So much for boredom. ((Max/Cassie))

[Cassandra Storm]

The music was so loud that the girl didn’t actually need her headphones on to hear the music playing. ACDC was her current musical choice. Clutched in her hand was her little ipod, and one hands fingers were tapping on her bed.

Suddenly a loud bang shook the room, and Cassie Storm’s eyes snapped open, flickering towards her bedroom door. ”Right. Now that wasn’t ominous…” She sighed softly, and switched the ipod off, taking the headphones out her ears. Sitting up, she stretched her arms in front of her and yawned softly. Rubbing at her eyes she slid off the bed and made her way towards the door, quickly swinging it open and heading out.

She really should have looked before she walked though.

Rushing past her and nearly knocking her into the doorframe was her cousin Franklin. The adult seemed quite frantic, and Cassie almost laughed. But that would have led to her getting into trouble and blah, blah. The bang obviously wasn’t a good sign, just like she thought. Naturally for Franklin to be worried, but it was probably only her cousin Val working at something in the lab. There was always stuff going on in there. Personally, Cassie wasn’t drawn to anything in the lab. Her heart wandered to the garage, where she’d either sit and watch her dad fix up cars and talk to him – every now and then handing over the right tool, or else she’d fix up the cars herself. Those days her father would watch her. Or Val. She was good with cars too. She was good at a lot of things.

But she just wasn’t in the mood for that. Wandering past the kitchen she spotted her aunt Susan, sitting on a stool by the counter. Her back was to the young girl, and she was talking on the phone. On the stove a pan was boiling. In fact, the fire underneath the pot was getting a bit out of hand – her aunt had just put it all the way up and forgotten about as she’d answered the phone. Smiling, Cassie leant against the wall opposite the flames and focused in on them. After a moment, the flames died down slightly. A grin appeared on her face. It was nice when the flames listened. Some people thought her powers were exactly like her fathers, and in just about every respect they were. But sometimes… sometimes Cass thought that she didn’t always manipulate the fire through sheer force of will. Sometimes she though that she was simply asking the flames to do something, and they did. Had to ask nicely of course.

Yawning again, she moved away from the kitchen before her aunt saw her and made her eat some weird leaves and herbs again. Moving along the hall way, she didn’t hear her dad anywhere. Which kinda sucked. That meant he was out and about. Maybe with Peter. Maybe just getting some rest.

Aw, well. She’d have to find some fun of her own. Heading over to the elevator she got inside. Up to the roof, or down to the lobby?

[Max Darkholme]

An old gray carpet stained with various stains and spills. Burn marks scattered across it skipping the wreckage of clutter laid out in clumps here and there. A path way threw the trash on the carpet led to a child's shoe Jordan's in a black and red color style. Inside the shoe was the accompanying sock stained and with a hole threw it of course. It was quite. The old rotting wood threw out the hide out was cracked and crawling with ants. No doubt from the food Max left out the night or nights before. The paint on the walls starting to crawl up and create a unique texture of it's own. Everything was just how they left it. If you look around scenes from the past might creep up on you. That bullet hole in the wall to the left corner was when Mystique fired her gun at the annoying Toad, for catching a fly over her head. That broken window was from a chair being thrown at someone else because they lost the TV remote. The bent metal railings was from Magneto trying to control his anger for once. This place had history..... but it has become history in itself.

Only one member remained in the house now. Only one child could call himself still a brotherhood member. His name was Max. The son of Magneto and Mystique. Trained by his mother in martial arts and well basically everything else, Taught by his father in how to use his great mutant abilities. Though his views of the world are corrupted and some would say evil, he tends to come off as a nice easy going kid. Anything but normal, but still he is not truly overcome by darkness. His parents weren't themselves. Everyone assumed they where the worst of the worst but there past experiences drove them to that point. Humans drove them to that understanding. Max was saved the trouble of having to go threw anything like that himself. Yet this was the first time he was alone. His mother and father vanished without a word one day. There was no explanation or anything as to where they went.

Max was currently in training to become the next leader of the Brotherhood. However the early departure of his parents caused the team to disband. Never letting themselves take orders from someone half there age like Max. Max grew angry of course but it wasn't even that everyone left. It was that nobody stayed. He was lonely. He would never admit it but he needed someone there to talk and play with. He needed a friend, odd because he never had one his age before. Max woke up one shoe on the disgusting floor the other on his foot. He simply put his worn out sock on and slipped his foot into the shoe. Disgraced with the place being so silent he grabbed his sweatshirt and headed out. "If they all left then there not true brotherhood anyway. I'll make my own team with members so powerful they'll be begging to come back." The boy muttered to himself in spite. He grabbed the door handle tightly and swung it open so fast that it came swinging back at him hitting him in the head. He shut his eyes and rubbed the spot it had hit. "Stupid door!" He screamed as the neighbors passed by starring as they normally did. Max gave them a glare back. The house was known to be full of crazies.

Max used his ability to manipulate the metal inside of his own biological make up and started to lift himself off of the ground. He shot off soon into the air like a rocket. Shifting in the direction of his body he propelled himself far off into the distance. While in the air he felt the wind threw his hair, spreading his fingers out to feel the tug from the pressure. He loved heights because it made him feel like a god to look down on everything and everyone. Flying high for a few hours he noticed the Baxter building. "That's where those pesky old guys live. The famous four or what ever." If you've didn't notice by now the kid talks to himself constantly. Mainly because he can never shut up. But he had nobody else to talk to growing up. So himself was the only one who would listen and never judge him for anything he said to himself. Max did a fast flip in the air before shooting down and jumping onto the roof of the building. He wondered if there where sensors up here. No matter he wanted to be found out. "If I can beat four of these old timer camera posing heroes then maybe the mutants willing to fight will see how awesome the Brotherhood is and come a knocking at my door. I'll just beat these grandpa's up all by myself and prove how awesome I am." He again chatted himself up getting motivated for a fight with the fantastic four. He cracked his knuckles and his neck loosening up for some action.

[Cassandra Storm]

Glancing at the buttons on the elevator, her finger rested gently on the one for the lobby. Usually people gathered down there, and if it was dull she could go up a couple of flights to one of the games rooms or go outside. As long as she didn’t wander all that far, which was dull. Then again… She grinned, pressing the button for the penultimate level of the building, just below the roof.

The roof was a pretty good place to go to if you wanted to relax, or look about. And it was so far up that she could practice her fire skills with quite a low risk level. With fire there would always be a risk of some sort but… Cassie was quite good with the abilities she was given. Leaning against the back wall of the elevator, she shoved her hands in her hoodie pocket and tilted her head back so that her head too was resting against the wall. On the ceiling, there was a small camera in the corner. The young girl pulled a face, before grinning brightly and tilting her head back to face the doors just as the Ping! resounded and they slid open.

She stretched her arms above her head, and then headed out into the hallway. Running a hand through her hair, she silently wished that she had pulled it up into a ponytail before going up. If she did end up playing with fire, her hair was always blown into her face by the wind. Annoying stuff.

But she couldn’t be bothered going back to her room now, so she’d just have to make do with her hair all messy. She pushed open the door with the very clear ‘Roof’ sign on it, y’know, just in case no one already knew where they were headed, and hopped up the steps. At the top, she pushed open another door and there she was. On the roof of the Baxter Building. A soft breeze washed over her as she stepped further onto the roof. She closed her eyes for a second and then…

Tensed. There was a noise behind her. Spinning around she held out a hand, a flame not that big – around the size of her hand – appeared, dancing back and forth. Her eyes flashed, and then she relaxed slightly. It was a kid. I mean, someone her age – she didn’t much like people calling her kid, she couldn’t do that to the boy. Her hand and the flame didn’t waver though, but her body began to relax.

Cassie had no idea who he was, but well… She didn’t know a lot of people. ”Hey. Who are you?” Short and sweet. Her voice was strong, but then she didn't feel as though she was in danger. And she trusted her instincts quite well. ”Also, uh, what d’ya think you’re doing? Seriously?”

[Max Darkholme]

Max continued to think how cool it would be when he and his band of mutants, would dominate the world. He was almost hart broken that his parents seemed to abandon him. Maybe they did just want to run away and leave Max behind. Maybe he wasn't good enough for them. Ever since he was little his father gave him looks of disappointment. His mother reminded him never to get cocky and drop you're guard. The brotherhood members all left when they knew Max would be the new leader. Was this some sort of test? Maybe his parents wanted Max to have to learn to survive on his own. He didn't care now any way. The plain had already been hatched to redeem the name of Brotherhood. So Max landed on a roof to the Baxter building. The place was clean looking with a very modern feel to it. Max grunted in disgust. "Jeez even there roofs look so nice." Max had little interest in the value of materiel things. He didn't keep up on appearances either. Max could never be a part of a normal social circle so why try to act like he wanted to fit in? The boy put his hands in his pockets and stared at the ground for a little. He needed to think about this team. Strategy was something he never could master. Odd because both of his parents survived from that trait among other things. So Max thought this must have been a test of strategy. He forgot that it was his idea in the first place to find the Fantastic Four and attempt to fight them all single handily so that he could get his name out there to others. Max just bypassed the whole thought proccess and decided that his parents would have planned everything out. They would have known the Brotherhood members would leave and Max in a fit of rage would go looking for a fight to prove himself. Why wouldn't they have guessed that?

The boy started to search for the entrance to inside the building. He was going to get this started with no plan at all. He walked around the top of the building for a few seconds making sure he was fully prepared. Then as he was going to turn and enter the building he noticed he was not the only one up here on the roof. A young girl seemed to sneak up as well. Max had been caught off guard but he just remained still. Still from trying to piece together when she could have arrived. Had she been watching him ponder over his parents motives? He felt a bit embarrassed about that thought. He couldn't self doubt himself in front of someone like that. It was uncool. Within the moments it took Max to wrap his head around the girl on the roof, she spun around quickly. Max watched as her hand lit up with a flame. She seemed ready for a fight herself. "Whoa!" He spat out in excitement. He had never met someone his age with an ability before. She was a mutant he guessed so that made her one of his own. Max called all mutants his family. He liked the feeling that he was connected to them all some how and they to him. The girl didn't attack him right away, which Max was not used to at all. He lived in a house where if you invaded someones territory then you where looking for a fight. Max didn't really pay attention to her body being tense at first. He didn't notice it starting to relax after. He should be studding these sorts of behaviors should he ever need to shift into someone and play there role for a while. But Max couldn't deal with using his power like that. That was how his mother did things, not him. What Max's eyes did focus on was the flame still burning in her hand.

Max was mesmerized by her ability. "It's so pretty." Max complemented the flames she had created. He stuck his finger out and reached for them. Testing to see if they where hot or something. He didn't realize that he would get burned by these flames. Sometimes he acts without thinking like that. Max's finger extended to the fire in the palm of Cassie's hand until he quickly touched it. Pulling it back a few drops of a shinny white liquid substance hit the ground. It soon cooled and hardened sticking to the roof top. Max held his finger tightly with his other hand. "Och!" He yelled but soon giggled after. "You can really make fire?" He asked her the obvious. "I think I'm more impressed with that then the cave men ever where." His attempt at a funny joke as he laughed at it anyway. She spoke very strong asking him who he was. Max shrugged his shoulders. "Name's are just something are parents use to call us when where in trouble. So Who am I you ask. Well I'll let you in on a secret.... " He paused and then whispered to her. "I'm the one who's gonna be king one day." Saying it with a smile and a little twinkle in his eyes like he knew it would be true. "But I guess you can call me Max. Everyone calls me Mad-Max back home." He laughed a little remembering little moments where he was called that nickname. "So Matches whats you're name?" He just thought up the nickname Matches for the girl in relation to her fire abilities. Max let go of his finger now. It was that Shinny white metallic color. The same as when he pulled back and some dripped on the ground. Suddenly the color of his hand was back to normal. He sucked on it a bit.

Cassie asked him what he was doing anyway. Max couldn't reveal his plot to take down one of the most famous hero teams around. He sat laid down on top of the roof putting his back on the floor. He looked up into the sky. "Wasting time watching the clouds go by." He plain out lied to her. Max could barley sit still for five minutes so he would have never really been able to do that. Max shot straight up after he had acted it out of course. He felt he needed to give her a picture of the lie so that it might come off believable. "There's no one to play with Ya'know." He wanted to know more about this girl and her powers. He gave her puppy dog eyes trying to get her to play a game or something with him. Even if they just talked then that would be fine. Max was sort of glad that she was around his age. He had never held a conversation with someone his own age before. It was really just because she was a mutant that he would speak to her like this. But Cassie had something about her that made her cool. Max just couldn't put his finger on it yet.

[Cassandra Storm]

Hand outstretched, flames dancing, Cassie watched carefully. The boys reaction was, uhm, different. She hadn’t been sure what sort of reaction she’d been expecting, not really but… Was that excitement in his voice? Most people when confronted with a mutant screamed, or got angry. She’d seen it on the news – there’d even been a film once that she just couldn’t bare to watch. The reaction startled her but she recovered quickly, or at least she hoped that it looked like she had. As long as you looked calm, or cool, or powerful or whatever then you could fool people into thinking that’s just what you were. She may be anxious inside, but on the outside she remained collected and cool – which was funny considering she was on fire.

Of course, thinking it over, Cassie wondered just how he’d managed to get up to the roof. There was some level of security here, not to mention the number of floors. No one could just climb up and look like it hadn’t been any effort at all. Well, except maybe her Uncle Peter. He was pretty good at that, but then he wore a costume so maybe underneath that he was all red in the face … and woah she was rambling in her head.

While she had been going off on a mini tangent in her head from the shock the boy had moved closer and actually touched the flame in her hand. She wasn’t like her father just yet, she couldn’t control it as well! That meant people would get hurt if they touched her flames. ”Jeez! What’d you do that for? I mean.. Are you stupid? Did you fall out of a plane or something, bang your head real hard as you got here? You don’t go around touching fire…” Her outburst was partly anger that he had sneaked closer whilst she wasn’t paying attention, and part worry. Sure the boy could hurt her, and sure she wasn’t sure how he had gotten here or why… But he hadn’t hurt her yet, and flames could really hurt. Cassie did care, even if she wasn’t entirely sure why that was the case.

She closed her fist, killing off the flame before letting her hand fall to the side. She glanced away for a second, then back just in time to see a shiny liquid hit the floor. Her eyes widened slightly, and she eyed the boy cautiously. Not the usual response to getting burned. Biting her bottom lip for a moment, she then asked, ”You alright? …And yeah. I can make fire. Really, really. Think it was just a trick of the light?” She raised an eyebrow as he made a joke, an easy amused grin forming on her face. Okay, not the best joke, but that was like hers really. And laughing was better than fighting or screaming. He didn’t seem to be too hurt by the fire, and that was a plus. Hopefully.

She listened to him talk, and laughed when he reached the part about being king. ”Yeah? You are? Well, I’m gonna be Queen of the universe. Queen of the universe beats everything. Fact.”

Cassie gave him an easy grin, though a curious hint appeared in her eyes when she heard the nickname ‘Mad-Max’. Mad? What was he doing that was so mad? …Granted she could understand that if he did stupid things like running around touching fire. She rolled her eyes at the name Matches, slightly annoyed but the feeling died quickly – her father seemed to get called that a lot. Sometimes it seemed to bother him, other times he grinned and joked about it. ”It’s Cassie. Cassie Storm.” There wasn’t any point in hiding her name. She wasn’t well known in any circles, but if someone wanted to they could easily find out who she was. Living with the Fantastic Four and having Johnny Storm as a father was a good way of getting yourself on the map.

A hand reached up to move a few strands of hair blown by the wind onto her face behind her ear. She watched him glance at the sky and for a few seconds followed his gaze before looking back at him. ”Yeah…. Alright. And you just happened to end up on the Baxter Building while doing that?” She grinned at him, not fooled for a second. Hey, you don’t trick a trickster. But she nodded softly at the next part. He did seem to be telling the truth there. At least, Cass thought so. ”I suppose. It does get kinda quiet around here, huh.” She looked around them before turning back to him and being confronted by puppy dog eyes. Again, she had to laugh. ”Aw, c’mon. You so need to work on those eyes. Watch, learn, copy.” And with that she proceeded to put on her own, well used, puppy dog eyes, staring back at him with a small pout.

[Max Darkholme]

Laughter and a smile appeared on Max's face as Cassie yelled at him for touching her flames. Asking him or more like insulting him with every word. He was getting scolded. Just like his mother did to him at times. Max felt a warmth inside of his chest thinking about his mom. He missed her a lot even if it was only a few weeks or so that she and his dad took off. Max missed connections like that, This meeting was a nice way to fill in a void of emptiness that Max had. Cassie despite yelling at him and maybe being a little hesitant around him was actually pretty good company. Max wasn't really worried about the brotherhood members leaving anymore or his original plan to fight the fantastic four. Max was only curious in her and who she was. She yelled and screamed at him for touching the flames. Maybe it was because she was worried he would be hurt from them. Max could tell she had a kind hart. "Don't worry I'm ok.... See." He showed her the wound or lack there off. He used his shape shifting abilities to shift the dead nerves and melted flesh into newly healed ones. An aspect to his shape shifting abilities gave off the impression of healing. However he couldn't heal wounds or injuries he is able to sort of replace damaged parts of his body with healthy parts. Because of his intense training with his mother and father he has learned to do this rapidly and because he knows his own body in and out shifting the smallest cell is not complicated at all.

Max took note that Cassie noticed the melted metal hitting the floor and after she seemed to be eying him down a bit. Max was sure she would ask about his abilities if he had any or what he could do. She didn't to his surprise. She instead responded to Max's question if she could really make fire or not. Jokingly she asked him if he thought it was some trick. Max giggled, "No no I didn't but that's a cool power to have. I mean you have one of the four elements. I have a feeling it fits you're personality. They say powers reflect the mutant. I think maybe You're warm hearted, comforting You definitely have a lightness in you and you're pretty like the sun. But there could be something deep inside you... Maybe you don't even know its there, Something dangerous waiting to ignite and burn anyone who gets to close to hurting you." Max's love for powers has given him a sense of connection between the abilities and personalities of mutant kind. They seem to intertwine with each other. More often then not the power a mutant posses tends to shape there futures and tell a story not many know how to read. These are all predictions of course but Max believes them true once he examines the abilities and there range he is able to readily understand aspects of there personality. He gets this trait from his mother in a sense. While she was an expert in studying emotion, body language and certain actions someone will make Max can do none of those things. But her traits passed down to him in this way instead.

The awful caveman joke didn't impress Cassie but yet she managed to smirk a little. That was all that Max needed to not make him feel like a looser for saying something like that. He smiled back at her until she replied to his comment about being king. Max felt like she of course didn't believe him and then she proceeded to tell him she would be Queen of the Universe, and that would beat everything. Max sulked a bit not liking having his dream marked like that. He didn't say anything back to her after but just shot her a nasty look with a killing intent in his eyes. He was upset about the teasing but it was like all the others. Nobody thought he would actually become a king. Yet it was his dream to unite all the mutants and live together in peace. No more protecting and fighting for humans. They would watch there own backs and build a better future with only mutants. Humans seemed so ordinary and plain, but mutants! Each one was unique even if it was there powers that drive them down the right or wrong path.. they still must learn to survive.


Max learned the girls name was Cassie Storm. He soon got over his hatred for her stepping on his dream to become a king, Instead he smiled at her. "Cassie Storm.. Cassie Storm...Cassie Storm.." He repeatedly announced mimicking her. He would forget her name otherwise. Max had a bad memory especially for names and numbers. "I like it!" He just felt like he had to let her know that. "Wait Storm.... Are you related to that darker skinned girl who can manipulate weather? Not sure but she was on the X-men in the past." Mistaking Cassie's last name as Ororo's code name Storm from the x-men team. Max has heard stories of his father's past and the X-men proved themselves to be there rivals back then. It was because Magneto respected and was once good friends with there leader. It held his father back in Max's eyes. Cassie didn't believe Max's story about looking up at the sky. Knowing that he was busted he simply shrugged his shoulders as they continued to talk with each other. She did believe that he was looking for someone to play with as she commented that it gets quite around here. Laughing at his puppy dog eyes she told him he needed to work on them and gave him her own set of puppy dogs. "Like this?" He tried to copy hers playing around a little. Then something suddenly happened. *BANG* A gun shot could be heard from the ground below. Max immediately stopped his attempt at his expressions and curiosity caused him to peek over the edge of the building. "A mugging?" He asked Cassie.

(ooc:Sorry it took me so long, Working more hours this past week.)

[Cassandra Storm]

Cassie raised an eyebrow and watched the boy curiously as he just laughed at little rant. ’Jeez, perhaps he really did hit himself on the head or something…’ She tilted her head slightly and looked over the boy even closer. He didn’t look at all familiar, and in fact just suddenly appearing on the roof of the Baxter Building unless you were wearing a spider-suit was stupid – and usually spelt some sort of danger. But Cassie didn’t feel in any way inclined to turning the boy. Not just anyway, and she didn’t feel as though that was about to change. It was nice to just talk to someone she supposed, though of course if she really wanted to talk to someone there was always Ben or her father. She looked at him cautiously as he showed her his finger, then peered forward to look at it herself. He was right. There didn’t appear to be any sort of damage at all. But she could have sworn that she’d seen…

’Something had happened with his finger, I’m not blind I did see something,’ she peered at the ground for a split second before turning back to the boy in front of her as he giggled. The sound made her grin goofily at him, and the grin remained on her face for some time, though it changed into something even more genuine and less goofy. ”I think it’s pretty cool too. I mean…” She paused and then shrugged, ”It’s just me. I love it.” Cassie listened to him explain what he thought her powers meant, a small smile on her face. He seemed to really know his stuff – and it was nice to see and hear anyone talk about their passion. ”Yeah? You think that’s like me?” She tilted her head again, considering it. Warm hearted? Mm… Maybe. The burning bit? Well, should she be offended at that? She shrugged it off as a no. ”I get close to people.” Well, there was her family and Ben. And Uncle Peter and Bobby. They were close to her, weren’t they? She’d never really thought about it a lot. Her power was just part of who she was – and she knew at times she was reckless and wild like a fire, it just wasn’t something she thought about. She was whatever it was she was. ’Heh. That was a funny sentence.’

Cassie looked at Max with a smile, her hands clasping behind her back. ”Okay. So you know about my power. But know… I want to hear about yours. I know you have one. I mean… Your finger for starters…” Though Cassie would never win any genius awards she was intelligent when she wanted to be, and pretty darn observant when people didn’t want her to be. The girl had certainly spotted the metallic liquid drop to the ground and she knew the damage fire could do. But just suddenly going in and asking what that was all about? Sometimes people didn’t like talking about their powers – what they were. This way, hers had been discussed and now it was only fair that he talked of his.

Biting her bottom lip, Cassie tried to stop herself laughing as Max went into a huff. Had she really upset him with what she said? Pity. But he’d get over it – and sure enough, there he was with her name. She laughed then – a good-natured laugh, this time not making fun of him. ”Nah. Not quite. Storm is her code-name! Like the Human Torch and Spider-Man! Storm is actually my last name.” She giggled softly, smiling at the boy. ”Ya know? My dad’s Johnny Storm, see?”

”Much better!” she replied as she watched him make his own puppy dog eyes. It was then that the bang startled her too. She half-twisted round towards the source of the sound – but of course it couldn’t be found. She stood still until Max spoke and then she shrugged, looking over the side of the building herself. ”Might be...” This near to the Baxter Building Cass was sure her family would go and investigate, but just in case… ”Wanna go investigate?” Getting down would be tricky, because the fastest way to go of course was to fly, but her clothes would get all burnt, unfortunately. Yet, she’d been practicing using her flames without destroying them. It wouldn’t take long to get down there, if Max wanted to look. Then again, they’d have to decided quickly before things got worse and her family did decide to check it out.