Peter Maximoff/Quicksilver Imagines

Cherry Bomb

You breathe in and out slowly, doing your best to focus. Your gaze is riveted on your hands, and under your watchful eye a small spark blossoms to life on the tips of your fingers. You squint in concentration and the spark grows into a flame, dancing along your hand. Grinning, you start to let down your guard, and the flame grows larger and larger, reaching its blazing tendrils up to the sky.

There's a sudden sound behind you, and you lose your treasured focus. The fire spirals out of control, jumping to double its previous height. Cursing, you shake your head and try to clamp down the flames, watching as they slowly shrink down. Once the fire is gone, you whirl around in anger to face the source of your sudden disturbance.

"What was that for?" Peter Maximoff just laughs. He had appeared right behind you, using his powers of speed to startle you. "I thought you were working on control, Cherry Bomb. Looks like that still needs some work." With that, he speeds off again, leaving you to grumble angrily after him.

See, you and Peter have hated each other since the second you arrived at Xavier's School. It was pretty obvious that you had to be there- you barely had any control over your mutation, which allowed you to manipulate fire. Although it was pretty amazing, you needed a lot of help to make sure that you didn't burn down whatever was closest to you.

You hadn't hated Peter at first, nor he you. He just seemed like another student at the school, and the two of you never really crossed paths. Once it became apparent that you'd need a lot of help, though, Peter had transitioned to not giving you much thought to dedicating a good part of his day to tormenting you.

You suppose he had a few reasons not to like you, such as his friends spending a lot of time helping you meant that they spent less time with him, and he kept insisting that you were a danger to the school and shouldn't be there. You, on the other hand, hated Peter because he hated you, and because he had given you the nickname 'Cherry Bomb', which you absolutely despise. Peter had been pretty proud of the nickname, saying that it suited you because you were likely to destroy everything at a moment's notice, but you couldn't stand it.

When Xavier calls you into his office, you assume he's heard about your momentary loss of control over your powers and wants to talk about it. You slump down into a seat in front of him, ready for another lecture, but he just adopts a faint smile. "I'm not here to admonish you, Y/N, in fact just the opposite. Let's wait for the others to arrive and I will explain further." Knowing that you're not going to get yelled at, you relax a little bit.

Eventually, Jean, Mystique, Scott, Storm, and Peter all file into the room. The Professor laces his hands together on top of the desk and starts speaking to the group. "There's been news of a disturbance in a town not far from here. Apparently some mutant with the ability to grow in size and strength was kicked out of town for his powers, and decided to take revenge by attempting to destroy everything. He'll come back in an hour's time, and I believe that we should be there to stop him."

Everyone agrees, and Xavier leads you all to an awaiting plane. On the ride over, most of you remain silent, with Peter sending the occasional glare to you, which you return with equal animosity.

You land in a small town, and it is quickly obvious as to how you're supposed to find the rogue mutant- simply follow the trail of destruction. You and your friends soon come across the man, who has chosen to grow to the size of a giant and wreak havoc on the town. Battle plans are quickly exchanged, and you all set off to your respective positions for the fight.

Your task is to light fires on the giant, thus distracting him from the town. You race towards him, igniting your hands in a blaze that you launch his way. The giant roars in agony, turning away from the buildings to focus on you. Gulping, you throw more fire his way, but you're so intent on finishing your part of the plan that you don't notice the giant's arm swinging towards you.