X-Men: Revolution.

Chapter 22: Ambushed.

It was pouring the next morning. Vinnie was awakened by a terrible crash of thunder that followed a wicked streak of lightning that seemed to happen right outside of her balcony doors. She sat straight up in bed, rubbing her tired eyes and trying to calm her heartbeat after that initial scare from the thunder. Her eyes wandered the room until she was looking directly at her balcony doors… which were wide open, of course. This was a nightly routine, and it was becoming more and more irritating and annoying than frightening. Vinnie suspected someone was breaking into her room at night to watch her sleep, but she had no idea who or what it could be. By this point, she really did not care as much anymore. She knew if anyone attempted to kidnap her or hurt her, she would release her new found powers upon them, resulting in serious injury or even death.

Recently, Vinnie had been feeling… strange. Actually, she was more angry, than anything else. Her parents randomly showing up really made her blood boil, and it caused all of her past memories with them to flood her mind all at once. It had been over a week since she saw them, yet her emotions were continuing to run ramped. She was so emotionally careless around her parents that she exposed the one thing she did not want anyone to know about… which was her ability to produce the hottest type of fire known to mankind. And of course… Remy saw it happen.

She remembered their conversation as if it had happened an hour ago. Remy was concerned that her powers were beginning to take over her mind, and that she needed help from the Professor to control it. He told her that if it got too out of hand, her powers would consume her and eventually kill her. But, as stubborn as she was, Vinnie refused. She convinced Remy that it only happened when she was really upset, and that it was truly nothing to worry about.

Little did Remy know that Vinnie was slowly becoming more controlling over that specific ability to the point where she could summon it almost whenever she wanted to. It was rare, but she grew closer and closer to controlling it more with every passing day, especially when she was angry or upset. Her powers became more powerful the more emotional she was. But, she did not think anything of it. They were just mutated abilities, after all. Her powers were bound to evolve at some point, just like everyone else.

Vinnie sighed heavily and rolled herself out of bed. She shuffled her way to the balcony, and instead of closing the doors, she walked outside in the pouring rain. It was eerily dreary outside, but it matched her current mood. Things had not been going her way for a while now, and it was starting to hit her all at once. She was physically and emotionally exhausted from all of her trainings in the Danger Room plus all the extra chores she was made to do around the mansion. Recently, Logan and the others were demanding at least two training sessions per day in the Danger Room in order to catch her up to speed with the rest of the X-men. On top of that, she had no more friends left. She and Evan had not spoken since the day her parents arrived, and everyone else just acted like she was invisible. The only person she had left was Remy. And although the two of them were close in age and were exceptionally good friends, they still could not be as close as they wanted because he was technically still her instructor, and she was his student, causing their relationship to have more boundaries than they cared for. Overall, she was tired of feeling alone. She was tired of working her butt off for what seemed like nothing, and she was tired of feeling like everyone’s guinea pig.

Another streak of lightning lit up the dim sky, thunder following seconds later. Vinnie was drenched from the rain, but she did not care. Her mind wandered with so many thoughts. She missed having friends. She missed having fun. She missed a lot of things. She even missed Evan. The two of them were such good friends, and now they were not even speaking to each other. But she had no one to blame but herself for that.