Chapter Three
Completeness: Chapter 1-3 with more on the way.
Disclaimer: I don't own X-Men: Evolution, but I enjoy the toon immensely. But, one thing is for sure, is that I created and own Scythe and Scorpio. The song "Are You Happy Now?" is sung by and belongs rightfully to Michelle Branch. This is off of her sophomore album, Hotel Paper.
Please Note: I don't know why apostrophizes come up funny when I uploaded this file. Since I have no clue on how to fix it, please just bare with me and try to do the best you can to figure what those words are.
X-Men: Evolution "Cutting Edge"
Last Chapter: Meanwhile, in the living room, Darrien still stood frozen in shock and stared at the lamp until he zoned out. His mind faded into deep thoughts of great alarm and concern. In the background, he could hear the buzzing of the electricity echoing about in his mind. What to make of this? He was not quite sure of yet.
Now
Don't just walk away
Pretending everything's okay
And you don't care about me
And I
Know it's just no use
When all your lies become your truths
And I
Don't care, Yeah yeah yeah
As Jake Clarkson paced back and forth in his room, he took deep, shaky breathes of air to try to help himself calm down of this raging pain inside him. Years of frustration towards his father for not caring about him after he became a teenager. Time after time of pretending to care by asking questions about how he was doing in school, never about him soully. Jake was no idiot. He knew when Darrien was lying, allowing the man's cold, indifferent mask to show its rare cracks of emotions. For example, how he had reacted to the infamous scene in the living room, that horrified expression that Jake had feared. Yet, it was how he expected the man to react in the first place.
Could you look me in the eye
And tell me that you're happy now (oooh)
Would you tell it to my face
And have a little grace
Are you happy now?
Are you happy now?
That expression told all Jake needed to know on what his father now thought of him. He was a freak, a mutant now. The specially gifted people were shunned and considered outcasts to be feared or destroyed. But, at times, Jake couldn't always assume what his father thought about him or about anything else in life. Why didn't he say anything after the accident with the lamp? Where were his witty remarks to make everything feel okay and comical? Darrien's sarcasm made life a little more bearable for Jake to be around him. Did he fear his son that much now? Wait, normally the man wasn't afraid of anything. At least he didn't show it. Recalling what he had read in the papers and heard on the news, normal people had a really negative reaction towards all mutants. Even the ones that were family and dear friends. As soon as a mutant made that hormonal change, they were looked at as if they were some monster. If his father felt that way about him now, then why couldn't the fucker admit it for cris's sake! Why was it such a problem for Darrien to say something to his face, when Jake knew he wanted to do so? But, alas, the man kept his pride by keeping his most of his opinions bottled up in order to control some of his anger at the world. Why was that?
To crawl there was to take
And left me with the empty plate
And you don't care about it
And I
Am giving up this guilt
And leaving you with all the blame
Cuz I don't care
Jake had figured out a long ago of the prime source for his dad's coldness, his late mother. She had died shortly after giving birth to him. Jake had no memories of her whatsoever. His father never talked about her. Not even when he had asked about her when he was little. It was utterly useless to pump information from the man. Ever since his mother's funeral, Darrien had never been the same. As he raised and watch his son grow up into a young man, he became sullen and dark. Becoming the man that Jake knew now. Darrien still was deeply scared, wounds that would never heal or be forgotten.
Sometimes Jake found himself blaming himself for being the cause of his mother's death. Even though he knew it wasn't entirely his fault, he still couldn't stop feeling bad about it. Oh, how he wished that he had the chance to get to know her better before she met her untimely end. These depressing memories made Jake's body and mind feel heavy and weary. Feeling like he couldn't stand on his own two feet any longer, he walked over to his nearby closet door and leaned his back against it.
He slid down to the floor until he was in a sitting position with his legs stretched straight out before him. Jake could feel his vision blurring, tears were forming under his eyes. He reached a hand up to brush his hair back, then tilting his head back to prevent the tears from falling. Jake Clarkson was not going to cry, not now. He had to be strong in order to get himself through this. Desperately wanting to give up this guilt trip that he kept revisiting, Jake just wanted to dump and leave his father with all the blame to grief. Plus, not care about, but he knew that wasn't fair.
The other arm that was resting partially on the floor was starting to feel num again. Slowly closing his eyes and making a slight groan of frustration, Jake dared to move his gaze downwards at it. Staring at the gleaming blade, he felt num. No feelings of curiosity nor frustration towards the cursed blade that was his left arm. He was way beyond those feelings. Devoid of that, all Jake could manage was to stare at it unseeingly.
Could you look me in the eye
And tell me that you're happy now (oooh)
Would you tell it to my face
And have a little grace
Are you happy now?
Are you happy now?
Like son, like father, Darrien was pacing back and forth in his room/office deeply worried about his son and how to make it up to him. Jake was a mutant now, could that bring disastrous events against his son's life as it had did his? Speaking of life threatening events, reminded him of hearings in court about mutants that he used to go to when Jake was little and he was still in his twenties.
When hate articles in the newspaper were more popular to the readers, Darrien would pick up the newspaper to find front page news about debates being held in courts all over New York. The paper was inviting some people to come watch and support the case that the politics and mutants were presenting. Amazingly enough, mutants were invited to the party. Intrigued about what these people had to say, Darrien decided to go for the heck of it.
Being an only father, he put his aunt, a close cousin, and his older sister to baby sit young Jake. Not wanting to draw attention to himself at the hearing, Darrien decided to wear a dark brown trench coat, black sunglasses, and an old fashion gray-black hat to hide under. After taking a couple of express trains to get there, he would arrive just in time to follow the back of the crowd into the building.
Once the court room had filled up with mutants and people, Darrien made for a seat in the way back, the row closest to the door. Just in case if needed to make a quick getaway or leave early. The mutants who were presenting their side of the case today introduced themselves as: Charles Xavier, Ororo Monroe, and Hank McCoy. (A/N: I know that Hank wasn't a mutant at the time, but I'll just say that he's a mutant supporter for the time being.) For the norms: Senator Kelly and William Stryker. The case today was about whether mutant registration was necessary. (A/N: This is before Kelly was principle of Bayville High.)
As he listened to their heated debate, they brought in witnesses of mutant sightings and confidential files on residential mutants. When the court officers brought the material up to the judge, Darrien noticed a strange man glaring at him suspiciously off and on. The man had messy, slightly spiked black hair just above a rugged face with some obvious stubble. He had a muscular body, covered in a simple grey shirt and dark blue jeans with a black leather jacket. The mysterious man looked older then Darrien, somewhere in his forties perhaps.
During a lunch break during the hearing, Darrien and some other people stayed behind to wait for the session to start again or to discuss matters. Including that strange man, who was now talking privately with that Xavier guy and his crew. Pretending to be asleep, Darrien slumped into a relaxed position in his chair and tilted his head and hat forward to pull off the act. But, he kept the rim of his hat at eye level, so that he could spy on the group. He noticed that the man was making hand gestures towards his direction, so they were talking about him.
Sadly, Darrien couldn't hear a thing that they were talking about. But, he did hear Xavier's small outburst at the man that he called Logan. Logan, huh? Funny name. They continued on in hushed voices until break was over, luckily for him, the mutants never approached him. He stuck around for the rest of the mutant presented side of the case, but he decided to leave early. There was no joy in it for him to have to hear what the norms complained about. Besides, as Darrien got up to leave during the next break before the norm case, he'd be reading it in tomorrow's paper. Plus, just in case those other mutants wanted to talk to him afterwards.
The next day, sure enough, when Darrien read the paper, the article read the mutant side had lost. But, there was another case to be had on that subject later in the future. Today, there was another hearing. This time it was about if mutants were dangerous and if people needed to take precautions to the utmost tight security. Sounded more like total alienation towards mutants today. Leaving home with his babysitters to do the work, Darrien left to go sit in his favorite back row seat in the court room.
After the room had filled, the judge soon appeared and announced that this would be a two day, two part hearing. Darrien prepared himself for the long haul, as he listened to the norms case. They got to go first since the mutants went first last case. The man called Logan and his pal Xavier were staring and gesticulating in his direction like yesterday. At one point of Senator Kelly's speech, Darrien started to fall asleep. But, he didn't get to sleep for long.
As his mind was beginning to mist over with sleep, he could hear a strange voice echoing in his mind, asking him odd questions. The voice sounded like Xavier's, which it was when Darrien had startled from his brief nap. Once he was conscious and alert again, the mind-reader returned his attention back to the case. Wary of the man, Darrien made a note to himself to leave early again.
By the end of it and as people filed out, he was so drowsy from boredom that he got caught in the traffic jam of people. Not wanting to have that Xavier guy reach out to his mind again with his wacky mind tricks, Darrien made a quick curvy path past people to get as soon as possible to the door. With luck on his side, he was ahead of the older man and already out the door.
Darrien continued to show up for the rest of the hearings that month. Plus leaving early to avoid contact with his pursuers. With every hearing, the words got harsher and more hateful toward mutants. This was a losing battle for mutant kind. People just weren't ready to accept the peace offering that Xavier was offering to them. Their stinging words almost made him feel guilty for being one and what he did with his gift in his free time. Not that he used them to commit crimes like this radical group called the Brotherhood did.
Darrien could still hear those cruel words in his mind and in the world about him today. It truly angered him the way people would discriminate their kind. Sometimes treating them as if they were some lower life form. When mutants were forced to have mutant licenses, it made it even harder to get jobs, a home, and many other things. Gosh, how he hated to own one and feel so out there when he only wanted to be left alone and in peace. Fuck! Darrien even had enough money to buy a bigger home, an actual house. But, most mutants in this area were only allowed apartments.
This poor living wasn't for Jake. He could tell by the way his son was being torn up inside or depressed that he couldn't go places like his friends. Darrien wished that he could improve this life for him, but he couldn't. In his bank account, he wasn't allowed to even touch a third of the money in there. Memories suddenly came flooding back in his mind. The time his parents threw him out of the house to only be defended and helped by the relatives who helped him take care of Jake when he was little. He was grateful for any help he could get or be offered. His aunt, cousin, and older sister had been his life lines many times in the past. As Jake got older, there came the more disappointed looks of longing to be free and happy.
Those feelings of abandonment of family, friends, and looks, made Darrien feel regret, guilt, and torn up inside. Even after all these years, the memories still hurt. Oh, how it was so hard to forgive and forget. Great, now his mind felt a horrid mess and his heart heavy. Darrien didn't need this now, not now. He needed to go help Jake. As the anger rose within from years of pain and frustration, he swung his arm out and knocked over a desk lamp, causing it to topple to the floor at his feet. Writhing in anger, fists clenched, and breathing heavily, Darrien stared down at its broken side. Then, he closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and bent over to pick it back up.
As he was kneeling down to do so, Darrien suddenly felt a fiery pain shoot through his side. Grimacing in pain, he stood back up. He'd have to forget about the lamp for now. Placing a hand over his burning side, he carefully made his way over to a nearby mirror hanging on the bedroom wall. The mirror was nearly as tall as he was, except the view cut off his feet at a certain distance. Standing before it, Darrien lifted his shirt up enough to see the damage.
On the left side of his body, across the rib cage to his hip, were five long burnt black streaks with open cuts that weren't bleeding. The streaks were the same width as a person's fingers. Darrien cursed silently at Sirius Venin for letting his acid and venom leak out into his claws to swipe at his side. Also, at himself for not being quick enough to move out of harm's way. Sirius's claws jammed into his side, swiping through the skin and burning it with the deadly organic chemicals. Darrien fell to the floor in pain as the venom entered his body, weakening him. All his opponent had to do was deliver a swift kick to his head and it would be all over. But, the strange thing is, the kick never came.
When he had managed to look up, Sirius was announcing that the match was over. There had been some booing, but Venin didn't care. He held his hand out to help Darrien up. The wounded mutant took it, thanked him, and then left to go get cleaned up. When he left Slash Jay's that night, he couldn't figure out why his rival would do such a thing as let him leave the ring conscious. Normally they were competing to punch each others' lights out. Why was this time any different? Maybe, Venin realized that he shouldn't kill a single father to leave his child parentless?
Believe me, these two have tried many times to kill each other in the past. Ever since high school to be exact, but whose counting? In their previous attempts, they hadn't been able to beat each other because they weren't strong enough at the time and didn't have their powers either. Not that their powers made a huge difference these days. Both were perfectly capable of giving the other some few good cuts and bruises.
Reflecting upon Sirius's miraculous act of kindness, Darrien decided to cut the man some slack during their next match. Oh yeah, there was always a next time. Jake had asked once, when he was twelve, of why they never learned to get over their past. Darrien just shook his head, and told the boy he didn't know. Shaking his head and softly chuckling to himself, he turned his attention back to his wounds.
Earlier, he couldn't heal them because his healing powers were still working on trying to ride his systems of venom, which normally took a long time. But, his body did allow the bleeding to stop within matter of minutes after the match. Sadly, it didn't num the pain that the wound caused him. Like, when he had been fighting with Jake in the living room, Darrien struggled to stay calm and keep his words to a minimal, so that the scars wouldn't hurt. But, as soon as Jake had started yelling and swearing, that got him on his feet.
No sooner had he did, his cool façade started to form cracks. Desperately trying to keep it together by making his body stiff, but then lost it when Jake sliced the lamp in half. As soon as his son stared at him, was the moment that his scars decided to flare up with immense pain. In which causing him to grimace in pain, while causing his son enough pain to run to the safety of his room. 'Oh gosh.,' Darrien thought sadly, he hadn't meant to do that. He never meant to hurt Jake in such a way, never. He quietly berated himself for such an action.
Darrien tossed the memory aside lamely to deal with later, first things first. He evened out his breaths, and closed his eyes, then went to work on focusing on his scars and burnt flesh. As he rhythmically inhaled and exhaled, the black flesh slowly faded back to its natural tone like a shadow fading as the sun was rising to the sky in the morning. The scars sealed themselves up like a zipper being zipped up on a jacket. Then, all there was left was five long scratch marks in their place. In a matter of seconds, those marks, like everything else, faded to smooth skin over a muscular body.
Darrien opened his eyes and looked in the mirror, then gave a sigh of relief at the sight of smooth, healed skin. Man, did it sure pay off to have self-healing powers. Remembering about Jake's ordeal suddenly came washing back over his mind, not letting him relax for long. Once again, his mind became a mess trying to figure out what to tell his son and how to comfort him. Darrien just couldn't decide if it was a better idea to tell him that he was a mutant, or not. Why did he have to hide so much from his own son? Would it make a big difference in their life if he did admit to it? Not wanting to start pacing back and forth again, Darrien went to sit on the side of his bed. He decided to sit and not lay down, because if he lay down he'd fall asleep. Now was the perfect time to think things through, no more putting it off.
Are you happy now?
Are you happy now?
Are you happy now?
Yeah, yeah
Do you really have everything you want?
You could never give something you regret
You could run away from yourself
Yeah
While Darrien had been debating with his subconscious, Jake had been doing some major thinking and reflecting of his own. Already aware that his so- called father never really cared for him in so long and self blame to himself, he didn't feel the need to go into another rage. (A/N: Jake's arm is back to normal now, he managed to transform it back while his dad was remembering the mutant hearings.)
Jake figured that if he ever wanted to be happy and live happily like he always imagined he would, he would have to get out of this place. The good memories had long expired like a sale date on a package of food. All these thoughts pointed to one thing: running away from home. But, where to run to? The cities and areas around him were infested with anti-mutants! None of them would want to accept a mutant like him, if someone were to find out.
Shifting his gaze from the opposite end of his bed, Jake looked about his room for any papers that could help him get started in a direction. His searching eyes came upon a stack of newspapers under his bedroom window. But, what truly caught his fancy was that the headline included the word "mutants." Scooting off the side of his bed and out of his slumped position, Jake made his way over to the little collection and brought some back to read in bed.
Scattering the articles about mutants all over his bed, then tossed the other shit on the floor. Jake skimmed through the hateful words and sightings of mutants, only chiefly looking for mentioned locations. It didn't take long for him to find what he was looking for. Jake soon found some old and new news on a group of mutants from Bayville. He recognized some of their faces from seeing them on the news. Jake read the captions with great interest.
"Kitty Pride, a sophomore at Bayville High School, can walk through walls."
"Jean Grey, a senior at Bayville High and captain of the girl's soccer team, can move objects with her mind."
"Kurt Wagner, a junior at Bayville High, has the gift to teleport and turn into this blue, fuzzy elf monster."
"Professor Charles Xavier says that his institute for the gifted is only intended to provide a home for mutants and to help control their powers." Reading that, Jake started to look for more information about this institute. Halfway through the article, he found that Xavier's Institute for the Specially Gifted was in West Chester, not far from Bayville. Finding no need to read the other articles, Jake got up to start packing for his lone, long trip to Bayville.
Snatching his backup up off the floor, Jake unzipped all the zippers, and then proceeded to turn it upside down and shake out its contents. Once it was emptied out with school supplies on the floor, he walked quickly over to his closet and went rifling through his clothes. Keeping in mind that it would only take a couple of hours walk to Bayville, Jake decided to pack light with the sets of clothes and money he picked out. He made sure to bring a map, i.d. cards, and a disguise.
Jake's disguise comprised of: dark sunglasses, a black trench coat, bandana, and a black baseball cap. Most of the audsomble were gifts from relatives, since he couldn't afford most of this stuff half the time. The disguise was for just in case if there was an emergency. If he accidentally revealed himself in public, Jake could easily change into this and make himself scare until the trouble blew over.
He stuffed everything in except for the trench coat and baseball cap. Jake did a quick inventory in his mind, making sure that he didn't forget anything. Suddenly feeling a cool breeze against his body, reminded Jake to keep all weather conditions in mind. Although it had been clear skies and sunny days, you never could tell on the outskirts of Metropolis. But, the weather was the least of his problems.
Jake slipped on the trench coat and cap, then picked up the map and put it in his inside chest pocket. For now, he didn't really need the map because he was already familiar with the streets and buildings of Metropolis. Going there every other day to work, gave Jake time to wander the streets during his breaks. Speaking of his job.no time to worry about that now! First things first: make his way across Metropolis to Bayville, than worry about getting fired.
Before Jake picked up his backpack to leave, he looked around his room one last time before take off. Not letting the bad memories get to him again, he sighed and slung his pack over his shoulders. Forcing those memories onto the back burners of his mind would help to keep them at bay from tearing away at his already fragile conscious.
Making one more sweep around the place, Jake scooped up the scattered newspapers and refolded then stacked them so that he wouldn't leave any clues as to where he was heading to. Now standing before the open window, he reached out and slid it aside. After carefully removing the thin, metal screening, Jake cautiously lowered himself over and out the window. Dangling by his fingers, he let go and landed in a squatting position on the top of a metal roof that served as the outside garages.
To Jake's great relief, he managed to make barely any sound at all. Turning his attention up towards his bedroom window, he noticed that he won't be able to put the metal screening and window back in place. 'Fuck! Why can't these carpenters and architects make these roofs curve up higher?!' Jake silently cursed to himself as he slide down the drainage pipe to the asphalt covered lot. Finally on the ground and nearly tasting freedom, he crossed the lot to the field that lead out over to the street.
Could you look me in the eye
And tell me that you're happy now, yeah yeah
Come on, tell it to my face
And have a little grace
Are you happy now?
Are you happy now?
Are you happy now?
Some time after Jake had escaped their apartment, Darrien could still be seen pacing back and forth in his room. He was recalling back all those times that his son had been there for him and supported their home life. Realizing this now, Darrien admired Jake for adapting so well to growing up fast in this kind of environment that they lived in. For putting up with an old, arrogant, and indifferent man like him for seventeen years.
Stopping in mid pace in the center of his room, Darrien came to a final decision about something. He now knew exactly what he wanted to finally explain to Jake, including his secret. It was high time that it was his turn to be there for his son, not the other way around like it usually was.
Walking down the hallway, Darrien didn't want Jake to feel so alone in this world about being a mutant anymore, or about anything. Arriving before Jake's bedroom door, he placed a cautious hand on the cold, metal door knob. Then, thought better of it to announce his presence first before entering. "Jake, can I come in?" Darrien asked in a calm voice. A small pause, no answer or mutter came floating through the door that usually hinted that the latter had been sleeping. Judging from his son's silence, he took it as Jake refusing to talk to him. Going back on his early hesitant act, Darrien decided to barge in anyway and opened the door slowly.
Would you look me in the eye?
Could you look me in the eye?
I've had all that I can take
I'm not about to break cuz I'm happy now
Are you happy now?
Darrien felt a cool breeze against his skin as he opened the door. As he moved the door back, he could see more of Jake's empty bed. Darrien's senses started racing as he saw no trace of his son in his room, once he had it open all the way. Frozen in his tracks in the middle of the small room, he looked frantically about the room for any signs. Upon noticing that a few items were amiss, Darrien moved his gaze over to the open window and gasped in realizing horror.
He dashed over to the window and looked out, then wishing he had nocturnal eye powers when he couldn't find any signs of Jake. Feelings of immense pain and distraught soon started to weigh down on his body and mind heavily. With the stress levels becoming too great to handle, Darrien sat himself down on the end of his son's bed. He ran his fingers through his crimson-gold hair as he rested his freely worried expression in his hands. Darrien couldn't believe it! His own son had just run away from home! This was a site that Jake should've seen, his father with no mask to hide behind. Thus, allowing his true identity, scars, and emotions to flow freely upon his worn, sharp features. A new scar started to form from his temple to his neck, deep and blood flowing out like a gentle stream. (A/N: No, these aren't visible, torn flesh wounds. They are only emotional scars that could only heal with time. The flowing blood just expresses the pain pouring forth.)
A few good miles away now, Jake Clarkson was making his way across the last two blocks before he entered the busy city known as Metropolis. His figure shrouded in darkness from avoiding the street lamps' bright orange light. As he approached the bright lights and crowds of passing people, Jake felt his lips form a small, satisfied smile. He was wandering into territory that he now considered to be free. Jake had all that he could take and learn around home, now it was time to explore this outer world and expand his mind. His father couldn't deny him this feeling anymore. As the bright, blue city lights reflected off his body, Jake thought to himself, 'I'm not going to break anymore because I'm happy now. I'm happy to be heading to a place better than this.' He passed into the foggy mist that came bellowing out of an alleyway, and seemed to have disappeared as he crossed the street. The sounds of the last few lines and notes of a familiar Michelle Branch song float through the air.
Author's Note:
I would have gotten this chapter uploaded sooner if I weren't so lazy and the Microsoft word program giving me problems. From the point in this chapter, where I was talking about Jake's disguise, the program started to freeze and not respond to commands. In which causing me to lose a couple of new paragraphs I had just typed up and time most of all. Ugh! I just hated having to retype what I just had there! Plus, I would've edited this sooner if I hadn't watched "The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy" marathon earlier today.
I'm not sure if this song fit so well with the part of the story in this chapter. I haven't written a songfic in ages! Songfics alone are much easier to write and get done quickly. Since I loved "Are You Happy Now?" so much, that I couldn't help but add it into this story. I know there were other songs that I could've used, but, oh well! Please let me know what you readers think! I'm not quite sure yet if I want to feature songs in other chapters, but we shall see.
Referring back to the mutant hearings in Darrin's memories, those took place more or less a decade ago. That's why I said that Logan was in his forties and not his fifties. (I found out his age on some random X-Men: Evolution fan site.) Talking about the present now, "Cutting Edge" takes place sometime after "Day of Reckoning, Parts 1 and 2."
Completeness: Chapter 1-3 with more on the way.
Disclaimer: I don't own X-Men: Evolution, but I enjoy the toon immensely. But, one thing is for sure, is that I created and own Scythe and Scorpio. The song "Are You Happy Now?" is sung by and belongs rightfully to Michelle Branch. This is off of her sophomore album, Hotel Paper.
Please Note: I don't know why apostrophizes come up funny when I uploaded this file. Since I have no clue on how to fix it, please just bare with me and try to do the best you can to figure what those words are.
X-Men: Evolution "Cutting Edge"
Last Chapter: Meanwhile, in the living room, Darrien still stood frozen in shock and stared at the lamp until he zoned out. His mind faded into deep thoughts of great alarm and concern. In the background, he could hear the buzzing of the electricity echoing about in his mind. What to make of this? He was not quite sure of yet.
Now
Don't just walk away
Pretending everything's okay
And you don't care about me
And I
Know it's just no use
When all your lies become your truths
And I
Don't care, Yeah yeah yeah
As Jake Clarkson paced back and forth in his room, he took deep, shaky breathes of air to try to help himself calm down of this raging pain inside him. Years of frustration towards his father for not caring about him after he became a teenager. Time after time of pretending to care by asking questions about how he was doing in school, never about him soully. Jake was no idiot. He knew when Darrien was lying, allowing the man's cold, indifferent mask to show its rare cracks of emotions. For example, how he had reacted to the infamous scene in the living room, that horrified expression that Jake had feared. Yet, it was how he expected the man to react in the first place.
Could you look me in the eye
And tell me that you're happy now (oooh)
Would you tell it to my face
And have a little grace
Are you happy now?
Are you happy now?
That expression told all Jake needed to know on what his father now thought of him. He was a freak, a mutant now. The specially gifted people were shunned and considered outcasts to be feared or destroyed. But, at times, Jake couldn't always assume what his father thought about him or about anything else in life. Why didn't he say anything after the accident with the lamp? Where were his witty remarks to make everything feel okay and comical? Darrien's sarcasm made life a little more bearable for Jake to be around him. Did he fear his son that much now? Wait, normally the man wasn't afraid of anything. At least he didn't show it. Recalling what he had read in the papers and heard on the news, normal people had a really negative reaction towards all mutants. Even the ones that were family and dear friends. As soon as a mutant made that hormonal change, they were looked at as if they were some monster. If his father felt that way about him now, then why couldn't the fucker admit it for cris's sake! Why was it such a problem for Darrien to say something to his face, when Jake knew he wanted to do so? But, alas, the man kept his pride by keeping his most of his opinions bottled up in order to control some of his anger at the world. Why was that?
To crawl there was to take
And left me with the empty plate
And you don't care about it
And I
Am giving up this guilt
And leaving you with all the blame
Cuz I don't care
Jake had figured out a long ago of the prime source for his dad's coldness, his late mother. She had died shortly after giving birth to him. Jake had no memories of her whatsoever. His father never talked about her. Not even when he had asked about her when he was little. It was utterly useless to pump information from the man. Ever since his mother's funeral, Darrien had never been the same. As he raised and watch his son grow up into a young man, he became sullen and dark. Becoming the man that Jake knew now. Darrien still was deeply scared, wounds that would never heal or be forgotten.
Sometimes Jake found himself blaming himself for being the cause of his mother's death. Even though he knew it wasn't entirely his fault, he still couldn't stop feeling bad about it. Oh, how he wished that he had the chance to get to know her better before she met her untimely end. These depressing memories made Jake's body and mind feel heavy and weary. Feeling like he couldn't stand on his own two feet any longer, he walked over to his nearby closet door and leaned his back against it.
He slid down to the floor until he was in a sitting position with his legs stretched straight out before him. Jake could feel his vision blurring, tears were forming under his eyes. He reached a hand up to brush his hair back, then tilting his head back to prevent the tears from falling. Jake Clarkson was not going to cry, not now. He had to be strong in order to get himself through this. Desperately wanting to give up this guilt trip that he kept revisiting, Jake just wanted to dump and leave his father with all the blame to grief. Plus, not care about, but he knew that wasn't fair.
The other arm that was resting partially on the floor was starting to feel num again. Slowly closing his eyes and making a slight groan of frustration, Jake dared to move his gaze downwards at it. Staring at the gleaming blade, he felt num. No feelings of curiosity nor frustration towards the cursed blade that was his left arm. He was way beyond those feelings. Devoid of that, all Jake could manage was to stare at it unseeingly.
Could you look me in the eye
And tell me that you're happy now (oooh)
Would you tell it to my face
And have a little grace
Are you happy now?
Are you happy now?
Like son, like father, Darrien was pacing back and forth in his room/office deeply worried about his son and how to make it up to him. Jake was a mutant now, could that bring disastrous events against his son's life as it had did his? Speaking of life threatening events, reminded him of hearings in court about mutants that he used to go to when Jake was little and he was still in his twenties.
When hate articles in the newspaper were more popular to the readers, Darrien would pick up the newspaper to find front page news about debates being held in courts all over New York. The paper was inviting some people to come watch and support the case that the politics and mutants were presenting. Amazingly enough, mutants were invited to the party. Intrigued about what these people had to say, Darrien decided to go for the heck of it.
Being an only father, he put his aunt, a close cousin, and his older sister to baby sit young Jake. Not wanting to draw attention to himself at the hearing, Darrien decided to wear a dark brown trench coat, black sunglasses, and an old fashion gray-black hat to hide under. After taking a couple of express trains to get there, he would arrive just in time to follow the back of the crowd into the building.
Once the court room had filled up with mutants and people, Darrien made for a seat in the way back, the row closest to the door. Just in case if needed to make a quick getaway or leave early. The mutants who were presenting their side of the case today introduced themselves as: Charles Xavier, Ororo Monroe, and Hank McCoy. (A/N: I know that Hank wasn't a mutant at the time, but I'll just say that he's a mutant supporter for the time being.) For the norms: Senator Kelly and William Stryker. The case today was about whether mutant registration was necessary. (A/N: This is before Kelly was principle of Bayville High.)
As he listened to their heated debate, they brought in witnesses of mutant sightings and confidential files on residential mutants. When the court officers brought the material up to the judge, Darrien noticed a strange man glaring at him suspiciously off and on. The man had messy, slightly spiked black hair just above a rugged face with some obvious stubble. He had a muscular body, covered in a simple grey shirt and dark blue jeans with a black leather jacket. The mysterious man looked older then Darrien, somewhere in his forties perhaps.
During a lunch break during the hearing, Darrien and some other people stayed behind to wait for the session to start again or to discuss matters. Including that strange man, who was now talking privately with that Xavier guy and his crew. Pretending to be asleep, Darrien slumped into a relaxed position in his chair and tilted his head and hat forward to pull off the act. But, he kept the rim of his hat at eye level, so that he could spy on the group. He noticed that the man was making hand gestures towards his direction, so they were talking about him.
Sadly, Darrien couldn't hear a thing that they were talking about. But, he did hear Xavier's small outburst at the man that he called Logan. Logan, huh? Funny name. They continued on in hushed voices until break was over, luckily for him, the mutants never approached him. He stuck around for the rest of the mutant presented side of the case, but he decided to leave early. There was no joy in it for him to have to hear what the norms complained about. Besides, as Darrien got up to leave during the next break before the norm case, he'd be reading it in tomorrow's paper. Plus, just in case those other mutants wanted to talk to him afterwards.
The next day, sure enough, when Darrien read the paper, the article read the mutant side had lost. But, there was another case to be had on that subject later in the future. Today, there was another hearing. This time it was about if mutants were dangerous and if people needed to take precautions to the utmost tight security. Sounded more like total alienation towards mutants today. Leaving home with his babysitters to do the work, Darrien left to go sit in his favorite back row seat in the court room.
After the room had filled, the judge soon appeared and announced that this would be a two day, two part hearing. Darrien prepared himself for the long haul, as he listened to the norms case. They got to go first since the mutants went first last case. The man called Logan and his pal Xavier were staring and gesticulating in his direction like yesterday. At one point of Senator Kelly's speech, Darrien started to fall asleep. But, he didn't get to sleep for long.
As his mind was beginning to mist over with sleep, he could hear a strange voice echoing in his mind, asking him odd questions. The voice sounded like Xavier's, which it was when Darrien had startled from his brief nap. Once he was conscious and alert again, the mind-reader returned his attention back to the case. Wary of the man, Darrien made a note to himself to leave early again.
By the end of it and as people filed out, he was so drowsy from boredom that he got caught in the traffic jam of people. Not wanting to have that Xavier guy reach out to his mind again with his wacky mind tricks, Darrien made a quick curvy path past people to get as soon as possible to the door. With luck on his side, he was ahead of the older man and already out the door.
Darrien continued to show up for the rest of the hearings that month. Plus leaving early to avoid contact with his pursuers. With every hearing, the words got harsher and more hateful toward mutants. This was a losing battle for mutant kind. People just weren't ready to accept the peace offering that Xavier was offering to them. Their stinging words almost made him feel guilty for being one and what he did with his gift in his free time. Not that he used them to commit crimes like this radical group called the Brotherhood did.
Darrien could still hear those cruel words in his mind and in the world about him today. It truly angered him the way people would discriminate their kind. Sometimes treating them as if they were some lower life form. When mutants were forced to have mutant licenses, it made it even harder to get jobs, a home, and many other things. Gosh, how he hated to own one and feel so out there when he only wanted to be left alone and in peace. Fuck! Darrien even had enough money to buy a bigger home, an actual house. But, most mutants in this area were only allowed apartments.
This poor living wasn't for Jake. He could tell by the way his son was being torn up inside or depressed that he couldn't go places like his friends. Darrien wished that he could improve this life for him, but he couldn't. In his bank account, he wasn't allowed to even touch a third of the money in there. Memories suddenly came flooding back in his mind. The time his parents threw him out of the house to only be defended and helped by the relatives who helped him take care of Jake when he was little. He was grateful for any help he could get or be offered. His aunt, cousin, and older sister had been his life lines many times in the past. As Jake got older, there came the more disappointed looks of longing to be free and happy.
Those feelings of abandonment of family, friends, and looks, made Darrien feel regret, guilt, and torn up inside. Even after all these years, the memories still hurt. Oh, how it was so hard to forgive and forget. Great, now his mind felt a horrid mess and his heart heavy. Darrien didn't need this now, not now. He needed to go help Jake. As the anger rose within from years of pain and frustration, he swung his arm out and knocked over a desk lamp, causing it to topple to the floor at his feet. Writhing in anger, fists clenched, and breathing heavily, Darrien stared down at its broken side. Then, he closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and bent over to pick it back up.
As he was kneeling down to do so, Darrien suddenly felt a fiery pain shoot through his side. Grimacing in pain, he stood back up. He'd have to forget about the lamp for now. Placing a hand over his burning side, he carefully made his way over to a nearby mirror hanging on the bedroom wall. The mirror was nearly as tall as he was, except the view cut off his feet at a certain distance. Standing before it, Darrien lifted his shirt up enough to see the damage.
On the left side of his body, across the rib cage to his hip, were five long burnt black streaks with open cuts that weren't bleeding. The streaks were the same width as a person's fingers. Darrien cursed silently at Sirius Venin for letting his acid and venom leak out into his claws to swipe at his side. Also, at himself for not being quick enough to move out of harm's way. Sirius's claws jammed into his side, swiping through the skin and burning it with the deadly organic chemicals. Darrien fell to the floor in pain as the venom entered his body, weakening him. All his opponent had to do was deliver a swift kick to his head and it would be all over. But, the strange thing is, the kick never came.
When he had managed to look up, Sirius was announcing that the match was over. There had been some booing, but Venin didn't care. He held his hand out to help Darrien up. The wounded mutant took it, thanked him, and then left to go get cleaned up. When he left Slash Jay's that night, he couldn't figure out why his rival would do such a thing as let him leave the ring conscious. Normally they were competing to punch each others' lights out. Why was this time any different? Maybe, Venin realized that he shouldn't kill a single father to leave his child parentless?
Believe me, these two have tried many times to kill each other in the past. Ever since high school to be exact, but whose counting? In their previous attempts, they hadn't been able to beat each other because they weren't strong enough at the time and didn't have their powers either. Not that their powers made a huge difference these days. Both were perfectly capable of giving the other some few good cuts and bruises.
Reflecting upon Sirius's miraculous act of kindness, Darrien decided to cut the man some slack during their next match. Oh yeah, there was always a next time. Jake had asked once, when he was twelve, of why they never learned to get over their past. Darrien just shook his head, and told the boy he didn't know. Shaking his head and softly chuckling to himself, he turned his attention back to his wounds.
Earlier, he couldn't heal them because his healing powers were still working on trying to ride his systems of venom, which normally took a long time. But, his body did allow the bleeding to stop within matter of minutes after the match. Sadly, it didn't num the pain that the wound caused him. Like, when he had been fighting with Jake in the living room, Darrien struggled to stay calm and keep his words to a minimal, so that the scars wouldn't hurt. But, as soon as Jake had started yelling and swearing, that got him on his feet.
No sooner had he did, his cool façade started to form cracks. Desperately trying to keep it together by making his body stiff, but then lost it when Jake sliced the lamp in half. As soon as his son stared at him, was the moment that his scars decided to flare up with immense pain. In which causing him to grimace in pain, while causing his son enough pain to run to the safety of his room. 'Oh gosh.,' Darrien thought sadly, he hadn't meant to do that. He never meant to hurt Jake in such a way, never. He quietly berated himself for such an action.
Darrien tossed the memory aside lamely to deal with later, first things first. He evened out his breaths, and closed his eyes, then went to work on focusing on his scars and burnt flesh. As he rhythmically inhaled and exhaled, the black flesh slowly faded back to its natural tone like a shadow fading as the sun was rising to the sky in the morning. The scars sealed themselves up like a zipper being zipped up on a jacket. Then, all there was left was five long scratch marks in their place. In a matter of seconds, those marks, like everything else, faded to smooth skin over a muscular body.
Darrien opened his eyes and looked in the mirror, then gave a sigh of relief at the sight of smooth, healed skin. Man, did it sure pay off to have self-healing powers. Remembering about Jake's ordeal suddenly came washing back over his mind, not letting him relax for long. Once again, his mind became a mess trying to figure out what to tell his son and how to comfort him. Darrien just couldn't decide if it was a better idea to tell him that he was a mutant, or not. Why did he have to hide so much from his own son? Would it make a big difference in their life if he did admit to it? Not wanting to start pacing back and forth again, Darrien went to sit on the side of his bed. He decided to sit and not lay down, because if he lay down he'd fall asleep. Now was the perfect time to think things through, no more putting it off.
Are you happy now?
Are you happy now?
Are you happy now?
Yeah, yeah
Do you really have everything you want?
You could never give something you regret
You could run away from yourself
Yeah
While Darrien had been debating with his subconscious, Jake had been doing some major thinking and reflecting of his own. Already aware that his so- called father never really cared for him in so long and self blame to himself, he didn't feel the need to go into another rage. (A/N: Jake's arm is back to normal now, he managed to transform it back while his dad was remembering the mutant hearings.)
Jake figured that if he ever wanted to be happy and live happily like he always imagined he would, he would have to get out of this place. The good memories had long expired like a sale date on a package of food. All these thoughts pointed to one thing: running away from home. But, where to run to? The cities and areas around him were infested with anti-mutants! None of them would want to accept a mutant like him, if someone were to find out.
Shifting his gaze from the opposite end of his bed, Jake looked about his room for any papers that could help him get started in a direction. His searching eyes came upon a stack of newspapers under his bedroom window. But, what truly caught his fancy was that the headline included the word "mutants." Scooting off the side of his bed and out of his slumped position, Jake made his way over to the little collection and brought some back to read in bed.
Scattering the articles about mutants all over his bed, then tossed the other shit on the floor. Jake skimmed through the hateful words and sightings of mutants, only chiefly looking for mentioned locations. It didn't take long for him to find what he was looking for. Jake soon found some old and new news on a group of mutants from Bayville. He recognized some of their faces from seeing them on the news. Jake read the captions with great interest.
"Kitty Pride, a sophomore at Bayville High School, can walk through walls."
"Jean Grey, a senior at Bayville High and captain of the girl's soccer team, can move objects with her mind."
"Kurt Wagner, a junior at Bayville High, has the gift to teleport and turn into this blue, fuzzy elf monster."
"Professor Charles Xavier says that his institute for the gifted is only intended to provide a home for mutants and to help control their powers." Reading that, Jake started to look for more information about this institute. Halfway through the article, he found that Xavier's Institute for the Specially Gifted was in West Chester, not far from Bayville. Finding no need to read the other articles, Jake got up to start packing for his lone, long trip to Bayville.
Snatching his backup up off the floor, Jake unzipped all the zippers, and then proceeded to turn it upside down and shake out its contents. Once it was emptied out with school supplies on the floor, he walked quickly over to his closet and went rifling through his clothes. Keeping in mind that it would only take a couple of hours walk to Bayville, Jake decided to pack light with the sets of clothes and money he picked out. He made sure to bring a map, i.d. cards, and a disguise.
Jake's disguise comprised of: dark sunglasses, a black trench coat, bandana, and a black baseball cap. Most of the audsomble were gifts from relatives, since he couldn't afford most of this stuff half the time. The disguise was for just in case if there was an emergency. If he accidentally revealed himself in public, Jake could easily change into this and make himself scare until the trouble blew over.
He stuffed everything in except for the trench coat and baseball cap. Jake did a quick inventory in his mind, making sure that he didn't forget anything. Suddenly feeling a cool breeze against his body, reminded Jake to keep all weather conditions in mind. Although it had been clear skies and sunny days, you never could tell on the outskirts of Metropolis. But, the weather was the least of his problems.
Jake slipped on the trench coat and cap, then picked up the map and put it in his inside chest pocket. For now, he didn't really need the map because he was already familiar with the streets and buildings of Metropolis. Going there every other day to work, gave Jake time to wander the streets during his breaks. Speaking of his job.no time to worry about that now! First things first: make his way across Metropolis to Bayville, than worry about getting fired.
Before Jake picked up his backpack to leave, he looked around his room one last time before take off. Not letting the bad memories get to him again, he sighed and slung his pack over his shoulders. Forcing those memories onto the back burners of his mind would help to keep them at bay from tearing away at his already fragile conscious.
Making one more sweep around the place, Jake scooped up the scattered newspapers and refolded then stacked them so that he wouldn't leave any clues as to where he was heading to. Now standing before the open window, he reached out and slid it aside. After carefully removing the thin, metal screening, Jake cautiously lowered himself over and out the window. Dangling by his fingers, he let go and landed in a squatting position on the top of a metal roof that served as the outside garages.
To Jake's great relief, he managed to make barely any sound at all. Turning his attention up towards his bedroom window, he noticed that he won't be able to put the metal screening and window back in place. 'Fuck! Why can't these carpenters and architects make these roofs curve up higher?!' Jake silently cursed to himself as he slide down the drainage pipe to the asphalt covered lot. Finally on the ground and nearly tasting freedom, he crossed the lot to the field that lead out over to the street.
Could you look me in the eye
And tell me that you're happy now, yeah yeah
Come on, tell it to my face
And have a little grace
Are you happy now?
Are you happy now?
Are you happy now?
Some time after Jake had escaped their apartment, Darrien could still be seen pacing back and forth in his room. He was recalling back all those times that his son had been there for him and supported their home life. Realizing this now, Darrien admired Jake for adapting so well to growing up fast in this kind of environment that they lived in. For putting up with an old, arrogant, and indifferent man like him for seventeen years.
Stopping in mid pace in the center of his room, Darrien came to a final decision about something. He now knew exactly what he wanted to finally explain to Jake, including his secret. It was high time that it was his turn to be there for his son, not the other way around like it usually was.
Walking down the hallway, Darrien didn't want Jake to feel so alone in this world about being a mutant anymore, or about anything. Arriving before Jake's bedroom door, he placed a cautious hand on the cold, metal door knob. Then, thought better of it to announce his presence first before entering. "Jake, can I come in?" Darrien asked in a calm voice. A small pause, no answer or mutter came floating through the door that usually hinted that the latter had been sleeping. Judging from his son's silence, he took it as Jake refusing to talk to him. Going back on his early hesitant act, Darrien decided to barge in anyway and opened the door slowly.
Would you look me in the eye?
Could you look me in the eye?
I've had all that I can take
I'm not about to break cuz I'm happy now
Are you happy now?
Darrien felt a cool breeze against his skin as he opened the door. As he moved the door back, he could see more of Jake's empty bed. Darrien's senses started racing as he saw no trace of his son in his room, once he had it open all the way. Frozen in his tracks in the middle of the small room, he looked frantically about the room for any signs. Upon noticing that a few items were amiss, Darrien moved his gaze over to the open window and gasped in realizing horror.
He dashed over to the window and looked out, then wishing he had nocturnal eye powers when he couldn't find any signs of Jake. Feelings of immense pain and distraught soon started to weigh down on his body and mind heavily. With the stress levels becoming too great to handle, Darrien sat himself down on the end of his son's bed. He ran his fingers through his crimson-gold hair as he rested his freely worried expression in his hands. Darrien couldn't believe it! His own son had just run away from home! This was a site that Jake should've seen, his father with no mask to hide behind. Thus, allowing his true identity, scars, and emotions to flow freely upon his worn, sharp features. A new scar started to form from his temple to his neck, deep and blood flowing out like a gentle stream. (A/N: No, these aren't visible, torn flesh wounds. They are only emotional scars that could only heal with time. The flowing blood just expresses the pain pouring forth.)
A few good miles away now, Jake Clarkson was making his way across the last two blocks before he entered the busy city known as Metropolis. His figure shrouded in darkness from avoiding the street lamps' bright orange light. As he approached the bright lights and crowds of passing people, Jake felt his lips form a small, satisfied smile. He was wandering into territory that he now considered to be free. Jake had all that he could take and learn around home, now it was time to explore this outer world and expand his mind. His father couldn't deny him this feeling anymore. As the bright, blue city lights reflected off his body, Jake thought to himself, 'I'm not going to break anymore because I'm happy now. I'm happy to be heading to a place better than this.' He passed into the foggy mist that came bellowing out of an alleyway, and seemed to have disappeared as he crossed the street. The sounds of the last few lines and notes of a familiar Michelle Branch song float through the air.
Author's Note:
I would have gotten this chapter uploaded sooner if I weren't so lazy and the Microsoft word program giving me problems. From the point in this chapter, where I was talking about Jake's disguise, the program started to freeze and not respond to commands. In which causing me to lose a couple of new paragraphs I had just typed up and time most of all. Ugh! I just hated having to retype what I just had there! Plus, I would've edited this sooner if I hadn't watched "The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy" marathon earlier today.
I'm not sure if this song fit so well with the part of the story in this chapter. I haven't written a songfic in ages! Songfics alone are much easier to write and get done quickly. Since I loved "Are You Happy Now?" so much, that I couldn't help but add it into this story. I know there were other songs that I could've used, but, oh well! Please let me know what you readers think! I'm not quite sure yet if I want to feature songs in other chapters, but we shall see.
Referring back to the mutant hearings in Darrin's memories, those took place more or less a decade ago. That's why I said that Logan was in his forties and not his fifties. (I found out his age on some random X-Men: Evolution fan site.) Talking about the present now, "Cutting Edge" takes place sometime after "Day of Reckoning, Parts 1 and 2."