Black Swan ▹ Marvel

FIVE: A HEAVY HEART

Ryan Copper stared forward at the blank white wall as she sat on the stark white sheets of her bed. She wore a blue medical shirt that stank of sweat and paper pants as she focused on the blank wall. To others she looked catatonic, but in reality Ryan Copper was not in the room.

Ryan was on the astral plane almost fifty miles away with her sister, Elizabeth. She watched the electricity dance along her body as she jumped off a fire escape and fell towards the traffic. Ryan watches helplessly as Elizabeth dives toward the street below with a look of pure glee on her face.

"C'mon, Beth," Ryan says under her breath as her sister fell. Elizabeth stops falling before hitting the sidewalk and clumsily propels her body up into the air until she was higher than Ryan. The elder girl's face cracks into a smile as her sister lets out a joyful laugh. She had felt the same way when her powers broke out.

Ryan watches her sister float through the air while moving her arms and kicking her legs like she swimming. Elizabeth floating leisurely with her eyes closed until she hits a power line. Buildings around the two girls went dark for a second before coming back online.

This was Ryan's only happiness. Elizabeth never failed to make her smile, it's how she kept going no matter the weight on her shoulders.

A drowned out noise reaches Ryan's ears. She has to go back. She gives her little sister one last look and let's herself fade away with a heavy heart.

▹

Elizabeth awoke on top her bed covers with her shoes still on. She remembered everything that happened the night before, but it didn't feel real. It felt like it was one of Elizabeth's wildest dream. It was all real.

Elizabeth sits up and looks at her hands. There's no sign of the powerful electricity that was able to knock the power off in New York skyscrapers. Elizabeth sighs and slips her feet out her sneakers and starts toward the shower. She runs her fingers through her knotted hair with a sigh. Elizabeth walks into the bathroom and sheds her slightly smelly clothes.

Elizabeth turns on the shower water and gets in the shower. When the hot water the water hits her skin crackling reaches her ears. Elizabeth looks at her hands and the electricity that was ever so present last night was back. Elizabeth clenches her fist and the glow of electricity gets brighter. Both of Elizabeth's fists are clenched now. She crosses her arms over her chest. In a flash of light a stream of power leaps from Elizabeth's body. The gentle crackling of electricity turns into deafening roar.

Elizabeth squeezes her eyes shut and lets out a scream of pain as her whole body glows blue and she's whisked away. She could see the ruins of her bathroom. She felt like she was every where, but no where are the same time.

The only word Elizabeth could use to describe the feeling was incredible. She felt truly at peace. She wanted to stay there forever. That was until her vision started fading out and she lost consciousness.

▹

Elizabeth's eyes open to look at a white tiled ceiling. A wave of electricity leaves Elizabeth's body and shorts out all the electrical equipment around her. Elizabeth sits up from the bed and looks around. She back in a room that's similar to the one that she was in when she woke up from her coma. She catches herself in a floor length mirror.

Her eyes are pure white and electricity dances along her skin and out of her eye sockets. Her hair waves as if wind was blowing it. It also had electricity dancing across. Then Elizabeth heard whispers.

"Doctor, what's wrong with my daughter," Jessica asks an unknown stranger. Neither Elizabeth's mother or the stranger are in view, but she can feel their energy along with everything electric in the room.

Electricity starts to crackle on Elizabeth's fingertips as she closes her eyes and clenches her fists. She tries her hardest to turn off her powers. When she opens her eyes the electricity is gone from her outward appearance, but she still feels it crackling in her veins.

What looks like a wall slides open and a tall man with an eye patch steps from the shadows of the door way along with the figure of the woman.

"Hello, Elizabeth. It's about time we met," the man told her and a small smirk settled on his face as Elizabeth stares at him with the same intensity. The woman stepped forward to reveal herself. Her face is familiar and she wears the same mischievous smile that Elizabeth grew up knowing well. Ryan Copper stood clad in a black clad suit and her blonde hair tied on the back of her head. 

"Hey, it's been a while Beth," Ryan says as Elizabeth lets out a shocked gasp as her sister walks toward her. Ryan puts her hand on Elizabeth's shoulder. White hot tears start to flood from her sister's eyes as Ryan looks at her with smile.

▹

Ryan's eyes shoot open as she regains consciousness. The door slides open as Ryan climbs off the bed she was in, but almost trips when her legs buckle. A pair of strong hands catch her and help Ryan onto her feet. Her eyes, nose and ears were bleeding like usual when she pushed her powers too hard for too long.

"Hey, hey. Take it easy," the person who caught Ryan said. She looks at her.

"I'm fine," Ryan says and pushes the woman away gently. Ryan lets out a deep breath thinking of Elizabeth's powers and what she saw. Ryan lets out a deep sigh. 

"Did you see her?" the woman asks as Ryan straightens the hospital smock she's wearing. 

"Yes," Ryan answers in an emotionless voice. 

"Did she present any symptoms?" the woman asks. Ryan turns to look the woman in black in the eyes. 

"She's changing," Ryan says. 

"Into what?"