Rowan really didn't want to be here. 

Not 'here' as in the school. Rowan had found his first few days at the school to be...fine. Maybe even pleasant. No one had bothered him, some people even smiled at him. The food was good, and his bed was comfortable. This was also the longest he had been at a school without starting, or being sucked into, a fight. Which earned bonus points. He had even caught up on some schoolwork from his previous school, meaning he was all set to start classes when the semester began. He was finally feeling like he was catching up, and gaining some ground. 

And then Ms. Sundance, the only adult at the school Rowan was starting to trust put up with, mentioned something about a mutation evaluation. 

In a way, it made sense, Rowan was a new student. It was fair that the school wanted to see what he was capable of. Especially for the safety of the staff and other students. Without some sort of evaluation the teachers would have no idea what they were dealing with in case something bad happened. But the much louder part of Rowan's brain was furious. He didn't (unwillingly) come to this school to lean about his mutation. He hated his mutation, why should he have to show it off for some guy? What did Ms. Sundance say his name was? Sam? Same something-or-other. Rowan tried to resist, but was told he really couldn't start classes until he got this finished. Ms. Sundance promised it would be painless, but Rowan was having his doubts already. 

It didn't matter. Rowan was still angry. And he wouldn't admit it, but he was scared too. This could go horribly wrong in many ways.  

It wasn't too difficult to find the Danger Room, which was simultaneously the coolest and scariest name for a classroom ever. When he arrived outside the room, after a brief pause to try and calm his nerves, he tugged on the door. Only to discover the door was locked. After several more, in increasing strength, tugs, a fellow student happened to walk by. She mentioned the room was restricted, and there was an age factor as well. Well...that sucked. And was embarrassing. Waiting in the hall for some teacher only added to Rowan's frustration. 

And so now Rowan was leaning against the wall next to the door. Arms crossed across his chest, brow furrowed, scowling at the floor.

Sam stifled a yawn as he walked to his next class technically it wasn’t really in his scope of expertise he wasn’t going to be showing the kid how to punch or kick anything. At least not yet. The icemancer had a problem with the term ‘mutant evaluation’ Sam already knew the kid was a mutant or why be here in the first place? No, this was something that was put in place to observe and prep for potentially dangerous abilities. Like shifting into some weird animal and clawing someone’s room up or setting everything on fire. Certain mutations required certain attention and today Sam drew the short stick, because he was here and not avoiding his paperwork.

”Morning.” he said as he passed one of the kids in the hallway the clip board in his hand raised a little in greeting as he sipped his large coffee with the other hand. Wait was it morning? Or early afternoon? He didn’t sleep much last night so it was hard to tell. Sam smelled of soot and ash and had a few spots on his face and arms earlier that morning he had helped put out two apartment complex fires in the city. Morning/Days like this he wished he still drank.

Approaching the door Sam spotted a kid glowering at the floor, ”Safe to assume you don’t have laser vision or the floor would be melted by now” Sam said looking at the clipboard and marking something down. ”That’s just great.” he smirked. ”I’m Sam, you can call me… Sam, any version of teach or Mr. Johnson.” he didn’t really care what the kids called him, long as they paid attention in class.

”Sundance told me you’d be here.” the doors ‘whooshed’ open when Sam approached and he walked into the large metallic room while it started to hum to life. ”Weren’t waiting long were you?” he asked sipping his coffee and looking at the sheet of paper putting his pen behind his ear.

It felt like an eternity, but eventually Mr. Johnson arrived. Something about him seemed...familiar? In the way someone who's obviously very important or powerful feels familiar. Huh, maybe he had seen him walking around the halls. Rowan remained completely silent as Mr. Johnson introduced himself. Rowan assumed the adult already knew who he was, so saying his name seemed pointless.

But Rowan could feel is annoyance growing. He already was unhappy to be doing this, and yet the adult who's supposed to be evaluating him arrived late? With coffee? The guy clearly didn't want to be here, which was fine because Rowan didn't want to either. Of course none of these were fair judgements to make. Mr. Johnson wasn't late, Rowan had arrived slightly early. And arriving with a coffee wasn't a bad trait, nor was making little comments to break the ice. Rowan, however, didn't care about any of these rationalizations, as he was a grumpy teenager in an uncomfortable situation.

With a huff and a grumble Rowan followed Mr. Johnson inside, arms crossed over his chest. He deflated a little, just barely, as he walked into the room. Something about it made Rowan feel...uncomfortable? Trapped? Like there was probably a hidden machine gun in the walls to dispose of bad students? He couldn't quite place it, but it made him feel like he was in a doctors office.

Rowan didn't answer Mr. Johnson's question, instead asking his own. Speaking up for the first time since the two met.

"This isn't gonna...hurt is it?"

And while Rowan's tone of voice indicated that he was angry, there was a clear waver of anxiety in his voice.

”What? This evaluation?” he used his hand with he clipboard to air quote the word. ”Really depends on you. I’m only here to observe and make sure you don’t get hurt or anyone else.” he looked to the kid and smirked, ”I’m really good at my job kid.” he said as he sipped his coffee.

”So they tell you anything about the Danger room yet?” he asked as he looked up to the center of the room. ”Morning Danger, kick on the lights for us maybe a little music?” Sam looked to Rowan, ”What do you like kid, rock? Metal? You say country and I’m out of here.” he smirked yelled, ”How about some Rock.” lights kicked on all of the room and some classic Rock started to play low in the background.

”Alright…” Sam looked to his clipboard and read the name. ”Ro-wan?” he made sure he got the name right and raised his eyebrow at the kid and smirked. ”Why don’t you tell me a little bit about your abilities? Curse? Gifts? Whatever you want to call it, heard it all before. Me I’m cool.” he said demonstrating with a cold blast off to his side forming a large ice block. Yup, Sam loved his ice puns.

Rowan was quiet, not really responding to anything Mr. Johnson said beyond half hearted shrugs and nods. He really didn't care what music was playing, although this rock music was sounding more like grandpa rock music, Rowan just wanted all of this over with. What almost got a reaction out of Rowan was the room responding to voice. He hadn't been told much about the danger room, so it responding like an AI was unexpected.

Ice powers...just like that one Disney princess...that was kinda neat. He refused to respond to the pun, it was too painful.

Rowan was about to start his whole 'I don't have to tell you anything you can't make me' rant, but realized it would be pointless. He didn't want to talk about his mutation, especially not in front of a stranger while [i[classic rock[/i] played over the speakers. It dawned on Rowan that he had never really...talked about his mutation, well at least not until very recently. And he had never talked about his mutation with another mutant. Before he got shipped off to this school, after his most recent accident and the public's discovery of his mutation, he was forced to explain to a police officer what his mutation was.

The young mutant hated that cop, and hated talking to that cop. The whole time he had some stupid smirk on his face. Well...kinda like the smirk Mr. Johnson kept making at him. No...they were different. The cop smirked at him like he was a beast with his leg in a trap. Mr. Johnson was more like a teacher trying to relate to a student by saying he smoked a cigarette once.

After a long pause Rowan sighed, arms crossed in front of his chest and eyes glaring at the floor.

"I shift into a terrible beast. Giant, mean, sharp teeth and claws...ya know...monster stuff..."

Rowan, uncomfortable, shifted his weight, stuffing his hands in his pockets.

"And...it happens when I get....

Well he couldn't say scared that would make him look like a total wimp.

"...when I get...angry..

Rowan's voice petered out. He seemed like he had more to say, but ran out of steam. He felt like he already said too much.

Sam made sure to watch the floor where the kid was staring for something to happen. Truthfully he was a little disappointed when nothing erupted in flames now. ”How angry?” Sam asked smirking and trying to get the kids attention with a wave of his clipboard.

”How giant? And do you know what happens when you turn into a monster?” he asked probably a little to casual about the subject. It was clear it was an issue for the kid to talk about but Sam had seen mutations like his before. ”At least you know what triggers it right?” Sam asked trying to lighten the mood.

”When I was a kid I couldn’t be near anyone for like… ever. Try telling a five year old they can’t touch someone. Or be near someone otherwise they freeze them. All got our demons kid.” he said with a sigh standing up fully now. ”Why you’re here though right? Learn to get some control?” Sam asked setting down his coffee.

”The school specializes in helping kids like you. Heck, Aoi turns into a bear and Carrick can turn into a cat thing with wings. Both of them have trouble controlling what they turn into as well but it’s easier to know how to handle something once we get some information right?” Sam asked rhetorically.

”So turn into a “monster”… anything else? Fireballs, acidic spit? Projectiles of any kind?” he asked curiously.

This sucked. Mr. Johnson sucked. Rowan hated this. Why was he so...casual? And why did he keep smirking at him? Rowan wanted to scream, or break his clipboard, or fight or something. But he couldn't. He had to behave, as much as he didn't want to. Rowan grumbled. He wasn't here because he wanted to be here, he was forced to come here. Mr. Johnson had mentioned Aoi. Rowan had gotten to know Aoi, maybe a little better than he would have liked to. And some sort of cat-bird-boy.

Rowan sighed, and started answering Mr. Johnson's questions.

"I dunno...big? Bigger than me..."

He stole a quick look at the adult.

"Maybe a little taller than you...on my back legs. And...uh no like...projectiles...I just get strong and fast and mean. I don't really...feel pain when I'm shifted...all the hurt comes after..."

There was a short pause, Rowan struggling with words.

"Control is the issue. Once I shift I can't control my actions...at all...Every time I shift I end up hurting someone...badly...I just end up charging whatever feels like a threat. I've gotten better at...suppressing it, ya know...keeping myself from shifting. But it gets triggered by the dumbest stuff. Like loud noises! O-Or the way people look at me! Or..."

As he spoke it Rowan was tense, arms pressed firmly into his sides. And his teeth were getting sharper. Rowan shut his mouth suddenly, realizing his ranting was starting to stress him out. He took a few shaky breaths, eyes back on the floor, trying to prevent anymore panic.

The icemancer tilted his head a little as he watched the kid seem to force the words out. He understood that everyone came from different backgrounds, difficult however Sam wasn’t as patient with kids in this area as some of the other teachers. He was this kid at some point in his life. Worse than that he had training to do exactly what the kid probably feared the most. Losing control.

Sam was casual about this because he had dealt with it. He had to remind himself constantly that the kids was where he was. Angry, confused and wanting to fight. ”Oh?” he jotted ‘no projectiles’ down. That was a plus. While Sam had training to deal with out of control powers most of the other kids didn’t. That made it easier to pick where the kid would be bunking.

”Would come in handy… ah, that would be a pronlem.” he nodded his head and jotted more down. Losing control was one thing, but dealing with everything that happened during the ‘episode’ could be more of a danger to the kid more than the other kids in the mansion. Most of the kids in the school could be registered weapons. A point of pride for Sam was that they weren’t.

”Kid take a breath.” Sam said writing a bit more occasionally glancing up making sure he wasn’t going to be losing control before the ‘examination’ started. ”So one of the best parts about this mansion in my opinion is this room. Things don’t happen how they normally would outside of here. For example if you were to lose control in here, well that wouldn’t really be an issue for anyone other than me. Those doors lock on my say and they don’t unlock unless someone with the proper clearance unlocks them. Now I’m not saying you and I are locked in here. I’m just saying. This is one of those rare opportunities for you to lose control and not hurt anyone.” the icemancer finished writing his thoughts on the kids attitude and his description underlining ‘Loud Noises’.

”How long does it tend to last? Or have you not gotten that far?” he cracked his neck and snagged his coffee again taking a sip. ”Now, you know this is an evaluation. Now we aren’t gonna kick you out. But this does help us figure out what we are dealing with and how we can help you and still make the place safe for the other kids. That being said….” Sam inhaled and yelled as loud as he could ”HEY!” Sam unlike the other teachers was more direct.

Rowan continued to fidget. He tried to take a few deep breaths, but it sounded a lot more like gasping for air. Being told he was locked in this room, unsurprisingly, did little to calm him down. What if he hurt Sam and he couldn't escape? Did anyone else know the two of them were in here? What if he accidentally killed Sam? What if...what if...Rowan's head was swimming in panic. He needed to excuse himself. Go sit somewhere dark and quiet without the overhead lighting and classic rock.

Oh no he was being asked another question.

"I...I...uh...it depends on...h-how much energy I have...five to t-ten minutes...maybe?

Rowan stuffed his hands deeper in his pockets. He could feel his fingernails growing, getting sharp. It felt like a flood gate opening. All of a suddenly Rowan couldn't hold back his panic inducing thoughts. His last transformation. The interrogation. Being alone at this school. A polar bear breaking through the library window. Having to confront and talk about the thing he hated the most about himself.

He could feel his vision tunneling.

"I...I th-think...I ne-"

Rowan didn't have time to finish that thought. Because Sam yelled at him. He yelled. That was it. The straw that broke his back. Rowan jumped, his heart felt like it was going to stop. The panic so tight in his chest he could barely breathe. He slowly turned to face Sam, trembling violently. It took a moment, but Rowan began to speak. Softly at first, but eventually rising in volume until he was nearly screaming.

"W...why did you...do that? I...I told you I'm scared of yelling! I don't want to hurt you! I don't! I don't!"

His tone of voice was not one of anger, but very clearly fear. He was terrified. The young mutant suddenly stopped speaking, squeezing his eyes shut, doubling over. Rowan started screaming. It started off high pitched, childlike, but quickly became guttural and beastial as his transformation occurred.

Rowan's spine snapped and bent, hunching him over further. Moments later patches of dark and rough fur sprouted and completely covered him. The hands clutching his head shrunk into giant paws, his nails sharp and curled. His mouth, open and screaming, grew longer. His teeth becoming jagged. All the while his body grew and morphed, skin stretching and bones popping. Eventually becoming the strange and horrifying wolf-like monster.

The transformation was pretty quick, and if it wasn't for all the screaming it would be pretty easy to ignore. It was now clear why Rowan dressed the way he did. The clothes that were easily three sizes too big for him weren't torn when he transformed, but they did stretch. Eventually the gurgling roars stopped. The Monster breathed heavily, jaw opening just a farther than 'natural' revealing his sharp teeth.

The Monster didn't stand still for long. Suddenly he turned his head towards Sam, red eyes gleaming. And without a moment of deliberation dropped down onto all fours and charged the adult like a bull, long claws screeching against the floor tile.

Sam watched as from what he could only describe as a painful experience underwent in front of him. Rowan yelled at him and Sam offered an apologetic shrug. This was the reason they were here. If Sam yelling set the kid off imagine what one of the other kids could do to him. The icemancer started counting in his head for the duration of the transformation until he was looking at what he figured was some kind of werewolf.

”**** kid you weren’t kidding.” Sam said as he yelled up to the danger room. ”Danger, start timer and record everything.” he said as he looked to his coffee and sighed knowing it was about to get cold.

The icemancer focused on his powers and sent out a cold front towards the shifted kid who now stood taller than him. Whenever one of the other kids shifted and lost control they usually either went for an easy target or backed down when they realized they didn’t have a chance at beating him so Sam did what he did best and coated his body in a thick layer of ice making him more intimidating than he was in his human form.

”Let loose kid! Now is the only time I’m gonna let you!” he said prepping for the fight by icing the floor around him. It shouldn’t effect a creature with long claws but it made it easier for Sam to pull ice to either disrupt the attacks or help him attack. Seeing as this was Rowan’s first day in the danger room Sam made a choice not to fight back. One he hoped he wouldn’t regret.

The monster gave no sign that he heard anything Sam had said. There was no playful tone to his actions, no intention of pulling punches. This wasn't letting loose, a spar, a class or even an evaluation anymore. The monster didn't know what any of those things were. All he knew was that he was trapped, and he had to kill the iceman before he himself was killed.

BAD. TRAPPED. KILL.

As the floor turned to ice under his feet turned to ice the Monster slowed down, just slightly, putting more effort into digging his claws into the ice to prevent from slipping. He didn't react to the room growing colder, not letting it deter him from attacking. As the monster charged it moved in a very slight zig zag, as if it was trying to catch Sam off guard by attacking from the side.

It didn't take long for it for the monster to close the gap between the two. It stopped an arms length away from Sam, and reared up onto it's hind legs. Red eyes glared down at the adult, his wide jaw opening. It's two front paws dug into the ice on Sam's shoulders, trying to pin him down.

And with no warning, aside from a guttural snarl, the monster's head lowered, jaws wide, in an effort to bite onto Sam's ice covered head.

This attack, if anything, really proved that Rowan, in this form, was entirely offensive. While he was aggressive, making the first move, he left himself open to retaliation.

The icemancer both watched and felt as Rowan’s more aggressive form took over and closed the distance between the two. Claws dug into his shoulders and he felt the pressure on his skin. Okay, maybe Sam wasn’t ready for the sudden change from the kid or he had been getting soft in his time in the mansion. The old Sam would have gone full cold and that would have been the end of it. Sam however was a teacher and his job was to instruct and keep the kids safe. Rowan even though he was attempting to maul Sam was one of those kids.

Some blood trickled down from the point of contact of the claws under the armor. Sam watched as the mouth opened wide and started to close down around him. ”Bad Rowan! No!” he commanded the way he would command his dog Bruno. Bruno however never tried to maul him before just Rowan. Before he could close down on his head spikes of ice popped up around his head and body making it painful to hold on and even more painful to chew.

Sam didn’t strike the kid. He wanted to, wanted to fight back but he had to keep reminding himself that there was a scared kid in there and while he was fighting the were-wolf looking creature the kid was still inside there. Somewhere. ”Gonna need you to focus kid.” Sam said as took his feet and kicked off the kids chest trying to break free. The ice that was punctured already started to heal itself and push the claws out. ”Show me a little control. Give me something to work with. Prove it to yourself kid!”

Suddenly Sam was glad he was the one who drew the short stick and got sent to the exam. Most of the other teachers would have been dead by now. ”Computer monitor heartrate of the kid, show internal temperature.” Sam said making it that much easier to make sure he didn’t freeze him by mistake as the cold continued to pour out from the icemancer.

There was no seeable reaction as Sam called out to Rowan. There was no change in demeanor, no knowing twinkle in his eyes. And even as the spikes of ice jammed into the monster's mouth, it didn't seem to...react. It continued to try and bite down, despite the obvious harm it was doing to itself. The kick to the chest was enough to start dislodging Rowan, as well as his claws starting to loose grip on the shoulders. Rowan gave two more crunches on the ice surrounded Sam's head, and then loosened his jaws.

What was a little strange was that Rowan, prior to shifting, claimed that the monster couldn't feel pain. So it was strange that the creature let go of Sam's head. It was unclear if this was because the monster wanted to try an attack from a different angle, or if Rowan was mentally pulling on the reins as hard as he could. It was hard to say, but at least he was letting go of Sam's head. And as he pulled his jaw free he scraped his teeth along the ice encasing Sam's head, leaving shallow grooves. Not deep enough to harm Sam, it was more of a threat than anything.

The monster dropped to all-fours, taking a bounding leap away from Sam. Regrouping. He slowly circled Sam, red eyes locked onto his, looking for his next opportunity. The monster was an attacker, not a defender, it wasn't to give Sam the chance to strike first. The monster's body temperature was slightly warmer than a humans, which was fair for a large, furred, creature physically exerting itself. What was far more irregular was his heart rate, sitting at an uncomfortable 150bpm. It was like he was having a heart attack or, more likely in Rowan's case, a panic attack.

The monster, or perhaps Rowan, was at least courteous enough to growl before charging this time. It sped in on all fours, keeping low to the ground. And as it approached it opened it's jaws, a small trickle of blood from it's cut mouth trailing. The attack was predictable, one almost every large predator did. It was aiming to grab onto Sam's leg, either to knock him off balance or swing him around.

If Rowan was a puppy attacking a toy, trying to rend it's stuffing from it's body, this would be adorable. Unfortunately he was not a puppy, and Sam wasn't the newest dog toy from Bark Box.

The icemancer looked away for a second with his lone eye to see the screen heartrate was higher than it should have been for most people. Maybe not during a fight but he doubted the kid was reading the same before hand, he’d document everything later and show off the information to the other staff members. His thermal sense followed the kid.

The growl was at least a warning for the icemancer, which was good because he had to remind himself to watch Rowan. The thermal sense picked up on the blood before his eye did and he frowned under his armor. Sam recalled what Rowan said about pain which caused the Icelander to curse under his breath. ”Well… guess this is an exam for me as well.” the spikes of ice fell from his frozen body as he willed some ice to construct next to him in the shape an ice clone.

Sam hopped up and landed in his clones hands as it launched him up and over from Rowan’s low attack. Feeling the sharp burn in his own shoulders he decided it was best to just avoid any physical contact with the shifted form of Rowan. The clone however… Sam figured the thing needed a chew toy if it needed to bite something so bad.

Landing behind Rowan, Sam started running away from him to keep some distance. It was safer that way… for both of them.

The monster failed to notice the switch, blind rage tunneling it's vision. It's jaw clamped onto the clone's leg like a bear trap, teeth crunching into the ice. And once it had a pretty good grip on the ice clone's leg the monster got to work thrashing it. The monster shook it's head from left or right, flailing the clone from side to side. After awhile it switched directions, instead slamming it into the ground. It was almost exactly like a dog playing with a toy, or a wolf killing a rabbit. The good news was that it occupied Rowan for quite a bit of time, as the monster still hadn't figured out what it was attacking was not it's original target.

It really didn't care. It wanted to fight.

After nearly a minute of aggressive thrashing the monster stopped. It stood with the clones, mangled, leg in it's mouth for a moment, snarling, before dropping it. A drooly trail of blood dripping onto the floor. The monster raised himself onto his two hind legs, red eyes glaring down at the ice clone. It's lips curled back in threat, daring the clone to make a move. The monster was confused as to why it wasn't fighting, and figured getting on it's back legs would make it easier to spot an incoming attack.

The monster still hadn't noticed Sam slip away, but was starting to questions what was happening.

It was clear now that the monster was starting to slow down. His breathing had gotten much deeper and ragged, the frost clinging to its fur making it feel heavier. And when it stood on it's back legs it extended itself slowly, focusing on keeping it's balance.