"Baylee?!" Baylee started to climb through the sunroof but Ororo gave him a look and he climbed down and exited the car normally. "Miss me?"
"I'd be lying if I said no." We dap each other up, and Baylee grabs his things from the car's trunk. Ororo then walks up next to me. " Jomari, please go and show Baylee around. And as for you Logan go put on a shirt."
I nodded and I and Baylee went inside. "Wow, this place is huge."
"Yeah, you haven't even seen the half of it." We went up stairs so he could pick a room. "So is this actually a school?"
"Unfortunately I still haven't figured that out yet." We started to unpack his things and put them away. "So then, what do you do all day?"
"Oh you know, read textbooks, be a blue fuzzy man's lab rat, hang out with Scott and Jean." Baylee had put his underwear in a drawer. "Who are those two?"
"The other to students." I put air quotes around that as we left the room and started the tour. We were walking downstairs when the sound of thunder roared through the mansion. "Weird, could have sworn it was supposed to be clear sky today. Anyways this way to the multipurpose room." We entered the room and there was the usual pool table, arcade machine, and TV.
"Wow, this is something."
"Yeeeah, we're not working with much in fact the only reason we have that arcade machine is because of me." "Good thing I brought my PlayStation." I looked at him and fell to my knees.
"Oh my grayish god, how we are forever in your debt!"
"I know my child, think nothing of it rise as no longer are we stuck with garbage ass pool." I stood up. "I know Scott will be happy he hates that damn table. Let's rush over the next stuff so we can go downstairs."
Under the Mansion
"Woah…" Baylee looked around in awe, and honestly, I couldn't blame him. "Talk about advanced. How rich is Xavier?"
"To rich if he can also afford a jet and a landing bay."
"Wait, that big ass jet that we took home has a landing bay under here?"
"That is indeed what I said, now come on, let's go check out the danger room."
"Hate to be that guy, and I'm sure you said the same thing, but…"
"No, it's not actually dangerous, so stop bitching and come on." We walk to the door to the danger room, and I open it. "It's uh, very spacey."
"Yeah, if you think that's cool, check this out." I head to one of the control panels and type in a few things. "What are you doing?"
I hit enter, and several balls rise from the ground. "Uh, floating metal balls?"
Shink
"Ah, floating metal balls with spikes."
"Say, Baylee."
"Yeah?"
"How good are you at dodging ?"
"Don't you dare…" I did think about it, but ultimately dismissed the balls. "There will be plenty of time for me to see you run in fear from them, and I am a very patient man."
"R-Right, also now that I think about where are the X-Men?"
"Out on a mission." I led him out of the danger room to Mr. McCoy's lab. "And you didn't go with?"
"Nah."
"Why not?"
"Several reasons, not an experienced fighter, don't have a suit, not really a superhero type of guy, the list goes on and on."
"Uh, your ability makes you an experienced fighter, I'm sure you do have a suit, and Charles was just waiting for you to join them on a mission, and what do you mean you're not a superhero type of guy, you save a group of mutants from a kidnapped van."
"As in I'm not fighting for the same reasons you all are fighting, I've never faced mutant injustice."
"AH-"
"Let me finish, I've been a mutant 2 weeks tops, I don't have the same passion, the same burn for equality you all have."
"You are black, it shouldn't be too hard for you to understand." We stand outside 's office, and I knock. "Come in."
"Hey, Mr. McCoy, I'm here to introduce you to someone." Hank rolls around in his chair, a big ol' smile on his face. "Ah, Mr. Tannr, you're here earlier than expected."
"You knew he was coming?" I asked, and Charles probably told him. "Yes, Charles told me." Shocker.
"Actually, Jomari, shouldn't you be with Jean and Scott downtown?" Great, because I also need to hear about this from him. "I actually opted not to."
"Ah, well, that's fine. I wasn't expecting you to go anyway." Then why did you ask!
"Baylee, if you don't mind I'd like to run a few tests and a basic check-up."
"Of course."
"Splendid, Jomari, do you mind stepping out?" I threw up a peace sign and stepped out of the room.
I went upstairs and started playing the arcade machine. "Mr. Scott."
Looking over my shoulder, Ororo had come in. "Ma'am."
"The hinges of the front door are broken as if they were forcefully pushed through, and Logan claims you launched him through them." Right, I did do that. "I might have."
"Mmhm, and what possessed you to send Logan through the door?"
"He said something not nice about my mother, so I sent him through the door. And truthfully, if you hadn't shown up, I would have firmly planted my foot up his a-"
"Alright, I understand, I get you and Logan don't see eye to eye, but please refrain from damaging the school."
"I'm still not convinced this is an actual school."
"So you've mentioned." She left, and shortly, Baylee walked in. "Baylee, what happened to your finger?"
"I flicked a metal ball."
"And the ball broke your finger?" He sat and walked on the other side of me and pressed start on the player two side of the arcade. "No, I broke my finger and the ball."
"Sick…"
Later
The X-Jet lands, and Charles, Jean, and Scott exit. There was also a hooded figure behind him. I was in the kitchen with Baylee. "Making pancakes, baking bacon pancakes."
"Put a piece of bacon and put it in a pancake."
"Bacon pancakes, that's what I'm going to make-"
"BACON PANCAKESSSS~" As you can see, we are being very productive with our time.
"We're back!" We both look at the entrance of the kitchen. Scott and Jean come in and sit at the dinner table, Charles simply wheels himself in, and… wait, who is that?
"Ah, Mr. Tanner, it's good to see you made it safely. Actually, this is a perfect time to introduce both of our new members." He looked at the hooded figure. "Come on, remember this is a safe space."
We all turned to the hooded figure, it didn't move for a second, but then their three three-pronged hands reached up to the hood and pulled it back. "Um, hello, my name is Kurt Wagner."
"Is it bad that I was expecting like a kathulu type dude…"
"Jojo!"
"WHAT?" Baylee walked up to him and offered him a handshake. "Hi, Baylee Tanner, sorry about him, he can be, what's the word?"
"Sarcastic?"
"An ass." Well fuck you to you light skinned ass-hole. "No, it is fine. I was honestly expecting screams of terror."
"Kurt, we told you that nobody was going to freak out when they saw you," Jean spoke up, mentally floating a pancake and plate in front of her and Scott.
"Yeah, man, the professor helps all who need it," Scott said, Is it bad that I don't feel like I fit in this conversation.
"Thank you all very much. Also, I smell something burning." I do too… WAIT! "My pancakes!"
Later that night
"Alright, time for some midnight practice." Recently, my mutant ability has had a small update. It has added combo trials for me to do in exchange for things like exp and money. So that's what I've been doing, they're not very hard, simple attacks chained with a special.
Entity detected
That has also been happening a lot. Not sure what that means, but the system hasn't alerted me of any danger. Honestly, I would ask it to identify it for me, if I knew how to.
The entity has left
And just like that, it's gone. It's never here very long, and sometimes I get two of them in a row, with one leaving much later than the other one. I try not to worry about it, but that's easier said than done. "Menu."
Skill Tree
Settings
Iteams
Tutorial
Locked
Locked
I wanted to bring up the menu as it has confused me ever since I unlocked it. Ignoring the two locked spaces, two of the options are useless. Tutorial, while good for a recap, just tells me things I already know, and it hasn't gotten an update since I first unlocked it. And second, and by far the most useless, is settings. There's only one setting in there, and it's to turn off the tutorial.
Why does this bother me? Simple, I've been doing a lot of reading on the Mutants and what abilities they have had. And safe to say, I refuse to believe a single genetic difference has made this big of a change to me.
From what I've read, most mutant abilities are straightforward in understanding. Scott had his optic blast, which, by the way, I found out isn't heat vision but a concussive blast. It's a god damn punch beam!
Focus! Jean and Charles are telepaths, and Baylee, from what I can tell, has a stockpile mutation. But then there are the very rare cases of a secondary mutation, which, from what I can see, the only living proof of this is Mr. McCoy.
Turns out he wasn't always blue and hairy.
Which comes back to me. My ability is complex. Ignoring the system having multiple tabs and changing the way my body moves, period. It can also copy video game characters' moves perfectly.
And I get stronger the more things I do within it. Which means my body is purposely withholding strength from me. "Too many questions, not enough answers."
The Next Morning
"Professor, have you heard of color theory?" No, because whoever put blue and yellow together needs to get taken out back and shot… with a railgun.
"Seriously, what am I looking at?" See even Baylee thinks this is shit! " I swear it, like you both forget I can read minds."
I looked at Baylee, and he looked at me, then we looked back at him. "This is shit."
"Noted, know go try them on."
In my room, "Alrighty, let's see said the blind man." Starting with the pants, it was blue tights with a yellow streak running down the right leg. The shirt was a compression shirt without sleeves. It came with yellow boots and a yellow leather jacket with a red X on the back of it. Lastly, it came with blue gloves.
"Could be worse, but it needs a personal touch." I opened the menu and went to items, and brought out the red scarf. Wrapping it around my neck, I stepped out of my room.
New Tab Unlocked!: Preset
New outfit unlocked: Classic Blue and Yellow
A Prest tab, now that's worth looking into later. "Why did he choose now to give us our outfits?"
"I was thinking the same thing." Baylee stepped out of his room. He was wearing a mostly blue outfit. It was a tight blue shirt with the X symbol on the chest, his was yellow instead of red. He had on a blue baggy combat pants with yellow boots. Lastly, he had yellow bandages wrapped around his arms. "I can't tell if you're supposed to be an Americanized Rock Lee or Bruce Lee."
"That would be the same thing since Rock Lee is based on Bruce." The door next to Baylee's door opens. "Ah, it fits perfectly."
Kurt had come out in his outfit, with it being… red and black. "Baylee, are you seeing what I'm seeing?"
"Is it a load of bull-shit?"
"How'd you guess…" Kurt turned to us, smiling so pure he could put laughing babies to shame. "Hello, Friends!"
"Hiya Kurt!"
"Wassup."
"Wassup to you too!"
…
"You're not really familiar with slang, are you?"
"No, but I would love to learn it." Oh, bless his heart. "Question friends, do you know why the professor had us get up in our combat gear?"
Isn't that the question of the hour? "Sorry fuzzy buddy, no clue. I just assume he wanted us as his new runway models."
"Runway models?"
"Good god, Jojo, he's so pure," Baylee said. "I know, you know what that means."
"A blank slate."
"Wow, you both said that at the same time." Yes, we can make him one of us. "Say, Kurt, do you know what Video games are?"
"Not entirely, but Scott did show me this fun machine called an arcade machine!" Scott, you beautiful bastard! "Ah, you hear that, Baylee?"
"Kurt, we don't know what corner of the world you came from."
"Germany!"
"Cool, anyway, you, my friend, are in for the time of your life when you're with us."
"What do you mean?"
"Buddy, we don't know what kind of life you had before coming here. But trust we're about to make it over 9000 time better." Did he just? "Baylee, that was corny as hell…"
"Shh, don't listen to him, Kurt, there is so much fun to be had."
"Should I be worried?"
"Nope!"
"Children, please report to the danger room." The Professor's words echo in my head, and from the looks of it, not just mine either. "God, I hate when he does that."
"Alright, corrupt the furry boy later."
"What?"
"Shh, let's head downstairs," I said. Kurt perked up. "I could get us there faster!"
Baylee and I looked at him before he came up and grabbed both of our shoulders.
"What are you-"
POOF
"Doing?" Huh, wait, how did we?
"Ah, welcome, boys." Me and Baylee turned our attention to the Professor, who was wheeling up to us. "How? We were just upstairs!"
I can't blame Baylee for being confused because I'm so lost. "Um, Kurt, what was that?"
"Simple, I teleported us, convent, no?" Holy shit, that's sick as fuck.
"Boys, boys, admire your fellow man's gifts later." I don't know how but that sound suss as fuck.
"As our newest members, it is important to see where your physical capabilities measure. And so…"
NEW QUEST: The X-Trials!
· Prove to Xavier that you've got what it takes to be an X-Man by completing his three trials (0/3)
Reward: 35 EXP, New moves!
Oh fun, "We will be running three short tests, for the first one, a simple obstacle course."
The Danger Room began to change as pillars of many sizes began to rise, each with some having bridges connecting them, others with no normal means of reaching the top.
"I will be up there," Xavier pointed to the room at the top of the danger room. " I will simply be observing, I wish you all the best of luck." He wheeled him self out of the room and after a few minutes, out of the tallest pillar, a yellow ball rose up.
"Alright, boys, this one is simple. Use any means necessary to reach the ball. While physical performance is important, so is time. Reach the ball as fast as you can. You may begin."
I looked, how the hell was I supposed to get up there…
POOF
"HaHa! That was easy!" And Kurt just teleported himself to the finish, greeeeeat. "Well, Jojo, looks like we're taking the long way."
"Couldn't you just jump up there?"
"Not if I want to walk afterwards, who knows what the next two trials are?" He makes a great point, all of this, and for what, to be part of a team I didn't ask to be a part of.
"Alright, Baylee, he said any means, so we're going to have to work together."
"Thought that was obvious."
"SHUT- no, no time to bicker, let's get moving.
"Did you just gentle parent yourself?"
"I SAID LET'S GET MOVING!" We ran out of the first pillar, both jumping onto it. We made it up the next two before coming to a stop. "Alright, how exactly do you plan on getting us up there?"
"Great question." I don't have any moves in my kit that could get me up there besides the Shoryuken. Even though it might cover the vertical distance, the width would still be an issue.
Think, how could I cover the distance? Wait, let me try something. "I have an Idea."
"Great, let's hear it." I could tell him, or I could test to see if it works. Step one: Start the process of making the Hadouken, "Dude?"
"I was thinking that when I perform a move, I fall not only the frame data of it, but also the physics behind it. Meaning I have to stay stationary."
Step two: face the opposite direction of where I want to go. "But as you can see, I have the start-up of the move and can still freely move."
"Ok, what does that have to do with getting us up there?" Last step: Jump and fire! "Hadouken!" Using a medium strength Hadouken, and being airborne, I can use the forces to launch myself upwards. And with a bit of luck and a lot of praying.
"I can clear the gap!" and clear it I did, right over it… "SHIT!"
Reaching my hand out, I grab the ledge with all my strength before hitting the side of the pillar. "Thank god for grab ranges."
I pull myself up and look down at Baylee. "Jump, I'll catch you, promise."
Bayleen didn't even think twice before leaping. And keeping my promise, I grabbed his hand. "Whoa? It was like I got sucked in."
I pulled him up and we looked at the next tower. "Alright, B, the ball is just up there."
"You going to use that trick again?" Hell yeah, but I'm going to have to do it a bit differently. "Yes, but I need to punch up a bit."
…
…
"What?"
"Listen, I need to build some bar so I can use the EX version to get myself up there." It's quite simple.
"And you have to hit me?"
"Yeah :3"
"HELL NAH!"
"Wha- come on man, there's no other way up there."
"No, im not just going to-"
SLAP
"Shut yo monkey ass up and hold these hands!"
12 hits later…
"Ok, let's do this." My body flashes yellow as a huge ki ball forms in my hand.
"Stupid ass bitch as nigga…"
"Hmm, you said something?"
"I said, get your black ass up there!"
"Say less." Jumping and pulling off the same move I did earlier, I launched myself up on the tower. "Ah, took you long enough."
Oh, this blue furry jerk. "Well, not all of us can teleport, Kurt." I went to the side and held out my hand.
"Alright, Baylee, go ahead and jump. I'll catch you." Baylee took a few steps back before jumping, and once again, he vacuums into my hand. "Alright, up you go."
I pull his fat ass up and we touch the ball. "Great job, boys. Kurt, you cleared the course in a record-breaking one second. Jomari, Baylee, you cleared in 8 minutes and 52 seconds."
"Well, it could be worse. " That I could Jomari."
"Stop that!"
"Alright, time for the next trial." The pillars sank back into the ground. "This one is simple. It's a game of tag."
"Tag?" Baylee said clearly confused, and I'm right there with him because what? "Yes, one-on-one scrimmages. The first to tag the opponent wins."
"Easy enough. So, who goes first?"
"Excellent question, Jomari. First, we will have Kurt go against Baylee." Baylee perked up, and a smile spread across his face. "Alright, no hard feelings, Kurt, but I'm in it to win it!"
"Why of course, after all, I don't want you to be too upset when I win." They both stepped forward.
Oh, let me get out of dodge. "Alright, you may begin."
They started to circle each other. It's clear Baylee is at a disadvantage here, with Kurt being able to teleport.
POOF
Kurt disappeared, reappearing in front of Baylee. Kurt went for a bear hug-like motion, which Baylee just ducked under and poked his gut. "I win."
"What?"
"Dude, you had several places you could have teleported to, and you chose right in front of me. And then on top of that, you went for the most dramatic tag ever, in fact, Jojo, how many frames was that?"
"34!"
"Like, come on dude, need to make it a little less obvious." Kurt hung his head and started to walk to the side. "Hey man, don't let it get you down," I said, with a pat on the shoulder while passing him.
"Alright, Tanner, ready to lose?"
"You're a loser!"
"What?"
"You're a what!"
"I hate you…"
"You're a you!" And with that, I ran at him. "WAIT!" I came to a halt.
"The professor didn't say we could start yet."
I jump back. "You may begin."
This time, Baylee was the one who ran at me. He reached his hand out to touch me, but I moved around it. "You let your whole right side open!"
I went for his shoulder, but then he did something odd. He performed the splits. This caught me off guard as my hand reached out to the air in front of me. He went for my left ankle, but I brought my leg up in time to barely dodge it. Not even giving him the chance to get it right, I leaped a good distance away.
"Since when could you do that?" I said gently land on the ground. "Ever since I found out my power was a form of stockpiling. I treated it like an anime and figured I would have to train my physical body in order to handle my ability better. So I trained my ass off but I also decide to learn some calisthenics and gymnastics."
I watched as this man plant one hand on the ground and lift his whole body up and did some one handed pushups then pushing of the ground to land on his feet.
Whoa, turns out the jack-ass has some skill, color me impressed. "Alright then, this is going to be more challenging than I thought."
I started to walk towards him until we were face to face. In an instant I reached out to his face. I leaned back I transferred that momentum into a sweep which he jumped.
Now you air-borne nowhere to dodge.
I recovered from the sweep and reached out for his body, that was it, it's my win.
BOOM
"GAUGH!"
Wait, what happened? My chest hurts, I'm on the floor, were did Baylee go.
Up
Get up.
I picked myself up. I looked down at the ground as cracks spread a cross the floor starting from the me sized crater on the floor.
Worry about the floor later, where's- "Shit!"
Baylee was making a bee-line for me going into a full dive with both hands out. He's airborne, I could use the Shoruyken. No he's to close I'll get touched before I can get the move off the only option is to role!
And so I did just that and rolled out of the way of his dive. I need to catch my breath, it hard to breath. "What the hell was that?"
He stood up and dusted himself off. "I guessed your plan was to get me in the air so I couldn't dodge, so…"
He lifted up his hand to show me his broken ring finger. "I need to create space between us, so I did the only thing I could think of."
"Using the force of the flick to launch your self, clever."
"Yeah, sorry you had to be on the opposite end, but I knew you would be fine. I was more hoping you would be dazed enough to tag after it, but I was a bit late." So, where using powers, huh?
"Alright, wasn't aware we were using our mutant abilities, but two can play at that game." Standing up, I cough a bit and lift my shirt to make sure there's nothing horrible underneath. I then check my health to make sure that I didn't do any major damage. "Alright, all signals are green."
I started to lightly bounce on my toes.
…
..
.
[Hadokan!] I shot a light Hadokan and then sprinted right after it. Baylee braced him self as the attack got closer, he stepped to the left, and there I was, right there to meet him in a Mishima step. I can see the panic in his eyes as he starts to raise his hand to flick again.
And I'm sure he can see the shit eating grin I have on my face. "I'm faster than you!" My hand shoots out, and I clutch his hand as if it were in a flicking motion.
"That's enough. Jomari, you win this phase."
"The hell was that?" I watch as Baylee sat on his ass whining over his lose. "Try not to beat yourself over it. Mishima's step is the fastest move I have for up close, and it still gives me a lot of free movement. It was a gamble if you had decided to jump back in any direction, I would have been too far to close the gap with it, and I would have eaten another shot no doubt."
"But with that being said. A win is a win." I heard Baylee grumble something under is breath. "You two were amazing!"
"Thanks Kurt," Baylee said back to his cheery self. I can tell he's still upset though.
"Alright, let's move on to the final trial." A machine rises from the ground. "What is it?"
"Great question, Kurt. This is a simple punching machine. This trial is the easiest of the three. Simply hit the bag as hard as you can. You may start whenever."
"So who wants to go first?" Kurt perked up. "I wish to!"
"Go ahead, dude, she's all yours," Baylee said as Kurt walked up to the machine while rolling up his sleeve.
Kurt pulled his arm back and, with as much force as he could muster, punched the bag.
Beep 653 Beep
"That is good, no?"
"Better than what I thought it was going to be," Baylee said. I mean, look at him, he's practically skin and bones, and he's hitting that hard?
"I'll go next." I walked up to the machine.
What's the best way to go about this? The Shoruyken hit pretty hard, especially the EX. But I'm low on bar.
I look over at Baylee. "What?"
12 hits later
"I fucking hate you…" Alright, now to give it all I got. I stand in front of the machine and crouch down. In a flashing yellow light, I punch up, contacting the bag at an odd angle. The machine lifts up and then lands with a rumble.
Beep 8902 Beep
"Ah, what, I didn't hit the max?"
"Serves you right!"
"Put a sock in it, Tanner…" I walk past him as he walks up to the bag. "Alright, people. Let me show you how it's really done."
And with one swift motion, he punches the bag, completely destroys the machine, and sends it flying across the room."
"Woah, that was amazing!"
"Thank you Kurt, I try." Yeah, how about you show us your hand that you have placed behind your back, show off. I know you're about a couple of seconds from screaming in pain.
"Great job, boys, that wraps up our little experiment. You may return to your rooms. Oh, and Baylee, stop by Hank's office on your way there."
And now that's done, which means
QUEST COMPLETE: The X-Trials!
· Prove to Xavier that you've got what it takes to be an X-Man by completing his three trials (3/3)
Reward: 35 EXP, New moves!
New Move Unlocked!
New Move Unlocked!
New Move Unlocked!
15 Exp till next level
New Move: Double Jump
I'm sorry, how?
New Move: Burn Knuckle!
How good is your English?
New Move: Parry!
Filthy casual!
"Nice, welp people, this has been fun but I'm hungry and sweaty and one of you smells, ten bucks it's Baylee."
"Nuh-uh!"
"And that all but confirms it for me. I'm off to the shower, then the kitchen later."
"Bye Jomari!" Kurt waves bye before poofing out of there, and I step out of the danger room.
"3, 2, 1"
"AHHHHHHHHHH!"
"Like clockwork."