Wrath and Revenge

Chapter Twenty Two

Time goes by slower than usual in the Brotherhood's bunker. The TV and Toad's pimped computer are the only opportunities to catch up with the outer world and see its progress. In the five months I am a part of the Brotherhood, I could see the world develop. The CEO of the Friends of Humanity is dead so only the others, his assistants and close ones, could be questioned in the mutant prison case. Their vice president ended up in prison but the trial is still not over. Of course, the authorities are searching for us, too, because we committed murder in many cases. A lot of mutants have protested for us and pleaded the authorities to release us because it was an act of defence for our race in their eyes but they were pushed back. We are still on the top wanted list.
Xavier has given them every piece of information on me and they know my name meanwhile. I am even on the FBI's website listed as 'major threat'. In the last weeks, we have been blowing up the last Friends of Humanity information centres in New York City and the police have almost caught us a few times but we were always stronger and faster. The FBI is on our traces but Magneto and the others aren't afraid of them. They said that their bunker is so hidden and safe that no humans will ever find them. The X-Men won't be a threat either.
Speaking of which, my former best friends, who became full X-Men meanwhile, are celebrated heroines now. They are the X-Men's new generation now along with Mercury, Anole and Elixir. All of them have proven their skills at multiple occasions and helped a lot of people. The media loves them and they were even at a few talk shows. So, while I am a wanted criminal, they are the newest celebrities. I have read and watched all of their interviews and every report about them. It's not that I miss them but I wanted to find out more about the X-Men's new directions. Of course, we have met in battle a few times in the past months but I still had the desire to find out about their lives. The interviews were pretty boring and the reports about their bravery were, too. Only the last one was interesting because they were asked about what they think about me and my actions. They all fell silent for a few seconds until Elixir answered that they don't care about me because we had nothing in common. Just Rachel felt uncomfortable. You could perfectly see that but she remained cool anyways.
So, while my friends are enjoying their new fame, I am enjoying mine as well. The only difference is that they are asked for autographs and I am a part of children's nightmares. I don't mind, though, because I lost my respect for humanity completely. I don't want to be their idol if they keep on hating on us mutants. Magneto was right from the early beginnings and Xavier is still blind. There were no registered attacks on mutants in the past months but we all know that they are happening each day. We are not only talking about big attacks like the wide imprisonment of mutants but also about the small criminals like when a young mutant is bullied on the play yard. We cannot forget about these. Sometimes, this bullying has a greater impact on a person than we think. Look at me! I was never openly bullied for being a mutant but it hurt anyway. Every time, the children called me names only because I was considered as a 'big talent' because of my mutations it hurt me deeply. This was already terrible so I don't want to imagine what would have happened if they knew that I really was a mutant. They would have killed me in kindergarten. Fortunately, I have Magneto who taught me that I am stronger than them and that I have the power to change the world forever. I believe him and he is totally aware of this. Magneto tells me almost every day how proud he is of me. Maybe, Pyro and Sabretooth are right and he really adopted me as his foster daughter. I wouldn't mind to take that role.
The others still haven't accepted me but they are opening up. I even changed my style into a darker look but they are still sceptical mostly. My former colourful costume is only a memory now because I replaced it with a black green shimmering one. It's basically a fine leather coat, with long sleeves this time, with green lace on the inside. I kept the grey boots and created some matching kind of grey gloves. The only thing that is fully new about my new suit is that I am wearing a bright green leather corset and some new pair of leather pants with some cords as eye catcher. They can also be used as weapons as I leant. The little Omega I got from Magneto is my necklace now. I haven't put it off since my eighteenth birthday which pleases Magneto of course. Lady Deathstrike has also suggested me to look like a real lady now, too, and taught me how to apply make-up and transform my long curly hair, which she admires a lot, into some fancy vintage hairstyles. I am currently a fan of the as called victory rolls because they suit me best. All in all, I am a new kind of Lady Polyglot now and I can finally forget about my time as Xavier's student.
Unfortunately, I have to admit that I am not a fully new person because I have still kept a few habits of my older self like shopping for books when I have free time. Of course, I have to be careful now and I mustn't act suspicious. I only managed to sneak out twice so far and I haven't been spotted. The others let me do that because I also offer to do the shopping for them. I didn't think that it was so easy to convince them but at least I can have my free time from them like today. Today, I decided to go to a random café and to have a tea before I return to the bunker. It won't kill me to do that. The humans won't suspect that I am sitting there in ordinary clothes. But maybe Rachel will.
Rachel has just entered with a girl I don't know. She seems familiar though with her long dark hair, these dark green eyes and the grumpy expression. She looks a little like a young and female version of Logan. The girl even wears a dark leather jacket and some old pair of jeans which make her resemble Logan even more. I really hope for her that he's not her father. Rachel on the other hand is happy and dressed in a bright red dress. She seems to enjoy life with her new grumpy friend and I am happy for her. I am even happy for her because some people recognise her and demand selfies and autographs. As long as she or anyone else will not recognise me, everything is alright.
Rachel and her new friend take a seat on the table opposite to me, facing each other. I cannot hear clearly what they are talking about but I can tell that they are close to each other because they are staring at each other in awe like lovers. Even the Logan like girl started smiling as she sat down and finally got time to talk to Rachel. I could read their minds and find out what the cheerful occasion is but I suppose that ignoring them and reading my Russian newspaper is the best. There is even a small picture of me on the around the world page. It reports about how I and the rest of the Brotherhood crashed the Friends of Humanity demonstration last week. Only now they have clear information about how many people died and how many were injured. Unfortunately, only six people died and around fifty people were injured. The rest, around 200 people, could escape. And why that? The X-Men had to stop us in the very last moment.
"A black tea with milk for you, right?" The waitress smiles and places my tea on the table.
"Thank you." I reply to her in a very thick Russian accent. It's always good to maintain a little cover. The waitress isn't suspicious of me and walks away but Rachel has spotted me as it seems and is staring at me now confusedly. I quickly disappear behind my newspaper and pretend to be reading but she is still staring at me.
"Sofia? Is it you?" Dammit. She recognised me. "Sofia, I know that it's you. It's okay, talk to me." I don't put my newspaper down. "Sofia, please! I am your friend." She rises and sits down on the chair next to me. "Hey." Rachel smiles brightly. I groan and put the newspaper down. "What do you want?"
"Talk. I haven't seen you in a long time. How have you been lately?" Rachel is trying to be friendly while her friend is a little confused. She sends Rachel a questioning look but Rachel ignores her.
"Rachel... we have seen each just a week ago. It's not so long, don't you think?"
"Yes, but I mean not in battle. So how are you?"
"Rachel... is she... ", the Logan girl mutters and Rachel nods happily. The girl rises from her chair fast with an angry expression and releases two pairs of metallic claws from her knuckles. "You got nerves, girl." she growls and runs towards me in all haste.
"No!" Rachel screams and grabs my shoulder quickly before I can react. She teleports us away just a second before the girl could ram her claws into me.