A New Mutant

by SubtleLux

An original story with an original mutant, who is newly awakened to her powers. I do not own X-men in any way

My name is Caitlin Corey. And I have one question to ask. Who would want to live in New York? Honestly, who would want to live in New York? Sure, it had its awe-inspiring skyline. The Empire State building rising majestically to the cloud covered heavens. The pale green metal of the Statue of Liberty glinting in the sunlight, its face strong and determined as it gazed out to sea. Almost as if she expected a boatload of the "tired and poor," to show up any minute.

But I was sick of New York. I was tired of the crowded streets. I was tired of constant traffic jams. I was so sick of New York that I could run away screaming. But maybe that was just because I was from Indiana. I was used to wide open spaces. Not city streets.

You see my dad is a computer engineer, a very good computer engineer. Maybe a little to good in fact. That's why we'd moved to New York. My dad has gotten a really good paying job working for this huge computer company. I wish he hadn't.

"Wake up you little fuzz ball, it's 10:00 in the morning," my sister practically yelled in my ear. I rolled over and groaned. This wasn't the answer she wanted, because then she took my pillow and started to hit me with it. "Aahh. Ahhh. Sam, stop it!" I screamed. "Sam, what are you doing to your sister?" My moms' muffled voice called up from the kitchen. "Nothing," Sam yelled,"just showing Cait how much I want to be an only child." "Get out of my room Sam!" I yelled. Sam got up and ran from my room before I could throw the pillow back at her. I rolled over and fell back to sleep. Well, I tried, because about five seconds later my mom yelled for to come down. Apparently she had been slaving all morning on pancakes and if I didn't get down there in the next three seconds my dad would eat them. I guess my new house is cool. It's one of those old brick houses that you sometimes see in the movies. Even though it was in the city it was a pretty good-sized house.

"Morning Kit Kat," my dad said over the morning paper. Kit Kat was his pet name for me. "Morning dad," I said as I slid into a chair. There was a shortstack of pancakes in front of me, dripping with butter and maple syrup. "So, how are the pancakes everyone?" My mom said without looking up from the skillet. "They're wonderful Honey," my dad said as he put down the paper and took a drink of coffee. "Mmmm," I said with my mouth stuffed with pancakes. "I think they're great too mom," said Sam. I looked over at her, she had only eaten two pancakes, without any butter or syrup. "Are you on a diet or something Sam?" I asked. Sam shot me a patronizing look and smiled. "So…. You're not going to eat those?" My dad asked. "Sure, you can have them dad." Sam said. She pushed them over to my dad who immediately began smothering them with syrup. "Really Sam," my mom said turning around. "You have to eat something for breakfast." "Yeah, it's the most important meal of the day," I said. Sam gave me the same smile. "Okay Cait," said Sam. "Would you please make me some toast?" "Why, did you become an invalid during the night?" I asked in my most innocent voice. "If you make me some toast I'll do the dishes." Sam said. I thought for a second. "Okay, since you asked so nicely." I said. Did I ever mention that my sisters' weird? "So, tomorrows the big day," my dad stated. "Yep," said Sam. "I'm really looking forward to it." "Of course you are," I mumbled under my breath. "Did you say something Kit Kat," my dad asked, turning around. "I said that I'm looking forward to it too," I said. But I wasn't. My sister would fit in just nicely. She was a gorgeous blonde haired, blue eyed, Size two teenage model. We were like night and day. I was short with dark hair and green eyes. I looked just like my dad. Not that my dad was bad looking or anything. It's just that it looked better on him than me. I let out a long sigh as I took out the bread. I walked over to the toaster, put the bread in, and pushed it down. That's when it exploded.

I must have blacked out for a minute, because when I came too, my mom was standing over me. "Cait, honey are you okay?" "What?" I asked? "You're bleeding," my dad said as he pressed a towel to my forehead. "Huh?" Man, I was out of it. "Can you sit up?" My mom asked. "What happened?" I finally managed to ask. "The toaster blew up." Sam said. Sam was standing in front of me. She looked shaken. "That's like, the fourth time something like this has happened." She said. "Don't even say it," I warned her. "Don't you even dare." "What, that you may be a mutant?", she asked. She sounded shocked, or scared. "Mom and dad don't believe you Sam," I said. I looked up at them. "Right?" I asked. They looked at each other. I started to wiggle free. "Cait, you need to lie down," my dad said. I stood up and walked from the room. "Cait, come back!" My mom pleaded. I didn't listen, I just ran up to my room. I slammed the door shut and slumped to the floor. I just cried.

I really wished that I hadn't hid in my room all day yesterday. Because now I had to wear a huge Band-Aid that was almost in the center of my forehead. I had already lost my sister in the crowd a few minutes earlier. I was now lost in a seething mass of high school kids. I couldn't find my first class because every few minutes someone kept bumping into me. Everyone was running to their next class or talking with their old friends. I started walking along the hall trying to find my first class. With my luck it turned out to be English, my worst subject. "Do you need help?" Asked a voice. "Huh?" I said looking up. Beside me was a girl wearing a pair of black stretch pants with a lavender top. She had short black hair and had on eye shadow the same color as her shirt. She was pretty. "Do you need help?" She asked again smiling. "Uh, yeah," I said. She looked at the schedule for a minute and turned to look at me. "We both have the same class," she said smiling. "You can just follow me." "Okay," I said. She turned and walked back the way I'd come. I did my best to stay up with her until we reached the classroom. I walked across the room and sat down at a desk near the window. The girl sat down in a seat next to mine. "By the way, I'm Amy," she introduced. "I'm Cait," I said smiling. Cool, maybe I'd made a friend. "You're not from New York, are you Cait?" Asked Amy. "No, we just moved her from Fort Wayne, Indiana," I told her. "I've never met anyone from Indiana before," Amy stated. "You have now," I said. "Good morning class," said my teacher as she entered the room. She was an older woman wearing a long blue dress. She wore her long white hair down and had a kind face. "I'm Mrs. Collins and I will be you're teacher until the school realizes that I was supposed to retire last year." That made everyone laugh. Ms. Collins went on about the stuff that we were supposed to cover for the day. The rest of the day passed quickly until it was time for lunch. I got my plate of food and was trying to find a place to sit. "Cait, over here," someone called. It was Amy, waving for me to come over. "It's okay if I sit here?" I asked. "Sure it's okay," she said. I sat down at the table and looked at the other people. They all looked up and introduced themselves. Except for one boy who was to busy stuffing a cupcake into his mouth. "You're new and I didn't want you to end up being the target of some of the jerks here." Amy said looking at me. "I appreciate that Amy," I said smiling. Maybe New York wasn't going to that bad after all.

A week had already gone by of my freshman year. The surprising part was that I'd actually made some friends. What wasn't suprising was that Sam was already dating a hot guy and on her way to being popular. I was actually happy for her.

"Good news everyone!" My dad said coming through the door. "What is it honey?" Asked my mom. "Someone finally bought the company's computer chips!" My dad said in delight. "What are they going to be used for?" I asked. "They were bought by the government," he said. "But what are they going to be used for?" I asked again. "The news is doing a cover story for what they're going to be used for tonight." He said. "So, I guess this means that you don't know what it's for then." Sam said. "No," he finally admitted. "What if they're used for super high-tech toilets," my mom said sarcastically. That made us all laugh. "The news is about to start," Sam stated. My dad was the first one into the living room. He grabbed the remote and turned it on. "…..Here for a very special report." The news had already started. The news anchor smiled and continued. "As we all know, the recent number of mutant terrorist attacks have been increasing in the U.S. and other countries." "Our very own news anchor, Jane Bowman, is reporting from a U.S. airbase where scientists have developed a weapon to fight these mutants." "Thank you Tom," said Jane. "I'm here with the man responsible for creating the 'Sentinel' program, Mr. Bolivar Trask. "Thank you Jane," said Trask, smiling. "I have been authorized to give you a presentation of one of the Sentinel robots." "And, if you don't mind, I'd like to show you now." The camera man turned around and focused on, what looked like, a small town. "This is a training exercise that we put the Sentinels through before they're given the all clear." Trask said from behind the camera. "In one of these buildings is a vial of mutant blood we've recently obtained." He stated. All of a sudden a rumbling started to come from the camera. "What…?" Jane began. She didn't get to finish her sentence. Because something, from the air, had just landed in front of them. It was in the shape of a man, but it wasn't a man, it was a sentinel. It looked to be about three or four stories tall. Its' vaguely human face seemed to be wearing a red helmet. Its' torso, forearms, and feet were purple, the rest was red. The Sentinel started to walk towards the fake town. It stopped in the middle of the street, and its' eyes started to glow. "What is it doing Mr. Trask?" Jane asked in a whisper. "Searching for a mutant gene signature," he said simply. The sentinel stopped in front of what looked like a convenience store. "Mutant," it said in a robotic voice. "Come out and surrender and you will not be harmed." " Failure to comply will result in termination." It waited for about five minutes before it spoke again. "Failure to comply will now result in termination." It walked forward and actually tore the roof off the building. It reached inside and came up with something in its' hand. It didn't do anything for a second, then it crushed the vial in its' fist. "Well Mr. Trask." Jane began, obviously shaken. I didn't hear what she had to say. I had already walked out of the room. "Where are you going?" my mom called after me. "Uh, I need to finish my homework," I said from the stairs. I walked up to my room and closed the door. I lay down on my bed and covered my face with my hands. I couldn't believe that something like that thing had been built. I mean, not all of the mutants could be evil monsters. After all, I wasn't. I shook my head. No, I couldn't be a mutant. All of those things blowing up had to be coincidence. Man, I was getting upset. I walked over to my TV set and turned it on. But it didn't come on. "Great, stupid piece of junk," I said. I brought down my fist on top of it. And this green lightning came out of my hand and threw the TV across the room to smash into my dresser. All of my pictures and awards came tumbling to the floor. The TV looked like it had been disintegrated. My mouth fell open in shock, and my hand was still poised in the air.

"Find anything good yet Amy?" I asked. It was Saturday night and Amys' brother had dropped us off at the mall. It turned out that Amy was quite the mall rat. She was wearing a black skirt with a blue tank top. I was wearing my faded blue jeans and my new GAP shirt. "Nothing yet," she said as she thumbed through the sales rack. "How about you she asked," as she pulled out a bright green sweater. "Nothing yet," I said. "You should try on a dress," she said, holding the sweater in front of her. "I can't find any that fit," I replied. "Of course you…," she stopped talking as a loud rumble filled the building. "What was that?" I said. All of a sudden some girls in front of the store started to scream. "Mommy, it's a big toy," said a little kid pointing to the mall doors. "It's a sentinel!" The childs' mother said in horror. She picked up the child and ran the other way. Amy and I ran out of the store to the mall doors. Outside the mall doors was a sentinel. And it was walking towards us. "MUTANT!" I turned around, ready to defend myself. But it wasn't me they were looking at. A crowd had gathered around a high school age boy with wild eyes. Security guards were already rushing to the scene. "You're gonna die, ya stinking mutie!" some man yelled. The boy said a string of obscenities that would have gotten him kicked out of school. He started to raise his hands towards the man. That's when the sentinel crashed through the wall.

It was complete pandemonium. People screamed as the glass and plaster rained down on them. Then everyone started to run and scream. I was knocked to the ground and I couldn't see Amy. I looked up and saw the boy launch some kind of bright purple flare at the sentinel. The flare hit the sentinel square in the chest, but it only seemed to melt the outer layer of its' metal. The sentinel pointed its' fist at the boy. The boy screamed. "NO," I yelled. I stood up and pointed my fists at the sentinel. The same strange green lightning came out of my hands and bathed the sentinel in light. It was so bright that I had to look away. When I looked back, half of the sentinel was simply gone. The only thing left was the remains of its' torso and legs. It seemed to stand for a minute before it fell back and tore out the remaining wall with a loud crash. I looked down at the boy. He was looking at me with wide eyes. He opened his mouth to speak. I turned away and ran.

I must have run home. The only thing I remember is that I ran up the stairs to my front door. "Mom, dad, open up!" I was screaming and sobbing as I banged on the door. The porch light came on and my mom opened the door. I collapsed into her arms and cried even harder. "Honey, what's wrong?" My mom's voice was filled with concern. I looked up at her. "Mom, I…I." Then I started to cry again. "Cait, what's wrong?" My sister asked. She had just come down the stairs. She had a dress on and her makeup, she must be going on a date, I thought. "Honey, lets go sit down in the kitchen." She led me into the kitchen and sat me down in one of the chairs. My sister and mom sat down opposite of me. By then I had calmed down enough to at least stutter. "Okay, honey, calm down and tell me what happened." She said. "Did someone hurt you?" Her voice had taken on a sterner tone with the last question. "No, mom," I said between my tears. I stopped to take shaky breaths. My throat was tight and constricted, but I had to tell her. "What's wrong?" my dad asked entering the room. "Mom," I said, my voice finally coming out strong. "Mom," I began again. "I'm a mutant." Then my parents did something I didn't expect. They took me in their arms and just held me.

I didn't go to school the next day. My mom and I stayed home. I had been flipping through the channels until something on the news caught my eye. The newsman smiled as he announced the news. "We also have exclusive footage of a mutant attack last night." The camera flashed to the mall I had been at last night. "So far, we've been able to find out that a sentinel had been tracking a mutant which attempted to hid in the local mall." The camera flashed again to a mall security tape. It showed the sentinel crashing through the wall. It also showed it being blown up. The camera flashed back to the newsman. "So far, the video tape and eye witnesses have not been able to identify the mutant, or mutants."

I switched the channels again and decided on the MTV channel. "Cait, would you like a sandwich?" My mom called from the kitchen. "Sure mom." I yelled back. "Do you want mustard or ketchup on it?" "Mustard." I yelled. It was right in the middle of my favorite music video that the doorbell rang. "I'll get it." I got up and walked to the front door. "Who is it?" I asked before opening the door. "Hello, is this the Corey residence?" the voice asked. "Yes," I said. "I'm her from Professor Xaviers' School for Gifted Youngsters. My name is Ororo Monroe," the voice added as an after thought. I opened the door. Standing before me was an attractive African American woman about my height. What struck me as odd was that she had pure white hair. "May I come in?" she asked. "Sure," I said. I led her into the kitchen where my mom had just finished making the sandwiches. "Hello," my mom said. "Mom, this is Ororo Monroe from a school called 'Professor Xaviers' School for Gifted Youngsters." "It's a pleasure to meet you Mrs. Corey," Ororo said smiling. "Can I ask why you're here, Ms. Monroe?" my mom asked. "I'm here because of your daughter Caitlin," Ororo replied. My face must have gone white because Ororo turned to reassure me. "I'm not here to arrest you Cait. I'm here to help you." "What do you mean?" my mom asked. Her voice had taken on a protective tone. "Mrs. Corey, I'm here to offer your daughter a way to handle her powers." "How did you know?" I asked. Ororo smiled. "Maybe we should sit down and talk about this," Ororo said.

I was going. It was as simple as that. I had packed my bags with my clothes and my possessions and I was going. "I love you," my sister said hugging me good-bye. "I love you too, Samantha," I said, returning the hug. My mom and dad held me tight as they said good-bye. "We'll call and talk too you every day," my mom said. I could tell that she was trying not to cry. "And we'll come up every weekend," my dad said. "I love you guys," I said. That just made them hug me again.

My dad helped me put my bags in the trunk. As I got into the passenger seat Ororo smiled at me. "You ready?" Ororo asked. "Yeah," I said. I put on my seat belt and settled down for the ride.

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