The story continues. Oh, and excuse the grammar.
Act 1, Chapter 2- The Turning Point
Lance leaned against the side of his jeep in a parking lot later in the evening, putting a cigarette in his mouth. It was a recent habit, and one he wasn't even sure why he had. He just decided to start smoking, and that was his story. Pietro and Wanda were both very clear that he wasn't allowed to smoke in the house, and Pietro had complained that even when he smoked outside, the smell would still filter through the walls. In order to avoid Pietro's bitching, Lance just drove away from the house, found the most empty parking lot he could find, and lit up.
Except he was out of matches.
"Fuck me," Lance growled. The car lighter for the jeep had been stolen the first month he had it, and never bothered to replace it because until then, he didn't need it.
"Need a light?" asked a voice with an Australian accent.
"...You better not be who I think you are." Lance turned around to see John Allerdyce standing on the other side of the jeep, out of his orange uniform, but still wearing a psychopathic smile on his face. He was wearing a pair of torn jeans, a loose faded black t-shirt with several tears in it, and a blue baseball cap hiding his fire-like mane. "What do you want?"
"I was in the neighborhood," Allerdyce explained in his usual nonchalant, almost humored tone. He walked around so that he was on the same side of the jeep as Lance "So you want a light or not, mate?"
"Yeah, sure." Allerdyce revealed that he'd been holding a metal lighter in his right hand with a stylized shark face painted on it. With a flick of his wrist that would've surprised even Pietro, he opened the cap, produced a flame, and created an airborne trail leading from the lighter to Lance's cigarette. "All set."
"Yeah, thanks," Lance muttered. He took a long, slow drag, letting it warm his lungs, and exhaled. "I'd heard you were in Australia."
"Nothing ever happens there," Allerdyce replied, playing with the cap of his lighter. It seemed like he always needed to be doing something to occupy his attention, like an overgrown child. Without so much as a farewell, Allerdyce walked away, still flicking the lighter cap, moving in the general direction of a shopping center.
Lance shrugged to himself. If Pyro was going to blow up Circuit City or Barnes and Noble, it wasn't Lance's job to stop him.
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"So, what exactly is it you're lookin' for?" Todd asked Wanda as the mutant teens walked into Barnes and Noble around ten at night. Lance had run off to smoke, Fred was asleep in front of the television and Pietro was trying to pry the remote from under him. Wanda said she was going out, and Todd volunteered to go with her.
"Anything interesting. I don't know. I just wanted to get out of the house," Wanda replied.
"Well... did we need to come here? 'Cuz this place sort of gives me th' creeps."
"Oh course it does, it's actually clean." Todd resisted his natural urge to hop alongside Wanda and instead shuffled with a slight slouch, keeping his hands in his pockets. The store had a built-in Starbucks... that couldn't be good. There were a few high school-aged yuppies sitting there. "Now where's the fantasy section?"
"Hell if I know," Todd replied, looking at the wallet half-sticking out of the pocket of an older gentlemen in the self-help section.
"None of that," Wanda said, catching his hand before he could act. In reply, he stuck his green tongue out at her. "There it is. The horror section's right next to it, too."
Wanda would never openly admit it, but she didn't hate Toad. In fact, she liked him, when he wasn't thinking with his penis. She wouldn't consider him a genius... well, maybe she would. Academically, Toad was completely inept, but from time to time she had seen a spark of the rough intelligence hiding beneath his more casual facade, like he was too concerned with looking cool to show anyone how smart he was. Not that it did him any good, but that was part of his appeal. He was geeky, and in his own weird way, he was sort of cool, if only for the brief moment before one realized that he never bathed.
"What could they have here that ain't already in your collection?" Todd asked as he followed her over. "I mean, this is th' place you go to for overpriced atmosphere, not th' content." While Wanda browsed, Todd took a book from the opposite shelf at random. "Look at this." The title read 'Sword of Cinziarzh'. "Sin...cee...ar...ash? How do you even pronounce that? Look at th' author, Nathaniel Prattley. Who th' fuck has a name like that?"
"...Someone whose parents named Nathaniel," Wanda droned. "Hey, I don't have this one."
"Aria of Sorrow," Todd read from the cover, which feature some sort of long-haired, handsome, though slightly feminine prince with a black cloak and a rapier, standing below a castle with the moon shining behind it. It induced a slight shudder in Todd. "By Renard Belmont. He's your favorite, ain't he?"
"I think he's good. He balances his narrative elements pretty well."
"Or do you just buy th' books for the prettyboy on th' cover?" Todd nudged.
"Of course not!" Wanda looked at the cover. "I mean, that's not to say I don't... well, they're good books. I think even you'd like them. They're under fantasy, but they're more like escapist horror."
"What makes you think I'd be into that?" Todd asked, almost laughing.
"If you'd actually look inside, you'd see that it's more like classical horror. You know, vampires, werewolves. But there's a touch of romanticism that almost makes you feel like it's your adventure. Maybe you're not the most eloquent, or mature, or-"
"Yeah, yeah..."
Wanda took a deep breath, hoping to whatever higher power that Toad didn't take her compliments the wrong way. "...But you're pretty smart. You're a decent reader. Every time we watch a movie, you're always breaking the plot and characters down, I figure you'll like something that lends itself to that."
"Okay. Get me started when we get back to th' house," Todd told her. He sniffed the air for a moment. "Is it me, or does this place smell like gasol-" In an instant, the entire front portion of the store was gone. Wood, glass and dozens of books fueled the dancing flames, twisting upwards and spiraling until they created several snake-like heads that darted out and snapped at the running customers.
"Yeah! YEAH!" Allerdyce yelled. The fiery Hydra turned in all directions, narrowly missing innocents, until one of the heads landed a direct strike on a young man, setting his jacket on fire. Allerdyce responded to the scene with his trademark cackle, then jumped over the fire into the bookstore itself. He summoned the fires to jump and spread to the shelves, furthering the reach of his inferno, until a bright red beam slammed him into the wall.
Scott Summers had been browsing Circuit City for some reason and heard the explosion. He had already traded his sunglasses for a more practical visor and stood several feet from Allerdyce with his finger on the release switch.
"It's over, Pyro," Scott announced. "I'm turning you over to the police."
"Not likely," Allerdyce hissed. He stood up and waved his hands, but suddenly, a pillar of concrete rose from the ground, blocking and smothering the fire-snakes as they tried to attack Scott. Both looked back in surprise- Lance had arrived.
"Can't even watch your own back, Summers, some hero," Lance taunted.
"Uh, thanks, Lance."
"Take off, I'll take care of him."
"You? You're just as likely to join him," Scott accused.
"You think I'd have anything to do with a maniac like him? Fuck you, Summers, where do you get off talking to people like that? You think just because Pyro and I don't like nancy boys like you that we're in this together? Well fuck that!" Lance threw his fist down as if punching someone's knees and a ripple on the carpet became a wave, throwing Scott against one of the intact bookshelves.
Allerdyce grinned and waved his hands again. Two snake-heads pulled away from the group and each found a separate target. From his... uh, seat on the fallen bookshelf, Scott loosed two optic blasts in rapid succession, each piercing through the snakes and dispersing the flames to the point that they lost strength and disappeared.
"This is NOT the time, Alvers."
"When we're done with Pyro, then!" Lance gave Scott a hand up and the two faced the now pouting Allerdyce.
But elsewhere in the store, Todd Tolensky sailed over bookshelves, carrying an unconscious Wanda in his arms. With the front entrance block, people had begun to escape through the back exit, pushing and shoving to get away from the evil fire. Todd jumped over the crowd of lemmings and landed harshly on the shoulders of a man who had just pushed the door open and used him as a jumping post to fly through the exit.
Todd eventually made his way to the loading area behind the store, where several people were running and screaming, again. He jumped over one of the loading ramps and gently set Wanda down, propping her against the cement wall behind a stairwell. There was a bruise on her head, but otherwise she was alright. Todd was spared the same injury only be his initial cowardly instincts- the moment he heard the explosion, he jumped backwards in shock and surprise, landing on a larger man two aisles behind him. One of the falling shelves had hit Wanda and he had struggled to push it off of her, or at least hold it up long enough to pull her to freedom.
Todd looked at her, and realized that he had never really seen Wanda in such a vulnerable state. She was powerless now, and delicate; soft, and beautiful...
But he snapped out of his admiration quickly. Wanda needed help. And then it hit him- this was his opportunity. He wouldn't have her in this position again. He had to take advantage.
He knew where to find Mastermind. He could get there quickly. He scooped Wanda in his arms and hopped on.
...What did you think he was thinking about?
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The Velocity, the X-Men's signature helicopter-jet-thing, was parked right outside the smoldered bookstore along with several police cars and two fire trucks, as well as three ambulances, early the following morning. While the police handcuffed Allerdyce and gathered evidence (including an empty gas can), Scott and Lance walked to the heli-jeticopterchopperwagig, covered in soot, scratches, bruises and a few minor burns.
Scott was met by Jean Grey, wearing her X-Man uniform, who took his visor off, wiped some of the soot off his face, and placed his favorite ruby-quartz glasses on him. Scott smiled and kissed her before she led him into the chopperjet... thing.
Beast and Storm were also there to help assess damage, or something. But Lance lit up when he saw that Kitty Pryde had also arrived. When on-duty, she was Shadowcat, and she had the same X-Man uniform she'd worn since joining, except that she had neglected to wear the yellow belt. Lance looked her up and down. Her figure was definitely improving, and it was no wonder she'd kept off the distracting, clunky belt. Lance reached for her, holding her at the waist and pushing her close, her hands pressed against his chest as they shared a warm, passionate kiss.
Followed by the mother of all slaps.
"What is WRONG with you?!" Shadowcat yelled. "You ran into that fire just to fight Scott! That is so insensitive!"
"I fought Pyro, too," Lance explained. "We even ganged up on him. What's the problem?"
"You're always so aggressive! Who are you trying to impress, Mr. Macho?"
"If it wasn't for me, your pal Summers would've still been in that pile back there!"
"He didn't ask for your help!" Kitty shouted. "Nobody did! We don't need you to do our jobs!"
"Yeah? The X-Men must be SOOOO great! Fuck them and fuck YOU!" After a pause, Lance seized her and pressed her body against his, kissing her mouth, her cheek, her nose, her neck, anything he could find, and she returned them all with equal passion, a fire burning in their loins. They needed each other. They wanted each other. Right there. Right then.
"That's... quite enough." Beast came by to separate them. "Let's get you home, Lance."
So close. So close.
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"...terrorist stopped by the X-Men after he torched a Barnes and Noble on Cypress, helping to prevent several injuries," the reporter for the noon newscast announced. "Police say that another terrorist was involve-"
"BULLSHIT!" Lance yelled at the television from his chair, wiping a cut with a rage soaked in iodine. Fred and Pietro exchanged tired glances. "I don't believe this! I STOPPED Pyro! Summers helped ME!"
"Does it even matter anymore?" Pietro groaned. "At least Cyclops didn't die. Then you'd get blamed for it."
"I'd gladly take that blame if it meant I didn't have to put up with him anymore," Lance growled.
"Wait, you said you rushed in after him," Fred noted. "So, did you just run in there because you saw Slim running in?"
"That's not the point. It doesn't even matter. Fuck the news. I got to make out with Kitty afterwards. So it was all worth it."
"Still no home run?" Pietro teased.
"Almost," Lance replied. "Now I know she wants it as bad as I do."
"Speaking of total delusion," Pietro said, "Where did Toad and Wanda disappear to?"
"I dunno," Fred replied. "Must've left when I fell asleep."
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"As far as the police can tell, Pyro had no motive except for self-amusement," Cyclops reported in the X-Men's war room. Sorry, 'planning room.' Professor Xavier, Storm and Magneto were assembled around the table while Cyclops stood to give his report. Though he wore his standard uniform, there was a notable change to Cyclops' look; the hood he usually wore over his head was gone, replaced by a simple collar on his neck. "Perhaps Magneto can offer his insight."
"This is his way," Magneto explained calmly. "Destructive and chaotic. There is nothing else to discuss."
"I disagree," Cyclops said. "Wanda and Toad were both at the scene."
"What? Show me." Cyclops took a remote control from the table and turned on the large viewscreen on the wall, showing surveillance footage of Barnes and Noble. Wanda was looking at some books with Todd standing nearby. The off-screen explosion knocked several shelves over and Todd jumps backwards. Cyclops sped through the footage until he got to the point where Todd carried Wanda through the back exit. "I will speak to Pyro," Magneto growled.
"I think it would be best if I talked to-"
"No!" Magneto yelled. Cyclops stared at him in silence. Magneto cleared his throat. "Pyro knows me. I will get to the bottom of this."
"This isn't your call, Magneto. You have too much stake in this."
"Which is exactly why I can't trust you with it." Magneto abruptly stood up and left the room. Cyclops stared at the door for a moment, his mouth gaping, before asking, "And you're going to let him get away with that?"
"Scott, I know that sending him to solve this may cause problems," Xavier explained, "But I agree with him. Pyro may not be as responsive to us as to his old employer."
"And it will provide him with an opportunity to do some good," Storm added.
"Well I don't like it," Cyclops complained. "I don't like it at all."
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"Wanda's not picking up," Pietro groaned with his cell phone glued to his ear. "Why does she even have that thing? She never answers it! She-YEAH, this is Pietro. Sis, where are you? I've been calling you for like two hours. I don't know what you're doing, but give me a call, okay?" Pietro pressed 'end.' "Voicemail."
Fred had a bag of cheddar barbecue potato chips with him on the couch and Lance was busy tuning his guitar. Once Pietro set his phone down, he looked at the others with his fists on his hips. "HEY! Does nobody care that Wanda is missing?!"
"It's Wanda," Lance said. "She'll be fine. Toad's probably with her, so he's probably fine, too. She used to run off all the time, what's the big deal?"
"Hello! She's my sister! Why are you acting like it's unnatural for me to care about my only sister? Do either of you have sisters? No! So shut your mouth!"
"If you're so worried about her, why are you still hanging out here?" Lance asked.
"Because... I don't need to listen to this!" Pietro was out the door before the other two could even notice he'd moved. Lance sighed, shook his head, and continued with his guitar.
"This is gonna sound crazy, but I think Pietro cares about her," Fred noted. Lance's only response was a blank stare. "I dunno. Or maybe he just doesn't want Magneto to yell at him or something. But he's being really antsy about this."
"Yeah, but it's Pietro. Guy lives in his own mirrored bubble. She'll turn up, like she alway-"
"Gaaaah!" Todd burst through the front door, carrying an unconscious Wanda. "Move! Move! Move! Move!" Fred jumped off the couch and Todd set Wanda there, elevating her head on a pillow. "Alright. Okay. Now what do I do?"
"How the fuck should we know?!" Lance yelled. "What happened?"
"We were at th' bookstore last night, and that goon Pyro showed up, and she got knocked out, so I brought her here. She just hit her head, but she ain't wakin' up. What do I do? What do I do?!"
"I dunno... get a warm towel or something?" Lance paused. "Wait, you two were there? That was what, ten? What the hell are you doing back at three in the afternoon?"
"Well, I was checkin'... uh... I wanted to take her to th' hospital... but you know, we're mutants, so-"
"So what took you so long to bring her here?" Lance asked, more pointedly.
"I... uh... see, we..." Fred grabbed the squirming Todd by the back of his collar and pulled him up. "'Cuz Cypress street's like kinda far... uh... and..."
"Spill it!" Fred barked.
"Okay! Okay! I wanted to bring her back sooner, but... see, this is how it is. Magneto asked me to do somethin' for him. He... uh... he wanted me to take Wanda to that old guy Mastermind, and have him put her memories back th' way they were."
"You..." Lance looked at Wanda, lying almost lifelessly on the couch. Fred put Todd down on the couch's armrest. "You had her memories changed back?"
"No... well, I was... I dunno. I didn't know if I could go through with it. We spent most of the night in some alley. I didn't know if I should do it or not... I want to, but... I don't know."
"Can't say I'd wanna be in your place," Fred commented. "I mean... giving her memories back, that's the right thing to do, ain't it?"
"Well yeah," Lance replied. "But... that's playing with fire. If you're anywhere near her when that happens, you're as good as dead."
"That's what makes this so hard," Todd moaned. "I want to help her. I really do. But I know she's gonna hate me. To me, she's like... I can't describe it. Maybe she's like a bird to me. I've been keeping her here so I can look at her all day. And she really makes me happy. She's startin' to warm up to me, maybe she'll never fall in love with me, but y'know, I'm cool if she at least thinks I'm a good friend. And I like that. I don't have too many friends. Just you guys, really. She means a lot to me. But I'm bein' selfish. She can't be caged. She needs to be free. And th' truth sets you free, right?"
"I guess," Fred shrugged.
"...But then, she's also a lot happier like this," Todd lamented. "She-"
"Shut up," Lance groaned, rolling his eyes. "You know who you sound like? Pietro. Fucking Pietro. I don't know what he told you to get you to keep quiet about Wanda's past, but you gotta listen to yourself. What do you think is right?"
"What about my past?" Wanda muttered, sitting up slowly and squinting her eyes. Todd nearly fell off the armrest in shock. "...Is there something you guys aren't telling me?"
The three boys looked away from her, all mumbling excuses, cover-ups, and other nonsensical replies. Wanda shifted herself so that she was sitting properly on the couch, and then stood up with her hands on her hips.
"What are you hiding from me? Tell me." They didn't answer. Her hands began to glow. "TELL ME!"
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John Allerdyce had actually enjoyed his stay at the local jail... until he was paid a visit from an old friend.
"Why did you attack her?" Magneto asked sharply.
The metal tray that Allerdyce had been issued for a meal had warped and twisted itself into a long bar, and it held Allerdyce against the cell window by the neck, attached magnetically to the bars. Magneto remained outside, out of the guards' view.
"Attack who? I didn't do anything! You know, this thing on my neck is very uncomfortable." The bar tightened. "AAaaaah! Stop that! I didn't do anything! You have to believe me!"
"You knew she was there, and you attacked her. Why?"
"Attacked WHO?!" The bar tightened again. "I'm serious! I don't know who you're talking about!"
"Wanda!" Magneto bellowed. "Why did you attack Wanda?!"
"I DIDN'T! I'M TELLING YOU THE TRUTH!" The bar tightened once more, and Allerdyce gasped out, "Okay! Okay, I'll talk!" Once the bar had loosened enough for him to speak, he explained, "He didn't send me to get Wanda. I was after Toad! She just happened to be there!"
"Who?!"
"I don't know his name. He's got blond hair, dresses like a fruit! He didn't talk to me, he just... I don't know, it was that teleportation thing, where they talk in your head."
"A telepath. Why did he send you?"
"I don't know. I didn't ask. He gave me some money to do it. It's nothing personal, I swear!"
"I will find this telepath. As for you, your instability has made you too much of a liability. I have no more use for you, Pyro, and I'm going to make sure you never bother me again." The bar constricted around Pyro's throat, but there was a sound- a door opening. Someone had heard Allerdyce's screams. Quickly, he was released and the metal bar warped back into a metal tray, clanging on the floor as Allerdyce coughed and gasped for air. He looked up through the bars, but Magneto had gone.
"What happened here?" the guard asked. "What are you up to, mutie?"
"...Just choked on my muffin," Allerdyce coughed. "A good smoke'll help me clear that up." Allerdyce produced a cigarette from his pocket. "Can I get a light?"
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"This is a joke. A stupid, ridiculous joke," Wanda sighed, sitting on the couch. "Do you idiots really expect me to believe father would do that to me?"
"That's what happened," Todd insisted.
"Then why don't I remember any of it?" Lance and Fred began to move away from Todd. "Well? Answer that, geniuses!"
"...Magneto..." Todd struggled. "He... had someone mess with your head. Like a telepath."
"...What? Okay, really, what is the point of this? Ha ha, you got me! There! Are we done with this bullshit? I swear, you're all such immature-" Wanda paused. None of them were laughing. In fact, the only expressions they had were of fear and anxiety. She knew that none of them were capable of keeping up such a facade. "...It is a joke, right?"
"It's not," Lance answered. "That all happened."
"But... how? I don't... how is that even possible? Why would he..." Wanda felt light-headed. She steadily took a seat and began to rub her forehead. "I don't... how could he? Why didn't you guys tell me this before?"
"We were afraid," Fred admitted.
"Of my father? But he's not so unreasonable..." Wanda paused, realizing that maybe her own view on her father couldn't be trusted, and not fully realizing that her friends were also afraid of her. "I... I don't even know what to think."
"We're sorr-"
"Leave me alone. Just... I need to think." Wanda grabbed her red coat from the closet and walked out the door. The others looked at each other and sighed in relief. The revelation had gone much, much better than they had anticipated.
"That wasn't so bad," Fred noted. "I mean... I thought she'd kill us."
"I think she's still hoping this is all a big joke," Lance explained.
"I know what I gotta do, then," Todd said. Before he could go, Lance stopped him by putting a hand on his shoulder.
"Look man, this is going to be tough," Lance said. "I know how you feel about her. Look, whatever happens... watch yourself, man." Todd nodded, and hopped out the door.
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"A telepath?" Professor Xavier put his hand to his chin and raised an eyebrow. Magneto sat across from him in the Xavier Institute's study, with Scott standing close by. "What did you say he looked like?"
"Blond hair and... 'dressed like a fruit.' That was all Pyro gave me."
"Professor, do you-" Professor Xavier put up his hand, signaling Scott to be quiet.
"Magnus, you'll have to understand that this won't be as easy we thought."
"You know this telepath?" Magneto asked.
"...This may be more than either of us can handle, given our situation," Xavier continued, looking away, as if ignoring Magneto. He rolled his wheelchair towards the door as he talked. "It may also be best if you stayed out of this case."
"...What do you know, Charles? Tell me!"
"Scott, could you give us some room?" Scott nodded and left. Once he was alone with Magneto, Xavier said, "I know if my suspicions are correct, the telepath we are dealing with is more than a match for the X-Men, with or without you."
"Who is he?" Xavier remained silent. Magneto's anger only grew. "Tell me!"
"He is my son!" Xavier responded. "And he is to me what I can only assume Wanda is to you. That's why I need to handle this without your interference."
"He tried to murder my daughter," Magneto said calmly. "You know that I can't stand by."
"Then I warn you to use your better judgment, Magnus. Your bitter emotions have made you a danger to ally and enemy alike. A simple wounded ego made you nearly suicidal in your attempt to destroy Apocalypse. I can't imagine how you'd react to someone who, for whatever misguided reason, nearly had your daughter killed. The outcome would be the same. David is not someone whose powers can be easily ignored, especially not in his current condition. For David's safety and for your own, Magnus, stay out of this."
"I'll consider it," Magneto whispered angrily, leaving the room. Xavier sighed, and left through another door, on his way to Cerebro.
To be continued...