~foreign language translated into English~

[continued from 3a of Freak On A Leash]

"Mr. Worthington!" Fred screamed, and Scott grabbed at his visor as Fred pushed Warren into him, knocking both of them to the floor. The sounds of rapid fire gunshots rang out at the same time, and Scott saw the horror in Warren's face as Fred took every bullet into his flabby flesh, grimacing in pain.

"FRED!!!" Warren screamed, crawling out from under Scott, only to be grabbed by the larger man and held back.

Fred smiled at Warren, and then took a deep breath and exhaled. The bullets popped out of the folds of his fat, and Fred looked relieved. "They can't hurt me, Mr. Worthington," he said calmly, turning around and facing the shooter.

People were screaming madly, running in terror from the center of the mall. Scott shoved Warren behind him, and the group stared at a tall, pale woman in black.

She smiled unpleasantly, sending chills down Scott's spine. The black diamond tattoo over her left eye, and her cold, hard, white face reminded him eerily of Callisto's dead face. She loaded her gun lazily, watching them all very carefully. Scott had his hands on his glasses, and was motioning for the three non-invulnerable boys to stay behind him. Scott lifted his glasses slightly to shoot a warning shot at the woman's feet, startling her mildly.

"Drop the gun, or you're dead, woman! Who are you and what do you want??" Cyclops shouted.

"The name's Domino, for what it's worth. What I want is the pretty little angel behind you," she said coolly, her voice sharp and
sultry, lazily dropping her gun and putting her hands up.

Scott sucked in his breath. "Lady, I don't know where you found out about him, but you have exactly one minute to get out of here before I take my glasses off. I'm no murderer, and unlike you, I give fair warning," he growled, gripping Warren around the wrist tightly.

"Compassion is for fools, Cyclops. And I'm not here for you. Hand over your little boyfriend with the wings, and I'll let you all
live," she said calmly.

"What's going on? This is crazy!" Dominic whispered, his eyes darting around furtively, obviously scared.

"And how exactly do you think you, alone, are going to kill any of us?" Scott hissed.

"My mutant powers are a funny thing, Cyclops. You see, things always fall into place for me. And incidentally...

The skylight burst downwards on the six mutants, showering them in a downpour of glass and metal. Scott grabbed Warren and then jumped to the side, avoiding the dangerous shards of glass. Dominic, St. John, and Bobby, did the same. The few pieces that hit Fred bounced right back off.

Several mutants jumped down from the gaping hole that was once the skylight. A man whose very flesh formed huge blasters from his forearms, and a huge creature with chalk white skin, and glowing yellow eyes rocked the ground as they landed. A purple-haired woman in a violet ninja suit leapt downwards beside a cat-like woman covered in brown fur with a long, swishing tail, reminescent of a lioness on the hunt. A handsome blond man in an odd black catsuit with a white circle on his chest was levitated down by a green-haired beauty, alongside a small girl with black hair and big blue eyes.

"...I'm not alone," the pale woman in black grinned viciously, and quick as lightning, she grabbed her gun from the ground, and started shooting wildly at Warren. Fred was able to block most the shots.

"Stay down, Angel!" Cyclops shouted, trying to sweep his optic beams towards the pale woman, but she was damn quick. He fumbled for the emergency visor he always kept on him, putting it on to gain more control over his powers.

"Down?? Are you insane?? I need to be up!!" Warren cried, throwing off his jacket. With a loud ripping sound, his wings tore free from his shirt, and with a great swing of his powerful white wings, Angel took flight, nimbly dodging bullets and power blasts from the man with a gun for an arm.

"Shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit!!!!" St. John screamed, pulling out his lighter, and flicking it desperately. A great burst of flame came forth, and creatures formed out of the fire surged into the fray, buffeting the flying green-haired girl.

Shards of ice started flying around from Bobby, whose blue eyes were wide in terror as the mutant assassins swarmed downwards. The ground began to shake, and Dominic arched his back, his brown eyes wide as the earth began to move, throwing everyone off their feet except Fred, who miraculously stayed standing, determined to block as much damage as he could to his friends.

Things were rather chaotic, to say the least.

The hulking white creature lumbered up to Fred, growling horribly. "You in Caliban's way," he growled, and punched Fred as
hard as he could. The punch could have toppled the Eiffel tower.

Fred stood his ground, without even a trickle of blood to show for it. He smiled. "Sorry 'bout that, chum. Here, let me show you the way out," he said nastily, and punched Caliban in the jaw.

Caliban landed somewhere in the clothing department of Sears. The remaining shoppers screamed and ran out. The sound of distant sirens could be heard.

Cyclops found himself trading shots with the man with a the gun for an arm. He seemed able to take most of Cyclops' optic blasts, and only the momentum of the blasts affected him, knocking him off balance. Cyclops had a singed bicep, but he was too busy trying to keep the assassins away from Warren to care.

Warren was nimbly dodging all attacks, swooping in the air as graceful as an eagle. A well-placed kick by him knocked the fur-
covered cat girl back down on the ground when she tried to leap at him, her claws aimed for his throat.

Winged fire dragons swooped towards the emerald-haired girl who was magnetically or telekinetically hefting a metal sign stand to toss at Warren. She screamed, her hair burning and crisping as she barely managed to escape St. John's attack.

"Polaris!!" the handsome blond man screamed. Incredible bursts of plasma energy came from his hands, slamming into St. John, who cried out and fell back.

Razor-sharp ice shards spun towards the blond man, who took one in the thigh until he started to blast them with his energy bursts. A wall of metal was created in front of him, preventing the ice shards from hitting him.

"Havok! Are you alright??" Polaris screamed, ignoring Warren completely, who swooped past her to avoid more of Domino's gun shots.

"Fine! Capture the target! Remember our mission!" the blond man growled. On the other side of the metal barrier, Bobby helped St. John up.

The violet-haired ninja sprang with incredible grace over Dominic, as he shook the ground around them. She eyed him carefully as everyone was rocked around on their feet. The building was starting to shake and quiver, a sure sign of impending collapse. Warren tossed shards of glass at her, but she easily dodged them.

"Random! What's taking you so long to ice Cyclops??" Domino yelled.

"Quick son of a bitch! And smart, too! Figured out his blasts don't work, so he's trying to cover for the mark!" Random cried, his lavender flesh rippling to form a gun on his other forearm. He shot Fred, which had as little effect as glass and bullets on the
overweight boy.

"I must say, the mark's pretty quick in the air! Still haven't got a shot in!" Domino drawled lazily, smirking. "Enough play time!" she cried to her team.

Warren rolled around a barrage of bullets from Domino. The green-haired woman froze in the air, and seemed to concentrate on keeping the building intact. Since she seemed to be doing everyone a favor, she was left alone on all sides.

Random cried out in pain as the lower half of his body was trapped between the breaks in the floor, crushing his body. He groaned and leaned over, shooting wildly and hitting nothing. He passed out a minute later from pain, quickly bleeding to death.

Fred moved to block the plasma bursts directed at Cyclops, and everyone was so preoccupied they did notice the beautiful Oriental ninja silently sneaking up behind Dominic. The plasma bursts shot past Fred, and hit Cyclops, who was thrown back, but strangely not hurt as badly as St. John, who had only received a quarter of the blast.

A purple blade of energy was unsheathed from Psylocke's hands, and she rammed her fist into the back of Dominic's head, the energy blade popping out of his face. He opened his mouth for a wordless scream, his eyes rolling back into his head.

"Sorry, about that, kid. You were a problem," the ninja spoke aloud, stepping over Dominic's writhing body. The ground stopped moving.

"Dominic!!!" Cyclops screamed, and aimed his blasts for the ninja, but she was far too quick to be hit.

Fred was moving as fast as he could, desperate to reach his friend. Warren swooped down to take out the ninja, but Havok's plasma blasts finally hit him, knocking him down on the ground and slamming him into one of the curio shops.

Dominic's chest rose and fell, a sign of life. Fred smiled in relief as he approached the burly youth.

Fiery beasts swooped towards the ninja, whose agility was now sorely tested. Ice shards arced towards her. The focus on the purple-haired woman was a huge mistake.

The cat-like woman bounded up beside the unconscious Dominic, grinning wickedly. "Ice him, Feral," Domino ordered, and took shots into the store Warren had fallen into.

Feral ripped Dominic's heart out, tearing a chunk off of the still- beating organ and swallowing. Blood dripped down her furry chin, and her yellow cat eyes gazed eerily at her opponents.

Cyclops screamed, and blasted her, but she jumped into the air with grace no human could ever possess. St. John and Bobby didn't even know what had happened, as St. John succeeded in firing the green- haired woman out of the air. She collapsed onto the ground, and the blond man rushed to her side, plasma bursts exploding from his hands as he went.

Time seemed to pause for everyone.

Fred stopped dead in his tracks, choking at the sight of Dominic's body.

Psylocke twisted and gaped at Feral, her lavender eyes widening in horror.

Domino stepped closer to Warren, grinning wickedly, her gun trained on the lithe winged form sprawled out on the floor.

Cyclops fell to his knees in shock and horror, his eyes drifting to Havok, who knelt beside Polaris.

Feral began to laugh, finishing her meal from on top of one of the pillars.

Caliban skulked back into view, growling angrily.

Havok looked up from the unconscious girl beside him, locking eyes with Cyclops. Blue eyes met eyes that once had been blue, and both men seemed to be lost in thought.

St. John cut loose, using the last of his lighter fluid to add to his fiery creations.

Bobby's body seemed almost covered in ice, and ice shards fell uselessly on the ground as he realized Dominic's fate.

Warren's hand slowly gripped the handle of a samurai sword that had been on display in the store, and he awaited the approach of his assassin.

And then time sprang back with a vengeance.

As Domino got in range, Warren leapt up with speed seemingly impossible for someone with huge wings on his back. He slashed her gun in half with the razor-sharp sword. She managed to escape with her hands attached by the powers of her luck only.

Wings buffeted her out of the room, and Warren burst out of the shop with sword in hand, his eyes falling on the dead body of one of his students. Rage twisted his perfect features.

Fred blinked, and he grabbed the approaching Caliban, lifting him up with impossible strength and tossing him across the room. His eyes fell on Feral, grief twisting his features as he watched the blood of Dominic's heart dribble down her chin.

"Psylocke!! No more games! Mindfuck them!!" Domino screamed. Warren was swinging madly at her with his sword, and she pulled out a second gun, but as long as Warren was flying, she couldn't tag him.

"But, Domino, there are so many minds! Things will get out of control and-"

"They already are out of control. Do it!"

A glowing purple mask seemed to form around Psylocke's face.

Warren screamed, high-pitched and terrible. The sword he held clattered to the ground, and he soon followed.

Cyclops gave a hoarse scream, clutching his head, and arching on the ground. Babbling nonsense poured from his mouth. Havok neared the brunette, his lips pursed in...sympathy?

Bobby fell back as Feral pounced him, kicking him away from St. John. The youth's body was covered in a thick layer of ice, which prevented Feral's vicious claws from piercing his flesh. The air grew cold in the mall and Bobby's screams joined the others'.

Fred remained silent, and as immobile as ever. He threw his head back and stared listlessly up into the sky, the pain in his head beyond words. Tears poured down his face.

But it was St. John who suffered the worst of all, his mental defenses the weakest. His own fiery beasts attacked him, swooping
through his body. He stood still, crying in pain as his immunity to fire was slowly shattered by the telepath in his head. Over and over again, his own fire monsters attacked him. St. John could do nothing but stand still, arms spread wide, part of him desperately trying to regain control. But his immunity was slipping, and his blood began to boil. His clothes burned and his skin began to smoke.

St. John Allerdyce was burning from the inside out.

And then Cyclops stood up.

Psylocke cried out, as the X-Men's leader asserted his mental domination, forcing past her telepathic attacks, and breaking her
control over his friends by drawing as much of her powers into his own mind as he could take. Scott Summers, Cyclops of the X-Men, was not the team leader because of his good looks and powerful optic beam. Professor Xavier had named Scott leader, because Scott alone had the strength of will and mental strength to resist any attack, even one of the mind.

Domino's smirk faded, and she realized that something was definitely going wrong. She tried to grab Warren and make off with him, but three adamantium claws blocked her way.

"Bad idea, lady. May not like the li'l angel, but the ol' canuckle head don' take lightly to some hussy making off with him. This is
some bad shit you threw down. Allow me to throw it right back at you," Logan hissed, and his claws swooped towards Domino.

Again, she should have died, but Domino fell back into one of the crevices that had been created by Dominic's  mini-earthquakes. The adamantium claws missed her by a hair, quite literally.

Warren swooped back into the air, dodging the blasts Havok threw at him. Fred shook himself out of his stupor, and grabbed Feral by the tail as she made a move for St. John, swinging her around and slamming her into a wall with all his strength. The satisfying crack of her back breaking made him smile viciously.

And St. John screamed, the telepathic worm of destruction still in his head.

"Johnny!!! JOHNNY!!!" Bobby screamed, running towards his best friend, his tether to humanity...

There was no flash of power. There was absolutely nothing as Cyclops reached out along the link Psylocke had created between their minds and sucked her telepathic mindworms and her timebombs meant for St. John back into his own mind, to work them out himself. With mental strength that rivaled Charles Xavier's, Cyclops broke her connections, and slammed her mind shut. He used her own powers against her.

Psylocke coughed and sank to the ground, smiling for some strange reason.

Domino was fighting a battle she was going to lose. Wolverine was better than she was, far better. Not even a woman who had the ability to make things fall into place for her could match Logan's fighting skill, apparently.

"Lila!! Get us out of here now!!" Domino screamed to the little girl who had been sitting calmly on a bench the whole time, only moving to avoid a stray attack. A yellow glow surrounded the mutant strike team, and with a flash they were all gone.

But the damage had been done.

"Johnny??? Johnny!!" Bobby cried when he reached his best friend. He reached out and grabbed his friend, pulling the pyrokinetic against his icy body.

The heat melted his ice armor and stung his flesh, but Bobby hung on. The fire monsters froze into ice where they stood, and Bobby encapsulated his friend in ice.

Bobby cried and gulped, hugging the cooling body tightly against him. He poured every ounce of power he had into his dearest friend, to save St. John's life.

Fred collapsed to his knees beside Dominic's torn body, crying in huge gulps. He took the burly youth's hand, cradling in his own. Scott knew Dominic had never been the nicest to him, nor the most understanding, but he was still a friend. He was another mutant lost, seeking his way beside them all, searching for his place in the world. Even Fred had known Dominic meant no malice. He was insensitive, and occasionally cruel, but Dominic was one of the good guys. And now...

...now Dominic was dead.

Warren landed beside Scott, staring down at his best friend, tears pouring down his beautiful face. Scott didn't move, just sat huddling up against himself, crying like a small child.

"The Professor sent me ahead of everyone else. The rest of the gang will be here in a minute. Xavier is telepathically detaining the cops. What the fuck is going on here? What happened??" Logan growled, approaching Cyclops.

"Get away...oh God, please...get away..." Scott moaned. Inside his mind was the telepathic destruction meant for all of them. And he was trying desperately to disarm the telepathic timebomb before it went off in his head.

"Scott? Scott, are you alright? What's wrong?" Warren asked gently.

"Yo, Cyke, get a hold of yerself. Tell me what happened..." Logan said angrily, getting closer.

And then the telepathic timebomb went off.

Cyclops screamed like a small child, his head thrown back as he arched. Logan's claws instinctively unsheathed at the same moment Scott swung his hand back at Logan in misplaced rage. The claws went through Cyclops' hand, and Logan began to scream, his eyes lighting up in purple for a moment.

"Scott!!" Warren cried, touching Scott's shoulder. His scream joined the other two, as his blue eyes glowed purple.

A telepathic timebomb is meant to destroy your mind, by destroying your memories, and eventually frying your synapses. Scott had brought the full brunt of Psylocke's telepathic attack inside himself, in order to save his teammates' minds. He could neutralize the attacks by methods Professor Xavier had taught him, and by his own force of will. But mental neutralization is delicate work, and time-consuming. Cyclops had ran out of time.

But Scott had been able to block most of the damage with his own mental defenses, so instead of detroying his mind, it merely released buried emotions, and memories best left forgotten. Causing Scott to relive the most painful memories of his life. And it sent out empathic shockwaves through touch when telepathic bomb went off. So now both Logan and Warren were forced to witness Scott's memories.

Darkness consumed them all.
 
 
 
 
 
 

Two very young boys huddled together in a bed, surrounded by darkness.

One was obviously older than the other, being the larger one. His mop of brown hair was plastered to his forehead with sweat, and his large blue eyes stared fearfully at the door. Beside him, the smaller, younger blond boy quivered and whimpered, the same blue eyes large with the same fear.

It was safer, they thought, if they slept together, in the same bed. Maybe he wouldn't come tonight, knowing they were together. When he came, he liked to take only one of them, alone, singled out. There was safety in togetherness, in huddling beside your brother. Or so they thought.

The doorknob twisted, and the toy box they had placed in front of the door only slowed its opening, causing the dark-haired man who entered to curse. He smelled of alcohol, and eyed the boys who shrank beneath their blankets in distaste.

"Little faggots. Already sharing beds and fucking each other, are ya? Little pieces of shit," the man growled, and ripped the blankets off their small, shivering forms.

"Please don't hurt Alex, Daddy. Please. Just me," the brunette boy cried out, sitting up and covering his little brother with the
pillow. The blond began to cry softly.

"Awww. How fucking sweet. Love yer brother, do ya, Scotty? Rather me mess with you than him, eh?" the man growled maliciously.

"Yes," the older boy said quietly.

"Shame. Jus' cuz you said that, now yer gonna watch what I do with yer li'l baby brother," the man laughed cruelly, and reached out and yanked the small blond boy towards him.

The brunette began to scream, trying to pry his brother out of his father's hands, only to be beaten for his efforts. He tried to shut his eyes at the sound of his father's zipper opening, but a sharp cry from his brother and a threat from his father forced him to open his eyes, and watch the degradation and humiliation of his brother, the only stable force in his young life. It was bad enough when it happened to him, but somehow, watching the pain on his brother's features made him want to die. Made him want to kill his father.

Down the hall, lying in her darkened room, his mother lay quietly, watching television and trying to ignore her son's screams.
 
 
 
 
 
 

In the only act of true motherhood Kate Summers ever showed, she shoved her two sons out of the burning plane with the only parachute. Perhaps she knew she deserved to die for her sins. Her sin of ignoring what her husband liked to do to his sons almost every night.

Scott Summers clung tightly to his brother, fearful and confused, as his mother shoved him from the plane. The sight of her sobbing as the plane dove down, and the sight of his drunken father cursing over the controls that refused to work were the last he ever saw of his parents. He never missed them.

But the winds were strong that night, buffeting the young boys around roughly, catching the parachute. Scott's thin arms couldn't compare to the power of nature, and a strong gust caused him to release his brother, dropping the boy thirty feet to the moss-covered ground. His parachute was dragged by the wind, and it caught on a tree several miles away, and over the state line. Scott fell to the ground, torn from his parachute lining, striking his head on a rock.

And when he woke a year later from his coma, he knew that he was the one who dropped his little brother Alex. It was the pain of the knowledge he had killed the only thing he loved in the beginning of his life that drove him to become what he was.

He could save a thousand lives, and they never once made up for the loss of Alexander Summers to him.
 
 
 
 
 
 

The three men cast off the darkness.

Scott leaned over and began to sob even harder, his body shaking with relived grief and pain. Warren stumbled back, eyes wide in shock. His hand flew to his mouth at the realization of how similar he and Scott Summers really were.

Logan's claws retracted from Scott's flesh, and he swallowed, his muscular body trembling. Warren suddenly understood why Scott never trusted him, never liked him. Why Scott was angered by him, even hated him.

It was the voice. The walk. The talk. The macho attitude, and many of the things he said.

Logan reminded Scott of his father.

"Scott..." Logan breathed, his hazel eyes wide in compassion. Despite his attitude, Logan was not Christopher Summers. He had a heart.

Warren just stared at Scott, horror written across his face. Was there no mercy for any of them? Dominic's loss, and now this?

They heard the sound of the Blackbird, as the jet hovered over the deserted mall, invisible for all intents and purposes, thanks to the incredible mental powers of Charles Xavier. Ororo and Jean had come to collect them.

Scott was sobbing uncontrollably, rocking himself.

"Scott...they're here now. They'll be able to help you..." Logan said awkwardly, wanting to do something, anything to not have to understand Scott Summers' pain.

"No..." Scott sobbed. "Don't let them...don't let them...don't let them see me..."

"Scott...?" Warren asked gently, approaching his friend, the man he secretly loved, and not even the loss of Dominic mattered to him in the face of Scott's misery.

"Please...don't let them...let them see me...like this...please..." Scott moaned.

Warren understood. Scott wanted no one to know. It was bad enough he and Logan knew, but Scott didn't want the women, particularly Jean, to see him so weak. For Scott was all appearances, and desperate to remain the perfect strong male to any woman, particularly ones he knew. The need to be strong was ingrained into his being.

"No one will see you like this, Scott. No one. I won't let them," Warren whispered, and before Logan could blink, Warren scooped Scott into his arms and flew off with a great whoosh of his wings.
 
 
 
 

Warren was gone with Scott, who was falling apart. Dominic was dead and...

Logan's eyes caught on Bobby Drake, who was cradling his best friend tenderly, sobbing copiously. He couldn't tear his eyes away from the sight, even when he smelled Jean, floating down from the hovering Blackbird. Logan stared blearily at the carnage before him, feeling helpless for the first time in the part of his life that he could remember.

"Help. Please help me, Dr. Grey. Please. Johnny won't wake up. I put him to sleep, and now he won't wake up..." Bobby sobbed.

Jean Grey turned her face, tears slipping down her cheeks. She grabbed Logan's shoulder for support, her head bowed.

A tear escaped Logan's eye.