Finally finished! I've rewritten this chapter so many times it's unbeleiveable. I still don't like it- it's too dialogue-y and I don't have time to develop the characters much, but if I didn't just post it I'd keep on redoing it and then it would take me weeks to update :P Oh well, I'm thinking of writing a spin off from this with oneshots for each YDC kid about what got them arrested. What do you guys think?
Ten minutes later, the population of Sanford Institute were gathered in the canteen, shouting, screaming, fighting and generally causing complete and utter chaos. Basically the norm for a group of underage criminal maniacs.
In a small room off the side of the canteen Xavier Thorne, Valentine Monaco, Cassandra Callero and Joel Trevaylen stood together in a corner, surveying the dozen or so kids that were sat around the table.
Xavier recognised most of them, after all, he knew pretty much everyone in the YDC. Kara, Phoenix, Kalel and Tanya- the four girls who had begun the prison break- were clustered together in the corner of the table, but most of the other kids sat alone. Which, to be fair, wasn't suprising considering the mental state of some of them.
"So, are you sure these are the ones?" Xavier asked, his eyes flicking over the group with acalculating look.
"Do you think I'd bring them in if they weren't?" Cassandra said, "I've seen the future Xav, some people" she looked to Kara, "Have been pretty obvious about their powers."
"I know, I heard the explosions" Xavier said. "Is it just me or is it just the nutters that have powers?"
"I think you might be on to something there- after all, Snakey's got powers" Valentine smirked, earning a death glare from the tall, hairless boy standing next to her.
"I'm an amoral sociopath Val, not insane." Joel said, and Xavier grinned.
"Exactly what I've been telling people my whole life" he said.
"Wow, I wonder why they don't belive you" Valentine deadpanned.
"I don't know, maybe the murders?" Joel smirked.
"Or the manipulation" Cas added.
"Oh come on, it was only three people!" Xavier said.
"That's three more then us" Val said, a feeling of slight uneasiness creeping over her. It was easy to forget how dangerous Xavier really was, what with his charismatic and funny demenour, but she knew that he'd kill her without a second thought if he needed to. Val was fully aware that she was in a dangerous position, but she really didn't have a choice. In a place filled with thugs and psychos the safest place for her was at the top.
"Then you three are really missing out on some fun" Xavier grinned.
"Yeah, sure, I'll keep that in mind" Joel said. "Now can we please just get down to buisness?" he said with a sigh, "We're risking enough having all these people together in one room, we don't want them to get too impatient."
"He's right. If these guys get pissed off we'll be dead faster then you can say 'superpowers'" Cas agreed.
"Well, I'd better not piss them off then" Xavier smiled, stepping away fron corner and going to stand at the head of the table.
Valentine and Joel claimed the chairs at either side of him, trying to look as non-threatening as possible- something that was pretty hard for Joel. And Cassandra simply plopped herself down at the table, keeping her distance from the more psychotic individuals. She wasn't exactly high up on the pecking ladder in the YDC, but Val had recruited her because her powers of precognition allowed her to tell who had powers.
Well, most of the time anyway. She could only tell who had powers when she actually foresaw them in use. Which was why Valentine was glad she had a more covert power. If people knew she had powers, they'd know she was dangerous. She didn't want the spotlight, her place was backstage pulling the strings. Like now for example. Focusing her powers, Val tried to exude an aura of calm over the room. She felt the emotion flooding through her, and smiled as the dozen or so faces in the room relaxed. She'd done her part, now it was time for Xavier to do his.
Showtime.
The amalgamation of voices filling the room turned quiet as Xavier stood at the head of the table. Even Kara and Tanya stopped their (incredibly violent) thumb war to listen.
"Sorry for keeping you so long" Xavier smiled warmly, "But I don't think you'll mind once I tell you why you're here"
Every eye in the room was now trained on him, and Xavier felt a feeling of triumph. He'd got them.
"I'm pretty sure some of you already know why you're here" he said, looking to the four girls in the corner, "But some of you" he looked this time to the rest, "Have absoloutly no idea."
He saw a few confused looks throughout the room. Daniel Hwan (a murderer who he'd spoken to a few times) was one of the few who didn't look completely lost, simply watching with an analytical gaze.
"Well, I'm not going to tiptoe around it. There is one thing you all have in common, and that is that you have...for lack of a better word, superpowers".
Silence.
Out of the group, Xavier counted seven 'What The Fuck' looks, two insane grins (Kara and Mason Sinclair, who was known throughout the Institute as being completely and utterly batshit insane), three who looked curious (Phoenix, Kalel and Daniel), and the rest just looking calm.
"See, told you" Kara grinned at Phoenix, who rolled her eyes.
"So, you seriously expect us to beleive that everyone in this room is some sort of superhero...villan...whatever" Daniel said, looking skeptical.
"Nope, I'm going to prove it to you." Xavier said, "Joel?"
Joel grinned, then swiftly scaled the wall and hung upside down from the ceiling, focusing on copying the foot pads of a gecko so that he wouldn't fall.
Kalel smiled, "So...super climbing?"
"Not quite" Joel said.
"He can imitate reptiles" Val explained as Joel flipped down and showed off a pair of (downright terrifying) snake fangs. "I know, gives a whole new meaning to the nickname Snake" she smirked.
"Okay that is cool" Tanya said, "So what about you two?"
"Xavier and I don't have powers" Val said, earning a skeptical look from Daniel.
"So...he's in charge why, exactly?" Daniel said.
"Because, we don't need someone super powerful to lead us, we need someone smart" Xavier said. "Plus, do any of you have a plan?"
Blank faces stared back at him.
"Exactly" Xavier said. "I, on the other hand, have a pretty good idea of what we're gonna do".
"And that would be..." Phoenix said.
"Well, as you all know thinhs have been getting wierd here. Cas-" he gestured to Cas, who smiled shyly and gave a small wave, "Can see the future, and has found out exactly what's happening."
"I wouldn't say exactly..." Cas said.
"Well, sort of what's happening then" Xavier said.
"Wow, you're really filling me with confidence here" Kalel snarked, causing Xavier to glare at her.
"What I mean is, I can see that we're sealed in a sort of...dome-y thing where everyone over 15 has vanished." Cas said.
"Sealed in? Will we run out of air?" Tanya asked.
"No, apparently it's not going to kill us" Valentine said.
"Yeah, we're just...stuck" Cas finished, looking slightly nervous with the entire rooms attention on her.
"The point is, there aren't any adults coming" Xavier said, "Which means there's no one to stop us. We're not prisoners anymore, we're the powerful ones. So, don't you think we should be in charge?" Xavier said.
Murmers of agreement filled the room.
"So, here's my plan" He said, concentrating on his words as he spoke. It had to be perfect if he wanted them to obey "We, are going to go into town, brutally murder anyone who stands in our way and take our place as the rulers of this new world."
Xavier let a small smile cross his face as his new followers began murmering in agreement, their eyes glazed over and their faces blank. It had worked.
He felt a pull on his hands, like he was holding threads connected to each member of the group. He knew it well by now- that feeling of control and power that came with holding the will of another person in his hands. It was so easy to control them- all he had to do was plant the order in their minds, and they'd follow it like the sheep they were. They wouldn't even know that they were being controlled.
That was the reason why Xavier had made them beleive they were normal. If they had just the slightest suspicion that their will wasn't their own, then they could fight back.
But this way, they had no idea.
They would be his to command, no matter what.