There Must Be Some Kind of Way Out of Here
Chapter 17
Author's Notes: Stuff in italics are thoughts. I love you all. Especially Post, who went to the trouble to review every chapter.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything from X-Men: Evolution - Marvel and Kid's WB do. I do own my original character, John Jashback, but I don't really own him, meaning you could use him and all I could do is...nothing. Unless you live on my street, where I could well..still do nothing.
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John Jashback was sitting at the end of a large couch, staring at the glowing embers of a dying fire. He felt a stirring by his side. He looked down and saw a very female body snuggling close to him, her head nestled on his shoulder. He couldn't see her face. He bent his head down to see, but he couldn't. For some reason, he couldn't see her face. It wasn't a blur -- he just couldn't make out a face. And then suddenly, everything shifted. The woman disappeared, everything disappeared. John found himself sitting on a rock in a barren desert. A vulture called out in the distance, and the sun beat down brightly. John held his hand over his eyes so that he could actually see. A few feet away stood a figure John didn't recognize. And then the ground began to shake. The rock John was sitting on collapsed from beneath him. He stood up, and the ground all around began to break apart and rumble. The figure in front of him had it's arms outstretched, yelling wildly. Suddenly, light filled John's eyes, and the wind was swept out from below. Blackness over took, and he was falling...
**********
Beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep...
John jerked himself upright of bed and frantically looked around. He was back in his room at the Institute. He reached over and shut off the alarm clock.
I swear, if I ever meet the man who invented the digital alarm clock, I'll beat him over the head with my left arm.
He reached up to rub his eyes but...the arm wasn't there. Trying to use an arm that wasn't there...it seemed vaguely familiar...
"Oh right. Yesterday morning," he said laughing. Then his mind drifted back to the pants and the crowd... "I'll be damned if they'll get the jump on me again today."
His one hand balled in a fist, eyes clenched shut, and teeth gritted together, a new arm sprouted from the socket. As usual, it was covered in the same light film of...whatever it was. John made a mental note to ask the Professor or Mr. McCoy about it. Careful as to not get whatever it was on his arm on anything, John kicked off the blanket and stumbled out of his room. He saw no one else on the brief trek to the bathroom, but he smirked along the way, improvising a poem (or butchering a popular Christmas tale, you decide) in his head:
Twas early one morning
And all through the mansion
Not a mutant was stirring
Not even the...
Ok, so I can't come up with something rhymes with 'mansion.'
He approached the bathroom with caution, and luckily the door was open.
I'm taking no more chances when it comes to the bathroom.
Dipping his arm into the sink, he turned it on, letting the warm water cascade across the new appendage, while scooping a handful in his real arm and splashing it in his face. His face crumpled at the remembrance of his smell, but it would have to wait until after the training session. He lifted up his chin and looked at the bristles starting to form underneath.
Gonna have to find a razor somewhere by Monday...
John dried off his arm and went back to his room, where he changed into his uniform. Outside his room, he heard brief signs of life, which meant he wasn't all dressed for a party with nowhere to go. He left his room again and sat down next to his door, and waited for the #11 Danger Room to pull into station so he could hitch a ride.
Yeah, so I still don't know how to get there. It's only been a day and a half.
The same as the morning before, Scott came out his room, dressed in full uniform with that visor of his, and knocked on each door, to remind the others of the morning's events. He stopped at John and looked down, and if his eyes were visible to others, his eyebrows would have risen.
"What are you doing, John?"
"Waiting for someone to take me to the Danger Room. I uh, still don't know how to get there," he said sheepishly.
Scott grinned at him. "That's fine. Wouldn't want you getting lost and burning down more of the mansion would we?"
In a puff of smoke, Kurt was in the hallway with them. "John, how can you let Herr Summers zere punk on you again?"
John looked at the two for a moment, before a big goofy smile reached his eyes. "My arm falls off, so I think a little good-natured ribbing isn't that big a deal."
Kurt and Scott stared at one another for a moment before breaking into laughter. "I suppose you have a point there," Scott said. "Ja," Kurt added.
Shaking his head, Scott went off to wake the others. Kurt walked over to John and crouched down. "Valkings for losers. Ve take the express way!" His smile brightened his dark face. A three-fingered hand took hold of John's arm and...
Poof, they were outside the door that led into the Danger Room.
"Well...we're early," John said.
"Ja...and I'm hungry. Care for a leetle snack?"
"Sure, but where are you going to get..." Kurt disappeared. "Oh, right."
Kurt reappeared with some chocolate in his hand, and tossed a bar to John. The wrapper read: 'Schokoladenbraune Güte' which didn't mean anything to John, except that it was more of that great stuff they ate two days ago.
A door nearby slid open, and the brutish Hank McCoy walked into the room. He eyed the two mutants happily eating chocolate and remarked, "Enjoying an early breakfast, eh boys?"
"Mmhmm" John managed to get out between bites. Kurt didn't bother to say anything, he was too busy licking the wrapper clean.
"Oh hey, Mr. McCoy...er, Hank, can you answer a question?" John inquired.
"Sure. What is it?"
"Well..." he said, looking around to make sure no one else was around, "How does the laundry system work around here? Does someone do it for us, or do I do it myself? Only reason I ask, is uh, well, I didn't bring much with me, and I did burn a change yesterday, so I'm kind of the short end of the stick."
"You said 'question,' not 'questions'. But nonetheless, everyone does their own clothing," he replied.
"Ok, one last thing...where's the washing machine?"
Kurt smacked himself in the forehead. "Vat kind of question is zat?!"
John looked over at the German and shrugged his shoulders. "C'mon. You mean you didn't ask when you first got here?"
Kurt shook his head. "I didn't need to," he said, pressing a button on his watch. In an instant, the blue, furry, hunched over mutant was a normal looking teenage boy in normal clothing.
"Oh. Right. Like that's fair..." John said, rolling his eyes.
**********
The door to the Danger Room slid open, and John stepped in with the younger students. Various piles of twisted metal and debris scattered about marked the previous use of the facility by the older students. But that didn't matter - today's session was the obstacle course John had tried to run the day before. They lined up along the starting line, in a standard offensive position: Berserker, Iceman, and Magma took the forward line, behind them stood Sunspot, Jubilee, and Cannonball, and behind them stood Multiple, Wolfsbane, and John.
Hey, I got all their 'codenames' down. Of course, I don't have one yet...
"Ready back there, Lefty?" Iceman called from the front.
John rolled his eyes. "I really need a codename..." he muttered. Louder, he said, "Sure am."
"Let's do this!!" yelled Bobby, and a loud buzzer sounded.
Sentry guns of all shapes and sizes sprouted from the floor and walls. And all hell broke loose. Cannonball sprung himself forward, and flew straight through a gun. Ice and fire and lightning and...sparkly lights lanced out in all directions, reducing the guns to slag. As one, the mutants surged forward, dodging the giant spikes that rose upward like a whack-a-mole game. John couldn't do much except try not to get in anyone's way and not get hurt. The giant metal wall began to rise, but John cleared it quite easily. They dodged all giant spikes and destroyed anything that posed an immediate threat. All in all, the session ended relatively easy.
You know, maybe this won't be so hard after all...
The buzzer sounded and a voice came back over the intercom. "Good job, now lets do it again, people."
**********
John stepped out of the bathroom, uniform in one hand, a towel in the other, rubbing his wet hair. The shower had been refreshing, and rid him of the funk he'd been carrying in tow since the night before. In his room, he discarded the uniform onto the pile of clothes that needed washing, combed his hair, grabbed his backpack, and headed downstairs for breakfast. The dining room was empty, with the exception of Logan, reading the paper. He glanced up when John walked in, but said nothing.
Dear Lord, it's a buffet line.
And it very nearly was. The counter looked like a breakfast buffet line, with a little of almost everything imaginable. John's stomach began urgently screaming for sacrifices, so he grabbed a plate and loaded it down. Fork in hand, butt planted firmly in his seat, John Jashback prepared to eat.
This day hasn't been so bad. I didn't lose an arm, didn't lose my pants, didn't mess up in the Danger Room, I got food. Maybe today won't be so bad...
John was taking no chances today. He inhaled his food, cleaned his plate and went back into the mansion foyer. He sat down on the couch there and looked around for a moment and stretched himself out across the length of the sofa. Staring up at the ceiling, he strummed his fingers across his chest and thought to himself.
What kind of phrase is that? 'He thought to himself.' Is there any other way to think?
John rubbed his nose for a moment, before noticing the stupidity of that.
Of course there is, if you live in a house with two telepaths. How the hell am I supposed to think without them coming in and saying 'Peek-a-boo!'
He shook his head, relishing in how big of an idiot he could be, if he let his mind wander.
"Ahem," a voice said.
John arched his neck to see who was speaking - Rahne standing next to the sofa, hands on her hips. "Mind moving your feet?"
"Oh uh, sorry," he stammered as he moved his feet and sat up.
Never wise to upset a girl, especially one who turns into a wolf.
John thought about how ludicrous that sounded in his head.
Never wise to upset a girl, eh? I should learn follow my own advice.
She sat down at the other end and began rooting through her bag. John twitched his mouth for a moment and continued his ceiling-staring and thought-thinkin'.
Thought-thinkin'. That's a new one. I must be getting more stupid every day. Maybe it's another power I have. My left arm falls off, I have bad luck, and I'm getting ever closer to the threshold of utter idiocy by the day.
John shook his head. His mind could be a dangerous place, if he wallowed in the recesses of it long enough. He glanced over at a rather ornate clock sitting on the wall behind him that put the time at a few minutes till eight. He sighed.
"You know that Amara likes you, right?"
John swung his head around to face the girl sharing the couch with him. "Are you uh, talking to me?"
"She does like you," Rahne said, in that odd, squeaky, slightly-accented voice of hers.
"Er uh...thank you?" John replied, unsure of what else to say.
"Don't thank me. Go talk to her. Ask her out. You two would look cute together."
John gave her a confused look. "She didn't act like she liked me when we were in the Danger Room earlier."
"Trust me on this. I share a room with her. She won't stop talking about you."
John alternated from staring at Rahne to staring at the floor. His throat seemed very dry. "Er uh...why? I scared her to death and started a fire. Besides...she doesn't even know me. I don't even know her. Isn't it a little too soon to be going out with girls?"
John blinked hard for a moment.
If Rahne is telling the truth, why would Amara like me? My arm falls off, for God's sake. I didn't think that was the biggest turn on to girls...
"Don't tell her I told you, okay?" Rahne asked.
"Er uh...sure."
This sure is awkward. And from waaaay out in left field.
"LEFTY!!" a voice cried out.
John looked up, and there at the top of the stairs stood Jamie, waving and grinning like a fool. He started running down the stairs, but slipped about halfway down. As he hit each step sliding down, a copy of him formed, and fell down with him. By the time the young mutant reached the bottom, the room was much more crowded than before.
"Nice entrance there, Snowflake," John said grinning. Rahne was busy laughing.
Jamie frowned, all the Multiples fused back into one body. He stood up, brushed off his backside, and walked over to the couch, planting himself in between the other two mutants.
He poked John hard in the chest. "Where were you last night? You pinky sweared that we'd get to play some more."
John felt that sinking feeling in his stomach. He had Kitty on his mind after Jamie went back inside. "Well you see, when I uh, came in to get you, Mr. McCoy stopped me, and I got in trouble for skipping dinner."
"Ok...but we're gonna do stuff after school, okay? You owe me," the younger boy said.
John laughed. "No problem," he told him, ruffling Jamie's hair.
This kid's amazing. I can have so much stuff on my mind, like girls and being a mutant, be he just comes along without a care in the world, and cheers me up. God, to be young again...
Ororo walked into the room at that moment, keys in hand, and the remaining younger students sauntered in after her. The white-haired woman looked over at the three on the sofa. "Ready to go?"
They nodded and she headed outside. As John stood up and watched the other students walk out the door, he paid close attention to Amara, but she never once looked at him. John shrugged and grabbed his bag and headed out the door himself.
All in all, this day is turning out to be pretty good, aside from wierd dreams and Amara.
Little did he know how spicy things would be getting once he got to school...
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Yeah. "Spicy." Cheesy. I know.
Chapter 17
Author's Notes: Stuff in italics are thoughts. I love you all. Especially Post, who went to the trouble to review every chapter.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything from X-Men: Evolution - Marvel and Kid's WB do. I do own my original character, John Jashback, but I don't really own him, meaning you could use him and all I could do is...nothing. Unless you live on my street, where I could well..still do nothing.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
John Jashback was sitting at the end of a large couch, staring at the glowing embers of a dying fire. He felt a stirring by his side. He looked down and saw a very female body snuggling close to him, her head nestled on his shoulder. He couldn't see her face. He bent his head down to see, but he couldn't. For some reason, he couldn't see her face. It wasn't a blur -- he just couldn't make out a face. And then suddenly, everything shifted. The woman disappeared, everything disappeared. John found himself sitting on a rock in a barren desert. A vulture called out in the distance, and the sun beat down brightly. John held his hand over his eyes so that he could actually see. A few feet away stood a figure John didn't recognize. And then the ground began to shake. The rock John was sitting on collapsed from beneath him. He stood up, and the ground all around began to break apart and rumble. The figure in front of him had it's arms outstretched, yelling wildly. Suddenly, light filled John's eyes, and the wind was swept out from below. Blackness over took, and he was falling...
**********
Beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep...
John jerked himself upright of bed and frantically looked around. He was back in his room at the Institute. He reached over and shut off the alarm clock.
I swear, if I ever meet the man who invented the digital alarm clock, I'll beat him over the head with my left arm.
He reached up to rub his eyes but...the arm wasn't there. Trying to use an arm that wasn't there...it seemed vaguely familiar...
"Oh right. Yesterday morning," he said laughing. Then his mind drifted back to the pants and the crowd... "I'll be damned if they'll get the jump on me again today."
His one hand balled in a fist, eyes clenched shut, and teeth gritted together, a new arm sprouted from the socket. As usual, it was covered in the same light film of...whatever it was. John made a mental note to ask the Professor or Mr. McCoy about it. Careful as to not get whatever it was on his arm on anything, John kicked off the blanket and stumbled out of his room. He saw no one else on the brief trek to the bathroom, but he smirked along the way, improvising a poem (or butchering a popular Christmas tale, you decide) in his head:
Twas early one morning
And all through the mansion
Not a mutant was stirring
Not even the...
Ok, so I can't come up with something rhymes with 'mansion.'
He approached the bathroom with caution, and luckily the door was open.
I'm taking no more chances when it comes to the bathroom.
Dipping his arm into the sink, he turned it on, letting the warm water cascade across the new appendage, while scooping a handful in his real arm and splashing it in his face. His face crumpled at the remembrance of his smell, but it would have to wait until after the training session. He lifted up his chin and looked at the bristles starting to form underneath.
Gonna have to find a razor somewhere by Monday...
John dried off his arm and went back to his room, where he changed into his uniform. Outside his room, he heard brief signs of life, which meant he wasn't all dressed for a party with nowhere to go. He left his room again and sat down next to his door, and waited for the #11 Danger Room to pull into station so he could hitch a ride.
Yeah, so I still don't know how to get there. It's only been a day and a half.
The same as the morning before, Scott came out his room, dressed in full uniform with that visor of his, and knocked on each door, to remind the others of the morning's events. He stopped at John and looked down, and if his eyes were visible to others, his eyebrows would have risen.
"What are you doing, John?"
"Waiting for someone to take me to the Danger Room. I uh, still don't know how to get there," he said sheepishly.
Scott grinned at him. "That's fine. Wouldn't want you getting lost and burning down more of the mansion would we?"
In a puff of smoke, Kurt was in the hallway with them. "John, how can you let Herr Summers zere punk on you again?"
John looked at the two for a moment, before a big goofy smile reached his eyes. "My arm falls off, so I think a little good-natured ribbing isn't that big a deal."
Kurt and Scott stared at one another for a moment before breaking into laughter. "I suppose you have a point there," Scott said. "Ja," Kurt added.
Shaking his head, Scott went off to wake the others. Kurt walked over to John and crouched down. "Valkings for losers. Ve take the express way!" His smile brightened his dark face. A three-fingered hand took hold of John's arm and...
Poof, they were outside the door that led into the Danger Room.
"Well...we're early," John said.
"Ja...and I'm hungry. Care for a leetle snack?"
"Sure, but where are you going to get..." Kurt disappeared. "Oh, right."
Kurt reappeared with some chocolate in his hand, and tossed a bar to John. The wrapper read: 'Schokoladenbraune Güte' which didn't mean anything to John, except that it was more of that great stuff they ate two days ago.
A door nearby slid open, and the brutish Hank McCoy walked into the room. He eyed the two mutants happily eating chocolate and remarked, "Enjoying an early breakfast, eh boys?"
"Mmhmm" John managed to get out between bites. Kurt didn't bother to say anything, he was too busy licking the wrapper clean.
"Oh hey, Mr. McCoy...er, Hank, can you answer a question?" John inquired.
"Sure. What is it?"
"Well..." he said, looking around to make sure no one else was around, "How does the laundry system work around here? Does someone do it for us, or do I do it myself? Only reason I ask, is uh, well, I didn't bring much with me, and I did burn a change yesterday, so I'm kind of the short end of the stick."
"You said 'question,' not 'questions'. But nonetheless, everyone does their own clothing," he replied.
"Ok, one last thing...where's the washing machine?"
Kurt smacked himself in the forehead. "Vat kind of question is zat?!"
John looked over at the German and shrugged his shoulders. "C'mon. You mean you didn't ask when you first got here?"
Kurt shook his head. "I didn't need to," he said, pressing a button on his watch. In an instant, the blue, furry, hunched over mutant was a normal looking teenage boy in normal clothing.
"Oh. Right. Like that's fair..." John said, rolling his eyes.
**********
The door to the Danger Room slid open, and John stepped in with the younger students. Various piles of twisted metal and debris scattered about marked the previous use of the facility by the older students. But that didn't matter - today's session was the obstacle course John had tried to run the day before. They lined up along the starting line, in a standard offensive position: Berserker, Iceman, and Magma took the forward line, behind them stood Sunspot, Jubilee, and Cannonball, and behind them stood Multiple, Wolfsbane, and John.
Hey, I got all their 'codenames' down. Of course, I don't have one yet...
"Ready back there, Lefty?" Iceman called from the front.
John rolled his eyes. "I really need a codename..." he muttered. Louder, he said, "Sure am."
"Let's do this!!" yelled Bobby, and a loud buzzer sounded.
Sentry guns of all shapes and sizes sprouted from the floor and walls. And all hell broke loose. Cannonball sprung himself forward, and flew straight through a gun. Ice and fire and lightning and...sparkly lights lanced out in all directions, reducing the guns to slag. As one, the mutants surged forward, dodging the giant spikes that rose upward like a whack-a-mole game. John couldn't do much except try not to get in anyone's way and not get hurt. The giant metal wall began to rise, but John cleared it quite easily. They dodged all giant spikes and destroyed anything that posed an immediate threat. All in all, the session ended relatively easy.
You know, maybe this won't be so hard after all...
The buzzer sounded and a voice came back over the intercom. "Good job, now lets do it again, people."
**********
John stepped out of the bathroom, uniform in one hand, a towel in the other, rubbing his wet hair. The shower had been refreshing, and rid him of the funk he'd been carrying in tow since the night before. In his room, he discarded the uniform onto the pile of clothes that needed washing, combed his hair, grabbed his backpack, and headed downstairs for breakfast. The dining room was empty, with the exception of Logan, reading the paper. He glanced up when John walked in, but said nothing.
Dear Lord, it's a buffet line.
And it very nearly was. The counter looked like a breakfast buffet line, with a little of almost everything imaginable. John's stomach began urgently screaming for sacrifices, so he grabbed a plate and loaded it down. Fork in hand, butt planted firmly in his seat, John Jashback prepared to eat.
This day hasn't been so bad. I didn't lose an arm, didn't lose my pants, didn't mess up in the Danger Room, I got food. Maybe today won't be so bad...
John was taking no chances today. He inhaled his food, cleaned his plate and went back into the mansion foyer. He sat down on the couch there and looked around for a moment and stretched himself out across the length of the sofa. Staring up at the ceiling, he strummed his fingers across his chest and thought to himself.
What kind of phrase is that? 'He thought to himself.' Is there any other way to think?
John rubbed his nose for a moment, before noticing the stupidity of that.
Of course there is, if you live in a house with two telepaths. How the hell am I supposed to think without them coming in and saying 'Peek-a-boo!'
He shook his head, relishing in how big of an idiot he could be, if he let his mind wander.
"Ahem," a voice said.
John arched his neck to see who was speaking - Rahne standing next to the sofa, hands on her hips. "Mind moving your feet?"
"Oh uh, sorry," he stammered as he moved his feet and sat up.
Never wise to upset a girl, especially one who turns into a wolf.
John thought about how ludicrous that sounded in his head.
Never wise to upset a girl, eh? I should learn follow my own advice.
She sat down at the other end and began rooting through her bag. John twitched his mouth for a moment and continued his ceiling-staring and thought-thinkin'.
Thought-thinkin'. That's a new one. I must be getting more stupid every day. Maybe it's another power I have. My left arm falls off, I have bad luck, and I'm getting ever closer to the threshold of utter idiocy by the day.
John shook his head. His mind could be a dangerous place, if he wallowed in the recesses of it long enough. He glanced over at a rather ornate clock sitting on the wall behind him that put the time at a few minutes till eight. He sighed.
"You know that Amara likes you, right?"
John swung his head around to face the girl sharing the couch with him. "Are you uh, talking to me?"
"She does like you," Rahne said, in that odd, squeaky, slightly-accented voice of hers.
"Er uh...thank you?" John replied, unsure of what else to say.
"Don't thank me. Go talk to her. Ask her out. You two would look cute together."
John gave her a confused look. "She didn't act like she liked me when we were in the Danger Room earlier."
"Trust me on this. I share a room with her. She won't stop talking about you."
John alternated from staring at Rahne to staring at the floor. His throat seemed very dry. "Er uh...why? I scared her to death and started a fire. Besides...she doesn't even know me. I don't even know her. Isn't it a little too soon to be going out with girls?"
John blinked hard for a moment.
If Rahne is telling the truth, why would Amara like me? My arm falls off, for God's sake. I didn't think that was the biggest turn on to girls...
"Don't tell her I told you, okay?" Rahne asked.
"Er uh...sure."
This sure is awkward. And from waaaay out in left field.
"LEFTY!!" a voice cried out.
John looked up, and there at the top of the stairs stood Jamie, waving and grinning like a fool. He started running down the stairs, but slipped about halfway down. As he hit each step sliding down, a copy of him formed, and fell down with him. By the time the young mutant reached the bottom, the room was much more crowded than before.
"Nice entrance there, Snowflake," John said grinning. Rahne was busy laughing.
Jamie frowned, all the Multiples fused back into one body. He stood up, brushed off his backside, and walked over to the couch, planting himself in between the other two mutants.
He poked John hard in the chest. "Where were you last night? You pinky sweared that we'd get to play some more."
John felt that sinking feeling in his stomach. He had Kitty on his mind after Jamie went back inside. "Well you see, when I uh, came in to get you, Mr. McCoy stopped me, and I got in trouble for skipping dinner."
"Ok...but we're gonna do stuff after school, okay? You owe me," the younger boy said.
John laughed. "No problem," he told him, ruffling Jamie's hair.
This kid's amazing. I can have so much stuff on my mind, like girls and being a mutant, be he just comes along without a care in the world, and cheers me up. God, to be young again...
Ororo walked into the room at that moment, keys in hand, and the remaining younger students sauntered in after her. The white-haired woman looked over at the three on the sofa. "Ready to go?"
They nodded and she headed outside. As John stood up and watched the other students walk out the door, he paid close attention to Amara, but she never once looked at him. John shrugged and grabbed his bag and headed out the door himself.
All in all, this day is turning out to be pretty good, aside from wierd dreams and Amara.
Little did he know how spicy things would be getting once he got to school...
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Yeah. "Spicy." Cheesy. I know.