side note; a better title is in the works.
this sort of sets up the story. also, you should know that i have a very basic knowledge of xmen - the only movie i've seen is days of future's past - and i basically just like the idea of xmen so we're gonna roll with that.
In the grand scheme of things, Percy's stresses were a mere whimper coming from a rather small animal.
But he's not much of a global thinker, so instead he finds himself cursing under his breath as he presses his lucky pen to the lines of his crisp paper. The paper that will, in fact, basically determine if he gets into NYU, if he gets accepted into the marine studies program he's been working so hard for.
"You done?"
His eyes snap up to meet the receptionist's—no way was he going to take his application home, it'd be skittering on the subway tracks or lost underneath his socks on his bedroom floor before long—and she doesn't seem to be in a very patient mood. Percy'd been a tad late, and had only arrived five minutes before they close.
He replies with a "just about" as he grapples with a few basic pieces of information about himself. The fact that he temporarily can't remember his address should be worrisome, but in all honesty, he's surprised he's able to write down his short list of extracurricular activities he'd done in the last four years.
After messily scrawling his signature and attaching the most elaborate pieces - including various essays and resumes that he'd previously done at home - Percy places it on the counter that the receptionist had previously indicated for it go.
He bids his farewell in a quick manner, and just as hurriedly shoots out of the single door, hoping to make it to the station and onto the F train before it finishes boarding.
He barely misses the subway, and because he's not eager to wait for it in the underbelly of the city after five, he takes to the rather crowded streets above.
During rush hour, it's practically impossible to catch a cab, as well as expensive, so a few minutes of walking later, he's passing a small fountain, strangely devoid of people, aside from a young-looking couple sitting on one of the benches nearby.
Percy takes this moment to skim his fingers on the surface of the icy water, relishing in the almost energizing feeling he's getting from it. He closes his eyes, lets go of all the stress he's been having lately, with college admissions and various school works and the swim team and his mom and -
"Stop it!"
He moves even before he knows what he's doing, towards the source of the outcry. It was one half of the pair, the girl. She's backing away in fear from the tall figure in front of her—who didn't look at all like the boy she was with earlier, but Percy wasn't necessarily a very perceptive person.
He practically jumps across the girl, pushes her behind him, and faces her assailant. A big, meaty guy with a pair of dark, dark eyes. "What the hell are you doing?"
He regrets it almost immediately, or maybe his face does. With the punch he just had the pleasure of receiving, he'll be sporting a shiner for weeks.
It doesn't phase him, though; he's used to this kind of behavior. Growing up in Manhattan makes prickish jerks a pretty common theme throughout his life. With the guy being maybe twice his size, he doesn't hesitate before bringing his knee the man's crotch, hoping that will give him enough time to flee.
And that, of course, doesn't even make the attacker flinch. He keeps trucking, grabs Percy by the arm and practically flips him onto the concrete. As pain shoots up his back, he sees the man start to go after the girl again, who's frozen in fear a few yards away.
A roar fills his ears, kind of like when you're alone on the beach, with just you and the ocean, and it's all you can hear for miles. Percy doesn't know how it happens, but the man is down, completely drenched with water and now, somehow, unable to breathe, sputtering on the ground like a child trying to cough up all of the water after jumping into the pool by himself and forgetting to close his mouth.
Percy's able to get up even if the man can't, and he tries to find the girl, but she's disappeared. She must have gathered her wits and split.
As the man still hobbles on the ground, Percy isn't sure what to do, so he decides to get away from here as well. Hopefully someone else will find him.
He's nearly out of the general area when he hears a scraping—like steel or iron against concrete—and sharply turns to see the park bench pulled to where the man is, with one of its legs wrapped around his hands almost like a handcuff.
Percy's so confused, he looks around for someone—though who could have bent the metal that way, or even moved the nailed down bench?
Since he has no answer, and it's unlikely that he'll get one anytime soon, he slowly leaves.
Later, as he recounts the story to his mom over a dinner of pizza stretched out on the couch, he leaves out the moving and malleable park seating and writes it all off as a freak accident, one where there was no real explanation.