Hello. Thank you for sticking around for the second chapter. I just want to make sure everything flows well. I pumped this one out kinda' quickly, so I hope it satisfies.
As a side note, this story is set in present day. I forgot to add that in the first chapter. Sorry!
On a more different side note, I will try to update when I can, but I have a 6 week old baby taking up a lotta' my time, as well as housemates who share this computer. So please be patient while I write. I love writing, and I hope you love reading the story just as much to stick around.
Updates maybe..once every week or 2 weeks, probably on average.
Enjoy, and my humble thanks to those who have reviewed so far. Keep it up, mates. I appreciate it more than you know.
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Lowen didn't think another second before she had turned and gave the owner of the voice a greeting, courtesy of her closed fist. She felt her knuckles connect to a solid body part and jumped back when she heard a satisfying yell from her assailant.
"Fuck you, man! Fuck you!" she screeched, not thinking about anything but her own rage at the brutality of the attack. Her eyes had adjusted to the darkness enough to see the silhouette of a figure kneeling with one knee on the ground and holding his shoulder. All she heard was a cruel chuckle as their eyes suddenly met.
"Such filth from the mouth of a lady," the deep, scratchy voice sneered. Lowen bristled, totally ready to dish out another attack, this time on the bastard's face. She took one step forward, seconds away from making her mental threats reality, but before she even had a chance to say another word, the clank of cold metal rang out, and the figure fell once again into the dirt. Lowen stopped in her tracks, immobile with bewilderment, her mouth hanging slightly open from the unexpected shock of the new occurrence.
"You know, you need to remember that just because I don't have powers like you and this fucker, that doesn't mean I can't defend myself." As suddenly as it had started, the brawl was over. A flashlight clicked on to reveal the towered form of Spooky who was studying his downed victim.
"Spooky!" she yelped, running over to him. He only grinned.
"This military grade shit is awwwesome!" he sing-songed, twirling the heavy flashlight he had wielded triumphantly. Lowen couldn't help but laugh, but cut herself off, realizing the severity of the situation. Her attention turned to the unconscious male. His close-shaven hair was mixed with blood, where she assumed Spooky had whacked him. He wore green camouflage cargo pants and a plain white tee with a brown vest over it. Nothing about him was at all noteworthy, except for the fact that he had nearly incinerated them only moments ago. The two of them were breathing heavily, leaving the crickets to fill in the silence. It was quiet for another second.
"What the hell was that?" Spooky was the first one to break the silence. Lowen didn't really know how to answer and only shrugged stupidly, not taking her eyes off the guy. His breathing was even, but that was the only sign of life he gave. She gave Spooky a look.
"How do we tell everyone?" she asked. Spooky made a move towards the man.
"Hell if I know," he grunted, the adrenaline still coursing through his body as he made a move to lift him. "First I suggest that we take this asshole back to camp and tie him up or something so he's not back in the woods, free to cause more shit for us." The body secured on his shoulders, he then turned to his companion who was shifting her weight nervously from foot to foot. He cocked a quizzical brow at her. "You disagree?" he prompted.
"No! I just..." Lowen averted her eyes from his, her nervousness with evident with the clicking of her tongue on the roof of her mouth. She frowned, not quite knowing how to articulate herself clearly. "Who the hell is this guy anyways?" she finally blurted. Spooky was quiet.
"I don't know," he said softly, but she caught a wicked spark in his eye. "But I'll bet we can find out."
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"Hey. Hey! HEY! Wake up!"
The stranger groaned, his head and collarbone throbbing in pain as he growled and rolled his head.
"Sleeping Beauty's up," came a short announcement. The man's eyes snapped open, only to have him realize that he was surrounded by a pack of solemn, dirty kids and, unfortunately for him, he was also tied to a tree. More accurately, he was duct taped to a tree. He scanned their faces with his features twisted in fury when he realized that these kids were unarmed and somehow had gotten the better of him. His gaze stopped on the figure of Lowen. He glared at her, causing her to nervously shift slightly behind Spooky, who only crossed him arms over his chest and glared right back.
"So," the brunette with dreadlocks asked casually as he stepped forward to face the prisoner. "Care to explain why you were attacking my family?" The man spit loudly at him and turned his glare towards him, daring him to try something.
"Fuck this, Pippin! I say we level this fuckin' pyro right here!" a burly fellow seethed, lumbering towards the man, an ax gripped in his hand. The man's facial expression quickly turned to one of alarm. Apparently, these kids weren't as helpless and unarmed as he thought. The brunette, Pippin, only raised his arm calmly at his angry friend.
"You know we don't do violence here, Ox. That's exactly why we left Babylon* in the first place," he stated calmly. The captured man gave a hearty snort, making a few members of the unorthodox posse jump.
"Who the hell are you? Peter Pan and his lost boys?" he snarled.
"No. Just travelers looking for peace in an alternate society," Pippin replied calmly as if the man had truly cared enough for a civil answer. "I'm Pippin, the dude with the ax is Ox, the pretty blond is Kris, the shrimp is Kaye, the guy with the guitar is Vash..." Before Pippin had finished speaking, Lowen boldly stepped out of her spot behind Spooky to face the man.
"...And he's Spooky and I'm Lowen, the kids' you attacked, you ass! Who are you and what do you want?" she demanded angrily, suddenly sick of the banter and impatient for her questions to be answered. Their prisoner made a face like he had eaten something nasty.
"My name is Crossfire, and unlike you freaks, it ain't a fuckin' hippie name."
"It's a mutant name?" Spooky spoke quietly, making it sound more like a statement than a question. The group turned to stare at him for a moment before turning their attention back to the intruder.
"Oh, I get it. You must be the smart one" he sneered at him. "Yeah, that's right. I've got to power to manipulate fire. Pretty awesome shit, yeah?"
"That doesn't answer the question of why the hell you attacked us," Lowen barked before any more insults could be exchanged. Crossfire grinned and shrugged his less injured shoulder.
"I might as well tell ya'. It's not like you'd go to the police or some shit, not like they'd listen to you anyway," he mocked. Lowen felt the urge to clobber the guy. "Okay, fine. I was actually lookin' for a lumberjack fella' I was sent to find. I was ordered to bring 'em back alive if I could. A mutant, apparently, that I was supposed to bring back for some experiment or some shit they apparently need to finish. I heard these two talking and figured, that you were the mutant they were looking for; apparently not. You don't fit the description, but I couldn't tell in the dark, so I just moved in anyways, assuming you were the one." He moved his wolfish gaze to Lowen, whose eyes had bugged out, her breath caught in her throat.
"Oh shit," she fumbled. The group turned towards her once again.
"You're a mutant, too? Like this guy?" Kaye burst out suddenly. Crossfire's laughter boomed out, echoing through the trees. Lowen ignored it and frowned, scuffing the dirt with her toe, not looking at anyone.
"I'm nothing like this guy," she snorted. "But, yeah, I'm a mutant.. I figure with my stupid outburst earlier that you might have picked up on it," she mumbled. The look of awe on Kaye's face was enough to make her feel uncomfortable.
"Hey, do you want to show him now?" Spooky prodded gently. Lowen wrinkled her nose and shrugged, still not looking up.
"I guess I don't mind.." she mumbled. Crossfire examined her attentively, genuinely interested, while the rest of the group turned to witness her transformation.
Lowen shifted to stand with her feet shoulder width apart, her companions all stepping back a bit. She hunched her shoulders in concentration, letting out a low growl as every hair on her body stood straight up on its goosebump base. Her face contorted into a look of intense concentration as her breath became louder, heavier.
All of the sudden, white wings burst from her shoulder blades. Kaye's gasped loudly. Lowen yelled in effort as a long, brown, fur-tipped tail appeared out from under her dress. All was silent as she simply stood there and panted slowly, trying to get her bearings about her again. She looked slowly at Kaye, who stood there with his mouth wide open, and slowly slipped off her blue knit beanie, revealing a pair or furry brown ears. She met his eyes with an uncomfortable half smile.
"If you keep that up, the bats will shit down your throat," she said weakly, noting his shameless gape and slipping her cap back into place over her dark tangled hair.
"Why didn't you guys tell me?" he burst out, turning in awe to the rest of the group. Pippin shrugged.
"It's kind of a touchy subject. We figured that if she wanted to, she'd tell you when she was ready. A lot of people aren't very accepting of it."
"Yeah, you'd think things would be different in a community of hippies, but, sadly, that's not always the case," Kris spoke up, wrinkling her nose in disgust.
"Isn't it cool?" Spooky triumphed praise to his friend. Lowen only sighed as she plopped herself down heavily on the ground, her wings folding themselves up and molding into her back. Her tail also curled itself up and disappeared without a trace.
"And this is just the physical manifestation of my mutation," she mused quietly.
"You mean there's more to it?" Kaye pushed, excitement riddling his voice.
"Look, kids, this is all very cute, and I hate to break up the lovefest-orgy shit, but I've got to get going. If you ain't the guy I was supposed to bring back, I've got other shit to do," Crossfire interrupted unceremoniously. The group looked at each other. This guy was getting cocky.
"Sure, we'll let you get going," Pippin started slowly. Spooky only gave him a look.
"Is that so?" he questioned. Pippin only gave him a sly look.
"After we're done with him," he smiled. Kaye looked bewildered as the rest of the group chuckled.
"I thought hippies don't do violence?" he questioned. Ox grunted and put his hand on the younger boy's head.
"We're not really gonna' hurt him, but punks who screw with us this badly usually don't get away without a little souvenir and a story to tell," he rumble happily. All eyes turned back to Crossfire, his cockiness now gone, replaced with a growing fear.
"Wha-what do you plan on doing?" his voice betraying his previous facade. Pippin turned his back to him and shrugged as he knelt down to rummage through a tattered bag.
"My friend, this little escapade will involve laxatives, prune juice, and, yet again, tying you to a tree," he informed his captive. The group whooped and hollered, ready to impose justice.
"Oh, and another thing," Pippin added calmly, looking at the shocked man over his shoulder. "We will also be relieving you of your clothes." Crossfire started screaming, cursing, and struggling at that. Pippin only turned back to the bag. "And you'll be upside down."
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The motor of the beat up van hummed along, carrying its seven passengers down the road and on their way out of the woods. It was stripped of all the backseats, leaving everyone to lay down blankets and sleeping bags to make the floor comfortable. Pippin, seeing as it was his van, even had put a mattress in the very back and covered it was pillows, blankets, and anything else soft that he could find for a reasonable bargain in random little thrift shops.
It was mid-morning, but it was already hot and humid, causing a bit of a foul mood to fall on its riders. The night they spent was restless, knowing that it'd be a better idea to pack up and leave first thing in the morning following the bizarre confrontation. Lowen lounged lazily on the floor, her back pressed to the wheel well with Spooky towering on the mattress next to her, sprawled out in a grumpy mood from the heavy air. Lowen didn't mind the stuffiness, though. She was used to be canned up in the van so long that she actually felt more at ease there than she did anywhere else. She absently hummed along to a Nirvana song that occasionally leaked through the static of the old radio as Kaye inched his way over from between the rest of the sleeping crew.
"Hey, that was wicked awesome last night," he grinned. Lowen looked away from the window and stared at him. "Well, I mean, it kinda' sucked that you guys got attacked an all, but I never met a mutant before! Not in real life, at least! I don't think it's a bad thing at all, I mean, it's crazy, you know, but that's just so cool! You said you can do other other things? What else can you...can...you..." He had trailed off nervously at the consistency of Lowen's unwavering gaze. He grew silent. Her face remained still, unimpressed.
"You done?" she asked with an edge of annoyance biting her words. Spooky scowled from his perch and whacked her on the head, saving the boy from any further scrutiny.
"Ow! Dude, seriously?" She swiped at him, but he only leaned back to avoid it and turned to Kaye.
"It's okay, man. She's just a little grumpy from last night. Lowen, seriously..." he warned. She let out a breath through her nose and shook her head.
"Sorry, Kaye. I just have a hard enough time as it is, you know? I don't mean to act snappy about it, but...I guess I just have a hard time accepting it." She became quiet. Actually, they all became quiet. She glanced at the boy out of the corner of her eye and nearly laughed at the sobering look on his face. "Never mind, dude, it's not that bad. It's just weird, is all. I've never used my powers to fight anyone before or anything, so I'm not a crazy combat machine like the guys you see fighting crime and shit on the news and stuff. I just...exist." She frowned at her own words, her eyes clouded with a slight bitterness, but it passed quickly. She really hadn't meant to get that deep, even if it wasn't really that deep at all. "So," she continued with a shrug of submission. "What do you want to know?"
"Well, uh..your powers..you have more?" Kaye fumbled, trying to be as delicate as he knew how. She gave him a smug smile.
"Kind of. The wings and stuff aren't really a 'power', per se. They're a physical appearance that accompanies my powers. Flight just happens to be a perk."
"So you can fly!" the half statement, half question came out quickly. She frowned slightly.
"Well, not really. I can fly very short distances, which is awesome for sneaking and just getting places in general, but...I have yet to... soar," she mused cryptically. She was silent for a moment, pondering a way to explain better. "I think there's a problem with my wings. They're either weak or I'm just too damn heavy," she joked, cracking a smile. "I used to try to use them, exercising them and trying to build up strength, shoot, I even tried to lose weight trying be able to fly! But nothing worked. So I have to be content with flying short distances and staying low to the ground."
"That's awesome," Kaye whispered, as if the volume of his voice would somehow cause Lowen to evaporate.
"Yeah, it kinda' is, but that's not all," she continued as the boy leaned closer. "My 'real' power is empathy." Silence. "You know, I'm an empath," she chided, noting the blank look on her listener's face. She chuckled slightly. "What an empath does," she explained. "is all based on emotion. I can feel what other people feel, sometimes I can generate it into physical pain, which is usually unpleasant for me," she said sadly. She locked eyes with him. "You know the term 'broken hearted'? It's used to describe the pain of sadness." At this point, Spooky had joined to listen as her voice suddenly got softer.
"Well, I've felt that pain once...I had just discovered my powers not too long before. I was walking by a funeral home one day when an old man stepped out of the front doors. I had just wanted to get to the park to hang out with my friends. I can't really explain it, but I just...I just stopped dead in my tracks and couldn't tear my attention away from this guy. He was wobbling down the steps, some dude in a suit holding his other arm. Like an idiot, I just stared. Then, this guy just looked up and locked eyes with me. I didn't know what was happening to me...I literally felt like my heart was being ripped apart inside my chest. My brain just had visions that weren't my own, I didn't know where they were coming from! Love, life, contentment, happiness, joy, then all of sudden...gone. It was all replaced in an instant with darkness...desolation...despair...death... I was overwhelmed and just fell to my knees and started bawling my eyes out like a damn baby. It all only took a split second, but I felt so...broken. So lost...it was what I was. What I became."
Everyone in the van was silent, the only noises being the quiet radio and the crunch of gravel underneath the tires. Lowen hugged her knees to her chest and rested her chin on their tops.
"That's it, I guess...I can't do anything useful with it except get an idea of what other people are feeling, really. I've learned to block it out better than what I could, but I can't project it or manipulate it or anything. I don't even know to the fullest extent of what I can do" She lowered her eyes, sadness seeping into her pose, two pairs of eyes locked intently on her own. "I guess that's when I decided that it was really time to leave society for good." Her head lifted suddenly, all traces of anguish leaving to be replaces with her usual air of nonchalance. "But it's not really as tragic as I make it out to be, so just chillax about it, hmm?" Kaye nodded slowly.
"Do you have a mutant name?" he asked. Lowen looked surprised, then just laughed at the ridiculous nature of the question considering the severity of her previous monologue.
"Well, actually, I do," she smiled mischievously and leaned forward. "I'm the 'Gryphon'."
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"Well, you're in luck, Mister, ah..."
"Azazel. Just Azazel, if you please," the shadowed figure across from him corrected.
The man behind the desk nodded. "Yes, of course. Well, Azazel," he resumed. "We do have information on a mutant that fits your description. As you know, we're kind of an... unofficial records guild dedicated to the collection of data on assassins, mutants and otherwise. I'm actually impressed that you managed to find us. We're too underground for most seekers to even hear about us." The man smiled and leaned his elbows on the top of the desk, tapping the tips of his fingers together. "Do you have the money?" he nearly purred. A rather large suitcase was unceremoniously slammed in front of the informant, causing him to jump, and opened up, revealing a ridiculous number of stacked bills.
"Cash," his deep voice spoke shortly. "Now, tell me what I would like to know, Mr. Roden," he rumbled, sitting down on the leather chair across from his source.
"Ah, very good," the man said, adjusting himself from the previous shock. He carefully picked up a file and shuffled through it. "A man named Davin Wells, aka, Crossfire, a mutant who can manipulate fire, was sent out by a secret government agency..." At this, the man paused and looked up at his client. "I'm sorry, but you understand that the name of the agency is also classified unless more payment in given," he explained.
"I don't need the agency name. Just the basics. Please continue."
"Yes, yes, moving on... ahh...oh, yes. Mr. Wells was hired to bring back a class 5 feral mutant that was rumored to be residing in a national forest in Washington. Along the way, Mr. Wells hit a snag that involved another unrelated mutant and ended up going back to the agency a short time later with the mission being written up as a failure. But, that one mutant he did come across was one with the characteristics you requested we look up." Mr. Roden glance up with a triumphant smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. "Large white wings, Mr. Azazel. Mr. Wells had described them as 'angel wings'."
Azazel leaned back slowly in the chair, his shadowed expression not betraying any emotion. He was quiet for a moment as his source leaned forward eagerly, trying to gauge a reaction. Azazel stood up slowly, his tall, muscular figure towering over the desk.
"Thank you, Mr. Rowen. You have done well and told me what I needed to know. I appreciate your time and business." He reached out his hand which the other man grasped anxiously.
"Of course, of course, the pleasure is all mine, Mr. Azazel." The opposing man only rumbled a laugh.
"And now, if you don't mind, sir, I'm off to hunt an angel." With that, Azazel turned his back and disappeared suddenly in a fog of thick black smoke. Mr, Rowen grasped aloud, swearing that he had seen a forked red tail before his customer vanished.
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*"Babylon" is a traveler term referring vaguely to towns, cities, or current "modern society" in general.
Worked FOREVER on this chapter, and I'm still not sure I got it right! Hopefully I haven't lost anyone yet. Would you keep reading if I told you that the previously mentioned "feral mutant" may make an appearance in the next chapter..? :]
My apologies for the lack of Azazel. He'll be showing up soon, I can assure you! So please stick around. If you could also leave a review of some kind, that would be grand.
On a fun side note, the scenes with the hippies is based off my own life. I used to actually be a traveler before I got pregnant. The revenge with laxatives? We did that to a bad dude. The setting up a camp in the woods? Did that, too. And the character Spooky was actually my road dog (AKA, my "wingman", if you will) while out and about. So a lot of it's accurate portrayal of road life.