I'm a What?!

Disclaimer: Consider the story disclaimed

A/N: And the revision is coming along nicely

Devon stood with the Professor, Scott, Logan, and Jean in by a window to a large metal room. The Professor spoke with the confidence of an inventor. "Devon, this is the danger room. It uses holographic projections to train the residents in the use of their powers. We have created some structural enhancements to cope with the insurgence of more powerful mutants, of which you are the first. This room could now withstand the blast of a hydrogen bomb, or a volcanic eruption. It can handle the heat of the earth's very core. I think it can take pretty well anything thrown at it. I want you to stand in the middle of the room."

"What is this about, Professor?"

"I believe I know what causes your powers, and I wish to test them, and their limits."

Devon, eager to understand his powers, opened a huge blast door and almost ran to the middle of the room. He stood there, then looked up at the observers expectantly. "Now what?"

The Professor turned to Jean. "I want you to project various emotions to Devon, especially the more basic ones."

"Basic?" Jean questioned. "What do you mean by that?"

"Fear, anger…"

Jean nodded, then began with anger. Devon burst into flames, and a look of pure hatred crossed his face. He launched into the air, ready to attack anyone who crossed his line of sight.

Jean switched to fear, when the Professor spoke up. "Don't stay too long on fear, you'll lose him." Jean wondered what he meant, until she projected it. Devon was gone… but Jean realized he must still be there, because his mind had not gone anywhere. He was just invisible… and, she knew, intangible.

She did as the Professor had told her, and switched to happiness. He looked up, and shook his head. "Nothing, I don't feel any different, except I'm happy for no reason."

She nodded, then switched to pride. In an instant something changed. His posture was different, as was his expression. He flexed one arm, and his sleeve strained to keep in the suddenly larger muscle. He jumped, and stayed in the air, then began to fly around the room at a speed only slightly lower then Quicksilver's. He had become, in essence, the perfect mutant.

She switched again, this time to sadness. He frowned a little, but shook his head. Then she brought it down another notch, to depression. His entire form changed drastically. He was a deep shadow, a dark blot against the shiny metal walls of the danger room. Tendrils of dark energy came off of him, and he moved as though he were a gas, not a solid. His form was constantly in motion, although it remained in a human-like shape. The tendrils began to spread out, and as one reached Jean, she felt all of the happiness drain from her, and the motivation left as she began to drown in her worst memories… A psychic jolt from the Professor brought her out of her trance, and she quickly changed the emotion one final time.

Devon came out of the room, breathing heavily, as though he had been working hard. "So, Professor, what's the verdict?"

The Professor sighed. "You are what I would call… an emotional metamorph. Your form and powers change to fit your emotions, especially the deepest and most primal ones. You actually have five forms: Anger, with flames and flight; fear, with invisibility and intangibility; arrogance, with enhanced strength and speed, flight, and indestructibility; and depression, with a gaseous form and emotional vampirism. In all of these forms you heal at an accelerated rate, though not as fast as your new instructor Logan."

"If I have all of these, why am I not in one of those forms right now? And, now that we get around to it, why might I not be good in combat?"

The Professor's face showed sadness. "I was holding your emotions in check, and I don't have the energy to do that constantly. As to your second question, when you change form, you completely surrender to the emotion. When you're angry, you hate everything; when you're arrogant, you refuse to lower yourself to working with the team. When you're depressed, you sap the emotions of everyone in the vicinity; and when you're afraid, you are of no use to anyone."

Devon nodded, depressed. "So I can't really function as part of a team." The real implications began to hit him. "And probably not in normal society... Oh…god…" He was on the verge of breaking down. His knees hit the floor as he collapsed, shaking to keep in the tears.

The Professor looked at him. "I have taken the liberty of lining your room with Adamantium, as well as blocking it psychically so that you don't absorb your fellow students' emotions unintentionally. In addition, I have a plan as to controlling our powers. You have to…" Here he trailed off, as if what he was saying was physically painful. "You have to contain your emotions; control them, and never show them. What I suggest is one of the most psychologically damaging things a person can do. I contemplated this suggestion for hours. It will be hard, and if left too long, can drive a person to suicide." The Professor sighed. Go ahead to your room, and try to get used to this... I'll let Rogue know to give you the tour when you're ready."

Devon nodded, unable to speak. He left, still choking on the Professor's words, and made his way to his room, where he felt the Prof.'s mental handhold release and he lost himself in depression.

Mike woke up slowly, to see a blue woman standing over him… he nodded, wondering how much he'd had to drink… then he remembered. He was a mutant. A freak… of course, he could really care less about that. He grinned. This was an advantage, and he knew it…

But back to the situation at hand, he had a blue woman standing above him. "Who in hell are you?"

She glared at him. "I have just rescued you from an anti-mutant mob, so show a little courtesy, please."

"How?"

"Do they honestly teach so little about manners these days?"

"Not how show courtesy, dang it! how rescue?!"

Mystique chuckled. "I merely changed shpe to look like you so that they chased me instead. Then I changed again to blent with the crowd." She shifted a couple times to demonstrate.

"Thank you for the rescue. Now, would you please tell me who the hell you are? Note the use of the word please."

She sneered. "Humor is obviously not your talent. Now, I represent a group called the Brotherhood of Mutants. We are a group fighting for our rights as mutants. You are a mutant, and records at your school show that you have a few qualities which I like in those under me."

"Which are?"

"You don't like rules. You do what's best for yourself. You can work with others without losing those things. You would fit well on my team."

Mike nodded, and got up, not having a reason to stay. By the time he would've gotten home, his parents would've learned of his powers, and would've thrown him out anyway. "So where are we headed?"

"A small town called Bayville."

Piotr Rasputin watched the TV at Magneto's lair, and caught a glimpse of the news as he was flipping channels. That looked like someplace he knew! He turned the channel back, and watched, horrified, as the newscaster revealed the utter destruction of a town near the farm he had grown up on.

"Hundreds of people have died, seemingly for no reason, almost as if the life has been drained out of them. Apparently the outlying farms were unharmed. In other news…"

He sighed with relief… then sat up with a jolt of shock. Life drained out? Could he still be… but no, surely his friend Arkady had died in service of Russia…