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| >> Campfire Creative >> Fiction >> Action/Adventure >> ID #1304460 |   |
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| [Introduction]
"Mutants live among us. They're in our streets, our businesses, and even our homes. Most look exactly like normal humans only with abilities that surpass human physiology. All mutants are dangers!" Senator Joe McCarthy droned on. "Here..." He picked up a sheet of paper. "...I have a list of 100 mutants in just NYC. There must be thousands of them in my country...in your country." The ambassadors of South Korea, Brazil, India, the United States, South Africa, and Russia were outraged! Many other countries were infuriated but lightly. England, Japan, and Chile didn't believe him. The two sides bickered. The entire press conference was in an uproar. I, being a mutant, knew that shocking report to be true. "They are here to conquer our world." McCarthy continued. "They plan on getting rid of all of mankind and replacing them with freaks of nature." This led to an even dispute amongst the ambassadors. I was enraged but held my tongue. As the ambassadors yelled, he started to read down the list. "A woman with superintelligence. She can probably cybernetically hack in the Pentagon's files and steal them. A boy who can shapeshift. Probably will shapeshift into a guard to take money from Madison Bank. What do we have here? A girl who can control other's minds. Prob..." "Sir, what do we do about this crisis?" The ambassador of Russia said. The yelling had dispelled itself. "Execution," was his reply. "I suggest we execute those found of mutancy on the charge of disrupting our gene pool. Anyone who rebels will be exiled off of every country on this planet, until they eventually die off." The yelling resumed, mostly aimed at McCarthy, himself. I was too angry to keep from talking. "McCarthy, you are a murderous idiot!" I screamed above the crowd. They all stopped to look at me. "First of all, depletion of all homozygous for the recessive allele of frameshift mutancy will not be successful, since that will leave those heterozygous for the allele and they can produce mutant offspring! Secondly, the only difference between Homo Sapiens and Homo Superior is the mutation! Thirdly, the execution of mutants is genocide!" "Then, Dr. Miller, what do you propose?" McCarthy smiled as if there was no other option. "We can work on a revolutionary procedure to cure them." I conceded since if I said that they leave mutants be, there would be more chaos. "I can start a mutant clinic here in New York. If it is a success, then you all can have one in your countries." "You have six months, Miller." McCarthy thought I would not succeed. "If they're not human by then, they all die." I shook his hand, making a deal with the devil. "Where will this clinic be?" Canada asked. "So that we can keep an eye on you. "I'll find a place." I grinned.
RULES: 1) Try not to copy each other's powers, but if you have to, do it. You can copy my powers though. And you can copy some powers like flight, martial arts, gymnastics, superstrength, and such. 2) Each person has to go through intense research with Marcus to find the extent of their powers. 3) I'm impatient so if you don't do anything within one week when its your turn, I'll skip you. If this behavior is persistant, I'll take over your character. This rule has no effect on anybody's first addition. 4) I'll fit two rules into one:a) Don't do anything for the major plot That's my job. And I promise you I have an idea for an antagonist but for later in the story. b)You can have up to two characters. 5) Keep it at PG-13. So not too much gore and no intercourse (which is the cleaner version of you know what). But romance is good. It improves the plot. 6) Email me with any comments, connundrums (or questions I just wanted to make it an alliteration), complaints, or compliments. I'm online almost everyday so I'll be happy to read and (if a question) reply. 7) I want this campfire to have a sort of "movie-plot" in which there are dynamic and static characters (For example, Ryan [Nightreach] will have to learn strength. Jillian Cassidy [PandorasBox- happy bday WDC] will learn to have faith in her powers. Laila [artistic :x: emo] will have to learn to be a part of a team/kindness.) 8) If you need to edit your addition or have some storyline to add to it, email me. If you can't find the time to write the addition, write a little bit and email me with the rest of it when you have time. 9) I will have some announcements on my latest addition(s). 10) Have fun with this!! 
|
 John  (Marcus)I stared into the small black box. The diamond atop the golden ring shimmered in the building's lighting. The Madison Bank franchise built a huge building that allowed paying tenants to set up their own small businesses. I took advantage of that and created a treatment center for those that were the product of human evolution. I told my patients that they had to remain quarantined in the facility for fear of the extent of their conditions. Even though I was one of my own patients, I planned to escape in the evening for some important matter. I was going to ask Karen to marry me. We've been together for an entire year. I was anxious as anyone would be. However right now, I had more important things to do. I had to test on my patients "superpowers" and see what they could do. I grabbed a pair of Latex-free gloves from the box and entered into the waiting room and saw impatient faces. While stretching out the edges of my gloves to get them to fit on my hands, I asked the question on everyone's mind: "Who's next?" artistic:x:emo (Laila)"Who's next?" the doctor asked, almost nervously. He's afraid that we'll all rush him in our haste to get diagnosed. I glanced around, deciding to step in before anyone else did. Nobody liked this situation, including me. Being quarantined is not my idea of fun. "Me," I said, following him into a poorly organized room. I wrinkled my nose and sat on the examination table, watching intently as Dr. Miller took out a clipboard and began to scribble on it. "What's your last name?" he asked, looking at me with his sharp brown eyes. I can see blue and green veins through his skin. "Don't have one," I answered, and took small revenge in his frown. "I've been wandering the streets too long for me to remember, Doc." "I see," he said, and I knew he wasn't happy with being stuck with me as the first patient. However... "Feeling happy about something underneath all that fear?" I asked nonchalantly. Even through his anxiety I could sense colors of happiness and love. I didn't miss the startled look on his face before he assumed a blank expression. "We're here for you, not me," was his only answer, and I smirked. I knew what he was hiding beneath all those layers of emotions. He was one of us. John (Marcus)"Laila, am I correct?" I asked. "Yes." My first patient answered. I took out an alcohol pad, pulled up her sleeve, and pricked her with a needle. I twisted off the sharp part of the needle and placed the other part onto a tray. "So, Laila, what anomalies have you experienced?" I asked. "By anomalies I mean..." "Yeah." Laila interrupted. "I know what you mean." She was awfully rude. " I have been able to control Shadow-energy." "Hmmm..." I was confused. "Interesting. You must have had to have much concetration to control this 'Shadow-energy'." "Yes." "I have a device that will help me understand what you can do. Let's try something known as the Ganzfield experiment. It is naturally used to reveal telepathy in a patient but it might work on you. It's when..." "...when my vision and audiotory environment has been compromised and you and I are in different rooms and I have to send telepathic messages to you." She interrupted again. I could not wait until this was over. So we started the experiment. I stood in the room we previously were in. She was in another. I waited for something to happen. When all of a sudden, my arm started floating into the air. I couldn't explain it! It was levitating. Soon my arm lifted my entire body off the floor. Then I realized something. I was going to collide with the facility's light. I tried to pull myself down but that didn't work. Right when I was about to hit the lightbulbs, they blacked out and I fell to the floor. What did Laila just do? artistic:x:emo (Laila)Oh, this is fun! It seems that I'm able to do more than expected... Whoops. I think I just dropped him. The lights have gone off as well, but I simply embrace the darkness and probe Dr. Miller. Shaken, but okay. Too bad. I wondered if I could get out of here. I had heard a distinct click after the door had closed; I wasn't going to bother trying to open it. After all, there was an air duct right above me... "Konnichiwa," I said as I leapt lightly from the air vent. Good thing I'm a bit smaller than most people. I let the Shadows flow around me, enabling me to make my way safely in the pitch black room. "Laila?" Dr. Miller asked, and bumped right into me. I growled. "Watch it, Doc. There can be strange things lurking in the dark," I whispered, feeling sadistic. Today wasn't going so bad after all. John (Marcus)"Laila?" I questioned into the deep darkness. Today was just getting worse and worse. I shouldn't have to feel my way around my own office. I wanted to get on to other patients. This Laila was pestering me. Then I bumped into a figure in the darkness. Grabbing a nearby flashlight, I flicked it on, but still couldn't see anything. (Jason) I was waiting for my appointment when all of a sudden the lights flickered. I wanted to head into the office and ask what happened. When all of a sudden, the lights came back on. However, I still headed toward the office. I immediately recognized my good old friend Marcus Miller with a Japanese woman. "Mr. Joseph?" Dr. Miller turned around. "I'm sorry for whatever happened. It won't occured again." "Call me Jason." I said. "Jason Joseph?" The dumb Miller started catching on. "You own Madison Bank?" artistic:x:emo (Laila)I watched with boredom as this Joseph guy talked with Doc. "You own Madison Bank?" Dr. Miller asked in disbelief. I watched curiously as Joseph began talking again. He was nice-looking. Didn't seem like my type, though. I could sense the greediness in him. "Yes. I know that you're one of the Bank's tenants for this building, and I just wanted to have a little chat with you about your work. In private?" I caught the hint and began walking away slowly. The two men took no more notice of me, so, smirking to myself, I slipped into the Shadows and followed them. John (Jason) As soon as Laila left, I turned to Miller. "It's an awkward experience. Isn't it? Finding out that your high school rival needs your help. I was always your better." "What?" Miller acted surprised but he knew. "You weren't better than me?" "I certainly was." I answered. "I beat you in athletics, academics, and even artisticness." "You never beat me in academics." Miller continued his idiotic babbling. " You cheated on me for every test." "Remember '88." I said. "I demolished you in the science fair." He was speechless. "And I still am your better. I own an international business. I'm raking in millions of dollars. And I never even got near to filing for bankruptcy." Marcus tried to ignore me. "Would the next patient please come in?" He asked. An unknown person stepped into the room. Nightreach (Ryan)Slowly, almost hesitantly, I stepped into the room. The room was a clean, sterilized room reeking of bleach, but nothing overly dangerous seemed to stand out. Two middle aged men stood in the center of the room, talking. One didn't seem to be too happy. Still feeling slightly akward, I said "Um.. Im next.. I think.." artistic:x:emo (Ryuu)"Would the next patient please come in?" I heard, and off I went, whistling. "Konnichiwa," I greeted, shoving my hands in my pockets. One of the men, Dr. Miller, I presumed, groaned. The other one with red hair I didn't recognize, and he smiled at me. "So, Ryuu," Dr. Miller started, plainly acting as though the red-headed man did not exist, "tell me about yourself." Oh, goody! "Well," I began, "I grew up in Japan, but moved here when I was ten. I love to play the guitar and listen to music. My favorite form to take is a dragon, although I haven't done that in quite awhile. People think I'm gay sometimes; it must be the hair. I don't really mind, because I'm not sure myself. Anyway--" John (Marcus)After I called for my next patient, I turned to find two of them. "I guess I could kill two birds with one stone." I smirked. I hoped this would end better than what happened with Laila. I asked one what his name was. "My name is Ryan." One said. "My name is Ryuu." The other said. "OK Ryan." I stated. "This may sting a bit." I prepared to give him an injection while asking Ryuu, my other patient about himself. "Well," Ryuu began, "I grew up in Japan, but moved here when I was ten. I love to play the guitar and listen to music. My favorite form to take is a dragon, although I haven't done that in quite awhile. People think I'm gay sometimes; it must be the hair. I don't really mind, because I'm not sure myself. Anyway--" "Excuse me." Jason said as though everyone had to stop what they were doing and be put on pause because he was leaving the room. I despise egocentric people. "Ryuu, you can continue." I said while pricking Ryan with a needle. Nightreach (Ryan)I looked up at Ryuu with a slight twinge as the needle pierced my arm. The pain caused me to recoil a little bit and a slight jolt of electricity flowed from the needle into Dr. Miller. He barely acknowledged the shock but commented, "Well, I can at least see what one of your powers is. Anyway, it looks like I have enough blood here. He held up my blood, which was a slightly greyish color. "This is a very interesting compostion here, Mr.Ryan." I nodded, quite aware of my body's differences. I looked to Ryuu. "So what is your power?" John (Marcus)I marveled at Ryan's grey blood. I was so in shock that instead of inspecting it at the end of the day. I inspected it right on the spot. I heard Ryuu and Ryan conversing but I didn't care to eavesdrop on them. I used my microscope to get a nanoscopic view of his blood sample. Naturally, blood contains four key ingredients: plasma, platelets, red blood cells, and white blood cells. However, some of his blood cells were painted grey. If not for their difference in shape, I would not have been able to tell his red blood cells from his white blood cells. There were small grey particles flowing through the blood stream. I turned around to Ryan. "Ryan, what can you do?" I asked in haste. "I can turn matter into titanium." He answered. I turned back to my microscope. I stared at Laila's blood specimen. They were slightly black. "I HAD MADE A SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY!" I blurted out loud in excitement. artistic:x:emo (Laila)"I HAVE MADE A SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY!" Dr. Miller shouted, but I didn't really care. I'd find out later. Right now, I was interested in those two boys... "So what's your power?" Ryan asked Ryuu. I paused to listen. "I can transform anything into anything I want," Ryuu said, grinning broadly. A Japanese... Ryan nodded. "That's cool. You said something about a dragon?" "Yeah," Ryuu said. "I've read enough books to know what a dragon looks like, so all I have to do is replicate it from memory. That's my favorite form to take." I stepped out of the Shadows and joined the two boys. Ryan's gray eyes pierced mine, but he wasn't surprised. Ryuu, however, was a different story. "GAH!" he squealed and pointed at me rudely. "Who are you and what are you doing here?" "Name's Laila. I'm stuck in the quarantine, just like you." (Ryuu) Stupid freaky-deaky girl just appeared out of nowhere. She scares me. Luckily, she begins to talk to Ryan instead, completely ignoring me. Rude, but I'm not complaining. She looks like she would kill me without a second thought. I should stay away from her. Good luck to Ryan. I turned to Dr. Miller. "What's your scientific dis-thingy again?" I asked. He looked really excited, so I hoped he'd forget about sticking me with that needle... Alicia Thomas (Joey) I walked in through the door, directions in my hand. My sister, Jami, followed timidly behind me. What met us was an empty waiting room. I called out loudly, half expecting my voice to echo back at me. Instead a girl immedietaly confronted me as if the lights had just turned her on. I let out a slight gasp, upset that I hadn't sensed her coming. She laughed harshly and I shut my open mouth. "I'm Laila. Follow me." She looked behind my at Jami and motioned to the both of us. We followed her into a door that neither of us had noticed before. Upon opening it, Laila herded us in and we were greeted by a man in a white lab coat. John (Marcus)I turned around to answer Ryuu's question. "I just discovered..." I saw more people in the room. "Laila, what are you doing here? And who might you two be?" I saw Laila with two other girls. "Hi." The taller one of the girls stated. "I'm Jami and this is my sister Joey." "Laila, can you please take these two into the waiting room?" I stated. "Anyway, Ryuu to answer your question, I've just discovered that everyone's blood sample shares trait that they themselves have. For example, Ryan can change anything into titanium and his blood is part titanium. Laila can control and create shadow-energy, and her blood cells are part black. And as for you..."I paused. "As for you, I need a sample." I wiped his arm with an alcohol pad. After taking his sample, I placed it under the microscope. Using the point of my needle, I tried picking it up out of the plasma, but it stretched from the plasma to the point of my needle. It stretched up to half a centimeter. "Ryuu, come with me." I said trying to recollect myself. "We have to test your powers." artistic:x:emo (Ryuu) "Owwie," I grimaced as Dr. Miller took a blood sample from me. I hate needles. Pointy and hurtful. But shiny. I like shiny. He wanted to test my powers, so I followed him into yet another room that was extremely sterilized and forbidding. I shuddered and faced Dr. Miller. "Okay. Let's see what you've got," he said and I pondered for a moment before changing into an exact clone of Dr. Miller. As I changed, I could feel a different sort of power lurking in my being, and I realized that I felt stronger. "That's interesting," Dr. Miller said pensively. "Can you also replicate the powers of the person or thing that you're imitating?" "I suppose. I'm you now, and...if I'm correct, you are an expert in martial arts. It feels like I can move faster, too." Dr. Miller studied me with sharp brown eyes. I felt nervous for some reason, and averted his gaze. "Turn back," he said finally. "I think I've figured out why I can't separate your blood cells from the plasma." (Laila) Hmph. I'm not his slave. Does he expect everyone to do what he says? I take the twins back anyway, and sit with them for a few minutes. I sense their awkwardness, but I don't feel like talking, so I'll just leave them alone. "So..." one began, after a quick glance at her sister. I turned my head and gave them a cool stare. "Yes?" They're scared of me. I have that effect on a lot of people. I kind of like it. The more solitude the better. "My name is Joey, and this is my sister, Jami," she said quickly. I raised a brow. "And I would care why?" I loved the look on their faces, and went on. "Oh, that's right. I don't care. I'm here to see what mischief I can cause, and that's about it." I stood, committing their faces and names to my memory for future use, and then I let the Darkness embrace me. "Whoa," Jami said as I began walking away, under the cover of Shadows. "She's creepy. Like a porcelain doll. Beautiful, but creepy." Nightreach (Ryan) And without a second glance, everyone in the room was gone. I stood up, slightly confused and wondering if my examination was over. However, I decided I had probably be cleared with Dr. Miller. I paced down the dark hallway that Ryuu and the Doctor had just entered, hoping to catch up to them quickly. The hallway was strangely empty and there were doors, all closed on either side. It was almost set up like a school. My curiosity getting the best of me, I peeked into one of the closed doors. I almost turned the door into titanium in shock. In the room, were nine or ten large white tubes, and there was a preserved body in each. What exactly was going on in this place? I proceeded in, after turning the door into titanium and molding it around me as a makeshift sort of armor. Suddenly, alarms blared all through out the building. Apparently this was a restricted zone, and no wonder. I ducked behind one of the tubes and waited, wanting to see who would come through the door first. To my surprise, it wasn't Dr. Miller. It was two burly guards armed with state of the arc weaponry. I could see their wicked looking plasma guns in the room's dim light and decided I didn't want those to be used against me. Focusing a current of electricity into the ground and then up through the metal on their uniforms, I quickly shocked their guns. Without a second thought, they had been dropped as the guards squealed out with pain. Then, just to make sure I stood up, morphed a piece of the tube in front of me to a titanium club and started foward. Just then Dr. Miller and Ryuu burst through the door. I looked up and grinned. "So, what exactly do you have going on here Miller?" I indicated the cryogenically preserved bodies. PandorasBox- alive n kickn (Jillian) I was waiting in the holding room, trying to avoid the eyes of the others in the room. It was taking so long for them to process all the people waiting, and with each passing minute the urge to run out the door was getting stronger and stronger. As though she was the one with the ability to mind read, Jaslene grasped my hand and whispered in my ear. "Patience, sis. This place could be the only chance you'll ever have of curing yourself". I took a deep breath and held onto Jaslene's hand tightly. For the chance of a cure I would stick it out, I would give anything for the chance to fit in and be normal. It was exhausting being able to read the thoughts of other people when I didn't want to and when I had no control over it. Not only were most people's minds crowded with mean and petty thoughts, but there were true horrors lurking in the minds of some. Suddenly I heard alarms going off, and sounds of a disturbance. Oh God, what the hell was going on now? (Jaslene) I looked around the holding room, wondering what interesting things the people around me could do. That little freckly redhead over there, maybe she was a shape shifter or perhaps even a pyrokinetic! I looked over at Jillian to see her eyeing off the exit doors, and grabbed her hand before she could run off. This was all for her anyway, I was just interested in why I was different and what my capabilities were. I reminded Jillian of why we were here, and she held my hand in a death grip. I felt sorry for her sometimes, she was such a timid little thing. She was so frightened of it all and yet she was so powerful, much more so than me. Who knew what her limits might be, I had seen her do unbelievable things in the heat of the moment. In the distance alarms began to sound, and I watched the corridor leading to the treatment rooms with interest. At last some excitement! §k¥lår*ñêvêr*§ïmþl¥ [I only have time for the bios right now because I have to leave for work, but feel free to incorporate them into the story, I don't mind.] Howard I don't even know why I'm here. I love my superpowers! I might as well leave, because this is just getting boring. Oh! Now I remember why I'm here! I'm here, because my family is afraid of my powers. It's not like I'm going to hurt anybody. Then, suddenly, an alarm went off. Finally, some action! John (Marcus)I and Ryuu burst through the door. Ryan looked up and grinned. "So, what exactly do you have going on here Miller?" I believe he indicated the cryogenically preserved bodies. "Ryan, I'm just desecting deceased bodies to visually study the cellular structure, and see what is wrong with each of my patients." I calmly answered. "I think he's lying, Ryan." Jason showed up. He has a habit of being there when bad things happen. "He's just a modern day Victor Frankenstein. Trying to use the bodies of seven men to create a monster to do his bidding." Before I could interrupt, he continued. "He just uses this clinic as an excuse to make you all apart of his experiment." "Really?" Ryan turned to me. "Ryan, I'll explain this later." I said. "Get out of there." "No!" He was firm. "Tell me if this is true!" "Ryan, I promise I'll explain everything. Just come back here." "No!" "RYAN!" I was furious. Then everything started to slow down. Oh great! I thought. artistic:x:emo (Ryuu) And we were having so much fun with the needles! Not. Dr. Miller had nearly taken another sample of my blood, but before he could stick me, an alarm went off. Apparently Dr. Miller knew just what to do, so I followed him through various corridors, wondering when the annoying alarm would shut up. I was barely paying attention to my surroundings, but I took notice when we arrived in a room full of dead bodies. My eyes widened and I 'eeped', pressing myself against the wall, as far from the bodies as I could get. Dr. Miller said that the bodies were there so he could study the cells and determine how they died...or something like that. I was too busy making sure that said bodies weren't staring at me with alien eyes. Oooh...I feel sick... Then that redhead guy showed up again. He was clearly enjoying this, but I couldn't see why. The stupid sirens are still going off and it's ANNOYING! "...Trying to use the bodies of seven men to create a monster to do his bidding. He just uses this clinic as an excuse to make you all apart of his experiment," I heard, and stared at the three guys arguing. "Using dead bodies? You're gross!" I blurted. They ignored me, and continued their spat. Apparently Ryan wanted to know what the dead bodies were for. Didn't Dr. Miller tell him? Suddenly I felt dizzy. (Laila) Porcelain doll. Feh. I eyed another pair of sisters coming in, and snorted. One said something about a cure, and my amusement grew. Like Dr. Miller really cared about helping us. He probably just wants to use us as lab rats so he can cure himself. Who cares if a few mutants die in his attempts? My pace quickened as my anger grew. Believe it or not, I want to keep my powers. I don't want to be used by some doctor who has no one in mind but himself. I despise that sort of people. Greedy, ambitious, and selfish, all in one. Screw them all! I thought savagely. I ignored the alarm that began wailing and began to do some deep thinking. Us so-called mutants could do some good in this world, if only the humans would let us. I mean, come on! There were, are, and most likely will be evil humans in this world that aren't mutants. Look at Hitler, for Darkness' sake! The one who thought up the whole idea of genocide. And they say in schools that students learn history to keep from making the same mistakes. What do you call killing off an entire race of mutants? The same thing you would call killing off an entire race of Jewish people. I do like the power that fear brings, but that doesn't mean that I use it for evil. I just like to have a bit of fun, that's all. I've never killed anyone (even though I could tell that the Japanese boy, Ryuu, had certainly labeled me as a murderer). I just wish that we, being mutants, would unite instead of flocking to hospitals, trying to find a "cure". There is no cure for this kind of mistake. Alicia Thomas Jami-I looked over at my sister and whispered inside her thoughts. She nodded and closed her eyes. A few seconds later two girls entered the waiting room. One was clearly frightned. I watched as they sat down and began observing the others in the room. They seemed interesting, but this isn't who we were looking for. I looked over at Joey and could see the sweat begin to bead on her forehead. I grabbed her hand to help her. Her eyes flicked open and I spoke the word that was in her mind. "Empath" When I said that, Joey sort of collapsed on to me and alarms started going off. I ignored them as I looked to the opening door and was met with dark blue eyes. They belonged to a short woman with long auburn curls. Behind her appeared a taller man with cold blue eyes and blondish hair. I looked back at the woman and she met my gaze with a smile. The name Shea came to my lips as she and her brother approached. This was the empath my sister and I had sensed. I would have stepped up to greet them, but my sister was just stirring. I turned my attention to Joey and saw her eyelids flutter a bit before opening all the way. "What's with the alarms?" She asked. I smiled, realizing she was alright. I nodded toward the woman who had sat across from us. Joey understood and sat up. "Hello...Shea." I spoke hesitantly, fearing the reaction the use of her name would bring. Instead of surprise or anger, Shea smiled and pointed to the man who sat beside her, "This is my brother, Jacob. I'm a 21 year old empath and he's a 24 year old-" Jacob elbowed her in the ribs and Shea stopped talking. I gave them a half smile, but before I could respond I heard shouting voices. I looked around in confusion, but no one else seemed to be hearing them. I realized I was overhearing an argument from far away. The words that were spoken gave me chills. What was going on? ************************************************** Joey- I was flipping through a magazine when my thoughts were interrupted by my sister. "Do you feel that?" she whispered inside my head. I had to keep from laughing. Whenever she spoke to me in my head it was like being tickled in a place I couldn't itch. At first I didn't know what she was talking about, but then I felt it. A small breeze that, as we noticed from experience, always proceeded someone important. I closed my eyes to furthur the sight into telling me who it was. Waves of color flashed across my vision. I heard voices and sounds as I traveled to the point of contact with the person. Suddenly I heard the door to the waiting room open. I knew it wasn't who we were waiting for, but I couldn't help but lose concentration due to the curiosity that I was known for. I re-focused and again saw waves of color and heard many sounds. I could still feel around me, but I needed to find this person. I barely felt Jami grab my hand before the vision of the Empath crossed my mind and blackness overcame me. §k¥lår*ñêvêr*§ïmþl¥ [Jacob]"Do you mind?" I raised an eyebrow at Shae, who was more interested in kong vaulting over a low cement bench than helping me find the stupid office building on the map. I hate maps. As I'm trying to re-fold the thing Shae snatches it from my hands, "Look dweeb, it'll be in the office district, right, so we're in the right spot. It's probably in that huge building, in one of those suites. Let's go find a directory." She tugged my arm and hauled off in one direction. "And don't let the map get to you." She shot over her shoulder. I scowled at her back. Sometimes having an empath for a sister was irritating. "I'm not frustrated." She didn't deign to reply. Inside, I located Dr. Miller's offices on a floor above us. With a sigh of apprehension I boarded the elevator with Shae. This whole thing had been Shae's idea, she was the one who discovered this place online or something. And it was just like her to drag me along wherever she went. Personally, I wouldn't have come on my own, I resent the sort of probing Shae would submit herself to. My need to understand things does not overwhelm my curiosity to the point where I must have answers, unlike Shae. Things are the way they are for reasons I don't care to comprehend. But alas, here I am, en route to the very answers I may not admit to myself are necessary. *** [Shae] Stepping into the waiting room I glance around and meet a curious stare. I felt a familiar fluttering that usually comes with most people with that sort of probing ability. But unlike most invasive and rude probing, this one just seemed to glance off whatever aura I must give out. I could see her recognize me for what I am before she spoke my name. I grinned and introduced us, mainly for Jacob's benefit since he wouldn't understand right away that she probably already knew who we both were. Jacob was looking curiously at the girl cradled in the other's lap, but was obviously listening enough to deliver an elbow to the ribs, "Jesus, what'd you do that for?" "I can speak for myself thank you." he replied with that cold look of his. "I was being friendly. If you'd lighten up a bit you might enjoy yourself in the company of others like us." This of course was met with silence, but I ignored him and turned to the girls, "What's wrong with her?" I asked furrowing my brow. The feeling coming of this person wasn't like anything I'd experienced before. I was wary to get too close or look too far into it for fear of what I might find, or be dragged into. "What? Oh sorry, I hear people arguing in another room, listen..." the girl walked to the closed door. Jacob grabbed my arm. "We're leaving." he growled in a low tone. I swatted his arm, "Jake, will you shut up a second?" I cast out feelers, for lack of a better term, to see what I could sense metaphysically. If it was anything too weird, I wouldn't mind Jacob's protectiveness. In fact, I would count on it, strong negativity effects me directly in a physical sense sometimes. After a moment I could deduce that we were in no danger, really. "I'm able to sense someone reassuring someone else's misconception. So whatever the second guy was thinking, it wasn't completely true. If that helps any." I said taking a seat and flipping open a magazine. The shouting had ceased moments ago and I felt the tension slide out of the room gradually. Jacob sat next to me and crossed his arms. No doubt he wanted to be here even less now. Bully for him, it's for his own good. I just wish someone would have the decency to show up and fill us in on what the heck is going on. Howard (Lucas)I sat there tapping my fingers against my knees. A Japanese girl starting walking around the room looking for something to do. She stepped on my foot purposely (I believe). "Hey!" I said. " Watch where you're going! You stepped on my foot!" Then she smiled as if to try to annoy me and stepped on my foot again. THAT'S IT! I threw a punch at her which threw her across the room. Then, I stood still waiting for her next move. Juan A. B. I stepped into Dr. Miller's office, because my powers were enough reason for me to be prejudiced. There was a bunch of commotion. I sat at a chair with four of my other clones Then all of a sudden, a man in a white lab coat came out and said "I may need someone of your assistance." I collected my clones and followed him. John (Marcus)I led the young man into my office. He was pretty short. I was intent on honing his abilities in order to quicken things up. "So what's your name?" I asked. "I'm Greg." He answer as I prepared my needle. I had special plans for him. However, first I had to give him his check-up. I struck him with a needle. His face started to contort in discomfort. "So what can you do?" I asked him as he recoiled from the needle. "I can make up to 4 exact clones of myself." He plainly stated. "Can you make replicas of other people?" I questioned. "I never tried that." He thought for a second. "But maybe I could." He started to close his eyes and concentrate. Veins started to bulge out of his head. Then all of a sudden, a wave of color flew from outside his body. An exact replica of me appeared. He continued to make more of them. Until there were six people in the room. "Thank you Greg." I smiled. Turning to my clones, now lets go empty out the waiting room." (For those who have characters who haven't had their appointments yet, their appointments will be scheduled at your next addition. I intend on getting to the main story as soon as possible.) artistic:x:emo (Laila) That annoying, over muscled boy picked the wrong time to screw with me. The first time I stepped on him had been an accident. The second time...well. He had actually managed to hit me on the corner of my mouth, and I didn't bother to wipe away the blood running down my chin. I rose slowly, locking my hard gray eyes on his brown ones. He's going to pay. The smirk on his face serves as fuel for me to draw on the Shadows. The superior look on his face fades as he realizes just what he's gotten himself into. "H-hey!" he stammered, backing away as I began to stalk towards him. "No harm meant! You know how these darn muscles can be! Only meant to give you a bit of a slap, you know! Like...like friendly, right? Right?!?" "Wrong on all counts, victim," I hissed, letting the Darkness enfold me completely in its embrace. His eyes widened, and I began to laugh. I suppose sometimes I can be evil. What can I say? It suits me so very well. There'll be time for unity later. I ignored the gasps and yells that filled the waiting area, focusing entirely on my victim. I drew in a deep breath and unleashed the Shadows and Darkness within me, weaving them in a way to invade his mind and spirit. Soon, he was completely under my control. I let tendrils of the Shadows tighten its hold on his being, and relished his shocked scream, tilting my head back as my power filled my to the core of my soul. My victim fell to the floor and began to shake violently. Then I let loose all hell. (Ryuu) The alarms stopped after the redheaded man and Dr. Miller left. I was alone with Ryan, who was examining the dead bodies intently. Summoning up what little courage I possessed, I made myself walk to his side. "So...do you really believe him?" I asked, my heart hammering. All these dead bodies are freaking me out...I need to talk about something to get my mind off them. Ryan glanced at me, his sharp gray eyes calculating. "I'm not sure," he said finally, dropping his gaze to what looked like a female body. "There's a lot of things I don't know, but I intend to find out just what, exactly, Dr. Miller is planning for us. I was talking with Laila about it, and she agrees." "Laila? That other Japanese who looks like she could murder anyone at any time?" I asked, with a slight shudder. Ryan chuckled. "Yes, I suppose. She's probably just got a fiery temper. Anyway, me and her have actually figured out ways to investigate what's going on around here. She's got photographic memory, you see, and she can go around unnoticed. I've got the brute strength in my titanium abilities if she needs it, as well as intelligence." Ryan turned to face me directly, and the look on his face was intense. "Have you ever thought about what our purpose as mutants are, Ryuu?" he asked. I averted my eyes to the floor, a little put off by his seriousness. I suppose I was taking too long to answer, because before I knew it, I was rushing after him as he walked away. "Think about it. And maybe you can help Laila and I. We're going to need every bit of help we can get, even if she doesn't like the idea." Alicia Thomas Jami-I sensed a disturbance, but I wasn't able to tell what it was until Laila flew across the room. Picking herself up, Laila stormed back towards the man sitting down grinning. Laila nearly immersed herself in a sort of darkness. I watched in horror as Laila controlled the dark around her and began torturing the man who hit her. His face contorted in pain and he began to pass out. I flew out of my seat, feeling the anger rise in me. Pushing Laila down, I transformed a few chairs into a shield separating the two. With the darkness gone from him, the man curled up into the fetal position and closed his eyes. "What the hell are you doing Laila?" I yelled as she fought against my shield. "You could have killed him. This isn't the time to fight. We're different and we need each other. We need to stick together!" Laila rolled her eyes, "I don't need anyone." she huffed. "Yes you do, we all do! Get yourself off whatever high pedestal you've put yourself on and come back to earth!" I screamed at her. She was making me so livid. I didn't understand her need to be so evil and coniving. Maybe that was the problem. We needed each other, but everyone had a different story. Who knew what everyone had gone through. As I thought about this, Joey rushed over to help the man and Laila dissapeared into her darkness. Just in case, I surrounded the man, Joey and myself completely, using a few more chairs in the process. The man was sitting up now and appeared to be fine. "Thank you." He whispered looking up at me. "No problem." I strained. The shield was using all my energy. I didn't know how long I would be able to keep it up. Shea and Jacob sat together looking at us. Everyone else in the room had pretty much gone back to what they were doing before. I closed my eyes and tried to sense Laila. If she was in the room, she was hiding it well. I lowered my arms, and converted the shield back into chairs. As I did this, a second man in a white lab coat came through the door and pointed to Joey and I. "You two are next." I looked over at the other man. whose name turned out to be Lucas. He seemed okay, so Joey and I walked into the back room with the man. "Since there are so many patience right now, Dr. Miller called me in to help out. All I'm going to do is draw blood, then I'll lead you to your quarters." The man spoke Since he didn't mention anything about our powers, I wondered if perhaps he wasn't informed of what we were. I decided to keep my mouth shut about it and whispered through my sister's thoughts to do the same. She laughed out loud and the man turned around to look at us. We both smiled innocently as he led us into a room. Joey and I both sat on the bed simultaneously (sp) and waited for the man to draw blood. "If you don't mind, can you count as I look away and then prick me randomely while you're counting." I asked shakily. I had a major thing against needles. When I was younger, I would just start crying at the sight or thought of a needle. Even now I could feel a lump forming in my throat. Joey squeezed my hand, as I turned away from the man. "One, two, three, four, five, six-" At the start of saying six, he jabbed the needle in my arm. I grimaced and held onto Joey's hand tightly. He sucked up some blood, removed the needle and placed it in a bag. "What's your name?" He asked "Jami" I replied not bothering to offer a last name. He looked up expectantly after righting it down (incorrectly) on the bag. "Whittikre." I finished as he also incorrectly spelled that too. After setting the bag with my blood down on a table. He followed the same procedure with my sister. After he finished labeling our samples of blood, he led us out the door and down the corridor. We went through numerous doors and hallways; none were labeled for escape. Finally, we reached a door that was labeled Twins 1. I assumed this was ours. He handed us a key to the door and left without a word. I sighed, and opened the door to our cage. PandorasBox- alive n kickn (Jaslene)We were led to our holding cell, then after having some blood taken we were finally left alone to take in our new surroundings. The little room we now inhabited was spartan and sterile, the only furntiture two small metal framed beds that were covered in white hospital linens, facing a small tv bolted to a metal table. The walls were bare, the dull blue grey paint peeling in several places. Opening a door just beyond the bed I had claimed, I discovered a small nondescript bsthroom, tiled in white with the expected amenities. The smell of the room brought to mind a hospital, the air was thick with a sharp biting antiseptic. I closed the door and sat on my bed facing my sister. We looked at one another for a long time without speaking, our eyes doing the talking in that way that twins have that others will never be able to understand. I knew that Jillian was afraid, as much of the other mutants as of what she might discover here about herself. As I finally opened my mouth to speak, the door to our room opened, and we looked up expectantly. Would we finally get some answers or would we just be left with more questions? JoeStrong (Oscar) "It looks creepy," I announced, peering out at the skyline through the entrance way of the diner. "Do you think so too? It looks shabby and I'm SURE those windows are pretty dusty. And this is the place they want you to be SLEEPING tonight." I turned to my companion, squinting to see her smile more clearly through my dark glasses--a necessity, sadly; albinos burn easily. Faith leaned over the table to look where I was looking, smiled and looked down at her last remaining bagel. When she realized exactly what it was, and how she had just spent a quarter hour in the john throwing up one just like it during her latest onset of morning sickness, she passed the bagel to me and instead tapped the letter she had recieved not a week ago: "Dear Miss Crane, You, your unborn child and a partner of your choice are cordially invited to participate in a revolutionary treatment/experiment at our state-of-the-art science center and maternity ward. Please come to: Madison Bank Building, Times Square, 2nd floor, 5th office on the right. Have a good day and good health, sincerely, Dr. Marcus Miller." "It is... about as small as I had thought, that's for sure," she said. "But it doesn't seem so bad. Besides, we could just go home now and sit around all week at my house, with nothing to do and nothing on TV, or at your house, with nothing to do and crappy daytime TV to watch on TV. Where's the harm in it?" I stared at her. "Oh, come on, Faith! You and I both know what this is REALLY about. it's not about the baby--well, in a sense it kind of is." She nodded, slowly, with a sigh and glanced down at her already-growing belly, well-hidden under the giant folds of her ridiculously out-of-season winter coat. For a few minutes she didn't say anything. Finally; "Even if that's true, what's the worst that could happen. I mean, we know what to expect. We've- well, we haven't really actually gotten to really USE our abilities yet in combat, but we've got some good practice--and we've seen all the movies about people with superpowers." She smiled at the thought. "The Incredibles is the best one." I shook my head. "Nope. Scanners is." "Whatever. Look, if it makes you feel any better, you should know I already brought along several weapons." Faith was foremost an artist, but when you have a beyond-genius IQ it's only natural that you should feel the need to tinker around with inventions some of the time. If my guess was correct, there were several home-made bombs in her pocketbook, each no larger than a teacup; the pockets of her heavy winter coat were rigged to drop either marbles or thumbtacks, depending on... something; and her cellphone had been rigged like a tazer. Leonardo Da Vinci had nothing on this woman. "Look," she continued. "I was skeptical earlier, too, but the bottom line is: this is our first and only chance to meet more people like us. Haven't you ever wondered if there was a grander purpose to us having super powers, like some unspeakable evil we were chosen to battle." "You know, for some whose supposed to be a super-genius, you get a lot of your ideas from movies and comic books." She gazed at me expectantly. It was her "Awww, come on" face, and she knew I could never say no to it. "Oh, come on, Haw-haw." 'Haw-haw' was her pet name for me. it was a ridiculous name, but I liked it because whenever she said it that meant she was happy. "Ohhh... fine!" I sighed. "I hope something horrible doesn't happen. I could never forgive myself if something happened to you. Or the baby." I reached over to help her out of her chair, kissing her very delicately on the forehead as I did so. "Oh, I know. You're so good to me." She smile once more, and then walked out into the sunlight. I braced myself for another sunburn and walked out after her. There was no denying that I would follow Faith to the ends of the earth. And the funny thing was she--the supergenius--didn't even realize I still loved her so much. When we walked up to the front of the building there was a man leaning against the wall in a business suit, with red hair and blue eyes, who watched us with interest as we entered the building. A thin whisp of smoke and a tiny orange flame rose up out of his cupped hands as we walked past him; the funny thing was, I didn't see any sort of cigarette in those hands. When we knocked on the door, I was expecting the worst. it wasn't that bad. A bald black guy was sitting in one corner of the room, glaring at a slender, sneering Japanese girl in the opposite corner. Also sitting at various seats in the waiting room was a boy and girl sitting next to each other, and two girls sitting close by each other. Faith moved to take her coat off for the first time that day since putting it on, so quickly I intervened and helped her out of it. Then, since the waiting room was plenty dark already, I took my sunglasses off. The Japanese girl looked up with a malicious smile, "Well well, what have we now? A pregnant woman and an albino boy?" I pretended not to notice her. (Faith) As soon as we entered the room all four girls stood up and began looking in our direction. The Japanese girl called something out to Oscar and, silently, he looked down, but I saw the faces of the other girls, who were scanning us quietly and earnestly. They didn't appear perplexed or confused; their faces were blank, as if they were simply staring for no reason. I realized with a start that, according to logic, they all must have been clairvoyant or empathic in some way. I had never met anyone with ESP before. Well, i thought, let them scan me if they must, I have nothing to hide. I took a seat next to Oscar and smiled at the red-haired girl, who was looking with particular wonderment at my pregnant belly. I held out my hand to her. "Nice to meet you. I'm Faith." She shook her head, as if I had interrupted her psychic trance and snapped her back to reality, and then she shook my hand with equal warmth. "Pleased to meet you. I'm Shae." "Um, excuse me?" said the brown-haired girl, obviously struggling with a question she didn't know how to ask. "Is your baby, by any chance, a--?" At that moment a man in a white lab coat came in. When he saw me and realized I was three months expecting, he seemed very pleased. He came over immediately and shook my hand. "Ms. Crane?" "Hi." "Hello, I'm Dr. Miller. I'm very pleased you could come." "Thanks, doctor. This is my boyf... uh, my friend, Oscar Hawthorne." He put out a hand slowly. "Charmed." Oops. I must have embarrassed him. He seemed to falter for a moment when I had begun to say "boyfriend" and then changed my mind. "Very nice," said Dr. Miller, who was clearly more interested in me than my faithful albino chaperone. "Well, welcome, Ms. Crane. We have very high hopes for you... and that child. Could you just confirm for me... will the child have powers as well?" This is, presumably, the same question the other girls had wanted to know. Now that someone had actually used the word, I saw no reason to deny it. "Yes." "Excellent. Why don't you come this way, please? We just have to do a few tests--blood-drawing, sonograms--and then I'll show you to your bed in the... uh, maternity ward. Oh, no, Mr. Hawthorne, you wait here." Oscar, who had just realized he couldn't come with me, sat down again slowly. As I walked out of the room, I heard the Japanese girl ask him in a mocking tone, "So, were you bitten by a radioactive dove or something?" Slowly, softly, Oscar began to hum the music to Beethoven's Ode to Joy. He only hummed that music when he was nervous. Howard (Lucas)I didn't know what I was thinking. I think I could have beaten up that Japanese girl. But she was so freaky. I didn't know what to think. There were a bunch of new people in the room. Two girls with dark brown hair rescued me from the onslaught of that Japanese girl. They were kind. I was about to be knocked out. I never knew people so sweet and generous. They helped me through my hard time. I underestimated that Japanese girl. Even though that she freaked me out, I had to admit her powers were kind of cool. However, I had to have a rematch and settle the score. I knew the next time I would win! Lord Raith (Silas)Silas stepped into the building, the sky casting an eerie reddish glow to the white structure. He found his way to the waiting room, and sat down. Juan A. B. (Quad)I went over to that over muscled dude and patted him on the back. "It's OK." I smiled. He turned around and scowled at me. I decided to walk away. I didn't know what to do. I knew where my room was, but I didn't like staying in one place for a very long time. I liked to explore. Then, someone tapped me on the back. It was a redheaded man. "I want to talk to you." he said walking away. I decided to follow. John (Jason)I led the young man outside of the office. "I have formulated a plan." I put on a serious look. "I am willing to expose the monster that Dr. Miller really is. With me are Ryan Ketnis [the brown haired gray eyed kid] and that Japanese girl." "Huh?" He put on a questionable look. "Dr. Marcus Miller has a secret plot to use you all to become perfect weapons of mass destruction and destroy us all. He wil then take over the world. I allowed him into my Bank building with no knowledge of this conspiracy. Wait...what's your name?" "Greg." He answered. "OK." I continued. "Greg, you, I, and the other revolutionists will start an attack on Miller and his slaves. We will start in ten minutes to prepare. I'll try to rally up more troops. We're fighting the good fight. Stick with us!" [artistic:x:emo] (I did not write any of the following -John) (Laila) What is it with people taking over the world? I thought dryly as I recalled the redheaded man's words. Dr. Miller was, apparently, just like every other villain from the classic comics. Bent on "WORRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRLD DOMINATION!". I sighed and paced in my room, which was blessedly devoid of any living creatures. I'm expecting Ryan to come, so we can discuss at length (and in private) the conversation that had taken place between me, Ryan, and Jason Joseph. Revolutionaries was a good word; however, I wondered just how this whole arrangement was going to work out. After all, we had barely planned, skimming over the details in favor of a general outline of the rebellion. I do not find that sensible. Details are, after all, my strong suit. As a perfectionist, I'm a perfect bearer of the Shadows. Now if only Jason hadn't told me to stop antagonizing the other mutants. Boredness, after all, was best cured by action. I suppose my type of "action" was not compatible with others' natures...or tempers. (Ryuu) I hate sneaking. I'm so afraid that I'll get caught that I can stay stationary for hours...although it's not that hard, when you're posing as a desk or some such thing. I knew I shared my room with Laila, so the second she walked in, I transformed into a pillow. I so don't want to face her wrath right now. I saw the little fight between her and some other guy whose foot she'd stepped on, and I don't wish to be terrorized like that. Laila's so...cold. It's like she doesn't care about anyone but herself...and yet, as I lay on the bed, I watch her, and it's like she's a totally different person. Her face isn't hard and stony; rather, it's a soft, contemplating look that totally transforms her features. She's really quite pretty when she's not being mean. Maybe she isn't so bad after all... The door opens, and Laila's head snaps to face the door, and I watch as Ryan steps in, looking a little disoriented. He flops onto the bed, and, consequentially, onto me. I squeak and find myself turning back into a human. When I stand up, rather nervous, Laila glares at me, and I try to keep from quivering. "What in Darkness' name are you doing here?" she hisses, and I flinch. Ryan sighs. "Ryuu, I really wish you had just come up to me and told me you wanted to be a part of it." Laila looks at him sharply, and I twist my hands together. "What? Don't tell me this twit is in on it too!" she nearly spits, and Ryan looks at her calmly. "We need everyone we can get. Besides, he's useful. Jason is recruiting others anyway; I don't see why we can't. He's not bad, Laila. Just a little...out there." "Out there? He's a ditz!" she exclaims. Both of them are ignoring me now, and I fidget as they continue their argument. I can be a ditz; I certainly wouldn't argue her about that. Actually, I wouldn't argue with her at all... "He's not a ditz! Just give him a chance! Do you want to help the cause or not?" Ryan asks, his eyes blazing. Laila's ice gray eyes probe mine, and she finally shrugs, waving a hand dismissively. "Fine. But if he dies, I'm not going to mourn him," she says, and my mouth drops open. "Don't worry," Ryan says, and I look at him for reassurance. "I wouldn't ask you to mourn him." JoeStrong (Oscar)I sat in the waiting room for several minutes, alternately humming to myself, tapping my feet, or simply trying to focus on my own breathing. I couldn't help it. I was nervous. I get nervous a lot when I'm alone, in strange places, with people I don't know. Besides, I was worried about Faith. The waiting room was small, and dark. I had sunglasses, if necessary, to protect my sensitive eyes from bright lamps, but if I wore them in here they would just blind me. After a while, the Japanese girl got tired of making fun of me for being an albino and left. A few other people left, too; soon the only people in the waiting room were me, the black guy, a new person who just came in, and the boy and girl that Faith had been talking to. It seemed to me that I might not be so nervous if I just talked to someone, so I sat down a little closer to the girl, since she was the only one whose name I knew. "Um... Shae?" She turned to face me. Good. So I hadn't gotten her name wrong. "Do you have... um... are you..." She already knew what I was going to ask. "Oh, yes. We all have powers. I'm an empath." "Wow. Well, nice to meet you." I was genuinely impressed. I had never met any kind of clairvoyant before. "Nice to meet you too," Shae responded. "And don't worry about your friend. I can feel her in the next room and she's fine. But, my goodness, her mind is enormous!" I nodded absently, focusing mainly on the first part of that statement. "I certainly hope she's fine." I said, half to myself. "The sooner I get to see her, the better." (Faith) Dr. Miller spent about ten minutes with me in his office. First he gave me a sonogram, during which time he declared the baby to be perfectly healthy, although there was no way to tell what kind of powers it would have. Then he gave me the usual intelligence tests--riddles, puzzles, algebra problems, etc--to test the level of my heightened intelligence. When he didn't have anymore left for me to solve, he excused himself for a minute and left the room. After about five minutes, he came back. "Well, Faith, your power of super-intelligence seems very impressive. I was just wondering, you said you had brought with you some weapons of your own invention?" I nodded, suddenly noticing something. "Well, may I borrow one, just to examine it?" he asked. Slowly I reached into my coat pocket, took out a pen and gave it to him. Scrutinizing the pen carefully, he left the room, leaving me all alone in the cold doctor's office. I was beginning to get scared. I knew that when Dr. Miller had come back into the room that last time, it wasn't really Dr. Marcus. He looked exactly like him, and anybody else would have been fooled, but I had already memorized his distinct demeanor, mannerisms and facial tics, and this person didn't have any of those. It was a shapeshifter. I had given him an ordinary pen, but I wasn't sure how long it would distract him. Silently I tiptoed over to the closed doors, put my ear against the door, and listened. There were two voices talking outside: "I disguised myself as Dr. Miller, like you said, and I went in there and talked to Ms. Crane." "And?" "She gave me this pen, which she says she modified to be a weapon. I'd love to know what it does." "Good. hold onto it." "By the way, what should we do with her?" "Keep her distracted. She's pregnant with another superpowered being, and I want to know more about it. It could be Dr. Miller's ultimate weapon, in which case I want us to get a hold of it first." Panicked, I grabbed my coat and headed towards the back exit as silently as I could! My baby was in danger! I swung open the door and started running through the hall. I had to get back to the waiting room, where Oscar was. Howard (Truck)I sat in the waiting room with the albino man, those siblings and that new girl who I had a bad feeling about. She seemed like she had a short-fuse. Anyways, that panicked pregnant woman entered the room again. She was screaming. I was reading a Sports Illustrated magazine but I eavedropped from time to time. "My baby...weapon...doctor...clone...leave!" She was trying to catch her breath. The man barely understood what she was saying because she was out of air. I personally thought she was crazy. What was her power anyway? I bet it's not superintellect. "Lucas Wilson." Dr. Miller called. So we went through a coupla' tests like a blood test and a questionaire about me. Then, we went for the hard part. He led me into the elevator onto the second floor. That was the gym. After lifting the wimpy 500 pound weight for a few hundred times, I had to fly out the window and come back. He pierced me with an inquisitive glance as he wrote down some stuff 'bout me. Finally, it was over. He led me to my room. However, the room was not empty inside was a redheaded little man who smiled. A devious smile. Lord Raith Needless to say, the albino and the pregnant woman left in a hurry, and the big black man, whose name was Lucas Wilson was called in. I twiddled my thumbs for a minute, until I saw a shadow in the corner of the waiting room move. Now that's strange. I was halfway to the corner when the doctor came in and announced my name."Silas Donell?" He look confused for a moment as he looked at me, then said,"Come with me please." We walked through a few hallways to a room with a high table in it, like a doctor's office. "Sit here." He said, still walking to the other side of the room and picking up a clipboard, among other things. "So, Silas."he began, trying to sound friendly,"What's your power?" "Bones, Doc." I said and held out my arm. It turned pale and then enlarged, and then hardened, and dulled in color. He rapped his knuckles on it and wrote something down on a piece of paper. "Can you do this with your entire body?" "Yes. But it'll rip my clothes." "I see. Is this,"he tapped my bony arm again"all you can do?" I took this a bit offensively, so I lengthed my finger and the fingernail until it almost touched him and his white lab coat. He jumped back in surprise, and look at me as though I was a child who just did something naughty. "No." "Hmph. Quite." he said smartly, then took the needle off the counter. He stuck my arm and pulled out some blood, of course not before my arm changed back to normal. He placed it into a tube, and it supersized the sample,showing the individual cells of blood. "Hmm. It seems that your mutation has enlarged your cells, causing them to become expandable, and also enabling you to carry marrow in your bloodstream without side affects. The mutation has also allowed you secrete a substance which hardens that marrow, creating new bone tissue and allowing you to change your body shape and add an exoskeleton." He quickly jotted a few notes down and said, "This way please." We walked to a gym, where we tested my strength, which the doctor found was higher than a normal human's. A few more tests and then he plunked me in a room all by myself, by backpack on the dull bed. "Please wait here until the testing has been completed." He quickly walked out, still scribbling notes. I walked over to my pack, hooked up my laptop, and jumped onto the internet. Writing.com was my favorite site. Juan A. B. I quivered over my bed. I wanted some action. I accepted the redheaded man's offer but we weren't doing anything so far. He said we just needed ten minutes to prepare and we were taking forever. Finally, three people entered into the room. Two were Japanese. One was Caucasian. They said they wanted to talk. But about what? John (This addition is kind of long)(Marcus) It was 8:15 pm. Everyone had better be asleep. I checked each of the rooms to see who was awake. I opened the door to Greg's room, and he, Laila, and Ryuu were talking. I opened the door to Silas's room. He was sprawled over his computer. "Go to bed!" I smiled as he turned around. He flicked the lights off. I closed the door and the lights came back on so I gave up. I reached into my pocket and found the beautiful black box. I had to escape! The security of this floor was not very complex and none of them considered me a mutant though I was. So getting outside was a breeze. Since along with the quarantine cars were banned. I had to walk to the restaurant with my brown leather bag. After five minutes of walking, I passed by an electronics store and inside the front window were televisions with channels on the news. "WXSN News! Always what you need to hear!" They boomed. I decided to stop and see what was on. They had a report about a boy who saved an old man's life and another about a man named James Howlett who attacked police officers yesterday. Finally, the important information came! "In other news,..." The co-anchor began. "Dr. Marcus Miller has completed one day of his mutant treatment clinic which is not going very well. Anti-mutant activists are currently outside of city hall demanding that those mutants be exterminated. Miller has yet to be questioned about his abrupt actions." People around starting glancing up at me realizing a familiarity. I casually escaped into an alleyway. Suddenly, three silhouettes appeared on the open end of the alley. "Hey, there's that mutant traitor!" One shouted. " Let's teach him not to try n' fix us mutants." They all charged toward me. Of course, my adrenaline started pumping and I raced out of there without my superspeed and they couldn't catch up. Finally, the sign of Tony's Bistro came into view. After entering inside and talking to the maitre'd. I sat down. Karen sat down. She was beautiful. Her golden hair glistened in the light. Her green eyes glanced up at me with interest. She had a brilliant tan. She was in a gorgeous black dress. I wondered how a skinny, pale scientist like me could get something like that. "I have something to say!" We stated at each other in unison. "You can go first!" I smiled. "Marcus, you're nice and all." Uh-oh! "But you are never interested in me!" Before, I could retort, she continued. "You always have your nose stuck in a book. You started this research facility without telling me and give me that bag." She grabbed my bag and flipped through it. Inside were books entitled Biomechanics, Chemistry, and Nuclear Radiation, books for the research facility. "That's it. We're through!" I sat there as she left angrily. As I trudged back to the Bank building heartbroken, I noticed something. Activists were rushing inside with pitchforks, knives, torches, and guns screaming "KILL THE MUTANTS!" artistic:x:emo (Laila)I studied Greg. He was very quiet; not much interesting about him. Skinny, for sure though. Maybe more so than me. "So...what's the plan?" Ryuu asked. I pulled my eyes from Greg, annoyed. "We have been over it about five times already, you-" I was cut off by Ryan, who gave me a look. I bit my lip in irritation. "Look, Ryuu. It's simple. All we have to do is-" "I KNOW what we have to do!" Ryuu burst out. My mouth dropped open. "What I don't get is who, exactly, we're fighting! For all we know, Jason could be leading us on! How many mutants are against Miller, for that matter? We don't know! There are people who aren't mutants that want to kill us, Miller apparently wants to use us, and nobody knows who's on what side!" Ryuu finished, his chest heaving. I stared at him, shocked. Who knew that this twit's little brain could juggle so many ideas at once? Valid points, as well. Was Miller going to come at us with a group of his slaves if we didn't do what he said? I narrowed my eyes and glanced at Ryan. "Uhh..." Greg started, his eyes downcast. I noticed that his cheeks were pink, and his hands were shaking slightly. Did it really take so much courage to talk? "I hear...I hear screaming outside," he said finally, and I realized he was right. I'd been ignoring it in favor of the conversation. Screams, and what sounded like crashes. I jumped up and ran to the door, heedless of Ryan's cries. "Laila! We need to stay together! If there's something going on..." The rest was lost to me as I was drawn to the fight. I heard him pounding behind me, still shouting, but I slipped into the Shadows and move quicker, eager to get to the commotion. I arrived in the waiting room...or what was left of it. Small fires burned everywhere, and I could see bodies lying lifelessly on the floor. My eyes were drawn to a woman standing in the middle of the room, screaming. "HELP! MY BABY!" she shrieked, and suddenly I saw, with horrifying clarity, a man who was running up to stab her. Moving fast and lashing out with the Darkness, I attacked the man with vicious ease, watching the life drain out of him with something that felt like satisfaction. I turned to the woman, who was pregnant, and instantly recognized her as the one who had come in with the albino. Faith. "Faith, right?" I asked, keeping my voice low and calm. She looked nearly hysterical. "My baby! Oscar! I have to protect them!" she cried, her green eyes shiny with tears. Gritting my teeth, I grasped her gently by the arm, letting my gray eyes scan the room quickly before I led her out. Trouble was coming our way. I could hear more shouts and screaming, as well as gunshots. I glanced at Faith, whose lips were pressed together tightly; probably to keep from whimpering. I took a breath and infused my Shadows into her consciousness, watching her body slowly relax and her eyes close. Within seconds, I was half-carrying her down the hall, back to the room. Standing at the doorway, Ryan glared at me. "You were stupid!" he hissed. I gave him a sharp look and nearly stumbled as Faith shifted. Catching her deftly, wary of the huge bump that was her stomach, I answered. "At least I know what's going on. I saw signs of a mob in the waiting room. Mutants are being attacked by angry citizens who have no power, save for fear. We need to gather up all the mutants we can and get out." Ryan's eyes pierced mine, and I held his gaze for a long while. Finally, he spoke. "You know, if you're willing to save others, maybe you're not as cold as people think." I simply looked at him, ignoring the faint moans issuing from Faith's mouth. "Perhaps there is more to the darkness in you," he continued, and I had to keep from shuddering. His eyes, an even harder gray than mine, bore straight into my own, and I found I couldn't take it anymore. "That," I said, struggling for words in this awkward moment, "...is a story for another time and another where, Ryan." JoeStrong (Faith)All I could think of was getting out of that building as fast as humanly possible. Oscar was more than willing to go along with that, never having really wanted to come in the first place. We ran for a long time, never thinking to rest, before he stopped me abruptly. "What happened?" he asked. I told him. It was beginning to get dark and the sky was turning dark grey. Oscar's pink eyes flicked thoughtfully as he pondered my words. "We should go back." he said thoughtfully. "What?! Why?" He shrugged. "I know, it doesn't really feel logical. But I'm mad as hell at whoever that was who wanted the baby." He paused to rethink his position. "If that doctor's office is a trap, at least we should warn the other patients--Faith? Why are you crying?" "I don't know! I just--I feel so scared! I've never felt so scared before! I'm so sorry, I can't help it." I tried to turn away from him, but he wouldn't let me. I felt so humiliated. Pregnancy was playing with my mind, making me so emotional--me, the super-genius! Gently, Oscar wiped the tears away, and gave me a napkin to blow my nose. "You know what? You should stay here, I'll just go back and warn them, then we'll go home." "No," I tried to stand up as straight as I could. "You're right. We should go. I'll--I'll be fine." "Don't be silly, Faith. How would you be able to protect yourself if they try to recapture you?" "We'll take that police van," I motioned. Oscar's eyes went wide. "That?! Hello no! Do you want to go to jail ?! The policemen are right there!" He pointed to the officers, sitting in a cafe. "How would you even do it, anyway? Even you don't know how to hotwire cars!" I grinned at him. He sighed. "Don't tell me--you can, can't you? Well, I'm still not risking it!" Suddenly the policeman's radio squawked to life: "Calling all officers, The Madison Building is being attacked by rioters. Calling all officers!" The two officers looked at each other. "Should we help?" One asked. The other laughed. "Naw, screw those mutant freaks!" Oscar looked back to me. "I'll drive," he said. "No, I will." "Fair enough. Let's go." (Oscar) We were only supposed to be going back to the Madison Building for a second. Just long enough to warn the others. But the arrival of the angry mob had really made matters worse. "{i/}Pitchforks?!" I said. It was almost too ridiculous. "This is the city! Where the hell does anyone get pitchforks from?" "Oscar, just forget about it!" said Faith as she parked the police van. "We need to get up to the doctor's office before the rioters and warn everyone!" Sadly, it didn't work out that way. We leapt up the stairs as fast as we could--not very fast, considering Faith and her unborn baby--but the mob was right behind us. We had barely arrived in the waiting room before someone tossed a Molotov cocktail in and the room burst into flames. The mob appeared right behind us, and they had blood in their eyes. People in the crowd were being trampled as everyone rushed to get inside. And since there were no others in the waiting room, Faith and I were automatically their first targets. "Kill those two!" yelled someone, and others picked the chant up. Faith was beginning to panic again. She was a very strong-willed woman and hated being vulnerable, and normally she kept her cool during danger, but after three months of pregnancy she was beginning to experience the emotional instability and frequent mood swings that came with her expanding belly. However, she had enough self-control left to trigger her coat, which dropped dozens of marbles onto the floor. In a matter of minutes the first rioters were slipping, falling and tripping all over themselves. Not wanting to put her in danger, I turned to her. "Quick, Faith, give me your cellphone!" She handed it to me. "Now run, babe. I'll handle this!" And, with one quick kiss on her cheek, I pushed her backwards--gently, but as far as possible--before the crowd surged outwards and completely swarmed over me. Unfortunately, Faith stood there screaming, and didn't run. Even more unfortunately, Faith had rigged her cellphone to shoot electricity, but I couldn't figure out how to work the damn thing. Instead, I used my powers to go unnoticed among the crowd. Amid the screams and yells that filled the room, I vaguely heard Faith screaming for help, and then, miraculously, being rescued. I tried to push my way towards her, but there was so little space that I could hardly do it. Finally, I made it out of the crowd and ran towards the back room, where I had heard Faith going. She was there, as well as three other people, including the Japanese girl from earlier. Faith looked up and brightened when she saw me. "There's Oscar!" The Japanese woman corrected her. "Faith, that's not your friend. That's a black man. Your friend was an albino." On that note, I changed the pigment of my skin again, returning to my familiar light skin and pink eyes and losing the disguise that I had adopted. "That," I told her, "is the same mistake the rioters made." "That's all you can do?" asked the Japanese girl. "And why the hell did you abandon your girlfriend and your baby?" "I never said it was all I could do. She's not my girlfriend, she's my friend, and I don't know if it's my baby--not that it matters. And I was trying to buy her time to run, for your information. Not that she would have ever been in danger if we hadn't come back here, at our own risk, to warn you guys," I paused. "But... thanks for saving her, I guess. How is she?" "She's pretty scared. She's hysterical, actually." I looked at Faith. She didn't look hysterical. On the contrary, she looked like she was concentrating on something very hard. She was sitting in a corner with her eyes closed and her fists clenched. "Are you okay?" asked a Japanese guy. "Yes! No! I don't know! Aaarrghh--I'm so confused!" Faith took a deep breath, tried to be calm and opened her eyes. "Damn it, I can do better than this! Those idiots out there in that mob made me panic! They made me helpless when I needed my wits most!" "Speaking of the mob, they're coming this way now," said the Japanese girl. "They have us cornered in here." Faith smacked the wall with one hand. "Okay, I I need to think. I've had a weak moment, but no more! I can get us out of here... I've got it! The fire escape!" "Oh yeah! There was a fire escape!" I recalled, now, seeing the building right before we had first come in. "How the hell do we get to the fire escape?" asked the third man (the only one of the three who wasn't Japanese). "Just because you saw it outside the building doesn't mean we know where it is from the inside!" Faith chuckled. "Listen, I have super intelligence. That includes photographic memory and superior mathematical calculations! I remember where the fire escape was on the outside of the building, and I can figure out which way to get there on the inside! Just follow me, everyone!" She sure enjoyed showing off. She jumped out of the room and ran for it. The three looked doubtful, but when they saw me following her instantly, they shrugged and ran to catch up. We went through several rooms, gathering up all the others--the empathic girls I had met earlier, the twins, a Native American man and the black guy. But as we moved to leave the black man's room someone blocked our way: the red-haired man I had seen sitting in front of the building when Faith and I first came in. "All of you come with me," he said sternly. "I'll lead you to safety, but you have to do exactly as I say!" Faith's eyes widened. "I recognize your voice!" she said. "You're the man I heard talking behind the closed door. You're the man who wanted to steal my baby!" "She's lying!" the man yelled. "Don't listen to her!" I was willing immediately to take Faith's word over this guy's, but the others didn't look so sure. I tossed Faith her cellphone so she would have a weapon, and tensed myself in case a fight broke out. I could hear the rioters moving around outside the room. They sounded closer than ever... Howard (Howard)The albino man and the pregnant woman entered into my room. "Hurry up!' They cried. "A mob's coming." I turned off every light in my room. I joined them. They also got the empath twins, and the Native American. Thn, the redheaded man blocked our way. "C'mon." The red headed man said. "We're all on the same side! Follow me!" "NO!" The pregnant woman said. The mob was closing in. Finally, the red headed man spread fire all over the floor with his hand. That was his power! Soon, everyone followed him, even the pregnant woman did reluctantly. We made it to a nearby fire escape and climbed down. Later, we were all safe outside of the building, but that didn't stop the mob, who surrounded us. "We are gonna have to fight our way out!" The red headed man cried tackling an activist. Lord Raith Silas was rushed out of his room and led out of the complex by a red-haired man followed by other mutants. They had seemed to escaped the mob when they had surrounded them at the back door."We're gonna have to fight our way out!" The red-haired man shouted and tackled one of the men. Silas hardened his skin instantly, forming bony armor plates, and charged. He shouldered one guy, then swung his arm outward, sending a man flying. Somebody shot him, and the bone armor splintered. He quickly reformed the indentation and added a semi-liquid layer of bone beneath it. Another shot impact on his chest, and he quickly hardened the bone mesh, the outer bone layer splintering into that instead. Now Silas had a way to stop bullets. They repeatedly clubbed him down with planks and poles and tools, and Silas finally realized that they were going to kill him. They tried to kill him, so he would kill back. A large man with a bushy beard swung a large plank at him, and he took the attack on his shoulder. He sprouted spines, and the plank stuck. He swiped his arm out, disarming the man, and plunged a spike that shot out from his arm into the man stomach. He did this to a few others as he saw the rest of the mutants fight. They were going to win. Juan A. B. (Quads)I was left in the room alone.Those three left in search of the cause of the noise. Dr. Miller came to the door. His lab coat was half-torn. His hair was messed up. His tie was askew. His clothing was wrinkled. "GREG! GET OUT OF HERE!" He screamed out of breath. "THEY'RE BLOODTHIRSTY!" Then, he took off running in a huge blur of colors. Who's they? I thought. I had to get out of there. I saw a huge group of people I think were mutants. There was the red-headed man, the Japanese girl and boy, the Caucasian boy with green eyes, two sets of twins, a Native American, an African American, a pregnant woman, and an albino man. I chose to follow them. Finally we got out of the building and were surrounded by humans. They carried weapons and walked toward us. That's who was bloodthristy. Immediately, we were all pitted into battle against them. John (Jason)"We are gonna have to fight our way out!" I cried tackling an activist. He stayed down. A smart move. I slapped another activist lower chest, thus hurling him toward a wall. That's enhanced strength for you! I constantly threw fireballs into the air. I was a walking fiery massacre! Turning toward everyone else, they were fighting also. I wasn't alone. Though they saw my ideas as radical, they didn't leave me alone. *** (Marcus) I raced out of the building at my supersonic speed to escape the mob. I hoped everyone else was coming out! But they were following me. Finally, time came for everyone to engage in battle. I wasn't going to. I only attack after being attacked. A man started to shoot at me with his gun. Reverting to superspeed, I dodged and caught every bullet launched at me. I then lunged for the man and knocked him out. Another man tried to singe me with his flamethrower. Still in superspeed, I dodged it and broke his weapon in half with a single blow, since momentum was on my side. My arm was built up of immense mass (let's say about 100 grams) and I was moving at velocities of about 75 mph (faster than any cheetah). Thus, the equation of momentum produced to that effect is v(velocity) x m(mass). The variables are replaced with the statistics to convert the equation into 75 x 100 = 7500 as my momentum. Therefore, I have superstrength not because of how much I can lift but by the hardness of my blows. (Sorry, I like to explain stuff. Dr. Miller isn't the only eggheaded one!) Later on, Laila, Ryan, and I stood together in the midst of the fighting. We were like sitting ducks on a hunting ground. "Hey muties!" A woman screamed at us. "C'mere!" Though she talked to the three of us, only Laila answered the call. After some martial arts fighting, Laila knocked the woman to the grounds. "You freaks aren't the only ones with powers." The woman stood up and rapidly grew to 12 feet, towering above the three of us. artistic:x:emo (Laila) Just when I thought I'd gotten a break. Idiotic woman and her giant-ness. I snarled, baring my canines as I watched the woman grow to over twelve feet tall. Bigger isn't always better, and I was going to prove it. "FILTHY HYPOCRITE!" I shouted, with not a small amount of glee. Finally, I could antagonize someone and not be hated by all these others who called themselves mutants. "YOU'RE MORE OF A 'MUTIE' THAN WE ARE! TALK ABOUT A FREAK SHOW, MISS CIRCUS GIANTESS!" The woman roared; the pure volume of her voice caused the ground to tremble. She stomped towards me, and I took off running, away from Marcus and the ditz. I shook my head mentally as I corrected myself. Ryuu wasn't that much of a ditz; I had known less intelligent people. At least he was Japanese, like me. That certainly upped his status a bit. "I'M COMING TO KILL YOU, YOU WRETCHED ALIEN OF A GIRL! FOREIGN SCUM!" What? Foreign scum? What kind of bull was that? My blood began to boil as I stopped running, facing her head on and summoning the Darkness. It shrouded me, and I embraced the Shadows within my entire being, letting it sink into my soul like air. I could feel it now, pulsing through my veins, alongside my blood. I began to laugh, a deep-throated, terrifying sound that momentarily shocked the towering woman. I knew my eyes were now entirely black, even though I could see even clearer than normal. "WHAT ARE YOU, SOME SORT OF DEMON?" she screamed at me, the fear in her voice unmistakable. I smirked, enjoying myself thoroughly. "I could be," I answered, and with an evil intent, I hurled my Dark energy at her with blazing rapidity and accuracy. Big as she was, she could not dodge all my attacks, and fell to her knees with a thundering crash. When she started shrinking back to her normal size, I quickly drew closer and mercilessly probed her mind with the Shadows, ignoring the shrieks and screams that escaped her mouth as I pushed harder into her brain, searching for the one point that would give me complete control over her. A sudden rush of energy filled me, and I knew I'd found it. Breathing heavily, I made her rise, noting with satisfaction the deadened look in her eyes and the way her body moved sloppily. I now had my own puppet. (Ryuu) Remind me to never, ever, ever under ANY circumstances cross Laila. My eyes were wide with shock as Laila fought with such intensity and rage with her...Darkness? That's what she had called it anyway. She was certainly dark, I mused. After all, she had to be in order to control a power like that. My reverie was broken as a screaming, hysterical man came running at me with a pitchfork. I had just enough time to transform into a dove, and I rapidly beat my wings and rose into the air to avoid him. The man looked confused for a second, but then he looked up and spotted me. Letting out a frenzied yell, he began jumping up and down, stabbing the pitchfork wildly in the air in an attempt to hurt me. The hilarity of the scene struck me, and I nearly transformed into a human again as my concentration slipped. I tried to imagine what we must look like: a crazed man hopping mad with a pitchfork, trying to stab a human-turned-bird. This time my concentration fell away entirely, and I fell to the ground as I transformed, choking with laughter. "WHAT IN DARKNESS' NAME ARE YOU DOING?!?" Laila screamed, and I looked up just in time to roll away as the man tried to stab me again. A loud crack caught my attention, and it took me a few moments to realize that Laila had knocked the man unconscious. "Fucking ditz," she muttered disgustedly, tossing away the stick she had used to hit the man. I stood slowly, still repressing laughter. My throat choked up again, this time in fear, as I saw the previously giant woman trailing after Laila, her blue eyes blank and her limbs dragging on the ground. Never, ever cross Laila. Nightreach (Ryan)I saw the giantess suddenly begin to rise again, her limbs contorted and her eyes blank. She looked like a small child who has just woken up, still between the world of dreams and the world of reality. Then I saw Laila, her eyes as black as coal, her body tense with anger and a withheld brutality. She was controlling the giantess with her shadow powers I knew, using her for a grim marionette with the powers of strength she lacked. I ran towards her. "Laila! Let her go." My words and the way I spoke them demanded authority. But Laila was not easily swayed. When she turned around, her eyes were still blazing, deep-seated passion and battle-lust running through her soul. "I think not. She's mine now. And I will use her as I see fit." I blinked. Could she not see how this was wrong? You couldn't just control someone for your own cause, no matter the circumstances. I stepped foward. "Its wrong Laila. She is not a toy. She may be ignorant, but she is still a living person. Fight your own battles." Laila's eyes ignited again and she started foward, her long, ardent stride reminding me of a predator with an obvious target. "And what are you going to do to stop me, metal boy? I could kill you quicker than you could say 'dead'." I stopped moving and looked her dead in the eyes. I knew she was correct. My powers were limited, untrained. Hers were vast, probably the most powerful of any mutant I had ever met. But something in me made me keep stepping foward. Somehow, I was sure that she wouldn't harm me. "You could, but I know you won't. You're a good person." I looked away, thinking, and then turned back again. "I know what your power does to your mentality, but you can fight it. I'll help you fight it. Let the giantess go. Even if it wasn't wrong, you still don't need her. I'm as strong as she is or stronger. I'll be your physical strength." The dark passion in her eyes abated a little and I extended my hand. It was quivering slightly, all but unnoticable. I was scared. I was completely dead if my trust was unfounded. But then again, I just didn't think so. I could tell there was alot more to Laila than what met the eyes. PandorasBox- alive n kickn (Jaslene)It's amazing how quickly everything can go haywire, one minute we were sitting on the bed in our room arguing about the tv show we were watching, the next we were plunged into violence and insanity. We had been arguing steadily, out of pure boredom, for about half an hour. We had not been tested, we had not received any answers, the only other person that came to our door was just another bookish type in a lab coat taking down more details. Suddenly we heard noises coming from outside the facility, and the sight that met our eyes when we looked out the windows left us speechless. A mob had congregated outside the building, they were waving torches and weapons, and they were screaming for mutant blood to be spilled. Jillian’s eyes had taken on that haunted cast that they always had when she knew she was going to be forced to use her powers. I grabbed her shaking hands and forced her to meet my steely gaze. How long was I going to have to push her to do what was needed? “We have no choice, Jillie. It’s them or us here, we’re going to have to use our powers to get us out of this mess and you are just going to have to deal with it. Your powers are greater than mine, and there are too many of them for me to be effective. Our lives are in your hands, sis”. (Jillian) I wrenched my hands away from my sisters grasp and moved over to the window. I could feel such hate out there, such senseless and ignorant hate. They were afraid too, underneath all that blind anger I could feel an even greater reservoir of fear. “Not like us”, their minds whispered to me, “dangerous, different, unknown, kill them before they kill us, before they pollute our gene pool, before they change things”. I closed my eyes for a moment, saddened by the stupidity of it all and feeling Jaslene’s impatient regard on me I turned to face her. “I will get us out of here. I will do what I have to”, I said, “I know you get frustrated with me, but you don’t understand. I’m not afraid of my powers, I am afraid of myself. I’m afraid of what will happen if I use these powers too much, it gets easier and easier each time I do it, and each time I feel them grow just a little bit more. I can’t sense any limits to them, Jas, for all I know there are none”. I moved towards the door, not daring to look at her, not wanting to see how she reacted to my words. I peered round the corner, and let my mind float freely, trying to find anything that could help us escape. Intense emotions swamped my mind, fear, rage, and a strange sense of something I could only describe as pure darkness. I struggled to separate the disjointed thoughts that flickered through my mind, and then I found it. One of the other mutants had an escape plan. ‘There’s a fire escape, it’s not far from us, some of the others are already on their way to it. But it’s going to put us right out into the worst of it, Jas, we won’t be able to get through it on our own.” “I want to try something,” she said, “I can’t just sit and wait, if this works then maybe we can hold them off until the others get there. I’ve had this idea kicking around in my head for a long time, and I’ve been itching to try it out. I want you to take my hand, and concentrate. We are different than normal siblings; we share a deeper bond, a special connection, in spite of everything. I want to see if maybe we can tap into that. I think we can link our minds, make ourselves stronger.” “What do I do?” I asked. “Instead of trying to read my thoughts, reach for me with your mind, try and mesh our thoughts, I’m not really sure how it might work, just try and feel your way through it.” I closed my eyes again, and took my sister’s hands in mine. Took a deep breath and focused on Jaslene. I had never really gone into my sister’s mind, I picked up on her emotions, but I’d never searched for her thoughts before. I plunged myself into her brain, feeling her wince a little at the invasion. She opened herself to me, and I knew her completely, and she knew me. There were no barriers between us anymore, and we were closer than any other humans had ever been. I felt her courage and her great heart; I was enveloped in her love for me. I felt myself sinking into her very essence, and there seemed to be a resounding echo when we merged into each other. When I opened my eyes a fierce pain gripped my skull and my vision blurred. It ebbed away when my brain managed to assimilate what it was seeing. I saw through my eyes, but I also saw through hers at the same time. I felt for my power and reeled at what I felt there, it seemed to have grown beyond measure. Jaslene’s talents had also grown, together we were a force to be reckoned with. As one we walked out the door and in the direction of the fire escape. JoeStrong (Oscar)I was ready when the mob attacked. I had been building up my strength and now my powers were at their peak. I fought hard. And I single-handedly defeated the entire mob, and saved everyone else. YAY! No, not really. That didn't actually happen. Yeah, like I could use my powers to defeat an entrie mob. MY only power is the ability to change my $%#&@^/!!! skin/hair color. Well, actually no, that wasn't true. I actually had two other, much greater abilities. But I wasn't going to use those unless I absolutely had to. I had a feeling that later on--if we survived this mob--I might need a hidden trump card. Still, my color-changing power came in handy. When the mob first saw me, I was an albino, so they figured that the enemy was an albino guy. So, I kept changing my color, making me white one minute, black the next, etc. This allowed me to move more easily through the crowd. It looked like this: one minute, the mob is heading in way way to attack the albino. The next minute, the albino has mysteriously disappeared but a black guy has joined the center of the crowd. Then, a tan guy attacks one of the crowd members and runs for it, but, before the crowd can find him, the albino appears again in a different place and the whole thing starts over again. Hence, I led a whole bunch of attackers on a merry wild goose chase, and even got to physically attack some of them. The first person I actually knocked out was holding an axe. I had changed my skin to look Brazilian, like my mom, so he thought that I was another rioter. I'm not that good at physical combat, but I've read enough comics to know where to strike. I punched him right in the face and, thankfully, he went down, dropping his axe, which I scooped up. I used the flat side of the axe to fight from then on, and even got another weapon in the bargain, one better suited to me: a megaphone. My primary goal in the fight was to keep myself and Faith alive. But Faith was doing great on her own. I heard her, from behind me, yelling at her attackers, goading them on. "Hey, come and get me, you murderous slut!" This insult she directed at a woman holding a cleaver, and it worked. The woman got real pissed and charged Faith. She came right towards her. That was a bad move. "Booyah!" Faith pulled out her cellphone and activated the hidden tazer. A blast of lightning pumped into the woman's body and floored her in a moment. Faith then jumped back and tazed another attacker. My god! She was doing better than me! Unfortunately, she wasn't being careful enough. As I watched, someone came up behind her, pointing a pistol directly at her back. She hadn't realized he was there, so it was up to me. Rage bubbled up inside me, rage that these people would kill an innocent pregnant woman and her unborn child, to say nothing of all these people who (mostly, I think) had never hurt anyone. I swung the axe, using the flat side to knock the gun from his hand, then, as he turned to me, I kicked him as hard as I could in the stomach. It worked! He went down. Just then, however, someone came up behind me and knocked me to the ground. My head smacked into the floor and I groped around blindly for the pistol that had been dropped, although I knew I wouldn't get it in time. The man standing over me now had a chainsaw. Faith tried to help, but she was occupied by four others. Her enthusiasm was definitely gone. Fortunately, the man with the chainsaw was suddenly incinerated by a fiery blast. It had been randomy tossed out by the red-haired guy. He had wanted Faith's baby, and we didn't even know who he was, but he had saved my life. I realized at this moment Faith and I were totally outclassed, so I jumped up and yelled to whoever was close by: "Hey! Someone! We could use a hand over here!" Immediately, several others came to our aid, with a suprising quickness. The black guy (the red-haired man had called him "Lucas") gave Faith a hand by grabbing one of her attackers and throwing him into someone else. The Japanese girl--Laila--who apparently had been arguing something when I called--came to our aid as well, using her Darkness to dispel the huge crowd of attackers so that Faith and I weren't completely overwhelmed. Finally, Dr. Miller came, running so fast I could barely see him, and transferred all his momentum into a flying kick to knock out the third man attacking Faith. However, they had forgotten about Faith's fourth attacker. Suddenly he came after Lucas with a metal baseball bat, which of course Lucas barely even felt. The man turned to find someone else to use it one, but, moving quickly, Faith got him first with a blast of lightning. At that moment I heard a horrible noise, like a howling of a beast, and suddenly the rioters went running. They cleared the area around the Madison Building pretty quickly. I was confused until I saw two girls descend the fire escape, twins I had seen earlier. "We used our powers to create that sound and a fearful image to go with it," the twins said, speaking as one. "We filled the rioters with fear, enough to saturate their minds and make them run away." "They'll be back," said Faith nervously. "Then well stay and fight them," said Laila. "And this time we'll be ready." "It doesn't have to be that way!" protested Faith. "We have enough time to get out of here! Oscar's and my police van is near here! We can go someplace and lie low!" "Like where?" "Like my secret hideaway," said Faith. "I found an unused underground sub-basement in Central Park built by the city but forgotten and never used. I turned it into a sort of lab and me and Oscar hang out there a lot. Nobody else knows about it." "I call it the 'Faith-Cave'", I said, trying to lighten the mood. Nobody laughed. "So what'll it be?" Dr. Miller asked everybody. "Stay or fight?" "Don't know," I said, more seriously. "But either way, give me a minute to put this away." I put the gun into my pocket, leaving my hands free for the megaphone and axe. I suddenly realized several people were looking at me. "WHAT?!" I asked, defensively. "I don't have awesome powers like you guys! I was drowning in that fight! I NEED weapons!" This seemed to satisfy them. "But what do you need a megaphone for?" asked Laila disdainfully. "It's not even a weapon!" I smiled inwardly. I would definitely have a good use for that later on, but for now it was more fun to leave her guessing. "Maybe to you it's not," I said. Howard (Lucas)This was really fun! The mob fought us. We fought back. The fun part was that I could use my powers. Some guy came at me with a knife and tried to plunge it into me. The knife was crushed. I knocked that guy toward a wall and made a crater in it. He stayed. The next guy came at me with a pitchfork. I whacked him on his chin. He flew straightup into the air. Probably the only person who made a mark on me was the woman with the flame thrower. She incinerated me. Then, she was hit by a stray fireball. It was from the redheaded man. Five people shot at me at the same time. Bad move. By smashing into the ground, I threw them off balance. A couple of other mutants got them when they got up. There was the Native American, the empath twins, and some dude who can multiply himself. The Native American made a mace out of the bones of his palm. GROSS! He knocked one guy out. One of the twins, the male, punched two men to the ground. His sister seemed to be standing around concentrating on him. The guy that could multiply himself surrounded the last two, and well, you can guess the rest. The albino man called for help. His pregnant wife was surrounded by four attackers. I turned toward those helping me. They were kind of busy with some other people. I went to him alone out of my group. I threw one guy at another. Laila pushed the crowd away from the pregnant woman with her shadows. Dr. Miller threw another down in a flying kick. The fourth one was left. He tried hitting me with a metal baseball bat. I didn't feel a thing. I couldn't stop laughing! But I didn't want to fight him though. There were too many other mutants around. The pregnant woman got rid of him. Soon, the dust started to clear. I noticed somebody on the ground. I walked toward the person. "JEREMY!" I screamed racing toward the unconscious body. "Don't worry!" Dr. Miller tried to cheer me up. "He'll be OK." I noticed Jeremy had a knife at his side. "It's not that!" I turned to the doc. "It's just that my brother, my own flesh and blood, wanted to kill me!" Lord Raith The bone armor pulled back and sank into Silas' spine and the back of his skull. He moved over to the rest of his now friends, who were listening to the pregnant woman. Silas found out that her name was Faith Crane, and her and an albino with a megaphone were speaking about a potential hiding spot, which they had named the "Faith-Cave" Silas chuckled at the name, and he heard the big black man next to him, Lucas, chuckle also. It was a good idea, however, so Silas moved off in search of some weapons.As he policed a 9mm from an unconcious man, something moved from under a bush. Movement caught his eye again, and he held out his arm, ready to shoot. He had noticed he had no gun in hand the second whatever shot out from the brush, and immediately, almost like a reaction, a bone-hard spike shot out of the bottom of his wrist and impaled what he now saw was a rabbit to a concrete wall. Silas grinned almost evilly, stuffed the 9mm in his pocket, and jogged back to the group. "Where were you?" Lucas asked, an inquisitive look on his face. Silas patted the pocket with the gun in it and grinned. "Oh, nowhere." John (Motor)"How do we get to the Faith-cave?" I asked Faith. She pointed to the police van nearby. "That won't fit us all inside!" She told me to look around. We were in the Madison Bank parking lot. Faith taught me how to hotwire a car. I ended up being piled up with the twins, Jasleen and Jillian. "How many crimes did we commit in the past hour?" One joked. I had to sigh. Jasleen yawned. I then realized that it was twelve o'clock. If we didn't hurry, some people might miss out on their minimally recommended twelve hours of sleep. "You know they have been doing some research using twins!" I blurted out a topic of their interest. They both looked up at me. "They have been trying to discover if twins have a telepathic link. Maybe, besides our mutancy research, we work on something like that." I turned back smiling. They seemed uninterested. With great disappointment, I went back to looking at the road. I didn't even need to follow Faith. I knew the way to Central Park. Once we got there, Faith led us to a tree. She swept away the dirt near the tree that covered secret ground level doorway that we had to pull to open. Once inside, I realized that the place was much like a high school science lab. The walls were lined with wooden tables crammed with beakers, graduated cylinders and Bunsen burners. The middle of the room had a huge white table covered in flasks, cylinders, and countless fluids, some that I could not name off the top of my head. The top edges of the wall had wooden cabinets, stuffed with unused utensils. A refrigerator was crammed in the corner. "The refrigerator has a sample of every single element in the periodic table!" Faith bragged. I opened the refrigerayor and sure enough, found a sample of hydrogen, another of helium, a third one of lithium, and so on. There was even a separate section for the lanthanides and actinides. I marveled at the masterpiece, organized by atomic number. "That's not the best part," Oscar opened a door which led to some kind of living quarters. There was a huge plasma TV with a veranda of a couch in one corner. There was a kitchen and a dining room. A threshold from across the room led to the nine bedrooms. "This should be fun!" I smiled clasping my hands together. ANNOUNCEMENT At my next addition, the fun (main plot) starts! artistic:x:emo (Laila)I glanced around this "Faith-cave" appreciatively. Even though the name was rather unintelligent, it was certainly spacious and...somewhat organized. Well, the two had organized the things that counted. I mean, arranging the science stuff by atomic number. I shook my head at myself. Science stuff? They're called 'elements', Laila, I berated myself. Sighing at my own foolishness (usually I'm not so flippant), I peeked into the hallway that led to the rooms, and counted the doors quickly. Nine rooms. How many of us were there? I decided to do a quick head count, trying not to keep from cursing as even more spilled from the doorway to mesh with the ones already here. ((*Sorry if I get this wrong, I've just counted all the bios that are posted in "Our Allies" (16); if you're not in the Faith-cave and I said you are, then feel free to correct me*)) Sixteen. I recounted just to make sure, and got the same number. There were sixteen of us, nine rooms, and a couch. I spotted Ryan and pulled him in towards me. "Hey, there's too many of us for each of us to have a single room. Want to share with me?" WHAT ARE YOU DOING? I screamed at myself. Since when do I invite people to share a room with me? Never! Ryan can be trusted, and he doesn't seem like a bad guy anyway, I reminded myself, then winced. Internal monologues are so confusing. I mean, it screws with your own head, and then you feel really stupid, especially because you know he thinks you're a freak- "Sure!" Ryan said, smiling. My internal debate stopped abruptly. "What?" I asked. I could feel my cheeks getting warm, and bit my tongue. What in Darkness' name was going on with me? Ryan tilted his head a bit curiously. "I said, I'll share a room with you. Unless you've changed your mind?" OH. "No, no, I haven't changed my mind, I just-...let's go pick out a room already!" I turned away from him quickly and fought to regain composure. I let the Shadows soothe me a bit and take the blush from my cheeks before talking again. "So...what's up?" LAME, LAME, LAME! What's happened to you Laila? BE COLD! COOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLD! I sighed again and clenched my fists. Be cold. (Ryuu) WOW. This place is a-mazing. I sighed happily as I opened the kitchen fridge. Hello, delicious tacos. How are you? I was just about to bite into it when Oscar screamed from across the room. "NO! DON'T EAT THAT, ASIAN GUY!" I dropped the cold taco on the floor and stared at the albino man in disbelief. Asian guy? ASIAN GUY?!? I have a name! "My name is RYUU," I enunciated, "and what, exactly, is wrong with me eating this taco? It's calling to me!" Oscar pushed his way through the staring crowd and snatched it off the floor. "The problem is that this taco belongs to Faith. She's a pregnant woman. Do you know what that means?" "...A baby will come out of her you-know-what soon?" I answered dumbly. Why couldn't I eat the taco? A few people laughed, but I just stared at Oscar in confusion as my stomach rumbled. "No, person-whose-name-I-don't-know," he rattled off, "it means that Faith has particular cravings, and when those cravings can't be satisfied..." he trailed off, and a light bulb dinged in my head. "OOOOOOOOOh!" I said, smiling. "If Faith doesn't have a taco when she wants a taco, she'll go nuts!" "Yes...man. What IS your name?" Oscar asked, relieved that I'd finally cottoned on. Like a bunny rabbit's tail. "Niwa Ryuu. Not 'Asian guy' or, more specifically, 'Japanese dude'. Please, call me Ryuu." "Right," said Oscar, mollified. Everyone had just begun to turn up the volume again when another voice cut through the crowd. "And my name is Laila. I would also appreciate it if I was called by my proper name. Racial ignorance is no excuse. Learn the names." I saw Laila then, standing with Ryan. Something seemed a bit different about her, but I couldn't place it. Ah, well. She still looks intimidating. "Oh, and Ryan and I have picked the last room on the left. So don't intrude, or you will be sorry." The malice was clear in Laila's voice. I sighed again. Definitely still intimidating. JoeStrong (Oscar)"Well, I beg your pardon, Ryuu," I said. "Given the circumstances I had no time to stop and ask your name before yelling, but by next time, I will hopefully have learned everyone's name. How about you, Faith?" "Well, that's all very well and good, Dr. Miller, Laila, Ryuu, Ryan, Joey, Jami, Jillian, Jaslene, Shae, Lucas, Gregory and Silas," said Faith, whose perfect memory put us all to shame, "as long as you understand that my name is Faith, and that my friend's name is Oscar. If I hear 'pregnant woman' or 'albino man' one more time, I'm definitely going to have use my tazer-cellphone on somebody. And Oscar and I are not married." If only, I found myself thinking. "And now," said Faith, "If you all don't mind, I have a baby growing inside of me who needs to sleep. Everybody please get into their rooms, because I am going to bed." As they all filed into their rooms, I approached Faith. "Faith, with two people to a room, there's one extra... so if you'd like, I'll leave the extra room to you." She laughed. "Are you serious, Oscar? You think I'd want to be alone in a room with everything that's happened today? And you think I'd want any other roommate? No, we're together." I watched her head into the last room on the right, which had always been the room we used most in this place. She may have still thought I was just her friend, but God, I was so still in love with her. How could she be a super genius and not even be able to tell that? (Faith) The next morning--early, before anybody else had woken up-- morning sickness came back. Oscar had foreseen this and brought a waste basket into our room so I didn't have to walk all the way to the bathroom. He held my hair back while I vomited into it. After that, wrapped in bathrobes, he took me into the kitchen and poured us each a tall glass of mineral water--me for my dehydration, him just because. He looked down at his glass. Through the one window we had in the otherwise completely-underground cave, I could see the sun rising. Suddenly, I felt food cravings. "Oscar--?" I whispered, trying not to wake anyone up. He knew right away what I wanted, and got it out of the fridge. I needed different things for each meal, and this was my breakfast--tacos, vegetarian beans, hummus, variously prepared apples, some nice kosher beef (courtesy of Oscar's Jewish parents) and jell-o. Oscar and I were both mostly vegetarians, but I had studied nutrition and concluded that a little bit of meat per day would be good for the baby. He set the tray down in front of me. "Faith, something about these people still worries me." I smiled through a mouthful of applesauce. "Is it Laila? I know she may seem creepy, but she saved my life." He shook his head. "Nah, I'm not afraid of her. But I thought there was supposed to be sixteen people here... so where's that red-headed guy? I haven't seen him." Crap. I wasn't ready to deal with this so early in the morning. I was hoping you wouldn't notice. I haven't seen him since we fought that mob of rioters yesterday. I don't think he's in here right now." "Really? Where else could he be? It isn't possible that he just managed to stay out of your sight until we got here?" "Look, I don't really care. That man was trying to get a hold of my baby. I don't want to ever go near him again. If I see him, I will kick him out of this place, no matter what Dr. Marcus may say." Just then Dr. Marcus himself walked in with a clipboard and some papers. "Good morning! Is there some coffee around here, by chance?" I showed him where the coffee mix was. After that, several more people came into the kitchen: Laila, Ryan, Ryuu. I was just thinking about what how we were going to provide breakfast for everyone here when Dr. Miller asked me where the lab was around here, because he was hoping to do some research. "Oh," I said. "It's kind of small. Physics actually isn't my best subject. I mean, it's easy for me to learn because I can grasp new ideas pretty quickly, but I'm not nearly as good at it as your average scientific mind. I have other interests, like art and biology, that I spend more time in." Not only was the lab small, it was very low-budget. Mostly just my laptop, some pipes leading into the park water supply, and chemistry equipment Oscar and I had essentially stolen from New York University. The most advanced things I had in the cave were lead boxes to contain the radioactive elements. Laila changed the subject. "I'm still unclear about something. If that baby is going to have superpowers, then the father is Oscar, right?" Oscar shook his head. "It could be. I don't know. Faith knows but she won't tell me. And frankly, I really don't want to know." "i've had a lot of boyfriends," I explained. "Oscar and I were kids together, so he became my first. But we've broken up and gotten back together several times--nine, to be exact." "How come?" "Various reasons," Oscar explained. Neither of us liked to talk about this very much. "She cheated on me a lot. Apparently, when you're a young female super-genius, it's impossible to settle for any one boyfriend, and you have to keep changing. I used to get mad, and we fought about it a lot. Eventually we decided it would be better if we stayed just friends." He sounded upset as he said that last part. It was a very bad time in our lives, and I know it hurt him a lot. I was glad Oscar was still my best friend, but I was sure I had completely destroyed any romantic interest he might have in me. No doubt about it, Oscar would never be anything but my friend ever again. Howard (Lucas)I woke up with a major headache. My head started throbbing when I went to sleep. When I was a kid, this happened all of the time. Mama said that was because I didn't go to sleep on time. I had to hold my hand 'gainst my head to stop the hurting. Finally, the pain vanished. I got out of bed only to find that the little Japanese boy was in the other bed in the room. My headache returned. I trotted over to his bed and hit my fingers against the mattress. He flew a few feet into the air. He whammed back onto the mattress and woke up. "Why are you sleeping here?!?" I scowled at him. "There were no other rooms!" His eyes begged for mercy. He finally left and I had my headache to deal with. I spent ten minutes in the room trying to help myself. Dr. Miller came into the room and I ended up having breakfast. I sat next to the Native American guy. He didn't seem to talk much. I looked up at Dr. Miller. "Where'd the red headed guy go?' I asked. Lord Raith "Oscar, you mind if go pick up some things from my house?" Silas asked as he was eating a bowl of cereal."Like what?" the normally albino man asked, now disguised in his normal Jewish look. "Just a few 'personal things." Oscar thought long and hard about this, ignoring what Lucas had said. Silas had answered him though, and he let Oscar think for a few more moments before he said, "Come on man, I know how to keep hidden. No one will find us." He was trying to reassure Oscar, but it didn't look like it was going too well. "I trust him." Dr Miller spoke up, not even taking his eyes off his food. "I'll be back before you know it." Silas said, hopping up and running to his room. He pulled on some clothes and sped out the entrance before Oscar could finish saying "Wait!". "Teenagers." Oscar said, and mostly everybody chuckled. "Lucas, could you follow him and make sure he doesn't get into any trouble. He seems to be okay with you." Lucas huffed, rubbed his head and finally said, "Alright, alright. I'll go." Juan A. B. (Quads)I woke up in the same room as that Native American guy. He could not stay still when he slept. It was like he always had something on his mind. Of course, no one's mind ever goes to sleep. We got up and ate breakfast. The other people were in a conversation about going home and picking something up. That albino man told the Native American that he couldn't go. But, he ran off. The black guy followed him. I wondered what he was trying to get, so I followed the black guy, named Lucas, outside of the Faith-cave. I managed to sneak out by using one of my clones to stay and act as me while the others talked noticing nothing. We ran out of Central Park, onto the New York freeway, past the Madison Bank Building, and onto a street called Bakers Street. Five mutant thugs stopped the Native, telling him that this was their turf. Lucas flew up next to the Native American, whose name I remembered was Silas. I decided to join in. This was going to be sweet. Jared [red]Name: Nicholas Neilson (Nick)/ Swarm Age:26 Race: American Personality: easygoing, in fact too easygoing; easily led (and/or deceived); Nick actually is a good judge of character (he knows someone is natively good or evil, but he wants to see the good in everyone. If someone is eventually proven to have ill intent, he can turn on them fiercely to exact his version of rightness. Appearance: Black hair. dark eyes. a bit overweight, but not obese Superpowers: Can separate his body (or part of his body) into nano-sized particles. This gives him the ability to fly, see in all directions, change his body density, and shapeshift (all when separated).[/red] ----------- Nick rechecked the GPS coordinates that Jason had given him. They had brought him to stand near a tree in Central Park. He wondered if the red-head had got them wrong. He didn’t totally trust Jason, but he had told Nick that he needed to infiltrate a group of irregulars, like himself, as a matter of dire importance to all of their kind. Jason had helped him in the past, so Nick felt the need to return the favor. He dialed his cell phone and waited. “Yes?” Jason snapped impatiently as he answered. “Dude, there’s nothing here but a tree. Are you sure—“ “No, I’m not wrong you idiot. Wait there until I give you further directions. And don’t call me again.” Nick saw the call had ended. What a jerk! he thought. As he pocketed the cell phone, he heard a rustling behind him. John (Motor)I crawled out of the bushes near the tree. "And who might you be?" I glanced at the strange overweight kid in front of me. "Hello." He said. "I'm Nick, a mutant. Are you Jason?" He asked. I had to laugh. He would equate me to Jason Joseph. I guess he never watches the news. "No." I thought for a second. "Why don't you come inside?" I led him into the Faith-cave while simultaneously explaining why we were all here. We entered into the big room while the others ate breakfast. I introduced them to 'Nick' and allowed him to sit down and eat breakfast. "Laila?" I turned to my first patient. "May I talk to you for a second?" She glanced at me questioningly, but was soon to follow. We entered into the nearest bedroom and I began. "Laila, I have to tell you something about that giantess." She tried to make a break for it. She apparently thought this conversation was about her conduct toward the lady. However, it wasn't. Just as she was about to leave, I said: "She's a Human Mutate!" That stopped Laila right in her tracks. "A what?" She asked. "A Human Mutate. I've done some research and discovered that each human has an M chromosome. When in trisomy, that chromosome produces a mutant. Mutants are born with that third chromosome. Human Mutates are not. They are fitted with an artificial M chromosome which gives them abilities like mutants. I can tell by your dialouge with her that you believe she was a mutant. However, I conducted an experiment that helps tell the difference between a Human Mutate and a Mutant. I published my findings." I handed her a pamplet. I then walked back into the living room. Nick was fitting in nicely with the other mutants. They all actually seemed to be in some kind of comical discussion. Later, I gave Faith a sonogram. "According to this imagery, you two will have a healthy, mutant child." I stated. "What gender?" Oscar asked. "If I told you that, it would not be a secret." I winked at Faith. *** It was horrible. The top heading of the New York Tribune proclaimed the words "MILLER'S MUTANTS ATTACK" The corresponding photos were that of Laila conquering the giantess's mind, that of Lucas throwing a man at another, and Oscar using his megaphone to inflict torment upon a guy's ears. These photos must have been from last night. Also underneath was a article about the giantess attacking a bank. They called her a mutant menace. She wasn't even mutant. McCarthy was killing me. artistic:x:emo (Laila)I woke abruptly the first night in the Faith Cave. It was still dark, but I realized that I did not need any more sleep. I never had. I checked the clock, then glanced at Ryan in the other bed. At midnight, he was fast asleep. Dreaming of something too, although I couldn't tell what. Time for a walk. I slipped out of our room, shrouding myself in the Darkness. No one needed to know that I was gone. It wouldn't matter anyway; I wasn't going to bomb the place or anything. I emerged into the silver-drenched park, immediately feeling cleansed by the moonlight. I turned my face to the star-scattered sky and breathed in deeply. Beginning to walk, I let the Darkness fade away, leaving it to dissolve in the normal nighttime shadows for now. I kept one tendril of it with me, though. I would need it soon. Tonight, after all, was ritual night. It was a full moon, and I had learned long ago that the moon's power can increase my own. Strange, that the light should strengthen the dark, but I simply didn't think about it. As long as I could keep replenishing myself, I didn't question the source. Anticipating the vibrant adrenaline that would soon engulf my being, I walked into a grove of trees, searching for a clearing. The park was well-lit in other places, but by the entrance to the Faith Cave and this mini forest, all was shadowy, which was perfect for me. My breath caught as I discovered a small clearing, bathed in a silvery glow that began to work its magic when it fell on me. I let the tendril of Shadow expand and multiply so that it began to entwine itself around my body. Wrapping around my fingers, my arm, and continuing until it was like a thin cord of wire, it drew close to me. My grey eyes drifted to the moon, and I felt my whole body shudder. Then I began to feel it: the first hint that the moon was intensifying my powers. It started as a tingle, and then, slowly, the pressure built up, and my Shadow was absorbing the moon's light and siphoning it off into my spirit. I let out a small gasp as the rush filled me, more intense and dangerous than usual. I was shaking now, violently. I fell to my knees and dug my hands into the leafy ground, feeling cool soil underneath my nails. My vision went a pure, blinding white for a split second, and then everything was gone. After a few moments, I stood, still shivering from the pure power flowing through my veins. I calmed, bit by bit, and stored the power carefully. The Shadow wire thinned and shrunk until it existed no more, and I watched it go with some sadness. It was a small sacrifice to pay, but for some reason, I felt guilt for having let it diminish. I drew in another deep breath and gave a tiny smile. Although I would never say it aloud, the moon was a sort of addiction for me. I didn't need it, but I did crave it…and it helped that it was so beneficial to my Darkness in the first place. My smile grew bigger, and I returned to the Faith Cave with a bounce in my step. Tomorrow, I knew, would render me hyper. After all, my adrenaline that I couldn't store had to go somewhere… When I got to the bedroom, I stopped abruptly after closing the door. Ryan was awake, and I could feel the anger radiating from his soul. "Where have you been?" he asked, and I realized that underneath the anger was deep-seated worry. I walked over to him and gave him a hug, ignoring the part of me that was screaming in disbelief. "Out," I said simply, and flopped onto my bed, still facing him. Ryan wore a look of shock, and I laughed. Oh, the moon did such crazy things to me…but maybe if I could release some adrenaline tonight, I wouldn't be so…unlike myself tomorrow. "Okay…" he said finally, and I grinned at him. "Well…" "Would you like to play a game?" I asked. Ryan looked at me for a long time, his gray eyes squinted. I tilted my head to gaze back at him. "Sure," he said finally, and my smile grew bigger. We stayed up nearly the whole night, just playing cards and talking. I kind of liked it. I mean, I had never exactly…what was the word?...bonded with someone before. It was…it was nice. The next morning found Ryan and I spread out on the floor, fast asleep. I woke, groggily this time, and blinked a few times before realizing that no, my brain was not playing tricks on me. I lifted my head and looked down and around myself, trying to keep from hyperventilating. I was on top of Ryan. I tried moving a leg, and realized it was tangled with his. Squeaking, I let my head drop carefully back onto his chest. My eyes were wide, I knew that. How in the world had this happened? "…Laila?" He sounded as groggy as I had felt a few moments ago. "Wha's goin' on?" he mumbled, and I scrambled to my feet, feeling yet another blush stain my cheeks. "Time to wake up," I said, and ran out of the room. By the time I got to the kitchen, Faith and Oscar were up. I joined their conversation a bit, and I realized that Oscar was throwing strange vibes. I squinted, and thought back over our conversation. Oh…Oscar's still got feelings for Faith. Well, that's understandable. Best friends and all, and she's pretty and cool, so… What am I thinking? I do not think like this. The moon must have sent me into more of a tizzy than usual. Dr. Miller pulled me away, but I was half out of my mind with confusion. He handed me a pamphlet, titled Human Mutates. I stared at it for a long time. I had to process this. Fast. Something was going to happen today, I just knew it. **Sorry, no Ryuu today. I know how much you all love his dumb blondness xD. Oh...and this is really long >.< Feel free to use Ryuu though ^^** PandorasBox- alive n kickn Jillian-Jaslene and I had been keeping to ourselves a lot since coming to the cave, we had become so much closer after forging the link between us and I felt loath to share Jaslene with these other people, I wanted to bask in our new closeness and shut everyone else out. Jaslene of course, felt differently, she was always the more outgoing one. The link that we had created had changed things though, we could sense each others feelings now and we had been in the very core of each other- there was nothing that we didn't know about one another now. I could feel it there, waiting to be activated again, almost alive and greedy. Jaslene was staring out of the window, lost in thought, I sat beside her and voiced what she was thinking. "You don't trust them do you?" I asked. "No", she said, "I don't. I don't trust this Dr Miller's motives. I don't know whether we can trust these other mutants either, we have been cast together by events, not choice, and they may not all be good people. What do you think? You're the telepathic one, what have you sensed from them?" "I haven't sensed anything to be worried about from the mutants, I think we can trust them a little. They have their problems but I don't sense anything bad in them. Even Laila, she pretends to be so fierce but inside her heart it's a very different story. I can't get too far inside them though, I can only get the surface thoughts, they could hide something from me if they really wanted to. They are afraid and confused, and they don't trust Dr Miller either. He is one of us, but I can't read him. I can't get into his mind, and that worries me. I think we need to get some answers, and I'm not so sure I want to be cured any more." Jaslene stared at me in shock, her jaw hanging open, I had always said that I hated and feared my powers, and had jumped at the chance for a cure. The link had changed a lot, I loved what it had done to us. I could feel my sister with me no matter where I was now, and without using my powers I could hear her thoughts and feel what she was feeling. I knew her completely, there was nothing hidden between us any more. There was something between us now that could never be broken or changed by distance and circumstances. She would be with me always, no matter where I went or what I did, I would never be alone. I had always been so afraid to use my powers before but I found that it felt good to use them. I had kept them in check for so long, they had built up and weighed on me, when they were not used in a long time they would sometimes come out of their own accord. I had taken to using them periodically, just letting them out a little so that they would not burst out of me and get out of control. I hated having to do that, hated that I was forced to use them when all I wanted was to be normal, like everyone else. But I was not normal, and I never would be. It was time I faced up to that. I felt lighter and happier when I chose to exercise my abilities, they were meant to be used, not caged. As I thought this I looked at Jaslene and saw that she was absorbed in my thoughts. She was reading my thoughts! It struck me suddenly, that she was actually reading my thoughts without realising it. It was not like the shared awareness of the link, where vague feelings and surface thoughts came across, I could feel her there, right inside my mind. My head whirled as I took in the possibilities and Jaslene's head snapped up and her eyes widened. "Not the link? How is that possible?", she asked, "Telepathy is your power, not mine. I've never been able to do that." I thought about it, and an idea occurred to me. "It wasn't the link that allowed you to do that, you were right inside my head, I could feel you inside my mind. Maybe it happened when we created the link. I think you've absorbed my gifts. And maybe I've absorbed yours." The idea excited Jaslene, she had always felt a little jealous of what I could do. I knew that she envied my ability to make things move with my mind, and there had been many times that she had wished she knew what someone else was thinking. If I was right, she was going to find out just how horrible that could be sometimes. "Try to make me do something, something I wouldn't ordinarily do. Focus your will on me. Draw in your power and very carefully send a little of it my way. When I'm doing it, I imagine a thread of power going from me to the mind of the person I'm doing it to, you can use that or come up with something yourself but you have to come up with a way to keep it under your control and limit it. If you send too much or you're not gentle when you do it, you'll hurt me." "No", I protested, "I can't do it then, I wont take the chance". "Do it", she commanded, "We have to know if you can do it or not, if you can't then there's something else at work here and we'll need to find out what it is. I've told you how to keep it under control, and if you get it wrong I can stop you before you do any damage. I can block you. Just trust me. Do what I've told you and then tell me to do something." I took a deep breath and did as she said. I imagined a thin shining silver thread of power trailing its way towards her, penetrating her forehead and entering her brain. I waited for her to cry out but she didn't even wince, and I relaxed and let my breath out. "Stand on your head in the corner" I hesitantly directed. A vague look came into her eyes and she began to move to the corner. Then suddenly her eyes cleared and she shook her head as if casting it off. She grinned at me. "You did it! You have my power!" she said. "But you didn't do what I told you to", I insisted, "it didn't work." "That's because you're not used to it, you have to practice. You have to command the person to do it, or suggest it casually, you have to believe it will work and say it as though there is no chance that the person is not going to do what you want them to. And you didn't use enough, you were too scared of hurting me, I knew you'd do that. Now, I want to know what about your telekinesis? How do you work that? Do I just concentrate on something?" Jaslene- I was almost jumping up and down with glee, I was that excited. A chance for me to have an active power, something that I could use in a fight if I needed to! Jillian could see how excited I was but as usual she was more subdued than me. She was worrying about all the things that could go wrong. "Try that and see whether it works for you or not, you might need a little more than that but we'll see." She pointed to an empty vase that was sitting on the mantel in our room. "Concentrate on that, direct your power at it and will it to move." I stared at the vase, imagined it moving to the left, just a nudge would do but it just sat there stubbornly, not moving an inch. "I thought you might need a little more than that", Jillian said, "try it again, but this time, you need to tap into your emotions. Anger is good, use that. Remember something that made you really angry, and then direct your anger at the vase, command it to move with your mind the way you command people to do what you tell them." I closed my eyes and tried to think about a time when I was angry. I remembered being in high school and someone played a prank on Jillian. They hadn't meant any harm but they had ended up really hurting her. The cafeteria had been serving up a mystery casserole and in the pretense of helping her out had grabbed one for her, but had seasoned it liberally with mustard. It was just meant as a joke but it had backfired, Jillian was highly allergic to mustard and she had had to be taken to the hospital via an ambulance. I could see her in my minds eye, gasping for breath, her face as red as a tomato, her eyes bulging out of her head as she tried to breathe while her throat swelled up and closed. Holding onto the anger that I had felt that day, I turned back to the vase. MOVE DAMMIT. The vase didn't just move it shattered, and then all hell broke loose. I couldn't stop it, it got out of my control. The beds started shaking and the mirror that was hanging on the wall cracked and the glass flew around the room. I screamed as a large piece came flying towards me, I dropped to the floor and it embedded itself in the wall behind me. Jillian just stared in horror, rooted to the spot. "Do something! I can't stop it! Help me!" I screamed. The other mutants were drawn by the ruckus and a few stood in the doorway, unsure of what to do. That was when Jillian broke out of her paralysis and decided to help instead of just standing there like a ninny. She drew in a deep breath and called on her powers. "Stop it, control the power you know you can" she commanded. And just like that I found that I could. The beds stopped shaking and the glass fell to the floor. She had used my own power on me, and she had done it right this time. I navigated through the broken glass that littered the floor and inspected her, checking for injuries. She had a couple of small cuts on her arms but nothing serious thank God. I smiled at her and hugged her. "Thanks sis" I murmured. As I broke the hug I realised that we still had an audience. The ones who had not come in time to see the action were staring in disbelief at the wreckage littering the floor of our room, the ones who had caught all the drama were staring at me. "What in the hell was THAT?" demanded Laila. "You didn't test for that before Jaslene", Dr Miller put in, "How did you do that?" JoeStrong (Faith)I had no objection to Dr. Miller getting up early and starting on his work in my hideout (I, personally, preferred not to think of it as a "Faith-Cave"), but I didn't expect him to start inviting people in. "Wait a minute." I slowly got up from the table and came towards him and the new guy. He was a chubby man, with black hair, and he didn't look too much older than me. He looked friendly, but this wasn't a time to go by appearances. "Who are you?" "This is Nick," explained Dr. Miller. "I found him right outside." "And you let him in? Just like that?" I was astonished. "I thought we were trying to lay low, Dr. Miller. Do you even know who this guy is? Are we going to let in everybody who comes through the park?" I glanced at Nick. "What were you doing outside here?" "Ummmm..." He paused. Not a nervous kind of pause, more like the pause of a person who was hiding something. I studied his face for a minute, trying to discern exactly what he was hiding, then an unpleasant thought occurred to me: perhaps he had been sent by the red-haired man to find the cave. Was Redhair trying to sneak in here somehow? I would have questioned him more, but suddenly we all heard a CRASH! coming from the bedrooms. Dr. Miller and Laila were the first to react and run towards to the noise; Oscar and I quickly followed their lead. It was a truly exasperating sight. The twins had apparently decided to experiment with their telekinesis in the bedroom. Apparently they didn't realize that was about as dangerous as playing tackle football indoors, although I would have thought it obvious. And now my favorite mirror and my great-grandmother's vase lay in shards on the floor. It would have felt really good to start screaming. I definitely fought the urge. Suddenly it just seemed like everything everyone was doing was ticking me off. But suddenly, I started feeling dizzy and my knees got weak. I staggered over to a chair and sat down in it slowly. Oscar sighed and began picking up the pieces. I began to wonder where the hell Silas had gone off to. It looked like Lucas had gone with him, and Gregory (he had tried to hide it with a clone, but I had NOTICED him slip away). They were deliberately endangering all of us. And without even permission to leave. "We need to have some ground rules." I whispered to a passing Dr. Miller. By the time Dr. Miller gave me the sonogram I was feeling better. The fetus still wasn't properly baby-shaped, but that didn't make it any less special. Oscar was right next to me, but he didn't seem as captivated. I think he was still wondering whether or not it was his child. After the sonogram Silas, Lucas and Gregory came back. They were all somewhat beaten up, but all they would say about it was, "Well, you should see the other guy." I assumed that they had gotten into a fight and won. When I saw a news report on TV saying that several known mutant gang members had been found in the city, beaten unconscious, I knew I had been right. Then Oscar walked into the room shaking his head at a newspaper."This photo is a fake!" He was saying to himself. "I wasn't even using the megaphone to do that! I mean, yes, I was planning to, but I didn't actually do it!" "What are you talking about?" I asked him. He handed me the paper. "Dr. Miller showed it to me." I took one look at the headline--MILLER'S MUTANTS ATTACK--then I groaned and slumped back into another chair. "I won't last a week in here." (Oscar) Somehow, we managed to make it through a whole week. At first Faith was terrified that the wrong kind of person might find our hideout, but nothing happened. After the first five days she started letting people make trips outside and into the city. And somehow, Faith, Dr. Miller and I managed to keep the craziness and wild antics to a minimum, and prevent the Faith-Cave being wrecked. Still, I never went outside without my pistol. At the end of the week I took Faith out to see Juno. We came back to the park refreshed and relaxed for the first time sine we had met Dr. Miller. "Ellen Page was spectacular!" Faith said as we went inside. "It was an Oscar-worthy performance!" Dr. Miller joined us at the table. "Listen, you two," he said. "It's not that I don't appreciate this shelter, but a week has gone by and Joe McCarthy's anti-mutant propaganda is getting more and more radical. We need to do something before our hiding place is discovered by anti-mutant activists and we're all hunted down and killed!" "Listen, it's pretty simple," said Faith. "We just need to prove that whole article was biased and made-up. Then everyone will know Senator McCarthy framed us, and everything will be fine." It started to get dark. Faith and Dr. Miller had decided that it would be best if everyone practiced their powers outside at night, rather than indoors or outside during the day. So, as the moon rose and total darkness settled over the park, the twins went out, and Lucas, and Laila and a few others. Dr. Miller was about to go outside himself and work with them. He turned to me. "You know, Oscar, you're just about the only person I haven't worked with at all. It might do you good to practice and develop your powers. Why don't you come outside with us?" I glanced at Faith. She just smiled. Her powers were best practiced indoors, in front of a computer or laboratory, or a canvas. Lucky. I shrugged. "All right. Let's go." Howard (Lucas)I was standing outside waiting for everyone else. Why are they taking so long? Those people were patience. It's like they wanted activists to kill us. The twins finally stepped out checking every angle to protect themselves. At long last, one of them placed her foot outside. That foot was followed by the other foot. Soon, everyone exited the shelter, feeling relief. It was everyone except that really smart person. "How's about we find a few of those normal humans to pound on?" I asked the Doc. "No." He answered. "We can't BLAH! BLAH! BLAH!" I didn't listen to the rest. "So how are we s'pposed ta train out heya?" I noticed that when I'm cranky my accent becomes more noticable. He started thinking about it and couldn't come up with a decent answer... Juan A. B. "Why don't we just practice our abilities against some scenery, but try not to do anything that you cannot fix!" Dr. Miller answered Lucas. Lucas grabbed two heavy rocks and started to easily bench with them. Laila tried to lift up a tree. The twins tried getting to understand each other. Ryan was turning the scenery into titanium. I just multiplied myself through that quick and painless process and ran around. We acted like animals. Dr. Miller shook his head. One of my bodies went to him and asked "Where is that red eaded guy?" John (Pyron)I sat at the diner while the waitress trotted up to me. "What'll ya be havin'?" The undignified, slobby brunette waitress asked me in a horrendous Brooklyn accent. "I would like the Sausage Breakfast Deluxe Meal." I turned to her with sheer disgust at a berry-sized mole on her right cheek outlining her atrocious face. I nearly barfed trying to get the words outs. She wrote the order down on pad of Post-Its. She ripped out the sticky note with my order on it and stuck it to the threshold of the kitchen. "Excuse me." I called for the waitress. It turned around back toward me. "Yes?" The thing asked. "Do you have any newspapers here?" I asked. She reached toward the long table with the cash register on it and handed me a stack of printed information. Before she could walk off, my last words to her were: "Quasimodo, work on your hygiene." She took offense to it but I quit caring. Scanning the front page, I noticed the words "MILLER'S MUTANTS ATTACK!" It was a ploy from McCarthy. Screening the photos, I noticed that I wasn't in any of those pictures. I was outraged. How could Miller do such a thing? I tore through the compressed tree pulp and stormed out. McCarthy was going to get it one way or another. ***** (Motor) The fellow mutants were running around inflicting their dealy abilities upon the scenery. I stood watching. Making sure no one got hurt or worse killed. The destruction happening to the trees reminded me of why I started this cure program. Mutants come in many varieties. Some of them have benevolent abilities like photosynthesis or buffering. However, that is only a minute number of mutants. Many can shoot electricity, control minds, lift 25 tons, bend titanium, and emit sonar blasts on a chosen victim. These mutants are what cause many to grow afraid of all mutants together. This is because many of these destructive mutants don't know how to control their powers or have explosive tempers. Therefore, bigots like McCarthy use this chance to state that he will protect us. Bigots like this have been around history. There was Abigail Williams in the Salem Witch Trials. There was Adolf Hitler in World War II. There was even Joseph McCarthy the first during the Red Scare (the present senator is his descendant). Maybe mutants are a problem. Maybe we are the mutant menace! Uggghhhh!!!! I have McCarthy in my head. Why am I thinking this? This cure procedure is just a bogus way to conform to normal humanity. I pondered on whether I should go through with the curing. However, to interrupt my thought process, a dog walks up to me. It had grey fur and big, brown eyes. Almost immediately Ryuu became human again. "RYUU!" I was in complete shock. "Dr. Miller, sir." He stated childishly. "I smell something around here that wasn't one of us." I didn't know whether to trust him or not. I scanned the area for anything. However, there was nothing. Then, I remember that a dog's sense of smell is hundreds of times better than a human's. Ryuu can take on the abilities of a mutant he can change into, so he might be able to take on the traits of animals he changes into. Besides, Ryuu would not lie. At least I don't think so. I scourged the area again. There was a strange distortion of light that formed the outline of some human-like structure. That was it! Closing my eyes, I allowed the speed to embrace me again. Everything started to slow down. Turning to the figure, I raced toward it, zeroing in on it. Soon the trees, leaves, bushes, shrubs, and mutants collaborated into one big blur as I shot toward the spy and tackled him/her/it. The thing was seven feet tall. It had a huge physique according to the light distortion. In a cold, monotone voice it stated: "MUTANT; ABILITY: SUPERHUMAN VELOCITY; WEAPON: AERIAL FRICTION;" With that, a purple beam shot out around me. My velocity decreased, decreased, decreased, and decreased to a crawl. As I glanced at flowing colors around me, everyone else was moving faster than I. As I drooped slowly to the floor in awe. The thing revealed itself. It was a six foot tall robot. It had a gray exterior. It's physique was muscular challenging that of Lucas's. It contained yellow, beaming eyes. It had a mace at its side almost the size of it. A flash of different colors flew through the air. The others saw it too. In its computer-generated voice, it stated: "MUTANT; ABILITY: PSYCHIC PROWESS; WEAPON: CONCUSSION LASERS;" One of the psychic girls must have tried attacking it. The robotic statement was followed by a scream of pain. That was followed by the sound of a hard fist pounding on metal. "MUTANT; ABILITY: SUPERHUMAN STRENGTH; WEAPON: KINETIC ABSORPTION;" Then, I heard Lucas scream "WHOA!" in a receding tone. These things have weapons to combat our mutant attacks. Finally, the colors started to lessen. I could see the outlines of objects. Only to realize that only few mutants were left to fight four or five of those similar robots. artistic:x:emo (Ryuu)I padded around aimlessly, wagging my tail slowly, delighting in the smells around me. It'd been awhile since I'd transformed into a dog. Senses were heightened, perception altered, and my energy could now be used for bounding wildly through the trees, chasing squirrels. I lifted my snout to breathe in deeper...and caught a foreign smell. It was metallic and menacing, and somehow...inhuman. I frowned internally and sniffed out Miller, changing back to my human self as I approached. "Dr. Miller, sir. I smell something around here that's not one of us," I said bluntly, watching his face. He seemed almost dismissive, until his sharp brown eyes flicked to me, as if coming to a realization. He muttered to himself and scanned the area. (Laila) Bored with the scene, I went to approach Doc Miller, but he seemed absorbed by something. Almost faster than I could see, he went rushing with a supernatural speed towards...what? I squinted to where Doc was headed, and saw a shimmery, vague outline of something big. What the-- Before I could finish my thought, the shimmering form solidified. It was a giant robot, with fierce yellow eyes and a huge weapon at its side. "MUTANT; ABILITY: SUPERHUMAN VELOCITY; WEAPON: AERIAL FRICTION," it boomed, and Doc slowed to the pace of a snail. I watched in growing awe and fear as the robot began attacking. More robots came shimmering out of thin air, and boomed out evaluations of the mutants and the means used to attack them. I ignored everyone else and focused on Ryan and Ryuu, who were still standing. Two robots were forcing them back to back, and I strode toward them, summoning my Darkness, unsure of how I could help. "MUTANT; ABILITY: RECONSTRUCTION OF MATTER TO TITANIUM; WEAPON: NEGATIVE ION FORCEFIELD," the one in front of Ryan stated, and I snatched him away using my Shadows. He stumbled to me, and I grabbed him just before he fell. "Thanks," he said breathlessly, "but what about Ryuu?" The two robots were now closing in on the frightened dolt, and I growled. "MUTANT; ABILITY: REARRANGEMENT OF MOLECULAR STRUCTURE; WEAPON--" I didn't give them a chance to configure a weapon. Running hard, I lashed out with the Darkness, willing it to snake inside the machines and screw up the internal processes. Knocking Ryuu to the ground just before a bright green burst of energy shot his head off, I clenched my fists and twisted. Let this work, please, I pleaded to whatever deities listening. My eyes squeezed shut and I merged with the Darkness, becoming the tendrils that were invading the two robots. I snaked inside of them simultaneously, searching for the equivalent of an off button. Wires and bunches of cord forced me to twist and maneuver my way through. I began to panic, wending my way through more urgently. Then I saw the big red button. Typical, I thought. The buttons were in the same place in each robot, and I thrust the Shadows at them, pushing them in. At once, I was sucked back into being, unmerged with the Darkness and feeling quite disoriented and weak. Sounds of fighting and screaming were pounding against my eardrums, and I pressed my hands to my ears, trying to block the increasing volume. Falling to my knees, I was vaguely aware of Ryan shouting my name. Did I do it? I wondered woozily. My vision blurred and then blackened, and I felt vulnerable as I slipped into unconsciousness. (Back to Ryuu) Ryan was saved by Laila, and before I could rejoice, I realized that now I was the one being pursued. Glancing nervously in front and behind me, I considered my options. My breath flew forcibly from my lungs as I was knocked to the ground. Laila glowered atop me, and then frowned, squinting her eyes as though in concentration. Laila disappeared, just vanished into thin air. I crawled over to Ryan, shouting amidst all the clamor. "Where'd she go?" Ryan shook his head, cautious. The two robots were coming after us again, and we began to run into the forest. I panted, wishing to God I had stuck to my exercise plan instead of being taken in by those captivating chocolate bunny candies... "Ryuu! They're slowing down!" Ryan shouted out, and I chanced a look behind me to check. Sure enough, the two robots were still menacing, but they weren't chasing us as fast. I narrowed my eyes. "Something's wrong with them!" I gasped out, slowing to a stop in the trees. Ryan paused as well, curious. "What are those things anyway?" He wasn't the least bit out of breath, I noted. Darn him. "I dunno," I answered, watching warily as the robots slowed to a snail's pace. Their eyes weren't yellow anymore; they had begun to flash on and off, as though-- A loud metal screech seared my eardrums, and I couldn't stop the involuntary cry of pain. Smoke began issuing from the robots, who had come to a complete halt. Their eyes were no longer flashing or glowing, and I carefully took a few steps closer. "GAH!" I shouted as I nearly tripped over something. Stumbling over myself to regain balance, I looked at what had gotten in my way. "LAILA!" Ryan shouted, running over. Where had she come from? It was like she had been transported or something... "Damn it. She's gone unconcious," he said, biting his lip. He closed his sharp gray eyes, and I knelt beside him in the grass. Everything was still now; the sounds of fighting were distant. "Do you know what happened?" I asked, looking at her tranlucent skin in wonder. Is she usually this pale? "Well," Ryan hesitated. I waited a moment, curious. "She told me a little while ago that sometimes, when she sets her mind to it, she can become Darkness." "What do you mean?" I asked. My heart was beating faster now, and I couldn't understand the sudden panic that was bubbling in my stomach. Ryan sighed. "Laila probably merged with the Shadows so she could enter inside the robots to mess up the wiring inside. She was trying to shut them off." "Oh," I said. "She also told me that it takes a ton of energy, and that she hadn't done it in a long time, because the last time she did do it...she woke up in a compromising situation." I stayed silent, and Ryan brushed a strand of jet-black hair from Laila's face. The shouting from far away had faded; the fighting must be over. "Well," he said finally, "she did it. I just hope she wakes up soon." Nightreach With a slight grunt, I lifted Laila into my arms and carried her back through the forest, through the towering trees and foliage, careful not to let wayward branches scratch or hit her. Eventually, we reached a road. I couldn't figure out what to do. I could either flag down a car, hoping to get a ride for me and Laila or I could just keep walking, hopefully finding some landmark or something I recognized. I decided on the car. It was a chance, but I didn't know what Laila's condition was. All I knew was that she needed help. And quickly. Finally, a single-cab, black pickup came lumbering up the road. I flagged it down and the driver slowly pulled over. I went up to the window. "Excuse me sir, me and my..." I stopped. I had to come up with something a bit more convincing than 'friend' or 'mutant room mate at a secret underground lair'. "...wife could use a ride. She got hurt in a hunting accident." He was a nice enough looking man, with a sunburnt face and leathery skin that showed just how much he worked in the sun. "Sure. Ya'll get in the back. The local hospital ain't too far away." I looked him over, gauging his trustworthiness. "You sure it won't be a problem?" "Nope," he said. "She looks to be pretty banged up. Wouldn't wanna leave ya'll here on the side of the road." Well, he was our best shot. I lifted Laila gently into the bed of the pickup and climbed in. With a cough, the engine started and we started foward. It was a little bumpy, but I cradled Laila protectively against my chest, shielding her from any impacts. I looked down at her face. She really was pretty. In a wierd, sort of darkness way. And she looked so... peaceful. It was a look I didn't often see on her face. She must have had alot of troubles in her life for one so young... I just hoped I could help this be one less thing for her to worry about. *** (JoeStrong) (Oscar) I stood there and looked at the rock. The rock sat there as if looking back at me. It was one of about several hundred lying around Central Park, an oblong miniature boulder, about the size of a large pillow, with a smooth white surface. Dr. Marcus had just told me to try and destroy it using my powers. It was a simple enough thing to do. Even so, I felt like an idiot. Everyone around me was going crazy—chasing their clones in circles, bench-pressing rocks, uprooting trees. It was like a zoo. Even though it was nighttime, in the park, I was shocked that we could make so much noise and nobody would even come to investigate. Dr. Miller was standing off to the side under a tree, watching. I ran over—narrowly missing Greg (or was it his clone?) as he ran by—and Dr. Marcus stood up as he saw me approaching. "What's wrong, Oscar?" "I'm just—confused, Dr. Miller. What exactly do you want me to do?" "I want you to practice your sonic scream and use it to break that boulder." "Yes, I understand that, but how?" "How what?" "How am I supposed to do that?" My question surprised him. "Haven't you ever used your sonic scream before as a weapon?" I shook my head. "Well, the current theory holds that mutants with lungs capable of super-strong air pressure and larynxes capable of super-fast vibration—like you, Oscar—can use your power in such a way as to destroy solid objects.” “Oh, I know that,” I explained. “Faith has been studying my powers for a while now. We just aren’t—I mean, I’m just not sure exactly what’s physically possible and what’s not. I don’t know as much about physics as you or Faith, but it doesn’t make sense to me. And how do I activate it? Do I just yell, normally?” “Well, it’s not all science fiction,” said Dr. Miller. “Do you know how a laser works?” “Vaguely...” “A laser is essentially ordinary light that is compressed into an extremely narrow beam of light, amplifying the force of the laser and making it strong enough to cut, incinerate or shock objects. I believe your sound power can work the same way, and you can make it so powerful you will be able to vibrate objects until they break.” “So I should do what? Just yell at the rock?” “Well, try that first and if it doesn’t work, we’ll think of something else.” His explanation made sense to me… pretty much. But as soon as I got back to the rock I began to feel stupid again. I was prepared to yell, and see what happened, but before as I opened my mouth I thought of all the other mutants outside, how much havoc they were wreaking, and all the noise they were making. I would look like even more of an idiot if they saw me like just standing there, yelling at a rock. I decided to just give up, and go back inside to where Faith was. Then I heard a voice behind me—an eerie monotone that I couldn’t recognize: "MUTANT; ABILITY: SUPERHUMAN VELOCITY; WEAPON: AERIAL FRICTION." I turned around. Ho-lee crap. There they were, attacking Dr. Miller and everyone else, and already winning, from the looks of it. I couldn’t see how many there were, but there were clearly a lot. Enough to take each of us on hand-to-hand, at the same time, if need be. Robots! We just HAD to have a robot attack, didn’t we? Damn it! The first robot had done something to Dr. Miller to make him slow down, apparently, in midair. Lucas tried punching one of them, but the robot just took the punch without moving and then knocked him backwards. This led me to infer that the robots were analyzing and adapting to our powers. That, and the fact that the robots said it out loud as they were doing it, tipped me off. One of the robots suddenly came stalking towards me. It was huge—no wonder Lucas couldn’t knock it down. Would my sonic scream destroy it? I didn’t stick around to find out—all I could think of was Where the hell is my axe? I turned around and ran back towards the entrance to Cave. “FAITH!” I yelled in the doorway. “Where are you?!” Faith was in the kitchen, on the phone with her mother. She was surprised when I burst in, panicking, and searching frantically for the axe I had gotten during the Madison Building fight. My megaphone was on the counter and my gun was in my coat pocket, but I couldn’t find the axe. So I grabbed the biggest knife I could find in the kitchen instead. “Oscar,” asked Faith, a little annoyed, her hand over the phone’s mouthpiece. “What the hell is going on?” Suddenly, the robot appeared in the kitchen doorway. It was holding a giant mace, that scraped against the ceiling. A huge chunk of granite was knocked loose and smashed on the floor. Slowly, Faith put the phone back up to her ear. “I’m going to have to call you back, Mom.” (Faith) I knew, obviously, that robots existed and were being developed, but nobody had told me about these! The freaking thing was seven feet tall and built like Schwarzenegger! Oscar was pretty well armed, but he didn’t have much chance against that thing even with a gun. He knew it, too. But for the moment, the robot wasn’t attacking. It just stood there and looked from me to him. Oscar tried to camouflage himself. His color changed—skin, hair, eyes, clothes, everything—until it fit in almost perfectly with the colors of the kitchen. He was very good at it, too. We had seen octopuses using camouflage like that on the Nature Channel, and Oscar had learned to mimic them. Unfortunately, this turned out to be the wrong robot to try that on. Its yellow eyes flashed and it started speaking in a voice like metal nails on a blackboard. "MUTANT; ABILITY: PIGMENT CONTROL; WEAPON: THERMAL VISION." There was a click as the robot’s eyes shifted their color from yellow to orange. Oscar, not stupid, tried to jump out of the way—but he wasn’t fast enough. The robot swung its flail, hitting him hard in the side. I heard a crack that could only signify a broken rib; more than one, maybe. He went flying and crumpled against a wall. “OSCAR!” He had dropped both his weapons; the megaphone lay up against his foot, but the big carving knife was within my reach. I dove in and grabbed it, and narrowly managed to avoid falling over—I had forgotten that I was beginning to put on weight, now that I was in my second trimester. I stood in front of Oscar, holding the knife. If the robot attacked, it wouldn’t make much difference, but I was still holding my breath. The robot slowly scanned me, and I’m pretty sure he was able to sense the presence of the baby. Would he attack a pregnant woman? How would he cancel out my power? Could he even tell that I was a mutant? Super-genius doesn’t work the same way as most mutant powers—I wasn’t even sure if I was a mutant. Sounds of the fight outside reached my ears. Someone else was trying to enter the cave. Was it a robot or one of us? Neither the robot or I moved. But behind me, Oscar was beginning to stand up, weakly. I prayed that the robot wouldn’t notice that. Howard (Truck/Lucas) I trotted into the cave for safety. Those things were crazy. I climbed down the ladder. The ceiling of the place. were ruined. Most of the granite was apparently scraped off by something. I followed the trail of the missing ceiling into the kitchen. Inside was the pregnant woman holding a knife. Across from her was one of the seven-foot bots gripping its mace. The albino guy was lying on the floor closer to the woman, probably with broken bones. The woman and the robot seemed to be having a staring contest. I decided to end it. "Rematch? Anyone?" I soared at the machine and threw it toward the stove (this is a kitchen, right?). The pregnant woman stared at me as if I was a plateful of Ma's jambalaya waiting for the picking. "Thank you, Lucas." She smiled. "Now, if you would just..." "Listen, lady." I interrupted. She glared at me. "I'm as scared of this thing as you are. I'm not fighting it." "I have a name! My name is Faith! Besides, I don't want you to fight it. Just wrestle it long enough for me to compromise its wiring." She stated thinking I'd understand it.The machine was still down. But its elbow rose and it pushed against the floor with a clank. It started to rise up. "Now!" She yelled. I leapt at the robot before it could pick up its mace. I tried to hold it still, but it was too rickety for me. I tried shoving it to the ground,but it was pushing back with all of its force. "Push it so that its back is visible!" She ordered. I did so. It tried fighting back, but soon Faith had her screwdrivers in its back and it stopped kicking as it eyes flickered out. "We did it!" Lord Raith Name: Michael DonellAge: 19 Race: Native American Personality: Michael is even quieter than Silas. He's had it rough, so trusts no one and is seen as ruthless and cold sometimes Appearance: Short black hair with red-brown skin and steely grey eyes. A bit shorter than Silas but stronger and more muscular. Superpower: Michael's physical structure has been changed into a strange type of morphing metallic material, and he can control and absorb metal objects. Very small psychic powers have been seen with him as well. ________________________________________________________________________ "Just shoot at the hole." "Right, Silas. Just shoot at the hole." Dr. Miller said and pushed him until he lined up with the tree. Silas gave him a smart look and aimed, holding his arm steady. He flexed his fist twice, and two bone shards impacted the hole in the middle and sent splinters flying. "Good shooting!" Silas grinned proudly at the compliment, wondering what smart remark his brother would say if he were here. Michael had been able to hide his power from everybody but Silas, and after accidentally killing his girlfriend, ran away.That was five years ago, and Silas though he would never see his brother again. That's when the they struck. The thumping of heavy feet and metallic whiring were what gave them off, and everybody was alerted. There were enough to take them all on at least. Dr. Miller was knocked aside as the robot said in a metallic tone: "MUTANT; ABILITY: SUPERHUMAN VELOCITY; WEAPON: AERIAL FRICTION." Silas armored up and fired at them, bringing one robot down with mutilple shards in the chest and head. One beside spoke: "MUTANT, ABILITY: BONE CONTROL; WEAPON: ACID SPRAY." The robot raised one of its arms as a cannon raised out and was about to attack. The robot did something strange then. He jerked forward, as if hit from behind. It suddenly began convulsing in mock pain, then began shrinking and becoming more humanoid, cables and plates forming into a human muscleature. It turned around and, with a swipe of its mace, struck the heads off of two robots. The rest seemed confused and spoke in addled robotic voices: "MUTANT: UNKNOWN; ALLY: MALFUNCTION; WEAPON: UNKNOWN; ORDER; ATTACK." They turned their attention fully to the rogue robot, but they could not stop it, and the other mutants began attacking the distracted robots. Silas charged in, shooting down another robot and slicing the legs from another, then stabbing it in the head. The fight was over in a minute then. Everyone turned to the rogue robot, powers ready. The rogue turned, yellow eyes now a steel grey in color. They looked familar to Silas, and broken memories of his brother returned. Steel grey eyes. His brother had steel grey eyes. Was it him? The rogue robot's armor began receding, clinking as it pulled back into its spine, revealing another Native American. Short black hair, well muscled, and those steel grey eyes. "Michael!" Silas screamed in joy and ran to embrace is lost brother. "Silas. You're still taller than me." He said as they hugged. Juan A. B. (Greg)I backflipped down from the tree and multiplied myself in five clones before making contact with the ground. We all trotted around together watching everyone else practicing out their own individual powers. Lucas was benching a heavy rock. Laila shot a beam of Shadow-energy down at the earth while levitating in the air. Ryan was turning the scenery around into titanium. Ryuu turned into a dog and walked all over the place. But as always, there was a party pooper. One of me was turned around seeing if he...I could scale a tree. He/I vaulted up toward the branches of the tree but before he/I could reach the top, a invisible force had a steel grip at his/my leg. He/I turned around to see nothing, but there was something grasping his/my ankle. He/I kicked at it continuously until it revealed itself. It was a huge grey robot. It was seven feet tall. It had yellow eyes and was covered in a brown cloaked. It carried in huge iron mace in its free hand. He/I whistled for the rest of his/my colleagues. The clones raced and pounced on the robot. But they all were knocked back by its heavy mace. "Let me go." He/I cried. The clones tugged at the robots cloth which seemed to be attached to its exoskeleton. Finally, a ball of fire hit the thing and it fell. Behind it stood Mr. Joseph. "C'mon!" He said. Immediately I collected my clones, and ran with Ryuu and Mr. Joseph to a black limosine. "Where are we going?" I asked trying to catch my breath. "To the hospital." He asked opening the door and hopping in. John (Motor)"Where did everyone go?" I looked around. The robots were gone, but everyone was still in a frenzy. Some ran right. Some ran left. I tried to restore order. "CALM DOWN!" I yelled, but no one listened. One of the patients (Jillian, to be exact) was frantically zooming around, but I got a hold of her. "What's going on?" She pointed up. Millions of tiny dots were seen through our trophosphere. Those dots grew bigger with the passing second. I squinted at them. What were they? It took me a minute to realize (genius, huh) that they were more hovering machines out to destroy us mutants. "What do we do?" Jillian asked. "Those things nearly killed us." "I say you run." I sent her off. Cars were setting off onto the road. "Hey, doc." Lucas pat me on the back (probably broke a bone). "What's wrong with everyone?" I pointed upward. He looked. "Doc, let's get out of here." "Lucas, where's Faith?" I asked him. "In the cave." He pointed at the cave. "What now?" He asked. artistic:x:emo YAY IT'S FINALLY MY TURN! *exultant* Anyway....(Laila) I knew I must be unconscious, because I'd already gone through this, right? I looked around, noting the battered boombox on top of the TV, the dirty dishes piled on the coffee table, the glitter- and confetti-strewn carpet. I'd experienced this before. My dread grew more intense with each glance, deja vu sending my thoughts reeling into hyperdrive. The abstract picture on the wall hinting at a whirlwind, kaleidoscopic tornado. The single Nike sneaker beneath the coffee table. The sharp, rich smell of cinnamon, mixed with an unidentifiable but disturbing aroma. Cologne. The blue stain on the gray pillow next to me. I cringed. Suddenly I sensed him, just before he tackled me to the floor. It was happening again. I remembered every word he'd said, and he said them again aloud, searing the memory deeper into my mind. "You thought you were safe, huh? Well, who's looking down on who now?" I squirmed, already knowing I was helpless. I never could do anything differently, even in my mind. "Thought you were invincible," he taunted, malice-filled green eyes piercing into mine. "But I found your weakness, and now I'm going to show you what happens when you disobey." I began to scream, hating myself for doing so, but knowing that I could never do anything differently. (Ryuu) All of a sudden I was in the limo with Mr. Joseph and Greg. Things were happening so fast, I didn't have time to wonder what had happened with Laila and Ryan. "We're going to the hospital," Joseph said, and I gaped at him. "But why? Those things are still attacking the rest of the mutants! Shouldn't we call for help?" "NO!" he barked, cowering me. "Do you think the government's going to stop anything from attacking mutants? Unless it endangers nonmutant lives they're not going to care, Ryuu. And even then, they'd find a way to blame it on us. No, we're not getting any help from anyone who doesn't understand and empathize with us." "But why the hospital?" I persisted, cringing when he gave me a look. "I located Ryan and Laila. A local farmer had found them on the side of the road, trying to catch a ride. He dropped them off at the hospital, and so I came to gather up who I could and bring them there." "What do you need us for?" Greg voiced, looking confused. Joseph paused. "I'm not sure. But right now, the hospital is relatively safe. And I'm sure Ryan wouldn't mind the company." Greg and I looked at each other and shrugged. There was no turning back for the others, so we'd just follow along for now. I sighed. Sometimes things happened so fast that I couldn't even remember how I'd gotten somewhere. Like here, in the limo. Oh, well. I suppose people are right when they call me a ditz. PandorasBox- alive n kickn (Jillian)I didn't need to be told twice, I ran. I checked to see that Jaslene was following and ran like the wind, following panicky instincts that dictated no sense of direction. I ran through traffic uncaring that I might be hit by a passing car, through alleyways and side streets, just blindly running, hearing nothing and taking notice of nothing but what was ahead of me. The important thing was to get as far away from those killer machines as we could. We were not strong enough to face them. They were too many. We would be wiped out. And it wasn't my own death that frightened me so, it was the thought of watching Jaslene fall. I stopped suddenly, that awful thought taking all the energy out of my body, suddenly realising that my legs and lungs were burning, and that I had no idea where we were or how far we had come. I turned around slowly, expecting Jaslene to have that smirk I hated so much on her face, the one she wore whenever I had acted impulsively.. and she wasn't there. My heart seemed to drop out of my chest. How long had I been running without her? Where the hell was I and where was everyone else? I tried to find her through the link and failed, my mind was too chaotic and communicating over distances needed more concentration. I stilled myself, drew a breath and sat down. I forced my panic and my fear to the back of my mind and just breathed, until I could feel myself calming. I closed my eyes and focused on my sister, and then I saw it. I saw through her eyes and what I saw made me feel as though I'd been punched in the stomach. (Jaslene) Jillian, true to form, needed no encouragement to run. She didn't think about the others or were they might be headed, or that there might be safety in numbers. She just took off, expecting me to follow her and as usual I did. I cast a glance back towards the others, trying to gauge which direction they might be heading, then realised the foolishness of it. I could find them later if I needed to. Looking back at Jillian I realised that she had drawn further and further ahead of me. I tried to speed up so I wouldn't lose her, started to close the gap and then fell over a crack on the pavement, crashing to the concrete with a thud that made me see stars. The world spun for a moment, and then I realised that I could no longer see Jillian. I tried to stand, and my ankle buckled underneath me and pain burst through my body. Excellent. Just perfect. Killer robots on the loose, my sister god knew where and I had a sprained ankle. I tried to roll my ankle around, trying to see how badly it was sprained and the pain drew tears to my eyes. Well that certainly answered that. I looked around, I was in an alleyway just like a dozen others we had passed through, I had no way of guessing where I was. I was about to summon the concentration I needed to find Jillian and bring her to me when I saw a flicker of movement out of the corner of my eye. My heart began to beat faster in my chest, it wasn't Jillian or I would have felt her. For all I knew she was still running. I turned my head slowly, knowing that I wasn't going to like what I saw and then gaped at the sight that met my eyes. I saw myself, a perfect image of myself right down to the smallest detail. Even Jaslene and I had differences, unnoticable to the untrained eye but perfectly obvious to us. She walked up to me and smiled, it was horrible to see my own face smiling with such malevolence. "Such a shame", she said, "All alone, with no one to help you, no one who even knows where you are and injured to boot". "What are you?" I asked, "A clone?" "Why would I waste answers on you?" she hissed, kneeling beside me, "You are about to become history". I tried to work my way inside her mind, knowing that my talents were useless against her, and slammed into the equivalent of a locked door. She laughed and placed her hands on the sides of my head, heedless of my struggles. "I am going to suck you dry" she breathed, a hunger in her eyes. She began to draw power from me, I felt as though she was ripping my organs from my body and I screamed, the agony unbearable. Before the pain swallowed me, I felt a brief flicker of hope. I felt Jillian. She knew where I was, she had touched me. I prayed that she would find me before it was too late and then fell into blackness. JoeStrong (Faith)I was never much of a world-class mechanic, but hey, give me a screwdriver and an adrenaline rush, and I can definitely get by. With the help of those things--and the timely assistance of the talented Mr. Lucas--I was able to disconnect crucial circuitry inside the giant robot's back and shut it down without actually damaging it. There was no time for celebration, however; Oscar was clearly in bad shape. He couldn't even get up. I just barely noticed Lucas run out of the room as I ran to my best friend's side. He tried to sit up again, took a deep breath, and moaned. I quickly yanked his shirt off and grimaced--the entire right side of his chest was one gigantic bruise. I pressed my hand against his side and felt. Yep, definitely broken ribs. I counted four in all, and they weren't just broken. They were completely shattered. He was barely conscious, but clearly in a lot of pain. "Oh Jesus. Oscar, hang on..." "Faith, I can't... Owwwww..." I was terrified that at any minute he might start screaming and scare me out of my wits. I tried to sound as reassuring as possible: "Shhhh, I know it hurts, but you'll be fine. Just trust me..." "Faith, I want you to know..." he paused, and titled his head to one side. "I love you." "Oscar, you're scared and you're not thinking clearly. It's okay--" "No, I am thinking clearly. I mean it!" His voice took on a loud, serious tone and he looked me right in the eyes. For just one moment he seemed to be more indignant than in pain. "I'm in love with you, Faith." Just then, thankfully, someone behind me called out, "Faith!" I turned. Four men stood in the doorway: Dr. Miller, Lucas, Silas and another guy who looked so much like Silas that the two of them must have been brothers. They ran over to me. Lucas and Silas started to pick up Oscar. "Wait, STOP!" I yelled frantically. They both stopped and looked at me. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" "We're lifting Oscar," said Silas. "DON'T! You can't move him! His ribs are broken. I have to examine him right here to make sure that there aren't any bone fragments piercing his organs!" "There's no time!" said Dr. Miller. "A thousand more of those robots are headed this way! We've got to run before they get here!" Shoot. I sighed, knowing that that he was telling the truth and that the situation was out of my control. In the silence, Oscar moved slightly, then moaned. That was a bad sign. "All right," I said. "But Silas, give Oscar to Lucas." Lucas had helped me and Oscar out twice now. He was the only one I trusted to carry Oscar. "Will you please be careful when you're moving him?" I asked. Lucas gave me a big silent grin and left. I turned to Silas and the man I assumed to be his brother, and pointed them towards the lifeless robot on the floor. "Can you two carry that?" Between the two of them, they lifted the robot into the air easily. Dr. Miller looked confused, so I explained: "I disconnected that thing with Lucas' help. If I had enough time to study it, I might be able to learn something about the people who designed it. Perhaps I can even reprogram it to obey us!" Silas and the other guy left the kitchen carrying the robot. "What about you?" asked Dr. Miller. "Just go!" I said to him. "Meet me out in front of the cave! Trust me!" He nodded, and ran off as well. I was alone in the kitchen now, and I could hear a vague humming sound, getting louder by the second. Robots were approaching the house--a whole army, from the sound of it. I had to move fast. I scooped up the three weapons Oscar dropped--his megaphone, his knife and his pistol--a revolver with ten bullets. I cocked the revolver and stuffed it into my pocket; my cellphone-taser was already in there. Quickly I ran back to the bedroom and grabbed Oscar's axe. The humming was now so loud that objects in the house were starting to shake. I was beginning to feel the weight of the baby in my womb, but I tried to ignore it and ran as fast as I could to the cave's back entrance. Nobody else knew about the back entrance; I used it as a garage. There was the police van, which I hadn't used since day one. I opened the door and climbed inside. Right inside the front seat was a fantastic wealth of weapons--a shotgun, machine guns with rubber bullets, nightsticks, tear gas grenades and bulletproof SWAT armor. Who needed powers? I threw the car into gear and headed outside. I wasn't quite prepared for the first thing I saw--about a thousand robots, dropping right of the sky. I swung around to the front, where Dr. Miller, Silas, Lucas, Oscar and several others were waiting apprehensively. I pulled up to them and threw the doors open. "Get IN! Get IN!" Nobody needed to be told twice. "Where to now?" asked Dr. Miller. "Oscar needs to be taken to the hospital!" I was already stepping on the gas and flooring it out of Central Park. That was the great thing about living in New York City--the nearest hospital was only a stone's throw away. Howard (Howard)I knew that pregnant lay trusted me. I gave her a silent grin and carried her boyfriend or what not out of there. Me, the doc, the mom-to-be, the two Native Americans, and the albino piled into the police van outside of our hiding spot. The robot horde crowded Central Park like a swarm of locusts. The lady was in the driver's seat. "Oscar needs to be taken to the hospital!" She was already stepping on the gas and flooring it out of Central Park. She drove as the scenery flew past us. However, there was a BOOM! and the car screeched to a halt. "OH NO!!" The driver turned to the side in despair. I followed suite and saw another one of those mutant-hating robots preparing to attack us. "We have to get Oscar out of here." Faith turned to Dr. Miller. "The hospital is just two blocks away."Then, she turned to me. "Lucas, please do this for me." I shook my head ,but she continued to plead. We resolved that the Native Americans would distract the bot and I'll help carry him to the hospital. Nicky (Gargoyle)All felt right with the world, all felt safe. Everything below was so bright, loud, large, exaggerated, familiar, finite, while everything up high was eternal, unchanging, natural, simple, indifferent and wild. Up there, you almost forgot where you were. All the smells, sights and sounds were out of reach, and there was only cool, clear, sweet, salty air. The chill of the mist was all you could feel on your body, and all you could hear was the flap of leathery wings. Then she fell. Diving down, head first, eyes closed, pointed teeth barred, wings relaxed, spread out to catch the wind, webbed fingers spread out as well as if like extra wings, keeping her aloft in the air. Her stomach began to feel weightless and her body lost its tension, its usual rigidity. Her head made heavy by gravity, she could barely open her haunting yellow eyes. She watched the world barreling at her, face washed by wind. Then she tensed again, curving her body, until she felt all of her weight fall the opposite way and slip into a loop, centrifugal forces pulling her into a full 360. Then she caught herself back up into the original flow of flight, feeling her wings strain lazily against a sudden gust of cold wind. She felt her tail snap like that of a kite tail, though its movements were much more fluid, more controlled. She looked up into the dark, velvety canvas that was the night sky, and at the millions of bright holes in its surface, at the large one, a crescent shape of light, and her breath was almost taken from her chest. Time to come down, she thought. She took one more deep breath. Lungs refreshed from the smog-less air, she dove again, watching as the world came closer and closer. Everything seemed to slow down. Even though she was falling, and beginning to fall faster, everything seemed to move at a slower pace. The city began to envelop her, and she eagerly escaped its light, scrambling into the darkness atop a nearby building. She leapt from roof-top, to roof-top, as she usually did, looking down upon the grounds below, watching its workings, smelling its smells, listening to its sounds, making use of her keen, superhuman senses. She took in the environment, feeling a strange sadness creep into her. She felt as though she had been unjustly depraved of a sort of privilege. A natural privilege in which everyone was allowed to thrive in, excluding her and those like her. By being born, she’d lost the privilege of living in the world, of humanity. She didn’t know the world, hidden from it, and she’d learned to become afraid of it, and the world didn’t know her. It knew her only as a threat. At least they were aware of her, and she’d become something of a legend, but hardly a celebrity. She wasn’t the first mutant freak to end up in the papers… and the pictures never looked that much like her, always exaggerated and touched to look more eerie, creepy, ugly. She’d made enough of an effort to stay unseen, but she knew she was liable to slip up what with her nightly flights. She couldn’t give that up, even if it meant being discovered. She was born with wings. Wasn’t in her very nature to fly? Wasn’t flying a biological necessity? Not flying was almost as unnatural to her as it was to not be able to walk or talk, or eat. Suddenly a feeling of extreme unsettlement came over her, and she couldn't name it, couldn't identify it. It was just a feeling, she told herself. Just a feeling... Then there was something. Not just a feeling, but a sound. A bad omen. Yet not a whole sound either, not a true solid sound like the sounds of the city. It was hardly a sound at all. More like a sensation, buzzing in her large ears. It was a sound she knew all to well. Her breathing stopped, her heart jumped, her stomach lurched. Panic swept over her in a sharp shudder, while she looked about her, searching for the source of this terrible ringing in her ears. Flight pattern thrown off, her wings lost rhythm, and she felt she as though she might go tumbling, falling from the sky. She skidded to an uncomfortable stop atop the Madison Bank, a building near Bakers Street, skinning an already leathery knee. Her hair stood on end, large, pronounced spines running along her back began to spike, while she lay there, on hands and knees, trying to catch her breath. Guardians, they were called, weapons built for achieving mutant genocide. Apparently, the world needed to be perfect, and mutants messed up the equation. There was once a time when mutation was lameness, disfigurement, ineptness. Now that a mutation could actually improve something about you, or make you different in a way that could actually be beneficial, people were intimidated, scared, and above all, no matter which way you look at it, prejudice. It seemed like prejudice was almost a human instinct. It was a stupid, ignorant instinct, which told you to fear that which is different, new or phenomenal, and approach it as a threat. She could hear cries. Screams. The accumulation of high-pitch wines was growing more and more, meaning there were more of them coming. An army of Guardians. Then a new kind of panic struck her. Fear for someone else. Had they gotten the others? Had they been found? Now she wondered what would happen. Where would they go now? These “others” were the only family she’d ever known. The only mutants she’d ever known. They were more or less a gang, but family nonetheless. She flew down into an alleyway, and climbed nimbly up a grimy, brick wall and into an old fire escape, then went through a window into an abandoned apartment. They're main "headquarters". A lonely building left boarded up for years, waiting to be sold, it sat on Bakers Street crowded between two hole-in-the-wall stores that sold things like tackle boxes and ninety-nine cent stuff. She scanned the perimeter, a half-burned, unsightly dilapidated couch that was already weathered and old anyway, dust everywhere, cobwebs never brushed away, and a TV they'd stolen, broken, yet still working. She saw the places where wall insulation and mangled couch cushions had been used as their beds. But it was quiet. No one there. Empty. Had they left without her? She ran back out and took off to the air, tears burning in her eyes which were not accustomed to stinging, their lenses thicker and extra protective. She was scared, and a new emotion was beginning to well up in her chest: abandonment. Then she stopped in mid air, hovering, tired wings pumping, and her eyes were drawn toward Central Park, guided by the high pitched ringing in her ears. The trees were moving. Then she noticed something else. Large masses falling from the sky, descending down upon Central Park. The Guardians were after something. Something in the heart of Central Park had gotten their attention. Mutant activity. She knew there were other groups outside hers --the Bakers Street Gang they were called, which she thought was a stupid name-- and a week or so ago, they’d even come into contact with one. A handful of guys, all looking perfectly human, had been trespassing on Bakers Street mutant territory, their territory, her territory. Well, the gang quickly discovered that these guys were hardly human. There was a fight, and, to everyone’s shame, they’d lost. She hadn't taken part in it though. She was too young, and it wasn't her job anyway. She was the scout. Her job was to watch, to spy, to search, and she did little else, other than those tasks which belonged to the whole team. They'd sent her to investigate that other group, but... she never found their base or wherever it was they stayed. But now... it seemed obvious. But where in Central Park, could they have found a place to hide? She wondered if they were dead now. No, the Guardians were still on the move. Still searching for them. Stupid. She didn't know where these monsters came from, what organization, cooperation, or whatever manufactured these disastrous death machines –she hoped to God this wasn’t the U.S. government handy-work, or else she and her gang and everyone else like them who lived in the United States were in a whole lot more trouble then they’d thought-- but she did know that the people running it all were lacking in intelligence. You don't just send huge, killer robots loose in New York City. Even if they were only there to kill mutants, wouldn't the normal humans freak out too? Aren’t they the people they were supposedly “protecting”? Suddenly all the masses, upon landing, disappeared. Like magic, they appeared to have simply slipped out of existence, covered by a veil of invisibility. A chill ran down her spiked spine. Oh yes, that's right. Their huge, killer robots were invisible, huge, killer robots. Of course. She stopped atop a building where she had complete view of the scene playing out over Central Park, though the scene was hardly very lively anymore. All she saw now were trees moving on their own in ways they wouldn't naturally move --an eerie unnerving image but still rather inactive-- and whatever mutants had seemingly already fled. So, there was no fighting. No screams. No killer robots… that were visible. She was dazed, confused, feeling frantic. Her vision was blurring, and suddenly nothing felt real. Like in a nightmare, she thought, it’s like a nightmare. Her life was already a meager, savage existence, where survival by whatever means is the main and only objective. The friends, the allies, the peers, those who she survived with, they were the only things that made her life worth while, made the ride fun, made the ride safer. Now she was not only scared, but she was on her own now. Lost, and in danger. She was facing death, and she’d faced death before, but now she had to face it alone. And now she couldn’t think straight, adrenaline pumping, head and heart thumping to the same rapid beat, teeth chattering, hands shaking. Her tail shivering, coiling and bending nervously, she wandered closer to the edge of the building’s ledge. Then her unfocused eyes were drawn over the edge and down into the alleyway, thinking about barreling down into it, running down deep into a corner, finding another passage, losing herself in a complicated circuit of alleyways, so that they wouldn’t find her, wouldn’t kill her. So she would survive. Survival. Escape. These were the things her mind screamed. Then, when she looked down into that alleyway, peering through the darkness that she was so accustomed to, that which had become her home, her shelter, eyes scanning over the ransacked garbage bins, piles of debris and dirt and grim piled up along the walls, she saw movement. A swell of hope rose in her heart. Was it one of her friends? A name was already on her lips when she got a better look. No. No one she knew. Two women, both blond and of similar, no, identical size, and whom she did not recognize at all. They were normal looking enough, but as she watched them… she noticed something peculiar about their behavior, but could not exactly say what. She was still unnerved and eager to find shelter, yet… now she was curious. She pushed aside her fear just long enough to satisfy this knew interest of hers and looked watched intently now. She sat quietly, crouched low on her ledge, secure in the knowledge that she would be able to watch without being seen, hunched over them like a vulture over prey. One of the women, was on the ground, head propped against a wall of bricks, limp, unmoving… unconscious? And the other woman was crouched over her. At first she seemed to be helping the other girl, slumped over and unresponsive, but she was doing very little. She had the girl’s head between her hands… was she pressing against her temples? This appeared to be a maneuver more likely to debilitate the victim rather than resuscitate. She was hunched, her body tensed as if she whatever she was doing involved the use of actual energy. Suddenly the thought struck the spy perched high over the scene that this woman’s intentions were not in the other’s best interest. She was not helping this woman, but harming. What was this some sort of bizarre cat-fight? Two crazed blonds, one a crazy assassin going after your average bimbo for making moves on her guy? And now what?, she thought to herself. What if that girl wasn’t really in trouble? Did she really want to risk being seen so… up close? Maybe it would be worth. Maybe she was the only one that could stop whatever bad thing was happening down there. A job for Gargoyle?, she thought, slightly amused in spite of the urgency of the situation. Gargoyle. It wasn’t just a stupid title some journalist had come up with. She’d become known as Gargoyle among her friends, as well. In fact, it was her code name –they all had code names. However, it was only a code name, not her real name. She did have a name, and it was special to her. It was one of the few thing that she could still call hers, and that which was truly hers. It wasn’t a exactly a very attractive name, but all that mattered was that it was hers. Sloan. And her last name? As far as she knew she didn’t have one. She made her decision… And leapt into action, and with a swoop, creating something of a breeze which sent a few shards of newspaper and plastic cups shuffling about on the ground, she attached herself to the wall of the building ahead of her, four fingered hands and large, three-toed feet grappling for purchase. She’d hoped that maybe that would have gotten the woman’s attention and that maybe she could have lured her away from the… victim but she was still occupied. Sloan rolled her eyes and the jumped down heavily on tope of a garbage bin, unprepared for the echoing sound of metal. That got her attention. The blond woman was on her feet immediately, and the other woman fell over. Could she be dead? No, she still stirred. Now she could see her face, which she saw was identical to that of the woman on the floor. Twins? Was this sibling rivalry or one girl getting mad at another one for having the same plastic surgery? The woman’s face showed complete shock, with a hint of annoyance. Sloan tried to imagine what she must have looked like, what this woman must have been seeing, and she felt empowered by this shock factor she could generate. A turquoise-teal, pointed, webby, fishy look ears, scaly skinned creature, with its demon-like wings, perched upon a garbage can, claws and talon extended, strong lion-like tail twitching and whipping, eyes glowing, sharply pointed teeth gleaming in the moonlight, she must have looked like a creature out of some terrible dark forest that only exists in nightmares, or some thing out of the black lagoon. She really was a gargoyle. And yet, she was human. She knew she was human. Yes, mutated, but a mutated human, nonetheless. Her body was that of an average human, sixteen-year-old girl –except for her gills—and her face, her face was still human. Strange, how the woman’s shock disappeared so quickly. Now she was just angry. Her expression grew very dark, malicious, and then a menacing grin spread across her face, and Sloan suddenly lost a large amount of her initial self-assurance. She felt very uncomfortable about the way the woman was looking at her, and she knew that it showed in her face now. “The Gargoyle?” she snickered, “I’ve read about you. You looked...” she snorted, “scarier in the pictures. A little bit more threatening… Ah! You have claws do you? Impressive, I must say.” Gargoyle didn’t respond. She stood now, feeling a little more safe with a little more height, her wings tense, tail still. Her eyes shifted slightly, looking past the standing woman, to the other blond still on the ground. Her eyes were open now, green, a prettier, sweet green, but she was visibly fighting to keep them open, and her movements were sluggish, weak, but she was awake. Good. At least she wasn’t dead. The woman’s smile grew. “You know…” she hissed –her voice didn’t seem to match the look of her at all-- and her brilliant, green eyes began to change. Suddenly they were no long green, but… yellow. “I could have claws, too… if I want them.” Suddenly the woman began to morph. Her skin was changing, her clothes, her body. Two grotesque appendages began to emerge from her back… In a matter of minutes, the blond woman became an exact clone of Gargoyle. Suddenly, she was staring at herself. “You wouldn’t be quite as useful as this psychic one over hear… but I’ve always wanted to know what it was like to fly.” The sound of her eerie voice sent shivers down Goyle’s spine. She backed up a little now, still feeling safe on top of the garbage bin, her tin fortress, confident that she still had some sort of advantage. She looked back at the woman on the ground, who was stumbling, trying to get back onto her feet. The other one, this thing, this she-demon didn’t turn around to look at her victim, as if certain that she had sucked enough out of her that she wouldn’t be going anywhere anytime soon. Hopefully that was an underestimate. Suddenly, Sloan's ears picked up on a new sound... artistic:x:emo (Ryuu)The limo was comfy, I noted to myself as I settled back into the plushy seat. There was a mini fridge right next to me, and I happily grabbed the first thing I found, putting it back when I saw it was alcohol. Peering into the fridge, there was nothing but alcoholic drinks. I looked at Joseph. "Do you have anything non-alcoholic in here?" I asked. Joseph shook his head absently. "Not even water?" I tried again, but this time he ignored me altogether. He was lost in his own thoughts. I sighed, playing with my hands. "Want to play I Spy?" I offered Greg, but he just shook his head. "Man, today is just going peachy, isn't it?" I muttered. My usual happy-go-lucky mood was gone, and I felt a deep sense of weariness and worry. I'd just barely gotten out of the woods when I was snatched up and put in the limo; I hadn't left Ryan and Laila alone for more than ten minutes. He'd asked me to run for help while he stayed with her, and I obeyed. It had taken me a while, admittedly, to weave my way out of the woods, but how could they have found help so fast, and how could Joseph have known about that in time to set up a limo to take us to wherever they were? Nothing made sense anymore, and I clenched my fists in frustration. I'd hated to see the look on Ryan's face as he tried to revive Laila. I hadn't ever seen such a look of despair and worry sketched on anyone's features. He had looked heartbroken. I shuddered, thinking of how corpse-like Laila had looked on the ground, so pale and vulnerable. I was ready to bolt when the limo stopped outside of Gracious Heart Hospital, and thought vaugely that the name was all too typical. It made things seem surreal, especially when I realized a police van was headed our way, swerving through lanes of cars and honking erratically. Greg had just stepped out of the limo behind me when it turned sharply and the brakes squealed, kicking up dust. I watched with my mouth open as it stopped just before it hit the curb, perfectly parked parallel behind the limo. Faith got out, looking harried, and spotted us. She looked confused for a moment and gave a short wave before she slid the side door open. Dr. Miller, Silas, someone who looked eerily like Silas, and Lucas tumbled out hurriedly, all of them speaking loudly. I didn't understand a word, but my attention was caught by Lucas, who was lifting Oscar out of the van. Oscar was gritting his teeth and I could tell he didn't like being carried, but it was obvious he couldn't walk, what with the huge bruise on his side. His shirt was flapping, unbuttoned nearly all the way down, and I could clearly see the bruised mass of skin and strange ripples where there shouldn't be. "His ribs are broken," Greg said quietly beside me, and I glanced at him. Despite being short for a guy, he was emanating an air of strength and calmness. He'd always been that way, I realized. Why was it that I overlooked so many things? I suppose I just prefer my little dreamworld, but I have to be able to know others at least well enough to converse. I resolved that once this was over, I'd take the time to get to know these other mutants. I'd been living alone for a while, scared of my own powers. I needed a support system made of people who understood and shared the same problem. Laila did too, I realized, even more than me. I felt that there was something she was holding back, a part of herself that she locked away and never let out. I glanced up at the hospital building, at the shimmering sunlit square windows, and wondered where they were. “Joseph?” Dr. Miller said in disbelief, finally noticing Joseph. We were just starting to walk into the hospital, and Joseph looked startled for a moment before asserting himself. “Well well, Miller. Why am I surprised that you’re here? I do imagine you’re feeling some guilt over this incident, as it is your fault,” he smirked, and I gaped at the two. Dr. Miller was heated as he fell into step beside Joseph, and I moved forward until I couldn’t hear them anymore. I ended up walking beside Greg again, wrinkling my nose at the smell of the hospital. He took a quick glance at me as we walked, but then both of our eyes were pulled to the front of the group as someone yelled. “Oscar! Quit being such a baby!” Faith snapped, but I saw the troubled look in her eyes. Oscar muttered as a nurse wheeled him on a gurney, and Faith kept pace beside him, anxious but trying not to show it. They went through a set of double doors, and just as the rest of us were about to follow, a male nurse blocked us briefly. “You’re not allowed through those doors. Waiting room’s thataway,” he said, barely looking at us. We all stopped as one, and Greg and I looked at each other. “I have to find Ryan and Laila. Want to come?” I asked in a low voice. If we did manage to find the right room, I didn’t want everyone to crowd in. Actually, they’d probably stay away just because it was Laila in there, hurt or not. “Sure. Better than waiting,” he answered, and we set off. “They’d probably be in the psychiatric ward,” I mused aloud. That would make sense to me. Greg laughed before becoming somber. “What exactly happened to her? I was too caught up with everything else to notice.” I paused for a moment, pretending to check the rooms we were passing. “Well, a couple of the robot things came after me and Ryan, and she got him out of the way first. She ended up jumping in front of them to save me, because I…well I just lost it, I suppose. Frozen with fear, or whatever. I don’t really understand what happened either, but Ryan said that basically, she uh…well she merged with her Shadows and went inside the robots to screw with the wiring. Whatever she did worked, but when we found her…” I couldn’t say anymore, and Greg nodded silently. “She’s in some sort of coma.” We walked in silence, and I thought about what I’d said. She had jumped in front of me, yes, but why would she want to save me? She hated my guts, that was obvious. But she got along with Ryan pretty well. “There!” Greg said suddenly. I could see Ryan sitting in a chair, looking half-dead. We went in, cautious. I waved weakly as Ryan’s steel gray eyes lifted, looking for a moment as though he were ready to attack. The look faded though, once he recognized us. “She’s still unconscious,” he said softly, his voice sounding as tired as he looked. “Anything…wrong with her?” I asked, sitting down in another chair as Greg did the same. “Nothing the doctors can find. I think it’s somewhere in her mind that was damaged,” he answered, gazing at Laila, impassive and pale beneath bleached white sheets. “She’s screamed a few times, but she hasn’t regained consciousness. I think,” he hesitated a moment, as if unsure of himself, “maybe the Shadows corrupted her, have been corrupting her for a while. Maybe today was the breaking point, when she merged with the Shadows.” I nodded, thinking. It made sense, in a weird sort of way. We waited for something to happen, there in the dim room drenched with the smell of death, thinly covered by antiseptic and filled with an air of heaviness. JoeStrong (Faith)I followed Oscar as long as I could, but when they took him to surgery I was no longer allowed to follow. Still, I was relieved to see him go, wheeled through the doors of the surgery ward. Oscar would be all right now. After he had been taken away, I went back out into the main waiting room. Lucas was there, and Dr. Miller and the Donnell brothers, the Fulgham twins, and Joey and Jami. Sitting next to Dr. Miller, I noticed uneasily, was Jason Joseph, the red-haired man. He looked up as I entered the room, but I kept my head down and walked right past him. Dr. Miller opened his mouth to call me over. “Not right now,” I cut him off. “I have to move the car.” And I went out. The police car was still outside. Nobody had noticed it yet, thankfully. I glanced around the block, closed my eyes and thought for a second. Should I hide it in a public garage? No… there would be video cameras set up there. In fact, there didn’t seem to be any place where I could leave the car that it wouldn’t attract attention. I’d have to ditch it—but first, I’d have to find some way to move all those weapons out. First, I snuck around to the loading dock and stole a body bag. Then I went back to the car and loaded all the weapons and armor into it. I also stuffed a few tear gas grenades into my purse, in case the need arose. Finally, I walked around the hospital until I found some nice, thick hedge bushes a safe distance from the street, and there I hid the body bag. Finally, I called 9-1-1 from a payphone and left an anonymous call that there was a stolen police car in front of the hospital. Hopefully, the police would come and get it, and not waste time trying to find the thieves. I had been marginally aware of a queasy feeling building up inside me, but it wasn’t until I went back into the hospital that I realized how poorly I felt. As quickly as I could, almost knocking a few people down, I ran into the bathroom and bent over the nearest toilet. I didn’t throw up, though. Instead, I just sat there, hunched over and shivering in a cold sweat—and then I began to cry. Hard. Pregnancy makes people crazy, I suppose, but it wasn’t just that. Up until now, I hadn’t had the chance to come to grips with how scared I was. This whole mutant thing that Oscar and I had gotten mixed up in; it was so dangerous, and everything was moving so fast. Already I had stolen police property, been attacked by robots and rioting citizens, taken my best friend and favorite ex-boyfriend to the hospital, and I had been on the lam for a week! How long could a pregnant 21-year-old college graduate be expected to last in this kind of a situation? I sat there and sobbed into the toilet bowl for God knows how long, and finally I began to calm down. When I had stopped crying and was only trembling slightly I stood up, went to the sink and washed my face. Then I took a deep breath and walked out of the bathroom. It was time to be strong again. Surprisingly, Dr. Miller and Jason were calmly discussing matters with each other. They looked up as I came in. “We just saw on the news,” said Dr. Miller as I sat down next to him. “The presence of the robots in New York City frightened so many people that the mayor ordered them to cease and desist. All of the Guardians—that’s what those robots are called—have been withdrawn from the city for now.” “Thank God,” I said. “That gives us some breathing room. I imagine Senator McCarthy is becoming quite unpopular among normal citizens and mutants alike. Now, I guess the only thing we can do is find someplace else where we’ll be safer.” “We may have to get out of the city entirely,” said Joseph flatly. His suggestion was so unnerving that I lost my taste for discussion on the spot. I got up and walked off, letting Dr. Miller and Joseph continue arguing. And it was at that moment that I walked right into Greg, Ryuu and Ryan. “Ryan!” I exclaimed. “What the hell happened to you? How did you get here? Where have you been all this time?” “I was bringing Laila here,” said Ryan with incredible calmness. “Ryuu and Greg already told me about Oscar. I’m sorry.” His answer confused me. “… Ryan, is Laila okay?” As it turned out, she was… and she wasn’t. She hadn’t been hurt, not physically, but she was in a coma, and nobody could say for how long. They took me to her, and I sat there for about fifteen minutes, and then I went back to check on Oscar. As I came back into the main waiting room, a man rushed past me. He was clearly panicked and causing a scene, running around the hospital yelling, “SOMEBODY CALL THE COPS! CALL THE FBI! CALL NASA! I JUST SAW TWO GARGOYLES FIGHTING OVER SOME BLONDE CHICK IN AN ALLEY!” I glanced over at Dr. Miller. “Hmmm,” he said. “Gargoyles, you say? This might be something we should look into.” As I left the room, I could hear Dr. Miller instructing Lucas, Silas and Greg to go investigate the gargoyles. Oscar was sleeping when I came in, and looking so peaceful that I couldn’t bear to disturb him. Was his operation already over? Those doctors had certainly been quick. I decided to let him sleep for a while, go get myself a glass of water, and check back in on him later. (Oscar) There was a glowing hand in my dreams. I couldn’t remember anything else after being wheeled into the surgery ward, so that must have been when they knocked me out. But it wasn’t the deep, dreamless sleep one generally gets from anesthetic. It was a sleep full of dreams, dreams centered mostly around that glowing hand. It shone with a fiery, almost ethereal light. In the dream, the hand touched me and suddenly all my pain went away, and I was left with the most wonderful, warm sensation in my body. The first time I woke there were several doctors and nurses standing around me, looking very confused. “Is my surgery over?” I asked them, squinting in the light of the lamp. “Your surgery hasn’t begun, young man,” said one doctor. “And there won’t be any surgery. There is nothing wrong with you.” “WHAT?! That’s ridiculous? I thought my ribs were broken!” “Do they feel broken?” He asked me. I realized, then—they didn’t. There was no excruciating agony. No feeling of bone fragments poking into my side. Clearly, there was nothing wrong with me. In fact, I felt better than I ever had before. “We’re just going to fill out the appropriate paperwork and get you out of here, young man,” said the doctor. “And don’t come back until you actually need medical attention.” I suppose I should have nodded or something, but I was too stunned to make any sort of reply. The doctors and nurses all filed out, one by one, leaving me alone with my amazement. Slowly, I got out of bed. There was no pain. I walked around the room. Still no pain. I turned several cartwheels, and, on a whim, I did several backflips. It was official now—I was 100% healthy! Then it hit me—I had never been able to do a backflip before. What the hell had happened to me? Then the door opened again, and three men walked into the room. They weren’t doctors. The man in front was about my age—maybe a few years older, certainly no more than 23. He had thick black curly hair and wore a white polo shirt. My eyes widened as he held up his right hand—it was the golden, glowing hand I had dreamed about. His other hand, which hung at his side, was pitch black and shriveled. Standing behind him were two other guys of a similar age and dress style. One was a redheaded man with thin wire-framed glasses, and the other was a tall blonde with muscles like a weightlifter. The black-haired man smiled at me, and I instantly found myself liking him. “Feeling better, then?” said the black-haired man at last. “Oh my god! Did you—Is that—I had a dream—?” “That’s right. I touched you with this hand while you were sleeping. Are you wondering why your broken bones have all healed? That’s my mutant power. This hand heals, improves and rapidly evolves anything it touches, while anything touched by my other hand is completely destroyed in a matter of seconds.” “Wow. Well… thank you.” “Oh, it’s no problem. You’re Oscar, right?” I nodded. “Well, Oscar, these are my friends. This—” he motioned to the redhead “—is Parkinson. He has the power to control peoples’ nervous systems. And this—” here he indicated the blonde man “—is Ichor. He has an unusual type of blood; it gives him enhanced strength and heightened senses, but to anybody else, it’s poisonous. And you can call me me… Bradley.” “Bradley?” I tried to be polite as I could. “That’s an… interesting code name.” “No, my name is actually Bradley. I couldn’t think of a good code name for myself.” “Ah. Of course. Well, thank you all the same.” “My pleasure. We’re here looking for—” At that moment, the sound of the door opening made us all turn our heads. Faith was in the doorway, glass of water in hand… but as soon as she stepped into the room, it was on the floor. The sight of my three visitors had so surprised her that she had dropped it. “Holy Jesus!” She exclaimed, through the hand she had clapped to her mouth. “Bradley!” Bradley smiled. He didn’t seem too surprised to see her. It wasn’t exactly a friendly smile he gave Faith, either. It was more like the smile of a pirate gloating over his treasure. Specifically, he was looking at her belly—and, presumably, at the baby growing therein. Suddenly I found myself trusting him less. “As I was saying,” he said, turning back to me. “We came here looking for the lovely miss Faith Crane. As I understand it, she’s currently pregnant, and if that’s true, then I might just be the father.” My mind recoiled as if from a shotgun blast. I looked from Faith to Bradley, gaping like a fish. Faith just looked back at me anxiously and sighed. I knew that in the time we were together, she had been with other guys, but never once had I ever considered something like this. For the longest time I just sat there, glancing from face to guilty face, without the slightest idea of what to say. Finally, though, I found my voice: “Oh, FUCK!” Howard (Howard)It was just me, that Silas guy, and Greg. Silas brought his brother along to help out with anything. We went outside to check out the 'gargoyles' and see what they were doing fighting over a girl's body. We came across the two creatures in a dark alleyway. They were huge, grey monsters with yellow eyes. They seemed to be facing off over the poor girl. They didn’t seem to see us. I took one look at the girl who was unconscious. She reminded me of someone from the quarantine. These two gargoyles probably beat her up and were planning on splitting her up to eat or whatever it is gargoyles do. “So guys, I don’t have a plan.” I looked around at our party of four. Two of my allies were nervous. Only Silas wasn’t. He seemed confident. Almost as much as me. “We’re gonna play it by ear. Those two overgrown bats have someone from the quarantine and are planning on eating her or whatever. So we take them down when I give the signal.” Silas was preparing for a good fight. He and I knew this would be fun. He was a good ally, too. He beat up two of the five mutants who were trying to kill us for stepping on their turf. I knew I could trust him, but not the others. But they were all I got. “3…2…1…Get ‘em.” I whispered to the team. We all charged at the two gargoyles. I tackled one right into one of the walls of the alley. She took off flying. “You think you’re the only one who can fly.” I leapt into the air to chase her. I caught up to her and threw a punch. She strained a little bit, but kicked me back. Then, I gripped her by the wings and yanked her down. We were falling but she wrestled herself free. I hit the ground hard. I got up to check on the others. Silas was stuck in a grapple with the other gargoyle. Then, she did something I found surprising. She melted into like a liquid and flow between his legs! She reformed back into gargoyle form and gave poor Silas a good roundhouse kick across the alley. Then, she turned to me and did something even more surprising. Her skin started to change from grey to brown. Her features changed to look exactly like me. The face, the hair, the physique, everything. I knew she probably copied my powers, too so I prepared for a big fight. Then, the other gargoyle swooped down, grabbed me, and threw me into the air. Wind rushed against my face. At first, I flew up. Then, gravity started bringing me down. I regained my balance and took off flying back down to the alleyway. There I saw the gargoyle fighting the shapeshifter who still looked like me. Greg and Silas’s brother were standing and watching the fight. Silas had recovered. The four of us regrouped to watch the girls duke it out. The gargoyle flicked her tail and the imposter and caused the imposter to trip. Then, the gargoyle suckerpunched the shapeshifter in the hard stone ground. The shapeshifter sprang to its feet and disappeared leaving the ominous feeling of its return. Now it was just the four of us guys against the gargoyle. “Why’d you hurt that poor girl?!?” I yelled at her mentioning the unconscious girl in front of us. “I didn’t hurt her. The other person did. I just came here to see what was happening.” She denied it. I thought for a moment. She seemed kind of trustworthy so we asked her to tag along. I carried the unconscious one, and the four of us along with our new comrade, Sloan, went back to the hospital. Juan A. B. (Greg)I stood there watching. Lucas and Silas were fighting off the gargoyles. Michael, Silas’s brother, and I just stood there. One of the gargoyles took off flying and Lucas followed it. Silas was in a grapple with the other gargoyle. I looked around at the blonde lady who was unconscious. Michael and I walked over to her. We knelt down to try to help her. She was definitely out of it. Upon, turning around, I saw Lucas and Silas square off against one of the two gargoyles. The other one had disappeared somewhere. “I didn’t hurt her. The other person did. I just came here to see what was happening.” The remaining gargoyle said. Her name was Sloan. She seemed like a good person. So we went to take her back to the hospital. Dr. Miller met up with us. He saw our new friend. “And who might this be?” He asked. artistic:x:emo (Ryuu) Well, nothing's going on right now. Me and Ryan kept on walking back and forth from Laila's room to the waiting area, but I got tired of that and Ryan went to stay with Laila and I went to the waiting area. I sat by myself, a little wary and nervous, as I didn't really know anyone here. Greg had gone off a while ago under Dr. Miller's instructions, and I didn't really feel like introducing myself to anyone new right now. There was a commotion behind me, and I turned to see Dr. Miller greeting Lucas, Silas, Michael, Greg, and--...what in the world was that?!? A creature vaguely reminiscent of a human form stood before Dr. Miller. Looking rather like a gargoyle, it had scaly skin, strange ears, wings that reminded me of a demon, a huge, swishing tail, and complete with talons and claws. And yet, the face was remarkably like a human's, and the body as a whole was human-like...As it spoke, I could see pointy teeth flashing in the florescent light. Half-entranced, half-scared, I approached the group with the intention of finding out just, what, exactly, the creature was. "My name's Sloan...um, sir. I was--...I just saw the girl being attacked in an alley. I figured I could help when these four showed up and thought that I was trying to harm her. It's all a big misunderstanding, and I'll be leaving now." It sounded feminine, so I decided that she was a female. She was obviously uncomfortable here; there were spines on her back that were bristling slightly, and her tail was constantly moving. "Well," Dr. Miller started, clearly awestruck, "the twins have been put in a hospital room and are being taken care of. So that part's all good...what kind of creature are you?" he asked, his curiosity getting the best of him. Sloan shifted awkwardly. "Well, I'm kind of a gargoyle," she said softly, "but I can assure you that I am still a human." I stopped beside the doctor, feeling cautious but excited. "I'm Ryuu," I said, sticking out my hand. "If you need a friend, I kind of need one too." Sloan's face relaxed a bit after a moment, and she gently shook my hand, careful not to hurt me. "Thank you for your openness and sincerity," she said, giving a small smile. I grinned back, feeling a little better myself. It was my job to make people feel better, or at least, that's how I felt. "Would you mind if I tried to transform into you?" I asked, looking her straight in the eye. Sloan frowned a bit, looking confused. I decided to just demonstrate. Focusing on her appearance, I began to change my body according to hers. I let my spine expand and lengthen, weaving the end with muscle until I had a tail. I let my skin flake until it was the exact texture and shade of Sloan's. Slowly I changed my whole body and being into an exact replica of Sloan. She stood before me, both shocked and amazed. "It's like I'm looking into a mirror!" she exclaimed, coming a little closer. I shifted, feeling a little strange. "This is interesting," I remarked. (Laila) I shivered, feeling at once alone and unwanted. I looked around me and saw nothing but darkness. Not my darkness either, just a pitch black atmosphere. I sat, or tried to. I didn't know if I succeeded, but I presumably sat and waited, feeling a chill settle into my bones. Unexpectedly a bubble appeared before me, somehow gleaming and iridescent in this darkness. I bit my lip and then reached up to pop it. I saw just the tip of my finger appear for an instant as it burst, and then darkness again. I sighed. All at once a kaleidoscopic myriad of color surrounded me, and I was being pulled and twisted and turned and bent and forced against my will into a blur of sounds, images, and feelings. "...worthless, pathetic piece of--" "...hate you I hate you I wish you never--" Anger. Scarlet madness and fury. Breaking glass, hiss of chemicals burning through something. Pain...acute, horrible, terrifying and abundant pain and suffering and a wish to be anywhere but-- "...Fuck you! I won't stand for this, I won't let myself--" "...please, I'll do anything, just don't hurt my little girl, please she hasn't--" Heartbreaking depression, aloneness and solitude. "..hopeless, there's no way you can escape me, darling, don't you know--" Trapped. Completely and absolutely trapped and bound and inescapable-- "Fate. It's what determines your being, your spirit, your entire fucking world and there's nothing you can do to change it, it's irreversible, unchangeable, and a complete pain in the ass. Deal with it, kid." Screaming. I'm screaming, oh God why does this hurt so-- "LAILA!" Familiar. Tone, sound, it's familiar. Why? Who said that? Don't let this be another-- "Talk to me! LAILA!" Clarity. It's Ryan... Relief. For now... Awake. JoeStrong (Oscar)Hurt and angry, I pushed ahead of Faith and walked right through the swing doors leading into the waiting room. That was where I encountered my next big surprise. The whole group was there. Dr. Miller was there. That red-haired guy was there. Greg, Lucas, Silas, Ryan and Laila were there. Someone else who looked just like Silas, but a little older, and a little shorter, was there. And standing there next to them was someone I recognized immediately as "the Manhattan Gargoyle", who the tabloids were always writing about—except there were two of them! "Oscar, don't worry!" One of them said as soon as he noticed my shock. "It's me, Ryuu!" And he changed back to himself. The other one just kept staring at me inquisitively. Then the realization struck: that was the {i]real gargoyle. "Sloan, here, just helped us find and rescue Jaslene from some other shapeshifter," said Dr. Miller by way of explanation. "But how are you, Oscar? We didn't think your surgery would be over so quickly. Are you okay?" Before I could answer, the swing doors opened again, and Faith stepped out. She was looking at me—and probably about to say something—before she caught a glimpse of Sloan the Gargoyle-woman, screamed, and dove through the doors again. I sighed. "Are you guys, nuts, bringing her in here? This is a hospital—a public building! Do you want every news crew in the world coming here to put us on live television? We need to get out of here!" Not even waiting for everyone else to follow me, I headed off in the direction of the nearest exit. A little while later, we were all safely outside. It was at this point that Dr. Miller turned his attention to Faith's old boyfriend and his two friends. "Excuse me, who are you?" Faith quickly stepped up to introduce them. "Guys, this is Bradley Wingeg. He's a… friend of mine." "I may also be the father of Faith's baby," Bradley declared, and there was a note of pride in his voice that made me want to scream, or puke, or both. "These are my friends, Ichor and Bradley." They both nodded their respective greetings. "So what's our priority now?" I asked, eager to change the subject. "Well, we have almost everyone now," said Dr. Miller. "Only Jillian is still lost somewhere. We should go find her." "And then there's the matter of finding a new place to hide," said Jason. I sighed. "Whatever. Can we just get moving already. Please?" I had already decided that, when Faith wasn't looking, I would slip away and go back to my parents' house—just for the night. I needed to get out of here, to have some time away, to forget this day had ever happened. (Faith) With no plan and no way to organize a search, we walked back into Central Park so as not to draw suspicion. It was getting dark by now, and the streetlights were turning on, so nobody else was in the park. Of course, we were getting nowhere. Jaslene was still back in the hospital, unconscious, and we really had no chance of finding Jillian without her. So eventually, we all stopped and rested on a giant rock. I sat there for a while, watching Oscar. He sat a little bit away from the others, glowering at me and saying nothing. Sometimes, for just the briefest instant, his glare gave way to an expression of pure sadness, but mostly he just sat there looking angry. I knew I had hurt him, and I felt awful. I had never told him about Bradley. Hell, I had pretty much forgotten about Bradley myself by this time. But apparently Bradley hadn't forgotten about me. "Damn it, Bradley!" A few hours earlier, right before we left the hospital, I had gotten Bradley alone in one of the bathrooms, and had immediately started shouting at him. "What do you think you're doing, just suddenly showing up in my life, months after we've broken up, and scaring the hell out of my best friend?" "Aren't you even going to thank me for healing your best friend?" He asked, grinning. I grabbed him by the shoulders and shook. "Don't try to change the subject! What are you doing here? What do you want from me?" "Nothing, nothing! Take it easy, Faith!" Suddenly he was serious, reassuring. "I heard you were pregnant. I just want to help you with the baby. I want to be there for you." "I appreciate that, but Oscar is already doing that." "Oscar's not the father. He can't help you with the baby like I can." "What makes you so sure you're the father?" Instead of answering, he just smiled at me. "Come on, Faith. I just want to help you. I love you." That was the second time someone had told me that today, but this time I let myself be charmed and smiled back at him. “All right, then. Fine. Just… fine. ” “Thank you. I’m so excited, Faith,” he spoke softly now, and put his face closer to mine. “Can I feel the baby?” Now I started to get nervous again. I knew how sly Bradley was, and I knew his mutant power was in his hands. But the hand he held out was the glowing hand, the one with the power to heal things. What could he possibly do to me with that? “Cure” me of my pregnancy? I decided to trust him. “Sure.” I lifted my shirt, exposing the midriff, and he laid his fingers very gently on my stomach. He sat there for a minute, pressing his hand against my stomach. After a minute, his eyes went wide with delight, and he stood up. “I feel it!” he gushed. “I felt it kick!” I was sure that wasn’t true, and he’d only said it to make me feel better—I was just four months pregnant and the baby wasn’t strong enough to kick yet—but just the same, I couldn’t help smiling again. So I led him back to the group, and out of the hospital, and now, here we were, and here he was. And there was Oscar, sitting off by himself. Dr. Miller and Jason were still arguing over where we should all go. “What if they send out the robots again? We need to find a way to preserve ourselves!” said Jason. “But if we run away, if we leave the city, won’t it seem more like we have something to hide?” argued Dr. Miller. “We should stay here! We aren’t doing anything wrong. I made a deal with Senator McCarthy! I have six months to find a cure for the mutant gene, and until then, we have every right to be here!” “Why would you want to cure us?” asked Bradley all of a sudden. “What gives this Senator McCarthy the right to take away our power? After all, we’re the evolved ones! If anything, we should be working to cure regular humans of their lack of powers! Mutants are the future! Humans are the past!” “There is no proof that mutants are the evolved form of the human race,” countered Dr. Miller, trying to stay patient. “It’s just a theory!” “Think what you will,” said Bradley smugly, “but I have a master’s degree in evolutionary biology from New York City College! It’s where I met Faith!” Everyone glanced over at me. I shrugged. “What can I say? I’m very attracted to for brainy people. Especially brainy people with mutant powers.” “We used to stay up all night discussing Darwin and Mendellian genetics,” reminisced Bradley. “It was wonderful.” I wasn’t listening anymore. I had just remembered something, and it was making me feel very confused: Oscar wasn’t my boyfriend anymore, just my friend—so why was it so bad for him to meet Bradley? Perhaps it was just that I was tired and scared and that I had been a little bit scared of that gargoyle woman (Sloan, they said her name was) ever since I first saw her. But sometimes I don’t notice things that are obvious to everyone else—not in spite of my super-intelligence, but because of it—and now was beginning to feel like one of those times. Why would Oscar be so upset about seeing Bradley, unless— OH MY GOD. It was because he still had feelings for me. He was jealous. He was jealous of Bradley. My head was spinning with the new realization. Oscar was still in love with me. And if I had been paying any attention to him at all over the past few weeks, I probably would have seen it then. Laila had probably knew by now, and Lucas, and Dr. Miller and everyone else. But not me. I hadn’t been paying attention. And once more, because I was thoughtless, because I was too much of a “super-genius” to give a damn, I had broken Oscar’s heart again. Well, nice going there, Faith. You really did it again. I spun around to find Oscar. I had to talk to him, to apologize to him—but he wasn’t there. He wasn’t anywhere. Oscar was gone. “Where’s Oscar?” I yelled suddenly, so loudly that everyone jumped. Bradley jumped, too, with something a little more than surprise. Maybe he felt like he was being upstaged. Too bad for him. “What do you mean, Faith?” asked Silas. Without bothering to hear me answer, Laila stood up. Her eyes hovered over the whole face of the rock. “Oscar’s not here,” she announced finally. “Oh, crap,” Suddenly I couldn’t think straight. I was so scared. Had Oscar gone off by himself—or had he been… I couldn’t even think it. “We’ve got to find Oscar!” “And Jillian,” added Jaslene. “We’ve got to find Oscar and Jillian!” Howard (Lucas)"Know what I think?" I shouted into the crowd. They all glanced at me. "I think we should all just shut up and find those people!" Everyone seemed surprised. "I agree." Ryuu piped up. "So you guys can keep debating till the cows come home, but Ryuu and I are going out looking." The two of us left the little "cave". We waited outside to see who would follow. Some of them did, but we heard the debate continue. Then, we all heard a familiar voice come out of nowhere. We turned to see none other than Sen. McCarthy. "Hello Contaminations of our gene pool." He greeted smiling. "What do you want?" I clenched my fists. "For you all to die." He answered calmly. "And you?" "How's about I snap your puny neck? That would save us a lot of trouble." I tried playing his game. "Why not? Considering that the U.N. will feel threatened by a murder committed by a mutant. The jury'll decide you're guilty. You'll go to jail and all mutants will be executed." McCarthy laughed. "You know what? Out of all the freaks in this little cave, I like you the most." I stared at him awkwardly. I didn't know what to say. "Yes, you have the most potential. I could probably use you." He wants to use me?! Nicky Sloan sat crouched in the outstretched arbor of a tree overshadowing the little procession of mutant below. She had alighted in a branch about six feet or so above the ground. She embraced the cool breeze, drawing her wings back behind her and wagging her tail back and forth to keep balanced. She smelt the air for anything that resembled the metallic or burn scent of an approaching mutant-killing robot, ears pricking at every siren and honk of a horn, while her eyes pierced the darkness attentively scanning the perimeter. She only half listened as her companions spoke. A change had come over as she’d stood there in that hospital among these individuals. She recognized something about herself that she never knew before. As she observed the radiation of panic that spread around the hospital’s emergency room, she felt and bizarre mixture of calm and control that she’d never felt before. She still felt misunderstood, as always, but she no longer felt hurt by it…only angry. Yet, the experience gave her a sense of confidence. These people feared her. What reason did she have to fear them? She was a weapon. An unstoppable force. If she only believed that…what could anyone do to her? Her friends…those friends who only deserted her, had taught her to hide herself. Were they ashamed of themselves because they looked different? Were they ashamed over her? Well she new that these people weren’t…though she had a good feeling that some of them were out of their minds. Her strong nose had picked up their chemical signatures and she detected some interesting personalities among them. Out of all of them she felt like the most trustworthy were the man named Marcus Millar and the pregnant woman. Of course she had reason to trust Dr. Millar as she knew what he stood for. He wanted to help the mutants and end the war between them and humans. She’d had a hope before of going to his hospital and receiving treatment, but she was afraid. Now she knew that he was a mutant as well…she had to admit, it was a surprise. She felt safe around the pale-skinned man they called Oscar, as well, but he was in an emotional state right now that made him a bit…unstable.Suddenly the boisterous voice of Lucas, the bald African-American man, startled Sloan out of her reverie and almost knocked her out of the tree. The chemical signature she’d read from him was one of the most disturbing. The guy seemed ready to blow at any moment. He had an “explosive” personality to say the least and he harbored a great deal of aggression. He made her uneasy. "Know what I think?” A pause. “I think we should all just shut up and find those people!" Another pause then… "I agree." It was the voice of the little Asian shape-shifter. From her first impression of him, Sloan had gathered that the boy wasn’t the brightest, but a sweetheart nonetheless. "So you guys can keep debating till the cows come home, but Ryuu and I are going out looking." Sloan watched as an older gentleman in an expensive suit approached the gathering. He had mockingly smiling eyes, a mouth twisted in a sly grin and a thinning ring of hair about his shiny, pink head. Where did this guy come from? Sloan was about to call out to alert the group but instead decided to withdraw father up into the tree in order stay hidden. Maybe they could use the element of surprise if anything went wrong. “Hello contaminations of our gene pool,” came the man’s elderly voice, which was a tad hoarse if not strained. She recognized the voice. She’d seen him on television before. This was Senator McCarthy, die-hard advocate for the Anti-Mutant movement. He was the one who made the deal with Dr. Millar in founding the hospital that would “cure” mutants of their mutation. What was he doing here? It seemed like an unlikely setting for you to run into a senator. "What do you want?" "For you all to die,” was his disturbingly calm yet venomous reply. "And you?" he continued. Sloan’s hair (and spines) stood on end at the sound. She felt a chill and shuddered a little, careful not to breathe too loudly so as not to be heard. "How's about I snap your puny neck? That would save us a lot of trouble." There it was, the black man’s aggression rearing its ugly head again. Sloan had to admit he had an excuse. She was getting a bit pissed off herself. "Why not? Considering that the U.N. will feel threatened by a murder committed by a mutant. The jury'll decide you're guilty. You'll go to jail and all mutants will be executed.” The older gentlemen released an ugly laugh and continued speaking. "You know what? Out of all the freaks in this little cave, I like you the most." I stared at him awkwardly. I didn't know what to say. "Yes, you have the most potential. I could probably use you." Use him? Something funny was definitely going on here. Sloan glanced at the pregnant woman who watched the senator warily. What could she be thinking? She searched her face for an answer when she noticed a look of brief realization. The doctor suddenly spoke up, shoving his way past the mutants who had formed a half circle around Lucas and Senator McCarthy. “Senator, sir,” he began, a very controlled, calculated anger clearly creeping into his voice. The doctor remained calm, as always it seemed, but he allowed himself to be understandably upset. He got the Senator’s attention. He seemed a little surprised and annoyed at the same time. ”If you don’t mind me asking, sir…what the hell is going on? My clinic was open for little more than a day when it all went up literally in flames! I and my patients have been running for our lives now for weeks. Where are the assets you promised me? Where is the funding? The support? We had a deal…” Suddenly the pregnant woman, her name was “Faith” Sloan remembered, interrupted. “Mr. Senator. I have a question.” “A pregnant one…you dare reproduce? Disgusting pestilence…” Faith ignored the atrocious remark and moved on. She chuckled. “Please don’t change the subject…” And those were the only words Sloan understood. The rest of what came out of the woman’s mouth was a bunch of sociological, political, bibble-babble that meant nothing to her. And it left the Senator flabbergasted. “Um…uh….I…I don’t know lady…” he suddenly sounded oddly juvenile and his voice was changing suddenly, “I…I never paid attention in schoo--” Before he could say another word, he received a concentrated dose of voltage to his chest as Faith jabbed him with a tazer-gun that looked more like a cell-phone. As he jerked and jolted, the older man seemed to get younger by the second and his skin began to change color. A kid who could have been between fifteen and seventeen lay writhing on the ground. He looked normal enough…had it not been for his green skin and bright orange hair. He was a shape-shifter…could he have been the shape-shifter who’d attacked that blonde girl in the ally? “What the hell?!” yelled Lucas, who backed away. “What’s the name, kid?” said Laila, who was now standing beside Faith. “And what the hell do you think you’re doing?!” yelled Lucas. The green kid’s red eyes shifted from face to face with a sly glint. They finally rested on the red-haired man called Jason who was standing a little off to the side. “Oliver….Oliver Joseph…” (Note: I might take Oliver as my second character so don't steal him...) John [Miller]"Two shapeshifters?!" Lucas cried. "We can barely handle one!" Ryuu smiled sheepishly. "No." I was partly confused, trying to catch on. "I should have seen this coming." I tried pretending, but the truth was that I myself wouldn't have known and I'm the only person who met him here. "I've seen the man give speeches on television. Judging from his mannerisms, I guessed he would be subtle..." Faith explained. "But this kid was extremely boisterous." I finished, trying to act like I knew it all along. If I showed any weakness, someone would chew me out. Lucas glanced at me, questioningly. I tightened my jaw. I didn't know what was going on, who the kid was. "Why are you here?" I asked. "I want to join you." He stated sincerely. artistic:x:emo (Ryuu) "If you wanted to join us, then why did you pose as the Senator and insult us?" I asked, feeling extremely confused (and, I admit, a tad jealous; I had thought I was the only shapeshifter). "Yes!" Doctor Miller exclaimed. "You don't want to join us at all, do you? You're just a spy sent by... by someone who wants those of us with superpowers dead!" There was a general gasp, but Oliver kept his cool. "I was just having a bit of fun," he said, a glint in his eerie red eyes. I shuddered. Laile stepped forward, Ryan directly behind her. She ignored Oliver completely, and spoke to Miller. "If you want, I can make him tell the truth." The doctor stared at her, for we had all heard the menace in her simple words. "Make him?" he repeated. Laila nodded, her pale face still looking slightly sallow from her... what should I call it? A mental injury? Well, anyway, she still looked intimidating, but somehow it had been diminished a little bit. "With the Shadows I can probe the area in his brain that will make him speak the truth. It won't be full control over him, just a little nudge." Miller considered it for a moment, then nodded his head slowly. He made eye contact with her, brown against gray. "There's no need to go overboard though, Laila," he cautioned, sounding worried. She dipped her head briefly in response and then faced Oliver. "Isn't anyone going to ask me what I think before some stranger pokes into my head?!?" I watched Laila, who was coldly impassive as she spoke. "You will be saying everything soon enough, changeling." Oliver's eyes widened. (Laila) I still felt weakened, but I was conscious, and that was something to be grateful for. I would rather be in this world doomed for war than stuck inside my own memories. I embraced the Darkness, and with it came that sixth sense of knowing. I was a million times more aware of every living thing within a five-mile radius, but I concentrated on the changeling, who looked slightly panicked. I couldn't help but feel Ryan behind me, and my concentration slipped for just a second, but that was enough. Oliver shifted and pushed between our small crowd, and immediately everyone started to yell. I cast an invisible bubble around us out of instinct: no one would leave, and no one would come in. Doc yelled for everyone to be quiet, but they didn't listen until Ryan bellowed: "SHUT UP!!!" His voice, hardly heard by most of us before, carried strongly and was effective. Everyone fell silent, and I quickly saw our problem: Oliver had shifted into Ryuu. They stood right next to each other, wearing identical masks of horror, and I groaned. Since both were shapeshifters, I couldn't ask them to turn into something else to prove Ryuu was... well, Ryuu. Both would be able to shift to anything in order to meet my demands. Doc had heard my groan. "Can you tell the difference?" he asked, on edge. I tilted my head, thinking. "I could probe both of them, and see which mind is Oliver's. I think I'd be able to tell the difference." Doc nodded, and I stepped toward both Ryuus. One cringed immediately, and I had a sudden flash of intuition: the real Ryuu was scared of me. Deathly scared. I eyeballed both of them, purposely letting the bubble cloud up a little, lending the skies a dark purple color. The one that had cringed looked around with wide eyes... but the other one began to shake. I growled, and prepared to examine their minds, when Ryan spoke quickly. "Ryuu!" Both of them looked to him at the same time. "What's your favorite form to take?" The one that had cringed first brightened. "A dragon!" Ryan looked pleased with himself, and then I remembered their first conversation... where Ryuu had admitted he liked to shift into a dragon. Before anyone could do anything but look even more confused, I grabbed the false Ryuu and pinned his arms behind his back. Right away, "Ryuu" began to change shape, and within a few seconds he was Oliver again. "Aww man!" he said, but there was a mischievous smile on his face. I shook him roughly, but he just laughed. I growled again and bared my teeth, letting the Shadows enter his mind, and before long I had activated the area that would not let him say anything but the truth. "Speak, changeling! Why are you here?" JoeStrong (Faith)“Speak, changeling! Why are you here?” Laila demanded of the newcomer. For several minutes, Oliver just stood there, glaring at her defiantly. But clearly she was doing something to his mind, forcing him to speak, because he finally blurted out, “All right, FINE! I came here to be with my dad!! Okay? Are you people happy now?! Jeez, I swear to God…” He pushed past her indignantly, and stormed over to Jason. Now that they were standing side by side, we could all see that they did, indeed, bear a strong resemblance to each other. Dr. Miller seemed the most surprised out of all of us. "I didn't know you had a son, Jason." Jason chuckled and put his arm around Oliver. "Did I forget to tell you about him, Oliver? It must have slipped my mind. Silly me." "HEY!" I screamed. Everyone turned to stare at me. "Can we please focus on the major problem here?" "And which major problem would that be?" asked Jason with a sarcastic leer. "The problem of Senator McCarthy and his unstoppable mutant-killing robots? The problem of being stuck out here, at night, totally vulnerable, with no place to hide? No, wait! Ah, silly me! Of COURSE it's the fact that your little friend Oscar wandered off by himself and got lost! You're right, my dear Faith, THAT's the problem we really need to be focusing on." That was it. That was the last straw. The inside of my head was exploding with rage. I couldn't even stand to look at him for another minute. I was going to hit him. My fists clenched together. But at the last minute, Laila must have sensed what I was about to do, because she grabbed my shoulder. "Don't lose control, Faith," she whispered in my ear. "Not over Jason. He's not worth it." I nodded, swallowing tears. "You're out of line, Jason," chimed in Dr. Miller. "There will be no taunting or mocking my patients. I won't stand for it. Not now, not ever." "Actually, Dr. Miller," said Bradley. "I think he's right. We should just forget about Oscar for now." "What?! No!" "Oh, come on, Faith, what do you want me to say? I mean, the guy deserted us! He didn't even say anything, he just up and walked out! I think it's pretty clear that he doesn't want anything else to do with us. We have more important things to think about anyway." I shrugged and turned away, not wanting to argue the point any further. Bradley didn't understand, and I couldn't expect him to. Oscar had left because of me, and if something happened to him, it would be my fault. As Jason and Dr. Miller began to argue again, I took Laila aside. "Look, Laila, I know you're not telepathic, but you clearly have some kind of empathic power. Can you help me locate Oscar? Please?" (Oscar) It was about an hour before I finally got to the uptown apartment building where my parents lived. It was past midnight now. Nobody else was on the street, and there was a cold wind blowing in my face. I was exhausted, and sleep seemed like the only thing that could stop me from thinking about Faith. Tomorrow morning, I would figure out what to do next, but right now all I wanted to do was sleep. Then I saw it--a police van, parked right outside of the building. A cop looked out the window and spotted me. He motioned to someone else inside the van. Oh, no. I turned around and started running as fast as I could. Sirens started blaring, and a few officers yelled at me to freeze, but I kept running. Too bad I was never much of a world-class runner. © Copyright 2007 John, artistic:x:emo, Nightreach, Alicia Thomas, PandorasBox- alive n kickn, §k¥lår*ñêvêr*§ïmþl¥, Howard, Juan A. B., JoeStrong, Lord Raith, Jared, Nicky, (known as GROUP). All rights reserved. GROUP has granted Writing.Com, its affiliates and its syndicates non-exclusive rights to display this work. |
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