He looks thoughtful for a moment and repliesNope, but I think parts of my family are from eastern Europe. It's entirely possible that it is a recurring set of mutations that's inherited. Who knows, maybe my ancestors were the origin of the story!
"Yeah, that was cool, the way you, like turned into a wolf-man. And did you see what Julia did? Making that fire-man? And you were so fast Vince. That was cool! Do maybe we should race some time? I think I could maybe go faster than I did. Do you think Jackson's OK? He didn't seem very happy. Do you think we should go after him? Kinda seemed like he wanted to be left alone."
"I think he feels bad for not being able to punch Doom. He went down pretty quickly. How did his attacks feel anyway? I mean it's not real, so, how can it hurt?"
Once the holograms fade from their simulation, Julia takes a moment to pull her glove back on her hand and take several deep breaths to calm herself. She pins back a stray bang behind her ear as she walks out to join the others. "I don't know about the rest of you but even for a simulation that was terrifying. I pray we never have to meet the real Doctor Viktor Von Doom. I think I could go for a cold glass of water about now."
In need of stress relief, Jackson hurriedly walks out to the yard and heads to a secluded, wooded area. Once he reaches the tree line, he looks back to make sure no one is watching him and he begins to punch and kick the trees.
"What a total waste. This is so stupid! I shouldn't even be here. I don't run fast, I can't.....teleport or whatever...I can't make fire... or-or-or turn into a werewolf..." His intensity increases."I can't even pick heavy things up with my body, let alone my mind! This is ridiculous! What am I even doing here?"
After landing a particularly heavy blow, he looks down at his bloody, mangled hands and sighs as they slowly start to heal.
"'Wow, how neat, look at that..it's the kid who can't die. How amazing'...Yeah, great. 'Hi, I'm Kid Wonder, I can't die.' Pfft, because THAT'S useful."
After he's let off steam, he heads back inside to his room to change out of his uniform. Jackson starts to rifle through his oversized duffel bag, but decides to dump everything out on top of his bed. Out of the mess, he picks up and puts on a "Star Wars" t-shirt and a pair of black gym shorts and then neatly hangs up his uniform.
"Jeez Pops, you'd be mad if you saw this mess, wouldn't ya?"
Taking a deep breath, Jack prepares himself for the ordeal set before him. He starts by separating his clothes first, setting them aside to be hung and folded as necessary."I know you've got the best in mind for me... I'll try my best to stop doubtin' ya". Secondly, he picks out three packages of equal shape and size, all wrapped in bright, festive gift wrap, and sets these on the dresser next to his gold "WONDER" chain.
"They can deny it all they want, but I know those knuckleheads got me tapes...I hope these guys don't mind me playing some tunes once my birthday comes around.It'll help liven the place up a bit..maybe get these kids groovin'."
Lastly, Jackson pulls out a plastic folder.
"Now I need to find a good place for you...hmmmm.."He sets the folder on his nightstand, jumps in bed and closes his eyes.
"Now where is home?" Without a second's hesitation, Jackson's head snaps towards the southwest most surface in his bedroom-- the closet door.
"Ah-ha! There we go! This'll be a great spot"
He jumps up out of bed, grabs the folder off of the nightstand and pulls out a roll of tape from his bag. The folder opens to a collection of photos and a large newspaper clipping and Jack gets to work.
The headline "8th Wonder Dojo A Success". Immediately below is a photo of a Ellington Marlette and his wife. He stands tall and proud, holding baby Jackson in his right arm while he grips a trophy in his left. Holding onto the other side of the trophy is Jackson's weary mother Moretta with a sheepish smile. Standing below El, Jackie and Moretta, and also trying their best to help hoist the trophy high, are the other Marlette kids: 12 year old Johnson, 10 year old Charles and 5 year old Eleanora.
Taped around the newspaper clippings are photos. One of each sibling as they received their first black belts and then one of Jackson receiving his. The children all smile with large goofy grins as they grip on closely to their hard earned belts. Those lined the sides of the clippings. Another photo, this time aged, of Ellington during the Vietnam War carrying a fellow soldier over his shoulder. A note was tagged onto it that read "Medic Marlette-- 8th Wonder of The World!". That one was placed at the bottom. Lastly, a recent photo of the Marlette family as they are now: Ellington, Eleanora, Johnson along with his wife Wanda and their daughter Ella, and Charles along with his girlfriend Steff and Jackson square in the middle. That one went on the tip-top.
After assembling his collage, Jack takes a step back, gets a bit misty-eyed, and smiles.
Taking a moment to compose himself, Jackie grabs his "WONDER" chain from the dresser, holds it up towards the collage and whispers"I'm gonna make you guys proud, no matter what." and proceeds to place it around his neck. A deep breath, quick look around the room to make sure all is in order, and he's out the door headed towards the kitchen.
Alex will suggest ordering in some pizza's and eat them up while watching some tv. Slouching on the coach with pizza would be nice right about now.
Towards the kitchen, Jackson hears the word "Pizza" and immediately stops and walks towards the others.
"Did y'all say PIZZA? Aw man, my favorite! I've got some money to throw in if anyone wants to get pepperoni and jalapenos?"
Michael's stomach growls loudly, despite having eaten not all that long ago I'm good for anything on the pizza except mushrooms and olives. Pepperoni and jalapenos sounds awesome though.
"Done moping around Jackson? You shouldn't feel bad just because you had a tough time fighting for the first time. We all had our difficulties with the challenge the prof set us. Plenty of time to train and get better." Alex says sympathetically.
"Now I want one with pineapple and ham, love those! Maybe the prof has some DHS's in the house with cool movies." Alex continues.
"I don't care too much,... as long as it has anchovies!... Why are you all looking at me like that?"
Jackson turns a bit timid, preferring not to get too much into it.
"But it wasn't my first time. I mean, first time fightin' somethin' covered from head to toe in metal, but fightin is what I do. Like how you...nah nevermind. I just don't want to be useless"
He scratches his head and clears his thoughts and quickly changes the subject.
"Hey Iz, wanna see who can eat the most peppers?"
"Is that a challenge? What's the bet? I think I can handle more than you. I got a thing for mexican food. Anyone else want in?... Jalapeños at 10 paces?"
"This I gotta see. Why don't we make it interesting and have to loser do the winners chores for a week. I will judge." Alex says with an amused look on her face.
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Pshh MEXICAN. You ever have Thai? Now THAT'S spicy.
A jalapeno eating contest. We eat them one at a time to see who can eat the most. You grab a drink, you lose. Loser does chores, winner picks next challenge. Deal?
Jackson sticks a hand out towards Vincenzo and then Iz.
Got it in the bag!
Iz shakes the others' hands and then garbs a chilli. "Ok guys,... on the count of three. One,.. Two,..... " with that she raises the Jalapeño and takes a big bite.....
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Intinct throws his hand in too, wanting to join in on the fun.
On the count of three Iz takes a bit of the Jalapeño. Almost immediately she feels the heat of the chilli flood her mouth and turns red, her forehead already dripping with sweat. Although she tries to resist she can't help but gasp out "Oh my god, that's hot! with that she almost lunges at the faucet turning it on and drinking directly from the gush of water.
Fort:
Will:
Michael quickly swallows 2 peppers, but by the third, Michael starts choking on the heat. Pushing through the fire in his mouth, he starts shoving them into his mouth, figuring that he can be the heat by speed. He doesn't even get another 2 peppers in before rushing to the fridge, yelling.
No! Capsaicin is a non polar molecule. Water won't dissolve it. Milk! Milk!
Jack pops a pepper and takes his time to chew it up. He smirks as Iz runs for the faucet
The second goes down even easier.
He raises the third pepper dramatically above him. He turns his head up and begins to lower the pepper as a sacrifice to the gods. As the jalapeño reaches his mouth, he takes a large chomp out of it and swallows. He's caught off guard as the chile hits the back of his throat and it starts to burn him up. He let's out a roar and plays it off as part of the show.
Eyes watering from the previous pepper , Jackie takes a deep breath,"Woo boy here we go" , and takes a huge crunch out of the pepper....and immediately spits it out.
"F-F-four I got four!" . He let's the burn set in while he dances, sweat beading down his face.
"Ahh don't it hurt real good, y'all?"
ooof ouch it sure as heck don't feel good.
Alex giggles at the antics of her teammates. "Well if you can eat em, so can I! My dad liked spicy Indian food so we had to learn to eat it as well. I betcha I can beat the bunch of you!"
Alex says as she flings the first pepper in her mouth.
"Oef I haven't had spicy food for a while."
She says as she swallows the pepper and puts in three more.
That last one was a hottie
Though her face is turning red, she is burning through.
"Thats four! I can do more I know I can."
She says as she continues to eat more peppers, pausing occasionally.
"Baaaaaaaah milk, give me milk!" Alex yells after eating 7 whole peppers.
After she chugs down the whole carton, she takes a deep breath and says.
"You are doing my chores! Wooohoooo!"
Just as Vincenzo is picking up the first pepper to try to beat the record put forth by Alex, the giant disembodied head of Professor Xavier appears floating before you. Vincenzo Tuveri! You were ordered to the infirmary after the session in the Danger Room! Sikorsky reports that you have yet to arrive. Do you have an explanation for disobeying orders? The professor's irritation registers broadly across the room.
Julia sniffs the first jalapeño before she raises it to her mouth. After a few chews, she swallows it easily, "I don't know what the rest of you are on about. The capsaicin in jalapeños are minuscule on the Scoville scale. We should switch to habanero peppers if you want some real bite." One after another, Julia pops jalapeño after jalapeño into her mouth until the seventh that causes her to chew it for a while. Flushing a bit, Julia pushes the plate away, "I think that is enough. Anymore and I'm sure I'll tire myself of the flavor." She pours herself a glass of milk from another carton as beads of sweat drip down her forehead.
Cheering Alex on, Jackie counts out loud as she eats a pepper. He grabs a hand towel and starts acting like a boxing coach in between bites.
"All right now, you gonna have to hit em hard. Show those peppas NO mercy"
After her last one, he throws in the towel and raises her hand.
" SHE DONE SEVEN WOO-" He freaks out at the sight of X's floating head and immediately pitches the towel at it. " Ah!! What the hell! Dang Professor, you gotta go easy on us. We're new to this tech stuff."
After hearing Vincenzo getting chewed out, Jackson quiets down and whispers " Oooo Vinny, you're in some tr-oouuu-ble"
The professors head appearing scared the jeepers out of Alex and she splurts milk all over whoever is in front of her.
"Dammit, sorry!
I guess we were all sort of distracted professor" Alex says apologetically.
Designate: Tuveri, Vincenzo, alias Titch, you are experiencing unusual synaptic activity. the alien's voice drones as Vincenzo stumble into the infirmary. An antennae emits a light in Twitch's direction, scanning his head. Patient Tuveri, please lie back on the nearest available med table.
As Vincenzo lies back, the medical scanner snaps into place over him, emitting detailed readings. Sikorsky makes clicking sounds as he continues to read the information, occasionally making scans himself with one of his antennae.
Iz grabs the hand towel from Jack and wipes the milk from her face, taking off her glasses briefly to clean them off too. Shooting Alex a look she grins and says. "Thanks for that Al. Next time if you could maybe try to get one of the boys?" As Vincenzo dashes off she turns to the others. "OK, so you're all better at dealing with spicy food than me. Next time maybe something that requires some skill or flair might be better. So, what now? Maybe some popcorn and a movie?"
"Maybe we should see if we can get Julia and Michael to sit together?... They seem like they're made for each other!"
Designate: Sikorsky will inform the patient when it is appropriate to return to normal activities. Designate: Vincenzo Tuveri has suffered multiple seizures over the past few hours. Patient will need further scanning.
Sikorsky continues his scans, concluding Designate: Vincenzo Tuveri, your brain functions have returned to within normal parameters. Your uniform will require further modification to monitor the unusual activities during training sessions, and your thresholds will be determined. You may return to normal activities, but may not utilize your mutational abilities unless you are in uniform so that we may make these comparative scans.
Then he lets you leave. As you are leaving, the Professor heads into the infirmary.
Vincenzo, the safety of the students at this school is of paramount importance. It occurs to me that you may have been incapable of hearing the order during your prior state. Due to this possibility, I will not be issuing demerits for this breach. In the future, it would be wise for you to report such incidents on your own. I will speak with Sikorsky to determine the best course from here. You may rejoin the other students.
"I got to seven! No chores for me the coming week! So are you okay Vincent? Not gonna faint on us are you?" Alex says cheerfully
Jackson rushes over and grabs a covered plate from the kitchen counter.
"Hope you still got an appetite. We saved you a few slices."
He uncovers the plate of pizza and offers it to Vincenzo with a warm smile on his face.
It must suck to have to go through what this kid goes through. I hope Prof can help him
|
You spend the next couple of weeks training, individually, in pairs, and as a team. Your limits are measured and pushed. Those who need it are taught rudimentary combat skills. Everyone is taught the basics of how to shield your minds from psychic intrusions.
Catalyst, Instinct and Twitch in particular are measured for the threshold of control over their abilities. The Professor pushes you to understand the limitations inherent in your abilities, and to help you overcome the fear of those limits.
It is a grueling few weeks, and each day you wake up more sore than the last. But you feel the gain that comes with the pain.
But today is a special day. Today, the Professor is traveling to Washington DC and he has given you permission for a trip into the nearby town of Salem Center. It's the first you've been off campus since your arrival.
Over the last few weeks, Michael has been doing sessions with Xavier to improve Michael's self control as Instinct. The training has pulled off and now Michael keeps more of his intellect in hybrid and beast forms. And being able to indulge his instincts, like he did in the beginning, running around in the simulator has helped too by taking the edge off.
Jackson has learned the past few weeks though that Michael isn't a restful sleeper. He twitches and growls at gods knows what. Once or twice he's even gotten up in the middle of the night only to leap out the window, running into the woods.
Outside training, Michael had been taking full advantage of the library and the labs, spending most of his time working on attempting to learn the biological basis for his abilities.
Michael didn't manage to sleep last night, working on a new hypothesis of his. But somehow, he doesn't feel tired. He's feeling a bit apprehensive about going out in the world today.
As the group assembles, Mike says "So, what do you guys want to do at Salem Center today? I think Back to the Future is still in theaters. You know, the time travel movie. We could go see that."
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