psinex@yahoo.com Blood and Iron Chapter 3 by Phil Hartman DISCLAIMER: Everyone here is Marvel's, except for Buffy and Co., who're 20th Century Fox's, and Steven, who's mine. Please don't sue. -------------------------------------------------------- Downtown Snow Valley: 8/30/2003: 10:30 hrs EDT: -------------------------------------------------------- "... and so, after Uncle Brian and Aunt Meg got married back in '99, Excalibur moved back into Brian's rebuilt lighthouse," Alexa told the other kids as they walked down the street, her fur hidden by an image induced vision of a brunette Caucasian girl. "Sounds weird - all them other dimensions an' stuff," Lew said. "Ah think what Lew MEANS, is," Naomi frowned, elbowing her twin in the gut, "that ya had t'learn t' adapt t' a lotta diff'rent situations." "You're absolutely right," Alexa smiled faintly. "I still think it stinks that we have to hide our mutancy, though." "Sometimes I wish I could hide my ethnicity," Leong frowned. "Nga and I are naturalized American citizens, and we still get crap from people." "Vietnam is still a sore spot," Nga pointed out. "But I think Snow Valley's a lot different than Manhattan." "Manhattan's not a very nice place, no," Sarah mumbled. She smiled when Leech gave her half of an apple he'd purchased and said, "Here you go, sis." "Thanks, Leech," Sarah said. "At least the fruit's good here ..." "A town square ! All raght !" Lew grinned. "Ah 'member back home, we used t'have all sorts o'fun goin' on in our town square ..." "What, the redneck games ?" Malachi chortled. He winced under the other's glares, and Tobias growled, "Watch it, Mal. We're trying to get along here ... ?" "Could be worse," Erik smirked. "Mal could be trying to hit on one of the girls." The others laughed, and Mal rolled his eyes. "This from Mr. Bleach Job," he tried to counter. "RAZZED !" Toby grinned. "Give it up, Mal. 'Rik's got the moves, the style ... and two girls looking him over." "'Rik, a sex machine ?" Ray giggled. She and Frank looked back as Erik examined a bookstore window, and Alexa and Sarah examined him. ~Not all of us can be so lucky to fall in love the first try,~ Frank sent, concentrating to keep his psi-beam locked on Ray. She gave a little gasp and kissed his cheek, sending, ~Your control's getting a lot better !!~ ~Maybe, but it's tough,~ he thought, grateful that Ray was projecting instead of him. ~Where's Nate and -~ "INCOMING !" Nate whooped, skating by on rollerblades and doing a telekinetic backflip before landing gracefully in front of the others. "Read the sidewalk, Nate - 'no bicycles, skateboards or rollerblades' ?" Ray frowned. "This isn't Sunnydale." "Tell me about it," Nate pouted, removing his blades, knee-pads and helmet. "More like Stepford. The local kids're so ... quiet." "Not much to do here," a New-England accented voice called, approaching from behind the mutants. The kids looked and waved at a smiling brown-haired boy. "Welcome to Snow Valley - Where Youth Go To Enter Purgatory," the boy joked. "Dan Davies. You guys must be from the Academy - I saw you walking to town. Frosty's cheaper'n ever." "We don't mind," Erik shrugged. "You from in town ?" "Yeah," Dan sighed. "I go to the public school. We must have the LAST one-building school district in the U.S. - everyone else goes to the private schools around here." He looked shyly at them and asked, "You ... care if I hang ?" "Please do," Alexa smiled demurely. Erik scratched his head as Alexa followed Dan across the town square and thought, #I coulda sworn she ...# Ray squeezed his arm and sent, ~Alexa's fickle, 'Rik. Besides, we're not even in high school yet ! Well, you are, but you know what I mean - c'mon, have fun !~ ~OK, OK,~ Erik laughed mentally. "Let's meet at the Biggy Burger at noon ?" he suggested to the others. They agreed, and by twos and threes split up and began to explore the town. #Wish Steve'd come,# Nate thought, tagging along with Erik and Buffy. #But he wanted to know how the tests came out ...# -------------------------------------------------------- Academy Medlab: -------------------------------------------------------- "Well ?" Jean's question made Moira, Charles, Cecilia and Hank look up from the printouts and other data they had collected from Steve's bioscan and the neural download they had performed on the boy's implant. Scott could sense his wife's fear, and added, "We need to know." "Of course you do," Charles sighed, noticing Sean, Emma and Giles enter. They all took seats around the table, so deep in concentration that a small form at the door to the conference room went unnoticed. "First, it appears Sinister was correct: the implant is keeping Steve's brain from being ... cooked by the excess psionic energy his body's producing," Hank said. "Steve's an effective Alpha-class telepath and astral projector, but his body is generating Omega-class energies - energies his neural pathways can't handle." "What about removing the damned implant and just finding another way to damp Steve's energy output ?" Jean demanded. The doctors looked at each other again, and the Summers felt their hearts sink. "Jean ... the implant's become irreversably interconnected with Steve's brain," Moira said sadly. "If'n we tried t' remove th' accursed thing ..." "I'd d-die ?" The adults turned to see Steve standing at the door, pale and teary-eyed. "Why didn't you just TELL me ?" he pleaded. "I'm a m-m-monster ... just say it !" "Stevie, no - STEVE !" Jean cried, jumping up to try and stop Steve from running outside. "God ... we've got to talk to him," Scott said, following Jean. "DAMN ! DAMN THAT ANIMAL !" Moira snarled. "'Sinister' - aye, he's sinister, all right ! Why do th' Summers hae t'continue t'suffer b'cause o' that monster ! First he sends that ... clone o' Jean t' try an' kill th' girls, then this !" "What I fear more than anything else at this point," Hank sighed, "is that Jean might have failed to kill Sinister. If he's alive ..." The others didn't answer. -------------------------------------------------------- "Crap," Nate groaned, sliding into a booth beside Erik, Ray, Buffy and Frank. "The implant can't come outta Steve's head - Mom 'pathed me." The others groaned or shook their heads, and told the rest of the team as they entered the Biggy Burger. "Sinister sucks sour frog ass," Mal mumbled around a mouthful of meat. "I'm sorry, guys." "Thanks, Mal," Erik sighed. "We should go and talk to Steve," Ray said, playing with her silverware. "Mom and Dad may be the last people he needs - you know how much he wants to make 'em proud. I scan they care, but they might make him feel worse without meanin' too." "Well, we at least should eat lunch first," Buffy pointed out. "We can't help Steve if we're falling over with hunger." She waved down a waitress, while Nga asked, "Do they have veggie-burgers ?" "My sister the health nut," Leong smirked. "Well ? You can't heal bodies if your own is a mess," Nga said archly. "You're getting a little chubby there, brother." "Ah say, if ya wanna have a veggie-burger, ya oughta be able ta," Lew shrugged. "Now that's an intelligent answer," Naomi said proudly. Lew glared at her and rumbled, "Y'r one t'talk - ya knocked me earlier f'r that 'other dimensions' crack." "THBBPPTHT," Naomi replied. -------------------------------------------------------- ~I can't find him anywhere !?~ Jean sent to Scott from across the campus. The couple had changed back to street clothes, although Scott had his visor on. ~I - oh no,~ Scott thought from within the boys' dorm. Jean flew to the window, turning pale as she saw Scott digging within the empty dresser which Steve had left behind in the room he was supposed to share with Nate. "He ... left a note," Scott said, gritting his teeth. He handed it to Jean, who read it and stifled a sob. "Come on," she said, catching Scott in a telekinetic field and flying them back to the psi-lab. The note drifted to the ground, landing where a passing squirrel cocked its' head and gazed at it. Everybody - I'm sorry, but if the implant stays in my head, Sinister might use it to get to you through me. I can't let that happen. I know I'm being a coward, but I've gotta go away. Please don't try to find me. I don't want any of you to get hurt. Love, Steve -------------------------------------------------------- Administrators' Office: 22:00 hrs: -------------------------------------------------------- "YOU JUST LET HIM DISAPPEAR !?" Nate's teeth were audibly grinding as Jean tried to restrain him. "Nathan - ! We're trying everything we know to do to find Steve !" Scott demanded. "I'm ... s-sorry ..." Nate mumbled, wiping his eyes. "B-but ..." Jean hugged him, and the other Summers embraced for a long moment. Erik just stared out the window and finally said, "He was wrong for why he left." "Well DUH, 'Rik," Buffy growled. Erik glared at her and said, "I MEANT, he was actually being braver than he gave himself credit for. He's trying to protect us. It doesn't mean he should have left." "We've got every telepath we have working shifts on Cerebro," Charles said. Erik looked at him - #Lord, those EYES !# Xavier thought - and shook his head. "It won't work," Erik said. "I rifled through Aunt Moira's notes. If Steve has any idea what that implant can do - if he's working with it instead of against it - he'll figure out pretty quick how to damp his biogenetic aura." "And that'll render Cerebro useless," Charles sighed. "But we don't even know if Sinister is alive." Jean shivered and said, "It's ... possible he could have shifted to the astral plane, or another body, before I killed the one he was inhabiting. His ... lifeforce seemed to fade before I could deliver a killing blow - but I thought he was committing suicide." "Not your fault, Mom," Ray said. The Summers collectively sighed, and Charles said, "We'll keep looking. For now, we have to move forward as well as look for Steven." "That means getting plenty of rest," Jean told her remaining brood. "Like I'll be able to sleep," Nate pouted, following Erik back to the boys' dorm. "Frank decided he couldn't 'risk' having someone else in the room with him - you wanna take the other bed in my room tonight ?" Erik offered. "Really ? Thanks, 'Rik," Nate said. "I'll be up in a minute." The boys turned to wave goodnight to Ray and Buffy, who waved back and clambered up the stairs of the girls' dorm. They changed and prepared for bed quickly, and settled in to sleep. Ray's snores kept Buffy awake, and the Slayer looked out onto the moonlit quad with a tearful stare. #Stevie, where ARE you ?# she thought. #We love you, little brother ... please - WHAT ?!# Her heart skipped as a figure scuttled between the trees, and she headed downstairs with a freshly-carved stake. #Dunno if this is the smartest idea, but at least I'm armed,# Buffy thought, casting about with her aura sense. She gasped as it registered an odd aura behind a nearby tree - muted, and shot through with black streaks. #I KNOW that aura - it's not possible, not here !?# Buffy thought. She walked over to the tree and whispered, "Hello ?" Her jaw dropped when a tall, brown-haired boy with ice-blue eyes peered around the corner, smiling faintly. "Hi, Buffy. You've grown," Angel said. -------------------------------------------------------- Two stories above, Gwen Parker sat bolt upright in bed and whimpered. "No ..." she whispered, trying not to awaken her roommate Naomi. The Kentuckian continued to doze, not noticing Gwen slip out into the hallway. #'Big, bad Spider-Girl',# Gwen thought bitterly, sitting down in her pajamas and looking at the moon through a window at the end of the hall. #I can't even keep him out of my dreams ...# She shivered, seeing the man in the moon leering, and a single tear fell down her cheek. #Leering. Laughing,# she thought, trying to sleep. #Just like him.# -------------------------------------------------------- NEXT: Conversations with the (un)dead, things that go bump in the dorm room, and why you should NEVER tease a reality warper ... -------------------------------------------------------- end _________________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Get your free @yahoo.com address at http://mail.yahoo.com