Chapter One
And I'll fold my paper plane out of sadness and soar into that blue sky, to find only my happiness and dreams.
He bounded, leapt, threw himself off the ground and through the air. Wind blew his spiky green hair back off his young, lime-colored face. He smiled through his mental anguish, releasing the loneliness and sorrow in his heart and embracing the soaring adrenaline that raced through his veins in joy of leaping. He knew, he knew that everything had been building up to this moment. To this time, to this place where he would be free; and he could move, live and breathe without someone watching him, supervising him.
And yet, somehow, he hated and loved his mutation. He hated and loved his own self, his own being. He was a freak. He was a mutant. He was special. What a peculiar word to use; special. But that's what he was, he supposed. He was better than ordinary humans. He was stronger, different and much more evolved. Mortimer was not a human; he was a different species altogether. That's what he told himself anyway.
He had been traveling for awhile now. If you could call it traveling; in all truth, he had traveled due west of the orphanage to a small town. It was night time when he arrived and he spent almost an hour examining his new mutated self. He found a new trait of his. His hands, well all his skin, had an adhesive quality which let him stick to other surfaces; he found that he was able to climb walls because of this. It did not matter that he wore shoes and his feet could not stick; as long as he hurled himself up quickly, and found a reasonably dry surface, he would be able to hold himself onto walls, ceilings… Whatever.
After he finished determining his mutations, Mortimer had decided to head for the city. He didn't really have a reason for his decision. He just felt drawn to that place, as though fate pulled him in that direction, and so he would follow. He had been to the city only a few times in his life; on excursions mostly. Once, he, Jenny and Ian had gone to the city for the day, accompanied by one of the orphanage's nuns. They had eaten ice cream whilst feeding pigeons their 'home-made' sandwiches, which they all detested.
Jenny… Ian… Mortimer thought of them now, wistfully. He shook his head as to rid himself of his own thoughts. He couldn't think about them anymore. The moment he leapt out those doors, he had left behind his old life. He was no longer the dependent young orphan that he once was. Now he was a new Mortimer Toynbee, cool and in control, full of desire for greatness and a mutant physical body to accomplish his dreams.
He was shitting himself. He had no dreams. His dream right now was to be able to get a good amount of food in his stomach and a warm, humid place to sleep. Humid? Mortimer shook his head. His alikeness to toads was getting to his head.
The city lights loomed just ahead. He could see the towering sky scrapers, bright neon company logos, huge billboards and signs flashing with golden light. It was a beautiful view. Mortimer smiled. It was the first time he had ever been to the city by himself. He slowed down his bounding to a walk and, self-consciously, maybe even out of defense, pulled the hoodie part of his jacket over his face.
Now people would think he was one of them.
Assimilation much, Mortimer almost laughed; it was just the sort of thing Ian would say. There was a sharp pang in his chest. Don't think about it, just concentrate on surviving. And his thoughts were wise indeed, for what good is sorrow or pity for yourself when you have no place to stay, no one to love you and none of any of life's necessities at hand.
Mortimer walked silently down the sidewalk, bumping into some people and avoiding others. No one gave him a second glance. That's how he preferred it though; to be invisible. Yet so, he couldn't help but feel slightly annoyed and as though he wished he could show off. He wasn't as weak or simple-minded as these humans. He was a mutant; one of God's chosen ones; chosen to be evolved into greater beings than humans.
However, Mortimer's mutation (and society's unwillingness to accept genetic mutation) made him realize that he may be forced to live in secrecy for the rest of his life. And so, his hate and distain for humans grew a little larger. There was a tinkling sound at his feet as he accidentally kicked a metallic object.
Mortimer bent down to pick up whatever it was that he had kicked. He heard a woman gasp as he reached down with a green, slightly webbed hand to pick up a Zippo lighter on the concrete. He grabbed it then stuffed the lighter, along with his hands, into his pockets. The woman gave him a horrified look before getting a firm grip on her child and hurrying off, looking back every now and then to make sure the mutant wasn't following them or worse. Mortimer felt stunned and hurt. Just because he happened to be a mutant didn't mean that he was a stalker, rapist or cold-blooded murderer.
He put his head down and walked even more quickly than before. His heart began pounding in his chest, threatening to explode right of his rib cage. His head began to spin and the food that he had eaten so long ago and should have been digested now rose up as bitter bile in his throat. He stopped walking and ducked into an alleyway. Mortimer pulled his hood down, taking deep gulps of air, attempting to calm his self down.
And then, all of a sudden, Mortimer's head was pulled backwards so fast that he swore his spine almost snapped. Smooth, cold metal rested across the windpipe of his throat. Mortimer choked out a frightened breath.
"What are you doing here, mutant?" A voice demanded icily- male, definitely. It was an unpleasant voice, Mortimer found himself associating this voice to the sound of sandpaper rubbing against rough wood. He almost laughed. Here he was making analogies to some madman's voice while at the threat of death. Mortimer decided he must have some serious mental problem, and then went back to focusing on the situation at hand.
"I-was just- resting for a bit-" Mortimer managed to choke out and the hand gripping his hair pulled back even further. Tears pricked at the corners of Mortimer's eyes. Pain, oh the pain.
"No, no, no…" The voice sounded condescending, "From the way I see it, you were using your freak powers to attack me, and here I was an innocent man fending for my life when I accidentally killed the little freak."
"Look- you've got it wrong, I-"
"Don't you dare lecture me mutant!" The voice shrieked. Mortimer felt the blade beginning to press painfully tight against the skin of his neck; a trickle of blood ran down his throat, coming to rest on the material of his jumper. He had tried reasoning. Now he had no choice.
Mortimer tensed his whole body, and then with a twist and a leap, freed himself from his attacker. He gripped onto the side of a building, before pushing off and kicking the other man in the chest with both feet. The man flew a few feet before slamming into the wall of the opposite building; his body fell into some indistinguishable liquid with a splash.
Mortimer stood up from the crouch that he had landed in from his leap. He stared at the man for a few moments, trying to decipher his own thoughts but gave up and turned around, only to find himself facing three new people, who he immediately assumed to be foes.
"You'll regret that mutant." The largest one of them said. Alright, so he was inevitably going to face incredible pain or death. At least he was right about the assumption that they were foes. One point for Mortimer. He thought, sarcastically.
It happened all in one moment. The three men advanced towards him and Mortimer instinctively stepped backwards. Then there was the sound of wind rustling through the air and there was a bright crack of light. Somehow, in some way, Mortimer seemed to have guardian angels in heaven. Two boys, one tall one of average height, appeared seemingly out of nowhere. The shorter boy seemingly skated through the air and perched in front of Mortimer and the tall one, who appeared to be of Asian descent, looked as though he absorbed light from the surroundings, and with this light he created two crescent shaped golden blades.
"I've gone and lost all my marbles now." Mortimer heard the words slip out of his mouth. The flying boy turned and gave him a cheeky grin, then thrust out one of his palms in the direction of the attackers. The effect was instantaneous; a blast of wind seemed to issue from the boy and all three opponents went flying backwards. They landed awkwardly on the concrete and quickly scrambled to their feet, yelling at the tops of their lungs and running helter skelter away from Mortimer's saviors.
Mortimer stood frozen on the spot in awe and fright. The Asian boy let go of the two blades which had been wielding before and they faded into darkness then walked over to Mortimer, running a hand casually through his bleached blonde hair.
"Who-Who are you people?" Mortimer asked, feeling ashamed as his voice wavered with his terror.
The Asian boy smiled. "My name is Song Jin, that crazy bugger there is Mark," He pointed over to the boy who was still floating in mid-air; "Better known as Aeolus, and if you give us the chance, you can be part of our dysfunctional family."
Mortimer swayed on the spot, taking these words in. Part of a family? Mortimer had never had family before; the closest people he had ever had to a family were Ian and Jenny. He didn't know how to answer the other boy so he just simply asked; "You… You're like me, aren't you?"
"If you mean by us being muties, then, yes. Although I wouldn't say we're similar to you in the mental crazy green dude category." Aeolus said with a mischievous smile.
"He's just joking, kid." Song Jin gave Aeolus a dirty look and the other boy simply flipped upside down in the air, poking his tongue out.
"My name's Mortimer. But you can call me Toad."
"I'm God. Welcome to the family."
-.-.-.-
Sorry if that sounded a little contrived. I just wanted the story to get a move on and I haven't been sleeping enough these days hehe.
Thanks for your review foxfire222 I hope I can get this story out of my head and finished quickly Thanks for reading