So, instead of worrying about the boy in his front lawn. He first wanted to speak to the other three. Hank remained by the door with Raven, ready to subdue the teen if needed. The three were sitting in the lounge area huddled together on the couch. The girl growled at anything that moved while the boy lazed back. Megan sat on the floor. Her hands were playing with a few toys Jean had managed to make using her powers. So, this would be where he starts. The two older would need a lot of convincing as well.
"So, where do I begin? My name is Charles Xavier. I am the Headmaster of this School for Gifted Youngsters. May I ask what is yours?" He leaned out his hand to shake but nothing came out to meet him. So, his hand awkwardly withdrew back to his lap.
"Hello, Mr. Xavier. I am Megan." The little girl smiled up at the male on front of her, fear never present.
The teen girl sighed, "Crystal."
"Jake." The Male nodded at them with a short jerk. "I have telepathy and telekinesis. Crystal has the power of Crystal's. Cliché right? And the tiny sugar-puff has the power to speak to anything."
"She is a sugar-puff..." Crystal smiled a very soft smile towards the little girl.
"Will you two boys show these three around the campus?" Xavier showed the three the two boys in the room. "Jean, will you help me for just a moment?"
Jean followed Xavier passed the kids, towards the door where the two adults were still staring outside the window at the boy in the cage. Jean figured that the boy would be growling in his head if she could read what he was thinking. Funny enough, she also thought he would be wallowing in self-pity. She, herselfcc, had no peace inside her own body. Yet, since, he seemed to be asleep just fine, she wasn't worried about him that much. Xavier, on the other hand, worried a lot. He mainly worried about what he could do with a child who doesn't want his help.
They stopped just short of Despair's cage. "Could you use your powers to transfer him inside?"
"Yes sir." She looked over to him nervously.
"Don't worry. If things get out of hand, then we'll just have to use the whistle." Xavier actually didn't want to use such a thing. the heavy tool felt like heavy iron in his hand. It was odd that such a small object was the center of the young teen's fear.
"Where do you want me to take him, Professor?"
"Danger Room." He didn't understand if he was doing everything correctly. The teen obviously shouldn't even be inside of a cage yet there he was. What could have happened to him that he feared the whistle so much? The same object that weighed down his hand even now.
Jean focused her powers on the cage with the boy inside, still asleep. This boy was submissive unlike the one from before who was all anger and hatred. The other one was scary. Xavier hated the thought that a fellow mutant was treated in such an abusive way. What did he do to deserve this treatment? Xavier followed Jean who carried the boy to the Danger Room. Despair looked like he didn't even notice he was being carried away, still asleep.
Only he wasn't asleep.
"Thanks, Jean. I knew you could do it." Xavier praised as Jean gently puts the cage down in the center of the room.
"You're welcome." She looked back at the boy. "Professor? I would like to help you with him."
"Thank you, Jean." Xavier smiled at her. "But I think I will need more than just your help."
Jean watched the older man roll over to the intercom near the entrance, pushing the button. There was a sudden static in their ears before Xavier started speaking. "Hello Students, this is your Headmaster speaking. I would like to ask anyone willing to help me with a special project to meet me in the Danger Room. I don't wish to lie to any of you. It will be dangerous and you could get hurt."
The wait for the students to come to the Danger Room was a long one. The students he thought would come did: Jean, Scott, Kurt, and Peter. He didn't expect Storm and Raven to make their appearance there. Hank did come here, but that was to be expected since he wanted to know the full benefits of what the boy can offer them in return. It made he feel that he had people to lean on in times of despair. In times of hardship. These were just some of the moment he was glad he made the campus that mutants were able to hide within. Even the newcomers had came to see the commotion. Jake leaned against the door frame with a slight smirk, ready to laugh at someone else's expense. Crystal stood in front of a curious Megan, both equally scared yet harden by life that it didn't seem to affect them.
"Thank you all for coming. I must admit, I thought fewer would come. Our main goal is to reform Despair into something everyone can love."
"How Professor?" Kurt asked as his tail flicked around behind him. "You saw him outside!"
"I'm open to ideas!"
No one said a word. This wasn't because there was no ideas floating around; they were just too scared to mention something because the boy was sitting just right there. They knew that they only way to get through to the boy was just be friends with him. But that was way harder than they could ever know. The years of scarring and hurt built over the years only further proved that point to everyone. Just if he didn't want to be around people, then they also shouldn't force the child to go through yet another event that will hurt him. Except if there was only one person who could get him through it, who would be the person to do it?
Scott really took a good look at the boy acting asleep. The boy was dirty and had the horrid stench that it even ran away from him. Just the thought alone of what such a powerful boy sent shiver down his spine. That was until the thought that maybe Apocalypse wasn't as all knowing as he claimed to be. He missed this powerful ally, just think if he did find him. These thoughts scared him. But they intrigued Jake, who was prying into others mind. It wasn't as if he was trying to do such a thing as invade others privacy but he just did it without thinking. He was tried to others looking down on the boy. He wasn't pitiful. Despair knew what he was doing was wrong... but deep down, even Jake knew, he loved killing.
"Wheelchair, dude, how about we just make him go cold turkey away from his cage!" Jake had fought any one in a few days, having an itch to pick a fight. It didn't matter who.
Xavier just shook his head. "I don't want my home destroyed."
"I'm going to do it anyways!"
"NO!" Everyone screamed as they ran to stop him.
This was attention and opportunity to prove his worth. To show his father that he was something more than just some dumb fuck who he could use to steal. Not something he could sell just for a quick chance at cash. He was a powerful warrior. Xavier though tried to use his mind control on him first, 'Please, don't try anything. You don't need to prove anything to us.'
'Out of my head. I can defeat Despair... if given the chance. Of course, I have never been put in that position before.'
'Listen, Jake, you shouldn't do this.'
Jake used his powers to pick up two of the men-Scott and Kurt- throwing them away like yesterday's trash. Jean fought her control over him with the same powers as Jake; both fighting to hit the other across the room. Crystal used her powers to trap Jake's feet in her Crystals. Scott recovered from his fall and tried to shoot his beams at the boy. He hit him... as well as the crystals holding him in place.
A deep growl erupted from behind them.
Despair was stating at the melted remains of what used to be his cage. Scott slowly backed away from the group, blending into the crowd. The group inched backward towards the door as they witnessed red eyes burning into their souls. The beast from before ripped out of the small teen's body, fur sprouting out of his pores and claws/teeth sharpened. A roar that sounded more like a monster than an animal erupted from his throat. Despair was angry. Nothing else needed to be said.
Xavier tried to enter his mind once again despite knowing it would fail... expect it didn't. He was inside his mind. A black void surrounded Xavier in a thick fog. It was like he was trapped in a box with static hitting the corner of his eyes. He could barely make out the form of a body sitting in a corner, bending towards the floor. The tapping of water hitting the floor jumped into his ear every five seconds. He counted. Silence filled the air with a thick static atmosphere almost as if water had made its way into his ears.
He slowly, and carefully, tracked over to the form. Xavier listened to the silence, only getting the heavy splash of his boot hitting a smidge of water resulted his action. For some odd reason, fear crept up his spin, tickling those hairs that signal that something is wrong. The body was right in front of him. He reached out his hand only to have the body whip backwards. It's eyes black as night staring straight into his heart. It was Despair, smirk slowly spreading wider on his lips. Xavier got the feeling that he knew something that he, himself, didn't know.
That is when he heard it.
Faint growling in his right ear. When he looked over, there, staring at him, was a beast. He never seen it before. Fangs dipped out of a mouth. Claws hung at his side? His entire body was black but static. It was like he was phasing out of existence. It towered over Xavier by feet, not inches. It looked like it was bent over because their was a ceiling that prevented him from growing taller. It had white eyes that just stares at you, knowing all your secrets. It, too, smiles. It attacks Xavier.
Suddenly, Xavier was back in the Danger Room, his heart pumping and two red eyes staring straight at him.
"Professor! What's wrong?" Jean and Mystique called from their safe haven across the room.
Kurt bares his teeth when Despair steps closer to his group, leaving Xavier alone with his anxiety. Scott stood protectively beside Jean. Hank and Mystique squared themselves against each other. Peter and Storm looked on determined. Despair's canine form looked about ready to skin them alive and eat the remains, bones of them crunching in his teeth. The monstrous boy stalked closer to the group.
"Despair?" The voice was small, but not quiet. "What's wrong?"
Megan had come out of her hiding spot behind Crystal and stood right in front of the group of frightened mutants. The monster growled at the young child. Teeth stretched over the girl, wanting to clam down on her. Crystal shot her rocks out of the ground, blocking the monster and the girl from each other. Jake ran in front of Megan. Despair swipes at the older teen, hitting the force field Jake had to pull up last minute.
Despair's claws penetrate the shield, letting the claws rip through and on down. His eyes staring deep holes into the older teen. The red orbs stopping Jake in his tracks. Despair leaned over Jake, pushing him down, singling Scott out if the group. The weak shield phased in and out, yet being the only thing keeping Despair from crushing Jake and Megan. Crystal was firing some spikes at the boy but it didn't phase him. A couple of her crystals stuck in his skin. Despair's blood dripped on the floor...every five seconds. Xavier couldn't stop thinking about what he saw. He has seen far scarier than that thing he saw but it was as if it was fear itself.
Kurt felt like the boy had rabies, anger and aggression present in his form. Fever sweat out all the other indications but the aggression. He feared the boy more than anything in his entire life. More than the cage fights. More than the circus. More than the fear he felt before he was sold to the circus. It just means they have to be careful of what they do to the boy. He has the power and will to kill anyone he wanted and never feel misery for it.
Jake felt his powers vanishing, the paw on the shield weighing. Scott held the gaze of the young teen who wished him dead. The shield protecting Jake and Megan failed and the giant paw crushed Jake's hand as he twist to protect Megan from the monster. His scream echoing against the walls of the Danger Room, twisting them to sound inhuman. Xavier tried to lift the beast up off of them but his weight seemed impossible. Storm summoned her winds to help but nothing worked.
"Scott, run." Jean yelled as she, too, used her powers against the creature.
Scott took off in a run out of the Danger Room and into hall leading to the elevator in a desperate attempt to leave his presence for just a short while. Just as Jean predicted, Despair followed Scott out of the room. Everyone helped the two up and out of the hole in Xavier's Danger Room. Hank held the broken bone of Jake's arm in his hands, trying to help the boy not move it too much.
"Okay, even I can admit, I can't defeat him." Jake pants out, listening to the screams of metal being ripped apart. Everyone listened as metal screamed as it was ripped apart. Scott's voice cried as he screamed his battle cry. They all watched as a red beam pushed the demon across the hall.
Xavier looked around, "Where's Crystal?"
Everyone raced to the entrance where they saw said girl throwing her crystals at Despair. The young male seemed to not feel the embedded shards as he shook himself free. Scott was still in the elevator, only the entire wall was broke and the lift itself was almost all gone. Claw marks adorned the walls. Scott looked horrified.
"I was almost eaten! His teeth were just inches away from my face." Despair came forward, easing his way over to the place where Scott was leaning against the wall.
"The whistle seems to be the only thing we can use to stop him." Xavier pulled the piece of iron from his pocket.
Despair slowly came to a stop. He was just inches away from the boy when he snapped his head to Xavier. The red eyes snarled at the man in the wheel chair as if he knew Xavier was fixing to use the hated noisemaker. His glare fixated on Scott, again. His growl sounded frustrated and angry, just like the boy it came from. Despair's claws broke apart the concrete. Just as if he knew what was going on, and not some crazy animal, Despair return back his teenage self. His eyes, though, still bore his anger.
Xavier marveled at the understanding of the young teen male. "He understands what the whistle means."
"I don't think he is stupid." Crystal hummed. "Just tough to defeat."
"Crystal!" Megan reaches for her bigger sister. "Hold me!"
Crystal picks Megan up, holding the little girl against her chest. "I'm here."
Despair hated the feeling of the family atmosphere. It was like he was didn't fit into that box, no matter how hard he tried to climb into it. The wall just grew higher and higher. Despair looked at the mess of melted metal . The cage that used to be his one true home was now gone. He felt empty inside. Like there was no where to go, no where he belonged. Like his home was just gone. What was he supposed to do now that he didn't need to fight? That he didn't need to sleep inside that cage. But what was he suppose to do otherwise?
There was only one thing Despair could do now. He sat on the floor with his head on his knees, just waiting. Waiting for something to happen to him. Waiting for life to kill him off like he did to so many others. Waiting like he has always been. Alone. Cold. In the darkness.