One day, a group of mutants with legitimate ailments arrived. I saw four of them at a distance too far to make out their physical characteristics, except that they were dressed in bizarre black uniforms. Three headed off to a different room, followed by Dr. Ray, while one changed went behind a screen, came out in hospital pajamas, and wearily shambled over to the bed next to mine. He dropped what looked like remains of a black leather outfit to the ground, along with a pair of singed black gloves.
The boy looked to be about my age, with light hair and skin, pale blue eyes, and a mass of burns. His posture and closed eyes showed massive exhaustion, and he didn't say a word or move for several minutes. Then he muttered, "First mission, and I already ruined my uniform. Stupid Pyro." To my astonishment, he passed one hand over the more horrendous wounds, and thin sheets of ice covered them and promptly melted. He then made ice materialize on some nasty purple bruises, whispering, "Ahhh...." He opened his eyes. "Oh," he greeted me weakly, "hi. I've heard of you." His voice had a trace of Boston in it, softening and slurring the 'r' in 'heard'.
"Is that a good thing or not?"
"Well, your sister's pretty well known..."
"She's not my sister."
He shook his head slowly, closing his eyes once more. "You're a lot like my brother, Ronny. When he found out that I was a mutant, he called the cops."
I wasn't sure what to say or think. On the one hand, I probably would have done the same. Yet, coming from the other side, it sounded pretty unfair to betray a brother like that. "What's your name?" I asked, to hide my inner conflict.
"Bobby Drake; they call me Iceman, though."
Dr. Ray coming to examine Iceman interrupted us. "No internal damage," she pronounced after one of her x-ray looks. "Don't apply any more ice to the burns. Too much will damage your tissues, though it was a good first-aid measure. Did you do the same for the teachers?"
"Yeah," he answered. "Will they be okay?"
"Of course. I won't let anything happen to them or you. You will be ready for the graduation ceremony next week, don't worry about that. You might have to wear bandages for the Senior Prom, though." He made a face, and she laughed. "Oh, don't you know that the 'surgery patient' look is in?" she joked, making him smile as if he was too tired to do more. "Use the burn salve whenever they start hurting again, and get plenty of sleep. Don't worry about anything, just rest, and have a drink if you get thirsty. I've put a bottle of water here, and I'll check on you in an hour or two, Bobby." She left.
Though astonished at the friendliness that the two mutants showed to one another, I asked him, "How did that happen?"
"How did what happen, the burns? We had a bit of a battle with the Brotherhood." Seeing my blank look, he continued quietly, "There is a group of mutants that believes that everyone who isn't a mutant will never be able to accept us and that we'll always be hated, feared, and persecuted. They call themselves the Brotherhood. There were more, once, but some died or went to prison. There are only three now, but they're all really powerful. The leader, Magneto, keeps coming up with grandiose, comic-book- bad-guy type plots to make mutants rule the earth, most of which involve wiping out everyone else. Professor Xavier used to be a friend of his, but he believes that other people can be convinced to change their minds about us. There are many people in the world who aren't mutants, yet don't hate mutants, but they're less common than the people who would like to see us all locked up. The Professor set this school up with his own money, which he inherited, to teach mutant teens to control their powers, let them get an education, stay protected from other people, and eventually have us fight Magneto's group once we're old enough, if our powers would be helpful."
"Wait a minute. This sounds like some super-hero story or something. You're asking me to believe this?"
"Would another explanation fit?"
"Well...you could all be those mutant terrorists on the news."
Iceman sighed despairingly. "That's the whole problem. If we fail anything, then the Brotherhood's actions go on the news and people blame ALL of us. But if we succeed, and save all you guys from extermination, then nobody hears about it, and everyone sighs in relief that "the mutant problem" is quiet for now. The problem is that people don't hear the whole story." He closed his eyes again and rolled away from me. "Believe what you want. I just want to sleep." Then, he said meditatively, more to himself then to me, "I don't blame John much anymore, though. Normies have hardly given us a reason to fight for them. But Professor X is a forgiving man." The only thing I heard from him afterwards was a quiet snore.
I sat staring into space for a while, pondering the new information. When Dr. Ray came back, I asked her, "Do you happen to have a student here named Crystal Norman?" My voice was shaking, for I had been too afraid to ask that question before.
"No," answered X-Ray. She didn't ask for the reason of my inquiry, which I was deeply grateful for.
"Well, could you please tell Spirit that...she can come talk to me...if she wants." There was a pause. "And...her friend Spy can come too, if she's not too mad at me."
Dr. Ray smiled. "She'll be happy to know you're thawing."
"I'm not thawing, I just want to ask her a few things. Tell her that I still don't for a moment admit any connection between us. I don't at all." Thawed by an Iceman, I thought. What a weird idea, I mean, it's a total oxymoron.
Yet I couldn't help remembering...Why can't I free your doubtful mind, and melt your cold, cold heart? Those words were starting to haunt me now. My brain told me to stay away from these people, but the song was digging claws into my heart. I griped for a while that not only had my life been turned upside down, my judgment seemed to also be going crazy. There was nothing I could do now, though, except open my ears to someone who waited patiently to get in. It was difficult to stay scared of a little girl who left me alone if I asked her to. My view of the school now was that they were trying to convert me into being one of those pro-mutant activists, which I refused to do. I firmly resolved to not let them change me. Disturbingly, however, I had an uneasy feeling that I was too late, and that, with the new perspective that the other boy (my thoughts called him a boy instead of a freak or mutant, I realized) had given me, the changes were already beginning...
The boy looked to be about my age, with light hair and skin, pale blue eyes, and a mass of burns. His posture and closed eyes showed massive exhaustion, and he didn't say a word or move for several minutes. Then he muttered, "First mission, and I already ruined my uniform. Stupid Pyro." To my astonishment, he passed one hand over the more horrendous wounds, and thin sheets of ice covered them and promptly melted. He then made ice materialize on some nasty purple bruises, whispering, "Ahhh...." He opened his eyes. "Oh," he greeted me weakly, "hi. I've heard of you." His voice had a trace of Boston in it, softening and slurring the 'r' in 'heard'.
"Is that a good thing or not?"
"Well, your sister's pretty well known..."
"She's not my sister."
He shook his head slowly, closing his eyes once more. "You're a lot like my brother, Ronny. When he found out that I was a mutant, he called the cops."
I wasn't sure what to say or think. On the one hand, I probably would have done the same. Yet, coming from the other side, it sounded pretty unfair to betray a brother like that. "What's your name?" I asked, to hide my inner conflict.
"Bobby Drake; they call me Iceman, though."
Dr. Ray coming to examine Iceman interrupted us. "No internal damage," she pronounced after one of her x-ray looks. "Don't apply any more ice to the burns. Too much will damage your tissues, though it was a good first-aid measure. Did you do the same for the teachers?"
"Yeah," he answered. "Will they be okay?"
"Of course. I won't let anything happen to them or you. You will be ready for the graduation ceremony next week, don't worry about that. You might have to wear bandages for the Senior Prom, though." He made a face, and she laughed. "Oh, don't you know that the 'surgery patient' look is in?" she joked, making him smile as if he was too tired to do more. "Use the burn salve whenever they start hurting again, and get plenty of sleep. Don't worry about anything, just rest, and have a drink if you get thirsty. I've put a bottle of water here, and I'll check on you in an hour or two, Bobby." She left.
Though astonished at the friendliness that the two mutants showed to one another, I asked him, "How did that happen?"
"How did what happen, the burns? We had a bit of a battle with the Brotherhood." Seeing my blank look, he continued quietly, "There is a group of mutants that believes that everyone who isn't a mutant will never be able to accept us and that we'll always be hated, feared, and persecuted. They call themselves the Brotherhood. There were more, once, but some died or went to prison. There are only three now, but they're all really powerful. The leader, Magneto, keeps coming up with grandiose, comic-book- bad-guy type plots to make mutants rule the earth, most of which involve wiping out everyone else. Professor Xavier used to be a friend of his, but he believes that other people can be convinced to change their minds about us. There are many people in the world who aren't mutants, yet don't hate mutants, but they're less common than the people who would like to see us all locked up. The Professor set this school up with his own money, which he inherited, to teach mutant teens to control their powers, let them get an education, stay protected from other people, and eventually have us fight Magneto's group once we're old enough, if our powers would be helpful."
"Wait a minute. This sounds like some super-hero story or something. You're asking me to believe this?"
"Would another explanation fit?"
"Well...you could all be those mutant terrorists on the news."
Iceman sighed despairingly. "That's the whole problem. If we fail anything, then the Brotherhood's actions go on the news and people blame ALL of us. But if we succeed, and save all you guys from extermination, then nobody hears about it, and everyone sighs in relief that "the mutant problem" is quiet for now. The problem is that people don't hear the whole story." He closed his eyes again and rolled away from me. "Believe what you want. I just want to sleep." Then, he said meditatively, more to himself then to me, "I don't blame John much anymore, though. Normies have hardly given us a reason to fight for them. But Professor X is a forgiving man." The only thing I heard from him afterwards was a quiet snore.
I sat staring into space for a while, pondering the new information. When Dr. Ray came back, I asked her, "Do you happen to have a student here named Crystal Norman?" My voice was shaking, for I had been too afraid to ask that question before.
"No," answered X-Ray. She didn't ask for the reason of my inquiry, which I was deeply grateful for.
"Well, could you please tell Spirit that...she can come talk to me...if she wants." There was a pause. "And...her friend Spy can come too, if she's not too mad at me."
Dr. Ray smiled. "She'll be happy to know you're thawing."
"I'm not thawing, I just want to ask her a few things. Tell her that I still don't for a moment admit any connection between us. I don't at all." Thawed by an Iceman, I thought. What a weird idea, I mean, it's a total oxymoron.
Yet I couldn't help remembering...Why can't I free your doubtful mind, and melt your cold, cold heart? Those words were starting to haunt me now. My brain told me to stay away from these people, but the song was digging claws into my heart. I griped for a while that not only had my life been turned upside down, my judgment seemed to also be going crazy. There was nothing I could do now, though, except open my ears to someone who waited patiently to get in. It was difficult to stay scared of a little girl who left me alone if I asked her to. My view of the school now was that they were trying to convert me into being one of those pro-mutant activists, which I refused to do. I firmly resolved to not let them change me. Disturbingly, however, I had an uneasy feeling that I was too late, and that, with the new perspective that the other boy (my thoughts called him a boy instead of a freak or mutant, I realized) had given me, the changes were already beginning...