The Matthias Chronicles
Vol. 1 Story 7: Heart, Body, Mind and Soul.
By Wraith and Shockwave

Jamal lay in wait close to the ground in a Japanese bamboo forest. He was stripped of his mutant abilities and hunted by a band of ninjas he angered by interrupting their attempted gang rape of a 15-year old girl. Besides that, there was also the fact that he was gaijin, a foreigner, all together it added up to 5 well-trained silent assassins chasing down a young man on their own turf. He heard the crack of a branch being stepped on about 10 feet south of him. All he had were his hands, his feet and his will to live, unfortunately for said ninjas, this was more then enough. Jamal grabbed two handfuls of the dry, loose topsoil and blades of grass. As the footsteps of the first ninja approached him, Jamal executed a corkscrew kipup, twisting his body upwards. As he spun he tossed the dirt and grass into the air, obstructing his pursuer's view. At the end of the 360° spin, Jamal landed on his feet to face a black-clad ninja grasping the air in front of him, franticly trying to find his opponent. Jamal used the assassin's confusion to his advantage, jumping into the air in front of the ninja and hitting him squarely in the back of the head with an enziguri kick. His assailant flopped forward and landed, sternum-first onto a pointed rock cracking his breastbone and fatally puncturing his lung.

As Jamal's ears heard the unearthly gurgling that accompanied a man's dying breath as his lungs filled with his own blood, the hairs on Jamal's arms felt a quick breeze indicating that the next ninja had found him. Jamal quickly hid behind a large cluster of bamboo shoots. With any luck, the ninja was moving too fast to even notice Jamal. As the tops of the stalks Jamal was hiding behind fell into his lap after being chopped off, Jamal realized that the ninja did see him and he was in trouble. Jamal took one of the more solid and sturdy stalks and began to twist and twirl it like a bo staff. The ninja was unimpressed and charged at Jamal with his katana blade raised over his head, intent on slicing Jamal clean in half. Jamal rolled out of the way and the blade ended up hitting the ninja's fallen comrade. Shocked at the desecration he caused his own brother, the ninja stared at his partner in crime, for a split second. That turned out to be a split second too long, as Jamal took the moment that the ninja was distracted, to gather up all the strength he could muster and open-palm strike the assassin square in the nose. The impact forced the, now broken, nosebone upward and into the brain tissue. If the ninja wasn't dead, he deserved an Oscar for the performance. Two down, three to go. From the sounds of rushing winds through the bamboo trees to the north and, simultaneously, from the east; Jamal could tell that two of the remaining three killers were on their way to his clearing in the woods. Suddenly, the two black-clad fighters sprang from out of the foliage, weapons draws ready to purée the young mutant.

"Konichiwa, gaijin," the ninja from the north shouted.

Jamal looked around and did the only thing that would stop him from being sliced to ribbons. "Danger Room, pause program." Suddenly the ninjas froze in mid-air and Jamal took a breather. At first it was too easy, so he had the Danger Room suppress his mutant powers. It was still not challenging enough, so he disengaged the safety protocols; making the holographic ninjas' blows as lethal as real ones. Unfortunately, he had made the program too hard, but that's just how he liked it. He'd been running the same program 5 times a day, every day for the past 8 weeks, but the last two or three always trapped him. It was so frustrating! The only thing more frustrating then the fact that he could never elude the final killers was the fact that, outside of classes, this was the only activity the conditions of his suspension allowed him.

Jamal ran all possibilities of offensive and defensive strategies through his mind. His formative years of Shotokan Karate and Jeet Kun Do training in Japan had taught him techniques to sharpen his thinking and reflexes. However, his detrimental marijuana habits had dulled some of the best efforts of his sensei. He knew they would be coming everytime, but he nev--KKKRRRAAACCKKOOOMMM!!

The powerful, concentrated, invisible, ear-shattering soundwave that blindsided Jamal clean in his rib cage knocked the air out of him. The light that filled his vision was damn near blinding. As his lungs burned from lack of oxygen, Jamal looked over in the direction that the blast came from and saw him. Right hand majestically returning to his side, and clothed in a red velvet suit with white lace cuffs and black cape, stood Legionnaire. On anyone else the ensemble, reminiscent of Louis XIV era France, would've looked gaudy, maybe even campy; but on Legionnaire it inspired images of royalty, power, and prestige.

"How the hell did you get in here!?"

Legionnaire replied in his perfectly articulated English, "Calm down son, I have a vested interest in how both you and your brother train for battle conditions. I just want to make sure that the two of you are getting the most out of your time here. So don't be surprised when I occasionally check in on your progress."

Jamal was dumbfounded. Throughout Legionnaire's speech he made no mention of the school's several Shi'ar hybrid security measures. "B-but the sec--"

"The 'security'? If you can call it that, was easily thwarted. Besides, as the song goes, 'Ain't no mountain high enough'."

With all of his precious air back inside his pained lungs, Jamal stood up, arms defiantly crossed. "Why do you insist on calling me and Chris brothers; and, even worse, calling us your sons?"

Legionnaire sighed with a slightly impatient and annoyed tone in his voice. "Surely your Dr. McCoy has analyzed the blood sample you stole from me by now."

Jamal felt his stomach start to bounce around more than a Mexican wrestler. McCoy had, indeed, analyzed the blood sample Jamal managed to capture from Legionnaire when he cut him. Also, wanting more than anything to disprove Legionnaire's ridiculous claim, Jamal and Chris submitted to have their blood tested to see if they were related. The paternity test was inconclusive, since there was no sample from either Jamal's or Chris' mothers to compare against. The fraternal test, however, was dead on. Jamal Brown and Chris Storm did indeed share the same father, whether it was Legionnaire or not had yet to be determined.

Jamal tried, rather poorly mind you, to hide his nervousness, "Whatever. What do you want?"

Legionnaire smirked and turned his back to the young man, and spoke in soft, calm tones. "I want to test your strength." At the completion of the final syllable in his sentence, Legionnaire detached the cape and tossed it to Jamal, in one deft move. The billowing, black mass of silk floated in front of Jamal's field of vision and obstructed it. Before he could slap the cape from in front of him, Jamal felt the air gush from his body once again. This time the culprit was Legionnaire's extended leg and foot, which found itself firmly planted his Jamal's solar plexus.

Jamal quickly rolled away from Legionnaire and attempted to regain his breath again. While he was gasping, Legionnaire’s hands began to glow an eerie shade of violet. Jamal didn’t know what the violet hue signified, and frankly, he didn’t want to stay around and find out. With what little air and energy his body possessed, Jamal ran to his left and dove behind a large cluster of trees. As he turned to his right, Jamal quickly gasped as he looked into the eyes of a dead man. He felt like an idiot when he remembered the "dead man" was just one of the two ninjas from his exercise program that he managed to kill. He heard Legionnaire’s footsteps, and got an idea on how he could get away from his "father".

"Danger Room, close ninja program 5-A. Open ninja program 300-B." At his request, the holograms of the 5 ninjas disappeared and were replaced by 300 black-clad warriors. In unison, every hologram turned towards Legionnaire and charged him with their weapons drawn.

Legionnaire stood his ground as the swarm of highly trained and highly dangerous assassins descended upon him. Jamal wouldn't have believed it if he didn't see it but it appeared that the ninjas were sliced neatly in to halves, then quarters, then eighths. This process of exponential laceration continued until Jamal could no longer see any remains of the ninjas; save for their weapons. Throughout the Ginsu display Legionnaire didn't move a muscle; at least he didn't appear to. As playing the security tape in slow motion would later reveal, Legionnaire did indeed move. A lot and fast. As the first ninja swung its blade at Legionnaire, the mutant potentate deftly broke his attacker's wrist and grabbed the falling katana. With the lethal length of steel in his grasp, Legionnaire proceeded to slice, dice, and make julienne fries out of the holographic assassins. The reason he appeared to stay still to the naked eye is because Legionnaire's carving spree took place faster than the human eye could register the image. And when he was done, he stood in the same exact spot in the same exact position; one in which he was yawning and you could almost taste the apathy seeping from his pores.

"Honestly Jamal, I expected more from you then this! You and your brother are usually so hotheaded and itching for a fight, and you throw 300 holograms at me? Do I unnerve you that much? Perhaps your other siblings will do better."

At this, Jamal stood up from behind the rock that was serving as his hiding place and clenched his fists. "You leave Monet and Chris out of this you bastard, or so help me God I'll make you wish you never crawled out of whatever vile, primeval ooze spawned you!"

Legionnaire was impressed with the speech and began to clap unenthusiastically. "Well son, it seems that someone has been studying the thesaurus in order to widen your vocabulary and make "villainous megalomaniacs", such as myself, shake in our boots. Don't be discouraged because I didn't vacate the premises yelling and quaking in fear just keep trying. You'll get it right one day. You're already off to a smashing start! You have the whole "super-hero" pose and voice down to a science."

Jamal brandished both of his fists and flew at Legionnaire as his fists began to glow the same shade of violet that Legionnaire's did earlier. However before he could reach his target, he was severely weakened by an unknown force and fell impotently to the ground with a groan.

"Let me guess, you tried to imitate my ability right? That's impossible Jamal, you see, your ability only allows you to record and recall finite powers and abilities. You understand?" In this break in the conversation, Legionnaire looked down at Jamal, and picked him up by his collar and brought him closer to him. They were now face-to-face. Legionnaire could see that Jamal was uncomfortable; Legionnaire was beaming. "You see, my abilities are infinite. Attempting to record them shorted out your body. Besides, you'd think the one I gave you at the moment of your conception would've been enough."

The last thing Jamal saw before blacking out was Legionnaire's fist thrusting towards his face.

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

While the rest of the school, "the rest of the school" being: Paige, Chris, Everett, Angelo, Monet, Jubilee, Mr. Cassidy and Ms. Frost, spent the day at the county fair outside of Salem Center; Sara was sitting in the kitchen half watching TV and half studying. She told Paige and the others that she wanted to put the finishing touches on her English Thesis paper, which wasn't due for another month-and-a-half. In truth she was staying to be near Jamal.

One of the conditions of his suspension was that he was not allowed any time with anyone outside of class. Sara wouldn't dream of violating the trust that Cassidy and Frost obviously showed her when they didn't make a fuss about her staying home with only Penance and Jamal in the house. But just knowing that he was 3 flights below her, in the 2^nd sub-basement, gave her a warm feeling, almost as if he was embracing her in his strong arms. Still there was nothing like the real thing, and in two days, when his suspension was finally lifted, Sara would be able to tell and show Jamal just how much she missed him.

The show on television was not especially interesting. It was one of those tabloid talk shows about bisexual transvestite hookers who are sleeping with their pimp's best friend's dad. The text wasn't holding her attention that well either. If Sara stared at page 88 of The Educated Imagination any longer she'd start mumbling it in her sleep. As The Carrie-Missy Winthrop show droned on in the background, Sara got up to go to the library and put the book back. On her way she passed the security room and saw the monitor for the Danger Room. Her heart skipped a beat when she saw Jamal's limp body lying on the floor. She rushed towards the elevator and looked for the basement marked "Sub-2", but didn't see it.

"Goddammit! Where the hell is the button!"

Sara's palms were now sweating and she felt she was getting pale. In frustration she slammed her open palms against the button panel. A computer voice echoed throughout the small elevator.

"Palmprint verified. Please state destination."

Sara could've slapped herself for forgetting the palmprint requirement. Instead she said: "Sub-Basement 2."

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

"Ach! How in the bloody hell am I supposed to toss this ring across that milk bottle?"

Sean Cassidy exclaimed half in frustration and half in childlike joy. It had been a good five years since he had ever been to a town fair or any type of carnival. He had just blown four dollars on a ring toss, trying to win two plush leprechauns, one for Penance and one for his daughter, Teresa. Looking on with a grin was Emma Frost. She loved to see Sean genuinely happy. It happened so rarely that is was a special treat whenever he was able to cut loose one hundred percent, and just have fun. In her more introspective moments Emma supposed she enjoyed seeing Sean happy because she was so rarely gladsome herself. Most of the time she brooded (in private) over the loss of her Hellions and how that wasn't going to happen to these kids.

"Sean you are positively adorable when you get upset!"

Sean's playful frowning turned into a full-on smile. "Thanks luv! It took me 12 tries, but I finally got a toy for Penny and one for Terry." Where are the kids?"

"Last time I checked Everett, Monet, and Angelo were in line for the Anti-Gravity Machine. Jubilee, Paige and Chris were all in the arcade." Emma helped Sean carry one of the 3 feet tall stuffed dolls and walked towards the arcade.

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

"Dammit dammit dammit!" Jubilation Lee's disappointment was clear and tangible. "Cheese-n-rice! What do I have to do to beat this damn guy?"

"Ya know Jubes, you've cursed more in the past five minutes then you have in the past five months. It's just a stupid game."

Jubilee shot daggers at Chris with her gaze. "ONLY A GAME?!?!"

Before Jubilee lost what little cool she had left, Paige came by and rescued her boyfriend. "Chris leave her alone. She really likes video games. Besides the line at the Ferris Wheel is short. Let's go! It'll be great!" Paige grabbed Chris by his arm and started to drag him out of the arcade.

"See ya later Lee!"

This left Jubilee alone with her nemesis, the Bloody Clash arcade game. She had already pumped six bucks into the machine, but still couldn't defeat the final boss. She was obsessed with beating the game. Sure, she could kid herself and say it was only because she was a former California mallrat who was genetically conditioned to play arcade games. She knew that the truth was far less innocent. The truth was, she was feeling sorry for herself. She couldn't lie to herself and say that just because Monet as now seeing Everett, that she no longer had strong feelings for him. Just when she did think she was getting over Everett, along came Chris and the cycle just repeated. The worst part of the whole thing was that she considered each boy's girlfriend to be a good friend of hers. She couldn't feel comfortable around any of them. Everett, Monet, Chris and Paige were completely oblivious to her feelings. She always prided herself on her internal strength and refused to talk out her problems with anyone, and just kept them bottled up. But this was too stressful; she couldn't keep up appearances while her heart was breaking. The first of several tears rolled down her cheek and snapped her out of her trance.

"I-I can't do this! I can't do this any longer!" Her sobs were drowned out by the electronic sound effects of the machine. "It's just too much of a strain."

"C'mon, its not that hard, you just gotta keep your cool."

Jubilee spun around and looked for the owner of the voice. She looked down and saw a young Chinese boy.

"Why are you crying? Is it that important to beat Bloody Clash?"

Jubilee composed herself, wiped her eyes and spoke to the pre-teen. "No, its not this its…something else. But you think you can help me beat this guy?"

"Who? Him?" The boy jabbed a thumb at the menacing figure on the screen. "I could beat him in my sleep! Did you want some help?"

Jubilee cracked a smile, "Sure thanks. My name is Jubilation, but everyone calls me 'Jubilee'."

"Hello Jubilee, my name is Jing Yuen, pleased to meet you.

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

Sara was trying in vain to find out what was wrong with Jamal. It was obvious that he was injured internally, but where and to what extent was a mystery to her. She couldn't use her healing ability unless she knew exactly what to heal. She wouldn't know what to heal unless she used the equipment in the infirmary. She couldn't move him in his condition. She was panicking and didn't know what to do. She would've called Cassidy or Frost, but their cell phones were off and she'd only get a voice mail message. She was pacing and trying to think of whom she could get to help. She bit the bullet and decided to call the police. She ran to the phone in the Danger Room's observation booth. She picked up the receiver and started to dial 911, but saw a note taped to the phone cradle:

"In case of medical emergency, page Dr. Henry McCoy @ 212-555-6561. Enter code 808**911"

Sara followed the instructions and was greeted with a voice mail recording. It stated that according to the pager's GPS, Dr. McCoy was approximately 12 minutes away by land and 6 minutes away by air. Sara went back down to the Danger Room main floor and cradled Jamal's head in her arms.

"Don't worry Jamal. Dr. McCoy will be here soon enough.

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

"Game Over. Game Over." The Bloody Clash arcade game blared its curtain call as Jubilee landed the final blow on the final enemy in the game.

"YES!!! Ha ha you stupid little machine, you are no match for the world famous Jubilee, and her tag-team partner, Jing!" Jubilee shouted as she jumped up and down. "Say kid," she said turning to Jing. "How can I repay you?"

The 11 year-old Jing looked Jubilee up and down and named his price. "Well, are those rollerblades there for show or can you use them?" Jing pointed at the pair of 'blades tied together and hanging on Jubilee's shoulder.

"'Can I use them'? You must not know who you're talkin' to! I can do any trick you can think of. Plus I'm working on my own personal trick that I might debut sometime in the next week. Why?"

"Well could you teach me?"

Jubilee cracked a smile. "You are so cute with those puppy dog eyes! Sure I can teach you, but I might be leaving soon. Do you live near here?"

"My parents told me not to tell strangers my address. But they're around here somewhere. I'll go get them and let them meet you, then you won't be a stranger anymore will you?"

Ten minutes later Jubilee met with Jing's parents, Mr. and Mrs. Yuen. The Yuens were ecstatic to meet Jubilee.

Mrs. Yuen smiled and shook Jubilee's hand. "We are so happy that Jing has some Chinese friends. It's very hard on him living here in Massachusetts, but I'm sure you understand don't you Jubilation."

Jubilee shifted uncomfortably at the word "Chinese". Truth was she never really identified herself as Chinese. She just saw herself as American. "Yeah, well, you know, just doing my duty for the younger generation!" Jubilee replied with a nervous chuckle.

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

"This young man is lucky you called me when you did," Henry McCoy explained to Sara as he hooked up an I.V. line to Jamal's arm, as the youth lay on the bed of the school infirmary. Jamal's eyes were shut and he looked like he was dead. Fortunately the strong, steady beeps from the EKG proved otherwise. "Had you waited any longer he would've likely needed major surgery and possible even a new lung."

Sara was on the brink of tears but she didn't shed a single one. Rather, she overcompensated by spitting out her words like a Gattling gun. "Y-yes well I did notice his shortness of breath and assumed there was some severe trauma to the diaphragm however since I didn't know the extent of the injuries to the neck and head, or even if there was any injury to the neck or head so moving him was out of the question so I was going to call the police but I saw your name and number on the phone so I just--"

"Ms. Kain, I understand that you are nervous, and upset. That being said, I think it would be highly prudent if you were to sit down and catch your breath before you hyperventilate."

Sara sat down on the chair on the far end of the room. "I'm sorry Dr. McCoy. I guess I failed my first test."

McCoy kept his eyes keenly trained on the EKG monitor, but was still listening to Sara. "Test? What test?"

"Well I wanted to be a doctor, but if I panic with a patient like I did with Jamal…"

"Well hopefully not every patient you have will be the victim of a brutal attack, and your boyfriend." McCoy cracked a hairy blue smile, trying to make light of the situation and cheer Sara up. It worked, as Sara smiled back."

"Yeah. How long do you think it will be until Jamal regains consciousness?"

McCoy took off his eyeglasses, rubbed the bridge of his nose and replaced them. His nose obviously wasn't sweating, due to the fur, but it was a habit nonetheless. "Sara, as I'm sure you know, the first 24 hours of an incident like this are the most important. I'm sure he should be awake by this time tomorrow. As for how long he'll be off his feet? Well that depends on some extraneous circumstances. Chief among them is whether or not Jamal osmotically learned Logan's healing ability when he learned how to use the claws. Also, now that you know exactly which ribs are fractured and which muscles are bruised, you may wish to assist his healing process. However I would warn against you healing him using your powers until he is more stable." After giving his final instructions, McCoy turned to leave.

"Thank you Dr. McCoy. I appreciate all your help." Sara got up from her seat and shook McCoy's hand on the way out.

" No problem. That's what I have the pager for. If you have any questions about Jamal's condition, just page me without the '911' on the end. And have Cassidy and Frost call me at the lab later tonight. I think I might have some news for them on another case I was working on for them." With that, McCoy left the room, and soon the mansion.

Sara waited until she was sure she was alone with Jamal. Once she heard the front door shut and McCoy's helicopter take off; she sat down in the chair next to Jamal's bed. She held his hand tightly and didn't let go. All the emotions she held back for the past two hours were free to flow. She held back before McCoy came in order to keep a clear head and get Jamal the help he needed. After McCoy came, Sara didn't get overly emotional so she could follow the physician's directions clearly and so she didn't make a bad impression on the man who's work was her favorite to research for her biology reports. Now, however, she was no longer an EMT, or a nurse, or a doe-eyed student; she was just a girl, whose boyfriend lie in an infirmary critically injured. She never felt so vulnerable in her life. Not even when Legionnaire kidnapped her. It scared her to think how much she loved Jamal. She was scared because she was still only 16, but her love was not that of a high school girl, but that of a woman. She knew without a doubt that Jamal owned her heart, body, mind and soul. Her feelings of ecstasy, fear, hate, joy all combined into an all-consuming blaze of love. Her very essence was now a part of him, but he was here…injured. She was close to losing him and, she was quite sure, her sanity if he didn't survive. He would survive. He MUST survive!