Jeryn was walking down the first floor corridor leading to the main entrance hall of the school. Students populated the hallway; the second class period had just concluded, and the third was about to begin. She had been at the school for nearly a month. She had to juggle an armload of books (she preferred carrying two classes' worth at once, rather than running for books after each period), and stopped to get herself organized. A knot of boys went by her; a suspicious snicker as they went past made her look up in reflex.
She was dismayed to see Tom Billings in the midst of the lot. Tom was a pyrotic – he had the ability to create and control fire. He was also possessed of a sense of mischievousness that bordered on sabotage. In the three-plus weeks that Jeryn had been at the school, she'd already discovered that he had a deserved reputation for using his mutant power to pull off nasty practical jokes.
Sure enough, he extended a hand towards a group of young girls – one of them very young indeed - even as she watched. Rage quickly filled her. No way you jerk! Not while I can help it! Jeryn deliberately threw her books to the floor; as she anticipated, the abrupt and loud sound caused heads to turn towards her – and Tom - automatically. She ran towards her target. A few steps brought her into range and she launched herself at the boy. Jeryn hit his outstretched arm with one hand and his shoulder with the other.
Both of them fell to the floor. Tom started to yell at her angrily, enraged at the interference. He reached out toward her, intending to call fire and strike at her in retaliation. To everyone's surprise, Jeryn, who had shown no sign of any mutant power at all, easily came up off the floor in a well-practiced fighting crouch. Her hands were in extended in front of her and before Tom could call forth fire, she did.
A rope of fire lashed out from her extended hands, and wrapped Tom up like a mummy. To his absolute shock and astonishment, the rope actually burned him. He had never before received any kind of burn, due to his mutant power. He found the experience distinctly unpleasant to say the least. The pain and the shock thoroughly stunned him and Jeryn took full advantage of it.
The entire rope did not burn, but all along its length were painful "hot spots" that seared him like severe bee stings. Tom tried to call up his pyrotic ability, frantically trying to control the fire. To his horror, he could neither take control of the fire nor fend off the burning spots.
Some of the other students had screamed and scattered at the attack. Many were angry, recognizing that Tom had been about to pull another prank. More of them were flabbergasted to see Jeryn manipulating fire. One student ran to find and fetch the nearest teacher. The rest clearly heard her as she began speaking to Tom.
The usually amiable girl spoke with an unmistakable note of rage in her voice. "I don't like it when someone attacks a person whose back is turned. Cowardly, scummy thing to do." The boy was frantically trying to fend off further burns, and made no reply. She gestured and the flame ropes bent him up and backwards, closer to her face. It was very clear that he had no control over his body at all.
Jeryn said to him, "There will always be someone bigger, badder, and meaner than you are, punk. You step out of line one more time, you pull any more of your nasty tricks, and you'll find out who's bigger, and badder, and meaner." Her voice was full of threat.
At this point Scott and Jean arrived on the scene. Jeryn pulled on the flame ropes, dragging Tom upright, and said "By this time tomorrow, you're going to have a written apology for each person in this school that you've hurt with your stupid stunts. Aren't you?" When he only grunted, she yanked on the burning cords and repeated "Aren't you?"
The pyrotic, scared of flames for the first time in his life could only answer "Yes," in a strangled tone of voice.
Jean Gray spoke into the following silence and said, "I think that's about enough." It was obvious to the telepath that the boy had been interrupted while attempting one of his "jokes."
Cyclops commanded, "Tom, I think you should go to your room now."
The boy didn't say anything in response, and Jeryn jerked on the ropes a third time. "What is the appropriate reply when a teacher addresses you, Tom?"
New hot spots flared along the length of the rope to compel him to answer. He choked out, "Yes, sir."
Before releasing the boy Jeryn warned him, "From now on, you lock down your power and you keep it locked down until a teacher gives you permission otherwise. Understand?"
Tom swallowed in fear and replied "Yes. Ma'am."
Jeryn pushed him away and let the ropes dissolve, propelling the boy down the hall in the direction of the dormitories. Dr. Gray enforced Jeryn's order. "Written apologies for everyone by dinner tomorrow, Tom." The boy quickly took off down the hall.
Before the X-Men could say anything, the young woman turned to check on the youngsters who had been the target of the aborted attack. Of the three young girls, the smallest was affected the most, crying softly. It hurt Jeryn's heart to see the little one flinch as she approached. She sat down on the marble floor to bring herself down to the child's level and make herself less intimidating. "It's OK sweetheart, don't cry," she comforted the young girl.
The little one's tears didn't stop as she wailed, "I'm afraid of fire."
Jeryn mentally cursed the departed pyrotic. Of course. That's why he chose her to pick on. She deliberately turned away from the little girl and extended her hand towards an empty stretch of marble floor. "You don't have to be afraid of fire, honey," she cajoled. "Fire can be a good thing. Look at this." The teen closed her eyes in concentration. Several small balls of fire materialized on the open floor and quickly resolved themselves into a litter of tumbling kittens. The eyes of all the younger children (not to mention the two X-Men) went wide as the ersatz animals played with each other, exhibiting all the endearing behaviors of living pets. The flame-kittens chased each other's tails, swatted at each other, and playfully wrestled. The little ones were so enthralled that they soon forget about the attempted attack.
Jeryn didn't allow the exhibition to continue for very long. As soon as she felt that the children were over their fright, she let the flame – kittens die out. To her relief, a wave of protest went up from the kids. "Aww, can't we play with them some more?" was the response of Tom's victim.
The young woman chuckled. "Tell you what. If everyone gets their homework done before dinner time, then we can play with the kittens for a little while before bed." The youngsters were thoroughly enthused and a chorus of promises surrounded her as they hurried off to their interrupted classes.
She stood up gratefully, only to be approached by Jean and Scott. "So. You're a pyrotic too." Cyclops stated sternly.
The young woman looked at him in embarrassment. "No, I'm not. Well," she amended hastily, "for the next 24 hours I am, anyway." The X-Men were thoroughly confused.
Jean informed her charge firmly, "I think that we should discuss this with the Professor," and led the way to the headmaster's office.
Xavier was preparing for his second – year physics class when Jean and Scott, followed by a very hangdog Jeryn entered the room. "Jean, Scott. Is something wrong?"
The flame haired telepath took the lead and explained, "A very excited student came running into Scott's classroom, and yelled that there was a fight going on in the entrance hall."
Cyclops picked up the narrative. "When we arrived, Jeryn had Tom Billings trussed up with a rope of flame like a bird ready for the spit." The professor's eyes widened in surprise.
Dr. Gray continued, "Tom had been about to pull another prank on one of the younger students, and it seems that Jeryn took it upon herself to step in and stop him. She tied him up with a rope made out of fire, and proceeded to intimidate the living daylights out of him."
Scott added mock-helpfully, "She even gave him a writing assignment as punishment."
Xavier looked at the girl in astonishment. "Jeryn, is this true? You're a pyrotic? We thought you were a self – healer, like Wolverine." The teen shook her head emphatically, perplexing the father of the X-Men further. "Explain," he demanded.
Jeryn took a deep breath, and looked up at the professor. "I'm not a pyrotic. I'm a copycat," she clarified. "My mutant power allows me to copy the abilities of other mutants for about 24 hours. All I have to do is touch someone. If that person is a mutant, then I gain their power for a day. If it's a normal human, then nothing happens."
Jean's eyes grew blank as she searched her memory, and then widened in comprehension. "Logan ran out to rescue you the day you arrived at the mansion. When he brought you in, I couldn't find a bullet wound." Xavier's protégé turned to look at her mentor. "He said that he felt Jeryn's fever cooling while he was bringing her to surgery. He showed us the leg wound, and it healed right before our eyes."
The young woman nodded. "He had to have touched my skin when he picked me up. I hadn't met another mutant for days; my power would have copied his as soon as he touched me."
Understanding dawned in the X-Men. The Professor stated, "You copied Logan's healing ability."
Dr. Gray started and exclaimed, "That's why your body didn't reject the food that night! Your new healing power kept it down, because you were starving."
Jeryn confirmed the insights. "My power can copy both physical mutants and power mutants. If I touch someone with a physical mutancy, my body changes to mimic it. I retain proportional mass and gender, but otherwise I become a physical copy of that mutant. Most of the time I don't retain anything after the mimicking wears off. Sometimes, though, there are things I learn while I'm copying that talent that I can carry over to some degree. The more often I copy that power, the more I learn and can do afterwards."
Insight filled Xavier. "That's why you have psychic shields!"
The girl nodded. "I've run into a number of psi-talented mutants. Some telepaths, some empaths, telekines, others. I learn something every time I copy one. While I have their powers I can set certain things inside myself on 'automatic,' and set triggers that I can access after I lose the powers. Crude, but effective."
Comprehension lit the expression on Jean's face. "That's why you've been so uncomfortable around Dr. McCoy!"
The teen agreed and explained apologetically "I've saved my life more than once by making sure people didn't know I was a mutant. I've had enough experience with mimicking power – mutants to be able to shut down a power manifestation. But if I'd ever touched a physical – mutant while in a crowd, I'd have been immediately exposed. I learned the hard way to never show all my cards. I'm sorry."
The professor relaxed, and reassured his student. "Perfectly understandable. No apologies necessary. In fact, I commend you for being so circumspect about the use of your ability. Too many mutants succumb to the temptation of using their abilities to lash out at their tormentors."
The girl shifted uncomfortably, "I lashed out at a fair number of them myself, sir," she confessed.
Charles waved his hand in dismissal. "Self-defense is an entirely different situation. Given the condition you were in when you were arrived, there was obviously sufficient provocation."
Jeryn's relief was plain to the trio. "What should I do now, sir?"
The professor ruminated for a few moments. "It seems that the situation with Mr. Billings has been satisfactorily resolved. I think the next thing is to equip you with a proper set of gloves to avoid triggering your mutant power inadvertently. Then we can set up an appropriate training program so that you can master it under safe and controlled conditions."
The teen flushed in embarrassment. "About Tom Billings. I'm sorry about that, sir. Seeing a mutant use his power just to pick on people makes me sick. I've run into his kind before. In my experience, that kind of person doesn't straighten out until they've been stepped on by somebody bigger than they are." She looked at the instructors apologetically. "Sometimes a peer can get away with things that a superior can't. I'm sorry if I overstepped my bounds."
Professor Xavier's opinion of his newest student had risen considerably. "Not at all. It's up to all of us to watch out for each other. I'm pleased and impressed by the way you handled the situation."
Jean Gray smiled as she directed, "Run along to the storeroom and pick out a couple of pairs of gloves. Take a few minutes to get yourself together, then get yourself to your fourth class. After last class, report to me at the track and we'll see what else you can do as a pyrotic."
The girl nodded her agreement, and left to do as instructed.
