Regina: Sorry this has taken me a while, but I've had writer's block, and I have been revamping my Amyro website, Burning Souls. But I have managed to write this chapter (and another for Beauty and the Beast), so I hope you enjoy it.
In The Dreaming
Chapter Four: A Friend in Need
"Storm!" shouted Tabitha. "Storm!"
Footsteps sounded, and soon Ororo was in the infirmary. Her blue eyes widened when she saw the scene in front of her. "What happened?"
"I - I don't know!" replied Tabitha, her voice panicky. "All of a sudden - she did this!"
Quickly, Ororo moved to the intercom system on the wall, and pressed a button. "X-Men to the infirmary, immediately. This is an emergency."
"Ororo. . ." Tabitha's voice sounded even more panicked than before.
"Tabitha?" asked Ororo. Then she turned around and saw what Tabitha was seeing.
As Amara was in her fire form, she had set the bed on fire, and it had been burning when Ororo had arrived. Now the bed had been completely incinerated, and Amara was now lying - still asleep, and oblivious, it appeared, to the fact that she was completely on fire - on the floor, which Ororo guessed would not be able to withstand much more of the heat which Amara was giving off.
Luckily, Jean was one of the first on the scene.
"What happened?" she asked. Then, without saying anything more, she used her telekinesis to lift Amara off the floor, and into the air. Holding Amara there, she repeated, "What happened?"
By this time Ororo had calmed Tabitha down a bit. "I was just about to go to bed," explained Tabitha, "when she just burst into flames."
"That's all?" asked Jean, slightly bewildered.
Tabitha nodded. "Honest."
Just then the other residents of the Institute entered the room. "What?" was the general exclamation.
Hank immediately took charge of the situation. Knowing that Jean would not be able to keep Amara suspended in the air indefinitely, he came up with a temporary solution to deal with Amara's flames. "Bobby. I need a block of ice, fifty centimetres in width, two metres in length and one metre high."
"Right," replied Bobby, and quickly proceeded to make the block of ice to Hank's specifications.
Once it was completed, Hank said to Jean, "Put her on that. It's only temporary, but it's the best we can do for now," he explained as Jean lowered Amara onto the block of ice, which began to melt quite quickly.
"Now what do we do?" asked Scott, eyeing the puddle that was forming as the ice melted.
"We will need to come up with a more permanent solution to deal with this problem," said Xavier, moving his wheelchair forward.
"And that is?" asked Ray.
"I'll explain."
X X X
Xavier's solution was this. While they built a 'bed' of sorts, made of metal with a hollow centre, with a small hole for Bobby to fill it with ice, Bobby filled a bath with ice, and Jean placed Amara in it. As the ice would melt, Bobby would add more ice.
Once the 'bed' with the ice centre was made, Amara was placed on it. As she continued to burn, the ice inside would melt, keeping the 'bed' itself relatively cool. When the ice had melted, and the 'bed' was starting to overheat, Bobby would be called in to refreeze the ice, and the process would begin all over again.
"So now what do we do?" asked Tabitha, who had watched all of this with a withdrawn and fearful look on her face. She had her arms wrapped around herself, as if she was cold.
"I honestly don't know," Xavier said wearily.
"You don't know? You're supposed to know! That's why we're here, isn't it?!" demanded Tabitha.
"Tabitha," said Ororo gently. "You mustn't blame him. It's not his fault that Amara is like this, and he's doing his best."
This did not make any difference to Tabitha. "Well it's not good enough! You always just stand by and watch! You never want to get your hands dirty! You don't ever go out of your way to stop something from happening! And now Amara is like this, and you're not doing anything!"
"Tabitha," began Ororo, but she was cut off by Xavier.
"No, Ororo," he said, "she's right. But we have to help Amara. Each in our own way."
"Whatever," muttered Tabitha. "I'm not hanging around." She began to walk off.
"Where are you going to go?' asked Ororo.
"Anywhere. I don't care," Tabitha shot back. "But I'm going to try and find something to help Amara."
The door slammed shut behind her.
X X X
Tabitha did not react with her usual energy at the sight of the trash can exploding. She barely registered the fact that garbage was flying everywhere, and it was because of her.
The same thing had happened to the second can.
And the third.
And the fourth.
All the way up to this one, which was number seven.
"What can I do?" she asked herself. "I have to do something. But what?"
The sight of a jeep gave Tabitha an idea.
X X X
Meanwhile, Xavier was putting into action his own plan.
He suspected that it was something in Amara's mind that was doing this to her, keeping her trapped in this state of sleep.
He hoped it wasn't permanent.
But he could only determine that by delving into the depths of Amara's mind.
Reaching out with a tendril of thought, he called her name. "Amara. Where are you? Can you hear me?"
For a moment, Xavier thought he could see Amara standing in front of him, as if she was trapped in a glass box, and was banging on the invisible walls that surrounded her. Then, without warning, a wall of flames roared up between Xavier and Amara, blocking her from his view.
"Amara!" he shouted, as he lost sight of her. "Amara!"
But it was too late. She was gone.
X X X
"Tabitha!"
Tabitha ignored Lance's shouts, as she was focused entirely on what she was doing.
Todd cringed as Tabitha slammed him into the wall for the third time.
"Tell me!" she hissed, forming an explosive in her hands. "Or else I force- feed you this!"
"Do something!" shouted Todd, not wanting to die from eating an explosive. "I don't wanna die!"
"You won't!" yelled Lance. "What's wrong, Tabitha?!"
"Amara's sick - maybe dying - and I need help!" Tabitha shouted, not letting go of Todd, who closed his eyes, wanting his end to be swift and painless.
"What?" asked Freddy.
"What's wrong with Amara?" added Lance.
"She's asleep, and won't wake up, and now she's on fire, and none of us can touch her!" By this time tears had leaked from Tabitha's eyes. "I don't know what else to do!"
"Blowing up Todd is not the answer!"
"Then what? Help me then!"
"We can't," began Pietro.
"Then what can I do?!"
"Let him go," said Pietro cautiously, "because I think I know someone who can help you."
In The Dreaming
Chapter Four: A Friend in Need
"Storm!" shouted Tabitha. "Storm!"
Footsteps sounded, and soon Ororo was in the infirmary. Her blue eyes widened when she saw the scene in front of her. "What happened?"
"I - I don't know!" replied Tabitha, her voice panicky. "All of a sudden - she did this!"
Quickly, Ororo moved to the intercom system on the wall, and pressed a button. "X-Men to the infirmary, immediately. This is an emergency."
"Ororo. . ." Tabitha's voice sounded even more panicked than before.
"Tabitha?" asked Ororo. Then she turned around and saw what Tabitha was seeing.
As Amara was in her fire form, she had set the bed on fire, and it had been burning when Ororo had arrived. Now the bed had been completely incinerated, and Amara was now lying - still asleep, and oblivious, it appeared, to the fact that she was completely on fire - on the floor, which Ororo guessed would not be able to withstand much more of the heat which Amara was giving off.
Luckily, Jean was one of the first on the scene.
"What happened?" she asked. Then, without saying anything more, she used her telekinesis to lift Amara off the floor, and into the air. Holding Amara there, she repeated, "What happened?"
By this time Ororo had calmed Tabitha down a bit. "I was just about to go to bed," explained Tabitha, "when she just burst into flames."
"That's all?" asked Jean, slightly bewildered.
Tabitha nodded. "Honest."
Just then the other residents of the Institute entered the room. "What?" was the general exclamation.
Hank immediately took charge of the situation. Knowing that Jean would not be able to keep Amara suspended in the air indefinitely, he came up with a temporary solution to deal with Amara's flames. "Bobby. I need a block of ice, fifty centimetres in width, two metres in length and one metre high."
"Right," replied Bobby, and quickly proceeded to make the block of ice to Hank's specifications.
Once it was completed, Hank said to Jean, "Put her on that. It's only temporary, but it's the best we can do for now," he explained as Jean lowered Amara onto the block of ice, which began to melt quite quickly.
"Now what do we do?" asked Scott, eyeing the puddle that was forming as the ice melted.
"We will need to come up with a more permanent solution to deal with this problem," said Xavier, moving his wheelchair forward.
"And that is?" asked Ray.
"I'll explain."
X X X
Xavier's solution was this. While they built a 'bed' of sorts, made of metal with a hollow centre, with a small hole for Bobby to fill it with ice, Bobby filled a bath with ice, and Jean placed Amara in it. As the ice would melt, Bobby would add more ice.
Once the 'bed' with the ice centre was made, Amara was placed on it. As she continued to burn, the ice inside would melt, keeping the 'bed' itself relatively cool. When the ice had melted, and the 'bed' was starting to overheat, Bobby would be called in to refreeze the ice, and the process would begin all over again.
"So now what do we do?" asked Tabitha, who had watched all of this with a withdrawn and fearful look on her face. She had her arms wrapped around herself, as if she was cold.
"I honestly don't know," Xavier said wearily.
"You don't know? You're supposed to know! That's why we're here, isn't it?!" demanded Tabitha.
"Tabitha," said Ororo gently. "You mustn't blame him. It's not his fault that Amara is like this, and he's doing his best."
This did not make any difference to Tabitha. "Well it's not good enough! You always just stand by and watch! You never want to get your hands dirty! You don't ever go out of your way to stop something from happening! And now Amara is like this, and you're not doing anything!"
"Tabitha," began Ororo, but she was cut off by Xavier.
"No, Ororo," he said, "she's right. But we have to help Amara. Each in our own way."
"Whatever," muttered Tabitha. "I'm not hanging around." She began to walk off.
"Where are you going to go?' asked Ororo.
"Anywhere. I don't care," Tabitha shot back. "But I'm going to try and find something to help Amara."
The door slammed shut behind her.
X X X
Tabitha did not react with her usual energy at the sight of the trash can exploding. She barely registered the fact that garbage was flying everywhere, and it was because of her.
The same thing had happened to the second can.
And the third.
And the fourth.
All the way up to this one, which was number seven.
"What can I do?" she asked herself. "I have to do something. But what?"
The sight of a jeep gave Tabitha an idea.
X X X
Meanwhile, Xavier was putting into action his own plan.
He suspected that it was something in Amara's mind that was doing this to her, keeping her trapped in this state of sleep.
He hoped it wasn't permanent.
But he could only determine that by delving into the depths of Amara's mind.
Reaching out with a tendril of thought, he called her name. "Amara. Where are you? Can you hear me?"
For a moment, Xavier thought he could see Amara standing in front of him, as if she was trapped in a glass box, and was banging on the invisible walls that surrounded her. Then, without warning, a wall of flames roared up between Xavier and Amara, blocking her from his view.
"Amara!" he shouted, as he lost sight of her. "Amara!"
But it was too late. She was gone.
X X X
"Tabitha!"
Tabitha ignored Lance's shouts, as she was focused entirely on what she was doing.
Todd cringed as Tabitha slammed him into the wall for the third time.
"Tell me!" she hissed, forming an explosive in her hands. "Or else I force- feed you this!"
"Do something!" shouted Todd, not wanting to die from eating an explosive. "I don't wanna die!"
"You won't!" yelled Lance. "What's wrong, Tabitha?!"
"Amara's sick - maybe dying - and I need help!" Tabitha shouted, not letting go of Todd, who closed his eyes, wanting his end to be swift and painless.
"What?" asked Freddy.
"What's wrong with Amara?" added Lance.
"She's asleep, and won't wake up, and now she's on fire, and none of us can touch her!" By this time tears had leaked from Tabitha's eyes. "I don't know what else to do!"
"Blowing up Todd is not the answer!"
"Then what? Help me then!"
"We can't," began Pietro.
"Then what can I do?!"
"Let him go," said Pietro cautiously, "because I think I know someone who can help you."