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All Through the Night
Part 1
written by
Spidee

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Copyright: All Marvel characters belong to Marvel (surprisingly), and all non-Marvel characters usually belong to me. Brian Cordain is MINE (he's being patented as I write). His clothes are ALSO MINE (wait...that's not what I meant)
Whine if you hate it, cheer if you don't, but if you want it to be heard, send it to attn@webspanned.com.
This character is most likely NOT going to continue on after All Through The Night, so I better make it pretty long, eh? This is not an infinite continuum, however...Brian Cordain and All Through The Night will most likely reach a conclusion sometime.
This is my first attempt at any type of fiction (fan-type or otherwise). In no way do I intend on focusing only on Brian Cordain or other characters...if I get any kind of feedback (please be gentle! I'm a new kid!) I'll continue on, otherwise this story ends as it stands.
Once again....
BRIAN CORDAIN AND ALL THROUGH THE NIGHT COPYRIGHT 1999 Rebecca "spidee" Weiss
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::Denotes telepathy::
{Denotes ones' thoughts}

Brian Cordain was afraid of the dark as a boy.

He never did like thinking that someone could be in the room, with him, and he could never see them. It scared the living hell out of him. He made his mother let him leave the lights on even when he slept. The proper term for this is 'nyctophobia.' All Brian knew was that evil things were in the dark.

{I guess that means I'm evil.} The seventeen-year-old looked out the train window. The trees rushing past him were grey smears against other shades of grey...detail was lost in the speed that the train traveled at. {Not that it would have mattered. Everything would still have been...grey.}

Brian sighed. It was early, almost five AM on the Amtrak, but he couldn't sleep. He felt better in the dark, even if it did scare the crap out of him, even if the train cabin he was in was completely sealed off from anyone. He averted his gaze from the window toward his hands.

Brian frowned as he saw the faint outline of the ground through them. He looked toward his bag sitting on the bench across from his 'bed,' and reached for it. Once again, it felt slippery, and the bag slipped from his grasp onto the floor. Brian fought the urge to cry. His exhaustion of staying constantly awake for the entire ride (so he could stay in the train instead of underneath it or even through it) was catching up with him; he let a few tears go out of his weariness.

{Come on, Cordain...the sun's going to be coming up soon and you're going to be in Boston soon. This ride's almost over. So pick up your bag.} Brian gritted his teeth and grabbed the bag firmly. He felt the material covering the handle of his carry-on try to force it's way from his grasp, and readjusted his grip.

Brian reached in the front pocket of his woods-style hunting jacket and pulled out a pair of shades, so dark they must have been opaque, and pulled them on. They were more goggle-like that sunglasses; they made light almost impossible to come through any part of the plastic.

The train came to a slow stop. Brian picked up his bag and stood; he felt his legs starting to 'shift' through the floor. {Gotta get out of here soon and find that teacher Cassidy, or I'm going to be fighting to stay on land.}

Brian was one of the five passengers on the overnight trip. He had holed himself in his cabin for the entire eleven-hour trip from Maine to Massachusetts. Now that it was dark, he felt even less at ease, but at least he could touch things.

Even through the near opaque plastic, he could still see clearly. The greyness of the world was even sharper than normal, however, and as he peered around the train station he could not tell the difference from one man's hair to another.

"Look for the big Irishman with red hair," the woman on the phone had said. What was her name again...Frost.

"I'm colorblind, Mrs. Frost."

"It's Ms, young man. I'm sorry, I forgot. It's still hard to miss Mr. Cassidy...he doesn't blend in very well, and there won't be many people at the station at five-thirty in the morning anyway."

"Maybe he should hold a sign."

As Brian recalled this conversation, he saw a middle-aged, yet still robust man peering at the five arrivees, holding a sign that said "Brian Cordain."

"Mr. Cassidy, I assume?" he stated as he approached. The older man looked at Brian.

{I must be a sight.} His blue jeans were worn, almost as worn as the brownish hiking boots covering his feet. His black t-shirt was clean, and his red plaid flannel was in good condition. The warm hunting jacket had no holes in it, and his plain dark-blue- and-cream colored baseball cap had no stains.

But the light-diminishing goggles and fading body tended to attract double-takes. As did sinking into the floor.

"And ye must be Brian Cordain." Cassidy tucked the sign under his hand and offered his hand. Brian refused to shake it, opting to hand Cassidy his bag. His limited control over his tangibility was fading fast, and he feared the approaching light would be too much to handle.

"Thank you, Mr. Cassidy. I appreciate it." {He must think I'm a backwoods idiot. He doesn't know that I can't shake hands with him. Not now. Not so close to the light.}

"Ye're welcome, lad..."

"Could we be leaving?"

"Aye. This way." Cassidy began to walk at a brisk pace toward the parking lot. Upon opening the door for Brian, he spoke again. "Not too many of th'children will be up at this time, I'm afraid. Ye'll have to deal with just me."

::And me, Irishman. Don't ferget me.::

Brian gawked at the young man sitting in the sturdy-looking Jeep. Seemingly hidden in a corner, he wore jeans, a black jacket (it looked like leather...Brian couldn't seem to tell what it was)and some kind of bandage all around his lower face and down into his shirt. His hair was unruly, and his eyes didn't seem to be very civilized either.

::Yer gonna stare all day or gonna get in?::

Brian tried to climb into the car and sit, but the faint dawn light was too strong, and he felt himself sliding into the seat. By the time he was waist-deep, he noticed what was happening, as did the dark young man/boy and Cassidy.

::Wot th'ell?::

"Lad?"

Brian tried to pull himself out of the seat but it was so force it's way pery...and he was so tired. "Sorry...too tired. Won't slide anymore though," he managed to mumble.

"T'is okay, lad. Just go to sleep...we've got a good hour's drive."

Brian wasn't listening anymore. He was already in a light, dreamless sleep.

"Strange lad, isn't he?"

::Ain't no Tommy Hilfiger poster boy, 'at's fer sure.::

"...ian? Brian? Ye awake?"

Brian blinked his eyes. He realized that the light was so much stronger now...it must have been later. Maybe an hour or so. He noticed that he had sunk slightly more into the seat and managed to pull himself up a bit higher so his rear end wouldn't be on the road.

"Yeah?" he replied in a sleep-induced hoarse voice. "I'm up."

"Sorry to have to speak loudly, boyo, but I couldn't get meself to shake ye...me hand kept sliding through--"

"Something that I'm coming here to learn how to control, Mr. Cassidy. I'm sure my file will tell you more."

"File?"

"The one Ms. Frost prepared? The application form?"

"Ach...I had nae chance to read it yet."

::I hate ter break it to yer, Cassidy, but Cordain's starting to look washed out...::

"Sorry, lad...let's get ye into a room and some rest."

"Thanks." Brian hesitated. "Are we there already?"

"Aye, lad...t'is a big place, don't be frightened."

Brian managed to pull himself out of the seat and stumbled his way through the floor of the car (which gave Mr. Cassidy quite the spooking). He stood up and looked at the Massachusetts Academy.

{Wow.} It was huge. {Big place...don't be frightened...hah! Frightened is not the world...trepidation is more like it.}

"I'll have Jonothon here take ye to ye room--"

"I'm sorry to be rude, but where is it?"

"T'is a problem?"

"It's--" Brian remembered the one time he slept with the light on after he changed. "Yes. It's a little problem."

::Wot's wrong?::

"It's got to be dark. Or else I 'shift' completely and you can't touch me and I'm transparent."

"Ach. Nobody told me this." The worried look in Cassidy's eyes showed that he was trying to think of a place where Brian could stay.

::'e could stay in the basement. Until you get him a real room::

Cassidy brightened. "Very considerate of ye, Jono. But...where will ye stay?"

::I'll be fine. Worry about the new kid::

Brian bristled slightly at being called a kid; he looked to be the same age almost as 'Jonothon,' but he didn't want to start a fight...not when he was feeling that dizzy feeling.

"Very well. I'll go to see if anyone else is up." With that, Cassidy left, heading behind the large building.

Jonothon and Brian watched each other for a moment.

::Follow me.::

Once in the basement, Jonothon turned and faced Brian.

::Just so yer don't get any ideas, this here is my place. I'm not about to share it with nobody, so no permanent changes. And by the way, me names Jonothon Starsmore.::

"Brian Cordain."

::I know yer name, Cordain. Don't worry about it.:: And then he walked back upstairs.

{I get the feeling he doesn't like me very much.} Brian didn't care much what "Jonothon Starsmore" thought, though...he was so tired he felt he could sink into that beat-up couch.

{If I'm not careful,} his last thought was. {I might actually do that...}

******

Paige Guthrie was within sight of the school when she stopped running. Her sweat-matted blond hair was plastered to her forehead and she could feel her blood thumping through her veins. As she stopped, she knelt to see how the scrape along her sh in was doing.

"...ah...Ah gotta learn ta cut around that log..." she gasped out. Catching her breath, she checked her wristwatch.

"Seven o'clock...new kid's here," she noted, seeing not only the time, but that Sean's jeep was in front of the school. "Wonder what he's like.."

"Guthrie, you got some kind of masochist thing going on," said a masculine voice. Smiling, she shook her head as she turned around.

"Ev, I don't care how early you go to sleep at night, you still aren't going to wake up before me."

"So I've noted," said the athletic-looking black boy. He tried to grin, but his urge to yawn was stronger. "You got some supercharged internal alarm clock to wake up this early..."

"I've been awake for almost two hours."

Everett Thomas chuckled to himself as he started to walk around Paige and continue on with his morning walk.

"Like I said, Paige...masochist."

Paige smiled to herself, then frowned as she noticed she was still sweat-soaked. Shucking her skin (and leaving it on the ground to mess with Jubilee), she started toward the school.

On her way to the girls' dorm, she noticed Sean sitting in the library, reading a sheaf of papers. Her curiosity piqued (she had never seen Sean just sitting and reading), she slowly approached the door.

His sharp ears pricked up a bit. "H'lo?"

"Sir, I'm sorry to intrude." She started on her way back to her room when Sean chuckled.

"Ye nae intruding, lass. I'm just reading about the new student."

"Oh?" She reentered the room and stood about eight feet away from Sean. "Could I see?"

"Dinnae see why not." He handed her a sheet of paper. "This is an evaluation by Emma. Nae much there, but it might give ye a little bit to know about him."

Paige handed the papers back to Sean. "Unusual is not strong enough," was her only response. "Is that really what this kid can do?"

"Aye. T'is a very strange boy, as well. If only Emma had given me this information before I left...could have helped me."

Paige raised one eyebrow. "Did something happen?"

"Nae, lass, nothing serious. Just that it could have been more comfortable for both of us. T'think, when the lad refused t'shake me hand, I thought he was rude!"

Paige politely excused herself and made her way back to her room while thinking. {Ah wonder what he's like? Ah hope he's not bitter and antagonistic; that 'pity-me-ah'm-a-worthless-piece-of-shit' thing is getting old...Jono is more than enough ta fill that role.}

"I'm gonna tell you this one more time, hayseed, shut the door before I freakin' wield it shut."

"What?" The mound of covers on the bed farthest from the door shifted to reveal Jubilee; sleepy, cranky, and not a person to mess with.

"...cryin' out loud, Kentucky, it's not even real outside! Fer once couldn't you have just slept in?"

"And let the chickens go unfed? No way." Paige grinned. "'Sides, I wanted to meet the new kid."

"And?"

"Hmm?" Paige maneuvered her way to her closet to get dressed.

"An' what's he like?"

"Well...I didn't get up early enough, I guess."

Jubilee stared at Paige. Then she blinked. Then she started to smile. And then she rolled around laughing.

"Didn't get up early enough? Yer up before it's the next day! Not up early enough my posterior!"

"I'm serious. There must have been a reason that they went to pick him up early."

"What? What reason? And who's they?"

"Jono and Mr. Cassidy left this morning at four something. And it had to do with his powers."

Jubilee sat up. "So what are his powers?"

"That's the weird thing...nobody really knows...all they know is the effects of them." She relayed the information about Brian Cordain to Jubilee.

"Or are those effects just his powers?"

"Look who's up, the paragon of perfection."

"Paragon? Expanding your vocabulary?"

"Hardy har har...maybe one day you'll learn the fine art of sarcasm..."

"How is this for 'sarcasm'...one day people will respect you."

"...prissy little queen of --"

Paige hid her smile. "As you were saying, Monet?"

"It could be that his 'shifting' and his 'sliding' are his powers, you realize."

Paige grimaced. "Frost didn't think so. That's what it seemed like she though, anyway."

"Emma Frost does not know everything."

"And you do. What do you think you are, the walking encyclopedia on mutants?" Jubilee scoffed at Monet St. Croix.

"I'm surprised you know what an 'encyclopedia' is, Jubilation."

Paige continued to let them bicker as she thought to herself. {If those are his powers...that would royally suck. To not be able to touch anyone...to be transparent all the time...to not feel anything...}

Brian awoke in darkness.

{That's kind of the point, Cordain. You know...darkness?} He stretched his limbs and realized he had fallen asleep in his clothes. {And my shades, too...gah. At least they didn't break.}

He sat up slowly, cracking his neck. {Damn uncomfortable, that couch is.} He stood up, looking around the shadowy room. {Shadowy for everyone else, except me.}

He saw his lightweight duffel bag at the foot of the couch, his baseball cap lying not too far away, his jacket even closer. {I must have thrown them in the general direction.}

Yawning a little, he managed to make his way to the baseball cap when he realized it was late. Almost ten o'clock, actually.

{Means I can meet my new classmates.} He rolled his eyes as he tugged his cap (brim-forward) over his mussed hair. {I wonder what color my hair is?} He knew it was blond; that's what he had been told, but he never knew what blond looked like, so he had no idea what it actually appeared to be.

He made his way upstairs and emerged onto the first floor. Hearing voices close by, he tried to find his way toward them. {This place is HUGE. And it's a damn maze. How the hell do people find their way around...}

::They find their way around, Mr. Cordain, by asking other people.:: A distinctly female voice resonated in his head, similar to the way that Jonothon kid had, but more refined.

"Yaah!" Brian yelled in surprise. He clapped his hand over his baseball cap to prevent it from flying off as he jerked. "What the f--"

::Watch your language, young man. I'm coming downstairs. Don't move...I'll introduce you to your classmates.::

Before Brian could even recover from that telepathic comment, one of the most scantily-clad women he had ever seen approached him. A bit taller than medium, built like a...a...something, Brian could honestly say she was one of the most stunning women he had ever met. {Mid-thirties, maybe.}

::Never ask a lady her age, Cordain. And don't even think of asking Cassidy about it either.::

Brian moaned. {Crap...she can read my thoughts.}

::You better believe it...so you better watch what you think.::

"Could you stop doing that? It's unnerving!"

"You non-telepaths...all the same," she said haughtily, reverting to physical speech. Her voice was cool, commanding, but pleasant to listen to, none-the-less. "Follow me, Brian Cordain...and do stop sinking into the floor."

He followed her into what looked to be a family room, filled with teenagers/young adults. He counted seven of them, all sprawled about, except for the dark boy, Jonothon, who sat alone in a chair in the corner.

The first person he noticed was a dark-skinned girl with darker hair (he was sure it was black). She was sitting on one of the couches in proper lady-like fashion, balanced with perfect poise. She tapped a blond girl on the shoulder; the blonde looked up from her thick book and pushed her glasses up her nose as she focused in on Brian.

"Children, before you make any decidingly brilliant comments, such as 'is that the new kid,' this is our recent addition to the class, Brian Cordain."

By nature, Brian was shy. His mutation did nothing to encourage the opposite. Always he found himself able to melt into shadows until he was almost invisible...but this time, in the middle of a well-lighted room, he felt his courage shrivel up.

He was also well aware that he was transparent and was having trouble staying above ground.

"Hate to break it to ya, dude, but yer sinking," said a girl lying on the floor, face-up. She had short black hair, lighter skin, and, Brian decided, an Asian appearance to her features.

"..uhm..."

"Speak, boy, speak," the girl urged as she sat up.

::Jubilee, give the kid a break.:: Everybody turned to the lone figure in the corner. ::Not like he doesn't know, anyway.::

{I do believe that's the nicest thing that kid's ever said to me,} Brian thought.

"Okay, Gloomy Gus," said the girl named 'Jubilee.'

"Despite the apparent lack of manners apparent in this room, there are some who have the decency to introduce themselves," announced the dark-skinned girl. "That pile of disrespect and rudeness on the floor is Jubilation Lee --"

"Jubilee, get it?"

"-- yes, Jubilation, we understand. Not all of us are mental giants such as yourself, but occasionally we grasp the less complex concepts."

"She insulted me again, didn't she?"

"Continuing on, my companion to the right with her 'nose in a book' (that is how the colloquialism goes, n'est pas?) is Paige Guthrie, and I am Monet St. Croix." Monet leaned back against her seat.

"You ain't gonna 'introduce' us, chica?"

"I believe you have just answered your question."

"Bah humbug." The youth sitting next to Jubilee straightened up, obviously intending to imitate Monet. "Allow me to introduce myself," he intoned snootily, before a dark-skinned boy threw a pillow at him.

"Don't mind the epidermis, he's Angelo and he's normally like that," said the pillow-thrower.

"That's MISTER Espinosa, and don't you forget."

"I'm Everett Thomas, and that's--"

::Don't worry, mate, we've met already. Right, Cordain?::

Brian stuttered his way through a response. There was an uncomfortable silence as Brian shifted around, trying not to sink into the floor, both literally and figuratively.

{What an exciting person I must seem to be,} he thought sadly.

"Well, during this brief moment of silence--"

"Which, shockingly enough, Jubilation interrupted."

"...ya better be glad I'm slow right now," Paige elbowed Monet as she opened her mouth to respond, "else I'd be all over you." Jubilee turned back to Brian. "So anyways. Do you want to know what we all can do?"

Brian shrugged ambiguously. Taking that as the go-ahead, Jubilee proceeded to rattle off words so fast, Brian wondered if she was still speaking English.

"...hecandoallsortsofwonderfulthingslikeswingfromtreesandstretchhisnosebutitlooksreallygrosswhenhedoesn'thaveanycontrol'causehisskinstartstomeltand--"

"Jubes...he don't know a thing you just said...4,000 words per minute is a bit fast."

"...what?" Jubilee took in some oxygen. Angelo rolled his eyes.

"I got six feet o'extra skin, got it? I can control what I do with it. I need to con-cen-trate to keep it tight, or else I got skin hangin' off my bones, ¿comprende?"

Brian nodded as he moved to sit on the floor.

"Jubes here, not only armed with a deadly dose of hyperactivity and a superhuman mouth --"

"Yer getting close to that line, bub."

"-- is a pyrotechnic --"

"She shoots fireworks," Monet whispered not discreetly to Brian. Jubilee shot daggers from her eyes.

"-- AHEM...Paige is a metamorph --"

"She rips off her skin," Jubilee said accusingly. Paige looked up, oblivious.

"What?"

"-- (whatisthis...ignore Angelo day?) As I was saying, Everett synchronizes in with other mutants, Jonothon is a chamber of energy (he blew off his upper chest and lower face when he turned out), and Monet is...Monet is...well..."

"Perfect," she finished for him, smiling primly.

"Perfect pain in the --"

"So what do you do?" Synch cut in quickly. Brian felt like wincing.

"I don't really do anything...I just shift and slide a lot."

All of the boys stared at him. "Huh?" replied Angelo.

"I shift and slide." Brian sighed. "Sliding is this." He moved his hand through the leg of a chair, feeling the material 'tug' at him slightly. "And shifting is why you can see through me."

"This 'shifting' is something you do?"

"No, that's what I call it. Shifting is my transparency...I've got something wrong with light or something...I'm very light-sensitive. I don't have any control over shifting...a little bit over the sliding, though. Enough so that I can still wear clothes and pull myself out of chairs and such. Sometimes, though, when I'm distracted or when I'm tired or whatever I just can't control the sliding. Presents unusual problems when it's in public."

More silence. "That's...interesting," Angelo said. "What else?"

"Huh?"

"What else is there about you? You like sports? You got a girlfriend? What?"

"I'm colorblind..."

Angelo sighed. "It's a start."

"I don't know about you all, but I'm tired." Paige closed her book and stood. "I, for one...am going to bed."

"Country mouse, you gotta learn to live it up."

"Tell me that when you drop from exhaustion," Paige retorted as she walked across the room. "'Night, all."

"Good night, Paige!" Angelo and Jubilee chorused. Brian took that time to glance at the book she was reading. Advanced Cellular Biochemistry.

{That is one SMART girl...}

******'

"Hey...uh...Brian. Yeah...wake up. Wakey wakey. Come on...wake up dude...(can't freakin' help it if my hand keeps goin through yer body)."

Brian slowly opened his eyes. With a shock he realized he was submerged partly into the couch in the living room, and that Jubilee was trying to wake him up.

She knelt down and peered with one dark grey eye (in actuality it was brown) into his goggles. "Dude...I can't see a thing through those things. Are you awake?" She reached to pull his goggles down.

Danger! He instinctively jerked his head away. Jubilee appeared shocked. "I'm sorry...please don't ever try to take those off. I can't see without them."

"Yer blind?"

"I'm colorblind...remember? But that's not the point."

Jubilee straightened up and offered her hand to him before she remembered that he would have just slid through it. "Sorry about that...so why do you have to wear those things again?"

Brian yawned and managed to slide out of the couch with some concentration. {When am I going to be able to just stand up? When am I going to be able to just sit? This is really annoying...and not to mention embarrassing.}

"I've got some...problems...with my eyes. They're a little disturbing to other people, so I cover them up...but they're also for my own protection."

"Why?"

::Jubilation, it would please me if you would not interrogate our new member.::

Both turned to see Ms. Frost standing in front of the door.

"Member? Member of what?"

Jubilee grinned. "Generation X, of course."

Brian paled. "Whoa, wait a minute...I didn't sign up for any of this 'Generation X' business."

Ms. Frost narrowed her eyes slightly. ::You are --

"Please, Ms. Frost." Brian covered his ears slightly. "Use your voice until I get familiar with these mind-speaking things."

Ms. Frost glared at Brian and cleared her throat. "As I was saying, as long as you are a student in this academy, you will be a member of Generation X."

Brian felt his anger rise. "I'm not aware of my enrolling here as a student. I recall requesting tutoring with the control of this," he gestured to his body, "so that I could go back to my home."

"You are a student here--"

"I am high school graduate, Ms. Frost. I was home-schooled by my mother and I don't intend to take any more high school classes, or college classes, or classes in tying my shoes, or any other class you can think of! I came here to learn how to become normal again. If you can't teach me that without forcing me to go to your school," he spat, "then I might as well leave."

Jubilee's head swung back and forth like in a tennis match. The loud voices in the room had brought Paige and Everett into the room.

"...psst!" Jubilee turned toward the door. Ms. Frost and Brian paid no attention and continued their heated argument. Jubilee maneuvered toward the two eavesdroppers.

"What's going on?"

Jubilee managed to lower her voice, incredibly enough. "Brian doesn't want to be a student or a member of Generation X. Seems he got himself a diploma and don't want any more schooling. He just wants to go back to his mommy."

"Why's he here then?"

"He just wants to learn how to control his powers, I guess."

Paige frowned. "Ah...ahem....I assume Emma doesn't like this?"

"Better freakin' believe it."

Everett looked at Ms. Frost, who was now arguing that if he didn't want to be a student here, then what was he going to do while the rest of the children were in class. "It looks like he already won the student thing."

Paige pulled Jubilee and Everett out of the arch and back into the hallway, closing the door behind her.

"What'd ya do that for, hayseed?"

"It's none of our business what those two discuss."

"'Discuss' as in yell at each other?" Everett pointed out.

"Doesn't matter...we should get back to our business. Unlike the new kid, we've got classes to attend, and I don't think that we can get out of that."

{Spoilsport,} thought Jubilee as Paige walked back toward the kitchen. She and Everett looked at each other.

"Don't even think I'm going to leave you two here to eavesdrop. Get moving." Both Jubilee and Everett sighed and moved to catch up with Paige.

******

{These children annoy me.} Monet St. Croix watched as Skin and Jubilee fought over a box of Instant Quaker Oatmeal. Monet rolled her eyes and resumed eating her own cereal. {Why am I still here?}

"Ange, I got it first...I get first pick...and I pick Strawberries an' Cream, so getcherown!"

"Chica, think again!"

Paige looked up and made eye contact with both Everett and Monet. All three of them seemed to communicate visually. {Here we go again...} they all thought.

"That's it!" Jubilee paffed Angelo's hands off of the Quaker Oatmeal box. "There ain't no more Sugar Bombs, so I gotta have something that's not of nutritional value...and this is it."

Angelo let loose a tendril of skin and tried to snatch the box back. "And I almost never eat breakfast. Take pity on the boy from the barrio!"

"Never!"

::Children! That's more than enough!::

Everyone stopped and stared at the White Queen after her booming 'announcement.'

::Mr. Cordain will not be joining us with our academics, and is considered a temporary member of Generation X. He has stressed that he has no intentions of joining, and will leave as soon as he deems appropriate. In other words, don't get too attached to the little puppy, he'll be going back to the pound soon enough.::

"How kind of you, Frosty."

::For the umpteenth time, Jubilation...it's Ms. Frost for you.::

"Sure thing, Frosty."

::Look at the time...classes are starting...::

Brian peeked in to see all the students racing to the sink with their bowls then out the door with the exception of Jubilee. She pouted.

"An' I didn't even get ta eat yet!"

::Next time remember that, instead of mouthing off.:: With that final token of advice, Ms. Frost left the room. Jubilee stuck her tongue out.

"...Jubilee, isn't it?"

Jubilee turned to see Brian with one foot in the room, ready to race out if she snapped at him. He was still dressed as he was yesterday, and his transparency and semi-intangibility was disconcerting. She could see the outline of the hall behind him through his chest.

"Yeah. Brian, right?"

The new temporary member beamed. "Right!" Taking her query as the go-ahead, he carefully stepped into the room.

Silence. {This guys needs to learn how to use his vocal cords.} "Well...I better get going to class now..."

"Yeah, I guess," he said slowly. He moved toward the table hesitantly as Jubilee started to move away. "I'll be seeing you later, I guess?" he asked.

"During the afternoon, yeah. 'Til then, ciao." She tossed him the Quaker Oatmeal box and left the room.

He looked down at the box in puzzlement and opened it. {Strawberries and Cream! Great!}

"And don't even think about the Strawberries and Cream, new boy, 'cause they're mine!" Jubilee said as she stuck her head back into the room. Her head popped back out as Brian sighed.

{Figures.} He settled on Blueberries and Cream.

******

"Paige...just husk already...it can't be all that hard to change to wood."

Paige frowned as she looked at the growing mound of skins. "I've husked three times already...I'm exhausted...can't I just get a breather?"

Emma Frost and Sean Cassidy exchanged a look. Emma threw her hands up and moved toward Everett and Jubilee while Sean focused in on Paige.

"Paige, lass, ye got to be able t'husk more'n three times during a battle, aye?"

"Yeah...but it's just that I've never done wood that often and it's a different concept and --"

"Lass, ye're making excuses."

"Yeah, I know." Paige sighed. "Can't I just husk to stone? Or steel?"

Sean looked at Paige sternly. "Why're ye complaining lass? Would ye rather I ask you t'husk t'acid or water or some other form?"

Paige grimaced. "No...I'm just...I've just got a bit of a headache and I feel like I'm on edge all of a sudden." Paige shrugged. "I don't know."

"Here...try just one more time, lass. Just once. Then we'll move t'something else, aye?"

Paige sighed. "All right. I'll try." She gripped her skin on her arm and gave a firm tug, her eyes shut. She peeked out of one eye to see what she husked into and gave a startled gasp.

"What is that?!" she exclaimed. Rather than the wood that she and Sean had been hoping for, she had husked into some unidentifiable substance...not as hard as wood (it was softer than normal human skin, and left indentations in it), and it didn't quite look right, either. Paige shook her arm to see what it felt like. It was almost as if her arm had been numbed. The 'wood grain' was very faint, and the color was a quiet grey-green.

"Lass...I have no idea. Why don't ye husk back t'normal 'fore something else happens?" Sean managed to say around his shock. Paige was only too eager to rip off that disgusting skin (she discovered it was slimy as she husked it away) and wiped her hand on her uniform.

"That was gross."

"Aye. Lass, why don't ye...ah...rest a little...I think ye'll need it."

"Thanks, Mr. Cassidy." Sean nodded absently, still staring at the husked skin. He moved off to where Skin was working with Monet, and Paige sat down on a large stone.

"Do you have any idea what that was?" said a soft voice. Paige opened her eyes and saw Brian Corbain, that new kid.

"Yuck. No. And there's no way I'm gonna husk into it again." Paige looked at the boy again. She knew he was seventeen, her own age, and that his middle name was Thomas. But Ms. Frost didn't even have a description of him, and Paige had been somewhat surprised from his appearance.

He wasn't very tall, for one thing. He was five-nine, maybe if he stretched even five-ten. He didn't look to be bulky; his lean form seemed to be around one-hundred and sixty, one-hundred and seventy pounds. His goggles prevented Paige from seeing the color and shape of his eyes, but his cheekbones were pronounced on his lean face, contrasting sharply with his slim straight nose, and his strong jaw. But what had surprised Paige the most was the color of his hair.

It was the most fascinating color she had ever seen...not a cornsilk blonde like herself, his hair had different colored strands. As bright as golden blond, and as dark as auburn, his short, straight hair seemed to glow as he ran his hand through it before replacing his dark blue-brimmed cap back on his head.

He was pleasant-looking...not at all gorgeous or beautiful, but handsome in his own rights. {Kind of like the quiet boy who's always in the back. Which is kind of what he is, actually}

"Why don't you sit down?"

Brian smiled sheepishly. "I won't be able to for long...or else I'll start to sink."

"That's right, you said that last night didn't you?"

He nodded, preferring a motion rather than saying anything. Paige saw the outlines of Angelo, Monet, and Sean through his body.

"I read your file," she said casually. Brian sighed. "But it doesn't really say much about you personally. Just what you can do."

Brian cocked his head as he sat down, Indian-style, on the dirt ground. "What do you want to know?"

Paige shrugged as she turned to face him. "I don't know...just general stuff. Any brothers or sisters?"

Brian stiffened ever so slightly. "I have a sister," he carefully said, thinking through his words. "But...she lives with my father, and I haven't seen her since I was young."

Paige frowned. "That's awful. I grew up with a boatload of kids, myself. My oldest brother is Sam...he's a mutant, too."

Brian started to breathe normally again, and he seemed to relax. "What's he like?"

"He's with the X-Men right now. Sam's just a big goof, though. I guess people don't take him very seriously."

"Ah."

"But enough about Sam. I want to know more about you and I'm sure everyone else does too. You're not exactly talkative, are you?"

Brian shrugged. Another motion. "I've always been kind of...well, shy."

Paige chuckled. "Well, you'll fade into the woodwork if you keep that up. Excuse that awful pun."

"Pun?"

"Woodwork...never mind," she said, seeing that Brian didn't really think it was all that funny.

There was a brief silence as they just looked at each other. Paige finally just got up and sat down across from him on the ground, wishing, for another time (she had lost count) that they didn't have to wear these ridiculous red-and-yellow uniforms. {The dirt will be murder to get out of the spandex.}

"Tell me more about you."

"What do you want to know?"

"What color are your eyes?"

Brian grinned. "They were always grey to me."

Paige rolled her eyes. "But what color were they to other people?"

"Does it matter?"

Paige cocked her own head. "What do you mean?"

"Well," Brian said, shifting in his position to keep from sinking. "Why does it matter what color my eyes were when they're black now?"

"Why are they black?"

"I thought you read my file; they're just pupils now."

Paige frowned. "Can you go in daylight without those things?" she said, pointing toward his shade/goggles.

Brian grimaced. "I don't know. I try not to...it hurt the first time I did and I've only tried it once."

Paige reached toward his face. He moved his head away. "I'd rather do it myself."

Paige watched closely as he reached around his head and slowly undid a latch. Pulling them away, she noticed how strong his bone structure was for the first time.

"Open your eyes."

Brian shook his head. "I can't...it'll hurt."

Paige smiled to herself. "Okay. If you don't want to, that's okay." Brian gave a slight smile and quickly moved to fasten the shades back on. Paige was about to ask another question when Banshee interrupted.

"Brian, lad, can ye come over here for a moment?"

"Sure." He pulled himself up to his feet and started to walk toward Sean. Paige watched him as he listened carefully to Mr. Cassidy.

{He's okay. Little too quiet. We'll get him to open up soon.} Paige stood up and brushed herself off. {I wonder where Jono is?}

******

Jonothon Starsmore sat in his old room, watching television on his worn couch. He looked around the darkened room. {He didn't sleep in th'bed, didn't touch nothing...didn't make the room a mess.} Jono smiled in his head. {Not like he could make it any messier.} Jono had the entire basement bedroom to himself, preferring the dark solitude, and because of that, his bachelor lifestyle had slowly spread its way through the bowels of the room. It was, by far, the coldest and darkest of all the dorm rooms, and while it wasn't exactly the biggest of the lot, it was his.

{And no quiet backwoods new boy's gonna take it away from me.} Jono thought to himself. {I don't really hate th'bloke...he seems okay enough...but...he's just creepy sort of.} Jono was amused by his thought. {He's creepy...like I'm one t'be talkin'.}

He raised the remote to the TV and turned it off.

{Where's the Yankee backwoods boy gonna stay?} he thought as he made his way toward the bathroom. {This here's the darkest place of the house...and there ain't no way I'm gonna give it up t'him.} He turned on the lights to the bathroom and walked to the toilet. The bathroom was even colder than the bedroom, but it was clean and Jono kept it that way. {I suppose they'll make us roommates,} he thought forlornly. {I hope he ain't like Angelo or Everett...makin' enough noise and talkin' enough t'keep a man from sleeping.} He smiled in his mind again. {Not as if I sleep much, but it still would get annoying.}

Finishing his business, he turned and faced the mirror, as he always did whenever he was in the bathroom. {Wot a crock of shit I got dealt.} He 'sighed' and turned off the lights and made his way upstairs to talk to Cassidy about making the new kid his roommate.

{I know I'm gonna regret this.}

******