A/N: This chapter begins with the last paragraph from the previous chapter, to help with continuity.
"What, and you're any better?" Tia smirked, watching Peter's eyes go wide. She was even more certain he was also a mutant.
"Look, at least I don't move stuff off the planet" Peter replied, his tone harsh and defensive.
"Hey, I wrote them a note," Tia replied flippantly, smirking as Peter floundered for words to explain how wrong it was.
Peter and Tia's eyes met, locked in a staring contest, a battle of wills. Who was going to be the one to break the silence? Peter glanced away.
"How does it work?"
"How does what work?" Tia quipped.
"How does it work" Peter hissed, once again meeting Tia's restless eyes. He watched her take a deep breath, preparing herself mentally to explain her gifts.
"I see an item, and I imagine where I want it to go, and BAM! It's where I want it." Peter nodded, he didn't look scared, so Tia continued.
"Or I think of an object, and I can teleport it from wherever it is, to where I am. But, I don't have to be at one end of it. I could transport the Eiffel Tower into Hong Kong, while I sit in New York. I suppose I just move stuff around", Tia babbled, more nervous the more she spoke.
"What happens if the item you teleport doesn't actually exist?" asked Peter, his twitchy eyes wide with excitement at finally being certain Tia was a mutant. Tia gave him a confused look.
"I mean, you think of an object, and you teleport it to your location. What if the object you think of doesn't exist?"
"I dunno, usually I imagine pretty ordinary stuff. You know, stuff I've seen in shops or seen people wearing", Tia replied as she considered what Peter was saying.
"Ok, think of something", Peter dared her.
"I'll get you a lion. For your birthday", she teased.
"But they do exist" Peter countered, "and it's my birthday today". Amazingly, he wasn't lying.
"Okay, I'll get you a lion with diamond scales instead of fur", suggested Tia, glancing at Peter as he nodded in agreement.
Tia held the image in her mind, a glittering beast worthy of legend, and blinked.
The animal stood proud in front of Tia and Peter. It had the glistening outer skin of a translucent snake, it's powerful legs shimmered as the creature began to step forward. Peter and Tia stared in disbelief. The lion's dark eyes settled on Tia and Peter, and it crouched, beginning to slowly advance towards them.
A soft creaking sound began to emanate from the lion's joints as it moved. The creature stopped in its tracks and pricked its ears at the high-pitched sound. It ducked it's head to listen to it's squeaky knees. Tia glanced at Peter. His eyes were wide and scared, but not of the lion. He felt as though misfortune was in the lion's near-future. The two mutants watched in horror as the lion's diamond scales began to dig in around it's joints, cutting deep into it's skin, ruby blood pouring down over it's legs, pooling on the floor. The lion took a step forwards, it's paws sliding in the sticky liquid.
It's back legs slid and gave way. The lion hit the tiled floor and shattered like glass, it's skin splitting and hot blood gushing out, pooling around Tia's feet in a sticky sludge as it began to quickly dry. The lion opened it's mouth, displaying it's perfectly curved and completely translucent fangs as it roared. Its jaw cracked and blood poured through its gossamer mane. It began to gurgle, chocking on its own blood. Its front legs collapsed and there it lay in a bloody heap. It spat and chocked and let out one feeble meow as its eyes glazed over. Its head dropped heavily to the floor and cracked in two- it no longer possessed the strength to support itself. Glittering gore and diamond scales scattered on the carpet as the creature ceased to move at all.
Peter gasped. The once majestic creature was devastated, it's perfect skin an unfit home for its own vital organs. Tia blinked, and the creature disappeared. All that was left of it was the sticky blood that coated her feet.
"That's not a hangover, that's a fucking high" Peter snapped.
After a few frozen moments, Peter finally mustered the strength to move. He walked over to Tia, taking her by her shoulders and guiding her to the bathroom so she could wash her feet. One lonely tear slipped from her eye. Tia and Peter went back to the lounge room, curling up close so they could both fit onto Tia's favourite lounge chair.
"Where did you send it?" Peter whispered, not wanting to upset Tia further.
"The moon" Tia responded. Her voice was flat and emotionless.
"What?" Peter cried, "What happens when astronauts find it? They'll freak, they'll want to pull it apart, they'll think its alien!" Tia stared at the blank television screen in front of her.
"If they want to pull that poor thing apart, what do you think they'll want to do to the girl who made it?" she asked him very slowly, ensuring he understood the weight of every word.
"It's not like that. Tia, you're not an animal" Peter assured her, trying to turn her face so he could see it.
"And I'm not human either," Tia snarled, her eyes flashing with hatred as she spoke.
"Tia", Peter sighed, attempting to sooth her.
"Don't patronise me. Even after that mutant saved the president, everyone is still so afraid of them, of me."
Tia searched Peter's dark eyes, they were wide and flickering around her face. Us? Tia wondered. Afraid of us? Are you a mutant too, Peter? Peter couldn't open his mouth, he couldn't answer the unspoken question that lingered in the air.
"Pick a side, Peter. We're in limbo. I don't want to die a thief. I want to die a legend." Tia held firm, attempting to hide her sadness with fearless bravado. She couldn't care less about her own death or picking a side. She had created a creature and watched it die. She wished she could take it all back. She was so tired of having power over life and death. She was tired of playing god.
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