Nathan set his duffel bag on the floor of his new room. The pristine walls and spotless carpeting all looked alien to him. A familiar voice could be heard from behind him, "Do you like it?"
Nathan knew the voice was Kitty's. He responded, "It's very clean." He walked in further and looked at the soft blue drapes hanging over the windows. In his old home there were few, if any drapes on the windows and those were usually stained and dusty. He turned to Kitty, still looking around the room. "Are you sure this is mine?"
Kitty giggled softly. "I told you it was great here. C'mon I'll, like, show you the swimming pool."
She ran down the hall like a child on Christmas day. Nathan lumbered behind and looked around at the luxury of the mansion. "Daaamn." He said to himself. As he made his way down the hall he felt a sudden burst of wind from behind him. He felt a gloved hand tap him on the shoulder and he immediately swung around and grabbed the person by the neck. "Agh! Nein! Nein! I didn't do anyzing!" Nathan arched a brow at the blue...whatever he was holding. Slowly he set the person down and looked at him. "Who the hell?"
"My name iz Kurt. I juzt vanted to velcome you to your new home. Zorry if I ztartled you." The blue person said with a smile, rubbing his neck.
"Ah, so you're the Kurt Kitty told me about." Nathan paused and looked at the short mutant. "Somehow I expected much worse."
Kurt leaned up against the wall. "Zo, vhat is your gift?"
"They tell me I can stop things dead in their tracks, but to tell you the truth I'm not sure if I can actually do it." Nathan looked at Kurt. "What about you?"
"Vatch this!" Kurt suddenly disappeared in a cloud of smoke and reappeared clinging to an overhead light by his tail. Nathan applauded as Kurt jumped down again. "Damn, that's pretty cool." Nathan said. He continued walking to the door and Kurt followed.
"Zo vhere are you going?" Kurt asked.
"Kitty's gonna show me the pool. I still haven't had the grand tour yet." They both looked outside and saw her frantically cleaning around the swimming pool so as to make a good impression with the new mutant. Kurt and Nathan went outside and looked at Kitty. Kurt cleared his throat and Kitty immediately jumped with a start. She noticed a Beefy Burger wrapper in her hand and she quickly hid it behind her. "Like, uh, these guys are pigs around here so don't mind the mess."
Nathan couldn't help but laugh. "Kitty, are you sure you got a good look at where I lived before? This is the friggen Ritz Hotel compared to my old house. Hell, I remember Tommy used to leave his old toys lying around all the time-" Nathan stopped and lowered his head. His family had been dead for less than a week and the shock of their death was still present in his mind. Kitty saw the look on his face and went to put her arm around him. "C'mon, let's go see the rest of the grounds." She said softly.
Kitty spent a few hours showing Nathan the facilities at the mansion that were known to the public: the gymnasium, the garden and the garage. When they entered the garage, Scott was working on an old sports car, probably an Austin Healy from what Nathan could tell. He walked over to the car and ran his hand along the side panel. "Nice wheels." He said.
Scott stood up and admired his work. "Yeah, she's a beut isn't she? Three hundred horsepower, six speed transmission and a smudge proof finish." He looked at Nathan. "You wanna take it for a spin?"
"Seriously?" Nathan asked, surprised.
"Sure, you know how to drive stick, right?" Scott said as he tossed the keys into Nathan's hands.
"Yeah," Nathan hopped in the driver's seat and started the car. Suddenly a gruff voice came from behind them. "Not so fast, kid. Xavier wants to see you." Nathan looked around and saw Logan standing there. After turning off the car, he tossed the keys back to Scott. "Maybe later."
Nathan was led to Xavier's office where the professor was reading an assortment of papers. Xavier looked up from his work and spoke, "I trust you're finding your accommodations satisfactory?"
Nathan nodded.
"And how are you getting along with the others?" Xavier asked.
"Well, sir, everyone is a lot nicer than I thought they would be. To tell you the truth they make me suspicious; I haven't known anyone that's as immediately accepting as them." Nathan replied.
"They are unique. They each know what it's like to be different themselves." Xavier added.
"I've never been different before, Professor." Nathan said.
"Does it bother you?" Xavier asked.
"Does what bother me?"
"The fact that they support you despite your feeling no different from before."
"No, it's just a little strange, that's all." Nathan said.
Xavier moved his wheelchair towards Nathan's seat and handed him the papers he was reading before. "I've taken the liberty of enrolling you in the local high school. Your grades from the previous years were exceptional, so you should not have any trouble with normal progression."
"Thanks," Nathan said while flipping through the folders.
"I have also asked Jean to take time out to help you with your abilities. Her gift is the most similar to yours."
__________________________________________________________________________________
"No, focus on it. When I throw the ball to you, you stop it." Jean threw the basketball at Nathan. In the second it flew through the air, Nathan stopped it, but not as Jean had hoped.
"Sorry, force of habit." Nathan said, dropping the ball from his hands.
Jean pulled the ball back to her, gave it a dribble and threw it again. Nathan focused on the ball, trying to recreate the events that brought on his powers before. It worked, to a degree; the ball slowed down, and Nathan caught it again.
"Good, you're getting better." Jean said. "Let's try it again."
This repetitive activity went on for hours. With each attempt he got better, but basketballs soon became too easy. He increased the speed of the object and decreased the size, starting with soccer balls, eventually moving up to a paintball gun shot. The first couple shots hit home, but as he learned to time the sound of the gun, he managed to stop the ball right in front of him. Jean smiled and set the paintball gun down. "All right, that's enough for today. It's getting late."
"Okay, thanks a lot, Jean."
"Tomorrow we'll see if you can actually move things like I can." Jean said.
Nathan waved as she picked up her backpack and walked away. Nathan always was somewhat of a night person, so he decided to go for a walk. He took a tennis ball with him, occasionally throwing it into the air and stopping it before it landed on his head for practice. He viewed the grounds, which looked much different at night. The moonlight against the trees gave the illusion that the trees drooped to the ground. He stood there; admiring the scenery when out of nowhere something grabbed his tennis ball. He turned around to see that smelly, disgusting man he knew all too well as Toad tossing the ball up and down. "So, like your new home, Foo?"
"I should have killed you when I had the chance." Nathan snarled.
"Yeah, well, too late for could'ves. You may have put my buddy Lance outta commission, but you can count of me fuckin' you up good."
"You're all talk, cesspool." Nathan dashed at Toad, missing completely as the dirty man leapt out of the way. Toad countered by lashing his tongue out at Nathan, but found that hitting him was harder than he thought. Toad's tongue stopped in mid air as Nathan held it in place with his mind. No matter how much he squirmed, Toad could not get his tongue free. Nathan used the opportunity to whip out his butterfly knife and sever the section of tongue in his grasp. A spray of vile saliva mixed with blood flew through the air right before Toad retracted the remainder of his tongue. "Gaaa! Wht thhh fffck!" Toad exclaimed, cradling his mouth as it poured blood. Nathan got into a fighting pose and stared the grimy mutant down. "That all you got, cocksucker?"
Toad sneered as best he could with a severed tongue and hopped away, out of a fight. Nathan spat at the ground as the mutant fled. Suddenly, he heard footsteps coming from behind him: it was Scott. "Nathan! Are you okay?"
Scott ran up to Nathan, who was looking in Toad's direction. "I'm fine, better than slimeball over there anyway."
Scott noticed the severed section of Toad's tongue lying on the ground. He looked up and noticed blood on Nathan's hand. "You did that?"
"Scott, I ate punks like that for breakfast back home. The only difference between him and them is the retractable tongue. They're all the same at heart." Nathan started walking. "C'mon, let's get outta here."
Nathan knew the voice was Kitty's. He responded, "It's very clean." He walked in further and looked at the soft blue drapes hanging over the windows. In his old home there were few, if any drapes on the windows and those were usually stained and dusty. He turned to Kitty, still looking around the room. "Are you sure this is mine?"
Kitty giggled softly. "I told you it was great here. C'mon I'll, like, show you the swimming pool."
She ran down the hall like a child on Christmas day. Nathan lumbered behind and looked around at the luxury of the mansion. "Daaamn." He said to himself. As he made his way down the hall he felt a sudden burst of wind from behind him. He felt a gloved hand tap him on the shoulder and he immediately swung around and grabbed the person by the neck. "Agh! Nein! Nein! I didn't do anyzing!" Nathan arched a brow at the blue...whatever he was holding. Slowly he set the person down and looked at him. "Who the hell?"
"My name iz Kurt. I juzt vanted to velcome you to your new home. Zorry if I ztartled you." The blue person said with a smile, rubbing his neck.
"Ah, so you're the Kurt Kitty told me about." Nathan paused and looked at the short mutant. "Somehow I expected much worse."
Kurt leaned up against the wall. "Zo, vhat is your gift?"
"They tell me I can stop things dead in their tracks, but to tell you the truth I'm not sure if I can actually do it." Nathan looked at Kurt. "What about you?"
"Vatch this!" Kurt suddenly disappeared in a cloud of smoke and reappeared clinging to an overhead light by his tail. Nathan applauded as Kurt jumped down again. "Damn, that's pretty cool." Nathan said. He continued walking to the door and Kurt followed.
"Zo vhere are you going?" Kurt asked.
"Kitty's gonna show me the pool. I still haven't had the grand tour yet." They both looked outside and saw her frantically cleaning around the swimming pool so as to make a good impression with the new mutant. Kurt and Nathan went outside and looked at Kitty. Kurt cleared his throat and Kitty immediately jumped with a start. She noticed a Beefy Burger wrapper in her hand and she quickly hid it behind her. "Like, uh, these guys are pigs around here so don't mind the mess."
Nathan couldn't help but laugh. "Kitty, are you sure you got a good look at where I lived before? This is the friggen Ritz Hotel compared to my old house. Hell, I remember Tommy used to leave his old toys lying around all the time-" Nathan stopped and lowered his head. His family had been dead for less than a week and the shock of their death was still present in his mind. Kitty saw the look on his face and went to put her arm around him. "C'mon, let's go see the rest of the grounds." She said softly.
Kitty spent a few hours showing Nathan the facilities at the mansion that were known to the public: the gymnasium, the garden and the garage. When they entered the garage, Scott was working on an old sports car, probably an Austin Healy from what Nathan could tell. He walked over to the car and ran his hand along the side panel. "Nice wheels." He said.
Scott stood up and admired his work. "Yeah, she's a beut isn't she? Three hundred horsepower, six speed transmission and a smudge proof finish." He looked at Nathan. "You wanna take it for a spin?"
"Seriously?" Nathan asked, surprised.
"Sure, you know how to drive stick, right?" Scott said as he tossed the keys into Nathan's hands.
"Yeah," Nathan hopped in the driver's seat and started the car. Suddenly a gruff voice came from behind them. "Not so fast, kid. Xavier wants to see you." Nathan looked around and saw Logan standing there. After turning off the car, he tossed the keys back to Scott. "Maybe later."
Nathan was led to Xavier's office where the professor was reading an assortment of papers. Xavier looked up from his work and spoke, "I trust you're finding your accommodations satisfactory?"
Nathan nodded.
"And how are you getting along with the others?" Xavier asked.
"Well, sir, everyone is a lot nicer than I thought they would be. To tell you the truth they make me suspicious; I haven't known anyone that's as immediately accepting as them." Nathan replied.
"They are unique. They each know what it's like to be different themselves." Xavier added.
"I've never been different before, Professor." Nathan said.
"Does it bother you?" Xavier asked.
"Does what bother me?"
"The fact that they support you despite your feeling no different from before."
"No, it's just a little strange, that's all." Nathan said.
Xavier moved his wheelchair towards Nathan's seat and handed him the papers he was reading before. "I've taken the liberty of enrolling you in the local high school. Your grades from the previous years were exceptional, so you should not have any trouble with normal progression."
"Thanks," Nathan said while flipping through the folders.
"I have also asked Jean to take time out to help you with your abilities. Her gift is the most similar to yours."
__________________________________________________________________________________
"No, focus on it. When I throw the ball to you, you stop it." Jean threw the basketball at Nathan. In the second it flew through the air, Nathan stopped it, but not as Jean had hoped.
"Sorry, force of habit." Nathan said, dropping the ball from his hands.
Jean pulled the ball back to her, gave it a dribble and threw it again. Nathan focused on the ball, trying to recreate the events that brought on his powers before. It worked, to a degree; the ball slowed down, and Nathan caught it again.
"Good, you're getting better." Jean said. "Let's try it again."
This repetitive activity went on for hours. With each attempt he got better, but basketballs soon became too easy. He increased the speed of the object and decreased the size, starting with soccer balls, eventually moving up to a paintball gun shot. The first couple shots hit home, but as he learned to time the sound of the gun, he managed to stop the ball right in front of him. Jean smiled and set the paintball gun down. "All right, that's enough for today. It's getting late."
"Okay, thanks a lot, Jean."
"Tomorrow we'll see if you can actually move things like I can." Jean said.
Nathan waved as she picked up her backpack and walked away. Nathan always was somewhat of a night person, so he decided to go for a walk. He took a tennis ball with him, occasionally throwing it into the air and stopping it before it landed on his head for practice. He viewed the grounds, which looked much different at night. The moonlight against the trees gave the illusion that the trees drooped to the ground. He stood there; admiring the scenery when out of nowhere something grabbed his tennis ball. He turned around to see that smelly, disgusting man he knew all too well as Toad tossing the ball up and down. "So, like your new home, Foo?"
"I should have killed you when I had the chance." Nathan snarled.
"Yeah, well, too late for could'ves. You may have put my buddy Lance outta commission, but you can count of me fuckin' you up good."
"You're all talk, cesspool." Nathan dashed at Toad, missing completely as the dirty man leapt out of the way. Toad countered by lashing his tongue out at Nathan, but found that hitting him was harder than he thought. Toad's tongue stopped in mid air as Nathan held it in place with his mind. No matter how much he squirmed, Toad could not get his tongue free. Nathan used the opportunity to whip out his butterfly knife and sever the section of tongue in his grasp. A spray of vile saliva mixed with blood flew through the air right before Toad retracted the remainder of his tongue. "Gaaa! Wht thhh fffck!" Toad exclaimed, cradling his mouth as it poured blood. Nathan got into a fighting pose and stared the grimy mutant down. "That all you got, cocksucker?"
Toad sneered as best he could with a severed tongue and hopped away, out of a fight. Nathan spat at the ground as the mutant fled. Suddenly, he heard footsteps coming from behind him: it was Scott. "Nathan! Are you okay?"
Scott ran up to Nathan, who was looking in Toad's direction. "I'm fine, better than slimeball over there anyway."
Scott noticed the severed section of Toad's tongue lying on the ground. He looked up and noticed blood on Nathan's hand. "You did that?"
"Scott, I ate punks like that for breakfast back home. The only difference between him and them is the retractable tongue. They're all the same at heart." Nathan started walking. "C'mon, let's get outta here."