WITCHE: Evolution

by Sokai

[WITCH/X-Men: Evolution X'Over, sort of] A group of young women discover one by one that each possess extraordinary, and radically unique superpowers. While they gradually learn to better harness these tremendous gifts, however, a yet to be detected evil vies to make the ultimate power his own. . . .

9. Chapter Eight

W.I.T.C.H.E.: Evolution

By: Sokai

Disclaimer: I, Sokai, do not claim ownership to the workings of W.I.T.C.H. - I leave that honor up to Elisabetta Gnone. Nor do I own Stan Lee and Jack Kirby's X-Men series franchise (even though this story isn't even really related to the series, at least not super super directly, anyway. Just don't want to hear law suit claims LoL). However, I can and DO claim to own this story and its inspired ideas FROM both series.

Special Dedication: Rest in peace, Stan Lee. Thank you for graciously sharing the creations of your wonderfully talented mind. . . .

Note: This chapter ended up turning into thirty-four pages, in addition to becoming a MASSIVE headache due to the honest 'real time,' or 'single-camera' shooting effect I was trying to achieve later on (which you'll soon read), so I would truly, TRULY appreciate active reviews this time on whether or not it was enjoyed, please.

Even with my usual, admittedly mind-aching editing, I'm sure that I'd still managed to miss some things, which will of course greatly vex me later on to NO end to have realized. . . .

Still, SOMEHOW, I'd managed to complete this chapter, in between 'Tornado Babies' doing their usual 'Pay attention to me, Mummy!' routine. =)

At any rate, please enjoy this really, really long chapter, and Happy Holidays/Happy New Year!

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This chapter was created/written in November 2018, and completed in December 2018.

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Chapter Eight

Dear Diary,

. . . . I don't even know where to begin, really. I've kept other diaries before, sure, but they were all mostly about the typical goings on within my otherwise typical teenage life.

But now, now my every day is anything but 'typical,' and I'm pretty sure that I, myself, am far from a typical teenager, as well.

At least, that's how I still personally feel, anyway. You know . . . about being a mutant.

But . . . the thing is, though, I find myself not really feeling, well, as isolated and terrified as I initially did when I first found out about being one just a few weeks ago.

Well, no, I do still find it pretty out of this world, and it is.

And I'm still pretty upset with my mom and dad about keeping all of this from me, and for the entire sixteen years of my present existence, no less.

I expected nothing less from my dad, I guess, since he hasn't really been a big part of my life to begin with, and I know that my mom was maybe probably pretty scared and didn't know how to handle having to tell me one day.

I know that I'd be pretty beside myself if I was the non-mutant, while my kid suddenly had all these powers and I had to somehow figure out how to still be a good parent and tell them about it. . . .

Because I mean, how many other people can say that they can shoot literal lightning from their fingertips whenever they want, just by thinking about it?

Well, I personally can't really do that yet, myself – The 'whenever they want' part, but I have been working on it.

A lot, actually . . . but in secret.

Not really 'in secret,' I guess, since all of us here at the institute-slash-mansion are meant to be actively practicing our mutant . . . gifts (as we're encouraged to view them), alongside our regular schoolwork whenever we get a chance.

And how 'insane' is that? All of us here have some pretty serious firepower and are honest to God superheroes, really, yet we still have to deal with handing in our homework on time, and studying for finals and what not.

. . . . Still, I do have to say that, if I had to be shipped off to some secret mutant school in order to learn more about my abilities, I think I could have done worse than ending up at 'Kandrakar's School for Gifted Youngsters.'

Wait.

Is there even another mutant school out there which presently exists besides this one?

Anyway, yeah, this place really isn't so bad . . . so far, I guess.

I do still miss my home, my old bedroom, and . . . my mom, especially, of course, but I can at least still talk to her whenever I want or need to, and check in.

And . . . considering that that's how all of this first started to begin with, that's a very good thing.

But she seems to be at one hundred percent, still, as though nothing had ever happened. That I, um . . . had accidentally electrocuted her. . . .

That's my power, see, did I already mention?

Kinda, I guess, but I never said the actual name for it.

God, is this entry all over the place, but I guess considering the special topic of discussion, I suppose I can be forgiven. . . .

Well, anyhow, evidently, I'm now known as an 'Electrokinetic,' which means that I'm able to control all forms of lightning, as well as electromagnetic forces.

Or, at least, so I've been taught and informed of so far from my new professors here at the institute.

I still don't fully understand all of it yet, myself, but it has only been a week so far into my official new life here in Bayville.

I do know for sure that water's definitely no longer my best friend, anymore – At least, for now, according to Professor Clarkson and Professor Lin, who both teach my 'Elemental Manipulation 101' class interchangeably, where we learn all about how to . . . well, manipulate our powers, if they're nature based, at least.

They've both taught me that one day (although they don't honestly know when since it varies from person to person, those with Electrokinetic abilities like mine) I might be able to sustain any sort of possible injury if I'd ever come into contact with water while actively using my powers.

And trust me when I say that that's some of the best news I've received while living here so far, considering that this place has an Olympic sized swimming pool, and I . . . used to be on a swim team back in Heatherfield, Maine, where my home with my mom is.

The professors did also say that I actually can still do things normally again like take a bubble bath or shower, or even swim right now at this stage of the game . . . I just have to obviously be careful not to activate my gifts while doing any of those things.

And considering how jumpy I still am around the liquid (and not to mention already got what is evidently known as 'Shorted Out' my first day here, as a result of having come into direct contact with the stuff at the same time that I was using my electricity), I'm not in any rush to go jumping off of the diving board, or take a long soak within the bathtub.

I guess I'll just have to stick to the baby wipes I've secretly been using every day since my powers first manifested, in lieu of the shower until then. And thank God for bottled water, or else I don't think I'd be able to dare brushing my teeth, even, since I'm also still too apprehensive to turn on the faucet and rinse my mouth out the old fashioned way afterward. . . .

But anyway . . . speaking of 'Shorting Out,' it'd taken nearly most of this week, but my abilities did finally come back. I originally couldn't care less if they ever did, even willing to go through that . . . incredibly painful process all over again, if it meant being without my . . . gifts, if only temporarily. (Still a little odd here and there to refer to my electrical powers that way, but at least I can . . . and I am. . . .)

But as I've been learning here . . . I guess they're just now a part of who I am, and since there is no other way to get rid of them permanently, I just have to get used to them, learn to control them, and maybe, even one day, love them. . . .

I mean, I don't, no.

Nowhere near that yet, obviously. It has only been one week so far, you know?

But I have been able to stop, think about the fact that yes . . . I am a mutant now, or, always have been, rather, which merely means that I can do things that most other people can't.

I'm still me, more or less, at the end of the day.

I still have a fierce love and respect for animals.

I still am kind of on the disorganized side, especially when it comes to my bedroom . . . which means that I've already managed to more or less 'destroy' this incredibly fancy and massive dorm room I've been assigned to upon my arrival.

And I'm still a bit on the shy side and am hesitant to go rushing into new friendships . . . although that side of me, for whatever reason, hasn't so far really seemed to be as profound as it's always been, especially back in Heatherfield.

I don't know. Maybe it's because I'm living in a ritzy mansion, which also doubles as a built-in school with hundreds of other kids who are also pretty much 'just like me' . . . and for once it isn't just a saying.

A lot of them probably were right where I am right now, feeling unsure of how to move forward within their own lives, as if it wasn't already hard enough beforehand.

In fact, I know this to be true, as quite a fair amount of my new and fellow housemates have already casually divulged this otherwise normally safeguarded information with me in passing, all while continuing to be so . . . freakishly welcoming to me as the 'new girl.'

So . . . I guess, I just don't feel so alone this time around.

Third time's the charm, right? That is, this is technically my third school I've been to, with the one back in Heatherfield, 'Sheffield Institute,' being the absolute worst . . . but all that drama had already been vented about to death within my last diary which, come to think about it some more, was probably one of the contributing reasons I'd stopped keeping one to begin with, until now.

Besides, with a new beginning and new diary has even come new, actual relationships.

That is, I think that I might have already made an official, legitimate new friend, with no strings attached or sinister plot twists behind the scenes like before. . . .

Nope. That's in the past, now, and again, already written about in my other diary. I'm determined to keep this one just focused on chronicling my newfound journey as a mutant.

Anyway, as I was saying, I guess you could say that I've kinda made 'friends' with a few other people this week, mostly here, but also a few back at my other new school, 'Bayville High School.' (Yep, that's right. I have to go to two schools while I'm here, so unfair. It's a long story, though, so don't ask. At least, not for now.)

But I'm not really sure yet if they actually are the real deal, like, "Hey, you're totally my best friend!" sort of thing.

Then again, I've never had a best friend before . . . never had the experience nor opportunity, until now, maybe. . . .?

Her name is Taranee Cook, and she's really sweet and really smart, but pretty shy at times, just like me. (Whoa. I know, kind of a mouthful right there, but I guess . . . I'm just pretty excited about this. Can't you tell?)

And we both like a lot of the same things, too, and even what we don't, we can still talk about, no problem, and even learn a thing or two.

I first met her just the other day during my first attendance of my 'Elemental Manipulation 101' class with Professor Clarkson, and we'd honestly just sorta . . . super clicked right away.

I would say that maybe it's mostly because she's pretty new here, herself, having only just enrolled a little over a month ago from Connecticut, she told me (which also makes our presumable connection that much cooler, since we've been 'neighbors' this whole time, both being close by East Coasters and all).

But, I don't know. I feel like it's much more than that.

Oh, don't get me wrong. It definitely helps hanging out with someone who's been here long enough to at least know where everything generally is around this seemingly never-ending place.

But besides that, everything is still pretty new to Taranee, as well, so we're just kinda . . . experiencing it all together, and getting through it, so to speak, I guess.

It's certainly made adjusting, and even . . . openly confessing any lingering doubts and outright fears a whole lot easier, anyway, instead of either keeping it to myself like I usually would, or now having to express them during the weekly therapy sessions we're apparently 'required' to take while we're here. (It's just another way for all of us to make sure we keep better control over our gifts, I guess. At least, according to the woman who runs it, Doctor Chacon. She's a pediatrician with admittedly extensive knowledge of 'Developmental Psychology,' she'd explained and I could totally tell, even from just that one session with her. At least she does seem really nice and laid back and all, though, but . . . having to emote, and right away to yet another adult - A stranger, isn't exactly my favorite pastime.)

Taranee just . . . gets it, you know?

Probably even more so than I do, since she has an actual phobia attached to her specific mutant abilities.

She's Thermokinetic, which means that she can control and manipulate the heat of objects around her to whatever she likes . . . or kind of can, since like I said, she's also pretty new to all of this like I am.

But see, she's also pretty afraid of fire, ever since the last two houses she'd lived in accidentally went up, you know? So she's been spending a lot of her time while here trying to somehow minimize her fears, if not banish them completely, while also praying like the dickens that her abilities never grow into full blown Pyrokinesis . . . which Professor Clarkson already informed her that it very well could. (And considering she, herself, was, or is still Thermokinetic-slash-Pyrokinetic for the past forty years or so, I would say she knows what she's talking about.)

Still, Taranee's been so amazing about everything, though.

She personally thinks that her phobia's been setting her back, in spite of all the progress she's been making since her enrollment, but I think she's doing just fine. And so do all of our professors, as well, actually.

More than 'just fine,' really. She's honestly one of the bravest people I've ever met so far in my life, being able to have this ability, and own both it and her fear directly relating to it on a daily basis like that.

Which is why she's been giving me the courage to push forward even more with my own hesitations. We're both in the same boat right now, after all, and if Taranee can do it (even though she sometimes thinks she can't, and really hasn't been) then so can I.

It's why I've been practicing on the side, like I mentioned earlier.

Now that my Electrokinesis is back, I'd really rather not like to keep having . . . 'Flare Ups,' as I now personally call them.

Yeah, whenever I get nervous or stressed out about something now, I keep setting off my abilities without even trying, causing my body to become one giant conductor, really.

I even managed to give myself a bad case of static electricity within my hair yesterday, and I was just stuck on a math equation. I totally ended up looking like a porcupine by the time I'd realized what I was . . . subconsciously doing, too.

Thankfully I was alone here within the 'safety' of my bedroom, though, so I didn't actually hurt anyone, or myself . . . just my hairstyle, which is generally on the messy side, anyway.

Still, imagine if that'd happened back at Bayville, where so far I've been under the radar and just thought of as the 'regular, run-of-the-mill new kid.'

So that's why I've been doing . . . exercises, I guess, after all of my school work and classes are done with each day. I mean, it's really just doing what our professors have told us to do, anyway, like I said, but I guess you could say that I'm sort of going above and beyond.

Kinda like 'extra credit,' perhaps.

Nothing too special or even fancy . . . which I honestly couldn't do right now, anyway, since I'm still at like, 'Level Negative Fifty' or something, skill wise.

Still, if I'm not practicing with Taranee, who's totally been a great sport about it (you know, since my electricity is technically an advanced form of fire, as she was so 'kind' to point that out when we first met), I've sort of developed a routine I do at bedtime.

So far, I'm kind of able to willfully generate electricity from my fingertips, now, and can also sort of form a very, very tiny ball of it, even.

It's still pretty nerve-wracking sometimes to even do this, seeing the hands I've known since day one suddenly crackling and sparking with a force which should normally kill me.

But . . . it's also slowly, yet surely becoming something . . . out of this world, but in a good way.

I haven't met any other Electrokinetic students here yet, but I do wonder what they can do, and what I'll possibly be able to do, myself, one day.

Speaking of, I should probably find another place to practice which is far less flammable than . . . well, majority of the stuff within my bedroom, really. . . .

Anyway, I'd better get going, now.

I . . . invited Taranee to sleep over in my room tonight.

Yeah. See what I mean about my actually putting myself out there far more here than back in Heatherfield, already?

Ironic.

But maybe living here really will be for the best, though. . . .

Stay tuned for that, and see you soon, Diary.

Yours Truly,

Will

Feeling pretty satisfied with her premiere entry within her latest private journal to date, Will carefully closed the frog themed ledger in front of her at her desk and released a soft exhale of contentment.

All in all, it really wasn't too bad a literary introduction into her newfound path as a mutant, if she could be honest . . . even if she truthfully didn't obviously have anything else to compare it against.

Still, at least it was so far becoming what Will was hoping it'd would, which was cathartic, getting every last private thought and feeling out of her without any sort of judgment . . . although so far, anyway, having to also share her feelings with Doctor Chacon didn't seem too bad, either.

But it had only been one therapy session so far, after all, as well. So who knew how things might change later on?

Until then, all of that was now temporarily behind Will, as she, as just written within her diary, had to finish preparing for her slumber party with Taranee . . . which really only amounted to simply waiting for the other girl to show up, in all actuality, seeing as the redhead had already made sure to make certain everything was tidied up and squared away prior to having plunked down at her desk to write her first entry.

If only her mom could see her right now, having willingly cleaned up her bedroom without being asked, and practically on the edge of her seat at the prospect of having her very first sleepover with an actual friend. . . .

It actually made Will pretty relieved that the older woman was absent, actually, as she was quite confident her mother would have undoubtedly taken an insufferable amount of pictures all while making too large a deal out of the entire thing.

Still, Will really was excited for tonight.

And it was perfect timing, as well, considering that it was the big night of Karmilla's rock concert down at Bayville Lakeview Amphitheater, evidently, with half of Bayville's youth heading there within attendance.

And considering that this meant that the mansion was going to be pretty empty, presumably, at least both Will and Taranee would be able to keep one another company now, seeing as neither girl was able to purchase a ticket on time to attend the concert, themselves.

At least, Taranee had wanted to, anyway, as she'd confessed to enjoying Karmilla's style of music, and had been rather disappointed that she had arrived within Bayville too late to buy a ticket.

As for Will, herself, while she, too, didn't find the band to be too bad, either, she probably would have never attempted to go to the concert even if she had been able, as she naturally wouldn't have wanted to go alone, having no friends, and all.

Or, that's probably how it would have gone down for her had all of this been going on back in Heatherfield, anyway.

Here, she'd like to think that if either one of them had moved to Bayville early enough, Will might have asked Taranee to tag along with her to the concert.

Maybe next time.

For now, at least, Will had her sleepover to look forward to, which would presumably be chock full of junk food eating, movie watching, and Internet surfing, including probably watching a few old Karmilla music videos posted on YouTV, making it their own private concert in the process.

That is, once Taranee arrived.

As though on cue which, considering how punctual Will had already noticed about her newfound companion being, there came the familiar rapping upon her sealed bedroom door, causing Will to promptly rise from her desk chair within initial eagerness, before forcing herself to calm down as she made her way across the spacious bedroom.

Taking a deep breath, Will released it roughly at the same time she pulled open the door and smiled at a similarly grinning Taranee, who was already cutely dressed within her pajamas.

". . . . Well, I mean, we do live in the same place, after all, and I usually already get ready for bed around this time, anyway, so I just figured I'd save some time," she readily explained with a shy smile upon having evidently caught sight of Will's amused stare regarding her present attire. "But I see you've decided to go the opposite route, huh?"

Looking down at her own clothes and taking renewed note that she was still dressed within the clothing she'd worn for that school day, Will lightly shrugged as she widened the door to allow the other girl to pass through as she replied, "Uh, yeah, I guess so. But I mean, it is still only seven-fifteen, right? What's the rush?"

"'Rush' being the operative word, indeed," Taranee countered with a light blush of mild embarrassment, before inclining her short, pigtail styled head toward the commotion carrying on outside of the hallway and toward the foyer area, causing both girls to exit Will's dorm room in order to get a better look. "It's like going to prom or something around here all day, today – Or, at least, you know. How I assume it might be like to go to prom in a few years time, possibly, anyway. What I mean to say is, everyone's just been pretty excited about tonight's concert, that's all."

Will couldn't help but chuckle lightly at her new friend's flustered nature, something both girls had been mutually sharing off and on during their ongoing and fast forming friendship, despite how close they'd already seemed to become.

Clearly the concept of possibly having a potential 'best friend' was as invigorating, yet terrifying to Taranee as it was to Will . . . which only made Will like her even more.

"Yeah, I hear you, no worries. Still sucks that you and I can't go, but I'm sure later on someone will undoubtedly record snippets of the concert and post it online for us to check out, anyway," Will responded with a nod of agreement, folding her arms across her chest a moment, before awkwardly unfolding them in order to run a hand through her hair as she then asked, "But, a-anyway. Shall we get this party started, then?"

It was Taranee's turn to giggle as she watched Will's face immediately become flushed, clearly realizing how cheesy her statement had sounded.

She was about to respond in kind, anyhow, and reenter the redhead's bedroom, when something just then caught her eye.

Or someone, rather.

"H-Hey . . . isn't that Cornelia? What's she still doing here, and . . . tiptoeing this way? I'd have thought she'd already be at the amphitheater ages ago with Elyon, at least as I last understood things," Taranee commented with a naturally confused raise of her eyebrow, causing Will to turn back around away from her renewed path back toward the inside of her room, in order to catch the blonde in question heading toward them.

Cornelia really was doing precisely as Taranee had previously described, oddly creeping down the otherwise empty East Wing, apparently unaware that she was not alone as she kept her blue eyes downcast as she walked.

She also appeared to be . . . undressing, for whatever the reason, out of the pretty expensive looking one shoulder top and jeans which looked as though it had taken her a great while to get ready into.

Will watched within mildly growing curiosity as Cornelia then blindly reached up to practically yank out the pair of hoop earrings from out of each ear with one hand, before bending down to pick up the wedge shoes she'd just then kicked carelessly off her feet.

"Uhhh . . . I have no idea, Taranee. But from the looks of her and how dolled up she is, maybe she was going with a date instead of Elyon, but he canceled or something last minute," Will openly surmised on the fly with another shrug as she now looked toward the tall blonde with a far more sympathetic gaze than before, with Taranee following suit. "Still, maybe we'd better head inside and let her emotionally detox in private, before she sees -"

"- O-Oh! God! You guys! I didn't even see you there!" Cornelia cried out within alarm upon finally catching sight of her fellow housemates as she drew closer, and before neither Will nor Taranee could have made a possible retreat, succeeding within dropping both her shoes as well as earrings onto the floor. "That's twice, now, too. I have really got to pay better attention whenever walking these halls, I swear. . . ."

Clearly uncertain of what the taller girl was referring to, Taranee nonetheless gave a quick look toward Will before rushing forward to help Cornelia with her belongings and lightly smiled.

"We're sorry for startling you like that, Cornelia! I was actually on my way to a sleepover in Will's dormroom when we both came back out briefly to check out the frenzy going on downstairs. Guess tonight's going to be even bigger than we already thought, huh?" she explained with another smile as Will awkwardly approached from behind, in spite of her previous want to leave the Geokinetic teenager to her own devices in order to privately lick her wounds.

"H-Hey, Cornelia. Sorry about the scare, like Taranee said. . . . You, uh, you look nice, though! Bet you can't wait to head out, yourself, right?" Will asked as casually as she could as she watched Taranee carefully hand over Cornelia's pair of delicate looking earrings before both girls rose to their feet.

She then flashed the svelte girl another, more genuine smile full of renewed affinity as both Will and Taranee regrettably noticed how curiously bloodshot Cornelia's eyes now appeared, as though she'd been previously crying.

Seeming to sense that both girls might have caught on to this, Cornelia let out a forced scoff and raised a free hand into the air dramatically as she explained, "Tch! Wouldn't you know it that I get everything together perfectly for tonight, and I end up forgetting my eye drops for my stupid contact lenses? That's where I was headed, just now, a-actually, when you two caught me. Well, not 'caught me,' but you know . . . never mind! Don't let me keep you two from your slumber party!"

"O-Oh, hey! Speaking of slumber parties again, though, Elyon told me about how the two of you are no longer roommates. I'm really sorry about that," the usually astute Taranee, for whatever reason, did not appear to take the hint as she nonetheless pressed on with the clearly unwanted conversation, causing both Will and Cornelia to groan inwardly as a result. "But at least you'll still live together, obviously, and get to go to the rock concert tonight, right? Did she maybe go on ahead or something while you came back for your eye drops? I did try to use contact lenses myself a few years ago, but just found glasses to be more . . . comforting, I guess you could say, and – W-What's with that look for, Will?"

Wishing that she possessed the mind reading capabilities Elyon, herself, apparently possessed, Will instead was forced to quickly wipe away the look of embarrassment she clearly hadn't done well to hide away from her friend and instead smiled crookedly at both girls before her as she stated, "H-Huh? Oh, well, nothing, Taranee. I was just . . . well, to be honest, you're kinda . . . rambling a bit at the moment – Which is just fine, trust! But I was just thinking, you know, seeing as Cornelia is sort of time pressed . . . to get back to Elyon, maybe we should just let her go and do that?"

Taranee, gently slapping a hand to her forehead, vigorously nodded within agreement and smiled apologetically.

"Oh, geez, right. I mean, I understand how pretty expensive these concert tickets can be, so I'd hate to miss even one second of it, myself. We'll let you get on with what you were doing, then, Cornelia, sorry! Have fun tonight, and please tell Elyon the same when you see her!" she stated with another smile before already beginning to walk back toward Will's still open doorway to her dorm room, while Will suddenly found her own feet unable to move.

Despite being the only one to have picked up on the possibly personal situation, and wanting nothing more than to give the otherwise unfamiliar girl the privacy she would most probably need in order to handle it, Will suddenly found her normally safeguarded heart taking over for her usually in charge and rational mind as she quietly offered, ". . . . A-And, um . . . you know, if, for whatever reason, you might find Karmilla's show to be . . . I dunno, not everything you'd hoped it'd be . . . then there's always room for one more at our sleepover. . . ."

And before Cornelia could even make a sound, let alone actively reply, Will was already practically flying back into her bedroom and sealed the door behind her, not even daring to look back as her entire body vibrated with unequaled abashment over what she had just done.

She truly was evolving, after all, and not simply from having become a mutant.

Because suddenly, just from simply now living at the institute, Will found herself constantly putting herself out there and actively wanting to help those in need more and more . . . even if her words, or even actions might have been to the contrary just seconds before.

It was almost as though she'd been placed under a spell or some sort which, given where she now resided, she could no longer view it as an utter impossibility.

Still.

If this had been back in Heatherfield, Will would have for sure told Cornelia to drop dead before laughing all the way back home over the fact that she'd apparently been stood up by some random guy.

. . . . Well, maybe not.

In all honesty, she probably would have just kept her head down as she normally used to when going about her day to day while living in Maine, keeping to her own affairs all while continuing to smartly protect her own feelings.

But now, now, even with her brain actively taking over and telling her to just walk away, both literally as well as emotionally, Will evidently could not stop herself from . . . paying it forward, she supposed, all the varying kindness she'd already experienced that past first week from her fellow house and schoolmates.

. . . . It was all she'd ever really wanted back home, after all.

Having . . . friends.

True friends, and surrounded by people who didn't always have some sort of ulterior motive behind everything they did.

Here, while she was still naturally uncertain if things would continue on as they have been thus far, Will was nonetheless happy knowing that there at least seemed to be a chance.

And if, for whatever reason, it didn't, at least she still had Taranee. . . .

---

". . . . Look at 'em all, boys. Look at all these losers, all glammed up and ready to have the time of their lives like some mindless sheep," sixteen-year-old Uriah Dunn spat with a deep scowl, arms folded across his chest and green eyes painstakingly trained upon the growing flood of fellow concertgoers steadily filing onto the open field of Bayville Lakeview Amphitheater that early Friday evening. "They all look so ecstatic about being here I could just spew. . . ."

"Uh, well, not to split hairs or nothin' here, but we're here to see the concert, too, right? And, y'know, if Becca had said yes to being your date tonight, you'd probably be one of those . . . losers, and . . . s-shit! I'm sorry, Uriah, I'm sorry! I didn't mean it to sound the way that it did!" Uriah whipped his habitually spiky, and russet colored head in time to see one of his two close friends (one of his two lackeys, really), Kurt van Buren, immediately raise both of his chubby hands into the air and waved them back and forth within furthered apology.

Sometimes Uriah had to truly wonder why he even hung out with such an idiot, really, and especially with their other, mutual companion, Laurent 'Clubber' Hampton, who was somehow an even more imbecilic, as well as far more overweight version of Kurt when you got right down to it.

But Uriah supposed beggars couldn't be choosers, although he was definitely far from destitute, given his family was on the fairly wealthy side, if he were a bragging man . . . and he usually was.

Still, in spite of this, and being a talented and gifted young . . . slacker, he did have to admit, Uriah was what the more 'common folk' would refer to as . . . unpopular, even being labeled as one of the more notable bullies currently gracing the halls of Bayville High School.

And thus, he'd found himself presently lacking within the friendship department.

But it wasn't honestly like it was his fault, though.

It really wasn't his fault that basically everyone at his school were all so inept and inferior to his honest genius . . . adjacent tendencies, or the fact that his brand of humor and idea of a good time, albeit mean spirited at best, was commonly misunderstood.

He was misunderstood . . . which was probably why that 'thinks-she's-too-good-for-him' Becca Grayson declined his very generous offer of being his date to Karmilla's rock concert tonight.

She just didn't get him, nor could get past his need to express his overabundance of creativity by getting into all kinds of trouble-making mayhem on a fairly consistent basis.

But then again, how could she, when she was, as far as Uriah could tell, anyway, a mere human, while he was an all powerful mutant?

If he wasn't such a downright gentleman, he probably would have fired off a few of his good old bone spikes straight into her car tires as a result of turning him down.

That'd show that high and mighty bitch.

"Well I guess it'd take one to know one, Kurt, seeing as while Becca told Uriah no because she thinks he has a bad attitude and his acne grosses her out, you got shot down by Stacey Gibson because your B.O.'s always on the rancid side," Laurent remarked with his usually oblivious disposition, brown eyes presently downcast as he casually began picking up a few blades of grass at his side while continually sat upon the ground in between his friends. "Or, at least, you know, those are all the reasons both girls told that other girl, Maya Raye, who's in my English class to pass onto you guys on Wednesday, but I guess I just forgot 'till now. Awful nice of them to be that specific about why they didn't want to come here with you, instead of, like, doing that whole usual, 'It's not you, it's me' thing chicks like to do, right?"

Both Uriah and Kurt somehow managed to crane their heads in order to properly look at one another from around the obese simpleton, before simultaneously smacking the back of the blond's unsuspecting, and honestly empty head.

"For God's sake, Clubber! I know that it's like, an epic feat for you to do a lot of the time, but do you think you could at least try to think before you speak?" Uriah growled with an unappreciative shake of his head, cheeks unavoidably growing as crimson as the asymmetrical trail of acne his so called friend had been so 'kind' to remind him that he regrettably possessed.

"Yeah! At least we actually had the balls to go and ask someone to come with us, tonight! And besides! You know that I literally cannot help how I smell . . . if you know what I mean," Kurt remarked through gritted teeth, his own embarrassment shining forth as he discreetly bent his purple dyed head toward one of his armpits in order to take a whiff of the unfortunately familiar, and pungent aroma effortlessly wafting from underneath the three tee shirts he'd purposefully dressed himself within prior to heading to that evening's venue.

Uriah thought off and on that he had it bad with his zits, crazy and uncooperative . . . clown hair, really, and twig boy frame, despite all his best efforts to put on some sort of muscle in the past.

Kurt would honestly like to see him try to go oneday walking a mile within his shoes, having to go through high school, constantly reapplying prescription deodorant and taking about a million showers a day in order to barely squeeze by being moderately tolerable to be within close proximity for more than ten minutes at a time.

If he had the actual choice between Uriah's or Laurent's mutant abilities, Kurt would definitely take on both at the same time, in all honesty.

Being able to shoot out bony projectiles, big or small, from out of your fingertips whenever you wanted was hardly anything to sneeze about, especially when the only real downside was needing to drink a lot of milk afterwards in order to replenish your calcium levels.

And seeing as he was already on the overweight side, anyway, it wouldn't really be that big a deal if Kurt was suddenly able to resist more or less any sort of injury like Laurent, thanks to his own fatty tissues somehow making him immune to that sort of stuff . . . or, at least, how it was all sort of explained to both Uriah and Kurt when the trio first met back in middle school and eventually realized they were each mutants, anyway.

All Kurt knew to be for sure was that Laurent was super dumb, and also super fat, but at least that was only because his mutant factor made him that way, no matter how much or little he ate.

His lack of intelligence just seemed to be something of his own devices, or lack thereof, really.

Still, on the surface, to everyone else who wasn't a fellow mutant, Laurent was just the loser, obese kid who was also on the pretty stupid side, but it was 'okay,' because he at least had his fellow, loser friends who also possessed a lack of physical attractiveness.

As much as Kurt enjoyed being a mutant alongside his companions, being able to form literally acidic sweat which he could in turn use to possibly melt away the combination lock to his locker if he ever happened to forget the number code one day, he definitely could have done without malodorous side effect . . . or, at the very least, his Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, hands down.

He wasn't entirely sure if it was another so called 'side effect' of his particular mutant abilities, or something he might have developed had he not been born a mutant to begin with.

However, all Kurt understood for certain was that his literal need to take frequent showers in order to somewhat downplay his generally unpleasant aroma had become a downright compulsion over the years, something both his parents, as well as therapist all believed to be a result of ongoing anxiety from his off putting scent.

And, if Kurt actually stopped to think about it, it probably was.

Still, neither of his parents nor his therapist were mutants, themselves, so could hardly understand what it felt like to be the 'chubby teenager with severely bad body odor.'

But at least, at the end of the day, Kurt had Laurent and Uriah to hang out with . . . even if half the time Uriah tended to act like he was better than them both in spite of his own shortcomings, and Laurent's brain seemed to be forever stuck within 'Airplane Mode,' like right now. . . .

"H-Hey! Just because that didn't – And couldn't hurt me doesn't mean you gotta do it, anyway! Besides, I was only sayin' what they said! I'm not the one who turned you down, so don't take it out on me!" Laurent glared at his companions on either side of his rather large frame as he rubbed the back of his blonde colored head mostly for show as well as habit, as it was true that the physical attack literally hadn't any effect on him whatsoever.

At this, Uriah abruptly stood from his place on the ground and threw his hands into the air dramatically.

"Ugh! Whatever! So what if those bitches apparently think they're better than us? We can do things they could only dream about, remember? And it's high time we get the damned respect we freaking deserve as a result!" he exclaimed angrily, running a hand through his greasy, and spiky hair.

Standing up as well, Kurt carefully maneuvered around a still seated Laurent as he asked, with an admittedly mischievous smile forming upon his face, "Yeah? My trouble-making senses are tingling right now, so I'm guessing you have another prank or something in mind?"

As the lights surrounding the stage of the large, lakeside amphitheater began to change within multicolored sequences, apparently signifying the beginning of the concert, Uriah slowly began to grin devilishly as an idea clearly did spring to mind.

"Who, me? Never, Kurt, my man! I was just thinking that if Becca, and Stacey and all these other wonderful concertgoers on dates or whatever came to have a good time, then maybe we should do something to ensure that they have a great one. . . ."

---

Cornelia didn't know how she ended up here.

One minute, she was planning on spending her ruined evening sequestered to her dorm room and privately drown her sorrows over being rejected by Elyon, however unknowingly, before immediately pushing it back down inside herself and trying to keep moving forward.

And yet somehow, she now found herself sat within one of her silk nightgowns on the floor of Will's dorm room, surrounded by a sea of snacks, board and video games and . . . admittedly pleasant company.

When Will had invited her to her slumber party about half an hour ago, Cornelia and, she was pretty sure, Will, as well, never expected to actually show up.

Frankly, Cornelia was rather surprised over how observant Will had been, especially more so than Taranee, as the redhead had regrettably been able to read between the lines and see through her 'red eyes because of dry contacts' ruse she had originally given.

Elyon's guidance as a Junior Professor truly was having lasting effects upon Will, as each time Cornelia had bumped into her that week, the more . . . open, she supposed, she'd really become.

She obviously still didn't really know much about the other girl, certainly not really how she had been prior to arriving to Kandrakar's School for Gifted Youngsters, but from what Elyon had been willing to briefly divulge, Will was now behaving the polar opposite of her previously aloof nature.

So maybe that was why Cornelia had returned to Will's dorm room in the first place, so that she wouldn't be rude declining her invitation . . . but she knew better.

She just couldn't bear to be alone with her thoughts for the rest of that evening, for once missing having Irma talk her ear off as she now normally would during their bedtime routine each night during that first week of becoming roommates.

As soon as she'd been able, Irma was one of the first students out of the door, nearly two hours ago, decked to the nines and ready to go to her precious Karmilla concert.

As she unavoidably got to know the brunette a bit more intimately lately, Cornelia was actually able to admit to herself that, had she not always intended to go with Elyon all along, she imagined that hanging out with Irma instead wouldn't have been so bad.

She was certainly sure that Hay Lin was currently having the time of her life, anyway, as Cornelia knew that both girls would be sticking together that night.

Meanwhile, somewhere within the undoubtedly large crowd of people right about now would be Caleb, probably trying to tell lame, stale jokes to lighten the mood between himself and Elyon, while complimenting her appearance and having the great time which should have been hers.. . . .

Thank goodness Elyon was so trusting, or else Cornelia wasn't sure she would have bought into her desire to arrive to the concert a little later, and insisted that Elyon not keep her date waiting.

Plus, given, again, how congested and appropriately dim the amphitheater's area most probably was at that time, there wasn't honestly any way that her best friend would ever realize that she wasn't even there within attendance.

It was everything Cornelia could have hoped for on such a special, Friday night. . . .

". . . . Cornelia? Cornelia? I asked if you wanted a S'more?" Cornelia suddenly heard Will's voice piercing through her faraway thoughts, causing her to blink within surprise before forcing a polite smile onto her face within initial response.

"U-Uh, yeah. Yes, sure, Will, thanks for that," she stated with a firm nod in spite of her previously flustered disposition, drawing her bear knees up to her chest as she readjusted her position upon the wooden floor in front of Will's bed. "And hey, I just want to say thanks, again, for inviting me to your sleepover. You . . . didn't have to, but you did, and . . . well, like I already told you both when I came back, considering the fact that I ended up getting stood up tonight, this serves as a well timed distraction. . . ."

Cornelia watched with a partially raised eyebrow as Will, now dressed within her pajama shorts and shirt, smiled back at her within an almost knowing sort of way, before reaching into the giant snack pile laid out in front of the trio in order to carefully retrieve a sliver of chocolate from out of its wrapping.

". . . . It's no problem, don't worry about it. And besides, for what it's worth – I mean, seeing as you and I obviously don't really know one another inside and out yet – it's that dude's loss, anyway," Will complimented with a crooked smile, causing not only hers, but Cornelia's own cheeks to grow pink within obvious embarrassment.

Taranee couldn't help but surprisingly take pleasure within the display as she leaned across the junk food treasure trove in order to gently squeeze Cornelia's arm with one hand, while playfully nudging Will's side with the elbow of her other.

"Awww, look at us! Turning lemons into lemonade like this, right? None of us ended up going to Karmilla's concert, after all, but we're still having our own private venue all the same, courtesy of Will's laptop, and my perfectly created playlist of some of their best songs on 'YouTV!'" she remarked with a soft chuckle of blatant approval, causing Will to feel secretly relieved more and more that her very first slumber party was apparently going off without a hitch. "O-Oh! But . . . would you mind if I made a quick suggestion, Will? . . . . May I?"

Both Will, as well as Cornelia's eyes widened within surprise at their mutual friend's request, before Will slowly handed off all of the S'more ingredients she'd already gathered onto Cornelia's plate in order to make one for the blonde, herself.

". . . . A-Are you sure, Taranee? I was honestly just going to head down to one of the kitchens and use the microwave real quick, since I obviously remembered how . . . uncomfortable you are around fire," she responded within explanation, as Taranee nodded simultaneously with a shy smile.

". . . . Yes, Will, I am. I'm also touched that even though you added S'mores to the menu of our snacking smorgasbord this evening, you were still willing to make the trek all the way downstairs just to get them all gooey for my sake. You truly are a gracious hostess for your first slumber party," she teased with another nod before continuing. "But . . . a-as I've said, to both of you, actually, managing my phobia has been a lot of trial and error . . . although mostly error, I will admit. Still, I am going to have to minimize it somehow if not get rid of it, altogether as I'd obviously prefer, so . . . what better way to continue trying to do that than by helping to make the very treat which ended up manifesting my gifts in the first place?"

Cornelia couldn't help but smile proudly at the Thermokinetic girl at this, nodding within approval alongside a now grinning Will, before a small frown quickly began to cloud the blonde's face.

"Good for you, Taranee . . . although, to be honest, I really should be apologizing to you, instead," Cornelia began as she blindly reached up to rub at the back of her neck. "That is . . . this past week really has been one gigantic roller coaster for me: Becoming a Junior Professor alongside Elyon; screwing up and causing that earthquake over at Bayville; becoming Irma's new roommate as part of my punishment and, most recently, getting rejected by my . . . date. It's just really been . . . I guess as Irma would probably call it, a 'real shit storm,' I guess, sorry. B-But, anyway, I ended up losing sight of what had initially been truly important to me in the first place, finally been given the chance to prove my mettle by helping out our fellow schoolmates with their gifts, the way the professors have all done so for me, and still do. . . . I haven't really been doing that or, at all, honestly, and I've just . . . let you down, Taranee, so . . . I just wanted to say that I'm really, really sorry, again. . . ."

Taranee, having previously been within the middle of gingerly assembling Cornelia's preheated S'more, looked up from it within surprise as she settled it back down onto the plate.

"W-What? Sorry, I mean, excuse me? There isn't anything to apologize for, not to me, at least, anyway. I mean, like you just listed, and within great detail, it really was a pretty chaotic week for you, Cornelia. And even though yes, technically, you were meant to be giving me a more . . . intimate and relatable look into my abilities, obviously I've still been receiving that – My lessons, from the other professors, all the same in the meanwhile," she stated with a quick shake of her head and light smile, before retrieving Cornelia's sugary treat. "Besides, you could consider this, right here, your first, personal tutorial session, since this S'more is technically yours, and I am the one who's about to willingly heat it up with my powers, so. . . ."

Both Will and Cornelia couldn't help but softly giggle at the same time at this, before Will gazed toward the lengthy blonde and found herself complimenting, "And while I'm still not fully clear on the whole . . . 'Junior Professor' thing both you and Elyon apparently have going, I will say that the two of you are honestly already doing a job well done. I mean, hey! Look at me, throwing my premiere sleepover as Taranee earlier pointed out – And during my first week here, no less. Meanwhile, Taranee's getting ready to serve you the best, damned S'more ever to momentarily grace this planet before promptly being gobbled up!"

After that particular moment, the remainder of Will's formerly duad slumber party, now a trinity continued to move forward at a rather relaxed, and welcomed pace.

There didn't appear to be any lingering hangups of what to say, or do next, especially for Will, as the technical host, and naturally hadn't a clue how sleepovers generally carried on, overall.

Instead, they were simply three teenage girls winding down from yet another school week, getting to know one another far greater than any one of them quite possibly didn't before think they might have, and, at least for now, forgetting about any personal stresses and anxieties and simply staying within the moment.

. . . . It was simply a shame that fate tended to possess other plans, that's all.

---

"Are you sure this is even gonna work?"

"Well, I mean, you keep asking me and wasting our time like this, it won't even matter if it does because the concert will be finished! Now will you just shut up and do it, already?"

"Right, okay, but it's like, why do I gotta do all the work, and you just get to stand there, taking credit for this prank?"

"Because it was my idea in the first place! And besides, we both know you wanna get back at Stacey for rejecting you and ruining your would-be date as much as I do against Becca . . . wherever the hell they both are right now within this gigantic crowd. Anyway! Let's get to it!"

It was about only forty-five minutes or so into Karmilla's concert when Uriah and his gang, well, mostly Uriah, had come up with the brilliant idea for Kurt to create a massive stink bomb, courtesy of his trademark, pungent aroma, which would then undoubtedly cancel the rest of the event and thus, everyone's good time.

Or, at least, that's how Uriah figured it within his head, anyway.

Granted, there were still a few logistics to work out, such as how to ensure that the natural ventilation provided by the open atmosphere of the amphitheater wouldn't inevitably overpower even Kurt's usually quite overbearing stench, and then also knowing whether or not concerts were even postponed on account of . . . a bad smell.

He imagined probably not, but seeing as the 'bad smell' was about to be manufactured en masse by a mutant, versus someone or something regularly found within nature, it was worth a try.

Of course, Uriah still had to do quite a bit of coaxing on his part to even get Kurt to agree to it in the first place, since all three boys were well aware of how self conscious Kurt's abilities would generally make him.

Still, all was fair in love and war.

And besides, as Uriah had made sure to paint it, those two chicks started it to begin with; they were simply finishing it.

And so, there they now were, crowded together as inconspicuously as possible and off to the far side of the concert stage, sticking to the shadows in order to not be seen by any passersby, while finalizing the last of their 'ingenious' plan.

The way Uriah had figured it, if they couldn't get absolutely everyone to leave, at the very least those closer to the stage, as they now were, would surely suffer, as that particular lot were presently assembled beneath the partial roofing constructed directly above them, and thus, would possibly give Kurt's stink bomb a bit more hang time versus the rest of the more open area behind the remaining concertgoers. . . .

"Hurry up with that last can of soda, will ya? You should be plenty hydrated in order to have enough juice for this by now. Geez," Uriah snapped impatiently as he watched his childhood companion nervously down the remaining drops of his fourth container of the carbonated drink, naturally understanding by now that Kurt's mutant abilities required him to be every bit as replenished as his own did, or else both boys were otherwise useless.

Wiping away random droplets of the syrupy beverage from his round face with the back of his shaky, and already quite sweaty hand, Kurt glared daggers at his friend before purposefully leaning toward him in order to let out a well timed, as well as truly rancid belch right into his acne riddled face.

". . . . T-There! That sound – And smell ready enough for ya? Now, stand back, already! I-I've . . . never tried making so much sweat in one go like this, so I don't even know if I'll be able to do it," he responded with another deep glower, at the same time that Laurent, who was just as eager to get the show on the road as Uriah, clutched at his sides as he began chortling greatly at the redhead's now suffocating expense.

With several deep breaths of his own, Kurt vigorously rubbed his hands together, causing them to glow a greenish yellow shade, at the same time both generated the fetor of sweat even more as a result.

He then hesitated a moment, his previous apprehension etched upon his face once more before promptly placing both drenched, and aura emitting hands underneath his already stained armpits, and waited.

It hadn't honestly taken long, despite his prior confession to the contrary, as a pea soup colored mist suddenly manifested from Kurt's partially hunched over form, wafting away from his soiled armpits and already rapidly beginning to spread out and up into the surrounding atmosphere.

"Y-Yeah, all right! U-Ugh, sweet Jesus, that's God a-awful, but you did it, pal!" Uriah exclaimed with esteemed jubilation, although he promptly covered up his nose and mouth with the back of his arm, causing Kurt to feel all the more inhibited about his 'handy work.' "N-Now let's see these s-suckers try to enjoy the rest of the c-concert!"

"Yeah, man! T-That was so a-awesome!" Laurent laughed in between coughs as he gave both his friends a rather hearty slap on the back . . . catching them both off guard, and resulting within the accidental use of their respective mutant abilities, simultaneously.

Before either boy could stop himself, thanks to the sheer force of Laurent's brute super strength, Uriah let out a sharp, girlish squeal as several, beige colored spikes suddenly ejected themselves from out of the forearm which had previously been covering his mouth, at the same time that a bluish green tinted blast abruptly left Kurt's still glowing hands.

The next few seconds were like a lifetime to all three of them from that point forward, as they could only helplessly watch as Uriah's incredibly sharp and lethal projectiles effortlessly made its unintended mark straight through three of the six, large pillars which had been erected in order to help keep the stage's partial roofing up.

He would have honestly felt immense pride, in addition to rather impressed to just now learn that his spikes were somehow powerful enough to pierce through steel beams within such a way, if he hadn't been too preoccupied with the sheer terror he was instead experiencing . . . especially upon witnessing Kurt's literally sweaty powers (which evidently could now suddenly manifest into full on, corrosive blasts) hit its own target, straight into the stage's overhead lighting and caused several to not only explode, but ignite within the process.

"H-Holy shit! L-Let's get out of here, you guys!" Uriah screamed, panic seeping into the very bones which were now partially responsible for the rapidly unfolding chaos, already taking off into a fevered sprint toward the exits as he cowardly left his now, fellow fleeing companions behind.

As much as they'd each enjoyed a good prank every now and again, there was absolutely nothing practical about this joke, and Uriah wasn't about to get caught with his hand deep within the cookie jar for it.

Someone else would simply have to clean up their mess . . . they hoped.

---

They were in the middle of watching a random movie airing on television when they suddenly heard the commotion going on outside of Will's dorm room door.

"Theresa doesn't know how it happened! Before hanging up, she only quickly explained how everything's going to hell down there, and the band – Everyone could be in serious danger!"

"Christ! And we were thinking of going to that concert, ourselves! I-I hope she was able to call Nine-One-One by now after getting out of there! I'd better do it, too, j-just in case, before letting the professors know!"

All three girls slowly looked at one another from their continued, shared spots on the floor with widened eyes, before then immediately scrambling to their feet and toward the sealed bedroom door upon hearing this.

Cornelia was the first one to pass through the doorway like an honest blur, already racing down the hallway and past the two random students who had unknowingly alerted the girls to the apparent danger now going on at the amphitheater.

"C-Cornelia! Wait up! Wait for us!" Taranee called out in between shaky breaths, her own trepidation understandably mounting as both she and Will began to follow after the quickly retreating blonde, who was now somehow bounding down the habitually elegant, main stairwell two at a time.

As they, too, began to descend the staircase, both girls had honestly expected Cornelia to make an abrupt turn toward Professor Kandrakar's study in order to alert him of the impending peril for the multitude of his concert attending students.

Instead, however, Cornelia continued straight on, sloppily tying her blue night robe closed to fend against the evening chill, before then throwing the main doors of the mansion open and headed out into the pitch dark, alone.

"W-Whoa! N-No, way! You can't be thinking of going down there, are you? A-And to do what, exactly?" Will was the first to vocalize the mutual concern which was now etched effortlessly upon hers, as well as Taranee's face upon somehow managing to catch up to the continually distressed Cornelia.

"Y-Yes, I am, Will! You heard those girls back inside! I can't just stay here, not while so many people could be injured! A-And Elyon! O-Oh, God!" she cried out heatedly as she now found herself struggling against Will's unexpected grasp around her waist from behind, as the redhead did her best to keep her from leaving the premises.

Taranee, too, now joined the fray as she quickly maneuvered around her blonde friend and abruptly threw her hands into the air in order to signal for her to stop trying to get away.

"P-Please! I'm just as scared for everyone down there, b-but Will's right, Cornelia! Anything you think you could do to help, I'm sure that the police o-or maybe even the fire department is already down there, taking care of! You'd only be in their way!"

Despite the strong rationality within her words, Cornelia wasn't hearing any of it, as she vigorously shook her head before yanking herself completely free of Will's temporary hold.

"N-No! You don't understand, you guys! I-I can just . . . feel like something's really wrong down there! That Elyon – Everyone – needs me! I have to go! I can do this – I've been trained for this!"

And before either girl could even attempt to derail her plans once more, Cornelia was gone, sprinting down the remaining pathway and through the slowly opening main gate with a velocity which could have possibly rivaled any other students with actual super speed capabilities.

"'T-Trained for –!' What the hell is she talking about? What's even going on, now?" Will cried out with rising anxiety, running a flustered hand through her red hair, at the same time that her entire body regrettably began to spark with the now familiar sensations of her Electrokinesis. "A-Are we really just going to let Cornelia go off on her own like this?"

Taranee felt her own body automatically jump back within alarm at the sight of her new friend's gifts uncontrollably triggering themselves, however immediately did her best to maintain the apologetic smile which was struggling to coexist alongside her conflicting dread toward the overall situation.

She did briefly wonder if now should be the time to properly fill the redhead in upon the 'extra' training her mutual housemates got up to, courtesy of the Danger Room, as Taranee was at least aware that the newer students were not yet introduced to it, let alone required to participate.

Her personal insight was rather lacking, anyhow, as Taranee's own experience inside of the Danger Room had yet to truly earn its admittedly menacing moniker, what with the few sessions she'd trained within had thus far been limited to target practice for those with projectile based abilities, or obstacle courses.

If anything, it was almost like having more than one gym class each day to Taranee, although she was certainly not complaining about the mostly lax sort of atmosphere, as she'd already been informed by other students that the more practiced she'd become with her gifts, the more difficult, and possibly even more frightful the Danger Room truly would become. . . .

It was for that very reason, especially, that Taranee had decided to tactfully ignore her already terrified friend's query, before proceeding to surprise the both of them by her next chosen set of words.

"S-Sorry about that, Will! And, n-no . . . we can't let her do this on her own, whatever she has planned! T-That's why . . . I say we go after her, and help, as well!"

"W-What, was there something in the popcorn I'd popped earlier which has clearly only effected you and Cornelia?" Will stammered her newest inquiry within understandable upset, although she did appear to be actively trying to calm herself, or at least her electrified powers down as she began to take deep, cleansing breaths before continuing. "We have no idea what's going on down at that amphitheater, or how to get there – At least, I don't, anyway. And even if we did know what's happening, what could two teenagers – O-Or three, counting Cornelia, evidently – possibly do to help fix things, like you'd just said before?"

Taranee nodded her head momentarily within understanding at this before giving Will a light, although far more stable and sincere smile than the one before.

". . . . You're right, Will. We probably won't really be able to do much to help anything, but . . . just knowing that so many of our housemates are down there, possibly trapped, o-or injured and obviously scared, I j-just – !"

"- Oooh, all right! Fine, you win, Taranee! I-I'll . . . I'll come with you, but only because I don't honestly want to see you go rushing off into danger all by yourself, the same way Cornelia just did," Will interrupted with a defeated, albeit still quite fearful moan, exhaling several times in order to firmly regain control of her Electrokinetic abilities, before then carefully reaching out to briefly seize the now taken aback Taranee's arm.

"R-Really? I was honestly about to suggest that you stay and let Professor Kandrakar and the others know if you really couldn't come with me, but -"

"- Y-Yeah, well . . . I guess now 'we' can let them know once we've made it down there, instead . . . somehow!"

---

It was like something out of a dream, almost, the way Elyon suddenly found herself on a real life date, and with someone who actually appeared to be rather fond of her, at that.

She still couldn't believe it, really, which would normally amuse her to think, considering her daily life revolved around being surrounded by individuals who could do things which were so called 'out of this world.'

Yet, there she was, constantly having to remind herself that it wasn't a dream, or trick, or perhaps something she'd watched and read hundreds of times via the various romance novels, television shows and movies presently circulating around out there within the media.

Elyon really was out on a date, and finally felt just like everyone else for a change.

It was a miracle she'd even managed to finish getting dressed and out the door on time, to be honest, the way Elyon had had quite the difficult time settling on an outfit which wouldn't be too over the top for a rock concert, but was also still 'dressy' enough to let Caleb know that she was taking their outing together seriously . . . or however dating protocol usually went, at least.

Thank goodness for her beloved Cornelia, and the most recent birthday gift she'd given her last year, or else Elyon was afraid she'd have to end up canceling on Caleb altogether, as she'd regrettably realized that absolutely nothing within her entire wardrobe actually worked.

The theme of Elyon's personal style generally consisted of 'clean cut and simple,' as drawing attention to herself wasn't usually her thing, versus Irma, or even Hay Lin's own wardrobe (now that she was actively living with her to personally see), which was certainly much more bold and creative by comparison.

So it was a good thing, then, that Cornelia had apparently paid attention to the conversation they'd had in passing a year ago, when Elyon was randomly bemoaning over how she never really took any chances, or shook things up within her life, despite still feeling that overall it was probably for the best.

She'd never dreamed that it'd result within her best friend surprising her with the beautiful, light blue and off the shoulder button dress, nor the new pair of silver, lace up ballet flats to go right along with it.

"It isn't dyeing your hair green, or getting pierced within any unmentionable places, but . . . it's a start," Elyon could recall Cornelia stating after watching Elyon carefully open up her birthday presents, even having taken care to remember her keen preference for wearing flats as her go to 'formal wear.'

Elyon remembered feeling completely overwhelmed with joy and appreciation, as well as immense embarrassment, as while she had imagined that she'd probably wear the shoes just fine from that point on, she didn't think that she'd ever be able to don the dress, what with it uncharacteristically exposing her shoulders and general neckline area like that.

She just wasn't ready for that sort of attention, even if, thinking on it now, it really did make her sound as though she were stuck back in time somewhere, or about to go out completely naked, instead. . . .

And so the outfit regrettably sat, folded neatly within the gift box it was originally packaged in . . . until now.

Elyon had wanted to get dressed together with Cornelia, as they normally would for big events such as this one, but also to surprise her friend by showing her that she was finally going to put her birthday present to good use; however, when she'd knocked on her dorm room door to do so, Cornelia had merely called out to her from the bathroom area, telling her that she was running uncharacteristically behind and to get started without her.

Although she did find that to be rather odd, as Elyon had never before really known Cornelia to run behind schedule for much of anything, even pertaining to matters she might not have been too keen on (such as tonight's rock concert), Elyon was simultaneously too beside herself to put everything on hold in order to find out if her dearest friend was all right, as she normally would.

After all, the last thing she wanted to be was late for her first date, thus possibly making it her last.

It didn't really matter, anyway, as by the time Elyon had managed to put the finishing touches on the admittedly sloppy looking, pulled back bun she'd somehow pulled off all on her own (as Cornelia was usually the one to create the more fanciful hairstyles for her), Cornelia was standing in her doorway, completely dressed and looking her habitually stylish and beautiful self.

Elyon wasn't sure, further rewinding it all within her mind, but it honestly did appear as though Cornelia had been about to cry the moment both girls had laid eyes upon one another, although Elyon had probably imagined it . . . she supposed?

It was probably just Cornelia feeling proud of her for feeling brave enough to at last wear the outfit she'd bought for her, and was touched that she'd chosen to do so for her premiere outing with a boy, that's all.

Elyon should have taken a moment to investigate more properly, however the time had then shown that both girls were now running late and needed to leave the mansion right that second, or else they might have run the risk of possibly missing Karmilla's first number by the time they'd reached the amphitheater . . . and Elyon, at least, would have also possibly run the risk of having Caleb believe she had stood him up.

And so there she now was, standing side by side with the boy in question and thoroughly enjoying herself, both due to his company, but also due to how much fun she was generally having.

In hindsight, a rock concert probably wasn't one of the most ideal venues for a first, official date, considering the naturally blaring music and singing, alongside the sea of fellow concertgoers who were also singing along (or screaming, as was unfortunately the case for the few people nearest them).

Still, Elyon found that she was somehow able to understand everything Caleb had been saying to her that entire time, and vice versa, it seemed . . . something which Elyon tried not to focus too much upon, as the reason both could hear what the other was saying was due to the fact that Caleb kept leaning down and tilted his head toward her whenever she spoke, at the same time that he'd carefully draw his lips close to nearly brush against her ears whenever he'd reply. . . .

That alone was enough to make Elyon wish that the ground would somehow swallow her up, or that at least a power outage would occur so that she could better hide her ongoing mortification every time Caleb would do this, and then lean away momentarily in order to flash her an admittedly charming sort of smile.

She didn't even remember saying anything funny . . . did she?

And he was being sooo attentive!

Weren't guys supposed to be more on the absentminded side?

At least, that was usually one of the more common complaints Elyon would hear some of her housemates air out in passing throughout the years, anyway.

Still, if that really was the case, then Caleb was clearly an exception, as he appeared sincerely interested within everything she had to say, from starting off small and simply relaying the 'boring and typical' school week she'd just had (well, minus that 'mysterious' earthquake they'd all experienced earlier on), to her general hobbies, such as her drawing.

It didn't take another Telepath to see that their date was really going well, and that Caleb genuinely enjoyed being with her. . . .

Elyon couldn't wait to get back home and fill Cornelia in about every last detail, seeing as it was nearly impossible for her to locate her anywhere within the expansive crowd.

She knew that her fellow blonde was naturally going to give her best friend some space during tonight's festivities, but Elyon still thought that she'd at least be able to spot her off and on, as Cornelia herself had originally told her she would.

Elyon then wondered if Cornelia had ended up getting held up at the bus stop, where majority of their fellow housemates had originally gathered in order to head down to the amphitheater earlier on that evening.

That was all about an hour ago, now, and while Elyon really did want to use her Telepathy in order to perhaps send a quick message asking if her best friend was all right, she also still tried her absolute best to limit her otherwise invasive ability, after all . . . especially if Cornelia could have been within the middle of flirting with some random guy who'd summoned up enough courage to ask her to dance.

She was sure they'd find one another eventually, and then Elyon would be free to spill her guts out over how much fun she was having.

Until then, Elyon was just going to continue focusing on the moment . . . the moment, and her never-ending embarrassment at having Caleb repeatedly bringing himself within kissing range. . . .

God, help her.

"You know, I'm . . . I'm really glad that we're doing this, Elyon! I mean, that I'd taken the chance on settling on Karmilla's concert as the setting for our first time out together!" Elyon resisted the urge to openly shiver upon listening to Caleb's increasingly familiar, minty smelling voice shouting above the music and near her ear once more, a soft chuckle escaping past his lips as he continued. "I mean, nothing against their tunes or anything, but I just never really saw the appeal! B-But they're honestly not too bad, tonight, and I'm still having a great time in general! Plus, I did know that you do like them and were coming, tonight, so thought that it made sense . . . not that I was stalking you or anything! It's just that I'd hear you talking about it in passing with your other friends, like that Cornelia girl! . . . . I, um . . . I was admittedly waiting for the right time to finally ask you out!"

Elyon felt her body tense up immediately at this, the hairs on the back of her 'abnormally' exposed neck standing on end.

It was bad enough when Caleb had complimented her overall appearance five times (Yes, she'd counted) since they'd first met up with each other at their agreed spot earlier on that evening.

It had taken most of Elyon's willpower to prevent her legs from turning into absolute jelly when he'd politely offered his hand to lead her further down the hill and into the amphitheater's surrounding area, as he went on about how pretty her dress and hair looked, and how well both suited her.

How was he honestly single?

Still, there he now was, basically confessing his attraction to her freely, instead of having her second guess everything within her mind as she'd admittedly been doing up until that point, despite all signs having pointed to this pretty much from the very start of their date.

She could have really used Cornelia's input on what to do or say right about then, however, as all of Elyon's instincts were telling her to run away like crazy, but not before most probably saying something utterly stupid to further ruin her chances of possibly having a second date with Caleb in the future.

Elyon was about to respond, somehow ignoring her great urge to hide away and summoning up enough courage in order to confess her own growing feelings toward the tall brunet, when suddenly, all Hell began to break loose. . . .

The namesake of the rock band, Karmilla, could be seen center stage from where Elyon and Caleb were both positioned within the crowd, having previously finished up one of the group's more fast tempoed numbers, before transitioning into a well timed rock ballad.

Elyon was pretty certain that Caleb most likely would have asked her to dance (well, to slow dance, anyway, as the two had been dancing here and there prior to that particular moment, to be fair) . . . if half of the stage hadn't suddenly begun to implode!

She'd only been able to catch a glimpse before understandably ducking for cover, but Elyon did manage to briefly noticed what had appeared to be . . . an orb of some sort, and bluish emerald within hue, abruptly making direct connection with the stage lights hanging straight above Karmilla, and the rest of her band. . . .

"A-Ahh!" Elyon, as well as several other concertgoers surrounding her all naturally cried out within sheer alarm, before she then let out a loud grunt upon being thrown to the ground, presumably by Caleb.

But then, the more she listened to the rising panic unfolding all around her, coupled with cracking her blue eyes open to witness the honest stampede which was now occurring as people began to vacate the premises, Elyon quickly realized that she'd instead been toppled over by one of the aforementioned escapees.

She also realized, quite sickeningly, that Caleb was nowhere to be found. . . .

"C-Caleb! Caleb, where are you?" Elyon called out frantically within elevating concern as she struggled to sit up from her place on the ground, knowing that, through all of the ongoing pandemonium he most likely wouldn't hear her, especially with her so low and in between people's legs.

She also knew that if she didn't get back up, and now, she not only might sustain severe injuries, but far worse. . . .

E-Elyon? Elyon, are you still here! Something's happening to Karmilla's stage, and I don't mean the normal stage effects they'd been using up to now! H-Hay Lin and I are absolutely freaking out right now, in case you can't already tell! Elyon suddenly heard Irma's frenzied voice blaring into her mind just then . . . at the same time that Elyon activated her Telekinetic abilities as discreetly as she could, 'guiding' as many fleeing patrons away from her petite frame while she quickly rose to her feet before they could have otherwise done her harm.

Briefly dusting herself off, Elyon nodded her head to no one in particular, knowing that wherever Irma presently was within the dispersing crowd she understandably wouldn't have seen that, especially not with the ongoing destruction which continued to unfold all around her.

When she'd originally gone down, it was only the overhead stage lights which had begun to dangerously plummet.

Now, however, not only had Elyon risen back onto her feet in time to catch the grand series of loudspeakers which had been towered on either side of the stage and were also now swiftly beginning to come crashing down, but several of the metal beams which had been holding up the partial roofing branching out away from the stage area had inexplicably been sliced clean through, frighteningly toppling over onto the ground like dominoes within a tremendous crescendo. . . .

I-I'm here, and I see it! I see it all! O-Oh, God! Elyon shakily responded mentally, immediately dashing toward the now collapsing stage rather than away, as she, without thinking, managed to 'catch' the falling loudspeakers via her Telekinesis, before any one of them came down onto any retreating innocents.

She let out a soft groan before applying a bit more force with her gift by redirecting the trajectory of all six loudspeakers combined and sent them flying toward an empty clearing to one side of the stage and out of harm's way.

Taking sharp, quivering breaths, Elyon continued attempting to keep her wits about her as she then managed to telepathically ask her friends, What's going on? Was it an aftershock, or something?

We don't think so! Irma said that she saw some weird light heading toward the stage before all this started, a-and I also saw a set of . . . o-of spikes flying overhead on my way out of the bathroom before! I-It was also around the same time as the . . . incredibly terrible s-smell that's still pretty strong where we both are! Hay Lin's terrified voice suddenly echoed within Elyon's mind as she resumed running closer toward to the stage area, doing her best to maneuver around all those who were doing the exact opposite. Where are you? Are you okay? Is Cornelia?

Y-Yes, I'm fine, and Cornelia – ! Oh, God! Cornelia! I have no idea where she is! I haven't seen her all night, actually, and everything's happening so fast now that I haven't had time to look! she psychically replied, momentarily stopping within her tracks as her blood immediately ran cold at the realization that not only was Caleb possibly still lost amongst the ensuing chaos, but so too was her greatest friend in the world . . . and she didn't even have time to stop and properly search for either one of them.

There were too many lives at risk on the whole, and like it or not, she had to put them first and help.

After all, this was what Oracle and the other professors had been training her to do this entire time, more or less: To use her many gifts for the benefit of all when and where she could, if she could, so that when the time came for mutants to finally be revealed to the world, they would be welcomed without fear. . . .

Until then, however, Elyon would simply have to do her best to continue using her abilities without drawing too much attention to herself, all while trying to remain as calm as possible, considering she hadn't any idea if neither Cornelia nor Caleb had made it out of the amphitheater in one piece, and the mental messages she was now attempting to send to the blonde curiously did not seem to be reaching her.

Normally, if this happened, it was for one of three reasons: Either the individual was psionically out of range, had a rather high resistance or immunity against those possessing telepathic abilities . . . or something possibly could have befallen them.

However, considering that Elyon could not readily sense Cornelia's brainwaves anywhere amongst the egress, whether or not she'd scarily been rendered unconscious somehow, she would force herself to believe that the other girl simply was no longer present within the hazardous vicinity.

And as much as that new thought did grant her some comfort, it also served to drum up even more puzzling thoughts for Elyon, as she knew that, no matter how frightened Cornelia possibly was right now, she would never just leave everyone behind to fend for themselves, mutant gifts or no. . . .

So, then . . . where was she?

Willing herself to push all those concerns aside, at least for now, Elyon forced herself to focus upon the series of tasks which now lay out before her.

I-If you'd just come from the bathroom area, then you must be closest to the stage, right, Hay Lin? Can you see if Karmilla and her band made it off safely before those stage lights fell down? I-I couldn't stop them in time, and it's getting harder to see where I am, as there are too many people crowding me, trying to escape! Elyon telepathically spoke to the Aerokinetic girl, once more using her Telekinesis simultaneously in order to clear a path for herself as delicately as she could. W-We . . . We have to stay and help evacuate as many of them as we can! I-I don't . . . know how this happened, but we're the only ones who can try to keep things as under control as possible until proper assistance arrives!

I-If that's you giving us the go ahead to use our powers out in public, then we're way ahead of you on that one, as – S-Shit! A fire's broken out onto the stage, now! Must be from all the exposed wiring that's now up there! Just get to us, and now! Irma swiftly answered for Hay Lin, before Elyon could feel the brunette abruptly cut off the open, and concentrated mental link between them, at the same time that the blonde just then caught sight of the now rising inferno which seemingly appeared from out of nowhere overhead.

And then, a bloodcurdling scream could then be heard bellowing out from the now dilapidated stage, as one half was now on fire . . . while the other side still had another, remaining row of stage lights perilously hanging above the head of none other than Karmilla, who was now curled onto the ground, alone, and trapped beneath some of the newly formed debris. . . .

"H-Help! Someone help me! M-My legs are trapped! I can't move!" she frantically shrieked in between sharp coughing, as the rising smoke from the flames, as well as remaining fog from the now defunct smoke machine quickly enveloped her, effectively masking her from the view of anyone else who might have possibly stopped to witness the suddenly burning stage.

A loud creaking noise abruptly moaned and echoed out into the surrounding atmosphere above Elyon's head as she advanced closer, and she quickly realized that the previously damaged roofing was now beginning to come down, as the loss of several of its beams was finally placing an unstoppable strain upon the overall, and ill-designed structure. . . .

What was she going to do?

The roof was clearly about to come barreling down onto not only Elyon, but also a lot of other innocent people who were still making their disorganized exit from the crumbling amphitheater as fast as they could.

She couldn't hold it up via her Telekinesis, and save Karmilla at the same time with her Teleportation ability, even at her present level of mutant strength.

Elyon couldn't risk full on exposure like that, for one thing, and probably wouldn't be able to keep the vast, metal roof aloft for very long by herself, either, as she was sure that it weighed at least a hundred pounds, or more.

Certainly a far greater weight than she'd ever before attempted to mentally sustain for the several minutes she was quite certain she would need, and then some, in order to ensure the safety of those still around her.

Still, she had to make a choice, and fast!

Elyon could only hope and pray that both Irma and Hay Lin would do their part and somehow get to Karmilla in time, as she chose to lay her full trust within her companions, as well as their own training, by instead reactivating her telekinetic abilities just in time to stop the roof . . . which had just then began plunging, violently, down toward the ground.

She did her best to ignore the lurching sensations now absolutely riddled within her stomach as she'd effectively just chosen the lives of many over the life of one, repeatedly reassuring herself that her friends would rescue Karmilla, themselves, before she then compelled herself to focus all of her attention onto the tremendously heavy construction which now hovered precariously above her. . . .

---

Immediately splitting off from Irma, who'd given her best friend a quick, reassuring glance before taking off toward the back end of the large amphitheater, and its encompassing lake, Hay Lin instead sprinted off within the opposite direction and zigzagged in between escaping patrons as best she could.

While Hay Lin was absolutely positive that Irma would have thoroughly enjoyed being the one to potentially rescue her all time favorite musician in her place, both clearly understood that Hay Lin's mutant abilities were perhaps best suited for the job, as she could, and would use her Aerokinetic gifts in order to make it onto the stage both safely, as well as undetected.

Either way, Hay Lin wasn't about to let anyone down, as she then did her best to concentrate upon activating her newly formed invisibility power as quickly as she could, silently cursing herself that she still hadn't fully gotten the hang of doing so just yet.

She winced within mounting fear as she could hear the terrified screams and desperate gasps for breath of the continually trapped Karmilla as she drew closer to the burning stage, her racing heart skipping a beat the moment Hay Lin could feel the familiar wash of her Aerokinetic abilities taking over.

Fleetingly looking down at her hands to see that she now truly was invisible once more, Hay Lin swiftly took to the skies with little to no effort within contrast, and safely landed behind a visibly trembling and cowering Karmilla.

"O-Oh, God! P . . . Please!" she coughed weakly, her voice straining to carry over the rising flames which threatened to reach her, as well as the now invisible and carefully silent Hay Lin within each passing second as it continued to spread across the rest of the stage.

Hay Lin did her best not to be worriedly distracted by the famous singer's completely disheveled and pinned down appearance, as she knew that she'd only be slowed down, otherwise.

Still, it was quite the frightening sight to behold, as the older woman's habitually spiky, blue dyed hair was now partially matted down onto her soot covered and makeup smeared face, while the lilac colored top and navy jeans she'd been wearing at the beginning of her fresh set were now both torn clean through.

With a sharp wave of her right hand, Hay Lin summoned up a gust of wind in order to clear away some of the stage's fallen rubble which previously had Karmilla perilously trapped, causing the other girl to gasp within supreme, yet understandable alarm.

"W-What the. . . .?" she stammered in between continued, sharp coughs while Hay Lin now did her best not to do the same, trying not to give herself away as she nonetheless gingerly lifted Karmilla from off of the flaming stage and straight into the air with her.

True, Hay Lin had done this before, managing to carry another individual with her mid flight, despite lacking enhanced strength like so many of her other housemates, for example.

However, she'd never before needed to do so outside of a training simulation, during a raging fire, and all while also sustaining her continually stubborn gift of invisibility.

Still, Hay Lin knew she couldn't falter, not with the life of someone else literally within her hands, in addition to not while the . . . roof above them was starting to cave in?

Ignoring the sharp pains now coursing through both her arms as she continued to concentrate as best she could upon the task at hand, Hay Lin tried not to raise the now wriggling Karmilla too high up into the air as she flew her away from the burning stage and now crumbling roof as fast as she could.

Spotting a nearby clearing close to the hillside which led people into and out of the open area, Hay Lin did her best to close the gap between both women, and the now thankfully approaching ambulance van as she could manage.

She then briefly wondered how utterly certifiable any remaining people might now end up believing themselves to be, those who might have chanced a moment's rest during their escape to witness a mysteriously flying Karmilla, right before she'd carefully begun to land 'herself' back down onto the ground.

Although it was thankfully now quite dark, as majority of the previous lights had since gone out, presumably due to a massive power outage, there was still the clear night sky and natural illumination from the bright moon overhead to contend with, after all.

Had the entire situation not been an increasingly dangerous one, Hay Lin imagined that most of the former concertgoers might have promptly ruled the curious incident away as yet another special effect Karmilla's band had already been utilizing during the beginning half of their rock concert, anyhow. . . .

"I-It's a miracle! I'm saved!" Hay Lin could hear Karmilla cry out from below her as she continued to critically dangle several feet above the ground, before Hay Lin's arms couldn't take it any longer and she proceeded to descend about halfway between the stage and her originally intended destination.

However, Karmilla didn't appear to mind, it seemed, for as soon as Hay Lin gently released her from her protective grip, the rescued rock star clasped her hands together in front of her before shaking them toward the sky and happily exclaimed, "Ohhh, thank you, my sweet Guardian Angel! Thank you!"

Despite being admittedly spiritual, herself (although nowhere near as much as her grandmother, by comparison), of all the reactions Hay Lin had imagined Karmilla herself to possess upon inexplicably soaring through the night sky, suddenly singing praises to the heavens and claiming that her Guardian Angel had preserved her was not one of them.

After all, Karmilla, or at least her persona, had always been more on the bold, devil-may-care side, and if her life, nor the lives of so many others hadn't been in danger, Hay Lin imagined that she might have played up the entire incident as some sort of publicity stunt.

But then again, Irma was the one who knew the musician practically inside and out far better than she did, so who knew what sort of reaction Karmilla might have had if the brunette in question had been the one to save her.

And here Hay Lin was worried about how she'd be able to get away with masking everything but her physical touch.

Still, it was rather surprising to see a softer, certainly much more vulnerable side of Karmilla. . . .

Further surveying the immediate vicinity to double check that the older woman certainly was out of immediate danger, Hay Lin took as quiet a breath as she could before rising into the air once more, at the same time that several fast approaching Emergency medical technicians appreciatively then appeared to take notice of the lone rock star, and immediately descended onto the scene.

As Hay Lin continued hovering within the air, she turned away from the now safe and tended to Karmilla in time to see the still erect roof of the amphitheater, which she'd initially believed to be collapsing, was now glowing an eerie, yet vaguely familiar emerald aura . . . at the same time that the fiery stage beneath it appeared to be being put out by an unseen force.

It wasn't the watery means she'd originally been expecting, as she was sure that Irma had reached the lake by now in order to presumably manipulate its waters within such a way which would help extinguish the ongoing blaze.

Perhaps she'd hit a snag along the way, and was then forced to pass on the responsibility onto another fellow mutant who might have stayed behind to help.

Either way, Hay Lin wasn't about to wait to find out.

Better go back and check, Hay Lin thought with a light frown, her insides beginning to knot up a bit all over again as she continued to hope for her best friend's well being, before flying back toward the ongoing wreckage.

---

Elyon wasn't sure how much longer she could keep this up, literally.

While her biggest concern right within that moment continued to be keeping everyone safe, her naturally small frame was rapidly beginning to struggle against the immense strain the collapsing roof was placing upon her, both within body and mind.

She felt her outstretched arms aching and a mild headache beginning to form as she nearly fell forward, yet somehow managed to maintain her otherwise firm stance, effectively now trapped directly beneath the crumbling roof until either she'd succeeded within preventing its literal downfall, or she was grievously overcome. . . .

Suddenly, a rich, green hue slowly, yet surely began to envelop the surrounding structure Elyon had single-handedly continued to keep aloft, its illumination providing one of the only remaining nearby light sources outside of the menacing flames crackling angrily within the distance.

It initially almost resembled a delayed special effect from the now derailed rock concert, or a series of powerful glow sticks aligned all around her, before Elyon quickly realized its originating source.

"J-Julian! Ohh, thank God!" she cried out within immediate relief, as the raven haired boy in question and fellow housemate suddenly appeared at her side, a deep frown of concentration etched upon his pale face as he, too, clearly already began to struggle with the immense weight of the weakened structure above them.

"Y-You're . . . You're welcome!" he replied within his habitually cocky tone, although his usual overconfidence appeared to be understandably failing him, as his own telekinetic abilities did not presently seem to be as potent as they normally would be. "Y-You're just . . . l-lucky I came back, instead o-of leaving you to . . . to handle this alone!"

Clearly, his own terror toward the overall severity of the situation was threatening to completely overwhelm him, causing the previous relief Elyon had been feeling swiftly begin to dissipate as the signature, emerald glow emitting from Julian's dark blue eyes flickered wildly, which both mutual students understood to be a sign of his focus wearing off.

As incredibly capable and powerful the wealthy young man had initially already been prior to his parent's having organized his 'shipment' (as he'd referred to it) to Kandrakar's School for Gifted Youngsters one year ago, Julian's telekinetic gifts were still nonetheless within its refinement stage, meaning that most distractions, big or small, would still render him unable to use said abilities.

Worse still was the other side of the spectrum, as Elyon had come to observe over the past year, which was that if Julian were to grow even the littlest bit aggravated, let alone full on livid, his gifts were suddenly capable of yielding rather catastrophic results.

And considering that both students were knee deep within a situation not one of the Danger Room's design, with real life consequences should they fail, Elyon couldn't readily blame Julian for presently allowing his emotions to get the better of him . . . even if it meant that doing so would most probably grant far more bedlam than calm. . . .

Knowing what was regrettably about to happen, Elyon quickly grunted, "J-Just . . . head back to the mansion, Julian! T-This is clearly too much for you . . . n-not . . . not to mention of you r-running the risk of exposure if you stay and keep using your powers out in the open like this!"

"T-Tch! You s-sound like . . . like my folks! B-Besides, it's not l-like you were doing much better on your own! R . . . Rarrrrgh!" Julian fired back angrily, right before his eyes, as well as the roof he'd been helping to keep mentally suspended stopped glowing, collapsing to his knees within utter exhaustion . . . at the same time that the 'side effect' to his psionic abilities frighteningly triggered themselves, causing the roof to suddenly combust and sending rubble flying absolutely everywhere and, in particular, straight down onto them both. . . .

---

"O-Oh, my God! It's a complete disaster zone! A-Are you sure you about this, Cornelia?" Taranee gasped within utter alarm as she continued running alongside both the blonde, as well as Will, whom she could hear nearly hyperventilating at her side, yet somehow had been able to keep her Electrokinetic abilities under control . . . or, at least, was no longer visibly firing off sparks all over her body.

For now.

"Y-Yes, Taranee, I am! No one told you – Or you, Will – to come after me! You could have stayed behind and alerted The Professor, so that he could run some 'interference' for the undoubted aftermath!" Cornelia hissed within response, although both her eyes, in addition to overall demeanor continued to illustrate the profound trepidation the trio shared among themselves equally. "B-Because from the looks of things, he's going to need to wipe a lot of minds once we get in there to help – Especially once the fire department gets here!"

Cornelia hadn't really thought much past escaping the institute before most probably being quarantined by the one, or all of her professors, and then somehow getting down to the now dilapidated amphitheater in time to help contain the chaos as best she could . . . all while also hopefully finding Elyon to be in one piece.

So it was rather fortunate that Providence appeared to be within her favor, as rather than having to wait at the bus stop as originally intended, the trio had come across twins and fellow students Jeanne-Marie, and Jean-Paul Beaubier, and pleaded with the visibly shaken upperclassmen to not only return to the scene their mutual super speed had certainly played a hand at assisting their previous escape, but to take all three girls along with them.

It was honestly becoming quite the blur to Cornelia at this point, the way she'd somehow managed to convince the both of them to do this favor for her (although she was now certain that an unspoken agreement had been made that she would one day need to return it, if ever either twin would ask) . . . even knowing how tricky, as well as tiresome it would become for them to fly Cornelia, and her companions back to the scene, given that neither sibling possessed super strength on top of the abilities they actually did.

Thankfully, however, the task had been accomplished without incident, with Cornelia volunteering to be the one to hang precariously in between a far more secure, albeit utterly terrified Taranee and Will during the rather speedy flight both twins had simultaneously provided, smartly choosing to combine their efforts in order to better alleviate the added pressure.

And thankfully, still, that Will had actually lost conscious nearly right from the start, as otherwise Cornelia was absolutely certain the redhead's still developing Electrokinetic abilities would have overwhelmed not only herself, but also everyone else, as well, causing all five students to most probably plunge dangerously to the ground.

Regardless, they had made it to the amphitheater in one piece, and within more than half the time it would have originally taken Cornelia had she been forced to take the bus.

Before departing, both Jean-Paul and Jeanne-Marie had carefully dropped the girls far off to the side of the now crumbling amphitheater, right along the abandoned shoreline of the surrounding lake so as not to draw attention.

They had also done so, as explained by Jeanne-Marie, so that Will, once she'd waken up, would "have an immediate place to vomit, as we're pretty sure she'll want to. Most people do whenever flying with us right after their first lift. . . ."

After that, it was all up to Cornelia and her friends to figure out their next course of action, as the Beaubier Twins, although now wishing to stay to help, after all, ultimately decided to first use their speedy abilities in order to head back to the institute to ensure that The Professor really was on his way, before returning to assist within the evacuation.

Cornelia would have taken a moment to be impressed by Taranee having managed to not only stay awake during their swift flight, but did not appear to need to be sick, herself, as both girls had immediately descended onto Will and attempted to revive her as fast as they could without causing more harm than good.

True to Jeanne-Marie's word, Will really did need to purge the very moment she was conscious again a few moments later, causing both Taranee and Cornelia to promptly release her as she shakily crawled toward the lapping lakeside and proceeded to empty her stomach of majority, if not all of the snacks and other goodies she'd previously been enjoying during her long interrupted sleepover.

Will was lucky enough to be mindful of her newest surroundings just in time, however, as she'd managed to stop a few feet away from the water, at the same time that her body erupted into an active conduit once more.

And yet, there she now was, somehow regathering her bearings and quickly managing to calm her powers down long enough in order to courageously insist that she was still coming with.

However Will might have personally felt about her overall capabilities as a newly discovered mutant, Cornelia, at least, now felt an overabundance of respect, as well as pride toward her. . . .

"S-So what do you suggest we do first, b-because everything seems to be going to hell!" Will cried with widened eyes in between heavy breaths, her legs somehow carrying her toward the blatant danger, rather than away as she greatly wished them to.

"W-We . . . We split up, help anyone who needs it, and t-try to contain the destruction as much as we can until the fire department arrives! And I-I'll send a mental message to Elyon to try to find out where she is in all this!" Cornelia quickly instructed, doing her best to ignore the chilling gust of wind blowing in from the lake, as a slicing shiver then began to ripple up and down her spine within the same way it had done during her high speed 'taxi ride,' all courtesy of being the most exposed of the three of them.

She then abruptly stopped within her tracks right before leaving her companions, and reached out to clasp each of their hands within her own.

"Y-You both came to make sure that I was safe and had the help I'd need . . . and I'm grateful. But now, now I know you can do this! I know you can do what needs to be done in order to ensure the safety of those who are still here! Now, come on! Let's hurry!"

---

Taranee hadn't the faintest idea how she was going to assist anyone who still remained, mutant or non-mutant, as she had only thus far been able to melt various objects here and there through her particular gifts.

After all, she was meant to be making sure everything didn't continue to spiral further out of control, not contribute, as she was quite certain that her specific brand of abilities would undoubtedly do if she attempted to use them.

And considering that, through the limited lighting which presently remained lit within that immediate area, she was able to venture a quick guess that at least half of Karmilla's previously congested audience were all who now remained, she really wasn't sure what use she'd be.

Still, she knew that she at least had to try.

Both Cornelia and Will, wherever they now were within the fleeing crowd, believed that she could.

Taranee did her best to recall what little training she'd been receiving thus far . . . especially once her brown eyes had properly focused upon the rising, honest inferno as she drew closer, and which was now woefully overtaking majority of the formerly in tact stage.

Perhaps her mind had still been back within the air during her unexpected flight with the Beaubier Twins, having silently prayed over and over that she survive and that Jeanne-Marie, in particular, would sustain the Thermokinetic's weight, as she'd been the one to have had direct hold of the partially dangling Taranee via beneath her arms.

Yes, maybe that was it, some sort of out of body experience, perhaps, if the normally sharp teenager had somehow missed the menacing blaze which now lay before her, which threatened to spill over from the stage and spread further out onto the highly flammable field!

"O-Oh, my G-God!" Taranee screamed as she immediately halted, allowing several concertgoers to ruthlessly bump into either side of her body as they all smartly ran away from the danger. "O-Okay! Okay! W-What . . . What do I do? F-First, remember to breathe, Taranee! T-Then . . . Then pretend t-this is just another training session! Y-Yes! 'O-Objective: S-Somehow Put Out the L-Life Taking Hellfire!' Ohhh, I really w-wish the fire department would just get here, already!"

Although she could now thankfully hear the familiar sound of sirens wailing in the distance, as though on cue, Taranee knew that if something wasn't done about the blaze, and now, it really would overtake more than just the utterly defenseless platform. . . .

And so, with every last ounce of willpower she presently possessed not to complete fall to pieces and allow her phobia to win once more, Taranee began to dig deep within herself as she concentrated . . . concentrated on her overwhelming desire to help, despite remembering once again that her Thermokinetic abilities only appeared to be offensive within nature, thus far.

She quickly then recalled all of her past tutorial lessons during the last month that she'd been attending Kandrakar's School for Gifted Youngsters, in particular the one she'd most recently shared with Will, when she'd informed the redhead of how Professor Clarkson had reminded Taranee to be ready for the very real possibility that her powers might one day evolve into full on Pyrokinesis.

. . . . And then, just like that, a new idea sprang to mind.

W-Wait . . . if I can generate heat with my powers . . . then why couldn't I try to diminish it, if I really can control temperatures like Professor Clarkson said? Taranee's naturally analytical mind rapidly began to knit together, squeezing her eyes shut as she for once wished to possess the ability to control fire directly, rather than her frequent desire toward the contrary up until now.

As the surrounding crowd around her continued to disperse, honestly ricocheting her body back and forth like a ping pong ball and threatening to break her concentration, Taranee somehow managed to envision within her mind's eye the fire she could hear openly roaring in the distance.

She then did her absolute best to focus on how hot she knew it to be despite the cooling, surrounding breeze of that evening, which had just then finished caressing the back of her neck for furthered emphasis.

And then, Taranee began to slowly, yet surely imagine the complete opposite of her present reality, envisioning the intimidating flames to decrease within intensity and somehow becoming starved for oxygen, in spite of the surrounding abundance, before safely dying away into nothingness.

Chancing a peek, not really knowing whether or not she'd managed to actualize her vision, Taranee gasped within sheer surprise and accomplishment as not only had her Thermokinetic gifts truly come through for her in a way she'd never before attempted, but a sudden tidal wave was headed straight for the stage's now dying fire . . . at the same time that its roofing, which she hadn't before realized had been enveloped within a weakly flickering glow of green until now, abruptly exploded into thousands of pieces. . . .

---

How had the greatest night of her young life suddenly devolve into the end of days?

One minute, Irma had been taking Selfie after Selfie, in between discreetly filming the amazingly amazing Karmilla and her band, and singing and dancing right along to each number which had played.

And she had been in the perfect position, as well, dead center of the open field of the amphitheater, although not too far away so that Irma wouldn't be able to imagine being called onto the stage to sing alongside her idol.

And then, just like that, chaos had ensued, and right when Irma was about to slow dance with Andrew Hornby, the senior hottie of a jock she'd had her eye on periodically during the last two years she'd been at Bayville High.

It would figure that when she'd finally seized the perfect opportunity to get to know him better, seeing as the fates had seen fit to coincidentally have him stand originally next to Hay Lin within the crowd, before the brunette had immediately swapped places with her, the fates had also felt it necessary to quickly break up their would be moment by having everything implode all around them!

Irma had zero clue how any of it had even started, and she'd barely had enough time to react by swan diving out of the way once the nearby, pillared loudspeakers from the stage toppled over and threatened to crush not only her, but many other fellow concertgoers alongside.

Although she did quickly look about the bolting gathering for Andrew in order to see that he was safe, because she no longer saw him at her side any longer made Irma feel confident enough to go in search for Hay Lin next, whom had temporarily retreated in order to use the bathroom during Karmilla's prior song number.

She might have been a bit more turned off by the fact that Andrew had apparently been willing to completely leave her behind, considering that she was, to the untrained eye, 'just a girl,' and one he was just about to dance with, if Irma wasn't also keenly aware that it was probably for the best as (as far as she was aware) Andrew didn't oppress any sort of mutant abilities, himself.

And so, if things continued to become as dicey as they were already, the high school senior really was better off seeking refuge elsewhere, as he naturally would be unable to protect himself.

There would be time to vent about how she'd been spurned by her kinda-sorta-yet-not-really date later, either way . . . assuming she made it out of this in one piece. . . .

The rest was an honest blur to Irma . . . as she'd apparently been knocked unconscious after that.

Well, no, beforehand, she could recall bumping into Hay Lin right as she'd hurriedly exited the bathroom area, at the same time that a tremendously foul odor accosted both of their sinuses while Irma struggled to focus on sending Elyon a telepathic message to see if she was all right.

What else . . . what else. . . .

Irma could now also remember that both girls did manage to get through to Elyon, who surprisingly advised that they stay to assist anyone that they could, or at least, until actual authorities arrived.

But there was something else, though . . . something important that she'd seen right before everything had turned to absolute shit.

It was like like a . . . a strange sort of light, or something, like something she'd probably witness during one of her training sessions within the Danger Room, almost. . . .

Yes . . . yes!

Irma could now recall that she did manage to catch a glimpse of it from out of the corner of her eye, before it . . . hit the stage, or, more specifically, the stage lights, thus triggering the surrounding disaster!

But that couldn't have just been it, could it?

Didn't Hay Lin also say that she saw something, too?

Whatever had managed to cause Irma to lose momentary consciousness sure appeared to be doing an absolute number on her short term memory, to be sure . . . although she imagined that her absolute fear over what was continually unfolding around her was more likely to blame.

She'd just have to figure everything else out and piece the remainder of her slowly returning memories later, because right now, Irma needed to step up and do what Elyon had asked her to do prior to her having taken an impromptu catnap, and help!

Irma slowly rolled onto her side and wobbly propped herself up onto an elbow, gingerly rubbing at the back of her head as a sharp pain immediately began to branch out and wrap around to the front.

"O-Ow . . . damn it!" Irma cursed to herself as she vigorously caressed her head, looking about her partially darkened surroundings to see that she was somewhere behind the amphitheater a bit . . . which was now on fire?

How was it suddenly on fire? Did she know that it was on fire prior to losing consciousness?

And how did she find herself behind the building, at that?

She and Hay Lin must have formulated some sort of plan of their own on how best to handle the situation which was unraveling, and temporarily parted ways before . . . Irma had been incapacitated by whatever had managed to wallop her from behind.

"M-Miss a little, miss a lot!" she hissed within renewed pain as she attempted to stand, before immediately realizing that the object which had most likely caused her temporary blackout now had her lower left leg pinned.

It was an honest miracle that that lamp post, one of many which had been aligned nearer the front of the establishment, hadn't achieved far greater damage to her person all things considered, especially to her cranium. . . .

"M-Must have . . . have just clipped me on my side before falling over," Irma openly surmised in between winces of immense, white hot pain now searing throughout her entire body. "T-Too bad it didn't want to lay off my shin! . . . . S-Shit! I've gotta fix this! G-Gotta . . . Gotta put out that fire first, then figure out how to get this freaking thing off of me!"

Irma momentarily looked about her surroundings once more as her mind promptly attempted to block out her ongoing anguish as best she could, while simultaneously running the various Danger Room scenarios she'd participated within which involved her opposing element.

She could attempt to summon up a rainstorm . . . although, given the apparent intensity of the ongoing flames which could be seen even from her present position, coupled with her present level of capability, such finite control and patience might not presently be as effective as she'd understandably wish.

Still, maybe if Irma had more time, and Hay Lin's backup to help die down the tempestuous flames alongside, it probably could be done. . . .

No.

What Irma needed was something big, and fast.

And considering that she was presently unable to go anywhere, in addition to the time that it would possibly take both Elyon and Hay Lin if she'd used the seconds she honestly didn't have to mentally call upon them for backup, Irma was going to have to do this solo. . . .

"Big . . . something b-big. . . ." Irma whimpered, as another wall of agony barreled into her once more. She then did a double take toward the honestly forgotten lake which had ironically remained peacefully within the background of the continually crumbling amphitheater, as newfound inspiration instantly hit her. "Big! T-That's it! I-If I can't take my time possibly building up a rainstorm . . . then m-maybe I can go the o-opposite direction and summon up a quick burst of a tidal wave!"

It was certainly worth a shot, anyway, although to say that Irma wasn't now feeling incredibly doubtful, in addition to somehow even more afraid would have been an understatement.

After all, she was already mostly incapacitated, with a massively throbbing headache which could honestly threaten of becoming indicative to a concussion.

What if she did manage to summon up her flood, and it completely missed the burning wreckage, before only ending up slowing down and possibly injuring any remaining patrons mid escape?

. . . . On the other hand, the longer she continued to literally sit there and waffle over her very limited options, the more failure really would become an actual reality.

And so, taking in as many deep, rhythmic breaths as she could presently muster, Irma vigorously shook out her hands as she fully sat up, slowly outstretching them toward the continually calm, and moonlit lake in the distance.

Knowing that time was of the essence, Irma truly committed to the task at hand, completely pouring every last ounce of energy into making this work . . . and silently hoping that her actively choosing to slightly bypass her normal teachings of otherwise taking her time whenever utilizing her mutant gifts as best as possible would not backfire. . . .

After only a few, extra moments, however, Irma nearly let out a sharp squeal of elation as she began to feel the familiar push and pull of her Hydrokinetic abilities activating and dancing against her fingertips, mimicking the natural ebb and flow of the element she controlled.

Beads of sweat began to form above Irma's delicately groomed brows as the water along the shoreline of the generally undisturbed lake suddenly became quite turbulent, as though perplexed as to which 'master' to obey.

"A-Arrrrgh!" Irma cried out, immediately jerking her arms away from the now jostling lakeshore within an arch like motion, as a rather large column of water abruptly followed suit, almost leaping out of the body of water and sailing toward the insidious fire . . . which curiously now appeared to be somehow losing its previous intensity.

Irma's head honestly felt as though it was seconds from literally splitting open right within that moment as her upper body collapsed back onto her side, her cyan colored eyes beginning to see stars while she breathed heavily into the cool dirt beneath her.

Her ongoing physical injuries had severely limited any further output, and Irma was now only left with the belief that her personal efforts, however regrettably brief, had been enough. . . .

An incredibly loud boom suddenly pierced through the air, mimicking the sound of an explosion of some kind, within the same moment Irma heard a voice frantically scream out, ". . . . I-Irma? O-Oh, my God! Irma! It is you!"

She didn't even have enough energy to turn her head to the other side in order to stop eating dirt, let alone look up to see who was suddenly calling out her name, nor possibly now take cover somewhere.

Plus, if it turned out to be a non-mutant who'd just also happened to witness her 'magically' control a part of the massive lake moments prior, there was no way Irma could readily talk her way out of it, as she might have honestly tried.

All she could do was simply lie there, and let come what may . . . at least, until hopefully The Professor eventually arrived, anyhow. . . .

"H-Hold on! I'll . . . I'll set you free, somehow!" Irma slowly began to recognize the voice as it quickly drew closer, before thankfully realizing that it'd belonged to Taranee, who then gently lifted her upper half from off of the ground and rested her against her legs as she crouched down alongside her. "W-We've got to get out of here! The entire amphitheater's coming completely undone!"

Coughing profusely, now sputtering up stray bits of grass and dirt from out of her continually gasping mouth, Irma managed to flash a weak, wry smile before stating, ". . . . If only you . . . were here, like, three minutes ago. B-Better . . . Better late than never, e-eh? . . . . W-Wait, what?"

Raising an eyebrow within slight confusion toward the brunette's curiously daft, yet lax nature, especially given the ongoing circumstances, Taranee instead shook her pigtailed head as her given response . . . before swiftly shifting her attention onto the fallen lamppost which continued to have her friend's leg mercilessly trapped.

After a few moments, Irma curiously began to feel the section of the top half of the post grow rather warm with each passing second, as she then watched Taranee carefully place her free hand on top of it.

And then, before either girl could say another word, both watched within amazement as the fallen lamppost suddenly gave way beneath Taranee's outstretched palm, an honestly sloppy, albeit still quite menacing looking jagged, and seared line carving straight through the previously unyielding metal.

Taranee let out a satisfied exhale as she removed her unaffected hand away from the now split apart lamppost, and gingerly set Irma back onto the ground before moving toward the broken object in order to begin lifting it from off of Irma's agonizing limb.

"A-And . . . you were worried you weren't . . . getting the hang of your gifts!" Irma complimented with an abrupt hiss as she wearily watched the Thermokinetic girl thankfully push the post completely off of her, finally freeing her. "J-Just . . . thanks for not melting a hole straight through my bones i-in the process. . . . N-Now, how'd you find me down here, a-anyway, and what . . . w-what was that loud noise from before?"

"I-I saw the . . . flood, I suppose, that you'd apparently summoned to help extinguish the stage fire, and came down here to find its source! W-Well, honestly, I was running for my life, since the roof which had been extending from the stage just exploded!" Taranee fearfully explained as best she could, before then doing her best to quickly examine the other girl's injury. "O-Oh, gosh, your shin looks like it might be broken, and –! Your head! It's bleeding!"

"M-Mmm . . . is that what this excruciating pain's all about? I h-honestly wasn't . . . wasn't sure, myself," Irma groaned within her patented, sarcastic humor within the face of severity, blowing out another breath of immense misery, although her eyes slowly widened within renewed panic as she returned her attention toward the field ahead, which was now riddled with heaps of rubble which varied within size. . . .

Taranee shakily draped Irma's arm across her neck, before carefully helping her onto her feet as best she could.

"W-Well, come on, then! It'll be a bit of a walk back toward the entrance and main road from here – And most probably painful, but we have to escape, and get you to a doctor!" she concluded as she fruitlessly tried her best to conceal her understandable concern for her injured companion, in addition to their present calamity. "B-But at least . . . at least we'd managed to put the fire out, together, r-right?"

Irma had honestly forgotten to ask if the cascading deluge she'd previously summoned even had hit its mark, she was now that much out of it and growing more and more dizzy, and sleepy, with each passing moment.

However, as the pair then began to wobbly approach the front of now charred, although thankfully extinguished stage, Irma slowly smiled within relief as a result of her . . . no, their efforts?

Taranee could douse flames, now, as well? Since when?

Too exhausted to dig for further information, Irma chose instead to file it away, knowing that the 'Bayville Lakeview Amphitheater Disaster,' as she was already referring to it within her mostly addled mind would be an event the people of Bayville would be talking about for months, maybe even years. . . .

". . . . G-Great . . . Great concert," she murmured underneath her breath as continued to hobble alongside Taranee as best she could, sloppily dodging the bits of debris directly within their path as she seized another opportunity to make light of their overall situation.

She felt she'd earned the right to so now without much guilt, as she was thankfully able to see that, minus the appreciatively approaching authorities, the previously packed concert field had been completely cleared away of any straggling patron.

Well, with the exception of a few of the girls' mutual companions, that is, who appeared to have also locked their sights onto them, as well. . . .

---

This was all too much.

She knew that she'd agreed to provide aid as much as she could, as best as she could . . . but honestly, what would Will be able to do with her set abilities which could provide any sort of benefit toward the unraveling state of affairs?

As it was, it was taking most of her of concentration not to let her Electrokinetic gifts get the better of her once again, obviously not wishing to expose herself openly as a mutant, but to more importantly not accidentally electrocute any innocent person who was in the middle of vacating the scene.

Still, Will was surprisingly determined to at least try, even against all better judgment to simply wait for the authorities to handle everything, especially given that they were actually trained for this sort of thing, versus her measly week of tutorial lessons.

Speaking of, Cornelia had fleetingly mentioned that she'd been trained, herself . . . but for what?

How could anything the students at Kandrakar's School for Gifted Youngsters were presently learning make any one of them anywhere near capable of handling what was happening?

I-It's all right, Will, it's all right. . . . J-Just focus on the practical! People are s-scared, and are trying to leave safely! So let's do this step by step, and make sure that they do – And that you do, as well, Will thought in between shaky breaths filled with ongoing trepidation and uncertainty, as she nonetheless allowed herself to get swallowed up by the thankfully decreasing crowd, while continuing her frightened dash further into the open field.

So far, so good as Will's powers had yet to flare up on her again as she began to weakly direct the frenzied congregation toward the entrance-way back up onto the hill, admittedly feeling a bit foolish about it, as her minimal efforts not only were mostly ignored, but honestly were not needed as it was otherwise quite obvious.

Simply go anywhere where the present, impending doom wasn't.

So Will instead shifted her focus onto relocating Taranee and Cornelia, who were both presumably now somewhere within the dispersing herd.

She imagined she probably should have at least stuck by Taranee's side and assisted with any idea she might have had, herself, as Will felt she would have been a much bigger help within that way, to be sure.

Plus, she wouldn't have to continually fight against thinking the worst, as she had originally agreed to come along in order to keep her new friend safe, after all.

. . . . And considering that there was an intense fire wildly burning on what apparently used to be the stage of the amphitheater, Will could only pray that wherever Taranee was right now, she was well away from it. . . .

Will continued to survey the treacherous vicinity as best she could, stumbling over what felt like understandably abandoned, personal effects within the mostly darkened area . . . when her brown eyes somehow landed onto the now familiar, small frame of Elyon, who appeared to be greatly struggling with some sort of invisible force.

Will doubted that she'd have been able to pick the blonde from out of the crowd regularly, as although the vast field within their specific location was now mostly sparse, there was really only the tall blaze before them to illuminate their way.

That, and the mysterious, flickering green light enveloping the amphitheater's partial roofing she had only just now noticed, which honestly appeared to be tremendously unsteady, and . . . was about to cave in on Elyon!

"E-Elyon!" Will cried out as she immediately doubled her pace, reaching out her right arm toward the Telepathic mutant, as she tried to get to her in time in order to push her out of the way . . . but was too late.

Or, so she thought.

For, the very moment Will had only just managed to close the distance between Elyon and herself . . . in addition to the onyx haired boy she hadn't before realized to also be there, hunched over by her side, a miracle occurred.

Originally only desiring to grab onto her companion and perhaps roll them both out of harm's way before the collapsing roof had buried them both alive, Will could not believe her eyes . . . or hand, rather, as not only had it triggered her Electrokinesis, it had somehow generated a large, dome shaped and electromagnetic force field of some sort, which then proceeded to encase the trio with much needed protection.

Although now completely terrified once more, Will didn't dare make a sound nor move a muscle, lest her apparent new ability suddenly give way and the presently falling debris penetrated through her electrified shield . . . instead of continuing to simply further shatter apart, if not fully disintegrate upon impact. . . .

". . . . W-Will? What the –? How are you here? H-How are you doing that?" Will could hear Elyon ask within an understandable haze of confusion at her side, while Will continued to gaze up toward her crackling hand, which was now aloft directly above their heads as the electrically created force field continued to keep them encased, and unharmed. "J-Julian! Julian, are you okay?"

"U-Ugh . . . y-yeah. Yeah, I think so," Will chanced a quick glance to her left to watch the previously unidentified boy slowly rise to his feet with Elyon's help. He then vigorously rubbed at his temples, as though attempting to lull away a severe migraine, before then resting his eyes onto his apparent savior. "I, uh . . . don't know who you are, but thanks for the assist! Elyon and I would have been toast if you hadn't come along when you had!"

Although she wanted to verbally respond to both teenagers now stood beside her, Will, still feeling far too hesitant to further splinter her focus, instead merely nodded, causing Elyon to tiredly smile within furthered appreciation and the one known as Julian to lightly scoff within obvious offense.

"Tch. Whatever, then. Look, I think we're out of the clear over here, so why not drop your shield so I can get out of here, already?" Julian more or less commanded, his tone of voice and sudden attitude change, especially after nearly losing his life greatly rubbing Will the wrong way . . . yet she regrettably did as she'd been told, whether she liked it or not.

As the immediate danger truly had passed where the three of them continued to stand, with now merely a billowing of wind stirred up from the fallen debris, there was still the remainder of the roof's collapse which Will could not have prevented from crashing down to contend with.

That, as well as the stage fire, which was . . . inexplicably no longer anywhere near as potent as it'd just been moments before.

Still, before she could stop herself, Will felt the increasingly familiar, tingling sensation of her Electrokinetic abilities being used subside within her fingertips, as the protective shield around her wavered in and out a few moments, before completely vanishing altogether. . . .

"Thank you! I'll use my cell phone to call the mansion on my way out, Elyon, but I'm definitely done helping out for tonight – Couldn't give anymore, anyway, even if I wanted to," Julian tiredly remarked with a sideways, dismissive glance toward a now frowning Will, as he then already began to make his swift exit before either girl could object. ". . . . And if you're smart, you'll both follow my lead!"

Although still feeling rather put off by the overall attitude of the boy she'd just saved, Will wondered if Julian wasn't wrong, watching him run to safety a moment before carefully clutching onto Elyon's arm, who curiously appeared as though she were listening to something which clearly only she could hear.

"H-He's right, Elyon! I-I mean, look at this field! If I hadn't . . . somehow did whatever I just did, you could have died! We all could have!" Will reasoned in between coughs as she frantically waved in front of her face in order to fan away the dusty air. "A-And the stage! Please help me find the others so that we can get out of here like everyone else!"

Knowing that her friend had a point, especially now that she, too, was greatly beginning to feel as though she might have bitten off far more than she could chew after her near death experience, Elyon gazed toward the now slowly dying fire before returning her focus onto the panicked redhead in front of her, and nodded.

". . . . Y-Yes, okay! Okay! B-But I think that . . . that C-Cornelia might be try – Ahh!" she began, before both she and Will, especially, let out a startled cry the moment their eyes settled onto the sudden wall of water which appeared to be barreling in from the lake behind the burned down, and demolished amphitheater. . . .

Both sets of legs were momentarily locked in place as they continued to watch as the abrupt flood cascaded over the stage, managing to successfully put out the previously quieting fire, before splashing down onto the ground and heading straight for them with frighteningly rapid speed.

"Look out, Will!" Elyon shouted upon managing to snap herself out of her previous stupor, knowing how much getting doused by the oncoming torrent could severely injure the redhead far greater than her own self, as she then quickly placed herself in front of the trembling, sparking Will before preparing for impact.

She was about to attempt re-summoning her Telekinesis in order to repel at least some of the watery force, despite her continued fatigue, when suddenly both girls felt the ground angrily quaking beneath their feet at the same time that an ample gale began stirring up all around them.

Elyon let out a sharp cry of pain as Will, unable to maintain her balance due to her continued affliction, regrettably toppled onto her from behind and succeeded within granting the blonde an intense electrical shock . . . within the same moment that an immense fissure abruptly formed and sliced through the ground in front of them, causing the previously oncoming deluge to thankfully dip into it.

"E-Elyon! Will! There you are!"

"Oh, no, you're hurt!" Will, quickly rolling off of a still conscious, yet wincing Elyon, looked toward the familiar sounding voices to their right in time to see Hay Lin and Cornelia rushing toward them, with Hay Lin having her hands elegantly out in front of her, as she appeared to be 'sweeping' the remaining gushing water away from them and further into the chasm via her Aerokinetic abilities.

"C-Cornelia! You're okay! A-And Hay Lin, thank God!" Will gushed within immense alleviation as she quickly drew in as many breaths as possible within attempt to speed up the process of calming her powers down.

She then thanked both girls for having evidently used their combined gifts at just the right time and saved her life, especially, before reaching out to help sit Elyon up with a thankfully depowered hand.

"I-I wasn't fast enough to stop myself from hurting Elyon! I'm soo sorry! C-Can you stand?"

Cornelia, her face now white as a sheet and contorted into one of absolute hysteria immediately descended onto Elyon and nudged Will away as delicately as she could, before then wrapping both arms around the smaller blonde within a fierce embrace . . . and didn't appear as though she would ever let go.

"O-Oh, God, Elyon! Y-You don't . . . I-I mean, I was so . . . so worried that I wouldn't be able to find you! We heard what was happening and came down to help, b-but there were just t-too many people that I couldn't see you, and –!" Cornelia blurted out, her voice uncharacteristically shaky and tears already streaming down her face before she could stop herself. "A-And then suddenly the roof . . . e-exploded while I was busy helping with the evacuation on the o-other side of the amphitheater . . . a-and after Hay Lin thankfully managed to find me, we did our best to prevent the rubble from falling onto any lingering concertgoers! . . . . I-I was trying to send you a psychic message once I'd arrived, b-but honestly everything was just happening so fast that I wasn't able to focus long enough, while also using my powers! B-But I'm . . . I'm just glad that you're in one p-piece! H-Here . . . j-just lie still. . . ."

Elyon, face now partially buried within Cornelia's chilled neck and collarbone, due to her best friend's continued, almost suffocating embrace, could only do as she was told as the sharp, shooting pain she continued to feel in spite of her admittedly high physical endurance suddenly dampened, before then being replaced by the warm and inviting sensations of what she knew to be Cornelia's recently learned healing ability taking effect.

After several more moments had passed, feeling satisfied that she had done her job, at least well enough for the four of them to vacate the premises and seek out proper medical attention, Cornelia released the breath she'd been holding as she finally pulled Elyon away from her, and smiled faintly within obvious relief.

She then turned her attention onto Will and gave her a smile of her own, this one full of honest appreciation before reaching out to tightly squeeze her hand.

"T-Thank you, Will. . . ." Cornelia whispered in between dying sobs, taking a moment to quickly look the now blushing redhead over in order to make certain that she also hadn't been injured within any way.

As Will was about to respond, feeling that she should somehow clarify that she had simply been in the right place at the right time, Elyon suddenly cleared her throat a few times before slowly pointing toward both Will's, as well as Cornelia's present attire.

"W-What . . . Why a-are you both wearing your pajamas here?" she asked out of understandable perplexity, as Cornelia quickly then looked down at the now open robe of her silk nightgown, and fruitlessly attempted to shield away the evidence from the other blonde. "I-I mean, Will I did know wasn't coming to the concert, tonight, anyway, b-but you were already dressed and on your way down, Cornelia. . . . What's going on?"

"Umm, m-maybe we should talk about everything and anything later, like when we're far away from this disaster zone, okay? B-Because, look! I can see The Professor's limo pulling up onto the hill! A-And is that . . . It is! Guys, see? It's Taranee, and . . . Irma? Irma, what h-happened?" Cornelia heard Hay Lin thankfully save her from what she already knew would be an incredibly awkward, incredibly unavoidable conversation, letting out a startled shriek of alarm as she immediately took off toward the other side of the now empty field, where the remaining trio could now each see the two girls in question slowly making their way up the natural elevation and away from the vicinity.

It was initially a bit hard to tell from where they continued to sit, but each girl could then just make out an exhausted looking Taranee, who appeared to be partially carrying a mysteriously hopping Irma . . . whose face was honestly riddled with overwhelming pain, and as though she might vomit within any moment. . . .

Will was the next one to react as she, too, bolted straight onto her feet and already took off into a feverish sprint toward the sight.

"I-Irma? Taranee! What happened to you guys?" Cornelia and Elyon listened to the swiftly retreating redhead call out within fierce concern, closing the distance within no time at all before helping Hay Lin take over for Taranee by leading the injured Irma toward the exit.

"H-Here, come on. Let's get you up and out of here, s-so both that you and Irma can get looked over at the hospital," Cornelia breathed tiredly now that her previous adrenaline had quickly subsided, although her worry then returned tenfold by the sight of her new roommate, and how bangedup she appeared to be.

Although she truly did feel concerned for the brunette's well being, even in spite of their lingering differences, Cornelia couldn't help but also feel a wash of relief that it hadn't been Elyon to have sustained such injuries, a feeling which was then followed by crippling guilt. . . .

Elyon merely nodded within response as she gratefully accepted her friend's outstretched hand and shakily rose to her feet alongside her, before wearily allowing herself to place majority of her weight against Cornelia's side as she carefully led her to safety.

Cornelia hesitated a moment before slowly wrapping an arm around Elyon's now disheveled form in order to better keep her aloft, resisting the urge to begin crying once more as her mind replayed that evening's events.

If only she hadn't been so stubborn and felt the need for self-pity, she would have already been at the concert and better able to look out for Elyon, once everything had begun to unravel the way that it had.

Once again, she'd allowed her secret, unrequited feelings toward her best friend to get the better of her, and this time it had nearly jeopardized her safety. . . .

Cornelia's mind fleetingly then shifted onto Caleb, beginning to wonder how long he had stuck around before apparently choosing to save his own hide.

In truth, she didn't suppose she could fully fault him, as he was literally powerless to prevent things from getting worse, the way that Elyon and the rest of her companions had done.

Still, the jealousy which regrettably triggered itself every time she thought of the brunet caused Cornelia's rationale to fall by the wayside, as she now felt herself resenting her rival all the more.

She had a very strong feeling that both she and Caleb would be having a rather 'interesting' conversation come Monday morning, to be sure. . . .

---

". . . . Are you absolutely certain you can manage this? True, you are quite powerful, but Himerish, this was a lot of people present, and majority have already scattered to who knows where," Himerish listened to Yan Lin voice her understandable concern next to him, within the back of his private limousine.

"Perhaps, Yanny, but I've no other choice. Nothing of this magnitude has ever happened before, and so we must take every measure to ensure that the incident remains contained, especially upon having sensed so many mutant abilities being openly used," he explained within reply and a firm nod, gazing out the tinted window toward the absolute destruction of what was the once peaceful sight of Bayville Lakeview Amphitheater. "Now, Kadma and Halinor have already gone ahead to see if they can locate any of our remaining students, while naturally, Cassidy headed toward the ambulance vans to see where she might be able to assist. I must do my part, as well. . . ."

"Then . . . I shall be right here, by your side, should anything happen," Yan Lin nodded within understanding, regrettably conceding to her old friend's decision, as she then remained both silent and still in order to allow absolute concentration to settle down onto the incredibly efficacious Telepath.

Leaning forward toward the habitually stocked, though rarely used bar, Himerish carefully pressed the dark colored button hidden discreetly off to its side, causing it to slide open horizontally and reveal a silver tinted helmet placed delicately within the center.

Yan Lin watched with worried eyes as Himerish lifted the familiar headpiece and slowly placed it onto his smooth, bald head before closing his eyes, the both of them knowing what was about to occur next.

Effortlessly activating his telepathic abilities, Himerish allowed his mutant gifts to merge with the amplifying applications of his Cerebra device, and began to extend his mind altering reach farther than he ever had before, or had ever needed to before now.

Himerish could immediately sense every individual, mutant and non-mutant alike as far as a fifty mile radius, his mind positively flooding with the varying, mostly fearful thoughts of what the majority of them had witnessed earlier that evening.

His powers quickly bypassed the infiltrating voices and accompanying feelings, as he then turned both back around onto all of them with one, unified and consistent thought which now took over:

This week's earthquake had resulted in unchecked, broken electrical and gas lines, causing tonight's entire incident. . . .

Yan Lin fought the great urge to reach out and physically comfort Himerish as his face became writhed with tremendous, mental strain, however nonetheless continued to deliver his message repeatedly until he was absolutely certain that he was successful.

After another instant had passed, Himerish's eyes snapped open as he drew in a sharp, yet satisfying inhale of ease, turning his attention back onto the concerned Yan Lin sat next to him, and smiled gently.

". . . . It is done," he revealed with an added nod, slowly removing the portable Cerebra from off of his head, before replacing it carefully back into its former resting place.

A growing pang of guiltiness slowly began to creep inside of him as both he, and Yan Lin turned their attention back outside and watched the surrounding authorities, as well as straggling bystanders simultaneously stop within their tracks a moment . . . before then resuming their actions, as though an invisible factory reset button had been activated deep within each of them.

Although vastly powerful, indeed, Himerish never truly enjoyed utilizing the mind manipulating capability of his psionic gifts, as it actively went against his personal philosophy of honoring free will to all those who would have it.

Still . . . for the ongoing well being of his students, whose safety was naturally entrusted to him by each of their parents, as well as other legal guardians upon their enrollment, he would do what he had to do to maintain it. . . .

"Then . . . what is our next step?" Yan Lin quietly asked, knowing all too well how emotionally conflicted her friend and headmaster was presently feeling.

"We'll . . . collect any lingering students, and then regroup back at the mansion, accordingly," Himerish replied with a light nod, reaching out to unlock his passenger side door in order to step outside. "But, even with my telepathic influence, I have no doubt that people will be wondering about this for quite some time, meaning that we must all now double our efforts toward remaining ever vigilant, and undetected. . . ."

- End of Chapter Eight

---

(A.N. Won't bother with my usual, 'in depth' post-A.N., as I'm not honestly sure anyone finished reading this, but just in case, I just wanted to point out the three canon characters briefly used and whom exist within the X-Men series: Jeanne-Marie and Jean-Paul Beaubier, a.k.a. Aurora and Northstar, and Julian Keller, a.k.a. Hellion.

While I'm not terribly, terribly familiar with them, I did, again, want to showcase a few more of the girls' fellow schoolmates in order to further diversify its overall atmosphere, and to also continually avoid simply creating my own fan-mutants, as it would personally take ME out of this created universe.

….Generally not a big fan of, well, fan-characters, although with very few exceptions, such as if they're simply filler and no one even realizes they are until outright told, etc.

Anyhow, within this chapter's specific case, choosing those three canon mutants fit for me, as I did want to have another Telekinetic mutant featured alongside Elyon, for example, yet purposefully not have them overshadow her own capabilities too much...even though Julian's pretty capable, himself, regularly.

But since this obviously an A.U. and each of the students are still teenagers/still learning, I sort of nerfed his abilities some...although the bit about his inability to readily use his powers if distracted, or suddenly being capable of going full on Piper Halliwell from 'Charmed' by exploding things if too pissed off I did keep. =)

And as for the twins, again, I'm still not super 'besties' with them, either, info wise, but I do know that they're capable of carrying other people around while flying with their super speed...just not as fast as they normally would if they were by themselves, I believe.

Sooo...yep, I was kinda right, as I looked them up again just now. They really don't travel any faster than 'sixty miles per hour' whenever with another person who isn't used to it, so as not to cause any sort of lasting harm.

Obviously still pretty fast, but yeah.

I'd tried to convey them flying not tremendously high off from the ground, as well, as they obviously tried to prevent suffocation and all those other 'goodies' for Cornelia and the others.

What else...oh, right. I'd also borrowed the overall design and layout of Bayville's now former amphitheater to that of 'St. Joseph's Amphitheater at Lakeview,' which is near Syracuse, New York.

While that one's massive, Bayville's, by comparison, for the sake of that entire scene...as well as the girls', and my sanity, was on a much, much smaller scale.

….But it doesn't even matter, anyway, because it's gone now, so there. LoL

At any rate, again, not sure anyone made it this far, but if you did, I TRULY hope you'd left a review, and enjoyed the chapter!

See you next year with the next one!)