Perfect Synergy
"It is only through labor and painful effort, by grim energy and resolute courage, that we move on to better thing." – Theodore Roosevelt
I've already explained to you how most people in the world would never experience anything they couldn't explain with logic. Most people in the world also couldn't truthfully say they experienced something like I did later that day we played soccer together. Pure and utter terror. That is one experience I'm sure would haunt most people, as it haunted me. How I dearly wished that it had never happened at all. It's the sort of thing you think back on and you feel sick to your stomach. And as I was washing the sweat and mud from my skin I can honestly say I had no idea what would transpire in just a couple of hours. Perhaps if I hadn't gotten ahead of myself I wouldn't have lost a close friend to the cold clutches of death. Perhaps I had nothing to do with it.
I'll never know now.
Still, there I stood, completely unaware of what would happen in the next hour. I was stark naked underneath the cascade of steaming water, washing my skin of the filth that had accumulated atop of it. Sure, I'm a tomboy, but I don't like feeling like I'm encased in a sweat cocoon. I don't think anyone does. Luckily for me the showers were in the hallway to my room (which also happened to be where all of our rooms were). In the stall next to me was my dear friend, Raven, who had managed to get her ears plugged by mud. I have no idea how she did it! It had nothing to do with the mud I threw at her I'm sure!
"I'm going to get you back for this!" Raven joked from the other side of the concrete wall that separated us. I laughed at her not-so threatening promise as I began scrubbing my lifeless hair.
The rest of our showering was spent in moderate silence. We both decided it was rather awkward to start a conversation while neither of us were wearing clothes. I finished my shower before Raven, I didn't like to linger. There were places to go, mutants to see, agents to annoy. It was truly the best life I could've asked for. I should've known better. I grabbed the towel I had laid out for myself and I wrapped it around my chest. Then, in a sudden urge to do something spontaneous, I grabbed Raven's towel and whipped her with it.
She squealed at the impact but was unable to chase me due to the fact I was already booking it out of there and she was, well, naked. I pushed the swinging door that led out into the hallway open and started towards my room when I stumbled into someone/something and I dropped my towel because of it. I looked down, grabbed the towel, and put it back into place.
"So you actually have boobs. Who knew?" A certain redhead joked. I glared at Sean who seemed to have just taken a shower as well. His curly red locks were plastered against his forehead and skin still seemed a little wet. Luckily for me he had put on a pair of jeans. How embarrassing would it have been of we were both naked?
I gave the redhead a shove just as he started waving to somebody. I turned to see the heel of a shoe disappear into the room to the right of the showers. 'Wonder who that was.'
Sean smirked. "Wow, I don't think I've ever seen Hank redder!"
'Oh my Gandhi.' I smacked my forehead with my palm. Hank finally got the real life anatomy lesson he so desperately needed but I didn't want to be from me! There was no doubt in my mind that Hank was the sweetest guy I had ever met, he just wasn't my type! Not to mention that he had a thing for Raven! Well the damage had been done. I'd have to apologize to him later.
"Aww, you two are so cute." Sean joked before heading back to his own room across the hall from Hank's.
"He's not my type!" I hissed at him.
He gave me a wink and entered his room. The door shutting behind him forced me into action. Raven told me that my room was next to Sean's. So that was either the door in front of the showers or the one on the other side. I tried the one right across from the showers. I placed my wet hand on the handle and tested it, the door didn't open!
'Is it stuck?' I gave it a bit of a shove and it opened.
If this was my room I was going to go complain. But it wasn't, so I didn't. It was already occupied and not by my junk. By the looks of it someone had been there for several days, and by looking at the clothing neatly folded and the infinite number of books I would've guessed that it was Charles's room. I glanced around. That man really was a bit OCD. I was about to head out when something caught my eye, Charles' paperboy bag. Cigarettes? Possibly, hopefully!
I ripped open the bag and there they were. Twelve cartons of pure smokey greatness. Why did I have so many packs? Well, whenever someone came to visit me or whenever I went home over holiday breaks people would give me a pack. Those people being my brothers. I've accumulated a lot because it's not really accommodating to the school rules to smoke. You smoked only where you could which was mostly the roof. Problem here was that I was stark naked and I wanted to carry twelve packs of Camels out of a room that wasn't my own. Oh well. It was two doors to my left I'd survive. I grabbed the bag, deciding it would be easier to empty them out there and then bring the bag back.
Carefully and quietly I exited Charles's room. I kept one hand clasping the towel as I scooted down the hall to my own abode. Making sure no one was looking I pushed my door open only to see Darwin sitting on, what I thought to be, my bed reading some sort of book. 'Dammit!' I swore to myself. It still wasn't my room.
"Sorry for intruding, Raven told me my room was next to Sean's. Clearly it's not since I've been to both rooms on either side of his and I arrived in Charles and Darwin land. No Max land. I'm leaving. Goodbye." I finished my monologue and left the same way I came. I didn't even give Darwin a chance to respond, I just headed on out of there. Again, I was naked. You really can't blame me.
First, I was going to bang like hell on Sean's door to make sure that it indeed was his room. I planted both feet on the floor in front of his door, squeezed my hands around Charles' bag and my towel and pounded on the door with the heel of my foot. Maybe I should try knocking more often. The door in front of me opened and there stood in a muscle tee and jeans: Alex. 'Dammit!'
I gave him a second to apprehend that I was barely wearing anything before asking. "Is the pothead in here?"
Alex looked at me as if I was speaking Arabic. I snapped twice in his face and he seemed to come back to reality. "Oh, yeah. Come on in." He stepped back to let me through. I walked past him to see Sean lounging shirtless on Alex's bed. He gave me a goofy smile.
"Hey! What can I do you for, miss?" He slurred slightly, my eyes going straight to the joint in between his fingers.
'Seriously, Sean. Give it a rest!' I rolled my eyes at the sight. "Where the hell is your room?" I asked bluntly. I was getting sick and tired of wandering around the halls with nothing to guard myself from the world. If someone jumped me it would be very hard to defend myself without flashing him. If I had to though I would in a heartbeat. I should've brought some clothes into the showers like Raven had but I hadn't accounted for the chaos that would transpire after my shower because, well, I sort of assumed our rooms had our names on them. I hadn't even been in my room yet! Raven dropped off my bag in my room for me and that was that! I guess that's what I get for being lazy!
The red head shoved himself off the bed. "Need help finding your room?"
That question didn't warrant a response. I just placed one hand, the hand holding Charles' bag, on my hip and gave Sean the sassiest look I could muster.
"I'll take that as a yes." He smirked. He put out his joint on his jeans, tucked it behind his ear, and headed out the door Alex was still holding open. Hesitantly, I followed.
We headed to our right, past Charles's room, past the showers, and then two doors left of the showers we stopped. Sean made an over exaggerated bow and gestured to the door to his right. I opened it and surely, there it was, my room. My bag was on my bed and Raven left some of her clothes here for me to wear. How sweet of her! And I'm actually being sincere.
"Isn't that Charles's bag?" Sean asked from behind me before I slammed the door in his face. I was still a bit spiteful I suppose.
So I decided it was about time that I put some clothes on after I paraded around the base naked for a good while to give all the guys observing the security tapes a little show. I grabbed a pair of underwear out of my bag, a pair of washed out blue jeans, and a white long sleeved fitted shirt that Raven left me. Oh, and my ace bandages. Can't forget those puppies! I then proceeded to get dressed. Don't want to bore you with the details of that. I quickly dumped out my packs of cigarettes so I could run to Charles's room, toss the bag, and run right back to my own. Carefully I opened my door and peered out. No one in sight. Alright Watson, looks like the coast was clear! But now I had to remember two to the right and across the hall and then not forget that. I creeped out of my room slowly, my grip tightening around the bag.
Quietly I tiptoed back to Charles's room. 'Remember, Max, the door sticks.' I twisted the handle and gave the door a nice hearty shove. I stumbled into the room, tossed the bag back where I found it, and quickly left before anyone was none the wiser! Just as the door shut behind me the door across from mine opened and a familiar mocha skinned girl peered out.
"What's with all the doors opening and closing?" Angel asked and she sounded a little irritated. Made sense. Pretty sure I had opened about seven doors in the past minute.
"I got lost, but I'm good now!" I reassured her as she shrugged and ducked back into her room. Giving myself just a moment to smile at her retreating figure, I ran back to my room the moment she shut her door. I'll admit, I had a little bit of trouble with the handle. Too used to the countless swinging doors all throughout the base. They were right to believe I was too stupid to operate handles accordingly. After a second I finally got it open. Once inside I finally felt as if I could relax. I fell face first on my bed and allowed myself a second or two of rest.
That second or two turned into a few minutes. When I came to there was someone knocking at my door. I lifted my head from my sheets, out of the puddle of drool I'm not ashamed to admit I made, and mumbled a groggy acknowledgment. The door opened and a bubbly blonde pushed her way through. A bubbly blonde with dry hair... How long had I been asleep?
"Wow, that's not lady like!" Raven laughed, probably meaning my drool. I raised my middle finger towards her as I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes. She laughed. "Come on pumpkin wipe that shmuck off your face, it's time to get up!"
"Hnnnngh." I groaned.
"All us mutants are going to hang out in the break room again tonight." She replied like I had asked a question.
"Nnnnnn." I continued to groan.
"Yes, all us mutants includes you." Wow, she is really good at understanding my unintelligible mumbles and grumbles! I had no idea I was even saying anything!
I guess I decided to stop protesting because I stood up from my bed, ruffled my slightly damp hair, wiped my drool on my sleeve, and tried to open my eyes. Too bright, but I'd have to grin and bear it. Actually, frown and bear it but that's not the correct phrase. "Let's get this over with." I raked a hand down my face.
"That's the spirit!" Raven grabbed my hand and did that thing that she loves most, dragging me about the base. Joy.
Good thing I was completely out of it because before I knew it I was amongst my friends once more. Granted, I was asleep on the coffee table and Sean kept nudging me with his nasty foot. Several times I nearly fell off the table swatting it away. I could hear everyone snickering, chuckling, chortling, or giggling around me.
"Think we should shove her off?" Raven or Angel asked, I was still too sleepy to determine whose voice belonged to whom but it was surely female.
I didn't even have time to object. I was promptly shoved from the table and onto the carpeted ground. I wouldn't have minded this much except for the fact I was lying on two pairs of feet. Uncomfortable feet.
"Guys, stop torturing her." Darwin called from his position at the pinball machine. I was lucid enough to single out his unique voice.
'At least someone's on my side.'
Finally, I gave up. I opened my overly tired eyes, sadly I always get like this after I fall asleep. If I don't get at least an hour I won't be able to function. I then began to lift myself up to standing. Much to the discomfort of the owners of the feet I was crushing. And eventually there I was, standing in front of Hank and Sean, realizing that my left boob really hurt. Must've been what was lying on, Hank's shoes. I then trudged over to one of the arm chairs and plopped down. Three of the four mutants occupying the two couches were laughing hysterically. Hank was at least chuckling silently. I gave them all the finger, regardless.
"Awww, don't be like that!" Sean laughed.
"You're lucky I haven't punched you in the face, ginger boy." I groaned with a yawn.
"Jesus, man, you're killin' me!" Darwin complained from across the room.
"Don't beat yourself up, I've had a lot of spare time." Alex replied. I turned to look at Alex's score. Near 2,000. That boy was damn good at pinball.
When I turned back to look out the recently fixed display window overlooking the courtyard I saw two agents entering my field of view stage left. I was severely hoping they would just pass by like all the other agents had, but of course they didn't! They stopped right in the centre of the window. One of them extended their arms wide and exclaimed, "Oh, I didn't know the circus was in town! Hey, come on honey give us a little," He made a noise mocking Angel's flying and made flapping motions with his hands. Clearly meant in a derogatory way. Ass.
No one obliged the disgusting pig in front of us. I have to admit, I woke up a little after he spoke. He stirred the ball of Dugan rage inside of me. Didn't take much but we didn't sit around while other people were taking flak. We stood tall and knocked assholes down.
"No? Come on, let's see the foot." The agent said switching attention from insecure former stripper to insecure CIA researcher. The agent reached towards the ground and brought his foot towards it, emphasizing his point. Thank God that window was between us or I would've throttled him.
Much to our surprise, Hank stood with a mouth full of cashews. The standing part was surprising, not the cashews. Who didn't love cashews?
"There it is, come on, Bigfoot." Agent Asswipe continued. Hank actually approached him. Well, he was walking in that general direction but I wasn't quite sure what he was thinking. I started to understand when he was walking towards the button that controlled the curtains. Agent Asswipe seemed to make the connections around the same time that I did, "Hey, hey, come on, heeeey!" He whined as Hank shut the curtains and gave him a nice proper salute goodbye. Good for you, Hank!
When Hank sat back down I noticed the odd face Angel was making. It wasn't a funny sort of odd, more like a sad odd. Good thing Raven noticed too because I could not deal with tears if my life depended on it.
"They're just guys being stupid." Raven consoled, rubbing Angel's upper arm as she did.
Angel turned to look at her friend with a venomous expression painted across her face. "Guys being stupid I can handle, okay? I've handled them my whole life. But I'd rather a bunch of guys stare at me with my clothes off then the way those ones stare at me." She explained with a stone cold resolute.
"At us." Raven tacked onto the end of Angel's sentence. Okay, even I knew not to do that to a girl who was having a moment. Sometimes Raven really needed to keep quiet and just simply listen.
Suddenly, in the midst of everything that wasn't happening, I could feel something... something not entirely natural. I could feel increased heart rates all throughout the base. And before you ask, yes I can feel heart beats. Only because they're influenced by the natural electrical currents through all living things. But this was strange, it was like every adult on the base was having a heart attack. That's when the thuds could be heard and the high heart rates flat lined. Something wasn't right, and by 'wasn't right' what I really meant was 'was severely wrong'.
It wasn't long before the thuds started catching everyone else's attention.
"What was that?" Darwin asked the universe, "I don't know... something doesn't feel right." He muttered to himself. Darwin left Alex's pinball company to approach the curtained window. Alex followed after shooting one last ball. Actually we all got up from where we were sitting to look out the window as Darwin pushed the curtain button. At a glance, nothing seemed off. But we all had better instincts than that. Years of watching every move we make to make sure no one knows of the special powers we possess keeps us all agile, alert, and aware. Triple A. Just like my boobs. Sorry, trying to break the tension. Back in the present we all craned our necks up to the sky. There were two distinct black shapes floating against the light of the moon. Now that certainly wasn't right.
"What is that...?" Darwin asked just as one of the two shapes vanished in a puff of smoke and the other began to plummet towards the ground.
A harsh tenor scream resonated throughout the base. It got louder and louder as the shape descended. We all knew that it wasn't just a shape. It's just a lot easier to face it if you pretend that you don't know. But when it hit the ground with a deafening crack, that scream fell silent and another one bubbled out of Raven beside me. We all jumped back a bit at the impact, and a few of us jumped back even more when we saw that it was Agent Black bleeding all over the pavement outside the window. The one agent that we all truly enjoyed, he was kind, gentle, and most of all, understanding and accepting. He had believed in mutants (or something similar to us) before he even met us. We just solidified his theories.
I stopped thinking about Agent Black since more and more bodies met his same fate. Raven cowered into me, tears threatening to burst from her green eyes. We watched as agents began filing out of miscellaneous doors. Each of them was packing some heavy artillery. Some of them were in protective, some weren't. Looks like they were going to need it. One of the unprotected agents pounded on the window we had backed away from.
"Get back, get back! Do not leave that room, we're under attack!" He yelled just as a man with red skin in a black suit appeared where the statue once stood with a menacing blade in each hand.
"Dumb ass! Turn around!" I screamed, effectively causing the man to do just that. He commanded his fellow agents to shoot. Which they did.
Not that it mattered how many bullets they fired, the red skinned man was, one, probably a mutant, and two, materializing and disappearing before a bullet could even reach him. As the man who told us to stand back started firing the blade wielding possible mutant, who looked dangerously close to the devil, appeared behind him and forced him to shoot out the window before killing him quickly. Outside the other window, a tornado raged across the field we had played soccer on. It crossed paths with the golfball structure, successfully ripping it to shreds.
One by one, the agents began to fall. That eery flat-lining that I felt earlier was happening again. God how I hated that. Not only was I watching these brave souls die, I could also feel it in the very core of my existence. That's when I noticed Darwin hovering over us protectively. I have to admit if I could have anyone be my human shield I would pick, no questions asked, the mighty Darwin. As we watched more and more agents fall, Raven became more and more scared. I ran a callused hand through her blonde locks in a futile attempt to soothe her.
"Stay here my ass!" Darwin suddenly yelled, clearly fed up with being told to remain on the sidelines. I didn't blame him, I was getting sick of sitting by and doing nothing too. "Let's go!" He then stood up from his crouched position and walked at an increased pace out of the swinging doors. Not seeing any other alternative, we all followed suit. Raven was running rather hysterically towards the end of the hallway that was occupied by a couple of agents who were firing at something else entirely. The base was being completely and utterly ambushed.
"Get back!" An armoured agent yelled at us.
"We can help!" Darwin yelled back. In truth, we could've. But an explosion that occurred somewhere else in the building was sending shock waves back into the hallway we were standing in.
We all quickly turned, all except for Raven who was practically frozen where she stood. I grabbed her hand. "Raven, honey, c'mon we need to go!" She still didn't budge. "Raven!"
Seeing as my words were next to pointless I pulled her back by force and nearly threw her into the break room. To our right, the last of the agents were being killed off. And to our left, a lone agent was trying to stop the tornado. I don't know how he thought he was going to do that but A for effort! The man was picked up by the tornado easily and was chucked through the last intact window to the break room.
He rolled towards Hank, dead. Back in the courtyard there were two agents left. One being moved around like a puppet, the puppeteer being devil man, while the other was trying to shoot the man controlling him while keeping a bullet out of his fellow agent. He pulled the trigger and the agent fell. Devil man disappeared with a puff of smoke and reappeared with another, killing off the last agent, earning one last heartbreaking cry from Raven. I wrapped her closer to me as she soaked my shirt with salty tears.
Out in the field that once housed the golfball structure, a man in a purplish grey suit stepped through while tugging at the lapels of his jacket. Opposite him the devil man also stepped into the room, never sheathing the blades. We all had turned so we were facing the swinging doors, a few more gun shots resonated, signaling the arrival of the last third of the murdering, destructive trio.
"Wait! Wait! Y-you want the mutants? They're right through that door, just leave us normal people alone, we're no threat-" The weasel didn't even get to finished his sentence before being silenced by a sickening crack. I guess I shouldn't blame him for wanting to save himself, but he didn't have to condemn us in the process.
A man in a dark blue suit ensemble with a bright red neckerchief tied neatly around his neck entered our midst. That wasn't the thing that caught my attention. The thing that caught my eye was the blue helmet on his head. He looked absolutely ridiculous. But I didn't let that fool me. He was dangerous. Lethal. Underestimating him was what was going to put me in the situation I'm currently stuck in.
"Where's the telepath?" Helmet man asked his devil colleague.
Brilliant blue eyes scanned our little group. "Not here." Devil man replied with an unmistakable Russian accent.
Knowing he was Russian caused me to have an even lesser opinion of the devil and his scarlet skin. I know one shouldn't judge based on miniscule things, but he'd slaughtered just north of fifty agents. My assumptions that he was no good seemed to be perfectly on point. Plus, it was the Cold War. I had been brainwashed to hate Russians.
Helmet man smirked. "Too bad. At least I can take this silly thing off." At least he knew he looked stupid. The first step to recovery was admittance. He then removed his helmet and handed it to the hot guy in the purplish grey. "Good evening, my name is Sebastian Shaw." He continued. "And I am not here to hurt you."
Somehow I doubted that to be entirely true.
"FREEZE!" Someone screamed from the courtyard. Oh guy, why couldn't you have stayed down? Pull a opossum and play dead? Ugh, still, there he stood with his weapon locked and loaded, poised and ready to shoot. The three men in suits didn't seem too alarmed. I wouldn't either with their genetic arsenal.
"Azazel?" Shaw implied towards his devil friend. Guess his name wasn't Satan or Beelzebub. Azazel vanished and the reappeared behind the sole survivor before slitting his throat without even breaking a sweat. I don't think he even blinked. He then returned to his spot in front of the window with a sadistic smirk on his face. Those were the types of people who scared me the most. The kinds of people who could take a life and not even bat an eye.
Shaw smiled now that there weren't any humans left in the viscinity. "Friends, there's a revolution coming when mankind discovers who we are and what we can do. Each of us will have a choice: to be enslaved... or to rise up to rule. Choose freely but know if you are not with us then by definition you are against us. So, you can stay and fight for the people who hate and fear you, or you can join me and live like kings." He paused his monologue mid stream to look meaningfully into Angel's eyes. "And queens."
I never really got along with Angel like I did Raven but I didn't want to see her go. My wishes didn't seem to matter as Shaw outstretched his hand towards my fellow mutant and she reached for it. With an accomplished smirk on his face, Shaw the Bastard led her towards Azazel.
"Angel?" Raven asked with a doubtful tone.
"You kidding me?" Sean said with his southern drawl.
Angel turned back towards us. "Come on. We don't belong here. And that's nothing to be ashamed of." She gazed into nearly each of our eyes, desperately hoping that one of us would join her.
"We don't belong with him either." I commented quietly. But by the look on her face I'm sure she heard me.
As Shaw turned her away, Darwin reached for her. They had grown close during the time they had spent at the base. Maybe I should've tried to get to know her better. Perhaps she would've stayed. Oh well, what's done is done. There are many things I wished to change about that day. But, sadly, it was too late to fret about that now.
But Raven wasn't having any of this. She tugged on my sleeve to grab my attention. "We have to do something." She whispered in my ear. Yeah, we did, hell I'd gladly lead an armada to strike him down and beg her to come back to us! But I'm not a commander nor was I in any other position to take on Shaw. What could a bunch of kids like us do? I watched Azazel and the very attractive silent man follow their leader out into the courtyard trying to think of a way to best a teleporter, a dude who can conjure cyclones from nowhere, and a old fart who wore silly headgear. I'm sure a swift kick to the face could deal with the old guy. Sadly I didn't know it then, but wind beats lightning every time.
That's when Darwin turned towards me and Alex. He pulled us away from the others and we huddled together. "Okay. We're going to get Angel back. Max, you'll attack first, fry the bastards up like 4th of July barbecue. Then Alex, blast 'em sky high. I'll be protecting Angel so don't be afraid to go all out." He whispered urgently.
Alex went all bug-eyed. "Like hell! I'd kill you!"
"I probably would too dude... most everything conducts electricity." I agreed morosely.
Darwin shoved Alex, Alex shoved back. And everyone knows that that's guy code for 'yes, we're doing this'.
"Stop. I'm coming with you." Darwin called out to the murderers, backing away from Alex and myself. They turned to look at him. Shaw even smiled as Darwin began to walk out into the courtyard. I took that as a signal to start charging electricity behind my back. The more I got juiced up the better our chances would be.
Shaw stepped forwards. "Good choice. So, tell me about your mutation."
We began to walk across the room. I was trying to gauge the best way to approach this but the others were just curious I'm sure. "I adapt to survive, so I guess I'm coming with you." Darwin said, cool as a cucumber. And that was a bad ass line. If this wasn't a life or death situation I would've applauded my friend. But that wasn't the time or place. Sadly, I would never have the time after that moment.
"I like that." Shaw nodded, motioning for him to stand next to Angel. He obliged, taking his friends hand in his; he puffed out his chest.
He lowered Alex and I a look. "Max, Alex!" He said loudly, signaling us to spring into action.
"Get down!" Alex yelled as I unleashed a lightning strike at the trio. I didn't even check to see that everyone else had obeyed Alex. My powers were much more controlled than Alex's, admittedly, so Darwin didn't need to adapt just quite yet and the others should've been just fine. I didn't look to gauge how well Alex did his job. I had fallen to the floor in exhaustion. My mutation really sucked in the heat of battle back them. But in my present state I was still able to hear Shaw chuckle, how was he not dead?
"Protecting your fellow mutants? Feels good." He exhaled slightly. I looked up when I felt the energy pouring out of the sadistic villain. By the look on his face I could tell what he was planning. I wasn't going to take that lying down. I lifted my hand up towards him and began withdrawing the energy I forced at him. He wasn't going to harm anyone else while I was still alive and kicking!
He looked into my eyes. I knew what he was going to do next. And even though I did, I didn't stop.
"Oh! You want your energy back? Take it." Shaw threatened as he sent my power back at me.
Had it been the blast I sent at him I would've been fine. But... it was magnified exponentially. I had never held that amount of energy within me before. I was thrown across the room from the force of it, my back slamming into the pinball machine and sending even more pain through me until I... I couldn't feel anything... my body was completely unresponsive. My eyes stared wide at the popcorn ceiling above me, I couldn't move my body. My mouth was open wide and there was the distinct sound of me gasping for air and groaning in agony.
First, I tried letting the energy go but that would kill everyone around me. I could feel it, so I let that idea go. Next I realized that the only thing I could do was watch. Watch as I lost a friend. I looked to Alex. Then to Darwin. Darwin was dying, I could feel that too. Later I would learn that Shaw had practically shoved Alex's condensed energy down the throat of my tougher than steel friend. But now, I was dying inside and out. Once Darwin exploded into millions of pieces. I allowed myself to slip into unconsciousness, knowing damn well I couldn't do anything more than that. As I drifted I felt people trying to touch me, I heard their voices desperate to help and wrought with despair. I heard their pained gasps when they touched my skin. Too bad my body was so electrified that no one could possibly hope to help me. A lingering touch could quite possibly stop their hearts where they stood. Tears trailed down the side of my face until everything went black.