Ldypebsaby: Actually you're the first to comment on the gift, I had the biggest trouble trying to think of something like that thanks for commenting on it.
Celtcath74: I'm not sure it will be in this story but she will one day and Illyana won't come alone to the Institute. Yeah I think Jean would win too but the battle didn't last long enough to go the distance.
Xmenfan: Damn you give me long reviews, lol. I'm not having the evolving thing in this story but in another. If I used all the great ideas in one story I wouldn't have anything to write about in the future. And yes the Hellions did underestimate them, but they got huge egos so that's why. I will show her on a date and with Xavier soon as well as the double date later on, maybe they get into a fight over which of their boyfriends is better. Wanda was in her old costume and I haven't brought in the black ones...yet. And thanks for the comparison to Claremont and Whendon.
Sparky Genocide: Yes the first of many fights. And yes Pietro wouldn't like that.
The Uncanny R-Man: Let's just say she met someone at Dr. Strange's place. Yeah I figure Selene was the type that loved to make an entrance, and I figured all that repression that those two have would have to come out in some fashion.
slickboy444: Glad you found the thing about Jean funny, I figured all that repression had to go somewhere. I'll do Sarah and anyone else that I can think of for a birthday too like Wanda, I doubt she has had one in a LONG time.
BlackRoseApocalyps: Well it's always nice to hear from you again, and I hope the homework lets up sometime in the future.
Winblades: Uh, no I don't got an editor it's just I don't trust people not to mess around with my work they check it. Selene is a Marvel character that is an Immortal sorceress, as for Illyana I'm not sure she'd go that far but she'd be pissed though, and thanks for finally reviewing too. Don't be afraid to check out the other stories too.
Thanks to: Red Witch, X00001, LadyDeathStrike1, DemonRogue13, Cammy
Disclaimer: The OC August belongs to the Uncanny R-Man, all other new characters belong to Marvel.
ADJUSTMENTS
CHAPTER 24: VISITING
It had been quiet since Selene had attacked them and even though she hadn't shown up yet everyone was still a little tense, especially Amara. She had been a little jumpy all day after that and was in her room that she shared with Tabitha reading, or trying to. She was still on the same page she had started for the last fifteen minutes but her mind kept racing back to yesterday.
First getting kidnapped, then Selene's threats to her had given her nightmares last night. Then there was that blond boy Empath. He had used his powers on her and had made her 'feel' attracted to him. She knew that if he had his way that kiss would have just been the start and she had felt dirty after it.
She took six showers and used half a bottle of mouthwash before she felt clean again. She swore the next time she saw him she's throw a fireball at a certain part of his body so he would never enjoy the full pleasures of a girl in his entire life.
Tabitha came into the room then and Amara was thankful for the distraction. "Hey Mara, what'cha up to?"
She shrugged and put a marker in her book and then put in on the nightstand next to her bed. "Nothing much."
Tabitha regarded her closely. "Still bugging about yesterday?" She asked seriously.
Amara smiled. "Am I that transparent?" She sighed. "I know I shouldn't be so afraid of Selene, I mean after giant killer robots, a five thousand year old mutant wanted to change the world, and nearly getting blown up inside our own mansion you'd think an immortal evil sorceress wouldn't be a problem...but the thing is I grew up hearing all the awful tales of her rule and she's my country's version of the bogyman."
"So I guess it's like facing your worse fear huh?" Tabitha said sitting herself down on Amara's bed.
She nodded. "Yeah it is...you know I think I need some air." She got up to leave when Tabitha called over to her.
"Hey Mara, do me a favor? Send Sam up, I want his opinion on something okay?" Amara nodded her head and as she left Tabitha got a huge grin on her face.
Outside Kitty was sitting by a tree. She was being as still as possible since Piotr was drawing her. She had to admit she liked being his muse, sure it was tough on her body at times to keep a certain pose but she loved it too. It made her feel special and beautiful, especially when she saw the finished work. It somehow always seemed to enhance her looks without actually altering her physical appearance.
She was by the tree with her hair free of its ponytail, Piotr had asked her to let her hair more free and she was anxious to see the results. He couldn't help but smile when he started to draw her; he was so focus and when they locked eyes it was the only time he smiled. She was wondering if this was going to be something they always would do, she hoped so.
She also wondered if one day she might try something a little more...risqué, but they were too early in their relationship to try that. But a certain fantasy she had last night about it was certainly something to think about since it was a very good dream and she had been wondering if one day she would get the guts to try that. She blushed slightly at the thought.
"I'm finished Katya." He said calling her by a nickname he had started to call her, and she loved how it sounded coming from him. She walked over to him and like always she loved what she saw.
"God you're so talented, I mean all of you work is like so good." She said staring at the image on the paper.
Piotr blushed a little at the compliments. "I am only as good as my subject matter." Kitty giggled, as it was her turn to blush.
She put her arms around his neck and hugged him. "You are so sweet." She said then she looked into his eyes and his locked onto hers. They stared at each other for a minute then slowly moved closer and lightly caressed each other's lips with their own. Soon the pressure increased, as they got more comfortable with each other.
MED LAB
Gale was working with Beast in the lab with a few things. She had asked Hank in help with her medical studies, since she had wanted to be a doctor like her father. She already had first aid experience helping her father out for years, but now she was ready for more.
Hank also liked it because he was able to teach her things that none of the other students either had an interest in or had to skills to use it, but Gale was exceptional. She really did have a gift for medicine and he wasn't referring to her healing powers. That was another thing they had worked on.
Gale could do simple things like fix bones and close wounds but the more complicated the harder it was to heal. Like Vincent's heart, that took over five minutes to heal because she wasn't sure what the heart looked like when healthy. Apparently the more she knew about the human body the better and faster she could heal them. Which was important since she also seemed to have a limited supply of energy for healing and the longer it took the more drained she got.
So Hank only wanted to use her powers for serious problems and not mundane ones and Xavier had agreed to it. If someone wanted healing they had to ask Beast before they asked Gale, it wouldn't help her if she started to faint from over using her powers. So now he watched as Gale was reading through a medical text he had absorbing it all eagerly.
"You know, I had no idea the human body was so complex until now." Gale said closing the book and stretched from over an hour leaning over the book and reading. "Thanks for helping me with this Mr. McCoy."
Hank smiled at his young protégée as he had started to think of her. "I'm happy to help and for the help. It's not easy caring for a house full of young mutants."
Gale laughed. "Tell me about it. I didn't know there were so many accidents that could happen around here eh?"
Just then a glowing disk formed out of nowhere and a familiar sixteen year old blond girl fell out of it and right on her butt onto the hard floor. "Ouch!" He exclaimed and started angrily talking in Russian but stopped when she saw she wasn't alone. "Uh...hi everyone." She said sheepishly.
"Illyana! What are you doing here?" Gale said happy to see the girl and helped Illyana to her feet.
"Dr. Strange said I could visit now that I got my teleportation powers under control...well...for the most part, I was trying to land on the front yard." She blushed slightly at arriving at the wrong place. "So how's everything?"
Gale laughed. "Same old...well...actually we got attacked yesterday by this woman Selene and her Hellions, several people were captured to lure the X-Men into a fight."
Illyana gasped. "Was anyone hurt? How's Piotr?" She asked worried for her brother.
Beast smiled and placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "Everything worked out fine, and your brother if just fine."
Illyana sighed in relief. "That's good to know. Actually Dr. Strange sent me here to ask the Professor something. He sensed some kind of dark magic at work in this area and wanted to know if you had any idea what that might be?"
"That would have been Selene." Gale said coldly.
"Oh. Well I should talk to the Professor I'm sure he and Dr. Strange might want to talk about her, plus there's something I want to ask him and then...I'm going to surprise my big brother." She got a huge smile on her face as she went off to find the Professor and both Hank and Gale shared an amused look knowing this was a surprise Piotr would love.
After Illyana had talked to the Professor who used the same talisman to call on Dr. Strange he also agreed to Illyana's request. Now that it was set up she just hoped Piotr wouldn't make a scene. Then she saw him there sitting on a couch facing away from the doorway with Kitty. They were talking and laughing and she grinned and she crept up to him.
She placed her hands over his eyes. "Guess who?" She asked in Russian.
Piotr immediately stood up and turned to her. "Illyana!" He said happily quickly running around the couch and picking up his little sister. She giggled with joy as he lifted her up into the air and Kitty watched smiling at the scene, it was times like this she wished she hadn't been an only child.
"How have you been Snowflake?" He asked her in Russian using her childhood nickname.
"Oh it's been going really well." She told him going back into English. "I'm learning a lot, I mean I never there was so much to magic, but at least I'm gaining enough control so my powers don't start acting on their own...well...most of the time at least."
"Plus there are other people there too. I made a few friends with the two other girls August and Jennifer."
They moved back to the couch and Illyana took a seat across from them as Piotr sat back with Kitty. They talked about what they had been doing and then Illyana noticed that Kitty and Piotr were holding hands and seemed real comfortable with each other.
She got a smile on her face as she looked to Kitty. "I got to ask you something...are you and my brother dating?"
Kitty and Piotr both blushed and Kitty nodded. "Yeah...we kind of just started." Illyana screamed in joy and went over to hug Kitty.
"Oh this is so great, I mean mama always was worried that Piotr was so shy he might never get the courage to ask a girl out on a date then actually get a girlfriend or get married. Plus I know enough about you to know you're just right for my brother too."
Kitty giggled at seeing Piotr's embarrassment. "Well you're brother is really sweat and a gentleman too."
Illyana agreed. "Yeah he is isn't he? This is so great Piotr! You've found a girlfriend and I found a boyfriend and-"
"What! Boyfriend? When?" Piotr said shocked at that revelation.
Illyana gulped. "Uh...nothing...w-who said anything about a boyfriend?" She asked giving him an innocent look but he didn't buy it and looked sternly at her. "Okay! I met someone at Dr. Strange's, he's been helping him out."
"Who is he?" He demanded.
"He's really, really nice, and really, really cute and...he's-coming-over-so-you-can-meet-him-but-please-be-nice!"
It took a moment for him to piece together that last part. "I want to meet this boy." He said sternly going into his over-protective big brother mode. Illyana got a worried look and gave Kitty a pleading look.
"Piotr, like just give the guy an chance I mean he can't be as bad as you think." She said to him.
He thought about it and sighed. "Alright...but I want to know more about him first."
"Well...he's a year older then me for starters, and he's an orphan." She began. Piotr didn't like her dating someone older but at least was just a year, but that orphan part struck a cord with him. "You see he was taken in my this nice man. He looked up to him and everything but you see...he was dying of cancer so he used black magic to make sure he didn't die from it." Illyana said sadly remembering the story.
Kitty gasped. "Did it work?"
"Well...yes and no." She told Kitty. "He still died...just in an accident and not from cancer. But the thing was he had to pay a price for keeping the man safe from the cancer and he nearly lost his entire soul but...well...the man's daughter saved him." She looked a little uncomfortable when she got to the part about the girl.
"Was there something going on with the girl and your boyfriend?" Kitty asked her.
"Yeah." She said bitterly. "She tried to help him a little after but gave up and dumped him, so if I ever find that witch I'd like nothing better to give her a piece of my mind, I mean you didn't see how Johnny was so upset when he came to Dr. Strange. "
"Talking about me already?" Came a male and unfamiliar voice. They all turned to see a boy of seventeen with long blond hair in a ponytail, which only seemed to make him more good looking, and he was in jeans and a black T-shirt. "Hey Yana, Dr. Strange just came in and him and that Professor guy were talking so I decided to see if I could find you."
Illyana screamed in joy and rushed over to him hugging him. "Miss me?" He said amused.
"What do you think?" She said happily then turned to the others. "Guys this is Johnny, Johnny this is my big brother Piotr and his girlfriend Kitty."
"When you said big brother you didn't mention huge." John whispered to her causing her to giggle at his discomfort. He put a hand out to shake with Piotr. "Hi, I'm John Blaze nice to finally meet you, Yana has told me a lot about you."
"Yes...well I look forward to getting to know you." Piotr said to him, but not entirely in a friendly manner.
While the four of them were getting to know one another Dr. Strange and Xavier were talking. "So you think you can help with Selene?" Xavier asked the former Doctor.
They were both sitting across a small table drinking tea. "Yes, I believe she used a teleportation spell to get in your mansion, I could place a few powerful ward spells so she can't try that again."
"I must admit that would be a relieve to know that ...woman, if you can call her that, won't be dropping by like she did last time." He told the sorcerer, he still hated what that woman had so casually done to his students, plus kicking him over still made him angry.
"Well I can have it finished in a few hours, and I don't blame you for sounding so angry with that woman." Dr. Strange took a sip of his tea. "I've read about her and let me tell you, she is one nasty customer, and believe me if even half of what I read about her is true you all got off lucky."
"How so?" Xavier asked him.
"Does the name Pompeii ring any bells?" Strange told him and Xavier paled slightly. "Yes she is capable of such destruction." Suddenly the silence was broken by the sounds of shouting and explosions were heard. "Is that...normal?"
Xavier looked concerned since he got a great about of fear and anger coming from the backyard. "Normally yes but I have a bad feeling about this." Both he and Strange rushed to the backyard and were shocked to see most of the students there seemingly frozen in place as they glowed in a red light.
"This is magic but..." Dr. Strange reached out with his mystic senses but he didn't find it until it was too late, he turned behind them only to get hit in the chest with a magical bolt that froze him and Xavier soon followed.
From the roof Selene watched in amusement. She floated herself down to face the sorcerer and grinned at him. "Well this is a surprise, I would have thought that Earth's sorcerer supreme would have been able to sense a cloaking spell? You must be getting old." Then she turned to Xavier. "Guess who's back for round two baldy?"
Piotr, Kitty, Illyana and John heard the commotion and ran to the sound of it. As the four of them came outside they saw that Selene was back and now she had all the mutants in mystic shields she turned to face them with a smile. "Ah...so there are the stranglers and a couple of new faces too, how nice." Selene said with an evil grin.
"Leave them alone!" Illyana yelled and called forth the Soul Sword, as Piotr changed into his armored form.
Selene saw the Soul Sword and grinned. "Well...so you're the new wielder of the blade, but have you mastered the blade?" She began a chant and thunderbolts launched at Illyana she tried to parry them but there were too many and she got hit several times.
"Illyana!" Piotr said going to his sister but a magic blast from Selene caught him in the back and sent him into the mansion making a huge dent in the wall and he slumped onto the ground. Kitty was too him and John rushed over to his girlfriend.
She was still breathing but she was out for the moment. He looked at Selene with pure hatred. "You shouldn't have done that!" He spat at her.
"Please what can you do?" She said overconfident.
"By myself...nothing, but I'm not alone." He said in anger standing up he threw his head back as it was engulfed in fire and then soon the rest of his body. As the fires died instead of a burnt Johnny now stood a six foot tall individual. Clad in all black biker leather jeans, boats and a jacket with gauntlet like gloves and around the waist, on the shoulders and around the wrist were metallic spikes.
There was a chain wrapped around over the shoulder horizontally across his body. But what was really noticeable was what he had for a head. Now over the gap in the jacket there was no neck and a skull was floating in flames for a head.
"I am the Ghost Rider, Spirit of Vengeance." He said in an otherworldly voice that chilled many that heard it to the bones. He pointed at Selene and the skull seemed to take on an angry look almost like the bones morphed into an angry glare as the eyes literally burned with hatred and inner fire. "You! You have spilled the blood of the innocent, their souls cry out for vengeance! I will burn your soul with hellfire witch and you will have your penance as you feel all the suffering you have caused in life visited upon you."
"You think you can stand up to me?" Selene said in disbelieve. "I am Selene, immortal mistress of the dark arts and you think some spirit of vengeance can beat me?"
"Yes...there will be no escaping my wrath. You shall be cleansed in the purity of fire." He unhooked the chain and it lashed it out at Selene and the links at the end of the chain glowed and seemed to launch them selves at her, without making the chain shorter.
Selene dodged the attack by leaping to the side. She hadn't had planned of fighting this creature, but she was going to show this spirit who was the menace here. But the Ghost Rider was quicker and managed to wrap the chain around her ankle with that he pulled and her over his head and landed hard on the ground.
She snarled at him and stretched out her hand as four glowing energy lances formed and shot out. Two of each imbedded in Ghost Rider's arms and the force sent him to the wall of the mansion and he was literally nailed to the wall.
He struggled but couldn't get himself free. "Well now whose going to save you?" Selene asked as she stood up gloating at him.
A fireball came out of nowhere and slammed into her. Her body started to heal from the damaged and looked up to see two more new faces. "We are." Said the seventeen-year-old girl dressed in black. She had long dark hair and another fireball in the one of her hands.
"August." Selene said with disgust.
"Hello...mother." August said coldly looking at her with pure hatred. "Jen see the Illyana." August told the other girl about her age, who had short hair and dressed in urban city style clothing.
"On it." She said running over to Illyana and she started to chant and Illyana's body slowly glowed.
Piotr had come to by then and looked at the scene and at what was nailed to the wall of the mansion. "What is that?" He said to Kitty looking at Ghost Rider.
"Uh...that's John." Kitty told him helping him stand. Colossus was wondering just what her sister's boyfriend had gotten himself into to have the ability to do that.
August and Selene faced off against each other. "I knew you were a mistake." Selene spat at her.
"I'm so hurt, now I remember why I don't like mother's day." August shot back at her estranged mother.
"You may be training under Dr. Strange, but you don't have the power to go up against me." Selene said.
"She doesn't have to." They both turned to see a very angry Illyana now standing with the Soul Sword in hand. "And I won't be the only one you have to answer to." She raised the sword and began a chant. White flames shot out of it hitting each person in the glow of Selene's magic and the red glow faded as each person started to move.
"Not again." Selene growled out. "I really have to look into a new way to keep my prisoners held in place and not easy broken out of." She gave Illyana a glare and vanished once again in flames.
Illyana smirked then saw Ghost Rider impaled on the wall and she gasped as she ran over to him. She said a simple dispel enchantment and the lances disappeared and he fell to the ground and slowly transformed back into John.
He looked around seeing everyone there. "I guess we got a few things to fill them in on huh?" He said to Illyana.
"Yeah...I think so." She told him.
NEXT UP CHAPTER 25: PAINFUL MEMORIES