I.
The dark room where Emmett stayed in suddenly lit up and Emmett squinted his eyes until they adjusted to the harsh light. It was the people in charge intentions for the light to signal him to wake up, but he seemed to always wake up before the light came on anyway. He got up from the mattress he was lying in and walked over to the door in the small room. The door was made of large bars so he was able to look at the boy who lived in the room across from his.
He has been alive for two days. Or, at least, it's been two days since he had awoken from the pod, naked and screaming. There were others who were in pods as well, but he hadn't seen any of them except for the boy across from him. The boy waved to him, Emmett returned the gesture as the sounds of footsteps, a cart being pushed, and someone whistling, reached his ears. It wasn't long before the same woman who had visited him yesterday- Gabriella, she said her name was- stopped in front of him with a tray of food.
"Good morning, Emmett," She said, smiling at him as she handed him the tray. Another woman did the same for the boy across from him. It was the same food they had yesterday morning; toast, scrambled eggs, a box of juice, and an apple. He watched as the two women moved on, another following them with a cart with four more plates on it- for the others, he assumed. Like always, a blonde man who's right arm was made of metal walked leisurely behind them. He was the one responsible for the whistling and as his boots passed he smirked at him. Emmett did not know who he was, but he disliked him.
Emmett ate his food at his desk and waited until Gabriella and the other women came back to collect his tray, only this time that didn't happen. No, instead Emmett quickly stood up as his door beeped open and the blonde man came in, followed by two armed men. He glanced at all of three of them, not sure what was happening. His bathroom break wasn't for a couple of more hours. The blonde male nudged his head out the room. "Let's not wait around for the rain to fall, kid," he tells him. "Get moving."
Something inside him wanted to defy the man but his legs betrayed him and soon he was in the hallway, facing five others around his age. They all, like him, wore a white long sleeved shirt along with white pants and white slip ons. He glanced to the boy that he was familiar with before cringing at the feel of the blonde man's hand wrapped around his neck. He groaned as he was shoved to the end of the line, right behind another male who was much taller than him. The two armed men followed behind him as their leader took them all through a series of doors, leading to a wide open common room.
"The boss upstairs figured y'all can start getting to know each other so the nurses set up this little area for you," The blonde mumbles, walking away. Suddenly the male he's familiar with breaks for the door, but the other man is quick to slam him down with his boot. Emmett goes to help him up and when he looks at the blonde's face again, he's smirking. "Play nice or we'll be back." The door behind him slams shut and Emmett is now alone with the five strangers. The male who lives across from him is angry, his chest rising shallowly. "Who the hell is that guy?"
"I heard one of the nurses say it was Pierce," the dark haired girl mumbles. Emmett looks around the room. There's a couch and next to it is a table with all types of reading material around it. Across the room are a bunch of board games stacked up against each other, as well as a deck of playing cards on top. There's even a radio and a soccer ball.
"We were all together," the blonde girl says, smiling as she looks at each of them. "When we were born, we were all together." Everyone in the room awkwardly looks at each other, none of them knowing what to say. Again the blonde girl speaks up. "I'm Martha," she says. When no one responds, she turns to the tall boy next to her. "You live across from me, what's your name?"
"Dino," He replies, lowering his head as he runs a hand through his short black hair.
"I'm Simone," The dark haired girl announces. Then the red haired girl, Hilda, followed by the male who lived across from him, Darek. Then they all turned to Emmett who stood silent for a moment until Martha laughed.
"We're not going to bite," she says.
He sighs. "My name's Emmett," He finally says, shrugging his shoulders. "At least, that's what Gabriella tells me."
"Anybody got any idea why we're here?" Darek asks, looking around the room. Emmett follows his glance until they land on a camera installed in the corner of the ceiling. The door opens again and Emmett tenses up until he sees it's just the nurses, all smiling.
"It's good to see you all out of your rooms!" The oldest one, Dolores, says. "We hope you like how we set the room. We all brought over old stuff from our homes. Why are you still standing? Enjoy yourselves, you only have a few hours."
No one moved, except for Simone, who inched closer to Hilda. Emmett just had the suspicion something was going on and even though he couldn't read everyone else's minds, he could tell they were thinking along the same lines. When it appeared even Martha wasn't going to move from her spot, the nurses started to look hurt. Gabriella, the one who always gave him his food, turned to Dolores. "They're scared," she said. "They don't trust us-"
"We trust you!" Emmett suddenly interrupts, startling the nurses. He didn't know why he said it but afterwards he knew they were true. He might not trust whoever is running this facility and he definitely doesn't trust Pierce, but he trusts these three women in front of him. "My friends and I-" He said, again amazed at the choice of words. When he glanced at them he was glad to see none of them object, Martha even smiled. "My friends and I were just wondering what's happening to us."
The two younger nurses looked at Dolores, who let out a sigh. "You were all very sick babies, each of you diagnosed with a very deadly cancer. None of you were expected to live so Dr. Rice and his team of specialist gave you a serum to fight back the cancer cells, it why you've all aged so fast," She explains. Emmett takes awhile to process the words. It's Dino who recovers first.
"Are we still sick?" He asks.
"Yes, mijo," she says. "It's why they have you locked in those rooms all day. But don't worry! They still have another serum to give you. It's our jobs to make sure you're in perfect condition which is why we begged them to let you have some free time because no one can get better without a little fun!"
"What are they going to do to us?" Hilda asks. The nurses look at each other again, none of them knowing how to answer until the third one, Paola, perks up. She runs over to table and grabs one of the think paper books on top and brings it over. "They're going to make you superheroes!"
Emmett takes the book from her examining it as he feels Dino and Darek crowd him. The front cover shows a man shooting rays out of his eyes, a woman with white hair flying above him, and a man completely covered in ice beside him. Emmett furrows his brow at the bold letters at the top.
"The X-Men?"
.
.
.
Martha and the others were granted more and more time out of their rooms as the days passed, but at the cost of more armed guards. It was easy to ignore them, especially once they all started preparing for their final serum in a few days. The nurses made sure they were in top condition mentally, physically, and emotionally. Although they were all advanced learners thanks to their growth serums, they were all developing their own unique talents. Darek and Simone were the strongest, though Darek seemed to be more consistent with it. Hilda was the fastest. Dino had the best memory, able to recite 876 decimal places of Pi just by staring at a photo for five minutes. Martha herself proved to be an excellent singer. After that discovery, Dolores and the other nurses went out and got her a karaoke machine. Emmett, who seemed to be the group's unspoken leader now, was more intelligent than the nurses could ever predict. He was so smart that Dr. Rice and Dr. Kinney were called in to see him themselves, making it the first time the group saw the faces of the pair responsible for saving their lives. Martha had wanted to sing for them, to thank them, but they only wanted to see Emmett.
"You can always sing for me baby girl," Pierce mumbled to her from his post. Martha ignored him and headed to the training room, where Dino was kicking a punching bag. He smiles when he catches her gaze and Martha waves at him as she starts running on the treadmill.
"Please tell me you were a little disappointed in the doctors," He says, taking a seat on a bench in front of her, wiping his sweat on a towel.
"What do you mean?" She asks.
"I don't know I just expected them to be more..." Dino waves his hand in the air as if it will help him find the word he's looking for. "Kinder? For people doing everything they can to save us, they didn't really stick around long enough to really get to know us."
"They're busy, Dino," She tells him, but she couldn't agree with him more. It was almost like they didn't want to get attached. Unlike the nurses, who never stopped showing their kindness, the two doctors seemed adamant on hiding theirs. "Or maybe they don't want to get attached to something that can still potentially die."
"That's another thing," Dino says, bringing his voice down. "Do you really think we're still sick? With everything we've been learning, I haven't seen the slightest sign of cancer in any of us. And I would know, I recognized them all."
"So what, you think Dolores lied to us?" She asks, rolling her eyes. Or, she thought, turning off the machine. Someone lied to her? "If that's the case then why are we here?"
Dino shrugs his shoulders. "Guess we'll find out, won't we?"
.
.
.
Emmett was awoken bright and early the day he and the others were due to get the serum. He rubbed his eyes and waited for them to adjust to the bright light before getting out of bed and stretching. Dino and Martha came up to him the day before, telling him about their concerns for Dr. Rice and Dr. Kinney. After meeting the pair, he couldn't help but agree that he was also suspicious. They were both cold to him when they tested him on his brain power, almost like he was some sort of project, like an experiment to them. Not like someone they were trying to save. Like Dino he also wondered why none of them were showing signs of weakness, but with Pierce and his men guarding everything, there really wasn't much they could do.
The door to his room beeped open and Gabriela came in with his breakfast. "Today's the day! Eat up, you'll need your strength." Emmett nodded and took his tray, quickly biting into his toast. He thought carefully as he chewed and swallowed, before glancing at his favorite nurse.
"Will it hurt?" He asks, watching as concern spreads through her face.
"Yes," she answers quickly. It's what he liked about her, she always told him things straight up. "But you are strong, Emmett! And so are the others! You're going to make it." She sat next to him and pulled him into a sideways hug. He mumbled a 'thanks' and went for his eggs when Pierce walked in. Gabriela was annoyed as soon as he walked in. "Let him finish eating!"
"The boss is tired of waiting," He said, shoving her aside. Emmett quickly shot up, ready to defend one of the only kind people in this entire building.
"Don't touch her-" Emmett was cut off as Pierce slammed him into the wall behind him, whipping out a syringe from nowhere and quickly injecting it into the side of his neck. Almost immediately Emmett felt the effect, his vision getting blurry as he suddenly felt very drowsy despite just waking up. The last thing he remembers before passing out is Pierce saying something about "Making sure the device has his DNA."
When he comes to, he's strapped down on a hospital bed. Dr. Kinney is working beside him, completely dressed in her lab coat and face mask, while Pierce and his men stood by the exit. One thing he quickly noticed, was the shape of everyone. Although he knew she was trying to look professional, Dr. Kinney's hair was a bit messy and her lab coat looked as if something ripped it open with claws. Pierce and his guards were sporting all sorts of injuries and the exit they were blocking once had a door. When he looked around he saw various holes in the walls and when he looked up at the ceiling he saw burn marks.
"I'm ready to proceed," Dr. Kinney said, revealing another syringe, this time full with a glowing blue liquid. He noticed three syringes with the same liquid lined up next to her. Pierce and his men raised their weapons but Dr. Kinney waved them off. "I don't think those will be necessary, he shouldn't cause too much damage. However, if I do anything unorthodox, alarm surveillance to switch on the device." Then she took out her recorder. "Begin serum dosage to experiment X-06."
"Another mind freak," Pierce mumbles, lowering his weapon before whispering into the comm-link in his ear. Dr. Kinney ignores him as she leans over Emmett, wiping at his arm and tapping it until his veins show. Without any warning she stuck the needle inside him. Emmett bit down on his lip as he felt the sting but afterwards just watched as she injected the liquid inside him. A few moments and nothing happened, Emmett almost thought the guards were all overreacting. Almost.
The first wave of pain hit him like a train. He felt as if glass was traveling through his veins as he arched in his restraints, screaming. Dr Kinney was speaking into her recorder. "First dose initiated," she says. "No progress. Proceeding to second dose." Emmett was too busy screaming to feel the next needle piercing his skin. Almost immediately the pain grew worse. It now felt like thousands of needles were digging into his skin, as the worst headache ever started throbbing in his head.
Nothing, he thought he heard Dr. Kinney say, but he had been watching her the entire time and did not see her lips move as she observed him. But that was her voice he heard. He could feel tears streaming down his face as he watched her grab a third syringe. "Please," he begged. "D-don't do this."
Dr. Kinney ignored him, injecting the needle and started what felt like a drill going through his skull. He'd scream but the burning sensation in his lungs made him lose his voice as she started prepping the fourth and final one. Emmett shook his head. There was no way his body could handle another syringe, he would die. He tried to find the voice to get Dr. Kinney to stop but it was buried deep under all the pain. He just wanted everything, all the pain to-
STOP!
Dr. Kinney's entire body froze just as she was about to inject him. All the pain he felt was suddenly gone, replaced by what felt like a presence of everyone in the room...in his head. It dawned on him that maybe he did hear Dr. Kinney, only he heard her through her thoughts.
These doctors are lucky the pay is good, thought one guard.
Hopefully he doesn't grow teeth like the other, thought another. Then a vision filled his head, a memory of the guard fighting off a wild looking Hilda as her teeth sunk into another guard's leg. Emmett noticed the fur that had grown over her arms and the claws she had developed to slash at Dr. Kinney's lab coat.
Why isn't she moving? Pierce thought. "Doc?" He said aloud.
"He's controlling me," Dr. Kinney said, her body still not moving.
"Shit," Pierce cursed, shooting his hand to his comm-link.
Nobody move, he commanded. All three men stopped advancing on him, wide eyes as they did. A thought came to Emmett as he turned to Dr. Kinney. "Untie me," He told her. Dr. Kinney dropped the syringe and started unbuckling his restraints. He just got out of the bed when Pierce's metal arm shot up to his link.
"Flip the switch!" He ordered. Suddenly the room turned a dark shade of red and Emmett felt lightheaded before a guard tackled him down. He was struggling with the guard as Pierce walked over to him, grinning. "Well it's a good thing Dr. Rice predicted this and installed a satellite device to shut your little mind up now, didn't he?"
"Impressive telepathy," Dr. Kinney said into her recorder. "Able to use mind control with or without verbal commands. Doesn't seem to require eye contact like most beginner telepaths."
"Is he done?" Pierce asks her. Dr. Kinney nods her head yes.
"Take him back to his room," she orders. "Tomorrow Dr. Rice will see the results of his work." Emmett struggled as the two guards pulled up to his feet. He tried to order them but he didn't feel connected to their minds anymore. And once Pierce injected him with another syringe, he didn't feel connected to anything as he passed out once again.
.
.
.
Martha couldn't contain herself as soon as she woke up the next day. Although yesterday she felt what was probably going to be the worst pain of her life, she could now say it was worth it. Everything Dolores and the other nurses said came true, Dr. Kinney made her like one of the superheroes in the comics. Although none of them had the power like she did, but she figured that would be the case. She had just finished breakfast, Paola told her that they were going to show their new abilities to Dr. Rice afterwards so she ate quickly before walking to her door with her spoon. She clanked the spoon on the bars of her door, waiting until Dino appeared across from her in his. He was wearing a short sleeved shirt, which showed the few bruises he had gotten from his time with Dr. Kinney, Martha assumed it was due to his gift being more powerful.
Dino was all smiles as he looked at her. "You called?"
"Still believe in your conspiracy theories?" She asked, grinning.
"Well there's still no proof that we were actually sick," He pointed out. "How sore are you?"
"It feels like my legs are going to turn into mush any second now!" She teased, joining Dino as he laughed. They stopped however when the nurses showed up. Martha walked away from her door to grab her empty tray. When her door beeped open, she gave Paola a hug before handing her the tray. "Where do they want us?"
"It's a new training room," Paola tells her. "Vamonos, Dr. Rice can't wait to see all of you!" Martha follows her out of her room, joining Dino, Hilda, and Simone. Hilda's now sporting a busted lip and bruised cheek, making Martha quickly wrap her arms around her.
"Are you ok?" she asks. Dino had said the guards were rough on him, but she couldn't think they'd be so rough on Hilda, who was the smallest out of all of them. Hilda nods her head, saying that it doesn't hurt when Gabriela brings Emmett and Darek to the group, who also look pretty banged up. From there the nurses start leading them to where Dr. Rice is waiting, letting them chat with each other. Darek was the most excited to show everyone his power, saying it was 'easily the best one to have' the whole time they took to walk to the room.
Simone, on the other hand, had not said one word and didn't seem to have so much as a scratch on her. Martha asked her why that was and her eyes quickly filled with tears. "Nothing happened to me," she whispered. "I don't have any powers." Simone was crying now, leaning down to bury her head in Hilda's neck as the other supported her. Martha, Dino, and Darek were quick to support her as well, although it was obvious they were all stunned. When Martha glanced at Emmett, it didn't look like the news phased him, almost like he knew already. Still, he came over as well, comforting Simone until she stopped crying.
The new training room was the biggest room Martha has ever been in. Sitting in their chairs were Dr. Rice and Dr. Kinney as well as several other people she didn't recognize. Pierce and his men were blocking all the exits, armed with guns of course. Dolores whispered something into Simone's ear and then lead the girl to go sit with everyone else as Dr. Kinney stood from her chair.
"I want to thank each of you for joining us," She says, looking at all of them. "You were all very brave in your operation yesterday, we would like to show Dr. Rice the abilities you've all developed so he can figure out the best way to proceed. " She turned to Dr. Rice. "Up first we have subject X-02, Hilda."
Hilda nervously glanced at the group before walking to the center of the room. Martha watched as the red head closed her eyes and suddenly hunched over. Her clothes began to rip, reddish-brown fur beginning to poke out as a low growl came from Hilda's gut. Hands turned to clawed paws and soon a giant wolf sat where Hilda once stood. Dr. Kinney looked down at her notes. "She also has the ability to shift into a transitional form between human and wolf," She explains, turning to the canine. "Hilda, I ask that you stay in your form for now. Up next we have subject X-03, Martha."
Although Martha didn't like that she was being called a subject, she broke away from the group, passing Hilda as the wolf trotted back to the group. When she was in the center of the room, Martha swept around everyone with her eyes. Dino caught her gaze and gave her a thumbs up. She took a deep breath, opened her mouth, and began to sing. She could feel all the vibrations leaving her throat and she closed her eyes to imagine what those vibrations would look like. There was a few gasps and when she opened her eyes she saw the dazzling lights dancing around her to the rhythm of her voice. She didn't stop until Dr. Rice started to clap.
Darek was next, who let out an obnoxious roar before shocking everyone. He grew to be about ten feet tall and every single inch of his body had turned into hard rock. Darek laughed as he started flexing his boulder muscles, his voice way deeper than it was when he was human. Dr. Kinney had him test his strength by punching through blocks of concrete that Pierce and his men had brought in. He returned to normal and happily jogged back to the group as he was replaced by Dino.
Martha couldn't help but be a little excited at what Dino's power was. She had showed him hers last night through the doors but he told her he wouldn't be able to show his in his room. She watched as he closed his eyes, focusing on something when a red glow started forming around his body. To everyone's amazement, the red glow transformed into a giant suit of armor, Dino visible as he floated in the center, the armor being about seven feet tall. Now she knew why he couldn't show her, he wouldn't have been able to fit in his room. Dino also had to show the armor's strength as he punched through concrete blocks as well and even had Pierce shoot at it, none of his bullets leaving marks on the red armor.
Emmett was next and Martha could tell Dr. Rice was excited to see him. Dr Kinney cleared her throat. "Emmett, the sensors blocking your mind have been turned off. Tell me, how many minds can you read?"
Emmett can read minds? Martha thought, jumping a little when Emmett caught her glance. He turned to the Doctor, however, and just pointed at Hilda in her dog form. "Only Hilda, ma'am." Dr. Rice arched his brow as he glanced at Dr. Kinney who only seemed slightly annoyed.
"Yesterday you were able to control me, Mr. Pierce, and his men," she accused. "That's four individuals compared to the one you claim today."
Emmett shrugged his shoulders. "You were closer to me yesterday." Dr. Kinney nodded before motioning for three of Pierce's men to walk up to Hilda. Emmett nodded. "Yeah now I can hear them."
"Prove it," Dr. Kinney ordered. Martha and Dino glanced at each other.
What did she want him to do? Make them dance? She thought. She noticed Emmett's lip twitch up before focusing his eyes on the men. Then, as if a sudden urge took over them, all three broke out into a ballet, moving their arms gracefully as they leaped across the room. Darek was in hysterics and Hilda yelped as she was suddenly back to her human form. Martha could tell by her wide eyes that transforming back wasn't her own doing.
"Fascinating!" Dr. Rice cheered. "Simply fantastic. Congratulations, Dr. Kinney!" Everyone in the room clapped as Dr. Kinney mouthed her thanks. Dr. Rice turned to the camera and made a sort of motion then the building quickly flashed red before going back to normal, the three guards stopping their dance. Martha figured whatever device they have to shut out Emmett's powers was back on again. Dr. Rice was still grinning as he outstretched his hand to Martha and the group. "Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the future!"
It wasn't until they were leaving to their rooms that Martha nudged Emmett's arm. You lied, she thought. You made those soldiers dance because you read my mind. Emmett didn't bother hiding his smirk, but it appeared to everyone else that he was smiling at the joke Darek had just told. She knew he was lying! The fact that he could still read her mind despite the device being on proved Emmett was stronger than he was letting on.
So why are you hiding the truth from Dr. Rice and Dr. Kinney, she thought, watching as this time Emmett frowned. He didn't say anything until she was back in her room and the door had closed shut.
I'll explain later, his voice said in her mind, causing her to jump and shout in surprise.
"You ok?" Dino asked, looking through his own door.
"Yeah," Martha shouted, walking to her bed.
But who knows how long that'll be.
*A/N: Hey everyone, I hope you enjoy this next chapter! The second serum is just a drug that stimulates a huge amount of pain in the body so that the experiments' mutant gene can activate. I'd love to hear what you all think of the story so far so please feel free to leave a review. The story won't always be told by Emmett and Martha, especially as more and more experiments show up so look forward to that! I should have another chapter up soon!