Evan was in the Danger Room, having a one-to-one session with Storm. Evan hated one-to-one sessions. Why? Because if he made a mistake (and, as he said to himself, he was only human after all), there was no one to cover for him. There was no way of hiding the fact that he didn't try as hard as everyone else. Sure, he was good. But, without Scott or Kurt or any of the others... well, he slipped up. Badly. And Auntie O never cut him any slack because he was her nephew. Quite the opposite. Right now, she was being particularly harsh.
"Evan Daniels! How often do I have to tell you how this program works?"
"I know Auntie O. All I need to do is get from one side of the room to the other."
"Then why." said Storm tersely, "have you not progressed at all through the Danger Room after five runs of the program?"
"Well..." began Evan. But Ororo wasn't listening.
"Start again. You have five minutes. Go!"
Evan started running across the room. He knew approximately what was going to happen next. After just a few steps, a massive metal barricade rose in front of him, blocking his path. Raising his arm, Evan released a long bone spike from his forearm and, knowing it was useless, threw it with all his strength at the barrier. He'd tried it every time he'd encountered it and it had never worked. What would Scott do?, he wondered.
It was so unfair. It was so bloody unfair. If Storm wasn't his aunt, he wouldn't have to do what she told him. He wanted to be like the others and he hated it that his attention span caused friction between him and the rest of the X-men. But there was nothing he could do about it.
Trying to run around the barricade was useless, it only expanded as he ran. What could he do? He looked desperately around the room for help. Suddenly an idea hit him. Looking down at his forearm, he concentrated. A spike, this time slightly thinner and much longer extended from it. Taking it by one end, he walked back a little distance from the wall. Then, with all the speed he could muster, he dashed towards the metal block. As he drew near, he lifted the spike up and used it as a pole vault to lift himself above the wall. Well, he tried to. After two seconds of gliding triumphantly through the air, his shoulder and head smacked into the wall. Evan slid down it, and hit the floor. Groaning in pain, he looked up. The wall had grown taller as he had neared it. He punched the ground in frustration. It'd been so close!
"Ten seconds left," intoned Storm's voice. Evan just sat there. What's the use? he thought. I'm not cut out to be an X-man. I never was. Not really.