Kurt woke the next morning, yawning hugely as he stretched. Then he suddenly coughed, and for a minute, wondered why his throat felt so raw. But then he remembered what he had done.
Yet, surprisingly, he felt neither regret nor remorse. He wasn't sorry for what he had done.
He got up and idly scratched at the fur covering his chest, wondering what was for breakfast. He 'ported to the kitchen, but found he was alone. Everyone else was still sleeping. He opened the fridge, took out the half-empty milk carton and poured himself a glass. He drank it, shivering as the cold liquid chilled his insides. That got him thinking about the night before. He had deliberately killed a human.
But he poured another glass without blinking. So what? One less human around. And Kurt would be lying if he said he hadn't enjoyed it. As he drank his third glass, he wondered if this new power of his worked on other mutants. Maybe he should experiment. But on who? He didn't want to do it to any of his teammates in case there were unexpected side effects. What about the Brotherhood? All right, but whom?
He thought for a while, but then shrugged and sipped at his fourth glass of milk. He'd go over their house today and see who was there. He threw away the now empty milk carton and 'ported to his room to get dressed.
Half and hour later found Kurt perched in a tree by the Brotherhood house, wearing his hologram. He was out on the excuse that he was seeing a movie and then would have dinner afterwards. Scott and the others wouldn't wait up for him.
As he peered at the windows, he found himself thinking that he must be quite the sight to any passerby; a kid twenty feet up a tree with no branches until 15 feet up, and being held in place by a 4-foot furry barbed-tail. But the general public tended to avoid the house, knowing what dangerous mutants lived within. And Kurt liked it that way.
Leaning and twisting in ways worthy of being in a circus, Kurt managed to find all the Brotherhood. Todd was in the kitchen, snapping up flies hovering around the garbage can. Wanda was brushing her hair in the bathroom. Lance was munching on some cereal in the living room. Pietro was in the front lobby, reading the paper. Freddy was upstairs, sleeping.
Kurt grinned in a very predatory fashion as he tried to decide who to best test it on. Each one had a thorn in his side somewhere. Lance was an all-around jerk, trying to claim Kitty and bossing everyone else around. Wanda was just plain evil, and with destructive powers to boot. She may not have remembered her past anymore, but she was still dangerous. Todd was a slimy creep. He may have helped out Wanda, but Kurt's chances with Amanda had been blown to itty-bitty, microscopic, nano-sized pieces and that insult still stung deeply. Freddy wasn't too bad, but he had once kidnapped Jean, and Kurt didn't like anyone if they threatened his friends, no matter how long ago it had happened.
As for Pietro, the speed demon was the one who aggravated Kurt the most. Pietro was probably the only other person on the planet who could get to a distant place as fast as Kurt could. But unlike Kurt, he flaunted his talent, using it for everyday things like getting the mail and checking out the rooms of the house to see who was home. He was arrogant, strong, witty, lightening fast, sarcastic and silver-tongued; a bad combination overall. He could be beating you up with his powers and be verbally degrading you at the same time.
For a while, Kurt only watched, trying to decide who to experiment on. But then Lance got on his jacket and called out, "Time!" Todd, Freddy, and Wanda all got up and followed Lance out the door. Lance hesitated at the door, asking, "Pietro, you sure you don't wanna come?"
Pietro sped over to the now vacant couch and lounged on it in a position worthy of a male-model, smirking, "Yeah. I'm sure. If I came, the girls would all flock to me, and you'd get all jealous and bring the whole mall down." Lance bristled at the comment, but just slammed the door shut on his way out. Pietro shrugged, as if wondering why Lance had reacted that way, and lay down, shutting his eyes.
Kurt quivered with excitement as the jeep pulled away, leaving him and Pietro the only living people in a five-mile radius. He let himself smile widely and as he teleported down to the ground, he found himself wondering what effects there would be. Would Pietro still have his power? That was the major question. If he did, Kurt would have to write to Webster to give them a new definition for 'fast food'.
He crept up to the broken window and peeked in, keeping low and silent. But he didn't need stealth. Pietro wasn't snoring, but the steady up and down rhythm of his chest made it plain he was sound asleep. Kurt crept inside, not wanted to 'port in case it woke him up and stood over him, tail out from being wrapped around his waist and twitching in anticipation. Kurt grinned, but then went to the kitchen first, returning with a large dirty glass. Then he kneeled by the sofa, and concentrated.
Kurt grinned as he quickly scooped the now tiny body into the glass, holding it up to the light to better examine his catch.
Pietro, feeling movement around him, woke when he hit the bottom of the glass. He sat up, rubbing his head in confusion as he tried to understand his surroundings. He had his back to Kurt, so Kurt missed out on his expression. But then he turned around, and froze and his face was priceless. First there was utter confusion, then recognition, then fear, then indignant anger. Pietro stood up, and looked at the rim of the glass, five feet above him. He crouched down, preparing to run out, but Kurt had anticipated this and slammed his other hand down on top of the glass just as Pietro turned on his mutation.
Pietro ran, all right, but not with his mutation.
He managed to get one foot on the glass before it slipped and he collapsed at the bottom in an undignified heap. He sat up, rubbing his head and looking confused while Kurt gave a giggle. Pietro then stood up, looking slowly around him. He then looked at Kurt, who had raised the glass to be at his eye-level and shouted out, "What's going on?"
Kurt laughed softly, answering as he walked to the kitchen, "An experiment."
Pietro stared at him, asking in shock, "You did this?"
Kurt grinned, answering smugly, "Yep."
Pietro's chest seemed to swell as he shouted angrily, "Well, reverse it! NOW!"
Kurt laughed at the tiny yell and as he put the glass down on the counter, said playfully, "I don't wanna." He removed his hand from the top of the glass, now knowing Pietro couldn't use his powers, so he couldn't escape.
The former-speed-demon got angry, screaming as he threatened, "You blue-furred freak! Turn me back right now or I'll-"
Kurt cut in, asking mockingly, "You'll what? Call your daddy on me?"
He laughed as Pietro seemed to wilt, but he came back quickly, shouting, "Put me back to normal this minute!" Apparently, his mouth hadn't shrunk along with the rest of him.
Kurt found a battered old chair and brought it into the kitchen, ignoring Pietro's now-tinny cries of revenge and torture. He sat down and for a time, just watched as Pietro shouted angrily at him while at the same time, trying to climb out of the glass. But the glass was taller than he could reach, and without his powers, he was stuck. But he kept trying, punctuating each attempt with insults.
"You furry freak!"
He climbed up, slid and fell down with a thud. He climbed back up again…
"Just wait till I get out of here and back to normal!"
Slide… Thud… Back up…
"I'll kick your furry arse from here to China and back again!"
Slide… Thud… Back up…
"Just you wait and see!"
Kurt watched while Pietro kept this up for about five minutes. His stamina didn't seem to have shrunk either. Kurt then grinned as Pietro fell down for the twenty-eighth time, asking, "Aren't you getting bored of that yet?"
Pietro glared at him, but stopped trying to climb. He then stood up and asked darkly, "How'd you do this to me?"
Kurt shrugged, answering truthfully, "I don't know. Secondary mutation perhaps? But I'm not complaining!"
Pietro crossed his arms, and answered crossly, "Well I am! This is horrible! Turn me back!" But then his face went paler than normal as he asked softly and desperately, "You can turn me back right?"
Kurt smiled, and nodded, saying, "Sure I can." He let Pietro look hopeful before adding on, "If I felt like it…"
Pietro froze and then asked in a slightly high-pitched tone, "Waddaya mean if?!"
Kurt stretched as he answered smoothly, "I'm just not sure I should turn you back yet." He then leaned over the glass, grinning down at its contents as he smirked, "I like you this size!"
Pietro slammed his hands on the glass in frustration, muttering angrily, "You blue son of a…" But then, faster than he could register, the serpentine tail had slipped into the glass and he was enveloped in the blue barb, held firmly and unable to move. He didn't like feeling confined. He hated not being able to move and he cried out in fear, "HEY!"
Kurt stood up and leaned easily against the counter, lifting his prisoner above the kitchen floor, saying with a playful grin, "Don't squirm. I might have to squeeze to make sure you don't fall…" Pietro felt the barb tighten around his chest, actually felt his ribs bend just the tinniest bit, and stopped kicking, not wanting to be crushed. Kurt smiled and eased up, bringing his prisoner to his eye-level as he said, "Good boy. That's better." Then he carefully patted Pietro on the top of his head, ruffling his white hair.
Pietro then glared at Kurt, saying, "Just you wait, fur-boy. My father's going to hear about this and I'll have him make a huge blender and will personally put you in it!" Kurt laughed, and this got Pietro angry. "Don't laugh, you fuzz-ball!" he called out angrily. Kurt just chuckled again.
After some time of amusing himself with Pietro's struggles, Kurt realized he was hungry. But he didn't want his fun to end just yet, so he went to the fridge, Pietro still held firmly in his tail and protesting as loudly as he could. It was getting kinda annoying. Kurt ignored him and found a sandwich, wrapped up in the back. Kurt took it out and Pietro started yelling, "Oh no you don't! That's mine! Put it back right now!"
Kurt smiled and walked back to the table, holding Pietro in view as he opened the sandwich and took a large bite, muttering through a full mouth, "And if I don't?"
Pietro seemed to swell up again, and started shouting, "You jerk! You furry jerk! When this wears off, I'm gonna kill you for this! Intruding in our home, eating our food, bothering me! You'll pay!"
Kurt just nibbled at some of the cheese in the sandwich. To tell the truth, Kurt was getting annoyed by Pietro's constant chatter and began to seriously wonder if he should add a little extra meat to the sandwich. Live meat…