Vigor: The energy all mutants have that give them power.
Winter break has come and gone and school was back in session. Things were returning to normal, or normal as they could be. The vibe around the school was much different then it had been when they left for break. After seeing four of their classmates crash Jon Laurinaitis pep rally for his upcoming campaign, it left some of the students on edge. Especially the humans.
After the rally, the new team called Absolution kept to their promise. The four girls went around town, stopping all altercations between humans and mutants. They would step in without so much as a word and beat down any human they felt were trying to disrespect a mutant. They beat them like how Nicki would beat a mutant she didn't like. Depending on how far the human went or their history of mutant hate, would decide how far Absolution would hurt the human. They've already sent a handful of their victims to the hospital, their goal wasn't to kill them, but to show them first hand how humans have treated mutants for years.
This caused many of the human students to steer clear of any and all mutants. Even though Absolution had said they would only go after the ones who openly disrespected mutants, it just seemed too risky for any human to have contact with a mutant. Even the ones who never held any hate towards a mutant, they were just so afraid that they may say or do something that may be taken as disrespectful and they would be the ones sent to the hospital.
However, there was one group that everybody stayed away from. The group who was friends with Sasha. Right now Bayley and Dean were finding that out. The two were in their fourth period class which was history. The teacher had not come to the class yet and Bayley could feel all the stairs coming their way. She could even hear them whisper amongst themselves, she couldn't quite make out what they were saying, but she had a feeling it wasn't anything positive.
To which began to get on Dean's nerves as he picked his head up from his sleeping position "Do any of you got a fucking problem with us".
The whispers quickly stopped and Dean went to put his head back down before someone spoke up "If we did, would you go crying to your friend Sasha to deal with us".
Dean turned his head to see Nikki with Brie and Alicia "After all, I guess that's how things work in this town, mutants running around abusing their power".
Dean smiled before he retorted "Are you just upset because Sasha made your step daddy piss his pants".
"That was a hate crime from a group of animals to an innocent man!" Nikki spat.
Unable to suppress her amusement Bayley laughed "I'm sorry. A hate crime? Coming from you, that's rich".
At this point the entire class was watching the altercation take place. Nikki and Alicia were out of their seat, Dean sat on his desk to face the two and Bayley turned her seat. While Brie just remained seated and looked uncomfortable with the situation.
Nikki then took a step forward "Yes a hate crime. A hate crime which only proved my point of how dangerous you filthy mutants are. They could have had a peaceful protest just like how daddy was having a peaceful rally before those animals showed up. Instead, what did they do, cause a public disturbance and impose their power on a defenseless man".
This made Bayley grit her teeth, this was the very reason why Dakota never fought back against Nikki. She knew that if she did, she'd only become who Nikki thought she was. A violent mutant with no self control. The thing was though, in Dakota's case if she did fight back, it would be in self defense. In this case, Absolution fired the first shot. Which only made what Nicki said more credible.
Dean was about to say something when a new voice beats him to it "Well, actually, none of the members of Absolution ever put their hands on your step dad. Also, you could make the argument that Mr. Laurinaitis was giving a hate speech".
The attention shifted to a girl with shoulder length blond hair sitting in the front of the class with a boy covered in tattoos.
The girl's name was Renee Young "Cory and I were actually at the rally doing a report for the school paper. Although I agree that their tactics were unnecessarily aggressive, giving your step father's history it wasn't uncalled for".
Then the boy named Cory Graves spoke "I also have footage if you need proof that they never touched your father".
This earned a smirked from Dean to Renee for her assist. An assist that left Nikki fuming "Who the hell do you think you two are".
Before things could escalate even more the teacher walked in "Alright, you stupids idiots I'm pissed off today and don't want any shit! Ambrose off my desk!".
Dean threw his hands up and sat in his seat "Nice to see you too Jericho".
As Chris Jericho began his lesson, Bayley looked at the two students who came to their aid "At least not everyone hates us".
New York
Becky overlooked the New York skyline, it was night time so all the building and street lights were lit up. She watched as the cars below slowly inched their way through the horrid city traffic, she looks up into the sky to see airplanes flying off into the distance. Even this late at night there were many people walking the streets. It truly was the city that never sleeps.
New York city was so different from Whisper Wind Falls. Besides the fact that you could fit hundreds of the small town into this mammoth city, the people here also seemed different. Back home, there was always some kind of conflict. Humans and mutants always at each other's throats, almost never trying to find common ground. This was the way it had always been for the people of Whisper Wind Falls, almost everyone who lived there didn't know any better. Division and conflict between humans and mutants is all they knew.
In New York it was a completely different world, it didn't matter what you were. Becky couldn't believe how much more of a non issue, it was being a mutant here. During her entire time here, she rarely saw anyone being brought down due to them being a mutant. She saw many humans and mutants interact with each other as friends and it is no big deal at all. In her hometown, she couldn't tell you how many times she got dirty looks because she associated herself with mutants. Of course the city still had people who have a deep hate for mutants, but it made Becky happy that not every place is as one sided like her hometown.
The very thought of Whisper Wind Falls made Becky frown, especially after what just happen with one of her best friends. She just couldn't understand why Sasha would rather go off with Paige. To Becky, all Paige's plan would do is cause more conflict. Violence and fear were never the answer and that's all Paige wanted to create. Becky wanted to eliminate the fear in her town, while Paige wanted to spread it. She knew Paige had good intentions, but to go about it like this was wrong.
When she got back home, she knew that Absolution was going to be a problem. She didn't want to fight them, more specifically, she didn't want to fight Sasha. Hopefully Becky could talk to her before it came down to that and try to convince her to change her mind or at the very least understand her mindset.
What worried Becky about fighting Absolution was the backlash that would follow. If an all out battle between two mutant groups were to happen, would that only make men like Jon Laurinaitis more powerful? Would that make people believe that mutants are too dangerous and make the already bad situation in town worse?
It was something that Becky couldn't let happen. A fight like that needs to be avoided at all cost. Which means they needed to track down Absolution as soon as possible. Something she was sure Bayley would be able to do. So Becky sent Bayley a text asking her to do just that.
Becky then stood up from the building she was sitting on. She needed to clear her mind for a little bit and the only way she knew how to do that was by protecting her town. Although New York may not be her home, there were still people that needed help. Luckily Becky would not have to wait long or look far, she heard a woman scream a couple blocks away.
Becky then lifted up her skull mask to cover the bottom half of her face before dashing off toward the scream. She jumped from building to building, occasionally using a small fire blast to give her that extra push for the bigger gaps between buildings. The scream came from an alley, once Becky got there she made her way down the fire escape to get a better look at the situation.
The woman was blonde and looked to be out of breath, probably from running away from the men who were walking towards her. The men all had on black denim vests with their names on them. Becky pulled out a small camcorder to record the scene.
She then zoomed in on the names on the vest "Ryker, Blake, and Cutler. Not very smart to have your names exposed like that for a criminal".
The woman was cornered by three men "C'mon baby, this will be a lot easier for everyone if you quit playing hard to get".
The woman was shaking and had tears running down her cheeks as she was backed into a wall, she clearly wanted to scream out for help but the fear that consumed her left her mute. The man named Ryker put his arm on the wall to prevent her from running away.
He then cupped her face, forcing her to look in his eyes "Now listen sweetheart, this can happen on a bed or right here in this alley. Either way, me and the boys are hungry and we gonna eat".
The man went to kiss the woman but she finally found the courage to slap the man away from her, making him stumble backwards and creating some distance "Stop it please just leave me alone!".
The woman tried to run off again, but tripped over her own feet, which gave Ryker enough time to gather himself "Wrong choice bitch, grab her and strip her down boys".
Ryker was clearly the leader as Blake and Cutler did as they were told, the woman couldn't even move anymore she was frozen in place. She felt like she was about to pass out. Just as the men were about to grab her, The woman felt a flash of heat and a light fly past her face.
The woman and three men all looked at the direction where it came from. They watched as another light could be seen coming towards them, but this time much slower and controlled. As it got closer they could see it was a person. Coming out of the darkness of the alley and into the moonlight was Becky who was holding a fireball in her hand.
"C'mon gentlemen, this will be a lot easier for everyone if you quit playing hard to get" Becky said mocking the men.
The leader Ryker stopped his men and looked at Becky "Who the hell are you? Do you know who you're talking to, we are the Forgotten Son's and we run these streets".
Becky yawns "Nope, never heard of ya".
Ryker clenched his fist before chuckling "Well, not like it matters anyways, because you'll be dead soon. Kill her boys".
After getting the order, the two lackys of the group went to grab the gun they had in the waistband of their jeans. Seeing this Becky focused her vigor to the soles of her feet and blasted herself to one of the men, cutting the distance of nearly 30 feet between them in under a second. Cutler didn't even have time to look up before Becky grabbed the side of his head and bashed it into the wall, putting a dent into the brick wall and knocking him unconscious
The man named Blake pointed his gun at Becky and without missing a beat, she sent a roundhouse kick in his direction knocking the gun out of his hands. Now facing each other the man went to fight hand to hand, each time he went to punch Becky she blocked it. She even jumped up to avoid a leg sweep Blake attempted.
During her hours of training with Dean, he stressed the importance of being able to fight without your power and with your hands. He would tell her that even when all your vigor is drained and you can't use your power you can always fight hand to hand and right now, all that work was paying off.
After a failed right hook from Blake, Becky was able to grab his arm. She twisted it as she turned around and threw him over her shoulder, forcing him to land hard on his back. Keeping a hold of his arm, when Blake looked up, he was immediately met by a stiff right foot from Becky. Knocking him out.
Now all that was left was the leader Ryker. Seeing that the situation was bad he pulled out his gun and pointed it at Becky. Just as he was about to pull the trigger, he was met by the red evil eyes of Becky.
When eye contact was made, everything went black for a moment. Ryker opened his eyes and found himself back in the alley, but Blake and Cutler were nowhere to be found. Then he turned his head and saw something he couldn't comprehend. He saw Becky fighting… him. Ryker pinched himself to see if he was dreaming, but he wasn't, he was looking at Becky fight another Ryker. Almost as if he was having some kind of out of body experience.
Then when he saw the second Ryker pull out his gun and pointed at Becky she quickly grabbed it. Holding the gun in one hand Becky covers her entire arm in flames and pulled her fist back before piercing the second Ryker right through his chest. The real Ryker watched as his duplicate coughed up blood and fell down to the ground, sliding off of Becky's now bloody arm.
Ryker couldn't move, he was paralyzed after just witnessing his own execution. Then Becky turned and slowly walked up to him. As she did, she ripped off her mask, revealing a much bigger mouth with rows of sharp teeth. She then licked the blood off her arm with her now dark long tongue as she did.
Back in reality, it was unknown to Becky that her eyes had changed, or that Ryker was seeing a vision of his own death. Becky then grabbed the barrel of Ryker's pistol, using her power to create a fire from within her palm until it got so hot that the gun began to melt.
"You're… a demon" Ryker said still under the vision effects.
Becky was confused by his words "Me? A demon. He must be trying to trick me".
She then pulled him towards her and gave him a hard headbut. Becky had busted him open as a result, and a streak of blood came rolling down from his forehead before his eyes rolled in the back of his head as he passed out.
Becky let out a sigh of relief, but then felt a sharp pain in her head "YOU'RE WELCOME".
The voice left as quickly as it came. Which made Becky even more confused "For what? Could the voice have had something to do with what Ryker said?".
She shook her head, now was not the time to deal with her inner voice when she still had work to do. Once she realized she won Becky's eyes returned to normal. She then turned around and turn her attention to the woman still on the ground.
She extended her hand out to her "Sorry I was a little late, I wanted to record them trying to harass you so I would have some proof for the police".
The girl looked at Becky's hand hesitantly before taking it and getting back on her feet "Thank you".
"No problem, I called the police before I jumped in so they should be here soon. Will you be ok here by yourself?" Becky asked.
The women nodded. Becky then threw the camcorder she used at the girl before turning to walk away.
"W-wait, what's your name?" The girl asked.
Becky then stopped, the media back home has given her so many nicknames as of late. She knew she had to pick one just to make things easier for herself "Me… I'm The Lass Kicker of the Whisper Wind Four. What's yours".
The girl was surprised that she wanted to know her name "Oh… um… Toni. Toni Storm".
Then Becky could hear police sirens in the distance "That's my cue. It was a pleasure Toni".
Giving one last look at Toni, Becky focused the Viger to her feet and blasted off into the sky. Toni looked in awe, the woman who was now her hero was just absolutely amazing. She waved goodbye to Becky, hoping this would not be the last time they met.
As heroic as Becky must have looked taking off to Toni, things took a turn for the worse once Becky was out of her sights. Becky had still yet to master landing, and crashed and burned on the rooftop of a building.
Becky picked herself up "I really gotta work on that".
"Yeah, I would say so" A new voice said.
Becky turned and got into her fighting stance "Who is that".
She then saw a man standing in front of her, he was only wearing red trunks and boots. He had long hair and an even longer beard. He looked kinda familiar, like Becky had seen him somewhere before.
The man spoke "Nice work saving that girl, this city can be pretty brutal. You have a lot of potential, but you need some work".
He then began to walk towards Becky, which she did not like "Hey stand back, I'll burn you if you come any closer".
He ignored her and continued walking. Becky threatens him, but he didn't listen to her. She couldn't figure this guy out or why he was so confident. What she did know was she couldn't take any risks, so Becky threw her fist forward and let out a blast of fire into the man's direction. Instead of stopping him, he just walks right into Becky's fire and let the flames engulf him. She didn't let up either, not until she felt his hand cover her fist and stop the attack.
Becky looked over the man and didn't see one mark or burn on him "How, I didn't hold back at all?".
It was as if her flames had no effect on him. She looked up at him stunned "Who are you?"
The man let go and smiled "I'm Daniel Bryan".
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