>>“Oh, yeah, of course! I mean, I could start with some of the more humorous titles, maybe a few of my pirate or mythology themed comics and only a small splattering of the superhero ones. All would be up for approval, of course.”

Maya nodded. The word 'mythology' did not slip his attention. She did not care much for superhero stories - they usually got most of that stuff wrong anyway - but he did like mythology a lot. Went with her name.

First thing first, though. He needed to find out who, or what, this guy really was.

>>“I…can’t really describe all of it. Not in a way that you’d understand. NOT that I’m knocking your intelligence or anything, just…it’s really hard to explain.”

Uhum. Anyone who cannot explain their own mutation in one sentence was in trouble. He knew that from experience. Maybe the kid was new to all this, or maybe he never really cared. From his comments and shyness, Maya guessed the latter.

Her jaw dropped slightly when the word "arrow" appeared in the air, and Akshay handed it over to her gracefully.

>>“Here. Consider it a souvenir. Pretty much any noun I say, when I’m not concentrating on keeping my powers down, appears. I can also see the nouns that people say but they cannot see them. It’s hell when walking through a crowded Comic Convention, let me tell you.”

Maya blinked, then nodded slowly, a smile appearing in the corner of the mouth. Seeing new mutations always made her day.

"I can imagine that." she nodded, stacking the paperwork "But on the plus side, you are probably the only guy at a comic book convention who comes with his own subtitles."

It was not entirely correct, but it sounded fun.

"You know, that is nothing to be shy about. One thing one learns really quick on this theme is that there is no useless mutation. I'd say creativity in your case shouldn't be a problem either."

The look on Maya’s face was actually a little priceless. Akshay couldn’t believe that she actually seemed to be a little impressed with his power. It seemed that most mutants thought his powers were a little lame; except for Emerald of course. No, even though he had kept his powers from her for a long time, she was still a little impressed with them. He had to be thankful that he had found an angel like her when he did. Who knows who else he may have ended up with or if he would have had to have been hiding his powers for longer.

But…that was way off point. He was not here for validation of his own abilities, he was here for inspiration! So he beamed when Maya had shaken off her surprise and turned her full attention back to him.

>> "I can imagine that…But on the plus side, you are probably the only guy at a comic book convention who comes with his own subtitles."

Akshay smirked and chuckled. “You’d be surprised.” Unfortunately the young wordsmith had been to plenty of conventions where he saw several nerds in costume carrying around their own speech bubbles. Needless to say, that made his mutation much hard to control because pretty much everyone was carrying around double sets of words. That was a migraine!

>> "You know, that is nothing to be shy about. One thing one learns really quick on this theme is that there is no useless mutation. I'd say creativity in your case shouldn't be a problem either."

“Hah, well, that is true,” Akshay said with a shy nod. It was true that he had creativity in abundance. After all, look at the sickening amount of costumes he own and his perchance for getting into skits for his job? It seemed like creativity was a given. But even the creative can eventually fall into a slump. He sighed though as he looked about. “You know, everyone is so nice here. I really should tell my girlfriend about this place. She needs some control with her powers too.”

Akshay then decided that it was best to mime Emerald’s powers by curling his fingers into claws and gnashed his teeth at least once. When all that earned from Maya was a confused stare, Akshay returned to his normal posture and shrugged.

“She’s a werewolf.”

For a moment, Maya almost liked the guy. He was goofy and annoying, but he looked like a decent person, and Maya could read people pretty well, it was one of her survival skills. She was a Mirror, after all... this guy had a weird mutation that he was shy about, but at the same time, he looked like a creative, fun person. Maybe it would not be so bad to show him around.

>>“Hah, well, that is true. You know, everyone is so nice here. I really should tell my girlfriend about this place. She needs some control with her powers too. She’s a werewolf.”

.... annnnnd, the moment was gone.

Maya's eyes narrowed as she snapped back towards him from filing the paperwork. Did he just say werewolf?...

"Werewolf?" she asked slowly, half curiosity and half caution "Do tell. That mutation is pretty rare..."

>> "Werewolf? Do tell. That mutation is pretty rare..."

Akshay tilted his head. It seemed that his admission that he had a girlfriend had caused the badass mutant to come to a stop in her filing. She had turned to him with a curious expression and Akshay had to wonder why? Maybe she thought he was making it up? After all, who would admit to having a werewolf girlfriend? She probably thought that he had made the whole thing up or was on something and was just saying it to get attention.

Little did she know that it was the truth. And he could even prove it! That should hopefully show her that he was not some lying spaz or something.

“Oh yeah, so she has told me,” he beamed. “Actually quite a few months ago. She was working out in the park and…I was smitten,” he beamed. “She’s tough most of the time, but she can be such a sweetheart.”

He sighed a bit happily. He really was falling for Emerald deeply. He didn’t think he would have ever found the right woman, especially one who would tolerate is dilerrium for comic books and that entire nerd culture. It seemed, for awhile there, like it was too much to ask. But, Emerald was slowly turning out to actually tolerate him! Maybe even like a lot of the things that he was into! She was definitely a keeper.

“Wanna see her?” he grinned as he fished out his cell phone. A tap of the touch screen and his open woke up, showing the home screen. There, he turned it around to show Maya: it was a picture of him and Emerald, standing in his kitchen, faces dotted over with pancake mix and big, silly grins that only occur after a BIG laugh was shared. “That’s her! Her name’s Emerald. Excuse the mess. She was the one that started the food fight.” he beamed happily.

>>“Oh yeah, so she has told me. Actually quite a few months ago. She was working out in the park and…I was smitten. She’s tough most of the time, but she can be such a sweetheart.”

There was an uncomfortable feeling in Maya's stomach that would not go away. Even though she did not realize why, she had a thought nagging at the back of her mind, promising to be so blatantly obvious once she managed to grasp it... or prove it.

Akshay had a big goofy grin on his face, he was clearly head over heels for this... werewolf. Not many guys would be annyoingly cheerful about it like that. Also, what would the girlfriend think if she knew this guy was bragging so openly about her mutation?...

>>“Wanna see her? That’s her! Her name’s Emerald. Excuse the mess. She was the one that started the food fight.”

Maya's jaw dropped.

He was dating Emerald.
OF COURSE he was dating Emerald.

"Oh my" she muttered, face blank "Such a pretty werewolf indeed. Nice picture."

He was so dead.

Maya stood and stacked the papers for later. She conjured up a friendly smile.

"So, ready for your tour around the Mansion? First stop: Danger Room."

>> "Oh my…Such a pretty werewolf indeed. Nice picture."

Akshay beamed proudly. He really was head over heels for Emerald. She was sweet, funny, gorgeous, strong and powerful, and best of all, she tolerated the insanity that made up the core of what Akshay was; a comic nerd. Emerald had even seen the costumes he had to wear for work all the time and she didn’t poke or make fun of him (well, not a lot anyways). It was safe to say that Akshay was very happy with Emerald and it seemed as if Emerald was just as happy with him.

Why, even look at the expression on Maya’s face! It was completely blank and void of all emotion, but that didn’t mean that Akshay could not sense the emotion behind her words. She must have been really happy too.

Happiness for everyone!

He sighed as he took the phone back, flipped it back into its sleep mode and shoved it back into his pocket. With all the paperwork done, he had hoped that it was time to continue with the tour. He really wanted to see more of this place…

>> "So, ready for your tour around the Mansion? First stop: Danger Room."

Eyes wide and sparkling, Akshay beamed at the sound of that. It sounded totally wicked! And while his mind conjured all sorts of fantasies as to what such a room could entail, he did not get overly excited. Instead, the young wordsmith kept his composure, nodded firmly in response.

“That…sounds awesome,” he beamed. “Lead the way, maestro.” he grinned and followed wherever she would lead. “Tell me, though, why is it called…’Danger Room’?”

>>“That…sounds awesome. Lead the way, maestro. Tell me, though, why is it called…’Danger Room’?”

Maya turned and lead the way, out of the office and down the hallway towards the basement where the DR was. Maestro indeed. The guy had the nerve to date her baby sister - that they were technically the same age did not matter - and come here to brag about it. Well.

"It is called the Danger Room because we use it for training. No one is allowed in there unsupervised unless they are an official trainee or a team member. It does some freaky stuff sometimes."

Mostly, when instructed to. He did not need to know that.

"Of course we also have a regular gym and a pool for people who are not cleared for special training." she added as they reached the DR doors. She noted with satisfation that no one was scheduled to be inside. She punched in the code and the door slid open, revealing the empty room "This is it."

>> "It is called the Danger Room because we use it for training. No one is allowed in there unsupervised unless they are an official trainee or a team member. It does some freaky stuff sometimes."

Akshay nodded and silently followed wherever Maya led him. As much as he wanted to see the rest of the mansion, seeing as they were zooming through it at a walking speed that Akshay was not sure was humanly possible, he was too intrigued. The problem, whenever Akshay was intrigued, was that he always needed to follow it through to the end. He had to satisfy his curiosity or he would never find any rest. So, instead of asking a million-and-one questions of “what’s that?” or “that?” or “why’s that there?” Akshay simply followed until he found that they were descending lower into the mansion.

It was there that he saw a distinct difference in the décor when compared to upstairs. Instead of a homey atmosphere and exuded calm and tranquility, the lower levels were more cold and sterile. Not in a lab sort of way, but just enough to show that this place was for adults. That it was serious.

Akshay could not help the large smile on his face.

Suddenly they paused in front of a very large door and Akshay marveled at the high tech look of all of it! It looked like something straight out of a science-fiction novel! Or one of his comics! Akshay was totally in nerd heaven at the moment…

>> "Of course we also have a regular gym and a pool for people who are not cleared for special training…This is it."

If Akshay could express himself in the form of an emoticon, it would look like …

The large, empty space looked absolutely beautiful and wonderfully high-tech. Though that was kind of hard to tell at moment since the room looked empty. But, since Maya told him it was a training facility, there absolutely HAD to be more than met the eye in this entire space. The wordsmith was in heaven at the possibilities. Mutants were probably brought down here all the time to train and hone their powers! The things that room must have seen…

“Woooow…” Akshay grinned as he slowly walked into the room in complete and utter marvel. “I…I…gah!” he grinned as he bounced around. “This is so AWESOME!! PLEASE SAY WE CAN TRY IT OUT!”

>>“Woooow… I…I…gah! This is so AWESOME!! PLEASE SAY WE CAN TRY IT OUT!”

Maya winced at the sound quality - boy did he sqeal like a little girl. Biting her tongue not to snap, she kept up the friendly smile.

"I don't see why not."

The door slid closed, signaling to anyone who might stop by that the Danger Room was taken. Lights flickered on as Maya walked to the middle of the room and thought for a moment.
Nerds. Fights. Training.
Emerald.

"Shadow Hunt" she called out, and the lights flickered and died, leaving them in the darkness. "Level One."

Lights flickered once again, but this time they were a faint yellow-orange glow, a series of orbs suspended in the darkness: gaslights down a dark street, with evening fog curling over cobblestones and rain drizzling down in silence. Maya reached for an arrow and unhooked the bow from over her shoulder.

"Here we go" she said quietly, eyes scanning the shadows in doorways and alleyways "Find yourself something pointy. Preferably made of wood."

>> "I don't see why not."

“Squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!”[/b][/color]

Akshay was beyond excited at the prospect of actually being able to see this place in action. It just seemed absolutely too cool an opportunity to pass up. Being a comic nerd, an artist, and fan of everything sci-fi related, it was Akshay sworn duty to actually take part in this place! It was his duty to experience it and share it with his fellow nerds!

And, thankfully, it looked as if his wish was going to get to come true. Akshay was almost literally dancing on air!

In silent awe he watched as Maya step forward to the middle of the room and was silent for a moment. At first Akshay was not entirely sure what she was doing out there but his answer was soon received after he heard her speak to the air…

>> "Shadow Hunt…Level One."

He gasped. “JUST like Star Mech!” he squeed again, though a little silently this time and stood absolutely still.

What he thought would happen next, did. In complete and utter awe, he watched as the room around him suddenly began to change. Mouth opened in awe, he spun as he held on tightly to his drawing pad and gasped at the changes. The walls shifted, the empty space fluttered and undulated in front of him like hot air, and suddenly Akshay realized that somehow, an environment had actually begun to spring up al around him. Before he knew it, the gapping space that had made up the ‘Danger Room’ had shifted to the point that he was staring at…buildings, then a fog strewn road, and finally that it was night time. It. Was. AWESOME!

Akshay, eyes wide, couldn’t help himself as he took the first few steps in curiosity…

>> "Here we go…Find yourself something pointy. Preferably made of wood."

But Akshay was not there to hear any of it. Instead he was already long gone. In his excitement at exploring his simulated environment, Akshay had run off in an opposite direction, weaved between buildings, and finally was standing somewhere that looked very church-like. His footsteps barely echoed on the cobble streets that Akshay had to pause as he glanced down. Cobbled streets? He saw NOTHING of the room had he had been standing in minutes ago! This place was a technological dream!

In excitement, Akshay then dashed closer to the church, thoughts about leaving Maya behind did not even enter his head. Then, as he strolled, he spied someone, their back to him, standing in the alley next to the church. The wordsmith grinned as he ran up and waved!

“Oh my god! This is totally unreal! You’re part of the program, right? Sentient intelligence and all that?! So…awesome!!”

>>“JUST like Star Mech!”

Maya groaned and rolled her eyes, not even looking his way: the goofy grin was practically burning a hole in the darkness. The guy was everything but a survivor. In fact, he was probably Redshirt No. 1.

And with that, he was off on his own into the frakkin' darkness. Shiny.

Good thing I'm not a nerd.

>>“Oh my god! This is totally unreal! You’re part of the program, right? Sentient intelligence and all that?! So…awesome!!”

The dark figure slowly turned around, face hidden in shadows; he seemed to grow talled ar he turned and loomed over the overly enthusiastic boy.

There was a flurry of movement, a hiss, and a flash, and said boy's back hit the stone wall of the church with a force that would probably knock the air out of his lungs. White fangs gleamed in the pale light for a split second... then there was a second hiss, a puff of ashes, and the black clothes fell to his feet with a wooden arrow lodged in them, where the body of the stranger used to be.

"Get a grip" Maya growled, with a second arrow already on the string "These things do real damage y'know."

Akshay had asked a perfectly innocent question. All he was doing was fawning and wondered just how real the simulation he was staring at was. But instead of a nice answer or a explanation, there was a sudden movement followed by the indescribable sense of flying through the air. Akshay had felt the initial blow, the pain radiated throughout his body as he his sense of weightlessness took over. But even that only lasted mere moments before he felt a sudden and hard THUD[/b] against the grimy, brick wall of the church.

A gasp fell from his lips as he slowly rolled down into a sitting position. Still dazed, he lifted his gaze at the dark, towering figure, and immediately eyed the fangs that were in the creature’s mouth. That was no ordinary human impersonating hologram…that was a VAMPIRE[/b] impersonating hologram!

Eyes wide, his back aching, Akshay watched in bewilderment as the creature advanced on him! But before it could get too close it suddenly paused as a whizzing sound cut through the air. Suddenly the vampire went rigid and collapsed into a pile of ash.

Akshay sat there, dumbfounded, as he tried to make sense of what happened. It was then that he noticed the arrow now sitting in the pile of ashes and one very badass, yet pissed off, looking young woman saunter up and notching another arrow.

>> "Get a grip…These things do real damage y'know."

“That…was…” he started to say in a solemn voice. But quickly he jumped to his feet, “SO FRICKIN’ COOOOOOL!!!”

He turned and knelt down in front of the ashes can began to run his fingers through it. Yeah, his back hurt from the pummeling back there but it seemed so minor now in comparison to everything that he had just experienced. Scooping up a handful of the ashes he rolled them between his hands and let them fly off in the light breeze that flew through the empty streets. Still in shock he tried to wrap his mind around this. Everything felt so real! The textures, the sounds, the sights, the smells, the tastes (yeah, he tasted the ashes), and yet he knew that they were still in whatever this DANGER[/b] Room was. It was just too uberly cool!

Suddenly, Akshay pulled his cell phone from his pocket and flicked on the video camera as he began to record himself.

“This is Akshay Malik and I am PRIME in the middle of probably one of the most HIGH TECH places I have ever been! Newman Ledge! Eat you fat heart out!” he grinned as he began to pan the rest of the Danger Room just to show how cool it was and narrated further…

>>“That…was… SO FRICKIN’ COOOOOOL!!!”

Maya quietly decided the next arrow was going to miss.

>>“This is Akshay Malik and I am PRIME in the middle of probably one of the most HIGH TECH places I have ever been! Newman Ledge! Eat you fat heart out!”

There were probably more vampires lurking in the darkness, and the guy was doing his damnedest to lure them all out. It was either brilliant strategy or a death wish. Probably neither.
Maya growled.

"What part of real damage don't you unDUCK!"

Of course he did not duck. Not in time anyway. One moment he was there, the next he was ten feet up in the air being snatched up by a shadow and dragged to one of the rooftops.

"Well, sh*t."

Sometimes, it sucks to be a good guy, Maya reflected as she looked around for a drainpipe to climb.

Akshay was still far too excited to care that he was just in mortal danger. Whether his brain just didn’t register that growling and pain from that vampire before meant danger, or he simply did not care, it was hard to tell. Akshay was standing in the holy grail of all nerds and he was expected to feel like his life was at the stake? That was just foolish! The young wordsmith was having the time of his life, looking over this high tech room and enjoying the splendor all around. He really wanted to know what made this place tick now. Maybe Maya would give him a behind-the-scenes preview when this was over?

But as he turned his phone around to record more of the area around him, he suddenly paused when he zoomed in on the irritated looking face of Maya. The young lady, however pretty she was, seemed downright ready to ring his neck.

Of course, Akshay had no idea why. He figured that maybe she was just camera shy and turned the camera away from her and recorded the rest of the place.

>> "What part of real damage don't you unDUCK!"

He looked up. “What didya say MayAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!”

Before Akshay knew it, his feet had said goodbye to the ground as he was hoisted up and into the air. The weightlessness was an odd feeling but the wordsmith was more worried about feeling that he was grabbed around his midsection. He couldn’t make heads or tails of what was going on, but he knew was that he was having a foreboding feeling about exactly what had grabbed him.

Thud![/b]

Akshay felt his feet scrape the ground as suddenly he released he was on the roof, held in the arms of a rather pale looking, pretty woman in a gauzy dress. Normally he would have flirted his way out of the situation but the look in her eyes and the pointed fangs meant only one thing…She too was a vampire!

“W-W-Wow…these, heh, constructs are so real feeling. I…hehe…would be in deep sh!t if Maya was right…wouldn’t I?” he said nervously as he tried to struggle away from the woman that held such a tight grip on his midsection that he felt the air leaving his lungs.

Then, with a predatory glare, the vampire suddenly shrieked as she brought her face down and bit, deeply, into Akshay’s neck. And the wordsmith yelled in reply…

Bow and quiver over her shoulder, Maya was already halfway up the drainpipe. All that hard training was paying off. She could have run into the nearest window, except, there were no windows on the roof to exit...

Pulling herself up over the ledge and rolling to her feet, she already had the bow in her hand by the time she got to one knee, and the arrow notched by the time she stood. Gee I am good at this. I should be playing with the big guys.

Akshay was on the ground, with a vampire latched onto his neck. Well, damn. Er, hey Sam, the thing is, we kinda have a body in the DR, where do you usually stash them?... He woman was draped all over him too, and even though Maya angled the bow, she could not find a spot where she could have shot her dead without nailing the corpse to Akshay. Dammit.

The bow dropped to the ground; a moment later, so did the quiver, excpef to a handful of arrows. A boot connected with the vampire's head, knocking her over; Maya rolled with her, one hand grabbing a fistful of hair and ended up on top, just to slam the arrows into her chest a moment later.

"So. Still fun?" she panted, sitting on a pile of ash, looking over at the guy sprawled out a few feet away from her. Please be alive.