I took a deep breath. "Either of you know Dr. Doom?" I asked. Logen and Yuki both shook their heads. "Well, he's the ruler of a small country called Latveria." I left it at that and started my story. "As you both know, I haven't been living with Dad all my life. It was actually only a couple of weeks ago that I met him or even knew who he was. The first night I was here I was taken by Doom." I paused for a second, anger building up, but I let it go. My emotions would not get the best of me right now. "He wanted to marry me and turn me into his queen," I explained. I looked directly at Logen and Yuki. "I'm afraid he might loss interest in me and go after you." Logen looked a bit scared and a bit freaked out by all of this. Yuki seemed unfazed, but I couldn't really tell. Her eyes were guarded, not letting me see into them.
"So, you think he's gonna come and take us?" Logen asked. I sighed.
"He said he would be back for me. But he might decided to go for you, thinking you were me," I said. I turned to Yuki. "He might go after someone who's older."
"He ain't touchin' me," she stated simply. Logen looked at me.
"He didn't, ya' know, do anything?" she asked. I shook my head.
"He didn't do a thing except put me in a room. He was probably planning the wedding or something like that, the pedophile," I said. That caused them to chuckle a bit. "Doom is also the only reason my brothers and master are here right now. They'll be leaving soon. Back to New York." I looked away from them. It was going to be hard without them. Yuki's hand went to my shoulder.
"Ya' still got us," she said. I smiled.
"Yeah, I know. And I hope to get to know you as well as I know my brothers." Logen smiled at me.
"That ought ta' be fun," she said. I laughed a bit. Just then, Dad walked in, smoking a cigar. It smelt terrible and I was wondering how he could keep that thing in his mouth. Placing my hand over my nose, I looked at the smelly cigar with disgust. He took it out of his mouth.
"Hey girls," he said, smiling. He then looked at me. "You okay, kid?" he asked.
"That thing smells," I said, pointing at the cigar. Dad looked at me.
"Says the girl who grew up in a layer in the sewers of New York," he countered. I looked at Logen and Yuki. They didn't exactly know that I grew up in the sewer. I was gauging their reactions. They seamed surprised, but looked okay with it. I knew they were gonna ask me about it later.
"Well the sewer smelt better than that," I said. He sighed and put it out. He then looked at me with concern.
"You feelin' better?" he asked. I nodded. "Let me see." I looked at him.
"How?" I asked.
"Just focus on wanting them to come out. It should be faster and less painful now." I did as he instructed and there was a soft shing as my claws came out. I winced and grunted, but Dad was right, it didn't hurt as much. He gently took my left hand in both of his, examining it. He was most likely checking the state of my claws. I realized for the first time that my claws were metal, like Dad's. "Huh, yours are metal. That's weird."
"How is that weird?" I asked. He sighed.
"Well, mine were bone coated with metal, same with your sisters. But you have naturally metal claws." His face became questioning, almost reminding me of Donni when he was working on a new problem. "But what kinda metal are they?" he whispered.
"Well, what kinda metal are yours?" I asked. "Maybe the metal compound was transferred through your DNA and ended up manifesting in my mutation." I looked around and everyone was looking at me like I was speaking some foreign language. I almost laughed. It reminded me of the look that Mikey gives Don after a science lecture. "What?" I asked. "I listen to Don when he talks." Dad cleared his throat.
"Well, the metal coating we all have is Adamantium. I guess it could be possible," he said. "You can sheath your claws." He nodded at my hands. I relaxed them and the metal claws went back into my hands. "Oh, I almost forgot, you're not going to ninja training tomorrow." I was about to argue, but he cut me off. "Instead, you'll be learning how to control those powers of yours before you sneeze and light someone's hair on fire," he said with a smile. I nodded.
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Later on, I was back up in my room. I hadn't sketched in a while, so I was going to do some sketches of the woods on the perimeter of the grounds. I was looking for it when I found the bag with the new video game for Mikey in it. I was thinking about giving him it for a parting gift, but decided to give it to him now. I took the bag and walked into the game room where Mikey was currently battling Bobby at Gears. I smiled and cleared my throat. "Not now," Bobby said. I rolled my eyes.
"I wasn't clearing my throat at you, Bobby," I said, politely.
"In a minute, Chris," Mikey said. I sighed. A minute was never a minute with Mikey. It always turned into longer, so I sat down and watched them for a bit. After a bit, Donni came in.
"Hey, Don," I said, not looking up. Having a good nose could be useful when someone is trying to sneak up on me.
"Shell," he said and I smiled. He hoped over the couch and sat down next to me, throwing an arm around me. "Feeling better?" he asked. This must have caught Mikey's attention.
"Oh, yeah, I almost forgot to ask how you're doing," he said, angling himself so he could see the screen and me at the same time.
"Your concern for our little sister is amazing," Donni said, sarcastically.
"Sorry, I was playing Gears…" Mikey said. I laughed a bit.
"I'm feeling better. I found out they're metal," I said. Mikey laughed.
"Well, you're observant," Donni said. I gave him a playful punch.
"Shut up," I said. Mikey finally noticed the bag in my lap.
"What's that?" he asked.
"Well, it's supposed to be a gift for you… but seeing as you're too busy with your videogame, I might just give it to Logen…" Mikey immediately pushed pause.
"Hey," Bobby said.
"Dude, just a sec." he said. He looked at me excitedly.
"You're like a four year-old who's about to get candy," I said.
"No, that's Leo when you tell him he's getting a chocolate bar," Donni said. I laughed. Leo had a major sweet tooth and loved chocolate. Obviously, Halloween is one of his favorite holidays. And he could go out and trick-or-treat because it looked like he was wearing a costume to people. I handed Mikey the bag and he quickly opened it to find the original Halo and the new memory card. He squealed and then threw himself at me, hugging me so hard, it felt like I was gonna explode.
"Mikey, I kinda need to breath," I said. He let go.
"You rock!" he shouted. "Have I ever told you how much I love you, lil' sis?" I could practically hear the excitement drip from his voice. I smiled.
"Well, you know, you're bound to get bored while I'm here, so I thought I might as well give you something to keep you busy while I'm in class so you don't call me and get me in trouble," I said.
"He would, too," Donni said. I chuckled. Mikey stuck his tongue out at Donni, but he was too excited to get mad. I smiled and got up. I wanted to go find Gambit. I felt bad for ignoring him, though I knew he understood why I was doing it. I stood up.
"Well, I'm gonna go find Remy," I said.
"Who?" Donni asked.
"Remy's Gambit's first name," Bobby answered for me. "His full name's Remy LeBeau." I nodded.
"Take it easy, Chris," Donni said as I left. I rolled my eyes at him. I was done with taking easy. If I took it easy for one more day, I was sure I was gonna go crazy. I found Gambit in the kitchen, alone. He was turned away from me. I went over to him and placed my hand on his shoulder. Without missing a beat, Gambit placed his hand over mine and started to rub my hand with his thumb. He looked up at me.
"Hello, Mon Bell," he said, smiling at me. I smiled back. He let go of my hand and stood up, pulling me into his arms and resting his forehead on my shoulder. He straightened out and I looked up into his red and black eyes, smiling.
"You wanna go for a walk, Rem?" I asked, wrapping my arms around his neck. His grin grew.
"It would be Gambit's pleasure to escort Mon Bell 'round the grounds," he said. I loved the sound of his thick Cajun accent. He took a step back and I dropped my arms. Taking my hand in his, we walked out of the kitchen, almost bumping into Dad. I blushed.
"And where are you two goin'?" he asked with a smile. He took in the fact that we were holding hands and his smile grew a bit.
"Just for a walk, Dad," I said. He nodded and stepped out of the way. I walked out the mansion and onto the grounds with Gambit, hand in hand.