Sacrifice (FC Sandy story)

He woke up and found he was upright. That was the first shock of that morning. The second was finding every part of his body bound tight to the metal board behind him. He was bound and gagged, and still in his night clothes. Either that had been one wild party last night or he was in deep trouble.

Sem Van Dael opened his locker at school, ignoring the happy laughter behind him. It was at the expense of his overweight little brother, Roe. Edgar and Simon were somewhere nearby, and once he'd gotten his Chemistry book, Sem was going to join his friends. He grabbed the book and put away his History stuff, then noticed the sticky note stuck to the inside of his locker door. He scanned his dark eyes over the note and dropped his books in shock. He heard a chorus of laughter behind him, this time at his expense, and again he ignored it. He left the books on the floor and bolted for his bike. School was far from over, but he didn't give a damn. As much as he pretended to hate his guts...

...Sem's older brother, Pim, was important to him.

Someone stepped out of the darkness. Sandy squinted at him. Or her. He couldn't tell. Nope, him. Nightcrawler was a truly fearsome creature. Instead of hair, tentacles grew from his scalp. He had no visible eyes on his black and blue skin, sharp claws, a wide open mouth with chainsaw teeth and a large, thick tube of a tongue...The Dutch hero felt a shiver go down his spine. Nightcrawler crept closer and for about the eighth time in that past hour, Sandy tried to transform to his dust form. He struggled, bucking violently against his bonds. This was worse than being in that cell waiting to be pitted against another young super. Especially since this time he would feel every single wound inflicted upon him, see every horror before him...he was already covered in marks and sores from whatever the material holding him down was. He was panicking too much to use his brain by that point. He had never faced this thing before and didn't know what he could do, and right now he was completely helpless.

Sem approached the house, frowning. He raised his fist to knock just as the door opened, to show a tall man with black hair. He was in his night clothes still and looked ill. Sem's brown eyes met this man's hazel ones, and the hazel colour changed...the whole eyeballs changed colour...and Sem was gone.

Schizophrenia turned the hands round. The boy was shorter than he was, but stronger. Clearly sporty. He was tanned and moderately attractive, and Schizo could feel the boy's emotion in the back of his head. A slowly bubbling anger. Bad tempered. Brilliant. He walked back in, waving down Cupid when the large lump of winged muscle began to rise from the sofa, and headed to the basement.

As he descended the steps, the boy's older brother came into view.  Nightcrawler stepped away, but he kept screaming through the gag. Probably the pain, the poor thing. "You sure bludgeoned him, Nightcrawler." Schizo said, awed, through Sem's slightly accented speech. It was an accent few heard, not even Sem's own family, as he had grown out of mimicking his parents' accents when he was about six. Pim's eyes opened, vision blurry with tears and blood. He had no clue why this was being done to him, but suddenly he realised something. Sem was somehow involved. he could just about make out his little brother, but something seemed off. Sem came closer, saying something the man didn't quite catch. he was moving oddly, jerkily, although his movement got more certain and smooth with every step. His face looked different as well...his eyes were blue...

Now, while working with Bathilda Brute and Thunder Fists, he had faced the Hall of Evil, and he knew Schizophrenia's takeover signs when he saw them. Nightcrawler disappeared and Sandy's binds came away. He fell awkwardly on his arm. Looking up and hugging his bare arms across his chest for warmth, he watched the younger brother step closer, terrified they were going to make them fight. Instead, Schizophrenia left, was now standing behind Pim. He smirked in an ill fashion as Sem's faculties returned to him.
"Pim!" He dropped to his knees and embraced his bloody big brother. Pim hissed in pain and hugged back.
"It's a trap." He hissed into the younger man's ear. That much should have been obvious, even to Sem, who pulled away and nodded.
"Bit too late for that."
"I know...run..."
Sem shook his head. "You're hurt..."
Pim stuck his hand out, and a soft breeze enveloped him. He could feel his toes disintegrating into a fine dust. "I can get out myself. Run."
Sem watched in shock as his brother transformed to his dust form, then his legs kicked in and he began to run for the door. Fate and Nightcrawler blocked his path and he screamed, turning back. Pim was in full dust form now, keeping Schizophrenia back. He was unaware Fate was in the building, but turned, detached his fist and sent it hurdling towards Nightcrawler, who got hit square in the jaw. His eyes widened when he saw Fate, who tripped Sem.

"For the fate of the world..." She began, raising her sword high over her shoulder, "this child must lose his head..." She swung, Pim screamed, trying to throw her with his dusts, Sem jerked away, Fate was thrown off balance as she chopped into the boy, who let out a shriek of pain. Fate fell. Landed on him. She lost her grip on the sword and when the black dust from the elder brother had settled and returned to his form, her throat had been slit and Sem's arm was missing from the elbow. Pim returned to normal, grabbed his brother, no clue where the arm had gone as when she'd slipped, Fate had flicked it across the room, and found himself challenged to get out of the room without getting killed by Nightcrawler, who had just witnessed his little sister die, or Schizophrenia, who looked quite bored by this whole affair. Plus there was Cupid upstairs, which Pim didn't know about...he could do it in dust form, but that would make it incredibly difficult to carry Sem without giving him blood poisoning or something equally as nasty...

He finally managed to get Sem to a hospital. He phoned an ambulance from near the corner shop Bridget Butler worked at and watched fearfully as the paramedics got to work. They would know the nearest and best hospital, which Pim sure as hell didn't, no matter how many hospitals he had been to before. He walked in through the doors as the paramedics brought him in and a nurse insisted on taking him for treatment as well. It turned out they needed more than just the nurse. His father stormed in when he was talking to a porter named Paisley, who was assuring him his brother was going to live, as that was what she had heard from the other staff.
"Willem!" Fritz bellowed, entering the cubicle, looking terrified. "What happened? Are you okay? Where's your brother?"
Pim's face crumpled. "I don't know where he is, he isn't on this ward...they cut off his arm, Dad, they cut off his arm..."
"Who did?"
"I don't know...I remember being at Claud's house because he was throwing a house party, and getting drunk and crashing on the couch, but then I woke up upright somewhere I didn't recognise, and I was bound and gagged and...and..."
"Okay, calm down." Paisley told him gently. Pim let out a moan, shutting his eyes tight.
"They sent a ransom note to Sem...I don't know why...and they tried to kill us, but..."
Fritz sighed softly, looking at the floor. "It's okay, Willem...it's okay...it isn't your fault..."

The Germany Chronicles: Corrosion

This is the second part of a three or four part series. You may have to go to my Deviantart, Jinxprincess13, to read the first part.

Kurt let out a yawn. "My feet hurt." He complained.

Addie shook his head. "Perhaps we should find a hostel or B&B to check in to...get some rest, something to eat. We're not going to find Vilma tonight."

Kurt gave a nod of agreement. "I haven't eaten since breakfast."

"I threw up my breakfast."

Miguel listened to the conversation but offered no opinion. He was in agreement anyway. He was tired, cold and hungry, and it was beginning to rain, and the group hadn't the slightest clue where this thing had gone.

"We'll find a place and stop for the night, check in with our teams and our girls." He said when he finally spoke, smirking slightly. "Apart from you, Kurt. Not after you messed up so bad with Stacie."

"I didn't mess up, she did. I broke up with her." he argued, looking miffed.

"Riiiight."

Addie smiled at the banter, but the smile slowly faded at the cracking sound. He looked down and found the pavement was cracking beneath his feet!

The cracks were spreading across, under his companions' feet and ahead. He opened his mouth to shout a warning, but they'd already noticed. Then, the strange blob that once was Vilma Meier shot up from behind them. The three of them turned and some paving that had been sent flying hit Kurt very hard on the temple. He keeled over backwards.

"Corrosion!"

"Kurt!"

The other two stared in anguish. They couldn't fight this thing, and they could hardly drag the heaviest and strongest member of the team if they elected to run. Heck, Addie could hardly run when in human form.

"Why'd that lump have to be the one to faint?" Volt whimpered, trying to lift him and walk back. Addie looked like he was about to have a panic attack. The ground was still cracking and Vilma let out a fearsome roar...and the next thing Miguel knew, he was falling. The ground had given way beneath him and he was falling...

He gave a harsh grunt as he hit the ground, elbow-first. Nothing broke, by some miracle. Addie wasn't so lucky. He fell on his left foot and gave a scream as his ankle snapped. Kurt remained unconscious. The way he fell made Addie think of a ragdoll. Miguel got up and was about to help Addie when he noticed something. They had fallen into a sewer, and yet there were people everywhere, staring at them. He checked his skin patch was still in place and offered a sheepish smile. "Hello..." The light above them went out. He looked up, saw the green form that was once Vilma pass by above them and suppressed a shudder. He looked back at the people and rubbed his sore shoulder. "Uh, excuse me for intruding...my friends require medical assistance..." He gave a vague gesture to the other two. A man stepped forward.
"I am a doctor." He stated with a nod. He had dark, curly hair and the kind of face that made you think 'miserable snob'. He stepped closer and took a look at the acid-spitter's face, then gave a grim nod. "Linus! Otmar! Bring a stretcher! Carina, how's the spare room looking?"
A petite blonde woman stepped forward. "Messy. Fabian's only just vacated. He should be fine to stay there, though."
The dark-haired man nodded and gestured for Miguel and Addie to follow her. The speedster helped support the wolf-man, difficult as Addie was pretty much half his height, and they made their way to Carina's house.

The sewer people didn't have hospitals. They had doctors, and if you needed a doctor down there, you went to the doctor's house. Rodger Schaumacher wasn't the only doctor, of course. They had no fire service, a council rather than police and, most importantly to Adolph, no phone service. He wanted to talk to Mishka and their daughter, Dee-Dee. He was currently limping around the Schaumachers' living room, trying to get a signal he would never get.
Once over the initial shock that he could still walk on his shattered ankle, Migs spoke. "Addie, cut it out. It won't work. Rest up so we can get back to hunting down that thing tomorrow."
Addie frowned, but stopped moving. "'thing'?"
"How else do I describe it?"
"She's not an it, she's a she. Her name is Vilma."
"Adolph, quit getting emotionally attached to a giant tentacle bogie!"
Noble Wolf turned, looking like he was going to hit Volt. Carina stood to the side with an infant in her arms, not sure what to do. Rodger had long-since finished with Kurt and had gone to the shops. The acid-spitter burst through the door, clearly frightened and confused.
"Where the hell are we? What happened? We were on the street just a second ago, with that thing..."
Volt gave a smug smile. "You were knocked out. We're in a safe house. This woman's husband is a doctor." He gestured to Carina, who was staring wide-eyed at Kurt.
Kurt rolled his eyes. "Again with the staring..." He muttered sourly.
"Your eyes..." The woman muttered. "That's not natural..."
"It is for me." He stepped up next to Miguel. "Tell her our names?"
"Not yet, no...I have said his though." Volt gestured to Addie.
Kurt nodded and ripped the skin patch off his companion's neck. "We're supers." He stated bluntly and took a seat. Volt sighed and took the one next to them. Addie sat behind them, at a computer desk.
Carina sat opposite them and tilted her head. "My brother used to have eyes like yours." She told the scarred man. "He was adopted though."
Addie raised a hand. "Uh...used to?"
"He's...he left the community when he was young."
"So he's dead?" Migs asked, much the master of tact.
Carina shook her head. "The council made him leave when he was four."
"Why? Why would they eject a four-year-old?"
"He was considered a danger to our people."
"He was four."
"He...drooled acid...constantly...he could never stop. He was just constantly drooling acid, hurting people, damaging things, and he couldn't help it."
Slowly, the other two turned to look at Kurt. He gave a hand gesture to ask what they were looking at. Volt slammed a hand on the table in front of him.
"What is this, a reunion fest?!" he got up. "How come you two get to see your families? My parents are dead!" He stormed off into the spare room and slammed the door behind him.
Addie gave a shrug. "Kurt, isn't the whole sewer thing why you broke up with Stacie?"
"No. She was a control freak."
Carina stared. "This is Patricia." She stated, gesturing to the child on her lap.
Addie raised his hand. "Was your maiden name Findlay-Fitzhugh?
Carina frowned, having not yet made the connection between herself and Kurt. "It...was, actually."
Kurt looked at the floor. "Carina..."
"I never told you my name."
He snapped his head back up again. "How slow are you?" Then he gave a frown. "And what do you mean I'm adopted?"
She shook her head. "You're not my Kurt."
He frowned. "Of course I am."
"No. He's not coming back. He's in exile. It's illegal."
Addie paled. "Are we breaking the law then?"
Kurt sighed. "My sister doesn't want to acknowledge me, I don't know where my parents are, I'm adopted and Ava's ruined." he got up. "I had a best friend once, but then she kissed me and we became a couple, and that ruined everything. She doesn't want me near our kid. My life sucks. Let's go, Addie."
"Stay and rest!" Carina snapped. "You've suffered a very bad head injury."
"I have a job to do."
Addie shook his head. "The woman's right. We need to rest."
"I'm not staying here."
"There's no use being stubborn, Kurt. Go have something to eat. The rest of us have eaten. It'll do you good."
Carina nodded. "He's right. I think rest is good for all of us right now."
Kurt gave them both a glare and went to find the kitchen. The woman opened something. His wallet.
"He's had a nice life."
Addie frowned. "Did you steal that off him?"
She shrugged. "Sort of. Who's the redhead?"
"His ex."
"Oh. Ava sounds familiar...I think it was the name of a teddy he had."
"Apparently he was very attached to it."
"Oh..." She bit her lip. "He really can't be here."
"So now you do think he's your brother?"
"No. Because he can't be here. Manfred would recognise him instantly."
"Who?"
"Head of the council. Very sharp. To break an exile is a severe crime here. If Kurt is here, he must leave at once. Or else." She looked up, terrified. "And if he is my Kurt, and you are with him, they shall punish you as well."
Addie's eyes widened a little. "We're injured. I doubt I'd be able to get back up top...what would they do to him?"
"To break exile means execution. He cannot be given a reason to stay." The front door opened and closed. "Rodger knows a sloping exit rather than a ladder one. It's a secret, few know of it. It is only for emergencies. Occupied heavily by criminals. Manfred wasn't there when you came in. We can sneak you all there and get you to safety..."
Kurt stepped away from the door he had been hiding behind. He had eavesdropped, starting around the time Manfred was first mentioned. He sat heavily on the kitchen counter and removed the doughnut from his mouth with a heavy sigh.