Author's Notes: Thank you to my many reviewers! Please keep doing it! It was very encouraging, and very helpful. Now, I know I put a disclaimer in the first chapter, but I would like to reissue it. I do not own X-Men. I do however claim ownership of Schizoid. DO NOT USE HIM AS YOUR OWN! If you wish to use the character, please, ask me, I'll probably say yes, it's just nice to be asked. Now to respond to your reviews.
Gremblin: Thanks for the review! I've always kinda wondered myself about that, hence the fic. Glad you like it! Keep Reviewing! And thanks for adding this story to your favorites!
Skye Knightley: Thanks! Keep reviewing! I'm glad you like the fic!
Evil Eye Kat: Thanks for the review! As for them getting along... well... we'll see.
Sal: Thanks luv. And thanks for pointing out the typo, I'll fix that.
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Chapter 3: Examination
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Schizoid entered the room behind Jean, it was quite a sight to behold, a full medical wing, beds, scanners, monitors, the whole nine yards. All of that, and yet he didn't seem too impressed with it. He just walked over to the bed and hopped up, sitting on the edge of it as though this were any other doctor's office.
"So..." Jean said as she got some equipment together. "Schizoid. How are you feeling today?" She asked with a smile as she pulled out some things from a drawer. Gloves, pen light, popsicle stick, tiny hammer, stethoscope, thermometer, all were in her little arsenal.
"How do we feel?" He asked as though he were talking to himself. "We feel... Sore. Hungry. Tired. Though I suppose you were wanting the usual 'okay' answer."
"Are you feeling ill?" Jean asked, as though to specify the question.
"No. Not really. We feel a bit dizzy sometimes, but only after we switch." He answered.
"Dizziness?" Jean asked as she put on the gloves and the doctor's coat, sticking some of that arsenal in her pocket before putting her glasses on. She actually looked like a doctor now.
"Only after we change." He answered.
"The way the professor wanted me to do this, is he wanted me to examine each of you, one by one. Now... how many of you... are there?" She asked.
"We are three." He answered. "We three." He said again, as if finding something catchy about the tune of it. "Lucas, Markus, and Jack. Three." He said with a strong nod as Jean took out the stethoscope and began listening to his heart beat, it was normal. She checked his eyes, which looked fine, and his pulse was good too.
"So who am I talking to now?" Jean asked as she pulled off the stethoscope.
"You're talking to us now. To Schizoid? Remember?" He asked with a slight laugh.
Jean smiled ever so slightly as if to humor him. "Okay... Who is talking to me right now?" She asked kindly.
"Lucas. Lucas is in charge now. Lucas is in control. Myself. Lucas." He said as he nodded a bit, which made it hard for her to use the popsicle stick to look at his throat, so far he seemed pretty healthy physically.
"And Lucas is the human. Like you said before, right?" She asked as she stuck the thermometer in his ear to take his temperature.
"Yes. Lucas is human. Markus and Jack are mutants. Nothing wrong with humans. Nothing wrong with mutants. Best of friends." He said all rather quickly as if he were getting nervous.
She took the thermometer out of his ear, his temperature was normal as well. "So... Where is Lucas from?" She asked as she began to check his reflexes.
"Boston." He answered. "He grew up with his parents in Boston."
"Okay." She said as she pulled up a little monitor thing and hit a few buttons beneath it. "Have you ever taken an MRI before?" She asked.
"Yes." Schizoid answered as though he were nervous.
"Well I want to take an X-Ray and an MRI, is that okay?" Jean asked, it was obvious she was tiptoeing here, she didn't want to upset this guy, she felt he truly was mentally unstable.
"That's fine. Just so long as you don't make Jack do it." Schizoid answered.
"His turn will come, but for now I want Lucas to lay down here." She said with a nod as she patted the little slide out bed from the machine.
Schizoid nodded and laid down, taking off his shirt as he was instructed before hand, and trying to relax. The bed slid in slowly, and the lights came on, one by one. As though the machine were getting warmed up. It made funny, but sudden noises, and it was obvious that the young man did not enjoy the sudden noises. He jumped each time one happened.
"Stay still." Jean said as she took her place by a screen.
Schizoid didn't answer, just nodded, and tried to keep as still as he could. Finally the noises stopped, and he calmed down a bit and took deep breaths as he closed his eyes. He didn't like doctor's that was obvious, but why?
"You seem to be in perfectly fine physical condition." Jean said looking at the monitor. "Do you exercise on a regular basis?" She asked.
"Lucas used to spend a lot of time dancing and doing Capoeira." Schizoid answered.
"Capoeira?" Jean asked.
"Jamaican martial arts." Schizoid answered. "It's a mixture of dancing and self defense."
"Perhaps you can give us a demonstration some time." She suggested with a smile as she wrote down some notes.
"So we're in good health?" Schizoid answered as the bed slid back out from the machine and the machine shut down.
"Okay." Jean said as Schizoid stood up and put his shirt back on. "Next?"
"What? What do you mean? What does she mean? What next?" He asked as though talking to himself and to her at the same time.
"I mean... well... Can you switch now?" Jean asked.
"Oh sure." Schizoid said as he rotated his neck a bit as if to stretch it out. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes as his hair began to change from the roots downward from its black color to a natural red color. It looked unnatural when contrasted with his dark skin. His eyes opened to reveal large green saucer's replacing the blue eyes he had a moment ago.
"So who am I talking to now?" Jean asked getting her tools back from the table where she had laid them.
"Markus." He said as he sat back down on the table.
Jean took the stethoscope and put it to his heart. She was obviously having a bit of trouble. "Can you take off your sweat shirt?" She asked.
He did it and set it next to him, as he did so however she realized something she hadn't before, there was a scar on his left arm. It ran all the way from his shoulder down to his wrist.
"Was that there before?" She asked. "I didn't see it when you took of the straight jacket and put on the sweatshirt."
"What?" Schizoid asked looking down to his arm. His own eyes widened a bit. "No. Lucas doesn't have that. That's Markus'." He answered. "He got it a year ago."
She took down a few notes before she put the stethoscope to his heart again. She turned her head a little as if trying to listen hard.
"So... Markus. You were a mutant?" Jean asked taking off the stethoscope.
"Aye." He said with a nod. "Still am."
"Right..." Jean said looking into his eyes with her pen light. "What were your powers?" She asked. She was slightly curious. If this boy had his friend's abilities it would at least give him more credit to the story that they were still alive in his body.
"Markus could become invulnerable." He answered with a slight smile.
"How?" Jean asked stepping back and taking some notes.
"I could active a shield or something that coated my skin for about ten minutes. It took some concentration, but I could do it every once in a while." He answered. "Why lass?"
"Lass?" Jean asked raising a brow from behind her glasses.
"Sorry. Scottish vocab. Markus is from Alba." Schizoid responded as he looked around a bit.
"So..." Jean said as she tried to take his pulse. Something was wrong. She looked up at him. "You have no pulse."
"Well I did die Lass." He answered.
"Well... yes... but your body is also buried by now. This body needs a pulse in order to live... unless..." She paused as she reached into a drawer and pulled out a needle.
"What are you doing?" Schizoid asked raising a brow and moving away ever so slightly.
"Just sit still." She said reaching forward to stretch out his arm. She placed the needle against it and went to inject it, but it bent, breaking as she pushed it against his skin.
"What the?" Schizoid asked looking at it. "Did we do that? How did we do that?"
"Your 'shield' apparently." Jean answered. "Change back to Lucas."
He did so and looked a bit nervous as she went back to the drawer. His eyes were blue once more, and his hair was black, but his face wasn't bearing a happy expression right now. "Lucas doesn't want a shot." He said moving away.
"It won't hurt." She insisted moving forward. She took his arm and injected the needle without a problem, drawing some blood as she did so. "There." She said.
He immediately shifted back to Markus as the needle was pulled out, his hair becoming red and his eyes becoming green again. He gave a laugh. "Lucas doesn't like you. Liar." He said as he stood up from having been sitting on the table.
"Mind if we take an X-Ray?" Jean asked patting the tray.
Schizoid loaded himself onto the bed as he had done before and it slid into the machine. The lights came on but he was more calm about himself this time.
"So. Markus. You're from Scotland?" She asked.
"Aye. Grew up there with me da' and ma and brother." He answered.
"How old is Markus?" She asked.
"Markus is... what now... would have been twenty five we think, depending on how long we were locked away." Schizoid said before the machine took what it needed to.
The machine began to shut off as Jean continued. "Did you go to college?"
"Aye." Markus answered as the bed slid out from the machine. "Graduated from Oxford."
"What did you go there for?" She asked as he got up and stretched a bit, she was still looking at her monitor.
"Engineering. Like Lucas said before." Schizoid answered.
"Hm..." Jean said as she glared intently at the monitor before her.
"Something wrong?" Schizoid asked.
"Something happened with your X-Rays. I think no bones, just... an... outer shell." She said looking at the screen. "Anyway. I think it's time we went to the last of you." Jean said as she came back over to the examination table.
Schizoid walked over, and as he did so his hair began to change from the red color that it had been to a blond color, gold like straw, and tied in the dread locks. His green eyes turned dark and became brown keeping only a speckle of green within them. As he sat down though sparks could be heard jumping to him. He sat on the table and a bolt came from the light above him, they flickered all around in the basement, and even in the upper levels, before returning to normal.
"What was that?" Jean asked looking to him.
"Jack. Jack is in control now. Jack absorbs electricity. Uses it for energy, but can only hold so much." Schizoid answered as if in a half puzzle.
Jean sighed and began the third, and final, examination on Schizoid as she pulled out her stethoscope and moved forward.
Upstairs
"I still don't know Professor." Scott said shaking his head a little bit. He, Ororo, and Professor Xavier were sitting in Xavier's office debating a little. "Is it really safe to have him room with the students?"
"I assure you that Schizoid is perfectly safe. He is as safe as you and I." The professor nodded. Just as he finished his sentence the lights began to flicker on and off as if there was some sort of a power shortage. Suddenly they came back on and began working find again.
"What was that?" Ororo asked looking to the professor.
"Jean?" The professor asked, telepathically communicating with Jean who was in the basement examining Schizoid at the moment.
"Sorry professor. That was Schizoid." She answered.
"I Thought so." The professor responded before talking aloud to Ororo and Scott once more. "That was Schizoid." He answered Ororo's question. "Don't worry. It's under control."
"See?" Scott said standing up. "We don't even know what his powers are."
"That is what I hope to learn after Jean's examination session." The professor answered.
"What then?" Ororo asked.
"Then we'll have a better idea of what it is we're dealing with here." The professor answered.
"And what will he do in the meantime while we review Jean's results?" Scott asked.
"Perhaps he can make friends with some of the other students. Or perhaps you'd like to talk to him and explain your opinions." The professor suggested.
Scott rolled his eyes behind his glasses.
"Why don't I show him the danger room?" Ororo asked.
"He's too young for the danger room." Scott remarked. "He's what, sixteen, seventeen? He shouldn't be in the danger room."
"What do you suggest Scott?" The professor asked. "Perhaps he'd like to watch a movie in the living room with the other students."
"I don't know..." Scott said shaking his head.
"What do you have against him Scott?" The professor asked.
"He's insane! He's clearly unstable." Scott said, as though trying to convince the professor.
"I don't believe he is insane Scott. He's different. That's all. He's been through a lot, and I would appreciate it if we could all try to make him feel welcome and at home here. He's lost what family he has and he doesn't even know it. Lord only knows what happened to the other two's parents and families after the accident. Perhaps we should try to track them down." The professor said as if finishing the argument. "Please. I want all of us, even the students, to try our best to make this young man feel welcome here."
"Fine." Scott said.
"We'll keep an eye on him." Ororo said. "We can make him feel welcome and make sure he doesn't try to harm any of the students."
"Or himself." Scott added.
"Or himself." Ororo nodded. "I'm sure it will all work out."
"Good." The professor said with a nod. "Then it's decided."
"Wait." Scott said holding up a hand. "What's decided?"
Medical Lab
"Your pulse and breathing are faster than they were a minute ago. You're temperature is also three degrees higher." Jean said as she jotted down a few notes.
"Jack is more... well... Jack is more hyperactive. Jack is very hyperactive." Schizoid said as he shook his head. The blond dread locks looked a little odd when contrasted with his Jamaican skin, but after all he was an odd character to begin with. "So... What next?"
"I'm going to take a blood sample." Jean said getting a clean needle out of the drawer.
"Another one?" Jack asked, not really seeming nervous, but curious.
"Yes. Now hold still." She said as she went to his other arm, and took the blood from there. "What's this mark on your back here?" She asked. "I haven't seen it there before, and the scar on your arm is gone."
"Oh. That's a birthmark. It's in the shape of an T right?" Schizoid asked as he tried to look at his own back.
"Yeah..." Jean answered as she jotted down more notes.
"Then it's JT's. Had it since he was born he did." Schizoid answered. "Yes he did. He doesn't have a scar like Markus does though. No." He said with a shake of his head.
Jean placed the needle and the vial of blood she had drawn on the counter a bit away from where she and Schizoid were. "So... do you... do any of you... have a history of medical illness? Chronic diseases, anything like that?"
"No." Schizoid answered right away, and then looked away. "Well... Lucas did. No need to worry now though. We're healthy right?"
"What was it?" Jean asked.
"Lucas doesn't want us to say. He doesn't want to talk about it. It doesn't matter now." Schizoid said hopping down from the table. He seemed to guess that the MRI machine was coming next.
Jean didn't seem to like the fact that he wouldn't answer the question, but she went over to the monitor of the machine anyway as Schizoid loaded himself onto the bed for the third, and hopefully final time.
The bed slid in as the machine started up, tiny bolts of electricity jumped from it to Schizoid for a second, but they soon ceased and the machine began working normally once more. The lights were a bit blinding, and this being the third time that body had been in there the eyes hurt a little bit, so he closed them.
"Okay. We're done." Jean said as the machine shut down and the bed slid out. "Put your shirt back on and we'll go see the professor."
Schizoid went and put the sweatshirt back on, as he did so Jean hit a few buttons on the monitor and then jotted down a few more notes. She took off the white coat, and the glasses, and cleaned up a little, putting her utensils away and the vials of blood next to each other with proper labels on them. Schizoid waited on a near by table.
"Ready? Are we ready? Yes, we're ready. Is she ready? Are you ready?" He asked looking over to Jean.
"Let's go." She said gesturing towards the door as it opened. She and Schizoid left the medical wing and were back in that rather large metallic hallway once more. They arrived at the elevator and got inside, taking it upstairs.
"Where are we going?" Schizoid asked.
"Well, Ororo, the Professor, Scott, and I are going to have a little talk. I think the professor might have something for you to do, but he might not. I don't know yet." She answered.
"Oh.." Schizoid answered with a nod as the elevator door opened to let them out on the ground floor.
They exited and turned right, heading down the hall. Schizoid's wide, now brown, eyes scanned the scenes before him. Children, youth his age-ish, were running around inside, playing, talking, hanging out. Something that he obviously had not done in a long time.
"Are there sports here? Do you have any sports? JT likes all sports, and Markus likes rugby. Lucas isn't too into sports, but he likes to watch sometimes. Are there sports here?" Schizoid asked, seeming to get excited about the subject.
"I'm sure that you could convince some students to play a game or two once the weather clears." She said looking to the large glass windows as they passed the front door. It was still raining and miserable outside. The day was getting later though, and thus darker. The inside was beginning to seem more and more like a haven.
They reached Xavier's office and Schizoid waited outside the door as Jean knocked and stepped inside. She motioned for him to wait there as she closed the door behind her. Schizoid sat down against the wall next to the door, watching the activity in the hallway. Which was very little activity at all really. All that happened was every now and again someone would come up or down the stairs and turn to go down the other side of the hall. This must've been the classroom area, no classes on Saturday.
He was almost startled as a voice behind him spoke up. "Hey there."
His head turned rather quickly, his blond dread locks whipping around as he did so. He didn't really speak, but waited for them to say something else.
"My name's Kitty. Remember?" The girl was young, though probably only a year or two younger than Lucas.
"Yes. Yes we remember." Schizoid answered. "Our name's Schizoid."
Kitty nodded with a slight smile and a small laugh. "Yes. I remember." She said squatting down so as to look at him face to face while they talked. "You can turn your hair blonde too?" She asked. She had already seen him turn it red.
"JT's hair is blonde. Jack's. His hair is blonde. Markus has red hair, yes, and Lucas has black hair, naturally, after all it is his body." He answered, not really making much sense.
'So what are you doing just sitting here in the hallway? Talking to yourself?" She asked, the last part was meant to be a joke, though a bad one at that.
"We always talk to each other, but no. We are waiting." He said pointing to the door next to and behind him.
"For the professor?" Kitty asked.
"And Scott, and Ororo, and Jean. They are talking. Lucas thinks they are trying to find something for us to do while they go over Jean's results so we won't get in trouble." Schizoid answered.
"Is that your real name, Lucas?" She asked, noting that he had said it.
"No. Not Lucas. Jack is in control now. Jack." Schizoid answered.
"So Jack is your real name?" Kitty asked.
"No. Not really. Not exactly. OUR name is Schizoid." He said putting emphasis on the 'our' as he pointed to himself.
"You're not making any sense." Kitty said. "People are going to think you're crazy." She giggled.
"Perhaps we are." Schizoid said turning to her as his eyes got wider, a perfectly crazed look in them.
Kitty didn't move. "You're not crazy." She argued. "If you were the professor wouldn't have brought you here."
"Perhaps you're right." Schizoid answered. "We're not even sure of what's going on. We're not sure of what we are. How can we be?" He asked as he looked towards the door.
Kitty sat down next to him, she wasn't sure what to think. With that last bit a part of her felt sorry for this guy, but on the other hand, she had to admit, he did seem crazy.
The door opened and the Professor exited, with Jean following, Scott, and then Ororo. "Ah Kitty." The professor said turning. "Perfect. I was wondering if I could ask a favor."
"Sure." Kitty said with a smile.
"Would you mind showing Schizoid here around a little?" The professor asked.
"We've been shown around." Schizoid spoke up. "The Rogue. She showed us. You showed us downstairs."
"Then perhaps you'd like to watch a movie, or play a game of pool?" The professor asked.
"Are you hungry?" Kitty asked.
"Food..." Schizoid said looking down at his stomach. "We can be. Jack doesn't eat, doesn't need to, but the stomach is empty. Lucas and Markus could use some." He said as his hair turned from the blonde that it had been to the red that they had seen before and his eyes turned from brown to green as he stood up.
"Then we'll get ya something to eat." Kitty said with a smile. "Come on."
The professor smiled and nodded his thank you to Kitty as he, Scott, and Ororo followed Jean to the elevator so as to go downstairs.
Kitty led the way, and Schizoid followed as they entered the kitchen. No one was in here this time.
"What happened to your friends?" Schizoid asked as Kitty went over to the fridge.
"They're playing a board game. I decided to walk around a little." Kitty answered.
"Ah." Schizoid said with a nod.
"What do you want to eat?" Kitty asked.
"Got any spuds in there?" Schizoid asked.
"What?" Kitty asked a little confused.
"Taters. Potatoes." Schizoid said again.
"Oh. Never heard 'em called spuds before." Kitty said as she went back into the fridge, finding some left over mashed potatoes.
"It's how Markus says it.." Schizoid answered. "Jack calls them taters, Lucas just calls them potatoes."
"Potato, potahto." Kitty said with a smile as she moved some into a bowl and began heating them up.
"Something like that." Schizoid said as he sat down.
Downstairs
"So what's your opinion?" The professor asked as he, Scott, Ororo, and Jean entered the medical room. "Is our newest student insane?"
Jean sighed as she picked up her notes and set up one of the machines to show her results. "In my professional opinion? No." She said. "Look at these." She turned on the one machine, showing the results of the X-Rays. It was a normal skeleton, Schizoid's height.
"What's so weird about this?" Ororo asked.
"Absolutely nothing." Jean said with a smile. "It's a normal skeletal structure. Nothing broken, nothing inside, nothing out of the ordinary at all." She said with a nod as she pushed a button and the next X-Ray came up. This one was different though, it just showed the outline of his body, as if the skin had been bone.
"What the?" Scott asked.
"Markus was a mutant who's mind could project a temporary telekinetic shield around his body in order to protect himself." Jean answered.
"Then how was he was killed?" The professor asked.
"The shield was temporary and he had to concentrate to activate it. If he had been killed in an accident he wouldn't have been able to protect himself." Jean answered. "How ever, this shield seems to be constant. So long as Schizoid's hair is red."
"What are you saying?" Scott asked.
"Just wait." Jean said switching the screens again, this time it was a normal skeleton with one exception. There were hundreds, if not thousands, of tiny narrow splinter-looking bones shooting out towards the skin.
"What are those?" Ororo asked.
"Hollow tunnel-like bones. Jack was a mutant that had the ability to channel electricity. His body worked as a battery, absorbing and running on electricity, with the possibility of being able to 'regurgitate' the electricity through the nodes. I'd have to examine one to be sure, but I believe that is how Jack used to absorb electricity, through nodes placed on the skin that would then transfer that electricity to the blood stream after transforming it into energy his body could use as it traveled through these tubes." Jean answered.
"But all of these are the same height. They're all Schizoid?" Ororo asked.
"The first is of Schizoid with black hair. The second is Schizoid with red hair, and this is Schizoid with blonde hair." Jean answered. "I believe that Schizoid is three different people, sharing the same body. Lucas is a human, but can give control of his body to whoever he wants, when he does this however, his body adapts to the new 'life force' activating the X-Gene and transforming his body on the inside, and the hair and eyes, to the new person." Jean answered.
"How is that possible?" Scott asked.
"That I don't know." Jean answered. "It's either that, or Lucas somehow can alter his own molecular structure to fit with his Multiple Personality Disorder."
"Which is it?" Ororo asked.
"I believe that it's the first." Jean answered. "But in all honesty? No one can really say for sure."
End of Chapter 3
Author's Notes: Review!
