Greetings and salutations everyone. I am happy to announce that I have finally come back from the afterworld. While I'm aware that my last update was forever ago, I hope this chapter will make up for my lack of updates. I apologize for the lateness of this chapter, but I wanted to make sure that it came out the way I wanted it to.
So without further ado, please enjoy my latest chapter.
Mike sighed sadly to himself as he lay curled up on his bed. The blonde's room was completely silence, aside for a few birds that were singing by the balcony door. But the pale teen simply ignored their happy chirping. He slowly curled his body tighter until he simply laid there in a fetal position.
I knew this was a bad idea. He thought, letting out another sad sigh.
Ever since his disastrous Danger Room session earlier this morning, the blonde had locked himself away in his room and refused to come out. It was now 2 pm, and he still hadn't moved from his spot on the bed.
Part of him highly doubted that Professor Xavier would forgive him for nearly destroying the Danger Room. But then again, the Professor was a very understanding and caring individual. Then there was Jamie... The younger teen was probably afraid of him after what happened earlier.
"Way to go Soletta. You probably just scared off the only friend you had here." He groaned.
Heaving another sigh, the blonde pushed himself into a sitting position and leaned against the headboard. Drawing his knees up, Mike looked at his trembling hands. His hands wouldn't stop shaking. Leaning his head back against the headboard, he recalled the events from earlier this morning.
(-)
"While this is only an exercise, please be aware that you are in a minimal amount of danger." Charles explained.
The drone slowly started to move in a circle around the pale teen. Mike eyed the machine warily before copying its movements. After circle each other for a few minutes, the drone lunged forward at him with a punch. The blonde barely had enough to avoid the incoming fist as he jumped to the side. But the sentry didn't stop there as it swung around with its elbow and elbowed him hard in the jaw.
Mike yelped in pain as he went crashing to the metallic floor. He spat the nasty coppery substance out of his mouth, sending a glare at the offending machine. Mike wiped the fresh blood off his newly split lip with his arm. The blonde moved his body back into a defensive stance and started to circle the machine. The drone copied him, which seemed to irritate the blonde even further.
The drone lunged again, but the pale teen was ready for it this time. Quickly jumping to the side, the blonde dropped down and swung his leg out knocking the combat drone off its feet. It landed with a loud thud that echoed off the Danger Room's walls. Before he could catch his breath, the drone quickly jumped back on its feet and swung at him again. Mike ducked the first swing, but didn't take into account the second punch that came at him.
Its fist connected with his stomach, knocking the air from his body as he fell onto his knees with a pained groan. The drone paused for a moment before pulling its fist back to begin its attacks anew. The blonde whipped his head up instantly; his normally icy blue orbs were glowing black. As the combat swung at him, a wall of dark energy quickly appear in front of the teen. Willing the wall forward, the drone was thrown backwards as the shadow wall shoved forward violently.
"Annoying little bugger." Mike whispered, trying to regain control over his breathing. Luckily, the machine had stayed down long enough for him to catch his breath.
But it was only for the moment as it pushed itself back up, and resumed its offense position. The pale teen groaned lowly, why wouldn't the stupid thing just stay down? Taking a defensive position once again, he waited for the drone to make the first move. When it lung forward, Mike let it draw closer and throw up an arm to block incoming swung. The drone's metallic arm smashed up against a moderate sized shadow barrier, preventing it from making contact with the blonde's arm.
Upon making contact, the shadows shot out and enveloped the drone's arm in an eerie black glow. The machine jerked its arm to try and pull away from the blonde, but its arm wouldn't budge.
The blonde teen smirked slyly. "My turn."
Mike swung at the drone with his left hand, slugging it hard across the face. The drone jerked from the impact and swung its other arm to retaliate, only for it hit up against another barrier of dark energy. It tried to jerk its arm away, but wasn't fast enough as the ebony glow extended to its other arm. The black energy continued to spread to the rest of the drone's body as it struggled in vain to break free. With a shift hand gesture, the drone went flying into the far wall and smashed roughly against it.
Releasing his hold on the machine, he waited for it to get back up. When it didn't, he let out a small sigh. Turning around, the color drained from his already place as two more materialized a few feet away. As if one wasn't bad enough, now there was twice the annoyance. Wait. There was something different about these drones. They were a different color, and looked a lot tougher than the green drone that he just defeated.
The two drones burst to life, quickly raising their arms and started to char- wait, were those lasers!? When the drones started to shoot at him, Mike let out a panicked cry as he dropped to the floor. Throwing a hand out in front of him, a barrier of shadows materialized in front of him. The barrage of orange lasers smashed up against the protective wall as the blonde struggled to maintain it.
"This is insane!" The blonde cried, looking for a way out.
The only way out the room was the main doors, but they were on the other side of the drones. The only way to out of here was to force his way out. Mike looked over to the damaged robot on the other side of the room as an idea popped into his head. Throwing out one hand, he took control of the drone's prone form and threw it at the attacking drones. It smashed into one of them, allowing the blonde to focus on the other one.
Using what was left of the shadow barrier, Mike threw his hand forward. The wall morphed into a clawed hand and shot out towards its target, grabbing it in a vice like grip. Clenching his hand into a fist, the ebony shadows squeezed the poor drone until it resembled a crushed can. Tossing the now motionless drone aside, he turned his attention to the remaining one.
It had thrown off the limp drone, and was running at him with surprising speed. It took a few swings at the blonde, who avoided them with some difficulty. Mike managed to put some distance between them for the moment. These stupid drones were merciless. They didn't even give him enough time to catch his breath.
The soulless machine charged him again, but Mike was ready for it. Dark energy burst from his hands as it drew closer. Just as the drone was close enough to him, Mike released the energy without hesitation. Making a quick slash gesture with his hand, a ribbon of black energy shot off Mike's finger tips and slashed through his attacker's waist. The drone jerked to a stop as its upper body slid off its waist. The rest of its body soon joined it as the bifurcated machine collapsed in a heap.
This is getting ridiculous. Mike thought, wiping some sweat off his furrowed brows.
Out of the corner of his eye, he could see yet another drone materializing on the other side of the room. The blonde glared at it as the machine slowly started to walk. Raising its arm, the drone charged its laser before firing it off. Throwing his hands out in front of him, Mike willed the shadows to form a dark wall in front of him. The pale bursts of energy smashed harmless against the shield.
Mike took a step forward, preparing himself to push the shield outwards at his attacker, but felt something roughly grab the back of his neck. A second drone had materialized behind him, and was currently gripping the back of his neck in a vice grip. The shadow barrier in front of him quickly dissolved as the blonde's hands quickly flew to his neck.
Mike let out a strangled cry as the drone threw him to the side. The blonde's back landed hard on the cold, steel ground. Letting out a pained groan, he simply laid there in a daze. Slowly cracking an eye open, he saw the same drone lunging at him. With a panicked cry, Mike threw a hand out at his attacker and sent a burst of black energy that morphed into a clawed hand.
The shadow hand gripped onto the machine, and smashed it hard into the main window of the observatory. It left a moderate sized spider web like crack on the smooth surface of the glass. The observatory occupants jumped in surprise at the impact, watching the now limp machine fall to the ground below. By now more combat drones were starting to material by twos around the Danger Room.
Pushing himself to stand on wobbly knees, Mike looked around at the slowly growing number of drones surrounding him. Clearly this was overkill!
"There's way too many." The blonde panted. Moving his body into a defensive position, he prepared himself as a small group of drones began their advance.
While he was busy trying to fend off his attackers, Ororo was frantically moving around the control room. It didn't take a genius to realize that the safety protocols had failed to activate. Normally, the combat sentry wouldn't act this rough unless the individual was an intruder. She furiously typed commands into the main computer, but the system didn't seem to register the desired commands.
"I can't access safety protocols! I'm getting him out of there!" The weather witch turned sharply on her heels, and made a beeline for the elevator.
"Wait!" Charles ordered, without taking his eyes off the blonde teen below.
The pale teen managed to block yet another blow with a shadow barrier, but he was beginning to show signs of weakening. He could feel the fear slowly rising from the pit of his stomach. No matter how many he took down, two more would always take their place. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see yet another drone swung its fist at him. The pale teen barely had enough time to create a barrier between them. However, unlike the last few times, the drone's fist actually made a large crack in the dark wall. But it didn't stop there.
Now on the offensive, the combat sentry continued to swing at the teen as he stumbled backwards. Mike continued to create shield after shield, but the drone continued to shatter them easily. By now, the slowly rising bubble of fear had turned into full on terror. The pale teen continued to back way in fear until he felt something hit against the back of his foot.
Letting out a small cry, the blonde fall backwards and landed on his butt with an inaudible thump. He looked in front of him see that he had tripped over the bifurcated drone from earlier. The sound of heavy footsteps brought his attention back to the incoming combat drones. Pushing himself to stand again, Mike continued to back away as the machines continued their advance.
"S-s-stop. G-Get away from m-me!" The pale teen whispered fearfully.
That's when all hell broke loose. The blonde shivered violently as energy started to surge through his trembling form. Black bolts of dark energy started to crackle around the teen. His body was outline in an eerie purple glow. His shadow shot outwards at the attack drones, slashing through them like a hot knife through butter. Sparks and mechanical limbs were sent flying as the tendril like shadows torn the drones apart viciously.
But it didn't stop there. As soon as the drones were dismembered, the same eerie glow around the pale teen's form illuminated the dismembered remains. The dark colored metal gave off a very low creaking noise. Without warning, the mechanical limbs were violently flattened by the increased levels of gravity.
Mike let out a pained cry as pain shot through his head. The pale glow that illuminated his body steadily started to grow darker until it was a dark shade of purple. Falling to his knees, the pale teen gripped his head tightly and squeezed his eyes shut tightly. Mike whimpered weakly as the pain continued to grow worse with every passing second. As he cradled his throbbing head, the half-Italian half Japanese teen's hair was slowly changing from its usual pale yellow to an ebony black color.
The dark purple aura around his body started to glow brightly as he was slowly lifted off his feet. The blonde was left suspended in the air as the shadows started to form a protective sphere around him. It gave off an eerie dark purple glow.
"P-Professor, what's happening to him?" The small preteen cried fearfully.
"I was afraid this might happen." Charles whispered. He eyed the dark sphere cautiously. It gave off small bursts of dark energy as the drone tried attacking it with their lasers. For the most part, the lasers smashed harmless against the dark shield. "He can't control all that power in his current state. The intense feelings of fear are clouding his mind. If he lashes out now, it could be disastrous."
The pale teen looked around the small sphere fearfully. It seemed to be growing smaller by the minute, making it increasingly difficult for him to breathe properly. Wrapping his arms around his trembling form, Mike desperately tried to take a deep breath, but couldn't.
Michael, can you hear me?
The young teen flinched at the voice intruding in his mind. He turned his head hesitantly to right to the observatory. It was the Professor. Mike nodded his head timidly.
You have to try, and calm down. I want you to try and focus on my voice. Do you think you can do that? Charles instructed calmly. Mike bit his lip before nodding slowly.
The pale teen tried to do as he was told, but a searing pain shot through his head. Letting out a sharp cry of pain, Mike gripped his pulsing head tightly. Outside the sphere, the energy discharges were growing far more frequent and violent. A bolt of dark energy shot off the surface of the sphere and struck the nearest drone. It convulsed violently before exploding a few seconds later.
"I-I can't do it!" Mike cried weakly.
The pain steadily got worse as the ebony haired teen clenched his eyes shut and let out an agonizing scream. The sphere shook violently, and started to crack before finally shattering with a violent explosion.
Then everything went blank.
(-)
The blonde shuddered at the memory, and laid his forehead on his knees. When he finally came to, he found himself sobbing in a nearby corner. Mike reached up to run a shaky hand through his pale hair. It had changed back to its normal pale blonde color sometime while he was unconscious.
Sighing tiredly, Mike looked down at his unclenched hands blankly. The bruises on the right side of his face and left knuckle were already turning a dark bluish purple. His lip was still swollen; thankfully the pain had finally subsided into a very dull aching. He winced and let out a small hiss of pain when he slowly clenched his bruised hand. Gently willing his hand to unclench and relax, the blonde gently laid his head back against the headboard.
"I really messed up." He sighed tiredly.
He closed his tired eyes slowly, hoping to fall into a dreamless sleep. Just as he was about to welcome the comforting embrace of sleep, a soft knocking at his door pulled him back into the waking world. Mike reluctantly opened his tired icy orbs and looked to the door. He swung his legs over the edge of bed, and made his way to the door. Fumbling with the lock, the blonde unlocked the door and opened it just enough so he could look out into the hall.
He visibly relaxed when he saw Ororo waiting on the other side of the door. The weather witch offered a small smile as he opened the door wider. She sent him a look of sympathy as she eyed the bruise on his face.
"Hello Michael." She greeted, offering him a smile.
Mike simply returned the smile. "U-uh, hello Ms. Munroe, what can I do for?"
"I was wondering if you wanted to join me outside for a little bit. I'm sure the fresh air will do you some good." Ororo suggested.
The pale teen stopped to think for a moment. Maybe it could do him some good to get out of his room for a little while. "W-Well, maybe for a little bit."
Closing the door behind him, the half-Italian half-Japanese teen followed behind Ororo wordlessly. They walked down the stairs of the foyer and took one of many hallways on the first floor. The blonde studied the white haired woman silently as they continued walking down the hall. He had noticed that the white haired woman gave off a motherly air.
In a way, she reminded him a lot of his own mother back home. The pale teen felt his face heat up at the thought, and quickly glanced away before she caught him staring. The weather witch led him outside to a nearby lawn table and chairs. She motioned for him to take the seat across from hers, which he did timidly.
Mike played with the hem of his dark blue long sleeve shirt nervously. "L-Listen about earlier-"
"Let me just stop you right there, Michael. If it's about what happened in the Danger Room, you don't have to apologize." Ororo retorted, offering him a knowing smile. The pale teen felt himself blush at her motherly smile, and forced his eyes to look elsewhere. "You didn't do anything wrong."
"But it's still my fault that the Danger Room got damaged." Mike muttered, avoiding her gaze. The weather witch reached out and gently took the blonde's unbruised hand in her own, not missing how he winced at the physical contact.
"You shouldn't blame yourself, child." The white haired woman said, giving his hand a gently squeeze. "The main reason we use the Danger Room is so new mutants can experiment with their powers in an enclosed environment. Sometimes it does result in equipment being damaged."
Mike let her words sink in, but they didn't offer him much comfort. The two sat there in silence for the longest time. He shifted nervously in his seat. The pale teen could still picture the events that had transpired after he left the Danger Room.
(-)
Mike slowly made his way out of the Danger Room entrance. He was still shaken up by the destruction that he unintentionally caused. The sound of footsteps and an electric wheelchair drew him out of his stupor. He saw a few familiar faces in the small crowd that coming towards him. Mike recognized some of them, but he saw two newcomers walking with them. The blonde noticed that Jamie wasn't them, and couldn't help but feel hurt by this. Then again, he wouldn't blame the preteen after what just happened.
"Are you all right, Michael?" Charles asked, stopping his wheelchair a few feet in front the pale teen.
The blonde nodded timidly. "Y-Yeah, I'm a-alright."
"What the hell happened in there?" Scott asked.
Mike flinched. He shifted nervously, avoiding the groups' gaze as he stared at his feet. "I-I don't k-know. I-I s-sort of lost control in there."
"We're just glad that you're okay." Jean said, taking a step towards him. To her surprise, the pale teen took a step back almost fearfully. "Mike?"
The blonde didn't answer her as he forced himself to look away from her. After a moment of debating with himself mentally, he slowly turned his gaze to look at Charles. "P-Professor Xavier, I'm really sorry about destroying the Danger Room."
"Not to worry, my child. Like Jean said, we're glad that you weren't seriously hurt." Charles replied, giving the blonde a small smile. "This sort of thing happens all the time, so you shouldn't worry about it. Besides, I think this will give Hank and Forge a chance to make some modifications to the Danger Room."
"Well, I've had enough." Mike said, glaring down at his feet. "I'm never setting foot in the Danger Room again."
Charles frowned at the blonde's words. The half Italian half Japanese teen had lost control once, and now he was ready to give up without a second thought.
"Michael, I understand that this was a really trying experience for you, but you have to try again at some point." The telepath retorted, hoping that he was getting through to the teen. "It's the only way you'll learn to control your powers."
"Don't you get it?" Mike snapped, letting out an exasperated sigh. "I won't have to learn about them if I never use them again!"
"That wouldn't be a wise course of action." Charles advised, but the blonde wasn't convinced by his words. Sighing to himself, the telepath gave Mike a small smile. "Michael, I encourage you to take some time off and get some rest. When you feel better, I want you to come back to the Danger Room and give it another try."
Mike shifted nervously as he lowered his gaze to the ground. "I-I don't know, Professor. Give me some time to think about it."
(-)
Mike sighed tiredly to himself. He finally lifted his gaze to look at the weather witch. She gave him a small sympathetic smile.
"The Professor told me to take some time off and think about where I should go from here." The blonde sighed. He stopped to think for a moment. God, when did he become such a pessimist? He sent the white haired woman a pleading look. "But to be honest, I don't know what to do. Tell me what I should do, please?"
Ororo smiled sadly at him.
"You and I both know that's only something you can answer for yourself." Ororo said, giving the blonde's hand a reassuring squeeze. "But it will take some time."
The pale teen could feel his eyes starting to well up, but willed the unshed tears not to fall. His powers were fueled by his emotion, and he didn't want another repeat of what happened earlier. Biting his lip, Mike steeled himself and tried to remain composed.
Taking a few deep breaths, the blonde calmed down and blinked back the unshed tears.
"H-How will I know when it's time?" He asked timidly.
The weather witch merely smiled. "Trust me, you'll know."
Mike looked at dark skinned woman with a new sense of respect and admiration. He was right in his earlier assumption about her giving off a motherly aura. The pale teen couldn't really describe it, but he felt safe around her. The best way he could describe was like how a small child felt around its mother.
"T-These powers—they scare me." He whispered before he could stop himself.
The pale teen felt his face heat up in embarrassment. He risked a glance to look at the weather witch, and was taken aback by the motherly smile she gave him.
"I know, child. Believe me; I know how you feel and what you're going through." The weather witch retorted, letting go of his pale hand and slowly stood up from her chair.
Mike watched her as she moved around the table until she was kneeling in front of him. She gently placed a hand on his shoulders, giving it a small squeeze. The blonde felt the tears well up in his eyes again, and went brush them away before they could fall. But Ororo used her free hand to gently take hold of his wrist, and shook her head.
"It's okay." She said soothingly. "It's okay to cry, Michael."
"I-I..."
"It's not a sign of weakness to cry, child. You don't have to bottle everything up; you have to let it out." The white haired woman smiled sadly.
The blonde let her words sink in. The floodgates burst open as tears started to stream down his pale face. Mike tried in vain to hold back the small sob, but it still got out. Ororo slowly pulled the teen up from his seat and gently wrapped her arms around him. She hugged him tightly and gently ran a hand through the teen's pale locks.
The weather witch felt him stiffen in her arms before burying his face in her shoulder. She felt the teen's tears slowly soaking into her shirt, but she didn't mind. Ororo made small soothing sounds, drawing slow soothing circles on the trembling teen's back.
"Shh, it's alright. Just let it all out." She whispered rubbing Mike's back.
While she was comforting the teen, Ororo was vaguely aware that someone was watching. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Charles watching them from behind the glass door. She gave him a look of acknowledgment with her eyes before returning her attention to the sobbing teen.
Knowing that the blonde was in capable hands, the telepath turned to leave. Taking one last look at the two outside, he smiled to himself before making his way down the hall.
Crying isn't showing weakness, its showing you've been strong for too long. -Author unknown.
The quote in this chapter was in dedication to my college's National Suicide Awareness and Prevention week. If you have a friend or know someone that is hurting, don't sit back and do nothing. You can make a difference by just being there for them and let them know you care. The most important thing you can do is 'Be a Friend.' Every little thing can make a difference.
Author's comments: Well, there you have it everyone my latest chapter! Yes I admit that it is a bit shorter than my other chapters, but I wanted to try and experiment with it. I still hope that you enjoyed reading it. Any thoughts? Questions? Concerns? Was this chapter any good? I'm curious to see how I did with this one.
To be completely honest with you all, this was more a filler than an actual chapter. I had to rewrite this chapter like four different times just to get it the way I wanted. If you catch any mistakes or something I left out, please let me know so I can make corrections!
While I was writing this, I thought to myself how can I get people to read more? So I've decided that the next chapter will only be posted if people really want it. All you have to do is click that little thing at the bottom of the screen.
Until we meet again fellow readers,
-Cyprin-san.