Touched

Chapter Two

Shawn's home back in Calbert was not shabby by any means but this place was amazing. It seemed to take half an hour just to get up the driveway. Orora said nothing during the trip and Shawn was grateful for it. She had proved with her little 'wind trick' that she was not normal. It was the first time Shawn had actually met another mutant let alone been exposed to its powers. It made him re-think this whole mutant thing. He couldn't do anything like that. Maybe he wasn't a mutant? Shawn wished that if he repeated that over and over in his head it might come true.

" Welcome to Xaviers School for Gifted Youngsters" Orora said as she climbed out of the car. Shawn followed wearily. He held his shoulder bag tightly almost like a security blanket.

" The Professor has a meeting this morning. He won't be able to see you until this afternoon." Orora gestured to the large front doors of the mansion. " Classes have already begun for the morning. How about I show you your room?"

Shawn nodded reluctantly as he dragged his unenthusiastic body up the stairs and into the wooden interior of the mansion. He felt like he was in a museum. He was surrounded by paintings and statues, all of which had a certain 'Don't Touch' quality about them. Orora guided Shawn an elevator that almost looked like part of the wall. Shawn stepped in and waited as the elevator glided smoothly to the next level of the house.

" You will have a room mate." Orora said. "He is new as well, just arrived yesterday."

The elevator came to a halt and the doors opened. Orora walked to the second door in the hallway and pulled it open. Shawn looked in and was surprised by the cosines of it. He wasn't exactly expecting stretcher beds and candles, but this was almost nicer than his bedroom at home.

" Unpack your things and get comfortable. You'll be able to join the other students for outdoor activities this afternoon." Orora stated. She bowed her head with a smile and closed the door behind her as she left.

Shawn let out a deep breath as he dumped his bag on the floor and collapsed on the neatly made bed.

"Ow" a voice yelped from underneath. " Watch it!"

Shawn gasped as he rolled off the bed and onto the floor. He looked around the room with his heart pounding hard in his chest. There was no one else there, he was sure of it. Was this something like what happened in his bedroom today? Was he going nuts?

Then the most amazing thing Shawn had ever seen happened. He watched with enlarged eyes as the bed he was just lying on began to change. It seemed to wobble like jelly until it was completely transparent. Then it burst and Shawn was showered in a rain of blue goo.

Shawn squirmed with disgust as he wiped the unknown substance from his face. He looked back to where the bed once sat and in its place was a boy who looked no older than Shawn. The boy had a mass of black hair that draped over his blue eyes like a curtain. He was dressed in jeans and a t-shirt and had the strangest grin on his face. Shawn grunted when he noticed that the boy did not have a drop of blue goo on him although he was obviously the source of it. Shawn on the other hand would be washing out of his clothes for week.

" You look like you're in shape and all but from experience, I'd suggest you loose a pound or two." The boy chuckled as he lay on his side, propping his head up with his hand.

" Who the hell are you?" Shawn snapped, unimpressed with this mutants introduction.

The boy leaped to his legs sprightly, almost frog-like. When he stood Shawn could see he was rather skinny and quite short.

" The name's Marco. But they call me Trick." The boy stated proudly as he jumped onto his own bed.

Shawn raised an eyebrow. " Why do they call you that?"

Marco laughed. " Well I just tricked you didn't I?'

Shawn moaned. " How long did it take you to think that one up?"

"Not original I admit" Marco sighed. " My friends starting calling me that years ago and the name just struck."

Shawn tried not to sound interested. " So is that you're power? You can change into bedroom furniture?"

Marco laughed sarcastically with a sour smirk. "I can morph into anything I want." He paused. " As long as it's an image."

"What?" Shawn asked.

Marco reached into his bedside cabinet and pulled out several magazines, dumping them on the floor. He opened one up and showed Shawn a picture of a bed, the same bed Shawn had thought was real.

" I just touch it and I morph." Marco said. Seeing that Shawn was far from convinced, Marco opened another magazine and grinned wickedly when he saw a picture of a half naked bikini model. "Don't get too excited" He chuckled. Marco lay his hand flat on the picture and in seconds his body turned into the blue goo that stained Shawn's shirt. Again the goo wobbled and jiggled before finally taking on solid form again. The solid form of the model from the magazine.

Shawn gasped.

Marco looked over his new body with a delighted smile. " So what do you think? Find me sexy?"

The whole thing was disturbing, especially since it was still Marco's squeaky voice coming from the sensuous models lips.

Marco laughed as he morphed back into the goo and then back into himself. "Pretty cool huh? Not a bad power at all."

"So you can only morph into pictures then. Magazines, photographs, books?"

Marco nodded. "It's not so bad. You can find just about anything in a magazine." Marco jumped back on his bed and looked over at Shawn. "So what do you do?"

Shawn shrugged. "Not that."

"Well, what then?"

Shawn stood up from the floor and looked around the room. "So where is my bed?"

"I hid it in the bedroom next door. I'll get it for you later. So any way, back to your power?"

"Maybe later. Right now I'm just trying to deal with the fact that I'm here."

"It's great here. Cool teachers, cool classes." Marco leaned forward with a devilish grin. "Hot girls."

Shawn was not interested. The last hot girl he knew ran a mile from him.

"Anyway. If you're not going to tell me your power at least tell me your handle." Marco persisted.

Again Shawn was confused.

Marco rolled his eyes. "Like your mutant name, like Trick. What's yours?"

"I don't have one. Haven't really thought about it. Plus it's not like I'm a super hero or anything. I don't need a name."

"Every one needs a name and they're cool. Like that hot chick that bought you up here, Orora. They call her Storm. She can like control the weather and stuff. Then there's another teacher who shoots this wicked laser thing out of his eyes. They call him Cyclops."

"Sounds kind of stupid if you ask me." Shawn scoffed. "It's a mutant thing."

Marco laughed. "Well sorry for breaking the news to you man, but if you're here, that means you're a mutant doesn't it?"

Shawn held his tongue as he unpacked his things.