A/N Sorry it took so long...
~~ Bobby ~~
The fake Evan moved faster than Bobby remembered the real Evan did. It was all he could do to keep him in sight, never mind catch up. It was truly a testament of Evan's constant war with Pietro. Evan worked hard to come up with new, better ways of beating Pietro at his own game and while he hadn't quite managed that feat, he had managed to leave all the others in the dark, so to speak.
"We're never gonna catch him at this rate." Kitty panted from a few paces behind Bobby.
"If you can talk, you ain't runnin' fast enough." Bobby tried to ignore that numb feeling that was spreading across his chest.
"Easy for you to say." She returned huffily.
Bobby glanced back at her. She didn't look to good. In fact, she looked sick. Bobby looked back to where Valzinameku was slowly increasing the distance between them and made a decision.
"We're stopping."
"What?!" Came a chorus of protests. The fear of Valzinameku getting away overrode their body's complaints.
"No, we're just wearing ourselves down. We have to get our strength back and then we'll get him." Bobby slowed until he moved just barely faster than a brisk walk and the other mutants followed suit. "I can barely move, much less fight him. You guys don't seem much better off."
"Good point. Hey, if the Institute is still crawling, we can always crash at my place." Pietro offered.
"The Brotherhood Mansion?"
"God, no. I don't claim that place. My house. I think there's room."
"Then let's jack a car and go."
"Isn't that illegal?" Pietro mocked the X-Man.
"Not if you pay for it later."
~~ K'ten nec Felin ~~
He watched in silence as the fool, Torma, entered the room. His room, he had worked hard to get his own sick room, where he could heal and work in solitude and turn the world away when he grew tired of his people's bickering. Even though he earned his own room, at the order of a noble his sanctuary could be violated. It was another unspoken law that one Healer not enter the room of another unless invited. Torma didn't even acknowledge that Felin was there. She just looked around the room (his room) and sat herself on a stool (his stool) beside the first bed (with his patient!). Shir kept a close eye on Felin, though, waiting to see how he would respond to the many insults that Torma inflicted upon him. His disappointment was obvious when Felin maintained his composure and seated himself in a chair on the other side of the room to meditate.
Hiva had since left to finish his sentry duty, so only the two healers and Shir were left. And the human. Felin smiled faintly as he sensed the human turn his intense, albeit blind, gaze on Torma. She ignored him for all of three heartbeats before she ordered him to leave. Of course, the human didn't understand her, but he did understand her imperious tone.
"You talkin' to me lady? Cause I don't think I like you or your tone." He said in a low, amiable tone.
Torma glared across the room to where Felin was sitting, facing the opposite direction. He could feel her eyes upon his back, but kept his smile and his comments to himself.
"I think you should leave." The human continued. "You don't seem to know what you're doing and if you hurt any of my friends, I'm afraid I'll have to hurt you."
Torma gracefully rose and stared disdainfully at the human before moving to the other side of the room. The smile quickly left Felin's face. She was going to start with the Mage.
"Yeah, for now he falls under the friend category, too, so don't think you can get by with me." The human stood and carefully made his way towards Torma. He had no idea if anything was in his way and only a guess at where Torma was, so his movements were slow and indecisive.
Torma ignored him and prepared the Healing spell. Felin's ears, sharpened by centuries of training and even more of experience, heard the muscles of Torma's face tighten as she cast a smug grin over her shoulder at the human. Sensing that she was casting his warnings to the wind, the human threw his own caution to the side and dove at Torma. He crashed into her a moment to late. The spell had already taken to the Mage and as they watched, began tearing him apart from the inside out.
~~ Todd ~~
It was as if someone had thrown him in a pressure cooker. The air closed in on Todd and it grew unbearably hot. Suddenly he wasn't in the dark, empty void anymore. It was still dark, but he could hear someone muttering in the background and there was a lingering smell of blood that made him wonder whether he was still dying or if his own healing factor had finally kicked in. It wasn't as good as Creed or Logan's, but it was enough to keep him alive in most instances, though he usually relied more on his magic to heal himself.
A second evaluation led him to believe that whoever was muttering was really yelling and he was just not hearing right. Come to think of it, nothing seemed to be working right. Todd tried to move his right arm and his left lifted off the bed a little. Or was it his left that he tried to move and his right that lifted? Suddenly everything lost perspective. Was Todd really Todd or was he someone else? Was he blind? Was he a he or really a she in a he's body? Did he/she HAVE a body?
That question was made very clear as he apparently got done simmering in that pressure cooker. In his mind's eye (did he have a mind's eye?) he pictured Valzinameku scooping him out of a pot with a ladle and dumping him beside a pile of arms and a side of baked skins, complete with sour cream and chives. The picture was ridiculous, really, but all thoughts of humor disappeared as the specter picked up a knife and fork and began methodically cutting little pieces of Todd off. It occurred to Todd that he might not be dreaming. That thought followed him, screaming, into a darkness that was deeper than any he had experienced before.
~~ Evan ~~
Evan watched as Todd screamed and twisted on the hospital bed. Everything froze for a moment as a stream of blood sprouted from his arm like a fountain. The idiot woman moved closer to Todd, probably to try to heal him again, but Evan elbowed her, hard, and shoved her out of the way.
In an instant, Felin was at his side with bandages and a faint light so Evan could help. As they watched, a deep cut worked it's way from just below Todd's neck to his navel. It snaked it's way down his chest and while the frightened teen watched, blood spurted from it like a blood rose coming into full bloom. Evan looked up into the Healer's eyes and didn't see the slightest emotion in them. Somehow, that scared him more than anything.
Without saying a word, Felin took the bandage from Evan and handed him a cloth and moved a bowl of warm water to his side.
"Oh God, please. I swear I'll never bother any of the Brotherhood again, I'll do my homework, go to church, I'll listen more to Auntie 'Roro and the Professor…"
As Evan began his frantic prayer, Felin took a deep breath and began his. Somehow, he hadn't thought the test would be so… gruesome.
~~ Bobby ~~
The fake Evan moved faster than Bobby remembered the real Evan did. It was all he could do to keep him in sight, never mind catch up. It was truly a testament of Evan's constant war with Pietro. Evan worked hard to come up with new, better ways of beating Pietro at his own game and while he hadn't quite managed that feat, he had managed to leave all the others in the dark, so to speak.
"We're never gonna catch him at this rate." Kitty panted from a few paces behind Bobby.
"If you can talk, you ain't runnin' fast enough." Bobby tried to ignore that numb feeling that was spreading across his chest.
"Easy for you to say." She returned huffily.
Bobby glanced back at her. She didn't look to good. In fact, she looked sick. Bobby looked back to where Valzinameku was slowly increasing the distance between them and made a decision.
"We're stopping."
"What?!" Came a chorus of protests. The fear of Valzinameku getting away overrode their body's complaints.
"No, we're just wearing ourselves down. We have to get our strength back and then we'll get him." Bobby slowed until he moved just barely faster than a brisk walk and the other mutants followed suit. "I can barely move, much less fight him. You guys don't seem much better off."
"Good point. Hey, if the Institute is still crawling, we can always crash at my place." Pietro offered.
"The Brotherhood Mansion?"
"God, no. I don't claim that place. My house. I think there's room."
"Then let's jack a car and go."
"Isn't that illegal?" Pietro mocked the X-Man.
"Not if you pay for it later."
~~ K'ten nec Felin ~~
He watched in silence as the fool, Torma, entered the room. His room, he had worked hard to get his own sick room, where he could heal and work in solitude and turn the world away when he grew tired of his people's bickering. Even though he earned his own room, at the order of a noble his sanctuary could be violated. It was another unspoken law that one Healer not enter the room of another unless invited. Torma didn't even acknowledge that Felin was there. She just looked around the room (his room) and sat herself on a stool (his stool) beside the first bed (with his patient!). Shir kept a close eye on Felin, though, waiting to see how he would respond to the many insults that Torma inflicted upon him. His disappointment was obvious when Felin maintained his composure and seated himself in a chair on the other side of the room to meditate.
Hiva had since left to finish his sentry duty, so only the two healers and Shir were left. And the human. Felin smiled faintly as he sensed the human turn his intense, albeit blind, gaze on Torma. She ignored him for all of three heartbeats before she ordered him to leave. Of course, the human didn't understand her, but he did understand her imperious tone.
"You talkin' to me lady? Cause I don't think I like you or your tone." He said in a low, amiable tone.
Torma glared across the room to where Felin was sitting, facing the opposite direction. He could feel her eyes upon his back, but kept his smile and his comments to himself.
"I think you should leave." The human continued. "You don't seem to know what you're doing and if you hurt any of my friends, I'm afraid I'll have to hurt you."
Torma gracefully rose and stared disdainfully at the human before moving to the other side of the room. The smile quickly left Felin's face. She was going to start with the Mage.
"Yeah, for now he falls under the friend category, too, so don't think you can get by with me." The human stood and carefully made his way towards Torma. He had no idea if anything was in his way and only a guess at where Torma was, so his movements were slow and indecisive.
Torma ignored him and prepared the Healing spell. Felin's ears, sharpened by centuries of training and even more of experience, heard the muscles of Torma's face tighten as she cast a smug grin over her shoulder at the human. Sensing that she was casting his warnings to the wind, the human threw his own caution to the side and dove at Torma. He crashed into her a moment to late. The spell had already taken to the Mage and as they watched, began tearing him apart from the inside out.
~~ Todd ~~
It was as if someone had thrown him in a pressure cooker. The air closed in on Todd and it grew unbearably hot. Suddenly he wasn't in the dark, empty void anymore. It was still dark, but he could hear someone muttering in the background and there was a lingering smell of blood that made him wonder whether he was still dying or if his own healing factor had finally kicked in. It wasn't as good as Creed or Logan's, but it was enough to keep him alive in most instances, though he usually relied more on his magic to heal himself.
A second evaluation led him to believe that whoever was muttering was really yelling and he was just not hearing right. Come to think of it, nothing seemed to be working right. Todd tried to move his right arm and his left lifted off the bed a little. Or was it his left that he tried to move and his right that lifted? Suddenly everything lost perspective. Was Todd really Todd or was he someone else? Was he blind? Was he a he or really a she in a he's body? Did he/she HAVE a body?
That question was made very clear as he apparently got done simmering in that pressure cooker. In his mind's eye (did he have a mind's eye?) he pictured Valzinameku scooping him out of a pot with a ladle and dumping him beside a pile of arms and a side of baked skins, complete with sour cream and chives. The picture was ridiculous, really, but all thoughts of humor disappeared as the specter picked up a knife and fork and began methodically cutting little pieces of Todd off. It occurred to Todd that he might not be dreaming. That thought followed him, screaming, into a darkness that was deeper than any he had experienced before.
~~ Evan ~~
Evan watched as Todd screamed and twisted on the hospital bed. Everything froze for a moment as a stream of blood sprouted from his arm like a fountain. The idiot woman moved closer to Todd, probably to try to heal him again, but Evan elbowed her, hard, and shoved her out of the way.
In an instant, Felin was at his side with bandages and a faint light so Evan could help. As they watched, a deep cut worked it's way from just below Todd's neck to his navel. It snaked it's way down his chest and while the frightened teen watched, blood spurted from it like a blood rose coming into full bloom. Evan looked up into the Healer's eyes and didn't see the slightest emotion in them. Somehow, that scared him more than anything.
Without saying a word, Felin took the bandage from Evan and handed him a cloth and moved a bowl of warm water to his side.
"Oh God, please. I swear I'll never bother any of the Brotherhood again, I'll do my homework, go to church, I'll listen more to Auntie 'Roro and the Professor…"
As Evan began his frantic prayer, Felin took a deep breath and began his. Somehow, he hadn't thought the test would be so… gruesome.