"Oh no... Oh God... what have we done? Oh God oh God oh God..."
"Amara, this is no time to freak out! We... we have to think about this logically. We can sort through this. Look, here comes the ambulance, they'll take care of him... right?"
"I don't know, Jubes. I... I think we might have..."
"Shut up, Bobby! He'll be fine! The doctors will take care of him!"
"No... he, he's not breathing. And I think his neck is broken... Oh God, there's so much blood..."
"Should we run?"
The group all stared at Roberto with looks of horror and confusion.
"What? I mean, we just... didn't we? We're going to be in big trouble, and I don't think the police will go easy on a bunch of mutants like us. They'll look for any excuse to get us out of town. A... a murder charge would be perfect..."
"HE'S NOT DEAD!"
Bobby put a hand on Jubilee's shoulder, shaking his head sadly at her, just as the ambulance pulled up to the curb.
"I think he's right, you guys... we should get out of here. Just for now. We can tell the professor what happened. I mean, it was an accident and-"
One of the ET's bent down and felt for a pulse, then looked up at the other woman with him. "Record it. Time of death, 2:37 pm, September 23rd."
"Let's... go..."
The kids grabbed the bikes they'd left outside the restaurant and headed back to the mansion at top speed while one of the emergency technicians yelled at them from behind to come back. They didn't stop until they were through the gates of the institute.
---------------
Wanda had circled the park and started back to town. She wasn't ready yet to go back to the boarding house. Her emotions were still boiling and bubbling inside her, and she couldn't risk slipping in front of anyone. Her mind had been turning over her present situation carefully, considering all points of view. She wanted to trust her father and her brother again, but something told her she shouldn't. But Pietro had really been trying with her lately, making an effort to be less of the little bastard he was and a shade closer to the brother he should be. She didn't want to trust anyone in the house at all. Pietro was the one she should be able to trust, but he probably was the least honest of them all. The only one she trusted at all was Toad... Todd. Whatever. The poor idiot obviously had a thing for her, and no matter how many times she beat him for it, he's always come back like some kind of beaten, loyal puppy dog.
I should probably be a little nicer to him. I mean, he's the only real friend I've got around here...
As she entered town center, she was so deep in thought that she barely noticed the police cars and the ambulance outside the Hamburger Hut. Her eyes were fixed on the street in front of her, unwilling to meet anyone else's eyes at the moment. Her own life was just too much for her to consider whatever tragedy had happened at the fast food place. It didn't concern her, so why get involved?
Maybe I should bring back some food for the rest of the boarding house. They'd probably think it was poisoned or something... hmph, I can do something nice too. None of them understand. I should at least pick up something for Todd. Maybe that way he'd stop eating flies in front of the rest of us...
"That's right officer, four kids. Mutant kids! They're the ones that did this! They ran off before you arrived, though. I think they were from that school or something..."
Wanda glanced over at the large woman speaking with the police officer. Mutant kids, huh? Probably some of the younger X-Men. It seemed like something those little fuck-ups would do.
I bet they were joking around with their powers or something and broke the window.
"So then the girl in the yellow jacket and the boy with the ice powers blasted that poor boy through the window and he hit that lamppost there. I could hardly believe my eyes! I knew those mutants were trouble, but I never thought they were murderers!"
Now that was interesting. Wanda was coming up on the section of the sidewalk the police had cordoned off, but she paused to listen some more. The X-Men had killed someone? Even the Brotherhood had never killed anyone, and any injuries any bystanders received were usually accidents. This woman made it sound like the kids had done it on purpose. She was probably one of those anti-mutant people, looking for an excuse to get mutants in general in trouble. The X-Men had never seemed like murderers to her. Annoying bastards, but not murderers. Satisfied that she'd heard enough, she continued walking. She had to step into the street to walk around all the police cars and the ambulance. It looked like whatever happened, just went down a few minutes before she'd arrived.
"Chief? We've identified the victim."
"Oh? Who is he?"
"Some kid named Todd Tolensky."
Wanda froze, halfway between one of the police cruisers and the ambulance.
"The poor kid... do we have the number for his parents?"
"No Sir, it seems he was an orphan. He's been staying with some woman named Raven Darkholme in the boarding house on the edge of town."
Wanda turned her head, slowly looking between the cars. The front window of the store was shatter, huge pieces of glass spread on the pavement with smaller shards around them. Some blood splattered the sidewalk, leading towards that lamppost there...
"Well, I guess we should give the house a call then."
"We tried, Sir, but it seems the phone line was cut off. They didn't even have enough money to pay for the service. The same goes for water, too. The poor boy, he must have led a horrible life..."
"I guess he lived in the gutter and died in it as well..."
Her eyes stopped at the base of the lamppost. A body lay crumbled and bent around the metal, twisted in an unnatural position. A chalk outline traced his form, running off the curb where his head tilted back, blood dripping into the gutter. Longish dirty brown hair stuck to his scalp and forehead, matted with the blood that now soaked the concrete. A look of shocked defeat was frozen on his face. His eyes were partially open, looking straight at her without seeing.
Todd's body.
What?! No, this can't be real. I just talked with him! He was worried about me, wanted to cheer me up... I blew him off and... and... he headed into the town center...
She'd spent the afternoon trying to suppress her emotions, and had almost been successful. All the pain and confusion had been beaten back and she'd started to think that maybe, just maybe, she'd make it through all this. After all, Toad was her friend.
Was.
Like some sort of hybrid of fire and electricity, blue energy crackled around Wanda's clenched fists. She wanted to look away from Todd's body, but she couldn't. With each passing moment she felt her emotions boil over. Someone must have seen her because she heard a scream. People were staring at her. She didn't care. The one good thing in her life had just been senselessly killed. Todd was harmless; there was no reason for this to happen to him. No reason at all. As she walked over to his body, the light bulb atop the lamppost burst, showering sparks and tiny pieces of glass over her. The thick metal pole groaned as blue tinted energy twisted it down, bending it away from Todd's broken body. More screaming filled her ears along with the clicking sound of guns being cocked. The police tracked her as she bent to collect the body in her arms, ignoring the blood smearing her hands and jacket.
"Stop right there! What do you think you're doing?"
Wanda waved a hand and suddenly the police cruisers sprang to life, the engines revving as the gears in each one shifted. They all suddenly backed up of their own accord, blocking her from the police.
"Todd had a family. I'm bringing him home to them. Don't bother pointing those things at me, go find out who did this to him."
The police peered around the cars, confusion on their faces.
"DO IT!"
They fled, some jumping into their cars while others just ducked for cover, expecting some sort of attack. Wanda held Todd's body in both arms, carrying him as if he might wake up at any moment, as she headed back for the boarding house. The X-Men would pay for what they'd done to him, but first she had to make sure his body was shown the proper respect. He belonged at home, not in some morgue. With each step her anger and rage flamed higher, nearly tangible around her tensed body.
They'll pay... every single one of them.
"Amara, this is no time to freak out! We... we have to think about this logically. We can sort through this. Look, here comes the ambulance, they'll take care of him... right?"
"I don't know, Jubes. I... I think we might have..."
"Shut up, Bobby! He'll be fine! The doctors will take care of him!"
"No... he, he's not breathing. And I think his neck is broken... Oh God, there's so much blood..."
"Should we run?"
The group all stared at Roberto with looks of horror and confusion.
"What? I mean, we just... didn't we? We're going to be in big trouble, and I don't think the police will go easy on a bunch of mutants like us. They'll look for any excuse to get us out of town. A... a murder charge would be perfect..."
"HE'S NOT DEAD!"
Bobby put a hand on Jubilee's shoulder, shaking his head sadly at her, just as the ambulance pulled up to the curb.
"I think he's right, you guys... we should get out of here. Just for now. We can tell the professor what happened. I mean, it was an accident and-"
One of the ET's bent down and felt for a pulse, then looked up at the other woman with him. "Record it. Time of death, 2:37 pm, September 23rd."
"Let's... go..."
The kids grabbed the bikes they'd left outside the restaurant and headed back to the mansion at top speed while one of the emergency technicians yelled at them from behind to come back. They didn't stop until they were through the gates of the institute.
---------------
Wanda had circled the park and started back to town. She wasn't ready yet to go back to the boarding house. Her emotions were still boiling and bubbling inside her, and she couldn't risk slipping in front of anyone. Her mind had been turning over her present situation carefully, considering all points of view. She wanted to trust her father and her brother again, but something told her she shouldn't. But Pietro had really been trying with her lately, making an effort to be less of the little bastard he was and a shade closer to the brother he should be. She didn't want to trust anyone in the house at all. Pietro was the one she should be able to trust, but he probably was the least honest of them all. The only one she trusted at all was Toad... Todd. Whatever. The poor idiot obviously had a thing for her, and no matter how many times she beat him for it, he's always come back like some kind of beaten, loyal puppy dog.
I should probably be a little nicer to him. I mean, he's the only real friend I've got around here...
As she entered town center, she was so deep in thought that she barely noticed the police cars and the ambulance outside the Hamburger Hut. Her eyes were fixed on the street in front of her, unwilling to meet anyone else's eyes at the moment. Her own life was just too much for her to consider whatever tragedy had happened at the fast food place. It didn't concern her, so why get involved?
Maybe I should bring back some food for the rest of the boarding house. They'd probably think it was poisoned or something... hmph, I can do something nice too. None of them understand. I should at least pick up something for Todd. Maybe that way he'd stop eating flies in front of the rest of us...
"That's right officer, four kids. Mutant kids! They're the ones that did this! They ran off before you arrived, though. I think they were from that school or something..."
Wanda glanced over at the large woman speaking with the police officer. Mutant kids, huh? Probably some of the younger X-Men. It seemed like something those little fuck-ups would do.
I bet they were joking around with their powers or something and broke the window.
"So then the girl in the yellow jacket and the boy with the ice powers blasted that poor boy through the window and he hit that lamppost there. I could hardly believe my eyes! I knew those mutants were trouble, but I never thought they were murderers!"
Now that was interesting. Wanda was coming up on the section of the sidewalk the police had cordoned off, but she paused to listen some more. The X-Men had killed someone? Even the Brotherhood had never killed anyone, and any injuries any bystanders received were usually accidents. This woman made it sound like the kids had done it on purpose. She was probably one of those anti-mutant people, looking for an excuse to get mutants in general in trouble. The X-Men had never seemed like murderers to her. Annoying bastards, but not murderers. Satisfied that she'd heard enough, she continued walking. She had to step into the street to walk around all the police cars and the ambulance. It looked like whatever happened, just went down a few minutes before she'd arrived.
"Chief? We've identified the victim."
"Oh? Who is he?"
"Some kid named Todd Tolensky."
Wanda froze, halfway between one of the police cruisers and the ambulance.
"The poor kid... do we have the number for his parents?"
"No Sir, it seems he was an orphan. He's been staying with some woman named Raven Darkholme in the boarding house on the edge of town."
Wanda turned her head, slowly looking between the cars. The front window of the store was shatter, huge pieces of glass spread on the pavement with smaller shards around them. Some blood splattered the sidewalk, leading towards that lamppost there...
"Well, I guess we should give the house a call then."
"We tried, Sir, but it seems the phone line was cut off. They didn't even have enough money to pay for the service. The same goes for water, too. The poor boy, he must have led a horrible life..."
"I guess he lived in the gutter and died in it as well..."
Her eyes stopped at the base of the lamppost. A body lay crumbled and bent around the metal, twisted in an unnatural position. A chalk outline traced his form, running off the curb where his head tilted back, blood dripping into the gutter. Longish dirty brown hair stuck to his scalp and forehead, matted with the blood that now soaked the concrete. A look of shocked defeat was frozen on his face. His eyes were partially open, looking straight at her without seeing.
Todd's body.
What?! No, this can't be real. I just talked with him! He was worried about me, wanted to cheer me up... I blew him off and... and... he headed into the town center...
She'd spent the afternoon trying to suppress her emotions, and had almost been successful. All the pain and confusion had been beaten back and she'd started to think that maybe, just maybe, she'd make it through all this. After all, Toad was her friend.
Was.
Like some sort of hybrid of fire and electricity, blue energy crackled around Wanda's clenched fists. She wanted to look away from Todd's body, but she couldn't. With each passing moment she felt her emotions boil over. Someone must have seen her because she heard a scream. People were staring at her. She didn't care. The one good thing in her life had just been senselessly killed. Todd was harmless; there was no reason for this to happen to him. No reason at all. As she walked over to his body, the light bulb atop the lamppost burst, showering sparks and tiny pieces of glass over her. The thick metal pole groaned as blue tinted energy twisted it down, bending it away from Todd's broken body. More screaming filled her ears along with the clicking sound of guns being cocked. The police tracked her as she bent to collect the body in her arms, ignoring the blood smearing her hands and jacket.
"Stop right there! What do you think you're doing?"
Wanda waved a hand and suddenly the police cruisers sprang to life, the engines revving as the gears in each one shifted. They all suddenly backed up of their own accord, blocking her from the police.
"Todd had a family. I'm bringing him home to them. Don't bother pointing those things at me, go find out who did this to him."
The police peered around the cars, confusion on their faces.
"DO IT!"
They fled, some jumping into their cars while others just ducked for cover, expecting some sort of attack. Wanda held Todd's body in both arms, carrying him as if he might wake up at any moment, as she headed back for the boarding house. The X-Men would pay for what they'd done to him, but first she had to make sure his body was shown the proper respect. He belonged at home, not in some morgue. With each step her anger and rage flamed higher, nearly tangible around her tensed body.
They'll pay... every single one of them.