Rage Caries You Away

[wearingthestars]

WHO: Billy Kaplan, Teddy Altman, Tommy Shepherd, Tony Stark, Jon Sims, Potentially open to others
WHERE: YA house and about town
WHAT: Rage bug strikes
WHEN: End of May
WARNINGS: Violence



Billy sighs and shifts closer to Teddy, not wanting to get up yet, nuzzling against his side and closing his eyes.

"Can we just sleep 'til noon today?" he mumbles with a sleepy smile. He rubs absently at an itch on his neck, trying to hold onto that heavy eyed feeling as long as he can. How he wound up engaged to such an early bird he had no idea. "Come on, you know you want to."

Comments

[hulkintraining]

Teddy's body tenses at the contact, but he doesn't pull away. His focus planted mainly on the annoying itch on his neck. He scratches the place with his hand but the itching only seems to grow worst.

He groans in frustration and finally lurches into a seated position.

"It won't stop." His tone is gruff with a tinge of anger. The skin where he's been scratching is turning red with rawness, but it's not likely to remain so with his healing factor.

But amongst the redness is a slight raise in the skin easily identifiable as a bite.

[wearingthestars]

The tenseness is Billy's first clue that something is off, frowning faintly before he's jerked into full awareness as Teddy lurches up, pushing a confused Billy to do the same.

"...What won't stop?" he presses with a concerned look. Billy's supposed to be the grumpy one in the mornings, not Teddy. "What's wrong?"

[hulkintraining]

Even without answering the culprit should be obvious to Billy as Teddy continues to scratch at his neck relentlessly.

"The. Itching." His tone is a mix of frustration and underlying anger. Why won't it stop?

Reaching out, he grabs for the nearest item to him -- fortunately it's his pillow -- and he hurls it across the room.

[wearingthestars]

Billy laughs gently at the hurling of the pillow before his brows crease with a reassuring touch to his fiance's shoulder.

"Hey- it's okay. Let me see? It's probably like some kind of space mosquito, don't stress."

[hulkintraining]

The muscles in his shoulder bunch underneath Billy's touch and within seconds he's ripping himself away from the contact and rolling off the bed.

"Don't. Touch. Me." His eyes are narrow and a bares his teeth in a snarl.

[wearingthestars]

"Wh-" Flinching back in confusion, Billy starts to crawl after him until he's met with that snarl. "...Teddy?" He holds his palms up to show he isn't coming any closer. "It's okay- we'll fix this, calm down..."

[hulkintraining]

"You can't fix this!" The rage overtakes the confusion and frustration and within seconds he's transforming, his body growing larger, his fingertips curling into claws, his skin turning green.

He reaches out and digs his claws into the corner of the mattress, shredding through its padding. And the he begins to lift it with Billy still on it.

[wearingthestars]

This sort of rage is very outside of Teddy's general disposition, and definitely not something he's ever directed towards Billy before. Cursing, Billy scrambles back, floating off the mattress before he can fully be lifted away, eyes wide.

"O-okay- okay- hey- it's all right- I'm sorry-"

[hulkintraining]

"Shut up!" He hauls the mattress up with little effort and throws it blindly, not caring about their close quarters or the fact that Billy could be hit. All he knows is the rage burning through him, wanting more destruction.

His eye catches on the shining gold of the hilt of his sword, and he turns his attention away from his finance to move towards it.

Later

[wearingthestars]

Billy falls from the sky, magic sparking and shredding around him as he skids around the ground. Any other time it would have been more than enough to make him stay down, but now it only fuels that rage, looking quite the mess as he pushes to his feet, looking around in an agitated confusion to try and regain his bearings. He presses a hand to his ribs with a wince, electricity crackling in the air.

[doubled_speed]

Tommy's been following. Not because he had been stalking his brother or anything like that. It was just he knew the way Billy's magic looked in the sky, the way Teddy looked when flying.

And Tommy had been following, worried. Worried until Billy crashed to the ground. Then he was TERRIFIED. Tommy didn't think he'd EVER been that fast before. In fact, for the first time in his life, he broke Mach 5.5 to be there, skidding to a stop next to his brother.

"Billy. Fuck, man, are you okay? Shit, I can get you to the hospital. Or call Altair. Something."

[wearingthestars]

With a new target to direct his rage towards, the pain is momentarily forgotten, Billy glaring sharply at his brother before pushing him back with a concussive wave of magic. The worry doesn't seem to reach him, he barely seems to recognize Tommy as anything but a new target.

"Don't," he growls, fists all ready glowing with his next attack.

[doubled_speed]

Don't? What? Tommy recoils, but not fast enough. He's just... at a loss over his brother's reaction, and thus the concussive blast actually sends Tommy skidding over the ground. He ends up lying there for a moment, staring. Then he rolls to his feet.

"Don't what? Care? Fuck, B, what's wrong with you?"

[wearingthestars]

"Stay down," Billy demands, voice cold, shooting another blast, and third in quick succession, aiming to hurt, not pulling his punches. An electrical charge flickers and sparks, triggered by this surge of emotions.

[doubled_speed]

What? Tommy darts out of the way out of the first blast. That doesn't sound right.

"What the fuck? Serious mixed signals here, bro," Tommy gasps, dodging the second. It's not easy to dodge Billy's magic, it moves with the speed of his will, and even Tommy has some problems with that. He practically has to flip out of the way of the third blast.

Electricity, though, was faster. It moved like light. It moved at speeds Tommy couldn't outrun, even if he wanted to. Electricity, lightning, they moved faster than even a thought Tommy could have, and that aspect... That one hits.

Maybe it's like what Billy did to that bully at his school, when his powers first manifested. It's Tommy's metabolism, and maybe some small inherent resistance to his brother's powers, that keep him from dying. Or a coma. But there's no denying he falls with a scream of pain, clutching at his arm. It hurt, bad, and Tommy lay there, curling around his arm, shaking a little.

"Billy, please. It's me."

[wearingthestars]

For the briefest of moments, Billy hesitates, that scream cutting through him, through that rage that's consumed him, but a moment later and he's stalking towards his fallen form with a cruel look.

"So?" he counters, arching a brow, knocking him back again, even with him lying defenseless and in pain.

[doubled_speed]

With Tommy on the ground, there's nothing he can do to keep himself from being blasted back. His shirt is soon torn up from being effectively dragged across the ground. Sure, it doesn't tear up his skin yet, but he almost wants to sob anyway. The electrical burn hurts bad, but nothing hurts as bad as what's happening now.

Tommy grits his teeth and starts to sit up a bit.

"Don't do this, Billy. What happened to being your brother? What happened to being family? Or are you trying to be like my blood family? Are you trying to be Frank and Mary?"

Even more later- In search of Teddy

[wearingthestars]

Billy flies through the skies, scanning anxiously for any sign of Teddy. He knows how to stop it now. If he can just find him, just keep him still long enough- he can end this. He's worried though, unsure who Teddy might have found in the mean time. And how much it's going to hurt him to know what he's done once he frees him.

"Teddy?" He calls out for him, hoping to lure his fiance into showing himself.

[hulkintraining]

Since being knocked out of the sky Teddy has mostly stuck to mindless destruction of his environment. He's broken windows and doors, torn structures out of the ground. Most people who have crossed his path have been wise enough to stay out of his sight and out of his way. But there's a lingering need to finish what he had started earlier.

If only he could find Billy.

But then he catches a familiar form flying overhead and hears his voice calling out. Spreading his large wings out he leaps into the sky after Billy.

"Didn't get enough earlier?"

[wearingthestars]

There he is. Billy's flooded with relief and then an undercurrent of fear, flying faster to try and keep some distance between them.

"You know I can't ever get enough of you, T," he returns easily, plotting out the best course of action. He just has to get close enough to remove the bug without Teddy killing him first.

[hulkintraining]

Teddy puts on a burst of speed, doing his best to catch up with the other boy. If he could just get his hands on him he could end this quickly.

"You never did make good choices." He draws nearer to Billy, nearly close enough to reach out a hand and touch him.

[wearingthestars]

"You would know," Billy agrees, slowing up just enough to try and make it appear unintentional. Let Teddy catch a hold of him, then he can work his magic. It'll be close, but he can't exactly match Teddy with strength.

[hulkintraining]

Catch hold of him he does. His large hand wraps tightly around one of Billy's wrists and he begins to pull him closer. "What? Not going to use your magic to save yourself?"

[wearingthestars]

"Nope," Billy shakes his head, "M'gonna use it to save you," And rather than pull away he moves closer, pressing a quick kiss to Teddy's cheek before murmuring a spell "Iwanthimtosleep.Iwanthimtosleep.Iwanthimtosleep-" He prays it will actually work, prepared to catch him with his magic if it does. Admittedly less sure what he'll do if Teddy fights through.

[hulkintraining]

The words are barely registering when he feels the brush of Billy's lips against his cheek. And then the casting begins. As soon as Teddy realizes what he's doing he tries to release him, hoping the distance might be enough to stop the effects of the magic.

"No!" But he can already start to feel his body going lax.