Chapter 4
“Don’t worry, I’ll be watching from back here if anything goes wrong,” Kurt said to Jade while giving her a serious thumbs up.
Jade glared straight at the house they were in front of and nodded her head. If she couldn’t get to Magneto then she would have to alert him by going through his known children instead. What she was doing right now was incredibly dangerous and maybe even a little bit stupid. There was a part of her that maybe knew that, but there was a stronger part of her that wanted revenge on her father. Going after Wanda and Pietro was the perfect plan. If she was able to cause enough chaos for them, then maybe Magneto would finally give a damn and show up for his children. She didn’t want to hurt anyone, but if the time came for it then she would. However, she knew she couldn’t control her anger for long. This may get out of hand very quickly. The one thing she knew for sure was that if she accidentally hurt Kurt, she would never be able to forgive herself for doing so. For a moment she closed her eyes allowing her blood to boil even more than it was before.
Never in her life has she felt this enraged by someone. Never in her life did she think it possible that she might not be able to control herself again. Never in her life would she have thought that their greatest enemy was her father. She could barely wrap her mind around it and every time she tried, she ended up getting more and more confused. All she knew was she needed answers and she needed them now. If he refused to show up to the aid of his children, then she would scour the ends of the earth to find him and force the answers out of him. Jade reached for Kurt’s hand and gave it one last squeeze. “If they come after you, there’s going to be hell to pay,” Jade said, her voice deadly. “If things get too rough and I can’t control myself, then I want you to get as far away from this place as possible. Do you hear?”
Kurt squeezed her hand back. He’s never seen her like this. Her bluish eyes held a murderous intent that scared him and caused every bone in his body to shake. Just by looking at her, it was unclear how far she was willing to go. When he found out that Mystique was his mother, he was more scared than anything. He could barely fathom the notion of someone who had hunted them for weeks on end was related to him. However, he was not without flaw himself. A rage he never thought he’d ever experience flowed through him and he also wanted answers to his questions. He never had the courage to do what Jade was doing right now. He would also want answers if his parents were alive, well, was causing chaos for his friends, and put them through hell and back. He just hoped Jade wouldn’t go off the rail and lose herself in the process.
He wanted to tell her to not go too far. To take it slow. But he knew it was fruitless. So instead he pleaded with her. “Please, come back to me,” Kurt said. “Okay?”
Jade squeezed his hand in response and sauntered off toward the door of the house. When she stepped on the front porch, it sank even under her small stature. It was ratty and it looked like it needed a good cleaning. But she didn’t care. She took no time in pounding her fist against the door causing it to shake, hopefully scaring whoever was in there. It took some time, but someone finally answered. A wide smile spread across her face when the person opened the door and revealed themselves.
Pietro answered the door. His face was already twisted in an expression of disgust just by seeing her. What did she want and what was she doing here? It soon faded away into anger when he saw the sinister smile spread across her face. He looked down and noticed her hands were down at her sides, ready to use her powers at any moment. If he listened closely he could hear as things around him started to groan signaling that something was happening. However he didn’t know what. He’s never seen this girl use her powers before since he’s never faced her in a fight. It could literally be anything which scared him, but he didn’t let it show. Something about the way the house around him was creaking gave him a clue as to what she could do. The creaking. The groaning. She must have the same powers as Magneto.
Jade wasn’t saying anything as they both stared at each other, waiting for the other to speak. She was already loosening the nails in the place causing it to groan and creak in the process. She could collapse the whole thing on top of them. How she wanted to. Just to pull the rug out from under them and send them into chaos. But instead she stood there in a stare off with Pietro as her heart beat fast and her breathing even faster. “What are you doing here, freak?” Pietro asked, already on the defensive. “What do you want?”
“Pietro, who is it?” she heard a female voice call from the inside. “What’s going on?” In a second Wanda opened the door further to reveal herself. She was stunned to see Jade there with that sort of look in her eyes. She looked crazed and unlike any peace loving X Man she’s seen. Just by looking at her, she too was on the defensive.
“Oh, don’t you have something nicer to say to your dear sister?” Jade cooed.
Pietro and Wanda looked at each other confused. What on earth was she talking about? “You’re crazy if you think that we are at all related,” Pietro said. “Just buzz off, will you?” He was trying his best to diffuse the situation, but he could tell his harsh tone wasn’t working. But the only other thing to do to get her to go away was to believe her and be as nice to her as he could. There was no way he was going to do that.
Wanda stared and stared at Jade. Something in her face seemed familiar. She analyzed every part of this girl’s features. A button nose, silvery hair like both her brother and her father, and ears that lay flat against her head. The thing that truly stunned her was how much her eyes looked like her father’s. Maybe this girl wasn’t lying. “Pietro, I don’t think she’s joking,” Wanda said, her hands starting to glow.
“What are you talking about?” Pietro asked. “There’s no way she could be related to either of us.”
“Is that so?” Jade asked. “Allow me to show you!” She raised her hands and floated straight up into the air. The house began to rumble as all the metal in it shook with her strong powers. Everything metal in the house was affected either turning into something harder than diamond or falling into liquid. The members who were left in the house ran out as their home started to shake violently. It rumbled the earth more than Lance’s powers and it was just as strong as Fred. Jade kept her hands steady, intent on sinking it into the earth. She almost did, were it not for Wanda throwing her magic blasts at her.
It shook her focus for a moment as she started to dodge the blue balls of pure energy. “What do you think you’re doing?” Pietro screamed up to her. “You’re going to kill us!” He wasn’t sure before this that there was another one of Magneto’s children running around, but now he was certain. No normal mutant would have powers just like his father’s. However, even his father couldn’t rival how angry and powerful this girl in front of them was. Not only did she shake the house, she caused other houses to shake and for the electric lines to go out. He could see as they sparked away and as other power poles fell down onto cars in the area. Whatever trip this girl was on, she needed to stop before the whole street sank.
“If you really are our sister, then why are you attacking us?!” Wanda called up. “Don’t you think there are better ways to introduce yourself than causing chaos?”
“Don’t you understand?” Jade yelled with a laugh. “You’re just the sideshow for the main attraction! You’re only meant to lure him here!”
“Lure him here?” Lance asked, pulling at Pietro’s shoulder. “What does she mean?”
Pietro growled and glared at Jade as Wanda continued to throw everything she had at her. “She means she’s trying to pull Magneto here,” Pietro growled. “Why do you want him here in the first place? He would just destroy you in ten seconds flat!”
“Wouldn’t you want to talk to the person who sent you off to be experimented on?” Jade yelled. “He needs to pay for what he’s done!” Wanda and Pietro gasped. They knew their father was not the best person in the world and they knew he wasn’t above doing things like that, but to his own daughter? He’d send her away to be experimented on without a second thought? What did that mean about his feelings for them? It seemed almost unbelievable.
Jade continued to shake the street and cause damage until the inevitable happened. She was hit with a huge magnetic wave that nearly took her out of the sky. She saw as the others winced in pain as the wave hit them as well. Her eyes immediately went to Kurt. He was putting his hands over his ears to protect them from the wave and grimacing in pain. This only made her angrier. She looked out into the rest of the sky and there he was. The one with the red getup and a helmet that had no way of protecting him against her. Magneto. At first he looked just about as angry as her. Then he finally caught a glimpse of her. Silvery hair, blue eyes, and metal manipulation.
He floated a couple inches back in shock. “Who are you and how do you have the nerve to come and attack my own?” he called out to her.
Jade laughed and sent out a wave of her own. She directed it fully at Magneto and he was thrown back a few more inches. He wobbled a little bit in the sky before regaining his balance. “When have you ever cared about ‘your own?’” she screamed at him. “Where was that worry when I almost died in those blood soaked cages? Where were you when I had experimental drugs shoved into my arms?”
Magneto regained his balance and looked at her one more time. The more he looked at her the more he saw himself in her and the more he saw…the first girl he ever loved. They were both in the X Men together and they fell in love quickly. But he never knew this girl he loved had a daughter. She died before he could get a chance to say goodbye. It was one of the most painful things he’d ever experienced when he found out. For some reason, he knew that this girl, floating in front of him, was his daughter. She inherited his powers, his eyes, and her mother’s strong heart. “I’m not sure what you’re talking about,” he said, but he wasn’t being cruel. He truly didn’t understand what happened to get this girl to this point.
However, in her blinded rage, Jade couldn’t tell the difference. Was he mocking her? Did he think this was a joke? “Typical power hungry idiot!” she screamed. “Of course you wouldn’t know! You threw me away like trash so you could have your perfect family? What did I even mean to you? Nothing?”
Jade threw a few pieces of metal at him. The blades scratched against his helmet and deflected off the sides. Pieces of the helmet scratched off with the pieces of metal and flew to the ground. “What happened to you?” he asked, this time with desperation in his voice. As much as he wanted to understand her, he also didn’t want to get killed. He had to do something or be mowed down by her incredible strength. He tried his best to get a defense up but this girl was ten times quicker than he ever hoped to be. Jade sent a wave of small pieces of metal flying toward him. The tiny metal pieces shot through his cape creating holes in the process, embedded into his skin, and scratched his armor. He groaned with every piece that hit him. The wave continued until his helmet fell off and his face was revealed to her finally. Shock and a wave of sadness were the only things that made her stop.
She looked at him. Looked at his wrinkled face, his silver hair, his dark eyebrows, and finally his blue eyes. It was like looking into a mirror. They were exactly like hers. Tears spilled over onto her face and sobs shook her body, but she stayed in the air. “You want to know what happened?” she said through her tears. “You abandoned me, that’s what happened! How could you do that to me?! I was put through so much torture and pain and you didn’t care! How could you leave me all alone out there?! I was just a kid!”
Magneto put one arm around his abdomen, nursing his wounds, while he put another arm out as if he were trying to tame a wild beast. How could he tell her what happened from his perspective? How could he tell her that he had no clue she even existed? He didn’t even know her name. “I swear, I didn’t know about you,” he said. “If I did, I would have done everything in my power to get you out of that lab.”
“You would, huh?” Jade said with a humorless laugh. “With your track record, I bet you would have left me in there until I became the ultimate weapon! It was the X Men who came after me when they realized what was going on! They’re my true family! You didn’t even care! You just got a girl pregnant, left her with the baby, and walked away! You never cared about your family! How cruel can you be?”
Magneto stayed floating in the air, grabbing onto his body. “I…I don’t know,” he stammered.
“JADE, LOOK OUT!” a scream sounded. Jade turned around quickly, but not quick enough. One of Wanda’s most powerful magic spells came flying at her at top speeds. It hit her square in the chest and she blacked out. Suddenly she was free falling through the air on her way to her death.
Kurt acted quickly. He teleported to Jade’s free falling form, grabbed her, and teleported back to the ground. They landed with a thud underneath a tree that gave them shade from the hot sun. Kurt laid Jade across his lap and took her head in his hands. She was breathing, but just.
“Come on, Jade, don’t die,” he said to her as he tried to shake her awake. “You’re not supposed to leave the world like this. Come on, wake up!” He looked at her scorched body, especially her chest. It was singed with Wanda’s powers and small amounts of smoke flew up from it. Blood flowered on her uniform telling Kurt that it was a deep cut. Her face was also scorched from the attack. Small patches were darkened with smoke and it looked like steam was coming off of it. She looked peaceful, but Kurt knew better than to think she was just sleeping it off. Tears started to fall out of his eyes as he realized how bad this looked. “Jade, come on, please!” he screamed. “Don’t leave us here! You’ve still got so much to live for!” He cradled her head in his hands as he watched the rest of the scene unfold before him, praying for a miracle.
“Wanda, how could you?!” Magneto shouted to her. “You just killed your sister!” On the ground, Wanda and Pietro looked stunned. Pietro was the one who pushed Wanda to shoot at Jade. He was the one who wanted her shot out of the sky. He thought Magneto would be grateful for this, but instead he was angry and he looked sad. That’s what told him that this was very real and Jade was their very real sister.
“I-I don’t know,” Wanda said. “I was just doing as Pietro said!”
“I-I’m sorry,” Pietro said. “I thought you would be grateful. You were getting absolutely destroyed! She was so angry! If we didn’t do anything, you’d be dead!”
“She had every right to be as angry as she was!” Magneto yelled back. “Nightcrawler! Nightcrawler, where are you? I just want to help.”
Kurt stayed silent, holding Jade tightly to him while also holding his mouth shut to conceal the heavy sobs that escaped his body. He could escape and just teleport away, but he was too emotionally distraught to even try to use his powers. In this situation he was in, he couldn’t get himself to calm down enough to even try to teleport any far distance. The only thing he could hope for was the rest of the team to find them on time.
“Please, professor, please find us,” he thought. “Please, before it’s too late!”
Just as he thought that, a voice echoed in his head. “Kurt, we’re on our way,” professor Xavier said. “Where are you? What’s the situation?”
“I-it’s Jade,” Kurt thought. “She’s hurt pretty badly. Wanda shot her out of the sky. She’s bleeding. Oh, god, it’s so bad!"
“Don’t worry, we’re coming,” the professor thought back. “We’re going to be over your location soon. Can you teleport to the plane when you see us?”
Kurt looked up to the sky. He could hear as the jet was coming by. If he timed it perfectly, he would be able to get them both to safety without causing much commotion. Knowing where he was going and being able to see it helped a lot. He nodded his head and let out a shaky breath. “Yes, professor,” he thought.
“Good,” professor Xavier said.
Kurt watched the sky. Soon the jet was right overhead and that was his chance. He quietly teleported in a puff of smoke to the jet and soon he was with his friends. He set Jade down on the ground of the jet as people started to surround him. He felt dizzy as if he too was going to pass out. His vision was blurred by tears and the feeling as he tried to reach out for Jade once more. People put their hands on his back, trying to get him to calm down as he sobbed. But even looking at Jade in his blurred vision was too much. He had to look away. At the same time he felt he couldn’t leave her side. He grabbed onto her hand and squeezed tightly.
“Don’t worry, Kurt,” Scott said. “It will be alright. She’ll make it.” This caused him to sob even harder and he put his head to the ground next to Jade as the jet flew on.
Through the windows of the jet, Professor Xavier and Magneto shared a glare before the jet flew on back to the institute.