Author's Note: I apologize for the formatting of the last chapter, I don't
know what happened, I'll be sure to check this chapter before posting it.
Also, oops. In chapter 10 I referred to the reporter as Lila Cheney when I
actually meant Trish Tilby. I'll go back and replace the chapter with my
corrections eventually but for now know that I meant Trish. Also, I'm back
to using a second rate wordprocessor so expect spelling errors and a
horrible layout. You all will have to guess when someone is thinking
because italics isn't showing up on this POS. But hey you're all smart
enough to realize that a character is thinking.
Disclaimer: Not doing this. Remember?
Interesting Fact: Not sleeping for three days straight can actually cause serious mental insanity that can lead to suicidal actions.
The Damned, Episode 1
Chapter 12: Arrival
New York City:
"Agent 3, are you in place?"
Marie pressed the communicator in her ear, "Affirmative."
Irene nodded in approval although Marie could not see her. "Agent 2, are you in position?"
Dominic's voice came through the speakers, "Affirmative."
"Destiny, everything is set."
Irene turned towards Wanda to see if the girl had routed everything on the plane correctly. She had. "Good." Walking over to Pietro, Irene could see he was getting impatient. "Calm yourself." She ordered.
Pietro had been hunched over in one of the jet's seats, gazing out the window longingly and tapping his fingers against the glass. "I can't help in Destiny," he used her code name as he'd been instructed, "They're all out there doing stuff and we're still onboard."
Destiny smiled at his impatience, "You'll get your turn."
"Destiny!" Wanda's frantic voice came from the front of the jet.
Destiny rushed towards her, "What's wrong?"
"I'm picking up signals from another jet."
"Government?"
"No, but it's a military craft, a Blackbird."
* * *
Marie took her position in an alley, waiting for her signal. When it finally came she climbed up the wall and, using her legs to brace herself, pried open a vent. She slid her slender body into the vent before closing it again.
"Agent 3, are you on the move?"
"Affirmative."
Marie fought the urge to sneeze as she made her way through the dusty vents. It was dark but that didn't matter, she had spent the last two days memorizing the building's schematics. She found herself in the northeast sector and pulled from her pocket what looked like a small tic-tac. She pressed it to the side of the vent walls and kept going. She placed these small objects in every section of the building before reporting back to the base.
"Agent 3 reporting, phase one complete. Ready for phase two."
* * *
Dominic was already in the building when he heard Marie's report. Knowing that was his cue he found his way to the building's fifth floor, without setting off any alarms. He placed his gloved hand against an identification pad.
Identity confirmed.
He found himself in a lavish office. He hadn't been told who worked there but judging by the interior decorating they were a law firm, perhaps a Boston based firm.
"Agent 2, do you read me?"
"Affirmative."
"Have you found it?"
"Negative."
He scanned the room with his night vision goggles until he found what he came for, putting the object in his pocket he reported, "Phase 2 completed."
* * *
While Marie and Dominic were in the building, Magneto and Mystique were taking their time on the roof. By positioning themselves as lookouts they hoped to increase the teenagers' chances at completing their missions.
Observing Mystique tapping her foot, Magneto frowned, "Don't be obvious or anything."
She stopped tapping and wanted to reply but she was cut off by Destiny's voice, "Mystique, Magneto, come in. The Blackbird has landed, they've arrived."
"Damn it," Magneto muttered.
"That's right," a voice piped up from behind them, "You are totally screwed."
* * *
As Dominic found his way to his self-made entryway he felt as though something was off. He couldn't put a finger on it but something seemed...
"Odd?" A feminine voice asked from behind him.
He turned in surprise only to find a beautiful redhead standing before him.
* * *
"Give up!"
Magneto rolled his eyes, these were the kinds of mutants Xavier was recruiting? The winged mutant in front of him was recognizable, Warren Worthington, one of the richest men in New York, and he was only 17.
Magneto summoned his powers. Using his powers, he managed to lasso the mutant in front of him with some metal from the fire escape. "So you think you can mess with me and walk away do you?" Magneto's eyes started to glow menacingly. "Well let me tell you," he magnetically held a sharpened metal piece over the boy's heart, "you don't know who you're dealing with."
Just as he was about to let the metal plunge through flesh, Magneto felt himself being tackled. Suddenly Erik wished he hadn't sent Mystique into the building to find the kids.
"Archangel, are you okay?"
Archangel freed himself of the metal bounds, "Yeah."
Magneto righted himself only to find a man made of ice. Without a word, Magneto pulled most of the fire escape from the side of the building and held it above the boys threateningly. "Do me a favor," he said in a low, fearless tone, "Tell Xavier I said good bye." With that he tied the boys up and threw them off the building, listening gleefully as they screamed, plunging towards their deaths.
* * *
Marie knew, instinctively, that she had to help Dominic. She crawled into the building itself and found her way to a set of stairs.
"Not so fast."
Her eyes widened in fear, standing at the foot of the stairs was the man she'd seen in her dreams, the man with the red laser eyes.
* * *
"Agent 2, come in, do you read me!"
He would have answered but Dominic was being pressed against the ceiling. The red headed mutant held him their so strongly he felt as though his lungs were rejecting oxygen. He wasn't sure how to get himself out of the situation, he couldn't fight the girl physically, and she wasn't holding him up with her arms. She seemed to be doing it with her mind.
Her mind. Dominic closed his eyes, concentrating on what he'd been taught, hoping to God it would work.
* * *
"Agents 4 and 5, go run 'clean up'."
Wanda and Pietro nodded and were out of the door in a flash.
* * *
Marie ground her teeth together. This was not happening. The man that had shown up in her nightmares constantly for the last three years was NOT about to blow her to up. No, not like he did in the nightmares.
Her expression changed drastically. Her fear gave way to anger as she saw the man reach for the button on the side of his visor, as he had done time and time before in her dreams. She threw a sidekick at his hand, preventing him from shooting, then landed a punch in his gut. She only managed to stun him. In seconds he was back on his feet and grabbed her by the arm, twisting her arm around her back.
She fought the urge to scream in pain and instead countered his move, throwing him off balance and escaping his grip while at the same time kicking him in the shins. That was all it took to leave him sprawling on the floor as she rushed passed him up the stairs. As she ran she could see red beams flash by her. She dodged the beams, and found the fifth floor only to feel a strong grip on her upper arm.
Looking up she saw one of the most terrifying beings in the world.
"Now, now my dear, places like this aren't for young girls."
Despite the kind tone, Marie attacked the blue, furry beast, trying to do to him what she did to the other guy. Unfortunately, Marie realized, this one had more body mass and was harder to take down.
"Don't worry," the beast said, teeth gleaming, "I won't bite."
"Beast do you have her!" Called the other man.
"Yes Cyclops, she's not going anywhere."
* * *
"Mystique, we meet again darlin'."
"I don't have time to toy with you right now!" Mystique yelled as she tried to rush passed Wolverine in the corridor.
Wolverine grabbed her by the wrist and turned her around only to find himself looking into a familiar Japanese face.
"What's the matter Logan? Don't you remember your pretty little wife?"
Wolverine tightened his grip on Mystique's wrist, "Not funny," he growled.
Mystique transformed into another familiar face. "Not meant to be," she told him in German before disappearing in a cloud of blue smoke.
* * *
Pietro picked up Wanda and ran, at top speed, into the building. He had counted on the sensors to not be able to pick up an object moving at hyper speed and he was right. Not so much as a bell went off. He stopped.
"Why are we stopping?" His sister asked.
"I didn't study the schematics to this place. Did you?"
"No."
"Shame, cuz we did."
Pietro looked over his right shoulder. What the hell?
Wanda got on her feet. "Who are you and what do you want?"
"We," a winged mutant replied, "Are the X-Men."
The iced one added with a smirk, "And you two are so screwed."
Wanda created a hex sphere and threw it at her adversaries.
"Iceman look out!"
They dove out of the way as the sphere exploded. When the debris settled only Wanda was in sight.
"Wanna play boys? Then let's play."
Suddenly the building started to shake. The three mutants forgot their fight, trying hard to avoid the falling debris. Wanda looked at the two mutants then at the falling debris and made her decision, she ran for her life.
* * *
Jean Grey fell to her knees, the earthquake making it hard to walk or concentrate. Dominic fell from the ceiling but made sure not to land on his head. Making sure the earthquake was still in full effect, he left the room.
"All agents evacuate!" Came Destiny's order.
Dominic didn't argue.
* * *
"All agents evacuate!"
Marie heard the order but could not comply. The Beast, even though he was shaken, still had a grip on her arm. Suddenly she saw her opening. As swiftly as she could, she pushed him slightly off balance. The earthquake had pushed him over to the edge of the stairs and momentum did most of the work as the Beast knocked over his friend Cyclops.
Quickly she ran onto the fifth floor. She threw open a window and to her surprise, the fire escape was in a ball on the ground. Without panicking she ran to the roof. Once on the top she saw that Magneto had left his position, no doubt on his way back to the jet. She looked around the building and without much thought she ran and jumped, hoping to clear the alley and land on the next rooftop.
Success!
* * *
"Where's Agent 3?" Destiny asked the group.
Pietro shrugged, "I don't know. I ran all over that place, she was nowhere to be seen."
Dominic began to feel a sense of dread, what if his earthquake had somehow led to her death?
Magneto frowned, "That only leaves one possible situation, the X-men grabbed her."
"Or Ah was smart enough ta find a way out."
They turned to see the southern girl climbing onto the jet.
"An' its all good that Ah'm here but what 'bout Mystique?"
Destiny set her lips straight, "We're leaving her behind."
"What!" The kids exclaimed.
"It was a part of the plan," Magneto explained.
"What kind of BS is that?!" Marie exclaimed.
"Its all a part of missions," Magneto told her, "You have to learn to take unexpected orders."
Marie sat in her seat, next to Dominic, and as the jet took off all she could think about was her mother in the clutches of Cyclops.
* * *
Marie went to school the next day with a heavy feeling in her heart. Her mother still hadn't returned home and she was beginning to worry. Thankfully God had had pity on her and hadn't filled her mind with crazed nightmares filled with insane mutants but still Marie found herself thinking up every paranoid thought she could muster.
She opened her locker to pull out her biology book and after closing the locker, rested her forehead against the cool metal.
"Marie."
Without actually lifting her head from the locker she managed to look off to her left to see Dominic walking towards her.
"What's wrong?" he asked.
She straightened herself out and looked at him, "Ah, ah just miss mah momma."
"Don't worry, she'll be home soon. I promise."
Marie was about to answer when she felt herself being shoved to the floor. "Hey!"
"Oh Gawd! Ah'm sorry!"
In the confusion Marie found herself in the arms of Cody Robbins.
"Ah really didn't mean ta do that Marie," he told her as he lifted her back up. He looked at her stuff on the ground, "let me get that." Handing her the materials he asked, "So ya live with Wanda?"
Marie nodded, the words unable to pass through her lips.
"That's cool, then ya must be the friend makin' her read those books."
Friend? Marie wondered. "Yeah that'd be meh."
Cody smiled, prompting a smile and a blush out of Marie.
"Ahem."
Cody looked passed Marie at Dominic, "Oh hey, you're Dominic right?"
Dominic eyed Cody's letterman's jacket, clean-cut blonde hair, and perky white smile. "Yeah," he said testily and held out his hand, daring Cody to shake it.
Without missing a beat, Cody grabbed Dominic's hand, meeting his steady gaze. If either one noticed their hands growing numb they didn't say anything.
RIINGG!
The sound of the bell seemed to break the spell. Cody let go off Dominic's hand and smiled at Marie.
"Ah guess Ah'll be seein' ya around Marie." He pronounced her name as sweetly as possible.
Marie brushed a hair behind her ear, embarrassed, "Yeah, Ah'll see ya."
Dominic frowned, "Come on Marie, I'll walk you to your next class." He placed his arm around her waist and led her away, fuming all the while.
* * *
"Dominic, what the hell is wrong with you!"
Dominic ground his teeth, tired of hearing his girlfriend yelling at him over the phone. "What do you mean what's wrong with me?"
"Getting suspended from school for hitting my cousin! What the hell were you thinking?"
The boy rubbed his temples; he wished he knew. All he did know was that he was in P.E earlier that day and Cody had made some mention of Wanda and what a good kisser she was and it had reminded Dominic of Cody's flirting with Marie and somehow it had led to an obscure physical altercation. "Hey at least it happened during my physical education class, it kind of kept with the curriculum."
"That is so not funny!" Mica yelled through the telephone. "Do you have any idea how insane this is!" Dominic could practically hear her pacing, "I mean I was having a perfectly good time after school and Carly comes up to me and tells me all about you and Cody-"
"What did she say?"
"Just that Cody and you got into a fight over some gossip-" Mica put on her mental breaks. "Dominic you weren't saying anything about me were you?"
That was definitely not the direction Dominic expected the conversation to take. "W-what?"
"Was Cody just defending my honor?"
"That's crazy, I would never say anything bad about you. It would mean having to face you and then face Marie, Carly, and maybe even Wanda."
Mica mulled this over then sighed, "Then what was it about?"
"I don't know."
"That's stupid."
"I know."
"Well at least you know that much."
"Look Mica this is getting us nowhere and I need to get to sleep, as punishment for this whole ordeal I think I have to run errands all week, starting tomorrow morning."
"Fine, good night."
"Good-" Mica had already hung up.
Dominic put the phone down and sighed.
"Having women issues?"
Dominic didn't even look at the doorway, "Pietro go away."
A gust of wind blew across his face and Pietro was staring him in the face, "Dude you need serious help."
"And who's going to help me with Mica? You?"
"I meant with Marie."
"What do you mean?" Dominic sat on his bed.
"Don't play stupid Dominic, you aren't so it doesn't really work on you."
"Pietro go the hell away!"
"Dominic I know you guys were in fight over Marie because as the most popular guy in school I'm told everything."
"Pietro if you don't stop I'm going to shove that inflated head up your ass."
"Just hear me out." When Dominic didn't say anything Pietro continued, "You don't like Mica at all, just kind of keep her around. On the other hand you're head over heels for Marie; you should go after Marie. You are the one to help her with all her problems, she helps with yours, you have everything in common and you actually have more than a physical attraction." At Dominic's surprise Pietro continued, "I'm not as dense and stupid as everyone likes to think. I've got more depth and notice more than you'd think."
Dominic sat back and didn't say anything.
Pietro sighed, "Fine, I try to help people and they don't care. This is why I don't try." Just as he reached the door he heard Dominic mumble:
"Thanks."
* * *
Cody was already in bed when he heard his doorbell ring.
"Go away." He mumbled incoherently.
The doorbell rang insistently.
"Fahn." Cody mumbled.
He stumbled out of his room, down the hall and into the living room where he eventually found the front door. Throwing the door open, he was surprised to find his cousin, "Mica?"
She pushed him back into the house and slammed the door behind her, "Cody tell me what's going on right now!"
Cody rubbed his temples, "Mica its ten o'clock, can't this wait 'till tomorrow?"
"No!"
He shook his head and walked into his kitchen, "As long as we're up do you want anything to eat o' drink?"
"Milk," she said in an agitated voice as she followed him.
Cody watched as his cousin sat on the counter, awaiting her glass of milk. When he did hand it to her she seemed even more irritated. "Now tell meh what you are talkin' about."
Mica looked around, "Is your mom home?"
"No, she's on a date."
"Mine too," she took a sip of her milk, "I need to know why you were fighting my boyfriend."
"Oh, that."
"Yeah, that."
A moment of silence followed.
Mica cleared her throat uncomfortably, "This isn't about Marie is it?"
Cody looked at her sharply, "Why do ya ask that?"
Mica rolled her eyes, "Its obvious that you like her Cody. Were you saying anything about her that made Dominic uncomfortable? I mean she is a close friend of hers. If you were talkin' dirty things about her then he would definitely try to kick your ass."
The blonde haired boy looked uncomfortable, could his cousin really be that naïve? "Yes, Ah was talkin' bout her." It was the truth, just not in the way that Mica meant.
"I thought so," she sipped her milk, "in that case you deserved your suspension."
Cody nodded. "Now will ya go away so Ah can sleep?"
* * *
"Marie."
She found herself looking into the eyes of her mother. "Huh?
"I'm home."
Marie was fully awake now and threw her arms around her mother, "Mommy Ah was so worried."
Raven tightened her grip on her daughter, "You shouldn't have been sweetie, I knew what I was doing."
"Ah know but..." Marie shut her eyes to prevent herself from crying.
"Its okay baby, I just wanted to say hi to you before you went to school."
"What?"
"Its time to get up already."
Marie looked at her clock; it was morning already.
"Now go get ready and I'll make breakfast."
By the time Marie was finished getting ready and got down to breakfast everyone was already at the table. She took her usual seat and began to eat.
"Alright kids its time to give you your new assignments," Raven announced as everyone began to eat.
Pietro perked up, "What is it this time?"
Raven told them.
"That sounds incredibly difficult," Wanda said.
"It is," Erik admitted, "but we feel that you four can handle it."
* * *
"Agents, are you on your marks?"
"Affirmative."
Erik looked at the communicator in his hand in satisfaction, the kids were definitely doing well.
"Erik, are you monitoring the sky?"
He looked at Raven, "Yes. No sign of Xavier's men or the police."
* * *
Marie observed her surroundings with delight. She had never dreamt of adventures like this one, she'd only read of them. She shined her flashlight on the hieroglyphs in front of her. To think that she was actually inside one of Egypt's mighty pyramids was almost ecstasy.
Dominic noticed her wonder, "Agent keep your mind focused." Marie looked at him and nodded. "Good." Secretly, Dominic was just as excited.
"Agent 4! Have you found what we need?" Pietro called.
Wanda walked around a corridor back into Pietro's sight, "No."
Pietro sighed, "Alright Agents I guess we've cleared this whole end of the pyramid."
Marie frowned, "There has ta be something we missed."
"Not a thing," Wanda told her.
Pietro shifted impatiently, "Come on, lets go search somewhere else."
"Or we can split up," Marie told him.
"No, we were told not to split up."
Marie looked at him stubbornly, "Ah refuse ta give up here. Ah just know we're missin' something."
Pietro frowned into her challenging eyes, "Fine." He looked at Wanda, "You two stay here, Dominic come with me."
As soon as the boys left Wanda asked, "What exactly are we looking for?"
"If we were sent here ta find the plate of eternal redemption then don't ya think it would be in this room?" Marie began to search through the room.
Wanda looked around the room, it was filled with ancient artifacts. She did, however, see what Marie had meant. There were religious artifacts on display, it would only make sense that an artifact to bring about redemption would be among religious artifacts.
"Hey I think I found something!"
Marie scurried over to Wanda's side. At the sight of the large, flattened plate of gold, her jaw slackened.
"Contact the others," Marie ordered.
Wanda nodded and reached the button on her communicator. She felt a cold grip on her wrist.
"Not so fast honey."
* * *
"Damn it, how did those X-Men slip under our radar!"
Mystique looked at her companion in agitation, "Magneto I honestly don't know but there's nothing we can do about it now." She looked at her failed radar, "All we can do now is hope the agents remember their training."
* * *
Mystique's instructions echoed in Pietro's head as he stared into the eyes of the most ferocious mutant he had ever met. Abort the mission if the mission should fall into peril, Mystique had said. Now, looking into the eyes of the blue furred monster in front of him, Pietro didn't think that was a bad idea. As fast as he could he ran back through the corridors, back to Wanda and Marie.
* * *
"Son of a bitch!" Iceman exclaimed as he found himself being thrown into a wall.
Wanda smiled at Marie, her quick reflexes had helped them both.
"Nice try but Iceman isn't all we have."
"Not another one." Wanda muttered as Cyclops appeared before them.
As Cyclops reached up to press the concealed button on his visor Wanda created her masterpiece, two scarlet orbs glowing with pride. Her orbs hit Cyclops before he could get a shot at the two other mutants. The force of the orbs sent him into the same wall as his mutant friend.
Marie pressed her communicator, "Agents report!"
No answer.
Iceman stood and shot two balls of ice, which the girls dodged.
"Ya gotta do bettah than that," Marie told him.
"Yeah, try something like this." Another voice advised.
Before either Cyclops or Iceman knew it they were being hauled out of the room by a strange, sliver hurricane. Pietro returned a moment later. "Ready to get the hell out of here?"
Marie shook her head, "what we found wasn't the right plate."
"How do you know?" Wanda asked.
"The glyphs on the edges, they don't say anything about redemption."
"Since when do you read ancient languages?"
"Ah don't but ah know a few of the symbols."
"Doesn't matter," Pietro told her, "We have to leave, where there's two X- Men there's bound to be more."
Marie shook her head, "You guys leave, Ah'm gonna find the plate."
Wanda and Pietro looked at her to determine whether or not she was serious. She was.
Pietro sighed, "Fine, what do you want us to do?"
* * *
Dominic found himself facing the Beast and Angel, alone. Great, and I was ordered not to start a quake lest it should take down the pyramid.
"What's wrong?" Angel taunted, "You'll take down a woman but can't face us like men?"
They must be talking about that Marvel Girl chick, Dominic remembered his last mission.
"Or maybe he just wants to try to beat me again."
Dominic knew without turning that Marvel Girl was standing behind him. Shit.
"Dominic need some help?"
He sighed in relief as he recognized Wanda's voice and he gained some confidence, "Not really but having you here will definitely make this faster and more painful for them."
* * *
Marie searched frantically with Pietro beside her.
"I don't think its in here."
"It is, Ah know it. Just keep looking."
At high speed, Pietro searched. Anyone who stepped into the room would only have seen random items being moved around the room by a strong wind.
Marie searched as fast as her human abilities would allow her to. She was already frustrated when she felt a jolt. "What was that?" she asked.
Pietro stopped, "I didn't feel anything, I was moving too fast."
Another jolt.
"But I felt that."
* * *
Dominic grinned happily, he had managed to control his power while in the field. His jolt had done nothing to ruin the foundation of the pyramid, only to throw the X-Men off their feet. Unfortunately it had thrown Wanda as well.
The female mutant gathered herself quickly, she had seen Dominic's trick coming and had attempted to brace herself, it had only half worked.
"Agents, we found what we need, get out!"
Wanda and Dominic took heed of the order.
* * *
The agents rushed back to the jet only to find it stuck in a pit of sand. As they boarded the jet Pietro asked what had happened. His question was greeted with a steely glare from his father.
"Well a sudden quake dislodged a lot of the sand in the area and we seem to be stuck."
Dominic turned red at Magneto's remark. "Oops."
Mystique sighed, "We can free ourselves." She turned to Pietro, "As quickly as possible, sweep the sand out from under us."
* * *
Irene laughed when Erik and Raven finished recounting the details of the mission.
"Its not funny," Erik said, "Not only did Dominic cause a dangerous avalanche but Marie chose to lead everyone against our strict orders to abort the mission if something went wrong."
Mystique rubbed her temples, "And she managed to convince the others that it was a good idea."
"Yes but they got the plate."
"After disregarding our orders." Raven pointed out.
"And they proved they could handle the X-Men on their own."
A smile found its way to Erik's face and before he knew it he was laughing. Raven looked at him and began to laugh as well.
Irene smiled, "So have either one of you thought about actually naming the team or giving them field names?"
Erik and Raven looked at each other and shook their heads.
Irene leaned forward, placing her hands on the table before her, "For the team name I was thinking-" She paused, "the Brotherhood."
* * *
Two weeks later:
"No, you can't be breaking up with me."
"Mica, I just did," Dominic said in frustration.
Mica didn't want to cause a scene in the middle of the McDonald so she took a deep breath, "Does this have anything to do with my yelling at you on the phone? I realize it was childish but I just-"
"No, Mica its just not working out."
"It can't just not be working out." Mica insisted stubbornly, "Something had to have happened to make you think twice about us being a couple."
"Mica, I'm just not-" he couldn't think of a kind way to say what he needed to say, "I'm not feeling the same attraction to you that I used to."
Mica nodded sadly, "I see." She got up and started to walk away, hoping Dominic would stop her.
He didn't.
***
Marie felt her heart start to pound harder. Shift weight to left, kick with right leg, block punches.
"Come on Marie you know you can do better than that!"
She felt her determination soar at the words of her instructor. She failed to block two punches in a row and hesitation had caused her to miss the perfect opening to knock her opponent down.
"Stop!" Raven yelled.
Marie and Pietro did as they were told.
"Marie," Raven walked over to her, "What was that? You missed too many things! The little things can get you killed in the field!" She turned to Pietro, "You did perfectly, go inside."
Pietro nodded and ran up to the house.
Raven turned back to Marie, "Have you been practicing like you were supposed to?"
Marie nodded, "Yes ma'am."
"Then why couldn't you simply sweep Pietro's feet out from under him?"
"Ah missed thah opening."
Raven sighed, "Be here early tomorrow morning for your next lesson." She took a deep breath, "I've seen you do much better than that Marie."
Sensing Raven was finished, Marie followed Pietro's path into the house.
***
Mica sat on her bed, pillow clutched to her chest, and tears running down her face. She had tried to call Marie but Erik had told her that Marie was busy with homework and could not take calls.
She reached for the phone again and dialed a number.
"Hello?"
"Hey Carly."
"What's wrong? You sound so depressed."
"Dominic broke up with me," she whispered, as if saying it softly would make the memory go away.
"Again?"
"This time I don't think we'll be getting back together." Mica admitted, not even taking offense to Carly's comment, "This time his reason for breaking up with me was different."
"Oh man Mica I was hoping he wouldn't tell you about that fight with Cody over Marie."
Mica's voice hardened, "What fight over Marie?"
Carly heard her friend's steely voice and immediatly knew she'd made a mistake, "I, uh, I mean..."
"That fight was over Marie!" Mica exclaimed, throwing the pillow away from her and wiping her tears away angrily. "Like in a romantic way?"
"Um, yeah but..."
"But nothing! You all knew and made a fool of me!"
"It wasn't like that Mica. Pietro is the one who told me, and he told me way after it happened."
"How 'way after'?" Mica asked, the steely tone back again.
"Like two days ago."
Mica squeezed her eyes shut.
"Mica, you're freaking me out, why aren't you talking?"
She still didn't say anything.
"Mica you know how Pietro exaggerates and how that 'he said she said' crap goes. Chances are it wasn't even about Marie."
Mica doubted that, she wasn't completely blind. She saw the way Cody looked at Marie, saw the way Dominic was so damn affectionate with the southern girl. "Yeah Carly, I'm sure."
"Hey Mica I've gotta go, dinner time."
"Yeah," Mica said. "Bye."
***
BAM! BAM! BAM!
Throwing open the door, Cody rolled his eyes; Why did his cousin always choose to come over when he was getting ready to sleep?
"Cody you are soooo dead!" Mica pushed him into the house and slammed the door shut.
Cody was taken so off gaurd that even his football training didn't help him maintain balance. He crashed into a wall and yelped. After regaining his composure he yelled "Mica what thah hell is wrong with you!?"
"No, what the hell is wrong with you!" Mica crossed her arms, "Fighting with my boyfriend over my best friend!
Oh no. "Mica Ah don't know what your babbling about."
"Yeah right, Carly told me. Then I called Trish to confirm the story and guess what?" She hurried on, "She confirmed it."
Cody sighed, "Mica ah didn't wanna tell ya."
"Why?" Mica asked, sounding tired, "We're supposed to be close, like siblings."
Cody nodded, "that's why. Ah didn't want ya ta get hurt."
A tear ran down Mica's face, "Good job dumbass." she took a deep breath, "If my boyfriend had a thing for some other girl then why didn't you just tell me? You didn't think that maybe it might concern me?"
He ran his hand through his blonde hair, "Mica Ah didn't think it was mah place to say anything. Sure we're close but we've never talked with each other about this kind of stuff. This is new territory."
Mica nodded, "I guess so but Cody from now on know that nothing is off limits to talk about."
Her cousin nodded.
She frowned, "But what about you?" she asked accusatorily.
"What about meh?"
"Are you just using Wanda to get to Marie?"
"Of course not!"
"Well if you were attracted to Marie when you met her...before Wanda..."
Cody walked to the livingroom and plopped down on the couch, "Ah see how ya could think that but Ah swear it wasn't like that."
"What was it like?" Mica had followed him.
"Ah admit Ah met Marie first and was definitaly attracted to her first but then Ah met Wanda and Ah got ta know her first and she's freakin' awesome!"
"So," Mica said slowly, "you weren't just trying to find some way into Marie's house?"
"No!" Cody exclaimed exhasperatedly, "Ah even asked Wanda ta the dance a long tahm ago."
Mica sat next to him, "So what? Everybody has their significant other except me?"
Cody, to Mica's chagrin, laughed, "Significant other? Mica we're just in high school, it's just dating."
"Yeah but now everyone has a date to the dance but me. I mean Pietro asked Carly, you asked Wanda, Dominic asked Marie..."
"Hang on. Mica how do ya know he asked her?"
"Well he wants her and got rid of me so..."
"Did ya evah decide ta stop and have faith in your friend? Maybe she realized how awkward that would make things, maybe she doesn't feel the same way, maybe she doesn't want to ruin her friendship with him or with you."
Mica frowned, she wasn't sure if he was trying to convince himself or her. Then she began to think, "Yeah Marie is the best friend in the world, she would never hurt me."
"There ya go," Cody smiled, "Now go home and sleep."
***
Marie got home from school a little confused. The whole day had been a little awkward. First Mica had been cheerfully talking to her the whole way to school, too cheerfull. Then Marie found out that Mica and Dominic had broken up and everyone knew except for her, Mica's best friend.
When she asked around she found out that they had broken up over her. Carly and Trish and given her every detail, including why Dominic and Cody had really been fighting in the locker room. As if that wasn't enough for her freshman mind to comprehend, she then found out that Wanda had confronted Cody about the whole thing. Well, actually, she had seen them yelling in the parking lot. The final nail in the high school dramatized coffin was that Mica, hell no one, had walked home with her.
She opened the door to her house, hoping to find a sense of normalcy. No such luck.
"Marie honey!" Irene exclaimed, "have some pancakes!"
"Pancakes? It's the afternoon!"
Raven came into the room, "Yeah but Erik got a pancake craving and then we all wanted pancakes."
Marie shook her head, "No thanks, ah'm gonna go do mah homework."
***
Dominic looked at the door in despair. He hadn't wanted her to find out this way. He had imagined telling Marie that he was head over heals for her so many times but it had always involved a movie and lasertag.
Unable to swallow his fear he turned around and screamed. "Marie you can't do that!"
Marie laughed, "but the look was priceless."
"You and your sick sense of humor."
Marie sobered, "So what did you want ta talk ta meh about?"
"Huh?"
"Ah'm assumin' that's why ya were at mah door."
He looked at the door as if it had just suddenly appeared and stammered, "right, talk to you."
"Is it about Mica and the breakup?"
"Kind of."
"Dom," she said, reached passed him and opening her door, "Come on, let's talk."
***
"So, you aren't gonna ask meh out or anything now, right?"
"Um, right, that would be too weird."
Marie nodded her agreement. "So we're still friends?"
"Why wouldn't we be?"
"Ah don't know. In books things lahk this happen and then the characters stop talking."
"Marie this isn't a book, it's real life."
"But wouldn't it be awesome if it wasn't real life!"
"Huh?" Dominic couldn't follow her train of thought.
"Like if we were really stuck in a book and someone was reading our every thought and move!"
"Marie we seriously have to get you away from science fiction books."
***
"Okay Quicksilver, do your thing."
Quicksilver pressed his communicator, "Now Destiny?"
"Yes."
He looked down with slight fear. he had never tried running down a completely vertical cliff before but that's all that seemed to be out in the middle of the New Mexican desert, cliffs. In the distance he could see the military base he had been sent to break into.
He took a deep breath and ran down the cliff. He kept his eyes opened through out the whole run and what he saw excited him. He couldn't explain it but the view of the earth rushing up to meet him as he made his decent was amazing. Fluidly he made the transition to the horizontal surface and ran up and over the gates of the base.
Looking around he saw that he had made it to the main Control Room without being detected. He looked at the two unconscious men on the floor, compliments of his karate skills.
"Destiny I'm in."
***
"Avelanche, everything good?"
"Yup Mystique, all quiet on this side."
"Good. Keep watching, don't need those pesky X-Men messing with our plans."
"No problem." Avelanche had taken his spot, watching the base from miles away. He was one of Quicksilver's lookouts. He caught the sight of a plane in the distance. "Mystique, a military Blackbird is making its way towards the base."
"Don't worry, that one belongs to the base. The X-Men's Bird is a deeper color."
***
"Scarlet Witch, are you having any problems?" "No Magneto. Everything's quiet on my side too. I'm sure everything is quiet on Marie's side too." "Scarlet Witch, you have to refer to your team mates by their field names." "Sorry."
***
Quicksilver began to look through the base frantically. He had thought his mission objective, a set of discs, would be in the control room but he was wrong. Now he was trying his hardest to find the correct room. He found that he had to stay at a constant hyper speed in order to be overlooked by all the guards and employees. He also couldn't knock out every person he came across lest it should start to look a little suspicious.
Twenty minutes of running at high speeds were beginning to wear him down. He no longer felt his feet on the floor. No, it felt like he was running on the air itself.
"That's because you are."
"Huh?" Quicksilver looked down and realized he was being levitated. "Ms. Marvel why do you try?"
Jean Gray smiled, "Because the X-Men always win."
"Not against the Brotherhood you don't."
The smile faded from her fair face as she threw Quicksilver against the wall.
***
The Scarlet Witch might have helped her teammate if she hadn't been under attack herself. She dodged the quick, crafty moves of her mutant opponent, Archangel. He was fast, but she was much faster.
Gathering her wits she charged up a hex ball and threw it directly at Archangel's chest. The older mutant stumbled back, confused. The Witch took this opportunity to land a swift kick to her assailant's stomach. Archangel landed on the hard New Mexican ground, clutching his stomach.
The girl stood over her prey, ready to finish him off with a few more hex balls.
"No, no, girly, can't have that."
She felt a pair of oversized fuzzy hands pick her up by the arms and throw her a few yards away from Archangel.
"Scarlet Witch come in!"
She shook her head and tried to answer Destiny's call but the Beast stopped her. "I'm afraid I can not allow you to do that."
She looked into his soft eyes intently. Absently she wondered why he was fighting her, he seemed more like the peaceful type.
"Beast don't," Archangel said, standing up.
The Beast looked at his teammate, "I wasn't actually going to hurt her Archangel, but I couldn't let her kill you."
Scarlet Witch looked between the two in bewilderment, they weren't going to kill her? She smiled inside. Magneto had told her she would have this advantage. Xavier's Men were just too soft to actually defeat their opponents. How pityful.
Throughout the ordeal the Witch had actually been creating new hex balls and now with the two X-Men distracted....
She threw three in the direction of the enemy and ducked to avoid the aftereffects.
***
It all happened so fast, Avelanche would tell Mystique later. One second he was watching nothing. There were no guards, no enemies, no X-Men. A split second later the X-men were in front of him, attacking his teammates, and in the base itself.
So far the boy had been able to survive on his own skill alone. He had been warned against using his powers because of the potential damage and unneeded attention it would draw. Now he wished he could use his powers; he didn't know how to defeat these X-Men without them. It didn't help that the X-Men he was fighting were not familiar faces.
One was a woman in her early twenties. Avalanche had to admit she was one of the most beautiful women he had ever seen. Everything about her screamed punk from her leather uniform to her white mohawk. The other was a man made of steel, literally. He must have risen seven feet from the ground, Avalanche felt sorry for the earth for having to support the man's weight. The punker chick had called him Colossus. A fitting name.
Avalanche found himself being thrown around, using his own skills to lessen the effects of these attacks. The two mutants worked perfectly synchronized. Colossus punched him, throwing Avalanche's body in the air in the process, while the punker awakened the winds, using them to speed up his meeting with the ground bellow.
Avalanche lay bleeding on the ground, disoriented. He felt the blood coming from his mouth, nose, and any other part of his face that could possibly bleed. After trying to move his body he realized that some of his bones were definately broken, or at least sprained. He moaned in pain but his assailants took no pity on him.
***
Quicksilver wasn't sure how to take Ms. Marvel down. He could only depend on her own mind to wander in order to escape the grasp of her telekinectic grasp. Making a snap decision he ran towards her at full speed, crashing into her. He wasn't sure what he was hoping to accomplish but at least now they were both disoriented instead of him enjoying the feeling all by himself.
"Is that what Mystique is teaching you? Run into your opponent?" A deep voice asked.
A fist grabbed Quicksilver by the material of his uniform and picked him up. Quicksilver looked at Wolverine in disgust. No matter how many times he saw the clawed mutant, whether it was on the news or in person, Quicksilver couldn't get over the sense of pity for the poor animal.
"So, um, like Mr. Wolverine, what do we do now?"
Quicksilver looked over to the side of the Canadian and saw a small brunnette.
Without taking his eyes off of the slippery mutant, Wolverine answered, "We take him with us."
"Wrong sugah, ya'll are gonna leave him here."
Quicksilver grinned as he found himself being release from Wolverine's grasp. His team mate had launched herself expertly and the animal, using a combination of kicks she had learned from Mystique. Watching his team mate was fun. Especially when she used the Wolverine's own tactic's against him, letting momentum work in her own favor.
Quicksilver watched in awe as she took down Ms. Marvel and the brunnette while keeping Wolverine in check. It didn't occur to Quicksilver that he should help, she looked like she was having too much fun.
Finally, the three X-Men were forced into one side of the room, panting, trying to figure out what had just happened.
Jean Gray looked at the girl who had taken her down, "Who are you anyway?" She asked breathlessly.
The girl stood tall, her black catsuit claiming its owner proudly as she proclaimed, "Ah Ahm the Rogue!"
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
I was planning on writing more in this chapter but I figured I had waited long enough to update the story and stopped.
Okay its 1:39am and i'm too tired to say anything profound or remotly interesting about this chapter so I'm going to go on and give SHOUT OUTS to my reviewers:
Rogue151: I got the idea to have her dream them up because I was talking to one of my friends about how she managed to dream up a picture of her boyfriend before she even met him. It was just really freaky and I had to write it in one of my fanfictions. Don't worry though, it wasn't just some random thing I put in the story, it actually has significance.
Tammy: he he he, I love high school drama. Yeah it's the same exact Cody...we'll see how that plays out. Expect more information on the dream in the near future ::creepy music plays:: Wait, that's just one of my Cds.
ishandahalf: Your enthusiasm regarding music is completly awesome! I swear I would write a longer response if I wasn't half asleep. I'll make up for it at the end of my next chapter. Mica and Dom bother you? Really? Why?....Me too but I have my own reasons.
Caliente: Woah! Take a deep breath. Thank you for reviewing! I'm still in the process of read ing your story, I love it so far. Okay, you definately have a grasp on all the confusing relationships going on, I'm glad I didn't lose everyone with that drama. Keep reading to find out what happens with the dreams. :) Elrohirthewriter: Ah a Marie/Dom shipper. I really really really really really really really really wanna tell you what happens betwen them but I can't. I really really want to though. Alas, you'll have to read it. Panther Nesmith: Oh you are crazy, but the world has gone crazy too. 1984 is my favorite, I think I've read it too many times though. Yeah, Cody got the short end of the stick as far as the comics went. I can't decide what exactly is going to happen to him in my version but we'll see. so, after reading about the missions are you confused? Weeeee...its almost 2am and I'm going insane. I'm gonna sleep now. Adios.
Disclaimer: Not doing this. Remember?
Interesting Fact: Not sleeping for three days straight can actually cause serious mental insanity that can lead to suicidal actions.
The Damned, Episode 1
Chapter 12: Arrival
New York City:
"Agent 3, are you in place?"
Marie pressed the communicator in her ear, "Affirmative."
Irene nodded in approval although Marie could not see her. "Agent 2, are you in position?"
Dominic's voice came through the speakers, "Affirmative."
"Destiny, everything is set."
Irene turned towards Wanda to see if the girl had routed everything on the plane correctly. She had. "Good." Walking over to Pietro, Irene could see he was getting impatient. "Calm yourself." She ordered.
Pietro had been hunched over in one of the jet's seats, gazing out the window longingly and tapping his fingers against the glass. "I can't help in Destiny," he used her code name as he'd been instructed, "They're all out there doing stuff and we're still onboard."
Destiny smiled at his impatience, "You'll get your turn."
"Destiny!" Wanda's frantic voice came from the front of the jet.
Destiny rushed towards her, "What's wrong?"
"I'm picking up signals from another jet."
"Government?"
"No, but it's a military craft, a Blackbird."
* * *
Marie took her position in an alley, waiting for her signal. When it finally came she climbed up the wall and, using her legs to brace herself, pried open a vent. She slid her slender body into the vent before closing it again.
"Agent 3, are you on the move?"
"Affirmative."
Marie fought the urge to sneeze as she made her way through the dusty vents. It was dark but that didn't matter, she had spent the last two days memorizing the building's schematics. She found herself in the northeast sector and pulled from her pocket what looked like a small tic-tac. She pressed it to the side of the vent walls and kept going. She placed these small objects in every section of the building before reporting back to the base.
"Agent 3 reporting, phase one complete. Ready for phase two."
* * *
Dominic was already in the building when he heard Marie's report. Knowing that was his cue he found his way to the building's fifth floor, without setting off any alarms. He placed his gloved hand against an identification pad.
Identity confirmed.
He found himself in a lavish office. He hadn't been told who worked there but judging by the interior decorating they were a law firm, perhaps a Boston based firm.
"Agent 2, do you read me?"
"Affirmative."
"Have you found it?"
"Negative."
He scanned the room with his night vision goggles until he found what he came for, putting the object in his pocket he reported, "Phase 2 completed."
* * *
While Marie and Dominic were in the building, Magneto and Mystique were taking their time on the roof. By positioning themselves as lookouts they hoped to increase the teenagers' chances at completing their missions.
Observing Mystique tapping her foot, Magneto frowned, "Don't be obvious or anything."
She stopped tapping and wanted to reply but she was cut off by Destiny's voice, "Mystique, Magneto, come in. The Blackbird has landed, they've arrived."
"Damn it," Magneto muttered.
"That's right," a voice piped up from behind them, "You are totally screwed."
* * *
As Dominic found his way to his self-made entryway he felt as though something was off. He couldn't put a finger on it but something seemed...
"Odd?" A feminine voice asked from behind him.
He turned in surprise only to find a beautiful redhead standing before him.
* * *
"Give up!"
Magneto rolled his eyes, these were the kinds of mutants Xavier was recruiting? The winged mutant in front of him was recognizable, Warren Worthington, one of the richest men in New York, and he was only 17.
Magneto summoned his powers. Using his powers, he managed to lasso the mutant in front of him with some metal from the fire escape. "So you think you can mess with me and walk away do you?" Magneto's eyes started to glow menacingly. "Well let me tell you," he magnetically held a sharpened metal piece over the boy's heart, "you don't know who you're dealing with."
Just as he was about to let the metal plunge through flesh, Magneto felt himself being tackled. Suddenly Erik wished he hadn't sent Mystique into the building to find the kids.
"Archangel, are you okay?"
Archangel freed himself of the metal bounds, "Yeah."
Magneto righted himself only to find a man made of ice. Without a word, Magneto pulled most of the fire escape from the side of the building and held it above the boys threateningly. "Do me a favor," he said in a low, fearless tone, "Tell Xavier I said good bye." With that he tied the boys up and threw them off the building, listening gleefully as they screamed, plunging towards their deaths.
* * *
Marie knew, instinctively, that she had to help Dominic. She crawled into the building itself and found her way to a set of stairs.
"Not so fast."
Her eyes widened in fear, standing at the foot of the stairs was the man she'd seen in her dreams, the man with the red laser eyes.
* * *
"Agent 2, come in, do you read me!"
He would have answered but Dominic was being pressed against the ceiling. The red headed mutant held him their so strongly he felt as though his lungs were rejecting oxygen. He wasn't sure how to get himself out of the situation, he couldn't fight the girl physically, and she wasn't holding him up with her arms. She seemed to be doing it with her mind.
Her mind. Dominic closed his eyes, concentrating on what he'd been taught, hoping to God it would work.
* * *
"Agents 4 and 5, go run 'clean up'."
Wanda and Pietro nodded and were out of the door in a flash.
* * *
Marie ground her teeth together. This was not happening. The man that had shown up in her nightmares constantly for the last three years was NOT about to blow her to up. No, not like he did in the nightmares.
Her expression changed drastically. Her fear gave way to anger as she saw the man reach for the button on the side of his visor, as he had done time and time before in her dreams. She threw a sidekick at his hand, preventing him from shooting, then landed a punch in his gut. She only managed to stun him. In seconds he was back on his feet and grabbed her by the arm, twisting her arm around her back.
She fought the urge to scream in pain and instead countered his move, throwing him off balance and escaping his grip while at the same time kicking him in the shins. That was all it took to leave him sprawling on the floor as she rushed passed him up the stairs. As she ran she could see red beams flash by her. She dodged the beams, and found the fifth floor only to feel a strong grip on her upper arm.
Looking up she saw one of the most terrifying beings in the world.
"Now, now my dear, places like this aren't for young girls."
Despite the kind tone, Marie attacked the blue, furry beast, trying to do to him what she did to the other guy. Unfortunately, Marie realized, this one had more body mass and was harder to take down.
"Don't worry," the beast said, teeth gleaming, "I won't bite."
"Beast do you have her!" Called the other man.
"Yes Cyclops, she's not going anywhere."
* * *
"Mystique, we meet again darlin'."
"I don't have time to toy with you right now!" Mystique yelled as she tried to rush passed Wolverine in the corridor.
Wolverine grabbed her by the wrist and turned her around only to find himself looking into a familiar Japanese face.
"What's the matter Logan? Don't you remember your pretty little wife?"
Wolverine tightened his grip on Mystique's wrist, "Not funny," he growled.
Mystique transformed into another familiar face. "Not meant to be," she told him in German before disappearing in a cloud of blue smoke.
* * *
Pietro picked up Wanda and ran, at top speed, into the building. He had counted on the sensors to not be able to pick up an object moving at hyper speed and he was right. Not so much as a bell went off. He stopped.
"Why are we stopping?" His sister asked.
"I didn't study the schematics to this place. Did you?"
"No."
"Shame, cuz we did."
Pietro looked over his right shoulder. What the hell?
Wanda got on her feet. "Who are you and what do you want?"
"We," a winged mutant replied, "Are the X-Men."
The iced one added with a smirk, "And you two are so screwed."
Wanda created a hex sphere and threw it at her adversaries.
"Iceman look out!"
They dove out of the way as the sphere exploded. When the debris settled only Wanda was in sight.
"Wanna play boys? Then let's play."
Suddenly the building started to shake. The three mutants forgot their fight, trying hard to avoid the falling debris. Wanda looked at the two mutants then at the falling debris and made her decision, she ran for her life.
* * *
Jean Grey fell to her knees, the earthquake making it hard to walk or concentrate. Dominic fell from the ceiling but made sure not to land on his head. Making sure the earthquake was still in full effect, he left the room.
"All agents evacuate!" Came Destiny's order.
Dominic didn't argue.
* * *
"All agents evacuate!"
Marie heard the order but could not comply. The Beast, even though he was shaken, still had a grip on her arm. Suddenly she saw her opening. As swiftly as she could, she pushed him slightly off balance. The earthquake had pushed him over to the edge of the stairs and momentum did most of the work as the Beast knocked over his friend Cyclops.
Quickly she ran onto the fifth floor. She threw open a window and to her surprise, the fire escape was in a ball on the ground. Without panicking she ran to the roof. Once on the top she saw that Magneto had left his position, no doubt on his way back to the jet. She looked around the building and without much thought she ran and jumped, hoping to clear the alley and land on the next rooftop.
Success!
* * *
"Where's Agent 3?" Destiny asked the group.
Pietro shrugged, "I don't know. I ran all over that place, she was nowhere to be seen."
Dominic began to feel a sense of dread, what if his earthquake had somehow led to her death?
Magneto frowned, "That only leaves one possible situation, the X-men grabbed her."
"Or Ah was smart enough ta find a way out."
They turned to see the southern girl climbing onto the jet.
"An' its all good that Ah'm here but what 'bout Mystique?"
Destiny set her lips straight, "We're leaving her behind."
"What!" The kids exclaimed.
"It was a part of the plan," Magneto explained.
"What kind of BS is that?!" Marie exclaimed.
"Its all a part of missions," Magneto told her, "You have to learn to take unexpected orders."
Marie sat in her seat, next to Dominic, and as the jet took off all she could think about was her mother in the clutches of Cyclops.
* * *
Marie went to school the next day with a heavy feeling in her heart. Her mother still hadn't returned home and she was beginning to worry. Thankfully God had had pity on her and hadn't filled her mind with crazed nightmares filled with insane mutants but still Marie found herself thinking up every paranoid thought she could muster.
She opened her locker to pull out her biology book and after closing the locker, rested her forehead against the cool metal.
"Marie."
Without actually lifting her head from the locker she managed to look off to her left to see Dominic walking towards her.
"What's wrong?" he asked.
She straightened herself out and looked at him, "Ah, ah just miss mah momma."
"Don't worry, she'll be home soon. I promise."
Marie was about to answer when she felt herself being shoved to the floor. "Hey!"
"Oh Gawd! Ah'm sorry!"
In the confusion Marie found herself in the arms of Cody Robbins.
"Ah really didn't mean ta do that Marie," he told her as he lifted her back up. He looked at her stuff on the ground, "let me get that." Handing her the materials he asked, "So ya live with Wanda?"
Marie nodded, the words unable to pass through her lips.
"That's cool, then ya must be the friend makin' her read those books."
Friend? Marie wondered. "Yeah that'd be meh."
Cody smiled, prompting a smile and a blush out of Marie.
"Ahem."
Cody looked passed Marie at Dominic, "Oh hey, you're Dominic right?"
Dominic eyed Cody's letterman's jacket, clean-cut blonde hair, and perky white smile. "Yeah," he said testily and held out his hand, daring Cody to shake it.
Without missing a beat, Cody grabbed Dominic's hand, meeting his steady gaze. If either one noticed their hands growing numb they didn't say anything.
RIINGG!
The sound of the bell seemed to break the spell. Cody let go off Dominic's hand and smiled at Marie.
"Ah guess Ah'll be seein' ya around Marie." He pronounced her name as sweetly as possible.
Marie brushed a hair behind her ear, embarrassed, "Yeah, Ah'll see ya."
Dominic frowned, "Come on Marie, I'll walk you to your next class." He placed his arm around her waist and led her away, fuming all the while.
* * *
"Dominic, what the hell is wrong with you!"
Dominic ground his teeth, tired of hearing his girlfriend yelling at him over the phone. "What do you mean what's wrong with me?"
"Getting suspended from school for hitting my cousin! What the hell were you thinking?"
The boy rubbed his temples; he wished he knew. All he did know was that he was in P.E earlier that day and Cody had made some mention of Wanda and what a good kisser she was and it had reminded Dominic of Cody's flirting with Marie and somehow it had led to an obscure physical altercation. "Hey at least it happened during my physical education class, it kind of kept with the curriculum."
"That is so not funny!" Mica yelled through the telephone. "Do you have any idea how insane this is!" Dominic could practically hear her pacing, "I mean I was having a perfectly good time after school and Carly comes up to me and tells me all about you and Cody-"
"What did she say?"
"Just that Cody and you got into a fight over some gossip-" Mica put on her mental breaks. "Dominic you weren't saying anything about me were you?"
That was definitely not the direction Dominic expected the conversation to take. "W-what?"
"Was Cody just defending my honor?"
"That's crazy, I would never say anything bad about you. It would mean having to face you and then face Marie, Carly, and maybe even Wanda."
Mica mulled this over then sighed, "Then what was it about?"
"I don't know."
"That's stupid."
"I know."
"Well at least you know that much."
"Look Mica this is getting us nowhere and I need to get to sleep, as punishment for this whole ordeal I think I have to run errands all week, starting tomorrow morning."
"Fine, good night."
"Good-" Mica had already hung up.
Dominic put the phone down and sighed.
"Having women issues?"
Dominic didn't even look at the doorway, "Pietro go away."
A gust of wind blew across his face and Pietro was staring him in the face, "Dude you need serious help."
"And who's going to help me with Mica? You?"
"I meant with Marie."
"What do you mean?" Dominic sat on his bed.
"Don't play stupid Dominic, you aren't so it doesn't really work on you."
"Pietro go the hell away!"
"Dominic I know you guys were in fight over Marie because as the most popular guy in school I'm told everything."
"Pietro if you don't stop I'm going to shove that inflated head up your ass."
"Just hear me out." When Dominic didn't say anything Pietro continued, "You don't like Mica at all, just kind of keep her around. On the other hand you're head over heels for Marie; you should go after Marie. You are the one to help her with all her problems, she helps with yours, you have everything in common and you actually have more than a physical attraction." At Dominic's surprise Pietro continued, "I'm not as dense and stupid as everyone likes to think. I've got more depth and notice more than you'd think."
Dominic sat back and didn't say anything.
Pietro sighed, "Fine, I try to help people and they don't care. This is why I don't try." Just as he reached the door he heard Dominic mumble:
"Thanks."
* * *
Cody was already in bed when he heard his doorbell ring.
"Go away." He mumbled incoherently.
The doorbell rang insistently.
"Fahn." Cody mumbled.
He stumbled out of his room, down the hall and into the living room where he eventually found the front door. Throwing the door open, he was surprised to find his cousin, "Mica?"
She pushed him back into the house and slammed the door behind her, "Cody tell me what's going on right now!"
Cody rubbed his temples, "Mica its ten o'clock, can't this wait 'till tomorrow?"
"No!"
He shook his head and walked into his kitchen, "As long as we're up do you want anything to eat o' drink?"
"Milk," she said in an agitated voice as she followed him.
Cody watched as his cousin sat on the counter, awaiting her glass of milk. When he did hand it to her she seemed even more irritated. "Now tell meh what you are talkin' about."
Mica looked around, "Is your mom home?"
"No, she's on a date."
"Mine too," she took a sip of her milk, "I need to know why you were fighting my boyfriend."
"Oh, that."
"Yeah, that."
A moment of silence followed.
Mica cleared her throat uncomfortably, "This isn't about Marie is it?"
Cody looked at her sharply, "Why do ya ask that?"
Mica rolled her eyes, "Its obvious that you like her Cody. Were you saying anything about her that made Dominic uncomfortable? I mean she is a close friend of hers. If you were talkin' dirty things about her then he would definitely try to kick your ass."
The blonde haired boy looked uncomfortable, could his cousin really be that naïve? "Yes, Ah was talkin' bout her." It was the truth, just not in the way that Mica meant.
"I thought so," she sipped her milk, "in that case you deserved your suspension."
Cody nodded. "Now will ya go away so Ah can sleep?"
* * *
"Marie."
She found herself looking into the eyes of her mother. "Huh?
"I'm home."
Marie was fully awake now and threw her arms around her mother, "Mommy Ah was so worried."
Raven tightened her grip on her daughter, "You shouldn't have been sweetie, I knew what I was doing."
"Ah know but..." Marie shut her eyes to prevent herself from crying.
"Its okay baby, I just wanted to say hi to you before you went to school."
"What?"
"Its time to get up already."
Marie looked at her clock; it was morning already.
"Now go get ready and I'll make breakfast."
By the time Marie was finished getting ready and got down to breakfast everyone was already at the table. She took her usual seat and began to eat.
"Alright kids its time to give you your new assignments," Raven announced as everyone began to eat.
Pietro perked up, "What is it this time?"
Raven told them.
"That sounds incredibly difficult," Wanda said.
"It is," Erik admitted, "but we feel that you four can handle it."
* * *
"Agents, are you on your marks?"
"Affirmative."
Erik looked at the communicator in his hand in satisfaction, the kids were definitely doing well.
"Erik, are you monitoring the sky?"
He looked at Raven, "Yes. No sign of Xavier's men or the police."
* * *
Marie observed her surroundings with delight. She had never dreamt of adventures like this one, she'd only read of them. She shined her flashlight on the hieroglyphs in front of her. To think that she was actually inside one of Egypt's mighty pyramids was almost ecstasy.
Dominic noticed her wonder, "Agent keep your mind focused." Marie looked at him and nodded. "Good." Secretly, Dominic was just as excited.
"Agent 4! Have you found what we need?" Pietro called.
Wanda walked around a corridor back into Pietro's sight, "No."
Pietro sighed, "Alright Agents I guess we've cleared this whole end of the pyramid."
Marie frowned, "There has ta be something we missed."
"Not a thing," Wanda told her.
Pietro shifted impatiently, "Come on, lets go search somewhere else."
"Or we can split up," Marie told him.
"No, we were told not to split up."
Marie looked at him stubbornly, "Ah refuse ta give up here. Ah just know we're missin' something."
Pietro frowned into her challenging eyes, "Fine." He looked at Wanda, "You two stay here, Dominic come with me."
As soon as the boys left Wanda asked, "What exactly are we looking for?"
"If we were sent here ta find the plate of eternal redemption then don't ya think it would be in this room?" Marie began to search through the room.
Wanda looked around the room, it was filled with ancient artifacts. She did, however, see what Marie had meant. There were religious artifacts on display, it would only make sense that an artifact to bring about redemption would be among religious artifacts.
"Hey I think I found something!"
Marie scurried over to Wanda's side. At the sight of the large, flattened plate of gold, her jaw slackened.
"Contact the others," Marie ordered.
Wanda nodded and reached the button on her communicator. She felt a cold grip on her wrist.
"Not so fast honey."
* * *
"Damn it, how did those X-Men slip under our radar!"
Mystique looked at her companion in agitation, "Magneto I honestly don't know but there's nothing we can do about it now." She looked at her failed radar, "All we can do now is hope the agents remember their training."
* * *
Mystique's instructions echoed in Pietro's head as he stared into the eyes of the most ferocious mutant he had ever met. Abort the mission if the mission should fall into peril, Mystique had said. Now, looking into the eyes of the blue furred monster in front of him, Pietro didn't think that was a bad idea. As fast as he could he ran back through the corridors, back to Wanda and Marie.
* * *
"Son of a bitch!" Iceman exclaimed as he found himself being thrown into a wall.
Wanda smiled at Marie, her quick reflexes had helped them both.
"Nice try but Iceman isn't all we have."
"Not another one." Wanda muttered as Cyclops appeared before them.
As Cyclops reached up to press the concealed button on his visor Wanda created her masterpiece, two scarlet orbs glowing with pride. Her orbs hit Cyclops before he could get a shot at the two other mutants. The force of the orbs sent him into the same wall as his mutant friend.
Marie pressed her communicator, "Agents report!"
No answer.
Iceman stood and shot two balls of ice, which the girls dodged.
"Ya gotta do bettah than that," Marie told him.
"Yeah, try something like this." Another voice advised.
Before either Cyclops or Iceman knew it they were being hauled out of the room by a strange, sliver hurricane. Pietro returned a moment later. "Ready to get the hell out of here?"
Marie shook her head, "what we found wasn't the right plate."
"How do you know?" Wanda asked.
"The glyphs on the edges, they don't say anything about redemption."
"Since when do you read ancient languages?"
"Ah don't but ah know a few of the symbols."
"Doesn't matter," Pietro told her, "We have to leave, where there's two X- Men there's bound to be more."
Marie shook her head, "You guys leave, Ah'm gonna find the plate."
Wanda and Pietro looked at her to determine whether or not she was serious. She was.
Pietro sighed, "Fine, what do you want us to do?"
* * *
Dominic found himself facing the Beast and Angel, alone. Great, and I was ordered not to start a quake lest it should take down the pyramid.
"What's wrong?" Angel taunted, "You'll take down a woman but can't face us like men?"
They must be talking about that Marvel Girl chick, Dominic remembered his last mission.
"Or maybe he just wants to try to beat me again."
Dominic knew without turning that Marvel Girl was standing behind him. Shit.
"Dominic need some help?"
He sighed in relief as he recognized Wanda's voice and he gained some confidence, "Not really but having you here will definitely make this faster and more painful for them."
* * *
Marie searched frantically with Pietro beside her.
"I don't think its in here."
"It is, Ah know it. Just keep looking."
At high speed, Pietro searched. Anyone who stepped into the room would only have seen random items being moved around the room by a strong wind.
Marie searched as fast as her human abilities would allow her to. She was already frustrated when she felt a jolt. "What was that?" she asked.
Pietro stopped, "I didn't feel anything, I was moving too fast."
Another jolt.
"But I felt that."
* * *
Dominic grinned happily, he had managed to control his power while in the field. His jolt had done nothing to ruin the foundation of the pyramid, only to throw the X-Men off their feet. Unfortunately it had thrown Wanda as well.
The female mutant gathered herself quickly, she had seen Dominic's trick coming and had attempted to brace herself, it had only half worked.
"Agents, we found what we need, get out!"
Wanda and Dominic took heed of the order.
* * *
The agents rushed back to the jet only to find it stuck in a pit of sand. As they boarded the jet Pietro asked what had happened. His question was greeted with a steely glare from his father.
"Well a sudden quake dislodged a lot of the sand in the area and we seem to be stuck."
Dominic turned red at Magneto's remark. "Oops."
Mystique sighed, "We can free ourselves." She turned to Pietro, "As quickly as possible, sweep the sand out from under us."
* * *
Irene laughed when Erik and Raven finished recounting the details of the mission.
"Its not funny," Erik said, "Not only did Dominic cause a dangerous avalanche but Marie chose to lead everyone against our strict orders to abort the mission if something went wrong."
Mystique rubbed her temples, "And she managed to convince the others that it was a good idea."
"Yes but they got the plate."
"After disregarding our orders." Raven pointed out.
"And they proved they could handle the X-Men on their own."
A smile found its way to Erik's face and before he knew it he was laughing. Raven looked at him and began to laugh as well.
Irene smiled, "So have either one of you thought about actually naming the team or giving them field names?"
Erik and Raven looked at each other and shook their heads.
Irene leaned forward, placing her hands on the table before her, "For the team name I was thinking-" She paused, "the Brotherhood."
* * *
Two weeks later:
"No, you can't be breaking up with me."
"Mica, I just did," Dominic said in frustration.
Mica didn't want to cause a scene in the middle of the McDonald so she took a deep breath, "Does this have anything to do with my yelling at you on the phone? I realize it was childish but I just-"
"No, Mica its just not working out."
"It can't just not be working out." Mica insisted stubbornly, "Something had to have happened to make you think twice about us being a couple."
"Mica, I'm just not-" he couldn't think of a kind way to say what he needed to say, "I'm not feeling the same attraction to you that I used to."
Mica nodded sadly, "I see." She got up and started to walk away, hoping Dominic would stop her.
He didn't.
***
Marie felt her heart start to pound harder. Shift weight to left, kick with right leg, block punches.
"Come on Marie you know you can do better than that!"
She felt her determination soar at the words of her instructor. She failed to block two punches in a row and hesitation had caused her to miss the perfect opening to knock her opponent down.
"Stop!" Raven yelled.
Marie and Pietro did as they were told.
"Marie," Raven walked over to her, "What was that? You missed too many things! The little things can get you killed in the field!" She turned to Pietro, "You did perfectly, go inside."
Pietro nodded and ran up to the house.
Raven turned back to Marie, "Have you been practicing like you were supposed to?"
Marie nodded, "Yes ma'am."
"Then why couldn't you simply sweep Pietro's feet out from under him?"
"Ah missed thah opening."
Raven sighed, "Be here early tomorrow morning for your next lesson." She took a deep breath, "I've seen you do much better than that Marie."
Sensing Raven was finished, Marie followed Pietro's path into the house.
***
Mica sat on her bed, pillow clutched to her chest, and tears running down her face. She had tried to call Marie but Erik had told her that Marie was busy with homework and could not take calls.
She reached for the phone again and dialed a number.
"Hello?"
"Hey Carly."
"What's wrong? You sound so depressed."
"Dominic broke up with me," she whispered, as if saying it softly would make the memory go away.
"Again?"
"This time I don't think we'll be getting back together." Mica admitted, not even taking offense to Carly's comment, "This time his reason for breaking up with me was different."
"Oh man Mica I was hoping he wouldn't tell you about that fight with Cody over Marie."
Mica's voice hardened, "What fight over Marie?"
Carly heard her friend's steely voice and immediatly knew she'd made a mistake, "I, uh, I mean..."
"That fight was over Marie!" Mica exclaimed, throwing the pillow away from her and wiping her tears away angrily. "Like in a romantic way?"
"Um, yeah but..."
"But nothing! You all knew and made a fool of me!"
"It wasn't like that Mica. Pietro is the one who told me, and he told me way after it happened."
"How 'way after'?" Mica asked, the steely tone back again.
"Like two days ago."
Mica squeezed her eyes shut.
"Mica, you're freaking me out, why aren't you talking?"
She still didn't say anything.
"Mica you know how Pietro exaggerates and how that 'he said she said' crap goes. Chances are it wasn't even about Marie."
Mica doubted that, she wasn't completely blind. She saw the way Cody looked at Marie, saw the way Dominic was so damn affectionate with the southern girl. "Yeah Carly, I'm sure."
"Hey Mica I've gotta go, dinner time."
"Yeah," Mica said. "Bye."
***
BAM! BAM! BAM!
Throwing open the door, Cody rolled his eyes; Why did his cousin always choose to come over when he was getting ready to sleep?
"Cody you are soooo dead!" Mica pushed him into the house and slammed the door shut.
Cody was taken so off gaurd that even his football training didn't help him maintain balance. He crashed into a wall and yelped. After regaining his composure he yelled "Mica what thah hell is wrong with you!?"
"No, what the hell is wrong with you!" Mica crossed her arms, "Fighting with my boyfriend over my best friend!
Oh no. "Mica Ah don't know what your babbling about."
"Yeah right, Carly told me. Then I called Trish to confirm the story and guess what?" She hurried on, "She confirmed it."
Cody sighed, "Mica ah didn't wanna tell ya."
"Why?" Mica asked, sounding tired, "We're supposed to be close, like siblings."
Cody nodded, "that's why. Ah didn't want ya ta get hurt."
A tear ran down Mica's face, "Good job dumbass." she took a deep breath, "If my boyfriend had a thing for some other girl then why didn't you just tell me? You didn't think that maybe it might concern me?"
He ran his hand through his blonde hair, "Mica Ah didn't think it was mah place to say anything. Sure we're close but we've never talked with each other about this kind of stuff. This is new territory."
Mica nodded, "I guess so but Cody from now on know that nothing is off limits to talk about."
Her cousin nodded.
She frowned, "But what about you?" she asked accusatorily.
"What about meh?"
"Are you just using Wanda to get to Marie?"
"Of course not!"
"Well if you were attracted to Marie when you met her...before Wanda..."
Cody walked to the livingroom and plopped down on the couch, "Ah see how ya could think that but Ah swear it wasn't like that."
"What was it like?" Mica had followed him.
"Ah admit Ah met Marie first and was definitaly attracted to her first but then Ah met Wanda and Ah got ta know her first and she's freakin' awesome!"
"So," Mica said slowly, "you weren't just trying to find some way into Marie's house?"
"No!" Cody exclaimed exhasperatedly, "Ah even asked Wanda ta the dance a long tahm ago."
Mica sat next to him, "So what? Everybody has their significant other except me?"
Cody, to Mica's chagrin, laughed, "Significant other? Mica we're just in high school, it's just dating."
"Yeah but now everyone has a date to the dance but me. I mean Pietro asked Carly, you asked Wanda, Dominic asked Marie..."
"Hang on. Mica how do ya know he asked her?"
"Well he wants her and got rid of me so..."
"Did ya evah decide ta stop and have faith in your friend? Maybe she realized how awkward that would make things, maybe she doesn't feel the same way, maybe she doesn't want to ruin her friendship with him or with you."
Mica frowned, she wasn't sure if he was trying to convince himself or her. Then she began to think, "Yeah Marie is the best friend in the world, she would never hurt me."
"There ya go," Cody smiled, "Now go home and sleep."
***
Marie got home from school a little confused. The whole day had been a little awkward. First Mica had been cheerfully talking to her the whole way to school, too cheerfull. Then Marie found out that Mica and Dominic had broken up and everyone knew except for her, Mica's best friend.
When she asked around she found out that they had broken up over her. Carly and Trish and given her every detail, including why Dominic and Cody had really been fighting in the locker room. As if that wasn't enough for her freshman mind to comprehend, she then found out that Wanda had confronted Cody about the whole thing. Well, actually, she had seen them yelling in the parking lot. The final nail in the high school dramatized coffin was that Mica, hell no one, had walked home with her.
She opened the door to her house, hoping to find a sense of normalcy. No such luck.
"Marie honey!" Irene exclaimed, "have some pancakes!"
"Pancakes? It's the afternoon!"
Raven came into the room, "Yeah but Erik got a pancake craving and then we all wanted pancakes."
Marie shook her head, "No thanks, ah'm gonna go do mah homework."
***
Dominic looked at the door in despair. He hadn't wanted her to find out this way. He had imagined telling Marie that he was head over heals for her so many times but it had always involved a movie and lasertag.
Unable to swallow his fear he turned around and screamed. "Marie you can't do that!"
Marie laughed, "but the look was priceless."
"You and your sick sense of humor."
Marie sobered, "So what did you want ta talk ta meh about?"
"Huh?"
"Ah'm assumin' that's why ya were at mah door."
He looked at the door as if it had just suddenly appeared and stammered, "right, talk to you."
"Is it about Mica and the breakup?"
"Kind of."
"Dom," she said, reached passed him and opening her door, "Come on, let's talk."
***
"So, you aren't gonna ask meh out or anything now, right?"
"Um, right, that would be too weird."
Marie nodded her agreement. "So we're still friends?"
"Why wouldn't we be?"
"Ah don't know. In books things lahk this happen and then the characters stop talking."
"Marie this isn't a book, it's real life."
"But wouldn't it be awesome if it wasn't real life!"
"Huh?" Dominic couldn't follow her train of thought.
"Like if we were really stuck in a book and someone was reading our every thought and move!"
"Marie we seriously have to get you away from science fiction books."
***
"Okay Quicksilver, do your thing."
Quicksilver pressed his communicator, "Now Destiny?"
"Yes."
He looked down with slight fear. he had never tried running down a completely vertical cliff before but that's all that seemed to be out in the middle of the New Mexican desert, cliffs. In the distance he could see the military base he had been sent to break into.
He took a deep breath and ran down the cliff. He kept his eyes opened through out the whole run and what he saw excited him. He couldn't explain it but the view of the earth rushing up to meet him as he made his decent was amazing. Fluidly he made the transition to the horizontal surface and ran up and over the gates of the base.
Looking around he saw that he had made it to the main Control Room without being detected. He looked at the two unconscious men on the floor, compliments of his karate skills.
"Destiny I'm in."
***
"Avelanche, everything good?"
"Yup Mystique, all quiet on this side."
"Good. Keep watching, don't need those pesky X-Men messing with our plans."
"No problem." Avelanche had taken his spot, watching the base from miles away. He was one of Quicksilver's lookouts. He caught the sight of a plane in the distance. "Mystique, a military Blackbird is making its way towards the base."
"Don't worry, that one belongs to the base. The X-Men's Bird is a deeper color."
***
"Scarlet Witch, are you having any problems?" "No Magneto. Everything's quiet on my side too. I'm sure everything is quiet on Marie's side too." "Scarlet Witch, you have to refer to your team mates by their field names." "Sorry."
***
Quicksilver began to look through the base frantically. He had thought his mission objective, a set of discs, would be in the control room but he was wrong. Now he was trying his hardest to find the correct room. He found that he had to stay at a constant hyper speed in order to be overlooked by all the guards and employees. He also couldn't knock out every person he came across lest it should start to look a little suspicious.
Twenty minutes of running at high speeds were beginning to wear him down. He no longer felt his feet on the floor. No, it felt like he was running on the air itself.
"That's because you are."
"Huh?" Quicksilver looked down and realized he was being levitated. "Ms. Marvel why do you try?"
Jean Gray smiled, "Because the X-Men always win."
"Not against the Brotherhood you don't."
The smile faded from her fair face as she threw Quicksilver against the wall.
***
The Scarlet Witch might have helped her teammate if she hadn't been under attack herself. She dodged the quick, crafty moves of her mutant opponent, Archangel. He was fast, but she was much faster.
Gathering her wits she charged up a hex ball and threw it directly at Archangel's chest. The older mutant stumbled back, confused. The Witch took this opportunity to land a swift kick to her assailant's stomach. Archangel landed on the hard New Mexican ground, clutching his stomach.
The girl stood over her prey, ready to finish him off with a few more hex balls.
"No, no, girly, can't have that."
She felt a pair of oversized fuzzy hands pick her up by the arms and throw her a few yards away from Archangel.
"Scarlet Witch come in!"
She shook her head and tried to answer Destiny's call but the Beast stopped her. "I'm afraid I can not allow you to do that."
She looked into his soft eyes intently. Absently she wondered why he was fighting her, he seemed more like the peaceful type.
"Beast don't," Archangel said, standing up.
The Beast looked at his teammate, "I wasn't actually going to hurt her Archangel, but I couldn't let her kill you."
Scarlet Witch looked between the two in bewilderment, they weren't going to kill her? She smiled inside. Magneto had told her she would have this advantage. Xavier's Men were just too soft to actually defeat their opponents. How pityful.
Throughout the ordeal the Witch had actually been creating new hex balls and now with the two X-Men distracted....
She threw three in the direction of the enemy and ducked to avoid the aftereffects.
***
It all happened so fast, Avelanche would tell Mystique later. One second he was watching nothing. There were no guards, no enemies, no X-Men. A split second later the X-men were in front of him, attacking his teammates, and in the base itself.
So far the boy had been able to survive on his own skill alone. He had been warned against using his powers because of the potential damage and unneeded attention it would draw. Now he wished he could use his powers; he didn't know how to defeat these X-Men without them. It didn't help that the X-Men he was fighting were not familiar faces.
One was a woman in her early twenties. Avalanche had to admit she was one of the most beautiful women he had ever seen. Everything about her screamed punk from her leather uniform to her white mohawk. The other was a man made of steel, literally. He must have risen seven feet from the ground, Avalanche felt sorry for the earth for having to support the man's weight. The punker chick had called him Colossus. A fitting name.
Avalanche found himself being thrown around, using his own skills to lessen the effects of these attacks. The two mutants worked perfectly synchronized. Colossus punched him, throwing Avalanche's body in the air in the process, while the punker awakened the winds, using them to speed up his meeting with the ground bellow.
Avalanche lay bleeding on the ground, disoriented. He felt the blood coming from his mouth, nose, and any other part of his face that could possibly bleed. After trying to move his body he realized that some of his bones were definately broken, or at least sprained. He moaned in pain but his assailants took no pity on him.
***
Quicksilver wasn't sure how to take Ms. Marvel down. He could only depend on her own mind to wander in order to escape the grasp of her telekinectic grasp. Making a snap decision he ran towards her at full speed, crashing into her. He wasn't sure what he was hoping to accomplish but at least now they were both disoriented instead of him enjoying the feeling all by himself.
"Is that what Mystique is teaching you? Run into your opponent?" A deep voice asked.
A fist grabbed Quicksilver by the material of his uniform and picked him up. Quicksilver looked at Wolverine in disgust. No matter how many times he saw the clawed mutant, whether it was on the news or in person, Quicksilver couldn't get over the sense of pity for the poor animal.
"So, um, like Mr. Wolverine, what do we do now?"
Quicksilver looked over to the side of the Canadian and saw a small brunnette.
Without taking his eyes off of the slippery mutant, Wolverine answered, "We take him with us."
"Wrong sugah, ya'll are gonna leave him here."
Quicksilver grinned as he found himself being release from Wolverine's grasp. His team mate had launched herself expertly and the animal, using a combination of kicks she had learned from Mystique. Watching his team mate was fun. Especially when she used the Wolverine's own tactic's against him, letting momentum work in her own favor.
Quicksilver watched in awe as she took down Ms. Marvel and the brunnette while keeping Wolverine in check. It didn't occur to Quicksilver that he should help, she looked like she was having too much fun.
Finally, the three X-Men were forced into one side of the room, panting, trying to figure out what had just happened.
Jean Gray looked at the girl who had taken her down, "Who are you anyway?" She asked breathlessly.
The girl stood tall, her black catsuit claiming its owner proudly as she proclaimed, "Ah Ahm the Rogue!"
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
I was planning on writing more in this chapter but I figured I had waited long enough to update the story and stopped.
Okay its 1:39am and i'm too tired to say anything profound or remotly interesting about this chapter so I'm going to go on and give SHOUT OUTS to my reviewers:
Rogue151: I got the idea to have her dream them up because I was talking to one of my friends about how she managed to dream up a picture of her boyfriend before she even met him. It was just really freaky and I had to write it in one of my fanfictions. Don't worry though, it wasn't just some random thing I put in the story, it actually has significance.
Tammy: he he he, I love high school drama. Yeah it's the same exact Cody...we'll see how that plays out. Expect more information on the dream in the near future ::creepy music plays:: Wait, that's just one of my Cds.
ishandahalf: Your enthusiasm regarding music is completly awesome! I swear I would write a longer response if I wasn't half asleep. I'll make up for it at the end of my next chapter. Mica and Dom bother you? Really? Why?....Me too but I have my own reasons.
Caliente: Woah! Take a deep breath. Thank you for reviewing! I'm still in the process of read ing your story, I love it so far. Okay, you definately have a grasp on all the confusing relationships going on, I'm glad I didn't lose everyone with that drama. Keep reading to find out what happens with the dreams. :) Elrohirthewriter: Ah a Marie/Dom shipper. I really really really really really really really really wanna tell you what happens betwen them but I can't. I really really want to though. Alas, you'll have to read it. Panther Nesmith: Oh you are crazy, but the world has gone crazy too. 1984 is my favorite, I think I've read it too many times though. Yeah, Cody got the short end of the stick as far as the comics went. I can't decide what exactly is going to happen to him in my version but we'll see. so, after reading about the missions are you confused? Weeeee...its almost 2am and I'm going insane. I'm gonna sleep now. Adios.