There Must Be Some Kind of Way Out of Here
Chapter 4
Author's Note: The stuff in italics are thoughts, but that's pretty self-explanatory by now. And I love you guys.
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the X-Men characters or this world they live in, except John, but since I don't really have a copyright on him, he's just mine as much as I can hold him (meaning you could use him and I can't really do anything about it). But anyway, I'm side-tracking here...
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
John screamed and ran. He ran and ran, making a beeline straight for the trees ahead of him.
A puff of smoke engulfed the air around him, and the thing was in front of him again, holding his detached arm. "You left this behind, mein freund. Thought I don't know vhat you were doing with it..."
"AAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" John turned around and ran again.
Oh man. I'm gonna die I'm gonna die I'm gonna die I'm gonna die I'm gonna die! If it gets me, that crazy English-speaking German-accented thing gets me, I'm gonna die for sure!
Another puff of smoke surrounded John, and it appeared again, but a pair of three-fingered hands planted a firm grip on his shoulders.
"Calm down! Ich werde Ihnen nicht verletzen!"
John stared back, with a horrified look in his face.
"Sorry. When I get panicky, I sometimes slip back into German, ja? I won't hurt you," it said.
"W...What the heck are you?" John spluttered.
"I am a human, like you," it/he said sadly and it's/his head lowered in shame. Whatever it was, it was hunched over, but John noticed it would have been about his height if fully erect. Blue fur covered the entire body (even the tail!!), and it wore a variation of the uniform the Professor had given him.
"Listen, I...I'm sorry. You just snuck up on me, that's all." John extended his hand and continued. "I'm John Jashback. What's your name?"
An odd, yellow-glove covered three-fingered hand shook John's hand. "I'm Kurt Vahgner," he drawled out, "spelled with a 'W' but pronounced with a 'V,'" he said grinning. "It is nice to vinally meet the person who gave Kitty ze lump on her head." A devilish smile stretched across his face and his eyes glowed delightfully. "And zat vould explain this," he said, holding up John's discarded arm.
John winced a little before speaking. "So you uh, heard about that, huh?"
Kurt threw his head back and laughed loudly. "I don't think there's a person in ze whole mansion who doesn't know."
John could only groan.
"So zis arm..is that your power?"
"Er, not exactly." John extended his left arm out to Kurt. "Here, grab my arm real tight."
Kurt gave him an interested look but he did as was told.
"I'm going to count to three. When I hit three, pull as hard as you can."
"Are you sure you know vhat you're doing?"
"Trust me Kurt. If you think you scared me, you aint seen nothing yet." John grinned very evilly, adding to the blue-furred boy's curiosity. "One...two...three..."
Kurt yanked as hard as his nimble body would allow, and loud snap was heard, almost wet sounding. The arm slid out of the socket and into Kurt's arms, who stumbled backwards a few steps.
Kurt couldn't help but scream.
Twice in one day? What was I thinking coming here?
"Vow! That was cool!" Then Kurt's voice lowered. "Now ve have two extra arms and you only have one left."
John smiled and said, "You've only seen half the show." And the least painful part too...
Eyes clenched shut, John planted his feet securely on the ground. This wouldn't be the best time to fall over. Sweat quickly beaded on his forehead and formed under his one arm. He emitted a low grunt that seemed to last forever. Finally, the new arm burst forth, exactly the same as the previous arm, but once again covered in a light film of...fluid. John collapsed onto his knees, breathing heavily.
"Are you ok, man?" Kurt asked, crouching next to John, with an arm on his back.
"Yeah...I'll be...just fine...just tired...that's all...I haven't...done that in such close...intervals before..." His speech was soon interrupted by a flurry of coughing. John looked up at Kurt and smiled weakly. "No problem.."
"Didn't that hurt, mein freund?"
"Oh, just a little. I just felt the strain of it, since I don't think I've ever used my power more than once in the span of an hour. I'm just worn out." John looked at the two discarded arms laying on the ground behind them. "C'mon. Let's go bury those. I don't exactly want another reaction like yours or Kitty's any time soon..."
Kurt laughed and slapped him on the back, before helping John to his feet. The two young men made their way back over to the bush and buried the two arms.
"There. In a couple of hours, they'll turn into dust and it'll be like they never existed."
"Cool," was all Kurt could say.
"So Kurt, if you don't mind my asking, how uh, did you manage to uh, appear in front of me like that just a minute ago?"
Kurt's smile brightened his dark face. "Now you zee me...and now you don't!" And with that, he disappeared in a cloud of smoke. John looked all around before spotting Kurt a few feet away from him. "You like, ja?"
"Whoa...that's pretty sweet man." John sniffed the air. "Woooo man, what's that smell?" He shot an accusing look at Kurt.
Kurt stuck out his tongue at him. "Something that happens vhen I teleport."
"Oh. Well...I've only got one last question - anything to eat around here?"
The blue-furred mutant beamed with delight. "Now you're speaking my language!" Putting a three-fingered hand on John's shoulder, the two disappeared from sight.
**********
"Kurt, I don't care what anyone says, you Germans really know how to make your chocolate."
Laying sprawled out on a bed, Kurt and John stared up at the ceiling with satisfied stomachs and lazy grins on their faces. All around them lay a wasteland of candy wrappers.
"Ja," was all Kurt could manage to say.
"You know Kurt, we got a saying where I'm from and I think it applies real nicely here. We are officially fat, dumb, and happy."
Once again, all Kurt could manage to mutter was a "Ja."
John managed to turn his head to see a clock resting on a table next to the bed. It read 5:58.
"Hey Kurt...It's 6 o'clock. Time for dinner."
As if filled with a renewed vigor, Kurt sprung up off the bed, practically bouncing around like well, exactly what he was at the moment...a kid full of sweets.
"Come on, John! Let's go eat some more!" he said excitedly. "I'm still hungry!"
"Uh...but I don't know where the kitchen is. I barely remembered where my room was..."
"Who needs to walk when the fuzzy man's around?" Kurt bubbled. He reached down and grabbed John by the scruff of his shirt and in an instant, BAM, they were gone.
**********
The next thing John Jashback realized was that he was still laying on his back. The second thing that hit him was that he was no longer in Kurt's room. The third thing John noticed was the eerie silence.
Oh please God no...
Kurt pulled him onto his feet as they stood face-to-face with the other residents of the Institute seated at the dining room table. Everyone looked at the duo with a raised eyebrow and questioning look.
"Oh, hi everybody," Kurt started. "This is John. He's new here. Ve were just in my room talking when..." Kurt's voice quickly faltered and he hung his head in embarrassment. Had it been possible, Kurt would be blushing.
John envied Kurt at that moment - he could just teleport out of this situation.
Hell of a first impression I've made.
"Um...hi?"
He waved at the occupants of the room, from a beautiful redhead to an angry looking man to an African American boy with a funny haircut to a Goth girl with white streaks in her brown hair to Kitty sporting a red lump on her forehead to a very young boy about ready to fall over giggling to... There were so many people in the room, all staring at the two so that their faces seemed to blur together. John hung his head in embarrassment, wishing he were anywhere at that exact moment, except in the dining room of the Xavier Institute for Gifted Youngsters.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chapter 4
Author's Note: The stuff in italics are thoughts, but that's pretty self-explanatory by now. And I love you guys.
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the X-Men characters or this world they live in, except John, but since I don't really have a copyright on him, he's just mine as much as I can hold him (meaning you could use him and I can't really do anything about it). But anyway, I'm side-tracking here...
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
John screamed and ran. He ran and ran, making a beeline straight for the trees ahead of him.
A puff of smoke engulfed the air around him, and the thing was in front of him again, holding his detached arm. "You left this behind, mein freund. Thought I don't know vhat you were doing with it..."
"AAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" John turned around and ran again.
Oh man. I'm gonna die I'm gonna die I'm gonna die I'm gonna die I'm gonna die! If it gets me, that crazy English-speaking German-accented thing gets me, I'm gonna die for sure!
Another puff of smoke surrounded John, and it appeared again, but a pair of three-fingered hands planted a firm grip on his shoulders.
"Calm down! Ich werde Ihnen nicht verletzen!"
John stared back, with a horrified look in his face.
"Sorry. When I get panicky, I sometimes slip back into German, ja? I won't hurt you," it said.
"W...What the heck are you?" John spluttered.
"I am a human, like you," it/he said sadly and it's/his head lowered in shame. Whatever it was, it was hunched over, but John noticed it would have been about his height if fully erect. Blue fur covered the entire body (even the tail!!), and it wore a variation of the uniform the Professor had given him.
"Listen, I...I'm sorry. You just snuck up on me, that's all." John extended his hand and continued. "I'm John Jashback. What's your name?"
An odd, yellow-glove covered three-fingered hand shook John's hand. "I'm Kurt Vahgner," he drawled out, "spelled with a 'W' but pronounced with a 'V,'" he said grinning. "It is nice to vinally meet the person who gave Kitty ze lump on her head." A devilish smile stretched across his face and his eyes glowed delightfully. "And zat vould explain this," he said, holding up John's discarded arm.
John winced a little before speaking. "So you uh, heard about that, huh?"
Kurt threw his head back and laughed loudly. "I don't think there's a person in ze whole mansion who doesn't know."
John could only groan.
"So zis arm..is that your power?"
"Er, not exactly." John extended his left arm out to Kurt. "Here, grab my arm real tight."
Kurt gave him an interested look but he did as was told.
"I'm going to count to three. When I hit three, pull as hard as you can."
"Are you sure you know vhat you're doing?"
"Trust me Kurt. If you think you scared me, you aint seen nothing yet." John grinned very evilly, adding to the blue-furred boy's curiosity. "One...two...three..."
Kurt yanked as hard as his nimble body would allow, and loud snap was heard, almost wet sounding. The arm slid out of the socket and into Kurt's arms, who stumbled backwards a few steps.
Kurt couldn't help but scream.
Twice in one day? What was I thinking coming here?
"Vow! That was cool!" Then Kurt's voice lowered. "Now ve have two extra arms and you only have one left."
John smiled and said, "You've only seen half the show." And the least painful part too...
Eyes clenched shut, John planted his feet securely on the ground. This wouldn't be the best time to fall over. Sweat quickly beaded on his forehead and formed under his one arm. He emitted a low grunt that seemed to last forever. Finally, the new arm burst forth, exactly the same as the previous arm, but once again covered in a light film of...fluid. John collapsed onto his knees, breathing heavily.
"Are you ok, man?" Kurt asked, crouching next to John, with an arm on his back.
"Yeah...I'll be...just fine...just tired...that's all...I haven't...done that in such close...intervals before..." His speech was soon interrupted by a flurry of coughing. John looked up at Kurt and smiled weakly. "No problem.."
"Didn't that hurt, mein freund?"
"Oh, just a little. I just felt the strain of it, since I don't think I've ever used my power more than once in the span of an hour. I'm just worn out." John looked at the two discarded arms laying on the ground behind them. "C'mon. Let's go bury those. I don't exactly want another reaction like yours or Kitty's any time soon..."
Kurt laughed and slapped him on the back, before helping John to his feet. The two young men made their way back over to the bush and buried the two arms.
"There. In a couple of hours, they'll turn into dust and it'll be like they never existed."
"Cool," was all Kurt could say.
"So Kurt, if you don't mind my asking, how uh, did you manage to uh, appear in front of me like that just a minute ago?"
Kurt's smile brightened his dark face. "Now you zee me...and now you don't!" And with that, he disappeared in a cloud of smoke. John looked all around before spotting Kurt a few feet away from him. "You like, ja?"
"Whoa...that's pretty sweet man." John sniffed the air. "Woooo man, what's that smell?" He shot an accusing look at Kurt.
Kurt stuck out his tongue at him. "Something that happens vhen I teleport."
"Oh. Well...I've only got one last question - anything to eat around here?"
The blue-furred mutant beamed with delight. "Now you're speaking my language!" Putting a three-fingered hand on John's shoulder, the two disappeared from sight.
**********
"Kurt, I don't care what anyone says, you Germans really know how to make your chocolate."
Laying sprawled out on a bed, Kurt and John stared up at the ceiling with satisfied stomachs and lazy grins on their faces. All around them lay a wasteland of candy wrappers.
"Ja," was all Kurt could manage to say.
"You know Kurt, we got a saying where I'm from and I think it applies real nicely here. We are officially fat, dumb, and happy."
Once again, all Kurt could manage to mutter was a "Ja."
John managed to turn his head to see a clock resting on a table next to the bed. It read 5:58.
"Hey Kurt...It's 6 o'clock. Time for dinner."
As if filled with a renewed vigor, Kurt sprung up off the bed, practically bouncing around like well, exactly what he was at the moment...a kid full of sweets.
"Come on, John! Let's go eat some more!" he said excitedly. "I'm still hungry!"
"Uh...but I don't know where the kitchen is. I barely remembered where my room was..."
"Who needs to walk when the fuzzy man's around?" Kurt bubbled. He reached down and grabbed John by the scruff of his shirt and in an instant, BAM, they were gone.
**********
The next thing John Jashback realized was that he was still laying on his back. The second thing that hit him was that he was no longer in Kurt's room. The third thing John noticed was the eerie silence.
Oh please God no...
Kurt pulled him onto his feet as they stood face-to-face with the other residents of the Institute seated at the dining room table. Everyone looked at the duo with a raised eyebrow and questioning look.
"Oh, hi everybody," Kurt started. "This is John. He's new here. Ve were just in my room talking when..." Kurt's voice quickly faltered and he hung his head in embarrassment. Had it been possible, Kurt would be blushing.
John envied Kurt at that moment - he could just teleport out of this situation.
Hell of a first impression I've made.
"Um...hi?"
He waved at the occupants of the room, from a beautiful redhead to an angry looking man to an African American boy with a funny haircut to a Goth girl with white streaks in her brown hair to Kitty sporting a red lump on her forehead to a very young boy about ready to fall over giggling to... There were so many people in the room, all staring at the two so that their faces seemed to blur together. John hung his head in embarrassment, wishing he were anywhere at that exact moment, except in the dining room of the Xavier Institute for Gifted Youngsters.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------