Crimson (A Marvel Story)

Chapter 9: Untainted Memories

I shoved myself up, the fire dancing on my limbs, on the tips of my hair. I glanced around the decimated building, covered in flames and ash. For a split second, I thought that everybody was gone until a hand burst from the rubble. I lifted my chin and collected a pool of fire in my palm. I wasn't surprised as Pheonix burst his head out from the rubble. His body was covered in soot, a line of blood going from his eyebrow to his chin.
He glared at me, the fury raging in his eyes.
"You...bitch!" he hissed. I stared at him and for the first time since he was a boy, saw fear in his eyes. I could see my reflection in his own gaze. My hair was ignited in a bundle of flames, my eyes glowed red. The fire danced across my entire body. I extinguished it all and reached my hand out to him.
"Pheonix...I know you. You know me."
He chuckled as he kicked the rubble.
"I know you're a traitor!"
I shook my head.
"Pheonix...Doctor lied to us, okay? We weren't born with our powers. We were created. Doctor cursed us with these abilities."
"Shut up!" he screamed, his eyes glowing red as the blue flames ignited from his fists.
"Dig deep. Remember the rooms? The rooms he use to put us in and make us kill one another? He made us...fight to the death. Remember?"
He clenched his jaw as his eyes wandered to the ground.
"Do you remember when we first met?"
His eyes flickered to mine, the red glow fading back into sapphire blue. "We were both strapped down on the table, getting injected with that stuff. I looked at you...and you looked at me. We were both so scared."
His lip trembled as that memory flashed through his mind. "Do you remember that blindspot we use to kiss in?"
He looked at me with those sapphire eyes that I remembered and shook his head. He ignited a ball of flames in his palm. I tilted my head. I couldn't just let everything end like this. There had to be good in him. If I could break free of Doctor's hold, then so could he. "Pheonix...please," I whispered. "You don't have to do this. You don't have to be a slave to Doctor! You can come back with me! Be my best friend again!"
"Doctor freed me!" he growled, the tears collecting in his eyes. He was wrong, and he knew it. He hated me because of the conflict I've stirred in him, but I knew that I could use that to my advantage. I shook my head and slowly reached out towards him. His eyes drifted down to my hand.
I watched as a tear slipped from his eye. The conflict was raging in him. He was gonna turn. I knew it!
"Please. I know you remember."
"That Pheonix you once knew...is dead."
He shook his head. "It's too late for me, Bird."
My heart sank. Maybe it was.
His eyes flashed red and an inferno of blue flames came rushing towards me.
"It doesn't matter if your fire isn't blue, or if you're only 4'10," Ms. Kay's voice rang. "You...are a prodigy."
I took in a deep breath and steadied myself. I could feel the heat as the inferno rushed towards me. I took a step forward and blasted fire out of my fists. Our two infernos collided, sending the orange and blue flames rocketing towards the sky. I stood tall as the flames dissapeared. Pheonix took a few steps towards me before spinning and kicking his foot towards me, sending a shockwave of flames out of his foot. I forced fire out of my hands and feet, launching myself into the air. I slammed back down onto the ground, extinguishing Pheonix's flames as I landed on them. I yanked my head up to see another blue inferno coming my way. I jumped up and blasted one his way too. His fire flew right by my side, only a few inches away from me. I squinted my eyes as the blue flames blinded me. My hair whipped wildly as I continued to pushed fire from my fists. I gasped as I saw him launch himself into the air. He slammed his body to the ground. My mouth gaped open as a wall of flames dropped from the sky. I took in a deep breath as I reached to the sky. Just as his flames touched my fingers, I extended my arms, splitting his fire in half and pushing it away from me. I stared at Pheonix. He was about thirty feet away from me but I could see the frustration glowing in his eyes. He's unraveling, I thought to myself. I took in a deep breath, feeling the sizzling fire rushing through my arms. I pushed both my hands forward and sent two infernos hurling towards him. His eyes widened as he leaped out the way just in time. He charged towards me, using the fire as a rocket to fly towards me. I took a defensive stance and waited for the right moment, waited for him to get closer. He flew closer and closer towards me, his fist raised, a ball of fire engulfing his hands. At the last second, I dropped to the ground twirled around, kicking fire from my foot and swiping his flames out from under him. He toppled to the ground, rolling over and over until he slammed into a thick piece of debris. He groaned as he pushed himself up, wrapping his arm around his chest. His chest heaved up and down as he tried to muster up the strength to fight.
"It doesn't have to end this way," I said. He growled as he curled his arms in a circular motion, the lightning tracing his arms. I took in a deep breath, widening my stance and digging my feet into the ground. He launched the lightning towards me. I reached out with my two fingers and caught it. I spun it around, charging it up, making it even more powerful. I paused as I caught Pheonix's eyes, trying to find the boy I once knew in them. But all I saw was emptiness, fury, brainwashed blind hatred...that could not be cured.
"I'm sorry," I whispered. I launched the lightning towards him and closed my eyes so I couldn't see the lightning tear through his chest and stop his heart. I opened my eyes to see his still, lifeless body on the ground. I started towards him and collapsed to my knees. A tear streamed down my face as I placed my hand on his cheek. The next thing I knew, my muscles tightened up. My body seemed to cave in on itself. I cried out in agony as I fell to the ground. My muscles tightened around my bones, the air slipped out of my lungs and I didn't even have enough air to scream. Everything relaxed and the pain stopped. I sucked in the sweet air and turned on my back. My heart dropped as I saw Doctor, holding a little black disc in his hands.
"What?" he said to me. "You really thought I wouldn't have a safety button? It's not uncommon for weapons to turn against their creators."
I pushed myself. The fire engulfed my first. Everything blocked out. The anger was in control. I stared into his grey eyes. I lifted my hand to hurl the fireball at him. My head lurched back as a deep, painful, hum breached my brain. The fire died as I cried out in agony and fell face first into the ground. My eyes rolled in the back of my head as the pain rattled my ear drums. The veins bulged out of my skin and my skin rippled like waves. The hum finally stopped and my body relaxed in the grass. The sweat dripped down my forehead.
"Welcome back, Firebird," came Doctor's voice.
My muscles trembled as I laid on the ground, too dazed to try and figure out what Doctor had done to me. He stood over Pheonix's lifeless body.
"Shame," he whispered. "He was a good one. But thanks to you, I've been rendering up some more serum to make my weapons."
I let out a labored breath as his boot landed right infront of my eyes. His fingers curled around my hair. I winced in pain as he yanked my head up, pulling the hair out of scalp. I glared into his cold, dead eyes.
"And you've brought me the greatest one of all...a more powerful weapon than you or Pheonix would have ever been!"
My head slammed into the ground as he let me go. My body ached as I pushed myself up to stand. My eyes narrowed as I watched Doctor retreat to higher land. I took a step forward, about to rush after him, when footsteps echoed from behind me. I whipped around and stared into the darkness, looking for whatever else was behind me. My eyes narrowed as a set of electric-blue, glowing eyes stared back at me. My heart sank to my feet as a wave of water came out of the darkness, hurling towards me. I raised my hands, putting up a weak wall of fire. The water burst through it like it was nothing. It slammed into my chest like a wall of bricks. My back slammed into a chunk of debris. I gasped as the air fled my lungs. Before I could even think to move, the water consumed me again. It thrashed me around like a rag doll. It spun me back, forth, up, down. I slammed face first into the concrete as the water peeled away, sucking in as much air as I could. I coughed and choked, peeling my head off the ground. My saturated hair clang to the sides of my face. I watched as the water retreated. My entire world dropped as I watched the water curl around his limbs. His once sweet eyes were no longer ocean blue. Instead they were an unnatural, glowing, electric-blue. The water curled around his body, obeying his every command. I slowly pushed myself up, my lip trembling as I tried to speak.
"R—Rudy?" I quaked. He glared right past me. Like he didn't even know me. There was nothing in his eyes at all. I wanted to scream, to burst into tears, to curse the world.
"I found him as I cleared the wreckage of the building."
My heart contracted as Doctor stood right next to Rudy...like his puppet master.
"He kept asking me over and over again where you were. He said he was gonna help you, help you stop me."
Doctors lips curled back to reveal his disgusting yellow teeth. He let out a faint laugh. "It only took me two seconds to stab the syringe in his neck and rip every single memory from his brain."
He took everything from me! He turned Rudy into a weapon. He is not a fighter!
"No!" I screamed. The fire heated up my body as it traveled up my throat. I pushed the fire out my mouth and watched as it raced towards Doctor. Rudy pushed his hands forward, sending water barreling towards me. The water consumed my fire. I froze in place as it came closer and closer until it slammed into my body. The water rushed into my nose, into my lungs. I cried out in agony as my foot snagged on a piece of debris. I could feel the bone snap in two as it twisted. I slammed into the ground, the water receding once again. I laid on the ground, wrapping my hands around my foot, screaming out in pain. Tears burst from my eyes as Doctor and Rudy stood above me.
"Rudy," I choked out. I watched as the water danced through his blond hair. His eyes were glazed over like a rabid dog's, nothing in them except the need to kill. Doctor reached down and yanked me up only to shove me down on my knees in front of Rudy. I gasped as I stared up at him. Doctor placed his lips against my ear.
"You love him," he whispered. I stared into Rudy's eyes once again. How could I let this happen? Why did he have to follow me? Why couldn't he just hate me like any other normal person would after I said those horrible things to him? Why?
"You do," Doctor continued. "But the true miracle is that this poor boy loves you too."
Tears swelled in my eyes, but not from the pain in my foot, but from the fact that Rudy did love me...and look where it got him. "It's okay...because you're allowed to kiss his lips, to listen to the hymns of his pulse, to bask in the presence of his voice. You both love each other. I...was in love once too."
He took in a deep breath and leaned his head back as if he was in pain. "But now for the tragedy: It isn't enough."
I groaned as Doctor's crushing grip tightened around the back of my neck. "After I regain control of your brain, I'll make you kill him. You will watch the fire swallowed him whole and burn him to a crisp! His blood will stain your fingers to the bone! You will count the constellations in his eyes until they blink out! You're allowed to love him, Bird...but you're not allowed to save him!"
I squeezed my eyes shut, unable to look into Rudy's eyes anymore.
Doctor's voice sent chills curling up my spine as he whispered, "This is what happens when you betray me. You want to know what you are without me?"
I let out a shaky breath, just praying that this would all be over soon.
"You're weak...small...nothing! A runt!"
I clenched my jaw as my fingers trickled to Rudy's pocket square. His sweet laugh rang in my head. I smiled weakly as I pictured him smiling, his dimples showing on his cheeks, his tan skin glowing in the sunlight as he sat next to me on the first day of school. He didn't want me to be alone...so he sat next to me...and was with me. My eyes slowly narrowed into slits. I could feel something...new...powerful rage in me. My hair stood on end as it coursed through my veins. I pulled my eyes up to the dark storm clouds forming and spinning above me. I took in sharp rapid breaths as my skin sizzled and hummed. I extended my arms forced the lightning out of me. It danced across the debris, slicing into everything around me. Doctor's arm released from the back of my neck. I shoved myself up and twirled the lightning around with my arms. I stood on one leg as I turned to see him running, running away from me. He dashed towards the forest. Without hesitation, I placed my two fingers together and reached towards him. The bolt shot towards him and slammed into the ground behind him, barley missing him. I watched as he continued to run for the woods, unharmed. I hopped towards him, only to stop in my tracks when I heard a gasp from behind me. My mouth dropped as I saw a bloody hole going through Rudy's chest. He still stood, the water surrounding his body, ready to strike me down, seeming unfazed by the hole in his chest.
I raised my hand.
"Rudy, it's me! Bri!"
He just glared at me, that rabid look still in his eyes.
"Your name...is Rudy Danko! Your best friend's name is Manny."
His eyes narrowed slightly.
I took in a shaky breath, trying to pull every little...amazing detail I could think about from my mind.
"You're lactose intolerant. You're kind of a nerd."
I let out a faint chuckle as I took a tiny hop towards him. "Remember when we drove to D.C and we kissed? That was the best night of my life, Rudy."
It wasn't until I was inches from him that I could really see his eyes. Bits of the water floated around in them, turning his once sweet eyes into a terrifying sight. Did I have that same look in my eyes? I wondered.
"Your real father...hit you...a lot. You say it doesn't bother you anymore, but I know...I know that it still hurts."
His lip quivered as the tears spilt over his eyelids. My words had penetrated through the serum that was fighting for his heart and mind. I quickly placed my hand on Rudy's feverish skin. "I say you're not a fighter...but really...you're the best fighter around. Even better than me. Because you fight for what really matters. Love."
A small cry escaped his lips as the electric-blue glow was washed away by his tears, the fog was gone from his eyes, and I was staring at Rudy. The real Rudy. He let out a shaky breath as he collapsed to his side. I rushed towards him, falling to my knees as I cradled his head.
"No, no," I croaked. I placed my hands over the gigantic hole in his heart. "It's okay, it's okay!"
Rudy sucked in a labored breath.
"Tell my parents...."
I shook my head, my eyes tracing over the trail of blood sliding down the corner of his mouth. I bit my lip, ording the tears not to break through, for Rudy's sake.
"Whatever it is, you tell them yourself! You hear me?" I ordered.
His throat bobbed as he swallowed hard. His hands shook uncontrollably by his sides.
"Tell my parents...that they gave me an amazing life!"
I shook my head, the tears punching their way through.
"Stop talking like that!" I sobbed. "You're gonna be fine! You're gonna—."
"I'm not, Bri. I'm not," he croaked. My heart stopped as the pain stabbed through it like a dagger. My lip quivered as the hot tears streamed down my face. His face turned white as ash before my very eyes. I clenched onto his arms as if I was clenching onto his last dying breath, refusing to let him go.
"Please, don't," I sobbed. "Don't leave me. I can't—can't do this."
He quickly placed his warm hand on my cheek, pulling his pocket square out of my pocket with his other hand. He smiled weakly as he pushed it into my hand. The water dripped down his pale face as he gazed into my eyes.
"You'll always have me, Briella."
His ocean gaze wandered to the sky. My mind went a million miles a second. I glanced around, furiously looking for anyway out of this fate, for anyway for me to save him. My heart banged against my ribcage.
"You're gonna be okay, Bri. You're...not that scared...kid...sitting by yourself at lunch...anymore," he breathed. His chest heaved up and down as he tried to bring in more oxygen. The warm blood mixed with puddles of water beneath us. I squeezed his hand tighter, clenching my jaw as I glared into his eyes.
"No, no! Don't you dare leave me, okay? You keep looking at me! I love you! I love you so much, Rudy! And you're the only thing in this world that's truly worth fighting for!"
He just smiled. He opened his mouth to speak, but his voice was so brittle.
"I kn—knew you were—l—lying at Ms. Kay's."
His brows furrowed as he struggled to get the words out. His mouth was moving but he couldn't speak. Not a single sound escaped his throat. I shook my head as my tears dripped onto his face. I bit my cheek until the blood mixed with the lumps of silava in my mouth. I took in sharp and uneven breaths as I sobbed and wailed.
A weak grin spread across his face.
"Please...I don't want you to go," I cried.
"I want—y—you to know—that my time—w—with you—has been—the—the best of my life!" He opened his mouth again and with his last dying breath mouthed four words.
"I love you, Briella."
The air was torn from my lungs as his eyes locked on the sky. I could feel his heart give one last thump before going silent. A small cry escaped my lips as I shook his shoulders.
"Wake up," I whispered. I wrapped my arms around his stiff body. "Wake up. Come back, Rudy! Please, wake up!"
I squeezed my eyes shut and tried to find his heartbeat. Of course, I was met with nothing but silence. My center sprawled with heat, shooting up my throat. I lerched my head back and screamed, pushing the fire out of my throat. The fire smooshed into the air. I slammed my mouth shut and placed my head against Rudy's bloody chest, sobbing uncontrollably into the already saturated fabric of his shirt. The building around me cracked and groaned. It would collapse any second. I grabbed onto Rudy's shirt and pressed my lips into his one last time. I shoved myself up and hobbled out before a chunk of debris fell in front of the entrance. I let out a choked gasp as I pressed Rudy's pocket square into my nose, breathing in the only part of him I had left. An untainted memory.