School Daze

[Bernard Bass]

The Stacks of the Institute had a distinct aura. The feeling of responsibility, knowledge and power almost seeped from these historical walls and it was making Bernard Bass crazy.
“I can’t take this anymore,” Bernard said to himself as he sat at one of the tables that lined the windowed wall of the schools library. “I mean, it’s like all of the professors had a meeting and decided to pile on the work as soon as the weather started getting warm. This is terrible, don’t they know I have Adult Swim to watch girls to chase. Spring has sprung my friends. I don’t want to be stuck inside learn about god knows what. I want to live, I want to have fun!” Bernard shot out of his chair like a rocket as he finished his Shatneresque monolog.
“Sir, please keep it down!” One of the librarians said.
“Oh, sorry. I didn’t realize I was taking out loud. How much of that did you hear? ” Bernard said sheepishly.
‘Please just sit down.”
“Sorry, sorry,” Bernard said as he quickly sat down and tried to get back into his work. But Bernard soon realized that getting back into his American History lesson would be next to impossible. The reason was simple; it was the warm sunlight that was streaming through the massive, wonderful windows.
“That’s it, I gotta get outta here,” Bernard said as he quickly gathered his books and assignments and threw them into his backpack. “Who’s with me?’

[Tess Abrahams]

Two tables down, fully immersed in an illustrated history of the Blackfoot River Valley, Tess Abrahams spared a precious few seconds to cast a glare at the tall boy by the window. Honestly, didn't anyone have respect for the sactity of libraries anymore? Not two minutes ago she had been disrupted by a couple of younger children, arguing over who had grabbed 'The Hardy Boys: The Tower Treasure' first.

That morning an article had appeared in the Times about a local developer purchasing 190 acres of land in Montana with the intention of creating a massive housing community, complete with plans for the biggest mall within a 50 mile radius. Tess was outraged. The destructive environmental impact that IvisCor was preparing to cause absolutely blew her mind. It also effectively gaurenteed that questions 1-20 on page 48 of her trig textbook would not be completed for tomorrow.

There was only one thing to do: research, get informed, learn all the ins and outs of the situation... and then protest the hell out of it.

Which was why, when Bernard posed his question to (apparently) anyone within hearing distance, it took a good deal of biting her tongue not to ask him to, politely, shutup. After all, she had come to the library because she knew it was the last place Marty and Carlos would set foot in. She wasn't looking for any escapades--although they did always have a strange way of finding her.

Tess leaned against the chair, bending so that the top portion of her back folded over the top of the seat, giving the impression to anyone who didn't know what kind of students attended Cullen's, that her spine was presently in two pieces. "If you mean out out, you might as well give up. You've got to have a good reason and teacher permission to leave the grounds without supervision."

[Bernard Bass]

Bernard was still in awe of his classmates. Sometimes he would catch himself staring in amazement. This encounter was turning out to be one of those times. This girl couldn’t have been more that 18. He was tall and slender but the way she was able to manipulate he body was truly amazing. Bernard’s stare quickly turned into the gleeful smile of a two year old watching their favorite cartoon.

“Wow, that is pretty neat. Um, I mean that in the nicest way possible.” Seeing that she was looking quite aggravated Bernard attempted to back peddle. “Sorry, this is my first semester and my ability isn’t as impressive, I am slowly getting larger, but that was pretty cool. I should just stop talking now huh?”
The girl gave Bernard a polite nod.

“Ok sorry. My name is Bernard. And what do you mean? I have a good reason it’s opening day. You wanta go to a ball game?”

[Tess Abrahams]

"Bernard, I'm Tess. And no, I don't want to go to a ball game." Tess tucked her book under an arm and with an ease which spoke of athleticism, rose from her chair to cross the short distance between herself and the boy. "Do you know why I don't want to go to a ball game, Bernard? This is why."

The coltish girl let the heavy book fall onto the table with a thud, slapping a narrow palm onto it's face in mimic. "Do you realize how incredibly important the Blackfoot River is, Bernard? I mean, it's one of the most biodiverse wonders in the country!" At the reference desk, the librarian narrowed her eyes at the sudden increase in volume. Tess held up a hand and began to tick off her fingers. "Deer, elk, lynx, mountain lions, over two hundred species of bird, not to mention the plant life! Do you know how many various plant species you'll find in the wetlands alone?" Tess pressed her face closer to Bernard's.

"Over six hundred! And IvisCor wants to mash it all up and replace it with an ashphalt-paved, hedge-manicured, cul-de-sac!" A snort escaped as she curled her gentle lips into a sneer. "They'll dewater the potholes, degrade the watershed, and practice poor timber harvesting which will divert and reduce the stream flow, effectively killing off the entire trout population and don't even get me started on the impact on the growing Grizzly community."

Tess was breathing hard, her face flushed and angry. She suddenly remembered, with some embarrasment, that they were standing beside a shelf of bound volumes ranging from Theatre, History of to Sudan: The Land And the People and not at a rally. Bernard was probably terrified by her seemingly insane outburst. Tucking her hair behind her ears, Tess cleared her throat. "Ah. There's a meeting today, for concerned citizens, downtown. I was going to go to that."

[Bernard Bass]

After Tess’ intense and fiery sermon open day didn’t seem all that important. Things of this nature were never a real priority for Bernard. While others were protesting wars and global warming he was running wind sprints and lifting weights preparing for the upcoming football season. Bernard was impressed at her passion and vast knowledge of this river region.

Bernard looked at his classmate gave he a playful grin and quipped, “I’ve never been to an environmental lecture and I can bet you ain’t been to a ball game, and you haven’t lived until you’ve eaten a soft pretzel at Shea Stadium, so let’s do both.”

[Tess Abrahams]

Compromises were something that Tess held in the highest esteem. It would have been hypocritical of her not to agree--besides, her parents had always preached the benefits of keeping an open mind and embracing new things. True, baseball wasn't as grandiose as going vegan or dabbling in transcandental meditation, but it certainly counted.

Tess turned and deftly filed her book. Once it was safetly nestled in it's spot, she grabbed her jacket from the back of her chair and shrugged into it, the slick material hugging her frame nicely. "We better go while the gettin's good."

[Bernard Bass]

“Ok, I know this sounds weird but I have always wanted to plan an escape,” Bernard gleefully exclaimed.

Tess threw him a puzzled look.

“What? My dad’s favorite movie was ‘The Great Escape’ with Steve McQueen; I must have seen it a thousand times. Ok, here’s the plan. Over by the gym there is a maintenance shed, well, it’s not a shed it’s more of a garage. Anyway, the garage has a ladder that leads into a drainage pipe. That pipe leads to a stream that runs right along the outside of the western gate. Ok, so all we have to do is sneak into the maintenance shed without being seen by the grounds crew, climb down the latter, walk the 500 or so feet and wa-la, we are free. So, what do ya think?”

Tess looked at the mastermind for what seemed to be an eternity and broke out in hysterical laughter. She attempted to gain he composure, but it was impossible.

Dejected Bernard gave in and said, “Or we could just hop the fence?”

[Tess Abrahams]

"Which will mean that we're basically visible to anyone who bothers to stand at a window," Tess murmered lowly as they passed the librarian, "And arouse unwanted attention." They exited the library and made a left. Tess walked briskly, every step fluid and purposefull.

"Wait for two secs." The girl dissapeared through the double doors of the cafeteria, returning a few minutes later with a plastic-wrapped sandwhich, an apple, and a bottle of water. "Okay, let's go visit Howard." She said with a smile. Two two exited the institute and started walking down the long drive, Tess slowing noticably.

When they reached the end, Tess waved at the gaurd in the little shack at the gate. "Hi Howard!"

The big, wide-smiling man waved back, his bushy eyebrows crinkling. His hands were massive, collosal-knuckled things. "Hello Tess! Who's your friend?"

"This is Bernard. Bernard, this is Howard." Tess held up the food. "Thought you might be hungry." She handed him the food, which the man took gratefully in one gigantic palm.

"Thanks, darlin'." Howard took a bite of the apple and 'mm-ed' as the sweet juice dribbled down his chin. "Wha' are you two up to t'day?" he asked, chomping away. Tess sighed and shoved her hands into the pockets of her jeans.

"My grandmother's sick, lives nearby, and my mom couldn't get a flight out of Portland until tomorrow. So I'm going to see Grams and make sure she's okay until then, and Bernard here didn't want me waltzing around the city all by hick self." She smiled, sweetly. Howard eyed the two, without doubt, and took another bite of the apple. He nodded.

"That's a good idea, Tess, and real friendly of you Bernard. What time are you kids expected back?"

[Bernard Bass]

“Well Howard maybe 6 or 7pm. And besides I couldn’t let her wonder around a city all by herself. Being big comes in handy. Scares away the riffraff”

A big smile came to the old guard’s face and he said, ”I like that a gentleman, you don’t see that to often now-a-days.” Grinning Howard opened the metal gates, “You two have a good day and I hope your grandmother feels better.”

It worked they were free from the lessons and classes and the bad food. The world was their oyster. It was the first time Bernard had left the school since he arrived in the fall. He was ecstatic and free.

“Well, that was easy. But you have to admit, my way was more fun.” Bernard smiled at his companion, “and I didn’t have to involve my poor old grandmother, you bad girl.”

The two students walked in silence as they made their way to the bus stop. It wasn’t an uncomfortable silence however; Bernard was simply enjoying the wonderful spring day. The warm sun, the light breeze, the birds were singing, it was a perfect day. A grateful Bernard decided to get to know his liberator and said, “So Tess, tell me about yourself.”

[Dusk]

An English voice called out from behind the gates.

"I...err...have to go too!"

Sam Hutchins approached, having left his seat below one of the trees not so far away. He'd spent a good part of the last hour trying to figure out an excuse to get out of the institute, and perhaps the two that had just left could help him.

"They wanted me to meet them outside!" he pleeded with Howard.

Up the road he could see the pair waiting for the bus he'd seen pass a few times previous that day.

"Hey, you two! Help me out here?" he called, hoping they'de go along with him.

[Tess Abrahams]

She didn't know the boy but it didn't take a genius to see he ws in need. Tess rolled her eyes. "Oh, so you finally decided to show up?"

The girl shook her head in conspiracy at Howard. "He's with us, Howard, so we can keep up the buddy system. The professors weren't keen on Bernard wanderin' on his own once I got to my grans." She put her hands on her hips, "Well c'mon, slowpoke, we're gonna have to run to make the bus as it is!"

[Bernard Bass]

Today had turned into quite an adventure. What started out a dull day in the Stacks had turned into a pilgrimage into NYC. The more the merrier Bernard thought.

Bernard and Tess stopped walking and waited for the newest member of their expanding party. The blonde stranger was finally in vocal range and Bernard filled him in on the day’s upcoming events, “Hey there English breakfast, I’m Bernard and this is Tess, we are on our way downtown for and environmental lecture and a baseball game. Weird right?” Bernard cracked a smile at their newest member, “They got baseball in England? Just breaking your stones, come on fish and chips we’re gonna have to hustle if we want to make the bus."

[Dusk]

Sam flashed a grin at them both.

"Thanks a lot, I didn't think I was ever going to get out of there" he said once they were out of earshot of Howard. "I'm Sam, good to meet you both"

He quickened his pace to match theirs, and the distant motor of an oncoming bus could be heard.

"Baseball? No, not back home. I'm always up for something new though" he replied.

[Tess Abrahams]

Tess had quickened her pace to that of a slow jog, but took the time to shoot a slight smile and wave over her shoulder. "Hi Sam. If you get in trouble for being out, you never saw us."

The bus whinged as it slowed, beginning to pull to the side. Muttering under her breath as a cloud of exaust fanned into her face, Tess bolted to the marked bus stop, idly bouncing back and forth on the balls of her feet as a few passengers exited the city transport. When the way was clear, the girl climbed the steps, pausing to feed two dollars worth of quarters into the slot by the driver. He nodded, and Tess walked to the middle of the bus, grabbing a handhold loosely.

Their stop, according to Mapquest, was thirty minutes away.

[Damien E. Dervish]

The day nice and sunny, Damien decided, after finishing his paper on Dante's Inferno, to go for a stroll. While walking about the yards of the main compound of the Institute, his pointy, dog-like ears overheard the three leaving the Institute for a break. If he had heard correctly, one was going to an environmental, Green Peace-like rally, and the other was intending to head to Shea Stadium to catch a ball game. Being raised in the southeast, that was one of Damien's pasttimes. Not to mention, soft, buttery pretzels, hotdogs, hamburgers, and pizza galore! The food at ball games were the best. Plus, he might become enlightened of the environmental plight that resulted from deforestation, thermal and chemical pollution from the runoff of the paved areas into the water table, and other various problems springing from humanity's so-called "progress."

Quickly strapping on his rollerblades, and slinging his quickly-packed backpack over his back, and stretching his wings outward to ensure flight, or at least, gliding capability, Damien quickly eyed the terrain, and sighted his launching pad, before taking off on his inline skates. Zipping down the hallway, and through a door conviently opened by another student, Damien hopped, grinding down the railings of the steps. Keeping his momentum going, Damien sped down the sidewalk, letting the gradual downhill slope speed up his decent. With little trouble, Damien gave the open guard window a quick glance. Fortunately, both windows, if you timed it right, were open wide enough for him to dive through, without hitting the security guard in said booth. Damien knew this guard well enough. Promises of food or other goods were enough for him to get out, if Howard, or Howie, as Damien called him, could even catch him in the first place. Quickly eyeing and aiming, Damien timed the jump and angled for the jump. A few bobs of his head to get his rhythm down, and Damien hops, skating on the very thin curb. It arced with the slight steps into the booth, ten or so steps up into it. Riding the curb until the very last and opportune moment, Damien leaps, flapping his wings to propel him. Slinking in and tucking his wings in to his sides for a streamlined dive, Damien spins his torso in a corkscrew fashion, missing Howard's head by inches. As he zipped by, Damien speaks quickly.

"Hotdogs later, Howie!"

Angling his body ever so slightly, Damien sails perfectly through the other open window, and out of the booth. That was the first of the hard part. Landing without losing any speed or momentum, Damien lands back down onto his feet, skates rolling. He continues down the road, following the direction of the bus.

After about a minute of hard skating, Damien gets sight of the bus. He smiled. He was uphill of the bus, and seeing some opportunity in the two utility trucks following two car lengths behind the bus, Damien keeps the momentum up. Screwing this up would mean injury or death. That was the risk. And the thrill. Damien grins, tucking in and streamlining down the hill. After getting some good momentum, and dodging quickly a small car and a motorcycle, Damien quickly sees a pothole. Perfect. Lining up with it, Damien hits it, and it launches him up toward the utility truck. Lining it up, Damien grabs the ladder bar, slings his body with the momentum, griding down the length of the ladder. As it reaches three inches from the end, Damien hops toward the driver side. Sailing through the air on the momentum, Damien lands on the next ladder on the other side of the next truck in a perfect grind. Timing had to be perfect... This time at two inches to the end of the ladder, Damien leapt.

Just as the utility truck hits a bump in the road. It almost completely screws up Damien's timing and jump, launching him just a bit too far. With the downhill road, Damien lands onto the roof of the bus seven feet, further than the three feet that he had intended to land. And right in line with the emergency hatch located on the top of the bus, in case of an overturned accident. Damien trips, and slams face first onto the roof of the bus. Fortunately the momentum had been spent between the constant motion of the bus and his momentum being spent up in his near-disastrous jump. Just enough momentum left for him to get an instant headache. Grumbling, Damien rubs his head with one hand, the other holding onto the perfect seams of the bus, keeping himself on the bus. Still a bit dazed from the bump on his head, Damien took off his small rollerblades, and tucks them into his backpack, slipping on the lightweight cloth sneakers, and slipping the hoodie over his head. He also slipped his wings into the two sewn holes in the back of his hoodie. Kept his wings ready. His tail swishing to and fro to keep his balance, Damien noted the bus slowing down. Wait. He knew this route on the bus. Damien smiled as he pulled the hood over his head.

As the last person began to enter the bus, Damien leapt from the roof, sliding down the door frame and landing easily onto the step. Damien smiled at the bus driver, pointed teeth gleaming.

"Hey, Mr. Donovan. What's goin' on?"

The driver spoke back, smiling. "I thought that bump sounded too hard. Your noggin okay?"

"Yeah, I'm good. Just misjudged the landing. It happens."

"I hear yas, Damien. Well, pay up. Two bucks shouldn't hurt your arcade funds too much, right?"

"Nope. I at least bring a twenty, Mr. Donovan." With a hop, Damien inserts two dollars worth of quarters into the machine and walks towards the seats. He gets a negative look here and there, and to each one, he smiles and waves. Treat unkindness with kindness. Still grinning, he spots the other students standing at the middle of the buss. The girl, Damien thought it to be the flexible one, was checking a Mapquest. The others were conversating. Thus, Damien approaches the girl.

"Hey, mind if I tag along, too? If not, I can always head to the arcade..."

[Bernard Bass]

Bernard looked at the short demonism fellow and said, “Small fry, you can tag along if you want to but if we don’t get into the Mets game cause of you, then we’ll have problems. I’m Bernard, that’s Tess and the English dude is Sam. Good to have you on board.” Bernard looked around at the ever growing party and stated, "This trip is getting stranger by the minute. I'm glad no one else is on this bus."

Thirty minutes. In half an hour this motley crew would be in NYC. “Today is turning out to be quite a good day,” Bernard thought to himself as he watched in anticipation as the rural scenery gave way to the live vibrant pulse of the city. In an attempt to shorten the trip, Bernard turned on his iPod and enjoyed the sweet sounds of A Tribe Called Quest.

Bernard had been to NYC twice before but it had been many years. However, the area around Shea Stadium felt like home due to Bernard’s failure to miss a Mets game on television. Finding the exact location of this conference would be another matter all together. Bernard took out his earphones and asked simply, “Hey Tess or Sam or both, you got any idea how to get idea how we get to this conference?”

[Dusk]

Sam offered a smile to the newcomer, before turning to Bernard.

"I havn't a clue. This is my first time here over the pond" he replied. Indeed, he'd felt a little lost throughout his time here, and was still getting used to some of the differences in diolect. Still, the people were friendly enough.

He looked to the hodded newcomer again.

"Hey, didn't catch your name mate."

[Damien E. Dervish]

The diminuitive, demonic-looking, teenage mutant smiled, looking up at the other, larger, and either British or Australian mutant. As he looked upward, the hood fell from his head, uncovering his face. Damien's face was black, covered with soft fur. His nose was black, and shiny; his face, in general, other than his lips, seemed canine-like in nature. His eyes were as a normal humans, other than the distinct color of red rings, instead of the typical brown, blue, or hazel. Topping his forehead were two, bone white, and perfectly placed horns, offset by the black fur and pointy, canine-like ears. His smile showed gleaming, white teeth, a bit sharper than the typical humans.

"Damien E. Dervish, crazy mutant teenager."

Damien hopped up onto an empty seat nearby.

"And don't worry, Bernard. I get into the games all the time. I usually get to pay the kid's price, too. And if I wanted to, I could get in free...I know some of the owners of the property. Plus, my stature could get me in as well. And these..."

Damien opened his velvety-black, right wing, thumb pointed to emphasize it.

"...could do the same, and get me really awesome seats. But I try to do the right thing. Wouldn't be fair to the paying customers. And dodging the homeruns is a pain in the butt. I got a concussion from a homer once. Taught me for paying full price for a ticket. Hell, as much as I put away in the wonderful food and other delicious confections, they're making a profit offa me anyway. As for the conference, follow the Green Peacers. Easy to pick out of a crowd."

Damien settled into the seat, stretching out. Even stretched out, he barely took up the seat. Reaching into his bag, Damien produced a jar of dry-roasted and salted peanuts. Yum, Planter's Peanuts. Popping a few into the air, Damien caught it in his mouth, chewing happily. Swallowing the peanuts, Damien looked back at Bernard.

"Or we could just look for any announcements. I'm sure that they will at least have something posted somewhere..."

Damien produced a bottle of Coke from a cooler compartment on his bag. It was in the glass bottle, the best way to serve it, in Damien's opinion. After eating another handful of peanuts, he held the jar out to the others.

"Dry-roasted peanuts anyone? I also got Coke in the glass bottle..."

[Jake Flannery]

Jake sat in the back the bus half asleep have awake. He had been riding this bus for almost a day mostly trying to figure out how he could get on mutant campus and sleeping. He had lifted a bus ticket off some poor shlub at a stop awhile back along with a couple hundred dollars. He had finally reached his location with no idea about what he was gonna do. California to the institute and still had no Idea how he would sneak himself in. He couldn't pass himself off as a new mutant student he would have to be a mutant for that to work.

An eye popped open when he saw a bunch of kids talking about baseball. A sport he loved once but since California had no good teams you lost interest quickly in the game. Then there was something said about trees or nature or something like that but by then he had lost interest in what they where talking about. When he noticed the dog faced boy who evidently was a mutant. He saw his ticket into the institute then. All he needed was a one of there student Ids and a photo booth. Then he could get in and locate his cousin. From there nothing else really seemed to matter.

[Bernard Bass]

“All right, NYC.” Bernard exclaimed as the four students from the institute rushed off the bus and made there way toward the main door of the station. Bernard reached into his school bag pulled out his trusty Mets cap and being planning, “Ok, according to Tess the lecture’s at noon. El Duque takes the mound at 7:05. That should give us plenty of time. Man, this is awesome, LET’S GO METS LET’S GO METS.” Bernard was screaming the mantra of Met fans, which would be fine at Shea Stadium, but the folks at the bus station we not amused. A chorus of “shut up” and “Mets suck, Go Yanks” now rained upon him.

Bernard brushed off their comments and pushed the double doors of the station open exposing the beauty and chaos of Manhattan said, “It’s10: 45 am and about 18 blocks to City Hall and I can tell you this, no cab driver is going to pick us up. So if we want to make the start of lecture we are going to have to hustle. Boys, lead the way and didn't mean that in a sexist way..."

[Dusk]

Sam followed Bernard off the bus and out of the station. His eyes gazed around, taking in the sight of the city. Indeed, he didn't have a clue have far 18 blocks was, and gave Bernard a confused look, before casting a glance behind him at Tess and Damien.

"I suppose he means one of you two?"

[Damien E. Dervish]

Damien smiled at Sam's comment. He was English. Thus, he didn't understand the typical American euphamism. Damien looked at him.

"What he means is let's go. And eightteen blocks is a decent distance, several kilometers if I'm not mistaken. As for the euphamism, he meant not to be sexist by referring to us as boys, when there is a woman amongst us."

Reaching into the can of peanuts in his hand, Damien tossed more into the air, catching them in his mouth. Finishing the mouthful, he chases the peanuts with some Coke. Slinging the backpack in front of him, Damien sits down, taking off his sneakers and replacing them with the roller blades. With his small gait, Damien would find it somewhat difficult to keep up with them. So, the roller blades would minimize the work, and would help him keep up. As a matter of fact, roller blades coupled with his energy, high metabolism, and hyperactivity, Damien would most likely be twice as fast as the rest. Strapping them on, Damien stood, taking another chug of his Coke. Finishing the bottle, Damien skates toward a trash can, and swings on the light pole next to it. The momentum carries him above the trash can. With no trouble, he drops the bottle into the trash can, landing the trick perfectly. Smiling, he produces another Coke, popping the metal cap off of the glass bottle with his sharp teeth. Sipping lightly on it, he looks to the group.

"Well, we could walk it. Or take another bus. Or the subway."

[Tess Abrahams]

"Oh c'mon, toughen up, let's hoof it." Tess grinned over her shoulder as she pushed a hand into the pocket of her sweater, fingering the folded map she'd printed out the night before. The girl began heading in their destined direction, an open, wily gait that didn't look natural amongst the head-down, eyes-private walks of the natives.

The air was not crisp and clear like Oregon. There was a tang of gasoline and cement, of perfumes and sewage and chemicals, all laced through with the yeasty scent of various food carts. It was surprisingly pleasant. Tess wrinkled her nose as they passed a hot dog vendor, horrified at the mere thought of actually paying for meat.

"Well, gentlemen, I'd say we picked a pretty good day to play hookie." The girl remarked, twisting a little as a pushy man shoved roughly by.

[Bernard Bass]

She was right. This was a perfect day to play hookie. The city was alive, wondrous and forgiving. Bernard hadn’t been to New York since his “transformation.” In Ohio there were stares and whispers. People in his small hometown would point and laugh at his constantly growing size. His side effect was their amusement. In NYC however Bernard was just another face in the crowd. The people of this city didn’t care about him or anyone for that matter. It was liberating. Bernard walked the streets of New York City with a pride and purpose that he had not felt since before his illness. It was a great day indeed. Bernard looked at his four classmates and proclaimed, “This day couldn’t get better. You guys promise me we will do this again.”

The four unlikely companions walked the city sidewalks at a steady pace. They had made good time because the protesters’ signs and posters were now visible. The crowds’ chants and songs were frantic and passionate. Bernard looked at his ‘friends’ and said smiling, “Alright Tess show us what you got.”

[Dusk]

Sam followed the lead of the others, looking around intently. It was much like how he remembered London, just with more hot dog stands and the weather was better.

"Uhm...hookie...?"

He asked half-heartedly, still gazing sideways.

"I'll come out again, Bernard. No doubt I'll need to learn my way around this place before too long."

His ears soon caught wind of some kind of protest. He figured it must have been the environmental thing Bernard had mentioned earlier.

[Saladin]

At the south end of Washington Square Park there was a crowd of several hundred gathered around a marble dais. On the platform stood a man with a long trenchcoat and a rough mane of golden hair. He was flanked by several individuals who did not seem to belong at an environmental rally. Despite the din of traffic and the clamor of the crowd surrounding him, the man's voice cut sharply through the morning air.

"You won't read about it in the New York Times. You won't see it on CNN, Fox News, or any station that wishes to keep its broadcast rights. Never has the human race been so united in ignorance and fear. They fear what they don't understand, what they can't explain. They fear us.

"Most of the American people believe that the phenomenon of mutation has occurred just in the last two or three generations. That is a carefully crafted lie. In fact mutations have been recorded for the better part of a century. And the U.S. government and others around the world have used that time to construct an elaborate web of deception, manipulation, and coercion to keep 'the mutant threat' under control.

"The mutant registry. Genetic profiling. Covert surveillance. While they bandy about these measures in Congress, they've been doing far worse for decades. Compulsory medical and genetic tests. Genetic samples taken, catalogued, and manipulated without the consent or knowledge of their unwitting donors. Most of you are probably on their files and don't even know it. But there has been far worse - custody without charge or legal recourse, forced relocation, covert medical experiments, even concentration camps on American soil. I have seen the worst of their atrocities myself."

Waves of indignation pulsed through the crowd - some directed toward the speaker, but mostly at the injustices he decried. Across the street, several police cruisers had gathered, and the officers inside monitored the proceedings nervously.

[Void]

As Tess, Bernard and the others approached the crowd, another figure ambled apparently idly along by them. It seemed as if he was just arriving to the rally too. He wore a pair of wrap-around sunglasses and was carrying a tall cup of cola and a hot-dog, that was as fresh as a cart-bought hot-dog could be. He looked sidelong, from behind his glasses, at the group of students and seemed to pick them out as 'his kind of people' – in that they were approaching the rally without pitchforks and torches, and looked to be about his age (or at least born within the same decade).

“What do you make of all this?” he asked, sociably, motioning his cup towards the striking man stood on the dais.

[Bernard Bass]

Bernard was taken aback by the dark stranger’s question. What was all of this indeed? Where was the environmental protest? Who was the madman on the table screaming about the government/mutant conspiracy? Why would this stranger care “what I thought of all of this?” Of all of the people around why would the stranger ask Bernard his opinion? Did he know Bernard was a mutant? Something wasn’t right and Bernard knew it. He just hoped the other members of the impromptu field trip shared his intuition.

Attempting to use his massive size as a defense looked down at the stranger and coldly replayed, ” Man, I could give a ***** about some damn mutants.” Before the stranger had a chance to counter his hostile tone, Bernard quickly turned to his classmates and said franticly,” Something going on here, we gotta get outa here fast or we might have problems.”

[Tess Abrahams]

Oh for... the man was just trying to be friendly and Bernard had gone and cast a net of suspicion over them with his panicked response. Tess smiled apologetically at the newcomer and stared hard at Bernard. "Yeah, there's something going on here, but I don't think we need to be hasty.

"It's interesting." The girl turned to stare at the speaker. Tess was no stranger to protests, and there seemed little out of the ordinary at this one; nervous authorities, a murmering crowd, an exceptionally alluring speaker. Granted, it wasn't the information she'd come to hear but the Blackfoot River Valley was soon forgotten. This hit closer to home.

Tess frowned and leaned over to the stranger, breathing through her mouth so she did not inhale hot-dog air. "Do you think what he's saying is true?"

[Dusk]

Sam's face contorted into a frown, and without hesitation the young man slipped into the growing crowd.

"I'll be back in a few minutes" he called back to the others, as his figure dissapeared into the mass of bodies.

He made his way through the bustle of people towards the front. There were a few murmers about "kids these days", but Sam ignored them and continued forward.

"And just what do you intent to do about it?" his English voice called out to the speaker over the murmering crowd. A few heads turned towards himself, a few suprised looks at the fact he'd spoken back to the mutant preacher.

[Saladin]

The man turned toward Sam, but his voice still carried over the whole crowd. "My young friend, the question is not what I intend to do. I am only one voice, a voice will not be silenced. But I know there are many in this crowd who have felt the oppression of mundanes who prey on them because they are isolated, alone, the freak next door. I mean to show you that you are not alone. We must stand together as a community, as a brotherhood, united by cause and genetics. No, the question is not what I mean to do, but what we mean to do, the frontrunners of the next step in human evolution. We must be united. If one of us bleeds, we all bleed. If one of us is wronged, we must all fight the injustice. Because if they can rob one mutant of his or her rights, they can rob us all and leave us no better off than cattle. But if we stand together, no army of oppression can stand against us. Human history is stained with the blood of silence, just as it is illuminated by those courageous souls who stood against their oppressors and said, 'no more!' We must make the world know that those who seek to crush the mutant strain are fighting the course of nature itself."

[Dusk]

Sam cocked his head slightly. It had been a long time since he'd last debated on this matter. He'd had a fair few arguments back home with fellow mutants, and often they'd ended without being resolved. But he wandered how the preacher knew Sam was indeed a mutant. Perhaps sensing such things was the speakers power. Or maybe he knew that only a mutant would have the guts to speak back.

"Perhaps. But if the mutant society seperates itself from human society, surely only more prejudice can only ensue. If mutants merge themselves into human culture, then maybe that is the way forward. All prejudice that had existed before is now extinguished, with the sufferers now an active part of human society. Do you not think this unison, this brotherhood, will be seen as a threat? We all know how humans react to threats."

His last sentence seemed to varify that Sam was a mutant for many people, and a few members of the crowd seemed to edge away from Sam. He looked around briefly, with a flash of pity in his eyes.

"Look, surely they need to be educated, not aggravated."

[Damien E. Dervish]

Damien, due to his small stature, had to find a better vantage point to see the rally. Scaling a street light, the small, dog-faced, demonic-looking mutant could see the scene unfolding; Tess and Bernard talking to the small man in wraparound sunglasses; Sam and the blonde speaker talking about the mutant agenda and what it should be. This was wrong. This was not an environmental hearing of any kind... or at least, not about any building plans.

This was about plans to rise against the human population. This was bad. Very bad.

Taking flight, Damien stopped, hovering just above Tess and Bernard.

"Guys, we've gotta get outta here! If this gets violent, we could be pitted against others, namely the humans, and potentially, other mutants. That would definetly get news coverage, and that could lead to discovery. And expulsion. I think the terms "mutant rebellion" was covered in the list of things we could get expelled for..."

Damien's wings flapping wildly, he only hoped that they would agree.

[Bernard Bass]

“Tess, I hate to do break up your ‘60 Minutes’ interview here but small fry’s right, we gotta get outta here. Where’s Sam?’ Bernard used his height to scan the crowd and found the last member of their party. All hell had broken loose.

In the commotion, Sam made it his business to confront the ranting mad man. By the looks of it, Sam was quite passionate about the subject of mutant government relations. The heated debate between the two men drew the attention of the crowd. Unfortunately for Sam, the debate had also drawn the interest of the NYPD.

Bernard looked at his two classmates and said gravely, “We got NYPD problems now.”

[Void]

“The way I see it-”

That was all the stranger in sunglasses had managed to say before he was interrupted. Attention had been drawn elsewhere, as Saladin's impassioned words stirred up controversy amongst those listening. When Bernard turned to look back to Tess, the tall stranger who had approached them had vanished – quite literally. He was nowhere to be seen, though on the ground where he had stood was an overturned cup of soda and an untouched hotdog.

[Saladin]

Oddly enough, the man on the podium didn't seem perturbed that someone was debating his rhetoric - instead he regarded Sam with a bemused smile.

"You've obviously been reading the late Dr. Gregory Cullen. But the world isn't ready for his lofty ideals. There may come a time, and I pray that it will be soon, when mutants can live their lives without fear of persecution."

Turning, he saw two of the police cruisers pull away from the curb and execute a U-turn to come alongside the park. A murmur went up from the crowd, like the rumbles a volcano gives before it blows.

"But history teaches us that humankind hates what is different. No, they don't want us to merge. They want us to be submerged, to be exactly like them. And failing that, they want us to disappear. Yes, they must be educated. They must be enlightened. But in the meantime, we must not countenance their oppression, or they will never learn. They will never accept the future."

The two cruisers ground to a halt and waited there, lights flashing. The wail of sirens bounced of the skyscrapers blocks away as two black police vans rushed toward the square. They stopped behind the sedans and vomited a riot squad.

[Damien E. Dervish]

There! Sam was on the stage. Damien looked to Bernard and Tess.

"See the alley behind the podium? We'll meet up and go from there."

Damien, seeing the whole scene unfold in front of him, dove, his little wings working overtime. He had to get to Sam. He twisted and turned, diving, flying, and spinning between peoples' legs, making his way to the podium. As he got close to it, Damien pulled up, zipping upward, out of the crowd, and landing on the stage, right in front of Sam.

"We gotta get outta here! Now! To the alleyway behind you!"

[Dusk]

Sam looked all around, taking in what was happening. It seemed an exit was in order. Just then, Damien appeared in front of him, pointing out where to go. Sam gave him a nod, then looked over to the mutant he'd be debating with. Committing his face to memory, he turned away, facing the alleyway.

"Come on then Damien."

With a pump of his legs, Sam propelled himself upwards and forwards, both directions being about 50 meters. He rushed through the air, the winds blowing around him as he flew towards the side of one of the surrounding buildings. He collided with a thud against a window, pressing his hands against the flat surface and gripping, staying still for a few moments. With another push of his legs, he leapt downwards, towards another bulding, and continued down in a zig-zag until he reached groud, clear away from where the riot van had pulled up.

He landed at the entrance to the alley, turning to see as the others approached.

[Tess Abrahams]

Frustrated and curious as to where the stranger had dissapeared to, Tess nodded shortly at Bernard and wriggled her way through the crowd--now shifting and murmuring in loud unnease--to the alleyway where Sam and Damien were waiting. The girl turned around to look again at the stage. She studied the speakers Roman-esque profile, a million questions buzzing in her head. Almost as if she'd voiced them, the man turned and, for a split second, held her gaze. Tess hesitated.

"Wait a sec," she told the others, running back into the throng and squeezing herself through until she was at the podium. "Hey!" The girl yelled over the buzz of voices. "Do you... do you have like, a website, or something?"

[Bernard Bass]

Three of students had found refuge in the alleyway with Tess brining up the rear. Bernard stood hunched over with his hands on his knees quickly trying to catch his breath. It was turning out to be a strange day. A day that was once filled with pretzels, hot dogs, ball games and environmental rallies had turned into a series of unanswerable question?

Instead of internalizing his questions, Bernard looked to his classmates for answers and exclaimed, “Ok first off, who were those guys? Second, did you see that one guy disappear into thin air? Third, how are we going to get out of here? THERE ARE COPS AND MEDIA EVERYWHERE. And last but not least but not least, where do you think he disappeared to?”

[Saladin]

A great many things happened in very quick succession.

Three of the students from Cullen's broke off and retreated to the alley, apparently unaware that Tess was no longer with them.

The riot squad formed a cautious line about fifty feet away from the edge of the crowd as they awaited their orders.

Tess came squirming through the press of humans and mutants to the foot of the podium, and the blond man turned toward her.

Someone threw a plastic soft drink bottle. It fell pitifully short of the armored officers, but it marked the crossing of a threshold. The riot squad began advancing, and the crowd crescendoed. Someone threw another bottle, glass, which hit one of the officers' plastic shields. Then a piece of brick flew in and came rolling to rest at the squad's feet.

It glowed for a second before it exploded.

All at once, the crowd became a mob. People flooded in every direction, some to escape, some to fight. The riot squad stumbled backwards to regroup and raised their weapons at the rushing surge.

Saladin, eyeing the decreasing gap between the mutants and the police, thrust out his arms over the crowd like a new age Moses. Green lances shot from his hands and enveloped the two riot vans, which suddenly leapt into the air and came crashing down to the ground in the gulf between the two sides, giving pause to both aggressors and defenders.

Then he wheeled around again to find - against all reason - Tess still at the podium, jostled about in the press and in serious danger of being trampled underfoot.

"You! You need to get out of here!"

No escape route presented itself. Without a moment's hesitation, he charged down off the platform, wrapped an arm around Tess's slim shoulders, carved himself a path with another luminous green lance, and rushed out of the fray with the girl in tow.

[Dusk]

Sam was just about to turn on his heel and shout out "Run now, ask questions later", when he realised the group was one short of members.

"Oh bloody hell, Tess!" he exclaimed, his eyes darting between Bernard and Damien. "We've got a little while. Most of the attention is on the riot, but where..."

His speech was cut short when a green flash of light caught his eye, followed by the blonde mutant with Tess at his side.

"Hey, you! This way!" he called out, waving. He far from desired the company of the preacher, but if they went back to the institute without Tess, there would be hell to pay.

[Damien E. Dervish]

Damien, noting that Tess was gone, saw the flash of light and instantly felt fear. The proverbial crap had hit the fan, and things were going crazy. And Tess was gone. This was not good.

Upon seeing that Sam had spotted the Mutant Speaker and Tess, and the flashing green light again, Damien could only hope that the Speaker would get Tess to them. Damien couldn't exactly drag her back; after all, she was at least two times his size. Hell, everyone was.

Damien saw that they would need a distraction. He took to the air, unzipping his bookbag. He hated to do this, but he had to. Pulling out two bottles of Coke, Damien shook them up before opening them, and showering several of the rioters and others with the fizzy, brown liquid. Naturally, being suddenly drenched with what smelled like ice-cold Coca-Cola, several people looked up and noted Damien. And then the crap REALLY hit the fan for him, as debris began to fly at him. Bricks, glass bottles, et cetera made their way to his flight path.

"Where the hell'd the bricks come from!?"

Damien zigzagged and dodged around the debris, hoping that the Speaker and Tess would wise up and take the opportunity.

[Void]

Out of nothing, the tall stranger reappeared in front of Damien. For a moment the rioters were stunned, confused, but it was only a moment and their hate-fueled barrage resumed quickly – now directed at Void. Unfortunately for them, all of their missiles passed right through his body. He grinned as one particularly angry man tried swinging a right-hook into the mutants chest, but hit only air. Void shook his head and quickly returned the favor, socking the man right between the eyes before vanishing once again into thin air.

[Tess Abrahams]

Over the din of the crowd Tess thought she heard someone calling--a familiar lilt that might have been Sam--but when she glanced over her shoulder to look, the girl was met with the sight of a rock hurtling in their direction. Tess screamed, ducking just in time as the rock sailed over her head. The riot was in full swing now, with forces from both sides heaving and pressing against one another in a frenzy of unchecked temper.

A man at the edge of the crowd, brandishing a wicked looking sign-turned-spear, caught sight of the two and, angry cry spilling from his lips, started after. After a few stumbling steps though, he slowed and seemed to recognize them--or at least discern that they were not, in fact, on the side of the riot squad. Raising one fist of salute in the air, the man yelled something that was lost in the crowd but which had looked (from the shape of his lips and distinctly forked tongue) oddly like, "Brothers!"

On a scale of one to ten, this was an eight-quickly-escalating-to-nine bad. For the first time Tess looked up at her saviour. She wasn't sure she wanted to keep following--or being led by, it wasn't clear what was happening--the man.

On the other hand, there didn't seem much choice. Tess cringed at a harsh cracking sound behind. "Thanks for rescuing me! I have to... my friends, they're still back there...!"

[Saladin]

Saladin turned back toward the seething mass, still shielding Tess. "Fools," he muttered, though it wasn't clear whether he was talking about the rioters or about the law enforcement. "This only shows how pathetically unprepared they are..."

He hurried Tess into a stand of trees across the lawn, not exactly heavy cover, but at least out of the immediate scope of the rioters' attention. "Of course. I'm sorry to have ruined your day in the park. Void!"

It was impossible to tell why he had shouted until the tall stranger rematerialized just six feet away from the pair. "This girl has become separated from her friends. Please help her find them. I need to see if anything can be salvaged here."

He turned quickly and plunged back into the fracas, leaving Tess alone with Void.

[Jake Flannery]

Jake was amongst the crowd as it began to riot. Oh great that is what he was thinking when it started. Stupid Intolerant humans he thought quitely to himself. He was just a mere human but unlike most he did not hate mutants. He saw them as the future he could never be apart of. He sifted through the riot though remebering his goal. He pushed his way through the crowd almost getting trampled in the process several times. He finally reached the alley way he had seen the young Mutants duck into. He walked in slowly and casually not wanting to alarm them.

"If you want to get out of here I would suggest just walking out casually."

Jake talked straight to Benard since he figured him to be the leader of the group.

"Well at least as casually as possible. As long as you don't get involved in
the antics they shouldn't pay you any attention."

[Damien E. Dervish]

Damien worked his wings feverishly to get away from the flying bricks. He almost got away unscathed....almost. As he rounded one last time, trying to land near Bernard and Sam, a brick caught the tip of his tail. The tail being a key part of his balance and equilibrium, it caused Damien to begin a head-over-heels spin. Luckily, Damien was no stranger to tumbling. He hit the ground, tucking his extremities into a ball as he did so. The roll absorbed most of the momentum, right up to the moment that Damien barrelled into the trash can. With a loud dong and a thud, Damien came to a stop, trash can overturned, somehow over him. Thank God it was empty! But it still smelt bad. With a quick kick, the trash can fell to it's side, freeing Damien. Damien, dusting himself off, walked toward Bernard and Sam, tucking in his inhuman extremities, and pulling the hood over his head. He looked normal. Or at least, as normal as he could look. Upon his approach, Damien caught the tail end of what the helpful stranger was saying to Bernard and Sam. He chuckled softly.

"Easy for you to say, man. You aren't three feet tall; you aren't covered in short, black fur; you don't have sharp claws and teeth; your face doesn't look close to that of a dog; you don't have bat-like wings; and your entire bodily composition isn't all brought together with a devilish, bifrocated tail. So, if you guys would, please just say that I'm your little brother with a skin condition or something, for the love of God...But thanks for the suggestion. I'm just stating the obvious problems here...."

Throughout his little speech, Damien attempted to sound reasonable, not sarcastic. No one liked a smart-mouth. Finished with his tirade, he looked to Bernard.


"We have to find Tess."

[Void]

Silence. The figure named 'Void' gave a shrug as he looked down at the girl.

“Which way we headed?”

[Bernard Bass]

All hell had broken loose. These children were now caught up in a full-scale riot complete with flying bricks and wave after wave of New York City’s finest in full on riot gear complete with tear gas and Billy clubs. The students from the institute had lost Tess but they seemed to have gained an ally. He had just seemed to appear out of thin air and was now offering Damien, Sam and Bernard an escape rout from this madness.

Bernard said passionately to the stranger, “The little guy is right, we CANNOT leave with out Tess! This is all my fault! She wouldn’t even be here if it wasn’t for me so we HAVE TO FIND HER and fast.” His passion was replaced by a sudden wave of panic washed as Bernard realized he had no real plan on how to find her.

Then, in an instant the plan formed. Bernard huddled his friends and laid out the plan. “Ok, Damien, you need to create a diversion somehow. Try to get some of the cops to follow you. Sam, you follow me, I’m gonna use me size to barrel through the crowd. When we find Tess, take he and jump your way out of the mess.” His friends were now looking at Bernard dumbfounded. Bernard attempted to lighten the mood, “I know it might not be the best plan, but this is my first rescue mission.”

[Damien E. Dervish]

Damien shook his head.

"I just tried that and nearly got my tail broken....thank God it's mostly bone. But the cops, they won't be too much of a problem. Just watch for a signal. Cop's favorite treat."

Damien grinned as he took to the air. He found a perch on a street sign, near a cop. He reaches into his bag and produces another bag. Pulling out something, Damien lobs it, smacking the cop square on the forehead. Where the object had pelted him, a white powder mark was visible. The cop looked at Damien, and looked down at what was thrown. It was a powdered mini-donut. Damien grinned.

"I got more where that came from, pal!"

Damien produced more donuts and pegged him some more. The cop yelled, obviously upset and offended. Damien dove off of the sign, and flew in and out of the crowd, pegging various cops and riot officers with mini-donuts.

"Pigs and donuts, what a concept!"

The cops were angry, and decided to pay more attention to Damien and his flinging insults. Damien laughed, and flew about, stopping only to toss a donut near Bernard. It landed with a puff of confectioner's sugar. That was the signal. Damien had done his part.

[Bernard Bass]

The little guy did indeed to his job, quite well to tell the truth. The cops were chasing the Damien up and down the crowded city block.

Bernard looked back at Sam and said calmly, "All right Sam. Let's go get Tess." And with that the two men barreled off into the mob.

[Tess Abrahams]

"Hey, it's you!" Tess pointed a finger into Void's face. Her eyes narrowed, although she wasn't sure there was anything to be narrowing them about; there were no accusations that could be thrown, really.

With a sort of awkward pause that made the finger draw back quickly and her cheeks pink, Tess mirrored his shrug as she glanced through the fracas. The boys were nowhere to be seen.

"God we are so getting detention." Tess groaned throatily, straining to see through the sea of bodies without getting any nearer; it was no longer a muntant-targetted fray, more an all out street-brawl. "I can't see them!" Turning her eyebrows up at Void she held her hands up apologetically. "Maybe if we work our way around the crowd, or something?"

[Dusk]

Sam gave a quick nod, before piling into the crowd. With his weaker frame, Sam slipped in behind Bernard in order to keep up with him. His attention was divided between pushing forward and looking out for Tess. It almost felt like he was playing scrum half in a rugby match back home again, pressing against the ruckus of a maul whilst concentrating on where best ot feed the ball next. However, the situation now was far more dire. Around him, there were patches of blood on the floor, civilians clutching injuries and screaming insults.

"I can't see her!" Sam shouted above the noise of the crowd. "You seen anything yet!?"

[Void]

“Sure.” Void glanced left then right, and then – poof! – vanished again. Tess felt an invisible hand take hold of her shoulder and in that instant she too became nothing more than air to the naked eye. A man came charging towards them, brandishing part of a broken sign over his head as a weapon. Tess instinctively flinched to move away, but Void tightened his grip, his face perfectly calm as the attacker simply ran right through them, as if they weren't there.

“Lead the way.”

[Locksmith]

A mess. A mess of men and mutants. John had seen it more times than he could recall, be it on campuses, at rallys, on city streets or even in humble suburbia, it always turned out the same way. Badly.

Johnathan Parker hadn't come downtown to engage himself in a riot, or even listen to soapboxers, he'd come to pick up a few supplies Max needed, and to speak with an old friend. At the moment it seemed as if friendship would have to wait, and he tucked his small paper bag into the pocket of his jeans. Above the crowd flew a familiar form, and years of experience told him where there was one student, there were bound to be a few more. Careful not to draw excess attention to himself, John stepped into the crowd, doubling his density lest some flying object strike him.

Humans were hurt, and he helped some who had been trampled to their feet, urging them to get to safety, all the while keeping an eye out for anyone else he may recognize. Dervish flew overhead, harassing the police and even uttering a few choice phrases that he'd have to tell Headmaster Daniels about when they all got back to the school. John had little time to maneuver as a riot officer charged at him. Had he more space, John would have rushed him with a burst of super-speed, but instead he only had time enough to go to full density, cracking the pavement beneath his feet as he swung out with a fist, smacking the clear riot shield and shattering the anti-ballistic plastic. A quick shove threw the officer back into the crowd, hopefully not injuring him. Dialing back down in density, the man known as the Locksmith forged on through the crowd, shoving others aside with ease as the back of a familiar head came into view.

"Bass!" John roared, his thick eyebrows knitted in anger. "Sam, you too?" He added as he drew closer, then looked up to the sky, "Dervish, get down here!"

"What the hell are you doing here?" He shouted, then became a blur momentarily as he darted before them, a postal box smashing into raised forearms as it flew through the air. Turning back to the students, he pointed a finger toward the edge of the crowd, "That way, now!"

The students often thought of John as a clumsy, but good-natured caretaker for the mansion, but a few did actually know of the super-fast, bulletproof tank the Locksmith could be, and his fits of anger were almost lengendary.

[Bernard Bass]

The cops.
<o></o>
The mutants.
<o></o>
The riot.
<o></o>
Bernard was doing quite well against these obstacles but there was one thing he wasn’t prepared for, Locksmith. There were rumors around the institute about him. They ranged from crazed <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1>Vietnam</st1></st1:country-region> vet to mutant super weapon. Bernard wasn’t sure what the truth was. Were the stories true or just old yarns the seniors told the freshmen to keep them in line? On thing certain Bernard didn’t want to find out.
<o></o>
Bernard stopped dead in his tracks when he heard the boom of the man’s powerful voice. “How did he find us?” Bernard uttered to Sam, “and what is he doing in <st1:city w:st="on"><st1>New York City</st1></st1:city> on a Tuesday?” Sam looked back at his classmate with a blank and empty stare. Obviously Bernard said what exactly what Sam was thinking.
<o></o>
Bernard couldn’t tell him the whole story, there would be time for that later. He had to get to the important part. “John, I need your help. These guys got Tess. We gotta save her,” Bernard said franticly.

[Locksmith]

Though John had to look up slightly to look Bernard in the eye, the older man still resonated with the aura of being immensely larger. "That's Mr. Parker to you right now, Bass!" he snapped, then turned to look out over the crowd. "Tess is here? Why the hell did you bring her here? Forget that, we'll talk about that later. Who has her?"

[Dusk]

Sam tensed up as soon as he heard the teacher's voice. This wasn't good.

"How did he find us?” Bernard uttered to Sam, “and what is he doing in <?XML:NAMESPACE PREFIX = ST1 /><ST1:CITY w:st="on"><ST1>New York City</ST1></ST1:CITY> on a Tuesday?”

He wasn't sure what to say, unable to wipe the blank stare from his face. He flinched again as Locksmith scolded Bernard, before shaking his head to bring himself around.

"Some bloody mutant protesters, or something" the Brit replied.

[Tess Abrahams]

The sensation of being notthere warranted a moments contemplation, but since they didn't have time for it Tess merely shivered and began to walk with Void around the fringe of the fray. It was a rough outline, and more than once the two had to dodge flying projectiles and bodies shoved roughly.

All the time they walked Tess was peering anxiously into the crowd for her fellow students, her worry growing each time they proved invisible. When she did finally see them, the girl almost wished they were invisible. From the sounds of things (even over the roar of the riot John Parker's voice could be distinguished) the lot of them were in rather deep.

"Oh great, oh great, oh great." Tess moaned, flapping her hands. She cast a scant look at Void as she tried to make herself appear smaller and innocent. "You'd better get lost before the hay flies."

[Locksmith]

There was anger, but more than that, there was a sense of urgency in John's demeanor. A student was missing in a dangerous crowd, and three more needed to escorted to safety. Looking Bernard in the eye, despite the few inches he had to look up, the nearly middle-aged mutant spoke firmly, "Bass, you get Sam and Damien out of here. I'm going in for Tess, wherever she is. And don't get smart and sneak off. We're taking my van back to the school. the whole lot of us. Got it?"

A dangerous gleam glinted in John's eyes as he turned back to the crowd. A youth, mutant or human he didn't know, saw only a symbol of autority in the older man, and charged, broken bottle raised. John shook his head and charged with a lightning quick shoulder ram into the teen's chest, bowling him over, but using his incredible speed, John caught him by the shirtscuff and wispered something evidently frightening as the bottle feel from the youth's hand and he hastened to run quickly away once released. Then it was back to the crowd, and looking for Tess.

Madness was breaking out, and the anger and miosunderstanding of youth fueled both support and resistance from those around who were previously uninvolved. Then he saw her--he thought--and with iron determination John made his way toward where he thought he spotted her, only to suddenly witness a flash of green before him and the crowd parted. John froze momentarily as his gaze fell upon the man on the other side of the break.

[Saladin]

And the man on the other side froze and looked back at him.

A chorus of loud pops echoed over the crowd, and the man wheeled to see tear gas cannisters arcing toward them. Calculating which two would land nearest to him, he blasted them with gravitic energy, and they erupted harmlessly in the air. And then the gap between him and John filled up, hiding him from view.

Moments later, Saladin appeared directly in front of the Locksmith, somehow remaining unjostled by the crowd.

"It's been a long time, John."

[Locksmith]

Johnathan Parker only nodded, Tess momentarily forgotten. "Yeah, it has," the Locksmith replied, unaware that his students were well within earshot. "We've missed you on league night. Vinne hasn't been able to roll a turkey since his kid was born, thought you might like to know. I'm still at the Red Nail every Friday night. Why don't you come down this weekend, we'll knock back a few and get back to how it was."

[Saladin]

The man called Saladin paused. It seemed the idea appealed to him.

"I'm afraid we can never get back to how it was," he said. "Not while Ethan remains blind to the world around him. But this isn't the time or place for catching up."

He glanced beyond John at the trio of very guilty-looking students and noted that Tess was not among them.

"Are you looking for something?"

[Locksmith]

"I never mentioned Ethan," John was quick to point out. "But, yes, a student has managed to go missing. And if you'd put aside your dogma and simply help an old friend, I'd much appreciate it, Hektor. It's a girl, name's Tess."

[Saladin]

Saladin considered for a moment what he might stand to gain from personally interviewing one of Ethan's students - it would be no difficulty at all for Void to spirit Tess away to one of the Brotherhood's New York safehouses. But this was John. And he deserved honesty.

Holding his eyes on John's, Saladin reached up to finger an earpiece that had been hidden from sight so far. "Void, take the girl to the Washington Square Arch. Her friends will meet you there."

Then, to John, he added, "She is under the protection of one of my associates. You can pick her up at the arch. But I'm afraid neither of us can stay to chat. I'd advise you to leave soon as well before the authorities begin making arrests."

[Locksmith]

John nodded, though he didn't ask for what reason Hektor had Tess pulled away for. Hektor and Johnathan had never lied to each other, as far as both knew, so there was no reason not to trust his words.

"Thank you," the muscular teacher said with a nod. "Red Nail, Friday. If you can," he added, nodding a brief goodbye before turning to lead the three other students toward the arch, not bothering to look back and see where Saladin would go.

[Lazarus]

Why'd he taken a walk down this street, on this day? Wherever he went trouble always seemed to follow him, almost magnetically attracted to him. An ordinary person wouldn't have died as many times as Malachi had in his short life - he was certain of that. Maybe it was his lifestyle, after all if you can't die, you eventually stop fearing death.

Sure, the pain always got to him, and he avoided it like the plague. It's the reason he usually stayed out of public view, but all he'd been doing is going for a walk, and walked into the middle of a protest - the speaker had some interesting ideas, and even more disturbing conspiracies. It all made him nervous, the idea of the government going to such length against mutants, like him.

He'd seen the depths humanity could go to, he'd been shot before for being what he was. Another time stabbed, you put a mindset like that in charge and... he shuddered, it was a bit too worrisome to think about, he'd be better off heading back down the street the way he'd come. He never had that chance though, and the whole place errupted.

The screams of anger, fear and horror were deafening - and he was caught up in the middle of a swarming mass of civilians, mutants and cops. Only chance was to try and push his way out of the crowd, break free and take off, just like he always did. He shoved a few people out of his way, and rushed into a small break in the crowd, a moment to catch his breath before he started trying to get free of the sea of people again. That's when he saw it, the glint of metal against the sun, and one of the rioters pulled a gun.

Death to genefreaks! was his only warning as he leveled the gun at a girl, no more than 14 who had a physically noticable mutation. Little wings on her back, probably unusable - and definately no harm to anyone. He could turn, run to the other side while everyone's attention was being drawn to the scene that would immediately follow the shot. He winced, but he was the only one close enough to do anything, his internal struggle lasted only a moment, and he sighed.

This is going to hurt. Again. No time to move her, the crowd was too thick, no way to stop him without someone else getting hurt, the only chance was the one thing he could do. He stepped in front of the shot, just as the man pulled the trigger. Police tackled him a few moments later, before he could fire again, and Malachi fell to the ground - a bleeding hole in the side of his head.

"Yo, Lazarus!" Johnny called to him mockingly, and he laughed, "I told you not to call me that Scrub." He was 14, and had been living on the streets for a few years, made a few friends here and there - and for a homeless, famililess young man, life was as good as it was gonna get. "Do it again!" He grinned, "No way! I told you before, it hurts okay? You've already seen it before." He just frowned, "Awww come on, Laz-Man..." Lazarus, Johnny'd taken to calling him that after he'd found out. He always said he hated the nickname, though... he always liked just how appropriate it was...

He gasped sharply, as he felt the still hot bullet roll off his brow and clink against the pavement - wincing as the wound from the gunshot finished healing up. He didn't know how long he'd been down, but the crowd was still in full riot mode, though he'd managed to gather some attention now - and people were staring in disbelief. "He's one of them..." "Mutant..." "Monster!" And just like that he remembered why he didn't things like this. He stood quickly and looked around, no time for a smoke or a shot to calm his gut, coughing he started pushing through the crowd again - he had a new reason to get free of the swarm of people - he'd exposed himself.

[Spectre]

"Easy there, son!"

"Just take.. it.. easy.."

A group of police were surrounding the young man. They had been moving into the fray to pick up his body before it could be trampled in the riot. The last thing they had expected from a gun shot wound to the head was for the corpse to suddenly sit up and shake it off like a beach ball had bounced off him and not a bullet.

Other people were gathering. Those who were bent on spilling mutant blood. Mutants who would have steppped around the young man to help him out, but were held back. More police and even more official looking men wearing suits and yelling into headsets. One of the later stepped forward and took the boy by the arm.

"You.. come with us." The 'Suits' hold wasn't painful, but it left no room for arguement. The young man was led toward and armored truck and the back doors were opened at his approach. He was not shackled, or sedated or anything that could have been expected, just led inside, left alone and then the truck began to move.

Before his eyes, a woman appeared on the seat opposite him. Shimmering from nothing, she was dressed in a silver jumpsuit and her hair was pulled back into a long silver-white tail. She held a finger to her lips, gesturing silence.

A few blocks away from the riot, the truck stopped. She spoke, not to the boy, but in the direction of the cab. "This is your stop, Eddie. Have a nice day."

The 'Suit' left the engine running, exited the truck and skipped up the street, happy in the vision that he was home from his school bus ride. She rose and opened the back doors once more, Saladin was standing where they had agreed upon, but from the look on his face he had expected Spectre to be alone in the truck..

"We have a guest..", she said..

[Void]

There was a hiss of static in Void's ear and then the voice of Saladin.

“Washington Square Arch?” he repeated, quirking an eyebrow.

His dark eyes scanned the area, as he tried to get his bearings amidst the fortunately thinning crowd. Having regained his orientation, Void lead Tess on towards their destination. As they approached the arch, he saw another group – lead by a tower of a man - appeared to be trying to clear their way through towards the monument.

“Guess this is your stop,” Void murmured, as he released his hold on Tess – once again making her visible to the world.

[Saladin]

Saladin quirked an eyebrow at the stranger - particularly at the bright red, bullet-shaped welt on his forehead which was fading before his eyes.

"I see. I suggest you make yourself comfortable for now. It's far safer in here than out there."

He swung himself in through the back door as his two bodyguards from the platform - a huge Samoan and a rangy Pakistani - piled into the cab. "Take us to the next rendezvous point - we'll pick up Void and be on our way. Now..."

As the truck rumbled away from the curb, Saladin turned and sat on one of the bench seats that just minutes ago had held agitated riot officers. By now the stranger's welt had disappeared entirely.

"Quite a talent you have there."

[Lazarus]

He was right, it was safer in here than out there... and he wasn't in any position to argue about his situation. It took him a few moments to realize that he he was now sitting across from the same guy who'd been talking to the crowd turned riot, just before.

"Quite a talent you have there."

He rubbed his forehead where the shot had hit him almost instinctively, and let out a sigh. He was completely exposed now, he'd probably be on the evening news tonight - there was no going back, no slinking back into obscurity, not after today.

"Talent?" He said almost confused, and finally nodded, "Seems like it's been more of a curse for me." He couldn't deny how beneficial his mutation could be, if it wasn't for the pain. The physical pain faded, he could learn to live with that, but all the pain he'd been through just for being a mutant... that lingered.

[Spectre]

Spectre sat down beside the boy and spoke softly. "I saw what you did for the little girl. That was a very brave thing."

She didn't want to admit it, but she had been torn in the descision to act herself. On the one hand she had no wish to see a little girl shot down and killed, especially one of their own kind. On the other hand, the death of a child in the streets, that was something that would galvanize the mutant populace into action. They would see the homosapiens for what they really were.. violent slave masters. She hated herself for being shrewd enough to see that.. Luckily for the child, she had been granted a far better savior than herself..

"Your abilities seem a curse because of them.", she nodded back the way they had come.

"It dosen't have to stay that way.. There are those who would seek to help you. You have the right to live.."

[Saladin]

Saladin watched the newcomer candidly. "We are all of the same kind here. I am Saladin. This is Spectre. What is your name, friend?"

[Lazarus]

The right to live... now there was a thought. He'd always had the ability to live through anything, but to be told something as simple as "You have the right to live." It just struck home, with the exception of one human, every one of them he'd met had tried to hurt or kill him. Today was a perfect example, only he'd chosen to move into the path of that bullet. He'd chosen to use his power, instead of being forced to use it.

He relaxed noticably, and started to smile. Maybe today wasn't such a bad day afterall.

"What is your name, friend?"

"Malachi Rayner..." He paused, blinking a few times. The names they'd given him, Saladin and Spectre, those were names they'd chosen for themselves, as mutants.

"Yo, Lazarus!" A flash of memory hit him again, of the only human who had ever treated him decently, and had been repaid by being murdered by his own kind.

"Lazarus." He corrected, "My name is Lazarus."