"All right…now focus…focus…"
Gary strained his mind to concentrate on holding the wooden chair motionless in the air in front of him.
"Now concentrate…" came Annie's voice. "Concentrate on turning it…feel the contours of it…feel it in your mind…"
He lost concentration and the chair fell to the floor. Gary sighed impatiently. Annie merely looked at him, "You're doing better now. Just stay calm. You're trying to do things too fast."
"I know…but when I feel myself losing control of it, I react to try and grab it back."
"That's when you're losing it," she agreed. "You're reacting too sharply. Don't worry, Gary. Telekinesis isn't easy. It took me years to master it."
"I know, but…I've had it working before. Back when – "
"When we fought the Horsemen. I know. That was different. Your adrenaline and your berserk power helped you on that occasion. Now you've just got to practice until you can get it right."
He sighed, "Yeah, I know. Let's take a break for a minute, OK?"
"Yeah."
The two of them were alone in one of the smaller classrooms. After finishing breakfast they had promised to meet Marina in the gardens, but she had gone to take a shower, which would give them a few minutes here. Marina could be relied upon to take a while in the shower. They knew she loved water; it gave her a sense of calm and well-being that she could never normally feel.
"Why don't you try something?" Gary asked his sister. "Try to camouflage yourself."
Annie nodded. She took a deep breath, closed her eyes and focussed. Slowly her body began to change, each cell taking on the appearance of whatever was behind it, until she had disguised herself like a chameleon. Gary nodded, "Not bad. I can still see you, but only because I know you're there."
Annie reappeared, breathing hard, and she sat down on the chair beside him to rest.
"Annie, are you all right?" he asked uncertainly. "You seem kind of tense."
She shook her head, "It's nothing. I just had a weird dream this morning. It's been bothering me a little."
"Your nuclear dream again?" he said.
"Yeah. I don't know why it – ah, I think Marina's ready now."
Brother and sister left the room, and in the hallway they found her, freshly showered and dressed in her favourite T-shirt and mini-skirt. Marina smiled, nervously and uncertainly, when she saw them. Gary put his hands on her shoulders gently and planted a kiss on her lips. Caught a little by surprise, she instinctively pulled away and avoided his eyes. Then she calmed slightly, slipped her arms around his neck and returned his kiss. Annie looked on, happy to see Marina showing the first signs of recovery from her condition. It wouldn't be quick and it wouldn't be easy – she was only setting out on the first steps towards regaining the mental stability she had once had – but Annie knew that herself and Gary would be there for Marina as long as she needed them.
The three of them headed for the front door that would take them out into the gardens. It was a pleasant day, warm but not too hot, and they liked to spend time together in the estate. They walked to the edge of one of the larger ponds, and sat down at the side. Marina trailed her fingers in the water, smiling slightly as the fish darted away from her touch; their sleek, hydrodynamic bodies flicking through the water like she knew her own could.
At the side of the mansion building they could see Atlas, kneeling in front of one of the flower beds, teaching a small group of children how to care for the flowers that they had planted recently. Atlas had always loved the gardens and forests of the estate, even when it had been the home of his enemies. Those times were past now and he was delighted to actually be able to live here in the midst of so much flourishing plant life. On the island he had spent most of his spare time working with his flowers or vegetable garden, and now he was no different; people were amazed at how much simple pleasure he got out of it. The children loved his brightly coloured flower beds, and some time ago a small number of them had grouped together to beg him to run an unofficial class to teach them how to grow their own flowers. Atlas was only too happy to pass on his knowledge, as well as having the opportunity to teach the kids how to look after the environment properly, something he felt very strongly about.
It soon became clear, even to Gary's fledgling telepathic ability, that there was something on Marina's mind. Her troubled and messed-up psyche was never easy to read, but they could sense at least that much. Both of them knew there was no point in prompting her to tell them what it was. They knew it was best just to let her do things in her own time. There was no use in pushing her.
Eventually she spoke, "Um…can – can I ask you guys something?"
"Yeah, of course," Gary said.
Marina began, awkward and nervous as usual, "Well, you know m – my family lived down in Florida, and – and the thing is, I – I wanna go b – back there."
"You do?"
"I h – haven't been back since – since – well, you know. I s – suppose the house is mine now. I – I suppose I've inherited everything. I wanna go back there and – and – um, well, I just do. I feel as if I should try and – and take hold of my life again."
"Are you sure it's a good idea?" said Annie gently. "It could bring back some painful memories."
"I – I know. This is – this is something I've been thinking about for a while. This isn't a spur of the moment thing."
"You mean you want to move back home?" Gary asked. "You want to leave the mansion?"
"I dunno. I – I might not stay in Florida. I might just – you know, go there for a day or two and try to make a decision what to do with my life."
"I thought we were going to stay together."
"Th – that's what I wanted to talk to you about. I – I was wondering if you would come with me. Both of you. I don't know if – if I could handle it on my own."
Annie and Gary looked at each other. Neither of them had any responsibilities here for the following days. Both of them wanted to stay with Marina and make sure she was safe. If she felt ready to reach out and confront her past, then it was a good sign. She was starting to get over it and deal with it. Once they had reached a telepathic unanimity, Gary nodded to his girlfriend and said, "Yeah. We'll come with you."
"We can leave after our classes this morning, if you're ready," said Annie.
Marina nodded. Yes, there was no pressing need for them to be here over the next couple of days. After this morning they had no classes, either to attend or to help teach, and it wasn't as if they were going to have to defend the mansion from attack or anything. Nevertheless Gary frowned slightly. He was still getting used to using the telepathy he had 'inherited' from his sister – out of her four powers it was probably the one he was having the least success with – but he was sure he had sensed something from the adults at breakfast that morning. Something was bothering them…something they had found out…but he hadn't been able to detect anything more than a vague sense of anxiety. He supposed it could be nothing. If there really was an imminent threat out there, he was sure he would have been told.
-
-
-
From a window on the second floor of the mansion, two X-Men looked down on the small group sitting by the pool. Shapeshifter tensed as Gary moved close to Marina, and he was only slightly relieved when the result was a kiss, not the punch in the face he had been half-expecting. He knew that the boy claimed to love Marina, but ever since Gary had left to join the Brotherhood, Shapeshifter was not the only X-Man who still couldn't trust him. Gladiator was only a child, of course, but there had been an anger and a hatred driving him that had made all of them uncomfortable.
"I hope we're not making a mistake over this, Felicity," he said darkly.
"I know, Chris, so do I," said Shock. "But sometimes you've got to take a risk. Sometimes you've got to give people a chance."
"Huh. You don't seem to realise that all it takes is one moment of madness from him, and our daughter could be traumatised again, possibly for the rest of her life. You know how well she's been doing recently, how much progress she's been making in terms of recovery. I just…" he sighed. "…I just don't want to risk her losing all the mental healing she's done. I think she should wait until she's recovered before she starts dating. Especially with him."
"Chris, we can't cotton-wool Marina all of her life. If she gets too accustomed to that kind of smothering protection, it will do more harm than good. She needs to learn to look after herself. Besides, she has the right to make her own choices. And don't forget she's one of us now. She's – well, she's an X-Girl at least."
He sighed angrily, "All the same, I think it's too much of a risk. You know how dangerous it can be at their age. What if she's careless and she ends up pregnant? Have you any idea how much damage that could do to her mental health?"
"Yes, I have. And I won't pretend that the possibility doesn't frighten me. But Marina isn't as spineless and easily dominated as you seem to think. If she doesn't like what Gary is doing to her, she won't stand for it. She isn't the kind of girl who'll stay with a guy who abuses her. Besides, Annie will know if things are beginning to spiral out of control. She can keep Gary in check."
Shapeshifter was not in a positive frame of mind, "I seem to recall that her record of 'keeping him in check' is not that good."
"Perhaps, but things are different now. Don't worry about it, Chris."
"Worry?" he said sarcastically. "Fliss, our daughter is dating a person who has tried to kill both of us in the past. What could I possibly have to worry about?"
Shock smiled, and reached up to give him a little kiss on the cheek, "She'll be fine."
Touching his arm lightly, she left to go and begin preparing material for her first class of the morning. Shapeshifter continued to watch the three teenagers in the garden below. As much as he wanted to trust Gary and believe that Marina was in no danger, his fears would not quite leave him. Perhaps it was just the natural reaction of any father seeing his daughter dating. Although he was only Marina's foster parent, he still had the strong protective instincts of any good father. She was the daughter he had always wanted, but he'd never found a woman to settle down with. As a child at school, before he discovered his mutation, he had always been popular with the girls. His sharp wits and tough-guy image had ensured he was never without female appreciation. That had all changed when he found out he was a mutant. As he saw how the world reacted to him and his kind, Chris' outlook on life started to change. He grew bitter and cynical, beginning to realise how shallow people were, how they only judged others on outside appearance. People being hated simply for being mutants was proof of that. And that was what Chris was striving towards now, to teach and encourage people to look beneath the surface and judge others on what really mattered. Prejudice and ignorance had to be overcome. His dream was to one day live in a world where people were judged not on what they were, but on who they were and what they did.
Was he guilty of doing exactly that with the boy? He wondered. Was he judging Gary simply on the fact that he was part of the Brotherhood? Should he be making more of an effort to look under the surface? There was obviously something about him that Marina liked. Hence there had to be something positive about him. Was he really as unstable and corrupted as Chris and some of the rest had thought? Or was he, as Fliss thought, simply a troubled and confused teen, whose uncertainties had been preyed upon and twisted by the manipulative Pyro? Whichever, Chris didn't want the boy anywhere near his daughter. Marina had already been through enough suffering in her short life, without the boy making it even worse. He worried that Marina too might only be judging Gary on the surface, admiring his good looks and overwhelming strength, failing to see through to the boy's dark interior. Would she realise before it was too late? Would Annie be able to intervene to prevent her brother from hurting Marina? Chris didn't know. He was leaving the matter to Felicity's judgement, and hoping that she was right. If not, it could mean the end of any possible recovery from Marina's mental trauma.
-
-
-
One of the few things which all of the teenagers could agree on was which of their classes was the most boring. Ethics and Philosophy, taught by Annie and Gary's father, was something that all eight of them dreaded all week long. The only good news was that it was only held once a week. Vertigo swore he had once genuinely dropped off to sleep during this class, and to all intents and purposes he appeared to be heading that way now, slouched low in his chair with his eyes barely open a crack. He was thinking about Gemini, looking forward to spending time with her later in the day. For about the first time in his teenage years, he was actually excited at the prospect of something. He'd been dreaming about the girl for so long, but his cynical and negative attitude hadn't allowed him to realistically believe he'd ever get to properly date her. It still seemed too good to be true. It seemed like the kind of thing that usually started out so well but then fell disastrously apart. He hoped this would be the exception to that rule.
Gemini herself sat at the desk beside him, her chin resting on her hands, her eyes staring unseeing in front of her as she daydreamed about swimming in the ocean, feeling the water rippling about her, feeling the complete freedom of being able to move in any way she wanted, free from the pressures and the restrictions of everyday life. She had learned to swim on the island with Pyro. He'd taught her the basics, and the rest had come with practise. She had taken advantage of every opportunity she'd had to get into the water. She enjoyed the extra sensation of freedom that came with skinny-dipping, and had felt no embarrassment when only Dad was around. It became more difficult as the island began to fill up with Dad's new recruits, particularly the guys. In some ways she missed the early days, when it was just her and Dad. It had been so nice to live alone on the island with him, and pretend that there was nobody else in the world, that it was just the two of them. She smiled as she thought of Pyro. He had given her everything, including her freedom and her second chance at life. She knew she'd never be able to repay him, and she knew she'd always love him and look up to him, regardless of how old and how independent she became.
Atlas' mind was also safely elsewhere, alternating between planning further cultivation of the estate, and planning the next lesson for the little kids' Flower Club. He was glad he had the opportunity to teach the kids about the importance of preserving natural life. The planet's life and vegetation would only survive if each successive generation could be brought up to learn to respect it. Humans continued to rape and pillage the world's natural resources on a daily basis, without seeming to realise it wouldn't last forever. So much damage had already been done, but Atlas was determined to do everything he could to stop it going any further. He was slowly coming round to the X-Men's way of thinking, i.e. that exterminating the human race wasn't the way to go about achieving his ideals, yet he was still prepared to risk human life if it was necessary to preserve plant life.
Cassandra was busy deciding on the name she would give to the child she desperately wanted to have some day, and whether she would rather have a son or a daughter. But hey – why stop at just one child? She adored spending time with the youngsters at the school and helping to care for them. The adults had been amazed that such selfless love and dedication to the children could be found in somebody so young. Cassandra wasn't yet fifteen, but she was almost a mother figure to some of the little kids. But as much as she enjoyed caring for them, at the same time she knew it wasn't enough. Cassandra wanted her own children, to love and to care for and to plan a life for. Looking after other people's children couldn't compare to the wonder she knew she would feel when she had her own babies. It was the most important thing a person could do. In the end it didn't really matter what we did in the time we had on this world. The only lasting positive change anyone could make was to have a child and bring it up to carry on the good things we had tried to do in our own lives.
A ray of sunlight shone through the window, and Dominic idly angled the palm of his hand so that the light reflected on to the desk in front of him. His mind automatically began to consider prank possibilities. Despite being nearly seventeen and one of the older teenagers, he was still the archetypal class clown. He liked nothing better than raising a laugh amongst his peers, and certainly could not be accused of taking life too seriously. The super-reflective skin cells on his palm acted exactly like a mirror, rebounding the light perfectly, directly off in another direction. As he moved his hand, the angle of reflection changed, and the reflected light beam moved across the room. He could shine it in the teacher's eyes and try to distract him. Or he could curve his palm and focus the sunlight into a thin laser beam, then use it to cut through something. Perhaps he could burn a small hole in the wall, and see how long it took the teacher to notice. Unfortunately, before he could finish his plotting, a cloud moved over the sun and the ray of light was gone.
Annie and Gary were trying their hardest to pay attention and look interested, since it was their dad who was teaching the class, but their collective consciousness was beginning to drift. Gary was thirsty and Annie was dying for a nice, long, cool shower. Neither of them was a great lover of the hot, humid North American summer. Their thoughts and feelings mingled and intertwined, and for a moment there was confusion: Gary wanted a shower and Annie was thirsty. A second later, things were straightened out once more. Again they tried to concentrate on the lesson, but again they drifted.
Even Marina, who rarely showed much emotion and who took their classes more seriously than most, was starting to sigh and wish she was out in the swimming pool. The room was hot and stuffy, and she was short of breath, her lungs struggling to cope. Since discovering her mutation, Marina had come to realise her body was actually much better suited to life underwater. She found it much easier to breathe, move or sleep when submerged. Above water she felt clumsy, uncomfortable and nervous in an environment she obviously wasn't designed for. Sometimes she thought she was like a fish out of water. She liked fish. She envied them their simple lives: swimming forever beneath the waves, without worry or trauma to tear their minds apart like hers. The notes she had started taking at the beginning of the class were now degenerating into little doodles of fish. Her pencil moved lightly, fluidly across the page, leaving behind the images of her mind's eye.
" – are you paying attention?" Neil Rosiçky suddenly asked, the rising tone of his voice penetrating their wandering minds.
All eight teenagers looked up a little guiltily. None of them could be sure which of them he was talking to. None of them wanted to incriminate themselves by asking.
I think he's talking to you, Annie telepathed to Vertigo.
"Well?" their teacher said.
"Yeah, I'm listening," the boy lied.
"So what did I just say?"
"You said that evil isn't a force to be combated; it's a potential that exists in all of us."
Dominic and Gary both fought to keep a straight face. Every one of the teens knew that Vertigo hadn't been paying a blind bit of attention, but somehow he had an ability to absorb what was being said nonetheless. Was it an extra mutation of some sort? They could only wonder.
"What about you, Dominic, were you listening?"
"Yeah."
"So what was I just talking about?"
Dominic hesitated, "Uh, whatever Vertigo just said."
The class giggled. Neil sighed. He didn't have much of a sense of humour in these circumstances. He struggled to relate to children or teenagers, and became disappointed when they showed little interest into what he was trying to teach. Ethical studies was important and they didn't seem to realise. They were probably too young to appreciate its value, but the problem was that once a person was grown, they were too old to be taught this.
"All right, since I'm obviously boring you, we'll try this a different way. Alexandra?"
Gemini wasn't used to responding to her given name, and she was still locked in her daydream about swimming. Vertigo had to nudge her gently under the table to get her attention.
"Wh – what?" she said in surprise.
Neil looked at her, "What do you think evil is?"
She blinked as she collected her thoughts, then replied, "Well, it's like, what makes people do stuff they shouldn't, right?"
"So where do you think it comes from?"
"Um – I guess it's the opposite of good, isn't it?"
"But where does it come from?"
She frowned, "Are you talking about the Devil? I don't believe in that religious stuff."
The answer was also a challenge. She knew, as they all knew, that the Rosiçky family did believe in 'that religious stuff'. She was making it clear that, if this class was going to turn into a discussion about religious teaching, she wasn't interested. Rosiçky answered, "No, I'm not talking about the Devil. There is no such thing. It's a popular misconception among many Christians and other religious groups. No, there is no evil force out there that tries to control you. As I said, evil exists as a potential inside you. Because we have free will, we have the option to do good or to do evil. Our conscience tells us to do what is right, while temptation tells us to do what is wrong. It's the outcome of this conflict that makes us the person we are. Of course, it's tempting to think of the conscience and the temptation as somehow being real beings who try to influence us, but that only leads us to feel as if we're not responsible for our actions. Remember, if you do something, it's because you chose to do it. Not because you were coerced into it by some evil demon sitting on your shoulder – "
"I have a question," Alexandra interrupted him.
Neil disliked the sudden interruption, but he made no complaint. Alexandra – or Gemini, as she preferred to be called – wasn't the easiest pupil to teach, but at least she had a genuine desire to learn. He didn't want to discourage that by telling her off for asking a question.
"What is it?" he said.
"You're a telepath, right? What happens if you go into someone's mind and, like, make them do stuff? How does that fit in with free will?"
"Well, as I said, you can't blame your actions entirely on outside influences. Telepathy isn't unblockable. If you want to know how to block it, ask your father."
"Yeah, I think I will."
She thought: because the last thing I want is you poking around in my mind and looking at my private feelings. If Dad can teach me how to block it out, I'll be a lot happier.
The clock had just reached the hour, and Neil said, "OK, we'll finish here for today. For next week I want you to write an essay about a person who inspires you and why. Role models and inspirations are very important templates for you to build your life on, and I want to explore these next time."
The class uttered a more or less collective groan at the prospect of the essay, and left the room as a group. Once they were outside and safely out of earshot, Vertigo gave an exaggerated yawn, "Man alive, that was boring. I could have fallen asleep in there."
"You practically did, mate," Dominic retorted. "All you needed was a pillow and blanket."
"Good idea, I'll bring those next time and see what old Rosiçky says."
"He'll stare at you through those unblinking gold eyes and pronounce on you a punishment so hideous that – "
"Hey, less cheek to my dad," said Gary.
Cassandra glared at him, "Does Oculus have to put us through this tedious crap? I mean, does he think we actually care? We're teenagers. Philosophy and that good-and-evil shit is for old men…old men with beards and nothing better to do."
"I think it's important," Marina said softly.
"Well, who cares what you think?"
Marina said nothing. She moved closer to Gary, falling into step beside him, and slipped her hand into his. This annoyed Cassandra far more than any verbal retort could have done. The foreseer glared at Marina furiously and muttered, "Whore," not entirely under her breath.
An uneasy silence fell. Atlas eventually broke it by asking the group, "What are you all going to write your essay on?"
"Hell knows," Vertigo shrugged. "I won't be worrying about it until, oh, about half an hour before it's due in."
Dominic grinned, "Likewise."
"If it's about a role model, I'm going to write about my dad," Gemini said.
"Good idea," Vertigo said. "Hey, let's all write about Pyro. That ought to piss old Rosiçky off."
Atlas, Cassandra and Gary laughed and began nodding in agreement. Annie shook her head disapprovingly, and Marina did the same.
"You really ought to take classes more seriously," Annie said.
"Why? We're only young once," Vertigo retorted. "I'm going to the computer lab, anyone coming?"
"You can't do that, we've got combat training now," Gemini told him. "You'll be late."
"Yeah? When I start to care, I'll let you know."
.He disappeared round the corner that led to the lab, while the rest of them moved on to the gym.
"Moron," Marina said, but quietly so nobody could hear.
-
-
-
Felicity Arkwright looked up from the papers on her desk as she saw a figure appear in the doorway of her office.
"Shock," Pyro said, looking a little uncomfortable.
"Hey John," she greeted him, smiling to try and put him at his ease. "What's up?"
"I was wondering if we could talk. You're not busy, are you?"
"Not really."
"What are you doing?"
Fliss glanced down at the paper in front of her, "Actually, I'm grading your daughter's math test."
"Yeah? How's she doing?"
"She's doing good. She's a bright kid. Did you give her lessons or such on the island?"
He shrugged, "Not really. I mean, if she asked me something I'd teach her what I could, but we didn't have proper classes or anything."
"Does it feel strange for you to be living here?" she asked. "I mean, it wasn't that long ago that we were trying to kill each other."
"It feels…different. Previously I was fighting against your people because I wasn't afraid to die. I didn't have anything to live for, so I was ready to take foolish risks. I didn't care about the consequences of my actions. I didn't care who got hurt, because there was nobody I loved and nothing I valued. Now that's changed."
Fliss nodded silently. He went on, "Now that I have a daughter, I'm more careful about what I do. I'm not quite so prepared to put my life on the line, because I know she's depending on me. And even if my own life is wasted and I can never be happy, I've got something to live for: Gemini's future."
"She certainly reminds me of you in a lot of ways," Fliss giggled. "Anyway – you wanted to talk to me about something?"
He hesitated, then said, "What do you remember about Jacqueline?"
Felicity took a moment before replying. She knew this was a delicate topic. She knew John was still mentally scarred by the death of the girl he had loved. She didn't want to say anything that might hurt him or anger him.
"I guess I don't remember much," she told him. "It wasn't until she was freed from Mindstorm's influence that I really came to know her."
"Yes, the same is true for me. I knew her for only a matter of days…and yet it felt as if we had been together for years. Do you believe in soul-mates?"
"I wouldn't know. Why did you ask me about her?"
"I don't know. I just thought it might help to share my memories with somebody else…I thought maybe the problem was that I was keeping everything bottled up inside of me."
"I think it does help to talk."
"You know, the pain has never lessened over the years. I don't know if I expected it to. It still hurts as much today as it did the day it happened."
"You need to be strong, Pyro. Strong for your daughter. As you said, it isn't us who matter now. It's our children."
-
-
-
"Well – what do you think?"
Vertigo looked over as Gemini emerged from the fitting room. She turned on the spot to show him the dress she was trying on, and looked at him expectantly, waiting for his opinion of it. Vertigo thought Gemini looked stunningly beautiful, and he said so.
"Oh, you're impossible!" she sighed, but smiled at him. "I need your help to choose a new dress and you keep saying they all look perfect!"
He shrugged, "I think you look great in anything."
"Ah," she said. "See, this is why I always go clothes shopping with girls. They can tell me how good the dress looks on me, not the other way round. Come on now, help me out here. Which do you like best? The black one, the white one or the blue one?"
"The white one," he said finally. "I don't think black is your colour. And you already have a blue one."
"Hmm…OK," she said. "I'll buy the white one. Watch my stuff while I change back, OK?"
She disappeared back into the fitting room. Vertigo slouched in the chair by the wall, and surveyed the interior of the clothing store. The clothes sold here were obviously aimed at teenage girls, and he realised he was the only male in the place. On a normal day he would probably have found this deadly boring, but at the moment he was happy just to be with Gemini. He heard her humming a little tune as she changed out of the white dress and into her own blue one, and he tried not to think about the fact that she was probably wearing only her underwear right now, just a few inches away from him. Across the store, a couple of pretty girls caught his eye, and they smiled at him. Cynically he regarded them, and didn't smile back.
Humans. Scum. I wonder if Pyro is still looking for another way to try and wipe them out. We almost succeeded with the Plague. If only it hadn't suddenly mutated and started killing us as well. I wonder if Pyro really intends our alliance with the X-Men to last. Is he going to break it off as soon as he comes up with another plan? I hate to say it, but it really seems as if he's given up. All he seems to care about is being Gemini's father. I don't want to believe it, but he just seems to have lost interest in cleaning up the human filth.
He sighed. What does this mean for me? If Pyro has given up, what does it mean for the Brotherhood? Should I take command? I've been thinking about this for some time. He's never really appointed a second in command, but I'm the one the others look up to. If he's given up the fight, does that make me leader? Should I declare myself in command, and break off the alliance? It would be risky. I don't even know which of them are still loyal to our cause. I don't know if they've had their minds poisoned by the X-Men. And I don't particularly wantto be leader – it sounds like too much work – but somebody has to do it.
No. Pyro hasn't given up the fight. There's no way that could have happened. He must be simply taking his time, seeing how things pan out, and trying to think of a new plan. I know how much he hates the humans. There's no way that could go away. Whatever it was he lost all those years ago, it's not going to come back. He isn't going to change. He's still loyal to our cause. Yes. And I have to be loyal to him. Maybe I will be leader one day, but not today. I'll never leave the Brotherhood. I'll never stop hating the scum, the sub-creatures. I've never told anybody why it is I feel so strongly about it. Not even Pyro knows what happened to me, back then…
He sighed, closed his eyes, and tried to block out the memories.
"Hey? You awake?" came Gemini's voice, as she playfully shook him.
He looked up at her, "Yeah. Just thinking."
"Well, quit thinking and start walking. I'm done here. I got the dress you liked. Let's go."
They left the store together. Innocently she slipped her hand inside his, and smiled up at him. Vertigo pushed away his troubled thoughts and doubts, and smiled back, squeezing her hand. She hesitated slightly as they stepped on to the street outside. After her previous experiences as part of the Brotherhood, Gemini was not particularly comfortable around humans, especially in large numbers. She walked close to Vertigo, instinctively drawing near to him for protection. Given her traumatic childhood, she found it very difficult to convince herself that the humans – or the majority of them, anyway – meant her no harm. She was, however, coming to terms with what she and her friends had been doing to the humans previously.
We were killing them, she thought to herself, we only wanted to protect ourselves, but it was the wrong way to go about it. I see that now, and so does Dad. We'll never like them as much as the X-Men do, but at least we know some of the sub – the humans – are all right.
Gemini pressed tightly against Vertigo as a particularly large human speaking loudly into a mobile phone walked past. Feeling her body against his sent a ripple of excitement throughout his system. It had been an entirely innocent manouevre; she had simply been getting out of the human's way, but it had aroused him in a way he had never known before. The cute little blue dress that she seemed to wear all the time was short enough to draw attention from most of the other teenage guys they walked past. Vertigo found himself the target of more than a few jealous glares.
She grabbed his arm and said, "Hey! Let's go in here! I want to look at shoes!"
But before either of them could make a move to the shop she was indicating, a sudden surge of the crowd swept the two teenage mutants off their feet, knocking them to the ground. Vertigo bounced back to his feet like a spring, and helped Gemini grab hold of her bags, which had been spilled when she'd lost her balance. The crowd were still pushing towards them, and it was clear that something was driving this stampede. Gemini was knocked off her feet once more, but Vertigo managed to keep her from falling, and the two of them drew close together in the partial shelter provided by a bus stop. The melee of folk continued to swarm around them, heading away from – or towards – whatever was causing the rush.
"What's going on?" Vertigo asked, as a couple of people began to scream.
"I don't know!"
But then they made out what the people were screaming, "Terrorists! Terrorists! They've got a bomb!"
Through a gap in the crowd they could now see where a white van had driven into a lamp-post and fallen on its side. Crouched behind were two men with automatic weapons. A third was also there, his head down, his attention centred fully on whatever lay before him. Was it a bomb?
"What do we do?" Gemini hissed, clutching his arm.
"I don't know – depends what they plan on doing."
One of the terrorists raised his weapon and fired into the crowd. People screamed and began to run faster. A young man was hit in the leg, and he fell to the pavement, screaming in pain. His friends grabbed him and pulled him to safety. Over the sound of the screams and gunfire came another sound: sirens. The terrorist fired into the crowd a second time, and a high-pitched shriek told them that someone else had been hit – it sounded like a woman or a child. Another voice began screaming, this one closer to hand, and as they looked they saw the terrorists had captured a bystander. A girl, in her teens, was being forced down on to her knees, an automatic weapon being held against her forehead. Her initial screaming and struggling was shocked out of her as the gun pressed into her temple, and she was now silent and still, sheer terror clearly overwhelming her.
"She's going to get killed if we don't do something!" Gemini hissed. "The police aren't going to get here in time!"
Vertigo forced himself to keep calm, "I know. All right, here's what we'll do. You distract them, and I'll disarm them."
"OK. Be careful!"
"I will."
He moved off, keeping under cover, heading as close as he dared to the white van. He could still hear the gunfire, but there were no new screams of pain. Hopefully the terrorist hadn't hit anyone that time. Glancing out from behind the car he was using as a shield, he saw Gemini moving into action. Her summoned twin was hurrying towards the white van as fast as she could run, and the terrorists had spotted her. It was time to move. Two of the men – he could now see that they were of Middle Eastern origin – brought their guns to bear on the running figure. The third man was still covering the terrified hostage. What they planned to do with the girl wasn't entirely clear. Presumably they intended to threaten to kill her if the police got involved. While their attention was distracted, Vertigo was crouch-running around behind them. Gemini's twin was flung to the ground as her body was mercilessly raked from head to toe with bullets, collapsing behind a car.
Vertigo took his chance. Running towards the van, he jumped into the air and somersaulted over the vehicle, kicking two of the gunmen in the face as he came down. One of them recovered quicker, and swung the weapon round to aim at Vertigo's heart. The young mutant's feet had barely touched the floor before he jumped again, spinning his right foot round to kick the weapon away from the man. The second gunman had lost his rifle and was slashing with a long-bladed knife. Vertigo was blinded for a split second as the sunlight was reflected off something on the man's shirt. The ninja mutant dodged to one side to avoid a clumsy swipe, then drove his fist into the man's face. The terrorist slumped backwards, unconscious, but the first gunman was reaching for his fallen weapon. A simple punch to the head would have sufficed, but Vertigo always liked to do things impressively. Flipping upside-down, he kicked the man in the chest, sending him flying into the side of the van, then landed on his splayed hands and flipped back upright. Neither gunman was moving. He allowed himself a triumphant grin, a split second before realising his error. There had been three terrorists, not two. He turned, not fast enough to stop the third terrorist, the one who had been holding the girl, picking up one of the fallen rifles and training it on the boy's heart. The terrorist sneered, a shark-like smile, and his finger tightened on the trigger.
Gemini knocked the weapon out of his grasp, and drove her small fist into the terrorist's jaw. It wasn't enough, and the man was scrabbling desperately for some kind of mechanical device that he must have been working on. Both of the young mutants had learned how to make bombs from Pyro, and an instant glance told them that this one was fully armed and only needed to be triggered. The mechanism itself was only a detonator – the explosive itself had to be inside the van. The one remaining terrorist's fingers were clawing at the device as he reached for the switch. Clearly this was someone who was willing to be a suicide bomber. It was Vertigo who reacted the fastest, diving to push the man's arm away from the bomb. An elbow into the back of his neck knocked the would-be suicide killer unconscious, and Gemini promptly disarmed the explosive. Vertigo exhaled with relief. He checked the three terrorists, none of whom were moving. Gemini was making sure that the bomb was safe. The girl who had been a hostage was looking over at them, still on her knees and clearly just getting over the shock of what had happened to her.
"Are you OK?" Vertigo asked, reaching down to help her stand.
Still scared, she clutched him, and her voice came giddy with excitement, "I always knew my hero would be handsome…"
He gave a cynical laugh, "I'm no hero. I'm just a guy who happened to be here – "
Gemini grabbed his arm, distracting him, "Cops!"
The sirens were mere yards away now as a police response unit spilled out of the back of three vans into the street. Without stopping to catch their breath, the two mutants hurried away before the police approached. The crowd were cheering and applauding, but it would have been obvious to anyone with a brain that the two of them had been using mutant powers. They didn't want to hang around for any longer than was necessary. Neither of them trusted the human police to deal fairly with mutants found at the scene of a terrorist incident.