Ultimate Redjay Chapter 2, an ultimate marvel fanfic

Chapter 2: Redjay Begins

[AN: Anyone who is not an OC created by me is owned by Marvel Comics]

Welcome to the Hell that is my life. My name is Chloe Sakamoto. A half white and half Asian girl who just found out that she is a Mutant and is now ducking and dodging the MRD, a known Anti-Mutant-you know what? Trying to spoon feed information to you like this by giving a "previously on" segment is pretty annoying and patronizing, so I might as well move on with the story so that I don't come off like I'm treating my audience like stupid babies.

I was still hiding. But now, I'm in this construction site on the far end of the city. There are jets in the sky so I can't be flying anymore but I also know that I can't go out in public like this because people might notice a white Asian girl with wings on her back and fiery hands. To make matters worse, I haven't slept in three days and I haven't eaten anything in that same amount of time. But, in time, I believe I can rest. For now. Who knows when the construction workers will come back. I then heard an explosion from far away. 'What was that?' I thought. I instinctively flew out of the construction site, and towards where I heard that sound. What I saw was so disheartening.

My school...Cage Junior High...it's hardly even recognizable anymore. "Well, well, well, Mutant...I didn't expect it to be this easy to find you." A male voice said from below me. I turned around, and saw a caucasian man with shaved brown hair and blue eyes and he was dressed in a black military officer's uniform. Surround

-ing him were all of these MRD soldiers and tanks and Humvees with their guns all aimed right at me. There are even a few snipers on the roofs of multiple build

-ings. "By the way, in case it wasn't obvious we did that to your school. And we did it with our tanks. One of our best ones, in fact. We like to call it 'big boy'."

"Who are you, and why are you doing this to me?" I asked. "Why did you kill Haruhi Shiraishi and her Mother?" The military monster asked me. He may look like a man, but I see the same hate in his eyes that I saw when Archie was beating me up. That makes him a monster, in my eyes. But...wait, what did he say? Haruhi and Mrs. Shiraishi...are dead? "Wait, they're dead?" I then asked. "You didn't know? Surely, you must've." The monster said. "Oh, and my name is Commander Steven Walker. Mutant Response Division who currently have you pinned down. Surely, you've played enough war games to see how this all plays out if you try to escape."

As much as I hate to say it, he's right. There is no clear way out of this. "Why should I just blindly follow your orders?" I asked, trying to buy as much time as possible. "Because we have your Mother." Commander Walker snapped his fingers, and, out from the back of a humvee came my Mother, who is in handcuffs. I'm talking about my Mother being arrested by the most brutal Anti-Mutant militia on the planet. How did this happen?

"And if you don't surrender, we have no reason to keep her alive." Commander Walker added. I sighed. "No, Chloe! Forget about me! Go find Emma!" Mom shouted. I couldn't. Not if I could save my Mom doing the opposite. I landed down on the ground, and I walked up to Commander Walker. "There's a good girl. Get a power dampener and a pair of handcuffs on her." He ordered. He turned around, and walked over to another one of his men to talk to that man. As they were about to arrest me, I somehow heard Commander Walker say, "Kill the woman. She's outlived her usefulness." "What!? But you said you would spare her!" I angrily shouted. But it was too late. A sniper bullet passed through my Mom's chest like she was made of paper. And my Mom fell down, and died. Commander Walker turned towards me, and said, "That's the price you pay for blind trust, sweetheart. Besides, you things are just wild animals. Why should we keep to our word for just one tiny animal?" And then, all of the soldiers around us started laughing.

In reaction to this, I pushed the soldier who was behind me away using my wings, and I then tried flying away. "Open fire!" Commander Walker ordered. The guns all aimed at me, and started shooting. I protected myself using my wings. "What's the use, Mutant? That wing shield can't last forever."

Just then, I saw a Quinjet, and Iron Man, Thor, Valkyrie, Falcon, The Human Torch, and Ms. Marvel coming towards us. 'Finally. Salvation.' I thought. The Quinjet and the other Ultimates stopped over the MRD humvees and tanks all lined up across the street. "Commander Walker, stand down. I repeat, stand down. The Ultimates will handle it from here." Captain America's voice booms over the Quinjet's PA system. "To Hell with that! You have no jurisdiction in this situation!" Commander Walker shouted. "Well, we tried." Iron Man said. Thor destroyed the tanks while Iron Man destroyed the humvees and Valkyrie landed down on the ground, and just merely used her fists to knock out a majority of Commander Walker's men. Commander Walker turned to me, and yelled, "This isn't over! You hear me!? This isn't over, you damn Mutant!"

I breathed a quick sigh of relief as I saw that monster run away. Then, Ms. Marvel flew up to me. Ms. Marvel is as beautiful as I saw in the news. She has that sleeveless and pantlegless black jumpsuit on with that big yellow "S" on the front of it, those elbow-high black gloves and thigh-high black boots on and that lovely bushy and long blonde hair. And then there's that black domino mask that covers her eyes and creates an aura of mystique around her. "Oh, thank you for saving me from those monsters-I mean, MRD soldiers. Maybe you aren't as bad as my Mom said you are..." I say. "Chloe Sakamoto, you're under arrest for the murders of Haruhi Shiraishi and Sakura Shiraishi." Ms. Marvel said. "What the fuck!?" I asked as I backed away from her. "But I didn't do that!"

"Tell that to the judge." Ms. Marvel told me. The Quinjet turned to face me. "Tell ya what, if you surrender now, that will determine how lenient your judge will be towards you." She-Hulk's voice said over the Quinjet's PA system. 'I was wrong. Mom was right about the Ultimates.' I thought. I turned around, and flew away.

"Ah, shit, we scared 'er off." Ms. Marvel said. Iron Man flew up to her. "But, at least the MRD was easier to deal with than we expected them to be." Iron Man said. "Isn't that how it always is?" Ms. Marvel asked. "That doesn't matter. Now that they're dealt with, we can all chase after her, now." Captain America's voice said over the Quinjet's PA system. "Right." Ms. Marvel said with a nod. The Quinjet lowered itself to the ground just so that Captain Britain, Black Widow, Hawkeye and She-Hulk could be dropped off for some reason. I couldn't see any more of what was happening behind me, but I could definitely tell that they're chasing me.

And now, here I am, being chased by the Ultimates. My life couldn't get weird enough.

John Blaze, a blonde-haired, blue-eyed man dressed in a biker outfit (without the helmet) was having a cup of coffee at a diner somewhere in Alberta. He looked up at the TV, and saw the Ultimates chasing some Mutant girl on the news. The waitress saw what he was watching, and said, "Aw, that poor thing. Mutants are always being mistreated like that."

Knowing that the Spirit of Vengeance wants to have his boney hands on that girl, John took a big drink, and said, "Never believe everything you see."

He then put ten Canadian Dollars down on the counter, stood up, turned around, walked out of the diner, and walked to his motorcycle, which he calls, "Grace", and then, he got on it, started it up, and, as soon as he got on the road, he turned into Ghost Rider, flaming skull head and all, and zoomed down the road. A police officer who saw Ghost Rider speeding down the highway while in his squad car almost went to chase after him when his partner, who was sitting right next to him, stopped him. "Why aren't we stoppin' him? He's speeding!" The first cop shouted. "If I told you, you wouldn't believe me." The second cop answered.

I flew and flew and flew and flew around until I found a safe place to hide behind. Another stinky trash bin in a dirty alleyway. I sighed. What is my life? I peeked out of cover every so often to see what's happening outside. I saw the Quinjet land for only a minute or two to drop off The Hulk, Captain America, Bombshell and The Invisible Woman before it flew away again. So we have six flying super

-heroes and eight non-flying superheroes on the ground. More to the point, some MRD tanks and a squad of MRD soldiers rushed in, and started firing at the Ultimates. Hulk, Captain America, Ms. Marvel and The Invisible Woman immediately engaged the MRD. 'Are they...are they really going this far? For me?' I thought.

"Well, this is all horrible." A girl's voice said from behind me. I turned around, and saw a brown-eyed girl with caucasian skin and long brown twintails. She was wearing a sexy yellow and brown spandex suit with a red belt that had the X-Men symbol on the very front of it. "Oh my God!" I shouted in Japanese, startled. "Hey, hey, I didn't mean to scare you. Just calm down." The girl said. I took a deep breath. "Can you understand what I'm saying?"

I didn't respond. "My name is Katherine Pryde. People like to call me 'Kitty' for some weird reason." The girl told me. "Yeah, I know who you are." I said. "So you can speak English." Kitty said. "Well, duh, it's called being bilingual. Perhaps you've heard of it." I quipped. "That was rude." Kitty replied. "And you saying, 'so you can speak English' wasn't, hypocrite?" I asked. "Okay, fair point, but my point is, I'm not here to hurt you or arrest you." Kitty told me. "The last time I thought that someone was here to save me, I ended up being chased by the Ultimates. And you're one of the X-Men. My Mom said I couldn't trust you." I told her. "Whatever your Mom told you, she was wrong." Kitty said. "How can you say that!?" I shouted. "You don't know her!"

Suddenly, Bombshell, Thor and Falcon found us. "Oh Brother." I said. Kitty put her hand on my shoulder, and we went into the ground.

We then went up through the floor of a swanky-looking hotel. "Welcome to the X-Hotel. Normally, this would be a Mutant Outreach Center, but, I guess this was emptied as soon as the MRD rolled in, as per the protocol in these types of situations." Kitty told me. "What-Where are we going?" I asked. "To meet some friends. C'mon!" Kitty told me. I guess I'll go with her...for now...assuming my Mom was wrong. I followed her up three flights of stairs, and to the twentieth door to our right and down the hall. We walked into the hotel room where I saw two other members of the X-Men: Bobby Drake, also known as Iceman and Warren Worthington III, also known as Angel. "What's up?" Iceman asked. "The sky." I answered, not in the mood to play any games. "Funny. I like her." Iceman told Angel. "Um...hello." Angel nervously said to me. Under any other circumstances, I'd be geeking out right about now. "What am I here for?" I asked. "You need help, Chloe. And the X-Men can give it to you." Kitty answered. "So you don't think I killed Haruhi and Mrs. Shiraishi?" I then asked. "Why would we? You look too cute to be a killer." Iceman replied. "Uh...thank you." I nervously said. "Smoothe one." Angel told him.

"My Mom said that Emma Frost could help me and that she said that a doctor told her so." I said. "We know. But we also know that she's wrong." Kitty said. "As I was saying, how can you say that!? You don't know my Mom!" I shouted. "We know because both of you don't know Emma. We do. She is a master manipulator who uses her students as her personal toy soldiers once she trains them hard enough. That's how the Academy of Tomorrow is such a strong fortress." Iceman told me. "And that 'doctor'? He's a man named Ethan Churchill. He's got no relation to the famous British politician who kickstarted World War Two, but he might as well be just as dangerous because he is secretly Emma's assistant who experiments on the 'late bloomers', so to speak, in her school so that their dormant X-Gene can wake up." Kitty explained.

"So my Mom was lied to?" I asked. "Correct." Angel answered. "Okay...so what is an X-Gene, anyway?" I then asked. "I believe I can answer that." Angel said. "The X-Gene is the gene that gives all Mutants their powers and it lies dormant until the Mutant reaches puberty. And their powers manifest themselves quickly after their X-Gene wakes up. Although, as Kitty said, there are late bloomers who's dormant X-Genes don't wake up at puberty and instead stay dormant until later on in their lives for one reason or another." "Well I did get...uh...cramps minutes before I got these powers." I said. "So, Professor X was right." Angel supposed.

"My next question is, how can you guys teach me control better than Emma could?" I asked. "Easy. We won't force you to be a soldier after you've done your training. Also, to start off..." Iceman says. Iceman pointed a finger gun in my general direction, and shot bits of ice at my hands. Once those bits of ice hit my hands, the fire around my hands disappeared. But I still had black claws where my fingernails should be. "Thanks, but my hands still have claws." I said. "There's nothing any one of us can do about that. Only you have the power to-" Angel was interrupted because the room started shaking all of the sudden.

'Is it an Earthquake?' I thought. But, nope, it was actually Thor and Valkyrie lifting the roof off of this part of the building. After that, Iron Man flew in. "Ah. Somehow I knew you'd be in here." Iron Man said. And then, Bombshell dropped into the room after Falcon came in, and dropped her off. "Maybe you'd want to think twice before putting 'x' on everything you own." Bombshell quipped. "Hi, Lana." Kitty said. "I see you've brought the Ultimate Jerk Squad of America to play." Iceman quipped. "Here to be our humble Gods who lord over us Mutants, as usual."

"How dare you mock the Gods, you frosted mortal!" Thor shouted, offended.

"Need I remind you, Lightning God, that every time you guys fight against us, you usually turn out to be wrong?" Iceman asked. "Be that as it may, the girl still needs to see trial for crimes committed." Valkyrie said. "Well-said, Valkyrie." Thor replied. "Chloe, come with me." Angel told me. Right now, I'd rather be with the X-Men than in jail and possibly be in for a life sentence. I walked over to Angel, and we flew past Thor, Valkyrie and Iron Man.

We were flying and flying and flying while Iron Man and Ms. Marvel chased us when, suddenly, a flaming chain came out of nowhere, wrangled me, and brought me down to the ground, where there was a man with a flaming skull for a head, skeletal hands, who was dressed in an all-black biker outfit, and sitting on a motorcycle. "Oh damn." Ms. Marvel said. "Did...Did we take Ghost Rider into account?" Iron Man asked Ms. Marvel. "Ghost Rider? Who's that?" I asked. And then, the skull-man released me, and pulled his flaming chain back to himself. I stood back up as he got off his bike, and pointed at me. "Guilty." The skull-man's harsh voice growled.

'How can he talk?' I thought. "Logan said she was a lost cause..." Angel mutters.

The skull-man menacingly walked up to me, and then, he grabbed me by the throat. "Your soul is stained by the blood of the innocent. Feel their pain." The skull-man told me. "I've...never...killed...anyone." I said, trying to struggle out of his grip. He stared at me like he was trying to stare into my soul. "Here comes the Penance Stare..." Ms. Marvel says. 'Penance Stare? What?' I thought.

Well, whatever was supposed to happen, it didn't happen. Even the entity before me was confused by it. "What?" The skull-man asked. He stared at me again, probably making sure of something. After that, he let me go, and turned towards Iron Man and Ms. Marvel.

"You have condemned an innocent. She has not stained her soul." The skull-man told them. "What?" Both Iron Man and Ms. Marvel asked, confused. The skull-man then wrapped his chain around his body, got back on his bike, turned it around, and sped away. "We must've missed something." Iron Man said to Ms. Marvel. "That's what we've been trying to tell you, you fools!" Angel told both of them. I turned left, and flew away. "Chloe! Wait for me!" Angel shouted. And Angel flew off after me.

Angel caught up to me, and we flew across the city. "Sorry for bailing on you like that, I'm just...so scared." I said. "Don't worry about that. Besides, I've been where you are. Heh, I remember a time when I couldn't control these wings, either. But now...well, just come and see." Angel told me. We landed down on the roof of some random big skyscraper and he showed me something I'd never seen before. His wings receded back into his back.

"...and look again." Angel then said. His wings protruded out from his back. "Now, I can make my wings come out at will. This can be you, if you come with the X-Men." "Really?" I asked. "Really." Angel answered. "I'm afraid she'll have to wait a long time before that ever happens." A mechanical-sounding female voice said. Angel and I looked up, and saw Ironheart. "Riri Williams, now? Tell me, why aren't you lording it over the people of New York City like you usually do?" Angel asked. "Funny. But the truth is, I can't find Emma Frost, so I thought I'd find her by bringing her to the party." Ironheart replied, referring to me. "And quite a party it is, indeed." A British woman's sexy voice said from above. Angel and I turned around, and looked up to see a woman with blue eyes, blonde hair and white lips. She was wearing a sexy white top with no sleeves or straps of any kind, white gloves that nearly extended to her shoulder but not quite, sexy white pants, white boots and a white cape.

"Sorry for being so late, my dear, traffic was Hell." The woman said to me. This sexy young woman was undoubtedly Emma Frost. "Emma..." Angel says. "Ah. There you are." Ironheart said. She then shot three repulsor beams at her. Emma simply dodged the blasts, and then landed down on the roof gracefully. She then entered her diamond form before continuing to take blasts from Ironheart. Ironheart then stopped firing. "Okay, so you're good." Ironheart commented. "Coming from one who uses Mutant children as bait, that means nothing." Emma rebutted. "Uh...don't you have a brainwashed army of Mutant soldiers at your beck and call? Mutants who you've trained from childhood onwards?" Angel asked, noting the hypocrisy. "Warren, darling, you might want to check your facts before you say something daft like that. I've reformed and because of that, the Academy of Tomorrow doesn't provide that program anymore. I simply heard about a child who needs help, and came as soon as I heard that she was in trouble. You X-Men, however, can't keep to your word and will always back out when the going gets tough." Emma told him.

"Then how come we were able to suppress Chloe's fire powers?" Angel asked. Emma reverted back to her normal form, and looked at Angel before saying, "Obviously, it's Bobby's work-and it's only a temporary measure."

Angel facepalmed. I could see what he's thinking even though I can't read minds. He's probably thinking, 'Oh man! Why didn't I remember that she can do that!?' Or something like that. I kinda chuckled. But then I stopped when I realized something.

"You never told me it was a temporary fix!" I shouted. "See? They lie all the time." Emma said. "To be fair, her dumbass team interrupted us before we could tell you." Angel told me, referring to Ironheart. "To be fair, she's a murderer who needs to be brought to justice." Ironheart interjected. "Darling, shut up, the adults are talking." Emma told Ironheart. "I SAY THEE NAY, HARLOT!" Thor yelled. And suddenly, Thor flew over here, and threw Mjolnir (his hammer) at Emma. Emma dodged it. "Well, Thunderer, I say you're getting sloppy." Emma said. "Am I?" Thor asked. Emma entered her diamond form, and Mjolnir came towards Emma and managed to hit her but she didn't feel a thing so Mjolnir ended up back in Thor's right hand. "Nice try. And here, I thought you Asgardians had honor." Emma rebutted. 'She's awesome.' I thought.

Thor rushed down to Emma, and tried fighting her using Mjolnir. "Don't you have a Frost Giant to kill or something?" Emma taunted. "We have Sif for that." Thor replied. "Regardless, this is not your business. This is about the Mutants." Emma said. "You mean about you." Ironheart said. "Oh, Ironheart, don't go throwing stones in glass houses, okay?" Emma taunted. "And that goes for Stark."

"Why do you not fight with us, Heart-Of-Iron?" Thor asked. "Because she's trying to get a rise out of us." Ironheart answered. "Trying to fight her like how you're doing it will get you nowhere."

"Then perhaps I should change tactics." Thor said. Thor backed away, and then, using Mjolnir, he shot lightning at Emma. And when the lightning hit, Emma's diamond form broke, and she was knocked backwards a bit. "That actually hurt!" Emma shouted. "It was meant to." Thor said.

"Well, regardless, you shouldn't have done that because I was fighting with the kid gloves on this whole time." Emma said. Emma then used her mental manipulation powers to knock both Thor, Ironheart and Angel out. Thor and Angel went unconscious while Riri Williams, in her Ironheart armor, started falling down after her jet boots suddenly turned off. "See how powerless they are?" Emma asked me as she was walking up to me. "I see. Huh. Losers." I said. "Come, now, we mustn't wait much longer. You and I have work to do..." Emma says. Emma then flew upwards, and I followed her.

"How can you fly like that?" I asked. "I'm now so powerful that I can use my mind to make myself fly. Come, I'll show you to the Academy of Tomorrow." Emma told me. "Academy of Tomorrow...sounds fancy." I commented. "It is that and more." Emma replied.

Back down below, both Iceman and Bombshell were standing on the roof of two different buildings and they saw Emma incapacitate Thor, Angel and Ironheart before she flew away with Chloe. Both of them sighed. Iceman used his ice powers to surf his way over to Angel's unconscious body and Bombshell used her own powers to get to Thor. Once they got onto that roof, their only concern was getting their friends to wake up. Ten minutes later, both Thor and Angel woke up and Ironheart woke up, as well, amazed that her armor isn't damaged in any way, shape or form. Angel and Thor stood up, and Ironheart flew back up to the roof where Thor and Angel were knocked out.

"That was quite the headache." Angel commented.

"Verily." Thor agreed. "I think I'm going to owe Emma for that one." Angel said. "Speaking of Emma, where is she?" Ironheart asked. "Wait, what?" Angel asked. "Aye. She is not here." Thor stated. "And neither is Chloe." "What happened?" Ironheart then asked. "Chloe went with Emma after she took you guys out." Iceman reported. "And you didn't go after them?" Ironheart questioned. "We were too busy trying to wake your sorry asses up. Besides, you three are heavy hitters. If she took you out, then what chance would we have?" Bombshell asked in reply. "There is truth to her words. For example, I am Asgardian. My mind should be especially guarded against mental attacks of that nature yet still, I relented." Thor replied. "Then maybe we should go to Magneto, and ask him what the helmet of his is made of so that we can go to that Dwarf friend of yours, and get him to make you a better winged helmet made of whatever magneto's helmet is made of." Iron Man said as he and the other flying Ultimates and the Quinjet flew in. "You know, as far as jokes go, that was Hella loaded." The Human Torch constructively criticized. Iron Man groaned.

"I'll try better next time." Iron Man said. "I'll hold you to that." The Human Torch said.

Ms. Marvel flew up to Ironheart, and asked her, "Did they really escape?" "Yeah." Ironheart answered, clearly distraught. "It's alright. We'll get 'em next time." Ms. Marvel said. "You're not getting anything. Not as long as Emma Frost has her." Angel told them. "Give me a reason why I shouldn't have the two of you arrested for aiding and abetting a criminal." Ironheart threatened. "How about this one? We had a run-in with The Ghost Rider." Angel said. "Ghost Rider?!" Ironheart asked. "It's true." Iron Man told her. "And Ms. Marvel saw it all, too."

"Ms. Marvel...?" Ironheart asks. "Ghost Rider came out of practically nowhere, and grabbed Chloe while she was in mid-flight. I guess he must've heard about our hunt for her somehow. He then tried using the Penance Stare on her, but it didn't work. He then turned to Iron Man and I, and said that we have condemned an innocent and that she is not the killer of Haruhi Shiraishi and Sakura Shiraishi." Ms. Marvel explained. "Ms. Marvel and I were chasing her at the time." Iron Man said.

"Then that begs the question...who did kill the Shiraishis and who framed Chloe for their murders?" Ironheart asked. "I say we should not take the words of a Demon to heart. There is a reason they are called such." Thor said. "Aye!" Valkyrie shouted. "You're forgetting that Ghost Rider's other name is the 'Spirit of Vengeance'. He seeks out those who have committed the worst sins known to man, and literally puts them through Hell before he kills them." Iceman told Thor. "Then why didn't he 'put' Chloe 'through Hell'?" Valkyrie asked. "Because he couldn't." Iron Man answered. "As I said, the Penance Stare didn't work but when it does work, it's supposed to make those who have sinned go through exactly what their victims went through before they die and all that's left of them is a corpse with eye sockets full of sulfur." Ms. Marvel added. "Ergo, since that didn't happen to Chloe, she's had no victims." Iron Man also added. "Then there must be something that this 'Mutant Response Division' hath overlooked..." Thor says. "My thoughts, exactly." Iron Man said.

"So what should we do, Ironheart?" Bombshell asked.

Ironheart sighed. "As much as I hate to say it, there is nothing we can do about Emma having her hands on Chloe. The Academy of Tomorrow is a fortress. And we all know that. So, the next best course of action is to try to clear her name so that she could go outside without being hounded by the MRD." Ironheart said.

"To that end, Ms. Marvel, Bombshell, Thor and Iron Man will stay to investigate Chloe's old house while the others head back to the mansion." Ironheart then ordered.

"And what will you do?" Ms. Marvel asked. "Have a talk with Commander Walker." Ironheart said before flying away.

Angel looked at Iceman, and said, "If we are to clear Chloe's name, we must work with the Ultimates." "Alright." Iceman replied.

"We'll meet you at Chloe's old apartment." Angel told the remaining Ultimates.

Emma and I landed in the front yard of the Academy of Tomorrow, which is right next to Vancouver's arts school and close to the Vancouver Lookout. "Aren't you gonna attract attention to this place because of those two landmarks you're close to?" I asked. Emma chuckled. "It doesn't matter much. Especially since I'm the Headmistress of this fine educational facility. Of course, that doesn't mean that certain interested parties haven't tried to break down my iron-clad defenses that are even greater than Israel's. Keyword being tried." Emma answered. After we got inside the building, I stopped. "I'm not going to be able to leave this place, am I?" I then asked. Emma stopped and turned around to face me. "No. Not until you've controlled your powers and the MRD have finally gotten off your tail." She bluntly answered.

"I...I understand." I replied. "It's alright. It's not as though you've got anything to go home to, after all." Emma said.

"Now, onto less...depressing topics, as I told Warren, this school no longer produces Mutant soldiers. Of course, I keep the army I already have just in case the Academy needs defending. As I said, iron-clad defense." Emma told her.

They then continued walking further into the school while positioned by each other's sides. "While we do still provide a Mutant Studies program to help young Mutants with their powers, we now also provide educational courses, too such as your typical and basic Science, Social Studies, Language Arts, Phys Ed and Math Classes." Emma tells me. 'Great. Science and Math. My two worst classes.' I thought. "Oh, I don't think your knowledge of both studies can't be improved." Emma said. 'Of course she read all that.' I then thought. Emma smiled. "And like any old school, we provide regular breaks and daily lunch breaks and breakfast breaks, as well." She added.

"Wait, you said Phys Ed. That means 'Gym Class', right?" I asked. "Yes." Emma answered. "So how can I attend Gym Class when I have these powers?" I then asked. "Ah. That is the beauty of our Mutant Studies Class. One of our school rules say that until our students have full control of their powers, they cannot participate in Phys Ed." Emma said. "Whew." I say.

'Gym is also my worst class.' I thought.

"That may change depending on your powers." Emma said.

'Why am I always forgetting that telepaths can read minds?' I then thought.

Emma chuckled. She gave me a tour of the entire place by showing me the Science Lab, the Chemistry Lab (which I was hesitant to enter because of what Mr. Homura put me through), the Biology Lab, the Social Studies Classroom which all the Seventh-Graders use, the Math Classroom which all the Seventh-Graders use, the Language Arts Classroom which all the Seventh

-Graders use, the Mutant Studies Classroom (which is where we're supposed to study Mutant Theory and Mutant History), the Cafeteria (which provides breakfast, lunch and dinner), the Gym, which has two basketball nets and the Mutant Training Room, an area the students call the "MTR" for short.

"Now, since you're really new to being a Mutant, this is where you're going to be spending most of your time here, and the Academy. As you gain more and more control of your powers, you'll be able to participate in classes more often." Emma told me. This sounds like the tutorial section of a video game.

"Why is that?" I asked. "Well, you can't exactly sit at a desk with those on your back." Emma answered. "Good point." I replied. "Before I take you to your first training session, there are a few more places I need to show you." Emma told me.

After a while of walking through the halls, we ended up in the Academy's backyard. "Whoa..." I say. It has courts and fields for every sport imaginable and a track-and-field area. "This is where students go to feel more active-or if they need a place to eat lunch or breakfast or hang out outside. And don't worry. This place is protected by an invisible dome of my own creation, like the rest of the school, so we don't need to worry about being attacked by outside forces." Emma told me. "Wait, if this entire place has an invisible dome, then how come I was allowed inside?" I asked. Emma chuckled. "I'll never get tired of the new arrivals asking that question." She muttered.

"You were allowed in because I let you in. I specifically made the dome so that I can bend it to my will using my own Mutant abilities." Emma answered. "Wow

...you're cool." I commented. "Do you think so?" Emma asked. I nodded.

"I'm flattered." Emma told me. "Now, let's get to the dormitories." "This place has dormitories?" I asked. "Yes. I mean, where else are you going to live, what with your own home being unprotected?" Emma rhetorically asked. "Come on."

"The Academy takes students who are in Grade Seven, like you are, and your time here with us ends by the time you've reached the Twelfth Grade. Because of that, on top of the three floors of classrooms-where students from differing grades often have to take joint classes if for no other reason than an issue of space-are six extra floors which house dormitories for students in each grade." Emma explained. We ended up walking into a stairwell at the end of a hall on the other side of the building, and went up three flights of stairs.

I then followed her down a hall of doors on each wall with numbers labelled on them. We then stopped in the middle of the hall, presumably so that Emma could stop and think. A minute later, she said, "A-ha!" As though she just got an idea. We then continued walking, and wound up at a door labelled: 740. "This is where you'll be staying until graduation." Emma told me. "I think this will be particularly exciting." "Why?" I asked. "Because the occupant of this room has never had a roommate so it meant that she was just left with an extra bed." Emma answered. 'Did she just say "she"? Well, now, I'm interested.' I thought. "I thought you might be." Emma said. She then knocked on the door.

"Hello?" Emma called. "Alex!"

'Alex? Wait, no, it can't be...' I thought.

Emma smirked at me for whatever reason.

"Alex, are you home!?" Emma called.

"Just a minute!" A certain recognizable Australian girl's voice called from the other side of the door. We heard some rushed footsteps, and then, the door opened and...yep, it's Alex Sheldon.

"If it's Trevor again, I'm going to-" Alex interrupted herself when she saw me. "Chloe...Chloe, what are you doing here?"

"Chloe, Ms. Sheldon, is going to be your new roommate-and soon your class

-mate, too." Emma told her.

"Crickey, you look like Hell." Alex said to me. "Heh. With a green sweater like that, I'd say this is a 'pot-calling-the-kettle-black' sorta situation." I replied. Alex laughed. "I take it you two have met before?" Emma asked us. "Yeah. I was there for one of her band's practice concerts in a friend's garage." I answered. "Before we broke up." Alex said. "What?" I asked. "Really?" "Yeah. I'll tell ya all about it later." Alex answered. "Just as well. Chloe's going to have her first training session." Emma said. "Really? Well, I'd better see this for myself, then." Alex said. She stepped out of the door, and then she closed and locked it behind her. 'I guess you've gotta have a lock around here even with Emma's dome.' I thought. And so, we walked back the way we came with Alex following us.

Iron Man, Thor, Bombshell and Ms. Marvel all met outside of Chloe's old apart

-ment building, waiting for the three X-Men. Just then, the four Ultimates saw those same X-Men land down behind them with Angel's help after an hour or so of waiting. They all turned around to face the X-Men. "Sorry we're late. The boys had a Hell of a time picking me up, and bringing me here." Kitty said. "You didn't have to come." Bombshell told her. "But, I did. And thanks to you guys, we blew the one shot we had! We had 'er, we had her, and then you blew it! Suffice it to say, in my opinion, you owe us. So this makes this our investigation that we decided to let you in on, not the other way around." Kitty angrily ranted.

"Point made, Girl-Of-Kittens." Thor said. "Does he always give nicknames like that?" Kitty asked. "All the time." The other Ultimates exasperatedly say in unison, just to tell her how distraught and annoyed they are over it. "Let's be fair, here, he is an Asgardian." Angel told them. Kitty, Iceman, Iron Man, Bombshell and Ms. Marvel were confused by the fact that Angel turned out to be the voice of reason because of the dismissive "too-cool-to-care" attitude that he is known for.

"Let's go." Angel said.

The seven of them all walked into the apartment building, and made their way up to the third floor. And they kept walking until they saw a door labelled "320". "Yep. This is the place." Bombshell said. "As if thou cannot see the yellow tape on the wall." Thor quipped. "Or the open door which has clearly been kicked to forcibly open it." Iceman also quipped. "I didn't know that Thor has a sense of humor." Kitty said. "He has his moments." Iron Man said. "And said moments are very annoying." Bombshell said, scowling at Thor. "Why doth thee think I do not jest so often?" Thor asked rhetorically. "Exactly." Bombshell said. "Well, nevermind all that. Lana's right. This is where we need to be." Iron Man said. "Let's head inside, then." Angel told everyone. Thor uses Mjolnir to destroy the tape, and then, everyone walks into the apartment.

"Alright. Let's split up and look around. Chances are, the MRD haven't bothered to remove the bodies just yet." Angel said to everyone. They did as he said.

Bombshell and Kitty found Haruhi's body in the kitchen. "Angel's right! Come and look!" Bombshell called. Iron Man, Iceman and Thor went to the kitchen. "Hm. The wound on the young mortal's body looks like a stab wound." Thor said. "Chloe had claws on her hands and feet. So she could've killed Haruhi without meaning to because she was scared." Iceman said. "Nay, Man-Of-Ice. If that had been the case, there would be multiple stab wounds. And as powerful as she may be, Chloe's claws aren't long enough to commit such a murder." Thor replied. "I hate to be pedantic, but given how her powers have a bird motif to them, I'd classify Chloe's 'claws' as 'talons' because it is a much more fitting description." Iron Man assessed. Bombshell facepalmed. "You pick the weirdest times to make those kinds of observations." She replied. They looked around some more, and found a knife next to Haruhi's body.

"Look! The murder weapon!" Iceman pointed out. Iron Man used his helmet's HUD to scan the knife. "According to my scans, the blade definitely has Haruhi's blood on it...but the handle has Sakura's fingerprints." Iron Man said. Thor banged his fist on the wall. "Damned monstrous woman! To kill one's own kin and make it look like a suicide..." Thor angrily says. "It's unthinkable." Iron Man whispered. "Where's Sakura!?" Kitty angrily asked. "She's over here!" Angel called from one of the bedrooms. Everyone rushed over to that bedroom, and saw Sakura's corpse. They also saw another single stab wound and another knife next to the body. Iron Man scanned this knife, too. "It has Sakura's blood and fingerprints on it." Iron Man said. "So, she killed herself." Bombshell concluded. "Good. The Devil can have her, for all I care." Kitty said.

"So 'tis a murder-suicide, then." Thor concluded. "It's not just that, Thor. It's also Seppuku, an ancient Japanese tradition of taking one's own life. It was usually done by the Samurai class or...other such Japanese warriors to prevent themselves from being taken by the enemy for torture, usually, or to reduce the effect of the shame brought upon a dishonored warrior's name." Iron Man told him. "So she did all this thinking she was doing something honorable." Thor then said. "Exactly." Iron Man replied. "Wait, how do you know that she did Seppuku?" Iceman asked. "Look at where the wound is. The people who do this sort of thing stab themselves in the abdomen just like this just to give themselves a slow and painful death." Iron Man answered. "What a waste." Kitty said.

"I'm not surprised that this happened, though." Bombshell said. "What do you mean?" Thor asked. "Back when I was with the X-Men, I saw what were perhaps some of the worst things that were either done unto Mutants or friends of Mutants or whole families of Mutants. Anti-Mutant people like Sakura Shiraishi are often crazed extremists who want to harm Mutants by any means necessary. Whether it be going after their friends, their families, their kids or even the Mutant or Mutants, themselves. For what it's worth, I apologize that you had to see this, but the X-Men see this kind of thing everyday." Bombshell explained. "I wish I could say she is wrong." Iceman said in an unusually-serious tone of voice. "How do you know that she hates Mutants, though?" Iron Man asked. "Perhaps something I've found in the bedroom across from ours can shed some light on that." Ms. Marvel said.

They all walked over to that other room, and saw a sentence written in Kanji on the wall. "It's definitely Japanese." Bombshell said. "That doesn't say that Sakura wrote it, though." Iron Man said. "Chloe knew Japanese." "Knowing how to speak a language, and knowing how to write in that same language are two different things. Trust me, I can speak Kree, but I still haven't exactly mastered how to write in the Kree language." Ms. Marvel replied. "Is this not the part where you tell us what this says, Man-Of-Iron?" Thor asked. "I suppose so..." Iron Man says. He scans the writing.

"It says 'die mutants die'...and it was written in Haruhi's blood." Iron Man told everyone. "Monstrous..." Angel says. "I'll say. Woman wrote all that like she was summoning Mephisto." Kitty remarked. "There's more. I saw some of Sakura's handwriting on a letter that was supposed to go to some relative in Japan right before Kitty and Bombshell called us to the kitchen, and I've just cross-referenced that letter with the writing here...they're a perfect match." Iron Man said. "I say that closes the entire case." Iceman said. "So do I." Iron Man agreed. "As do I." Thor agreed. "I think the rest of us agree, too." Kitty said. "I'm sending it to Ironheart right now..." Iron Man says. They all then walked out of the room, out of the apartment, back down to the first floor, out of the apartment building, and Thor grabbed hold of Bombshell before he, Iron Man and Ms. Marvel flew away. "We'd best get back home, too." Angel said.

Later, Ironheart cleared Chloe's name by showing Commander Walker the evidence he needed to call off his attack dogs and, even though he was reluctant to do so, he did call off his occupation of Vancouver. The MRD left Vancouver practically overnight as did Ironheart, Thor, Iron Man, Ms. Marvel and Bombshell. Meanwhile, Angel, Kitty and Iceman stealthily got back to the Blackbird, and the Blackbird took off and flew away after using its stealth mode to make itself appear invisible.

Angel, Kitty and Iceman returned to the X-Men's HQ, and requested a full meet

-ing of the X-Men. Later, every member of the X-Men is in the X-Men's control room. "Well? What happened?" Charles asked. Angel sighed. "We tried every

-thing we could, but the Ultimates got in the way. Shockingly, Ghost Rider made an appearance, and we thought he was about to kill Chloe, but that didn't happen. He instead let her go, and told the Ultimates that Chloe was framed. Chloe wasn't arrested, either or killed by the MRD. She instead went willingly with Emma Frost." Angel reported.

"Told ya." Wolverine said. "Shut up, Logan!" Cyclops shouted.

"Regardless, at least we know that she is safe with Emma-regardless of how that blasted Academy of hers may be treating her." Charles said. "There's more." Kitty said. "Fire away, Kitty." Pyro said. "No pun intended." "Surrre, not at all." Iceman sarcastically said. "Don't be a hypocrite." Pyro told him.

"Anyway, after Angel, Iceman and the Ultimates got their asses beaten by Emma, herself, and after Chloe went away with Emma, the Ultimates switched gears, and helped us clear Chloe's name. Long story short, the Ultimates realized they were wrong, they somehow managed to get the MRD out of Vancouver, and Chloe's name has been cleared of responsibility for the deaths of Sakura Shiraishi and Haruhi Shiraishi." Kitty said. "So there's a silver lining in this cloud, and the Ultimates actually got their asses handed to 'em. Nothin' outta the ordinary." Wolverine assessed. "I agree. Well done, Angel, Kitty and Iceman." Charles said.

As Alex and I followed Emma to the MTR, Emma explained a little somethin' to me. "Fair bit of forewarning: the training you'll be undergoing will be rather...harsh and, as some might call it, brutal for someone like you but that's because I expect the absolute best out of my students and also because your powers are quite genuinely offense-based." Emma told me. "Offense-based?" I asked. "She means that those powers of yours look like they are more for fightin' than anythin' else." Alex clarified. "Yes. And as such, you will be trained like you were one of my Mutant Soldiers-but you don't have to worry your pretty little head. I won't lure you down that path...not like I have in the past." Emma said with a look of sadness and shame on her face.

After we got to the observation lounge which was in between the MTR and the rest of the school, Emma explained to me what the test was going to be about.

"Your main goals in this exercise are to control your wings, like how Angel showed you earlier, and also your claws. Immediately afterwards, we'll focus on control of your jazz hands because, as I said before, what Iceman did to you won't last long. In fact, I'd say that it has already worn off." Emma said. "Really? Then why aren't my hands on fire like they were before?" I asked. "I don't know. But perhaps your mind has some answers." Emma answered. "Really? I mean, I can just tell you what happened when they activated the first time and-" "But where's the fun in that? That being said, you must give me your consent before I do anything. Too many times have people-rightfully, I might add-given me consequences for entering their minds without permission." Emma said, interrupt

-ing me. "Uh...go ahead. I honestly don't know what it feels like to have a telepath rummaging around in my mind." I told her. "Thank you. This will save me a lot of painfully arduous legwork." Emma replied.

Emma walked up to me, put a hand on my head like she was going to head pat me or measure my height and then closed her eyes. I started to feel all woozy for a second before Emma opened her eyes, and took her hand off of my head. "Whoa...feelin' kinda dizzy." I said. Alex immediately rushed to my aid. "And that is what it feels like to have a telepath poking around in your head. It's why I don't make a habit of doing it." Emma told me. After I got my bearings back, Emma told me to go into the MTR, which is through the door to my right. I turned right, walked towards the door, opened it, and walked into the Mutant Training Room.

After that, she told me that she was going to simulate a stressful situation for me. "What!?" I asked. And, suddenly, without warning, a bunch of robots jumped me, and started punching and kicking me as hard as they could.

'Why do all lessons have to be taught with pain?' I thought. "Calm yourself, Chloe. Things will seem quite clear to you soon enough." Emma's voice said. 'Was that Emma? Well, if that was, then she most definitely used her powers to open some sort of a communication channel between the two of us.' I thought. 'Wait, this isn't the time to be thinking about that. I'm being beaten up by robots.'

I tried fighting back, but it was no use since I didn't know how to fight. "Don't try to fight them. The whole point of this part of the exercise is to raise your stress levels." Emma told me. 'Well, she did say this was going to be brutal.' I thought. "Now there's a good girl." Emma said. For whatever reason, I got a momentary burst of dopamine before being continually horrified by the fact that there are robots beating me up.

Eventually, I started getting flashbacks to when those guys were beating my ass right before I even got these powers. And the more they kept beating me up, the more charged up I got for when I blew the robots away from me with a blast of fire.

I stood back up, and saw that my hands were on fire again. The same type of fire that, oddly enough, doesn't burn my hands. "Excellent, Chloe." Emma commended over the room's PA system. "So I got the fire to come back. How do I get it to go away again?" I asked. "It might just be another temporary measure, but it works for the purposes of this exercise: teaching you control. Just calm down, close your eyes, and think of something soothing and calming like a...er, a calm river or the experience of being wrapped in a blanket before going to sleep." Emma answered over the room's PA system.

I closed my eyes, and thought back to a memory I have of playing The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker back when I was eleven or twelve and how calming just slowly riding on that dragon boat, not caring if I'm now lost at sea because I focused on the relaxing aura of the game instead of playing the game. And when I slowly opened my eyes, I saw that the fire was gone...and so were the claws! And the wings, too!

"Holy shit!" I shouted, surprised. "I think you might've overdone it, but, at least we now know how to activate your powers. And, maybe, in time, you might be able to activate them however you wish at will without having to increase or decrease your stress levels." Emma said over the room's PA system.

After that, Emma said that the training session was over for now. I walked back to the observation lounge, and saw that Alex was still there. "Strange." I said. "I expected you to be gone because you have classes or something like that." "It's Sunday, and, unlike other private schools, the Academy of Tomorrow does let its students take the weekends off and it doesn't require that you wear silly uniforms to classes." Emma told me. "Oh, thank you." I said, breathing a sigh of relief. "I had enough of that uniform bullshit back when I lived in Osaka."

"So you really did live in Japan..." Alex says. "Uh, yeah, I did. Hell, I was born in Tokyo! And, if I'm going to be honest with you, I have never been anywhere outside of Japan up until a few days before the school year started. At which point, Haruhi and I had already been enrolled in Cage Junior High by my Mom. Haruhi...Mother...Cage JH..." I say, the weight of everything that's happened before I began attending the Academy of Tomorrow. It was like a whole season of any given superhero cartoon from the 1990s (discounting Batman: The Animated Series, Superman: The Animated Series and Gargoyles) because too many things were happening at once.

I was being chased by the MRD for a couple of murders I didn't commit, they killed my Mom after she was used to as a tool to capture me with, the Ultimates intervened, the X-Men tried to save me, I thought that guy with the flaming skull for a head was gonna kill me, and, in the end, it was Emma who ended up saving me. Yet, I haven't had the chance to talk to Alex about any of that. Alex just sat there, giving me a look of sadness but I can also tell that she felt angry at me, too somehow. "Erm...I think it's best that the two of you catch up in your dorm. Classes will start at nine in the morning tomorrow. Don't be late." Emma said before she left the room.

We later met up in our dorm room, and we sat on the couch in the living room, the only other room in our dorm room aside from the special little washroom we have and the bedroom. And, of course, the front lobby which leads to the front door through which we leave our dorm. But now is not the time for a tour. I have some catching up to do with Alex.

"So...you told me that your band broke up." I said.

"More like, we were forced to." Alex corrected. "Our Moms did it after they heard about your situation. They all knew that we had associated ourselves with you. So, most of 'em thought that not allowing us to associate ourselves with you any further would protect us from the MRD. Those thoughts ended when Cage Junior High was destroyed. Chloe, people were still in there! Tanisha and Lucie were still in there! Why would they ever do it?" "Because...Because they were trying to get to me. And after that...they had my Mom at gunpoint, and told me that if I didn't surrender quietly, they'd kill my Mom. And so, I had to go. But when I gave them what they wanted, they killed my Mom anyway. She was just a disposable toy to them so when they thought they had me, they just...threw her away, if I'm going to continue using the toy allegory. So, instead, I broke out of my would've-been chains, and they started firing at me but they never got the chance to kill me because of my wings and the Ultimates swooping in to 'help'." I explained.

"Oh...oh, I'm so sorry." Alex said.

I started to cry.

"So you didn't actually kill Haruhi and her Mother..." Alex says. "What's the point of saying that? Yes, I didn't kill them, but no one's going to believe me. One moment, I was just flyin' around, waitin' for Emma to find me because that's what my Mom told me to do and the next, I'm bein' shot at by the MRD! And then, I spent the last three days duckin' and dodgin' the MRD. Long story short, Emma did find me and she did bring me back here, but I had to stay with the X-Men, run from the Ultimates and hide from the MRD just to get to this point. But, at least, now I can calm down, and get a handle on my new powers." I ranted. Alex rushed towards me, and gave me a big hug. "I'm so sorry I misjudged you." Alex whispered. "No...No problem." I replied as she let me go.

"People have been doing that to me more and more, lately." I then said. "I should've known...being a Mutant is...not fun, to put it lightly." Alex replied. "Why are you here, anyway?" I asked. Alex held up her left hand and then, somehow, it became surrounded by lightning. And it wasn't electrocuting her or harming her in any way, shape or form.

"Electrokinesis." Alex finally answered. She then used her power to turn on one of the lights in the room. And once that was done, the lightning was gone from her hand. "The power to manipulate lightning and electricity. Like your powers, my power is offense-based so it can, for the most part, be used in a fight."

"Wait, you've only got one power?" I asked. "Most Mutants do, but there are some, like you, who have, like, maybe two or three." Alex answered. "Well...I hope to impress people with my powers one day." I said. "Maybe you will. But why focus on that, when we can focus on right now?" The orange-haired Australian asked me. "Because, let's be clear, you look like shit, it doesn't look like you've brought anything from your old house with you, and I just know you don't have any money on ya."

"You're wrong-I've got at least thirteen dollars and fifteen cents to my name." I said. I then showed her the money before putting it back in my pocket. "I've just been too used to my Mom payin' for stuff for me. Obviously, that's changed."

"Well, in that case, I'd say you'll need a good hour or more of sleep before we do anything else. C'mon, I'll show ya to our room." Alex told me.

I followed her into the bedroom, and saw the left side, which had her bed, a nice

-looking bookshelf to the bed's left which was filled with books and games and a bunch of other stuff and a nightstand to the bed's right. The room's left-side wall had posters of all kinds scattered all over it and directly to our left was Alex's desk. Meanwhile, the right side of the room was...very empty compared to Alex's side. All it had was a big empty bed with the same blankets and pillows as Alex's and a desk equally as empty as my new bed directly to our right. 'This place could do with a few improvements.' I thought. I walked over to the empty bed which is now my bed, laid down, and got to sleep. The last thing I saw was Alex turning around, and walking out of our bedroom.

As the months flew by, I got better and better and better and better with controlling my powers. It went to the point where, by the end of the school year, the first of my three powers I could activate and deactivate at will were my claws and my wings. I still couldn't control my fire powers all too well and, because of that, I still had to rely on what Emma and I have come to call the "Adrenaline Trick" to activate and deactivate my fire powers. But every time I did have my fire powers activated, I learned that I can manipulate fire just as well as Alex could manipulate lightning.

In fact, one of the practical things that the Mutant Studies teachers had us partake in were elemental manipulation contests, where we were supposed to use our powers to create what they determined would be the best construct we elemental users could make with our powers. I'd made a fire pyramid with my fire powers, Alex made a lightning sword based on Spider-Man's lightning sword, but the one who won the contest was a guy named Trevor, the guy Alex mentioned before. According to her, he's from Britain and his power is geokinesis, meaning he can manipulate rocks like the Earthbenders from Avatar do. And what did he do to win...? Make a small rocky version of a sand castle. Alex and I were unimpressed because, if given enough time, the both of us could make a sand castle as small as that. Hell, anyone could.

The reason why he, out of everyone else was chosen was because my construct was too basic, Alex's construct was unoriginal (which I can't, exactly, disagree with but I'm not telling her that), a girl who used her hydrokinesis (meaning that she could manipulate water) power to create a water disk didn't win because it seemed like the construct could only be used as a throwable weapon and the kid with the aerokinesis power (which means he can manipulate the air surrounding him) didn't win because no one could see his construct and whatever he did create could be destroyed by the wind.

Although, according to a dark-skinned friend of Alex's who was in Grade Nine (it was the hydrokinesis girl I mentioned earlier and her name is Pandora Kensington and she's from Seattle), the aerokinesis guy has never won this contest for the same reasons he didn't win this time.

Anyway, it was the fact that Trevor always won that made Alex frustrated with him and is the reason why they share a rivalry between each other (other than Brits and Australians being natural enemies heh heh).

Meanwhile, due to the fact that I can turn my wings and claws on and off at will, I was allowed to partake in normal classes (yes, even math and science and gym) along with my Mutant Studies classes. My Mutant Studies teacher is a Japanese woman named Ms. Uzaki. Although she is not a Mutant herself, she is an ally (like some of the teachers here and at Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters) who studied biology and genetics at Tokyo University and went on to work as a geneticist with another, more experienced geneticist named Dr. Ethan Churchill right here, in Vancouver.

Over time, I've learned that she was one of the ones who aided Dr. Churchill in his unethical experiments on young Mutants so when his experiments were cut short by the X-Men three years ago, Ms. Uzaki switched careers, and became a teacher at a Junior High School and taught at that school for the next two years until Emma approached her about another teaching job and now she's here, at the Academy of Tomorrow, teaching us Seventh-Grade young Mutants about Mutant History (some parts of which she took part in due to her time as Dr. Churchill's lab assistant). And she's been here for two years.

Meanwhile, things have been looking up for me, personally, too. On top of the fact that I now control my wings and claws (all of which Emma has come to call "talons" because of the bird motif my powers have), I've recently learned that the Ultimates had cleared my name. The true story was that Mrs. Shiraishi had killed Haruhi and made it look like she Seppuku'd herself while, after having trashed and made graffiti in my room (while also breaking everything in Haruhi's room, too), she actually performed the act of Seppuku. Mrs. Shiraishi thought she was doing something honorable with those shocking acts of violence. Well, like my Mom said, these Anti-Mutant people are more often than not dangerous extremists. And just to put the cherry on top of this shit cake, it was Archie who had framed me for their deaths. Well, regardless, because of the Ultimates, the MRD don't have any reason to be in the city right now so I can go out and get groceries for Alex and I without having to worry about them.

Also, like with when Dr. Doom attacked that First Nations Reserve, the Canadian Government condemned the actions of the MRD because the only place in the world they have a jurisdiction in is the US which means they had no business being there in the first place. The only difference between the Dr. Doom situation and this is, luckily, that the US never threatened to declare war over my capture. Now, I can live my life in peace and spend the huge amounts of money I have saved up (which Emma gave me on a daily basis as a reward for my performance in my classes. Weird choice of a reward, but I accepted it without a problem) because I couldn't do anything with it while the MRD were still occupying the city, having believed I killed Mrs. Shiraishi and Haruhi. And so, I kinda splurged it on new clothes, new games and gaming systems, a few pieces of furniture and an old medium-sized silver-colored box TV that could fit on my new nightstand, which I put in front of my bed after I moved my desk next to the top of my bed. After my side of the room was just a little bit complete, I decided that I'd spend the next few checks I'd get on a few posters because my side's walls were still barren.

Alex got a look at the gaming set-up I have on my side of the room. "Why do you have a Gamecube, a PS2 and an Xbox?" She asked me. "Oh, that? Well, a more modern system like the PS5 or the Xbox 360 or the Wii U or the Xbox One won't work on that TV since there are no HDMI ports. Also, part of me is a sucker for late 1990s stuff and stuff from the early 2000s." I answered. "Didn't you tell me at some point that you were born in 2009?" Alex then asked. "Yep. It doesn't mean that I can't like the classics." I answered. "And what about all those PS3 and Xbox One games, then?" Alex questioned. "Well, that's what I have you for since you have all of those game systems in the living room." I answered.

"Oh yeah? Well, what if I decide to move away one day?" Alex inquired. "Of course, you can do that but, given how I've moved from Tokyo, to Kyoto, to Osaka, to Vancouver, I think you can trust me when I say that moving is a Hell of a hassle that leaves you tired out once you've actually moved from point A to point B." I answered. "I know that as well." Alex replied. "But did you have to move away from two different Australian cities before winding up in Sydney, and then over here?" I rhetorically asked. Alex didn't respond. She just growled at me probably because she knows that I am right. When it comes to moving away, I am her senior. But, I bet she and I can both laugh at those who've never been outside of Vancouver telling us how hard it is to move to a house in the next neighborhood over.

After the summer break had started, many of the classes have stopped for the summer. The only class we still have to attend is Mutant Studies but that is only because, according to the academy's staff, the academy's administration (probably meaning the school's board of directors, the secretary and whoever the Deputy Headmaster or Headmistress is), and Emma, herself, it's the single most important class of all of them which, I can't disagree with since we are all Mutants. It's why, today, after Mutant Studies, Alex and I decided to go out for lunch. I was dressed in an outfit that looked like the outfit that Misty from Pokemon wears. The yellow sleeveless crop top, the blue-ish jean shorts, the red suspenders, and the white and red running shoes. Meanwhile, Alex has a blue t-shirt and black shorts on. I questioned her choice to wear black in the summer heat, but she didn't answer so I guessed that she didn't feel like answering so I never bothered. We went to DQ's for some milkshakes and some french fries (two foods that I have, oddly enough, never had before) and we went to eat it outside the restaurant on a bench just because we could. Alex sat on the right side and I sat on the left.

"So...are fries actually made by the French?" I asked. "What? No! They're just as American as burgers or chips." Alex answered. "Oh." I said. I drank my milkshake and ate a few more fries before asking, "So why are they called 'french fries', then?" "Erm...I don't actually have an answer for that one." Alex told me. "Well, if I had to guess, I'd say it's because the Americans wanted to make fries sound fancier than they are. Americans often like to talk tough about how great they are despite not having anything to show for their bragging other than military might." I replied. "Meanwhile, Canada has universal healthcare, relatively-clean air, little-to-no supervillain attacks, not that much violent crime and at least we're making efforts towards ending homelessness and poverty."

"Okay, can we talk about the country without getting into the dodgy subject of politics?" Alex asked. "I don't know...maybe you can ask Ms. Stilwater." I answered. Ms. Stilwater is the academy's Social Studies teacher. "Seriously, though, you sounded like you were making a political statement just then." Alex commented. "Well maybe I was or maybe I wasn't. You'll never know, though." I replied. "Can you go a day without being a troll?" Alex then asked. Over the course of the school year, I've made myself known as the academy's class clown. How did I achieve this? By joking around with the students I happen to meet either in between classes or during lunch and teasing my friends like how I just did. It went a long way towards getting people to not absolutely hate me after the whole shebang with the MRD and after the X-Hotel got destroyed by the Ultimates.

Ah, well, at least my trolling doesn't get people killed like Hazama's often does. Though, I doubt that the green-haired psycho even cares whether people died due to his actions or not.

It also doesn't hurt that I'm cute as fuck. In fact, in terms of cuteness, I fit somewhere between sexy or attractive and innocent or actually cute. I've got that "how can I stay mad at you" kind of face (adults actually have said that to me at one point in time or another...including my own parents) while my body is more...sexually attractive. As a result, boys don't know whether to be horny or to "protect my innocence" and girls would go kinda crazy over how cute I am from time to time.

"Would you rather I be sad and gloomy all the time?" I asked. "...no." Alex answered. "Because I do get like that from time to time." I told her. I've never admitted this to anyone because I don't want to think about it very often. After a long silence, Alex asked, "You're being serious, aren't you?"

I chuckled. "Uh-huh. Sometimes, I wonder if I'm the reason my Mom got killed. And...and I didn't take the X-Men seriously when they said they could help me. I made a lotta dumb decisions in the past year." I told her. "Oh, don't let that get ya down. There was no way you could've prevented what happened to your Mom. Besides, in my view, her death was the fault of the MRD, not yours." Alex said. "Maybe you're right. But at least I'm not dead. And if there's one thing I won't feel sorry for myself over, it's being a Mutant. But, still, people hate me." I replied. "Ah, don't listen to the conspiracy nutters online. They'll go away...in time." Alex told me. The few people she is referring to are the conspiracy theorists who still believe the version of events that Archie told the police when both Haruhi and Mrs. Shiraishi died.

"Will they?" I asked. "They usually do." Alex answered. "Still, that could be a long wait." I told her. "So what do you want to do about it?" Alex asked. "My whole life, I've been inspired by heroes like Batman and Superman and even real-life heroes like White Tiger and Iron Man. One of whom almost wrongfully arrested me, funnily enough. And I know that I won't change people's minds if I sit around, and do nothing, so after I graduate, I'm going to join the X-Men." I answered. "That seems like a wait that is equally as long as my suggestion." Alex commented. "I don't have that much of an education just yet and I still don't have full control over all of my powers. Plus, I'm thirteen. I don't wanna die an early death." I replied.

"Hm. Good point. Becoming a superhero, saving people, defeating bad guys. Sounds fun until you inevitably have to die to save someone else." Alex said. "Oh really? Then what do you plan to do after graduation?" I asked. "Become an electrician, duh! I can use my power to power the whole city." Alex answered. I then saw a large green anthropomorphic being charging down the street towards us from the right while shooting beams of energy in any direction. "Then I'd think we'd better survive long enough for that to happen." I said, nearly shaking in my boots. "What are you talking about?" Alex asked. I silently pointed at the being, and Alex turned her head to where I was pointing, and said, "Ah...shit."

She and I dropped our milkshakes and fries, and we ran away from that monstrous being. "Who is that and what did you do to make him angry?" Alex asked as we were running. "I don't know, but I don't think he's targeting me, specifically." I answered. Alex looked around as he destroyed buildings and terrorized people, seeing that I was right. "I AM THE LIVING LASER! I GRANT YOU ALL DEATH!" The being shouted. "The Living Laser?! What is one of Iron Man's enemies doing here, of all places?" Alex then asked. "I don't know, but we must get back to the academy." I told her. "Right!" Alex shouted. I thought about using my wings so that I could pick up Alex, and get us to the academy faster, but Emma specifically told us that we can't use our powers out in public until after we've graduated which means that if I want to stretch my wings, I'll need to go to the academy's backyard.

After a while, we managed to make it into the Academy's grounds, and, after that, The Living Laser just went right past us. "Good thing that he didn't come here." Alex said, the both of us panting. Then, Emma walked out onto the front lawn, and walked up to us. "I see that you've had an eventful lunch break." Emma remarked. I explained the situation to Emma even though I was as much out of breath as Alex was. "Was he here for either of you?" Emma asked. "No. He was just striking everyone and everything that he saw, like a child having a temper tantrum. We were lucky he didn't hit us." I answered. "As soon as we saw him, we made an immediate mad dash back to the academy." Alex added. "Good job. Now, come inside. It seems that Stark has a mess to clean up. I've already called him, incidentally." Emma told us. The three of us walked back into the academy.

We heard on the news that Iron Man did, indeed, manage to save all of Vancouver from The Living Laser about an hour after a big battle. Many buildings were destroyed, though, and the students were told that they had to stay within the academy's grounds until the construction crews had undo whatever damage The Living Laser caused. This was my first sign that I need to become a super

-hero because currently, Vancouver has no hero to defend it.

It is now my second school year at the Academy of Tomorrow. Well, the second semester, actually. Still, I learned a lot last semester and the previous school year. Like how, oddly enough, Professor Xavier and the X-Men did a lot to help the Mutants be accepted in most of society. The only places where Mutants are still oppressed and marginalized and treated as pariahs and outcasts are: Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, Pakistan, China, Russia, Turkey, most Middle Eastern countries (including Israel), Egypt, most of Africa (except for South Africa and the Democratic Republic of the Congo), Japan, Vietnam, Korea, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Singapore, Philippines, Mongolia, India, Latveria, Sokovia, most of Central America, South America and Mexico.

And, conversely, the only places where Mutants are (relatively) safe from persecution and oppression and hate crimes and war crimes are: Taiwan, Canada, the United States, Australia, New Zealand and Europe. Of course, there are still incidents of Anti-Mutant violence either being committed by the MRD, the local corrupt cop, an actual criminal, or just your average, ordinary citizen anywhere within these places, but, overall, they're still safer than in Latveria.

I'm shocked that Emma would actually give Charles Xavier credit for things he actually did, given their rivalry. I don't remember the majority of what happened during my Science and Math Classes, though. And I'd only give you a guess if you asked me why.

One day, after the school day, Alex and I were sitting on the couch in our dorm's living room, watching Corner Gas on Alex's big-ass flatscreen TV using Alex's PS5 because it has a DVD player. We laughed after a character named Oscar called someone a jackass for the, like, thirtieth time in I don't remember how many episodes. I don't know how they do it, especially since the one unspoken rule of comedy is that you never tell a joke more than three times otherwise, it becomes less funny the more it's told. At best, people who're talking about you will be like, "eh, they only have one joke" or, at worst, people will think you're just straight-up unoriginal. I thought about it so hard, that I told Alex about it.

"When did someone who, not-so-long-ago, had a reputation for being a clueless, klutzy airhead all of the sudden become an expert at comedy? Did this all start after ya got here, or somethin'?" Alex asked. "No, actually. For a long time, I was bullied for my clumsiness. I only rose above all that when I learned to joke about it. It was the thing I thought was going to help me when I got to Vancouver, but then Tyrone happened...and then I became a Mutant just weeks after all that." I answered.

"Oh. Er...sorry to hear that." Alex said. "It's alright." I said. "I'm over it, now."

We just sat and sighed.

"At least you can power through all of your struggles." I said without thinking about it. "And, now I know why some people called you an airhead back in Japan." Alex joked. "What's that supposed to mean!?" I shouted.

Then, both of us got AMBER alerts on our phones. We pulled our phones out (I got a new phone...again, but this time, it's a Samsung S22), and read what it'd said. The first sentence was: CODE BLUE. And it was typed out in light blue coloring. "CODE BLUE", for anyone who doesn't know, means "supervillain attack" and it's usually used by 911 Operators to let first responders know about the emergency but amber alerts like these are sent when the danger is very close and it's clear that the civilians either need to stay away or run away.

"It says that there's some maniac dressed up in some creepy costume using some sort of weird super gadget to kill people. People are calling him 'The Reaper'." Alex said. "I know. I can read, too." I replied. "Can you stop joking around!? This is serious!" Alex snapped. "Alright, alright. But why would they call 'im 'The Reaper'?" I asked. "Y'know how reapers-you might've known them as 'Shinigami'-reap the souls of the dead?" Alex asked in reply. I nodded.

"Well, whenever a police man or someone else finds one of his victims, they always say the same thing: 'their eyes looked soulless'." Alex briefly explained. "Wait, you mean to tell me that this guy has done this sort of thing before?" I asked. "Yeah." Alex answered. "Why haven't the police caught him?" I then asked. "To hear the police tell it, he's simply overpowered 'em every time they tried to go and capture 'im. And so, that guy remains on the loose to this day. All anyone can do is report it to the police whenever they find a body with soulless eyes." Alex explained. "So how hasn't he captured the attention of a superhero or maybe people like the Ultimates?" I questioned. "I think he just kills people who won't attract that kind of attention." Alex guessed.

"This AMBER alert says that someone caught The Reaper attacking and killing one of the academy's chairmen on the academy's Board of Directors. A murder like that wouldn't help him maintain a low profile like what you said." I said. "I was just going to say...Professor Frost is not going to be happy about this." Alex commented. "Indeed." I agreed (hey! That rhymed!).

The Reaper got away from the crime scene before Emma could get her ass over there, and deal with him, personally (boy, would that have been a fight to see) which is...bleh, it sucks but at least it gets the authorities to be more responsive to the situation regarding The Reaper. Damn, that dude reminds me of The Scarecrow. Not that it matters anymore because he is not my concern (yet). I'm still focused on controlling my fire powers (a feat which I achieved last month) but now, it's June, I'm in the academy's backyard, practicing using my powers while outside.

The academy gave me this cool and sleek sleeveless and backless white leather leotard, these cool red arm warmers that extend all the way to my elbows and these red knee-high sandal-like boots that also look cool. I must look really sexy right about now.

Anyway, this is the suit I use to practice my powers with because my wings tear straight through my clothes and my talons would do the same for my gloves and boots.

What I do as far as training exercises go is fly around the track and field race track as fast as I can just so that Emma and the academy could assess my speed, attack dummy targets with my talons and my fire blasts (and also fireballs. Yes, since I got control of my fire powers last month, I can shoot fireballs), and train in karate since I'm from Japan and karate is basically a Japanese martial art. Okay, that's not actually the reason why I had to do it. It's just the impression I got when I first took that class.

The real reason they had me take a Karate class of their own making was because Emma needed us students to be able to defend ourselves because there are a lot of people out there who might want to hurt us...it also didn't hurt (in the academy's opinion) that the academy got an accurate assessment of my defense and offense power. Basically meaning, how strong am I at defending myself and how strong am I at attacking others. It's the same reason they had me burn training dummies with my pyrokinesis and scratch training dummies with my talons.

One of the academy's more extreme administrators, a man from New Zealand named Spencer Redgrave (who always wore a lab coat) had me fight another student, a British girl with the power to protrude four big-ass bug-like wings from her back (which don't destroy her clothes for some reason) and with hydrokinesis powers named Destiny Rose (who was wearing a bluish-greenish t-shirt, a dark blue pair of jeans and a pair of regular old shoes), in the MTR using only my powers. She must do the same to me.

Oddly enough, though, none of his fellow administrators were with him at the time. It was just him, and the two of us. It was clear that Destiny didn't want to do this, and neither did I, but, suddenly, Spencer pulled out a small pistol, and said if we didn't fight then we'd die. It was at that point that I knew that this little "exercise" wasn't sanctioned by the academy at all.

Regardless, we knew what we had to do. And so, we fought. It started out with me using the karate moves I was taught by a Japanese man named Sojiro Takara. Sojiro-Sensei isn't all that well-versed in English, but luckily for me, I am fluent in English and Japanese. So I had no problem understanding him. It's why I learned the moves he taught me with relative ease.

Still, I didn't want to fight this girl. And I guess the fight got more and more entertaining for Spencer as it went on.

There were a few times when I thought I killed Destiny (simply because Spencer told us to go that far). I threw a few too many fireballs at her one time, I shot another blast of fire at her some minutes later and I used my talons to scratch her throat and stab her in what I later learned were several vital areas, but nothing I did using my powers could ever actually kill her. The fight ended when we were using our wings to fight in the air, and I kicked her down to the floor.

Destiny didn't have much in the way of offensive hydrokinesis moves or close-quarters combat training so all she could do whenever I used my fire powers was make and use a water shield. And that was what she did when I threw another fireball at her as I sped right down to her. And once I got down there, I knelt down, I pointed the talons on my left hand at her throat, and shouted, "Yield!"

"No. You shall kill her." Spencer told me.

I looked at Spencer, who was standing to my left, and observing everything, and said, "What?" "Kill her. Kill her now." Spencer ordered. I deactivated my powers, stood up, and turned to face him. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but you can't tell me to do that." I said, trying to stand up for myself. He then pulls out his gun, and points it at me. "I think you're forgetting that I have a clear advantage, here." Spencer said. I didn't know what to do. My heart was racing. Well, if I had to go, I guess it would be like this.

But then, suddenly, he pointed his gun at Destiny. 'Oh my God. This guy is actually fucking crazy.' I thought. I had an idea of how to defend her, fortunately enough. He started maniacally cackling before he let off one shot. I quickly had my right wing protrude itself from my back, and block the bullet Spencer had just shot (just barely because of the size of my wings). Just then, I saw Emma and two security guards walk into the room. "Spencer! What the Hell are you doing!?" Emma shouted. I smiled. "Emma!" I shouted. Spencer turned around.

"Oh! Headmistress! Thank God you've come! These students were using their powers to fight and-"

"Sure. And that gun you're holding doesn't disprove your lies at all." Emma sarcastically said, interrupting Spencer. She then used her telekinesis to take the gun away from him before the guards rushed him, and put him in handcuffs. Destiny's wings retracted back into her back as did my right wing back into my back before Emma walked up to Destiny, and helped her get up.

The academy (rightly) fired Spencer and later found out that he had lied on his resume and that he is actually an escaped mental patient from the Queen Elizabeth Mental Hospital right on the outskirts of Vancouver. He is actually a Canadian man named Henry Quinton who's been mentally ill his whole life and was eventually sentenced to a mandatory life-long stay at Queen Elizabeth Mental Hospital after he killed his Mom at the age of twenty-one. To hear anyone else who knew him tell it, he was always too fascinated by science for his own good. It was why Henry killed his Mom in the first place. He wanted to "dissect" her.

The academy reported Henry to the police, but no one could find him. My honest opinion is that the reason he slipped by after being discovered is because they gave him too much time to escape because by the time the academy realized who "Spencer" actually was, it had been a week since my fight against Destiny. I later apologized to Destiny and she apologized to me, in turn. We became fast friends after that. Oh, did I tell you? After I became Alex's roommate, I ended up becoming friends with her friends, too. The most notable one being Pandora Kensington because they were best friends. And, during that week I mentioned, I introduced Destiny to Alex and Pandora. And we've become our own little friend group ever since then.

The only thing that annoyed me about the aftermath of this whole incident is the fact that the only thing the academy's administration really cared about was the extra bit of knowledge they gained from this whole ordeal: the fact that my powers literally cannot kill people. The academy's Board of Directors' opinions on this new bit of information was...mixed, from what I heard. And...yeah, I'd say that's a fair reaction. Even I'm not too terribly sure about it. I mean, what if something happens where I have to kill, yet I can't use my powers to do so even though they'd be especially helpful for such a task? But, on the plus side, as a result of this, I won't have the same reputation as The Punisher when I become a superhero. No. That's not what I'm trying to be. I'm not trying to be feared.

Henry walks his way into the forest outside of Vancouver, making his way to a secret MRD base that nobody, not even the Canadian Government knows about. Surrounding the base's perimeter is a wired chain link fence. When Henry walked up to the door, he saw that it had an electronic lock on it. The MRD soldier guarding the door saw Henry, and walked up to him. "Identify yourself." The soldier ordered. "I am Dr. Henry Jack Quinton." Henry said with his hands raised. "I'm supposed to come here to see Commander Steven Walker."

"Eh...alright, you can come in. Just don't cause any trouble for the commander." The guard told him.

"I wouldn't dream of it." Henry said.

Before he was admitted to the Queen Elizabeth Mental Hospital, Henry was a scientist working for Stark Industries' Canada Branch's Science Division. But, when he was found out to have committed the murder of his Mom, Stark Industries' Canada Branch's manager fired him before his court hearing. It's been five years since then and a year ago, the MRD approached him with a new scientific endeavor and said that if he completed the job he was assigned for, he'd have a permanent position as the MRD's top scientist in the MRD's Science Department. And so, after he facilitated his own escape from the mental hospital, the MRD secretly provided him with a fake identity as "Spencer Redgrave", one of the Academy of Tomorrow's chairmen on it's Board of Directors. And he was lucky because the one who was close to sniffing him out was killed by The Reaper. Whether or not the MRD had The Reaper do so or not is anyone's guess.

When Henry walked past the perimeter after the guard opened the door for him, he saw that the entire base was just five scattered tents and three big wheel-less trailer homes. The biggest of which (that was in between the two other ones) was where Henry was directed to go. The two other trailers were dark military green while the one in the middle was black and a little bit bigger than the other two and had a big black rotating radio dish. Henry walked up to the black door which leads to the inside of the big black trailer, and knocked. A soldier opened the door from the inside, and saw the red-haired, blue-eyed scientist standing before him.

"You must be Dr. Quinton." The soldier said. "That I am." Henry replied. "Come in. The boss has been waiting for you." The soldier told him. The soldier got out of Henry's way, and he walked in before the soldier closed and locked the door behind him. Henry saw all this advanced technology all around him. Consoles with buttons that blink or glow in different colors. To his right was a big screen above some other console. And standing with his back to Henry was none other than Commander Walker, himself. Henry turned right, and walked up to Commander Walker while looking at what he could only describe as a darker version of a planet-bound Starfleet station from Star Trek.

"Quite the advanced listening station you have, here." Henry commented.

"The MRD requires only the best hardware and software if we're to win the war against the Mutants." Commander Walker said before turning around to face Henry.

Of course, in reality, there is no true "war against the Mutants" but reality is not going to stop these crazy extremists from believing what they want to believe in. "Well...? Do you have it?" Commander Walker asked. Henry gave Commander Walker a USB drive. "I got it after Emma made me clear out my office before she finally threw me out." Henry told him. "So your cover got blown, eh?" Commander Walker then asked. "Well, you see, I had to use...extreme methods to get you what you needed on Chloe Sakamoto. Even if that meant my cover got blown. You understand that, right? You've gotta do whatever it takes to accomplish your goals. If you didn't, you never would've come to Canada in the first place out of fear of the Canadian Government's reaction." Henry explained. "You're right. I do understand where you're coming from." Commander Walker replied.

Commander Walker turned back around to face the computer, and inserted the stick into the console's USB port. After that, Commander Walker had one of his men open the file so that both he, the two other soldiers sitting on a couple of chairs in front of the console, and Henry could see what's on the file.

They saw video footage of Chloe's fight with Destiny.

"I-I got that footage from a security camera I hacked into moments before this fight and, after the fight, I downloaded it onto that stick while I was cleaning out my office." Henry told Commander Walker.

They saw the whole fight.

There were a few times where they thought she killed Destiny, but Destiny got back up, surprisingly enough.

"So we were right...her abilities aren't strong enough to kill anyone, no matter how powerful the abilities actually are." Commander Walker said. They then saw some additional documents detailing Chloe's power set.

"As you can see, there is a very high chance that her powers won't ever be able to kill someone. Not even when they grow stronger." Henry stated. "Quite nice blueprints you have, here." Commander Walker commented. "Thanks. I stole those off of Emma's private files before I downloaded 'em onto that stick." Henry told him. Commander Walker was shocked at what he just said. Emma could kill them all if she wanted to, even destroy the MRD without a moment's notice. Fighting the X-Men would be mercy compared to facing her. Commander Walker swiftly turned around, pulled out a pistol, and shot Henry in the heart. Henry fell down backwards, and died. Commander Walker then holstered his gun, turned around, and started making orders. "Copy every file from the stick, and destroy the originals." He said. "Yes, Commander." One of the soldiers acknowledged. Once they were done, Commander Walker got the stick from the port, and crushed it with only his left hand. After that, he dropped the pieces onto the floor.

'At least there is one good thing to come out of all this...we know the Mutant's weakness. She can't kill. And that means that, in time, she will become arrogant and naive and, once that happens, we'll put her in a position where she has no choice but to kill. And when that happens...we'll have her.' Commander Walker thought with a sinister smile.

It is August 31st, 2024. The worst day we all know. And that's because Alex, Destiny and I start Ninth Grade tomorrow. And Mutant Studies seems to be the only best part of school. Pandora is the only happy person in our friend group because as of tomorrow, she'll be in the Twelfth Grade. That means that, after this school year, she'll have graduated and be "outta this bitch", as she said. All four of us went to DQ's, and bought ourselves four ice creams before we sat down, and ate those ice creams. We were wearing things like t-shirts, crop tops and shorts because of the hot weather.

It was then that we all started to wonder..."Hey, what do y'all wanna be when you grow up?" Pandora asked. Three of us exchanged looks. "Well, let's start with you." Alex told her.

"Alright, fine. When I get my ass back to Washington State, I'm gonna go to some small city or someplace like that, and start up a hydro power plant." Pandora answered. "I'd say that's a pretty fitting use of your powers, especially since you're not going to get by on just creating water disk after water disk." I commented. Everyone chuckled. "And what about you?" Pandora asked Alex. "I plan to go to some power plant, and get a job there as a reusable battery, basically." Alex answered.

"You know, I was just about to make a joke about that, but you beat me to the punch." I said. "Ooof, sounds like you're slipping." Alex said.

"What about you, Destiny?" "It's probably not gonna win me any fans, but I'm planning to head back to Manchester to become Water Girl, a water-based superhero who's not from Atlantis." Destiny answered. "Hold on, why Water Girl? Wouldn't Bug-Girl be more fitting?" I asked.

"Well, firstly, there's Silk, Spider-Girl, Spider-Woman and Ghost-Spider who already have the bug thing going on so I think that would be a little redundant, secondly, every spider-hero I just mentioned besides Silk has bad press and that's mainly because of their association with Spider-Man and there's also the fact that their theme quite naturally intimidates people and makes the wrong people-by that, I mean civilians-afraid of 'em and I don't want to intimidate those I want to save and thirdly...actually, y'know what? It's better and not against the rules if I just show you in the academy's backyard." Destiny told us.

Four eaten ice creams later, we were out in the academy's backyard, waiting for what Destiny wanted to show us, apparently. Destiny walked right up in front of us, turned to face us, and had her wing protrude from her back before her skin turned blue and her dark brown braided hair turned dark blue. "Oh wow!" All three of us shout. 'Now, that is impressive.' I thought.

"Since when could you do that?" I asked. "Since half a month ago." Destiny answered while returning to normal and making her wings retract back into her back. It's been a year since my fight against her, and I've since hardly ever paid much attention to the development of her Mutant powers. Some Mutants develop new powers simply because of, as both Charles and Emma have stated, evolution. They usually never evolve beyond the first evolution, though.

"Cool but, superhero, though? The first time we met, I saw that you had little-to-no combat experience and with experience like that, supervillains are going to eat you alive." I said. "Then you clearly haven't been paying attention. I've upped my defense and offense game to the point where I could kick like Chuck Norris and blast someone with a great amount of water like a Blastoise." Destiny replied.

"Nice Pokemon reference, but Chuck Norris, seriously? You couldn't have picked a more dated reference. I doubt some students are old enough to understand it." I said while facepalming. "Whatever. Point is, I'm not so helpless anymore." Destiny said. Pandora turned towards me, and asked, "And what about you? What do you wanna be when you grow up?"

"Oh, I already know the answer to that, heh heh." Alex chuckled.

"Oh, wow, I didn't know that Alex was going to speak for me. Pfft, it's not like I'm going to tell you, myself." I said sarcastically. "Say, haven't you ever considered becoming a politician's spokesperson? I just know they love their talking heads..."

Alex immediately shut up.

"Anyway, I'm going to be a superhero, too." I finally answered. "Do you know what you're going to call yourself?" Destiny asked. "No, strangely enough." I answered. I then held up my left hand, and made my talons protrude from my fingers. "As you can see, my powers are all bird-based. My wings are red, and my talons are black. And yet, I can't think of a bird-themed name for myself."

"What about Red Wing?" Alex asked. "Nah, Falcon's already taken that, remember? It's what he calls his little flying robot thing." I answered. "How about Black Claw?" Destiny suggested. "Too intimidating. Plus, it's a misrepresentation of what these are." I answered. "Hmm...can I see your wings?" Pandora asked. "If you don't mind the holes in the back of my top." I answered. "I don't think anyone would mind." Pandora told me.

I made my wings protrude from my back, and turned them around to show them to all three of my friends. "Hmm..." Pandora mumbles. "What with the look of both wings' texture and size and the white and black stripes, I'd say they look like a bluejay's wings." Alex said. "I'd agree but her wings are red." Destiny argued. "...you have a point." Alex replied.

"Alex? Agreeing with someone? No way!" I joked.

"Then how about...Redjay?" Pandora asked me.

"I say that's...cute...kinda." I said as I turned around to face them and made my wings retract back into my back. "Agreed." Destiny said. "Even though she's a Brit, I'd...I'd have to agree, too." Alex added. "I think it's settled, then." I said. We then walked back into the academy, and made our way to our dorms, wanting to continue on with the day.

As Alex and I were watching TV, I thought of something. "Wait, my wings have black and white stripes?" I asked. "Yeah. Ya didn't know?" Alex asked. "Well, the last time I got a good look at 'em was the first time I saw 'em. And so damn much has happened to me since then..." I say. "You've got that right." Alex agreed.

It's now Spring Break 2027 (which means March 8th-March 12th and it's currently March 9th). All of my friends and I are in the Twelfth Grade (except for Pandora, who has already graduated by Fall 2025 and is currently working some dead-end entry-level job somewhere in Washington State to get her hydro plant off the ground) and I have gotten used to my powers by now. Every day ever since the start of the Tenth Grade, I've been stretching my wings by flying around in the field in the academy's backyard while dressed in my practice suit which was what I was doing when Destiny called me down to the ground.

"Yo! Chloe!" Destiny called. 'Oh no. I can feel something bad coming.' I thought.

'Maybe, I can see into the future, now!' I jokingly thought.

I flew down to the ground, and landed before walking up to her.

"What's up?" I asked as I made my wings retract back into my back.

"It's this." Destiny answered. Destiny handed me her phone, and I saw a news article saying that Daniella Cooper, an ice-manipulating friend of mine who's in the Tenth Grade, was attacked by The Reaper three nights ago! 'The Reaper? Again?!' I frantically thought.

"Is she alright?" I asked. "Yes. But she's too afraid to leave her dorm now except for when she needs to, now." Destiny answered. "Oh, poor girl...how did she get outta that situation alive, though?" I then asked. "Apparently, she used her ice powers in a panic and she presumed that The Reaper, whoever he is, must've been frightened, too because he immediately turned back around, and got the Hell outta here." Destiny answered. "How did he get past Mistress Frost's dome?" I questioned. "That's what the Headmistress wants to know, too." Destiny told me. "Well, I doubt there is anything we can do about it right now...except to go and visit Daniella." I said, determined.

Destiny and I went to go find Alex (after I went to the academy's MTR's locker room, and changed from my practice suit and into my casual clothes), and we explained Daniella's situation to her once we did (she was in the academy's new library). "Oh yeah! I heard about that. D'you think we should go pay her a visit? See how she's doin'?" Alex asked. Destiny and I exchanged looks. "We were about to ask you the same question." I told Alex. And so, she joined us on our way to the Tenth Grade Dorm Hall (we call these places dorm halls for simplicity's sake) and then to Daniella's dorm room, which has a door that's labelled: 1016, and knocked on her door. The girl who answered her door was her roommate, Vanessa Hunter.

Vanessa is a...strange emo girl. Not someone who's easily willing to open up to others and, as a result, some people just aren't that into her. I've heard that she has the same powerset as The Scarlet Witch except Vanessa's hexes and spells are more purple in color whereas The Scarlet Witch's powers are red.

In fact, the overall vibe she gives off reminds me of Raven from Teen Titans except both Raven and Vanessa only differ in appearance. Raven's skin is completely gray as a result of her being a Demon-Human hybrid (which means that, in terms of pure and raw magical power, she's a practical demigoddess) meanwhile, Vanessa's skin is caucasian, like the majority of Canadians. Raven's shoulder-length hair is purple whereas Vanessa's far longer and kinda wavy hair is just straight-up black. Raven's eyes are either black, blue or purple depending on the universe and who's drawing or animating her meanwhile Vanessa's eyes are purple.

Funnily enough, though, they both seem to wear the same style of clothing with some slight differences. For example, Vanessa's legless leotard and cloak are completely black, her leotard has short sleeves, she's also got black fingerless gloves on and her cloak doesn't have a hood whereas Raven's got a dark navy-blue legless leotard, a navy-blue hooded cloak (the hood is usually used to hide her face) and Raven's also (usually) seen with a pair of ruffled ankle-high navy-blue boots on her feet, as well meanwhile, Vanessa's also got an ankle-high pair of boots on (which she never takes off when she's in her dorm room even though each Dorm Hall's rules says you have to) but her boots are black and noticeably not ruffled. And underneath those same black boots are a pair black fishnet leggings.

And if Vanessa isn't sexy enough, then you should also know that her chest is bigger than Raven's, too which is kinda weird to think about (other than the fact that I'm thinking about my peer's breast size, in and of itself considering that she is not the only one in that department and that it's just strange, in general) because depending on the continuity, it's either fitting because Raven is younger than Vanessa because Raven is fourteen years old or it's odd because Raven is older than Vanessa because Raven is eighteen years old meanwhile, Vanessa is sixteen years old. Then again, everyone is built differently.

Oh, I'm such a pervert in disguise.

"What do you want?" Vanessa asked in the most tired-sounding voice ever. Did I say that she even sounds like Raven? Because she does.

"We're here to see Daniella." I told her.

Vanessa sighed. "You can go and talk to her if you want, but I doubt she'll be willing to talk. The Reaper's really spooked her." She told us. "We'll try our best." Destiny said. "It helps that I'm her Twelfth-Grade friend." I said. "So you're that Chloe person she keeps talking about, eh?" Vanessa asked. "Yep." I happily answered.

"Hm." Vanessa mumbled.

"You might actually be right about that. The only ones who've come by to see her as of late are investigators, random people from our grade, and my only two friends in the academy. None of them she knows all that well. I'll go and let her know you guys are here. Come in." Vanessa agreed.

Destiny, Alex and I walked into Daniella and Vanessa's dorm room, and took our shoes off at the door. "Oh. I almost forgot to ask. Who are your two other friends?" Vanessa asked me. "Oh...right. Daniella has never really met them before. This is Destiny Rose, and the other one is Alex Sheldon." I answered. "Hello." Destiny said. "Er...hi." Alex anxiously said. "A Brit and an Aussie. Daniella and I have never been outside of Canada-nevermind outside of British Columbia or Vancouver-before. Sounds like it'll be fun." Vanessa said with a slight smirk.

"Do you always do your hair like that?" Vanessa asked Destiny, referring to Destiny's braided long brown hair. "Er...yeah." Destiny answered. "Why?" Vanessa then asked. "Does there have to be a reason?" Destiny asked in reply. "I guess not." Vanessa answered. "Go wait in the living room or...something, I don't know. And don't touch anything!" Vanessa shouted. "Why?" Destiny asked. "Chill, Destiny. Let's just respect their space as we would have anyone else do in our own space." I told her.

Destiny sighed.

"Okay..." Destiny says.

Vanessa turned around, and walked away.

Alex, Destiny and I walked over to their living room, and waited. Alex and I sat on the couch while Destiny leaned against a wall, and messed around on Twitter or something like that on her phone.

"Have you ever watched Lucky Star?" Alex asked. "Lucky Star?" I asked in reply. "Oh. Yeah. I forgot. You don't watch anime, do you?" Alex also asked. "Nope. I'm mainly a video game player. Although, I have been trying to get into the Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya." I answered.

"Wow. Really?" Alex then asked. "Yup. It was the only one the in-real-life Haruhi could get me to watch with her since the main character of that show is also named Haruhi." I answered.

"What's been preventing you from getting into it?" Alex questioned. "The main character, herself. She's just...so annoying! Even her voice is annoying! I don't know how they managed to make her voice annoying, but...they did it. And I don't know who they were trying to appeal to by doing that." I answered. "Eh, I can see where you're comin' from, but maybe that's because they were trying to make her sound like a female Naruto...? I mean, I know some people say that they can't stand Naruto's voice, either but they still like the original Naruto anime and Naruto: Shippuden." Alex said. "Except they're not exactly the same show since their plots are different and the Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya's not all that action-oriented, from what I've seen." I replied.

"Speaking of, the story's kinda stupid, too. It's all about this annoying girl who believes in the supernatural even though the majority of people think that she's absolutely crazy because things like aliens, Espers and time travellers have been really good at hiding themselves from the world and so people think they don't exist. This girl is stupid, crazy, annoying, bossy...and kind of a pervert yet we're supposed to follow her because the male lead has a bit of a hard-on for her? Give me a break! And give me a plot where Suzumiya-San's expelled from whatever high school she's going to for the simple fact that she molests Mikuru, while you're at it!" I added.

Alex chuckled.

"So why did you want to talk about Lucky Star?" I asked. "Well, Lucky Star's the Seinfeld of anime." Alex said. "So the characters talk about nothing and the show, itself, is practically about nothing, in particular." I assumed. "Pretty much, yeah. Except there isn't a stand-up comedy section at the beginning of each episode and the conversations are even more about nothing and the jokes are either a bunch of hits or hits and misses, at least, depending on who you are." Alex confirmed. "Hm. Maybe I'll check it out someday." I said.

"So where's this conversation going?" I asked. "Well, in one episode, the characters were talking about blood types and the reason they were doing that is because Japanese people use blood types to predict personality types like we do in the west except we use horoscopes." Alex explained. "Well, of course. Even I know that. And wait...what are 'horoscopes'?" I then asked. Alex sighed. "You might know 'em as zodiac signs." Alex told me. "Oh. Yeah. That. Still, I do know about the blood type thing. I lived in Japan for a good chunk of my childhood, remember?" I reminded her. "...right. Er...sorry?" Alex asked. "Too little too late, Alex. But, I guess I can't do anything but forgive you. You are my roommate, after all." I said. "Anyway, because of that Lucky Star episode, I was wondering...what zodiac signs are we?" Alex finally told me. "Hm...let me get out my phone for a sec..." I say. I pulled my phone out, searched for a zodiac signs site, and then got to work.

"Let's do me, first." I said. "Your birthday is...May 14th. Have I got that right?" Alex asked. "You don't have to remind me, you know. Seeing as how it's coming up in a few months. But, yes, yes it is." I answered. I searched for the sign, and then found it not too long afterwards. "Huh. I'm a Taurus."

I clicked on the Taurus entry in the website, and looked at what it said my personality was. "I apparently just want to cuddle, I'm a homebody and I hate big changes." I stated. "What?" Alex asked. "Hey, that's what it says." I told her. "And what about me, huh?" Alex then asked. "Hm...let's see...and your birthday is-" "March 12th, 2009! And don't you forget it!" Alex shouted. "Wow, Alex, you don't have to yell about it. Let's see..." I say. "Ah! Here it is! You're a Pisces. You think everything is a sign...a sign of what, it doesn't say, you're excessively romantic, and you have no boundaries."

"What? That doesn't sound like me at all!" Alex shouted. "You're right. An excessive romantic wouldn't yell at someone they're in love with." I teased. "What'd you say!?" Alex angrily asked. I chuckled.

Vanessa came back into the room. "She's ready to see you." She told us. "Finally." I said as both Alex, Destiny and I stood up. "What was she waiting for, the world to end by the hand of Kang The Conqueror or somethin'?"

"You should be grateful that she's allowing you to see her at all." Vanessa told us. "I was just kidding!" I rebutted. "Hn. Follow me." Vanessa told us. Vanessa turned around, and walked away as we followed after her. "What is she, a reincarnated version of Sasuke Uchiha?" Alex asked. "Who?" I asked in reply. Alex groaned. "Nevermind." She replied.

Vanessa led us to Daniella's room, and then, she opened her door for us. "Daniella? It's Chloe." I called. "Chloe!" Daniella shouted joyously. Daniella came out of her room, and hugged me before she quickly let go because of a certain realization. "Oh...right...I have quite the cold touch, don't I?" Daniella quipped. I chuckled.

Daniella had a...somewhat-unique appearance. Not unlike Killer Frost's from Batman: Assault on Arkham. Although, I guess that the title of that movie is inaccurate because it's more of a Suicide Squad movie. Coincidentally, to say that Daniella's appearance is "not unlike" Killer Frost's is also inaccurate because it's exactly like Killer Frost's. Why? Well, it's simple. Her eyes are blue, her lips are dark blue and her hair is light blue all as a result of her cryokinesis powers. Her chest is big, too (though, that is just her natural biology and has nothing to do with her powers).

The only differences between Killer Frost and Daniella is the fact that Killer Frost always wore her supervillain outfit whenever she's on screen whereas, Daniella always wears an off-the-shoulder long-sleeved shirt and then some sort of pants and then a pair of socks. She used to be without a hoodie for the longest time (because she was more confident and outgoing back then) but then, after The Reaper attacked, she's started wearing more hoodies with an open zipper (because she still wants boys to fall for her despite all that's happened even though she almost never leaves the dorm room, according to what Destiny told me).

"Come in, come in." Daniella told us. Destiny, Alex and I all exchanged looks, and then walked into Daniella's room with Daniella and Vanessa. Daniella went to sit on her bed, while the rest of us just stood. We got a good look at her room. On a shelf were a collection of figurines clearly made out of ice. Destiny walked up to that display, and then turned back around to Daniella to say, "Nice ice sculpture you've got, here."

"Thanks." Daniella replied. "You're welcome." Destiny also replied. "So...I don't mean to be a rude host, but who are these two?" Daniella asked me. "Oh, uh, the one you just talked to is Destiny Rose. And the other one is Alex Sheldon." I answered. "You said that like you've forgotten our names." Alex commented. "Did I?" I asked. "Interesting...you guys have accents." Daniella said. "Well, I'm from Sydney." Alex told her. "And I'm from Manchester." Destiny replied. "A Brit and an Aussie...I never imagined you'd hang out with such an...international crowd." Daniella remarked. "Well, as I told you, I'm from Japan despite how white I look and I moved here all the way from over there for my own reasons. So, I guess...the three of us can relate." I briefly explained. "That's nice." Daniella commented. "So why are you three here, anyway?"

"We, like pretty much everyone else, have heard about The Reaper's attack-" "It took Chloe three days to hear about it, though." Destiny teased, interrupting me. "Shut the fuck up." I told Destiny.

"Anyway, we just came by to see how you're doing after a terrible experience like that. I don't have to tell you the traumatic experiences I've been through since I became a Mutant." I told her.

"Ain't that the truth." Alex agreed.

"I honestly don't know how to cope with all of it. There were these...dark, dark times when I wanted to just...end it all, but...I'm not sure about anyone else in the room, I plan to become a superhero someday. Gonna call myself...Ice-Girl or somethin' like that." Daniella said. "So how can I do that if I'm dead?"

"Exactly. Look, shit happens, man. Shit happens. And the best you can do is rise above the darkness instead of succumbing to it all." I told her. "Exactly what I told myself. Still doesn't change how much I don't want to go out anymore because if I do, he might try again." Daniella said. "C'mon! You know that sounds stupid! The first time the two of you met, you scared him as much as he scared you...he was probably even more scared, actually. You have no reason to fear him." I replied. "Except for the fact that he can't try again for as long as I am in here." Daniella said. "But if I ever left, I'd be vulnerable and he might have more of a chance than if I stayed here." "Bah! That just means that you have to stay in the academy, not cooped up in your room like this." I told her. "You're-You're right!" Daniella said, looking like she's just now realized something. "Ah, what have I been doing all this time?"

"It's alright. Everyone makes stupid mistakes like that sometimes. Take me, for example. The X-Men wanted me to join 'em while the MRD and the Ultimates were still on the hunt for me. Yet, I didn't listen to them because I felt scared and alone. That was why I held on to hope that Emma-I mean, Mistress Frost-would come and save me since I couldn't trust anyone else to do it at the time. But ever since I've started attending this academy, I began to think and think about that day, and the more and more I thought about it, the more I realized that the X-Men were trying to help me." I explained.

"Yet if ya did that, listened to 'em, you never would've met us." Destiny said.

"And you never would've seen me again." Alex added.

"I know. It's strange, right?" I rhetorically asked.

"By the way, can you tell us how The Reaper got in here? Mistress Frost said this place is supposed to be protected by a dome that only she controls." Destiny said out of nowhere. "Desti, no, you can't ask her that. She probably doesn't want to relive bad memories." I told Destiny. Funny how I'm such good friends with Alex and Destiny and Pandora that I can give them nicknames like that. For instance, I've called Pandora "Dory" after the dumbass fish from Finding Nemo and "Dora" because, to my ever-lasting shame, I used to watch Dora the Explorer when I was like three or four years old...don't ask me why I hate that show nowadays.

"No, no. It's fine, Chloe." Daniella told me. "I was in here, minding my own business when, suddenly, out of nowhere, some kinda dark purple portal appeared on the floor, and The Reaper came out of it. I was so startled that I almost froze him. He was fortunate enough to have somehow dodged that shit. And then, he jumped out the window, and fucked off. Obviously, that shit fucked me up in the head."

"Purple portal?" I asked. Then, Alex, Destiny and I looked at Vanessa.

"I know. I've given her the same look you're all giving her now, but she would always say that she's innocent without telling me why." Daniella said.

"Well, then, Vanessa. Why are you innocent?" Alex asked.

"Why should I tell you? Why should I tell any of you?" Vanessa asked.

"Oh, gee, I don't know, maybe because I was the one who was attacked by the man in the scary mask?" Daniella sarcastically asked. "And I'm Daniella's friend." I said. "And we're Chloe's friends." Alex told her. Vanessa sighed. "Fine. But you must come to my room in order for me to explain everything." She told us. Daniella stood up, and we all followed Vanessa to her room. The room looked nice, if a bit dark. The walls were all purple and the lights were kinda dim. There were all sorts of interesting, fancy and pretty-looking trinkets in here. Even her bed looked all...magical. "Is this a bedroom, or a Witch's Lair?" I commented. "It's a bit of both, actually." Vanessa told us as she went to sit on her bed. Some (not all, clearly) dorm rooms have separate bedrooms for it's occupants like Daniella and Vanessa's dorm room does. Anyway, Vanessa casts what I assume is one of her practice spells to show us her magic because the spell did nothing. "As you can see, my spells are purple even though I have the same power set as Scarlet Witch." Vanessa said. "Sure, it looks like I let him in, but there is another Mutant just like me."

She then used her magic to show us a page of a book she has called: Witch's Encyclopedia without touching it. "Agatha Harkness." Vanessa said.

The black-haired woman looked a bit older than Scarlet Witch. In fact, if it weren't for the gray strands of hair the woman has, she'd look perfect as a dominatrix at a BDSM Club. Don't ask me how I know that. Let's just say that a (former) friend of mine back in Japan found a...site. And he thought he could do that to me. Even though I was twelve and he was thirteen. To top it all off, I was not down with whatever he wanted me to do. Everyday, not a second goes by where I hate the fact that he never got any consequences for that.

Anyway, this Agatha lady had purple eyes like Vanessa, but her hair is also curlier and also seemed to like wearing the color dark purple for whatever reason. Specifically, she wore a dark purple robe under a dark purple cape and she also had fancy-looking dark purple boots on. She also has black fingers that look sticky and gross. It's like she wanted to emphasize the fact that she's evil.

"Oh, yeah, I've heard of her. She's one of Scarlet Witch's enemies." I said. "That's right. They first met each other when Agatha tricked Scarlet Witch into entrapping a town of people in New Jersey for whatever reason back in 2021. Eventually, with the help of a couple of her friends and SHIELD, Scarlet Witch was pulled out of the illusion, battled Agatha, and, when Agatha lost, Scarlet Witch imprisoned her in the illusion Scarlet Witch, herself was ensnared in. Some time later, Agatha broke out of the illusion, and decided to get revenge on the Scarlet Witch by trying to kill the Ultimates because Scarlet Witch was a part of the Ultimates at one point in time. The Ultimates barely defeated her because Scarlet Witch is also evil as of right now and has joined the Brotherhood of Mutants by then. Officially, she's supposed to be imprisoned in the Raft right now but rumors are that she has escaped." Vanessa explained. All five of us know that the Raft is one of SHIELD's supervillain prisons located throughout the world. The one with the highest security, too.

"Where did she come from, though?" Destiny asked. "Funny you should ask that. She was born in 1682. And she was a part of a coven of witches by the time of the Salem Witch Trials. When her coven discovered that she had been practicing dark magic in secret, her fellow witches bound her, and unintentionally sent her forwards in time using some complex space-time ritual that I don't even completely understand just yet. And now, she's here." Vanessa answered. "What did they think they were doing by sending her here?" I asked. "I...don't know. Maybe they thought they were sending her to another dimension or to the end of the universe." Vanessa told me. "Why are her fingers all black like that?" Destiny then asked. "I was wondering that, as well." I added.

"That would be because of the dark magic she was using. I don't know how or when, but she came across a book known as the 'Darkhold'. It's the book of the damned and it corrupts everything and everyone it touches. In some ways, it's sentient." Vanessa answered. "So where is the book now, considering that Agatha's supposedly defeated?" I asked. "In Scarlet Witch's possession." Vanessa answered. That answer startled us so much that I said, "Oh damn." "Now, we know why she's so evil." Alex said. "Exactly." Vanessa agreed.

"So are you saying that Agatha had gotten The Reaper in here somehow?" I asked. Vanessa nodded in response. Vanessa then used her magic to close the book, and put it back on its shelf without touching it. "There would be no other way to explain how he got in." Vanessa told us. "But what would Agatha have to gain from scaring someone like Daniella?" Alex asked. "You know what? This is getting us nowhere. Let's face it. We're not detectives or superheroes...yet, so how about we chill out before school starts back up again?" I told everyone. "That sounds fine. I've got a Nintendo Switch in my dorm room! Wanna go play a round or two of Smash Brothers?" Alex said. "That's cool by me." I said. "Sounds fun as fuck." Destiny agreed. "And you, Vanessa...?" Alex asks. "I'd rather meditate in peace, if you don't mind." Vanessa answered. Like I mentioned before, she's just like Raven from Teen Titans. "And what about you, Daniella? It could be a cool way to get you back out into the world, so-to-speak." I suggested. "Um...yeah. That's cool-oh! No pun intended." Daniella joked. Alex, Destiny and I laughed. "There's the old Daniella I know!" I shouted. The four of us walked out of Vanessa's room, and then we walked over to the dorm room's front door, put our shoes on, and walked out of the door.

Today is Graduation Day! Daniella's sad because she'll have to go through grades ten and eleven all by herself but, when Daniella, Destiny and Alex and I were sitting at a table in the Cafeteria today I told her, "Don't worry. I'll put in a good word with the X-Men when the superhero thing of yours becomes reality." "Won't that have to wait until yours becomes reality?" Daniella asked. "Heh heh. I guess you have a point, there." I chuckled. "But I don't think it matters because we'll all see each other again someday anyway."

"True." Alex agreed. "That reminds me, have you reconnected with Kimberly since..." I say. I didn't want to say "since Tanisha and Lucie died" because I'm still unsure whether or not that's still a sore spot for her. It was five years ago when all that happened, but for some people, a wound like that might still be as fresh as if it were made yesterday. "No. Although, I heard from someone who knew her that her tribe had finally gotten it's lost reservation back a few years ago and both Kimberly and her family went back to that place." Alex answered. "Oh. Good for her, though." I said. "Yeah." Alex replied.

After lunch, we had our last day of full-on classes and our last day of Mutant Studies (I honestly haven't mentioned Mutant Studies all that much quite recently and that's simply because of Ms. Uzaki because Ms. Uzaki only teaches Mutant Studies to the Seventh-Graders and the Mutant Studies teachers for every other grade seem to go out of their way to be boring and unmemorable). It was sweet but now, it's sad because it's over and also because I don't remember anything I learned in any of the classes I've had other than Mutant Studies. Think about that for a second, if you will. That means I actually tried in Mutant Studies Class no matter how boring it got over the years. I feel for the souls who never learned or remembered a thing after Ms. Uzaki's class.

At the graduation ceremony after the school day was over, I met with Ms. Uzaki, who was sitting at this table near a food stand. I saw her short black hair and her brown eyes and that white and red long-sleeved shirt with the words "VERY BIG" on the front of it written in capital letters and in a big, bold font she always wore for the last time. "Hey, Sakamoto-San, how are you doing?" Ms. Uzaki asked in Japanese. "Fine." I answered in Japanese, almost forgetting the Japanese word for "fine".

'Maybe I should've been watching anime all this time...' I thought. Surprisingly, you can actually learn Japanese from watching anime, but you'd have to try for that to work.

"Good." Ms. Uzaki said in Japanese. "Are you feeling nervous now that you're about to graduate?" Ms. Uzaki then asked me in Japanese. "Yes, if I am being honest." I answered in Japanese. I almost didn't get the words exactly right. "Your Japanese is getting rusty." Ms. Uzaki commented in Japanese. "I know." I admitted in Japanese.

"I have just the thing for you, then." Ms. Uzaki said, reverting back to English. "Here." She gave me a little Japanese-to-English dictionary.

"Uh...thanks." I said in Japanese. "You're welcome." Ms. Uzaki replied in Japanese.

"Now, I shouldn't keep you too long. Your friends are waiting for you." Ms. Uzaki said in Japanese. "Right." I replied in Japanese.

I walked over to my friends after putting my new Japanese-to-English dictionary in this new big dark blue backpack with one strap that I got for my eighteenth birthday, which happened a little under two months ago, I walked over to Alex and Destiny, who were just standing in another part of the academy's gym, which was where we were having this ceremony. "Hm. It figures that you'd go to Uzaki over Destiny and I. Man, you are so selfish." Alex teased. "That's hypocritical coming from someone who got her friend a nasty, smelly liquid they call 'juice'." I teased in turn. "They're called slushies, actually." Alex replied. "Whatever." I said. "It's still gross." "Not unlike your blue crop top." Destiny teased. "Hey, if Alex, here, can wear a horrendous green sweater, then I can wear this." I joked. "That is true. Maybe I can get you both a make-over before we all see each other for the last time." Destiny said. "No need. Not in my case, anyway. I'm already going to change outta this outfit before I head to New York State, anyway." I told her.

"Wait, you don't mean...?" Alex asks. "I do. I've already got a superhero costume for myself." I answered. I half made it and half bought it just the other day. With Emma's permission, I got one of my white practice suits, made some red and black adjustments, and then bought myself a black domino mask and a red belt with a black metal belt buckle.

I told the shopkeeper that I was going to a costume party later that day. And he assumed that I was going as a gender-flipped version of Bucky Barnes. I was like, "...sure..."

And that was it. I'll explain the exact details of my Redjay suit later (yes, I'm still going with "Redjay" as my superhero name. No one can me. Mwa ha ha ha! Naw, but really. I am really going to use it).

"Wow. I wish I could see it." Alex said. "I don't know..." I say in a sing-songy tone of voice, looking at my backpack. "You just might."

"So where's Mistress Frost?" I asked. "She's about to get on the stage to give a speech." Alex answered. "A speech, huh?" I then asked. Alex and Destiny both sighed. "Yeah..." They both say. "Oh, this will be great." I sarcastically said. "We know." Both Alex and Destiny said.

The crowd cheered as Emma Frost just walked onto the stage, and walked up to the podium before saying, "Er...Hello, I am Emma Frost. Some of you know me as that Bossy Blonde Bitch from London, or maybe the Ice Queen or maybe 'Emmy' or maybe...The Brainwasher of Innocence." Emma said with a shame

-filled tone of voice. She got that last nickname due to her past as a producer of mindless Mutant child soldiers which she's used as her own personal army or sold to the highest bidder. Obviously, she's been trying to redeem herself as of late, but some (like certain members of the X-Men) believe that it's not enough to excuse her for all of her past crimes which is understandable since she did use and betray the X-Men on multiple occasions, but people like me can honestly see that she's been trying to make an effort which is why part of me believes that the hate directed towards her is unfair.

"...but most of you know me as the Headmistress of the Academy of Tomorrow. And as the Headmistress, I would like to congratulate the graduates for making it this far." Emma continued. Everyone in the room clapped for us and everyone in our grade.

"I hope that all of you go on to have successful lives, doing whatever you wish with your powers-be it making a living using them, or not using them at all." Emma also said. "And I hope that everyone else shares those same hopes."

She then went on to make an inspirational speech before calling each and every one of the graduates (including Alex, Destiny and I) to the stage so that we could receive our diplomas. Alex, Destiny and I barely scraped by through the Twelfth Grade just so we could pass and actually graduate so this honestly feels like a true accomplishment for us.

I wound up on the academy's roof, completely changing into my new white leotard (that reveals most of my back so that I could pop out my wings without tearing the outfit apart), which has black and red spaghetti straps both of which accentuated black linings (so does the rest of the suit, the same red rising sun that is on the Japanese flag on the very front of it, right where my chest would be, knee-high red boots with black linings, a red pair of arm warmers with black linings and the aforementioned black domino mask.

I was putting my civilian clothes into my backpack when Emma came up behind me, and asked, "So...this is it, then? Your new life as a superhero-and an X-Man, at that? Wouldn't it technically be an 'X-Woman', though?" Once I was done putting everything in my backpack, I turned around to face Emma. "Yeah." I simply answered. "I don't think It matters to Xavier whether it's 'X-Man' or 'X-Woman', though...or, at least I don't think it does." I joked. Emma laughed.

"You know, I could find a way to make you stay here. Possibly start a superhero group of my own." Emma suggested. "You could, but you don't really have the patience for the hero biz, do you? And while you aren't known for your kindness, you at least care enough to not want a single student to get hurt under your care. And we know how dangerous being a superhero is for kids." I replied. "True enough." Emma chuckled.

With a sad look on her face, Emma said, "I will miss you." "So will I." I replied. "Do you think you can cope?" "I can." Emma answered. "All boys and girls leave home sooner or later, the joy is to watch them fly."

"You almost had me tearing up, there." I lied, holding in my tears which would've been in reaction to the beautiful thing she just said. "Go before I change my mind." Emma told me. "Goodbye, Headmistress." I said before turning around, protruding my wings outward, putting my backpack on my left shoulder and then flying off into the sunset.

After leaving the Academy of Tomorrow, I went and showed both Alex and Destiny my new super suit in an alleyway. They were obviously amazed by it. "Well, isn't that super cool?" Alex asked. "I know, right?" I said. "It's so cute!" Destiny squealed. "Oh, I can't get over how cute you look." "Well...she's got a point, there." Alex agreed. "Somehow, I knew people would say that." I said.

"So, as you probably know, I plan to get back here after my time with the X-Men. That being said, I know that Vancouver will still be without a hero during that time. So, that being said, can you, as Water Girl, watch over Vancouver for me while I'm in New York?" I asked Destiny. "But if I do, Manchester will be without a hero." Destiny told me. "What about Captain Britain?" I then asked. "She's off with the Ultimates, saving the universe or some shit more often than she's on the streets of Britain." Destiny answered. I snapped my fingers, and said, "Fair point." "Welp, you tried." Alex said. "I did." I replied. "So...this is really goodbye, then?" Alex asked after a bit of a long silence. None of us wanted to acknowledge it, clearly, so I was surprised when Alex was the first one to do it. "Yeah..." I say.

Even though none of us wanted to, we eventually said goodbye to each other after another long silence. I turned around, and flew away again.

I flew to an alley, landed down, made my wings pop back into my back, walked further into the alley, changed into the civilian clothes I was wearing before (a blue pair of jeans, a pair of red socks, a white t-shirt, a dark green jacket, a blue hat and a pair of black and gray runners), put my superhero costume in my backpack, put on my backpack, turned around and was about to walk to the nearest Greyhound Station or whatever when I saw Professor X sitting in his wheelchair right in front of me. "H-How did you get here?" I asked. "I have a friend. His name is Nightcrawler." Professor X answered. "So you've heard of me." "Uh...yeah, who hasn't? You're Professor X, also known as Professor Charles Xavier. The leader of the X-Men. Why did you ask me that?" I then asked. "You were with Emma Frost and I know from experience that Emma brainwashes her soldiers so that they do her bidding without question. Those who come out of such brainwashing find their memories...altered or completely gone." Professor X answered. "What? I wasn't her soldier, I was her student! Believe me, whatever Emma has done in the past, she's changed now." I replied. "Then you won't mind if I take a look inside your memories?" Professor X asked. "Of course, not. Whatever it takes to exonerate Emma freakin' Frost." I answered.

Professor X rummaged through my mind and he came back out just as a...man with blue fur, three fingers and toes, a prehensile tail, fang-like canine teeth, pointed ears, yellow eyes and dark blue hair suddenly appeared next to Professor X. He was wearing a red and black leotard with white gloves and boots. On the middle of his chest was the X-Men symbol.

For a minute, there, I was so startled by his appearance that I thought that I would have to start praying for God to come and help me. "Is she the one, Professor?" The Blue Furry Elf asked in a natural German accent. "Yes. And judging from her memories, she is telling the truth." Professor X answered. "Then The Ice Queen really has changed..." The Blue Elf says. "You're...Nightcrawler, right?" I asked. "Yes, yes I am." Nightcrawler answered. "Chloe Sakamoto, this is Kurt Wagner, a Mutant from Germany I picked up a long time ago. First, he became a student at my school and then...well, long story short, he became an X-Man." Professor X explained. "Er...hello." Nightcrawler said. "So...are you ready?" Professor X asked me. "Ready for what?" I asked in reply. "To join the X-Men." Professor X answered.

I was honestly surprised. I know I shouldn't be, considering that Professor X is a telepath, but to get here so quickly, I was just..."Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes!" I excitedly shouted. "Glad to have you on board. Now, if you will just step over here, Kurt will take you and I to the school." Professor X told me. "There's a school?" I asked in reply as I walked up to them. "Oh, it's more than that." Nightcrawler said. "Kurt! We aren't supposed to mention that in public!" Professor X shouted. "Do you see anyone else here, Professor?" Nightcrawler argued. Professor X sighed. "This bickering is pointless. Just get us back to the mansion." Professor X ordered. "Yes, Professor X." Nightcrawler acknowledged. Nightcrawler grabbed both my shoulder and Professor X's shoulder, and he teleported us away with him.

END OF CHAPTER

[AN: Read my first Ultimate X-Men fanfic before reading Chapter 3]