Disclaimer: Yadda Yadda, Don't own Marvel, yadda yadda....
Chapter 6
New Discoveries
****************
I had to get outside to clear my head after finding out how quickly what I'd done to that homeless guy had been reported and making some small talk with the teens in the TV room. I made my way out the front double doors and to the front yard. I didn't notice how well maintained the front lawn was when I arrived due to the fact I wasn't even conscious but I noticed it now.
After taking in the beautiful sight of the flower bed near the mansion's outside walls, I found a bench situated near a large fountain adorned with an angel statue. I just had to think about the Professor's "dream". He had high hopes for humanity, but he neglected to realize that what he was trying to achieve probably wouldn't happen in his lifetime. Especially when the only news they ever show about mutants was the bad. Major news networks never broadcast the stories about how a mutant saved a kid from imminent doom or how a public servant that's never done any wrong might be one. No, they all had the preconceived notion that if something differs from the norm that it has to be a risk.
"Hi."
I turned my head toward the new voice. She was a short Asian girl wearing comfortable clothing...except for a yellow raincoat on a perfectly dry day.
"You're Alan. The new kid, right?"
"Are you another psychic?"
The girl giggled in response, "No, the professor told us all that there was a new student and that he was going to be on crutches for a bit," noting the crutches that I had rested on the ground next to the bench. I shook my head a bit as I grinned at my quick assumption.
"Sorry about that," I explained, "it's just that I was just told by the professor about 'projecting' thoughts. Is there any way besides the mental blocks to get some privacy around here?"
She let out a light laugh, "Nope, but from what the professor told me," she said through her grin, "telepathic mutants can't pinpoint what the thoughts say unless you're really close to them."
"Guess I'll just have to keep my distance, huh?" I joked, "By the way...what can you do that got you the free ticket in here?"
"Oh, I can make these sparkly firework things. Watch," the asian girl said as she rose a hand to the sky and fired off something that resembled thousands upon thousands of welding embers into the air in front of her.
"You can shoot...fireworks?" Do these things breed on ethnic stereotypes?
"Basically, yea. Oh, by the way, I'm Jubilation Lee. Everyone just calls me Jubes."
"Well, Jubes, nice to meet you."
"So, I showed you my power, what can you do?"
Sure, the whole table of teenagers forgets to ask, but the curious kid with the fireworks decides to open the can of worms.
"Well, I can make stuff out of my hands...I just don't know how to do it. The only time it happened was accidental." That's putting it lightly.
"Well, when I do the firework thing I just... I mean you just have to..." she seemed to be struggling to end a sentence. "Sorry, I've just been doing it for so long that I don't even think about it anymore. Like it's second nature."
"Don't think about it, just do it?" I assumed.
She shrugged as if my answer was as good as any at that point.
I stretched a hand out and relaxed. I just cleared my head and tried to think casually.
Don't think about it, just do it.
I closed my eyes and gave it a shot. I felt the weight on the bench shift as Jubes sat down on the opposite edge.
"Hey, you did it!" I heard her shout.
I opened my eyes and saw an old horror. My right arm had turned into a spike. It wasn't just any spike, it was the same one I killed that man with. I felt the blood drain from my face and my eyes widen as I realized that this curse wasn't just a one-time deal. I was a murder weapon.
I shook my head a bit and closed my eyes again. I tried to focus my thoughts a bit, something blunt. Something that couldn't kill someone if struck by it immediately. I felt a slight tingle in my arm as I focused on what I wanted, a cylinder.
I opened my eyes and let out a sigh of relief. In place of that deadly weapon was now a rounded cylinder. I had just successfully made something that resembled a Louisville Slugger on steroids. I could have some control over this power, I realized.
"Cool," I said with a relaxed smile as I turned to Jubes, "multi function!"
She was now staring at my face as if a dodo had just perched on my nose.
My eyebrow raised. "What?"
She raised a hand and pointed at my face. "Your eyes."
"What about them?"
"They're black."
"No, they're brown, I get the joke telling me that I'm full of shit because my eyes are brown all the time."
"Not 'you have black colored eyes'. Your eyes are black...ALL black," she said as she scrambled in the pockets of her raincoat and pulled out a compact mirror. "Here, see for yourself."
I reformed my hand to normal and took the compact from her. I opened it up and saw my eyes...they were brown. "Are you pulling my chain? They're brown, like I said." I replied, rather annoyed.
"No, I swear, your eyes were black. When you turned to me after...Wait, I've got an idea. Turn your hand into something again." she said quickly, I guess she was rushing to get her point across. I shrugged and turned my arm into a smaller version of the slugger and looked at the mirror again. My eyes were black, ALL black. The color had a shifting movement to it, almost like black paint, or oil.
"Holy sh--"
"I know!" She interrupted, "I guess it's a side effect or something." Her face contorted to a look of curiosity. "Why did you freak out when you made that ice pick thing?"
"F-freak out?" I should have just said my half-truth into a mini tape recorder and play it back whenever someone started prying.
"Yeah, you looked like you saw a ghost the first time."
First time? They already knew?
"Don't like the spike, do you?"
Oh, she meant just now. Whew. Still, I was trapped in a corner and needed a new lie. Think, dammit, think! I let my hand revert to its normal state before throwing out the best thing I could manage to think of.
"I saw the original Halloween when I was 3 and it scared the crap out of me. I've had this slight phobia of knives and such ever since."
She nodded as I spoke. The biggest load of bull I had ever concocted on the fly and she bought it. I deserved a damn medal for that one.
"Well, I saw the original Halloween about a month ago and I'm convinced you can take on a serial killer with nothing but an untangled wire hanger," She looked down at her watch and gritted her teeth. "Damn! I'm late for a Danger Room session. Logan is going to have my hide!" She gave a polite wave as she stood and headed toward the institute.
Curiosity finally got the best of me concerning the Danger Room, there had to be a window or video monitor to watch over the training. Something for the staff to monitor in case of injuries and with what I've heard of that room, injuries were probably in abundance.
I finally got down to the Danger Room and Ms Munroe showed me the way to the observation area. What I saw would make a social worker come down on this place like the hammer of God. Logan was sitting in front of a large computer panel giving orders and warnings to the students defending themselves against computerized death machines. I quickly moved myself to a better viewpoint of detention on steroids as quickly as a guy with crutches could maneuver himself.
Rogue, Kitty, Scott, Kurt, Jubilee, and a girl I hadn't yet met who was on fire were all using their various abilities to dodge large paint ball pellets and various other objects posing an obvious threat to their safety. I pointed a shaky finger at the mixture of destruction and acrobatics that I was witnessing.
"Anyone gonna put her out? I mean..." Then I thought about it and realized, "That fire girl...that's normal, right?"
Logan simply nodded without breaking his focus on the students' actions. He pressed a few buttons on the control panel and two large cannons came out of the wall beneath the observation area. I felt a very slight rumbling underneath me and watched live ammunition fire from the newly revealed weapon.
"Are you insane?!? That's live ammo! Anyone who walks in here would lock you up for that!"
"Nah, most of them would be complainin' that the aim is off. We're mutants remember?" I heard over a speaker in the small computer room.
"What the--," my eyes searched the room and finally landed on a small microphone positioned on a panel just behind me. "...That doesn't toggle on or off, does it?"
"Vait!" The blue fuzzy German's voice now rang over the speaker, "Live ammo? You vere serious?! Logan, I didn't put on ze Kevlar!"
"Elf, you should know by now that I'm always serious when it comes to training." Logan said with an angry tone, "When I tell you to put on Kevlar, you put it on! I don't want to have to drag your ass back to the mansion in a body bag!"
"Jeeze, Logan! Lay off him!" Rogue chimed in. "It was just an honest mistake. Heck, we all thought you were gonna wait 'till tomorrow with the guns anyway."
"In a real life situation, stripes, the enemy isn't going to give you a date when you're going to be shot at! A mistake like that could get you killed!"
"The only thing that's going to get them killed is their drill sergeant teacher who thinks it's a good idea to fire live rounds at kids!" I needed to learn to keep my mouth shut.
Logan fired a glare at me that could bore a hole through sheet metal.
Er... I really needed to learn to keep my mouth shut.
"Who the hell asked for your opinion, newbie? I'm trying to teach these kids how to survive in the worse case scenario."
Logan looked down at my bandaged leg. "When did Hank say that you were gonna get that taken off?"
"Um...four days, why?"
Logan then looked at one of the monitors and started typing at the keyboard rapidly. "See you four days from now...Thursday. At six 'o clock."
"What? I speak my mind and you throw me into that torture chamber while everyone's eating dinner?" I really needed to learn when to shut the hell up.
"No...while they're still asleep. 6 AM"
...Shit
*************
A/N: What did you think? Review please! Praise and Constructive Criticism is always appreciated!
Chapter 6
New Discoveries
****************
I had to get outside to clear my head after finding out how quickly what I'd done to that homeless guy had been reported and making some small talk with the teens in the TV room. I made my way out the front double doors and to the front yard. I didn't notice how well maintained the front lawn was when I arrived due to the fact I wasn't even conscious but I noticed it now.
After taking in the beautiful sight of the flower bed near the mansion's outside walls, I found a bench situated near a large fountain adorned with an angel statue. I just had to think about the Professor's "dream". He had high hopes for humanity, but he neglected to realize that what he was trying to achieve probably wouldn't happen in his lifetime. Especially when the only news they ever show about mutants was the bad. Major news networks never broadcast the stories about how a mutant saved a kid from imminent doom or how a public servant that's never done any wrong might be one. No, they all had the preconceived notion that if something differs from the norm that it has to be a risk.
"Hi."
I turned my head toward the new voice. She was a short Asian girl wearing comfortable clothing...except for a yellow raincoat on a perfectly dry day.
"You're Alan. The new kid, right?"
"Are you another psychic?"
The girl giggled in response, "No, the professor told us all that there was a new student and that he was going to be on crutches for a bit," noting the crutches that I had rested on the ground next to the bench. I shook my head a bit as I grinned at my quick assumption.
"Sorry about that," I explained, "it's just that I was just told by the professor about 'projecting' thoughts. Is there any way besides the mental blocks to get some privacy around here?"
She let out a light laugh, "Nope, but from what the professor told me," she said through her grin, "telepathic mutants can't pinpoint what the thoughts say unless you're really close to them."
"Guess I'll just have to keep my distance, huh?" I joked, "By the way...what can you do that got you the free ticket in here?"
"Oh, I can make these sparkly firework things. Watch," the asian girl said as she rose a hand to the sky and fired off something that resembled thousands upon thousands of welding embers into the air in front of her.
"You can shoot...fireworks?" Do these things breed on ethnic stereotypes?
"Basically, yea. Oh, by the way, I'm Jubilation Lee. Everyone just calls me Jubes."
"Well, Jubes, nice to meet you."
"So, I showed you my power, what can you do?"
Sure, the whole table of teenagers forgets to ask, but the curious kid with the fireworks decides to open the can of worms.
"Well, I can make stuff out of my hands...I just don't know how to do it. The only time it happened was accidental." That's putting it lightly.
"Well, when I do the firework thing I just... I mean you just have to..." she seemed to be struggling to end a sentence. "Sorry, I've just been doing it for so long that I don't even think about it anymore. Like it's second nature."
"Don't think about it, just do it?" I assumed.
She shrugged as if my answer was as good as any at that point.
I stretched a hand out and relaxed. I just cleared my head and tried to think casually.
Don't think about it, just do it.
I closed my eyes and gave it a shot. I felt the weight on the bench shift as Jubes sat down on the opposite edge.
"Hey, you did it!" I heard her shout.
I opened my eyes and saw an old horror. My right arm had turned into a spike. It wasn't just any spike, it was the same one I killed that man with. I felt the blood drain from my face and my eyes widen as I realized that this curse wasn't just a one-time deal. I was a murder weapon.
I shook my head a bit and closed my eyes again. I tried to focus my thoughts a bit, something blunt. Something that couldn't kill someone if struck by it immediately. I felt a slight tingle in my arm as I focused on what I wanted, a cylinder.
I opened my eyes and let out a sigh of relief. In place of that deadly weapon was now a rounded cylinder. I had just successfully made something that resembled a Louisville Slugger on steroids. I could have some control over this power, I realized.
"Cool," I said with a relaxed smile as I turned to Jubes, "multi function!"
She was now staring at my face as if a dodo had just perched on my nose.
My eyebrow raised. "What?"
She raised a hand and pointed at my face. "Your eyes."
"What about them?"
"They're black."
"No, they're brown, I get the joke telling me that I'm full of shit because my eyes are brown all the time."
"Not 'you have black colored eyes'. Your eyes are black...ALL black," she said as she scrambled in the pockets of her raincoat and pulled out a compact mirror. "Here, see for yourself."
I reformed my hand to normal and took the compact from her. I opened it up and saw my eyes...they were brown. "Are you pulling my chain? They're brown, like I said." I replied, rather annoyed.
"No, I swear, your eyes were black. When you turned to me after...Wait, I've got an idea. Turn your hand into something again." she said quickly, I guess she was rushing to get her point across. I shrugged and turned my arm into a smaller version of the slugger and looked at the mirror again. My eyes were black, ALL black. The color had a shifting movement to it, almost like black paint, or oil.
"Holy sh--"
"I know!" She interrupted, "I guess it's a side effect or something." Her face contorted to a look of curiosity. "Why did you freak out when you made that ice pick thing?"
"F-freak out?" I should have just said my half-truth into a mini tape recorder and play it back whenever someone started prying.
"Yeah, you looked like you saw a ghost the first time."
First time? They already knew?
"Don't like the spike, do you?"
Oh, she meant just now. Whew. Still, I was trapped in a corner and needed a new lie. Think, dammit, think! I let my hand revert to its normal state before throwing out the best thing I could manage to think of.
"I saw the original Halloween when I was 3 and it scared the crap out of me. I've had this slight phobia of knives and such ever since."
She nodded as I spoke. The biggest load of bull I had ever concocted on the fly and she bought it. I deserved a damn medal for that one.
"Well, I saw the original Halloween about a month ago and I'm convinced you can take on a serial killer with nothing but an untangled wire hanger," She looked down at her watch and gritted her teeth. "Damn! I'm late for a Danger Room session. Logan is going to have my hide!" She gave a polite wave as she stood and headed toward the institute.
Curiosity finally got the best of me concerning the Danger Room, there had to be a window or video monitor to watch over the training. Something for the staff to monitor in case of injuries and with what I've heard of that room, injuries were probably in abundance.
I finally got down to the Danger Room and Ms Munroe showed me the way to the observation area. What I saw would make a social worker come down on this place like the hammer of God. Logan was sitting in front of a large computer panel giving orders and warnings to the students defending themselves against computerized death machines. I quickly moved myself to a better viewpoint of detention on steroids as quickly as a guy with crutches could maneuver himself.
Rogue, Kitty, Scott, Kurt, Jubilee, and a girl I hadn't yet met who was on fire were all using their various abilities to dodge large paint ball pellets and various other objects posing an obvious threat to their safety. I pointed a shaky finger at the mixture of destruction and acrobatics that I was witnessing.
"Anyone gonna put her out? I mean..." Then I thought about it and realized, "That fire girl...that's normal, right?"
Logan simply nodded without breaking his focus on the students' actions. He pressed a few buttons on the control panel and two large cannons came out of the wall beneath the observation area. I felt a very slight rumbling underneath me and watched live ammunition fire from the newly revealed weapon.
"Are you insane?!? That's live ammo! Anyone who walks in here would lock you up for that!"
"Nah, most of them would be complainin' that the aim is off. We're mutants remember?" I heard over a speaker in the small computer room.
"What the--," my eyes searched the room and finally landed on a small microphone positioned on a panel just behind me. "...That doesn't toggle on or off, does it?"
"Vait!" The blue fuzzy German's voice now rang over the speaker, "Live ammo? You vere serious?! Logan, I didn't put on ze Kevlar!"
"Elf, you should know by now that I'm always serious when it comes to training." Logan said with an angry tone, "When I tell you to put on Kevlar, you put it on! I don't want to have to drag your ass back to the mansion in a body bag!"
"Jeeze, Logan! Lay off him!" Rogue chimed in. "It was just an honest mistake. Heck, we all thought you were gonna wait 'till tomorrow with the guns anyway."
"In a real life situation, stripes, the enemy isn't going to give you a date when you're going to be shot at! A mistake like that could get you killed!"
"The only thing that's going to get them killed is their drill sergeant teacher who thinks it's a good idea to fire live rounds at kids!" I needed to learn to keep my mouth shut.
Logan fired a glare at me that could bore a hole through sheet metal.
Er... I really needed to learn to keep my mouth shut.
"Who the hell asked for your opinion, newbie? I'm trying to teach these kids how to survive in the worse case scenario."
Logan looked down at my bandaged leg. "When did Hank say that you were gonna get that taken off?"
"Um...four days, why?"
Logan then looked at one of the monitors and started typing at the keyboard rapidly. "See you four days from now...Thursday. At six 'o clock."
"What? I speak my mind and you throw me into that torture chamber while everyone's eating dinner?" I really needed to learn when to shut the hell up.
"No...while they're still asleep. 6 AM"
...Shit
*************
A/N: What did you think? Review please! Praise and Constructive Criticism is always appreciated!