xavier said, as the group emerged from the trees.
"We're fine," Scott replied, "How did you get out of there?"
"I had a little help," Xavier smiled.
Xavier's face grew serious, and explained their escape.
"So everybody's still okay?" Evan asked.
When Xavier didn't answer, Peter spoke up.
"Do you know where Jamie is?"
"Don't worry, Peter," Xavier comforted him, "He's fine."
"But where-"
"Shuttup!" Mr. Kamon snapped, "Listen!"
Faintly, they could hear the sound of a jet approaching.
"Oh, yeah, that reminds me," Evan said, "The Blackbird is, er..."
"It exploded."
Everyone looked at Paste, who was playing with a ball of his own 'glue'.
"What? It did."
Picking up a few pieces of driftwood, he used the glue to stick them together. Sitting down, he looked around at them all.
"What are you staring at?"
***********************
"Put down your chainsaw, and listen to me. It's time for us to join in the fight. It's time to, let your babies grow up to be cowboys. It's time to let the bedbugs bite."
"Would you shut up?" Peitro moaned.
"You better put all your eggs in one basket, You better count your chickens before they hatch. You better sell some wine before it's time. You better find yourself an itch to scratch."
Slade sat up. For once, he wasn't smiling. He held his head in his hands.
"Are you okay?" Amara asked.
"It's just my head," Slade murmured, "It always hurts after I... try to use my power."
Amara still looked worried.
"I'll be fine."
"You gotta squeeze all the Charmin you can, when Mr. Whipple's not around. Stick your head in the microwave, and get yourself a tan."
"That's it, I'll kill him!" Peitro yelled. He jumped up, and started chasing a still singing Ruben around the room.
"How they can still have the energy to do that," Amara muttered, "Is beyond me."
"Talk with your mouth full. Bite the hand that feeds you. Bite off more than you can chew. What can you do? Dare to be stupid!"
Peitro caught up to Ruben easily, "Shut up! Just shut up!"
Ruben grinned at him, then asked, innocently, "Why?"
"You're hopeless."
"Take some wooden nickels. Look for Mr. Goodbar. Get your mojo working now. I'll show you how. You can dare to be stupid."
"I'm warning you..."
"You can turn the other cheek. You can just give up the ship. You can eat a bunch of sushi, then forget to leave a tip. Dare to be stupid!"
Peitro sighed, then gave up, "You're not worth the energy."
Ruben smiled in victory.
"Come on and dare to be stupid. It's so easy to do. We're all waiting for you. Let's go!"
Ruben lost himself in his own fantasy world, singing happily to himself.
Peitro turned to Amara, "Isn't there anything we can do?"
"For Ruben?" Amara asked, "No, there's no hope left for him."
"No, not that," Peitro said, "Shouldn't we be doing something? Something to help?"
He gestured toward Ray, toward the bodies of the soldiers, and the doors through which they had entered.
"Do you know what to do?" Amara asked him, "Do you know where we should go?"
Peitro shrugged.
"We can't leave Ray. We can't."
"Yeah, yeah," Peitro said, hearing Amara's voice tremble, and not wanting her to cry again, "But patience has never been my best quality."
"Why don't you run and see if anyone's around who can help?" Slade suggested.
"Fine."
And in a flash of silver, he was gone.
"I was wondering why they called him 'Quicksilver'," Ruben mused, "and not 'Quickpurple' or 'Quickgold'."
"Well, now you know," Amara rolled her eyes.
"It's time to make a mountain out of a molehill. So can I have a volunteer? There's no more time for crying over spilled milk. Now it's time for crying in your beer..."
**********************
Logan caught Rogue by the waist as she ran forward.
"It's his call, darlin'," he told her.
"Don't you know what he's planning to do?" Rogue's eyes began to well up with tears.
Logan raised his eyebrows.
"Crow's- Kerri's- power is to cause paralysis through eye contact. While doing this, she drains their life force!" Rogue's voice shook, "John doesn't have enough energy. He'll kill himself!"
Bobby gasped, "What?"
They all turned to John.
**********************
Kerri's eyes fluttered open. And met with John's.
"Oh, God, no!" she managed to cry before her powers activated.
John stiffened with the force of Kerri freezing him in place, drinking away his life.
Her eyes were dark, entirely black. All traces of the lovely deep brown, and clean white of her eyes had been transformed. Into this. But somehow, they still reflected the pure, innocent soul within.
She couldn't pull herself away. Looking into his eyes, she was aware of what she was doing, painfully aware. She couldn't tear herself away from the bliss that coursed through her body. Her eyes filled with tears. He's hurting. I'm hurting him...
Bobby watched horror-struck, as their eyes met. A deafening silence fell, broken only by Nightmare's heavy breathing.
'This can't be happening,' Bobby thought, 'But it is...'
He had had enough. With a burst of speed, Bobby broke away from the others. He had nothing in his mind, except to stop them.
Bobby threw himself between them, breaking their eye contact. John fell limply to the ground. Kerri buried her face in her hands.
Logan and Rogue rushed over to them, Sam and the others holding back.
Bobby knelt down next to John, frantically searching for a pulse. Nothing.
He looked up to find Rogue searching desperately, expectantly, into his eyes. He shook his head, and a tear trickled down her cheek.
"I could have stopped him," she murmured.
"No," Logan said, surprising them with the sharpness of his voice, "John wouldn't have stopped. Not even for you, Rogue."
'Listen to them, talking about whose fault it wasn't, when they knew perfectly well whose it was,' Kerri's mind hissed sinisterly into her ear as she sobbed silently into her hands.
"No," she whispered, "I couldn't have killed him..."
'But you did,' her mind insisted, almost happily, 'You did kill him. But he deserved it, didn't he?'
"NO!" Kerri exclaimed, causing everyone to turn and look at her.
"Sugar, are you alright?" Rogue, wiping her tears away to put a hand on Kerri's shoulder.
"How could I be alright? I just killed the person who needed me most!" Kerri moaned.
Bobby was silent, blue eyes fixed on John's body.
"Why?" Bobby asked.
"Because it was what he had to do," Logan said, half to himself.
"He had to?" Bobby became angry, "Why didn't he have one of us help? He was in such bad shape!"
Logan sighed, "Because John knew more than someone his age should know. Because he was unable to trust anyone. There are thousands of reasons why he did what he did, but I think that he did it because he felt that he owed her his life. He was repaying her."
Bobby gaped at him, this was the deepest discussion they'd had since the talk about Bobby dating Rogue.
":Listen to me," Rogue's voice broke into Bobby's thoughts as she talked to Kerri.
Kerri shook her head, her hands still covering her face.
"No," Rogue put her hands on Kerri's shoulders, "I know. I know why he did it. So do you. And you know that there was no way to keep him from doing whatever he could..."
Kerri pulled away, "You don't know! You have no idea!" Tears streamed down her face, "You don't know..."
Kerri broke down into sobs, rocking back and forth on her knees.
Bobby turned away, back towards John. He knelt, tears finding paths down his face. Moments later, they had frozen onto his face. Subconsciously, he had lowered the whole room's temperature. Breath was now airborne frost, evident in the cold room.
Bobby looked around the room. Logan was pacing; back and forth, back and forth. The other students; the Brotherhood members stood by, unsure. Wanting to help, wishing to leave. Rogue persisted, trying to comfort Kerri.
Bobby averted his eyes back to John. And dropped the temperature another twelve degrees.
********************
The hobo let me put up a new chapter, 'cause he's currently being frightened by the guys replacing my windows. So I guess the Window Guys are on my side... Hmm... Okay, thanks to everyone who reviewed my last chapter over the holidays. I think it was Kernl Toad Sandrz who made a complete fool out of himself, wasn't it? Oh well...
Now, since this is extra-suspenseful, you should review, so I update faster. *cringes away from BobbyD12* No, that wasn't a threat. Really, it wasn't!