Tides of Change: Chapter Eight
The Holding Cells.
Twenty one Reviews! Oh you people are so kind! Sorry that I spelled Althea's name wrong, the spell-check is going to get a chair in a very uncomfortable place pretty soon! Now, back to the story...
Zoom out from Misfit Manor. Pan the eye across thousands of miles of real estate and wild life, and eventually a city. Watch the neon lights and black stone flash past at super-human speed, and finally come to rest on one that looks no different from the rest. Zip up, leaving the cracked sidewalk behind as you rise to one of the many rooms. Swing round to the side of the brightly light room, to a Man intently watching a gargantuan wall of monitors. His white and gold robes reflect the madly flickering images as the reporting camera do double time. On the other side of the room, a heavy oak door clicks open to reveal a man in a Grey military jumpsuit with a matching visor. He looked out of breath, his rifle hanging loosely by his side.
"Headmaster! We have a problem, one of the Meta-Humans is out of control!"
The 'Headmaster' turned around, revealing a self-inflicted face, half made of ruby red circuitry. Brother Blood faced the out-of-breath messenger, his Cyborg eye flashing.
"Oh dear, another tantrum?" He drawled.
The solider straightened. "We're trying to sedate her, sir! We won't be able to contain it much longer!"
Brother Blood sighed, "Let's go have a chat with Miss Connor's shall we?"
The solider escorted his employer to a pair of pentagon-shaped doors that looked like they had been stolen from a Star Wars set. Muffled howls and screams of fear and outrage battered on the door as Blood typed a code in. When the doors open, what protection from the sound they offered fell away and the screams got much louder. The only way one could describe it is to compare it. Imagine you are in a zoo at feeding time, with all the animals howling and whooping, then add a few hundred TV's on their highest volumes and speakers blaring rock music. Then add a few explosions just for realism.
These, then, are the Holding Cells.
The corridor was long, it's end shrinking into nothingness, and, like the rest of the building, well light. Only a select few Cells where darkened, in order to keep the occupants alive. Meta-humans and Mutants were contained in small metal rooms, each a camera watching the occupant every move. All of the room was visible through either with bars that where alight with crackling green electricity, or solid green force shields that rippled with power. As the two walked down the row, snarling rose up from a cage on their right. Something that looked like a purple were-wolf leapt at them, attempting to break out of the small dingy cell that it had been shoved into over a month ago. Brother Blood didn't even flinch as the creature collided with the glowing bars. Ignoring the searing pain that encased its muscles, it shoved a clawed hand through the iron bars and tried to snare Bloods long gold-and-white robe.
"Hey!" A solider, in a Grey suit that was identical to the firsts, ran over to the cell. "Knock it off!"
He rammed the butt of his gun onto the Lilac horrors snout, attempting to keep the creature under control. He had been left to make sure that none of the others got out while his cohorts tried to contain the berserk prisoner. He was dealing with over ten times the amount he was used to. The wolf howled as the metal smashed his muzzle into a bleeding mess. It's hand quickly withdrew, not wanting to receive more injuries, and went to go lick it's wounds as best it could.
"Sorry about that Sir. It's a little hectic." The second soldier saluted.
Brother Blood didn't even slow down to acknowledge him. The continued until they reached cell number 118.
A cluster of soldiers crouched outside it, their guns trained at the bars on entrance. Suddenly a huge chunk of ice slammed through them, completely obliterating the steel cylinders and tossing soldiers against the wall. Snow swept over the floor and slid together to form ice. Breath from the mouths of the guards condensed into clouds of steam as the temperature fell dramatically. Wind howled down the hall, stirring up the snow again into a blizzard. The whole hall was swallowed up in the impromptu snowstorm, drowning out the cells as the captives inside it huddled against the walls to try to keep warm. The screams and explosions stopped in the immediate area, but a hundred feet or so down the hall, out of the blast range, they continued in volume. In cell 118, Maureen Connors clutched at her head as her vision flared violet.
"Let me out let me out let me out!" She screamed as winds she called up shot her into the air. The temperature continued to drop as her powers went haywire. Without even thinking she formed three more miniature glaciers in front of her, snow slapping to form huge blocks of ice. The self-made forces of nature slammed through the remainder of the bars, completely obliterating them.
"Aigh!"
"Woo! You go girl!" In the cell across the hall from Maureen, an older girl cheered her on. Her long dirty blond hair was pulled up in a loose ponytail with a green baseball cap on it. "Show 'em whose boss!"
"Shut up." A solider muttered before he lost consciousness.
Another yell gave Brother Blood all the forewarning he needed to dodge a two-foot ice sickle that rocketed down the hall. The messenger was not so lucky.
"Sedate her!" Brother Blood yelled.
The remaining troops immediately complied, their long sleek guns aiming at the twelve-year-old girl. The leaders hand dropped, signaling for a volley of tranquilizer-laced darts to be fired.
"No!"
The darts hit home. Maureen's eyes dimmed back to ice blue as the drug did its work. The winds dropped as she collapsed to the floor. The red cyborg smirked as he looked at the now harmless youth who had either killed or incapacitated six of his men. Under normal circumstances, the Twelve-year-old would never go so far, but the horror and pain of the last few days had finally gotten to her.
Blood nudged her with a foot. Maureen groaned and curled up slightly. Around her, one or two soldiers who had survived the disaster got to their feet and stood at attention.
"Have her cell upgraded to a field, we can't risk her damaging the goods now, can we?" Brother Blood drew himself up. The disdain for what had happened was evident on his face. None of the soldiers mistook it for the lost of life, but for the hours of work that he would have to put into finding replacements. The Cyborg turned and started to walk down the hall, stepping over the body as he went.
"Coward!" A deep feminine voice spat from the darkened cell next to the Ice manipulators, "She's just a child!"
He stopped and turned to face the cage. Two yellow cats eyes glared at him. The woman, also known as Brickhouse, was standing as close to the light in the hall as she dared. Tall, dark, and no one to mess with Brickhouse would have gladly strangled the man in front of her if given the chance. But Brother Blood was no fool, there was a reason the hall was so luminescent, to keep certain members of the community from escaping. Brickhouse, along with a small legion of other Meta-humans, was deathly allergic to bright lights. Overexposure to it could even reduce her to dust. Her powers were Super strength, and could change her skin into something with the density of a brick.
"That, madam, is hardly my problem." He said and continued down the hall.
"Is mister Sideburns gone?" A voice asked from down the hall. Although the speaker was out of sight, it was hard to mistake who was talking. Brickhouse could easily picture him. Craig Starr was identical to his twin, Paul, although their outlooks on life where as far apart as Venus and Pluto.
Paul Starr leaned closer to the solid green forcefield that separated him from freedom, his dark feathered hair brushing dangerously near to it.
"I think he is Bro." he said. Paul looked like a refugee from the nineteen eighty's, although his acid wash jeans where scuffed and dirty from being dragged through dirt, his bracelets and Van Halen t-shirt where largely in tact. Largely. "Hey, Craig, is little P okay?"
Little P was his nick name for Maureen, for some reason both of the brothers had a soft spot for her.
"Gimme a minute." Craig precariously balanced on the semi-sturdy strip of metal that served as a cot. Two chocolate brown eyes peered into the cell next to his through the narrow slot. The pale girl was still unconscious on the floor, the guards hadn't even bothered to remove the darts from her. Pig faced goons, he would get them. However, her breathing was normal and, for her, the skin color was okay. His bangs blew slightly in the breeze as air hissed between his teeth. "Could be better, could be worse." he said cryptically.
"Meaning what exactly Darkstar?" An Australian accent asked from the cell right in front of him. A elderly aborigine leaned against the wall from the bottom of his cell. His name was Gateway, and he was one of the first mutants on the planet. He could open portals in space and time with his bull roarer, two long surfboard shaped pieces of wood attached with leather strings. He looked tired, and there was a good reason for that.
Craig whipped around to glare at the man. "It means Kangaroo Jack, that she could wake up tomorrow." He turned back to the window. "Now no-one distract me, I'm gonna try and get those darts out."
His right eye glowed with dark purple light as he readied his laser. Both him and Paul where able to shoot lasers from their right eye, something that had often come in handy while trying to survive on the streets of L.A. They didn't always have to shoot a steady beam though, unlike Cyclops they could just use the lilac light to blind people or hypnotize them if they felt like it. They also shared a psychic link with one another that had lead the brothers to each other in the first place. Paul held his breath as he watched Craig carefully aim at one of the darts.
Sheow! Flip, clink, clink, clink...
"Alright Craig! Totally awesome!" Paul punched the air, happy that his brother's aim was true.
"Shut up." Craig muttered. "I've still got a bunch to go."
Sheow! Flip, clink, clink, clink.
Sheow! Flip, clink, clink, clink...
Five more blasts of light later, Darkstar collapsed onto his 'bed'. Using the laser hadn't tired him noticeably, but the stress had more than made up for that. He was breathing easier now that Perma-frost was out of the woods. He looked up to see his twin grinning madly at him.
"Well?" he said. "Where's the Eighty's speak?"
Paul flopped down onto the floor, laughing. "Completely, wholly, and totally tubular Bro! You're a regular knight in shining armor!"
Craig rolled his eyes and tried to hide a smile. Paul was an idiot, but he was his idiot.
Brickhouse pressed her back against the side of the wall, careful to ovoid the light from the hall. "Gateway!"
"Yes Brickhouse?" the old man said, craning his neck to try and see the meta-human.
"Did you do it?" She asked.
Gateway sucked in a long breath, holding the stale air in his mouth for awhile. "I think so." he finally said, "I don't know where I sent her exactly, but she should be able to get help."
Brickhouse bit her lip and nodded. "Let's hope she can. Skids is our last hope."
Paul, or Starchild, perked up from the floor. "Radical! We have hope!" he said. He sat up on the floor, reaching into his pocket and pulling a small harmonica out. "Okay all you boys and girls!"
There was a roar from farther down the hall.
"I stand corrected, Boys, Girls, and Ghouls, it's sing along time!" he blew a few note out of the rusty old thing, eventually coaxing out a tune. "Who here knows 'Bad Reputation' by Half Cocked?"
A
green hand thrust threw the bars of it's cell, trying to indicate the
owner might.
"Stellar! Okay big guy, you and me! One, two, a one two three four!"
I
don't give a darn about my reputation
You're living in the past,
it's a new generation
Hey, a mutie can do what they want to do
And
that's what I'm gonna do
Back in his office Brother Blood was just sitting down to enjoy some hard earned peanuts and put some ice on a tender area when another solider came into the room. Blood resisted the urge to bang his head against the table.
"What is it now?" He asked wearily.
The soldier merely pointed to the wall of monitors behind Brother Blood. Turning around slowly, he gaped at the spectacle. Not one of the prisoners where sitting still. All of them where either dancing, singing, howling, or all three.
And
I don't give a darn 'bout my bad reputation
Oh no
No, no, no,
no, no, no, no
Not me
Me, me, me, me, me, me
He stared. Finally he managed to choke out one word, "Starchild?"
And I don't give a darn about my reputation
I
never said I wanted to improve my station
And I'm only feeling
good when I'm having fun
And I don't have to please no one!
"Yessir."
And
I don't give a darn about my bad reputation
Oh no
No, no, no,
no, no, no, no
Not me
Me, me, me, me, me, me
Oh no
No,
no, no, no, no, no, no
Not me
Me, me, me, me, me, me
One girl that looked like an Anthropomorphic blue jay danced wildly around her cell, he hands and wings in the air.
And
I don't give a darn about my reputation
I've never been afraid of
any deviation
And I don't really care if I'm strange
I ain't
gonna change
In another one, the purple werewolf sat back and howled, it's tail wagging wildly.
And
I'm never gonna care about my bad reputation
Oh no
No, no, no,
no, no, no, no
Not me
Me, me, me, me, me, me
Oh no
No,
no, no, no, no, no, no
Not me
Me, me, me, me, me, me
Break
it down
"This really has to stop." Brother Blood said weakly.
And
I don't give a darn about my reputation
The world's in trouble,
there's no communication
And everyone can say what they want to
say
It never gets better anyway
"I mean it."
So
why should I care about a bad reputation, anyway
Oh no
No, no,
no, no, no, no, no
Not me
Me, me, me, me, me, me
Oh no
No,
no, no, no, no, no, no
Not me
Me, me, me, me, me, me
"I mean, it was sort of amusing the first sixteen times, but this is enough!"
Oh
no
No, no, no, no, no, no, no
Not me
Me, me, me, me, me,
me
Oh no
No, no, no, no, no, no, no
Not me
Me, me, me,
me, me, me
Bonnie walked down the hallway they way she always walked, swinging her hips and ignoring the cat calls. She was wearing her usual, a skirt that was several inches to short and a top a few sizes to small, but things where much different in the life of Bonnie Rockwhiler. And if you looked hard enough you could tell. She clutched her books like a life preserver, her tan knuckles whitening under the pressure. She hadn't gone to cheer practice and had sat meekly at he desk all through school, not even answering her cell phone when it rang. (The teachers had long ago stopped trying to take it from her. Bonnie's vengeance was swift and often uncomfortable.) Her eyes watched her feet like they where to most interesting thing in the world, and she didn't look like she had gotten much sleep last night. Her face was bare of any make-up and she was way to quiet for anyone to not notice. Tara, a blond girl from cheer leading, had cornered her on the way to the cafeteria and tried to get her to tell her what was wrong, but Bonnie had just slipped past her and gone to go 'enjoy' her meal.
Kim had been giving her weird looks all day, and once she had even been about to say something, but Bonnie had beat a hasty retreat in the other direction before she could get it out. The last thing she needed was a break down in front of her rival. If Kim ever found out what she was the snotty red head would probably turn her in to the authorities to get 'help'. Hah! Bonnie had seen what they did to mutants that where caught on T.V., even cheered in a few cases. They where all ways tried by mob justice and sometimes even burned at the stake. It was the witch hunts all over again, and Bonnie did not want to be one name on a list of many.
She opened her locker with deft hand movements, the numbers being drilled into her skull after two years of opening the accursed thing. She had just deposited the books she wouldn't need that night when she became aware of her second shadow.
"Hello Brick." she sighed, wanting nothing more for than the almost generic quarterback to go away, "I don't suppose you'd consider leaving, would you."
It wasn't a question. Bonnie already knew that the six-foot idiot wouldn't leave. He seemed to think she couldn't stand up on her own with out some sort of Hulk impersonator behind her.
Brick shook his head, "Tara said she was worried about you, so I took it upon myself to make sure you didn't do anything-"
"-you would?" Bonnie cut in. Brick blinked. This wasn't how it was supposed to work. Cheerleaders dated Quarterbacks, and vice-versa. It was the natural order of things. His Dad had been a Quarterback, his Mom had been a Cheerleader, which had resulted with an off spring that was lucky to be able to walk and talk and the same time (1). So it was up to him to carry on the family tradition by dating anything that jumped around in a skirt and giggled. He looked down at Bonnie. Cute things weren't supposed to bite.
"I... guess so." he said.
Bonnie glowered at him, choice words lining up in her head for a rapid fire assault on the blathering buffoon when she spotted Kim walking towards them, her own second shadow (Ron) in tow.
"Bonnie, we need to talk." Kim pushed past Brick and leaned against a locker next to Bonnie's.
"Uh, I believe Bonnie and me where already doing that." Brick said, trying to be as polite as he knew how. Kim ignored him. Ron caught Bricks hand as he went to 'tap' Kim on the shoulder. The jock turned in utter outrage to look at the smaller boy.
"Brick my man, ya might just want ta let the ladies talk. If there's one thing the Ron-man's learned in his extensive dealings with them opposite sex it's that they love to talk. And that they always go to the bathroom in groups." He got a distant look in his eyes as he pondered the last bit of info.
Bricks face scrunched up for a second as he tried to make sense of what the lowly freak had said, before deciding that burying his fist in his face was much more important. Ron never saw the fist coming-
and Brick never saw Kim Possibles arm move as she reached behind her and deftly caught the balled-up hand.
His fist jerked to a stop just inches from Stoppables face as something that felt like steel rammed into it. For a second, Brick thought that he had missed and hit the locker, until he saw Kim's arm extended in the same direction. The colossal oaf gaped. Without even breaking her eyes with Bonnies, Kim swung the startled jock around and slammed him into the lockers. Her grip contorted, sending the stare Quarterback's hand into a rainbow of pain. Kim leaned into his face.
"Look Brick." she said in a perfectly normal tone of voice, "I really, really do not want to get into a confrontation right now. So, if you could just be a dear and toddle off to the nurses, I'd be forever grateful." she said.
She watched as he slided around the corner, trying to go faster than his legs could carry him. She looked over at Bonnie. The other girl was staring at Kim, silent tears running down her face. At first Kim thought the girl had snapped, but then the muted whisper reached her ears.
"I thought I was the only one..."
The X-men assembled in a ragged heap at the bottom of the Blackbirds stairs. Kurt blinked in the unexpected light. Six and a half hours in a darkened jet had reeked havoc on his eyesight. Jesse shifted his weight on top of him, stunned by Jeans actions.
When no-body had been motivated to move by her little speech, Jean had Telekineticly kicked their butts out of the jet. Currently she was inside, strapping her boyfriend to a cot, duct-taping his glasses to his face, and force feeding him sleeping pills. She had also taken Mr. Ma and said that if they got who they came for he could get him back.
Several Jamie's poked their collective heads out on various points of the dog-pile. All of them looked confused.
"Okay, which one of us is the original?" One on the bottom shouted as He started to pull himself out.
"I dunno." One that was on the top shrugged. "Don't think it's me."
"Might be me." a muffled voice came form the direction of Warrens wings, "Then again maybe not."
One Jamie had managed to dislodge himself entirely and stood looking at the mess of limbs with a disdainful glance.
"Pathetic. Absolutely pathetic. You call your selves X-men?" He said, folding his arms.
"Oh no." One groaned from under Kurt.
"Not you." Another said.
"Attention!" The Jamie outside the pile shouted, doing the same. "X-men! Report for duty!"
"Right! That's it!" One of the Jamie's surged out of the pile and grabbed the military one's legs. The military one was dissolved back into the originals body.
"Found him!" the one on the bottom shouted.
"Moron." muttered Jamie as the rest of his clones evaporated. Kurt attempted to edge away from him with Jesse and Warren on his back. "What? If you'd let me in the danger room more often I wouldn't have these problems!"
"Is next Tuesday good fer ya?" Gambit asked in a small voice.
"There we go, all done!" Jean walked out of the jet, dusting her hands off. "He's quiet as the grave now."
"I resent that remark." Dead Girl said. She got up and adjusted her sunglasses. Due to the fact that she also had unusual eyes, Remy had bought and extra pair at the gas station, as a sort of thanks for listening to his endless rambling about Lost. She was also wearing some sandals that Rouge had loaned her and a jacket.
Warren stood up and stretched his limbs, all six of them. His sixteen foot wingspan very nearly clipped Jamies head.
"Watch it!" he yelped, ducking the feathered appendage, "You want to see what else I've got rattling around in here? There's this one guy-"
"LALALA! I'M NOT LISTENING! LALALA! TO MUCH INFORMATION!" Kurt covered his pointed ears and hummed loudly.
Jean rolled her eyes. Oh yes. Best of the best they were.
"C'mon guys, we've got a little time and a lot of things to do." She pulled on a red jacket to block the chilly wind that was blowing through the town. Spring had just started, so some of the days where still on the cold side. The X-men got to their feet. Remy was rubbing one of his arms thoughtfully.
"Gambit t'ink's he's seen dis place befo'." He said. "Maybe on 'de new or somtin."
"Well duh!" Jesse snorted. "This is the home of Kim Possible!"
Gambit looked at him, "The Kim Possible?" he asked.
"It's not a very common last name." Dead Girl said. "I think I talked to her Great-great aunt once. Mim or something. She was okay."
"And with that stunning endorsement we venture into the home of someone who could probably give Althea a run for her money." Warren said. He was messing around with a image inducer to hide his wings change his features, seeing as Warren Worthington the Third was a bit of a public figure. He turned it on, making him look like a cross between Duncan Matthews and Orlando Bloom.
"Did it work?" he asked.
"You tell me Legolas." Kurt snickered.
Warren shot him a look and the teleporter busied himself with his image inducer. Jesse was pulling on his shoes on the ground, Gambit was checking to make sure he had an extra pack of cards for emergences, (Such as poker games, black jack, and a battle.) and Dead Girl was making sure all of her limbs were attached and that she didn't smell funny.
Jean looked at them. If she didn't know better she could swear they where sane.
"Everybody ready to go?" she asked, the nodded, "No last minute 'business'?"
"Yes!"
"Stop asking!"
They set off on foot, leaving a sleeping Scott in a locked jet. Warren put the car alarm on, just in case.
I teleported home one night.
With Ron and Sid and Meg.
Ron stole Meggie's heart away
And I got Sidney's leg.
Time and Space travel are, at best, confusing. Skids was experiencing this as the space-time hole opened up under neath her feet and swallowed her up. Unlike time travel, you don't see a smeging thing when your teleporting. Gateways portals where no exception to the rule, so when Skids reemerged from the portal she was temporarily blinded by the bright light. She squinted for a second, and then tried to make sense of what she was seeing.
"Would you like ta be my new Wifelet?"
Skids stared at the Viking, if that's what it was, and looked around. She was apparently on the seashore, but for no apparent reason there where a pair of large metal doors in the middle of a palm tree. Sea gulls called over head, unaware of the miniature drama playing out below. Skids thought about her options. On one hand, she could just throw up a force shield, but she could only keep them up for so long, and this guy was just nuts enough to wait. On the other, she could make a dash towards the door, start hammering on it in the hopes that someone would come. She went for the second one. She ran towards the door, hysterically pounding on it with both hands. She hadn't really expected it to open, and it took her a minute to realize that someone on the other side had done it and not her.
"Chuck! Cool it!"
A person how had opened the door shouted. He was normal in hight, wearing a scuffed black t-shirt with some hoes in it and jeans in much the same condition. The only way you could tell he was a mutant was the three metal claws coming out of his balled up fists. His unruly black hair was mussed up and he seemed to be devolving a twitch in his left eye.
The Viking, Chuck, was rolling around the Seashore, very much in his own little world.
"I
am the very model of a modern Major-General,
I've
information vegetable, animal, and mineral,
I
know the kings of England, and I quote the fights historical
From
Marathon to Waterloo, in order categorical;
I'm
very well acquainted, too, with matters mathematical,
I
understand equations, both the simple and quadratical,
About
binomial theorem I'm teeming with a lot o' news,
With
many cheerful facts about the square of the hypotenuse!"
The man sighed, "You'd better come with me kid. I don't think Chucks coming back anytime soon." he said. The girl nodded, to stunned by recent events to comment.
"Is he well?" Skids asked, indicating the professor and stepping into the hall. The wild man followed her.
"No." He said, typing in a code to shut the door. The metal doors slid shut after them. "Any other questions?"
"Um, where am I?" Skids said as she followed the man down the hall, "And what's your name?"
"Logan." He said, "And yer at the Xavier Institute fer Gifted Youngsters."
"Youngsters?" Skids asked incredulously.
Logan shrugged, "I just work here." he said, "Okay, your turn. Who are you and where did you come from?"
Skids sighed, "Long story. My name is Sally Blevins, but everyone calls me Skids because of my powers." She said, "I can create really strong force fields. It's come in handy more than once, let me tell you."
Logan nodded. With his healing factor, he didn't really have any uses for shields, but he could see why people needed them. If Magneto got his hands on this girl he didn't even want to think what he could do.
"Aren't you freaked out that a kid just showed up out of nowhere?" She asked.
Logan chuckled. "Kiddo, a few weeks ago a Demon Lord showed up in the middle of a training session. Me and a couple of super-powered Hormone-crazed lunatics sent him back to where he belongs. Comparatively speaking, your pretty tame."
Skids stared at Logan with a mixture of horror and admiration. Just where did Gateway send me? She thought. They continued walking in silence until they finally emerged into a living room. A very loud living room.
A boy with long brown hair and pale skin was chasing a young pink mutant girl around the room, trying to reclaim his shoe.
"Penny, give it back!" He yelled.
Penny, short for Penance, was a young mutant with diamond hard skin that could cut through anything. She was mute and usually walked and ran around on all fours, like an animal. She had recently developed a taste for shoes, Tim Fitzgerald's in particular. Tim could retain and release any kind of energy, but his powers had a weird side effect. Every time he used them his skeleton would glow, earning him the name Skullfire and a permanent place on the Halloween favorites list. While he usually came off as snappish and nasty, if he knew you he could be really nice.
"DIE DIE DIE!" A girl with styled blond hair and a younger one with long raven hair where chasing a boy by the hall.
Tabitha 'Boom boom' Smith and Amara 'Magma' Aquilla seemed to have a constant thirst for Bobby 'Iceman' Drakes blood. Mainly this was because the young Ice manipulator was always playing pranks thank where completely inappropriate. Such as icing the bathroom that had all the female necessity's in it. This, by unhappy coincident, was what he had decided to do today. Boom Boom could generate Plasma Bombs that varied in size and time limit, depending on what she wanted. Magma could create fire out of thin air, and even cover herself with it. She could also manipulate Lava, a talent that so far none had been able to replicate. She and Tabby shared a room and where each others best friends.
"Save me! SAVE ME!" He screamed.
Bobby, however, was not to high on the friendship list at the moment.
"Did you hear something Betsy?" Paige 'Husk' Guthrie asked as she casually filled her nails. Paige was Sam 'Cannonball's younger sister, and could remove her skin to reveal a skin made of any mineral or substance she wanted.
Betsy 'Psylocke' Braddock licked her finger and turned the page of her magazine. "Nope." she said. Betsy was a telepath that recently discovered she could create psychic knives. So far she had only been able to do this once, but Professor X was working with her so that she could do it anytime.
Sam glared across the table at his opponent, Everett 'Synch' . While Cannonball could fly at almost super sonic speeds, (making him nearly invulnerable in flight) Synch could copy the powers of any mutant in the area, most often giving of a rainbow colored glow around his body. He was African-American and had lost a twin brother recently. Ev gave him a smirk from across the
ping-pong table.
"Your going down Sammy boy!" Ev said in a singsong voice.
Sam rolled his eyes and hit the on coming ball. "Ev, we'hve been playhin for Four hours nhow, and you've been saying that ehvery other mhinute!"
Ev smiled again. "And it's gonna be true one of these times!"
An Indian girl was running along side an Asian girl in a bright yellow coat, trying to corner another girl who looked vaguely like Logan.
"Xena! No! You can't eat toilet paper!" The Indian girl shouted.
The third girl, apparently Xena, merely cackled and clutched a tube of said substance to her chest. Basically the only people in the room where, oddly enough, Roberto and Ray.
The lightning powered mutant's eyes where incredibly wide when Skids and Logan emerged from the elevator. He ran over, completely forgetting his game on the X-box. Roberto looked up from Watership Down and did the same.
"Who's the Hottie?" Ray asked, getting right to the point.
Logan blinked. After breaking up with Tabitha almost two years ago, Ray's romantic life had been none existent. There was a betting ring going on for how long until he showed some interest in anybody, and it looked like Logan was one hundred dollars twenty eight cents and a piece of bubble gun richer. This was the first time he seemed to relize that not all of the female half of the species hated him or was with someone else. He was either on something or really, really interested.
Skids giggled, seemingly pleased that someone thought she was pretty. "The names Skids big guy." She said, "What's yours?"
Ray grinned lopsidedly. "Ray Crisp, at your service." he said, attempting a bow.
"Actually, he's an idiot. I'm Roberto Da Costa," Roberto said, pushing Ray out of the way and kissing her hand, "If there's anything I can do for you, don't hesitate to ask."
"Anything huh?" Skids said contemplatively, "How about helping me free nearly two hundred Mutants, Mutates, and Meta-humans from imprisonment?"
Robin sighed as he looked around the crater. Black stone chiseled roughly from the walls made to further the gloomy atmosphere in the chamber. The dark red stained glass windows had been completely obliterated by what ever had gone on here, letting some natural light from the surface in. It was still dark, but you could at least see without night vision abilities or goggles. He rubbed his masked eyes, trying to banish the need for sleep. Nothing doing. Raven was meditating over Terra's vacant stand, her eyelids scrunched up as she tried to make sense of her readings.
Cyborg held his left arm out in front of him, looking at a pop-up screen.
"I'm getting massive Geo-kinetic readings that match Terra's signature." he said.
Ravens chant stopped, "There is a enormous amount of magic here, I have never seen it's equal." she murmured, her violet eyes flashing slightly.
Beast Boy was sniffing around out side as a dog, saying that he had picked up two 'Mondo weird scents' and had been trying to track them. He was by far the most animated of the group, but he had been-err, was, the closest to Terra. When the Titans had arrived at the scene, he had rushed into the hole without a second thought. A few seconds later he had come bolting out, screaming 'SHE'S GONE!' at the top of his lungs. The others had rushed to see, and sure enough, it was true. The crater was in absolute shambles, if such a thing was possible for a hole, and their solidified former Team Mate had left the building. At first Beast Boy had been livid, thinking that someone had stole her, but when Starfire politely suggested that Beast Boy sniff around, the shape shifter had been distracted buy the scents.
Starfire. She had been oddly quiet when they reached the empty tomb. Nervous to, by the look of her. It took a lot for the Alien Girl to actually get spooked, she had, after all, grown up in the middle of a war, this seemed to have done it. She had floated aimlessly around the crater until Raven, with a hint of irritation, had suggested that she go and get whatever passed for food at this hour. The Tamaranean princess had happily agreed, and after taking some orders, had left to go 'Purchase the junk-like food'.
She should be back soon, Robin thought as he ran a hand through his hair. He really needed those Cheese curls.
"Raven, see if you can trace the magic or something. Cyborg, try and find out where the Geo-Mancing started. I'll go out side with Beast Boy and look for tracks."
He walked out of the room and into the morning sun. Usually by this time he would either be crawling into bed after researching some sort of criminal (Red X was the current favorite) or getting up and stretching on the roof. He let his head flop back as a breeze swept across the place. A green wolf trotted up to him, shaking the dew off of it's coat. It quickly morphed into Beast Boy who continued shaking himself as he stood up.
"Whatcha thinking about, oh fearless leader?" He asked, "Cy and Rae find anything?"
Robin sighed, "Raven and Cyborg are confused, at best. Cyborgs picking up readings that some serious Geo-Mancing was done there, and Raven's not doing much better. She's got Magic coming out the of the cracks in there, and she doesn't know who, or what did it." Robin shook his head, "We'll be lucky if we get anything done today."
Beast Boy nodded, not knowing what to say. The stared at the clouds until BB smacked his head. "Duh! I totally forgot to tell you! Whatever was in there last night wasn't human. I'm guessing a dog of some kind, maybe two or three. Big suckers by the look of the tracks I found."
Robin looked at the younger boy. "What tracks?" He asked.
The green shifter looked at him, "Wanna see them?"
"If it'll shed some light on what happened here I'll watch you do the funky chicken dance. Again." Robin said gravely.
Beast Boys face got red. "Hey, I was sick!" he protested.
"So you keep saying." The Martial artist smirked. "C'mon, you'd better show me these tracks."
They walked to the top of the domed enclosure, where along set of tracks stretched out from the desert on the outskirts of the Jump City to where they where standing. Beast Boy's gloved hand followed the tracks.
"I went Cheetah and followed the for awhile," he said, indicating another set of track, these leading away from them, "They just start in the middle of nowhere out there! It's like something picked them up and put them down."
Robins eyes narrowed. "Helicopter?" he asked.
Beast Boy shook his head. "Sand wasn't disturbed enough." he said.
Robin groaned. A mystery. Absolutely freaking wonderful, just what he needed at nine in the morning!
"Robin!"
Starfires melodious voice shook him from his revere. The alien girl came flying over the hill, towing both a boy and a bag of snack food. The boy had lanky black hair and looked tired. Starfire was practically dragging him along.
He looked blearily at the two boys.
"Are you the Teen Titans?" he asked.
Robin raised an eyebrow, "Yes... can we help you?"
The boy indicated the floating girl attached to his arm. "She said you could help me." He winced. "Hopefully you can help me get her off my arm. She's Strong!"
Starfire let go of his arm sheepishly. Tamaranean strength was both feared and revered through out the galaxy, and Starfire had apparently activated it without meaning to. When she had found the boy, or rather, the boy had found her, she had been so outraged at what he told her that the power had emerged subconsciously.
The kid dusted his arm off. "Thanks Starry." he said, straightening up. "Okay, I think I've said this, but I've been up since midnight-"
"Oh boo-hoo." Beast Boy said. "We've been up since, wait, did you say midnight?" He nodded. "Never mind. You win."
The kid looked confused, but shrugged and continued on. "I need your help. Something crashed into me and my sisters apartment last night and Kidnapped her." his fists clenched, and Robin thought he saw his eyes vanish for a second.
Robin blinked. "Did you see what kidnapped her?" he asked.
"Hey Robin! Found out where it started-" Cyborg appeared out of nowhere, waving at his leader. The kid blinked, then jerked his thumb at Cy.
"It looked like him, only yellow and no human parts." he said. The sole reason he wasn't flipping out was because he was observant. The other three teens weren't freaking, so they trusted him.
Robin looked at Starfire. She bit her lip, not wanting to tell the Kid just where his sister had been taken.
"We think we know who's got your sister." He said, "But we're gonna need back up."
Please bear in mind that I have nothing against Cheerleaders/Quarterbacks, I know someone who played foot ball, and I do not mean to offend anyone out there who does either of the above. Brick did shape up monumentally in the movie, but this is an Alternate Universe. Much like how Red Witch's Taryn wasn't a stuck-up so-and-so, this Brick is an idiot with surprisingly little social skills. His parents are my creations and I reserve the right to say how stupid they are or not.
Okay guys, little announcement. I had the first Seven of these chapters already written up, so the pace is gonna slow down for awhile. I'm probably gonna take a page from the wonderful RogueFan's book and try updating either on or near the weekend. I will do the best I can to keep this puppy going, so please, don't flame me! The Misfits, Titans, Kim, and anyone else you can recognize are coming back soonish! I'm starting the next chapter as you read this.
Althea: Keep it coming! Their buying it!
In the mean time Althea has volunteered to keep you all company! (Shoves RW brainchild to the front.) Have fun Al!
Althea: Hey, wait! You can't leave me alone all week! GET BACK HERE!
To be continued...