Disclaimer: All characters belong to Marvel. No money is being made off of their use. Etc. etc. etc. -- don’t sue me =) I would still really appreciate your comments. Thanks. cvotulle@vt.edu Quick Reference: “This is when someone is speaking aloud.” #This is when someone is speaking telepathically.# Revelations: Part 2 (3rd installment including the introduction) Chris Votulle, May 1997 She woke up in a panic. She didn’t know where she was, but it reminded her of someplace; someplace . . . not good. She concentrated in an attempt to remember, but was rewarded by a sharp stab of pain and soon gave it up. Although she couldn’t recall the memory, she did retain the fear caused by it and that fear continued to increase. She opened her eyes to better judge her surroundings, but everything was dark and fuzzy. She groped around for a night table of some sort, but to her disappointment there wasn't one. She felt totally helpless. The panic was rising. She paused for a moment. She tried to sit up, but discovered that she was constricted by an oxygen mask on her face and an IV in her arm. She quickly pulled out the needle and tore off the mask. There was a brief moment of dizziness, but she waited for it to pass. She looked around in another attempt to ascertain her location, but failed miserably. She felt a sob well up in her throat, but willed it down forcibly. “Hank are you in here?” Bobby poked his head inside the door that opened to the main room of the medical facilities. She bolted upright in her bed when she heard his voice, and immediately regretted it. A wave of nausea hit her full force and she emitted a small groan. Bobby heard it. He turned on the light, but he didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. Still, the noise was faint and probably came from one of the smaller, adjoining rooms that were used for treating patients. Bobby wondered if one of his teammates was injured last night. If they were, why hadn’t he heard of it by now? He made his way across the room, walking in the direction that he thought the noise had come from. She slapped her hand over her mouth, but it was already too late. As she pulled her hand away she bit down on her lip in order to prevent herself from crying out again. She slipped her legs over the edge of the mattress and let her feet rest on the floor -- supporting her entire weight on her arms. She was shaking uncontrollably now, but her fear was too intense to let her stop. Slowly, she let her weight transfer to her legs, but she didn’t count on their weakness and they began to collapse. On instinct her arms flew out to catch her, but she missed the bed and landed heavily on the floor, disturbing a tray of instruments nearby. The result was a tremendous amount of noise. The lights were turned on and the door flew open to reveal what she could only make out to be a large, blond blur. She knew that it was a man, and he terrified her. Bobby was genuinely surprised. When he heard all of that noise he thought that perhaps someone had broken into the lab. When he realized how unlikely that was, his next assumption was that maybe some animal test subjects had gotten loose and were reeking havoc among Beast’s experiments. He never would have thought to find a strange girl in there. His shock was brief as he realized that she needed help. He bent down to help her up. “Are you okay?” She glared at him with intense fury and her cheeks burned crimson. She didn’t know who he was or why he wanted to help her, but she’d be damned if she took his help. For all she knew this was some kind of trick. Besides, she hated revealing any weaknesses to others -- especially her enemies. He reached out a hand to her and she shrank away from it. Bobby returned her gaze, but had no idea that she couldn’t make out his eyes from his chin. He was transfixed by her eyes. They were so pale that they seemed translucent. He realized that that must be what fascinated him so much. He could see himself in her eyes -- not the image of himself, but the essence. It was like he was in some sort of trance. That trance was quickly broken as she backed away from him. “Hey, don’t worry. I’m not going to hurt you.” He reached his hand out again, but she still backed away. It was then that he realized how badly she was shaking and saw the fear lurking behind her eyes. She scrambled to her feet, but her legs gave out once again as she felt a searing pain cut through her right calf. She found herself falling and grabbed at the man standing in front of her. He held her up and she clutched at him desperately -- trying to ward off the blackness that threatened to overtake her. She looked up and met his face as a tear escaped her eye. “Help me,” she whispered. Bobby didn’t know what to say. He knew that something needed to be done so he lifted her into his arms and gently placed her back on the bed. She was still shaking, but hadn’t lost consciousness. “I’m sorry I scared you. Just try to calm down and I’ll go get Hank. It’ll be okay.” Bobby tried to sound soothing, but he was a little apprehensive himself. He still didn’t know what this girl was doing here and her fear was starting to rub off on him. He patted her on the hand and turned to leave, but she grasped his hand and refused to let go. As much as this man frightened her, he seemed to want to help her. She was normally reluctant to trust people so quickly, but in this case she didn’t have much of a choice. Given the option of being either alone and scared or with this man, and also scared, she chose to be with him. She didn’t want to face the unknown alone and exposed. Fortunately for Bobby, Hank chose this moment to enter the laboratory. “Hello, is anybody in here?” Hank was disturbed to find the door open and the lights on. He had assumed that his new patient would not be conscious yet and was fearful that he had made an error in his diagnostic. “Hank. Thank God. Come in here quick.” Bobby sounded desperate and this only served to make Hank even more worried. Hank was about to ask Bobby what he was doing there when he saw his patient not only awake, but in an obvious panic. He immediately assumed the role of doctor and began examining her. After a brief examination he seemed a little less anxious and began to address the girl. “Are you aware that you have a rather extreme reaction to fear-induced adrenaline?” The girl nodded and Hank went on. “Good. Then you know that you should take the utmost precautions in remaining calm in order to prevent a reaction similar to the one you are currently experiencing. I’m going to place this oxygen mask back on you and I want you to take a few deep breaths before you rip it off again. I assure you that if you do not do this you will soon pass out as a result of oxygen depletion due to hyperventilation.” The girl complied and, after a few moments of breathing in the oxygen, Bobby could feel her grip relaxing on his hand. He gently pulled himself away from her and walked out of the room. Hank followed him, leaving her alone once again. She was not left alone for long. After only a few moments, the man whom she assumed to be a doctor returned. However, the other man was no longer with him. This made her nervous and she was put on guard. “I suppose you have many questions that you want to ask me, as I have some for you. I would suggest that you get some much needed rest right now, but I gather that you have no intention of following that advice so I will instead place myself at your disposal. Take off that mask and ask away.” Hank was trying to sound cheerful, but the girl did not look any less suspicious of him. She slowly pulled off the mask. “Why can’t I see?” Hank was surprised by both her directness and the eloquence with which she spoke, despite her precarious situation. “Oh dear. I am genuinely sorry about that. When you were brought here you were unconscious so I took it upon myself to remove your contact lenses. It is a common practice designed to prevent any damage to your eyes. I did notice that they partially disguised the rare color of your eyes. With them on, your eyes appear to be a very pale shade of blue -- most uncommon. However, without them your eyes are almost transparent -- truly unique, I would think. I assume that this contributes to your poor vision. You are legally blind, are you not?” “Yes. Can I have them back please?” “Well, you certainly don’t waste words, do you?” Hank walked over to a countertop. “I have your contact lenses over here along with some saline solution and a mirror if you wish to put them on.” Hank handed her the items and sat down on a stool at the end of the bed. “No, I don’t waste words. However, you can’t seem to stay quiet. Forgive me if I do not find my vision quite as fascinating as you obviously do.” She took her lenses from him and very carefully began opening their case. “Oh, it’s not your vision that excites me so much. It’s the fact that I now have an opportunity to study new mutant abilities. I don’t know if you are aware of this, but you really are a wonder of science. There are so many questions that I want to ask you about your capabilities, but . . . -- are you all right?” Her skin had turned ghostly white and she had started to tremble again. She stopped what she was doing and tried to compose herself. “I’m sorry, but you are mistaken. I am not a mutant.” She was deadly serious. Hank looked at her in disbelief. “You have nothing to be afraid of here. I know that you are a mutant, so there is no point in denying it any further. Please, continue what you were doing and maybe this will be a little clearer.” She was doubtful, but finished putting in her contact lenses anyway. She closed her eyes for a moment to assure that they would stay in. Once they felt comfortable she opened her eyes and, for the first time, saw where she was. It was obviously some kind of medical research lab. There were several experiments set up and equipment of exceedingly advanced technology. She involuntarily shivered. She hated medical facilities -- bad things always happened there. She shifted her gaze and it rested upon the doctor who had been addressing her. His build was rather large, which she had perceived before, but she stared wide-eyed at him as she noticed some of his more unique qualities. “You -- you’re blue!” she said in disbelief. She realized that he was blue before, but she assumed that he was wearing some kind of sweater. She would have never dreamed that he was instead covered in blue fur. Beast chuckled. “Yes, I’m blue. You see, I’m a mutant too. In fact, everyone who lives here is a mutant.” “Where is here? How many people live here? What am I doing here and who are you anyway?” The girl was obviously overwhelmed. She had not come across many other mutants before and did not know how to respond to them. She was accustomed to hiding her powers and used them as little as possible for fear of being discovered and persecuted. Hank was glad to see that she was finally talking freely, but was concerned by her accusing tone. “Oh dear. Let me apologize profusely for not explaining things sooner. First of all, you are at the Xavier Institute for Higher Learning in Westchester, New York -- more commonly referred to as the X-Mansion. You were brought here by Scott Summers and Jean Grey who rescued you from a mob in Manhattan last night. Surely you remember some of that episode. You received a knife wound in your lower right leg and are currently recovering from the effects of some poison that was transmitted to you via that same dagger. “Currently, thirteen people are living here at the mansion. They are all members of the X-Men who strive to achieve the goal of peace between mutant and humankind through eliminating threats to that same cause and using their powers -- and other abilities -- to benefit society and show the world that mutants need not be feared. You’ve already met Scott, Jean, Bobby and I, and I imagine that you will meet the rest of the people soon enough. I am Dr. Hank McCoy, resident physician and medical researcher.” He bowed with a flourish. “I’m sure that you still have many more questions, but first: do you have a name?” “Kali,” was her curt reply. He was right, she did have many more questions, but she had no idea where to start. She had never been in a situation like this before. “Well, Kali, I see that this is a little difficult for you. Also, you are not yet fully recovered so I expect you to get some rest for the next couple of hours. After that, I promise you that I will have someone come talk to you who will probably be more understanding -- and understandable -- than me. There is no use arguing so please comply. I really have your best interests in mind,” and with that he turned out the light and left her room.