Chapter 119 – Betrayal(?)

[2009 – September]

The next day as our lunch break was almost over and our little group was just on the way back to class, we came across a commotion as we walked across the schoolyard. And just as we drew near a gap opened up in the group of spectators that had formed around whatever was happening.

As sensitive as my ears were, I already knew what was happening which caused a small frown to appear on my face when I saw Jean hurry forward unhesitantly the moment she saw Peter lying on the ground holding his stomach while Flash Thompson shouted to fire up the crowd.

Maybe it was her training as an X-Men or her inherent kindness but Jean couldn't seem to ignore it when she saw that someone had been hurt.

I, on the other hand, remembered this scene from the movie and wasn't interested in interfering at first. Still, when I saw Jean walk up to help Peter, I could only sigh and follow behind, unwilling to see her endangered despite her overwhelming power.

Laura, Ellie, Yukio, and Pietro though stayed behind and I could hear the speedster utter in a low voice: "Oh, this is gonna be good."

Suppressing the urge to turn back and throw him a dirty look, I stepped into Flash's path just as he was about turn back to Peter, probably to deliver another kick to the other teen's stomach even though he was already on the ground.

Adrenalin and testosterone seemed to have robbed him of his ability to judge his situation with clarity as he shouted and approached threateningly: "What, you want some too?!"

I couldn't be bothered to reply though as I was already annoyed that I had been forced to interfere, so when I saw him take a large step in my direction, I struck directly.

With precision, I landed a kick on the inside of his knee with the tip of my foot, striking a point that would cause a sharp pain to assault the nerves in his joint.

It worked as expected as Flash let out a painful shout, his leg temporarily unable to support his weight as his body instinctively tried to put less pressure on the perceived injury, which caused him to lose his footing and fall down on his other knee.

Though the moment he did fall, I had already made my second move as the backhand of my left hand struck the side of his ear with enough force to rattle his inner ear and become disoriented. His fall stopped by his hands, Flash slumped to his side, nearly fainting as he seemed unable to react to the blows I had dealt him.

Shocked into silence, the surrounding teens also seemed to have problems reacting to the fact that Flash went down just like this. Their shock was momentary though as they gasped and voiced out their surprise loudly, screaming excitedly as if I was some circus attraction that had earned their admiration for the entertainment I had provided.

Frowning, I unleashed a wave of incredibly faint malicious intent at them, carried by the ambient psionic energy, as I gazed at the crowd with cold eyes, causing them to shut up immediately before most of them stepped back and fled the scene with hurried steps.

It was a very subtle use of psionic energy though, so none could take notice of that besides feeling chills running up and down their spines which they would most likely attribute to my stare.

Seeing that Flash struggled to get back to his feet, I addressed him calmly: "You shouldn't try to stand up for a few minutes if you don't want to start vomiting all over yourself."

"F-fuck yo-"

His answer was cut short as the vertigo, caused by my blow, finally got the better of him and he kneeled on the ground propped up by his hands while unloading the contents of his stomach.

Thankfully, I had expected this and was already out of the splash zone, so to speak.

Ignoring Flash, as he wouldn't be back on his feet for a short while, I turned back to Jean, who was already helping Peter to stand back up, while noticing that Gwen was approaching from the side to take care of the downed jock, his 'buddies' nowhere to be seen.

"You okay, Peter?", I asked the lanky teen while gracefully ignoring Jean's scolding look, as I wrapped my arm around her waist while stepping behind her.

I knew that she would have preferred if I had dealt with Flash without violence, not to mention the way I had scared off the crowd.

She didn't say anything though as she knew that I had already held back massively for her sake, otherwise Flash would probably have ended up with a few broken bones, owed to the aggressive stance he approached me with.

In a way, he had gotten off very lightly as I had been lenient and Jean knew this, even though Flash might have a different opinion on the matter.

"Y-yeah, I-I'm fine. T-Thanks.", he said, even though he still seemed rattled. There was also a hint of surprise in his gaze as his eyes shifted from me to Jean, evidently, he did not expect either of us to step in to help him.

Lightly shaking my head, I knew that his gratitude was misplaced as I wouldn't have stepped in if it weren't for Jean. Hearing the bell ring suddenly, I was glad somewhat to escape this situation as our small talk was cut short.

"Well, we better get to class.", I said calmly already pulling Jean away by her hand while she told Peter that he should go and visit the school nurse.

Joining up with the others as we made our way to our language arts class, Pietro looked at me with a roguish look in his eyes.

"First you make the star quarterback wet his pants and then you cause the ace of the basketball team to vomit all over himself. You're gonna be famous, Elijah.", he said, and I knew from the bright smile he carried on his lips that he was well aware of how much his words annoyed me, especially since they might be the truth.

Giving Yukio a look, I saw that she was already down the rabbit hole, her whole attention on the phone in her hand as her fingers left behind shadows with how fast she tapped on the screen.

"This is your fault.", I said turning to Jean, but she just laughed it off as tiptoed and stole herself a kiss.

"You are my knight in shining armor.", she replied with a lovable smile, though her eyes were shining with mischief. From the side, I could already hear Ellie and Pietro snicker when they heard her say that.

Giving Laura a look in the hopes of some help, I saw the tiniest of smiles drawing up her lips, eyes dancing in laughter as she added calmly: "You were very handsome, defeating the bully like a hero."

"You're betraying me after I made you bacon strips for breakfast, Laura? That's just cruel.", I said sorrowfully while pressing my hand against my chest in fake pain, while sighing internally.

Silently admitting defeat, I knew that I was outnumbered for the moment, though I swore to myself that I would have my revenge.

And while I continued to bicker and joke with them as we made our way to the class, a part of my mind was more focused on the fact that Peter might already be on his way to becoming Spider-Man if my memories served me right.