Marvel Her Beauty

It was a warm night which to most of the inhabitants of Planet Earth was no different to every other night. No one was able to tell the difference between temperatures, however, it was common knowledge that whatever temperature it was: it would be hot. Too hot for humans, but of course planet Earth hasn't been inhabited by humans for over 20 years now. Instead a new breed of human roams the earth, the Children of the Atom, the Mutants.

Through the starless night a flash of ginger crossed the ruins, soon followed by three figures. The bright-haired girl tried to jump over a pit but sadly failed. Her landing was uncomfortable and damaged her leg slightly, the consequence being that now she was an even easier target to her predators.

She stifled her cries of pain as she ran down the rocky path, filling her body with doubt that she would escape. She soon heard yells calling for her to stop and one in particular seemed to be louder. She wished it was just the volume of his voice, but both brain and heart told her it was because he was in close proximity to her. This fact was then confirmed when a hand that matched the bright orange shade of the girl’s hair wrapped tightly around her neck and pushed her to the ground. On instinct her own pale hands wrapped around the predators oddly coloured wrists and tried to pry them off her neck.

This did nothing but make the Mutant more persistent and as a consequence the creature now had two hands wrapped around the girl’s neck. The abnormal strength of this man seemed impossible, after analysing the dangerous situation she came up to Plan H. Her petite fingers wrapped around the mutant’s wrist, the deep orange suddenly fading to a pink shade, the strength and weight seeming to lighten slightly.

With her remaining strength she pushed the now Human-resembling creature off her body and set off once again. She wasn't fast anymore and her running seemed to have slowed into speed walking, she was slowly losing stamina and could still hear the creature's moving ever closer. She passed a few alleyways, examining each one for a secure hiding place, but none fit the bill. Her breathing was heavy and her mouth became dry and parched, the 5th Alleyway she stopped at was her last, another arm-similar to the shade of the girls skin-pulled her into the shadows.

This moved over the girl's mouth as to silence the scream about to be formed. The other hand moved to form a gun like position which was then pressed against the capturer’s forehead. The other two Chasers finally caught up with the girl and entered the damp alleyway. They were both dressed in black leather which hid away any multi-coloured skin on their abnormal bodies, their eyes were the only revealed parts and even those weren't an ordinary colour, shining a glistening yellow and no matter how alluring those eye's seemed, Ginger knew the Mutants were deadly.

Their faces moved closer as they began staring at the two yet not seeing them. The mutants looked at each other, shrugging their shoulders and running out of the Alley way. Once the predators weren't visible, the ginger female began thrashing around which caused her breath to quicken at an uneven pace as she became heightened with rage.

An unknown voice began to sound in her head, a British accent repeating the words 'Calm Your Mind'. In an instant she felt all stiffened body parts relaxing. "I'm sorry about that," the same British voice whispered. She quickly turns with her knuckles raised, she scanned over his visible features, and some were hidden in the Shadows which brought up a tiny amount of distrust. He had scruffy brown hair, in fact his whole body was un-organised, and clothing was torn in places while mud seemed to decorate as well a red tint in some spots.

"Who are you?" She questioned bravely.

"My name is Charles Xavier, and I must say, you have a very groovy ability there!" His smile was kind and held nothing but sincerity. The female finally realized how he wasn't threat and moved her fists back against her sides although they were still clenched, just in case. She questioned her actions but soon forgot when the light skinned hand of Charles was delicately placed on her own palm and made the held together hand become unclenched. He nodded his head to the right and she instantly understood the meaning, almost like the Charles had sent a telepathic message in to her mind. He knew a place to hide.

In normal circumstances she would have kicked him in the jewels and then ran away to find her own place of protection. However, she already felt trust sparking between the two and allowed that spark to control her better Judgement. "My name is Ginger." She spoke over the pitter-patter of their footsteps.

"I know," was his simple reply before adding "matches your hair." His smile was huge when she began to do a sarcastic clap, applauding him on the not-so-new discovery. They finally arrived at a rotting building, cracks decorated the walls and the only thing colourful on the outside was the patches of moss growing in numbers.

The inside was completely different, patterned cloths draped over the damp wallpaper in order to brighten up the grey palace, candles were placed around the room giving of light and different scents that once mixed-created an aroma that would make you melt.

"Eric! Raven!" Charles called, his voice replacing the chilling silence which echoed across the ten story building. A girl called back and Charles left the room to climb some metal stairs, his disarrayed leather boots causing another echo to be released.

He found the only room which seemed to have a shadow of light peeking through the cracks of the door and entered, the first noticeable application in the room being the giant pan that seemed to bubble bits of meat and vegetables swimming around the murky slop. Then a blue creature dipped a large spoon into said stew, concentrating on not allowing any part of the mush to burn.

"Eric's cleaning up the mess he made earlier," Raven began, her spoon being pulled out and flying as she soon began to rant about how Eric still didn't understand the danger they are in and the way he acts is continuously putting the team at risk.

Charles had no time for her problems, not with Ginger walking downstairs. Not with the key to reviving the human race roaming there hallways, about to interrupt her, he himself was put to a halt at the sound of a crash coming from the floor beneath them.

Alarms sounded in both of their minds. They had practised the routine of walking around the building cautiously with weapons aimed a lot, and so the plan was set into motion as they walked down the staircase, again they spotted the only room ablaze, the door was set wide open and was causing a beam of light to escape the room, Charles and Raven gave each other a knowing look before charging into the room.

They first noticed a man wearing a maroon sweater accompanied by a strong chin stood with his arms raised; metal poles that were once twisted to form a bed were now slowly gripping a petite girl’s body. "Ginger!" Charles called frantically; he stumbled towards the body and began to pull her body away from the uniquely curved bars while managing to form curiosity between both uninformed mutants standing behind them.

After revitalising the strangled victim Charles finally began to explain why he had brought in the female. Raven began to complain about the kinds of troubles this would cause, about how she could secretly be working with Shaw or be part of another Mutant Cult looking for Sacrifices. As Ginger stared at the arguing gang of Mutants- she was hit with a revelation, her heart beginning to soar and the beats quickening, she was in the kitchen a few centimetres way from the whispering gang. "You’re the X-Men!" Her mouth formed an 'O' shape as realisation hit her full throttle. She felt her heart skip a single beat before resuming the uncommon speed as she stared at the three heroes, as broken as they all looked, they still stood tall with a glimmer of hope sparkling in there pupils.

"Really Charles" Eric whispered to his old friend. Only Charles would bring in such a crazy, he found her curiosity annoying and the fact neither he nor Charles know any background information about her was just an unusual thing for Charles to do, although he trusted Charles, there is still the possibility that he had been overcome by a spell this Mutant had placed upon him, he had heard of such Mutations before. Charles shrugged in reply to Eric's remark and then sent a questioning glance towards Ginger in hope she was smart enough to understand he wanted further explanation.

"The X-Men?" Her voice was raised slightly in shock, "you’re basically a legend in the resistance! You’re the group of people we all think of before fighting against Shaw and his minions!" She had no intent for the volume of her voice to be raised to a point that it sounded like she was scalding the two men.

Raven had left to prepare the now possibly burned slop, returning with 4 bowls of a dark brown mixture, brightened only slightly by the carrots and peas. Though no matter how disgusting the stew would taste, they were thankful to hold any sort of mixture able to assist there starved stomachs.

"Tell me," Ginger called over the slurps of hungry soldiers, "what happened to the other three?"

A look was shared around the room, leaving Ginger to feel slightly left out. "When we were unable to stop Shaw and the humans were wiped, the nuclear war had a bigger effect on the others, for Hank, this caused his mutation to grow inside of him." Raven paused as memories of her lost friend made a pang of pain appear in her core. "The beast got out of bounds and so Hank left. We haven't seen him since."

"We lost Alex to a pack of Mutants a couple blocks away from here," Charles said slowly, looking downward at the mix of food.

"What about Banshee?" Ginger asked, referring to the wailing human that seemed to be missing in action.

"He was with Alex at the time, he felt bad for not being able to fight. Ended up wondering off in hope to gain some power." Eric pronounced, seemingly being the only one not caring about the deaths, she nodded her head and went back to the bland mix of ingredients while wishing she had kept her mouth shut, because, as she looked at their faces, she could feel her own heart tear a little.