* DISCLAIMER * This is a non-profit work of fan-fiction involving characters created and owned by Marvel Comics Group. * WRITTEN BY * Samy Merchi * ARCHIVED AT * http://mash.yok.utu.fi/corona.html * STARRING * Manuel Alfonso Rodrigo "EMPATH" de la Rocha Illyana Nikolovna "MAGIK" Rasputina in ******************************* * FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE * * CHAPTER EIGHT * * What Goes Up Must Come Down * ******************************* *** Amara Juliana Olivians Aquilla had visited a lot of places during her time as one of the New Mutants, from outer space to the otherdimensional home of Norse gods, to death itself. But in none of them had her heart beaten quicker than it did now, two thousand feet above Snow Valley, Massachusetts, and falling rapidly. "Father Jove, Mother Earth, Lord Vulcan -- I beseech you, let this work..." she prayed under her breath as she concentrated, gritting her teeth and narrowing her eyes, trying to use her mutant powers to reach out for the planet underneath her while she fixed her eyes on her teammate. Roberto Da Costa was in the same predicament, only a few hundred feet closer to the small expanse of flat green grassland spreading out below the two New Mutants, and unaware of the teammate following him thru the air. "Very well then..." he mumbled with an angry expression. "Juliana, here I --" "ROBERTO, DIVE!" Amara shouted at the top of her lungs, trying to get her words to carry over to the other South American mutant over the wind rushing in their ears. *** o/~ Where have all the good men gone And where are all the gods? Where's the streetwise Hercules To fight the rising odds? Isn't there a white knight upon a fiery steed? Late at night I toss and I turn and I dream of what I need! o/~ Casey Rassendyll, 16 years young, was atop a little knoll, sitting astride the brand-new Kawasaki Ninja motorcycle her cousin Judith had bought her for her birthday two weeks ago. She rested her chin on the handlebar, staring at the grassland spreading out underneath the knoll while music pumped in the headphones hanging around her neck. "Bonnie Tyler's got it so right, Muffy", she said in a cooing voice, zipping open her jacket and taking out a little orange-haired kitten, lifting him up in front of her face and nuzzling her nose against his. "It's not exactly raining good manly men in this neck of woods. I might as well expect one to fall right out of nowhere." o/~ I need a hero I'm holding out for a hero 'til the end of the night He's gotta be strong And he's gotta be fast And he's gotta be fresh from the fight I need a hero I'm holding out for a hero 'til the morning light He's gotta be sure And it's gotta be soon And he's gotta be larger than life Larger than life... o/~ Suddenly, the grassland started changing color, the green grass charring and turning into black ash right before Casey's eyes which widened at the sight, her head slowly rising off the handlebar as she watched. The ground kept changing color, from brown and black, towards orange. Large bubbles popped in its surface as the ground turned into a massive pool of glowing red and orange lava within the span of seconds. SPLUSH! A black shape fell from the sky, the lava pool rippling slightly where the thing splashed into the molten rock and went under. SPLUSH! Only a few seconds later, another shape fell out of nowhere -- this one glowing a bright yellow -- and fell into the lava pool, disappearing into the churning inferno of magma. "Guh", Casey blinked at the sight, not sure what she had witnessed, just staring at the pool of lava as it kept churning and boiling while Bonnie Tyler kept singing in the headphones. o/~ Somewhere after midnight In my wildest fantasy Somewhere just beyond my reach There's someone reaching back for me Racing on the thunder and rising with the heat It's gonna take a superman to sweep me off my feet! o/~ The surface of the lava pool almost seemed to settle and calm down for a moment. Then, the liquid exploded on one side of the pool, as a coal-black man burst to the surface. "PROUDSTARRRRR!" his furious yell shook the air as he stood in the pool, still immersed from waist-down. KRA-KOOM! Lightning struck down from the sky, smashing into a copse of woods beyond the lava pool, a tree exploding into bits as if to symbolize the rage burning inside Roberto Da Costa. o/~ I need a hero I'm holding out for a hero 'til the end of the night He's gotta be strong And he's gotta be fast And he's gotta be fresh from the fight I need a hero I'm holding out for a hero 'til the morning light He's gotta be sure And it's gotta be soon And he's gotta be larger than life I need a hero I'm holding out for a hero 'til the end of the night! o/~ Some moments later, the other form surfaced as well, the limp form of a blonde in a black and gold uniform. The unmoving Amara Aquilla drifted to the edge of the lava pool, seemingly unharmed by the heat, as the pool started settling down. "Amara!" Roberto shouted, and waded over to his teammate, lifting her into his arms and walking out of the cooling pool with her. "Ow. Ow. Ow. Ow. Ow", he mumbled, starting to feel the ache all over his body from the impact onto the magma. He would be one big bruise for days. Finally getting out of the lava pool, he then laid her down onto the grassy ground beside it. "Amara?" He swallowed and looked at her nervously. "Madonna, if she is dead because of me --" Sickening crunches and crackles started coming from Amara's body, as if bones caught in a meat grinder, and her body started jerking, her face constricting as a little moan of pain flowed from her lips. "Amara...?" Roberto whispered worriedly, his nose wrinkling at the squishy popping and crackling emerging from his teammate. He powered down, turning from his coal-black form to his chocolate-skinned form clad in a similar black and gold outfit as Amara's. Her eyes suddenly opened, and for a moment seemed to stare into nothingness like an undead. Then, with a sickening wet crunch, her skull jerked, and her eyes came to focus. "Roberto...?" she murmured, placing a weak hand onto his thigh as her body settled down and stopped crunching. "Amara", Roberto gasped in relief, and raised his eyes to the heavens. "Thank you", he whispered. "Thank you." o/~ Up where the mountains meet the heavens above Out where the lightning splits the sea I would swear that there's someone somewhere Watching me! o/~ "Give me...a few moments to recover..." Amara murmured as she weakly stumbled up onto her knees. "Then we shall catch up with our comrades..." "Lie down and rest", Roberto said, standing up straight from beside Amara, wincing a bit in pain as his abused body complained audibly. He glanced around, and as his eyes locked onto Casey Rassendyll atop the knoll, he started walking towards her. "I shall procure transportation for us in the meanwhile..." Casey tensed up as Roberto started walking towards her, her heart starting to beat faster, even as the winds picked up slightly, tousling both her blonde short hair and his raven-black curly locks. She felt a raindrop hit her nose and wished it wouldn't start to rain harder so her make-up would be messed up. o/~ Through the wind and the chill and the rain And the storm and the flood I can feel his approach Like the fire in my blood! o/~ o/~ I need a hero I'm holding out for a hero 'til the end of the night He's gotta be strong And he's gotta be fast And he's gotta be fresh from the fight I need a hero I'm holding out for a hero 'til the morning light He's gotta be sure And it's gotta be soon And he's gotta be larger than life! o/~ Roberto pulled a wallet from inside his unstable-molecule uniform, and stopped in front of Casey. "Good day, miss", he nodded politely and continued in a matter-of-fact tone. "I would like to purchase your motorcycle, please. Name your price." Casey stared at Roberto blankly for a moment. "Well...uhh...i-it cost five grand..." she stuttered and nervously ran a hand thru her hair. "Dollars, that is... US dollars..." Roberto nodded and pulled a checkbook and a pen out of the wallet. "Done!" he said, starting to scribble up a check. "And...umm...a night with you?" Casey smiled sheepishly, looking at Roberto with a hopeful glint in her eyes. Roberto paused scribbling, looking up at Casey, and then smiled. "Done!" he said, putting the pen back to the check as he resumed scribbling. "Holy shit!" Casey giggled, throwing her head back and praising the Lord in her mind. Roberto finished writing the check, and then ripped it off the checkbook. He turned the piece of paper around, then wrote his name and phone number onto the back, before handing it to Casey. "Here you go, miss." "Casey", she smiled shyly as she took the check and got off the motorcycle, cradling her orange kitten against her chest. "My name is Casey." "It's been a pleasure, Casey", Roberto smiled, as he swung one leg over the motorcycle, and hit the ignition button. "Call me soon", he said and winked, before letting go of the clutch and zooming forward on the bike. o/~ I need a hero I'm holding out for a hero 'til the end of the night He's gotta be strong And he's gotta be fast And he's gotta be fresh from the fight I need a hero I'm holding out for a hero 'til the morning light He's gotta be sure And it's gotta be soon And he's gotta be larger than life I need a hero I'm holding out for a hero 'til the end of the night! o/~ Amara hopped onto the back of the motorcycle as Roberto stopped near her. Then, the motorcycle kicked off some grass before shooting off and racing northwards with the two New Mutants aboard. Casey watched them leave, and then sighed dreamily, lifting her kitten in front of her face, nuzzling her nose against his. "I think I'm in love, Muffy." *** Haroun ibn Sallah al-Rashid's unconscious body reached the apex of its arc somewhere around three thousand feet over Snow Valley, Massachusetts. Its upward momentum gradually drifted to a halt, and then, it started plummeting downwards. ((I told you that you allowed yourself to be taken off-guard too easily, Haroun)), a female voice rang inside the blank mind. ((So arrogant. So sloppy. I have a mind to let you suffer the consequences of your shortcomings -- but I won't. Necessarily. If you will listen to me now, and wake up, you can still save yourself.)) Then, the voice went silent for several moments, before adding, in a warning tone, ((Wake up, Haroun. Now. I will *not* seize your mind. If you wish to survive, you must do it your*self*.)) *** "This is not good", James Proudstar said as he found himself some two thousand feet above Snow Valley, Massachusetts, and falling rapidly. He swallowed slightly as the ground approached. "Planes end up being the death of my brother *and* me..." he murmured and closed his eyes, hoping the end would come quickly. "I swear, if I survive this, I will never so much as *look* at a plane *ever* --" Despite trying to keep his eyes closed, they forced their way back open, and his heart started thumping harder as he saw the treetops of the forest underneath him approach rapidly. His throat suddenly felt very dry. "I don't suppose I could have any latent flight power that could manifest just about now..." Nothing. A few more fractions of a second passed, and Thunderbird's eyes widened in anticipation for the impact. "I SAID 'JUST ABOUT NOW'!" he shouted and started flapping his arms pathetically, waving them up and down as fast as he could. ZZZZOOOOOMMMM "JETSTREAM!" Thunderbird gasped as the Moor streaked in and caught the Apache underneath his arms, whisking past the treetops and leaving them wobbling about in his wake. "I hope I have not offended you by depriving you of this unique opportunity at learning to fly..." Haroun ibn Sallah al-Rashid said with a dry smile as he rocketed northwards towards the Massachusetts Academy. "But Ms Frost requires our presence. And now, more than even before, I owe her. As, she might say, do you." "Whatever", Jimmy grumbled as the two Hellions whizzed thru the air. "Just don't tell anyone about what I did." "What, your flapping your arms?" "Yes." "Of course not." "I mean it." "Of course." "..." "You looked quite comical." "Shut up, Jetstream." *** "Follow me", Danielle Moonstar said, some two thousand feet above the prestigious Massachusetts Academy. "I know where Empath's room is." She spread her arms and started angling her descent towards the boys' dorm building on the south end of the campus. "Following", Katherine Anne Pryde said as she plummeted down from the sky beside the Cheyenne, a little frown on her face. "I'm not so sure this is a good idea anymore...there are hundreds of regular students here...no matter how much of a jerk Empath is, we'd be jeopardizing his, and the other Hellions' secret identities..." KRA-KOOM! Lightning flashed, an ear-shattering thundercrack rolled about less than a second from the flash. Dani's expression remained set, her eyes sharp and focused, an angry frown on her face as she declined to respond to the comment. "Take my hand", Kitty said, angling her fall a bit closer to Dani and extending her hand towards the New Mutant's. Dani silently gripped Kitty's hand, and then, as the two girls fell towards the dorm building underneath them, she jutted her finger out at one part of the building. "There..." *** "...here", Manuel Alfonso Rodrigo de la Rocha said, standing up and adjusting the shoulders of his pink and purple Hellion costume as he glanced upwards at the ceiling of his room. "EMPATH!" Danielle Moonstar snarled as she appeared thru the ceiling like a ghost. As soon as she and Kitty Pryde were thru the ceiling, the latter stopped using her phasing power, turning the both back to a tangible state. They dropped into crouches side-by-side, facing the Spaniard. "Yes?" Manuel answered with a confident smirk, crossing his arms over his chest as he watched the two girls make their entry. "Can I help you somehow?" "You can DIE!" Dani shouted as she leaped up from the crouch and towards Empath, her hands extended in front of her, preparing to grab the arrogant bastard. "Not so fast", an amused female voice said, as a black disk suddenly flew like a frisbee across the room, flying past Dani and then dissipating in the air. "AGH!" Mirage gasped as her legs tangled with each other, and she fell headlong onto the floor right at Empath's feet. "ROULETTE!" Shadowcat hissed as she whirled around to notice the blonde Hellion at the other end of the room. "Should've expected as much", she growled as she launched a leaping kick, streaking thru the air towards Jennifer Stavros. "Bad things travel in packs --" "UNGH!" Roulette wheezed as Shadowcat's foot smashed to her jaw and knocked her backwards, crashing against a cabinet. "You're gonna pay for that --!" she growled as a white glow manifested in her hand. "And you..." Empath smirked wickedly, his eyes started glowing crimson as he looked down at Mirage down on the floor before him. "You don't want to hurt me, do you? You *love* me... You want to please me in every way imaginable, don't you, you skinny little native?" "Y-- ye--", Mirage started, hesitating with an expression of agony creeping onto her face as conflicted emotions tore at her heart. "NO!" she suddenly shouted, and burst up to her feet, grabbing the front of Empath's uniform and smashing him backwards against the wall of the room. "'Berto and Amara and Illyana could be DEAD because of you, and I'm going to KILL you, white man --!" "Uh-oh", Empath said, his eyes widening a bit, his confidence suddenly fleeing and his face drawing quickly white. "Dani, no!" Shadowcat shouted, whirling around towards the New Mutant in alarm. "Don't worry", Roulette smirked as she quickly manifested a black disk in her free hand, and tossed it at the ceiling, then clenched the hand holding the white disk into a fist around the 'wheel of fortune'. SNAPT! CRASHH! "WHOULFF!" Mirage gasped as the heavy chandelier snapped from the roof and collapsed onto her, knocking her to the floor underneath hundreds of little crystals, unmoving. "Dani!" Shadowcat gasped, and whirled back towards Roulette, hoping to avoid whatever move the Hellion had up her sleeve next. POW! Shadowcat saw stars momentarily as a purple-gloved fist, glowing bright white, impacted into her jaw like a wrecking ball, and sent her flying thru the air in a small arc before crashing onto her butt onto the floor. She fought to stay conscious, steadily fighting away the black edges of her vision and clearing her eyes. "Lucky shot", she snarled at Roulette as she climbed back up to her knees. "Exactly", Roulette smirked as the white glow inside her fist dissipated. "Ready to surrender?" "Not on your life", Shadowcat hissed. "I'm afraid you're incorrect, Shadow-brat", Empath grinned as his eyes started glowing crimson again. "But then, that's nothing new to you, is it? Always failing, letting people down. In fact, why bother fighting us -- we all know you're going to lose. Just come quietly, and I will be...*nice* to you... That's what you want, after all..." Shadowcat's body tensed up, freezing in place, and her breathing quickened. "N-- no..." "Yes", Empath smiled as he took Shadowcat's chin in his hand, and lifted her up onto her feet. "Yes..." Kitty Pryde whimpered quietly, not resisting as Manuel de la Rocha pressed his lips against hers and kissed her possessively. Somewhere in a deep corner of her mind, she screamed as her body wrapped its arms around Manuel, and started rubbing against him. Jennifer Stavros watched with a wide, amused grin as Manuel pushed Kitty down onto his bed. "Told you you'd pay for that kick..." she whispered, her lips pulling back into a vicious smile. KRA-KOOM!