An elderly man moved slowly on the tatami mats with slow graceful steps, in
his hands he clutched a long staff, which he twirled in graceful arcs. On
the other side of the small training room paced a boy in his early teens,
brown hair spilled into his green eyes that were squinted in deep
concentration. The old man darted forward swinging his staff in a downward
arc, the boy sidestepped and brought his own staff up in a block. As the
boys own staff dipped with the deflection he twisted swinging his staff
around low at the older mans legs. The two men flowed back and forth locked
in their duel, though it more closely resembled a well choreographed dance.
The older man's foot suddenly lanced out, reacting with well trained
reflexes the boy flipped backwards dodging the blow. As he came to land a
staff met his legs and dropped the boy to the ground.
"You did well young Duncan Blake, I will be sad to loose you as a student."
"Thank Master Tomo, I will be sad to loose you as a mentor and a friend." Replied Duncan in perfect Japanese.
"I trust you will continue your training in America?"
"I intend to, though finding a suitable mentor may be difficult."
"Well I am sure you can, just don't spend all day watching movies and be sure to write." The elderly Japanese man shook Duncan's hand and then retreated to the back room. Duncan grabbed a small duffel bag and headed outside to wait for the driver. His father was a diplomat in Tokyo, from the US, but decided to head back to the states to run for senator. Duncan was only fifteen, but had already lived in over six countries and three states, moving was nothing new to him. His dad claimed that this time the move would be permanent, but Duncan wasn't about to get his hopes up yet. The last four years he had lived in Japan and had been relatively happy and he was none to eager to leave now.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Duncan stepped out of the limo and onto his new driveway; a cool breeze blew in from the harbor as Duncan surveyed his new home. A large Victorian house stood before him and several acres of waterside property. Duncan moved into the front entryway and gave his mother a hug as she came to great her family. She had come to Connecticut several weeks ahead of Duncan and his dad to ready their new home. After bringing his bags to his room Duncan spent the rest of the night exploring the large home.
Later that night as Duncan lay watching The Usual Suspects on his laptop his thoughts drifted the new school he would have to attend the next day. The only positive thing was that school was only two weeks started, but it would be Duncan's first time in High School, which was somewhat terrifying. Shutting his computer off the sinewy Duncan shut his lights off and drifted into sleep.
Duncan wearily pulled a pair of jeans and slipped on a gray long sleeved t- shirt. Pushing his sleeves up his forearms Duncan bounded down the main stair three at a time and rushed outside to catch the bus. Stepping in the yellow beast Duncan walked down the aisle looking for an available seat. As he made his way down the length of the bus when he spotted a beautiful girl that was seated by herself, Duncan let a small lopsided cross his face.
"Is this seat taken?" Duncan asked the pretty blonde haired girl.
"It is actually, by me." Came a deep voice from behind Duncan. He turned to see a large boy with a mean scowl on his face. Duncan was about to make a glib remark, but the muscle bound idiot went to shove Duncan. Grabbing the large boys arm in midair he twisted the wrist and brought the boy to his knees.
"Maybe some other time then." Duncan said to the girl and gave her a wink. He dropped the boys arm and moved to take a seat next to a lean scruffy looking boy. The large boy made some threatening comments before he sat down next to the girl. Duncan smiled and cursed himself silently; well that's a good start to the day.
"By any chance that guy wouldn't have many friends his size?" Duncan asked with a wry smile.
"No of course not, he's just the best linebacker we have, so basically he's got the football team behind him. Your first day?"
"Of course it is, I'm Duncan."
"Pat, good to meet ya."
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
"Mom I'm going to Pats." Duncan yelled as he hastily made his way out the front door. That first day of school seemed distant, but it certainly had set the tone for the beginning of his year. Tim, the linebacker Duncan had downed, immediately became the bane of Duncan's existence, the kid did everything he could to make life for Duncan unpleasant. Pat in fact turned out to be a very cool kid and over the next three months the two boys became close friends. So as usual Duncan became known as the class clown and general wise ass.
Pat grabbed his bike and began to ride as quick as possible, from the looks of it there would be rain and perhaps a storm. The sky in response to Duncan's thoughts rumbled angrily and the first drops of rain began to plummet toward the ground. Duncan pumped his long legs quickly urging his bike to move even faster; luckily Pat did not live far from Duncan's own home.
Conner Blake shifted in his seat, Senator Williams smiled as he puffed on his cigar in his plush office.
"Tell me Conner where do you stand on the issue of mutants?" The aged senator asked his expression suddenly shifting to serious.
"I don't see it so much as an issue, its more of a threat, I think that if I were to be in office I would to all I could to keep this state and nation mutant free." Conner said with a devilish grin. He knew that the old man was quite opposed to mutants and that this would be a good time to express his own anti mutant sentiments.
"Good Conner, very good, you can count on me backing you for my replacement."
"Yo do you think your mom would drive us to the movie's?" Duncan asked.
"Nah she's got a dinner party to go to tonight, wanna play some Mortal Kombat?"
Duncan grabbed the x-box controller and waited for the game to boot up, as usual he picked Raiden, Pat picked Scorpion and they soon were locked in combat. Duncan made Raiden flip backwards and then shot a bolt of lightning at the yellow clad ninja. Pat sighed as Duncan finished him off quickly.
"You gotta stop picking Raiden, I mean its not even a challenge for you." Pat said in frustration.
"What can I say, he's been my favorite player in every version of the game."
"Yea well whenever you play with him there is no challenge in it."
Duncan grinned and picked another player, the boys played for a while longer, then gave up to order some pizza and to watch some TV. Outside a storm raged loudly as thunder rumbled and lightning crashed periodically. As the night drew on Duncan reluctantly left the comforts of Pats house and began his journey home.
Water splashed to either side of Duncan's bike as he sped along the water filled sidewalks. The sky grumbled loudly as thunder tumbled through the heavens; Duncan felt a strange tingling throughout his body. Duncan tilted his head and shifted his eyes skyward, several lightning bolts lanced out of the sky just as Duncan looked up. The bolts of raw energy impacted with unusual force all around Duncan, whom was thrown from his bike from the ensuing shock wave. He came to a rough landing in a puddle, his body went limp as he slid to a stop.
A middle aged man slammed on his brakes as he saw the lightning crash around the young boy sending him flying several meters through the air. Throwing open his door he ran from his car into the rain and came to a stop next to the seemingly unconscious boy.
"Hey kid you alright?" He asked as he reached out to turn the boy over.
The boy reeled from the man's touch and turned over gasping for air. He placed his hands on the ground for support and suddenly the man who had just touched him began writhe in pain as electricity flowed through the puddle and began to pass through his body. The man suddenly flew back as if struck by a blunt object. Duncan got to his feet quickly and began to speed away on his bike, his concerns ebbed a little as he saw another car stop to check on the man now laying still in the mud.
Rushing in through the side door Duncan took the stairs three at time that led to his room and sprinted down the hall till he fell into his bed panting. His mind raced as he tried to replay the last few minutes in his head, but he could not clear his thoughts nor bring the memories to mind. Slowly he rose to his feet and crossed his room to his bathroom. He turned the faucet on and splashed cold water on his face. His head rose slowly and he looked in the mirror. Shock and disbelief spread across his face as he looked at his own reflection. Slowly Duncan raised a hand to his face, his once clear green eyes glowed an intense blue white, like the color of a fierce bolt of lightning. There were no more pupils to speak of and as he starred at his face, periodically in his eyes small little bolts of energy would dance around in the eyes. Duncan stumbled back from the sink, his heart racing in terror, suddenly his hands began to glow a brilliant blue white and from them pure energy emerged to cut deep rivets in his floor, the electricity climbed from the floor up the wall and suddenly his overhead light exploded in a shower of glass and sparks.
Dropping to his knees in the darkness, tears welled up in Duncan's eyes as his mind reeled in horror. "What the hell is happening to me?" He mumbled through sobs. His thoughts drifted to his parents and how they would react to him, both were extremely old fashioned and did not take to change well. After minutes of lying on the cool marble floor Duncan knew the path he must take, he rose quickly and set about his task.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Duncan pulled open the door to the small diner and made his way to an empty booth. He slid his small bag next to him and glanced at the menu quickly. A plump woman in an apron came up to his table and smiled.
"What can I get ya hun?" She asked in a raspy voice, the smell of cigarettes was quite strong.
"Um I'll have a coke and a cheese burger, medium rare please."
"Ok I'll put your order right in Hun, you know its not that right in here hun." She said indicating the wrap around sun glasses Duncan wore to conceal his eyes.
"Thanks, but I got a bad head ache the light makes it worse."
She shrugged and waddled off to put in Duncan's order, he sat back and looked outside at the snow covered woods of western Massachusetts. It had been two months since that fateful night where he discovered that there was something terribly different in him than other people. He had run away knowing that his parents would hate him for being different, especially his dad, whom would claim that this would ruin the families reputation and his career. Fearing his parents reaction and his friends Duncan decided that the best course would to set off on his own, in effect leaving behind everything he knew and loved. Life on the run was not as bad as he thought; Duncan began spending lots of time in big bookstores just reading books for free and killing time. For the most part his life was fairly boring, but every once in a while his burgeoning powers would kick on their own, often causing a huge scene. Though Duncan had gained a measure of control of his powers, they often acted on their own for unseen reasons.
"Here you go hun, can I get you anything else?" Asked the waitress, Duncan snapped out of his thoughts and smiled.
"No thanks." He said and began to devour his lunch. The door bell dinged as two large men strode in, hoods still pulled up, though Duncan did not blame them, it was quite cold out. Without a second thought he turned back to his lunch. A loud crash and a shrill scream from the plump waitress made Duncan drop his burger.
"Shut up and gimme the cash!" yelled one of the men as he leveled a shotgun at the waitress. His words were slightly slurred and it sounded like he was somewhat drunk. Great drunk robbers, this probably wont end well. Duncan with his hands below his table formed a ball of crackling electricity in his hand. He whipped the ball at the shotgun wielding man and from his outstretched left hand lighting lanced forth to strike the second robber. Both men flew back from the attacks, Duncan grabbed his bag and in moments was sprinting down the road.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Duncan sat up from the steel bench as he heard the door being opened. He had been picked up by the police soon after fleeing the diner and had been in this cell for about half and hour. Moving to the front of the cell he saw a Police officer with a blank look on his face walking down the hall and a bald man in a wheelchair close behind. The cop opened the cell door and waited without saying a word.
"Hello Duncan, you have had quite a day." Said the bald man.
"How do you know my name? Who are you?" Duncan asked as he stepped out of the cell. The cop didn't move and stood with the same blank expression on his face.
"My name is Professor Charles Xavier, I run a school in New York, its for people with special powers, much like yourself. I'm here to offer you a chance to settle down and learn how to control your new powers."
"How did you find me?"
"I myself have powers, the ability to locate mutants is among them, you can have a look around the school, if you don't like what you see, you may leave."
"Ok deal, so am I in any trouble here?"
"Lets just say that you were never here." Xavier said with a smile.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
"This will be your room, we have made a few modifications so that your powers won't pose a threat." Xavier said.
Duncan smiled as he looked at the rubber walls, in fact just about everything was covered in rubber. His eyes however came to rest on the second bed that was in the room, he had not thought about having a roommate. With a quick look around Duncan surmised that someone was already living in this room.
"Won't having a roommate be, a well dangerous?" Duncan asked as he tossed his bag next to the closet.
"Not this particular one, his name is Michael Thorne, his power is the ability to absorb energy, so all your powers would do is raise his hair. He is in class right now, but you'll meet him later. Is there anything you need?"
"No I guess I'm all set."
I'll let you get settled, your roommate will be along shortly." Xavier said and then promptly left Duncan to himself. It only took him a few minutes to put away his things, he did not have much in the way of possessions. As he sat waiting Duncan occupied himself by forming globes of electricity and tossing them from hand to hand. After about a half hour of doing nothing Duncan got up and left his new room.
He walked slowly around the large mansion trying to get an idea of the layout, after ten minutes he found himself in a well-stocked kitchen. Duncan sat down and eagerly bit into his ham sandwich. As he finished his first half of the sandwich the door to the kitchen swung open and two very cute girls walked in and looked at him quizzically.
"Who are you?" Asked the girl in a yellow shirt and with short black hair.
"I'm Duncan, I am a new student here." He said as he got out the chairs to stand in front of the girls.
"I'm Jubilee and this is Kitty, so do you have powers like Scott? I mean is that why your wearing sunglasses?"
"Um I dunno Scott, but maybe I do, I just wear these so people don't get freaked out."
"Oh we understand, but its ok here, were all mutants, so what is your power?"
In response Raiden shot bolts of electricity back and forth between his hands, both girls grinned as he absorbed the electricity back into his hands.
"Cool, well we got class, but we'll see you around." Kitty said and they both left not letting Duncan get another word in. Shrugging he finished the rest of his sandwich and then headed back up to his room. A tall blonde haired boy sat at the desk in the room watching a dvd on his computer, he swiveled in his chair as Duncan walked in.
"Hey so I guess your Duncan?" Michael said offering a hand.
"Well that's the rumor, so how long have you been here."
"I've been here a little more than a year, its great, I mean we never have to hide what we are while were here. I'm supposed to take you to classes tomorrow and give you an official tour tonight, but I might as well give you the real tour." Michael said with a grin.
"What is this place?" Duncan said as he looked around the ultra modern facility that was in the lower levels of the mansion.
"This is the heart of the school, it has technology never even dreamed off by the outside world, all to train us, I'm sure you'll be joining training real soon."
"Sounds good, it will be nice to get my powers under complete control, it's a good thing that you can absorb electricity, whenever I have a bad sleep things tend to get interesting. So are you sure my powers wont hurt you?"
"Um well probably, wanna test it out? Just not too much power at first."
Duncan smiled and extended his hand to shot a small bolt of electricity towards Michael, the bolt struck him in the chest and immediately disappeared. Both boys smiled and Michael let s small sigh of relief escape.
Just then two people emerged from the elevator, in the lead was a short gruff looking man with a mean scowl on his face, and right behind him was a beautiful woman with flowing white hair.
"Michael why don't you let us talk to Duncan for a bit." The woman said. Duncan watched him leave then turned his attention back to the new arrivals.
"Duncan I'm Ororo Munroe and this is Logan, we are teachers here at the institute."
"Its nice to meet you." Duncan said.
"Well bub its time to see what you can do, follow us." Logan said and began walking down the corridor. Finally they arrived in a large domed room, Logan and Ororo took up places by the door and gestured Duncan to g to the middle of the room.
"Welcome Duncan, to the Danger Room, here is where we do some of our training, I am going to send you through a set of exercises to gauge your level of power and what kind of training you need." Said Professor X over an intercom.
"Hey bub just try not to get ur self hurt." Logan said with a smirk.
As if on cue the Danger Room came alive, Duncan sidestepped several energy blast and began running the gauntlet. Just ahead of him a metallic wall shot up from the ground, in response Duncan formed a staff and vaulted the wall, as he came to a landing several metallic discs came zooming towards him. From his crouched position he shot two bolts to knock two of the disc out of the air, he then pivoted whirling his staff of pure energy to come crashing down on the third.
Charles Xavier smiled as he watched the young boy work his way through the Danger Room, the longer he stayed in the more difficult the challenges became. Charles was surprised at the alacrity that Duncan showed in responding to the increasingly difficult challenges. Charles glanced at the timer that said Duncan had been at it for a solid thirteen minutes now. Charles could feel the strain the boy was feeling as he worked his way through the Danger Room. This however was the first time a student had done so well their first time in the danger room.
Duncan dropped to one knee as the room shimmered back to its real likeness, however he kept a wary eye out for any new threats. Ororo and Logan strode towards him, Ororo was smiling and Logan looked sour. The door to the danger room opened and Professor Xavier wheeled in.
"Well done Duncan, truly. Not many students would be able to last that long by themselves after training for a long time. I would like to do some more testing to discover more about your powers, I was not aware that you could create objects like that staff. I have a feeling that you have only just learned to use a fraction of your power. We will work on your powers in time, but for now lets focus on getting you acclimated with your new home, Ororo, Logan do you have anything you wish to add?"
"I would just like to say well done and welcome once more, oh and you have me for history tomorrow at nine am, don't be late." Ororo said with a wink.
"Not bad kid, you've got some good moves, we'll work on it and make em even better." Logan said. Duncan smiled at the compliments; perhaps he would really like it here after all.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
"You did well young Duncan Blake, I will be sad to loose you as a student."
"Thank Master Tomo, I will be sad to loose you as a mentor and a friend." Replied Duncan in perfect Japanese.
"I trust you will continue your training in America?"
"I intend to, though finding a suitable mentor may be difficult."
"Well I am sure you can, just don't spend all day watching movies and be sure to write." The elderly Japanese man shook Duncan's hand and then retreated to the back room. Duncan grabbed a small duffel bag and headed outside to wait for the driver. His father was a diplomat in Tokyo, from the US, but decided to head back to the states to run for senator. Duncan was only fifteen, but had already lived in over six countries and three states, moving was nothing new to him. His dad claimed that this time the move would be permanent, but Duncan wasn't about to get his hopes up yet. The last four years he had lived in Japan and had been relatively happy and he was none to eager to leave now.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Duncan stepped out of the limo and onto his new driveway; a cool breeze blew in from the harbor as Duncan surveyed his new home. A large Victorian house stood before him and several acres of waterside property. Duncan moved into the front entryway and gave his mother a hug as she came to great her family. She had come to Connecticut several weeks ahead of Duncan and his dad to ready their new home. After bringing his bags to his room Duncan spent the rest of the night exploring the large home.
Later that night as Duncan lay watching The Usual Suspects on his laptop his thoughts drifted the new school he would have to attend the next day. The only positive thing was that school was only two weeks started, but it would be Duncan's first time in High School, which was somewhat terrifying. Shutting his computer off the sinewy Duncan shut his lights off and drifted into sleep.
Duncan wearily pulled a pair of jeans and slipped on a gray long sleeved t- shirt. Pushing his sleeves up his forearms Duncan bounded down the main stair three at a time and rushed outside to catch the bus. Stepping in the yellow beast Duncan walked down the aisle looking for an available seat. As he made his way down the length of the bus when he spotted a beautiful girl that was seated by herself, Duncan let a small lopsided cross his face.
"Is this seat taken?" Duncan asked the pretty blonde haired girl.
"It is actually, by me." Came a deep voice from behind Duncan. He turned to see a large boy with a mean scowl on his face. Duncan was about to make a glib remark, but the muscle bound idiot went to shove Duncan. Grabbing the large boys arm in midair he twisted the wrist and brought the boy to his knees.
"Maybe some other time then." Duncan said to the girl and gave her a wink. He dropped the boys arm and moved to take a seat next to a lean scruffy looking boy. The large boy made some threatening comments before he sat down next to the girl. Duncan smiled and cursed himself silently; well that's a good start to the day.
"By any chance that guy wouldn't have many friends his size?" Duncan asked with a wry smile.
"No of course not, he's just the best linebacker we have, so basically he's got the football team behind him. Your first day?"
"Of course it is, I'm Duncan."
"Pat, good to meet ya."
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
"Mom I'm going to Pats." Duncan yelled as he hastily made his way out the front door. That first day of school seemed distant, but it certainly had set the tone for the beginning of his year. Tim, the linebacker Duncan had downed, immediately became the bane of Duncan's existence, the kid did everything he could to make life for Duncan unpleasant. Pat in fact turned out to be a very cool kid and over the next three months the two boys became close friends. So as usual Duncan became known as the class clown and general wise ass.
Pat grabbed his bike and began to ride as quick as possible, from the looks of it there would be rain and perhaps a storm. The sky in response to Duncan's thoughts rumbled angrily and the first drops of rain began to plummet toward the ground. Duncan pumped his long legs quickly urging his bike to move even faster; luckily Pat did not live far from Duncan's own home.
Conner Blake shifted in his seat, Senator Williams smiled as he puffed on his cigar in his plush office.
"Tell me Conner where do you stand on the issue of mutants?" The aged senator asked his expression suddenly shifting to serious.
"I don't see it so much as an issue, its more of a threat, I think that if I were to be in office I would to all I could to keep this state and nation mutant free." Conner said with a devilish grin. He knew that the old man was quite opposed to mutants and that this would be a good time to express his own anti mutant sentiments.
"Good Conner, very good, you can count on me backing you for my replacement."
"Yo do you think your mom would drive us to the movie's?" Duncan asked.
"Nah she's got a dinner party to go to tonight, wanna play some Mortal Kombat?"
Duncan grabbed the x-box controller and waited for the game to boot up, as usual he picked Raiden, Pat picked Scorpion and they soon were locked in combat. Duncan made Raiden flip backwards and then shot a bolt of lightning at the yellow clad ninja. Pat sighed as Duncan finished him off quickly.
"You gotta stop picking Raiden, I mean its not even a challenge for you." Pat said in frustration.
"What can I say, he's been my favorite player in every version of the game."
"Yea well whenever you play with him there is no challenge in it."
Duncan grinned and picked another player, the boys played for a while longer, then gave up to order some pizza and to watch some TV. Outside a storm raged loudly as thunder rumbled and lightning crashed periodically. As the night drew on Duncan reluctantly left the comforts of Pats house and began his journey home.
Water splashed to either side of Duncan's bike as he sped along the water filled sidewalks. The sky grumbled loudly as thunder tumbled through the heavens; Duncan felt a strange tingling throughout his body. Duncan tilted his head and shifted his eyes skyward, several lightning bolts lanced out of the sky just as Duncan looked up. The bolts of raw energy impacted with unusual force all around Duncan, whom was thrown from his bike from the ensuing shock wave. He came to a rough landing in a puddle, his body went limp as he slid to a stop.
A middle aged man slammed on his brakes as he saw the lightning crash around the young boy sending him flying several meters through the air. Throwing open his door he ran from his car into the rain and came to a stop next to the seemingly unconscious boy.
"Hey kid you alright?" He asked as he reached out to turn the boy over.
The boy reeled from the man's touch and turned over gasping for air. He placed his hands on the ground for support and suddenly the man who had just touched him began writhe in pain as electricity flowed through the puddle and began to pass through his body. The man suddenly flew back as if struck by a blunt object. Duncan got to his feet quickly and began to speed away on his bike, his concerns ebbed a little as he saw another car stop to check on the man now laying still in the mud.
Rushing in through the side door Duncan took the stairs three at time that led to his room and sprinted down the hall till he fell into his bed panting. His mind raced as he tried to replay the last few minutes in his head, but he could not clear his thoughts nor bring the memories to mind. Slowly he rose to his feet and crossed his room to his bathroom. He turned the faucet on and splashed cold water on his face. His head rose slowly and he looked in the mirror. Shock and disbelief spread across his face as he looked at his own reflection. Slowly Duncan raised a hand to his face, his once clear green eyes glowed an intense blue white, like the color of a fierce bolt of lightning. There were no more pupils to speak of and as he starred at his face, periodically in his eyes small little bolts of energy would dance around in the eyes. Duncan stumbled back from the sink, his heart racing in terror, suddenly his hands began to glow a brilliant blue white and from them pure energy emerged to cut deep rivets in his floor, the electricity climbed from the floor up the wall and suddenly his overhead light exploded in a shower of glass and sparks.
Dropping to his knees in the darkness, tears welled up in Duncan's eyes as his mind reeled in horror. "What the hell is happening to me?" He mumbled through sobs. His thoughts drifted to his parents and how they would react to him, both were extremely old fashioned and did not take to change well. After minutes of lying on the cool marble floor Duncan knew the path he must take, he rose quickly and set about his task.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Duncan pulled open the door to the small diner and made his way to an empty booth. He slid his small bag next to him and glanced at the menu quickly. A plump woman in an apron came up to his table and smiled.
"What can I get ya hun?" She asked in a raspy voice, the smell of cigarettes was quite strong.
"Um I'll have a coke and a cheese burger, medium rare please."
"Ok I'll put your order right in Hun, you know its not that right in here hun." She said indicating the wrap around sun glasses Duncan wore to conceal his eyes.
"Thanks, but I got a bad head ache the light makes it worse."
She shrugged and waddled off to put in Duncan's order, he sat back and looked outside at the snow covered woods of western Massachusetts. It had been two months since that fateful night where he discovered that there was something terribly different in him than other people. He had run away knowing that his parents would hate him for being different, especially his dad, whom would claim that this would ruin the families reputation and his career. Fearing his parents reaction and his friends Duncan decided that the best course would to set off on his own, in effect leaving behind everything he knew and loved. Life on the run was not as bad as he thought; Duncan began spending lots of time in big bookstores just reading books for free and killing time. For the most part his life was fairly boring, but every once in a while his burgeoning powers would kick on their own, often causing a huge scene. Though Duncan had gained a measure of control of his powers, they often acted on their own for unseen reasons.
"Here you go hun, can I get you anything else?" Asked the waitress, Duncan snapped out of his thoughts and smiled.
"No thanks." He said and began to devour his lunch. The door bell dinged as two large men strode in, hoods still pulled up, though Duncan did not blame them, it was quite cold out. Without a second thought he turned back to his lunch. A loud crash and a shrill scream from the plump waitress made Duncan drop his burger.
"Shut up and gimme the cash!" yelled one of the men as he leveled a shotgun at the waitress. His words were slightly slurred and it sounded like he was somewhat drunk. Great drunk robbers, this probably wont end well. Duncan with his hands below his table formed a ball of crackling electricity in his hand. He whipped the ball at the shotgun wielding man and from his outstretched left hand lighting lanced forth to strike the second robber. Both men flew back from the attacks, Duncan grabbed his bag and in moments was sprinting down the road.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Duncan sat up from the steel bench as he heard the door being opened. He had been picked up by the police soon after fleeing the diner and had been in this cell for about half and hour. Moving to the front of the cell he saw a Police officer with a blank look on his face walking down the hall and a bald man in a wheelchair close behind. The cop opened the cell door and waited without saying a word.
"Hello Duncan, you have had quite a day." Said the bald man.
"How do you know my name? Who are you?" Duncan asked as he stepped out of the cell. The cop didn't move and stood with the same blank expression on his face.
"My name is Professor Charles Xavier, I run a school in New York, its for people with special powers, much like yourself. I'm here to offer you a chance to settle down and learn how to control your new powers."
"How did you find me?"
"I myself have powers, the ability to locate mutants is among them, you can have a look around the school, if you don't like what you see, you may leave."
"Ok deal, so am I in any trouble here?"
"Lets just say that you were never here." Xavier said with a smile.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
"This will be your room, we have made a few modifications so that your powers won't pose a threat." Xavier said.
Duncan smiled as he looked at the rubber walls, in fact just about everything was covered in rubber. His eyes however came to rest on the second bed that was in the room, he had not thought about having a roommate. With a quick look around Duncan surmised that someone was already living in this room.
"Won't having a roommate be, a well dangerous?" Duncan asked as he tossed his bag next to the closet.
"Not this particular one, his name is Michael Thorne, his power is the ability to absorb energy, so all your powers would do is raise his hair. He is in class right now, but you'll meet him later. Is there anything you need?"
"No I guess I'm all set."
I'll let you get settled, your roommate will be along shortly." Xavier said and then promptly left Duncan to himself. It only took him a few minutes to put away his things, he did not have much in the way of possessions. As he sat waiting Duncan occupied himself by forming globes of electricity and tossing them from hand to hand. After about a half hour of doing nothing Duncan got up and left his new room.
He walked slowly around the large mansion trying to get an idea of the layout, after ten minutes he found himself in a well-stocked kitchen. Duncan sat down and eagerly bit into his ham sandwich. As he finished his first half of the sandwich the door to the kitchen swung open and two very cute girls walked in and looked at him quizzically.
"Who are you?" Asked the girl in a yellow shirt and with short black hair.
"I'm Duncan, I am a new student here." He said as he got out the chairs to stand in front of the girls.
"I'm Jubilee and this is Kitty, so do you have powers like Scott? I mean is that why your wearing sunglasses?"
"Um I dunno Scott, but maybe I do, I just wear these so people don't get freaked out."
"Oh we understand, but its ok here, were all mutants, so what is your power?"
In response Raiden shot bolts of electricity back and forth between his hands, both girls grinned as he absorbed the electricity back into his hands.
"Cool, well we got class, but we'll see you around." Kitty said and they both left not letting Duncan get another word in. Shrugging he finished the rest of his sandwich and then headed back up to his room. A tall blonde haired boy sat at the desk in the room watching a dvd on his computer, he swiveled in his chair as Duncan walked in.
"Hey so I guess your Duncan?" Michael said offering a hand.
"Well that's the rumor, so how long have you been here."
"I've been here a little more than a year, its great, I mean we never have to hide what we are while were here. I'm supposed to take you to classes tomorrow and give you an official tour tonight, but I might as well give you the real tour." Michael said with a grin.
"What is this place?" Duncan said as he looked around the ultra modern facility that was in the lower levels of the mansion.
"This is the heart of the school, it has technology never even dreamed off by the outside world, all to train us, I'm sure you'll be joining training real soon."
"Sounds good, it will be nice to get my powers under complete control, it's a good thing that you can absorb electricity, whenever I have a bad sleep things tend to get interesting. So are you sure my powers wont hurt you?"
"Um well probably, wanna test it out? Just not too much power at first."
Duncan smiled and extended his hand to shot a small bolt of electricity towards Michael, the bolt struck him in the chest and immediately disappeared. Both boys smiled and Michael let s small sigh of relief escape.
Just then two people emerged from the elevator, in the lead was a short gruff looking man with a mean scowl on his face, and right behind him was a beautiful woman with flowing white hair.
"Michael why don't you let us talk to Duncan for a bit." The woman said. Duncan watched him leave then turned his attention back to the new arrivals.
"Duncan I'm Ororo Munroe and this is Logan, we are teachers here at the institute."
"Its nice to meet you." Duncan said.
"Well bub its time to see what you can do, follow us." Logan said and began walking down the corridor. Finally they arrived in a large domed room, Logan and Ororo took up places by the door and gestured Duncan to g to the middle of the room.
"Welcome Duncan, to the Danger Room, here is where we do some of our training, I am going to send you through a set of exercises to gauge your level of power and what kind of training you need." Said Professor X over an intercom.
"Hey bub just try not to get ur self hurt." Logan said with a smirk.
As if on cue the Danger Room came alive, Duncan sidestepped several energy blast and began running the gauntlet. Just ahead of him a metallic wall shot up from the ground, in response Duncan formed a staff and vaulted the wall, as he came to a landing several metallic discs came zooming towards him. From his crouched position he shot two bolts to knock two of the disc out of the air, he then pivoted whirling his staff of pure energy to come crashing down on the third.
Charles Xavier smiled as he watched the young boy work his way through the Danger Room, the longer he stayed in the more difficult the challenges became. Charles was surprised at the alacrity that Duncan showed in responding to the increasingly difficult challenges. Charles glanced at the timer that said Duncan had been at it for a solid thirteen minutes now. Charles could feel the strain the boy was feeling as he worked his way through the Danger Room. This however was the first time a student had done so well their first time in the danger room.
Duncan dropped to one knee as the room shimmered back to its real likeness, however he kept a wary eye out for any new threats. Ororo and Logan strode towards him, Ororo was smiling and Logan looked sour. The door to the danger room opened and Professor Xavier wheeled in.
"Well done Duncan, truly. Not many students would be able to last that long by themselves after training for a long time. I would like to do some more testing to discover more about your powers, I was not aware that you could create objects like that staff. I have a feeling that you have only just learned to use a fraction of your power. We will work on your powers in time, but for now lets focus on getting you acclimated with your new home, Ororo, Logan do you have anything you wish to add?"
"I would just like to say well done and welcome once more, oh and you have me for history tomorrow at nine am, don't be late." Ororo said with a wink.
"Not bad kid, you've got some good moves, we'll work on it and make em even better." Logan said. Duncan smiled at the compliments; perhaps he would really like it here after all.
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