"How the tour with the new kid go, Sage?" Storm asked. She was standing at the window, watching the clouds go by.
"Good. He seems nice, though he's a little upset at the moment," she said. She joined Storm at the window. "Are you okay, Storm? I know it's been awhile..."
"I'm okay, Sage. I just never thought I'd be in this position. This is Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters, not Ororo's. And Jean is gone. And Scott." A tear slid down her cheek as the clouds outside opened, releasing a heavy rain.
"I know it's hard, Storm. I'm sorry we drifted apart, but I'm glad you called me to help you and Logan. It's always darkest just before the dawn," Sage smiled at how cliched she sounded, and Storm made a sound half-way between a snort and a sob.
"So, before I start the waterworks again, why don't you tell me about..."
"Cameron Davies. I did a brief genetic map while I showed him around, and boy is he one powerful teenager."
"I thought he was telekinetic. We have other student's like that here, and most of them aren't terribly powerful. Nothing to sneeze at, but no Magneto."
"He is telekinetic, but I doubt even he realizes the extent of his powers. He can not only move things with his mind, but he can also direct the flow of kinetic energy from objects. He can freeze things, or heat them up. He could probably even absorb the force from a punch and use it for something else.
And, he's got a few other ESP-related powers- a limited form of precognition and empathy, I'd say."
"That's...a lot of power. What class would you put him in?"
"Omega," Sage said automatically. "Storm, remember how you said that you wanted me to awaken or evolve the genetic potential of all of the students so that there was no one with a partial or uncontrolled power needlessly struggling. Well, I did the same with him...but he's so strong that the changes won't be automatic. I doubt his telekinesis will get much stronger, but his psi powers will and I don't know what they'll be yet."
"It's okay, Sage," Storm hugged her friend. "Things can't get any worse than they are right now."
Cameron stood awkwardly in the center of the lunch room, his lunch tray gripped in his hands as he tried to sort through the crowd. He wasn't particularly phased by the strange make-up- blue skinned teenagers mixed with normal teens or a girl covered in fur sitting next to a pretty blonde. He wasn't even shocked by the gruff man standing in a corner, chaperoning. No, he wasn't shocked by the mish-mash of people- in fact he was encouraged by it- he was simply to shy to ask someone if he could sit next to them.
"Rogue, you don't belong here anymore," he turned and saw a pretty blonde talking to an even prettier brunette with a single streak of white in her hair.
"Emma, I have as much right to be here as you do," Rogue replied, her soft voiced colored with a slight southern accent.
"Really, so what power do you have now? Oh wait, you don't because you betrayed everyone here by taking the Cure," Emma replied. A crowd had begun to gather as the two girls confronted each other, and they gasped at this revelation. A flash of hurt and betrayal crossed Rogue's face.
"Emma, how could you? You should no how much I suffered with my...ability and how much I suffer wondering whether I did the right thing. How could you..."
"Expose you," a large guy said. He pushed to the front of the crowd- an easy task considering his heavily muscled build. "No matter what you could do, how could you betray us that way?" And then he pushed her, though not so hard that she fell down.
Cameron set his tray on the table and moved between them.
"Aren't you being a little sanctimonious? You don't know what she could do, or what drove her to take the Cure? Some people suffer more than others because of what they can do. Who are you to judge when a person has suffered enough?"
The large man looked speechless, and Cameron caught just a brief glimpse of the future where the man lunged at him and nothing more. He had taken tae kwon do lessons, at his father's insistence, since he was five. Still, he barely weighed 165 and the other man had to weigh at least 250. He could use his power if he had to, but that was an absolute last resort.
Sure enough, the man lunged at him. Cameron stepped aside, grabbing the man's left wrist as he did so. He twisted the arm and put him in a headlock so that the man gave a muted scream.
"Everybody, go sit down," the gruff teacher said. "Emma, you go and wait outside of Miss Monroe's office. Ron, go with her. If she calls you in, tell her I'll be right there." The crowd disbanded and a sullen Emma and smoldering Ron left the lunch room.
"Are you okay, Rogue?" a young, handsome man asked. Cameron thought he had seen him on the edge of the crowd, looking indecisive.
"No thanks to you, Bobby," she snapped. Bobby looked hurt, and took a step back. "Thank you..."
"Cameron, Cameron Davies. I should've stepped up sooner, but I'm new and I wasn't sure what was going on."
"At least you did step up," Wolverine said, glaring at Bobby. "I've got to go deal with Emma and Ron. Rogue, if you want to talk or anything, just come see me when your classes are over."
"I really do want to thank you," Rogue said, extending her hand.
"It was no problem," Cameron said. As his hand touched hers, he felt something like a static-spark jump between them and the faint scent of ozone reached his nostril. HIs eyesight narrowed down to pinpricks and as he succumbed to the darkness he heard someone screaming in pain and felt something hit the ground near him.
"Where are we?" Rogue asked as Cameron woke up. They were in a simple room whose walls were covered in large, gray tiles. "I mean, I think it's the Danger Room, but how did we get here and why would they take us here?"
"How long have I been out?" Cameron asked.
"I don't know, I just got up too. How are you feeling?"
"My head hurts, but other than that I'm fine. Maybe we should look for someone to tell us what's going on."
"Good plan," she stood up and offered him her hand. They made their way to the large doorway. The door didn't open.
"Hello, will someone let us out!" Rogue called. They both banged on the door for an hour, but no one came.
"I tried to open the door with my power, but it won't budge. It's like it's not even there, or I'm powerless. I'm assuming that if someone was there they would have come by now. We're trapped!"
Wolverine gently stroked Rogue's hair off of her face, the plastic examination gloves preventing her from draining his powers. "What happened, Sage? Why did the Cure wear off?"
"I wish I knew why the Cure wore off, Wolverine. Right now, Rogue's latent abilities are all in the process of activating themselves. I'd guess that the conflict you told us about in the lunchroom was the catalyst. Unfortunately, Cameron was extremely powerful before I jump-started his powers, and he could only get more powerful. My guess is that they kind of short-circuited each other...maybe."
"When are they going to wake up?" Storm asked.
"I don't even know if they are going to wake up."
