AN: Here we go again on the second chapter of Gravity's Burden. I'm happy with the response I've gotten so far and can't wait to see how things pick up. So here's the next chapter, fresh off the keyboard after baking in my brain for a while.

Disclaimer: I do not own Marvel or any of their characters, but I do own everything else. That doesn't mean much on a site were nothing is published for money, does it? I recently learned that part of my idea for Luke's powers has already been incorporated into another character, but I'll disclaim that when we cross that bridge.

Chapter 2

Hurt

For as calm, cool, and collected Luke could be, the teen had to admit that he freaked out a little. The bald professor was peering into eyes, calculating away about something. It was unnerving.

Luke fidgeted in his chair for a second before asking "What about this morning?"

"How would you like to retire out of that type of lifestyle and start fresh? I run an institute for youths like you that have similar gifts, in order to teach you on how to fully grow into your talents."

A multitude of emotions ran across Luke's face as he thought for a minute. 'This man is either incredibly connected to be able to gather mutants and train them, or a very powerful mutant himself. Both seem like bad things if he decides to use force.'

"What do you expect in return? No one does something like this for free." Luke's eyes steeled as he said this, judging the man's intentions in his mind. 'He's either gathering up a small army of mutants for himself or he wants a lot of money or control over us.'

"I'm merely teaching gifted youths because it is the right thing to do and it needs to be done. I do expect you to meet certain behavioral requirements and to use your gifts properly. This is the most I ask of you. There is no admission fee or anything like that involved. You are fully welcome to leave whenever you see fit, or return whenever you see fit. But if you chose stay, there will always be something to further your talents, as well as your control of those talents."

"What makes you think my gifts haven't been fully developed anyways? I'm pretty sure my talents have reached their potential."

"I would have to disagree. I've looked over your files and I see so much more to you than what you've done. I've even talked to others about you and they all seem to think your talents are expanding still. I can guarantee you have a lot to learn from me, Luke. But only if you are willing to."

The crippled man let Luke think everything over to himself, while thanking the principle and handing Luke a card to call should he decide to accept the offer. Then the man let himself out, saying he had a flight to catch. The principle then went on to say that Luke had a great opportunity before him and that Xavier was a legitimate Professor, certified for college material and also had a degree in genetics from Oxford. For him to seek Luke out was an honor, according to the large man behind the principle's desk.

Luke shut out the principle's voice, thinking over what the man said. 'He talked to other mutants about me? And they told him I wasn't fully developed yet? Who the heck keeps tabs on me enough to know if I've progressed or not?' None of his contacts had ever been around him during jobs or any kind of training Luke did. Luke always worked solo, and shuffled up his clientele to make sure he never became identified by any one employee. The Network shouldn't have any way of telling who he was. The mutants who helped run the community made sure of it.

So it had to be some other way. That was incredibly upsetting to Luke that a random stranger could come out of nowhere and tell him he was a mutant. He had to have been watched somehow.

Luke snapped out of his thoughts when the principle, who had been silent through the entire conversation, broke his concentration and told him to go to class. Luke pushed his self out of the chair and left the office, his body on auto pilot to his class. Once there, he absentmindedly told the teacher he had been in the principle's office, which she excused. The rest of the day was a blur to Luke, with his mind bogged down as it was with Xavier dumping the choice in his lap. Luke wanted to fully control his powers, he really did, but he couldn't trust some stranger to actually teach him and not make him some servant under a master's bidding.

Reassurance. That was what he needed. Not about himself, per say, but about the Professor's character. He had to know he could trust him. But after what had happened this morning, he wasn't exactly in a trusting mood. 4th period came soon enough, with Mrs. Anderson ranting on and on about parts of speech, calling out notes to take on conjunctions and articles. Luke stared out the window in his seat, even more absent-minded than usual. He'd came around to the idea of going to the school. He liked the idea of getting an actual mutant teacher.

If Luke could learn how to do more than just push things around from a distance or spin them up, then that'd be awesome. He'd already expanded what little he had. He could fall from heights and simply slow his descent down with pushes. He could jump higher by using pushes. If he tried hard enough, Luke could even push something towards himself, instead of away. It was exactly pulling, but it was similar enough for him to let it lie. So maybe Xavier could teach him something new. Or maybe he would just teach Luke some way to keep his powers from hurting so much. Every time he used his power with a motion, like a flick of his wrist, it hurt. Like a burning sensation beneath his skin, tearing at his muscles.

Distracted as he was by his thoughts of what he could learn, Luke failed to hear the nearly suppressed clack of heels. When Mrs. Anderson lashed out with her ruler, as per normal in her class, she had honestly expected Luke to avoid it as he normally did. Instead, it hit his head with an audible crack. The students in the class whipped around in there seats to see Luke still sitting there starring out the window, but Mrs. Anderson gave it away. She had already jerked the ruler back, but the redness on her face showed a great mixture of embarrassment, guilt, and a little bit of anger. Luke slowly turned his head and stared at the woman blankly.

"Please tell me that you did not just hit me upside the head like it was a damn baseball. Please tell me you didn't so I won't have to go to the office again today."

"That wouldn't of happened if you were paying attention."

The nerve of this woman! She was defending herself after she just knocked the crap out of him with her ruler? Luke smiled in a sickly sweet way at her, before grabbing his bag off the floor and standing up. He walked out of the door as she followed him into the hallway, grabbing onto his arm and forcefully turning him around, which surprised Luke with how strong she was.

"Look, I apologize for hitting you like that. It was uncalled for, but I never expected you to actually get hit by it. What's got you so distracted today that you didn't avoid it?"

Luke looked around the hallway, looking for anything to look at besides her. He hated looking at her. Not because she was ugly, but because if he started looking, he'd wind up staring. That was the last thing he wanted.

"I'm moving."

One small eyebrow was quirked at the statement, but his teacher didn't act surprised at all.

"So you decided to go to Xavier's school after all? Good for you. He'll teach you a lot there."

Even though his mind was already explaining it logically, the brown-haired mutant asked anyways.

"How'd you know about Xavier?"

"I went there myself."

'Whoa! Didn't see that coming. So my English teacher is a mutant too and she's learned under the Professor as well. Maybe she'll tell me what to expect.' Luke thought to himself, hoping all his past insults and snide comments to his favorite teacher didn't ruin his chances for getting information out of her.

"What's it like?"

A small smile seeped onto her face, taking full advantage of her position over Luke. He was only here for one more hour, so she might as well lord over him for a little. Payback and all that.

"Oh, you know. You go there, do exercises to exert control until you finally have it, then you do whatever."

'Really? Could she be more bland and boring when talking? Does she even do that on purpose or is it natural?'

"So what can you do? And what was Xavier like?"

The honest look in Luke's eyes when asking the question, even when he wasn't looking at her, made her stop jerking him around. She was too kindhearted to do that for very long anyways.

"I'm a sensor mutant. I can other mutants in vision and determine their level of abilities, as well as their potential. That was how Xavier found you and knew you were Omega material. I told him. As for how he runs his school and treat his mutants, he already told you. He won't force you to do anything you don't want to do and will do whatever is in his power to help you. Xavier is a kind man, he's not using you. You can trust him."

Reassurance. He found it. Who would've ever thought his teacher that he constantly picked on and tormented would be tell him the most reassuring thing he'd ever heard. It made him wonder why he treated her like that. He did that to everyone, but she was the only one who bothered to put up with and he still treated her the same as everyone else.

'I'm such a jerk.' Luke complained internally, before smiling at his teacher and thanking her. He ran his hand through his hair, an old habit of his, and found something that made him mock glare at his teacher.

"You left a knot! How hard were you swinging that stupid ruler?"

She just laughed softly and opened the door back to the classroom and gestured for him to come inside. He did with a grin, happy know that he knew what he was doing. He had something to look forward to. No more doing odd jobs for kicks and giggles. No more risking his life for someone he'd never met before. He was going to go learn from a mutant institute until he could control his ability, his gift, his curse.

Luke's Apartment - 3: 17

"Hello? Is this Xavier's School for Gifted Youngster's? Xavier spoke to me this morning and told me to call if I made a decision to enroll."

"Hold on one second, let me patch you through to Xavier's personal line." A woman spoke over the phone. A girl actually. She sounded excited, even though she talked like a secretary. Luke heard the sound of a phone receiver being picked up and heard the Professor talk.

"Good to hear from you, Luke. You've come to a decision then, I assume?"

"Yeah, I've decided to take you up on your offer and enroll. Why didn't you tell me that Mrs. Anderson was your student at one time? I would've agreed right away if I knew she trusted you."

"She wanted to inform you herself. And now that you've agreed to enroll, I'll send the Blackbird to come get you right away."

"The Blackbird? You mean a plane? Your school has a plane? Why didn't you tell me that? That's another thing that would've made me join quicker!" The shock was evident in the string of questions.

Luke stared at the phone in his hand, almost as if he could see the man on the other side. Owning a personal plane was no small matter. Even with all that he had been left by his dad, he doubted he could afford a plane. And for a school for mutants to have one, then Xavier must've been richer than he thought.

"We do try to accommodate any possible needs of reaching other mutants, and that does include travel. It's not exactly something we could put on the brochure, but I assure you that the school has the state of the art technologies to help students. I've spared no expenses."

"Well thank you very much Professor. That saves me a lot of gas money. What time should I expect you at the airport?"

"We'll be there in 2 hours, I'd imagine. That's plenty of time to pack and make sure you have everything you need. As for your motorcycle, I'd suggest you order a U-haul trailer and send it to our address."

"I'll do that. Thank you again, Professor Xavier."

Hanging up the phone and leaning back against his couch in thought, Luke wondered about how the school financed itself. 'A personal jet. A freakin' jet!' It amazed Luke that he was going to a school that advanced, just to teach him how to control his powers. He was looking forward to it. But he had to pack first. Groaning and walking into his room, Luke pulled out his bags and started putting away everything he was going to take with him.

Northwest Airlines - 5:30 - Virginia

Luke waited at the terminal as a man in a wheelchair rolled out of the terminal and waved to him. Grabbing his stuff and rolling through the terminal hallway to the plane, he greeted his new mentor.

"Good afternoon."

"Good afternoon as well to you, Luke. I'm sure your day has been pleasant since I last saw you?"

"Yeah, it's been a pretty good one."

Small talk was never his forte, but Luke carried on talking as they got situated on the plane, which was quite large and spacious. Once the plane was sealed of and started down the runway, Xavier turned to his new student and asked "Have you ever flown before?"

"No." To say Luke was a little apprehensive would be an understatement, but Luke knew that falling felt good to him, so why wouldn't flying? The nervous feeling in the bottom of his stomach diminished as soon as he felt the plane lift the ground and a feeling of heightened strength emerged. Being airborne made Luke feel great. Xavier watched his pupil and took note of his joy when they increased altitude.

"Luke, what exactly do you think your powers are and what can you do with them? I want to know what I'm working with."

Luke scrunched his face a little, before describing everything he could that was relevant to his powers.

"My powers allow me to move things with motion, even if I'm not touching them. I could push something from across the room as long as I made the proper gesture or motion for it. I can push, pull, and spin things harder than I could with just my physical strength, but whenever I use my powers, the muscles I use to make the motion with hurt, like they've been in a meat grinder. It heals back pretty quickly, but the more power put into the motion, the more it hurts."

"How much can you move?" Xavier pressed, already concerned. It wasn't the first time he had seen a mutation hurt a mutant, but it was always tricky to solve. Not impossible, but solutions like that were never perfect.

"I don't know. I've moved a car before with it, but that was the most I've ever done. I'm not sure how much more weight I could actually move."

"Tell me more about the car. How far did you push it and what distance you were?"

"I didn't push the car. I flipped it. I was about 5 feet away and it rolled from it's tire's to the roof. All in a flick of the wrist. But I couldn't use my hand for a while cause it hurt too much." Luke had spent a week using his left hand instead of his right. The muscle had healed, but it was so sore that he couldn't properly use it. He'd never attempted to do anything like that again, and fortunately, he never had to.

Charles didn't let any expressions show on his face as he thought to himself. 'A mutant that tears his own muscles using his powers. And he's potentially Omega class as well. He's a big threat to others just as much as himself.'

"Have you ever attempted to fly? Do you imagine that to be in your repertoire?"

"Flying? No, I've never seen myself doing that. I can slow myself when falling, but that is it. Flying would be a constant use of my powers and that would be bad. Getting 50 feet in the air and passing out from pain wouldn't be good at all."

"I see. You know your limits well, I'd imagine. You've been working underground for a while now, haven't you?"

"A few years. It's taught me a lot. I learned I had a healing factor because of that." 'I learned it the hard way.' Luke told the Professor. "It's not very fast except for with my muscles. Everything else heals back in a couple of days." 'Learned that the hard way too.'

Luke prodded at his nose, testing to see how far the healing process had come along. It still hurt like the dickens, but at least it wasn't squirting out blood. Xavier nodded, adding the info into his calculations, his mind running through countless details and ideas.

"So what are your powers? You never did say."

Slightly off guard by the sudden personal question, Xavier smiled and informed his student.

"I'm a telepath, a very powerful one, if I say so myself. I use my abilities along with Cerebro, a machine that amplifies my powers, to sense other mutants. When I sensed you, I called Rebecca and asked her to keep an eye on you. She did and informed me if you would be a good recruit. Some mutants only want power, but she saw good character in you."

A grin split his face when he thought of Mrs. Anderson. 'Rebecca, huh? If only I'd have known that when she was still my teacher. I could've picked on her some more. That makes me wonder what kind of good character she saw in me. It certainly wasn't humility, politeness, kindness. I was a jackass every day in her class.'

Airspace over Bayville - 7:42 - New York

The flight was over before Luke knew it, with the conversation between him and Xavier keeping him occupied. The man was very curious about his student, but he didn't push very far. Luke didn't explain his situation or history, which was good. He hated talking about it.

The two were informed by their mysterious female pilot that they were arriving at the school shortly and to prepare for touchdown. Luke glanced at the bald man as if to ask who the pilot was, and was answered by "Storm, who is one of your teachers here. You may call her Mrs. Ororo whenever you're not in a session or in public."

"We get codenames? That's so sweet! What's mine gonna be?" This school just got better and better in Luke's eyes. They got to use their powers, get codenames, and still go to school. What else would they have, jumpsuits?

"All of the students and staff here have names that we go by whenever we're training or on missions. You'll be assigned one whenever you finish your demonstration of what all you can do. But that'll be later. Everyone will introduce themselves to you when we arrive. Right now there are 4 students and two staff, including Storm."

"That's cool. Are any of them my age?" Making friends was definitely on his to do list when he got to the school.

"You're the youngest of them all, but only by months. You should fit right in."

'Here's hoping' Luke thought to himself as he felt the plane begin to descend. Gripping the armrests on the seat until he felt the plane finally stop, the mutant let out a breath he didn't know he was holding.

"That wasn't so bad."

Getting up from his seat and exiting the now open hatch door with Xavier, who had slipped into his wheelchair absurdly fast, Luke was introduced to his pilot, a tall dark-skinned woman with regal features. She had abnormal white hair and blue eyes, but Luke didn't comment. He'd seen weirder stuff before, so why question it now? The trio journeyed to an elevator that took them upstairs into what looked more like a mansion than a school.

'This is a really cool place. This has got to be the nicest place I've been in without busting a window or breaking a lock.'

Gazing around and soaking in his new environment, Luke followed along as he was led into the foyer, where the other mutants had assembled. Luke looked over the crowd, starting with the gruff, short, burly man standing in the back. Did he have blue hair? Next was a tall kid dressed in slacks, a green sweater, and some red tinted shades. The red head gave off the appearance of a stickler, but Luke was already praying that wasn't the case. Another red head, a girl this time, stood right next to the boy. She was pretty, also tall, and dressed in jeans and a shirt that showed her midriff. Odd, but he could live with it. The last person on the stairway was another girl, short and with brown hair. She was cute in a Barbie kinda way. She dressed in brand clothes and even from here Luke could feel her hollow noggin. Luke smiled at them all before realizing something was off.

'There's only 3 students. Where's the 4th?'

Right on cue, a blue furry person dropped from the overhead chandelier, landing flatfooted and waving hello to his new fellow student. Unfortunately for him, Luke didn't see the greeting as just that, and reacted on instinct when he jerked his arm up and sent the blue mutant flying up the stairs. Despite being caught unaware, the fuzzy mutant used his powers and vanished in a loud 'Bamf' of smoke and reappeared right in front of Luke, his arms held out placating. The Professor had already grabbed hold of Luke's arm, preventing him from reacting on instinct again. But instead of a violent reaction, Luke patted the blue guy in front of him on the shoulder and apologized for overreacting.

"My bad, man. You surprised me. I didn't mean to knock you around any." Luke said, looking the sneaky mutant up and down. The boy really was nothing but fur, with three digits on each appendage instead of 5, and he even sported a tail, which was very active from the way it swung to and fro.

"It is quite alright. It is vat you American's call an accident, no?" His German accent was the freakin' bomb! Luke was gonna love talkin' with this dude.

"Dude, your accent is killer! What's your name? Oh, my bad. I guess I should introduce myself first, since I'm the new guy."

Luke stepped back from the furry teen and looked to his new housemates.

"My name is Luke Hensley. What's up guys?"

A chorus of "Hello" and "Hey" responded back, before the Professor pointed to the scruffy man in the back.

"Why don't you introduce yourself first, Logan? The kids can follow after you."

The man grunted a little before stepping forward and introduced himself as quickly as possible.

"Like Charles said, I'm Logan. I run the DR sessions around here, which I'm sure you'll find out about soon enough. When we are in session you will call me Wolverine. Understood?"

A nod of his head satisfied the grouch, who slouched off back down a hallway. 'Ain't he a ball of sunshine?'

The sunglasses wearing teen stepped up next. "My name is Scott Summers. I'm 17 going on 18 and a senior at Bayville."

The other red head stepped up and introduced herself. Luke recognized her voice as the girl over the phone. "My name is Jean Gray. I'm 18 and a senior. I'm also part of the soccer team at school too. Nice to have you here."

The fuzzy one, Luke's personal favorite out of all his housemates, stepped forward and pointed to himself with what Luke assumed to be his thumb. "I'm Kurt Wagner. You can call me the fuzzy one. I'm just starting school at Bayville as a Junior. I think we are going to be good friends!"

Luke laughed at the over-excited teen's introduction and watched as the last one, the Barbie girl, stepped up. "Well, like, hey. I'm Katherine Pryde, but you can just call me Kitty. I'm a Sophomore at school."

"Ok. I think I remembered all that. You're Jean, right?" Luke said with a straight face looking at Scott. For a single tense second, Luke thought the room was going to blow, but when he let out a week chuckle and corrected himself, the tension eased.

'Yep, he's a stickler.' Kitty and Kurt both giggled and Jean smiled, but Scott didn't budge.

"So…What do you guys do around here? And is there somewhere to eat at?" Luke flashed a quick smile towards the two younger kids, hoping to squeeze them into a tour of the place. Both volunteered for it right away, although Kitty didn't seem to happy to share the responsibility with Kurt. Apparently she was still freaked out by his blue fur, tail, and three digits. 'She must be a new mutant. Otherwise she would be used to things like that.'

Luke followed the two around as the pointed out things like the rec room, the hallway were all of the rooms were at, the library, the Professor's study, and finally the kitchen. Man was Luke happy to see that room. The trio stopped to grab a bite to eat and talk a little more about themselves.

Luke finished his second sandwich and Dr. Pepper, before turning to his fellow mutants. "I'm gonna turn in for the night. Kurt, could you help me with my bags and show me my room?" The blue guy was happy to oblige. The mutants finally settled into his room, which was blank and empty in an intentional way, leaving plenty of space for Luke to personalize for the duration of his stay. But now he needed sleep.

McDonald's - 10:44 - Virginia

The two occupants of the corner table stared at each other, keeping their faces as blank as they could. The woman on the right side keeping an eye on her watch and other customers, the teen to the left watching her. As soon as her clock showed 10:45, she got up and left the table, with the young man following her wordlessly. The two went and got into a black car that had it's windows tinted past the legal limit. The owner certainly didn't care. As soon as the two were inside, she turned to the passenger with cold eyes before giving her orders.

"In the glove compartment, there is a vanilla file. In it, is the location of your target and any specifics you should need. Take care of him. For good. He's a mutant like you, so don't let your guard down. He's strong enough to beat up some of the local scum without serious injury. Do you have a problem with this?"

"None whatsoever. As long as I get paid, this one is in the bag. Anything you want me to bring back as proof? His head, a finger?"

If the woman was appalled by the suggestions, she didn't show it in the slightest. In fact, a devilish grin came to her face as she gave him his one last order.

"Bring me his blood. As much of it as you can."

With that, he stepped out of the car and into his own, a monster of a truck. Opening the file and scanning over it, he closed it and grinned to himself.

"Luke Hensley, you are a dead man."

Xavier's Mansion - 6:20 - New York

The early morning was a peaceful and tranquil part of Mother Nature's cycle. The birds started singing, the flowers opened to the rising sun, and people could rest easy in there beds. Unless they were mutants that had morning sessions in the DR room with Logan.

Luke had slept like it would be his last time too, not stirring at the alarm that went off 20 minutes ago. He would've stayed asleep if not for a short but wide stature man bursting through the door and nearly screaming at him to get his ass in the DR right away. Luke hardly heard any of it, but he knew that it was time to get in gear. Grabbing some sweatpants and a shirt, Luke tugged his shoes on and ran after Logan, who hasn't waiting on him.

The two made there way to the elevator and rode down in uneasy silence. The man looked feral enough to gut Luke were he stood, but he refrained for some reason. Once arriving, Luke was pushed forward down the hallway he had come up the day before, into what looked like a locker room. An open locker was in front of him with a black and gray suit with a X emblem emblazoned on the front.

"Is that mine?" Luke turned to ask Logan, but the man was gone. Grabbing the suit and changing into it quickly, Luke peered out into the hallway, lost and unsure of where to go, but was saved when Kurt 'Bamf'ed right in front of him. Thank goodness he wasn't awake enough to be surprised by the mutant's sudden appearance.

"Come on, Luke, this way. Logan's mad enough at you already. No need to make it worse."

Kurt tugged Luke down the hallway and through a door into a giant chamber of a room. It was several stories high, which made Luke wonder how far down the elevator went. The room was lined with panels and looked very high-tech, but Luke couldn't figure out what the purpose of the room was.

"Welcome to the Danger Room, slowpoke. About time you got here." Logan's voice still carried all of it's gruffness over the microphone.

"Which one of you was supposed to make sure he knew where to go and make sure he got here on time? Someone better step up or the entire team is doing an extra session."

Logan was badgering someone for not getting Luke up and taking him here. He understood that much. But what was here? What were they doing?"

Kurt stepped up and admitted his mistake. Logan chided him on how that could be dangerous in a real situation, but didn't actually assign any other kind of punishment to him, which was what Luke expected. Instead, Luke heard a rumbling sound and watched in amazement as a labyrinth of walls came forth from the ground, and as turrets popped out of the sides of the room.

"This exercise is toned down a little because of the new kid. But same rules apply. Get to the other side of the labyrinth in one piece. Start!"

Looking around bewildered, Luke saw Kurt disappear in a cloud of thick smoke, while Kitty ran forward and walked through the walls. Jean was holding a hand to her temple as she floated her and Scott above the walls and into the air, while Scott started blasting red beams from an eyepiece on his suit to destroy the turrets. Luke watched as he got left farther and farther behind before coming up with his own idea.

'The Professor said I should be able to fly. Let's see about temporary bursts.'

Luke eyed the top of the wall and crouched down, building up his power in his leg muscles. Launching forward and jumping higher than any normal person could, Luke soared over the wall and was about to start falling, but her used a burst from his arms to propel him higher and forward. His legs were slowly coming back to him after dangling like spaghetti noodles before. The pain was setting in, but he had been through worse. Luke used tiny bursts from various parts of his body, even things like breathing, to steer himself to land on top of a wall and perch there. Taking a breather, Luke saw the others surge ahead. Kurt had already finished, with Kitty not far behind. Jean and Scott were closing in on the end too. All that was left was him.

Suddenly, Luke heard a whirring noise and jerked around to see a cannon that Scott hadn't blown to smithereens looking right back at him. Pushing himself off the wall right when it started shooting yellow spheres at a high velocity, Luke pushed as hard as he could to get some distance. He rocketed forward, but nearly lost control of his body as the pain started racking up. His eyes were getting hazy and he didn't see the giant wall looming in front of him till it was to late to do anything. Hitting the wall with a resounding smack, Luke started falling without control, plummeting to a painful wake-up whenever he did wake up, when he felt something under him. It wasn't a solid feeling, but it was holding him none the less. He looked up to see Storm, white hair tossing every which way and her eyes white as marble, concentrating on him. Luke felt himself lower and watched the wall recede into the ground. When he hit the floor, everything went black.

Med Bay - 8:31 - Xavier Mansion

Waking up in a solid white room that you don't recognize is bad. Waking up in a solid white room that you don't recognize while in pain is worse. A groan escaped Luke as he opened his eyes and tried to take in his surroundings. 'A hospital? No, it's to small and nice for a hospital. And there aren't bald guys in wheelchairs in hospitals.'

"That's not exactly a nice thing to call your first visitor, Luke."

"Sorry. Where am I, Professor? Did you guys put me in a hospital, cause I swear I'll be fine as long as I get some sleep."

"You're in our med bay. While you were unconscious I looked into how your powers worked from past memories and I knew that you would be fine. But when you said that your powers hurt you, you never inclined to me that they were as bad as this. There were some memories of your powers that were so painful that I couldn't go through them without some of the pain overlapping."

Luke weakly raised his arm to his head to rub his hair. "I'm getting used to it. My powers don't hurt near as bad as when I first started using them."

"When was that?"

"When I was 7."

Charles stopped talking after this for a moment, thinking to himself. He started back with a light smile and told Luke "At least you don't have to start school today. I'll have you enrolled by tomorrow and you can start then. I'll let you get your rest, but I want you to know that the others were disciplined for leaving you behind from the start to figure it out on your own. Next time they'll know better."

"What'd you have them do?" Luke asked, almost feeling bad for them. It wasn't entirely their fault he was incompetent in getting there on his own.

"They had to do the same thing with no powers and the turrets didn't shoot just tennis balls."

"Tennis balls? You mean that I got so worked up over being shot by a cannon with a tennis ball that I threw myself across the room?"

"They smart. And there was no need in using something as dangerous as bowling balls."

Luke laughed, despite his body aching with each chuckle. He leaned back into his pillow and said with a sleepy smile. "See ya later, Professor." Charles smiled and wheeled himself out of the room as his newest student drifted back to la-la land.

Outside the Mansion

Sitting in a tree in the forest surrounding the mansion was the same teen from Virginia, observing the mansion from afar with binoculars. 'So this is were the freak stays at. It looks like a whole school for losers like him. Oh well, I can catch him by himself, rip his head off, then bring a couple gallons of blood back to that witch for my money.'

Setting the binoculars down and into his backpack full of supplies, the teen crouched down for a second, before he was gone, bouncing through the woods at speeds hard to see with the naked eye. 'I'll be back for the runt before he knows what's up, and then it'll be curtains.'

AN: Well guys, I gotta admit. I have a case of the gitters. I got three reviews! 3 freakin' reviews! And they were nice too. So I'm glad you guys like the story and I want you to know I'm working on it as much as I can. I'm setting up my update schedule to something along the lines of updating every time I finish the next chapter. I've already started on the next chapter by the time you read this, so you guys should see an update at least once a week if I can whip myself into shape.

About the story, well, things are looking up for Luke. He's got friends, a day off from school, pain, and a hit man. Me, on the other hand, I get to introduce one of my favorite OC I've ever come up with. Next chapter will fully introduce him and things will start kickin' off! Chapter name comes from a T.I. song. And before I forget, shout out to my helper minion/servant, Dog of the World. He checked over and did all the beta stuff for me. So if you see a mistake, send him some flames. I hope you guys continue to enjoy and I'll see ya later. Big Willis, out!