WHEN I LOOK IN THE MIRROR
Ray
Ray was putting the finishing touches on his hair with the gel he liked to use while making it stick up like that. He looked in the mirror and for the first time actually liked what he saw.
For the longest time he never really liked to see his reflection before. Mainly due to the bruises. His father and mother weren't what you called 'caring' parents. His father was a drunk who like to hit people mainly him. His mother was just as bad with the drinking, but she never hit him.
No she usually just said things like how he was the biggest mistake in her life, and how worthless he was. He wasn't sure what had hurt more the physical blows or the emotional ones.
For years he suffered though it. Mainly the bruises were on the body but a few times he got the occasional black eye or bruised jaw. He just said he fell a lot or was in an accident whenever others asked about it. He had nowhere else to go, his parents were the only family he knew.
He knew it also could have been worse, he heard what some other kids had gone through, but he still didn't enjoy his life. Then one day when his father in one of his drunken rages was about it hit him it happened.
His electric powers manifested. He gave his father a good jolt that sent him back onto the floor. His mother had seen it and she had screamed and went to her husband. She kept yelling things at him like monster and freak. He knew if he stayed things would get only worse from then on in.
He ran out of the house with only the clothes on his back. He traveled awhile on the streets, luckily he had already lived in Bayville. When a few homeless guys had started giving him trouble he had zapped them, and soon he was on the run from other homeless people now.
He lost them when he went into the sewers and was lucky enough to have been found by the Morlocks. It took some getting used to, living in the sewers and all but he made it. The others were real nice to him and he felt safe for the first time in his life. But he missed the topside.
In fact because he looked so normal he was able to go topside anytime and help out by scrounging up there and going to whatever store would let them in, considering they had been wearing clothing that was old and mostly unwashed most of the time.
It was a hard life but one in which he didn't worry about being abused again. Then one day Logan had found him. Apparently Ray's powers had triggered Cerebro and Logan was sent out to find him.
Logan said it took a few days but he eventually found Ray. He remembered meeting the burley Canadian in an ally, Ray had thought Logan was just one of those guys that really hates the homeless and liked to rough them up.
Well Ray attacked first, which was his first and last mistake. Logan had taken him out easily enough, and when he saw those claws of his he was both terrified and amazed that there was someone different like him in the world.
Logan had told him he wasn't there to fight but to help him. He told him about mutants and that there was a safe place for him to go. He hated to leave the Morlocks, they had taken him in, but he needed a better life then they could offer him. So without looking back he left with Logan.
It was a decision he had never regretted, and he knew he never would. Here at the Institute he had friends, and the adults took care of him. Hell they were better parental figures then his real parents ever could be.
His life had been a hard one, but now he had hope for the first time in his life that his life was going to be okay. He had a real home, friends, and a sense of family he never had before.
This place was his true and only home.
Ray
Ray was putting the finishing touches on his hair with the gel he liked to use while making it stick up like that. He looked in the mirror and for the first time actually liked what he saw.
For the longest time he never really liked to see his reflection before. Mainly due to the bruises. His father and mother weren't what you called 'caring' parents. His father was a drunk who like to hit people mainly him. His mother was just as bad with the drinking, but she never hit him.
No she usually just said things like how he was the biggest mistake in her life, and how worthless he was. He wasn't sure what had hurt more the physical blows or the emotional ones.
For years he suffered though it. Mainly the bruises were on the body but a few times he got the occasional black eye or bruised jaw. He just said he fell a lot or was in an accident whenever others asked about it. He had nowhere else to go, his parents were the only family he knew.
He knew it also could have been worse, he heard what some other kids had gone through, but he still didn't enjoy his life. Then one day when his father in one of his drunken rages was about it hit him it happened.
His electric powers manifested. He gave his father a good jolt that sent him back onto the floor. His mother had seen it and she had screamed and went to her husband. She kept yelling things at him like monster and freak. He knew if he stayed things would get only worse from then on in.
He ran out of the house with only the clothes on his back. He traveled awhile on the streets, luckily he had already lived in Bayville. When a few homeless guys had started giving him trouble he had zapped them, and soon he was on the run from other homeless people now.
He lost them when he went into the sewers and was lucky enough to have been found by the Morlocks. It took some getting used to, living in the sewers and all but he made it. The others were real nice to him and he felt safe for the first time in his life. But he missed the topside.
In fact because he looked so normal he was able to go topside anytime and help out by scrounging up there and going to whatever store would let them in, considering they had been wearing clothing that was old and mostly unwashed most of the time.
It was a hard life but one in which he didn't worry about being abused again. Then one day Logan had found him. Apparently Ray's powers had triggered Cerebro and Logan was sent out to find him.
Logan said it took a few days but he eventually found Ray. He remembered meeting the burley Canadian in an ally, Ray had thought Logan was just one of those guys that really hates the homeless and liked to rough them up.
Well Ray attacked first, which was his first and last mistake. Logan had taken him out easily enough, and when he saw those claws of his he was both terrified and amazed that there was someone different like him in the world.
Logan had told him he wasn't there to fight but to help him. He told him about mutants and that there was a safe place for him to go. He hated to leave the Morlocks, they had taken him in, but he needed a better life then they could offer him. So without looking back he left with Logan.
It was a decision he had never regretted, and he knew he never would. Here at the Institute he had friends, and the adults took care of him. Hell they were better parental figures then his real parents ever could be.
His life had been a hard one, but now he had hope for the first time in his life that his life was going to be okay. He had a real home, friends, and a sense of family he never had before.
This place was his true and only home.