X-Men: After the Fall ( IC Thread )

Hank had got to the bottom of the stair case and looked down the hallways. Looking down each hallway, he was searching for a specific thing. A place to be alone, and out of people’s ways. He wanted to find that place to where he can just be him, work upon his powers and not get hassled by other people. Walking down the hallway, Hank seen a sliding door with a small window on the right hand side. Peering through it, he seen something that lit him up like a kid in a candy store.


“A research lab.” Hank spoke out quietly to himself.


Leaning side to side, he continued to peer through the door to see if anyone was in the room. Stepping back from the door, Hank looked upon the panel to the right of the door. It was a keypad and he did not have the pass code or a key card. A thought had passed into his mind for just a second to where if he used his powers, he could get into that room, but it might not look good on him, so he shook the thought from his mind. Just as he was about to turn and walk away from that room, he was greeted by a man in a long white coat.


“How are you doing sir?” The man asked as he looked upon Hank.


“I am good. I am really nervous though. I was looking in there and seen some cool stuff.” Hank spoke out in a nervous tone.


“Yea, the Zeta base has some great stuff. Would you like to take a look?” The man asked as he walked over to the panel and swiped his badge.


The door swished open and he looked back at Hank. His eyes widened with joy as a smile grew upon his face.
 
All of the new arrivals would soon hear a voice over the intercom. "Well now, we got us some new arrivals. Ain' dat somethin'. I hear from Richard that some of you had a rough trip here. How 'bout I give ya some time t'rest up and get settled in before I give you de grand tour, eh?" The voice was that of Remy LeBeau, or as he was commonly known... Gambit. "So 'ere's what we're gonna do. You all get somethin' t'eat, pick out a room for yourselves, and get a good night of sleep. We'll pick up in the morning. Sound good kids?" It was clear by his tone that the man was rather pleased to have so many new mutants show up on his doorstep all at once. And in truth, he was sincerely hoping that the kids would be up to the tasks he would set before them in the coming months.


Jeremy sighed heavily and shook his head after Gambit's little speech. Yeah, he needed to rest. And so he asked a passing student to show him to the dorms.The student grumbled a bit, but agreed to escort the pot-smelling hippy to an empty dorm room. Once inside, Jeremy proceeded to toss off his clothes and step into the shower. He was sore from the days exertions, and the warm water felt good. It kissed away his pain and cleansed the sorrow he felt. Massaged away the days frustrations and soothed his hurt. Finally, he was relaxing. It felt like it had been weeks... and in reality, it had been. Once clean, he stepped out of the shower and slipped on a pair of jeans that he had in his duffle bag. Being alone, he saw little reason for a shirt. That, and he was proud of his toned form. Months on the road and on the run had turned him into a rather fit and trim young man. He was no bodybuilder... but he was more muscular than one would assume from a hippie.


Now cooled off and chill, he sat on the bed and looked around. ... an Xbox 360?! These rooms were pretty decked out. Each had a Full-Size bed, Desk, chair, dresser, bathroom, 26in TV, and Xbox 360. It was linked to a local sever, rather than to te internet... so the students couldn't play games with anyone but each other... but it still provided entertainment that most teens and kids would find adequate. "Username... DruidicHipster. Sweet. Now to play some Halo and have a smoke." ... Jeremy settled in for a long session of fun...
 
Hoyt simply smirked when Gambit's unmistakable voice resounded through the base's PA system. "I knew he was in the neighborhood." It was true. Hoyt was on the run from authorities for quite a while after that incident with his Shadowrun group. He knew that he'd be safe with the mutants,and after that encounter with Gambit,he done his best to try and find Zeta Base. It was difficult. Gambit was far more experienced than he,but Hoyt managed to track the Cajun man to this region of Vegas. Considering how difficult it was to track Gambit any more finely than that,Hoyt was of the suspicion that Gambit deliberately led Hoyt to the region of the base,helping him in his search,his test,but careful to not give him the exact answer,only to nudge him on the right path. Hoyt also noted that the hippie was walking on his own. Damn,that Curaga was potent.


They were led to the dormitories,where Hoyt was relieved to see a Double sized bed,a decently sized TV with an attached Xbox,and a functional deskspace. Hoyt didn;t have any other possessions than the one he had on him at that moment,but decided that a de-stresser was in order,rather than worry about clothes and such. So,he booted up the Xbox and tossed in Halo. Multiplayer shooters weren't his bag,but he performed reasonably well in Halo if he got his hands on a turret,Energy Sword,Carbine,or Battle Rifle. When he tried to sign into his Xbox LIVE account,however,Hoyt learned that the base was on a closed network. With a shrug,he made a local account with the handle Riddle78,and made a System Link lobby,set to random maps on a fifty kill free for all Slayer variant. "Shame there isn't a PC..."
 
Eliza was down the stares when the announcement went off. There was a deep frown on her face as she listened to it, yeah that seemed harmless and none creepy at all . . . not. Sighing she shook her head, it was too easy, too welcoming in her eyes. Weren’t mutants in danger and being killed, yet here they just let them roam freely. Sleep sounded great but she didn’t see herself doing it easily anytime soon. Watching the males depart from her she just shook her head.


She would carefully look around making notes of the quickest way out and such which seemed to be up. Her eyes took care to notice where most electronics were as well. Her room was nice, had probably most teenage needs. She never stood home long though, growing up, it being so lonely there. She didn’t even stay in this room for more than a few minutes. Instead she explored, perhaps sneaking into a few area’s she wouldn’t have normally been allowed in. A locked room here and there . . . a few broom closets it seemed.


Sighing after awhile she managed to find herself back to her room as her body complained of being tried. Locking her bedroom door if that was possible she fell back on the bed. “Hope I don’t wake up in a test tube or anything.” She muttered lightly to herself. Wondering if they had camera’s or mics hidden around here. Everyone else knew this Gambit it seemed . . . to her he was as much as a stranger as the one who saved Jeremy’s life. Hell more so, at least the one who saved the boy came to help, was a hero in her eyes.
 
The man Monet bumps into takes no note of her, continuing down the hall, but then again, neither does she notice him. Instead, she is looking down the halls and as she hears other pairs of feet descending he staircase, she is quick to hightail it out of there. When she runs down the halls, many people give her an odd look, and as she slows down, she flails slightly. Monet smiles, hearing the words over the intercom as she strolls down a metallic hallway, each door in it having a handprint or voice command to open “Monet’s going to explore.”


This is her response to the intercom’s voice, and the door in front of her beeps angrily as she pushes in the first row of numbers. The she goes to the next one and tries it, placing her hand and watching as it does the same flashing red lights and beeping. Meticulously, she makes her way down the hall trying door after door and at the end of the hallway, she is glad to find a hallway much like the same one she entered. It had doors on both sides, but these ones were accessible by the looks of it. Giddily, she claps her hands against her thighs as she races to check the first room.


A boy literally freeze up, his blanket covering his crossed legs and a book open on his lap, she only counts one hand before he seems shocked enough to yell out. She is already off though, darting as she runs down the hallway…what was that? She didn’t understand what just happened. People were so…just so confusing.


No more of them!


She had to find the owls! As she slowed down, her head darted about in the new intersection and she decided to go left. Right was back to the hallway she came from…and forward was just more rooms with weird people. Right on the other hand…there were doorframes with the doors open, each having differing objects. Desks, tables, kitchenette, examination table, garbage bins, laundry machines…she wasn’t totally sure where she was. But when she caught sight of a gecko in one of the rooms, in a glass box, of all things! Monet knew she was headed in the right direction.
 
In the confusion of her semi-wakeful state, she noticed the boy who had been carrying her set her down on some sort of bed. It was flat and hard but even so was proving more comfortable than the freeby bed she had stolen from someones garbage bin months earlier. As the slight prick of a needle against her arm brought her hazy mind to a moment of utter clarity, she tried to bolt upright but felt a strong arm holding her down. Not more than a few seconds later, her world faded out again.


---


Again stirring from the all consuming nothingness that made up her oblivion, the girl shot up after groggily recalling the events of her day thus far. The room that she was in seemed to be clinically sterile and sent cold chills down her spine. She noticed her shoulder was bandaged up quite well and that the pain had ebbed considerably, but this did little to quell her fears.


Quickly pulling a morphine drip free of her arm, she noted the lack of a needle and despite knowing that this was often done for patient comfort managed to reason that they had wanted to keep weapons away from her. She stared down at the heart moniter clipped to her finger and frowned pensively. Yes, she wanted this off as well. Taking it off, on the other hand, would set off the heart rate machine and would call for the medical personel . . . Kae wasn't sure she could handle even puny labcoats if it came to a fight right now . . .


Getting up slowly, the girl pulled the open backed hospital gown tighter around her before trying to make it to the door of the room while still attached to the machine. It was locked, obviously. Even under the best circumstances, people would not let a confused, drugged up patient wander freely for fear of what confusion might lead her to do . . .


Sitting back down on the bed, she glanced around the room to take a quick inventory of her surroundings. There was a highly simplistic remote attached to an adjustable medical bed, a rather large television built into the wall, a call button near the door, a small calender plastered near the television, and a pitcher of water on a small nightstand beside the bed.


Figuring that she was screwed either way and hoping that the amenities of the room meant that those holding her didn't wish her as much ill as she had initially feared, she removed the finger piece. A small sigh escaped her lips as she ran her good hand through her hair. Seconds later the built in alarm of the heartmoniter blared loudly to announce that the patient was quite dead as it detected no pulse. The girl grimaced at the blaring noise, but waited patiently nonetheless for the inevitable arrival of the medical staff . . .
 
Hank was about to enter the lab when a voice boomed from the intercom overhead. He stopped in his tracks and looked to one of the speakers. Nodding at the things that the man spoke of, he looked back down towards the lab and the lab technician.


“Who was that man?” Hank asked as he pointed his right up towards the speaker.


“That man is the leader of the Zeta base, Gambit.” The lab technician replied to Hank.


The leader huh? Hank thought to himself.


“Can i stay here for a little longer and check out some of the great things that you have in here?” Hank spoke out to the technician.


The tech stood by one of the tables and thought for a minute. Putting his right hand up to his chin, and with a look of pure concentration upon his face, he exhaled his answer.


“Sure, but don’t stay too long. You need to get some sleep like the boss previously said.” The man replied as he picked his clipboard up, turned and walked towards his work station.


Nodding in acceptance that the man let Hank stay for a little longer, he followed the technician to his work station.


“Thank you.” Hank spoke out in a friendly tone.


The technician smiled and spun in his swivel chair towards Hank. Placing the clipboard upon his lap, he looked Hank in the eyes.


“And if i may ask, what is your power, and why did you come here?” The technician asked in a very curious manner.


Hank was a little shocked that the question got brought up so early in conversation, but he knew that it was bound to rise. He was only hoping that it might be later when he felt more accustomed to his ability, but as of now, he had a pretty good hold of his skills, well at least that is what he thought.


“My ability......” Hank spoke out as he soon paused and looked around the room.


“My ability, to put it plainly, is to absorb and become.” Hank spoke out as he was curious if his answer made any sense.
 
Ariki had finished eating his meal when he heard Gambit's voice over the intercom, Camilla smiled at him knowingly and gestured for him to follow him as she rose from her seat opposite him. "I'll take you to your room, kay?" She cocked her head to the left with an impish smile, Ariki was somewhat unnerved as she watched him rise from his seat and fall into step beside her. They walked in relative silence for some time when Camilla asked him "You're not American are you?" Ariki chuckled a little, "No. I'm from New Zealand, it's been a long trip..."


Minutes later; Ariki sat in his own designated room, alone. He had smiled at Camilla and shuffled through the barely open door like some sort of penguin of awkwardness bid her farewell and a few comments on how he really needed some rest even though she was more than happy to leave him there. Ariki spread out on a rather soft bed and lay his head down on a remarkably comfy pillow. Short breaths soon stretched out into long ones as he grew wearier and wearier until finally his eyes closed and he fell asleep.


Flashback: "Alright then Ariki, we're off now. Order room service and do what you please." She said as she walked out the door behind his father, her long black sequined dress swaying behind before the final click of the portal. Content and hungry he ordered a pizza, in New Zealand the archetypal 'American' pizza was novelty. To say the least it lived up to its large and greasy reputation. American TV was yet another novelty and Ariki flicked idly through the myriad of different channels stopping on a news channel. Apparently their had been news of a local terrorist group gaining influence within the region, Ariki had only watched long enough to find out there would be no new news on the fabled 'X-men'.


The next morning Ariki awoke to the intro of an urgent headline "This just in!! There have been reports of a large explosion in Downtown Washington, apparently one of the local terrorist groups has attacked a UN function attended by many international representatives. The death toll has yet to be calculated but it appears as though a couple was heading home but could not escape the blast." By then Ariki was already at the end of his bed watching intently as the camera panned to the left to show the as yet uncovered but very intact bodies of his parents.


End of Flashback:


Ariki found himself in a sweaty mess on the floor, his bag was open and he managed to knock it over. His Mere spilled out from the bag to fall quietly beside his left hand, Ariki looked at the weapon his parents had passed off as a gift. He closed his fingers around the haft of the sharp club and felt coolness of the stone move throughout his body calming his nerves. He sighed and sat up, seeing the Xbox 360 console sitting beneath a very large television he decided he would look through the available titles for something that piqued his interests.


 
The scientist looked at Hank with a confused look upon his face.


“Absorb and become?” The scientist asked.


“Yea, i can transform into the material I hold.” Hank replied as he reached into his pocket and removed his ring.


Placing the ring in his palm, he looked at the scientist. The scientist looked down upon the ring and waited. Hank’s skin began to turn silver. Hank was now completely silver and he looked at the scientist.


“That is amazing. I have not seen anything like this. Do you know if it is just your skin or your entire body that changes?” The scientist asked Hank.


“I am not sure. I never really thought about it. I knew that it protected me from harm when i got into a fight, but i never thought to deep into it.” Hank replied as he reverted back to normal.


“We have a lot of tests to do, but you should go ahead and get some sleep. We will start this in the morning.” The scientist spoke out as he jotted the information down on the clipboard.


Bowing his head, Hank left the lab and headed down the hall. This hall lead to all the rooms and he passed a couple that were open. Peering into them as he walked by, he could see that a couple of them were playing video games and were the same game. Coming upon a room that had no one in it, he opened the door and approached the tv and game console. Turning them on, he browsed the game selection until he found the game the people were playing. Placing the game into the console, he proceeded to make an account.


“Wow, this is pretty cool.” Hank said as he watched the beginning video for Halo.


As the start menu appeared, Hank pressed start and menu appeared and told him to make and account. Thinking for a minute, he smiled and put the name in for the account.


“Abram_Tank.” Hank put in for the name as he was taken to the menu of the game.


Clicking into a couple of options, he found himself in the multi player screen and could not click on the online option. He scrolled down one to the system link option and it brought up a lobby. Clicking on the only lobby there, he soon connected with the other player.
 
Kae waited perhaps an entire 7 seconds at most before her nerves got to her. Only a total idiot would summon her captors to her holding cell in hopes of them being less than hostile towards her. She needed a plan in order to get out . . . or at least a plan to find the others so that they might help her. Sliding off of the bed, she slid closer to the locked door. Once beside it, she crouched low to the ground and waited with baited breath.


A little over a minute later, the lock clicked as the door slid open and a white coat with a clipboard stepped forward. The girl wearing the white coat and holding the clipboard was a little mouse of a thing that had just barely gotten out of school, but Kae was in no mindset to understand such things right now. Acting on impulse and doing as her power best directed her to, she hit the clipboard hard from underneath. The clipboard struck the pen that the young nursing attendant had been holding and in turn sent it flying upwards. This was exactly what the Kae had needed.


Tracing the pens trajectory based on the point of impact, she lunged forward and caught the nurse’s arm before twisting it hard behind her back. In a rather painful motion, she caught the pen in the hand of her injured arm and brought its tip abruptly to the girl’s throat. “Listen closely,” she purred in a smooth, cold tone, “you are going to take me to where you have the damned hippy locked up or you are going to die. Understood?”


The nurse, utterly confused at this sequence of events, stood frozen for a long moment. “But we don - …” she started before the pen bit cruelly into the soft skin at the base of her neck. A pen was not the most effective weapon, but even a normal person could use it to lethal ends given the right circumstances. She didn’t much want to risk what a mutant of unknown abilities could manage with one . . .


“Understood?” demanded the girl holding her captive again. This time she offered a careful nod in response. The arm which was twisted behind her back was pulled up a painful fraction of an inch as she was nudged forward into the hallway. “Then walk . . . and make certain no one gets to close . . . unless . . .” Again the pen was pressed tightly against the skin of her neck in warning. The frightened mouse of a girl emitted the faintest squeak of petrified understanding before taking a careful step forward.


Navigating the halls like this proved a rather interesting feat. It resulted in a general mess of yelling and threatening followed by no small amount of cursing from the thoroughly freaked out hyperkinetic. All things considered, those that the girl and her captive encountered were kept at bay by the threat of losing one of their own. Due to their higher level of training and ability to think clearly in this situation, it had, at first, seemed as though she was destined to be trapped in a standoff against these members of Zeta Base. The actions of one doctor had in no uncertain way saved her ass from almost certainly being terminated or imprisoned, however.


This man, figuring that she would be calmed by the presence of what he could only assume to be her friends, had suggested an escort to the hippy’s quarters. Yes, he had even used the word quarters in order to keep the girl from being offered facts that would confuse or exasperate her. He reasoned that directly engaging such a frazzled individual in an argument would not only endanger her but also the hostage she had as well. Finally, and with no small amount of coddling, he managed to convince her and the rather large group of gathered Zeta Base mutants to allow him the honor of guiding her to the room.


This was hardly what he was paid for, but it seemed the least messy solution. Messy solutions weren’t in his best interest. A dead mutant who might have provided valuable genetic and observational research opportunities wouldn’t serve him well at all. As such, the man merely adjusted his glasses before turning to lead the way to the hippy’s sleeping quarters. “This way if it should please you, Madam Mutant,” he muttered in his usual, somewhat condescending tone. Knowing she would follow, he set off without so much as waiting for a reply.
 
Not ten minutes after he started playing Halo, there was a knock at Jeremy's door. "Ah shit. They're gonna see my stash if they..." he thought fast and said "Just a sec, I'm getting dressed." Good one, considering he WAS shirtless. In any case, the hippie quickly hid the sack of dehydrated 'herbs' in the inside pocket of the vest he slipped on in an attempt to hide it. Seemed to work, as the pocket was obscured from view. "Coming, just chill." And when he opened the door, a middle-aged guy in a badly stained lab coat was standing there to greet him. "Whoa, man... is this like that movie The Fly, or something? You look like you just spliced some mad genes or something." ... needless to say, the learned man didn't seem amused by the stoner kid's jokes. "You have a visitor who's been asking to see you. She's been rather insistent, so I figured I'd bring her by." And with his work done, the man turned and walked away, leaving Jeremy with his guest.


"Oh. Hey. You're that girl that threw all that stuff at the cop car. I don't think I got your name." said the hippie as he stared at the girl and her apparent hostage. "Um... the hell is up with all that?" he motioned with his outstretched hand at the situation before him. "I know hospital food is bad, but who pissed in your cheerios to make this happen?" He wasn't honestly sure if he was seeing reality or just tripping. When one laced their herbal smoking blend with opiates, they could never really tell. As if in a slight daze, Jeremy stepped back into his room. "You can come in if you let the labcoat go. I was just playing some Halo and having myself a treat. Jeremy pulled the baggie from his vest pocket again as he spoke. "You can have some if you want. Probably help with the pain. Hell, you took a bullet, right?" In all this, he had neglected to tell her how it was he was alive, let alone all but healed. He was bruised in a few spots, but otherwise perfectly unharmed. Granted, he had been more focused on smoking and playing video games than explaining his sudden recovery.
 
“What the hell is up with you?” snapped the exasperated girl in utter confusion. “What . . .? Is THIS absolutely normal for you? Are you always picking up strange girls, getting shot at, turning yourself into a cannonball, and accepting help from god only knows who these people are!?” As she spoke, she gestured rather vehemently at the air in front of her. The mouse of a nurse she had captured didn’t so much as budge as the point of the pen would retract a few inches before almost coming back to stab her all over again. In all honesty, the poor girl had just decided that it was better to be safe than sorry with this lunatic.


Sighing heavily, Kae finally released the woman but kept holding onto the pen as though it were some sort of punching dagger. The freed nurse immediately took this opportunity to bolt back to her labs and clipboards, quite thoroughly terrorized. “Also, the last time I saw you I was pretty damn sure that you were ready for the ******* grave . . . what the **** is going on?” her voice was close to desperate as she took a step forward and into the hippy’s room. All things considered, she was probably in for one hell of a reprimand if she had misread the situation so egregiously as she seemed to have but at least the hippy was a familiar face for the time being.


“And no thanks I don’t smoke . . .” Everything that she said was in a constant stream of syllables as it seemed that she never even paused for breath. “I can’t really afford to with the entrance exam for AP Chem coming u- . . . Right . . . there is no more AP Chem . . . is there?” sighed the girl miserably as she stole the blanket from his bed to wrap around herself so that she wasn’t flashing everyone anymore. Turning back to him, she smiled and actually accepted his offer.


Taking the joint as though she thought it might bite her, the frazzled teen took a deep puff before choking hard on it and sitting quickly down on his bed as she flushed a brilliant crimson. Never before in her life had she felt so completely and irrefutably lost before . . . and apparently she could manage to look entirely uncool even while smoking drugs with a god damn hippy. “Oh god . . . kill . . . me now . . .” she managed to gasp between coughs, trying to keep her voice low enough that the older boy wouldn’t hear. Could this get any more embarrassing!?
 
Hank had entered the game of halo and moved his character around. For any person who saw this, would instantly know that he was a noob, an easy kill, canon fodder. But it was an interesting ice breaker for Hank. He was not really a people person, so breaking the ice through games made him feel a little more comfortable. Moving his character through the map, Hank found the sniper rifle and ran for a high vantage point.


"This is interesting." Hank spoke out loud in his room.


Scanning the map, Hank looked for any other person that he can kill. Pulling the trigger once, Hank thought this would be a good tactic to bring the other players out of hiding, if indeed that is what they were doing.
 
Ariki had heard the commotion in the hallway and dropped a video game case on the ground when he rushed to see what was happening, he opened his door enough to allow his head to pop out into the hallway. He looked right to see nothing but an empty hallway, he then turned left and saw a small group of people trying to calm the girl who had walked into Hooters severely injured. Ariki figured she must have been freaking out about the strange environment, things seemed tense but they managed to diffuse the situation without any help from him. He shrugged when everybody seemed disperse and popped his head back in the door, he closed the portal with a soft click and returned to his search for a suitable to pass his time away.


It seemed that Halo was the only thing that spoke out to him so he put the disk in the console and began playing, Ariki forwent the multiplayer aspect of the game to play through the single player campaign mode which thoroughly immersed him into the world of Master Chief. Time went by and he grew tired, it had been a long time since he had last slept in a bed and he was eager to experience the feeling of secure sleep once more but his sleep was to be plagued by dreams of his dead parents and his long deceased tutor.


Fade to black.....


Ariki awoke the next morning, his eyes filled with gunk, wearily he went about his morning routine; he washed up and changed into another set of clothing that he had laundered two days ago in a small town outside of Las Vegas.


Hungry he made his way to the cafeteria where he had himself a plate of bacon and poached eggs on toast, to him it was a meal for kings since he had lived for months on jerky and whatever nondescript food he could get his hands on. People bustled by going about their business, a few kids stopped to oggle at him but he payed them no mind and concentrated on his breakfast.
 
After he heard the girl remark on his earlier state, Jeremy snapped back to reality a bit. "Oh that. Yeah, I was pretty boned. But I woke up suddenly and felt like totally better and stuff. I guess this guy has some random power thing and got some thing that healed my. Thrashed the inside of my van, though." He nonchalantly slipped on a tanktop and returned to rolling his own joint. The girl, who's name he didn't recall, had taken the one he had already rolled. "I'd say make yourself at home, but it seems like you're doing that already. If you need a shirt, there should be something in that bag that you can wear for now." He motioned to the bag of clothes and stuff he had brought with him. "Should be a pack of poptarts in there, too. Help yourself." This whole time, he had rolled another two joints and was now putting his supplies away.


Seems like the girl hadn't smoked before, or at least not in a while seeing as how she coughed and choked. But he wouldn't force her to smoke if she didn't want to. Instead, he lit up a joint of his own and returned to playing his game of Halo. In what was half showing off and half making poor use of his powers, Jeremy used his gift to grow a pair of vines from the seed pouch area of his backpack. These vines held the joint near his mouth and then lit it with the lighter that had been laying nearby. All that, and not a second where his hands left the controller. "You can have next play if you want." said the hippy as smoke rolled from his mouth and up through his long hair.


The trend of smoking, playing video games, and snacking on what little he brought inside with him continued through the night until Jeremy passed out on the floor near the bedside. By the time he fell asleep, he wasn't even aware of if the girl he had let come inside was even still there or not.


----------------


0900 Hours the next day...


"Rise an' shine kids. Dis here is your noble leader. We got us some new arrivals last night, as some of you know. Dey gonna be joining us today so be on yer best b'havior. And you new arrivals, wake on up and get somethin' to eat. You start in an hour. Meet in the Danger Room at Ten A.M. for y'first lesson. Remy LeBeau out." With the announcement out of the way, Gambit headed down to the Danger Room ahead of everyone else, sipping a cup of Cafe du Monde coffee as he walked. Hopefully the new kids would be ready for what he had in mind.


--------------------------


Somewhere outside Vegas...


Everything is in order, sir. We're ready when you are. Pardon? Oh, yes. Understood. Delta Unit out."
 
Hank had one hell of a night playing games with people that seemed to be around his skill level, well that is what it seemed like. Only once did he lose control of his powers, and that is when he was getting slaughtered across the map repeatedly. The night had flew passed Hank and his eyes were super heavy and he almost passed out while playing the game. Shaking his head slightly, he tried to keep himself awake long enough to finish playing these opponents, but as he lay upon the bed, he was out cold. The controller dropped from his hand and crashed to the ground, and he lay at the foot of the bed. As he lay upon the bed, he did not even toss or turn, he lay in that one spot the entire night. In the morning, a voice boomed from the intercom and it had scared Hank half to death. Throwing himself from his bed, he landed upon the ground with a thud.


“What the heck is going on?” Hank spoke out as he quickly looked around the room.


Focusing upon the intercom, he tried focusing upon the voice. Hearing the man speak, he heard of the place that he needed to attend. Sitting up, he looked over towards the closet, and took a deep breath.


“I hope there are some clothes that will fit me.” Hank spoke out to himself.


Getting up to his feet, he walked over and opened the closet to reveal a fully stocked civilian wardrobe. Exhaling with a smile upon his face, he reached in and grabbed out a pair of medium washed denim pants and a short sleeve white tee shirt. Changing his clothes, he went to his door and opened it up. Walking out into the hallway, he was hoping to catch some other people that might know more about where they are going then he knew.
 
The sensation of being 'high' as she presumed she was after a few attempts at smoking was an interesting one. Ever since her father had left them when she was seven she had played the roll of hardworking angel . . . At least until the bastard had returned with his troop of anti-mutant sympathizers to kill his former wife. Now she was curled up and losing her mind on a hippy's bed in some strange installation in Las Vegas wearing only a blanket and an open backed hospital gown and smoking a joint after having murdered god only knew how many individuals.


The combination of the joint and this oddly relaxed insane person that seemed to have adopted her as a friend or acquaintance at the very least eased her nerves a little bit, however. That being the case she accepted one of his shirts when he offered so as to somewhat minimize the level of absolute weirdness she presented. It was a bit big and suited her more as a mid-thigh minidress rather than a shirt, but that suited her purposes well enough.


Shortly after finishing a few more puffs off of her first ever joint, the girl drifted off to nothing as the comforting sounds of gaming, something kids her age were SUPPOSED to do, permeated the silence. Hours later, an announcement made by a rather well known surviving member of the late xmen awoke her from her oddly peaceful slumber. Bolting upright in spite of the incredibly painful protest from her right shoulder, the girl quickly located the passed out hippy on the floor beside the bed she was sleeping in. What the hell? The psycho, relaxed, trouble-attracting hippy is a closet gentleman? she wondered confusedly as she rolled free of his sheets and walked to the door.


As she tried to make her way to the danger room, people generally gave her a fairly wide area in which they were careful to not get caught in. After all, word of last night had already spread a bit. Pleading and a bit of shameless groveling did eventually get her there, however. She sure as hell hoped she was the first one there. It had now been nearly 24 hours since she last ate and her stomach groaned loudly in protest as she neglected to feed it even now, but she had to meet the people who ran this place. If they wouldn't accept her after her frightful behavior the night before . . . Well . . . Being rejected now was the equivalent of a death sentence . . .
 
During the evening,Hoyt played Halo with two others. The matches were interesting. One player obviously had no experience,but seemed to enjoy marksman weapons,while the other player seemed to switch between two separate flavours of unpredictability every respawn. Hoyt quickly found the weapons of every map he played that night,so he knew where a weapon would be if he needed it. Throughout the night,between nibbling on this and that,Hoyt performed reasonably well,winning about a third of the matches. He quickly retired that evening after about nine matches,knowing that he'd need rest.


~~~


The next morning seemed to have come the moment Hoyt closed his eyes. But he knew better. He yawned as he got up,and streched as he trudged straight for the door. He hadn't even bothered checking the chest of drawers. He's going to shower at the end of the day,anyways. He'll check then. Hoyt began to walk through the halls of the base,looking for a map or a cafeteria. He was hungry,to be sure,but he sure as hell wasn't going to get his food at the tacky as Hell bar upstairs if an alternative was available. Hoyt began to get frustrated as he passed yet another speakerbox without a transmit button. "Okay..." Hoyt braced himself on the box,hoping that the device was sensitive to some form of irregular input. "OI! FROG! CAN YOU HEAR ME!? Where's a person to go for food around here,besides that sorry excuse for a bar upstairs!?" For good measure,he swatted the side of the box with his right hand. You never know...
 
Hank was standing out in the hallway when people began to exit their rooms and walk through the hall. Looking to his side, he seen one guy that seemed like he knew way more then himself. Walking over to the man, he raised his hand and waved at him. Clearing his throat, he was hoping to get his attention for he had not known anyone in this place.


“Excuse me sir. I was wondering if you knew what was going on in this giant place?” Hank spoke out but the man had not heard him.


Soon the man took off walking and turned a couple of corners as he seemed to be looking for something in particular. Hank had tried to keep up with him, but his steps were a bit short. his stomach began to growl and he could smell the faint smell of pan cakes.


Oh goodness. Hank thought to himself before liking his lips.


“Excuse me sir.” Hank spoke up clearly to where Hoyt could hear him.
 
Eliza woke with a blaring voice full of accent, rubbing her eyes some she hissed back at it. “Some of us may need a bit more sleep after such a trying day you slave driver!” She knew it could probably not hear her though so getting that out loud made her feel at least a bit better. After dragging herself out of bed she looked about for some clean closed. IF she found some it would be a start to a good day, if not she just had one more thing to complain about. Sighing as she shook her head. “Danger room, sounds almost like a gang entry trial . . . what did that hippie get me into?”


Walking out the room probably in clean gloves and clothes, not quite the normal goth look she liked but clean she sighed. If anyone laughed at her for looking normal she may just deck them her mood was rising but not that much. She watched the zombies rise and leave their rooms, or the waking students if you wanted to be literal. Some managed to be perky where some looked just like the walking dead in her eyes. Shrugging she decided to be a lemur just this once and follow them. After all who else would know better where the grub was and this way she didn’t have to point out attention to herself.


A turn, another turn and she frowned wondering just how big this place was. Her eyes going over the choices of food though and she shook her head. A warm breakfast? She didn’t remember having one of those for so very long. A weak yet true smile started to filter across her face as she grabbed some pancakes and some bacon. Her eyes went about the choices perhaps just wanting to try some of them again since it had been so long.


The crowd was sending shivers up her spin though, she never was very social after all and this . . . it was like they all knew who were new or not for the most part. So that lead her to try to find a nice quite corner to sit and eat, keeping an eye on the masses in case they started to move to this so called ‘danger room’ so that she could follow.
 
Monet’s feet got slower and slower, walking in tune with an incessant beep. The girl wasn’t sure where exactly it was coming from, but it interested her enough to follow the noise. Just as it got loud enough that the ivory haired girl thought she discovered it source, the beep stopped. Instead it was a continuous shrill sound that had her stiffen and slightly back off from the room in question. Slightly perturbed, she turned back around and walked away stiffly, only for her feet to quicken naturally. As she ran out of the hallway, she crashed into a girl, only to roll onto her feet, dodging a look back at the white lab coat before running faster.


The second time she tripped was two hallways later, where she stumbled over her feet and sent herself barrelling towards the floor. Out of breath and lost now, she rested for a moment before forcing herself off the ground. Monet was getting very tired, and the exhaustion was hitting her now that she had over exerted herself. Forcing herself up from the ground, she saw there were double doors at the end of the hallway and headed towards them.


It reminded her of hospital doors, but as she eagerly pushed against them, she found they wouldn’t open. A huff passed through her lips before she slid down at the entrance to what she thought was a hospital ward. Slowly her eyes drifted close, finally placing why that beep had sounded familiar, before falling asleep at the door to what was actually the cafeteria.


--


When Monet awoke, it was to a worried hand at her shoulder, jolting her into a state of fear until she realized the woman meant no harm. Flailing slightly, she pushed herself up against the door, barely hearing the words spoken to her but nodding incessantly. Something about not sleeping here…she was sore…but where was she supposed to sleep? A moment later the man who spoke yesterday was relying information over the intercom again.


“Breakfast sounds good” the girl had noted this aloud but she didn’t realize it until the woman in front of her gives a laugh. “I told you this was the cafeteria, didn’t I?” Monet didn’t realize she did, but what did that have to do with breakfast? Before she could ask, the woman was guiding her in and the smell of food hit her nostrils. Finally a connection was made, although for how long nobody could tell… cafeteria… meant food. The woman, who’s hand was still at the small of her back, led her towards the line and directed another woman behind the counter to give her ‘a little bit of everything’.


Monet’s hands traced the tray, alarmed as food was suddenly placed on it, than smiling when she realized it was for her. Making her way away from the two women, she sits at a table, slowly eating picking with her hands and eating her food. Luckily someone noticed this and placed a fork and knife nearby along with some napkins. Rubbing her hands on her pants, she aligns the utensils before turning her plate and slowly picking at her food again.
 
Chirp Chirp, Chirp Chirp, the alarm clock sounded into Lizzy's ear. Or at least, that is what everyone else would of heard. To her though, it was her dear friend Sunny who was kindly prodding at her to wake up. She had found the old Sony clock while she was scavenging in a scrap heap in Tuscon Arizona. It was a simple matter to fix the springs where the batteries go and replace the electrical cord. Every morning, he would greet her with a short alarm before switching to her favorite radio station.





This had been the pattern for Lizzy since she had arrived at Zeta Base some three months ago. Before finding this place, Lizzy had spend much of her time knocking over ATMs for some money and keeping on the move from town to town. Stopping only long enough to stock up on supplies and getting a warm meal. But when the MHS was beginning to close in on her, she decided that it was finally time to get to the safety of Las Vegas and the Mutant Underground.


It didn't take much searching throughout the internet to pin down a good idea of where the Mutant Underground was held up at. That is, it wouldn't be for someone who had a brain more akin to a computer than an actual organ. It only took her a few short weeks to pinpoint their location through the mountain of forum posts, news articles, and face book accounts.


The hard part, was actually working up the courage to introduce herself. It wasn't so much that she was afraid of being caught or killed; she just wasn't really that good with people. In truth, she much preferred the company of her little devices that spoke to her. No one really knows if the personalities are imposed on the inanimate objects from her warped mind, or if there actually is a consciousness that only she can perceive.


When it came time for her to introduce herself, she decided to go with the most illogical route; Instead walking up and introducing herself like any normal person would do, she decided that she would try to check out the place before committing. To do this, she visited the Hooters restaurant day after day, looking for a signal that she could use. She eventually found what she was looking for; a lonely mutant was was secretly texting a stripper named “Candy Cane”. Through her mind, she was able to piggy-back off of that signal and break into the bases' mainframe and shut down power to the base. When the lights came back on, an hour later, she had decided to stop at the cafeteria for some delicious butterscotch pie. When she was finally deemed to not be a security threat, they decided to allow her to stay.


Along with the training that the other students participated in, she was giving the duty of monitoring global communications and info nets for any possible threats and pertinent information that the underground could use. This was done from a small room called, The Vigil, or Virgil as Lizzy had taken to calling him. It was a semi sphere shaped room, with a dome for a ceiling. It the center was a sleek and futuristic chair, with connector piece where the user's neck would be placed. The only light in the room came from the multitude of screens that surrounded the user.


Originally, the room was designed as an advanced command and control facility during the War. This room would allow a user with the proper wetware to interface into it and be able to pull up information from hot zone in the world, as well as assess the information. With the end of the war however, the room was re-purposed to serve as an intelligence gathering platform. That Lizzy's enhanced mental abilities allowed her to use with greater efficiency than any super computer was capable of.


Her time with Virgil though wasn't scheduled until the late afternoon, and all she could focus on at the moment was the insatiable growling from her stomach. Grudgingly she dragged herself out out of bed, and made her way through the door. Lizzy proceeded down the hallway towards the cafeteria to get some breakfast, wearing only her pink Hello Kitty PJ bottoms and a black Metallica t-shirt.
 
Jeremy woke up with a start when his hostage-taking overnight roommate shut his door as she left. He smacked the back of his head on the wooden bedframe, swore a few times, kicked the endtable as he stood up, then tripped and slammed his shoulder into the floor. "Great start to the day, Jeremy... why not follow it up with a fatal papercut?" said the hippie as he grumbled and got dressed. After chowing down on a pack of pop-tarts he had brought in with him, the teen walked out of his room and asked a passer-by what was going on. He was informed that Gambit had called all new mutants to come to the Danger Room in about twenty minutes. "Twenty minutes? Shit. Good thing I just had something to eat, I guess." and so he stepped back in his room, grabbed his soil and seed-filled backpack, and headed out.


Of course, he would ask around as to the location of this "Danger Room". Eventually a man named Gabriel would escort him to the large training area. "Thanks, man. I'd have been wandering around for like... ever. I appreciate it." Gabriel stared at Jeremy as the hippie extended his hand in thanks. A few seconds later he simply shook his head and walked away. "What a frigging tightwad. Piss on that guy." grumbled Jeremy as he stood on the balcony overlooking the Danger Room. From what he could tell, it was about a thirty meter by thirty meter by ten meter room with an adjustable floor. What Jeremy DIDN'T know was that the floor could lower up to an additional twenty meters, making the room a thirty meter cube. Top that off with singular panels that could be left at different heights to simulate buildings, automated rubber-bullet turrets, massive fans to generate wind, and a sprinkler system in the ceiling, and the danger room was the perfect urban training setting for young mutants.


Only about ten minutes remained for students to show up for their first class. How many more would arrive?
 
She moved slowly along the hall, caution evident in every movement that she made. Her bare feet and inhuman balance and grace allowed her to creep in such a manner with nearly perfect silence. As she moved, she kept a careful watch on the angle and length of her shadow as it was caused by the lighting of the building. When trying to stalk someone, such little details were quite important as she didn’t want a partial shadow in his peripheral vision to sell her out before she was in place. Finally managing to get quite close to him, the girl straightened before . . .


“Boo~!” cooed Kae, a good humored smile evident in her voice as she attempted to make the hippy jump as punishment for allowing her unhidden presence in the hallway to go unnoticed. She had come straight here after leaving his room this morning. The thought had occurred to her that she would grovel with the man in charge and hopefully find some sort of leniency for her behavior the night before . . . without some sort of pardon, she very much doubted that she would last long here. When she had arrived and hadn’t immediately seen anyone else, she had decided to wait for Gambit and hopefully grab his attention before the others when he did finally make an appearance. She had not, however, been expecting that the hippy would get so engrossed in his exploration of the base that he would fail to notice her existence.


Fidgeting a bit self-consciously as she crossed her arms behind her back and rocked childishly on the balls of her feet, the girl blushed slightly as she glanced over his shoulder and into the room that she had been to apprehensive to explore on her lonesome. It had taken her only moments after initially arriving here to realize the state which she was in. She still only had his t-shirt on as far as clothes went, and already blood had seeped through her bandages to slightly stain one of the shoulders. To make matters worse, she was pale and her own dried blood was matting her naturally unruly brown hair. All in all, she could only think that she looked about as crazy as the rumors from last night were undoubtedly making her out to be.


“So . . .” she asked after a moment of staring into the danger room awkwardly as she found that she needed to break the silence or allow her embarrassment to drive her nuts. “Now that we’ve found this place . . . are we finally going to be safe for a while? We won’t be hunted here, right?” The girl slipped past the man and went deeper into the room so as to have a look at it while she spoke. After the events of the day before, she must already appear to be a major freak even to those who had been with her. She didn’t want to make him feel more uncomfortable than necessary. “Does this mean that we actually have a place for now?”
 
"Safety, and interesting concept," a soft voice stated from just outside the doorway leading into the danger room.


Lizzy had been just outside the danger room as she heard the new, and from what she had head, psycho girl speak out. Before she walked in however, the others would hear two light smacks on plastic, as she tried to get the her assistant to come back on. It was a small miracle that Lizzy was able to get the thing to come to life again, and it seemed that all her tweaking to it was causing the battery inside it to drain quicker and quicker.


Satisfied that it was now working, she walked through the doorway, her feet lightly clapping along the floor as she entered. She continued to into the room until she paused just in front of the girl with the bloody t-shirt on. This, Lizzy reasoned, must have been the girl that was causing all the ruckus last night. After linking up with the base's security mainframe and looking over the night's security footage, she confirmed it.


Lizzy tended to be very antisocial. And while part of it stemmed from the fact that she understood computers more than she did people, part of it also stemmed that she tended to have a mischievous streak. One of the things she liked to do to a new recruit who was particularly on edge, is read off dictionary passages just to freak them out...


She tilted her head and with a straight face, and as monotone a voice as she could fake, stated that "Safety: the condition of being protected against physical, social, spiritual, financial, political, emotional, occupational, psychological, educational or other types or consequences of failure, damage, error, accidents, harm or any other event which could be considered non-desirable. You are in a danger room, ergo, not safe."


With a cute, if not eery smile, she turned away from her and walked over to the end of the room. Placing her back to the wall, she slid down and rested her rump upon the cool, metallic ground. She closed her eyes and brought up the security cameras in the corridors outside of the room. Perhaps today she'd spook someone into the thinking the place was haunted as they approached...
 
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