He stood, his torso cocked slightly as he watched the dying form beneath his booted feet. His hands were held out to his sides, blood easing off claws that extended from each finger. A single drop caught on the dried gore of his talon, hanging there for a long instant before falling thickly to join its brethren in the pool below.

Slowly, almost so slowly one couldn't see it, he brought one slick hand to his mouth and ever so gently licked the blood from his index finger. Someone screamed and turned, running. Blue eyes flickered upward toward the figure and swiftly judged it less than a threat. He smiled and looked back at his arm. Sandy blond hair fell in his face, but he ignored it.

He licked the blood from another finger.

A car whipped around the corner of the street and came to halt, tires screeching. A portly man stepped out in a business suit, face pale. "Jesus, are you all--"

Blue eyes looked up from beneath sandy brows, calculating and cold. Almost bored, as he stood among the carnage.

"Shit." The man backed away slowly, bumping into the door of his car. "Oh, shit. Jesus Christ." He backed around the door, fell back into his seat. "Fuck." The door slammed closed, locked with a thunk though the boy, only fifteen, never moved. "Oh my God." The car's tires screeched once more as it raced away.

The boy never moved from his spot. His boots were wet, turning black as blood soaked the leather.

Slowly, he licked off another finger.

His slender form turned as the wind shifted, bringing new scents to his sensitive nose. He twisted, looking back at a ten year old girl as she watched him in confusion.

"Is she all right?" the girl asked, almost vacantly.

Minitooth--as he had called himself since splitting from Max--looked back down at the bloody, torn figure before him. "No." Spoken softly, chillingly.

"Oh. Did you know her?"

A smile touched his lips, but it did nothing to warm his face. "Yes." She was his landlady.

"I hope she gets better soon."

He turned, eyeing the small girl. Finally, his feet moved. First one, then the other shifted position until he looked at the girl. She stood on the sidewalk, ten feet away. He took a step toward her, advancing slowly, like a giant cat going after a young deer. "Really?" He stepped toward her again, his head shifting with his weight, tilting first one way and then the other.

"Yeah."

He kept walking, out of the puddle and onto the black tar of the street turned blacker by the life that had drained from the woman. He stepped up on the sidewalk, leaving garish red prints followed by fat drops of blood from his arms. He stopped, at last, only inches from the child.

She looked up at him, brown eyes trusting. "I'm sorry that she got hurt."

Minitooth cocked his head, looking down at her with bored curiosity. "You're not scared of me." It was a statement of fact. His nose told him there was no fear from the girl.

"No. Why should I be?"

He looked at her again, his head tilting the other way as he eyed his prey. He smiled knowingly, understanding lighting his mind. "You're retarded."

She looked at him seriously, saying nothing. It was true, after all. She wasn't certain what that was, but she knew that she wasn't like other kids. She didn't mind.

She watched as his head turned once more, sunlight making his hair golden where it wasn't red. She wondered why it was red in places, then saw him run his bloody fingers through a lock of hair and understood.

He kept looking at her, and she looked back at him. After what seemed like not too long, he looked away. "I hope you feel better," she said, and watched as his blue eyes flicked down to regard her coldly.

"I have to go," he said, turning. He walked swiftly across the street, grinning and splashing in the blood before continuing on. He stopped then, standing near the body, and looked back at her. "You come with me," he said finally.

She did as she was told, as she always did, and followed the strange man across the street. She knew she shouldn't follow strangers, but she felt there was something wrong with him, too, and she wanted to help.

They walked through the alleyway, Hope following doggedly at Minitooth's feet. Never once did he turn and speak to her, or acknowledge her in any other way. She didn't mind. Once she heard sirens, and wanted to stop. But the boy was still walking, so she followed him.

He was a very funny boy.

***

Harpoon stood, back against a wall, listening idly as Scalphunter and Sinister spoke quietly in the next room. He knew they were going to have to go after Minitooth again.

The thought terrified him.

He'd been an assassin since he could remember, had killed and maimed and done all manner of horrible things. Often times, he met people he didn't care for. Some even worse than Minitooth.

But none of them had been mutants. And none of them had split personalities, and so been as unpredictable.

It was insane, if you asked him. Let the boy go. Get him later, when he wasn't expecting it. But don't go now. It was plain idiocy.

"We're going," Scalphunter snarled as he stormed through the door. "Now. There's been a murder, and it may be him."

Harpoon shook his head sadly, unable to believe they would all be so stupid, and followed.

***

Hope was beginning to think that the boy wasn't very nice, sometimes. He had started looking at her as though she amused him, and she didn't mind that. Lots of people looked at her that way. Most of the time, he just ignored her. That was okay too.

Hope didn't mind too many things. And he did give her food. Just that morning he had walked into someone's house and gotten food for her. She thought he might have taken it without asking, though, because the people inside screamed. She had stayed outside because the boy had told her to. And when he came back there was blood again. He said he cut himself.

Hope believed him.

"When are we going home?" she asked as she climbed over a wall he had blithely jumped.

"We're heading there now. Be quiet."

Hope nodded to herself, humming quietly as they walked along.

Minitooth looked back at the girl. She was plain looking, an ordinary ten year old in every sense of the word. Well, except for the retarded thing, he had to admit. Her hair was blond, her eyes were brown, and her retardation really didn't show. Unless you looked at her from a hunter's point of view, in which case it was as obvious as the blood that splashed when you tore someone's limb off. Creatures acted different when there was something wrong with them.

She was something of a novelty for him. Someone who wasn't afraid of him. It was . . . odd. He wasn't sure he liked it, but he kept her around. He wasn't sure why he did that, either. Maybe he'd kill her later.

Minitooth knocked over a trashcan as they walked through the alleyway, heard the little girl's footsteps stop as she tried to figure out how to get around the trash.

He smiled wickedly and continued on.

***

"This had to have been him," Scalphunter said, glaring at the body as it lay, ashen, in the morgue. "Only Sabretooth makes marks like those. Him and his son."

Harpoon's eyebrows went up at the word that was practically spat. There was certainly no love lost between Scalphunter and Minitooth.

"All right. We need to figure out where he went. Spread out, everyone. Canvas the town. Find him."

The Marauders scattered silently, dressed in civilian clothing, blending into the crowds as they headed back to where the murder had taken place. They would find him this time.

Harpoon rather hoped they didn't.

***

"Do you like ice cream?"

Hope looked up at the man she had started to think of as Hurt Boy. "Yes. Chocolate's my favorite."

Hurt Boy blinked slowly, too slowly, then turned and looked at the ice cream vendor across the street. "Stay here."

Minitooth never thought that she wouldn't stay there. Once he had told her to do something, she'd better do it. He wasn't really sure what he would do if she disobeyed him, but he knew that something would occur to him if that time ever came.

Torture and painful ideas never seemed to be lacking when he wanted to hurt someone.

A car screeched to a halt not far away, the driver leaning out the window to yell at Minitooth. Minitooth turned and looked at the man, his eyes devoid of any emotion. The driver quieted down, withdrawing back into his car and sitting uneasily until Minitooth had passed. The boy walked carefully, silently, as though he was stalking his prey. The people in line parted for him wordlessly, sensing the danger that lay just beneath his skin.

"I want chocolate ice cream," Minitooth said quietly. The man behind the counter turned to look at him, and his smile faltered.

"Sure," the man said, turning quickly to get the ice cream. The boy shouldn't have been frightening. Irv had been selling ice cream for fifteen years now, was even starting his own ice cream business soon. He'd seen all sorts of boys, and this one was little different from most of them. His T-shirt was dirty, and the edges of his jeans were frayed. Irv held that image in his mind, scrutinizing it. The boy was of average hieght, perhaps on the bulky side, and had sandy blond hair, light blue eyes, and a smattering of freckles. He couldn't be more than sixteen, and that was stretching it. The boy could even have been fourteen.

Soothed by the thought that he had simply read more into the boy's stance than was there, Irv turned back with his smile in place.

The crowd around the ice cream booth had gone quiet, and the people were carefully not looking at the boy.

"Here you go, kid," Irv said, handing the ice cream through the window. "That's a dollar twelve." It was the eyes, Irv realized with a half concealed shudder. Those eyes lacked compassion of any sort.

The boy reached across and took the ice cream, his movements utterly deliberate. His hands seemed cold as he turned away and walked back through the crowd, ignoring them the way a lion ignores a flock of birds when it's sated. Irv didn't bother trying to get the money the kid owed him. Instead he reached up to his rosary taped above the small window and fingered it. Raised in the church, Irv sent a quick prayer for the boy and whoever he traveled with.

Irv liked kids. But there was something wrong with that one.

***

Harpoon ran his hands through his hair, bringing them down to scrub his face. He was tired. That bone-weary sort of tired that came from tension instead of a lack of sleep.

Minitooth had been long gone by the time they'd searched the area. There had been a bloody trail to follow, however, a path of slaughtered humans. The reporters were having a field day with it, and the police could find no rhyme or reason for the killings.

They hadn't realized their culprit was completely insane, yet. Oh, they probably suspected that he was mostly insane, but they had no idea. And throw the fact of his mutantcy on top of it, and things got worse fast.

The Marauders, of course, were prepared with this information and were proceeding quite a bit faster than the police. Too fast for Harpoon's comfort, anyway.

Scalphunter was anxious because he had Sinister breathing down his neck to find the kid, and the rest of the team was feeling the stress. Vertigo seemed almost afraid of finding Minitooth, and Harpoon couldn't blame her. Truthfully, Harpoon was frightened of finding him too. Just the carnage left casually behind warned him that things had gotten much worse since Minitooth had left Sinister's care. He had no reason to want to be cloned again.

"Got 'im."

Harpoon cringed at the words.

"Ice cream vendor says a kid matching Mini's description came by this way yesterday. Says the kid headed that way." Scalphunter pointed, squinting in the bright daylight.

"So we blanket the area?" Arclight asked, shading her eyes with one hand as she peered down the street.

"Yeah. Keep asking people, looking for the brat. Keep your eyes open for any sort of disturbances."

Arclight nodded and started down the street, fingering the gun hidden beneath her trenchcoat. Her eyes flickered first one way and then the other, searching for any hidden shadow. It simply wouldn't do to be surprised by the snot.

***

Hope looked up at her friend as they walked along. He was starting to like her, she could tell. He was even holding her hand now, and he had gotten her that ice cream earlier. He was starting to look nicer, too. Hope wasn't sure how, but he was.

"Boy?" she asked, tugging on his hand.

He stopped and looking down at her, as if he hadn't seen her before. "What?"

"I'm tired."

Minitooth watched her for a moment more, curiously surprised to feel a bit of worry for the little girl. "Okay." They crossed the street and went down another, heading for an apartment complex not too far away. Hope had to run to keep up, but Minitooth didn't slacken his speed.

"Stay here," he commanded, then glanced back to be sure she did. He didn't want her hit by a car or something. Minitooth paused to ponder that for a moment, the fact that he cared enough to not want her dead yet confusing him. He shook his head and walked swiftly up to the apartment, climbing the outside stairs two at a time. Minitooth went around the building, sniffing for apartments with only one person inside. Finally, he found one.

He stood outside and rapped at the door, smiling as he heard the person get up and come over. He loved this part of it. The terror on their faces when they realized what was happening.

The door opened, and Minitooth cocked his head up at the person, watching them. "I need to come in."

The man at the door frowned in confusion, then shook his head. "I'm sorry. Do I know you?"

Minitooth smiled a predatory, deadly smile. "I have to come in. I don't want blood where Hope can see it. It disturbs her."

***

It was very nice of Hurt Boy to get her this room. Hope looked curiously around, noting and dismissing the spatters of red that centered near the closet. "This is for me?" she asked, seeing the bedroom.

"Sure," Minitooth answered. He was mostly concerned about the food aspect of things. He was hungry. Terror was good, but it didn't keep you fed. Minitooth scowled and rubbed his forehead. Besides food, he needed to find aspirin. Something was wrong.

Hope walked into the bedroom and sat down on the bed, her eyelids drooping. "Thank you, Boy," she called sleepily. She remembered she was supposed to thank people. Hope heard footsteps and looked up. Hurt Boy stood in the doorway, looking confused and more than a little frightened.

"'Boy'?" he asked. He seemed smaller to her, somehow, not so bulky and a little bit shorter. Mostly, though, he seemed confused. She had never seen Hurt Boy really confused, but it was something she was familiar with.

"That's you," she offered, helping him.

He nodded slightly, then frowned and shook his head. "I'm Max."

Hope smiled brightly. "I'm Hope."

"Hope. Hope, you need to leave."

Her smile faltered. "Why?"

He looked ready to panic, and his blue eyes kept being drawn to the closet door. "You might get hurt if you stay, Hope. You have to leave." He didn't want to hurt a child. Was this her apartment? Had Minitooth been about to kill her too?

"But I've been with you for a long time," Hope said, and there was a note of hurt in her voice.

Max's eyes slid back to her, riveting on her small face. "Hope, you have to leave. You can't stay around me, Hope. I'll find someone else to take care of you and find your parents, okay?"

She looked ready to cry. "But I can stay here tonight?"

"No."

Hope did cry then, great tears sliding down her angelic face.

Max took two long steps to the bed, kneeling before the girl. "Where are your parents, Hope?"

Hope looked up at him sadly, still crying. "I don't know." Dimly, she remembered shopping with her mother for food. They had heard screams and then they ran outside. Her mother had picked her up, carrying her through the parking lot. Lots of people had been running. Hope wasn't sure what had happened, but her mother had fallen and her head had started bleeding. Her mother must have gone to sleep, because she didn't get up. So, when everyone stopped running, Hope had decided to find her daddy. Instead she had found Hurt Boy. "I don't know where my mommy is," she cried.

Max's face paled, and he stood.

Pain, like a white-hot lance through his head. Max grit his teeth and bent, grabbing the girl by her arm and pulling her to her feet. It didn't matter if she was lost; someone else could help her. He would kill her. She didn't resist as he hauled her to the door and out, running down the stairs.

More pain shot through his head, and Max knew it was Minitooth trying to gain control once more. He didn't know how long had passed since the last time he had had consciousness. He had to get the little girl away before Minitooth killed her, too, though.

"Run, Hope," Max said as they reached the bottom of the stairs. He doubled over, clutching his head. "Run!"

Hope stared at him with wide eyes for a moment, then turned and did as he said. She wasn't sure why she was running, only that she was supposed to do as she was told. And Hurt Boy had told her to run.

It didn't take long before she was panting, and slowly she came to a stop. Hurt Boy was facing the other way, and didn't see her. Hope's lower lip quivered. He didn't like her anymore. She sat down on the curb, her head in her hands, and started to cry.

***

Scalphunter grinned savagely as he looked down at the square building beneath him.

Minitooth was in this building.

It had taken them all day to discover that, but now they had the little rat trapped.

"How do we get him?" Arclight asked, glaring at her scope as though it would tell her.

"Go in and grab 'im," Riptide giggled.

"No. People will get in the way," Scalphunter answered, deep in thought. "He'll use them as blocks, then shapeshift to look like them and disappear."

"Then we just have to make sure he can't stir them up," Arclight answered, smiling.

Scalphunter smiled slowly as he looked at her, an idea obviously hatching in her mind. "How?"

Arclight smiled smugly. "We'll just kill everyone nearby."

Scalphunter chuckled, nodding. "Good idea. Get into the streets and slaughter anyone who gets near, boys," he snapped, happy for the first time in days.

Riptide giggled and pitched himself over the edge of the building.

***

Hope was still sobbing when a shadow fell over her small form. She looked up slowly, into a wildly smiling face.

"What's wrong?" the smiling man asked.

He made Hope uncomfortable, but she wasn't sure why. "I'm sad."

The man nodded and giggled. "Don't worry. You won't be soon." He giggled again, and Hope wondered why. "You won't be anything soon."

***

Minitooth was furious. He'd "woken up" outside the building, doing who knew what. He'd gone back in, looking for Hope--who he was strangely worried about--but she hadn't been anywhere inside. He would have continued looking, but screaming and gunshots erupted below. Not one to be frightened at all, Minitooth had stayed in his room until it was over. It took close to half an hour, and he could smell that almost everyone who lived in this building was dead. Those that weren't were refusing to leave their rooms.

Minitooth walked to the window, looking out and down. He cocked his head, sandy hair falling in his face. The Marauders were below.

Minitooth walked to the door slowly, taking his time as he headed down the corridor and then the stairs. He stopped a few steps from the bottom, watching as the Marauders aimed at him.

He looked around slowly, seeing the dead bodies strewn around and blood spattered all over. His eyes gradually came back up to the group before him. "That was overkill, don't you think?" he asked softly, a smile playing around his mouth. The sweet scent of blood was in his nose, bringing the rest of his senses to an excited fever pitch.

"Come with us, Minitooth," Scalphunter said from behind his gun.

Minitooth felt something familiar at the back of his throat, a scent almost overpowered by blood. Far away he could hear sirens approaching. His blue eyes narrowed as he recognized the scent, and his face turned until he saw the small body on the corner. For a moment he felt as though he was almost sorry she was dead, then whatever had been softening toward her turned to ice and shattered.

Minitooth smiled. It was nice not to feel remorse for anything or anyone.

"Come with us, Minitooth," came that same, irritating voice.

Minitooth turned back to Scalphunter slowly, annoyance clear in his frozen eyes. He didn't truly feel like battle at the moment, though they were rather exasperating.

The sirens were a great deal closer, and Minitooth smiled. From farther away there were suddenly more sirens, and Minitooth assumed that someone had recognized the Marauders and called for extra help. Maybe he wouldn't have to fight right now.

"Maybe I should come with you," Minitooth said quietly.

Each and every Marauder could feel the chilling contempt he felt toward the thought. It was another long moment before Riptide, who had the keenest ears, heard the sirens.

A minute later Scalphunter heard them and swore. "Come now," he said, aiming carefully at Minitooth.

The boy smiled, and everyone saw his body tense. Before he could move Riptide and Scalphunter shot, both seeing their projectiles hit. Minitooth rolled back over the railing, and suddenly he was hidden behind the stairs.

Scalphunter swore and ran around, gun still aimed. There were four bodies back there, all bloody and disfigured. "Damn it!" he shouted, looking up and around for Minitooth. There was no sign of the boy. Not a single footprint. Not even any disturbed puddles of blood.

Scalphunter realized his mistake and looked down in time to see one of the bodies move, reaching out to grab his ankle and pull. Scalphunter brought his gun around, even as the body that should have been dead sat up and changed, until it looked like a young Sabretooth.

"That wasn't nice," Minitooth whispered, and savagely tore the gun from Scalphunter's hands. Smiling toothily, he proceeded to tear Scalphunter's hands from his arms.

***

Minitooth stood above the body of the little girl, his shirt soaked in blood. Something inside him said he would miss her, but that voice was already being destroyed.

The police were swarming the area, red and blue lights turning the blood spread on the ground black and purple. It was beautiful, in a macabre sort of way.

Minitooth sighed happily and sat down on the curb in the puddle of blood Hope had made.

***

"Son? Are you all right?"

Max opened his eyes to carnage. His stomach roiled, but he didn't throw up. He was getting used to the blood.

He was wet with it. Slowly, Max looked around the area. Blood was spattered against walls, buildings, in the street. Bodies were laying around in horrible poses, contorted in death as they never had been in life. There was blood on his hands and arms, and his shirt was almost dripping. Blood even fell from his hair, landing on his nose and sliding down his cheek.

Max knew with hopeless dread that none of it was his.

"Son? Why don't you come over here?"

Max looked up at the ambulance tech, who was watching him carefully, almost warily. Max's eyes flickered back down, seeing the pool of blood he sat in. His eyes followed it back to the girl, the same one he'd tried to chase away. Hope. She was dead. He had killed her. Her blood was all over him.

As Max started to sob, the man from the ambulance helped him up and over to where a stretcher lay.

"You'll be fine," the man assured him as he and several other people strapped Max in. "I promise."

Max looked up at the man with panic in his eyes. "Please," he whispered brokenly. "Help me. I killed these people. I did it all." Something in his brain was hurting, as if it were overloading and there was nothing he could do. He killed them. He killed these people, and that little girl. He must have. He had been covered in blood. Jesus Christ. He couldn't take it anymore.

***

Minitooth scratched his nose and looked back at the camera in the small room. There was a table and four chairs, one of which he was in. A mirror on one wall let people see into the room, and his seat had handcuffs. Two policemen--Bill and Terry--had been in all morning, talking to him with a city lawyer.

The upshot of all their talk was that they thought he had killed the people leading to the apartment house.

He had, of course. But he wasn't about to be convicted of it.

Minitooth was good at waiting. He waited for all sorts of things. He knew how to wait.

He didn't have to wait long before the people in the room that had been watching him left. Minitooth stood, shifting, changing, his skin pulling and shoving until it looked just as he imagined it. Minitooth walked to the door and cleared his throat as he had seen Terry do.

"Hey! Hey! Someone let me out! You assholes locked me in here!"

***

"So they caught him?" Melinda asked as she sucked on her lollipop. She was supposed to be on a diet, but the thing kept calling to her.

"They think it might be him. All top secret right now, of course."

Melinda nodded. She had been working in the police department for twenty-three years, and was proud that no leaks had ever come through her. "That's good. We don't need a little freak like that running loose. This city has enough of them without another one."

Willy nodded in agreement, then waved at a fellow cop as he walked by. "Hey, Terry! Good job getting that kid! But, ah," Willy snickered, "I also heard you got locked in an examination room!"

Terry smiled slightly, oddly cold, and walked out the door.

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