Oliver, Tate and Buzza
Oliver, Tate and Buzza arrived at the mutant school. Leroy and Tanya were involved in something that they couldn't expose them to, so they had sent them to Mutant High for the weekend, which should be enough time for it all to be over.
"It's very kind of you to let us stay here," Oliver said when they arrived.
Nyx and the Mavericks
Nyx was jumpy and on edge but she smiled cheerfully. "Welcome!"
"Hey, welcome back." Mordred grinned. Vortigern smiled beside him in greeting. The two other twins were on the roof but they came down to meet the new people. Demetria floated down to meet the people who had arrived. Octavian jumped and rolled when he hit the ground, springing easily to his feet, which were bare as usual.
"Good morning, and salutations!" Octavian bowed deeply.
"Oh, do stop, Tavvie darrrrling. We don't want to scare them away too."
"Oh, hush, Demetria."
"Oh? Are we being formal then?" Demetria raised an eyebrow delicately. "I did not dress for formal. Heavens above!" She put her hands to her cheeks and widened her eyes comically.
"Shut your mouth, Demmie. They've been here before."
"I still wanna eat the bug." Nyx snapped her teeth at Buzza. "Yum."
"Don't start, Nyx." Vortigern rolled his eyes.
"Well, seeing as how the people who actually know you are being embroiled in some minor squabble, we'll introduce ourselves. My name is Octavian Felix Edgerton-Smythe, and that is my twin sister, Demetria Juno. And yes, we are aware of the irony of being best friends with another set of twins." Octavian grinned charmingly at the newcomers. "We just happen to like the way they think.
"Which is positively evil, darrrrlings!" Demetria clapped her hands.
Dawn
"Oli!" Dawn cried out as she ran up to hug him. "How are you?"
Oliver, Tate and Buzza
Oliver grinned.
"I'm great, Dawn," he replied.
"You no eat me! Bully!" Buzza shouted.
Tate looked at Nyx with a mischevious expression on her face, licked the back of her hand, and raised an eyebrow.
"Indeed."
"Tate, you behave yourself," Oliver warned. "Do you dare let them get to you and this be a reinactment of last time."
"I am behaving myself," Tate replied with a wink to the Mavericks. "Most likely badly."
Dawn
"Oh dear Lord," Dawn said. "Tate, Oli, you're coming with me, right now," she said, grabbing Tate's arm and leading her away from the Mavericks. "Okay, Tate, I'd like you to meet Martha and Becky," Dawn smiled, hoping to keep Tate under control.
Oliver, Tate and Buzza
"Hello, Becky, Martha," Tate said with a small smile. "This is my foster cousin, Oliver, and my good friend Buzza."
"Hiya!" Buzza said cheerfully. "You're not gonna try and eat me are you?"
Oliver smiled.
"And how are you this fine day?" Tate went on to the two Amish girls.
Marta and Becky
"Hello Tate. We have been meeting so many new people lately. It can be overwhelming sometimes, can't it," Martha said, as she worked on her knitting, while Becky was stitching a quilt.
"Do you sew?" Becky asked the other girl.
Tate
Tate's telepathy picked the sewing directions our of Becky's head.
"I can," she smiled. "Would you like me to help?"
"Aww, but I... I want you to help me find some honey, Tatey!" Buzza complained.
Tate looked up at him.
"Wouldn't it be where we found it last time?" she asked.
"Oh yeah! Honey!" and Buzza flew off.
Becky
Becky smiled. "Another set of hands would help greatly. We're making bedding for Ms. Grey, for the crib. I'm maked the quilt and pillowcovers, Martha's knitting an afghan." Becky gingerly handed Tate a needle and a spool of thread.
Tate
"Oh really? How delightful! Ms Grey expecting is she?" Tate asked pleasently.
She put her nimble fingers to work.
Dawn and Becky
"Oh yes. She and Mr. Summers are getting married next month. The pastor would frown on that, but the English are different. She's 2 1/2 months pregnant. I love babies, and I look forward to watching this one," Becky said as she sewed the small swatches of fabric together.
"I knew this would work," Dawn said, quietly. She grabbed Clark and Oliver. "All right boys, take me out for coffe, we have to catch up." she grinned.
Oliver
"The question is," Oliver said, "for how long? All you need is one new person a boom! She turns into someone else. It's quite an adventure living, with her, that's for sure."
He grinned.
"You coffee nuts," he said. "I'll settle for a donut myself and a thickshake."
The Mavericks and Nyx
The Mavericks looked at each other, and grinned. "Oh, youll fit in perfectly, darrrrling," Demetria purred.
"Quite," Octavoan drawled.
"I still wanna eat the bug." Nyx pouted.
"Um, Nyx? It talks," Vortigern pointed out gently.
"Your point?" Nyx raised an eyebrow.
"Oli, Oli, you never got to pet me!" Nyx made a pout face.
"Oh, I wanna see Logan's face when he pets her," Mordred said quietly to the other Mavericks.
"He is rather over protective, isn't he?" Demetria said with a sly smile.
"Logan can bite me," Nyx tossed back over her shoulder, keen hearing picking up every word they said. "Just because we share a bed does not mean he owns me. And I promised, way waaaaay back. And he's cute." Nyx's expression said quite clearly that she thought she had made her point adequately.
"Coffee! Yay! Coffee!" Nyx bounced.
"Dear god, someone stop her," Vortigern said with a grimace.
"Aw, bullies.I like my coffee."
"Sometimes a little too much."
"I need to be distracted. Not a whiff of Cain, grrr, spit, hiss, and poor Faith. I want coffee, and none of you will stop me!" Nyx looked stubborn and crossed her arms.
Oliver
"Why, that's quite true," Oliver replied.
He reached up his hand and stroked her hair affectionately.
"That better, pussy cat?"
Dawn and Clark
"I, however, want a mocha frapucchino and a biscotti," Dawn said smiling as she and Clark hend hands, and she looped her arm throuch Oliver's.
"We should be back soon," Clark said. "Starbucks is only two blocks away, Dawn makes me take her, every time I visit," he laughed.
Oliver
"Ahh, I see," Oliver replied, witha grin. "Alrighty then! We're off to see the wizard!"
Dawn
Dawn happily lead the way, though Clark now new it by heart. Suddenly, a thought popped into her head.
"Oh my God, nothing on the earth or from the earth can kill Clark , right?" he nodded.
"Nyx, do you think there's any chance he could stand up against Glory?"
Oliver
"Who's Glory?" Oliver asked.
He spotted the not-so-familiar Starbucks sign.
Nyx
Nyx purred and pushed her head up against his hand. "Yep."
Dawn
"Oli, do you remember how I told you about the evil hellgod that tried to sacrifice me to end the owrld, just to go back home and rule?" Dawn asked.
Nyx
"Glory is the Hell bitch. She has bad fashion taste, hangs with icky little minions, who are totatly *gross*, believe me, you don't wanna meet her." Nyx wrinkled her nose. "Although appareantyl Dru slept with her, which brings in a whole nother dimension of weird. And the ew factor raises exponentially." They entered the Starbucks. "Don't know about Clark, sweetie. Tchnically, she's from a hell dimsension, not a heaven or an earth, but she is a god...tricky."
Oliver
"Very interesting," Oliver nodded. "Well, I'd like to offer some friendly advice, but I have none to offer. Maybe you should find another god. Fight fire with fire?"
Nyx
"That's the thing. Mom wasn't allowed to fight her last time, and the Powers That Be have their own freaking schedules." Nyx looked disgusted. "Willow is our best bet, I think."
Dawn
"Willow and Buffy were the only ones who were able to hurt her before," Dawn said, bouncing around as she ordered her drink.
Nyx and Cain
They all settled down with their drink of choice and started to chat. Then Nyx's head came up slowly, eyes narrowed in suspicion and nostrils flaring.
~*~*~*~
Cain had swaggered into the coffeestore, knowing there was the chance that an X-men or two or five might be there. Dressed to kill in an charcoal Armani suit, he knew if they decided to take him on, thhey come off the worst. Loki's stone still burnt his hand and the healing scars on his back rubbed unpleasantly against the material of his white shirt. He adjusted his tie and stepped up to the counter. He bought his coffee, like a good little citizen and turned around.
~*~*~*~
"Oh. My. God. He wouldn't dare...oh, yes he would, he's just crazy enough to. But somethings off..." Nyx stared at Cain, and then he brought his hand up to brush his hair out of his face. "Oh, dear god. We are in trouble. He went and saw Loki."
~*~*~*~
Cain saw Nyx stare at him in horror, and he wandered over, smirking. As her face went pale, he started to laugh, the high whooping almost animal laugh that died away in a sinister chuckle. "Nyx...Key...Surprised to see me?"
"I am gonna rip out your heart, you *bastard*," Nyx hissed.
"Ahahah, pussycat. I have friends now. You don't want to try anything here anyway. So many...innocents. And all I have to do is scream mutant, and you'll be ripped to pieces." Cain's expression was dreamy. "Isn't American prejudice a wonderful thing?"
Dawn
THinking fast, Dawn stood up on her chair.
"Could I please get everybody's attention? Do you see that man there?" she pointed to Cain. "Please ignore the flashy suit. That is the savage man that surdered Pink onstage, and gunned down half of her fans at Madison Square Garden. Now he thinks he's going to turn the tables by crying 'mutant.' Now I may not be normal, but I don't kill for pleasure. Would somebody please call the police?"
Cain
"Oh, girlie, girlie, don't you think I know you by now? I tasted your blood." Cain shook his head, and raised his hands defensevely. "Hey, I just wanted my stuff back. You know, if we broke up, it's no reason to go around comparing me to that animal on tv. You need help. I advise you get it." Cain made to go. "Ex-girlfriends can be such bitches," he commented.
"Yeah, tell me about it," a random guy said. "Listen, lady, why don't you keep your problems to yourself?"
"Well, I thought we could settle this amicably but...obviously you want to cause trouble. Expect a letter from my lawyers on your desk, Monday." Cain grabbed his coffee and headed towards the door.
"Let him go, Dawnie. We can't start anything here, and he's turned the crowd against us. You shouldn't have said that stuff, really. I didn't even get to set a tracer on him. Loki is as strong as my mom or Janusz od Dagon, even chained."
Oliver
Oliver watched Cain, and a smirked crossed his face.
"I wonder which one is his car? Maybe I should perform some pyrotechnics..." he paused. "Or do you think that would be unwise considering what just happened?"
Clark
Clark was furious. "You listen to me, you asshole, my girlfriend would never touch you. The closest you'll ever get to kissing her is when you bit her, creep. I've had it with you, you want to take me on?" He asked, grabbing Cain's shoulder & looking him in the eye.
Nyx and Logan
Cain looked at Clark's hand on his arm, then looked up slowly, and laughed. By now, Nyx was very antsy. Cain laughing was never a good thing.
"She wanted me to bite her, wanted me on her leash. And aren't you the good little puppy? Yap, yap, yap!" Cain sniggered. "All noble and pure, ain'tcha?"
"Leave them be and get the hell out, Cain," Nyx warned.
"Oh, you'll be hearing from me. Often." Cain swung his head to look at Nyx and she bared her teeth at him in challenge. "Keep your little bitch. The one I want I already have. Rogue...mmmMMM. She tasted so sweet..." Cain licked his lips. "So pure...even the Key didn't tastes so good."
Oliver
BANG!
Oliver ignored it and went on eating a drinking. Outside a car was aflame.
At all the curious looks, Oliver glanced at the car for a moment.
"Gee, I wonder how that could ahve happened. I hope no one got hurt," he said casually.
Clark
"That's IT!" Clark said, and he picked Cain up, bashed his head against the wall, pulled him outside and took off. When they were about a mile off the ground, and the air was getting thinner, Clark gave Cain a nasty look.
"You. Will. Never. Disrespect. Them. AGAIN" And with that, he let go.
Nyx and Cain
Cain snarled, twisting frantically as he plummeted toawrds the earth. Goddamn mutants! He concentrated, cursing as he did so, and flame swept through his body. He screamed in agony but his rate of descent, slowed, stopped. Loki's gift proved its worth. It was a double edged sword, however. Everytime he called on the Aesir, he burned. Tendrils of fire licked along the inside of his body, raditating outwards from the wounds on his back and the jewel embedded in his hand. He hit the ground, and then ran for it, limping. People were asking questions, and he couldn't kill them all, no matter how much he yearned to do so.
Well done. Loki's voice drifted through his mind.
"Oh, now you make an appearance!" Cain growled.
I wanted to see how you managed the godling, and her allies. Yes, this has been a worthwhile endeavour.
"Glad to be of service!" Cain scrambled over a chainlink fence and into a warehouse.
Such spirit...I think you will serve me well. The Aesir merely sounded amused.
"Sod off!"
As you will. I will be watching. You're off to a good start.
Cain crept further into the city to lick his wounds and hate. He burned more with the hate then he had with Loki's fire. Hatred seethed and he started to plot how to recover his loss of face.
~*~*~*~
After that unpleasant interlude, they decided to head back to the Mansion.
"Clark..." Nyx didn't quite know how to say it. "Next time you decide to go meddling with a god's anointed, ask me first. Loki could have burnt you alive for the indignity you put on Cain." She looked Dawn and Clark in the eye. "He's still alive, and he's going to be after us even more now. You humilated him. He's gonna be after blood."
Clark
Clark sighed. "I'm sorry, he just upset me. Besides, I don't answer to Earthly gods, I'm not from this world. I was sent here to be a god among men, though I refuseto conquer. I'm sorry I've upset this Loki, but I'm not sorry I attacked Cain. Nobody goes after my Dawn. Nobody," Clark spat.
Nyx
"You have a point, but I understand magic more then you do. And I know Loki." Nyx shook her head, troubled. "And we will protect Dawn. Always. You know that."
Dawn and Clark
"Personally," Dawn purred, putting her head on Clark's shoulder. "I think what he did was very sexy. I think you deserve a reward." Kissing him quickly on the lips, Dawn grabbed his hand and they ran up to her bedroom.