There Must Be Some Kind of Way Out of Here
Chapter 7
Author's Note: Stuff in italics are thoughts. Thanks for the reviews and stuff.
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the people or locations in this story, except John.
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A one-armed John Jashback stepped out into the hallway outside of his room with the platoon of Jamies. They all stood in a row, holding duplicates of John's separated arm as if they were rifles.
"Ok troops," he ordered. "Are we ready to commence with our mission?"
"Sir, yes sir!" They shouted in unison.
"Private Snowflake!" John called out to the Jamie at the front of the row.
"That's it! I'm not gonna be Snowflake anymore!" he shouted, and the Multiple fused with the one next to him.
John looked at the rest of the Multiples and asked, "So which one of you is the real Jamie?"
"Me!"
"No me!"
"I am, I am!"
"Ooh ooh, pick me! Pick me!"
John rubbed his temples.
I'm going to have a killer headache by the time we're done...
Someone poked their head out of a room. "WILL YOU KEEP IT DOWN OUT HERE?"
"Sorry Bobby," the Multiples said in unison.
"Ok guys. Just toss the arms you're carrying in my room. If we keep this soldier routine up, I think we'll make some more people angry, and I don't want to wear out my welcome on my first day."
Four identical voices from four identical Multiples cried out in protest but finally complied.
"Can you guys show me around the mansion now?" John asked, after depositing a pile of left arms under his bed.
The four Multiples led John down to the end of the hallway and began their tour, pointing out a door and it's occupants. The first door belonged to Scott, the second to Jean, Kitty and Rogue shared the third, with Kurt and Evan in the fourth room. The next room was the bathroom, and the next belonging to Bobby and Ray. Then came John's room, Rahne and Amara's room, and then the room Jamie shared with Roberto. One of the Multiples made sure that he poked his head into each of the rooms to make a face at the people inside, despite the cries of shock/terror/protest/anger from those within. Many threats to Jamie's life were made during that part of the tour.
John laughed and said, "Jamie, you're going to get Jamie in a lot of trouble."
The other stared around dumbfounded for a moment, before finally getting the bad pun and laughing. The real Jamie, or so John guessed, scolded his Multiple, who stopped harassing the other students, and the other Multiples fused together leaving the original Jamie as the only Jamie. The next room belonged to Jubilee and Sam, and the room at the very end of the hallway was another bathroom and an empty room. Here, the hallway went in two directions. To the left led to the Professor's study. The other way led to the rooms of the instructors, Logan, Ororo, and Mr. McCoy, and a few extra rooms. Eventually, Jamie showed John the remainder of the mansion and outside. John's ears perked to attention upon mentioning of the Danger Room.
"Uh...The Danger Room?" he asked.
"Yeah! It's really cool! It's where we go all our training. It's got laser beams and robots and all this cool stuff!"
John gulped. "And when do we, uh, get to go in there?"
"Tomorrow morning, before school."
"Boy, I can hardly wait..."
All in all, the mansion was a nice piece of work. Plenty of rooms, a pool, a tennis court, a large garden, a magnificent view of the sea, and so much expensive things, it wasn't even funny.
"Where the heck does the money to pay for all this come from?" John asked.
"I dunno. The Professor is a real rich guy."
"Well, where does he get all his money from?"
"You know...I never thought about that. I bet Scott knows, since he's been here the longest."
John made a mental note to get that question answered.
Jamie yawned and looked at the watch on his wrist. "It's getting kind of late. I think I'm gonna go to bed now."
"Me too," John said. "I could use some sleep after this eventful day..."
"Hey John?"
"Yeah?"
"Thanks."
"For what?"
"I dunno. For spending time with me. Since I'm the youngest here, I get picked on and teased and I never get to do anything fun."
John ruffled the young boy's hair. "No problem, buddy. Thanks for being so nice to a complete stranger."
Jamie laughed at him. "I still can't believe how you and Kurt popped up in the dining room..."
"Yeah, yeah. I don't see the big deal. It wasn't even six yet..."
That only made Jamie laugh louder.
"Hey Jamie? Can you uh, help me back to my room? I kinda forgot where it is..."
**********
John lay back in his bed, his head resting on his one arm. He grudgingly set his clock for ten minutes till six, not yet set to the vigorous schedule that the Institute ran on. Training, then school, and back for more training. The one-armed mutant whistled softly and mused over the day's events (again). Made a girl faint, made the same girl knock herself unconscious, and grossed out the same girl again later. Scared himself stupid after being crept up on by another students. Gorged himself on chocolates before making an embarrassing dinner entrance, followed by fainting, letting his hormones get the better of him while around a telepath, offending another girl, apologizing to the two girls, and forming a military unit comprised of himself and a 12-year old who could multiply, armed with John's left arm.
And I only thought people in the movies got themselves in these situations.
Exhaustion finally set in, and John slowly drifted off to sleep, officially ending his first day at the Xavier Institute for Gifted Youngsters.
**********
Beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep...
The annoying beeping of the alarm clock drove John Jashback out the peaceful slumber he had been enjoying up until that moment. He reached over to shut it off, but had no luck. The arm his body was trying to use wasn't there. John sighed and sat up, turning off that infernal noise maker with his right arm. He stumbled out of his room and into the bathroom two doors down. He splashed cold water in his face, and looked at himself in the mirror. His bleary eyes were bloodshot, his hair in a twisted mess, not to mention he only had one arm.
God, I look like hell.
He glanced over at the door and groaned.
It'd just be my luck that someone will walk in right now. And watch it be Kitty...
Seconds later, the door swung wide open and someone walked in.
"C'mon John, get suited up for your first Danger Room training session."
Scott wore a weird jumpsuit like the one John had, but his cool sunglasses were replaced with a visor.
"Whoa man. Where's your arm?!?" Scott blurted.
"Huh? Oh that. I'll get a new arm later," John said sleepily.
"Uh. Yeah, you do that. I'll go wake those who thought they could sleep through a session," Scott replied before walking off down the hallway.
The young mutant made his way back to his room and awkwardly pulled off his shirt and slid out of his pants. And now John Jashback faced his first true test as an X-Man - getting into his uniform with only one arm... ... ... ... Alright, so it wasn't that big of a test. John could have easily regenerated his arm, but it was far too early, and he far too tired. He grabbed the shirt and eased his head up and into it. He slid his one arm into the one sleeve and looked down at it contently. That was the easy part. John stuck a leg in the pants and prepared to stick in his other leg when he heard a knock on his door.
"Uh..uh...uh...just a minute!" he said frantically.
John stuck in his other leg and quickly tried to yank up the pants with his one arm. The knocking continued.
"Uh... Hold on! I'll be out in a second!"
He began pulling the pants up by the waist when the knocking started back up.
"I said hold on! I'll be out in a...whoaaaa!" John's feet tripped over the sagging pant legs and he lost his balance. He lay sprawled out in the floor, shirt on, one arm gone, and pants around his ankles, a look of absolute despair on his face.
This day is just going to be great. I can tell already.
He groaned wearily and slowly turned his head to face the door. "You can come in now."
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Chapter 7
Author's Note: Stuff in italics are thoughts. Thanks for the reviews and stuff.
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the people or locations in this story, except John.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A one-armed John Jashback stepped out into the hallway outside of his room with the platoon of Jamies. They all stood in a row, holding duplicates of John's separated arm as if they were rifles.
"Ok troops," he ordered. "Are we ready to commence with our mission?"
"Sir, yes sir!" They shouted in unison.
"Private Snowflake!" John called out to the Jamie at the front of the row.
"That's it! I'm not gonna be Snowflake anymore!" he shouted, and the Multiple fused with the one next to him.
John looked at the rest of the Multiples and asked, "So which one of you is the real Jamie?"
"Me!"
"No me!"
"I am, I am!"
"Ooh ooh, pick me! Pick me!"
John rubbed his temples.
I'm going to have a killer headache by the time we're done...
Someone poked their head out of a room. "WILL YOU KEEP IT DOWN OUT HERE?"
"Sorry Bobby," the Multiples said in unison.
"Ok guys. Just toss the arms you're carrying in my room. If we keep this soldier routine up, I think we'll make some more people angry, and I don't want to wear out my welcome on my first day."
Four identical voices from four identical Multiples cried out in protest but finally complied.
"Can you guys show me around the mansion now?" John asked, after depositing a pile of left arms under his bed.
The four Multiples led John down to the end of the hallway and began their tour, pointing out a door and it's occupants. The first door belonged to Scott, the second to Jean, Kitty and Rogue shared the third, with Kurt and Evan in the fourth room. The next room was the bathroom, and the next belonging to Bobby and Ray. Then came John's room, Rahne and Amara's room, and then the room Jamie shared with Roberto. One of the Multiples made sure that he poked his head into each of the rooms to make a face at the people inside, despite the cries of shock/terror/protest/anger from those within. Many threats to Jamie's life were made during that part of the tour.
John laughed and said, "Jamie, you're going to get Jamie in a lot of trouble."
The other stared around dumbfounded for a moment, before finally getting the bad pun and laughing. The real Jamie, or so John guessed, scolded his Multiple, who stopped harassing the other students, and the other Multiples fused together leaving the original Jamie as the only Jamie. The next room belonged to Jubilee and Sam, and the room at the very end of the hallway was another bathroom and an empty room. Here, the hallway went in two directions. To the left led to the Professor's study. The other way led to the rooms of the instructors, Logan, Ororo, and Mr. McCoy, and a few extra rooms. Eventually, Jamie showed John the remainder of the mansion and outside. John's ears perked to attention upon mentioning of the Danger Room.
"Uh...The Danger Room?" he asked.
"Yeah! It's really cool! It's where we go all our training. It's got laser beams and robots and all this cool stuff!"
John gulped. "And when do we, uh, get to go in there?"
"Tomorrow morning, before school."
"Boy, I can hardly wait..."
All in all, the mansion was a nice piece of work. Plenty of rooms, a pool, a tennis court, a large garden, a magnificent view of the sea, and so much expensive things, it wasn't even funny.
"Where the heck does the money to pay for all this come from?" John asked.
"I dunno. The Professor is a real rich guy."
"Well, where does he get all his money from?"
"You know...I never thought about that. I bet Scott knows, since he's been here the longest."
John made a mental note to get that question answered.
Jamie yawned and looked at the watch on his wrist. "It's getting kind of late. I think I'm gonna go to bed now."
"Me too," John said. "I could use some sleep after this eventful day..."
"Hey John?"
"Yeah?"
"Thanks."
"For what?"
"I dunno. For spending time with me. Since I'm the youngest here, I get picked on and teased and I never get to do anything fun."
John ruffled the young boy's hair. "No problem, buddy. Thanks for being so nice to a complete stranger."
Jamie laughed at him. "I still can't believe how you and Kurt popped up in the dining room..."
"Yeah, yeah. I don't see the big deal. It wasn't even six yet..."
That only made Jamie laugh louder.
"Hey Jamie? Can you uh, help me back to my room? I kinda forgot where it is..."
**********
John lay back in his bed, his head resting on his one arm. He grudgingly set his clock for ten minutes till six, not yet set to the vigorous schedule that the Institute ran on. Training, then school, and back for more training. The one-armed mutant whistled softly and mused over the day's events (again). Made a girl faint, made the same girl knock herself unconscious, and grossed out the same girl again later. Scared himself stupid after being crept up on by another students. Gorged himself on chocolates before making an embarrassing dinner entrance, followed by fainting, letting his hormones get the better of him while around a telepath, offending another girl, apologizing to the two girls, and forming a military unit comprised of himself and a 12-year old who could multiply, armed with John's left arm.
And I only thought people in the movies got themselves in these situations.
Exhaustion finally set in, and John slowly drifted off to sleep, officially ending his first day at the Xavier Institute for Gifted Youngsters.
**********
Beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep...
The annoying beeping of the alarm clock drove John Jashback out the peaceful slumber he had been enjoying up until that moment. He reached over to shut it off, but had no luck. The arm his body was trying to use wasn't there. John sighed and sat up, turning off that infernal noise maker with his right arm. He stumbled out of his room and into the bathroom two doors down. He splashed cold water in his face, and looked at himself in the mirror. His bleary eyes were bloodshot, his hair in a twisted mess, not to mention he only had one arm.
God, I look like hell.
He glanced over at the door and groaned.
It'd just be my luck that someone will walk in right now. And watch it be Kitty...
Seconds later, the door swung wide open and someone walked in.
"C'mon John, get suited up for your first Danger Room training session."
Scott wore a weird jumpsuit like the one John had, but his cool sunglasses were replaced with a visor.
"Whoa man. Where's your arm?!?" Scott blurted.
"Huh? Oh that. I'll get a new arm later," John said sleepily.
"Uh. Yeah, you do that. I'll go wake those who thought they could sleep through a session," Scott replied before walking off down the hallway.
The young mutant made his way back to his room and awkwardly pulled off his shirt and slid out of his pants. And now John Jashback faced his first true test as an X-Man - getting into his uniform with only one arm... ... ... ... Alright, so it wasn't that big of a test. John could have easily regenerated his arm, but it was far too early, and he far too tired. He grabbed the shirt and eased his head up and into it. He slid his one arm into the one sleeve and looked down at it contently. That was the easy part. John stuck a leg in the pants and prepared to stick in his other leg when he heard a knock on his door.
"Uh..uh...uh...just a minute!" he said frantically.
John stuck in his other leg and quickly tried to yank up the pants with his one arm. The knocking continued.
"Uh... Hold on! I'll be out in a second!"
He began pulling the pants up by the waist when the knocking started back up.
"I said hold on! I'll be out in a...whoaaaa!" John's feet tripped over the sagging pant legs and he lost his balance. He lay sprawled out in the floor, shirt on, one arm gone, and pants around his ankles, a look of absolute despair on his face.
This day is just going to be great. I can tell already.
He groaned wearily and slowly turned his head to face the door. "You can come in now."
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