xp_logs | Living Pele: Rescue & Showdown

As Shiro is searching for Alex, Alex realizes a fault in the machine containing him...

It wasn't very often that Alex drifted awake from his drugged state, usually only when Vida came for her dose of power or the big burly guys came with his dose of drugs. That amused him even drugged, for why they thought they needed these big guys when Alex was both tied down and out of it, he had no idea. He looked up and, oh look rocks, saw nothing different then normal. He yawned and closed his eyes again, hoping maybe he could just back off to sleep. Sleeping meant not thinking and Alex had already spent enough time thinking in the 2... 3 days he'd been in this stupid coffin thing.

Except something was different this time. He opened his eyes and looked around, limited as he could, and found nothing out of the ordinary. Closing them again, he tried to listening to see if there was something other then mechanical white noise. Concentrating as he was, Alex realized it was something with his mutation that felt off. The containment unit, or so Alex had been told by his ex's mother during one of his first drug doses, was holding his power in so it wouldn't interfere with Vida's. But even with her siphoning off bits every day...his power was building up inside the machine, just like it used to build up inside of him, before Selene inadvertently created an outlet. Now Alex knew what he was feeling...his powers were nearing overload!

That itching sensation in the back of Shiro's head had only grown stronger since he'd spoken with Jared. The intensity fluctuated regularly, from that irritating sensation of an inexperienced telepath trying to access one's mind, to a dull discomfort that was sometimes ignorable. But Shiro prefered the former. There was a sense of comfort and familiarity in it, and also the thought that something was specifically calling to him to go to Kilauea.

It had finally grown to the point where he couldn't ignore it anymore. Maybe it was a psi begging for help, stuck near the volcano with no way out on his own. Shiro didn't recall Alex telling him about any mutant co-workers, or any mutant acquaintances in general, but that didn't mean that he was the only one in Hawaii. So finally deciding to follow his gut instinct, Shiro snuck away from the Red X tent, and flew down to Kilauea. If there was even the slightest chance to saving someone, he rationalized, then such a rash decision was worthwhile.

Alex opened his eyes as a thought hit him. He had some control thanks to the brief power training he had received while home from school. If he could just concentrate...maybe he could set off his powers now. He knew he didn't have much time, if he was awake that meant Vida or drugs was coming and he might not have another chance before they noticed their error and did something to fix it.

He took a deep breath and flexed his fingers as he closed his eyes once more and began to concentrate. Falling back on old habits, Alex began picturing the ones he loved in danger...funny how being so close to an active volcano fueled the imagination. His hands began to itch like crazy and Alex gritted his teeth. Just a little more...so close...

The building hidden in the rocks at the base of the volcano erupted in a stream of energy as Alex's powers overloaded.

There were a number of reasons that Shiro careened off course and crashed when the rocks exploded, not the least of which was the simple fact that there was a huge explosion. But that feeling in his head exploded, too, and it was all he could do to maintain his force field to protect himself despite the intense mental distraction.

He swore as he dragged himself back to his feet, and nearly fell down again when he finally recognized what he'd been feeling.

"Alex?"

Alex of course couldn't hear him from where he lay unconscious on the floor of the now bare and blackened lab. It was only a matter of minutes until he groaned and half opened his eyes, which was unusual. Sure, it was more the machine that had overloaded rather than Alex himself but he still should not be awake yet. It wasn't until he was more awake and slowly sat up that he realized what it was. Something was feeding him energy. He looked around quickly but found he was alone. Then what...? Alex winced and held his head in his hands. The aftereffects of blowing and the drugs still in his system were giving him one hell of a headache.

The pull attracting Shiro to Alex was almost too strong to resist. Not that Shiro did, anyway. The familiar sensation of the strong power source only meters away was the most encouraging thing he'd felt in weeks, if not months. He realized that it had been Alex calling to him, or rather the intense cosmic radiation that Alex stored within him. Shiro was panting by the time he reached his friend, partly from the exertion, but mostly from the effects of the capacitor that sat before him.

"How did I know that you would be involved with this?" he asked Alex rhetorically, though the smile on his lips belied anything emotion besides utter relief. "I love what you have done with your outfit. What is that, grass?"

His headache made it so he hadn't heard Shiro's footsteps but the familiar voice of his best friend made Alex's head shoot up. His smile matched Shiro's at the very welcome sight, as his brain clicked with what was feeding him energy. "You know me," He said softly, speech still affected by the drugs, "If there's a power hungry goddess around, they're going to want me as a battery." At Shiro's mention of his outfit, Alex looked down at himself. "Oh wonderful...as if this could get any worse." He tried to stand up but that was abruptly aborted as the room began to spin.

"Remind me to not thank you later for jinxing us with that comment," said Shiro as he unzipped his jacket and handed it to Alex. "I would offer you my pants, too, but you are too tall." He knelt down to wrap an arm around Alex's waist and help him to slowly stand up. "You have an awful record with megalomaniacs. So who is the goddess this time?"

"Dude, jinxing doesn't work for me in this situation anymore." With an arm around Shiro's shoulders, Alex managed something along the line of balance on his feet but he didn't trust himself quite yet and kept his hold on the other. "Vida." He said sharply, his bitterness evident even his drugged tone. "Vida is Pele."

A particularly nasty string of curses spilled from Shiro's mouth. "You are hereby not allowed to date women anymore. You have an even worse record with them. From now on you can either be celibate or gay." He led Alex slowly away from the wreckage, giving him time to reorient himself before Shiro would fly him back to safety. Which he prayed was fast, because he had no doubt that Pele would come looking for him soon.

That earned Shiro a chuckle but not a response as Alex was thinking the same thing. They had to get out of here before Vida or whoever was coming with drugs discovered the destroyed lab. "Let's get out of here before someone comes. And we have to figure out a way to..." His eyes caught a piece of the containment unit in the wreckage that had some how survived. "That's it..."

"Do you want to blow it up just for fun?" Shiro suggested, noticing how he could feel Alex's ribs even underneath the jacket. He took another look at his friend and cursed again silently. Alex's normally chiseled physique was much thinner and more sickly than usual. The result of little food and constant power drainage, Shiro reasoned. He tore his eyes off of Alex's midsection and shook his head. "I should call your brother, but my phone is not likely to work here, with all the electromagnetic disturbances. We will have to wait until we are further away."

Alex gave Shiro and amused look but quickly shook his head. "No...I think I have an idea of how we can stop her. But I need time to regain some power...and I'd really like some clothes." The state of his body didn't really bother him, of course he also had other things to think about. Once he was out in the sun again, it would both refuel his powers and his body, as they worked in tandem like that. "Come on. Let's get out of here."

-----

An enraged Pele tracks the boys down before they can reach safety. Shiro takes out his anger on her while Alex comes up with a plan to stop her once and for all.

Vida/Pele was in the middle of causing another eruption, about ready to direct the lavaflow toward a nice populated area when she felt a twinge in the back of her head. Sort of like a twisting and a break, which she knew to be her power source being ripped away from her. Her head snapped up and her eyes narrowed.

"Oh, no you don't."

The ten-foot-tall goddess turned abruptly and stalked off towards her mother's lab, letting the eruption slowly subside. The air rippled with her heat waves and the flora around her charred. If anyone was looking for her, all they had to do was follow the path of destruction. Who would be so foolish as to attempt to take him away?

Several minutes later, Vida/Pele arrived at the remnants of her mother's lab. She kicked aside some of the smoldering remains of what was once very valuable seismic monitoring equipment in a rage. Who ever did this would die, horribly and painfully. The goddess closed her eyes for a moment, casting out for her power source. She felt him, moving to the northwest. Smothering a growl, she turned and stalked off in that direction. Years of work were hanging in the balance, the dreams of several generations were resting with her. She would not fail her people just because of some haole. Especially not some asshole haole boyfriend. Next time she needed the battery source, she'd just club him over the head and get it over with. None of this dating bullshit.

She crested a hill and saw the two figures half limping/half running towards the town. "Caught ya." She raised a hand and a gout of flame struck a few feet to their left as a warning shot.

So intent was Shiro on getting Alex to safety and calling the X-Men to Hawaii that he was caught by surprise and stumbled, sending both him and Alex to the ground. "That's my trick, bitch," he spat, jumping to his feet and retaliating with a plasma burst of his own. He called forth his fire form and burst into flames. "I have been doing this longer than you, I think. It would be best for your health if you simply gave up now." Ignore the fact that Shiro knew that he still wasn't nearly back in full form. But he was good at getting people all riled up, and maybe he could get her so on edge that she'd make a mistake. Anything to give him time to get Alex away.

Except Alex wasn't about to leave Shiro alone, especially with Vida of all people. Not to mention he wouldn't have gotten very far anyway, though his head was starting to clear quickly now that he was out in the sun and moving. Slowly, he stood up, using Shiro's distraction to get himself back together and figure out how to put his idea into action.

Vida/Pele laughed. "Seriously? You, stop me? Oh, I so don't think so." The ground rumbled and shook, throwing both boys to the ground. "See, there's this thing where I'm sort of a goddess." The ten-foot-tall girl directed another burst of flame at the Asian boy, who just had to be Shiro, igniting the grass around him. "I take what I want."

"Is that so?" asked Shiro, unfazed by the blaze. He stood back up and took a step in front of Alex. "Well, I have met a few deities, and I can tell you that it's all hype." He countered with another attack, this one aimed for her midsection. He had no qualms about full-on violence with her. "And anyway, Alex is mine. I am not giving him up so easily."

"Hello! Standing right here, guys!" Alex growled as he stood back up again, easier this time. His legs were getting cut on the rocks but he ignored it. When Vida had her back to turned to him, Alex began climbing over the rocks to her. He had to get in range to touch her for his plan to work and he hoped Shiro would understand and keep her occupied.

This had to work. He was *not* going back to being her battery. This had to end...now.

Vida/Pele stood, hand on her hip as Shiro's blast took her in the stomach. It felt tingly, and had enough force to knock her back a step. But it was really like getting punched in the stomach by a three-year-old. The fire-girl tilted her head. "You're kidding, right?" She lifted a foot and stomped, and the ground shook violently, knocking both boys down again.

Change of plans. With a little prayer of thanks to his Western Civ professor for instilling in him such a fear of tardiness, Shiro freed himself from the earth and lifted himself into the air. "You will find that I do not often tease." The golden flames surrounding his body glowed even more intensely, and he lobbed a couple of fireballs at her that exploded upon contact. He readied himself to charge her but then noticed that Alex was gone. He nearly made to stop him until he caught the glimpse in his friend's eye. Shiro offered a short nod and turned back to Pele with another few fireballs. He wasn't sure what Alex had planned, but the least he'd do was give him the opportunity to execute it.

Picking himself up once again, Alex scrambled over a lava formation now just behind Pele. He could feel the heat coming off of her but it was comforting in a sense. It was his power after all. Taking a deep breath, he closed the distance between himself and the goddess, grabbing her wrist in both hands and pulling it an odd angle to unbalance her and make it difficult for even the giantess to pull away. He closed his eyes, concentrating his power into her as he called out, "Shiro! Help me overload her!" and ignoring the burning in his hands.

"Brilliant," Shiro muttered with a grin, and thrust himself toward Vida/Pele like a speeding bullet. He hit her in the gut like a cannonball, and after a moment's disorientation, flew around behind her and grabbed her around the neck. "Is Sunfire is going to have to choke a bitch?" he grunted. The power flowing through their makeshift circuit was painful and pleasurable at the same time. She drained him just as quickly as he could fill himself with the almost orgasmic rush of energy, a thousand thousand times more intense than what he felt when he and Alex were in sync.

The effect was like swallowing the sun. Vida/Pele barely had time to cry out as the energy within her grew and expanded until it felt like her skin was stretched over burning coils instead of veins. It was too much, too much energy for her. And Pele understood that. The part of Vida that was still Vida screamed as she felt the goddess within her retreat, rather than overload the girl with her power and kill her. There was a blinding flash of light, and Shiro and Alex were both thrown away from her. The girl burned bright, brighter than any sun, and then winked out. Leaving only Vida. She collapsed on the ground in a dead faint.

Shiro followed quickly. He let out a little "oomph" as he fell on his rear, but satisfied they were safe, extinguished his fire form before getting up. "I don't think that I have any witty remarks for this situation now." He plodded over to Vida and prodded her with his foot. Definitely out and powerless for now. "Are you okay?" he asked Alex, offering him a hand.

Alex ignored his hand, just staring at the girl aways in front of him. He had sat up and watched as Pele had left her, leaving only Vida. But who had been the girl he'd cared for for all those months? Who had he given up Lorna for?

Shiro said something else, finally getting Alex's attention. Finally taking the offered hand, he stood up, putting a shaky hand on Shiro's shoulder. "Come on...let's get out of here." He wasn't worried about Vida, her mother or one of the cult members would be by soon and find her. Right now...Alex wanted to go home.