Rebekah
Running is something I'm becoming very accustomed to these days. I ran with Isaac into the back alleys, took him to where the image inducer was hidden. He used his wages to get me cheap jeans and a shirt. I haven't quite worked out how to make the image inducer do clothes yet.
Walking along the streets together is odd. We've never really been alone, not properly. Before we were writing only. Then the X-Men sort of were always there. Then we kept trying to attack each other. And now we're hurrying down some street in Manhattan, and I'm trying to pluck up the courage to tell him we need to go back to Westchester, because we could end up destroying this reality.
And then my ears twitch as I hear screams and I start to run towards them instinctively. X-Men… They're going to be the death of me yet. Getting me all heroic and all. In the words of my favourite author, 'Heroic is a nice way of saying idiotic.' I can hear Isaac hurrying after me but he curses when I leap up a fire escape with all the grace of an alley cat. Note to self; if ever get home, take up parkour.
I race along the roof-top then see what looks like a mugging going on below. It doesn't take much to leap off the roof and land lightly between the woman pressed up against the wall and the three men surrounding her. I look up and touch the image inducer swiftly enough so only my eyes flash, from brown to emerald green.
"Sorry to break up the party."
The knife slashes towards my chest and I drop, sending out a leg to knock him off balance. Logan always told me that I rely too much on traditional martial arts moves and ordered me to spend two weeks training with Kurt, which definitely improved my style.
I bring up an arm and catch a punch, then flick backwards, launching off the wall and slamming into one of the men. I snap my head up and hiss, feeling my fur stand up on end, despite the inducer.
"She's some sorta hero!"
They turn and see Isaac leaning in the alley mouth, a look of bemusement on his face.
"Not another hero!"
He shrugs.
"Oh, she's the hero. I'm the terrorist."
And his eyes start to glow red, threatening in the darkness.
"Hold back Thief. And that's an order!"
I blink as soon as the words pass my lips. What right do I have to order him? But he nods and his eyes go back to normal.
"Course, I'm switching sides, so it would be really bad to start out by killing one of you."
"Thief…"
"What?"
The men start to run but one of them turns round and slams the knife towards me. I instinctively bring my arm up to defend my face but there's a crunch as the watch-cum-image-inducer breaks and I watch the horror on their faces.
Which is suddenly obscured by white webbing.
"Don't worry, mutant fair! Your friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man is here!"
Somebody kill me…
Isaac
I was running with Bekah when we heard the screams. Bekah was up the fire ladder faster than I could blink. I cursed and teleported. By the time I got to the top, Bekah was gone. I ran across the rooftops. Without stopping to think, I launched myself off the edge. I straightened my arms and did a neat flip. I landed and sprinted towards the sounds of fighting. I was going to rush in and help but Bekah seemed to have it covered. One of the villains tried to throw a punch and Rebekah countered nicely. Even so, I decided it was time for me to make my presence known.
"She's some sorta hero!"
They all turned to look at me. I gave a small smirk back.
"Not another hero!" One of the thugs said.
"Oh, she's the hero. I'm the terrorist."
I felt the energy flow into my eyes like blood and I fought to keep it back.
"Hold back Thief. And that's an order!" Rebekah said sharply. I nodded and urged the energy to recede. There was something that had been weighing on my mind ever since Rebekah had shown up. I looked up, my mind made up.
"I'm switching sides anyway, so it would be really bad to start by killing one of you."
"Thief..."
"What?" I asked. The men were rooted to the spot.
"Just because said I wouldn't kill doesn't mean I won't hurt you very badly," I said under my breath while taking a step towards them.
The men started to run. One turned and went to stab Rebekah. She brought her arm up to protect herself. There was a crunch as her image inducer broke. The terror stricken man was about to turn to run when a dose of white webbing covered his face.
"Don't worry, mutant fair! Your friendly neighbourhood Spider-man is here!"
I looked up in shock. It couldn't be. Spider-man was one of my idols growing up. To see him in person was almost too good to be true. I felt I knew him already. I guess I did. I was close to yelling out Peter, but I checked myself just in time. Spider-man's voice sounded exactly how I thought it would. Not too deep in pitch, and full of careless humour to hide the huge burden he always felt in his daily life.
"Spider-Man!" I said. I must have sounded like a little child.
"I see I have a fan," Spider-man said jumping down from where he'd been sitting, on the wall. I shook Spider-Man's hand excitedly and waited while Bekah did the same. The guy was still writhing on the floor, trying to tear the goo off his face. Spider-Man quickly webbed him up and left him to hang upside down.
"What are you doing here Spidey?" I asked. (I'd always wanted to call him that.)
"Well, I was just in the area and I thought I'd do my rounds. You're both lucky I got here in time."
Rebekah rolled her eyes and gave a snigger. "Actually, I was doing just fine without your help, but thanks anyway."
"You're welcome citizen," Spider-Man replied enthusiastically. "So are you two X-men then?"
"Kind of," Bekah said, glancing at me. "It's a long story."
"Can we do your rounds with you, please?" I begged. I'm sorry. If you met a very famous person you thought only existed in comics you'd be begging to.
Rebekah said something about us not having the time but Spidey just waved it off and started spinning away on his webbing. I grinned at Bekah and ran after him. I slipped into slow-time and caught up to him. Bekah was right behind me. She looked grim, as if she was deeply considering something.
"What's up? I asked. "Isn't this fun?"
"Yeah," Bekah replied flatly. I faced my head forward and concentrated on my running. Something was definitely up with Rebekah. I wondered what it was…