The walk down the long, scenic road to the gates of the impressive grounds and surroundings of Xavier’s Institute for Gifted Youngsters mark II was one of contemplation and deep thought for young Domingo Agravar. During his time in New York, he had learned much about the popular thinking and general consensus in relation to what most humans believed was “The Mutant Threat?” (as reported by The Daily News). The average Joe on the street seemed to demonstrate vocally some anti-mutant sentiment, something Domingo had experienced himself when he inadvertently became the subject of such abuse almost instantly after he set his size 10’s (UK size) onto the streets. It was something that had stayed with the innocent minded eighteen year old. It hurt him that in a place as culturally diverse and undivided as this great city, there could exist a dislike and untrusting wariness of a person just because they are different. As part of a minority, it automatically brought upon Domingo a wanting to try and change people’s opinions. Humans, in his opinion, should be educated in the scientific philosophies of exactly who and what mutation’s and mutants are. By educating, maybe the world would realise the simplicity of mutation, and how it could actually benefit the whole of the world, within the setting of 21st Century mankind. Humans, and mutants too, need to be taught these lessons, for the greater good of one and all. Well, not all humans.

’What about Lenna...?, he had contemplated, ’On the other hand, I‘ve met Lenna.’[/color] True. He had gained a valuable contact in Lenna. And she was a human, who's personal views seemed to stem from an equalitarian outlook. She was to Domingo a bright burning beacon of hope, who's shining signal quashed all those doubts over human prejudice that his mind had allowed to flourish inside of it. Lenna was somebody who, despite being human herself, could become an important link to one mysterious path Domingo could indeed follow. One that he believed was a path to enlightenment and the discovery of self-worth through the helping of others. A path he didn’t yet fully understand.

Domingo knew that the unique and exciting potential opportunity that could arise through Lenna could take a while, but he was still intent on meeting the fellow mutants who lived and were educated at the Institute. Also, he was keen to meet their leaders, the ones who taught and stood as symbols of their own beliefs, the standard bearers of the mutant equality cause. These people could be inspirational in his life. These people could be who he needed to be inspired by.

As he strolled down the sidewalk, Domingo’s thoughts turned to how he imagined Xavier’s Institute, in the physical sense. His interpretations of it had produced imagery in his dreams, in fact he had thought of it in the same way Dick Whittington had imagined the streets of London in the popular old English story. The pavement he was walking on though was definitely concrete. No gold paving. ’Oh well, maybe that was a tad unrealistic, to think that this was going to be some kind of palace! Wonder if there’s a guard or something on the gates, asking me my business, what I want? I bet there are camera’s, bet there’s hundreds, they’ll be scouting out the whole perimeter. They’ll be watching me now,' His eyes shifted from one direction to another, looking for a little lens somewhere around the roadside, in the branches of the trees, built into the wall...'I bet they already know my name!’

Taking care not to 'attend' to himself in an inappropriate way or in a particular area of his person, Domingo strolled alongside the wall that stretched long, further down, until he could see the gates. As he got nearer, he saw that they were wide open. No guard standing there to halt intruders. ’Well of course not, some mutants have telepathic abilities, duh! They'll be watching me in their minds...’ He stopped just short of entering the gateway, and his eyes followed the path in front of him, all the way to the big brown door. Just before he stepped onward, Domingo breathed a big breath, the kind of breath you breathe when you get ready to do something you've been longing to do for what feels like ages. It was a breath followed by an audible utterance escaping from the young visitor’s lips, as if his mind had unconsciously allowed the very words he was thinking to become actual sounds.

“Okay, here we go. Let’s see what all the fuss is about...”

Security problems.

They became issues real fast. Let one virus romp through your doors, and the rest ram their way through while the guard is dropped. It had been that way all morning. Candid cameras spiraling out of control on the walls, the danger room's doors springing wide open at the faintest whiff of a student, closed circuit TV surfing around between the girl's locker rooms and Days of Our Lives. The Iron Gates of the Mansion being open were but one of the many forceful setbacks keeping Shin from his afternoon snack.

Those few weeks of Computers Class with Miss Rawlie had been both boon and curse. While, on the one hand, they'd peacefully co-existed with his math studies, allowed him to mull over something aside from his Gameboy while his broken arm healed, and aided him in understanding the portal to another dimension we so aptly call "Windows", it had, on this shining occasion, drawn the second-in-line security head's attention towards him like the dot of a sniper's laser sight. Shin's excellence in computer coding had become a target on his chest!

It took all day for him to crush the virus and rid himself of the red bull's eye. Just in time for Domingo's graceful appearance, actually. The iron gates swung shut with a heartful CLANG as the Spaniard approached the front doors. Shin looked up from his keyboard at the security feed as it flickered back into being. Victory was sweet.

With a long, stretching, elegant yawn, Shin got up from a chair that felt more like an iron mold. He plucked his coat up off the rack, and made his way towards the kitchen.

The kitchen of everlasting BLT. He swung his leg forward towards luxurious lunch, and—

Fell off a precipice as a man’s voice zapped out his communicator.

“Shin, there’s a guy near the front doors. He slipped by the gates while security was down. Mind checking him out for me?”

“Do I have anything better to do?” Shin asked meekly as he picked himself up off the floor. All the victorious coding in the world (with a broken arm, no less), and Shin still didn’t get his lunch break.

No rest for the wicked, he supposed. That meant the good worked overtime.

~*~

“Hello, hello… what is the meaning of your visit today, friend?” The front doors of the mansion had swung open in front of the Spaniard. Shin stood there, tapping his foot. His coffee-stained cast crossed with his left arm dangerously. Oh, he totally could have been a cast-mancer with the ability to shoot beams of energy from bandages and gauze.

Just as Domingo had stepped through the gateway, the huge, heavy-looking iron gates had clanged shut behind him, in a spooky way reminiscent of popular modern horror movies when the door seems to shut by itself behind unsuspecting targets of doom. As the loud noise sounded behind him, Domingo jumped a little, stopped, and looked at the now closed gates. 'They've definitely realised somebody's here. I hope they don't think I'm some kind of crazed intruder or something...' Domingo wondered to himself whether there'd be a greeting party, armed with CS gas, tazer's and handcuffs. Yet again, his mind was in fantasy-land. He carried on up the driveway, his shoes trampling the small stones underfoot, the sound a satisfying crushing noise that reminded him of the driveway to his grandfather's house on the Mediterranean coast in Valencia, Spain...

Eventually, he arrived at the doors. They were a good twelve foot high, made of a good, thick wood, and looked like they could withstand a pretty strong force if needs be. A big, bold iron knocker, placed exactly in front of Domingo's nose, begged to be knocked, and as he reached out to use it, the impressive doors flew open dramatically in front of him. Domingo stepped back a little, to allow himself a larger scope to view who and/or what was inside. Standing there, and looking slightly, actually make that very unhappy that he'd had to leave whatever it was that he had been doing to answer the door, was a young man who looked similar in age to Domingo himself, maybe a bit older. Domingo summised him to be of Japanese origin, based on his looks and accent. He had a confident manner about him, and was dressed pretty smartly. The man had a definite air of cool, which brought out Domingo's own coolnes, or self-perceived lack of it.

"Er, hi there, I hope I haven't interrupted you from anything important..." Domingo stood there, standing sideways on, looking rather sheepish and unsure of himself. "This is Xavier's Insitute for Gifted Youngsters, isn't it? Its just I'm on a kind of er... well I guess you could call it a pilgrimage in a non-religious kinda way...! Anyway, I was hoping maybe I could talk to you, or to anybody really, about my own, er, gift... and how maybe I could use it.. I mean use myself.. I mean... basically I'd like to enrol."

His first bout of speech had not been a successfully delivered one. He'd stuttered his way through his brief monologue, and reprimanded himself in his head for sounding somewhat nervous. He was nervous, but he didn't want it to show, of course.

>>"Er, hi there, I hope I haven't interrupted you from anything important..."

Only a sandwich, Shin thought. His look of lackadaisical contempt eased severely as the boy continued his explanation. Cast-arm uncrossed with left limb, eventually dropping to Shin's side. Shin held his chin to consider the scenario presented.

>>"This is Xavier's Insitute for Gifted Youngsters, isn't it? Its just I'm on a kind of er... well I guess you could call it a pilgrimage in a non-religious kinda way...! Anyway, I was hoping maybe I could talk to you, or to anybody really, about my own, er, gift... and how maybe I could use it.. I mean use myself.. I mean... basically I'd like to enrol."

An applicant. Shin nodded coolly, and replied. "Yeah, this is the place. And I'm a greeter here. It's my job to welcome people to the mansion... usually, that involves letting them in." Shin offered the iron gates a scathing glance. "But this morning, a computer virus hindered security, soooo... sorry if I seemed kinda snappy a second ago. I was just a bit curious about the guy who slunk past security. Don't worry about it." A mirthful laugh slipped past Shin's guarded mask. He softened his mouth into a smile. "Sorry. So," he stepped out of the boy's way, and gestured for him to continue on into the mansion. "I guess I should offer you the tour, and answer any questions you have. Mind following me to the kitchen?"

Relieved that a smile had sprung onto the young resident's face, Domingo immediately relaxed his stance, feeling a bit more comfortable. It hadn't sprung to his mind until then that people would probbaly be knocking here pretty regularly, complete strangers following their own paths of self-fulfilment.

"Snappy? Hey, no don't worry about it, I was actually wondering why it seemed almost too easy to get in here. I've read about this place, its almost legendary back home. By the way, my name is Domingo, pleased to meet you." The Japanese guy with the cast on his arm turned and stepped aside to allow Domingo a better view of inside the large building. 'Letting me in? Tour? Wow, a warm welcome or what?! No wonder this guy is the greeter here!'[/i]

Domingo stepped into the house and closed the door behind him. His new acquaintance paced off in front of him, and Domingo followed, whilst his eyes meandered around the room in an interested and sincerely curious manner. He wondered just how many other mutants came here, lived here, and just how many different powers and abilities they could have. His eyes glowed as he walked through the house, its interior warm and inviting, little nuances of positivity seeped into his mind. His heart was full of wonderment, and he felt at ease and, strangely, remarkably comfortable considering he'd only just arrived. The place had an atmosphere about it, a kind of calming serenity that gave the young would-be adventurer a good feeling. Put simply, he liked the place.

By the time the pair arrived in the kitchen, Domingo had relayed in his head all the questions and queries he had built up over the last few days, even in the weeks and months previous to his arrival in the country. But one question sat at the forefront of his mind, and his curiosity once again got the better of him.

"So, tell me if its none of my business, but what did you do to your arm?"

>>"Snappy? Hey, no don't worry about it, I was actually wondering why it seemed almost too easy to get in here. I've read about this place, its almost legendary back home. By the way, my name is Domingo, pleased to meet you."

"Legendary? Us? I'll have to tell the bosses. They'll be pleased." Shin quipped. He paced ahead of Domingo, hands locked behind his back. The Asian momentarily considered this 'legendary' status.

Legendary? Maybe famous, but a legend? his mind reeled as he looked up at the chandelier on the ceiling. Shin had no idea their little mansion was so world-important that it was a legend. One of a kind? No more than one in-play at a time...? Then again, world class teachers, world class students... it made sense, he supposed.

Too much sense.

He jerked his thoughts away from Come Into Play rules to focus on the Spaniard.

"My name's Shin. It's short for my last name, Shinbo. First name, Tetsuya." Shin noted as he walked under the painting of Charles Xavier. His eyes tore up at it. "That is the founder of this sister school. Charles Xavier. Nice guy. I haven't met him, but he supports us with donations often."

The hallway swept long and magnificent ahead of them as Shin led the two to the kitchen. He walked in, opened up the fridge, and turned to regard Domingo.

>>"So, tell me if its none of my business, but what did you do to your arm?"

"Iced Peach tea?" Shin changed the subject. He pulled a pitcher out from the fridge door, and set it down on the table, then went for glasses. "Pull up a chair."

Shin. It was a cool name and very apt, Domingo had thought. On the way to the kitchen, Domingo had looked hard and instantly recognised the bald subject in the fantastic painting. 'A portrait of a genius,' the glowing-eyed Spaniard noted, after plenty of research and late nights reading up on stories of The X-Men on the 'net, he'd seen this face many a time. Into the kitchen, and Domingo's inquisitive, perhaps nosy, question had been met with an offer of a drink. Obviously this guy didn't want to talk about it, and Domingo quickly turned his attentions to the proposal of refreshment thrown his way.

Domingo's favourite drink in the whole world was a nice, hot cup of tea. White with two sugars. Unarguably, and inevitably, it was introduced by Domingo's mother shortly after the then-young family had made their home in the UK. Whilst the culture of their own country maintained itself in the foreign land, tea was a welcome addition, and it was integrated into the Spanish-twinged diet easily, enjoyed as much as it was. Domingo, though, didn't feel the request of a cup being made for him by Shin would go down too well, so he decided to take up the offer of Iced Peach tea instead.

"Sure, thank you," he replied, and sat himself down on the seat behind. "I suppose you get a few people turn up like this, strangers unannounced. So thanks for being cool and inviting me in and stuff." Domingo stopped for a second and decided to get to the point of his visit to the instantly and increasingly likeable Institute for Gifted Youngsters. "Okay, well basically I've been here in New York for little over a week. I came here looking for the place and the people that can help me with my 'gift.' This place, you people, you're revered by fellow mutants all over the world. All hail the beauty of the internet!" Domingo didn't want to go on one of his untimely sermons, so he stuck to the point. "I came all the way from London, after a bit of research over the last few months." He lied. It was a lot of research over the last two and a half years. But he didn't want to sound obsessive. He went on. "All the stories I've read about, how you guys fight to protect the name of mutants, preach of equality in society, its... inspirational, to say the least. I s'pose I want to be a part of something good. But more importantly, I guess I need help with my own abilities. I need to be around people who are going through the same things I'm going through. You know what I mean?" Domingo hoped what he'd said had made sense. He hoped it wasn't the same kind of spiel that many had said before. But it didn't matter at the end of the day. It was the truth.

>>"I suppose you get a few people turn up like this, strangers unannounced. So thanks for being cool and inviting me in and stuff."

"Mm, yeah. We get visitors all the time. Usually, they ring the gate's doorbell, or arrange an appointment. Not that drop-ins aren't encouraged. It's just that, for the security of the school we try and make sure our gates are locked. Doesn't stop flying mutants, though. One time, we had a gargoyle crash in through the second story window." He crashed his hand into his cast arm like 'kerplash'. Broken glass, property damage, and one very annoyed student. It was a wonder no one got hurt.

Shin paused to listen as Domingo told his tale.

>>Domingo stopped for a second and decided to get to the point of his visit to the instantly and increasingly likeable Institute for Gifted Youngsters. "Okay, well basically I've been here in New York for little over a week. I came here looking for the place and the people that can help me with my 'gift.' This place, you people, you're revered by fellow mutants all over the world. All hail the beauty of the internet!"

Revered. And legendary. Shin was starting to think Domingo had the wrong idea here. There was no deifying the mansion... they were good people, but nowhere near that good. He bit his lip.

>>"I came all the way from London, after a bit of research over the last few months. All the stories I've read about, how you guys fight to protect the name of mutants, preach of equality in society, its... inspirational, to say the least. I s'pose I want to be a part of something good. But more importantly, I guess I need help with my own abilities. I need to be around people who are going through the same things I'm going through. You know what I mean?"

Two from London in as many days. Strange. Shin wondered if Mark and Domingo knew each other, but shirked the thought in favor of another one. Preach? Certainly, they spoke for equality, and wanted to be inspirational, but preach? This overtly-religious language was worrying Shin. Not that there was anything wrong with religion, it was just that... well... hrm. Perhaps if he put his thoughts to words? "Yes." Er... he coughed into his fist. Weak start. "We do speak out on peaceful mutant-human coexistence, and equality. I'm not sure about the preaching part. To preach implies speaking from a position above others, doesn't it? And we, in no way, see ourselves as beyond. That's... kinda why we try and help everyone we can." Shin leaned in across the table to smile. His right arm rested on the table in its cast as some humble proof of his humanity. "We want to show others we're just as good as them... not that we think ourselves better. Speaking from a position above them, like some higher power? No... heaven forbid. But speaking humbly, as people with faith in others... and helping those that can't help themselves... that, we do. If you need help with your abilities, we can offer it. And I totally understand where you're coming from on the last part."

Shin set a glass of iced peach tea in front of Domingo with a smile, then took a sip of his own. "Drink your tea. It's getting lukewarm."

Shin replied to Domingo's mini-ramble whilst the young Spaniard listened intently.

>>"We do speak out on peaceful mutant-human coexistence, and equality. I'm not sure about the preaching part. To preach implies speaking from a position above others, doesn't it?"

"Well, I s'pose it does in a way. Perhaps I was speaking from more of a political viewpoint..." Domingo trailed off quietly as Shin went on.

>>"And we, in no way, see ourselves as beyond. That's... kinda why we try and help everyone we can."

Domingo nodded along to what he perceived to be complete modesty. But then, a thought ran through his head that hadn't ever before. 'But we're mutants. Homo Superior. In many ways we are beyond the rest of humanity...'

>>"We want to show others we're just as good as them... not that we think ourselves better. Speaking from a position above them, like some higher power? No... heaven forbid. But speaking humbly, as people with faith in others... and helping those that can't help themselves... that, we do. If you need help with your abilities, we can offer it. And I totally understand where you're coming from on the last part."

The thought that had come into Domingo's mind was forgotten after he heard the rest of what Shin had to say. He realised that here was a young man, a modest model of his own environment, and someone who may not have realised that by helping others who can't help themselves he and his fellow X-Men were actually acting in what many in this world would perceive as saintly?

"On the subject of religion, I was brought up a strict Catholic, but, how can a creature of evolution ever believe, that the world began with Adam and Eve?!" Domingo smiled as he said this, he thought he'd display his poetic humour in an effort to neutralise the tone of the conversation. He hadn't wanted to come across as over-zealous, it was just that he looked up at the people he had read so much about, and truly thought of them in a most sincere way.

"I apologise if I got over excited, but you people and the work you do is special and the rest of the mutant world is watching and admiring. That much is true." He hoped he'd spoken in a more considerate manner, a more grown up way. He was after all, eighteen years old, and still possibly had a wild imagination. But his mind was also full of things that Domingo didn't yet understand, or even perceive, deep in his subconscious.

"Well, the most important thing to me is to find a way to hone what abilities I might have. I want to learn how to master them, however I can." Domingo leaned in slightly towards Shin. "May I ask, what are your own?"

>>"On the subject of religion, I was brought up a strict Catholic, but, how can a creature of evolution ever believe, that the world began with Adam and Eve?!"

A quick intake of breath passed Shin's lips as he contemplated this. Religion... was not his strong suit. His strong suit was more the realm of science and mathematics. Things one could attempt to prove, or disprove, based on tenuous tenements of one's perception of reality. "Religion and science aren't at odds. At least, not where the theory of evolution is concerned..." Shin started. Started strong, he thought. And then he kept speaking, and rambled. "I mean, when Darwin first addressed the scientific community with his hypothesis, that would later become the theory of evolution, he did his best to avoid bringing religion into the conversation, but did not completely admonish others for it... and to think Adam and Eve were the first humans might be a bit hasty... um... I dunno, actually. Sorry. I'm really, really, not an expert on religion."

And kept talking.

"Many thinkers during the Enlightenment actually went out of their way in creating a concept of religion that would avoid any conflict with science. Deism, what they created, tried to establish the belief in a 'Clockwork Creator' who set the laws of the universe in motion at one point in time, made everything run smoothly, and then stepped back to admire his work... one that does not meddle in the affairs of mortals," for they are crunchy, and good with ketchup, "but rather, has a plan for the universe that is not altered either by his own intervention in the affairs of human life, or by suspending the natural laws of the universe. Which, in-turn, would allow scientists to look upon God's wondrous creation with a new sense of awe, for he created all, and set the laws in motion... leaving up plenty of scientific miracles to discover" Shin cleared his throat, pressing his cast against his chest. "A view I can respect, even if I do not personally believe... I mean, there's wonder in all things. Right? To chalk it all up to God's majesty is fair game, and for any good scientist with this belief, discovering the way the world works beyond the handwave of faith is perfectly reasonable. So, Darwin..."

...And kept talking...

"Would probably say that Man, capital M, came about over a great amount of time, through countless couplings spurred on by natural selection, wherein those that got lucky got lucky, and those that didn't, didn't pass on their genetic materials. And that we probably didn't start out exactly as we are today, but that species go through a process of descent with modification that inevitably leads to either dead ends, evolution, or... extinction." He coughed into his fist. "Which, I suppose, was your point... and I just ranted on and on about an unrelated thing... Sorry." A nervous scratching of the neck followed copious amounts of unneeded dialogue.

"As far as religion goes, my personal belief is that the general messages the bible sends are of forgiveness and hope for understanding... and faith in one's fellow man, and for something beyond this physical realm... but that if we delve too far into the literal, we miss the bigger picture, and it's far easier to live a good life, treat others the way one would like to be treated, and forgive than worry about creation myths and their effects on the world today."

And continued rambling after apologizing for rambling. Shin cleared his throat, and smiled. "And that's all I have to say about that!"

That was all? It was a lot.

>>"I apologise if I got over excited, but you people and the work you do is special and the rest of the mutant world is watching and admiring. That much is true."

"I... apologize too!" Eheh. He scratched the back of his head with his cast.

>>"Well, the most important thing to me is to find a way to hone what abilities I might have. I want to learn how to master them, however I can."

Shin nodded into a sip of peach tea.

>>"May I ask, what are your own?"

And nearly spat up. He cleared his throat again, pounding his chest, set the glass down.

"I control razor-sharp triangular barriers with my mind. I can arrange them in shapes, move objects with them, and... um... play Pong." He glanced around for a ping pong ball to display his prowess with. Upon finding no such element, he raised his cast arm to the ceiling above him, and focused on forming a pyramid out of triangles on the cast's tippy tip. Five 3" peach triangles floated up to wrap themselves in the shape. Then they lowered to the tabletop in front of Domingo. Shin opened his eyes to admire his work as it hung. A little spinning action, perhaps? Ah, there we go. It started to rotate. "Well, what do you think?"

>>"Sorry. I'm really, really, not an expert on religion."

Domingo's eyebrows raised at this. As the enigmatic and super-modest young chap in front of him made his well thought out highly intelligent points, Domingo sat and took it all in, as if he was thirteen and in Religion & Philosophy class once again. A class he had enjoyed, it must be said.

>>"As far as religion goes, my personal belief is that the general messages the bible sends are of forgiveness and hope for understanding... and faith in one's fellow man, and for something beyond this physical realm... but that if we delve too far into the literal, we miss the bigger picture, and it's far easier to live a good life, treat others the way one would like to be treated, and forgive than worry about creation myths and their effects on the world today."

"I comply wholeheartedly with that," Domingo replied, with a nod of agreeance. He loved these discussions, hearing other people views on the world around him. Back home, he'd only really gotten into these kind of conversations with good friends after a few pints. He liked Shin's forthrightedness, and began to look up to him as somebody who would be the perfect role-model for any young mutants coming to stay and live at the Institute. This Tetsuya Shinbo was a pretty cool guy. The little display that was to follow confirmed such thoughts in Domingo's mind.

As Shin nearly choked on his peach tea at the question of his own powers, the mansion's visitor jumped and sat bolt upright on his seat. His eyes widened hoping that he hadn't asked too much of Shin, once again, as his question about the cast earlier had obviously been none of Domingo's business. But Shin seemed open to talk, even show the Spanish teenager exactly what his abilities entailed.

>>"I control razor-sharp triangular barriers with my mind. I can arrange them in shapes, move objects with them, and... um... play Pong." He glanced around for a ping pong ball to display his prowess with. Upon finding no such element, he raised his cast arm to the ceiling above him, and focused on forming a pyramid out of triangles on the cast's tippy tip. Five 3" peach triangles floated up to wrap themselves in the shape. Then they lowered to the tabletop in front of Domingo. Shin opened his eyes to admire his work as it hung. A little spinning action, perhaps? Ah, there we go. It started to rotate. "Well, what do you think?"

"That is amazing!" Domingo was truly mesmerised as the five triangles span in front of him. "That is truly original. I haven't seen anything like that before. How did you discover that you could do this?" The Spaniard, whose own ability he could not control half as well as Shin's performance proved his own prowess, marveled for a moment before he looked toward his new acquaintance.

"I'd love to be able to have that much control over my own powers, problem is, I hardly know where to start. I mean, I've learnt how to levitate to a degree, and I know that I can attract objects, people, hot, steaming cups of tea, but with that much control, uh uh." Perhaps Shin would be a good teacher, Domingo thought...

Relief! It was good. Shin had worried his longwinded speech on evolution and religion had been misplaced, and might have offended the Spaniard. But nope, it looked like Domingo actually enjoyed the philosophical/scientifical/religious discussion on the basis of morals within a book. Shin made a mental note of that. It was good they could see eye-to-eye on that matter. More and more, Domingo was shaping up to be an upstanding individual with strong moral values. Strong moral values were welcomed at the Mansion, and preferred greatly over weak ones wielded by strong mutants.

"I'm glad we agree. So, you like talking philosophy?" Maybe they'd start a book club. Good discussions were hard to come by sometimes.

And Domingo even liked his little display. The pyramid flipped so the point faced downwards, then pointed it horizontally, and let it spin like the needle of a compass. "I discovered it when my life was in danger. It's kinda sad how those sorts of scenarios are the most prevalent among mutants, huh?" He replied openly. There wasn't really much need to hide the fact he'd been attacked, was there? Honestly was the best policy... honesty, and avoidance.

>>"I'd love to be able to have that much control over my own powers, problem is, I hardly know where to start. I mean, I've learnt how to levitate to a degree, and I know that I can attract objects, people, hot, steaming cups of tea, but with that much control, uh uh." Perhaps Shin would be a good teacher, Domingo thought...

Shin nodded. "It takes a lot of practice to get as good at controlling one's power as I am with mine. It took a lot of blood, sweat, and tears... at least, that's how the saying goes. I could certainly try my hand at helping you... if you can keep up with my training sessions, that is. What, exactly, is it you do?" Levitation... attracting objects, those sounded oddly unrelated.

Domingo relaxed as it seemed Shin did the same. Intelligent conversation was a virtue that Domingo enjoyed, and he sat there now felling less formal, and quite contented with his peach tea, which he noted was actually really good.

>>"I'm glad we agree. So, you like talking philosophy?"

"Yes, well I suppose it comes from many debates I've had in school and at home, with teachers and parents. Growing up in a strict religious household like I did, and not agreeing with what is taught as the gospel truth, always led to disagreements to do with religion. But as I've gotten older, I've learned something important... to live and let live. People can believe what they want to, and that includes me." The young Spaniard sipped the refreshing drink in his hand, licking his lips with every drop. "This is really good..." he added, as Shin spoke.

>>"It takes a lot of practice to get as good at controlling one's power as I am with mine. It took a lot of blood, sweat, and tears... at least, that's how the saying goes. I could certainly try my hand at helping you... if you can keep up with my training sessions, that is. What, exactly, is it you do?"

Domingo thought for a second of how to describe his own abilities. And then decided on explaining them the same way he had tried explaining them so many times before to those who had enquired. "Well, I somehow have this strange ability to attract objects to me, sort of gravitationally. It works when it wants to, and its strength varies, it seems to depend on how much stress I'm experiencing or what emotion I'm feeling. It can be pretty scary, to be honest." Domingo wasn't kidding. The amount of times objects had flown uncontrollably toward him and hitting him, sometimes painfully, had been far too many to count. He had the bruises to prove it.

"Also, I can be near to something and if I concentrate really hard, gravity doesn't affect it anymore, it just floats weightless, until I touch it again and it falls to the ground. And this includes my own body. This is the first thing I leant how to do, and is the only thing I've really got to grips with, to be honest." At that, he stood up, and narrowed his eyes as if in deep concentration. A little hop off his feet, and slowly but surely, he began to move off the ground, and float up.

"Its hard to control, but I can increase and reduce how gravity affects me, thus enabling me to move up and down." His head was now touching the ceiling above, and so he snapped out of his levitation display, dropping down to the floor below.


"Well, I'd love to be trained in how to get better, do you think you could help?"

>>"Yes, well I suppose it comes from many debates I've had in school and at home, with teachers and parents. Growing up in a strict religious household like I did, and not agreeing with what is taught as the gospel truth, always led to disagreements to do with religion. But as I've gotten older, I've learned something important... to live and let live. People can believe what they want to, and that includes me."

"Totally agree. And that's the good thing about personal philosophies. If you want to believe one thing, then do so. If you wanna believe another, great! So long as you aren't interfering with the way others live their life, or causing anyone harm, terrific. Y'know?"

>>"This is really good..." he added, as Shin spoke

Shin nodded. "Ms. Dumonde is a really good cook. She's the one who prepares most of the food in the kitchens."

He paused and listened as Domingo gave a more thorough description of what exactly his power was. Gravity... a potent ability, to be sure. The fact stress affected it worried Shin a tad. They'd have to work on that. "Could you float me?" Shin asked, point blank as Domingo finished speaking. "Because that'd be pretty cool." Like what he was doing now, with the levitating. That was very cool."Like I said earlier, I'm willing to help."

>> "Could you float me?" Shin asked, point blank as Domingo finished speaking. "Because that'd be pretty cool."

"Float you?" Domingo pondered. He'd never actually 'floated' a person before, nobody had ever asked him that question. He'd only really tried it on inanimate objects, smaller items like books and remote control's, anything that he could hold in his hands. The amount of time it would take to transfer his power onto Shin enough for him to be able to float the young Japanese mutant into the air would inevitably be longer than anything he'd affected before.

"I guess I could try, but it might take some time to get you to float. Domingo looked down at his hands, and made up his mind that he wanted to try. He stood up straight and performed a strange array of streches, as if he was preparing to throw a javelin, or some other sport that involved the loosening of ones limbs to avoid injury. "I don't know why I'm doing this..." he muttered, as he realised how absurd he might look and lowered his arms to his sides with a half-smile on his face.

"Okay, you want to give it a go then? If it works, you'll be immune to gravity's effects until I kind of apply them back to you, so you'll float around weightlessly like you're orbiting Earth on some space-station or something! Its pretty cool, well I used to think so, waking up every morning upside down, floating around my bedroom and not in the comfort and warmth of my bed kind of kills the enjoyment factor, y'know?!"