Standing on the deck of the Ebon Raptor Sarah marvelled at Laura's lithe movements. The woman wasn't a warrior so much as she was a force of nature. Sarah was trained and was still training in using a multitude of weapons but the former child assassin put Sarah to shame. The way she moved effortlessly through a throng of combatants was nothing short of miraculous. The blades moved about her like it was choreographed.

-and yet... Sarah could tell there was something off. She'd seen Laura train in the past and there was something more. She wasn't at her absolute best. There were a few times that she was almost struck, and then she actually was struck! Sarah had to dwell on that for a long moment until she realized. Laura was fighting half blind. The men she battled against didn't have the rank odour of unwashed flesh that a normal pirate would. They were a loose collection of photons and gravitic fields. The eyes in the back of Laura's skull were effectively shut.

Sarah was fairly content with watching Laura fight. She had been playing this scenario repeatedly over the last few weeks. She'd pretty much maxed out what she could with her ship, she'd upgraded to all four pistols. With a devilish smile, Sarah considered the possibility of starting over with some fondness.

Moving over to the side railing Sarah made the leap from one ship down onto the other, she landed on the shoulders of one of the crewmen and then fell forwards off of her perch and kicked out with her bare feet. The crewman went over the rail with a startled cry and Sarah rolled forward into a somersault amidst the chaos with her curved danger brandished. Two steps and Sarah lunged out from her crouch and lodged her holographic blade into one of the fictional sailors, lifting the figure up into the air and casting him aside to land heavily upon the planks.. HIs dropped blade never even hit the ground, Sarah snatched it up with her trained reflexes.

Another swift movement and Sarah perched herself atop the aft castle railing. She was searching out the captain, for certainly that was what Laura would be doing.

Magnus listened to the evolution of Jax. "In some ways you're lucky, at least all of your happened basically at once. Others think they are finally getting a grip on it after a few years only to get another power manifest and start all over while keeping the first power in check. So are your eyes hard or soft? we need t know if we need to get some goggles to keep them safe or not,"

He's just about to lead Jax on when the infant and the ogre pass by. The smallest being rather perturbed for no good reason with an apologetic thug in tow.

"That was Babyface, his teen-mom manifested super-genius so he did too. He was born able to use all his mind with some telekinesis, his body is still catching up to his brain so he has the hoverchair and a voicebox. One of the best gags around here is to screw with the settings on it to make him talk in brazilian or a chipmunk, one kid got it to do all showtunes for a week. The big guy is bassalisk , things he stares at start to turn to stone for a while before turning back."

"The x-men are... well yeah vigilante is pretty accurate. we do what the law cant on behalf of the good side. Xavier thinks we can all live in peace beside each other. My grandfather thinks mutants should rule the world and the humans be made secondary citizens. More mutants are born every day, in a couple decades they will be a recognizable percent of the world population and then global politics will come into play rather than each country handling it themselves. My vote is all mutants to Latveria."

Now that they had the kitchen all to themselves, magnus split up the Sushi between the two of them so that was three plates worth for each. It was always odd the way rooms would swarm and vacate between the blink of an eye. Just the mercurial nature of children, he supposed.

"My thanks, I was prepping the food when you arrived. I've always had a thing for Asia from food to culture, so thats my official study as a student here is language and cultures of other countries via an Anthropology Major. Any ideas what sort of schooling you want to study?"

Laura's cadence picked up naturally as she grew more accustomed to their brawling style. She loved the danger room for its endless possibilities and scenarios, but sometimes (like now for instance) she missed her claws striking true in a real target. Robot or flesh, flesh preferred. She had a feeling that want would never go away. Even as her blade licked across necks and danced over arteries, it was nothing compared to the rush of sinking into someone's flesh.

That only pissed her off.

A circle of hamstrung or simply dead sailors lay huddled over one another, laying at the feet of a particularly flamboyant ship captain. It was almost impossible to tell from a distance what she was feeling, but the moment had taken her much more than she thought it would. Very real blood mixed with the mock-up on her knuckles, she'd edged her claws out to give herself a sense of real pain. She could smell it, could basically taste it. Better yet? She could feel it. Her dress was torn already, exposing only brown pseudo-cloth and soft leather boots beneath. Somewhere along the line she'd picked up a nicer rapier, a French blade by the look of it. Simple, but elegant and precise.

Her eyes bore into the Captain, but she didn't want to make this one quick. For some reason she was tired of efficiency, she wanted to enjoy herself for once. To dance.

And so, they danced...

Jax listened to Magnus, claiming that Jax was lucky with his mutation that it happened at once rather in what could only be described as horrendous steps, before coming back to point and asking him about his eyes being hard or soft.

"Can't say for certain, I had no real issues on the flight over here - but that doesnt mean much - I wasnt flying too fast, not that I really know my top speed, I spose this tank room will figure that sort of thing yeah?"

At that point two people entered and left the kitchen, with Magnus on queue giving the commentary about the mansions residents, when Jax was told about Basilisks power, Jax did shudder a bit at that, making a mental note not to get on the guys bad side.

Hopping back to a previous topic Magnus confirmed Jax's ideas about the X-men being vigilanties. Though the reason for their actions.
"That doesnt sound too bad, give the humans a taste of their own medicine."

Soon enough Magnus had split the remaining sushi up between the two of them, but Jax's half soon vanished as he was starving. "Bloody brilliant food Magnus!"

like the duration of this trip around the mansion, once more the topic changed - this time to education and study, coughing twice Jax managed to get his question out:

"There's a choice? How longs the list?"

Sarah moved wit Laura, following the carnage that was in her wake. While Sarah moved through the throng, choosing her targets with careful consideration Laura just plowed through them. That was not as if to say that Laura was lacking in grace. No, she was a force of nature. She was the Juggernaut, an unstoppable force. Goddamn, Sarah would never achieve her ability, not even if she trained for another twenty years. It wasn't just the mutant abilities, the reflexes, the acute senses or the metabolism that wouldn't quit. It was the sheer joy that Laura got from such exertion. She was born a fighter. Sarah, on the other hand, preferred to languish in opulence. Being an X-Man was just something she did for a day job, partially to repay the Professor for rescuing her and partially because she simply didn't have anywhere else to go nor anything else to do with her time.

Sarah slipped along the railing, bare feet grapping the wood as she moved along the periphery of the fight. One thing that provided her was a certainty that nobody was about to impale her from behind. Laura had engaged the captain and their steel blades danced, a rhythm that sounded like it could have been music. Apparently the scenario had stepped up the skill of their opponent. Whether it was to make up for the fact there were two of them or simply to match Laura's superior fighting skill Sarah had no idea.

Stabbing a passing sailor with her recently acquired blade she appropriated a pistol with powder still in the flashpan, drawing it from the holster on his chest even as he clutched his abdomen and fell across the planks. For a moment, Sarah considered shooting Laura in the calf, just to see how the program would react. Instead she ended up aiming for the captain, hoping perhaps to give Laura an opportunity to break his guard. To her surprise, the captain grabbed one of his own sailors and used him as a shield, catching the lead ball in his chest.

That was a surprise. She'd never seen that before. She'd done that herself often enough but for the Danger Room to do so was surprising. There was no choice for it then. She was going to have to close. Sarah poked at the captain's rear, trying to distract him.

Magnus slid a few more pieces to Jax, so now the new guy had a fourth plate while the senior student only had two plates but he knew he could make more later if the mood struck him. Clearly, this guy needed to make up for some lost meals.

"I could poke your eye with a chopstick and see if you scream or not. Much faster than than a day in the tank, not that you are getting out of it. but it could be a simpler way to find out."

He listened to the simple rebuttal of the bug-boy and for a moment his mind went somewhere else. His solid black eyes didn't betray any looks of horror but his chewing slowed as if he was a bit longer in thought than he should be. 'A taste of medicine' was the cure and in his lifeline the cure was a poison of the x-gene. In a moment he was back again.

"Eye for an eye leaves the world blind", but, "In the world of the blind, the one eyed man is king." Then again, Matthew "And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire."

He let the rapid fire of quotes hammer Jax as he spoke up on the different topic. Part of life in the school was having to keep several things in one's head, moreso when one became an x-man, keeping code-names at minimum was something you had to keep compartmentalized along with a dozen facts in play all at once. This was a personal test of Magnus with no instruction of Xaviers, he has just seen rookies drop like rocks because they got confused.

"As long as any other college. We have accountants, mathematicians, doctors of medicine as well as other fields, computer technician, meteorologist, zoologists. A to Z really as well as just general education. Part of the goal for many is not to become x-men, but be able to live a healthy normal life, an accountant who happens to control ice or a doctor with x-ray vision to look at bones. Xaviers dream is to never need to know or care there is a mutant sitting next to you on the bus... Than again some are easier to be ignored than others. You turned into your form over puberty, I was born blue with a tail like my father who was nearly killed at childbirth."

.

X could smell Sarah approach, she felt a bit weird about that. To her, Sarah was like a beacon. It was impossible not to focus on her, she was the only other scent-bearing being in the room. It smelled, for an instant, as though Sarah might betray her. She could feel the emotions mingling in the air, even as she worked to defend against the sudden flurry of well-aimed attacks.

The AI was good enough to push her back slightly, but Laura parried again and again. Their chiming blades were like a slow rainfall on a tin roof, if rainfall could pack a punch. Sarah's pistol shot was a relief, even if it "missed". The maneuver surprised Laura, maybe less so than Sarah for familiarity's sake, but from that instant she knew she'd have to end this quickly.

Even if she couldn't tire easily, she could still get distracted. The machine didn't have that and it was quite apparent he was out to kill.

She made a decision.

The captain's sword pierced through her flimsy guard, the holographic blade bore into her. She could feel the pain pulsing through her abdomen, an electric shock simulation of sorts. Meant to short-circuit her nervous system, it likely would've knocked out most anyone else. She growled in pain, but it was obviously a maneuver of her own choosing. Obvious in the quickness that her legs shot out, that her hand pulled the Captain's grip closer, that her dagger pushed up into his guts.

He dropped to his knees, she wrapped her arms around his neck and twisted as he fell to the deck, the rest was quiet. She pulled the holographic sword from her gut and let it drop. All there was was silence, the ship belonged to her. She looked over at Sarah, still feeling a bit frazzled from the force of the shock. It wasn't eloquent and it wasn't her best work, but she knew how to use her mutation and could deal with it like few others could.

"I thought for a second there you might shoot me instead," she said with a sly grin - eyes showing only the slightest hints of pain. "It is...as they say, a pirate's life, right?" The tiniest of laughs fell from her lips like a heavy black cloud. Her smile like summer rain, even if it was warm and beautiful it was still blocking out the sun.

"One day I hope to meet you ship-to-ship. Maybe we will have our duel then?"

Down in the basement level, the med bay still had Plasma and Storm laid out though Storm herself was ready to get up and live her life as a free woman once more, the Shadow King was not in her but she did worry for poor Plasma. The Professor had made his way down after having sometime to himself, some sleep was needed as he was always busy in the sense of helping all who needed it as well as classes he taught. It was rather early but the situation needed to be sorted as he made his way to where Plasma was.

Professor X: “How are you feeling Storm?”

Storm: “Much better Charles, but what of Rebecca?”

Professor X: “I am not sure, if the Shadow King has indeed buried himself deep in Plasma’s mind we may have a big fight ahead. Hopefully I can get her to act through her own will then through the Shadow King.”

Storm: “His grip has grown stronger and his abilities have grown as well. His power to control and consume was overwhelming, even more so then last time. If he keeps getting stronger how will we be able to constrain him or stop him?”

Professor X: “I am not sure but we have to do our best, I have always tried my best with Jean and for a time we had control of the Phoenix Force. For now all I can do is try and reach Plasma and see if she is OK.”

Storm soon found herself getting up, she no longer wished to be laid out and she wanted to be free. The grounds needed to be watched and the plants needed to be tended too, this was one of her pleasures as they showed hope, beauty and growth. As she slowly left the room she turned to say something.

Storm: “Be careful Professor, the Shadow King is indeed powerful and this maybe a ploy to get you alone with him.”

Professor X: “I will keep that under advisement; also don’t strain yourself as you still have a few bumps and bruises from the fight.”

Storm nodded and left leaving the Charles and Rebecca alone. He did not want to pray into her mind yet and so asked her something hoping she would be able to respond.

Professor X: “How are you feeling Becky?”

The young woman slowly turned her head to face the man with a smile on his face. Her eyes looked over him as she saw him reach out to her with one of his hands. A brunch or beacon of light, a man everyone depended on, no matter if you were a student or one of his X-Men.

As the two talked, Magnus placed more of the sushi on to his plate, Jax continued eating, feeling the energy surge through him and warm up, but his eating slowed drastically as the former suggested taking a chop stick and poking the latter's eye.

"I think I am liking this Tank thing a lot better... Didnt anyone mention poking people in the eye is seen as a tad rude?" Jax smirked a little as he realized breaking in and fighting with girls could also be classed as rude to a degree.

As Magnus listened to Jax's feelings on the human vs mutant issue Magnus remained passive, only an observant person would notice the slowing of his eating - but as Jax was busy stuffing his face he didnt notice as the conversation moved onwards.

"Bit harsh going on about an eye for an eye when you said you wanted to poke me in the eye!" Jax new better but he just wanted to see if he could creak a smile or something.

Jax stroked his chin as he mulled over the info about education. "Maybe something to do with my powers, perhaps? I Dont know."

Sarah inhaled deeply, for a moment taken aback by the lack of salt's tang in the air. Down on the main deck the sailors of the schooner that had not fallen in battle had thrown down their arms, many taking to their knees with hands above their heads. Clearly it had been a rout. The only real difficulty had lain in defeating the captain and that was done. Slowly, as the blond mutant girl peered about, her bosom stopped heaving.

"A duel?" Sarah questioned, "with you? Are you kidding? You just took a dagger to your own gut just to snatch away his blade. That was insane! I've never seen the scenario do that, just up its skill level to that degree!

"That was magnificent," she added, putting ebony fingernails to her own black stained lips and blew Laura a kiss, "simply magnificent!"

Shaking her head, golden locks bouncing across her slender, ebony silk wrapped shoulders, Sarah chuckled mirthfully. Thankfully, the Danger Room couldn't simulate a beheading... or at least- she was pretty sure it couldn't- could it? That would be damn freaky, rolling around on the ground and looking up at your own body. No, going up against Laura directly was tantamount to suicide.

Which... of course was why she wasn't going to.

"-and now that you're a captain now," she continued, changing subjects, "you're going to need the hat to suit the part."

Turning her back on Laura, Sarah examined the ruined wreck of the former captain. Planting her bare foot on the deceased captain's face Sarah turned his head and then leaned forwards, bending at the waist so that her shapely, naked buttocks, completely visible through the sheer silk was pointed directly at Laura. With that as distraction she carefully used one hand to scoop up the former captain's unused pistol in addition to his wide brimmed hat. The simple plan was to obscure the pistol with the hat, fire directly through the fabric and lay Laura flat.

Aya screamed in fright as the two plummeted to the ground. Barely a few yards from going splat, they just stopped, and Asha set her down gently in the middle of the courtyard. Her shaking legs giving way, Aya dropped to her hands and knees, gasping for air. Slowly she started to chuckle. Then burst into outright laughter "HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!! THAT WAS SOOO COOL!" She turned to Asha and glomped her "You're so awesome! The way we just dropped like that! And then the way you perfectly managed to stop! You're amazing! I wish I could fly like you. Thank you, Nee-nee!" She babbled out, snuggling into Asha's chest. As she backed off, you could practically see her eyes sparkle in admiration. Which suddenly turned to hatred as her whole body went tense "GOD! That stupid bitch is such a fucking brown-noser! Listen, you sparkly slut, don't think that just because you saved our lives means I owe you jack-shit!" She spit at Asha's feet "But just this once I will thank you. Now I have a reason to live for a little while longer. Kicking your fucking ass" She grinned maniacally before tensing again "I'msorryI'msorryI'msorry!!! Please don't hate me. She... she didn't mean it! Okay, maybe a little, but please, Nee-nee. She's just angry. I won't let her hurt you or anyone! I promise. Oh, god, this is so embarrassing" She looked away, eyes starting to spark from the tears that began to fill her eyes as a voice boomed out in her head, followed by another 'OH MY GOD!!! You are such a fucking pussy! And you call me embarrassing. I outta rip your fucking throat out. GROW SOME BALLS!!' 'Eheheheh... These new arrangements are so much fun! Hey, is there any space for a pool table in here?. Clutching her head, Aya bowed to Asha "Good night, Nee-nee" she whispered painfully with a look of apology, before turing her body to electricity and arcing in the direction of her room, adjusting her flight path as necessary.

Crashing into her wrecked room, Aya made for the bathroom... and simply shut it's door. She didn't feel like looking at her new hideous new scars 'Why not? Do they frighten you? came the condescending tone from her head "Please... stop it. Just leave me alone!" she begged. 'Can't, Genius. I'm you! Don't get me wrong, I'd LOVE to leave. You honestly think I wanna hang with you and the freakshow in here all day?' 'Somebody call me?' 'NO! Just... go back to setting up your pool table!'. Poor Aya fell to her rear. She was already getting a headache from this. She had no choice. She'd have to talk to the Professor. And sooner rather than later. So she got up, got dressed, and quietly left her room. She only hoped he would be awake, considering the time. It didn't take her long to reach his office, and she knocked a few times. After a few seconds, she knocked again, but there was no response, so she resigned herself to waiting... until 'Hey, if you're looking for the Prof-Man, he's down in the med bay with Sexual Chocolate and That Girl With The Hair' Needless to say, Aya was surprised "How do you know this?" she asked aloud, for she quickly realized her thoughts were no longer her own 'Look up there. See MistressCyanide's last post? She put Prof-Man down it the med bay... duh?' Aya had to blink a few times at that one. "... Uh... um... Yeeeeeeeaaaah... Sure. I, uh, see that" she lied. Regardless, she headed down to the med bay anyways and proceeded to knock.

Charles: “OK Plasma I am going to dive into your mind and go to the deepest level, I need you to let me in. I need to see how far the Shadow King has gone and how much he has spread since he latched onto you. I fear he took you for a reason, you’re powers are dangerous when not controlled.”

Plasma: “But, you know how sensitive my mind is?”

Charles: “I do and I will be gentle, you won’t know I am even there.”

Rebecca nodded as he soon started to probe her mind; he was greeted with many positive images and characters on the first level. The first level seemed to be full of characters and things of all kinds; many pop icon characters were there such as Godzilla, Zippo and so on. He wanted the lowest level though did not know how many levels she had but he pressed on as he passed through one door to the next level. This level was much darker and things of nightmares were here, it resembled a nightmarish wasteland. In the distance a run down power planet could be seen and it looked like it had a meltdown as everything around him was dead, no flower was alive and no wildlife could be seen or heard.

This level showed what she was scared of doing though having this level so close to the first worried him but he would have to deal with that later as he moved to the third level of her mind. This level showed him the X-Mansion, the inside of the building; the Professor moves down the hallway as no door to the other level was in sight yet somehow as he moved down the hallway he found himself going from one place to the next. This was where he found himself in the Danger Room where Plasma and the older X-Men were. Cyclops, Storm, Beast, Iceman, Angel, Jean and many other X-men were. They were on one side and the newbies were on the other. The older X-Men soon split into three groups and this level showed her fear of the X-Men dividing and destroying itself.

A door to the next level was here and so he used it, clearly Plasma needed a few one on ones but he would deal with that later. The next level started to show the sensitive parts which showed him how sensitive her mind was. Many parts had colours pulsing a lot, it seemed when one probed her mind the colours would pulse for a moment and then stop. Was her mind warning him or was it telling him something. This part of her mind was pretty much empty. The Professor moved on to another level but here he could see something was wrong, a dark webbing was all around this part of her mind, it seemed the Shadow King was making his control known here. The webbing was slowly growing making him look for the source yet it was not on this level as he went down another level.

This level was the darkest and the only light that happened was when the pulses happened but here they were more rapid and some of them because solid colours. In the background the glow of crimson red eyes could be seen with an evil smile with it. The Professor could see how quickly he was spreading and it was alarming though he had no time to converse with the Shadow King as he was forced out by some dark force most likely by the Shadow King. He most likely wanted him out so he could continue to spread his influence to her.

Charles: “Arghhhh…….. Ughhhhhhhh…….”

Plasma: “What…. What happened Professor?”

Charles takes a moment to collect himself before answering her question. His breathing slowly returned to normal though his sweating said something else.

Charles: “Plasma how do you feel at this very moment?”

Plasma: “I feel fine, why?”

Charles: “Are you sure, his work to spread his control over you has happened so quickly and I fear he may have more power than the last time we met.”

Plasma: “Can I get up now, I am bored laying here?”

Charles thought to himself and he did not want to hold her prisoner prompting him to say.

Charles: “I can but if you feel anything please come see me and I will also have a few of the X-Men keep an eye on you. If he takes control and finds a way to use you’re powers we are all in trouble. Also I would like to arrange one on ones with you, the one a week is not enough it seems so I am going to move it to twice a week, maybe three if it gets worse. Now you may leave but take it slow OK.”

Plasma nodded as she slowly got on her feet, she had no idea what was going to happen, no one in the X-Men did.

Magnus' did bear a smirk, but something in his Neyaphem nature twisted the twinge to something unwanted and creepy.

"I see, do you know of a faster way to see how hard your compound eyes are? It beat the old methods: treadmills with wires hanging from you breathing in tubes or the old danger room which was pendulums and smashing walls with flamethrowers. If you want to follow your powers, you want to become a entomologist?"

The blue boy began to bus the plates and start on the dishes he dirtied making the sushi. he didn't say much as he worked to give the other time to contemplate and reply before speaking again with only the clatter of glass and metal to come from his station. The kitchen's fish smell was suddenly cut away with the aroma of lemon from the soap as he loaded the pre-washed plated into the machine for proper cleaning and sterilization.

"Was there anywhere else you would like to look at before we begin your time in the tank?"

As Jax came close to finishing the sushi Magnus grinned at his eye poking comments, but the way he smirked it looked - almost creepy, which made the bug boy flich away slightly, but recomposed himself quickly.

"No, but I am not to up-to-date on all this power analysis stuff - but as I said, I prefer the tubes and stuff in the tank, And what do treadmills have to do with what my eyes can do? 20 mins and a hairdryer would perhaps do the trick, although I cant blink." Jax was slightly liking the blue boy less and less as he suggested even more horrible ways to test his eyes. "Whats a Danger Room then? Is that where the let the girls try out cooking and stuff?"

Talk hopped back to study once more and Jax's comment about following his powers gave Magnus the idea of an Entomologist. "Not really what I was going for, I meant more flying type stuff - but do I have to give a final answer now?" Jax yawned and streched - feeling the aches and pains from his flight, the uncomfortable days of sleep and the fight with electric barbie and claw girl which made him feel more worn out then he first thought.

"No thanks, I wouldnt mind a nice sleep, and perhaps a bacon sandwich in the morning."

Asha couldn't help but smirk at that scream. Good. A little pay back felt good. Aya dropped to her hands and knees and then began to laugh like the lunatic she seemed to be at the moment. Asha gave her a concerned frown. 'Cool'….huh. The surprise hug nearly knocked her off her feet and Asha did even hide her surprise.

"…'Nee-nee'…?" she murmured, clearly not even registering in Aya's hearing. The girl just went on and on and on, even naked out in the yard. All Asha could do was stand and wait for the parade to be over. And just when she thought she knew what was going on in the other girl's head, that ugly side of her reared its head. Multipul personalities… One that admired her like a little kid, the other that hated her like a bitter mean girl from a movie… Oh gosh. Asha held her head, the beginnings of a headache coming on.

You're awesome! on and on I'll kill you blah blah blah. Stars, it was not only exhausting but also very confusing. Weakly she waved and then dropped to the ground, letting her head fall back. "Just…what…what the hell….?" she sighed. Her halo of changing colored hair floated around her and she just admired the quick starry sky before finally feeling like her legs could support her. Getting up on her feet, she dusted off her jeans. Jeans and a tank top. It hide barely any of her glowing glittering body, especially with all the new tears from that girl's electricity. But she was just too tired to care for the moment. She went in through the kitchen door.

The guy with skin the color of a velvet night sky… Mangus? and a rather large and brutish looking boy were in the kitchen. With a tired sigh she floated passed them to the fridge. Rummaging through it she pulled out a mini water bottle. Staring at it for a moment, she finally undid the cap and just poured the whole thing on her head. With a relieved sigh, she realized that some of it was now on the floor. But she didn't feel like cleaning. So she pointed a finger at it, a wispy strand of rainbow light swirling down at the water. When it disappeared like star dust there was no more water. It had evaporated. Solar energy could be useful, huh? Speaking of she wasn't wet anymore either.

Drifting around the boy, her feet not touching the ground, she found a seat at the table and sat down. So…tired… The window behind her had a good view of the night sky. She could feel the stars behind her as they imprinted themselves on her bare skin. Resting her head on the cool table she sighed again and closed her eyes, the floating halo of hair settling down around her shoulders as she dozed.

(I'm doing a Bloodbath post before I take Aya out, only because this damn idea won't leave my head and it's been awhile since I posted, and I want to post, and I can't figure out how to fade Aya into the NPC void without killing her... which I'm NOT doing. So I won't involve Leon until I fade Aya away, that way I won't have three characters in play)

Shuya "Steve" Habasaki slowly opened his eyes and yawned, complete with a stretch. He'd had a quiet dreamless sleep, or at least wasn't aware of any dreams. Slowly getting out of bed he looked out the window. It was still dark, but the sun would be peeking over the horizon soon enough. He always got up this early. Less people in the mansion. People made him nervous, even if they hadn't noticed his presence. Trudging to the bathroom, he did the usual morning emergency, then turned on the shower and stripped off his boxers. Stepping under the warm water, he just stood there for a while, thinking. Just thinking. Toying around in the little Multi-Mension that existed in his head. It was one of his favorite pastimes, next to ping-pong, video games, anime, and graphic novels. But those required things other than just his brain. Twenty minutes had gone by before he remembered he still needed to clean up, so he soaped up, washed off, shampooed, washed that off, then shut off the water. He dried off, then brushed his teeth real quick. All in all, it took him about half an hour. He knew guys were supposed to be fast, but screw it, he liked to think. Was that so wrong?

Stepping into his room again, he fumbled around in his dresser, grabbing some green boxers, torn-at-both-knees blue jeans, a blue Iron Man t-shirt, and his everyday plaid unbuttoned, button-up t-shirt. Today's was light-blue and white and had a small hole in the top of the breast pocket. Oh, yeah, and white socks with holes in the bottom, too. He got dressed and slipped on his faded white (more like grey) sneakers. Heading back to his bed and bedside table, he grabbed a quick feel of his security blanket (which was really just four chunks of a sleeping bag he'd gotten like, eight years ago, and seriously can't sleep without) and picked up his current comic, a Zenescope TPB titled Robyn Hood: Wanted. Leaving his room, he slipping the key into his rear pocket and made his way down to the kitchen for some solitary breakfast. Imagine his surprise at not one, but three people hanging around.

The blue-skinned ninja he recognized. He was Magnus, a teleporting rookie X-Man who Steve thought was pretty cool, if a little startling. But the other two he failed to recognize, and that made him a little nervous. One was a kind of bug man, while the other was a walking/floating rainbow. He could already feel his blood starting to harden. Keeping his eyes on the newcomers, he made his way to the fridge and got some milk, then went to the pantry and procured some Fruity Pebbles. Pouring a bowl and drowning the cereal in milk, he left the box out for seconds and placed the milk back, then grabbed a spoon and took his bowl to his favorite spot. The farthest corner of the room from anything and anyone, where he proceeded to eat and read his book, but remaining cautious and alert.

Luckily, it didn't seem anyone even noticed his existence...

Asha made a small grumbling noise when she heard something clatter. Like someone making something... But for some reason it felt like it was so loud. A slight frown forming on her face her eyes opened slightly. They zeroed in an asian guy making what looked like breakfast. Was it morning already? Really? Had she only sleep four hours? Because she felt like she was a zombie. And her head hurt. Maybe that's why everything sounded so loud all of a sudden. She sighed and closed her eyes again, frowning at the noises. The sun was starting to bear down on her and like a candle flickering under a cover, she could feel herself weakening. Her colors started to pale and the galaxy of stars on her body started to flicker out. It felt sort of like the after effects of donating blood. You felt like you had just been drained.

Ah, she had used up too much energy of Sparky! With a frown she shifted in her chair, her forehead on the table. She grumbled uncomfortably. Ugh, she was irritated. It seemed like she might of saved the girl's life, but she almost felt like it had been a waste. What a horrible thought, but she darn sure that girl was almost as coco as Harley Quinn. Asha smirked. Leave it to comic references to amuse her in such a weird state. Her once floating hair draped over her listlessly, like a silky veil of watercolors. With a deep sigh she lifted herself up from the table. She gave a whole new meaning to 'looking a bit pale'. Observing her ghostly colored hand, she frowned tiredly. Like the night sky being drained of rich color by the arrogant sunlight, so had she.

Looking up at the three boys, almost a bit nervously, her eyes had washed of color too. Instead of the brilliant changing colors they had been, now they were just a mixing of pale lace blues and silver. She was pretty sure if she tried to get up, she'd stumble. It wasn't like she was sickly, it was just she was lowing on star-fuel, a bit beat from dealing with Sparks, and drained for a lack of sleep. And seriously, when had she last eaten? Yesterday morning. When she had been a new arrival. Asha bit the inside of her cheek and stared at her watercolored hands. Well, she might as well eat while she was in here. And she'd have to get up sooner or late. So she slowly lifted herself from her chair, unable to float. Trying to move around her chair, she felt the world tilt and black spots danced in front of her eyes. She hardly realized that the floor was fast coming closer and closer to her face. Bracing for the cold hard pain, she clenched her eyes shut.

Magnus was about to reply when something gorgeous came into the room. She was magnificent, her radiating light literally had him rooted to the spot as she deepened his shadows with her contrast. His eyes were locked on her as he reached into his silk pants and pulled out a key to set near Jax's plate.

"Go sleep in my room, end of the hall. I'll make you one in the morning. Welcome to the family."

No snide, no sarcasam, he was clearly no longer interested in the bugboy and would probably regret letting someone into his room later. But it could wait, who was this one? Obviously one of the new arrivals but he couldn't place her, he would remember someone who glowed like a sun and moved on the breeze. He watched on in stunned silence as she moved around like no one mattered while she wet herself down, evaporated water harmlessly, then put her head to the glass to drift off like she had always been here at the mansion.
***
He never noticed if jax left, he didn't recognize the other who came through or the cereal sitting out now. He didn't know how long he had been perched on the edge of the kitchen counter or even when he had set himself like a gargoyle watching over her shifting colors, lost in the trance of her vibrancy. Here she was, radiating light with no seeming way to diffuse or dismiss. Did she not care? Could she not turn it off... like him?

Her change was so subtle you never really noticed until you had to look again to see you couldn't see it. Like the full moon giving away its light to the overbearing sun or watching a rose open its petals. It wasn't until she moved that he realized she was completely different. For one thing, she wasn't floating, she was falling!
*BAMF*
He was already falling to catch her when he closed the distance on instinct, years of practice made his own motions rote and simple as he twisted in the negative space of his paternal dimension to catch her in a cloud of brimstone. He coiled his tail at the small of his back to protect his fused discs as he cradled her head into his stomach, he curled his shoulders up to prevent his own head from hitting the floor as right arm and leg stretched out under her to take the impact with left limbs poised to take the shock of weighted impact.
"Oof!"

As Jax was sitting on a stool waiting for Magnus to take him to this 'Tank' Jax caught sight of something in his peripheral vision, all he could tell was that it was humanoid in size, so he guessed it was a student - but something about her power blinded her details to him, their clothes, their hair - the light made him have to look away, but as he moved he saw Magnus just stand there gawping at her, but as Jax couldnt see the student but could tell from blue boys reaction was that this was a female student.

Soon a key was dropped on the table before Jax "Go sleep in my room, end of the hall. I'll make you one in the morning. Welcome to the family

Jax stood up and was about to take the key when another student, another male, entered the room; the kid looked freaked to see the three already in the kitchen already up and about, but managed to suppress the shock and went about getting his breakfast of cereal before retreating to the corner. Looking back to the key Jax was a bit ticked at being given the brush off and left the key there and moved over towards the solitary figure in the corner.

As he walked towards the boy eating his cereal, the bright light seemed to stumble, but before he could act, Magnus had poofed the few feet to make sure that the girl didnt have a hit and run -esqe accident with the floor, shrugging as looking at the bright light made his head and eyes hurt, so he continued moving to where he was going, slowly sat down opposite the kid who had just made breakfast, but no idea about how to break the ice.

"2000 Pound penguin for your thoughts?"