Disclaimer: The Brotherhood of Mutants belong to Marvel. OCs were given by some of my reviewers. (New ones are San child of the wolves and TheWritingGirl23)
Author's note: Psh. Homework.
So yeah, no real update on the One Year Anniversary, but I think this was worth the wait. I didn't like this chapter for a little while, but it improved as I fixed it. Also, next chapter brings in A WHOLE BUNCH OF CHAOS! WHAHAHA! Logan, Sabretooth, (Leo?), Havens, Brotherhood, X-Men, 'New Mutants'
I'm so excited!
Enjoy. Read. Write. Review.
The moon rose low in the night sky, its crescent casting silver light that washed over the buildings below. A girl sat perched on the edge of an apartment building's roof; her toes curling over the side of the brick, the balls of her feet firmly planted, her heels hovering a few inches above the brick, knees bent, and arms resting on top of them.
Her appearance was difficult to tell in the half-darkness of the night, but the silver light of the moon illuminated some of her features. Long, thick, black hair hung down to her waist, ending in dark red and purple colored tips. Her skin was somewhat transparent, making her appear to be more of a shadow than a sold person, taking on a dark gray shade in the night. A black, skull-shaped mask covered her face, with curved white fangs sticking out underneath. Two dark purple triangles extended down her face under her eyes, which were dark purple on blood red with slitted pupils, and twin arched horns poked out from either side of her head. A black devil's tail flicked back and forth behind her.
Such a strange town, this Bayville. The girl thought to herself. She drummed her clawed fingers on her knee. She was feeling exceptionally restless. For too long she'd been surviving on her own with no purpose. It was fun at times, but with only her thoughts as company things got dull fast.
Raising a finger to her lips she tapped her finger in thought. Bayville was home to two mutant organizations, the Xavier Institute and the Brotherhood of Mutants. Xavier's was known for making peace with humans, but she wasn't sure what the Brotherhood was all about.
Painful memories of being teased for her mutation came back to her; scornful laughter, a flash of red, an angry roar… Humans were not high on her list for helping.
She smiled as a plan formed in her mind.
Maybe the Brotherhood was accepting sisters.
Despite it being somewhat late, the Brotherhood Boarding House was full of activity.
Magneto had left a few hours before for an errand he did not say anything about. The teens were taking the opportunity to see just who the new mutants were, and as time to settle into their new surroundings. Mystique was only defusing the situation when necessary. It wasn't truly her team anymore, so she could relax.
She was enjoying the teenage drama.
The Blob sat in the armchair as usual, with the rest of the Brotherhood teens scattered around the den. Mystique leaned against the wall near the front door, remaining in the background so she could observe.
Samantha leaned partially on the television, which was flickering chaotically.
"Look at what you've done Blob. You messed the whole thing up." She said snidely, verbally poking him with a stick.
"Ey! I didn't do nothing!" Blob argued. "Toad was the one messing with the wires back there. All I was tryin' to do earlier was put 'em back!"
"A swell job you did." The blonde remarked, rolling her eyes. She pressed the power button on the screen and it went blank. "Is this all the Brotherhood does? Sit around and watch screens?" Her voice was strained, practically vibrating with energy. She was ready to get out there.
"Hey, we do a lot more than that." Lance interjected.
"Yeah, like get our butts kicked by the X-Men…" Pietro mumbled.
Samantha scoffed. "No wonder Magneto brought in some new talent."
Blob stood up. "Yeah? You think you can do better Tin Can?"
The blonde girl narrowed her eyes, her fists clenching at her sides. "I think I can."
"Let's see ya then!"
At his words her body tensed and turned to bronze. She nearly sprang forward when the mutant on the other side of the television reached across and touched her arm.
Alejandro, the caramel skinned new arrival, gave a stunning smile and cocked his head slightly. "Now come on babe, no need to get touchy."
Samantha glared steely at his handsome face for several silent seconds. The rest of the Brotherhood glanced at each other, a few holding in laughter until the situation resolved. Her hard face softened and she smiled sweetly at him.
"Maybe I was overreacting." She said softly.
The boy grinned even more, feeling like he had won again. The grin disappeared in a flash as Automaton grabbed his arm and flipped him, slamming him hard into the ground and sitting on top of his chest. The air in his lungs left in a whoosh. The room was quickly filled with laughter at his dismay. The female mutant stood up hastily and went back to leaning against the television, her skin returning to normal.
"Flirting is a dangerous game." Alejandro coughed out, rubbing his now bruised chest. He looked up at the glaring Samantha and wiggled his eyebrows. He was lucky not to get flipped again, instead the girl just grinned menacingly at him.
"Anxious for a fight, now are we Automaton?" Mystique spoke up, drawing all attention to her.
The girl looked at her and nodded. "I didn't sign up for the lodgings." She couldn't complain that the place wasn't nice, but unlike some of the others there she came for the ideals. And unlike any of the others she had a home that she left behind.
"You'll get your shot." The blue-skinned woman mused. "For now just get settled in. Training starts tomorrow."
The girl turned away and looked at her feet. She hoped Mystique knew what she was talking about.
Footsteps clanked down the stairs. The tall, thin figure of Quinn Leigh walked in, a screw driver in hand. His gray T-shirt hung loose from his body, he still wore the same torn jeans, like he was trying to cling to the past. He still knew too little of his life.
"Let me take a look at the TV." He grumbled. He hated trying to do anything around the other Brotherhood members, especially the experienced ones. He was older than all of them (at least from what he guessed) and had little in common with them due to the fact he wasn't even sure what he was into.
Toad raised an eyebrow from his spot on the couch. "How you gunna fix the TV if you don't—" He stopped midsentence as Wanda elbowed him.
Quinn frowned. His dark eyebrows scrunched down and he squeezed his eyes shut tight. Somehow it had felt like a natural thing to do, to see if he could fix it. His clenched jaw quivered. The screw driver fell to the ground with a soft thump, and the teen turned away and walked back upstairs.
"Way to go Toad." Wanda muttered.
"Hey wait, dude!" Toad hopped after the older teenager.
He caught him in the hallway, after leaping up the stairs eight at a time. He jumped up right behind Quinn and put a hand on his shoulder. Quinn turned back sharply, throwing the other boy's arm off of him.
"Yo, man I didn't mean—"
Quinn threw up his hands, and walked up to his door. "You didn't mean anything. Yeah, whatever. Didn't think I could fix it because I can't 'member anything…" He murmured more to himself than anything. He opened the door to his room slowly. "…you don't know what it's like Todd, not being able to remember anything more than a few months ago. It's enough to drive a person mad."
Toad tried not to be startled. That was the largest amount of words he'd heard the older boy say since he arrived a few days ago. Plus the fact that no one bothered to call him Todd anymore. He followed hesitantly into Quinn's room, meaning to ask just what he meant. Both froze when they entered the room.
The room was simple like all of the rooms at the Boarding House, but it was clear Quinn had made some adjustments. The walls were painted a dark red, making the room increasingly dark. There was only a dresser, a bed, and a nightstand, all made with light colored wood, but the bed was shoved up against the left wall, having been disassembled. The mattress itself was on the opposite side of the room, next to it was the nightstand at the head where one pillow sat on the mattress. A pocket knife and what looked to be a block of wood sat on top of it.
But none of this was what made the pair halt. The window on the far wall was open, the cold night air filled the room with its bite. In front of them, just in front of the window, stood a girl whose skin was transparent enough to give her a ghostly appearance. She turned as they entered, and Toad let out an involuntary shriek. Devil's horned poked out of her skull, and what looked like a black, skull shaped mask covered her face with dark purple triangles stretching down from her eyes.
"Eeek!" Toad jumped, starting to step backwards.
Quinn tensed, his hand reaching up to the arrowhead around his neck almost against his will. The black sheen spread across his skin and he surged forward at the intruder. It was his space. It was his to protect.
The girl reacted coolly to Quinn's stumbling start, raising one hand and making a gun with her finger pointed out. She aimed calmly at his neck in the span of a few seconds. She pulled her thumb down and a pink, bullet-shaped beam of energy shot out of her pointer finger. It streaked through the air and struck just where she aimed. He grunted, staggering backwards a few steps. A pink glow grew on his neck, and after a few seconds it took the shape of a deer.
"What the hell?" He asked confused. He had expected more pain, or blood, but he seemed physically unhurt. He looked up at the intruding girl. "You'll have to try better." He growled. He made as to move forward again, but then something stopped him.
Toad watched in complete confusion as the older boy suddenly took a few steps back and looked around him, his gray eyes opened wide in confusion. His head moved quickly back and forth, and he continued to back up until he was against the wall.
The other teen took another look at Quinn, and then at the other girl. He wasn't looking forward to sharing his fate.
"Eeek!"
Mystique turned her head at the sound of Toad's scream. With a sigh she grumbled. "What has that boy done now?"
The group in the room grew silent as they strained to hear what was going on. They heard Quinn's exclamation, and then a few seconds later another shriek from Toad.
"SHE'S TRYIN' TA KILL ME!" Toad yelled, and his body tumbled hard down the stairs. He landed spread-eagle at the bottom, and then he scrambled upright and hopped into the main room. "RUUUUUN!" He screamed as he leaped behind the couch.
Mystique raised an eyebrow. "Who is trying to 'kill' you?" She asked skeptically.
"That could be me." A voice called from the top of the stairs. The girl walked calmly down, and faced the Brotherhood.
"Hi, I'm Aislinn Shane. I hope you guys are taking recruits."
The training had commenced.
Magneto had returned the next morning with an additional recruit, a small fourteen-year-old African American girl. The second he came back the Brotherhood were ordered to suit up and go outside to the yard behind the boarding house.
When they all got outside they saw that the yard was divided up. Basic hay targets, some taking the shape of people, were lined up about fifteen yards from the building. On the other side of the yard was a large circle of rocks set into the ground.
The recruits and old team members lined up in between the two sections, the old inspecting the new's clothing.
Samantha Quincy, Automaton, was wearing a sleeveless dark red uniform with a light yellow triangle with its base at her shoulders and its point at her waist. A thin black belt with a couple pouches for random items was wrapped around her waist. She wore light yellow cuffs at her ankles and only leather sandals covering her feet.
Quinn Leigh, Obsidian, wore a uniform with a light gray sleeveless top, black cargo pants, and bracelets of metal chain around his wrists. The obsidian arrowhead still hung around his neck, and besides his sleeveless shirt he wore the leather jacket that belonged to Wolverine with its sleeves rolled up past his elbows.
Alejandro Solas, Aura, had a uniform that was green with dark green sleeves, a thick black belt, armored black gloves, and black boots that fit his feet perfectly. The idea of well-fitting clothes was still somewhat novel to him. He wore a pair of reflective glasses as well, because that was simply the type of person he was.
Maria Reverend, Fallen, still wore her long brown trench coat, and underneath that she were a rough black shirt with pockets on the front, and black jeans. Her silver colored hair glimmered in the sunlight, a flower clip in her hair, parting some of her bangs to the side, and she seemed to shrink away from the sun. Her trusty undead dog Norman stood beside her, his nose quivering in the air.
The intruder of the day before, Aislinn Shane, had taken the name of Gunner. She wore a tight black suit with dark purple and blood red colored lines that outlined her shape. Black fingerless gloves were on her hands, leaving her claws (oddly purple and red) exposed. She wore clunky combat boots on her feet. As she stood slightly apart from the others she brushed her tail across the ground, its short black hair ruffling slightly in the breeze, and the two rings strung on the tail (one purple, and one red) slid down to the very point of her tail as it swung slowly. She narrowed her dark, colorful eyes at the others, trying to see what her new "teammates" were made of.
Magneto walked up to the line of recruits dressed in his full armor. Immediately all of the Brotherhood tensed and assumed a sort of hesitant attention. Following just behind him was the new girl he had brought in that morning.
"Brotherhood, I would like you to meet Elsa Nadeen, also known as Wildcard." He said simply, gesturing at the girl at his side.
She was not very tall, but she was built compact and muscular like a gymnast; like a coiled spring waiting to strike. Her skin was very dark, her eyes mimicking the tint though slightly lighter with a critical light within the orbs. She was a pretty girl for her age, but her nose was rather flat against her face, and though her lips were full they didn't quite fit the proportions of her face structure. Her dark brown hair was whisked across her head in a messy gelled up disarray. The battle gear she wore was mostly blue and light gray. The inner layer of her shirt was royal blue, and layered on top was a gray vest with peaked shoulder pads and a short folded down collar. The lower part of her outfit was royal blue as well, with light gray stripes on the outside of her legs. Gray boots went nearly to her knees, where there were similarly colored knee pads. She wore light gray gloves her hands, and around her neck was a bright orange bandana. The harsh clash of the color brought to her a sense of wildness.
"Wildcard will be with us during the days as a trainee, though she has… other… 'business' to see to at night." The man continued. The Brotherhood exchanged glances. That was a very different way than the Brotherhood typically operated. Recruits normally stayed at the boarding house, but they all knew better than to question Magneto.
"Your training today will be split into two." Mystique spoke loudly, walking up behind the team. A few flinched at her voice, but they quickly went back to standing still as she rebuked them. She walked around to join Magneto in front. With a wave of her hand she motioned for the new girl to join the others. "We will take a look at both ranged and close-range melee attacks. I expect you elder Brotherhood members to be able to show an example of how we do things."
Magneto nodded solemnly. "Mystique will cover combat, and I will see what we have to deal with as far as range options. Quicksilver, Toad, the Blob, Fallen, and Gunner are with me."
"That leaves Avalanche, Scarlet Witch, Obsidian, Automaton, Aura, and Wildcard with me." Mystique mused, skeptically looking over some of her team. She would have to try to pair up the weaker teens with someone that would teach them quickly. Alejandro was nothing more than a pretty boy at the moment, Quinn was uncontrollable, Samantha was too eager, and she had no idea how Wildcard would be. Lance wasn't strong at close combat either, but Wanda could handle herself well enough.
As the team divided up Magneto looked to Maria Reverend, Fallen, "You may want to use your wings for this." He said.
The silver-haired girl nodded at him, shrugging her trench coat off. From her shoulders extended a pair of skeletal wings, the one on her left unfolded to nearly triple her height, yet the one on the right side of her only extended out to a foot beyond her body. The wings stretched out from her, and she sighed a little in relief. It was hard to have her wings so folded up during the day.
Blob noticed her wings first and made a comment. He extended a thick finger at her. "You fly with those?"
She smiled and shook her head. "I wish. They've mostly been a fashion accessory for me."
The large teen nodded. "Wouldn't get very far, wouldya?"
Pietro shook his head and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Well, what a spectacular observation Blob. There's no membrane on the wings, how the hell would she fly?"
"I was just askin'!"
"Enough." Magneto said plainly. The group silenced. He gestured to the hay targets. They had lined up near the wall of the boarding house, and the targets were about fifteen yards away. A pile of miscellaneous metal objects and rocks sat to the right side of the mutants' line. "Your goal is simple. Annihilate the targets." He made his point by causing one of the metal shards to rise up and fly at a blinding speed at a target on the far right. The hay target was in the shape of a man, and the shard shredded through its vegetative heart.
Blob smirked. "I got this." He hefted the largest rock in the pile, being about the width of this chest, with a grunt and spun once in a circle before launching it into the air. The rock sailed through the air and crushed one of the targets. The ground shook, causing a few of the newest recruits to stumble back.
"Good." Magneto mused.
"That's nothing. Watch this." Quicksilver said arrogantly. He sped away to the pile and threw ten projectiles at the targets in the span of a second. He didn't throw with much accuracy, but with the amount he threw he had better chances of hitting something. Two hit a human-shaped target dead on, tearing its "shoulder" and knocking in its "knee". Without proper support the target fell. The others missed completely, landing too short, or just too far. Pietro tried to cover the unsatisfied frown that inched across his face with an arrogant air.
"Accuracy Pietro." Magneto droned. Quicksilver frowned and crossed his arms, walking to the back of the group.
Toad hopped up to where Magneto stood, what they were considering the line to start from.
"A'ight. Guess it's my turn." Toad narrowed his eyes and spit a couple slimeballs at the targets. Most struck home, but did little more than coat the hay in nastiness.
"Gross!" Fallen exclaimed. She glanced around at the others who were acting like it was perfectly fine. She shuddered inwardly. She'd hate to be on the receiving end of one of Toad's slimeballs.
"Hmm…" Magneto mused. "We will have to use that better. The mucus will not do any real physical harm, but I believe it has proved to be a good distraction in the past."
"Yes sir!" Toad chirped, standing up as straight as he could. The boy turned back to see the two new recruits. He bowed and walked backwards almost comically. "Next are the lovely ladies."
Gunner rolled her eyes at the comment, but Fallen giggled and skipped forward. "Thank you kind sir." She said airily. Fallen turned to Magneto. "How should I—"
"However you like, provided you stand here." Magneto responded.
The girl nodded hesitantly. She looked out of the corner of her eye to where Norman sat, waiting loyally. The targets were out of range for her to strike with her wings, but she could command Norman to tear the targets apart while remaining where she was.
"Sik 'em Norman!" She called out. Blob and Pietro laughed, but Fallen ignored their humor, and pointed at the targets.
The St. Bernard leapt up excitedly and growled. He bounded speedily at the targets and pounced on the Toad-slimed target. He set his teeth and claws into it with ease, and soon he was tearing at another, a blizzard of hay falling around him.
"Good boy!" Fallen yelled out as the dog finished destroying the second target. He ran up to her with glee and wagged his tail. She scratched behind his skeletal ears and praised him some more.
"Creative." Magneto said simply. He looked to Gunner. "You're next, and then we will all find ways to improve."
Gunner walked up slowly. Her powers were perfect for the exercise.
She extended her hand with her hand in the symbol for "gun". Closing one eye, as was the way she liked to shoot if she was showing off, she lowered her thumb. A red energy bullet shot out of her pointer finger. The bullet pierced the target she was aiming at, and in the force it hit it tore a hole straight through.
"Impressive. Now let's do this again."
"Avalanche, Aura! UP!" Mystique yelled.
The two boys entered the circle of rocks set in the ground. The grass had been cleared away as just dirt in the center. Avalanche lined up directly across from the new boy, Alejandro, and took a fighting stance. He had no idea what powers the mutant really had, although bragging had already proven to be part of the teen's nature he had said little about what he could do.
Alejandro smirked. He'd been in enough street fights to hold his own.
Or so he thought.
"Go."
Lance immediately extended his hands, his eyes rolling to the back of his head. The ground in front of him waved and buckled, knocking Alejandro off his feet.
The pretty boy smacked his nose into the ground and blood flowed freely. He struggled to get up as the ground bucked beneath him like a bull. "Come on man!" He grumbled, spitting blood from his mouth. Just when he thought he had regained his footing while still kneeling he looked up to see Avalanche right next to him. Alejandro swore as Avalanche kicked his gut and flipped him over his head, slamming him into the ground. As stars started to clear he realized the ground was shaking again, only this time it was cracking beneath him. The mutant scrambled upright as quickly as he could and jumped away from the growing fissure.
Come on man! THINK!
The boy wiped some blood from his face on his sleeve and he forced himself to focus inwardly for a few seconds. His anger level rose and a red glow surrounded his body. Things became clearer, more focused, and he jumped from wave of land to wave of land, getting closer to his adversary.
Avalanche saw this and opened another crevice in the ground, right where the other mutant was about to land. Aura was too distracted with quickly approaching Lance to notice until his foot had fallen too far down. He cried out in shock as he fell farther, and then the ground seemed to close up around him.
"Alright. Stop." Mystique ordered. Avalanche smirked, opening the ground around Aura to allow him to stand. "You've improved considerably Avalanche… or maybe Aura is just too inexperience. Time will tell."
Lance offered his hand to Alejandro and the boy took it. The pair stood and Alejandro allowed his aura to fade. He held his sleeve to his face and winked at Lance. "Thanks for the face paint, bud."
Alvers just stared bewildered at the caramel-skinned boy as he walked away.
"Next… let's see Wanda and Wildcard."
The Scarlet Witch strode into the circle confidently and stared down her opponent. Wildcard returned the look, and removed a glove, shoving it in a pocket in her belt.
"Go."
Wanda calmly waved her hand and her powers enveloped several of the rocks that made up the circle. With a simple flick of her wrist she sent them flying at Wildcard. The younger girl resisted the urge to shriek and hit the ground hard.
"Wanda, Elsa, no powers here."
The girls stared at Mystique dumbly, before turning back to the fight. Apparently Mystique wanted to keep them in one piece.
Wildcard slipped back on her glove and got up, charging at the older girl. The witch sidestepped easily, sticking her foot out as she went. The younger mutant tripped, and tumbled out of the circle.
Mystique sighed. "Automaton, Obsidian, your turn. Wildcard, we'll try this again."
The pair switched out.
Automaton straightened her glasses and flexed her hands, taking a stance similar to how she would start out on the basketball court. She had already been through one training session with Mystique, her bruises still plenty evident, and she felt fairly prepared against Quinn. The thin boy rolled his sleeves up a little farther and grabbed the stone at his neck. Seeing that her opponent was "suiting up" all the way, Automaton followed suit, her skin becoming solid bronze.
"Go."
The girl sprang forward like a snake at the taller boy, he just barely rolling out of the way. Sam recovered quickly from her miss and swung a fist at him, which he dodged. In the same movement he clutched her arm and jabbed under her armpit. She bit back a scream and leaned into her pain, clumsily tackling the rocky mutant.
They landed in a tangle, and Obsidian kicked the girl off of him. Spinning around his slammed his fist down, but she rolled before it hit her chest. She sprang up quickly, and he mirrored her. She punched him in the gut and then kicked him backwards. He buckled a little, his response time slow. She started at him again, and since he was still trying to catch his breath Obsidian could only weakly bring up his arms.
Metal struck rock. A ring filled the air, and Automaton stared shocked at Obsidian. Quinn opened his gray eyes to see why she had paused, and was startled to see his arms encased in a layer of obsidian shards. As he saw them they melted back into his skin.
"Since when could you do that?" Sam asked, her voice hard and metallic.
"Dunno…" He muttered. He shook his head clear and locked eyes with her, his eyes turning silver as the sun struck them. "Game on."
He swung his fist wide, aiming to knock his forearm into her head, and hit true as she was still distracted by the bizarre event that just occurred. She grunted as she fell forward and face-planted.
"Stop, stop!" Mystique roared. "Automaton, what was that?!"
Sam stood and brushed herself off, rubbing the dent in her head. "I was surprised."
"You can't be surprised during a battle. You have to roll with whatever insanity happens. Otherwise you will fall victim." Mystique corrected. She turned to the others in the group.
"Again."
And there it was. One year.
I know I said I might have a chapter update on that date of October 23, but sadly I had rather restricted access to a computer that day so alas.
Thank you so much, to EVERYONE who's read, reviewed, favorited, and supported me and this story. Please stick with me as I finish it.
Until next time.
~Keep writing strong.