Okay, I know the story has been oddly paced so far, but once I get into the underground scenes, I promise it'll become as normal as you can expect from me.
Gremblin: You are such a faithful reviewer! Hugs to you! By the way, how do you manage to get sticky-tak in your hair?
Kimi Kada: So far I've just been setting up the plot for the story. It's gonna get better, though.
Ed's Tomato: I'll still attack you with sticky-tak if you don't start UPDATING. NOW UPDATE!
Riye Link Reue: Well I know that a lot of people living near Hiroshima and Nagasaki were mutated, so, being the obsessive freak I am, I though "MUTATED! MUTATED LIKE TOAD!"
Crystalwish: I love him too! Hey, wanna help me kidnap Toad? Well, Ray Park, but CLOSE ENOUGH!
Solita: Well he'll still be working in the underground. I couldn't have him completely straight with the law, now could I?
DJ Atomica: Thanks for reviewing! I'm gonna give you reviewing lessons, k? You're supposed to either tell me how horrible my story is or start rambling about how sexy Mort is. Or is it just us crazies that do that? Oh well! Thanks!
To the storyyyyy!
Chapter 4:
The image in the mirror brought Mort back five years. A black belt sashed around his waist, white cloth pants, and sweat bands on each wrist. He normally would have to train with his shirt on to hide his skin pigment, but Hiroshi insisted that all of his pupils were mutants and therefore wouldn't care. (A.N.: Again, just a ploy to have him shirtless. That six pack is so damn irresistible!)
Once he had joined Magneto, all of his training was combat-style in the Brotherhood's Danger Room. The year before that, he was on the streets, and too sickly and weak to train even if he had a place to do so. No, not since the orphanage had he worn real a real karate uniform. He cracked his neck, and headed into the main room.
"My first class will be arriving shortly, Mort- younger children. They're just getting into the basics." Hiroshi motioned to a pile of pads and re-breakable boards. (A.N. They're nice, but they just don't give the satisfaction of real wood.) He unlocked the front door. "Oh, and Mort," the little man added, "Try to be pleasant."
Mort decided right away that he liked this job. The kids were... adorable! There were a few with physical mutations, but for the most part the little ones still had no clue what their abilities would be. They ranged in age from an extremely good-humored two-year-old boy to a six-year-old girl with black scales down her arms and legs.
The youngest was one of the green man's favorites. He was helping him as they practiced with round kicks. He sat there, holding up a pad for him to aim at, but the little guy couldn't seem to keep his balance. He picked up his leg, aimed, kicked, and spun around to the floor. A fit of giggles hit him before he even hit the ground.
For mutants, all of the children looked exceptionably happy. This, Mortimer supposed, was because they were all accepted in this society. How nice that there was still somewhere in this world that children could walk through walls without being shunned.
He worked for a while with one child who had, though still underdeveloped, huge feathery wings sprouting from her shoulder blades. This made it exceptionally hard for them to do some of the back-punches, so Mort took her aside and they came up with new backwards attacks for her using her wings.
The whole experience that day was enough to regrow the mutant's faith in society.
l-l-l-
It was seven o'clock when the fourth group of students filed out for the day. Mort slumped down onto the ground. He hadn't had a more rewarding day in his entire life.
"Now's the fun part," assured Hiroshi. Mort lifted a weary eyebrow. That wasn't fun? "Come on." The little man jerked his head towards the back of the dojo. He unlocked and opened a door that his assistant had taken for a closet door, and started down the steps that it revealed. The Underground.
"Now," continued the dojo master as he and Mort descended into the basement, "The Underground isn't all about lending beds to mutants in need. We also train young mutants so that they may be accepted into larger organizations, or perhaps continue on working in the Underground. Around seven thirty, we teach my favorite class." He glowed with light to allow the new inductee to see the training area below. "The teenagers."
The basement was a Danger Room. Much lower tech than the Brotherhood's, but it was distinguishable right away. Mort rushed down to examine the equipment.
"I see you are familiar with Danger Rooms?" mused Hiroshi.
"I built the one at the Brotherhood," supplied the busy-handed young man.
"Then I suppose you'll want to upgrade ours?" the other chuckled, watching as Mort had already begun tweaking wires and such.
Mort looked up suddenly. "You don't mind, do you?"
Hiroshi shook his head amusedly, and started setting up for the next lesson. "We currently have seven young mutants," he informed.
When the first of the students walked in, Mort could find no immediate signals of mutation. "Hiroshi-sensei?" called the boy.
"Ah! Roka-kun!" called out Hiroshi, "Irasshai! (Welcome) I want you to meet my new assistant, Mort-sensei. His field name is Toad."
The child extended a hand. "I am Roka. They also call me futtou- boiling."
Taking his hand, the older mutant asked, "An' why would they call you tha'?" A sharp pain engulfed the green fingers as he jerked them away from Roka's steaming hand. "I see. Oh, and please don' call me sensei. Japanese name denotations never did make sense to me. Do you mind if I jus' call you Roka? I'm bound to forget anyways..."
In a matter of minutes, two girls entered the basement. The second was Japanese, but the first had skin of deep mocha. "Master Hiroshi!" called the first. The pair clomped down the stairs, and the girl then turned to Mort. "Oh, and who are you? Has Master Hiroshi taken you in?"
"In a manner of speaking," he returned, "I'm your new assistant trainer. Name's Mort, code-name Toad."
"Janet," she said confidently, "Code-named Spike."
"An' I'm sure I can guess why," he said, noting the spikes that erupted from her lower arms, "And who are you?" He looked at the shy, haunting looking girl who seemed to hide behind her friend. Her eyes showed such... fear. She remained silent.
"That would be Toshi," said Hiroshi reappearing from a storage room, "She can't speak. Well, she can-she understands English well enough-, but... it's no good. Her field name is Kinen. Memory. When she speaks, people relive their strongest- and usually most painful- memories. Such a burden she carries, isn't that right, Toshi? She has to see them all." The girl gave a tentative nod before signing something to Janet.
"She says that it's nice to meet you, Mort."
"Nice to meet you too, Toshi." There was something about that girl. She had seen the darkest demons to be passed. The pain of memories.
Mort tore his eyes away to see the next three coming in. Two more Japanese boys, and a Hispanic girl.
"Youkoso! (Nice to see you!) Children, come meet my new assistant, Mort. He does not wish to bother with Japanese name denotations, which is understandable, ne? Yes," he led foreword one of the boys who was exceptionably short. "This is Raidon-kun, or Toonari-kun, thunder." The eccentric little man pushed the boy away as soon as he'd stepped foreword. The next boy he pulled foreword the next boy who was incredibly well built for someone his age. "Kentaro-kun is also known as Assaiki, or crusher." Mort was rather afraid that the boy might crush him. The girl was pulled foreword next. "Alejandra is Shift, our new teleporter." The young woman fazed out, and reappeared farther back. "And I should think her brother is somewhere around here... Philippe! Come on, now!" This confused the new guy a bit. He squinted his yellow eyes to see if maybe he just hadn't looked hard enough...?
"I told you," said a voice from the bottom of the stairs, a ways off, "to call me Phil." The boy apparated from the spot where the voice had been. His skin was entirely a dullish silver. Mort's heart went out to the boy- he knew what it was like to have an obvious mutation. The angst poured out of his young eyes. "So you're the new guy," he said resentfully, "You sick or something?" He snorted, and Mort attempted to stand taller. He failed. The colorless boy glared at him in challenge. "I'm Silver."
Anyone who can keep the Japanese names straight is my hero. I'll have a little note of all the obscure names at the beginning from now on. Review so I don't have to run you over with emus!