This is a fanfic series that Daria's player and I are working on together. As there will be... well, a lot of installments, I'd appreciate it if comments and questions were made in a separate thread, just to make it easier to separate the comments from the story. Sorry, this is just something I've learned the hard way putting stories on forums.

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#1

His eyes snapped open.

There was no visible cause for the sudden end to Michael Asters’ sleep. He sat up in bed, looking around, still somewhat groggy, trying to get his bearings. He was in his dorm room at the Xavier Institute… one of the few single-person rooms afforded to older students. The room was comfortably furnished, with all sorts of relaxing, soothing decorations and furnishings. Still, despite these comfortable surroundings, he felt uneasy, agitated. Something had made him wake up, if only he could remember what it was…

He sat up, pacing the room for a moment, pausing in front of a small rock fountain on his bedside table. His mind was clearing, he should be able to remember what was wrong…

With a start, he looked up at an indistinct space on the ceiling. Frowning, he closed his eyes.

Michael was an empathic telepath, in tune with all of the emotions of those around him. He could feel them and influence them, as well as any memories associated with them. And right now, he was feeling a strange surge of emotion from… somewhere above him.

Nothing like a nighttime workout… He opened his window, and stepped out into the night. His telekinetic powers let him levitate from the window, then fly upward, scanning the roof until he found what he was looking for.

She stood at the edge of the roof, peering nervously over the edge. Her dark purple hair blew in the wind, a few strands crossing her face, and she had her arms crossed, as if hugging herself. He was too far away to see it, but she was crying. He knew it. He could feel it.

“It’s a long drop from there, Ari,” he said quietly as he walked up behind her. She jumped back in surprise, looking flustered and feeling more than slightly embarrassed.

“Mike! I… I was just…” she stammered, brushing her hair back nervously. Mike smiled slightly. Arianna Sheridan looked as flustered as he’d ever seen her, though given her usually shy demeanor, that didn’t say much.

“Thinking about jumping?” She looked even more embarrassed. “Again?” he added.

He sat down on the edge, patting the roof next to him, where she sat. For a while there was no sound except the wind blowing gently around them. “I don’t suppose I need to ask how you knew I was up here,” she said quietly, finally breaking the silence.

“Probably not,” he answered evenly.

“I couldn’t have killed myself,” she said, defiantly. For a moment, the embarrassed, vulnerable look was replaced by a determined, almost angry look. “You can see in my head, you know that.”

“Yes,” he said tentatively, leaning forward to peer off of the roof. “I know that.”

“Then why did you come up here?” she asked, her voice getting stronger as she questioned him.

“Why don’t you tell me why you were doing it?” he said, ignoring her question. It was said mostly to get him to back down than anything.

Ari wrapped her arms around her knees, looking over the edge. She watched him out of the corner of her eyes and then laughed bitterly as she saw him shift uncomfortably. “I saw that,” she said, staring at the ground below them. “My parents used to make the same move. They’d see me uncomfortable and go to hug me, then remember right away that they can’t touch me. No one can touch me through this force field,” she said, shaking her head, then falling quiet. She reached out, pressing her hand against Mike’s chest for effect. It stopped two inches shy, and he saw the telltale blue glow of her protective shield pressing between her hand and his shirt.

Mike nodded, already knowing this. Her thoughts were so loud that he couldn’t ignore them, no matter how much he’d have liked to. “And after three months of not being able to touch another human being, you’d had enough of it,” he said simply. “But that’s not where your problems started… your mutation didn’t always keep people out, did it? It was only after your parents tried to get you… ‘help’ for it.”

For a moment, she looked terrified. She’d never told anyone this. Her parents hadn’t known, and she hadn’t told any of the teachers when she’d been sent to the Xavier Institute. It was so… horrible, the thought of what had happened.

But… he already knew. What harm could it be, telling him something he already knew about?

In a moment of bravery that she really wouldn’t have thought herself capable of, Ari made up her mind. “They really did want to help,” she said quietly. She looked at him, almost daring him to argue, but he just nodded as if to say that he was sure it was true. “I’d had a few… accidents with my power. They thought it would be a good idea to have an expert look at me, see if there was anything that could be done to help keep it from interfering with my life. So they signed the releases and sent me to see this doctor.”

Mike made a move again, instinctively reaching to put an arm around her, but remembering the futility of it after he’d barely moved. She ignored it, carrying on with her story. “It was all routine for a couple days. A few tests to see me use my power, see how my vital signs or brain scans changed while I was using it, see how strong they were and how much they could do… that sort of thing, the stuff they did when we got here, really. But then… after a few days, it started getting painful. Seeing how long I could maintain them without going unconscious. Seeing if I could stop bullets with my force fields. Seeing if I could be hit in my sleep.” A tear trickled down her cheek as she spoke, “The ‘doctor’ evidently decided I was too dangerous… too powerful a mutant. So he decided to guarantee that my genes wouldn’t get passed on. They started to sterilize me when my shield flared up in my sleep and kept them from finishing the job.”

She had tears streaming down her face now as she went on. “Then, of course, they couldn’t touch me to even fix what they’d done. I had to do it myself, they talked me through it. I… That part I don’t want to talk about. Then they sent me back to my parents with some story about me getting hurt during a session because of my power, and passed off everything that they’d done as their attempts to correct the injuries I’d gotten in the accident. My dad saw right through it, but we couldn’t prove anything. So… the doctors vanished one night a few weeks later, just packed up and abandoned their facility. I think dad said that he heard they ended up in Asia somewhere. After that… I may or may not even be able to have children some day, but it’s all the same, since I can’t bring down my shield anymore… even for my parents…”

Mike marveled at her as she let her story out, amazed she could tell it without sobbing and making her words incoherent. But he realized soon that she’d probably cried herself dry about this before, making it a little easier to say. So he just nodded and waited for her to finish. “I couldn’t take it after a while. I was lonely. My parents were there, I could see them, talk to them, but… I couldn’t touch them.” She gave a hollow laugh, wiping her eyes. “For three months, I just needed a hug. You have no idea how crazy that can drive a person.”

“So one night I just climbed up to the roof. It didn’t look high enough, so I jumped onto a tree next to the house and climbed that even higher, until I was a good three stories up. Then, I jumped.”

She laughed bitterly again. “And then, I bounced. My power wouldn’t even let me kill myself.”

“I… I guess I just make a habit of it now. It’s a bit of a rush when you think about it. You free fall at the ground, you can see it coming, it scares the hell out of you… and then you bounce off the ground, get back up and go to bed.”

“But in the end, even though you don’t expect it to happen, you still hope just a little bit that your power won’t kick in,” Mike said quietly. She was silent for a few minutes before nodding.

“It’s… lonely,” she said, her voice now a hoarse whisper.

Mike nodded. “And as much as you want your shields to go down… you’re also a little glad that they won’t, because it keeps the world out.” Despite her surprise that he’d said it, she just nodded, not looking at him.

“And it’s all been since that doctor violated you, after you’d trusted him. After your parents had sent you to him, after you’d trusted them.” Again, she didn’t seem to have the energy to argue, so she just nodded.

“I love my parents,” she said quietly. “They love me.”

“I know you do,” Mike said quietly, edging closer. “And I can’t possibly think that they don’t love you. But they made a mistake that hurt you once without meaning to… and you’re afraid they could do it again.”

He waited a few moments for Ari to argue with what he said, to try to make some feeble protest against the truth as she heard it. Instead, she closed her eyes, a feeling of shame washing over her that he could sense without even trying to use his power. “Don’t tell anyone,” she said quietly.

Mike smiled slightly. “Why did you tell me?” he asked, quietly.

“I…” She gulped, finally looking up at her with big, brown, innocent eyes. “I just… I hate being alone.”

“And you trust me?” he said, quietly.

She looked away for a moment, then finally spoke with difficulty. “You… you came. You cared enough to try to stop me. You’ve always tried to help me… I never let you, of course, but you always tried, even past the point where everyone else stops and gives up.”

“And you were tired of hiding, tired of keeping everyone out,” he said simply. She nodded.

“Then don’t keep anyone out anymore,” he whispered. And to her shock, she felt his hand brush her shoulder.

She was so surprised that she slipped, skidded, and began to slide down the roof, but Mike was faster. He caught her hand, pulling her back up. She looked incredulously at him. “How…”

“Because you trusted me,” he said, smiling slightly. “You’ve been afraid to trust people for two years now… you just didn’t have anything left to lose tonight.”

“I…” She didn’t know what to say. She hadn’t felt a human being touch her for over two years, and now, so unexpectedly, she could. She didn’t care how it looked… and she knew, of course, that this man would be able to tell exactly why she was doing what she was doing. She threw her arms around him. “I don’t care how. Just hug me. I’ve needed one for two years now,” she said, a nervous giggle barely audible in her voice.

* * *

Two stories below in the building, four people sat the Headmasters’ office, their eyes closed. The woman sitting behind the desk opened her eyes and blinked, standing up. As she did, the others all did the same, looking like they were waking up from a particularly deep nap. The woman, Emma Frost, headmistress of the Institute, turned to address the occupants of the office she shared with Scott Summers, the X-Man known as Cyclops, one of the three X-Men who had just shared a telepathic link with her as they mentally monitored Mike’s encounter on the roof. “So… are there any more doubts about him?” she asked.

One of them, the blue-furred X-Man Kurt Wagner, better known as Nightcrawler, quirked an eyebrow. “I find it strange that he could get to the bottom of her problem when you’ve been having regular sessions with her since her arrival,” he commented.

Emma didn’t even look phased by that comment. “I’ve known since my second session with her exactly what was wrong with her. She was subconsciously pushing people away, the only reason she couldn’t touch anyone was because she couldn’t bring herself to trust anyone. I’m not saying that her problem is going to go away overnight, but this is the first, hardest step that she’s needed to start getting things sorted out on her own. It was easier for her to trust Mike tonight, given that he’s been reaching out to her since she came here, and given the attraction she already has for him that she absolutely refuses to admit to anyone, including herself.”

“But that’s not what we’re here to discuss… we’re here to discuss Michael Asters and his progress. Is he ready for what we have planned?”

She looked at the previously silent half of the gathered party, her co-headmaster and the red-haired, fiery psychic, Rachel Grey, known as Marvel Girl. Rachel looked mildly surprised, as did Nightcrawler, at the mention of any plan. Scott, though, was looking through Michael’s file. “His record makes it a little hard to decide, I have to admit. It’s a little harsh, even compared to what we’re used to. Psychic powers he didn’t even realize he had went wild, outing him as a mutant to his high school. His own powers amplified everyone’s fear and mutant-hatred, and made him experience their anger, getting him into fights that he usually started for no reason and ended viciously. Culminating, of course, in a fight which he thankfully didn’t start, which ended with a triple assault charge after he broke two of his classmates’ legs. His father settled it out of court, of course, or it probably would have been all over the news, and made into a national trial with full media coverage.”

“Well, his powers have come a long way since then,” Emma put in. “I had Rachel examine him as well, just for a second opinion.”

The red-haired telepath nodded. “He seems to have enough control over his powers now. His biggest problem seemed to be anger management. He feels people’s pain all day without being able to help it, there were a few times he almost went off to take matters into his own hands early on. Something which, given what I’ve been able to measure of his telekinetic powers, he could have done fairly easily.”

At this, Nightcrawler spoke up. “His anger management seems to have come a long way, too. Beneath the overreactions, his heart is in the right place. And this isn’t an isolated incident, by the way. It’s definitely the most dramatic, but I’ve seen him reaching out to his fellow students other times. I don’t think we need to worry anymore.”

Emma nodded. “As far as legalities are concerned, there’s no risk involved. He turns eighteen soon, and his father signed us full releases for his well-being. His family doesn’t care what happens to him,” she said, a bitter tone to her voice at this.

“And the others we have picked?” Scott asked.

Emma almost laughed. “Ryan’s had superhero fantasies since he was six. He won’t need convincing, and he’s been ready for this since the day he came here. Lillian…” Her voice trailed off, and the telepathic image of a small girl appeared in the center of the room. “This image is to scale,” she said, referring to the image, in which the girl wasn’t even a foot tall, looking rather like a realistically-proportioned Barbie doll. “Needless to say, something to make her feel less small and more visible wouldn’t be bad for her.”

Scott closed his folders, frowning at the center of the room. “I wish it hadn’t come to this, but desperate times call for desperate measures.”

“And what,” Rachel asked, finally irritated with all of the vague comments, “Are you planning?”

* * *

“The public perception of mutants is at an all-time low,” Emma stated bluntly, addressing the three student seated in front of her. There was Michael Asters, sitting back comfortably in his chair, his sunglasses, which he usually wore to hide the glow his powers created in his eyes, tucked up into his blonde hair. Next to him sat Ryan Lawrence, a boy with brown hair that hung past his shoulders, but was carefully kept clean and straight, so that his appearance appeared relaxed and a bit rebellious, but not unkempt or greasy. He sat in his chair with one leg over the arm, looking so much like a king lounging in his throne. On his shoulder sat a seven-inch tall girl, Lillian Lorrel, which brought to Emma’s mind, with a hint of amusement, Tinkerbell perched on Peter Pan.

“After the devastation of Manhattan, people are just as eager to see us dead as to arrest us. What’s more, there are just as many mutants emerging each day, all of them as confused and afraid as they always have been, only now they’re in much greater danger.” Emma pressed a button on her desk, and a slide projector activated, showing a screen full of statistics. “This shows our success at recruiting and saving young mutants a few months ago, compared to today. While those seeking refuge here are as numerous as ever, we’ve been hampered in our ability to help those young mutants who are in trouble… either because locals beat us to the task and eliminate them, or because the students refuse our help, afraid of what they are.”

She let this statement hang, and let the figures the three students were reading speak for themselves. Finally, it was Ryan who spoke. “And this has… what, exactly, to do with us?” he asked. Lillian smirked from her seat on his shoulder.

“All three of you are perfect examples of the sort of students we aren’t managing to save right now,” Emma said bluntly. Ryan and Lillian looked a bit shocked, while Mike quirked an eyebrow in interest. “I’ll be frank with you. Michael, when we found you, you were on the verge of either a mental breakdown or an involuntary homicidal incident. Lillian, you have a mutation that would put many people into a lifelong bitter depression. And Ryan… frankly, you’re still a lawsuit waiting to happen, but at least we can make sure that it’s a worthwhile one.” Ryan smirked and Lily nudged his ear with her elbow, giggling.

“We need someone to help us. Frankly, even though most of the faculty have been through situations as bad, or worse, than you, we’re seen as living the ‘high life’ for mutants. We need people who can relate to the mutants we’re trying to help, a success story to be visible.”

She sat down at her desk, looking easily at her students. “You’re the next generation that needs to start asserting itself. And we’re going to make sure that you succeed. If anyone isn’t interested, they’re welcome to leave right now. I understand completely if you have other paths you’d rather pursue than danger and life in the public eye.”

None of the three even moved an inch. Ryan and Mike glanced at each other, both wearing a shame!y, self-sure smirk.

“In that case, welcome to the Nephilim,” Emma said. She stood, looking out the window. “You’ll be getting your first test sooner than we’d expected. You’re a growing team… and there’s a prospective member that needs your help.”

She handed Michael two folders, one of which he passed to Ryan for he and Lily to look over. “These are the details. The situation came up about a half hour ago, so I’m sorry if details are lacking. His name is Gabriel Lyons, and he’s currently hiding from… well, most of the rest of his town.”

“As you can see in the brief writeup, his mutation, some form of energy projection, flared up and set fire to a house. Who’s house it is, I don’t have that information. We think it was his own. We do know, however, that he has had control of his power that isn’t consistent with accidentally burning a house, so we’re assuming there’s more to the story.” She hesitated, then continued, “We’ve had… a history with that area, and it’s best if known X-Men aren’t the ones helping him. Sadly, that’s the case in many places, these days. So… are you in?”

Lily stepped off Ryan’s shoulder, floating in the air between the two boys. Mike nodded, a look of determination on his face. “I’m in. I won’t let you down,” he said, nodding.

Ryan smirked and stood up as well. “I was born for this. You know I’m in.”

“I was afraid you’d say that,” Emma said dryly, though with a hint of amusement, as she watched her three students walk from her office.

This was Daria's turn, but she's too busy to post it. So I'm giving credit where it's due, she wrote this one, not me.

Nephilim #2

Her cloak hid her as she exited the alleyway. She was tired; she’d shadow teleported for days now, keeping to small towns. She was now in New York City, the biggest place she’d been since she escaped from Forge and his gang of rebel mutants. She still held marks from the beatings she got when she first joined, she still heard the screams of innocent people when she slept. She’d had to leave, she’d just had to...

Shannon ducked into an alleyway as some rowdy kids walked by heading towards the big lights in Times Square. Shannon was in a back street, her hood pulled over her head, her hair and face covered, concealing her long white locks and grey skin. She sat on a black motorcycle, the engine still going, she’d been dragging it through the shadows with her as she traveled. But now she had paused for a rest. She bit her lip. She wasn’t sure where she was heading but she would have a hell of a time getting there. The shadows swallowed her again and she disappeared.

* * *

“What we need is a plan.” Mike was saying to Ryan and Lily as they exited the front doors of the Mansion. They walked out onto the lush green grass as the sun bathed them in its warmth.

“We have a plan.” Ryan said. “We find the mutant, we tell him he’s coming with us, and if he refuses he gets his ass kicked.”

Lily, who was now perched on Mike’s shoulder, rolled her eyes at him. “Nice plan. I know I’d love to come to come to a school whose ambassadors beat me to a pulp.”

Ryan smirked.

“Anyway,” Mike said with slight irritation. “This guy is going to be scared, he’s going to have been hurt and he’s going to freak out. We need to be the calm ones.” He turned to Ryan to stress his words “The calm, responsible ones.”

Ryan shrugged innocently. “What?”

They stopped beneath a large tree on the grounds. Mike sat down against it and Ryan lay lazily on his back. “So what’s your idea, then?”

“For finding him? We should split up. I can pick up on any fearful feelings...within a certain radius, of course.” he said thoughtfully. “I’ll take the air and you and Lily can take the ground.”

“Like the kids gonna be hanging out on rooftops?” Ryan said sarcastically. Then, after a moments consideration he nodded. “Well… yeah, maybe.”

Mike felt something and tugged at it but it didn’t budge.

“I know that look.” Lily whispered in his ear. “What’s up?”

Mike didn’t answer but said instead. “You can come out now. Why are you hiding here?”

Ryan sat up, ready for action. “What’s going on? Who is there?” Ryan stood up, bracing himself. He didn’t hear or see anything.

“Relax,” Mike said as a figure appeared from the shadow of the tree. It was female, or at least that could be assumed, as it wore tall heels. She had on a short leather skirt and a hooded black shirt that covered her face. A thin wisp of what seemed to be white thread fell out of it.

“What the hell?” Lily and Ryan both exclaimed, moving back in surprise at the sudden appearance. They didn’t recognize the girl from the school. Lily’s hands glowed a bright golden yellow, but she didn’t attack.

The figure didn’t say anything or move.

“Can we help you?” Lily demanded.

The mysterious woman laughed and lifted her head a little to reveal full lips in dark lipstick and liner. She smiled and laughed a little. “Aren’t you a feisty little one.”

“Who are you callin’ little?!” Lily demanded again.

Mike finally got to his feet. “Who are you? And why are you here. If you don’t give us answers, this little lady could make things...pretty complicated.”

The figure kept smirking. “You little mini X-men won’t hurt a fly. Hell, it seems like you have a fly working for you.” she grinned a little more. Lily attacked then, heedless of the consequences. But the girl was quicker, and dove back into the shadow.

“Is she gone?” Ryan demanded.

“No… she’s still around.” Mike said. “But she’s not interested in fighting us. Let’s just get out of here, we still have a job to do.”

* * *

Gabriel sat in the dingy old apartment. His back pack and every valuable belonging he could carry was beside him as he curled up on the floor. He had junk food, but after a week of eating cinnamon swirls, artificially flavored fruit juice and chips he was beginning to feel sick. He only came out at night to get food as the stores were closing and when he couldn’t go out he ate junk food. But now he was tired of hiding, he was tired of being scared and feeling like a fugitive. He didn’t mean to set the house on fire; it was an accident, a serious accident. He couldn’t explain that, though. Who would listen? People were so quick to panic when it came to mutants. Gabriel didn’t want to be a danger… a freak... different.

He played by the rules and followed the book religiously. How did it look now that he was in hiding, that he’d committed a crime? He hated himself now, he couldn’t stand to look at his own face at the moment and the way he cringed when a police siren sounded disgusted him. He buried his head in his hands and let out an exasperated sigh.

He was so tired.

* * *

Mike stopped, suddenly, above a run down building landing on its roof. The sun was setting and it was safe enough for him to remain hidden. And, if anyone were to see him a bit of mind tinkering would have them thinking he was simply a bird or not there at all.

“I’ve locked onto something”. Mike said into the minds of Lily and Ryan. They stopped on the ground at the boarded entrance to the edifice. They were in the middle of a run down slum with a functioning, occupied building every two or three blocks. Ryan and Lily examined the windows of the building which were boarded up as well.

“How do we get in there?” Ryan asked.

“You mean how do you get in there?” Lily grinned. She was small enough to fit through the cracks in the board, but Mike stopped her as she made to do so. Above, on the roof, he was able to go down the emergency staircase.

“You don’t even know what apartment he’s in. Ryan, keep a look out. Lily come with me.”

Lily grinned playfully at Ryan as she flittered upward to follow Mike in from the top of the building.

“Wait! How is that fair?” Ryan asked. “I want to be where the action is!”

Lily giggled but Mike knew how to handle the impatient boy. “Ryan, we need a guard, because if we’re caught, the whole mission goes down. And honestly, I picked the best guy for the job. I mean, who is more intimidating, you or Lily?”

Ryan grinned inwardly. He lit a cigarette and, tucking his thumbs into the pockets of his jeans, leaned casually against the wall of the building.

Above, Mike and Lily slipped into the building and glided down the stairs. It was a six floor apartment complex and strong emotions were emanating from the fourth floor. Mike stopped at apartment 4F and “listened” to the voice that came from within. There was a strong sorrow from the occupant of the apartment, a sense of fear and hopelessness and even more so a sinking feeling of self disappointment that really stabbed at the heart.

Inside Gabriel was still curled up on the floor, listening fearfully as the day ended for the noises of the street to quiet down, or get louder which was what he felt. He had decided, sometime earlier that day in between his bouts of despair that the only way he could live with his mutation, since there was no “cure”, was to learn how to control it. He now slowly balanced a ball of light on his finger tip and concentrated as it got brighter and brighter and the heat became hotter and hotter. Back at the house, his house, he’d been revealing the amazing discovery of his new found talent to his best friend. Trying to prove that he could possibly light the whole room he made the glow brighter and brighter.

It had seemed to start with the curtains....and it spread faster and faster....

Gabriel thought of this as he focused now as the glow grew to the size of a wiffle ball and he pushed more trying to contain it.

“You don’t want to make that same mistake again do you?” A voice said somewhere. Gabriel panicked and dropped control; the light disappeared.

“Who said that?” he called out, “Who’s there?”

“I’m a friend.” The voice answered. “And I’m...everywhere right now.”

“What do you want?” Gabriel leaned against the wall and slid to his feet grabbing his bag, ready to blast away if need be.

Outside, Mike felt the boy’s anxiety raise and he motioned for Lily to slip in through a hole that had been kicked in the door sometime when the building was still in use. She stayed discreet, flying right behind the boy. “I want to help.” Mike continued to talk. “See, I know what your problem is. They’re treating you like a criminal aren’t they?”

“Where are you-show yourself.” Gabriel demanded.

“They’re telling you that you did something wrong and they want to lock you up, right? Put you in jail like you meant to burn don that house.”

“Who are you!” Gabriel shouted. It was a weaker argument in his mind. There was some curiosity.

“I know what really happened, I know you didn’t mean to do it and that you don’t really know what’s happening to you. Things are changing, Gabriel, and they aren’t going to be the same.”

Gabriel didn’t say anything but he could feel something pushing in his mind trying to calm him and he let it.

Lily’s hands lit up in a bright orange glow, and he could see it behind him. He turned to face the tiny woman in shock. She just smiled.

“Who are you?”

She didn’t answer. “I’m not going to hurt you. I think you heard my friend. We came to help.”

“How can you help me?” Gabriel asked. “You’re a fairy.”

“Watch it!” Lily snapped, instantly aggravated. “Thin ice, kid, you don’t need any more enemies. Open the door, why don’t you, and let my friend in.”

Gabriel looked skeptically at the knob and shook his head. “No. I don’t trust you and you can’t make me.”

Lily raised her hands. “The hell I can’t.” Gabriel didn’t seem too phased.

In the hall, Mike didn’t like the current exchanging of words. “Lily, careful. Don’t do anything drastic.”

Who died and made you the boss of me? Lily countered in her head as Gabriel’s hands lit up as well, though not as controlled as her’s were.

Mike reached out to Ryan, but outside a different exchange was going on.

* * *

Ryan had been minding his own business, watching the smoke rise and dissipate in the air. Every now and again he would check the progression of the sun as it set. The streets were dirty and rats scuttled across the pavement like stray cats. Trash lined the gutters and pigeon droppings stained almost every surface. Countless cars lined the sidewalks but almost every one of them had been stripped for parts and abandoned. There was an alley across from the building and though it was dark, Ryan assumed it couldn’t be too deep. So when he heard the whirring of a motorcycle engine he became more confused then alarmed but, sure enough a figure on a big shining red-on-black motorcycle and drove right at him.

Ryan couldn’t let the figure hit the building so he braced himself for impact ready to take the blow and deflect the cycle and the cyclist. At the last minute though the bike swerved and stopped just a few inches from him but it had him cornered. “What the hell is your problem?” he demanded angrily, ready to tackle the driver right to the ground.

The operator wore no helmet and, now that thin wisps of white locks fell from beneath her hood, was recognizable.

“You followed us?” Ryan asked without waiting for an answer to his first question.

The woman smiled and dismounted from the bike on the other side of it so that it stood between Ryan and her. “They put you on watch duty? Man, your powers must be lame, hun.” she grinned, her red lips parting and revealing very white teeth.

“Hardly,” Ryan said defensively. “Hopefully you never have to see what they are. Why are you stalking us?”

She shrugged. “I wanted a good show.” she grinned. “What’s the matter, kid, performance anxiety?”

Ryan glared. “You’re not funny.”

“I wasn’t joking.”

A silence passed between them before the young woman looked upwards. “So what’s going on in there?”

“Who are you?” Ryan asked, ignoring her question.

She smiled and pulled her hood back a little to show her face. She was very pretty with hazel eyes, a slightly upturned nose and full lips. The odd thing was her stark white hair and silvery grey skin. “Call me Blackout,” she said, “I’d ask your name, but I don’t really care.”

Ryan rolled his eyes. “Listen, you’re in the way. So why don’t hop back on your little tricycle and get your ass out of here?”

“Nah, I think I’ll stick around for a while. You know, at least until I can ask your friend out. He’s cute.”

Ryan shook his head in confusion and frustration. “What the hell is with you? Where did you come from? We’re not your friends, we’re not hanging out, go home.”

The girl looked at him a bit more seriously. “Easier said than done. Come on, I just want to help.”

“Help what?” Ryan asked feigning ignorance. “We don’t need help.”

“Oh, come on. A bunch of mutants from the mutant school are sneaking around in a broken down neighborhood and you’re telling me it’s all just a walk in the park? I’m pretty, not stupid, kid.”

“Stop calling me kid, you can’t be much older than me.” Ryan spat. Suddenly he could feel Mike pressing in his mind. “Hey, something’s going down. Get up here.”

Ryan grinned and backed up. He seemed to concentrate for a minute and then slammed himself into the door, knocking it open. It swung on it’s hinges as he ran up the stairs. “Just make yourself scarce will you?”

The girl didn’t follow him. She backed up to look up at the building. On the fourth floor a window burst open and flaming boards of wood fell to the ground. She smirked.

* * *

Mike opened the door and ran in just as Gabriel shot at Lily and missed. Her return blast hit the window and sent the glass and wood shattering, “Hey!” Mike yelled. Gabriel shot again, but Mike, having seen the attack forming in Gabriel’s mind, ducked and the blast hit the door across from the apartment, cutting off Ryan’s path.

“Shit” he cursed as he reeled back and hit the floor.

Mike peeked out the door to make sure he was okay; flames had started up in the apartment across the hall. Mike cursed too, and was about to tell Ryan to get a fire extinguisher, only to see that he was gone. Cursing some more, he hurried to find the fire extinguisher himself..

Suddenly, the ceiling smashed open, and Ryan came crashing down at Gabriel. “Hey!” Ryan shouted as he entered which caused just the distraction Gabriel needed to dive out the window. Ryan rushed and grabbed him just in time, falling with him and turning so that he would land first. When they hit the ground, Ryan’s power caused a great crater in the earth as he made himself heavier. Gabriel and he separated, each rolling over in pain. Blackout was still standing there casually looking over at the action. She grinned as Lily and Mike came rushing to the scene just as Gabriel climbed from the crater.

“Wait,” Mike warned in a surprisingly calm tone. “We don’t want to fight you. We’re trying to help you out,” he insisted.

“I don’t want your help! You have the same problem as me! They’re gonna want you too!” the frightened boy countered trying to back away.

“We have the same problem.” Lily added. “But somehow we’re not running from the cops. Ever think maybe we might be doing something a bit differently than you? A bit better?”

Gabriel didn’t budge or answer. Ryan climbed out of the crater painfully, but obviously not injured like he should be.

“Don’t come any closer!” Gabriel warned.

Ryan was intending to listen but Gabriel panicked and shot, missing and hitting a car in the distance. “I’m not moving, you idiot!” he shouted, after falling back into the crater. Behind him, the car was now a flaming timebomb, Gabriel's blast having set the interior on fire.

“I am” Lily said, and she dove forward, flying straight at him with her hands stretched out and glowing with energy.

“Stop!” Mike said reaching out with a hand. It was as if Lily had hit a wall, she paused in mid air.

“Let go of me!” she demanded but Mike only moved her back. She shot at Gabriel anyway but couldn’t aim since she couldn’t move her body.

“You guys are hilarious.” Blackout smirked.

“Are you just going to stand there?” Ryan asked, crawling out of the crater again, as she grinned at the scene.

“You said you didn’t need my help,” she countered. “Didn’t you tell me to make myself scarce? No time like the present, right?”

Ryan glared but Gabriel shot again as Mike tried to enter his mind once more. Mike reached for the nearest thing to shield them-Blackout’s Motorcycle.

The vehicle exploded on contact.

“What the hell?!” Blackout demanded darting for Michael. She tackled him to the ground angrily but he easily fought her off with aid of his telekinesis, sending her falling back onto the ground with a.

“Wrong place at the wrong time. Don’t add to our trouble. Either you help or you hurt...or you get hurt.” Mike asked. He had been discreetly reading the mysterious girl’s mind, at the cost of not being able to affect Gabriel's mind enough to prevent this. Not being too intrusive, just checking to see what she was like. There was a fear in her too. A lot like Gabriel’s but different. It wasn’t her mutation that scared her, it was... something else, he didn't have the time to focus on that question. He knew this was the only way to get across to her; to be aggressive.

Blackout glared at him but rolled her eyes. “Asshole.” She gave him a hard kick to his abdomen and rolled over. Ryan ran to grab her but she disappeared in the shadow of the building, appearing behind beside Gabriel, emerging from his darkest shadow. She delivered a sharp kick to his side knocking him to the ground. Ryan rushed to grab him but Gabriel attacked again. They could tell his energy lowering, his blasts were getting decidedly weaker. Ryan didn’t come in contact with it, though, because Blackout countered the beam with a wave of dark energy. The two blasts cancelled each other out.

“Alright, sun-boy. I can’t speak for them but I really don’t have time to deal with this, and your little light beams totally wrecked my hog. Why can’t we all just get along?” she smiled in a good natured manner. It was obvious she wasn’t big on fighting and she didn’t actually want anyone to get hurt.

Gabriel didn’t answer or attack, he stood there breathing heavily.

"Calm down, we’re friends." Mike pushed a bit more forcefully into his mind. "We only want to-"

“Get out of my head!” Gabriel shouted. “Leave me alone! I just want to be normal!” he screamed. Mike felt the burst of emotion more than anyone, so much that he staggered back a bit. Something about his mind was hard to read when he powered up to attack, making it hard for Mike to keep his hold on Gabriel's mind. Gabriel emitted one powerful burst of light energy, it lit up the streets for blocks. But that’s all it could do before Blackout interfered. She absorbed the attack all into her body. The light just seemed to bend toward her. Lily, Mike and Ryan closed their eyes, as they couldn’t take the light or the heat. When it died down and the spots cleared from their eyes, Blackout was standing completely still, tiny sparks of dark energy popping from her body every now and then. Gabriel was on the ground, unconscious and pale. Mike sighed as Lily went to check on him

“He’s still kickin’,” she informed them.

Mike nodded and walked to Blackout, who stared at the ground, swaying unstably. “Are you okay?”

She slowly raised her head and her hair fell back to show her face. She was black, completely black, even her eyes had lost their white and hazel. She seemed vacant and looked worried. She flexed her hands a bit and some of the energy hit the ground and made holes in the asphalt. Mike backed up. It seemed she had absorbed Gabriel’s light and her body had converted it into dark energy as a defense mechanism. But now she had too much of it. “You just worry about getting me a new Motorcycle.” she smiled eerily before losing her balance and falling into a light post.

“Cops are coming.” Ryan warned and it was true, they could all hear the sirens.

“Damn,” Mike muttered.

“I can get us out of here.” Blackout offered.

“You can?” Lily said happily. She was now normal human size and was helping Ryan carry Gabriel.

“Usually I can’t,” she admitted, “But I got so much energy from this clown that I have to get rid of it somehow. On one condition, though.” she turned to Mike. “You let me join the team.”

“What? No way,” Ryan argued.

“It’s not up to me,” Mike said, “But I can do my best.”

“What!” Ryan exclaimed. “You can’t be-”

“Get into the alley way,” Blackout ordered, cutting him off, as she looked sadly back at the charred remains of her cycle. She sighed and followed them as the cop cars pulled up. One officer saw her and followed her, but when he reached the alley way, the Nephilim had disappeared.