"You know where Azazel gets his name from?" I asked, a little breathlessly, as I caught and juggled three mannequin heads with my telekinesis.

Janos launched two more at me with his surprisingly powerful throwing arm. "Uh, I'm not sure. It's biblical, I know that. Was it the name of some demon, or something?" I launched all the heads - five, now - directly at Janos, single file, hoping to catch him with sheer numbers. He whipped up a zephyr and caught all of them, flinging the heads behind him without any difficulty. He used the gust to buffet himself to the side, starting into a sprint parallel to my stationary position.

"No, actually." I replied, backing off without taking my eyes off the guy. He was a slippery sonuvabitch. Did I get the lingo right? That's how Americans say it, right? "Azazel was one of the Watchers, an Archangel of God. The Angel of Sacrifices, specifically." Janos launched another pair of zephyrs that zipped toward either side of me- I flashed a wide, solid wall of force in front of them, catching most of the gust, letting the remaining winds buffet me ineffectually. I kept up my retreat.

"Huh." Janos paused, thoughtful. I stopped too, breathing heavily, wary of Janos but unwilling to enact a counterattack. "Y'know, I guess that kinda fits. Azazel has sacrificed a lot to get to where he is now."

I paused at that, briefly wondering what kinda things he'd done. But Janos didn't elaborate, so I assumed he wasn't going to continue. I opened my mouth to ask, and suddenly Riptide darted forward, winds building up in his palms and pushing him like a jet. I balked, throwing myself to the side, but he loosed one of the whirlwinds and caught me by the foot, flinging me around and into a wall. I repulsed myself with a blast of telekinesis at the last minute, but my arm grazed the wall at high speed, causing me to hiss in pain.

I landed in a crouched position, shaking my arm even as I could see a welt begin to form, the surface of my forearm becoming shiny and stretched. I glared at Janos in faux-shock.

"Why'd you bring it up, anyway?" Janos asked, folding his arms as he waited for me to finish my posing. I straightened, now a little embarrassed.

"Well," I started, rubbing the back of my head and half-turning away. "It got me thinking. There are, like, a shitton of archangels, and each one represents something. There's this one I remember specifically... Hasmed, Angel of Annihilation. And, since Azazel already, kinda, started the theme... I wanted to continue it." It was dumb to be embarrassed about this stuff, I knew that, but... Hey, I'm young, I can get embarrassed over lots of things unnecessarily.

"You want that as your codename?" Janos asked voice guardedly neutral. He also didn't sound judgemental, which I counted as a good thing. "I guess there's nothing to stop you from taking it... And it's suitably pretentious, too." He chuckled, and I flushed red at his reaction.

"Whatever." I muttered gruffly. "Let's just get on with the training, okay?"

I turned to look at Janos, only to see a pair of enormous, interlocking vortices whirling towards me faster than I could react, ready to trap me between them and whip me in two different directions. Oh, shit. I thought. Not enough time to-!

I poured PSI inside my own body. I didn't know where the instinct came from, but I just knew I needed more time. The PSI coiled inside my gut, pausing momentarily, before flooding into my head. I could feel it flowing inside me, a curious pressure and energy marking it's passage. And as it expanded to fill the inside of my skull, everything slowed down.

The spinning gales slowed to a crawl, inching towards me at with the barest hint of speed, turning lazily next to each other. Janos' superior smirk froze on his face, the smug look in his eyes ceasing it's twinkle. Everything had decelerated - including myself. My eyes tracked around the room at a leisurely pace, but my mind buzzed with possibility and activity. I needed to get out of the way of Riptide's storm, but by the time I could bring my telekinesis to bear and launch myself away, I would be caught between the bluster and slammed against the wall again.

I needed a more immediate solution.So I gave myself one.

I crouched in an unrushed movement, seeing my knees bend at a snail's pace. With a thought, the PSI in my brain coursed down my spine and into my legs, wrapping around my thigh and calf muscles. The world around me quickened, but enough PSI remained in my mind to keep it from moving at full speed. All at once, I straightened my legs, flexed my PSI, and soared.

I flew at least twenty feet, jettisoning my own body at enormous speed out of the path of the winds. At the same time, Even as everything began to speed up once more, I twisted my PSI externally, and flicked a mannequin head with my telekinesis into Janos' gut.

I landed heavily on my legs, half-collapsing to my side, to the sound of Riptide letting out a hacking cough. I heaved heavy breaths of my own, sweat pouring down into my eyes, and I massaged my legs with a grunt of pain - they suddenly ached with physical exertion, and the cramps were fucking real-!

"What-" Janos coughed again. "What was that?!" He stared at me with no small amount of shock, rubbing his stomach. I barely stopped the victorious gloat from escaping my lips.

"That..." I began, with relish. "Was, I suppose, another facet of my powers." With that, I grinned, panting and sweating, but still victorious.

Janos stood there a moment.

"You know, all you did was knock the wind out of me." He pointed out. "Other than that, I'm basically fine, and you're exhausted.

I paused.

"Let me have this, okay?" I retorted weakly.

Another aspect of your powers? Emma asked, a slight expression of amusement and annoyance leaking through in her tone. You're becoming quite the enigma, Adam.

Thanks? I replied, then shook my head. Anyway, isn't that what we're trying to do here? Bring another dimension of my... Mutation to the forefront?

Ever since the incident in the alleyway a few days ago, Emma had been tutoring me in the mental characteristics of my powers. Or, at least, trying to. All she could really do was share her own experiences with psychic events, and how her own powers emerged. We were currently sitting on my bed, cross-legged and facing each other. She'd been trying to tease the capability out of me, in a complicated mental manoeuvre of probing deeply into my mind, and then drawing out whilst catching as much as my mind as possible in her psychic net. It sounded pretty dangerous to me, but, hey, Emma was the expert.

Now, though, I had an idea. The use of PSI earlier today on my legs and brain had left me with a pounding headache, yes, but it had also given me an idea as to how PSI was truly meant to be used. Using it externally was totally different to using it internally. Externally... The energy came from me, yes, but there was no interaction with my own body. Internally, it was as if the energy was between my skin and my muscles, wrapping around their exterior, but still on the interior of my own body. An intermediate layer, almost. So, maybe if I wanted to use this 'Trance' part of my powers, I had to work on an even deeper layer of my powers.

You're considering something, Emma transmitted, breaking me out of my reverie. Something that will help us here? I could tell she was somewhat annoyed my attention was elsewhere.

... Maybe. I replied. Let me try something.

Emma made a mental gesture of affirmation, and disconnected from my mind. I smiled at her, and shut my eyes. Deep... Deeper... Deeper... I focused inward, trying to tap the deepest well of my PSI and bring it forth from within my mind. There-!

A tendril of PSI writhed from within my mind, twisting at a layer of subconscious I hadn't even realized existed. I coaxed it forth, pulling gently at the protuberance with my mind. Slowly... Slowly... It inched outwards, towards the surface of my mind. Finally, it breached the thin layer that separated my mind from the external world, and I felt everything around me open. Even with my eyes closed, I could see everything - 360 degree vision was bizarre; it was like seeing the entire world through an enormous fish-eye lens, or like I'd massively upped the Field of Vision on a video game. Still thought, it was incredible. In fact... I could see my own head, eyes closed and bowed slightly, to point at folded hands. I shifted them, self-conscious, and saw the change.

Trippy...

I noticed the gasp of Emma, though, here eyes widening comically, her gaze fixed on whatever I was using to see in this way.

I opened my eyes, and instantly regretted it. The sudden disorientation of having two separate fields of vision, in some endlessly fractal overlay was incredibly unnerving - not to mention painful. There wsa an instantaneous pounding on the inside of my skull, as a migraine burst into full fruit at the reaction. God fucking dammit! Gah! Why is nothing ever painless!?

I closed my eyes - both sets - and pressed my palms into the sockets. Ahh... Blessed darkness and lack of stimulation.

Adam? Emma asked mentally, her psychic probe gentle and non-invasive. Are you okay?

Yeah... I replied, with no small amount of hesitation. I guess I figured out one part of this mental stuff - remote viewing. I just wish it didn't have to literally split my skull in two to do so.

Emma chuckled, a little uncertainly. It was certainly odd, seeing that. A white cord emerged from your head and started hovering in midair, before a black sphere formed at the end of it. She transmitted a mental image of it, a perfectly round and black sphere about the size of a golf ball, connected to a white cord by what looked like a mock-optic nerve.

Huh. I replied. I... Guess I'll have to practice with that, right? I let a sigh echo across our mental link. Another thing to add to the list.

Do you feel up to continuing, Adam? She asked. We still haven't actually managed to reach telepathy, or any degree of psychic actualization.

... Right. I replied. Sure, we can continue.

We settled back into our cross-legged positions, and I resumed trying to get a hold of that mote of PSI residing within my mind.

...

The session continued for another hour and a half, me trying desperately to make contact with Emma's mind unaided, while she tutored me as best as she could. Ultimately, I didn't achieve anything even near telepathy, although I was also able to project my hearing through one of those thin white strings of PSI. Emma theorized that I must have some form of Clairsentience, the ability to project my senses outside of my body, to far distances or hard-to-reach places. No actual psychic progress, though.

Which was, I admit, a disappointment.

Mr. Shaw was entertaining a guest tonight, apparently. A fairly famous guest, apparently - a Colonel in the American military was visiting the Atomic club. Colonel Hendry, though I didn't recognize the name.

I admitted, I hadn't paid much attention to the everyday workings of the club. It was open every few nights, generally to the attendance of several important people, and during this time both Emma and Mr. Shaw were, 'otherwise occupied,' entertaining guests of one sort or another. I listened to the music and the party sounds that drifted down to the sparring chamber or up to my room, but the three of us - Azazel, Janos, and I - were banned from entering. Shaw didn't want to 'tip his hand,' apparently.

Tonight, though, was different. Sebastian was expecting his guest to be recalcitrant, about something or other, and we were on hand to be intimidating as necessary.

"You're not expected to seriously hurt the guy," Mr. Shaw explained to me, a slight smile on his face. "Just follow my lead, and rough him up a bit if needed. Don't be afraid to use your powers - if we can scare him off with a show of force, then we've achieved what we want to achieve." With that, he clapped me on the back and went off to prepare.

I wasn't exactly attracted to the idea of hurting the guy - although, admittedly, a small part of me was looking forward to using my powers, after the rush I'd gotten in that alleyway - but what could I do? I owed Shaw, a hell of a lot in fact - the guy had put me up in massive bedroom, taken care of me despite not giving even the slightest explanation of who I was - for nothing. The least I could do was help him out with this.

And so Shaw had taken us into a lustrous clubroom, gorgously decorated and playing some delightful, timely tune. Janos and I were dressed in tuxedos, lounging at the bar and looking on, although Azazel was nowhere in sight. Emma was in just lingerie, a fact that I had desperately tried to avoid blushing over.

She had brought Hendry in through, and seated him down on a plush couch, placing herself beside him. Hendry was a stolid man, with a close-shaven head and a bit of a gut, alongside small, piggy eyes deepset in his face. He looked fairly disgusting, all things considered.

Sebastian strolled over to the couch, a glass of amber liquid held loosely in one hand, and a bright smile fixed on his face. "You sure we can't get you a refill, Bob?" His grin widened, if that was even possible.

Hendry looked at him, distrusting. "No," was his short and, in my opinion, a little rude reply.

Shaw took the step down to the slightly lowered seating area, pointing at Hendry as he did so. "So, I hear you blocked the proposal to position Jupiter missiles in Turkey." He paused to take a seat, lean back, and sip at his drink. "I expect you'll reconsider."

I followe the conversation with narrowed eyes, Janos remaining steadfast beside me.

"We've had this conversation," Bob replied in a condescending tone. "You put our nukes in Turkey or anywhere that close to Russia, and you're looking at war."

I fought to keep a neutral expression. Nukes? War? What the fuck have I gotten myself into?

"Nuclear war." Hendry finished, a little unnecessarily.

"I don't ask for favours, Colonel." I could tell Sebastian was starting to get annoyed. "I express my expectations." He took a breath, and reaffirmed the smile on his face. "So let me say it again." He paused to add gravity to his word. "I expect you'll reconsider."

"The only thing I'll reconsider," he replied, his lips twisting into an irritating smirk. "Is having another glass of that delicious champagne."

Smug prick.

Hendry stood, and I could feel Sebastian's exasperation. He turned to Janos, and made a quick circling motion with his index figure. In response, Riptide lifted a hand, and summoned a small vortex between his fingers, circling his hand to add spin to the zephyr. He flicked his fingers and sent it spinning across the low table towards Hendry.

"What the hell did you put in my drink...?" The Colonel began, just before the winds caught him and sent him flying into the back wall of the clubroom. I winced internally.

Ouch... I've been on the receiving end of that manoeuvre a fair few times. Doesn't get any less painful, mate.

Hendry grunted in pain as he dropped to the floor, but Shaw, Emma, Janos and I were already moving towards him. Emma transmitted something to him psychically - I could feel the mental energy echo across the room, but I wasn't privy to the words. Shaw nodded to her, and she took on that tantalizing crystalline form that I'd only seen in my mind's eye. It was a lot more intimidating up close like this.

"Magnificent, isn't she Bob?" Shaw said, his voice guttural in a way that I knew signified his feelings towards the majority of humanity. "Genetic mutation. The evolution of the human genome." He paused, and looked at me. "Hasmed, why don't you help the gentleman up."

I breathed. That was an order, I knew, to use my powers. Alright, Adam, time to step up. You got this.

I gestured - an unnecessary motion, really, but it felt right - and took hold of his entire body with my PSI. I lifted him casually, but not gently, positioning him into a slightly crumpled, but upright stature. Hendry already looked terrified and confused - the feeling of losing control of your limbs could do that to someone.

"Oh, where's Azazel?" Shaw turned to Emma expectantly, and I think only I caught the slight eye-roll at the implied order.

Emma pursed glass lips and whistled, but I could tell she was really reaching out psychically to Azazel's position just outside. With a burst of smoke and a flash of red, the crimson-skinned mutant appeared just behind and to the right of Shaw, awaiting his instructions.

"Ah," Sebastian said, nonchalant. "We don't want the Colonel to be late."

Azazel nodded, and stepped forward, holding a hand out to the uncertain man. When he didn't take it, Azazel uttered one of the few words I'd heard him speak. "Comrade," he said, and took hold of Hendry's hand before disappearing in another flash of black and red.

...

Later, when we had retired to a more casual setting, Sebastian took the time to hand as all glasses of champagne, and clap us on the shoulder for a job well done.

"Well," he said, "I think that went well. To mutants!" He raised his glass, and the five of us clinked glasses, echoing his cheer.

I... Could get used to this, I thought, a small but honest grin appearing on my face.