Kiss of the Phoenix

There's Never A Quiet Moment

PART ONE
THE NEW ELITES

Twenty-six.

Twenty-six people.

That's the number of people I killed in the first hour of my mutanthood.

Three of them were my adopted family.

They deserved it.

That leaves twenty-three, innocent people I killed in the span of half an hour.

Victor Morgan has killed twice that number of people in half the time.

We pile into the X-Jet, Kota holding onto me as he ascended the ramp with shaky legs. He nearly collapsed again when he heard the name of his best friend. Although I could hear the worry and compassion in his thoughts for his friend, I also heard the relief that he wasn't going to be going through this alone.

I wish I had been given that luxury.

Kota won't leave my side, so Logan begrudgingly goes and sits in the cockpit with Rogue. Luckily for him, the flight to North Charleston from what used to be Kota's neighborhood takes only five minutes.

My Dad stares at Kota silently as Emma hands him a sweatshirt. Kota takes it gratefully, his clothes mostly rags. Dad's moment of goodwill has disappeared, and I can feel the anger rolling off him in his thoughts, but he stays silent. I think it's because Kota is here.

If he wasn't, I'd be crying by now.

We land at Victor Morgan's estate, and I hold back a gasp. The huge house is ripped apart, and is only rumble now. Bodies litter the ground, their arms and necks twisted in impossible angles. The air is filled with lightning and heavy wind rocks the airplane. And through the window, I can see Victor Morgan- at least, what I think used to be Victor Morgan.

There's a being made out of wind and clouds floating high above the estate. Lightning rips through its body as it wraps its intangible arms around itself. I can feel its pain and anguish from here as the storm continues to rage around him, but I feel a sense of relief and smug happiness. I see the bodies of an older couple in his mind, their bodies flung across the room as his powers rips from him, his eyes turning into hurricanes, watching emotionless as they're electrocuted and their bodies being broken and broken again from the gale force winds pour out of his mouth.

He reminds me of myself. The way he feels triumphant as he sees the bodies of the people who tormented him sprawled across the ground, the feeling of pure, raw power running through his veins, the crash after the high.

I know he's going to regret the deaths later.

I know I did.

He reminds me of the boy who sits next to me. Kota's mouth hangs open as he stares at the smokey form of his friend high up in his sky, his mind a mix of worry and compassion and concern. Their minds and powers are very different, yes, but their forms are extremely similar. Kota turned into molten magma, and Victor is just wind and clouds holding onto some semblance of a shape, but it's so similar, and it can't be a coincidence.

I'm jerked out of my thoughts as the door opens to the X-Jet, and everyone starts to get out, identical looks of worry and apprehension on their faces. I hold onto Kota's hand as we walk out, his grip like a vase.