Recent Posts

Clyde's protests were futile, as Griff continued to climb higher and higher with him. He swallowed a bit as he looked down. Everything below looked so tiny. It was freaking scary.

It couldn't be worse, it couldn't be worse- He felt Griff's arms release him. It could. He cried out as he began to fall. He was going to die! He was expecting the worst, but something broke the fall, almost making him gag. Griff... that stupid, careless, moronic, senseless, insane – heck with it, he was crazy all the way! Once he caught his breath, he yelled at him, “THAT WAS NOT FUNNY! I COULD HAVE FALLEN AND DIED, AND YOU'D BE RESPONSIBLE!”

He breathed heavily a few times and calmed down, just a little. “I wasn't yo accomplice,” he said through clinched teeth. Had he not made it clear that he disagreed with what Griff did? How dare he even suggest such a thing! Clyde fumed, “Why don't you fly back down to wheah you took off? I didn't ask for you to fly with me, and I DO NOT like this. I'm perfectly capable of walking home on my own!”

Why'd people always feel the need to take charge over him? Ugh, it was because of his dumb, useless mutation. If he'd been born with an ability that was actually useful, Griff would so regret it.

It was one of those unusual nights. Clyde thought he was going to be home alone that evening. His mother wasn't home like she normally was; she was visiting her family. She even told him to go ahead and make his own dinner. Clyde did that, and sat down at the table with it. He powered on the television.

Flipping through the channels, he could see that Reporter Ralls story kept popping up again and again. And why wouldn't it? Ever since that segment with her reporting after an alleged assault had aired only days ago, it became huge news. Unhealed wounds from that Viewtube clip months earlier were ripped open and made even worse. Things on the streets were completely chaotic. Every single news source he could think of was having a field day.

Which was why Clyde was a bit shocked when he saw his dad come in. His eyes narrowed as he looked over at him. “I thought you'd be working ovahtime,” he remarked dully.

“Press conference tomorrow. It's real early, and they want me theah,” his dad replied, not really paying attention.

“The recent attack of Maxine Ralls has us questioning the police, once again,” blared the news anchor from the television. “Should we be losing faith in-”

“Ugh, not this garbage again,” his father groaned, taking the remote and turning off the TV. His laptop in front of him was already on. It was completely like him to bring his work home. Peeking at what was already being typed, Clyde could see it was another heavily opinionated article. The headline read, “The Hazards of Mutants.” Typical. His dad continued, “No mattah what the police do, those dang mutants keep making trouble.”

Clyde's eyes made a huge circle.  “Evah considah those articles may not be helping?” he muttered to himself, not expecting a response.

He got one anyways. “What if a mutant was able to kill someone just by thinking about it? People have a right to be safe from them.”

“Yeah? And what about people like me?”

“We've been through this befoh, Clyde.”  His expression was slightly stern as he placed a hand on his shoulder. “Look, I know you don't like yo condition, but-”

“Condition?”  Clyde quickly pushed his father's hand away.  “I think you know what it really is. I mean, how could you not see-”

“Let me finish,” his father interrupted, his appearance growing sterner. “Trying to be one of these 'mutants' is not going to make you feel any-”

“Trying to be one?” the age shifter gasped. “I am-”

“Listen to me!”

There was a bit of a pause. Both parties were now visibly angry. It wasn't the first argument they'd had, but this point, someone would have normally intervened. Maybe his mother was would have changed the subject or maybe Bryce would have cracked a horrendously stupid joke. But his mom wasn't home. His brother was off at college. There was nothing to stand between them.

His dad was the first to speak. “I understand that-”

“No! You don't understand!”  Clyde yelled at him.

“Quit being so difficult, Clyde! Why do you always have to cause problems?”

For a moment, Clyde looked up at him with stunned silence. “Well, I'm sorry you can't deal with it.”  His tone was quiet, but it was still angry. With that, he stormed away to his room.

“Clyde, wait!”  Clyde ignored him completely, slamming his door shut.

(OOC: Hope this is all right. Please let me know if I need to change something. )

Clyde felt Griff shake him a second time, blaming him for the theft yet again. “That's all on you,” he stated. Sheesh, who taught him to act like that? Clyde was sick of that behavior. It was just bringing more unwanted attention to the issue.

Little by little, more spectators gathered. Some of them were undoubtedly mutants; their appearance was proof of it. And, they did not look happy with their anti-mutant counterparts, and vice versa. Things were going downhill fast. To Clyde, it appeared the robbery victim was getting nervous enough to hightail the situation. It was really overwhelming. In the confusion, Clyde could've sworn Griff had winked at him, though he wasn't expecting what came next...

Griff pushed him. To the sidewalk. Clyde topped backwards, landing on his backside. Albeit, he didn't hit the ground hard, but such an action made his blood boil.

“What do you think you ah you trying to do?!” Clyde shouted at Griff, picking himself up off the ground. At the same time, the two opposing groups closed in on each other fast.

“One if you creeps just pushed that little kid!” yelled a man holding a protest sign.

A porcupine man quickly stepped forward to confront him. “Hey, it looked like you were accusing that poor winged boy of stealing!”

More voiced piped up as the spat between the sides continued. Mutants and humans alike shouted at each other, furious. The humans claimed that mutants were threatening people; the mutants claimed the protesters were crazy nutjobs. There were no blows yet, but there nothing to stop them.

Clyde and Griff were practically in the crossfire. He glared at the winged mutant. He'd stolen, he'd denied stealing, and he'd tried to accuse him. Those seemed nothing compared to starting a fight. Someone could get hurt! “Look at what you did, you moron!” the age shifter exclaimed.

“Runt? Don't call me that, Griff!” Clyde shouted at Griff, clearly offended. “And really? Yo still trying to pin this on me?” He quickly looked at the man, who showed signs of both anger and confusion. “I'm telling you, he's the one that did it!” he told him.

This was turning into some sort of blame game, except that Clyde knew Griff was the thief all along. Unfortunately, nothing he said seemed to convince the man nor stop Griff's attempt to place the blame on him. And, Griff's fabricated story seemed to be getting even more detailed.

“What? Yo trying to say I did it 'cause I'm a mutant? Yo a mutant, too! And an obvious one, at that. Just return the wallet. Yo making us both look – Hey!” he yelped as Griff grabbed him by the collar.

A startled expression flashed across Clyde's face. The thing was, Griff was a lot bigger than him. Clyde had little doubt that if the guy wanted to, he could easy toss him around. Nonetheless, Clyde wasn't about to give him the satisfaction of scaring him stiff. “Let go of me,” he demanded. “NOW.”

Just as those words left his mouth, he realized a small crowd which he'd failed to notice earlier had gathered, curious about the commotion. Clyde could have sworn he'd heard something about a “gene freak.” Looking in their direction, he could see a couple of them held signs, one, of which, said “Children Have a Right to Live Without Fear: Keep Mutants Out of Our Schools.” That was bad news: They were anti-mutant protesters, and they looked ready to pick a fight. Situations like those had a way of turning ugly in a very short amount of time. Even worse, he was right in the middle of it.

Being behind the wheel, Clyde tried his best to focus on the road, though the presence of another mutant also was begging for his attention. He compromised, quietly listening to the conversation while still watching traffic.

>>"As far as I know, you are the first person like me that I have ever met. At least the only one who has admitted it to me. I mean I haven't met any bird beaked men or anything so I wouldn't really know I guess."

The age shifter couldn't believe what he just heard. Almost everyone he'd met in the area seemed to have had the experience. But, he had to admit that he himself was fairly new to being around others like him, so he knew the feeling.

Clyde slowed to a stop upon coming to an intersection marked by signs. “I'm the first?” he spoke, a tad shocked. After checking the traffic and waiting for a few seconds, he continued on the course back to the DMV. “Then again, I guess I hadn't really met any othah mutants face to face until I moved heah several months ago. I don't know about you, but I think theah's something about this city, being liberal New York and all. Anyways, yes, I've met a few. Plenty of crazy memories. You actually seem pretty normal compared to some mutants I've met. Not that all of them were crazy, of course.”

Show, then tell must have been the idea. Maybe demonstrating a mutation was easier than explaining it for some. Apparently, the “teen” wanted to make some sort of grand performance, complete with an assurance that the powers were completely safe. Yes, Clyde was curious about this guy's mutation, but he didn't see any need for him to go so over the top.

“I see,” he answered. The age shifter grabbed his backpack and, with some effort, slung it over his shoulder. “The suspense is killing me.” Those words, though spoken in a dull voice, reeked of sarcasm. He started to follow, not really amused by the excessively theatrical behavior.

By that time, something had occurred to him. He and the “highschooler” had been talking, and he'd enough to know that he was a mutant, too, but they hadn't even taken care of the most basic part of an introduction. “Anyways, I'm Clyde. What's yo name?” he asked.