Chapter 7

The X-Mansion

The new recruits were in an intense danger session with the X-Men and Eli couldn't seem to get his head into his current situation. He stood in the middle of the fake battle scene while his peers were zooming past him, powers flying everywhere, trying to pull himself from his own mind. Eli looked down at his hands that were shaking uncontrollably.

"Hydro watch out!" Bobby screamed as he placed a large sheet of ice in front of him. Eli fell back onto the ground as a large metal ball crashed into the ice.

"Like, get your head in the game!" Kitty yelled as she phased him through the ball as it crashed through their bodies. Eli scowled, angry with himself.

"I'm sorry, I'm distracted!" he yelled as he ran into the battlefield. Eli slammed his back against a wall, hiding from any possible danger.

"Bad move kid," Wolverine said as he jumped down from the top of the wall. He drew his claws as he fell from above.

Eli jumped out of his way and Wolverine landed on his feet. Eli scooted his body away from his hot-headed professor but he was too slow. Wolverine took a swing at the boy, his claws going straight through Eli's arm that was now water. Wolverine gave him a confused look and Eli smiled before running away from him.

"Storm, stop the session," Xavier telepathically told her. Storm shut down the simulation and everyone gathered in the middle of the Danger Room as he wheeled himself in.

"What's goin' on Charles?" Wolverine asked, his arms folded over his large chest.

"I'm afraid I need to speak with Eli. Wolverine I need your assistance as well. Please, will you come with me?" Charles wheeled himself out of the room and the two followed him. The three stopped in Charles' office.

"Is this about my performance today?" Eli nervously asked as he rubbed his neck. Wolverine scoffed.

"What performance?" he added. Charles shook his head.

"It's about your sister, Eli," Xavier explained. Eli's eyes widened.

"What? What's wrong with Ellie?" Eli asked anxiously.

"I hope nothing. Eli, it seems that you and your sister have not been completely honest with me." Wolverine snarled.

"Is that so?" he asked as he eyed Eli. "Well Charles you made the right decision bringing me with you. I'll make him talk." Wolverine's claws popped out of his hands but Eli ignored him.

"That is not necessary Logan," Charles announced. "Eli, while I was using Cerebro today I picked up on a mutant reading here in Bayville. I was surprised to discover that it had come from your sister. Why didn't you tell me about Ellie?" Eli rubbed the back of his neck.

"It's a long story Professor X," Eli started. "I would rather have Ellie explain it to you." Xavier nodded.

"That is fine. Now, I need the two of you to go and pick Ellie up. I need to express my sincerest apologies to her for leaving her behind." Wolverine groaned.

"Fine. C'mon water boy," Wolverine ordered as he exited the room. Eli scowled as he followed after him.

"My name is Hydro, Logan," he corrected as he followed him to the garage. The two climbed into the X-van before leaving the mansion.

"Charles," Storm said as she entered the room. "Is everything alright?"

"I hope so Ororo," he replied before tapping his fingertips to his chin. "I sure hope so."

Ellie sat curled up into a tight ball in the corner of her bedroom. She pulled her hair back as she let out a pained scream. Steam poured out of her eyes, replacing the tears that she longed for. Her arms and hands were burning inside her skin and she was unable to catch her breath. She tried to force air into her lungs by using her power but like many times before it did not work.

Ellie quickly ran to the dresser that she was using and ripped the drawers open. She threw her few articles of clothing to the floor and pulled each draw out, wheezing as she did so. Frightened, she dropped the last, empty drawer to the ground and grabbed her throat. Ellie suffered from severe asthma attacks due to her under-developed lungs. She was looking for her inhaler but was unable to find it.

Her eyes widened as she started to panic when she remembered that her inhaler was in her back pack. Her back pack had been ripped from her back during the fight earlier and she must have left it in the street. Her vision started to grow blurry and she fell onto the floor. Seconds later, her bedroom door burst open and Eli fell to her side. He lifted her into his arms and placed an inhaler into her mouth. He pushed the inhaler and Ellie could feel the air entering her lungs. Eli always made sure to carry an extra inhaler with him in case Ellie didn't have hers.

"You're okay," Eli told his sister calmly. "You're fine. I'm here now." Eli gave her one more shot off the inhaler before placing his ear to her chest.

"You know what you're doin' kid?" Wolverine asked from the doorway. Eli ignored him.

"Come on El, it's just an asthma attack. You've had plenty of 'em and I know you can pull through." Ellie's sight had returned but breathing was still difficult.

"Eli?" Ellie asked quietly. Eli smiled down at her.

"That's right," he replied. "I'm here." Ellie sat up slowly as she focused on her breathing.

"Who's the guy?" Ellie asked, pointing to Wolverine. Wolverine scoffed.

"Names Wolverine, blondie," he replied. Ellie scowled at him.

"Nice Halloween costume." Eli laughed at Ellie's comment as Wolverine and Ellie glared at each other.

"He's also Professor Logan. He's pretty cool," Eli explained. Wolverine leaned against the door frame.

"Whatever," Ellie replied. "So why are you two here?"

"We're here to take you to the Institute. Professor X caught onto your power earlier and- wait, Ellie what happened to your face?" Eli grabbed her face in his hands and looked her over. He had just noticed her bruised cheek, black eye and fat lip.

"What happened?" Eli angrily asked, his friendly eyes now cold. Ellie pulled away from him.

"Nothing that won't heal," she answered before standing up. Eli did the same.

"I don't care if it will heal, I want to know what the hell happened!" Wolverine approached them now.

"Watch that mouth of yours, water boy," he directed. "Now, blondie, do you wanna explain to me why you reek of Quicksilver?" Eli's eyes widened.

"The Brotherhood attacked you? I'll kill them, I swear I'll kill them all!" he yelled.

"Calm down, calm down," Wolverine demanded. "No sense in makin' accusations. Besides, the only useful thing that you could do to the Brotherhood is change into your water form and run right into that little green one. You'd be doin' the whole city a favor."

"The Brotherhood didn't do this," Ellie explained. "I was jumped by three guys and they actually helped me."

"Well that sure don't sound like the Brotherhood, but that answers my question. Now, will the two of you get into the X-van?" Wolverine asked, annoyed. Ellie looked to her brother.

"It's okay Ellie, you don't need to be afraid," he told her. Ellie scoffed before walking toward the door.

"I'm not afraid," she told him angrily before grabbing a few articles of clothing in her arms.

"Good then let's go," Wolverine told the two as he left the room.

"Lead the way impatient Ida," Ellie yelled to Wolverine. Eli laughed.

"See, I knew you would like each other," he said before following after them.

The Brotherhood House

Pietro grabbed the overflowing trash bag from the can with his nose wrinkled and tied it shut. He walked outside and threw it into the outdoor can when he noticed a back pack lying on the edge of the lawn. Pietro looked around before snatching it up and returning inside. He made his way to his bedroom and shut himself in. Without a second thought, he emptied the bag onto his bed.

As he sifted through the items, he found a small black book. Curious, he opened the book and flipped through the pages. He stopped when he noticed a page had today's date written at the top. He began to read the loopy cursive to himself.

"I'm not so sure that I like Bayville," he started reading. "The classes I'm enrolled in at Bayville High are mediocre at best and my peers are either obnoxious or ignorant. I was lucky enough to meet one kind boy this morning named Fred Dukes. Turns out he's a mutant too but I'm not sure what his power is. Eli's new X-Men friends don't seem to like him or his friends too much. Which reminds me, I haven't mentioned silver-haired Pietro yet." Toad burst into the room and Pietro dropped the book onto his bed.

"Yo Pietro where's the-…are those tampons on your bed?" he asked loudly as he noticed the random items scattered on his bed. Pietro stood up angrily and grabbed Toad by his shirt.

"Get outta here Toad!" he yelled before pushing him out of his room and slamming the door in his face.

"You really should lock your door if you're experimenting man," Toad yelled through the door before leaping down the hall. Pietro returned his attention to the book.

"Pietro is a boy that I sit by in Advanced English who is also a mutant. Kitty mentioned the codename Quicksilver, so I'm assuming that's his. Anyway, this kid is a real pain in the ass," Pietro wrinkled his nose before reading again. "He's the reason I have detention tomorrow and he's rude. I'm not supposed to judge a book by its cover, but I think its okay to judge an open book." Pietro angrily closed the book.

"Who is she calling an open book?" he thought to himself. "I'm a really deep guy! Oh gross, those are tampons." Pietro pushed the items back into Ellie's back pack before climbing into bed himself.

He placed his arms behind his head and crossed his legs over each other. The scowl on his face faded slowly as he replayed the fight from earlier in his mind. The only reason he helped Ellie was to have a reason to make Eli join the Brotherhood, but now he was in a jam himself. He had no idea what power Eli had but it appeared that Ellie could fly, and she was fast. Really fast.

Pietro starred blankly at his white ceiling as he thought to himself. There was most likely no way that he could convince both of them to join the team, but he needed to know which one was going to be the most beneficial to his team. Mystique was still missing and he was responsible for this dysfunctional family of teenage boys now. When his thoughts became to much, he forced himself to try and sleep. Eventually, it worked.