Hank looked at Isabel a bit sideways while she described, as best she could, about the x gene and mutants. He got it, he understood it, but at the same time, he didn't. 'Genes are DNA right? And DNA is what makes us..us....' "So...are mutants all born like this, with the x gene thing? Or is it like the Ninja Turtles and we just, ya know...mutated 'cuz of some toxic stuff?" He looked at Isabel while saying it, but looked at Kyle when he finished. They both seemed to know what they all were.

Hank didn't really know what Kyle meant by ability, but it was a fair guess that both he and Isabel had one, apparently. If the x gene was a cosmetic type thing, then really what could it do besides make you look a little or a lot different. Hank looked like a monster basically, and dude with no legs, was like a blob. 'Kind of like Clayface when he can't pull himself together.'

It was a little disturbing to watch the blob mess around with his body, if it could be called that. His arms seemed to be playing a weird game of....something. They didn't seem to want to stay. Hank was struck with the odd desire to light a match and put it next to the guy. Not to be mean, but he kind of looked like a blob of oil and everyone knows oil is flammable. Before he could think about the idea too much, the guy started pushing his hands into his face, or that's kind of what it looked like. Until words came out rather clearly.

"Niiiiice Shane!" He offered the guy a high five. Sometimes the greatest form of praise a kid can get, a high five. In Hank's case, it was really more like a high four, but really, same difference.

"I can move my bones any way I want," Isabel replied to Kyle's question. Most of the time such a revelation seemed to make people queasy. Anything that dealt with the interior of the human body tended to do that. Demonstrations even more so. The staff at the facility had never appreciated that. The newer employees especially got very jittery the first time they saw a spike slide out of her skin. The temper tantrums that usually followed probably didn't help. But it was always their fault anyway.

She gave a smile as what turned out to be 'Shane' seemed to have finally found his mouth. At least now they could communicate with him better, instead of treating him like some kind of oddity or speaking to him like he was a small child because they couldn't understand him. She liked it better that way. It always had irritated he when people were treated differently because they looked strange. "Nice to meetcha, Shane."

Shifting her attention back to Hank, she listened quietly as he asked more questions that she hoped she'd be able to answer. "You're born with it, like people are born with red hair. At least, that's what I've read. I didn't step in anything toxic before I found out I was a mutant." According to her searches, she'd actually been an oddity in her manifestation because of how young she was. Kids were usually a lot older when their X-gene kicked in. Looking at the group as a whole, except maybe for the inky mutie, then they'd all gotten the young end of the mutant stick.

"Bones? That's...wicked! Can you make them, like, come out of your skin? Or just shift them around inside?"

Kyle could barely contain his enthusiasm over the situation. Sure, he was in a strange place, surrounded by people he'd never seen before and all of them were mutants it seemed. But worrying oneself silly over the matter wouldn't help the matter; remaining positive and calm would. Well, he was managing to keep positive at least.

Each of these three other mutants had abilities that were clearly defined; Shane with his...blob form, Hank with his lizard appearance and now Isabel with her bone shifting ability. That left Kyle, who had only learned about his mutant heritage the other day. Kyle wasn't even sure what his power was, save from what he could guess. He didn't get tired easily, so maybe something that had to do with his body?

Kyle was stirred from his musing by a familiar voice. It took Kyle a second to place it, until he realized the voice was Shane's, only without the gurgling sound that seemed to have come with his vocals from the start. Turning to Shane, Kyle choked out a surprised laugh at what he saw; Shane now had two, if but funky looking, arms and had shoved them down what Kyle assumed to be his mouth. Apparently that had helped to clear the blob man's mouth and Kyle was next in line to attempt a high five with Shane after Hank.

"That's the spirit! See, everything's not as bad as it seems."

Kyle glanced to Isabel and Hank after, who continued their discussion about how mutants came about. When they were done speaking, Kyle added in his own knowledge to the pot. "Far as I know, neither have I. I was at the doctor's the other day and after he tested my blood work, the doctor said that the X-gene was found in my blood. So what Isabel is saying seems to be the truth.

Alright, so we've learned who we are and what we have in common. Now how about finding out where we are, why we're here and how we got here? Anyone disagree?"

The two other boys threw up their arms for high fives, and Shane excitedly tossed his good arm out to accept them both. There was a moment right before he made contact with the big lizard where he wasn’t entirely sure if he was going to stick to the poor guy, but he was quite pleased to see that wasn’t the case. This really was his skin now. He’d have probably been more bummed out by that if the high fives weren’t happening.

Then the boy, Kyle, started talking about trying to figure out where they were, and Shane couldn’t agree with him more. The strangeness of the place had sort of washed over him up until this point, completely overshadowed by his own appearance. He’d hardly noticed he wasn’t in his house, but the truth was becoming apparent quickly now, and he was ready to start panicking.

“Ya, I really want to go home now.” Shane started, trying to act brave. “Do any of you know where we are?” His eyes started scanning around the room to look for any kind of clues that might help, but it was just a pretty regular looking hallway. “I’ve never seen this place before.”

He started playing with his hands, molding them into different shapes, both hand-like and otherwise. It was calming, so he kept it up. He was really nervous now. He’d never really been anywhere without his parents other then school, but that was only a few minutes from where he lived. He didn’t like being outside of his comfort zone.

“We should see if we can find a grown up.” He added, quietly.

Hank was still unsure about the whole mutant thing, but Isabel and Kyle were at least knowledgeable enough to put his mind to rest somewhat. Looking at the three before speaking a bit sheepishly, "Well...to be honest, I don't know if I want to find any adults." He turned his eyes to the floor. He was sure they were looking at him oddly. "What I mean is...," Hank cleared his throat, which sounded almost like a growl, "I don't know if we could trust them. Think about it. We weren't here before, but we suddenly woke up here right? I don't think it was any kids like us that did it. Why would they, ya know?"

Looking up again, "Do any of you know how long it's been since we were taken and put here? I sure don't. The room I woke up in was almost bare except for all the marks on the walls, floor and ceiling. I'm guessing I put them there, I mean, they kinda looked like claw marks." Hank put a hand over his belly as he felt it rumble. "I dunno about you guys, but I feel like I haven't eaten in days."

Giving them all a slight smile, "I'm game for moving and trying to figure out where we are and how we got here though. Maybe we can raid their fridge in the process." He held a hand towards Shane, "You think you can walk. If I can break that door I'm sure I could carry you." He laughed a bit at the thought.

"I can do anything I want with them," Isabel replied. It was a fib on her part. She could do a number of things with her mutation, but not quite anything. That hadn't stopped her from exaggerating in the past, though. Her mutation was extremely important to her and it was only right that everyone else be just as impressed with it, even if that meant stretching the truth a bit to make it seem even more impressive than it already was.

She also wasn't about to volunteer any information about where she had previously been, either. The other kids all seemed to have been at home or with their parents prior to waking up in such a strange place. She didn't particularly feel like dealing with any sort of pity over her living situation, nor did she feel the need to explain about the people that used to be her parents. Everyone always seemed to get hung up on that sort of thing, and she'd rather not think about it if she could manage.

She was with Hank on this one. The fewer adults, the better. She was perfectly capable of taking care of herself. Adults just got in the way. "Musta been last night," she speculated, looking away from the boys and directing her attention to their surroundings. "I wasn't here when I fell asleep last night. But I woke up here, though I don't know where here is."

"My vote goes for food. And no adults," Her stomach wasn't rumbling just yet, but it wouldn't take long before it began to. Breakfast sounded pretty good either way and she was more than willing to deprive the owners of this facility of some of their food. "Let's try this way," she proposed, hooking her thumb in the direction of the hallway she hadn't come from. If they didn't find a kitchen, they could always turn around and try the other direction.

Kyle waited and watched as his fellow mutants discussed what their next plan of action was. Shane, their resident blob man, voted in favor of finding out not only where they were, but someone much larger then them to assist. Hank and Isabel agreed with the finding of their location, but not on the seeking of a grown up. A consensus, it seemed, wasn't going to be reached easily.

"I think the same is true of all of us, the only difference being that you and me, Isabel, remember being mutants the night before.

Now...I'm sorry Shane, but I'm with them on the adults. We can find our own way and since we don't know why we're here in the first place, we can't know if the adults here are trustworthy. Besides, its more fun this way.

I guess the route is chosen then; food and adventure!" Grinning, Kyle glanced in the direction Isabel was indicating, hoping that it might have some kind of visual clue as to where they were heading. Unfortunately, whether he looked left or right, the passages looked exactly the same. Minus the odd marking on a door here and there, that spoke true of the doors as well. Glancing to his companions, an idea suddenly struck him about finding their destination.

"Hank, I know this is a terrible thing to ask, but does your...uh...reptilian appearance...does it come with anything other then some fierce strength and claws? Can you...smell or taste anything that might lead us in the proper direction?"

Shane decided to bite his tongue. He really didn’t think it was a good idea to go off on their own. Grown ups were smart, they’d know how to fix this and make things normal again. But he could tell he was the only one in the group that felt this way, and he didn’t want to make the only other kids around think he was a loser, so he reluctantly played along.

>> “We can find our own way… Besides, it’s more fun this way.”

“OK.” He said. He did have to admit, going on a bit of an adventure certainly sounded like it could be fun. Plus most of these kids seemed to be older then he was anyways, so they were almost like adults.

The group seemed uneasy about the direction to take for the start of their adventure. Shane didn’t really remember very much of what was back down the hallway where he came from, but he felt pretty confident that he didn’t want to head back there again; he wanted to continue moving forward, so he spoke up.

“I don’t think there was much of anything back in that direction.” He announced to the group, pointing back towards his room. He was starting to get pretty good at the whole ‘limb’ thing now. His hand looked pretty hand-like now, 5 fingers and all!

“I think we should head that way.” He again gestured with his hands in the opposite direction that he’d come in. “I just have a feeling.” He added on. He didn't have any facts to back up his idea, so he crossed his fingers that no one asked him why.

Hank looked in the direction Shane had come from and shrugged. "That works for me." He looked in the opposite direction, where he had come from. "I came from that way," He pointed with one clawed finger, "Around the corner. I just picked a direction and started, dunno what's past the room...my room I guess."

When Shane didn't respond to his offer he started forward, away from where Shane had come and in the direction Isabel had pointed out. He glanced back and decided, he'd take point. "Actually Kyle," He took a few very noticeable sniffs, "I haven't been able to smell much of anything since I woke up. Dunno why though. Just kinda....blank." He chuckled a bit as he dragged one clawed finger along the right side of the wall, leaving a thin light colored line.

It didn't take long before Hank peeked around the corner of a new intersection and saw someone walking towards them. "Back!" Said quickly and as quietly as he could to the others. He got as low and as close to the wall as he could. Holding one finger to his lips, he made a 'Shhhh' gesture. The footsteps came closer and closer and Hank's body tensed, his tail quivering barely an inch off the floor.

When the young woman crossed into the hallway intersection Hank held his breath. She was maybe five and half feet tall, about Hank's own height, her gray-green skin looked slick, as if covered in a sheen of...sweat maybe. On either side of her head were two disks flat against her head that moved like a speaker. Her eyes were large and her fingers looked webbed. From under her long shirt, or maybe a short dress, were two thick tails. Hank couldn't help but think she looked a bit like a frog or tadpole. She was a quarter of the way past the group when she paused and did a double-take in their direction.

Hank's legs propelled him forward and up, his thick skull plates impacting her head as she turned towards them, her mouth open to speak. There was a sharp CRACK as he jaw was smashed shut. His tail, without him really thinking about it, slipped around her neck as he held her around her chest, trapping her arms to her sides. He squeezed her chest as his tail tightened on her neck. After a few seconds he loosened his grip and set her on the floor with his ear to her mouth. Her slow, shallow breath tickled his ear. Hank was relieved to hear and feel the girl breathing, though he was still worried.

He looked at the three and motioned them to move. "I think we should leave, fast. Or hide her. Or hide her then leave." His breathing was shallow and fast and his tail shivered continuously as he followed their little group. Hank hadn't planned on doing that, and he felt a little ill. He looked at his hand and it shook. Clenching it tightly he looked at the group with somewhat wide nervous eyes.

Isabel paused and looked at Hank questioningly as he quickly ordered them to halt and stay back when they'd barely even gotten started exploring the corridor. She couldn't help but roll her eyes. They weren't going to get anywhere if they had to be careful and stop around every couple of corners to be sure it was safe or something. She wasn't scared regardless. She was used to people shying away from her and even becoming frightened when her mutation was displayed. She doubted the people in this place would be much different.

She was just about to brush past the scaredy lizard when another young girl wandered into their path and was quickly jumped by the scaly mutant. Isabel gave a cry of surprise at such a brash action. The loud crack that sounded would have been enough to make her jump as the pair collided, but the young girl's appearance on top of it pushed her much closer to the edge.

Her old friend, Aaron, had looked eerily similar to the girl that was now on the ground. He was a brilliant blue, though, as opposed to the more muted tones of the frog girl. He'd been one of her only friends in fact, and he had died recently. Killed by a trio of anti-mutant teens who had been ruled not guilty in their crime. She'd seen his picture plastered in enough papers to last a lifetime, and the image of the greenish amphibian girl lying motionless on the floor was enough to send her into a tantrum almost immediately.

"What is wrong with you?!" she shouted, wheeling on the scaly culprit as he rose from checking on the girl and suggested they hide the body. "She didn't do anything! She coulda been stuck here like the rest of us! How'd you like it if one of use jumped you just cuz you look weird and were in the way, huh? Get outta the way!"

With an angry little grunt she shoved past Hank and bent to hook her arms under the frog girl's. The hallway was lined in bedrooms from what she'd been able to tell. She'd get the girl into an empty bed and tuck her in. Hopefully all she needed was to sleep it off, since Isabel really didn't know much of anything about first aid.

Seeing as Kyle was walking next to Hank when the latter had opted to suddenly freeze and warn them to as well, Kyle had to struggle not to trip over the man's tail. Putting a hand on the wall to keep himself from falling over, Kyle was about to raise the question of why...then he heard the footsteps. Glancing to the lizard man and nodding in understanding, Kyle took a step back the way they came and crouched to make himself a smaller target.

The sudden appearance of another person, this one clearly as much a mutant as the rest of them, was a bit of a surprise. But it continued the thought in Kyle's mind that this place might be a form of mutant facility. The only question that remained was whether or not this was for the best...or for some far more terrible reason. Questions, questions, only questions; answers, hopefully, would come soon enough.

The appearance of the frog girl wasn't the most shocking event to occur. No, what Hank did when the girl turned their way was. Before Kyle could say or do anything to prevent it, Hank was already moving, launching himself at the girl. The following crack that came about of his head meeting hers reminded Kyle of an egg cracking against the counter...only the egg in this case was someone else's head. With a wince, Kyle watched as the girl went limp from the blow, where Hank managed to prevent her falling by taking her into his grip.

From what Kyle could tell following the incident, Hank hadn't meant to react the way he did. That didn't stop Isabel from ripping into him though, with himself and Shane merely being the observers at this point in time. Waiting till Isabel was done with that, Kyle stepped up behind her and glanced along the corridor. A quick check of the girl proved that although Hank's armored head had hit hard, there wasn't any severe damage. She'd have one heck of a headache and maybe a bruise, but otherwise, she was just knocked out. "Could be worse. But she's a tough one; she'll be okay in a bit I think."

Nodding to Isabel, then back to the others, Kyle moved to the nearest door, and with a push, opened the door to glance inside. The room, for the most part, was barren of anything save of the most basic of furniture. Still, that would suffice for what needed to be done. "Quick, put her in here. And no offense Hank, but next time, let's try something else before we leap.

We'd best get moving though; that crack echoed pretty far. No telling who it'll bring. Or what."

Shane didn’t really know if he was physically capable of screaming at the moment. He was only just starting to get the hang of the speaking thing again, and keeping his mouth from filling in was just starting to become a background activity from his brain. Screaming, or even just yelling loudly, was a bit more of a physical reaction then other noises he could make. He was pretty sure if he tried for a scream, it’d probably come out as gurgling noises, much like his first attempts at speech that morning.

All of this was running through his head at the moment while he stood in the hallway; hand over mouth staring at the limp girl unconscious on the ground, trying not to scream. He was in complete shock after seeing an outburst like that.

While it was true that he wasn’t exactly a sight for sore eyes himself, he had to admit that Hank was a pretty scary looking kid. He’d jumped when they first ran in to each other, and at the time he’d felt guilty about it. But now, after watching him just explode like that, now Shane was back to being scared of him. His immediate reaction was to hop behind Kyle as some kind of protection. He was bigger then Shane was, and was currently the least threatening person to hide behind. The only other option was the now shouting Isabel, but he thought it was better if he didn't give her a reason to be agitated with him. He’d never felt this vulnerable before.

The group slowly made its way down the hallway in the direction the girl had just approached from, peeking in to one of the rooms. Kyle motioned for Isabel, who was currently moving the unconscious victim, to place her in the room. The two of them brought her in to the very plain living quarters, leaving Shane alone out in the hallway with Hank.

He wasn’t looking so good at the moment. Clearly the attack had been some kind of reflex, or something like that. The lizard kid didn’t look too proud of his action, that was for sure. Even with all that in mind though, Shane still couldn’t look him right in the eye at the moment. If he could snap just like that, what was to stop him from doing the same to him?

In his attempt to avert his gaze, he focused down the hall, trying to see what else was awaiting them in this strange place. Much to his displeasure, the sound of more footsteps was that something.

“Guys…” he whispered back in to the room after gesturing down the hall to Hank. “I think we have more company!”

Despite the sickly feeling he had in his gun from his actions, Isabel's chiding of him irritated him. He couldn't help wonder if she was a little dumb. When Isabel and Kyle moved to put the girl in a room he couldn't hold his tongue anymore. His voice tight as he tried to keep his voice from quavering, "What's wrong with me? What's wrong with you?" The last part ended with an honest to god hiss. "You don't know that she didn't do anything. Unless you know how we all got here? Huh? Taken from where we were and put here while we slept. You know something the rest of us don't?!"

Hank had to try hard to keep from gagging. He hadn't ever done anything violent like that before. He hardly ever pushed anyone back on the playground if they messed with him. "Screw how they look, doesn't mean crap. As far as I know, we've woken up here, taken from wherever we were. Anyone here could have done that. Until something proves that wrong, we shouldn't trust anyone." His chest was expanding and contracting quite visibly now and his abdomen was visibly shaking. He was sure he was going to puke.

Hank folded in on himself, curling into a ball with his claws gripping his head. He had been chased before, even beaten up a couple times, he had even done some stupid things, like jump from the top of a garage. An adrenaline rush was not something he knew nothing about. But before, when he had run when the kids had cornered him, he hadn't been sure if he should run or stay. Not this time, when that girl saw them, his adrenaline slammed through him, and he reacted, faster than he ever had, and with more violence than he had ever dealt out in his entire life. And now, that the adrenaline was pumping through him, that feeling lingered. It wasn't focused, he wanted to do something, but what? Something violent, that's what, though he couldn't figure that out. His body was designed it seemed to kill, built to take a beating, with an aggressive, violent streak holding it together.

Between keeping the bile in his stomach where it belonged and forcing whatever he was feeling, down, he didn't notice Shane's gesture or hear the footsteps coming closer.