Something was wrong; Ryden could feel it. This overwhelming sense of dread, of conflictment had him gasping for air. The pain he felt was subsiding, but there was a new kind of pain. It was crude and inhumane, eating away at his sanity. There was this pounding in his head–like the beating of a drum–and each new pound was in tempo with a scream.
Ryden slowly opened his eyes, feeling the destruction within his mind grow each second that passed; yet, strangely... he was at ease. He knew Andy was near, and that simple fact kept him conscious; it shouldn't have mattered as much as it did, but–despite how hard he tried to deny it–it still did.
He saw her then, the portal lady–her magenta-black hair and jade green eyes were unmistakable–was lying on the ground, her thoughts like scrambled eggs; all around the place.
The pounding began once more, as strong as ever. A scream erupted from his lips–it seemed to come from his very core, it was so loud–as his newfound, dark powers began to act up. The light above them–maybe a lightbulb?–shattered, and the wood around him was ripped apart.
His eyes glowed the brightest green, then the purest silver, followed by the most beautiful blue, and going back to the wonderful, but haunting emerald green. So many voices–too many. So many emotions–please, make it stop.
Someone took a step near him–a small one, really–and his powers acted out, throwing pure force at them, "Enough!"
A hand grabbed him and forced him up, making him stare at the rich brown eyes that belonged to the hand. Fear and fury took over him; he couldn't see, or think straight anymore. It was chaos; utter chaos in its purest form. He wanted to let Andy–because who else could it have been that made hi m feel this much chaos?– go and yet, he wasn't able to.
Monster.
The thought echoed through the chaos as his eyes snapped upward toward the sky. It was like dropping a pin into a room that was bustling with sound, but somehow felt quiet; the word echoed throughout the walls of his mind like teardrop falling on a screen.
Monster. Monster. Monster.
Ryden's breathing was slowing, his powers trying to act out, and cease this idiotic notion of him being a monster. But how could they, when it may be true? One could deny the truth; but stopping it was a whole other thing.
Monster.
He recognized the thought almost immediately, the chaos turning to self-destruction and sorrow. Tears streamed down his face like rain as he turned, and stared at Andy. Andy, who looked at him with a mix of pure emotion and horror.
Ryden laughed silently to himself, shrugging off the muscled man off him, and lightly pushing him away. The sound coming from his mouth should've been filled with mirth and beauty, but instead, it carried the weight of death, and sorrow of loss. Loss...grief.
The grieving of the humanity Ryden thought he lost. With that thought–that stream of endless thoughts–he pressed his finger to his right ear, like a fingergun.
He spun and faced Andy –it took courage, but honestly; what else did he have to lose? Ryden smiled, waterfalls of grief still travelling down his cheeks, the sorrow threatening to drown him slowly.
He met Andy's eyes–god, his eyes– and mouthed the words that made little pain fade away, but more heat slip into his chest. Beautiful and horrible how the truth could hurt, yet save.
'I fell in love with you, my shining knight'
He pressed the thumb down, and the full force of his abilities shot forward; he didn't know much about them, but he knew enough. He knew enough to understand it was going to destroy his mind, and therefore stop his heart.
"I said enough." Ryden's mouth was wide open–was it possible for a jaw to actually hit the floor?–staring at this man who had yanked his hand away, and prevented him from ending it all. Bitch, the hell? The tension in the air began to lessen as he kept staring at the strange man.
"Why?" The words slipped out of Ryden's mouth before he could even think of stopping them, his hand falling to his side like a rag, "Why stop me from ending this monster?"
"You're not a monster." The man said with unrivalled intensity, clapping his hand down on Ryden's shoulder. "You're a mutant."
He scrunched up his nose and turned to walk back to the portal lady on the bench. Ryden's tears still fell as he was left to stand there in the center of the room, completely alone. He didn't have time to think about the words, about how it changed everything; life never gave him enough time.
"Watch out!" He lifted his head up with the speed of a worm, only to watch as the bed of a truck came flying toward him. Oh, great.
RYDEN! He heard Andy's scream, but it didn't come from the boy's mouth; it came from his mind. Yet another thing he had no time to delve into, considering the current...ah, situation. He could only watch as the truck came for him, and the beefy man covered Andy and his sister.
"Return to the ashes." He whispered–he actually didn't have a clue in the world what the hell he was doing–his eyes turning the color of the most fiery, golden flames as he looked at the truck-bed. It kept moving and, right as it hit him, it exploded into ashes.
Everyone could undoubtedly feel the raw power radiating off of him; as far as anyone knew, there was no mutant alive who could do such a thing. The power could choke you; just as it nearly choked him a few minutes ago.
Ryden looked down at his hands, his jaw dropping slightly, eyes watching in amazement as gold energy flowed around him. He peaked over at Andy, and saw the energy interlocking him with Lauren.
"Together we stand. The wolf, destined to tackle and devour the lost god. Unforeseen calamity awaits all." His voice changed, sounding like an ancient being speaking; not a sixteen-year-old who had no idea what was going on in his life.
"What the fuck?" Ryden muttered, his voice back to normal, just as his eyes rolled into the back of his head, and he collapsed like a puppet without a string.
"Hey, Rye. Look at me. Rye. Come on, Rye. I'm sorry." It was the moment Andy whispered those words while holding Ryden, that the boy's eyes flew open.
"I like you calling me that." He blushed staring at the guy he fell in love with, "Thank you."
"For what?" He laughed, helping Ryden up and watching him closely. Watching the way he strode, the way he smiled, and the way he looked at him with those eyes of...a monster. His hands began trembling a little, as he continued staring at Ryden.
"For calling my name." Ryden peaked over Andy's shoulder as a portal opened behind him, a cop holding a gun out. A deafening sound resonated through the room–through Andy's vey soul–as the man pulled the trigger.
Ryden shoved Andy out of the way, eyes wide, but lacking the fear he thought he'd feel. The bullet connected with his chest, and he could feel it penetrate his lungs, lodging itself into his spine. No...
This time, the voice of Andy in his mind wasn't a scream; it was a grief stricken, heartbroken whisper. "I'm sorry, my love." Ryden coughed out, blood spraying all over Andy. Not that the boy seemed to mind, pain overriding his mind.
"Rye, don't do this to me. Come on Rye, I just got you back." His voice cracked as he stared down at Ryden, tears blurring his vision, like a veil of sorrow.
Then new anger–one unlike any other–rose up, uncontrollable and unquenchable. Andy turned, and roared at the cop like a lion mourning his hunted family, his arms thrown out. An invisible force filled the room, making the other mutants stumble; the cop and all the other cops, however, were thrown back.
The cop that shot Ryden, though, was thrown back the hardest, back connecting with the car's windshield with a sickening crunch. Andy couldn't help but feel rapt satisfaction fill him, before the crumpling grief flooded back in. It was a wonder his knees didn't give out.
The portal was shut as the portal lady fell over, her head connecting with the floor. Andy should've felt bad, or apologized, given it was his powers that did it. But he couldn't do it, couldn't think about anything but Ryden. Ryden, who was bleeding out on the floor just a few feet away.
The tears, which he'd managed to keep in, spilled over his cheeks like molten lava as he rushed to Ryden. Andy collapsed next to him, pulling the increasingly pale boy to into his arms with tenderness nobody had ever thought he had in him.
His head gently fell onto Ryden's chest, his ear placed over his heart, which beat slower, and weaker by the second. He intertwined his fingers through Ryden's, and a sob racked his body. Please, please, please...
"Please don't go, Rye. I love you." Andy whispered against Ryden's chest, as the boy he loved gave his final breath. Please...don't leave me.