Hey peeps and peepettes, it is I, your long absent author.
Here is a quick list of everyone who's in the fic:
Luna Tiger's-Kestrel 'Kess' Arimn (Fenrir)
Medjke's Jennifer "Jenn" Falls (Sentinal)
Sabby's Aludva Mélyen (Catalepsy)
Demonspawn's Aqua
BAZZER'S Quincy "Q" LaFaras (Voodoo)
KittyKate's Grey (Copy)
Manticore Queen's Pax (Nox)
BAD's Erika Thompson (Bleed)
Shadowcat's Brett Masters (Stretch)
Isabella Toscano's Alyssa Hardy (Isis)
Youth's Alexandra "Alex" Mitchell (Current)
Miss Novelist's Andrew "Drew" Troy (Melt)
Demonspawn's Felix Marks (Knock-Out)
My Diego Vatusia (Vamp)
Anyway's, on with the fic. And read the author note at the end.
Chapter One
The city outskirts were shaded with scrubby greenery, tenacious stubborn bushes that refused to be moved from their place. Inside the relative calm of the leafy den, a dark figure slunk low to the ground. Anyone who happened to look over that way, in just the right place would have glimpsed yellow eyes glow luminously in the waning light.
The wolf, uncommon for this part of the country, was large and black. It looked attentive, scenting the air and keeping its ears pricked for any oncoming noise. It could smell others. Others like it.
The body backed up slightly, disappearing into the thickest part of the undergrowth. The bushes rustled and a human boy stood suddenly in the place where the wolf had been before.
He stood at 6 feet, looking to be around 22 years old, his eyes now faded to a dull blue and the fur of his previously lupine form shrunken back into naturally tan skin. His hair was cut short to the nape of his neck, soft straight and sugar brown. He was unclothed and reached for his backpack, changing swiftly into a fairly worn pair of loose jeans and a black T-shirt. He zipped the bag up before suddenly remembering something and zipping it back open, hunting around until he found a stud earring, which he put back in its place in his left ear. He pulled his shoes on and stood up, once again a boy ready to join the other humans.
He breathed in deep, his heightened sense not dulling, especially so soon after his last transformation, and he let the air out again, feeling slightly sad that he had to leave the freedom of his wolf-form for the socialist ways of the human.
Stepping out onto the tiny path that would soon melt into the road into town, Kestrel Arimn went out in search of the other mutant.
* * *
A tall, brown-eyed, golden blond boy stood on the street corner. He was leaning, keeping a building up and doing nothing, watching as the people went by. He was lean, lightly tanned and the slight breeze that had sprung up was tugging idly around his short, straight hair. The boy tilted his head back and closed his eyes, bringing attention to the chain around his neck. He was dressed in plain white sneakers, baggy dark denim jeans and a white wife beater, while a black leather jacket was tied around his waist, for convenience sake. The top he was wearing was low enough to show off the tattoo of the Chinese symbol for strength on his upper left arm show.
He didn't notice the blue eyes that studied him carefully as he enjoyed the cool breeze, eyes that were downwind from his current position.
While Kess' powers of smell were dim in this form, he could still tell that the boy possessed a mutation. If that wasn't proof enough, he could feel it, a slight uncomfortable sensation on the back of his neck. Here was one of the mutants he had scented, one of the people who would soon join his 'pack'.
Kess had spent a lot of time wandering on his own after discovering his mutation, and had recently decided to scour the country looking for others like himself whom he could help. He had heard of a place in Bayville, a supposed institute that had been set up especially for mutants. He had thought that he would take his pack there, giving them the chance that he hadn't had.
Deciding that his instincts were right about this boy, Kess approached him.
Andrew Troy heard the footsteps before he saw the person who belonged to them. He ducked down the alley a little bit, waiting for the person to pass by. When he head the footsteps taper off, he looked up, wary and on guard. It was a nasty surprise to him, then when he turned around only to come face-to-face with a man who looked older than him but still stood an inch shorter. Drew stood still, taking stock of his situation, confused and unsure of what the man could want. He didn't want to cause trouble if he could help it, but if the man thought that he was an easy target, or worse, a rent-boy, then he could be 'persuaded' off with a slight show of his powers.
Kess, for his part, stood at a distance from the boy, who looked to be about 17, which didn't totally trap him in, but which also gave Kess some control over the boy's movements should he choose to bolt. He could see the tension in the other, knowing from the behaviour that he had displayed that the boy had probably been on the streets for sometime. He, too, was a predator.
Andrew broke the silence.
"Who are you? What do you want?"
Kess stayed still and answered in a low calm voice.
"My name's Kestrel Arimn, also known as Kess. I want to help you."
Andrew looked confused.
"Help me how?"
He shifted his weight, ready to fight or flight should the need arise.
Kess leaned forward slightly and looked Andrew dead in the eye.
"I know what you are." He morphed so that his eyes turned yellow and his ears pointed slightly. That hidden sense of menace and quiet feral aura grew slightly. "I'm one too. I can smell it on you."
Andrew was scared. He had always been afraid of the supernatural, horror movies and their ilk, and now a real live werewolf was standing in front of him.
Kess could smell the fear coming from the mutant in front of him and morphed back into his human form.
"S'okay, I won't hurt you." He offered, standing back once more.
*Don't make him feel trapped. Hunt him. You want him to come to you. * Being a wolf at times had more advantages than appeared it seemed.
Andrew wasn't stupid. He had lived on the streets for some while, and was in an orphanage before that. He knew about some of the seedier things in life, and even if this guy was one of him, he was still a strange man. He had never trusted strangers.
Before they could go any further they heard a scream. Kess sensed another mutant and knew that one of his breed was in trouble. He looked at Andrew who stared back blankly. Although he saw no reason why he should put himself in trouble for an incident that was so commonplace around here, the new man's obvious compassion for the other person prodded Andrew into taking action.
He sighed and started to move.
"Come on then. Let's go see what's up."
Satisfied that Andrew would come with him, Kess started off towards the site of the scream himself.
* * *
A young girl standing at 5'4" at the most looked hurriedly over her shoulder as she walked briskly through the streets. She knew that she had to get to shelter as soon as possible or there might be trouble. This wasn't exactly the best place to be at night.
Her skin was pale with a tint of Asian colouring and it worked well against her naturally royal blue coloured hair. It was cropped close to her hair in a boy's style and gave her a bold but somehow also sensitive look. Her murky sea-green coloured were huge as they tried to strain the fading light in order to see as much of her surroundings as possible. Her baggy blue jeans made little noise as she moved along, but her cream top stood out like a beacon in the dim lamplight.
*Dammit, I'm an idiot. * She thought to herself. *I shoulda got to shelter sooner. I'm in loads of trouble if I don't get back quick. Argh, hurry, hurry, hurry! *Her inner monologue continued as she walked and she was so absorbed in berating herself that she failed to see the man standing in front of her until it was too late. She backed up and hit someone else who grabbed her around the waist. She screamed for help, then tried to stand on the man's instep but failed when he dodged. The man in front approached her saying something that she was too scared to listen to, so she kicked him in the shin instead. He cursed and dropped and she still struggled to get away, but the man who had a hold on her was strong and wouldn't let go.
She was about to scream again when there was a quiet 'oomph' from her captor and he fell heavily onto her. She rolled out from under him before he could actually bury her and turned to see a tall blond boy standing behind the man, hand held out. She watched him with wide eyes until she heard the other man whom she had kicked yelp as well. Keeping some of her attention on the blond, she turned to see yet another man, this one with soft sugar brown hair and soft blue eyes, pinning her attacker to the ground by his throat.
She instinctively knew that these people wouldn't harm her, and she settled back to watch vengeance being dealt.
Kess was livid. He knew what these kind of people would do to a young girl and the idea of anyone taking advantage of someone weaker then they were, in the same way that him and his kind were persecuted, sent an unusual bolt of magma up his spine. He morphed his mouth to show his wolf-canines and growled.
The man went totally and deathly still, his friend out for the count with severe burning on his back. His coat, the guy on the floor noted in the back of his mind, had melted right into his skin.
"You don't go around attacking people, do you hear me?" Kess snarled, emphasising his point by beating the man's skull against the pavement. The man whimpered and nodded as best as he could with a hand round his neck.
"You come anywhere near another innocent again I'll be back," Kess warned, pulling the man's knife from him and holding it near his crotch. "…I'll be back and you might loose more than your…" The man held his breath as Kess paused. Luckily for the would-be assailant, Kess slid the knife under his belt and cut it off. "…Belt." He finished with an evil wolfish grin.
He stood up and threw the knife to Andrew who caught it easily handle first. Without turning, Kess said, "Stay on the ground and don't move a muscle till we're round that corner. Geddit?"
He moved off, Andrew following him with his arm around the girl, soothing her with nonsense words.
When they had left, the attacker got to his feet, swallowed, pulled his belt up and ran for his life, leaving his friend lying on the street, his coat still burned onto his back.
* * *
The girl seemed shaken but otherwise fine, so Andrew put an arm around her to share his warmth with her and keep her from going into shock. She insisted she was okay after a while and moved away from him slightly. Kess gave her the same little talk that he had given Andrew, telling her who they were and that they knew what she was. She, unlike Andrew who was still edgy about the whole thing, agreed instantly, latching onto a new friend. She hadn't had someone she could really talk to for ages.
"So, what's your name?"
Andrew broke her out of her reverie.
She shuffled, slightly unsure of herself and replied. "I don't know. I'm known as Aqua, but I was in some kind of shipwreck and I've got amnesia. I don't remember my real name."
Kess blinked but said nothing and Andrew accepted this as well. He had met a few amnesiac children in his time at the orphanage.
"Well, at least we known that you were in England for a while." Andrew said, commenting on her accent.
After introductions had been made, powers were exchanged.
Kess and Andrew demonstrated, although Andrew said that he had to stop using his power so much as he would get tired.
Aqua explained to them that she had control over water, changing its temperature and shape, manipulating it and being able to breathe underwater.
It had gotten very dark by this point, so Aqua suggested that they go to the local homeless shelter for the night. Both boys, one who had been sleeping in the woods in wolf states, the other who had only just arrived in this town and didn't know any of the shelters just yet, took up her suggestion. They each got a bed for the night, and spent their first night as a group, none of them alone any more.
The next day, the trio got up and waited while Aqua packed her meagre belongings into Kess' backpack, as his only contained a few items besides clothes, while she only had a set of clothes as well. Andrew already had his own bag of things. They set off, taking their stuff, to look for other mutants. Kess had scouted while in wolf-mode and knew that there was at least one other mutant in town.
* * *
Brett Masters didn't look like a mutant. He had no strange physical qualities and was pretty well balanced mentally. He was tall, 6'1", with blond spiked up hair, green eyes and a jock body. He looked like an all round, average American 17 year old. He was dressed plainly in jeans, brown shoes and a white tee, which showed off his tattoos. A Chinese symbol on the left arm, barbed wire and a schoolgirl on the right. These and the earring in his left ear gave a slight edge to his otherwise clean-cut image. Kess and the others knew differently. They had been trailing the boy for a little while, enough for him to give them a demonstration of his powers as he stretched an arm up to catch a baseball that came flying his way. After pocketing it, he had left, making sure that no one had seen him. Andrew decided that he would have a go at recruiting the fellow mutant.
"Hey."
Brett stopped, afraid that someone had seen him use his powers. He turned to see a boy about his height and age standing there, seemingly defenceless. He relaxed.
"Hey yourself. You want me for something?"
"I do actually."
"Okay then. Spill."
Andrew stepped forward slightly and put out his hand.
"Shake first. It's only polite."
Brett put his hand out warily and took the other's. His eyes widened as he felt the hand in his gradually become hotter and hotter until he felt slight pain. He took his hand away to find the other boy's were glowing. He looked up into his brown eyes.
"I'm one too." Andrew said.
Brett, understanding and accepting what he'd been told despite what you may think, stood where he was as Andrew explained who he was, who the others were and why they wanted to talk to him. The other two appeared and introduced themselves, with Brett running appreciative eyes up and down Aqua.
"Hey." He smiled at her, sliding forward slightly. "You just joined up too? You know, I really like your…"
He was cut off as Aqua moved back and put a hand up.
"Hey, I'm… flattered… and all, but I'm not attracted to guys." She said
Brett gulped, having a slightly steamy thought about the blue-haired green eyed girl in front of him with another of his crushes, but was quickly snapped out of it by Kess sniggering quietly.
Andrew leaned over to Aqua.
"Hey, you really gay, or are you just saying that?" He questioned.
"I'm actually bi." She confided. "But don't tell him that, okay? He's not my type."
Andrew laughed and the three, now four, moved off to get Brett's few things. Brett had nothing more on him then a few more pairs of underwear and a couple more T-shirts, but he had to sign out of the boarding place that he was crashing in.
* * *
Later that night, the four now friends were wandering around, looking for what Kess was sure was the last mutant.
Kess was feeling slightly on edge by this point, having been wandering around unable to take a shower for a while. He liked to be clean, and decided that they would leave this town for Bayville as soon as possible, hopefully stealing a hotel room on the way. They also needed some proper food, as junk bought or nicked from the stallholders on the street didn't make for a good meal. He shifted slightly so that his sense of smell was heightened to wolf proportions and he caught the scent, very strongly. Another mutant for his pack.
The other three had followed Kess through the street until he stopped in front of what looked to be a club of some sort. He eyed the fairly busy front door before turning to the others behind him.
"Drew, stay here with Aqua okay? Brett, you come with me, the other mutant is in here somewhere."
The others agreed and Drew took Aqua a little ways into an alley where no one would see them to cause trouble if any came along. Brett followed Kess into the club. The bouncer admitted the good looking guys almost immediately and they stepped into the front entrance. As they went through a second door, Kess regretted having used his powers so soon before hand. They were walked into a practical wall of noise, thumping, screaming, roaring, angry rock music. There were lots of people in here and the air fairly crackled with the kinetic violent energy of the crowd.
Brett was less aware of the effects but also sensed the high energy level in the place. It made him want to fight something. He didn't like the music however, being more into rap than rock, but it was hard not to get caught up in the vicious frustration, anger and pain that swan through the air in the lyrics of the band and the rhythm of the song. Brett stayed very close to Kess.
Kess used the talents that he had developed while in the peace and loneliness of the forest near his home and was mentally blocking and ignoring all unnecessary distractions. He kept attention on his pack member, potential threats and the scent of the other mutant; still easy to catch even in the potpourri of scents the crowd was giving off. He realised that it was coming from the bar and made his way through the jumping crowd towards it.
Brett felt out of his league among all the weirdoes, deciding when he saw a girl with long spikes around her neck and boots like an army tank on her feet kick someone else in the groin that he wouldn't even try to flirt with anyone here. He just wanted to get out alive and unkicked.
Kess scanned the bar and noticed the guy they were looking for instantly.
He was short, 5'3" at the most, with very white porcelain skin and glossy black hair. It came down to his mid-shoulder blade in a spiky style which looked more like the boy had tried to hack it off himself before getting bored and leaving it. He was dressed in black mid-calf high boots, black leather trousers and a black mid-thigh length duster. He couldn't see anymore of the soon-to-be new recruit as he had his back to him, or rather, turned into someone else. He watched as the man took the boy by the hand and led him away into the bathroom.
Kess frowned. He motioned to Brett to follow him, and made his way through the throng to the bathrooms.
Surprisingly, the bathrooms were empty except for the boy and the man who had led him off. Kess heard Brett make a choked off noise as he saw the scene before him. Kess sighed inwardly. He hoped Brett wouldn't cause trouble with the new kid.
The boy was pinned against the wall locked in what looked like a pretty forceful kiss with the other man. As they parted suddenly, the boy panted for breath and then leaned forward and head butted the guy.
"Lemme go ya bastard or I'll give ya anuvver."
Kess growled as he realised that the boy wasn't in this situation by choice, especially when the smell of blood reached him. He morphed and lunged before anything else could happen, while instructing Brett to grab the boy.
Brett, confused and slightly grossed out by what he had just saw decided to put work before his personal feelings and grabbed the other boy, bringing him back out of the way of Kess who had pinned the man and was sinking his teeth into his arm. The boy he held trembled in his grip, suddenly turning and kicking out. It was a shame as Brett hadn't retracted his arms at this point and the kick went wide, but it was a good try anyway.
Kess pulled on the arm in his mouth and the man passed out in pain. *Good. * Kess thought. *I've had enough with people going around trying to just take others like they were dolls or something. * Kess re-morphed, spitting blood and struggling with his clothes. He had changed into a small model of his usual wolf so his clothes hadn't burst open. They were, however, tangled around him, so he pulled and twisted until they were back on him with some kind of normalcy. He put his shoes back on as he heard Brett swear from behind him and he chuckled. The boy had bit into the man's tongue to try and get him off him and hadn't apparently realised that he was in safe hands.
Brett swore when the boy went limp in his grasp. He retracted his grasp to get a better hold, when the boy reanimated and twisted sharply, almost getting free. Brett whipped his arm out again and grabbed the boy securely once more.
"Get the 'ell offa me." The boy shrieked in a very distinctive British accent.
"S'okay, we're not going to hurt you." Kess said soothingly. "Brett's going to let you go now okay. Just don't run off without listening to us first yeah?"
He nodded at Brett who dropped the boy, moving slightly to join Kess in front of him, trapping him subtly as Kess had done with Andrew.
The boy stood in a fighting stance, tense and ready to run while also keeping a careful eye on the new people. Kess raised an eyebrow as he noticed the strange vibrant red colour of the other's eyes, wondering how the kid thought he could walk around with such weird eyes uncovered without fear of being caught as a mutant.
*Duh! Have you seen some of the weirdoes out there? At least he has genetics as an excuse. * A little voice inside him that sounded suspiciously like Andrew said.
Brett was less discreet.
"Woah, dude, cool eyes."
The boy in front of them looked confused for a minute then smiled slightly.
"Yeah, well…"
From this angle, you could see that the boy had a red T-shirt on as well as long spiky bangs that came down to almost cover his eyes. Then there were those strange ruby eyes lined with inky black liner, making them stand out in the pale feminine face and flashes of what looked like a tongue stud in his mouth. He had a strange line of darker skin around his neck that looked like some kind of scar as well.
"We're mutants like you." Kess began.
"No shit, Sherlock." The boy snapped back. Brett growled.
"Look you little idiot." He snarled at the smaller boy. "Kess just saved your life okay. Don't go swearing at him unless you want me to finish what that guy started." He raised a fist threateningly.
Kess appeased Brett and explained, slowly, why they were there and what he was offering. The boy said nothing throughout, but had lowered his fists and a look of guarded relief had taken over his expression from the angered fear of earlier. He cocked his head.
"I s'pose I could come wif ya." He said at last. "Not like there's anyfing else I was doing."
As they walked out of the bathroom, the boy introduced himself as Diego. He was 15 and had been in America for a while despite his strong accent. He said nothing more about that and Kess let it go, as he himself didn't feel like talking about the past either.
A song had started up and Diego looked hopefully at Kess.
"Can we go after this song?" He pleaded.
Kess was going to say no until Brett nudged him in the back with an elbow. He scowled, turning to see Brett also looking pleading. *What the…? Whatever. *
Kess sighed. "Okay, okay. But take Brett with you. And just this one, then we have to get the others."
Diego grinned, whooped and grabbed Brett by the wrist, taking him into the crowd, which hadn't started up yet.
Brett had heard the first few bars of the next song and had suddenly decided that he might as well give dancing to this thing ago. Besides, he liked to prove that there was nothing he couldn't do, and this was something that he hadn't done yet. So he allowed himself to be dragged into whatever that was, by Diego.
"Remind me that that's a BAD idea next time I say I want to do that, okay?" Brett groaned to Kess when he finally emerged after the song. It had been okay at first until he had got into the mosh pit, where he was kicked, punched, hit and thrown around from body to body until he'd been stretched from the pressure and had had to crawl out. Diego had managed to stay on his feet, quite a feat for such a short guy, and he had kicked and bit himself, treading on others with his boots on. Screaming and laughing, he had even been carried up by the crowd and had surfed across them.
Kess watched as he danced to the slow bit at the end of the song with another girl, pressed up against her, back to back, swinging his hips and writhing slowly. Kess swallowed. He wondered if Diego's mutation was like his, only he'd become a cat instead of a wolf.
Diego finally reached them and they all left the club looking for the other two.
* * *
Aqua stood shivering in the cold as she and Andrew waited for the other two to some out. Andrew, warm due to his mutation, put his coat around her shoulders, and she looked up at him smiling gratefully. He decided to make conversation with her since there was nothing else that they could do.
"So, how old are you?" He began.
Aqua laughed shyly. "I don't remember. Clara said that I'm about 17. Clara is the woman who found me on the beach." She answered his unasked question. She really didn't want to talk about Clara at the moment.
Andrew seemed to notice it and dropped that subject. "Yeah? Me too."
"So how did you meet up with the wolfy wonder then?" Aqua asked cheekily.
"Actually, I met him a few minutes before I met you." Andrew laughed. He went on to tell her about how he had been confronted by Kess and then to tell her what he had been doing in the streets in the first place.
"I used to live in an orphanage. I was there 'til I was 15 and then my powers started coming through." Drew laughed at this point. "I totally destroyed the couch. Anyway, I left after that and I've just been travelling for a while since then."
He didn't really want to go into all the details at the moment, he hardly knew who she was after all, so he told her about his experiences with the little children in the orphanage which made her laugh.
Suddenly, a boy with silver hair and golden brown eyes walked up to them. His hair was dyed black at the tips and hung down to a couple of inches past shoulder length. The eyes were almond shaped and he stood at about 6foot in height, looking to be about 20 years old. He was broad and fairly muscular, wearing plain jeans and a dark green long-sleeved tee. Another boy was hanging onto his arm and standing slightly behind him. He looked younger, around 16 and was only 5'6" in height. He had brown eyes, the left of which had a light scar over the eyelid, and his hair was dark red and worn in a long ponytail. He was wearing tight jeans and a black T-shirt, covered with a jean jacket. He hung back, looking nervous, as the older boy addressed the two in the alley.
"Hi. I'm Felix and this is my boyfriend Grey." He introduced himself.
Aqua and Drew felt slightly confused and were silent.
"Don't take this the wrong way or anything, but we've been watching you for a while, and we know what you are."
Aqua paled and Drew stood in front of her protectively, raising his hands and starting to create a sort of heat shield between them. Felix held his hands up in a defensive move.
"S'ok. We're mutants too." He said, his boyfriend nodding behind him.
Drew put his hands down, watching them, while Aqua questioned them.
They had been watching the group since Brett had joined them, witnessing Brett's use of power as well and realising that they were all mutants. He had overheard them talking one evening and had decided that there was safety in numbers. His boyfriend and himself wanted to travel with them to this 'safe haven' that they kept going on about.
"I dunno." Drew began. "I'm sure Kess'll let you, but you have to ask him first."
"Yeah," Aqua put in. "He's gone off to find another mutant along with Brett."
Felix nodded and waited with them.
Soon enough, Kess and Brett emerged with a new person in tow. Andrew couldn't decide at first glance whether the figure was a boy or a girl, but noted that he was indeed a guy upon hearing him talk. Another one from England no less.
"Hey." Kess said tentatively to the two newcomers. He turned to Drew and Aqua. "Who are these guys?"
"This is Felix and Grey." Drew pointed out each one. "They want to know if they can join our merry band of travellers."
Kess looked them over before telling them that they were welcome to come along with them.
He then introduced Diego to Drew and Aqua and also Felix and Grey.
Drew and Aqua stared, shocked, at the colour of Diego's eyes, while Felix gave them a curious glance and Grey took it in his stride.
"Hey, so you're from Britain too then?" Diego questioned the other two.
"I think I am anyway." Aqua confessed. "I can't remember anything about myself. I was in a shipwreck and I have amnesia."
Felix made a sympathetic noise. "Yeah, I'm from England." He said. "I grew up 30 miles outside of London. I came here when I was 17 after the people who had me in care discovered that I was a mutant." Brett noticed that Felix squeezed his boyfriend's hand a little when he said this and realised that he too wasn't revealing all.
Diego was eyeing Grey and pointed a finger between the couple.
"So… you two a couple then?" Diego asked forthrightly.
Felix smiled at Grey who snuggled in closer. "Yeah." He said. "Have been for the last few months."
"So where did you come from Grey?" Aqua asked.
Grey fidgeted.
"I lived in Kansas until my powers came through and then I was kinda moved around places until I met up with Felix." He replied shyly.
"Anyway, we'd better get going now." Kess said, shaking everyone from their personal reveries. "It's getting later and we wanna make more headway by tomorrow if we're ever going to get to Bayville."
Diego didn't carry anything and neither did Grey. Felix had his own bag of things. Together, the little group now consisting of Kess, Drew, Aqua, Diego, Felix and Grey, made their way out of town towards Bayville and hopefully a better life.
* * *
It was Aqua who noticed, as they were walking down the road towards Bayville, that they didn't all know exactly what the others mutant powers were.
"And we need codenames too." Diego piped up, bouncing on his heels.
"What? Why?" Brett asked somewhat condescendingly. Brett and Diego did not like each other.
"Well, duh. Diego replied. "Ev'ryone knows that ya gotta have codenames if you're a mutant. They even have 'em in Bayville."
"Oh yeah?" Said Brett. "And how would you know?"
Diego went quiet and turned away. "Dunt matter. Just do s'all." He mumbled.
Kess had had enough of the fighting, so he interrupted.
"Aqua's right. We need to know what each other can do in case we run into any trouble. And as for the codenames, if you wanna have one, feel free."
Aqua started.
"As Drew and Kess already know, I can manipulate water. I can make it boil, freeze, become a tidal wave or a whirlpool or turn it into a bubble. I can even breath underwater, although I pass out after a while, to conserve oxygen. As for a codename, well, I already have one. Aqua. It's what Clara called me when she found me on the beach."
Kess spoke up before unwanted questions could be asked.
"I'm a lycanthrope. Basically, I can change into a wolf when I want, as Diego and Brett have already seen."
Brett turned to everyone's questioning glances.
"We had some trouble when we went to get the Brit here."
After Diego's 'hey' and Brett's following retort Kess continued.
"Depending on where I am, the fur adapts to the environment by changing colour, but it's normally black. I can grow to twice the size of a normal wolf for transport and I have enhanced senses after transformation. I think the codenames are a good idea, less chance of us getting caught then. I think Fenrir's a good one for me."
"Cool." Drew said. "My codename is easy, you can call me Melt. I can shoot heat waves from my hands, but if I do too many at a time, I get tired. I also can't hang round in hot places, coz I've got an elevated body temp. I'd pass out in the desert, fer example."
"I do this." Brett said, and then extended his neck, arms and legs simultaneously. Grey and Diego were fairly freaked by this, Grey hiding behind Felix and Diego hiding behind Drew. Kess noticed that his limbs had turned sort of slimy when he did this, but it ebbed away when he resized. "I can stretch up to fifteen feet if I want, but I sometimes get out of control when I get angry."
"I've got a great codename for you." Aqua said. "Stretch. It's simple and short."
Brett snorted. "So kinda like Diego then?"
Diego growled and came out from behind Drew. "Look, what the 'ell is your problem? Is it the gay thing or what? Coz it's getting annoying, and if ya can't take it, I'm thinking I should walk. I din't join you guys to get picked on again."
Brett leaned forward himself. "Well, good. And it's not the gay thing, I just don't like you."
Instead of having one of them walk off, like Kess had feared, Diego leaned back on his feet, smirking widely. "Well that's alright then. S'long as it ain't the whole 'I like guys' thing we'll get along. It'll be fun ta bug the 'ell outta you."
Brett growled and Felix, who was behind him, had to hold him back.
"Anyways, I don't really know what my mutation is." Diego ventured. "It's got sumfing to do with other people's blood."
Aqua looked slightly grossed out and the others also made a face.
"I do know that if I hum in a certain way I can make blood chill or get warmer. An' I can stop blood from clotting too. Look."
He pulled a knife out of his boot and pricked the tip of his thumb with it. As the others watched it bled sluggishly. Diego pulled in his bottom lip, apparently humming although it was too quiet for anyone else to hear. His thumb continued to bleed, until the blood has started to drip from the pinprick to the floor.
Surprisingly, Grey grabbed the other boy's thumb and put it in Diego's mouth. "Stoppit." He said.
Diego's eyes widened and he pulled the bloody thumb out with a pop.
"S'okay, I know what I'm doing." Diego reassured him. Grey scowled, telling him he didn't care.
Diego shrugged. "Anyhow, I fink I should be called Vamp, as in vampire, coz of the whole blood thing you know."
Drew watched, slightly disgusted, slightly mesmerised as Diego licked his slowly clotting cut like it was a lollipop. No one else noticed, too intent on listening to Felix who had started to talk, but Drew had a faint idea. Although it made him feel quite sick, it might make sense, and he decided to ask Kess about it later. As for now…
"I basically fire mental blasts at people to knock them out." Felix said. "If people have the X-gene, they won't be knocked out, they'll just lose their powers. I can fire it in a 170-degree semi-circle in front of me or directly at the person through my palms, if they're a mutant. Once they're powerless, I can fight them hand –to-hand. I have some knowledge of martial arts so…"
"So you can be called Knock-out." Brett suggested.
Felix liked that, so he nodded his approval.
"What's your power Grey?" Drew asked.
Grey was shy and sort of ashamed of his power. He had suffered a lot because of how he looked, but decided that these people, who were mutants, would be less discriminative than those he had originally been with.
He looked at Felix and squeezed his hand for reassurance before he spoke.
"I can, uh." He stopped and started again. "Um, you know other people's powers? Well, I can copy them. And their forms and memories and then I can take their places, or use their powers for up to three days if I want. I can retain loads of profiles but remembering two or three at a time is exhausting, and I can't forget their memories if I decide to forget their forms. I also have weak telepathy."
"Cool." Brett said. "So, is this your normal form or what?"
Grey sighed and Felix hugged him from behind reassuringly.
Grey concentrated and showed then his real form.
He still stood at 5'4" and he was slim, seeming slightly malnourished as well. His hair was dark brown, cut short and fluffing out in the back while hanging down in long bangs at the front, covering his eyes. The eyes in question were very dark blue with bright yellow flecks in them, but it was his skin that drew the gasps from his small audience. He had soft violet skin and small reptilian scales on his shoulders, neck, and spine and behind his ears.
"Coo-l" Diego stared, grinning hugely and wanting to touch it, but not daring to. Aqua was silent, her eyes shining with delight as she saw the pretty colour and wanted to stroke it too. She also didn't. Brett stared unabashedly, as Grey and Diego had done when he had stretched, although he was more shocked than disturbed. Kess and Drew both appeared unaffected but were amazed inside just as the others were.
Felix smiled and kissed his boyfriend on the cheek below his ear, whispering to him.
"See, that wasn't so bad. Now change back before I start charging them cash or hitting them for staring at my boyfriend. We know that Diego's gay and Kess is bi at least, and I don't want them having ideas."
The purple skin faded into black, the eyes retreated into brown and the hair shrunk and curled until a 5'4" rail thin African American was standing before them. He turned and kissed Felix on the mouth, surprising some and making others jealous.
He said his next sentence more loudly.
"Nah, I'm yours and your mine, and these know it."
Felix laughed with the others, happy to know that the acceptance of Grey's looks by the others had made him feel at home. He would now hopefully come out of his shell a little bit and start socialising some more.
* * *
The gang sighed collectively as Kess told them that Bayville wasn't getting any nearer y itself. They stood up from where they found themselves sitting, and moved off with various bags and backpacks towards Bayville, and a new life for all of them.
Good? Bad? Ugly? I need input from you guys, is there anything I am doing wrong or anything I can improve/take out? Is the plot too fast or too slow, or okay or what?
Remember, comments, criticism, yelling abuse, whatever email me at (talent_less_@hotmail.com) If you have any lines you want them to say, don't hesitate to drop me a line.
Thanks, see ya soon
- Talentless