I glance at the edge of the rooftop, half tempted to just jump off, I could use my powers to fly myself up and look around for the bomb. The only thing stopping me is that I don't want Clover to have to fight both Kurt and Hank, they're both hard enough to fight alone. Besides, Magneto knows I can use fire to fly, he would have thought about that when he decided where to plant the bomb.
Kurt's tail emerges and hits my legs, knocking me forward to the ground. I hit the ground with a thud and turn around, rolling onto my back and then jumping up onto my feet. Fire appears dangerously close to Kurt's tail, and I give him a warning glance.
"Scarlett killed Mystique to protect you, her death is on your hands, and your death will be your own fault" Kurt snaps, an angry glint in his eye. He stays where he is, narrowing his eyes as he waits for my response.
"How did you think this would end? You're creating a war and there are always causalities in war, on both sides" I reply calmly, I've given up on trying to reason with any of the x-men team but keeping Kurt talking saves me from having to fight him.
"We wasted so much time on you, Mystique was certain you would become this ruthless, evil killer, maybe even stronger than she was, and yet look at you. You left us within five minutes of meeting the avengers" Kurt says scornfully, rolling his eyes as he looks at me with utter distain. "How did Tony turn you against us so easily?"
"He didn't" I answer, this isn't on Tony or any of the avengers. "You did." I turned against the x-men when I realised what they were truly doing, when I saw first-hand what they'd made me do. I saw the evil I'd unknowingly committed, and I vowed I would never do it again.
Kurt leaps forward and I move sideways, causing him to stumble forward, a strong gust of wind sends him falling forward, he hits the ground heavily and winces.
"Where's the bomb?" I ask as vines hold Kurt's body to the ground, Kurt thrashes but he's securely pinned down, he isn't going anywhere unless I want him to. "Where's Magneto?" If the avengers can successfully arrest Magneto the x-men will surely fall, the x-men team is nothing without Magneto and Mystique.
"I'll take you to Magneto so he can finish you off, I know he'd like that" Kurt replies, Kurt lunges forward and places his hands around my neck, I bring up knee up to his stomach and his grip loosens, I kick his stomach and he stumbles back. I don't hesitate, I leap forward, kicking Kurt repeatedly and I punch him, causing him to fall back onto the ground. Kurt attempts to scramble to his feet but a swift kick to the head sends him back down once again.
Vines entangle his body, and he gasps as one fastens around his neck, choking him. I don't want to hurt anyone, even with my anger with Magneto, I might want him dead, but I don't particularly want to be the one that does it. But my morals and feelings don't matter right now, there is a bomb and once it explodes a lot of people could die.
"Where's the bomb?" I ask Kurt, I can hear him gasping, his thrashing beginning to slow. The vines around his neck loosen slightly and I wait for him to answer, I doubt he'll tell me. The x-men are resistant to torture, Kurt being choked by a vine is nothing compared to what he has been through, maybe I need to go a step further.
"Fuck you, Storm" Kurt snaps, a trail of fire appears on the ground and begins to head over to Kurt, Kurt's eyes grow wide as he sees the fire getting closer to his legs, he begins to thrash and squirm even more, but the vines hold still. I cock my head as the fire grows closer, I can see beads of sweat appearing on Kurt's forehead.
"You can live without your tail, right?" I say, changing the direction of the fire. Kurt's face pales and he looks away from the fire, biting his lip. We've been through torture, but we've never been burnt, just like I hadn't been electrocuted.
"It's in the courtyard! Just stop, stop it!" Kurt yells, the fire is merely inches away from his tail and legs. The fire stops and sizzles out.
I turn and head down the stairs, bolting the door shut behind me. I was working on being able to control my powers without having to see them with Steve, the vines should hold Kurt for at least five minutes, the door won't take him long at all to open, he'll just kick it down.
I open the doors and race into one of the courtyards, my heart sinks as I don't see any signs of a bomb. I sprint towards the next nearest courtyard and my eyes widen as I see a box on top of a table. I stop in front of it, panting.
"Tony, Steve, I've found the bomb" I say after I turn my earpiece on. I smile as Steve immediately replies.
"Tony will come to you and disarm it, I'll cover him" Steve says. Tony will be here any second now and he'll disable the bomb, the x-men aren't going to win this one. No innocent people will have died today.
Tony flies down in his suit, walking over and opening the box. He talks to himself, well I guess his machine, and begins to press buttons. My mind flickers to Clover, Tony seems to know what he's doing so I race back into the building.
I see Clover being thrown back onto the floor and race towards her. Hank steps out and a strong gust of wind sends him back. I cry out as something hits me from behind and I'm tossed forward, I roll onto my back and roll my eyes as I see Kurt.
"You got free quickly" I say, the disappointment and annoyance in my voice clear as crystal. Before I can even think of using my powers, Kurt shoves me against the wall, lifting me up as his hands wrap themselves around my throat.
Clover scrambles to her feet and attempts to run down a hallway, but Hank grabs her and throws her onto the ground. I'm about to use my powers to help when Kurt shoves my head against the wall, I feel a sharp pain in my leg and glance down, Kurt's stabbed me.
"Aw, do you want to help your friend?" Kurt asks, smirking at me. My eyes widen as Hank picks up his spear, Clover hasn't gotten off the ground, I can see blood. Fire begins to appear, but Kurt smashes my body against the wall again and pulls out his knife, placing it against my throat. A small line of blood trickles down my throat. I can't get my powers to work, I can't control them when Kurt keeps distracting me by hurting me.
Hank throws his spear at Clover, I scream and close my eyes, trying to get my powers to do something. They don't. When I open my eyes I realise the spear hasn't hit Clover, someone has stepped out from the hallway and grabbed the spear just before it can hit its target. The boy has blonde hair and looks only a year or two older than me. He smirks before he sends the spear flying into Hank's chest. Kurt gasps and drops me, sprinting out of the building.
"Milo" the boy says, extending a hand to Clover.
"Thank you" Clover says, she takes his hand and he pulls her to her feet. "Clover."
"I know, and you're Storm" Milo says, turning to face me, he gives me a cocky grin. "I was hoping to meet the both of you."
*Author's Note* Milo is another original character and plays a large role in book 2!
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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...
