Wings to Fly, Eyes that Burn

Marshall woke to stillness. At first he couldn't tell what was wrong. The lack of noise blissfully filling his head, making him struggle to understand what was the matter exactly. Then it hit him. The generator wasn't on. The loud humming that had been a constant in his life for the last six months that he had resided there, it had turned off. That didn't make any sense, did it? How could the generator be turned off? He wasn't sure exactly what was going on but he felt his heart suddenly start racing, something bad was going to happen. He wondered if he should wake Mekhi and ask him what he thought. He didn't have to though because suddenly a blood-curdling scream cut through the darkness.

He sat straight up in his bunk, ramrod frozen to the spot. He listened in horror as the scream peaked and then flattened out into a gurgling gasp. It was just a couple cells down from him but it must be loud enough to wake the entire section up he guessed. He listened intently to what sounded like the last seconds of someone's life as their throat worked desperately to keep breathing. The sounds were loud and wet in the quietness. It seemed to take a minute for the guys around him to register what exactly they were listening too but suddenly it was as if they all had at once; there was yelling from every direction.

"Holy fucking god! You freak! You mutie freak!"

"What the fuck!?"

"Jimmy! That's fucking Jimmy McManus!"

Marshall's senses heightened quickly and he jumped out of his bunk and backed up against the wall, fists tight at his sides. Mutie freak. He knew Jimmy. He was a quiet skinny kid who got raped by his roommate, Runt. The generator was out. Something fucked had happened and the force field that kept all the mutants' powers repressed wasn't working. Runt was probably the first guy on Jimmy's list to take down now that he had his powers back.

A huge fiery figure swarmed and filled the hallway. Marshall had never seen anything like it. It was almost beautiful in a frightening sort of way. He could vaguely make out Jimmy's facial features but his body was shapeless and completely engulfed in the red flames. He looked like he was on fire.

"Now who's laughing huh?! It's time for me to get my payback you fucking bitches! Nobody ever helped me! Now no one is going to help you!" Jimmy still sounded like himself. It was weird to see a godly ball of fire moving like a man with the voice of a boy. The flames surged and seemed to grow. Marshall could feel the heat burn against his face even at the opposite end of his cell. The guy was trying to have his own goddamn Bar-BQ and they were all invited, Marshall thought somewhat hysterically. He crossed his arms over his face and head and slunk down the wall.

He could hear guys screaming as he felt Mekhi grab him by the elbow and pull him back behind their bunks. "Stay down dawg, stay the fuck down." Mekhi yelled to him as he wrapped him up in his arms, protecting him with his own body. Marshall bit his tongue and wondered where the fuck Remy was.


* * *


When Remy was thirteen he blew up a carter the size of a child's wading pool in the back yard. It was his last power, his strongest mutation manifesting itself. He was lucky no one got hurt. It was the mutant power that he would become known for, his low level empathy fading into the background, a secret that he'd keep to himself, telling very few of it's existence. His new power gave him the ability to charge virtually any object with kinetic energy, giving him time to hurl it in some direction before it blew up. It was a power that suited him and integrated itself into his personality, fiery and unpredictable.

It had taken a lot of practice and the backyard had suffered many more craters, but with the help of his adopted father; Jean Luc Lebeau, he had been able to master and perfect his technique. His favorite weapon was a deck of playing cards. To keep a deck or two of playing cards on one's person wasn't suspicious in of itself and he liked to strike up a good game of poker on occasion. The cards could also be charged and made for deadly lightweight weapons.


It had been three years since he had felt that distinctive heat tingling through his fingers. He was dreaming. He was sure he was dreaming. Marshall was in pain and calling for him. Someone was trying to hurt his boy. He felt the anger flow through his veins.

His eyes blinked open suddenly. There was yelling and screaming, something was wrong. He did another quick evaluation and was shocked to realize that he hadn't been dreaming. He had his powers. It was then that he came to realize that he had charged the bunk bed and had about five seconds to move his ass before the thing blew up. Oh fuck me. He thought.

He moved. Fast.

He was one of the few guys to have a single, his old roommate having gotten transferred a month ago and the spot still not filled yet. Remy pulled the bottom mattress off the bed and crouched down in the corner with it covering his body. It wasn't much, but it was better then nothing.

The explosion blew the bars off his cell and a hole in the wall next to him. Remy pushed the burning mattress off his body. His hair was singed and his lungs were filling with smoke but he was alive and still had all his arms and legs. The cement wall had come crashing down on one of the guys next to him and he could see his lifeless body lying on its side, his head busted open and oozing blood. The guy's roommate nodded at him, eyes wide with horror and amazement.

"Thanks for the escape mate!" The guy said and before Remy could do anything the guy dashed out of the opening and ran down the smoky corridor.

It dawned on him then. If he had his power that meant that everyone else did too. He wondered what had happened to make the force field stop working and where had all the guards gone? Something had happened on the outside, something big. Marshall he had to find his boy and get the fuck out of here. Remy stepped over the body and moved quickly out into the hallway.

AN: i got hugs! i got hugs! :) thanks for reviewing Jenna! eee! ppl quoted what they like! to benzoyl & Karen: you're my support group i seriously love you so much. You make me feel so good. :) *gush! *gush! ::very goofy crazy smile::