Disclaimer: … I don't think my attempts to use Pyro's powers have worn off… I have officially been banned from the kitchen due to my new appreciation for fire…
A/N: … I am getting sick of apologizing to you guys, who are so loyal and awesome for sticking with me… Just so you know, I am officially on summer break, and now I'll hopefully have way more time to write. So, I just want to thank you for sticking with me, and I hope you enjoy this chapter!
"…"- conversation
'…'- thoughts
(…)- extra facts/actions (some)
((…))- author's/my own thoughts
'blah…' -telepathy/what people say mentally
Chapter 45: Fears of the Imprisoned, Part 2
Hallway #14-20, Asteroid Evolution, Orbit of the Moon, Milky Way Galaxy- May 16, 10:05 PM
In hallway #14, Rahne tried to change into her werewolf form in an attempt to block out the images in her head but found that every time she tried resulted in the pain getting worse. She settled for howling in pain as images wrecked havoc on her mind. Rahne first imagined that she was back with her adoptive mother Moira McTaggert and her fiancé Sean Cassidy. Rahne was playing with some of the younger mutants who lived with Moira and Sean when she sensed a storm coming in from the north. Rahne hurried everyone inside and then stepped back outside. She sniffed the air, and tensed when she felt electricity jolt through her. Rahne instantly howled a warning, but before she could do anything else felt lightning streak past her and hit the research facility behind her. Rahne spun around and held back sobs as she watched her home away from home burst into flames. Rahne changed into her werewolf form and leapt towards the flames, hoping to try and find some way through the flames to save her family. Rahne ran around the complex, howling desperately, hoping to hear someone in response. After nearly ten minutes, Rahne finally realized that her attempts were futile, and she collapsed, drained of energy, and shifted back into her human form. Rahne burst into tears, realizing that her family had perished before her eyes and she had done nothing to save them.
Rahne then saw herself out on a romantic date with her boyfriend Roberto at a restaurant in downtown New York City. After dinner and some champagne, Roberto got out of his seat, and, kneeling on one knee, asked Rahne to marry him. Rahne felt small tears of joy running down her cheeks, and just as she was about to say yes, both mutants heard a whirring sound. Roberto got to his feet, and faced the restaurant's entrance, Rahne behind him. A Sentinel burst through the bay window, sending shattered glass all over. Roberto shot solar rays out of his hands at the robot, but they were just absorbed by the creature. Rahne began to morph, but before she could Roberto had shifted into his solar persona and flown up towards the robot, anger flashing in his eyes. Rahne shifted into her werewolf form, and prepared to leap at the robot but never did as she saw her boyfriend suddenly freeze in mid-motion. Rahne began to smell blood and sensed that it was from Roberto; she was right. Just as she was about to run and catch Roberto's body, she felt a searing pain from her stomach; she looked down and noticed that a large hole was where her stomach would usually be. Rahne felt her energy leaving her, and she collapsed, her eyes still focused on the now mangled body of Roberto that lay in front of her, his normally bright black eyes dull and glazed over.
Alex screamed as he saw himself being attacked by a Great White Shark in a surfing incident that was almost an exact replica of when he had first acquired his powers. Alex tried to paddle away from the shark, but his surfboard got caught on a barrier reef. After a few minutes of struggling to get his surfboard free, with every second bringing the shark closer, Alex resorted to trying to shoot energy beams out of his hands at the sea predator but found himself unable to. Alex tried time and again but failed as the beams refused to come, and his eyes widened when he saw the shark's mouth full of jagged, white teeth come closer and closer. In desperation, Alex finally jumped off the board and tried to swim to shore, which appeared to be about ten feet away. Just when he was about to reach land, however, he felt the shark overtake him and drag him back out to sea, where he was eaten alive.
Alex then saw himself at a small reunion held at the Institute. Along with his friends, Alex's adoptive parents, the Masters, and Lorna's sister had come as well. Alex stood with Lorna, her sister Diane, Scott, Jean, and some of his friends near the banquet table. Alex was having fun, paying compliments to Lorna and her sister as he talked with the small crowd around him, when all of a sudden the gates to the Institute swung open. Alex looked to the entrance to the school grounds and grew angry when he saw the FOH there, brandishing laser weapons, pitchforks, conventional weapons, and signs protesting the existence of mutants.. Xavier rolled forward and tried to reason with the invaders, but failed when he was shot in the chest and fell from his wheelchair to the lawn. The mutants there launched their attacks at the humans in retaliation, but the FOH pulled out a small device and negated all of the mutant powers present. Many of the mutants then launched into hand-to-hand combat, with Alex being one of those fighters, and as he fought he saw laser beams headed towards Lorna and her sister. Alex broke off his fight and ran towards the two women, taking the laser beams in the chest, but saw that they passed through him and still killed the women. Alex screamed in pain as he saw this and then fell unconscious, hearing Scott and his adoptive parents' screams of death before doing so.
In hallway #15, Leon could only scream in pain as he saw his mentor Todd being hung by his ankles by Erik, who was punishing the amphibious mutant for yet another attempt at gaining Wanda's affections. Leon tried to reason with the metal-wielding mutant to let Todd down, as his face was quickly turning blue then red as the blood rushed to his head. Erik ignored the pleas of mercy coming from the younger mutant and continued to hold Todd up by his ankles. After an hour or so Erik released Todd and walked away. Leon ran over to Todd, whose breathing was shallow. Leon tried to perform CPR to save Todd, but when Todd stopped breathing Leon began to cry silently over the one person who had treated him like he was really worth something and who had saved him from a life of a homeless teenager.
The image then switched to when Leon was playing poker with Remy, Piotr, and John, the latter having decided to try his luck. Just when Leon had won the game for the fifth time, the door to the Boardinghouse slammed open and Leon's parents walked in as if they owned the place. Leon's eyes filled with fear when his parents reached out to him and tried to convince him to return to being a thief. Remy tried to intervene on Leon's part, but before he could even begin to try and negotiate he was shot in the chest and fell backwards onto the floor, blood seeping into the carpet. Leon screamed in rage and morphed into a grizzly bear and began to run towards his parents, who aimed four pistols in front of him. Just when Leon had reached them he felt a searing pain in his chest and fell backwards, morphing into his human form as he did so. He then heard his parents' insane laughter as they shot all the Brotherhood and Acolyte members in the room and then left. Leon continued to hear their laughter mixed with his teammates' moans of agony as he faded into unconsciousness.
Lynn could only scream as she saw herself being poked fun at in her hometown because of her hair. Not another person in the town had her exact shade of red hair, and she was often made fun of because of it. When Lynn begged them to stop, they only continued to harass her. After a particularly gruesome incident, she finally couldn't take it anymore and screamed, chunks of ice exiting her mouth. When she stopped she saw through her tears that she had frozen all of her tormentors, along with her parents. Lynn was hunted down and burned at the stake for being a mutant.
Lynn then saw herself relaxing by the pool when the Brotherhood and Acolytes attacked. Lynn joined forces with Laura and began to fight, but soon found herself up against Pyro, who was slowly advancing with a firewall in front of him. Lynn and Laura backed up and then felt themselves get hit by hex bolts from the Scarlet Witch and plastic bullets from Shot. Laura fell unconscious while Lynn still stood, badly hurt. She managed to freeze the Scarlet Witch and Shot but then felt herself get hit by a large animal. When Lynn looked up from the ground she saw a giant black bear, which then morphed into a teen male about her age. Lynn watched in fear as he shifted again into a giant lion and, baring his fangs, lunged at her, making sure she never saw the light of day again.
In hallway #16, the newly captured Kitty had regained conscious and was now screaming in pain as she watched her parents, who were now divorced and living with other people, come to visit, and soon found themselves in the middle of a battle between the mutants and the FOH. Kitty desperately tried to make her way over to her parents and save them, but was held up by two members who tried to take her away. Kitty phased through them, causing their hearts to stop, and ran over to her parents but found them dead, blood seeping from their bodies from numerous laser wounds. Kitty shut down and became lifeless, her eyes losing all spark of life as she fell to her knees and mourned her parents, not hearing Lance call her name or the laser beams heading towards her.
The image then switched, showing herself on a date with Lance. She was having a great time. She was telling a story about what some of her students had accidentally "hacked" into and was giggling the whole time. Lance put his arms around his girlfriend and kissed the top of her head, and Kitty snuggled into his embrace. They sat there, enjoying the day, but were startled when they heard the bushes rattle behind them. Lance and Kitty got to their feet and got ready to fight, but were unprepared when Kitty saw what looked like Scott's eye beams shoot out and catch Lance in the chest. Kitty screamed his name as he fell to his knees and ran to help, but was held back by telekinesis. Kitty looked behind her and saw a smirking Scott and Jean Summers. Kitty couldn't believe they'd go and break them up again; not when she had made them promise to leave Lance and her alone. Kitty tried to phase out of Jean's grip, but couldn't, and could only watch with tears streaming down her face as Lance was shot again and again with Scott's beams, unable to retaliate. Finally, Scott stopped and Kitty screamed when she saw Lance's body flat on the ground, still smoking from Scott's numerous attacks. Kitty felt Jean's grip loosen, and she ran over to Lance and fell to her knees, crying. She didn't hear Scott and Jean leave, both of them chuckling as they knew their job was done – that Lance was eliminated from Kitty's life forever.
Lance, now having just regained consciousness, could only hear himself as he screamed in agony, his powers going out of control. Lance could only watch as he saw a younger version of himself being sucked into the ground by his powers, him not having any control over them. He then watched as he came back as an adult years later, his powers under control but the life from him gone. Lance shivered as he saw the shell of himself begin to wreck havoc on the world, not caring who he hurt, not caring that he called the magma up from the earth's core and caused the earth's core to heat to such an extent that the earth began to implode, and closed his eyes as he saw the evil smirk that plastered itself on Lance's face as he watched the earth begin to implode, his evil side showing what it was capable of.
Lance then saw himself on a picnic near the ocean with Kitty, and they were thoroughly enjoying themselves when they got a communication from Logan telling them they needed to return to the Institute right away. When Lance and Kitty got to the school, they found it deserted. Kitty phased them inside, and they were met with the charred and bloody bodies of their friends, including the Brotherhood and Acolytes. Both Lance and Kitty were shocked to see this sight, and Kitty buried her face in Lance's shirt. Both were too shocked to sense someone's presence behind them. Lance felt himself get stabbed in the back with a dagger and screamed in pain, but when he turned to see who had hurt him his eyes widened when he saw Erik with a metal stake against Kitty's neck. Lance tried to get to her but the pain from his back wound was too intense. Lance tried to use his magnetic powers to take the metal stake from Erik, but before he could Erik stabbed it into Kitty's chest, killing her instantly. Lance grew angrier than he had ever been before and grabbed metal from around Erik. He then formed it into metal arrows and was about to shoot them at the man when he felt himself get stabbed again. Lance turned around and saw Raven there, smiling. Lance's eyes widened in disbelief, and he felt himself fall to the floor, the life draining out of the two large back wounds in large amounts of blood.
Amanda Sefton, one of the few humans that the X-Men trusted completely, was also screaming in pain, but unlike the others did not have a mutation inhibition collar on, the reason being that no one outside of the Xavier Institute knew that Amanda was a sorceress. The only reason Erik had kidnapped her in the first place was as an incentive for Kurt to do his bidding; that is, if he chose to use Kurt as something more than an entertainment value while he was a prisoner.
Amanda saw herself training with her mother Magali when Kurt showed up unexpectedly and begged for the two female sorceresses for their help in quelling an FOH attack on both the Institute and the Brotherhood house. Amanda got ready to go, but before she was out the door she turned back to see if Magali was coming. When she saw Magali standing in the house, not having moved an inch, she tried to convince her mother to come and help but Magali resolutely refused. When Kurt added in with his pleas, Magali seemed to lose her mind and shot magic at the mutant. Kurt screamed in pain as he felt his mind being torn apart, with Magali's help of course. Amanda screamed and tried to reverse the process, but no matter what she yelled at her mother, nothing changed; Magali was still attacking Kurt without regret. Amanda began to sob uncontrollably when she realized her mother had killed her boyfriend, and the last thing she remembered before running was Kurt's lifeless body on the floor of her living room.
The scene switched to Amanda's helping the X-Sword team adjust to life outside the Institute's walls so that they would be able to see that even though they were mutants, they could still act like normal teenagers. While taking the girls to a clothing store, she felt her head begin to hurt. She clutched it and fell to the floor, the girls gathering around her, asking if she was okay. Amanda looked up and saw their worried looks, and knew something was wrong with her but it felt like… like she wasn't there. She saw herself use her powers to kill off the girls one by one, laughing all the while. Kurt and the boys soon showed up and, although he tried to stop her he failed when his charges were killed too, followed by his long and painful death, Amanda laughing evilly as she performed the deed.
In hallway #17 Mark tried to act brave and keep his emotions in check ,but failed when the images in his head got much worse. Mark could feel the jabs of his classmates after he returned from the field trip with his green-toned skin. "Hey mutie, you get into the plant-growing business?" jabbed his best friend Dale Girot. Mark's eyes glowed green and he tensed up, getting ready to shoot vines out at the aggressors and pin them in place. Mark stopped as he heard his girlfriend say, "Mark, or should I say Vine-Man now? Anyway, thought that you'd want to know that we are done. I can't risk my reputation by being seen with you, now can I?" Mark turned around and his now green-blue eyes met the olive green ones of his now ex-girlfriend Samantha Zam. Mark reached out to her, trying to grab her and reassure her that he was the same person. But that didn't happen. Instead, vines shot out of his fingers and pinned Samantha to the wall of the hallway where she yelled and struggled to get free. Dale jumped to her aid and tried to pull the vines off her, but instead managed to get himself pinned to the wall as well. Mark was too shocked to even try and control his powers but by the time he realized that he could retract the vines it was too late. His ex-best friend and ex-girlfriend were both dead, blood staining the school hallway.
Mark's mind switched to his family. Amazingly, they were on good terms and had accepted him for him. Mark was at a family reunion, and they were chatting amiably, grilling hot dogs and hamburgers. Just as Mark was about to go and greet his cousin Andrew explosions began to rain down on them from what appeared to be a large, dark red robot. Mark threw up a vine barrier and did his absolute best to protect his family, but the barrier became weaker and weaker with each consecutive hit. Finally, only Mark and Andrew were left. Mark lowered the barrier, and saw the havoc around him, including the burned bodies of his family. Suddenly, a gunshot rang out and Mark froze, then turned around and saw Andrew dead on the ground, a small bullet hole present in the back of his head. Mark looked up into the steel-gray eyes of Shot, and before he could react saw her shoot another bullet out of her hand and it struck him right between the eyes. Mark saw no more.
Opal screamed at the top of her lungs as the pain engulfed her mind, urging her to release her anger, but finding she couldn't do anything but scream. Opal watched as the gentleman Erik had been to her when she first came to the Brotherhood house changed into an evil man, bent on world destruction. Opal, the Brotherhood and Acolytes teamed together in an attempt to kill Erik and Raven. Opal shot off round after round of bullets while Wanda used her hexes to try to stop the two mutants' powers. After what seemed like a lifetime, the smoke cleared and Opal saw herself as the only one left standing, with Erik and Raven slowly advancing on her. She looked and saw all of her teammates dead, including Wanda, who was curled up in a ball, John's body draped protectively over her. Opal found herself staring into the ice-blue eyes of Erik and the yellow ones of Raven and she found for the first time absolute fear. Opal was frozen in place; she couldn't move even if she wanted to, and the last thing she remembered was staring once more into those ice-blue eyes.
Opal's images then switched to her family, who had all but disowned her when her powers emerged. Just as they were about to kick her out of her home and the only life she'd ever known, something inside her snapped. She swung around and instead of yelling at her parents like she had before she aimed all ten fingers at them and fired off a dozen rounds into each family member's body. When Opal regained control of herself, she stared in horror at what she had done. Her whole family was lying at her feet, their bodies sporting numerous bullet holes, their life-blood seeping slowly out of their bodies and staining her white sneakers a deep crimson. Opal heard sirens and tried to run, but was instantly surrounded by the police. When she tried to escape she felt her arms being held behind her back and struggled to get free, in the process accidentally shooting the officer behind her. Opal screamed as she felt the police breaking her wrists so she could no longer access her powers, and felt the tears burn down her face as the officers aimed their guns at her. Opal didn't run; she knew she was done for, and indeed, a moment later she felt nothing but pain and darkness envelop her.
In hallway #18, Ross tried to stay brave, like he had been taught, but failed as he saw himself go into a berzerker mode that his legendary samurai ancestors had had. Rose's eyes glowed dark red, and he changed his arms into two samurai swords, and he ran throughout the Institute, slashing every person or object he came across. When he reached the end of his rampage, only a badly wounded Brittany was left. Ross looked at her and raised his arms in the air, mentally telling his blades to merge into one huge sword. Ross's ears let in the faint pleas of his friend, her words slowly traveling to his brain to try and get him to regain his sanity and then to his heart. Ross could feel his senses slowly returning to him, but before he regained full control over his emotions and body he saw himself bring his blade down and into Brittany's chest. Ross cried out in pain at the same time Brittany did, and could watch as he pulled out her heart on the tip of his blade, his hot tears now falling to mix with the flowing blood of one of his best friends in America.
Ross then saw himself back in Tokyo and on the same day he had discovered he was a mutant. However, instead of managing to escape the bullies unharmed like before, he saw himself, like through a dream, slash his swords at the bullies' chests, cutting them wide open. Ross's eyes widened when he realized that he was no longer himself; he was a monster. Ross's arms slowly changed back to normal, and he raced away from the murder scene, tears burning in his eyes. When he got home, he encountered his angry parents, who blamed him for the murders and banished him from his home. Ross's anger once more overtook him, and he slashed his arms at his parents, murdering them instantly. Ross then ran, but was eventually captured by the police and executed for his crimes.
Brittany could only feel the hot tears as they rolled down her cheeks as she watched herself fail her teammates in battle. Brittany saw her team in a simulation where she was the radio transmitter for her whole team. When the time came for her to do her job, she froze, her voice lodged in her throat. After her teammates called out to her for what seemed like hours but was only ten minutes, Brittany snapped out of her daze and tried to talk with Tyne, but found that her radio wasn't working; the only thing she heard was static. It was the same with all of the other radios. Brittany panicked and abandoned her post, racing into the Danger Room and suddenly stopping when she saw her whole team on the floor, dead. Brittany knew it was her fault, and she sank to her knees, crying hysterically as she felt her friends' dreams and aspirations fall on her shoulders and give her the responsibility to carry them out. Brittany cried as she realized just what she had done.
Brittany next saw herself back on her family's farm in Indianapolis, Indiana and she watched as she led her brother's favorite horse out to the paddock. When Brittany got there she saw a wild wolf prowling the perimeter of the paddock. The horse she was leading reared up and Brittany struggled to control the massive creature while at the same time shoo the wolf away. The wolf merely advanced closer to the young teen, its jaws bared fiercely. The horse continued to rear up on its legs while Brittany desperately tried to calm it down, but to no avail. Suddenly the wolf pounced and bit the horse on the neck, tapping directly into its jugular vein and killing it instantly. Brittany tripped over herself as she ran back to the barn, and when she told her family what had happened found that they did not believe her. When she yelled at them to believe her the wolf, which had followed its prey back to its den – the barn – pounced on Brittany's family and massacred them. Brittany could only watch in horror as she saw her whole world crumble in front of her in the span of thirty minutes.
In hallway #19, Laura saw herself once more at her junior prom where she was slow dancing with her now ex-boyfriend of six months Troy Black. Troy leaned down to kiss her and Laura responded eagerly, but when she was suddenly bumped she felt a beam of energy emerge from her eyes and hit Troy directly in the chest, killing him instantly. Laura couldn't shut her eyes like last time, and she could only watch and hear as she killed all of her classmates, and heard their screams of pain and death. When Laura could finally shut her eyes, she heard police sirens and since she couldn't see couldn't move. Laura heard the officers come in and tell her her rights as she was arrested for one hundred counts of first-degree murder. Laura's eyes dripped down wet tears as she bemoaned her curse and the loss of life at her hands.
Laura then saw herself at the Institute, sitting in front of the TV watching a movie that she had always had an obsession with – The Phantom of the Opera. Laura's crush Aaron took a seat beside her, and they watched the movie together, Laura's eyes misting when the phantom let his love go to the man she truly loved and left. When the movie ended, Laura had her head on Aaron's shoulder and he was stroking her platinum-blond hair. Suddenly, a rumbling was heard and the walls began to cave in on the two teenagers. Laura and Aaron were both caught under the rubble, and when the smoke cleared both were trapped, their hands intertwined. Aaron smiled and said, "Laura, even if I don't survive I want you to live…" Aaron then transferred all his energy to Laura and after he had finished his task died, unaware of Laura's screams of pain. Laura couldn't believe that Aaron had given his life to save hers, and before she could even tell him how she felt; she knew she would live with the pain and guilt forever.
Aaron screamed as he saw a slow-motion replay of the accident in which his powers had emerged. However, unlike the last time, he was unable to reach his parents in time, and they died in front of his eyes. Aaron screamed as he felt their life forces cease to exist in his realm and move on to the next, and then collapsed himself, waking up a few weeks later as an orphan and an outsider. Aaron ran away from foster home after foster home until he began to get involved with drugs, and eventually got caught by the authorities for selling weed to young children. Aaron cringed as he felt the brutal sting of the whip as he was punished for his actions and then left to rot in a prison cell in the California State Jail.
Aaron's mind then focused on a scene from a few days ago, when he and Laura were relaxing by the pool at the Institute, enjoying the company each other provided. When Aaron was about to ask Laura out the skies suddenly darkened and lightning flashed angrily above them. Laura refused to go inside the mansion, not taking notice of the lightning above her, and so Aaron offered to stay outside with her. After a few minutes, lighting suddenly forked out of the sky and struck Laura dead on. The mutant collapsed to the ground, unaware that Aaron was now desperately trying to save her life by using her powers. Aaron couldn't touch her skin without getting burned from the temperature that the lighting had caused her body to become. Aaron had to wait for five minutes before he could even try to revive her, but no matter how hard he tried he failed, as she was too far-gone. Aaron was left crying over the dead body of his crush, the tears mixing with the rain from above.
In hallway #20, Devon tried his best to keep up his nonchalant attitude but failed as the pain in his mind overtook him and he gave in to the screaming that had been threatening to erupt. Devon once more saw himself out on the ocean, surfing the deep blue sea, but this time he was with Alex and his girlfriend Lorna. Devon grinned at the two and saw a massive wave heading his way and, being his cocky self while surfing quickly paddled out to meet the wave. Devon stood up and began to move along the wave's crest, doing his best to impress one of his best friends at the Institute and his surfing companion. Devon was having a swell time when he saw a huge white fin heading for both Alex and Lorna, and instantly recognized it as a Great White Shark's dorsal fin. Devon tried to yell out a warning, but the rushing water around him drowned his voice out. Devon morphed into a Killer Whale and swam as fast as he could towards Alex and Lorna, roaring out an alarm, but he was too late. Devon pulled up and could only watch as the shark tore into Lorna, her once bright green hair now streaked with blood. Alex shot dark green energy beams at the shark while trying to gently pull Lorna onto his board, but the shark merely swam right through the energy beams and rammed into Alex and Lorna, tossing them into the sea. Devon couldn't move; he was frozen as he watched the events unfold, but only when he heard Alex's screams of pain as the shark tore into him and dragged both him and Lorna under the surface did he break out of his trance. Devon dove under water and desperately looked for the two mutants, but when he couldn't find them broke the ocean's surface and changed back into his human form, the tears running down his face as he realized that it was because of his failure to warn Alex and Lorna that they were now dead.
Devon next saw himself in a repeat of the battle in which he had just recently participated. Devon watched in slow motion as he once more pushed Erica out of the way of Gambit's attack and, like before, she swatted his hand away and told him to leave her alone. This time, Devon saw another attack coming, and pushed Erica out of the way again only to be once more rebuked for his actions. Erica then took off for the other side of the Danger Room, and Devon could only feel his blood boil; didn't she realize that he was only trying to protect her because he cared about her? Obviously not. Devon shook his head and ran after Erica again, but felt a chill shoot down his spine when he saw Erica slump to the ground. Devon ran over to Erica and gently put her head in his lap, his eyes widening as he felt and saw the dark red blood that ran from a sharp head wound in Erica's head. Devon tried to stop the bleeding but couldn't; his senses from being able to morph into a shark sensed the amount of blood that was lost, and he knew it was too late. Devon let the tears silently fall down his face as he mourned the fate of his crush.
Erica screamed as the pain in her head increased tenfold because she was unable to reflect it back at someone or something. Erica's mind brought up images of when she had been bullied when she was younger, and at this time she had had no way of defending herself. Erica watched as the biggest bully – JP Brown – advanced on her menacingly. This was when Erica was only thirteen years old, and no matter how hard Erica tried she couldn't outrun the bully. Erica looked back over her shoulder and tripped over a brick, twisting her ankle. JP stopped in front of her and knelt so he was eye level with her. He softly told her what he was going to do to her, and Erica closed her eyes so she wouldn't have to watch what he was doing to her and to her body.
The scene switched to an incident in the rec. room earlier that week when Devon had run into the room, grabbed the remote from Erica's hand, and changed the channel to surfing. Erica consequently became pissed at the action and tackled the shape-shifter, grappling for the remote, but failed when Devon tossed her to the ground. Erica pretended to be knocked out and when Devon leaned closer to see if she was all right, she pulled him off the couch and they ended up staring into each other's eyes. Both unconsciously leaned in for a kiss, but instead of the kiss happening, a stream of lasers blew past Erica's closed eyes and she heard Devon scream. Erica's eyes shot open, and what she saw was seared into her memory – Devon's eyes were wide open in shock as a gaping hole in both his head and chest were leaking blood, and Erica instantly knew he was dead. Her eyes closed once more as the Devon's blood dripped onto her and she shook with silent tears at her friend's loss.