The Young and the Hopeless
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Chapter Three: Grow Up? No Way!
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Tarashi Mino stared up at the large dome building in front of her. She had slowed to a walking pace instead of the slight jog the others in front of her had been going at.
"Yo, Tara! Come on, hurry!" A tall boy with wavy brown hair and glowing teal eyes called from ahead.
"Coming, Adrian!" Tarashi called, quickly catching up with the others.
A girl tapped Tarashi on the shoulder. "Yes?"
"Don't zone out like that when you're talkin' to Mags. He'll get pissed." She told her.
"Oh, thanks, Rio." Tarashi replied.
"You're welcome. You seem to have better manners than those two." Rio motioned to Adrian and another girl. "So I think we'll hang out together, good?"
"Um..." Tarashi gave Rio an unsure glance. "O-okay."
"Good." Rio smiled. Suddenly, the long hallway they had been walking down ended at two split doors.
The other girl grabbed Adrian's arm, which he desperately tried to shake off. Unfortunately, she didn't budge.
"Rizu, get off his arm!" Rio scolded her.
"I HATE this place! Can't we leave?" The girl pleaded.
"No. We came all the way here in the rain and I am not going to just turn away and leave! Besides, I thought you were supposed to be the brave one!" Rio said.
"Well, yeah, but I just don't like this place, okay? Can we just go?" Rizu pleaded once more.
"NO. I thought we went through this already. I bring you and Tara here," Rio patted Tarashi on the back. "To see Mags and you talk to him, blah, blah, blah. He possibly lets you on the team if you don't piss him off, and we're all happy, see?" Rio snapped.
"Fine." Rizu mumbled.
They finally reached the large metal door and Adrian stepped up and knocked.
"Come in." A voice boomed from inside.
Rizu was shivering uncontrollably and trying to grip Adrian's arm. He simply moved away.
Tarashi stared up at the tall man in front of her. "You are Magneto, are you not?" She asked.
"Yes, I am. You must be Tarashi Mino. And Rizu Kazuka." Magneto said.
"Correct." Tarashi bowed slightly, then straightened back up.
Rizu did now bow. "So you're the great Magneto?" She asked, unimpressed.
"Yes." He nodded.
"So you're the bad guy?"
He glared. "I don't think I'm going to favor you much." He grumbled.
She held up her hands. "Hey, just wondering."
"Where did you hear this slander?" He asked.
"Oh, I was eavesdropping on some couple walking in the park on the way here." Rizu smiled. "They said something about 'mutant scum' and some shit like that."
"And what did you do, then?" Magneto was getting impatient.
"Oh, that? I made sure that they wouldn't talk about it anymore."
"How?" He wondered aloud.
"I took away a little sanity is all." Rizu shrugged.
Tarashi glanced over to where the others had been. Had they left them here on purpose?
Noticing her look, Magneto took it upon himself to explain. "The others have gone to their rooms. Once done with their tasks they may do as they wish. Have you chosen code names?"
The girls nodded. "The others chose them." Rizu told him when she saw the confused look on his face. "I'm Flash and that's Chiisai hane." Rizu said, pointing to Tarashi.
"Good. I'll have Rae show you to your rooms." Magneto waved his hand to the side and another door opened, revealing a girl standing there with black hair and shining golden eyes. She wore black jeans, a long black trench coat and a dark blue shirt.
"Come on, this way." She said, motioning them to follow.
Once they were a good ways down the hall, the girl in front of them slowed down. "I'm Rae. And you?"
"I'm Rizu." Rizu said with a broad smile. "You know, this place isn't as creepy as I thought it would be!"
"You didn't have that attitude when Adrian was here. You grabbed his arm tight." Tarashi pointed out quietly.
Rae let out a little chuckle as Rizu stomped on fuming.
As the two girls went to catch up with Rizu, Rae asked, "So, what's your name?"
"Tarashi Mino." She replied quietly. "I hope Rizu is not too angry." She added after a moment.
"Oh, don't you worry, honey. I'm sure she'll get over it. When there are so few girls around, you have to be forgiving." Rae told her.
"How many people are there here, Rae?" Tarashi asked.
"Oh, only a few. Let's see..." Rae began ticking off on her fingers every time she said a name. "Well, there's Piotr, but he's older than most of us, and he's so quiet he won't even talk at dinner. Then there's John. He's Pyro in battle and, as you've probably guessed, likes fire." She laughed. "Last time we left him alone in a room for five minutes he set the table cloth and the curtains on fire. Next would be...Oh."
"What?" Tarashi asked, confused.
"We're at the Rec room already. You'll get to meet everyone." Rae told her, opening the door and ushering her in.
Looking around the large beige room, Tarashi noticed that Rizu wasn't there. She gave a glance to where Rae was standing. The other girl smiled.
"I wonder if that Rizu girl got lost." She said innocently. "Hope not."
Around the room there were few people, so when Rae started to go off talking to them, Tarashi pretended she wasn't there.
"Tara!" Tarashi looked up when she heard her name. It was Rio, sitting with a group of boys. Adrian was sitting next to her on the mesh carpet, while the other two were sitting on the couch across from them. Tarashi noted that one of them was playing with a lighter and another was shuffling cards.
"Come here!" Rio called. Tarashi nodded dumbly and walked stiffly towards the group.
Rio laughed when she saw the look on Tarashi's face. "It's okay, they don't bite."
"It's not that..." Tarashi mumbled. Her eyes suddenly felt hot. 'Oh, mama, papa, Sueng. I wish you were here.' She thought sadly.
"Hey, guys! Stop daydreaming and meet the new meat!" Rio said, picking up a cracker from the bowl on the table and throwing it at the boy with the lighter.
He caught it and instantly set it on fire.
Rio groaned as Rae walked up. "Pyro! Not again!" Rio said.
The cracker that had combusted disappeared in a poof of smoke. The boy with the lighter just smiled.
The guy with the cards merely looked up and grinned. "New meat, eh?"
Rae rolled her eyes. "Yeah, Remy, new meat."
His grin became wider. Rae grabbed a handful of crackers and shoved them in his mouth. "Don't say anything, Cajun."
Rio laughed. "Well, you know most of us, I guess. The guy with the lighter is Pyro, and the guy with crackers getting shoved down his throat is Remy."
Tarashi nodded. 'O-okay...'
Rio looked past Tarashi and pointed to the pool table. "Over there's Pietro. He's Mag's son. Oh, and there's that girl. Rizu, right? And that guy sitting on that easy chair is Piotr. You can call him Peter if you can't say his name right."
"Alright." Tarashi looked down at her shoes. 'Why do I suddenly feel so shy?' She wondered. 'I'm NEVER shy.'
"YO! LET'S GO CRASH THE MALL!" Rizu cried, glomping Pietro, who gagged.
"Well, Mags said that we're done for the day...what do you say, Tara?" Rio asked.
"Um...sure."
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---=--- End Chapter ---=---(I know, it's short, but it's only introducing characters!)
A note here:
THE FIRST THREE CHAPTERS WERE ALL FOR JUST INTRODUCING CHARACTERS OKAY, WHICH MEANS THAT THEY WERE ALL THE SAME DAY! YOU NEED TO TAKE THIS INTO ACCOUNT! THIS MEANS THAT THE BROTHER- EXCUSE ME, SISTERHOOD AND ACOLYTES ARE ALL GOING TO THE MALL THE NEXT DAY! UNLESS I PUT UP SOMETHING THAT SAYS, "IT'S THE NEXT DAY" ALL THE CHAPTERS ARE JUST HAVING TAKEN PLACE IN DIFFERENT PLACES, OKAY? OKAY!