nfmadprops04: Here's the next chapter. Enjoy!
Ronnie's Fan: Yeah, it just popped into my head while I was tryingt o get my little cousin to let me be (He wanted me to watch X2 with him...Nightcrawler scares him) and then what happened was I started just thinking what would happen if, just for one night, Fire and Water got together (cocks and eyebrow) hehehehehe. Well, I hope u enjoy this chappie! See ya! Don't forget to review! :-D
Crazy4horses: You and me both know how much it sux. But water helps. Lolz. Enjoy! Don't forget to review.
Chapter six: Love Conquers All
A/N: I don't really remember how John and the others get the Legacy Virus but this is my version of how they got it, so if you know it's wrong, just to let you know, so do I and I promise that I will research it again someday and make a record of it. J Well, enjoy!
John's POV
"Are you fucking kidding me, John? Your fucking teacher? You gotta be kidding me!" yelled Wanda over the phone.
"Now isn't exactly a good time for this, Wanda," I said, taking the phone off of speaker phone as she began to yell and Pietro and Mags gave me funny looks.
"Well, John, there is never gonna be a good time to tell your girlfriend that you slept with your fucking teacher, but you're gonna have to sooner or later!" she yelled even louder than before. So loud that even though I had the volume on three, Mags and Pietro were still giving me funny looks.
"Listen, I can't talk about this right now, I'm on a mission with your brother and pops. I need to be fully concentrated for this so I'll talk to you later."
"No, John. You know what? You can forget about this- us! You can forget it all because this is inexcusable to me! We're through! Goodbye!"
"Fine! Be like that! I never need your prostituting ass anyway," I yelled back, angry at Wanda's words. Was she so sensitive that a one-night stand with a teacher that happened more than a year ago would upset her? I didn't even know her yet, so why was she so upset? "Bye!" I yelled and hung up, fuming.
I guess Magneto and Pietro had that 'I-never-get-involved-in-relationships-that-aren't-mine' thing going on because they looked ahead quickly and said nothing.
We were on our way to the Friends of Humans hideout down in East New York. We heard that they were having a meeting there to figure out how to wipe out the mutants in that neighborhood, so we decided to put a stop to that.
"C'mon, just a few more blocks. By the way, you two should be very careful when we get there."
"Father, with my speed, your gift of magnetism, and Pyro's flaring temper and temperatures we'll be fine," said Pietro.
I was trying hard to concentrate on what I was doing. I was now kind of in shock that it was over between Wanda and I after six months.
"That's what I'm afraid of. There are storage bins of toxic wastes there and I don't want you getting an incurable disease or something fatal, got that?" said Magneto stopping dead in front of so that we almost walked right into him.
Pietro nodded and then they both looked me with questioning looks while I stared at them blankly.
"Huh? Oh yeah, I got that," I said, shaking my head and pushing Wanda out of my head. "Yeah, I got that. C'mon, let's go. I wanna get home."
They nodded and we started walking again.
In a low voice, Pietro asked, "Why in such a hurry? Sounded like Wanda wanted nothing to do with you anymore so what the hell else would you be doing at home?"
"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked.
"It means that you have no life!" he whispered. "All you ever did was fuck Wanda and now you can't even do that!" His voice had risen to its normal volume now and Magneto heard what he said, which was lucky because if he hadn't then he'd have had a good reason to punch the hell out of me for jumping at Pietro.
"Calm down, John. Calm down," he said, holding me back as Pietro stood a distance away, smirking.
I scowled at him and pushed away from Magneto saying, "Whatever," and walking on towards the hideout.
A few minutes later we were at this old garage/warehouse that had been abandoned years ago by the looks of it. In front were a couple of dumpsters, which we hid behind as a few muscular men walked by, holding firearms, one of them replacing an empty magazine with a new one and throwing the old one into the dumpster I was behind. It clanged loudly and I nearly jumped at the sound, causing Pietro to snigger. But one good foot stomping shut him up.
Once the men had passed and entered the garage, we stood up, made sure that there were no more cars coming up or down the two way street, and sidled along the cement wall towards the entrance. We stopped at the very edge of the wall to check if anyone was keeping guard. There was: a brawny, surly man armed with a chain wrapped around his right fist and a metal pipe in his left hand. Mags took him out with his own pipe and we walked right in, like we owned the place.
The place was covered in bins that were leaking, no joke, neon green fluids and a few of the bins near where a group of men stood conversing were smoking, and not normal looking smoke either.
"Pyro, Quicksilver, you two go right and I'll go left. We're gonna rush 'em, got it?"
We nodded and scowled at each other as we made our way to a huge pillar near the group of men. We hid behind it and listened to what they were saying.
"Hey, Joey, what was it that mutant kid said to you the other day?" asked a fully-grown man to a kid that look about twenty and some odd years old.
The kid spit on the ground, kicked the spot where he had spit and said, "He said he was gonna 'blast-me-a-new-one' if I didn't shut up about his little mutie sister," scowling.
"See? It's people like Joey who get the worst of these frickin' mutants! Joey, your mother still sick?"
"Yeah," said the kid putting on a face, which clearly said that he was trying to get them to feel sorry for him.
"Pops still broke and unemployed?"
Joey nodded and looked away, swallowing hard to make it look like he was going to cry.
"Little sister still…you know?"
"What, dying from AIDS? Yeah!" yelled Joey, a single tear dripping from each of his stormy gray eyes. "And those fucking mutants are laughing it up: Calling my mother a whore, my sister a fucking demon and my pops a bum!" he yelled to the rest of the men, who now all had sympathetic looks on their faces, a few of them were even crying.
One of them nodded and walked forward to hug Joey, saying, "I know how you feel, Joe. I know it all."
I pretended to gag and so did Pietro. Sniggering, we turned back to the scene and watched as the man who had hugged Joey asked the eldest of them, which was the one who had addressed Joey first, "But, Giovanni, how're we gonna fix this problem?"
Giovanni answered, "I'm glad you asked me that, Eric…." He stepped down from the milk crate he'd been standing on and, smiling broadly, said, "We're gonna kill 'em."
The other men stared at him open mouthed for a second before, sensing he was speaking truthfully, yelled in approval.
"Finally, we're gonna get what we lost back from these filth breeders!" yelled one man near a smoking bin.
"Yeah!" yelled another man, but now Pietro and I were looking above the man who was near the smoking bin.
Magneto was there, floating above him, and magnetically holding a bin of a neon orange waste. He jerked his head to his right (our left), signaling us to move from there and get ready to strike the ones who tried to run when he dropped the bin on them.
We nodded and jogged to our left a split second before we heard a, "Holy fucking shit!" and then a loud bang!
Mags had dropped the bin, spilling waste everywhere and on nearly everyone in the group, immediately beginning to blister their skin and then getting so hot that the blisters popped and their skin literally fell of in pieces. Those who weren't splashed with the chemical ran toward the exit we were blocking. The men who walked into the garage last were among them and once they saw us, they pulled out their guns and aimed at us.
I froze where I was for a second. If the men had shot at me, it would've been over for me because I had a flamethrower on my back and wires that were filled with fuel all around me. But they didn't have time to shoot at me because Magneto, acting quickly, pulled them by theirs guns to face the bins near where they had been standing. They shot and the bullets hit a couple of smoking bins, which exploded at the contact with the speeding bullets, causing a chain reaction with the rest of the bins.
We were being lifted by Magneto out of the garage when I, seeing the gas and waste flying and billowing in a waves everywhere, panicked and struggled freed of Magneto's strong physical grip.
"NO!" he yelled and Pietro gave me a scared look as I hit the suddenly burning hot ground. I got to my feet quickly and looked at Magneto and Pietro's horrified faces.
On instinct I turned to face what they were looking at and then it happened in slow motion.
One last smoking bin exploded and a fresh wave of the gas billowed in its largest wave into my face. It smelled horrible, but that was the least of my worries because once I inhaled the gas, I felt weak and sick and so dizzy that I immediately hit the ground, no longer able to feel anything or see anything.
I awoke, hours later, in a bright room feeling horrible. My head ached, my stomach jolted every few seconds on its own for no reason at all, my arms lay weak beside me and my legs were throbbing like mad and were most likely the source of my headache. I could barely breath and every time I did, I inhaled the disgusting hospital smell and another familiar yet disgusting smell, but it was as though it wasn't there but only a memory of the smell.
"Look! He's awake!" yelled a loud voice, piercing the sound barrier.
"Shh! He'll have a headache now and any normal sounds sound like a banshee to him," said someone…a female.
I tried wiggling my fingers but they wouldn't move and I put all my will into just lifting them an inch or so off the bed I was laying on.
"You'll get your strength back completely in a few days or so but you'll have to work on it," said the same female voice.
I opened my eyes a little more and looked around me: There were shadows of people all around at first but then my vision focused and then I saw that it was only a female doctor, Magneto, Pietro and Toad.
"G'day, mates," I said wearily and smiling weakly.
They chuckled slightly but then gave me worried looks.
"What's wrong?" I asked, trying to sit up, but failing because my arms were still too weak.
Magneto shot me another worried look and then smiled and said, "Nothing at all. You just had an accident during the mission."
"Don't lie to him!" shrieked the doctor, horrified that Magneto would do such a thing.
"Lie to me about what?"
"Nothing," said Pietro quickly and turning to the doctor menacingly.
"No! I won't accept any lies in my office. Nuh-uh! Tell him the truth or I will!" she said, glaring at both Magneto and Pietro.
Toad was crouched on top of the hospital bed next to me and looking, interestedly, between Mags and Pietro, the doctor, and myself.
"Bloody fantastic!" he finally yelled into the deadly silence that had fallen between the other three. "'Ere's Pyro lyin' in a 'ospital bed, and you three are arguing over whether or not to tell 'im the truth! I personally think we should tell 'im, to save 'im the bloody torture of 'aving to find out later on when the affects finally kick in! I mean, don't you think 'e's suffered enough? Look at 'im! 'E's lyin' there all weak and unable to move…. Why would you let anyone suffer anymore 'annat?" he asked, hopping nimbly off the bed and next to me on the floor.
The doctor, Mags, and Pietro looked at him with shamed looks and then they all nodded.
I was way too confused to even ask what was happening. I guess the look on my face asked the question because the doctor walked over to my right and put a small hand on my shoulder and said, "Sweetie…" She trailed off and looked, sadly, at Magneto and Pietro.
Magneto and Pietro looked hesitantly at Toad, who nodded, and then Mags said, "You fell out of my grip at the garage and a bin exploded," he began obviously wanting to start off quickly so as to not delay anymore than he had to. "And then some of the gas…you inhaled some of the gas and passed out."
"So that's why I'm here?" I asked.
"Yeah, mate," said Toad softly, whom I suddenly remembered wasn't on the mission with us. Now that the picture was becoming clearer, I remembered most of what happened.
"Oh yeah, that happened and then…." I couldn't remember how I got here in the hospital.
"They brought you over here as soon as possible because you inhaled a lot of that gas."
"Yeah, so? Why didn't they just give me a respirator?" I asked, panicking now at the look of sadness on each of their faces.
They all looked at the doctor and she nodded saying, "Honey, that gas…it was toxic…. If a mutant inhales it…they…they get the Legacy Virus."
"Oh, that's it?"
They all looked taken aback by that statement.
"Why don't you just give me medicine and stop trying to scare the shit out of me." I chuckled. "Man, for a second there I thought I was as good as dead," I said and they all flinched slightly and went back to looking sad. "What?" I asked, feeling scared again. "Am…am I…am I gonna die?"
The doctor bit her lip and nodded slowly.
"What the fuck? Are you fucking serious? I'm really gonna fucking die?"
They all nodded and Toad said, "Mate, I'm sorry. I know it's a terrible shock and, believe me, I wish it were me lyin' in that 'ospital bed instead of you. You're way too young to be worryin' 'bout 'ow much time you got to live." His shoulders were hunched and his head hung low in sadness and, even though he wouldn't dare look up to show it, he was holding back tears.
Toad and I had become like brothers over the last six months. Once he found out that I'd been born and raised in Australia and that I had to run away from there to live he warmed up to me instantly, figuring that because I'm also an Aussie he can relate to me. Honestly, sometimes I don't even understand what he meant by "You and me, we're both Aussies and we understand each other more than the rest of them do" because I didn't know whether he meant humans or other mutants. But I didn't care because he'd always watched out for me after that…never letting me get hurt.
I swallowed hard and nodded, then looked at the doctor. "What's the Legacy Virus?" I asked her, my voice cracking a little. Well, what do you expect? For me not to be scared? I'm going to die! I think I have the right to be scared as shit. My heart was beating so fast it hurt.
She swallowed hard too and said, "Legacy is an airborne viroid that only affects humans with an active X-factor in their genetic code (commonly referred to as mutants). The viroid prevents the body from producing healthy cells, acting like a fast cancer, and causes the victim to lose control of his mutant powers until he/she 'burns out' and dies."
"Oh…. So, I'm just gonna keep getting worse and worse until I literally just burn out?"
"Sadly, yes," she said.
"Will his mutation have an affect in how he – you know?" asked Magneto.
"Not that I've heard of so far. Each case of Legacy Virus that I've seen has been too short for me to even see how it ends. Luckily, we've caught yours before hand so we can study it with your permission."
"'Study it' just to study it or 'Study it' to try and find a cure?" he asked.
"Both," she said.
"Very well, then," said Mags.
"Wait a minute! What hell are you saying? I don't even know your name and you're getting ready to 'study' me!"
"My name is Moira MacTaggert, Dr. Moira MacTaggert," she said, straightening up proudly.
I was breathing heavily now and my vision was blurring again.
"And you're going to have to calm down before you pass out again," she said, pushing my head back onto the fluffy (hehehehehe) pillow and pulling a thermometer from her lab coat to take my temperature.
"I don't wanna-!" I began but she stuck the thermometer in my mouth.
"Now, just lay there for a few minutes while I prepare for note taking."
I spit the thermometer out and yelled, "Fuck you! I don't want to be studied by some doctor! Mags, don't let her do this! I wanna go home!"
"But don't you wanna find a cure for this so that maybe you can get cured and other mutants don't have to suffer?" he asked, sticking the thermometer back in my mouth.
I spit it back out, this time on the floor, and yelled, "No! I wanna go home! Let me go home! LET ME GO!" As I yelled this, I felt my blood boil to a point where I couldn't even take it anymore so I yelled again and out of my hands, flames sprang forth toward Dr. Moira MacTaggert, who was rummaging through a steel wardrobe.
Magneto, who was always quick with his reflexes, shut the steel doors so fast that they pushed Dr. Moira MacTaggert inside the closet as they shut, protecting her from the flames.
The flames were hard to control. I'd tried hard to pull them back as usual but they wouldn't obey. I put all my heart into it and then they gave in to my control.
"Holy…shit," I said, my eyes wide with surprise and terror, as the steel doors smoked while Dr. MacTaggert opened them slowly, fearfully.
"What was that?" she asked slowly, stepping out of the closet, shaking.
"I…I dunno. I just got pissed off and…and then…they just shot out, the flames I mean. I've never done that before. I couldn't create fire…that was my one handicap…. How did…how…how?"
She stared at me wide eyed and shaking her head. "I don't know. Maybe that's what happens with fire-based mutants? Maybe your temper caused your powers to merge with the virus' effects and enable you to create fire? Oh God!" she gasped.
"What?" asked everyone, now panicking.
"If that's the case, then… you'll burn out quicker and more painfully. You'll…die quicker."
I stared at her, thinking, Man, if I hadn't have panicked…. Damn.
"Please, let me study this so that I can help you and other mutants. I know you don't want to die and I know that if you do die you don't want it to be painful, so please put your fears and insecurities aside and let me study you and your disease!" she pleaded, eyes beginning to flood with tears.
I nodded stiffly, thinking once again, if I hadn't have panicked…. Please let this ordeal pass me…. God, I don't want to die. Please don't let me die, God, please!
"Thank you," she whispered. "I'll let you go for today, so that you can get whatever you need from home but then I need you back here by tomorrow night, okay?"
I nodded and tried moving again. It was easier to move now and my legs were still hurting like hell but I decided that I was strong enough to walk. I wasn't going to let this disease get me down. If I cooperated with the doctor then maybe I didn't have to die…maybe I didn't have to die.
The doctor went to get my clothes from the closet in the next room while Mags and toad helped me out of bed. Pietro just leaned against the wall, staring blankly at my IV bag.
When the doctor gave my clothes, I dressed quickly and as I left the room she reminded me, "Remember, tomorrow night."
"Yeah, yeah, I'll remember."
On the drive home, no one said anything, and the radio (which usually blared rock, rap, r&b, and hip hop) remained off. It sounded as though I was already dead…. Not even Pietro, the most annoying and loudest of the Brotherhood, said anything…but I wished he would, so at least I could feel normal instead of having this boulder tied around my neck to reminding me that I'm dying…all because I panicked.
When we got home, I got out of the car and walked up the bricked courtyard to the front doors and walked in, ignoring the glare that Wanda shot at me as soon as I walked in.
I wonder if she knows….
I went straight to my room and plopped down in the bed to stare at the ceiling.
Silence rang in the air around me and hurt my ears. Why wouldn't it stop? Why couldn't I just go deaf for at least an hour?
Because that's not what you want, said my mind. You want someone to just say it out loud: St. John Allerdyce a.k.a. Pyro is dying of the Legacy Virus and there's nothing you can do about it.
"No, because there is something I can do. I'm getting help from Dr. MacTaggert at this time tomorrow."
But do really think that'll work?
I sighed in defeat and continued starting at the ceiling. "Why can't someone just come here and kill me now?" I asked aloud, not noticing the slowly opening door.
"Talking to yourself, now?" asked Wanda's voice from the threshold.
I faced her and nodded slowly. "Come to yell some more?"
She bit her lip and a single tear dripped form her honey colored eyes. "Father just told me what happened…." She looked at me with brimming eyes and then suddenly ran over to the bed and threw her arms around me, as she broke down crying. "Oh, John, I'm so sorry! I can't believe this is happening." She wiped the tears away and then brought her right hand to caress my left cheek. "I can't believe I'm going to lose you."
"What happened to us being over?" I asked semi-bitterly.
She bit her lip again and said, "I know I said that, John, but I was angry. I mean, how could you not tell me that you slept with your teacher?"
"I told you already that you didn't want to know. Remember? Six months ago in the pizzeria, you asked me what was the most romantic thing I've ever experienced with a woman and I told you that didn't want know but you said you'd find out sooner or later…. Well, you found out and now I'm guessing you wish you hadn't?"
She nodded sheepishly and then looked up into my eyes and leaned in to kiss me.
It was a heartfelt, passionate kiss that clearly said she was sorry for what she did and said and that she wanted me back.
But a question was buzzing in the back of my head as she continued kissing me and I kissed back. Was the disease contagious?
"Mmmm." She pushed me back onto my pillows, gently, and began undoing her zipped up tube top.
I'll ask the doctor tomorrow, I thought as she exposed her body.
The night went as you're probably thinking and the next day, when I woke up, I had a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. But I couldn't tell if it was because I threw up as soon as I got into the bathroom or because I may have just given Wanda the disease.
I observed myself in the bathroom mirror: I was sort of pale and my eyes were losing their color as well. My blood was boiling still and wouldn't cool off even when I jumped into the freezing shower.
I hope she can help me.
"G'morning," I said to a waking Wanda as I dressed and hour later.
"Good Morning," she said sleepily. She yawned and got up to give me a kiss on the cheek.
"Hey! What happened to the tongue action?" I asked in a mock upset voice.
She made a tooth brushing movement and I nodded eagerly, smirking.
After she dressed, she jumped on the bed next to as I read a book Magneto had gotten me to read up on the Holocaust and said, "It's funny how love conquers all."
It doesn't conquer death…. Shut up!
I smiled and kissed her.
End of Chapter! Leave a review as you leave, please. Thank you! J
1, NY GE Pyromaniac
