Chapter 1

It’s been years since she left him, yet he ends up thinking about her everyday. Is he angry at her for leaving, or sad that she may never come back? He doesn’t have a clue. All he knows is that he misses her, and wishes she’d come back. Unfortunately, sitting high up in this tree won’t do anything like that. But it will organize his thoughts, and that’s just what he needs right now. Maybe if he keeps dreaming, she really will come back. Could be tonight, tomorrow, the day after that, who knows? He has faith in her...she’ll be back, he just knows it.

I just don’t get it. I’ve been watching this Grey character for almost four weeks now, and still I’ve got nothing on him. What’s the point? All day he stays locked up in his room, and all night he sits in this tree, doing absolutely nothing. The guy has no life whatsoever. He’s bored me the whole time, and he still doesn’t know I’m watching him. I must admit I’m very surprised, though. For some high and mighty telepath, he doesn’t sense my presence at all. Either I’m really good, or he’s really not. Maybe both at once. Whatever it is, I won’t fail. I will complete my mission. I’ll find out what this guy is all about, one way or another...

It’s morning again. Training sessions will start soon, and Nate knows he can’t miss those. Jumping out of the tree he’s been in all night isn’t hard at all. It’s become routine for him. It’s the same thing every morning. He doesn’t have time to worry about that now, the bell’s ringing. Nate’s off like a torpedo, soaring through the air, weaving in and out, dodging trees, underbrush, anything that gets in his way. He had never run into anything, so you can imagine his surprise when he happened to crash right into Monet St. Croix, one of the four people here capable of flight. Luckily, Nate sensed her presence seconds before the collision, and was able to guard himself with a hasty tk shield. Since she’s nearly invulnerable, he’s sure he didn’t hurt her. But being the gentleman that he is, Nate offers his hand and an apology, both of which she gladly accepts. So, side by side, they rush to the center of the sprawling habitat, known as the Biosphere. Loosely based on the X-Men’s Danger Room, it is an artificial environment, and fully interactive.

As they arrive, Nate recognizes several of his classmates: Angelo Espinosa (Skin), Everett Thomas (Synch), Jonathan Starsmore (Chamber), Jubilation Lee (Jubilee), Paige Guthrie (Husk), Penny (Penance) and the younger students of the school, Artie and Leech. However, there are two new faces that he doesn’t know.

The first is a young girl, with a shyness about her. The next, and probably the strangest, is a tall, dark-skinned boy, who looks to be around Nate’s age. He has a proud, almost regal, look about his face. As Nate nears the group, the boy’s eyes slowly drifted to him and secured him within their sight. Right away, Nate senses there was something about the boy he didn’t like, like a darkness in the depths of his soul. Before he could make closer observation of the boy, their teachers, Sean Cassidy (Banshee) and Emma Frost (White Queen), appear, both smiling from ear to ear.

Emma is the first to speak, making sure that all hear her. “Good morning to you all,” she says, “and to our new students, welcome to Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters of the famed Xavier Institute.” She pauses for a moment, and then goes on. “First, I would like to you to introduce yourselves to the rest of the class, as well as your powers.”

She nods to the young girl, who offers a shy smile and introduces herself as Clarice Ferguson, or Blink. There is something about her Nate finds very intriguing. He notices six diamond-shaped marks on her face, two half diamonds above each of her eyes, a longer sloping half beneath her left eye, and a full diamond between her eyes, all which were a violet-red color. She goes on to say that her power is temporal/spatial displacement, able to separate an object for a few seconds, or transport it completely. She demonstrated by creating a portal and walking through it.

Emma then motions to the tall dark-skinned boy, who, never taking his eyes off Nate, said he had no real name, but that we could call him David, though he was known as X-treme. At the mention of the name David, Nate thought of his older brother. Nate stares at the boy a bit, but when Monet elbows him in the ribs, he blinks and shakes it off as nearly a strange coincidence.

X-treme says he had several powers, including telekinesis, super strength, flight, and enhanced senses. He also explains that he can only use two powers at a time, or else the strain would be far too great on his body.

After the introductions, Sean suggests that they begin their Biosphere training right away, so that the new students can become familiar with it. Emma pairs them off in five groups of two. Nate is teamed with Penance, Chamber with Husk, Jubilee with Synch, Skin with M, and Blink with X-treme. Artie and Leech, as usual, are only allowed to watch.

Today’s session is a bit different from their normal sessions. The idea is to defeat all the other the teams, but to do so without using powers directly against them. It is supposed to test their endurance, intelligence, strength, survival skills, and the use of our powers.

Nate looks down at Penance, who quickly nods, and they both slip quietly into the woods. As he begins a wide-scale psi-scan of the Biosphere, Nate hears a soft rustling behind him. Before he can turn around, a large foot crashes into his jaw and sends him sprawling on the ground. His attacker floats over him, and Nate knew that it was X-treme. But as he looks higher, he sees that Penance has climbed up into a tree high above them. A quick telepathic message between them confirms what she is thinking, and Nate’s eyes turn back to X-treme. Charging his fists with telekinetic energy, Nate rushes at him. X-treme is ready for him, and stands his ground. A few seconds later, he is flat on his back, a tree branch pinning him to the ground. Penance doesn’t use her diamond hard skin much, but when she does, there is hardly anything she can’t cut through, including tree branches. Not waiting for him to recover, Penance and Nate leave X-treme and continue their search for the others.

They don’t have to wait long before they recognize the familiar sound of Husk shedding her skin. As a metamorph, she can tear her skin to reveal a new form underneath, whether it is composed of stone, diamond, acid, or any other organic substance. Nate finally spots her several feet away, battling Synch. Because he has the ability to “get in synch” with any mutant power nearby, and then use it with more potential than its original owner, Synch is one of the most dangerous mutants at the school during a fight. But since they can’t use our powers directly, he has settled for letting his rainbow aura drift around him. Suddenly, a tiny ray of his aura shoots out and stops in front of Penance and Nate. He is instantly aware of theirr presence, but he has his hands full with Husk right now.

She has morphed into solid stone, and is absorbing Synch’s blows, but she is unable to return them, because it would be using her power directly. A sly smile crosses Synch’s face, and he flies straight up into the air. Husk is shocked, and before she can act, Synch crashes right into her, scoring an instant knockout.

Suddenly, there is a loud noise, and a streak of red, yellow, and black shoots out of the nearby trees, crashing through several of them. They all recognize the blur as Monet, and, synching with her power, Synch leaps forward and catches her, the impact sending them both back a few feet. Before they can get up, two more shapes emerge from the bushes: Skin, who was being dragged by his arm, and Chamber, the one dragging him. Even now, the sight of Chamber in battle still frightens them a bit.

Imagine a 19-year old British boy, tall, thin, and powerful. Now imagine him with half his face and chest gone, a huge bioforce that looks something like a huge flame blazing from this gap. He drops Skin and stares at them, silently daring someone to challenge him.

A bright, glowing hole opens up in front of him, and Blink steps out, Jubilee tumbling out onto the ground behind her. Synch and Monet emerge from the bushes, ready to began again. That means there were still six left in the session. Their eyes travel to each other, silently making temporary allies and enemies.