" i've been missing a long time
to know I had to move
i've been waiting my whole life
to know I wanted you "
-wanted u, joji
WANTED U
ANGEL
X-MEN
PRE-X-MEN APOCALYPSE - POST-X-MEN APOCALYPSE
DEATHLIES 2019
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three ! -
The woman Rosa had belittled in front of the entire group is known as Viola and actually turns out to be one of the head coordinators of the group.
She briefs Rosa before she's sent out into the fray of night alongside Ezra, reminding her of the plans the winged girl has already memorised, has been memorising all day long.
She is as ready as she'll ever be as she ties the cloak in a bow at her throat, wings tucking as close to her body as possible. Thankfully, they are going in at night and into a dark room. If this was in the light, there would be no chance of her wings going unnoticed. Like this, at least there is a chance of success.
"Ready?" She asks, turning to Ezra whose eyes blaze with wildfire as he pops the collar of his denim jacket, smacking his gum around his mouth.
He looks about ten years younger cleaned up like this. Not ready to jailbreak a bunch of locked up mutants.
"Let's go, Lacuna," He replies, jutting his pointed chin towards the ladder. "And no wings this time."
She shoots him a look. "No wings, I promise."
They walk for what feels like the longest hour of her life, barely speaking, and finally arriving. Suddenly, Rosa's heart is beating at a thousand miles a minute and she's fighting to keep her wings deathly still as they enter the shady building to bear witness to its horrors.
Without a word to one another, her and Ezra split up and move to opposite sides of the crowd, both perching to watch the scene unfold.
To wait, listen and then strike silently. They will not cause mass riot. They will sneak in between the cracks in guards and slither out the other side with as many mutants in tow as possible.
Rosa gets as close to the front as she can, sick to her stomach as a body thuds to the concrete and doesn't get back up. One more they can't save from the calling grave.
The crowd roars and crushes towards the front, eager to see the blood, gore and victory. Rosa, caught in the surge, is pushed forth with them and sees the victor herself parading around the ring, beating her chest, claws dripping in blood as if she is proud of the life she's ripped to shreds.
Rosa swallows down the bile and anger, trying to pull her cloak tighter as she crowd jostles her, but it's no use as it comes undone at her throat as its pulled one way then another, opposite to her body.
All she can see is the body staring at her with those dead, empty eyes as she yanks the cloak back together as the crowd finally simmers down.
The body is removed and the victor readies for her next opponent, the blood of the former running cold down her arms.
A part of Rosa itches to get in there and teach the young woman a lesson, but wouldn't that make her just as awful? She doesn't care. Her blood boils as the image of that innocent dead girl burns into her brain, a constant reminder of why she is here and no longer teaching students how to fly in circles.
"Great, isn't it?" A burly man to her side asks, nudging her slightly.
"What?" She frowns, but then recovers herself. "Oh, yeah, this is my first time, actually."
"Oh, really?" He quirks a brow as if she's made some kind of joke and turns to his friend, another man, twice as burly, and remarks, "Can you believe it? This is her first time!" Both of them laugh together, loud and obnoxious. Exactly the sort of men Rosa had expected to find here. "So, what brings a pretty girl like you to a place like this?"
Rosa tenses and slowly lowers her wings when he wraps an arm over her shoulders. Maybe a silent threat, or maybe he is just drunk.
"I just wanted to see them," She replies, conscious of her every move as the man nudges closer and clamps a hand on her slender shoulder.
"The mutants? Well, they're everywhere these days. Couldn't you have just gone outside to see the vermin?" He laughs, snorting as if he's made the best insult in the world.
She forces herself to chuckle along with him, though her eyes track the pacing victor with piercing furiosity shining golden in her tawny eyes.
"Not like this I couldn't," She says, plastering on her brightest smile as she tears her eyes away from the ring and looks to him, trying to imagine anyone but him as she bats her eyelashes, ignoring his hand as it slides down her arm. "And neither could you," She murmurs, wondering how he would feel knowing he's been coming onto a mutant.
"What's that supposed to mean?" His fingers tighten on her arm, his own arm stopping dangerously close to her array of charcoal feathers.
She sucks in her bottom lip, blinking at him for a heart beat. "Seeing them kill one another for sport. Quite different to seeing one on the street, don't you think?"
His dirty fingernails dig into her arm so hard she yelps. He pulls her closer to him, so close his spit splatters on her cheeks when he asks, "What are you trying to say, darling? I don't have all night."
"Let me go," She hisses, writhing in his grip as if she isn't strong enough to pull away with one beat of her wings.
Though she's testing the waters, she's starting to panic. She glances over her shoulder for Ezra, for anyone, but she can't see him anywhere. He must've already moved in on the mutants.
"Why would I do that?" The man questions, holding her firmly.
The taller, second man turns his attention over as the gap between fights extends, his boredom growing. "Hey, George, why don't we see what she's got beneath that cloak of hers before you decide if she's worth your time?"
The question hangs dirty in the air like smog, choking up Rosa's senses.
"You're right, Harry," The man holding her replies and immediately reaches for the tie at her neck.
Rosa clamps a hand around his wrist and leans back away from him. "I wouldn't do that, if I were you," She warns, though it's futile. There is little she can do to conceal herself any further as the second man reaches forwards and yanks on the tie, pulling it undone and ripping the cloak away from her.
In shock, George releases her as the massive, black wings flare, bludgeoning many bystanders as she attempts to flee, but the two burly men grab her ankles and begin shouting for guards.
More men storm over, heeding the call. The crowd's screams are a blur in the background as Rosa feels them ripping her from the air and dragging her back to the ground. The only sounds she can hear is her own heartbeat thundering in her cheat and the rapid beating of her wings as she tries to pull away, but she's not strong enough and her mind not powerful enough to invade all of their minds at once and bring them to their knees.
The moment she hits the ground, they pile on top of her and haul her away, her still kicking and screaming until they dose her with a sedative, sending her into a daze as she's thrown into a tiny cage, metal bars scratched and bloody.
"Tomorrow, you fight," A voice tells her as she's shut into darkness, first by humans, second by the drugs flowing through her system.
