Flipside

Part 4, Part 5

"I'll take that... and that... also that..." Charles shoved everyone's electronics into his backpack.

"Seriously! My followers will hate me!" Pepper looked like she was ready to scratch his eyes out.

"Sorry, Sweetheart, but it would seem we've got a more dangerous type of Followers to deal with. And they also feel like killing you, regardless of your streaks." Gemma said sarcastically.

"Never knew that girl had so much salt..." Nevin gasped jokingly.

"You bet I do." She smiled at him.

"Charles, you're gonna give me back that smart watch, or I'm going to shoot an arrow through your skull." Mallory muttered sulkily. But with just enough force to let everyone know that she was completely serious.

"THAT'S IT!" Michael screeched.

"Wow, geez, take a chill pill, Mikey." Mallory raised an eyebrow.

"I will not 'take a chill pill'. You've pushed me around for two years. TWO YEARS, YOU HEAR ME? This is why you got banished. You only listen to yourself." He growled, standing across from her. He pulled out his flail, and for the first time confronting her, he wasn't shaking. She rolled her eyes and pushed out a hand towards him, trying to put him in a paralyzed state. "No. You aren't doing that." He growled. "But don't think I'm promising a clean fight." He dodged the invisible Paralysis beam.

"Good." She nodded. "That's what I like to hear." He closed his eyes, painting a perfect mental image of his surroundings. It was a long time since he had practiced his powers, but this felt almost natural to him. He didn't even need to open his eyes to know that his Telekinesis had worked, and that Mallory was floating in the air. But he did it anyways. To be able to use Telekinesis while having your eyes opened was a rare talent. She was also a powerful user of her power, however, and managed to move a bit in the tight telekinetic grip.

And just that much moving allowed her to paralyze him.

Michael fell over, and Mallory landed gracefully on her feet.

"Gotta say, Michael, you put up quite a fight." She chuckled.

"Don't..." He whimpered. He knew going in that the options were either win and have Mallory respect you and see you as an equal, or lose and suffer whatever consequence she saw fit.

"Don't what?" She asked. She grabbed his leg, and shattered the bone within.

"DAMMIT!" He wailed.

"Ohhhhhhhh..." She pretended to be surprised. "Don't do that!"

"Oh my GOD!" Gregory gasped, clearly traumatized.

"Calm down..." Charles looked over at him.

"She just... he just... oh my god!" Gregory stuttered.

"I said calm down, Fishface!" He yelled, hugging the other. That's just Charles's way of soothing. But, you know, he's too angsty for that emotional stuff.

"Thanks, Charles." Gregory hugged back.

"Um, hello? I'm sort of not able to stand up over here." Michael called.

"MY SOOTHING PROCESS IS NOT COMPLETE YET!" Screeched Charles.

"Okay, take your time. I'm fine for the time being." Michael muttered.

"Blah blah blah. I can help with that." Gemma smiled. "As soon as I figure out how this time stuff works." She started fooling around with it, forcing fallen leaves back into trees with time reversal, speeding an unripe apple so that it's ready to eat, and so on. She then sped up Charles and Gregory's hugging until they could help her with Michael.