"Storm, I didn't know you were coming tonight!" Flash exclaims as he wanders over to the four of us. He stumbles slightly and I resist the urge to roll my eyes, he's drunk already? It's just after nine pm! I raise an eyebrow as Flash hugs me, what the hell? I'm not used to affection from people I don't know very well.
"Wouldn't miss it" I reply, giving Flash a small smile. I don't know why he keeps trying to talk to me and initiate hangouts, but I'm sure it'll wear off once I stop being the new girl. People get attention when they're new but I think it usually goes as quickly as it comes.
"Drinks are in the kitchen, help yourselves" Flash says, smiling at me before turning and beginning to head off. I raise an eyebrow as I glance around, I've never been at a party before, that wasn't really a thing back with the x-men.
"You're popular with Flash" Ned comments, giving me a meaningful look. "I think he actually likes you." So? I'm only here because it beats being stuck in a room all day, I'm not interested in dating or having a boyfriend. Even if I was interested, Flash isn't the kind of person I picture myself with, he's attractive but he's not my type.
"That's not happening" Peter says sternly before I can respond, he looks at me and raises his eyebrows. I didn't do anything! Flash came up to me and hugged me, I didn't start it. If anything, Peter should be proud of me for resisting the urge to burn or freeze Flash when he hugged me. "Come on, let's go get a drink." Ned and Peter head off towards the kitchen, MJ doesn't follow them. MJ sits down on a white leather couch so I sit down next to her.
I glance around, pretty much everyone is drinking, a song I've never heard is playing and a lot of people are dancing, I can also see a group of people playing some sort of drinking game. This is what all the hype's about? Everyone at school was talking about this party for the past few days, I guess I can see the fun side if I had friends here.
"Peter cares about you" MJ comments, I turn to face her. "Don't hurt him or we'll hurt you." I hide at smile at her threat. It's funny she thinks she can hurt me, but I understand the meaning. If someone came after Scarlett, I would hurt them.
"You're a good girlfriend, MJ, but I'm not here to hurt Peter" I say, if I was going to hurt Peter I would have already. "I don't want to hurt anyone." I understand that Ned and MJ have their reservations, but I am starting to get a little tired of being treated like some super evil villain when I'm not, I'm not going to pretend I am a good person, but I'm not as cunning and evil as everyone appears to think.
I feel a tingling sensation in my fingertips, and I glance at my hands, examining them, what the hell is going on? My eyes widen as a flash of fire appears, I quickly close my eyes and breathe in deeply. When I open my eyes, the fire is gone. I might be able to control fire, earth, air, and water but fire has always been my preferred fighting method.
"Are your powers back?" MJ asks, staring at my hand in shock. I glance around, thankfully no one else is near us, I would have no explanation if someone saw that, how do you explain fire appearing at your fingertips?
"Looks like it" I answer, I have no idea how Steve Rogers convinced the team so easily, but it happened and now I have my powers back. I smile, I have missed my powers, I can't explain it but I felt it when they weren't there.
MJ will have to trust me at least a tiny bit now, I have my powers and I'm not trying to kill anyone or attack Peter. If I wanted to attack Peter, now would be the best opportunity, he doesn't know I have my powers yet.
I glance and see a cat on the fence outside. The hairs on the back of my neck rise and I feel my heart begin to race. I walk slowly towards the door leading outside, the cat is staring at me and hasn't broken eye contact.
"Storm, what are you doing?" MJ asks, I don't answer her, I hardly register what she's saying to me. The cat has thick, white fur and human-like eyes. I glance at the cat, waiting for a sign, waiting for anything to tell me that I'm right.
My eyes widen as I see a drunk boy and his friends noticing the cat. He throws a can at it and I have to dig my nails into my palm to stop myself from yelling at him to stop, I can't attract attention by yelling at someone for throwing something at a random cat.
The cat effortlessly dodges and hisses at the group of boys, not moving or running away. My blue eyes meet the cat's blue eyes that are the same as Scarlett's, I could always tell when she transformed into an animal because her eyes remained the same, no matter which animal she turned into.
My mouth goes dry, did the x-men send Scarlett? It's the most likely option, I doubt Scarlett figured everything out of her own. If they sent her, am I her mission? I close my eyes and breathe. Scarlett's my best friend, she wouldn't kill me without at least hearing me out, right? The cat nods it's head slightly, confirming its identity.
"Ned, I need a distraction" I say, turning and seeing Ned approaching me. "Please don't ask questions, just do it." The world is surely coming to a halt if I'm using manners.
Ned quickly runs into the kitchen and starts yelling about how he can see spider-man. I quickly jump on top of the rubbish bin and jump over the fence; Scarlett has already started running so I chase her.
"Storm!" I hear Peter yelling my name behind me. I can't afford for him to catch up to me, I need to talk to Scarlett before she gets the wrong idea. I know he'll call Tony and say I ran away the second I got my powers back, but I can explain this to the avengers later – if I lose Scarlett, I might not get a second chance to explain.
I close my eyes, fire forming in my hands. I use the fireballs to lift myself up into the air, flying forward. The wind swirls around my face and I smile despite everything, I've forgotten how much I loved being up in the air.
I see Scarlett running, she's running way too fast for a normal cat.
YOU ARE READING
Beautiful Ruins
Action"Maybe there was a fleeting moment where I wanted to be a hero and believed I could be one, but the truth is I'm not, I won't ever be. My past does define me, it made me a villain" - Storm. Fifteen-year-old Storm is the daughter of Black Widow and I...
