"Scarlett" I call out, lowering myself down to the ground. We're in the middle of some random forest, I think we're far enough away from everyone. I turn around, looking in every direction for either Scarlett or a white cat. All I can see is trees and sticks and leaves on the ground.
"Scar, come on, let me explain" I say, my voice cracking slightly. Did I misread the signs? Maybe Scarlett didn't want me to chase her, maybe she wanted to get away from me because she thinks I betrayed her.
I step forward, tripping over a fallen tree branch. I get up, brushing the dirt off my knees. I close my eyes, tears forming. "Scarlett!"
If she flies back to the x-men and tells them I'm living a normal, happy life attending high school with Peter Parker, I'm completely screwed. Not only will I have lost my friends, but I'll also officially become a target.
I gasp as I hear a tree branch cracking behind me. I whirl around, fire instantly appearing at my fingertips – it's more of a reaction than a choice. I glance up, not even daring to blink as I wait for someone to appear.
I sigh in relief as I see the familiar red hair. Scarlett's dressed casually in black jeans and a grey short-sleeved top. She walks slowly over to me, staring at me without saying anything. Her face is emotionless, like it's supposed to be, but her eyes are filled with confusion and pain.
"Do you have a tracker or something in you?" Scarlett asks me, folding her arms and straightening up. Her eyes stay on mine, not moving. I resist the urge to look away from her, she's been my best friend my whole life, we can get through this.
"No" I answer, though I should actually check that out, it's entirely possible they put a tracker in me while I was unconscious. Tony could probably make some sort of tracker within five minutes, the man's a literal genius.
"Then what the hell are you doing? Why haven't you come home? We mourned you, I mourned you!" Scarlett snaps, her voice rising as she speaks. Tears are forming in her blue eyes, and I can feel a lump forming in my throat as well.
How do I begin to explain everything we know is one massive lie? How do I tell Scarlett about the bomb I've planted? I have no idea how to tell her these things, I don't want to be the one to tear down her life and make her realise everything she knows is a lie. Well, almost everything, our friendship was real.
"The x-men aren't who we think they are, they've gotten us to do terrible-" I stop as I see the gold badge on Scarlett's top, shaped in the form of an X. I thought she might be recruited next, but I didn't think it would be this soon, was she even sent on a mission or just given the spot? "What did they make you do?"
"I bombed a hospital in California, then I got offered to join the x-men team" Scarlett says casually, too casually. My mouth goes dry, was I the only one who didn't know about all this? Scarlett was always the nicer one out of the two of us, yet she bombed a hospital, something I would never do. Maybe everyone knew this entire time and I was the only one kept in the dark.
"I bombed a building when I was eight, I didn't know what I was doing at the time, they've made us do all kinds of terrible things, Scar" I say, staring at her. She doesn't appear surprised, but we are taught to hide emotions – I've just really sucked at that ever since I was kidnapped. Looking back, I can admit it was never my greatest strength, I did tend to get angry and rush into things without thinking clearly while Scarlett was the complete opposite, it's one of the reasons we were so good together.
"Magneto told me everything after I completed the mission, including that Tony Stark killed you and Peter. I didn't believe it, I couldn't, so I came here to check it out and here you are with the avengers" Scarlett says, her eyes narrowing, and her voice dripping with venom and anger. Magneto and Mystique thinking we were killed makes sense, they would've guessed we didn't have much of a chance. What's surprising is the x-men told Scarlett everything and she was okay with it, she agreed to join them.
A lump begins to form in my throat. I blink, I didn't see this situation coming. I hoped I could get to Scarlett before the x-men did, but obviously I was wrong.
"Come with me" Scarlett says, I blink. A large part of me wants to go with her, but I know that I can't turn a blind eye to what I've learnt and even if I could, the x-men can't be allowed to continue turning children into weapons. "Whatever the avengers did or said, we'll fix it, okay? Together." A tear rolls down my cheek, this isn't something that can be fixed. I can't go back and pretend I'm okay with all of this.
"Scar, you're the one who needs to come with me. The x-men are evil and dangerous, we can stop it with the avengers, we can stop what happened to us from happening to more children" I say, a sinking feeling forming in my stomach. Scarlett's chosen her side and I've picked mine; I never saw us on different sides.
"The x-men did what they had to in order for us to survive! I am sorry you didn't know you bombed a building, but who cares? Do you think any of those dead people would've shed a tear for you, a mutant?" Scarlett says, raising her arms. I stay silent, for once I'm lost for words. I can't justify this like Scarlett can, I can't say that killing innocents is okay because they might come after us if we weren't so powerful.
Scarlett's always had a moral compass, but it's gone now, I'm staring at my best friend who's right in front of me, yet I can't see my best friend. The Scarlett I knew and loved isn't here anymore, I don't think she's coming back, but I have to try regardless.
"I can't come back, not after what I've learnt" I say, deciding to be honest with Scarlett. Not seeing eye to eye hurts, but I can't just forget everything in order to side with Scarlett. "I didn't think you'd be cool with it, either."
"I'd rather be the hunter than the hunted, I'd rather kill than get killed" Scarlett replies, she sounds so much like Mystique. The past week has taught me that life isn't a kill or be killed situation, the x-men weren't hunted by everyone like we were taught. People were hunting them and experimenting on them, but it wasn't majority of the world like we were taught growing up. There were people who weren't afraid of us, people who were interested in our differences.
I turn, getting ready to fly up when Scarlett lunges at me, knocking me to the ground. "What the hell?" I exclaim.
"You can't go back to them; you know too much" Scarlett decides. "I don't want to fight you, just come with me." I'm not going with Scarlett but I'm also not going to fight her.
I push Scarlett off me and get up. I'm about to fly away when Scarlett begins to transform into a wolf. I close my eyes, maybe I should've let Peter know what was happening so Tony and Natasha would know I didn't flee at the first chance I got.
"I'm not going to fight you" I announce, fire forming at my fingertips, I try to push myself up into the sky but Scarlett lunges, grabbing my leg and pulling me back down. She lunges on top of me, growling at me. She was always strongest as a wolf. I close my eyes, focusing on creating wind. I push my hands in front of me, the gush of wind is strong enough to throw Scarlett off me. Vines move towards Scarlett, wrapping themselves around her legs so she can't move.
My eyes widen as I see someone coming towards us. I inwardly groan, of course Peter called Tony who came straight away, Scarlett was right about the tracker. "Scarlett, you need to go now. You don't stand a chance against iron man, please leave." I doubt she'll listen to me, but I need to try anyway, I don't want to see her locked up and tormented by Fury or one of the avengers. I don't want to be helpless as I'm forced to watch my best friend rot in a cell.
Scarlett glances up just as Tony begins to fly down, she quickly bolts. Within a flash she's disappeared, I always hated her being able to turn invisible but now I'm grateful for it, it'll help her get back home.
Fire appears at my fingertips, and I fly up to Tony. "We can talk about this when we get back" I say. Tony flies in the direction of Stark tower without saying anything, I blink. I was expecting him to start yelling at me.
I glance back down at the forest, looking for something, anything to show me if she's still there but all I'm met with is the quiet sound of wind blowing and leaves rustling. A single tear falls down my cheek, she's gone.
*Author's Note* Storm my girl :(
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Beautiful Ruins
Боевик"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...
