Strays

Assassin

"C'mon Petites!" Remy called from the sidelines. They were in the danger room. It was the New Mutants versus the Strays. The New Mutants had made great time in this field day event, mostly because Noriko had used her super-speed.

The event was simple sounding at first; a relay race. Then it got complicated. The race was held in the Danger Room. There were poles everywhere that lifted, shifted, rolled and swung at random intervals. Agility was something Gambit had taught them to learn well.

"Ya'll ain't got d' stronges' powers fo' fightin'," Remy had told them. "So ya'll gonn' hafta learn to run."

The order the Strays were running in was X-Wire, Tender, Norm, Eavesdrop, Common, and Take. Tension mounted as half the school was watching their first field day activity. The sound to start went off and X-Wire leapt from the raised platform they were starting on. She had to make it across a ninety-yard gap filled with large metal pipes at all sorts of odd angles. She made it easy enough, using her wires to swing nimbly from pipe to pipe. She reached the other side, punched the button and took off back. She too a tumble when a pole withdrew while she was aiming for it, but quickly righted herself and continued on.

Next was Tender. He leapt cautiously from one pipe to another, some time riding one as it rose. He took a great deal longer than X-Wire had taken, and longer than the New Mutants' longest time. But he made it across and back. Then Norm left from the platform. Most gasped at his bold move, but were quickly shocked as he navigated the tangle of poles and pipes with a flare that few outside of Gambit, Beast, and Nightcrawler could manage. He was the second fastest time that day, after Surge. He got back and tagged Eavesdrop.

Eavesdrop hesitated as he looked to where he knew the control room to be. He removed his helmet and focused his mind. Then, he stepped off onto a pole that had just sprung up. He continued this, stepping and hopping onto poles that were going in his direction. He was using his telepathy to tap into Cyclops' mind as he created the environment. He got back with an average time.

Next up was Common, who did something that shocked them all. He removed his collar. He held out his hands and wires came out. The other Strays held their heads ad they became telepathic. They noticed there was more than the wires going for Common as he made his way quickly across. He was using Eavesdrops telepathy to tap into Norm's agility training. He was soon on the other side and faltering as he had gotten out of range of the others. He made his way back and landed in a tumble scrambling to put the collar back on.

Take ran straight for the edge. She held her hands out and the poles started disappearing, then reappearing right in front of her, forming a perfect path for her. On her way back, her face was strained. "She's using too much teleporting," called Common, who had gotten his collar back on. She made the path end a little above as she collapsed, spilling onto the platform, and coming in with just a few tenths of a second under the New Mutants time. As she lay unconscious Common gathered her up and held her close as he sat there on the floor.

He kissed her forehead and stroked her hair as she slept from her over exertion. They had to pry Common away before they could take Take to the med wing. She awoke an hour later feeling sore, but no worse for the wear. She hugged Common, who was there waiting outside the door, they had to physically restrain him from going in, just to show him she was okay.


Later that evening, after copious amounts of celebrating and partying, all were asleep. Common was sleeping surprisingly sound.

Outside however there was a threat. It was a female figure that crept across the academy's lovely landscaping. She was dressed in all white with a helmet that blocked telepathy. She was quiet. She entered the school by picking the front door, not the kind of thing they expect to happen, thus the lacked the preparation for it.

'all asleep,' she thought to herself.

"I'm no telepath," she heard to her right. She turned to see a man in white boxer shorts with brown hair. "But I'm betting you think we're all asleep.

"oh, sh…" she never got to finish her statement as he unleashed an optic blast by raising his glasses. She went through three walls. "Well that just wasn't fun," she groaned. She got up, the midriff of her outfit now torn to shreds. "hmm," she quipped aloud. "the Padme look… a bit outdated, but I'll run with it."

"Run vith dis!" called a loud voice with, what she noted to be, a Russian accent. She turned to see Piotr Rasputin charging at her. He hit her swiftly in the face. Again she flew through several walls, landing in a bedroom. The two male occupants were instantly awake. She looked at one, and pulled a picture from her belt.

'yup, that's him' she thought. She pulled a gun from her belt and took aim.

"DROP IT!" yelled the other teen in the room. This room happened to belong to Common and Tender. She was aiming at Common.

She turned and chuckled at the boy as he raised his hands. She quickly stopped chuckling. She dropped the gun a she began to breath heavily. She hit her knees and started moaning. Eventually she crumbled over, moaning and begging for more. The other X-Men quickly ran in, lead by Gambit.

"Wha's happenin' Tender?" he asked quickly, getting between the woman and the boys.

"She was after Common," Tender explained. He let his hands down and the woman slowly collected herself. After a few deep breaths she got to her knees. "I'm a bounty hunter," she confessed. Cyclops and Colossus entered the room, shocked to see the woman slowly standing.

"She should be on the ground," they said simultaneously.

"Oh, that." She said lightly. "My mutant power."

"You're a mutant?" asked Tender, his hands still ready to subdue her.

"Yup, my power's immortality and total invulnerability," she confessed. "Now I'm here to collect him. A dangerous criminal wanted in six states." She said pointing at Common.

The others looked at the boy they knew to be one of the gentlest they knew. "Your joking right?" they asked.


After a few hours they were convinced that neither party was up to no good, only that she had been duped. She removed her hood and mask. Her face was middle eastern, with a gorgeous smile.

"You can call me Lillian Coley, but my mutant handle is Freak," she introduced herself.

Jean-Paul sighed, "What, is every millionaire going to turn out to somehow be connected to mutants?"

"Millionaire?" asked Tender, who after finding out she was tricked, had apologized.

"Yeah, she owns a small fortune from an Egyptian cotton company, subsidiary of Worthington Enterprises."

"I also play the stock market real good," she said with a playful grin at Tender.

She turned to Scott and said, "Listen, I screwed up. I'm the reason you have several unattractive holes in your school, and I won't leave until my repair teams have taken care of everything, and met your satisfaction."

"That's really not necessary," Scott said politely, hoping she insisted.

"Yes it is. I'll take care of it," she assured.


The next day was Sunday, and most of the student body had no classes. Common and Take had one class in the afternoon, but only because they were taking Greek together. Tender had the day off, though he was still up early. He walked into the cafeteria and smiled at breakfast. He saw the woman from last night sitting among the students. For some reason he sat by her. "I'm sorry," he apologized again.

She looked at him and smiled. She had been hoping to run into him again. "No problem, just make sure to do it again when we're alone," she purred.

Tender coughed and choked on his eggs. "What?"

"Oh, you expected me not to like it?" she asked with a smile. "I almost…" she rolled her eyes looking around. "Well I'm sure you know what I almost did right there on your floor."

"Yeah… my power… it works through the skin, not the brain directly," he said with a blush."

"So you do that," she said looking at him seductively. "Wanna show me what else you do?"

"No," he said firmly.

Her face shifted. He she had struck a nerve. "What did I say?" she asked.

"I… I don't wanna talk about it," he said, picking up his tray.

She grabbed his shoulder and sat him back down. "Now wait a second. What's wrong? Do you have another power or something?"

"Its not… Its not another power, it's the other half of that power," he explained. "I can go the other way with it. I can cause pain."

"Well that's not so bad, a little pain, a bit of pleasure…"

"No," he cut her off. "Its not a little pain. Its more than you've ever experienced. That's what I try to learn here. I can't do anything but full blast. And the pain at full blast… I…" he shook his head again.

"What?" she asked.

"When I've turned the pain on people, I've seen a lot of things. Grown men weep, vomit, twitch, beg, plead, and curl into the fetal position… but once… I was living in New York. I was living with these people called the Morlocks. They took me in, even though I didn't look that different. I lived with them for six months. I had a girlfriend while I was there. Tristen. She had large black eyes, and purple skin… she hated the way she looked, but I loved her. She took me…" he nodded his head and she caught his meaning.

"Anyway we slept together usually. And one night, I had a nightmare. I don't usually dream, so I wasn't prepared for it. My power went off. Ten Morlocks, not counting Tristen, felt it and screamed and wept because of it. Tristen… she was so close to the source… me…" his eyes watered. "She spasmed so hard she broke her own back. She died because of me." He pushed his tray back. "I'm sorry, but my powers aren't something to joke about."

She put her hand on his. "Sweetie, you aren't the only one who thinks their powers are shit," she said. "How old do I look to you?" she asked.

"I don't know," he shrugged. "Sixteen, twenty tops."

"I'm much older," she said with a laugh. "I knew Egypt when the Nile was the only source of life, when the Valley of the kings was born. I was a mutant then. I was a poor girl, but I gained in power. I raided the tombs of lesser Pharaohs when I realized I couldn't be hurt in any way. I became a daredevil. I managed to stay under the radar of history. Not hard since not much ahs happened in Egypt since the Romans.

"But I digress. The point is I have felt everything… have you ever been in a dark room, but slowly your eyes grow accustomed to the dark… so that you can see? That's how sensation is for me," she explained. "I have felt pleasures and pains like you can't imagine. And lately I have realized that I am becoming calloused to them. Pain doesn't hurt as bad, pleasure doesn't feel as good. I would kill for those sensations to come back. More over, I would die to have them back," she looked at him seriously. "Humans aren't supposed to live as long as I have. I guess that's why I don't feel things like I once did," she shrugged.

"I know what you mean," he said. "When I'm hurt, I turn my pain power on myself for a quick burst. Then I don't hurt as bad. I know I can take it."

"How about this," she said. "This afternoon, I'm taking you to a movie." He looked at her but she continued, "And if you should happen to slip off the arm rest at the same time I do and our lips just happen to collide… well then it might just happen." She winked at him.

"Didn't you just say you were a couple hundred years old?" he asked.

"Couple thousand," she corrected. "But that doesn't mean I'm not allowed to have fun."

"But with someone my age?" he asked raising a brow accusingly.

"Listen, you're cute, you're sweet, and I REALLY like your powers. I'd like to get to know you and possible make out with you."

"I just got why you call yourself 'Freak,'" he said.

She smiled. "and I can tell why you call yourself 'Tender'." She gave him a peck on the cheek and got up. "Yeah, problem with being stuck at sixteen," she said. "Hormones are a killer."

He shook his head. He didn't bother to correct her. He hadn't named himself. Tristen had. She didn't have a mutant name. He called her his Tulip, but it didn't catch on. She had named him Tender. She had told him that it fit. "Tender hands, Tender eyes, Tender smile, Tender heart."


"Stupid bimbo," the same angry girl, dressed in black growled. She watched now from a great distance. Back at her apartment was a boy with a knife in his throat. She couldn't go back to that apartment now, but she didn't need to. The boy had been a mutant she had met online. He had the ability to see long distances and even through solid objects. She had seduced him and invited him to come see her in Westchester. She had killed him just after she'd stolen his powers.

"I will have to do this myself I guess," she growled. She used her cell phone to call for a Limo. "My brother will die. And this will be officially mine.