Day One: Introductions

[Drake 53]

Marcus had practically cleared the mall. There were security guards keeping their distance as they tried to direct people around him and outside.

He spotted a familiar face slipping away from the crowds. It was Danny Mitchell, from school. Marcus remembered how the British youth had shrugged off those two football jocks and knocked them to the ground. That kind of strength in a person with that frame was next to impossible, for a human. Marcus figured that Danny was probably a mutant.

Danny was with another guy and both were making their way out of the mall through a side passage. Marcus broke off his crowd chase and bolted after them.

Coming up behind the pair, he snarled.

[Vergere 1]

Catalina, after helping her mother all day, grabbed her bike and headed down to the Cove for dinner, knowing there was going to be a live band this evening to celebrate the first day of everyone being back in school, and if she wanted a place to secure her bike she'd have to leave now. After tying it up to the bike rack, she went and sat on the edge of the water line, letting the waves wash over her feet as she watched the lowering sun in the sky before she had to go work in the Cove.

****

Kelly was busy trying to keep everyting working around the Cove, renting out equipment and doing meal orders, but after some late-afternoon workers arrived, she had a lot more time on her hands and didn't feel so rushed. She grinned as she saw Lance come in from having been doing something in a different building, and tackled him from behind, just because she could.

Edited May 7, 2008 by Tyche

[Rogue 4]

Neil heard the wolf snarl behind him and turned around, grinning slowly. He extended his hands to the side, manipulating the kinetic energy in his body into a fire that surrounded each hand. "Bring it puppy. I'll make a coat out of you."

[Drake 53]

Kurt grinned. "It's faster than walking everywhere."

Hailey, Jean and Scott came up the stairs to join them.

"Hailey, why don't you show Lila to a room?" said Jean. To Lila, she said, "I know you don't have your things here yet but it will be good to know where you'll be staying."

Hailey smiled and started down the hall toward the bedrooms. "Come on. It's this way."

"I'm going to need some help with dinner," announced Peter.

Before Kurt could bamf out of the situation, the Russian mutant put a hand on his shoulder.

"Thanks, fuzzball."

Kurt just groaned.

***

Marcus gave them a toothy grin and said, "I'm afraid my bite is worse than my bark." He shifted back into his human form. "So you're a mutant too, then."

Edited May 7, 2008 by Drake

[Rogue 4]

Neil smirked at him, not letting his energy down. "No wonder Magneto sent Mystique here. What is this place some Mutant spawn point?"

[Drake 53]

"You know Mystique?" asked Marcus. "I was just talking to her before my little terror shopping spree. She recruited me to some little club for mutants. Although, I'm sure you know plenty about it."

A pair of security guards came running down the hall, stopping short when they saw the three teenage guys. Neil's hands had stopped glowing for the moment.

"Did you see the wolf?" asked one of the guards.

Marcus shrugged. "No wolf here, man."

The guards looked at eachother then nodded. "Alright. You boys better take off in case it comes around."

"You got it," said Marcus with a dark smile. Once the guards had left, he transformed into a mountain lion. "This will throw them for a loop."

[Rogue 4]

"Man, that is just freaking weird gimme the creeps kinda thing." Neil said, referring to his transformation. "Welcome to the Brotherhood though man. Before you go have your fun, know a good place for me to get some food in me?"

[Drake 53]

Marcus grinned, revealing a row of sharp teeth. "I would have said the food court in the mall but...well...it's closed at the moment. Hit Main Street though. Some good places to eat there." Looking to Danny, he said, "What about you, Danny? You've got what it takes. Think about joining the team. I'll catch you boys later."

With that, he turned and ran back out into the mall where the security guards were startled and shocked to now see a mountain lion running loose. The mall was practically empty now so Marcus made his way towards the front entrance.

Edited May 7, 2008 by Drake

[Rogue 4]

Screw that. That was no fun. Neil took a few pictures of the mountain lion running loose in the Greendale Mall before heading outside. He hoped onto his motorcycle, zipping out of the parking lot and heading for the beach. He figured he'd hit the boardwalk for a few corndogs, but what he saw instead was a crowd around the Cove. He parked his bike, wondering what made this section of the beach so popular. As he walked across the beach he cursed the sand for getting everywhere, sticking out like a sore thumb with a leather jacket in august heat. He walked into the Cove, oblivious of the stares he was recieving, and took a seat at the counter.

***

Security guards at the front entrance wouldn't let Natalie inside, so she ran around to the next nearest exit. She slipped inside, walking through the school in search of the wolf. It had to be Marcus, right? There was no other explanation. This wasn't exactly wolf-country. "Marcus...?" She asked quietly, having never seen the mall this quiet on the inside. It was eery, and added to her anxiety.

[Vergere 1]

Kelly raised an eyebrow, and walked over to where the newcomer sat himself down. "Hey there... can I get you something to eat? Or if you want to rent boards or something, you're welcome to it, it's just getting awfully late for that..." She'd changed out of the wetsuit she'd been wearing earlier, now wearing shorts and tanktop so she didn't melt in the heat.

[Drake 53]

One of the benefits of being able to change into other animals was that he could take on the traits those animals have naturally. In this case, his hearing was that of a cat. He heard Natalie call his name from further back in the mall.

Ahead of him, the mall guards had opened the front doors and were off to either side, armed with random weapons, as they didn't have guns, such as chairs, fire extinguishers, and baseball bats from the nearby sporting goods store.

Marcus snorted a laugh and turned around, running back down the hallway to where he had heard Natalie.

[Rogue 4]

Neil grinned over the bar at the babe behind the counter. "Looking for some eats actually." He told her. "Just made a long drive down from New York, and I'm starving. What's good gorgeous?"

***

Natalie was searching around, looking for him on the main floor. Part of her hoped that it was him, and another part didn't. Because if it was him then nobody was in any real danger right? At least that's what she hoped. If it was him though...then he was terrorizing a lot of innocent people. "Marcus?" She called a bit louder, backing into a manequin. She turned around, catching it and righting it before it fell over.

[Vergere 1]

She smiled sweetly, close to being overly sweet but not quite, "Everything's good to eat here. If it wasn't, we wouldn't serve it. Nor would people buy it."

[Rogue 4]

"You have a point." Neil said, glancing at the menu. "I guess I'll just take a Burger Bomb. I dunno if they're big down here, but they're huge where I just came from."

[Mara 29]

Joseph smiled. "Ah, well, we must have different classes." He picked up his sandwich and went back outside to his table where he had left his books.

[Vergere 1]

Kelly grinned brightly. "Lovely. Always a good choice." She winked and took his menu, "Anything to drink?"

Catalina came into the Cove and waved idly to Kelly as she passed. She was picked up from behind by Lance, making her laugh.

Lance grinned, "Ready for some live music tonight?"

Catalina just nodded shyly, "Yeah. It should be fun. There's a big crowd already.... moreso than usual that is."

"Yeah, there really is. Lots of new people too." Lance let her go so she could go get ready for work. "Thanks for coming in."

"Of course, no problemo."

****

Brett just shrugged and closed his eyes again, just taking up space and not feeling like talking to anyone.

[Mara 29]

Joseph shoved his books and sandwich into his backpack and slung it over his shoulders. He waved to a few people as he moved away from The Cove and onto the street to the nearest bus stop.

* * * * * * * *

August ate quietly with her mother in the kitchen, for one enjoying a nice moment with her, without any chaos going in. But she knew it would all get interrupted when Paul arrived, late from work, again.

[Rogue 4]

"Coffee, black." He told her. "So what's with this party that's going on here tonight? Is it going to be cool at all?"

[Vergere 1]

She shrugged as she turned away to get his coffee and call back the order. "Back to school party here tonight... today was the first day of classes and so we got a band in for some live music to celebrate. Regular beach party."

[Drake 53]

While she had her back turned to catch the manequin, Marcus walked up behind Natalie, silent on his padded paws.

"Hello Natalie," he practically purred.

[Rogue 4]

Natalie jumped, feeling her muscles tense. She inhaled, trying to calm herself down before turning to look at Marcus. Either it didn't work the way she hoped it would or she didn't expect him to be a mountain lion because her blue eyes went wide. "Marcus! Wha--what are you doing?!"

***

"Exciting," Neil said, taking a look around the place to scope it out. He'd never been to a beach party before. It sounded like it might be fun. And if it wasn't, he'd fix that.

Edited May 7, 2008 by Rogue

[Drake 53]

Marcus snorted at Natalie's surprise. "I know you're afraid of me but I'm not going to hurt you. This is what I am, Nat."

He transformed back into his human form.

"You're going to need to accept that."

[Vergere 1]

"Of course it is." She handed him his coffee. "Enjoy the Cove." She smiled and headed towards Catalina, "How's it coming over here?"

Catalina had two trays in hand, "Um... busy." She smiled. "Not that it's much suprise."

Kelly laughed, "Well, tell me if there's too much going on."

***

Lance came over to the newcomer and held out his hand, "Lance. I own this place. Welcome... I don't recall ever seeing you here before." He smiled warmly.

[Mara 29]

Opening the door to his small, modest house, Joseph called out, "Mama! I'm home!" The door clanged shut behind him.

He found her sitting in the living room working on some mending. "I'm sorry about the time. I was busy reading my physics down at the beach." Joseph smiled sheepishly.

His mother glanced up at him with her dark eyes, so similar to his own. "It's all right." She pointed at the TV. "Are you okay? The newsman said there was a fire."

Joseph went to sit next to her on the couch, bringing his backpack with him, setting it down. "No, it was just electrical. I think they put it out right away.

Leftovers?" He asked, raising his eyebrows. He had polished off the sandwich on the bus and was still hungry.

She shook her head and waved idly towards the kitchen. Joseph kissed her on the cheek and grinned. "Thanks, Mama!" He hurried in to reheat what was left of her dinner.

[Rogue 4]

Natalie shook her head. "That's an entirely separate issue from what I'm talking about." She pointed in the general direction of the main entrance. "Regardless of whether you're a mutant, and whether I can accept it or not-- or whatever our issues are right now---you're terrorizing those people. There are children in that crowd who are always going to be afraid of how they got attacked in the mall, and old ladies who's hearts are barely strong enough to handle all this excitement. What are you thinking?"

Edited May 7, 2008 by Rogue