nextgenerationmarvel | Stellar Explosion

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Stellar Explosion

Anyone who walked past the laboratory at Pier 4 would notice the tell-tale signs of Ryan doing something that he wasn't supposed to be doing behind closed doors. The first tell was the blaring sound of a classic Alison Blaire CD blasting out into the hallway. The second tell was the accompaniment of sparkling purple light casting its light onto the floor outside of the lab. The third tell was the sound of Ryan loudly singing along to Alison Blaire's voice. The fourth tell was the sound of a tiny explosion, followed by a shriek of terror.

That was Ryan causing something to explode in the name of science.

Oops.

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Jacob wasn't sure what dreadful past life he was making up for in this life with Ryan as a brother, but whatever it was, it must have been a doozy. His annual, hope-springs-eternal genetic testing had once again come up with bad news: still related.

Better luck next year.

That was, if his brother survived that long. Jacob had been on his way to destroy whatever was playing that music at that volume when something exploded. The girly shriek that followed suggested Ryan was still alive, but he might not stay that way if he'd blown up something important. The hot, pregnant redhead was partial to her equipment and looked like she could do some damage if she wanted to. Man, that would be funny to watch...

Jacob entered the lab, fanning smoke away from his face as he looked around for Ryan. "What'd you screw up now, Tinkerbell?"

Jacob would walk in on Ryan standing in front of a mess of chemicals and broken beakers and test tubes. In front of him, to his left, a Bunsen burner merrily crackled with a bright flame. Ryan, for his part, stood, blinking, a partially formed shield of cosmic energy sparkling in front of him, scorched black because of his explosion.

"Hey there, Nome King," Ryan said. "I, uh, was trying to turn myself into the Invisible Not-Woman."

Face, meet palm. Jacob heaved a much abused sigh from behind his hand. "Why, in God's name, would you try to do that? You can't even dye your own hair without chemical burns."

Ryan gently huffed and dropped his sparkling shield. Scorch marks disappeared into thin air and chemicals splattered onto the ground. It was a good thing that Ryan was in his iridescent costume, all things considered. "Well, I can do the pretty sparkly cosmic energy stuff, right? And the forcefields and all that, and that pretty much puts me on par with the Invisible Woman. In theory, at least. But she has that awesome thing where she can turn invisible, and I figured, if I could find a way to do that, then we'd also have Stealth-Action Stellar!"

his voice was still muffled behind his rocky palm when he spoke again. "Pretty, sparkly. That's your argument? You're pretty and sparkly?"

Maybe he'd have to double up on those annual DNA tests. Twice a year wouldn't be overkill, right? Someday, he'd have to get good news. "How are we even related?"

"Mom and Dad did the nasty," Ryan said off-handedly. "Nine months later, out popped Rocky and Bulltwinkle." He looked up from his mess and grinned at his brother. "And it's not so much an argument as it is...well, what else can I make my powers do, with the right scientific aids." He looked at his brother with all kinds of seriousness and asked, "Don't you want to be the best hero you can possibly be?"

"Yes, I do. I do not, however, want to be the best possible hero the Invisible Woman can be." Ryan lifted his head and scowled at Ryan. Why couldn't Remi have been the one to hear the explosion? Wasn't this a leader's job? "Scientific aids can be taken from you, go on the fritz, or any number of things. You have your own talents. Stop being a greedy dork and work on perfecting what you can already do."

Ryan blinked. He opened his mouth to say something, and then he closed it again. He blinked some more. "Dude, bro, that was mean." A beat later. "What's wrong? Is everything okay?"

"Me telling you you have talent is mean?" Jacob huffed an irritated sigh. He didn't really know why he was so aggravated with his brother right now. Well, he had an idea, but that wasn't a good idea to get into. "Nothing. I just don't get why you can't be happy with what you've got."

"No, not that part," Ryan replied. "But that bit where you called me greedy. I know I can be kind of, you know, shallow sometimes, and a little bit materialistic, but I never really saw myself as greedy." He paused for a moment and twitched his lips left and right, deep in thought. "So what gives?"

"You have everything. You're good looking, you're talented, people like you when you're not being aggravating, and you have cosmic superpowers. Yeah, I think it's greedy to want more." For the most part, Jacob didn't let himself dwell on the fact that he was a big, lumbering, talking pile of rock, but sometimes he just couldn't ignore it. Especially around his twin. His twin who couldn't be less like him.

"..." Ryan furrowed his brow. He'd always known that he'd gotten lucky with the looks lottery, but he'd always tried his hardest not to rub it in his brother's face, or put his brother down in any way. That's not what he wanted for Jacob. "I'm sorry, Jacob. I just...I mean, if I've ever intentionally done or said something to you...I mean, okay. The Nome King quip was mean, and I'm sorry. I just thought we were bantering." He huffed in gentle frustration. "God, I feel like a douche."

Jacob sighed and shook his head. "Forget it. You didn't do anything."

It wouldn't do either of them any good to try and make Ryan feel bad for, what? Being normal? Well, normal looking anyway. It was just the way the genetic dice rolled. Nobody's fault.

"Just don't... blow up the building or anything. I'm sure I'll get blamed for it, somehow."

((Sorry, I thought I replied before! Didn't mean to keep you waiting so long.))

"Dude, wait," Ryan reached out and placed a hand on his brother's shoulders. "First of all, if anything goes wrong, the blame usually does go to me. I'm the crazy reckless one," he said lightly. "Secondly. I don't...I don't even know what to say. I mean..." he frowned. "How can I help?"

Jacob shrugged. "Nothing you can do. You didn't make me like this and it's not something I hate all the time, either. It's just... sometimes."

He gave his brother a light pat on the shoulder, always careful not to put too much force behind it. "I shouldn't have snapped at you. Sorry."

"You've always handled it well," Ryan replied. "The hand that genetics dealt you. I wouldn't have been able to. I'm...really vain," Ryan admitted after a long moment. "And, okay, shallow. I know I am. I try not to be, but..." Ryan shrugged. "I just get pulled back into it. Mom says it's just me being creative, but we all know the truth."

"And it's okay. I get it. I mean. I'd probably have done worse?"

"No way of knowing. You might have done fine and I'd have been the vain one." He shrugged. It was a pointless exercise. Things were what they were. No changing it. "I guess twins just aren't always on the same page."

"I'm vain?" Yes, that's what Ryan got out of the conversation at hand.

He blinked.

"Yeah, but...I mean, you know. Dad was the popular one who was like loved by everyone. He wasn't nerdy like Dr. Richards or crazy like Johnny Storm was. He was just...the cool one who everyone dug because he was an ever-loving bad-ass. Being pretty isn't everything. Ask Emma Frost. Almost nobody likes her."

"Well, that's what you said earlier."

Memory like a goldfish, his brother.

He snorted at the Emma Frost line. Pretty sure some people liked her, if for no other reason than just to look at her. He appreciated the effort, though. "I know. I like who I am, for the most part. I do. It just hits me sometimes that nobody's ever gonna look at me like they do you or Remi or Griffin, even."

"..." He smiled, embarrassed. "Right. But, I mean, look. Everyone's got their types. There's a few people out there who totally dig you. You just, you know, haven't met them yet, Jacob."

People who dig road rash, maybe. Jacob shook his head and smirked a little. Ah well. "You know you'd better have all this cleaned up before Remi or one of the egg-heads sees it, right?"

"This is why we need a HERBIE," Ryan said. "Unless we actually have an HERBIE and no one's told me?"

"Nope, sorry dude. You're on your own here." Jacob chuckled and shook his head. "If you're really nice, and I mean really nice to me, I might help you."

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Stellar Explosion

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