June 15th
Dear Diary,
I'm leaving tomorrow, someplace in New York City. I'd say I was afraid to leave home, but I'm not. I'd say I'd miss my family, but I'm the odd one out, the black sheep, the only … you know, special one. I'd say I'd miss my teachers, but, as I've told you before, Diary, I'm not one for authority. I just don't like people telling me what to think. I'm already being pushed down pretty hard as it is. I'd say I'd miss my friends, but … Well, that's enough of that, Diary.
I'm too self-pitying, aren't I, Diary? The way I see it, if I don't pity myself and feel sorry for myself no one else will, you know? But it kinda slows me down sometimes. Maybe I should just stop pitying myself and actually go out and try and fix my problem or fix whoever has the problem with me. I might actually get something done.
Today was my last day of school. Good. That's the end of freshman year. It sucked. Being a freshman is bad enough as it is. The juniors and seniors go off by themselves, but the sophomores are the ones you have to look out for. We're not that far in age, but they still have authority. They think they're so much better than the freshmen. They think they're so much better than me. And you know how I feel about that. But they leave me well enough alone. Gee. I wonder why? Could it be … I dunno … the fact that they think I might go nuclear on them and explode, the way "those muties do"? Because I'd slash their throats as soon as look at them, the way "those muties do"? It's bad enough being a freshman, but a mutant? Someone must really have it in for me up there. I always thought God had a wicked sense of humor. Go God go. You know … If He even exists. But I don't think I could handle it if He doesn't. I already want to die now. If there's no God, I don't want to die, either. No death, no life … Royally screwed up the ass with a board and a nail. *Sigh.* Life hates me.
The things they say about me … they're true. I would cut them up if they ever gave me a chance. And I have. But they deserved it. No one calls me a freak and lives to tell about it. Figuratively, I mean. I haven't killed anyone as of yet. And I hope I never do. But you know what they say - You never know what the future holds. But man! What I've wanted to do to some of the people at my school if I ever met them in a dark alley.
It's like I told that student counselor when he asked me why I act that way around people. After a silence of, literally, about three minutes, I figured he'd think I was nuts if I started laughing. It was such a long silence and so awkward it was funny. If you step out of a situation for a bit, you might actually enjoy it. I said, "I love thrills. I love adrenaline rushes. I love giving people adrenaline rushes. Scare 'em straight, I guess. I gotta look out for myself, because - let's face it - you teachers and the administration aren't doing a thing to help me."
We then discussed how I was afraid of rejection and that if I opened up to people I might just see how much people like me. It was a life-altering experience. It changed my entire point of view. After that, I suddenly started making friends. One at first, then more and more. Then I joined the cheerleading team and shook pom-poms and screamed like a banshee as the basketball players made baskets.
Uh-huh. Right. OR I just left the room realizing I'd missed a good, solid hour's worth of popcorn and "Transformers".
Can't wait for tomorrow when I'm outta here. The future's gotta be so much more better than the present.
But … the future is the future and I can't predict it. Wouldn't that be a cool mutant power? It would make life so much more easier. I bet a mutant has that power. A mutant for every occasion. They must be coasting through life. I bet they're Bill Gates. Maybe someone like Batman or Ross Perot with a frikkin' lot of cash piled up somewhere. But now, I have to make all my mistakes all by my lonesome. I don't know the future, I don't know what's coming. All I can do is keep standing, keep fighting, and keep hoping for the best.
Wow. That was pretty deep. Don't count on another one of those happening again. Not in this lifetime, anyway.
-Love Then, Now and Forever,
Andrea Shane
***
Sprawled out in her seat, the girl attempted to relax after hours of restless jetlag. She was wide awake, but her eyes rested beneath her heavy lids. She bowed her head until it rested on the icy sill of the window. Slowly, she felt herself nodding off to sleep.
"Please return your seat to it's upright locked position … " a voice blared over the intercom. It seemed a shout to her, stabbing her pointed, tufted ears like a knife.
Keeping her eyes closed, she turned her head. "Dammit," she whispered. She then opened them, revealing soft brown flecked gold eyes beneath arched eyebrows on mocha colored skin. She sighed and raised her seat, folded up the small table in front of her, shoved the last airline pretzel in her mouth, and lay back in hear seat once more. She stretched her arms out in front of her, letting her catch a glimpse of the razor sharp claws that grew instead of fingernails and the hands covered by a very thin layer of blonde fur, almost transparent.
She crossed her arms with the two vertical stripes on each, each starting at the bottom part of the shoulder and ending near her wrist. She ran her razor-sharp clawed hands through her tiger- and leopard-print fur. It grew in a jagged pixie-cut and gave her an animalistic quality, as did the light brown tail with it's black tip that was curled tightly and pressed to her back to prevent humans from seeing it. She looked over at her new "teacher" then turned back over and shut her eyes.
Fifteen minutes later, the plane landed and the girl hoisted a simple red duffel bag to her small shoulders. It was nothing fancy. The straps were black and were adjustable and the brand name was scrawled in the center in black stitching. It was very generic and held only her "necessities": a camera, clothing, toiletries, a portable CD player, a few of her favorite CD's, money, and her mother's credit card for emergencies, though she doubted it was necessary, but it would come in practical use for buying expensive souvenirs.
For the first time on the trip from California to New York, other than the "Excuse me" or "Move it" she said every once in a while to get by, she spoke to her companion.
The woman was tall and towered over the girl. She was a little over 6 feet tall had her hair pulled back with a clip and looked very professional. She wore a knee-length gray skirt accompanied by a matching jacket and white blouse. Her shoulders were square and she could have been a military officer. Despite her thin build, the girl was sure that she would be able to strike fear into anyone's heart. When the older woman said something, she was very soft-spoken, but everyone would stop what they were doing and strain to listen. Her eyes were a cold brown. She looked so predictable and her student hated that about her.
"So how are we gonna get there?" the younger one asked.
"Get where? The base?"
"Where else?"
"A student of mine, Madison Hartz, will pick us up. She will also be showing you around a little, though I suspect Claire and her brother, Patrick, will be doing most of that. They were my first students, you know," Crimson spoke without looking at Andrea, as if not exactly talking to Andrea, but nor was she talking to herself. "And until told otherwise, you will refer to me as Crimson."
Andrea's grin shortened to a smirk. "Aw, but Kinky's so much nicer ," Andrea said sarcastically, stating her nickname for Crimson's name: Charlotte Kincaid.
Charlotte narrowed her eyes to deadly slits, turning to her new seemingly reluctant but not ungrateful student. "Now is not the time, Andrea. I can be nice, but I am in a very disagreeable mood at the moment, so I'm warning you to stay out of my way." She spun around and continued to unload her bags from the overhead compartment. "This flight has left me incredibly irritable and, well, 'punchy'. Remember: we were on the same flight and I took the aisle and gave you the window. A flight attendant nearly took off my elbow as she passed by. Yes, yes, I know you think that's funny, well, it's not. Andrea, you have real, valuable talent and I'd hate to tell my students that we can't use it because I pushed you in front of a speeding delivery van!"
The two stepped out of the aircraft, Ms. Kincaid stepping highly and Andrea trudging behind her. She could feel stares boring through her back and she turned her head. People were staring. Turning around, she followed Ms. Kincaid out the door. Before she knew it, they were in the lobby and searching for the girl that would lead them to their final destination.
"Andrea, come this way. I see her." Andrea felt her left arm being pulled towards the doors of the airport, toward a twenty year-old woman in a neon orange turtle-neck sweater and blue jeans, despite the warm weather, and short red hair with sparse bangs. She had some small freckles on her nose and bore a huge smile, but it began to waver as she noticed Andrea's slight scowl. She still held out her hand to the girl.
"Hey! I'm Madison."
Andrea reluctantly shook her hand. "Andrea."
"Let's go get in the car. I'll tell you all about everyone on the ride over there, 'k?" she said, a bit condescendingly.
In the midst of scurrying feet, black suitcases, and a red duffel bag, the three of them ended up standing outside of a dark navy-blue van with round, tinted windows. Madison's eyes darted to the door and the car door unlocked and opened on it's own. She looked at Andrea and smiled again.
"Uh, thanks." Andrea stepped inside and collapsed in the seat farthest from the entrance, not quite sure what to make of her new "teammate". Ms. Kincaid stooped to hit her head on the car doorframe and sat down. Madison got in on the driver's side and buckled herself in. Not waiting for Madison to close them, Ms. Kincaid slammed the door.
"Okay! There are five others there! You are the sixth, and Crimson" - she gestured to Charlotte Kincaid - "runs the place. And yours truly is second-in-command."
Andrea stared out the van's windows at the passing scenery of New York City, still unsure what she was fighting for or against.
And hour later, Andrea Shane, Madison Hartz, and Charlotte Kincaid pulled up to the so-called "Base", headquarters for the underground mutant organization known only to its members as E.R.A.
* * *
"The Base", as it was so called, was no more than an apartment building. Crimson, Audacity, and Andrea were no more than tenants. Three apartments had been leased and were home to the others of the program.
The apartments were in very poor shape with bleak brown and beige walls with several large cracks in them. Each apartment had two bedrooms, a bathroom, a kitchen, and a small living room. Although the apartments were adequate in size, their interior was horrible: not much light entered the rooms and there was little electricity when they did pay their bills.
The boys slept in the apartment down the hall on the right and the girls slept in the apartment to the left of their "leaders". There were no beds in the apartment, however a futon was one of the very lonely decorations in each of the living rooms, along with a mattress behind it and a few rumpled blankets. Three people were able to sleep comfortably on each. There was also a La-Z Boy chair in each living room near the door. There was a table in the kitchen surrounded by three chairs. A fourth one had to be added to the girl's apartment for Andrea. In spite of the meager furnishings of their homes, the kitchen was always stocked and restocked with healthy food to keep the teenagers in shape. Most of the money was spent on food.
One block away from the apartment building was a park in which they would exercise each day. The park had originally been for small children but had been deserted for nearly twenty years and counting. It was always deserted and carried with it a false sense of security and danger at the same time, almost the same as a child finding a fort between to trees that has been forgotten by its makers: sad and lonely yet innocent and enjoyable. Because of the uninviting atmosphere of the playground when parents forbid their children to play there, the children obeyed. No one was ever found to be loitering on the grounds.
Once Andrea arrived at Base, she was greeting by a boy about her age who was accompanied by a girl. Both were tall and muscular. The girl had straight blonde hair and large blue eyes that would flash at every movement Andrea made and whose lips were slightly turned down. She had a straight, profound nose and was seemingly contrary to her companion.
The boy next to her had dark, black, hair that he had brushed away from his face. His blue eyes weren't as large and seemed calmer than his friend's. His lips were thin but seemed as if they could easily curl up into a smile. His nose was narrow and although he looked very different from the girl, their face shape was similar: both had high cheekbones and oval shaped faces with the same pointed chins and bright blue eyes. At second sight, Andrea was sure that they were cousins if not siblings.
"'Drea, meet Malady" - Audacity gestured to the boy - "and Naiad." - she waved a hand towards the girl. "Malady, Naiad, this is Andrea."
"Hey, Andrea," Malady greeted her, remaining on the steps.
"'Sup."
"Nice to meet you."
"Uhhh, why does everyone have a little nickname?" Andrea asked suspiciously.
Naiad began to speak. Her voice was sharp and soft-spoken, like Crimson, but not as reassuring. "No, this is not some little camp, Andrea . If you want the cops to find out your name, then by all means, use yours, but if not, pick one."
Andrea sneered and Malady snickered at the newcomer, then caught himself and said, "Ah, come on, Nai, you're scarin' the rookie." He turned to Andrea. "Sorry. My dear sweet sister here is a witch with a capital 'B'."
"Can it, virus."
Andrea heard a muttering behind her and flexed her ears so she could make out the words.
"Wow, I hope the rest of the introductions go this well."
"Calm down, Crims. It won't be that bad. Promise."
Andrea whirled around and glared at this remark. Already they hated her. 'No shocker there.' she thought bitterly. 'Not many people like me.' She narrowed her eyes and tried to look fierce but her small body would not allow her to hope for too much. Looking up at her new mentor she replied in a sort of hiss, "May I see my room now?"
Crimson looked at Naiad who was staring at the new-comer. "Would you do the honors?" she smiled coldly.
Naiad sighed. Turning to Andrea, she said, "Over here," and disappeared into the foreboding building. Andrea bent down and lifted her duffel bag and followed Naiad up the stairs to her new residence.
The stairs were dark and if Andrea stepped on one too hard or just the right way, she could make them creak softly and talk to her. Naiad, however, seemed to skim up the stairs.
"It's up here," the girl said darkly. Andrea was sure she was being a bother by making her go through the effort of simply showing her the room. Naiad opened the door to display the girl's apartment. Inside a brown haired girl with dark eyebrows resting above round, brown eyes sat cross-legged in a pool of sunshine and flipping through a magazine, stopping to look at an advertisement for self-tanning cream. And no wonder: the girl was surprisingly pale. She was frowning and mouthing the words to the advertisement as she read along and her nostrils sucked in as she read. Her nose was up-turned a bit, but just enough to make her look young. She had a slightly round face and high cheekbones, but they didn't jut out like a model's would. She turned to look up at the two of them and stood up but remained in her pool of sunshine. She sported the classic blue jeans with a white tee shirt look.
"Hi. I'm Ultra," she said in a low, tom-boyish voice.
"Ultra?" Andrea asked, a bit skeptical.
"You know, like UV Rays? Ultra Violet? That stuff?" She sounded almost offended and definitely indignant, as if people had asked her this oftentimes before.
Meanwhile, Naiad had put her hands on her hips and was frowning at the couch.
They followed her gaze and met with the surprised stare of a teenage boy no more than seventeen years old stretched out on the couch, head and feet propped up at either end of the armrests, also flipping through a magazine. He had wavy reddish brown hair and brown eyes. His complexion was relatively smooth. His mouth was slightly parted as if searching for something to say. The word he found was, "What?"
Naiad replied, "Girls' room?" She looked sincerely annoyed at his presence. "That means, you are not allowed, Echo."
"What climbed up your - "
"Geez, calm down, Nai! I invited him, and it's not like we were doing anything. God forbid we even spoke to each other in your absence!" she added sarcastically.
"Oh, shut-up, Ultra," Naiad said tiredly. She turned back to Echo. "Look, I'm having a really bad day right now and I have a really bad headache and you have a habit of making headaches worse, so please just leave?"
The red-haired boy turned his attention toward Andrea. "Come join our loving family!" He stretched out his arms and tipped his head back over the armrest and smiled. "Group hug!" Andrea couldn't help but smile.
"Shut-up, Echo," She sighed in annoyance. "Just get out. You know what, fine. I don't really care that much … you irritating little twit."
"Twit?!" Echo laughed. "What are you, seven?! Now let's introduce ourselves to kitty-cat over there."
Ultra burst out giggling.
"See what I have to live with, Andrea?" Naiad asked, looking over toward the fourteen-year old.
"See what I have to live with, Andrea?" It was a perfect imitation. His every sound wave matched hers perfectly.
"Not funny."
"Not funny."
"I don't have to take this." She walked behind the couch and pushed him up.
"What? Can't take a little joke?" he asked, still mimicking her voice and smiling.
"Just leave, please," she ordered.
"Alright! Alright! I'm going!" His voice was back to normal. As he opened the door, he turned back with a wicked smile spread across his face. "Oh. And one more thing -" he opened his mouth wide but no sound came out. However, Naiad clasped her hands to her ears and doubled over in pain and cried out. Echo shut his mouth and smiled.
"I just do this 'cause I love ya so darn much!" Echo walked out the door and shut the door behind him.
"I hate that guy," Naiad muttered.
"No you don't. How could you?"
"'Scuse me? Uh, what the hell just happened?"
"Echo's scream. It's one of his powers." There was a silence. "So … " Ultra began. "What do you do?"
"Huh?"
"What can you do? Echo's got his voice. What about you?"
"I dunno. Super-duper hearing, or whatever you wanna call it."
"We're not stupid. Don't call it that," Naiad frowned.
"Whatever. Animal hindlegs, really, really sharp claws. Tiger and leopard print fur in replace of hair - lucky me - and I'm agile, like a cat. And then there's my tail." Andrea uncoiled it from under her shirt and let it flip around behind her.
There was another pause.
"Well, thank you for asking, Andrea," Ultra said caustically. "I'm not allowed to show you indoors. Audacity's little rule. It'll set off the smoke alarm. I take sunlight and UV Rays and absorb them into my skin. I can shoot it out of my body. Don't tell Audacity, but-" Ultra looked behind her and stepped into the pool of light again and then stepped forward into the shade. "Watch and learn, my little one," she grinned wryly. She clapped her hands together and produced a ball of fire. "Naiad! Open the window! Quick!"
As soon as the window was open, Ultra threw the ball of fire upward. It cracked, sizzled, and went out. No sooner had it done this than Ultra pointed her fingers upward and what looked like bolts of electricity shot out of her fingers. They went into oblivion and disappeared.
"See? If that had hit something, it would be dust." Ultra beamed with pride and looked at her nails. "And ya'd think with a gift like that I'd at least be able to get a good tan. And ya know what the ironic thing is? I burn." She turned her head swiftly. "Naiad. You're turn."
Naiad was sitting on the couch with the magazine Echo was looking at propped up against her knees. "What? My turn for what? Oh. Andrea doesn't want to hear about that."
"And why doesn't Andrea want to hear about that?" Andrea asked and tried to mask her amused tone with suspicion.
"Because I don't go around bragging with a bunch of little kiddies." She sat up and sighed. "But, if you insi-ist." Naiad got up and placed both feet together.
"Andrea, back away," Ultra said.
"What? Why?"
"Just do it."
Andrea backed away from Naiad who was beginning to pulse with a white energy. She lifted her hands until they were above her head, palm to palm. She shut her eyes and the energy's power seemed to increase. When she opened them, her eyes were a milky white and she was grinning malevolently. She rose into the air and brought her hands in front of her and cupped them. A ball of the same white energy formed.
"Get me something," Naiad ordered Ultra. Ultra ran and brought back a ratty-looking pillow. It had brown stains on it and there were many holes where one could see the stuffing showing through. She set the pillow a few feet in front of her and ran backwards to Andrea's side.
' What a drama queen. ' Andrea thought, staring at Naiad.
Naiad, still floating, threw the ball of energy at the pillow. Despite Andrea's predicting it would, the pillow did not catch on fire. Instead, shards of it flew and fluttered in all directions, charred and ripped to shreds.
"No!" Naiad screamed and stared at the floor where the pillow had lain. She lowered herself to the ground and closed her eyes. As she did this, the energy around her stopped pulsing and when she opened her eyes again, they were a bright, clear blue, but filled with fear. "Look at the floor! Crimson's gonna kill me!"
They looked at the place where the pillow had once been. The floor had a large black stain on it. Ultra walked over to the couch and took a small pillow off of it. She went back over to the charred stain and placed it over the mark.
"See? All better!"
"Oh, like that's gonna help, Ultra!" As soon as the words were out of her mouth, an unsuspecting Crimson opened the door.
"Are you girl's done introducing yourselves?" She eyed the pillow suspiciously. Naiad, what is that pillow doing on the floor?"
"I dunno," she muttered.
"Well, pick it up!"
Andrea ran over the pillow and stood with her back to Crimson, blocking the spot and the pillow. She picked up the pillow and, without moving from her place, she tossed it onto the couch and turned around, remaining on the spot.
"Thank you, Andrea." Crimson turned and left the doorway, closing the door behind her.
Naiad sighed. "Thanks," she sighed. Ultra, however, snickered.
"What?"
"Naiad, you never get scared! But the one thing that nearly gives you a heart attack is if Crimson might disapprove of you! You shoulda seen your face!" Ultra smiled.
Naiad stared at Ultra with an icy gaze, but to no avail.
"Andrea," Naiad said, looking up.
"What?"
"You need an alias to keep your identity safe."
"I don't care if anyone knows my name."
"But we do. If they find you, they'll find us."
"Who's 'they'?"
"People," she shrugged. "Cops, other mutants, anyone who would try to stop us." She frowned and muttered, "The X-Men are the real assholes, though." She continued louder. "But we've never run into them yet. Do you have anything in mind? It's gotta have something to do with your personality, your powers, or both."
Andrea paused, running through the list of interesting words, looking for a spark of creativity buried somewhere underneath song lyrics and Jolly Rancher Flavors she had memorized long ago. Then she remembered and a name came to her. "I kinda thought the word 'Adrenaline' was pretty cool."
Naiad shrugged again. "That works. But we'll have to call you that for your entire stay here. Do you understand that? Just so we don't slip up when we're in combat. That's one of the most strictest rules here."
"Okay. Adrenaline it is then." There was a pause. "We have to go to the Park. It's this training place. I think you might like it."
'At least she's finally warming up to me. Heh. "Warmed up" to the floor, too. God, that was bad. No more puns.'
They both looked at Ultra, expecting her to say something. "I'll go get Echo and Malady and then we'll go." She shut the door behind her.
Dear Diary,
I'm leaving tomorrow, someplace in New York City. I'd say I was afraid to leave home, but I'm not. I'd say I'd miss my family, but I'm the odd one out, the black sheep, the only … you know, special one. I'd say I'd miss my teachers, but, as I've told you before, Diary, I'm not one for authority. I just don't like people telling me what to think. I'm already being pushed down pretty hard as it is. I'd say I'd miss my friends, but … Well, that's enough of that, Diary.
I'm too self-pitying, aren't I, Diary? The way I see it, if I don't pity myself and feel sorry for myself no one else will, you know? But it kinda slows me down sometimes. Maybe I should just stop pitying myself and actually go out and try and fix my problem or fix whoever has the problem with me. I might actually get something done.
Today was my last day of school. Good. That's the end of freshman year. It sucked. Being a freshman is bad enough as it is. The juniors and seniors go off by themselves, but the sophomores are the ones you have to look out for. We're not that far in age, but they still have authority. They think they're so much better than the freshmen. They think they're so much better than me. And you know how I feel about that. But they leave me well enough alone. Gee. I wonder why? Could it be … I dunno … the fact that they think I might go nuclear on them and explode, the way "those muties do"? Because I'd slash their throats as soon as look at them, the way "those muties do"? It's bad enough being a freshman, but a mutant? Someone must really have it in for me up there. I always thought God had a wicked sense of humor. Go God go. You know … If He even exists. But I don't think I could handle it if He doesn't. I already want to die now. If there's no God, I don't want to die, either. No death, no life … Royally screwed up the ass with a board and a nail. *Sigh.* Life hates me.
The things they say about me … they're true. I would cut them up if they ever gave me a chance. And I have. But they deserved it. No one calls me a freak and lives to tell about it. Figuratively, I mean. I haven't killed anyone as of yet. And I hope I never do. But you know what they say - You never know what the future holds. But man! What I've wanted to do to some of the people at my school if I ever met them in a dark alley.
It's like I told that student counselor when he asked me why I act that way around people. After a silence of, literally, about three minutes, I figured he'd think I was nuts if I started laughing. It was such a long silence and so awkward it was funny. If you step out of a situation for a bit, you might actually enjoy it. I said, "I love thrills. I love adrenaline rushes. I love giving people adrenaline rushes. Scare 'em straight, I guess. I gotta look out for myself, because - let's face it - you teachers and the administration aren't doing a thing to help me."
We then discussed how I was afraid of rejection and that if I opened up to people I might just see how much people like me. It was a life-altering experience. It changed my entire point of view. After that, I suddenly started making friends. One at first, then more and more. Then I joined the cheerleading team and shook pom-poms and screamed like a banshee as the basketball players made baskets.
Uh-huh. Right. OR I just left the room realizing I'd missed a good, solid hour's worth of popcorn and "Transformers".
Can't wait for tomorrow when I'm outta here. The future's gotta be so much more better than the present.
But … the future is the future and I can't predict it. Wouldn't that be a cool mutant power? It would make life so much more easier. I bet a mutant has that power. A mutant for every occasion. They must be coasting through life. I bet they're Bill Gates. Maybe someone like Batman or Ross Perot with a frikkin' lot of cash piled up somewhere. But now, I have to make all my mistakes all by my lonesome. I don't know the future, I don't know what's coming. All I can do is keep standing, keep fighting, and keep hoping for the best.
Wow. That was pretty deep. Don't count on another one of those happening again. Not in this lifetime, anyway.
-Love Then, Now and Forever,
Andrea Shane
***
Sprawled out in her seat, the girl attempted to relax after hours of restless jetlag. She was wide awake, but her eyes rested beneath her heavy lids. She bowed her head until it rested on the icy sill of the window. Slowly, she felt herself nodding off to sleep.
"Please return your seat to it's upright locked position … " a voice blared over the intercom. It seemed a shout to her, stabbing her pointed, tufted ears like a knife.
Keeping her eyes closed, she turned her head. "Dammit," she whispered. She then opened them, revealing soft brown flecked gold eyes beneath arched eyebrows on mocha colored skin. She sighed and raised her seat, folded up the small table in front of her, shoved the last airline pretzel in her mouth, and lay back in hear seat once more. She stretched her arms out in front of her, letting her catch a glimpse of the razor sharp claws that grew instead of fingernails and the hands covered by a very thin layer of blonde fur, almost transparent.
She crossed her arms with the two vertical stripes on each, each starting at the bottom part of the shoulder and ending near her wrist. She ran her razor-sharp clawed hands through her tiger- and leopard-print fur. It grew in a jagged pixie-cut and gave her an animalistic quality, as did the light brown tail with it's black tip that was curled tightly and pressed to her back to prevent humans from seeing it. She looked over at her new "teacher" then turned back over and shut her eyes.
Fifteen minutes later, the plane landed and the girl hoisted a simple red duffel bag to her small shoulders. It was nothing fancy. The straps were black and were adjustable and the brand name was scrawled in the center in black stitching. It was very generic and held only her "necessities": a camera, clothing, toiletries, a portable CD player, a few of her favorite CD's, money, and her mother's credit card for emergencies, though she doubted it was necessary, but it would come in practical use for buying expensive souvenirs.
For the first time on the trip from California to New York, other than the "Excuse me" or "Move it" she said every once in a while to get by, she spoke to her companion.
The woman was tall and towered over the girl. She was a little over 6 feet tall had her hair pulled back with a clip and looked very professional. She wore a knee-length gray skirt accompanied by a matching jacket and white blouse. Her shoulders were square and she could have been a military officer. Despite her thin build, the girl was sure that she would be able to strike fear into anyone's heart. When the older woman said something, she was very soft-spoken, but everyone would stop what they were doing and strain to listen. Her eyes were a cold brown. She looked so predictable and her student hated that about her.
"So how are we gonna get there?" the younger one asked.
"Get where? The base?"
"Where else?"
"A student of mine, Madison Hartz, will pick us up. She will also be showing you around a little, though I suspect Claire and her brother, Patrick, will be doing most of that. They were my first students, you know," Crimson spoke without looking at Andrea, as if not exactly talking to Andrea, but nor was she talking to herself. "And until told otherwise, you will refer to me as Crimson."
Andrea's grin shortened to a smirk. "Aw, but Kinky's so much nicer ," Andrea said sarcastically, stating her nickname for Crimson's name: Charlotte Kincaid.
Charlotte narrowed her eyes to deadly slits, turning to her new seemingly reluctant but not ungrateful student. "Now is not the time, Andrea. I can be nice, but I am in a very disagreeable mood at the moment, so I'm warning you to stay out of my way." She spun around and continued to unload her bags from the overhead compartment. "This flight has left me incredibly irritable and, well, 'punchy'. Remember: we were on the same flight and I took the aisle and gave you the window. A flight attendant nearly took off my elbow as she passed by. Yes, yes, I know you think that's funny, well, it's not. Andrea, you have real, valuable talent and I'd hate to tell my students that we can't use it because I pushed you in front of a speeding delivery van!"
The two stepped out of the aircraft, Ms. Kincaid stepping highly and Andrea trudging behind her. She could feel stares boring through her back and she turned her head. People were staring. Turning around, she followed Ms. Kincaid out the door. Before she knew it, they were in the lobby and searching for the girl that would lead them to their final destination.
"Andrea, come this way. I see her." Andrea felt her left arm being pulled towards the doors of the airport, toward a twenty year-old woman in a neon orange turtle-neck sweater and blue jeans, despite the warm weather, and short red hair with sparse bangs. She had some small freckles on her nose and bore a huge smile, but it began to waver as she noticed Andrea's slight scowl. She still held out her hand to the girl.
"Hey! I'm Madison."
Andrea reluctantly shook her hand. "Andrea."
"Let's go get in the car. I'll tell you all about everyone on the ride over there, 'k?" she said, a bit condescendingly.
In the midst of scurrying feet, black suitcases, and a red duffel bag, the three of them ended up standing outside of a dark navy-blue van with round, tinted windows. Madison's eyes darted to the door and the car door unlocked and opened on it's own. She looked at Andrea and smiled again.
"Uh, thanks." Andrea stepped inside and collapsed in the seat farthest from the entrance, not quite sure what to make of her new "teammate". Ms. Kincaid stooped to hit her head on the car doorframe and sat down. Madison got in on the driver's side and buckled herself in. Not waiting for Madison to close them, Ms. Kincaid slammed the door.
"Okay! There are five others there! You are the sixth, and Crimson" - she gestured to Charlotte Kincaid - "runs the place. And yours truly is second-in-command."
Andrea stared out the van's windows at the passing scenery of New York City, still unsure what she was fighting for or against.
And hour later, Andrea Shane, Madison Hartz, and Charlotte Kincaid pulled up to the so-called "Base", headquarters for the underground mutant organization known only to its members as E.R.A.
* * *
"The Base", as it was so called, was no more than an apartment building. Crimson, Audacity, and Andrea were no more than tenants. Three apartments had been leased and were home to the others of the program.
The apartments were in very poor shape with bleak brown and beige walls with several large cracks in them. Each apartment had two bedrooms, a bathroom, a kitchen, and a small living room. Although the apartments were adequate in size, their interior was horrible: not much light entered the rooms and there was little electricity when they did pay their bills.
The boys slept in the apartment down the hall on the right and the girls slept in the apartment to the left of their "leaders". There were no beds in the apartment, however a futon was one of the very lonely decorations in each of the living rooms, along with a mattress behind it and a few rumpled blankets. Three people were able to sleep comfortably on each. There was also a La-Z Boy chair in each living room near the door. There was a table in the kitchen surrounded by three chairs. A fourth one had to be added to the girl's apartment for Andrea. In spite of the meager furnishings of their homes, the kitchen was always stocked and restocked with healthy food to keep the teenagers in shape. Most of the money was spent on food.
One block away from the apartment building was a park in which they would exercise each day. The park had originally been for small children but had been deserted for nearly twenty years and counting. It was always deserted and carried with it a false sense of security and danger at the same time, almost the same as a child finding a fort between to trees that has been forgotten by its makers: sad and lonely yet innocent and enjoyable. Because of the uninviting atmosphere of the playground when parents forbid their children to play there, the children obeyed. No one was ever found to be loitering on the grounds.
Once Andrea arrived at Base, she was greeting by a boy about her age who was accompanied by a girl. Both were tall and muscular. The girl had straight blonde hair and large blue eyes that would flash at every movement Andrea made and whose lips were slightly turned down. She had a straight, profound nose and was seemingly contrary to her companion.
The boy next to her had dark, black, hair that he had brushed away from his face. His blue eyes weren't as large and seemed calmer than his friend's. His lips were thin but seemed as if they could easily curl up into a smile. His nose was narrow and although he looked very different from the girl, their face shape was similar: both had high cheekbones and oval shaped faces with the same pointed chins and bright blue eyes. At second sight, Andrea was sure that they were cousins if not siblings.
"'Drea, meet Malady" - Audacity gestured to the boy - "and Naiad." - she waved a hand towards the girl. "Malady, Naiad, this is Andrea."
"Hey, Andrea," Malady greeted her, remaining on the steps.
"'Sup."
"Nice to meet you."
"Uhhh, why does everyone have a little nickname?" Andrea asked suspiciously.
Naiad began to speak. Her voice was sharp and soft-spoken, like Crimson, but not as reassuring. "No, this is not some little camp, Andrea . If you want the cops to find out your name, then by all means, use yours, but if not, pick one."
Andrea sneered and Malady snickered at the newcomer, then caught himself and said, "Ah, come on, Nai, you're scarin' the rookie." He turned to Andrea. "Sorry. My dear sweet sister here is a witch with a capital 'B'."
"Can it, virus."
Andrea heard a muttering behind her and flexed her ears so she could make out the words.
"Wow, I hope the rest of the introductions go this well."
"Calm down, Crims. It won't be that bad. Promise."
Andrea whirled around and glared at this remark. Already they hated her. 'No shocker there.' she thought bitterly. 'Not many people like me.' She narrowed her eyes and tried to look fierce but her small body would not allow her to hope for too much. Looking up at her new mentor she replied in a sort of hiss, "May I see my room now?"
Crimson looked at Naiad who was staring at the new-comer. "Would you do the honors?" she smiled coldly.
Naiad sighed. Turning to Andrea, she said, "Over here," and disappeared into the foreboding building. Andrea bent down and lifted her duffel bag and followed Naiad up the stairs to her new residence.
The stairs were dark and if Andrea stepped on one too hard or just the right way, she could make them creak softly and talk to her. Naiad, however, seemed to skim up the stairs.
"It's up here," the girl said darkly. Andrea was sure she was being a bother by making her go through the effort of simply showing her the room. Naiad opened the door to display the girl's apartment. Inside a brown haired girl with dark eyebrows resting above round, brown eyes sat cross-legged in a pool of sunshine and flipping through a magazine, stopping to look at an advertisement for self-tanning cream. And no wonder: the girl was surprisingly pale. She was frowning and mouthing the words to the advertisement as she read along and her nostrils sucked in as she read. Her nose was up-turned a bit, but just enough to make her look young. She had a slightly round face and high cheekbones, but they didn't jut out like a model's would. She turned to look up at the two of them and stood up but remained in her pool of sunshine. She sported the classic blue jeans with a white tee shirt look.
"Hi. I'm Ultra," she said in a low, tom-boyish voice.
"Ultra?" Andrea asked, a bit skeptical.
"You know, like UV Rays? Ultra Violet? That stuff?" She sounded almost offended and definitely indignant, as if people had asked her this oftentimes before.
Meanwhile, Naiad had put her hands on her hips and was frowning at the couch.
They followed her gaze and met with the surprised stare of a teenage boy no more than seventeen years old stretched out on the couch, head and feet propped up at either end of the armrests, also flipping through a magazine. He had wavy reddish brown hair and brown eyes. His complexion was relatively smooth. His mouth was slightly parted as if searching for something to say. The word he found was, "What?"
Naiad replied, "Girls' room?" She looked sincerely annoyed at his presence. "That means, you are not allowed, Echo."
"What climbed up your - "
"Geez, calm down, Nai! I invited him, and it's not like we were doing anything. God forbid we even spoke to each other in your absence!" she added sarcastically.
"Oh, shut-up, Ultra," Naiad said tiredly. She turned back to Echo. "Look, I'm having a really bad day right now and I have a really bad headache and you have a habit of making headaches worse, so please just leave?"
The red-haired boy turned his attention toward Andrea. "Come join our loving family!" He stretched out his arms and tipped his head back over the armrest and smiled. "Group hug!" Andrea couldn't help but smile.
"Shut-up, Echo," She sighed in annoyance. "Just get out. You know what, fine. I don't really care that much … you irritating little twit."
"Twit?!" Echo laughed. "What are you, seven?! Now let's introduce ourselves to kitty-cat over there."
Ultra burst out giggling.
"See what I have to live with, Andrea?" Naiad asked, looking over toward the fourteen-year old.
"See what I have to live with, Andrea?" It was a perfect imitation. His every sound wave matched hers perfectly.
"Not funny."
"Not funny."
"I don't have to take this." She walked behind the couch and pushed him up.
"What? Can't take a little joke?" he asked, still mimicking her voice and smiling.
"Just leave, please," she ordered.
"Alright! Alright! I'm going!" His voice was back to normal. As he opened the door, he turned back with a wicked smile spread across his face. "Oh. And one more thing -" he opened his mouth wide but no sound came out. However, Naiad clasped her hands to her ears and doubled over in pain and cried out. Echo shut his mouth and smiled.
"I just do this 'cause I love ya so darn much!" Echo walked out the door and shut the door behind him.
"I hate that guy," Naiad muttered.
"No you don't. How could you?"
"'Scuse me? Uh, what the hell just happened?"
"Echo's scream. It's one of his powers." There was a silence. "So … " Ultra began. "What do you do?"
"Huh?"
"What can you do? Echo's got his voice. What about you?"
"I dunno. Super-duper hearing, or whatever you wanna call it."
"We're not stupid. Don't call it that," Naiad frowned.
"Whatever. Animal hindlegs, really, really sharp claws. Tiger and leopard print fur in replace of hair - lucky me - and I'm agile, like a cat. And then there's my tail." Andrea uncoiled it from under her shirt and let it flip around behind her.
There was another pause.
"Well, thank you for asking, Andrea," Ultra said caustically. "I'm not allowed to show you indoors. Audacity's little rule. It'll set off the smoke alarm. I take sunlight and UV Rays and absorb them into my skin. I can shoot it out of my body. Don't tell Audacity, but-" Ultra looked behind her and stepped into the pool of light again and then stepped forward into the shade. "Watch and learn, my little one," she grinned wryly. She clapped her hands together and produced a ball of fire. "Naiad! Open the window! Quick!"
As soon as the window was open, Ultra threw the ball of fire upward. It cracked, sizzled, and went out. No sooner had it done this than Ultra pointed her fingers upward and what looked like bolts of electricity shot out of her fingers. They went into oblivion and disappeared.
"See? If that had hit something, it would be dust." Ultra beamed with pride and looked at her nails. "And ya'd think with a gift like that I'd at least be able to get a good tan. And ya know what the ironic thing is? I burn." She turned her head swiftly. "Naiad. You're turn."
Naiad was sitting on the couch with the magazine Echo was looking at propped up against her knees. "What? My turn for what? Oh. Andrea doesn't want to hear about that."
"And why doesn't Andrea want to hear about that?" Andrea asked and tried to mask her amused tone with suspicion.
"Because I don't go around bragging with a bunch of little kiddies." She sat up and sighed. "But, if you insi-ist." Naiad got up and placed both feet together.
"Andrea, back away," Ultra said.
"What? Why?"
"Just do it."
Andrea backed away from Naiad who was beginning to pulse with a white energy. She lifted her hands until they were above her head, palm to palm. She shut her eyes and the energy's power seemed to increase. When she opened them, her eyes were a milky white and she was grinning malevolently. She rose into the air and brought her hands in front of her and cupped them. A ball of the same white energy formed.
"Get me something," Naiad ordered Ultra. Ultra ran and brought back a ratty-looking pillow. It had brown stains on it and there were many holes where one could see the stuffing showing through. She set the pillow a few feet in front of her and ran backwards to Andrea's side.
' What a drama queen. ' Andrea thought, staring at Naiad.
Naiad, still floating, threw the ball of energy at the pillow. Despite Andrea's predicting it would, the pillow did not catch on fire. Instead, shards of it flew and fluttered in all directions, charred and ripped to shreds.
"No!" Naiad screamed and stared at the floor where the pillow had lain. She lowered herself to the ground and closed her eyes. As she did this, the energy around her stopped pulsing and when she opened her eyes again, they were a bright, clear blue, but filled with fear. "Look at the floor! Crimson's gonna kill me!"
They looked at the place where the pillow had once been. The floor had a large black stain on it. Ultra walked over to the couch and took a small pillow off of it. She went back over to the charred stain and placed it over the mark.
"See? All better!"
"Oh, like that's gonna help, Ultra!" As soon as the words were out of her mouth, an unsuspecting Crimson opened the door.
"Are you girl's done introducing yourselves?" She eyed the pillow suspiciously. Naiad, what is that pillow doing on the floor?"
"I dunno," she muttered.
"Well, pick it up!"
Andrea ran over the pillow and stood with her back to Crimson, blocking the spot and the pillow. She picked up the pillow and, without moving from her place, she tossed it onto the couch and turned around, remaining on the spot.
"Thank you, Andrea." Crimson turned and left the doorway, closing the door behind her.
Naiad sighed. "Thanks," she sighed. Ultra, however, snickered.
"What?"
"Naiad, you never get scared! But the one thing that nearly gives you a heart attack is if Crimson might disapprove of you! You shoulda seen your face!" Ultra smiled.
Naiad stared at Ultra with an icy gaze, but to no avail.
"Andrea," Naiad said, looking up.
"What?"
"You need an alias to keep your identity safe."
"I don't care if anyone knows my name."
"But we do. If they find you, they'll find us."
"Who's 'they'?"
"People," she shrugged. "Cops, other mutants, anyone who would try to stop us." She frowned and muttered, "The X-Men are the real assholes, though." She continued louder. "But we've never run into them yet. Do you have anything in mind? It's gotta have something to do with your personality, your powers, or both."
Andrea paused, running through the list of interesting words, looking for a spark of creativity buried somewhere underneath song lyrics and Jolly Rancher Flavors she had memorized long ago. Then she remembered and a name came to her. "I kinda thought the word 'Adrenaline' was pretty cool."
Naiad shrugged again. "That works. But we'll have to call you that for your entire stay here. Do you understand that? Just so we don't slip up when we're in combat. That's one of the most strictest rules here."
"Okay. Adrenaline it is then." There was a pause. "We have to go to the Park. It's this training place. I think you might like it."
'At least she's finally warming up to me. Heh. "Warmed up" to the floor, too. God, that was bad. No more puns.'
They both looked at Ultra, expecting her to say something. "I'll go get Echo and Malady and then we'll go." She shut the door behind her.