The teenager who once proclaimed to be the future ruler of the world, dominating the nations as if they were nothing, unifying the world into a single nation that praise and acknowledge him as the undisputed greatness, that child who once believed to be invincible, able to achieve anything now could not even walk without breaking his legs. He was dying (to say he was doing it slowly for a more dramatic touch would be absurd) Suddenly a disease gripped his bones, maybe a well known disease. But in Fausto, the disease was attacking in a voracious way. Could it be a punishment for all the times he had left his gluttony govern? Would it be such a punishment for all he had eaten? Because now his body quickly began to eat his own bones, with no reason, it denied its strength by making them a little more resistant than glass. A joke of fate, the child who once could eat anything right now could not keep his own body from devouring the calcium of his bones.

How did this happen? The peculiar couple asked again and again. The couple accompanied him everywhere since the last concert. She was an American millionaire, he was a exiled Japanese. Obviously Fausto could not answer this.
They looked good together, they seemed to be very happy, but that happiness only saddened him more. Why he could not have who he want? He did not have a "partner" even when he had a fiancée, even her left him alone... Who wants to be with someone who can burn her lips?

A thought constantly assaulted him, if someone did not cure the disease that would be his last concert, his last visit to the school created by Slate. It felt very comfortable with these guys, they reminded about himself and how he also had found a place to return where he felt safe.
Which other place other than the mansion could save him? No one else would know how to treat his disease. Whatever was happening, Doc Prof would know how to cure him or at least inform him about it.

He hated his wheelchair, he even thought he hated it more than any villain, even more than the one that attacked Katrina. How would she felt when ...? He did not want her to see how he was in his state of mind. Anyone who look at him could never guess this guy used to be happy and cheerful. But even if he put efforts to smile he could not achieve hope.

He was terrified to stand up. He feared that if he stand up would end breaking more bones of his legs, which were already with plaster cast. His bones could not even bear the weight of his thin body... So he was sentenced to his wheelchair, he must wait Takumi to take him from side to side. He was so quiet, tied to the chair, unable to do anything on his own. He felt so oppressed. He enjoyed taking walks, running,jumping around.Now he could not even stand.
To make matters worse, her mother did not even want to be near him, she justified that saying her good luck could bring very bad luck to him.

The familiar voice of his friend brought him back to reality, they were in front of the mansion, he was kindly giving some data requested through the communicator while Cielle looked impatiently toward the interior of the residence like begging them to hurry up to provide him assistance. A moment later the mechanic gate was moving aside to let them go in.

Sveta was at the Mansion to pick up Jude. She liked this new responsibility; it came with some walking, and traveling on the subway (with the occasional roach mutant here and there), and visiting the Mansion. Now that she was more comfortable with her powers, she didn't feel as nervous at the school as she used to be. She was actually starting to like the place.
She arrived early today; school was not out for another hour or so, but she was here anyway, walking on the Mansion grounds. It was chilly outside, despite the sunny weather, and she was wrapped in a winter coat, gloves, a scarf, and a knitted hat with a pompom on it. She was also wearing boots. Her breath formed little white puffs in front of her face.
She heard the gates open, and she turned around to see who arrived. At first, she didn't recognize any of the three people; then, as they came closer to the Mansion building, she saw the one in the chair.

"Fausto?..."

She hadn't seen her ex-fiancé since she left the Mansion; he was away, or so she'd heard. She didn't know all that much about him to begin with, especially because most of what she knew was a lie; he was just one of the guys she was not really lucky with. But at least in his case it was not his fault.
Still, seeing him in a wheelchair shocked her.

"Fausto!" she called out, walking over to them "Vat happened?..."

He almost smiled when he heard his name,that familiarity was a lifesaver for him in the ocean where he was fighting, that strange ocean that caused an strange disease. It was good to be back where his familiar things where, all the people he meet, the streets of New York, his adoptive home, the mansion and all his acquaintances.
His sight that was lost in his own thoughts came back to the real world with a little curiosity shinning in his black eyes, all the muscles in his face struggled to keep that little smile.
But when realized the source of his smile he stopped. It was her with that silly imitation of love. Causing the sensation of life and energy, tricking people.
If only his love were there to show her how it should feel. Where was Katrina? What about the little lizard?

"It's what I want to know." He answered bitterly to the girl who approached him, she seemed really worried about him, but he could not find a more friendly tone with which to respond. He was sad and angry, he did not understand how that was happening. Fausto preferred not to meet anyone at the moment ... and of all the people in New York he had to meet with her. Why her? Both had been involved in lies, no one knew anything about the other. More than a few minor details, which made him very uncomfortable around her. "Do you blame her for your mother's lies?" He said No with his head in a very slow movement. "She was trying to do the right thing..." then again the answer was there. "The worst things are done with the best intentions."

He looked back at her. Memories. Isn't there any way to turn back time? When he have not that disease affecting his bones ... "Hello ..." He was not sure about what name he should pronounce, so he let the silence fill the space of her name, he did not even bother to add what came next quickly in order to avoid the gap. "How have you been?" The child asked in the same tone drenched in melancholy and resignation in a slow way he has never used before. He no longer shoot words like a machine gun quickly,happily and noisy like he used to do. The question was just for courtesy, he lacked a minimum interest in the answer.
Takumi was still with his hands in the wheelchair and looked at intervals to Cielle and Sveta, with which they exchanged nervous smiles. Neither one liked to see their friend in that state, but she suffered the most for him, she felt responsible for him, perhaps as an older sister or some distant relative. All three had many things in common, the absence of fathers was one of them.

>>"It's what I want to know."

Sveta bit her lips. He looked like hell. Was he sick? Or depressed? Has something happened to him?
Probably. He was not like the person she remembered, even after their engagement went to hell, he was never like that. He looked fragile. Broken. And apparently, he didn't know what was wrong.

>>"Hello ... How have you been?"

"I have been okay" she nodded, just to keep the conversation going; the couple behing Fausto was giving her strange looks. "I do not live here anymore, it is safer for people. I live with Maya and Sebastian."

She figured he'd know them. Or, at least, one of them. They seemed to know a lot of people from the Mansion.

"Where have you..." she started to ask, but noticed the look on his face, and how cold it was outside "... let's go in, it's cold." she said "Are you going to DocProf?"

A threat ... she did not looked like a threat for him but as a liar. Both where liars .Although what she did to Katrina and the rest of those who saw the illusion enhanced by her power could be considered like a threat but she could be useful. Is a big risk if she touch the wrong person...
Fausto repeated his name with melancholy. "Sebastian ... it was a nice wedding..." He remembered the marriage between them, it was so cute ... He could even walk and had fun at the party ... Katrina was there ...

"Yes, please take me with him." His eyes focused on her, prayed with his whole being for her to help him. "I am useless. I need you ..." The depressed singer hope she would agree to help even after what his mother did. "... Help me. Touch DocProf, help him fix my bones." Cielle took the hand of her boyfriend quickly when she heard that, she did not want to witness that more. "Then we are going to my house, perhaps my father could start a investigation to see if he Could find something of that ... that Illness. Ok?" Fausto nodded answering her. The Japanese boy was quiet, he just take her hand and let her carry him Outside the mansion. They took the first taxi that appeared.

>>"Sebastian ... it was a nice wedding..."

So, he did know them. There was a connection. It felt good; Sveta felt a little bit closer to the Mansion people again. Not completely in a different world.

>>"Yes, please take me with him. I am useless. I need you... Help me. Touch DocProf, help him fix my bones."

"Okay" Sveta nodded, still shocked at the change. Fausto was asking for help; he was broken. He didn't look anything like he did almost a year ago when he picked her up at the airport.

>>"Then we are going to my house, perhaps my father could start a investigation to see if he Could find something of that ... that Illness. Ok?"

The couple left them alone. Sveta blinked, as they walked away, then turned back to Fausto. They haven't been alone since... well.

"All right" she said, taking over the wheelchair and pushing it towards the Mansion. Thank God it was accessible. "So, that is it den? You are sick?" she asked timidly, looking at him over his shoulder "Dat is why you were away?" she asked, then smiled a little bit "I thought it was me..."

He hurried to answer when she said that. "It was not like that ... sorry." That was not his intention when he left, things were not right, and may have been misinterpreted those reasons. A smile crossed his face, he was more comfortable knowing that she would help him because DocProf never seen to be unable to heal someone whatever was the problem. And knowing that someone like her could increase his power to heal was splendid, he was quiet but above all with a lot of hope along with so much anxiety. He just need to go to the infirmary.

His words accelerated, because if he continued his previous mood would not get that talk finished before arriving to the infirmary. But his sad tone did not change.
"I went on a tour with the band, with the two that just left ... we did a long stop to visit some friends." In Colombia.The school Slate created. "I returned because of the illness, if someone can heal me, is here, i did not know where to go."

"Something is going on with my bones, I can not even stand without breaking my legs ... probably if I try to use my arms to move the wheelchair may end ..." He swallowed saliva, now he depend on someone to do anything. He was no longer independent, no longer free. "... with broken bones too. It must be a disease, it is that, and he would heal it." His voice sounded insanely convinced that someone like DocProf, that he could cure with his mutation. Fausto even started to speed up his speech while talking about his hope, waiting for her to think like him and support his theory.

>>"It was not like that ... sorry."

"That's good" Sveta smiled; she was glad he didn't leave because of her. He didn't turn out to be the importan person in her life she expected, but she still didn't want him to hate her. The things that happened to them were not their fault.

>>"Something is going on with my bones, I can not even stand without breaking my legs ... probably if I try to use my arms to move the wheelchair may end ... with broken bones too. It must be a disease, it is that, and he would heal it."

"You will be fine" she promised with a smile "He can heal everything. And if he can't, I can always kiss him, to make his powers stronger." she added with a chuckle. It was a weid thought, kissing DocProf. He was always so grumpy. But nice.
"It is good you came home" she added after some thought, as she pushed the wheelchair down the hallway, towads the Infirmary "It is safe here..."

That was surely a strange and disturbing picture, he had never known of any form of romance around DofProf, he seemed to be married with his job, he was always alone and did not have much free time to have a romance, the residents of the mansion do his job more complicated not leaving enough time for him to rest. In rare occasions the infirmary was empty, and when it was someone get hurt quickly.
According to rumors the doctor was only in love with drinks, but that was just a rumor and if it was true he had never failed to work because of alcohol.
"Is certainly good to be at home again. I like to be back here but also it makes me a little sad to remember what i used to be able to do and so now I can not. " The melancholy was his shadow, and he could not get away from his shadow ... at least not until he could get enough light to clear all or darkness enough for that melancholy to be nothing at all.

The idea of these two kissing came to his mind. The idea gave him back a bit of his old humor, it was really good to be at home. Was it a smile that hint at his face?
"If my mutation were not this dangerous ... would you kiss me?"
Almost instantly after saying that his face was as red as a tomato, it was a lot of time since he blushed like that, well he did not say something that stupid in a lot of time too . But he said it so casually that it was difficult even for him to realized who said it. He did not realize it until he noticed it was his own voice what he heard and it escaped from his quick tongue.

>>"If my mutation were not this dangerous ... would you kiss me?"

Sveta leaned forwards a bit to glance at his face over his shoulder; he still sounded sad, or melancholic, but that question was more than half of a joke. She smirked, and shook her head.

"No." she paused, then chuckled a bit "If your mutation was not dangerous, I would be married to you."

Becasuse that was the original plan. If she hadn't turned out to be a mutant, and of he... whatever. It didn't happen like that, and t was not their fault. But it was good, being able to joke about it now, almost a year later.

"I am just kidding. My mutation is dangerous, not yours." she said with a smirk "Kissing is not dat important anyway. Dere are other things."

Ever since her latest boyfriend up and vanished, Sveta was starting to think one could spend her time in many better ways than kissing. Or dealing with guys in any way.

"Here we go" she smiled, opening the door to the Infirmary "Let's get you healed."

The doctor was at his workplace, alone. As the teenager had announced when the infirmary was empty someone appear to keep him busy. It seemed as if he was hoping that someone come there. "Hi Fausto, i will not make the mistake of asking how are you." He smiled gently proud of his joke, and approached him for further inspection. Did he always do things so slowly? Anxiety devoured him from inside, all he wanted was to tell him if he could cure him or not. If he could return him to his former life. Although DocProf was not the only hope, but he was the most accessible, because ... the other option was to talk with his boss. Who knows what he was doing. "Should i ...?" Fausto nodded and the doctor began to remove the plaster casts out of his legs, after a while he finished. Then he began to heal, as always a glow came off of his hand , a light that caused in the patient a welcome sense of warmth, it felt so good, like being near a fire in winter but not so close to burn, or a hot breakfast on a cold day. It was a nice feeling.

As his hands provided the energy to heal, his mind recorded the illness or injury, in this case the broken bones ... he saw how Fausto jumped out of an innocent height of a scenario, it was impossible to have broken bones that way ... but his skills never lied to him, unlike his patients. The healing process and the doctor stood up, in his face you could see that he did not quite understand what was happening. "Let me try again ... to see if I see the cause of the disease now that the broken bones are fixed." He did it again, this time with the problem in the surface fixed, then in his mind appeared the root of the problem. His hands glow brightly for a second, much brighter than before and the warmth turned into an almost scorching heat. Fausto waited. After a few seconds it all ended, but the doctor still had in his face worried look. "I could fix the fracture, but I could not stop the cause for is natural... and probably chronic." Fausto glared at him with a murderous gaze trying to oblige him to continue, to go straight to the problem. He seemed to notice his eyes because he looked away and continue rapidly accelerating his speech. "Your bones are losing calcium at an alarming rate, it should not start happening until you reach an advanced age, and in that case would not stand so suddenly and so strongly, it would be a slow and steady problem... not quickly and brutal ..." He went to his desk, opened the drawers and looked for a card with the medical data of the adolescent. DocProf review the technical data of his mutation, which was recorded since he entered the mansion. The pills did not seem a good choice, everything that touched his saliva would be destroyed, it was not clear how it works to ensure that the pill would fulfill his goal ... but it was good to try. "I will give you some pills of calcium. I can not let you go in the state. Please use the wheelchair until you are better. If the pills do nothing, i will double the doses, but it is a risky doses for a human right now... "

>>"I could fix the fracture, but I could not stop the cause for is natural... and probably chronic. Your bones are losing calcium at an alarming rate, it should not start happening until you reach an advanced age, and in that case would not stand so suddenly and so strongly, it would be a slow and steady problem... not quickly and brutal ..."

Sveta watched DocProf as he healed the fractues; that was a good start. The few times she'd seen him work, it always gave her a sense of comfort - if he was near, things usually got better.
Not this time though.
She looked at Fausto as Doc explained to him what was wrong, and that his powers couldn't really help. He looked disappointed. Sad. He'd just been told he'd have to spend his time in the wheelchair...

>> "I will give you some pills of calcium. I can not let you go in the state. Please use the wheelchair until you are better. If the pills do nothing, i will double the doses, but it is a risky doses for a human right now... "

Sveta sighed as she sat next to them and listened.

"Maybe... if I helped you?" she asked timidly "If you had stronger powers, could you help him?..."

His words at the beginning were an incomprehensible babble, he could not articulate the words he needed, but when his anger took control of his tongue the words jumped out of it in an angry cry of despair. "What do you say? Do your job, fix me." If he were not afraid of breaking more of his bones he would not stay that quiet, .Useless, Fausto and the doctor. They were both useless. DocProf did not say any word in response.

It was not his fault, he was just a stupid doctor. Fausto needed to ask someone who knew how to really do his work ... Would Slate heal him? He surely could, but... after so long without reporting to his job ... after so many times that he preferred his common life rather than to live by arranging the world that offered Slate ...
The anger was still strongly attached to him, and their requests could not be more than orders. "No, you are not doing that...Get me out of here. I do not want to keep watching this useless doctor... " Unfortunately, the instinct was in control of him. And he no longer had the strength to resist and smile.

>>"No, you are not doing that...Get me out of here. I do not want to keep watching this useless doctor... "

"It's okay" Sveta nodded, glancing at DocProf; he was probably used to this, his patienst being angry, and he knew Fausto just needed time to come to terms with the situation. He nodded to Sveta, and she pushed the wheelchair out of the Infirmary.

"I take you back to your room okay?" she asked him quietly "We can talk there. Doc is not the only healer I know. I am sure we can figure this out." she added with an encouraging smile as she walked down the corridor with him, towards his room. She felt a bit weird. She didn't really know how to comfort people, or how to be helpful; Maya would have been better than that, or Miss Taylor, even. Yes, here she was, with her ex-fiancé who was seriously ill, and she was the one who was there to look after him. She did not expect that to happen. But he was a nice guy, and didn't deserve to be sick.