ooc: written in response to this

After leaving Mike on Genosha - was it really over a year ago now? - Pietro had returned to Manhattan and kept a low profile in his cover of Peter Frank. He just wanted the whole House of M stuff to pass. Maybe once it was forgotten, he could come back out of hiding.

He had gotten word from a messenger in Attila that the Inhumans had denounced him from the royal family, and that his actions were grounds for an annulment from Crystal. That didn't hurt so much anymore, since his wife never had been what he considered faithful.

But Luna... he was banned from ever seeing his own daughter again. That was the knife to the heart that nearly did him in. And of course with his sister having disappeared off the map...

The last month however, had reminded him just how much he missed his friends. Except for his sisters and daughter, family had never been something he turned to. It tended to disappoint him. But working in the newspaper had allowed him to keep track of Lorna's high profile life, and he had just found a way to at least be in touch with his sister, if not the relationship that he missed so much at times.

( . . . )

Pietro left Genosha quickly, heading straight for the only place that he was able to associate with his childhood. It was a strange connection he had with the place, but he always thought better here.

After talking with Lorna, and also recently with others, it always came down to "Pietro, you need to talk to Wanda and help her."

God, if only he knew how to help her. He'd been fighting this battle since before House of M, since before the Avengers talked and Wolverine suggested that it would be better to have her killed than let her live.

There were days, in his darker moments, where he wondered if perhaps, they had been right.

But no, this was his twin sister, the other half of his life. He had to be able to help her. Just something, some way he hadn't thought of yet.

He had to.

ooc: because I said I would get it up eventually :)

Pietro was fully aware that there were other homo-superiors on Genosha, working to rebuild the island again. Mike, however, had invited him to stay and work, and so he did.

In some ways, it was nice to be able to just forget about the past, and get back to doing things that meant something. Like he was now, working on getting another hospital back up and running. There were a few collapsed wings that needed rubble cleared out. After that, rebuild, check the equipment, and rewire to get everything going again.

And of course then to find staff to work there.

It was a never-ending process. Especially on the land where the Legacy virus was still active among very small clans of mutates that had not been exposed to the cure. Pietro had made sure to have a good stock of it on hand, just in case it was needed. He hoped to any god listening that they wouldn't.

At this point, Pietro was running around the area in a circle, creating a tornado to lift the rubble from the area and toss them safely into the ocean. He'd stop after a bit and get a rest while the rest of the team went in and checked the structure and cleared a new running path for the mutant to work with.

Not really hiding who he was this way, but so far no one had really come out and done the whole "Magnus-Son" bit at him, which was a relief. He could only hope it stayed that way.

ooc: following up on this

Pietro came back from dropping off some work at the newspaper and he looked on the bookshelf where the Wanda!Bear that Mike had sent was sitting. It was his way of making sure he thought about his sister at least once a day, if he hadn't already.

Today, however, as he came closer he saw the open ended ticket to Genosha waiting for him with the note from Mike. Doesn't he know I can get there faster on my own two legs? he mused to himself as he went to get a drink from the kitchen.

He came back, leaning against the windowsill as he stared at the tickets, clutched carefully in Wanda!Bear's hands. What to do, what to do, what to do...

"Oh, why not?" he sighed, smirking a bit as he went to find a bag to pack.

*~*

He took the plane, enjoying the first class seat so he could stretch his long legs out, and then made sure his hat and sunglasses were in place as he... as Peter Frank... stepped off the plane. Because really, the last time he remembered this place, it wasn't the best of times. And being the Magnus-Son in Genosha... not the safest place to be.

Pulling out his cell phone, he dialed Mike's number. "So, where's my limo?" he asked as Mike picked up.

While staying in isolation was needed for Pietro to get his balance on life back together, it saddened him that he couldn't be with his friends and family at the holidays. He had already called Lockjaw to him and sent back with the dog gifts for both his daughter and wife. He, as always, was not allowed to join them.

Then, he had packages sent, by Fed-Ex of course, to the mansion. He knew his twin was there, though Lorna had been appearing in the news alot lately to his concern. But it was his sister's life to lead, and he wouldn't interfer unless she sought his council.

Still, he was the big brother, and gifts needed to be sent. So a package would arrive at both the mansion (for Wanda) and at the Bruce Wayne estate (for Lorna, as it was the only place he could think to send it)

( For Wanda )
( For Lorna )

Another package also arrived to mansion with Emma Frost's name on it.

( For Emma )

The following article was published by the New York Times. The newspaper did not print an author name:

Is there really a Mutant Problem?

It is fitting that today is Halloween, when I wish to bring up the discussion of the mutant "problem". Was it not during this time where witches were hunted for, and many innocents were killed in the blind prejudice of the people?

There is no problem with the mutants. It is a problem in society that has been a part of this world since the first stone was thrown in the ancient times. We as a people have come to believe a concept in which one person or species is better than another.

But is this true? Is there really a superior race?

Magneto, the founder of the Brotherhood of Mutants, believes so. The core foundation in his belief system is that the evolution of the mutant gene in the human race is an act of God, no specific religion, and/or nature, taking the creation of man and moving them to their next biological level.

Is this something to fear? No. It is science. It is nature. It is the way that the world has been since it's creation. If we did not evolve, we would still be apes, or the step below being the amoebas from the ocean.

( Read on... )

( OOC )

It had been a few months since Pietro had dropped off the face of the planet. Though actually, he hadn't. At least, not in the literal sense.

No, instead with some money in the right spots, a few strings pulled, and now there was a young man living in Manhattan. Working as a freelance writer, Peter Frank was just another struggling artist. A small flat in the city, he was everything like a normal man.

The only hints of his past was the photos that were on the wall of his bedroom that only he saw. Ones of a beautiful daughter. A wife that refused him. A twin sister who was slowly going insane. There was a newspaper article cut out announcing Lorna's happy news, framed now with the rest.

Pietro had learned a very hard lesson recently. That he needed to learn to stand on his own two feet and stop depending on others for how he was going to live his life. He needed to find his own identity beyond "Magneto's Son", "Wanda's Brother"...

His blackberry went off on his desk and he walked over to it. It had been months now since he had used his mutation. He needed to do this, without being a mutant.

Smiling at Mike's note about the karaoke, he put the pager back down. He'd write Mike back later and let him know that he wouldn't be going, but maybe another time.

Of course he would forget to do that. Forget as he sat in front of the computer, working away at his latest piece of journalistic art... completely unaware of what was happening in the rest of the world he had once lived in.

People came in and out of his life all the time. Right now, it was his turn to be out. They'd be there when he decided to be in again... at least, he hoped.


ooc: just a quick post to let everyone know where Pie is. He's kinda quiet these days, but I think he has an idea as to what he wants to do soon.

Luna was safe back on the moon now that her trip to Disney was over. He had made sure to purchase a portable DVD player and a selection of movies to have her take home. Crystal would be able to find a way to convert the power plug, he was sure. They did have a form of electricity there, after all.

Of course, when Luna started to talk about her grand daddy, Crystal had taken Pietro aside and there was a pretty big argument over that. One he didn't have any answers for beyond that it felt it was the right thing to do.

Now, days later, when he received this e-mail from his father, he started to wonder if it had been the best thing.

He knew his father too well. Between the Brotherhood, Genosha, and the past few years, Pietro had come to understand his father's mindset alot more than anyone else could. It was easier to learn when your own worked in similar paths, he mused.

The e-mail was obvious. It was a goodbye letter. And knowing his father wasn't suicidal, it meant that there was another attack coming. And soon.

If he got this, he was pretty certain that Lorna and Wanda had gotten similar ones. Normally, he would turn to Wanda, but she was still having her own issues to deal with that he didn't want to bother her with problems regarding their father.

No... the sister to talk to was Lorna. He got into the secure network from his blackberry and shot off a quick e-mail:

To: Lorna
From: Pietro
Subject: Father

Lorna - I got an email from him, and I'm assuming you got something similar. Like it was a goodbye letter.

He's planning another attack. And soon. And I have a feeling that it's going to be a bit more than Pyro roasting bunnies.

There's not alot of time. He meant for us to be getting these and his plans to be happening around the same time.

What do you want to do? I'm not including Wanda because she has more problems then needing to deal with Magneto, so it's up to us. I'm in New York at the moment.

Also, the X-Men should be warned in case of backlash, and any chance they could stop it. I'm going to try and contact Emma.

- P

You want to hear a secret? Some piece of information that you can examine and then wonder about why I kept it a secret? Or perhaps upon revealing it, you will look at me differently, as you can't believe what I just revealed?

I have many secrets. It's just my nature to keep my life to myself. It's a way for me to protect my daughter. A way to protect my sisters (yes, Lorna, I have secrets I keep that help protect you, and no, I'm not telling them.)

However, my biggest secret is something that only two people know now, and I trust them to both to be able to respect that bit of information and not use it to their own agenda.


But I have a feeling that if I don't answer the question, I won't get credit for this entry.


I hate my uniform, especially when it was green. But it's the only material that can hold up to my speed. But it shows off every curve of my body, and that can be a bit revealing in ways that if I was self-concious, I would worry over. and you wonder why I never get fat... it's the fear of that uniform showing it....

But if could be worse. It could be yellow spandex.

Pietro stood in the back during the press conference, his hands behind his back as he kept his daughter behind him while his father gave his speech. He had kept himself apart from the rest of the group during the few days he had been there, trying to keep his daughter from getting swept up into the mutant madness.

He was also keeping a close eye on the antics of the Brotherhood. Because if they were going to cause trouble, he would have gotten Luna out of there instantly.

But things had been calm... well, as calm as they could be. And as Pietro listened to his father's speech, he made a decision to himself.

"Daddy, who's that man?" Luna asked, peaking out from behind her father's legs from time to time. Pietro knelt down to be eye level with her as Erik walked back to his table.

"Does he scare you, sweetie?" he asked, searching his six year old daughter's eyes. If he was going to do this, she needed to want it.

"No. He looks like you though. Is he your daddy?"

Pietro smiled. "Yes. he is. Which makes him your grandpa. Would you like to go meet him?"

"Can I give him a hug? He looks like he needs a hug."

"I think he would like that." Pietro stood back up and looked through the crowd for where his father had gone, then took Luna's hand and led her over to their table. Seeing Toad, Luna instantly hid behind Pietro's legs again, peeking out to look at the man curiously a moment while Pietro leaned over to put a hand on Erik's shoulder.

"Father. I have someone I want you to meet."

Pietro gave his father a very careful look, warning him not to try and do anything that would scare his child. The speedster was very protective of his daughter, which he demonstrated as he put a hand on Luna's shoulder and eased her a bit out from behind him.

"This is Luna. My daughter."

Blue eyes watched Erik from her father's kneecaps as she clung to his pants.

You know what? I'm going to answer this with a simple "Been there done that". Because really, I'm not going to go into this topic. I don't think people want me going into it.

Sure, there are things I want to change, but I've already gone that path and learned the hard way that you don't want to change the past. No one really ever wants their lives to be better. Because they can't deal with the fact that they just can't be happy, even after they get everything that they've always wanted.

There will always be something else they want fixed. Something else in the past to go back and wish had never happened.

No one really wants to be truely happy. So why try?

"What most people don't seem to realize is that there is just as much money to be made out of the wreckage of a civilization as from the up building of one… There's good money in empire building. But, there's more in empire wrecking." Rhett Butler, Gone With The Wind (Margaret Mitchell).

Human beings will always look out for a way to profit from one another. Since the first being walked the land, they looked to best one another. They looked to prove themselves worthy over another, whether it was to get the blessing of their god, or the affection of a mate.

As we evolved, our needs changed. No longer did we require just the simple things in life, but now we came to need "names". We wanted to be known to others, and to have them acknowledge us with the respect we felt we deserved. We would work to build empires of gold, mountains in which we can sit upon and look down at those who, as we believed, were not as good as us.

Were beneath us.

But as we looked down on others, it just made the one who were "lesser" angry. The "name" you made was not seen as a empire of gold, but instead of tyranny and unjust. And they would spread this word to others, corrupting the "name" and thus the Empire. Then, the same angry ones would create ways to bring down the empire of gold, taking the gold from the empire into their own coffers and using it to start on their own empires.

Soon, the gold is tarnished beyond recognition, and the circular nature of humans repeating the past continues. Empires rise and fall. And it is the greedy who profit.

Currently the rise of the mutant "empire" scares the homo-sapians. And the greedy spread the stories of the evil in this empire. And they are the same who build the Sentinels. The ones who developed the horror known as the Legacy Virus.

They profit from the fear and anger at the mutant race. They prevent the empire from having the "gold" which would bring peace. And so it will continue until the end of time, no matter what either side does.

Life and death. To build and to destroy. It is encoded in all of our genes, homo-sapian and superior alike. We can not change that. We can only change ourselves, if we choose to. And teach the next generation.

Pietro left Paris after seeing his sisters, and made his away across the ocean back to the Xavier Institute. It had been a few months now since he had been on the grounds - he had left soon after his father had blown up the place in Brussels - but as always it looked the same.

Making his way into the place, he avoided the groups of mutants (students and teachers alike) and instead went directly to Emma's office.

He stopped to look at his reflection. His hair was a bit longer, shaggy from not having been kept in careful cutting and styling. He was out of uniform, and his clothing seemed to just be hanging off him. He had lost weight, probably from not really eating in the last week, or was it too now... and the lack of sleep has his face pale with bags under his eyes.

Since seeing his sister, he had been able to see through the blind anger that had kept him going. But now, his head hurt and he wasn't able to know what was real and what wasn't. He also still couldn't feel his sister for some reason, and that needed to be fixed.

He needed help. And Emma Frost was, ironically, the only psychic he trusted to help him.

"Emma, it's Pietro. Are you here?" he called out, knocking rapidly on her door.

Pietro sat with his daughter on his lap, a piece of paper in front of them. Luna was squeeling happily and drawing all over it with crayons that the Avenger had brought with him.

Crystal walked in, and Pietro looked up quickly, then sped over to her, leaving Luna behind. "You're back early."

"There wasn't much to do," Crystal stated, looking at her husband curiously. "Did you want me to be away for longer?"

"No that's not it it's just that Luna and I are working on something that isn't done yet and you can't see until it's finished."

Crystal laughed. "I love it how you speed up talking when you're trying to hide something from me." She wrapped her arms around her husband. They weren't fighting this week, which was always a good feeling for him.

"It's just supposed to be a surprise." Pietro smiled, holding Crystal close.

"And what's the occassion?"

"Mother's Day."

Crystal leaned back and looked at her husband in the eyes. "Is that an Earth Holiday?"

He nodded. "It's where children show appreciation to their mothers. And since I can't, I wanted to make sure Luna is able to."

"Oh Pietro." Crystal smiled and kissed her husband. It was Luna's squeal that made them pull apart. They turned, and found that the toddler had stopped drawing on the paper and was now working on the living room's wall.

Crystal laughed. "I hope that stuff comes off the wall," she stated as she knelt down and picked up the piece of paper with their daughter's scribbles on it.

"Honestly, I have no idea," Pietro rubbed the back of his neck, smiling.

"You're cleaning it up," Crystal stated. "After all, it IS Mother's Day. I think that means I don't have to do any work."

Pietro just groaned.

Feeling like he was getting nowhere with trying to convince his father to help him take down Jean and Stark, Pietro decided to take matters into his own hands.

He made his way to Paris, knowing that Jean would be there with her little X-Corp pet project she was heading in order to disguise her plans to blow up everything that mattered in the world like his sister and Mystique.

However, he didn't have a plan. He needed one. So he needed to find the weakness of the X-Corp building and figure out how to take the thing down.

Even in his crazed state, Pietro was well aware that he was no match for Jean Grey. He wouldn't be able to get within a hundres feet of the psychic before she would be able to tap into his brain patterns and alter them so he would think he was a bunny or a ballerina.

To protect himself, he did the only thing that came to his mind. He bought a black ski cap, and lined the inside of it with a triple layer of alluminum foil. He hoped it would work like his father's helmet to keep her traitorous thoughts out of his head.

He would be doing the world a service by getting rid of her. Or, at least getting rid of her until she came back from the dead. She had a bad habit of doing that. Maybe if she just stayed dead, his sister would still be alive.

So he was in Paris now, staying in the shadows of the alleyways, looking at the X-Corp building and trying to figure out where the weaknesses in the building design would be. And all the time he sipped a bottle of JOLT.

He hadn't slept in a week now. Which wasn't helping his mental state much.


still crazy and getting worse by the day...

ooc: going back to the 1997 Quicksilver comic series for this. The underlying theme in that series is that Pietro speaks his thoughts into a voice recorder as letters to his wife, who he believes is dead for the first few issues...


Dearest Crystal,

Ever since you left with Wanda to go after Onslaught, my life has been a mess. Being the people we are and what we do, I always thought I would be prepared for the day I was told one of you left my life. Now I know that it's news I would never be able to handle, and to lose you both...

I'm barely holding on, my love. I can't sleep at night, knowing that there is no chance I can wake up to have you in my arms again. Knowing that our last moments were filled with painful accusations and hurtful words. If I only could have you back, I promise I would understand. I would help understand and fix what has gone wrong between us.

The only thing that keeps me going is Luna. She still doesn't understand that her mother is gone. She has snuck into my room in the early morning light and curled up in bed next to me. She asks where you are, and I can't tell her that you aren't coming back.

She's gotten so big now. So little, and yet she's so big. And smart, oh how much of our intelligence she has inherited. Bova managed to teach her to tie her shoelaces in just an hour.

When I look at her, all I see if your beauty reflected in her face, Crystal. And knowing that, I'm able to smile and know that there is still a tiny piece of you left here that I love with all my heart.

I love you, and miss you darling. Until next time, I remain your faithful husband, Pietro.

ooc: just a reminder that all TM Prompts do not relate to anything in RP. and seeing that the obvious answer in both 616 and Ultimates verse would be Wanda, and the fact I don't need to write ANOTHER OMG my sister is my life and blah blah blah, I'm switching to Evolution verse for a change of pace.

Back on the streets of the Bronx, there's not much a services kid has. You get a bed to sleep on, some crappy clothes from the salvation army, and enough food in your stomach to keep you from dumpster diving. Some kids get lucky and find a foster home.

Me? I got lucky and took my meals with the Daniel's family. Evan and I, we were on the same b-ball team in junior high, just after I got shuffled into this part of the system. His parents were good people, and when they met me one night after a game, his mother swore she was going to feed me until I stopped looking like I was skin and bones.

Of course, I wasn't going to tell her that the reason I looked like this was because I was from a better evolved race than she was. It just wasn't something we talked about.

But Evan and me? Hell we did everything together back then. Movies, video games at the mall... but then high school came around and things changed. Drifted apart, I guess you could say. He hung out more with the skateboard punks, and I was just getting bored quickly. School didn't interest me anymore, and I was a genuis according to the tests. So I just did things to amuse myself.

We still met on the b-ball court though, getting on the team and bringing in wins. But it wasn't the same.

And then, well... choices had to be made, and push came to shove, the friendship wasn't there anymore. Which pretty much sucked because I was out of free meals after that.

ooc: since Pietro is a solitary person, he has yet to actually talk to anyone after HoTM, so he is still under the assumption that Wanda is dead. He has no idea she's alive but depowered in Wundergore and won't until someone actually tells him such, and makes him believe them. Until then, he's still crazy


Pietro had taken a long run around the world a few times, trying to vent his frustration in one of the few ways he knew how. Running.

Wanda had always told him he choose to run from his problems than face them. The downfall of his mutation. Run and hide.

Maybe if you had hid better, they wouldn't have found you dear sister... I should have helped you hide better... I should have... you knew they would find you... almost like you wanted them to find you...

He was in the midwest America somewhere. He had lost track of himself, but he was in field. I looked like corn, but it was still growing. It wouldn't be ready for harvesting until the summer.

Wanda always loved the summer, because she could go outside the wagon and dance and play in the warm light. Mama would sometimes put glitter on her face to make her sparkle...

He curled up in the field, unable to get the images out of his head. Ever since he had woken up, thoughts and memories kept hitting him when he wasn't focusing on something else. As long as he was running, they couldn't keep up with him. When he stopped, they slammed back into him like a freight truck.

As he ran, he kept thinking about how to avenge Wanda's death. Jean. Stark. It was there fault. But how could he even stand a chance against them? Stark, ok the human was weak outside of the suit. It would be easy to just slip into his bedroom at night... but Jean Grey? One of the strongest psychics in the universe. How the hell would he stand a chance.

And idea came to his fractured mind, and he pulled out his blackberry. He ignored the waiting mails for him, and instead typed out a quick message to his father.


From: Maximoff, Pietro (p.maximoff@xavierinstitute.com)
To: Lehnsherr, Erik (E.Lehnsherr@gmail.com)

Subject: We need to talk

Father, I need to speak with you now. Give me a time and place.

It's about Wanda.

Pietro