AN: Wow. For some reason, I just cannot seem to remember to update this fic! Sorry! Here's the next chap...
Chapter 2
She hurried down the stairs, and followed the sound of talking until she reached the kitchen. Kitty, Evan, and Amara sat there, finishing their breakfast.
"Hey, Rose!" Kitty looked up at Rose as she walked in.
"Hi, guys!"
"Hello."
"Hey."
Kitty grinned. "What do you want for breakfast?"
"What do you have?"
"Wanna try my pancakes? I've been trying out some new recipes, and I think I really have, like, a good one this time!"
Amara and Evan gave each other a look, and he got up to leave the room, putting his dishes in the sink as he passed it.
"Poison. Don't eat!" He whispered, under his breath, to Rose as he went by.
"Uh…" Rose stalled and looked over at Amara, as Kitty turned to put her dishes in the sink.
Amara charaded eating, gagging, then death, and Rose mouthed 'Really?' Amara nodded, then quickly smiled to Kitty as she turned around again.
"Actually," Rose said, "um… I'm not real hungry. I'll just wait until lunch. Maybe another time?"
"uh…okay." Kitty looked slightly disappointed, but got over it quickly. Amara put her dishes away, too, and mouthed to Rose, while leaving the room, 'good choice!'
"So..." said Rose, "now what?"
"Well, we have to meet for training in" she looked at her watch. "…10 minutes." She grabbed Rose's arm.
"Come on!" Rose stumbled behind Kitty as she dragged her upstairs.
"Where are we going?"
"I just have to stop by our room to put my hair up and change."
"Why the rush?"
Kitty widened her eyes and raised her eyebrows. "You think Wolverine looked uptight last night? You should see him when we're late!"
"Oh. Okay. I'll wait here." Kitty nodded and phased through the door, and Rose leaned back against the wall.
Suddenly, a blue monkey-like creature appeared in front of her in a puff of smoke.
"AAAHHH!"
She screamed, and the high pitch of her voice sent out a ripple of laser-like beams. The creature screamed, and jumped out of the way just in time.
"Whoa!"
The beam missed it, and it hit the wall, shattering the picture hanging there. The creature had jumped up to the ceiling, and now hung by its tail from the light fixture, that swung from its weight. Rose stood pinned against the wall. Kitty, who had heard the screams, stuck her head through the wall to investigate.
"What's all the commotion about? Rose, are you okay?" As soon as Kitty appeared, the creature teleported away.
"W-What was that?"
"Who?"
"That- that thing that was hanging on the light!"
"Kurt?"
"That was not Kurt!"
"Actually…" Kitty phased through the wall completely. "…That was Kurt."
"But, Kurt isn't... blue!"
"How do I explain this…" She said, as Rose was slowly getting over the shock. "See, when Kurt goes to school, he uses a holowatch."
"What?"
"It's a machine that looks like a watch. It uses an optical illusion to make Kurt appear more… normal. But, he doesn't use it during training, and he was on his way there, so..."
"S- so that's how he really looks?"
"Yeah."
"And when I saw him at school, that was just an illusion?"
"Right."
"Oh."
Kitty smiled comfortingly. "Don't worry, you'll get used to it. When I first saw him, I was totally freaked! But, he, like, grows on ya."
"Hmm."
Kitty suddenly saw the blast in the wall.
"What is that?"
Rose bit her lip sheepishly.
"Sorry, when I screamed, I blasted the wall. I almost got Kurt, too."
Kitty's eyebrows went up. "Good thing he has quick reflexes!"
"No kidding. What are you wearing?" Rose finally noticed the outfit Kitty was wearing. It was black, with a red up-side down triangle going from her shoulders to her hips. She was wearing a yellow belt, with an X in the middle.
"This? Oh, it's the outfit we wear while we're training."
"Well, now I can say I've seen everything."
Kitty smiled. "In mutant manor? You have no idea. Come on."
Kitty phased through the floor, then popped back up again.
"Sorry, I keep forgetting you can't phase."
"I can, remember?"
"Oh, yeah."
"Here, just hold still and look at me."
Kitty and Rose exchanged stares, and the shiver Rose got signaled her that it was done.
"Okay!"
"Just like that? I didn't even feel anything!"
"What were you expecting?"
"Oh, I don't know. Whenever Rogue has tapped me, I got at least a weird tingle…"
"Rogue? What do you mean?"
"Oh, sorry. Like, if she touches anyone with her bare skin, she absorbs their memories, thoughts, and personalities. And, like, if they're a mutant, she gets their powers, too."
"Wow, it's like me, then."
"Well, yes and no. If she isn't really careful, she'll put whoever she touches into traction!"
"Huh."
"She even, like, put someone in a coma once."
"Man."
"Yeah. Her power kinda bites."
"Yeah, I guess. So, she can't touch anyone?"
"Well, one time she just tapped me to rip my dance moves. She can do stuff like that if she concentrates and only touches briefly."
"Oh, okay."
"Here we are, chattering, when we're going to be in so much trouble!"
"Oh, yeah."
They both phased through the building, and into the backyard. Wolverine walked over to them, scowling worse than before.
"Where were you?" he growled.
Kitty grinned at him. "Nowhere…"
He grunted, and pointed to Rose. "You."
"Me?" she squeaked.
"Yeah, you. Listen up. This is survival training. Not the girl scouts, not teen party central, and not mommy's playpen. Since you're new, I'll let you off the hook for being late, this time. Once. Got it?"
Rose gulped. "Yes, sir."
"Good. And, you have NO excuse, Kitty. One more time, and I swear…"
"Aww…you're not gonna, like, get mad at me, are you?" She said, giving him puppy eyes.
Wolverine growled in response and turned away. Kitty giggled as he walked away.
Rose looked at her in amazement. "It's not funny, he's scary!" Rose said.
"You just have to get used to him..." Kitty said, suppressing her smile. "Anyway, the professor, like, said to explain stuff to you as we went along. This is a training area. We do all kinds of training, like exercise, emergency training, and stuff like that." She said, pointing to the wide area in front of them. It was littered with trees and rocks, and there was a long, tall brick wall surrounding the area.
"What's with the wall? I feel like I'm in a prison."
"Ha! Just wait until the training starts. No, seriously, though, the wall is a good thing. You don't want people to, like, see you using your powers, do you?"
"Good point." Rose looked around. She finally saw Kurt, standing near Scott, blue and furry as before. When he saw Rose looking at him, he stepped behind Scott, blocking her view.
Wolverine walked toward the group, and Kitty and Rose walked over to them.
"Let's get moving." Wolverine snarled and lined them up.
"Okay. Target practice. Easy stuff. Hit the blades, grab the flag. Scott, you first." Scott confidently walked forward; facing what seemed to be small black boxes, on the ground in a row, and in the trees. Past the row of boxes, there was a platform with several flags, just above normal reach. Rose noticed that Scott, along with everyone else, had on training outfits. Some were identical to Kitty's, some were different. Scott was also wearing a different pair of what seemed to be goggles. They were yellow, with a red stripe that seemed to be the lens. He nodded to Wolverine, who pushed a button on a remote control.
Suddenly, the boxes came to life. Within seconds, the boxes were hurdling dozens of razor blades at Scoot, who put his hand up to his glasses.
He seemed to hold down the side of his glasses, and suddenly a beam of light was coming from his eyes.
"Wha-" Rose began to ask, when Kitty cut her off. Scott continued shooting the blades with the laser as Kitty explained.
"His eyes can shoot lasers. That's why he wears those sunglasses all the time. The beam can't be stopped, just, um, refracted, or something."
"Oh."
In what seemed to be only a few seconds, Scott had hit all the blades and was running toward the flag. He grabbed the edge of the platform, but had to pause to hit a blade. After getting atop the platform, he grabbed the flag and turned to go back. A blade was heading for him, and in a last-minute move, he ducked under it and rolled of the platform, landing on his feet. He ran back, making way for the next up. As he gave the flag to Wolverine, he smiled brazenly at Jean, as she walked over. Jean rolled her eyes and flipped her hair, and extended her arms. She began to float just above the ground.
Seeing Rose's dazed look, Kitty continued.
"Jean can use telepathy and telekinesis. She can levitate herself and other things, too." The boxes spit out more blades, faster than before. As she floated toward the platform, she quickly moved her arms around, and Rose noticed that the blades seemed to follow the direction of her arms. She sent them flying into the trees, and they stuck out ominously. After grabbing the flag, she hopped down to the ground.
"What is she doing? Why doesn't she just float back?" Rose asked.
"Well, she wants to practice all her skills, I guess."
Jean walked slowly back to the group, and seemed to do nothing about the blades headed right for her. But before the blades hit her, they seemed to have hit an invisible wall and fell to the ground.
"Let me guess- force field"
"Sort of." She then walked back to the group.
As Evan went up, Rose bit her lip anxiously and turned to Kitty.
"Wait, do I have to try, too?"
"Yep. But, don't worry, it's not too bad."
"But, what if I miss one? They look sharp…" At this point, Jean, who had been standing near them, cut in.
"Oh, don't worry, we look after each other. If you miss one, I'll get it before it even come near you."
"O-Okay."
Evan closed his eyes, and suddenly his arms were covered in quickly-growing spikes. He grabbed some and flung them at the blades. Rose widened her eyes at this, and Kitty shrugged.
"Yep, he's pretty much a-"
Rogue cut in. "Porcupine?"
Kitty thought for a second. "Uh, yeah, I guess so." He, too, ran toward the platform. When he got to it, he stuck some spikes into it, gabbed the spikes like a ladder, and rushed up to grab the flag. On the way back, he tucked and rolled as well as used his spikes. As Evan walked back to the group, Rose looked at him with her mouth open. He looked at her with his eyebrow up.
"What?"
"Sorry!"
Amara took her place to try. She rubbed her hand together, and soon they began to glow, then they burst out in flame. Although Rose was surprised, everyone else didn't look very concerned, so just kept quiet and watched. Kitty explained as Amara worked.
"Using, like, friction in her hands or something, she can create flames, and throw them." For her part, Amara hit each blade with a ball of flame, running to the platform. She obviously planned to use the spikes Evan had left, but as she grabbed them, they burned up from her flames.
"Oops! Oh, no!" She tried desperately to climb up, but she couldn't reach. Wolverine turned off the boxes and called her back. She walked back to the group, waving her hands slightly until they were put out, head hung down.
"Don't worry," Jean said comfortingly. "There's always next time."
"Right." She said, looking up, but still pouting.She turned to Rose. "Your turn."
"Oh, gee, thanks." Said Rose sarcastically to herself as she tried to swallow the lump in her throat. As she stepped up, she wasn't sure for a moment if the shiver she felt was from absorbing a power, or from pure fright.
Wolverine pointed at the boxes. "I'm sure you get the point by now. Go."
"O-Okay." She took a deep breath. As the boxes began to spew blades, she lifted her head, and belted out a note that fried the machines and left everyone grasping their ears. As the machines sputtered out, Rose was breathing heavily.
"Whoa." Kitty gasped. Rose ran for the flag. Upon getting to the platform, she found she, too, couldn't reach. Wolverine was about to call her back, when she looked around, and, seeing the dead machines lying on the ground, she calmly walked over to each one and picked it up. She slowly made a pile by the platform, climbed up, grabbed the flag, and walked back.
Wolverine walked over to her. "What was that?"
"Hmm?"
"What did you think you were doing?"
Rose looked back at the mess she made. "Uh, sorry?" She smiled weakly under his glare. She raised the flag toward him, smiling sheepishly. "But, uh…I got the flag!" She said, holding it up.
Wolverine rolled his eyes and snarled menacingly. He turned back to the group. "Listen up. Since we can't use the machines now," he glanced at Rose, who shrugged nervously. "- we'll have to move on. Let's try running. Try to keep up, and we'll see how far you can all last for."
As they took off, Rose followed the group. Wolverine led the pack, and Scott followed just behind. The rest were closer together. They ran for a while, until Wolverine stopped. They all collapsed on the ground, except Wolverine, who watched them with a snarl.
"You're doing good." said Jean.
"Thanks. I'm glad I did all that walking for so long. It kept me in shape. Although, (whew) Wolverine, you keep a swift pace."
"No pain, no gain, kid." He snarled again, but not as hostile as before. "It's lunch time. You can all go inside. Professor said you could all have a half day today, so we're done." There was a general nodding, then they all shuffled in for lunch.
"All right! Half day! Thanks, Rose!"
"What? Why?"
"The professor must have given us a half day for you, so you could take it slow. That's why we got such easy training, too!"
"Easy?" Rose squeaked. "Those blades scared me to death!" Kitty nodded.
"Yeah, but, like I said before, after a while, it will seem much easier."
"So, that's all you all do?"
"Actually, we do allot of other training during the week."
"Oh."
"Anyway, are you, like, hungry yet?"
"Starving, what's for lunch?"
"How about some sandwiches?"
"Sounds good."
"Okay, cool. Let's go!"
Rose noticed some of the kids walking toward the building.
"Actually, Kitty, I'll be right in, there's something I need to do." Kitty followed her line of sight to the group, then nodded slowly.
"Uh, okay. I'll meet you inside."
"Sure thing!"
Rose walked over to Kurt and Scott, who had been walking toward the house together, talking. Rose stopped in front of them.
"Uh, hi, Rose."
"Hi, Kurt. Hi, um, Scott was it?" He nodded.
"That's right."
She smiled. "Um Kurt, I just wanted to-"
"Uh," Scott interupted, with a strange look on his face, "I'll catch up to you later, Kurt. I gotta...uh...go do something."
"But-" Kurt said, but before he could finish, Scott walked away.
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