Chapter Four
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YIN: And now you meet 'mafma', (sigh) he's soooo uber cute :D
YANG: Wooo! New baby, new baby. I write this guy, and he is soooo much fun to write.
Warning- Language, but nothing you don't hear at school.
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Evan almost walked into the new boy on his way downstairs. Scott had told them that a new student had arrived late last night, but the only thing he had told them was that he was a boy, about fifteen and that he was from England.
It was hard to be sure that he was a guy. His hair was cut long, spiked and shoulder length at the back. The black fringe was cut haphazardly so that it spiked at the bottom and was hanging in front of his eyes, looking chaotic and annoying. It was a coal shade of black, as was the rest of his hair. His frame was slight and he was petite, standing at around 5'3" with pale porcelain white skin. He wore tight black leather trousers that hugged his legs, a red T-shirt and a mid-thigh length black duster. Evan looked down and saw a large pair of mid-calf length black boots that he knew Rogue would probably drool over.
The new boy's eyes were the strangest feature about him though, apart from the effeminate face and delicate features. They were almond shaped and lined in black, but that wasn't the weird thing. The boy's eyes were a strange vivid jewel red colour, giving him a strange cutting look.
Diego seemed embarrassed at the scrutiny, so Evan glanced away and changed the subject.
"Hey, you're the new guy from England, right? My name's Evan, what's yours?" He said, holding his hand out.
The other boy took his hand reluctantly and gave it a quick shake, relaxing slightly when he did. Evan noticed that his nails were painted a dark, almost black, red.
"I'm Diego Vatusia and yeah, I'm from London."
"Well D, lemme be the first, or the second, or third I suppose, to welcome you to the Institute. Come on, I'll introduce you to the others."
As they made their way through the corridors, Evan talked about their powers.
"My codename is Spyke, I make spikes basically. Watch."
Evan concentrated and a spike came through his palm.
"I'm learning to control them. It's really hard to explain spikes shooting from your back when you sneeze. And I have to drink loads of milk to get enough calcium."
Diego's eyes practically sparked with interest.
"Ummm, I don't really know wot mine are." He said quietly.
Evan told Diego that that was the whole purpose of the Institute and talked on about it with Diego listening intently.
As they walked down the stairs, Evan thought once again of those strange eyes and wondered about the way his stomach had shifted at the sight of them.
"Hey everyone! This is the new kid, Diego Vatusia. He arrived here yesterday." Evan opened the door for Diego and introduced him to the room of mutants.
"Like, hi, I'm Kitty. It's, like, so nice to meet you." A young brown-haired girl welcomed him first.
"Hey Kitty." He replied, smiling shyly at her. Her mouth dropped open until a stream of words bubbled forth.
"Oh my God have you, like, seen your eyes, they're, like, the coolest shade of red, are you from, like, England? That's really cool too, I, like so wanted to go there, but I couldn't…"
Evan stopped her babble.
"Kitty's codename is Shadowcat, she can pass through solid objects. Only she tends to short out electronics if he goes through them."
Evan then pointed to another boy.
"This is Kurt, he's from Europe too."
A cheerful looking, blue haired boy of about Diego's age waved to him.
"Hi. If you couldn't guess from my accent I'm from Germany. It's sehr strange here, but I think you'll get to like it. Everyvun is really cool and za girls dig ze foreign accent."
Kurt too had noticed the strange eyes of the newcomer, but decided that he had nothing on what Kurt looked like beneath the hologram.
Diego looked at the other teen approvingly. He had always been attracted to guys and Kurt was pretty cute. Unfortunately, he didn't feel up to a relationship, not after… Diego pushed that thought away. He didn't think anyone here was up for a one-night stand anyway.
"You've met Scott, I think and this is Jean Grey." Evan was introducing him to more people.
He smiled at Scott, and then said 'hi' to the tall willowy redhead.
She smiled back at him brightly. "Hi Diego, welcome to the institute." She held out a hand and he took it.
"I'm a telepath, like the Professor."
He tensed slightly and Jean felt a wave of anxiety come from him. She was quick to reassure him that she, like the Professor, wouldn't abuse his privacy.
"That's almost all of us." Evan said, rescuing his new friend. "Except for Rogue who probably isn't up yet, and Logan…"
"Who is here." A gruff voice finished.
Diego turned to see a short, stocky but incredibly powerful looking man standing in the doorway. He had stiff-looking black hair, brawny arms were crossed across his chest, and he sniffed in Diego's direction, not condescendingly, but in the way an animal would scent the air. Diego knew he was being appraised, and this man's careful, if detached scrutiny made him nervous. He felt afraid, and his hands went into his pockets as he tried to make himself look as small and insignificant as possible. He moved slightly to stand marginally behind Evan.
Wolverine raised an eyebrow, as he smelt the fear coming off the new boy. He didn't have his claws out and the smell was stronger than the usual nervous anxiety he generated in more nervous students.
"Hey kid. I'm Wolverine. How's it going?"
Diego nodded back slightly, eyes massive as he stared. Before anyone else noticed the new tension in the air, a new girl entered. She looked sleepy and was dressed in dark colours, green and black. Her make-up was heavy and her hair was streaked once, brazenly with a single white strand. Her image said 'Goth' and her annoyed 'I-got-up-way-too-early-this-morning' look increased her 'stay away' vibe. Diego relaxed unconsciously when he saw her. He had been worried that he would be the odd-one-out among the others, but he had now found someone who looked as if they might understand his fashion sense at least.
Rogue came in through the door feeling grumpy and irritable and wishing that she had had more sleep. But, her stomach had made her get out of bed and go eat, so here she was…
She looked, startled for a moment at a stranger standing in the room, slightly behind Evan. He was dressed in a way that she approved of and wore his hair long. He looked up at her and she saw startling garnet eyes that made the exotic face they were in look paler than it already was. She smiled slightly, her bad mood disappearing a little bit.
"Hi, ah'm Rogue, what's your name?" She asked amiably.
Diego noticed the Southern accent and realised that he immediately felt a kinship with this girl. He decided to trust his feelings.
"I'm Diego Vatusia." He said.
"Cool. You're from England. How long have you been here for?"
"Ummm, few weeks mebbe." He said.
Scott entered and they all sat down to breakfast before any more questions were asked.
Diego ate quickly and fairly quietly, listening to everyone else chat around him. He was wedged between Evan and Jean. He would have sat next to Rogue, but she was near Wolverine, and being near that man made tremors of almost forgotten fear run through him. He immediately felt annoyed at himself. The past was the past he should be over it by now. He sighed. Just as long as this place could help him, he would be fine. It had been a long time since he had belonged anywhere.
***
Narrowed glances were shot at the boy who was sitting at the bar, obliviously drinking down his third vodka of the night, having first put away at least two pints of lager, which couldn't have been all that he had had to drink as he had come in slightly soused. It was amazing that he had got a drink at all, being as he looked so young, but then he knew how to get what he wanted. He had practiced after all. He was used to the staring anyway, never mind the fact that he had apparently walked into the most homophobic bar in town.
His hair immediately drew attention. It was short at the back and long at the front, styled into long bangs that spiked out in front of his eyes. The shorter hair at the back was spiked into small points at random intervals, each one being dyed neon green, as were the tips of his bangs, the rest of which were black.
He was dressed in skin-tight black leather trousers flared out at the bottom, large studded black boots and a tank top that was cut halfway down his torso, showing off his stomach and even some of his chest. It was also black, with the bottom and the armholes ragged as if they'd been hacked off with a bread knife. The words 'Razor Sharp Scars' were printed in angular red letters on the front of it. The short height of the top displayed the boy's belly bar. This was only the beginning of the boy's metal furnishings. He was wearing a studded collar and cuffs, and his right eyebrow was pierced with a silver hoop. His right ear was adorned with three hoops, one in the top, one in the bottom and one in the middle while his left ear had four hoops going down the outside. His chin was pierced with a black horn labret.
When he spoke, you could see flashes of metal in his mouth indicating that he had his tongue pierced with a silver ball tongue stud. If he had deigned to take his short black (leather again) coat off, the shirt would have shown off the anarchy 'A' tattoo in black on the small of his back and the small black and purple winged butterfly tattooed on his left shoulder blade as well as the barbed wire/bramble tattoo in black around his right upper arm. If you saw him from the front, you would have also seen the crescent shaped scar that curved from the right side of his stomach to mid-way up the right side of his ribs, half-hidden under his shirt.
The residents of the bar stood up as the stranger slapped some money down, winked at the bartender and walked out.
Maveryk Neemick stepped outside of the bar and leant up against the alley wall as he pulled a smoke out of his pocket and lit it. He looked up as the pastel grey smoke billowed out of his mouth. He had been in America for a few months now and still hadn't got over the pain of his rejection by Max, even though he had a pocket full of dosh and the talent to draw the attention of as many people as he wanted to spend the night with.
He still hadn't settled. The feeling of waking up in the morning alone or with a strange body next to him did nothing to fill the hole inside him that had been made when Max had decided that now that the band had split and they were in a new country, it was time for them to do the same. He sighed. He hadn't been sober since.
Maveryk had no more time to think about his current state of affairs as a large hand wrapped itself around his neck and pushed his head back into the wall.
*Oh shit! * He thought to himself.
"Well, 'ello there boys." He said cheerily. "Summink you wann'ed?"
'Meaty-hand' growled while a smaller man behind him- still way over Maveryk's own 5'4"- answered his question.
"We don't like your kind round here." It growled.
*Can't anyone talk wivout growling at me? * He wondered.
"And what kind would that be then mate?" He asked, squirming ineffectively to try and get free.
"Well," 'Shorty' was laughing. "You strike out on three counts kid. You're English, you're a fag, and you're a mutie too."
"What gave it away? The accent?" Maveryk asked, kicking the larger man in the nuts, causing him to be dropped. Before he could run, another guy appeared from behind and wrapped him in large brawny arms.
"You should be wearing contacts kid." 'Shorty' said.
Maveryk's eyes were large, rounded and slightly pointed at the ends, giving him an exotic look, especially when paired with his faint Asian skin. They were also a warm clear amber colour, giving him the stare of a coolly disinterested cat.
As 'Meaty-hand' advanced, having slightly recovered enough to beat the stuffing out of the disrespectful little mutie, Maveryk decided that if he didn't get out of there quick he'd be in trouble. He concentrated for a second, and 'Arms' behind him dropped him sharply, stammering something about the boy using his mutie powers on him.
Maveryk had employed his little illusion trick that lasted for all of ten seconds, making the man believe that he was surrounded by mirrors. Basically, he couldn't see anything where he turned but himself.
'Meaty-hand' wasted no time and took a swing at him, landing his fist in his gut and sending the smaller boy crashing to the ground. As Maveryk saw 'Shorty' come forward, raising his foot to give him a kick in the gut, he had enough and stretched out his hands palm-first. Shards of glass flew from his hands, slicing the two men but not embedding into them. Maveryk wanted to scare them away or at least buy himself some time to run. Killing them wasn't an option at the moment.
"Ow, you little asshole." 'Shorty' yelped, kicking Maveryk anyway.
He was just about to let loose with some more accurately aimed glass shards when he was thrown to the ground and pinned there by a weight much larger than his own.
"It's alright now people. The threat has been neutralised. Move along now."
*Threat? I'm just about to get the crap beat outta me by three other, BIGGER men and I'M the threat??? These people are nuts. *
The body above him pulled him none too gently too his feet by his arms, roughly pulled behind him.
"Well, he's certainly a mutie. Look at those eyes. He's not natural."
A man with steel grey eyes, silver hair and a hard severe expression on his face gripped him by the chin hard enough to bruise and stared deep into his eyes.
Maveryk stilled and whimpered as he saw the look in this new mans eyes. He could read it clearly, anyone could have done. This man didn't hate him, didn't even consider him worthy of hating. He looked at him as if he were some kind of dangerous animal, needing to be locked away and studied for the benefit of the public. He felt a sharp bolt of fear cut through him, fear for himself, fear for everyone else on the receiving end of this man's cold stare and his harsh grip.
The man nodded and let Maveryk's face go slowly, ending by pulling his fingers in a bastardised caress down his face. This made Maveryk shiver, suddenly feeling the need to have a hot shower. He then felt a strange presence inside his head. He almost threw up. He felt like he was being mind-raped.
*DIRTY, DISGUSTING LOWER-CLASS LIFE FORM. JUST A CHILD, A PATHETIC POWERLESS CHILD. NOT WORTH MY TIME, NEVER MIND ANYONE ELSE'S *
The presence left and Maveryk slumped in the other man's grip.
"Get him into the van. Take him to the holding centre. He'll be dealt with there."
The strange, grey, terrifying man (mutant?) must have left, because he was released, only to be kicked, punched and basically beat up until he was finally kicked into unconsciousness.
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YIN: So 'mafma' is revealed as Maveryk. What happens next?
YANG: I am so mean to Maveryk… it does NOT get better. I'm sorry, I'm sadistic. Anyway… till next week…
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