Franklin remembered seeing Mr. Cale back in the assembly hall, and knew that Paige was going to bring him to see the Biosphere. He knew that Artie and Leech would like meeting him. He led them over to the area where Paige was standing. He then saw Penance bound off and, he could only guess that it was Mr. Cale, but he must have been near Penance for a while. His normally white skin had turned red, and his hands were like claws. His hair had turned into a smaller version of Penance's hair.
An image appear as Artie seemed to ask if Mr. Cale was a second version of Penance. Paige noticed the image and turned to say, "No, Artie. Rich is not a mutant like Penance. His ability allows him to mimic mutant abilities, personalities and even their knowledge."
Mr. Cale turned to face them and kneeled down to their level. He then etched in the ground a small message. It read "You don't have to call me Mr. Cale. My name is Richard, and I prefer to be called Rich."
"Ok. I want to introduce you to my friends." He motioned to the boy with green skin and big eyes. "This is Leech." He then motioned to Artie and said, "This is Artie." Rich nodded at both boys and then motioned as if he was wondering something.
Paige spoke up, "Franklin, Ah think Rich wants to know what your mutant abilities are?" Rich made a motion of putting his finger to his nose, and was nodding.
Leech spoke first, "Leech's ability is to supress other mutants abilities." Rich's eyes went wide as Leech then said, "Artie's ability is to project images. Leech and Artie are good friends." Franklin noticed that Rich seemed to be abit confused about how Leech talked.
"Rich, Leech always talks like that. My ability is to alter reality. I hang out with Leech since his ability doesn't let mine go out of control. The last time I had used my ablity was when I destroyed Onslaught." Franklin still remembered how Onslaught made his parents disappear. He started to feel sad.
Paige realized what was happening. She went over to Franklin and said, "Don't worry. They are still in your heart." She turned to Rich and said, "You have to understand that Franklin lost his family to Onslaught." Franklin looked over at Rich and noticed that he had returned to the normal look he usually had.
Rich had a look of understanding and said, "I know what it's like to lose someone close to you, but I have never lost my entire family. I offer my sympathies."
Franklin looked at Rich and thanked him. "I guess I still can't forget what happened to them."
"Don't hold the pain in. I lost a loved one when I was a little bit older than you. I didn't cry about it until nine years later. It's good to let go of the pain when it happens, not to hold it in." Franklin thought about the advice and said, "I understand, sir. I hope you will be staying here for a while. I think you could be a good friend to have." He watched as Rich nodded and smiled. For all he could tell, Rich was happy with the statement. Franklin was about to say something when Mr. Cassidy walked over.
"Well now Rich, I take it that ye have meet the wee lads."
"Yes Sir. I always have a spot in my heart for kids. It comes from being the eldest child of sibling and or cousins."
"Well, I thought that we could all welcome you here by having a meal together. We usually welcome new students with a bit of a celebration."
"As long as we don't dance. I can't dance at all."
Franklin was puzzled at this remark, just a bit. "Rich, what did you mean by that?" Rich took a look at him. He then said, "Franklin, have you ever heard of a group named Three Dog Night?"
Franklin knew that group. They were an old group, but they had terrific music. "There the group that do 'Joy to the World'. I like that song."
"That's right. They also did other songs, one being 'Celebrate' which the refrain goes 'Celebrate, Celebrate, Dance to the music.' There songs seemed to have a message of peace in them."
Franklin understood now what Rich meant by what he said earlier. "I think we will get ready for dinner now. I hope you enjoy it here, Rich." With that, he and Artie and Leech ran back to their tree house.

**********************************************

Mondo looked around the room. He wanted Rich to feel as welcome as he did. He had set up the room to look exactly how it looked when he joined. He had everything setup just the same. He watched as Sean had been working on a meal for everyone. Ms. Frost walked over to him and said, "Mondo, you have done a great job at decorating. I hope Rich likes it."
"I have done my best to make it cheerful. It is hard to understand why such a happy fellow like Rich, dresses in such gloomy colors. He seems to appear depressed." He had gotten that impression when he saw Rich for the first time, all dressed in black. He watched as Sean had brought Rich in the reception hall. He smiled at Rich and said, "How do you like it?"
Rich glanced around the room and said, "Cheerful, but if a purple dinosaur jumps out, I'm leaving." Mondo was abit confused at this. Rich then said, "I guess it is like a party. Let's celebrate. Oh, is this formal, or informal?"
Mondo kept the smile on his face and said, "It is informal, just as mine was. Although everybody came formally dressed. I think that a celebration should be informal. By the way, what did you mean by a purple dinosaur."
"I take it you aren't American. Somebody developed a character that is a purple dinosaur. He has a perpetual smile on his face and is always singing. After about a minute of being exposed to this thing, you want to smash the television to pieces."
"Just for being cheerful. I don't think that is a crime."
"Mondo, I'm going to let you in on a trade secret to life. One must realize that life is not always cheerful, and if one always has a cheerful view on life, they will most likely be the first to go."
Mondo could not understand why Rich would say such a think. It seemed totally unbelievable. "Is that what you believe. I am sadly sorry for you."
"Don't be, Mondo. I have heard all theories on life, from the Buddist beliefs to one stated by Charles Manson."
Ms. Frost gave him a startled look and said, "You don't admire that murderer, do you?"
Rich put his hand against his at his forehead and nodded downward. He finally said, "That murderer once said in an interview that he only played the hand life dealt him. I know now that I was dealt the hand of a mutant. How I play my hand, only time will tell."
Ms. Frost gave him a stern look and said, "If you ever think about doing anything to hurt any of my students, I will make you regret it."
"Ms. Frost, if I did anything to hurt anybody here, I would not be able to live with my self. I don't lose my temper often, and when I do it is a scary sight. I hope you never see me angry, but I can tell you one thing. Since I am epileptic, and I take medication for it, it can cause drastic mood swings in me, such as a fit of anger could turn into a crying episode related to what I could have done." Rich almost tried to turn and leave.
Ms. Frost had a look of shock on her face and said, "You are sensitive person, aren't you?"
Rich's head moved up and down. Mondo couldn't understand what such a person would wear such dismal colors. He decided to ask the question that was bothering him. "Rich, my friend, why do you wear such depressing colors?"
Rich turned and looked at Mondo with a look of calmness, "Mondo, my favorite color is black. I prefer black, not because it is a depresing color, but because it is a color of mystery. When one looks into a totally dark room, one knows not what to expect. Black represents a mystery, and I like to remain a mystery. At times, I am a mystery to myself. I say one thing and do another. I hope to find some sort of meaning to myself, as well as learn to use my ablity to help everyone."
Mondo was almost ready to say something when the rest of the students started to come in. Maybe he could talk with Rich tomorrow. He was quite interested in hearing Rich's views on life.

It was a short while after everybody entered the hall. Penance would have liked to join in the festivties, but she was more comfortable when everybody else wasn't around. She decided, although that she would add her own little touch to the celebration. She had searched around the school, and found a grove of red roses. She used her hands to cut some and placed them at the door. She figured that Rich would know why they were there. She turned and ran to the ground. As she jumped back into the greenery, she kicked a rock in the direction of the door. As the door open, she smiled when Rich appeared and looked around. He looked down and saw the roses and looked around. She move out of the greenery and waved. He smiled and bowwed. She then went back to the Biosphere. She knew it would be a while until he returned to the Biosphere, but she would wait.

Jubilee watched as Rich opened the door. She noticed that he picked something up, but wasn't sure what. She walked over to the door and said, "So, what was at the door, Rich?" She noticed that he started to blush as when he closed the door and turned to face her. She then saw about a dozen roses in his hands. She finally noticed that everything stopped when Rich had turned with the roses. "I can never say that nobody loves me. And to think, I had the worst luck when it came to love?"
Sean then said, "Ok, who set this one up? Everett, Angelo, is this a joke to welcome Rich in?"
The two looked at each other in amazement and said, "Sir, that's too heartless, even for us? Give us some credit, we wouldn't hurt someone's feelings."
"Then who did that?"
Rich only smiled and started to laugh. He knew who it was, and he was getting a laugh out of everybody trying to figure it out. Monet walked over to her and said, "Jubilee, I think I know who did it."
"Okay, Monet. Who do you think did that?"
"Who is the first person here that Rich has made contact with?"
Jubilee thought for a moment. Rich had meet almost everybody, but due to Sean's scheduling, he was going to meet everybody individually tomorrow. Who did Rich make contact with?
Rich started humming. He was enjoy the chaos that was ensuing due to this turn of events. But there was something familiar in the hum. As everybody continued to talk, Rich hummed louder. Jubilee finally recognized it. It was the theme from Star Trek. She turned to Monet and said, "Monet, have you seen Star Trek?"
"I have never watched the show. I do know the series has some movies. I know one had first contact with an alien probe in it."
"That's it, Monet. I know who delivered the roses." The commotion around them stopped as every stared at her. She got the feeling that everybody was giving her a "you better fess up now" look.
Rich glanced at her and said, "And welcome to Final Jeopardy. the Catagory, Generation X. The Final Answer is 'The one who delivered the roses to the door.' You have thirty seconds. Remember to phrase your answer in the form of a question." He started to hum the Jeopardy theme.
Jubilee felt like she was really on the spot. She decided that she was just going to say it. "It's Penance. She left the roses." Everyone just looked at her.
Emma gave her a stern look and said, "Jubilee, I think your trying to hide your guilt." She was about to do a mind probe on her when Rich stopped humming.
Rich looked at her and Emma and said, "I sorry, you forgot to phrase it in the form of a question. If you would have, you could have won the grand prize. Try again, next time."
Jubilee decided to put a smirk on her face as Emma's eyes, as well as everybody elses, went wide in shock. The only people that didn't seem shocked were Monet and Paige. "I hate to say I told you so, but 'I told you so.'"
Rich spoke again, "I don't think she felt to comfortable with a lot of people yet. She seems to like me, thou." He smelled the roses and then decided that he would need to put the flowers in something. "Is there a vase available for some flowers?"
Paige walked over and stop near him and said, "Ah'll take care of them, Rich. Something tells me that you are the best thing to happen to Penance in a long time." Rich handed them to her and Paige left the room to take care of the roses.
Jubilee looked at Rich and said, "I'm glad for Penny's sake that we found some one who can comunicate with her. But, could this really be love?"
Rich looked at her and said, "I'm the first person who could truely communicate with her. When faced with trauma during one's life, one latches onto someone who can understand them. Penny feels that way about me, and the truth be told, she has a beauty all her own."
"Are you saying that you are falling in love with her?"
Rich smiled and said, "Only time will tell, only time will tell." He turned to the group and said, "Now, this is supposed to be a party. Do we have some music?"
Jono walked over to the stereo and said {What do you prefer, gov? Green Day. REM. Rocky... Jubilee, did you sneak one of your CD's in here?}
"And what's wrong with Rocky Horror? It is one of the best movies ever."
Rich then said, "Put that one in, Jono. I'm in a bit of a silly mood. I should have gotten my video out for later."
Jubilee was overjoyed. This guy was one of the coolest guys she ever meet. "Alright. It's time to do the Time Warp."
Rich looked at her and said, "Has anybody else here seen the movie?"
"No, I don't think so."
"Well, the way Ms. Frost dresses, it's hard to tell."
Emma gave him a look of disgust. "Richard, be careful what you say. I am not a person that you want to make mad."
"Ms. Frost, lighten up. It's my first day, and we are going to celebrate. If you can't take a joke, you need a sense of humor. Besides, I seen the people at the theater dress in costumes that makes some of your clothing look like overdressing." Emma start to chuckle, but quickly stopped herself.
The music started up and everything seemed to be going well. Rich felt comfortable, and everybody appeared to be accepting him with open arms. She thought that Rich would be one of the best things to happen to the school.

**************************************

Rich felt almost tired when the party ended. When the Rocky Horror soundtrack started, it was only he and Jubilee that were singing and dancing, but by the time the last song was playing, almost everybody was singing and dancing. He felt a little upset when the party ended, but he had other things to do before he hit the hay. Rich ran at breakneck speed to the Biosphere. Almost everybody was heading to bed, or talk abit before they head to bed, and Rich had the same idea. He entered the Biosphere and started to walk around. He heard a rusling in the nearby shrubery. He walk in the general direction and saw Penance. He had started to mimic her and she asked, {Did you like the roses?}
He smiled and said, {Yvette, I loved the roses. Although, I wished you could have been there to see how everybody reacted.}
{Did anyone figure out it was me that left the roses?}
{I think three people were not surprised by that. Jubilee, Monet and Paige. Jubilee caught on to my hints before anybody else did. I think Monet just thought about it. As for Paige, I think our talk earlier gave a hint.}
Penance again acted as if she was giggling. She looked cute when she did that. {I bet it was a madhouse in there. I wonder how everybody thinks of you now}
{It was a common thought that I was the best thing for you. Everyone is surprised at how well we are getting along.}
Penance gave a slight smile. {Especially with our start, I guess I totally overwelmed you.}
With that, Rich started to chuckle. Even though it wasn't vocallized, Penance smiled and silently joined in. After they both stopped, Rich composed his thoughts and finally said, {I guess it's truth time. Yvette what can you tell me about Him.}
Penance sat down and said, {You might want to sit down for this. It is a long story.}
{Can you give me the Reader's Digest Version? Short and ... wrong phrase.}
{Reader's Digest. What's that?}
{It's a magazine that comes in the mail and shortens stories down to a couple of pages, from ten pages to four pages. It just says, 'Good bye, junk'}
{OK. But what was wrong with the Short phrase?}
{That phrase is short and sweet. I don't think there is anything sweet about Him.}
Penance nodded and said {Alright. I told you I lost my folks in the war. As I had fled from my hometown, I lived by my wits for a while. Eventually He found me. He didn't look like He does now. He seemed to be very well off. He looked well-fed, but He was starving. I found out why days later. He had taken me to a place, a lighthouse I guess. The first few days were the only nice days. Then I found out about him. He came in and I saw the mouths on His hands. He grabbed me and I felt them bite into me. The pain was unbarable. As time passed, I tried to escape. I still had my own will, but I failed. That was when he restrained me, with what I'm wearing now.}
Rich looked at the black leatherish outfit she was wearing. {You mean this is still the same outfit.}
{No, His servent, Little Man, changed the restraints from time to time. But I wash them, as best I can. Slowly, He started to control me, as He did the others. I didn't have a free thought, until the bearded man brought me here.}
Rich's eyes widened. {Penance, this bearded man, was he dark skinned and his beard whitish.}
{Yes. That was him. The bearded man was the one who brought me here. How did you know what he looked like?}
{I didn't tell Mr. Cassidy this, but that was the one who told me to come here. I wonder if this was what he had in mind.} Rich stewed the thought over in his mind. Maybe that man had a plan of some sorts. That man had brought Yvette to the school and maybe, informing him about the school was the man's way of helping the school communicate with her. {It's hard to say. At times until recently, He still tried to control me. I lapsed into comas, trying to fight Him. When he attacked the school, I was almost under His control again, until I managed to break free and hurt Him.} She stopped and held his hand. {I'm glad to be free of Him, and I truely don't want to lose you to Him.}
Rich almost couldn't voice what he said next, but he did. {I don't want to lose you to Him, either. You know, this is awkward for me. I never had much luck with love, so it's strange to think that I have a girlfriend.}
{It's Ok. You're the first guy that I've been interested in.}
{Well, let's see how things go. Now, shall we start in on your English lessons.} Penance smiled and for the next two hours, Rich started to teach her the basics of English.

************************************

He was running. Rich had a feeling he was being followed by someone. The school had been wrecked. Yvette wasn't in the Biosphere and everyone was missing. He ran in partial terror and fear. He couldn't find anyone. He turned down one hall and ran into a dead end. There was no one down here and he turned to back track. It was then he realized he was trapped. Standing at the junction he just left was Emplate. He heard the evil in the being's voice. "Mr. Cale, I have been waiting to meet you. Your own ability would be very valuable to me, and the defeat of these morsels." Emplate started to advance.
The fear was flowing through his veins. He was afraid, but he could not let it show. "I won't let you make me into a creature like you." Rich knew that his only hope was to find a way to get past Emplate, but he couldn't find any way other than to rush him. He was trapped. The only other way out was the unthinkable.
"You cannot avoid your destiny, Mr. Cale. You will be one of my group, be it your own doing, or totally unwilling. There is no need to hide your fear, I know that one more step gives me a new servent." Emplate made that step and Rich felt the pain. He collapse on the floor in a fit. His struggle turned to an internal struggle as Emplate's personality started conflicting with his own. He couldn't fight it and slowly accepted the fate. A part of him hated giving up as Emplate took over. Then he had trouble breathing. He couldn't breathe. As he labored for his next breath, it all ended.
Rich jumped up and looked around. He was in his room. He looked at the clock and saw it was 4 AM. Only when he had disturbing dreams, did he wake like that before. This dream, disturbed him so. His deepest fear was that it was an image of things to come. A future he did not want. Rich got out of bed, got dressed and looked through his bag. It was almost midnight when he got in. He spent most of the time before that teaching Penance. It would be a couple more days until she could say some words, but she started to understand some key words in English. He found a special flute he purched a long time ago. He figured that he should head over to the main building, eat an early breakfest and maybe ease his worries with some soft music.

Monet looked around. She was scared, not because that Emplate was attacking the school. What scared her was that Rich had gone missing. She feared that her brother might have found Rich in his neutral state. If that was the case, she figured that Emplate would manipulate Rich into hurting everybody. She continued searching the campus when Penance jumped in front of her. She almost smiled when she saw Penance, at least until she noticed Penance hands. She saw that she was one of Emplate's slaves now. She started to back away from Penance. She knew that Penance would now kill her. She moved backwards faster and faster until she backed into something. She turned, only to be knocked off her feet. She turned to see Rich standing there, with a grin on his face. "Rich, did you knock me down thinking I was Emplate. I hope you're Ok."
He eyed her with a look of what appeared to be hunger. She realized what was happening when he reached out to grab her. His hands had the mouths that her brother's had. Emplate must be controlling him. She tried to attack, but he grabbed her so quickly that she was surprised. He finally spoke as she tried to break the deathgrip on her, with no hope of doing so. "You are probably thinking, who is in control, Rich, or Emplate? Well Monet, this should answer your question." All of a sudden, she felt a pain in each arm. She felt the stabbing continue as if she was losing a part of herself. All of sudden, she felt as if she were dying. Her immunity to Emplate wasn't working. Rich must have been in control of his thoughts, even though, he had her brother's abilities. She felt as she was about to die when she shut her eyes and screamed.

She awoke in her own bed. She sat up and looked around. Everyone thought that Rich was a terrific person. She had just seen a possiblilty that Rich would be more dangerous that anyone imagined. She got up, and got dressed. She looked at the clock, it read 4:30 AM. She decided that she would quietly head over to the main building and read. She was dreading meeting with Rich later today. He could learn some things about her, that she never told anyone.
She moved quietly to the main building and entered it. She heard music, or more specificly, a flute. She followed the sound, until she entered the kitchen. She looked in the door and didn't see anyone. She figured that someone broke in and was hiding. She slowly advanced and said, "Ok, whoever you are. I not afraid to hurt you, so give up." The flute stopped and she turned to see someone sitting at the table. She jumped in fright when she saw who it was.
"It's just me, Rich. I woke up with a terrible nightmare. I take it that the same happened to you." His voice was almost calm. He almost returned to playing his odd flute when he stopped and looked back at her. "Do you mind talking about it?"
Monet hesitated in answering. How could she talk to him about her nightmare. He was at the very base of it. She then said, "I don't think you would like to here about my nightmare. It might not be the best thing for you to hear."
He looked at her almost knowingly. "It was about me. Your reaction gave it away. I wonder if our nightmares are linked in some way. My nightmare's feature player was your brother. Now could we talk about these nightmares, or do I have to find out about it later. I hate learning stuff using my ability."
Monet was almost amazed at how quick he read her actions. She finally went to a seat a little ways from him. "Okay, Rich, let's talk about our nightmares. You tell me what your was about."
He placed the odd flute down and looked at her. "Monet, I dreamed that something terrible happened to the school. I looked for everybody. I knew someone was following me, but when I made a wrong turn, I was trapped by your brother. He forced his ability onto me. I woke up just as I transfromed into him."
She gasped and then said, "Rich, that was similar to my dream, except that you had control of your mutant abilities. You had his abilities and attacked me. You were.. supping on me. My immunity didn't kick in. I figured something was wrong, when Penance was the same."
Rich's eyes went wide. She could tell that he was in love with Penance as he shook in anger. "No, I won't let him get control of her."
"Rich, I wonder if you were controlling her."
"How could you say such a thing, that I would do such a thing to her."
"If Emplate had controlled you at the time, it is possible. I just hope that this doesn't happen in real life."
Rich picked up the flute. He seemed a bit upset, by the way his hand shook. He seemed to almost be on the verge of a nervous breakdown. He looked at Monet and said, "I couldn't live with myself if I hurt Penance. I don't want to hurt her. I don't want to hurt anyone, unless I have to."
She wanted to comfort him, but she couldn't try to get near him. She noticed the flute again and decided to ask. "Rich, do you play music?" He looked like he almost forgot about the flute and then nodded. "Why don't you play a little bit of music on that flute. It is a flute, isn't it?"
He looked at it and said, "Yes, I had specially purchased. I have become quite a master at this insturment, as well as the violin." He put the flute to lips and started to play a tune. Monet recognized the piece as "In The Hall Of The Mountain King." She listened and clapped when he finished the peace. Rich then said, "It amazing to learn tunes by ear." He then played an excert from Swan Lake. He was playing it perfectly until he hit a sour note. He was startled by the sound of someone running. Monet turned to see Paige run in, to get a water bottle for her morning jog.
"Good morning, all. Ah'm surprised to see that you are up so early Rich." Paige probably wasn't aware why Rich was up so early. It was obviously apparent that Paige was surprised by Rich's habits. It must have been obvious that Rich was not an early morning riser.
"Normally, Paige, I am in bed until around 7:30. This is an unusual case. I have only woken up this early about twice in my life. I would rather not mention it now." Monet wondered if Rich decided not to mention something about the nightmare he had. He then bowed to her and left the room.
"He does seem to be an odd one, doesn't he?" Paige asked.
"Yes, Paige. He can communicate with Penance. From what I can figure, he can detect Emplate before we would even know it. He seems to be a very unique mutant. Paige, do you think that he could be a bit of a problem, with his mutant ability?"
"Ah don't think he wants to be. Ah mean, he could be, but his own mind would allow it?"
Paige had made a good point. Monet decided to think about it for a while. She kept thinking about until the next voice she heard was Jubilee's.

********************************************

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