I'm back with this fic's newest and latest chapter addition. So far this fic has gone fairly smoothly and I hope it will run smoother in the future, considering I keep it that way! The plot is thickening and the second half of meeting the X-Men face to face is underway!
Chapter 7
Encounter with the X-Men, Part 2
If anyone would say how he or she saw this recruitment mission, the first most likely response would be it was not starting off on the right foot. And to be honest, that was probably putting it mildly.
Scott Summers was wondering just how much trouble it was going to be to get through to this new guy. He had remembered Professor Xavier telling him and the rest of those with him that he was not a person who trusted others as easily as he could, and on top of that, he had a rather volatile temperament if he felt threatened or was angered enough. Scott Summers was no stranger to dealing with people with rather explosive defensive instincts, nor was he inexperienced in fighting opponents with considerable abilities in their possession. But right now in this chase, which seemed to be the combination of several different recruiting scenarios, Scott's instincts were uncertain with him, a condition that was a rarity with the young deputy leader.
As the X-Men struggled to climb to their feet, they saw their target running away from them toward a passageway between what appeared to be a warehouse and a small factory building. This new mutant was obviously in good shape. And considering the fact that his body was a living mutant energy dynamo that knew instinctively when to generate energy of a certain type to fit the conditions, it was possible that he could run pretty quickly for a fairly long time without tiring, not with super speed like the Brotherhood's Quicksilver, but still fairly fast. But then again, the X-Men engaged in regular intensive exercise themselves, and that would help even the odds.
The area around them was a battlefield, in a literal sense. The small storage shed near the middle of the large loading dock had been destroyed by Simon's plasma attack, leaving a flaming foundation that bore only the most superficial resemblance to anything that was part of a building. The three stacks of crates that had been near the shed were in no better condition. Most of them had been completely incinerated by the intense thermal properties of the plasma energy. Those that had not been vaporized by the heat itself were now in splintered fragments of all sizes that were burning themselves and covered the concrete pavement like black snowflakes, small fires dotting the dock. And on the side of all the fire and rubble that Simon had produced by his plasma beam, there was a pulverized section of pavement over two feet wide created by his force blast and blackened areas where his electrical bolts had scorched the stone, leaving charred impact scars.
The X-Men ran through the flaming wreckage around them, waving aside clouds of smoke that were billowing from the burning crates. Their Danger Room training was coming in handy right now. One of the major things that were needed in a battle was to be able to get back on your feet as quickly as possible, even in the wake of a rather impacting attack. Simon's last attack on the team had left them off guard and somewhat disoriented, for they hadn't expected Simon to use such a powerful blast like that on them. But all this considered, they had shook off their surprise and confusion and were now up and running like that had done so many times in the past.
The smoke and ashy atmosphere suddenly cleared as the X-Men were leaving the loading dock as they went off after the new mutant. The chase so far had been fairly easy going, for it had only been looking for their latest target. But now the genie was out of the bottle and the engines of adrenaline for both parties were in overdrive. Neither side had been aware of what their opponents were capable of, nor had they anticipated how they would react to the actions and defensive measures of the other. But right now, it was obvious each party was willing to dish out anything to win the struggle. In Simon Valley's case however, that would probably prove to be destructive in a big way.
Scott and Logan were in the lead of the X-Men, while Jean and Kurt were close behind. Kitty, Rogue and Evan were bringing up the rear nice and quickly. Their target had gotten a fair distance from by now, but with Logan's sense of smell and hearing, Jean's telepathy, and Kurt's night-vision, there was more than a fair chance that they could track Simon down, no matter where he ran or where he hid. The next part would then be talking to him and assuring them they were here to help. That was not going to be easy with the way Simon had reacted to them, but they would just have to cross the bridge when they came to it.
Metal knives in the hands? Red beams from the eyes? Suddenly appearing out of nowhere in the blink of an eye with a puff of brimstone smoke? The questions were flying through Simon's mind faster than he could process them. The human brain was a remarkable piece of biological circuitry of neurons and brain cells, but it had limits as to how much it could work out. And because Simon was torn between getting as far away from his attackers as possible and trying to make sense of this all at the same time, his mental strength was starting to get overworked, and his mental state was something about him that not even his energy powers could recharge.
He'd been able to keep those strange people at arm's length, but only just. And the reason for that was occupying the greatest portion of Simon's mind. Those teenagers, some his age and some younger, and that big man were on his mind hugely. They had just confronted him and had displayed some abilities that couldn't be human. Human. That was the key word in that sentence. Simon couldn't help but wonder if they were like him in any way. Wait, like him? What did that mean? Why did that mean?
Simon wondered if he really should have fired that beam as an explosive one. Simon had intended to momentarily stun them, knock them off their feet. Well, needless to say, he had succeeded in his intention, but he was starting to second guess the means by which he had. Certainly he didn't need to blow something up like he had done to that small storage building. In addition, he could have gotten the same result by using something less deadly than an explosion. Perhaps he had made a mistake.
No, that was way off. He HAD made a mistake. He could have accidentally killed one or more of them easily if they hadn't dodged out of the way. Kill. That was something he was always trying to avoid when he used his powers to help, kind like when he helped out those two girls in that warehouse just yesterday evening. So why in heaven's name did heuse explosive energy back there? The answer immediately popped up. He'd freaked, been desperate enough to try and get away using whatever he could think of. And he had chosen to use something far too powerful for that simple task without thinking it through. Simon considered himself lucky there, but mostly it was pure error in judgment.
Now that group of teens and man were probably thinking that he had tried to kill them. If they were thinking that, then he was up to his neck in trouble. That was probably the reason they were chasing him to begin with. All Simon had intended was to momentarily stun them, but instead he had exploded a storage shed, left a loading area in flames, and, more than likely, those weird people were pursuing him because of what they though he tired to do.
Mental note to self, he thought as he ran, Never, ever make your energy explosive when people are involved.
The young blond mutant looked over his shoulder at the dock he had just left. The seven figures were already on their feet and giving chase. Simon already knew that he was at several disadvantages. For one thing, it was his one against their seven. He was outnumbered. In addition, from what he had seen, they really knew how to use their powers, or abilities, or whatever in the world they were, while he on the other had, knew only simple stop and shoot and reshape. They had mastery; while he only had skills he had taught himself. And since he was no expert to his weird abilities, it was less that reliable. Judging from his experiences, these folks had good training, the type a person couldn't give to him or herself. Considering those conditions, none of which were in his favor, Simon knew he had to avoid a direct confrontation as best he could. One of the things he had learned from his martial arts instructors was to never be involved in a fight, unless you were certain you could win it. And in his place fight now, Simon wasn't sure of anything. But if there was one thing that he was more uncertain of than anything else, it was emerging from this victorious.
That is, if he ended up in the hand-to-hand confrontation he really wanted to avoid.
Scott and Logan and the others were starting to really pick up speed as Simon Valley continued to make his escape. Of all the recruiting missions they had been on before now, this was clearly one of the most difficult.
"Do you think this dude ever greets people with a simple handshake?" asked Evan as they ran.
"Maybe you can, like, ask him that when we get to him, Evan," said Kitty.
"Yeah, as long as he doesn't go Mutant Super Laser on us," the skateboarding teenager groaned, "He almost barbequed us like hamburgers back there."
"No kidding," said Kurt.
"Come on, people," Scott broke that train of thought, "Let's focus."
Simon was no longer gaining distance from the group. The speed was now equal. They continued following him until the exited the alley that they had run through, coming out into a large open piece of street. This piece of blacktop was as wide as the city streets they had just been driving over while they were in the X-Van. Here, there was little moonlight, for the tall buildings and walls cast dark shadows that blanketed the ground in dark shades. There were also several garbage cans and boxes lines up along the walls, as well as several piles of wooden crates that possibly could have come from the loading area they had just fought in.
The X-Men found themselves at a T-shaped section. There was no straight ahead passage here, only paths that led either to the right or to the left. Having no idea which way to turn, the group started looking both ways at once, hoping to catch a glimpse of the fleeing mutant before he escaped form them once again.
Kurt suddenly saw the dark silhouette of a human hurrying down the path to the right of them, growing smaller with distance. "Zhere!" he exclaimed, pointing to Simon's dark outline.
"I see him!" Kitty responded, pointing as well.
The others didn't say anything, just took off after Simon. They were still contemplating on how they would speak to Simon when they caught up to him when they all saw the young man swerve his upper so that he was looking at them as he ran. Simon's eyes were once again filled with bright blue energy, his left arm transforming into an appendage of raw power, strange mist-like pulses of blue radiance surrounding the limb.
Simon shot out his arm, which morphed into a brilliant stream of electromagnetic force. The blast spiraled into a sharp powerful beam of blue power as it fired through the air towards his pursuers, casting a hot blue flash throughout the roadway. The X-Men were blinded by the sudden glare of the beam, but they knew well enough that Simon was using his powerful energy abilities to discourage them from pursuing him, but considering all the missions and training sessions they had been through, it was nothing that original. Evan and Kurt immediately sprang to one side, avoiding the beam by several feet. Kitty, however, was still caught off guard by the fierce blue light the beam was giving off.
"Kitty, watch out!" called out Scott.
Kitty heard him well enough over the strange hum and ring of the beam, and instinctively gasped. She then used her powers and phased herself into the blacktop under her feet, disappearing from sight.
The electromagnetic beam passed through the space Kitty had occupied seconds before, but since she was no longer there, it struck only air and kept traveling. It smashed into a brick wall of a building on the left-hand side of the roadway, creating a blinding flash-bang and bathing a large portion of the wall in an unstable electromagnetic charge field. Part of the wall then burst outward and inward simultaneously, disintegrating the bricks and cement that held them together, leaving a large gapping hole in the wall.
"Geez!" Evan commented, as he saw the impact of the beam from where he lay on the street "Why can't this dude just give us a nice hello and be done with it?"
"Why don't ya just ask him when we get him!" Rogue remarked as she pulled her self up as quickly as she could and wiped some gravel off her purple, shoulder-less top.
Farther ahead of the group, Simon Valley continued to make his escape from them. The blond-haired teenager was still running fast, and was showing no real signs of tiring. And if the past few minutes were anything to go by, he wasn't going to tire anytime soon. Scott Summers figured that Simon's energy powers provided him with higher stamina than the average person, or mutant. And it seemed that his assumptions were indeed correct.
The X-Men saw Simon look back again over his leather jacket-clad shoulder at them. Even though it was dark and his face was a fair distance away from them, the X-Men could see the surprise and frustration in his expression. Apparently, Simon had thought that his beams and blasts could make them think twice about approaching him. And he was slowly learning that he wasn't dealing with average chasers. Simon looked forward again and started to pick up on his foot speed, going faster. As their target was gaining distance from them, the X-Men themselves started to accelerate their velocity.
Running and trying to outpace them simply wasn't working. And honestly, trying to throw a beam or blast their way to give additional road hazards was not of much use either. Simon was a person who liked things to be rather straightforward and planned out ahead of time if they were events involving other people besides himself. But right now, he was playing this by the seat of his pants, something he was not particularly fond of doing, not even when best course of action was provided for him.
Simon suddenly saw another chain link gate up ahead. This one as well, was fastened with a chain. Just like last time. People sure used chains a lot these days. Beyond the door was what appeared to be a stairway leading upwards to some high risen platform. Simon couldn't make out just what exactly was up there, for his was not in his armored state, and lacked the bizarre senses that form granted him. Simon dismissed that thought, for he had no time to stop and transform. If he did, those weird people with the strange powers would see him. Which was less that desirable.
As Simon continued to run towards the door, his eyes filled up with their trademark blue glow, making them featureless with the light and color. The color and light grew brighter as Simon brought his eye blast to a full charge. With a flash, a burst of kinetic force shot out of Simon's eyeballs and struck the doors dead center with the lock and chain in its path. The force pushed the doors backward, shattering the lock and chain in the process and leaving the doors wide open. Simon had long ago discovered that his eye blasts were considerably less powerful than the blasts he could shoot from his hands and arms. That piece of knowledge was really useful because he use relatively small bursts for small tasks like this.
Simon raced through the doors and started to climb the steps that led up the platform above. With any luck, it could provide some cover or hiding spot.
The last glimpse of Simon that the X-Men managed to catch before it vanished into the darkness was the human-shaped shadow image of the teenager hurrying through a chain link door and up a flight of stairs. This chase was starting to change modes, at least that was what it seemed, going from tag and bag to hide and seek. But with their additional abilities, the X-Men were more that able to track this guy down.
"He's heading up those stairs," Scott said to his friends, just in case they did see where Simon was heading. Obviously they had.
The group of mutants quickly hurried up the stairs, retracing Simon's steps as perfectly as could be expected. They wondered what they would find once they reached the top of the stairway. Another long corridor with Simon at the end? A large open spot with plenty of things to hide behind? Or perhaps maybe even Simon Valley standing right in front of them, ready to hit them with nothing short of an all out blast of fire and lightning? Too many possibilities to think about. Leave that for later.
The sight that did greet their eyes once they reached the top of the stairs was something that was sort of surprising and sort of wasn't. First off, they saw no sign of a mutant ready to hit them with an energy blast, nor was there a long narrow corridor right in front of them. What they did find, was something else, and it was nevertheless unsettling in it's own way.
The seven mutants were staring at a large raised concrete platform or loading dock, or whatever was the proper term for it. This platform was overlooking a waterway that led out the wide spread lake and there were docks on both sides of it. The side of the platform immediately near the X-Men was lined with the sides of buildings and large doors as the platform itself was dotted with stacks of crates and wrapped up packages, a single forklift sitting on an open spot. And on the far side of the platform, there was a large drop that led either to the waterway or a lower platform, while docks and boats were on the other side of the water.
The first thing they did once they reached their current position was look over the location to see if there was any movement of any kind, a shadow gliding over ground, an object in motion from external stimuli, or maybe even a living thing in motion. What they saw was stone stillness. As if everything was frozen in time.
"Are you sure he came this way, cause I, like, don't see him anywhere," said Kitty.
Logan's superb hearing head Kitty, but he was focusing too much on what sounds could give a hint of where this kid could be hiding to really pay attention. He couldn't hear footsteps, so the kid was not running anywhere.
"He's here," said Logan, "I can smell him. He's close. Real close."
"So where is he then?" demanded Evan, getting into his old impatient teenager mode once again. If anything, Logan could guess Evan was hoping to use his power of accelerated bone growth on Simon, trap him in a bone spike cage or pin him to a wall like a butterfly. But Evan was too cocky too much of the time, too arrogant. If Porcupine doesn't watch his back, this new kid could do some shootin' of his own, thought Logan.
The former Weapon-X soldier sniffed the air again. He was definitely picking up Simon's scent, which meant two things; Simon was still in reach, and was not in his armored, powered up form. Both good signs and sure indicators they were nearing their target.
"He's close, I can smell him."
Jean, meanwhile, was placing her hands to her temples, trying to sense Simon's brainwave patterns. "He's somewhere on this platform," said Jean, "But I'm having trouble pinpointing his exact location."
"Well, let's keep looking," said Scott, "He must be nearby."
As the conversation was taking place, Rogue was thinking on how things may have turned out differently if she had somehow managed to use her absorption power on Simon. But the possibilities were not very comforting. If she had managed to absorb Simon powers and memories, it was likely to have given her several advantages. For one thing, she could have learned of why he was acting so defensively to them and how he discovered that they were looking for him. And in addition, she could used Simon's own power against him, which more than likely could have given her the advantage making Simon get a taste of what it was like to be on the receiving end of his powers.
But then again, Rogue was glad she hadn't absorbed Simon's powers. Seeing what he had done back there, she could tell Simon's powers were at least, destructive. It really reminded Rogue of seeing Storm use her weather manipulation powers, which were awesome displays of power and natural phenomena. When Rogue had first absorbed Storm, the power of her mutant abilities flowing through her body and energizing her to the core had almost made Rogue pass out from sheer mental and physical exhaustion. If that happened with Storm, there was no telling what would happen if Simon was absorbed instead.
"Maybe he'z trying to ambush uz," said Kurt, "Get uz off guard."
"Hey, no sweat, K-man," said Evan, "The Spike Man will be ready." To prove his point, Evan raised his right arm, the outer part of it lined with needle-sharp bone protrusions with an extra long spine protruding from each of his knuckles. Evan's boastful comment was not really that amusing, but Rogue was more concerned of how this new mutant would react if Evan went bone blaster on him. And so was Kurt.
"Evan, yah gotta put those things away," said Rogue.
Evan looked at Rogue in surprise. "What?"
Kurt jumped in at that moment. "You remember seeing how he reacted to Logan's claws? If he seez you trying to shish kabob him on bone, he may blast you into next Tuezday," Kurt explained. Evan seemed to understand, but he still didn't retract his spikes.
For a brief second, the X-Men merely stood still and waited, wondering when the next sign of this guy would appear. They were thinking of all the possible sings that could present if Simon tired to escape yet again. If anything, he may quietly slip away out from under their noses in an attempt of evasion. But Simon had already unknowlingly given them proof that he couldn't do that. Logan had his scent, and therefore could track him down easily as long as he didn't go armored and shielded his scent by his mutant carapace. But even if he did that, his armor still wouldn't block Jean's telepathy. Simon's head armor didn't function the way Juggernaut's helmet did. As long as Juggernaut had his helmet on, telepathy in any form couldn't get through to his mind. But Jean had already sensed Simon's mind when he was armored, which was evidence that his mind was vulnerable at all times, even when his secondary mutation was active.
As before, there was the eerie silence of total stillness for the X-Men, but they had been in this exact situation before, and had seen some nasty results of what followed. Simon had to be close. As far as their observations went, and Xavier's observations with Cerebro, he didn't have an ability that allowed him to disappear entirely. So he had to be close by.
"Could this guy have, like, teleportation?" asked Kitty, "He's nowhere around here." She looked for any sign of Simon's form, finding nothing.
"I think that if he did, the professor vould have told uz," said Kurt, "I don't remember him telling us he had zhat sort of power."
"He's here as well, Half-pint," said Logan, "I can smell him. So he's not armored up or anything. He's real close."
Kitty took Logan's words into account, but she as still wondering as to where Simon actually was. This dock had plenty of places to keep out of sight; piles of crates and wooden boxes, and not to mention all the shadows and dark spots that corners and walls created that cast dark curtains over large spaces. They were good hiding spots at night. She remembered that Simon had been wearing dark blue jeans, as well as a black leather jacket and black shirt, so he could easily blend into those dark spots.
The silence of the dock continued to stretch longer and longer and still the group saw no trace of movement that could indicate Simon's presence. There was nothing moving. Dead silence all around.
"I'm seriously telling you guys, this is more like a scavenger hunt than a recruiting mission," said Kitty, "I'm starting to get a little freak by all this searching and looking."
"Never one for challenges, eh, Half-pint?" asked Logan, who only smiled at Kitty's statement. Leave it to Logan, the ever-challenge seeking soldier, to find amusement in even the tensest of situations. Challenges were something Logan lived for, regardless of how dangerousthey were. Sometimes, Logan's nerves could be as tough as the adamantium lacing his skeleton, which was very tough indeed.
Things were clearer however for Kurt. Thanks to his night vision granted by his mutant-neomorphic physiology, Kurt was pretty much seeing as well now as in broad daylight. He continued to scan the area for an human form that wasn't in their group. But then, something caught his eye, the shape of a human, of a teenager, hurrying away towards a slight passage at the far end of the dock. And he recognized him at a glance.
"Guys!" exclaimed Kurt, pointing at where Simon was sneaking off to, "Zhere!"
Everyone turned to look. Sure enough, Simon's figure was right there. The blond teenager was trying to quietly sneak away, but realizing that he had been spotted, he immediately made a large break for it.
Evan immediately brought up both his arms, bony spines and horns covering them like the horned bony armor of an Ankylosaur dinosaur.
"I got him!" he announced out loud, and readied to fire a spike.
"Evan, wait!" Scott suddenly signaled his objection. The last thing they wanted was for Simon to think they were trying to hurt him. Since Simon's struggle with Logan earlier with blades, he had shown he had every intention of getting away from them. But if Evan brashly rushed up and fired his spikes, which unfortunately, he was famous for in many situations, then Simon would probably think even worse of them. And if that happened, his desire to join or even listen to them would drop like a stone.
But Evan already fired his spike, the bony spear flying with immense speed, much faster than the target was moving. The spike flew into Simon's path and imbedded itself into the concrete of the ground. Evan's spikes were so pointed that they could easily pierce stone. Simon stepped right into the spike and tripped, landing facedown on the hard stone.
"Oooff!" they head a groan from Simon as he landed. He quickly climbed to his feet, rubbing his point of contact with the hard pavement. His chin.
Evan looked at the fallen mutant with a grin of triumph on his face. "The Spike Man at your service," he smiled, acting as immature as ever. Scott and the others, Rogue and Logan especially, looked annoyed at Evan's complete lack of maturity, which was the wasn't right way to act in this scene.
Suddenly, Even got an idea of how to make Simon stop running from them. He remembered him pinning Pietro Maximoff to a wall the first time he had managed to take the speed-demon down. Maybe he could do the same with this guy. After all, this guy didn't have super speed, nor instant teleportation or intangibility. This could work. "Time for a little warp me up!" Evan readied a full armful of spikes to fire and pin Simon to the wall.
"Evan, what they hell are you doing!" Scott demanded.
Evan gave no indication he had heard Scott, and gave his right arm a backhand blow motion. As his arm sailed in the circular path, his spikes propelled off him and sailed through the air towards Simon.
Simon had not noticed Evan ready his spikes for a second attack, and didn't notice anything about the skateboarding mutant until he actually saw several spine-like objects hurling towards him with the speed of a rifle bullet. Having no time to prepare to dodge, Simon ducked just as the spikes were within arm's reach. However, he suddenly felt a slight stinging on his right cheek. He rubbed the stinging spot with two fingers and looked down to see a slight streak of blood on them.
Everyone was looking on, and noticed Simon had a thin streak of blood on his right cheek under his eye. Simon's eyes were wide with surprise, but also filled with an fear and anger that few of them had seen before. He looked at his blood streaked fingers he had rubbed the cut with, and then looked back at Evan, who still had his spikes out and lining his forearms, ready to fling or swing if the need arose. And from the looks on Evans's face, he was itching for a fight. Which was the direct opposite of what Simon was feeling.
Simon wasn't amused with Evan's teenager jokes. In fact, he just seemed more anxious to get as far away as possible. But he was still wanted to show this wisecracking punk kid that he didn't take anything from anybody, especially from an arrogant smarmy teenager who was younger than him and still thought he was his superior.
Evan was looking back at the other X-Men, but turned back to Simon to see Simon's eyes filled with blue fire. The X-Men immediately braced themselves for something. Simon could porgram his energies to do all sorts of things, but they weren't sure what. The blond-haired teenager raised his left arm, which had metamorphosed into energy. Then, the arm fired abeam.
Evan, whose courage and confidence had vanished the second he had seen Simon's eyes flare with the energy, immediately ducked and rolled towards the others as Simon's beam hit its first target. A wooden crate.
Scott, Jean, and Logan all looked at the target, hoping to learn whatever they could on this kid's powers, observe and take in was the way of putting it. Once thebeam struck, the crate caught fire, bright orange and red flames started to blossom on it like flowers of hellish fury and consume the wood. Within seconds, the entire crate was incinerated and flaming, crumbling to ashes.
Once the beam was going, it didn't cease firing. Instead, it remained constant and active as a straight sharp beam of thermal energy. Evan was well out of the way, and the beam and missed him by at least three feet. One advantage the X-Men realized they had was that Simon was not that good at hitting a moving target, or even if he was trying to hit them at all.
Simon still kept his beam going, and started to move the beam like a flashlight towards the X-Men. Thebeam was still flaring, and it incinerated everything it touched. It cut through two stacks of crates, cutting them like a hot knife through butter. Then it struck the stone wall of the buildings. The stone immediately grew red hot under the immense heat, then glowing hotter and brighter. As the beam moved over the wall, the stone began to turn molten and flow down the wall, wisps of smoke billowing from the flaming melted stone.
The X-Men squatted down, as the beam moved over them. But Simon, all the while was carefully keeping the beam safely away from them. All he was trying to do was to keep them stunned and off guard for a second. He had no intention of actually hitting them with his beam.
Simon deactivated hisbeam, and his arm became flesh and blood once more.
First Rogue, then Logan, then everyone else turned back to Simon. The teenager was now running, but directly for the edge of the platform. From all appearances, it appeared that he was going to jump off the edge.
"He's going to jump!" Kitty gasped.
Rogue was wondering if he was. It sure looked like it. But if Simon was going to try to jump over the edge and make a swim for it, he was probably really desperate to get away. And once more, what good would that do him other than getting his feet wet?
Nearing the edge of the platform, Simon showed no sign at all that he was getting ready to dive off the edge, like he was hoping to run on thin air like it was solid ground. Jean considered catching him with her telekinesis again, but before she could call upon her powers when she saw Simon's powers do something she hadn't seen before yet. As Simon ran, his body, from the waist down to his feet, started to glow blue, faintly at first, then it became brighter. Within seconds, his top half was normal, but his lower extremities were now the energy energy. However, what purpose legs of energy could serve, Jean couldn't guess.
As the X-Men watched, Simon quickly squatted down lower as he ran on his energy-composed legs, and then, he blotted up again in one quick movement. At that same instant, his legs flashed, and then merged into a huge construct of energy that then exerted a tremendous force that lifted him into the air, just as he reached the edge of the dock.
"Vhoa!" gasped Kurt.
Everyone rushed to side to watch the spectacle. Simon was now flying with tremendous speed over the waters of the waterway toward the dock on the other side. None of them could guess what the speeds he was traveling at were, but it pretty damn fast. It wasn't that hard to watch Simon, for the intense glow of his energy propulsion in the dark was as visible as a red streak on a white wall.
The yellow light suddenly vanished, and the energy itself was gone suddenly. In mid-flight, Simon deactivated his powers, but the momentum of the force was still pushing him with huge force. Gravity however, was doing some forcing of its own, and his altitude began to decline and become closer to the ground as he traveled. They all waited, wondering how Simon would land.
Landing was not the best word Rogue would have chosen to describe Simon's contact with the other side. Simon hit with his feet, but then stumbled forward from the remaining force of his flight. He slammed into large metal barrel standing in his way, knocking it over in the process, but even that didn't cease his advancement. He toppled over the barrel and then landed on his back.
Logan turned to Kurt. "Kurt, take Kitty, Evan, and Rogue and teleport over there!"
Kurt looked at Logan briefly, as if trying to figure out if he was serious. Kurt was feeling uneasy about going over there with Simon and the rest of them, but he merely nodded. He went over to the other three and ported them over to where Simon was. But Simon was no longer on his back. He was up on his feet again and running.
"You think they may be able to calm this guy down?" asked Scott.
"I hope so, considerin' what he did to that," said Logan, pointing to the still glowing and smoking trail Simon's thermal beam had left on the stone walls, the molten stone still oozing down the walls like orange glue. The cool evening air was starting to cool it, for the flow was slowing and would gradually cease in time.
"But I think we can thank Porcupine for gettin' him all tense and anxious," added Logan, anger and disappointment obvious in his tone, "I'm gonna give Evan a chat when we get back."
Scott agreed with Logan. He was pretty miffed himself at Evan's total lack of maturity there. He'd told Evan twice to not throw those spikes, and yet he threw them anyway. He'd tripped Simon and also gotten him in the face as well. The look in Simon's eyes still played in Scott's memory; a look of disbelief and also fear and anger. Anger at being caught like that in the face with something that could have easily done more damage than a simple scrape, and then there was the part of feeling threatened or pushed. Xavier had said Simon could be a hot-headed teenager if he felt threatened. And that really worked into logic with what Even had done. In Scott's opinion, anyone who was almost toothpicked in several parts of his or her body at once would be rather hostile towards whoever did that. Evan really needed to learn how to keep his spikes in check unless needed.
Logan had to shake his head at the scene. He suddenly realized that this kid's powers were a lot like Ororo's. As a weather witch, Storm could create all sorts of effects of different types; flash floods, lightning strikes, fog, hurricane force winds, snow, icy air to freeze things solid, and probably a whole lot of other things he hadn't even thought of. Simon seemed to do the same sort of variety, only with energy. Logan was no physicist or chemist, but he knew energy was of different kinds, and this kid seemed to be living proof of that.
Logan turned to Jean. "Jean, can ya levitate us over there?"
Jean nodded and got ready to do it.
The location around Rogue suddenly changed from one location to another, via Kurt's teleporting. The puff of brimstone and sulfur was a clear sign that they had used that means of traveling. In the blink of an eye, one was in another spot on Earth's surface. And now, here they were where Simon had been standing only seconds before. Only now, he wasn't here.
"So where is he?" asked Rogue, looking around the docks to see if Simon was around.
"I hope this dude is in the mood for a chat. Cause I sure ain't! He's really overreacting here." Evan grumbled. That earned him a look from Kurt, Kitty and Rogue.
"Hello!" Kitty snapped, "In case you forgot, Evan, you, like, nicked his face with one of your spikes and tripped him so he landed face first on rock hard concrete! What kind of mood do you expect him to be in?"
"Next time we try to recruit somebody, keep yer spikes UNDER yer skin, Porcupine! We're tryin' to get this guy to join us, not scare him off! Thanks to you, he probably thinks we're tryin' to kill him or something!" Rogue glared at Evan with her famous "Rogue Rage" glower.
"Hey, I was trying to slow him down!" Evan shot back.
"Maybe you vere absent the day the Professor taught uz about 'handling situations peacefully,' Evan!" Kurt ground out before turning back to look for Simon.
Evan was about to say "sometimes actions are more effective" but thought better of it. Instead he merely retracted the bony spike son his arms.
Rogue shook her head in exasperation. God, could Evan be irritating. But then, she brushed that thought aside. Evan's behavior could be dealt with later and they had to focus on finding Simon.
She turned back to where Logan, Scott, and Jean were. Jean was lifting the three of them into the air with her telekinesis so they could get across. Rogue knew they couldn't wait for them, they had to go and try to catch up with Simon.
"I saw him run through zere," said Kurt, pointing towards a way behind a building, "Come one, ve can still catch him." Kurt didn't wait for the others to respond. He took off for the location. The others followed.
They were not expecting, or knew what to expect, what to find once they reached what was behind the building. They saw more crates and various machines, such as an old pickup truck and bits of old damaged boats. But Simon was nowhere to be seen, something he was doming an awful lot of tonight.
"Doesn't this guy have any other hobbies?" asked Kitty, "He's like playing hide and seek with us."
"Or he's just really good at hiding when he doesn't want to be found," said Rogue. The southern girl started to walk forward with the others close behind her. Rogue's green eyes scanned the area in front of her on the look out for any unusual color flashes or signs of movement. Kurt, Kitty, and Evan followed as well, their own eyes looking over the scenery. After a few steps, Rogue saw a flash of blue in the corner of her eye. She looked to see Simon standing behind a pile of rails, his eyes flaring blue with visible electric charges surrounding the glowing orbs. No sooner than she looked at Simon did he shoot beams from his eyes.
"Look out!" Rogue called out, scrambling to get behind the corner she had just walked around to achieve some means of cover from Simon. The others had noticed and did the same. They managed to get behind the stone wall just as the beam struck the stone, creating a brightelectrical flash-bang followed by the smell of burning smoke, leaving a big dark scorch mark on the stone wall.
"Stay away!" they head Simon yell at them.
Rogue peered out as slightly as she could to look around the corner without making herself an easy target. She was surprised to see that Simon had not taken off again like before. He was still behind the rail pile. But his eyes were still flaring.
"We're not here to fight!" she tried to calm him.
Another electrical beam from the eyes was Simon's only response.
"Not the diplomatic type," Evan remarked sarcastically. No one answered, since answering Evan only made him more talkative. And right now, talking to Evan Daniels was the last thing any of them wanted to do.
"How are we like, going to get him to simmer down?" asked Kitty.
Rogue looked back to where Simon was residing behind the pile of metal rails, the purple glow in his eyeballs still as bright as they were seconds earlier. But Simon was still in his firing mood and another beam shot out of his eyes. Rogue dodged it as before, and the beam missed the building entirely, striking a stack of empty oil drums that was sitting in its path. The stack of oil drums toppled over and crashed to the ground.
The layout of how the area was arranged suddenly filled Rogue's mind. She remembered seeing an empty space to the right of Simon's position, where there were many crates and piles of wood that could provide the right kind of coverage for them to get close to him. The only problem was that there was no door there or open passage way from them to use, only solid walls. But the Rogue remembered how that didn't stop a certain member of the X-Men.
She turned back to Kitty, who was keeping her confident look up better than Rogue had expected her to. "Kitty, up for a little phasing?" asked Rogue.
Kitty looked at her roommate with a look of confusion. "What?" she asked.
"Look, Ah saw some solid walls on the other side of this building," Rogue explained, "So maybe yah can phase yerself through 'em and sneak up on him."
"And what would I do after that?" asked Kitty.
Rogue thought fast. "Look, yah think you can sneak up on him?" Kitty nodded. "Then try to phase his feet into the ground. Then he should be in one place long enough for us to talk to 'em."
Kitty through about that for a second. It seemed like it could work. After all, if this new mutant did end up having his feet embedded in solid concrete, then he would be going nowhere real quickly. Maybe then, he would listen to reason, if he had no way of immediately escaping.
"Ve just vant to talk!" Kurt called out to Simon around the corner.
"I said STAY AWAY!" Simon roared. To make himself clear, he fired another optic blast, which this time not only burned and scorched the wall, but also made somewhat of an indention, the stone cracking and chips of it falling off the main body. The stone was starting to heat up from the attacks. If Simon kept on throwing beams like this, even without hisexplosive energy, he would eventually bring the building down. But then again, Simon was probably realizing by now that his electrical-type beams were not doing much good, so he may, any second resort to something stronger.
Once the sudden blindness she had experience from the suddenflash-bang had subsided, Rogue turned her attention back to Kitty, who was rubbing her eyes from Simon's flashes. She was hoping by now that Kitty would use her phasing powers to her advantage to sneak up on Simon. Surprise attacks were probably to best thing to use on Simon.
Without waiting for Rogue to say a word, Kitty merely nodded and walked away form the three of the others to the other end of the wall that they stood up against. Reaching the other side, Kitty phased herself through.
Once Kitty was out of sight, Rogue, Kurt and Evan turned back to face their latest mutant. Simon had moved farther out from behind the rail pile, thinking that perhaps now that he had these mysterious figures cornered, he could finally make a break for it. But as Rogue, Evan, and Kurt began to emerge from behind the building, they immediately noticed Simon charge up his energy again.Bursting from Simon's eyeballs, the burst of energized force sliced through the air, pulverizing part of the wall.
Meanwhile, Kitty had phased herself through the walls of the building as best she could. Has she had learned in several Danger Room training sessions, the best course of action to throw your opponent off guard in some circumstances was to ambush him. Now was one of those times. Well, needless to say, surprising a foe was a handy tool in any scenario. However, there were some when surprise was the only way to prevent an all out conflict.
Kitty phased her head through one side of the building. She could see that Simon was still facing Rogue, Evan, and Kurt. More to the precise description, he was looking directly at them, for she saw him fire ablast of blue energy from his eyes and was not looking at her. Kitty had always reasoned that optic energy beams were always aimed at the dead center point of the mutant's line of vision. And since the beam was nowhere near her, Simon hadn't noticed.
Kitty carefully eased her way through the wall entirely, and then knelt down close to the ground to avoid being seen. Then she did what was really strange compared to ordinary standards. Kitty phased her entire body except for her head, which stuck out of the ground. Then she carefully moved herself towards Simon's legs, which were standing really still, as Simon was really focusing on keeping the others at bay. This was the perfect opportunity.
Kitty reached up and grabbed Simon's ankles with her hands. Realizing that someone or something had grabbed his ankles, Simon looked down in astonishment. "What the!" he gasped. But before he could try to pull free or respond, Kitty extended her phasing powers to Simon, rendering him intangible. Then she gave a quick tug on Simon's feet, which then sank into the concrete of the pavement up the ankles, which she let go of. Within a matter of seconds, the job was done.
Kitty then phased herself out of the concrete and scrambled away from Simon. "I did it!' she called out to the others. Rogue, Kurt, and Evan emerged from behind the corner and carefully moved towards the two.
Simon had grabbed his left leg and was trying to pull his foot out of the ground. But he was quickly realizing that his foot was not moving a nanometer. But that sure didn't stop him from trying.
"Nice vork," said Kurt, clapping Kitty on the shoulder. Kitty beamed with pride.
The group then turned back to Simon who was still trying to pull his feet free. He wasn't having much luck. "Uh---hi, Simon," said Kitty, a little awkwardly.
Kitty's words had a sudden effect on Simon. His blond head whipped up, his hands letting go of his leg so that he could use them should the need arise.
The four teenagers gathered around Simon, each of them at different angles. They started to move towards Simon, but then stopped as they say the bright blue glow in his eyes, and the energy that now made up his fisted right hand, bathing his head, shoulders, and torso in a brilliant light.
"What do you want?" Simon demanded, his flaringcobalt blue eyes darting from one X-Man to the next, "Why have you been following me?"
Kitty was the first to speak, but she was unsure how Simon would take it. After all, Simon was probably thinking that they were out to get him and was probably paranoid. Paranoid. That was new thought, but it seemed that whenever somebody who was a mutant thought they were the only kind in the world, they probably thought others were out to get them a lot of the time. Kitty could relate, for she had felt that way the first time her powers manifested. "Look, Simon we just want to talk," she said, making her valley girl accent a little more obvious than usual.
Simon's eyes suddenly widened a little, for he realized these people, who were complete strangers to him, knew his name. "What a minute, how do you know my name?" he asked, caught off guard.
Kitty herself was caught off guard by Simon's question, for she wasn't really counting on Simon to ask them about that. Rogue, then took over, for she guessed Kitty would fail to keep going at some point, which was apparently sooner than previously expected. "That's kinda a complicated part," she tired to explain. She took another step forward.
"Back!" Simon snapped suddenly, the glow on his hand suddenly flashing brightly. Everyone froze, but no one backed away.
"Look, dude, there's no need to get excited," said Evan, smiling sheepishly.
Simon looked at Evan with a look of total disagreement on his face. "Oh, I think I have plenty of reasons to be excited!" said the blond-haired mutant, "Like this!" Simon pointed to the scratch under his eye, the one left by Evan's spike. Evan could see that the others were right about throwing stuff like that at a new recruit. Now Simon probably had every reason in the world to be skeptical of them. He really should try to listen to more peaceful approaches from now on. "And this!" Simon added, pointing to where his feet were encased in the concrete, courtesy of Kitty Pryde.
"I hope you can forgive, Evan," said Kurt, "He zometimes gets carried avay vith using his povers."
"It was an accident, Dude," said Evan, "It's cool. Nothing to worry about." Evan was smiling sheepishly now, like he did when he was caught in the act of tardiness or laziness. Rogue Kitty, and Kurt were merely looking at Evan in disproval at his lame excuse. When this was over, they were going to make absolutely sure that Logan gave Evan several extra hours in peaceful recruiting sessions. Simon himself didn't seem too satisfied with Evan's reaction either, for his hard look didn't soften.
"Since when is someone tyring to use you like pincushion an accident, I'd like to know." Simon responded, seeing right through Evan's excuses, "It looked like you threw those-those-whatever they were at me deliberately."
Evan blushed at that, something that was rare for him. So much for using teenage innocence on Simon Peter Valley.
Simon turned his attention to Kurt, then to Rogue, then to Kitty. These four younger teens didn't see all that threatening, but he had to be careful. After all, actions spoke louder than words and so far, their actions were signs of something big. And he was also wondering if they had any more tricks up their sleeves he wasn't prepared for.
"Alright, look," he said at last, "I don't know who you guys are and frankly, I don't care. But I'm not going to be any mass destruction machine or assassin if that's what you want me to be. I'm not gong to be a killing machine for anybody."
Hearing Simon say he would not be a part of a criminal organization or killing machine caught Rogue by surprise. Rogue was not sure kind of claim she was expecting from Simon, but that wasn't it. Assassin recruiting and hiring mutants to wipe out a human target was just about the last thing in the world that the X-Men would do. She then remembered Professor Xavier telling them that once Simon was reached he would be easy to talk to. Simon's last statement seemed to prove that fact undeniably.
Rogue and Kitty exchanged glances, and both raised their eyebrows at the other. They turned back to Simon. "Look," said Rogue, "Weh aren't here for that at all. We're here for somethin' totally different."
Kitty figured this was best moment for her to intervene. She figured Simon might feel more talkative once his feet were out of the pavement and used that to play her part.
"Simon," she said hesitantly.
"What?"asked Simon.
"I knew we're in kind of an awkward situation here, but all we want is a little of your time. So, if I promise to get your feet out of the ground, could you, like, promise not to use any energy blasts and listen peacefully." Even though Simon was fixed to the spot and couldn't get away, Kitty was feeling a little nervous talking to him. Kitty had already guessed that Simon was much stronger than she was physically, even if he didn't have mutant super strength, so she didn't want his volatile temperament to rage if he was free to pounce.
Simon thought for a moment. He looked at Kitty, then at the others. The skateboard dude with what Simon thought of as the weirdest hair cut he'd ever seen on a kid, the German sounding kid with the blue-black mop of hair, and finally the mysterious Goth girl with the purple lipstick and eye shadow, and not to mention the strange white streak in her auburn hair that he found unusual, yet strangely unique. And attractive.
The others stood by waiting for Simon to decide. The glow in Simon's eyes faded and vanished as did the energy form his hand had taken. However, the skeptical and penetrating look in his eyes didn't change.
"Alright," he said finally.
Kitty couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief. Rogue couldn't help herself either. Kitty walked over to Simon and placed her hands on his shoulder. Seconds later, Simon tried lifting his feet out. This time, they moved as easily through the ground as they did through air. He was then standing normally. Kitty still took a step back. She felt intimidated by Simon now. It wasn't just because of thepiercing gaze, but also by the fact that he was bigger. Kitty was realizing that she only came up to Simon's shoulder, much like she only came up to Scott's shoulder when he stood beside her. And when her blue eyes met Simon's green ones, she felt small indeed.
Simon straightened out his black leather jacket as he continued to face the four teens, his serious look never lessening. "Okay, I did what you asked. Now tell me what's going on." He sounded serious still, which they guessed was a normal voice tone for him. However, his voice held no anger anymore at least. They took that as a good sign.
"Vell, meinen Fruend," said Kurt, his German accent really heavy now, "It's kind of complicated."
Simon then realized Kurt's accent. "Are you from---Germany?" he asked, his brow furrowed as he turned his attention from Kitty to Kurt.
Kurt seemed a little surprised that Simon would caught his accent so soon. "Ja. And that's not all that's different about me." At that, Kurt turned off his holowatch, allowing Simon to see his true, blue-furred form.
The next sound everyone could hear, or at least thought they heard, was Simon's jaw hitting the ground at Kurt's appearance. His eyes were practically bulging out of his head. "What in the—who----what are you?" he asked in astonishment.
Kurt raised up his three-fingered hands at Simon in an attempt to show him he was nothing to be terrified about. "Don't freak. I'm a harmless fuzzy blue elf. See?" he said as Simon took in Kurt's bizarre appearance, which looked to him like a combination of a fuzzy elf and a hornless blue devil. "We're different like you," said Kurt, "But some of use look different as well."
Several seconds passed before Simon got his vocal cords working again. He calmed down amazingly fast. As far as Rogue could tell, Simon Valley was not an easy person to surprise. And even when he was, he recovered himself with exceptional speed. "Yeah, I can see that," said Simon in a more controlled and calm voice, "But what exactly do you mean by different?"
Rogue was about to respond when they heard the sudden movement of feet pounding the ground with the type of physical force that could only be produced by running. "Hello," she heard Jean's voice call out. Seconds later, Jean, Scott, and Logan emerged from behind the building that the other four had used as protection against Simon's electric optic beams.
Scott and Logan immediately saw that the others surrounded Simon, but their caution instincts kicked in. Or more precisely, their combat instincts. As did Simon's. Once their eyes met, Logan raised both of his powerful hands, both sets of claws out and ready to slash and slice. Scott reacted in a similar way, his hand flying up to his ruby-quartz glasses, the red glow of his optic blasts brightening, ready to lower his shades and fire. Simon had raised his fist, which was glowing blue with lightning again.
"No, wait!" Rogue suddenly shouted, stepping up and holding out her arms to the young leader and the big Canadian warrior with the other extending towards Simon.
"It's okay guys," Kitty stepped in, "He knows we're not his enemies."
Logan and Scott still held their stances, as did Simon. "Guys, he's fahn. Really," Rogue assured them in her southern voice. Both of the oldest X-Men present shifted their gazes over to Rogue.
Simon felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned to see who it was and saw that it was Kurt. "It'z okay," the fuzzy elf told the electrical-eyed teenager, "They're vith uz."
Simon, Scott, and Logan looked back at each other, judging who would act first. It turned out to be Simon. Theglow on his hand and eyes faded. Scott brought his hand down from his glasses and Logan retracted his claws. All three mutants then lowered their arms, trying to relax as best they could.
Scott and Simon were currently exchanging glances. Logan, on the other hand, was only carefully watching the two younger boys. Scott looked at Simon. Simon looked at Scott. The others could suddenly see that their last impression of Simon being taller than Scott was not accurate. Simon was not slightly taller than Scott. He was the exact same height as the field leader. So now, Scott Summers and Simon Valley were looking at each other at eye level.
Scott began his first full sentence to Simon carefully, "Hi, Simon. I hope you can understand we're not here to fight."
"Who are you people?" asked Simon evenly in a neutral tone, for he still didn't know the names of these people who had powers not unlike his.
"My name's Scott. This is Jean," he motioned to Jean, who was wearing her best calming smile that seemed to work on some people. "This is Logan," motioning to the big blurry man with the look of a solider who had seen more than his fair share of battles.
"You've met Evan, Kurt, Rogue, and Kitty," Scott pointed out each of them as he said their names as Simon followed each of them to remember who was who.
"Why have you been following me?" asked Simon, his voice becoming suspicious now.
"We were hoping that we could offer you something," said Jean, "Something that we think could be of help to you."
Simon turned to Jean. "What do you mean?"
"Well, Simon," said Jean, "I'm sure you've seen that we have abilities like yours."
Simon nodded. He remembered the tricks he had seen them perform. Tricks that, according to the laws of physics and science as far as he was concerned, were impossible.
"We all go to a school where we have leaner to control our gifts. It's a place where you could learn to control yours," Jean explained.
The look on Simon's face suddenly changed so dramatically that it caught everyone off-guard. Simon now looked like he had been casually asked to shoot himself in the foot with a shotgun as if it was as casual as tying his shoelace. Then, his expression turned bitter. "Oh no. You didn't just call me 'gifted,' did you?" he demanded hotly, his voice rising a bit.
"I did," said Jean, looking confused by his sudden mood change.
"Pretty strange word for 'curse' you people have," said Simon, his voice getting hotter.
"But, it isn't a curse," said Kitty, "We've all learned to use our powers the right way."
"And what exactly is the right way?" asked Simon, still sounding as if he was not believing what he was hearing.
"Well, that's a rather complicated issue," said Scott, taking his role of leader again, "But we've learned to accept our powers and what we are at this school. You can too."
Simon's eyes widened in outraged surprise, if that's what you could call it. "Accept it? But I want to be ordinary, not some freakish, energy-blasting monster!" he sounded on the verge of shouting.
Everyone was shocked. All through their time, they had heard of mutants call themselves many things. Cursed. Unfortunate. Freaks. Weirdoes. But this was the first time that they had heard a mutant call himself a "monster." And the anger and bitterness the word was spoken with got their attention too.
Logan started growling fiercely. "Careful with your language kid!" he warned, narrowing his eyes at Simon menacingly and pointing a finger, "These powers of ours are gifts."
Simon looked back at Logan with every bit of ferocity in his eyes as Logan had in his. He slapped Logan's hand away, and pointed his own finger at Logan. "Are you saying that I'm gifted in that I can demolish an entire building just by reaching out to it with my hand? Well, how, may I ask, is that a gift?" the blond teenager demanded. Logan growled dangerously.
Everyone had heard and seen the entire exchange. It was clear that Simon didn't see his powers as a gift. It was no surprise. All the X-Men had thought of their powers as curses before. But they had rarely seen a mutant who hated his powers as much as this. Not even Rogue had shown such scorn of her no-touch power. But they couldn't guess why his anger was so deep. They all came to the same conclusion right away. This guy needed to come to institute. If he didn't, well, that was not worth picturing.
"Look, Simon," Jean cut in again, hoping to ease the hostility between Logan and Simon before they went slash and slice on one another again, which seemed to be only a mere spark away, "What would you say if we offered you a chance to really learn what you are and where to fit in?"
Simon diverted his attention from Logan and looked Jean right in the eyes. He was always suspicious of offers like that, for he had learned from experience that they came with price. "I'd say 'what's in it for you?'" he replied, sounding suspicious, bringing his hand to his chin like he was considering what they were offering.
Professor Xavier had been right. Simon didn't trust anyone immediately.
Jean was silent at Simon's response, but showed no real surprise. "Simon, this isn't about us, this is about you. We were all like you once, unsure of who we were, what we were supposed to do. Just like you, we all discovered one day that we had powers, and we hated it as well. But then we found help at this school we go to and got what we needed. We got help, guidance, discipline, etc. We'd like to offer you the same thing."
Simon looked at the seven faces around him. He could see that they were caught off guard by his reaction. He had overreacted again, as was a habit of his. He was showing these people an aggressive person, when he was not really one at heart. He had made a bad first impression. He let out a big sigh and ran a hand through his blond hair.
"I'm ---sorry," he apologized, in a much softer tone of voice, "I just get worked up about this a lot of the time."
"Well, we can help you with that, the professor can," said Scott, "We were all like you once. But we then met Professor Xavier and he helped us through it."
Simon's ears perked at the mention of the new name. "Who's Professor Xavier?" he asked.
"Professor Xavier is the man who first told us about our powers, what they were, and how to control them," said Jean whole-heartedly, "It took us some time to get a hang of it, but we all did eventually. He can do the same for you too."
Simon looked uncertain. "But, Jean you saw how dangerous my powers are. What if I end losing control of them and destroy this school with even meaning to?" he asked, showing genuine concern, his voice now quieter.
"It's really not that big a hassle," said Scott, "Why don't you come with us and meet the professor? He can give you a better description of the institute. Why do you say?"
Simon looked at the seven faces around him again, each of them displaying honesty and genuine truth. "All right."
And that's the end of this chapter. Stay turned to find out what happens next. And remember, I thirst for reviews. The more reviews I get, the faster I update! Reviews make me go, go, go!