A/N
I apologize for the wait. I got caught up in work and class again. I promise to try and do better! I hope you all enjoy!
"You seem real interested in things that have nothing to do with you."
"I disagree. I like to see what's going on in a town before I set up shop, ya know?" I gave him a winning smile. "'Sides, it's probably all common knowledge to everyone except me. What's it going to hurt?"
The mutant glared at me and walked off. Apparently my winning personality just came in second place.
I sighed and started taking mental stock of all that had happened.
It was the first day of my self-imposed fact gathering. From what I could tell, there were two rival groups above ground. One was an all girl gang. I ran into a roadblock trying to figure out more. The second was a crime tycoon named Shion. He I had more luck with. Mutants left and right were making bets on how long he'd last. Apparently his empire was not doing so well. No one had anything to say about the 'Red Fire Gang', except to wonder when they would stop harassing the other two groups. Oh, and to praise the Soothsayer's personal militia that made sure nothing bad happened to people below ground.
I don't like the thought of a personal militia. It could be trouble for me.
Interestingly enough, more comments I get (when people don't know I'm listening) is the lack of conveniences. Blankets. Clean beds. Food. Even more interesting is how quickly the tune changes from complaints to compliments when I walk by.
Has something to do with personal militias, I bet.
I patted Doggy on the head and we moved to another area. Mutants were thick in this area, and I began to slink in and out of view to try and listen to bits of conversation.
"….akeda. He should be moving out of this town at any time, you mark my words."
"No, He'll make them burn down all of his estates if he has too. He won't leave."
The two men passed and I couldn't hear anymore.
That was really too bad. It had sounded promising. I slunk over to a wall and sat down. It was amazing all the things one could hear when sitting next to a wall.
Doggy disappeared. He wasn't exactly inconspicuous, so he was giving me space while trying to be close enough to lend some teeth to a bad situation.
"Hear about those X-men? I heard they got into some fight with a big mutant."
So good to know my former roommates are keeping themselves busy.
"I think his name was Juggernaut, right?"
I've heard of him before. Kurt had said the Brotherhood helped them out on that one.
"I think they should just stop." A third voice hissed. "They're drawing attention to us mutants."
"I think they've fought this Juggernaut guy before." The second voice said. "I seem to remember him being in the news, and--."
The conversation was drowned out by loud laughter booming throughout the hall. Mutants tried to inconspicuously make way for the large mutant that walked past. He and two others spread out in the walkways, making it hard for people to stay out of their way.
Not that it wasn't hard enough already. The mutant was big. Muscles were standing out like barrels on his arms. He was really too large to function. So much muscle mass must have made it hard to move.
The other two must have been twins or siblings- they had tinted blue skin and less muscle mass than the guy in front, but as much as I studied them, I really couldn't tell if they were male or female. They had the same half-length brown hair, same gait, same muscles in the same places.
Somewhat behind, and not really part of the group, a lean mutant walked in the center of the walkway, indifferent to everything. He was wearing black pants and a black turtleneck, and walked with a very non-aggressive gait. His black hair went to his shoulders, somewhat ruffled, as if with sudden movements. And he was tall. Not nearly as tall as the other mutants he was tagging along with, but about six feet. Tall enough.
My attention was diverted from the fourth mutant when another mutant tripped over me and fell into the path of the larger mutant leader. The mutant must have been trying to press against the wall and move away, but tripped when they got to me and I didn't move. There were a lot of mutants against the wall. It was bound to happen.
"Don't you have any manners?" The large mutant growled. "We keep you safe and fed, and this is the way you repay us? We're the Soothsayer's army! You could at least stay out of our way."
"I-I'm sorry." The mutant lifted its head. It was a woman, maybe early thirties. Her face and skin were a sharp shade of green. "It won't happen again."
"You'd better not let it happen again. You might get exiled."
The woman bowed her head and tried to scrape away.
"Did I tell you that you could leave?"
"N-no, but I thought-"
"Well you thought wrong. Just for that, I'm taking you to the Soothsayer. She'll straighten you out." He reached for her. She squealed and scrabbled backwards into me.
She tried to get away from me and run. He reached for her.
I stabbed him in the hand with a knife.
He yowled and stumbled back. The woman turned her head to look at me.
"Leave." I said as calmly as I could. She got up and ran away. The mutants up against the wall started making a swift exit after her.
Rats abandoning a sinking ship. Boy, am I screwed.
I got up to my feet. Like lightning, Doggy was there.
"We don't do covert very well, do we boy?" I adjusted my grip on the knife. I was going to need it to get out.
"Woof."
"Who the hell are you?" The big mutant snarled, holding his hand. The two twin mutants adopted scowls, but didn't move in on me. Maybe their purpose was to look pretty.
"Danny. And you?"
"I'm BIG." He said cockily.
"That's nice. Now, is that your real name, or did you just not understand the question?"
He turned purple. He looked pretty funny, and I would have laughed if I didn't think it would put me in a worse situation.
"You're gonna be sorry. Do you know who we are?"
"I've heard."
"AND?"
"And what?"
"You should apologize to me. You stabbed me and you stopped the course of justice." He said pompously as he crossed his arms with some difficulty. "And then, we'll see about how you can pay for your mistake."
I don't like the way he said that. Or what I think he was implying.
His eyes suddenly went up and down my body.
Oh HELL no. To hell with trying to keep the situation in good terms-he crossed the line. I can barely take it from some cute guy from another dimension, I'm CERTAINLY not taking it from him. And I'm going to stop acting like a one-armed mutant too. It's time he was taught a lesson.
"Alright. I'm sorry you're a two-bit creep who thinks he can throw his weight around because he's got some guys at his back and muscles the size of beer kegs. I'm sorry that the Soothsayer has to put up with your crap. And I'm really sorry that I stabbed you in the hand instead of in the face. I only would have had to move a few feet."
His face had been purple. Now it was turning black with rage.
"GET HER!"
He and the twin mutants charged. I charged forward too-I didn't want to get trapped against the wall. I ducked the first punch thrown by BIG. Doggy's eyes saw a punch coming from the first of the twins. No one could have dodged it. They'd never see it coming. Fortunately, I have a dog backing me up. I grabbed the fabric of BIG's shirt and twisted my body. The punch missed me and smashed into BIG's pecs. I kept twisting until I was out of the range of BIG's second punch, then let go of his shirt and slid on the dirt floor out of his punching range. BIG lost his temper with the mutant that punched him and returned the favor by hitting him in the gut before coming after me again.
My first impression of him was right. Way too much muscle mass. If the other two, well, one now-the first blue twin wasn't getting back up…if the other one could stay back, I'd have no problem getting under BIG's guard.
"Doggy! Get Blue!"
He snarled and jumped into the fight, driving the blue mutant up to the wall and keeping him there. BIG had turned to look at the spectacle. I took his distraction as a chance to run at and latch onto his back at full speed. He stumbled as he absorbed my momentum, then began flailing his arms, trying to get at me.
But he is a very large mutant, with muscles that hindered his movement. He couldn't get his arms far behind or far over his head.
I slipped my knife into the back of my pants and held onto his shirt with both hands. He kept on flailing, quickly getting tired.
But he wasn't completely stupid. Any brawler knows that if you get someone on your back you can't shake off, try to find a wall.
Of course, I knew this too.
When he started to back pedal into the wall, I pushed up with my arms and swung my legs up, my feet landing on his shoulders. He hit the wall at full speed, hitting his unprotected back. The force of the collision caused me to fall forward, and I ended up nose to nose with BIG.
His face upside down isn't any prettier.
When he saw me he snarled, but I had already pulled my fist back. I smashed it into his nose. He howled in pain and reached up to grab me. I leapfrogged away from him and landed ungracefully on my side. I rolled up to my knees and stood up.
We stood there glaring at one another.
In the back of my mind, I knew the other mutant twin was crying. Apparently, it was scared of dogs. And Doggy is frightening.
BIG glared at someone behind me. "Are you going to help?"
Behind me, the tall black-haired mutant shook his head. Doggy watched him carefully. I kept my eyes on BIG.
"She seems to be doing fine on her own." The man said dryly. His voice had an accent, very faint. It reminded me of that Piotr guy Kitty was mooning over sometime ago.
"I mean us!" BIG snarled.
"There were three of you and one of her and her dog. You should have been able to defeat her easily. And yet she has you backed against a wall. So much for the Soothsayer's fighting squad. I'll be going now. Here, Danny."
A card appeared over my shoulder. I took it and held it as he stepped back.
"I try to work for people I can grow with. Lately the business has been stagnant. I hope to meet with you again."
He left.
I tucked the card away in my pocket without looking at it. BIG glared at me but didn't seem so sure of himself. He seemed to be mulling over things in his mind.
"We'll deal with you later." He walked off with as much dignity as he could muster. The twins, as soon as the crying one had been released by Doggy to grab its sibling, followed him.
As soon as they were gone, I exhaled and shook my wrist out. I hadn't used my bandaged hand for much except grabbing onto shirts, so the theory that I was still hurt might work, especially since at the end it was only them and me.
Doggy sniffed around my pockets at the card I had been given. I pulled it out to take a look.
"Ivan Korzenki."
Doggy cocked his head to the side quizzically.
"Has a phone number. Not much else. Nice Raven on the card." I put the card away. "We'll hold onto it for now."
I looked up to see some mutants walking back into the hall. All of them had a degree of wariness, but also a degree of interest.
"Maybe now we can get some answers." I said to Doggy. "They look a little more friendly now."
Doggy rolled his tongue out and panted. Some smaller mutants, children, began walking up to him tentatively.
Yeah. Much more friendly now.
Please leave your reviews! Sorry for the wait!
Asteria: I am drifting from the X-men for awhile until Danny get's more situated in her place. The gang warfare thing is still on the down-low-not a lot of press coverage just for a few cases of arson, but it will get to the ears of the X-men sooner or later. They will show up, probably towards the end of the fic. I hope you enjoy the story even though it's mostly OC. Thanks for reviewing! Sorry for the wait!