Chapter Text
199X
Issue #01: Burnout Runaways
Part 1 of 4
Andi
Mutant. Homo superior. The X-Men. The Brotherhood. Sentinels. Growing up in the middle of fuck-all somewhere, these terms were not that common to normal people. Mutants? Those only appeared in the big cities! The X-Men? They were superheroes endorsed by President Kelly, right? Or were they gene freaks, terrorists looking to replace humanity at a moment’s notice? It was all talk among humans; most had never even met a mutant personally after all. It was the 90s, a time of change and what felt like decay at the same time.
Some mutants passed for human, while others were simply too notably changed by their X-gene to fit in with human society. Andi knew that better than most, looking down at their arms, covered in scar tissue from the flames their body could produce. The red-head was a mutant in the middle of nowhere. They could pass, but only just barely. After all, their mutant power was generating fire and controlling it, scaled only by whatever emotions they were feeling. Usually it was bright red and burning, pissed off like Andi usually was.
They only had one goal: get the fuck to some city where other mutants lived. NYX was a neighborhood in New York City, recently established as a home to the local mutant community. It was hard to find a place where mutants could openly congregate in-person. Most mutants out in the Midwest tended to skew to sticking on their own. Why would they wanna draw open attention to themselves, in a world where you were liable to get smacked down by some wild Sentinel coming out of nowhere or your local bigoted Friends of Humanity chapter, ready to beat you to death on sight.
There was also Xavier’s Institute. A school that was ostensibly for mutants to learn how to use their powers, having recently opened up. Some could even become an X-Man, someone who dedicates their life to the headmaster’s dream of human and mutant coexistence. Opposite of them was the Brotherhood. Anyone who had suffered under the boot of humanity knew about the organization, searching out to take their rights by force. Andi wasn’t sure what the best path was. Survival was all that mattered on the way there.
And being a burnout drifter runaway? It sucked to get anywhere, especially with no money. At the very least, the inferno stirring Andi had someone to travel with. From town to town they were traveling with another mutant, very similar in some ways and different in others. And right now, off the side of a road at a rest stop, Andi, eyes narrowed and covered arms crossed. stood guard outside of a woman’s bathroom.
Unlike their own self, their companion was… well… she did not pass for human on close inspection. And as a result, whenever she needed to do something privately, it would need to be done with the utmost care to ensure neither of them were caught. When two young people did not have a place to call home, when it felt like the world was out to get them as though they were some horrific criminals and not just attempting to survive, they would have to resort to less than legal means to ensure neither of them died.
“Yo, Ness, you done yet?” Andi’s gruff voice called out as they knocked on the door of the women’s public restroom. “Cars are gonna have to pull up at some point.”
“Gimme a sec!” A voice inside replied, slathered in a thick southern accent. After a few moments, the door opened and a woman stepped out. She was far taller than Andi was, standing nearly half a head over them in height. She wore a black tank top with a plaid shirt over it, some old ratty torn up jeans, and some gym shoes swiped out of a second hand store in some shitty run down town a few miles west. Additionally, there was a backpack attached to her back with some of their supplies. Her jet black hair was cut short, but what was most notable about her appearance was her skin and face. One could mistake the girl for a walking corpse, skin as pale as the moon light that she seemed to flourish in. Her angular face contained a mouth filled with razor sharp teeth, a row that would make even a Great Whiter envious. Between two pointed ears that made her seemed to step out of The Hobbit were a pair of blood red eyes, lacking of any sort of iris or pupils. To anyone who was not aware of her personality, they would flee in terror of the sharp-clawed predator. But to Andi, it was a really hot girl they wanted to kiss and make out with. “Ya try dealin’ with bad blood… ugh… Ah dunno if ah can keep feed on roadkill like ah have been.”
“I told you, you know, you could feed on me.” Andi said rather quickly handing a pair of sunglasses to Ness, full name Vanessa. The taller woman, sighing a bit, donned the pair to cover up her bleeding crimson eyes.
“Ya know ah can’t do that. Yer body only got so much blood and it takes a while ta make more.” Ness said, wiping her head of the sweat that was on it. Midwestern summers were an unknown killer. People always noted how cold it got during the winter, while conveniently ignoring the nightmare that it was during the other longest season of the year. “And we already struggling ta get ya food.”
“I’ll be fine, Ness.” Andi said with an eye roll as the two made their way to the side of the road and began walking. “You got to stop worrying about me so much. I know your power is kinda crazy and shit but I can burn any idiot who tries to fuck with us.”
“But using yer power hurts ya!” Ness pursed her lips a bit, stuffing her clawed hands into her pocket. “So o’ course ah get worried.”
“And yours doesn’t?” Andi looked unimpressed.
“Ah mean, now yer jus’ cuttin’ words. Ah can heal mahself just fine. But yer fires are so hot that they scar even with yer tiny lil healing power.” The pale girl sighed again. “Ah can pull as much blood as ah need from even the tiniest of cuts. So yeah, ahm gonna worry mahself into an early grave if ya get hurt again like ya did last week.”
“Damn, you really are one hell of a worrywart.” Andi said, receiving an elbow to the rib. “Ooof!”
“Mah worryin’ keeps us safe.”
And to an extent, that was true. The Friends of Humanity were, indeed, the biggest threat to their existences. Out in the big cities, the chapters were far bigger and more organized. They wore shirts and stupid-looking berets, easily identifiable to mutants. In the boonies, however, things were a lot different. Chapters were smaller, less well organized since there were likely to be less mutants running around in smaller towns. And that also meant most of these groups just dressed up in their normal clothing depending on where the duo went.
“Where we heading next?” Andi asked, looking to the taller woman, who had been the lead on things like this.
“Ah think we crossed state lines yesterday into Ohio. So inchin’ closer and closer to New York.” Ness said. “Little town is up a couple more miles this way. West Lake accordin’ to the map. We can try to get ya some food and water while we’re there and maybe find a place to crash.”
“Hopefully something better than another night in the trees.” Andi said, hand lightly rubbing up against their back. “I don’t know how people camp.”
“Folks who camp usually got gear, Andi. Ya know they got sleepin’ bags and tends and they got all sortsa stuff to make it easier on ‘em.”
“I know but… Hmm… You know maybe we should try and get our hands on some of that stuff. Would make our lives a whole lot easier, we wouldn’t struggle on nights where we can’t find some abandoned shack.”
“Stuff’s expensive, Andi. We ain’t got money like that.”
“Then we steal it.” They put their hand on Ness’ arm, knowing how she would react. “Listen I know you don’t like doing that. But we can’t always rely on the good will of others or the luck of the draw, Ness. The world hates us. It hates mutants and we aren’t anywhere near a place where there are people who can help people like us. We’re gonna have to you know… do some things that aren’t great to survive.”
“Ah… Ah know but ah still don’t like it.” Ness said, opening her mouth to poke at her teeth. Andi bit their lip and tried to stray their eyes away from them. It was impossible to not stare at her most of the time. She wasn’t just a good person, she was also terrifying in all of the ways that Andi loved. There was so much difficulty in simply not acquiescing to the girl’s moral judgments, but she refused to even drink from Andi in some sort of fear she would drain them dry.
To Andi, that wouldn’t even necessarily be a bad way to go: “death by hot mutant vampire girl.”
“World’s getting rougher for mutants.”
“Always will. Folks hate what they don’t understand. Hell, they’d still hate the two of us… even if we weren’t mutants. Ain’t that how it goes? At least we got our powers for keepin us safe.”
That one hit Andi a bit in the chest. Ness was always right about stuff like that. Before she ran off from home, she was some sort of computer nerd and knew about how rough things were for humans who were like them, let alone also being mutants. It made Andi angry to know there were humans out there like them who didn’t have the benefit of steel-melting flames to keep them safe. Mutants were just the most publicized ones, what with the whole Sentinel debacle from the previous year.
Sentinels made them angry. Giant purple robots built to wipe out mutants like they weren’t even human! All mutants were human, but not all humans were mutants. Was that so hard to follow? Stuff like that made Andi wish they were an X-Man, out there doing good for mutantkind. But they were sure joining the X-Men wasn’t something as simple as just signing up for the job. Or maybe it was… Gods… How could humanity do this to them? Andi’s hands curled up into fists and they could feel their blood begin to boil. Every passing moment stewing in their anger just made it more obvious what they wanted more than anything: to melt those giant plastic robots down into hot slag and dance on the grave.
Oh how they wanted that.
West Lake was one of those towns where the most exciting thing to happen recently was that they got a brand new McDonald’s in town several years ago, so basically an aging and decaying town whose local industries made it very insular. Everyone knew one another, all of their secrets as gossip among the townies. So when the two burnouts made their way downtown, it didn’t take long for eyes to fall upon the vagrants. Andi’s eyes swirled over to Ness, who was reaching into her pocket to withdraw her wallet.
The two didn’t have much in the way of money. Andi used their powers in a town back across state lines in Indiana, convincing locals it was part of a magic act. They managed some money from the fake performance, though only enough for the little food and water that Andi needed. To be quite honest, a small part of the mutant was envious that their companion could survive solely on blood.
“We only got a little bit of cash left.” Ness withdrew a five dollar bill and handed it to Andi. “Ah dunno if we’re gonna last too much longer on what we got.”
“Gotta deal with it, Ness.” Andi sighed. “Some towns we can get away with swindling, but here… ugh, I kinda want to get the hell out of here.”
They nodded their head to the side, Ness’ hidden eyes scanning to the indicated point. Two housewives clearly gawking at the newcomers, specifically the walking talking marble statue colored one. Andi rolled their eyes and looked forward again.
“See what I mean? Sometimes people know to keep their shit to themselves, but little places like this? Nah, they’re fucks.” Andi growled. “Just passing through and they can’t help but gawk.”
“Pretty sure they would gawk either way.” Ness replied. “Folks ain’t gonna stop just ‘cause we’re mutants.”
“Shhhh.” Andi put a finger up to the girl’s lips. “Come on, let’s go find a gas station or something.”
“Survivin’ on gas station hot dogs and pop ain’t gonna do much fer yer health.” Ness countered, pushing away Andi’s hand.
“I know, I know, I need to add some blood to my diet.”
“Hah, ya wish!” Ness punched them on the shoulder. “Ah just hate havin’ to hunt. Thought roadkill would be an easier way to go ‘bout things. But urgh… Tasted rotten!”
“Well they’re dead so you know… not surprised they’re all messed up taste wise.” Andi said, leading Ness down the street towards the sole, likely locally owned, gas station. “What’s it like by the way?”
“What’s what like?”
“Blood? Like what does it taste like to you versus food? Were you ever able to eat food?” Andi asked, the two walking slowly beneath the rough sun.
“Ah dunno? Animal blood ain’t tastin’ that good. Tastes like… stale water?” Ness closed her eyes and hummed a bit. “Like still water or somethin’. Ah dunno how to put it. But real blood? Oh, it’s so sweet. Like ah could wan’ fer nuthing else, ya know? Mah body don’t like much else. Meat is hit ‘r miss, but everything else is poison. Anything that isn’t raw bloody meat or actual blood just comes right back up. Don’t taste good either.”
“Were you ever able to eat at all, Ness?” Andi quietly asked.
“When ah was little ah think ah did. Mah memory ain’t the best, not gonna lie.” Ness scratched the back of her head. “Ah always looked like this, but mah mutant powers and restrictions and stuff didn’t happen ‘till ah was like 11 or 12… How about you? Yer mutant power?”
“Same shit. When I was 12 my mom pissed me off and I almost burned down the living room.” Andi shrugged a bit, remembering the memory of when their powers first surfaced. “And from then on whenever one of my parents or some shithead classmate made me angry? Boom flames bursting out of my hands everywhere.”
“That sucks, dude.” Ness whistled. “Does it hurt when they’re burnin’?”
“A little? Feels more like a tingle once they actually ignite. Hurts more when it’s building up, that pressure? That pressure fucks with you. Makes you unsure when it’s gonna explode, kind of like a volcano.” Andi explained, eyes shooting down to their scarred hands. “And once it does, that pain kind of subsides. And then I can burn whatever I want.”
“How do yer other emotions play into it? Just anger?”
“Don’t actually know… Anger is the only thing that really causes the flames to come out, but I haven’t really focused on how I feel otherwise.” A shrug of the shoulders and suddenly the conversation came to an end, the opening of the door to the gas station leading the two inside. The air conditioner actually seemed to work here, and the two burnouts felt a great deal of stress temporarily lift off of their shoulders.
“This feels nice.” Andi admitted, breathing out in relief. Even for a hothead like they were, the outright alleviation of cold air was a godsend. Their legs shuffled them over toward the drinks, while Ness floated around the snacks they could never taste. While the variety of drinks definitely got them excited, Ness’ words from earlier had wormed their way into their head. Pursing their lips in annoyance, they passed by their favorite pepper-scented soda and grabbed two bottles of water before slinking over to the old hot dog rack, sticks of meat twirling in the heat. “Stupid Ness, always making sense…”
Andi walked up to the counter and dropped what they had. The cashier was busy counting some money, so Andi waited in silence as Ness walked back up with her hands pocketed.
“Find anything good?” Andi asked.
“Nah. Not anything ah need anyway.” The pale woman shook her head. “Was lookin’ at those lil bag of cookies. Ah remember those from when ah could still taste ‘em. Ah… Ah think ah do miss it a little.”
“Yeah? Maybe one day there’ll be something they can do to help you digest it.” Andi patted her on the back, earning a smile from the woman.
“That’d be nice, yeah.” That smile was worth a billion dollars. The two gazed at one another for a few more moments before the cashier walked up. At first he seemed kind of bored, not wanting to be there. His eyes were set on the items before him, ringing the duo up on the two bottles of water and two sticks of meat that were likely several days old at this point.
“That’s gonna be three dollars and forty cen…” The man trailed off a bit as he looked at Andi’s companion for a moment. The pyrokinetic mutant tightened their hands slightly as they had begun to stick out their cash to pay. “Sorry, gonna have to ask your friend to leave. We don’t serve his kind here. And frankly, people like yo-”
And that was all it took for an instant flame to burst out of Andi’s hand. Oh, no. That was not gonna stand with them. Bigotry would never be cool to them, period. Their scarred hand lit up like a Fourth of July display, flames bursting out with sparks tumbling into the air. The minimum wage bigot, who seconds ago was tapping at a sign that read “No Muties Allowed” suddenly looked like he was going to shit himself.
“Is that so, big man?” Andi asked, their eyes briefly looking at Vanessa, who was stone cold in her emotions. Being hit twice like that would only piss someone like her off. “We come in here, buying some shit like any other person, and you wanna be a fuckhead? Nah.”
“W-What d-do you mean? I’m just doing my job!” The man tried to defend himself, only for Andi’s flame to grow bigger.
“Just following orders, huh? Wonder where I’ve heard that one before.” Andi sarcastically asked. “Didn’t have a problem until you looked at her, huh? Guess what? You’re gonna sell me my water and my shitty old hot dogs and we’ll walk out of your lives for good.”
“B-But my boss…”
“Your boss isn’t here, stupid.” Andi rolled their eyes. “He wouldn’t know dirt from shit on the floor about us shopping like anyone else. And you know, I don’t like those eyes… looking at us like we’re some common thugs.”
“Y-You’re threatening me!”
“Threat? No, no… Just coercing you to do your job.” Andi smirked a bit, shoving the money toward his face. “So what’s the call tough guy? Let us pay, or… lose a bunch of your product in a freak fire you caused by being such a dumbass?”
Andi could feel the flames building up in their arms. It was painful, to say the least. The fires always were. It seemed like the most they got pissed off the more that the burns seemed to deepen within their extremities. They had seen how powerful these flames could get, how hot they truly were. They had seen steel melt before underneath their powers, so at the highest they could push it past 2500°F. Was that not terrifying to them? How hot they could get if someone made them angry?
And right now that fury was a lit wick on a string of dynamite. People like this just didn’t get it, did they? They had to be a special kind of stupid to think that two individuals trying to buy something were a problem. So this guy wanted a problem? The red head would give him one. The biggest problem he would ever deal with in his boring, pathetic life.
Die. Andi could make him die. Burn him to a crisp. They knew they could. But they wouldn’t. It was simply more fun to make him think they would. People like this never changed their mind unless threatened. They would be all big and tough before realizing that they were just pissing off someone who wanted some water and also they could light you on fire.
The cashier waited a few moments before answering. Another look to Ness confirmed she was moments away from bursting a blood vessel and using it to stick the man in the most painful areas of his body. Then with a simple nod he took the ten dollars and allowed them to pay, ringing them up as lawful citizens who were making a genuine purchase of water and snacks at a gas station. He looked like he was about to piss his pants, resulting in a snicker from Andi as he bagged their items and the duo of mutants left. They scurried off in silence, trying to make some distance between themselves and the gas station in case the attendant tried to call the cops on them.
They hadn’t been aware of the time, but with the daylight burning away, Andi figured it would be time to find a place to lay out for the night. Though it was tough to discuss such things when Ness was being eerily silent; Andi frowned at the thought that she was suffering because of an idiot who could probably not even add two and two together without his bigot boss telling him how.
“You’re not going to let that fuckhead get to you, are you?” Andi asked, as the two walked off the road and into the forest. It was looking to be another night in the middle of nowhere, mostly for their own safety after another close encounter with a wannabe member of the FoH.
“Ah was going to rip his skin off and pin it to the walls in mah blood.” Ness broke her silence with. “Usually ah can deal but he doubled down. The minute he did, ah was gonna make him suffer. Not only did he insult me once, but twice. Ah was gonna make his life miserable if ya hadn’t stepped in.”
“Holy shit, Ness. Really?” Andi hadn’t ever heard her talk like that.
“Teeny bit of an anger problem, but he woulda had it comin’.” A shrug of her shoulders. “Ya were about to burn him to a crisp fer me and ah appreciate that though.” She leaned over and hugged them to her side. “So thanks fer making sure ah didn’t flay him alive.”
That was not the intention at all. The fire bringer just wanted to buy their water without issue and maybe make the guy fear for his life, but they couldn’t imagine actually lighting him on fire without him trying to physically harm them. Andi was taken aback by the amount of anger that Ness seemed to have in her from that bigot, but she had also been less than forthcoming about her past so… Andi just tried not to turn crimson red from the close proximity they had been pulled into.
Since the two had met, they had become accustomed to sleeping in nature. Ness’ backpack contained a couple of blankets and with Andi’s flames they rarely had to worry about a campfire when nightfall arrived. Was it a good alternative to sleeping in a bed? No. If there was one thing Andi missed about the place they once called home, it was their bed. Maybe at some point they could swing squatting in some house where nobody was. But that was a rarity that only happened once.
A comfortable silence took hold as they found a small clearing deeper into the forest, lit up by a setting sun. Ness unpacked what little they had while Andi tried to scrounge together some firewood that the two of them could use. They looked back at Ness who was sniffing the air, eyes looking around a bit as her sunglasses came off. She was hungry, Andi knew that much. The poor girl had already forced up what little she had managed to eat in the last few days and now she was on the prowl for more.
Honestly there was just something about her… Ness’ pack was out on the ground and the two blankets were laid up. Sure, they cuddled together because the girl was freezing all the time in the dark and Andi was naturally burning up like a space heater, but it was just for surviving the night… At least that’s what Andi told themselves to not freak out anytime they slept together. The vampire-like mutant blinked a few time, catching something on her scent before she bound off into the darkness like she was born for the hunt, someone who was beyond human.
“Holy shit she’s hot…” Andi coughed out a bit underneath their breath as they collected what little firewood they would need before heading to where their campsite would likely be. As the sun set and the moon began to rise… The world seemed a little bit lighter, even if just for a moment. The mutant lit the flames to life, Andi sitting down next to the crackling fire. Even if it would just serve to make them sweat, that was okay. The red head always enjoyed the sounds that a freshly lit fire would make. It was mesmerizing in a lot of ways, though not enough to make them a pyromaniac, but enough to calm their nerves.
Andi could only ask themselves—why did people have to suck? Time seemed to vanish as they found themselves lost in the flames, putting away all thoughts to a simple minded relaxation they could only find out in the carefully controlled flames, different from the wild blazes and infernos that could rage wild if they weren’t careful. They didn’t need to think about that though… What they could do… What they had done… All they needed was this moment of solitude, where nothing could happen nor happened to them. It was just… them.
That solitude came to an end when the sound of rustling leaves broke them out of their trance. All good things came to an end, while replaced with an overly attractive woman, stained with blood over her lips, walking slowly to Andi and sitting down across from them at the fire. She was silent, but there was this look on her face like she had accomplished something wonderful. Ness claimed to hate hunting, but there was something natural about her like this.
“How was it?”
“Fresh deer… not as good as normal people folk but… oh it hit the spot after not keepin’ that roadkill down.” Her clawed hands wiped away some of the blood from her face, with another smirk on her face. Andi couldn’t help but think one thing about all of that.
If she asked them to burn down the world into nothing but glass, they would.