A/N: Hey everybody! Welcome to Chapter 3 uhh...you not much to say here we hope you love it though!
Disclaimer: We don't own X-Men Marvel does. Vince was made by myself. John was made by my co-authoer VenomSpider33.
Enjoy!
-Xavier Institute Four Days Later-
Vince woke suddenly as he often did, with a sense of being in danger. Looking around it took him several seconds to realize he wasn't. He was laying in bed John was sound asleep across the room, and looking out the window he could see the sun just beginning to rise.
Even after a few days at this place it still seemed unreal. He sat cross legged on his bed. One thing he had learned about himself over the last few days is once he was awake, he wasn't going back to sleep. The nightmares made that hard enough anyway.
Doing his best to not disturb John, he crossed to the bathroom, showered got dressed and waited for the alarm to go off. Today, was his first day of actual school and that was something he wasn't sure how he felt about.
Sinister had of course, taught him things that he had felt necessary, but that could hardly be called school. He sat lost in his thoughts until finally Johns alarm clock went off. He glanced over and saw John roll and shut it off before glancing at him.
"I'm beginin to wonder if you ever actually sleep?" John said groggily.
"Sure I do, just an early riser that's all." Vince shrugged.
"Right, well give me a bit and we can go and get breakfast." John yawned walking to the bathroom as Vince shrugged.
-Cafeteria Twenty Minutes Later-
They walked into the cafeteria to find that not a lot of the students had arrived yet. Off to the side John noticed the Three-in-One sitting alone. As he looked he saw one of them, the one seated in the center shoot a glance their way.
Noticing him watching she went back to her food. John let out a breath, he had noticed that ever since his first day that same member of the Three-In-One would watch them. At least he was pretty sure it was the same member sometimes it was hard to tell with them.
Not knowing what to make of that he sat beside Vince wondering if he had noticed as well, nearly sure he did and just didn't talk about it. The Mess Hall filled and once all the students were there and seated Professor Summers and the others came out on a balcony above them and called for attention stopping the steady buzz of conversation that had filled the air.
"Welcome to your first official school day. Now before classes begin I have an announcement. This year, we are going to be Beta testing a new concept of training squads lead by an individual teacher. As this is an experiment, not all students will be a part of a squad at least not yet. So, while you all eat, if you are approached by a teacher they will inform you of where to go from there. If this goes well then next semester all students will be a part of a squad. Any questions?" Scott asked.
"What if we didn't come here to be superheroes, can we bow out?" Asked a black boy with glasses.
"Good question, and the answer is no. The students approached were all carefully considered and sorted into teams. Beside that, even if you don't want to become X-Men you did all also come here to learn control." Jean said.
The boy opened his mouth appeared to consider that for a moment and then nodded sitting back down.
"Excellent, as for those not picked please report to your first class when the bell rings." Emma said as they all went back to talking.
"So...that's neat." John said, and Vince just shrugged. "So, what kinda classes you got?"
"The basic stuff, I guess, plus some other stuff." Vince said, taking a piece of paper out of his pocket and handing it to John.
"Let's see, math, chemistry, history...advanced combat strategy?" John read aloud, and Vince raised an eyebrow.
"Is that not normal?"
"Uhhh...I guess they just didn't teach that at my old school. Though, I guess that applies to a lotta stuff here. I mean, check this out." The energy absorber said, pulling out his own schedule. "Flight class, with professor Beaubier, Super Strength 101 with Professor Rasputin, this training squad stuff...this place is insane, man."
"Trust me, you've just scratched the surface." A familiar voice said, and they both looked up to see Jean Grey approaching them. "How are you boys settling in?"
"We're doing just fine, Professor." John responded, and Vince nodded in agreement.
"I'm glad to hear that." Jean replies with a smile. "What did you think of the squad announcement?"
"Well, I came from a town that lives and breathes football, so I don't think it'll be too different from that." John said.
"It's interesting, I guess." Vince responded, and that's when it clicked in his head. "Wait. Frost said that the teachers were gonna be approaching us about being on the squads, didn't she?"
"She did. You two were the first names I put on my list" The telepath conformed, and John's eyes widened.
"Wait, seriously?!" He asked, and Jean nodded.
"Yes seriously, I see a great amount of potential in both of you. That was the point of the squads the Beta test is to develop those we feel have the most potential. That way even if it doesn't work, something good comes out of it." Jean said.
"Well, I get him, but why me?" Vince asked skeptically pointing from John to himself.
"As I said I feel you both have a lot of potential, and I feel this will be the best way to help you both realize that potential." Jean said.
"Okay, I suppose." Vince said after a slight pause.
"Thank you! Thank you so much Professor Grey! So, where do we go then?" John asked seeming excited.
"Report to the main office, we'll explain from there." Jean said and they nodded as she walked away. Vince glanced down at his schedule and saw at the end of every other day, starting today he had an hour and a half of counseling with Professor Frost, and Professor Grey.
'That's interesting.' He thought wondering what on Earth they expected to achieve there. The rest of breakfast passed with them trying to figure out where this whole squad thing was going to go.
Faculty Building, Main Lobby
When they arrived to the main lobby they found sixteen other students. They included Sofia, Jullian Keller, and several others who neither Vince, nor John recognized.
"Whoa, this is more than I thought it would be." John said.
"Imagine how we feel. Who would have thought they'd let you in at all?" Keller said from beside John.
"Hey now, I'd watch your words, Keller." Jonathan warned, his eyes glowing brighter as his fists clenched, while Julian began preparing his telekinesis.
"Back off Keller, I would really rather not have to hurt you." Vince said stepping up beside John as his claws slid out.
"Please with my powers I could take you both no problem." Keller said confidently.
"Sure you can, you say that like I haven't taken out telepaths before." Vince said casually.
"Wait! What!?" Keller demanded stepping up to him.
"Easy, everyone." A boy whose head appeared to be on fire said, moving between them. "No need to get into a fight before the first day." He tried to calm them down, and Jonathan took a deep breath, his eyes returning to 'normal', as Julian stood down as well.
"Yes, no need to start tearing through campus just yet." A familiar voice said, and all the students looked to see Cyclops standing at the top of the stairs, with Emma, Dani Moonstar, and Jean standing behind him. "We just tidied up the place." Emma finished.
"As we stated in the cafeteria, you're here because your advisors personally selected you to be on their training squads. If all goes according to plan, then you'll not only learn how to improve your mastery over your own abilities, but make yourself and your teammates better people as well." Cyclops dictated. "Now, as I said before, this is essentially a beta test. The 18 of you are essentially a trial run, and if it runs well, then we'll be creating more squads in the future."
"So what exactly are these squads going to be doing?" A blue haired girl with metallic gauntlets on her arms asked.
"In addition to training exercises, we will be conducting a series of field day exercises, where squads will be put up against one another in healthy competition. Winning teams will be rewarded with points, and whoever has the most at the end of the semester will be rewarded." The visor wearing mutant explained. "Again, this is intended to be friendly, healthy competition. We're not trying to do any sort of East Coast/West coast type feuds."
"Jesus this guy's old…" John muttered under his breath.
"Now, I'll be handing things off to my lovely assistants behind me." Scott said, and stepped back from the podium to allow Emma to take the stand.
"Now, when I call your name, please step forward." She said, and took out a piece of paper. "Julian Keller…" Julian stepped forward, casting a glare at Vince as he did so. "...Soorya Qadir…" A girl in a burqa stepped forward. "...Santo Vacarro…" The boy made of rocks stepped forward. "...Illyana Rasputin…" A blonde girl that had a dangerous air around her stepped forward. "...Brian Cruz…" A boy with dreads stepped forward. "...and Jay Guthrie." A boy with red bird-like wings coming out of his back stepped forward. "PLease, follow me." She instructed, and they all followed her. Up next was Dani Moonstar.
"Hisako Ichiki…" A Japanese girl stepped forward. "...Kevin Ford…" A boy dressed head to toe in all black was next. "...Joshua Foley…" A boy with gold skin stepped forward. "...Sofia Martega…" Sofia stepped forward now. "...Benjamin Hamill…" the boy with the burning head stepped forward now. "...and Laurie Collins." Another blonde girl stepped forward, and Dani smiled at them. "If you'll please follow me, I'll let Professor Grey finish us off." As Dani stepped back, Jean took the stage.
"Clarice Ferguson…" A pink skinned girl with pure green eyes and short purple hair stepped forward. "...Noriko Ashida…" The blue haired girl with the gauntlets were next. "...Jonathan Paxton, Vincent Howlett…" John flashed Vince a thumbs up, before they both stepped forward. "...Cessily Kincaid…" A red haired girl with silver, metallic skin was next. "...and last but not least, David Alleyene." The black boy who had spoken up in the cafeteria was last, and now Scott stepped forward again.
"I have high hopes for all of you, and wish you all the best of luck. Now, if you'll please follow your advisors, they;ll get you situated." he said, and dismissed them.
"Please, follow me." Jean beckoned, leading them out of the auditorium.
"So how are these going to interfere with our classes?" The pink skinned girl, now identified as Clarice, asked as they walked through the halls into Jean's office.
"Ideally, not that much. We'll primarily be doing squad based activities after the end of the school day, just like any extracurricular activity at your old schools." Jean explained, checking her watch. "Now, any good group needs a name. For that reason, I've decided to call us...the Phoenixes."
"Oh, like your old codename? I like it." Cessily said. "I uh...I was a bit of a fan when I was younger."
"What a small world." Jean remarked. "Now, onto codenames. You'll be using these when engaging in field day exercises, and I've carefully selected these based on your personalities and abilities." She explained, and pointed at David. "Prodigy…" Then to Clarice. "...Blink…" Now to Noriko. "...Surge…" Now it was Cessily's turn. "...Mercury…" It was John next. "...Powerhouse…" Now to Vince. "...and-"
"Weapon X." He blurted out. "I'd just...I'd like to be called Weapon X, if that's ok."
Jean appeared to think about that for a moment. Truth be told she wasn't thrilled by the name choice, but in looking at how he was nervously swaying in place she couldn't say no. Eventually she knew he would move on, but for now she understood it was the only consistent thing he had.
"Okay then, Weapon X it is." 'For now.' She added in her head as Vince nodded gratefully.
"Now then, let's talk costumes." She said, typing on her computer, and a scanner appeared from her desk. "Step in front of this, and it'll scan in your measurements. Your uniforms should be ready by end of the school day."
"And then what?" David asked.
"Well, for now, we decided it would be best to hold off on field day activities until this Friday. Until then, I would like for you all to start spending time together and getting to know one another." Jean explained.
"So, what no real classes today then?" Noriko asked surprised.
"Not exactly, the second half of your day is going to be scheduled classes. After those and once your uniforms are ready, we'll be introducing the squads to the rest of the school in a special ceremony." Jean said as they all nodded she turned to Vince.
"Vincent, your final class is going to be after the ceremony alright?" She asked as Vince remembered that odd counseling session that he was due to have every other day.
"Yes Ma'am." he said as the Machine scanned him and brought up his image and measurements beside the others.
"Now that I have your measurements tell me what you think of these." She offered typing in a few keys before their images changed to show them all in various altered Dark Green and Gold X-Men uniforms.
"If you have any changes you would like to be made feel free and we can see what we can do." She offered as they all looked the uniforms over.
"So what's up with this?" Vince asked gesturing to his suit, which greatly resemble Wolverine's costume.
"You'll wear these during our training exercises. We can't really have you get your clothes all torn up, can we?" Jean explained, and Vince frowned. 'Is something wrong?'
'It's just...do I really deserve something like this?' He thought back to her.
'Trust me, Logan used to think the same way. I have faith that you'll prove yourself worthy of it.' Jean reassured mentally, but Vince still seemed unsure. Was he really capable, after everything he had been bred for, of being worthy of a proper uniform like the others…?
At least, that's what he was pondering before John nudged him in his side. "Dude, check this shit out!" He excitedly whispered, pointing at his own uniform design on the screen. "We've got superhero costumes! And not those weird ones with the shoulder pads and all the pouches, but cool ones!"
"I...gotta agree." David agreed next to him. "I still don't know how I really feel about all this...training squad stuff, but this is pretty cool."
"Yeah, I guess it is." Vince admitted smiling a little even despite how nervous and undeserving he felt.
"Glad you all like them, now take some time and get to know each other, while I go and make sure they're all made properly." Jeans said walking off and leaving the teens to chat.
"So...I know this is going to seem stupid, but uh what exactly do you do? Like why is your skin pink?" Noriko asked, turning to Clarice. "I'm sorry if that sounds insensitive, I've just seen you around and always wondered."
"Hey, no worries. It's a legitimate question." Clarice answered, before she vanished in a flash of light, appearing immediately in Jean's chair. "I'm a teleporter, like Professor Wagner. I can do it the old fashioned way, or…" Clarice closed her eyes, beginning to concentrate. Before too long, a purple portal began appearing in the center of the room, and the others could see what looked like one of the dorm rooms. "I can...make...a portal…" Clarice strained out, before she gave out, and the portal disappeared. "...but...but those are tough." She explained, wiping sweat from her brow.
"How far?" Vince asked, and they all looked at him. "How far can you move."
"Right now? About a mile or two by myself, less if it's a portal. And I can only open those in places close by or places that I know, like my dorm room." The pink skinned mutant explained.
"And the skin?" Noriko asked, and Clarice just shrugged.
"Since the day I was born. Apparently I gave the doctor quite the heart attack." She said with a chuckle, before her brow furrowed. "You guys are all new, right?" She pointed at David and Noriko. "You two I've seen with that Moonstar lady-" now she pointed at John and Vince. "-but you two got here last week, right?"
"Tomorrow makes two weeks for me." John stated. "How long have you been here?"
"About two years now, back when Xavier ran things."
"Wait, really?" David asked surprised.
"Yeah, Cyclops found me after….let's just say I was in a really bad place." She said, and from the look on her face, the others could tell she didn't want to talk about it.
"Ok, so…David, right? What can you do?" John asked, changing the subject.
"I absorb knowledge and skills from the people around me. It usually fades after half an hour or so, though." David explained.
"Didn't you knock Professor Logan on his ass a few weeks ago?" Cessily asked, and David sheepishly scratched the back of his head.
"Uh, yeah. I absorbed his combat skills and just…reacted. Don't think he's too eager to repeat it, though. Might explain why he cancelled the class…" David muttered.
"Well, I guess I'm next." Cessily said, her silver arm morphing into a blade. "My whole body's made out of this weird liquid metal stuff. I can do this, or I can turn into a…puddle is the best comparison, and move around." To demonstrate, her body began to melt, her clothes collapsing into a heap on top of it, before reforming with her clothes.
"Whoa,you're like that thing from Terminator 2." Clarice said. "Can you still…feel anything?"
"Kind of. I've still got all my senses, I can feel heat, I get cold…" Cessily explained, before she frowned. "I just can't…taste anything. I don't even need to eat or drink. I just like feeling…normal, you know?"
"That's…rough." John commented, before everyone looked at him. "Guess I'll go next. Doc McCoy says my body's constantly absorbing all kinds energy and storing it, before releasing it. I guess I'm tougher than I used to be. Stubbed my toe the other day, and I think the wall looked worse than my toe did. Also, uh…knocked down that door the other day." He explained, sheepishly chuckling as he pointed at the door to Jean's office. "Oh, and I'm strong! Check this out." Quickly removing everything from Jean's desk, he reached down and picked it up, almost effortlessly holding it above him with one hand.
"Lucky…" Noriko commented, gesturing to her gauntlets. "See these things? Not really a fashion statement. Notice how the lights have been flickering since I walked in? That's because I'm absorbing electricity wherever I go. Lights, outlets, phones, even the static electricity in the air…if I didn't wear these ugly things, I'd be a mess."
"I can confirm that. I saw firsthand what happens when she gets overloaded." David correlated, recalling his first encounter with Noriko a few weeks ago.
"Hey I said I was sorry, but I did warn you." She chuckled
"Yeah I suppose you did." David said starting to feel some information drop inot his mind as the others all turned to Vince. "Last but not least."
"Not much for me to say really. I have bone claws, and I heal just like others. Though I suppose my claws and my skeleton are more durable." He admitted after a slight pause.
"How so?" Clarice asked.
Taking a few steps away, Vince unsheathed his golden claws from his hands and each foot.
Clarice gave an impressed whistle; "Whoa, are those things made of gold?" She asked.
"Something like that." He answered, as his claws receded back into his body, and Clarice snapped her fingers.
"You're the guy who freaked out on the Cuckoos last week!" She stated, and Vince's eyes widened.
"I, uh…" He hadn't planned on this. Vince had done his best to put the incident in the cafeteria last week out of his mind, and John had been polite enough not to bring it up again. But now that Clarice was bringing it up…
"Hey, no need to get embarrassed." She reassured, as he was starting to get flustered. "I know some people really don't like it when telepaths barge in without permission. Those girls are all sorts of creepy, and they have boundary problems. Plus, you didn't hear this from me, but I am 90 percent sure that Sophie cheats in history."
"Uh, thanks?" This made Vince feel a little better, though he was still slightly embarrassed about it. Though now that he thought about it, Vince could swore he'd seen one of them staring at him every now and then…
"So...great meeting you all. I'm really looking forward to seeing how this shakes out and all, but I've got drama with Professor Wagner in ten minutes, so...see you guys later?" Cessily said, and David nodded.
"See you guys later."
Two Hours Later, Front Lawn
John sighed as he sat in the grass, now dressed in gym clothes. He was sitting in a circle with about eight others, including Julian Keller and Sofia. "Alright, everyone, welcome to day one." A dark haired man of French Canadian descent said. "My name is Jean-Paul Beaubier. Some of you may recognize me as Northstar, former snowboarding champ and pretty face of Alpha Flight. For the next year, I'll be teaching you all how to fly."
"'Alpha Flight?' Talk about the bottom of the barrel…" Julian muttered next to John, while Northstar continued his introduction.
"Better than you isn't he?" John challenged.
"Maybe in his dreams. I could beat this guy no problem, but he'd destroy you." Julian said confidently.
Before John could shoot back a girl spoke up; "Hey, cool it Jullian no need to cause problems." SHe said before turning to John who recognized her as the girl that had been at the Cuckoo's table the other day.
She had tanned skin, long brown hair and brown eyes. She smiled at him and John felt nervous he knew of her to say the least. Sofia Mantega, one of the better students and seemingly liked by nearly everyone.
"Don't let him get to you he's always been pretty full of himself." She muttered and Julian looked mock offended.
"Come, on you know you like me." He said casually.
"Maybe in your dreams." Sofia said, and turned to John. "I apologize for him. Having a big head seems to be his mutant power."
"Believe it or not, I am no stranger to big heads. Should tell you about my uncle sometime." John whispered back, and she chuckled.
Julian seemed simultaneously angry and jealous before Northstar called for attention again. Growling slightly he turned to the teachers so he could figure their powers and the best way for them each to fly.
Up first was a girl with fairy like wings on her back. As her wings began to flutter and lift her off the ground, John leaned over to Sofia. "So, how'd your first team meeting go?" He asked.
"It went great! Most of us already knew each other, since Miss Moonstar was the one who brought us all to the school. I was actually a little surprised that David and Nori ended up with you rather than us, though." Sofia responded. "But Hisako and Ben seem nice enough, so I'm really looking forward to seeing what happens!"
"I'll tell you what's gonna happen: you're gonna get trounced by us." Julian piped up, and they both rolled their eyes. "I'm serious! Between me, Santo, and Colossus's creepy sister? It's gonna be a walk in the park for us."
"Uh huh. You know, I've seen you around for almost a week, and as far as I can tell, all you can really do is talk and talk and talk." John shot back, and Julian just scoffed as he stepped forward.
"Watch and learn." With that, he began to concentrate. A light green glow enveloped his body, as he began to lift himself off the ground and joined the rest of the other floating students. Sofia gave John a smile, before the winds swirled around her as she used her powers to float herself off the ground.
"Last but not least, Mister Paxton." Northstar instructed, and John stepped forward.
"Ok, here's goes nothing…" He muttered to himself. He took a deep breath, crouching down and closing his eyes. He leapt off the ground, approaching where the others were hovering and floating there… "uh oh." ….for about a second, before he plummeted back down to the ground. "Ow…"
"Ha!" Julian chortled, before Sofia shot him a glare. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I couldn't help myself." Northstar glared at Julian, before floating back down and kneeling next to John, who appeared largely unhurt.
"You ok?" The Canadian hero asked, and John weakly nodded.
"Yeah, I'm...I'm fine. Just...y'know, thought the ground was really comfortable." John joked, and took Jean-Paul's extended hand as he helped him off the ground.
"Hm. Well, you're still relatively new to your powers, so I suppose a learning curve isn't too unsurprising…" Beaubier muttered. "I'll speak to your advisor, see if we can arrange some sort of after school tutoring." He stated, and John smiled, flashing a thumbs up.
"Sure thing, Professor." He confirmed, and Northstar nodded, before flying back up the others. As soon as he had turned around, though, John's smile dropped into a frown, and he sighed.
"Damn. Off to a real great start here…" He muttered to himself, sitting on the ground. He looked up to watch the others, barely noticing Sofia looking at him with concern before she devoted her attention back to the lesson.
-Elsewhere-
The bell rang and Vince along with the others, slid his books and supplies into his bag. He let out a breath. English was not a bad subject, but he wasn't sure that he liked it too much. It wasn't helped by the fact that try as he might he wasn't used to this many people being around and not trying to kill him.
He kept to himself trying to figure out exactly where he was headed next, when he noticed that the murmuring around him had seemed to pick up. As he listened it became more centralized around someone walking up behind him. He caught some of the words.
"Wait, they can do that?"
"Aren't they always together?"
"Is anyone else a little freaked out?"
Then there was a gentle tap on his shoulder and his heightened sense of smell picked up something that smelt a lot like berries. Turning around he was surprised to find one of the Cuckoo's staring at him. In fact he was sure it was the same one that he had caught staring at him a few times before in the last week.
What really threw him and (as far as he could tell) others off was that it was only one of the Cuckoo's not all three staring at him.
"Hello, Vincent right?" She asked her voice devoid of her two sisters was soft, but firm sounding.
"Yeah, most seem to call me Vince uh…" He paused only now really considering he didn't know her name.
"Celeste Cuckoo, listen can I talk to you in private real quick?" She asked seeming hopeful. Vince stared at her a million different possibilities crossing through his mind before finally he nodded and followed the short blonde down the hall and into an empty classroom.
Once they were alone she turned to face him, biting her lip for some reason he didn't understand. She didn't speak so he did to break the silence.
"You know, I didn't think that you all could do things on your own? Like I thought you had a hive mind thing?" He asked.
That actually got a laugh out of her a sound that he liked; "We do, but we can do things separately, even cut off things we may not want the others to know. We just like to do things together. It's...easier. Especially since we lost Sophie and Esme." She said, and after a pause, she let out a breathe.
"Look I wanted to, um, I mean… I am not good at this. I wanted to say that I'm sorry for last week, with how we skimmed your mind. We shouldn't have done that, it was a serious invasion of your privacy. My sisters and I are almost always connected, and we sometimes forget that most people don't like it when use our powers without permission." She said carefully not looking at him.
He was surprised, no one had ever really apologized to him. As such, he didn't know how to respond so he said: "Well, thank you? I think that's the right thing to say here?" He asked. "I'm still new to...well, everything. I'm sorry if I scared you the other day. I've had some bad experience with telepathy. I just...reacted on instinct."
"It's ok. I...I didn't see anything, if you're worried. And like I said, we shouldn't have done it in the first place." Celeste said.
"It's ok. Let's just...start over." Vince said, and Celeste smiled.
"Agreed. I'm Celeste Cuckoo or Frost I like both." She said, extending her hand.
"I'm Vince...Howlett, I think." That was the name that Logan had put on his enrollment forms, so he figured he might as well accept it. He took her hand, shaking it. "It's nice to meet you."
"You as well. I should get going. Somehow I got signed up for Business Class with Professor Drake, and he hates it when people are late. So...bye?" She waved goodbye, and headed towards the door.
"Wait, before you go, I have one more question." Vince said. "Why did John act so nervous around Sofia?"
"You really don't know?" Celeste asked, and he shook his head. "He's got a crush on her." With that, she left the room, leaving him alone with one very important question.
"Why the hell does he want to crush her?"
-Jean Grey's Office-
Vince walked in nervously looking around as he saw Jean and Emma Frost there. It was only now after speaking to Celeste that he realised how similar the two looked physically though Emma of course was older.
"Mr. Howlett, please have a seat." Emma said gesturing to a Chaise lounge couch. He did as he was told looking nervous.
"Vince, do you know what therapy is?" Jean asked carefully.
"No, not really. If Sinister though that it wasn't in any way necessary, I never really learned about it." Vince said honestly.
Emma let out a sigh; "Alright well, to make this short, we want to help you with any residual mental issues you may have. But in order to do that we need to take a peek into your memories." She said.
There it was again, Jean felt it too that feeling of absolute dread washed over them both in waves and even though he didn't move he sat stiffly.
"Vince, please. We can't help you as well if we don't know what you've been through." Jean said. "I know she can be difficult, but trust me, Emma only wants to help."
Vince exhaled and then nodded; "Okay, but I'm sorry for what your going to see." He muttered.
"I'm sure we can handle it." Emma said bracing herself for horrible things even as she spoke calmly; "Lay your head down and try to relax." She said.
He nodded and closed his eyes, he felt the mind probes at his own. Briefly reflexively he tried to fight the feeling before relaxing and allowing them into his mind.
They fell through a swirl of memories, and then they found themselves standing in a dark room. It was high cielinged and the walls were made of metal. There was a large observation window. As they observed all this a door across from her opened wide.
There were sounds of a struggle and Jean heard a child's voice screaming; "No! Please, I don't want to go I don't want to!" He said and she watched as the six year old Vince was literally thrown into the room by two large men. He hit the ground rolled a few feet and slammed into the wall.
Shaking himself he stood, and made a break for the door, but it slid closed before he got there. He slammed his small hands against the door.
"Let me out! Let me out I don't want to be here!" He screamed desperately.
Then Emma heard Sinisters cold malicious voice roll throughout the room; "now, now Weapon X you know the rules if you want out you have to earn it." He said.
Then around the room doors began to slide open. To their horror they saw a pack of impossibly large, and very under fed wolves enter the room. Behind them was a Brown Bear and all of them towered over the terrified looking boy.
"Please, don't do this." He whimpered fear evident in his voice.
There was no response, but rather the animals fell upon him and began to slash and bite at him. For a while the boy refused to fight. His claws staying sheathed. They kept slashing and Sinisters voice came again;
"You won't fight? Fine then at least the animals will get a good meal. Though I will have to start my project from scratch pitty I was hoping you would be a success."
The child let out roar of rage and his claws, smaller than they were now and still made of smooth white bone burst from his hands and feet as the animals fell on him again. This time he fought back, like an animal himself slashing, biting and hitting anything near him.
Then after how long she wasn't sure, it was over and the young Vince sat on his knee's tears coming from his eyes covered from head to foot in gore as his own cuts and bite marks healed over.
"Excellent work, Weapon X. truly excellent. You see, this is what you were made for. You will be my greatest weapon." Sinister said his voice holding pride in it as Vince began to rock back and forth crying.
Jean could tell that even for someone as hardened as Emma, the memory was particularly upsetting, and they moved on through the rest of his memories. The rest were of similarly gruesome and violent incidents, each passing memory showing the steps Sinister took in helping mold Vince into his ideal killing machine. Eventually, she found herself suspended in some sort of tube, with all sorts of tubing plugged into 'her' body, with various people in lab coats watching her. For a second, she almost mistook it for one of Logan's memories, until one of the technicians spoke.
"Sir, we're ready to begin." One of the lab techs said.
"Has the metal been properly prepared?" A familiar voice asked, and Emma saw Mr. Sinister step in front of the tube.
"Yes sir. We followed the instructions precisely." The lab tech stated, and Sinister smiled.
"Excellent. Begin the infusion." Sinister ordered, and soon after he said that, a golden substance began flowing through the tubes and into Vince's body. As soon as they arrived at the body, Vince began to scream, as a burning sensation began spreading throughout his body. He soon began writhing and flailing around in the tube.
"Vitals are skyrocketing!"
"He's redlining!"
"Stop the procedure!"
"No!" Sinister barked, as Vince continued to writhe about in the tube. "Weapon X can take it. Continue as planned." Soon, the pain grew to the point where Emma couldn't even hear anything in the memory, only Vince's screams. Soon, three golden claws emerged from Vince's knuckles, and Sinister grinned.
"Bonding process complete."
"Excellent." Sinister stated, and approached the tube, placing a hand on the glass. "Soon, Weapon X, the world shall behold my greatest accomplishment."
Jean's eyes snapped open, she was sweating and she could feel her heartbeat. Looking down she saw Vince was shaking his claws had slid out and he looked terrified. Gathering herself a little, she let out a deep breath. "Let's just...calm down."
"God, I need a drink…" Emma sighed out. "Vincent, what you went through...I truly am sorry."
"For what? It...it wasn't your fault."
"But we should have been there sooner." Jean said. "Vince, I want you to understand that you don't have to be what Sinister wanted to make you. Your past doesn't define who you are. Just look at Emma here, do you know what her past is like?"
"Uh, would it be weird if I said yes? Because she was pretty high on his priority target list so..I've learned at least the basics."
"I don't know whether to be flattered or insulted." Emma responded, massaging her temples.
"I'm sorry?" Vince said somewhat fearfully bowing his head at her general tone.
"If...if you don't mind my asking, do you know if Sinister had any other special…'projects' like you that Sinister had?" Jean asked, and he shook his head.
"No. When he wasn't off dealing with you people, he was giving me his full, undivided attention."
"What was going on at the Alkali Lake facility? With all those mutants?"
"I...I don't know. Something about their powers, I think." Vince replied, and the two telepaths exchanged a glance.
"Would you...mind if we probed any further?" Jean asked, and he let out a sigh.
"Honestly, I'm pretty tired. That whole thing was...draining."
"Which is why this is scheduled for the end of the day." Emma said.
"Is it alright if we do this once a week or so?" Jean asked, and Vince nodded.
"Yeah, I'm fine with that."
"Then go get some rest. We've got a big day tomorrow."
A/N: So ends the chapter. Bit of a sort of downer ending but we hope you enjoyed all the same! See you all next chapter!