Only three weeks had passed since Will had left the X-men academy. His extreme dislike for the training system had finally been too much, and he had left. Will liked the professor, but the trainees had been too chaotic, and the leader had been too orderly. Not a place for a mutant who could cause gravitational disturbances.
Will looked around at the little town he had just entered. The traffic light blinked like it was stuttering out its commands to the drivers, not confident enough to tell them to stop and go with steady conviction. The Flemington National Bank across the street looked smugly at all the other buildings, knowing it contained the wealth of the 30,000 inhabitants of Flemington. The newly built fast food restaurant next to it, McDoogles, looked like a clown with the bright colors and dancing lights. The hardware store across the street was dirty from years of car exhaust, since the owner never cared for the outside of his store. The big red lettering on the wall above the glass storefront was lit up except for one r and one e. Flemington Hadwar.
Will stood beneath the sign and sighed. Maybe he could find work here. He entered the store and looked for the person in charge, but the lighting was not very good and his eyes took a moment to get accustomed to it.
When his eyes finally allowed him to see, his pulse quickened. A pair of thugs were coming toward him with what appeared to be metal pipes, while behind them he could see a man pointing a gun at the employee behind the counter. Will instantly caused himself to counteract the gravity directly beneath his feet, while enhancing the gravity in front of the two thugs, who had almost reached him. The two thugs dropped the pipes and tripped over them as Will jumped lightly over the sprawled and tangled mass of arms and legs. Will made sure that a field of extra strong gravity held the two in place as he headed toward the man with the gun.
"Drop the gun, lowlife, before you hurt yourself!" Will shouted as the whiskered man turned the gun toward him.
The loud pop that emanated from the gun was followed by a yelping as the bullet came out of the gun barrel and went straight down into the gunman's booted foot. Will shoved the shreiking gunman into a display of chains of all sizes and kicked the gun out of his hand. The chains unraveled from their spools and held the whiskered gunman down. The employee had ducked behind the counter at the sound of the gunshot, and was huddled there when will reached him.
"Are you OK? Call the police, I'll make sure these punks are ready for them when they get here." Will didn't give the employee time to answer, he grabbed a lawn tractor in each hand and gently set one on each of the thugs, so they couldn't move once he removed the extra strong gravity from beneath them. He wrapped some small chain around the arms and legs of the whiskered gunman, and used a small gravity reversal field to lift the gun from the floor and floated it gently to the counter behind the employee who was too busy explaining the situation to the police on the phone to see what was happening. Once Will was satisfied the the situation was under control, he slipped out through the side exit and across the street to the chaos of the McDoogles' flashing lights and blaring music.
He felt around in his pockets and pulled out the last of his change, counted it. Only $1.23 and some pocket fluff. He had enough for a burger or french fries, but not both. A tough choice. He ordered the burger, and paid the girl. Two cents left. He thought about the life he had chosen, leaving the academy where he could eat three meals a day, and he didn't have to hide his powers. Out here, he had to make everything look like a coincidence, he could never tell anyone about his abilities. Mutants were not accepted in the real world, they were studied, examined, tested, dissected, placed in specimen bottles. But Will couldn't go back to the professor's academy, either. He didn't fit in with the others. He didn't like the immaturity of the trainees, nor did he want to be involved with the misguided members of the brotherhood. And he definitely had no use for Magneto. Will's power was the one thing Magneto was afraid of, because Will could counteract some of Magneto's powers. He had already messed up one of Magneto's missions when he had reversed the gravity fields all around Magneto, causing him to lose concentration and the magnetic waves to deflect away from their target.
Fortunately for Will, nobody but Professor X knew about Will's abilities. The training he had received had been solitary, and he had never told anyone else what he could do. He preferred to keep it that way, less people to bother him. His run in with Magneto had been at a museum, and Magneto had not seen him among the crowd of patrons there.
Will knew that he couldn't stay here in Flemington, now that he had used his power. He couldn't avoid having to explain how he had done what he did by staying in town.
Will ate his burger, as he headed away from the stuttering traffic light, the sound of sirens and racing police cars behind him.
Will looked around at the little town he had just entered. The traffic light blinked like it was stuttering out its commands to the drivers, not confident enough to tell them to stop and go with steady conviction. The Flemington National Bank across the street looked smugly at all the other buildings, knowing it contained the wealth of the 30,000 inhabitants of Flemington. The newly built fast food restaurant next to it, McDoogles, looked like a clown with the bright colors and dancing lights. The hardware store across the street was dirty from years of car exhaust, since the owner never cared for the outside of his store. The big red lettering on the wall above the glass storefront was lit up except for one r and one e. Flemington Hadwar.
Will stood beneath the sign and sighed. Maybe he could find work here. He entered the store and looked for the person in charge, but the lighting was not very good and his eyes took a moment to get accustomed to it.
When his eyes finally allowed him to see, his pulse quickened. A pair of thugs were coming toward him with what appeared to be metal pipes, while behind them he could see a man pointing a gun at the employee behind the counter. Will instantly caused himself to counteract the gravity directly beneath his feet, while enhancing the gravity in front of the two thugs, who had almost reached him. The two thugs dropped the pipes and tripped over them as Will jumped lightly over the sprawled and tangled mass of arms and legs. Will made sure that a field of extra strong gravity held the two in place as he headed toward the man with the gun.
"Drop the gun, lowlife, before you hurt yourself!" Will shouted as the whiskered man turned the gun toward him.
The loud pop that emanated from the gun was followed by a yelping as the bullet came out of the gun barrel and went straight down into the gunman's booted foot. Will shoved the shreiking gunman into a display of chains of all sizes and kicked the gun out of his hand. The chains unraveled from their spools and held the whiskered gunman down. The employee had ducked behind the counter at the sound of the gunshot, and was huddled there when will reached him.
"Are you OK? Call the police, I'll make sure these punks are ready for them when they get here." Will didn't give the employee time to answer, he grabbed a lawn tractor in each hand and gently set one on each of the thugs, so they couldn't move once he removed the extra strong gravity from beneath them. He wrapped some small chain around the arms and legs of the whiskered gunman, and used a small gravity reversal field to lift the gun from the floor and floated it gently to the counter behind the employee who was too busy explaining the situation to the police on the phone to see what was happening. Once Will was satisfied the the situation was under control, he slipped out through the side exit and across the street to the chaos of the McDoogles' flashing lights and blaring music.
He felt around in his pockets and pulled out the last of his change, counted it. Only $1.23 and some pocket fluff. He had enough for a burger or french fries, but not both. A tough choice. He ordered the burger, and paid the girl. Two cents left. He thought about the life he had chosen, leaving the academy where he could eat three meals a day, and he didn't have to hide his powers. Out here, he had to make everything look like a coincidence, he could never tell anyone about his abilities. Mutants were not accepted in the real world, they were studied, examined, tested, dissected, placed in specimen bottles. But Will couldn't go back to the professor's academy, either. He didn't fit in with the others. He didn't like the immaturity of the trainees, nor did he want to be involved with the misguided members of the brotherhood. And he definitely had no use for Magneto. Will's power was the one thing Magneto was afraid of, because Will could counteract some of Magneto's powers. He had already messed up one of Magneto's missions when he had reversed the gravity fields all around Magneto, causing him to lose concentration and the magnetic waves to deflect away from their target.
Fortunately for Will, nobody but Professor X knew about Will's abilities. The training he had received had been solitary, and he had never told anyone else what he could do. He preferred to keep it that way, less people to bother him. His run in with Magneto had been at a museum, and Magneto had not seen him among the crowd of patrons there.
Will knew that he couldn't stay here in Flemington, now that he had used his power. He couldn't avoid having to explain how he had done what he did by staying in town.
Will ate his burger, as he headed away from the stuttering traffic light, the sound of sirens and racing police cars behind him.