A Fair to Remember- Saturday Afternoon

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While having fun at the Fair, Terry runs into a familiar face with bad intentions. Things go downhill untill Bobby, Nathan and Tommy come to investigate.


They passed the nearest cotton candy vendor on their way from the bumper cars, Terry was nearly certain. With a tap on Bobby's shoulder, she told him of her mission and left him trying to win an absurdly large violet panda. He nodded, distracted and Terry strolled off. The cacophony of the fair was near deafening, bright lights constantly dazzling the eyes and the smell of food of dubious origins redolent on the air. Terry grinned fiercely. She quite loved it.

As the red-headed mutant moved through the crowd, she was followed by a pair of dark brown eyes. Josh nodded to the people he'd been half-listening too, sticking his hands in the pockets of his baggy jeans as he moved toward her. Tommy and Duncan were off setting up or something else responsible leaving Josh to get up to his own trouble and the moment he had seen Tommy's ex, the blonde knew exactly what kind of trouble he wanted to get into.

Ever since Tommy had beaten the shit out of the winged freak, Josh had been jealous. He was the muscle of the group, not the brains (Duncan) or the leader (Tommy). He felt like his role had been taken. Though he wasn't bright, Josh had noticed how Tommy had protected his ex. Sure she was a mutant, but she was a pretty little thing so Josh almost didn't blame him. Almost. Now, Tommy wasn't around and not only would Josh get in some freak bashing, but also exact a little revenge on behalf of his best friend.

She'd just rounded the corner into the shade of a brightly coloured tent when she realized that she wasn't exactly alone. Expecting that it was one of the other kids from school, she turned around with a half-sigh, ready to explain that she was fine and she didn't need an escort to go twenty feet. Her words died on her lips when she recognized the boy behind her. Crossing her arms, she lifted her chin and stared at him, waiting to see what he'd do.

Josh just smiled and moved his hands from his pockets, crossing them instead. "Well, well, well... what do we have here?" He moved to predatorily stalk her, getting a good look at the freak who had deceived his friend.

Well, thought Terry, watching the way he moved, it's nice of him to at least be up front about meaning harm. "I'd say we have one reasonable human being and one freak bent on mayhem. But I'll try to talk you out of the mayhem." She kept her voice calm though she was remembering vividly the condition Jay had been left in.

The retort just made Josh laugh. "Feisty, aren't we? Good, maybe you'll be a challenge then." He stopped right in front of her and cracked his knuckles. "More than your freaky winged friend. Tommy said he cried like a baby the entire time, didn't even bother to put up a fight. Now tell me, what kind of fun is that?"

Her hands fisted and she dropped her arms to her sides. "Don't talk about Jay. He nearly died that night." A quick check of their surroundings showed no one in sight. Not a problem so long as she could scream, of course. The trouble was not killing the boy in the process if he wouldn't back down. "If you walk away now, I won't return the favour."

"It's too bad Tommy didn't finish the job then. I'll have to tell him. Maybe I can help him finish what he started..." Josh grinned smugly as he noticed her fisted hands. He raised his hands in a taunting gesture, waving her forward. "Now why would I want to walk away? Think I'm afraid of you and your freaky powers? Think again sweet heart. Come on, I'll even be a gentleman and give you the first shot."

"You'll be a gentleman who'd hit a girl. Aye, you're quite gallant." She opened her hands deliberately. She wouldn't be the one to hit him though she didn't have any intention of letting him hurt her. "I wouldn't bother with you. You're not worth my time."

"No my dear, I'd be gentleman by ridding this unsuspecting crowd of your filthy presence." He paused for a moment, shrugging lightly, his smile still smug. "Last chance pretty one." Josh's left hand began to ball into a fist, cracking his fingers first.

Terry's jaw tightened. "Leave me alone." He was blocking her way back to the main crowds and given how much bigger he was than she, muscling past him was out of the question--sometimes she hated being short. "I don't want to have to hurt you."

Josh just grinned. "Let's see you try sweetheart..." And he swung his fist right for her stomach, the other balling to land in her face.

She caught his blow to her stomach but couldn't quite get her face out of the way in time. Still she hadn't taken defense classes from Logan without learning how to take a hit. She stumbled back, shoving him at the same time, "I said STOP!" It was just a normal shout, no power yet.

The small trickle of blood from her nose only brightened Josh's smile. "Oh now we're getting defensive..." He only stepped closer, moving so they were almost touching. "Come on, freak, let's play baby." Cracking his fingers, he lifted his hand to throw another punch.

She lifted her hands to defend herself, considering the force of the blow and how likely it was that she'd get seriously hurt if she fought back. "Yeh're mad." She wiped the blood off her face. "I've told yeh I'll not fight." Then she threw her head back and screamed, directing the sound up with only enough power to make herself heard, not enough to deafen the boy.

Aiming for her cheek, he silenced her scream by cracking her head to the side, unfortunately, not with enough force to hurt her, his force thrown off by her scream. Josh cursed as he missed. "You mother fucking..." Fighting the urge to cover his ears, he moved to again punch her in the stomach in an attempt to get her on the ground so he could kick the living shit out of her.

The scream was enough to attract Bobby's attention, who had been standing around waiting for Terry to return with her sugar-rush-on-a-stick, giant purple panda won and tucked awkwardly under his arm. He ran toward the sound, not bothering to drop the stuffed bear, and skidded to a stop, eyes widening. "Get away from her!" he shouted, stalking closer, his heart suddenly pounding in his throat. He didn't know who the punk was, but nobody hurt his Terry.

Terry doubled over, gasping for air. She had been paying too much attention to her power and not enough to Josh and paid for it as he knocked her to the ground. Instinctively she curled up, covering her head and protecting her face. She was struggling for enough breath to scream when she heard Bobby's shout.

Josh grinned ferally as he stood over Terry, raising an amused eyebrow at the blonde who had just showed up. "Oh look, another freak to the rescue. Two for the price of one..." He made his point by aiming a sharp kick to her stomach. "What a treat for me. Come make me, pretty boy..."

Bobby's eyes narrowed as he stepped closer. The sound Terry made when the sneaker impacted triggered his powers almost unconsciously, and in a few moments, kicking was no longer an option for the little prick, because he was encased in a solid block of ice from the knees down. "You don't listen so good," Bobby growled. "And you don't know how to treat a lady."

Terry whimpered and scrambled away, still struggling for air. "Bobby," she gasped out, nearly soundlessly. She was going to be bruised after this, she could feel it. She tried to push herself to her feet, surprised when she stumbled back to her knees.

Josh's eyes went wide with clear fright as the ice encased his legs, stopping anymore kicking her he had planned. "Wh..What the fuck!?" He managed to sputter, fright now turning to anger. "What the fuck did you do to me, freak!?" Windmilling his arms, he tried to keep his balance but instead fell backwards onto his butt.

With Josh effectively immobilized, Bobby hurried to Terry's side, slipping an arm around her shoulders. "Terry...are you okay? Can you walk?" he asked, voice and movements all infinitely gentle.

He had heard the scream from where he was helping Duncan man the FOH
Youth Program's booth and after a whispered conversation with the
other boy, Tommy had taken off running. He knew that voice, he didn't
think he'd be able to forget it for as long as he lived and after
noticing Josh was gone, Tommy didn't want to admit it, but he feared
the worst.

When he found the spot he was looking for, Tommy skidded to a stop and took in the scene before him. Josh was laying on the ground with his legs encased in a block of slowly melting ice. Terry lay a few feet away, obviously beaten, with an older blonde boy kneeling over her. Frowning, he moved to stand next to Josh, to help him figure out a way to get him free. "What the fuck is going on?"

"Tommy." Terry drew in a shuddering breath, clinging to Bobby's neck since her legs still didn't want to cooperate. It was a little embarrassing to realise that fear was making them rubbery and unstable. She tried to stand up but winced. She couldn't take her eyes off her ex, remembering what he'd done to Jay. "Bobby, we have to go." Before she started screaming...

#No one is going anywhere right at the moment,# came a voice in all their heads. For Terry and Bobby, it was a familiar voice, if freezing with rage on a level that few of the students at the school had ever heard or experienced from its owner. For Tommy and Josh, the man who came striding around the corner of the tent was a total stranger. Nathan strode right into the middle of the confrontation as if he was walking into battle, and although he didn't lash out at either of the two FoH boys, his body language made it damned clear that he both could have and was still in fact contemplating the idea rather fondly.

Cold grey eyes flickered to the other two, softening for a moment as they rested on Terry. #Bobby, hold onto her,# Nathan sent more gently, just to the pair of them before he turned back to Tommy and Josh. Towering over even Tommy, who was standing, he looked every inch of his six and a half feet, plus maybe a couple more, and the aura of pure danger that rolled off him was almost a palpable thing. "Well," he said aloud, his voice chilly with contempt. The ice around Josh's legs shattered abruptly under carefully applied telekinesis. "You want to be on your feet for this, kid? Or would you prefer to grovel?"

Josh immediately jumped to his feet, though he had to be steadied for a moment by Tommy's hand on his shoulder, and faced the unfamiliar man. The pure fright that raced through him from the voice in his head caused him to verbally strike out in fear. "I don't grovel to anyone, especially a fucking freak like you!"

Rolling his eyes, Tommy pushed Josh behind him, not even caring when the other boy wavered in his balance. "Shut up idiot!" He whispered furiously. He should have known Josh would say something stupid, the boy always lost his cool under pressure. Now Tommy had to find a way to get them out of there and away from this freakin' scary man blocking their way. And through it all, he tried his damnest to ignore the fear that shown up in Terry's eyes the moment he'd shown up.

Nathan's order was one Bobby was more than happy to comply with. He wrapped both arms securely around Terry, pulling her against his chest and doing his best to support her weight. "It's okay," he murmured, rubbing her back comfortingly, eyes glued to the scene unfolding. He did feel a small pang as the ice shattered--he'd been proud of that piece of work, in the small part of his brain that hadn't been focused on making sure that Terry was safe.

"Nathan," Terry said shakily, still watching Tommy warily, "Can we please go? I'm okay, really." Her bruises protested that lie but she didn't care. Getting out of here was more important to her right now. Bobby's arms around her were the only thing that was keeping her from breaking down with delayed panic.

"Bobby, take Terry back to the others. I'll be right behind you." Nathan didn't turn to see whether or not they did as they were told. He wasn't leaving just yet. Not until he made some things very, very clear. "Thomas Martin Jones and Joshua Richard Foley," he said, staring down at them. "Tommy, you live at 154 Parkwood, apartment sixteen-eleven. You need to water your plans, the fern your mother gave you is dying. Josh, you live at 79 Amherst, apartment three-twelve. Do you ever do your dishes? The sink is disgusting."

He didn't give them a chance to reply, the implicit threat having been delivered. Time for a little in the way of consequences. "Josh, you bullying little piece of shit... you, I think, are going to dream about waking up a mutant for the rest of the week. Tommy..." Nathan's eyes narrowed, and he projected the next to Tommy alone. #In your place, I'd be a little more worried about being a would-be little Hitler who's going to pick the wrong mutant to assault at some point than I would be about your unresolved feelings about your sexual orientation.#

Bobby nodded and started leading Terry carefully away the moment Nathan told him to. He didn't bother looking back, all of his attention focused on her now that Nathan had taken over. He'd take care of those punks, and Bobby would take care of Terry.

Nathan leaned back and gave them a cold, cold smile. "I could make you both forget all of this," he pointed out almost mildly. "I could also pulverize every bone in both your bodies without laying a finger on you." The two boys found themselves levitating a few inches off the ground, held in a tight - if not crushing telekinetic grip. "But I believe in the value of object lessons. So go enjoy the fair and your brainless bigotry, and remember what a profoundly bad idea it was to touch one of my students."

And with that he flung the boys backwards - rather gently by Nathan-standards, actually, but hard enough that they landed in a tangle of limbs ten feet away. Fair-goers merely stepped around them, smiling cheerfully, completely unaware that anything unusual was going on as Nathan telepathically directed them not to notice.

Josh was the first to scramble to his feet, staring wide eyed at the.thing that had read his mind and pushed him without touching him. He wanted to be out of there, all thoughts of beating the crap out of muties gone from his head. Joshua Foley was not normally a coward, especially when mutants are concerned, but there was a distinct smell of urine about him. Frantically, he pawed at Tommy, trying to get the other to stand but when the other refused to stand, the blonde fled.

In the distance, he was aware of Josh disappearing into the crowd, but Tommy couldn’t make his body move from where the mutant had thrown it. He also had only distantly heard the man’s end lecture, something about pulverizing and object lessons. What had stuck with him was the private speech in his head, which he could recite word for word, as it played on all his worst fears, including the new found one involving one winged male freak he couldn’t get out of his head,

Eyes closed, Tommy gave a full body shudder before he could finally make himself stand. Not even bothering to look around for the mutants or Josh, Tommy pushed his way through the crowd and towards the exit. He had the sudden urge to be alone.

And then find Josh to beat him to a pulp.