Prelude to the Riot
Null sat with his arms crossed in the deep brown wooden chair, blank eyes staring straight ahead, in front of the desk of the headmaster of Xavier's Institute. A Caucasian man with a head as bald as a baby's ass, but Ja'Keyon could tell his clean shaven cranium housed an impressive and calculating mind.
As much as he appreciated a keen intellect he wasn't exactly admiring the man as that sharp mind was geared towards giving him an appropriate punishment for his actions in class. Behind him was the large Russian named Piotr Rasputin, Null's art teacher. He was holding a thin sheet of metal at his side as "evidence" to the crime that had been committed.
Charles Xavier had his fingers interlocked and his chin placed on top of them as a support while he studied the boy with a stern gaze. The younger Malcolm knew the man was a telepath so he wondered if his mind was being scanned at the moment.
The tense and silent moment was broken when Xavier looked at his new student and said, "I have to ask Ja'Keyon why you would fire a weapon in a classroom full of students and a teacher?"
"Especially to make something as unimpressive as this." Interjected Rasputin holding up the sheet metal
There were bullet holes shot into the ferrous material but they had been fired in such a way that they closely resembled a stereotypical smiley face that a young child might draw. This proved that the pictorial was not done by accident but by a skilled marksman.
Biting down slightly on his tongue at the sound of his name the boy put his hands on the armrests of the chair and said, "I have to admit in hindsight that maybe probably wasn't such a good idea, but in my defense I wasn't shooting at anyone plus I used blanks. It's just that I can't paint and it's art class so I decided to perform some "art" with something I can actually do and that just so happens to be shooting."
Xavier and Rasputin both glanced at one another. The headmaster turned back to the boy and rubbed the bridge of his nose, "In any case it is never acceptable to fire rounds, of any kind, around your fellow students. Is that understood?"
Null furrowed at the authoritative tone being directed at him but knew that engaging in repartee with the man wouldn't make his stay here more enjoyable so he would indulge him, make him think he would be a law abiding student…for now.
"Understood." He answered
The Professor looked at him questionably, having caught the boy's stray thoughts of disobedience, but said nothing of it besides, "You will serve detention until further notice. You will not be allowed to leave campus and your curfew is shortened to 9:30 p.m. Also it will be mandatory for you to participate in training exercises with Logan after school."
At that last bit Null raised his eyebrow as he pondered whether it was really a punishment or not.
"That will be all, Ja'Keyon." Dismissed Xavier
The rebellious youth stared down Xavier with no expression on his face, a tactic he employed when he wanted to intimidate. Normally he'd pick up some tell or sign to show he had succeeded in this endeavor, a twitch of the eye, a momentary break in eye contact, or maybe a brief rub around the throat area, but with the telepathic mutant he got nothing.
The man just stared back squarely with no fear being betrayed by his body. Scoffing Ja'Keyon stood up and left. As his hands neared the doorknob he felt an invasive cringe-inducing voice pop into his head, "They don't understand you. You should just leave as soon as possible."
Null stopped in his tracks and squeezed the doorknob firmly before facing the neatly dressed man behind the desk who was doing a good job of appearing innocent. He received inquisitive looks from both his Art teacher and headmaster which were more than likely justified after what Ja'Keyon said,
"Stay out of my head!" growled Null dangerously
A look of skepticism spread across Xavier's face, "What? Ja'Keyon I didn't…" he began to argue
"You know what don't even bother I'm out of here!" he hissed
The two mutants gave one another differing looks. Ja'Keyon was glaring with contempt evident in his eyes while confusion laced Xavier's orb, Piotr was stuck as a bewildered observer.
Seeing as he was not about to get a confession out of the lying cueball he marched out of the door his mind made up about the amount of time he would wait to leave the damned school. He slammed the door behind him and made his way down the hallway. Leaving the two men inside dumbfound on what had happened and a bent doorknob with the imprint of Ja'Keyon's hand.
"To hell with this place I'm getting out of here!" he thought as he trotted heavily toward the exit
To him the invasion of his mind was an offense he could not and would not forgive. Screw telling Malcolm he was leaving he would find out once he saw that he wasn't returning to their room. This decision was final nothing absolutely nothing was going to change his mind.
"Hey, Ja'Keyon, wait up!" called a high voice
Null stopped and turn to find the silvery white girl from earlier walking up to him her red ponytail bouncing behind her. She was greeted with a strange look given by Ja'Keyon whose anger had mysteriously vanished.
"What's that look for?" she asked putting her hands on her hips
"I'm trying to figure out if you're all right in the head or not." He poked her in the forehead lightly prompting her to swat his finger away, "I mean you approach the guy that just fired off a handgun…in a classroom."
Cessily grinned at his presumption, "It's not like you could hurt me anyway. But I have to admit that was pretty stupid shooting up the classroom like that, but at least no one got hurt."
The well being of the other students wasn't of great concern to Null but he didn't let the girl know that for some reason he could tell she wouldn't like that fact too much, why he cared about that he had no idea.
"So I was wondering." She began with a girlish look "You wanna eat with us at lunch? I mean since you're new here and all."
"Us, you mean there are more of you?" he teased
Cessily took the joke in stride and punched him lightly in the shoulder and continued, "Like I was saying why not sit with me, Julian, Santo, and Brian?"
Giving her a bare expression he contemplated this before saying with a shrug, "Why not? Just don't expect me to fall in love with you after eating lunch with you one time."
Cessily rolled her featureless eyes before brightening up again, "Whatever, I'll see you there."
The adolescent then turned and walked away with Ja'Keyon eyeing her. When she was out of sight realization struck him like a bat to the back of the head.
"Wait, did I just agree to stay here longer?" he said aloud to ensure he wasn't imagining it
He had just unwittingly lengthened his time in this god forsaken Institute by a marginal degree and for what just because he was asked to eat lunch at a table with a bunch of teenagers? He slapped himself on the forehead for his stupidity and exhaled.
"At least I have more time to figure out how I can get my money from that fight last night. That idiot Malcolm made me miss my payout when he grabbed me."
He begrudgingly began to walk to his next class. Ethics if he remembered correctly taught by an Emma Frost, "That should prove to be interesting."
Jaqueris and Megan were standing outside, just outside the walls of the school, under the bright sun in athletic clothing. Jaqueris was wearing a white tank top with silver basketball shorts while his female counterpart was wearing a similar shirt clinging to her body with light blue shorts that hugged her figure. Jaqueris noted that the sun reflected off of her pixie wings casting a rainbow colored light behind her back.
They were in Mr. Beaubier's Flight class and today was one of the most enjoyable parts of this curriculum. Since Professor Xavier had been ousted as a mutant and the true nature of his school had been revealed they did not have to venture into the woods to fly.
"I still don't say Dazzler is all that great." Uttered Jaqueris invoking a stunned expression from Megan
"How can you say that? She's only like the greatest performer alive. I'd kill to be in a show with her." Dreamed the pink haired girl
Jaqueris blew a raspberry at her admiration, "I still have my doubts."
Pixie huffed at his dismissal and put her arms over her chest frustrated with her attempts at being unable to convince her boyfriend how great Dazzler really was. She opened her mouth to try again ever the tenacious one.
"Hey, will you two hurry up we're about to start the relay race!" called that haughty voice of Julian Keller who was standing beside Sofia along with the other students of the flight class.
Because there were not many students at the Institute at the moment who could fly the class was limited to six. This suited Jaqueris just fine because he didn't really favor large class sizes.
"Coming Mrs. Keller!" remarked Jaqueris
"That's Hellion to you, Malcolm. And I'd love to see you keep that uppity tone when we beat you today."
"You sure are confident. If we lose I know who to blame then, right?" said Sofia
Keller looked at the Venezuelan as if she had said something sacrilegious, "What do you mean "if we lose " Sof? Malcolm is about as fast paint drying; you can smoke Megan anytime, and don't get me started on Beak."
He was referring to the human-sized chicken-like mutant, named Barnell Bohusk, he had skin resembling an eagle complete with a beak, talons and feathered arms which were folded behind his back like bird wings. He was an example of an extreme case of mutation and stood an inch shorter than Jaqueris at 6'2".
It looked weird to watch his avian features twist into a frown at Julian's taunts, but before he could retort the dark-skinned girl with a deep black afro and fly wings said rather forcefully, "Shut your mouth, Keller!"
Everyone present was surprised at the level of protectiveness she just showed so much so that even Julian was quiet for a moment as he processed what happened. It would make since that she did it because they were both in Xorn's Special Class, but Jaqueris had a feeling it was something else.
"You should listen to your teammates Keller. It would be really embarrassing if you lost after talking so big." Said Jaqueris
Julian glared at the boy as his eyes turned green, "If you're so confident why don't we make this more interesting?"
Jaqueris turned to face him fully and said with piqued interest, "I'm listening."
Julian placed his hand under his chin as he tried to think of something that would be extremely embarrassing and troublesome for Malcolm. His emerald eyes widened as a light bulb brightened in his head.
"I got it! If you lose you have to take one of Wolverine's bikes out for a joyride."
The other three students looked at Julian and then Jaqueris with fearful eyes. To steal anything of value from the berserker mutant was suicide and here was Julian betting Jaqueris to steal one of Logan's precious bikes.
"Come on Julian you're not serious." Said Sofia
"Yeah, that's crazy. Logan would gut anybody that within 5 feet of his bike." Agreed Megan
Jaqueris stared into the condescending eyes of Julian that egged him on, but also held out the hope that he would refuse giving him a reason to clown the boy in front of his peers. Admittedly the task of taking one of Logan's chopper's was not something a sane person would do but then again…
"Deal!" said Jaqueris extending his hand
A look of skepticism mixed with satisfaction flashed across Julian's face before settling into a smug grin. His grabbed Jaqueris' hand tightly as green energy emanated from his palm. Feeling a challenge blue electricity swan around Jaqueris and Julian's hand contrasting with the green power of the telekinetic.
"Good. Oh and if by the grace of God or some other miracle you do win, what do you want?" he asked breaking the blood clotting handshake
"Shut up for a week." He answered quickly
This made Megan and Sofia smile at one another with the possibility that Julian wouldn't be able to use what should have been his mutant power…mouth for that length of time. Keller however looked like someone had told him the funniest joke of all time.
"That's it? That's the best you could come up with?" he said
"I wasn't betting. You should just shut up for a week."
Chuckles from the four students behind him caused the wealthy teen to cast a glare of daggers at them.
"Alright enough talk everyone it's time for the relay race." Said the voice of the pointy eared Canadian mutant
Northstar was holding two green batons in each hand. Jean-Paul Beaubier was a well-muscled man with blue eyes, black hair, and pointed ears which Jaqueris thought was the result of his mutation and not the rumor around school of him being an elf. Many female students had a crush on him due to his model like features, but their fantasies would remain as such given that the man was openly gay.
It didn't take an astute observer to pick up on the haughty air surrounding the man that was not dissimilar from Hellion's attitude.
"I hope you all remember the route but just in case you didn't I'm going to go over it one more time. But only one more time."
The students went silent as they listened to their teacher, "Okay, Megan and Angel will start from here. They'll race around the school once then towards the marker in the forest, it's the big blue flag if you didn't know, and that's where Sofia and Beak will be waiting. Once they've passed the batons on it'll be up to Julian and Jaqueris to finish the race with the finished line being me."
Jean waited for the information to sink in but decided to start things once he got tired of waiting and said, "Alright, everyone get in your positions."
Angel, Jaqueris, Julian, and Megan all flew away to await the arrival of their teammates with the batons. Jean-Paul stayed behind with Sofia and Barnell to start the race.
Sofia looked over at her opponent the boy resembling a fowl was looking at the ground with slumped shoulders.
"What's the matter Barnell?" asked Sofia
"Its just that…I can't fly that long and you control air. There's no way I can beat you."
A sympathetic look came over Sofia's face and she placed a hand on the boy's shoulder, "Let's just have fun, okay? Let Jaqueris and Julian worry about who wins."
The boy seemed to brighten up at her enthusiasm and nodded his head affirmatively. Northstar handed them each a bright green baton.
"Alright, on your mark." Started Jean
Sofia gave the boy a bright smile and stepped to the side a few steps and spread her legs shoulder width apart. Beak did the same and looked straight ahead with a renewed determination in his eyes.
"Get set."
A slight breeze kicked up concentrated at the feet of Sofia as she rose a few inches off the ground and began to hover. Her counterpart stretched the feathery wings behind his back and flapped them once or twice to get them ready for flight.
Jean-Paul shifted his eyes from left to right as he eyed the two young mutants preparing to race, "Go!" he yelled
Before the two could blink Mr. Beaubier disappeared in show of blinding speed leaving behind a small cloud of dust in his wake. Not wasting anytime the two racers sped away Beak flapped his bird-like arms vigorously to obtain flight while Sofia rose into the air with much more elegance and grace.
Barnell was right about one thing Sofia was faster than him. Her wind power allowed the mutant to slice through the air like a hot knife, but luckily for Beak and unlike Julian Sofia wasn't interested in humiliating anyone and subsequently slowed down to allow Beak to keep pace with her.
This act allowed the avian mutant to catch up to her as they rounded the first corner of the school. The two had elevated to the second level of the institute and drew the attention of many students looking out the windows. The rushing wind blew into Sofia's face and ears she really did enjoy flying it was liberating the feeling of soaring above the ground unbound by gravity.
Mr. Beaubier seemingly understood this evident in the races and other activities he allowed. A flash of white feathers flew past her which made her return to the present, Beak had passed her and was now nearing the second corner of the building.
Seeing that her kindness had been taken advantage of she sped up and began tailing the feathery boy.
Null snapped his head to the right as he caught a glimpse of two shapes rushing past at breakneck speeds outside the window. Even though it was brief he was glad for something to distract him in a class that was proving to be disappointingly boring though the alternative wasn't that bad. He turned his head back to the front of the class being taught by Emma Frost.
She was an extremely voluptuous with all her curves in the right places, full breasts accented by her revealing white top, long blond hair, perfect cheek bones she looked like something out of those magazines young boys hid from their parents. Her snowy clothing did nothing to diminish her appearance in fact it seemed tailor made to show off her womanly figure. People might have found her provocative attire to be a distraction and Ja'Keyon, happily, was one of them.
Taking in her "assets" was disrupted when he heard her say in that chic voice that betrayed her aristocratic upbringing, "Mr. Malcolm I would appreciate it if you pay attention to me talking."
Ja'Keyon brought his eyes up to her face and replied with a spacey, "I'm sorry I was…distracted."
The class snickered with childish laughter halted only by a stern glare by the luscious lady, "You would do well to pay attention. Professor Xavier will be joining us today to speak."
"Yay." Thought Null sarcastically
He sat up but kept an indifferent air about him as he stared into her steely azure eyes. They held a mysterious yet piercing energy perfect for unraveling and keeping secrets.
Just as he thought he was going to be forced to actually pay attention the door came open and Professor Xavier made his way inside.
"Hello students." He greeted
"Hello Professor Xavier." Everyone greeted back except Null who was still sour about the good Professor's invasion of his privacy
The headmaster took a quick scan around the room and Null swore he stared into his eyes a second longer than anyone else before he began to speak again, "I will try not to take up too much of your time so let's begin."
That was when Ja'Keyon decided he could better spend his time sleeping than listening to a lengthy lecture and put his head on the desk.
Jaqueris stretched his limbs thoroughly as he waited for Megan to arrive. Julian was leaning against a tree and had started to stare at him going on a minute now.
"You should be careful Keller you might actually make me blush with all that staring you're doing."
Julian grimaced tightly, "It's weird. You look just like that psycho that shot up the Art room earlier today."
Jaqueris went rigid at this observation, "What are you talking about?"
"Yeah, some guy shot a handgun during Mr. Rasputin's class and he looked just like you expect he was shorter and had way more hair, don't tell me you have a crazy brother walking around here?"
Jaqueris turned towards the telekinetic with a frown on his face, "As a matter of fact I do and he isn't crazy."
"This coming from the guy who fried a politician in his car." Quipped Julian
Jaqueris growled and stepped to the boy but stopped when he felt a familiar presence nearing them, "Here comes Angel I guess your girlfriend couldn't keep up."
Just as he said that a pink head of hair appeared behind Angel and was gaining speed on her quickly.
Jaqueris turned to the now scowling face of Julian and said, "You were saying?"
"Shut up, doesn't matter anyway because I'm still gonna beat you." He replied turning around and getting into a runner's stance
Jaqueris did the same and said, "It's going to be nice not having to hear you talk for a week."
The two boys waited for their female teammates to arrive. Despite Megan having increased her speed Angel was still beating her by a good 10 feet and was just enough space for her to arrive first and pass the baton onto Julian.
He shot a conceited look in Jaqueris' direction as green energy surrounded his body, "Don't take too long now."
The conceited teen then lifted into the air before jettisoning forward into the forest. Megan landed shortly after and after taking the baton Jaqueris planted a quick kiss on her cheek, "Thanks."
He then ascended into the trees and zipped through the air to catch up with Julian. Despite his pig-headiness or perhaps because of it the mental mutant was actually pretty fast and the fact that he had a head start over Jaqueris didn't help.
The two fly birds bobbed and weaved as they avoided the various tree branches in their path. At the speed they were going the surroundings appeared only as a mesh of green and brown accented by the bright light that peeked through the leaves. The gentle whisper of the wind was now an impressive roar as it filled their eardrums and ran coolly over their skin.
Julian was enjoying his comfortable lead and given the fact that he was fast approaching the finish line he took the time to turn around mid-flight and wave at Jaqueris with a cocky smirk. He continued like this until he felt a strange force pull him in the direction of his adversary.
His smile disappeared as he struggled with his telekinesis to push forward, but this pull was proving to be insistent. His was now moving with less than half of his original momentum evident as Jaqueris closed in on him and eventually passed him a rush of leaves trailing behind.
As soon as he did so Julian felt the pull disappear and it didn't take a genius to figure out what happened.
"I never thought you had it in you, Malcolm." Muttered Julian resentfully
Jaqueris smiled to himself as he flew past Julian, "Okay, I know that using my powers to slow Julian could be considered cheating…a little, but come on this is Julian after all. I wouldn't put it past him if he was in a same position."
His attempt at justifying his dishonest behavior was interrupted when a tree branch, which had a enigmatic green energy surrounding it, suddenly snapped back and impacted him in his stomach. The blow knocked the wind out of him as he fell to the forest floor clutching his gut.
Through his open eye he saw Keller fly above him toward Mr. Beaubier who was waiting patiently for their arrival. Grunting and still holding his aching stomach and now bruised ego he flew pathetically toward his teacher.
Julian landed beside Northstar with a triumphant smile plastered across his mug. Jaqueris floated over to join them the pain now radiating from his side. He tried to avoid eye contact with the victorious Julian as he didn't want to give him the satisfaction of seeing him in his defeated state.
"What happened to you?" asked Jean-Paul
Jaqueris put his hands on his knees as he keeled over the feeling of nausea becoming and said, "Julian cheated that's what. He made a tree branch smack me in my stomach." He explained carefully avoiding the fact that he cheated first
Julian was not about to let that little detail be missed however when he said, "Only after you pulled a Star Trek on me and used a tractor beam to slow me down."
Ignoring the fact that Star Trek didn't have invisible tractor beams Jaqueris said standing up, "Prove it, Keller!"
The two warring teenagers stepped toward one another only to be stopped when their elf eared teacher stepped between them, "That's enough the race is over now so there's no need to show bad sportsmanship."
The rest of flight class arrived as Northstar broke up the two. The tension between the Julian and Jaqueris must've been extremely apparent because the group was silent at first.
"So…uh who won?" asked Barnell
Jaqueris glowered as Julian turned to him and gave him a derisive smile, "Oh and Jaqueris remember our bet."
Nova rubbed his face as he recalled the terms of agreement.
"Now does anyone have any questions?" asked Charles Xavier
Null woke up at this moment a smidge of drool on the side of his mouth. He wiped the sleep from his eyes and looked around the classroom and observed that no one raised their hand yet.
He smiled internally and thought, "Serves him right."
His momentary happiness was crushed however when a hand shot into the air. It belonged to a purple haired boy his hair cut on the sides, with brown eyes, the lines around his eyes showed that he just recently stopped wearing glasses. He was wearing a red and black striped no sleeve sweater over a buttoned shirt matched with blue pants and black boots and was sitting in the desk right in front of Xavier at the front of the class.
"Quentin, yes, please ask your question." Offered Xavier
A few snickers were heard around class and Null supposed they were directed at the boy, "He must not be too popular around here."
Quentin ignored them however and asked, "Do you think portrayals of mutants in the media have advanced at all since you opened your school?"
This intelligent question seemed to have caught the Doctorate wielder off guard if only a little as he rubbed his chin. Null enjoyed seeing his discomfort no matter how slight it was.
"Certainly, however, in light of the work that has been done to mend the rift between humans and mutants, especially in the wake of Opening Day, I must say that clothing such as yours seems a little…provocative."
"Ouch, that's gotta hurt the ego." Thought Null
After he thought this the boy talking to Xavier turned around and looked him dead in the eye which surprised Null before turning back to the Professor.
"Well, Professor, my clothes are a part of a creative history project if you will. I think it's time that young mutants reclaimed some of the offensive imagery produced by bigots and propagandists in the mass media." Standing up, Quentin added "I wanted to use Open Day to make a strong, confrontational statement about how far we've all come from those dark days of persecution. That's all Professor."
"What's up with this guy? Does he think he's some short of messiah or something?" thought Null once again but found himself leaning forward in his desk
Xavier didn't seem phased by his response and said, "Your outfit certainly achieves that Quentin, but we prefer to examine non-confrontational pathways here at Xavier's and I must say your attire aside you have definitely taken a stark change in the past few weeks."
Null's eyes shifted to the boy the same as the rest of the class who were now engrossed in this ongoing argument between the two opposing philosophies.
"All I've done is grown up a little and look at things from a different perspective…a higher perspective if I do say so myself."
Null chuckled lightly at the boy's obviously high opinion of himself and continued to listen.
"And we are very proud of you Quentin, but in three days time Xavier will be opening its doors to mutants and humans alike and I would hope to avoid any confrontations." He countered skillfully
Null had to give it to the man he was effectively holding off his student's more aggressive approach to rhetoric in a dignified and respectful manner.
"Shows leadership and brains, but it's also the mark of a liar."
"This is not why I came here today however." Said Xavier turning towards Emma who had been seated this entire time.
The potential playboy bunny stood and held up a black inhaler with red circled X on it, "This is the reason." She said
Confused Null turned to Quentin to see his reaction and noted that he saw a flicker of fear before it was snuffed out mercilessly.
"You should all own up for those who are intimately familiar with this drug. The Professor came here today to find out if any of you have been "on the puff" as they say."
Null wasn't in the category of "intimately familiar" so he felt no pressure about confessing, but he wondered why the two telepaths didn't just read minds and find out who was currently or had previously used the drug.
Suddenly Quentin said stone-faced, "This is ridiculous. I have a more important question if my clothes are provocative isn't it also provocative to invite humans into a school of mutants? Didn't mutants just support genocide by providing weapons to massacre 16 million of our people in Genosha? Didn't they also just murder one of premier artists in Jumbo Carnation? We are always under threat from them yet you invite them to come learn with us?"
Null shifted in his desk he was completely unaware that mutant-kind had taken such a damaging blow to its population. The sleep now completely purged from his system he was now listening intently to what the two were going to reveal next.
Xavier didn't respond immediately and instead took the inhaler from Emma and said, "This drug, this Kick is an immediate threat to all of us. I do not stand before you to tell you what to do, but we have valid evidence that suggests that Kick is a potent neuro-toxin. Using these inhalers can irreparably damage the X-gene. Think before you act if you want to protect yourselves then arm yourselves with knowledge."
Null found himself focusing unbreakably on the conversation between the two and given the fact that he normally didn't care about human/mutant relations that was saying something.
"I'm getting tired of this." Whispered a voice beside Null
He looked to his left to spot a hefty boy with red hair and boyish freckles who was arming himself with a straw. He popped a piece of paper in his mouth and began to chew.
"Juvenile." He thought
As the boy raised the hand with the straw intending to fire one at the back of Quentin's head Null's hand shot out and grabbed his wrist. The boy turned his blue orbs onto Ja'Keyon and grimaced in pain as his wrist was twisted in an unnatural way.
"If you fire that spit ball I'm going to break it." Null whispered threateningly to him before letting him go
The plump boy grabbed his wrist and bit his bottom lip to prevent from screaming out. Null dismissed him as soon as he let his wrist go and turned back to Quentin and Xavier. They seemed to have ceased their verbal sparring when Xavier concluded with his knowledge bit.
"Aaaahhh man, is that it?"
"Oh, there's one more thing Professor. You may not know this but my clothes are based off of designs by the late Jumbo Carnation." Turning to address the class Quentin said, "You all may not know this but Jumbo was murdered in the streets like an animal the other night and yet no suspects have been apprehended. Jumbo Carnation dreamed that one day mutants could walk alongside humans on the walkways just like I dream of a world where I don't have to sit side by side with his murderer."
The class fell silent as Quentin finished his last utterance. Null was still surprised that Jumbo Carnation was the blue corpse they had encountered the night before.
"I didn't know he designed clothes for mutants." At this thought Null realized he didn't know a lot about mutants as a whole. Imagine that he didn't understand his own race.
"Quentin you should know that just because some birds are black that doesn't make all of them blackbirds. You are falling into a logical error." He started
The boy crossed his arms and eyed the Professor with a gaze similar to the one Null had given him and listened as Xavier said, "You as well as anyone else that I have always encouraged you to dream."
Quentin sat down in his desk and leaned back with a stubborn look on his face, "I wonder what would happen if we had a dream you didn't like?"
The bell rang signifying the end of class. Every student inside seemingly forgot about the top notch debate that had transpired a few minutes ago the thought overshadowed by the fact that it was lunch time. As Ja'Keyon slung his book bag over his shoulder his mind lingered on the Xavier's and Quentin's face off.
The Professor stayed behind to talk to Ms. Frost a little longer as the class emptied. Ja'Keyon was nearing the door when he heard.
"I heard your thoughts today in class." He said cordially
Null turned around to face Quentin feeling that any respect he had earned was slipping away quickly when he revealed his snooping inside his mind, "Yeah, what of it?" he said bluntly
The boy held up his hands in a defensive manner and said, "First I just wanted to let you know that I wasn't doing it willingly. It's just sometimes stray thoughts enter my head when I'm not consciously trying to keep them out."
Null narrowed his eyes suddenly suspicious of the boy's motives, "If you have a point make it."
The boy gave a nervous smile and walked around Ja'Keyon who followed him closely with his eyes, "Well, in light of your less appropriate thoughts." Null knew he was referring to the "nerd" comment "I could tell you were interested, invested almost."
Null crossed his arms and studied the boy with scrutiny. He wasn't particularly interested in what the lad was saying talking in his roundabout way was only serving to annoy him.
Sensing this Quentin said, "Look all I'm saying is if you want to learn more than meet me in Room 1610 in the dormitory. A couple of like-minded people and I are heading into town tonight."
An idea began to form in Ja'Keyon's head when he mentioned that he was heading into town, his features softened slightly and he said, "To do what exactly?"
The boy smiled devilishly and said, "You'll see." Before walking into the hallway, but turned around and said, "Oh and this has been bugging me so I have to ask. Do you have a brother or something at this school? Because you look awfully familiar."
Null hardened his attributes and said in a straightforward manner, "No."
Quentin nodded and gave one last smile, "Guess I imagined it then." He then left the classroom
Null watched him go curious as to what the boy was planning and said aloud, "Yeah, I guess you did."
Lunchtime came and Ja'Keyon ventured to the cafeteria alone. It was just like any other café he supposed, loud and filled with teenagers spreading the latest gossip about. He was deciding on where to sit when the preppy former cheerleader turned mercury skinned mutant came over to him to remind of him of his promise. If he was anything he was a man of his word so he followed her to the table she was sitting at.
The tray he had held a slice of cheese pizza, a few hot wings, a cheeseburger, and a chocolate chip cookie. While he was with A.I.M. he wasn't allowed to indulge in sweets with the strict diet they provided so now that he had the chance he was going to pig out.
She held a tray with a much more modest meal, a salad with ranch dressing. Seeing this Ja'Keyon wondered why she bothered to eat at all being made of mercury meant she wasn't organic so that meant food was unnecessary. Putting it out of his mind he stared ahead as they approached her table.
Seated also was the boy who continuously stared at Ja'Keyon in Art class who now had a skeptical gaze about him. This was shared with the dark-skinned dread haired boy and the craggily stone behemoth.
Null felt like he was under a microscope as the three stared at him. This was only stopped when Cessily said, "Stop staring you guys. You're embarrassing him."
The three broke their laser eye contact as the rock giant said, "And who might "him" be?"
Null took note of his incorrect grammar and deduced that he wasn't the brains of this little grouping, ""He" has a name and its Ja'Keyon…Malcolm."
He ground his teeth together at mentioning his last name and waited for their replies. The three of them shared looks before the black boy said, "Wait! Malcolm you mean like Jaqueris Malcolm? Don't tell me you're his brother."
Ja'Keyon cursed the boy for picking up the similar surnames and wanted to punch him, but refrained from doing so and calmly said, "No, I'm not."
"That's not what he said." Added Julian leaning back in his seat
Now everyone stared at Null expecting an answer Cessily being the most prominent. He couldn't say he was enjoying the attention in fact it was starting to irritate him a little but he didn't show it and instead said, "Fine, yes he's my brother, but I don't claim him. The guy is a real buzz kill and I'm ashamed to say I'm actually related to him."
The four students all were silent as the truth came to light. Null was expecting them to reject him and already had a witty comeback prepared for just such an incident. This made it real surprising when the three boys burst into laughter.
Cessily and Ja'Keyon looked at one another with befuddled expressions.
Julian managed to stop laughing as he said, "Any guy that's an enemy of Malcolm is a friend of mine."
"Yeah come sit down with us." Invited Santo
Cessily smiled at her Ja'Keyon and walked over to the table. She leaned in towards Julian and whispered, "Thank you."
The boy muttered an "Anytime" as she sat down. Null took a seat beside Brian and made himself comfortable. The topics of conversation for the next few minutes ranged from current relationships to favorite teachers. Most of the time Null only observed adding in a comment when he was asked about something.
Eventually this would not be sufficient when Cessily asked, "Oh that reminds me. Ja'Keyon who did you pick as your advisor?"
He raised a brow oblivious as to what she was talking about, "If you tell me what you mean I can tell you."
Julian interjected, "It's like this you pick a teacher who you can go to to talk about stuff bothering you or whatever. You can pick anyone like Wolverine if you're crazy or you can do like we did and pick a cool one like Ms. Frost."
"Yeah, she lets us have pizza and stuff when we have meetings." Added Santo
"She even let us pick our own codenames." Said Brian
Null didn't find all of this terribly great because he didn't have anything he wanted to talk about with these teachers and what was all this business about codenames. He thought this was a school.
"What are your codenames?" he asked
The four brightened up noticeably at this. Julian was the first to go and Null was beginning to suspect that he like it that way, "Mine is Hellion. I named it after the first batch of students Ms. Frost taught."
"Mine's Rockslide on account of you know I'm made of rocks." Said Santo dimly
"Tag, because if I touch someone I can make other people run away or come to them." Revealed Brian
"And mine should be obvious. It's Mercury even though I'm not actually made out of it I just share a few similarities to it."
After sharing their own codenames the four looked at Ja'Keyon expecting him to tell his own. He considered saying "Null" but that name had so many bad memories attached to it now and a lot of pain as well. Thinking for a moment he decided on something that fit him well.
"Rebel. Cause a lot of people here think I'm one since I shot up a classroom and got detention on my first day of school."
The other's seemed content with his explanation and continued to other things. While they chatted away Jaqueris kept reiterating the new name he had bestowed on himself.
"Rebel, I'm not Null anymore, but Rebel." He thought
Jaqueris watched his brother walked past him without saying a word and saw when he and Cessily stood in front of Brian, Julian, and Santo like they were on trial. When the trio started laughing he was about to rise from his seat and go over there, but witnessing the inviting motion Julian made with his hand he stayed put.
He was sitting beside Megan along with David, Sofia, and Laurie. Out of the corner of his eye he caught a piece of meatloaf move toward his mouth at the end of the fork.
"Hello, are you in there Jaqueris?" teased Megan bringing the fork back to her
"Huh?" said Jaqueris absentmindedly
The others were looking at him strangely because he had stopped talking and began staring ahead for a few minutes.
"I think he's still mad over the fact that he lost to Julian in that race today." Said Sofia
Jaqueris narrowed his eyes at her causing her to avoid eye contact as a smile formed in the corner of her mouth.
"No, I'm over that. I'm just worrying about how to take Wolverine's bike." He said plainly
Everyone at the table stopped what they were doing to stare at Jaqueris like he'd grown an extra head. The eyes of the girls seemed especially large when he told them.
Megan was the first to speak up, "You're not actually planning on doing that are you?"
"Actually…"
Doing what now?" said Josh's voice as he joined them at the table
The mutant healer put a cup of lemonade to his lips waiting for the others to explain what was happening, "Jaqueris is planning on taking Wolverine's bike." Said Laurie
Josh just about choked on the beverage in his throat, putting the glass on the table he began to cough deeply, but managed to say, "What are you crazy?"
"Wait, I'm not…" he began
"What made you even think of doing that in the first place?" asked David
Frustrated at being interrupted again he opened his mouth to answer but was cut off by Megan, "It was this stupid bet he and Julian had."
"Yeah I know that's why…" he started once again
"It's just Julian being Julian though. You shouldn't take him seriously, he'll probably forget tomorrow." Said Sophia
"Guys!" Jaqueris almost yelled to prevent anyone else from interrupting him
Seeing as he got all of their attention he said, "I'm not going to do it. I was only joking." He explained slowly
Their features went from one of alertness back to their natural calm disposition, "Well, that's good." Said Megan
"Yeah, I don't think I could heal a decapitation." Remarked Josh
"You'd have to be crazy to try and take something from Logan." Said David
Jaqueris chuckled softly and said, "Yeah, you're right."
That Night
Then he must be crazy because he was seriously considering trying to steal that bike as he sat at his desk. It wasn't that he wanted to do it or anything, but he was a man of his word and it would feel wrong of him to not keep it. He had tried to distract his mind from this by talking to Ja'Keyon about the incident in Colossus' class but that only earned him a quick rebuff.
His brother was now lying lazily in bed staring up at the ceiling. He hadn't said a word for at least 10 minutes seemingly content with just lying in silence.
Jaqueris wondered if all their nights together would be like this. When they were living in the Bronx Ja'Keyon could talk to his older brother about anything and Jaqueris would sometime confide in him, but now he seemed so distant.
"I'm going to the bathroom." The younger sibling stated
An indicative feeling in his head told Jaqueris that he was lying, but he didn't call him on it, because his mind was partially distracted by the bet he made and allowed his brother to leave the room unopposed.
As Ja'Keyon closed the door behind him he was surprised at how easy that was. He had suspected Malcolm to try and stop him by bombarding him with a plethora of questions or physically restraining him when he refused to answer, but his mind seemed clouded with other thoughts.
He went in the opposite direction of the bathroom heading to room 1610. The numbering made it child's play to find, but it took him five minutes because it was on the far side of the dormitory. As he neared the door he went over the plan in his head one more time.
"I'm going to go with these losers to Mutant Town and while they're doing whatever it is they plan on doing I'm going to return to the fight club and get my money." He thought cleverly
Knocking on the door he heard the voice of Quentin on the other side, but it wasn't him that opened the door. Instead a dark-skinned boy with cornrows, entirely white eyes that made him look blind, and attire identical to Quentin answered the door he was eye level with Ja'Keyon so he couldn't see who was in the room.
He didn't move out of the way and instead asked in the manner of a security guard, "Who are you?"
Rebel was getting tired of having to tell people his wretched name so he said, "Quentin told me to come."
The purple hair of the telepath popped into view as he heard Ja'Keyon's familiar voice and his name being called, "Let him in Christian."
The boy gave him one last once over before moving aside to allow entrance. Rebel stepped inside and saw that the room wasn't too different from the others in the dormitory except there were multiple newspaper clippings on the wall with most bearing titles related to acts of mutant hate crimes or the deaths of mutants.
Looking behind Quire, who was sitting in a chair against the wall, he saw a notable newspaper picture of Jumbo Carnation in black and white the headline reading "Mutant Artist Found Dead in Mutant Town".
Surveying the room further Null saw that besides Quire there were four faces he didn't recognize. The guy at the door named Christian, a girl with a shaved head and many tattoos over her dark-skin wore a red and black strapless top with bottom clothing matching the others, another boy was present with a haircut like Quire's but lacking the dye showing his natural golden hue, and the last person present couldn't be identified as male or female.
This was because he was a giant standing at 6'5" made up of a pink substance resembling wax. The wax was bulky and his entire skeleton and major organs could be seen floating on the inside his bizarre appearance punctuated by his eyeballs floating in front of his eye sockets.
All of them had the distinction of wearing exact copies of the same outfit.
"What have I gotten myself into?" Ja'Keyon thought sardonically temporarily forgetting about Quire's telepathy
"Ja'Keyon so glad you could join us. I'd like to introduce everyone." Pointing to the muscular boy that opened the door for him he said, "That's Christian Cord AKA Radian, this little minx beside me is his sister Christine Cord or Tattoo." The girl gave Quentin a flirtatious look at being called "little girl" but said nothing
"Those two have something going on."
He then pointed in the corner of the room to the large mass of living wax and said, "You've no doubt noticed Robert Herman you can call him Glob Herman."
Ja'Keyon thought he was joking calling him that name, but given that there were no snickers or hidden smiles he knew that he was being serious. "Lastly we have Vincent Stewart whose mutant name is Redneck."
"How appropriate."
"Charmed, now what is it you plan on doing tonight?"
Quentin answered with a devious smirk.
Jaqueris rubbed his clean cut head vigorously in frustration he wasn't going to figure out a solution to his dilemma by sitting here. He could just tell Julian to stuff in where the sun doesn't shine, but then he knew the boy would never let him live it down if he didn't go through with his end of the bargain.
He slammed his hands on the desk and groaned. Looking out at the starlit sky through his window he suddenly remembered, "Where is Ja'Keyon?"
His brother had told him he was going to the bathroom and while his powers alerted him to the fact that he was lying he hadn't paid any attention to it. Only now did he realize his foolishness by letting his brother walk out unsupervised.
Remembering the boy's penchant for truancy and late nights he got up from his desk to investigate. Putting his fingers to his head he utilized radar sense to pinpoint where Ja'Keyon was. It revealed that he was walking off campus with five other signatures he didn't recognize.
"What the hell is he up to now?" he said to himself as he broke into a jog towards the balcony of the dormitory
By the time he arrived his brother was already outside following the militantly dressed students of Xavier. Jaqueris recognized Quentin despite his new look, but the other four were a mystery to him.
Jaqueris didn't particularly trust Quire and given the fact that his brother was not supposed to be out past 9:30 and it was now going on 11 o' clock he was mistrustful of their intentions.
"I could just float down there and make him come back, but that won't let me figure out what they're up to."
Jaqueris levitated from the gallery and began to follow the group. He kept at a reasonable distance but just to be safe he made himself invisible.
As the group made their way through the dark streets of Salem Center he kept pondering over the intentions of the group. He knew from his encounter with the boy that Quentin was trouble he seemed to be an advocate of mutant civil rights almost extremely so. Though that still didn't reveal what his objective was.
On the ground the hairs on the back of Ja'Keyon's neck were standing up caused by the sensation of being followed. He stopped and checked behind him and saw nothing, but the feeling was still with him.
He stood out from the others because he wasn't wearing the same clothes as them. His black coat over a black shirt complete with green camo pants and boots contrasted with their satiric clothing sharply. They had tried to force him to wear, but he refused with enough authority that they didn't try a second time.
By now the group had arrived in mutant time and the night stars were hidden behind dark clouds that had formed. The decrepit and slum like environment was familiar to him.
"Rain is coming Quire. What is it exactly that you plan on doing tonight?" he said causing the group to stop
Jaqueris landed in an alleyway behind them but kept his invisibility active as he peered around the corner. Quentin half turned to him and pulled out the inhaler containing Kick. Jaqueris' eyes widened at seeing the cursed container that always seemed to find its way back into his life.
"This is Hypercortisone D also known as Kick. It can increase the power of a mutant five times for five hours."
Ja'Keyon raised his brow at this piece of information and watched as the four shared the bottle. As they each took a puff a look of euphoria showed on their faces until eventually it came to him. Redneck held it out to him and Rebel stared at it for a minute.
Ja'Keyon watched as he brother contemplated taking the drug. The memories of power and ecstasy that encompassed him when he had used the drug were still fresh in his mind, but the recall of the violent rage also remained fresh.
When he took it in that hotel garage he immediately felt unstoppable like he had all the power in the world and he wanted to use it. It was only convenient that he had those bigots around to lash out at. He wondered what he would have done with all that power if he didn't have someone to direct it at.
Rebel stared at the inhaler with inquisitiveness, he had never done drugs willingly before. The only time being when he was overdosed on MGH by Caduceus during one of his torture sessions.
That feeling was absolutely euphoric in nature. He remembered getting the urge to just jump up and cut loose with his abilities, the buzz encouraging him to let all moral restraints go and have fun. It was empowering yet fearful at the same time, Ja'Keyon didn't like not being in complete control of his actions feeling like he was a puppet on a string.
And yet that feeling, he wanted more of it, to experience that unmistakable sensation of omnipotence wash over him. So with his dubious thoughts pushed to the back of his mind he reached his hand out slowly to take the bottle.
"No!" yelled an irritating voice
As it rang in the air a blue streak of electricity raced towards them and shocked Redneck in the hand causing him to retract in pain.
"Ah…dammmit!" he screamed holding his now burnt hand
The Kick bottle fell to the ground melted beyond recognition. Rebel, along with the others, turned around in the direction the bolt came from and saw Nova standing there with his hand outstretched.
"Malcolm!" cursed Ja'Keyon aloud
The buzzkill stalked over to his younger brother and grabbed his collar, "Just what in the hell do you think you're doing?"
Adopting his own frown he pushed the boy's hands off of him and said, "Minding my own business! You should try it sometime!"
Anger and disappointment were laden across his face as he stared down Ja'Keyon, "Ja'Keyon do you know what that is?" he asked pointing to the melted bottle on the ground
The disruptive teenager looked at the inhaler and said, "First of all, don't call me that, my name's Rebel and second of all it's my business!" he said with emphasis
Nova greeted his teeth in agitation he could now relate to a parent when they were arguing with a hardheaded child, "You're wrong, you're my brother, so it's my business too!"
The four radical mutants had been watching silently the verbal exchange between the two but finally got involved when Radian said, "Brother?"
"I thought you said you didn't have one?" said the bio-paraffin giant
"Of course he's my brother you idiots we have the same last name!" informed Jaqueris
The two mutants stared daggers at the mouthy boy.
"It doesn't matter anyway we're his family now." Uttered Quentin
Not only did Jaqueris take issue with this, but so did Ja'Keyon who said, "Hold up, don't go getting any ideas. I don't have a family! The whole point of me coming here was to get my money back, but with Mr. Buzzkill coming here that's not going to happen so I'm out."
He then began to walk past his brother as those behind him stared with agape expressions. As he neared Jaqueris he saw the older boy's hand shoot out and grab his elbow. The thought of snapping his arm in two quickly popped into his mind, but he repressed it for some unknown reason.
"We're not finished here." Said Jaqueris
Snatching his arm away from his brother Jaqueris stood tall as the two eyed one another like a couple of predators fighting over the same strap of meat.
This intense session of eye contact was broken when Jaqueris felt his foot impacted by an unseen force. He lunged forward a little and looked down to see his foot covered in pink goo of some kind.
"What the hell?" he said trying the free the foot that seemed glued to the pavement
Rebel looked behind Malcolm to see a sizable chunk of pink wax missing from Glob's body. Walking past Jaqueris he began, "Just what do you think…"
He stopped and clutched his head as a throbbing pain sprung up out of nowhere. It was so intense that he fell to the ground on both knees as veins began to pop out across his forehead. Looking forward he saw Quentin with his index and middle fingers pressed against his temple and his face in a concentrated contortion.
"Aaaagggg…" Ja'Keyon groaned as the pain intensified
"Ja'Keyon, what's wrong!" asked Jaqueris worriedly
His eyes were now bulging but he managed to say with difficulty, "Qu…Quire."
Nova looked and saw how much the boy was focusing and remembered that Quentin was a telepath. His eyes lit up with a white light as he narrowed them at the four mutants, "That's enough!" he yelled
Then two parallel beams of white UV light burst from his eyes directed at the group. The quartet's all showed surprise at his sudden attack and dove out the way as the light soared over their heads.
The telepathic assault ceased on Ja'Keyon and he gasped for air as sweat dropped to the ground.
"Keyon are you okay?" asked his elder
Looking up at Nova he gave him a stupid look and said in between breaths, "What…do you think?"
He then collapsed onto the ground unconscious. Jaqueris felt rage swell in his chest as he said, "You guys are gonna pay for that!"
He then focused his beams on his foot and shot his eye lasers at a single point. Unfortunately the blast wasn't precise enough and while he succeeded in ridding the pink mess he also managed to burn away his entire shoe, sock and a good portion of his pant leg as well as burn his foot.
"Ouch!" he yelled as he hopped on one leg
Seeing an opportunity Quentin ordered, "Glob, grab him now!"
The massive mutant obeyed and ran with speed uncharacteristic of his size and locked Jaqueris in a bear hug. The wax was soft and mushy like paste but that didn't help Jaqueris' back from cracking as Glob squeezed tightly.
Jaqueris wailed in pain as it felt like his spine was about to break. He put his hands on Glob's shoulders and squeezed not as a defensive maneuver but as a way to reduce the pain. With his hands on his gooey shoulders however an idea came to his head.
A blue static like light came to life around Jaqueris' mitts as he tried to focus his energies. Seeing this his tormentor said, "Electricity won't work on my body so you'd better try something else."
"Guh…glad you know your basic chemistry." Jaqueris then formed his blades made out of pure electricity and sliced through Glob's shoulders bone, wax and all until they came out the other side. The blades made a sound reminiscent of a lightsaber as they sliced and melted his arms.
"Woah!" Glob said in disbelief at losing both of his appendixes
Landing on the ground Jaqueris almost buckled under the stress on his back coupled with his burned foot, but he couldn't afford to rest. Rushing forward and ignoring the sting in his sole he did the same to Glob's legs as his arms and cut them off.
They fell to the side as Glob's body fell forward prompting Jaqueris to disengage his weapons, grab his brother, and move safely out of the way.
"Hey, that's not fair! Help me up!" pleaded the helpless mutant
Jaqueris set his brother down and put a hand on his aching gristle. He then turned to his left just in time to see a concentrated light burst from the body of the boy with cornrows. Nova was blinded immediately and he covered his now stinging eyes.
During this whiteout he could hear Quentin say, "Good job Radian, now Redneck take him out."
He was now in a particularly dangerous situation, he was blinded and was about to be set upon by a fanatical mutant supremacist.
Just then a blessing must have befallen him because his eyes adapted to the light in an instant and he could see clearly as Redneck tried to grab his face with shining red hands. Not wanting to find out what would happen if his face met his hands he repulsed the boy with a wave of gravity.
He flew through the air, smashed into Radian and managed to carry him into a car where they both crashed into roughly. Redneck let out a groan as he and Radian fell forward an impressionable dent now present in the red car.
"That was impressive, now hold still." Said a voice behind him
Jaqueris turned around fast enough to avoid a swipe from the bald headed black girl with Tattoo's all over her body.
"Why does everyone keep trying to grab my face!" he stated as he sidestepped the girl
"Don't flatter yourself." She said rushing him again
Jaqueris fired a weak bolt of lightning to knock her out, but it only passed through her harmlessly not even burning her clothes. A look of disbelief came over Nova's face as he backed away from another attempt to grab him.
Seeing his expression Tattoo said, "I can phase through solid matter, but you should see what happens if I soldify inside a human."
As Nova backed away trying to think of how to deal with the girl his foot ran across a manhole and a stroke of genius struck him. He waited for the girl to step in front of the manhole and when she raised her foot to take the next step Jaqueris flicked his wrist causing the manhole slide to the side. She now had no surface to step on and fall through the opening in the ground.
Her frightened screams could be heard echoing before a wet splash signaled she had hit the bottom.
Jaqueris cringed as he thought about the bodily wastes she was probably swimming in. Looking around he saw that the majority of the gang was now defeated except for…
Jaqueris turned around as his head was grabbed by Quire who uttered, "Sleep."
A lethargic drowsiness overtook Jaqueris as he felt his legs go limp and lifeless. His eyes felt like weights were attached to them as they hung low. Before unconscious took him Jaqueris clenched his fist sending a current to his hand.
His mind temporarily sharpened allowing him to punch Quire in the jaw with an electrically charged punch making him stubble and fall to the ground. Jaqueris then fell backwards unable to stay awake any longer.
Quentin sat up felt his aching jaw and spit a small pool of blood from his mouth. It was already starting to swell and would be really painful tomorrow, but as of now he had more pressing matters.
Standing up he observed the result of the battle that just occurred, his gang was in ruins thanks to one boy. Looking down at him he considered placing him in a coma, but decided against it.
"We're still all mutants after all. Besides I have another solution."
Kneeling to the floor he placed his fingers on the boy's head and began the process.
I'm sorry I haven't updated lately, but I've been at a summer program. I'm really glad to get this chapter out of the way because I'm getting closer to starting my new arc and I promise you it will blow your minds.
