"This is Tanner here. I'm part of a group of people called the X-men. We're sort of not your average people, and have mutant powers that show up when we turn around 14 or so. An example? Me, for instance, I woke up one day with a tiger tail, and fangs. I went to class, and somehow turned into a Tiger. They let me into the group, and I turned my last name to Jademaster. That's what the others call me during a battle so I have this 'secret identity' thing going on. Kinda cool if you ask me. Then there's Allana, a.k.a. Wildfire. She's a firecracker just waiting to be lite, and- wait... I'm getting ahead of myself. Why don't I tell you the story?"
"Hey Tanner, I don't think you could tell the whole thing. You weren't there for part of it."
"Oh Allana, why don't let me tell the story?"
"Because you'd tell it WRONG." Allana said, smirking. Tanner sighed, and shrugged.
"Why do I even bother?"
X-Men: The Next Evolution
The Ashes of the house gleamed against the moonlight. A single figure looked around, waking up from a crumbled bed. She rubed her head, and realized what had happened. She looked at her hands on horror as they glew a bright red, orange and yellow. She looked up in panic as a large shadow slinked into the tree branches. This kind of thing had happened before. She had accidently caught the curtains of her room on fire one day, even though she had just touched them. She stood up, the only tear or bruise on her was from when her bed had crumbled from underneath her. She started running into the night, hoping to run away from her past; from her curse.
Tanner looekd at Dr. Xavier as he looked up from his daily mutant search.
"This is the worst one I've seen. She's running, becuase her powers killed her family... hmmmm..." He put his elbows on either side of the chiar in deep thought. He looked up, and glanced to Tanner, smiling.
"It says that her favorite animal is a Tiger. She won't trust people right now. Maybe if you diguise yourself fora while, she'd learn to trust you. Just lay low for a while."
Tanner nodded, Dr. X called in Scott to transport Tanner to Michigan on the X Wing.
"I'll also send along Kirt, since you two work so well together." He said with a smile, and wheeled out to attend to other matters. Tanner sighed, wondering who this new person was.
She was woken by something nudging her. She looked up, and almost screamed when she saw the Tiger look at her in equel surprise. SHe breathed quickly in fear as she tried to scramble away from the giant predator. The Tiger tilted it's head, and merely say down. Allana watched it carefully, still hoping it wouldn't attack her. She looked up into its deep green eyes and-
Wait-
Green? Tigers have yellow eyes. Beast eyes.
She carefully reached out a hand slowly, trying to touch its snout delicatly. He reached forward, and nuzzled her hand softly. She reached her hand under its jaw, and ran her fingers thorugh the soft long neck fur. She looked into its eyes, which were filled with concern, and worry. Why would a Tiger worry about her? Only her family cared- Her family. She had no family anymore.
She sniffed, remembering her mother's kind voice, and her father's goofy puns. She broke down, still holding the Tiger's neck fur in her hands gently. The tiger nuzzled her hand again, and looked very confused. He looked to his right as a figure approached her...
Tanner looked at the tall figure, and immediatly recodnised him.
Avalanche.
He let out a deep growl, realizing he couldn't talk yet, or risk scaring Allana. Avalanche approached Allana, who stood up to run. Avalanche held up his hands, meaning he meant no harm.
But he did
And Tanner knew it. He stood in between them, putting on his best guarding stance, and let out a deep growl to Avalanche. Allana looked down at him, and up to Avalanche. She guessed the Tiger was trying to warn her. She held out her hand, which glew again. She knew she couldn't control her powers, but he didn't know that. He took a few steps back, watching the hand carefully.
"Woah there! I just want to help you."
"Really?" Allana hissed "With what? I don't need any help."
"You can't fool me girl. You're tired, lonely, and don't have a home. I can fix all those things if you just let me."
Avalanche looked down as the Tiger let out another deep growl. He saw the Tiger's green eyes, and smiled slyly.
"Jademaster. How odd to see you here. Are you trying to soften up Allana too?"
"Wait! How do you know my name, and who's Jademaster?" Allana said, glaring at Avalanche. Avalanche only laughed.
"Are you telling me you don't know who that is yet?" He snickered, pointing to the Tiger. Allana shook her head, and looked down at him in surprise. The Tiger glared at Avalanche, who held out his hands toward the ground. "Let me chake him up for you. He's still in training, so he sould lose control pretty quick when he's paniced." He said, as the ground started shaking. Cracks burst up around the Tiger, throwing Allana backa gaisnt the ground. The Tiger looked at Avalanche with deep green eyes in an icy glare, which was followed quickly by shock and pain as a large rock loosened by the earthquake hit him on the head. Rocks still flew around as the Tiger tried to dodge as many as he could, jumping up and down, and dodging from side to side ungracefully. Allana watched as the Tiger let out another pained roar, a rock hitting him in the other side.
Tanner said, holding his head, remembering the pain. Allana sighed, and rolled her eyes.
"Tanner... If you were out of my sight, how could I have seen it?"
"Good point." -.-' "Alright, on with the story."
"THANK you."
it was a boy about a year older than her. As the ground returned to normal, he looked around in confusion as he rubbed his aching sides. He suddenly remembered what had happened, and shot a glare to Avalanche, who kept laughing. He looked up to the shocked Allana, and smiled weakly.
"Sorry I had to lie to you. But what would you have done if I had walked up to you as myself?"
Allana thought about this a minute. She would have either ran, or fought. Fight or Flight. He saw the realization on her face, and his smile broadened. Avalanche saw this, and stopped laughing.
"Why would you want to go with this stupid boy anyway?"
"HEY! I may not be the smartest, but at least I'm not cruel!" Tanner yelled, standing up. It was then that Allana noticed his Tiger tail, and fangs. She gasped absent mindedly, and covered her mouth when he looked back at her.
"Oh... imagine waking up one day with this tail, and then at school, turning into an animal in the middle of class." He smiled, and turned back to Avalanche. Allana winced, but his experience still wasn't as bad as hers. Avalanche waved a hand at Tanner mockingly, and turned to Allana.
"Look. Enough games. If you come with me, I can give you the power to avenge your family's death. Your mind will be cleared, and you can be a great fighter. Able to beat anything, anywhere. Not like this weakling." Avalanche sneered at Tanner. Tanner growled, facing him.
"Well this 'weakling' has only been at the institute for a week. And I can already control myself pretty well. If you go with Avalanche, you'll never be able to control your powers, and your soul will never be a rest. We can help you."
Allana looked from one to the other. Why did they want her to with them so much? She was nothing special... was she? Avalanche strode up to her while she thought.
"Look! I'm losing my patience. You're coming with me, and that's final!" He growled, gripping her arm. She bared her teeth in anger, and struggled as she heard a faint sizzle. Avalanche yelled, and too his hand away, looking at her in horror. He ran off, holding his hand.
Allana watched him go, and when she was sure he was out of her sight, she fell to her knees in exhaustion. Tanner walked over, and put a hand on her shoulder.
"You okay?" He said as she looked down at her legs.
"Where am I?" She said, suddenly looking around.
"Near GRand Rapids. Why?"
"Holy Crap, I ran seven miles. No wonder my legs are numb."
"Seven miles? Are you sure?"
"Positive."
"My god. And it's only been half an hour. I think I'd better carry you to the X Wing... that is, if you still want to go."
"I don't really have a choice, do I?"
"You always have a choice." He said, and picked her up gently, bringing her over to the X Wing silently.
"So, this is her?" Kirt looked at the sleeping girl sprawled across two seats at the back of the jet. Tanner nodded, resting his feet on the top of the chair in front of him casually.
"Hey Tanner, watch the leather. I just got it mended from Logan." Scott said from the pilot's seat, looking back. Tanner sighed, and took his feet off and crossed his arms instead.
"You're quiet. Qhat happened out there?" Kirt continued, and transported with a *poof* to the seat next to Tanner. Tanner shook his head, and smirked slightly.
"Avalanche showed up, and made me lose control. Doesn't really matter though. He lost his temper, and grabbed her. She just glared at him, and his arm started sizzling. I-uh.... don't really want to wake her up. I don't know if she's a morning person or not, and I think it's better if she just sleeps for a while. I REALLY don't want her to be grumpy." He said as she hung her hand over the side of the seat in a deep dreamless sleep. She started snoring slightly, and rolled over. "All this will probably seem a little overwhelming to her, but she's pretty tough. I think she'll fit right in. Besides, if she hadn't pushed Avalanche, I would've been killed. Don't you hate it when you owe someone your life?" He sighed, and made a frustrated face. Kirt looked out the window as the plane landed, and appeared next to Allana.
"You can carry her. If she wakes up with me, she'll go bananas." He smiled, and poofed away again. The others greeted them happily when they got off the jet, Tanner holding the still sleeping Allana. He looked up at Jean, who smiled and escorted him to Allana's dorm. When he got there, he was surprised at how close it was to his. He left her room, going over to the boy's dorm hall, and into his own room. He looked down both halls, to see them now empty. He sighed, and fell onto his bed, closing his eyes.
What a day...
"If you're going to be an X-man -er- X-woman -er- oh whatever. If you're going to be one of us, you gotta have a nickname so we can call you something other than Allana in a battle. Hey Tanner? You're good at nicknames." Alex, a.k.a. Longshot, (becuase he had the nack for having perfect luck almost constantly)
After you looked at it, she put it back into the messy order she had her photos in, and continued the story, clearing her throat overdramatically first as Tanner shook his head, smiling.
turned from Allana to Tanner as Allana looked on with confusion.
"Hmmm... it's gotta be something fire. That's obvious." Tanner said, kicking his feet onto the table in thought.
"Flame?" Alex said, looking at her for ideas. She smiled weakly, still unsure about even being here. "How about Phoenix?" She suggested hopefully.
"Naw, Jean was thinking about that one." Tanner looked around the room for ideas. They were all in their regular clothes now, Tanner's black outfit with the orange stripes in his room folded. Allana looked from one to the other as they thought, and slumped down in her chair in boredom. She still wore the same outfit as before, a red crop-top with dark blue jeans. She also wore a white overcoat, which she fiddled with in boredom. The edge started to singe, and she growled in frustration.
"This stupid power's too wild. I can't control it yet." Allana growed, crossing her arms. Tanner looked at her, and at her overcoat.
"That's it! How about Wildfire?" He said, standing.
"Sounds good to me." Alex nodded, liking it.
"Me too." Allana smiled sweetly and looked at her hands. "I just wish it wouldn't be so wild."
"Don't worry. We can get it under control soon. Right now if you want to. We can fo to the training room, and try to make you a decent outfit." Tanner said, walking over to her.
"I can do that. I just need some fabric, a little armour and thread." She said, waving her hand to dismiss his surprised face. She stood up and walked out the door, took one last look at her overcoat, and took it off, folding it up. She walked into her room, set it on the bed, and walked back out to Alex and Tanner.
"Alright. Where's the training room? I don't even know where the bathroom is in this huge place."
"You'll get used to it. Follow me." Alex smirked, and walked down a narrow hallway toward the training room's huge metal doors. Allana watched through the bullet-proof glass as Wolverine 'fought' a huge metal claw. (fought being ripping it apart) He ripped it off its hinges, tearing apart the wires at the base. Dr. X called him in, making the claw spark suddenly, and fold back into a large slot in the middle of a huge metalic sphere in the middle of the room. Dr. X's voice echoed thorugh the area.
"Next is Wildfire's first training. Nightcrawler, I think you'd better go against her." Allana walked into the huge door she stood in front of, and looked back nervously to Alex and Tanner. Tanner smiled reassuring gly, and she sighed, and walked into the room.
The walls shimmered, and turned into the ashes of her house around her. She looked around in surprise, and looked up to see Nightcrawler standing in ron tof her, on top of what used to be the supports to the house's roof. She looked at him, and his blue skin and darker blue hair, and squinted her eyes. She guessed any kind of appearance was possible i this place.
"Come on. You can't hurt me." He said, smirking, He vanished in a poof of smoke, and reappeared next to Allana. "I know you can't hit me. You can't be an X-man, you're not good enough."
"I am too!" She yelled, her hands glowing a fierce red. She brought her hands up, and shot a beam of fire at him. He looked shocked, but dissapeared and reapeared behind her. SHe turned around wit her other hand, and shot another stream of red, orange and yellow fire at him. He jumped up, and was followed cose behind by five fire balls, whirring close to his tail. He looked at he when he landed, but was too late to see another stream coming straight toward his face. It hit an invissable wall, which eventally dissapeared, along with the scenery. Allana gasped for breath as she glared at Nightcrawler.
"I am too." She hissed, and walked out, leaning on the door frame for support. Alex and Tanner jogged over to her as she treid to control her anger.
"You alright?" Tanner asked as she gasped for breath. She sighed in realief as she nodded slowly. Alex went up to her, his eyes wide.
"Woah! I didn't even know you could do that! You beat him!"
Allana smiled, and slumped more. Kity walked in with fabric in red, orange and yellow with the same colored shine-guards. She looked at Allana, and smiled.
"Jean said you wanted fabric to make an outfit." Allana's jaw dropped. The only people she had told that too was Alex and Tanner! How did she know?
"Oh... Jean can read minds. You're new, so you should know that." She smiled, handed her the fabric, and walked into the narrow hall to the dorms. Allana looked at Tanner and Alex, who wondered what she was up to. Kurt ran up to Allana, panting as he ran. She looked at him a minute, and kept a straight face.
"Allana, I wunted to tell you about - well, what I zaid in zer, well, I waz juzt trying to halp and..." He said in his german accent, tripping over the words to try to apologize to a ne-comer three years younger than him. Allana shook her head.
"That's okay Kurt. You were just trying to get me mad. Well...it worked, didn't it?" She laughed, and looked back down at the cloth. "I think I'm gonna work on my outfit tonight." She walked out, leaving Kurt, Alex and Tanner alone.
It was that night the message came.
Tanner woke up to a knock on his door. He He rolled over, and groaned in frustration, trying to get to sleep as she knocking became louder. He openned the door, to see Allana standing in the doorway. he dragged her inside, looking down the halls both ways. He set her on the bed, and looked at her sternly.
"What are you doing in the boy's dorm at night? Do you want to be banned from the second story?" He whispered harshly, and sat next to her. She looked at him with no expression.
~~ Tanner Tora, I've come to warn you of a future danger that may end my life as well as yous. I know this must seem strange, but you must not let anyone drink the water from-~~
Allana blinked for a minute, and hr eyes turned from its tranced pupiless state to its nromal burning red. Tanner looked at her in disbelief as she looke around in confusion.
"Allana, drink the ater from what?" Tanner said, grabbing her arms in frustration. She looked at him, and her eyes became unfocused.
"Water? I had a dream about something like that. Alex, Kurt, Kitty, Bobby, Jubilation and Rahne had all drunken some water from somewhere... but I forgot where. It turned them evil. They started attacking us, and Dr. X was killed. It was- was- aweful. But it was so realistic. i had tried to use Jean's invention to take over a past person's mind for a little bit, but I couldn't tell them where not to drink it from... Im so confused! Am I me? Or am I someone else?" She put her hands on her head and gripped locks of her hair in frustration. Tanner sigehd, not understanding. He put a hand on he shoulder, tying to bring her back to reality.
"Either way, we'd better get you back to your dorm before someone starts to ask questions."
"I'm not in my room? Then where am I?"
Tanner swung his head over to his black, orange striped outfit on his desk. Allana jumped, realizing she wasn't supposed to be here.
"But Im not supposed to be here! I'll get banned from the library!"
"Exactly. Go back to your room, and we'll figue this out tommorow."
She nodded, and scurried out the door, picking up her night gown so she wouldn't trip as she ran. Tanner sighed, watching her go. Things were sure more exciting with Allana.
"Alright! You ready?" Allana called from the study room as Tanner and Alex waited in the music room. Tanner tuning his guitar, and Alex getting Tanner's attention, and pointing at the door. Allana stood in the doorway, smirking as she fastened a red cape to her neck. She had red, orange and yellow shoulder guards and shin guards, making it look fiery. She had black shirt pants and a cropped shirt and a slit in the pants above the thighs.
Tanner looked at her, his mouth open for a minute, then closed it into a smile. Alex side glanced him, and smirked slyly. Allana looked at Tanner's guitar, and her eyebrows rose in surprise.
"You play guitar?" She said, sitting next to hi, her cape fanned out behind her. He nodded, and ran his fingers along the strings, making a cord.
"Can you play a song for me?" She said, watching his hand. He nodded, and sat up. He strung the strings, but was stopped by Kurt running into the room.
"Alex, Tanner! -nice outfit Allana- Yau guys are needed in ze training room, A.ez.A.P!" He watched them go out, and turned to Allana, smiling evilly. SHe looked at him in confusion, wondering why he was looking at her like that.
"Kurt, are you okay?" He said, walking up to him carefully. Something wasn't right. She had never seen Kurt smile like that. He started laughing, and turned into a woman with orange hair and blue skin.
"Yes, I'm okay, but I'm not Kurt. You don't know me, but Avalanche has told me about you."
"Avalanche?" SHe said in realization, and looked at the woman in horror.“Who are you?”
”I am Mystique, part of the Brotherhood. And it you don’t come with me like a good little girl, then I’ll have to do some ‘damage’ around here.” She said, smiling and looking around. Allana knew that the weapons storage room was nearby, and the training room right after that. If she took a gun to the training room, she could kill everyone. Including Tanner, and Alex. Allana looked over in the direction of the training room, and sighed, walking toward Mystique. Mystique smiled evilly, and grabbed her wrist, walking down the stairs to the door to outside. She stopped at the door, riping a piece of paper, and scribbling on it. She dragged Allana out the door, throwing the paper on the ground, and turning into her normal self as soon as they were out. Allana struggled against her, but it was no use. Mystique brought her to a girl about Allana's age, and the last thing Allana remembered was looking into two light purple eyes.
Alex and Tanner ran into the training room.
"We're here! What did you guys want?" Tanner said, looking around at their staring faces mekely.
"We...weren't called... were we?" Alex said, trying to figure this out. They all shook their heads.
"But Kurt told us to come A.S.A.P." Tanner said, pointing to Kurt, trying to mend his pride a little. Kurt looked at the faces now staring at him.
"I didn't do that! I've been here the whole time!" He said, putting up his hands in defence. The faces turned back to Tanner and Alex. Tanner thought a minute, and looked up slowly.
"Where's Allana?" He said, looking at Jean. She closed her eyes a minute, and oppened the wide.
"She's not here. She's been kidnapped somehow."
Tanner turned worried, and ran out the door, the rest of the group watching after him. Alex sighed.
"I'd better go before he kills someone." He said, walking out after Tanner. Logan sighed, and walked out as well.
"Kids." He muttered, and walked out after them slowly.
Downstairs, in the main entrance hall...
Tanner looked around for any trace of Allana in sight. It was like she just vanished out of thin air. Alex called him over, holding a piece of paper.
'the fire has ben put out.'
Tanner grabbed the note out of Alex's hands, looked at it, and looked out the open door.
"Mistique took Allana. Probably threatened her." Logan said, making Tanner spin around in surprise. Alex nodded, agreeing.
"I'm going after her." Tanner said, his eyes furious.
"You're not going alone. It's too dangerous for little kids." Logan said harshly, and walked back up the stairs. Tanner watched him go, and slammed his fist innto the wall, making Alex jump slightly in surprise.
"I was supposed to take care of her! She was already scared, and now she's been kidnapped." he growled, frustrated.
"Oh. It that why I saw her at your dorm last ngiht?"
Tanner looked up at Alex as he waited for an explanation.
"You wouldn't beleive me if I told you why."
"Try me." Alex said, crossing his arms.
"Fine. She told me that in the future, I can;t let anyone drink the water from somewhere. It could mean the end of my and her life. I didn't want to tell anyone yet, becuase It would turn into mass chaos."
"From somewhere, that all she said?"
Tanner nodded, hoping Alex would believe him. Alex thought about this for a minute, then nodded.
"Well, we'd better get her back, or we'll change the future." He said, looking out the door as well. Tanner nodded, and went to his dorm to change into his outfit.
In the X-wing, Wolverine, Jean, Longshot, Jademaster and Nightcrawler followed the tracks, Jean occasionally searching for any sign of Allana's mind. There was no cry for help. It seemed as if she had been taken out of existance.
Then she finally found her.
A fainst cry, muffled by the yelling of an unknown voice, and one well known. Mistique. But it was so faint, it was impossible for it to be a cry. More like a squeak of a mouse compared to the trumpet of an elephant. But it was still there.
Then it came into view.
The house at the end of an empty street. It was old and broken down in placed, but that's where they were heading.
An earthquake rumbled thourgh the noise of sining birds, making the house finally collapse. The rubble reveiled behind it, Blob, Quicksilver, Mezmerize, Mistique and Avalanche holding Allana. Tanner gritted his teeth in anger, but stopped when he saw Allana wasn't struggling. What was wrong with her? His thought was cut off by the plane landing, and they piled out, looking around to size up their enemy. This was going to be difficult.
Avalanche set Allana down on the ground, who looked ahead blankly, sitting perfectly still. Jademaster looked at him, and bared his teeth, turning into his tiger form. Avalanche whipped out his hands, but Jademaster ounced at him.
"Not THIS time Avananche!" he roared, trying not to hit the still not moving Allana as they tumbled around on the ground. They both rolled on theg round fighting, Jademaster clawing ans biting, Avalanche punching, and trying to create earthquakes to shake him off...
Mesmerize looked at Jean, and smirked. Jean lifted a large beam from the collasped house with her mind, and threw it toward Mesmerize. The wood shattered against an invisable forcefeild, spraying slivers everywhere. Jean sheilded her face with her hand, as she looked at Mesmerize in shock. Who WAS she?
Nightcrawler looked at Blob as he charged, and smirked, revealing fangs. Nightcrawler transported behind him with a *bamf*
*bamf* "above you!"
*bamf* "To your right!"
*bamf* "RIGHT HERE!" he yelled, kicking blob squarely in the jaw. He clapped his hands together in satisfaction as the huge bulk collasped behind him.
Wolverine growled in anger at Saber as he was hit from a tree above him. He threw his metal claws above him just in time to catch Sabertooth by the cape, and swing him into the tree he had jumped from. Saber recollected himself, and jumped back into a patch of trees. Wolverine looked around warily, the trees all around him completley silent. Saber let out a roar, jumping toward Wolverine with his claws ready to tear. Wolverine grabbed Saber's ankles and slammed him against a tree again, and waved his claws in Saber's face threateningly.
Longshot looked around for an enemy with his abnormally good eyesight. He spotted at figure running in the distance, who immediatlely tripped on a rock. Longshot ran toward him at full speed, but the person vanished and a stream of silver light flashed around him in circles. Quicksilver. Longshot sighed, and closed his eyes, hearing the vroom of Quicksiler's speed in front
behind
front
behind
front
He timed it just right, and kicked out in a flash, hitting Quicksilver squarely on the jaw. He watched as the lean body layed sprawled out on the ground in front of him, unconcious. Longshot shook her head. Quicksilver's jaw would be sore for a while, but otherwise he'd be alright.
With all the Brotherhood defeated (sort of, Mystique and Mesmerize escaped), the group looked over to Allana, who still sat as motionless as before. Tanner kneeled next to her, grabbing her by the shoulders, and shaking her gently. She had eyes with no pupils, staring blankly ahead with no expression as Tanner shook her.
"Come on Allana, wake up." He said, worried. He looked into her pupiless eyes, and shivered. That was really abnormal. And so was ver vacant expression. He looked up at Jean for reassurance, but only saw a face of worry and confusion. Tanner looked back at Allana, and shook his head in disappointment and fear. He picked her up gently, her body completely limp in his arms, her eyes still wide open, and her face still expressionless...
When it comes, here's the sequel!!!!!!
