No cell phone for a year and a half. That was his punishment. Or rather, Ghost was not paying his bill until he turned 16 and needed it for driving safety reasons. Without a job, Jude had no good way to fund his smart phone addiction. Without being 16, he couldn't hold a job... yeah. Domino effect.

He'd worked so freaking hard to win that cell phone too.

The dark haired teen twirled his pencil idly between his fingers as he listened to the teacher lecture about geometry.

"You'll need to know this stuff when you get in the real world..." Eye roll. "...daily use..." Eye roll. "...do you have something to share with the class, Mr. Csendes?"

His yellow HB Ticonderoga clattered to the ground. Jude's other punishment for running away from home, growing up prematurely via mutant power, and moving in with his girlfriend?

9th grade.

"No, sir." He muttered and grabbed up his pencil from beneath his desk.

"Then would you kindly see me after class?"

"Yes, sir." Crap. Detention was going to cut into his practice time.

If there was one thing Elke hated about schools and teachers, it was that no one running the damn things could take a joke. So what if she'd launched her gum into that blonde girls hair three seats ahead of her? It'd probably come out. And who cared if she spent half of stupid-class gluing her math book pages together? People didn't need to know math anymore anyway. That's what computers were for, yo.

Still, the straw that broke the camels back had apparently been drawing a picture of the teacher and passing it around the class when she'd had her back turned. Apparently she hadn't thought Elke's representation of her was very funny. The Native thought the picture rather accurate; Giant behind with no boobs and a huge crooked nose. Oh, and a waterfall of boogers. That probably hadn't helped her case. Either way, the Native found herself slapped with detention after class.

Joy. She wondered if she'd be able to sneak in a clone before whoever was watching her caught onto what she could do. It's not like they'd have someone who knew her set on the task... right?

Why was Saph in detention?

He was watching it, of course!

It definitely wasn't punishment for cracking up when he saw the drawing of the teacher Moose had done. Not at all. It was more a mix of that and something about the person who was supposed to do it "leaving the oven on." Sure.

Either way, no one else was available, and he was an X-man, so he was clearly qualified , right?

Why did people assume being an X-Man qualified you for anything other than punching faces and walking people across the street?

Still, he suppose Moose was his responsibility, and the other people in detention couldn't possibly be as bad as her, right?

"Ahem... So... You know who I am, and you know what's up. You guys are here to study and stuff, so don't give me any trouble and I won't give you any."

Did it help that there were horrendous rumors floating about the mansion on the subject of 'The masochist'? Someone had worked it out that he made people disappear, he was a raging alcoholic, and he'd sent an X-trainee or two to the infirmary... That last one was true.

"Now... Role call... Nathan... Nathan Anderson..." He went down the list, it was a short one. "Jude... Jude... eh... K.... Kusendowsky, what ever. Elke Crawford."

He made it to the end of the list, having only butchered half the names on it, and then gave them all the 'i'm watching you' signal before sitting at the teacher's desk and opening up the paper. He'd brought coffee, so at least he was good there.

The teacher, when giving his after class lecture on respect of authority and hard workitude, did not appreciate how very long Jude resisted rolling his eyes. So he ended up in the most useless kind of detention: studyhall.

For most of this year he had been able to keep his head down and focus on finishing the first half of 9th grade- he really, really didn't want to take it a third time -but being a kid was really starting to feel like a drag. While the other kids wasted their time on videogames and hobbies, Jude petitioned for early access to the danger room and experimented with keeping his own power in check. He wanted to learn useful skills for later in life, not how to find the angle of an obtuse triangle.

>> "Kusendowsky, whatever."

Jude's hand shot up into the air and he waited to be noticed. When that didn't work right away, he put a little waggle into it and blurted out what he wanted to get off his chest. "It's Chen-desh, sir. Uhm. It's Hungarian? And instead of a study hall, could you maybe take us to the Danger Room? So we could learn useful cra- uhh stuff and work out our teen angst or whatever?"

And if that didn't work, there was still room for a challenge. "You are one of the best fighters on campus, right?" He didn't sound like he believed it. Jude even looked Saph up and down like maybe he could take him... which he knew he couldn't. Jude, even as a grown up, regularly got beat up by girls. The Frenchman spared a glance for Elke who could also no doubt take him on. (The other guy? Meh. He looked bland enough to fight fair so Jude might possibly have a chance.)

See? He really needed into that Danger Room.

Jude paid careful attention to his s's and r's so that he no longer sounded like he fell straight off a French turnup truck. Jude had been in America for almost 3 years now. He probably would never get rid of his accent altogether, but he did strive to blend in more than he had originally. Accents were practically useless in wooing attractive females when they came from the changing voices of pubescent brats like Jude.

Shiiiiiiii-- crap. Crapy crap crappity crap. Of course it was him. "... S'like he stalkin' me or somethin." The Native muttered and sank as low as she could in her chair, while Saph seated himself at the front desk. Listening to Saph massacre one of he other kids names, she snickered none-to-quietly to herself. At least he'd be amusing, sort-of.

"It's Chen-desh, sir. Uhm. It's Hungarian? And instead of a study hall, could you maybe take us to the Danger Room? So we could learn useful cra- uhh stuff and work out our teen angst or whatever?"

Instantly, Elke perked up. She'd heard of that room before, but had all but been banned from ever going into it by Mr. Stick-up-his-butt sitting at the teachers desk. Her hand shot up as well in an attempt to second Jude's suggestion. She added a little feverish wiggle to it for flair.

"I agree, Sir! Training in the Danger room would totally help me not get beat up after class by bullies." She paused, re-considering what she'd just said and who she was trying to convince. "I mean, it will help kids like him not get beat up by me after class." She jabbed a thumb at jude.

The second kid he called raised his hand, Saph blinked. There were three of them. He ignored it.

"It's Chen-desh, sir. Uhm. It's Hungarian?

"Right. Checkov, cool."

"And instead of a study hall, could you maybe take us to the Danger Room? So we could learn useful cra- uhh stuff and work out our teen angst or whatever?"

Saph stared at him for a second. and then Elke chimed in.

"I agree, Sir! Training in the Danger room would totally help me not get beat up after class by bullies. I mean, it will help kids like him not get beat up by me after class."

He couldn't keep a straight face. By god, he tried, and he managed to for a second. "Hnch.... Tche... KH... GAWHAWHAWHAWHAW! You really think I'm gonna let a bunch of kids who managed to land themselves in detention dick around in the danger room?"

"You are one of the best fighters on campus, right?" He stared for another second.

"Got a little brown on your nose, kid. You know what... Why not? I didn't have anything interesting planned anyways, I was just gonna have you clean the bathroom with a toothbrush or somethin."

He got up from his chair, grabbed his mug, tucked his paper under his arm, and stood, commanding them to get into single file, and walk in front of him, so he could see. The third kid raised his hand. Saph rolled his eyes, and nodded to him.

"I actually volunteered for study hall, can I go home?" Saph eyed him for a moment, and shrugged. "Yeah. sure."

He skipped off merrily.

Saph prodded them forward, watching closely as they progressed, eventually arriving at their destination.

The doors opened on a blank slate room, and Saph pushed them in.

"Computer, Lock door, disable student commands under voice authorization Masochist 45132, voice recognition... Ahem... Bunny suit Andrea. Start... Classroom simulation 12"

And with that, the danger room morphed into an exact copy of the room they'd been in moments ago. Saph waggled his eyebrows once, and walked over to the desk, sitting, sipping his coffee, opening up his paper, and plopping his feet onto the desk with a smug grin on his face. "Have a seat!"

Jude shot Elke a look. He totally did not want to get beat up by yet another girl and... it worked! No way! Hooray! What a dupe! Jude yipped out a quiet hooray and stuffed all his junk back into his backpack.

> "I actually volunteered for study hall, can I go home?"

Crap! Why didn't Jude think of that? Well whatever. They were going to the Danger Room. It was better to get in than run off like a little pansy anyway.

The Frenchman paid close attention to Saph's voice commands. With a little visit to his doppleganger friend, this was totally his ticket back in here! He repeated the numbers and the... erm code phrase in his head until the doors opened and...

He glared at Saph, mouth agog. This was a joke. A sick, sick joke. Jude grabbed out his notebook and flopped into a chair to take notes on Saph's password. No chance in hell he wasn't using that gem now. He just had to find a different program. Jude would try something stupid like 'Cool Guy 2' as a program load. ColdSteel probably used dumb stuff like that anyway.

Jude scribbled a note to Elke and then folded the paper like an airplane and sailed it her way.

Think we can take him? Circle one.

Yes

No

Omgomgomg... she was actually going into the danger room! Silently praising all of the gods and spirits she could think of, she hopped into line and followed along silently. So what if whats-his-face from the back had gotten off scott free, she was going to train in the mother flippin' danger room!

... She could always find that kid later, anyway.

It was nearly impossible for her to contain herself while standing in front of the DR doors. She was nearly bouncing on her toes. Even more so when the doors opened up and they were led inside. It was huuuge! And empty!... and white! Actually, it looked rather intimidating, but she ignored that for the moment.

"Start... Classroom simulation 12"

Ohshi-- The Native watched stupidly as the whole room transformed... into the same goddamned classroom they had just left. "... The @$%#! Desks appeared on either side of her. She promptly flipped one, angling a rueful glare Saph's way, before she gave up and plopped into a seat.

Then a paper airplane bopped into the side of her head and caught her attention. It landed neatly in her lap and after unfolding it, she cast a wild grin in Jude's direction. Quickly fishing a pencil out of her sweatshirt pocket, she circled the 'yes', scribbles a 'hell' in front of it, and sent it flying in a crumbled ball back at him.

Saph smirked as Moose threw a fit, flipped a desk.

"Y'see, It really was a good idea coming here; You prolly woulda ended up flippin that in the real classroom, too, and then I'd make you clean it up! Computer, reset simulation." He desk shifted back to it's original upright position, all of the papers in it neatly placed inside.

"Thanks, guys. I really appreciate the input. Now, study and stuff. I'm just getting to the funnies."

It looked like Jude was actually studying... Holy cow! Here he thought this day wasn't going to be productive at all, bu there he was, scribbling away! The masochist nodded to himself, and got to reading his paper.

Did he see the paper airplane antics? Nope. Did he feel them? Yup.

They were up to something... What was it, he wondered. As soon as the paper ball was thrown back, Saph chimed in.

"Whacha got there, Sanches? Something you wanna share with class? Bring it on up. No funny business."

He was still looking at his paper. Did he have an extra set of eyes? DUN DUN DUN!

Well. If Mr. Saph could be literal in his taking them to the Danger Room, Jude could be literal about who this jerkwad adult was talking to.

"No Sanches here, boss."

Jude studiously looked over the note. He didn't have to pretend that it was thought provoking, it actually made him stop and think. How much detention was this going to cost them? He considered his options for a brief moment, but... he really did want to learn to fight in the Danger Room. And here they were... in the Danger Room with someone who could fight.

"High five?" Jude held his hand up to Elke. He wanted her power because splitting himself was a better power than his roommate's uncanny ability to eat glue. (To be fair, he could later spit it back out into a relatively cool hard-as-steel structures, but... eating glue, man!) Jude never stocked up on glue when he accidentally took over that power so it was an absolutely useless.

A 4 v 1, on the other hand...

Bring it on.

She glanced from Saph to jude and back, quietly assessing each. On one hand... wait, no, screw it. This was gonna be fun! She slapped her hand against Jude's in a celebratory high five and grinned from ear to ear.

So what if she got in trouble for this? There wasn't much Saph could do to her other than ground her again, right? And she was already grounded, so that left nothing! No ramifications whatsoever.

The Native stood from her seat excitedly, knocking it over in the process, and set to work on splitting herself into quadruplets.

"No Sanches here, boss."

SIIIIIIIIIGH

So it really was gonna come to this, huh?

He really had been hoping that he could just... skate on by. Give em a few scoldings, teach them some innocent life lessons, and be on his way, but nooooo. Someone up above with a beard had decided that Saphirus wasn't allowed to have normal days.

"Oh, great, you stood up for yourself... I was running out of S names to call you. Ima name you after famous people with complexes now." He'd been studying history lately in his quest to get less stupid, so it would be good practice.

"I'll give you one chance... you sure you wanna do this... Napoleon?" Get it? Cause he was short and french. Saph slowly folded up his news paper and placed it on the desk before him. His coffee cup was sipped, and placed off to the side as well.

He then stood up, and walked lazily around the desk, leaning against it with his arms crossed.

"I aint opposed to teaching you guys a lesson, but I gotta tell you, you won't enjoy it. Moose, don't matter how it ends, you're gonna be grounded for twice as long as you already are...."

He didn't need the skin to skin contact, but it did give Jude a direct line to pick out Elke's power from the two that were available. He felt the abilities in him shift, his own personal power sated for the time being as it assimilated this new mutation.

"To you, we're just kids who don't know anything." Adults like Saph made Jude sick. Saph was turning out to be a jock with more muscles than brains and more attitude than kindness. Maybe Jude was too used to how he was treated by the Csendes family, but he hated being written off like he didn't matter. Like he was easily handled. Like a nuisance.

Jude stood in a far less dramatic fashion. No table flipping here, even if it was the Danger Room. "We're not adults, but we're not stupid." They just had underdeveloped prefrontal cortexes which made impulse control a real hassle.

"Teach us." And by teach, Jude was preparing himself for a world of pain. But maybe he would see something he could use... if nothing else he would get a better idea of Saph's power.

When Elke's power clicked into place, Jude took a moment to explore the feeling. It felt like one of those activated ones. Now, how was he supposed to activate it? Jude watched Elke for cues.

"What?! You can't do that, that's bullsh*t!"

The Teen threw her arms in the air, now knowing that table flipping was rather useless. A few moments after the outburst had left her mouth, she had a fully functional twin standing beside her. The process of duplicating herself was rather simple looking to outside eyes. In actuality, it was more complicated than her stony expression and fiery attitude let on. Each duplicate took quite a deal of energy to make, and the process on a cellular level was spectacular to behold. Every single cell, atom, and molecule that made up Elke split in half in synchronization perfect enough to make the whole process practically seamless.

Her clone glanced curiously around before slumping and turning an exaggerated frown Elke's way. "aw... class?! Why?!" She waved the duplicate off flippantly, already in the process of dividing herself again. "I don't need no teaching. I just wanna kick you in your goddamn stupid lookin' face."

She squinted at their teacher and crossed her arms, maybe secretly wondering if Jude had some sort of plan, or if they were just supposed'ta wing it. She glanced at the teen as the second duplicate joined the firs, and she started on the last. 

"To you, we're just kids who don't know anything."

"News flash. You ARE just kids who don't know anything. I'll give you one last chance to sit down. You must be stupid if you think even ten of you could stand a chance against me."

"What?! You can't do that, that's bullsh*t!"

"I can, I did. Nothing you can really do about that, eh?"


Too late to go back now, Elke spit out a clone. He watched Jude to see what he had in store... He knew who the kid was... He was the child of one of the X-men. Maya... eh... Chcowsky. Sounds legit. Anyway, he figured the kid was probably some sort of air elemental. He'd handled experienced ones before, so this squirt wasn't going to be a challenge.

"Well, Comrade Stalin, you got some sorta master plan that's gonna get you outa this with anything less than a whooping and a scolding from yer mah?"

He didn't appear to be prepared for a fight or anything. He was just... leaning there. Kinda had a cocky smirk on his face. He was bigger than they were. Kids had to learn to follow rules, and respect authority and stuff. Also, what would some harmless fun hurt, huh?

Them, probably.