To Err is Human
By Todd Fan
Disclaimer: "You'd like to give me a slap, wouldn't you?"
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Hi all, I apologise for the late update, I had to study for my theory test. I passed though, so it was worth it ; )
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Chapter 18 - Ohana
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Gina stood calmly to attention as Shaw paced in front of her, a few other the other Inner Circle members in the room with them watching.
"You failed to capture the mutant?"
"He disabled my abilities", she said in monotone, "and he fled into the sewerage system"
"Why didn't you persue?", snapped Shaw, "you don't need your abilities, you have been TRAINED!"
"The X-Men showed up", said Gina, unblinking, "I was outnumbered, and forced to retreat".
Shaw groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose.
"Damnit, that mutant would have been usefull", he snapped, before sighing, "no matter, we can get another mutant"
He turned his head at Emmanuel.
"DaCosta, I want you to get your son. No arguments this time, are we clear?"
Emmanuel frowned, before sighing, inclining his head.
"Understood, Sir", he said.
"Good", said Shaw, narrowing his eyes as the Brazillian left, before looking at Gina.
"You killed his mother?"
"I did", she replied simply.
"At least you managed to do something right", muttered Shaw, "take her to her cell"
Pierce stepped forward, taking Gina by the arm leading her away.
"DaCosta had BETTER be sucessfull", said Shaw, narrowing his eyes, "I won't lose another young mutant".
----
Over at the Xavier institute, the door slammed open, Todd walking in, Rogue following behind.
"Okay, Baldy", said Todd, zeroing in on Xavier, "what's Rogue sayin' about my cousin?"
Xavier winced.
"Please, lower your voice, we don't want Jamie to find out"
"Find out what?", asked Jamie, blinking up from by the door, like most kids, he had that amazing hearing ability that kicks in whenever anyone's talking about you.
"About why the heck Gina's goin' around killin' people an' huntin' down mutants", said Todd, matter-of-factly.
Jamie's brow furrowed slightly.
"Gina's in Italy.....isn't she?"
The rest of the X-Men coughed, shuffling their feet.
"You, see, Jamie", said Xavier with a sigh, trying to put this gently, "we...ran into her tonight"
"What?", said Jamie, frowning, "but......how?"
"She never went to Italy, that's how", said Todd, frowning, "and I want to know what's goin' on"
"We don't quite know yet, Todd", sighed Xavier, "Logan and Jean agree that it seemed she was being controled by an outside force...but is that all we know right now. We have our suspicions on the guilty party, but we have no way to trace them"
"Who?", said Todd, narrowing his eyes.
"A group that call themselves 'The Hellfire Club'", said Xavier, "but apart from that, we have no other clues as to how they are controling her, or where to find them. She isn't registering on Cerebro anymore, the only reason we found her tonight was because Leech used his own powers, and he is now lost in the sewers".
Xavier sighed.
"I know you want to protect your cousin, Todd", he said, "and I promise I'll let you know as soon as we find anything more on the matter".
"No offence, Professor", said Todd, turning his way to the door, "your word don't mean much ta me. I'll find her on my own".
With that, he hopped out of the door, heading away. Xavier frowned, before turning to see a none-too-happy Jamie.
"Why didn't you tell me?", he asked, crossing his arms.
"We just didn't want to upset you, Jamie", said Xavier carefully.
"I get it 'because I'm just a kid'", said Jamie bitterly, "I could handle this,. nice to knwo you guys trust me".
Jamie frowned, stomping off to his bedroom. Xavier groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose. This couldn't get any worse, it really couldn't.
"Professor Xavier?"
He blinked, turning to face the still open door. He immediately recognised Emmanuel DaCosta, Roberto's father.
"Oh...Mr DaCosta....we weren't expecting you", he said, trying to smile aimiably.
"Yes, I have had a sudden...buisness deal in the city", he explained, "I thought I would give my son a suprise visit"
"Oh...yes..of course", said Xavier, "he's in his room"
"Obrigado", said Emmanuel, heading off to his sons room. [1]
Xavier frowned, watching him go, wondering why he couldn't pick up on his thoughts clearly. Maybe he was more tired than he thought.
---
Meanwhile, on the island of Hawaii, Alex Masters-Summers was walking past the beach, heading back to his home. He whistled tunelessly as he carried his beloved surfboard over his shoulder. Little did he know, he had an audience.
"That him?"
Lucas was not in the best of moods. The climate of Hawaii was MUCH hotter than he was used to. Scotland born, he was used to weather that was cold and generally rainy. He didn't know how people could cope in this heat. As a result his short temper was shorter than normal....besides, he was getting a headache. [2]
His companion, however, seemed to be dealing with it alot easier. She pulled herself up on her elbows from where she had been lazing on the beach, lowering her sunglasses to track Alex's movements.
"Yeah, that's him", she said, "well, it's the guy from Scott's pictures, anyway"
"About bloody time", muttered Lucas, "I cannae take anymore of this heat!"
Lizzie gave a defeated sigh, standing up.
"We have to go to work now?"
Lucas nodded.
"We have to go to work now", he confirmed.
With that, the pair headed after the younger Summers sibling. Alex himself had made it back into his house.
"I'm home, mom", he called out, leaning his surfboard on the wall, looking in the fridge for something to eat.
He wrinkled his nose as he came upon a sardine and mayonnaise sandwich. Ugh, he hated those things, but his foster mother kept forgetfully making them. The Masters's had a son before them, who was sadly killed, hence Alex's adoption into the family, their son had LOVED those god-awful sandwiches. He couldn't help but feel sometimes he was a replacement for their lost son. Sure, the Masters's treated him kindly, and he'd grown up safe and protected but still...he just wished they'd stop forgetting that he wasn't their dead son. [3]
He sighed, one day, he'd take up Scott's offer to stay at the mansion, but...Scott had already got himself well-solidified as the 'Summers guy', he didn't relish the idea of following in his older brothers footsteps. He loved Scott dearly but they were like chalk and cheese, very different people.
"If you're not living in the shadow of one brother, you are living in the shadow of another"
Alex jumped slightly, hearing someones voice his thoughts. He turned to see Legion smirking from the kitchen door, Lizzie not far behind.
"I don't know who you are, but you're not welcome", said Alex, narrowing his eyes, his hands begining to glow.
"Easy, now, Alex", said Lucas, holding his hands up, "we only wannae talk tae ye".
He smiled.
"I know what yer thinking, y'see, and yer not the only one", he said simply.
"Only one what?", frowned Alex, not letting his guard down.
"The only one that's shadowed by a family member", he said, "the lovely lass to my right is the sister of Cannonball, and me.."
He frowned.
"I'm the son of Charles Xavier"
Alex's eyes widened in realisation.
"Scott warned me about you", he said.
"He did, did he?", smirked Lucas, "what did he say? That I'm bad news? Tae stay away from me?"
"Leave. Now", warned Alex, his hands glowing brighter as he clenched his fists.
Lucas smirked.
"Fine I'll leave, but I wanted tae make ye an offer, first".
"Not. Interested", said Alex.
"Not even when I offer ye the chance to be your own person?", asked Lucas, "not havin' tae worry about walking in someone elses footsteps all ye life? I know that cannae be much of a life, Alex"
Alex frowned.
"It's the only life I have", he said, "I got used to it"
"I'm offering ye freedom from all of that", smiled Lucas, "think it over. Me an' Miss Guthrie here'll be staying fer another two hours. Ye can find us at the airport, if ye change yer mind"
With that, Lucas grinned, walking away, Lizzie walking beside him. Alex watched them go, frowning, powering down.
"You think he'll come?", asked Lizzie, glancing at Lucas.
"I KNOW he'll come", smirked Lucas, looking straight ahead, "and once he does, we can go home".
----
Leech shifted uncomfortably in his sleep, whimpering before his eyes shot open, as he sat bolt upright. He looked around confusedly at his surrounding before sighing, closing his eyes as it all came back to him. He rubbed his hand on his forehead, and when he opened his eyes again, a boy his own age was standing in front of him...a pink skinned boy his own age.
"Arrghhhh!".
Artie blinked as Leech fell off his 'bed'. Leech coughed, feeling a little undignified. To boys of eleven, spazzing out and screaming like a girl was generally considered a dumb thing to do.
"Errr...sorry", said Leech, standing up and brushing himself off, "you...err...suprised me"
Artie smirked, rolling his eyes in a 'yeah, right' fashion, before offering Leech the carton of fries he was holding. A image of Leech eating projected above him, Artie decided to pat his stomach of empahasis.
"Oh...food", said Leech, blinking, "errr...thanks?"
Artie smiled, nodding, sitting down next to Leech while he ate.
"So", said Leech inbetween mouthfulls, "are you a mutant too?"
Artie nodded.
"What are your powers?"
Artie pointed above his head, projecting a image of him projecting images....it had an..odd effect.
"Oh", said Leech, blinking, "cool. Can you talk?"
Artie shook his head. No.
"That's okay", said Leech with a shrug, "you can use those nifty holo-thingies to speak. I..err..."
Leech had forgotten the exact words the professor had told him his powers were.
"I cancel out things", he said, "it's...kinda weird"
Suddenly, a very, very large hand plopped down on either boy's shoulders, Torpid settling herself between them. She was curious about the 'new kid' around, and wanted to see him for herself.
"Gah", said Leech with a start.
Torpid grinned, stealing a fry from Leech. Artie sighed, projecting a girls sign, with a no-entry sign across it. No girls allowed! Torpid blinked at him, before taking off her glove, waving a big, bare hand menacingly at Artie. Artie squeaked, before sighing, removing the no-entry from his girls sign. Torpid gave a nod, putting her glove back on. Leech blinked, watching this with interest.
"So..am I the only kid down here who can talk?"
The pair nodded.
"Oh..okay", said Leech, glancing at them sadly, "you guys lost your parents, too?"
Torpid and Artie nodded grimly.
Leech sighed.
"Me too", he said sadly, the memory of what happened to his mother rushing back, he sighed, brushing it away, he had to be strong, now, "I'm Dorian Leech, what're your names?"
The mute pair began to gesture wildly. Leech sighed...this was going to take awhile. [4]
---
Roberto had been sitting in his room with his eyes closed, dozing, as he usually did when evening drew in, he had to conserve his energy. He sighed, hearing someone knock on the door.
"Come in", he said.
He opened one eye, watching the door open, before sitting up in suprise, seeing his father enter, closing the door behind him.
"Pai", he said, "...what are you doing here?" [5]
"Hello, Roberto", said Emmanuel, giving his son a smile, "I thought I would pay you a visit"
"That's new", muttered the younger DaCosta, "I thought you didn't have time for anything, including family"
"You know I can't help the fact that buisness makes me very busy", said Emmanuel, before sighing, "come on, lets take a walk, hmmm?"
Roberto frowned slightly.
"It's dark out, I don't like the dark", he said, "you know that"
"Nothing will happen to you", said Emmanuel, "the dark can't hurt you, you know"
"Fine", sighed Roberto, standing up, following his father outside. They walked for a while, before Emmanuel sighed.
"Roberto, I have a new proposition for you, somewhere away from this Insitute"
Roberto blinked.
"I'm happy here", he said, "I have Dani..and my friends".
"Yes, but this Institute cannot off you a cure", said Emmanuel, "unlike the Hellfire Club"
"I've told you before I'm not ill, mutancy is....", Roberto trailled off, "did you say the Hellfire Club?"
"Yes", said Emmanuel with a nod, "I joined recently"
"How could you join those people?", snapped Roberto, "they murdered Juliana! They murdered Danielle's grandfather, and tried to kidnap her!"
"One does not turn down a position in a club as prestigious as this, Roberto", replied his father.
"Even a club that wanted to kill off your own son?"
"It is good for buisness", said Emmanuel, "a business that you will someday own yourself"
"I don't want it", said Roberto, narrowing his eyes and stalking away, "as far as I'm concerned it's tainted"
"I was afraid of you thinking so, Roberto", sighed Emmanuel, walking up behind Roberto, jabbing a hidden needle into his sons arm.
"Wha...", said Roberto, before his world went black.
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Ohana is Hawaiian for 'family', an appropriate title for this chapter, methinks.
[1] - Portugese for 'Thank you'
[2] - We Brits really don't cope well in warm weather...at least those of us in the colder areas of the UK. Okay, I can only speak for the Welsh and Scots, my family were like wilting flowers when we went to Florida, as were the Scottish family we made friends with. So my guess is, Lucas isn't gonna like Hawaii all that much. Heh heh heh.
[3] - This is actually cannon. Though Alex was adopted by the Blanding family in the comics, his foster-parents had a son, who died and they tried to use Alex to fill his place, in a kindly, parental-way, of course. Poor Alex. I thought it ironic he's overshadowed by older brothers wherever he goes, no wonder he turned into such a neurotic physco 0.o
[4] - In the comics, Artie and Leech are inseperable. Where there is Leech, there is Artie, where there is Artie, there is Leech. It was fun doing a 'first meeting' for the pair. And of course, we can't forget Torpid :D I'm not sure if they ARE ten, but Leech certainally LOOKS that age in Evo, and Torpid looks around nine...that's my guess anyway. Kinda young to be developing mutant abilities, but there you go.
[5] - Portugese for 'father'.
Bwhahahaha!. What's gonna happen to 'Berto? What is Lucas up to? It's a seeeecret ;) Do review. Until next time...