Hi peoples! Sorry it's taken so long - but I finally was in the mood to write the next THREE parts of Heart of Darkness - two ready for posting right away, the third nearly complete. I had to divide 6 into four parts but I hope it's worth it - remember, you guys are the judge!
Thanks especially to Blue Lemming, Jacki, Andrea and BJ (for telling me to get my a$$ in gear and write!) and everyone else for their encouragement!
PLease read the warnings on this one and the next few carefully. I will not be responsible if you get sick of some of the descriptions in the next few parts.
Title: Into the Heart of Darkness
Author: Stormy
Part: 6B
Warnings: EXTREME GRAPHIC VIOLENCE, not for the faint of heart. Death of
innocents, blood, some mild Quatre-torture, dark angst, OOC'ness especially
in
Duo.
Pairings: Standard Stormy. If you don't know, ya haven't been rading. (For
shame!)
Shinigami carefully strapped his scythe into the leather harness, listening to the satisfying "shlunck" as it slid home. He then pulled on his fingerless black gloves, stretching the material over his skin, rolling the edges at the wrist slightly before reaching back and hooking the harness across his chest so that his scythe rested across his back, within easy access. He slipped a dagger into the sheath hidden inside his black combat boot, the slender handle disappearing from view, and he stood up straight, swinging his arms, making sure his scythe was situated properly, and not impeding his freedom of movement.
" Perfect."
" Ready kid?" Forearm's harsh voice came from the doorway. Shinigmai's eyes gleamed as he echoed the unspoken laughter hidden beneath the terse surface.
" This is gonna be FUN!"
Harpoon appeared next to Forearm; even his normally angry face had the faint hint of anticipation. He jerked a thumb towards the doorway.
" We have our orders," he said tersely. " Fatale's waiting."
" Let's do it." Harpoon was eager to move. Shinigami felt his lips curl up in a familiar smirk and moved forward silently, eagerly anticipating what was to come.
Sinister watched Fatale's telltale energy signature from her teleportation circle dissipate into the air, fading with casual grace from his scanning devices. Flicking a switch, he activated his cameras again - ones he had set up a long time ago in preparation for a day like today. Sinister watched as the four of them appeared at their destination, blinking lights on a three-dimensional map, and a delicious shiver ran down his spine. One gloved finger traced the computer-generated map and he chuckled evilly. Coldly.
" Begin: End Game."
Lori Carter could vaguely remember a time, long ago, when life had been better, when she had once been truly happy. True happiness seemed like a dream whose reality continously eluded her grasping fingers, the more she searched for it. Surely someday she would feel happiness again. One day it would appear - one day her years of fear and isolation would end and she'd have back what she once had. One day.
Right?
As a child, she'd run around her parent's home and big backyard, nestled away in the Catskills, not knowing of the harsher side of life. Echos of laughter rang in the hollows of her mind and the woman brushed away a non-existent tear. Once, she had cried. Once she had blamed God for allowing her to be born. For making her...one of them. Lori stifled the scream the welled up in the back of her throat and forced it away with great gulps of air. No more. No more crying. THIS was her life. She would have to get used to it.
She rose quietly from the pile of rags and garbage bags she laughingly called a bed and stretched, noting the muted sounds of the people sharing the abandoned building with her.
They were all like her - alone, abandoned for being different. Mutants.
She shivered - the word itself meant being genetically different, but the taunts and jeers of countless 'flatscans' [1] had turned the clinical, scientific term into the cruelest of insults.It wasn't her fault or theirs, that one day they had woken up to a different set of puberty-induced problems. She remembered that day. Too well.
She remembered waking up one day feeling strange. For some reason, everything had seemed just a bit....more, then usual. The traffic outside had been too loud, grating upon suddenly-sensitive ears. The smells wafting up from the breakfast room had been too strong, the light streaming in the wondow seeming to be a bit too harsh for her eyes, prickling them, causing tears to form. And her face...
Her entire face felt swollen, awkward. Still half-asleep, she'd stumbled out of bed, heading for the bathroom, convinced she was coming down with something. Intent on finding some aspirin, she'd reached for the bathroom cupboard, sleepy eyes finally registering her reflection in the mirror on the wall.
The piercing, haunted scream of fear and panic had brought her parents running upstairs, crying out their daughter's name, afraid something had happened to their little girl. Lori remembered turning terrified eyes on her parents, watching with shocked detachement as they actually froze, before stumbling back slightly. They took in the tufts of fur on her ears, the elongation of a previously heart-shaped face, and the small black nose perched impertinently on the tip.
" You're one of THEM....a..a.MUTIE.." Lori trembled as she remembered the hissed words, accusations cutting through her fragile, pre-teen psyche like knives. Her parents had disowned her, casting her aside like a pair of old sneakers that had outlived their usefulness.
" We'll try again..." she remembered hearing her father promise her sobbing mother, holding her tight as he kicked the door shut behind her.
Lori closed her eyes and slowly regained her composure. No sense in re-living such painful moments of her life. It could have been worse - she was alive, right? She was one of the lucky ones - able to forage and steal with more skill then the others. Her deformities that screamed 'MUTANT' kept her from having to sell her body like the rest of them. She opened her eyes, watching with resignation as the rest of the inhabitants of the building came awake. A young man with white eyes walked up to her, silently handing her an apple.
::Breakfast:: she heard the boy speak to her mind, with some effort and she smiled at the youth, genuinely smiling for the first time since waking up that day.
" Jeremy! I heard your WORDS!"
::happy/gratitude/bashfulment:: was sent back to her and she nodded understandingly. Jeremy wasn't been able to speak. Born a blind mute, he'd been able to move around using the eyes of others. Able to feel and send emotions, Lori had been working with him, trying to increase his ability to the point where he'd be able to "talk" with them.
" That's wonderful, Jer - just think! If you keep practising, you'll be able to have 'conversations'!" She ruffled the shaggy mop of blond hair on his head and he blushed, pupiless eyes being covered by lowering lashes.
::embarrassment/happy/hope::
Lori bit her lip. Hope.
" Keep trying, kid," she whispered. With a final tug on the blond hair, she lightly pushed the boy away to feed the others, before biting into the apple she'd been given. Suddenly, her ears pricked as she heard sounds from outside. She dropped the apple, noting that Jeremy had froze in the act of waking a young girl. She sniffed the air uneasily, registering three...no, four new scents in the air. About to go to the main door, she was prevented from doing so by a large explosion. The door blew open, wooden shrapnel striking an old man in the head and knocking him out instantly. Lori cried out, huddling next to another young girl her age. She could feel Jeremy broadcasting his fear and terror and she raised her head cautiously.
A group of men dressed in what looked like black leather stood in the modified doorway. Two large hulking men, one with four arms, the other cradling what looked like a harpoon let their cold gaze travel over the huddled masses. Entering after them was an exotic-looking woman with Asian features, dressed head to toe in purple and yellow spandez. A third boy dressed in the same black leather as his male partners was right beside her, all of them lined up for their eyes to see.
" Wha...what do you want?" Lori asked hesitantly, automatically moving forwards, keeping the girl and as many of the other homeless people behind her as she appointed herself defacto leader and stepped in front of them. The big man with four arms met her movement and reached out with one grimy, calloused hand, tracing a lock of her hair causally. Lori knew she should have felt outraged but her stomach had collapsed out of her, fear freezing her feet in place, preventing her arms from rising him and smacking his hand away. The group reeked of danger - she didn't need her mutant powers to tell her that - and her fears were justified as the man smiled ferally at her.
" What do I want.....that's a very good question." The man's head turned fractionally to speak to his partner. " 'Poon? What do I want?"
" Probably the usual," came a snarling chuckle from the Indian-looking man. On closer inspection, Lori noticed the 'harpoon' was made of energy. She gasped as the four-armed man leaned in closer, recapturing her attention.
" Ya know...he's right. The usual." His hand snapped out and gripped her throat with crushing force, lifting her off the ground. She gurgled incoherently, eyes wide pain and surprise as she fought for breath, stars dancing in front of her eyes. Vaguely, she could hear the whimpers of fear from the people behind her. The man holding her almost casually, smiled at her attempts to breath. " The usual. Your death."
With that, he squeezed. Hard. Lori had a fleeting moment of regret that she'd never see Jeremy have a 'conversation' before her world went black.
Forearm waited until the woman stopped thrashing, until the light of life faded from her blue eyes and she hung limply in his grasp. Chuckling, he threw her body to one side, ignoring the dull thud it made as the corpse struck the wall and hit the ground. Shouts and screams began to rise up among the remaining homeless and Shinigami pushed his way forward.
" Shit, they're noisy," he growled. " What about the cops?"
Harpoon grinned. " Sinister prepared this place. Watch." Bringing out a small device, he pressed the button in the bottom corner, and an energy field sprouted up around them. Shinigami's quick eyes traced the energy back to their original loaction and he blinked at the sight of several black boxes spread out all over the warehouse main floor. " No one can get in or out. And no on can hear."
" Cool." Shinigami's gaze turned from curious to predatory. " Can I play now?"
" Go kid."
With a snarl, Shinigami leaped into the air, pulling his scythe from his back in mid-air and ripping a long slash through the floor, melting away the cement. Landing in a group of terrified mutants, Shinigami felt the last of his humanity slip away as he got drunk on their fear. The doubts he'd been having faded away - seemed the longer he was with them, the more right his actions were. His namesake reared up within him and he howled, ripping the green flame through a man dumb enough to try and sneak up on him. The man's body was sheared in half, a spray of blood painting the horrified faces of his friends. The smell of hot blood spurred on the others and Shinigami felt, rather then saw, his partners wade into the party.
Another man with clawed fingernails, tried to swipe at him but Shinigami chuckled, blocking the strike with the metal staff of his scythe, before launching his foot into the man's throat, crushing his windpipe. The man's aguished cry petered out into death gurgles as Shinigami turned, watching, eyes slitted with delight, as a handful of homeless people clawed desperately at the energy field, seeing the blue sky of freedom achingly close, but beyond their reach. A young man with black hair stared at Shinigami, defiance battling with fear in those dark eyes. Shinigami paused for a second, sensing another familiar memory on the tip of his brain before his eyes darkened, battle lust raging through his veins. He backhanded the boy with the scythe, listening with pleasure at the sound of breaking bones.
Some kind of energy struck his shoulder, and he snarled, looking up, eyes alight with fury as he traced their point of origin to a brown-haired girl who's hands were still glowing.
" Someone's been a ba-ad girl," he sing-songed mockingly. The girl trembled yet she raised her hands again. Shinigami prepared to dodge when a familiar bolt of energy lanced straight through the girl's heart, electrocuting her nerve system. The girl's body was still smoking as she hit the ground, eyes lifeless. Shinigami looked up to see Harpoon already forming another energy spear.
" Move it kid!" he snarled, before hurling the spear through the body of an old man.
Shinigami nodded, already on the hunt again. Death was wearing black leather and he was taking no prisoners.
The professor put Cerebro's helmut on his head, nodding over at Jean who doublechecked the controls. Hank bounded about, checking and rechecking the wires leading into the amplifier from the Cerebro unit.
Quatre stood next to Trowa, feeling the anticiaption building. Surely this time they'd find Duo. Quatre had the bizarre feeling something was wrong - normally he'd be able to sense when one of them was hurt - it was a talent he'd honed during all their fighting. Duo wasn't hurt - he'd know it. But something was definitley wrong. That much he could tell.
He spared a glance up at his green-eyed lover, who somehow sensed his unease and squeezed his hand comfortingly. Quatre sighed and looked across the room.
Gambit and Rogue stood side by side. The Cajun leaned against the wall, seemingly in a relaxed pose, but Quatre noted the man's hands, constantly shuffling a pack of cards between tense fingers. He could feel it too. The skunk-haired woman leaned against his arm, showing her man her support while not being overwhelming, appreciating his need for some space.
Quatre's gaze next travelled to Wufei, who stood, back to the wall, arms crossed, eyes scowling at anyone and everyone who dared look his way. Those black eyes encountered light blue and softened slightly, black-haired head nodding once before resuming it's blatant glare. Beside Wufei, the young girl Jubilee watched them all, worry evident in her dark eyes.
Quatre wasn't quite sure what to make of Jubilee - the girl was bubbly and friendly all right, but she made him nervous. The plasma sparks she constantly generated and dissipated weren't helping. She kept throwing anxious glances at the tough man beside her.
Wolverine. The man gave Quatre the shivers. He could sense years of anger, rage and hostility beneath that glare - the glare he'd thought patented by Heero. But Quatre watched the man meet Jubilee's worried gaze and he reache dout, gripping her shoulder and squeezing it once in reassurement before resuming his arms-crossed position. Quatre observed the two for a minute, noting the apparent father-daughter relationship, and knew there was more to the feral man then he'd initially thought. Logan had a compassionate streak in him. Not much, but enough to win over a street-wise young girl. Enough to reach out to a lost boy who was raised to be the perfect weapon of war. Speaking of Heero...
Quatre's eyes rested on the large metal doors, willing them to open. As if in answer to his wish, the doors slid apart with a loud 'whoosh, permitting the admittance of Storm and Heero.
" Heero."
Quatre spoke his name and the boy's eyes met his. Quatre sucked in his breath as he noted the calmness in the normally rigid boy's demeanor and he nudged Trowa who eyed Heero thoughtfully.
Heero, while still eyeing everyone in the room warily, seemed to have lost some invisible weight - like some mental burden had been lifted from his shoulders. Trowa stared - and then nodded, coming to his own silent conclusion.
Wufei's eyes bored into the Perfect Soldier, instantly sensing the change in him and was equally quick to make his own assessment. Heero had lost that look in his eyes, the one that constantly reminded Wufei of all the times he'd fought with himself and his emotions. The look on Heero's face was one of he who had banished the demon within himself, accepting it and making its issue pointless.
There weren't too many things that Heero worried about or even thought about that would bring about that kind of internal struggle. Wufie tilted his head at Heero who shrugged casually before turning his look on the bouncing blue doctor and the Professor.
Jean had been observing all of them since Heero's entrance thirty seconds ago and she marvelled at the boy's ability to communicate so easily without words. Initially she would have assumed Quatre had something to do with it, being somewhat of an empath, but now she dismissed that idea. It was obviously something much more complicated then mere telepathy. She snorted at the idea of telepathy being tricial - but she knew it to be true in this case. These four boys obviously communicated on a level far beyond mere words - and beyond telepathy. Bound together by blood and tears, they shared a link that Jean herself could only compare to the one she shared with her own husband, who at the moment was standing next to the Professor, talking in low tones. Jean cleared her throat.
:: Ready, lover-mine?::
:: Really Jean,:: the professor chuckled in her mind. :: Must you be so forward? Especially with your husband here.::
Jean laughed at the light teasing. :: Scott?::
:: All set.::
" Good." All eyes turned to her as she motioned for Scott and Beast to step away from the machine. The professor adjusted the helmet.
" Beginning search," she said and pushed the button. Charles Xavier's eyes screwed shut as the overwhelming images of thousands of people flooded his mind, blocking his awareness of those with him.
" Ah!"
Charles cried out as more and more images poured into his head. People walking, people laughing, holding hands, people fighting.
A girl searched for her dog, crying as she feared he'd never come home.
A young man with two white streaks in his hair lifted his head as he felt the search before going back to his lunch.
A blond woman stopped her lecture to her gifted students as she felt the familiar mind wash fleetingly over hers, before continuing.
An older man with energy bursting out of a starshaped scar over his left eye tensed as if in preparation for an attack, only to relax slightly as he registered who was scanning.
Beast frowned at the shaking Professor but Charles looked at him, perspiration dotting his forehead.
" N-No Hank...i-it's fine....t-turn it up.."
Hank looked at Jean who was monitering the professor.
" He's with in normal levels, Hank," she said. " The amplifier just surprised him."
Heero watched the proceedings, eyes filled with hope for the first time since he could remember, as the process seemed to be working. Gambit and Wolverine traded concerned looks at each other before focussing back on the prussion-eyes youth.
Quatre rubbed his chest absently as a faint twinge of pain registered. Maybe it was being in the presence of so much psychic energy but for the first time since waking up in this strange dimension, he could feel his tenous link with Duo strengthen suddenly.
" OH!"
Quatre doubled over, faintly registering Trowa's arms supporting him. He could sense Duo, could feel the blood lust with in him. The laughing joker had been replaced by a snarling animal, anger and elation flooding his senses. " DUO!"
" Quatre!" Trowa looked up as Wufei appeared next to them. Jean was still monitoring the professor but her eyes locked onto the small blond who was shaking in Trowa's arms. She reached for the button to shut off the machine when Quatre staggered forward.
" NO!" He gasped, reaching out and latching onto the computer console, aware of Trowa and Wufei right behind him. He could feel Heero's eyes burning a hole in his back. " M-my space h-heart....I can FEEL him again...k-keep l-looking...." Blue eyes stared up at Jean and she automatically sent soothing thoughts out to the boy. " He's a-angry....and f-fighting.." Quatre swallowed his nausea at the bloodstained images of a snarling Duo. He couldn't 'see' what the American was doing EXACTLY, but he knew it wasn't good.
Heero's fists clenched as he heard Quatre's words. The feeling of rightness he'd had since confessing his feelings to Storm faded away in light of this new tension. Wordlessly, he turned back to the professor, mentally snarling at him to hurry up and find his baka. The tension level in the room elevated with every passing second, punctuated by the pained gasps emitted by Quatre as he received the psychic backlash of whatever was happening to Duo.
Jubilee cowered back a bit - this was something she hadn't seen before. Wolverine wrapped one arm around her shoulders and she hugged him, feeling afraid for the first time in a long time.
Jean knew the professor was still having a hard time filtering out all the minds in his head, something he had to do before he could BEGIN a more sophisticated search. Suddenly an idea popped into her head and she sent a wave of energy towards Quatre. Brushing a tendril against the barricades in his mind, she silently asked for admittance and she felt Quatre relax slightly.
Quatre was lost in his link with Duo when he felt Jean's wareness brush up against his. He gasped and straightened as she probed his mind gently, searching.
:: Quatre, relax,:: she sent soothingly. :: You're remotely connected to Duo - I can provide a link between you and the professor::
:: Will it find him faster?:: Quatre sent back.
:: Possibly.::
:: Do it.:: With that, Quatre's walls simply dropped out of sight and Jean felt the full force of his link with his teammates. She gasped as she felt his pain for Duo, Trowa's concern, Heero's worry, Wufei's anger....Cyclops reached out and steadied his wife, providing her with a stable ground on which to anchor herself.
:: You can do it love:: she felt him, a faint whisper at the back of her mind and she nodded within herself, strengthening her resolve. The professor sensed what she was doing and relaxed his own walls, seeking out her mind and latching on to it. Jean let herself flow with the energy, letting her mind act as a bridge between Quatre and the professor. Used to dealing with multiple minds, she simply blocked all the other images brought out by Cerebro, easier for her since she wasn't directly connected to Cerebro like Charles. She then turned her mind towards Quatre, knowing the boy wasn't used to dealing with other people being in his head. She put up a mental wall, allowing only the images he was recieving from Duo filter through, and even muted those somewhat.
Trowa felt Quatre relax slightly in his grip and he brushed those blond bangs off his love's forhead, examining his eyes for awareness. Quatre returned the look with a shakey smile.
" I-It's okay Trowa...Jean blocked part of it," he said as he leaned closer to the brown-haired youth. Trowa still looked uneasy and he tightened his grip. Wufei heard Quatre's words and met Heero's eyes, knowing they were wondering the same thing: what was happening to Duo that could cause such pain in Quatre?
End Part 6B
Stormy
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