When I woke up, the first thing I noticed was the pain. My skin felt raw, as if it had been rubbed off, and all of my bones ached. I rubbed eyes, wincing as my joints protested. As the blurriness reduced, I realized something strange. I wasn't in my room, and there seemed to be a large blue Bigfoot hovering over me. I blinked. He seemed to be wearing glasses. I didn't know Bigfoot needed glasses. Actually, I didn't know Bigfoot was blue either. I blinked again, and the Bigfoot smiled at me. As I stared at him blankly, he took a penlight out and shined it in my eyes.

A look of satisfaction crossed his face as he spoke. "Good. You seem to be fine, just a little dazed," he chuckled quietly and continued, "otherwise you would probably be rather scared. I assure you though, I'm quite harmless. My name is Dr. Henry McCoy, though most people call me Hank or Beast."

In a bid to protect my sanity, I decided that this was a dream. A stunningly realistic dream, other than me being in a medical ward with a blue Bigfoot named Hank. I frowned, realizing that he had been talking. Seeing my confused look, he repeated, "Do you remember anything of yesterday?"

I furrowed my brow in thought and replied, "No, not really. I remember eating lunch with Tamara, but it's pretty much a blank after that. Not surprising though...most of my boring classes are in the end of the day. Why?"

Hank pulled a large, custom-made rolling chair up and sat down, his face deadly serious. "What I'm about to tell you may seem unbelievable, but every word is true. There are people, mutants, in the world with special powers. Fire, ice, flight...the standard comic book staples are all possible. These powers generally develop in puberty at moments of extreme emotion, as yours did yesterday. Usually the activation of your powers is just distressing, but it can result in harm if you panic and overreach yourself. It was a nice bit of luck that Scott and Jean found you."

I shook my head in disbelief. "Listen, this has been a nice dream and all, but I think I'm ready to wake up now."

I pinched myself roughly, gasping in pain. I frowned. Everything had stayed the same other than Hank's expression turning to one of amusement, which I resented. A swoosh cut through the air, and I twisted around in my bed to see a door slide open. I smiled thinly; my dreams didn't usually come with such good sound effects. A bald man in a wheelchair entered the room, followed by Jean and Scott. I muttered a curse; this dream was rapidly becoming annoying. It was almost as bad as that one I'd had about the ducks. Pulling myself up into a sitting position, I waved a dismissive hand around the room. "Everyone out, okay? This dream is officially closed!"

The bald man wheeled up to my bed, and steepled his fingers with a serious expression. I got the impression that that was a very familiar look for him. "This isn't a dream, Emily. I assure you, it is all very real. I am Professor Charles Xavier, the owner of the Xavier Institute, a sanctuary for mutants."

I shook my head in exasperation and made to get off the bed. As soon as my feet touched the floor, pain shot through them. I yelped and fell forward, closing my eyes in anticipation as the shiny tiles came rushing up to me. My face wouldn't feel good, but at least the floor was clean. It's important to look on the bright side. As I waited for the upcoming face smashing, I realized that it was taking a very long time. I opened my eyes, and frowned as I saw that the floor was the same distance as it had been a few moments ago. I looked up, raising an eyebrow as I saw Jean holding her hands out towards me with a strained expression.

I stared at her in confusion and she mumbled, "Do you mind standing on your own? You're kind of heavy."

I braced my hands on what seemed to be an invisible shield, and lifted myself up, resolving to join a gym or something. You know it's bad when your weight is insulted in a dream. Not that it's good when it's insulted in the real world, or anything like that. Brushing myself off needlessly, I nodded my head to Jean. "Thanks. Let me guess, you're a mutant too?"

Scott spoke for her. "Everyone in this room is, including you."

I rolled my eyes, and crossed the room tentatively. My feet still didn't feel particularly good, and I was almost certain that my cat was biting them while I slept. I stood before the metal walls, ignoring the apprehensive looks everyone was casting in my direction. I eyed the walls; they looked every bit as hard and real as I would expect them to in real life. Steeling my nerves, I readied my arm. Normally I would enjoy having a dream where I was a superhero, but I didn't like it when I wasn't able to wake up when I wanted to. Pinching my arm might not have worked, but I was fairly certain that punching a metal wall would wake anyone up, no matter what. My arm sailed towards the wall, cutting a path through the air. My fist halted right by the wall and I turned around to the Professor, who was gazing at me intently. I cocked my head slightly. I had fully intended to hit that wall, but I just didn't feel like it anymore. Either I was really lazy, which wasn't impossible, or I had just had my brain messed with. I was kind of going with the second one, since everyone seemed to have some sort of trick up their sleeves.

As I looked fixedly at the Professor, he spoke slowly, "This is not a dream, Emily. Realize that and remember."

I grinned as I wiped some drool from the corners of my mouth (not quite sure how that happened) and gave him a thumbs up. I stood quietly for a moment, and then the truth hit me like an unwelcome train. My eyes wide, I slumped onto the very real floor. My voice low, I said, "God...oh, God. I'm...I'm not a human anymore? I'm some sort of freak?"

I'd used to picture myself as a superhero. But it had never been like this. I was never scared of what I was, or what people would think. Now it was all I could think about. What would mom and dad say? What about my brother? How would he react? Oh God, what if he was like me? I was so absorbed in my thoughts, Scott's words barely got through.

"You're not a freak. You're human, just different."

Jean echoed his sentiments, her red hair sweeping down around her shoulders as she sat next to me. Putting an arm around my shoulder comfortingly, she said, "I was scared too when it happened to me, Emily. But I got through it, and I wouldn't change anything now. Listen, if you want it, we have a place for you here."

Professor Xavier nodded his head. "If your parents agree to it, we will help you train your powers and focus them, so that you won't worry about losing control."

Hank approached me, and I shrank back. He hadn't been scary when I thought it was a dream, but now that I knew he was real, he seemed much larger and his claws much sharper. Seeing my fear, he paused for a minute, then left the room. A pang of regret ran through me, but it was blotted out by all of my other worries. I gazed up at the Professor and replied shakily, "You're going to tell my parents? What if...what if they're scared of me now? What happens if my brother is like me and they kick him out?"

He smiled gently. "I doubt that they would, but even if they did, you and your brother would be welcome with us."

I let out the breath I had been holding and tried to calm myself. "Do you have a phone so I can call home and tell them to come here? They're all probably worried sick about me."

Scott shifted his weight and cleared his throat awkwardly. "They're on their way already. They should be here in a minute."

Jean closed her eyes for a second, then opened them. "Actually, they're here. Are you ready?"

My mouth went dry as she asked me. A minute to prepare would have been nice, but I nodded my head anyway and followed them out of the medical ward, to what I hoped were loving parents.

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A big thanks to all of my readers and reviewers! Anyway, sorry about the kind of abrupt ending. There is a second part to this chapter that will be up soon, but I had to end it here for now.

Please review!