Day Two: Revelations

[Andy 60]

Calvin was exhausted by the time he reached to beach. He'd tried to avoid the most populated areas on his way, but had still gotten some funny looks. He cooled himself down in the sea, then lay on the sand; relieved to finally rest his feet from all that walking.

Water, he thought, the perfect opposite... Surely this will help me forget about fire?

Trying to relax, he blocked out everything but the sound of the waves.

[Rogue 4]

Natalie got out of school and walked to her truck, setting the books on the seat beside her. She shifted into reverse, backing up and then braking suddenly when Brad suddenly decided to cut her off, nearly hitting her as he drove out of the parking lot in breakneck speeds. Her books went flying, hitting the dashboard before settling, well, everywhere.

She sighed, pulling back into the spot and parking so she could pick them up. As she did, she picked up one book, she found it opened to a very fascinating page.

Eccolocation.

She picked it up, looking at it curiously. Eccolocation: the system used by dolphins, bats, and other animals to detect and locate objects by emitting usually high-pitched sounds that reflect off the object and return to the animal's ears or other sensory receptors. This method allows them to locate bjects by determining the time for an echo to return and the direction from which it returns, as by radar or sonar.

The same way perhaps, that whenever she heard a loud noise she could see everything around her.

It was something to think about at least.

***

Neil stopped at his locker to grab his leather jacket before heading over to the parking lot to retrieve his bike. He saw Gertie there, but didn't give her more than a cursory thought.

[Drake 53]

Marcus couldn't find Natalie anywhere. It would seem that she had unintentionally eluded him. After quickly stuffing what homework books he needed into his backpack, Marcus went outside and scoured the parking lot. He spotted her truck as Natalie started to pull out, only to stop a second later when another car sped past behind her.

Now was his chance. Marcus slipped through the rows of cars and up to Natalie's truck.

"Hey," he said, a little out of breath. "Trying to give me the slip, huh?"

***

Scott picked the students up from school. He told them about Mr. Mitchell's visit and how he had been interested in his sons staying at the Institute. The kids shared some of what had happened during the course of their day.

Hailey decided to wait until they got back to the mansion before sharing the news about Neil.

[Rogue 4]

She looked up from the book in surprise. "Marcus! Oh my god, I'm sorry. I forgot---I was kind of distracted." Natalie moved her books to the middle of the bench seat and told him, "Hop on in. And if it makes you feel better, Brad almost hit me with his car."

[Drake 53]

"No," Marcus said. Then, quickly added, "Well, yes. It gave me a chance to catch up to you." He chuckled at his own awkwardness while they pulled out of the parking space, out of the lot and onto the road.

After a couple minutes of working up the courage, Marcus said, "So I have something to tell you and you're probably going to get angry and hate me for it but...I had to do it."

[Rogue 4]

Natalie looked over at him for a long moment and then back to the road. That he had begun his tale with that meant that it was indeed, something not good. She took a deep breath to brace herself, and then smiled like everything was okay. "Why would I hate you?"

[Drake 53]

"Okay, well..." Marcus took a deep breath and then said it. "I went to your house at lunch and used my powers to sneak inside. I broke all your dad's beer, scared him in the bathroom, then turned into a panther and pinned him in the TV room. I...I told him that if he ever hurt you again, I would do worse." He took another tentative breath, then added, "Nat, I couldn't just do nothing. You're my friend. My best friend. I...well, your dad is supposed to love you...not hurt you."

[Rogue 4]

Natalie looked to him in disbelief and slammed on the breaks so hard that the old woman driving behind her had to swerve to avoid her bumper and swerve again to avoid a tree planted betwen the sidewalk on Main Street. "You did what? Marcus, I told you, I'm a big girl, I can handle my own problems! Why would you...and you risked being found out! You know how people feel about mutants right now. What if you were discovered? What if you had gotten yourself into trouble?"

[Drake 53]

Marcus looked at her. He had expected such a reaction. He seemed to be causing them a lot these past few days. He wasn't ashamed for what he did. It had been the right thing to do.

Simply, he said, "I don't care what happens to me. Not about being discovered or getting into trouble or even getting kidnapped and locked away forever. I couldn't just stand by while this happened to you. I know that you're a big girl but your dad's a bigger guy."

He unbuckled his seatbelt and reached for the door handle. "I don't care what happens to me," he repeated, sadly. "I care about you, Nat."

[Rogue 4]

She reached over, grabbing him gently by the arm to stop him. Behind her the cars were beeping impatiently. "I care about you, Marcus. You're my best friend, and I don't want to see you on the six o clock news because you got reckless."

[Drake 53]

Marcus stopped and turned back to her. A small smile crossed his lips. "I was careful. And...I don't think your dad's going to tell anybody. I spooked him pretty bad with the whole steamy bathroom and writing on the mirror in your red lipstick bit. Also, I'm pretty sure that not many people will buy the whole talking cat story."

He was taking a risk telling her more details. There was the chance that it would just make her upset again. He looked at her for her reaction to what he was about to say next.

"I...kinda...made your dad piss his pants."

[Rogue 4]

"Wonderful." She sighed, putting the car back in drive and heading back down the road before the police arrived to give her a ticket. "Guess who does the laundry in my house..."

She drove them to the Cove, parking the car in the lot. When she pulled up she saw that Marcus' housemate was there. "Hey, isn't that one of your new friends?" She asked about the man parking his motorcycle.

[Drake 53]

Sure enough, Neil was getting off his motorcycle just outside the Cove.

Marcus nodded and said, "Yeah, that's Neil. He's a cool guy but sometimes I think he has a few screws loose."

***

Hailey returned outside after dumping her bag in her room. Having left her shoes off she went barefoot and made her way around to the back of the mansion. There, Hailey found a nice rock garden and smiled, thinking of ways she could redecorate such a picturesque area. Hailey continued on down a gravel pathway until she came across Peter, who was pulling a stump from the ground.

The big Russian was in his armoured form but the stump was big and deep and he appeared to have been at it for a while.

"My money's on the stump," she said a little louder than normal. Before coming to California, Hailey had read profiles on her new teachers. Colossus, while he was armoured, had increased strength, stamina and endurance, however his hearing and eyesight became impaired. It had something to do with the rods and cones, in the eyes, being unable to absorb as much light while turned to metal. Similarly with the vibrations in the ear.

Peter turned to look at her and smiled. "I think you would find the odds in your favour, I'm afraid." He reached down and started to pull on the stump. It wouldn't budge. "If I pull with all of my might, I will only rip chunks out of the stump. However, not pulling hard enough is getting me nowhere."

Hailey cracked her knuckles. "Stand aside, muscles. Let me show you how I roll."

Peter was curious to see Hailey's powers in action so he stepped back from the stump and watched, intently.

She could feel the vibrations in the earth beneath her bare feet. Hailey concentrated on finding the stump. After just a moment she could see it in her mind, The vibrations bouncing off and absorbing into the wood laid out a mental map of just where Hailey needed to push.

Shifting her stance into a more solid position, Hailey lowered her hands to the ground. She found that moving her body in unison with her powers made it easier. Hailey closed her fists, causing the earth around the stump's larest roots to grip hold. Then she pushed, bringing her hands up.

The ground around trembled as though the stump was resisting the forces intent on pushing it free of its place. However, Hailey's powers were too great and, with a rush of earth and mud, the stump was pushed free, bringing with it a long and twisted mass of roots, and landed several feet away from the hole.

Hailey stood up straight and smiled. "Ta da!"

"Very good!" Peter said, smiling. "Very impressive, little Hudson. The way ground shakes made you look powerful. We should call you...Tremor!"

The girl's smile broadened into a grin. "Peter! That's perfect! Tremor...way better than Landslide. Thanks!" She jumped up and gave the metal man a hug.

[Mara 29]

After classes ended for the day, Mr Reynolds found himself back in the teacher's lounge, going over his next day's lesson plan at the large table.

* * * * *

August drove her red convertible back home right after school. Something just wasn't feeling right to her, so she just wanted to curl up in her bed. Plus, that creepy new art substitute teacher had looked at her funny during drawing class.

Maybe she could get her parents to send her away to a boarding school, away from creepy teachers, away from Bridget, away from anything that was triggering her weird sensations.

She ran up the stairs and closed her bedroom door behind her.

* * * * *

"Hola, Mama!" Joseph grinned as he entered his house.

"How was school?" she asked, coming out of the hall.

"Good! I'm just grabbing some stuff. Going to the beach to go over some physics stuff with some classmates." He went over to his mother and kissed her check. "I promise I'll be back for dinner!" Joseph called as he headed back out the door to catch a bus.

[Vergere 1]

A good while later, Kelly got frustrated and angry at her calculus homework. Needing to get away from it for a while, she put her books and shoes in the back room and went out for a walk along the beach with Lance, Lance leaving the Cove in the care of one of his managers.

They just walked in silence along the still-relatively quiet beach, as most of the school crowd hadn't hit it yet. Of course there were people, but most paid little to no heed to the pair. After walking for a while in both the water and on the sand, depending on how strong a wave was, Lance motioned up ahead. "Hey Kel, you see that?"

Kelly opened her eyes, as she'd been leaning against Lance as she tried to clear her head, and looked where he was pointing. She glanced around to see if anyone else was nearby, and seeing no one, "Erm... we should go see if, you know, they're alive..."

With that, the pair walked a bit faster to where a young man was lying. As they got closer to the figure, Lance called out, "Hullo?"

[Andy 60]

Calvin looked up at the man who had approached him. "Err, hi," he said as he got up.

He figured he looked a bit out of place: he had hoped that wearing just shorts and a t-shirt would look okay on the beach, but that was before the long walk that had left quite dirty, even after a quick wash in the sea. His stomach growled and he was reminded he hadn't eaten since the day before, plus his headache was returning.

[Vergere 1]

Kelly smiled gently, "Hey, are you okay mate?" She took in the details of his person, but said nothing about his apperance.

Lance smiled faintly, "You look hungry. Want to come back with us and get some food?"

Kelly nodded, "I swear, we aren't like serial killers or anything."

[Andy 60]

"Yeah," Calvin said uncertainly, "maybe."

He laughed nervously at the girl's joke, and wondered whether to accept their offer. Being fostered meant he wasn't exactly unaccustomed to relying on the kindness of strangers, but at least in the past it had come through official channels. However, his hunger got the best of him, and he nodded, "yeah, I guess I am a little hungry."

He was worried that he'd burn down their house accidentally as seemed to be a recurring theme in his life, so made a mental note to get away as soon as he could to avoid keeping anyone else in harms way.

[Vergere 1]

Kelly smiled. "Lovely! Well, I'm Kelly, and this is my boyfriend, Lance."

Lance raises a hand in greeting. "If I may be so bold as to ask..." He motions to Calvin's lack of shoes, and dirty clothing, "What happened?" They started walking back towards the Cove.

[Rogue 4]

"Just a few?" Natalie teased, tying her hair up in a ponytail. "So what are your plans for today?"

***

Neil parked his bike, and went inside to the counter. He surprised himself when he went inside and up to the counter, asking the person there for an application.

[Ayingel 24]

Lila watched out of the window as Hailey raised a stump out of the ground. Awful lot of commotion over a stump. She left her spot at the window and opened up her computer. After thinking for a second, she closed it again. Sighing, Lila looked around the room for a second. Getting up, she went to the closet and pulled out her little cigar box that she turned into a bank. She opened the box and looked inside. The $300 was still in there just waiting for a purpose. "Eventually I'll figure out what I want...but it has to be just right." Lila thought about her options. "Cell phone. Just what I need." She headed down the stairs and looked for Jean. "I need to go to the mall."

[Vergere 1]

The manager at the Cove just raised an eyebrow in suprise, and handed him an application. "Just turn it back in here, and the boss'll look at it."

[Rogue 4]

Jean smiled at the girl. "Of course. I'd be happy to give you a ride over there. I need to pick up a few things anyway."

[Drake 53]

Marcus shrugged. "I wasn't planning on anything, really. I guess I'll hang around here and maybe think about doing some homework eventually." He looked down at the beach. "Hey, those are your friends right? Who's that other guy with them?"

***

While Peter walked with Hailey back to the mansion, she suddenly got a mischievious look in her eye and smiled. "Hey Pete. Would you mind sparring with me a bit?"

Peter raised an eyebrow. "I do not know, little one. I would not wish to accidentally harm you."

Hailey stopped and put her hands on her hips. "Puh-lease. I've been training with my mom and dad, all of Alpha Flight, and Uncle Logan since my powers surfaced two years ago. I might be more worried about hurting you, bub."

The big man chuckled. "Very well, mighty Tremor. I'll see what you can do. But first, I have something for you."

[Andy 60]

Calvin followed Kelly and Lance cautiously as they walked back to the Cove.

"Umm," Calvin searched for some excuse, and cursed himself for not thinking up an explaination already, "long story?"

He realised that was probably not convincing at all, and managed and weak smile in a vain attempt to show that he was okay.