~this implies thoughts and mental messages~
* This implies visions or anything mentioned about abilities. *
Chapter 4: Sharp as a knife
"If you think that growling in people their faces will get you ANY answers then you are VERY WRONG, Jim! Or Logan, whatever I have to call ye now!"
"Now listen here, Bub!"
"SHAKT! SNIKT!"
….
The silence of the night filled the room as the blood dripped on the wooden floor. Both frozen solid as if time had frozen itself. No breath, not even gasp was heard, if all the life was sucked out of them. They both stared as if they had no soul, like they were just- empty shells. A feeling unlike anything else, like they were the same but still quite different.
She who entered the room watched in horror and saw the two men collapse to the ground, covered in each others blood…
...
12 hours earlier
Three days have passed since the wounded man was brought in at the Institute. All the details of the man that were discovered by Jean and Professor Xavier went like a burning fire through the Institute. Everyone knew, but there were still so many questions left...
The younger students wondered what Logan had to do with it all, however there were two things that stopped everyone from asking him any questions. First he didn't know a thing more than them and even if he did, the only thing they would receive is an angered growling man in their face, hoping that he didn't pull their head off in the progress.
But there was another reason, the man in question was no where to be found. Since the revealing conversation in the kitchen three days ago, he was gone. Nobody was really worried as everyone knew that it wasn't the first time that Logan just 'took off.'
Still in of the hallways of the Institute, there was a young woman utterly worried….
It was around 10 in the morning when Rogue walked through one of the hallways of the Institute, she just came back from her breakfast and wanted to catch up on some of the missed sleep of last night. The last three days she almost hadn't slept a minute. The flashes of the wounded man by the gates, Logan's dreams, the photo in the backpack, everything mixed together into a horrible nightmare every time she tried to get some sleep. Her roommate Kitty wasn't happy with it either.
Last night they had an argument which ended with Kitty sleeping in one of the guestrooms. She felt horrible for calling Kitty a "Selfish bitch." Jean already gave Rogue hell about it during breakfast, still they both knew that she didn't mean it. Jean was more angered at her that she didn't ask her or the professor for any help.
Rogue approached the room that she shared with Kitty, she heard some music and some awful singing from the inside. She was hoping that Kitty wasn't mad by what happened last night. She took a long breath in and entered the room.
"Fascination! Fascination, It's just the way we feel! Yeah!"
Rogue noticed Kitty wearing her headphone, she was facing the other side. She didn't notice Rogue enter but when she closed the door behind her, Kitty quickly turned around, startled by Rogue's entrance.
"Oh, It's you..."
Kitty immediately looked away and turned off the music, clearly she hadn't forgiven her... Rogue walked towards her own side of the room and looked out the window.
Something that she was mildly afraid of happened…. 'An awkward silence…'
Kitty noticed Rogue looked out the window, she really hadn't anything to say to her. She wasn't REALLY mad at her but she at least wanted an apology. She made up a stupid excuse to leave the room.
"I have to go find Kurt, I'll see you later.
"Wait, Kitty..."
Rogue turned towards Kitty that looked ready to phase out the door, Kitty looked at Rogue and by the look on her face she knew that the apology was on its way.
"I wanted to tell ya... I'm sorry about ah.. last night…"
Kitty didn't speak for a short minute, suddenly she walked towards the window and stood next to her.
"It's ok, Rogue. I knew you didn't mean it…"
Both young women crossed their arms and stared out the window, Kitty and Rogue were pretty lucky with the room they had. It had a remarkable view and they were able to see the front gates of the Institute.
At the moment that they both looked at the entrance gates, they noticed a figure on a motorcycle move towards the gates. The gates opened and the figure moved in the direction of the garage.
"Oh, Logan is back! " said Kitty;
She watched the man ride the motorcycle into the garage, when she looked up from the window. Kitty noticed that Rogue was gone from the room...
Rogue ran as fast as she could towards the garage, she ran down towards the front entrance. When Logan entered the front doors, she stopped in front of him.
"You're back! Where have ya been?!"
Rogue saw the angered face of the man and noticed several small cuts in his clothes. Logan walked past her as if she was a ghost, completely ignoring her. Rogue kept calling his name as the man walked up the stairs to his room.
Ororo, who heard the noise all the way from the kitchen quickly flew up the stairs following the two.
"Logan!"
Rogue kept calling his name multiple times, the closer Logan got to his room the louder she started yelling his name. Logan approached his room, opened the door and slammed it shut. Leaving the distraught girl standing in front of the door...
"Logan!"
Rogue started slamming on the door calling his name to get his attention. Ororo noticed small tears as she approach the girl at the door, and after several minutes Rogue stopped trying. She was out of breath and knew it would be useless to try any longer….
"Rogue, leave him alone for now, He's back and that's what matters most."
Meanwhile
"Urgh… McCoy, Do I have to?"
"Yes, Bobby. As punishment for that 'stunt' in last nights training, you are going to help me in the lab today."
"In the lab!? Can't I just go clean the jet or something?!"
"Remember last time you had to clean The X-Jet? Mister Drake?"
Bobby walked the 'walk of shame' following his teacher to the lab, out of all the possible punishments or chores that he could've given him, he gave him the most boring task ever, helping in the lab... Bobby hated that he would be stuck all-day handing the blue man small bottles and watch him stare though a microscope.
Hank walked around 10 feet in front of him. As they passed the infirmary they saw the wounded man still sleeping. Bobby asked;
"Any idea when he'll wake up?"
Hank sighed and said; "The wounds were very bad, Bobby. But he'll wake up sooner or later…"
"I hope so, It's not getting any easier up there…"
Hank turned around at Bobby, noticing he was pointing upwards. He knew that the Iceman was hinting at Rogue and Logan…Hank tried to talk with Rogue two days ago but it didn't do any good, he worried about about her mental state.
On Logan on the other hand, he wasn't worried. Figuring he had just to smash a couple of bad mutants to the face to get his cool back. He wasn't very fond of that, but he knew that he couldn't AND wouldn't stop him anyways.
Hank checked in every few hours on the man, yesterday he noticed a small bit of consciousness in the man, however when he tried to ask him any questions he was out again, figuring that he would have to try later.
Hank and Bobby entered the lab next to the infirmary, the two rooms were separated with a glass wall. Bobby and Hank were able to see the wounded man sleep on one of the infirmary beds still hooked to one of those "beeping-machines" as Bobby would've described them.
Hank went to sit at one of his lab desks after ordering Bobby to wear one of the white coats. Bobby put on the white coat while he looking through the glass window, as he stared at the man he said;
"I wonder what he's been through..."
Hank looked over his shoulder towards his younger student, seeing that Bobby had his arms crossed and was staring a bit awkwardly towards the man.
"Maybe we can recruit him for the team, what do you think Mister McCoy?"
Hank didn't answer his questions, he hoped that he didn't make a mistake with this so-called-punishment. Bobby was someone that couldn't keep his mouth shut, Hank hoped that he wouldn't be asking him every question that came up in that head of figured that if he didn't keep quiet, that he could always try to growl in his face 'till he shut up.
Hank started preparing for his research.
"Bobby, get me the the valve with the DARK blue sticker on inside that cabinet over there."
Bobby was still staring at the wounded man through the glass window, once he heard the McCoy's command he walked towards the cabinet. When he opened it, he noticed small valves and bottles next to each other all with different colored stickers on them. It looked like a rainbow to him, he reached in to grab the dark blue valve and asked;
"Why does it look like a frickin' rainbow in there?"
When Hank heard that question he didn't know what to answer as he didn't really understand what the Iceman meant.
~ 'Rainbow'? What was that supposed to mean? ~
When he turned around he saw Bobby reaching in the cabinet, and after a few seconds he understood what the boy was hinting at.
"Fairly easy, Bobby. I've color-coded them. "
"Why?"
"I just asked you for the blue valve right? Would you have found if it I asked you to get me a bottle of Liquid Hydrogen?"
"Ah.. No, I don't think so…"
"Well there is your answer, Bobby."
When Bobby handed Hank the blue valve, he went back to the cabinet looking at the valves and bottles. With fascination he checked out all the different bottles and valves. Hank heard the valves and glasses hit each other softly, he noticed that Bobby was kind of enjoying this by the scent he made. He was more hoping for a scent of desperation and boringness... He really should have left the punishments up to Scott. ._.
However he thought;
~ Maybe he'll learn something from it.. That's valuable too...~
When he noticed that Bobby was making more noise by the second, he said;
"Bobby, some of those bottles are highly dangerous, You wouldn't like it if you were blown to pieces by breaking the wrong one, would you?
The iceman was lightly shocked from the blue man's reaction and decided to close the cabinet before his 'fooling around' would cause another 'accident'.
As he closed the cabinet he looked through the glass window again towards the man, noticing that the man was tilting his head as if he was waking up.
"Mister McCoy.."
"Yes, Bobby?"
"Look!" - Bobby pointed at the man on the other side of the glass window, however Hank was to distracted with looking through his microscope."
"Bobby, be quiet please, I'm busy."
"Mister McCoy, LOOK!"
Hank got angry by the way the boy was trying to get his attention. Normally he would have looked the first time when someone asked for his attention, but with Bobby?... You never knew for sure...
"Bobby, if you don't shut up I'll let Scott finish your punishment!"
"HANK! LOOK!"
"..."
"LOOK!"
"FUCK OFF, Bobby!"
Hank had lost his temper for a moment staring at Bobby as if he would eat him there alive on the spot, Bobby himself wasn't even paying attention to the blue-man's expression. He was still pointing at the glass window towards the wounded man.
"He's waking up! "
When Hank got is cool back he watched through the glass window at the wounded man, noticing he was moving his arms. He and Bobby both stared at the wounded man as he moved with his hand across his face and was trying to sit straight up. After a few seconds the man opened his eyes and looked straight at their faces. He noticed them staring at him for a couple of second before watching them both run out the laboratory and into the Infirmary.
"Where, Where am I?"
"You're at the Xavier Institute for gifted youngsters. You're safe here."
"Thank god... I made it." said the man that now had his hands on his face.
Hank and Bobby both stared at each other strange after the man's answer, the man opened his eyes and saw the blue-man up close, he lightly shocked at his feral appearance but sensed he was of no harm. However there was something else...
* He stared the man into he eyes, he saw flashes in his head. A vision of an uncontrollable beast killing a young child. Ferociously biting it and slashing it's skin off. A blue monster destroying the city as he heard people scream in terror, running for their lives... *
He was able to see the blue-man's biggest fear. A gift both blessed and cursed, being able to see what he could become, but also being able to prevent it. The flashes caused a light headache.
He quickly took his eyes off the blue-man and took a glance at the younger boy besides him. He didn't look as intimidating as the feral one next to him. He saw the smile on the boy's face, he looked him in the eyes and another flash in his head appeared.
* He saw a vision a man of ice, without emotion, unable to feel the warmth of friendship or love. Afraid of turning into a bitter cold person, without any compassion or feelings. *
As the vision disappeared he saw the boy smile once again, it was hard for him to believe that this boy would have such a fear on the inside...
The man wanted to get out of the bed, he moved on side of the bed, seeing the wounds on his legs and arms. Most of them were healed, some were still very fresh. The man stared for a minute at his left arm, which was noticed by the blue-man and the younger boy. He felt the urge to stand up but was stopped by the blue man watching over him, he said;
"Maybe you should slow down, you just woke up."
"I... I think I'll be alright..."
"Bobby, go get the professor, tell him that th"
"No need, Hank. I'm already here."
Before Hank could finish he sentence he was interrupted by Charles. The man on the side of the hospital bed saw an older man in a wheelchair enter the infirmary and approach him, he was intrigued by his appearance and confidence. * When he looked him in the eyes, he saw nothing. * He was unable to sense anything within the man.
~ Has this man no fears? How is that that possible? ~
The man has had this sensation before, within some people he couldn't sense anything... This bothered the man, the visions usually let him take a peek into the mind of whoever he's dealing with but he didn't see a thing. A minute of silence appeared as the man in the wheelchair looked at the wounded man on the side of the infirmary bed.
"Hello, Maxwell. My name is Professor Charles Xavier, founder of the school for gifted youngsters. This is one of my teachers, Henry McCoy, otherwise known as Hank or 'Beast'. This young man is Bobby Drake, otherwise known as 'Iceman', he is one of my younger students. You are safe here, how are you feeling?"
"Thank you, professor Xavier, I'm feeling 'OK', As good as someone in this state could be I guess."
"Good, shall we have a tour around then?"
"Huh?!"
"Well If you wish to stay here, Maxwell. You should be get to know our other teachers and students, wouldn't you?"
Max was stunned by what Professor Xavier asked him, he was being recruited out of the blue! It was true that he had nowhere else to go. He indeed searched very long for a place to call home, however something was still itching him. He had an ulterior motive to finding this Institute, He knew that Professor Xavier was a powerful telepath, he hoped that he could help him discover something of his long lost past.
"Alright then."
Max tried to stand up from the infirmary bed, supported by Hank on the left side and Bobby on the other side. He felt waves of dizziness and nausea inside himself. After a short minute his head was clear again. He took his first steps since the incident several days ago. It felt as if he needed to learn how to walk again... After a couple of steps Hank and Bobby let him go. He was able to walk on his ow again.
Maxwell was about the same height as Bobby, the only difference was that he had some more muscles and for a 22 or 23-year old he had a bit more body hair than someone of that age. He had medium-short brown hair and matching eyes, a slim face with a small scar above his right eyebrow. He also had a short stubble beard making him look more masculine that the puny young Iceman besides him.
"Good."
"Bobby, please show the man were he can find the showers, and get him some new clothes. Afterwards bring him to the kitchen. We'll start the tour there with an early lunch."
~ A hot shower, clothes and a lunch? It's been so long... ~ thought the man by himself.
30 Minutes later...
It was around 11.15 when Ororo and Kurt were in the kitchen, Charles joined them not very long ago. Ororo and Kurt were baking all kinds of different pancakes for the lunch. It was still a bit early but Charles intended to get the new man some peace and quiet instead of wild and questioning young students breathing down his neck.
Bobby and Max entered te kitchen. They hit it off pretty well by the noise they were making on their way to the kitchen, with a laugh that could be heard all over the Institute. Max looked around himself and thought to himself;
~ Wow, that's one big kitchen. ~
Max saw the Professor in his wheelchair on the outerside of the kitchen table. At the stove he saw a women with beautiful white hair and a blue demon-looking young adult with a pointy tail. The young man disappeared in a smoke cloud and reappeared in front of him.
"Vell, Hello mine frieund. My name iz't Kurt, also known a 'Nightcrawler.' '"
"Uh!"
Max made a small step backward, widening his eyes as the man appeared in front of his face. He saw the smile on the man's face and sensed a good heart underneath that Demon-looking appearance.
When Max looked him in the eyes, he was able to see a vision. He saw the young man running through the streets of 'what it looked like' an old German settlement... He saw pitchforks and burning torches. He heard people scream; "Kill the demon!" "Kill the freak!" Max stood in the middle of a road with a dead end. He saw the blue and scared, young-adult run and being unable to escape as a group of settlers with pitchforks and burning torches closed in on him. The vision ended as the blue-boy screamed for his life…
~ Afraid of being judged by his appearance… ~
He felt sorry for poor guy. But when he saw the smile on the boy's face, he couldn't help but to smile back. He knew that he wouldn't be judged here and neither by Max himself.
"This is Kurt Wagner, one of the second-grade students. He has the ability to teleport. "
"Wow, that's pretty unique."
The young adult disappeared in another small smoke cloud and returned next to the woman near the stove. The woman looked up and walked towards Max.
"This is Ororo Munroe, otherwise known as Storm, she can control the weather. She's one of my best teachers and keeps things at bay here with the younger students..."
The woman had a bright smile on her face, which he returned with a similar smile on his, however it didn't last long…
* As the woman looked the man into the eyes, he saw her being locked inside a small dark box... Banging on the sides and pushing trying to get out. *
~ Claustrophobia... ~
* This vision was a bit different, he saw the eyes of the woman starting to glow and her white hair levitate. As the black box around her started to enclose her further, he heard her scream; "NO! I WILL BE FREE!". With an electric shock forced from he hands, he saw the black box around her evaporate into thin air... The woman flew high into the sky and the vision ended. *
~ The woman has dealt with several of her personal issues. ~
~ That's one bad-ass woman….~
"Pleasure to meet you, Max. "
The man kept staring into her eyes, mesmerized by the vision he just witnessed. It took several seconds before Max noticed that she was talking to him.
"Uhhh... Oh! ... It's a pleasure to meet you too."
"Would you like something to eat? Kurt and I are baking pancakes, would you care for one?"
"I'd love to, thank you."
With a big smile, Ororo walked back towards Kurt next to the stove. Max looked towards the professor and noticed him pointing towards the chair next to him at the kitchen table. As he went to sit down, he was quickly followed by Bobby.
After only a couple minutes of silence, Kurt and Ororo turned towards the table, they both carried a plate with a small pile of pancakes on top of them. A delicious smell filled the kitchen, they went to sit down at the table putting down the piles of pancakes. Max took a quick glance on everyone at the table, the professor on his left side, Bobby on his right, Ororo sat in front of him and across Bobby sat Kurt.
Everyone noticed Bobby gleaming at the pancakes, he was almost drooling...
"Awe yeah! Pancakes! I love them!"
Bobby reached out at one the piles, trying to take at least one of the pancakes before he could even touch one of the pancakes he was interrupted by Ororo.
"Bobby! Guests first!"
Bobby backed down as he stared at the mildly angered Ororo, which cause a bit of an awkward silence... Ororo took the plate in front of Max and put two pancakes on it, placing the plate back in front of him with a bright smile. She nodded towards Bobby, he snatched within seconds two pancakes from the the plate in front of him, ready to devour them.
After Charles, Ororo and Kurt were supplied as well, Ororo said;
"Bon appétit!"
Several minutes had passed and everyone was done eating. The smell of pancakes and fresh maple syrup still lingered in the air. it has been a while since Max had eaten something so delicious.
"Do you enjoy it?"
"Oh yes, It was delicious! Thank….."
"BAM!"
Suddenly the kitchen's backdoor smashed open. An angered man of unimpressive height and sideburns entered the room. Growling as he entered the kitchen, while walking towards the refrigerator the man kept glancing towards Max. The intimidating look and mild growling startled Kurt and Bobby, and even Ororo for a little bit.
Silence filled the kitchen as everyone stared at the man as he took a bottle out of the kitchen.
"SNIKT!"
The man popped out one of his claws to remove the bottle's cap. He stared at the new man, growling mildly. Max stared back at him and returned the intimidating look on the man. Max sensed something strange, a certain smell felt familiar, the face also looked familiar… He knew that man...
He stared into the eyes of the growling mutant, and a vision emerged...
* He felt himself stuck inside a water tank made out of glass, he saw people in laboratory clothes stare at him, smiling as if they had stolen candy from a child. He felt a burning pain in his arms and legs. Something unlike anything he's felt before...
Suddenly he was on the outside of the glass tank, but this time the man he just saw was inside. The man screamed and yelled in terror, he could feel his pain even from outside of the tank. His left arm felt like it was on fire! He even started to scream himself, the immense pain this man has been through... Max fell to his knees holding his burning left arm. He looked up seeing the man scream in pain as he was being injected with a silver liquid. When he looked at his face, he recognized him… And moments before the vision ended he thought to himself; *
~ "Jim…. What have they done to you..." ~
Suddenly everything went to black...
BAM!
"Max? Max! Are you alright?!"
When Max was back in reality, he saw Bobby and Ororo standing over him. Apparently he fell off his chair by the intensity of the vision, Bobby helped him back on his chair. Max had his eyes covered with his left hand, that vision caused him one heavy headache...He moved his hand and his eyes tried to adjust to the lighting in the room. As the kitchen reappeared he looked frantically around himself looking for the angered man.
"Where's Jim...?"
Kurt, Ororo and Bobby stared at the man with widened eyes. All 3 of them had the same thoughts;
~ Who's Jim? ~
Professor Xavier sensed the vision Max had about the man and send him a mental message...
~ That was Logan, otherwise known as The Wolverine, you passed out when you looked into his fears…. He's been through very much, he's lost a large amount of his memories himself... even I sometimes have trouble with his mind. ~
"I….. I need to speak with him…"
Max tried to get up as he covered his eyes again due to the headache.
"No, Maxwell. We'll talk about it later, there are still some things you don't know yet, but first we finish our tour through the mansion."
3 hours later…
After the Professor showed Max the Danger Room, the Laboratory, the X-Jet and the garage, their tour ended at the the back side of the mansion.
"So what do you think, Maxwell?"
Max was truly fascinated by everything he'd seen, however he still had the angered man whom he now had to identify with the name 'Logan' on his mind. He tried to remember back to his past... it was futile. The quick flashes of lost and suppressed memories he tried to conjure caused him a yet another small headache... The man rubbed his eyes and forehead with his head down towards the ground.
The professor sensed that his thoughts were somewhere else. With a quick peek into his mind he saw the flashes of memories that caused the man a headache.. Flashes of the woods, flashes of a small cottage and flashes of a man and a woman. He recognized the man and suddenly he spoke;
"Here at the Xavier Institute, mutants like ourselves, help and care for each other. I would like you to consider staying here, together we might be able to figure out your lost past. "
Max looked at the professor, the faint smile on his face made clear that he'd agree with him and would love to stay here at the institute.
"We'll start tomorrow, we still have to prepare a room in the institute for you."
After a small moment, he heard the faint laughter of children and teenagers. He looked around him he noticed a basketball field on the left. He saw several young people moving and jumping around, he heard people on the benches at the sidelines cheer for for the noticed the professor move with his wheelchair towards the basketball field. He saw him wave with his hand, indicating him to follow.
They approached the basketball field, the closer they came, the louder the laughter and cheering became, It felt rejuvenating, but once they were only a few feet away from the field did that laughter disappeared... One of the younger students noticed the professor and the man approach.
"Look!"
As Max and the Professor entered the basketball field, it became quiet... The students stopped playing and the people on the sidelines stood up. Everyone had gathered together and moved towards Max and the Professor.
"Students, I would like you to meet, Maxwell. He'll be staying with us from now on. "
Max looked at the group that gathered together in front of him, he recognized several faces. He noticed, Hank, Bobby, Ororo and Kurt were with the group, at the far end at the group, he noticed a young woman. She had beautiful auburn-brown hair with a unique whit streak in it...
She was staring at the ground with her arms crossed, she was trying to hide herself unlike the rest of enthusiastic students. She took a short glance at him, trying to avoid full eye-contact and suddenly stared back at the ground. Max noticed that, suddenly he spoke;
"You… You're the one who found me, aren't you?"
The young woman stepped forward, her head was still faced down to the ground... An awkward silence appeared at the basketball field as everyone either stared at the women or at Max. When she appeared before him, he looked him in the eyes and said;
"Yes."
* When she looked him in the eyes, the man expected another vision, but once again he saw nothing… *
Intrigued by the young woman's appearance, he stepped a bit closer and said;
"Thank you for rescuing me, can I know your name?"
"My name is Rogue, pleasure to meet you."
~ Rogue… Such an unusual name... ~ thought the man to himself.
The young woman quickly stepped back towards the group, Max was still looking into her eyes…
~ Hmmm.. She's not a telepath like Xavier but why can't I see anything…? Strange… ~
A moment of silence appeared, suddenly Professor Xavier said;
" Well Maxwell, shall we go back inside? We still need to prepare a room for you…"
"Yes we should."
As Max and Xavier got ready to leave some noise was made between several of the students, they were whispering. Max noticed Bobby was with them too, suddenly he spoke;
"Professor. We were wondering about Max's 'powers'…."
Bobby quickly turned his look from Xavier to Max, stepping closer to him, and said;
"Can we see your abilities, Max?"
Max quickly looked away from the boy, apparently nobody except the Professor had noticed he's been using his first gift this whole time. However his second gift was the most intriguing. Max took a quick glance towards Xavier, by the smile on his face he could sense as if he was going to say;
~ "It's your choice." ~
"Please?"
Max was being stared at by the younger students and Bobby, even the others were wondered about his gifts and loved to see it in action. It felt he was almost pressured to show his ability...
"Well… My gift is pretty… how do you call it? 'Different?'…. It's hard to explain…"
"The Professor tried to explain it 3 days ago but most of us didn't really get it…."
"Heh... Alright then."
Max stepped towards the center of the basketball field, he stood still in the middle. He noticing that everyone was spreading across the sidelines to get a good view on him. Suddenly he spoke;
"Bobby, Can I borrow you for a moment?"
"What, me?"
"Well, you wanted to see my ability, didn't you?
"Ahh… Yes… uhh… kinda..."
"Well then, get over here!"
Bobby stepped forwards to the center of the basketball field, he stood across the man. He was wondering what was going to happen, and after a few seconds, the man said;
"My 'gift' is to increase the power of others by forming a connection with them."
The man held out his right hand and said;
"Once Bobby here, touches my hand, we'll form a connection, I like to call it a "psychic bond". I get a certain amount of his own abilities and in return I can increase his powers to a higher potential."
"Ohhh..."
Max heard the people on the sidelines whisper, he even noticed some were a bit jealous that he man chose Bobby as a 'test-subject'. Max held his hand out towards Bobby, indicating he had to touch him. He took a quick glance to Rogue and said;
"Is it going to hurt?!"
Once again he took a quick glance towards Rogue, who looked at him as if she would kill him right there on the spot. Bobby got lightly startled by the look and quickly returned his attention to Max, who was still waiting for Bobby...
With a smile on his face, he said;
"Heh, No it won't… Are you afraid?"
"Uhhhh… No…."
"Well… then…We're waiting, Bobby!…" said one of the younger students on the sidelines.
"Bobby! Bobby! Bobby!"
On the sidelines several students were cheering for Bobby. After several seconds, he finally got his courage and grabbed the man's hand. When he took his hand, Bobby saw the man's eyes glow faintly blue and felt as if all the trouble of the world just vanished….
* The vision of the soulless Iceman reappeared once again, however it was changing now….. He saw everything around him turn into ice. He felt an organic layer of ice covering his whole body. Even due that everything was turned to ice around him. It didn't feel cold... The ice glittered, as if it sparkeled in the sunlights. It felt enlightening… Carefree… Genuinely speaking, it felt GOOD. *
~ Wow! What's going on! ~
As Max let go of the boy's hand, he heard faint thoughts... When he looked at himself he saw that he was completely covered in an organic layer of Ice, looking towards the boy, he saw had the same thing going on too...
~ Well.. Guess I know now why they call him 'The Iceman'…. ~
"WHO SAID THAT?! "
~ Oh great…. Bobby relax, you can hear my thoughts now…. ~
~ Huh? Wow, that's cool… ~
Everyone on the sidelines looked with astonishment, as they didn't now see one 'Iceman', but two.
Max raised his hands in the air as they faintly glowed blue, his hands released a light blue aura... the released energy surrounded the entire area.
Bobby felt as if he just drank 6 bottles of energy drink, but it was more than that!
* He didn't worry about his fears or that he sometimes felt under-appreciated by others, those feelings were just gone... He could only see the good memories… *
"Wow, I feel stronger! "
"Well then, try using your powers then…"
Bobby didn't take long to answer that request, raising his hands and creating a GIGANTIC ice block as high as the mansion is less than 8 seconds. He summoned an ice-slide and he moved on top of the ice block.
" WOOOHH! AWESOME! "
The younger students on the sidelines were for cheering him out of excitement.
"This feels amazing!"
~ Let's hope that this doesn't turn to megalomania… ~
" I heard that, Max! "
"WELL, MAYBE I WANTED YOU TO HEAR IT, BOBBY!" Max smiled towards Bobby.
Everyone at the sidelines had a little bit of confusion on their face, however Professor Xavier sensed the mental messages shared by Max and Bobby. Max himself summoned an ice-slide and moved himself on top of the ice block next to Bobby.
" You can use my powers too?! "
" Yes… But it's not as effective..."
"Well Bobby… Think you can be a bit more 'creative' ? "
"OH I'LL SHOW YOU CREATIVE! YEEEEEHHH HA!"
Everyone on the sidelines were very impressed by they were witnessing. Kurt and Ororo especially as they were cheering as loud at the younger students. Kurt said;
"That iz't one amazing gift! Don't you think so, Rogue?!"
Kurt looked towards Rogue, she was staring at the gigantic ice-block in disbelief. She quickly took her eyes off the ice-block looking at the ground and crossing her arms…
"Rogue, are you alright?"
"I'M FINE, KURT! LEAVE ME ALONE! "
An angered Rogue suddenly stormed off the basketball field. She felt the same sensation she had when she was spying on the conversation in the kitchen 3 days ago... It hadn't left her mind for one second….. When she looked up onto the mansion trying to recollect her thoughts, she saw an open window. She saw Logan looking at the basketball field and she thought to herself;
~ Has he been watching the whole time? ~
That evening...
Professor Xavier and Hank had prepared one of the guests rooms for Max, and after dinner Max retired to his room.
He was a bit exhausted by the tour around the mansion, and using his abilities at the basketball field. His wounds were not healed completely, but the pain was endurable. After a long shower, he decided that he maybe should get some sleep. Max walked around the room a bit, at one side there was a bookcase filled with old books, he grabbed one and thought;
~ History of Art? ~
Max was a bit of a fan of history and architecture, he assumed that the professor must have picked that up from his mind when he was unconscious during his stay at the infirmary. When he placed the book back in the the bookcase he noticed his backpack at the desk beside walked in front of the desk and looked inside it. Most of the stuff inside was cleaned, and a faint smile emerged on his face. But then he noticed some small things missing….
~ Well… Most of it was garbage anyways… Wait….. Where's the …. ~
Suddenly he frantically threw everything inside the backpack on the floor, obviously searching for something….
~ Where is it?! ~
After emptying it, he threw backpack at the ground. Looking down on everything on the ground…. The faint smile he had was gone, he took another desperate look at everything… The picture frame was missing...
~ Damn…. I must have lost it… I'll have to go find it…. ~
After an exhaustingly large sigh, he thought to himself;
~ Tomorrow… ~
Max decided to turn in for the night, but when he wanted to head to bed, someone knocked at the door...
Max approached the door, before he even was in front of the door, he smelled a familiar scent. The closer he got to the door, the faster his heart started the beat. When he was at the door it felt as if he was frozen, unable to move. The vision of the man in the glass tank this morning flashed through his head. After a minute of staring at the door, he heard once again knocking at the door. However this time it was MUCH louder.
He opened the door, the scent he smelled a minute ago got much intenser. He heard a bit of growling as he saw the figure of an angered man. The man looked very muscular but not very tall.. He recognized the man from his old memories... A headache struck the man. Suddenly he spoke;
"Jim?"
"I ain't know who 'Jim' is, Bub. "
The angered man shoved him aside as he entered the room.
"Ahh.. Please come in then...? "
Clearly this man wasn't the man Max recognized from his memories, or at least his behavior wasn't.
He didn't appreciate this 'new' behavior and for some reason, once again felt his heart-rate increase. He remembered the conversation he had with Professor Xavier during lunch. This man was now known as 'Logan.' Someone with his own troubled past, much like himself. Xavier didn't tell him much else besides that, figuring it would be best to discover more during an 'as the professor described it himself; 'therapy-session.'
He squint his eyes, giving the man a bit of an angered look, which didn't go unnoticed by the angered man.
"Look fella, I ain't here for chit-chat, I want some answers."
"Well then…What kinda of answers? "
With a large growl the man raised his left hand revealing the picture frame, with an angered voice the man spoke;
"I'y wanna know why y'e had this photo with ya, and who are those people on it."
"Where I come from, people don't just steal things from other people their backpacks! "
"I didn't steal y'r photo, Bub!"
A minute of silence fell into the room...
Oh. this man really knew how to tick Logan off... The wolf-man smelled once again this familiar scent in the air, that smell quickly turned into a smell of anger and disapproval. This man clearly wasn't intimidated by him, much to the dismay of Logan. Max snatched the photo out of the man's hand, making the man growl out of anger. He stared at the man, something about this man brought the worst into him. The anger inside him was growing stronger by the minute.
"You'll get your answers when I can give you them."
"AND I SAY Y'A BETTER START TALKIN' NOW!"
"OR WHAT!? DON'T THINK OF A SECOND YOU CAN INTIMIDATE ME, MAN!"
There was absolutely no way that Max was gonna be pushed around by this guy...
Meanwhile...
On the other side of the Xavier Institute a young woman had her own part in the story…. Rogue hadn't shown up at dinner this evening. She was still feeling awful about everything she witnessed these last days, Logan's nightmares, the man at the gate, Logan's spying on the man and the students, the man's ability and everything else involving them. Nothing made sense in her mind, like she wasn't being tormented enough already.
She decided that she wanted to get the know the man... She wanted to talk to the man this afternoon but with Bobby and those other students around, she decided not to. Another reason was that she kinda disliked the man, she wasn't sure herself why. Rogue decided it would only be fair to get rid of this dislike was is to get to know him.
She walked through the mansion and towards the hallway with the room the man was staying at, it was unusually quiet in the Institute. As she came closer, she heard a large growl….
~ Was that Logan? ~
The closer she came the louder she heard something yelling, she wasn't sure what was being said. She quickened her pace towards the man's room. She noticed the door was open and ran towards it. Suddenly she heard;
"If you think that growling in people their faces will get you ANY answers then you are VERY WRONG, Jim!…. or Logan, whatever I have to call ye now!"
"Now listen here, Bub!"
"SHAKT! SNIKT!"
...
...
...
...
The silence of the night filled the room as the blood dripped on the wooden floor. Both frozen solid as if time had frozen itself. No breath, not even gasp was heard, if all the life was sucked out of them. They both stared as if they had no soul, like they were just... empty shells. A feeling unlike anything else, like they were the same but still quite different...
She who entered the room watched in horror and saw the two men collapse to the ground, covered in each others blood…
Next chapter: Max's story
Notes;
From now on the story will get a stronger focus on just 4 characters, you probably can guess by now who those 4 might be.
STAY TUNED!
